A Maiden's Voyage

by Rosie Goodwin

  Take care of yourself, my love, and write to me soon,

  With love

  Ma xxxxx

  Flora was sorely tempted to just hop on the first boat bound for England and do what her mother begged, for although she had now built a very thriving business she still missed her family terribly and lived in fear of what might happen to her if Margaret or Toby were to discover her whereabouts and report her to the police. In truth, she didn’t really think the mild-mannered Alex would ever do that. The woman was kind and forgiving but she knew that Margaret, Magnus, and Toby were all more than capable of doing it so she continued to keep a low profile.

  Colleen’s letter informed her that her mother had been unwell and her younger brother Patrick was now having to manage most of the jobs on and around their little smallholding by himself. Initially, Colleen was just thrilled to hear from her family again but then she began to worry once more about how they would be coping and Flora had the feeling that it wouldn’t be long before her dear friend decided to return home for good. Now that she no longer had Will in her life and her father wasn’t a threat to her there was nothing to really hold her there. Flora knew that she would miss her desperately should she go, but she also wanted what was best for her. Even so they all continued to work diligently and as the trade continued to grow Hattie recommended Tilly, a young girl she knew, to come in each day to do the more mundane jobs such as washing up and clearing the tables so that they could concentrate on the cooking and serving the customers.

  ‘She’s a little godsend,’ Flora whispered to Hattie the day after they had set Tilly on. As fast as she cleared the sink of dirty pots, it filled up again but she never complained and always had a smile on her face.

  ‘Between you an’ me I reckon her mom is just glad that we’ve found her a job,’ Hattie whispered back. ‘You may have noticed that the poor girl is … what can I say? … a little bit slow? An’ it’s doubtful anyone else would have given her a chance.’

  ‘Well, slow or not she’s not afraid of hard work,’ Flora said as she smiled at the girl. In actual fact Tilly reminded her a lot in looks of Jia Li. Her skin was much lighter, admittedly, but she had the same long, thick, silky curtain of black hair as Jia Li did and they were of a very similar petite build. On a couple of occasions, she had actually called her Jia Li and not realised her mistake until the girl had turned around.

  Now Flora watched her as she diligently wiped down the table that someone had just vacated. Whenever she wasn’t busy at the sink she simply found herself something else to do. Sometimes she would mop the floors, which seemed to be continually dirty during the winter months, or she would wash out the tea towels and drape them across the lines suspended from the kitchen ceiling to dry. It was always hot in there so they tended to dry in no time. All in all, Flora suspected the girl would prove to be worth every penny of the wages she would pay her and couldn’t thank Hattie enough for recommending her.

  After being there for a week Tilly became useful in other ways too. They soon discovered she was very good at running errands providing they gave her the correct money and wrote down exactly what they wanted her to get. She followed the instructions to the letter, and always came back with the right change.

  ‘Her mom was tellin’ me how much young Tilly loves workin’ here,’ Hattie told Flora one morning when the breakfast rush was over and they were preparing for the customers who called in for mid-morning coffee and home-made cookies – one of the first things she’d discovered when she opened the café was that the Americans were big coffee drinkers. ‘Her parents are lovely people, at one time they were encouraged to put her in a home because she’s … well, not quite all there up top, if you know what I mean? But they wouldn’t hear of it. I bet they’re glad they didn’t now. She’s grown into a lovely young lady, ain’t she?’

  ‘Exactly how old is she?’ Flora queried.

  Hattie screwed up her nose as she tried to think. ‘She’d be about eighteen or nineteen now, I reckon.’ The door to the café opened just then and another customer came in so Hattie hurried away to serve her as Flora went through to the kitchen to see what needed doing there. Between them they had the café running like clockwork and Flora prided herself on what a good team they made.

  Later that day, Flora sent Colleen home early. She had been coming down with a bad cough and cold for days but today she looked particularly poorly so Flora told her sternly, ‘Get yourself round home now and into bed with a hot water bottle. You’re no good here coughing and spluttering all over the customers, are you?’

