Finding Bliss

by B L Bierley

  Eric hovered near the end of the bed. Maids filtered in with a basin of warm water and several stacks of linen and toweling. Luxie gripped the tugs and gave a hideous war cry as she curled her body over and pushed until her face was nearly purple. The baby slid out into Dr. Benchley’s waiting hands.

  “Well, now! That was much easier than I expected given the warning! Here’s a baby girl!” Dr. Benchley held up the wriggling baby for Lord and Lady Penwood to see.

  Bliss looked at Eric. His attention was on his father as he was handing the baby to the nurse. He instructed her to turn the baby up by its feet and give it a little shake to help the fluids and mucous drain out.

  The baby protested wildly at such rude treatment. The piercing scream that followed was almost enough to drown out Luxie’s next cry.

  “OH! What’s wrong! This can’t be right! The after is never this painful,” grunted Luxie. Having gone to have a look at his newborn daughter, Ollie immediately returned to his wife’s side.

  Dr. Benchley was checking the baby to make sure the irregularity of her birth didn’t cause the tiny girl any injuries. Bliss knew that this moment was the reason an assistant was necessary. She shouted at Eric.

  “Eric, you need to come nearer to the bed. My mother needs help!”

  Eric turned toward the sound of her voice and would have disagreed. But in that moment of time he recognized the urgency was not just the girl’s imagination. He sped quickly to the foot rail of the bed just in time to catch the second baby as it came slithering out of the ready birth canal and into his sure hands.

  “Oh gracious!” Luxie gasped as the second daughter emerged and let out a wood-splintering cry!

  “Oh my, my! Congratulations! You have twin girls!” Dr. Benchley said coming quickly over to see the baby held securely in his son’s hands.

  Eric stood riveted to the sight of the squalling infant in his palms. One of the nursery maids hurried off to fetch a second basin and to tell Mrs. Pressley the news firsthand. Eric turned to stare at Bliss in wonder.

  Bliss never gave any indication of smugness, but she knew he could feel the words in his brain. The echo of “I told you so” was loud enough to drown out all other conscious sounds in that moment. But Bliss merely smiled happily and hugged her mother.

  “Bliss, my love! How did we doubt you again? You told us we’d be doubly blessed! But you sure didn’t mean it was another boy! You are a savior, sweetheart!” Ollie said triumphantly! He reached behind Luxie’s shoulders and snagged his daughter in a hug, pulling her completely to his side of the bed and tossing her effortlessly into the air as he stood. He caught Bliss neatly and set her to the floor.

  “You should run along and tell the others the news, too! Dr. Benchley can probably handle things from here out,” Ollie told her.

  Eric still held the second baby in his hands and listened with acute attention to his father’s instructions on how to examine her. Eric was too caught up in his first delivery to be mindful of anything else going on in the room.

  Bliss beamed in happy satisfaction to be able to tell 13 year old Russ, 11 year old Merryann and 8 year old Mac the news first. Cori and Andre wouldn’t care as much, being only six and four years old respectfully and too jealous of the missed attention to love the little ones much yet. But then another thought hit her like a brick to the foot. There was something she wanted to tell Eric!

  Her future husband needed to understand about her gift. After everything that happened that afternoon, she needed to reassure him that she wasn’t playing a game.

  “Papa, I need to speak to Eric,” she explained quietly.

  “He’s helping his father with your new baby sisters. Perhaps it can wait a little while,” Ollie said dismissively. He turned back to stare at his wife in wordless pride.

  Bliss exited the room and sat in the hallway floor to collect her thoughts. Another vision, this one quick and harmless, came to mind. Bliss giggled and waited for Eric to emerge.

  Of course, she knew he wouldn’t be long after her. A few minutes later the door swung open, and Eric came out clutching a towel and wiping his arms to the elbows where he’d obviously washed.

  “Bliss! Congratulations! Twin sisters! You’re so lucky, aren’t you?” Eric said using his patronizing, “older-than-you” voice. It took all of her resolve not to roll her eyes.

