The Sea Shell Girl (5 page)

‘By my reckoning that mutton should be cooked so let's go and eat before it's time for work. We'll need some energy for all that salting and laying-up,' Karenza said, taking her mother's arm and leading her towards the warren.

‘And I'll need my energy for the laying-out,' Grozen muttered.

Her grandmother's words were still ringing in Merry's ears as she walked with her mother up to the pallace later that evening. They had to dodge the jubilant fishermen with their bellies full of ale, weaving their way unsteadily towards their homes. The smell of stale beer and pilchards pervaded the air and Merry wrinkled her nose.

‘Suppose our hands will stink of fish from now on. Did you never want more than this from life, Mother?' she asked.

Karenza smiled sadly and Merry could have cut out her tongue. What a stupid question. Of course her mother had. It wasn't her fault she'd been widowed when Merry was a baby.

‘You have been my life, Merry, and I couldn't have asked for a lovelier daughter,' Karenza replied, patting her on the shoulder. Merry stared at her mother in surprise, for although they'd always got on well, she wasn't one for fancy words.

‘What was he like, my father?'

‘A fine-looking man, he was, and you have the look of him,' Karenza sighed. Her hand went to the necklace beneath the bib of her apron and she stroked it absent-mindedly as she stared out over the harbour, a faraway look in her eyes. Just when Merry thought she'd forgotten she was there, her mother turned and placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘You are young, Merry, and it's understandable that you should want to experience something of life outside the village. Take heed, though, for you'll find the water across the ocean no bluer than it is here.'

‘Come along, you two, or young Nicco will have your guts for inkle belts,' Kelys called.

Karenza and Merry had been so lost in their private moment they hadn't heard the clattering of the village women making their way to the pallace for the evening's work.

‘We're coming,' Karenza replied. ‘Remember what I said, our Merry. You have the opportunity to make a better life for yourself here if you would but realize it.'

That's all very well, but I want to fly, see things, meet people from different places, Merry wanted to cry. Not wishing to upset her mother, though, she kept quiet as they went to join the others.

Spirits were high as they filed inside the fish store, eager to begin the salting process that would earn them their first real money of the year. Later, as Merry started packing the prepared pilchards against the walls, she realized Jenna was missing and wondered fleetingly if Grozen had been right about her baby coming this evening. She hoped all would be well, but more fish were being passed along to her and, not wishing to interrupt the process, determinedly pushed her thoughts away.

It was hard work building up the bank to the required depth of three feet by six feet high, and before long their
backs were aching from the unaccustomed stooping while their hands were red and sore.

‘Must have a break,' Marya panted, her face flushed from her exertions. ‘Not as fit as I was last season.'

‘I'd forgotten how back-breaking this was,' Ailla groaned, easing herself upright.

‘You can bet poor Jenna's is aching more, poor love. Happen she'll have a lusty wean mewling for its milk by dawn. Still, that'll give her something else to think about,' Kelys chuckled. ‘Well, we'd best get on or nice Nicco won't be so nice, will he, Merry?'

As the others laughed, Merry turned her attention back to the pilchards. How she wished old Mr Neaple still ran the place. His bewhiskered old-fashioned appearance and gentle yet aloof manner never caused any comment. Unlike his son, who thought himself kingpin – or should that be king prawn, she thought, giggling as a picture of dark-eyed Nicco encased in a pink shell flashed into her mind.

‘Well done, ladies,' Nicco's silky voice purred from somewhere close behind her. Merry froze as the others began preening and pouting at his praise yet it was her he was staring at.

‘That's all for tonight. I'm hoping there'll be more work tomorrow evening, ladies, so I'll see you then.'

‘You will be paying us in cash as usual, won't you?' As ever it was the outspoken Kelys who voiced their concerns.

Nicco frowned. ‘Of course; why wouldn't I?'

‘That new agent for knitting's increased our target and is paying us in kind for the pleasure,' Ailla spluttered. ‘We need the money we get here more than ever now.'

‘Yes, Father mentioned that. You need not worry,
ladies, for Nicco Neaple is a fair man and will ensure payment here continues in the usual manner,' he said.

‘Pff, his father owns the place, not him,' Merry snorted, but her protest was lost in the rapturous cheers that bounced off the cellar walls.

‘Will we have a party on the last day of St Peter's Fair as usual?' Kelys asked, keen to capitalize on Nicco's good mood.

