Before they went downstairs for lunch, Patrick asked her if she’d had fun.
“Yes, Patrick; it’s a long time since I’ve played like that. In fact, the last time I had such fun was when we all played cricket together and I don’t believe I have ever played snowballs before,” said Liza.
Eleven of them sat down to lunch, Angela had joined them and the soup was just about enough when it was padded out with bread. They all agreed that it had been a very good way to spend the morning. After lunch the boys went to their room to play and Sean and Mark wanted to see what they were doing, and so they joined them for a while, leaving Gabriel, George and Patrick to put their feet up in the sitting room. Liza, Zelma and Angela cleared up and started preparing for the evening meal, all the while chatting about the fun they’d had that morning.
Eventually Sean and Mark joined the men in the sitting room and Liza and Angela sat in the rocking chairs beside the fire in the dining room with Zelma sitting comfortably with her feet up at the table. The chickens were roasting and the vegetables were prepared and ready to cook at the right time.
The girls were warm and comfortable and the chickens were beginning to smell delicious. They could hear the men talking in the sitting room and the boys playing upstairs. Liza loved having a house full of family and friends; it reminded her of Christmas.
Angela was looking at Liza. “Liza, I do believe you are putting on weight at last. You seemed to stay the same for a long while, but now you are beginning to show much more. That’s good, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Patrick said that only yesterday. I think Dr Steele is going to be pleased when I next see him. I’m hoping that the way will be clear enough for me to go and see him tomorrow. He likes to check up on me at least once a week,” said Liza.
“You’ll be pleased when the new doctor arrives. He’ll be here before you have the baby, won’t he?” said Angela.
“Yes, he should be. The number of children in your school will be increasing, although the doctor’s twins are only four, but their niece is around fourteen and I’m not sure if she will be attending school. I want to see Bea tomorrow if I can get to the fort. I’d like to know how little Rachel is. She’s eight, I believe, so I suppose she will be going to school as soon as she’s fit enough,” said Liza.
“The numbers are definitely increasing. I may have to think about an assistant if they increase much more, but at the moment, I can cope,” said Angela.
The afternoon and the evening passed pleasantly and with a great deal of good humour. The boys were tired and soon after their evening meal, they went to bed and were asleep within minutes. The men helped with the clearing up and finally, Mark and Sean left to return to the fort.
Both Zelma and Liza were tired so they made their way to bed, leaving George to see Angela back to the boarding house, and Patrick and Gabriel mulling over the events of the day. George arrived back and Patrick decided to go to bed. He looked at both George and Gabriel and said, “You may wish to block your ears,” and he went up to join Liza. He had always liked the fact that people knew that he bedded Liza and enjoyed the looks of envy on their faces. It had led to too much envy on the part of some people, namely Jamie Edgeworth, but he had no such fears with Gabriel and George.
***
The next day Gabriel moved back into his own home and Zelma was pleased to return to her home. Liza tried to persuade her to stay longer but she was adamant that her home was now ready for her. They made the bed up in the spare room that Zelma had been using for George as his accommodation wouldn’t be ready for some days. Life was getting back to normal.
The school wouldn’t be opening until the next day so the boys still had some play time in what was left of the snow. Liza could see that the road to the fort was open and could now take a horse and buggy instead of just a horse so she decided that, immediately after lunch, she would visit Dr Steele and also see Ada and Bea and the children. She also hoped that she would be able to catch up with Brigeta but she would have to see how the time went.
Patrick was out with his men on a patrol, but they weren’t venturing far as the snow was still quite think in some areas.
She wondered how the Dornbergs and the Tolanys had fared and hoped that Brigeta knew how they were.
She wrapped up well and made her way to the fort and to Dr Steele who was in the middle of treating several mild cases of frostbite. She told him she would come back later and made her way to Bea and of course, Ada was there also. Little Judith seemed to be doing well on the concoction that Zelma had organised for her and Rachel was sitting happily in front of their fire reading Liza’s Charles Dickens book. She looked remarkably well for a child who, not long ago, had been shot and she seemed to have settled into this home environment very quickly.
Everyone was pleased to see Liza and told her how worried they had been for her. She told them what had been happening in town and how everyone had made sure that they all were safe and well, especially all their concern about George who had managed to find his way to her door. They marvelled at the number of people she and Patrick had accommodated under their roof and she told them that it made for a very friendly and warm few days. She also told them that George was still with her as his roof had collapsed under the weight of the snow.
They laughed when she told them about the whole town joining in a snowball fight, including Gabriel, who they knew was rather straight laced.
Ada was looking at her, “Liza, I think you have finally started to put on weight around your midriff. It’s about time that you started to look a bit more pregnant.”
“Yes, both Patrick and Angela noticed and once they mentioned it, I could also see it, so, at last, everyone can stop worrying about me,” said Liza.
Bea told her how well the children had settled and said that Gabriel had drawn up a document which covered an adoption of children who either have no relatives or those that they may have had but have not been seen for over seven years and are, therefore, presumed dead.
“That will be a great relief to you when that is signed,” said Liza.
