Homecoming Girls

by Val Wood

  Opening her eyes, she gazed around without moving. The mare had her head down, nosing amongst pine needles. Georgiana turned her head slowly; a shadow, a rustle amongst the trees, a faint aroma of old leather. She swallowed. I am at one with the elements of nature, Lake had told her; and the very last thing he had said to her was that she should look for him on her return and he would be there.

  But I don’t believe in ghosts, she thought, and it was such a long time ago; besides, I love Wilhelm. But I loved Lake too, there’s no denying that. She felt a warmth stealing over her. A tender sweet happiness to have known such a man. She took a breath and turned to catch the reins and it was then that she saw the bear. He was large and standing on a ledge above her, half hidden by the trees. Gently she clapped her hands so as not to frighten him. They were timid creatures and only attacked if disturbed. The horse whinnied and pawed the ground and instantly the bear turned and disappeared into the forest.

  She felt quite calm, gathered up the reins and led the horse towards the track, where she stood on a fallen log and mounted. Enough, she thought. I will not ride out alone in the mountains again. I’m no longer young and foolhardy. I’m a mature woman who should know better. Carefully, the mare eased down the route as if carrying a fragile load, and then halted as Georgiana brought her to a standstill to look back. The bear was on the plateau where she had just been, looking down at her. He lifted one foot; Georgiana gazed, her lips parted, and then raised her hand in farewell. I was in his special place, she thought. That is his lookout.

  She rode down towards the bridge and it was there that she was struck by a sudden thought. I am a mature woman, but I’m not old by any means. This malaise that has been bothering me since before I left England, the seasickness I experienced, is not a mid-life malady after all. She felt curiously elated. I do believe that I’m expecting a child.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Dan had been lent a pony to ride into Yeller beside Wilhelm. He’d mounted easily and was relieved that he had, for Caitlin had watched them move off and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of her. She would have laughed, he was sure of that.

  As they rode Wilhelm told him something of Yeller and the fire and how they wanted to rebuild it. As he spoke, Dan picked up on the enthusiasm in his voice. This is a man of vision, he thought. There’s no wonder that a town was named after him. Without him there would have been no Dreumel and no Yeller either.

  ‘I’d like to help,’ Dan said. The words popped out, surprising even him. What an opportunity, he thought. To be in at the beginning. To put my mark on some aspect of the new town. ‘I’m a qualified joiner,’ he said. ‘Served my apprenticeship.’

  Wilhelm turned to him. ‘Well, if you’re as good as your father then you’ll be welcome,’ he said. ‘We’d need a commitment, as far as you could give it, that is, and there might not be much money to begin with. Most folks have lost everything and need to start again. They might not be able to pay right away.’

  Dan nodded. ‘I’d only need to earn my bed and board,’ he said. ‘I can manage otherwise.’ He gave silent thanks to his father, who had given him enough money to get by on. He could live on that.

  They rode into what was left of Yeller and Dan was aghast at the devastation and yet also amazed to see buildings going up, windows and doors being fitted. There was the sound of hammering and sawing and the shouts and whistling of men as they worked, and a general air of purpose. Dan felt a buoyancy, a sense of enthusiasm and eagerness to be part of the scene.

  ‘Hi there, Bill,’ somebody called out.

  Wilhelm turned in his saddle and, touching his hat, greeted a man on the road. ‘Jason! How you doing?’

  Bill, Dan thought? I’d never have thought of Wilhelm Dreumel as Bill.

  ‘I’m doin’ jest fine,’ the man said, and came over towards them, raising his hand for Wilhelm to shake. ‘Got my house jest about finished. On the outside, that is.’ He laughed. ‘Rose’s got some fancy ideas for indoors.’

  ‘Dan, this is Jason,’ Wilhelm introduced him. ‘Jason was here right at the start of Dreumel’s Creek. Before we had any kind of town.’

  ‘No more’n a shanty town.’Jason reached up to shake Dan’s hand too. ‘A few tents and wooden shacks.’

  He must have been young, Dan thought. He can only be late thirties now.

  ‘You jest arrived? Is it you that’s come over from England with Miz Gianna?’

  ‘Erm, yes,’ Dan said. ‘That’s right.’

  ‘You got a trade?’Jason bit on his lip. ‘We sure need tradespeople.’

