After the Sunday service, which was held on deck in good weather, the captain of the Coralla confirmed the rumour that they would be sighting Rottnest the following day. This island lay just offshore from Fremantle, and a pilot boat would come out to guide them in from there, since the coast had hidden reefs.
There was great excitement among the passengers. It was one thing to know that the land they’d travelled so far to reach was near, quite another to see it with one’s own eyes.
‘We must wear our best clothes to go ashore,’ Ma said. ‘And you boys had better not get them untidy again. We’ll be wanting to do your father’s brother credit.’
‘How will Bram see us coming ashore? He won’t know which ship we’re on, will he?’ Fergus said at once.
Cara and Ma looked at one another but said nothing. The closer they got to Australia, the more tense Fergus had become, especially if anyone mentioned his brother.
‘I’ll bet you twopence Bram comes to meet us,’ Pa said.
‘Done!’ Fergus snapped. ‘He won’t do it. He’s rich enough now to send a servant.’
‘My Patrick doesn’t bet unless he’s very sure of the outcome,’ Ma whispered to Cara later. ‘You’ll see.’
‘I do hope he’s right.’
Later on, Pa told his wife that one of the officers had mentioned that there weren’t many bigger ships calling in at Fremantle. The mail ships usually called in at Albany, but this was an extra ship and was heading straight to Fremantle with some important dignitaries on board.
So Bram would probably have a fair idea that his brother might be on the ship. And of course you’d want to meet a brother you hadn’t seen for many years. That stood to reason.
Cara watched her husband carefully, trying not to show her anxiety. For the past few days, he’d become increasingly short-tempered. He’d snapped at the boys, stormed out of their tiny cabin one night when Niamh wouldn’t stop crying, and exchanged sharp words with the man in the next cabin about his son.
She had to admit to some sympathy about the annoyance caused by the little boy in the next cabin, who regularly kicked and banged the adjoining wall. This echoed more than you’d expect, because it wasn’t a fixed wall, and was just bolted into place so that cabin sizes could be altered. The regular thump, thump, thump had irritated her, too. But still, Fergus could have spoken more politely to their neighbour.
She packed their clothes, tried to keep Niamh happy and waited for whatever would happen. She’d done a lot of waiting in the past year, was aching now to get on and do things.
After they’d disembarked and got over the meeting with his brother, surely Fergus would calm down and become his old self again?
But that depended partly on his brother making him welcome. Oh, she prayed this Bram would be a kind man.
One of the customers in the Bazaar announced, ‘There’s a ship coming into the harbour, Mr Deagan. You can see it out to sea. My husband told me no one in the port was expecting it but when it was sighted, the harbour master sent a message to the Governor himself, and he sent one back to say he’s sending his Aide to meet the ship. So he must be expecting someone important. Well, that’s what my husband thinks.’
Bram questioned the lady, but she knew nothing more. When he’d finished serving her, he escorted her to the door and went to hover near his wife until she had finished with her customer.
‘What’s the matter, Bram?’
He told her about the approaching ship. ‘I’d better go and meet it, don’t you think, Isabella? They might be on it. I wouldn’t want them to feel unwelcome. Is everything ready for them at home?’
‘You know it is, and has been ever since we got Mr Kieran’s letter. You go upstairs and check their bedrooms most evenings, though what you think might have happened to the furnishings during the day, I don’t know.’ She gave him a little push. ‘Oh, go on with you. The ship won’t have docked yet, but you might as well go down to watch it come in. You know Freddie Spooner is quite capable of looking after the Bazaar and I’ll be here to keep an eye on him. If necessary, Mrs Hollins is only a few streets away, too, and she loves to come and help out. She has a nice manner and women enjoy being served by her.’
‘In other words, you don’t need me.’
Her eyes softened as they rested on him. ‘I’ll always need you, Bram darling. But until you find out whether your brother’s on this ship, I doubt you’ll be much use here. Admit it, you’re dying to go down to the docks.’
‘I am. Ah, you know me too well.’ He plonked a kiss on her soft, rosy lips and hurried off without another word.
She exchanged tolerant smiles with her next customer. ‘Men!’
‘Mr Deagan’s expecting another brother to join him here, is he?’
‘Yes.’ Isabella didn’t try to hide the news, because Bram himself had told everyone that his brother Fergus was coming out to Western Australia.
She only hoped his brother would be as nice as the rest of the family.
Once he was outside, Bram tried to walk along the street in a calm and dignified manner, as befitted a successful businessman, but excitement was rising in him like yeast in a batch of dough and he simply couldn’t do it. He speeded up till he was walking as fast as he could manage without running, raising his hat to ladies or nodding to men he knew but not stopping to chat as he usually did.
