Beyond the Sunset (15 page)

‘Apparently not. It’s a good day’s ride south. You’ll have to seek other help than mine to find it, but this is a start and if she’s still working there, she’s bound to know where her sisters are. Apparently maidservants change employment rather frequently here, or leave to get married.’

‘Thank you. I’m extremely grateful for your help. It’ll be best to start with the eldest sister, I’m sure. What about a passage back? Did you manage to find out what ships are expected?’

‘Bit difficult, that. The
Clara
is going on to Madras next, not back to England, as you know, and there aren’t any other ships known to be coming to Fremantle until the end of the year.’

Zachary looked at him in dismay.
‘But that’s several months away!’

‘I’m afraid so. Your best bet for a speedy return would be the mail ship that’s due to call at King George Sound next month, the SS
Bombay.
It’s due to arrive around May 1st, give or take a day. Even that makes rather a tight schedule for you.’

‘I thought the mail ships stopped at somewhere called Albany in the south of the colony.’

‘Same place. The town is Albany, the harbour is King George Sound. It’s deep water and well protected. The Governor says you can send a message under his patronage on the coastal steamer that plies between here and Albany to book cabins for yourself and the four sisters. Then you can all take the next steamer down to Albany.’

‘If I’ve found all of them by then.’

‘Yes. And no one can guarantee whether they’ll have any free cabins on the SS
Bombay
. I think you should accept this offer of help, though, and do your best to get to Albany in time. If you write a letter booking passages, I’ll see it gets to the Governor and he’ll send it on the coastal steamer with the official mail.’

Zachary was feeling rather overwhelmed. ‘It sounds as if I’ll have my work cut out to find the sisters and get them to Albany in time.’

‘What other choice do you have? But there will be another mail ship two months after that, at least.’

Realising from the Captain’s expression that he’d given as much time as he could spare, Zachary thanked him for his help and left. He wrote the letter booking passages then got himself and his baggage off the ship. He had little trouble with the customs and health checks, thanks to the doctor’s help, then paid two shillings and sixpence to go up the Swan River on a small steamer to the city of Perth.

What he found there shocked him to the core. He already knew it was quite a small city, considering it was the capital of a British colony, but he hadn’t expected it to look so . . .
unfinished
was the word that came to mind. Most of the streets weren’t even paved and the loose sand underfoot made for slow and uncomfortable walking. This gave him time to study the irregular assortment of buildings that lined the streets and note how many blocks of land were left empty between them.

He found a small hotel and as it was getting dark by then, decided to wait until the following morning to make inquiries about getting to the address the Governor had given him.

As he was being shown to a table for his evening meal, he stiffened. Surely that was . . . It
was
! The man who’d taken Leo away was sitting in the far corner, fortunately with his back to the room. Leo wasn’t with him. Sayrson didn’t turn round, so Zachary hurried to his own table and sat with his back to the others, hoping not to be recognised.

Fortunately Sayrson had such a loud voice that his conversation carried clearly across the room.

‘Got myself a new helper, an idiot but strong. I’ll be sending him out to the country tomorrow. He’s a bit reluctant to work, but he’s as frightened of being beaten as the next person.’

His companion laughed.

Zachary froze.
Beaten?
He couldn’t bear the thought of gentle Leo being ill-treated.

There was the sound of chairs being pushed back and the two men said their farewells. Zachary kept his head turned away but was able to watch their reflections in the window as they left the room. He then saw them walk past outside and go their separate ways, so beckoned to the waiter and slipped him a coin.

‘The gentleman who was sitting in the corner, a Mr Sayrson, do you know where he lives?’

The waiter shook his head. ‘Sorry, sir. He’s a stranger to me, just came in for a meal with the other gentleman.’

‘I’ll see if I can catch up with him. I’ll be back shortly. Keep my table.’

Zachary hurried outside but Sayrson had vanished from sight. He walked along the street a little way, but couldn’t see him and there was nothing he could do to find the man in a strange city after dark, so returned to his meal.

