A Maiden's Voyage

by Rosie Goodwin

  ‘Eeh, it’s been a good day, hasn’t it?’ Hattie said happily that evening as she looked across at the young couple. She was keeping an eye on her Ernie too who had fetched Tilly to join in the celebrations. She was looking much better now, much to everyone’s relief, although she was still walking with quite a severe limp and possibly always would. Lowering her voice, she leaned over to Flora and nodded over at her son as she whispered. ‘An’ between you, me an’ the gate post I shouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t another weddin’ in the offin’ before too much longer. Look at the way my Ernie is lookin’ at Tilly. I reckon he’s smitten, all right.’

  Flora nodded in agreement. Tilly and Ernie did look very suited to one another and she hoped it would work out for them. Now she just had to think seriously about what she intended to do with the rest of her life.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Just two days later, the mood had turned sombre as the day of Colleen and Ben’s departure arrived. The ship was due to sail with the tide that morning and Flora had closed the café so she could go and wave them off.

  Colleen was a complete bundle of nerves and fluttering about like a butterfly as she checked and checked again that she and Ben had got everything. And then it was time to make their way to the docks. There was quite a little crowd of them; Flora, Hattie, Hilda, Jia Li and Tilly. Sadly, Ernie and Bai, Jimmy and Sam had had to go to work and so had said their goodbyes earlier that morning.

  At her first sight of the enormous ship that would take Colleen and Ben far away across the seas panic seized Flora and sweat broke out on her forehead as everything that had happened on the Titanic rushed back to her. In her head she heard again Connie’s scream as she plummeted into the sea and she shivered as she remembered the biting cold. Colleen looked a little nervous too but thankfully Ben was in control of the situation.

  ‘Now, don’t look so scared,’ he told his young wife tenderly. ‘You don’t think I’d let anything happen to you, do you? We’ll treat this as our honeymoon and you’ll be home before you know it.’

  Colleen gave him a faltering smile as she glanced towards the gangplank where passengers were already embarking after passing their luggage to a row of porters who stood waiting on the dock.

  ‘W-we ought to get on board,’ she squeaked. It was time to say goodbye to the people she had come to love and it was proving to be much more difficult than she had thought it would be. Hattie and Hilda fell on her, giving her tips to stop her being seasick before turning their attentions to Ben while Tilly stepped forward and gave her a shy little kiss on the cheek. They had all seen the girl blossom with the attention Ernie was bestowing on her and were convinced that before too much longer she and Ernie would also start a new life together.

  ‘So … this is it then.’ Colleen took both of Flora’s hands in hers and they stared into each other’s eyes both crying unashamedly.

  Flora nodded. ‘Yes, this is it. You just take care now and make sure you keep in touch.’ Then suddenly they were clinging together until Ben gently took his wife’s elbow and told her, ‘It’s time to go, sweetheart.’ She nodded as she stepped away from Flora, mopping at her eyes with one of Ben’s large white handkerchiefs and then it was Ben’s turn to give Flora a hug.

  ‘You look after yourself, now,’ he told her in a throaty voice. ‘And just remember you could always go home if you decide that’s what you want to do. Bye, sis, I love you.’

  ‘I love you too,’ she gulped as he led Colleen away and soon they were standing at the rail aboard the ship waving furiously. Eventually the anchors and the gangplanks were lifted and the two pilot boats that had come to steer the ship from the harbour into open sea appeared.

  ‘Goodbye … I love you all!’ Colleen was leaning across the rail furiously waving a hankie and they all stood there watching until the ship became just a speck in the distance.

  ‘That’s it then, they’ve gone,’ Hattie said, feeling suddenly deflated. ‘Come on, let’s get back to the café, we have a living to earn.’

  Strangely silent now they all turned as one and followed her along the quay.

  The next few evenings proved to be very lonely ones for Flora. During the day she was so busy in the café that she didn’t have much time to think. But the nights were a different matter altogether. She would return to the empty house next door and without Colleen’s cheerful chatter she began to feel as if she was rattling around in it like a pea in a pod. And so at the end of one day as they were closing the café, she asked Jia Li, ‘How would you like to move in to the house next door? It’s far too big for me alone now that you and Colleen aren’t there and I could move back into the rooms upstairs here.’

