Firebird
Page 25
‘Oh, shut up. Come on, we’d better be starting out for Greenhill, it looks like rain and I don’t want to be caught in a shower,’ Eynon said easily.
The streets of Greenhill were awash with rain and mud. From the window of the carriage, Llinos watched as a child crouched against a bank and let forth a stream of urine that soon mingled with the rain and was gone.
As he stepped down from the carriage, Eynon exclaimed in disgust, ‘Good lord, do these houses have no sanitation at all?’ He stepped gingerly over a mound of human excrement.
‘The people who live here are paid the lowest wages in the whole of the country,’ Binnie said, his voice gruff. ‘They are honest and hard-working, mostly Irish immigrants. They do the jobs that other people don’t want.’
‘Sorry.’ Eynon made a face at Llinos and she smiled. ‘I won’t say another word,’ Eynon added drily.
The house where Maura was living was at the end of a long court and from the outside, at least, it appeared clean and respectable, the windows gleaming from much polishing. Maura opened the door herself. She looked tired and she was dressed in clothes that were worn and patched.
‘What are you doing here?’ Her voice was sullen. Binnie moved towards her. ‘Maura, I’m sorry . . .’
‘Go away, I’m working.’
Llinos took charge. She moved past Maura into the house and the smell of stale cabbage made her wrinkle her nose in distaste.
She found herself in the strangest room she had ever seen. Red silk, faded but still gaudy, hung against the walls. Plump cushions, decorated with brightly coloured heart designs, covered the floor.
‘Hell, what is this?’ Binnie spoke through gritted teeth. ‘Have you sunk to being a whore, then, Maura?’
She lifted her head. ‘I have not. I am a good churchgoing girl. The only time I played the whore was with you. That once was enough.’
‘What then?’ He caught her arm. ‘What is all this . . . this rubbish!’
‘Mind your own business! And what right have you to bring Llinos and Mr Morton-Edwards here, are you too much of a coward to come alone?’
‘It was my idea,’ Llinos said quietly. ‘I thought we might be able to persuade you to come to work with us. Binnie has a position at the Tawe Pottery now, his wages are very generous.’
‘I get my own wages here,’ Maura said sullenly.
There was the sound of a door opening at the back of the house and Maura looked around anxiously. ‘You’ll have to go.’ She made a gesture with her hands but no-one moved. The door opened and a tall, austere-looking woman swept into the room. She stopped abruptly.
‘More visitors, what is it that ails you? Whatever it is, I have the remedy, be sure of that. I am better than any doctor, I can cure anything from gout to fevers of the brain.’
‘No.’ Llinos spoke. ‘We are not sick, we’ve come to see Maura.’
‘God, I need a drink.’ The woman dropped her haughty manner and poured herself a liberal measure of gin, tossing it to the back of her throat in one gulp.
‘I have a strange feeling about you.’ She looked at Eynon. ‘Mr Morton-Edwards, isn’t it? Your father came to me for weed killer. Was it some more you’re after? If so, the price has gone up, my stocks are running low.’ She smiled briefly at Llinos. ‘Plenty of unwanted weeds, or wives, about, or so it would seem.’
It was a strange thing to say but Llinos smiled politely as though she was paying a visit to the most respectable of ladies.
‘I’m afraid we don’t want to buy anything. We are just friends of Maura’s on a visit. I do apologize for intruding.’
‘Quite. Well, as you can see, Maura is busy. She has her work to do. I’ve agreed to let her bring the baby here but I can’t keep her and the child out of charity, you understand?’
There was a gentle knocking on the door and Maura hesitated a moment before leaving the room.
‘I’m Mrs Lane,’ the woman said. ‘If you ever need medicine, just come to me. Now, I have another patient to see to, I think you must excuse me.’ She tugged at her plain linen skirt and the enveloping apron and then adjusted the lace cap on her head before following Maura from the room.
Llinos looked first at Eynon and then at Binnie and a smile tugged the corners of her mouth.
