Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  “Yes, I know, doctor; he doesn’t know what he’s saying. He’s quite fit really. Mrs Henshaw is looking after him very well. He seems very happy and she seems to know how to control him. It all seems to be working very well,” said Liza.

  “I wonder how Bea and the captain are getting on with Rachel. I do hope that the children don’t have any living relatives because if they do and they are anything like the parents, I can’t see a very happy future for them,” said Dr Steele.

  “Do you know why the family were coming to Benson, because I can’t see that they had much of a reason to be here,” said Liza.

  “Apparently we needed converting here as our townspeople are an ungodly bunch. We needed to have fire and brimstone hurled down upon us,” said the doctor.

  “I’m sure Reverend Prior would have had something to say about that. Rachel told me just now that this is the first time that she had read a book apart from the Bible and she thought that she was going to be in trouble for reading it. She’s only eight and is very good at reading for her age, so I suppose there was some good to come out of her upbringing so far,” said Liza.

  “Not a great deal, Liza, she’s been beaten quite severely and so was the boy. No wonder she was worried about reading your book, it obviously would have been a punishable offence in her household. I do hope there are no relatives and I hope that the rest of their religious group do not try to claim them,” said Dr Steele.

  “I think we could stop the group from taking them if there are no relatives there, I’m sure Gabriel could come up with some legality, but there is probably nothing that could be done if their family turn up. When are the boy and the parents being buried?” asked Liza.

  “This afternoon, I believe. They had quite a haul of money stashed away in their wagon which means that the undertaker can be paid. So often he has to carry out burials at his own cost or some charitable person helps out. The colonel has the money in his safekeeping for the time being. Their family Bible shows that all the grandparents are dead. There seems to have been a brother but that has been scratched out with great intent, so it seems like there was a black sheep in the family,” said Dr Steele.

  Captain Graves knocked and was invited to enter the doctor’s small office. “She knows of no family members. Her grandparents died before she was born and she was told that the only family she needed were those in the religious group. Of course Bea is delighted, but can we go by what an eight-year-old tells us and one who has had a very unhappy childhood so far?”

  “There does appear to be an uncle according to the family Bible, but he has been scratched out almost to the extent that his name is illegible. If he is, as we suspect, a black sheep of the family, then he must be much nicer than the parents, although there is a possibility that he is dead, and if not, there is no way that we would know where to start to find him,” said the doctor.

  “I think that Bea and I would like to take a chance and take the children into our home and become a family. It would mean so much to us. I’ll see if Gabriel can draw up something that will make our taking them legal, especially if there is a fanatical religious group involved. Will you be seeing Gabriel later, Liza?” asked Captain Graves.

  “Yes, I’ll see him at tea time; shall I ask him to come and see you tomorrow? When will you both be free to see him?” asked Liza.

  “Any time tomorrow will be fine. When can we take Rachel home with us, doctor? Bea has already got her room ready for her,” said the captain.

  “I think you could take her with you now as long as she stays in bed and I’ll visit her every day. I have to warn you though, Marshall, not to be surprised by the marks on her; she has been badly beaten in the past, as was her brother. It is something that you will have to deal with as she may be more fearful than most of her age and it will take time for her to realise that she can do things such as reading a book without being beaten. These things can have a permanent effect on children, can’t they, Liza?” said Dr Steele.

  Captain Graves frowned at Liza, and Dr Steele qualified what he had said by telling the captain that Liza had had some experience with abused children in Ireland.

  “It’s not something that I shout about, doctor, but yes I do know about abused children and I’ll do what I can to help,” said Liza.

  “I’m sorry Liza, I didn’t realise that you kept quiet about the charity that you formed in Ireland. Dr Tom told me what you had done, he obviously didn’t realise that you hadn’t mentioned it here,” said Dr Steele.

  “I won’t say anything, Liza, if you don’t want me to, but any help you can give in that respect we would be grateful for. I’ll go and tell Bea the good news and relieve Ada of the little one, although I think she quite likes looking after her. Will you come across also, Liza, I know Bea will be pleased to see you there,” said the captain.

  Liza smiled and nodded, saying that she would be there in a short while. She wanted to reassure Dr Steele that she wasn’t offended by his understandable imparting the knowledge of her charity.

  There was a look of utter joy on Bea’s face when Liza looked out of the doctor’s office and little Rachel looked just as happy. Bea and the doctor wrapped the little girl up in blankets and Marshall lifted her up and carried her to her new home. Liza and the doctor walked behind them not wanting to intrude on their happiness but the doctor wanted to make sure Rachel was settled comfortably in her bed.

  “When you’ve seen this done you’re going to go home and rest, aren’t you Liza? You’re looking a little tired again and Patrick will not only tell you off, he’ll also tell me off and rightly so,” said Dr Steele.

  “Yes, I must get back before the boys are home from school. Oh Lord, here comes Patrick. I don’t look too bad, do I doctor?” said Liza as Patrick and his patrol rode in the gate.

  “Well, you don’t look as if you could run a mile, but as I’m with you I’m sure he’ll feel that you are not in any difficulty,” said the doctor as he waved cheerily at Patrick and Liza smiled at him happily and they disappeared into the captain’s quarters.

