Where Seagulls Soar

by Janet Woods

  A ripple of laughter went through the people in the court.

  The magistrate, who’d been on the clifftop two nights before and had caught a cold for his trouble, gazed severely around him and banged his gavel on the bench. ‘Justice has now been done and the matter is closed. May God rest their souls. Amen.’

  As they were heading back home a horrible suspicion came into David Lind’s mind. He’d found Fanny Rushmore’s crutches lying beside an open grave, which had been filled with mud, washed there by recent rainfalls. He wondered if he should dig up Jimmy Upton and take a look.

  He decided against it. Tilda had been through too much already, and something else was worrying her.

  His heart went out to her when she threaded her arm through his and said, ‘Are you happy living here, David?’

  He wasn’t. The islanders were mostly methodists, and they were self-sufficient and insular. His congregation was too small and nobody needed his help. David was looking forward to the birth of their child as something that would make him feel slightly less redundant.

  Sometimes he thought his nature wasn’t suited to being a minister of the church. The routine of it bored him, and when he prayed for guidance he rarely received an answer. People were stiff with him, treating him with a deference he didn’t deserve, so it set a distance between them. His retiring nature often made him awkward with people too, and he was happiest when he was studying, or helping someone less fortunate than himself. Often he thought he might like to do something else. Teach, perhaps.

  ‘I’m happy to be where you are, Tilda. What’s troubling you?’

  ‘There are too many bad memories here. I still can’t go near my father’s cottage without feeling ill.’ A rueful smile touched her mouth. ‘I seem to have no connection with the island now my mother’s gone.’

  ‘What about Joanna?’

  ‘Joanna and I love each other, but I’ve always needed her more than she needs me. Joanna follows her heart.’

  ‘And you sense she’s going to spread her wings and fly away from you?’

  Tears in her eyes, Tilda nodded miserably.

  David turned her round to face him. ‘My love, Joanna has her own life to lead. You have to let her go.’

  ‘I don’t think I can bear living here without her. We’ve been through too much together. She’s had something on her mind for some time. Now she wants to talk to us.’

  ‘Then let’s wait and see what she has to say.’

  ‘There’s another thing, David. It’s about my ma.’

  ‘What of her?’

  ‘Can we put a headstone in the churchyard? Although we didn’t get on, it doesn’t seem right that there’s no record of her passing. It’s as if she never existed.’ There was a moment of hesitation. ‘I don’t think Brian did away with her. He was expecting her home when I turned up at the cottage.’

  Alarmed, David gazed at her. ‘We could put a headstone in the corner of the churchyard, over where Jimmy Upton is buried.’

  Tilda offered him a wry smile. ‘You know, when you found her crutches I had the strangest thought that she might have fallen into Jimmy Upton’s grave and he was buried on top of her.’

  David began to perspire. ‘So did I.’

  Tilda chuckled and, after a while, so did he. As they continued walking, David relaxed.

  Five minutes later, Tilda murmured, ‘You don’t suppose she did fall into Jimmy’s grave, do you?’

  18

  Joanna had not expected Oliver to go sailing off on the Joanna Rose.

  He came back that morning, a jubilant smile on his face, to pack his bag, and said, as he emptied his pockets into the money jug, ‘There, I won that from Edward and Thaddeus at cards last night.’

  ‘Sleight of hand,’ Thaddeus grumbled.

  ‘Where’s Seth?’ she asked them both.

  ‘Aboard the Dunn brothers’ fishing boat, on his way back to London. He should just about be waking up by the time they get him there.’

  Exasperation filled her then. ‘Didn’t he even send a message?’

  ‘Only to Tilda.’

  ‘Tilda? What about?’

  Oliver elbowed Thaddeus in the ribs and said vaguely, ‘I couldn’t rightly say, since I didn’t read it. Besides, in the state he was in he couldn’t even think coherently, let alone write, but he did mention you several times, didn’t he, Thaddeus? He waxed poetic. How lovely your eyes are, your hair the colour of midnight.’ His glance ran down her body, ‘Your delightfully . . .’

