She was in the process of packing the last of her clothes that evening when Eliza appeared in the doorway and raised an eyebrow.
‘Mrs Forbes wants me to move into the main house until after the birth,’ she explained.
‘How very nice for you. I wonder if you’ll be in the room I had while I was the favoured one,’ she sneered. ‘If you are, I shouldn’t get too comfortable, because as I know Mrs Forbes can lose interest in you very quickly.’
Pearl bit on her lip, not quite sure how to reply. Eliza was right up to a point, and Pearl knew how difficult it had been for her sister to be suddenly abandoned by Mrs Forbes after getting used to being pampered and waited on.
‘I’m sure it will only be until the baby is here,’ she told Eliza. ‘I’ll be back here with you before you know it and then we can decide what we want to do – whether we wish to stay here or go back to London.’
‘Huh! As if you care what happens to me,’ Eliza snorted with contempt.
‘Of course I care!’ Pearl stared at her. ‘You know that I’ve always cared about you.’
‘Do I?’ Eliza ripped her apron off and threw it on to the bed before storming out, no doubt to go off on one of her wanders along the river again.
With a sigh, Pearl collected the rest of her things together. At the door she took one last glance at her old room, before going down the stairs to get settled into her new one. But she couldn’t stop thinking about her sister and eventually she decided to go and find her. A bit of fresh air and a gentle stroll would do her good. She hated to be on bad terms with Eliza.
She had wandered for some way along the riverbank when she spotted Eliza ahead, skimming stones across the turbulent water.
‘So what do you want?’ Eliza asked sullenly.
‘I want us to be friends. I can’t bear it when you’re angry with me,’ Pearl told her with a tremor in her voice.
But her words only seemed to incense Eliza all the more. ‘No, of course you can’t. You want to be everyone’s best friend, don’t you? Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes!’
‘That’s so unfair.’ Pearl was getting angry too now. There seemed to be no reasoning with Eliza and she wished she hadn’t come. She’d developed a dull backache and just wanted to go back now. ‘Have it your own way then,’ she threw over her shoulder as she turned to retrace her steps.
Suddenly, Eliza gripped her arm and flung her around with surprising strength for one so small and slight.
‘No, it’s not fair!’ Eliza cried, stabbing a finger at Pearl’s swollen stomach. ‘It should be me not you carrying that baby!’ Her face was so contorted with rage that Pearl barely recognised her, as she struggled to free her arm from Eliza’s grip. Then suddenly Pearl felt a warm gush between her legs and, shocked, she looked down to see a small puddle of water on the ground.
‘Oh no, I think my waters have broken!’
Eliza looked shocked too, but then she was in a fury again as she cried, ‘I can’t let you have this baby! It should be mine. You’ve always spoiled everything for me, always!’
‘Stop being so stupid!’ Pearl was beginning to panic now. ‘This isn’t the time for your petty tantrums. Do you understand what’s happening, Eliza?’
‘I understand perfectly.’ Suddenly Eliza’s voice held a note of malice. ‘In fact, I’ve always understood far more than any of you ever gave me credit for.’
‘What do you mean?’ Pearl’s hand was cradling her stomach as if she was afraid the baby might pop out at any minute.
‘You and Ma always thought you were better than me, didn’t you? But in fact, I was a lot brighter than you were. While you were at home skivvying, I was off out of it because Ma wrongly assumed I was stupid. Same at the workhouse; you worked twice as hard and I barely had to lift a finger. Then we got here and Mrs Veasey favoured you and felt I should be working as hard. Well . . . I had to make her pay, didn’t I? The same way I had to make Freda pay for the way she treated me and tried to steal my Monty from me. It was so easy to poison them both, slowly, bit by bit. I took poison from the stables a bit at a time and I enjoyed watching them die. Then there was Monty . . . I was so angry with him. He’d chosen you when he could have had me, so I found a rock and . . . well, the rest you know.’
Seriously frightened now, Pearl broke free and backed away from her. There was a strange gleam in her sister’s eyes and it dawned on her in that moment that Eliza was insane.
