They had reached the verandah now and the light from the oil lamps in the kitchen was spilling through the door. Josh’s horse was tethered there and was gently pawing the ground. Josh told her, ‘I suppose I’d better be off then. No doubt you have things you need to do before you retire for the night. But do get word to me if anything should happen with my sister, would you?’
‘Of course,’ she promised him politely, wishing that he had allowed her to summon the doctor. ‘Goodnight, Josh.’
He leaped lithely into the saddle and she stood there and watched him gallop away until the ever-darkening night had swallowed him up.
Late the following afternoon, Kitty returned from Hobart with Robbie.
‘Oh, you’ll never believe some o’ the bargains we’ve had.’ She threw her shawl across a chair and clasped her hands as she beamed at Maria and Binda. ‘Robbie took me to an auction house an’ we found a beautiful sofa that will look a treat in his living room. An’ I got some material too to make him some curtains and cushion covers. Well, I’m not that good at sewing really but yer will help me, Maria, won’t yer?’
When Maria nodded she rushed on, ‘We got more pots an’ pans, new bedding, an’ some lovely rugs that will look wonderful on the floorboards. Then on the way back, we called in at a joiner friend o’ Robbie’s who’s made him a sturdy table an’ chairs where he can sit to eat.’
Her eyes were like stars and once again, Maria felt a ripple of unease. Anyone hearing her might have thought that Kitty had been choosing things for her own home, but Maria did not have the heart to say anything and spoil the girl’s mood. Eventually, as she realised that she was gabbling on, Kitty flushed guiltily. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘But we’ve had such a lovely day I got carried away. Now what needs doin’?’
‘Not a thing,’ Maria said lightly. ‘Binda and I have everything in hand. There’s some stew on the stove, enough for you and Robbie if you haven’t eaten yet.’
‘Cor, ta.’ Kitty rubbed her stomach, suddenly realising how hungry she was. ‘Then in that case I’ll take the pan over to Robbie’s if yer don’t mind an’ we can warm it up an’ eat it there. I can help him to unpack his new stuff an’ all then. Yer know what men are like – he won’t have a clue where to put anything. That’s if you’ve no objections?’ she added anxiously.
‘Of course not.’ Maria forced a smile to her face as Kitty snatched up the pan and disappeared the way she had just come. Glancing up, she found Binda watching her closely.
‘You are worried about the little missy, no?’
Maria sighed and nodded. There was no point in denying it. Binda seemed to have the ability to see right into her very soul.
‘Robbie is a good man,’ she told Maria. ‘She will come to no harm with him.’
‘But I think Kitty has feelings for him,’ Maria confided, ‘and as yet Robbie doesn’t appear to be returning them.’
‘He cannot marry her, if that is what you are hoping for.’
‘Why? Is he already married?’ Maria had feared something like this but it was soon evident that Binda was going to say no more and they lapsed into silence as Maria’s mind worked overtime.
It was during the early hours of the morning that Maria awoke, certain that she had heard something moving about on the verandah. She slipped her dressing-gown on then tiptoed along the passageway, her bare feet making no sound on the floorboards.
Binda was fast asleep on the settle and Maria let herself out onto the verandah, having taken her small hand-gun from the kitchen cupboard on the way. Her hands were shaking and she prayed that she would have no cause to use it, but she cocked it ready all the same.
She had gone no more than a few tentative steps when a shadow suddenly loomed up in front of her out of the darkness and she aimed the gun, holding it with both hands.
‘Whoa there, don’t go firin’ that, lassie.’ When Robbie’s familiar voice came to her she almost cried with relief as she sagged against the wall.
‘What are you doing prowling about?’ she shakily managed to ask as Robbie came to stand at her side.
‘I thought I heard something.’ He was peering into the deep night and now that her eyes had adjusted to the gloom, she saw that he was holding his rifle.
‘What do you think it was?’ She was almost afraid to ask but he shrugged, although she sensed that he still wasn’t happy.
