A dull eye was fixed heavenward, the body dripping blood onto the cobbles below. Sarah winced and looked away from the stall and its gory produce. She wondered if there were rabbits in the colonies. If not, she did not want this to be her last memory of them. Rather, she’d remember their early-morning romps in the field below her window.
Except, she no longer had a window. Or a home. Or family. Nothing bar a few dresses, fewer coins and her diary. And a booking on a ship that was to take her away from all she knew. She had never even so much as set foot aboard a rowboat.
‘Ticket, Miss?’
The voice brought her back to her surrounds and Sarah handed over her paperwork. As she waited for the officer to process it, she gave herself a talking to. It would not do to dwell on these morbid thoughts, of that she was sure. Her fine hair had escaped its bun and she tucked the wisps back beneath her bonnet, resolving to never again let such sentiments make her maudlin. Well, she would do her very best. She knew that was what her mother would advise, and wished she was here beside her now. Wished she was not leaving her behind with no one to tend her grave. Her thoughts once again threatened to spiral. She took a deep breath and smoothed her skirt.
The officer stamped her ticket, then directed two porters to take charge of her trunk and escort her through the crowd to the foot of the gangway. She smiled her thanks then looked up at the vessel.
Her boards blistered with sea crust, masts soaring above the wharf, the Lady Susan eclipsed all others at the Liverpool Docks. Hulking, black, built for long voyages and rough seas, her solid prow sat squat and wide in the water.
Sarah felt a dart of fear as she stared up at the tower of masts. Then, above the din, she heard her mother’s voice. Take a deep breath and you’ll find your courage.
She knew that once she stepped aboard, there was no turning back…
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