by Maryk Lewis
the rope locker.
Sarah, when Jess found her, was just coming away from a serious talk with Mrs Greeley.
“Dr Reade would like to keep me on as sub-matron for the voyage, if Mr Smithers will agree,” Sarah told her. “They’re having trouble trying to find another one, now that ours is down with the influenza. There’s a problem that I’ve had no training, but at least I can read and write, which is more than some of the supposedly trained nurses can do.”
“Oo, what would you have to do?” Jess queried.
“Help to supervise the single women’s quarters, and nurse the sick, and all that.”
“You’ve nursed enough sick people at home,” Jess observed. “What about Mr Inkster, though? You promised to help him with the school too, remember?”
“Gil says I can probably do both, if you’ll help.”
“Oh, ‘Gil’ now, is it?” Jess noted dryly.
“Who did I hear complaining about teasing?” Sarah returned, going quite red.
“Hmm, yes...well, of course I’ll help,” Jess answered quickly. “I’ll be glad to help.” It wasn’t often that her older sister showed embarrassment, and Jess decided she had better not pursue the matter for the time being. All the same, she would be observing things with some interest. Gil Inkster was nice, but Sarah already had a man waiting for her in New Zealand, and Abel Cormack had paid Sarah’s fare...Jess’s too, were the truth known. She just hoped that Abel Cormack was as nice a man as Gil Inkster.
“First thing now,” Sarah said a little too brightly, “is to shift ourselves out of the hospital flat, and into the single women’s quarters. We’ll get first choice of the bunks.”
The move was not very far, for the newly-built companionway to the single women’s quarters was down through the rear hatch, which was immediately forward of the entrance to the hospital flat. It was downhill all the way, and besides they had already partially unpacked their baggage, so that they were able to shift all their things in several trips.
Down below they had a choice of bunks against the hull on one side or the other, or ones in the tiers out in the centre of the hold. The top ones against the hull had portholes which let in a little greyish light, the only natural light in the hold, but for what came down the companionway. The portholes could not be opened, however, and once the voyage started, they would quickly be encrusted with salt, so that nothing much would be visible through them, or so Mrs Greeley said.
The best places, they were told, were in the middle tier close to the companionway. They got more light and fresh air, but even more important, being near the centre line of the ship, they did not rock and sway about so much when the ship was at sea.
Sarah chose the middle bunk nearest to the steps, and Jess took the one above her. Each had a rough-planked luggage locker built into one end, and everything they owned had to either go into that locker, or be left on their bunks for the whole of the voyage. There was nowhere else to keep things. They could see that it was going to be very crowded when the rest of the passengers arrived aboard.
As they had done in the hospital flat, a first task in their new home was to fill palliasses with straw, and make up their beds. The straw was in a compartment of the luggage hold forward, and they had to cart their filled palliasses the length of the deck to get them home.
“The good Lord said, ‘Pick up thy bed and walk’,” the boatswain commented as they went past.
“My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint,” Sarah returned straight-faced.
“Oo, where did you learn that?” Jess asked when they were alone.
“That’s what we copied on our slates when we practised writing,” Sarah replied. “Didn’t you learn some too?”
“Yes, of course,” Jess agreed, “but not that one.”
Later, when they went into the great cabin to help with the dinner, they saw the boatswain and Mr Milburn with their noses in the cabin Bible trying to find Sarah’s quotation.
“Look in Job,” Captain Hedley told them, “about a quarter of the way through.”
“Aha!” the boatswain cried after a while. “Got you, young lady. The passage continues: ‘Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me with visions.’ We’ll scare you with a few dreams this voyage all right.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” the captain laughed. “The only terrors on my ship will be ‘As a dream when one awaketh’. You’ll find that in the Psalms, my man.”
After dinner, while Sarah and Jess were washing up the dishes, Ken MacGovern looked into the galley.
“Does the captain know a lot about the Bible?” Jess asked.
“Captains often do,” the mate said. “One tends to read a lot on long voyages, and we all need something solid to think about during the middle watches of the night. The sea makes you like that.”
