Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  She was looking forward to the party; it was the first time she had been out to a function since Patrick had been away and she was quite relaxed as she knew everyone who would be there that evening. Once again a shiver ran down her spine and she felt Patrick’s nearness.

  This is rather like when he came back to me in New York, she thought. She brushed the thought aside and went to show how she looked to the boys and Zelma, who were very complimentary on her appearance.

  “I like the panel in the front,” said Zelma, “it looks as if it’s always been there.”

  Right on time Lieutenant Kendal arrived and put his horse in the stable after taking off its saddle. Liza’s buggy was already in front of the house. He was invited in and was introduced to Zelma, Matthew, John and Si.

  “I thought you only had two children,” he said and Liza explained who Si was.

  They left for the party with the lieutenant helping Liza into her seat and on the way out of town Joe and Kathy hailed them and said how nice she looked and hoped that she had a wonderful evening. She introduced the lieutenant to them as her means of safe transport, and they laughed and wished him well also.

  On their journey they established that they should be on first name terms, so Mark and Liza it was as they arrived. He helped her down and her buggy was taken to the stable by one of the soldiers and Mark escorted Liza into the party and from that moment they both went their separate ways.

  ***

  An hour after Liza had arrived at the party, the stage pulled into Benson and Patrick alighted, picked up his bag which had been thrown down to him and he made the short walk home, expecting to be greeted by a delighted Liza. Instead he was greeted by two boys who threw themselves at him shrieking with pleasure. Zelma rushed from the back of the room to see what all the noise was about and stopped in surprise.

  “Where’s Liza,” he asked.

  “She’s at a party at the fort,” they chorused. “Lieutenant Mark came for her,” added Matthew. “She looked very pretty,” said John.

  This was not what Patrick wanted to hear. He remembered Lieutenant Kendal who was about Liza’s age and rather good looking. Many of the girls and women preened themselves in his company. He did not like what he was being told.

  “It’s the first time she’s been out to a party since you’ve been away, Patrick,” said Zelma.

  Patrick nodded and turned to the boys. “So, how are you two; have you been good while I was away?”

  “Yes, we’ve looked after Mummy for you,” said John.

  “Everybody has been looking after her, especially someone at the fort, she goes there a lot,” said Matthew successfully saying too much and giving Patrick totally the wrong impression.

  John whispered loudly to Matthew, “You shouldn’t have said that.”

  Zelma was unaware of a drama which seemed to be unfolding. “I’ll get the boys to bed and you can tuck them in, Patrick. They have school tomorrow so they can’t stay up much later.”

  “While you’re getting them ready for bed, I’ll get washed and changed and make my way to the fort to collect Liza. I presume my dress uniform hasn’t been moved out of the wardrobe.”

  “She’ll be back in a couple of hours, Patrick. It may be better for you to rest here and wait for her,” said Zelma and Patrick detected a slight concern in her voice.

  “No, I think I’d like to go and collect her, Zelma,” said Patrick.

  “The lieutenant’s horse is in the stable, when the boys are in bed I’ll saddle it for you,” said Zelma.

  “What’s the lieutenant’s horse doing in our stable?” asked Patrick.

  Zelma looked at him puzzled, “Well he’d need something to ride back to the fort on when he brought her home, but you’ll be doing that now so you might as well take his horse back for him.”

  Patrick was not having a very good homecoming. As he was getting changed he thought about the letters that Liza had sent him and he really knew that he was judging her incorrectly. She would not go with anyone else, he was sure of it, but she was out at a party with a young lieutenant and had been visiting someone regularly at the fort. No, not his Liza, she would never be disloyal, but he wanted to see her and he felt that there was something that he was not being told.

  When he was ready, he went in to say goodnight to the boys and told them that he would see them the next day and spend a lot more time with them. They both put their arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the cheek, he loved them very much and they loved him and he felt better for seeing them.

  Zelma had the horse saddled and waiting at the front of the house and she reiterated that it really would be better if he waited for Liza to get home. Patrick just nodded and set off for the fort. On the way he saw Joe and Kathy who called to him and welcomed him home. He stopped to talk to them briefly.

  “Have you just arrived, Patrick?” asked Kathy.

  “Yes, I was on the late stage. I’m back early. I wasn’t due back until next week, but I was given early leave,” said Patrick.

  “Does Liza know you’re back?” asked Joe.

  “No, I understand she’s at the fort so I thought I’d surprise her,” said Patrick.

  “I would have thought she would have preferred to greet you alone rather than in front of so many people,” said Kathy uneasily.

  Patrick picked up on their concern and it made him even more determined to get to the party at the fort to see what was going on because something was definitely not as it should be. He bade them farewell and rode on.

  ***

  Liza was sitting between Bea and Brigeta. She’d had a few dances but she tired easily now. The colonel had made his speech of thanks for his ‘surprise’ party for his thirty years in the army, he had thanked Ada for all her support over the years and said what a good post Benson had turned out to be.

  The music was playing and Liza suddenly jumped up. “Patrick’s here,” she said.

