Skylark

by Jenny Pattrick

Joseph

  [AGED 7½]

  I saw Teddy hanging from the tree.

  He was wearing his sailor costume.

  We buried him in his sailor costume.

  I said to Ma that if I could have a sailor costume I would not jump off the tree in it, but she still didn’t let me have one.

  I can sing ‘We Sail the Ocean Blue’ right through. Teddy taught me.

  I am sorry Teddy jumped in his sailor suit and caught his lanyard round his neck.

  Teddy was nice.

  Joe

  Oberon

  [AGED 6]

  I thought Teddy would always be here. Now there is a hole in our family.

  Mummy is very sad, she misses Teddy too.

  Teddy was teaching me to dance a clog dance and a hornpipe.

  He was nearly always smiling and singing and making jokes.

  So the hole in our family is quite big.

  I hope we are all happy soon.

  Goodbye dear Teddy-boy.

  Ronnie

  Jack Lacey

  Theodore Valentin Lacey

  Born 2nd September 1868 Died 20th October 1881

  Dearly beloved son and brother

  Rest in dignity and peace

  Your father

  Mathilda Lacey

  Teddy has been thoughtless, there is no other way to say it. He has divided and near destroyed the delicate balance in this family. And oh, I have not the strength to mend the rift. We could have healed him. Now who will heal the family?

  Mother Mattie

  Epilogue

  IN THE HAND OF LILY ALOUETTE

  ‘Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer …’

  [Archivist’s Note: Richard III by William Shakespeare. E. de M.]

  There is warmth in the air, and the chilly season of anger and blame has melted away. We laugh again over our breakfast. Lily Alouette is forgiven.

  My story is told, as far as I have lived it. And Jack’s. I have grown wiser, I hope, in the writing and in the listening. Entertainment it was, but more, much more. Our true lives have been lit, as if upon a stage, and the scenes will not be forgotten. Dear, clever Mattie, you have bound us together again.

  Have I written my life true? Who is to judge? Memory is as fickle as the weather. Jack sees a different drama, Mattie another. We are all separate souls (a lesson learned).

  Samuel claims to have won his wager, citing a minor detail which we need not waste space on here. I count this as a blessing because Sam is so pleased with himself at catching me out that we are on the best of terms again, and he has agreed to continue his singing lessons with me. A late developer, but showing real promise.

  The great mistake I made was that I did not recognise Teddy’s weakness. Mea culpa. I saw all his wonderful strengths and was blinded by the way they shone. But an artiste — a true performer — must have that thread of steel woven through the supple cloth of sentiment and dramatic understanding. I have that steel; Teddy did not: perhaps would never have developed it. The twins, I believe, have inherited that steel. We will see.

  Teddy’s death was an accident, I’m sure of it. That treacherous lanyard looked so feeble. Surely Teddy was, in his over-dramatic way, making a point: that he was miserable; that we were not showing enough care. Notice me, notice me!

  And now? Where does the future lie for the Lacey family?

  Mattie has laid a solemn burden upon me. ‘You must not run away any more, Lily,’ she said, and looked at me very straight, her eyes ringed with shadows, her weakened voice still betraying a shortness of breath. ‘You are needed here among your own family. I cannot do it all.’ I nodded and squeezed her hand and reassured her, but was even so filled with a sort of terror. I am not suited to be another Mattie. To cook and sew and live a motherly life. Sarah would do better. But Mattie has entrusted the family’s wellbeing to me. I must not fail her.

  So, I have come up with a new plan, as Mattie surely knew I would. I am, after all, only forty or thereabouts. Not yet ready to settle into a corner and become like other old folk. A good artiste carries on until the voice or the body fails. I am still in my prime.

