Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  When Gabriel had sat down, he found that a twin had sat either side of him, smiling up at him adoringly; each still grasping their spoons. Hasty alterations had to be made to the seating plan to accommodate the change, but Gabriel didn’t seem to mind, he was now used to them suddenly appearing at his side on many occasions in diverse places.

  Liza sat back watching how well the lunch was going, Patrick noticed that she had become very quiet. She was remembering not only those who were missing since last year, but those who had gone since she had arrived in Benson and also those before her arrival. There was James, Frederick and Jonathan and of course, Kate who she doubted would still be alive and she didn’t really want her to be after all this time.

  A tear started to trickle down her cheek and she desperately tried to hide what she was feeling but as always, Patrick came to the rescue and kissed her on both cheeks to take away any sign that she was feeling sad. “Come on, sweetheart,” he whispered, “we’ve got to make this a happy day for everyone.”

  “Yes, you’re right, it should be a happy day, and it is,” and she smiled at him and carried on with making sure everyone was enjoying themselves.

  With the main course finished and the plates cleared, it was time for the plum puddings, and these were brought to the table flaming and a cheer went up, and while Liza, Kathy and Zelma served the adults, Hannah, Laurie and Ellen sorted out what the children wanted for their dessert.

  Presents were next on the list for distribution and there were small gifts for the adults and more meaningful ones for the children, amongst them the boxes for Ellen and the twins. When explained to them that they could be used for their special and most precious belongings, the twins immediately put their spoons in them and instead of putting them safely to one side, they were now walking around with the boxes. Liza said to Hannah that in trying to solve a problem, she now felt that she may have created an even bigger one.

  Several Christmas cakes were placed on the tables, but it was agreed that some time should elapse before they were cut and distributed. Diverse coffee pots were on the fire and anyone who wanted some just helped themselves.

  Liza was helping to tidy the tables when she noticed that Greg Long had appeared and she smiled and welcomed him, knowing that he was taking this opportunity to see Ellen.

  Dr Steele called in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, he had been on duty that day but Liza was pleased that he was now with them and organised some turkey and a few leftover vegetables covered in hot gravy and a portion of plum pudding for afters. She then noticed Jake Smith looking in through the door and she asked him if he had eaten, he looked at what Dr Steele was eating and said that he was a little hungry, so he too was given a meal.

  “I wish we had thought of inviting Jake, I feel a little guilty that he was left out,” said Liza to Kathy.

  “Hmmm,” was all that Kathy said.

  Mr and Mrs Pembroke called in as did Caroline Browne with Greg’s mother and Charlie Penn and his wife.

  “This is nice,” said Liza to Patrick. “It’s turning into a wonderful gathering.”

  Liza became rather puzzled when Ben, Brigeta and both the Otto and Gustav Dornbergs arrived, followed quickly by the Tolanys. Something was happening, and it wasn’t anything that she had organised. She looked at Patrick and he just raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. She caught sight of Archie and Sam Trower moving in from the doorway.

  As was her normal way, Liza was greeting all the new comers as nobody else seemed to take too much notice of them apart from a general nod of acknowledgement in their direction. The children were sitting down on the floor and being told to be quiet by Angela.

  “Come and sit down, Liza,” said Patrick and he led her back to a seat and everyone else found somewhere to sit, whether it was at the table or on the school benches that had been left around the edges of the room.

  “Do you know what’s happening, Patrick?” asked Liza.

  “Yes, I do Liza, just sit back and enjoy it,” he said smiling at her.

  Joe stood up and called everyone to order, which was rather unnecessary as the whole room was already quiet. The colonel was sitting next to him as if whatever was about to happen was a joint enterprise. It seemed that Liza was the only one who had no idea what was happening.

  Joe cleared his throat and started his speech. “Just over seven years ago, a young woman arrived in our town on the stagecoach. She had made the last part of her journey here with my son, Danny, who was travelling back from a time away to study the law. She knew nobody here and her only aim was to reach a place where there was an army post. She needed the safety of such a place as she had been held captive for a long while and was actually afraid for her life.”

  Liza was now sitting frowning and staring down at the table in front of her. She was thinking how embarrassing this was and she was going to tell Patrick exactly what she thought of him for not warning her about what was happening.

  Joe carried on, “There was nothing about Liza that you could dislike. She had been to hell and back but came out the other side smiling. My Danny loved her and in her way, she loved him, but as I said to her once, I knew that she was not in love with him. I think I am right in saying that there is nobody in this room who has not been helped by Liza in one way or another. I know how Kathy and I relied on her when our Danny was killed, to such an extent that she became totally exhausted, especially as she was also trying to sort out any legal problems that arose when Angus took his own life.”

  Joe then said, “but I’m not going to dwell on the sad times but will mention some of the good that has happened since Liza came to town.”

  “Oh,” said Liza in despair.

  “The Dornberg families and the Tolanys now speak perfect English; we have a school and school teacher to be proud of and a church which now has a roof. We have businesses and trades which are now thriving; we have a bank; a newspaper; a health scheme which takes away a great deal of worry and we now have a Town Council to serve the people of this town. All these things have been suggested, organised and in many cases funded by Liza.”