  It went some way to showing just how poorly Colleen felt when she didn’t put up an argument. ‘All right then, if you’re sure you can manage,’ she croaked, mopping at her streaming eyes.

  ‘Go on, get away with you now.’ Hattie shooed her towards the door. ‘I’ll get young Tilly to fetch you round a nice warm glass of honey and lemon in a while. There’s nothing like it for a cold but see as you drink it while it’s still hot mind.’

  Colleen shuffled away feeling mortally sorry for herself and for a while they were run off their feet again as customers wanting to get out of the bitter cold for a warming drink streamed in.

  Over the next couple of days, Colleen’s cold turned to bronchitis so Flora confined her to bed indefinitely.

  ‘But who’ll do all the chasin’ about?’ Colleen mithered.

  ‘Don’t you worry about that. You’re not indispensable you know,’ Flora teased. She had popped round to the house during a lull with a tray of tea for the patient. ‘As it happens, right at this minute Hattie is writing a list of things we need and Tilly will be going to get them. She does very well so long as we explain exactly where she’s to go, so you just concentrate on getting better, eh?’

  With a sigh, Colleen settled back against the pillows as Flora placed the tray in her lap and hurried back to work.

  ‘Has Tilly gone?’ she asked as she entered the café and Hattie nodded.

  ‘Yes, but she shouldn’t be long. I’ve sent her to the butcher’s to get some bacon and sausages for the morning. We seem to be using more and more with every day that passes, but then I dare say that’s a good thing, it shows our clientele is growing.’

  Flora glanced at the window. Outside a bitterly cold wind was howling and icy rain was lashing against the glass. It was only four thirty in the afternoon but already it was pitch-dark.

  ‘Poor thing will be frozen through when she gets back,’ she commented and went on with the jobs waiting to be done.

  After visiting the butcher Tilly happily tucked her purchases down into her basket and set off back towards the café. Having been brought up in the area she knew every alley and short cut like the back of her hand and although the alleys were dark they held no fear for her. Humming softly to herself she set off down one particularly dark alley that ran between two old warehouses that had long been out of use. The alley was narrow and stank of the river and stale urine but Tilly barely noticed it as she walked along.

  She had gone no more than a few yards when she sensed someone behind her and turning quickly she narrowed her eyes and peered into the gloom. After a few seconds of silence, she was sure that she had imagined it and set off again, but no sooner had she gone a few more steps than the footsteps behind her started up again.

  ‘H-hello … is anyone there?’ Her voice echoed off the walls of the alley but no one answered, so turning abruptly she set off again, moving much faster this time. Suddenly an arm came about her throat and she was yanked backwards off her feet, causing her to drop the basket containing the precious items she had been entrusted to buy.

  The hand squeezed tighter and a voice she didn’t recognise muttered, ‘So, Jia Li, you’ve had the bastard then!’

  Confusion flitted across her face. Why was this man calling her Jia Li?

  ‘You caused me some trouble,’ the voice continued menacingly. It was a man she realised and he sounded Chinese. ‘Because of you I being sent away to live with new bri
de in China! Pah! But your friends not here to help you this time. So now I leave you something to remember me by!’ He threw her onto the ground where she landed so heavily that the air rushed out of her lungs and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. Despite her age, Tilly was innocent and had no idea what was about to happen to her, but she sensed it was something bad and tears began to run down her cold cheeks as she lay there whimpering. She could feel the man tugging at the skirt she was wearing but was powerless to stop him. It was obvious to her that her strength would be no match for his. She wished that she could see his face but it was so dark that she could see nothing at all. He was swearing and calling her horrible names and then he hit her hard across the mouth and she tasted blood. The next blow came to the side of her head and she saw stars explode in front of her eyes.

  ‘You have ruined my life, you bitch whore!’ The man was panting now as he yanked her skirt above her waist. Every few seconds he gave her another glancing blow with his clenched fist and all Tilly could do was lie there, unable to fight back. One punch landed on her chest and she felt something crack followed by a searing pain. From then on as she struggled to remain conscious it even hurt to breathe and she was sure that she was going to die. But why was this man doing this to her and why had he called her Jia Li?