  Next winter, when the tasks on the farm are slight and the children need a challenge, I propose that we go on tour as a family! A lecture tour with entertainment! It is all the rage now to be informed as well as entertained. I am up with the latest fashions and prepared, as any good artiste, to adapt. Jack shall stand on stage in his smartest horseman’s top hat and cravat, and with his beloved filly Ariel, who will do anything Jack demands of her. He will instruct the audience on how to train a horse to step and dance and rear up. Included in the demonstration will be some breeding and breaking-in tips. Samuel will help with that and we will have painted backdrops: Elsie and Bert are talented with their hands and it will be good for them to develop those skills. I will do my ‘famous women from Shakespeare’. All the younger ones will put on a play, centred around a horseman, perhaps (I have not finalised all the details). It will put the Pollards’ noses out of joint, just you wait! The twins will do their splendid juggling and clog-dance act. (I will develop that with them to include a humorous song.) We will of course have several musical interludes in which we will perform ensemble (excluding Jack and Bert, of course). Sarah and Maud will sew the costumes, and naturally they will sing too. Audiences would love such a mix, I feel it in my very bones.

  The Lacey Family Lecture and Musical Entertainment! Well. Perhaps I can think of a more dramatic title for us. Are the Pollards really Pollards, I wonder, or simply Smiths or Joneses? We need a good, ringing stage-name for the family. We could start by touring locally: up to Waverley, down to Kai Iwi, and then, as our fame spreads, take on larger towns and more discerning patrons. Oh, it fills me with such energy to plan this! With spring comes new plans, new life, rich futures!

  The children will be so excited!

  Last night I put my plan to Jack and Mattie. Wednesday is Mattie’s night with Jack, but I was so on fire with the possibilities that I couldn’t sleep. I crept into the bedroom and seeing them still awake (and not too involved in other matters) I jumped in with them and spilled out my ideas. Jack clutched at his head in mock despair; Mattie clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes rolling. I ignored their theatrics. All my best ideas are greeted thus.

  ‘It will be such fun!’ I said. ‘Remember, Jack, when you came to see me at Foley’s Circus, the day we first met? And you so admired Mr Foley’s riding skills on Lucy? We have come full circle! What do you think?’

  ‘In God’s name, have pity!’ Mattie gasped.

  Jack groaned. ‘Lily, Lily, you are out of your mind. No. No. No. That is my last word on the matter.’

  But they both looked at me with such love, such hidden laughter, that I knew I would prevail.

  Let the new entertainment begin!

  Lily Alouette

  1883

  Archivist’s Note: I have searched through old newspapers, but found no reviews of the Lacey Family Entertainers. I concluded that Lily’s considerable persuasive talents had not prevailed over Jack or Mattie’s wishes for a peaceful life. Then, by luck, when mentioning the matter to an old colleague, I was presented with a clue. A mention, in an early oral archive, of a childhood visit to see the Larkendale Family Entertainers! Larkendale! Of course. The stage name that Lily and Teddy took. A translation from Lily’s French name, Alouette — the lark.

  I listened carefully to the archived tape-recording. The old lady’s wavering voice described a childhood trip from her farm to New Plymouth and there seeing the Larkendale Family. Her comments are brief. She mentions a ‘splendid fellow and his marvellous horse’ as the stars of the show. Also a comment about the children: ‘So many of a similar age! I suppose they were not really all that handsome man’s’. No comment at all about Lily, which is disappointing. A further search threw up no reviews. None at all. A puzzle. At present I have no answer. I cannot believe Lily or her talented family retired after one season. Perhaps a diff
erent stage name was coined? I would be grateful for any information readers might furnish.

  Eleanor de Mountfort

  Acknowledgements

  I owe a great debt to the theatrical historian Peter Downes, whose books, Top of the Bill, Shadows on the Stage and The Pollards and whose contributions to The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, informed much of this novel. James Belich’s Titokowaru’s War was also most useful.

  Also thanks to Alan and Jill Bagnall for information about Foley’s Circus, Tom and Diane Pearce for an introduction to the Waitotara Valley, Dick Rawson for nineteenth-century medical information, the website ‘Papers Past’ for information of every description, especially the drownings at Croixelles Harbour and the 1856 Wellington earthquake; to my publisher Harriet Allan, as always, for her invaluable observations, and Emma Neale for her thoughtful copyediting; also to Christine Lorre and Christine Leurquin for help with French language. And to my first reader, Laughton Pattrick.