What if Fergus was on the ship? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? And it would be lovely to meet the others in the group, of course. But oh, he was longing to see his long-lost brother again, find out what Fergus had been doing all these years, help him make a new home here.
The ship was moving towards the dock, so it wasn’t a big one. The larger ships still had to stop out in the Gage Roads, and passengers had to come ashore by lighter. The merchants of Fremantle often debated how to remedy that, but didn’t seem capable of agreeing on a solution. If they unblocked the entrance to the river, as some said was possible, many of the ships would be able to pass Fremantle and sail straight up to Perth. No one wanted to lose custom.
And yet Fremantle wasn’t a natural deep-water port, and something really ought to be done to improve it. Even he understood that.
This ship was painted in the buff and black P&O colours, but it was smaller than the mail ships. It must have sailed straight to Fremantle, instead of docking and unloading at the deep-water port of Albany in the south.
Sailings hadn’t been as well ordered lately because of the ship that had sunk near Galle the previous year. Losing a vessel had affected the schedules. Well, the company couldn’t conjure new ships out of thin air, could they?
But somehow, the mails kept getting through. It wasn’t like the early days of the colony when so many ships were lost, or mail went astray. Things were a lot more civilised now.
Bram stood and watched the ship come closer to the shore. It slowed down and edged into place. He felt better simply to be there on the dock. Ready. How terrible it would be not to meet a brother who had come so far.
Someone moved across to join him. ‘Mr Deagan, isn’t it?’
He turned and saw one of the Governor’s aides, the young man he’d dealt with to get permission for his family to settle here. ‘Yes. Nice to meet you again, Mr Overton. Are you meeting someone?’
‘Yes. Major Weld is expecting guests.’
Bram dared to ask, ‘Important, are they?’
‘Long-time family friends, but the gentleman is taking up an important post in New South Wales after this, so I suppose they could count as important. They’re stopping off because he wanted to visit Western Australia before he went to the east coast, so that he would be able to advise on relations between the two colonies.’
‘That’s unusual. Not many important people bother to come here.’
‘We did have a visit by His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh in 1869. Remember how the harbour was full of small craft going out to look at his ship. I don’t know where they all came from.’
‘Yes, but there’s been no one important since.’
‘Well, this is an informal visit, so Major Weld won’t be making any public fuss about his visitors. And you’re expecting your brother and his family, are you not?’
‘I’m not sure whether Fergus is on this particular ship, but I need to be here just in case …’
‘I think you said you hadn’t seen him for over a decade? No wonder you’re excited.’
‘Yes.’ Bram knew he’d betrayed how he was feeling, but he didn’t care. If you couldn’t get excited about a family reunion, what could you get excited about?
‘I wish you a very happy meeting with your brother, then, Mr Deagan.’ The aide turned away. ‘Ah, Mr Grayson. How delightful to see you again.’
As the aide started chatting to another gentleman, Bram was left to wait on his own, which suited him better. He was finding it hard to make conversation today, something he didn’t usually have trouble with. He was even finding it hard to breathe evenly.
What if he and Fergus didn’t get on? What if Fergus moved his family away again? That would be terrible.
No, of course they’d get on. He’d make sure of that.
But Fergus hadn’t always done what was sensible, had he? Look at how he’d run away from Shilmara.
What had he been doing all these years? Why hadn’t he got in touch sooner?
Livia was out for a stroll and of course, when she heard about the ship, she turned towards the harbour, glad to have something different to look at.
She met a lady she knew and they both strolled along, standing together to watch the ship dock against the jetty, and the sailors bustle about on board, making ready for the passengers and cargo to go ashore.
There were people lining the rails of the ship. Some of them would be newcomers here to settle in the colony, she hoped, while others would be going on to the next port, either Albany in the south of the colony or Adelaide in South Australia.
Not many people had come to settle in Western Australia lately and quite a few had left for the eastern states. It was worrying.
She hoped those who disembarked wouldn’t be too disappointed at how small the various settlements and towns were in the west, how few amenities they had compared to English towns and even villages. She remembered how disappointed she’d been at first, especially when Francis had bought a small farm in the country, which had only one neighbour within walking distance.
Luckily, they’d got on well with their nearest neighbour, and she’d enjoyed the warmer climate, but even so, she’d been desperately lonely, often seeing no one else for days on end.
Reece and Cassandra had wanted to buy the farm after Francis died so she’d been able to move to Fremantle. It had helped her through her grieving to be among people again and she’d made some good friends, like the Deagans.
