by Emma Fraser
Her friends shared another look. ‘No, least not straight away. Hiding one man on board is one thing, a whole family, especially when two of them are children, is another.’
‘We wouldn’t need to hide. We could buy tickets just like any other passenger.’
Mairi shook her head regretfully. ‘Oh, Margaret, if you and the children booked berths then it would soon come to your father’s ears. Even if it didn’t, as soon as Alasdair was on the run they’d be looking for you and the children. They’d search every nook and cranny of every ship leaving the docks. You’d lead the police to him – and to us.’
‘You and the bairns could follow later,’ Toni added. ‘Once things had died down.’
She stood and started to pace, thinking furiously. The smallness of the room meant she could only take a few steps in one direction before she had to turn around again. ‘Supposing all that works. Supposing you do manage to free him, supposing you do manage to get him on board, and supposing I can convince him to go without us, that still leaves the problem of the children and my father. If Alasdair does manage to escape Father will be even more determined to take the children from me. And he’d have greater cause to claim I was an unfit mother. I might even be charged for helping Alasdair escape. I could go to prison and the children would be without their mother and father then. And even if the police don’t suspect me, my father is perfectly capable of getting me put away in an asylum.’ She shuddered. ‘If he succeeds that will be even worse than prison. At least in gaol I’d have some certainty of getting out eventually.’ She shook her head. ‘No, I can see you mean well and I thank you. But it will never work.’
‘Then Alasdair hangs,’ Toni said bluntly.
‘There is a way Alasdair can be saved and you keep your children,’ Mairi interrupted. She’d been sitting quietly over the last few minutes, a small frown between her brows. ‘You know my family comes from the Outer Hebrides? Well, my sister Flora still lives there with her husband and three children. I got a letter from her the other day. She was complaining that one of the children was sick and when she took him to the doctor’s she had to wait hours to be seen. Flora knows one of the practice nurses, who told her that the doctor on North Uist – Dr MacLean – has been looking for a winter assistant for the last few weeks but so far he’s had no applicants to his advert – not even a single enquiry. He’s worried he won’t manage to get anyone. Not many people want to live in what they think of as the edge of the world. You could apply for the post. Your father would never think to look for you there.’
Margaret’s heart began to race as hope flared once more. ‘How can I be sure this doctor would take me on?’
‘Flora says Dr MacLean’s pretty desperate. There’s far too much work there for one man on his own. You could write to him and ask if the position is still open.’
The flicker of hope died as quickly as it had ignited. ‘He’d never employ someone whose husband was accused of murder, let alone someone accused of murder who’d escaped from prison. No matter how desperate he might be.’
‘Then take a different name!’ Mairi said, making no attempt to hide her exasperation. ‘You’d have to any road if your father is not to find you.’
‘Practising under a name that’s not my own could get me in nearly as much trouble as conspiring to help Alasdair escape.’ But it was worth considering – perhaps her only chance. If she and the children couldn’t go with Alasdair, and it seemed they couldn’t, at least not at first, then they had to go somewhere her father couldn’t find them. There was of course the Gatehouse in Perth that Lillian had offered but it would be one of the first places her father would search for her. And there was the further necessity of having to earn money. She’d very little left and no prospect of finding more. She and the children had to eat.
‘Even if he did agree to take me on, what about Libby and James? I wouldn’t be much use to Dr MacLean without someone to care for the children.’
‘They could stay with Flora until you find someone you could rely on closer to the surgery – it’s a good bit from where my sister and her family live. We’d have to tell Flora and her husband the truth, but they know how to keep secrets. The islanders do like a wee gossip but they have no fondness for outsiders knowing their business. If I told her she couldn’t breathe a word of who you were, nothing and nobody would get it out of her.’
‘I don’t know, Mairi. If Alasdair escapes he’ll never be able to come back here. He’ll always be on the run. And wherever he landed he’d need to work.’
‘Getting him a new name and identity wouldn’t be too difficult. There’s people here who can pretty much do anything if you know who to ask – and if you have a pound or two to give them.’
The plan was risky but it could work. And what other option did they have? Her father was perfectly capable of carrying out his threats. It was the only certain way for her to keep her children and save Alasdair’s life.
She squared her shoulders. ‘Very well. Let’s do it. I’ll write to Dr MacLean tonight. How long do you think you’ll need to plan everything?’
‘Has a trial date been set?’
‘I only know it’s going to be soon.’
‘And when is your father expecting an answer?’
‘In ten days.’ She felt another surge of hopelessness. Surely that wasn’t enough time to arrange everything? ‘I could probably stall him for a few more but…’
‘It’s long enough if we move quickly. I’ve already sounded the men out. Hold on, wait just a minute, I’ve remembered something.’ He jumped up and snatched the newspaper from the table. He turned back to the two women, pointing to the front page headline. ‘The King and Queen will be visiting the Clyde to launch the new ship for the Cunard line exactly eight days from now. Couldn’t be better timing!’
