Liza and Patrick had talked about the fact that they lived in the town of Benson and both the Dumas’ and Perez’s said that if possible, could the stop be at Benson as they had heard that it was quite a thriving town. The wagon master said that he had heard the same and they skirted Lansdown and headed directly for Benson.
They all parked their wagons on the outskirts of town and headed for the general store and were delighted to find it so well stocked. Kathy, Joe and Greg Long were rushed off their feet helping and advising their customers and during a conversation they discovered that the Dumas’ and the Perez’s knew Liza and Patrick and had travelled across the Atlantic with them.
Kathy and Joe started to ask all sorts of questions about how they had met Patrick and Liza and both the French and Spanish families were becoming overwhelmed by their questioning as although they now understood English quite well, the amount of questions that they were suddenly being bombarded with was beyond their capabilities.
They sent Greg to get Zelma and then on to the fort for Ada and Bea, having invited both families into their sitting room for coffee and cakes.
Word was spreading that friends of Liza and Patrick were in town and Gabriel arrived with Zelma along with George Prior. It wasn’t long before Ada and Bea arrived in their buggy with Greg and the colonel sent Ben in to report on the latest news. The Dumas’ and the Perez’s were surprised at the reaction to their announcement that they knew Liza and Patrick and they found themselves having to give a detailed account of their voyage to America.
They told of how the Irish families had been duped into signing an outrageous indenture agreement and how the Spanish family had nearly lost all their money and thanks to both Liza and Patrick all had been sorted out happily. They praised Liza’s ability to teach them all English and the Irish passengers to read and write.
There was a great deal of consternation as they went into detail of the storm and how the ship was swept off course and damaged and how, unfortunately, Liza had been knocked unconscious as had Patrick and the frightening incident of a small number of crew, thinking that Liza was a jinx, tried to cut the rope to the boson’s chair when Liza and Matthew were being transported from one ship to another.
There were many more details that they imparted to the captivated audience and finally, they were asked where they thought Liza and her family were now.
“They may have started on their journey here by now,” said Mr Dumas. “I know that they were staying for around a month in New York and that month is just about over so they could soon be here.”
So, everybody in Benson now knew that Liza and Patrick were on their way home and the French and Spanish families went on their way having been somewhat surprised at how the people of Benson were so keen to know every detail of their time with the Kelly’s.
Within a week they met up with the main wagon train and continued on their journey. They displayed their catcher talisman signs on their wagons and many people asked what they were. All they could say was that they had been given them by somebody who seemed to know a great deal about Indians.
Their scouts were reporting that there were signs of Indians and it would be a good thing if they all kept their weapons handy and one afternoon, when they had stopped for the day and formed a circle, they realised that they were surrounded, although the Indians had not attempted to attack them.
The half-breed Cherokee scout and a medicine man approached the circle and asked to look at one of the talisman. They studied it closely and a slight smile could be seen on the scout’s face at something the medicine man had said. If anyone could have heard and understood, they would also have been amused as Liza’s non-ability to neatly make such items was legendary amongst the tribe and so her clumsy handiwork was well-recognisable.
Mr Dumas and Mr Perez then decided that the time had come to say to the Indians what Liza had told them and it had a miraculous effect. The chief joined the scout and medicine man and Mr Dumas was asked to repeat what he had said, which he did. The chief then shouted an order and all the braves disappeared leaving just the three remaining.
The scout came towards Mr Dumas and barked the question, “Where is i-tse di-ka-ta now? Has she returned?”
They tried to avoid answering the question, but a look from the medicine man left them in no doubt that an answer was immediately required and all Mr Dumas said was that she was on her way, adding that he did not know exactly when she would be arriving. He was worried that he may have said too much but felt that he had no choice.
The scout passed on the information to the chief and medicine man. They said something which the scout translated meaning that the whole of the wagon train was lucky that i-tse di-ka-ta had asked for protection for them as it would be granted and that they could travel through the Cherokee lands in peace.
It was then that Running Bear and the medicine man decided that they would make the journey north to see i-tse di-ka-ta and her son and gain strength from that meeting especially as they had banished Brave Eagle from their camp and he had taken his family with him which included the chief’s first born grandson. He had killed one of their own and that was unpardonable. They were also not sure that he had not been instrumental in the attempted murder of White Wolf. Brave Eagle was now well out of the way and was marauding somewhere in Mexico. Chief Running Bear only had White Wolf’s son to eventually take his place as chief. It was, therefore, important for them to find i-tse di-ka-ta and make sure that her son was safe and well and would always remain so until he was old enough to join them and become part of the Cherokee nation.
The half-breed scout was dispatched to find exactly where Liza and Matthew were.
Meanwhile, the wagon master was marvelling at how a very dangerous situation had been averted by two people on his wagon train. He asked his scouts if they knew what had actually convinced the Indians to leave and was told about the legend and prophecy of the Cherokees and that it appeared that two of his travellers had been ‘touched by a goddess’. Liza would have been horrified to know that she was now considered a goddess and that her son was being thought of as the next chief of the Cherokee nation, unless the chief’s new young wife produced a son.