  Minutes later he had ripped aside her drawers, but then, he stopped and growled, ‘You not worth it, bitch whore!’

  Tilly was beyond crying by then, all she could do was lie there and pray for it to end. But he hadn’t done with her yet, not by a long shot. He stood for a moment, panting, as he stared down at her helpless form with contempt and then he started to kick her again and again. Instinctively, Tilly rolled herself into a fetal position until a comforting darkness wrapped itself around her and the pain was gone and she knew no more.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  It was almost half past five and they were beginning to get very busy again when Flora suddenly realised that Tilly hadn’t returned.

  ‘She should have been back ages ago,’ she commented to Hattie as she glanced towards the door.

  ‘Happen she got held up. There was probably a queue at the butcher’s or perhaps she had to go elsewhere for something. Don’t you worry, young Tilly is as honest as the day is long, she’ll be back.’ Hattie smiled reassuringly at Flora as she handed a customer their change but Flora was beginning to feel distinctly uneasy. It was so unlike Tilly to take long over an errand. She usually almost ran all the way there and back, keen to get the praise she would receive when she got back … and it was very dark outside and Tilly was so vulnerable.

  Half an hour later Jimmy, Sam and Ernie sauntered in for their evening meal as they often did after they’d finished work and they saw at a glance that something was troubling Flora.

  ‘It’s Tilly, she’s been gone for over two hours now but the butcher’s is no more than ten minutes away and she’s never late,’ she explained when they asked her what was wrong.

  ‘Hmm.’ Like Hattie, Jimmy didn’t seem overly concerned as yet. ‘How about if she ain’t back by the time we’ve finished eating, we go out an’ have a scout round for her.’

  Flora smiled at them. ‘Would you? Thank you.’ She hurried to get them their meal, and when Tilly still hadn’t returned when the three young men had finished eating, they too began to feel uneasy.

  ‘The butcher’s was it you said she went?’ asked Sam and at Flora’s nod they turned up the collars of their thick coats and headed for the door. ‘Right, we’ll go an’ have a look-see and let you know.’

  The butcher was closing up when they got there but a quick enquiry established that yes, Tilly had been there but had left some two hours or so ago.

  Back outside the shop they stood looking up and down the street.

  ‘I bet she took a short cut through one o’ the alleys,’ Sam suggested.

  Jimmy nodded in agreement. ‘Yes, but which one? There’s three or four from here that could take her back to the café.’

  The only way to find out was to walk along each one but the first one showed them nothing unusual so they set off for the next. The alleys were acting like wind tunnels and the bitter cold was threatening to slice them in two as it whistled along them. There was nothing down the second alley either and now they were gravely concerned. It was fast approaching seven o’clock at night. Tilly would never have willingly wandered the streets for so long.

  ‘Let’s just nip back to the café to make sure she ain’t gone back there yet,’ Ernie suggested and heads bent against the wind they hurried on their way.

  ‘There’s not been a sniff of her,’ Hattie told them, drawing them away from the customers. ‘Do you think we should call the police? Tilly is so vulnerable. Perhaps someone persuaded her to go away with them?’

  ‘No, don’t do that just yet, there’s two more short cuts that she might have taken that we need to check first,’ Ernie told her, then with Sam and Jimmy close on his heels they set off again. They hastily made their way back to the butcher’s then took the third alley. They hadn’t gone far along it, feeling their way along the cold damp walls, when Sam hissed, ‘Hey, look there, against the wall.’ Even as he spoke his foot kicked the basket that Tilly had dropped and he recognised it immediately.

  ‘This is Tilly’s basket,’ he breathed as a feeling of dread coursed down his spine like iced water. Seconds later they were leaning over the prone figure and Sam asked shakily, ‘Is it Tilly?’