  Historical events

  The theatres and the performances in this novel are taken from historical record, at the dates and places described.

  Baron Alzdorf was the only person killed in Wellington by the devastating 1855 earthquake.

  The exposure of Bully Hayes’s severed ear and the farce that lampooned him actually happened. So did the drowning at Croiselles Harbour. Hayes reported himself to be the only survivor. He reported George Buckingham, Rosa, her baby Adelaida and the nursemaid all drowned. He remarried two years later.

  The attack on Maori children by Kai Iwi Cavalry at Hendley’s Farm is an historical event, as are the circumstances of Titokowaru’s Pai Mairire attacks and retreat in the Waitotara area.

  Lily Alouette is a fictional character, as are the members of the Lacey family.

  Cast of historical entertainers who appear in this novel

  First performance dates refer to New Zealand appearances. Many performers were already established in Australia or further afield before they came to New Zealand.

  Charles (the Inimitable) Thatcher: entertainer, goldfield balladeer. (First goldfield appearance: Bendigo Australia, 1854. First tour in New Zealand: Dunedin, 1862.)

  Madame Annie Vitelli (Thatcher’s wife): entertainer

  FOLEY’S VICTORIA CIRCUS (ALSO KNOWN AS FOLEY’S ROYAL AMERICAN CIRCUS): FIRST TOUR, 1854

  Mr William Foley: manager, equestrian and clown

  Mrs W.H. Foley: entertainer (She later toured theatres extensively with other leading men.)

  Madame or Miss Tournear (real name Martha O’Neill, later mistress of Mr Foley): bareback rider

  Master Bird: slack wire

  Mr Rossiter: high wire

  Also — Lucy the mare; two-headed goat; Bengal tiger; zebras, orang-u-tan etc.

  THE BUCKINGHAM FAMILY ENTERTAINERS:

  George Buckingham: entertainer, actor, music teacher, entrepreneur (first appearance: Auckland, 1843.)

  Anne Buckingham: pianist

  Their children: (first appearance: 1853.)

  George Junior: entertainer, entrepreneur, flute

  Rosetta: singer, pianist, entertainer

  Walter: flute, violin, singer, actor

  Conrad: trumpet, actor, entertainer

  And seven younger children.

  OTHER ENTERTAINERS:

  Mrs W.H. Foley (see Foley’s Circus, on page 327): actress, entertainer (solo stage debut, Auckland, 1856)

  Two of her leading men:

  Mr James Marriott: actor, scenic artist, entrepreneur (First performance: Wellington, 1843)

  Mr Vernon Webster: actor (first performance: Wellington, 1860)

  Captain William ‘Bully’ Hayes: trader, swindler, entrepreneur (first appearance managing the Buckingham Family:

  Dunedin, 1862)

  Doctor Shadrach Jones: businessman, doctor, horse-trader, impressario (first theatrical business: Dunedin, 1861)

  Madame Marie Carandini: operatic singer (brought to Dunedin in 1862 by Shadrach Jones)

  POLLARD’S LILLIPUTIAN OPERA COMPANY: FIRST NEW ZEALAND TOUR, 1881

  Mr James Pollard: musician, entrepreneur, teacher, piano tuner

  Corunna ‘Aunty’ Pollard (his second wife)

  POLLARD CHILDREN:

  James ‘Jim’ Junior: music director

  Henry: orchestra leader

  Charles: orchestra

  Corunna Louisa: music teacher

  Mary: music teacher

  May: child star

  Maud: child star

  Olive: child star — violin

  Walter: child star — song and dance

  And eight other Pollard children.

