by Vicky Adin
The portly, but elegantly attired dignitary casually dismissed the man who stood behind her. He rose from his wingback chair, came around from behind his desk and coolly approached her. “When I am good and ready, I will be only too happy to oblige, Miss Forsythe. But there is something I wish to say to you first.” He hooked his thumbs into his fob pockets and rocked on his heels. “I’ve been a patient man, very patient, but I will not put up with your ridicule any longer. You will become my mistress or you will suffer the consequences. Do you understand me?”
A flutter of fear flapped its wings inside her. “Why me? Why choose an unwilling companion when I’m sure you could find many more agreeable partners?”
He stared at her for a few moments, rubbing his chin and pursed his lips as if weighing up his answer. “I like a challenge. That’s why. You humiliated me, so I intend to return the favour.”
“It wasn’t intentional and have I not rectified my error of judgment of late?” She could almost hear the begging tone in her voice.
“Of course, but that doesn’t change anything. And that is why you are here with me, instead of with my man who accompanied you here. He can be very persuasive.”
An icy chill ran up her spine as she gingerly touched her side where the man had held the knife.
His face creased into a fearsome grin. Stepping closer, he cupped her chin in his hand and turned her face from side to side. “It would be a pity to spoil that pretty face of yours.”
Her skin crawled, and she fought to control the bile rising in her throat. The loathing in her eyes would have stopped a kinder man in his tracks. William Carruthers was not kind.
He let her go, wandered across the room and stood looking out over the garden, with his back towards her. “The choice is entirely yours, but I’ll be generous. You are free to go – for now. But the next time I ask you to come to me, you will come. Not here, of course. This was convenient because my wife is away visiting, but you know how easy it was to bring you to me today. Do not think I wouldn’t apply the same method next time.”
He had ceased to be charming, and Sally had no illusions as to how dangerous this man could be.
“Jamie, Jamie. Where have you been?” Sally demanded, desperate to talk with him. “We’ve got to get away from here. All of us. Today. Now.”
After a contrived late morning tea, the driver had returned Sally to within walking distance of the hotel. She’d insisted on getting out beforehand in case people recognised the carriage, although she suspected it had been hired for the day, rather than being Carruthers’ own. She searched frantically for Jamie during the afternoon but couldn’t find him. Even Maggie didn’t know where he was, and Laura, who usually clung to his side, wasn’t any help either.
“Hold tight, Sally. Don’t go getting yourself worked up into a lather. What’s all this about?” Jamie demanded, holding on to both her arms and bending down a little so he could see her face.
“It’s a long story, Jamie. And I shoulda told you about my worries a long time ago, but I thought I could handle it. Mrs Emily will be that peeved with me about it, an’ all.”
Afraid she’d be overheard, Sally led Jamie to the bench under the Moreton Bay fig at the back of the hotel. She quickly related all that had taken place with William Carruthers from the first night she beat him at cards. “Mrs McKendrick doesn’t know – I didn’t want to embarrass her or risk losing my job. She said no men, but she didn’t say anything about no cards.”
Telling him about how she was abducted and menaced put her into shock. She started to tremble from head to toe and couldn’t sit still. She talked faster and faster with each breath. “I’m that scared, Jamie. I am. And in such a dither.” It never entered her head to become Carruthers’ mistress. She didn’t think she could ever willingly go with a man. Her flesh cringed at the memory of those other unwelcome hands and forced couplings. But more than that, she understood his sort. Once he was finished with her, he was just as likely to carry out his threat anyway, for revenge. To make sure no one else ever looked at her the same way. “The man is evil. He will do what he threatens. I have to get away. Oh, poor Emily. She’s been good to me – to us – but I canna stay. Neither should you. Come with me, Jamie, please. Come with me. Let’s go find Brigid and, and ...”
She didn’t know what the ‘and’ could be. Finding Brigid seemed a good idea at first, but she would need to get further away than that. He would look for her and he would find her.
“Whisht now, lass. Don’t fret. We’ll think o’ something.”
