A Second Chance

by Shayne Parkinson

  A sharp rap on her door roused her from a fitful slumber. It was pitch dark; Amy guessed that it was probably some time past midnight. ‘Ma?’ she heard David call, the anxiousness in his voice clear even through the muffling of the wood. ‘Beth thinks it’s started.’

  Amy was out of bed and had her dressing gown pulled on over her nightdress in moments. She followed David through the cottage to where Beth was sitting up against the pillows, her eyes wide and frightened in the light of the candle at her side.

  ‘What should I do, Ma?’ David asked. ‘Shall I go and get Richard? It’s pretty dark out there, but I’ll go as fast as I can. Or should I do something here first? What can I do?’

  When Amy managed to silence him for long enough to allow Beth to speak, she found that what had sent David running through the house in his nightshirt was Beth’s report of a single, sharp pain.

  ‘No, Dave, there’s no need to go out in the middle of the night,’ Amy said. ‘It’s much too soon—nothing’s going to happen for a long while yet.’

  ‘But how will we know when he should go?’ Beth asked.

  ‘You’ll start getting pains closer together.’ There was no need to tell her that they would also be a good deal stronger. ‘Don’t worry, Beth, I’ll know when it’s time.’ She studied Beth’s expression. It was important, she knew, to keep her as calm as possible. ‘Would you like me to stay in here with you?’

  ‘Yes, please,’ Beth said in a small voice.

  ‘But what can I do?’ David persisted.

  ‘The best thing you could do is try and get back to sleep,’ Amy said. ‘We’ll need you to run all the messages in the morning.’

  David insisted that he would not be able to sleep, but he lay down on top of the covers and rolled over to face Beth. Amy lit a lamp and turned it down as low as it would go, blew out the candle, and settled into a chair close to Beth’s side.

  ‘Aunt Amy?’ Beth said a few minutes later.

  ‘Mmm? Have you had another pain?’

  ‘No, just that aching in my back I’ve had since this morning. I’m sorry I’m such a nuisance, making you sit there all night.’

  ‘Of course you’re not a nuisance! I don’t mind—I often used to sit here of an evening, getting your Uncle Charlie off to sleep when he was having trouble settling.’

  David’s breathing soon told them both that despite his protestations he had nodded off. Beth’s contractions seemed mild so far; they were frequent enough to prevent her from sleeping, but when they came she made no noise beyond a faint whimper. There was little risk that Amy might fall asleep, sitting upright in a none-too-comfortable chair. She and Beth spoke in whispers, careful not to disturb David, though he showed no sign of waking.

  In the grey light of dawn Amy stood up, and was abruptly made aware of how stiff she was. She went around to the other side of the bed and placed a hand on the dark mound that was David. ‘Time to get up, Davie.’

  He sat up at once. ‘Should I go and get Richard now?’

  ‘No, not just yet. You can do your milking first, but don’t take too long over it. Run next door and ask Uncle John to take your milk to the factory—I don’t want you too far away from the house.’

  Amy went to her own room to get dressed, leaving David to get himself ready for the day. He took some convincing that the birth was not imminent before Amy managed to shoo him out of the house. She made Beth as comfortable as she could before she set to work in the kitchen, popping into the bedroom every few minutes in between getting breakfast underway.

  When David had come back from milking and gulped down a hasty breakfast, Amy judged it was time to let him go into town; more because his increasing agitation was likely to upset Beth than from any imminent need for Richard.

  ‘There’s no need to gallop,’ she told him as he pulled on his boots. ‘We don’t want you to end up in a ditch. And let Aunt Lizzie know what’s going on—you can leave that until you’re on your way back,’ she added, seeing the protest on his lips. ‘I know you want to get on.’

  She persuaded Beth to have a slice or two of bread, along with a glass of water, knowing it was best not to offer her heavier food. The contractions were stronger now, making Beth cry out with the worst of them.

  ‘I’m sorry for making such a fuss,’ Beth said after a particularly bad one.

  ‘No, don’t say that—you make as much noise as you want to. I’m sure I did when I was having the children.’

  ‘Will it get really bad later?’

