The Sea Shell Girl (4 page)

‘You mean you'll have to make the journey each month?' her mother asked, looking worried.

Merry's heart leaped at the thought and she nodded excitedly. ‘I promised I would return with the next order then, and Mr Fairbright even entered my appointment in his diary,' she said, her eyes shining. ‘Knowing we'll be paid regularly will make a difference, won't it?'

‘Yes, it will mean we can eat,' Grozen said. ‘Then when the pilchards come in there'll be the money you'll get for
working in the fish store,' she added, giving Karenza a knowing look.

‘It can't happen too quickly for we still need to pay the rent. Tell me, Merry, did you meet anyone along the way?' her mother asked, trying to sound casual.

‘Yes, lots of people. The man on the ferry was really nice,' she replied.

Her mother frowned but Grozen wasn't to be put off.

‘Did you walk all the way, our Merry?'

‘Couldn't walk over the water, Grozen, could I?' Merry quipped. She wasn't going to make it easy for them.

‘But didn't Nicco give you a lift?' her mother asked.

‘Why? Did you expect him to?'

‘Well, he did say he had someone to see in Plymouth and …'

‘You told him exactly where I was going and when,' Merry cried, remembering how Nicco had taken her straight to the agent's premises. ‘Look, Mother, I am seventeen and quite capable of looking out for myself.'

‘More like you be the right age to be thinking of getting wed,' Grozen retorted.

‘I intend seeing more of life outside Porthsallos before I saddle myself with a husband and family,' Merry retorted, already tired of the conversation.

‘But Nicco is …' her mother began.

‘Nicco is what?'

‘Well, he's fond of you, our Merry.'

‘And he would make a good catch,' Grozen added.

‘He's not a fish, Grozen.'

‘Happen not, but his father owns the fish factory and if you married him …'

‘I'd have a comfortable life when his father dies, is that it?'

‘Well, it is a consideration, our Merry,' Grozen pointed out, fixing her with a gimlet look.

‘And you'd have no need to venture out of the village,' her mother added.

‘I'm tired and going to bed,' Merry said, getting to her feet. She had every intention of returning to the town, and next time she would make the journey by herself.

Despite the disagreement with her mother and grandmother, Merry slept soundly. She knew they meant well but it was her life, and the desire to see more of the world was gnawing away inside her like a mouse in the cheese cupboard. Feeling apprehensive and fearing an argument, she made her way down the little stone steps the next morning. However, her worry was unfounded.

‘Morning, Merry,' her mother greeted her brightly. ‘I managed to get a nice bit of mutton from butcher Blade so there'll be no forays in the pools for you today. We shall celebrate your success with a decent meal.'

Merry smiled and impulsively kissed the woman's cheek. She should have known her mother wouldn't bear a grudge.

‘That'll make a tasty change,' she enthused. ‘I was beginning to look like a limpet.'

Her mother laughed. ‘Well, here's some porridge for you to start the day. That money you got yesterday will see us nicely through the next couple of weeks, though we'll still have to be careful until the pilchards show.'

Merry smiled as she took the bowl. Breakfast had become a luxury and she tucked in with pleasure.

‘You didn't finish telling us about your trip yesterday,' her mother said, not looking up from her chopping board.

‘It was lovely to see life outside the village, Mother.
There was a fair with all these stalls. You should have seen the brightly coloured materials and trimmings …'

‘Think the wind's swung round at last,' Grozen cried, clattering into the room and throwing an armful of sticks down on the hearth. ‘The gaffer's offered a reward for the person sighting the first shoal, so get yerself up to the point straight away, our Merry.'

‘But I'm in the middle of my breakfast, Grozen,' she protested.

The woman fixed her with a gimlet stare and Merry knew there was little point in arguing. Grabbing her shawl and hitching her work to her belt, she hurried outside. The cliff path was already lined with excited women and the mood was merrier than it had been for many months. Taking up her position she stabbed her ball of wool on a spike of the railings and called a cheerful greeting. Although it was returned, nobody lifted their gaze from the foam-topped waves, for each woman was desperate to be the one to sight the first shoal and collect the reward.

‘Keep your peepers peeled for that slick of oil, our Merry.' She jumped as her grandmother's strident tones carried up the hill, sending seagulls squawking from the rooftops. Trust Grozen to be watching from their cottage window.

Adjusting the wooden fish supporting the weight of her work, she automatically began knitting as she scoured the waters for any sign of disturbance that would signal the return of the pilchards. While her fingers wound the worsted wool around her pins, her thoughts raced around her head. Of course, she hoped this day would bring the bounty from the sea the village relied on. Yet if it did, she
would have to spend the evening packing and salting the fish. The extra money would be welcome but the attention from Nicco wouldn't.

