Chapter 17

The next morning, instead of leaping out of bed as usual, Lizzie lay dazed and half-awake as the events of the night before rushed back to her. It hadn’t been a dream, she knew that. Her hair and the pillow beneath it still smelled of the salty sea.

Once Billy and Susannah had been taken into custody, Fitzy had rowed them back ashore. The Maharaja had draped his silk wrap over Lizzie’s sodden shoulders, but it hadn’t stopped her from shivering all the way. She remembered the terrible look of sorrow on his face.

‘I’ve been a fool,’ he kept repeating. ‘Such a stupid, lovesick fool.’

Hari, she remembered, had done his best to comfort the Maharaja. ‘You mustn’t blame yourself,’ the boy had said, sounding more sympathetic than Lizzie would have expected. ‘She was an actress. A highly talented one. She fooled everybody.’

Despite Hari’s efforts, the Maharaja’s gloom could not be lifted. Not long after everyone had returned to the campsite at Dunsley Castle, and Lizzie was drying off beside the little stove in the tea tent, Fitzy brought word that he had left town that same night.

‘But where’s he gone?’ Lizzie had asked.

‘He’s on his way to London. To Buckingham Palace.’

‘To see Queen Victoria?’

‘Quite so. He may have his ruby back, but the poor fellow has lost the love of his life.’ Fitzy had explained with a sigh. ‘Naturally, the queen knows how that feels. She lost her husband Albert not long ago.’

It made sense. ‘I s’pose they can comfort one another, then.’

Fitzy patted his pockets. ‘He has paid us handsomely,’ he said, ‘and left orders for our onward journey. This has been most profitable for the circus and I do hope he manages to also put in a good word for us with the Queen…’

Now Lizzie lay under the covers, grateful that she wasn’t under the sea at Fiddler’s Green. She hoped Elsie could sleep safely now, in the knowledge that the ghost ship was nothing but a legend after all. Never again would that misty vessel return to haunt Whitby.

She yawned, stretched – and suddenly sat bolt upright in bed. ‘Blimey!’ she exclaimed. ‘I almost forgot what day it is!’ She pulled on fresh, dry clothes as quickly as she could, then dug under the bed to retrieve the shell bracelets she’d made for Erin and Nora. There was no paper around to wrap them in, so she popped them inside a velvet bag she sometimes used for her tarot cards. ‘They’d better not have started their party without me,’ she muttered to herself.

The castle lawns were shining with morning dew. All the caravans were quiet and there was no sign of life anywhere. Lizzie was all alone as she ran to the tea tent, bag in hand.

She burst in – and every single circus member was there to meet her, smiles on their faces. ‘Happy Birthday!’ they chorused as one.

‘All together now,’ Fitzy called out. ‘For she’s a jolly good fellow…’

Lizzie stood, smiling but bewildered, as the whole circus sang to her. ‘And so say all of us!’ they finished. ‘Hip, hip, hurrah—!’

‘Wait, wait,’ she interrupted. ‘You’ve got it all wrong. It ain’t my birthday. It’s Nora and Erin’s birthday.’

‘I think you’d better ask them about that,’ Fitzy said, grinning. ‘Nora? Erin? Let’s be having you!’

The crowd of circus folk parted, as if this moment had been rehearsed – which, Lizzie realized with a shock, it must have been. Because there were Nora and Erin, holding a truly colossal cake, one twin on each side of it.

‘It’s not right that you’ve never had a birthday party,’ Nora said, laughing at the look on Lizzie’s face. ‘And we just couldn’t wait until your birthday, which is months away yet.’

‘So you can share our party!’ Erin declared. ‘There are three names on the cake, not just two.’

Lizzie didn’t know what to say. ‘I brought you a present,’ she told them quickly, before sheer happiness made her choke up. ‘They’re, er, both exactly the same, so you needn’t fight over ’em.’

The cake was escorted off to a side table, while Nora and Erin put the shell bracelets on. ‘Lizzie, they’re beautiful!’ Nora said. ‘You must have taken ages over them.’

‘I love mother-of-pearl,’ Erin smiled. ‘Goes great with me hair colour.’

‘Girls, we have a confession to make, don’t we?’ boomed Ma Sullivan.

‘Oh, yeah,’ Nora said. ‘You see, Lizzie, that time you came into the caravan and we said we were working on new costumes? That was a little white lie.’

‘We were working on this!’ Erin said. And she produced a hand-sewn bathing costume, striped with black and white, every bit as fine as their own.

Lizzie took it, laughing.

Dru sighed and shook his head. ‘Does this mean the days of watching Lizzie run into the sea in her clothes are over? I will miss them.’