  “No Liza he won’t be back until next week,” said Bea.

  “No, he’s here now,” said Liza and she started to make her way through the crowd towards the door.

  Bea and Brigeta frowned and looked at one another shaking their heads as if they thought that Liza had gone mad.

  Patrick entered the hall and looked around, he was greeted with surprise by those nearby and he saw Lieutenant Kendal talking intently to a young and pretty woman and suddenly the people in front of him parted and there was Liza pushing her way through to him. He only had to take one look at her eyes to know that he was the only one she wanted. Her smile was full of utter pleasure and he was about to walk towards her when he noticed that she was not as he had left her. She didn’t care who was around her, she was in his arms kissing him. He pulled her away slightly and looked down at her stomach and then he ran his hand over her there. So that was what the mystery was, he pulled her close to him again and those in the room who had seemed to be holding their breath started to breathe again.

  Ada and the colonel came over to greet Patrick, followed by Bea and Captain Graves. “We’ve been looking after her for you, Patrick,” said the colonel. “I suppose you’ll be taking her home. Just tell young Kendal that he’s no longer on transport duty.”

  Dr Steele came next telling Patrick that he had been keeping a close eye on Liza and insisting that she visit him at least once a week to make sure all was well. Patrick was beginning to feel quite guilty over what he had thought was happening whilst he was away.

  Liza smiled at Patrick and said that she would like to go home now and he said that he would just tell Lieutenant Kendal where his horse was and thank him for looking after Liza that evening.

  “How did you know he was here, Liza?” asked Brigeta.

  “I don’t know, but I have had that feeling all week that he was on his way. I can’t explain how I know. I’ve experienced that in the past also. I guess it’s because I love him,” said Liza.

  Patrick wrapped her cloak around her and had the buggy brought to the front o
f the hall. He helped her into it and covered her with a blanket and drove her home. He daren’t tell her what thoughts he’d had when he had arrived home. He looked down at her and said, “I dare say I won’t be doing what I had in mind tonight.”

  “Oh, I think we may manage something. It may not be as energetic as we like, but I do want you tonight, my Patrick,” said Liza.

  Zelma got up from her chair in front of the fire and gave Liza a lopsided smile. “He found you then. Was he surprised?”

  “Yes, he was a little taken aback,” said Liza as Patrick came in from putting the buggy away.

  “You all kept your secret well,” said Patrick. “But why did you do that? I’m delighted that I’m to be a father again.”

  “We were worried that it might take your mind off the job that you had to do,” said Liza.

  “No, Liza was more worried that you would worry about her rather than about yourself if you knew, and everybody here in town and at the fort agreed with her, so they were vowed to silence. Not that many of them would have been in touch with you anyway, but you never know,” said Zelma.

  “Well, you would have been right, I would have worried about you, especially because of the past,” said Patrick.

  “I think the most difficult part was Liza trying not to show you her morning sickness before you left,” said Zelma which Liza felt was giving Patrick too much information, but Zelma was enjoying saying how well they had kept it all from Patrick.

  “Have the boys been good tonight, Zelma?” asked Liza desperately trying to change the subject.

  “They were a little excited at seeing Patrick and then kept telling each other how clever they had been at keeping Mummy’s secret,” replied Zelma.

  So they were back on the subject again. “Well, I’m a little tired,” said Liza, “I think I’ll go on up to bed. Thank you for looking after the boys, Zelma, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be up in a little while, Liza, I’d just like a coffee before I come to bed,” said Patrick.

  When Liza had left the room, Patrick rounded on Zelma asking, “Has she been all right, Zelma? I’m surprised that she was unwell before I left and I’m upset that I didn’t notice. Is she really keeping well?”

  “Her morning sickness has been quite severe, but Dr Steele has been looking after her very well. She has refused to see Dr Bridges. She seems to have to rest quite a lot, but that’s not a bad thing. She’s really happy and she knew you would be, but she was so worried about you that the whole town and those at the fort worried about her and tried to make her life as easy as possible. I think the colonel lied to her about how dangerous your task was, although I believe she saw through that. He forgot that she knew from being on the receiving end of captivity what you were doing.”

  “Your Cherokee people were the easy one’s; we just released one captive from there and they gave her up easily,” Patrick said and continued quietly, “but you know why she was there, don’t you, Zelma and it’s a secret that we must keep from Liza, isn’t it?”

  Zelma frowned and nodded, and as if to prove that she would keep the secret, she bit her lips together and said nothing.

  Patrick smiled at her and gave her a kiss on her scarred cheek and said, “You are such a good friend to us all, Zelma, you know that we do appreciate you and do love having you within our family. I’ll say goodnight to you now and thank you for everything that you do for us.”

  “It’s easy to be happy with people who want you and love you, Patrick. Goodnight, Patrick, I’ll see you tomorrow,” and she left to go to her own home which now had everything in it to make her cosy and warm.