He smiled. ‘How can we not commemorate our patron saint? Keep a note of the 10th of July, ladies. Who knows, we might have cause for a further celebration,' he added enigmatically as he turned and looked pointedly at Merry.

‘You lucky duck,' Ailla muttered, nudging Merry in the ribs. As the others chuckled, Merry turned away. How dare he insinuate such a thing in front of her friends?

‘Now, ladies, as long as the pilchards show, I will see you all here tomorrow evening,' Nicco added, giving a little bow then making his way towards Merry. Luckily for her, though, the ladies were keen to keep his attention and crowded around him. Taking advantage, she slipped out of the building and sped up the path.

‘Where's the fire, our Merry?' her mother called, hurrying after her. ‘Honestly, girl, you want your head seeing to, running off like that. Nicco couldn't have made his intentions plainer if he'd proposed there and then.'

‘That's the trouble, Mother. It was tantamount to blackmail, him saying what he did in front of everyone.'

‘Happen most would give their best knitting pins to be in your place,' her mother pointed out. ‘Why, that Wyllow brings him cakes she's baked specially and flutters her eyelids in the way men like.'

‘Well, she can marry him then,' Merry retorted. ‘I just wish I didn't have to wait a whole month before I can go back to Plymouth.'

A heavy silence descended between them, their companionship of earlier dissipating like early morning mist. With the night air cooling her burning cheeks, Merry felt ashamed for her outburst. How could she expect her mother to understand when she could hardly make head or tail of her feelings herself?

‘What is so wrong with life here, Merry?' her mother finally asked.

‘I hate being dependent on those smelly fish, for one thing,' Merry moaned as they continued their way home. ‘Supposing none appears tomorrow?'

‘Then we know we'll have the packing of the hogshead to keep us fed next month,' her mother pointed out.

‘But suppose they disappear for ever, what would we do then?'

‘Find other gainful employment, of course. Now do come on,' her mother urged.

‘I hope Grozen's got the water boiling. I'm parched,' Merry muttered as she opened their front door.

To their surprise the living room was in darkness. As Merry lit a candle her mother hurried over to the grate and fanned the dying embers.

‘There, that's better,' Karenza said, swinging the pot over the flames.

‘It's not like Grozen to be out after dark,' Merry commented, holding out her hands to warm, then wincing as the numbness was replaced by the inevitable stinging.

‘Will you never learn, our Merry?' her mother sighed.

Merry grimaced. That salt found its way into every tiny cut, and blisters were already forming. Of course, the skin would have hardened by the time they'd done another shift or two but, no matter how much she washed, the all-pervading smell of fish would linger.

‘Well, she did say she was expecting her services to be required and she's usually right,' her mother pointed out, sinking into her chair and placing her feet on the fender.

Tired after their unaccustomed exertions, they dozed in front of the fire whilst they waited for the water to boil. However, when they'd supped their tea and Grozen still hadn't appeared, Merry began to worry.

‘I hope she's all right,' she said, peering at the clock. ‘It's after midnight – shall I go and check?'

Karenza shook her head. ‘No, happen it will have been a long labour for poor Jenna or perhaps Ma Somers is still holding on. You go on up to bed, I'll wait here till she gets in.'

‘I'll stay with you,' Merry said. ‘I need to finish my frock anyway,' she added, stifling a yawn as she picked up her work.

As they sat knitting in companionable silence, Merry wondered if she dared to raise the subject of her father again. Her mother hardly ever mentioned him, and although she hadn't really said much earlier, Merry's curiosity had been stirred and she was itching to know more about him. Lost in thought, she jumped when her mother suddenly leaned forward and tossed more wood onto the fire.

‘Better keep a nice blaze going. Your grandmother will be cold when she gets in. There's nothing like having your
own home and cosy fireplace to return to, you know,' she said, fixing Merry with a meaningful gaze. Merry sighed, knowing only too well what was coming.

‘But you left home to go into service when you were younger than me, didn't you?' she said quickly, hoping to pre-empt her mother's lecture.

‘I did, but that was only because your late grandfather, God rest his soul, thought I should see a bit of life.'

‘And did you, Mother? See a bit of life, I mean?'

‘Oh, yes, more than you could imagine,' her mother whispered, staring into the fire, but Merry wasn't about to be sidetracked.

