Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  “How will they all know to show that friendship?” he asked.

  “I can assure you, Lieutenant, they will know. That’s one of the mysteries of the Indian nations,” said Liza and off she went to change so that she could come back as Liza Kelly.

  She stood looking at herself in the small mirror that was in the room and she saw somebody that she had tried to forget about years before looking back at her. She knew she had to change but she was mesmerised by how she looked and memories of Matthew Bradley came flooding back. She had never hated him even when he beat her; she had been frightened for most of the time that she had been with him and he and Little Dove had been the only ones within the camp who helped her when she needed it. Why had she been so nice to the chief when he had beaten her so badly when he didn’t think that Matthew had thrashed her soundly enough?

  Patrick came looking for her and she was still standing looking at herself with her mind reliving the past. “That was more difficult for you than it appeared, I didn’t realise how it seems to have affected you. I’m sorry; I should have been more supportive. I’ll help you get ready, John needs to see his mother back as his mother; he’s quite upset.”

  “Yes, he needs to get back to what he feels is stability,” said Liza as she started pulling off her moccasins.

  “These are really beautiful clothes, you looked so very different but I could see why they think of you as somebody special to them. You didn’t look as if you were from this world; it was quite unsettling. I suppose that’s why John was quite upset. It doesn’t seem to have worried Matthew,” he said.

  “Well, he hasn’t been abused in the past and he has always had a loving home. At the moment change isn’t good for John. I hope he’ll settle well in Benson; he stands a better chance there than anywhere else,” said Liza. She took her buckskin dress off and Patrick helped her get into her daytime clothes. She took the strips out of her hair and after brushing it, piled it on top of her head. The Liza that looked back at her from the mirror now looked like Liza Kelly, all she now had to do was try and get some light back into her eyes.

  Patrick asked what the trappers wanted and when Liza told him, he was ready to go and teach them a lesson but she told him not to worry, she had told them to go back to whatever it was they were doing prior to running there for safety.

  “You look very dejected Liza, I should have thought you would have felt relieved and happy to be back on course for Benson,” said Patrick.

  “I sometimes feel that I have the weight of the world on my shoulders and today was just another example of that. Why couldn’t it have been somebody else capable of solving this particular problem? I’m tired, Patrick and all I want is to be the wife of a soldier and the mother of our two boys and do the everyday things that wives and mothers do,” said Liza.

  “We’ll soon be back where you can do that Liza, but now you are going to have to show to John that you are still his mother,” said Patrick and they went out into the main room hand in hand, and once again everyone there wondered if this was the same woman who was in the Indian outfit just a while ago.

  As Liza moved across the room she scooped young John up in her arms and sat down on a bench with him on her knee. His frightened face looked up at her and gradually he relaxed as she hugged and kissed him and gently spoke reassuringly to him. After a while a small smile played on his lips and eventually he was laughing and snuggling into her and finally he went to sleep holding onto her. His mummy was back and he was content again.

  She carried him into their room and laid him still sleeping on the bed. She knew that he would wake shortly so she left the door open so that he would not feel cut off from everybody and they could peep in at him. Matthew was still telling everybody about his new name and how he had bravely faced up to the chief and medicine man.

  Patrick and Liza looked at one another. “You’re wrong Liza, Matthew is the one who solves all the problems of the world,” said Patrick. “He has a vivid imagination and an ability to bend the truth to his own advantage. I can see that he is now beginning to bore everyone here. How are we going to quieten him?”

  “That’s easy,” said Liza. “Give him some food. It always works.” Luckily supper was nearly ready and this time they had killed a few chickens, so thankfully meat stew was off the menu and the smell of the chickens roasting woke John who sleepily made his way to the table in time for supper.

  An almost party atmosphere ensued; obviously everyone was relieved that they were not going to be murdered in their beds. The only one who was thoughtful and not joining in the festivities was Liza. She had been quite unsettled going back into a place where she had never wanted to be. She felt the oppression that she had lived under for two years and it was difficult for her to shake off her memories. She prayed that she would not have nightmares that night as she knew that she could possibly wake the whole trading post and her sons with her cries. She would have to stay awake all night, she decided.

  Lieutenant Carter joined them for supper and a few mugs of beer were raised to toast her getting everyone out of danger. The two trappers started singing the Marseillaise which was countered by the Americans and the British. Ireland was ignored, much to Patrick’s and Liza’s surprise.

  Everyone was leaving the trading post the next day and it was getting late. The boys had been in bed for a few hours and Liza and Patrick made their way to the room. “I think you are going to need a lot of comfort tonight Liza,” said Patrick. “It’s a shame that we don’t have our own room, but I’ll keep you warm and cosy and stop your nightmares from coming to you tonight.”

  “I mustn’t sleep tonight; if I have a nightmare it will wake everyone here. I’ll sit in the chair and try to stay awake,” she said.

  “No, you won’t, Liza. You’ll come to bed and I’ll look after you. If you wake the household with your nightmares then we’ll deal with it. Nobody would be surprised if you did. I know it has been a very difficult day for you,” said Patrick.

