Beyond the Sunset

by Anna Jacobs

  That decision made her feel better.

  Cassandra smiled up at her new husband as she drew back from his kiss.

  ‘Time to face them.’ Reece offered his arm.

  She suddenly became aware of their audience and blushed, but the smiles were kind and some of the women looked misty-eyed. She glanced quickly at her sisters, who were beaming at her, then walked with her husband towards the door.

  Outside they accepted everyone’s congratulations, finding that even strangers wanted to kiss the two brides and wish them well.

  Some of the women came up to them carrying little parcels.

  As if by arrangement, the first gave each bride a basket. ‘I make them myself. They’re not as fancy as the ones you can buy in Perth but they do the job. You always need an extra basket or two when you only shop every few weeks.’

  ‘Some good tealeaves for a little treat,’ one said, handing over a package.

  ‘A jar of my melon jam and I’ve written down the recipe and put in some melon seeds for you. They’re easy to grow.’

  ‘Just a bottle of my special chutney that I make every year from apples and sultanas. I’ve given you the recipe and if you want a cutting from our apple tree, let me know.’

  ‘I can tell you now: I’d love one.’

  She was overwhelmed by their generosity, could only stand there as the basket she’d been given was filled up with homemade offerings and recipes. It was clearly an established ritual here.

  ‘How can they be so kind to me and treat Mr Largan like a leper?’ she asked Reece as they started to drive back.

  ‘They’re the same with me,’ Kevin said drily from the back of the cart, where he’d insisted on sitting so that the newly-weds could be together. ‘Emancipists aren’t accepted socially, not even if they make a fortune. It’d soon be noticed and commented on unfavourably if we didn’t attend church, though.’

  She blushed at how tactless she’d been.

  Kevin chuckled. ‘Don’t get embarrassed, lass. I’m used to it by now.’

  So she turned back to smile at him, concerned when she saw how tired he looked. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Just weary. I’ll have a restful day or two after we get back. But I enjoyed seeing you two wed.’

  They waved goodbye to Pandora and the Southerhams as the track divided into two and let the ugly but willing horse Kevin had called Delilah pull them slowly up the slope to his farm.

  It felt as if she was going home, Cassandra thought, exchanging smiles with Reece.

  Kevin’s shack was a little bigger than the Southerhams’ and in a much better state of repair. Reece helped Cassandra down and offered her his arm. For a moment or two they stood looking at the new room he’d built on one side of the house for them. Its wood was bright and new, unlike the time-silvered planks of the rest of the shack.

  She and Pandora had helped Reece the last two Sundays, leaving their employers to fend for themselves. Francis hadn’t liked that, because he considered maids should have only one Sunday a month off, but Livia had won him round.

  Kevin had guided the building efforts because he’d been good at carpentry until he grew too weak to do as much physical work. The new room was made of slabs of roughly sawn tree trunk with smaller planks covering the joins. Huge pieces of bark covered the roof frame, held in place by ropes attached to big stones.

  The wooden slabs had been left over from Kevin’s original building work and he had kindly given them to Reece as a wedding present. They were well seasoned and though they might not look pretty, they’d made solid walls.

  Once the new bedroom was finished, Reece had opened up his old bedroom to form part of the living room, it being easy enough to remove the wooden interior wall. It’d be good to have more indoor space if winter was as wet as Kevin said. The two men were even talking about building a sheltered passageway for her to get to and from the primitive kitchen, which only had walls on the sides facing the prevailing winds and was about ten yards away from the house. She had an American contraption called a ‘colonial stove’ for her cooking, rather like the one they’d had in Outham, and it worked well.

  It was so good to have somewhere to call home. You could never feel that a tent was home.

  Reece led the way inside the house and to her surprise, he turned and swung her into his arms so that he could carry her over the threshold of their bedroom.

  She heard Kevin laughing softly behind them, then Reece pushed the door shut with one shoulder and set her down in front of him, giving her a kiss that set her whole body tingling. His touch didn’t frighten her in the least, which had surprised her the first time he kissed her. Maybe that was because it bore no resemblance whatsoever to the rough treatment she’d received from the men who’d raped her.