  Joanna had never seen Oliver in such an ebullient mood. ‘That’s enough from you, Oliver Morcant. You two are hiding something. What is it?’

  ‘. . . sweet temper.’ Oliver grinned and took her face in his hands to thoroughly kiss her.

  ‘Oliver?’ she said in surprise. ‘Will you kindly behave yourself.’

  He laughed. ‘I’ve always wanted to do that, but don’t worry, I won’t do it again. Thanks for everything, Joanna. Say goodbye to my sisters for me, and tell them I love them and will be back for them.’

  ‘Wait a minute,’ she said as he headed for the door. ‘We were all supposed to go to Melbourne together.’

  ‘The ship has changed owner. We’ve decided to go later in the year. The weather will be better for sailing in early April, anyway, and it will give everyone time to properly decide about whether a move to Australia is what they want, and to prepare for it.’

  ‘Who owns the Joanna Rose now?’

  Oliver exchanged a glance with Thaddeus, who grinned before he said, ‘The Seagull Shipping Company.’

  ‘I’ve never heard of them.’

  ‘It’s new, but I’m sure you’ll hear of it in the future.’

  Leaving Toby with Charlotte to mind him, Joanna went up on the hill with Thaddeus to watch the ship leave.

  Tears filled her eyes as the sails filled with wind and the Joanna Rose headed out of the harbour.

  Thaddeus handed her his handkerchief. ‘There’s a sight to gladden the heart. She’s in good hands with my two lads, and she knows it.’

  ‘I’m going to miss Oliver. I enjoy his company.’

  ‘You were there when he needed you, my dear. You lifted him up, gave him a place to rest his head and restored his faith in women. But his heart and soul belong to the sea, just like his father before him. I bet Lucian is the proudest seagull in the sky.’

  ‘Oh you,’ she said, and laughed, for the sky was full of seagulls, soaring, wheeling and diving. ‘Come on,’ she said, ‘we’d better get you back home, otherwise you’ll miss the steamer. I know Charlotte wants to get home.’

  Later in the week, Joanna gazed down at her son. He’d recovered well from his ordeal except for some slight soreness where he hadn’t been kept clean. Once he’d begun to drink he’d lost his fever, and although his nose was still a bit sticky he’d only been suffering from a slight cold. Her robust little son was recovering quickly.

  Toby was so very precious to her. Joanna blew against the soft skin of his neck to make him giggle.

  ‘More, Mama.’

  Toby started laughing as soon as she pursed her lips again, all quivering anticipation. Joanna felt a momentary regret that Alex wasn’t there to see him. But she must not look back, she reminded herself. There was no point.

  After reducing Toby to a paroxysm of giggles again, she wrapped him in a shawl, then took a rolled-up canvas from her wardrobe. ‘We’re going to see Aunt Tilda today, and you’ve got to behave yourself.’

  But Toby had other ideas and began to leap energetically up and down on the bed. The bed thumped on the floorboards.

  Downstairs, Irene and Lydia had just finished dusting. They grimaced as more dust floated down. Then something shiny dropped on to the couch.

  Picking it up, Irene said in astonishment, ‘It’s a florin.’

  Lydia stood on the couch for a closer look. ‘There’s a crack at the side of the beam where it goes into the wall. I think it came out of there.’

  They took it up t
o Joanna. ‘We think it fell through the ceiling, and we wondered if it came from under the floorboards, by the dividing wall.’

  It was with great excitement that they found the loose floorboard, which had been sawn through. It came up easily. Underneath, hard against the beam, was a hessian bag. Mice had bitten through it and coins spilled through a hole in the rough material. There was a crack at the side of the beam, the width of a coin.

  Joanna lifted the bag out carefully. ‘It probably belonged to Brian Rushmore.’

  ‘What will you do with it?’

  ‘I doubt if Brian came by this money honestly, so I’ll give it to David Lind to help the poor. Aren’t you two going to the academy today?’

