Beyond the Sunset (36 page)

‘He is now. And I’ll remind you that Mr Blake hired you when
you
weren’t presentable. Have you no compassion?’

Prebble scowled. ‘My job now is to run the shop efficiently, not dispense charity.’

Shaking his head at this attitude, Ralph left the shop and went to knock on the door of the living quarters. When Dot showed him up to the parlour, he was pleased to see that Pandora was looking much better, with colour in her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes. He nodded to Alice, who smiled as she stood up.

‘I’m sure you’ll wish to speak to Miss Blake privately.’ She left the room.

Such a quiet, restful woman! he thought. How she’d remained unmarried, he’d never understand. His sister thought he should ask Alice to marry him and he was tempted, but he found the prospect of proposing and making such changes to his life at his age rather daunting. Still, he would hate to see Alice move away from Outham, would miss her greatly. Fortunately, there was time yet to give the matter more consideration, to work out how to do it.

He turned back to Pandora, who was sitting waiting expectantly, and took the seat she indicated. ‘I’ve been going over the accounts from the journey with Zachary. He’s an honest young fellow, though I expected nothing less from him, and he’s good at figures.’

‘He’s kind, too. I warn you, I’m
not
letting anyone un-marry us.’

‘No one’s asking you to, but I do honour him for giving you the opportunity to change your mind. It’s not always easy to do the right thing. If you can be patient, we desperately need him back in the shop for a while, to see if he can figure out what’s happening and help us trap Prebble. We need proof or we can’t act.’

‘You don’t like Prebble, either, do you?’

‘No.’

‘He was waiting for me when I walked back from the Raineys’ yesterday and insisted on escorting me home. It can’t have been by chance that he was there because he doesn’t live in that part of town.’ She grimaced. ‘He’s very polite, but . . .’

‘Yes, there’s always a but, isn’t there? We’ll get to the bottom of this, never fear.’

She put up her chin defiantly. ‘Better do it quickly, then. I’ve given Zachary a month, after which I’m telling everyone about our marriage.’

Dot, who was carrying some sheets the laundry had just delivered up the stairs to put them away, nearly dropped them as Pandora’s clear voice floated out to her through the half-open door.
Married! Her new mistress was already married to Zachary?
As the implications of this sank in, she shivered in delight. Oh, how she wished
she
could be the one to tell Harry. Then her smile faded. No, she didn’t. He’d be furious that his rival had stolen a march on him and would hit out in any way he could. Though how he thought a snirpy little fellow like him would attract a lovely young woman like Miss Blake, Dot couldn’t understand.

She carried on up the stairs, hugging the sheets to her chest. Eh, it couldn’t happen to a nicer fellow than Zachary Carr and she wished the two of them well, ’deed she did.

In the parlour Pandora suddenly remembered Leo. ‘About the money spent on rescuing Leo. My sisters and I fully approve of that. He was such a kind fellow and so good with horses. His face was badly bruised when he first came to us because he’d been shockingly beaten. And we couldn’t have managed without him on the journey.’

Ralph nodded, smiling benignly. ‘It’s your money, my dear lady, I just thought you’d like to know that the accounts are in order. You can see them if you wish.’

‘No, thank you. I trust Zachary absolutely.’

He trusted the young man, too, Ralph realised, and always had. ‘Then if that’s settled, we’ll move on to the other thing I came to discuss with you, money. I shall, if you approve, provide you with a valuation of all the assets your uncle left to the four of you, then help you work out ways to give your sisters at least part of their share. I presume you’re not intending to sell the shop? No, I thought not, given your husband’s great experience in that area. So once we’ve sorted Prebble out, we’ll discuss how to get the money to your sisters.’

‘Good.’

‘And finally, you’ll need some money for your own daily use. In addition, if you’ll tell me which shops you wish to patronise in Outham, I’ll open accounts there for you.’

He paused, amused by her startled expression. Remembering what he’d heard about the intelligent Blake sisters, he prompted, ‘The bookshop, perhaps? And a dressmaker? My sister suggested Miss Poulton’s. You’ll find her very polite and prompt, and I’m told she has an eye for what suits a client. As for groceries, just give Prebble lists of what you need from the shop or send Dot round and her purchases can be put on your account. Have you any idea how much money you’ll require for your personal daily needs?’

