Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  Bea was not opening her door even to Ada or Liza. “Please open your door, Bea and let me know that you are all right. You are part of my family and I need to know that you are safe. I can’t bear the thought of my son’s godmother being so troubled that she can’t let me try to help, even if it’s only to cry on my shoulder. I need to be able to help you the way you have helped me over the years. Please let me in, Bea and put my mind at rest,” said Liza.

  The bolt was pulled back on the door and opened a crack. “I just can’t see anybody at the moment Liza,” said Bea.

  “Yes you can,” said Liza and pushed her way in, followed by Ada. Bea looked so sad and so ill and she was surrounded by clothes that she was attempting to pack. She was not making a very good job of it and it seemed obvious that she really didn’t want to leave.

  “Where are you going, Bea? Have you some plan in mind? You must want to talk to somebody about where you are going to live and how you are going to get there,” said Liza.

  “I don’t know where to go Liza. I just know that Marshall wants me to leave. He’s so disgusted with me that he wants me out of his sight. I suppose you heard what I had done,” said Bea.

  “No Bea, I haven’t heard anything. I can surmise what the problem may have been, but I’m not concerned about that. I’m just concerned for your welfare now and I wanted you to know that you are, and always will be, a friend to me and my family and we do not pass judgement on anybody. Your past is your business, please let me help to make your present my business,” said Liza.

  “Yes, please let us help you,” said Ada.

  “Surely the captain will be concerned for your safety. You’ve been together so long that he must know that it won’t be easy for you to find somewhere new. All your friends are either army personnel or the people of Benson; he also knows that you have no family to go to. He’s not that hard hearted and he also knows that you love him and I really think that no matter what, he still loves you. He just can’t see past whatever was divulged the other evening, but he will in time,” said Liza.

  “You haven’t asked me what it’s all about, Liza. Ada knows because I’ve known her since I came to Benson twelve years ago and she saw me through my difficulties,” said Bea.

  “It makes no difference to me, Bea, I don’t need to know. Now, if in the unlikely event that you do have to find somewhere else to go, then I have places and contacts that will make sure you are looked after, so that will be one worry off your mind. I’d take you to Angela’s parents to start with and plan from there, but I still think that it will not be necessary,” said Liza.

  “You make it sound so easy Liza,” said Ada. “Would Angela’s parents just do that for Bea?”

  “They’d do it for me without question,” said Liza, “but that is a very long story.”

  “I’ll help you get organised, Bea. This place is in a terrible mess,” said Ada.

  “Help get the place in order, Ada, but I hope it won’t be necessary for you to pack. I’ll see you either later or tomorrow, I have a call or two to make today,” said Liza.

  Liza called in to see the colonel and updated him on what she and Gabriel had done with Dr Bridges and the suggestion that another town meeting is held after Christmas to elect a town council.

  “Are you going to stand for the council, Liza?” asked the colonel.

  “I’ve got plenty to do without being on the council, also I do really need to put my feet up for the next few months,” said Liza.

  “The townspeople aren’t going to let you get away with that. You always end up organising the meetings, so you might as well accept the inevitable,” laughed the colonel. “Have you seen Bea today?”

  Liza was surprised by the suddenness of his question. “Yes, I managed to see her.”

  “Good,” was all that the colonel wanted to say.

  Liza’s next port of call was Captain Graves but on her way she stopped, looked around at the ground and picked up a stone which she brushed the dirt from and put in her pocket.

  “If you’ve come to plead on Bea’s behalf, please don’t do it Liza. I have a great deal of respect for you and I don’t want to be rude to you,” said the captain. “I’m ashamed that you all now know what Bea did whilst I was away fighting for my country.”

  “I’m sorry, captain but I have no idea what Bea may or may not have done years ago. I don’t listen to gossip and everyone knows that, which is why I wouldn’t have been told anything. I haven’t come here to plead for anything; Bea is quite capable of pleading for herself if that is what she wants. My concern is that I am trying to work out with her where she will go from here. She doesn’t seem to know anybody outside here and Benson and she has no family. Is there anywhere that you would think suitable for her to travel to and anybody that she would be safe with? Also, I don’t believe she is very financially sound, but I presume you have thought of that and you wouldn’t leave her without funds, but if necessary I can let her have money to keep her out of trouble,” said Liza.

  “Has Bea put you up to this?” said Captain Graves.

  “If I didn’t know you better, I’d take that as an insult, Captain. If you think that I would be ‘put up to’ anything, you should know that you are mistaken. Bea doesn’t even know that I’m here. I thought that you would at least share my concerns for her safety and have some suggestions as to how we may go about finding her somewhere to live comfortably. After all, you have been together for a number of years now and even if you aren’t capable of returning her love for you, then I did think that you would at least show some concern for her welfare. I’m so sorry I bothered you but don’t worry, I’ll sort something out for her,” said Liza. “By the way, another town meeting is to be held after Christmas with the intention of proposing that we elect a town council, I hope you’ll be free to attend,” said Liza totally changing the subject.

  “Incidentally,” she added. “I have this for you.” She carefully placed the stone in the middle of his desk and was about to leave.

