Gypsy - Lesley Pearse [56]
‘I thought I’d have to do domestic work or be an assistant in a shop, like back home,’ she said.
Jack snorted with laughter. ‘Well, you’d be crazy if you did when you’ve got a talent like that up your sleeve.’
‘But they won’t take a girl on, will they?’
‘That would be an even bigger attraction,’ Jack said. ‘Especially someone as pretty as you.’
‘Well, thank you, Jack,’ she said, blushing a little.
‘I’d be glad to come and listen, but I don’t suppose you’ll want to know me once you start moving in fancy circles!’
‘Of course I will,’ Beth said indignantly.
‘Nah!’ He shook his head. ‘I’m too rough for someone like you. Your friends will look at my scarred face and think I’m a wrong ’un.’
‘How did you get it?’ she asked, and reached out to touch the scar gently.
‘My pa done it. He was hitting Ma, I tried to stop him, and he picked up the knife and slashed me. That’s why I left London. Couldn’t take no more.’
‘If you got it defending your mother, there’s no reason to be ashamed of it,’ Beth said, and kissed the scar.
Suddenly his arms were round her and he was kissing her.
Beth was startled, but not unpleasantly so. Jack’s lips were soft and warm; she liked the way one of his hands was caressing her face and the tingle she felt down her spine. Without even being aware of what she was doing, she nestled into his arms and put hers around him.
As his tongue insinuated itself between her lips she thought he was taking liberties, but it felt good and she didn’t want to break away. He was breathing heavily, holding her tighter and tighter, and it was only then that she realized she ought to call a halt.
‘We should go back now,’ she said as she broke away and stood up. ‘We’ve got an early start tomorrow and so much ahead of us.’
‘I don’t ever want to let you go,’ he whispered. ‘You’re so lovely.’
Beth smiled at him and patted his face. ‘That’s sweet, but you’ll see me tomorrow.’
‘I’d do anything for you,’ he said, catching her fiercely by her shoulders. ‘Anything!’
By the time Beth got back below decks, the party had broken up. A few drunken men were still staggering around, but the women and children were all in bed. In the single women’s dormitory Maria and Bridie were waiting for Beth; it seemed someone had reported back that she had been seen with Jack.
‘Is he your sweetheart?’ Bridie whispered, her freckled face alight with eagerness.
‘No, at least I don’t think so,’ Beth said, hurriedly pulling off her dress and boots and clambering into her bed. She had no idea whether a few kisses amounted to being someone’s sweetheart. She liked Jack, but then he’d been the only man on the ship that she’d got to know. And for all she knew, she might meet someone far more suitable when they landed.
‘Did he kiss you?’ Maria whispered.
‘Yes.’
‘What was it like?’ Maria asked.
‘Nice,’ Beth whispered back. ‘But I don’t know how it compares as it was the first time.’
‘You’ve never been kissed before?’ Bridie said incredulously.
Miss Giles came in then to check everyone was in bed, so Beth was spared having to say anything more.
She pretended she’d fallen asleep before Miss Giles left, shutting the door behind her. With her eyes closed she could relive Jack’s kisses, and savour the delicious sensation all over again.
‘What’s happening now?’ Beth asked Sam. It was ten in the morning and a clear, sunny day. They had been woken at first light by the ship’s engines starting up again, and someone yelled out that it was time to disembark.
Suddenly it was utter chaos down in steerage with everyone rushing to pack up the remainder of their belongings. Even the crew shouting out that it would be several hours before they left the ship made no difference to the mass panic.
Beth was swept up in it too, and rushed up on deck to see for herself.
There was New York spread before her, looking exactly the way it had in a picture she’d seen in a magazine. She could even see the spire of Trinity Church which she knew was an aid to shipping as it was the highest building.
She was spellbound.