“I was going to ask you if you will be a witness as I need two independent ones and we’ve also asked the colonel. I know Ada would have done it but we thought it would be better to have two who were not married to one another,” said Bea.
“Of course I will, I’ll be delighted, just let me know when, although Gabriel will probably tell me. It’s all going according to plan and I’m so pleased for both you and Marshall. I presume that Rachel is also pleased,” said Liza smiling at her.
“She can’t get over the fact that she can read other books apart from the Bible and not get punished for it,” said Bea. “Have you got any more books that she can borrow, Liza, she’s getting near the end of that one.”
“I’ll sort some out this evening and get Patrick to bring them to you tomorrow. Have you thought when Rachel will be ready for school?” asked Liza.
“Oh! It will probably be in another couple of weeks. I enjoy having her around, but she does need to go to school, she’s very bright for her age,” said Bea proudly as if she’d had something to do with Rachel’s intelligence.
Ada and Liza smiled at Bea and Liza said, “Yes, she’ll need to have her mind stretched and I know Angela will be able to do that, otherwise she’ll get bored.”
Liza purposely didn’t ask Ada if she knew when Felicity would be arriving as she wasn’t sure what Bea had been told, but as she left to see the doctor, Ada followed her out.
“I don’t know where Felicity is at the moment, Liza. Do you have any way of finding out as I believe she left Belfast some weeks ago, so she could be somewhere back in America by now? Can you contact your friends Henry and Myra to see if they know where she is?” asked Ada.
“Does she know anybody in New York?” asked Liza.
“I only know that she probably met people when she stayed at your house when she and Edward left here,” said Ada.
“I’m afraid she didn’t exactly ende
ar herself to the people of New York, Ada but I’ll write to Henry tonight and ask the colonel to send it when the weather allows. You must be very worried,” said Liza.
“Of course, she could be in England, but I don’t know if she knows anyone there,” said Ada.
“She knows Evelyn Edgeworth, although I don’t think Jamie would entertain her in his house and I don’t even know if they are in England, or if they are living together. If she did turn up on his doorstep, I know that he would ensure that she had somewhere to go. He may not like her but he wouldn’t leave her destitute. Would you like me to write to him also?”
“Let’s see if Henry or Myra know anything first and if not, we’ll have to look further. The colonel is also worried about her,” said Ada.
“I’m sure he is, I’ll see what I can do, Ada,” said Liza and she and Ada walked over to the doctor’s and saw that he was now free to see her. Ada left her and went over to the colonel’s office and Liza watched her and felt very sorry for her.
“I hear that you were the instigator of a huge snowball fight yesterday, Liza,” said Dr Steele.
“That’s not exactly true but I can’t deny that I was involved. So was just about everybody in the town including Gabriel, Jake Smith, Charlie Penn, George Prior, Angela, Kathy and Joe. The boys loved bombarding their school teacher and now that I think about it, they all liked bombarding me too. I didn’t come out of it too well really, but no harm was done. Sean and Mark were the biggest trouble makers apart from all the children, of course,” said Liza.
“And what did Patrick think about that?” said Dr Steele.
“He rode straight into the middle of it and was promptly knocked off his horse by a huge snowball thrown by Jake Smith. I thought he was going to shout at me, but he just laughed. I noticed that everybody disappeared and left me to face the music. We all had fun and needed to let off steam after being closed in for so long. I didn’t get hurt, you’ll be pleased to hear,” said Liza.
Liza took off her coat and Dr Steele smiled and said, “At last, you’re beginning to look bigger. Your baby seems to be growing in fits and starts, but as long as it’s growing, that’s all that matters.”
“One or two people have noticed that I’m expanding now, it seems to have happened in the last few days. Perhaps I should have more snowball fights, they seems to be good for me,” said Liza.
“Well, I wouldn’t put it to the test too much, but some gentle exercise won’t hurt you,” said the doctor.
The doctor passed her fit and she called in on Brigeta and saw that she and her daughter were healthy and had survived the blizzard well and asked if she had heard from her parents or the Tolanys, which she hadn’t yet but was hoping that Patrick would be bringing her news as his patrol was going that way.
On her way to the stables, she looked in on the colonel and told him that she would do her best to help to find Felicity. The look he gave her told her that it would probably be better if she wasn’t found, but he just nodded and then smiled and she left, saying goodbye to Ben on the way out. The captain heard that she was there and called her into his office.
“How are you, Liza, you look good,” he said.
“Yes, I’m feeling particularly well at the moment, thank you,” said Liza.
“I hear that you are good at arranging snowball fights. The word is that you actually got the worst of it,” said the captain.
“Well, yes, but so did Angela and Patrick was knocked off his horse. It seems that the townspeople needed to let off steam. I’d never played snowballs before, so I wasn’t very good at it. I’ve seen Bea and the children; everyone seems very happy, I trust you are,” said Liza.
“Yes, it’s wonderful to see Bea as a mother, it’s what we both have always wanted and now we have a readymade family. Has she asked you to be a witness to the documentation that Gabriel has drawn up?” asked the captain.
“I told her just to let me know when it’s all ready and I’ll be pleased to do it for you,” said Liza.
