Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Free book
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Author's Note
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Next Book Smashwords
Updates
About the Author
How To Catch Crabs
Demelza Carlton
In memory of Red and Onyx.
Though I doubt Onyx ever broke into a trot.
Copyright © 2015 Demelza Carlton
Lost Plot Press
All rights reserved.
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One
"I must have crabs. Lucy, can you help me?"
I gritted my teeth and forced out a smile. "Sure, Mum, but I thought it was strawberries you had a craving for."
"Strawberries? In the middle of winter? Of course not!" Mum waved away the absurdity as she settled in a dining chair that protested loudly. "Go get the money out of the strongbox. You can go with Dominic into Fremantle and bring me back fresh crabs from the fish market." She leaned heavily against the back of the chair, which creaked again. "I'm too old to be giving you a new little sister, but babies come when they're ready. The next baby in this family will be yours, I'm sure of it. Just seeing that look on young William's face when he looks at you..." Mum swept a tear from her cheek.
"William's sweet on Natalie, not me, Mum," I told her.
Mum's smile turned all daydreamy. "Well, if Nat's going to steal your William, then maybe you'll meet some nice young man on the train today, or in town, and fall in love. Make sure you wear your best dress and don't forget your gloves!"
Love and babies. Two things I didn't have time for in my life. As if six younger brothers and sisters wasn't enough, with a seventh on the way. I liked my bookkeeping job much better. It was 1926, for heaven's sake. Women were no longer confined by corsets and their inability to vote. We had voices, held jobs and could make our own choices in this modern world. I shoved the money in my pocket and noted the amount on the ledger before I closed the strongbox.
While the thought of marriage made Mum all misty-eyed, I slipped out to the stables. Not a moment too soon, either – Dominic was already mounted and ready to go.
"Dom, Mum wants me to go with you to Freo today, so don't leave without me," I warned him.
I grabbed my saddle blanket and headed past the empty stalls to the paddock. Of course, Red and the other farm horses were on the far side, ignoring us completely as they munched on fresh winter grass.
"You gonna whistle, sis?" he asked.
I shook my head and glared. It was a standing joke between us that it wasn't ladylike to whistle, and I'd never learned. Dominic wouldn't get a peep out of me.
He grinned and let out a piercing whistle. Across the paddock, Red's ears pricked up. Another whistle from Dominic brought the blood bay gelding trotting over to investigate. "Saddle up, sis, or I leave without you."
Several minutes later, I mounted Red and we set off down the road. Dominic had to give Onyx a kick to catch up.
"You better not let Mum hear you say that," I remarked, knowing full well Dominic's colourful swearing was no match for Dad's. At least Dominic only swore in English – Dad had a whole host of Croatian swear-words that only came out when something particularly bad happened. Like when the twins were playing with Dad's gun and Vicky shot Tom. Or when Tom let the pony cart get hit by a train – killing the pony, while Tom, Vicky and the three youngest only got bumps and bruises. "Why are you going to Freo, anyway?"
"Naturalists' Club meeting," he said, flicking away a fly. "You should join. Whittell says there's some unusual birds around with the storms and all."
I urged Red to a trot, wishing I could be the one running off my frustration. "Not until Dad lets me go on the field trips. I'm not taking your meeting minutes or doing your bookkeeping unless I get to do the interesting things, too."
"You should just tell Dad it's what you want," Dominic replied. "I mean, what if you get married and you're too busy with your husband to do all the things you want to do? Look at Mum."
I managed a smile. "I think I'd castrate my husband before he managed to get me pregnant with eight children. I can't believe she's carrying a ninth. I mean, does Dad still..."
"You wait until you have a husband," Dominic said. "Then you'll know."
I shrugged. "If I have my way, I'll never have a husband, and all my decisions will be my own. I've grown up with you, remember – why would I want to spend my days picking up after another man?"
"Never say never, Lucy. Look at Nat and William. She's the biggest tomboy ever, but it's only a matter of time before those two get married. Even I will someday."
I laughed. "Who'd have you, Dominic? I can't think of a single girl crazy enough to take you on, what with you haring all over the coast after birds and fish and all manner of creatures. God only knows what you'll come home with next."
Two
Dominic sat beside me on the train, watching the horses through the window as they cropped clover in the station paddock. The train had arrived just in time, too – the rain started sheeting down as we set off, turning the horses into ghostly shadows.
"Better hope it stops raining soon," an elderly man across from us said.
"Not me," Dominic replied cheerfully. "Our orchards need the rain, especially after a long, hot summer like the last one."
"The river's running so high it's flooded Northam upriver and they say it's taken out the bridge at Kelmscott and Canning, too," the oldtimer said. "Much more and they might have to close down the railways. Getting home will be fun then."
As if on command, the clouds let up enough for us to see the swollen Canning River. I'd never seen the water running so high – the banks had vanished beneath the muddy flow, with massive paperbark trees sticking out of the river like they were wading. My stomach tightened in dread. I'd heard stories of floods, but never seen one for myself. Droughts were far more common.