  “Don’t worry Liza, I can see that you are not enjoying all this attention, I don’t intend to go on too much longer but there are people here who want to be mentioned. Without you Liza, they would not be living happily in Benson. There is your good friend Zelma who you nursed through difficult times, there is Gabriel whose son you have treated as your own, Greg Long who you stood up for when nobody else would and his family who were struggling so desperately; Dr Tom and his lovely family who were inspired to come here because of you. There is Mr and Mrs Pembroke who run the bank that you set up, Charlie Penn and his family whose business is thriving because of your input, and Caroline Browne who you have also helped. Archie and Sam Trower are also amongst the many people here who are grateful to you, and of course, Kathy and me who would not have carried on without your encouragement, cajoling and love.”

  “On Christmas morning six years ago, two young lieutenants stood at the back of our church and one of them couldn’t take his eyes off you, Liza; somehow he manipulated an invitation for the two of them to join us for lunch. I believe it made my Danny very jealous, but this young man sat opposite you and it became very obvious that the attraction was not one sided. As they say, the rest is history.”

  “You and Patrick make a very happy couple but this has been a very difficult year for you both. You survived when all the odds were against you and we, all your friends, are very grateful for that. You have helped many of us through very difficult times and I hope we have been able to help you through your sad times. I have been told that the Cherokees call you their green eyed special one and I know that you believe they are wrong, but we believe that they know what they are talking about because you are very special to us and when you were not here, this town seemed to have no purpose.”

  “Anyway, I know the colonel would like to say a few words,” said Joe.

  By now Liza was going through purgator
y and thought, what was the point to this? Everybody was smiling at her and she managed to smile back at them.

  The colonel stood and said, “There is very little I can add to what Joe has already said apart from how much I have always enjoyed being able to talk to you and know that whatever I said would go no further. Ada and I truly appreciate your friendship as I know Captain Graves and Bea and their family do. What you have done in the few years that you have been here is to bring the people of the town and those at the fort together. You make me smile, Liza and you make Ada feel better and because of that we are able to work our way through the tragedy we recently experienced and we are grateful for that. You have never asked for anything in return for all the things you have done for us.”

  The colonel smiled around and sat down and Liza took this as the end. “Thank you, Joe and thank you, Colonel, for your kind words…”

  “We haven’t finished yet, Liza,” said Joe and Liza inwardly groaned.

  “I know that we aren’t a city, perhaps the time will come when we grow enough to be classed as that, but we thought that we would like to present you with something that we have all agreed upon,” and he walked across and handed Liza a box. She stood up and accepted it from him and opened it and smiled with great pleasure.

  “It’s the key to our town, Liza. I know that it’s symbolic and that we aren’t a city, and there isn’t a lock that it would fit but we believe that if anybody should hold the key to Benson, it should be you. It’s silver and we’ve had it engraved especially for you and it’s given with the love and gratitude of all the people of Benson both here in town and at the fort,” said Joe.

  Liza was still standing, she was delighted with her present, somebody started clapping and then another until the whole room were applauding and then suddenly Liza was desperately fighting her emotions. She knew that shortly she would have to respond and thank everybody but she was finding it difficult to hold back the tears and her voice was going to be so unsteady.

  It took a little while but Liza at last managed to gain her composure and gradually the clapping stopped and the room went quiet and everyone was waiting expectantly.

  “There is nothing I can say that can adequately tell you all what I’m feeling at the moment. This means more to me than you can possibly know and I thank you all for such a thoughtful and meaningful gift. You say that I have asked nothing from you all and that’s because there was no need, you have always given without being asked.”

  Patrick thought, Ah, she’s going to turn it away from herself as always and tell everyone that they are the ones to be complimented.

  “You are right, Joe, when I was making my way here I was very frightened but meeting your dear Danny on the way helped allay my fears and my introduction to Benson was the friendly faces of you, Joe, and Kathy who have been such good and supportive friends to me and you are now such good ‘grandparents’ to not only Patrick’s and my boys but to all the Benson children who seem to be increasing at a remarkable rate. You didn’t have to be asked to do any of that.”

  “Colonel, you, Captain Graves and Ben made sure I was safe and secure and Ada and Bea saw me settled in my first proper home in years, providing me with everything that I could need and none of you had to be asked to do that. And my dear friend, Zelma, guards and looks after me and my family with such love and care, and she never had to be asked to do that.”

  “Gabriel, Angela, George, Sean, in fact everyone here has helped me and mine at some time and none of you ever had to be asked to do that. And my darling Patrick gives me everything I could possibly wish for in life and I am so very proud of him and so very lucky to have him.”

  “I really don’t feel that I am deserving of the honour you have extended to me, but I thank you all once again, and tell you that it will stay with me always and be kept in pride of place. Now, I’ll let you all get on and enjoy the rest of the day, and I do feel that the children have excelled themselves with their quietness and must now be aching to start talking again. Once again, thank you all so much, I feel very humble.”

