Gypsy (15 page)

By the following morning they were out in the Atlantic and as the sea became rougher many people began to suffer from seasickness. Beth felt well, but knowing the sound of retching and the smell of vomit in the stuffy quarters were likely to make her ill too, she went up on deck.

It was very cold and windy, but after the constant noise of the ship’s engines and people shouting to one another over it below decks, it was good to have quiet and solitude. Beyond the railings which separated the steerage passengers’ small part of the deck from the remainder, a couple of stewards were exercising dogs, and one lone man in a heavy overcoat and a fur hat with ear-flaps was walking briskly up and down the deck.

Beth stood at the ship’s rail staring out at the huge expanse of empty grey sea before her stretching to infinity and smiled at the memory of the previous evening.

She had gone with Bridie and Maria into the family area to be introduced to some of the people they had come over from Ireland with. At first she had been repulsed because almost everyone was very shabby and rather dirty, and they all seemed to have so many children. They made her think of the Irish back in Liverpool who lived in such terrible squalor in the slum courts. Her parents had brought her up to think that the men were good-for-nothings, always drunk and fighting, and that their women bred like rabbits and neglected their offspring.

But she was soon to see that however poor these people were, and whatever conditions they’d lived in back in Ireland and Liverpool, they loved their children and wanted a better life for them. She found it impossible to remain aloof when she was greeted with such warmth and interest, and when all about her were such gaiety and optimism. One man with a beautiful tenor voice began to sing, and before long everyone was joining in. An old man got out his fiddle and two little girls were encouraged to show off their Irish dancing talents.

It turned into a real party when Sam and some of the other single men came in to join them. Drink was being passed around, but most were just drunk on sheer delight to be on their way to America. The fiddler broke into a jig and to Beth’s surprise Sam began the dancing by catching hold of Maria’s hands and urging her up on to her feet. Beth would have been content to sit and watch, but as others began to get up and dance, the jig became faster and soon her feet were tapping. When a young man with red hair and an even redder face held out his hand to her, she was only too happy to be his partner.

It was not the kind of sedate dancing she’d learned at school but an outpouring of excess energy and exuberance. As one tune ended, another man would claim her. It felt good to be twirled about with so much energy. Her partners had rough, callused hands, their hobnailed boots beat a tattoo on the wooden floor and sweat poured down their faces, but even if they were not the sort of men she’d always imagined would lead her at her first dance, she felt happy.

Later, back in the single women’s cabin, Beth lay in her canvas bed listening to the other girls whispering excitedly about the young men they’d met tonight, and she felt proud that her brother appeared to be the one they all admired most. She could still hear the sound of the old man’s fiddle ringing in her ears, such joyful, wild music, as if he was pouring every experience of his life into it. She had never heard the instrument played quite that way before, and she felt inspired to emulate him.

She put out her arm and groped around under her bed until her fingers met the worn black case with its peeling leather. Just touching it was enough. Her talisman for good fortune.

‘Huge, ain’t it?’

Beth was startled by the male voice behind her on the deck, and turned to see it was one of the lads she’d danced with fleetingly last night; she recognized him by the scar on his right cheek. It was the scar, which looked as if it had been made with a knife, that had made her wary of him. He was tall and whip-thin, the mop of black hair she remembered thinking needed a wash and a cut now hidden beneath a cap. Although he was probably a couple of years older than her, his shabby, too large jacket and moleskin trousers gave him the look of a young street urchin.

‘So huge you could get scared by it,’ she replied. ‘It makes me feel very small.’

‘They say it’s that cold if you fell in you’d die of shock in two minutes,’ he said.

‘That’s a cheerful thought!’ she said with some sarcasm. ‘Why don’t you try it? I’ll check if they’re right.’

He laughed. ‘You’ve got an acid tongue. Just like me ma.’

‘Is that why you’re going to America, to get away from her?’

‘In a way, s’pose I am,’ he said with a grin. ‘Not to mention Pa, with his drinkin’ an’ all. Why are you going?’

‘Same as most of us,’ she shrugged. ‘To seek my fortune; for the adventure.’