Jamie sounded distracted, which came as a jolt to her, given what she’d just told him. “Well, what’s up with you, ye numpty? I tell you my life’s in danger, and you tell me not to fret!” Giving him a quizzical eye, she repeated her question. “Where have you been?”
He turned his face away and started pacing around. “The police have been back asking questions again about Michael. They don’t know anything, but someone gave them that story about a woman and bloke picking them up in a wagon. It’s only a matter of time, I fear.”
Sally’s heart dropped into her stomach. “All the more reason for us to get out of here then.”
Jamie nodded. “I was thinking the same thing on my way back from the ravine.”
Other people may have been rendered speechless by his recklessness, but Sally wasn’t. “You went up there again? What a dang fool thing to do. Do you want to get found out? Right, that settles it. We’re leaving – all of us. Have you told Maggie where you went?” Jamie shook his head. “No? Good. Well, don’t say anything yet. We have to think about this.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing all day?” Jamie sounded angry, desperate. “I can’t make four people, five if you come with us, just disappear, now can I? And if we up and leave, the police will get even more suspicious. Maybe you should take Maggie to Brisbane. Say we thought she needed medical help and you knew someone.”
Sally weighed up the possibilities, but her own worries that Carruthers would find her, never mind where she was, surfaced again. “And then what? I told you, ’twouldn’t be safe. And what about Laura and Jane? What’s going to happen to them? And you, for that matter?”
“The girls will be fine. They do more of the looking-after than Maggie does anyway. And it’ll look better if the girls are still around.”
“And you? What if ...?”
Jamie spun to face her. “Enough with the questions. How am I supposed to think with you boithering at me all the time?”
Both had fiery tempers, and under stress they flared in a flash. “So it’s my fault now, is it? You got me into this shite in the first place. You and that nincompoop you’ve fallen for. But it looks like it’s up to me to get us out of it. You can’t seem to think straight. What did you think you were doing, going up to the ravine?”
“Why don’t you just go your own way and leave us be, if that’s what you think? You’re not so canny yourself. Look at the mess you’ve made of things.”
“Jamie. Sally,” cried Laura running up to Jamie and wrapping her arms around him. “Stop it. What are you screeching and yelling at each other about? It’s got me fair spooked.”
Chagrined, Jamie and Sally looked at each other, nodded and silently agreed to drop their argument – for now, at least. They still hadn’t solved the problem.
“It’s all right, lass. There’s nothing for you to worry your wee head about. Sally and me were just trying to sort out what’s best.”
“What’s best for what, Jamie? Are you in trouble?”
Discomforted that Laura should pick up on the cause of their to-do, Sally squatted next to the child. She rested her hand on the girl’s shoulder and spoke softly to her. “Like Jamie said, sweet pea, no need for you to worry about a thing.” But with a quick glance at Jamie, she added, “There’s no trouble exactly, but I’ll be moving away soon.”
Laura suddenly let go of Jamie and wrapped her arms around Sally’s neck, nearly knocking her over. “No. You can’t
leave us. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”
Sally’s arms reached around the girl to comfort her. “There there, lass. I’ve been thinking about that too. Maybe we should all go – you and Jane, Jamie here, and Maggie and me – and find another place to live. Would you like that?”
Laura thought about it for a moment. “I think so, especially if we can all be together. I don’t like it here. But where will we go?”
The girl’s gaze followed her as Sally untangled Laura’s arms and stood up.
“That’s what we was on about,” said Jamie. “Sally and me, well, we just couldn’t agree on the where and how. We will. Don’t you grieve none, little one. Now off you run.”
Laura hesitated. “The police’ve been to see Maggie again. They were asking more questions about the day of the fight between her and Pa.”
“When was this?” demanded Jamie, looking at Sally with horror as she turned several shades of ashen.
“A few days back.”
Jamie bit back his annoyance she hadn’t told him earlier. “What did Maggie say, Laura? It’s important you tell me everything.”
