Elizabeth Dawson Life changing adventure

I walked along the pier feeling the moisture in the air. My skirts flowed loosely around my ankles and I felt the absence of my petticoat, left behind in the haste to depart. I gazed out over the sea and my memory went back to the beginning of it all. The trip to Australia had been such a happy one, at first.
My best friend insisted I accompany her and her husband on their journey. Her baby was just starting to crawl and she needed my help. She would rather I go than a hired Nanny. I just couldn’t resist the temptation of such an adventure. I was swept up in the excitement.
Julia’s husband, Peter, was a quiet man, a foreigner from Australia. She had fallen for his charismatic charm immediately and they wed soon after they met. Rachael was a welcome surprise. Julia was my childhood friend and at first I had distrusted this charming gentleman from afar. But he had won me too. On the boat he was a gentleman as he had always been. He wanted to make this journey to take Julia to meet his family. She was so excited to see where he had come from and for his family to see Rachael. The food on the ship was exotic and mood jubilant. There was dancing and gossiping and laughing. But as we neared the coast of the foreign land I sensed a change in him. I did not know why but seemed different. The boat docked at sunset and we stepped into another world.
He escorted us through the streets to what we assumed would be his mother’s home. I was taken aback when we entered the foyer of a dark dank house. Julia and I were both surprised at his gruff manor as we handed him our cloaks and he instructed the footman where to place our luggage. Peter was usually so kind and helpful. When we arrived at our rooms Peter instructed us to stay there and not come out for any reason. My room was adjoined to Julia’s through a door that creaked when it was opened. As I pushed on the door so I could move my belongings into the adjoining maid quarters, Julia looked at me with despair. A tear rolled down her cheek and she slumped on the bed with Rachael in her arms.
I stood leaning against the door and wondered what was going on. Our magical journey had just taken a dark turn. Where was his family? What was this place? I went to Julia and knelt by her. She put her arm around me and she wept on my shoulder, as Rachael whimpered and wiggled in her arm. She reluctantly set the baby on the untidy floor and we started sorting our belongings. Julia kept apologizing under her breath as we worked. I was heart sick for her. What had she married into?

Peter had had our evening meal sent up and Julia and I dined in her room. When the servant arrived with the food I asked for hot water and some cotton cloths to clean with. She returned with a bucket of tepid water and some dingy cloths. After we dined I went to work scrubbing surfaces in the room for Rachael’s sake. Julia was quiet while I worked. She focused on the baby and I allowed her to find joy there. I wondered if Peter was ever coming back.
He came in late that night. Rachael was asleep; we sat together on the bed. When Peter entered I went to my little room and lit the lamp there and settled in. I couldn’t help but over hear and the more I heard the more afraid I became.
He told her of his past. He had been a part of another world. His Father had come to Australia as a prisoner; he was convicted of murder in England. His mother had been a prostitute. This was her brothel. He had left and made a better life for himself, an honest life. But, when he returned he discovered his mother would be killed soon; as she was caught up in the rampant crime in Sydney and was in debt to a loan shark. He thought he could go there and pay the debt but it was not that simple. The loan shark had seen us depart the boat and wanted Julia and I to become his servants. I took it by the way he said it we would be more than maids and I quivered in the depths of my soul. Peter had wanted Julia to meet his mother but was afraid that she would be in danger so he had tried to covertly get us to the brothel and hide us in the girls’ rooms in hopes that no one would know. It hadn’t worked and now it looked like we might need to flee into the night to escape. My friend was beside herself. Her daughter was so tiny so frail what would become of her.
Peter assured her it would be ok; but I could take it no more. I emerged into the larger room and apologized. But since I couldn’t shut the door and I really had nothing to apologize for, I insisted that we come up with a plan. We just needed his mom’s help. We would leave in the night taking his mother with us. He would have to convince her to leave this place but with a new grand daughter and a new life waiting for her it shouldn’t be hard.
