When the house was finished, Jack’s wife sent him across with a pie as a sort of celebration. He thought it very neighbourly, especially as he barely knew her, and it got him thinking about how he might want to take a wife of his own. But finding one wasn’t going to be that easy ’cos as far as Ellis knew, Jack’s wife was the only woman living within fifty miles and in the whole of New Holland, he’d heard it said there were ten men for every woman. So he decided the idea was fanciful and he should forget about it; that was until shearing time came round again and Jack took his fleeces into town for him. Returning, Jack came and gave Ellis his due but he also told him that a ship had just come in with another hundred convicts. But this one, he said, was different because all but a few of them were women.
He’d been talking to the overseer at the Female Factory in Parramatta, who told him about the women who’d just arrived on the Sydney Cove. No one had told the overseer how many were arriving, so it hadn’t taken long for the Factory to run out of wool for them to weave, and with nothing to do the women were likely to fall out and start fighting each other. About twenty of the women had already been moved on and he knew most of the rest wouldn’t be with him for long, but he still had eighty on top of the sixty-odd already in the Factory. Then Ellis laughed and in what I later found out was a fair copy of Jack, said,
“Don’t tarry mind. The overseer said they were all being taken, either by military men to help their wives with the domestics or farmers looking for a wife.”
But Ellis didn’t need coaxing. That evening, he took his cook pot, filled it with water from the stream and heated it over the fire until the water was as hot as he could stand. He poured the water into a bucket and stripping off, washed himself down with a bit of old rag. He dried himself then washed his clothes in the same water. I don’t think he was much less dirty than he’d been before his bath, as he called it, but finding out it was the first time he’d had any sort of bath since he’d been on the farm, that he’d made the effort and was proud to tell me about it, made me like him from the very first time we met.
When he’d arrived at the Factory, explaining who he was and why he was there, the supervisor was happy to oblige. He chose six women, including me, from those whose records showed they were not already married. Then shepherding us into a small side room, he brought Ellis in to meet and have a bit of a chat with us. To tell the truth, I’d already decided I didn’t really care what he was like, so long as he got me out of that place. It turned out he seemed decent enough, and as I said, he’d made an effort. Anyway, we all talked to him, a few weren’t interested but four, including me, definitely were.
The supervisor stayed with us when we met Ellis, to make sure everything was quite proper with no hanky panky. It didn’t matter though ’cos the other three flirted with him something shameful. They reminded him they’d been at sea for six months without any men, not counting the four wizened little mice who were the only male convicts on our ship, and they told him they could tell he was definitely no mouse.
But to me, it was plain to see they were making Ellis uncomfortable and though I couldn’t be sure, I guessed he hadn’t had much contact with the opposite sex. So when I talked to him, I just asked him about his farm. That was something he was more than happy to talk about and on what turned out to be the first of many, many occasions, (and I suppose the reason I remember so much detail) told me how he’d built the farm and its stock. I listened while the others, seeing he wasn’t interested in them, sat looking bored.
After about a quarter of an hour listening to us talking about nothing but the farm, they’d had enough and asked the supervisor if they could leave. But he decided it was time we should all return to work and it was only a few minutes after we’d returned to the main room when I was summoned back to the side room where I’d first met Ellis. It was just as well ’cos the three who’d already tried so hard to win him were getting more and more angry realising, thanks to me, their chance of escaping the Factory was slipping away. Looking nervous, Ellis was accompanied by the overseer whose words I’ve never forgotten.
“Well, Baldwin, Mr Johnson has decided he would like to take your hand in marriage. He’s an honest, hardworking man who’s just looking for someone to help run his farm. So what do you think?”
Though everything had happened so quickly, I knew it was my chance to escape the Factory and I didn’t know when I might get a better one, so I didn’t hesitate in saying I was happy to marry him. Pleased that he’d succeeded in reducing his numbers, even if it was only by one, the supervisor said our marriage would be arranged for the morning.
As we was driving to the farm, Ellis told me he’d been taken aback by how quickly we’d moved from first meeting to marriage – even if I agreed he hadn’t expected our marriage to happen for at least a week or two, but all he said at the time was that he’d find somewhere to stay in town and he’d be back as arranged.
When I told Adie what I’d done her reaction at first was a bit frosty, but she said she understood. Then she said something strange.
“You are just doing it to get out of here, aren’t you? It’s not ’cos you really want him, is it?”
I knew what she meant and I was pretty sure I knew why she asked – but I wasn’t certain, so I told her I expected he would want what all men wanted and if I was going to be his wife, he had rights. But no, she was right I told her, I’d do just about anything to get out of that place. She stared at me for a long time. She knew I was telling the truth but I think she hoped to see more. Suddenly she grabbed me and whispered,
“You won’t forget me, will you?”