‘I’ll shove you into the sea in your clothes if you’re not careful, mate,’ Lizzie retorted, and everyone laughed. Her cheeks felt a little hot. All this attention was overwhelming.

‘Right,’ Ma Sullivan said, as if she’d read Lizzie’s mind. ‘It’s a glorious morning, and I’m in no mind to sit around inside a stuffy old tent. There’s a picnic ready, so let’s go to the beach.’

Everyone gathered around the huge picnic hampers Ma Sullivan had packed. ‘Looks like quite a feast, Mrs S.,’ Rice Pudding Pete said, ‘but it must weigh a ton! We’re going to need to load up some of the wagons.’

‘Oh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary,’ Fitzy said with a twinkle. ‘Hari, Zezete, did you attend to that little matter we spoke of?’

‘The elephants are all ready,’ Hari replied.

So it was that the cast and crew of Fitzy’s circus went trooping through the castle grounds on their way to Whitby beach, with two elephants carrying the picnic baskets. This time, Lizzie got to ride on Akula and admire the splendid gardens from high above.

As they were nearing the great iron gates, Lizzie heard Hari mutter, ‘Oh, now what does he want?’

Johnson the groundskeeper was lurking beside the gate, with a bucket in his hand. Lizzie braced herself for trouble, though at least he wasn’t carrying his shotgun this time. But as they drew closer, she saw he was smiling. Stranger still, he was smiling at Hari.

‘I picked these for you,’ he said, showing Hari the apples that filled the bucket. ‘From the castle orchards. I reckoned your elephants might like ’em.’

‘Thanks,’ Hari said. He looked very confused as he took the bucket. ‘They love apples.’ That’s taken the wind out of his sails, thought Lizzie.

‘I was only trying to look after Dunsley Castle and its master,’ Johnson said. ‘But that don’t excuse the rough ride I gave you.’ He hung his head. ‘I misjudged you, son. You’re a brave lad, to do what you did.’ He stuck out his hand awkwardly.

Hari looked at him. For a moment Lizzie thought he was just going to walk past with his nose in the air and leave the man standing there, looking stupid with his hand out. But Hari smiled too, and shook Johnson’s hand.

Luckily, despite the sunshine, the beach wasn’t too crowded. When the bathers and their families saw the elephants approaching along the coast road, they hurried up to see. The children’s admiration turned to wild excitement when Hari led the elephants down the zigzag ramp and onto the beach. Ignoring their parents’ warnings, the children came flocking up.

While Ma Sullivan busied herself with unpacking the picnic and laying out brightly-coloured rugs for the circus folk to sit on, Hari gently introduced the crowds of children to Akula and Sashi. Some of the braver ones reached up to touch the elephants, then jumped up and down on the spot squealing.

Eventually, some of the parents came and joined them. One hefty fellow with tattooed arms jokingly asked, ‘How about letting my Bobby have a ride, then?’

‘Of course,’ Hari said, offering his hand. Young Bobby, in a sailor suit, stepped forward with his blue eyes very wide. Hari eased him onto Akula’s back, clicked his tongue, and up went the elephant. Bobby clung on, whooping, while the other children danced around, out of their minds with excitement. ‘Me next!’ ‘Giz a go on the other one, mister!’ ‘Dad, dad, I want one!’

A woman in a shawl sidled up to Lizzie. ‘It were a lovely circus you lot put on,’ she smiled. ‘Haven’t seen the like in years!’

‘You’ll come back, won’t you?’ her husband said. ‘All of you?’

Once those two had said their piece, the floodgates seemed to open, and soon a crowd of grateful Whitby townsfolk was gathering to say thank you.

‘Don’t thank us, thank the Maharaja,’ Hari pointed out. ‘This whole show was his idea. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.’

‘Well, tell him thanks from me too,’ said Elsie, nudging her way through the crowds. ‘If you hadn’t have come, I’d still be frettin’ about that ghost ship.’

‘How did you sleep last night?’ Lizzie asked her.

To Lizzie’s amazement, Elsie gave her a tight hug. ‘Like a bloomin’ log, thanks to you. I dreamed I met my brother again. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember being so happy.’

Fitzy insisted Elsie stay for the picnic lunch. She sat next to Lizzie and the rest of the Penny Gaff Gang. Ma Sullivan passed around plates piled with sandwiches, salad, cold meats, grapes and bowlfuls of seafood.

‘I can’t believe that little minx Susannah had the gall to look me in the eye and act like she didn’t know me!’ Ma Sullivan said, lowering herself to sit beside Lizzie. ‘I knew I’d seen her before. She and Mister Marvel toured with Kenroy’s Circus for a while.’

