All Moonshine

Extract from ‘All Moonshine’ by Sue Shapcott

“Letters flew back and forth between Jane, her sister Alice, her brother Richard, the valuer, the bank and their solicitors. Despite the urgency to settle, the wheels of the law ground slowly and caused considerable delay. It was March before they had a definite completion date to hand over the shop as a going concern to its new owners.

Richard had fought against the idea of leaving his young wife so soon after their marriage and had decided to wait until after the birth of their first child. Martha noticed James was falling fast and spent more time nursing him than she did in the shop. Why was it that so often it seemed that as one departed another entered into the world? Within the month, James was gone as she held his hand and her son’s wife had made her a grandmother once more. Her name was Gwendoline.

The funeral of Sir James Hanson was a very solemn grand occasion executed in magnificent style by all the Fowey dignitaries and great Hanson family. His life had spanned many years and vast seas incorporating more than one career. He was respected for his concern for the people of Fowey and for his dedication to duty as well as his hard work and success as a businessman. Above all, he was a man of conscience who recognised he could have achieved nothing without God’s help. No one knew of his love for Martha. No one cared. Certainly not his wife’s family who still resented Jane’s marriage to young Joseph. As far as they were concerned, she had got what she deserved and there was an end to it. Her family were not made particularly welcome at the funeral although they attended out of respect and love. It seemed as if the Mohun/Hanson curse had won.

 In the early days after the funeral Martha found it hard to concentrate on her life in the shop as she kept going over all that he had shared with her in the last days of his illness. She would leave the little shop and make her way up Lostwithiel Street to the cemetery where he was laid. She had never been able to visit Richard’s last resting place. His was an unmarked grave in the sea and yet here James lay in a great family plot surrounded by a granite verge and remembered on a magnificent stone monument. It was true. He was a great man, someone she would miss greatly, but more as a father than a lover. It was Richard who still had the power to whisper in her ear from the leaves of the trees and grasp her in his arms by the rush of the waves.

 Her son, Richard had been busy making plans for his great voyage across the world to seek answers for his sister and redeem her honour. As the one and only son bearing the name of ‘Moon’ it was his mission alone to uphold the name. His reluctance to leave his new wife and daughter was tempered by a desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and prove worthy of the trust placed in him. His position as accountant and shipping clerk enabled him to find a suitable passage aboard the ‘Abysinnian’ bound for Australia. From there he would be able to travel across the water to Auckland, New Zealand.

They set sail early in March when the wind struck chill on the open deck. The ‘Abysinnian’ was a large barque, now fitted with paddles and a steam engine and was used to taking with her a number of passengers second class. They were to spend much of their time up on deck. Ellen clung to her husband for a moment before taking
Gwendoline into her arms. It seemed but a short time ago they were experiencing the excitement of their wedding at Llanteglos and then the birth of little Gwen. Ellen was a country girl from Roche who lived with her sisters and parents. The excitement of her marriage to a man with prospects had quite swept her away, so to her this was but another episode in their exciting life. Her dear Riche was going on an adventure of a lifetime to bring home extravagant gifts and tales of another land. Was it all not part of his duty as commercial shipping clerk to make sure business was being carried out correctly abroad? She knew little about her sister-in-law’s tragic circumstances. Only Richard and his mother, Martha knew his true reason for going.

Martha’s feelings were mixed. What had she done? She was torn between loyalty to Jane and now to Richard whom she loved even more for his resemblance to her husband. To once again, face the dangers of the sea and risk all for the sake of what? Revenge? To force Joseph to return, and abandon his mistress? What good would it do and what power would her son have to put any of it right? Surely it was all too late? The damage had been done. Her daughter’s life had been ruined by unrequited love and no amount of persuasion would now be able to convince her otherwise. As she watched Richard’s ship steam away from her, Martha realised the folly of it all and fear clutched at her throat. There was nothing to be done but wait and pray for his safe return.

She remembered that same fear which had clutched at her throat when he had disappeared on the beach as a boy. He had searched the cave for the Mohun treasure and she wondered if he too remembered as his vessel passed the Gorren Rocks and Lantic beach."