‘What do you mean, Toni? The whole of Glasgow will be teeming with police,’ Mairi retorted.
Toni smacked his hand on his thigh. ‘Exactly! They’ll be too busy keeping an eye on the royal visitors and not on Duke Street, won’t they? So that’s decided. Eight days it is, then. I’ll find out what ships are leaving that night and speak to the men I need to. There’s a lot to do so I’d better get going.’
‘What will I tell Alasdair?’
‘Whatever you need to get him on that boat.’
Back home, Margaret got the children ready for bed. As soon as they were tucked up and drifting off to sleep, fuelled with a renewed sense of purpose, she started making plans. Whatever the risks in Mairi and Toni’s scheme – and there were many – at least this way, her and Alasdair’s fate was in their own hands.
First of all, she needed to find out whether Dr MacLean was still looking for a winter assistant.
She kept all the back issues of the medical journals in the small cupboard in the sitting room alongside her medical books. Although she read them from cover to cover as soon as they arrived, she never threw any of them away, in case she needed to refer to an article at a later date.
She lifted the latest copies from the shelf and sat on the floor and started going through them. She found the advert in the May edition. It was simple and to the point. Winter Assistant required for island in the Outer Hebrides until the end of February. Monthly stipend and small house. Hours long. Would suit bachelor and keen fisherman.
This last made her heart sink. She wasn’t a bachelor and she certainly wasn’t interested in fishing. Would Dr MacLean accept a woman? A married woman with two small children at that. Unlikely. No matter how desperate he was. In which case she would have to pretend to be a widow. A cold shiver ran up her spine and she prayed she wasn’t tempting fate. Thanks to Mairi, she could assure him that suitable arrangements had been made for the children to be looked after so he need not worry that they would interfere with her duties.
She eased herself from the floor and crossed over to the small gate-leg table she used in lieu of a writing desk. She unscrewed the top of her fountain pen and started to write. She wr
ote that she was a widow (again that shiver of disquiet) and, although she hadn’t practised for a number of years, she’d done everything to keep up to date with medical advances. She told him she’d two small children, but would arrange for them to stay with relatives of a friend. Finally she wrote that she was eager to take up the position as soon as possible and if he decided she was acceptable, she could come immediately.
When she was finished there was still the matter of how to sign herself. She couldn’t take the job as Dr Margaret Morrison or even Dr Bannatyne. She’d be too conspicuous and too easy to trace. She needed another name. The name of a woman doctor on the medical register in case Dr MacLean checked. And it had to be someone who wasn’t already working in this country. She tapped the end of the pen against her teeth. There was one obvious choice. Martha. She was still in India and had no plans to return to Britain in the foreseeable future.
Margaret hesitated, her pen poised over the paper. She should ask Martha’s permission, but if she did, time would be wasted while letters went back and forth. And, she suspected that Martha, no matter how sympathetic she might be, would refuse. Martha hated dishonesty in any form. As did Margaret, but she only had to think of what would happen if she didn’t manage to get a job that would remove her from her father’s reach to know she had no choice. It would only be for a few months. What Margaret would do after that she couldn’t imagine.
‘Forgive me, my friend,’ Margaret whispered and signed the letter Dr Martha Murdoch.
Chapter 21
The days rushed past in a flurry of preparations. Although there was still time before she was due to sign the papers handing over custody of her children, Margaret was terrified that her father would take action to remove them without waiting for her decision. In the meantime she telephoned Mr Johnston every day, still hoping against hope that she’d been mistaken about him and that he’d have found a witness. But the news was always the same. No new witnesses. No new evidence.
Mairi had called at the flat, whispering out of earshot of the children that the plans had been laid. There was a boat leaving for Canada the same day as the new ship’s launch and that was the one they planned to stow Alasdair away on. A policeman they knew had arranged to be on duty the day of the planned escape. They would make sure it would appear as if he’d been overpowered.
She’d also received a telegram back from Dr MacLean. To her relief, it stated that the post was still vacant. She should come for a month’s trial and if she suited, the position would be extended to the end of February. A letter would follow but in the meantime could she arrange to come immediately?
The day after she received the telegram was her scheduled visit with Alasdair. There were only three days left before her father expected an answer, two before the planned escape. If Alasdair was going to flee, he had to be convinced today.
The hope in her husband’s eyes when he entered the room almost undid her. He thought she’d come because she had good news for him. She wanted nothing more than to put her head in her hands and sob. But there was no time for histrionics. She had to find a way of telling Alasdair about their plans and getting his agreement.
She started speaking almost before he was seated. ‘We haven’t found new evidence or new witnesses yet. We need to accept it’s unlikely we’ll find anyone before your trial.’ She hated putting it so baldly but he had to be convinced there was no hope.