“Liza, I’ve never really said thank you for what you did for us at Christmas. It’s because of your little stone that we are now a very happy family. I know that we will have the ups and downs of a normal family, nothing ever goes one hundred percent smoothly, but that’s exactly what happens in families, isn’t it?” said the captain.
“It certainly is. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all children were saints but it would never happen,” said Liza and with that she left and made her way to the stable again and was on her way home. She saw Patrick returning from his patrol and waved to him and carried on her journey home and was pleased to get into the warmth of the house as it was beginning to turn very cold outside.
George was there and he and Charlie had gone over what was needed to make his accommodation weatherproof and he would be starting work the next day. The boys had already had their supper and Gabriel called to take Si home. Liza and Zelma started organising supper for the four adults and whilst they were waiting for Patrick, George was writing his sermon for Sunday and Liza commented that she hoped it wouldn’t be too long because the church was bound to be cold.
Patrick arrived and reported that the Tolanys and all the Dornbergs had managed to keep safe and warm and Liza said that it would be a relief to Brigeta. She told him that Dr Steele was now pleased with her progress and she wondered how everyone at the fort had thought that she had been the instigator of the town snowball fight.
“It had to be Sean and Mark, because I wouldn’t want anyone to know that my wife created havoc in the town of Benson,” he said smiling.
Liza waited until Zelma had gone home and George had gone to bed before she told Patrick that Felicity appeared to be missing and that Ada was very worried although she felt that the colonel was more annoyed than concerned. She wrote a very quick note to Henry enquiring whether Felicity had turned up in New York. She could rely on his discretion and hoped that he would make an effort to find out. She asked him to reply to her through the army system as Felicity’s parents were very concerned. Patrick would take the letter to the fort the next day for the colonel to deal with.
“Do they think she has travelled to New York? It’s the wrong time of the year for such a journey,” said Patrick.
“I know but they are clutching at straws. Another thought was that she may be in England and Ada asked me if I knew of anywhere she could be there and I said that the only place could be with Evelyn, although I didn’t think that Jamie would be too pleased with that. I offered to write to him, but Ada said let’s wait until we hear back from New York.”
“She may well still be on the high seas, but Wendell would know if she has travelled to New York, surely she would have used one of your ships. Of course, if she didn’t want anyone to know where she was, she could have gone to another shipping company,” said Patrick.
“Well, if she has, Wendell will still be able to find out or Henry can if she has already landed in New York. She seems to be creating problems before she even gets here,” said Liza. “I don’t know that she really knows anybody in New York. She did create problems when she was there and she wasn’t well-accepted in the local society. She tried to move into my rooms at the house and Edward had to stop her moving all my clothes out.”
Liza stopped what she was doing and looked at Patrick and she had a sudden sinking feeling, and he also had the same thought.
“Surely she wouldn’t,” said Liza.
“I wouldn’t put anything past her, Liza. Have you left much there?” he asked.
“Nothing of too much value, but quite a lot of clothes, and of course all the staff disliked her. If she does turn up there and tries to dictate to everyone, there could be a mass walk out. I think I’ll write another note to Henry giving him full authority to do whatever is necessary should she turn up and expect to live in my house,” said Liza.
“She may still be in Belfast. Did she know many people there? I suppose she did, I really should have said were there any people there who liked h
er? Let’s hope that she’s not camped out in your house there,” said Patrick.
“Don’t make it any worse, Patrick. Wendell and Amelia would know if she was there surely,” said Liza. “I really am not looking forward to her coming here. Maybe she’s found somebody else and she has gone off with them.”
“You’re not that lucky, Liza,” smiled Patrick. “Never mind, you know that we’ll manage to cope with her. We did in Belfast, I’m sure we can here.”
The next two days passed quickly and on Sunday they all attended church. Sunday lunch was to be at Kathy and Joe’s. They took it in turns to organise lunch at either Liza and Patrick’s or Kathy and Joe’s and when Liza looked around to the back of the church, there were Sean and Mark standing and she whispered to Kathy that they were there and was there enough for them to join them for lunch. Both Liza and Kathy realised that Sean and Mark knew that if they turned up for church when they weren’t on duty, then they would be invited for a proper Sunday lunch by either Liza or Kathy.
When the service was over Kathy invited them to lunch and they accepted in unison. This was going to become a normal occurrence for them and from that Sunday onwards they became part of the Sunday lunchtime group.
It took four days for George’s accommodation to be made weatherproof and another two days for it to be warmed through after which Liza’s household was back to normal. The snow had just about disappeared but it was still cold and Liza wondered whether the wagon train with Dr Marsden and his family aboard was in a position to set off from New York.
Their house was now ready for them. Charlie and his assistant had worked hard both on George’s place and all the beds and furniture that Dr Tom had organised. Liza and Zelma made sure that fires were lit each day to make the house comfortable and warm.
As yet they’d had no word from Henry or Myra about Felicity, but a letter should be reaching her within the next couple of days.
Bea was still reluctant to let Rachel attend school as she was obviously still finding it novel having children living with her. Angela was going to visit her shortly as she had yet to meet Rachel and she felt that it would be a good idea to talk to her about school.
Against All Odds Page 44