He peered around to see if anybody else was in the galley, but Angus MacGillivray had finished for the day, and had gone to his cabin to clean up, so the place was otherwise empty.
“Most folk are going ashore tonight,” he said. “This will be our last night. Would you like to come?”
“Oh, we’ve no money left,” Sarah answered for both of them. “We’d best stay on board.”
“No need to worry about that,” Ken replied. “I’ve enough for all of us.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Sarah said, “but we couldn’t allow you to do that. Besides, there’s nothing ashore for us now. We left our home and family in Ireland, and our new home is right away around the other side of the world. No, you go and have a nice evening. We’ll be all right where we are.”
“You’ll find the days long and boring once we’re at sea,” he warned. “It’s just the same thing day after day after day.”
“It’s been interesting so far,” Sarah commented.
“A sailor’s life is like that,” Ken replied. “Everything interesting happens either when you’re getting ready to go to sea, or after you’ve arrived. There’s nothing much in between.”
“We’ll stay aboard all the same, thank you,” Sarah told him firmly.
The young officer was plainly disappointed with her refusal, but could do nothing other than go with the boat putting off for the shore.
“Another one,” Jess said cheerfully after he had gone. “You should be cutting notches in your belt.”
“Don’t be coarse,” Sarah reproved her. “He was only being kind. He knows I’m betrothed.”
“Betrothals have been broken before today,” Jess argued.
“Yes, well I don’t have the choice, do I?” Sarah answered. “Abel has invested heavily in me. Wherever would I get enough money to pay him back? Ken would be a good catch for some lucky girl, but not for me.”
‘Ken’, Jess noted, but kept the thought to herself.
In the great cabin the captain was playing chess with the surgeon. Nearly all the work on board was completed, and everybody was taking the opportunity to relax, before it all started up again on the morrow.
“There’s another board here, if you’d like to play,” the captain offered. “This will be your last chance, as the place will fill up with cabin passengers tomorrow, and you’ll not be able to come in here except when you’re working.”
Jess knew how to play, but had no hope of beating Sarah, unless Sarah gave her several pieces to start with, and that rather spoiled it for her older sister. Both were quite pleased, therefore, when Gil Inkster asked if he could play.
Soon Sarah and Gil had their heads together over the board, happy with each other’s company, and lost to all else. Finding herself shut out, Jess smiled wryly to herself. She was used to men losing sight of her existence once they had Sarah’s attention, so she was not too upset, and wandered outside to look at the lights of London reflecting from the river.
Andy was hanging about on the port deck, in the dark, not allowed in the great cabin, and hoping Jess would come out.
“Would you like to catch some fish for breakfast?” he asked. “It’s
nearly low tide, and the herrings will come in on the turn with the clean water.”
That idea suited her much better than chess. Andy had borrowed some fishing gear from the cook, who had also supplied him with some raw mutton fat for bait.
They chose a position at the gunwale not far from the great cabin companionway. There they had the advantage of light spilling from the cabin, as well as from a lantern hanging from the back stay. Andy also had a lantern, but he wanted to hang that over the side close to the water where it would attract the fish to their lines.
He had several lines, and proposed to set them all. The first two hung straight down to catch the fish going up the centre of the river. Others were to go at different distances out from the ship, with one reaching to the shallows within a few feet of the river’s edge.
Hardest to cast was that farthest one. Andy stood away from Jess, to give himself room, and swung the heavy sinker in a circle around his head. On the end of the line, the sinker whizzed faster and faster, round and round, until just at the right moment, Andy let it go, and it flew far out across the water, whipping out line behind it, until it plunged into the tide nearly where Andy meant it to fall.
“That was clever,” Jess said admiringly. “Could you teach me to do that?”
“Of course,” Andy beamed with pleasure.
“Oh, look, we’ve got a bite,” Jess exclaimed a moment or two later. One of the lines next to the ship was jerking, and causing rings to spread out from where it entered the water.
“Give the