Mary's Guardian

by Carol Preston

  Mary smiled up at him. ‘See, you are different to other men. Here’s you, planning to venture out into the bush when most men just want to get through their sentences and get back to England. And who can blame ’em when half the colony’s still starvin’?’

  ‘Perhaps, but now that the Sirius is back from the Cape of Good Hope with supplies I think things will turn around. And we haven’t felt we’d starve out here, have we?’

  ‘No, not here, thank God. But there’s still those who feel hard done by and complain of hunger all the time.’

  ‘There are, and aren’t they the idle ones? Those who’d prefer to get drunk than work. There’ll always be those, love. I don’t understand why men won’t rise to the challenge they have here and make something of themselves. They’ve opportunities they’d never have had in England.’

  ‘Yeah, like workin’ for the officers in their spare time for a cup o’ rum, so they’re useless for their assigned work.’

  ‘Well, that’s the kind of practices we need to get away from, isn’t it?’

  ‘I think you forget that some of the poor wretches have families back in England,’ Mary continued, trying to be as understanding as William usually was.

  ‘That would be terrible, I admit. I’m glad that we don’t have family there. But we have each other now, Mary. We’re family. And whatever children we have will belong to this country.’ He drew her close and hugged her firmly. Then he started to quietly chuckle beside her.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ She jabbed him in the ribs.

  ‘I was remembering what you did the other day to that woman you found in the cabbage patch. I thought you were going to drag all her hair out.’ He continued to chuckle.

  ‘You find that funny?’

  ‘I’m heartened by the thought that you’ll likely protect our children as ferociously, love. You have courage. More than you realise. And you have determination. You are stronger than you know. I love those things about you.’ He kissed her lightly on the nose.

  ‘But I do react badly sometimes, don’t I? I can’t help it. I get so mad when I see someone trying to take more than their share. I’ve not the self-control you have, Will. Too many years of fighting for everything, I guess. But I’m trying to be more…refined.’ She tossed her head back and grinned cheekily.

  ‘Don’t try too hard, my girl. I rather like you just the way you are.’

  ‘Do you now?’ Her grin turned to a sweet smile as she looked deeply into his eyes. They were brown and warm and gentle, just as she’d always known them. Reassuring her of safety and promising faithfulness. She rubbed one hand gently over her belly. She so wanted to give William a baby. She wanted to be the mother he believed she would be and she wanted to give him the chance to father a son, to pour all the care and protection he’d shown others into a child of his own. ‘You’re one in a million, Will. You know that?’

  ‘Hmm,’ he said, a little embarrassed at her compliment. He tapped her lightly on the bottom and moved to clear the table of their plates and cups. ‘There are a few good ones around, you know,’ he continued. ‘Joe Wright for a start. I’m glad he’s out here with us. He was on the Scarborough with James Ruse you know.’

  ‘Was he?’

  ‘Hmm. Both good men. It gives me hope for the colony.’ He put up his hand as she began to rise and help with the clearing up. ‘You sit right there. Have you heard Joe’s story?’

  ‘No, he doesn’t talk about his past much,’ she said, gratefully settling back into her chair.

  ‘He’s from London. Here for seven years for stealing a hundred pound of lead. Cut it from the roof and gutter of a house, so he said. Silly boy was caught carrying it down the street, so he claimed he’d seen a man throw down a basket with the lead in it and picked it up to take home and advertise.’ William chuckled as he recounted the story Joe had told him.

  ‘About as clever as a pork pie, if you ask me.’ Mary retorted. ‘I hope he shows more sense than that here.’

  ‘Well, he’s taken a lead from James Ruse now and he’s working hard. He has plans to stay on too, make a life here. We could all stick together, eh?’

  ‘You can’t help yourself but be looking after everyone, can you?’ Mary grinned. ‘They’re not young lads, you know, Will. They’re grown men. This is not the streets of Lincoln, with you trying to keep everyone safe. They’ve their own decisions to make here, and their own lives to save.’

  ‘But I’m a good ten years older than Joe. I’d like him to know he has someone to stick by him.’

