by Linda Finlay
‘Hungry?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘We’ve only just had that enormous breakfast.’
‘That was hours ago. Come on, Carla’s got a treat for you,’ he said, his grip tightening on her arm as he led her carefully past all the fishing nets that were spread out to dry over the harbour wall, across the road and up into the lower town.
‘Happy birthday, Eleesa,’ Carla cried as they entered her little café. ‘You look like ze handsome prince and princess today! Go and sit down and I will bring you the biggest ice cream sundaes you have ever seen, on the house, of course.’
‘Thank you, Carla,’ James said, leading Eliza to ‘their’ table. ‘You do look lovely,’ he added, holding out her chair for her. Her eyes widened in surprise. His manners were always good but now he was treating her like a lady.
‘And how old is ze pretty girl today?’ Carla asked, bustling back with tall glasses heaped high with swirls of different-coloured ice cream, topped with grated chocolate, nuts and a single, shiny cherry.
‘Amazing,’ said James, licking his lips.
‘You no get any down your jacket or your Nana will be very cross with me,’ Carla said, wagging her finger at him. Then she turned to Eliza and raised her eyebrows expectantly.
‘Seventeen,’ Eliza answered.
‘Ah, that is the perfect age for ze lovey-dovey, yes? But not before you eat my special sundaes or they melt.’ She winked suggestively before wiggling back behind the counter.
At the word ‘seventeen’ something niggled at the back of her mind, but not being able to remember what it was she giggled and picked up the long-handled spoon. She’d expected James to start eating straight away but instead he was looking at her in a way that set her body tingling.
‘Penny for them?’ she asked, to cover her confusion.
‘Actually, I was just thinking how adorable you look and that I shall have to keep my eye on you or all the local swains will be after you, the swines,’ he joked.
‘Well, it’s good you recognize that fact, James Cary,’ she replied. Golly, had she really said that? It must be her new clothes and shoes, for in truth she was feeling quite grown up today, and the way James was staring at her made her sit taller in her seat. Smiling at him, she dug her spoon into her sundae and began to eat.
They were halfway through their ice cream when they heard the maroon go off. James was on his feet in an instant.
‘Where are you going?’ she asked, fear making her voice sound shrill.
‘Answering the call,’ he said, already heading for the door.
‘But it’s my birthday,’ she cried.
‘Sorry. I’ll be back as soon as I can,’ he called over his shoulder, and before she could answer, he’d gone.
‘Ah, ’tis shame,’ Carla sighed as Eliza rose to go. ‘But he is brave man, yes?’
Eliza blinked back her tears and nodded. Surely they wouldn’t expect him to go out on a rescue on her birthday, she thought, making her way back to the shop.
‘I heard the maroon,’ Nan said, looking up as the little bell tinkled.
‘I was having a lovely time,’ she cried. ‘And after all the trouble everyone has gone to.’
‘Now, young lady, don’t take on so,’ Grandfa Sam said, looking up from his weighing scales. ‘James is risking his life to help poor souls in danger and needs you to be supportive.’
35
‘Go upstairs and change out of your new clothes, Eliza. Then put the kettle on. I could do with a brew,’ Nan said. With a last look at Grandfa Sam’s set face, Eliza went upstairs. So much for her birthday and feeling grown up, she thought, prodding the fire until the flames blazed. She put the kettle to boil and had just donned her usual work dress and boots when Nan appeared.
‘Don’t mind Grandfa. Although he’s proud young James has been taken on by the lifeboats, it rankles a bit. Sam set his heart on joining but even as a young man his health …’ She shrugged.
‘Wouldn’t you have minded? Would you have let him?’ Eliza asked.
‘The answer’s yes to both questions,’ Nan declared. Eliza stared at her in surprise. ‘When you are with someone, married or walking out, you don’t own them. They are still their own person and you have to let them do what they want; show support, or resentment will build.’
‘Even if you risk losing them?’ she whispered.
Nan nodded. ‘Nothing in life is guaranteed. If you don’t mind my saying, Eliza, for someone with a good business head on her shoulders, you seem emotionally immature. Of course, I don’t know anything about your upbringing. Perhaps you haven’t had a woman’s nurturing.’ She gave Eliza a penetrating look.
‘Mum always seemed to be pregnant, looking after babies or recovering, so my sisters Hester and Izzie brought me up, really. Then after many miscarriages Mother had two more children, by which time my sisters had gone into service and I was left to help with the little uns. Fay was more of a mother to me.’
‘The woman on the moors, who took you in? Yes, James mentioned her. So you were a middle child, eh?’ Nan observed. Eliza nodded, feeling forlorn, for in truth she’d never felt she belonged either with her older sisters or her much younger siblings.
‘I’ve been so happy here but if you want me to leave then …’
‘Love a duck, why ever would we? You do have some weird notions in that noddle of yours,’ Nan cut in, shaking her head.
‘You’ve both been so kind but I feel it’s time I stood on my own two feet. Besides, I get the feeling Grandfa Sam is disappointed in me.’
