Felicity had picked herself up and was shouting that she was going to have the colonel arrested for assault; the colonel grabbed Felicity by the arm and marched her off to his quarters and shoved her inside. Gabriel turned to Laurie and whispered to her, “Where did you hear that Liza had died?”
“We didn’t, I don’t know what she was talking about. I know that the whole town is showing concern for Liza Kelly, but nobody has said that she had died,” said Laurie Cuzins who now had Corporal Shaw by her side. He told her that it would be better if she left and that he would see her later.
Sean was on his horse and said that he was going to find out if there was any truth in what had been said and that he would be back as soon as possible.
The boys and Rachel were still in their own circle and their own world; tears were running down both Matthew’s and John’s faces with Si and Rachel murmuring to them, but they too were crying. Bea and the captain also had arms around them. Gabriel came across and said that there didn’t appear to be any truth to the story and Sean was on his way to see Liza at this moment.
“I want to go home,” said Matthew and John and Si nodded in agreement. “I want to go with them,” said Rachel, and all three boys nodded again.
Ada finally came to the fore. “Let’s collect up all our bits and pieces, and the captain can use his buggy, which is bigger than yours, and by the time we have organised all that, Uncle Sean will be back with good news, I’m sure and you’ll then be on your way back.” She was praying that she was right and that the news was going to be good.
Poor Bea had gone to a great deal of trouble to organise a lovely tea for Gabriel and the boys, but they naturally were not going to take advantage of it.
The colonel appeared from his quarters with a face like thunder and he came over to the boys and Rachel and said, “My stupid and wicked daughter has heard no such thing about Liza, for some outrageous reason she lied. I’m sorry that you’ve been so upset boys and Rachel, of course. I see you’re getting ready to go home, probably very wise. Are you going with them, Ada?”
“No, I have one or two things to do now, but I’ll be coming to visit later, are you going, Bea?” said Ada.
“I have to feed Judith first and I will also visit later, perhaps we could go together, Ada? Marshall is going to take them all home once Sean gets back,” said Bea.
With that Sean rode in and jumped off his horse virtually before it had come to a halt. He went straight to the boys, crouched down and said, “I’ve seen your mother and she’s fine and you have a little sister who has only been born within the last half hour. Your mother is very tired but she wants to see you all as soon as she can. Your father has suggested that you come back and go to Dr Tom’s house and wait there until your mother can see you, which won’t be too long.”
Brigeta bent down and gently mopped all the children’s eyes and told them to get ready and do as their father said and they would be able to see their mother and sister shortly.
Gabriel pulled Sean to one side as Ada and the colonel approached them. Gabriel asked, “Is she really all right, Sean? It hasn’t been easy.”
“Liza is exhausted, but seems to be fairly well under the circumstances. Unfortunately the little girl is very unwell and nobody is very hopeful for her,” said Sean.
“Will you apologise to both Patrick and Liza for how the children were upset. It was totally unforgiveable,” said the colonel. “We were all having such a good afternoon too.”
The boys and Rachel were bundled into the captain’s buggy and as Gabriel was about to drive his buggy out of the gates Bea came running up with a basket and in it were many of the tasty items that she had prepared for the boys’ tea.
At Hannah’s, the boys and Rachel snuggled up together on a couch and the twins seemed to sense how upset they had been and they sat on the floor at their feet. Ellen was keeping watch over them, whilst the captain and Gabriel were talking to Hannah. She was shaking her head and showing outrage at how somebody could treat children in that manner.
“I remember her when she stayed in New York for a short while soon after she was married. Initially she and her husband were invited to many functions, but she was soon being left off the lists for the social scene. She intimated some terrible things about Liza but these were soon scotched by Myra and Henry. She actually didn’t limit her nastiness to Liza, she hardly had a good word to say about anybody, which is not how you conduct yourself anywhere, but to upset the children like that is several steps too far. How are the colonel and Ada?” asked Hannah.
“They’re very distressed and I have never seen the colonel lose his temper before,” said the captain.
“I’m going to see how things are with Patrick and Liza and hopefully, the boys can go and see her soon. They need the reassurance of seeing Liza before they’ll settle,” said Gabriel.
Liza was asleep with little Meg beside her and Patrick was nodding off in one of the rocking chairs when Gabriel called. He spoke to Zelma who knew that something serious had happened at the fort. She had seen Sean ride up as if the devil was chasing him and had heard from Patrick that the silly Felicity Fuller had upset all the children. When Gabriel said that he needed to see Patrick, she came up to the bedroom and gently shook him to wake him, and he went down to see Gabriel.
“The boys really need to be reassured that their mother isn’t dead, Patrick; is she up to them visiting her yet?” asked Gabriel.
“She’ll do it Gabriel, no matter how she feels. She won’t let the boys worry about her; I’ll go and wake her. Go and tell them that I’ll come and get them shortly,” said Patrick.
“Liza,” he said when he went back upstairs after Gabriel had left, “I’m afraid I need you to wake up. The boys are very upset and need to make sure you’re not dead.”
