The next morning, there was a lengthy file of passengers awaiting turns in the lavatory. Annie and the boys joined in at the end and by the time they got in, Georgie was jumping up and down with urgency. After they all finally used the toilets and washed up, Annie and her boys climbed the stairs to the dining saloon for breakfast. They had a choice of fresh apples or oranges, hot oatmeal porridge, hard-boiled eggs, soda scones and oatcakes. Annie quite liked the notion of not cooking for a whole week.
But soon, the novelty of the voyage began to wear off. The food was plentiful, but getting monotonous with the same meals offered every day. The boys quickly found their sea legs but after a few days, the journey began to grow tedious for them and they started picking fights with each other and arguing with Annie.
On the fourth day, the weather turned wild and the boys turned green. High waves rolled the boat constantly making many passengers seasick. Bobby, Jack and Georgie skipped meals and grew quiet; they stayed close to Annie. She and her brother were two of very few passengers who didn’t become ill, and she blessed their Nordic blood. She tended her children through the worst of the storm and was thankful when, after a couple of calmer days, the boys began to feel better.
While she didn’t mind the movement of the ship, she hated the way it creaked and groaned as it travelled through the ocean. The air in the third-class area was vile because of all the seasick passengers, but on the fifth day she was permitted to go up to the promenade deck. She cleared her lungs with bitingly cold fresh sea air. Looking out over the waves, she saw what appeared to be a huge white mountain in the distance. She asked one of the crew what it was.
“That’s an iceberg ma’am. The cap’n is taking great care to give it wide berth. They say that we only see twenty per cent of an iceberg. The rest is hidden under the waves.”
Annie saw something even more exciting two days later; flocks of puffins and gulls. Where there are birds, she thought, there has to be land. She was more than ready to disembark in New Brunswick; she had had enough of the ship. They had one more day of sailing and then would finally step ashore. She spent their last day at sea sorting out their belongings and repacking.
At lunch that day she complained to Alfie, “I hope that somehow, somewhere, we will be able to wash off the stink of the voyage. Salt water is not cleansing at all. How I long to wash my hair.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Our deck stinks of dirty bodies and vomit, and the smell in the lavatory is truly unbearable. The end of this voyage cannot come soon enough!”
“We’ll be off this ship soon,” Alfie replied. “Just think how much closer you are to Jim now.”
Jim! It would be just a few days until Annie saw Jim and their new home. After such a long, lonely separation it seemed almost unreal that they would be together again. Have I changed much? Will he have changed?
“Now, why not take a break from packing?” said Alfie. “I need to regain some manly pride and beat you in a card game!”
PART TWO
Chapter Thirteen
Annie sympathized with the new immigrants who fell to their knees and kissed the snow-covered ground. She would have done the same, but didn’t want to give Alfie the teasing ammunition.
The harbour at Saint John was a beehive of activity. Thankfully, being British citizens, they cleared customs quickly. Alfie left Annie and the boys outside, guarding their possessions, while he searched for a buggy and driver and looked for a decent place to stay the night. Before they left South Shields, his friend Angus had asked if he would deliver a parcel to his aunt while he was in Saint John.
“Angus told me that his widowed aunt, a Mrs. Murray, offers room and board for families passing through on their way west. I’ll see what I can find out.”
Georgie whimpered and complained that he was cold, so Annie took him inside to wait. Georgie’s little fingers were turning white and she tried to warm them inside her coat. Bobby and Jack stayed outside to play in the snow, but soon joined her, stomping their feet and shaking their fingers for warmth.
Annie kept checking out the window for Alfie. Finally, after nearly an hour, she saw her brother directing the driver of a horse and wagon to stop in front of the building. Annie called Bobby and Jack over and guided the children outside. As the men lifted her heavy trunk onto the cart, she settled her sons on the bench.
“Angus’ aunt’s house looks like a fine place so I’ve arranged for us to stay there tonight. I’ve reserved two rooms. She lives on the outskirts of the city but it’s not far.”