  Ernie shook his head. ‘I don’t know, it’s too dark to see but whoever it is they’re in a bad way.’ He felt for a pulse in their wrist and his hand came away sticky with blood. ‘Run and find a cop quick an’ tell ’em we’re goin’ to need an ambulance. This girl is in a real bad way,’ he said urgently.

  Sam sprinted away but Jimmy stayed close to Ernie’s side just in case the attacker came back. The police soon arrived and Tilly was stretchered out to the ambulance waiting in the road. When the men caught sight of her, they gasped with shock.

  ‘My dear God!’ Ernie breathed. ‘What have they done to the poor girl?’

  Tilly’s face was so swollen and bloody that she was hardly recognisable and she was barely conscious. And that was only the part of her that they could see. They all dreaded to think what her other injuries might be.

  It was over an hour later when Jimmy and Sam returned to the café. Hattie, Jia Li and Flora were busily cleaning in readiness for the next morning but one glance at the young men’s faces told them that something was gravely wrong.

  ‘Did you find her?’ Flora asked fearfully.

  Sam nodded solemnly. ‘Yes, we did, she was lyin’ in an alley an’ …’ He gulped deep in his throat, setting his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. He was badly shaken by what he had seen. ‘She’s been badly beaten by the look o’ things. We fetched a cop an’ she’s been taken to the city hospital, but from what the ambulance men were sayin’ it looks touch an’ go whether she’ll make it.’

  ‘Oh, dear God!’ Hattie sat down on the nearest chair with a thump. ‘An’ where is Ernie?’

  ‘He went in the ambulance with her.’

  ‘Does anyone have any idea who might have done this?’ Flora croaked. Tilly was such a sweet, innocent girl that it was inconceivable that anyone would want to hurt her.

  Jimmy shook his head as he twisted his cap in his hand. ‘She was unconscious when they took her away.’

  ‘I’d best get to inform her parents what’s happened,’ Hattie said, but Sam shook his head.

  ‘There’s no need, Ernie gave the police Tilly’s address an’ they’ll have done it.’

  Hattie began to cry, great wracking sobs that shook her body. ‘I’ve known that girl since the day she drew breath,’ she gasped. ‘An’ she wouldn’t hurt a fly. Why, when she were growin’ up an’ the other kids started to make fun of her cos she was a bit slow my Ernie always stood up for her. She used to follow him about like a little puppy dog. He’ll take it hard if she don’t make it.’

 
; ‘She will make it!’ Flora declared past the lump in her throat. ‘She has to! But come on now, we should get to the hospital in case there’s anything we can do.’

  When they arrived at the hospital Tilly’s parents were already there talking to a policeman, looking distraught.

  ‘The doctor is examining her now,’ Tilly’s mother told Hattie as she wrung her hands in despair. Tilly was only just clinging to her life.

  ‘And has she managed to say anything?’ Hattie queried.

  ‘Yes …’ The woman rubbed her forehead as she tried to remember. She was so upset that everything was a jumble in her head. ‘She only came round very briefly but I think she said something about the man who did this calling her Jia Li … I think she said he sounded like a Chinese.’

  They all gazed at each other but it was Flora who ground out, ‘Yung Huan! He must have thought from behind that Tilly was Jia Li with her long black hair!’

  ‘Who is this man?’ The policeman was already standing with his pencil poised over his notebook and as Flora haltingly told him Huan’s address and what Huan had done to Jia Li and the grudge that he bore her, the policeman nodded at his colleague.

  ‘We’ll get off and check this out right away.’

  Once the policemen had gone all they could do was wait for the doctor who was examining Tilly to come and tell them what was happening.

  ‘She has multiple fractures,’ the grey-haired doctor told them tiredly when he eventually appeared. ‘All of her fingers on one hand are broken. It looks like someone has stamped on them. She also has a broken leg, a broken arm and two fractured ribs. We also suspect that she may have internal bleeding so she will have to go to theatre for us to have a look at what’s happening inside.’

  ‘But she will survive?’

  The doctor wearily glanced at the hope in the girl’s mother’s eyes and wished he could give better news.