Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  ***

  Liza was up early the next morning and out in her garden picking a few roses to take with her to the cemetery. Laurie made her way slowly to her house but was soon back carrying the clothes that she needed. She said that her house was still in considerable disarray. Kathy arrived to help Zelma with Meg and luckily the boys had already gone to school. Liza changed into her clothes for the funeral and she, Patrick and Laurie were ready when the undertakers passed their house with the coffin carrying the body of Lieutenant Stephen Crown. The captain and Bea followed in their buggy and Corporal Shaw rode after them. Liza carried her roses and she gave a few to Laurie. Dr Steele and Tom were already at the church when they all arrived and Liza was pleased that at least the lieutenant had some people there to see him laid to rest. Liza and Laurie put their flowers on the coffin which made it look loved. It was all over very quickly and they all came back to Liza’s and Patrick’s where Zelma and Kathy had arranged coffee and buns.

  It occurred to Liza that nobody had ever mentioned whether Lieutenant Crown had a family and she asked Captain Graves about this. “We’ve written to where he was before and hope that they know something, but he never listed anyone as next of kin, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

  People didn’t stay very long as it was, after all, just a token showing of respect. After feeding Meg, Liza changed into her every day clothes and left for the fort with Patrick having hitched his horse to the back of the buggy. Kathy and Zelma were preparing food for Felicity’s wake the next day and also looking after Meg.

  Liza’s first port of call was on Mark. He had heard that General Maybury was presiding over his court martial, with a Colonel Soames and Colonel Barnes in attendance. “I know General Maybury,” said Liza, “he presided over the Frank Wyley case, but I don’t know the other two I’m afraid.”

  “Well, I don’t think I’ll be taking up too much of their time,” said Mark.

  “You still haven’t changed your mind then,” said Liza. “By the way, I have a present for you from the boys, although I don’t think that it’s very palatable,” and she showed her small package to the sergeant in charge.

  Mark took the package and looked inside and saw some toffees which seemed to have been rolled on a dusty floor and he shook his head and laughed. “I trust you’ll thank the boys for me and tell them that I love toffees. It’s very thoughtful of them and quite a sacrifice to give me their precious sweets. You must be very proud of them, Liza.”

  “Yes, I am, Mark. They are finding it a little difficult to understand what is happening with you and of course they’ve heard all sorts of rumours, but as you can see from their present, they still love you, nothing is going to change that,” said Liza. “I may be a little preoccupied tomorrow, Mark, so I may not be able to visit you, but I’ll definitely be back the following day and I’ll try to bring your god daughter to see you.”

  “I understand it will be Felicity’s funeral tomorrow, so I suppose that is what’s going to preoccupy you. She wasn’t very nice to you Liza, so why are you involving yourself with the gathering afterwards?” asked Mark.

  “The colonel and Ada are also my very good friends, Mark, so I’m doing it for them. When I first came to Benson I was in a very sorry state and they both looked after me and helped me get back on my feet. They protected me from many things and gave me a roof over my head. I have always loved them and appreciated their friendship and kindness. Anything that I do, I am doing for them, nobody else,” said Liza.

  Liza then made her way to Ada’s quarters expecting to find the colonel there, but he had gone back to work, which was his way of handling the situation. Bea was with Ada and she had Judith with her. Brigeta would be arriving soon to take charge of Judith whilst Ada, Bea and Liza went to the small entertaining room to get it ready for the next day.

  The next day was very difficult for everyone. It seemed that the only people who felt sad were the colonel and Ada, everyone else was there to show support to them. Kathy and Joe possibly felt a little sad as they remembered Felicity when she was a child and often played with Danny. Bea and Captain Graves knew her as a teenager and at that time she could be difficult, everyone else only knew her as a mean and nasty individual who would try to belittle everyone within earshot.

