Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  The corporal thought about this and had to admit to himself that the lieutenant was right. “I’ll give you a week then, Lieutenant. How’s your shoulder?” he asked.

  “Come on, Corporal, you don’t care how my shoulder is, so why bother to ask. I’d like to see Lieutenant Kelly now, just to make sure you haven’t already killed him,” said Paul Southern. If Patrick had heard the lieutenant, he would have been pleased with the way he was conducting himself, especially as he was in considerable pain.

  The corporal nodded and Paul made his way over to where Patrick was sitting having his wounds treated by the soldier who would be staying with him. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant, this is my fault; I’m afraid I nodded off and they took advantage of that. They’re sending me back with a ransom message for your wife. I don’t think that I have much choice but to carry out their instructions. By the way,” he whispered, “where’s our scout?”

  “Don’t you worry about him, Lieutenant, he’ll be working for us at the moment, you just get yourself back safely to Benson and I wouldn’t mention that you went to sleep on duty, it probably was only for a second and the fault isn’t yours, it’s the two privates who have turned away from the army. How’s your shoulder; I think it’s just as well that you’re going back. Did the bullet go right through?” asked Patrick.

  “It really just went through the fatty part of the top of my arm. It looks much worse than it is and my soldier has done a good job bandaging it. He’s coming with me in the morning; he’ll be relieved to be leaving here. Your face is looking the worse for wear,” said Paul Southern.

  The soldier who was trying to attend to Patrick’s wounds told Paul that he thought that Patrick had a few cracked ribs also, but he had nothing to bandage them with so he thought that he would have an uncomfortable ride the next day.

  “Paul, I’ll ask you not to tell Liza that I’ve been hurt; there’s no need to worry her more than she’s going to be already. I’ll just look forward to letting her pamper me when I get back. Just give her my love and tell her that I’ll see her soon,” said Patrick and Paul nodded.

  Patrick then leaned back and closed his eyes and wondered what their scout was doing to get them out of this problem. Fort Walker was quite near so he may well have gone there for help. Patrick thought it strange that nobody from that fort seemed to be looking for these men, so he surmised that probably none of them were from there. He hoped that his ribs wouldn’t stop him moving fast should the need arise. And then he thought about Liza and how worried she was going to be, he hoped that he was going to see her again, but nothing could be guaranteed with these men.

  In the morning Paul and his loyal private mounted their horses and went on their way having once again been told, in no uncertain terms, what was wanted of them. When they had been travelling for about two hours, the scout intercepted them asking them what they were doing. Paul told him about the ransom and where they were taking Patrick. In turn, he told them that the men at Fort Walker didn’t seem too interested and just said that they would ensure that one of their usual patrols looked in the area, he was, however, on his way to get help from another source and he said nothing further, he just told them to carry on to Benson but he would be bringing some help. They went on their way again but decided that they had to think and act as if help could only be from them.

  ***

  Liza was busying herself whilst Patrick was away. On this particular mission Liza felt very uneasy for Patrick and when three days had passed, she thought that they would have received some news back from the patrol. Patrick had said that if they found a definite track to follow then he could be away for a while, but Liza knew that there was no track to follow in the direction Patrick was heading. She hoped that he wouldn’t then try to go in the right direction, but of course, he had the half-breed scout with them and he would never lead them in that direction.

  On the morning of the fifth day that Patrick had been gone, Liza was getting ready to go to the fort to help Ada, Bea, Brigeta and several other women start organising the large function room for the annual Christmas party. They were also going to finalise the amount of food and refreshments that were going to be needed as they now knew exactly who would be attending. The boys had gone to school and they would be breaking up at the end of the week for the Christmas holidays. Zelma was pottering in the kitchen area making sure that everything was in order for when the boys got in and then she was going to spend some time with Kathy, who had Mrs Tolany and Mrs Dornberg visiting, and they were also going to discuss who was providing what for the Christmas party and Zelma and Kathy would then liaise with the ladies at the fort, so that there would be no doubling up of refreshments.

  Liza slowly came down the stairs and went into Zelma and one look at her told Zelma that something was worrying Liza. “What is it, Liza? Something’s bothering you.”

  “I have a very worrying feeling that something has happened to Patrick. I suppose I’m just being silly. I’ll get off to the fort now and try to put it out of my mind,” said Liza, but the feeling persisted no matter how much she tried to tell herself that there was nothing to worry about.

  She’d had lunch with Ada and discussed the arrangements for the arrival of Ada’s granddaughter before going back to the function room to help with the organisation of where all the tables and chairs would be going and which table would take the food and which the drink.

  Liza heard the door open and she closed her eyes and stayed with her back to the door, but she knew that whoever it was had come for her. Ada touched her shoulder and when she turned, she saw Ben walking slowly towards her. She almost fell as she took her first step towards him and Ada kept her upright. Her face went an unhealthy shade of grey but she thought that it wasn’t possible that he could be dead, she would definitely know if he was.

  Seeing how she was reacting, Ben immediately said. “Liza, he’s not dead, but he is in trouble and the colonel and captain both need to see you.”

  Liza nodded as she breathed a sigh of relief and went to leave the room with Ben. “I’m coming with you, Liza,” said Ada and once again Liza just nodded.