  Patrick made his way up to bed and looked in on the boys on the way. They were sleeping soundly and when he went into his bedroom, Liza was also asleep. He just smiled and looked down on her for a while. He admitted to himself that he was disappointed as he had dreamed of this reunion for a long time, but she needed her rest and the smile on her face showed that she was very peaceful and he believed that his return had made her that way.

  Once in bed, he couldn’t resist gently touching her stomach; it fascinated him to think that they had created a living being between them. She roused a little, moved and felt him near her; she put her head on his chest and they stayed like that for a long while.

  “Are you awake, Patrick?” asked Liza quietly so that she did not wake him should he be sleeping.

  “I thought you were asleep,” he said.

  “I was, but I’m awake now, Patrick,” said Liza and he knew what she was really saying; she was asking him to love her.

  “I’ve got to look after you, Liza and be careful for our little one,” said Patrick.

  “I’m sure you’re going to be very gentle with me. I would really like you to love me tonight. I’m not so big that you can’t make love to me,” said Liza.

  Patrick laughed, “I’ll try not to fall off you, Liza. I have been so looking forward to being with you, my Liza, but not just in bed, although that is a very happy part of our lives, but being around you and our increasing family. That was a very big and surprising present to come home to.”

  It was Liza’s turn to laugh, and they spent the next couple of hours loving one another, and then sleeping contentedly in one another’s arms.

  Patrick left her sleeping the next morning and had breakfast with Zelma and the boys and then walked with the boys to school. They were both excited to be with him and asked him many questions about what he had been doing over the past two months. Angela waved to him as he left them in the playground and George shouted a welcome to him as he passed by the church.

  Si was running towards the school with Gabriel standing at his gate calling to him to hurry. He shook Patrick’s hand and welcomed him home with a knowing smile. Kathy was coming towards him saying that she hadn’t welcomed him home properly yesterday but she had other things on her mind and she too smiled at him knowingly.

  Patrick laughed and said, “I realise that I was the last one to know that I was going to be a father but it was a wonderful surprise albeit a very public one. I know now why you tried to stop me going to the party, you wanted to spare me the shock of seeing Liza somewhat larger than life. You’ve all looked after her well and I thank you for that.”

  “Is she up yet?” asked Kathy.

  “No, I left her sleeping soundly. She needs her rest,” said Patrick.

  “Yes, I’m sure she does,” said Kathy pointedly. “I’ll call round later to see her. It’s good to see you back, Patrick, and of course congratulations, Joe and I are looking forward to the birth of another grandchild for us.”

  Patrick smiled and nodded as he, Liza and the boys were now Kathy and Joe’s only family.

  Liza was sitting up having been pampered by Zelma with breakfast in bed. Patrick bounded up the stairs to join her. Egg had dribbled down her chin and Patrick wiped it off with her serviette; she looked so young and just like Matthew.

  “How do you feel this morning?” he asked.

  “Very happy,” was her reply.

  “I meant; how is your health?” he asked.

  “I am fine, Patrick. You’re not going to try wrapping me up in cotton wool, are you? I’m past the worst of feeling ill and I see Dr Steele every week and he passes me fit every time. I know I’ve had difficulties in the past, but they were brought on by accidents and I’m being very careful this time. What time are you going to see the captain and colonel today? I’ve got to see Dr Steele so we could go together. You’ve got to pick up a horse, haven’t you so I can drive the buggy back,” said Liza.

  “I don’t want you driving back by yourself,” said Patrick.

  “Oh Patrick, what do you think I have been doing these past two months? Please don’t start being over cautious on my behalf,” said Liza.

  “I know, but this is all very new to me and I want to look after you. Don’t worry, I’ll get used to it. Did you enjoy yourself last night by the way?” asked Patrick.

  “Do you mean before,
during or after the party?” asked Liza. “Before the party, I enjoyed getting ready for it and having handsome young Lieutenant Kendal act as my escort. During the party, I enjoyed dancing, talking to friends and eating, but after was the best of all as I slept with someone who made me feel so warm, so comforted, so wanted and loved me so gently and beautifully that I never wanted him to stop. Does that answer your question?”

  “You never fail to make me feel good,” said Patrick. “You’ve got coffee down your front now. You’re worse than the boys.”

  “I know, I really find it difficult to eat in bed, but Zelma insisted and I don’t like to throw her kindness back in her face. She really is such a great support to me and when I was so sick in the mornings she bore the brunt of my being so helpless and did everything for me and the boys,” said Liza.

  Midmorning they left for the fort and many people called out to Patrick welcoming him home as they drove through town.

  “I’ll call in at the doctors and then see Brigeta and perhaps Ada and Bea and then go home and rest until the boys come home. I suppose you’ve got a few reports to make so I’ll see you later,” said Liza as they pulled up at the stables and she kissed him goodbye.

  Dr Steele was pleased to see her and his examination of her was relatively quick. “You’re doing well, Liza, although your baby is a little small which means it’s probably going to be a girl. I know I’m quoting an old wives tale, but that does seem to happen. Anyway, it will be all the better for you when you finally have it.”

  “It’s all right though, isn’t it, doctor?” asked Liza.