  ‘Well, have a mind, Will. You’re not God, remember.’ Mary’s hackles rose a little at his opposition. ‘Sorry,’ she said more softly, catching herself. ‘See, I do get fiery, don’t I? Perhaps it is my condition.’ She looked down at her stomach hopefully.

  William smirked. ‘I don’t think so, but it’s all right, truly. I’m happy to see you fiery. Who knows when you’ll need to be?’

  Two months later William woke at first light to soft groans beside him. He turned quickly and roused Mary from what seemed to be a half sleep.

  ‘Wake up, love. You’re having a bad dream.’ He shook her lightly.

  ‘No, I’m not asleep. It’s me stomach. It hurts bad. I’m afraid it’s…oh, Will. I think it’s the baby.’

  William dragged back the blanket and tried to ease Mary into a more comfortable position. ‘I’ll go for help. The woman in the tent two down has a couple of children. Maybe she’ll know what to do.’ He pulled on his trousers and pushed his hands through his hair. His heart was thumping. He felt helpless and he hated the feeling. ‘What else can I do, love? Tell me what you need.’

  ‘I think it’s too late, Will. I can feel something...’ she doubled and groaned loudly.

  He lay back down beside her and rubbed her back, desperately wanting to ease the pain. He knew nothing about child birth and certainly nothing about such things as this. Was she really going to lose the child? He prayed not. She’d just begun to believe that she was actually pregnant. He jumped to his feet again as she called out in pain.

  ‘Get me up, Will. I need the latrine. Bring a bucket…something,’ she thrashed about, rolling to one side of the bed.

  It was then that he saw the deep red scar across the sheet, the wetness seeping into the straw mattress.

  ‘Oh, God, no,’ he whimpered, as he rushed to the back flap of their tent and reached outside for the bucket.

  Two hours later Mary lay limply on a rug beside their bed, her face pale and drawn. William had sponged her down gently, changed her night dress, and patiently fed her spoons of hot tea. He’d cried with her and tried to comfort her but her eyes were glazed and empty, her spent body flaccid. He was worried she’d go inside her own head and refuse to come back to him.

  When she finally spoke he sighed with relief, though her words were hard to hear.

  ‘What’s wrong with me, Will? Why am I havin’ so much trouble carryin’ a baby? It’s what women are made for, isn’t it?’

  ‘Oh, my dear girl, who knows why these things happen? I have no answers for you, except I believe we will have a baby one day. God knows we want a baby and He wants us to have one too. I’m sure of it. The most important thing right now is that you get strong again…and don’t lose hope.’

  ‘You’re sayin’ it’s because I’m not healthy, aren’t you? I’ve tried to eat right. I have as many vegetables as I can but with rations as they are I don’t know what else I can do, except be stealin’ someone else’s share. Or maybe sell myself to one of the officers for a bucket o’ corn…’

  ‘Enough, Mary.’ William’s voice was as stern as he dared, given what she’d just been through. ‘I told you, this is not your fault. When your body’s strong enough, we’ll have babies. And you put any other silly ideas out of your head. You hear me.’

  Mary turned her head on the pillow, a tear running from the corner of her eye. She cringed under William’s chastisement, gentle as it was. ‘I will. I promise,’ she whispered as he
crouched beside her and kissed her cheek lightly.

  Chapter Six

  In June the following year there was great anticipation about fresh supplies finally arriving for the colony when a ship came through the heads. But the excitement was short lived when the ship turned out to be the Lady Juliana, a female convict transport that had been at sea for over ten months and was the first ship of a second fleet bringing convicts to the colony.

  Reverend Johnson, waiting to welcome the newcomers, gasped as he watched the first few women being lifted from long boats and dumped on the shore where they lay groaning, unable to stand.

  ‘What’s wrong with these women, sailor?’ he demanded, rushing to the women’s aid.

  ‘You’ll be a long time draggin’ ’em up the beach, sir, if that’s yer intention,’ the sailor drawled distractedly as he pulled at another woman’s arm, all but throwing her from the boat. ‘We’ve got nearly five hundred of ’em with fevers, scurvy and God knows what else. They’re all of England’s prostitutes, this lot. Probably diseased when we left.’