I told her, that of course I wouldn’t forget her and that I hoped we’d meet again when we were free, if not before. She sort of smiled. She’d lost the frostiness but I don’t think that smile was all together truthful. Anyway, we didn’t talk much after that and I spent the rest of the evening talking to the other women about what I’d done; some said they wanted to do the same thing, others teased me, whilst the three who were turned down by Ellis, took every chance they got to tell me he was a wrongen and that I’d live to regret what I’d done. I didn’t know if what they said was true, it might be, but what I did know was that they were definitely jealous and would give anything to swap places with me. There was nothing they could do about it and it wasn’t much later when, one by one, we begun to settle down the best we could. I slept like a baby on what was to be, for a few years at least, my last night in the Factory and as a single woman.
In the morning I was escorted the half mile to St John’s Church by two guards. It was obvious the Minister was well practised in performing weddings involving women from the Factory, ’cos the service was short and quick. Me and Ellis were on our way to his farm less than ten minutes after we’d entered the church.
We drove several miles before either of us spoke. Lost in my thoughts, I’d been wondering what would become of Adie – after all, chained together for six months we’d grown close. I was thinking that I didn’t even know if I’d ever see her again, but I did know one thing, I was really going to miss her. But then it struck me strange. There I was just married, sitting next to my new husband, but my thoughts were full of another woman.
It was Ellis who finally broke the silence. We’d been travelling for several hours when he suddenly laughed to himself. When I looked round at him, he said,
“I was just thinking. I’ve meant to clear up the house for weeks and never got round to it. Now I’m bringing a wife home and I’m wondering what you’re going to think of me when you see the state of the place.”
Now it was my turn to laugh ’cos he didn’t know much about my life and where I’d spent it over the past year. I said to him,
“Ellis, if you’d spent time in a jail, where it was always dark and you could never tell night from day, then on a hulk for six months doing anything and everything you could just to survive, and finally, another six months, most of the time chained up in a ship’s hold, then you ain
’t going to be too worried about living in a bit of a mess.”
Ellis thought about this then said,
“I didn’t know you’d been on one of those God-forsaken hulks.” Looking serious again, he added, “I suppose there are a lot of things we don’t know about each other.”
I remembered Simon Peters and, smiling to myself, thought, ‘I’m sure you wouldn’t want to hear all about him.’ All I said was,
“I s’pose so.”
Ellis gave me a curious look. Perhaps he’d noticed the smile, but he said nothing. A silence fell over us like a heavy blanket and lasted for what seemed hours, and probably would have gone on a lot longer, had our journey not been suddenly interrupted. I must admit the gentle movement of the cart trundling along slowly behind the rhythmic sound of the horse’s hooves, had almost rocked me to sleep, when suddenly, the strangest sight I’d ever seen made me sit bolt upright.
To the right of us, about a hundred feet away from the track, a patch of scrub stood higher and wider than most that we’d past. We were almost level with it when a creature, the likes of which I’d never seen before, burst through the far side of the scrub and set off to cross the track ahead of us. Our horse was startled, but Ellis managed to hold its head as in moments, the creature had crossed the track and was heading over the open land on the other side. It had an enormous pair of legs and bound ’cross the land like a giant frog. It looked like it was moving slowly, but it cleared large bushes with ease and covered the distance from its hiding place in the scrub to the track in only three strides. It actually moved faster than any animal I’ve ever seen and soon was far off in the distance.
I looked at Ellis and for a second time couldn’t believe my eyes. Unbelievably he was just looking forward as if nothing had happened. But he must have sensed I was staring at him ’cos without taking his eyes from the track, he said,
“I suppose that was your first kangaroo; you’ll get used to ’em. You’ll see a lot of ’em round here. They’re harmless enough, so long as you keep out of their way that is.”
He was right of course. In all these years, I’ve got used to seeing these strange creatures lolloping through the scrubland, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop being amazed at the way they move so fast while still looking like they’re going so slow.
That kangaroo put the fear of God up me I can tell you, and I’ve since heard of carts and kangaroos coming a cropper, usually the animal comes off worse, but it don’t mean there’s not been plenty of people hurt or killed even. But that kangaroo started us talking, just like we did when Ellis first come to the Factory. We began with the simple and safe stuff, but by the time we arrived at the farm I’d told him all about being married to Tom, about why I’d been arrested, what life was like on the hulk and on the Sydney Cove – I even told him about Simon, but I said nothing about Adie – not a word. I thought he’d say something about Simon Peters, but he never and I don’t mean just then, I mean he never mentioned him in all the years we were together.
When we arrived at the farm, dusk had turned to dark – and it was very dark. Ellis, who after all the years he’d lived there, knew every rut, rock and root that might trip me up made me wait while he jumped down and brought a lamp from the house to light my way – made me feel like a proper lady he did. As soon as we got indoors, he went all round what turned out to be the main room, lighting more lamps. As he lit the way, he pointed out the kitchen and where his bedroom was, all the time he kept apologising for the mess. I dunno about the mess, I just couldn’t believe he’d built it all on his own while still tending his sheep and keeping his farm.
