Beyond the Sunset (28 page)

He knew how to terrify lasses.

But Tom was much older than him and didn’t always agree with what the rest of the family did and somehow, you didn’t mess with Tom. He was a big man, took after the Stoner side of his family, and good with his fists. The Stoners hadn’t the wit to take what they wanted from life. They were sickeningly honest. But so strong you didn’t dare run up against them.

He shrugged. Ah, well, there were plenty of other fish in the sea. Who needed a tall scrawny thing like Hallie Carr?

15

I
n the morning Bert was much better and as the landlord agreed to keep an eye on him till the woman who was to care for him arrived, they were able to set off as soon as it started to get light.

Pandora could see how worried Zachary was about them missing the ship and set herself to distract him by asking questions about the shop and how her uncle had run things. She already knew that he loved the work and when she asked about the changes he’d like to make, he soon stopped being guarded about himself and talked for over an hour, encouraged by her prompting and questions.

Martin sat quietly beside them on the driving bench, not saying anything, but clearly listening.

‘I’ve bored you,’ Zachary said suddenly.

‘No, you haven’t. I hadn’t understood how much there was to do that customers don’t know about. I shall enjoy learning about it all. I’m definitely not going to sit upstairs like an idle lady and let someone else run it for me, though.’

‘I’m not sure Harry will allow that.’

She stared at him. ‘
Harry allow?
He doesn’t own the shop.’

‘He
is
manager at the moment. He’s very clever about getting his own way and will make it difficult for you to go against his wishes.’

‘We’ll see about that.’ The more she heard about this Harry, the less she liked the sound of him.
He
didn’t own the shop; she and her sisters did. And she’d make that very plain.

Anyway, Zachary would be there to help her and back her up, not to mention the lawyer.

Marshall was finding the shop work more interesting than he’d expected, even though Prebble still gave him all the lowliest jobs and seemed to hate it when he had to serve in the shop at busy times. He’d not been pleased when Marshall showed that he could add up the prices in his head as well as the next man without making mistakes in the amounts he charged.

Several times Marshall came to work in the morning to find things not quite as he’d left them the night before in the packing area. The changes were always very slight, but he was quite sure things had been moved – or taken. He didn’t say anything because it was such tiny changes, but he began marking levels before he left and memorising how many packets there were on a shelf.

It was cleverly done, he had to admit. A couple of times a week a few items were taken, just a little here and a little there. If you weren’t looking, you’d never notice.

He didn’t say anything to Prebble but he added it to the list of things he’d noticed and shared the information with Ralph at their weekly meetings.

Once Ralph had begun to employ a man to keep watch on his house, there had been no more men seen standing in or near the back alley, but Marshall counselled him to keep the watchmen on for his sister’s sake.

‘It galls me, Marshall lad, to have to pay out good money just in case.’

‘It’d gall you even more if your house was broken into, your sister upset or yourself hurt.’

‘We could be wrong, you know. Maybe it isn’t Prebble. Maybe it’s just chance. Mr Featherworth insists that we have to be able to prove it beyond doubt before we accuse him.’

‘It’s not chance that food is being taken from the shop when he’s the only one with a key to the gates. And I know that family better than you do. Prebbles are not to be trusted. You keep paying a watchman.’

Ralph sighed.

Marshall smiled. ‘I never thought to say it, but I’m enjoying shop work. It’s quiet in that back room and a man can think as he packs the sugar or flour or tea. And our dinners are a lot tastier since Mr Featherworth popped in that time. I can’t thank you enough, lad, for giving me this chance to do some honest work.’

Alice had also noticed the new employee and seen how different he was from the others. When she mentioned it to Ralph, he hesitated, then explained why.

In return she told him what Dot had seen the night of the storm.

‘Tell me again. Every single detail.’

‘She saw a figure come into the back yard of the shop. We checked in the morning but there was no sign that anyone had broken in, so we decided it must have been someone looking for an open window, as thieves do. But all the back windows of the shop are barred and the door is very sturdy so we’d have seen if anyone had broken in.’

‘I wish you’d told me about this sooner.’

