There were people everywhere: young and old, rich and poor, male and female ... but mostly male. There were people waiting to greet the new arrivals. They stood with hands cupped around their eyes, searching for their loved ones. When they saw them, they cried out and ran and hugged.
‘Ouch!’ someone bumped into Carly from behind. She spun around to look. She saw a tall, chubby man of about forty in a brown suit, waistcoat and top hat.
‘Watch out!’ he snarled. He had a huge moustache and more chins than she could count. Beside him was a shorter, younger man with greasy hair and an even bigger moustache.
‘Sorry,’ she said, although she had done nothing wrong. She turned away. She didn’t like the look of either of them.
‘There’s one,’ Carly heard the tall man say to his friend, as he pointed to the crowd. ‘She’ll do.’
‘No, she’s got friends with her,’ the short, greasy man said. ‘That blonde would be better. She’s all alone.’
The tall man snickered. ‘Alone and poor, by the looks of her. She’ll be desperate for a job.’
‘And she won’t ask tricky questions about the pay either,’ his friend agreed.
‘Pay?’ the tall man replied, and the pair let out ugly barks of laughter. ‘Who said anything about paying her?’
Dora and Carly looked at each other. They didn’t like what they were hearing.
‘STOP, THIEF!’ a voice cried out.
Suddenly people were scrambling and bumping into each other. Carly and Dora clutched each other’s arms.
‘There!’ said Dora, pointing. Carly saw a young woman waving her arms in distress. She was small, thin and blonde, dressed in a plain grey gown and simple bonnet. A little boy clothed in rags was sprinting away from her.
‘He stole my purse!’ the woman shouted.
The little boy vanished in the crowd and the girl dropped her face into her hands and wept. She looked terribly alone.
‘Perfect!’ Carly heard the greasy man say. ‘She’ll want that job even more now!’
Carly looked around in alarm. The two men were pushing their way through the crowd to the weeping woman. ‘Come with me,’ she said to Dora. ‘We have to help her.’
The girls elbowed their way through the crowds. Too many people stood in their way and they struggled to get close to the crying girl. Two men were blocking their way.
‘Carly,’ Dora dug her in the ribs – she barely felt it through the bones of her corset – and hissed in her ear. ‘It’s those two nasty men!’
‘My dear girl,’ she heard the tall man say to the young woman. ‘Don’t cry.’
‘That child stole all of my money!’ she sobbed. ‘Now I have nothing!’
‘There, there,’ said the man.
‘I’ve come all the way from Ireland, and I’m all alone! I haven’t anywhere to stay, and now I’ve got no money to pay for a room!’
‘Excuse me,’ Carly said, but the men wouldn’t let her pass. Crowds pushed and shoved all around them.
‘I don’t suppose you have a job,’ the tall man said. His voice was sickly sweet and oily.
‘No!’ the woman wailed. ‘I have nothing!’
‘Don’t fret,’ the man said. ‘I will employ you.’
‘Would you?’ the girl sniffed and wiped her eyes. ‘Would you really?’
‘Excuse me,’ Carly said, trying to squeeze between the two men. They ignored her. The short, greasy one stamped on her foot. ‘Ow!’ she yelped.
‘Come and work for me,’ the tall man went on in his smooth voice, ‘and you will have everything you need. No time to waste; I will take you to my home right now. We can talk about your chores and pay later.’
‘It’s a trick!’ Dora whispered. ‘He’s not going to pay her at all!’
Carly nodded. She thought quickly. If the girl went with this man, he would cheat her. He certainly wasn’t planning to pay her. But if she said ‘no’, she would be homeless. She was alone in a strange city with no money, no job and nowhere to stay. She had no choice. She was desperate. But this was just the type of man that Mrs Chisholm had warned her about! The type of man who tricked and abused helpless new immigrant girls. Carly wouldn’t stand for it.
She grabbed Dora’s carry bag and swung it into the back of the man’s knee, making his leg buckle under him. He tumbled to the ground. ‘EXCUSE ME!’ Carly shouted, shoving past him to the Irish girl.
The girl gazed at Carly in astonishment. She looked only a few years older than Carly and Dora. Her face was pale and thin. Her dress was worn out at the collar and looked as if it had been mended a dozen times.
‘Mrs Chisholm will be waiting for you,’ Carly said firmly. ‘She will find you a good job ... with an honest employer.’ She gripped the girl’s right arm.
‘Come with us,’ Dora added, taking hold of the girl’s left arm.
Carly and Dora steered the girl away from the tall man, who swore and protested. ‘She’s mine,’ he shouted. ‘How dare you!’
The girl blinked and glared back at him. ‘I don’t belong to you – or anyone,’ she said.
‘Well said.’ Dora grinned.
They met Mrs Chisholm on their way to the Home. She was scurrying towards the wharf when they came upon her.
‘Carly Mills!’ she exclaimed. ‘How nice to see you again!’
‘Hello, Mrs Chisholm,’ Carly replied.
Dora’s eyes opened wide with surprise again. ‘Is this really—’
‘Yes!’ Carly whispered to her before turning back to Mrs Chisholm. She had been worried that Mrs Chisholm might be annoyed with her for running out on the cleaning job, but the lady was as warm and friendly as ever.
‘I just heard that a ship came in,’ Mrs Chisholm said. ‘I was worried that I might have missed the girls. But