  ‘Yes,’ Dan said again. ‘I’m a wood worker. Time served.’

  ‘Uh huh! Well, if you’re staying there’ll be plenty of work.’ Jason touched his hat. ‘Be seeing you.’

  Wilhelm smiled as Jason left them. ‘He’s a good sort is Jason. Made his mark here. He was only young when he arrived, maybe eighteen or nineteen. He stayed on even when there seemed to be no hope of finding gold. He teamed up with Pike – Pike who was killed when we blasted through.’ He nodded thoughtfully as if he was thinking about the past. ‘It was Jason who called this Yeller Valley, after we found gold.’

  ‘I’d like to stay,’ Dan said.

  Dan was introduced to Isaac and Nellie. Isaac too had been here at the beginning and Nellie O’Neill had come soon after to run a saloon. Together they now ran a rooming house and it was here that Dan found lodgings. The Dreumel Marius was too expensive, he decided; he needed something simple and cheap.

  Caitlin found out and came to see him. He was sitting on the front steps of the porch. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you stay with my folks? They’ve plenty of room.’

  ‘I expect they will have,’ he said. ‘But I can’t afford to spend much until I earn some money.’

  ‘You intend staying a while, then?’ She put her hands on her waist as she surveyed him.

  He grinned. ‘I thought I might. Any objections?’

  She shrugged. ‘Please yourself. You gonna look fer work?’

  ‘Yeh! Why don’t you sit down a minute?’ He moved up on the step to make room beside him. ‘I’m sure you’ll know ‘best people for me to ask.’

  She hitched up her skirts and sat down. ‘Sure. I know everybody in Yeller and everybody in Dreumel’s Creek too. Lived here all of my life.’

  He gazed at her. Her red hair gleamed and she had a bright freshness to her cheeks and full red lips. He could just imagine—

  ‘What you lookin’ at?’ she demanded. ‘Ain’t you seen a redhead afore?’

  His eyes scanned her. ‘Not like you,’ he said. ‘Are you, erm – seeing anybody?’

  ‘Wadd’ya mean? Seeing anybody? I see folks all the time.’

  ‘Erm, no, I meant – you know, a feller, a man, somebody special?’

  She blushed. ‘What’s it to do with you if I am?’

  ‘I wouldn’t want to muscle in; you know, stand on anybody’s toes.’

  She got to her feet and defiantly stared him out, her hands planted firmly on her hips. He too rose to his feet, standing over her.

  ‘You’ve got a nerve,’ she said, her eyes flashing. ‘You’ve not been here five minutes. Is this what happens in England? Some guy comes on to a woman the minute he sets eyes on her?’

  ‘Depends on the woman,’ he said, grinning.

  ‘Well, you can wipe that smirk off your face,’ she snapped. ‘Cos I ain’t jest any kinda woman.’

  Dan laughed. ‘I can see that.’ Afterwards he wondered what on earth had got into him as he leaned towards her, put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her full on the lips.

  He held his hand to his smarting cheek and gazed after her as she ran down the steps. Life in the new world, he decided, was going to be very interesting.

  ‘Crawford is leaving,’ were the first words Wilhelm said to Georgiana later that day as he washed and changed for supper. ‘He’d told me that he’d be going soon, but I’d hoped that it wouldn’t be yet. He’s g
oing back to his tribe. He said that their need was greater than ours.’

  ‘I’m sure it is,’ she replied. ‘As an educated man he’ll bring much to their confederacy.’

  ‘Yes,’ he sighed. ‘He’ll be able to speak for them. But I fear that their settlement is being moved on again. He also told me that it was time he took a wife.’

  Georgiana smiled. ‘He’ll have no difficulty there. I need to speak to you, Wilhelm.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said absently. ‘But we’ll be lost without him at the Marius. We’ll manage over the winter period, for there won’t be many visitors, but we must find someone to start in the spring. I was wondering, what do you think about asking Caitlin to cover for him? She’s young, I know, but very efficient—’

  ‘Wilhelm! I saw the doctor today. I’m expecting a child.’

  ‘And then if— What did you say?’

  She smiled. She had his attention at last. ‘I said, Wilhelm, that I’m expecting a child.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Maria Galli brought a cup of strong coffee to Clara’s bedroom the next morning.

