Authors: Deborah Challinor

Amber (40 page)

1 June 1845

H
alfway between New Zealand and Panama, just east of the Marquesas Islands, the
Katipo
skimmed swiftly and elegantly across the Pacific Ocean as the wind snapped in her sails. Soon she would be drawn by the Peru current up and across the equator and into the south-east trades, and it would be all hands on deck. But for now they were all below in the mess-room, having a party.

Kitty stuck her head into the galley and said to Pierre, ‘Are you ready? We are.’

Pierre nodded and, unable to keep the enormous grin off his face, lifted a platter and carried it through, the crew launching into a rowdy rendition of ‘For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ as he set it on the table in front of Amber. On it was a large, round cake that Pierre had spent almost the entire day decorating with marzipan, and Amber’s eyes almost popped out of her head.

‘Me?’ she said incredulously, looking up at Kitty,

Kitty laughed with delight at the look on her daughter’s face. ‘Yes, sweetheart, it’s for you. It’s a birthday cake.’

Still uncertain, Amber repeated, ‘Birfday?’

Rian nodded solemnly. ‘Yes. Everyone has one, and we’re making yours today. And that’ll be every year, of course.’

Amber didn’t understand what he’d said, but she clapped her hands and let out an ‘oooh’ of amazement as Pierre lit the four miniature candles set in the marzipan.

‘Blow!’ Kitty urged.

Puzzled, Amber looked at her.

‘You blow them out, like this, see?’ Kitty said, bending over the cake and pretending to blow out the candles. ‘And then you close your eyes and make a wish.’

Amber did as she was told—for a change—and grinned delightedly as everyone clapped and cheered.

They were all there: Pierre, Gideon, Mick, Hawk and Ropata. And of course Bodie, sitting contentedly on the end of the table. Daniel was there, too, having proved so useful over the past few months that Rian had asked him to sign on as Sharkey’s replacement, despite Hawk’s muttered misgivings. And so was Simon, who had finally decided to leave the CMS and sail the high seas as ship’s boy while he contemplated his faith and what he was going to do next.

Amber beamed up at her big, noisy, unconventional family, her little face radiant.

She looked, Kitty thought with an immense rush of love, like a child who had finally come home.

Acknowledgements

The characters in this story are all fictional, except for the ones already in the history books.

As always, loads of thanks go to the team at HarperCollins Publishers for being encouraging, supportive and enthusiastic. Likewise to Anna Rogers, who once again has managed to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.

Now, a note about the Irish ballad referred to most commonly these days as ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ and beloved by Thin Lizzy and Metallica fans the world over. In my search for the original lyrics, I had to look fairly hard as there are dozens of versions. The one that appears in this story was published as a broadside (or broadsheet) in 1850, and could be purchased for a penny from the Poet’s Box, 6 St Andrew’s Lane, Glasgow. The address possibly explains why the title appeared as ‘There’s Whisky in the Jar’, with no ‘e’ in the whisky. But I’m sure there must be even earlier versions of these lyrics somewhere.

About the Author

Deborah Challinor is a freelance writer and historian living in Hamilton, author of the bestselling
Children of War trilogy
—
Tamar, White Feathers
and
Blue Smoke
—consecutive number-one bestsellers
Fire, Kitty
and
Union Belle
, and several non-fiction titles, including
Who’ll Stop the Rain
? and Grey Ghosts.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

HarperCollins
Publishers

First published in 2007

This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollins
Publishers
(New Zealand) Limited

P.O. Box 1, Auckland

Deborah Challinor asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

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National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Challinor, Deborah Amber