Liza opened her eyes and looked up at him puzzled and he explained what Felicity had said to the boys. “They were really upset thinking that they had lost their mother. She also upset Si and little Rachel reminding them that their mothers were dead. They are all sitting together at Hannah’s with the twins and Ellen watching over them.”
She turned and looked at the baby, “Little Meg is looking less blue at the moment; she’s very quiet. Can you help me to sit up and pass me a comb? I don’t want the children to see me looking like anything other than their mother and aunt. They need a lot of reassurance, don’t they? You’d better let all the children come around and meet little Meg.”
Zelma came and helped tidy up the bed and room and made sure Liza looked relatively well. Both she and Patrick were concerned as they knew that Liza really needed her rest, but the children needed her now more so than at any other time.
Liza was sitting up in bed with little Meg cradled in her arms when Patrick came back with Matthew and John. They peeped in at her and both smiled with relief. “Come on,” said Liza. “You can come up on the bed for a short while, and look at your little sister.”
They gently climbed on either side of her and peered at Meg. “She’s a funny colour,” said Matthew and John nodded in agreement.
Dr Tom appeared in the doorway with Si and Rachel and Liza asked Patrick to take his daughter and show her to them, which he did. They peered at her but were both more interested in seeing Liza. “Come on,” said Liza again, “you two can come up here for a short while also.” So Liza now had four children all vying for her attention sitting on the bed.
Liza looked up and saw Ellen peeping around the doorway. “Come in, Ellen,” said Liza.
“I’ve got the twins with me,” she said.
“That’s good, I’d like to see them,” said Liza and they also came in. They looked at Meg and then turned towards Liza and she told them to come over but said that she had run out of room on the bed, so they leaned up against it, staring at her. They had obviously heard that somebody had said that she was dead and they seemed to be making sure that she wasn’t.
Ellen looked at the baby for a short while and then looked across at L
iza with a frown on her face and Liza thought that it would appear that she had seen a child like that before. Liza just nodded to her and was grateful that Ellen said nothing.
“I hear that not only have you got a lovely tea waiting for you at Dr Tom’s but Aunt Bea also sent all the nice things that she had arranged for you, so you all have a great deal to eat,” said Patrick and there was a sudden movement from Liza’s bed and shouts of ‘bye’ as six children rushed down the stairs with their only thought being tea time goodies. Ellen and Dr Tom were slowly leaving when Matthew’s face appeared around the doorway. “John and I would like to come and see you before we go to bed tonight, will that be all right?”
“Of course, I’d like that,” said Liza and off he went again, the call of food too great not to be answered.
Tears suddenly fell from Liza’s eyes, “What a horrible thing to do to children. How could she do that? She really isn’t normal.” By this time Liza was sobbing bitterly and Patrick placed little Meg in Zelma’s arms and went to Liza to try to comfort her. “It really hurts me when somebody hurts them.”
Ellen and Dr Tom quietly left the room nodding to Patrick and Zelma. The doctor was aware that only Patrick could make her feel better now.
“They’re very happy now, Liza. Have you noticed that Rachel has become one of the gang, ‘even though she’s only a girl’ as our boys would say? She was quite a comfort to them, as they were to her,” said Patrick.
It had only been two hours since little Meg had been born and Patrick and Zelma settled Liza back down in bed and put the baby next to her again. She was tired but had really been upset by the injustice of what had happened to the children.
“How are the colonel and Ada?” she asked Patrick.
“From what I can gather, for once, the colonel lost his temper and slapped Felicity hard twice and pushed her into his quarters. I don’t know what happened after that apart from Felicity shouting that she was going to get the colonel arrested for assault. I think Ada and Bea are planning to visit later, but if you’re asleep, they’ll understand,” said Patrick.
“I’m not sure that I’m going to sleep again for a while,” said Liza.
***
Laurie Cuzins took Corporal Shaw’s advice and went to her home. She lived in a small house at the back of town near Mrs Henshaw. Walking was her only means to get to her house, she didn’t possess a horse or buggy and therefore she held her head up, put her shoulders back and walked out of the fort leaving chaos behind her.
Corporal Bart Shaw called on her when he was finally off duty that afternoon. He was fond of her, but had no desire to make an honest woman of her. She provided a release for his needs and for that he made sure that she had adequate funds.
“Laurie,” he said after she had satisfied his needs and he was resting comfortably in bed. “You’re doing yourself no favours befriending the colonel’s stupid daughter. If you think she is going to bring you respectability then it won’t work. Befriending Liza Kelly would be much better for you.”
“Liza Kelly wouldn’t give me the time of day,” said Laurie Cuzins. “She would remember my friendship with Frank Wyley. I gave her a rough time when she first came to Benson at a meeting about the school.”
“I bet she stood up to it though. I know she made me look stupid at the last meeting,” he said and laughed.
“I’m surprised you can laugh at it, Bart. She does have the ability to think quickly and you didn’t come out of it at all well,” said Laurie.
“No, I didn’t, but there have been many times since that she has let me say what I want and she’s acted as if I have won a round with her. Whether I have or not, I don’t know, but she’s let me think that I have. I sometimes think that she waits for me to come at her and enjoys answering back,” said Bart Shaw.