  George carried out the funeral service with great dignity and tears were shed by many around as it was always sad when someone so young dies. Patrick and Liza called in at home to make sure that Zelma was coping with Meg as she had been somewhat fretful through the night. She had probably picked up a certain amount of anxiety from her parents, but she had settled and they waited for George so that the three of them could go to the fort together for the gathering in honour of Felicity.

  The colonel and Ada made a great effort to greet everyone, including Laurie and Corporal Shaw who Liza was pleased to see were being accepted by many there. Ada pulled Liza to one side and said, “I understand that Laurie Cuzins has been staying with you, is there any particular reason for that?”

  “She’ll be moving back into her house tomorrow, Ada, but she hasn’t felt comfortable there. She knows that she can’t stay away forever. I know that Corporal Shaw has been helping her. I’m pleased that she made the effort to come here today; she was worried that she wouldn’t be accepted, but as I pointed out to her, Felicity had befriended her,” said Liza.

  “She looks quite frightened,” said Ada.

  “How would you feel in her position?” said Liza. “I have to give her credit for coming here. At least she has Corporal Shaw to give her moral support.”

  Ada smiled, “Maybe moral is not quite the right word, Liza,” and Liza also smiled.

  Ada moved away towards Laurie and started up a short conversation with her which seemed to ease the look of worry on Laurie’s face and when Ada left to have a few words with someone else, Corporal Shaw went up to Laurie and Liza could almost lip read that he said, “I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.”

  People didn’t stay too long; most had left after around an hour. Liza said to Patrick that she would be back shortly and he knew that she was planning to visit Mark. “Do you think that’s wise, Liza, considering this is Felicity’s wake?”

  “Probably not, but there’s something I must say to him, I will be back very quickly. Nobody will know that I’ve gone,” said Liza and it concerned Patrick that she had a strange look in her eyes, one that he had seen when she was not aware that she was dreaming. She left and ran over to the prison.

  “I didn’t expect to see you today, Liza,” said Mark.

  “No, but I just had to see you and say that you’ve got to think of a way to get yourself out of this mess, because you are needed further down the line,” said Liza and somehow a shadow passed over her and her green eyes sparked like lightning. Mark stepped back from the bars feeling that this wasn’t Liza standing in front of him and he had no idea who it was. But suddenly she was back and looking a little confused. Patrick had followed her and gently touched her shoulder, he was frightened that grabbing her could do untold damage, but she was back with him and looking at him questioningly.

  Mark said, “Something strange just happened. A shadow of a man passed over Liza and it wasn’t her talking to me; it sounded like her but I know it wasn’t.”

  “She sometimes sleep walks, Mark, so just forget about it. No doubt she’ll be back to see you properly tomorrow,” said Patrick.

  “Surely not through the day, Patrick,” said Mark.

  “Yes Mark, it was her way of surviving when she was a captive,” said Patrick which was the only reason he could think of on the spur of the moment. He led Liza out and back to where people were saying goodbye to the colonel and Ada.

  Mark called to the sergeant who always left when there were visitors. “Tell me, Sergeant, do you know where Mrs Kelly was held captive?”

  “Oh at various Cherokee encampments over two or so years,” said the sergeant, “Is there any reason why you wanted to know?”

  “No, I j
ust couldn’t remember which tribe it was. It was just something that she said,” said Mark pretending that he had just had a lapse of memory. Then it was all becoming clear to him, of course, she was Liza Marchant, who they all had searched for over such a long time. How could he have been so stupid; those green eyes headed all descriptions of her and the reason they had taken her was because they thought she had special powers and today he had seen that she really did have special powers. He was trying to remember what she had said – that he was needed further down the line – what did she mean by that? The way she had looked meant that she probably didn’t know what she was talking about.

  The colonel and Ada hadn’t noticed that Liza had gone to the prison and she was thankful for that. Patrick was guiding her very gently and she wanted to know how she had ended up at the prison, she didn’t remember going there, but she would have to wait until they were alone. “Are you feeling all right now Liza?” he whispered to her.