‘You’re Sam Bolton’s sister, ain’t yer?’ he said.

Beth nodded. ‘I’m Beth Bolton. And you?’

‘Jack Child,’ he said, and gingerly held out his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you.’

She shook his hand briefly. ‘Where are you from? That’s not an Irish or a Liverpool accent.’

‘Down south, from the East End of London. I came to Liverpool a year ago to get on a ship for America, but I had my money stolen and so I had to find work until I had enough to get another ticket.’

‘That was bad luck,’ she said, warming to him a little because he had soft brown eyes and an engaging, lopsided grin.

‘It’s made me more cagey,’ he said thoughtfully, leaning on the rail beside her. ‘But that’s a good thing. They say New York is full of rogues and they prey on us immigrants.’

‘Really?’

He nodded sagely. ‘A pal of mine went six months ago. He wrote and said men lie in wait outside the immigration hall looking for suckers to fleece. They offer to get you work and a place to live, but once you’ve handed over some money they scarper.’

Sam had told Beth that men down in the docks in Liverpool sold forged tickets for passages on ships that didn’t exist; they promised to take foreigners to hotels and then stole their luggage. She supposed such things went on everywhere in the world.

‘We’ll just have to be on our guard then.’ She shrugged.

‘You and Sam will make good,’ Jack said. ‘You’ve both got something about you.’

‘And what’s that?’ Beth asked, amused by the way he was studying her. By no stretch of the imagination was he handsome — he had a raw complexion and his features looked too big for his face. His accent, a mixture of London and Liverpool, sounded peculiar, yet there was something very likable about him.

He looked a bit sheepish. ‘Well, Sam, he’s ’andsome and got that cock-o’-the-walk way about him. You’re classy and beautiful.’

‘Well, thank you, Jack.’ She smiled. ‘I just hope when I go looking for work they think so too.’

They stayed at the rail talking for some time. Jack told her that while he’d been in Liverpool he’d worked for a carter and had lodged with a family in Leeds Street. ‘They was worse than me own,’ he laughed. ‘Rough as they come and always fighting and drinking. Glad to get out of there I was. But they took me in when I didn’t have a penny to me name, not many would do that.’

Beth in turn told him about her parents dying and how she’d left Molly behind. ‘You did the right thing by her,’ he said with a look of real understanding. ‘I was lookin’ at some of the folks down there last night with all their little ’uns and wonderin’ ’ow on earth they thinks they can get a start in New York. It’ll be hard to get a place to live, and if the men can’t get work straight off, how they gonna feed ’em?’ This same thought had been in Beth’s mind too. It was comforting rather than painful to imagine Molly toddling around the house at Falkner Square, adored by everyone. Her life would remain constant and secure and she would always have a warm, clean bed, good food and plenty of love. Beth thought that if she reminded herself of that each day, in time she might be able to be truly glad she gave her to the Langworthys.

The sea became even rougher in the late afternoon and as the ship bucked and rolled, more and more people became sick and took to their beds. For most of the day Beth had felt dutybound to help those affected, washing their faces, getting them drinks of water and emptying the vomit bowls, but as the evening progressed and the smell below decks began to make her feel queasy too, she put on her coat and went up on deck again for some fresh air.

It was freezing cold up there, and deserted, but she could hear an orchestra playing in the first-class saloon even above the noise of the wind and sea.

To hear the music better she walked right down the deck to the railing which kept the steerage passengers contained in their section, and seeing a lifejacket locker, she tucked herself into the side of it to get out of the wind and listen to the waltz music. In her imagination she was in a pale blue dress with a satin sash, being twirled around the floor by one of the ship’s officers.

She became so immersed in this happy little fantasy that she came out of her little shelter to dance alone. But a sudden burst of louder music and a pool of golden light spilling out on to the deck alerted her that someone had come out of the first-class saloon. She slunk back into her shelter when she saw a man in formal evening dress lighting a cigarette, but she couldn’t resist peeping out to look at him.

He was tall, slim and dark-haired, and although he was some forty yards from her, and the light poor, she thought he seemed jumpy, looking around him in a nervous manner.

A few minutes later the door opened again and a lady came out.

