To Rise Above

by Jones, Julianne

  Rhiannon raised her head at the sound of her father’s voice and then glanced to where her mother sat with the mending basket at her feet. A short distance away, Seamus was asleep in Katie’s arms.

  “Couldn’t we wait until Seamus wakes? Then Katie could come too.”

  “Ye go ahead,” Katie kept her voice low so as not to wake Seamus. “I can go another time.”

  “Father?” Rhiannon appealed to her father.

  Esther folded the garment she had just finished and placed it on her lap. “You go with your father, Rhiannon. I’d like a talk with Katie.”

  Rhiannon shot Katie a worried glance before rising to her feet. “Just let me get my hat and I’ll be ready.”

  Renton Sanford nodded then smiled at his wife. “We’ll be back later.”

  “Take your time.”

  The two occupants of the room sat in silence until they heard the front door close and the voices of father and daughter fade away. Katie kept her eyes focused on Seamus, too afraid to look at the woman seated opposite. She tried to think over the past few days – if there was anything that could have upset the doctor’s wife – but her mind went blank.

  Without hurry, Esther Sanford pushed her mending basket to one side before moving her chair closer to where Katie sat.

  Suddenly Katie blurted out the question that was burning on her tongue. “Have I done something wrong?”

  “No Katie, it’s not that at all.” Esther unfolded a lace handkerchief and inspected its edge. “The doctor and I have been discussing something for a while now, but which Rhiannon knows nothing of yet.”

  “Is it something involving Rhiannon? Like a surprise?”

  “Well yes it is a surprise but it doesn’t involve Rhiannon. Not directly anyway. No, it involves you.”

  “Me?” Katie knew her voice reflected her panic.

  Katie felt Esther’s eyes regarding her but she was too nervous to lift her eyes to the other woman’s face. She was surprised when Esther asked, “Are you happy here, Katie?”

  Katie nodded.

  “What I mean is, would you like to stay here?”

  Katie was alarmed. “Are ye thinking of sending me away then?”

  “No, no, not at all. But the doctor has been making some enquiries and it appears that since you are female it might be possible to have your sentence pardoned.”

  “Pardoned? But don’t I have to wait until four years after the time I was sentenced before being pardoned?” Supporting Seamus’s head, Katie shifted her own weight so that he lay more comfortably in the crook of her arm.

  “That’s what we thought but the doctor has learnt that as a female convict you only have to wait two years.”

  “Then why –” Katie stopped and dropped her eyes to the child sleeping in her arms.

  After several moments Esther gently asked, “What were you going to ask Katie? Can you tell me?”

  Katie shook her head. She sensed rather than saw Esther move closer. Glancing up she was stunned to see love for her written all over the woman’s face. Taking a gulp of air she tried to explain.

  “The doctor – the house where I was before – when the doctor’s wife died he tried to take me back to England with him. But the authorities refused.”

  Esther nodded understandingly. “They may not agree this time either. Although because we’re not leaving the colony, we’re hoping that will make a difference and that they will agree.”

  “Does that mean that I’d still have to stay here? Not that I haven’t liked it here,” she hastened to add, “but I was hoping that one day I could return to Ireland.”

  “I think if you agree to stay in the colony until the term of your sentence is up, then they may grant you a pardon.”

  Katie sat in silence as she digested this information. Then a new thought struck her. “Excuse me for saying so, but if I can’t go back to Ireland what good is a pardon?”

  “Well that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s what the doctor and I have been discussing.” Esther paused and gazed out the window for a few long moments. Still looking out the window she addressed Katie, “You have become like a sister to Rhiannon and – and a daughter – to the doctor and myself. If the authorities grant you a pardon we’d like to adopt you. As our own daughter.”

  “Adopt?” Katie’s voice squeaked and Seamus stirred in his sleep.

  “Yes, as our own. We – none of us – think of you as a convict and none of us like the thought that you are still under sentence. Katie,” Esther turned back to face the young girl and Katie could now see the tears in her eyes. “We’ve come to love you. We want you as part of our family. I know that one day you hope to return to Ireland but in the meantime we want you to be part of us.”

  Katie’s own eyes filled with tears and she looked at the face of the woman in front of her. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say yes. We won’t do anything unless you agree but it would mean so much to us. Please say yes.”

  “What about me name?”

  “Your name?”

  “Could I keep me surname? It – it would –” Katie stopped afraid of offending.

  “It would remind you of your family back home. Of course you would still keep your name. You would be Katie Donovan – our daughter.”

  “Are ye sure it’s what ye want to do?”

  Esther laughed. “Of course we’re sure. Does that mean you agree?”

  Katie smiled. “Yes. Yes I guess it does.”

  Esther reached over and hugged the girl, being careful not to disturb Seamus. “I can’t tell you how pleased I am.”

  “Not as pleased as I am. I can’t wait to tell Rhiannon. Or do ye –”

  Esther placed a kiss on the girl’s cheek. “No I’ll let you have that pleasure. Just be sure to cover your ears at the time. Despite all my attempts to make a lady of my daughter, Rhiannon is still prone to squealing and it’s enough to send you deaf.” And the two smiled at each other with understanding.

