Ruby of Kettle Farm by Lucia Masciullo Page B

I’ll be wanted. And appreciated.’
    â€˜
I
want you,’ said Letty. Letty could not imagine life without her sister. Lavinia was like a pink flower in their grey town. She took up lots of room in their family, with her wide, swishing dresses and definite opinions. She was Letty’s older sister, the one who had bossed her around and brought her up in the years after their mother died. Their baby stepbrother, Charlie, and their little sisters, Fanny and Florence, were adorable, but they weren’t the same.
    Now Lavinia ignored her. Letty hurt inside. Lavinia meant so much to Letty, but Letty was not enough to keep her here.
    Papa and the girls lifted the chest by its brass handles. They struggled in a lopsided triangle across the dock and into the Customs House.
    â€˜That’s it?’ said the Customs Officer, looking in the chest.
    Papa pretended not to hear. Letty knew he was still angry with Lavinia for spending all her money on what was in it.
    â€˜Yes!’ snapped Lavinia.
    The chest held a few pieces of good linen, and a new outfit, bought with the emigration payment from the government. The chest wasn’t exactly full, but Letty and Lavinia were very proud of it. It was a hope chest – where a girl stored things for when she would be married and have a home of her own.
    â€˜Here’s your tin, then.’ The Customs man pushed a metal plate, cup and spoons towards Lavinia. ‘Here’s your blanket and your pillow. And here’s a bag to keep them in. Your ship’s leaving with the tide.’ He pointed to the forest of masts out the window.
    Papa, Lavinia and Letty lumped the chest along the docks. A wooden ship loomed over the nearest jetty. Letty thought it was as long as three houses, but much, much taller. The ship’s name was painted on the front in gold letters: The
Duchess
.
    â€˜Right!’ Lavinia put down her end of the chest and dusted her hands. ‘I’ll be back in a few minutes.’
    â€˜Where are you going?’ Papa wanted to know.
    â€˜Ladies’ business,’ said Lavinia, over her shoulder. She hurried back to shore.
    Letty stood close to Papa on the wooden jetty. Families bustled past, loaded with luggage and children. Letty could hardly believe that Papa and her stepmother were letting Lavinia go by herself.
    â€˜The tide’s going to turn soon.’ Papa fiddled impatiently with his watch chain. He didn’t have a watch, but he liked people to think he did. ‘It’s time for boarding the ship. What’s keeping your sister?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ whispered Letty. She could hardly speak. The ship’s shadow swallowed her words, just as it would soon swallow her sister. She might never see Lavinia again.
    â€˜Where has she run off to now?’ grumbled Papa. ‘I’ll have to go and look for her. You be a good child now, Letty, and stay right by the chest.
Don’t
leave it for anything.’
    The water slapped the sides of the jetty. The big ship creaked. Letty sat on the hope chest. It was big and solid. She traced the brass studs on the lid with her fingers:
R.P. 1671
. It was almost two hundred years since ‘R.P.’ had owned the chest. The leather covering was cracked and the brass had lost its shine. But the things inside it were new and pretty. They were precious. Letty had helped Lavinia sew the pillowcases and petticoats. Letty guarded the chest as if she were guarding Lavinia’s love.
    Letty’s hair blew in her eyes. It was true what Lavinia said about their house, she thought. It hadn’t been easy to keep the hope chest’s white linen away from chimney soot and little Charlie’s sticky fingers. One night, Letty had even tripped over him and burnt her hair in the lamp. Lavinia had to cut part of it off. It was so ugly.
    If I were as pretty as Lavinia, Letty thought, and people noticed me the way they notice her, maybe I would be brave and