As the sway-backed horse slowly pulled them along a snow packed road, they passed colourful clapboard homes. Annie’s nose tingled and she could see the condensation of her breath, but the seaside air felt cleansing. She was happy to be away from the foul-smelling ship. Just when the children were beginning to grumble about the cold, they came to a stop in front of a tidy, white two-story house with a wide welcoming veranda facing the street.
Annie and the children walked up the steps to the entrance while Alfie and the driver pulled her steamer trunk down from the wagon. She knocked on the heavy oak door and was greeted by a tall, stout woman, with frizzy brown hair and untamed eyebrows.
“Come in, come in,” said the landlady, speaking with a burr right out of the Scottish highlands. “Ye must be Mrs. Kidd. I’m Christine Murray.” She ushered Annie into her warm, spacious kitchen. “Ye must be starving. Ah ken how bad th’ meals on ships can be. Och, what bonnie bairns!”
The room was filled with rich, succulent odours that made Annie’s mouth water. When Alfie came in, Mrs. Murray ordered them all to sit down at a long dining table. She served them generous bowls of thick fish chowder and light wheat bread, hot from the oven. Mrs. Murray chatted nonstop as she refilled bowls.
“What a braw man ye are, Mr. Larsen. But a big man’s appetite has nae defeated me yet!”
Annie looked down at her lap. She was afraid that if she looked at her brother, she would burst out laughing. Mrs. Murray continued without stopping, looking from Annie to Alfie.
“This bonnie wee hen cannae be your ain sister!”
Alfie smiled and shot Annie a glance. “Yes, this wee hen is my sister all right. Don’t misjudge her, she may be small but she squawks quite a bit.”
Annie scowled at him and supressed a grin, while her little boys giggled.
When everyone’s stomachs were filled to bursting, the brusque Scottish woman frowned. “Ah have one rule for mah guests,” she said, “an’ it is tae have a bath, affore ye lie on my clean linens!”
Mrs. Murray had converted her summer kitchen to a wash house, complete with a wood stove to heat water. In the room off the kitchen, Annie could see a large tin bath and huge tubs of water simmering on a stove. The boys groaned but were quickly led into the laundry room by the officious woman, and ordered to wash each other thoroughly. Then she sent Annie to get clean clothes for them.
“I have a surprise for you!” Annie said when she returned with the children’s change of clothes. In her hand was a new bar of lilac scented soap. She had been saving two precious bars, a Christmas gift from Jim the year before. In unison, the boys complained they did not want to smell like girls.
“Well, you can use Mrs. Murray’s homemade yellow laundry soap or my lilac bar. You decide. Make sure you wash your hair thoroughly, and that you are squeaky clean!”
Twenty minutes later, the boys emerged from the laundry room scrubbed pink and perfumed with lilac. Alfie raised his eyebrows and smiled, but before he could say a word, Annie froze him with a shake of her head.
While Alfie took his turn in the bath, having dumped the boys’ water outside and refilled the tub. Annie followed the children upstairs to her bedroom. The large room was decorated with a feminine pink-flowered paper. There was an upright wardrobe in one corner, a maple dresser against one wall and each bed had a soft feather mattress and several warm blankets. The little boys snuggled into the fresh sheets and Annie tucked their top quilt around them. Georgie was sound asle
ep in minutes.
She peeked into Alfie’s bedroom and saw a single quilt-covered bed and small dresser crowded into the tiny space.
Oh, the poor man, she thought. His long legs will hang over the end of the mattress! She resolved to offer to trade beds with him.
Annie tiptoed downstairs and had a cup of tea at the kitchen table while she waited for her brother. Mrs. Murray showed Annie the contents of the package from her nephew – two Scottish newspapers, a stack of letters from family and a small novel.
“I dinna know how to thank ye for delivering my mail from away.”
Annie tilted her head towards the laundry room and said, “We thank you, Mrs. Murray! I can’t tell you how long I’ve been dreaming of having a lovely bath and washing my hair.”