  Amy set aside the old sheet she was ripping up to add to her pile of clean rags, and brushed a strand of hair away from Beth’s forehead. ‘Not so very bad, no. Richard will give you something to make you go to sleep before the worst of it.’

  Beth seemed to shrink against the pillows. ‘I wish I didn’t have to have Richard,’ she murmured. Amy suspected she was almost as fearful of that as of the birth itself. ‘No, I know I have to,’ she said before Amy could speak. ‘It’s no use being silly about it.’

  David returned rather sooner than Amy would have thought possible without some hard riding, and with the news that Richard was on the way.

  ‘He said he’d bring the nurse,’ David added.

  Hiring a nurse had been Amy’s idea. Richard had supported her, as aware as she was that it would be easier on Beth if she did not have to be handled by Richard until she was unconscious. Finding a nurse willing to work under Richard’s supervision had proved difficult, but at last someone had mentioned Mrs Dalton. She was a widow who had moved to Ruatane the previous year, to keep house for her bachelor brother. She had been a nurse at a London hospital, and was used to working with doctors. Amy had found her a stolid, taciturn woman, but she seemed clean and capable.

  Beth brightened visibly at the mention of Mrs Dalton.

  ‘Perhaps he’ll get the nurse to do everything, and he’ll just tell her what to do,’ she said, looking hopeful. ‘Do you think so, Aunt Amy?’

  Amy hesitated. The nurse, she knew, would not be able to use forceps. ‘I’m sure he’ll get her to do as much of it as he can,’ she said carefully.

  Frank and Lizzie arrived a few minutes later, and David was unceremoniously ejected from the bedroom by Lizzie. ‘We don’t need you getting under foot,’ she said, taking his arm and leading him to the door. ‘Go and talk to your Uncle Frank. You can help him bring some stuff in from the buggy.’ She closed the door firmly behind him.

  ‘I brought a bit of food over,’ she told Amy. ‘I thought you wouldn’t have had time to get much done today. Just some biscuits, and a few loaves of bread, and a bit of cold meat. Oh, and a couple of pies. Now, is everything going all right?’ she asked Beth. ‘Of course it is, you’ve got your Aunt Amy looking after you. I’ll just see if there’s anything that needs doing.’

  She bustled about the room with Benjy clutched to one hip, checking the clean cloths and basins Amy had ready, and finding everything to her satisfaction. Then she plumped herself down on the bed and studied Beth’s face. ‘You haven’t been getting in a state, I hope? You know you’re not supposed to get upset, with you turning out to have that thing wrong with your heart, though I’m sure I don’t know how you came to have such a thing without me knowing about it.’

  ‘No, I haven’t got upset,’ Beth said, looking guilty.

  Amy patted her hand. ‘She’s being very brave about it all.’

  ‘That’s a good girl,’ Lizzie said. ‘I’ll just pop out to the kitchen and tell Frank and Dave where to put the stuff I brought.’

  She was back some time later, this time without Benjy, whom she had entrusted to Frank. ‘Your father’s looking after Dave. He’ll stop him working himself up into a state.’

  ‘Can’t Davie stay in here with me?’ Beth asked, but Lizzie shook her head.

  ‘It’s no place for a man in here. Well, except we’ve got to have Richard. That’s different, though, he’s a doctor. He can make himself useful.’

  When Richard arrived, ushering Mrs Dalton
into the room ahead of him, Amy saw Beth’s mouth tremble. She took Beth’s hand and squeezed it, and felt the ghost of an answering squeeze.

  Richard smiled encouragingly at Beth, but as he looked around the small room his smile faltered. ‘I’m afraid there won’t be room for all of us.’

  ‘Of course. I’m sorry, I’ll get out of the way,’ Amy said. She released Beth’s hand and made to stand up, but to her surprise Lizzie waved her back to her seat.

  ‘No, you stop where you are,’ said Lizzie. ‘You don’t take up much room. I can do cups of tea and stuff while we’re waiting for something to happen.’

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want to stay with Beth?’ Amy asked, reluctant to usurp Lizzie’s place with her daughter.

  ‘You’ll be all right with your Aunt Amy, won’t you?’ Lizzie said to Beth. ‘I won’t be far away, anyway. It’s better you stay here than me, Amy, you’ve got more of a quiet way about you—you’ll keep her settled better than I would.’

