Blue Smoke (36 page)

Many of the children were only babies, however, or toddlers. Disposable nappies were preferred, since washing and drying cloth nappies on board was impractical, and by the end of the third day the captain had had to issue an edict stating that disposable nappies were not to be tossed overboard as they were forming a trail all the way back to New Zealand.

Seasickness struck, but most passengers had found their sea legs by the fourth day, and that was when boredom began to set in. One evening, after dinner, it was discovered that Gail had left Jennifer in the cabin by herself and gone off. When the others had returned from the dining room, they found the toddler tied by one chubby wrist to her bunk, screaming herself blue in the face and wearing a reeking nappy and the grubby clothes she’d been in all day.

Marjorie rushed over immediately, untied the little girl and picked her up, crooning and rocking quietly until her shrieks had subsided to irregular, hiccupping sobs.

‘God, she pongs,’ Marjorie said, pulling a face. ‘Pass me a nappy, will you, Leila?’

By the time she had been cleaned up, changed and dressed in fresh clothes, Jennifer had recovered somewhat. She could only speak a few words, and one of these was ‘Mummy’. She kept intoning this over and over until the other women thought their hearts might break.

‘Where the hell is she?’ Sally asked angrily. ‘Was she at dinner, did anyone see?’

Nobody had, and the hunt began.

While Leila stayed in the cabin to look after the children, Sally and Marjorie began a thorough search of every part of the ship in which they thought Gail might be holed up — except for the prohibited crew’s quarters, although they both agreed that flat on
her back on some sailor’s bunk was the most likely place for her to be.

Bonnie went up on deck and prowled around in all the dark corners, peering behind the huge funnels and beneath badly lit stairwells. It really wasn’t on, she thought angrily, leaving your baby to scream her head off alone while you were out gallivanting about, not on at all. Of course, they might all be seriously mistaken and find that Gail had been unavoidably detained in the toilet for the last three hours because of a dodgy stomach, or something similarly unfortunate, but she doubted it.

She especially doubted it as she spied one of Gail’s high-heeled shoes dangling over the side of a lifeboat. The shoe had a foot in it, attached to a slim leg which disappeared under a tarpaulin loosely covering the boat. The boat itself was swinging slightly on its thick chains, as whoever was in it moved rhythmically up and down. Or perhaps it was from side to side; Bonnie couldn’t tell from where she was standing. She felt like giving the heaving hump under the tarpaulin a good kick, but instead she turned on her heel and went straight back to the cabin.

When Gail finally put in an appearance several hours later, everyone else was in bed, although the lights in the cabin were still on. Jennifer was tucked up in her own bunk, fast asleep and surrounded by the other children’s toys to keep her company.

Sally snapped, ‘Enjoy your night out, did you?’

Gail sat down and lit a cigarette. ‘I did, actually.’

‘Seaman or an officer?’

‘Oh, an officer. I always aim high.’

Bonnie snorted in disgust. ‘We don’t care what you get up to, but how could you leave Jennifer on her own like that?’

Gail shrugged. ‘Easily. I don’t really give a bugger.’

The others looked on, stunned and speechless.

‘Well, it’s true! She was an accident, a mistake, but her father was
stupid enough to marry me so I’m entitled to American citizenship now, and
that
means I can work in Hollywood.’

‘What as?’ Bonnie retorted, but Gail ignored her.

Leila finally found her tongue. ‘But what about Jennifer? What will happen to her, the poor little thing?’

‘Poor little Jennifer will be going to her father. He dotes on her. Sends her a letter every week without fail, toys, clothes, you name it. So don’t worry, she’ll be okay. And let’s face it, girls, she’ll be far better off with him than she ever would be with me,’ Gail added with unexpected frankness. ‘I just wasn’t cut out for motherhood.’

This was so patently obvious that no one bothered to refute her.

‘Has anyone ever told you you’re a cold, calculating bitch?’ Marjorie asked.

‘Several times, but at least I’m an honest one.’

Leila asked indignantly, ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Well, look at you lot, for a start. You’ve all married your American Prince Charmings after five-minute whirlwind romances, and in exchange for sex and a marriage certificate you’re now off to the promised land for a life of mod cons and big cars and lovely palatial homes. What’s that if not dishonest? At least I’m straight up about what I do.’

