Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  “They must have also been peeping through the window. At least they just think that I was some sort of idiot giving you that,” said Liza. “I look forward to seeing you and Bea this evening.”

  “She’s a bit nervous about this evening, but I’ve reassured her that Ada and the colonel and you and Patrick will be keeping close company with us,” said Captain Graves.

  “Yes, it must be a little daunting for you both, but don’t worry, we’ll be right with you all the time. Goodbye, captain, I’ll see you later,” smiled Liza.

  The evening went very well, although Liza was relegated some of the time to a chair. Everyone could see her slight annoyance, but nobody was going to upset Patrick, so she didn’t have many dances that evening. Bea looked very pretty although a little pale. Apart from the captain, the colonel danced with her as did Patrick, Sean, Mark, Gabriel and Joe. She was quite in demand and she finally seemed very relaxed.

  Liza was allowed to dance with the colonel and the captain and of course Patrick, but all else were banned and they all found it amusing whereas Liza found it frustrating, but she took it in good part knowing that everyone was concerned about her and respected Patrick’s decision to keep her as rested as possible. She could also see Dr Steele keeping an eye on her. She wondered whether any other pregnant woman had been quite so pampered by so many people.

  Everyone was shivering as they left the fort, it had really turned cold. It was being said that it was too cold to snow and it was the first year that Liza could remember that there had not been some snow by New Year’s Day and she hoped that it would remain so until after she had a reply from Dr Marsden.

  Their house was cosy and warm when they arrived home. Zelma said that all three boys had been no trouble at all. Liza was concerned that Zelma’s home would be too cold for her, but as Zelma said, she had a wood burning fire which had been safely installed and if she really was too cold, she would pack up and move into the house with them. She also said that she had been colder in the Indian village which brought back memories to Liza of the cold winters she had experienced there herself. Yes, she could see that Zelma would think that her home was luxury.

  Their bedroom was also warm with the fire burning nicely; Zelma had stoked it well earlier and Liza and Patrick undressed cosily discussing the evening.

  “You kept a very close eye on me this evening, Patrick. I hardly got a chance to enjoy myself on the dance floor,” Liza was smiling as she knew that it was through his care for her.

  “That’s right; I wasn’t going to watch you hurtling around the dance floor in the arms of Sean or young Mark Kendal, or anyone else for that matter. I was going to keep you to myself with the exception of one or two people,” said Patrick.

  “I thought that Bea and the captain coped very well with the evening. Everybody was very kind to them, I hope they enjoyed themselves,” said Liza as she climbed into bed. She yawned and realised how tired she was, but it was now nearly two in the morning so she should be feeling tired.

  Patrick looked at her concerned. “You don’t look well, Liza. Is everything all right?”

  “I think so, Patrick, I just suddenly seem to have a nasty headache. It was rather hot in the hall and then coming out into the icy cold and now back into the warm has probably created it,” said Liza. “It’s nothing to worry about and nothing that a good night’s sleep won’t put right.”

  It took her a while to get to sleep; Patrick rubbed her temples until she finally slept. He knew she didn’t feel well because she was always normally ready to make love, but tonight she just wasn’t interested; however, by dawn she was back to her normal self and ready and waiting for Patrick’s dawn time nudge.

  Chapter 6

  Two days after the New Year’s Eve party, the town meeting was going to take place to discuss the election of a town council and Liza decided that the best course of action would be that she would not attend it. Patrick told her that she was very wise because he knew that she would only get roped into becoming a member of the council.

  Gabriel called round with Si who was going to stay the night with them and he and Zelma went to the meeting. Zelma had been reluctant, but everyone pointed out to her that this was now her town also and she had a right to know what was going on. It was the first time that she had attended any function without either Liza or Patrick or both of them.

  Gabriel and Zelma were back within an hour reporting that the meeting had broken up in absolute chaos. Nobody could agree on anything. The colonel and Gabriel had tried to bring order to the meeting but everyone was nominating everybody and only one person was elected, which seemed to appease everyone for the moment.

  There was a knock on the door and the colonel, Ada, Dr Steele, Kathy and Joe were there and both Liza and Patrick had a sinking feeling that they knew what this was all about. Liza stayed seated in her rocking chair by the fire whilst Patrick ushered their guests in and sat them as best they could around the table.

  “There’s no easy way to tell you this, Liza,” said the colonel, “but you’ve been elected as chairman of the Town Council.”

  “Colonel, with all due respect, that has to be the most idiotic thing I have heard,” said Patrick. “Liza didn’t even attend the meeting and most certainly did not put herself up for election. Surely a person can’t be elected in their absence.”

  Gabriel butted in saying, “It is unusual but not unknown.”

  “That’s not terribly helpful, Gabriel,” said Patrick. “How can Liza do anything in her condition? Dr Steele, you must realise that.”

  Suddenly everyone started talking at once. “Please,” shouted Liza, “if this is how the meeting was conducted, I’m not surprised nothing was agreed.” Everyone went quiet.