“Nothing. Like last time, Maggie sat and stared at the wall. It was like she was under a spell or something. He didn’t get cross with her or anything, but I could tell he wasn’t happy. He said he’d be back.”
“Ah, well, that’s good. All’s well after all. And thank you for telling me. But Laura, can you remember to tell me these things when they happen, so I know. I can’t take care of Maggie properly if I don’t know.”
Laura nodded but scuffed her shoe, making an arc in the dust, obviously unwilling to leave until she shared another fear. “That day ...” she began and stopped.
“Go on.”
“That day I hid Jane in the bushes. I didn’t tell you everything. Um ... Should I?”
Jamie led them back to the bench, sat down and lifted Laura onto his knee. Sally sat beside them, her nerves tingling with dread.
“That you should, lass. Come on, tell me now, there’s a good girl.”
Laura wrapped her arm around Jamie’s neck. “When I went back to find Maggie, I didn’t tell you the whole truth. I did see Pa lying there. I knew he was dead soon as I saw him.”
Sally inhaled deeply, grasping how traumatic that would have been for the girl. Jamie closed his eyes as if in prayer. When he opened them again, he took a deep breath and let it go again. “I’m right sorry to hear that, Laura. It’s not a thing a young one should see.”
“What happened to him?”
“Some people came and took him away, and he was buried right proper, lass.” Jamie crossed his fingers and hoped his lie would go undetected. He didn’t want Laura to know the truth – not ever.
“That’s good.” Laura didn’t appear perturbed by the news. “Pa wasn’t a nice person, was he?”
“Don’t think unkindly of your Pa,” said Sally, thinking about her long ago dead father who she blamed for the troubles in her life. Only pain lay that way. “He had his problems, and we shouldn’t judge people when we don’t know what drives them. Pray for him.”
Again, Laura just nodded. Wounds like hers would take a lifetime to heal, if ever. “Should I tell the policeman where I hid the poker?”
Sally had believed nothing more could shock her. Jamie winced.
“No!” They both breathed, trying not to shout so they didn’t scare the child.
“I don’t t’ink that’s a very good idea at all,” said Jamie. “But maybe you should tell me and Sally the whole story. Aye?”
Laura laid her head on Jamie’s shoulder and began to cry, something she rarely did. It tore at Sally’s insides, and she could only imagine how Jamie felt. Hesitantly, Laura told him what she’d found. “I thought Pa would kill our Maggie. He was in such a temper, like nothing I’d seen before. I think he would’ve if Maggie hadn’t fought him.”
“You’ve already told me this bit. What did you do with the poker, pet?”
“There’s a pit at the back of the house – beyond the hedge, but before you get to the wild bush. It’s hidden by long grass. Jane nearly fell in it one day when we were out exploring. That’s why I know it’s there.”
“Did you throw the poker down the pit?” prompted Sally, convinced the girl wasn’t telling her everything, but trying to ease the telling.
Laura nodded.
“There were blood on it. And I thought ...” Laura didn’t finish saying what she thought.
Sally pushed her for more information. “Did you throw anything else down the pit?”
The girl bit her lip, dropped her chin and looked guiltily at Sally. “I think you did. I think you threw several things down that pit. Am I right?”
Laura flicked her eyes up and down, watching Sally. Her chin wobbled and her head scarcely moved, but Sally took it to mean yes. Over the top of the girl’s head, she put her finger against her lips to stop Jamie from saying anything. He wiped the tears from Laura’s face with his sleeve instead.
Sally pressed on. “Maggie said there was a knife on the bench. Did you see it? Is it down the pit too?”
Again Laura barely moved her head, but simply flicked her eyes. “Axe,” whispered the girl.
“The fire-axe? Did you throw that away too?” Jamie checked. “And the maul?”
Satisfied that all four of the missing tools had been disposed of somewhere no one would ever find them, unless they were told, she could hear Jamie’s sigh of relief.
Sally was so light-headed she almost believed she would float away. “Why did you hide them?”
Laura shrugged, her eyes glued to the floor.
