Читать книгу A Rare Find: Ethel Ayres Bullymore - Donna Mann - Страница 10

6. Settling In

Ethel awakened to shadows. Elsie’s face came to her memory, and Ethel’s eyes watered. The emotional darkness that had kept her company over the last few weeks was nearby, but she managed to set it aside to think about the day ahead. Stretching, she looked around the space.

People were already moving, groaning and shifting trunks across the wooden floors as Ethel swung her legs over the side of the bunk, stood and straightened her clothes. She went into the common room and washed her hands, glad the tap was working. Applying some hand lotion to sooth the stinging from the salt water, she looked up and smiled at those standing around her. Back in her space, she made up her bed and laid her food portions out for breakfast. She peeled a piece of fruit, put it on a thick piece of bread and then ate it. Breakfast was to be in the common room tomorrow, where, the word was, they’d have ship’s porridge.

Ethel had escaped the immediate problem of seasickness that was sweeping across people like a buffeting wave. At least it would force their minds off their homesickness. She listened to them moaning and vomiting and wondered if there would be adequate water to clean after them.

During the first day at sea, Ethel heard there were 737 passengers on board the SS Lake Manitoba. It was like having a floating town. She couldn’t imagine that many people in one boat and thought of the germs that could spread in such a situation. Although terribly grateful the cargo of cattle was at the opposite end of the ship, she pictured the eager Canadian farmers waiting at the stable markets on docking.

After another day, people began to recover from seasickness; some moved around, some complained bitterly, some sulked and kept to themselves, while others tried to make light conversation.

A couple of the men brought out their fiddles and played several tunes. Some of the women laid out board games in the common room. Children had a variety of toys to keep them busy. For the most part, activities made the time past quickly.

Early on the fourth day, Ethel moved around more to see how others were faring. Just as she sat down at one of the tables in the common room, two people began to talk loudly.

“There’s poison in the air, I tell ya,” one man said slowly. “I can feel it.”

“Naw, you’ve been reading too much propaganda,” his female companion said.

“The newspapers say there’s some smelly politics goin’ on. I read about it before we left ’ome. That’ll mean money problems, you’ll see. Trouble marks the British air. Aye! I heard them speeches. Some of the boys down at the pub ’ave been talkin’ ’bout war. Does ’e think this could be a hint of somethin’?” He raised his voice. “They’d better git out ’n leave them posh chairs ’n talk to us ordinary people. We’ll tell ’em a thing or two.”

Ethel thought about the man’s comment and asked a woman next to her, “There hasn’t been a lot of talk about war, has there?”

“Not really. Political power shifts, poverty, industrial problems and rising financial concerns are all current issues, but I guess war is always a question when it comes to who wants the power.”

“I don’t like the talk of war. Do you think it’ll ever happen?” Ethel asked. The thought of being separated from Elsie in a time of peace was bad enough. But war? She couldn’t imagine it.

“That’s fear talking,” the woman said. “Won’t be for a while.”

Tucking that thought away in her mind, Ethel decided to go for a walk. Children played on the floor together, obviously not influenced by adult fears. They were completely absorbed in their game of jacks. Some little girls ran and played around their mum’s knees. How blessed they were to travel together.

Sleeping and talking seemed to fill Ethel’s days. Several families in the surrounding sections had left children for educational, health or financial reasons, but even hearing that didn’t ease Ethel’s anguish. Memories of relationships in England saddened her, and she often changed the subject.

Ethel walked on the steerage deck and the air blew fresh against her skin. The sunset boasted wide strips of grey across the okra sky, presenting a kaleidoscope of colour. The sky looked like a grand canopy. Thinking about her colleagues at the hospital and the various patients she’d grown fond of during her employment gave her a burst of encouragement. She hadn’t had many friends, just her family and fellow nurses. Perhaps it will be the same in Canada—but she hoped for friends. She breathed deeply and pulled her scarf around her neck as she turned back toward her sleeping quarters.

Ethel lay on the bunk bed that night feeling a new comfort within the ship’s walls as its continuous movement rocked her. She thought about the prospect of nursing in Edmonton and remembered when that idea had intimidated her. On the crossing she’d been able to comfort several people, assist with a birth and share some of her home remedies. This had renewed her confidence about nursing in difficult situations. She’d met people who impressed her, disgusted her and blessed her, but she was glad to help all of them.

The weather for the first part of the trip had offered fair skies, but not so for the latter.

“The winds have picked up out of the south. We’re fighting them at seventy miles an hour,” a loud voice echoed through her quarters in the early morning.

The vessel rolled and pitched. Word travelled fast that the ship was taking on water over the forward deck, and water was crashing against the portholes. People passed news around that men had secured the decks with ropes and chains to reduce stress and keep control as they worked to maintain their course.

“Remember the man talking about ships having to catch waves at an angle during ocean storms? That’s got to take a bit of know-how,” Ethel said to the woman beside her at breakfast.

“I know. I heard them too. One even talked about the risk of capsizing if the captain heads straight into the waves. Said he was afraid of breaking up the ship. We’ll know it if he chooses to take the waves broadside.”