  Rhiannon’s Journal

  March 22, 1830

  Katie has just told me the most wonderful incredible news. Father and Mother are going to adopt her if the authorities will pardon her sentence. Katie is going to become my sister! After all that’s happened with Lily and Seamus this seems too good to be true. It’s the best present anyone could ever give me. And to think Father and Mother never breathed a word of what they were considering to me! But I don’t mind: it just makes it all the more wonderful!

  April 1830

  Chapter Five

  “I’ve been thinking about what ye said.”

  The room was dark and the two girls were lying in narrow beds that had only a small space between them. Through the lace curtains could be seen a full moon high in the sky, lighting their room and making it almost impossible to get to sleep.

  Rhiannon rolled over and looked in the direction of her friend’s voice. “About what?”

  “About Samuel.”

  It had been almost a month since they’d had that talk.

  “Did you read his letter?”

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  “And he wants to know if he’s done anything to hurt or offend me.”

  “Have you replied?”

  “Not yet.”

  “But you will?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Katie –”

  “I can’t tell him why I was upset. It sounds so – so silly.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I thought I could just write to him. Like I used to before.”

  “Just a friendly letter you mean?”

  “Yes.”

  Rhiannon didn’t reply.

  “What’s wrong with that?” Katie hissed, obviously sensing disapproval in her friend’s silence.

  “I think you owe it to him to tell him the truth.”

  “But I can’t. I told ye why I can’t. He won’t understand anyway.”

  “He’ll understand. I think
he’ll understand better than you do.”

  “What do ye mean?”

  Rhiannon rolled over and pulled the bedclothes higher. “Put it right, Katie. Be honest. Tell him what he’s done. Forgive him – just as you’ve forgiven everyone else for the way they’ve treated you. Forgiven everyone except Samuel. And then admit it: you’ve treated him terribly.”

  “That’s not true.”

  But from the muffled cries coming from Katie’s side of the room Rhiannon knew that she’d hit the mark.

  Samuel lit the lamp and moved it closer to his work. Teaching a class of mixed ages left him little time for other pursuits. His weekdays were spent teaching; his weeknights marking and preparing for the next day; his weekends preaching and caring for his congregation. At least it gave him little time to think and thinking was something he didn’t want to do too much of at the moment.

  He’d written again to Katie but there had been no reply. In his heart he was wondering if there would ever be a reply. Whatever had gone wrong – and he still had no clue – it didn’t look as if it was going to be fixed soon.

  I am your Redeemer and I redeem all things.

  Samuel started as the words came into his mind. Where had they come from? Certainly not from any conscious thought.

  He glanced at the packet of letters that had arrived earlier that day. One from his sister Karen with the joyous announcement that he had another nephew – Broderick Samuel Cameron – born the previous September and named for his absent uncle. The letter had been brief – as befitted a busy mother of two – but he had felt his sister’s longing for the brother she had not seen for almost three years.

  He missed her too but his work was here. Of that he was sure.

  His fingers moved to the other letter that had also arrived. It was from his friend Mark with whom he had shared the agony of a secondary punishment colony for a time of seven months. Not as convicts but as minister and teacher.

  He picked the letter up and once again read the paragraph that had interested him.

  Now that Port Macquarie has been opened up to free settlement I feel that my time here is at an end. Convict labour still continues although I hope and pray it will end soon. But surely the presence of free settlers will have a dampening effect on the punishment meted out? Whether it does or not I believe God is moving me on. Where to? I do not know, but wherever He leads I will gladly follow. Meanwhile, I would like to see you once again. There was a time when I thought that we would be unlikely to meet again this side of Heaven, but I believe the Lord has seen fit for our paths to cross again – whether for a short time or for longer I do not know – but if it would not inconvenience you I would like to propose a visit to your settlement of Wallis Plains. I hope to arrive before winter. I’ll write when I know more but meantime I look forward to your communication expecting me.

  Samuel carefully folded the letter and set it atop the one from his sister. He would be pleased to see his friend once more.

  Sighing, he opened the book of poetry and tried to focus on the words. It was so long since he had recited poetry – never one of his strong points – and he needed to find several to suit the various classes that he taught. The words swam before his eyes and he dropped his head to his chest. Why did he feel so bleak? A new nephew. A visit from a friend. Life was good.

  But there had been no letter from Katie. He tried to tell himself that it was too early to expect one, but he knew he was making excuses. And he knew why he felt despondent. He had hoped – had expected a letter from Katie – had thought God would have answered his prayers already. If only he knew what had gone wrong. If only Katie had written. If only … He lifted his head and raised his arms in the air, stretching in his seat in an attempt to regain concentration. This was not helping. It would be better to forget about Katie and to get on with his own life. There was so much a man could do in the colony if he put his mind to it.

  Deliberately ignoring the letters, he shifted his attention to the book before him. At least he still had his work.