‘We didn’t think much of it because neither of us has seen anyone loitering since then. And we’d have heard the back gate squeak if it had been opened. You can’t mistake the sound.’

‘Perhaps they climbed over the side gate instead. Would Dot have seen that?’

‘No, she wouldn’t. That gate is out of sight of her bedroom unlike the back gate.’

‘It’s very worrying. I must admit I shall be glad when the owners return and the responsibility for the shop is taken off my shoulders.’

‘I shan’t. I shall have to find myself a new job once that happens and I expect I’ll have to leave Outham.’

‘Leave? I thought you’d look for a job round here to be near your cousins.’

‘I doubt I’d find one here, given the hard times, and governesses have little free time, even if I did.’

‘I should miss you.’

‘And I you. I’ve not had friends like you and Judith for a long time.’

He gave her a strange look then took his leave.

She couldn’t help hoping the look meant what she thought it did, though she told herself she was past the age of such foolish hopes.

Because of the muddy road conditions, the cart didn’t reach Albany until the early evening. As they approached the town, the taciturn Martin stirred himself to say he knew a good place for them to stay the night.

‘We need to find out first whether we’ve got cabins on the
Bombay
,’ Zachary said.

‘You won’t find anything out about your passage till tomorrow. The ship isn’t in yet, as you can see, and the agent will have shut the office hours ago. He won’t thank you for disturbing him at home, so you might as well get a good night’s sleep.’

Zachary had been concerned for Pandora, who was white with exhaustion, though she’d not complained. ‘Very well. Where do you recommend we stay?’

‘My mum will put you up for a night or two if the ship’s late. She doesn’t charge as much as some and she’s a good cook. She won’t let you two sleep together, though.’

‘We don’t sleep together in that sense,’ Zachary said curtly.

Martin winked at him. ‘A-course not.’

He opened his mouth to protest, but Pandora jabbed him in the ribs, so he said nothing more.

Princess Royal Harbour took Zachary’s breath away. The inlet was big enough to contain several islands. No wonder the mail ships stopped here and not in Fremantle. They’d be well protected from storms. Small boats and a couple of larger ships were rocking gently to and fro on the water, as if someone had put them to sleep for the night.

The town itself reminded Zachary of Fremantle in some ways, though it was much hillier. There was the same patchy pattern of settlement across the townsite, with empty blocks of land between some houses, though there were more buildings along the seafront, set closer together as if jostling for a view so magnificent it took your breath away.

The town was overlooked by a small but steep hill at whose foot stood a large house with a windmill behind it. Martin obligingly pointed out the convict depot, which seemed to be the largest set of buildings.

‘Got a lot done in Plantagenet Shire and Albany since the convicts arrived,’ he said. ‘They’ve built roads and them lighthouses on Breaksea Island and Point King. Some folk worry about the convicts causing trouble, but they haven’t done. I reckon it’s good to set them to useful work. Have to watch people don’t stow away on board ships leaving for eastern Australia though. The police search all the ships before they’re allowed to leave.’

In the town itself some of the streets were rolled and gravelled, which was an improvement on the rutted track they’d been following all week.

‘Let’s go and see my mum, then.’ Martin clicked his tongue to signal to the horse to walk on.

Mrs Tyler brightened when her son told her he’d brought her some paying guests and within half an hour, Pandora was able to retire to a small but comfortable bedroom with a jug of hot water.

She sighed with pleasure as she closed the door. To wash herself all over was a wonderful treat after the days on the road. As she took her stained clothing off, she looked at it in disgust, choosing instead some of the clean clothes intended for wear on board the ship.

Martin said Leo could sleep with him on the back veranda. He’d been very kind to Leo, saying at one stage to Zachary, ‘I reckon if you treat them decently, people like him are less trouble than a lot of so-called normal folk.’

‘You’re right. But not many would agree with you.’

‘I don’t pay no attention to what others think. I choose my own way in life.’

Here it was again, Zachary thought, this independence that so many ordinary Australians seemed to exhibit. He couldn’t imagine Martin kow-towing to customers at the shop in Outham as Harry did. Do I fawn over them when I’m serving? he wondered. He didn’t think so, though he tried to be courteous and help them find what they needed, whether the customers were rich or poor.