‘You two look as if you’ve been run over by a coach and pair! Perhaps you need some of Mrs Lane’s remedies after all.’
Eynon took a deep breath. ‘Well! I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of her, that’s for sure. What on earth did my father want to buy weed killer for? And why come to Mrs Lane?’
‘Well, I don’t want Maura working here for that woman!’ Binnie broke in aggressively. Llinos held up her hand warningly.
‘If you take that tack, you’ll only make things worse. Leave the talking to me.’
When Maura returned to the room she looked flushed and embarrassed. ‘You’d better go.’ She looked down at her shoes, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other.
‘Please, Maura, won’t you reconsider? We need you to keep Eynon’s house in order. He’s been staying with his father, you see, and up at his own house the servants are doing just as they like.’
Maura looked at Binnie, her chin raised. ‘And you, what do you say? Am I to live in sin with you in exchange for a decent job and food in my belly?’
Binnie took her hand and she snatched it away. ‘I know it’s a bit late in the day but, Maura, I want you to know I’ve been a blind fool. Please, marry me, I love you. Look, I’ll go on my knees to you.’
‘Oh really, and how long will that last?’
‘I mean it, Maura, we’ll arrange the wedding right away.’
A glow began in Maura’s eyes and her pale face became rosy. ‘Do you mean it, Binnie? Do you really mean it?’
‘On my life, I mean it.’
She smiled. ‘Wait just a minute, I’ll fetch the baby from her bed and shove my things in a bag and then I’ll be with you.’ She turned to smile impishly over her shoulder.
‘We’ll make our escape while Mrs Lane is busy.’ Her smile widened. ‘Otherwise she might just give us something nasty to swallow.’
Within ten minutes, they had left the house behind. Maura walked ahead with Binnie carrying the baby and Llinos slipped her hand through the crook of Eynon’s arm. He looked down at her.
‘I wish . . .’ He stopped speaking as she held up her hand.
‘No good wishing for the impossible. I’ve realized that very few of us get what we really want in this life.’
‘Good heavens, Llinos, aren’t you a bit young for such cynicism.’
‘I’m not a cynic, just a realist. Come on, let’s get out of this mud.’ She looked up at the sky. ‘I think it’s going to rain again and if it does we’ll really be in the mire.’
He tweaked her nose. ‘You funny, sweet, dear little thing. I love you.’
‘I know.’
It was her father who brought Llinos the news. He had wheeled himself to the entrance of the Tawe Pottery and sent one of the bin boys to fetch her. She was busy and resented the interruption and had been in two minds about refusing to see him, but at last she flung off her apron and walked towards the gates, a feeling of depression hanging over her like a cloud.
‘Another letter came for you, Llinos. I’ve thrown it in the fire but I thought I should come and tell you what it said.’
‘You’ve burnt it!’
‘I felt I should.’
‘How dare you, Father!’
‘It’s for your own good, Llinos. Joe’s betrothed to some girl out in America. I was sorry after and tried to salvage some of it, see there’s just the top of the first page, read it.’
She did. Carefully. ‘I expect you’re happy now,’ Llinos said bitterly. She did not wait for him to reply, but turned and ran along the river bank away from the pottery. She headed for the curving bay, knowing that with the sea lapping the shore she might be able to think clearly. The beach was deserted, the only sound was of the
seagulls screeching mournfully overhead.
The river was full flowing, the waters bright in the sunlight. Joe sat with his people and realized that he no longer was one of them. He did not belong in England and it seemed he did not belong among the hills of Dakota either.
‘We have not seen hide nor hair of you since you were a child,’ Red Eagle said. His face was lined, his mouth pursed around the pipe was toothless. But his eyes were alert, intelligent, the eyes of a man who saw into the distance. ‘But when you were born, you were betrothed to Sho Ka. Have you come to claim her?’
‘No, I have not.’ Joe’s tone was firm. ‘I have a woman of my own at home.’
‘We hoped you would return to claim your bride when your mother called to you across the oceans.’