‘I can’t be sure,’ he answered. ‘It could have been a bear but it sounded like a man’s footsteps to me. But don’t be afraid. Whatever or whoever it was, they’ve gone now.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
He grinned. ‘Ain’t nothin’ gets past me,’ he told her. ‘I know the sounds of all the night creatures an’ I can even tell you how close they are.’
Maria suddenly thought of the noise Kitty had heard earlier that evening as they were returning from the pool.
‘Do you think that it might be the same person who was following me and Kitty earlier on?’ she asked tremulously. She had felt very safe and secure in the knowledge that Robbie was close by, but suddenly she felt very vulnerable again.
‘You don’t even know for sure that anyone was following you,’ he pointed out sensibly. ‘But you go on back to bed now. I shall hang about for a bit before I turn in and you’ll all be quite safe, I promise you.’
‘All right. Goodnight, Robbie.’ Maria turned and entered the cabin again, but for the first time she slept with her gun close at hand on her bedside table.
Chapter Twenty-two
Maria was the first to rise the next morning and was surprised to see through the window that Robbie was in almost exactly the same place she had left him in the night before.
Slipping out of the door to join him she whispered, ‘Haven’t you been to bed yet?’
‘Of course I have, but lookie here.’ He pointed down to the ground with the barrel of his rifle. It had rained during the night and the dust surrounding the cabin had turned into a quagmire in which a man’s footprints were clearly visible. At least, Maria assumed they were a man’s. They were very large for a woman’s.
‘Who do you think it was?’ she asked with a tremor in her voice.
‘I don’t know, but I reckon I’ll ride over to the ranch and tell the boss that I’m not turning in today. I think I’ll hang about here just in case the feller decides to come back.’ Then seeing the fear in her eyes he added, ‘It was probably just some chancer come looking for something to steal that he could sell on. Even out here we get them, more’s the pity. The number of sheep we have go missing is alarming. Chances are that now they know I’m on to them, we’ll not see them again so stop worrying. You’re safe as houses.’
‘That’s all right then,’ she answered wryly. ‘Isabelle seems to be a bag of nerves, and I really don’t think she needs any upsets. But I’d better go in and get breakfast started now. Will you be joining us? I’ve some bacon and eggs I was planning on cooking.’
‘In that case, how could I refuse?’ Robbie winked at her and feeling slightly better Maria went back inside to call in on Isabelle before getting dressed.
Once breakfast was over, Binda again examined Isabelle and decided that she would go back to the ranch to pay Esperanza and the children a visit. It was obvious that she missed them, and as Isabelle was quiet and seemingly in no distress Maria had no objections to her going. As it was, there was little to do about the cabin that day so after helping Maria wash up the pots Kitty asked, ‘Would yer mind very much if I went over to Robbie’s to carry on wi’ the cleanin’ there? It’s startin’ to look grand now wi’ all the new bits an’ pieces he’s bought.’
As Isabelle was dozing again, and Maria assumed that there would be little chance of the intruder returning in broad daylight, she thought that it might be quite nice to have a little time to herself. So she gave her consent willingly, and after scrubbing the floor, she pushed the kettle into the heart of the fire to boil again, deciding to make a nice pot of tea and put her feet up for a while. She
might even begin one of the books Esperanza had kindly sent over for her.
She carefully measured the tealeaves into the heavy brown teapot, grateful that Uncle Freddie made sure they had a plentiful supply. Maria didn’t like coffee, especially the way the people here drank it – strong and black with no sugar.
She was in the process of pouring out a mugful when she heard the back door open, and thinking that it was Kitty returned for something she had forgotten, she turned with a smile on her face. It died instantly and her stomach seemed to sink into her shoes as she found herself looking at Lennie.
‘Wh-what are you doing here? And how did you know where to find me?’ she choked out.
He looked wild and unkempt as he eyed her hungrily. Strangely, since she had left the ship, he had been able to think of no one else. No other woman had ever spurned him before, and suddenly he had realised what he had lost, which was why he had jumped ship to follow her.
‘’T’weren’t hard in this neck o’ the woods,’ he told her with a sickly grin. Then, ‘Is there any o’ that tea goin’ spare? I’m fair parched.’