‘He’s a strongly principled man. When Wilf ran off with … Sorry, I promised Sam I wouldn’t mention this again. All I’ll say is that since you came here our home is bursting with life again, especially as we’ve seen how happy you make young James.’
‘You mean I can stay?’ Eliza whispered, her heart lifting.
‘Of course you can. Mind what I said about supporting your man, and we’ll all get along fine. Now, go downstairs and help Sam tidy away for the night. He relies on your assistance now his legs are so bad, and with that cough … well, I don’t know how much longer he can carry on, I really don’t. I’m going to enjoy a cuppa then make some soup for when James comes ashore. He’ll need something warm and nourishing.’
Eliza went down the stairs, pondering on all Nan had said. The bit about owning someone had finally jogged her memory, for hadn’t Monsieur Farrant declared she was his and they would marry on her seventeenth birthday?
As she entered the shop, Sam looked up from his bench and gave her a level look.
‘Sorry, Grandfa Sam,’ she whispered. ‘It’s just that I love James and can’t bear the thought of losing him. I will try and be more supportive.’
‘Good,’ he grunted. ‘Now let’s get cleared away. I’m dying for a cuppa.’
Eliza smiled inwardly. What was it about a cup of tea that made everything all right?
‘So what do you think?’
Eliza blinked at Sam. Lost in thought, she hadn’t realized he’d been speaking.
He sighed. ‘I was saying that when I was looking through the back cupboard, I found some equipment that might be useful for perfume making. You’re always poring over that receipt book you brought with you, and I thought it would be good for you to concentrate your thoughts on something productive.’
‘That would be marvellous, Grandfa Sam. I do love helping here, but my passion really is for making scent.’
‘I’d never have guessed,’ he quipped, looking so like his grandson, her breath caught in her thro
at. ‘Well, don’t tell Nan I said this, but she’s not getting any younger and, between you and me, I think she’d welcome more time to put her feet up. Bring that black bottle down tomorrow when you come. Happen we’ll see if we can work out what that smell is you’re always on about. It’ll keep you occupied when the maroon next goes up.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, touched that he’d obviously been planning this whilst she’d been upstairs. ‘I really will try not to nag James.’
Grandfa nodded.
They’d just finished clearing away when there was a hammering on the door. Eliza ran to open it and found James, water dripping from his sou’wester and oilskin coat, shivering on the step.
‘Oh, you’re all wet,’ she cried.
‘Sea gets a bit that way sometimes,’ he teased. ‘Just wanted to say we’re back. We threw a line to a vessel that had gone aground and managed to tow her in. Sorry about your birthday, Eliza. I’ll get Carla to make us another sundae on Sunday,’ he grinned. ‘Get it?’ She shook her head in mock exasperation, but he was yawning. ‘I’m away to my bed.’ And with a quick peck on her cheek, he was gone.
Eliza tried not to get upset whenever she heard the maroon fired, turning her attention to her perfume making, but the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach would persist until she knew James was back on dry land. Queasiness and perfume making did not go together, she thought, ditching yet another failure.
Nan began spending more time upstairs leaving Eliza to deal with the customers who came and went, as well as helping Sam. Finally the weather improved and so did Sam’s cough. However, his movements were becoming increasingly clumsy and he was finding it harder to reach the jars on the higher shelves. Eliza’s offer to rearrange everything was met with a grunt, and she knew he was finding it difficult coming to terms with the fact he could no longer do what he had previously.
James helped her set up her own worktable with an old copper alembic Grandfa Sam had unearthed, and each evening she’d pore over Fay’s receipts. In the quiet times between customers, she began distilling flowers she gathered from the little garden behind the shop. With daylight hours lengthening, she was able to widen her search, spending time after work walking the cliffs and nearby fields, searching for materials that might hold the answer to that elusive scent.
Both Nan and Sam had been unable to recognize the lingering trace in the black bottle. Sam’s sense of smell had been impaired by his bad cold but he promised that, as soon as it improved, he would focus his attention on trying to match it to something in his little bottles.
‘Never smelled a flower like that before, but it does seem familiar somehow,’ Nan had declared, furrowing her brow. ‘Blowed if I can put my finger on it, though.’
James was no help, wrinkling his nose and saying he preferred the smell of Nan’s stew and dumplings. Eliza pretended to clout him over the head but, later, the savoury aroma of braising meat drifted down the stairs, making them smile.
‘Right, you two, it’s a lovely afternoon so take yourselves out for a walk whilst Sam and I snatch eighty winks,’ Nan ordered after they’d eaten.
‘Forty, you mean,’ James laughed.
‘Not when there’s two of us,’ Nan retorted, sharp as a butcher’s blade.
Although there was a breeze, the sun was shining brightly from a clear blue sky and the birdsong from the trees was louder than the cry of the gulls as they made their way up the cliff track.
‘I don’t know why you insist on wearing those old boots,’ James commented when Eliza stumbled on the rough terrain.
‘Because I don’t want to ruin my beautiful shoes,’ she said, swooping down to pick some pink sea thrift, then placing them carefully in her basket. ‘Haven’t tried these yet, or those,’ she cried, spotting yellow flowers and trying to avoid the thorny leaves as she picked some.
