Hidden Currents Read online

  ‘Come and sit here.’ She patted the wooden seat behind her, as the family took up their allotted row in the Grand Stand. Elsie didn’t immediately respond, gazing around her, as if looking for someone.

  ‘Sit down, for pity’s sake,’ Carrie said. ‘Our Wilf’s gone to fetch some sweets for Billy, if that’s who you’re looking for.’

  ‘You can sit by me instead, if you like,’ Frank said encouragingly. Elsie looked at him coolly. The second son was good-looking, if not quite the spit of his brother, but he had none of Wilf’s arrogant swagger. Besides, to Elsie, second son meant second best.

  ‘No thanks, I’ll sit by my friend,’ she said, settling herself on the far side of Carrie and Billy, and concentrated on scanning the sea of bonnets and tall hats below for anyone who could recognise her among the toffs. Not that she counted Carrie’s family as toffs, but they had what she didn’t. They all had each other.

  Carrie’s mother leaned forward to smile kindly at the girl. ‘How does your granpa fare, Elsie?’

  She shrugged. ‘Fair to middling, as usual, Mrs Stuckey. The doctor says he’ll not last another winter, but he’s been saying that for the last three, so we don’t take much notice. Granpa don’t care to see him too often. He says it’s a waste of money to keep on hearing the same thing, and he’ll go when his time comes and not before.’

  Carrie felt mildly thankful that the old grandpa existed. If it wasn’t for the fact that her mother respected the way Elsie dutifully cared for him in the ramshackle hovel where they lived, she wasn’t sure May Stuckey would have wanted her to continue their friendship, despite all. The Stuckeys weren’t snobs, but they were more than a cut above some of the cottagers on the waterfront.

  But she put such thoughts out of her mind now, as a sudden shaft of sunlight seemed to strike the golden Arms of England on the bow of the great ship. To anyone of a fanciful nature, it must have seemed as if the gods themselves blessed the gleaming black hull with its six great masts bedecked with flags. When she came out of her dry dock and was sitting up so high and noble in the water, she would appear to have a divine weightlessness.

  Carrie guiltily wondered if such a thought would be construed as blasphemous. But no-one could deny that the ship completely dominated the river. The dozens of small craft plying about on the water like worker bees around their queen, were totally insignificant beside her.

  ‘Do you think you’d care to travel to America in her, Elsie?’ Carrie said suddenly, as her thoughts roamed.

  ‘Would pigs like to fly?’

  ‘I shouldn’t think so,’ Carrie said, thinking the remark one of Elsie’s sillier ones. ‘But it must be wonderful to take a sea voyage and act the part of a lady.’

  ‘The only way you’re likely to do that is to marry a rich man, or become a lady’s maid, our Carrie,’ Frank said.

  ‘She’s much too good to become a rich man’s toy, or to kow-tow to society ladies,’ her brother Wilf said, catching the end of the conversation as he returned with the sweets for Billy. He seated himself on the far side of Frank, so that the brothers and the Stuckey parents flanked the girls and the small boy.

  ‘Don’t you think I do a menial enough job already, washing their dirty linen?’ Carrie said. ‘If that’s not kow-towing to the nobs, I don’t know what is.’

  She bit her lip, hoping her mother hadn’t heard her, and thankful for the bustle and noise all around her. If she despised herself for the work she did, then she implied that she despised Ma too, and she could never do that. She felt suddenly depressed, and looked down at the roughness of the wash-tub hands in her lap. Her cotton gloves couldn’t hide the shame of their redness, any more than the whiff of fish that came from Elsie every now and then, could hide the evidence of her own work.

  ‘You do an honest job, Carrie, and there’s no shame in that,’ Wilf told her. ‘At least Ma knows where you are each day, and that you’re safe from harm.’

  It had always been a comfort to the men to be sure of that. It had been a comfort to Carrie, too, to know that her two strong brothers would come to her aid at once, if she was threatened in any way. It had never felt like a restriction before. But lately, she had been aware of a new restlessness inside her, and sometimes it seemed ready to burst in her veins. Girls far younger than herself had proper jobs outside the home. They looked after themselves and their dependent relatives — even Elsie did that — while Carrie Stuckey’s world often seemed as cloistered as a nunnery.