When Alfie finally entered the kitchen, he too had a strong lilac scent about him. He helped Annie empty the bath water and refill the tin tub with fresh hot water. What luxury! Annie thought, as she gathered her change of clothes and closed the door.
The next morning, after a hearty Scottish breakfast of porridge, fried eggs, bacon and hot scones, they reluctantly prepared to leave Mrs. Murray’s boarding house. While Alfie paid for their rooms and meals, Annie discreetly placed her last bar of lilac soap on a dresser to thank the generous woman.
At the train station, Annie sent a telegram to Jim to let him know when they would arrive in Toronto. While they waited for their train, she became lost in thought. She wished they could have stayed an extra day at Mrs. Murray’s and be pampered.
She was weary of travelling and freezing in the bitter cold. The boys aren’t properly dressed for this dreadful weather and neither am I. Are we really prepared to live in this climate?
Chapter Fourteen
Annie had purchased bread, cheese, a couple of cooked chickens and a few other items so they could avoid paying for some of their meals on the train. She was anxious to see Jim and the boys were excited to be on another adventure. She paid for one sleeper for them to share but did not want to spend the money for another bed. She planned to try to sleep in her seat.
Because the boys had full stomachs and were able to sleep comfortably in berths on the train, the first night quickly passed. For a few hours in the early evening, Annie sat quietly beside her dozing brother and gazed out the train windows as cleared farmer’s fields and homesteads flew by, interspersed with thick forests. She had never imagined that there could be so many trees in this new country. She stared out the window until it was dark and all she saw was her own reflection. Then she closed her eyes to try to sleep.
The next morning and over the following two days, Annie doled out food from her stash whenever they were hungry. While the boys were sleeping, she and Alfie played several games of cards. She was surprised how quickly the time had passed when a conductor came through their car on their third day of travel and announced that the next stop would be Toronto Union Station.
The train wheezed and squealed to a stop, and they disembarked. Alfie went back to the baggage car to claim the trunk while Annie gathered all their bags. While scanning the platform for Jim, she found a free bench for the children and their belongings. She searched for Jim in the bustling crowd for what seemed an eternity, and she began to worry that he might not have received her telegram. But just as she was retracing her steps to check on the boys, she got the sense that she was being watched. She turned and her heart skipped. Those familiar blue eyes!
Annie called out to the children, “Here’s your Da!” as she opened her arms and threw them around Jim. Bobby and Jack ran to their father, but Georgie walked over slowly and clung to Annie’s skirts.
Jim held Annie close and sighed, “I didn’t think this day would ever come!”
He ruffled his children’s hair affectionately. “Look how much our bairns have grown since I saw them last.”
Annie was shocked by how wiry and thin Jim felt, even through his winter coat. A few grey strands were showing in his thick brown hair, and he had grown a moustache. I’ll soon feed him a proper meal, she thought, and then shave off that awful thing! There was something else that was different. She started when she figured it out.
“Why, you’ve lost your Geordie accent!”
“Well, I got tired of repeating myself so many times to be understood around here,” he said, laughing. “I’ve been reading anything I can get my hands on.” He explained that the local school principal had teased him for dropping his g’s, and had lent Jim books from his personal collection as well as the school library. “Now I feel that I need to read as much as I need to eat!”
Alfie suddenly appeared beside them and thumped his brother-in-law on the back, teasing, “It looks as if you’ve been reading more than eating, Jim! Annie’s going to have to fatten you up.”
They put their things into a storage locker and walked the short distance to a small hotel where Jim had reserved rooms for Alfie and the family. There was an icy wind blowing between the tall brick buildings. Annie felt the bitter cold in her bones and was painfully aware, once again, that her supply of warm clothes for the children was completely inadequate. The sidewalks and roads were covered in grey slush and her feet soon grew numb in her sodden boots. They arrived at the hotel and she welcomed the warmth from the dining room fireplace. Jim guided them to a large table close to the fire and then ordered a hearty lamb and potato stew for everyone.
