Mary's Guardian (15 page)

Her last plea was so plaintive that William paused and slowed his stride. ‘She’s had a fright.’

‘I can see that,’ Mary said, trying to keep her voice calm. ‘What was it?’

‘A man,’ William said softly, hugging Elizabeth to his chest.

‘A man!’ Mary screeched, startling Elizabeth, who pushed her face into her father’s shirt and began to whimper.

‘Please, love, let me get her into the hut. We need to comfort her. She’s not hurt, I promise. Just frightened.’

‘Frightened by a man?’ Mary hissed as quietly as she could. They were almost back to the hut. Ellen stood outside, holding Thomas in her arms. Her face was stricken with worry as she watched William and Mary come towards her.

‘What happened?’ she called as she rushed towards them.

‘Could you just watch Thomas for a while, please?’ William asked. He strode on to the door of the hut and kicked it open, ducking his head to go through. Mary followed him, looking back at Ellen fearfully.

‘I’ll watch him. You see to Elizabeth,’ Ellen said, backing up.

Inside William gently laid Elizabeth on their bed. ‘Get a rug, love.’

Mary shook open a small rug and laid it over the still trembling body of her little girl. Her own hands were shaking now. Her mind was racing. She knelt by the bed and put her head close to Elizabeth’s face. ‘It’s over now, sweetheart. You’re safe now. Ma and Pa are here.’ She could barely keep speaking for the rage that was building inside her but she kept her voice soft and calm.

William watched a moment and then turned away, his fists clenched so tight that Mary could see out of the corner of her eye that his hands had turned white. His back was taut and shuddering. When he turned back to his wife, she could see in his eyes the rage that she was feeling in her stomach. Elizabeth breathed out deeply and seemed to relax as Mary’s hand stroked her forehead lightly. She looked up at her mother and father, her expression so hurt and disillusioned that tears sprung to Mary’s eyes and spilled onto her cheeks.

Mary knew it was wrong to ask William right now but she wanted desperately to know what man had so frightened her child that she’d been left speechless. Her bright and happy girl. Her trusting, innocent child. Was it Dan? She wanted to ask. For she was sure she’d seen him running towards the river bank just minutes before William had appeared with Elizabeth. Would that young man dare to hurt their daughter? After all that William had done for him? Had she been right to be suspicious? And how could Elizabeth have been in such danger? Why hadn’t she watched her more carefully? She’d only been playing for such a little while. Though she was inclined to creep along the corn line looking for small animals, surely she couldn’t have strayed so far. Mary’s head hurt with the questions and she rubbed her own temples, pushing away the images that rushed into her mind. She glanced again at Elizabeth and saw that her eyes were fluttering into sleep. Her dear little girl was pulling away from the world into unconsciousness. How terrible had her ordeal been? She could wait no longer.

‘It was Dan, wasn’t it?’ she quietly rose from the bedside and moved towards William.

William looked at her for a moment before he answered. He was still having trouble finding his voice. ‘Dan saved her,’ he said eventually, his voice raspy and thin.

‘Saved her?’

‘He saw James Bevan skulking around by the river’s edge and went to see what he was doing.’

‘That young boy who’s family has just arrived?’ Mary cast her mind about for a face.

‘Yes, he’s a bit simple, I think.’

‘And he frightened Elizabeth?’

‘When Dan got closer he saw the boy grab Elizabeth. She was watching some birds by the river bank, apparently.’ Mary cringed at the thought of her daughter being so vulnerable. ‘Dan got to him before he did…any damage,’ William went on quietly. ‘Any physical damage, that is. But Dan said there was no mistaking his intention. He’s a stocky boy, thick set. It wasn’t easy for Dan to wrestle him off Elizabeth. She must have been petrified. She wasn’t even screaming, Dan said. Just in shock. Dan called for me. It took a few moments for me to hear him. Down there under the trees…the sound gets lost. If it hadn’t been for Dan being suspicious of the boy…’ William couldn’t finish. He dropped his head into his hands and wept quietly, his fury giving way to sorrow.

Mary wrapped her arms around him and leaned into him. She’d been wrong about Dan. Very wrong. She thanked God that she hadn’t railed against him before she’d heard the truth.

‘Where is he now?’ she asked when William’s sobs had subsided.

‘Dan took him off to the constable. Dragged him away before I could kill him with my bare hands. I was so close, Mary. I know I’d have killed the boy, God help me.’

‘Then you’d have done no less or more than me if I’d been there, Will. I hope to God I never lay eyes on him for I’d kill him still.’

‘The law will deal with him. Dan will see to it. He witnessed the whole thing. He was almost mad enough to kill the lad himself but he’s wise enough to know that would only cause more pain for us in the end. And for Elizabeth.’ William looked over Mary’s shoulder and saw that Elizabeth was sleeping. ‘She looks peaceful enough now.’ He cursed himself inwardly for not being able to protect her. He cursed the urges of men, no matter their intelligence or lack of it, that caused them to surrender decency for their own selfish pleasure. He shook his head, pushing away the rage, which he was afraid would surge in him again if he continued to think about what had happened to his little girl. ‘Pray to God she’s not spoiled by this, Mary. For I don’t know who else can protect her from that.’

‘It seems Dan protected her from worse, Will.’ Mary looked back at their bed. ‘She looks so innocent.’

‘She’s only eight years old, love. She’s supposed to be innocent for a few more years at least. We can only pray her innocence is not ruined. And yes, we can thank Dan for saving her from worse, for there’s no doubt he did that.’

‘I’d best go to Thomas. Ellen will be frantic out there. I’ll have to tell her what’s happened.’