She was like a beacon in the dark because of the white fur stole around her shoulders, her blonde hair and light-coloured, shiny dress. As she raised her hand to greet the man, her bracelet twinkled brightly, suggesting it was diamonds.

The couple embraced, and Beth wondered why they would come out on to a freezing cold deck when they could have been dancing together in the warm saloon.

The reason became obvious when they began kissing frantically, for clearly they couldn’t do that in front of people. Beth thought it rather romantic and wondered if they were engaged and had given their chaperone the slip.

But the man was clearly concerned at them being caught, for even as he kissed the woman he was manoeuvring her down the deck towards Beth and the shelter of the lifeboat suspended there.

‘I daren’t stay more than a minute or two,’ the woman burst out breathlessly, her words carrying clearly on the wind. ‘He’s watching me like a hawk.’

‘You’ve got to leave him,’ the man said fiercely. ‘I want to kill him each time he paws you.’

Beth suddenly felt very uncomfortable at being a witness to this clandestine tryst. She wanted to move away, or at least cough so they knew they weren’t entirely alone, but it was too late, for the couple were only feet from her now, just the other side of the railing, so close she could smell the woman’s perfume.

Silence made her peep out again. They were kissing so passionately it made Beth blush. The woman’s back was to her, and the fur stole had slipped down from her shoulders, revealing the flesh on her shoulders and neck which was very white and smooth.

Their breathing was heavy, there was a rustling of clothes, and though Beth couldn’t be sure, she thought the man was touching the woman in an indecent manner.

‘I need more than this fumbling, Clarissa,’ he sighed. ‘I want to make love to you on a bed, to see you naked beneath me. Come to my cabin tonight.’

Beth was burning up with embarrassment now, but if she moved they would hear her and it would look as if she’d been purposely spying on them.

‘I’ll try,’ the woman replied. ‘I’ll slip Aggie one of my powders.’

There was more frantic kissing and fumbling, then Beth heard Clarissa say she really must go, and a second or two later she heard her heels tapping back along the deck.

The man remained where he was and Beth saw him light up another cigarette. As she was now frozen to the marrow she began to sidle away towards the door of the companionway. But in the darkness she didn’t see there was a small ledge in front of her and she tripped over it, falling down on to the deck.

‘Who’s there?’ the man barked out.

Beth knew without turning her head that he was just four or five feet behind her, looking straight at her as she lay sprawled on the deck, and that only the railing was preventing him coming over to her.

‘Get up and speak to me,’ he ordered her.

She was so used to doing what she was told that she didn’t even consider running away, and obeyed him.

‘How long have you been there?’ he asked.

‘A while. I came up because it’s so stuffy below.’

She couldn’t help but stare at him for he was so handsome, impeccably dressed and had such a cultured voice. She guessed he was in his mid-twenties.

Until that moment Sam had been the yardstick she measured men’s looks by, and she’d seen few as handsome as her brother. But Sam looked almost girlish in comparison to this man, for his hair was coal black and he had deep-set eyes, a proud nose and high cheekbones.

‘Are you in the habit of spying on other people?’ he said with a sneer.

‘Are you in the habit of being rude to people?’ she retorted with some indignation. ‘I was here first. You should have checked to make certain you were alone if you were intending to do something secret.’

‘You’re a cheeky minx,’ he replied, looking her up and down. ‘Will a florin buy your silence?’

Beth didn’t understand that question and just stared at him.

‘Five shillings?’ he said.

All at once she realized what he meant. Witnessing an adulterous meeting was shocking enough to her, but to be offered a bribe not to speak of it was insulting. ‘How dare you assume my silence can only be bought?’ she said indignantly. ‘I have no interest in you or your lady friend. It would have been quite sufficient just to ask that I didn’t tell anyone what I saw.’

He looked slightly chastened. ‘I apologize,’ he said. ‘It’s just that—’ He broke off lamely.

Beth felt bolder now. All day she’d been aware that the ship’s company cared little for the comfort or well-being of their poorer passengers, and having something over someone from first class made her feel she was evening up the score. She moved closer to him, right up to the railing. ‘That she’s another man’s wife?’