SIXTEEN
BOLTON
Florence rose late the following morning, partially due to the long journey home by train from the West Country, but also from the mental fatigue she had endured during the couple of weeks prior to leaving Devonport. When she did eventually wake, grace of her mother, she was surprised to find the house empty apart from her mother. She threw off the bed clothes and went downstairs to find her mother in her usual place in the kitchen, sat at the table in front of the range, drinking from a cup of tea. The teapot rested on the iron stand on the range keeping warm.
'Morning love,' she said. 'Cup of tea?'
'Please Ma' Florence replied and eased herself past the stout woman to go out into the privy in the yard. Harriet reached behind her and took the teapot from the range and poured a mug full for her daughter, then placed it across from where she sat and settled back to wait for Florence to come back into the kitchen. After a couple of minutes Florence bustled back into the kitchen hugging her dress around her and pushing the back door closed behind her with her foot. She walked quickly to the fire and rubbing her hands together pushed them in towards the flames of the fire.
'You know, it's like Pa used to say. It's an overcoat warmer in the south than up here' she said. Harriet grinned and indicated the mug of tea set by the chair opposite her.
'Sit yourself down and warm yourself up with that then,' she said.
'Ooo! Ma. I'd forgotten how cold it could be even in summer up here.' Florence shivered, cupping the mug between her hands and sipping gently from it. She replaced the cup on the table and drew in a deep breath. 'That's better. There's something about the water down south that's not right, not the same as good old Bolton Corporation Pop,' she said smiling across the table at her mother. Harriet smiled warmly at her daughter, glad to have her home again, but knowing also that the time was limited before her girl would disappear across the ocean for who knows how long, wondering if it would be for ever. She looked down and picked up her own mug from the table lifting it to her lips.
'Do you know when you are going love?' she asked quietly. Florence lifted her head and glanced first at the fire then at her mother.
'Not certain Ma, could be a few weeks or it might be a month or so. I need to do a lot of things before I go, like making sure I've enough money, then buying the tickets, and most importantly, I need to try and make sure that Tommy is going to be in port when I arrive.' Her mother nodded her head silently 'It will make things a lot easier for me if he is waiting there in Sydney for me when the ship arrives. Otherwise I'm going to be a bit lost all by myself. He might even have been able to find me somewhere to live by the time I get there.'
'I suppose you're right there love,' her mother replied, unable to visualise the place called Sydney or the country called Australia. What little she knew of the country had come from the occasional article in the newspapers about the various countries which made up the British Empire. Since gaining a connection through their daughter with Australia both she and William Henry had sought out books and newspaper articles about the country, and had devoured everything there was to know. She had heard on the radio that Australia and Canada were both very keen to get people to go out there to live, to fill the vast open spaces of each country. The radio programme had said that both countries were offering reductions in the fare to get out there, for certain types of people. Housemaids and servants were in particular demand and had been offered free or subsidised passages. For her life though she was unable to see that her Florence would come under that particular category. It was more than likely, she thought, that Florence would have to pay the full price of the ticket, and would she buy a return ticket or a one way one? She kept her thoughts to herself for the time being. The right time to ask the questions would present itself in due course.
'So, my lass, what are your plans for today then?' she finally asked. Florence picked up the mug and sipped from it once more then replaced it on the table, looking directly across at her mother.
'Well Ma, I want to go to the library and try and get as much information as I can about Australia and Sydney. I only know a bit, and most of that is from the letters I've had from Tommy. So I need to see if there is anything in the newspapers more up to date than his last letter. He told me in one of them a couple of months ago that this Ned Kelly thing was all over and done with years ago, and would not trouble us in Sydney anyway. Kelly were hung over twenty years ago, and it were in a place called Melbourne, which is a long way from Sydney. It were worrying me a bit I can tell you.' She grinned at her mother who said nothing. 'Anyway, once I've been to the library, I'll have a look round the shops to see if there's anything new that I haven't seen since I were last home. I need to keep up with what's going on here don't I?'
She smiled at her mother and for a couple of minutes there was a short silence between them as they sat in the quiet of the kitchen, happy with each other's company and content to sit quietly and simply watch the cold embers of the fire in the range. The only sounds came from the occasional tram rattling its way up Waterloo Street, and the occasional woman clipping along on steel tipped clogs as they returned home from shopping.
'What's the matter Ma?' Florence eventually asked softly, breaking the silence. Harriet flicked her eyes up from the table towards her and then back to the table top, tapping the side of the mug with her short fingernails.
'Well I'm worried love. It's understandable isn't it? Here you are going off to the end of the world all by yourself. Do you wonder that I'm worried?' Florence smiled across the table.
'Ma, I'll be fine. People do the trip all the time. Nobody is going to kill me or anything. Tommy will be waiting for me when I arrive in Australia. Everything will be fine, honest.' She replied, with rather more confidence than she felt. Having said that, she was really excited at the prospect of travelling all that way, seeing all the different countries the ship would stop at before finally docking in Sydney. The voyage itself was a major adventure; going to Liverpool to find a ship which was going there, buying a ticket, making certain she and her luggage boarded the ship on the day it sailed. All of these things were exciting in themselves without the thought of starting a new life by herself in a completely new country. She bubbled over with excitement at the thoughts, and found it difficult to be sympathetic to the fears her mother voiced, and which she knew her father would repeat later that evening, and probably several more times before she eventually left. Nothing was going to stop her now though. She had broken from the Naval presence at Devonport, and might never see the place again, and was now intent on ensuring that all her preparations went to plan and to her own timetable. Ships sailing times notwithstanding.
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