  Patrick finally smiled and said, “I think this Town Council has just got its first chairman.”

  “I don’t know if that’s going to work,” said Liza. “I am going to be a bit busy around May time and doctor, you keep telling me to rest.”

  “Yes, I know Liza, but it seems that you can keep order around here and being chairman means that you delegate to others, and to be honest, you do that job now anyway. I’ll keep my eye on you, that I promise you and Patrick. It was chaos there this evening and it wasn’t until your name was suggested as chairman that there was any order in the place,” said Dr Steele.

  Liza tut tutted, “Come on, there has to be someone else who can shout at people and make them listen.”

  “Liza, you know that you help to run two large worldwide businesses and a charity. You make difficult decisions every day of your life, you’re used to commanding respect; chairing a town meeting should be no trouble for you,” said the colonel.

  Liza and Patrick were quiet and then Liza said. “Right, we’ll call a meeting for the day after tomorrow and I’ll tell everyone who should be elected to the council and they will either agree or disagree, so let’s talk about that now.”

  “I’ll take notes,” said Gabriel.

  “First, I believe the town should have a representative from the army and I think that it should be you Colonel,” said Liza. “Do you agree with that Colonel?”

  The colonel nodded and Liza carried on suggesting Gabriel to cover all legal aspects, Jake Smith covering law and order, Dr Steele for the moment until a new town doctor is appointed, Angela covering the educational needs of the town’s children, George for religious input, Mr Pembroke for financial advice, either Kathy or Joe to represent the merchants of the town.

  “That’s nine of us to look after a town. I don’t think that’s excessive and all we have is somebody representing every aspect of Benson. Are all here that I have suggested agreeable to act on the town council? I’ll call in on Jake, Angela, George and Mr Pembroke tomorrow and ask for their agreement to act as town councillors,” said Liza.

  Liza went round them one by one and got their agreement. Kathy said that Joe should be the merchants’ representative as now that they had Greg with them he could devote time to it, and
Joe agreed.

  Finally everyone left and Liza and Patrick could go to bed but before they did, they sat at the table and unwound. Liza said, “I’m sorry Patrick. You know it wasn’t my intention to become involved with the council. My first concern has always been for you and our family which of course, includes the new baby, but I’m not going to let it run me into the ground. I’ve got eight people now to take the pressure off me. I can delegate quite successfully. It will be easier than trying to organise God knows how many towns’ people all with separate things that they want to talk to me about. I can refer them to the particular town councillor representing their particular concern. I’ll run it like a business.”

  “I think you’re right, Liza. I believe that instead of people asking you just about everything, you’ll have people to refer them to, which is much better for you. I’m not annoyed; I was to start with because I couldn’t see how the meeting could have been allowed to get so out of hand, especially with the colonel in charge. His word is law at the fort, I would have thought it would be the same here in town and it struck me that even he was coming to you with his problems and I had to bite my tongue a little when I remembered that he was my boss,” said Patrick.

  “He probably realised that, Patrick. He sees a great deal more than we give him credit for. Tomorrow I must make a few visits but they are only around town and then I’ll have to think about what I am going to say at the meeting in a couple of days’ time. Not that I think that will be difficult. I’ll tell them my suggestions and ask for a vote on each candidate,” said Liza.

  At lunchtime on the day of the second town council selection meeting, Liza received a letter from Dr Marsden, stating that he and his family would definitely be interested in working and living in Benson and that he was confident that she would be happy with his qualifications. He continued that he would be making his way to the town shortly and would arrive in the next few days and much as he was sure that he and his family would be very content to settle in Benson, he realised that the people of the town would probably like to have the opportunity to meet him.

  He also added that if all went well, it would be advantageous for him to see what equipment may already be in place which he can add to with his own and what he may need to purchase when he returned to New York. He also would like to assess what accommodation he would need for his family and of course, for his surgery.

  Liza thought that it seemed as if he was taking all responsibility for the housing of his family and his workplace. She hoped that he would like the house that had been Dr Bridges as there was really no alternative for him and his family and she also hoped that he was under no illusions about how large Benson really was. The house was now being cleaned and cleared of all unnecessary items but she was pleased that she would know what he would be bringing and what she would have to organise herself.

  Liza had prepared well for the town meeting and she arrived early. She had to leave for the school before Patrick had arrived home, he and Sean were on a late patrol and he would join the meeting as soon as he could. Angela and George helped her set up a table at the top of the room and placed nine chairs at it. She took up her place in the middle of it with four chairs either side of her.

  She had already approached all the people she felt should be on the council and they had all agreed to be nominated. They were to be seated in the main room and only come up to the top table when they were elected although she felt that there was no fear that they would not be elected.