  ‘Mind your handling of those ladies, young man,’ the Reverend demanded strongly. ‘Why, these poor wretches are half starved! What’s been happening on that ship?’

  ‘We’ve ’ad our work cut out for us with this lot,’ the sailor said indignantly. ‘Two hundred and fifty died along the way. Lots o’ bodies we’ve had to be dealing with.’

  ‘Two hundred and fifty dead! That’s appalling. There’s no excuse for it.’ He turned to a few soldiers who had wandered down to the shore to watch the landing. ‘You men, help these women. Don’t just gape at them. They can barely crawl.’ He shook his head in horror as he watched one woman trying to carry what seemed to Reverend Johnson to be a corpse. ‘You’ll need to see all of these to the hospital tent.’

  The soldiers cringed and turned reluctantly to help those already started up the beach. The crying and moaning increased as more were unloaded. Boat after boat of emaciated women and young girls: their clothes in tatters, their limbs shrunken and weak. Soon the beach was covered with struggling bodies, some crawling, others leaning on each other, dropping onto the sand. Men and women from the settlement were now hurrying to help.

  ‘Give over, Reverend,’ one of the mariners eventually pleaded, tired of what he felt was the man’s unfair condemnation. ‘We’ve left the best till last. There’ll be nearly two hundred still to come who are in reasonable health. Likely there’s plenty of young men here who’ll be glad to see the sight of them. I hear you’re been pretty short of women, here.’ He smirked and then shrunk back at the glare of disgust on the Reverend’s face.

  Reverend Johnson’s disgust turned to fury when after the last of the women were unloaded the boats that came to shore were full of stores: boxes and boxes of food, along with clothing, utensils and other materials. Within minutes the ship’s masters opened these up for display and began to sell them at extortionate prices to officers and guards who rushed to the shore in anticipation. As Johnson stormed up the beach and headed for the Governor’s quarters to complain he heard the whispered horror and fascination amongst the other convicts. Some were already eyeing off the healthier of the girls who’d come ashore. Some were angry that more hungry people had arrived to share their already depleted rations, Some were disparaging of the women, who would no doubt lower the already dubious nature of relations between men and women in the colony.

  ‘Better them than us all the time,’ he heard one woman say contemptuously.’ Ain’t yer sick o’ being groped?’

  ‘Maybe, but not o’ what I get in return. Where’s me nip goin’ to come from if this lot take on all the soldiers?’

  Johnson paused to shake his head at the two women. He’d have given them a good talking to but he was lost for words. He’d pleaded with them all over and over in Sunday services, to mind their moral values and have some self respect. All to no avail, he thought to himself despairingly as he hurried on to speak to the Governor. And what in God’s name was it going to be like here now with these women arriving? Despite the condition of most of them, men would go berserk. He could already see it in many of their eyes as they gaped at the women and nudged each other, dropping their shovels and axes to stare greedily.

  ***

  When the news reached Rose Hill, William was outraged. ‘What are they thinking of in England? I know Governor Phillip has reported on the conditions here, and complained about the lack of women. And what have they done? Obviously filled a boat with prostitutes and long term female prisoners. And now they’ve arrived half starved, along with goodness knows how many more shiploads behind them with hundreds more convicts in similar condition. At the cove there are still half a dozen convicts dying every day from hunger, scurvy and other diseases, from what I hear. It’s madness is what it is.’

  ‘Cruelty is what it is, Will. I told you, didn’t I? They think we’ll all die here of starvation and they don’t care.’

  ‘Well, we won’t.’ William thumped his fists on the rough sawn table. ‘Whatever idiocy is dictating things in England, we’re going to make it work here. The Governor’s house is finished now and we’ve started on houses for the workers. We’ve two hundred acres of crops and we’ve got some good men: brick makers, carpenters and other tradesmen. It’s going to work, this settlement. My oath, it is.’

  Mary shook her head. ‘I know how keen you are, Will. But there are plenty who still aren’t pullin’ their weight and if they keep landin’ us with a hoard of half starved, weak convicts we’re in trouble here as well.’

  ‘I reckon they’ll keep most of the new ones close to Port Jackson, at least until they get stronger. The Governor’s as determined to make Rose Hill work as me.’