  She linked her arm in his, looking round. Their room was only twelve foot square and the bed took up a lot of that space. Their trunks were set on either side of it with candlesticks standing on them. ‘Where did the patchwork quilt come from?’

  ‘I bought it at the shop. One of the women makes them. She’s good, isn’t she?’

  ‘I’ve never seen one as pretty. You must have worked so hard to finish this, Reece.’

  ‘I wanted us to have some privacy. I can’t offer you much, but I can at least offer you that.’ He gestured to the hanging rail which had a shelf over it. ‘I’ll make doors for the wardrobe but I thought I’d save that job for the rainy weather. Things will get better, Cassandra.’

  ‘It’s you I want most, not money or possessions. And I’ll work alongside you to build a better life for us and our family.’

  ‘I’m going to look after you very carefully while you’re in this condition. I don’t want you overdoing things.’

  She saw the anxiety in his eyes and remembered he’d had a pregnant wife once before and had lost both her and the baby. ‘I’ll not act foolishly, Reece, but I can’t sit here and wait for the baby to arrive, so I might as well earn some time off your service to the Southerhams by continuing to work for them for a while.’

  ‘As long as you’re careful.’

  ‘I’m feeling very well now, not even sick in the mornings. Was your first wife – not well when she was expecting?’

  ‘She wasn’t well when I married her, but foolishly I thought good food and a decent home would improve her health. And it did for a while. But the baby was too much for her.’ He shook his head to banish the sad memories. ‘That’s not something to discuss on our wedding day.’

  ‘It’s part of your life, though, and I want to know all about you.’

  ‘What, today?’ he teased. ‘We’ll never get to bed if I have to recite my whole life story first.’

  ‘No, you fool. For the rest of today, I just want us to be happy. Tomorrow I’ll set this place in order, then on Tuesday I’ll go back to work. I’ve already arranged with Mrs Southerham to have tomorrow off.’ She went across to run her fingers over the two wooden chairs and small table that now sat beneath the single window. They were pretty pieces, of a much better quality than any furniture she’d had before. ‘Where did you get these?’

  ‘From Kevin. He has some pieces stored in his shed, for lack of space.’

  ‘People have been kind, but him particularly.’

  ‘He needs us, will need us more as the months pass. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’ll last another year. I shall miss him a lot.’

  Reece moved to put his arms round her from behind and she leaned against him. He was quite tall, but only slightly taller than she was, because all the Blake girls were tall. She realised suddenly that she was no longer a Blake. ‘Mrs Gregory.’ She hadn’t realised she’d spoken aloud until Reece echoed her words.

  He kissed her again, so sweetly it brought tears to her eyes. ‘I’ll not be troubling you in bed till after the baby is born, my love.’

  ‘No, Reece, I want to become your wife properly and besides, I need to wipe out the bad memories.’ She had to stop because her voice shook, as it alw
ays did when she remembered the days of being raped and then raped again. It was a wonder she hadn’t lost her mind, but somehow she’d survived and she didn’t intend to let what had happened spoil the rest of her life.

  She looked up into his eyes and the mere sight of the love that shone from them made her want to touch him, kiss him, love him. ‘I’m so lucky to have found you again.’

  ‘We’re both lucky to have found one another. Especially as I was stupid enough to leave England and you.’

  He didn’t say it, but if he’d brought her here, all the trouble would have been avoided. It was no use to cling to might-have-beens, though. Life went on and you had to go with it or fall by the wayside.

  They stood there for a few more moments then she moved away from him. ‘Would you fetch my portmanteau in, please? I’ll bring in the new basket, then I’ll start unpacking the gifts before I make us a meal. Weren’t the women at church lovely to give things to a stranger?’

  The thought of those small offerings warmed her heart. They seemed a tangible promise of good neighbours and help in adversity. Next time there was a wedding, she’d bring her own present for the bride.

  Reece followed her outside to the kitchen. ‘I’ll chat to you while you cook, and help if I can. Do you know how to work this stove?’