  “Twins, very neat, yes. But having already five siblings, the addition of one extra really doesn’t make so much difference,” Bliss remarked dryly. Eric seemed slightly taken back by the wryness of the younger girl. He changed tact.

  “I have no siblings, you know. So the addition of even one extra for me would be amazing. Anyhow, what are you doing out here? I expected you to be tearing off to tell the others! Is there really something wrong with you? I can budge up Papa if you’re really feeling unwell?”

  Bliss frowned at him in frustration. “No, I’m quite alright. I wanted to talk to you, actually.”

  “Me? What do you want with me?”

  “Nothing really,” Bliss hedged a little, “I just was wondering what you thought about my message and recommendation to your father about an assistant. I don’t want you to be worried about it … just in case you were,” Bliss stammered. Everything she wanted to say was coming out all wrong, but for the life of her she couldn’t make it better.

  “Your message? You wanted my father here because you knew he needed to be here? Or you just have a problem with faking illnesses and a happy coincidence brought about the birth of your sisters. Honestly, I don’t know which is scarier,” Eric laughed in a hard tone.

  Bliss stopped herself from arguing the point with him. There was no need to beat the subject to death today. Rationally she supposed there would be years for him to get used to the idea of her curse. So instead she gave him a warning.

  “Eric?”

  “What?”

  “Make sure you take the cobbled road home today instead of the shorter dirt path. I know you came in your horse and cart in case you got free and could go fishing. But if you take the shorter path you won’t have any fishing opportunities for a while,” Bliss told him succinctly.

  “That’s ridiculous! I’m perfectly fine to take the short cut home. I’m nearly grown, you know. I’m a first rate scholar at school, and soon I’ll enter St. Thomas’s! So I believe I’m capable of taking a short cut without your opinion.”

  Bliss didn’t jump to argue the point, waiting for what she knew would be his next tactic. As expected, he continued to promote his superiority.

  “Besides, what do you know about horses and carts? You’re just a child, a duke’s daughter with no need to learn anything about driving a rig or equipage. I’ll go how I like,” Eric scoffed rudely.

  Bliss ignored the snubs and looked at him with a level stare, challenging his smugness with her own. Given his unfortunate decision not to trust her she could only pity him now. Eric shook his head and pushed his way past her as he walked toward the stairs.

  “Suit yourself, then,” she said sharply as he passed, adding, “stubborn clod,” after watching his body turn on the mid-floor landing.

  Bliss fought against her righteous knowledge and made no attempt to continue her pursuit at that time. Knowing enough of her own destiny to be certain that further argument was futile, Bliss turned and headed up the stairs in search of her siblings to deliver the overdue news at last.

  Chapter Three

  Eric, age fifteen, Cardiff, June 1800

  On his way through the gates that afternoon following his encounter with Bliss, Eric Benchley suffered an involuntary shudder. Chastising himself for being silly worrying about Lord Penwood’s little girl and her odd predictions, he turned his cart distinctively toward the shortcut over the dirt path near the marshes.

  Only fishing on his mind, Eric’s horse calmly plodded along. The small passenger cart held all his fishing gear. The entire lot was his collection over years of birthdays, Christmases and hard work honing and whittling the rods from his
own source wood.

  As a seasoned aficionado of hand-crafted gear, Eric had meticulously crafted and perfected eighteen yards of fishing line during his down time at school. It was the thinnest thread, hard woven and pulled to a fine sturdy weight to be secure, no matter how heavy his catch. All of his hard work and preparation rode behind him in that cart.

  Eric’s mind was preoccupied with thoughts of catching a big fish when all of a sudden his horse reacted violently. It nearly caused him to be bounced from his seat.

  Within seconds the mare reared three times in succession and pawed the air with her hooves. The thrashing and changes to the horse’s posture caused the cart tongue to snap and become dislodged from its traces. Eric jumped down and tried to reach up to free the harness and protect the mare from the splintered wood still attached to her by the yoke, but he was unable to get close enough because of the horse’s wild behavior.