  Rhiannon’s fingers moved confidently as they ran up and down the keys as she practised her scales. Katie sat next to the piano, a book in her lap and a smile on her face.

  “Rhiannon, would you please practice some of your pieces?”

  Both girls jumped when Esther spoke from the doorway.

  “If I didn’t know better,” Rhiannon’s mother continued, “I would say that you were not practicing at all but reading a book and that the scales was just a means of putting me off the scent.”

  Rhiannon and Katie shared a guilty look.

  “As I thought. Now open your book. I want to hear something other than scales for the next half hour.”

  “Yes, Mother.” Rhiannon stood up and opened the lid of the stool as her mother watched. “Mother?”

  “Yes?”

  “Could Katie have pianoforte lessons too?”

  Katie turned pale. “No. No. Don’t mind what she says,” she implored Rhiannon’s mother.

  Esther appraised her for a long moment. “Would you like to learn, Katie?”

  “I don’t deserve lessons. Please don’t even consider it.”

  “If I have to take lessons, you should have to too,” Rhiannon announced from her place on the stool.

  “But I’m just a convict.”

  “But that’s going to change. You’re going to be my sister. And sisters do things together, don’t they Mother?”

  “Sometimes they do,” her mother answered. “But Katie may not want to learn.”

  “I had to learn.”

  Esther hid a smile. “You were pleading with us to teach you from the moment you could talk.”

  Rhiannon turned to a page in the book now on the music stand and creased open the centre with her hand.

  “I could teach Katie.”

  Katie’s face lit up. She tried to control her emotions but not before Rhiannon and her mother noticed.

  “If Katie is agreeable, then I cannot see why not. But,” Esther’s voice became stern, “I do not want your practice to suffer.”

  “It won’t. I promise.”

  Esther pursed her lips and didn’t say anything. Spying her embroidery under the cushion on the sofa she made to pick it up.

  “Mother?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you.”

  “Just remember what I said.”

  “Yes, Mother.” Rhiannon scooted along on the stool. “Sit next to me, Katie. Do you know anything about playing the pianoforte?”

  Katie shook her head. “No, but Da used to play the flute. Afore Ma died.”

  Rhiannon took hold of Katie’s right hand and placed the thumb on a key. “This is middle C. Then we go D, E, F, G, A, B, C.” With each note, Rhiannon pressed a finger on Katie’s hand down onto the appropriate key. “Then we go down. C, B, A, G, F, E, D, C. Now you do it.”

  Tucking her embroidery under her arm, Esther exited the room to the sound of a cautiously played C major scale.

  The sound of the girls playing the pianoforte had lulled her to sleep. She couldn’t remember what time it had been when she’d left them playing the pianoforte, but it had only been early afternoon. Dimly she focused on the clock beside her chair. It now read almost four o’clock.

  Gathering up her embroidery where it had fallen she tucked it back into her basket. The scissors had fallen to the floor and as she bent to pick them up she became aware of how quiet the house now was. Not a sound could be heard coming from any of the rooms.

  Wandering into Seamus’s room she was not alarmed to see him no longer asleep in his cot. It was only to be expected that the girls would have picked him up when he had woken and taken him downstairs or outside, wherever they happened to be. They were good in that way.

  Glancing in the mirror she was shocked by the state of her hair. With strands falling out her bun resembled nothing less than a bird’s nest. Sighing, she started removing the pins and loosening the strands. It would take a good fifteen minutes to
detangle this mess and pin it up again. She just hoped the girls didn’t mind caring for Seamus in the meantime.

  Katie bent down and pulled another handful of weeds out of the garden. Rhiannon had gone to lie down with a book after she’d finished playing the pianoforte. Katie giggled to herself. She hadn’t thought she’d been too bad a student but Rhiannon had seemed less enthusiastic about teaching her after the first half hour!

  Standing up, she stretched before bending to pick up the weeds lying in small piles along the length of the path. It felt good to have that job done.

  Rhiannon appeared at the back door, her face pale and strained.

  “Katie, is Seamus with you?”

  “No. I thought ye said ye’d get him up when he woke.”

  “He didn’t wake.”

  “Then he’ll be in his cot yet.”

  “No, I mean, I didn’t hear him wake. Neither did Mother. We can’t find him.”

  “Well someone must’ve got him up. He can’t climb out of his cot by himself.”

  “We’ve looked everywhere. He’s not here.”

  Esther’s head appeared next to her daughter’s in the doorway.

  “Katie?”

  “She hasn’t seen him either,” Rhiannon replied for her friend.

  “You didn’t get him out of his bed?” Esther asked anxiously.

  Katie shook her head then wiped her hands on her apron. “I’ll come and help ye look.”

  “We’ve looked everywhere already.”

  “Under all the beds?”

  “Yes,” Rhiannon and her mother answered in unison.

  “In the closet in the hallway?”

  “Yes.”

  “In the attic?”

  Rhiannon and her mother glanced at each other. “I’ll go,” offered Rhiannon.

  “I’ll go check the outbuildings.” Katie didn’t want to wait for Rhiannon’s return. “And the well.”