Against All Odds

by Marian L. Jasper

  “I’ll see how it goes, but if it stays this bad, yes I think I’d like to be here with you all,” said Zelma.

  There was no let-up in the noise for the next two hours. Patrick took Meg and held her closely to him. Liza, Zelma and the boys sat at the table together and Liza was attempting to read to calm everyone down.

  “This reminds me of when we were on the ship and you were reading to everyone before you fell under the table,” said John. “We thought you were dead then,” he added.

  “We’re on land now, so I won’t be falling under any tables tonight,” said Liza.

  “It was good later when we watched Mary pull out all those splinters from Daddy’s back,” said Matthew.

  Zelma was looking puzzled and Patrick said, “You really are a very gruesome pair and like looking at the most distasteful of things.”

  “You’ll have to tell me all about that, Liza,” said Zelma. “I think you seem to have had an adventure that I know very little about!”

  It felt as though they were being buffeted around on the high seas again, and Liza once again wondered how Mark was faring on a night such as this. Liza was sure that the scout would know how to survive through this storm. She also thought about Cole and Jack and hoped that they were now away from the eye of the storm. A wagon was no place to shelter from this weather.

  At around ten o’clock the storm had eased and the boys were virtually asleep with their heads on the table. Patrick put Meg into her cradle and picked up Matthew and carried him up to bed coming down and picking John up and then carrying him up. Liza came up and tucked them in. The lightning was still flashing but the thunder was now at some distance and the boys settled for the rest of the night.

  Zelma decided that she would go to her home, although both Liza and Patrick told her that she should stay the night with them. She told them that she would return if the storm came back again but she was very cosy in her room.

  Finally, she and Patrick settled for the night. “The guard told me that you had trouble with your pony when you were going home.”

  “Yes, he was unsettled presumably by the storm. He reared up when there was a crash of thunder and nearly toppled me. He soon calmed and brought me home safely,” said Liza.

  “He’s normally very gentle, but I suppose he hasn’t been out in a storm before. You must have been coming home quite late,” said Patrick.

  “I was rather. Did you know that Ben and Brigeta are going to be parents again?” said Liza trying to steer away from the subject of the pony and her lateness.

  “Yes, Ben told me tonight. I suppose you were discussing baby things with Brigeta,” said Patrick.

  “Hmmm,” mumbled Liza sleepily but Patrick was having none of that he wanted to love his wife that night. He felt cosy and warm and exceedingly friendly, and it was good to keep all the ferocity outside. She quickly responded as she always did to his love making; it didn’t matter how tired she was, she was always willing to wake up and love him in return. The storm was still rumbling now a long way away and Liza and Patrick soon slept in one another’s arms.

  Just as dawn was breaking Liza felt a gentle nudge from Patrick, and she smiled thinking how wonderful it was to be back to normal and she very willingly responded to him and just as he was climbing off her there was a loud banging on their front door. Quickly getting out of bed Patrick went to the front window, he opened it and somebody called up to him; Liza couldn’t hear what was being said, but she knew that it had to be about Mark.

  Liza decided that the best course of action was to sit up in bed and try to look puzzled. “What’s wrong, Patrick?” she asked.

  Patrick had turned and was standing quietly looking at her and frowning. “Mark is no longer at the fort. He seems to have escaped. I wonder if anyone helped him,” he said and didn’t wait for Liza to comment. “I’ve got to go straight away to head up a search party. Have you any idea where he might be heading?”

  Liza shook her head feeling that Patrick was looking deep into her mind. “I’ll get you some breakfast,” she said.

  “No, I’ve no time for that,” he said as he went downstairs to wash and quickly shave. He grabbed his uniform and dressed in record time. When he was ready he looked at Liza closely, held her by her shoulders and said, “I hope you haven’t done anything stupid Liza, because I won’t be able to get you out of it if you have.”

