Farewell to Lancashire (48 page)
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, of course.’ He gave her a hug, surprised at how tall his little sister had grown lately.
She picked out Mary Barton, her fingers caressing the tooled leather binding of the novel. ‘I’ll take this one, then. Thank you so much, Zachary.’
He smiled indulgently. ‘I know how you love your stories of romance and adventure.’
‘It’s nice to dream sometimes.’ She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. ‘I’ll dream for you now. Perhaps you’ll fall in love while you’re away, meet a wonderful girl on the ship or ... No, better still, fall in love with one of the Blake sisters and then the shop will be partly yours. That’ll solve all our problems.’
He didn’t like this and drew back from her. ‘Don’t be silly! Mr Featherworth is trusting me to bring them back safely, not to prey on them.’
‘Falling in love isn’t preying, Zachary.’
‘It would be in this case.’
She flounced one shoulder at him. ‘Oh, you! Sometimes you’re too noble for words! And once you get an idea fixed in your mind, there’s no changing it. Why can you not dream and let things happen as they will?’
Because he’d never been free to dream, he thought bitterly, biting back an angry response. He’d had the responsibility for supporting them from a very early age. Not that he minded, of course he didn’t. And though they disagreed sometimes, as brothers and sisters always do, he loved Hallie dearly and didn’t want to quarrel with her just before he left.
‘Now, calm down, you two,’ his mother said, giving her daughter a quick kiss, then her son. She lingered next to Zachary to beg, ‘Don’t let all this go to your head, son. It’s a great adventure, to be sure, but you’ll still have to come back and work at Blake’s.’
‘If Harry Prebble stays in charge, I’ll be looking for work elsewhere.’ He wished he hadn’t told her that when he saw the anxiety in her face. ‘Don’t worry. I shan’t do anything rashly.’
‘No. You never do. I wish you did sometimes. We’ve stopped you being a young man, haven’t we?’ She began to light their candles ready to go up to bed, shaking her head sadly. ‘As for Harry, you two didn’t get on at school, were always fighting one another till you grew so much bigger than him, and it doesn’t seem to have got much better. It’s not good to make enemies, Zachary love.’
‘Sometimes enemies make themselves, Mum, whether we want it or not.’
‘Well, see that
you
don’t behave ungenerously, whatever
he
does. A man should do nothing he’s not proud of, whether he’s poor or rich. And the same when you’re out in the world. Always make me proud of you, son.’
‘I will.’ He went to check that the front and back doors were locked, extinguished the paraffin lamp in the kitchen and made his way up to bed by the wavering light of his candle.
Zachary knew that whatever he said or did, Harry Prebble would always be suspicious of his motives and would continue to act in a mean-spirited way if left in charge. You had to stand up to a bully, or he’d get worse. Zachary had learned that lesson as a lad and it held true for grown men, too. But sometimes it was an unfair world and bullies had more power than you, so you couldn’t challenge them, could only walk away.
No, he’d definitely look for other work. And surely, if he performed this task well, Mr Featherworth would give him a good reference?
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