  She laughed. ‘Of course I do. Who do you think did the cooking for my family in Outham?’

  ‘Good. I’d better warn you, then, that I always have an excellent appetite. I banked the fire up before we left.’ He opened the air vents and peered inside. ‘Yes, there’s a glow to one corner. Soon have it burning up.’

  He looked up at the roof and then the wall. ‘I’ll see what I can do to improve this place before winter comes.’

  ‘We need a store cupboard with mesh sides for the food, someone told me today. You hang a wet cloth over it during the hot weather and it keeps things cool.’

  ‘And we need to stand the feet of anything like that in saucers of water or the ants will crawl into everything. Kevin taught me that. Strange ways of housekeeping they have here.’

  ‘So much to learn. But if other women can do it, and make jams, pickles and who knows what else, so can I. Though I might have to ask the women at church for help and advice. Livia is kind, but she doesn’t know much about housekeeping.’

  ‘She’s not as arrogant as Francis.’

  After the evening meal Kevin, who was looking exhausted, retired to bed early.

  ‘He doesn’t look at all well,’ she said softly.

  ‘He won’t talk about himself and he won’t let me fetch a doctor.’

  ‘Is there one near here?’

  ‘No. I was thinking we might take you up to Perth when the baby is due.’

  ‘I’d rather have a woman helping me in my own home. There must be someone who delivers babies round here. We can ask next month at church.’

  She cleared away the food. There weren’t long twilit evenings in Australia, but an almost instant darkness after the sun sank below the horizon, so they went to bed soon afterwards.

  She nestled against him, afraid now the moment had come to make love, but determined to overcome her fears. But Reece was so gentle, his love showing in every kiss and caress, that she needn’t have worried. She responded to his caresses instinctively, willingly and let him carry her into a tide of pleasure that swept her away and left her gasping in his arms.

  ‘It’s going to be a big baby,’ he said afterwards, lying with one hand on her belly.

  ‘Is it?’

  ‘Yes. There’s no doubt about your dates, so it’s well grown already.’

  Briefly, the doubts she’d felt before assailed her. ‘I hope we’ll love it.’

  ‘Of course we shall. It’ll be a baby, not a criminal. And I’ll be the only father it knows. That’s the only condition I make: it’s never to know it isn’t mine.’

  She fell asleep with a smile on her face, one hand still clasping his.

  Zachary suppressed a groan as Leo came rushing into the cabin, where he’d taken refuge to read in peace.

  ‘Those sailors aren’t treating the poor animals properly,’ Leo announced, tugging at his friend’s sleeve. ‘You have to stop them. They won’t listen to me. Come on!’

  Zachary put his book down carefully, knowing by now that once Leo had something fixed in his mind, he wouldn’t let go of it easily. ‘I told you before, there are men whose job it is to tend the ship’s animals and you have to leave it to them.’

  ‘But they’re not doing it properly. The animals might die. Come and tell them. The men laughed at me, but they’ll listen to you.’

  ‘I don’t know anything about animals. Anyway, most of these are going to be killed for meat. I don’t know why you’re getting upset.’

  ‘Lots of animals get killed for meat. I know how to kill them gently. We don’t have to be unkind to them.’ Leo’s face crumpled on those words. ‘It’s wrong to hurt creatures.’

  Zachary sighed. He knew people were unkind to Leo and that this upset the poor fellow. Strangely, he never used his strength or lashed out, was such a gentle soul. It upset Zachary to see this taunting and scorn. As a consequence, he’d found himself acting as unofficial protector. But who would protect Leo after he left the ship? It was the stuff of nightmares for anyone with an ounce of compassion: a fellow like that, little more than a child mentally, being turned loose in a strange country.

  ‘Come on!’ Leo tugged again and nearly yanked Zachary off the bunk.

  ‘We’ll go and look at them. I’m not doing anything else.’

  But when he got to the animals, even he could see they were in distress, the crates in which they were cruelly penned not cleaned out and their water buckets empty. ‘We’ll go and see the doctor,’ he said as a compromise.

