‘Are you trying to tell us we’ve all been had on?’ Bonnie demanded. ‘I can’t believe you can be so cynical. What about your husband?’
‘Believe me, sweetheart, he’s the one who got the rough end of the stick, and we both know that already. But he’ll get Jennifer, and I’ll get my ticket to fame and fortune, so who’s really lost out? No one, right? It was a deal. Admittedly, he didn’t quite know all the details when he said he’d marry me, but it was still a deal. What are you girls getting if it turns out you have been led up the garden path? Bugger all, I’d say, except your ticket home, which you have to pay for yourself any way.’
Leila glanced at Bonnie and they shook their heads. What a strange and bitter girl Gail was, and what a lot of rubbish she was spouting.
Sally said, ‘Yes, well, you’re entitled to your own opinion, although I for one don’t care about your view of the world. What I do care about is Jennifer. If you leave her on her own again I’m reporting you to the Red Cross people and the captain.’
‘Mmm,’ Gail said, frowning. ‘That’s a pity, because I’m probably going to be quite busy for the rest of the trip.’ She looked at Sally contemplatively. ‘Look, if you care so much about Jennifer, why don’t you look after her?’
Sally opened her mouth to protest at the absolute cheek of the idea, then shut it again. She exchanged glances with Marjorie, Bonnie and Leila, then said, ‘All right, I will. We all will, if it means that Jennifer gets the care she deserves. On one condition.’
‘What’s that?’ Gail replied as she retrieved a file from her handbag and began to shape her long painted nails.
‘That one of us is there when you hand her over to your husband. I for one won’t be able to live with myself if I’m not satisfied she’s going to be well looked after. It isn’t fair; she’s only eighteen months old, for God’s sake. Is that all right, girls?’
Everyone else nodded. Daisy pulled Ginny out from under the blankets and made her nod her little furry head, even though she had no idea what the grown-ups were talking about.
‘Oh, well, that should be a piece of cake — he’s meeting me as soon as the ship docks. Okay, ladies, it’s a deal.’ Gail smiled. ‘I like a good deal.’
CHAPTER TWENTY
Naturally, Ginny escaped from cabin 46, and ran amok through out the ship. She wandered out after Marjorie left the cabin door open on her way to the toilet, and as soon as Daisy noticed that the kitten had disappeared she became inconsolable.
A search party was assembled and sent out in all directions, but to no avail — Ginny was nowhere to be found. Then the reports of sightings began to come in: children in the nursery that morning had been transported with glee as a small fluffy creature had been spotted playing among the soft toys before tearing off again; something unmentionable had been discovered on the carpeted floor of the A deck corridor; and the head chef had very nearly gone berserk when he’d glimpsed what he insisted was a very cheeky-looking small grey rat loitering about in the ship’s galley.
Daisy was informed of these sightings — to help her to feel better, as she had convinced herself that Ginny had fallen overboard — and it was then that she came up with the most sensible idea anybody had had so far.
‘Woolley can find her.’
Leila looked doubtful. ‘Sweetie, how would he know where Ginny is?’
‘’Cause he owns the ship.’
Leila suspected, as Daisy had assumed, that First Purser Woolley probably did know just about everything that went on above and below decks.
‘Well, I suppose we can ask. Come on then, let’s go for a walk.’
So off they went, hand in hand, along the corridor and down onto the deck where the staff had their offices.
Leila knocked on the door marked ‘First, Second, Third and Assistant Pursers’, and pushed it open as a voice from within invited entry.
First Purser Woolley was seated at his desk, in front of a large stack of papers.
‘Ah, Mrs and Miss Kelly, what can I do for you?’ he asked, carefully replacing the cap on his fountain pen.
‘Ginny’s run away!’ Daisy blurted.
‘Ginny? One of the children, perhaps?’
‘Er, no, actually,’ Leila replied sheepishly. ‘The kitten.’
‘Oh, yes, the kitten. The one that wasn’t in the wicker box.’
Leila blushed, but only slightly this time. ‘It’s Daisy’s kitten, and she’s very upset about her going missing. We were wondering if you could help us find her?’
