Pearlie's Pet Rescue by Lucia Masciullo Page B

ducked beneath the woman’s elbow. Through a gap in the railing, she saw Papa standing on the jetty, by himself. Then she saw that the gangplank was being pulled in. The ship was getting ready to sail, Letty realised. And she was still on it!



Here’s a sneak peek at Meet Nellie
    â€˜P ROMISE we’ll always stay together,’ whispered Nellie. ‘Promise
faithfully
.’
    She had to whisper because most of the other girls in the stuffy, tar-smelling cabin were asleep. Nellie didn’t feel like sleeping. In fact, she’d never felt so wide awake in her life. She sat hunched on the narrow bunk that had been her bed for the last four months, and her best friend, Mary Connell, sat hunched on the bunk opposite. Mary’s pale face, half hidden beneath a prim white nightcap, was barely visible in the darkness.
    Over the creaking and shuddering of the ship Nellie could hear Sarah Ryan’s muffled sobbing. Poor Sarah must be having another bad dream. The
Elgin
, which was carrying nearly 200 Irish orphans halfway around the world, had seen plenty of nightmares. None of the girls could forget the horror of the Great Hunger, the famine that had killed so many thousands back home in Ireland.
    â€˜Of course we must stay together,’ Mary whispered back. ‘You know I’d be scared to death without you.’
    Nellie reached for Mary’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. ‘There’s nothing to be scared of, angel. We survived the Hunger, and we survived the workhouse. We’ve even nearly reached South Australia without being shipwrecked! And now we’re going to work for rich people in Adelaide. No more sleeping in dormitories, no more eating corn mush!’ Such beautiful pictures now formed in Nellie’s head: a warm little bed of her own, and herself sitting in front of a steaming plate of stew, with a pile of fresh soda bread a mile high . . .
    Mary gave a tiny sigh. ‘I wish I was like you, Nell,’ she said. ‘You’ve always been strong.’
    â€˜I’ve had to look after myself, just as you have – I’m not one bit stronger than you.’
    â€˜Yes, you are! Nobody would ever believe you’ve just turned twelve. When you told the Guardians at the workhouse that you were older, it would hardly even have seemed like a fib.’
    â€˜It wasn’t
my
fib,’ protested Nellie. ‘It was Father Donnelly who told the Guardians I was thirteen. He said to my dada that older girls would have the best chance of getting out of the place. He was right, too, for if the Guardians had known I was only eleven, I’d not be here with you.’
    â€˜And thank goodness you are,’ said Mary, ‘for I’d miss you so much if you weren’t.’
    â€˜And I can’t think how much I’d miss you,’ Nellie replied, gazing earnestly at her friend through the darkness. ‘We must always look after each other, Mary. Goodness knows what could happen to us in Australia. Superintendent O’Leary told me it’s a very peculiar place. He said there are snakes that can poison you to death in a second, and animals that bounce like india-rubber balls.’
    Mary shuddered. ‘I’ll always be there for you, Nell, I promise.’
    â€˜And me for you. Never forget it.’
    There was a sigh, and a thump, as Peggy Duffy turned over in the bunk above Nellie’s head. ‘Do hush up, you two! Think of us who’s trying to sleep, now.’
    â€˜Oh, hush yourself, Peg!’ retorted Nellie. ‘We’re making no noise at all, and it’s you who’s disturbing the peace with your moaning.’
    In the morning the
Elgin
would be docking at Port Adelaide. And after that, as Nellie knew, all the girls had to find work. She’d heard that there were plenty of jobs for Irish maidservants in the colonies. Perhaps she and Mary could work together! Someone in a fine big house might need