Read Online Liverpool Angels by Lyn Andrews - Free Book Online Page A

with luggage trolleys, passengers and Cunard officials and clerks adding to the confusion. On the waterfront the City of Liverpool Police Band was assembling and overall a carnival atmosphere of chaos and good humour prevailed. Even though it was a special occasion Maggie thought that for her it held a deeper significance than just a day out. She was here primarily to see her brother off on his new ship.
    At last they managed by sheer determination and a good deal of ruthless pushing and shoving to get quite close to the front of the crowd, finding themselves near to the first-class gangway.
    ‘Would you just look at the style, Maggie!’ Agnes cried, noting the women in furs and expensive costumes and hats being courteously escorted aboard by men in beautifully tailored suits and overcoats.
    Maggie nodded and then gazed upwards at the enormous black hull that towered above them. There were no fewer than four smokestacks, all painted in that distinctive vermilion favoured by Cunard and banded with black, which seemed to soar far into the sky, each emitting a thin ribbon of greyish smoke. Already there were crowds lining the ship’s rails high above them, waving and throwing down thin coloured paper streamers. The rigging that stretched between the two masts was decked with flags, the company flag with its rampant golden lion and globe on a red background taking prominent place, while from the stern the red ensign fluttered in the breeze coming off the river.
    ‘I heard a feller say it’s the biggest and fastest ship in the whole world. It can beat anything !’ Eddie cried excitedly, craning his neck to get a better view. ‘And it’s one of ours! See, it’s got “LIVERPOOL” painted in big white letters. Everyone will know where it’s come from.’
    ‘I can well believe it,’ Maggie answered. It was huge ! Her gaze ran over the fresh white paint of the lettering on the bows which stood out against the black hull and proudly proclaimed the name of this leviathan, the Royal Mail Ship ‘RMS Lusitania .’
    The police band launched into a rousing version of ‘A Life on the Ocean Wave’ but was almost drowned out by the first deep, ear-splitting blast of the ship’s steam whistle, which resounded across the waters of the Mersey, making some people cover their ears in anticipation of the following two blasts, proclaiming the Lusitania ’s imminent departure from her home port. As the last reverberations died away cheers erupted from the huge crowds lining the waterfront, cheering which continued as the lines were slipped, the hawsers pulled in and with the aid of the tugs the ship slowly began to edge away from the Landing Stage.
    ‘It’s certainly a sight to remember,’ Maggie pronounced with a note of pride in her voice, a sentiment echoed by the other two hundred thousand people gathered to cheer and wave the vessel off that day.

‘H urry up, Alice! Give me your hand and we’ll run!’ Mae instructed her cousin as they ran out of the school yard and up the steep incline of St George’s Hill. The December dusk was falling rapidly as the two girls laboured up the slope, and in the maze of streets below them the lamplighters were already at work.
    Panting a little, they finally stopped as they reached the top and Mae’s eyes lit up as excitement filled her. In the distance and despite the gloom she could make out the wide, flat, dark ribbon of water that was the River Mersey. Intermittently, small slow-moving lights could be discerned as the ferries and dredgers plied their way across the waters, but just abreast of the Clarence Dock power station was a much bigger ship – ablaze with light from bow to stern – making her way upriver towards the Landing Stage.
    Excitedly, Mae pointed towards it. ‘There she is, Alice! There’s the Lucy ! Da’s on his way in and it’s going to be the best Christmas we’ve ever had!’ she cried.
    Alice nodded joyfully as she peered into the distance. ‘Let’s run and