Page 31 of The Ship of Brides
‘The ones they’re posting outside our doors from tomorrow night. Didn’t you hear that WSO? You won’t be able to get her out.’
‘A marine? For what?’
‘He’s coming at nine thirty. I suppose it’s to stop the men below coming up and ravishing us,’ said Jean. ‘Think about it – a thousand desperate men lying just a few feet below us. They could storm the doors if they wanted to and—’
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake!’ Avice’s hand flew to her throat.
‘Then again,’ said Jean, grinning lasciviously, ‘it might be to keep us lot in.’
‘Well, I’ll have to get her out before the marine comes.’
‘Gangway’s too busy,’ said Jean.
‘Perhaps we should just tell someone,’ said Avice. ‘I’m sure they’d understand. And perhaps they’ll have... facilities for this kind of thing. A room they can put her in. She’d probably be much happier with a bit of space to run around, wouldn’t she?’ It wasn’t just the dogginess that bothered her, she realised, it was the sense that someone was getting away with something. They had all had their luggage weighed to the last ounce, their food parcels restricted, and had been made to leave behind their favourite belongings. And this girl had had the gall to bypass it all.
‘No,’ said Margaret, her face darkening. ‘You heard the captain this morning. We’re still way too close to home. They’d put her off in a boat and send her back to Sydney and that would be the last I ever saw of her. I can’t take the risk. Not yet, anyway.’
‘We’ll keep it quiet,’ said Jean, stroking the little dog’s head. Avice thought that Jean would have been up for anything that smacked of subverting authority. ‘Won’t we, girls? It’ll be a gas. I’m going to sneak her a bit of dinner later.’
‘Avice?’ said Margaret. It was as if, Avice thought afterwards, she had already been earmarked as a killjoy.
‘I won’t say a word,’ she said, her voice strained. ‘Just keep her well away from me. And if you do get discovered, make sure you tell them it was nothing to do with us.’
6
Among the ship’s complement were about thirty-five to forty Royal Marines, their smartness in appearance and manner was usually in direct contrast to us ‘matelots’, and was the subject of some amused wonderment on our part... The brass buttons and spit and polished boots shone, they were so fastidious in their appearance.
L. Troman, seaman, HMSVictorious
inWine, Women and War
Two days in
In an effort to keep occupied those brides whose initial excitement might have given way to homesickness, HMSVictoriaoffered, on the second full day of the voyage, the following activities – neatly documented in the inaugural issue of theDaily Ship News:
1000hrs
Protestant Devotions (E Deck)
1300hrs
Recorded Music
1430hrs
Deck Games (Flight Deck)