  It seemed a very long walk to the colonel’s office and when she arrived, she found not only the colonel and captain but also Lieutenant Southern and one of the privates who had gone on the assignment with Patrick. Paul Southern had a nasty wound at the top of his arm. He looked very ill and in considerable pain and the private looked very weary.

  “Sit down Liza,” said the colonel and as she did, Sean burst into the office and stood at the back with Ben. Ada also seated herself. “I have to tell you that Patrick has been taken by some renegades or deserters or whatever they are called. Lieutenant Southern tells me that they came across them and were escorting them back to their fort when two of our men decided to join them and went about arming them. In the scuffle Lieutenant Southern was wounded.”

  “Has Patrick been hurt?” asked Liza aiming her question to Paul Southern.

  “No, he’s fine and he sends you his love and said that he would see you soon,” said Paul.

  Liza looked at him and then said, “You’re not a very good liar, Lieutenant. I suppose he told you to tell me that. He’s been hurt, hasn’t he?”

  Lieutenant Southern just looked down and didn’t answer as the colonel butted in. “They say that they will release him and the private with him if you pay them $10,000.”

  “What makes them think that I can do that, Patrick wouldn’t have told them anything about us? I suppose one of our soldiers did,” said Liza who was already working out in her mind where she was going to get that amount of cash from. It was a drop in the ocean in comparison with what she did have, but her money was invested in property and businesses. She would have to get it from the bank and then have it reimbursed to wherever it had been drawn from.

  The colonel was saying something to her and she hadn’t heard what he had said. “I’m sorry, Colonel; what was it you said?” she asked.

  “I said that I don
’t advocate that you pay them, Liza,” he said and Liza stopped him.

  “I know; what you really wanted to say was that if I pay them they’ll probably kill him anyway. They may not, Colonel so I have to take that risk, don’t I?” she said. “Do they want me to take it to them?”

  “No, Liza, they haven’t asked for that. They want it taken to a town on the way to the Mexican border and we have five days left to get it to them,” said the colonel.

  “That’s cutting the timing very fine,” said Liza and she turned to Paul Southern and said, “Is he very badly hurt, Lieutenant?”

  “No, but he did take a few punches because he refused to write a ransom note to you,” said Paul purposely not saying that he probably had some cracked ribs. “We bumped into our scout soon after we left their camp and he said that he was going to get help from somewhere as the people at Fort Walker were less then helpful. I don’t know what he meant, but he seems very loyal.”

  For the first time Liza smiled, “Well, don’t be surprised if there are a few more scalps hanging on poles, I just hope they recognise friend from foe.”

  One or two in the room were mystified by the look of relief that had appeared on Liza’s face.

  “I must go to the bank, Colonel; who will be assigned to this?” asked Liza.

  “I will,” said both the captain and Sean in unison.

  “We’ll leave as soon as you have the money, Liza, but I’m hoping that it won’t have to be used,” said the captain.

  Liza got up to leave and Ben said, “I’ll drive you, Liza; you don’t want to be carrying that much around by yourself.”

  Ada had said nothing throughout this time until now, “I’ll see you when you get back here, Liza, and Lieutenant Southern you had better get to the hospital before you collapse, and you too, Private. Should the captain or the colonel need any more information, they can visit you there.”

  Liza left the colonel’s office with Ben and found that she was running towards the stables as was Ben and when she got into her buggy Corporal Shaw ran up. “Is it true, Liza, has Lieutenant Kelly been taken by deserters? I’ve heard a rumour.”

  Ben was surprised at the familiarity of the corporal. Liza told him that he had heard correctly.

  “Right,” said Corporal Shaw, “I’ll go with the patrol to help find him.” And he was off running towards the colonel’s office.

  “That was strange,” said Ben but they were by then driving rapidly towards town.

  “When I get to the bank, it’s going to take me a little while to organise getting the cash, so while I do that, can you find Zelma and tell her what’s going on, but not to worry the boys. Also Kathy and Joe should know as well as Gabriel. You’ll probably find that Zelma could already be with Kathy. By then I should be ready and I’ll wait for you inside the bank,” said Liza.

  Mr Pembroke was horrified at what was being asked of Liza and equally horrified that Patrick was in such danger. “You know that they may take the money and not free Patrick.”

  “Yes, I’m well aware of that and thank you for not saying what was really on your mind. I have to take that risk and pray that he will come home safely,” said Liza. Even she couldn’t admit again that they could kill Patrick regardless of the fact that they had the money. This was all she could do to help.

  “Doing this is going to stretch this bank until further funds can be brought in, Liza. I just hope that nobody wants to withdraw anything too large in the next week or so,” said Mr Pembroke.

  “We are all hoping that we can get to him without having to pay this ransom, so it may all come back to you shortly,” said Liza.

  Ben arrived back at the bank saying that Zelma, Kathy and Gabriel wanted to come and see her, but he had persuaded them that they were in too much of a hurry now and that they would see her later. Mr Pembroke wished them luck and they were then on their way back to the fort. As they went through the gates, a patrol was ready and waiting. A sergeant was shouting and started leading the men out of the fort; Corporal Shaw was with them and Liza acknowledged him.

