air.’
Ronan was silent as this information sank in.
His companion added softly, ‘And at least she spent her final days enjoying your company instead of being alone. She was a lively woman, was she not? Everyone liked her.’
Ronan nodded, his throat too clogged with emotion to speak. He continued to stare blindly out across the ocean and when he glanced sideways, he was alone.
Further along the rail he saw Kathleen, also on her own. The other women were sitting in a group, chatting and doing embroidery or other handwork. After the first few days, she’d had little to do with them and he’d seen them whispering and staring at her. His mother had told him sadly when he asked, that she’d let slip that her husband was a convict and they’d immediately ostracised her.
Was Conn so determinedly shunned in Australia? How did a gregarious man like him cope with that?
Ronan pushed himself away from the rail and began a slow circuit of the deck, waving to Bram, who was in earnest conversation with an older man.
Life went on, however sad a blow it had dealt you.
5
T wo days later they reached the port of Alexandria. Those days had passed in a blur for Ronan, who still couldn’t accept that his mother had died in such a terrible way. Was it really only three weeks since they’d left England?
Some of the passengers were staying in the city for a few days, wanting to explore its ancient wonders, and chatted about that excitedly. He wasn’t in the least interested in going sightseeing. He couldn’t even settle to reading at the moment.
The small travelling bag containing his mother’s jewellery and a few other trifles lay in a corner of his cabin, seeming to accuse him of being a bad son. In the end, he locked it in one of his trunks, but he couldn’t bear to open it, just couldn’t bear to see the things she’d loved and know she’d never touch the jewels and trinkets again.
Before they took the train, most of the passengers went to inspect the great earthworks where the French were constructing a canal to link the Mediterranean with Suez. Bram went with them and came back full of wonder about the huge numbers of men employed to dig the canal, not to mention the size of the earthworks, far larger than that needed for a railway.
Ronan couldn’t rouse himself to do more than listen half-heartedly and nod occasionally.
The train was hot and vendors crowded at the carriage windows whenever they stopped. Covered in sweat, Ronan soon came to the conclusion that there was little pleasure to be had in climates this warm. He’d thought Greece in the springtime warm, but this was like living in an oven.
He began to wonder whether Australia would be as bad. He wanted to see it once, but if it was as searingly hot as this, he’d not stay for long. One of the other passengers laughed when he said this, reminding him that the seasons were in reverse and it’d be early spring there, not the hot season.
The captain and officers of the P&O Line had been mildly scornful of this canal, saying their company didn’t consider it at all necessary because it had set up a perfectly adequate system for transporting passengers and mail, which included the railway Ronan had just travelled on. The canal was a folly and would probably silt up quite quickly.
After the uncomfortable train journey, Ronan decided that he disagreed with them. It’d have been far easier to stay on the ship and let it move him in comfort from one sea to the next.
At Suez they took a ship to Galle in Ceylon and during the two-week journey Ronan gradually began to recover from the worst of his grief, though the first time he laughed he felt horribly guilty all over again. But nothing he could do would bring his mother back, and she’d be the first to tell him to get on with his life, he knew.
He wasn’t sure how long they’d have to stay in Galle because he’d already been warned that he might have to wait there for the mail ship to Western
Ronan was silent as this information sank in.
His companion added softly, ‘And at least she spent her final days enjoying your company instead of being alone. She was a lively woman, was she not? Everyone liked her.’
Ronan nodded, his throat too clogged with emotion to speak. He continued to stare blindly out across the ocean and when he glanced sideways, he was alone.
Further along the rail he saw Kathleen, also on her own. The other women were sitting in a group, chatting and doing embroidery or other handwork. After the first few days, she’d had little to do with them and he’d seen them whispering and staring at her. His mother had told him sadly when he asked, that she’d let slip that her husband was a convict and they’d immediately ostracised her.
Was Conn so determinedly shunned in Australia? How did a gregarious man like him cope with that?
Ronan pushed himself away from the rail and began a slow circuit of the deck, waving to Bram, who was in earnest conversation with an older man.
Life went on, however sad a blow it had dealt you.
5
T wo days later they reached the port of Alexandria. Those days had passed in a blur for Ronan, who still couldn’t accept that his mother had died in such a terrible way. Was it really only three weeks since they’d left England?
Some of the passengers were staying in the city for a few days, wanting to explore its ancient wonders, and chatted about that excitedly. He wasn’t in the least interested in going sightseeing. He couldn’t even settle to reading at the moment.
The small travelling bag containing his mother’s jewellery and a few other trifles lay in a corner of his cabin, seeming to accuse him of being a bad son. In the end, he locked it in one of his trunks, but he couldn’t bear to open it, just couldn’t bear to see the things she’d loved and know she’d never touch the jewels and trinkets again.
Before they took the train, most of the passengers went to inspect the great earthworks where the French were constructing a canal to link the Mediterranean with Suez. Bram went with them and came back full of wonder about the huge numbers of men employed to dig the canal, not to mention the size of the earthworks, far larger than that needed for a railway.
Ronan couldn’t rouse himself to do more than listen half-heartedly and nod occasionally.
The train was hot and vendors crowded at the carriage windows whenever they stopped. Covered in sweat, Ronan soon came to the conclusion that there was little pleasure to be had in climates this warm. He’d thought Greece in the springtime warm, but this was like living in an oven.
He began to wonder whether Australia would be as bad. He wanted to see it once, but if it was as searingly hot as this, he’d not stay for long. One of the other passengers laughed when he said this, reminding him that the seasons were in reverse and it’d be early spring there, not the hot season.
The captain and officers of the P&O Line had been mildly scornful of this canal, saying their company didn’t consider it at all necessary because it had set up a perfectly adequate system for transporting passengers and mail, which included the railway Ronan had just travelled on. The canal was a folly and would probably silt up quite quickly.
After the uncomfortable train journey, Ronan decided that he disagreed with them. It’d have been far easier to stay on the ship and let it move him in comfort from one sea to the next.
At Suez they took a ship to Galle in Ceylon and during the two-week journey Ronan gradually began to recover from the worst of his grief, though the first time he laughed he felt horribly guilty all over again. But nothing he could do would bring his mother back, and she’d be the first to tell him to get on with his life, he knew.
He wasn’t sure how long they’d have to stay in Galle because he’d already been warned that he might have to wait there for the mail ship to Western
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