His mother was standing behind him. He turned and she looked down at him and smiled. She was still beautiful, her hair long and threaded with white. Her skin was smooth, her body strong and lithe.
‘You are nearing your twenty-first year, my son.’ Red Eagle spoke again. ‘You are a man and should be planting the seeds of a new generation of Mandans. We need you here, Wah-he-joe-tass-e-neen. We need fresh blood to strengthen the tribe and to bring fire into the bellies of the braves once more.’
‘I honour your laws, Chief Red Eagle,’ Joe said. ‘And I am conscious of the great gift you are offering me but . . .’
Red Eagle raised his hand. ‘Say nothing more. Sho Ka will be brought to your lodge when the moon falls below the river. You can look at her and see if you like her. If not, you are free to go.’ He rose and walked sedately away, his headdress of feathers swaying majestically in the breeze.
The men who had formed a circle around Joe melted away into the shadows and he rose to his feet and stared around him at the walls of the stockade. It was a well-thought-out construction with adequate space between the dome-shaped lodges. Around the perimeter was a stout fence guarded at all times by four tribesmen.
‘Come, my son, we will talk.’ Joe’s mother came silently at his side. ‘We have much to say to each other.’
Joe followed her across the sun-baked earth and ducked to enter the lodge. It was spacious, with skins covering the floor and walls. The earth roof was supported by four stout posts and crossbeams.
A brazier glowed with life and light casting shadows over the face of his mother and in spite of the love he felt for her, Joe wondered why he had come here to this foreign place.
‘You should lie with Sho Ka, give her a child,’ she said, and when he shook his head she put her hand on his arm.
‘My son, it is ordained by a greater power than your own.’
‘I am going to marry a girl from back home,’ he said. ‘I love Llinos, Mother.’ He smiled. ‘She is my Firebird, my joy, my destiny. Don’t you understand how I feel? You loved my father once.’
She waved her hand impatiently. ‘You have been a soldier?’
‘Yes.’
‘You were a saint then or did you enjoy women followers?’
He smiled. ‘I was no saint.’
‘Well then.’
‘But I did not marry any of the camp followers, Mother.’
‘Your marriage to the girl would only be sacred in the eyes of the tribe. As was mine to your father. But I see you are as stubborn as he was. Set in your own desires. You want this Llinos more than you want to fulfil your destiny here.’ She paused.
‘You have chosen, my son, I can see that your way is not with the Mandan tribe, at least not at this time. So,’ she continued, ‘I will arrange everything. Sho Ka will be happy and you can go home to make love to your Llinos.’
‘Mother!’
She smiled at him, her dark eyes full of laughter. ‘You’ll see, it will all turn out well. Sleep now.’
He rolled himself in his blanket and settled on the floor. From a little way off he could hear the restless pawing of the horses. Some earth creature screeched in the night and then Joe fell asleep.
He was awakened by a warm body next to his. He opened his eyes slowly and looked into the face of a beautiful young girl. He sat up quickly.
Her hair was loose, it covered her eyes. Her skin was golden from the sun and she smelled sweet and clean. She put her finger to her lips, warning him to be quiet. ‘I come to thank you,’ she whispered. ‘You have made me happy.’
He sat up and rubbed his hands through his long, loose hair and was relieved to see his mother entering the lodge.
‘I told you everything would be fine, didn’t I, son?’ His mother sank onto the bank. ‘Sho Ka is a sweet girl and she is in love with another brave.’ She waved her hands and spoke in a strange tongue and Sho Ka crept silently from the lodge.
‘They are very happy. Now you have rejected Sho Ka she can marry her brave. Tell me, son, have you lain with your Llinos yet?’
He shook his head.
‘And why not? Because her custom demands that you walk in a church with her. What foolishness, the sky and the river and the hills and the earth are the place where the Great Spirit dwells, not some building created by man.’
‘As you say, Mother, but it is our custom.’
‘Ah, custom. Well Red Eagle knew you would not stay with us for ever and once you have gone, everyone will forget. Except me.’