  Dr Crawford, who was responsible for the welfare of the convicts as well as the paying passengers, was for once free and easily persuaded to come and look at the animals.

  ‘Can I fetch them some water?’ Leo asked, shifting from one foot to the other.

  ‘You can’t look after them on your own.’ The doctor frowned. ‘I’ll see if there’s a convict who’ll take over the duties. The crew member who’s supposed to be looking after them isn’t well, and everyone thought someone else had taken over the duties. Or so they say. In reality most sailors don’t like looking after animals.’

  ‘They’re thirsty now,’ Leo said. ‘It’s hot. They need water.’

  Once he got into this agitated frame of mind, he didn’t let go. Zachary gave in, knowing he’d get no peace if he didn’t help Leo. ‘I’ll keep an eye on him this time, doctor. But if you can find a convict who’s used to caring about animals, I daresay he’ll jump at the job and let Leo help him.’

  He moved to one side and said in a lower voice, ‘I think it’d help Leo to have something to do. He can’t fill in time by reading or writing a diary like the rest of us.’

  The doctor nodded. ‘You’re very kind to the poor fellow.’

  ‘I don’t have much choice, sharing a cabin with him. And besides, he’s a gentle soul.’

  ‘Until he’s pushed too far,’ the doctor said. ‘I’ve seen it happen when people goad fellows like him. Just stay on your guard.’

  Zachary nodded to show he’d been listening to this advice, but he couldn’t imagine Leo ever attacking anyone.

  Two days later there was a storm and the passengers were locked down. When it was over, Leo and the convict now in charge of the animals went to check that they were all right.

  To their dismay, they found that one of the cows had a broken front leg.

  ‘She’s the one they told me was most valuable,’ the convict said. ‘They brought her out for breeding, but she’ll have to be slaughtered. The owner won’t be pleased about that. Still, they can’t blame us for a storm, can they?’ He went off to find an officer.

  Leo went to examine the poor creature which was making distressed noises.

  When the ship’s doctor c
ame to look, he shook his head. ‘You can’t set a cow’s leg. She’ll have to be shot.’

  ‘I can set her leg,’ Leo said.

  They looked at him in surprise.

  ‘Have you done it before?’ the doctor asked.

  Leo nodded. ‘But it was a sheep. The farrier said I should practise on a sheep.’

  ‘Did it recover?’

  ‘Yes. If it’s the front leg, you can sometimes mend it, if it’s only a simple break. If it’s the back leg, you can’t do much. I can straighten it if someone will hold her down for me. I’ll need a splint and a bandage.’

  ‘He doesn’t understand,’ the convict muttered, tapping his forehead.

  ‘He sounds as if he does. Sometimes people like him have special skills, as if to make up for their other problems.’ The doctor frowned then shrugged. ‘It’s worth giving it a try. This is a very valuable animal.’ He turned back to Leo. ‘All right, young man. Show me what you can do.’

  ‘Can’t you do it, doctor?’ the convict begged. ‘I don’t want them blaming me.’

  ‘I’ve never tried anything with animals. He clearly has. I’ll be interested to watch and of course I’ll stop him making things worse, if I have to, and put it out of its misery.’

  Leo dealt with the leg with a speed that surprised them all. Ignoring the animal’s struggles and the noises it was making, he felt carefully along the bone and pushed quickly. ‘We need to tie it to the wood now,’ he said.

  ‘Is that it?’ the convict asked, sounding disappointed.

  Leo looked at him in puzzlement. ‘It was only a simple break.’

  ‘Will she recover?’ the doctor asked.

  ‘Some do, some just die. But she’s young. It’d be better if I stayed with her.’ He stroked the animal’s head and she quieted almost immediately.

  Several passengers and members of the crew came to look at the invalid, walking away muttering.

  Leo ignored them, spending most of his time for several days by the side of the sick animal, which always seemed calmer when he was with it.

  ‘Damnedest thing I ever saw,’ the doctor said to Zachary. ‘He did it so quickly, and look how well the animal responds to him. The owner is going to be very pleased about this if it recovers.’