Pandora only stayed up for an hour, enough time to eat a meal and tell their inquisitive hostess something about their adventures, after which she gave in to her yawns and excused herself.

‘The mail ship’s due in tomorrow, unless they’ve had a stormy trip,’ Mrs Tyler told Zachary as she got a makeshift bed ready in the small dining-room-cum-parlour. ‘Comes from Sydney and Melbourne, it does. Doesn’t stay long here, though. Just stops to deliver the mail and stock up with coal. Them steamships use a lot of coal, even though they use their sails as well as their engines. Still, Albany being a coaling station brings jobs to the town, doesn’t it? They buy fresh fruit and vegetables here, too. It all helps.’

‘I need to see the P&O agent first thing tomorrow, then. The Governor said he’d send instructions via the coastal steamer that we were to be given passage.’

‘The steamer came in a couple of days ago, so the agent will know about you. His Excellency must think a lot of you to do that.’

‘I was able to help the Captain with Leo on the voyage out here.’

‘Poor soul.’ She gave Zachary a stern look. ‘You and your young lady should have got married before you set off on this journey, you know. It’s clear she’s a decent lass – I can always spot the other sort – but it doesn’t look good, you travelling so far together. Not good at all.’

He didn’t know what to say to that, so made a faint noise in his throat, which seemed to satisfy her.

Even a makeshift bed felt wonderfully soft after sleeping on the ground for the past week. He blew out the candle and snuggled down. Pandora would be warm enough without him tonight, but he missed having her beside him, even though it had been a form of delicious torture not to make love to her as he ached to do.

He wished he really was going to marry her, wished he dare ask her.

Oh, he was a fool! She was not only beautiful but wealthy, compared to him. Once she settled in again in Outham, she’d forget her fondness for him and turn to men of her own sort. It was just because the journey had thrown them together that she was turning to him.

He’d not change though. He loved her deeply and always would.

In the morning, Mrs Tyler roused him even earlier than arranged. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Carr. I couldn’t let you sleep any longer because we need to use this room for breakfast. It’s usually a married couple or a single man I take in, you see, so no one normally needs to sleep in here. But what with Martin and Leo on the back veranda, I had nowhere else to put you. I’ve woken your young lady as well. You did say you needed to find out about the mail ship. The ship’s come in, Martin says and is just finishing docking. The P&O agent will be at his office already and my Martin will show you where to go as soon as you’ve eaten.’

She left the room, still trailing words.

Next time the door opened it was Pandora. ‘Mrs Tyler said you were up.’

She looked so gorgeous in a blue skirt and top, with a short, darker blue jacket, that she took his breath away. ‘Did you – sleep well?’ he managed after a few seconds.

‘I didn’t stir till Mrs Tyler woke me. I missed having you near, though, when I went to bed. It seemed strange sleeping on my own. How was your bed?’

‘It felt soft and warm after sleeping on the ground.’ He couldn’t resist adding, ‘I missed you too.’

They both fell silent and it was a relief when Mrs Tyler bustled in with the food. They ate quickly then let Martin take them to see the shipping agent while Leo ate a more leisurely breakfast under Mrs Tyler’s supervision, after seeing to the horses.

As they parted company outside the agent’s office, Zachary asked Martin to see whether the wheel could be repaired, and if not, told him to buy a new one.

The agent was indeed in his office early but he didn’t seem at all pleased to see them. ‘So you’re the young man the Governor wrote to me about. I wasn’t sure whether you’d get here on time. The ship will be leaving again later today, you know.’

Zachary introduced his fiancée.

‘No one said you two were engaged. I was expecting four sisters.’

‘The others didn’t want to go back to England. And . . . I wasn’t sure Pandora would have me, so I couldn’t tell the Governor about her and—’ He took her hand and forgot what he was saying as she smiled at him.

The agent tapped a ruler on his desk to gain their attention. ‘There’s a problem about the passage, I’m afraid.’