  Tom Pollard (real name Tom O’Sullivan, married to Corunna Louisa): chorus training

  Fred Derbyshire: dance and stage training

  Cornelius Osmond: juvenile star

  The Hall brothers: juvenile stars

  About the Author

  JENNY PATTRICK is a writer and former jeweller whose six published novels, including The Denniston Rose, its sequel Heart of Coal, the Whanganui novel Landings, and Inheritance, set in Samoa, have all been number one bestsellers in New Zealand. In 2009 she received the New Zealand Post Mansfield Fellowship. In 2011 she and husband, musician Laughton Pattrick, published the children’s book and CD of songs, The Very Important Godwit.

  Copyright

  A BLACK SWAN BOOK published by Random House New Zealand, 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand

  For more information about our titles go to www.randomhouse.co.nz

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand

  Random House New Zealand is part of the Random House Group

  New York London Sydney Auckland Delhi Johannesburg

  First published 2012

  © 2012 Jenny Pattrick

  The moral rights of the author have been asserted

  ISBN 978 1 86979 804 8

  eBook ISBN 978 1 86979 805 5

  This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Cover design: Kate Barraclough

  Text design: Carla Sy

  This publication is printed on paper pulp sourced from sustainably grown and managed forests, using Elemental Chlorine Free (EFC) bleaching, and printed with 100% vegetable-based inks.

  Printed in New Zealand by Printlink

  Also available as an eBook

  Also by Jenny Pattrick

  The bleak coal-mining settlement of Denniston, isolated high on a plateau above New Zealand’s West Coast, is a place that makes or breaks those who live there. At the time of this novel — the 1880s — the only way to reach the makeshift collection of huts, tents and saloons is to climb aboard an empty coal-wagon to be hauled 2000 feet up the terrifyingly steep incline. All sorts arrive here to work the mines and bring out the coal: ex-goldminers down on their luck; others running from the law, or from a woman, or worse. They work alongside recruited English miners, solid and skilled, who scorn these disorganised misfits and want them off the Hill. Into this chaotic community come five-year-old Rose and her mother, riding up the Incline, at night, during a storm. No one knows what has driven them there, but most agree the mother must be desperate to choose Denniston; worse, to choose that drunkard Jimmy Cork as bedfellow. The indomitable Rose is left to fend for herself, struggling to secure a place in this tough and often aggressive community.

  Eighteen years have passed since the child Rose arrived on Denniston, riding up the terrifying incline on a stormy night. She has now grown into a young woman, intelligent and talented, with an outrageous zest for life. The trauma of her early years seems forgotten, though some recognise its shadow in her often unconventional behaviour. Rose is expected to marry her childhood friend the golden Michael Hanratty, but when dark
and stubborn Brennan Scobie arrives back on the hill after a seven-year absence, a challenge is inevitable. At the turn of the century Denniston is still isolated, but all that is about to change. New challenges will confront both Rose and this close-knit society.

  On the run from an unfortunate ‘indiscretion’, young Conrad Rasmussen finds refuge in the North Island of New Zealand under the employ of the famous (or notorious) Dane, Bishop Monrad. However, Conrad — a talented and impetuous Faroeman — finds he cannot escape his past. This is Conrad’s story, and that of the unusual woman Anahuia. It is a tale of new lands and old songs, of seafaring and war and the search for love. It is also the story of the Faroe Islands and of Denmark’s early connection with New Zealand. In Catching the Current the free spirit is pitted against the forces of tradition.

  The Whanganui River at the turn of the twentieth century is a busy thoroughfare, taking sightseers through the spectacular landscape by paddle steamer and acting as highway for the sparse scatterings of settlements along its twisting length. The people who have made it their home are a diverse collection, from Samuel Blencoe, trying to forget his past life as a convict, to the hoteliers at Pipiriki, the nuns at Jerusalem, the Maori families, the Chinese market gardener and the farmers, like Danny and Stella, trying to tame the wild bush. There’s also Bridie, the strange, silent girl, who haunts the banks of the river where the accident occurred that robbed her of her mind. Like the tributaries that trickle down the mountains and join the mighty river, so the lives of these people come together in this vivid and moving tale of a stunningly unique place.