‘There look to be quite a few cabin passengers on board. See how many are standing at the front of the deck,’ Mrs Pollcott said. ‘I hope some of them will be staying in Fremantle. It’d be nice to expand our social circles. With the right sort of people, of course.’
With anyone who had a brain in their head, Livia thought. Never mind their social standing. For some reason, her eyes lingered on a tall gentleman among the cabin class passengers. He was speaking to an older lady, smiling down at her. He had a lovely smile, and a thin, intelligent-looking face. That’s what she found attractive in a man, intelligence and a kindly nature.
When the gentleman moved to speak to a group of people among the steerage passengers, his expression was equally friendly and he laughed at something one of them said. She hoped he was one of those coming ashore.
Her companion looked at a little fob watch. ‘I’m afraid I must get home now.’
‘I’ll stay for a while. I want to speak to Bram Deagan.’
Livia hadn’t taken much notice of the steerage passengers until now. They were crowded together towards the rear of the deck. Bram’s family would be among them, she supposed, so she studied them, trying to pick out the Deagans.
She narrowed her eyes to scrutinise more carefully the man the tall gentleman was talking to. He was so like Bram, he simply had to be Fergus Deagan.
Even as that registered, Bram moved to join her.
‘That’s him,’ he whispered, ‘the one talking to the tall fellow is my brother Fergus. Don’t you think? I haven’t seen him since he was a lad. Just imagine that.’
‘Oh, yes, it’s definitely him. He could almost be your twin. Who’s the lady next to him, do you think?’
‘What? Oh, the lady. It must be his new wife. She’s much younger than him, I was told.’
‘She’s holding a baby.’ Livia couldn’t help a pang of envy. She’d wanted children with Francis but it had never happened.
‘Another niece or nephew,’ Bram crowed.
She didn’t try to force conversation on him. He had eyes only for his brother, as was natural. But she stayed with him, curious to find out what would happen next.
They both saw the exact moment when Fergus looked down at the people on the jetty, recognised his brother, hesitated, then raised one hand in greeting.
‘Fergus!’ Bram yelled, waving back and beamed at him. He was jigging about in excitement now, waving both arms. ‘Welcome to Australia!’ he yelled at the top of his voice.
As people around them smiled at this exuberance, Livia wondered whether to walk on and leave her friend to his reunion. Then it occurred to her that the two brothers might welcome someone else chatting to the rest of the family, might want time to speak to one another, so she decided to stay.
And anyway, she admitted to herself, she was eager to meet this new member of the Deagan family, since the others were her dearest friends.
‘That’s him,’ Fergus exclaimed, pointing and waving. ‘That’s my brother Bram.’
‘You don’t need to tell me,’ Pa said. ‘He looks just like you. And you owe me twopence.’
Ma dug him in the ribs. ‘Never mind that now. Boys, stay with me and Pa. Your father will want to talk to his brother on his own at first.’
It seemed a long time before the gangway was in place, and they still weren’t allowed to disembark.
The harbour officials came on board to speak to the captain and make the necessary checks before anyone was allowed to go on shore, even the important people.
The rest of the family grew tired of waiting and went below for a snack, but Fergus stayed on deck.
‘I’m not hungry,’ he said irritably when his son Sean tugged at his sleeve and pestered him to join them. ‘You go with the others.’
Cara gave her husband a quick, understanding smile, urged his son towards the companionway and followed Sean below.
When the crowd of people on the dock had thinned out, Bram walked along to stand below the ship, as near as he could get to his brother for the moment.
‘Welcome to Western Australia,’ he called up.
‘Thank you.’ Fergus looked down at the lady standing next to Bram. ‘Is this your wife?’
‘What? Oh no. My Isabella’s looking after the Bazaar. This is Livia, Mrs Southerham, a good friend of ours.’
Fergus raised one hand in greeting. ‘I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs Southerham.’
‘I’m pleased to meet you, too. Bram’s been so excited about you coming to join him here.’
‘He has? I mean, good. That’s – er, good.’ Fergus couldn’t think what to say and his brother seemed to have become equally tongue-tied. They were staring at one another like a pair of fools. What would people think of them?
A shadow fell across Fergus and he remembered Rémi. He seized on this with relief and called down to his brother, ‘This is my friend Rémi Newland. We met on the first ship. Rémi, this is my brother Bram and a family friend, Mrs Southerham.’
‘I’m delighted to meet you both,’ Rémi called, but then fell silent as he realised Mrs Southerham was the lady he’d noticed on the dock. He didn’t know why he’d been drawn to her. She wasn’t pretty exactly, she was too thin for that, but there was an elegance to the lines of her face, and the look in her eyes suggested she was intelligent. There was kindness, too, in the tolerant way she was smiling at Bram.