  “I think I’ll get away with that,” whispered Liza to the doctor, but Dr Steele thought not in a million years.

  Little Judith was happily gurgling on Ada’s lap and Rachel was carefully laid in a warm and cosy bed. Bea was beside herself with pleasure and Marshall was nodding happily. Ada mopped a tear from her eye and when they had all expressed how pleased they were, the doctor, Liza and Ada left the happy family to enjoy their new life, all of them saying they only had to call and help would be on hand.

  Ada went to her home and the doctor to his hospital whilst Liza made her way to the stable for her buggy only to find Patrick leaning up against it with his arms crossed waiting for her and he didn’t look very pleased.

  “If you think that getting the doctor to wave to me and you smiling at me stops me seeing how you look then you really have no idea how to cover your tiredness. How long have you been here?”

  “A little while now. The doctor did check me over whilst I was here and passed me fit, although he did say that I ought to get home and rest after I saw little Rachel home with Bea and Marshall, and that’s what I’m doing now,” said Liza quietly looking at him sideways.

  “That’s not going to work this time, Liza,” said Patrick as he helped her into the buggy. “Just you wait ’till I get home, you’ll be in for it.”

  Liza looked at him and said. “Oh, I do hope so Patrick,” and she giggled as he smiled and smacked her gently on her bottom.

  “You always know how to get round me, don’t you? I’ll see you later and expect to see you sitting in your rocking chair with your feet up, do you promise me?” he said.

  “Yes, I promise,” she said.

  “Good because I know that you always keep your promises,” and he kissed her as he handed her the reins and she drove out of the fort and home.

  Zelma put the buggy away for her and she kept her promise and sat in her rocking chair and put her feet up. When Zelma came i
n, she told her that she had promised Patrick that she would sit there with her feet up and she couldn’t break a promise to him. She told her that at some time she needed to see Gabriel and also Zelma was pleased that Bea and the captain now had their family complete.

  “I bet you haven’t eaten lunch yet,” said Zelma scowling at her. Liza shook her head and went to get out of her chair and Zelma said, “Don’t forget your promise.”

  “Surely getting something to eat doesn’t count,” to which Zelma replied, “Oh yes it does.”

  So soup and bread were placed in front of her and soon after she did actually fall asleep; proving that she was as tired as she looked.

  Before she knew it, the boys were home from school, and Patrick was sitting at the table working on some reports and Gabriel was also there reading through some papers.

  Patrick looked up and said, “I’m pleased to see you kept your promise, but then I knew you would.”

  “I hope I didn’t snore too loudly,” she said.

  “Not too bad, it didn’t stop me working I’m pleased to say,” said Gabriel dryly. It was one of his rare jokes.

  “So Bea and the captain have their family at last,” said Patrick.

  “Yes, that’s what I wanted to see you about Gabriel. It doesn’t appear that there are any grandparents, but there was a brother who has been successfully scratched out of the family Bible, and one which young Rachel has never seen. I know that Bea and Marshall want to legally adopt both the children. Can they do that without permission from a member of the family and what if there are no family members remaining, can they also still legally adopt?”

  “I’ll look into that for them. How old is the girl?” asked Gabriel.

  “She’s eight. Is that relevant?”

  “People are presumed dead if they are missing for seven years. Do you know when the brother was scratched out of the Bible?” asked Gabriel.

  “No, I really don’t know anything further. You’ll have to see Bea and Marshall and also Dr Steele. The family were from a rather fanatical religious group and the concern is that the group may want to take them back, however Dr Steele is worried about the welfare of both children, especially as Rachel and her brother had very noticeable marks of beatings on their bodies,” said Liza.

  “So we may have to bend the rules a little and somehow make sure that the brother has been missing for over seven years. If the brother was scratched out of the Bible then he probably wasn’t as fanatical as the rest of them, so that could be helpful if he eventually turns up. We may be able to make them wards of court because they could be in danger. Leave it to me Liza; the less you know the better,” said Gabriel, who like everyone in the Benson had a gross dislike of child abusers. “I’ll go and see Bea and Marshall tomorrow, don’t worry we won’t let the children be hurt again.”

  “Why were they coming to Benson?” asked Patrick.

  “Apparently we need to be saved as we’re such an unholy town,” said Liza.

  “I’m sure George would have something to say about that,” said Patrick.

  “That’s what I said. Do you know that Rachel is really good at reading, but she had never read anything other than the Bible before and she was very concerned that she was going to be punished for reading my Charles Dickens novel,” said Liza.

  “Some people just shouldn’t have children. Well, at least Bea and Marshall are happy and Rachel must also be now,” said Gabriel.

  Just before supper the boys were asked how their first day at school had gone and they spent half an hour or so telling everyone what they had learned and who was there and what they had played at lunchtime and then supper was ready and once again the adults joined the children for the meal. The boys always liked that as it made them feel quite grown up. Gabriel and Si left for home and the boys went to their room to play for a while before bedtime. Liza and Zelma cleared up and Patrick carried on with his reports for a while.