  Jia Li frowned. ‘But it your house. You have worked hard for it.’

  Flora shrugged. ‘What difference does it make if I’m here or next door? The house would suit you and Bai far better than it does me now that I’m alone. Have a word to Bai and ask him what he thinks of the idea.’

  The next day she told Flora, ‘Bai think it a great idea. We shall need a little more room soon because …’ She blushed as her hands fell to her belly and a smile broke out on Flora’s face.

  ‘You’re having a baby!’

  Jia Li smiled. ‘It not definite yet but I think so. Bai is very happy about it.’

  ‘And how do you feel?’ Flora remembered all too well what an ordeal Jia Li had been through with the last child.

  ‘I feel also very happy … and blessed. This time I make sure baby is born safely.’

  ‘I couldn’t be more pleased for you,’ Flora said, genuinely thrilled for her friend. ‘But does this mean you won’t be able to work anymore?’

  ‘Oh no.’ Jia Li shook her head. ‘I intend to work till close to baby comes, then when he is here I bring him into kitchen with me, if you and Hattie and Hilda don’t mind?’

  ‘Mind!’ Flora chuckled. ‘Why, we’ll all love it, though I fear the baby will get very spoiled!’

  ‘All babies should be spoiled,’ Jia Li declared and Flora saw how happy she was, quite unlike the last time when the child had been forced upon her.

  They spent the following Sunday transferring Jia Li’s and Bai’s things into the house and Flora’s back into the rooms above the café. They were more than adequate for Flora and yet she couldn’t help but feel that she had come full circle. Jia Li and Bai had each other, Hattie and Hilda, both widows, had taken to spending their Sundays together and now her one day off a week became a day to dread.

  On the following Sunday, after spending the morning reading the newspapers from cover to cover, she became restless and so she decided to venture out for a walk. Apart from the time she had seen Colleen and Ben off at the docks and the two weddings she had attended, Flora rarely set foot out of the door but today she felt that if she didn’t get away for a time she would go mad, so she hurriedly got changed and stepped out into the fresh air. She doubted that too many people would be out and about on a Sunday apart from courting couples so decided to do a little window shopping and headed for the city centre.

  She spent a pleasant hour staring into the shop windows, viewing the latest fashions, then finding an open coffee shop she slipped inside and ordered a coffee before finding a vacant table. It would be nice to be waited on for a change, she decided. She was sitting enjoying her drink when the door opened and as she glanced up the breath caught in her throat. It was Patsy, the maid from Connie’s aunt’s house. She spotted Flora almost immediately and hurried over to her with a wide smile on her face, looking very pretty in an up-to-the-minute dress and a smart hat. In that moment Flora realised just how outdated she had allowed herself to become. She had spent little on clothes since moving into the café apart from necessary work clothes and the nice, but rather plain, two-piece suit she was wearing that she had bought for the weddings, and now beside Patsy she felt positively dowdy.

  ‘Well, I’ll be.’ Patsy flashed Flora a dazzling smile. ‘I never thought to see you again, miss. How are you ke
epin’? I’m meetin’ me young man but seein’ as I’m a bit early I thought I’d pop in ’ere an’ treat meself to a coffee.’

  Flora’s mouth was suddenly dry but she managed to raise a smile. ‘I’m very well Patsy. And you?’

  ‘Ooh, I’m fine and dandy thanks, miss.’

  ‘And, er … everyone at the house?’

  ‘Huh! I wouldn’t know.’ Patsy plonked herself down next to Flora. ‘It were never particularly a nice place to work what wi’ the master and Miss Margaret barkin’ their orders at me all the time, but after Miss Margaret married Toby Johnson an’ he moved in an’ all, it became like a war zone so I put me notice in an’ scarpered. I miss the mistress though, poor sod. I’m workin’ in the soap factory now. Less hours, more money an’ I love it,’ she ended breathlessly.

  ‘It wasn’t a marriage made in heaven then?’ Flora said with a little smile and Patsy chuckled.