“I really find it hard to believe what Felicity said to those children today. I could understand if she tried to hurt adults, but telling children that their mother is dead is something normal people just don’t do. Even if she had heard that Liza was dead, you just don’t break the news to her children. But she hadn’t heard anything of the kind, I was with her the whole time and the only thing being said was people wondering how Liza Kelly was.”
“Anyway, the choice is yours, Laurie. You can be seen prancing around town with one of the most unpopular women in Benson, or you can go back to being yourself and making the best of what you’ve got. One small piece of advice, Laurie, if you say good morning to Liza Kelly, she will always say good morning back to you, do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?” said Bart Shaw.
“You’re not trying to tell me that just by saying good morning to Liza Kelly I’m going to become her very best friend because I know that’s not possible,” said Laurie.
“No, that would be going too far; I’m saying that it would be a good idea if you stopped being cosy with too many people who are disliked by the majority of people in this town and started at least nodding to those who are liked. It may not put you on the social list, but it will make life a little better for you and gain a few smiles in your direction,” said Bart Shaw.
“I have found it fascinating listening to the life Felicity has had in Belfast and New York. I suppose it’s because she has so much money she has been able to do so much,” said Laurie.
Corporal Bart Shaw laughed and shook his head. “It’s amazing what I can hear around the fort. She has no money no matter how she acts. Her husband kicked her out because of her adultery with some man or other and he cut her off without a cent. She turned up in New York and got into debt and Liza Kelly had to bail her out as she owed more than even the colonel could afford.”
“How do you know all that?” asked Laurie.
“Because sometimes I make sure that I’m around when I know that something interesting is being discussed. If you breathe a word about this to anyone, you’ll have to find someone else to pay your bills for you, Laurie, and I mean that. As I said before, do yourself a favour and keep away from that woman, she’ll only get you in trouble,” said Bart Shaw. “Mind you, I wouldn’t mind getting to know her, if you know what I mean?”
***
The boys, Rachel and the twins enjoyed their lavish tea at Dr Tom’s and they could be heard playing happily, their previous upset forgotten for the moment.
Matthew and John came to say goodnight to Liza, Patrick and their new sister. Si and Rachel peeped around the bedroom door and Liza called them in to say goodnight and they all went off happily, the three boys to Gabriel’s and Rachel back to the fort with the captain.
Ada and Bea, together with Judith, had called in earlier and stayed a short while so that they didn’t tire Liza out too much.
Once again Liza settled down to sleep and little Meg was in the cradle that Charlie Penn had made especially for her. Liza had fed her, although she didn’t seem too interested in being fed. Patrick sat in one of the rocking chairs saying that he would watch over them for a while.
Liza spent a relatively comfortable night. Little Meg was quiet and when Liza woke, she was being cradled in Patrick’s arms. Zelma had been in and changed her and fed her a small amount of her special concoction, which always seemed to work on babies. Liza’s milk hadn’t yet started to flow.
It was Sunday morning and the boys came around from Gabriel’s to see how their new baby sister was. Si referred to her as his sister also and nobody discouraged him from doing that. Dr Tom called in on his way to church to see how everyone was. He checked Liza and Meg and said to Patrick that they were both as well as could be expected and that he would call in again later. The boys were also being taken to church by Gabriel and they were all going to have lunch at Kathy’s afterwards, leaving Zelma and Patrick to organise lunch for themselves and Liza.
Patrick could hear people making their way to church and then it was relatively quiet and he assumed all that were going had arrived and the service must have started. Sean rode up; he was also going to Kathy’s for lunch. Sean was naturally
asking after both Liza and Meg as well as discussing how the boys were after the previous day’s events.
“You know Sean,” said Patrick. “In the years that I have known Liza she has defied death on so many occasions and I believe that there have also been other such times in the past. She has survived against all the odds and I just pray that her luck doesn’t run out. Having this child is just another frightening example…” Patrick stopped mid-sentence and went rushing up the stairs calling out to Liza as he went.
In the bedroom he found Liza trying to get out of bed and she was losing a great deal of blood, and the flow was beginning to run onto the floor. Patrick yelled down the stairs for Sean to get the doctor and that he was in church. He also yelled for Zelma to come up and help him.
Sean had no alternative but to make a very dramatic entrance into the church, which interrupted George’s sermon. He rushed up to Tom and whispered to him that he was urgently needed by Liza. The doctor left, just stopping off at his house to pick up his bag, got to Liza’s house and ran up the stairs two at a time. What he had feared would happen was taking place; the rest of the afterbirth had come away and she was haemorrhaging severely, Liza’s life was now very much in danger.
Kathy came rushing up the stairs to see what she could do to help. She found Patrick and the doctor lifting the foot of the bed and propping it up. There seemed to be too much blood for anyone to do anything to help. Patrick lost any self-control that he may have had, demanding that something was done to stop what was happening. Zelma looked around at everyone and saw that it seemed up to her to deal with the situation. She disappeared downstairs and came back up with two strange concoctions. By this time Liza was unconscious and Patrick was cradling her in his arms trying to wake her up.
Against All Odds Page 50