  “What on earth is this for?” he demanded.

  “It’s for you to either cast or discard,” and she left him with one of her most charming smiles as if everything in life was wonderful.

  Ben came out of the colonel’s office telling Liza that the colonel would like another word with her. “What can I do for you, Colonel?” she asked. He was standing looking out of his window and he beckoned her over to stand next to him.

  “How long do you think it is going to take him to go and see her, Liza?” he asked.

  “Just about now by the look of it,” smiled Liza as they both watched Captain Graves cross the square towards Bea’s quarters. “Fingers crossed,” she said.

  “What was it that you picked up from the square, you seemed to spend a little while choosing something?” said the Colonel.

  “Just a stone Colonel, nothing special,” said Liza smiling, she had a feeling that he would understand.

  “Ah, I see. John Chapter 8 verses 3 to 7, if I’m not mistaken. In short, ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone’. In other words, nobody is without sin. Quite clever, I wish I had thought of it,” said the colonel.

  “Well, you’re better versed than I am, I knew it was John but nothing further, only the short version, but it seemed quite apt,” said Liza.

  “Well, it seems to have worked, you’d better get yourself home now, Liza, you’re looking rather tired,” said the colonel. “I think you’ve done enough for one day.”

  As Liza made her way to the stables Ada stopped her, “I don’t know what you said but I could see that I was going to be in the way when Captain Graves came into Bea’s. It’s the first time in days that I’ve seen him with something other than great annoyance on his face. I think all is going to be fine now, I do hope so. What did you say to him, or is that something that you want to keep to yourself?”

  “It was nothing very clever; let us wait and see what happens. It’s very early for us to pass any comments,” said Liza.


  “In other words, wait and see what Bea wants to tell me,” laughed Ada. “You’re telling me to mind my own business.”

  “No Ada, I’d never do that, you’re just showing concern for your friend. She’ll tell you when she’s ready. Let’s hope it all goes well with them,” said Liza.

  Once again Liza tried to make her way to the stables and was stopped by Lieutenant Kendal, who was just asking after her health and telling her that he was looking forward to Christmas lunch with the Osbornes and everyone else who were going to be there. He said that it had been a very long time since he had been to what he termed a ‘family’ Christmas.

  He said goodbye and she set off again only to be assailed by a friend of Mrs Henshaw who called to her to wait as she wanted a word with her about the good doctor. The colonel looked out of his window and had seen everyone stopping Liza as she tried to get home and seeing this last person and also seeing the tired look on Liza’s face made him get up from his chair, go to his door and say to Ben, “Lieutenant, will you please go and rescue Liza and get her buggy from the stable so that she can finally get home. She looks as if she is going to collapse.”

  “Good heavens, hasn’t she made it home yet? Yes, sir, I’ll get her on her way,” said Ben and off he went. He could see that the latest person with her was not going to stop talking quickly, so he rushed off to the stable and brought her buggy to her which immediately stopped the woman mid-conversation. Liza looked thankfully up at Ben who helped her into the seat. He tipped his hat to the woman and led Liza’s buggy towards the gate.

  “The colonel noticed that you were still here. One of these days Liza you are going to have to say that you’re too busy or tired to stand talking; you’re going to have to learn not to be so polite. Are you going to be all right getting home? It’s nearly dark now. I’ll take you if you like, just let me get my horse, it won’t take a minute.”

  “Oh no, Ben, that’s so kind of you but you know it only takes five minutes to get home and I’ll be fine. I do appreciate you bringing my buggy to me; it got me out of difficulty. Thank you,” said Liza.

  It did only take her five minutes to reach home. She unhitched the pony but couldn’t find the strength to put the buggy in its right place. She was worried as she really didn’t feel too well and she was annoyed at herself as she should have called in to see Dr Steele, but seemed to run out of time to do that. She knew that Patrick was going to read her the riot act for not looking after herself properly and rightly so.

  She came in through the back door and found Kathy and Joe entertaining the boys whilst they were at their supper. They had come to tell her that so far they had found $720 at the doctor’s house in various places in the kitchen and dining room. The next day they were going to go through all his books to see if he had hidden anything in those. They still had the sitting room and surgery to look through and then they would start in the bedrooms. They had given the money to Gabriel as they did not want to be responsible for that much cash.

  “Are you all right, Liza, you look very tired?” asked Kathy.

  “Yes, I’ve had a very busy day today and I do feel that I want to put my feet up and rest for a while,” she said as she sat in the rocking chair by the fire.

  Kathy and Joe left telling her that they would start at the doctor’s early the next day. They passed Patrick on the way and he had Dr Steele with him. When they came in Liza could see that Patrick was annoyed at her; she knew that he would be, but she was relieved to see that Dr Steele was with him. She really was beginning to feel quite unwell.

  Before the doctor could examine her, Gabriel arrived to take Si home and to tell her that he had paid the doctor’s money into the bank and that he’d see her the next day.

  “Liza,” said Dr Steele, “is it always like this for you? Do you ever get any peace?”

  “It’s just been a difficult day, but I’m glad you’re here. I meant to see you today, but I ran out of time,” said Liza.