  “I was so frightened when I went to the camp. I wondered whether I would be allowed to leave and I wondered whether they would insist that they take Matthew. I felt that I was taking a very large backward step and the life that I wanted for us all was not going to happen, but I knew that I had to do it. We had the reassurance of the half-breed scout and Zelma’s brother and I know that they don’t lie, but those reassurances weren’t from the chief. The chief had arranged my escape all those years ago and I wondered whether he now thought that he had the right to take me back,” said Liza.

  “What did you talk about in those couple of hours?” asked Patrick.

  “A great deal of it was ritual. I asked them if they ever found White Wolf and they said that he was never returned to them, which was a strange way for them to put it. I suppose they now believe that he wanders for ever over the land; they set great store in laying people to rest in their burial grounds. They asked many questions about Matthew and said that up until I left Benson, they received regular reports of his wellbeing. They also said they were pleased that my protector had returned to watch over me. The chief commented that John was troubled and he noted that from just seeing him before the naming ceremony. They assured me that Brave Eagle and the braves that he runs with do not know that either I or Matthew are alive, although they do think that it may be only a matter of time before they find out, but with the protections that they have put in place for us, even if he does see us, he would not be able to hurt us. However, I have been informed that Brave Eagle is no longer with the tribe; he killed one of their braves which is considered taboo. He was expelled and now travels in Mexico. I have always been right in not trusting his loyalty to his father and now I wonder whether he would stick to what our ceremony really meant,” said Liza.

  Patrick held her through the night and whenever she became agitated, he soothed her and she went back to sleep. In the morning they were awake early and the luxury of hot water was brought to them, not enough for a bath but plenty for thorough washi
ng.

  There had been no sightings of Indians and the troops reported that they had all left the encampment sometime during the night. Liza thought that the scout and Zelma’s brother would probably be watching over them, but of course, nobody would be able to see them.

  They boarded the stage and would reach their last stop that evening, the following day they would finally reach Benson during the afternoon. They were a day late but it was a small amount of time compared to the length of the overall journey. John would sit nowhere but beside Liza for the whole trip; he seemed to need the reassurance that she was really back to being his mother again.

  Patrick kept Matthew occupied for most of the time and John was quite content to sit and lean against Liza. They finally arrived at the last stop before Benson and once again it was meat stew for their meal. Their room was small but clean and they all slept reasonably well. Liza was getting quite excited as Benson was so near now. Matthew was telling John all about his great friend, Si. John looked quite concerned as he didn’t want anyone to take Matthew away from him. Patrick realised the problem and told John that he could see that it was now going to be Matthew, Si and John running around Benson and creating havoc between them. Matthew laughed and carried on telling John what fun they were all going to have together when they got home.

  Chapter 3

  Liza had not thought that she could get so excited about reaching home, but the next day she was rushing to get the boys ready and then she got herself ready. She made sure Patrick looked smart. Her eyes were sparkling and her excitement was infectious. It had been nearly eighteen months since she had been there and almost a year since Patrick had left to bring her home and she would be there that afternoon. She wondered if it had changed much.

  They were the only ones on the stage, so they could move around easily and talk without having to worry about who was listening. The townsfolk would know that they were on their way back, but they wouldn’t know exactly when, they just knew that their arrival was imminent.

  As they were the only passengers, the stage pulled up outside their house and they all staggered off and had their luggage piled up outside the gate. The front door was flung open and Zelma appeared and it was one of the few times that Liza had seen her laughing, or running for that matter. Matthew was grabbed, swung around and covered in kisses, which was a very unusual show of emotion from Zelma.

  After a wonderful initial greeting they all moved into the house, chatting and laughing. Their rooms had been ready for days and the second bed in Matthew’s room was the only one to be made up, which didn’t take long. Zelma then rushed out to the general store to let Kathy and Joe know that Liza and Patrick were back.

  Si appeared in the doorway and it was as if he and Matthew had never been apart. They were about to rush off to Si’s house when Matthew remembered John and told him to go with them. Si stopped and looked over John as if he was making up his mind about him and then nodded and said, “Come on then, what’s your name?” John James was the reply. “Come on then JJ, let’s go to my place, it’s only next door and you and Mat can tell me all about what you’ve been doing.” They disappeared running and talking excitedly together.

  “So, we have Si, Mat and now JJ, it’s amazing how children sort themselves out with no help from us,” said Patrick.

  Gabriel came in and kissed Liza and shook hands with Patrick. “I’m so pleased to see you both back. It’s been such a long time. Who’s JJ? He’s just been introduced to me.”

  “He’s John James and he’s Patrick’s nephew, but he’s now ours and he thinks of us as his parents,” said Liza.

  “They all seem to be getting on well together, if a little noisily,” said Gabriel. “Suddenly there’s life back in my house.”

  Kathy and Joe came rushing across and Liza was engulfed by them both which literally took her breath away.

  Whilst Patrick and Gabriel were bringing in their luggage, Ada and Bea arrived and once again Liza was hugged so tightly that she had to ask to be released.

