Inquires at the pub and a trip to the newspaper offices lasted well into the afternoon. Katherine wrote letters to various orphanages and workhouses in Glasgow. Fiona sat with a sketchbook, alternately closing her eyes and then opening them and drawing. Forrester brought tea.
“Forrester, what are the chances she met with misadventure?”
“Ma’am, it was before dark and on the main road. But I’ve been thinking over her parting words, and I don’t think she meant to go to my brother’s.”
“Do you think the advertisement you placed will help find Ceana, Miss Cameron?”
“I have to be honest, Miss Pollard, I don’t hold out much hope. As I was painfully reminded while we were composing it, I don’t even know her last name. On top of that, she can’t read.”
“No! But all Scottish children are taught to read!”
“She hides it well, but I don’t think she even knows her letters.”
“She’s so articulate – well, if you can get her to talk.”
“I will admit, the girl’s a riddle, Miss Pollard.”
“Ma’am?”
“Yes, Forrester?”
“The girl put great store by Mr. Spears, ma’am. She’ll try to get back to him as soon as he returns to Glasgow.”
“Yes, well, I’d rather find her before that.”
“Tada!” Fiona held up her sketching project.
Katherine gasped. On the paper was a triptych of Ceana, full on, at an angle and in profile. “That’s remarkable! It looks just like her!”
“With all the thousands of hours I spent being taught this over the last 15 years, I should hope so. I’ll take this to the investigator tomorrow. We’re going to find your girl, Miss Cameron.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Miss Pollard.”
“Let’s be honest. Without my ‘help’, you’d most likely be engaged to Mr. Spears by now and planning a wedding.” Fiona looked down at the floor. “I’ve been thinking about joining a convent.”
“Yes, well, you’re Church of Scotland, Miss Pollard.”
“Maybe I could marry a missionary and go to Africa or Asia, then.”
“But it would be a shame to corrupt a missionary with all your father’s money. Why don’t you stay here and help me with the poor girls of Glasgow?”
“All right, I will. That is, after I get Ceana back for you, Miss Cameron. And Mr. Spears.”
“Redistributing the ducting didn’t get the job done, Ayson. The front corner of the hold is now just above freezing. We’re going to have to shift the cargo.”
“Nasty job, Spears. The sea is rough, and it’s awfully cold and dark in that hold.”
“We don’t dare let as much as a pound of fish spoil, even for problem that’s so easy to fix back in the shipyard. There are too many people watching this trial. We’ll work the men in short shifts. You interface with the captain and organize things on the outside and I’ll be in charge of the efforts on the inside. The sooner we get started, the better.”
YOU ARE READING
A Chance Meeting in Glasgow
Lãng mạnVictorian Scotland in 1875 didn't present a woman with many options. Katherine Cameron was too old to marry, too high born to be a housekeeper, too uneducated to be a governess, from too disreputable a family to be a companion and too skinny to be...