‘Then you understand why I …'

The door clattering open interrupted their conversation. As her grandmother staggered into the room, Merry gasped in dismay for the woman was grey with fatigue and looked ready to drop. Merry jumped up and led her over to her chair.

‘Mother, whatever's the matter?' Karenza asked, her usually quiet voice rising with concern. The older woman shook her head, staring at them wide-eyed. ‘Pour some tea, Merry,' Karenza added, taking her mother's hands and rubbing some warmth into them.

‘Here, I've added two sugars,' Merry whispered, passing the cup. It took some coaxing but finally they persuaded the older woman to take a sip of the warm liquid. Wordlessly, she pushed the cup away then and stared into the flames.

‘Please speak to us, Mother,' Karenza persisted.

‘I got it all wrong. It weren't one in and one out. It were all three out,' she whispered with a shudder.

‘You don't mean … ?' Merry gasped.

‘I'm afraid I do. Baby was breech and by the time I'd managed to turn it, poor Jenna's body couldn't take any more. The little mite was born dead as well, so it was all for nothing. Her poor husband went crazy. Dr James had to come and give him a powder.'

‘Oh, no,' Merry gasped in disbelief. Her poor friend, she thought, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Jenna had been so vibrant and full of life. Merry shuddered to think of the waste of life then, seeing her grandmother's anguished face, struggled to bring her emotions under control.

‘Is there anything I can do, Grozen?' she whispered.

Her grandmother shook her head. ‘Nothing any of us can do now,' she muttered, poking the fire so hard the sticks collapsed in protest. ‘Didn't get it right with Ma Somers either.'

‘But she was an old lady,' Karenza pointed out. ‘You couldn't have done anything for her.'

‘Leave me alone. For God's sake, just leave me alone.' As the woman's pitiful wail rang round their living room, Karenza and Merry exchanged worried glances. ‘Go on, the pair of you!'

‘Happen she needs time to come to terms with things,' Karenza told Merry as they made their way upstairs. ‘You try and get some rest. I'll go back down in a while and see how she is.'

But Merry couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the tortured look in Grozen's eyes out of her mind. Thoughts of Jenna went round and round in her head. She had been her dearest friend and
they'd shared everything from a desk in the school room to pulling faces at the mistress when they'd got told off for talking. The preparations they'd made for her wedding to Jem; then her ecstatic shrieks when she'd found she was expecting. What a terrible waste of life, Merry thought, thumping her straw pillow. Her anguish only increased her determination not to marry Nicco. Finally, exhausted, she fell into a heavy sleep where she dreamed her friend was flying above her bed, looking down at her with sorrowful eyes.

A blanket of sadness fell over their little cottage. Grozen refused to speak to them, wouldn't eat or move from her seat beside the fire. She just sat staring blankly into the flames. Then on the Sabbath, she refused to go to church. Karenza took hold of her hands.

‘Come along, Mother, you've never missed a service yet. The Reverend Mr Mabey will wonder what's happened,' she coaxed.

‘He won't want a wicked old woman like me in his church when he hears what I done,' she wailed.

‘You did your best. Nothing was your fault. Besides, Ma Somers was an old lady, Grozen.'

‘And so am I, Merry,' she whispered, pulling her blanket tighter round her.

‘Rubbish, Mother. Ma Somers was seventy if she was a day and you're barely fifty,' Karenza spluttered.

‘I'm in my fifty-sixth year, I'll have you know.'

‘Please come with us, Grozen,' Merry pleaded, but the woman shook her head and returned her gaze to the fire.

‘Don't expect me to come to the funerals either.'

No amount of pleading would change her mind. Boats
were drawn up on the beach, shops closed and curtains drawn as the villagers turned out to pay their respects. As the simple coffin with Jenna and her baby was lowered into the ground, Merry bit her lip and vowed she'd never put herself in the same position. Then it was Ma Somers's turn, and whilst everyone was sad for her loss, at the wake afterwards they all agreed that she'd had a good life.

With the pilchards being caught on a regular basis, Merry and Karenza were kept busy. Even though they worried about Grozen, they knew they had to take the work whilst it was there. The rent needed paying and food put on the table, although the older woman refused to eat. She still blamed herself for the deaths and refused to move from her chair. Her knitting pins lay idle and Merry tried not to think of the promise she'd made Mr Fairbright.