  “Where have I been, Patrick?” she whispered.

  “We’ll talk about it later, Liza. You’ve got to say goodbye to Ada and the colonel and we have to take George back with us,” said Patrick.

  At last this difficult time was over and they were on their way home, having first dropped George off at the church. Zelma said that Meg had been fretful all day, but her breathing had not been too bad. Liza picked up Meg and took her up to the bedroom; she kicked off her shoes and lay on the bed cuddling Meg to her. She was beginning to get flash backs on what seemed to have happened at the prison.

  Patrick came up to her and his concern had turned to annoyance. “What on earth were you doing at the prison, Liza? It really wasn’t appropriate being there. I’m pleased that the colonel and Ada didn’t notice and really you don’t have a duty to visit Mark every day.”

  “Are you telling me that I must not visit him, Patrick?” said Liza.

  “I most certainly wouldn’t tell you anything like that, but I am advising you that as he comes to trial, it won’t be seen as helpful. If you get too friendly, it will only hurt when his sentence has to be carried out, and the chances are that either Sean or I will have to carry out that sentence,” said Patrick.

  “Surely they wouldn’t expect friends to carry out such a sentence. They’d get somebody from say Clarkson to do it,” said Liza.

  “He’s from Clarkson, Liza, so Benson isn’t his post, which is why they’ve kept him here, and you are right, they don’t like to carry out such things where a person is posted,” said Patrick rather harshly.

  “I suppose it is a foregone conclusion that he is going to be found guilty of murder, rather than manslaughter, especially as he’s not going to defend himself and he’s going to plead guilty,” said Liza.

  “Well, there’s no getting away from the fact that he did kill them, Liza, so I suppose he can’t see the point of prolonging the agony of the court procedure,” said Patrick.

  Liza lay back on the bed and cuddled Meg to her who was now resting peacefully. She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them, Patrick noticed that she seemed to be in a dreamlike state and she said, “It’s got to be sorted out as he’s needed further down the line.”

  “What are you talking about, Liza?” asked Patrick, but he got no answer because Liza was fast asleep. He could see from her facial expressions that she was vividly dreaming and he was worried that she was going to sleep walk or relive the past again. He made sure she was safely on the bed and Meg was also safe and he went down to tell Zelma that Liza wasn’t feeling too well and he was going to sit with her for a while until the boys came in from school.

  “Some message keeps coming to her and she doesn’t know how to understand it,” said Zelma and once again Patrick marvelled at how both Zelma and Liza saw and heard things that nobody else would ever be aware of.

  Patrick went back up to Liza and could see that she was very disturbed in her dreamlike state. What he didn’t know was that she could see Mark with a dark haired very Irish looking girl with vivid blue eyes and they were married and they were playing with a young child. They looked very happy and in love and then everything would race down a rainbow tunnel and people were gathering at some important meeting, but then she was back with Mark and the lady once again looking at the child and their life together was so good. Then James came to her and told her that this man was important as he was needed in order to make certain agreements happen in the future.

  “How, James, how can I do it? Help me to understand,” mumbled Liza. She was so quiet that Patrick could hardly hear her; all he did hear was the name James and he suddenly felt hurt as he knew that James only came to her when she was either in trouble or had a serious problem to solve and sadly, she would not be asking him for help.

  Patrick gently woke her and she smiled up at him. “I want to help you, Liza, what is it that’s confusing you? It seems to have something to do with Mark and you know that unfortunately the law will have to take its course. I don’t believe you can solve this one alone, if, indeed, you can solve it at all.”

  “I know that, Patrick; there’s nothing to be done. We’ll just have to support Mark through the most difficult time of his life,” smiled Liza and Patrick was not fooled by her acceptance of the situation, but he was confident that there was nothing that she could possibly do to get Mark out of his court martial and the ultimate outcome.

  “The boys will be back soon, Liza, do you feel better now after your rest. Little Meg’s still sleeping, she enjoys sleeping on you doesn’t she; you have a very calming influence on her,” said Patrick changing the subject.