She shook her head. ‘I can’t imagine having enough money to do what I want. But you’re right. I shall be patronising the bookshop as well as the library. I think I’ll go out and buy a book this very afternoon, to celebrate. And I badly need some new clothes.’

He pulled out a small leather pouch and handed it over to her. ‘Mr Featherworth thought twenty pounds to begin with. Is that enough?’

He watched her eyes widen and saw her swallow hard before she clutched the pouch to her bosom. She didn’t say anything, seemed too stunned by it all to speak. ‘If it’s all right with you, we’ll continue to have Prebble pay the takings to us until things are settled, one way or the other.’

‘Oh, yes. I don’t want to deal with him. And whatever happens, whether you trap him or not, I won’t have him as manager.’

‘You won’t need him with Zachary Carr by your side.’ Ralph was amused by her blush. He took his leave, well satisfied with his day’s work. If anyone could figure out how to trap Prebble, it was Zachary, who had worked in the shop since he was a lad.

What was there about Prebble that made him feel so suspicious? He was hard-working, went to church regularly, spoke politely, and yet . . . He shook his head, baffled.

Zachary was at the shop on time the following morning, amused to see that the other shopmen had got there earlier than they used to and were already at work. Prebble would no doubt enjoy keeping them on their toes, squeezing extra hours of work out of them, he was sure, because he’d always treated the younger shop lads in the same way. Mr Blake had had to speak to him once or twice about it.

Zachary went through into the packing area, hanging his spare apron up on its old peg. He didn’t join the others in the shop to take the covers off, dust and set things out, but took the time to study the packing area. There were one or two small changes but he was pleased to see it had been kept as clean as ever. Harry’s voice made him turn round.

‘There you are! I’d like you to come in a bit earlier in future.’

‘Why?’

‘So that we can get the shop in perfect order before we open.’

‘We always managed that before without adding extra hours to an already long day.’

‘Well, I’m manager now and I do things a little differently.’

The shop’s bell rang and Harry darted across to peer through the narrow pane of glass in the door that led into the public area. ‘Mrs Butley’s cook. Go and see what she wants.’

Zachary found the tone rude, but said nothing. He knew and liked the cook, so was happy to attend to her.

In the shop the rosy-faced older woman beamed at him. ‘I heard you were back from foreign parts, Mr Carr.’

‘I am indeed, Mrs Jarrod. And what can I get for you this morning?’

‘My mistress has taken a fancy to a boiled egg for breakfast and I used the last one yesterday in a cake.’

He’d guess the general maid had seen him walking to work and the cook had been despatched to try to find out any gossip she could for her mistress.

He took her bowl and walked across to where the eggs were kept. ‘Half a dozen?’

‘Yes, please. What was Australia like?’

‘Very different from Outham. I saw kangaroos hopping about and parrots flying in the gardens. It was winter there and it rained very hard, but it never gets cold enough for frost or snow. In the summer it’s extremely hot, they tell me, and the air feels just as if you’d opened an oven door.’

‘Just fancy! Kangaroos. I’ve seen pictures of them at a lantern show. Strange creatures, aren’t they? But no use for meat or milk.’

He smiled. ‘I ate kangaroo meat several times and it was delicious. Quite a strong flavour and not fatty.’

‘I’d like to try it, I must admit. I – um, gather that only one of the sisters came back with you. Are the others coming later?’ She looked at him expectantly.

He didn’t intend to gossip about Pandora or her sisters, so all he said was, ‘That’s up to them.’

After she’d left there was a stream of customers for small purchases, many of them clearly there to talk to him. Word of his return had spread quickly, as news always did in Outham. He sometimes wondered if news wafted through the air.

‘You say very little about the other sisters,’ Harry said later as Zachary went to have his midday meal. ‘Why didn’t they come back?’

‘It’s not my business to discuss that.’ He looked down at the plate of food provided for him and lifted the top piece of bread from his sandwich. ‘That’s mainly gristle. I’ll go and get myself some ham scraps.’