Peter sent for a young woman to watch the baby and we all went down the narrow hallways to his mother’s chamber. The echo on the door as Peter knocked seemed louder than it should have. The air of danger surrounded us was like a thick wool blanket threatening to suffocate us. His mother was a beautiful woman and I wondered how such a woman ended up in a place like this. As Peter told her our plan she looked stricken. She agreed to go with us but was afraid for her girls. Julia and I were from wealthy families and we decided that any of the girls who wanted to come with us would be welcome. Peter snuck away into the night to find a ship, his mother gathered the girls in the capacious dining hall. She told the girls about the loan shark and the threats on her life and now on ours. The girls looked at us in our fancy dresses and I am sure they doubted our intentions.
I got up and stood beside Peter’s mother. She was a proud woman and for a moment I forgot where I was, I forgot who these women were, and I spoke to them as if they were Peter’s long lost sisters. I told them that although we could not possibly provide for them forever if they wanted a new life this would be their chance. We would take them in and provide shelter and food for them until they could find honest work. I did not need to know their stories to know that most of them wanted to get out of this life. We would need to go to the docks just a few at a time. Julia and Rachael would go first. Peter would take them and he could take two girls with them. His mother, Cora would go next taking with her three girls. Then the remaining three would show me the way to the docs. Anyone who did not want to go to America would be welcome to stay here in this house or find their way on their own. We would depart in one hour. We could only take a few belongings, those most treasured to us. I knew by going last I was putting myself at risk. I was trusting girls that I did not know to guide me through treacherous streets. I was afraid for my life, but I looked at Julia with Rachael propped on her hip and I knew she had to go first. The plan made sense.
Julia swaddled Rachael and held her close. She looked at me and I could see the fear in her eyes. Peter put his arm around her. As they walked away into the dark of the night I could read my friends fear in the way she carried herself. I had known her since I was a small child and never had I seen Julia so afraid. The girls that followed carried a very few belongings each and seemed to be at peace in this dangerous place. As they disappeared into the night I prayed and began to prepare to go myself. We would go every half hour until we were all safely on the ship.
Clair, one of Cora’s youngest girls decided not to go with us. She said she would try to make it back to her parent’s house in the outback. She could not bear to leave Australia. I gave her a few coins to help her buy food and hopefully help her safely get to her parents ranch. Cora and two of her girls left stealthily, stealing away silently into the night. Peter had given me the destination and had instructed me to not tell anyone until we were ready to leave. Cora told me to trust Isabel to get me to the right place at the docs.
As we prepared to go the girls seemed to be on edge. Clair would leave with us then steal away from the docks later. As we left the house I could feel the tension in the air. We were walking through the dark streets; it was a different way than I had come to the brothel with Peter. I heard a noise in the direction that we had come. I could see the house a few blocks back and I could see the silhouette of a man on the porch peering into the darkness. We had left the usual lights on to give the illusion that the house was still occupied. I whispered to the girls that we must hurry as we rounded a corner. Suddenly Isabel said that we needed to take a short cut and we began to climb a steep path to a secret lane hidden above the streets. As we neared the docks I could feel the chill in the air. As we descended the path there was a creek at the bottom that we had to cross. The water seeped into my shoes and soaked my petticoats so much that it made it hard to walk. Isabel insisted that I take them off and leave them so we could get to the ship. Clair said her goodbyes and headed into the dark as the ship left the dock. I stood on the deck of the ship and watched her disappear into the dark then I went below to my friend.
Julia sat on the small bunk and I went to sit next to her. Her relief was evident as she told me how glad she was to see me. The journey home was so different. There was little joy and no dancing. But in its place there were stories shared and a new appreciation for life beginning. I knew the journey had really just begun, and at the end of it would be a new life for them as well as for me.
Everyone had gone home. Julia had tucked Rachael into bed by now and the girls were safe in the servant quarters of Julia and Peter’s house. I was left alone on the docks to peer out at the sea reflecting on the journey that had changed the lives of so many. I was at peace with all that had happened and I looked forward to the challenges ahead, but I could not go home just yet.
Word Count 1999