***
Liza slept well that night for the first time in many days. It had been a little difficult to get the boys to sleep as they were so excited that they were going to see their father the next day. They told her that they wanted to go with her in the morning to bring him home, but Liza told them that he had to be treated gently and she still wasn’t completely sure that the doctor was happy about him leaving hospital, but it would be a good idea if they made something for him for his return, so they were both planning to draw something and put a message on it for him.
The boys were awake early the next day, Zelma was also in early and Gabriel and Si appeared as Liza came down for breakfast.
“Do you need any help today, Liza?” asked Gabriel.
“I don’t think so, Gabriel, but I’d be very happy for you to stay around today and I know Patrick will be pleased to see you. I know you won’t be hurt if he decides that he just needs to lie down when he gets home. I’m sure that Dr Steele is going to let me bring him home today and I’m going to the fort as soon as I’ve had my breakfast and if necessary, I’ll wait around until they release him, so I don’t know when we’ll be back.”
Gabriel kindly went and hitched Liza’s pony to the buggy and whilst he was in the stable, Kathy and Joe called in to see what was happening and Liza told them that she would be going shortly to hopefully bring Patrick home.
“I’ll cook something nice for him for when he gets home,” said Kathy. “Joe and I would like to see him when he gets here but we won’t tire him out. We are so pleased that he’s back safely.” They left so that Kathy could start whatever it was that she wanted to make for Patrick.
Liza decided that she had better leave home as there were many people just calling to ask after Patrick, but it was holding her up from getting to her husband.
She drew up outside the hospital and as she entered Dr Steele said, “He’s not ready yet, Liza. I want to make sure his ribs are bandaged properly before he leaves here,” he was talking as if Patrick wasn’t in the room, as doctors so often did. “I think the colonel would like to see you.”
“All right, I’ll be back in half an hour, will that be long enough for him to be ready,” and Liza also was talking as if Patrick wasn’t there.
Liza left the hospital and made her way to the colonel’s office and was halfway there before she realised that she hadn’t said anything to Patrick and she rushed back to the hospital and ran over to him and planted a big kiss on his head and told him that she would get him home shortly.
“I wondered when you were going to remember that I was here,” said Patrick trying to smile through his swollen lips. She laughed and left again to go to the colonel.
Ben wasn’t on duty and the colonel called to her from his office.
“I’m giving Patrick some time off to recuperate, although he tells me that he’s all right, but those bandages around his ribcage tell a different story. I went to see him last night and he told me how your Indian friends appeared out of the blue and really saved both Patrick’s and Private Wilson’s lives. It’s incredible how they manage to turn up whenever they are needed; do you know how they manage to do that?” he asked.
“Yes, I find it a little unnerving how they seem to be able to do that, but don’t ask me how they do it because I really don’t know. Wasn’t the half-breed scout with them? I suppose he organised it,” said Liza.
“From what Patrick tells me, it appears that the men from Fort Walker didn’t really want to be bothered with the deserters and as he got no co-operation there, he obviously went to the next best place and it does seem that the Cherokees will do anything for you and your family,” said the colonel.
“What’s going to happen to the deserters?” asked Liza.
“The two from this post will stay and face a court martial here, the rest are being sent to the large army prison past Lansdown and they will also face a court martial and I believe they have killed on many occasions, so I suppose they will have to face a firing squad but that isn’t my decision. My decision will only be in relation to the two privates who deserted from here and joined the gang and it will probably be a harsh sentence,” said the colonel.
“Probably,” said Liza.
“What, Liza, no pleading for them on your part? That’s very unlike you,” said the colonel.
“If the scout hadn’t brought help then those deserters would have killed Patrick and the private, so why should I plead for them?” said Liza.
“You also haven’t tried to persuade me to reinstate Corporal Southern to lieutenant,” said the colonel.
“Yes, well I think it’s sad that he’s lost his rank, and it does seem a little harsh, but he did fall asleep on duty,” said Liza.