  “I’ve done nothing stupid Patrick,” said Liza and he nodded. He went to the stable to saddle his horse and a few minutes later she heard him riding away. She stood looking out of the window; she hadn’t liked the look in Patrick’s eyes and she wasn’t sure what it was. There was hurt and disappointment there or perhaps she had just imagined it.

  Zelma arrived early. “I heard Patrick leaving. He went very quickly.”

  “Somebody came to get him. He has to head a patrol to search for Mark. He asked me if I’d done anything stupid and I told him that I hadn’t, which was not a lie. But it seemed as if he knew of my involvement and he looked hurt,” said Liza sadly.

  “He can’t know, Liza. I suppose he might suspect, but unless you tell him, he can’t know,” said Zelma.

  Liza heard Meg crying and rushed up the stairs to get her. She had slept quite well through the storm but she needed feeding, washing and changing. When that was done, Liza got herself ready for the day and by that time the boys were awake and ready for their breakfast.

  “I have a meeting this morning with Laurie and Greg,” said Liza. “Will you be all right looking after Meg? I’ll only be down at the printing office. I think it’s finally turned a little colder, so I don’t want to take her outside.”

  “Will you be back by lunchtime as I want to go to the general store for a few things? It’s a few days since I saw Kathy and Joe, so I may be a little while there,” said Zelma.

  “It’s good to keep doing what we normally do,” said Liza quietly.

  The boys clambered down the stairs and sat at the table eating their breakfast. They were full of the previous night’s storm and how it hadn’t frightened them. Si arrived and he too believed that he hadn’t been bothered by it; he thought that it had been rather exciting and the boys agreed with him. They collected what they needed for school and went on their way.

  “I suppose that the talk around the town won’t be of the storm but of Mark’s escape,” said Liza.

  Liza made sure that Meg was comfortable and Zelma busied herself with several tasks around the house. The road was fairly muddy and Liza picked her way along the sidewalk, waving to several people as she went. One or two seemed to want to talk to her but she smiled and hurried on her way to the printing office.

  Greg and Laurie were already there waiting for her. “I assume you’ve heard the news,” said Greg.

  “Tell me and I’ll let you know if I’ve already heard it,” said Liza.

  “About Mark Kendal,” said Greg.

  “Yes, I’ve heard,” said Liza.

  “Of course you would have, I suppose Patrick’s been sent out searching for him,” said Laurie.

  “I believe so. No doubt I’ll hear more when he gets back,” said Liza. “Now, we’ve got to have some thoughts on our new venture. I presume that you are feeling more confident now that you’ve had your first commission. So, what are we going to call our town newspaper?”

  The discussion on that went on for over an hour and finally it was agreed that it would either be the Benson Bugle or the Benson Banner. Standard content then had to be discussed as well as advertising but mostly there had to be a large element of news, otherwise it would not be a newspaper.

  “When are you planning the first edition Liza?” asked Laurie.

  “When we have enough content to fill it, after that it should be weekly and once we’ve run successfully on a weekly basis, we may be able to go daily, but that will be some time in the future,” said Liza. “In the meantime you had better start working on some articles and Greg, I think you had better get in some more practise,” sai
d Liza.

  “It’s a pity that we aren’t ready to run yet because we’d have a wonderful front page story with Mark Kendal escaping wouldn’t we?” said Greg.

  “Yes, we’ve timed it badly,” said Liza. “Anyway, I’ve got to leave you now, Meg isn’t too good today. Last night’s storm upset her considerably.”

  As she was about to leave Corporal Shaw arrived with a request from the colonel to have printed several hundred Wanted Posters. Somebody had attempted to give an adequate description of Mark Kendal but it was deficient in many respects and had obviously been written by a man. The note with it requested that it be added to as both Mrs Kelly and Miss Cuzins knew Lieutenant Kendal quite well socially and would be in a better position to add to the description.

  “Thank you Corporal; no doubt the colonel would like these printed as soon as possible and when you see Lieutenant Webber or the colonel, please would you tell them that as soon as some are printed I will get an initial amount to them so that they can start distribution,” said Liza.