Her mother might think Nicco a good man but Merry knew he had an eye for the girls and she'd already borne witness to his overbearing manner. She could understand her mother wanting her to make a good marriage so that Merry wouldn't have to suffer the privations she and Grozen had. Whilst it might be her dearest wish to see Merry settled down with umpteen offspring tumbling around her feet, it wasn't hers. Unlike her friends, who were happy to marry and bear children, Merry wanted more out of life.

‘Just think, if the pilchards are in, you'll be seeing the handsome Nicco tonight,' Jenna called from higher up the path. Merry turned and smiled, wishing not for the first time that her friend wouldn't pick up on her thoughts.

‘If I weren't married to my Stanley, I'd be giving you a run for your money, my girl,' Kelys cackled. There was a burst of raucous laughter, for the woman was well into her forties with hair as steel as her knitting pins.

Nicco, Nicco, Nicco
, the gulls seemed to mock as they circled overhead. Merry sighed. She knew the others found her reluctance to encourage him strange. They thought him handsome but his penetrating stares and smarmy smiles made her feel uncomfortable, and that was without his declaration on the way to Plymouth.

‘Knit two, purl six, and twist the wool,' she muttered, reaching the yoke and beginning her shell pattern. Truth to tell she hadn't done much knitting on the journeys to and from Plymouth and she needed to make up for it now.

Fingers flying and pins clacking, she stared over the water, past Peak Rock to the imposing granite house on the cliff top beyond. How lovely it would be to live in a grand place like that instead of their tiny, cramped fisherman's cottage where you could hear every sound your neighbours made.

A movement caught her eye and she watched as the woman she knew to be Lady Sutherland emerged through the carved wooden door and climbed into a waiting carriage. Wearing a fitted coat over her full-skirted dress, and sporting a hat with three plumes, she cut an elegant figure. Merry grimaced at her own old blouse with its fraying collar and the serviceable apron covering her patched skirt. One day she too would dress and travel like a lady, she vowed. Remembering the finery she'd seen on the stalls in Plymouth, a thrill ran through her.

‘Hevva! Hevva!'

She jumped as the excited shout from higher up the hill broke into her thoughts. Knitting forgotten, the eager women crowded closer to the railings, lifting their hands to their foreheads as they scoured the sea for sight of the shoal.

Drat, thought Merry, she'd been daydreaming when she should have been paying attention. She hoped it was a false alarm, thinking of the ticking-off she'd get from Grozen.

Her wish was thwarted as down below the lurker boat was already showing the men in the sean boat the area to be enclosed. Then the nets were shot and silence fell as everyone waited for the signal. They knew the slightest sound could send the fish scattering in all directions.
There was a collective sigh of relief as the master seaner raised his hat and the nets were taken in. Merry watched the mesh encircling the shoal as the ropes tightened. Then, as her gaze took in the thick walls surrounding the harbour, she shuddered, feeling just as hemmed in. Her friends, however, were cheering and clapping Marya on the back. They might be disappointed they hadn't been the ones to spot the shoal but were pleased for this uncomplaining woman, with her crippled husband and seven children to provide for. Besides, tonight would see them busy gutting and salting the fish and nobody minded the extra hard work if it meant full bellies and warm firesides.

‘Come along, Merry,' Jenna urged, catching hold of her arm. ‘It'll be some time before we're needed to help so let's wait down on the quay and you can tell me about your trip to Plymouth.'

Eager to delay the inevitable ticking-off she'd get from her grandmother when she found out someone else had claimed the reward, Merry nodded.

‘Come on then,' she agreed, linking arms with her friend as they followed the others down the winding path.

Those lucky enough to have dried fruit and sugar left in their pantries ran home to make hevva cakes to celebrate the catch of pilchards, whilst the rest of them, ever hopeful their friends would share this traditional fare with them later, made their way to the harbour. No sooner had they taken their seats on the steps than they all turned towards Merry.

‘How did you get on in Plymouth?' Ailla asked.

‘What was the new agent like?' Kelys said at the same time.

Merry grimaced. ‘Plymouth was busy, smelly and so noisy you could hardly hear yourself think. The agent was really nice, though.' She went on to tell them about her discussions with Mr Fairbright and the order he'd placed when he'd seen the knit frocks. The women listened attentively and were pleased for her but it wasn't long before conversation turned to their own problems. Knowing they were unable to meet the new target they'd settled for the damping down of their knitting. As Kelys began telling them the best way to do it without being caught, Merry looked at their earnest faces and couldn't help feeling as if she didn't belong any more. It seemed her life was already taking a different path.

