The Winter Sea (7 page)

Giuseppe was not entirely sure what Bridie had said, but he could see that she was pleased with the present.

Back on board, as the ship sailed south towards Australia, Giuseppe worked even harder at his English lessons. Sometimes Bridie read to him from the book she was reading, and he was able to grasp the gist of it, and he took pleasure in the sound of her voice.

They were both excited when the purser announced that there would be a Crossing of the Equator ceremony and they were looking forward to the special party. Until now the passengers had been ignored by the crew, regarded as a hindrance rather than paying passengers, so everyone was pleased about this big social event in which they would all participate.

King Neptune, scarcely recognisable as the purser in a green beard and once-gold robes, greeted them all. A shallow pool was rigged up on the deck and the men were tossed into it after being painted with some jelly-like substance. The children squealed with laughter at the sight of the adults being heave-hoed by the sea king. The women, gathered like a black-robed court, watched in amusement. At one end sat the captain in his white uniform looking faintly amused. He had rarely been seen on the voyage and the passengers regarded him in some awe.

When it was Giuseppe’s turn to be thrown into the water, everyone cheered. He was well liked. The women admired his strong brown torso, his muscular arms and legs, and his open face that seemed to reflect his big, generous heart. The men also found him entertaining, warm and good company.

Afterwards, Giuseppe came over to Bridie and thrust a piece of paper towards her so she could see it. ‘Look! From King Neptune!’ He laughed.

She couldn’t help smiling at his infectious delight. The certificate was ornate, edged in gold scrolls and featured a watercolour painting of King Neptune with his seaweed beard, a crown and a trident that was reminiscent of Giuseppe’s
traffena
, but the paper was yellowed with age, as though it had been stored for some time. It announced he had successfully ‘crossed the line’ and had been welcomed by King Neptune to his court in the seas beyond the equator.

At that moment Mr Armellini, one of the Maltese passengers, approached Bridie and Giuseppe, holding a camera. ‘Miss O’Grady, can I take a photograph of you and your friend?’

‘Why yes, thank you, Mr Armellini,’ said Bridie politely.

Giuseppe was thrilled to have his picture taken with Bridie. He grabbed his shirt and flung it on as Bridie rose from her seat to stand beside him. Giuseppe could feel Bridie’s thin blouse through his damp shirt on his cool arm. Smiling broadly at the camera lens they were a contrasting couple: Bridie neat as a pin, and Giuseppe with wet tousled hair, a crumpled shirt and bare brown legs, holding his certificate. Both had big spontaneous smiles and the moment captured them very much at ease with each other.

‘I would like a copy of the photograph, Mr Armellini,’ said Giuseppe.

‘I can arrange that,’ he answered.

They each received a copy of the photograph several days later and it became Giuseppe’s most prized possession.

Later that evening, after King Neptune retired to the deep, there was music and dancing. Several of the Italian men brought out their accordions and mandolins and everyone joined in singing the old favourites. Giuseppe recognised some of the songs he’d heard in Naples. When everyone started dancing, the purser, now back in his usual uniform, asked Bridie to dance. Then when they had finished dancing, it was quite natural for Giuseppe also to take her in his arms and join the other dancers. For those too brief moments, as he held Bridie close, he thought again how lovely she was.

*

There was great excitement on board the
Ricconigi
as it approached the coast of Western Australia. Some of the passengers were disembarking at Fremantle, the first port of call. The ship anchored some distance from the shore
and a motor launch brought immigration officials out to it.
All the passengers were summoned to the main deck to go through the immigration process. That was when Giuseppe heard some of the passengers whispering about a notorious dictation test.

‘What does this mean?’ Giuseppe asked Antonio.

‘Something to do with speaking English, maybe,’ said his friend, shrugging his shoulders.

Mr Armellini, standing next to them, shook his head. ‘It’s the Australian government’s way of rejecting migrants they think are unsuitable.’

‘But my English is still poor,’ protested Giuseppe. ‘I might fail.’

‘The test might not even be in English.’

‘You mean it will be in Italian,’ said a relieved Antonio.