  ‘Yeah, well, there’s a few of the women been sent out here already to do some of the domestic work and Joe’s got his eye on one of ’em, if you ask me. Ellen Gott’s her name. She’s been assigned to the end tent. I can see somethin’ happenin’ there before too long.’

  William laughed. ‘And here I thought I was bringing you news! If Joe’s taken with a girl this quickly I hope she’s a good worker.’ He paused for a moment and frowned. ‘I don’t mean the work she’s probably been used to either,’ he continued, shaking his head at the grin on Mary’s face. ‘You know what I mean. I hope she’s here to find a different way of life and she’ll set herself to helping us build this place. If not, she’ll only hold Joe back. It’s the last thing he needs.’

  ‘Perhaps it’s not her capacity for domestic work that Joe’s thinking of just now, Will. She’s a few years older than him and a lot more experienced, no doubt. Joe is a man, you know. You can’t expect him to be thinking about farmin’ all the time.’ Mary smiled cheekily.

  Just as Mary had predicted, by early December Joe Wright was seeking William’s opinion about Ellen Gott.

  ‘What’d ya reckon, Will? I thought I’d go and see the Governor, see if I can get permission for me and Ellen to marry. He’s still keen to see us all wed, and though Ellen’s only been here six months, she’s a mighty good worker. I’ve seen her at it. She goes like a trooper.’

  ‘Careful how you describe her to the Governor, Joe,’ Mary giggled.

  ‘And you mind your tongue, love,’ William chided gently. ‘Is she a good woman, Joe?’ he asked, turning back to his young friend.

  ‘She is, Will. She’s kind. I’ve seen her helping others out often enough. And she’s happy. She laughs a lot. I like that. You know how good it feels to hear a woman’s laugh across the field. Sounds like…well, like home, I suppose.’

  ‘Your home?’ Mary was intrigued.

  ‘I guess.’ Joe nodded and a far off look glazed his eyes. ‘Yeah, it’s a long time ago but I do remember my Ma laughing like that in my early years. She died when I was just a youngun.’ He swallowed hard and turned back to Will. ‘Anyway, what do you think?’

  ‘What does she think, more to the point, lad? Have you talked with Ellen about this?’

  ‘Of course I have.
She’s keen. She wants to start new. She only lived as a prostitute because she had to. She’s a good woman. I know she is. And she makes me happy.’

  ‘Then you ought to do what your heart tells you,’ Mary interjected.

  William nodded and smiled. ‘You’ve a mind of your own, Joe. Trust your judgment on this. If you’ve thought it through and you believe you and Ellen can make a good life together, raise a family, then you have my support.’

  Joe nodded and swilled down the last of the tea that Mary had set before him. ‘Right, then I’m off to start work. I’ll find Ellen some time today and tell her I’m going to see the Governor.’ With that he pushed back his chair and left the tent, a spring in his step that made William and Mary grin at each other.

  ***

  ‘I do love him, you know, Mary,’ Ellen said the following Sunday, as the two women sat in Mary’s tent.

  ‘I can see that, Ellen. And you’d have to be blind not to see what he thinks of you.’ She lifted her cup and blew at her hot tea.

  ‘You don’t think I’m too old for him?’

  ‘Old? Good God, girl, you’re only twenty-five. Only three years on me. I don’t imagine being an old woman in three years time.’ She laughed good-naturedly.

  ‘But Joe’s only twenty-one. He seems such a boy in some ways. Perhaps he’ll change his mind about me in a few years.’

  ‘Not likely, Ellen. He’s a faithful lad. Look at him with Will. Once he attached himself to Will, you could hardly drag them apart. I can see them being friends for life.’

  ‘Yes, I see that. But who wouldn’t attach themselves to Will for life, eh?’ She chuckled. ‘That’s a wonderful man you’ve got yourself, Mary.’

  ‘Don’t I know that,’ Mary sighed deeply. ‘Sometimes I wonder if I deserve him.’

  ‘Oh come now, none of that, girl. Will would box your ears for saying such a thing. You need to trust his love for you. And you need to appreciate yourself as well. You’re a fine woman, Mary. You’ve become a good friend to me. Showed me the ropes, looked out for me.’