There was a collective gasp of outrage.

‘You nasty, mean-spirited cow!’ Leila spat. She climbed out of her bunk and sat down beside Daisy, who was awake now and beginning to whimper at the mounting tension. ‘I married Jake because I love him. His family owning land has nothing to do with it at all.’

‘Are you sure about that, sweetheart? Where did you say he comes from? Oklahoma? There aren’t too many nice big prosperous farms out that way, I can assure you, so I sincerely hope in your case that love can conquer all.’

‘How the hell would you know what’s in Oklahoma?’

‘Because I talk to people, a lot, and I listen, and if there’s one time a man’s going to tell you the truth, girl, it’s right after you’ve just given him a great time. The streets of America aren’t paved with gold, unless you make it yourself. And just about none of those boys who came over to New Zealand had any of that gold, because if they did, they would have used it to buy themselves out of the military.’

‘Look, Gail,’ Sally said, getting angrily out of bed herself, ‘what exactly are you trying to say?’

‘I’m
saying
that you’re having yourselves on if you think everything’s going to be rosy when you get to wherever it is you’re all going. How long did you know these husbands of yours before you married them? How much of what they told you do you
really
think was the truth, eh? You know, when they were swanning about all over Auckland in their smart uniforms with bags of money and hero written across their foreheads in capital letters, but deep down terrified about where they were heading next and wanting nothing more than a good time with a pretty girl? You don’t think they might just have said things to you that weren’t quite true?’

‘So what?’ Marjorie shot back. ‘I’m not interested in money. Or property.’

‘You will be when you find out he expects you to live in a disgusting little basement room in some slum somewhere.’

‘Are you trying to tell us we’ve all been had on?’ Bonnie demanded. ‘I can’t believe you can be so cynical. What about
your
husband?’

‘Believe me, sweetheart, he’s the one who got the rough end of the stick, and we both know that already. But he’ll get Jennifer, and I’ll get my ticket to fame and fortune, so who’s really lost out? No one, right? It was a deal. Admittedly, he didn’t quite know all the details when he said he’d marry me, but it was still a deal. What are you girls getting if it turns out you
have
been led up the garden
path? Bugger all, I’d say, except your ticket home, which you have to pay for yourself any way.’

Leila glanced at Bonnie and they shook their heads. What a strange and bitter girl Gail was, and what a lot of rubbish she was spouting.

Sally said, ‘Yes, well, you’re entitled to your own opinion, although I for one don’t care about your view of the world. What I do care about is Jennifer. If you leave her on her own again I’m reporting you to the Red Cross people
and
the captain.’

‘Mmm,’ Gail said, frowning. ‘That’s a pity, because I’m probably going to be quite busy for the rest of the trip.’ She looked at Sally contemplatively. ‘Look, if you care so much about Jennifer, why don’t you look after her?’

Sally opened her mouth to protest at the absolute cheek of the idea, then shut it again. She exchanged glances with Marjorie, Bonnie and Leila, then said, ‘All right, I will. We all will, if it means that Jennifer gets the care she deserves. On one condition.’

‘What’s that?’ Gail replied as she retrieved a file from her handbag and began to shape her long painted nails.

‘That one of us is there when you hand her over to your husband. I for one won’t be able to live with myself if I’m not satisfied she’s going to be well looked after. It isn’t fair; she’s only eighteen months old, for God’s sake. Is that all right, girls?’

Everyone else nodded. Daisy pulled Ginny out from under the blankets and made her nod her little furry head, even though she had no idea what the grown-ups were talking about.

‘Oh, well, that should be a piece of cake — he’s meeting me as soon as the ship docks. Okay, ladies, it’s a deal.’ Gail smiled. ‘I like a good deal.’

N
aturally, Ginny escaped from cabin 46, and ran amok through out the ship. She wandered out after Marjorie left the cabin door open on her way to the toilet, and as soon as Daisy noticed that the kitten had disappeared she became inconsolable.

A search party was assembled and sent out in all directions, but to no avail — Ginny was nowhere to be found. Then the reports of sightings began to come in: children in the nursery that morning had been transported with glee as a small fluffy creature had been spotted playing among the soft toys before tearing off again; something unmentionable had been discovered on the carpeted floor of the A deck corridor; and the head chef had very nearly gone berserk when he’d glimpsed what he insisted was a very cheeky-looking small grey rat loitering about in the ship’s galley.