‘This wouldn’t be the kitten that has recently been sighted in, let me see …’ He consulted a sheet of paper on his desk. ‘Yes, the nursery, the galley, twenty minutes ago in the dining room, in the corridor outside the engine room, and, well, there’s no need to mention that particular little matter.’
‘That’s her!’ Daisy exclaimed. ‘She’s very naughty!’
First Purser Woolley looked at Daisy over his spectacles, and smiled kindly. ‘Unfortunately, I don’t know where she is at this instant, but I expect I can find out. Why don’t you take your mother back to your cabin and wait there? I’m sure we’ll have good news for you soon. A kitten shouldn’t be too hard to find.’
Under her breath Leila mumbled, ‘I wouldn’t bet on that,’ but she smiled brightly. ‘What a good idea, that’s exactly what we’ll do, and thank you so much for your help. It’s most appreciated.’
‘Yeah, ta, Woolley!’ Daisy added.
First Purser Woolley lowered his head to hide his smile, then rummaged in his drawer and withdrew a handful of wrapped toffees. ‘I keep these especially for young ladies who have temporarily misplaced their kittens. I’m told they help.’
As they rose to leave, he said quietly to Leila, ‘You do understand that animals are not permitted to wander about the ship? They should be caged in the hold at the very least. Running about, they are a danger to themselves and to others.’
‘Er, yes, I do understand that. Sorry.’
‘On the other hand, I gather this kitten of Miss Daisy’s is very small. When it’s returned to her, please make sure the creature remains within sight of someone, ah, responsible, let us say.’
‘Oh, of course. Yes, I’ll certainly see to that. Thank you.’
Daisy was still chewing enthusiastically as they arrived back at their cabin.
‘No news?’ Leila asked as she flopped onto her bunk.
Bonnie shook her head. ‘Sorry, not yet.’
‘We spoke to Woolley, and he said he’ll keep an eye out.’ Leila lowered her voice. ‘God, I hope she turns up soon, those toffees he gave Daisy are only going to last so long.’
As it happened, Ginny was delivered back to cabin 46 by the first purser himself, standing to attention and holding a silver serving platter with a domed lid.
‘Miss Daisy Kelly, I believe that this is your order?’ he announced rather grandly.
‘No. Mum, what’s a order?’
‘I think it is your order, Miss Daisy,’ he repeated and handed her the tray.
She removed the lid and shrieked with joy. ‘Ginny! Mummy, it’s Ginny in a dish!’
Ginny stretched, stepped off the tray, climbed up Daisy’s chest and settled in the crook of her neck. Daisy gave Woolley’s smartly trousered leg a big, heartfelt hug. In response he reached down and patted her head, and allowed himself to smile openly this time.
‘All part of the service, Miss Daisy, all part of the service.’
The Robert E. Lee docked at Manhattan on the Hudson River on an afternoon in the third week of April.
The Statue of Liberty, on an island all by itself in the bay, had been a bit of a disappointment because it turned out to be green, and not the defiant burnished bronze the war brides had been expecting, but the imposing and truly spectacular skyline of New York city made up for it. The weather was pleasant and springlike, and the girls from cabin 46 carried their coats over their arms as they stood on the dock, wondering where to go next.
Sally, whose hus
band could not meet her, had sent her the money for the rail fare to Philadelphia, but Bonnie had suggested during the voyage that she hitch a ride with herself and Danny, who would be waiting when the ship docked. Leila and Daisy were to stop off in Philadelphia too, before they boarded the train that would take them to Harper County, Oklahoma.
But Danny was nowhere to be seen, and there was also the matter of the rendezvous involving Jennifer and her father to be sorted out. Gail had dressed the toddler in a very charming little outfit of pink and white lace, and she looked irresistible, but they were all worried — Gail perhaps more than anyone — that he would not appear to collect her.
‘Where is Danny?’ Leila asked, giving voice to the question that had been on Bonnie’s mind for the past half-hour as they milled about the crowded immigration hall.
‘I don’t know,’ Bonnie said, the slightest hint of panic in her voice. ‘He said he would definitely be here.’
Gail looked at her, but wisely kept her mouth shut. She couldn’t have cared less whether Bonnie’s fiancé turned up or not, as long as her husband did, and took Jennifer off her hands.