Maria was over her initial shock now and her eyes blazed fearlessly as she stormed, ‘Was it you hanging about here last night?’
‘What if it was? Ain’t yer pleased to see me?’
As he advanced on her, she could smell him – rank with sweat. She quickly put the table between them, telling him, ‘I should go now while you can, if I were you. If Robbie catches you here it will be the worse for you.’
He grinned. ‘Now that’s hardly the way to talk to yer intended, is it? An’ you carryin’ my babby an’ all. I’ve followed you all this way, even after you got me a flogging.’
‘But I’m not carrying your child any more,’ she spat. ‘I lost the baby when I was ill aboard ship. I thought you knew that. And I’m certainly not your intended!’
He looked momentarily stunned – then he eyed her shapeless dress and she realised that he was trying to determine if she was telling the truth.
And then he shrugged. ‘Aw well, if that’s the case we’ll have to make another, won’t we?’ He looked about at the cosy cabin. ‘Seems to me yer’ve fallen on yer feet here, an’ I’m sure the gaffer would have no objections to yer beloved joinin’ the team. It would certainly beat workin’ me guts out on the ship.’
‘Huh!’ Maria tossed her head in defiance before telling him clearly, ‘There’s no chance of us ever getting back together now, Lennie. I thought I loved you once but you walked out and left me when I was at my lowest, with no thought of what would happen to me should my father find out I was with child. You didn’t care about me or what would happen to your unborn child then, did you!’
‘Ah, but that were then an’ this is now,’ he said cajolingly as he began to sidle around the table. It was then that Maria lifted the heavy pressed-glass milk jug, sending the contents sloshing all across the table and the floor as she warned him, ‘You come one step closer to me, and I shall hit you with this – I swear it!’
Lennie chuckled. It seemed that Maria was not the timid little miss he had taken her for and suddenly he wanted her more than ever. As he drew closer, the smell of him made Maria’s eyes water and it was all she could do to stop herself from gagging. Then suddenly he threw aside the chair that stood between them and it clattered across the floor. As he pounced on her, Maria brought the jug swishing down but it merely bounced ineffectively off his arm as he bore her to the floor.
‘Come on now, give us a kiss, yer know yer want to,’ he gasped as she struggled beneath him. It was like a repeat of the night in the churchyard and the attack on the ship. She opened her mouth to scream, but his dirty hand had clamped across it and now she did gag as he ripped at her clothes. Helpless tears poured from her eyes as she bucked beneath his weight. The buttons on her blouse popped off and rolled across the floor as he tore at the thin material. And then suddenly a piercing scream rent the air, and Maria turned to see Isabelle standing in the doorway clutching at her stomach. She was screaming loudly enough to waken the dead, but still Lennie grappled with Maria until suddenly he was hauled off her and she rolled away to curl into a sobbing ball.
‘Why, you dirty little bastard. What did yer think yer were about?’ Robbie roared as his fist slammed into Lennie’s face.
Kitty had dropped to her knees beside Isabelle now, and as she held her protectively Lennie spat out a tooth and shouted, ‘She’s me woman. Let me be, yer barmy bastard!’ Blood was pouring from his nose and mouth from the blow and he was trying to hit out at Robbie but the bigger man had him firmly by the scruff of the neck and Lennie’s feet were dangling inches from the floor.
‘That’s the same bloke that attacked Maria while we were aboard the Northern Lights,’ Kitty informed Robbie.
‘Is it now?’ he bellowed. ‘Then in that case we’d better deliver him back to the Port Arthur authorities, hadn’t we? They don’t take kindly to deserters, an’ no doubt he’ll feel the length o’ the whip again. He won’t be so keen to attack helpless women when he’s had another couple o’ dozen lashes once they return him to the ship.’
‘No!’ Even after what he had tried to do to her, Maria could not bear the thought of him being flogged again. She still had nightmares about the way his body had jerked like a puppet’s as the lashes rained down on his bare back, and the way his blood had puddled on the deck. ‘Just let him go,’ she whimpered, but Robbie was resolute.
‘I’ll deliver him back to the port an’ then it’s up to them what they do with the lowlife,’ he growled. ‘What kind of man would try to do such a thing to a woman?’