Chapter 2
Most of Liza’s luggage was going by wagon train which was taking goods to nearby places and would be arriving in Benson around three weeks after their arrival, so she had to organise what to take with them and what was to go independently. There were boxes and cases all over the house but eventually everything was in order. Bridget and Mary could be seen dabbing their eyes on occasion, especially Mary as she had been with Liza for well over a year and had seen her through many good and bad times.
There were also many people calling to wish them farewell and Myra was spending a great deal of time with them. Liza and Henry had many business meetings, and Liza visited Walter’s household just to make sure that they had settled in well. Doctor and Mrs Marsden called on a couple of occasions, always interested to see how John was getting on.
Their main luggage left three days before they did and then the day came when they would be leaving. They all had a mixture of excitement and sadness as they said goodbye to everyone and boarded the train for the first leg of their long journey. “Are you really sure you want to do this Liza?” asked Patrick for the twentieth time.
“I’d much rather get there by magic, but apart from that, yes, I’m very happy to be going home with you and the boys. I wonder if Matthew will remember Zelma and all the others. I know he remembers Si, they have written to one another on occasion, not that their letters have been very long or interesting but they are only small boys. James also writes to Matthew. I hope John will soon be able to write to somebody.”
Liza was not as sad as many would have thought her to be. She was sitting on the train with Matthew and John and with Patrick smiling at her, how could she be sad? The last time she had sat on the train it was with Matthew and she’d had no idea whether or not she would see Patrick again. She
was now embarking on a long trip not only with Patrick, but she also had a child who now called her mother. How a year could change a life, she thought, and for the better.
They had a packed hamper to see them through the journey until they came to the first major stopping place, by which time it was late in the evening. Liza had previously written to the hotel and booked a large adjoining room for them for the night, before the train continued its journey the next day.
This was where Patrick had stayed when he had made up his mind to return to Liza in New York. The boys were very tired, they had slept for a while on the train but their excitement had palled and tiredness had overcome them. Patrick was now carrying Matthew over his shoulder and Liza was managing to help John along even though his eyes kept shutting. With great relief they reached the hotel and booked in and immediately took the boys to the bedroom, undressed them and put them into their night clothes, their overnight luggage having been brought by a porter.
Whilst Liza rested in the adjoining room, Patrick organised that supper be brought up for them and also arranged that another hamper be prepared for the next day as well as hot water for washing in the morning. They were both reluctant to leave the boys even though they would have only been at the bottom of the stairs, but they were very protective where the boys were concerned and would not have wanted them to wake and be frightened.
They were going to have another long train journey the next day after which they would, once again, stay overnight in a town and be ready for the first of many stage coach journeys the following day. The stage coaches would be stopping overnight either at towns or staging posts. Liza remembered it all so well from when she was on her way to New York just over a year ago.
Once again the boys were excited about the prospect of another train journey, but after a while they became bored and Liza resorted to reading to them and then Patrick played a game of cards with them. Finally they began drawing and Liza noticed that John appeared to be quite talented in this respect. Matthew could draw but sometimes they had to use their imagination to see what he was trying to sketch.
Having spent a second night in a hotel, they were up early the following day and breakfasted an hour before they were due to leave. The hotel kindly packed some bread, cheese and lemonade to keep the boys from being too hungry. Both Matthew and John were looking forward to the stage journey, not being aware that a stage coach was even more boring than a train ride.
It became obvious that the best way to occupy the boys was to let them stay awake as late as possible at night so that they could hopefully sleep for some while during the journey. Liza also hoped that she could give them some lessons whilst travelling, as long as the stage was not too crowded, failing that she would try to read quietly to them and on occasion they may be able to read for themselves. Patrick was also very good at keeping them busy with various games, including I Spy and children’s card games.
The days passed slowly and each night they were very pleased to stop at whatever place was allocated for passengers. Liza remembered vividly the food. It was always meat stew, but nobody would say what kind of meat it was. Quite often there was a pie to follow which made a pleasant change. Breakfast seemed to be solely eggs but on occasion bacon would be thrown in.
At some of the posts they were able to walk around the grounds, whereas at others they were closed in by fencing and it was at one of these that they were told that there was some unrest within a nearby Indian encampment which had recently been set up.
Patrick said, “I wasn’t aware that there were Indians this far north.”
“They have slowly been moving into the area for a few days now. They are also keeping watch on us here, but we are guarding the post on shifts, so you have no need to fear that they will murder us in our beds. They do not appear to be threatening, they just seem to be inquisitive,” said the innkeeper.
“Do you know what tribe they are from?” asked Patrick, who had a sinking feeling that he knew what the answer was going to be.
“One of the drivers believes that they are part of the Cherokee nation, but I’m not sure. There aren’t many there.”