  Sean and the captain had their horses ready but went back into the colonel’s office with Liza and Ben. She handed them the money and they divided it between them and placed it carefully in their saddle bags. They had specific details of where Patrick had last been seen from both Paul Southern and the private and they had two Indian scouts going with them to establish the trail.

  Liza was standing in the office feeling useless. “I don’t suppose you’d entertain my going with you, would you?” she asked.

  Sean went over to her and put a hand on each of her shoulders. “Liza, we have to move fast and much as you may be able to keep up with us, we really don’t want to have to worry about you. And you know that Patrick wouldn’t want you put in any danger.”

  “I’ll be more brutal, Liza; you’ll slow us down and that will put Patrick in more danger than he is already. I know it’s going to be hard for you to hang around doing nothing, but I’m afraid that’s what you’re going to have to do. Don’t worry, we’ll tell him that we stopped you coming to rescue him, and that you send your love,” smiled the captain.

  He and Sean saluted the colonel, Sean kissed Liza on the cheek and they both left, mounted their horses and were off through the gates at high speed leaving Liza standing not knowing what to do. Ada appeared and led her away to her quarters where Bea was waiting for her.

  “What would you like to do, Liza; you know you can stay here as long as you like,” said Ada.

  Liza sat down and accepted the cup which was put in her hand. Was it tea or coffee, she didn’t know; her mind was so far away trying to think of what Patrick must be feeling.

  “Thank you both,” said Liza, “but in a little while, I think I would like to go home, hopefully before the boys get home. I’m just concerned that they will hear from somebody else and you know what rumours can be like, it makes the situation appear worse than it already is.”

  “I’ll get either Ben or Lieutenant Denton to take you home, Liza. I don’t think you should travel back alone. Let’s go over to Eugene’s office and see what can be arranged,” said Ada kindly.

  Liza nodded and when they arrived back at the office the colonel put an arm around her and said, “You know that Patrick is very resilient and also very experienced, he won’t let anyone get one over on him for too long. I’m sure he’s already got himself out of trouble,” said the colonel.

  Liza smiled at him and said, “Thank you, Colonel; it’s very kind of you to try to make me feel better. I’ll only feel better when I see Patrick riding through those gates.”

  Ben had already left the office so Lieutenant Denton was summoned to escort Liza home. He hitched his horse to the back of her buggy and drove her home.

  “Paul feels awful about your husband; he blames himself for all the problems,” said the lieutenant.

  “He’s no need to do that. The two deserters are the ones to blame. Tell him not to worry, I’m sure Patrick doesn’t consider there is any blame attached to him,” said Liza.

  They soon arrived home and Liza invited him in for tea or coffee, but he declined saying that he wanted to be back at the fort just in case there was any news. Liza was quite pleased that he was leaving as she wanted to be just with her family at the moment.

  Zelma and Gabriel were there and the boys were due any minute. “Is there any news, Liza?” asked Zelma.

  “No, not yet; the patrol only left a short while ago. Both the captain and Sean are leading it. Corporal Shaw volunteered and so he and one of the sergeants are also with them,” said Liza.

  The boys rushed in from school and Liza and Gabriel told them to sit down at the table as there was something that they needed to know.

  Three sets of eyes looked from Liza to Gabriel and Liza started talking to them. “I wanted to tell you this before anyone else started to say anything to you which wasn’t exactly as it should be. Your daddy, and of course, Si, your Uncle Patrick, is with some undesirable pe
ople and your Uncle Sean and the captain and some men have gone to get him back. It’s going to take a few days to bring him home so we all have to wait patiently for him. In the meantime, I’m getting everything ready for Christmas and looking forward to when your daddy will be here.”

  “Is he a prisoner, Mummy?” asked Matthew.

  “Well, those men don’t want him to leave just yet, but they say they are going to let him go soon,” said Liza smiling reassuringly at the boys.

  The boys’ supper was ready and they sat eating it in silence, which was unusual for them. Liza, Zelma and Gabriel talked about everything but the events of the day, and when the boys had finished, they went up to their bedroom and Liza could hear them talking quietly. After a short while, she could hear them playing so perhaps they were not too worried; which was what she had tried to achieve.

  “Sean and the captain know where he is, don’t they, Liza?” asked Gabriel.

  “To a certain extent; they know where he was last and where they say they want to meet for the money to release him,” said Liza.

  Once again, it wasn’t only Liza who was waiting for news, everyone in the town and at the fort also held their breath. Each day, she went to the fort and spent time with the colonel; she then attempted to concentrate on the arrangements for both the Christmas party and Christmas lunch. She began helping Laurie with articles for the first edition of the newspaper and finally, she devoted her late afternoons and evenings to entertaining the boys. Once or twice she woke and found that she had sleepwalked and she prayed that one of her nightmares wouldn’t return to frighten the boys.

  There was nowhere that she went that people didn’t stop her to ask if there was any news and then one day Ben appeared in the doorway of the print shop. Laurie and Greg stopped what they were doing and Liza looked up and her look of fear immediately disappeared as she saw Ben’s smiling face.