The Lost Sisters: A gritty saga about friendships, family and finding a place to call home

by Lindsey Hutchinson

  ‘Orpha, what I’m trying to say is… will you marry me?’ Ashley said all in a rush.

  The carriage driver smiled to himself as he heard the question, at least the lad had style.

  ‘Oh Ashley! This is such a surprise! You see, I have so many plans for the business!’

  The driver’s smile turned down as he listened to the conversation taking place behind him.

  ‘Darling,’ Ashley said with a smile, ‘you can still run your business when we are married.’

  ‘Well then my answer is yes!’ Orpha said breathlessly. Blinded by love, Orpha rushed headlong into her decision.

  The driver flicked the horse’s reins, urging the horse to move quicker as he called out, ‘Come on Bess, these young people are getting married!’

  Laughing as they were thrown back in their seats as the horse picked up speed, Ashley kissed his bride-to-be gently amid the tinkling of the bells on the horse’s reins.

  The news of the carriage ride and proposal was given to the family over dinner that night and everyone was delighted, all that is except one. Simmons’ heart weighed heavy in his chest.

  Once more, Simmons, Mrs Jukes, Alice, Seth and Jago were invited into the parlour to toast the happy young couple. Copious amounts of alcohol were consumed and singing and dancing ensued. Hangovers the following day were not even considered as laughter and joy carried the revellers into the early hours. The only one not drunk that night was Simmons. He spent the evening watching the man who had so recently settled himself so easily into Orpha’s affections and her life.

  *

  Ashley Rochester was delighted when Orpha accepted his proposal of marriage. She was a beauty, there was no denying that, and from a very wealthy family too. Now she was a very rich young woman in her own right. Once they were married he would want for nothing, her money would come to him.

  Sitting on his single bed in the old ramshackle building in Ettingshall Road at the other side of Wolverhampton, Ashley held his cold hands to the meagre fire. Another few months was all he had to wait, then his financial problems would be over. Rubbing his hands together for warmth, he smiled, yes all this misery and poverty would be behind him. Looking at the few clothes hanging from a picture rail near the fire, he thought he would soon be visiting the best tailors in the town. He would be living in Buchanan Mansion and have his own horse in the stable there. With good food in his stomach and coin in his pocket, Ashley Rochester would receive the respect he felt he deserved.

  Climbing into a cold bed fully clothed in order to stay warm, he shivered as the fire slowly died. He had used the last of the coal and would need to pick from the pit banks again tomorrow. He hated having to pick the coal bits from the mounds of earth moved by the miners, it was hard and laborious work, and the pit bank wenches laughed at him. But come the summer, he would pick no more coal; he would burn as much as he pleased once he had his feet under the table at that big house! The thought warmed him as he succumbed to sleep.

  The following day, Ashley ignored the jeers of the pit bank wenches as he dug his hands into the slag heap, looking for bits of coal for his fire. There were women crawling over the mounds of earth and chippings. Unable to afford to buy coal, they would spend their days searching for anything that would burn. The task was made all the more difficult by the recent fall of snow, but Ashley pressed on. His bucket almost full now, he decided he’d had enough and started for home, to the taunts of the women shouting he had no stamina. Ignoring them, he trudged on as the cold and wet seeped through the holes in his boots. By the time he got back he was thoroughly miserable. Lighting the fire, he searched for something to eat; bread and cheese was all he had, so bread and cheese it was.

  Sitting directly in front of the fire, his boots in the hearth to dry out, he wriggled his toes through the holes in his socks. Biting into the stale bread and hard cheese, he decided he needed to be invited to dinner at Buchanan Mansion again.

  What he’d told Orpha and her family was true… to a degree. His father had left him the string of warehouses, but what he hadn’t told them was, they were all empty. He could find no takers and he could not sell them. There was not enough money being earned by people to warrant their buying a warehouse. He had never known his mother; that was true enough. His father would never speak of it, so Ashley had no idea who or where she was, or even if she were alive or dead. He had been raised by a nanny who had died when he was in his teenage years.

