Smakebit på søndag: In the Land of the Long White Cloud

Bild från bokus

Söndag och dags för en smakbit igen. Fler finns hos bloggen Flykten fra virkeligheten och man får gärna vara med så länge man inte spoilar böckerna. I eftermiddag blir det middag hos kära mor :)

Den här veckan kommer mitt utdrag ur Sarah Larks bok In the Land of the Long White Cloud, jag har bara runt tio sidor kvar så tänker läsa klart den så fort jag postat det här inlägget. Den handlar om två kvinnor, Helen och Gwyneira, som reser till Nya Zeeland för att gifta sig. Helen som är en ganska fattig guvernant får resan gratis mot att hon under båtfärden tar hand om sex föräldralösa flickor som kyrkokomittén skickar dit för att de ska kunna plats som pigor. I utdraget håller Helen just på att förklara arrangemanget för Gwyneira:

   Gwyneira remained skeptical. “Useful?” she asked. “These children? I wanted to ask yesterday why they were being sent overseas, but now it’s becoming clear to me…am I right in guessing that the orphanage wanted to get rid of them, but no one in London wanted little half-starved serving girls? 
   Helen nodded. “They’re pinching pennies. Housing, feeding, clothing, and sending a child to school costs three pounds a year in the orphanage. This passage costs four, but then the children are gone for good. Otherwise, they would have to keep Rosemary and the twins on at least two more years.” 
   “But the half-price fare is only for children twelve and under,” Gwyneira objected, which astonished Helen. Had this rich girl really inquired about steerage prices? “And the girls could only first take a position at thirteen.” 
   Helen rolled her eyes. “In practice, at twelve, though I’d swear that Rosie cannot be more than eight. But you are right: Dorothy and Daphne should really have had to pay full price. However, the honorable ladies of the orphanage committee probably made them out to be somewhat younger for the journey.” 
   “And we’ll have hardly arrived when the little ones age miraculously in order to take positions as thirteen-year-olds!” Gwyneira laughed and searched through the pockets of her white housedress, over which she’d thrown a light shawl. “The world is no good." 

Kyrkkomittéer är inte alltid så godhjärtade och osjälviska som man kan tro...