He would, Rémi decided, like to get to know this lady better. How strange! He was usually attracted to more voluptuous women, to their bodies not their minds. And what a time to be attracted, just as he was arriving in his new country.
Then he was called to join the other cabin passengers and speak to the port officials, so he raised one hand in farewell to those on the dock and left them to stare at one another.
The cabin passengers were questioned about their visit to the colony and asked a few cursory questions about their health, after which they were free to collect their luggage and leave the ship.
Rémi walked down the gangway to the dock and stood there, waiting for his luggage. He wasn’t sure where to go after that. Everyone else seemed to have been met by someone. There had been tears and hugs, and excited chatter as they waited for their luggage to be offloaded.
Bram Deagan came across to him. ‘Is no one meeting you, Mr Newland?’
‘I’m afraid I don’t know anyone in the colony.’
‘You’ve come to settle here, though?’
‘Yes.’ He wouldn’t reveal yet why he’d come here. He’d promised himself not to start his new life with lies, but he didn’t need to broadcast his private affairs to the world.
‘Then you must let me help you find somewhere to stay,’ Bram said at once.
‘I couldn’t ask you to do that!’
‘You didn’t ask. I volunteered. Tell me if I’m interfering.’
‘No, no, I’m extremely grateful for your help.’
‘Right, then. First you’ll need to hire someone with a handcart to take your things into town. There are always plenty of lads around when a ship docks.’
He looked round and gestured to one lad to join them. ‘This gentleman is a friend of mine, Willie, and I’ve relatives on this ship, so I’ll need at least two other lads to help carry our things. Can you see to that for us?’
The lad beamed at him, then turned to Rémi, ‘I’ll get my friends for Mr Deagan, then I’ll come back and help you with your luggage, sir. Where are you going to stay?’
‘I’m not sure yet.’
Mrs Southerham was still standing next to Bram. ‘You’ll be busy looking after your brother and his family, Bram. Perhaps I could help Mr Newland find lodgings?’
Rémi looked at her, unable to hide his relief. ‘I’d be immensely grateful for any help you can give me, ma’am, if you don’t mind.’
‘I don’t mind at all. There aren’t any fancy hotels here in Fremantle, but if you want some clean lodgings, with good plain food, there’s a woman in the next street to me who takes in the better class of lodger. I know she’s got a vacant room at the moment, because I was chatting to her two days ago and she was wishing more people would come and settle here. She’s a widow and needs the money, you see.’
‘That sounds perfect, at least for the time being. I don’t know yet exactly where I want to settle.’ He sighed and added, ‘Or what I’ll be doing.’
‘It’s a big change,’ she said sympathetically. ‘I remember how I felt when I first came ashore. Utterly bewildered.’
‘Yes, that’s it exactly.’ He turned as Willie came back and stood waiting patiently, looking at him for instructions. For a moment he couldn’t think what to do next. She was right: utterly bewildered described his state of mind exactly. What a perceptive woman.
‘You’ll need to tell the lad what luggage to look for,’ Mrs Southerham prompted. ‘We’ll wait here for him to retrieve it.’
He listed the cabin items and the trunk of clothing and watched the lad counting them off on his fingers. ‘I have some furniture and boxes of books, as well, but they’re much heavier, so will need more than a handcart. I suppose I’ll need to find storage for them until I have somewhere permanent to live.’
Bram, who was walking to and fro, overheard this and stopped to say, ‘You can store them in my stables, if you like. I’ve plenty of room at the back. If you don’t mind a few wisps of straw, that is.’
‘Thank you. Once again, you’re being very kind.’
‘We all help one another here. You know where I’m talking about, Willie,’ Bram added. ‘Can you find someone with a cart to fetch the heavier things for Mr Newland?’
‘Oh yes, Mr Deagan. My uncle has a cart. He’ll be glad of the job.’ He ran off again.
‘He’s a good lad, that one. He’ll do well for himself when he grows up.’ But Bram spoke absent-mindedly, his eyes straying towards his brother, still standing on the deck, frowning down at them now.
‘I think Fergus is finding the waiting very frustrating,’ Rémi said.
‘It won’t be long now.’ Bram stayed next to Livia and Rémi for only a few minutes, then began pacing up and down the quay.
Livia turned to Mr Newland. ‘I’m afraid Bram’s in no fit state to chat. He hasn’t seen his brother for over a decade. He too is frustrated by the waiting.’
‘So I gather from Fergus. In those circumstances, it’s doubly kind of Mr Deagan to help me.’