  Looking around the small room, he shook his head at what was left of his father’s house. He had never found work, he wasn’t trained in anything and had lived by his wits from that time on. He had coerced a few older wealthy women out of money on occasions by having secret liaisons with them, which he continued to do in order to survive as well as to provide him with the money needed to court Orpha Buchanan.

  Ashley finished his food and rubbed his cold hands together. Very soon he would be a man of means. Once he was married to Orpha, no one would question or doubt him, no one would taunt or ridicule him… ever again.

  *

  Peg’s time was near and she had not worked in the shop for a few months. With Ezzie and Edna still away on the boat, she was glad of the company of the staff at Buchanan Mansion.

  Sitting with Simmons and Beulah in the kitchen one morning, Peg caught her breath then said, ‘Oh Beulah, I think I’ve wet myself!’ Bursting into tears from sheer embarrassment, she looked at the cook.

  ‘No, girl, it’s your time. The baby’s on the way!’ Taking charge immediately, the cook issued her orders. ‘Simmons, send Jago for the doctor; Alice, get the mistress to her bed and into her nightgown; Seth, get some water on to boil; Simmons, fresh towels and linen. I’ll get Mr Abel and Miss Orpha then I’ll go up to see to Miss Peg!’

  Peg’s cries could be heard echoing around the house as Abel and Zachariah sat downstairs in the kitchen with the male staff and Alice, the maid. She kept busy, making tea, and Abel paced the floor. Zachariah winced with every cry he heard coming from his sister. Ezzie and Edna would not return for a couple of days and there was no way to let them know what was happening… or was there?

  Zachariah jumped up and yelled, ‘I’m going to the wharf to ask the “cut-rats” to get a message to Ezzie that his wife had gone into labour!’

  Orpha held her sister’s hand and bathed her forehead as Peg struggled to bring her child into the world. She was exhausted and the doctor and Beulah encouraged the girl to rest between the contractions that racked her body, stealing her strength and energy.

  ‘Orpha… I can’t do this…!’ Peg gasped.

  ‘Sweetheart, you can. Besides, you can’t leave the little mite where it is now can you?’ Orpha watched the faint smile cross her sister’s face before another agonising wave of pain rolled over her.

  The doctor and Beulah exchanged a look as Peg let out a screech. The cook shook her head and the doctor turned his attention once more to the girl who lay whimpering on the bed.

  ‘Peg,’ he said, ‘the baby is breech… its legs are coming first… so we have to try and turn it.’ With a nod from the girl, the doctor muttered as he worked, but the child would not turn. ‘Right,’ he said, wiping an arm across his sweat-soaked brow, ‘legs first it is then!’

  Screams ensued and with pushing from Peg and pulling from the doctor, the child came into the world with a plop and then let out a healthy howl. Passing the baby quickly to Beulah to swaddle, the doctor finished his ministrations with its mother. ‘There now, Peg, you have a beautiful baby boy!’

  Ralph Lucas was placed in his mother’s arms and settled immediately.

  Orpha whispered, ‘Zachariah has taken a message to the wharf, it should get to Ezzie and Edna pretty quickly.’ Then stroking the baby’s cheek gently, she went on, ‘Oh Peg, he’s so beautiful, you are so very lucky.’

  Orpha tearfully watched her sister and nephew as Beulah took the news to the others waiting in the kitchen.

  Abel paid the doctor’s fee and once he’d left he
rushed upstairs to see his daughter and her newborn son. Each of the staff popped their heads round the door for a quick squint at the new arrival and offered their congratulations before retiring to the kitchen again.

  After a cup of tea, Peg settled down to sleep off her exhaustion, the baby in the crib beside her and Orpha watching over them both from a chair by the window. Everything in her world was wonderful right now, but with her mother still roaming free, how long would her happiness last?

  Having received the message via the ‘cut-rat’ grapevine, Ezzie and Edna immediately set off for home. Arriving the following morning, everyone congratulated the new father. Holding his newborn son, his tears flowed as he whispered, ‘Oh Peg… he’s perfect! Thank you so much my darling, thank you!’

  Orpha watched the happy couple for a moment before slipping quietly from the room.

  She wondered what her mother would say if she knew she was now a grandmother.

