Johnson nodded. “Nice-looking lady—what does she want with running a school?”
Kit hid a wry grin and said, “She’s a clergyman’s daughter.”
As he’d expected, that made perfect sense to Johnson, who mouthed an “Oh,” and nodded.
“On the days you saw Miss Buckleberry,” Kit said, “did you ever follow her?”
Johnson looked sheepish as he met Kit’s eyes. “I did once or twice. Well, several times. I was trying to get up the courage to speak to her about Ned, but...well, I couldn’t. I don’t rightly know how to speak with ladies.”
Satisfied—and significantly relieved at the thought that it had most likely been Johnson, who was no threat to anyone, who Sylvia had sensed watching her—Kit nodded and swung his thoughts to how best to manage the big man; he had no wish to see a good man, a good worker and potentially good father, lost. “So now, here’s my deal. First, how old is Ned?”
“Eleven,” Johnson said.
That would work. “I want Ned to remain at school, and after you hear me out, I think you will, too. What I propose is this—I’ll take you on here as a general hand to help the carpenters. Mulligan recommended you, and as he pointed out, we need a strong back and an experienced pair of hands in this work, and as yet, we haven’t hired anyone in that role.” Kit paused, his gaze on Johnson’s face, then went on, “My one condition is that you allow Ned to continue with his schooling. If you agree to that, then after your first two weeks on the job, I’m prepared to stand guarantor for you to rent a suitable home—one you and Ned can live in together. No charity—it’ll be some place you can afford to rent, but after being out of work, you’ll need someone to guarantee that your position is ongoing.”
Johnson looked stunned. “You’d do that? For me?”
“For you and Ned,” Kit replied. “And there’s one more thing—I think it would be a good idea if, after school each day, Ned came here, to the workshop, to see where you work and what goes on here, then he can walk home with you. That’s not only a suggestion to help Ned understand the work you do. We have another lad working here—Jack Deaver.”
Johnson blinked. “Jack the Lad?”
“Yes, that’s him. I want to get Jack thinking about going to school eventually—he’s bright and will do well, and will end up being able to earn substantially more. My first step’s been to make Jack an apprentice under Mulligan. Perhaps, if Ned comes here and likes what he sees of the work, in time, he might join Jack as an apprentice, and Jack might join Ned at the school.”
When Kit fell silent and looked at Johnson, inviting his response, Johnson, who had been staring as if mesmerized, swallowed and said, “That sounds too good to be true.”
Kit flashed him a smile. “Sometimes, in order to seize the good things in life, you just have to have faith and make a start.” He paused, his eyes on Johnson’s face as, clutching his cap tight, the big man blinked and looked back at him. Then Kit asked, “So what do you say? Come and work here and let’s see what we can manage—for Ned as well as yourself.”
Kit knew he hadn’t entirely assuaged Johnson’s deepest fear and added, “At the end of the day, you know you’re not the sort of father who will stand in the way of his son’s future.”
That set Johnson thinking, then he straightened in the chair, met Kit’s eyes, and nodded. “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking straight.” He drew breath and, raising his chin, said, “I’d be right pleased to come and work here. I know Mulligan and some of the others—I’d fit right in.”
Kit smiled and rose, bringing Johnson to his feet. “So they tell me.” He clapped Johnson on the shoulder, opened the office door, and steered the big man through. “Welcome to the crew of Cavanaugh Yachts.”
Mulligan, together with the other older men, looked across at the sound of footsteps.
Kit grinned and waved at Johnson. “We have a new recruit.” He halted with Johnson as Mulligan came up, dusting off his hands. “I’ll leave you with Mulligan. My secretary, Miss Petty, will be in later this afternoon—Mulligan will help you sign on with her, and then you’ll be one of this motley crew.”
The other men grinned, waved, or nodded in greeting, then continued with their work.
Mulligan nodded to Kit, then said to Johnson, “Come along, Bill. Caps and coats over here.” Mulligan led Johnson off to the rack of pegs the men had fixed along the workshop’s wall. “And then we could use your brawn right now—we’ve a lot of ribs to fix.”
Kit retreated to Wayland’s office, a satisfied glow warming his chest. He’d done something good, something worthwhile—he felt sure Sylvia would agree when he told her of it.
CHAPTER 10
In the afternoon, armed with the excuse of needing to tell Sylvia about Bill Johnson having watched her over recent days as well as the news that Ned would definitely be continuing at the school, Kit left the workshop and headed to Sylvia’s office. On finding the door shut, he turned his steps toward the school.
He found Sylvia there, overseeing the end of the school day.
“Wednesday is Miss Meggs’s day off,” Sylvia explained, even though he hadn’t asked, “so I always come over to help Jellicoe and Cross with getting the tribe away.” Illustrating the need, she raised her voice. “Johnny, you’ve forgotten your scarf.”
One young urchin skidded to a halt in his mad dash for the door and, swinging around, flashed her a grin. “Thank you, miss.” Then he raced back to his desk, grabbed the scarf from the seat where it had languished, and raced to catch up with his friends.
“It’s like a stampede,” Kit said, smiling at the thunder of feet and jostling bodies.
“They’re boys,” Sylvia countered. “They always move like that.”
The last of the herd vanished through th