  ‘You sleep well, yes?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, thank you.’ Clara sat up and took the cup. ‘I feel quite rested.’

  ‘Good.’ Maria nodded. ‘Lorenzo, he is anxious to fetch Miss Jewel, but I say he must let her rest a little longer. She will be quite safe with Pinyin’s sister.’

  But Clara too was anxious to collect Jewel and bring her back, either to the Gallis’ or to the hotel, so as soon as she had finished breakfast and Pinyin had completed his morning duties they set off once more to Chinatown, this time walking down the hill, for the early-morning fog had cleared and the sun was warm.

  ‘We’ll take a cab to come back,’ Lorenzo said, his stride much longer than Clara’s so that she had to hurry to keep up with him. She stumbled and he caught her arm. ‘I’m sorry,’ he apologized. ‘I’m rushing you.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said breathlessly. ‘You are rather.’

  Soon, however, they reached the cathedral and saw Pinyin waiting for them.

  ‘I beg your pardon.’ Pinyin bowed, clasping his hands. ‘I have taken the liberty of asking my uncle Soong Zedung to come to my sister’s house. I wish to say something to him regarding Miss Jewel.’

  Both Lorenzo and Clara frowned. ‘Is that the stallholder we have seen?’ Clara asked, whilst Lorenzo shook his head. He didn’t know who he was.

  ‘Yes.’ Pinyin bowed again but said no more, though as they passed through Chinatown, where the stallholder was arranging the silks and other materials on his cart, Pinyin looked towards him and raised his hand, opening his fingers wide.

  Jewel was up and dressed in her own clothes when they arrived and said she felt perfectly well. Her headache had gone and the cut on her forehead was healing and barely discernible, except as a small red wound.

  Soong Chen was there with his mother, but his sisters were not. It seemed that they had all gone out early, sent off on errands by their mother.

  ‘My mother wishes to speak to you privately,’ Chen said. ‘My sisters are chatterboxes. If you should wish to speak of your experiences, Miss Jewel, then that is your right, as it is your right to have your friends present.’

  Jewel gazed at him. What was there to say that couldn’t be said in front of Soong Daiyu’s daughters or Clara and Lorenzo?

  ‘If you’d rather I didn’t stay, Jewel . . .’ Lorenzo began.

  ‘Why, no,’ Jewel said, ‘I’d like you to stay whilst I give my thanks to Mrs Soong for taking such good care of me.’

  The door opened and Soong Zedung came into the room. He bowed to everyone present and Soong Daiyu spoke briefly to him before indicating that he should stand against the wall, not offering him a chair. He gazed at her and then round the assembled company. ‘What is the purpose of this meeting?’ he asked tersely.

  ‘Honoured uncle.’ Pinyin bowed. ‘It is to right a wrong.’

  ‘What wrong?’

  Pinyin turned to Jewel. ‘I must first tell you that my uncle Soong Zedung was the brother of my sister’s husband and after his death he assumed position of elder of the family.’

  ‘Oh, really,’ Jewel murmured, wondering what that had to do with her.

  ‘When I first brought Chang Tsui to my sister,’ Pinyin went on, ‘she lived with us as family, but always worked and gave all of her money to my brother-in-law; she was told by him and Uncle Zedung that she must do this or leave.’

  Jewel, watching Soong Zedung, saw him straighten himself up and murmur something to Pinyin.

  Pinyin went on speaking. ‘Then Tsui met the Englishman and went to live with him.’ He paused for a moment. ‘After a time she became with child and came back to my sister, asking if she would take her in. She thought the Englishman wouldn’t want her if he found out about the child.’

  Jewel took a breath and sank into a chair. Not want her! Was that true? But her father was a loving man; she remembered that he was.

  Daiyu broke in and said something and Pinyin nodded. ‘Yes. Yes,’ he said. He looked at Jewel. ‘That child was you, Miss Jewel.’

  There was an intake of breath from Zedung, who spoke rapidly in Chinese to Pinyin and then to Daiyu, who seemed to cower.

  ‘Your mother died shortly after your birth, Miss Jewel,’ Pinyin said softly, not responding to Soong Zedung. ‘She was sorely missed.’ He swallowed hard. ‘Tsui was a beautiful, kind and caring young woman and we loved her.’