  *

  Throughout the bitter cold months of winter, Orpha’s business steadily grew and more workers were taken on in the factory. The two shops were selling out so quickly Orpha had to rethink her policy. The bottom line was she needed another factory! Her accountant had assured her the business could stand the expenditure and so one particularly cold day she travelled to Birmingham with Ashley in search of new premises.

  Mr Belcher, the estate agent, had informed Orpha a building had just come onto his books that might be just what she was looking for. The structure was in Albert Street, a couple of streets away from the shop. As luck would have it, the building was very like that in Bath Street in Wolverhampton. Pacing back and forth, Orpha was telling Ashley where the ranges would be placed; the packing and preparation areas, the sinks and… massive cold room. She would, however, have to install a lavatory and handwashing basin.

  ‘Orpha,’ Ashley said, ‘it needs a thorough clean and a coat of whitewash… you can’t put your curtains up before your floorboards are down!’

  Laughing at his analogy, she said, ‘I know that, silly!’ Her laugh echoed through the empty building, but Ashley did not laugh at being admonished. That would soon change once they were married, he would see to it.

  Looking over the building, Ashley and Orpha agreed it would be ideal.

  ‘Now all I have to do is find and train workers, and install the equipment needed,’ Orpha said.

  Orpha had agreed a price with Mr Belcher and had immediately begun to have the building cleaned and painted. New equipment was fitted and staff were on site being trained by her best chocolate makers, a bonus in their wages an encouragement. Going to and from the new building over the next weeks, Orpha thought she caught a glimpse of her mother every now and then. Was her mother following her? Or was it just coincidence? Orpha kept a keen eye out on her travels, especially in the railway stations where she stood well back from the platform edge.

  Orpha wasted no time in getting the new factory up and running and by Christmas it was working flat out. The Christmas specialties were in the process of being made and chocolate novelties were displayed in her shop windows.

  Orpha’s profits soared and she was constantly looking for new ideas for the chocolate process. Nuts, fruit, toffee, fudge… all were covered in creamy chocolate and all were selling incredibly well. Orpha had designed special chocolate moulds for the different occasions such as Christmas and Easter. Tiny chocolates were made and wrapped prettily to hang on Christmas trees, small chocolate bunnies were made for Easter, tiny cakes and biscuits covered in the creamy mixture were flying out of her shops. Even with two factories and two shops, Orpha could barely keep up with the orders coming in. Taking on more workers for the Christmas period, she was determined to meet the demand, she knew from experience, she would be faced with.

  With her work keeping her so busy, she’d had little time to spend with Ashley and even less time to think about her wedding. They had agreed to be married in the summer, so she had plenty of time to organise things, she felt.

  Walking across to the new factory in Albert Street one day in early December, Orpha was wondering how the new Santa moulds were working out. Suddenly a voice behind her said, ‘Got yourself another business, I see.’

  Orpha turned and was shocked at the sight of her mother. Dressed in clothes that had seen better days, the woman was a shadow of her former self. Thin features stared back at her; brown eyes sunk deep into their sockets and wispy brown hair tried desperately to escape the confines of a battered hat.

  ‘Mother! Mother…?’ Orpha gasped in shock which quickly turned to sadness as her mother answered.

  ‘Yes, it’s me, not looking my best I’m afraid,’ the gaunt-looking woman said, all haughtiness gone from her now.

  ‘My God!’ Orpha whispered. ‘What happened to you?’

  ‘No money, your father wouldn’t give me any,’ Hortense muttered.

  ‘Mother, when did you last eat?’

  Hortense just shook her head – she couldn’t remember.

  ‘Come with me!’ Orpha ordered and taking her mother’s rail-thin arm they walked to the nearest tea shop. Ordering food and hot tea for them both, Orpha stared at the woman sat opposite her. She couldn’t believe her mother had come to this!

  Orpha watched in horror as her mother devoured the hot food like she’d never been fed.

  Pushing her empty plate away, she whispered, ‘Thank you Orpha, I know I don’t deserve this.’

  ‘Mother, everyone deserves to eat!’

  ‘I mean, the way I treated you and Eugenie… I noticed you called her Peg.’