There was a minute’s uncomfortable silence as the others contemplated the awful possibility that Danny might not appear at all, leaving Bonnie high, dry and jilted thousands of miles from home, when suddenly there was a commotion near the wide glass entrance doors.
Hurrying towards them across the marbled floor came what appeared to be a huge bunch of red roses on legs. The roses were lowered and suddenly there was Danny, looking completely different without his Marine’s uniform, but with the same wide, happy smile.
He thrust the roses at Bonnie and almost put her eye out, then picked her up and swung her around so that her handbag flew out and her hat nearly came off.
‘Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie!’ he crowed. ‘I was so worried you might have changed your mind!’
Bonnie laughed in delight, and rescued her hat as he set her back on her feet. ‘How very odd,’ she said, ‘I was thinking just the same thing myself.’
‘I’m so sorry, I couldn’t find anywhere close to park the car. Did you think I wasn’t coming? Oh, my poor, poor darling, I’m so sorry,’ and he gathered her in another huge hug.
‘Hello, Danny,’ Leila said when he finally let Bonnie go.
‘Hello, Leila, you’re looking great. And, oh my gosh, this isn’t Daisy, is it? What a gorgeous little lady!’
‘Yes, this is Daisy. Ah, Jake isn’t here, is he?’
‘Jake? No, why, did he say he would be?’
‘Oh, no, I just thought he might have, well, that you might perhaps have heard from him lately.’
Danny looked a little uncomfortable. ‘I’m sorry, Leila, but I haven’t seen Jake since we were demobbed last year.’
Leila was a little taken aback; for some reason she’d thought that Jake and Danny would have maintained their firm friendship after the war ended.
‘But don’t worry,’ Danny insisted. ‘He’ll be waiting for you in Harper County, if that’s what he said he’d do. He’s a good man, Jake.’
Leila nodded, and turned her attention to Gail, who was eyeing up Danny in his smart and obviously expensive suit, hat and stylish city shoes. She curled her lip ever so slightly, and Gail scowled back.
Holding her huge bunch of roses awkwardly, Bonnie introduced Sally and Marjorie, and explained that Sally needed a ride to Philadelphia. Then she added, ‘And this is Gail Spano and her daughter Jennifer. Jennifer’s father is collecting her while Gail, well, Gail’s not stopping.’
Danny raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.
‘So, now that we’ve found you, all we have to do is find Jennifer’s father. Isn’t that right, Gail?’ Bonnie added somewhat aggressively.
It was clear to Danny that something was going on here, but he wisely decided it would be best to remain ignorant.
‘I don’t know exactly what time he’ll be here,’ Gail said calmly. ‘Only that he said he’d meet me in the immigration hall on the afternoon the ship arrived.’
‘What does he look like?’ Marjorie asked.
‘Tall, dark and handsome.’
Leila looked at Gail for indications of sarcasm, but she seemed genuine.
Eventually, after they’d all had their first cups of American coffee and a doughnut each, and Daisy had had a hotdog and slopped ketchup down the front of her frock, Gail announced, ‘Here he is.’
Anthony Spano was tall, dark and, if not devastatingly handsome, then at least really rather pleasant-looking, and clearly of Italian heritage. The girls noted that he too was smartly dressed, in a dark three-piece suit and a charcoal trilby. He approached the table with his hat in his hands, and stood staring at Jennifer. His face was pinched, and there was tension in the way he held himself.
He nodded at the others politely and said curtly to Gail, ‘Have you sorted her things out?’
‘Yes, don’t worry, you won’t have to wait around.’
She selected the smaller of her two cases and pushed it across the floor towards him. He ignored it and moved around to where Jennifer was sitting on Gail’s knee.
He bent down. ‘Hello, honey,’ he said in a gentle voice that held a hint of tears. ‘I’m your daddy, and we’re going home.’
Jennifer reached out and bopped him on the nose with a small fist, smiling happily. He picked her up, sat her on his hip and kissed the top of her dark head.
‘Shall we go?’ he asked her. ‘Your grandparents have been waiting to meet you for a very long time. And so have I.’ Then he reached into his jacket pocket, extracted an envelope and handed it to Gail. ‘Here’s your money. The divorce papers are in there too. Please sign them and return them to my lawyer as per the instructions.’