"We'll see," Dominic said. "Mum sent Lucy here to get fresh crabs and there'll be hell to pay if we don't make it home this evening. I don't think any storm would be willing to thwart our mum."
"Annie's a tough lady, that she is, keeping lads like you in order. You mind your mum, boy." The man tipped his hat down over his eyes and said no more until he started snoring.
I suppressed a giggle. I couldn't imagine sleeping on a chugging steam train, but this doomsdayer didn't seem to have any problem with it.
"So what are you really going to Fremantle for, Lucy?" Dominic asked, stretching his arms above his head. "Meeting a secret lover, or running off to sea, disguised as a cabin boy?"
I lost my battle with laughter, so it took me a while before I could reply, "My goodness, no. I'm just going up the fish market for Mum's crabs. I only hope they have some. With the river flooded, I imagine they'd be much harder to catch." I didn't fancy explaining to Mum that the weather had denied her the food she craved.
"Oh, while you're at the fish markets, can you pick me up s
ome sardines? Just a pound or two."
I stared at Dominic. "You don't like sardines."
He smiled. "Ah, but I'm hoping to meet up with a friend who does at the meeting today, and if I do, I intend to bring him home to dinner." He dug through his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. "Here. That should pay for his supper."
I shrugged and took the money. "As long as you don't expect me to cook them."
"Of course not, sis." He laughed softly, as if at a private joke.
Three
"See you back here in a few hours." Whistling, Dominic unfolded his umbrella and set off through the rain, the shrill sound echoing eerily through the station.
I took shelter under the station roof for a while, hoping the rain would let up a little more before I splashed my way up to the fish markets. With the swell I could see in the harbour, the waves would surely wash over the top of the jetty connecting the market shed to shore. I had no intention of spending my afternoon as a half-drowned, salt-water rat if the waves caught me. Not to mention my brother would laugh all the way home if I did.
Sighing, I decided I'd have to find something to do, so I set off up the street, keeping to the verandas in order to stay dry. Motion through a shop window caught my eye and I focussed on the source – Mr Paino, peering over a pile of potatoes. When my eyes met his, his waving turned to beckoning as he enticed me inside.
"What are you doing up from the farm?" he asked as a gust of wind slammed the door shut behind me.
"Buying fish. Mum's got another bun in the oven and she's insisting on fish for dinner."
Mr Paino laughed. "Sounds like my Maria was with little Sam. She wanted fish every day. Good thing our shop is only a few streets from the fish markets – she'd walk there in the morning with the children while I worked." He eyed me. "So when are you settling down and having children, Lucy?"
"Doesn't that usually require a suitable husband?"
His smile died. "For a respectable girl like you, yes." Without lightening his dark tone, he continued, "My brother has arrived from Italy. He's just started working at the fish markets for Merlino, though I don't know how long he'll last. Last night he came home swearing that crabs and sardines were the spawn of the devil."
He wasn't far wrong, but even if they were, I'd have the devil to pay if I didn't bring that spawn home. "So your brother and Mr Merlino have crabs and sardines today?"
Mr Paino choked. "I don't know about Merlino, but I wouldn't be surprised about my brother. He was quite the troublemaker back home in Sicily, which is why Mama sent him to Australia. She seemed to think that sending him over to the other side of the world might make him turn over a new rock."
"Leaf," I corrected without thinking. "Turn over a new leaf."
His smile turned rueful. "Whatever the expression is, I doubt my brother is capable of changing. The girls all loved him back home and he loved them right back."
"So you're warning me that your brother is a rake, Mr Paino?"
He chuckled. "I don't think you need warning, Lucy. You're not silly."
No, but there were plenty of girls who were. I glanced outside and was surprised to see a lance of light pierce the cloud, reflecting off the footpath in blinding white. "Looks like the rain's let up. See you later, Mr Paino."
I slipped out of his shop and hurried toward the fishing boat harbour. The market hall was so busy, no one noticed an extra body – least of all one as skinny as mine.
"No, my boys don't have crabs. With weather like this, they're off catching big fish and not messing about in the shallows!" a laughing voice cut across the hubbub and all sound seemed to quieten. Maria's unmistakeable voice was music to my ears and everyone else's, too, it seemed.
I'd never envied a woman so much in my life. She was the same age as me – but that's where the similarities ended. Blonde and curvy like some sort of Italian painting of an angel, Maria Speranza was a young widow who could do as she pleased. She worked for the Basile family, but you'd never guess that she was anyone's subordinate. As Merry D'Angelo's niece, she had no parents to answer to, and as long as Merry approved of her, she had all the respectability any woman in Western Australia could muster. She'd arrived three years before and showed no sign of taking a second husband, nor needing one...though every man who saw her seemed to think otherwise. She was the uncrowned queen of the fish market.
In the dim recesses of my mind, I registered what she'd said: the Basiles didn't have crabs. But Mr Paino had said that Mr Merlino did, so I headed for the cramped corner of the market where his counter stood. Like everywhere, there were hierarchies and as Mr Merlino was new here, with no relatives to vouch for him, he had to build his own reputation. Much like my parents had – and many of the other migrants here.