  Sometimes, it seemed that they were all closing in on her … her Ma and Pa, her two older brothers … it was as if her very growing-up had to be protected against some silent enemy, but none of them ever explained what that enemy was. Instead, they made guarded remarks that she was supposed to understand. It was as if they all shared a secret that she was still too young to be told, but which was a danger to her very self. It made her frustrated, and it made her angry.

  ‘You’re wearing your tight face, Carrie,’ she heard Elsie crow. ‘What’s the matter? Are you sulking because you haven’t seen your famous engineer yet?’

  ‘Of course not, because he hasn’t arrived yet,’ Carrie said crossly. ‘Pa says the nobs are having a banquet before the launch, so we’ve got a long time to wait yet.’

  ‘Why couldn’t we have waited at home, then?’ Billy howled at once.

  ‘Because, my sweet cherub, we wouldn’t have had a seat to watch the show, if we hadn’t got here early,’ Carrie told him. ‘If we didn’t claim our places early, other people would have sat in them, no matter whether we had tickets or not, and I didn’t want to stand up all day long, thank-you!’

  But she could see he was already getting bored. If it hadn’t been for the bend in the steep hill that was Jacob’s Wells Road, their own house would have been within sight, and he could have been at home playing with his marbles or his counters. Instead, he was starting to fidget and scuff his feet, and Carrie couldn’t really blame him.

  ‘Let’s play a game,’ she suggested.

  ‘What game?’

  She ignored the belligerence in his voice. ‘Let’s count the small boats on the river.’

  It was a harmless diversion that could take as long as it interested the boy. And for a while, Billy was quite amenable to the game. They counted boats, then they counted top hats such as Mr Brunel always wore. It was to hide his short stature, Wilf always said, to Carrie’s annoyance at this criticism of her hero. Then they counted white bonnets and blue ones, until Billy got utterly fed up with counting at all, and slumped down in his seat. Elsie gave a great yawn without covering her mouth, and Carrie heard her mother tut-tut at this show of bad manners in a public place.

  ‘Should we take Billy for a walk, Ma?’ she asked quickly. ‘The rest of you can keep our seats.’

  ‘Well, don’t go too far. We don’t want him getting lost. Though if he’s getting too bored, you can take him home for a drink,’ May Stuckey said. ‘When you come back, we’ll have our picnic. There’s enough for you too, Elsie.’

  The girl thanked her, and Carrie knew she wouldn’t have thought of such a thing for herself. To her credit, Carrie knew she would have left her old granpa well supplied with food and drink for the day, but Elsie would have gone hungry rather than bother to prepare a picnic for herself.

  They each took one of Billy’s hands and eased their way through the crowds on the Grand Stand and beyond, and long before they reached the edge of the waterfront, Carrie wondered if this had been such a sensible idea after all.

  People were good-natured enough at waiting for the ship to be launched, but an irritating threesome, linked together and trying to get through their ranks, was more than an annoyance. Anyone who moved back was in danger of losing a precious viewing spot, and when a gentleman cursed her volubly for stepping on his toe, her face flamed with embarrassment.

  ‘I’ve had enough of this,’ she said to Elsie. ‘Let’s go back to the others. One of Ma’s pies will keep Billy occupied for a while.’

 
‘I want to watch the boats!’ Billy yelled.

  They were some distance away from the others, and they couldn’t see them at all because of the bend in the river. For some minutes now, Billy had been fascinated by the showmanship of a young man in a paddle tug-boat containing half a dozen well-dressed ladies and gentlemen. The young man caught sight of Billy and waved to him, and Billy leapt up and down in delight, unable to wave back because of the two hands holding him firmly.

  It was quite a smart boat, obviously having been given a new coat of paint to make it all ship-shape and Bristol fashion for the occasion. An older man was explaining to the passengers some of the finer points of the floating harbour and, no doubt, the S.S. Great Britain herself.

