Homecoming Girls (13 page)

They woke at about eight thirty. Clara was up first, and yawning and stretching she wandered over to the window. ‘Jewel,’ she called. ‘Are you up?’

‘Mm, no, but I’m awake.’ Jewel’s voice was husky with sleep.

‘Well, it seems that people are on the move.’ Clara leaned forward to look down the main street. A snaking line of men, women and children and horse-drawn carts and waggons stretched as far as she could see. Many of them were already moving, waving their arms in farewell; some of the women were crying as they drove off alongside the creek towards the plain.

Jewel joined her and together they stood watching the
cavalcade. Most of the waggons contained families; few carried possessions, and those who did were taking chairs and bundles of what looked like clothing or linen. On top of one waggon was a grandfather clock.

‘Where do you think they’re going?’ she said.

‘I don’t know,’ Clara murmured. ‘Let’s get dressed and find out.’

There was a hubbub of activity when they arrived downstairs. Hotel guests were waiting in the hall with portmanteaux and trunks at their sides.

‘Are you leaving already?’ Clara asked one couple, who she knew had arrived only a few days before.

‘Sure are, lady,’ the man said. ‘Just waiting for the coach. We came for peace and quiet and maybe lookin’ for a place to live, but ah reckon we’ll come back next year and see how things have settled down. If they build a new town in Yeller, well, I guess we’ll reconsider, but right now the place reeks of smoke.’

‘It might be a good time to buy a plot,’ she suggested.

‘Not fer me,’ he said. ‘I’ll want to know it’s a safe town to live in.’

‘Like Dreumel,’Jewel chipped in. ‘It’s very safe here.’

‘I guess it is,’ he said. ‘But prices in Dreumel are higher than in Yeller, so we’ll wait.’

‘A mass exodus.’ James Crawford came towards them. ‘Good morning, ladies. I hope you’re rested after your long night.’

‘We are,’Jewel said. ‘Have you news of the missing couple?’

‘Not yet, but a trail has been seen above the tree line.’ He smiled. ‘I think we’ll find they are safe.’

‘How do you know?’ Clara asked.

He gave her an enigmatic glance in answer and shook his head before going behind his desk to attend to the departing guests.

Jewel and Clara stood on the steps of the hotel to watch the procession of what appeared to be the entire population of Yeller leaving town. Both felt tearful emotion and empathy
with the distress and loss which these homeless people must be enduring.

When they returned indoors, James Crawford, seeing their downcast expressions, ushered them into the breakfast room and told them that most of the families were going to stay with friends and relatives, some as far away as Philadelphia, but that the men would be returning to start rebuilding their homes and businesses; of those without anywhere to go, whole families would live in tents or with residents in Dreumel’s Creek who had offered to accommodate them.

‘Those who are staying are already clearing the area,’ he told them. ‘But although the storm was welcomed last night at the height of the fire, it’s left a quagmire, which is making the work difficult. What’s more, some of the buildings are still smoking and too hot to dismantle.’

As they were being served their breakfast, they heard voices in the reception hall and both rose to their feet as Kitty and Caitlin came through to join them. They all hugged and Jewel and Clara wept a little as they told the Allens how worried they had been when they had seen the fire from the window.

‘It was like being in a nightmare,’ Kitty said, sitting down at the table and accepting a cup of coffee. ‘Ted and I had just gone upstairs when we both heard ’crackling sounds and then explosions. We looked out and saw a sheet of flame engulfing the roof of a store opposite and then spreading to the one next door. Luckily we were still dressed and while Ted ran down to get ’fire buckets, I knocked on all ’bedroom doors, Robert and Caitlin first and then all the guests.’

She closed her eyes for a second as if still reliving the scene, and then continued, her voice weakening at the enormity of what had happened.

‘Ted has allus been particular about keeping our hotel safe. He says he saw enough fires when he was a lad to know you’ve got to have water handy; course those houses back home didn’t have dry timber like we have here, which catches fire in a minute.’

Clara nodded. Just as she had told James Crawford, she thought.