As I approached the counter, he rose from beneath it, unfolding to a height several inches taller than me. And my eyes met...a pair that were much darker than Paolo Merlino's. Then one of them winked.
I blinked furiously, backing up to put some distance between me and this...rake, I realised, as I took him in. Well-muscled arms strained at his shirt sleeves as he folded them across his chest, making his knitted jumper tighten just enough to show the outline of more muscles beneath. He said something in Italian, his voice rich and deep, though he looked much younger than his brother.
His voice felt like it rumbled through my chest as much as his and his second wink said he knew it, too.
Don't be silly, I told myself. Rakes are good for gardening and that's it.
"I don't understand Italian," I told him. "Where's Mr Merlino? I need crabs and I understand he can help me."
His eyes seemed to widen as he heard my broad Australian accent. Had the fool thought I was Italian? "If it is crabs you want, streghetta, I will give you those and much more besides."
"English," I insisted. "If you're going to insult me, then I'll go elsewhere." I turned to go, but I had no idea if anyone else stocked crabs. If Maria didn't have them, I'd be lucky if anyone did.
"I called you a little witch, miss, because you have enchanted my senses. I am at your service."
Something inside me was melting. The tone of his voice was melting things that should not be capable of liquefying.
"Don't call me that," I snapped. "Do you have crabs or don't you?"
He chuckled and reached under the counter, bringing up a half-filled bucket of ice that he set in front of me. A claw emerged from the ice before sliding out of sight. "What do you think, miss?"
We haggled briefly over price and quantity before doing the same for the sardines. Dominic's mysterious friend's sardines, I fumed.
I counted out the coins to pay for my purchases, but he didn't seem to want to take them. I glanced up into his smouldering eyes.
"I will give these to you for nothing if you give me your name and a kiss."
I grinned. "I think our first bargain was the better one. Here's your five shillings." I shoved the coins across the counter.
His mouth dropped open. Evidently no girl had ever refused him before. "If you ever change your mind, streghetta, I live at –"
"You're the Paino boy, aren't you?" I interrupted. "You're living with your brother who owns the Fruit Palace up on Market Street." Feeling my insides heating up, I added, "And I won't change my mind. A kiss from me is worth more than fish."
Someone laughed. Feeling my face grow red, I snatched up the sack that held the crabs, along with Dominic's sardines, and marched out of the market hall.
A wave washed over the jetty in front of me and I scuttled across the wet timber, wanting to be back on shore before the next wave broke. Instead, I slipped and the sack flew out of my hand. Desperately, I dived for it and caught it before it landed in the water. I rose, but the hessian had caught on something. Incensed, I yanked and heard the stitching rip. Crabs tumbled out the bottom and back into their watery home.
I screamed one of the swear words that had earned Dominic a thrashing when he was younger. Tears of fury trickled down my
cheeks.
Maria burst through the door, scanning for trouble like my mother would. When she asked, I told her what had happened. Angry tears just kept coming as I realised that not only had I made a fool of myself, but I'd done so in front of a woman who'd never have been so stupid. I could already see her bewildered look turning to anger at being worried about something so silly. I opened my mouth to apologise for being a bother.
She slipped off her shoes and dived into the waves. I just stood there, as frozen as she must surely be in the wintry water, wondering why and waiting for her to surface in the faint hope that she'd tell me. Every second seemed an hour, so I don't know how long I watched, but she only broke the surface once: when she headed for the ladder. She scaled it one-handed and it wasn't until she reached the top that I realised why. In one hand, she held my escaped crabs. Her expression held fiery fury.
I forced my mouth closed and swallowed. Now I really needed to apologise.
She stormed straight past me, her skin faintly tinged with blue as water streamed off her soaked clothes. Her voice rose to a roar that was audible above even the churning ocean as she demanded to know who'd sold me the crabs.
Four
It took me several seconds to find the courage to follow her in. I heard the shouting continue and I think I'd have stayed out indefinitely if the rain hadn't started again. I decided I'd take the embarrassment over a soaking.
The men had formed a rough circle around the edges of the hall, with Maria and the rake in the middle. As I completed the circle by walking through the door, Maria knocked the crab salesman to the floor.
Mr Merlino sidled past nervously, his eyes darting from her to the Paino boy as he told her the boy's name, "Giorgio."
She set the crabs on him. I don't know how, but they'd been docile in her hands, yet the moment they landed on Giorgio's chest, they raised their claws to attack.
Completely ignoring me, Maria pulled on her coat and swept out of the hall.
I couldn't take my eyes off Giorgio. Far from the rake I'd called him, now he looked like a terrified boy. He could have been one of my brothers' friends, no older than me. Part of me pitied him, but the rest clamoured for the crabs to claw at his face. He'd stirred feelings in me that had turned my brain to mush. All of this was his fault, the sweet-talking, insidious, slimy...
How To Catch Crabs Page 1