  Liza could see that Patrick was still annoyed at her. He took the boys up to their room whilst the doctor examined her.

  “The colonel sent young Lieutenant Webber to tell me that he didn’t think you looked very well and suggested that I accompany Patrick home so that I could make sure you were all right. I can see that you aren’t. Do you feel as sick as you look?”

  Liza nodded; she was beginning to feel rather sick. Patrick came into the room as the doctor asked her what she had eaten that day to which she had to admit that she hadn’t yet eaten. She thought that Patrick was going to explode, but he kept his thoughts to himself and she knew that he was going to really be annoyed with her when they were alone and she didn’t feel up to a tirade from him.

  Just for a minute she thought she was going to cry but managed to control herself. The doctor said, “Liza, you are going to have to rest. You know that you are more delicate than most women when carrying children, so you should look after yourself more than most. I believe that with a lot of rest starting now that you should not have too much difficulty, but I have to warn you that there are two things that are slightly concerning me, one is that your ankles are swollen which means that you must put your feet up much more than you have done and the other concern is that your baby does not seem to be increasing in weight as it should at nearly five months. Are you sure you have your dates correct?”

  “No, I’m pretty sure that my dates are correct, but I suppose I could be wrong,” said Liza.

  “She’s not wrong, doctor,” said Patrick. “Are you saying that there is a problem with the child?”

  “Not really. It doesn’t seem to be growing as much as other babies but it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a problem. There are people who are described as petite and you’ll probably find that you will be having a daughter who will be small boned and beautiful,” said Dr Steele. “Now, please have something to eat and get yourself to bed and try to stay there for the next couple of days until Christmas Day and then just get up for your Christmas lunch which I understand is at Kathy and Joe’s, so you won’t have to do too much, just eat it,” said Dr Steele.

  “I’ll call in to see you tomorrow,” he said as Patrick showed him to the door. When they were out of Liza’s hearing, Patrick asked him if he really thought that everything was all right both with Liza and the baby.

  “I can’t say that I’m altogether happy with the way her pregnancy is progressing, but with all that happened to her in the past, that is to be expected. Everything sounds fine but I am concerned that she seems more tired than is normal. I did see her going here there and everywhere at the fort today and I have heard that she has sorted out Dr Bridges and seen him settled with Mrs Henshaw as well as organised his money at the bank. That is just too much for one day in her condition. I believe she has also somehow got Captain Graves and his wife talking again which was no mean feat under the circumstances.”

  Patrick bade the doctor farewell and returned to Liza. She was sitting at the table and Zelma was serving dinner for them both, she was going to get the boys to bed and have her own meal later in her home as she knew that Patrick was not pleased and needed to lay down some rules for Liza to follow for the sake of her health.

  He stood for a minute or two looking down at Liza; he was very annoyed at her for not looking after herself. She was attempting to eat but was finding it difficult as she was so near to tears. Patrick sat down next to her and was about to tell her how stupid she was and it was about time she thought of herself and her baby before she thought of anyone else, but he stopped himself when he realised how frail and worried she looked and instead he put his arm around her shoulder and this act of kindness when she had been expecting a tirade just made her cry pitifully.

  “I’ve seen you like this before, Liza and it was just as we were setting out on our lives together. I made a vow then that I would look after you and all I can say is that I haven’t made a very good job of doing that. You know that I thought that there would not be enough to keep you occu
pied here; I’ve already told you that I was wrong about that, but what does concern me is that whereas the businesses that you have both in Belfast and New York are very big, you do have people to successfully run those; here there is nobody but you. You are asked every single detail of everything this town does or wants to do. What did they do before you came here? They must have been capable of making decisions,” said Patrick.

  Liza shrugged her shoulders; she couldn’t answer because she was crying at the same time as trying to eat.

  “Gabriel is the only one who seems capable of making a decision and taking some weight from your shoulders. He’ll have to take a bit more responsibility over the next few months, as you have got to look after yourself, Liza, and our baby,” said Patrick.

  “Yes, you’re right,” she said quietly.

  “Come on then Liza, dry your eyes and let’s eat our meal and then let me put you to bed,” which he always said when he wanted to make her smile.

  She suddenly felt a great deal better and made valiant efforts to eat what was in front of her. “I think I’d like you to put me to bed,” she smiled at him cheekily.

  “Yes, you need to get some sleep,” said Patrick also smiling. “I hear you have managed to get Captain Graves back talking to Bea. He was in a much better mood when I got back from the patrol. I can’t say that he was jumping up and down with joy, but I did notice him going off to their quarters as I was leaving.”

  “That’s good,” was all Liza would say.

  When they had finished their meal, Patrick lifted her up and carried her up to bed. He helped her out of her clothes and into her nightdress, turned down the covers and lifted her into bed. “I like putting you to bed,” he whispered to her. She could hear the boys in the other room and was about to go in and say goodnight to them, but Patrick stopped her. “It won’t do them any harm to miss out on one of your stories for one night. I’ll go in and settle them down. Don’t worry about them; they’re just excited about Christmas being so close. I’ll come back and keep you company in a little while.”