The colonel laughed. “Well done, Liza. Your protection of your husband and family is commendable. You’d better go and see if Patrick is ready to go home with you.”
Patrick was waiting for her when she returned to the hospital and he could see the excitement in her eyes as she walked in. “You can take him home now, Liza,” said Dr Steele. “You’ve got to be careful, Patrick and nurse those ribs of yours for a while, so no heavy lifting or anything strenuous for a while.”
Liza and Patrick just looked at him, nodded and smiled.
Dr Steele looked from one to the other and said, “Oh forget it, you’ll work it out yourselves. Go on, off you go home.”
As Patrick climbed into the buggy and Liza was about to follow him, a wagon trundled by slowly with the deserters on board in manacles, including the ‘corporal’, and he looked directly at Liza and her green eyes flashed at him filled with hatred. He recoiled from the look that she gave him and realised that she was someone who would give her own life for those that she loved. He knew that he had handled the situation very badly. He should have insisted that she, alone, brought the money to them; he would have then held her and ransomed her. He had now been told exactly who she was and vast amounts would have been paid for her release. He had sold himself and his men short and he could kick himself for not thinking it all out properly. Instead of heading towards the inevitable firing squad, he could have been rich and possibly force this woman to be with him, he liked the look of her very much.
He and his men went on their way and he laughed at his own stupidity; the Cherokees would never have allowed that to happen, but it was nice to dream. He had been held in the town prison and the lawman there had shaken his head in disbelief that someone could be stupid enough to take Liza Kelly’s husband captive, surely the deserters from Fort Benson had told him who the lieutenant was.
Jake Smith also pointed out another grave error: “There is only one person who has ever persuaded the army to alter a death sentence on anyone and you were going to murder her husband. I don’t think you’ll get out of this one, and why should you?”
Oh yes, he had handled everything so very badly and all he could think of was the old saying that a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing.
Patrick looked up as the men passed and then looked at Liza as he had expected her to climb into the buggy by now, and he saw the look of hatred in her eyes and he smiled and said to himself: ‘If looks could kill then the army doesn’t need a firing squad as far as ’the corporal’ is concerned.’
As they neared home, Patrick asked with a laugh how many people would be waiting for him.
“I have absolutely no idea, but I know that Kathy was going to bake you something and Zelma is cooking lunch. I think that the boys have made something for you. No doubt you’ll be having visitors all afternoon,” said Liza.
“It would be nice to have the place to ourselves, but I know that is going to be impossible, never mind we have a long time to have by ourselves,” said Patrick.
Kathy, Joe, Gabriel and Si were waiting for him and of course, Zelma and the boys, and Patrick appreciated their concern. He made himself comfortable in his rocking chair and let everyone question him as much as they wanted. Naturally, he kept quiet in front of the boys about the more un
savoury parts of his captivity but all three boys wanted to examine his wounds closely, luckily they believed the only ones he had were on his face. They would have been too shocked by the bruises and cuts on various parts of his body.
After a while their interest waned and they were off into the back yard to play with their bats and balls, leaving the adults to ask Patrick how he really was and how he had coped with wondering whether he was going to get back to Benson in one piece.
“There was a moment when I thought it unlikely that I was going to get out of the situation,” said Patrick. “I knew that even if the money they asked for was paid they had no intention of letting either Private Wilson or me go. The so called corporal stopped feeding us as his attitude was not to waste food on dead men, or warm clothing, but that’s over now and I’m home safe and sound.”
“Did you have a plan of escape at all, Patrick?” asked Joe.
“I knew that our scout was planning something, but when the troops from the nearest fort came and the corporal convinced them that Private Wilson and I were the deserters, I was rather concerned,” said Patrick.
“How did you manage to keep your spirits up then, Patrick?” asked Kathy.
“I thought of a few nice things and let myself dream of the people I love,” said Patrick, “and I especially thought of Liza and I couldn’t get out of my mind a beautiful red dress that she wore in New York. I don’t know why it should have been that dress in particular as she has many lovely dresses but that one kept appearing in front of my eyes.”