  The room was beginning to fill and people were greeting one another loudly. Liza was pleased to see that the Dornbergs and the Tolanys had made the journey into town. Ben and Brigeta arrived and sat with the Dornbergs, several army families arrived. Charlie Penn and his wife and Caroline Browne came next followed by Greg and his mother. Mrs Henshaw arrived and told her that Dr Bridges was in the capable hands of her daughter who was visiting her. Ada and the colonel, together with Bea and the captain, arrived at the same time. Angela and George were already there. It began to get so crowded that Liza lost sight of many arrivals and hoped that the main nominees were there. There was a lull in people arriving and Angela got up to close the doors as Patrick, Sean and Mark arrived, they looked slightly dusty and dishevelled as they had come straight from their various patrols. Zelma finally put in an appearance having settled the boys and made sure that Greg’s elder sister was quite capable of looking after them for a short while.

  Liza was relieved to see that Dr Steele, Kathy, Joe, Gabriel, Jake Smith and Mr and Mrs Pembroke were there. She noticed that the woman who had tried to create a problem for Liza years before at the meeting regarding the school was sitting near the middle with an army corporal who she had seen around the fort on occasion. She wondered whether she was going to have trouble from them; she would have to keep an eye on them.

  Liza called the meeting to order and apart from one or two who still wanted to talk, the rest quietened. She stared at those still talking and waited whilst the rest of the assembly told them to be quiet. She looked up and saw a sign of amusement on Patrick’s face.

  Firstly she welcomed everyone to this very important town meeting and thanked them for allowing her to chair the meeting.

  “I would like to start by disclosing to you that I do have various business interests in this town as I do not wish to be accused of using my position as chairman of the town council to take advantage of the people of Benson. I have both business and property interests and if, in the future, I see further opportunities and if I can afford it, I will tell you now that I will take advantage of such opportunities. If you, as the people of Benson, find this not to your liking then I would ask you now to make that known and I will remove myself from this position and let you elect another chairman. If you are content with this disclosure and wish me to remain as chairman, will you please let me know with a show of hands?”

  She could see Gabriel nodding his approval of her opening gambit. She looked around the room and if there were any hands not showing, they were so few that they were not noticeable.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I take that as your approval.”

  She carried on by saying that, in the future, all people on the town council would be elected by the ballot box but as they had to start somewhere, it was felt that she would nominate those who could be considered as essential to the wellbeing of the town and she would ask for a show of hands of those for and then those against the nominees. She added that women’s votes would be included in this count unlike other places, as it was felt that women were just as essential to the smooth running of homes, businesses and ultimately towns. This was greeted with approval, especially by the women.

  “I’m going to call on you now to vote for the nominees and I call their names not in any particular order of merit. Firstly, I would like you to consider Colonel Western; he has been part of this town since its inception and as you all may or may not be aware, this town was built around the fort rather than the other way around. Those in favour, please show.”

  The majority of hands went up. She then asked for those against and there was none showing.

  “Well, Colonel, would you like to join me up here. Sit where you like. Thank you everyone. Next I’d like to nominate Gabriel Sanderson. I felt that we would need a lawyer to keep whatever we need to implement within the letter of the law. Those in favour, please show.”

  Once again, there were no dissenters.

  “Thank you everyone, please join us here, Gabriel. The next nomination is the Reverend Prior, who already looks after the religious obligations of the people of Benson no matter which denomination they are from. All in favour please show.”

  Again there were no dissenters and George joined them at the table.

  Liza looked down her list and picked Jake Smith. “Jake has kept law and order in our town since before I arrived and his advice on keeping the people of Benson safe would be immeasurable. Those in favour, please show.”

  There were a few dissenter
s, but they were mostly those who had fallen foul of the law, and Jake joined them at the table.

  “I can’t emphasise enough the importance of education and for the past few years our children have been encouraged and skilfully taught by Angela Barrows. I believe we all appreciate her contribution to this town and therefore would like you to vote on her nomination. All in favour please show.”

  All hands were raised and a small applause followed this. Angela joined them.

  “Relatively recently our town has been fortunate enough to have our own banking facility and in charge of that is Mr Pembroke and I would like to nominate him so that we can receive the best of financial advice. Those in favour please raise your hands.”

  The majority raised their hands, but somebody asked if Mr Pembroke could be loyal to the town as well as his employers. “I can assure you,” he said, “that although my salary is paid by M & F, I would always advise anyone to the best of my abilities, for example there would be no point in my encouraging anyone to take out a loan which they would never be in a position to repay, it would be business that M & F would not wish. I study the markets and attempt to give as honest an opinion as I can on investments. So, I can indeed tell you that my loyalties would not be divided as they are to the people of this town, which I now consider as my home.”

  The same person asked, “Who are M & F and would they be happy that you are telling us that your loyalties are not with them but with us?”

  Mr Pembroke was aware that nobody knew that Liza was part owner of M & F, he wasn’t even sure that Patrick knew of her involvement.

  “I can assure you all that I know the owner of M & F and there will be absolutely no difficulties with Mr Pembroke serving on our town council. I believe we have a majority ‘yes’ vote on this nominee, please join us, Mr Pembroke,” said Liza wanting to move from the subject.