  Tug-boats like this one were ten a penny on the river, many of them family-owned, and helping to pay their way by running summer excursions for folk wanting the thrill of being on the water. Some even went out into the Bristol Channel to the twin islands of Flatholm and Steepholm, with their fine views of the watering-hole of Weston-super-Mare on one side, and the Welsh coast on the other.

  ‘Well, you can’t watch them any longer,’ Carrie said crossly, seeing the grinning face of the young man at Billy’s frustration. ‘Ma will be wondering where we’ve got to.’

  Before she could say anything more, Billy had slipped his hand out of her grasp, and his forceful little figure was rushing towards the bank. Carrie shouted at him to come back, but he was deaf to her voice, all his interest centred on the excitement of watching the deft movements of the boatman.

  Everything happened fast after that. One minute Billy was dancing with glee at being free, and waving furiously at his new-found friend; in the next, his arms were thrashing like windmills as he over-balanced, and with a great shriek of terror he was hurtling headlong into the deep waters of the floating harbour.

  * * *

  The boatman didn’t hesitate. To the accompanying screams of the onlookers who had seen the incident, he dived in to where Billy had disappeared beneath the water, dangerously churned up by so much river activity. It seemed like an eternity to Carrie, but within seconds the man had dragged up the dripping, bedraggled child and was dumping him beside her. He hauled himself up after Billy, to applause and cheers from those who had seen what happened. To her amazement, the man wasn’t even angry. Wet through though he was, she could see the laughter in his dark eyes, and how his dark hair curled attractively into his neck and over his forehead.

  ‘What was the little feller trying to do? Learn to swim?’ the man said with a grin. The words confused Carrie for a moment, when she’d expected abuse for her carelessness at the very least.

  ‘I’m indebted to you for your quick action, sir,’ she stammered, hardly knowing what else to say. What did you say to a man who had just saved a child from almost certain drowning? In her embarrassment, she turned angrily on Billy, shaking him hard.

  ‘You stupid little idiot! What did I tell you about holding tight to me?’

  ‘Don’t rattle his teeth, miss. You’d best get him home and into dry clothes, or he’ll miss all the fun,’ the young man said lazily.

  Carrie glared at him now, but aware that he was going to miss it too. It was Elsie who alerted her to her manners.

  ‘I’m Elsie Miller, and this is Carrie Stuckey,’ she said. ‘The boy’s name is Billy. They only live up the hill, so we’ll have time to get him changed and back down again before anybody misses us, at the rate things are happening here.’

  Carrie saw how the water dripped off the young man. ‘I’m afraid we’ve ruined the day for you as well. Unless —’ she hesitated as a daring thought occurred to her. She knew she shouldn’t even suggest it, but it would be a way of saying thank-you, and surely even her Pa couldn’t object to it …

  ‘If you wouldn’t think I’ve got a cheek for saying it, you’re welcome to borrow some of my brother’s clothes. You’re about the same size, and as Elsie says, we only live up the hill.’ Her voice trailed away, feeling like a hussy for her daring, and aware that Elsie was gaping at her.

  The man turned away as the older one in the tug-boat called to him. Carrie felt awful then, wondering if she had made a terrible mistake. The unbidden thought came to her mind that none of the young ladies whose gowns she laundered so carefully would have made such a blatant invitation to a stranger. He must think her very forward indeed. She didn’t hear what he said to the other man as she hustled Billy away, while Elsie lingered behind for a moment. When she caught up to the two of them, she hissed in Carrie’s ear.

  ‘Well, you’re a dark horse and no mistake. He’s coming too. He called the other one Uncle and told him he’s going for some dry clothes, and he’ll meet him back at the passenger landing pontoon soon. I’d like to know what your Pa’s going to say about it when he finds out you’ve invited a man into the house without a chaperone!’

  Carrie looked behind her, feeling her heart thump with unexpected speed. And it wasn’t just because of the fright Billy had given her, nor the relief that he was safe, either. It was more to do with the fact that the young man was following them through the crowds and up towards Jacob’s Wells Road, and he was the handsomest young man she’d ever seen, apart from her brothers.