  ‘Hardly! They were at it like cat an’ dog even before the honeymoon were properly over. He made no secret o’ the fact that he only married her for her money cos his parents were ready to disown him, an’ she … Well, I reckon she’d have married anybody just so’s she got a ring on her finger. She’s payin’ for it now, though, he leads her a merry dance, what with his gamblin’ and his women, an’ serves her right, that’s what I say. But what have you been doing with yourself? I thought you might have gone back home to London.’

  Flora shook her head afraid to say too much. ‘Oh, this and that, you know! I get by.’

  ‘Right, well it’s been lovely to see you. The mistress were right upset when you upped and left I don’t mind tellin’ you. Not that I blamed you. But now I suppose I’d better go an’ see if that young man o’ mine is there yet. I just glanced at the clock an’ realised it’s later than I thought. Bye, miss. Take care o’ yourself.’

  ‘And you, goodbye, Patsy.’

  As the girl bustled away Flora couldn’t help but smile. It seemed that both Margaret and Toby had met their match in each other but she found it very hard to have any sympathy for them. As Patsy had pointed out, they deserved each other.

  Once she had drunk her coffee, Flora set off for home again in a thoughtful mood. Patsy hadn’t mentioned that anyone was looking for her so perhaps she could begin to think of going home again. There was nothing to keep her in New York anymore after all, apart from the business and the house.

  Later that week she received a letter from her mother. Flora had written to her a couple of months before to let her know about Ben and his impending wedding to Colleen. Her mother was thrilled for them, although slightly sad that Ben had gone to live in Ireland.

  Still, she had written. He may well come home to see us all again one day and at least he’s happy. But when are you coming home, Flora? We all miss you so much!

  Flora looked around at the little business she had built up and thought of the house next door. If she did go home, and it was a big if, what would she do with them? Jia Li and Bai had made the house their home, and Hattie and Hilda depended on the business for their livelihoods now so selling them on was out of the question. And what would she do when she was home? Would she look for Jamie and try to win him back? Did she even dare?

  Later that night, as she lay in bed pondering over everything yet again, the answer came to her in a flash and suddenly she saw a way of going home without hurting anyone that set her heart pounding.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  It was late the following afternoon when they finally had a quiet spell that Flora was able to assemble everyone in the kitchen so she could have a word with them, and her solemn face immediately began to make them feel nervous.

  ‘Is something wrong, dearie?’ Hattie asked nervously.

  Flora shook her head. ‘No, not wrong exactly, but I do need to talk to you …’ She looked around at their anxious faces and went on, ‘The thing is, as I’m sure you’re all probably aware, I miss my family terribly and so … Well, the long and the short of it is I’ve decided to go home.’

  ‘Oh, I see,’ Hattie said dully. She had come to look upon Flora almost as a daughter and she admired her tremendously. How many other young women her age had managed to achieve what she had, after all? And of course, she would miss working at the café so much but …

  ‘Why I wanted to talk to you all was to tell you what I intend to do with the house and the business,’ Flora went on, knowing that she had their full attention. Then turning to Jia Li she told her, ‘I really don’t want to sell the house, it’s all bought and paid for now and I was saving again to buy the café instead of renting it off Dora, so I thought, how would you and Bai feel about buying the café if I signed the house over to you?’

  ‘What?’ Jia Li looked shocked. ‘But you worked so hard to do all this.’ She spread her hands to add emphasis to what she was saying. ‘And me and Bai not have money to pay for it all.’

  ‘No, no you misunderstood me,’ Flora told her patiently. ‘I’m not asking you to buy it straight away. What I thought was you could take the business over and once you’ve managed to save enough to buy the café, you could then pay me a little at a time what the house cost. But not until you’re comfortable and making a profit, of course. It wouldn’t matter if it took a year or two. I have no doubt that you’ll be able to pay for the café too in no time with what we’re taking in there now. All I’ll need to do is have it signed over into your names. And you, Hattie, I was wondering if perhaps you’d like to come and move into the rooms above the café? You’ve said that you think it’s only a matter of time before Ernie and Tilly get wed so if he carried on paying the rent on your house for now they’d have a home to move into.’