  “Yes Mrs Kelly, I’ll tell them,” said the Corporal.

  “Also, you can tell him that I was expecting such a commission as soon as I heard the news this morning,” said Liza. “Can you cope with the description Laurie? I do expect you to make it as accurate as possible. I know that Lieutenant Kendal was a friend of ours but we must take this commission seriously. We are working for the army on this no matter what our personal feelings are.”

  Liza was very stony faced when she said this and Corporal Shaw appreciated that she was acting like a businesswoman and not someone who had assisted in the lieutenant’s escape and he knew that this was for both their sakes.

  “I must go to my daughter now, she is in some difficulty today, but if you need to show me what you have done, I shall be at my home, so do call if you need to,” said Liza.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Mrs Kelly,” said the corporal, “it’s always difficult when a child is poorly.”

  “Thank you Corporal,” said Liza and she left the premises, hoping that Laurie would do a good job on the description for the posters and that Greg would manage the printing well.

  So many people wanted Liza to stop and talk to them about the lieutenant’s escape, as well as how bad the storm had been, but on each occasion Liza just said that little Meg wasn’t too well today and so she was rushing home to be with her and of course, everybody understood.

  The corporal watched her avoid all those wanting her attention and admired how she dealt with them quickly but left them feeling that they had not been snubbed. He saw Kathy from the general store cross the road to her, put an arm around her shoulder and follow her into her house. Yes, her daughter is really ill, he thought. He was aware that the little girl was not long for this world and inexplicably he felt quite emotionally sad for Liza.

  Kathy wanted to see how young Meg was faring but she also wanted to know if Liza had any further information on Mark.

  “You probably know more than I do, Kathy. Patrick went rushing off this morning as he obviously had to go out searching. After last night’s storm Meg was upset so I had to concentrate on her this morning before having my meeting at the printing office and then get back as soon as I could. I believe Zelma is coming to visit you this afternoon, she needs a break from this house,” said Liza.

  “Well, I’ve heard that the guard was so drunk that they had difficulty waking him this morning, which was when they realised that Mark wasn’t there, so they don’t know when he got out. Did you see him yesterday, Liza?” asked Kathy.

  “Yes, I dropped a book off to him as he had nothing to occupy him there. The guard was already well on the way to having to sleep off his excesses, but that was nothing new. No doubt I’ll hear more when Patrick gets home,” said Liza.

  “I think you know more than you are saying now, Liza,” said Kathy.

  “What do you mean, Kathy?” said Liza worriedly.

  “People always tell you their secrets and you never divulge them to anyone else; that’s all I mean. Don’t look so worried, I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I understand that the thoughts are that he’s headed for Mexico. I do hope he gets away. I know he killed but I don’t think that he’s really a bad man; I think that he just had a brainstorm at the time. He was very much a good friend to all of us and he loved all the children. Yes, I hope he makes it,” said Kathy.

  “I suppose it’s logical that he would be headed in that direction. It’s a long way though,” said Liza.

  “You’re very noncommittal, Liza,” said Kathy.

  “I have to support Patrick, he’s my husband and it’s his job to try to catch Mark and bring him back for trial. No matter what I may think, that has to be my stance,” said Liza.

  Zelma was now ready for her visit to Kathy and Joe and after making sure that Liza knew what she had organised for the boys when they came in from school, she and Kathy left for some shopping and tea at the general store.

  Liza sat in her rocking chair cuddling Meg and praying that the soldiers really thought that Mark was heading for Mexico. She wondered whether Patrick would be home that night. He probably wouldn’t as they would follow the trail as long as possible.

  Laurie knocked and Liza called for her to come in. She had brought the first draft of the wanted poster to show Liza. Laurie had excelled at the description. It was so accurate that it worried Liza, but she praised her and told her to get on with the job and then to get at least twenty of them out to the fort ready for distribution the next day.

  The boys came in from school full of the gossip about Mark. “Is Daddy chasing him?” asked Matthew. “I hope he doesn’t catch him. I like Uncle Mark; he played some good games with us.”