Caitlin took hold of her mother’s hand. ‘But we’re all right, Ma,’ she said softly. ‘And nobody has been hurt, which is a miracle when you think about it.’

‘Yes,’ Kitty agreed. ‘Except for that couple who’ve gone missing. Nobody seems to know where they are.’

Jewel and Clara glanced at each other. So how did James Crawford know about the trail above the tree line? Perhaps it was only a rumour, but they hoped not.

Kitty took a sip of coffee. ‘I’m sorry your last day has been spoilt,’ she said, ‘but Caitlin has come over to spend it with you. Ted and Robert said they’d try to come over later, but right now they’re busy helping to clear up the debris. Yeller is just a blackened mess, and we feel so lucky that we’ve escaped without any damage that we must do what we can for those who’ve lost everything.’

‘Ma’s set up the kitchen to provide food for everybody,’ Caitlin said. ‘The guests we were expecting at the hotel won’t be coming now, so some of the men will sleep at our place or else here in Dreumel.’

Jewel nodded and thought that the Allen family hadn’t completely escaped misfortune. Thanks to Ted’s foresight the hotel had avoided devastation, but for a while at least their business would be virtually non-existent. Who would want to stay in a fire-ravaged town? She glanced at Kitty and thought how tired she looked, as if she hadn’t slept all night. Which she probably hadn’t.

‘Could Clara and I stay and help, Aunt Kitty?’ she said quietly. ‘We don’t have to leave tomorrow. There’s no urgency at all.’

Kitty gave a wan smile. ‘Why, bless you both; it’s kind of you to offer, but no. Lots of women have stayed on to help; it’s ‘younger ones with little bairns who’ve left. The women here are strong; they’re used to a hard, primitive life. They can work alongside their menfolk in rebuilding their homes and cook a meal and wash their clothes at the
same time.’ She smiled. ‘They’ll not be set back by a bit of a fire.’

She kissed both girls goodbye and said she was going home to rest for an hour. ‘All of our guests have left,’ she said, ‘which is why we’re here. If you come back to Dreumel after your travels, we’ll meet again, but if not, then I hope it won’t be so long next time before you return.’

‘It won’t be,’ Jewel promised. ‘I haven’t any plans for after California. I realize now,’ she said slowly, ‘that we must take life as it comes.’

Clara swallowed. She would be going back to England, no matter what Jewel decided. This country, where everything was so much bigger and wider and higher than anything she had ever known, she had taken to her heart. But it wasn’t home.

‘Having heard so much about you, it’s been very nice to meet you, Mrs Allen,’ she said. ‘I do hope we’ll meet again.’

Kitty grasped her hand. ‘So do I,’ she said tearfully. ‘Take a look at Hull through my eyes, will you, Clara? Look at those mean streets where I once lived, and ’Market Place where I used to shop for my ma afore I went to work for Georgiana’s aunt. And Hull Fair,’ she said eagerly. ‘Does it still come every October?’

‘Oh, yes!’ Hot tears ran down Clara’s face. ‘Some things never change. I know the old streets very well. My mother—’

‘Of course,’ Kitty said softly. ‘She knew how it was. She wouldn’t forget.’

‘No.’ Clara shook her head. ‘She hasn’t. She says she never will.’

Kitty said her final goodbyes and the three girls stood on the porch and watched as she untethered her horse from the hitching rail and jumped lithely into the saddle before waving to them and riding off in the direction of Yeller.

‘How does she do that?’ Clara asked in admiration.

‘What?’ Caitlin asked. ‘Oh, you mean mount! She learned to ride when she first came out here. It’s second nature to her now. She’s a better rider than Da.’

Amazing, Clara thought. I must remember to tell my mother!

They sat down on the bench on the porch and Caitlin asked what they would like to do on their final day. Clara waited for Jewel to speak.

‘Well,’ Jewel said slowly. ‘This perhaps will sound very strange.’ She took a deep breath. ‘What I would like to do is visit the Chinaman.’

Caitlin turned to look at her. ‘Which? The one here in Dreumel, do you mean? Old Sun Wa? His son had the laundry in Yeller, but that’s burnt out. He’ll probably be living here now.’

