Chapter 19

Two porters were required to assist with their luggage. Susan had three large suitcases; mostly taken up by reference books, she claimed.

Their staterooms were port and starboard. David told her to take the starboard one, as she would get more sun that side.

His stateroom was bigger than his quarters on the Comet, but he noticed eight years at sea had taken its toll on the furniture and fittings. His steward helped to unpack while he went out to the deck to check the loading of the cargo.

Once satisfied everything was on board he returned to the cabin.

At dinner that night he learnt that, whilst 12 passengers had bordered that day, 46 were due to board the following day.

Susan was looking around excitedly. This was the first big ship she had ever been on, although she did confess she had travelled to the continent on a cross channel steamer.

They stood by the rail waving as the tugs nosed the Sky out into Southampton water.

“I wonder how long it will be before I see England again,” Susan murmured.

“Getting home sick already,” David chuckled.

“No,” she smiled sadly, “It’s just the thought of the great unknown that awaits me.”

David glanced at her, a young woman travelling to a distant land, to some extent completely on her own apart from him. She had to be extremely brave; almost stubbornly so to undertake such a mission. His respect for her grew with each passing day.

He had warned Susan not to mention his, or her, future involvement with Kanda, explaining the Prince’s problem with the British Administration and its Army.

“John Company would dearly love to get their hands on the wealth of Kanda,” he told her.

She asked one day, whilst they were sat in deck chairs with rugs over them, how he had

become connected with the Prince. She deserved his complete honesty, so he explained about the court martial and the circumstances leading up to it, and how he had no option but to resign his commission.

“But if there were witnesses when this Captain turned tail and ran, then surely the charges should have been brought against him,” Susan said angrily.

David chuckled, “Captain, the Honourable Clarence Fitzroy, is the son of General Sir Reginald Fitzroy, Commander of the British Army in that region. What is the cost of a Lieutenant’s career, against the honour of a family that has served British Army for over 400 years.”

“But that’s not honour, but nepotism,” Susan snarled.

“Susan, could you, a woman, have become a Doctor thirty years ago? Doctoring was considered to be a man’s profession. That was a similar form of nepotism.”

Once the ship entered the Mediterranean, dances were organised in the dining room twice a week. A small band sailed on the ship and performed most evenings.

He and Susan had attended one or two of them. The Military Two Step and the Viennese Waltzes were favoured by the passengers and Susan was in demand to partner some of the ship’s officers. David could not fault their choice; Susan was by far the prettiest girl on the ship.

They celebrated Christmas and New Year’s at sea, and Susan had kissed him on the cheek as 1888 changed to 1889. He had remembered the softness of her lips long after the party ended.

When the ship passed through the Suez Canal, Susan clapped her hands in delight at the sight of a camel caravan plodding along the far bank.

Her face was beginning to turn a golden brown from hours spent on deck with her head buried in medical reference books. David, on the other hand, spent hours in his cabin reading and re-reading the mortar manual, until each aspect of its function was memorised.

One night, as the ship crossed the Arabian Sea they were standing on the stern looking at the phosphorous created by the ship’s wake. The heavens ablaze with a thousand stars.

“David,” she murmured, “This voyage has been magical. On nights like this I can really believe there is a God.”

He looked at her touched by her faith and thinking of the other side of the coin. He had seen abject poverty and suffering. He had been a part of battles where men had fought each other with unrestrained brutality, using every skill and trick they could muster to kill before they themselves were killed. Where was God then he thought?

Her voice interrupted his thoughts, “David do you have someone waiting for you in Kanda?”

He chuckled, “A hundred and eighty odd men and two horses; why do you ask?”

“No,” she continued, “I mean do you have a sweetheart waiting for you?”

He shook his head, “No Susan, my life is pretty full looking out for the men at the Fort and the Pass.”,

“But you must have met someone before going there, didn’t you?”

He hesitated before replying, “I did meet someone once, who I was attracted too. But it seemed I was just a distraction for her. As it turns out, she didn’t like India or the people. What about you? You must have had men falling at your feet.”

She smiled, “Of course there were suitors at University and the Training College, but they all suffered from the Victorian mentality that a woman’s place was in the home having children. I want a man that will treat me as an equal.”

David laughed, “Well in Kanda, you may well get your wish, seeing you are the only white woman there.”

Susan smiled, “And by all accounts, you are the only white man there. Interesting, isn’t it?”

David was taken back at her remark, his mind trying to understand it.

As the ship docked at Karachi, David searched the crowds lining the dockside for Mr. Smithers, finding him at last, and breathing a sigh of relief. Susan was standing with her eyes wide and with a smile on her face as she took her first look at India.

Mr. Smithers was waiting at the gangplank as they disembarked, with a crowd of porters to take charge of their luggage.

David introduced Susan as Doctor Fletcher, and Smithers doffed his hat as he kissed her hand. He said the train was due to leave at two, which only gave them three hours to unload the crates and get them on board.

He went on to inform David that their journey to Kanda from the train’s terminus would be conducted by wagon due to the river being in flood with winter rains.

Under the insistent supervision of Mr. Smithers, the crates and luggage were offloaded from the Sky and expeditiously transported to McLeod train station in order to be securely loaded aboard the train prior to their departure. David and Susan each retained a suitcase which the train’s porters placed in their compartment.

As the train pulled out Susan had her face against the window, determined not to miss a thing. Although David found the familiar journey tedious, the sights that passed by the window enthralled Susan.

Before the train was due to arrive at Dera Ismail Khan, David excused himself, took his suitcase to the toilet, changed into his safari suit and buckled on his pistol belt. Hat in hand, he returned to the carriage.

Susan said she needed to change too and left with her suitcase. When she returned his mouth dropped open; she was wearing a suit just like his, complete with hat.

She laughed at the expression on his face, “I think the expression is, ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.’ I bought two sets in the shop, but I had to alter the trousers to fit my waist,” she explained.

David had to admit she did look rather fetching in them, with the way they emphasised her slim figure. She had brushed out her long auburn hair, which, tied with a green silk ribbon, now hung down over her. He could not help thinking how it resembled a sleekly brushed horse’s tail.