‘How Jack would like one of those,’ he laughed. ‘I’d like to buy him one.’
‘You and Jack get on well together, don’t you?’ Amelia said as they took their seats in the coffee shop.
‘We’ve known each other all our lives. We’re almost family.’ Ralph ordered coffee for Amelia and himself. They were early and Amelia commented that May was nearly always late.
‘And do Jack’s family accept you?’ she asked, ‘in the same way as yours accept him?’
Ralph hesitated over the question. ‘His parents and brothers and sister, yes. Not all of his extended family, and there are many of
them. They see all white men as the same, usurpers of their land; and as the Aboriginals don’t have the same rights as white men, they are naturally suspicious of us. They have no say in how their country is run. They are shot by farmers if they go onto land which they consider free, but is no longer; and they cannot go into some areas of Sydney, such as the parks, because they are forbidden.’
‘It is difficult then for them to integrate,’ she murmured.
He nodded. ‘Jack’s grandmother legally married an Englishman, but I understand that she was never accepted by the whites. Daisy, Jack’s mother, had a better life, or at least a better education, but she too was barred from social activities.’
‘And today?’ It is only curiosity that makes me ask the question, she told herself. ‘What if a white woman should want to marry an Aborigine?’
He looked at her in some surprise. ‘I have never known of it, although Jack jokes that he will marry a white woman and have children by an Aboriginal woman to keep his race alive.’
He saw the shocked look upon her face. ‘I do apologize,’ he stammered. ‘I have offended you. I forgot for a moment to whom I was speaking. At home, amongst friends we are used to speaking freely.’
She put her fingers to her flushed face. ‘No. No, it is nothing.’
‘But it is,’ he said earnestly, ‘and I am embarrassed by my behaviour. You must think me crass and ill-mannered and I apologize most profusely. I must remember whilst I am in England to think before I speak.’
Indeed you must, Cousin Ralph, she thought. You are far too outspoken. But she enquired, curiosity again getting the better of her, ‘But he was only speaking in jest?’
Ralph shrugged, unwilling now after such a blunder to continue with the conversation. ‘I know of no white woman who would risk losing everything: her social standing, her family. It would be a very lonely life.’
May came through the door at that moment, her arms overflowing with parcels, so saving them both from searching for another topic of conversation. ‘I have bought a dress, Amelia, ready-made, in such a lovely shade of blue,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Do you think that Papa will think me extravagant?’
‘It depends on how much you paid for it,’ Amelia said wryly, ‘and whether you have overspent your allowance.’
‘Oh, I have,’ she said anxiously. ‘By quite a large amount. It is Clarissa’s fault, she persuaded me that it suited me so well.’
Ralph smiled and commented, ‘It seems to me that you will have to find a rich husband, May. I hope you have started looking already.’
Her eyes took on a dreamy gaze. ‘Yes, indeed, and I think I have found him.’
Amelia sighed and shook her head at her sister and wondered who the beau was. Ralph ordered more coffee, sandwiches and cakes, and Amelia glanced out of the window at the thoroughfare outside. There was some kind of disturbance going on and a crowd was gathering. Idly she watched. A rather large man was haranguing a young girl who was sitting in a doorway. The man was drunk and he was shaking his fist at her. ‘Damned Irish.’ His words were muted through the glass but Amelia heard them well enough. ‘Get yourself back to your bogs and pigs, ’stead of taking work from decent people.’
The young girl kept her head down towards her knees. She had a bunch of drooping daisies in one hand and with the other held fast to her thin shawl. Another man came by and pushed the drunk to one side, urging him away and the crowd moved on, uninterested if there wasn’t going to be a scene. The girl put her head up when they had gone and got to her feet. It was Moira.
‘Oh, excuse me.’ Amelia rose to her feet. ‘I’ve just seen someone I must speak to.’
She hurried out of the cafe and across the road, leaving Ralph and May staring after her. She called, ‘Moira, Moira,’ but the girl didn’t hear her and scurried on. Amelia followed but then lost sight of her as she turned down an alleyway. Amelia stopped as she approached the dark opening. It looked forbidding and was littered with rubbish.
‘Amelia!’ Ralph came rushing up behind her. ‘Is something wrong? You seemed in such a hurry.’
‘It’s a young girl I used to teach in York. I have been meaning to come and look for her. I thought I saw her on my last visit to Hull. I think she might have been begging.’
‘Begging? Is she very poor then?’ He peered down the alley. ‘She must be if she lives in a place like this.’