  ‘I did have some difficulty persuading Maudie to stay home,’ Richard told Beth. ‘She wanted to come, but I managed to convince her there’d be plenty of people to look after you. She sends her love, and I’ll bring her out to see you in a day or two.’

  The room seemed a good deal less crowded when Lizzie had gone. Richard sat on the bed and spoke quietly to Beth. Amy could see that he was studying Beth carefully as he asked her questions about how she was feeling. He listened to her heart, though it was impossible to tell from his manner how satisfied he was with what he heard.

  While he spoke, Mrs Dalton set about checking the progress of Beth’s labour, carefully arranging the sheet to keep what she was doing invisible to the other occupants of the room. She seemed to have a gentle touch; although Beth tensed and turned her face away so as not to look at Richard, Amy could see no sign that the nurse was hurting her.

  ‘It feels as if the baby’s lying properly, Doctor,’ Mrs Dalton announced. ‘She’s only two fingers dilated, though.’

  ‘We’ve quite a wait ahead of us,’ Richard said to Beth. ‘The most important thing is for you to stay as calm as you can. Try not to push when you feel a contraction, just let it pass over you.’

  Amy watched as Beth made herself look at Richard. ‘Will you give me something to make it stop hurting?’ Beth asked.

  ‘Yes, I will. I don’t want you to suffer unduly. But do you think you can manage without it for now?’

  ‘I… I think so. It’s going to get worse, isn’t it?’

  ‘The contractions will get stronger, yes. As soon as you feel it’s too much for you, I’ll give you chloroform.’

  ‘Couldn’t you do it now, Richard?’ Amy asked quietly. ‘Do we have to wait till it gets bad?’

  Richard hesitated before answering. ‘I’d like to wait until things are further along if I possibly can. Chloroform is not without its risks, you see—and unfortunately, those risks are particularly significant when there’s any problem with the patient’s heart. It should be safe if I can use it for a very brief period—ideally, just for the actual delivery itself. I’m afraid that’s some way off yet.’

  ‘So should I try and do without having it at all?’ Beth asked, a quaver in her voice.

  Richard shook his head. ‘No, we’ve moved beyond such barbarism in the treatment of women. I certainly wouldn’t attempt a forceps delivery without giving you chloroform first. And if the pain gets too much for you in the meantime, I’ll give it to you earlier.’

  Beth spoke so quietly that Amy saw Richard incline his head to be able to hear her, but the quaver had gone from her voice. ‘I’ll wait till you say it’s time. I can manage.’

  *

  The day dragged on. Beth was clearly in increasing pain, but she continued to insist that it was bearable. Things were moving slowly, according to the nurse. From time to time Lizzie brought in cups of tea, and spoke reassuringly to Beth. Once or twice she spelled Amy at the bedside, giving Amy the chance to stretch her stiff legs. Rather later than they would usually have eaten, Amy cobbled together a makeshift lunch from the food Lizzie had brought and some soup left over from the day before. People came in and out of the kitchen to snatch a hasty meal.

  For the first time Amy could ever recall, David needed to be persuaded to eat. She had to take him by the hand and tug him before he would leave the parlour and come to the kitchen table. Once there, he jumped at every real or imagined noise from the direction of the bedroom, taking far more notice of that than of the food Amy put in front of him.

  ‘You have to eat, Davie,’ she said. ‘You won’t do Beth any good like that. You need to keep your strength up, so you can help me look after her when it’s all over.’

  That was enough to make him gulp down what was on his plate and hurry back to the parlour. When Amy came through on her way to the bedroom, he was perched uncomfortably on the edge of his chair, staring intently at the bedroom door. Frank, who was jiggling a somewhat fractious Benjy on his lap, seemed to be doing his best to engage David in conversation, but it was a one-sided affair. Amy hurried past them with only the briefest of glances. Right now it was Beth who needed her.

  *

  Lizzie emerged from the bedroom moments after Amy had entered it. ‘I heard Benjy grizzling, give him here,’ she said, sinking onto the couch and opening her arms for the little boy.