  When he stepped off to the side to try and calm the mare, he saw the trouble. It was a snake. Obviously very frightened at being discovered and nearly trampled by the horse, the snake coiled and hissed in protest. Upon seeing the hooves coming down once more, the snake leapt backwards using its better judgment and slithered away harmlessly.

  Eric fully intended to calm his horse and try to repair his cart. Somewhere in the back of his mind, however, he knew that this wouldn’t happen. Without warning the horse gave a mighty kick. Unable to react in time, Eric saw his loose cart begin to roll off the right bank of the road, down the steep incline and hurtle directly toward the salty marshes near the bay.

  The moment the cart hit the water the broken tongue immediately went down, causing all the contents of the cart to be tossed into the water and either sink or float out toward the deeper waters. The remains of the cart drifted seaward as though it were a newly launched ship setting off at high tide for the American continent.

  Turning back, Eric realized with a jolt that his mare had taken off at a run the minute she kicked the cart. He watched helplessly as the horse galloped away, already a fair distance advanced from where he was. He shook his head slowly, letting the realization hit him like falling rain.

  If I’d listened to Bliss, I’d be nearly home! I’d still have my fishing gear, and I might even get done with my chores in enough time to wet a line!

  The irony that he had, in fact, already wet a line when his hand-made fishing pole fell into the marsh tide wasn’t lost on him.

  “Well she did warn me,” Eric said aloud to no one in particular.

  Eric dusted off his clothes. He picked up his hat and riding crop and began walking in the direction his horse was still running.

  He prayed Sasha ran close enough to home that she would find the barn. He didn’t really trust his horse’s sense when it came to finding her way home unescorted. It would be horrible to lose her so close to his next school term. He truly hated riding coach all the way to London.

  After walking for a quarter of a mile, Eric heard the sound of hooves and the jingling rattle of a curricle coming toward him. He ambled over to the side of the lane just in time to see his father’s equipage approaching. Eric raised a hand, and his father slowed.

  “Eric, fancy meeting you here afoot!” his father said in an oddly knowing way.

  “How did you ...” Eric began and quickly stopped himself as he and his father formed the name together.

  “Bliss,” they said in unison.

  “Yes, she told me to take this path home, even though it’s about two miles out of my regular route toward the vicar’s house. Bliss informed me that it would be best if I didn’t leave you stranded on the road without a mount or a cart. She said also to tell you she’s very sorry for your loss. What did she mean? What have you lost?”

  Dr. Benchley looked serious now. Eric blushed at the inquiry. His father moved his medical bag down from the curricle seat to allow Eric room to sit. Once he was in, Dr. Benchley clucked to his horse, and they were off once again.

  “I lost my cart and all of my fishing supplies. Sasha was spooked by a snake and reared up. She kicked the cart right out to sea. Not only am I now without any fishing equipment, I may not have a horse if Sasha doesn’t make it home before we do. So I guess she was expressing her concern for either one,” Eric sighed reluctantly.

  “Bliss is terribly special, you know,” Dr. Benchley told his son quietly.

  Eric’s head whipped around to stare at his father almost in disbelief. His father was a man of science. A believer of facts more than fate, it was hard for Eric to grasp that his father might take the unknown enigma of Lady Bliss seriously.

  “Do you believe she really knows things?” Eric asked cautiously.

  “I believe that there are forces even science can’t predict in this world, son. There are some gifts that God bestows on a few worthy individuals. Lord Penwood’s daughter has a keen eye for seeing things beyond what most people can notice or pay attention to. I don’t know if it’s really something she can actually see, something she just feels or something she truly knows. But any way you look at it, she’s special for what she can do.

  “And I believe very few people get such a blessed gift, Eric. That’s why I urge you to keep what you know of the duke’s daughter to yourself. Horrible things can happen to people with such gifts if the wrong people know about them. It is best if we just leave things as they are and try not to expose her.”