  There was some clapping, some laughing and smiling and a great deal of silent nodding and the colonel stood up again.

  “Liza, we’re not going to let you get away with that. We all predicted that you would tell us that everything was thanks to us and not to you. So we thank you for all your kind words but prefer to see the situation the way that it really is, knowing that we have been able to honour the right person. Just accept that we are right and enjoy the fact that we think so highly of you and let’s get on and eat our Christmas cakes,” said the colonel.

  There was a chorus of ‘here here’ and more clapping and Liza sat and had to accept that she was not going to be allowed to respond negatively to what had been said. Everybody had conspired to keep Liza in the dark and they had done it so well, especially Patrick.

  “How long have you known about this, Patrick?” asked Liza.

  “Since you were arguing against inviting Paul and Rufus and everyone was so pleased you had thought of holding the lunch here, and it worked well that the colonel and captain were finally invited as they were going to come along later anyway,” said Patrick.

  “And I thought I could read what most people were thinking,” laughed Liza and she moved away having seen Dr Bridges and Mrs Henshaw sitting quietly to one side. The doctor was somewhat vague but very calm and extremely happy and Mrs Henshaw was very relaxed and delighted to be able to bring the doctor with her.

  Sean came to join Patrick and they both watched as Liza moved around the room having a word or two with everyone there. Finally, she came and sat with them having helped herself to a slice of cake and some cheese, which was how she liked to eat Christmas cake.

  “Are you enjoying yourself, Liza?” asked Sean.

  “I am now. It was a little unnerving not knowing what was happening and realising that I was the centre of attention for once,” said Liza.

  “You deserve it, Liza,” said Sean.

  “Well, I don’t know about that, but it would be churlish of me to say that they are wrong, especially as everyone has gone to so much trouble and they all seemed to enjoy being part of the presentation. This is one Christmas Day that I’ll never forget,” said Liza.

  “You’re too modest, Liza, but at least everyone knows what you do for them,” said Sean. “Paul and Rufus are enjoying themselves, I see,” and they all looked in their direction and saw that they were laughing and joking with Laurie and the corporal as well as keeping some of the children entertained.

  The Dornbergs and Tolanys had made arrangements to stay the night in Benson. The Tolanys were staying with Gabriel and the Dornbergs were going to be at the fort. Everyone would, therefore, be staying as long as they wanted.

  Finally, at around ten o’clock, with most of the children nearly asleep, and all the leftover food distributed amongst the revellers, especially Paul and Rufus, everyone made their way to their various homes tired but very happy.

  Whilst Patrick stoked the fires which had burned down, Liza and Zelma put two very contented boys to bed. Zelma stayed for a short while before going to her home, leaving Liza and Patrick sitting in their chairs by the fire, thinking about the happenings of the day.

  “I was really taken by surprise today, Patrick. How did everyone manage to keep it quiet and especially you; that surprises me more than anything? I do feel guilty about all the nice things that were said by Joe and the colonel. I really don’t deserve to be held up as such a paragon of virtue, I really don’t,” said Liza almost to herself.

  “Is that because of Mark Kendal, Liza?” asked Patrick quietly.

  Liza looked at him and he could see that she was wrestling with a decision and after a short while she looked away and said nothing.

  “I would have thought that after all the time that we have been together you could have trusted me enough to tell me the truth about Mark,” said Patrick a little sadly.

  Once again Patrick could see that she was
troubled and he felt that she was very close to confiding in him, but the moment passed and she said. “What you don’t know can’t hurt you,” and she smiled at him and he understood that it was her way of protecting him.

  “One day, in the future, you will probably be able to talk to me about it. I know you helped him, Liza,” said Patrick quietly.

  “You know nothing of the sort, Patrick,” smiled Liza. She got up, moved to him and sat on his lap with his arms around her. “I’m very tired but I feel very comfortable sitting here.”

  “Well, we can stay like this for as long as you like, but in a little while we could go and end a perfect day in the perfect way that we normally do. I felt very proud of you today, Liza and I know that you don’t realise it, but you do help very many people here, not least me,” said Patrick.

  Liza yawned and said, “Were you really not able to take your eyes off me that first Christmas?”

  “No, I couldn’t; I still can’t,” said Patrick.

  “That’s nice,” she said and she was now nearly asleep, so Patrick lifted her up and carried her up to bed, “Hmmm, your ribs must be getting better,” she muttered.

  ***

  Everyone was up early the next morning and even though it was Boxing Day, Patrick was on duty until lunchtime. The boys were still full of excitement over their presents and whilst they were having breakfast someone knocked at their door. It was Caroline Browne.

  “I’m so sorry to bother you so early but I wonder whether you could do me a very big favour, Liza,” she said.

  “If I can, of course I will,” said Liza. “What’s the matter, you look rather flustered Caroline?”

  “I’ve been making dresses for ladies for the New Year’s Eve Party and they are all nearly completed, but I have had so many of the ladies requesting alterations so that they look similar to your red dress, and I wondered whether I could borrow your dress for a while so that I can see exactly how it has been made. I promise not to damage it,” said Caroline.