‘You mean it was you that . . .’
Eliza laughed, a wild laugh that sounded almost inhuman and made the hairs on the back of Pearl’s neck stand on end. ‘Yes, it was me. Rat poison for Mrs Veasey and Freda and a blow on the back of the head for Monty. He never even knew what hit him. Mind you, I never meant to kill him, just teach him a lesson. He was alive when I left him, I swear it. How could I have known that there were wolves about? And now it’s your turn – you and that bastard you’re carrying.’
Pearl was crying now as she shook her head in stunned disbelief. She didn’t want to believe what she was hearing; she felt as if she was caught in the grip of a nightmare. Her little sister, the one she had loved and looked out for since the day she was born, was a murderer, and wasn’t even sorry.
‘I-I think you need help, Eliza,’ she whispered in a strangled voice, as she held her hand out to her. ‘Come back to the house with me now and we’ll get the doctor to come and see you.’
‘You won’t be going back to the house ever again.’ She glanced across her shoulder at the fast-flowing river and it dawned on Pearl what Eliza was planning to do.
Pearl turned to run, but the weight of the child made her ungainly and, losing her footing, she fell heavily, knocking the air from her lungs. Eliza was on her in a moment and grabbing her skirt she began to drag her sister towards the river’s edge.
Arms flailing helplessly, Pearl screamed, terrified for her life and the life of the child she was carrying, but there was no one to hear her. ‘P-Please, Eliza, stop for a moment and think what you’re doing. You’re not well. You can’t really want me dead.’
‘Oh, but I do,’ Eliza cackled.
They were almost at the edge of the riverbank and the sound of the turbulent water was drumming in Pearl’s ears. There was a drop of about five feet to the water below now that the river had subsided slightly, but Pearl knew that no one who fell in would stand a chance – the currents were too strong, especially for someone in her condition.
And so, with one last superhuman effort, she kicked out. The kick caught Eliza squarely behind the knees, knocking her forwards and making her relinquish her hold on Pearl’s skirt. With a look of shock on her face, she turned slightly as she teetered on the edge of the river. Pearl tried to reach out for her hand, but it was too late, and as she finally lost her balance, Eliza fell backwards and there was a loud splash as she hit the water and disappeared beneath it.
Sobbing, Pearl crawled towards her and held out her hand as Eliza surfaced, coughing and spluttering, her face a mask of terror. ‘Grab my hand,’ she screamed as Eliza stared up at her, but it was too late. Already the currents were carrying her sister out of reach and she was being swept towards the middle of the river. And then suddenly another strong current sucked her under and she disappeared.
‘NO, NO!’ Pearl’s hysterical screams made a flock of birds in the trees take flight as she watched helplessly for a sign of her sister resurfacing. It was then that the first pain struck and she dropped back to her knees.
‘Oh, please God, no,’ she whimpered as she somehow managed to stand. ‘Don’t make me give birth here with no one to help me.’
With a last look at the river, she turned and began to slowly make her way back to the house, but she had gone only a few feet when another pain brought her to her knees again. She waited for it to subside, then began to crawl towards the orchard. The next minutes – or was it hours? – seemed to pass in a blur. The pains were coming quite closely together and yet Pearl had understood that first babies usually took their
time. Every now and then she stopped and tried to scream for help, but she was exhausted and beginning to feel dizzy.
After what seemed like a lifetime, she saw the orchard ahead of her. The trees were laden with fruit and the large tabby cat that Cook had taken in to try to keep the rats down was lying in the shade washing himself. He gave her a curs-ory glance as she painfully crawled past him before curling into a ball for a nap. Pearl’s skirt was in ribbons now, trailing behind her, and her knees and the palms of her hands were bloody, but still she kept going. If only she could reach the yard, someone would surely spot her then?
And then she heard the welcome sound of Susan’s voice and with the last of her strength she began to shout. ‘H-help! Please . . . help me!’
‘Did you hear something?’ Susan had taken a mug of tea out to Will, who was grooming the horses and she looked towards the orchard.