Daisy was informed of these sightings — to help her to feel better, as she had convinced herself that Ginny had fallen overboard — and it was then that she came up with the most sensible idea anybody had had so far.

‘Woolley can find her.’

Leila looked doubtful. ‘Sweetie, how would he know where Ginny is?’

‘’Cause he owns the ship.’

Leila suspected, as Daisy had assumed, that First Purser Woolley probably did know just about everything that went on above and below decks.

‘Well, I suppose we can ask. Come on then, let’s go for a walk.’

So off they went, hand in hand, along the corridor and down onto the deck where the staff had their offices.

Leila knocked on the door marked ‘First, Second, Third and Assistant Pursers’, and pushed it open as a voice from within invited entry.

First Purser Woolley was seated at his desk, in front of a large stack of papers.

‘Ah, Mrs and Miss Kelly, what can I do for you?’ he asked, carefully replacing the cap on his fountain pen.

‘Ginny’s run away!’ Daisy blurted.

‘Ginny? One of the children, perhaps?’

‘Er, no, actually,’ Leila replied sheepishly. ‘The kitten.’

‘Oh, yes, the kitten. The one that wasn’t in the wicker box.’

Leila blushed, but only slightly this time. ‘It’s Daisy’s kitten, and she’s very upset about her going missing. We were wondering if you could help us find her?’

‘This wouldn’t be the kitten that has recently been sighted in, let me see …’ He consulted a sheet of paper on his desk. ‘Yes, the nursery, the galley, twenty minutes ago in the dining room, in the corridor outside the engine room, and, well, there’s no need to mention that particular little matter.’

‘That’s her!’ Daisy exclaimed. ‘She’s very naughty!’

First Purser Woolley looked at Daisy over his spectacles, and smiled kindly. ‘Unfortunately, I don’t know where she is at this instant, but I expect I can find out. Why don’t you take your mother back to your cabin and wait there? I’m sure we’ll have good news for you soon. A kitten shouldn’t be too hard to find.’

Under her breath Leila mumbled, ‘I wouldn’t bet on that,’ but she smiled brightly. ‘What a good idea, that’s exactly what we’ll do, and thank you so much for your help. It’s most appreciated.’

‘Yeah, ta, Woolley!’ Daisy added.

First Purser Woolley lowered his head to hide his smile, then rummaged in his drawer and withdrew a handful of wrapped toffees. ‘I keep these especially for young ladies who have temporarily misplaced their kittens. I’m told they help.’

As they rose to leave, he said quietly to Leila, ‘You do understand that animals are not permitted to wander about the ship? They should be caged in the hold at the very least. Running about, they are a danger to themselves and to others.’

‘Er, yes, I do understand that. Sorry.’

‘On the other hand, I gather this kitten of Miss Daisy’s is very small. When it’s returned to her, please make sure the creature remains within sight of someone, ah,
responsible
, let us say.’

‘Oh, of course. Yes, I’ll certainly see to that. Thank you.’

Daisy was still chewing enthusiastically as they arrived back at their cabin.

‘No news?’ Leila asked as she flopped onto her bunk.

Bonnie shook her head. ‘Sorry, not yet.’

‘We spoke to Woolley, and he said he’ll keep an eye out.’ Leila lowered her voice. ‘God, I hope she turns up soon, those toffees he gave Daisy are only going to last so long.’

As it happened, Ginny was delivered back to cabin 46 by the first purser himself, standing to attention and holding a silver serving platter with a domed lid.

‘Miss Daisy Kelly, I believe that this is your order?’ he announced rather grandly.

‘No. Mum, what’s a order?’

‘I think it
is
your order, Miss Daisy,’ he repeated and handed her the tray.

She removed the lid and shrieked with joy. ‘
Ginny
! Mummy, it’s Ginny in a dish!’

Ginny stretched, stepped off the tray, climbed up Daisy’s chest and settled in the crook of her neck. Daisy gave Woolley’s smartly trousered leg a big, heartfelt hug. In response he reached down and patted her head, and allowed himself to smile openly this time.

‘All part of the service, Miss Daisy, all part of the service.’