‘You think she might live down here? Surely not! I thought she was just running away from that horrible man.’
‘I see no reason why else she would come to somewhere like this,’ he said. ‘Shall I go and look?’
‘I’m not sure,’ she hesitated. ‘Would it be safe?’
‘I’ve seen worse places,’ he said grimly. ‘But it should be all right in daylight.’ He and Jack had once wandered into a rough part of Sydney by mistake and it was only their combined muscular strength that had saved them from robbery and a beating by the residents of the area.
‘I’ll come with you,’ she said. ‘You don’t know her.’
‘No,’ he insisted, ‘I’ll go and look to see what kind of place it is, then I’ll come back for you if it is safe.’
Oh dear, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so impulsive. Amelia hesitated at the end of the alleyway and was jostled by passers-by. What if
Ralph is attacked? It will be my fault. I’ll go after him, she decided, and set off down the narrow alley. It was dark and tunnel-like and as she turned a corner she almost bumped into Ralph, who was standing with his hands in his pockets staring at the scene before him.
‘I was wrong.’ He turned towards her. ‘This is worse than I have seen in Sydney. How can the authorities let this happen?’
Amelia put her hand to her nose. The stench was appalling. The alley opened out into a small courtyard with dwellings all around it and a high wall at the end. Many of the windows in the houses were broken and studded with paper and rags to keep out the weather and the doorways were blocked by shattered doors or pieces of wood, though some were wide open to admit any stray dog, cat or vagrant.
Amelia stared down at her feet. Pools of stagnant water gathered over the broken paving and mosquitoes hovered above them. There were piles of rubbish scattered about and in the far corner a standpipe dripped constantly into an overflowing barrel.
There was no-one about, though Amelia felt that she was being watched and she could hear a child crying.
‘Your little friend doesn’t appear to be here,’ Ralph commented, ‘unless she’s hiding.’
‘She didn’t see me so she wouldn’t need to do that. But how odd that everything is so still.’
‘They’re suspicious of us, that’s why,’ Ralph said, ‘but there are people here all right.’
They heard footsteps behind them and a man appeared. He was shabbily dressed, his jacket was worn around the elbows and his trousers were greasy and stained.
‘You looking for somebody?’ he barked. ‘They’ll not be in if you’re after money.’ He had an accounting book under his arm and a leather bag tied around his wrist. ‘They’re never in during ’day when they know debt collectors or rent men will be calling.’
He went and banged on several doors and shouted up the stairs but on getting no response turned back towards the alley and the street. ‘What a job,’ he muttered. ‘Who’d do it?’
‘Excuse me,’ Amelia said. ‘Do you know if there’s an Irish family here by the name of Mahoney?’
‘Not one of mine,’ he said. ‘But they’re mostly Irish down here and a few Eyeties.’
‘Eyeties?’ she frowned. ‘Who are they?’
He looked her up and down. ‘Italians, miss, though God knows what they’re doing in a dump like this. I shouldn’t hang around if I was you,’ he added, looking at Ralph. ‘Not unless it’s very important. It’s not a place for tourists.’
‘What’s her name?’ Ralph asked as the man disappeared back down the alley. ‘Your little friend?’
‘Moira,’ she said. ‘Moira Mahoney.’
He looked around the court and then walked to one of the doorways. ‘Moira,’ he called. ‘Are you there?’ Then he jumped backwards as a boot was aimed down the stairs followed by a torrent of foreign language.
‘Well,’ he said. ‘Those are the Italians, so let’s try next door.’
He shouted Moira’s name again in the next doorway and a voice yelled from an upstairs window, ‘You’ll find her next door unless you’re collecting and then they’ll be out.’
He grinned and went to the next door, then turned to Amelia. ‘Would you like to call her? She might respond to your voice.’
Amelia nodded and stepped gingerly around the rubbish to reach the door. ‘Moira! Moira. Are you there? It’s Miss Linton here.’
She stepped back and waited. Why am I here? What can I do?
The stairs creaked and over the broken banister she saw a gingery head peering down at her. ‘Moira? Is that you?’ she called again. ‘It’s all right. You’re not in trouble. It’s just that I saw you out in the street and wanted to speak to you.’
The girl came slowly down the stairs, stepping over the broken treads. ‘Hello, miss. I didn’t know you lived in Hull.’
‘I don’t,’ she said. ‘I’m only here on a visit.’