  Benjy snuggled up against her when Frank placed him on her lap, but he soon began wriggling again, trying unsuccessfully to escape her firm hold.

  ‘I’ll give him a feed in a bit, see if that settles him down. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get him to have a sleep in a strange place, though. Dave, stop that!’ Lizzie said sharply.

  David, who had let out a yelp of alarm as Beth cried out, turned a bewildered face to Lizzie. ‘Stop what?’

  ‘Getting in such a state. If you keep that up, Beth’ll hear you, and next thing she’ll be worrying about you getting upset. She’s got enough on her plate without that.’

  ‘Sorry,’ David said, his face a picture of guilt. ‘I didn’t mean to bother her.’

  Lizzie heaved herself to her feet, Benjy in one arm. ‘I’m taking Benjy out to the verandah. Frank, do something with this boy,’ she said, waving her free hand in David’s direction.

  Frank studied David, who looked as tense as a coil of wire. ‘How about we go outside for a bit?’ he suggested. ‘I could do with some fresh air.’

  David glanced at him, then returned his attention to the bedroom door. ‘I’d sooner stay close, in case they want me for something.’

  ‘I shouldn’t think they will, Dave. There’s that many people running around after Beth, they don’t need you and me just now.’

  David showed no sign of having heard him. When Beth next cried out, he leapt to his feet and took a few steps towards the bedroom, then stopped and stood in the middle of the parlour, head down and looking utterly dejected.

  Frank rose from his chair and moved towards the kitchen. ‘Come on, Dave, let’s take a look around the place,’ he said, looking back over his shoulder. ‘You can show me what you’re thinking you might get done over the winter. You were talking about doing a bit of work on your cowshed, weren’t you?’

  David reluctantly followed him outside. Frank allowed David to choose their direction, which meant an aimless wander along the nearest fence line.

  ‘It’s hard, this waiting,’ said Frank. ‘Harder for her than for you, though.’

  David turned a stricken face to him. ‘I didn’t know it was like this. The way it’s hurting her! Beth’s not one for making a fuss, it must be really bad. And she didn’t want to have Richard, I said she had to.’

  ‘You couldn’t have made her if she’d put her foot down—she’s got enough of her ma in her for that. It’s good you’ve got Richard here, anyway, he’ll see that she’s all right.

  ‘I hope so,’ David said in a low voice.

  ‘This thing with her heart—it’s not that bad, is it? I mean, she’s always been that healthy,
she can’t have much wrong with her.’ Frank had had a vague account from Lizzie, who had herself relied on what Beth had told her, and had not seemed unduly concerned. Now, faced with David’s distress, an answering fear was gnawing at Frank. ‘It’s something to do with her missing a beat every now and again, isn’t it? That doesn’t sound so bad.’

  ‘I don’t know. Richard said it’s a strain on her heart, having a baby. And that’s my fault.’ He met Frank’s eyes, clearly expecting to be berated.

  Frank shook his head. ‘There’s no sense talking about anyone’s fault. Beth would’ve had a baby sooner or later, however it had turned out. It’s a good thing you got Richard to look at her, or we wouldn’t have known there was anything wrong. It’s thanks to you we’ve got him onto it.’ Lizzie had not been able to tell him just what it was Richard was expected to do, but everyone involved seemed agreed that it was something useful.

  The afternoon was wearing on, and Frank noticed the cows bunching up near a gate. ‘Must be about time to think about milking.’ Perhaps, he hoped, the familiar task would steady David somewhat; especially if he had some company. ‘How about I give you a hand? Joe’ll be all right getting the other boys on with it at my place, I told him he might have to do without me this afternoon.’ He saw David look uncertainly back towards the house. ‘They’ll know where to find you if there’s any need, Dave.’

  When they reached the gate, Frank saw the three Jerseys at the front of the herd, dwarfed by the Shorthorns. ‘Beth’s cows don’t let the Shorthorns boss them around, eh?’

  For the first time that day, he saw the ghost of a smile on David’s face. ‘No, they’re always at the front of the line. They’re cleverer than the others, they want to get milked and back in the paddock as quick as they can. The littlest one isn’t even in milk yet, but she likes hanging around with the other two.’