  The twins gazed at each other and laughed. Irene said, ‘It’s Sunday, had you forgotten?’

  ‘Her head is full of more important matters – the handsome Seth Adams for example.’

  ‘Papa,’ Toby yelled, and flopped on his back.

  Tilda was painting a design on a piece of paper, a seagull with wings spread, flying against a blue background. She tried to cover it, but wasn’t quick enough.

  ‘That’s pretty. Is it for a card?’

  ‘No, it’s a design for . . .’

  Tilda gazed at David, who finished smoothly, ‘. . . a stained glass window. Come into the sitting room, Joanna, there’s more room there for the children to play, and less mischief for Toby to get into. I didn’t see you in church this morning.’

  ‘Sorry. I forgot it was Sunday.’

  ‘Easily done,’ he said. ‘What did you want to talk to us about?’

  Joanna would have rather talked to Tilda alone, but the pair presented a united front, and she tried not to resent the fact that Tilda seemed to be growing away from her. She was genuinely glad that her friend was so happy and settled, though.

  Toby was kept entertained by Grace while Joanna told the dumbfounded Tilda about the relationship she’d had with her first husband. ‘That’s why the marriage record was missing. When Richard Lind found out, he tore the page from the church ledger. On his death bed he asked Charlotte to destroy the evidence. So she did.’

  David gave a disapproving shake of his head. ‘My uncle tampered with parish records?’

  But Tilda placed a hand on his arm. ‘Hush, David. He was trying to protect Joanna. If this had happened to you, would you want records left as proof, when you know how condemning people can be? Why didn’t you tell me this before, Joanna? I would have understood.’

  ‘There’s more, Tilda. My father faked his own death. He’s still alive and is living in Australia under a different name. He’s married again and has a family.’

  ‘So that’s why you went to Australia?’

  ‘I went to Melbourne to find him, to let him know I was all right, and loved him for what he did to protect my good name. He gave up everything he had, for me. But the trouble was, others had begun to work the situation out too. Everyone on the island knew I was washed ashore in the storm and that Anna and Joseph Rushmore had taken me in as their own.’

  ‘Nobody thought any the worse of you for it.’

  ‘It was Charlotte who first noticed the resemblance I had to my real mother, and she who alerted Tobias to the fact that I was possibly her granddaughter.’ Joanna unrolled the canvas. ‘You remember Honor Darsham’s grave over in the churchyard. This is her. My real mother.’

  Tilda sucked in a deep breath when confronted by the blue-eyed, dark-haired replica of Joanna. ‘There’s no mistaking the resemblance, and she’s wearing your rose brooch, the one your ma gave you.’

  Joanna’s fingers went to the brooch. ‘No, I’m wearing her rose brooch. Didn’t you ever stop to wonder where Ma got it from. She couldn’t have afforded to buy it.

  ‘Even Seth managed to piece the story together. It ended up that everybody but you knew. James Stark said we could be charged with conspiracy, and I could go to prison for committing bigamy, though how could I be charged with that when my shipboard marriage to Alex wasn’t legal in the first place? It’s all too complicated for words, and the lie has grown too big to handle, so we’re all going to Australia to live.’

  ‘All of you?’ Tilda stared at her, wide eyed.

  ‘Well, all those who want to. Me, the Nash twins, Thaddeus and my grandmother for a start. Seth doesn’t know I’m going,’ she said, miserable at the thought of losing him.

  ‘Oh, I imagine he does. He’s as thick as thieves with everyone now, even our Leonard. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed.’

  ‘Seth Adams is an enterprising young man,’ David said. ‘He seems to act positively when an opportunity presents itself.’

  ‘What an incredible pickle you managed to get yourself into,’ Tilda said, giving a little giggle.

  ‘All of which could have been avoided if you’d simply got the marriage annulled,’ David said sternly.

  ‘Or had been allowed to drown in the first place. I wasn’t offered a choice of either option, since others acted on my behalf. David, would you concede, perhaps, that God took a hand in deciding my future?’

