Remember Me - Lesley Pearse [50]
It didn’t look much like land to her, just a slightly darker line on the far horizon which could easily be cloud, but she knew the sailor up in the rigging who had spotted it was unlikely to be wrong.
It was January, a whole year since Mary had been transferred to the Charlotte from the Dunkirk, eight months of that time spent at sea. Charlotte was now five months old. Five male prisoners and a Marine’s wife on the Charlotte had died, but their deaths were attributed to diseases they carried with them from England, rather than lack of care on the voyage. In the main the prisoners were healthier than when they’d boarded the ship, thanks to fresh air and better rations. Few people had escaped some kind of accident, however, whether a broken limb or mere cuts and bruises, for the ship’s deck and steps were dangerously slippery during foul weather.
On the whole, Mary had found the voyage an enjoyable experience. While she was often terrified in the worst of the storms, and despaired at the spite and depravity of some of her fellow prisoners, this had been balanced by the happiness Charlotte had given her. Contrary to all the gloomy predictions, she was thriving. She seemed to charm everyone, from the officers, Marines and sailors right down to the other prisoners, with her ready smiles and placid gurgling. She had given Mary real hope for the future, but now they were nearly at their destination, Mary’s natural excitement was also tinged with anxiety.
Tench had told her back in Cape Town that the fleet would be split, the fastest ships going on ahead to prepare the settlement, but she knew that hadn’t happened. Bad weather and unfavourable winds had slowed the first ships down, and the others, which included the Charlotte, had caught up with them. Mary could see all the ships now, and it was daunting to know there would be nothing ready for them, and that for all they knew the natives could be hostile.
Will Bryant and little Jamie Cox were at the rails, and Mary joined them. ‘’Tis a grand sight,’ Will said with enthusiasm, making an expansive gesture with his hands at the other ships. ‘I feared we might lose at least one of them, but they’ve all made it.’
The prospect of shipwreck had been in everyone’s minds during the bad storms, and doubly so for Mary with Charlotte to protect. She had always found it comforting after a bad night to see at least one of the other ships close by in the morning. Will’s remark suggested he felt this too.
‘Aren’t you scared of what’s to come?’ she asked.
He shrugged. ‘Only that there won’t be enough food to support us till we’ve grown some,’ he admitted somewhat reluctantly.
‘And you, Jamie?’ Mary asked.
He smiled shyly. ‘The natives mostly. What if they’re cannibals?’
‘You won’t make much of a meal for them,’ Mary laughed, and prodded him in the side. Jamie had put on a little more flesh during the voyage, but he still looked like a skinny child to her.
‘So what are you scared of?’ Will asked Mary.
‘The other prisoners we don’t know, mostly,’ she said. ‘And whether I’ll be able to keep Charlotte safe and well.’
‘I’ll be looking out for you,’ he said, patting her on the arm with one great paw.
Mary wondered exactly what that remark meant. Although she had gradually picked up the old friendship she’d had with him before her proposal, she’d never mentioned it again, and neither had he. She had to assume he didn’t want her as a wife, and that silence was his way of not embarrassing her further.
‘I hope you mean that,’ she said with a smile. ‘But I expect you’ll be kept busy taking your pick of all the women. So I won’t count on it.’
*
It was another three days before the Charlotte sailed into Botany Bay, for the wind had been against them. But there were no cheers, smiles or laughter from the seamen, Marines, officers or prisoners as they got their first view of the new land they’d come so far to populate. For once they all reacted in the same way, shocked into silence.
It looked utterly desolate, and parched by the burning sun. There was none of the expected green pasture,