  “That woman was horrible that he killed,” said John.

  “That doesn’t mean that he should have killed her just because you thought she was horrible,” said Liza once again thinking that nobody seemed to remember that Lieutenant Crown was also killed.

  “Somebody helped him,” said Si.

  “How do you know that Si?” asked Liza as casually as she could.

  “Oh, everybody is saying that. He couldn’t have got out of the fort without somebody helping him,” he answered.

  “Well, I suppose we’ll find out soon enough; especially when they manage to catch him,” said Liza.

  When the boys had their supper and were playing in the bedroom, Gabriel came to collect Si. Zelma was still visiting with Kathy and Joe, no doubt enjoying a very good afternoon tea.

  “They are saying that one, if not two people helped Mark to get away from the fort, Liza,” said Gabriel who had a way of looking right through people and that was what he was now doing to Liza.

  “You saw him yesterday, didn’t you? When was that?” asked Gabriel.

  “Yes, I did Gabriel. I saw a lot of people yesterday. I dropped a book into him as I was leaving for home. I managed to get back just before the storm hit overhead, I’m pleased to say,” said Liza.

  “Some people are saying that you helped him, Liza,” said Gabriel and once again he looked deep into Liza’s eyes.

  “That’s silly. Why are people saying that?” asked Liza.

  “It’s because you visited him nearly every day, I suppose,” said Gabriel.

  “Oh people do say the silliest of things. They ought to think before they speak. I visit Ada and Bea virtually every day and I see Kathy and Joe nearly every day. I saw the colonel and Brigeta yesterday as well. I had a very busy day yesterday,” said Liza.

  “Well, if you need my services, I’ll be there for you,” said Gabriel.

  “Gabriel, why on earth should I need your services? I didn’t get him out of prison,” said Liza.

  “No, I don’t suppose you did get him out of prison,” said Gabriel with a great deal of meaning behind his words which Liza chose to ignore. “Will Patrick be back tonight, do you think?”

  “That depends on if he finds him or not, although I doubt that he will be gone more than a coupl
e of days. He’s quite good at tracking people down; it’s what he and Sean have done for years. They normally track down captives within the Indian camps though, but I suppose this won’t be so very different,” said Liza.

  Gabriel shook his head and looked at her saying, “If you say so Liza.”

  He called Si who came charging down the stairs followed by the other two boys. They all wanted to know whether Gabriel had heard any more about their Uncle Mark, which he said that he hadn’t. Soon after they had left Zelma returned and she could see that Liza was a little on edge. “Has something happened?” she asked Liza quietly.

  “There is some word going around that I helped Mark on his way and I think that if I deny it too emphatically it would be worse than laughing and then ignoring such rumours,” said Liza.

  “Joe also wondered whether you had something to do with Mark’s escape and then he immediately brushed the thought to one side,” whispered Zelma.

  “Does nobody come up with suggestions about anybody else?” asked Liza.

  “Yes, they do, but you and I are very sensitive at the moment,” said Zelma. “Have the boys eaten well? How’s little Meg been this afternoon?”

  “As always the boys have eaten everything put in front of them, but little Meg is really not doing so well at the moment. She’s not really growing is she?” said Liza.

  “No, she’s not Liza, but in some ways that’s not a bad thing. If she grows too much it will put more of a strain on her,” said Zelma.

  “You’re right, we can’t win either way,” said Liza sadly. They both knew that Meg’s time was now quite limited.

  ***

  Patrick didn’t come home that night and was also away the next day. Liza took the rest of the posters to the fort; she was going to spend a short while with both Ada and Bea, wanting to be back with Meg before too long. She went into the colonel’s outer office to see Ben, giving him the posters and leaving the bill with him. She had hoped that she could leave before the colonel saw her, but he opened his door and asked her to go in.

  The book that she had left for Mark was sitting on his desk. She smiled at him and said, “At least he didn’t take that with him,” indicating the book. “Is there any news yet?”