‘It could be in any language,’ said Mr Armellini. ‘If they don’t want you, they will make it impossible for you to pass.’

‘But that is so unfair,’ protested Giuseppe.

‘Let’s hope they like the look of us,’ said Antonio. However his fears, and those of the other passengers, were put to rest when no one from the
Ricconigi
was told to sit the test.

When Giuseppe reached the head of the queue he greeted the official with a smile, but was quickly rebuffed.

‘What part of Italy are you from?’ the official asked brusquely.

‘Sicily, signor. Sir,’ he answered politely.

The official glared at him and, looking down at his paperwork, muttered, ‘Another wog come to take the jobs of good Aussie workers. I reckon you lot aren’t much better than the Abos.’

Giuseppe didn’t understand all the immigration official’s words, but he knew that he was not speaking words of welcome. He hoped that the rest of Australia was not going to be like this. Clutching the piece of paper he’d been handed by the officer, he joined Antonio, who was standing with Bridie.

‘Are you coming ashore with us to explore our new country, Bridie? I have my landing permit,’ said Giuseppe happily.

‘Yes, please. I’d feel safer with two escorts,’ she said with a laugh.

They found the streets around the port very flat, but there were some imposing and solid buildings. They took a tram along High Street, alighted and walked back towards the harbour looking in shop windows.

Giuseppe was startled at the prices of goods and it began to concern him that he had very little money. Unlike Bridie and Antonio, no relative or friend would be meeting him to help him find somewhere to stay and get work, as there would have been in New York. How was he going to live? He could see fishing boats in the harbour and he wondered if he should stay in Fremantle and try and get a job on one of them. But the thought of having to leave Bridie a second before he had to made him give up that idea.

It took the ship three days to reach Melbourne, where most of the Italians were disembarking. In all that time Giuseppe thought about how he would support himself until he got work. Eventually he came to a decision.

As they met for their regular morning walk around the deck before breakfast, Giuseppe turned to Bridie.

‘Bridie, can I ask for your help when we go ashore in Melbourne?’

Seeing his serious face, Bridie nodded. ‘Of course, Giuseppe.’

He reached into his pocket and took his grandmother’s ring from its little yellow envelope and showed it to Bridie. He explained that it had belonged to his nonna, and that although she had wanted to keep it until Giuseppe came back to the island to find a bride, she had decided that it would be of more use to him if she gave it to him straight away.

‘I have very little money. I do not want to sell the ring, because it is all that my nonna had to give me, but I must. Will you help me to sell it, Bridie?’ Giuseppe had looked up the words he needed and practised what he wanted to say to her.

Bridie took the little ring and looked at its worn band and little red stone.

‘It’s so sad that you have to sell something that your grandmother gave you. Are you sure that you really want to?’

‘I have no choice. I asked Antonio to help me, but he said to ask you because he doesn’t speak English, and you will get a better price.’

As soon as the ship tied up in Melbourne, the two of them set out to find a pawn shop. It wasn’t very hard. There were quite a few around the dock area. But none of the pawn shop owners thought that the ring was worth very much at all.

‘The band is badly worn and that stone is only a garnet. It’s not worth more than its gold weight,’ one of the pawn brokers explained.

‘How much then?’ asked Bridie.

‘Two pounds.’

Bridie explained to Giuseppe that two pounds was not a great deal of money, but it would be enough to tide him over for a while, if he was careful.

‘Then I must do it,’ he said and tears immediately came to his eyes at the thought of selling the ring that had been so precious to his nonna. ‘It is all she had to give me,’ he said as he handed it over.

They walked slowly back to the ship saying very little, but both of them were impressed by the hustle and bustle around them. Trams rattled along the streets, competing for space with numerous motor cars. The shops were busy and full of exciting things to buy.

‘It looks as though Australia is a wealthy country,’ said Giuseppe as they climbed the gangplank. ‘We will both do well here.’

‘You are probably right. Giuseppe, will you excuse me, I need to go and lie down for a while,’ said Bridie. ‘I’m tired from all our walking.’

Giuseppe watched her turn and go towards her cabin.