‘Hmm,’ James muttered, distractedly. ‘I was talking to Father and he said it’ll do your foot no good you walking properly in your shoes one day, only to change into those the next,’ he said, pointing down at her boots. ‘He says you’re undoing all his good work and if you come up to the shop when you’ve got time, he’ll see about making a pair of boots to the same design.’
‘Oh, that is kind. I’ll pay, of course.’
‘And offend him! I think not. Golly, that’s a large vessel out there,’ he said, squinting out to sea. ‘Cox was saying the other day that they’re getting bigger and bigger.’
Not wanting to waste their precious time together talking about boats, Eliza linked her arm through his and led him back towards the fields.
‘I love this time of year,’ she cried. ‘Everything’s blossoming.’
‘Yes, isn’t it?’ he agreed, staring at her with unfathomable eyes until she felt her cheeks growing hot and looked away. ‘Ever the country girl,’ he teased. ‘And there was me thinking you’d become a siren.’
‘A siren?’ Eliza asked, shivering at the unwelcome reminder of a distress signal.
‘All right, sea nymph then. With your long hair waving in the wind and those gold flecks glinting in your hazel eyes, all you need to do is sing beguilingly and you’ll tempt the sailors to their doom.’
She shivered once again. ‘Come on, let’s get back. I’m dying to check Fay’s receipt book to see if these flowers prove to be the answer,’ she cried, eager to change the subject.
‘Thwarted again, James Cary. There I was going to ask the girl of my dreams to spend her life with me, and she’s more concerned about her blooming flowers,’ he moaned, looking up at Eliza hopefully, but she did not appear to have registered what he’d said. Puzzled, he swallowed his pride. ‘Never mind, tomorrow’s Sunday and I’ve told Carla to have our sundaes ready.’
She smiled, relieved he’d changed the subject because she had been listening but was shocked and really didn’t know how to react. Now Sam shut the shop on Saturday afternoons, she and James had more time to spend together, and although she was really getting to know him, she wasn’t sure she was ready to take things further. Knowing his commitment to the rescue boat, she had to be sure she was strong enough to cope.
That night the wind rose, rattling the windows in her bedroom, screeching down the chimney. Then the rain came, hitting the glass like pebbles, and Eliza huddled under her covers, praying the lifeboat wouldn’t be called out. For two hours the storm raged and then came the sound she’d been dreading.
Throwing her shawl over her nightdress, she ran downstairs and opened the front door just as another bang rent the air. She could hardly see through the driving rain but could hear the pounding of feet on the cobbles, men shouting, then the unmistakable sound of the lifeboat being launched down the slipway and into the harbour.
‘Shut the door, Eliza,’ Nan said from behind her. ‘It won’t do you or young James any good standing there letting in the wet. I’m going to make some tea, want some?’ Eliza shook her head, feeling sick to the stomach. ‘I find it helps to keep busy till they return so after I’ve taken a drink into Sam I’ll set to and make a pan of hot broth. Why don’t you light the globes and try out those?’
Eliza stared at the pink and yellow flowers she’d collected earlier and nodded. There was no way she’d be able to sleep.
All night long, as the seas heaved, so did her stomach. She began making her first distillation, but it was as though her curdled insides tainted the liquid. All the while her thoughts were running round her head like a hare on heat as she mulled over what James had said earlier.
Almost without realizing it, she’d come to love him dearly, but in her experience people s
he loved either went away or wanted her to go. She’d already lost her family, Fay and Duncan, hadn’t she? Even Amos had gone away. Dare she risk losing James to the sea? Finally she came to the conclusion that, much as she loved him, she wouldn’t be able to live with all this uncertainty. Pouring the unfinished concoction down the sink, she watched as the liquid drained away, taking her hopes for the future with it.
Come the morning, as was often the way, the wind had dropped and the water was as flat as a millpond. Eliza saw the rescue boat tied up in the harbour and knew what she had to do.
James was eating a bowl of porridge and talking to his father when she arrived at the cobbler’s shop. His eyes lit up, when he saw her. Then, noticing her expression, he frowned and looked down at his dish. Mr Cary just grunted, then excused himself.
‘I want to explain how I feel …’ she began.
‘It were a scary night, Eliza, but so rewarding to be able to help those poor souls,’ he said ignoring her. ‘Their vessel foundered on rocks and they would have perished if we hadn’t reached them.’ He shook his head, then yawned. ‘Sorry, it was nice of you to come and make sure I was safely back, but I’ll have to hit the hay before I fall asleep at the table. I’ll get Father to wake me in time for us to go for our sundaes,’ he added. The thought set her insides heaving again, but she knew she had to say what she’d come for.
‘James, it’s a brave calling you’ve answered and I really admire you for what you are doing …’
‘But?’ he asked, eyeing her in the same shrewd way Nan had the previous day.
She took a deep breath. ‘But I can’t stand the uncertainty. Every time the maroon’s fired, my insides go crazy. I feel sick, can’t eat …’ Her voice tailed off as she saw him stiffen.