Their attention was diverted then as Isabelle, who had stopped screaming, suddenly gasped loudly. They looked across at her and saw that she was standing in a puddle of water. The girl had gone deathly pale.
‘Jesus, her waters have broke,’ Kitty mumbled. She had witnessed childbirth many times back in Hatter’s Hall and realised instantly what had happened.
Maria staggered drunkenly to her feet, clutching the front of her torn blouse together, as Robbie manhandled Lennie out of the room. ‘You can cool yer heels in the barn till the young mistress has been seen to,’ he told him grimly. Then turning back to Maria he said, ‘Soon as I’ve got this chap tied up I shall be ridin’ across to the ranch to fetch Binda back. Can you two manage meanwhile?’
‘Yes, we can,’ Kitty assured him as she took Isabelle’s elbow and began to lead her gently back to her room. ‘But hurry, Robbie, please.’
Robbie nodded as he pushed Lennie ahead of him. Now that she was alone again Maria sank onto the nearest chair and began to tremble uncontrollably before forcing herself to go and get changed so she could sit with Isabelle and Kitty.
It was almost an hour later when Robbie’s horse slewed to a stop in front of the verandah. Binda was sitting behind him and she slithered to the ground quite gracefully for someone of her considerable size.
‘Hot water and towels, many of them,’ she told Maria as she raced towards Isabelle’s room, wiping the rain from her face as she went. It was lashing down outside and beating a tattoo on the wooden roof.
‘Go, let me look at her,’ she told Kitty firmly as she entered Isabelle’s room and the girl went quietly. Somehow she sensed that it would not be wise to argue with Binda.
‘How is she?’ Maria asked faintly as Kitty came into the kitchen. She had needed to sit down for a while.
‘It’s hard to say – she’s very quiet. But how are you now?’ Kitty saw that Maria was almost as pale as the mistress, but then that was hardly surprising after what had happened. She was just thankful that she had heard Isabelle’s screams or God knew what might have happened.
‘I’m all right,’ Maria answered shakily. ‘But I find it almost impossible to believe that Lennie followed us all the way here from Melbourne. He thought that I was still carrying his baby and even though I explained that I had miscarried aboard ship, I’m not sure that he believed me.’
‘Well, do
n’t you go worryin’ no more about him. Robbie’s got him trussed up like a turkey cock in the barn an’ there’s no way he’ll get out till Robbie wants him to.’ Kitty’s small hands balled into fists of anger. She loved Maria like a sister, and at least she was safe now. Robbie was going to deliver Lennie back to the port, and with the authorities taking over, she had an idea that he would not find it so easy to escape again.
The two young women sat quietly for what seemed an eternity, the tension eating into them until eventually Binda appeared looking concerned.
‘There is no sign of the birth pains,’ she commented. ‘That is bad, very bad. If they do not start soon, the missy will have dry birth.’
Maria and Kitty glanced at each other and then Kitty suggested, ‘Would yer like me to get Robbie to ride into Hobart for the doctor?’
Binda shook her head. ‘Not yet. There is still time and anyway, it is doubtful that anyone could get through with this rain. The paths will be muddy. But she is asking for you.’ She nodded towards Maria. ‘Go and sit with her, and fetch me if the pains start.’
Maria did as she was told. On entering Isabelle’s room, she found the girl staring towards the door for a sight of her. ‘Maria.’ She held her hand out and Maria instantly grasped it in her own as she sat down in the chair at the side of the bed. ‘I’m so glad you came. I need to talk to you.’
‘Why don’t you save your strength?’ Maria suggested. She was still badly shaken up, and despite knowing that Lennie was securely tied up, she could still feel his presence, as if the stink of him was still upon her, despite changing her clothes and washing herself. How could I ever have thought that I loved him? she asked herself, but her thoughts were brought sharply back to the present when Isabelle increased the pressure on her hand.
‘Maria, please. There are things that I must say.’ Sweat was standing out in glittering beads on her forehead and yet she was deathly pale and her hand was clammy.
‘Very well then, what is it?’
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