Patrick had to make up his mind whether or not to tell Liza, although he felt that probably Liza already knew. Surely they could not have known that she was here. Were they going to try to take his Liza back, or were they going to try to take Matthew?
Liza smiled at Patrick as he came to join them at their evening meal and he knew by her face that she was aware of what was happening around the trading post. The room that they would be using that night accommodated them all and they were both pleased about that. Liza had an arm around each boy and was holding them close to her and Patrick whispered to her, “I’ll never let them get to you or Matthew; you know that, don’t you, Liza.”
Liza nodded; she didn’t want to scare the boys. Patrick went to their bedroom to make sure that no one could easily gain entry. There were two small windows which only opened out onto the courtyard, so that should be quite safe. She told the boys to get ready for bed and that she would read to them until they slept that night.
She read to them for over an hour and when they went to sleep she looked for Patrick. He was sitting with the trader and they both had guns at the ready. There were just two other male passengers for the stage the next day and they too were sitting very much on edge. Patrick got up and came over to her.
“Nobody knows of your past here, Liza,” he whispered. “Do you think that it does have something to do with why the Indians seem to be watching us? You know them better than I do.”
“I have always found that they know and see many things that we are not aware of. I would not be surprised to find that they are watching over me and Matthew. I doubt that they would want to harm us, but they will harm anyone who gets in the way of what their intentions are. It does, of course, depend on whether Brave Eagle is with them. If he knows that I am still around, then both Matthew and I are in serious danger and so is anyone else who is with us,” said Liza.
She knew that she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of Patrick and John and whoever else was with them, and she would hope and pray that they would just take Matthew and not hurt him. Patrick had read her mind. “I’ve told you Liza, I will never let them take you or Matthew. Whatever I have to do, I will do to stop them; that I promise.”
They spent a sleepless night and were relieved to see a troop of soldiers arrive at the post the next morning. Patrick went out to greet them. He had met the young lieutenant once or twice previously. He informed Patrick that they had been sent out to see why a band of Cherokees had suddenly arrived in the area.
“All I can get from the scouts is something along the lines of ‘i-tse di-ka-ta’ and I have no idea what it means,” he said.
Patrick had heard it before and knew that it was his wife’s Cherokee name. So, they were here for her. He was going to have to tell her and he was also going to have to tell the young Lieutenant Carter. Patrick asked the young lieutenant to come inside as he wanted him to meet his wife.
Liza was helping Matthew and John with their drawing and she didn’t look up until Patrick and Lieutenant Carter were standing in front of her. Patrick called her name and she and the boys looked up and Lieutenant Carter was greeted by three pairs of eyes staring at him, two pairs which were the brightest green and one which was shining and grey. He was slightly taken aback by them. Patrick explained to the lieutenant that Liza could understand the Cherokee language and so he repeated what he had told Patrick. Liza told the boys to go to their room and carry on with their drawings there.
Her heart was pounding as her worst nightmare was coming true. “What is it that you want to know, Lieutenant?” she asked rather shakily.
“I’d like to know what i-tse di-ka-ta means as my scouts are talking amongst themselves and appear rather unsettled by it. Also it seems that whatever it is has brought a small band of Cherokees into this area, amongst them is their big chief and medicine man, s
o it has to be important to them,” he said.
Patrick put his arm around Liza and said, “You’ll have to tell him, Liza.”
Lieutenant Carter looked puzzled and then even more concerned when Liza said, “It means ‘green eyes’, Lieutenant and it is the name that the Cherokees gave to me. They are obviously here for me and probably my son also.”
Liza sat back down and Patrick sat next to her with the lieutenant taking a seat opposite them. He was finding it difficult to formulate what he was thinking, but then he just said, “But you are not Cherokee, Mrs Kelly, and your son is most definitely not a half-breed, so why do they want you?”
“There is a Cherokee legend, Lieutenant, where they believe that somebody like me will return and bring great prosperity to them by driving out all those who would take their heritage from them,” said Liza.
The lieutenant was talking very quietly to them, as he had the sense not to panic others in the room. “What do you mean by return?”
“My wife was held captive by them for some two years, Lieutenant, because of that legend,” said Patrick.
Lieutenant Carter sat thinking for a moment and then realisation dawned on him, “Of course, I remember; you were Liza Marchant then and you were high on the list of people to try and find. Everybody assumed you were dead after a while and then the news came through that you had managed to escape.”
Liza just nodded; she didn’t want to talk about it but knew that this was not going to stop whatever was going to happen.
“Are we going to get on our way soon, Patrick,” Liza asked rather naively.
“Liza, you know that we must find out what they want and we are safer here than on the road, even with the lieutenant and his men guarding us. I’ve promised you that I’ll make sure they don’t take you again, and Matthew, but to be on the open road at the moment would be foolhardy,” said Patrick and Lieutenant Carter nodded in agreement.
Against All Odds Page 16