  “What are your plans for tomorrow, Liza?” asked Patrick.

  “I haven’t seen Kathy and Joe for some time so I thought I’d look in on them tomorrow and perhaps have some lunch there. I’ll also check the doctor’s house and see how Charlie is getting on and then come home and rest and then make sure the boys tea is ready and then concentrate on looking after you. I don’t think that’s too strenuous, do you?” said Liza.

  “I may be home early tomorrow, I’m on a morning patrol and as long as we find nothing untoward, I’ll be finished by lunchtime,” said Patrick.

  “In that case I’ll just visit Kathy and not stay too long and we can have lunch together. That would be nice; we haven’t done that for some time.”

  Liza was aware that Patrick was trying to keep her at home a little more and had organised an early patrol for himself and others at the fort were conspiring with him, but she let him believe that she didn’t realise his scheme.

  Chapter 7

  The next few days passed quickly and at the weekend the snow started and it didn’t stop for days. It didn’t take long for Benson to be snowed in. The school had to close and for a couple of days Patrick couldn’t get home from the fort. Gabriel worked from home and although he tried to clear a way through from their houses, the snow just kept falling and filling where he had cleared. Zelma moved into the spare bedroom but they still had to struggle to get to the stable to make sure that the pony was kept warm and fed.

  After two days Patrick struggled through the drifts and finally reached home. He had been very worried about them all, but especially Liza because if anything happened to her it was doubtful that the doctor could reach her from the fort. No patrols were going out so the captain gave Patrick leave to attempt to reach home whilst the weather was so bad. They couldn’t get to the doctor’s house to keep the fires going and they couldn’t reach the general store for extra goods, but luckily they had stocked up well on food as had Gabriel.

  This was very reminiscent of when Edward had been visiting years ago when he had met Felicity and finally married her. Now she would be returning in the late spring or early summer having created such unhappiness for the Fuller family and Liza wondered how she was going to cope with her being around Benson knowing that Felicity disliked her so much. She would have to try to avoid her as much as possible, which was going to be difficult as Ada was such a good friend.

  The snow was getting worse and both Patrick and Gabriel were getting worried about their horses and it was decided to move Gabriel’s pony and horse in with Patrick’s as they would keep one another warm and it was not easy to get them through the drift from one stable to another but they managed it.

  Gabriel packed all his food and clothes for him and Si and they moved in with Liza and Patrick. Si already had his bed in with the boys and Gabriel had a bed made up in the sitting room which he was also using as his office for the time being. They were all very cosy together but there was no let-up in the weather and the drifts were luckily hitting the front of the house so they could still just about manage to get to the animals and feed them and make sure they were warm enough.

  Liza knew that all the families at the fort would be all right, but she was concerned about Kathy and Joe and some of the others in the town. Every now and again she could hear Charlie Penn next door and often there was sound from where Angela was at the guest house. George was out on a limb at the church and Liza knew that he never planned for the future and she was worried about him. His accommodation was not really comfortable in the winter and one day there was a scratching at their back door and it was George who looked so cold and so thin. He had managed to get to them by walking on walls, although he had fallen occasionally. He had tried to get to the guest house but couldn’t reach the front door but he managed to pull himself through the drifts and up the side way between Charlie’s and Liza’s and virtually collapsed at their back door.

  Having helped him into the kitchen, they sat him in front of the fire where he started to thaw out. A bed was made up for him in the sitting room where Gabr
iel slept and worked. He was given hot soup and Patrick and Gabriel then put him in nightclothes and put him to bed, where he slept for eight hours.

  They were all very relieved that he had arrived because, on the short journey from the church, he could easily have fallen and died of hypothermia. It was a very full house but they were all safe, warm and had enough food for the next week or so, after that somebody would have to brave the elements to reach the general store, but that may not have much in the way of fresh food. There were a few chickens left in with the horses in the stable, and so far they had managed to reach any eggs which were laid but knew that the chickens would be on the menu shortly.

  That night the snow came in again and all in the house were now becoming worried about others in the town. Liza could just about see Kathy and Joe’s upstairs windows from her front bedroom windows and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a candle in their window and she placed one in hers to let them know that they were all alive and well. She presumed that every house was doing the same, so that the whole town was communicating with one another, telling each other that they were alive and well.

  Notes were placed in windows asking about George, which eventually reached them and they were able to let people know that he was safely with them. Liza told George that the people of Benson had been asking about him, and he was very touched by their concern.

  “You seem surprised that people were worried about you, George,” said Liza. “You’re a very much appreciated and loved part of Benson. I think you sometimes forget that it isn’t only God who loves you, but we all do too.”

  “Oh,” was all he seemed to be able to say.

  The boys were becoming a little restless having been cooped up for so many days, but Liza managed to find interesting books to read to them and George often took over for her. Card games became adult entertainment and Liza and Zelma devised interesting dishes to serve at mealtimes, although they were becoming limited for the meat content. They had run out of bread but Zelma and Liza remembered making a type of corn bread in the Indian camp, which although relatively uninteresting by itself, when warm and with either lard or butter and honey, it was very tasty.