‘What was she like back then?’ Lizzie was curious.

‘Ah, she was a nasty piece of work. All the girls said she was no better than she ought to be. You’ve got to admit, though, they pulled off quite a sleight of hand.’

‘Nearly pulled it off,’ said Lizzie quietly, watching the seagulls looping over the waves.

She thought of the palm-reading she’d given Susannah, and frowned for a moment. The vision of her future hadn’t come true after all. She’d seen her weeping, her arms tied behind her back, pleading not to be killed.

Then the truth dawned on her. The vision she’d seen had been of Susannah in gaol, pleading with her gaoler to spare her the death penalty for her crimes.

No doubt Billy had been locked up too. He might be an escape artist, she thought, but even he won’t be able to escape from gaol.

Fitzy point-blank refused to let anyone do any bathing straight after lunch in case they all got cramp and drowned, so with much protestation the circus children and Elsie were forced to sit and watch others splashing about for half an hour.

Lizzie noticed that Hari kept glancing at Nora, as if he was trying to work up the courage to say something. When she got a chance, she whispered to him, ‘Spit it out, whatever it is, or we’ll be here all day!’

Hari cleared his throat. ‘Nora?’

‘Mmm?’

‘I thought you might like … that is, you said how much you…’ Lost for words, he held out his hand. A necklace dangled from his fingers, small but beautifully crafted. Each faceted bead was glittering and black.

‘Hari! That’s never real jet?’

‘It’s real.’

Nora took it, handling it gingerly as if it were made of black ice, about to melt away in her hands. ‘You great eejit, how’d you ever afford this?’

‘Put it on,’ Hari said, taking a step back.

‘Not until you’ve told me where it came from!’

‘I went gathering fossils,’ Hari explained. ‘The local jewellers sell them, so they took them in trade. I found some lumps of raw jet too, and sold them. Eventually I had enough money for a necklace.’

Nora smiled and fastened the necklace round her neck.

That’s it! Lizzie thought. That was the vision I had! I saw Nora putting on the jet necklace, only I thought it might be Lady Susannah’s.

Once again, her visions had all come true.

Erin folded her arms. ‘So that’s why you’ve been acting so funny, is it? Claiming you had chores to do, then running off to the moors? All along you’ve been hunting for fossils and jet!’

‘I wanted it to be a surprise,’ Hari said. ‘Sorry I had to mislead you.’

Nora ruffled his black hair. ‘Ah, we never doubted yeh.’

I did, thought Lizzie. She smiled, admiring the lovely necklace, but inside she felt terrible. I doubted all of my friends. I never should have done that. My visions might always come true, but they don’t always mean what they seem to mean.

‘You can always trust your own crew,’ Erin said with a sigh, looking over to the breakwater where Billy and Susannah had been sitting that day. ‘I won’t ever trust a performer again, though. They’re all flash and dazzle, and they string you along and then break your heart.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Malachy. ‘They’re not all bad.’ He handed her a tiny parcel.

Erin eagerly unwrapped the gift and revealed a pretty silver thimble with the word ‘Whitby’ engraved in fancy script. She gasped with pleasure as the thimble gleamed in the sunlight. ‘I can use it when we start working on our new costumes.’ She winked at Lizzie, adding, ‘For real, this time.’

Erin gave Malachy a quick peck on the cheek and he beamed brighter than a lighthouse. ‘Thought you might like a souvenir of our visit to Whitby,’ he said bashfully. ‘It’s been grand, hasn’t it?’

Lizzie nodded in agreement and slowly grinned. Malachy, you dark horse. You’ve had a crush on Erin all this time! I always thought you fancied one of the twins, and now I know which one…

Dru patted his pockets. ‘While we are giving gifts, I have un petit cadeau.’ He passed Lizzie a shining silver comb with a flourish. ‘Happy non-birthday. Every mermaid needs a pretty comb for her hair.’

Lizzie turned away to hide her blushes. ‘Thanks,’ she mumbled. Suddenly she felt hot all over, and desperately wanted to run into the sea. ‘I’m going to change into me new bathing suit. My lunch must have gone down by now.’

Ma Sullivan laughed. ‘I’d like to see anyone stop you, girl!’

Moments later, Lizzie went running out to the sea. She plunged in, feeling the cold sea all around her like a mother’s embrace, and she began to swim with powerful, confident strokes. I ain’t afraid any more. I can swim!

As she came up for air, treading water, she looked back at the harbour and Whitby Abbey overlooking it high on its cliff, beautiful as a painting. It seemed holy now, not haunted, with sunlight glowing from its ancient walls. Everything was as it should be.

She smiled, knowing she would remember her first birthday party for ever.