  The boys came rushing in and would have disappeared up to Matthew’s bedroom if Patrick hadn’t stopped them and told them to greet everyone who had come to see them. Of course everyone remarked on how Matthew had grown and John was introduced but he found it all a little overwhelming so Patrick said that they could go on up to the bedroom and show John where he would be sleeping. Everyone was intrigued by exactly who John was and the fact that he was now part of their family.

  “I’m going to organise a party for Saturday,” announced Ada.

  “What a wonderful idea,” said Bea. “That’ll be fun to organise. Now, there’ll be nothing for you to do, Liza, just leave it all to us.”

  Liza and Patrick smiled sweetly and thanked them. They didn’t like to say that they had attended so many parties during their time away that they would have preferred to just spend time alone, but they were being so kind and going to a great deal of trouble to celebrate their return that they both said how much they would look forward to the party.

  So Ada, Bea, Kathy and Joe left full of chatter about what they were going to organise for Saturday. Gabriel bade them farewell saying that he would see them the next day and he called for Si to come on home with him. Liza said that he could stay for supper if he wished and Gabriel accepted on Si’s behalf if she was sure that he would not be too much trouble.

  “It’s been such a long while since Matthew and Si saw one another, it will be good for them to get to know each other again and also John is just beginning to make friends with him. Although I do notice that it is as if they have all known one another all their lives.”

  Gabriel left and Liza and Patrick looked at one another. “So, we have a social function on Saturday, and this one we can’t refuse,” said Patrick.

  “It’s giving everyone a great deal of pleasure and we will be able to meet up with many friends again,” said Liza. “My only problem is that I only have two evening dresses, my red one and my green one and they will both make me appear a little over dressed for the occasion.”

  “You have got to wear the red one. You don’t have to put diamonds in your hair, in fact you don’t need to wear any jewellery with it, but I love the way you look in that one and I want everyone to envy me, although I think they do anyway regardless of what you wear,” said Patrick.

  Liza just laughed and called him a flatterer. “With all due respect to your opinion, I believe the green one would be more appropriate, I want to save the red one just for you. What are we going to do with the boys on Saturday, we can’t expect Zelma to look after three boys, and I’m sure she’ll also want to come to the party. I wonder if the boys could also go to the party early and we’ll have to make some arrangement when they get tired. We’ll have to think about it.”

  Zelma called the boys for their supper and it was as though overhead thunder had arrived. “I thought two boys made enough noise, but three is deafening,” said Patrick, “I think I’ll go and unpack my luggage. We’ll have to do all that ourselves now, I got used to being waited on hand and foot.”

  “We’ve come back into the real world now, Patrick. If the boys are happy, I’ll come and unpack my clothes as well,” said Liza and they went upstairs to their bedroom. It was small in comparison with New York and Belfast, but it was where they had been the happiest.

  Patrick looked around and nodded. “Yes, this is home again,” and smiling, he started unlocking their luggage and they both spent a very happy hour organising their wardrobe and drawers. Patrick finished first and sat in the chair that he had used the first time they were together and watched Liza unpacking.

  “Are you going to fit everything in? We’ve got the rest of our luggage arriving in a couple of weeks’ time.”

  “Yes, Zelma has unpacked the boys’ clothes and their wardrobe is already full. It looks as if we are going to need a bigger house, but I don’t want to leave here. It was my first ever house that hadn’t been set up by somebody else and it helped me get through all the
problems that I’d had and make a comfortable home for me and Matthew when he arrived,” said Liza.

  “I’d be very sorry to leave here,” said Patrick. “We can always use the spare bedroom for storage.”

  Liza had her suspicions that she was going to have their baby and thought that if it were to be a girl the third bedroom would be needed. Matthew’s room would not be big enough to sleep another boy if that were to be the case. She had no intention of telling Patrick until she was totally sure of her condition. He would naturally worry about her and he had to get back into his army duties which needed all his powers of concentration.

  “I’ll be going to see the colonel tomorrow to see what he has in store for me and it will be good to see Sean again. I presume he’s still at the fort,” said Patrick.

  “I’m sure he’ll be very pleased to see you, Patrick, I dare say he’s missed you on some of his missions. You two work very well together,” said Liza knowing that Sean would protect Patrick with his life.

  Supper was over and the ‘thunder’ returned up the stairs and Liza and Patrick felt it prudent to move down stairs.

  “The boys seem to be getting on well, Zelma, did they eat their supper properly?” asked Liza.

  “Yes, they seem to enjoy one another’s company. Who is JJ? What is troubling him? He joins in well enough but he is not as relaxed as a boy of that age should be. Who has hurt him?” asked Zelma.

  “You are very astute, Zelma. JJ is Patrick’s nephew and he was badly abused before we found him. We will not be telling anyone else about this abuse as we feel that the best way to handle it is for us not to mention it as no matter how well-intentioned, people will set him apart if they know. We just want him to be treated as any other normal six-year-old. We will have to deal with any bad memories that he has and hopefully, in time, they will disappear,” said Liza.