  They all stared at her for a moment open-mouthed but then Jia Li objected, ‘But that not fair. You work so hard to build business up!’

  ‘And so did you,’ Flora pointed out. ‘All I need is enough to buy my fare home then I can get another job in London.’

  Jia Li’s lip trembled. ‘But I miss you if you go,’ she said in a tearful voice and Flora put her arm about the girl’s shoulders.

  ‘And I’ll miss you too. All of you, but I’m not really happy here and I miss my family so much.’

  ‘For what it’s worth I think it’s a grand idea,’ Hattie said, already picturing herself in the comfy rooms above the café. ‘And it’d be nice not to have to turn out in all weathers to come to work. But are you quite sure this is what you want, dearie?’

  Flora nodded. ‘Quite sure. So if you speak to Bai, Jai Li, and if you’re all happy with the idea, I’ll set the wheels in motion. I can speak to Dora for a start, but I don’t see a problem there. So long as she gets her rent regularly she won’t mind who pays it and I can get the papers drawn up to change the names on the deeds of the house tomorrow then it’ll be yours all legal and above board and you can pay me back when you can.’

  ‘I not know what to say,’ Jia li said chokily. ‘You give us a whole new future but we miss you so much.’

  ‘I’ll miss you too,’ Flora told her and turning about she quickly busied herself at the stove before she broke down completely.

  Over the next few days Flora had everything transferred into Jia Li and Bai’s name. She also sent a note to Dora asking her to pop in when she could. Dora breezed in a few days later, done up to the nines, in a waft of perfume that almost took Flora’s breath away. Her face was heavily made-up and she had a little hat perched at a jaunty angle on her bleached blonde hair.

  ‘So you wanted to see me? What’s the emergency?’ she asked, settling into a chair and lighting a cigarette as she glanced around at the café approvingly. She was the first to admit that when she had owned it, it had been sadly neglected but with all her hard work Flora had transformed it into a business to be proud of.

  ‘There’s no emergency as such but I wanted to tell you what my plans are.’ Flora quickly told her what she intended and when she had finished, Dora narrowed her eyes and peered at her. ‘An’ are you quite sure this is what yo
u want? After all the hard work you’ve put into the place.’

  Flora nodded decisively. ‘Yes, I am, but I think I can promise things will go on just the same as they are now. Jia Li is very efficient and more than capable of doing everything that I do. She and Colleen have been running the place with me since the beginning and I could never have done it without them, so after all her hard work it would be wrong to put her out of her home and a job, so this is for the best all round.’

  ‘Well, I ain’t got a problem with it if you ain’t,’ Dora said in her usual forthright way. ‘So I’ll wish you all the best o’ luck for the future, love. I must admit when you first come to me tellin’ me what you wanted to do I had reservations. You were so young I didn’t think you’d last a month but you proved me wrong. When are you thinkin’ o’ leavin?’

  ‘I haven’t got that far yet,’ Flora admitted with a rueful grin. ‘I’ve been too busy running around trying to sort out everything for Jia Li, but as soon as I know I’ll let you know.’

  ‘You do that, I’d like to come an’ say goodbye.’ Dora leaned forward then and in a rare affectionate moment planted a kiss on Flora’s cheek. ‘You’re a plucky kid,’ she said thickly and snatching up her gloves she swept out of the café like royalty with her head in the air, leaving Flora to swallow the huge lump in her throat. It was only now that she had decided to leave them that she was realising just how much they had all come to mean to her.

  A week later Flora booked a passage on a ship back to London for early in July and suddenly it was all real. She really was going home. She had written to tell her mother and could hardly wait to see her family now. And, as always when she had momentous news or needed to get something off her chest, she also wrote another letter to Jamie.

  My dearest Jamie,

  So my passage to England is booked! I set sail on the 4th of July and I very much hope that you will want to see me when I am home. Perhaps in person I can explain to you why I behaved in the way I did. My dearest hope is that one day you might find it in your heart to forgive me and give me a second chance.