I do not have her for much longer, he thought sadly to himself. I will miss her.

It was dawn as they approached Sydney. The two dark arms of the northern and southern headlands of the harbour emerged in the misty light. Giuseppe stood alone at the railing, wondering what lay beyond the embrace of the cliffs where a line of white foam marked the crashing waves.

As they sailed through the magnificent heads, he caught his breath. Not only was the harbour spectacularly beautiful, but he could see inlets and bays and rocky points where he knew lobsters and rock fish would hide.

He returned to the stuffy cabin that had been his home for so many weeks, grabbed his suitcase and headed back to the deck. The passageways were crowded, but he quickly found Antonio.

‘We will keep in touch,’ said Antonio. ‘When it is the right time to head to the cane fields, I will let you know.’

‘That sounds good,’ said Giuseppe.

On their way to the upper deck they discovered a knot of irate Maltese confronting the purser and demanding to see the ship’s captain.

‘I think they are complaining about how badly they’ve been treated. More like cargo than paying passengers,’ whispered Antonio. ‘They want a refund! I don’t think that will happen. Maybe they should take their story to the newspapers. Let’s watch the ship dock.’

Already the railing was lined with people watching the steamer manoeuvre towards the sprawling dockyards of Woolloomooloo. The
Ricconigi
swung alongside the long wharf. Giuseppe saw crowds jammed onto the dock, fighting for space with motor cars and trucks and even a small train line.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see Bridie, dressed in a bright blue outfit with a small hat perched on her auburn ringlets. Her cheeks were pink with excitement. Giuseppe made room for her to squeeze against the rail.

There was a great long blast from the ship’s horn and the rattle of the dropping anchor chain as fat ropes were swung down to the wharf to secure the vessel. People along the wharf could now recognise friends and family on the ship and there was much waving and shouting and dabbing at tears. To be heard above the melee Giuseppe leaned closer to Bridie’s ear.

‘You see Ronan? Your fiancé?’ He used the word she’d taught him.

She shook her head. ‘Not yet, but I am sure he will find me. Look, the gangplank is being lowered.’

Bridie turned and began edging through the crowd, and Giuseppe followed her through the press of passengers heading the same way. Ahead she stopped and turned back to Giuseppe and waved to him.

‘I am coming!’ he said. More and more people crowded towards the gangplank eager to disembark. Giuseppe tried to step around a woman and her children and their bags but the woman pushed in front of him and, surrounded by her excitable children, blocked his way.

When Giuseppe finally reached the top of the
gangplank, he spotted Bridie’s blue hat in the crowd below on the dock. He watched as a man waved to her and in a moment they were embracing. And then she was gone.

He pushed down the gangplank and through the knots of reunions, tears and laughter, past those still desperately looking for their relatives but Bridie was nowhere to be seen.

He couldn’t believe that she’d just vanished, disappeared from his life without even a proper farewell. Feeling despondent, he went to the cavernous shed at the end of the wharf, where he saw Antonio talking to another Italian.

‘I thought you’d got lost. Did you say goodbye to Bridie?’ asked Antonio.

Giuseppe shrugged. ‘No, I missed her. She’s gone and I don’t even know where to.’

Antonio placed a sympathetic hand on Giuseppe’s arm. ‘It is best this way. She has her life. She asked me to give this to you.’ He handed Giuseppe a little envelope.

Giuseppe recognised it straight away and hurried to look inside. It was indeed Celestina’s ring.

‘Giuseppe, she gave me this note, too.’

Giuseppe opened it.

I saw how sad you were to part with this ring, so when I told you I was resting, I went back to the pawn shop, and bought it back for you. It is a thank you gift for all your kindness to me on the voyage. I would have been very lonely without your cheerful company. I hope that someday you will be able to give this ring to the girl you intend to marry. I think she will be a very lucky girl. All the best for your new life, Bridie.

Giuseppe didn’t understand everything that Bridie had written, but he knew enough to be able to explain to Antonio what she had done.

‘What a kind woman. She will make a wonderful wife, no doubt. But cheer up. This is Vincenzo, a distant cousin of mine.’