Moira stood before her. She looked thinner than Amelia remembered, her feet were bare as they had been in York and were caked with dirt.
Her skirt was in rags and over it she wore a large shirt, big enough for a man.
‘You shouldn’t be here, Miss Linton,’ she muttered. ‘Sure it’s not a fit place for a lady like you.’
A voice called down the stairs. ‘See if they’ll lend you a shilling or two, Moira.’ The voice was female and slurred.
‘That’s me mammy,’ Moira said. ‘Take no notice, she’s had a drop or two.’
Amelia put her hand to her purse but Moira shook her head. ‘No, it’s all right, miss. We can manage fine.’
‘Did your father find work, Moira?’ Amelia remembered that that was the reason why the Mahoney family came to Hull.
The girl pinched her lips together before saying, ‘Aye, miss, he did too. Down at the docks. And the first week he was there somebody started a fight wi’ him ’cos of him being Irish. There were two of them, Miss Linton, and he ended up in the dock under one of the barges. By the time they fished him out it was too late.’ She crossed herself. ‘And that’s why me mammy has taken to the drink. She says she’ll never get back to Ireland now.’
Amelia thought of the big proud Irishman who had chastised her because he had thought she was teaching his children to forget their Irish roots, and she was sad at his loss. She hadn’t met Moira’s mother but she recalled Mr Mahoney saying that it was her idea that the
children should go to school. ‘And what of Kieran and Eamon?’ she asked. ‘Where are they?’
‘Kieran goes to look for work every day, Miss Linton, but Eamon is sick and has gone to the workhouse infirmary. I go to see him once a week but it’s a long walk so it’s too far for me mammy to go.’
‘And does your brother find work?’ Ralph spoke up. ‘How old is he?’
‘Eleven, sir. He earns a copper by running errands but not enough to pay the rent. I’m the breadwinner now.’ She put her chin up proudly.
Amelia smiled at her. ‘So did your reading and writing help you to find a job, Moira?’
Moira looked downcast. ‘Well, not exactly miss, but I can speak good English, and not everybody knows that I’m Irish. They won’t give to me if they know, you see.’
‘Give to you?’ said Amelia.
‘No, miss. I’m a beggar girl, you see.’
WHATEVER AM I
to do? Amelia pondered as they drove home. I gave her all the change I had and I saw Cousin Ralph give her something, but that will surely only last a few days.
‘You’re worried about the girl, Amelia?’ Ralph asked.
‘I am,’ she said softly. ‘I hate to think of the family being destitute.’
‘Can she not get work?’ May asked. ‘Selling flowers or something?’
‘She’s only a child!’ Amelia declared. ‘Lily’s age. And there are so many people looking for work. Besides, who would employ her when she looks so – so – ’
‘Wretched! Dirty!’ Ralph interrupted. ‘She needs a bath and clean clothes.’
‘I can get her some clothes easily enough, but how can these poor people keep clean? Their living conditions are indescribable, and the flies,’ she shuddered. ‘There is no wonder they become ill.’
Ralph nodded. ‘And no wonder they turn to drink or opium. There cannot be much pleasure in their lives. I’m reminded of the Aborigines who have lost all hope and only wait to die.’
Amelia and May both stared at him. ‘I’m sorry if I shock you,’ he said. ‘But it is so.’
If Moira could finish her education, Amelia considered as they rattled their way along the Holderness roads. Or at least be able to read and write passably, then perhaps, with help, she could find work when she is older and get out of that dreadful place. Perhaps – an idea took hold. Perhaps if I paid Elizabeth Fielding to teach her, and if – Amelia grew quite animated as it became clearer. If Moira could live in the little room under the Fieldings’ roof, then she could help Elizabeth with the housework. I noticed that their daily maid no longer came in.
She beamed at Ralph and May. ‘If I can persuade Moira to return to York, I think I may have a solution.’
‘But what of her mother?’ asked May. ‘She wouldn’t want to leave her mother by herself, would she?’
Oh, no! Of course she wouldn’t. Amelia’s hopes were dashed. And I’m forgetting, Moira is so young, her mother wouldn’t let her go to live with strangers.
Mrs Boyle and Phoebe were due back the next day, their friends in Harrogate having arranged to return them in their carriage. ‘We have enjoyed ourselves so much, Mrs Linton,’ Mrs
Boyle said on arrival. ‘Harrogate is a charming town and we took the waters, or at least I did and found them very beneficial, but Phoebe declined.’