Jewel shrugged. ‘Either of them. I don’t mind.’

‘Why do you want to see them?’ Caitlin frowned. ‘Do you need some medicine? There’s a doctor here in Dreumel.’

‘No. No, I don’t need medicine. I’d just like to talk to them.’ She glanced at Clara, knowing she didn’t have to explain to her, but she told Caitlin that she wanted to ask them something.

‘All right,’ Caitlin nodded. ‘I’ll take you. The store is just along the road. Do you want to go now?’

‘Please,’ she said. ‘Will you come, Clara?’

Clara hesitated. At some point Jewel would have to make her own decision about what she wanted to find out about her life. She would value her opinion, she knew, but it was unlikely that she would ask for Caitlin’s. The younger girl didn’t yet know of Jewel’s quest.

‘Do you mind if I don’t? You won’t be long, will you? I’d like to start packing a few things ready for tomorrow.’ She smiled. ‘And I’m sure that Caitlin would like to have you to herself for an hour or so.’

‘Sure would,’ Caitlin agreed. ‘There’s so much I want to ask you before you leave.’

‘All right,’Jewel said. ‘I’ll just go upstairs for my parasol.’

‘I’ll get it,’ Clara said, standing up. ‘I won’t be a moment.’

She hurried into the hall, almost bumping into James Crawford. ‘Sorry,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I was about to dash upstairs. Not very ladylike, am I?’ She laughed.

He looked down at her. ‘May I have a word with you at some time, Miss Newmarch?’ he said quietly.

‘Yes, of course. In five minutes if you like. Miss Dreumel is going out and I’m just fetching her parasol.’

She watched Jewel and Caitlin walk down the road, Jewel half hidden by her parasol and Caitlin’s red hair tossing and gleaming in the bright sunshine. The weather was not as hot today; the storm had cleared the air, leaving a freshness in place of the stifling heat of the day before.

When she turned to go inside, James Crawford was standing by the hotel door. He had his arms folded in front of him and he looked very serious. Glum, even. Perhaps he’s worried about the future of the Marius, she thought. When word got out about the fire, it was possible that people would avoid coming to Dreumel’s Creek as well as Yeller.

‘Is something worrying you, Mr Crawford?’ she asked. ‘You look rather anxious.’

He gave her a smile which didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘Not anxious, but a little melancholy.’

She nodded in sympathy. ‘Because of the people of Yeller who have lost their homes and businesses?’

‘That, yes, of course. But in this instance I have become low-spirited because special visitors to the hotel have come to the end of their stay and are taking their leave.’

Clara felt her cheeks flush. ‘We have enjoyed our stay,’ she said quietly. ‘Apart from last night,’ she added. She wondered what else he had to say as he ushered her into the hall and asked if she would come through to the office behind the reception desk as he had something to show her.

It was not a large room and most of the space was taken up with another desk and two chairs, but there was a very large window which looked out over the back of the hotel towards the mountains.

‘When Mr Dreumel built this hotel, he insisted that whoever used this room to work in must have plenty of light and a view of the mountain range,’ he explained, ‘rather than just the four walls.’

She nodded. Wilhelm was a most considerate man, but she was still left wondering what that had to do with her.

James Crawford put out his hand for her to come over to the window and when she did so she saw a telescope on the sill. He picked it up. ‘You have been curious how I knew about the missing couple.’

‘Yes, I was. So you saw them through this?’

‘No. I didn’t see them, but I saw a signal which told me they’d been found.’

‘Oh!’ She gave a puzzled frown. ‘From them?’

He shook his head. ‘From my brothers.’

Clara’s lips formed another
Oh
, and then realization cleared her head. ‘You mean – your—’

‘Yes.’ He gave her the telescope and with his left hand turned her to the window. ‘Look up to the tree line and then let your gaze search higher.’

She did as he suggested, conscious that his hand was still on her shoulder. ‘I can see the tree line,’ she said huskily, ‘but nothing else, just a dark forest of pines.’

‘Can you not see a small rocky area where there are no trees growing?’ His head was close to hers and she was aware that her breath had quickened, although she did not feel at all threatened by him.