Harry glared at him. ‘It’s up to me to decide what the staff eat. I’m not wasting the good stuff on them. That ham’s here to make a profit for the owners.’

‘Mr Blake believed his staff should be properly fed.’ Zachary went into the shop with his plate, finding plenty of trimmings of the sort that they sold off more cheaply and taking enough to refill his sandwich.

‘Did you hear what I said?’ Harry snapped as he came back in.

‘Yes. But you wouldn’t want me to eat gristle, I’m sure.’ He sat down and began on the sandwich, wishing the other would leave him in peace. This was ridiculously petty behaviour.

To Zachary’s relief, after hovering for a moment or two longer, Prebble went into the office, muttering something about having his dinner while things were quiet. He shut the door, something old Mr Blake would never have done, except when his wife was on the prowl.

Why had Harry done that? Was he hiding something in the office?

During the afternoon Zachary was getting some new wrapping paper down from the hall cupboards when the new door at the far end opened and Pandora came out of the living quarters.

They both stopped to smile at one another.

‘How are you?’ she asked.

‘I’m well. I must say
you
look a lot better.’

‘I feel it.’

Harry opened the door at the far end of the hallway. ‘Ah, Miss Blake! I thought I heard your voice.’ He frowned at Zachary. ‘They’re waiting for that wrapping paper in the shop, Carr. I’ll attend to Miss Blake.’

Zachary winked at Pandora and left them alone.

Immediately Pandora began to feel uneasy. Prebble came towards her and stopped right next to her, standing just a bit too close and eyeing her up and down in a way she detested.

‘How can I help you?’ he asked.

‘I don’t need any help. I’ve come to explore.’

‘Let me show you round.’

‘No, thank you. I can find my own way. I’ll ask if I want to know anything.’

‘I’m sure you’d find it more interesting if I was there to answer your questions straight away.’

She drew herself up. ‘Mr Prebble, I neither need nor want your company. You’re employed to run our shop, not fuss over me.’

She heard him suck in air, his mouth half-open in surprise, as if her sharp retort had taken him by surprise. He didn’t move for a moment or two, then he turned away from her. But he’d forgotten about the glass fronts to the cupboards and they reflected his face quite clearly from where she was standing. The expression she saw once his back was turned to her was vicious, there was no other word for it: vicious.

She didn’t move on after he’d gone back into the shop, but began to study her surroundings, which were quite new to her. The glass-fronted cupboards in the corridor contained various sorts of wrapping paper, big rolls of it, brown, white, waxed, and boxes of paper packets of various sizes and colours. There were other necessities like balls of string, pencils, labels and boxes of what looked like smaller office items.

When she’d seen all she wanted, she went into the packing area. Here a youth was weighing out rice into packets, folding the tops carefully and stacking them in neat rows. He stood up at once when he saw her.

‘Do sit down.’

‘Thank you, Miss Blake.’

‘Do you put these packets into the shop now?’

‘No, we stack them on the shelves here ready for when they’re needed. We do jobs like this in slack times.’

‘Don’t let me stop you working. I’m just having a look round.’

She began to move slowly along the shelves, studying their contents. Beyond the packing area was a big store room. She’d never seen flour and sugar in such huge sacks. There were wooden crates containing jars of jam, some of the modern tinned food, including even the novelty of tinned meat, though she’d heard it wasn’t very nice. Still, any hungry family would welcome it, she was sure.

In fact, Blakes supplied almost every necessity for feeding a household, though people usually bought fresh fruit and vegetables from the market or from a greengrocer.

She found steps that led down into a cellar so went carefully down these. Some daylight came in from a large barred window that led into a light well about two yards by one. A grating was set into the footpath above this. It was much cooler down here and she found butter, cheese and eggs, draped with dampened muslin to keep them fresh.

When she went upstairs, she tried another door and found herself in the office.

She distinctly heard the lad packing rice gasp in shock as she went inside. It was furnished with a roll-top desk, a comfortable chair, and shelves containing ledgers and boxes of papers. She sat down on the chair her uncle must have used, feeling sad all over again at his untimely end.

The door opened and Harry stopped in the doorway. ‘Oh! I thought you’d gone back into the house.’