The
Robert E. Lee
docked at Manhattan on the Hudson River on an afternoon in the third week of April.

The Statue of Liberty, on an island all by itself in the bay, had been a bit of a disappointment because it turned out to be green, and not the defiant burnished bronze the war brides had been expecting, but the imposing and truly spectacular skyline of New York city made up for it. The weather was pleasant and springlike, and the girls from cabin 46 carried their coats over their arms as they stood on the dock, wondering where to go next.

Sally, whose husband could not meet her, had sent her the money for the rail fare to Philadelphia, but Bonnie had suggested during the voyage that she hitch a ride with herself and Danny, who would be waiting when the ship docked. Leila and Daisy were to stop off in Philadelphia too, before they boarded the train that would take them to Harper County, Oklahoma.

But Danny was nowhere to be seen, and there was also the matter of the rendezvous involving Jennifer and her father to be sorted out. Gail had dressed the toddler in a very charming little outfit of pink and white lace, and she looked irresistible, but they were all worried — Gail perhaps more than anyone — that he would not appear to collect her.

‘Where
is
Danny?’ Leila asked, giving voice to the question that had been on Bonnie’s mind for the past half-hour as they milled
about the crowded immigration hall.

‘I don’t know,’ Bonnie said, the slightest hint of panic in her voice. ‘He said he would definitely be here.’

Gail looked at her, but wisely kept her mouth shut. She couldn’t have cared less whether Bonnie’s fiancé turned up or not, as long as her husband did, and took Jennifer off her hands.

There was a minute’s uncomfortable silence as the others contemplated the awful possibility that Danny might not appear at all, leaving Bonnie high, dry and jilted thousands of miles from home, when suddenly there was a commotion near the wide glass entrance doors.

Hurrying towards them across the marbled floor came what appeared to be a huge bunch of red roses on legs. The roses were lowered and suddenly there was Danny, looking completely different without his Marine’s uniform, but with the same wide, happy smile.

He thrust the roses at Bonnie and almost put her eye out, then picked her up and swung her around so that her handbag flew out and her hat nearly came off.

‘Bonnie, Bonnie,
Bonnie
!’ he crowed. ‘I was so worried you might have changed your mind!’

Bonnie laughed in delight, and rescued her hat as he set her back on her feet. ‘How very odd,’ she said, ‘I was thinking just the same thing myself.’

‘I’m so sorry, I couldn’t find anywhere close to park the car. Did you think I wasn’t coming? Oh, my poor, poor darling, I’m so sorry,’ and he gathered her in another huge hug.

‘Hello, Danny,’ Leila said when he finally let Bonnie go.

‘Hello, Leila, you’re looking great. And, oh my gosh, this isn’t Daisy, is it? What a gorgeous little lady!’

‘Yes, this is Daisy. Ah, Jake isn’t here, is he?’

‘Jake? No, why, did he say he would be?’

‘Oh, no, I just thought he might have, well, that you might perhaps have heard from him lately.’

Danny looked a little uncomfortable. ‘I’m sorry, Leila, but I haven’t seen Jake since we were demobbed last year.’

Leila was a little taken aback; for some reason she’d thought that Jake and Danny would have maintained their firm friendship after the war ended.

‘But don’t worry,’ Danny insisted. ‘He’ll be waiting for you in Harper County, if that’s what he said he’d do. He’s a good man, Jake.’

Leila nodded, and turned her attention to Gail, who was eyeing up Danny in his smart and obviously expensive suit, hat and stylish city shoes. She curled her lip ever so slightly, and Gail scowled back.

Holding her huge bunch of roses awkwardly, Bonnie introduced Sally and Marjorie, and explained that Sally needed a ride to Philadelphia. Then she added, ‘And this is Gail Spano and her daughter Jennifer. Jennifer’s father is collecting her while Gail, well, Gail’s not stopping.’

Danny raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

‘So, now that we’ve found you, all we have to do is find Jennifer’s father. Isn’t that right, Gail?’ Bonnie added somewhat aggressively.

It was clear to Danny that something was going on here, but he wisely decided it would be best to remain ignorant.

‘I don’t know exactly what time he’ll be here,’ Gail said calmly. ‘Only that he said he’d meet me in the immigration hall on the afternoon the ship arrived.’

