And Those Who Trespass Against Us (42 page)

"That's not it at all," Adele said. "The times I left you were not to go to the booking office, although this proved a convenient excuse. I went to the General Post Office to telegraph Catriona. There's a reasonable explanation for what you just saw and heard--"

Katherine cut her off. "I'm sure there is. With me out of the way you could return to Catriona. I'm sure today does signal a new beginning for you both. However, it'll definitely be one without
me
in it."

Turning on her heel, Katherine ran back into the crowd and toward the waiting ship.

CATRIONA WAS STUNNED into stillness by the vehemence of Katherine's words.

Adele laughed. "Oh God, Catriona, she's a fine one. Go after her before it's too late. Tell her what that was about and what you mean to her. Now, go!" She pushed a shocked Catriona in the direction of Katherine's retreating back.

Galvanised into action, Catriona took after the woman she wanted to share the rest of her life with. If she physically had to restrain Katherine and carry her from the ship, she resolved she would, if not for anything else than to give each of them one more chance.

She cursed when her headway was impeded by men and livestock travelling in the same direction. She arrived at the gangplank in time to see Katherine move to the other side of the ship.

Reaching the gangplank, her progress was halted by a slightly built porter. She tried to move around him and failed.

"Excuse me, sir. Can I see your ticket?"

"I don't have a ticket. But I do need to speak to someone on this vessel. It'll only take a minute and then I'll happily get off and you can be on your way." Again the man in front of her blocked her passage.

"I'm sorry, sir, but without a ticket you can't board the ship. How do I know you're not a stowaway?"

"You don't know I'm
not
a stowaway either. But there's something you should know. If you value your life you'll let me embark this vessel. I must speak to the lady who just boarded. I'm going up there, come hell or high water." With one mighty shove, Catriona pushed the man aside and ran up gangway.

Closing the distance between the two of them, she managed to call out Katherine's name but she was yet again halted, this time by two extremely well-built sailors.

"Where are you going then? Do you think you can thump people and hop on a ship at a whim? If you're not a paying passenger then you're an attempted stowaway. We hand your type over to the constabulary."

Catriona wrestled to break free from the vice-like grips of the two men holding her. "Don't be absurd! All I want to do is have a few quiet words with her." Catriona inclined her head in the direction of Katherine's shocked features.

The older of the two men looked to where Catriona had motioned and then back at her. "Strangely enough, she doesn't look like she wants to talk to you. What sort of man are you, accosting fine ladies in such a manner..."

Catriona brought her booted heel down on the foot of the vile smelling man, causing him to yell in pain and loosen his grip.

"You bastard, I'll make you sorry for that!"

Before she could get any closer to Katherine, Catriona's stomach was impaled on the hand of the angry man. Doubling over in pain with stars dancing in her head, the last thing Catriona heard when she was soundly hit across the head was Katherine screaming her name.

LINGERING ON THE periphery of consciousness, Catriona was vaguely aware of her head being cradled in Katherine's lap. Through barely open eyes, she could just make out a heated conversation between an angry Katherine and a somewhat contrite sailor. Adele's voice was also there, calming the angry woman.

"I'm sorry, miss. With her dressed the way she was and all--I thought she was a man aiming to do no good. I'd never have hit her if I knew she was a woman." He stopped and gulped at Katherine seething features. "After all, how could anyone tell?" he defiantly protested. "Women shouldn't dress like that. It's not natural."

"What's not natural about it? She's a grazier, for heaven's sake!" Katherine looked at the tied back hair of the sailor in front of her. "And what about your pigtail--is
that
natural? I thought only girls wore pigtails."

Seeing his look of dismay, Katherine calmed down. "I know sailors have worn their hair like that for many years. How she's dressed is the way farmers have dressed for many years. Just as hair in your eyes would hinder your ability to do your job, so would her wearing a dress in her line of work. I thank you both for coming to my defence. Just don't be so eager in the future to jump to conclusions." Katherine stopped when yet another man entered the scene.

He consulted his fob watch and then tucked it back in the folds of his vest. "By my reckoning, it's now three fifty five, and this ship sails at four o'clock sharp. If you're staying, then stay. If you're not, then leave my ship or
I
will have you thrown off, female or otherwise."