His shoulders slumped, but just for a moment. He looked up at her, worry etching his eyes. ‘And the children? Are they all right?’
Margaret looked down at her hands. ‘Yes. For the moment.’
The guard sat on a chair by the door, holding his newspaper up close to his face and making a show of reading it.
‘What do you mean “for the moment”?’ He made to move his shackled hands towards her. ‘What is it? Tell me. Is one of them ill?’
‘No, it’s not that. They are both well. But there is something…’ She glanced nervously at the policeman. ‘Something I need to discuss with you.’ How on earth was she going to tell him when they could so easily be overheard?
Alasdair caught her look. ‘Any chance you could make yourself scarce for a bit, Dougie?’ he said over his shoulder.
Dougie put down his paper and winked. ‘Come to think of it, I do need the lav – excuse the language, Miss. I can give you ten minutes – no longer.’
When he’d left, Alasdair stood. ‘Dougie owes me for a favour I did his uncle. He’s a good man.’ He held out his shackled wrists. ‘Let me hold you.’
She slipped under the circle of his arms and he pulled her close. She felt the beating of his heart as he held her against him and for a moment she just let her head rest there as she had done so many times during their married life.
‘Now tell me,’ Alasdair murmured into her hair.
Tripping over her words she told him about the meeting with her father. His muscles tensed when she got to the part about signing the children over.
‘If I don’t, he’ll see you hang, Alasdair. If you were in danger before, you’re in worse danger now. I’m so sorry. I only went to him because I thought that even if he had no love left for me, his pride would never let you be convicted. When you refused to plead guilty I thought it was the only way to keep you safe.’
‘And how did you imagine he was going to help?’ His eyes were as cold as a December morning.
‘I didn’t care.’ She turned her face away. ‘Whatever way he could.’
‘You must have known he would have to bend the law.’
She met his eyes. ‘You are innocent. How can it be right that you get convicted?’ She took a deep breath, trying to ease the tightness in her chest. ‘But yes, Alasdair, even if it meant breaking the law, agreeing to others committing perjury, offering bribes, whatever it took, whatever it takes – I would agree to it if it meant you were free or safe.’
‘Does he really think for one minute that either of us would agree to sign our children over to him?’
‘Don’t you understand? He will take the children anyway! Whether you’re convicted or not.’
She burrowed her head in his shoulder. ‘I’ve gone over and over it until I thought I was going mad. I even considered signing over the children – at least you would be free and we could fight to get the children back then. But I can’t take the chance. I can’t!’
‘I won’t trade my children for my life.’ He was quiet for a very long time. ‘I’ll plead guilty,’ he whispered into her hair. ‘Johnston told me that the Crown wouldn’t go for the death penalty if I did. I’ll get a long sentence but they won’t hang me.’
She raised her head and gripped his arms. ‘Don’t you see, Alasdair? It’s too late for that now. It’s too risky. Changing your plea to guilty will make no difference. Father can still use his influence to make sure you hang! Then you’ll be dead and he’ll take the children anyway.’ Her voice caught on a sob and he tightened his arms around her. ‘We can’t trust him. He’s crazy. He’s only telling me that he can make sure you’ll be found innocent to make me sign over the children. It would be easier for him rather than having to go through the courts or have me committed. Even if he made good on his promise and later we said we handed the children over under duress, we couldn’t be sure the courts would believe us.’
‘Then you and the children must go. Forget about me! Hide somewhere – make a new life for yourselves…’
Although taking the children and hiding was part of her plan, it was one thing fleeing Glasgow when she knew Alasdair was safe, quite another thing when he was still in danger of losing his life. ‘There is a way to save you and for us to keep the children. Toni has a plan. With help he can get you out of gaol and on a ship.’
Alasdair frowned down at her. ‘You want me to escape? Dear God, Margaret. Do you have any idea what you’re suggesting?’
‘Just listen to me —’
‘And what about you and the children? They’d never be able to smuggle the four of us on boa
rd a ship, that much I do know.’
‘No, no, of course not. We know that.’ Margaret knew she was running out of time. Dougie could return any minute. She had to convince Alasdair that their plan was the right one. ‘I’ve managed to get a job as a doctor in the Outer Hebrides. That’s where Mairi’s family come from. Remember? Mairi’s sister Flora will look after the children. My father will never think to look for us there.’ She searched his face, praying he would see it was their only way. ‘I’m going to assume my friend Martha’s name. We can stay there until all the fuss has died down, then myself and the children can join you – wherever that may be.’
‘I’m not leaving without you. Not when I know what your father intends.’ He studied her through his thick, long lashes. ‘But you must go – get away as far as you can from your father. Today. Tomorrow at the latest. Take the post. Make a new life for yourself and our children. Whatever the future has in store for me I can accept as long as you and the children are together, safe and happy.’