‘Actually, I think I did.’ Placing his mug down, he made for the trees as his wife cautiously followed him, eyes darting all around.
Suddenly, she pointed. ‘There, look . . . over there! Someone is lying beneath the trees.’
Will sprinted ahead to Pearl, who was now only semi-conscious.
‘E-Eliza . . .’ she whispered brokenly as tears streamed down her face. ‘Th-the river. Eliza . . .’
‘Stay here with her,’ Will ordered. ‘She’s trying to say something about Eliza and the river.’ He sprinted away as Susan sank to her knees beside her friend and lifted her head into her lap.
‘Whatever has happened?’ she asked, but Pearl could only shake her head and as another pain tore through her she rolled into a ball.
Will was back in seconds shaking his head. ‘There’s no sign of anyone on the riverbank.’
‘Never mind that for now. We need to get her inside,’ Susan told him. ‘I think Pearl is having the baby. Can you manage to carry her if I run ahead to tell the mistress?’
‘Of course.’
Susan sprinted away, and Will lifted Pearl in his strong arms and began to stride towards the house. As he reached it, both Mrs Forbes and Susan appeared in the doorway and, taking control, Mrs Forbes told him, ‘Carry her up to her new room, and then would you run for the doctor for me, Will?’
He nodded as he strode up the stairs and laid Pearl gently on the bed.
Mrs Forbes shook her head as she stared down at the state of her hands and knees. ‘We’ll get her undressed and get these bathed before the doctor comes,’ she told Susan, who was staring at her friend wide-eyed. ‘Pop down and tell Cook we want hot water and towels, please, Susan. Lots of them!’
Pearl’s eyes were rolling but every now and again, as another pain started, she would groan and draw her knees up, which made getting her undressed very difficult. Even so, once Susan was back, they managed it between them and sat on either side of the bed watching Pearl carefully.
Every so often she opened her eyes but all she kept saying was ‘Eliza . . . w-water.’
‘Run and see if you can find her, would you?’ Mrs Forbes asked as she gripped Pearl’s clammy hand. ‘Perhaps having her sister here will calm her.’
But when Susan returned some minutes later, she shook her head. ‘There’s no sign of her, ma’am. When I found her in the orchard she was trying to say something about Eliza and the river.’
A cold hand closed about Emmaline Forbes’s heart. Surely the river hadn’t claimed yet another victim? But there was no time to think of it for long, because it was clear that Pearl’s baby was in a hurry to be born.
‘I just hope the doctor can get here in time,’ Mrs Forbes said worriedly, as she glanced towards the window. ‘Otherwise it looks like you and I are going to have to deliver this baby, Susan.’
Susan paled at the thought, but thankfully at that moment they heard someone clattering up the stairs, and the next second the doctor appeared in the doorway.
After hastily washing his hands, he took his jacket off and rolled his sleeves up before crossing to the bed to examine Pearl. ‘Hm.’ When he was done, he straightened with a frown on his face. ‘I have an awful feeling the baby is breech. It was when I checked her last week but I was hoping it would turn before the birth. But she’s early, isn’t she? At least a couple of weeks by my reckoning.’
Mrs Forbes nodded, her face a picture of dismay as she thought of this longed-for child being snatched away from her. Preparing for the birth was all that had kept her going over the past few weeks and she didn’t know how she would cope if she was to lose the baby now.
‘But why is she in this state?’ the doctor asked as he stared at Pearl’s grazed hands and knees.
‘We don’t know. Susan found her crawling from the direction of the orchard some time ago. She was clearly in a very distressed state and kept going on about her sister and the river. You don’t think Eliza might have fallen in, do you?’
He pursed his lips. ‘Well, something has clearly upset her and made her go into early labour. Have you checked where Eliza is?’
Mrs Forbes shook her head and wrung her hands together, getting more agitated by the minute. ‘I sent Susan to look for her just before you arrived, but she isn’t in the house.’
‘Then I suggest you get Will to go down to the river and check that she isn’t there,’ he told her, as another sharp contraction had Pearl arching her back. ‘Meanwhile, I’m going to do what I can to turn this baby, but it isn’t going to be pleasant and if I don’t succeed . . .’