  ‘Yes, her foster mother named her Peg and she wanted to keep to it,’ Orpha replied not unkindly, although she felt the need to answer truthfully It felt strange speaking in a civil manner with the woman who had only shown her abuse in her former years.

  Hortense dropped her eyes to her lap.

  ‘Mother, tell me, where are you living?’

  ‘There’s an old house…’ Hortense began but was too ashamed to tell her daughter she lived in a derelict hovel.

  ‘Oh Mother!’ Orpha gasped, her hands coming to her mouth.

  The waitress arrived asking if they would like anything else. Orpha ordered more tea and a stodgy pudding for her mother. ‘We have to get you sorted out,’ she said as the waitress ambled away with her order. ‘You can’t continue to live like this!’

  Hortense attempted a smile, which looked macabre on her thin face.

  The waitress arrived with the order and while Hortense ate, Orpha took the time to think about a solution. Once a proud woman, would her mother accept money if Orpha offered it? Would her pride prevent her from taking money from her daughter? She had to find a way of helping the woman without flaunting her own wealth in her mother’s face. When Hortense had finished eating, Orpha said gently, ‘Mother, how can I help you?’

  ‘Oh you can’t, I’m lost. This is God’s judgement for my being so evil to you girls.’ Hortense looked resigned to her fate. ‘I just couldn’t go into the workhouse! I would rather starve than go in there!’

  ‘Mother, by the looks of you, you very nearly did! There’s no question of you going into the workhouse!’ Orpha was finding it difficult to forgive her mother for all the hurt she had suffered growing up, but she felt a pang of guilt should she allow her mother to end up in that dreadful place.

  ‘I must accept God’s punishment for all the bad things I’ve done.’ Hortense’s eyes misted over.

  ‘We have all done bad things, Mother, there were times I wished you dead, and that’s a terrible thing!’ Orpha watched her mother attempt to smile once more.

  ‘I was so jealous of you both. You are so like your father and nothing like me. Abel doted on the pair of you, he ignored me until you were gone. Then, instead of loving me again, he hated me. He blamed me for you no longer being in his life… and rightly so.’ Hortense was pouring her heart out to the daughter she had once hated with a vengeance. Now sitting here talking quietly together she could see what a beautif
ul young woman the girl had grown into, and she felt wretched, but her jealousy still lay just beneath the surface of her shame.

  ‘Oh Mother, why did we never talk like this before? So much could have been avoided if we had.’ Orpha saw the emotions play on her mother’s haggard face.

  ‘I must go, you have your work to go to,’ Hortense said finally.

  ‘Bugger the work!’ Orpha snapped.

  So like your father, Hortense thought as Orpha stood to leave.

  ‘Come on, we’ll get you booked into a hotel and then we will sort out something more permanent.’ Orpha gave her mother a determined look.

  Slowly walking the length of Moor Street, they walked into a hotel behind the Bull Ring. Orpha booked and paid for her mother to stay for one month, after deciding it may take a while to sort out permanent accommodation. Going to the allocated room, Orpha looked around; it was clean and the clerk said she could light the fire to take the chill off. The coal scuttle was full and Orpha knew it would be warm in no time. Leaving some money on the bedside table for some new warm clothes, Orpha said she would see her mother the following day then she left. Hortense’s thin face stretched into a macabre smile in a self-congratulatory manner on ingratiating herself with her daughter so easily. This was the first step to acquiring what she thought should rightly be hers – the family fortune.

  Sitting on the train home, Orpha thought about the events of the day. Her mother’s appearance had shocked her. The woman was half starved and dressed in rags. Why had she let herself get into such a state? Why had she not tried to find work? Hortense believed God was punishing her, that’s why!

  Hailing a cabbie in Wolverhampton, Orpha was on her way home. Now all she had to do was tell the family about her mother and what she’d done.

  Chapter 42

  Orpha sat at the dining table and listened to the family’s news. Ezzie’s boat business seemed to be going very well and he and Peg were pleased it was making money. Edna clucked over how her grandson, Ralph, was growing. Zachariah and her father were busy with consultations and the staff were happy in their work. She pondered how to broach the subject of her mother and their afternoon spent together. Suddenly everyone was silent and looking at her. Casting a glance around the table, she searched the enquiring faces.