Remember Me - Lesley Pearse [49]
Will laughed. ‘A lot won’t wait for a wedding service. Reckon we’ll be overrun with babbies afore the first year’s over.’
‘But there’s three men to every woman,’ Mary said pointedly. ‘I reckon wives will be in great demand.’
She felt nervous now, sure this was the moment, but afraid to say what was on her mind.
‘I’ll do all right,’ Will said. ‘I’ll have them lining up for me.’
Mary felt a stab of irritation at his arrogance. ‘You’d better choose carefully then,’ she said sharply. ‘From what I’ve seen below these decks few of the women have any common sense, and the ones on the other ships may be even more stupid.’
‘You wouldn’t be a bad prospect for any man,’ Will said unexpectedly. ‘You’ve got a good head on you, and you ain’t a slattern like most.’
Mary took a deep breath to steady herself. ‘I’d be a good prospect for you,’ she blurted out. ‘I know boats and fishing. We come from the same place, the officers like us both.’
Will seemed staggered at such a suggestion. He stared at her open-mouthed.
‘Are you wanting me to wed you?’ he said at length, his voice a little strained.
‘You could do a lot worse,’ she said, blushing furiously. ‘I’m healthy and strong, I can work hard for what I want. I know I’ve got Charlotte and maybe a man doesn’t want another’s around…’ She stopped suddenly, unable to think of any other good reason why he should choose her, and ashamed she had to beg.
‘Well I never,’ Will exclaimed, but he grinned broadly. ‘I thought you was too proud to bend to anyone.’
‘I’m not bending,’ she said quickly. ‘I like you, and it’s practical.’
‘I’d want a wife who does more than just like me,’ he said. ‘I want her to be hot for me.’
Mary was prepared to go to some lengths to get Will to agree to her proposition, but she didn’t feel able to pretend a great passion for him. Faced with his smug grin, she felt foolish and inadequate.
‘We’ve been good friends for over a year,’ she said after a few minutes’ thought. ‘Would you want a friend to lie to you?’
‘Of course not,’ he said, though he was still grinning smugly. ‘But I’d still like a wife who was hot for me.’
‘Maybe I could be, in time,’ she said wildly, blushing scarlet because she was sure he’d rush off to the other men and tell them what had passed between them. ‘We haven’t had a chance to get to know each other like that yet.’ But before she could say anything further, a sudden shout of warning came from one of the Marines – clearly they were too close together for the man’s comfort.
‘I’ve got to go,’ Mary said quickly. ‘Think on it.’
The weeks that followed were hard, with violent storms and squalls, contrasting with periods of calm when the ship barely moved. The fresh-water ration was cut to conserve it, the food was becoming rotten. Mary had times of extreme anxiety when her milk looked as if it might fail, and she was frightened too of what lay ahead.
Most of the other women were so empty-headed they appeared to imagine they were going to a place that would be ready for them. Mary knew they would be living in tents, and that it was likely some of the foodstuffs taken with them would have perished on the voyage, the same way as many of the animals had. Before Charlotte’s birth she had never dwelt on the possibility of the ship being wrecked, but now the fear was with her in every storm. The waters they were sailing in were barely charted, none of the crew had been there before. For all anyone knew, the natives in Botany Bay could be cannibals, there could be wild animals that would tear them apart.
But even worse in one respect was that Will hadn’t said another word to her about her proposition. She didn’t know if that meant he was still thinking about it, or if he found it too ludicrous to contemplate.
Chapter five
1788
Mary was just coming up the companionway with Charlotte in her arms when she heard the cry ‘Land ahoy’. A surge of wild excitement grabbed her and she rushed up the last few steps and across the deck, to join crew members and other prisoners at the