  “Well, she should; I am her mother after all,” and Liza smiled down on her daughter. “Her lips are quite blue today, Patrick, but you’re right, she’s very calm.”

  “I forgot to tell you that there are some letters for you downstairs,” said Patrick and Liza pursed her lips not really wanting to deal with anything too much that day, but she knew that curiosity would make her open them all.

  As they came down the stairs, Liza asked Patrick if he knew whether the colonel or Ada had written to Edward as he should be made aware that his wife was dead. “I’ve no idea, Liza. If you’re going to visit Mark tomorrow then perhaps you could see Ada or the colonel and ask them then.”

  Matthew, John and Si wanted to know how the funeral had gone that day and how Uncle Colonel and Aunt Ada were feeling now. Patrick explained to them that it was going to take a long time for Uncle Colonel and Aunt Ada to get over losing their daughter.

  “It wasn’t Uncle Mark’s fault though,” said Matthew. “She was in bed with no clothes on and so was that lieutenant.”

  “Who told you that?” asked Patrick.

  Matthew answered that all their friends at school knew it so it had to be true. “You mustn’t listen to gossip. Whether it’s true or not is absolutely no business of yours, or anybody else’s. And it’s not something that you children should be talking about,” said Patrick which silenced the boys and they carried on eating their supper.

  Liza said to Patrick that she would have a word with Angela the next day to let her know that the gossip in the school was rife.

  ***

  It was not until later that evening that Liza had an opportunity to open her letters. She recognised the first one as from Edward. He updated her on many of the happenings in the business and said that he was going to have to spend some time in Liverpool as the manager was unwell, but he was concerned at the overall running of the business. He went on to bemoan the length of time it was taking for his divorce to come through and the expense of it all. He asked how Meg was and expressed his concern over her health.

  Amelia sent a very nice letter mainly asking after the boys and Meg, she also was full of all the Belfast gossip and it seemed that the party scene was now in full swing. She was really missing Liza as she had nobody to confide in like she could to Liza. Edward had met a pretty girl who seemed good for him, but he was not going to get too involved too quickly as he had done w
ith Felicity. Felicity’s child’s father had been in touch trying to trace Felicity as his wife had really not taken to the child and he wanted to discuss what should happen to her. He now knew where she was so Amelia felt that it might be wise to warn the colonel and Ada. She also said that Edward was in Liverpool because of the ill health of the manager. Wendell would be travelling there in the next week or so to see the exact position the business was in because it seemed to be a little disorganised at present. She sent her love to Patrick and the boys and Meg.

  Peter gave her an extremely detailed account of how all the farming businesses were getting on and they were beginning to become quite lucrative. He needed her permission to purchase another small farm and he had also noticed that there were one or two farms in difficulty just inside the Welsh border which was near enough to their Liverpool operation for them to be governed easily when they had a competent manager in place he added.

  Liza sat back for a moment deep in thought. Surely James wasn’t giving a solution to part of her problem? It was a very small part of the problem but it could be one way to make Mark disappear and another person reappear doing a useful job. She would have to think of a new name for him and now the main problem would be breaking him out of prison. Liza smiled to herself; nobody would ever believe that she was planning a jailbreak. She was going to need a great deal of help from those who could keep quiet. Her Cherokee friends could be one answer, but her greatest enemy in this would be Mark. He was an honourable man and would not want to run away from what he felt was a just punishment. So, he would have to be kidnapped and it would have to appear that he was running to somewhere such as Mexico, when really he would be heading towards New York and finally across to Liverpool. Getting him to New York would be difficult, or at least part of it would be, across to Liverpool would be easy. Henry was very discreet, he would accept whatever Liza wanted and so would Walter Anderson. Myra would also help and make sure Mark was dressed correctly. He would need some money and some clothes when leaving Benson. Getting clothes for him in town would be difficult.