“That’s very strange, Patrick,” said Gabriel, “there must be something particularly significant in dreaming of that, it would be interesting to find someone who could interpret the meaning behind such a dream.”
Kathy looked at Gabriel in surprise as she would have thought that he would have dismissed any relevance behind dreams. “There’s a very simple answer to that and it’s because Patrick liked the look of Liza in that dress and it cheered him up at a terrible time. That’s all, there’s nothing peculiar or sinister about it.”
Liza laughed, “Well, you’ll all be able to see it as I shall be wearing it at the Christmas dance at the fort; that is if Patrick feels well enough to go. I have had a type of shawl made for it as I would feel a little over dressed as it is.”
“Over dressed is not the word I would use for it,” said Patrick and everybody realised that he was visualising it again.
“I certainly look forward to seeing this life saving creation,” said Joe, “I do hope you feel up to it, Patrick, otherwise a great many people will be disappointed by your absence and the absence of one eye catching red dress not to mention the person wearing it.”
“Come on everyone,” said Kathy, “let’s leave these people alone so that Patrick can rest.”
As they left, Dr Tom called to see how Patrick was and also to take the boys home with him for the afternoon so that Liza and Patrick could have some time to themselves.
“What do you want to do now, Patrick?” asked Liza. “Would you like to go to bed and rest, or stay here or go to the sitting room?”
“I’m comfortable sitting here, Liza. It’s nice and warm and I was kept so cold when I was taken. I don’t want to waste my time sleeping today. I did actually sleep quite well last night surprisingly, but I am looking forward to being with you tonight,” said Patrick and after a little while he did go to sleep in his rocking chair and Liza busied herself organising an evening meal whilst watching over him.
Liza was longing to know exactly what had happened to Patrick and she wondered whether he would ever tell her. Probably the story would come out over time and she wasn’t going to insist that he tells her what he may prefer to keep to himself. He must have had to go over it all for the captain and colonel already which was enough for him at the moment.
He roused as the boys were brought back by Tom; they’d had a lovely afternoon but were anxious to see their father again, just to make sure he was feeling well.
“I dare say those ribs are sore, Patrick,” said Tom and all Patrick could do was nod as he didn’t want the boys to know how much difficulty he was in. His bruises were turning a shade of yellow and Liza could see that even if he felt better he may not look better by the time the Christmas dance came, but she didn’t care as she thought he looked good no matter how many bruises he had.
Finally, after the boys were in bed and Zelma had gone to her home, Liza and Patrick could have some real time alone.
“I think the time has come for me to put you to bed, Patrick,” laughed Liza.
“That seems like a very good idea to me,” said Patrick. “In fact, I do need some help to get out of my clothes, and I’m not joking. But I can’t wait to get into bed with you, although I don’t think I’m capable of doing much tonight.”
“Well, we’ll see what I can come up with to keep us both happy,” smiled Liza.
“I don’t think so Liza, but just to be in bed with you will make me very happy. I do love you Liza and I’m so pleased to be back with my family. I want to tell you about a great deal of what happened but I don’t feel able to yet,” said Patrick.
“You don’t need to tell me anything you don’t want to and when you’re ready, you can tell me whatever you want,” said Liza.
By this time she was helping him out of his clothes and she laughed and said, “It’s normally the other way around. You take my clothes off far more expertly than I seem to be able to take yours off.”
The bandage around his ribcage was still comfortably in place, but bruises seemed to be appearing all over his body. She carefully helped him into his nightshirt and gingerly, he lay on their bed and sighed contentedly. Liza covered him with the bedclothes and put some more fuel on the fire as it was a cold night.
