Page 34 of The Girl from the Tea Garden
‘MrsHogg saw you bolt from the dance.Wanted me to make sure you were all right.’
‘Oh.’ Adela felt a pang of disappointment. He hadn’t come after her of his own accord. ‘Well, I’m fine. Just needed fresh air, so there’s no need to worry. You can report back to Auntie.’
Sam leant against the tree and pulled out a squashed packet of bidis from his too-tight jacket. He offered her one. Adela hesitated, then took it. He struck a match and lit hers before his, the flame flaring between them. She held the bidi gingerly between finger and thumb and inhaled. The fiery taste stung her tongue, but she managed not to cough. She and Deborah had experimented with cigarettes– Camels– that MrHalliday had been given by an American oilman. The Indian cigarette was more pungent and raw in her mouth and yet more calming.
They stood close, smoking in silence, Sam pulling free his tie and unbuttoning his collar. It had left a welt across his neck that was visible in the moonlight. Adela resisted the urge to trace her finger over it.
Abruptly he asked, ‘What do you want to do with your life, Adela?’
She was taken by surprise; it wasn’t the usual grown-up enquiry such as, what are you going to do after school? Or, what are your plans for the cold season?
‘More than anything I want to act– go on the stage, sing and dance. That’s when I’m happiest. I want to be as famous as Gracie Fields. My cousins in Newcastle went to hear her sing, and so many people wanted to hear her that she sang on the cinema roof! Imagine giving that much pleasure.’ She watched his lean profile, the straight nose and the firm mouth and chin. ‘You probably think that’s a very frivolous thing to want to do.’
He shook his head. ‘If it’s what you’ve always wanted, then you must do it. You’re lucky to know at your age what you really want.’ He smiled. ‘So what are you doing about it? Are you going to apply for drama school?’
Adela laughed. ‘My parents couldn’t afford it– the tea garden has been struggling for a few years now– but I really want to stay here and keep performing at the Gaiety and maybe do some touring. I’ve asked MrBracknall for a job in the Forest Office. Even if it’s not much, I can live simply. All I need is to cover my rent at Auntie’s. I don’t mind eating in the bazaar if I have to.’
‘Then do it,’ Sam encouraged. ‘If you can stand the pompous Bracknall as your boss. Boz says he’s a devil to work for. If he takes a dislike to you, he can make your life hell.’
‘Well, I think he quite likes me.’
‘That’s the other thing,’ warned Sam. ‘Boz says he has a roving eye.’
Adela scoffed. ‘He must be older than my father!’
‘Men like that don’t see themselves as old– they think they are still attractive to women, however young. You might be better finding somewhere else.’
‘Is this my first sermon from Missionary Jackman?’ she teased. ‘Don’t worry, I can look after myself.’
Sam gave a rueful laugh. ‘Yes, I’m sure you can. Far better than me. I’ve no right to lecture.’
She put out a hand and briefly touched his arm. ‘I’m so sorry about Nelson.’
Sam grunted. ‘I thought you’d be more concerned about my rascal monkey than me,’ he teased.
‘You brought all that on yourself,’ Adela said dryly. ‘Poor Nelson didn’t have a choice.’
He swivelled round, propping his hip against the tree trunk, and gazed down at her. ‘You’re quite right. That’s what I like about you, Adela: you say exactly what you think.’
She swivelled to face him too. ‘And what am I thinking?’
‘That you wish it was the young Guy Fellows who was here under the tree in the moonlight with you just now.’
Adela gave a short laugh. ‘Wrong. I’m glad it’s you.’
They stared at each other. Adela’s heart thumped like a bass drum. Maybe it was the dazzling moon or the narcotic effect of the bidi, but she found herself saying, ‘I’ve thought about you a lot over the past years, wondering where you’d gone, whether you ever thought of me. Did you ever think of me, Sam?’
She held her breath. He let out a sigh. ‘Yes,’ he murmured.
‘What did you think?’ Adela’s heart quickened.
‘How brave you were.’
‘Brave?’
‘Sticking to your guns and not going back to StNinian’s. Standing up to all the adults in your life,making things happen!’ His voice took on that passion she had heard when he’d spoken of DrBlack’s work. ‘After I left Belgooree, I began to realise how empty my life was– my father dead; a mother who had up and left me years ago– how I got no enjoyment any more from working on the river.’ He fixed her with an intense look. ‘It was all so aimless, pointless, and it was little Adela Robson who made me see it.’
Adela swallowed down disappointment and laughed. ‘So I’m still just a plucky little girl in your eyes?’
