‘Well, I think this must be for you, though it’s quite remarkable that it arrived safely given the brevity of the address.’ He held up an envelope and read, ‘May Lavender, Mr Freeman’s shop, Liverpool, England.’ He held it out to her. ‘Here you are. See who it is from.’

May slit open the envelope and ran her eyes down the scrawled page. Then she let out a gasp. ‘It’s from Gus! My brother, Gus.’

He smiled. ‘I thought it might be. Did you not tell me once that you thought he might have run away to sea?’

‘Yes, I did. But Australia? How ever did he end up there?’

‘Well, I dare say the letter will make that clear.’ He got up from behind his desk. ‘You will want some time to read it in peace. Stay here. I have business to attend to elsewhere in the shop, so you will not be disturbed.’

As soon as he had left the room May sank into a chair and stared at the paper in her hand. Gus, writing from Australia, after all this time. It was scarcely believable. She smoothed out the crumpled sheet and began to read.

January 22nd

Dear May,

This is to let you know that I am safe and well and on board the CSS Shenandoah. At present we are docked in Melbourne, Australia, for repairs. I am sorry that I have not written to you before, but this is the first port we have touched since leaving Madeira last October. I cannot tell you what we have been doing all that time, because it is a secret.

I like Melbourne very much. The sun shines every day and I have seen plants and animals that I did not know existed – even kangaroos which hop on their back legs and can get along amazingly fast. The people here are very kind and I have made friends. One of them is helping me to write this letter. Her name is Victoria.

I do not know where we are going next or when I may have a chance to get back to Liverpool but please don’t worry about me. I am doing fine. I hope you are well and the people you work for are treating you well.

Your brother,
Gus

May sat staring at the letter. There was so still so much she did not understand. What did CSS stand for, and how had Gus got to Madeira in the first place? Who was this Victoria? It was hard to imagine her ferocious little brother with a sweetheart. Or was she perhaps an older woman, a motherly sort, who had taken pity on an orphan boy? What was so secret about what he had been doing?

When Mr Freeman came back she was still studying the letter, as if it might reveal some hidden secret.

‘Well?’ he asked. ‘Good news, I hope?’