  Eric nodded as his father spoke, digesting the words of warning along with the possibility that the young girl was far more in tune to the world than he was. It made him uncomfortable to wonder what other things Bliss knew. Thoughts nagged at him the entire way home.

  How much of the future can she really see? Does she know how I’ll do in school? Will I become a barber-surgeon? Will I become successful like my father? Will I ever get to kiss Leighann Mowbry? Can Bliss see everything I do?

  As soon as they approached their small property Dr. Benchley pointed to Sasha. Luckily enough, the horse had found her way back home and was waiting patiently to be let in.

  Eric unsaddled and curry combed her as he said a small prayer of thanks that his horse had made it home safely. He thought wryly of Bliss’s condolences. She meant the fishing gear, obviously. It didn’t make him feel better.

  Dr. Benchley told Eric to plan on being around for a while until he returned from his last few visits just in case anything else came up. He also indicated that it would be wise for Eric to plan on staying a little longer before going back to school.

  The doctor indicated it might be necessary for him to fill in as assistant more often until the midwife came back from her trip. Eric smiled and tamped down an internal shudder. Though he’d managed to be useful, truth be told he didn’t particularly relish the idea of a repeat of that morning’s lessons!

  Chapter Four

  Bliss, age thirteen, Cardiff, October 1803

  One of the hardest lessons Bliss ever learned was how to live with the fact that people often made decisions, one way or another, even when you wished they would choose differently. It was also frustrating to know that no matter how you tried to alter their choices, they would eventually do the thing you didn’t want them to do.

  For Bliss the lesson hurt particularly when it concerned Eric’s personal life. Even at thirteen, she was privy to information she would much rather not have to know. But try as she might to avoid it, there would always be a vision there in her mind.

  After Eric left for St. Thomas’s, Bliss began seeing him in a different light. He was a young man, doing things all young men eventually did. And it annoyed her that he could easily make a big mistake that would affect their future together.

  Her vision wouldn’t change as much as alter. If Eric made bad decisions now, her life with him would still be there, but the happiness would be marred by his bad choices. In the end it was her friend Lem who helped her make the decision to interfere.

  One day while she and her friend were stealing an afternoon of fishing on the lake, Bliss asked
Lem a very serious, albeit embarrassing question.

  “Lem? Can I ask your opinion on something very improper?” Bliss asked hesitantly.

  “What about? Am I going to be embarrassed?” Lem countered with nervous curiosity.

  “Likely, but I must ask anyway. It’s a question about things men do,” Bliss added cryptically. Lem’s eyes bulged in his face, and he turned beet red with shock.

  “Not that, silly. I already have that information. Clearly it is imperative for young men to have privacy for such things. Do you honestly think I didn’t know why you always asked when your parents were going to be working later than usual? No, this is about more adult actions.”

  “That won’t make it any easier to stomach, Bliss,” Lem replied looking dour.

  “You know how I always know things are going to happen, right?”

  “Of course, I always trust your advice, too. Except what you said about Lettie Bradshaw. I still say you’re way off the mark with that. She can’t stand me!”

  “That will change, believe me. When the moment comes the tide will turn.”

  “Whatever you say, Bliss. But I’m still not too excited about it.” Lem seemed to sulk on the thought of Lettie Bradshaw with relation to himself. Bliss urged him to focus back on her.

  “Back to my question if you please! Why is it that men are always allowed to ‘sow their wild oats,’ but ladies are expected to just accept the behavior and do nothing?” Bliss didn’t beat around the bush.

  “Come again? What are you asking?” Lem looked plenty scared now.

  “I asked why men were allowed a certain time to explore the physical pleasures before settling down, but women are kept pristine for their irreverent future husbands?”

  “This has something to do with your future mister, I take it,” Lem asked cautiously.

  “Of course it does! I know he’s going to make a decision to go ahead without a thought for what will happen, and I am utterly powerless to stop him. But if he makes a wrong choice, my future will be decidedly altered where our happiness is concerned. How can I sit by and watch him without interfering when I know the lesser of two evils?”