Before she could take issue with the man's tone, the crowd around them quickly dissipated leaving Adele, Katherine, and Catriona. Feeling the weight of Catriona shift in her lap, Katherine lovingly looked down into Catriona's face as she fully opened her eyes.

"I love you, Katherine, and I don't want you to leave. I'm sorry I acted like I did when you left. I didn't handle the situation at all well. We'll work through this, I promise." Taking Katherine's hand in her own, Catriona placed a delicate kiss in her palm.

"Come home with me, please."

She looked down on Catriona's pleading eyes. "I'm already home, my love. Wherever you are, be it Gleneagle, a shack, or the deck of a ship, as long as I'm with you I'll always be home."

Epilogue

The scandal of Katherine's return took the better part of a month to die down. Its dissipation was aided through the advent of an even greater scandal. As it so unfolded, Miss Greystone had done more than go riding on the fateful day she'd made her shocking discovery. Six weeks after Katherine's initial departure, Miss Greystone developed a bulge consistent with someone expecting a child. While the Greystone family hung their heads in shame, the poorer families of the district quietly rejoiced.

So great was the ignominy felt by Mrs. Greystone, she packed up herself and her daughter and left for Sydney and an extended trip to the continent till Elsbeth's size was reduced. Without her outspoken and waspish presence, the remainder of the ladies' committee lost their momentum. They became content to busy themselves with discrete, select tea parties, leaving the rest of the town and, in particular, Catriona and Katherine to their own devices.

Almost three months passed when Catriona held a dinner party, inviting Susan, Me Lin, William, and Robert. The dinner held even greater significance. Instead of an English-style meal, Me Lin treated the group to a traditional Chinese repast of sweet and spicy oriental dishes, surprising even Susan with her culinary skill. Robert and William had become regular visitors to Catriona and Katherine's home, and had on more than one occasion spent the night. Sometimes Catriona couldn't help but shake her head at the greater freedom of men compared to women.

Almost five months passed since Katherine's initial departure when the postmaster received a letter from Ireland addressed to Sister Flynn. A tireless supporter of the work of the ladies' committee, he elected to redirect the letter to who he felt was a more appropriate recipient--Father Cleary. The father sourly smiled when he read the contents of the letter which first mentioned how sorry the Mother Superior was about Sister Flynn's decision. Given the Mother Superior wasn't in the habit of tying people to something they didn't want to be associated with, she told Katherine she'd honour her resolution to leave the convent. The Mother Superior praised Katherine's choice to remain in the district and advised her that when the convent had saved enough money, she would send another nun to the town.

At the nine-month mark the new nun arrived. Unlike Katherine, both the ladies' committee and Father Cleary afforded the new sister a distinguished reception at the train station, before she was whisked off to the home of Mrs. Monteith. Sister Gordon was a woman in the twilight of her years who was very taken by the welcome she'd received. In return she was quite content to spend the better part of her days regaling the ladies with stories of the Mother Country.

With Sister Gordon's time dominated by such matters, hardly any time remained for her to care for the less fortunate families of the district. As Susan had correctly surmised, it didn't take long for the poorer families to come to grips with the somewhat bohemian relationship shared between Catriona and Katherine. After some initial misgivings and, at the prompting of the influential Connor clan, families within the community accepted Katherine's teaching of their children. As the years passed, and more children found doors opened to them by virtue of the education this fine woman had provided, they couldn't help but wonder what had been the major issue in the first place.

As time went on, the town accepted the two eccentric women who lived outside of town. Unlike the ladies' committee, which eventually petered into obscurity, their love for each other grew, and they spent the rest of their lives in blissful peace surrounded by true friends.

About the Author

Helen currently lives in Tasmania, Australia, with her partner, Kate, and their two cats. When not working, she enjoys writing, reading, bushwalking, civilised camping and the occasional (well frequent) glass of red wine. When she isn't occupied with work and other such matters, she and Kate can be found in the backyard of their home, nestled in the foothills of Mount Wellington, being employed as playthings for their cats.

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