  Jewel felt her eyes filling with tears and she glanced at Clara, who had her hands pressed to her mouth. ‘Then who . . .’ she stammered, ‘who took care of me?’

  Pinyin put out his hand to Daiyu, who came towards him and put her hand in his.

  ‘Daiyu had also given birth to a child only a few months before. Chen.’ Pinyin looked towards the young man leaning in the shadows against the wall opposite Soong Zedung.

  ‘Miss Jewel,’ Pinyin murmured, ‘Soong Daiyu was your milk mother.’

  Jewel, as if stunned, sat silent as stone in the chair; then Daiyu came and knelt beside her, bending her head low and murmuring words Jewel couldn’t understand.

  ‘My mother says that she has ached for you since you went away.’ Chen came to stand by her. ‘And I have always known that there was someone missing from my life.’ He touched Jewel softly on the head. ‘We shared my mother’s milk,’ he said. ‘She said that I cried when you were gone.’

  Jewel reached out to lift Daiyu’s chin that she might see her face. ‘You took me to my father,’ she murmured.

  ‘Yes,’ Pinyin answered for her. ‘Soong Daiyu’s husband and his brother said that once you were weaned you must be sold. There would be a good price for a mixed-race child. My sister did not want this to happen, for she loved you as her own. She took you to your father, Edward Newmarch, and begged him to take you, telling him of the fate waiting for you if he didn’t. She didn’t tell her husband or his brother. She told them that the child had been snatched by a foreigner when she was out.’

  There was silence in the room for a moment and then Soong Zedung began berating Soong Daiyu in harsh words, shaking his fist. Chen strode across the room to him.

  ‘Enough!’ he shouted. ‘You have no authority here. I am old enough to be the master of this household. We are in America, not in China!’

  His mother bent into a curled-up ball beside Jewel’s chair, but Chen put his hands beneath her arms and pulled her to her feet.

  ‘My mother is within my care now,’ he told his uncle. ‘She is a free woman. She does not have to ask your advice for anything. And,’ he added, ‘you are no longer welcome here.’

  Soong Zedung stared long and hard at Chen and then at Soong Daiyu. His glance took in Pinyin, who simply folded his hands together and bowed as politely as ever. His gaze crossed to Jewel, who was holding Mrs Soong’s hand.

  ‘You were a very pretty child,’ he said. ‘But you were not of our family. You had an English father, not Chinese, therefore you had no place
with us. If I mistreated you by my actions I apologize. I act only to keep our traditions and culture pure.’

  Jewel shook her head. ‘It was unkind of you to think of selling a child,’ she said softly. ‘But at least by Soong Daiyu’s actions I was united with my father and subsequently my English family.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Now I am reunited with my Chinese one.’

  He bowed low to her and without another word he walked to the door, opened it and departed.

  ‘Mrs Soong,’ Jewel said, but looked up at Pinyin. ‘You called me Little Gem.’

  Soong Daiyu nodded, smiling. ‘Little Gem,’ she said.

  ‘Little Gem was your milk name,’ Pinyin said. ‘Your mother named you that. Later, your given name was Lili. Tsui was also called Lili. In English she was Lili Tsui Chang.’

  ‘Did my father know that Little Gem was my milk name, I wonder?’ Jewel said as they drove in the cab back up to the restaurant, having told Mrs Soong they would come back to see her again. ‘Is that why he called me Jewel? There are still so many things I need to know.’

  ‘There will be many questions that will go unanswered, I suspect,’ Clara said. ‘But now you know who you are, which is why you came back, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes,’ Jewel said. ‘It is.’ She smiled shyly at Lorenzo, who was sitting opposite them. ‘No other reason.’

  When they reached the restaurant she was received exuberantly by Maria, who ushered them into the living quarters and would have called to Pinyin, who arrived just behind them, to bring coffee for everyone, but Jewel interrupted.

  ‘Excuse me, Mrs Galli, but might I ask Pinyin something?’

  Maria shrugged. ‘But of course.’

  ‘Pinyin!’ Where to begin, Jewel thought.

  ‘I know what you ask, Miss Jewel,’ Pinyin said. ‘How do I know your name? We are not at the end of the puzzle.’