She stared out over the water, where the fishermen were now rowing back to shore. Even from here she could see the enthusiasm in their movements, sense the exhilaration in the air. Then she felt a tugging at her skirts. Remembering her near miss in the market, she went to grab hold of her pocket, only to see a dark-haired girl of about four staring woefully up at her.

‘I gone wrong with me knitting, miss. Can you help afore me ma flays me?'

Merry smiled. ‘Give it here. Are you making a trail?'

‘Trying to,' the girl sighed. ‘But me can't get the hang of this rib thing.' She looked so forlorn, Merry's heart went out to her.

‘Come and sit by me,' she offered, patting the stone beside her. ‘What's your name?' she asked, as she set down her work and began correcting the girl's stitches.

‘Primmy. Me sister's Caja. She's seven and does the plain bits. Mother does the fancy seeds and bars. She says
me will be able to do that one day but me don't see it,' she said, giving another sigh.

‘I'm sure you will; it just takes practice,' Merry said, smiling reassuringly.

The girl looked doubtful. ‘You's is pretty. Them looks just like shells,' she said, running a grubby finger over the raised pattern. Hastily Merry moved her work away.

‘I used to get my stitches all muddled until Mother showed me an easy way of remembering the rib.'

‘There's an easy way?' Primmy asked, curiosity sparking in her dark eyes.

‘Let me show you. You knit two, purl two for the rib, right?' Primmy nodded. ‘So take your pins and sing: up one, round and through; up two, round and through. Down one, round and through; down two, round and through,' Merry demonstrated. ‘Now you sing along with me whilst I do it again.'

‘Well, me be blowed!' Primmy exclaimed some moments later. ‘It seems easy when you sing like that.'

‘And so it is. Now you try it,' Merry urged, handing the girl back her work. She watched, singing along with Primmy, until she got the hang of it.

‘I done it, miss,' Primmy shouted, her little face beaming.

‘Well done. You'll never forget now, will you?'

‘Primmy? Where are you, girl?' As a woman's shrill voice carried on the breeze, Primmy jumped to her feet and ran off.

‘You're a natural with children, Merry,' Jenna laughed. ‘I can just see you with a brood of your own.'

‘A natural honorary auntie's what I'll be,' Merry retorted. ‘Look, the boats are in.'

They watched as the men jumped onto the shore and began off-loading their catch. It was a heart-lifting sight after the long barren winter. Then Merry spotted her mother and Grozen making their way towards them to witness the first weigh-in of the season.

‘We heard the shout go up,' her mother said.

‘And it weren't your voice, our Merry,' Grozen muttered, narrowing her eyes accusingly.

‘No, I'm afraid someone spotted the shoal before me,' she admitted.

‘Suppose you were daydreaming as usual,' her grandmother grumbled.

‘Never mind, at least the fish have finally arrived so there'll be the salting and packing to do later,' her mother said, patting the older woman's shoulder. ‘That'll boost the coffers.'

‘And Marya can really use the money, Mrs Dyer,' Jenna pointed out. ‘I'll see you all later,' she added, wincing as she got to her feet.

‘Are you all right?' Merry asked her friend.

‘Just a twinge, but I can't tell you how glad I'll be when I can see my feet again.'

Karenza nodded sympathetically. ‘Try and get some rest whilst you still can, Jenna.'

‘Think I will,' she replied, rubbing her back. ‘See you up at the pallace later.'

‘Don't think so; there'll be a birth before the sun sets,' Grozen muttered under her breath. ‘And I saw three crows on Ma Somers's roof on the way down. She'll be going to meet her maker later, so by my reckoning it will have been the usual one in one out come the morn.'

‘You don't know that, Grozen,' Merry exclaimed, wishing her grandmother wouldn't make such pronouncements.

‘Yes, I do,' Grozen muttered, turning her attention to the weigh-in. ‘Not a great catch, but it is the first of the season so I suppose we must thank the Lord for small mercies.'

Karenza caught Merry's eye and smiled. They both knew the woman's brusque manner was an act and that she was as relieved as everyone that the pilchards had at last shown up.

Just then Merry spotted the black-haired Nicco heading their way and her spirits dropped. Her mother was bound to thank him for giving Merry a lift and would be none too pleased if he spilled the beans about her running off. Luckily, however, her mother's thoughts were on other things.