  He smiled. ‘You have me there.’

  Tilda collapsed on to a chair and doubled up with laughter, choking out, ‘This could have only happened to you, Joanna. If you’d only stopped to think in the first place, instead of rushing headlong into marriage with a man you hardly knew.’

  ‘Quite,’ David said, which made Tilda laugh even harder.

  ‘This is not funny, Tilda.’

  ‘Oh, it is, it is, Joanna, my love. David sounds like a stuffed shirt, and you sound like a wounded donkey. Don’t you realize that this story is so incredible that nobody in their right mind would ever believe you if you told them the truth?’

  ‘I suppose it does sound a bit far-fetched.’

  ‘Quite,’ said David for the second time.

  ‘Now I’ll tell you our secret. David found a broken gin bottle and my mother’s crutches in the cemetery. We think she got drunk, passed out, then rolled into Jimmy Upton’s grave and was covered in mud. It’s more than possible that he was buried on top of her.’

  Although they shouldn’t have, both women began to howl with laughter.

  David rolled his eyes and grinned. ‘How can I maintain any dignity with you two around?’

  ‘You’re much more lovable without any,’ Tilda said.

  ‘Quite,’ Joanna said, and brought out the bag of coins. ‘Irene and Lydia found this hidden in the cottage. We think it might be Brian’s ill-gotten gains. With Christmas not far away, I thought you might be able to use it for the less fortunate, David.’

  Tilda exchanged a glance with her. ‘Since it might be the last Christmas we spend together, I hope you and the twins will celebrate it with us. We intend to invite your grandmother and Thaddeus. Mr Adams is invited as well.

  Joanna’s smile faded as she said quietly, ‘I haven’t heard from Seth. But my Christmas turkey is fattening up nicely, and I’ll contribute it to the dinner.’

  Seth had been working non-stop. He’d managed to obtain a cargo of mixed goods, and with a sense of satisfaction had watched the Joanna Rose sail over the horizon with a full payload.

  He’d been busy ever since, dealing with the legalities and trying to learn certain aspects of running a shipping company. He’d also had a stroke of luck, with Bart Seager willing to buy into the detecting agency. The invaluable Geevers was happy with the arrangement.

  But others were not so fortunate. Barnard’s properties had been seized, leaving Constance very poorly off.

  As Seth had suspected, the Earl of Alsonbury had disowned Barnard, and had named Constance’s eldest son as his heir.

  Constance told him, ‘Albert is now thirteen, and he hardly knows me. But he’s doing well at school, and so is Thomas, so I don’t want to disrupt their education.’

  ‘It would be unwise,’ he agreed.

  ‘The earl said he’s prepared to continue being their benefactor as regards to their schooling. I’m invited to visit him
and my sons for Christmas. He wants to discuss our future.’

  ‘He will have it all decided, Constance.’

  ‘I know, but I have little choice. The earl said he might be prepared to make a cottage on the estate available to me, if I’d act as companion to the countess.’

  ‘Who will run you off your feet. The boys are your sons, Constance. May I offer you an alternative? Compromise. Allow the earl to educate the two eldest, since one is to inherit the title. Thomas will provide companionship for him.’

  ‘And my two youngest? They are only seven and eight years old.’

  ‘I’m going away shortly, perhaps for good, since I think it better that Kate be brought up abroad, and also I’m thinking of taking a wife.’

  ‘Joanna Morcant?’

  He nodded. ‘That’s if she’ll have me. My feelings for her are very profound.’

  ‘She’s an independent young woman, but a courageous one. I do hope she accepts your proposal.’

  ‘Either way, I intend to keep my property in London. You and your sons are welcome to reside in my house, and there’s a perfectly good church school nearby for the younger boys. I attended it myself. I shall make you an allowance, which you can use as you see fit, and all the household bills can be handed to my accountant. There will be no conditions attached to this offer, and in all household matters you can act on my behalf.’