‘Oh, he’s like that. You couldn’t make a better pair of friends than him and his wife.’
He smiled down at her. ‘And I could say just the same of his brother and Cara.’
‘It’s good to hear you say that. Bram would be devastated if something went wrong between him and Fergus.’
‘I don’t see why it should.’
‘We can wait here while Willie sorts out your luggage, but you should give him a good tip, probably about five shillings by the time he’s found you a cart for your furniture and boxes of books, on top of whatever the carter charges.’
‘I’ll be happy to do that.’ Rémi turned to study the nearest part of the town. ‘So this is Fremantle.’
‘Yes. Rather a small port, but a fine place to live.’
To Rémi, the streets of the town had a higgledy-piggledy appearance, as if the place had never been properly finished. The houses weren’t even in proper rows, let alone having paved streets, and even in the town centre, some of the land wasn’t built on yet. ‘Is the capital of the colony bigger than Fremantle?’
‘Not much. Did no one tell you that they call us the Cinderella Colony? We don’t have a large population in Western Australia. You may wish to move across to Sydney or Melbourne on the eastern coast of Australia. A lot of people do.’
‘I can’t do that.’
She looked at him in surprise. ‘Can’t?’
He bit his lip, but somehow he didn’t want to lie to her about his background. ‘I’m a remittance man, Mrs Southerham. Well, I think that’s the correct term for it.’
He saw her expression go cooler and said hurriedly, ‘I didn’t do anything bad. I just didn’t get on with my uncle, or meet his ridiculously rigid standards of social behaviour. So he decided to get rid of me by sending me to Australia. If I stay here and don’t bother the family again, he’ll pay me an annual sum of money, enough to live on comfortably.’
She was still looking at him doubtfully. ‘Why Western Australia?’
‘Sheer spite on his part. I’m not a gambler nor have I committed a crime, but I make friends from all classes of society, I speak frankly and I read books he doesn’t approve of. To crown it all, I refused to marry the dull young ladies he and my aunt introduced me to.’
Rémi watched her smile return at that confidence and added, ‘I couldn’t bear to marry someone I didn’t like, just for her money. And think of spending years with a person whose laugh grates on your nerves?’
She laughed heartily at that, producing a pleasant, musical sound that didn’t grate on his nerves at all. ‘Thank you for your honesty, Mr Newland. You won’t be the only person here who is happy to get away from his family.’
‘May I ask what brought you to Western Australia?’
‘We came here for my husband’s health, but sadly he died anyway. Consumption.’
So she was a widow. That thought pleased him. ‘You didn’t wish to return to England afterwards, to be with your family?’
‘I don’t have any close family left there and I can live far more cheaply here. Anyway, I’ve made some good friends, such as the Deagans. There are also my two maids, who act more like aunts than servants, and try to manage my life. They’re both dears but like your aunt and uncle, they want me to marry again, and I couldn’t do that without affection.’
She stopped and looked at him in surprise. ‘I don’t usually talk about my private affairs to strangers.’
‘Nor do I. Perhaps this means we’re destined to become friends. I do hope so.’
‘I’d like that. One cannot have too many friends.’
He appreciated her honesty and lack of pretence. In fact, the more he chatted to this woman, the more he liked her. She didn’t simper or flatter, something he detested.
‘It must be very difficult to come here on your own, Mr Newland.’
‘A little daunting, I must admit. I’ve made friends with Fergus Deagan and his family, so I do know a few people now. I helped him organise a concert on the ship. He’s a very talented musician. I hope to make other friends too, of course.’ He looked at her as he said that, and she gave a little nod, as if approving of him and willing to become his friend. At least he hoped that’s what it meant.
‘I find you very easy to talk to, Mr Newland. I believe you will soon make friends.’
He chuckled suddenly. ‘You’re a most unusual lady. I like your frankness.’
‘Well, you see, I grew tired of pretending with my husband’s family in England, who were rather like your uncle, but here I feel I can speak as I find.’
He looked down at her and wondered about her life. Her skin was gilded by the sun and her nose was sprinkled with freckles. Her clothes weren’t in the latest fashion and were mended in a couple of places, but he found her attractive. This was ridiculous. He’d only just met her. But then again, what did that matter? You either liked someone in that way or you didn’t. Your body seemed to decide that, as well as your mind.
He wondered what she thought of him, if she found him attractive. Goodness, where had that thought come from?
Then movement on the ship caught their eyes and they turned round to watch as Fergus and his family appeared at the top of the gangway.
‘It must be strange to meet a brother for the first time in over a decade,’ Livia murmured. ‘I do hope it goes well.’
‘For them both,’ Rémi said softly.