Before he went to bed he asked the obliging waiter how he could set about tracing Sayrson.

‘If he doesn’t live in Perth, you could try the livery stables, sir. He’d have left his horse at one of them.’

That night Zachary lay in bed staring into the darkness, unable to get the word ‘beaten’ out of his mind, feeling as if he’d let Leo down badly.

He didn’t manage to get to sleep until he’d decided to take an extra day in Perth to look for the poor lad. What he’d do if he did find him, he didn’t know, but he couldn’t leave Leo to be beaten and ill-treated by such a brute.

That meant postponing the business which had brought him here and he felt guilty about that, given the time constraints. But sometimes you simply had to do what was right. His father had taught him that.
Be proud of what you do in life, however humble your station,
he’d always told Zachary.

Alice finished doing the inventory for Mr Featherworth and since she found time hanging heavily on her hands in the evenings, she decided to see if Dot would like to learn to read and write more fluently.

Dot stared at her when she made the offer. ‘Teach me to read ’n’ write proper, you mean?’

‘Yes. Would you like that?’

‘I s’pose so. I’m not very clever, though. Mr Prebble says I’m stupid.’

‘Well, he’s wrong. You’re not at all stupid.’

‘What about my housework, miss?’

‘It’ll still be there the next day if you don’t finish it one day.’ Since the young maid was still frowning, she said gently, ‘Times are changing and people need to be able to read properly nowadays. It’ll stand you in good stead for the rest of your life.’

Dot shrugged. ‘Well, if you say so, miss, I don’t mind giving it a try.’

It was a different matter when Alice started reading a story aloud. Wide-eyed, the girl forgot her diffidence, leaned her elbows on the table and listened raptly.

When Alice came to the end of the story, Dot sighed happily. ‘I used to like it when my gran told me stories. She knew dozens of them. Fair take you out of yourself, stories do. I’d forgot that.’

‘Then we must make sure you can read them for yourself from now on. There’s a free lending library in town, you know.’

From then on the young maid soaked up the new knowledge like a thirsty sponge and the lessons were a pleasure for both of them.

Since it’d be months before the new owners of the shop could return from Australia, Alice also volunteered to help with the reading classes being offered to those still without work. There were some for men who weren’t strong enough to break stones, as well as for the young women.

She felt nervous at first because these were grown men, but soon forgot that because she felt so sorry for them. They were gaunt, their clothes were ragged and hunger was written on their faces. They might not be actually starving, thanks to the various charities in the town, but they obviously weren’t eating properly.

Some of them surprised her, displaying a hunger of a different sort – for knowledge. They soaked it up in a way that put the spoiled children of the rich whom she’d taught before to shame. These people wanted to understand their world, to learn what life was like in other places, to follow the path of the war in America that had taken so much away from the people of Lancashire. She helped them read the newspaper and they were all glad that the war seemed to be coming to an end, though if the Union forces from the North won, what would happen about supplies of cotton from the South, without slaves to produce it, was anyone’s guess.

Those who weren’t really interested in learning, who were at the classes merely to earn their food and relief money, gave her no trouble. They seemed content just to be in the warmth of the Methodist Chapel Hall and to sit quietly.

Alice had only one worry now, but it was a major one and kept her awake sometimes: what was she going to do when the Blake sisters returned? She had made friends in Outham, as well as having her closest remaining relative there. She desperately wanted to stay in the town, hated the thought of returning to the lonely life of a governess.

As Friday approached, Hallie couldn’t sleep for worrying about Harry’s visit. When the doorknocker went she had to answer it because her mother had nipped next door to see the neighbours about something.

She opened it and stared at him, telling herself he was smaller than she was and he couldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want.

‘Mother not answering the door tonight?’ he mocked.

She nearly said her mother was next door, but stopped herself just in time. ‘She’s within earshot,’ she said.

‘Then you’d better kiss me quietly,’ he said.

‘I’m not kissing you.’

‘Don’t you care about your mother’s safety?’