Liza was smiling happily at Patrick. “Liza, I told you I don’t think I’m up to doing much tonight or even tomorrow. I’m afraid I was kicked in a very awkward place and I’m very uncomfortable down there,” and hearing that Liza pulled the bedclothes down, lifted his nightshirt and peered closely at his sexual organs. “Please, Liza, leave me with some dignity,” he exclaimed, and then he laughed. “You look just like Matthew when he’s peering into sick buckets or watching splinters being pulled.”
“Oh Patrick, that really must have hurt,” and she caressed him gently.
“Don’t worry Liza, I was seriously kicked there by a horse a few years ago and you are well aware that it didn’t do any lasting damage. However, I will have to abstain for a while, although what you are doing to me now seems to be creating some movement,” laughed Patrick.
“I’m sorry, Patrick, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” said Liza quite dismayed.
“You’re not hurting me, Liza, but I think you should cover me up again and just get into bed as I really want to hold you tonight. I wish I could do more, but maybe in a day or so I’ll be back to my normal self,” said Patrick.
In the morning Liza was up early to get the boys ready for church. They were going with Gabriel and Si and after that they would be going to Kathy and Joe’s for lunch and then tea at Dr Tom’s house but first they wanted to see Patrick and Liza warned them not to jump on the bed or prod or poke Patrick in any way, so all they did was gently kiss his cheek and ask him numerous questions about what had happened to him. At last, much to Patrick’s relief, Liza called them down for breakfast and then shortly after Gabriel came to collect them.
With a chorus of shouted goodbyes, the house became suddenly very quiet and Liza happily carried Patrick’s breakfast tray up to him and she was surprised to find that he was sitting up and organising what he was going to wear that day.
“Are you going somewhere today, Patrick?” she asked.
“I thought we might go for a short walk. I know it’s cold, but staying in and not moving isn’t going to help my recovery,” said Patrick.
“I’ll help you when you’ve had your breakfast,” said Liza.
“I’m going to try to manage myself, but I’d be
happy for you to watch and help if necessary. Before we go, though, I want to have a talk to you Liza,” said Patrick.
“That sounds very serious. Have I done something wrong?” joked Liza and when she looked at Patrick she realised that he wasn’t smiling.
“Did you know that Corporal Shaw speaks the Cherokee language?” asked Patrick.
“How do you know that he does?” asked Liza.
“That’s right, Liza; avoid answering a question by asking one. You always do that, don’t you?” said Patrick.
“Why should it worry you if he does?” asked Liza.
“You’ve just done it again, Liza. Why don’t you want to answer a simple question? It’s because you don’t want to lie to me, isn’t it?” said Patrick.
“Yes, I don’t want to lie to you, and also what does it matter if he does speak Cherokee, it’s nobody’s business but his. It’s not yours and it’s not mine,” said Liza who then picked up his tray and took it downstairs.
Patrick slowly finished dressing and went down to find Liza, who was busy washing the breakfast dishes, she turned and smiled at him but her eyes were telling him nothing. He had seen that before when Indians wanted to keep their secrets. The Chinese would have called it inscrutable.
“Come and sit down please Liza. I noticed that Corporal Shaw was in deep conversation with Zelma’s brother, and I know that her brother doesn’t speak English. We, therefore, have four people in Benson who speak Cherokee, and as was proved to me, the Cherokee people will do anything to help ‘green eyes’. Please understand that I was very grateful for that,” said Patrick.
Liza stared ahead saying nothing.
“I have an uneasy feeling that you know a lot more about very many things than you tell me,” said Patrick.
Liza suddenly wanted him to stop continuing on this subject and the only way she could do that was by answering his original question.
“All right, Patrick; yes I did know that Corporal Shaw spoke the Cherokee language. He has Cherokee blood in him and he really doesn’t want anyone to know about it. It isn’t because he’s ashamed, but he doesn’t feel that the army would take him seriously. He has always wanted to make the army his career and if it was well-known that he is part Cherokee, he feels that all he would be offered is scouting for the army,” said Liza and it was obvious to Patrick that she was annoyed with him.
Against All Odds Page 79