Inviting me to sit at the table he’d also made himself, he disappeared into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a large leg of lamb and two platters. Drawing a knife from his belt, he cut a few generous slices from the leg and shared them between the platters. Passing one to me, he took the other himself. I hadn’t eaten all day and hadn’t realised how hungry I was until I took the first mouthful. Suddenly ready to eat that kangaroo we’d seen, I swallowed the rest without a pause and it was only as I polished off the last mouthful that I looked up. Ellis had stopped eating and was staring at me. He picked up his plate and pushed half the meat still on it onto mine. Embarrassed, I protested, but he insisted saying,
“This is the first time you’ve eaten today, isn’t it?”
I had to admit that it was.
“I ate this morning,” he confessed, “before I came to the church and I should have made sure we had food for the journey. Now you eat what’s there and if you want any more, just let me know and I’ll cut you off some more slices.”
I thanked him for his kindness but told him he’d given me more than enough. Satisfied, he finished his platter and I ate what he’d given me.
As I said, once we started talking, except when I was wolfing down the lamb of course, we hadn’t stopped. But as the evening grew longer and the time grew nearer when we’d have to go to bed for the night, we became more and more quiet. Eventually Ellis showed me the way to the dunnark and leaving me there with the lamp, made his way back inside.
Returning, the lamp seemed to attract every flying insect in New Holland. I tried to concentrate on the uneven ground and any obstacles that littered the way back. But then something the size of a small bird flew into the lamp, finally making me lose my nerve. I ran the last few yards and flew through the door, shutting it behind me as quickly as I could.
A startled Ellis looked at me as, breathing heavily, I lent with my back against the door. He asked me,
“What’s happened? Is somebody chasing you?”
As I said, I’d lost my nerve, so almost shouting, I said,
“Not someone, something. I’ve never seen so many insects, not even on a dung heap. But that last one,” I pulled on the door to make doubly sure it was shut, “that thing can’t ’ave been an insect. I swear it was as big as a sparrow, except it wasn’t like any bird I’ve ever seen ’cos it had two sets of wings.”
Ellis laughed and said, “Sounds like you’ve met one of our Hawk Moths. They’re harmless and I don’t think they’re really as big as a sparrow.”
Seeing me glaring at him, he hurriedly added, “Well, not any I’ve ever seen. Of course there’s nothing to say you mightn’t have seen a bigger one. Anyway, the important thing is that they’re harmless.”
Twice he’d said they were harmless, so I had to ask.
“So you’re saying there are other creatures round here that ain’t harmless?”
He looked at me seriously.
“I suppose you haven’t been here long enough to learn too much about the place. Still, they must have told you about the Red-Backs… They have told you about them, haven’t they?”
I shook my head. I’d never heard of these monsters: I was imagining some sort of cross between a bear and a big red cat. I’d seen a bear one time up Bankside, he was being baited by a big ugly dog – horrible it was. I’d never seen a big red cat though, but after that moth and the kangaroo, I thought anything was possible in this God-forsaken land.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have checked you knew about them before you went to the dunnark. They’re spiders and they like dark places, such as the underside of a privy seat. One bite could kill you.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You mean you let me use the privy and just happened to forget to tell me I might be about to sit on a spider that’ll kill me? So are there any others that you’ve forgotten. Perhaps some poisonous flying insects you want to tell me about or maybe there are creatures in this wretched country that are going to want me for their supper and just slipped your mind?”
Ellis tried to look serious, though I could tell he was trying not to laugh. But I was in no laughing mood, so I said,
“Look, I don’t know what it was like where you come from, but in London the worst bite you’re likely to get is from a flea. Might make you scratch a bit but that’s all. Here, in one da
y, I meet a stupid giant rabbit with legs like a frog with an even stupider name, a moth the size of a sparrow and then you tell me that at any time I sit on the privy I might get me arse bitten by a spider so poisonous it’ll probably kill me. To top it all, you seem to think that’s funny.”
Ellis could see I was still angry, so he didn’t laugh at me, though he later told me he’d only kept a straight face by not thinking about my description of a kangaroo. So instead, he said,
“I know there must be a lot of things that are new to you, but trust me, most of them aren’t dangerous and tomorrow I’ll tell you what to look out for.”
He looked at me seriously and I knew I didn’t need to say anything more about it, so coolly I just said,
“Thank you, I think that would be a very good idea.”
“Right,” he looked relieved, “we’ve had a long day and we need to be up early tomorrow, so I think it’s time we got some sleep.”
And that’s what happened. Ellis led the way into the bedroom and silently we both took off our outer clothes and got into bed. I don’t know what I expected to happen next, but it certainly wasn’t for him to start snoring as soon as his head hit the pillow; but that’s exactly what did happen – and what a right royal row he made.
I remembered my first night with Tom. In fact I remembered most nights with Tom and the only way I got to sleep early was by learning some of the tricks I’d later used on Simon. Anyway, when I knew I wasn’t going to be troubled by Ellis, like him, I settled down to sleep.
In the morning when I woke, I was on my own. Dressing, I went through to the main room and it was then I heard a distant whistle. Stepping outside, I could see Ellis walking behind his sheep, bringing them back towards the farm. When he saw me, he waved, but before reaching the house, he turned the sheep across to an area which looked as peppered with rocks and thirsty vegetation as everywhere else on the farm.
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