She stared at him, feeling sick.

‘It could be a knife in the stomach next time.’ He grabbed her arm. ‘Now I’ll have that kiss.’

And heaven help her, she didn’t dare pull away when he yanked her head down and gave her a brutal kiss.

‘Nice soft lips you’ve got,’ he said in a throaty voice. ‘I wonder if the rest of you is as soft.’

He thrust an envelope into her hand and walked away laughing.

She couldn’t move for a moment or two, feeling sick, shuddering. When she looked up a man was staring at her from across the street. She felt her face burn with shame and whisked inside the house.

She didn’t even dare let herself cry, because her mother would want to know why.

The following morning, Zachary walked round Perth, armed with a list of the main livery stables drawn up by the helpful waiter. He tried to explore the streets systematically, but lost his way several times. He kept an eye on the most imposing building, using it as a marker. It was a large church, which he was told was the Roman Catholic cathedral. The Governor’s residence was small and shabby in comparison.

At midday, not feeling optimistic about his chances of finding Leo, because he’d drawn a blank so far, he went up to a small bluff to look down at the city and try to work out some other strategy for his search. Below him lay Perth Water, a wide expanse of river with one or two small boats moving slowly across. It had been peaceful when he arrived yesterday, but the wind was getting up and its surface was now grey and choppy.

As he began to make his way back into the town, it started to rain and he slowed down, turning up his overcoat collar and wishing he had an umbrella.

At the next livery stables he tried, he saw Sayrson coming out. He stopped moving in shock, because he had just about lost hope of finding the man. Then he gathered his wits together and stepped off the pavement to stand under a very large tree, waiting there until the fellow had moved in the opposite direction.

Sayrson didn’t notice him because he was hurrying as if to get out of the rain.

Zachary left his hiding place, intending to follow Sayrson but as he passed the garden to one side of the livery stables he heard someone sobbing from a shed-like building made of wood. One side of this formed part of the garden wall, so he clearly heard a man sobbing, his voice low and desperate.

Something about it seemed familiar and he stopped to listen. Was it – could that possibly be Leo?

He hesitated. He might lose his main chance if he went to investigate and let Sayrson get away. After all, he wasn’t sure it was Leo. But it was definitely someone in great distress and that decided him.

The gate was only latched so he lifted the little iron bar quietly and entered the ill-tended garden. There was no one around to stop him and no windows looked out on to this area from the main stable block. He went towards the shed and listened again at the door. The person was still sobbing, but more quietly now.

There was a small window in the shed wall, but it was dirty and too high up to look through. The door was fastened by a bolt on the outside but the padlock on this was hanging open. After a quick glance round, Zachary drew the bolt back quietly and opened the door.

The man sitting in one corner cringed backwards, putting up one arm as if to ward off a blow. His face was bruised and swollen, but he was still easily recognisable.

When Leo saw who it was, he opened his mouth to call out.

‘Shh!’

Leo didn’t speak but he mouthed the word ‘Zachary’ and his eyes lit up with hope.

He was shackled by his left leg to the wall. It was a contraption more suited to a slave master of old than a civilised man and it outraged Zachary that anyone would treat another person like this.

‘Have you come to take me back to the ship?’ Leo asked hopefully.

‘We need to get that chain off you before I can take you anywhere.’

‘I’ve tried and I can’t. That bad man has the key on his watch chain.’

Zachary studied the shackle, which was attached to a wooden post by a giant staple of rusty iron. Looking round, he saw a spade in the other corner. ‘Turn your head away.’ He used the corner of the spade to chop at the rotting wood and lever out the staple. His heart was thumping with anxiety the whole time in case Sayrson returned or someone else heard the noise and came to investigate.

It took a minute or two’s hard work to loosen the staple and lever it out. There was no way he could cut the chain off Leo’s ankle, so he picked it up and pulled the lad to his feet, shoving the end of the chain into his hand. ‘Come on. Keep hold of that and put my overcoat over your arm to hide it.’