Susan ran off to pass instructions to Will to start searching for Eliza, as the grim-faced doctor leaned over his patient. Soon Pearl’s screams were echoing through the house as he struggled to manoeuvre the baby into the right position, and within minutes sweat was standing out on his brow.
But all his efforts were in vain and after what felt like a lifetime, he told Mrs Forbes, ‘We’re going to have to try and bring it as it is. It should have been born by now and if I leave it any longer there’s a strong possibility that we’ll lose both mother and child. But I’m going to need your help.’
Mrs Forbes began to chew on her knuckles as she stared down at Pearl’s flushed face. The poor girl was exhausted and clearly in agony. But then after taking a deep breath, she swallowed and said, ‘Very well, tell me what you want me to do.’
‘I need you to stand here and keep her legs open while I try to get hold of the baby.’
With a nod of her head, Mrs Forbes took her position and began to pray.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I
t was now darkest night, and in the bedroom Pearl was hovering between life and death, with still no sign of the baby being born.
Both the doctor and Mrs Forbes were almost as exhausted as the mother-to-be, but at last the doctor cried, ‘I think I have hold of the baby’s leg. Now this isn’t going to be nice but whatever you do don’t loosen your hold of her.’
Minutes later, after a few gentle tugs from the doctor, the child slithered out of its mother to lie in a bloody heap between her legs.
Mrs Forbes began to cry tears of joy. ‘Oh . . . it’s a little girl . . . But why isn’t she crying?’
Expertly, the doctor cut the cord – then, lifting the baby aloft, he slapped its back sharply. There was no response, so he laid her on the bed and gently cleaned out her mouth, but still no response. Once more he lifted her and sharply slapped her back again – and this time, he was rewarded with an indignant mewling cry.
‘That’s better!’
He smiled for the first time since he’d arrived in the room and passed the child to Mrs Forbes, who hastily wrapped her in a towel she had ready and kissed her downy curls. Both Cook and Mr Forbes, who had been hovering anxiously on the landing, began to hammer on the door, and with a proud smile Mrs Forbes took the baby to meet them while the doctor turned his attention once more to Pearl, who was lying so still she might already have been dead. She was bleeding profusely and the doctor worked valiantly to stem the flow, knowing that if he couldn’t, and quickly, Pearl had little chance
of surviving.
‘Are Susan and Will back yet?’ Mrs Forbes asked as her husband and her beloved cook billed and cooed over the new arrival. She had sent them out some hours ago to search for Eliza and no one had seen them since.
Cook shook her head. ‘Not a sign of them yet, hinny. But come along now. you look all in. I’ll make you and the doctor a nice hot cup o’ tea and then we’ll get this little madam bathed and dressed. Eeh, she’s a right little beauty and no mistake, but what about her poor mother? From what we could hear of it, the poor lass has had a hard time of it.’
Suddenly tearful, Mrs Forbes nodded. She passed the baby to Cook and leaned heavily against her husband. ‘She’s had a terrible time of it and I don’t think she’s out of the woods yet,’ she confided, and solemn now they slowly descended the stairs.
Susan and Will had just arrived back from their search when they reached the kitchen and they quickly told them that they had found no sign of Eliza, before turning their attention to the baby.
‘We’ll start searching again in the morning,’ a weary Will promised. ‘But it’s too dark and dangerous to do any more tonight; we could end up in the river ourselves.’
By the time the doctor appeared, the new addition had been washed and changed and Cook was dripping milk into her tiny mouth from a pap bag.
‘I think she’ll make it,’ the doctor told them, as Susan pressed a steaming cup of tea into his hand. He certainly looked as if he needed it. ‘I’ve managed to stop the bleeding and provided she does as she’s told she should recover, although it will take time. She’s very weak.’
Mrs Forbes breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thank goodness. Thank you. Now remember, we need to spread the word that I have given birth and no one need be any the wiser.’
An Orphan's Journey Page 32