  As for what Elsie had just said, well, she had two chaperones of sorts. She had Billy, and she had Elsie, though what good either of them would be if she was physically attacked, she couldn’t think. But instinct told her the boatman wasn’t the attacking kind. And it was only common courtesy to offer him a change of dry clothes after he’d saved Billy from a watery grave. It was going to be her defence later, once she faced the inevitable wrath of her Pa.

  Chapter 2

  His name was John Travis. He’d hurriedly changed into a set of Wilf’s old working clothes, and departed from the house, promising to have the garments cleaned and returned as soon as possible.

  ‘It’s not necessary to return them,’ Carrie said in a fright. ‘They’re old clothes that my brother doesn’t use any more. He won’t miss them.’

  She hoped her words carried conviction. She could just imagine the fuss if John Travis turned up at the house with a parcel of clothes. It was far better to forget all about them, and Wilf would never notice they were gone.

  It was more than half an hour before the girls got back to their Grand Stand seats. By then, Carrie had scrubbed and tidied Billy, and she was flushed and excited by the time they returned to the rest of the family, and Billy was still smarting at being sworn to secrecy about his adventure.

  ‘You’re not to say anything about what happened until we get back home later, do you hear?’ Carrie had said sharply, giving him a hearty shake to emphasise her words. ‘It will spoil Pa’s day if you do, and if you dare breathe a word about it before I say you can, I promise he’ll skin your hide for being so stupid as to fall into the river, and you’ll get another one from me for disobeying orders.’

  ‘Good God, Carrie, you’ve missed your vocation. You should have been a Sunday school teacher,’ Elsie said with grudging admiration, as they fought their way back through the crowds. ‘I swear you’d make a saint quake.’

  ‘It’s the only way to keep him quiet,’ she retorted, knowing the truth of it from past experience.

  ‘They’ll probably know eventually. Your Billy won’t keep quiet for ever, and Wilf won’t be too pleased at passing on his clobber to a stranger. Nor taking him home.’

  ‘Oh, shut up, Elsie. It’s too hot to argue,’ Carrie said, thankful to reach the family at last, and becoming more uneasy by the minute at the recklessness of what she’d done.

  She didn’t need Elsie to keep telling her so. Elsie had been surprisingly dumb all the time the stranger had been in the house, clearly still staggered at Carrie’s nerve at inviting him there. Elsie’s rare silence only unnerved Carrie more. Perhaps if John Travis had been older, and plainer, and less of a splendid figure, he might have been more acceptable to the older Stuckeys as a stranger to their house. But he wasn’t old,
nor plain, and he was all that a silly romantic young girl might dream of in a man …

  ‘Where in pity’s name have you been, Carrie?’ Ma said at once. ‘And why is our Billy wearing different clothes?’

  ‘He spilled a drink all down his others, Mrs Stuckey,’ Elsie said, far more glib and innocent than Carrie could have been on the spur of the moment. ‘We had to get him cleaned up, and it was quicker to take him back and change him. We haven’t missed anything, have we?’

  ‘Not likely,’ Frank said with a grin. ‘Though there seemed to be something going on down by the waterfront earlier. Did you see anything?’

  ‘No,’ Carrie said, giving Billy a kick on the shins as he opened his mouth. ‘But there are some jugglers and mummers wandering about, so I expect they were giving a free show.’

  ‘Full marks,’ Elsie breathed to her, but Carrie didn’t enjoy the deceit. She rarely had occasion to lie to her family, and she didn’t care for it at all. Besides, a lie always caught you out in the end, and even though the invention was to save her Ma and Pa’s enjoyment of a day they’d looked forward to so much, it didn’t make a lie any less of a lie.

  A sudden surge of chatter all around them stopped the need for any more questioning. They craned their necks to see if anything of importance was happening. But it was only a party of ladies and gentlemen arriving to take the seats that had been secured for them by their servants, and once they were settled the excitement subsided again.

  ‘We might as well eat these pies now, seeing as how we carried them down here,’ Ma said practically. ‘Nothing’s going to happen for a while yet, by the looks of it, and neither prince nor engineer is worth wasting good food for.’

  ‘You wouldn’t agree with that, would you, Carrie?’ Elsie grinned. ‘You’d give a week’s grub to rub shoulders with ’em, and not only shoulders, neither.’