Jamie hugged the girl tightly. “You did well, pet. Cailín maith. Good girl. Now go see what your sister is up to. Sally and I need to talk.” He placed Laura on the ground but she didn’t run off straight away.
“Will Maggie come back to us, do you think?” she whispered.
Both Sally and Jamie understood her unease. Maggie had been so withdrawn, and so silent, that she was no comfort to the girls.
“I hope so. I truly hope so. We just have to be patient with her, aye?” said Jamie.
“Aye,” Laura agreed, then, after giving Sally a quick hug, she raced off, outwardly a happy child again.
“Does Jane know, I wonder?” said Sally.
A look of unbearable sorrow crumpled Jamie’s face. “I hope not. It’s bad enough Laura has to carry the burden of such memories, but I suspect nothing Laura does escapes Jane.”
“I think you’re right. Poor child.”
They sat wordlessly for a few minutes as each of them digested the news Laura had provided.
“Does that help or hinder our cause?” asked Sally.
“Helps, I think. Without a weapon or any evidence, who’s to say what happened and who struck the first blow. Still, does it matter either way? Without a body, there’s nothing to prove he hasn’t just up and left.”
Memory urged her to demand, “Is that why you went to the ravine? To see if you could see the body?”
Jamie didn’t answer, but Sally was sure she was right. “And ...?”
“Nothing. Even the bush where I broke the branches has grown back. There’s not a footprint or wagon track I could see.”
“Except what you left behind today, eejit.” Sally was cross with him again. “So, what do we do now?”
“We leave. Somehow.”
Somehow.
That somehow was easier said than done.
It had sounded simple enough – they’d take passage with one of the vessels heading south – but nothing was that simple.
While demand for supplies and deliveries meant ships plying their trade along the eastern coastline sailed daily with the tide, Jamie failed to persuade any of the captains to take the women and girls along. He asked several, becoming more insistent each time, but the answer was always the same: “We can take you, if you’re prepared to work the passage, and maybe one other. But a coaster is no place for women and children. I�
��ll not take four.”
Jamie trudged back to the hotel in the early evening, simmering about the delay. “No luck again, Sal. Looks like we’ll have to take the regular passenger vessel after all.”
Discouraged, but wildly anxious to get away, Sally’s retort was sharper than intended. “But that’s not going to work. They want names, and if we give them our names, it’ll be easy to track us down. You know that.”
“You try then. See if you can persuade any of them. The captains just won’t let women and children on board.” Jamie ran his fingers through his hair and clasped his hands behind his head.
“Sorry, Jamie. I didna mean to snap your head off. I’m just upset, aye. The rail line’s not all the way through yet. It would take weeks of toing and froing, and Maggie’s not up to that. What other option is there? The mail coach?”
Just then, Laura stuck her head around the door. “Are there any more murphys, Sally? Maggie says there’s enough for tonight’s dinner, but we’ve nearly run out.”
“What you asking me for? Ask cook. She’s the one who does the ordering.”
“Can’t. It’s her day off.”
“Isn’t there a sack in the store room?”
Laura shrugged. “Dunno. What you both looking so glum about?”
“Not glum, lass, just trying to sort out the best way to take a wee break from the questions and worries for a while. But we have to give our names to get the tickets and that’d make it too easy for the police to find us again. Maggie needs a complete rest.”
“So give them a made-up name. Jane and I do it all the time. It’s fun.”
After the initial shock at the simplicity of the girl’s plan, Sally started to laugh, which set Jamie off too.
“See, told you it was fun.”
“Aye, you could well be right, an’ all,” said Jamie. “And what name would you suggest?”
The girl wavered for a minute. “Murphys – that’s what I came to ask you about. How about Murphy?”
“A potato?” Jamie was aghast, but Sally said, “It’s perfect. Plain. Common. Irish. What more could you want?”
And so they agreed. The Murphy family would board the next steamer bound for Brisbane. Sally gave him the money she had put aside and sent him off to the harbourmaster’s office.