‘What does he look like?’ Marjorie asked.

‘Tall, dark and handsome.’

Leila looked at Gail for indications of sarcasm, but she seemed genuine.

Eventually, after they’d all had their first cups of American coffee and a doughnut each, and Daisy had had a hotdog and slopped
ketchup down the front of her frock, Gail announced, ‘Here he is.’

Anthony Spano
was
tall, dark and, if not devastatingly handsome, then at least really rather pleasant-looking, and clearly of Italian heritage. The girls noted that he too was smartly dressed, in a dark three-piece suit and a charcoal trilby. He approached the table with his hat in his hands, and stood staring at Jennifer. His face was pinched, and there was tension in the way he held himself.

He nodded at the others politely and said curtly to Gail, ‘Have you sorted her things out?’

‘Yes, don’t worry, you won’t have to wait around.’

She selected the smaller of her two cases and pushed it across the floor towards him. He ignored it and moved around to where Jennifer was sitting on Gail’s knee.

He bent down. ‘Hello, honey,’ he said in a gentle voice that held a hint of tears. ‘I’m your daddy, and we’re going home.’

Jennifer reached out and bopped him on the nose with a small fist, smiling happily. He picked her up, sat her on his hip and kissed the top of her dark head.

‘Shall we go?’ he asked her. ‘Your grandparents have been waiting to meet you for a very long time. And so have I.’ Then he reached into his jacket pocket, extracted an envelope and handed it to Gail. ‘Here’s your money. The divorce papers are in there too. Please sign them and return them to my lawyer as per the instructions.’

Gail nodded and stood up. ‘Good, I will. Well, ta-ta, girls, nice to have met you.’

She picked up her case and walked off, her heels clacking on the polished floor and her hips swaying pertly from side to side.

Jennifer watched her go for a moment, then suddenly burst into tears, shrieking hysterically, ‘Mummy,
Mummy
!’ and reaching out with chubby arms.

Gail didn’t look back.

Anthony pulled his daughter’s little body against him and rocked
and soothed and patted. ‘Ssshh, ssshh, don’t cry, baby, it’s all right, it’s all right.’

He looked at the women helplessly. ‘I’m so sorry about all this,’ he said. ‘I really am.’

‘God, so are we, believe me,’ Bonnie replied. ‘If there’s anything we can do …’

‘Thanks, but my mother knows all about kids — she’s had seven of her own. We’ll be fine.’

He turned to leave but Leila, her eyes bright with tears, put a hand on his arm to stop him. ‘May I have your phone number? We’d like to know how she’s getting on. We’ve all become very fond of her during the trip over.’

‘Of course,’ Anthony replied, and handed Leila a card. ‘This is my work number. Call whenever you like. Perhaps you could come by and visit some time? Bring your little girl, too.’

‘Oh, no, thank you, but we’re heading for Oklahoma in a few days, so we won’t have the chance.’

‘Could I possibly get in touch with you, then? Just to let you know.’

‘Er, I’m sorry, but my husband doesn’t have the telephone on.’

Anthony Spano looked disappointed, but not, Bonnie suspected, because of the lack of telecommunications at Leila’s future address. It was the mention of her husband that had caused his face to fall.

Leila blushed slightly. ‘But thank you any way.’

She waved through the window as the train pulled away from the platform. Daisy was crying again, but quietly this time, huddled into the corner of the seat holding Ginny in her box on her knee. It was so hard on the children, Leila thought, all this travelling about, but they would be there soon, and Daisy would at last meet her father.

They had thoroughly enjoyed their four days in Philadelphia. She and Bonnie had both gasped as Danny had driven up a circular, shrub-lined driveway and parked his car — a big Lincoln Continental coupe that looked as if it had come straight out of the movies — in front of a very grand, two-storeyed house in one of the city’s obviously more affluent suburbs. It was his family’s home, he’d explained, and he and Bonnie would be staying there until they were married, if that was all right with her. In separate rooms, of course. His parents were quite modern, but not that modern.

His mother had been busy making wedding plans since before Christmas, so he sincerely hoped that Bonnie had not changed her mind. No, she hadn’t, she assured him, but she’d rather thought she might have quite enjoyed planning her wedding herself.