With her hunger satisfied and her body warm again, Annie took the children up to their hotel room and, after warning them about expected behaviour, placed Bobby in charge. Annie, Jim and Alfie walked to a large department store to buy warm winter coats for the boys and some supplies to bring north, including two new wooden chairs and a few heavy blankets. Jim arranged for the chairs and blankets to be delivered to the hotel.
Alfie bought himself a smart winter coat and coaxed Annie to try on a long black wool coat trimmed with a soft fur collar. She playfully modelled the coat. When she began to take it off, Alfie said, “Keep it on, Annie. I bought it for you.”
Annie blushed, then reached up and kissed her brother’s cheek. “That’s very generous. Thank you, Alfie. It’s beautiful.” As they walked back to the hotel, Annie decided that Jim must be exaggerating about the weather up north. New Ontario could not possibly be colder than Toronto.
The next morning, they said their goodbyes to Alfie before heading back to Union Station. Alfie was going to remain in Toronto; he had an interview for a desk job at a fire station.
“I promise to write, and when I can, I’ll take the train up north and visit you.”
He shook Jim’s hand and gave his sister a long hug. Then he knelt down to his nephews and pressed some candy into their hands. He patted Annie’s arm and turned to leave. He waved one last time, and walked back into the hotel.
Annie fumbled for her handkerchief and wiped away her tears. Another goodbye.
Chapter Fifteen
As the train pulled out of the station, Annie was pleased to see that the children were feeling more comfortable around their father already, despite their separation. She had seen the hurt in Jim’s eyes the day before, when they had been so shy around him, especially Georgie. The family was seated together on the northbound train and their possessions were safely stored in the baggage car. Annie smiled as the boys peppered Jim with questions.
“Are there cowboys and Indians up north?” asked Jack.
“What about man-eating bears?” asked a worried Georgie.
Jim laughed. “If you ever see a bear, Georgie, it will likely be more afraid of you! Don’t you worry, son. No cowboys but there are Indians. I bought my mukluks and snowshoes from an Abitibi Cree trapper.”
“Mukluks!” giggled Georgie. “That’s a funny word, Da. What are they?”
“Well, they are toasty warm, comfortable boots made from caribou hide. My feet never get cold when I wear my mukluks.”
Annie felt a pang of guilt as all three boys looked down at their unsuitable English shoes. While Jim was talking,
Georgie, who she knew was used to his uncle’s easy affection, climbed onto his father’s lap and stayed there until he drifted off to sleep. Jim looked pleased to have his youngest son curled up against him.
“Are there lots of big wild animals up north, Da?” asked Jack, looking concerned.
“Well, the black bears can be a nuisance if food or garbage is left close to settlements. But they’re usually timid and run away when they see people. A moose might wander close to town, once in a while.”
He smiled at the boys’ wide-eyed reaction. “What’s a moose?” they asked in unison.
“You’ll soon see, that and a lot of other amazing things. You won’t believe the stars - there are a million of them in the night sky. And the most amazing sight is the Northern Lights. They are a spectacular miracle in the evening sky, with beautiful colours waving all about. I can hardly wait to show you.”
Jim told them that almost everyone up north had at least one dog to protect their homes from wild animals.
Jack perked up and Bobby asked wistfully, “Do you think that we might have a dog someday, Da?”
“Well, Bobby, we already have a dog.”
The boys both gasped and fired questions. “What’s his name?” “What kind of dog is he?” “Is he big?”
Jim laughed. “He’s a big black mixed-breed dog. I think he has a little Newfoundland in him because he is so large and muscular and has a thick double coat that keeps him warm. And his name is Mike.”
“Can we play with him?” asked Jack.
“Not yet. We’ll have to give him a little time to get used to you.”
As the train chugged north, more and more passengers disembarked at their stations. Soon there was plenty of room for the family to spread out. There were so many stops breaking up their journey that Annie wondered if they would ever reach their destination.
She saw that the boys were fighting to stay awake, so she improvised overcoat beds on the benches so that they could lie down to sleep. Likely dreaming about their dog, she thought. Jim gently laid Georgie, down near his brothers and covered him with his coat.
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