Joe touched her cheek. ‘I’m happy I came to find you, Mother. My father always loved you, it was his dying wish that I told you how he felt. Well, I have done my duty and I’ve learned that my mother is a beautiful, clever woman. But I must go home soon, my life is not here on the plains, you understand?’
She touched his hand. ‘I understand a great many things my son.’ Her eyes shone. ‘I understand that your father and I made us a fine boy child who has grown into a man, a man I can be proud of. When you go home to your Llinos, you go with my blessing and my great love.
‘But you will be back, son. One day, your blood will mingle with my people and children will be born. It is your destiny. Now, let’s go and bathe in the river before the rest of the tribe wakes and the sound of their voices fills the air. Let’s have some quiet time together as mother and son should.’ She touched his bare shoulder. ‘I will not have you for long, I know that, but what time you’ve given me I’ll hold very precious.’
As his mother led him outside into the bright morning sunshine, Joe looked at her and understood why his father had never forgotten her. Mint, his mother, was an extraordinary woman. She caught his eye and smiled and it was as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
‘Come on, Llinos, give up your dreams of Joe, his letter confirms that Joe is never coming back.’
Llinos was walking beside Eynon across the vast sands of Three Cliffs Bay. The tide was on the ebb and huge rivulets of water created a silver pattern between the rocks.
‘I just don’t believe it.’ Llinos bit her lip. ‘I don’t believe he’s going to marry some Indian girl.’
‘But your father showed you the letter, didn’t he?’
‘My father showed me a portion of a charred letter. I could barely distinguish the address and only fragments of the rest. In any case, even if Joe is married to someone else, what makes you think I’d want to marry you?’
She heard Eynon’s sharp, in-drawn breath and regretted the harshness of her words. ‘I’m sorry.’ Llinos hugged his arm. ‘I’m sorry for being such a horror. Since you returned home I’ve missed you dreadfully.’
Eynon was so kind, he wanted to give her his fortune, to take care of her; he was so generous and she was an unfeeling monster.
But then, were his motives so selfless? He could not conceal his joy that Joe was, apparently, promised to someone else. He, like her father, was prejudiced against Joe for all sorts of reasons.
‘Do you think your father would lie to you, then?’ he said.
‘Eynon! Please! Allow me to make up my own mind about Joe.’ There was a note of impatience in her voice. ‘You are looking at this from your own point of view.’
She shook her head. It would never work. Already, she knew that she was born to passion. Her feelings when Joe had taken her in his arms had shown her that much and she felt no passion for Eynon, only friendship.
‘I’m sorry, Eynon, I want more, much more than you could ever give me. I will only marry one man and that’s Joe.’
‘You might well end up an old maid, then.’ Eynon spoke softly, not intending to give offence, but his words hurt nonetheless.
‘I know.’
Eynon took her hand. ‘You are probably right.’
‘What about?’
‘Everything. That Joe will come back to you and that marriage to me would be an unmitigated disaster.’
‘Oh, Eynon, I didn’t say that.’
He kissed the top of her head. ‘I know. You and I are both fools, you know that? We are longing for that which we can never have. I am a weakling and I know you need a lusty man to share your bed.’
‘Eynon!’
‘Well, be realistic, Llinos. You are a hot-blooded girl. The only things I can offer are wealth and position and I realize that both those mean very little to you.’
His words were reflecting her own thoughts and she was uncomfortable that he knew her so well. ‘Oh, to hell with everything!’ She broke away from him and on an impulse kicked off her shoes. Lifting her skirts, she ran into the deepest part of the rivulet following its course towards the sea. She splashed the water in glittering droplets towards Eynon.
‘You’ll catch your death, you silly goose,’ he called, standing tentatively on the edge of the stream. ‘Come out of there!’
Llinos lifted her skirts higher and danced wildly through the shallow water. Her hair came loose and cascaded across her face. She felt the chill bite of the wind against her wet feet and danced faster.
At last she fell into a heap against the sand. She began to laugh and then, suddenly, she was weeping.