Gail nodded and stood up. ‘Good, I will. Well, ta-ta, girls, nice to have met you.’
She picked up her case and walked off, her heels clacking on the polished floor and her hips swaying pertly from side to side.
Jennifer watched her go for a moment, then suddenly burst into tears, shrieking hysterically, ‘Mummy, Mummy!’ and reaching out with chubby arms.
Gail didn’t look back.
Anthony pulled his daughter’s little body against him and rocked and soothed and patted. ‘Ssshh, ssshh, don’t cry, baby, it’s all right, it’s all right.’
He looked at the women helplessly. ‘I’m so sorry about all this,’ he said. ‘I really am.’
‘God, so are we, believe me,’ Bonnie replied. ‘If there’s anything we can do …’
‘Thanks, but my mother knows all about kids — she’s had seven of her own. We’ll be fine.’
He turned to leave but Leila, her eyes bright with tears, put a hand on his arm to stop him. ‘May I have your phone number? We’d like to know how she’s getting on. We’ve all become very fond of her during the trip over.’
‘Of course,’ Anthony replied, and handed Leila a card. ‘This is my work number. Call whenever you like. Perhaps you could come by and visit some time? Bring your little girl, too.’
‘Oh, no, thank you, but we’re heading for Oklahoma in a few days, so we won’t have the chance.’
‘Could I possibly get in touch with you, then? Just to let you know.’
‘Er, I’m sorry, but my husband doesn’t have the telephone on.’
Anthony Spano looked disappointed, but not, Bonnie suspected, because of the lack of telecommunications at Leila’s future address. It was the mention of her husband that had caused his face to fall.
Leila blushed slightly. ‘But thank you any way.’
She waved through the window as the train pulled away from the platform. Daisy was crying again, but quietly this time, huddled into the corner of the seat holding Ginny in her box on her knee. It was so hard on the children, Leila thought, all this travelling about, but they would be there soon, and Daisy would at last meet her father.
They had thoroughly enjoyed their four days in Philadelphia. She and Bonnie had both gasped as Danny had driven
up a circular, shrub-lined driveway and parked his car — a big Lincoln Continental coupe that looked as if it had come straight out of the movies — in front of a very grand, two-storeyed house in one of the city’s obviously more affluent suburbs. It was his family’s home, he’d explained, and he and Bonnie would be staying there until they were married, if that was all right with her. In separate rooms, of course. His parents were quite modern, but not that modern.
His mother had been busy making wedding plans since before Christmas, so he sincerely hoped that Bonnie had not changed her mind. No, she hadn’t, she assured him, but she’d rather thought she might have quite enjoyed planning her wedding herself.
‘Oh, but you still can,’ Danny insisted after Daisy had been put to bed, having fallen asleep in her dinner. ‘All she’s done — well, this is according to her — is investigate venues and caterers and what have you. Oh, and she’s notified the designer who made my sister’s wedding dresses when they were married, but you don’t have to go there if you don’t want to.’
Bonnie was feeling rather bowled over. She had known, of course, that Danny came from an old and reasonably well-off Philadelphia family, but she hadn’t been at all prepared for this. The Hartmans were clearly rolling in it, and enjoyed a level of comfort and privilege that surpassed even that of her own family.
Cordelia Hartman, Danny’s mother, was a patrician-looking woman with a well-defined nose, lovely skin and dark hair that had a striking sweep of silver at one temple. She dressed impeccably, spoke with a cultured accent, and had very definite opinions about everything. Bonnie and Leila felt compelled to be on their best behaviour in front of her, but they managed quite admirably, and considered that their mother and Tamar would have been very proud of them. Their father, on the other hand, would have laughed at their exaggerated manners and efforts to not put a foot wrong. Daisy, unfortunately, did not have the skills to maintain her own personal social decorum for long, and during breakfast the following morning yelled at Cordelia’s miniature dachshund to ‘Get in behind!’ when it wandered into the dining room looking for tidbits, while at the same time stuffing a piece of bacon into her pocket for Ginny. Barnard Hartman, a jovial, friendly man considerably older than his wife, roared with laughter — he’d fallen in love with Daisy the moment he’d met her, and Bonnie suspected he rather wished she was his grand child. She could see that there would be pressure before long for her and Danny to start a family.
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