‘She’s a good friend, Mary. We do have good people around us. We must remember that. There are more that are kind and good than not.’

‘I’ll try and remember that, Will.’

Mary shifted her weight and climbed clumsily down from the cart. She held tight to baby Thomas, wrapped in a tattered blanket and cradled close to her chest. Once on the ground she made her way to the Parramatta storefront. William climbed from the other side of the bench seat and then held Elizabeth’s hands as she jumped to the ground.

‘How do, missus?’ Joseph Hilton nodded and grinned at his customers as they came through the door to his store. ‘How’s the youngun, then?’ He nodded towards the infant in Mary’s arms.

‘He’s doing well,’ Mary grinned broadly. ‘Nine months now and healthy as you’d like. Thank the Lord. I’m hoping he’ll sleep a little more while we shop. Once he’s awake he’ll be wanting to get down and crawl about.’

‘An active little fellow, eh?’ Joseph grinned. ‘That’s the way it should be, don’t you think, William?’

‘I do.’ William leaned over and looked at his son proudly. ‘Now, we’ll be needing some material so Mary can make him some new clothes. Nothing of Elizabeth’s is good for him. We lost all the small stuff in the 1800 floods.’

Mary rocked Thomas as she perused the benches which were laden with clothing: socks, hats, shirts, trousers of various sizes, a few dresses and smocks. There were small bolts of cloth which she rubbed her hand over. On the next bench a variety of pots and pans and cutlery were spread. And at the back of the store she could see cans of beef, bags of sugar, flour and salt. There were definitely more goods available in the colony this last year or so.

‘You’re still out at Mulgrave Place, aren’t you?’ Joseph asked. ‘I haven’t seen you for a while. I wondered if you’d moved on.’

‘No, we’re still there. It’s hard work but thankfully we’ve had a few years without the floods. We’ve a reasonable store there now as well. But not the choice you have here so we thought it was time for a trip back to pick up some things.’

‘I’m glad you’re doing so well.’

‘Mostly,’ William said quietly, his face dropping a little. ‘We had some bad fires again last summer and now that Governor King has reduced the price we get for grain and pork, it’s pretty tough going. I haven’t always been able to keep up the government contracts for wheat and maize. We’ve just made enough to keep ourselves, really. A few of the settlers have gone into cattle. At least they can graze those on the common up on Richmond Hill. But I’m still trying to keep the crops going at the moment.’

‘Not having the floods is such a relief,’ Mary added, as she continued to browse the shelves.

‘Dry as a chip out there at the moment, in fact.’ William said, ‘which can be a worry as well, but Mary prefers it. In the wet we need to use the floating bridge over South Creek to come into Parramatta, and Mary’s not likely to do that.’

‘That’s the one Andrew Thompson built isn’t it?’

‘Sure is. I don’t know what most of us would have done without his help at one time or another. He’s taken some of our stores by boat up to Green Hills when they’ve been threatened by the rising waters. And now that he’s built this floating bridge he ferries the settlers as well as carts and horses across when needed. Gets a toll, of course, which helps compensate him for the costs of building it but the Governor’s very impressed with him. Made him the constable out there. Only young, too.’

‘Not easy to get a good worker is it? Some of the ones they send me for the store here wouldn’t work in a fit. I’ve a reasonable man here at present. Tommy Plumb…or Parkes. Apparently went under a few names in his days in England and can’t remember which is his real one.’ Joseph chuckled. ‘He arrived here earlier this year with a life sentence so he’s obviously been a wild boy in his days but he’d be over forty now and seems to have settled down. Bit surly, but he does as he’s bid well enough.’

‘And we don’t need more wild boys stirring up trouble when we’re doing our best to live peaceful lives,’ Mary called. ‘God knows we’ve had enough trouble with…’

‘I think that’s enough, Mary,’ William cautioned, fearing his wife might mention the trouble they had had with James Bevan. He gently stroked Elizabeth’s soft curls. She had been standing quietly at his side, clutching his leg, her head resting on his hip, ever since they had entered the store. She had been quite withdrawn these past five months and William didn’t want her to hear her mother referring to her dreadful ordeal. And he didn’t want to be reminded of it himself. Not that he ever forgot it for long.

‘I’m sure Major Paterson’s Corp can deal well enough with any trouble makers, Mary.’ Joseph continued. ‘These runaways and bushrangers get what they deserve, if you ask me...’

‘You came out free, didn’t you, Joseph?’

‘I did.’

‘Then I suppose it’s hard for you to imagine what turns young men into rebels. The law’s a hard task master for those who have no power or rights. Not that I’m condoning wrongdoing, of course. But I do know that it’s mighty hard to make an honest living if you’ve never been shown how.’

‘Well, the officers have their work cut out for them, don’t they? Trying to show these young rebels the right way to live.’

‘Sometimes the officers do more harm than good, I’m afraid,’ William said. ‘We’ve got a regiment of them now at Green Hills, to keep the Aborigines under control, they say. But they’re a bit quick to shoot if you ask me. Sometimes they cause more trouble than they stop. And it’s not only convicts who cause trouble, is it? Some of the mariners and military have shown themselves to be of poor character as well.’

‘That’s true enough. Their rum trade has made it hard for a lot of us to get good workers. Many would prefer to trade in liquor and idle away as many hours as they can. It doesn’t encourage a man to get on, does it?’

‘It does not.’

‘Will has a way with young men,’ Mary piped in, always keen to show off the better nature of her husband. ‘Likes to see
’
em right. Look after
’
em, you know. Like young Dan Jurd who’s working with us. Been here two years now and Will thinks he has the making of a good citizen. Will’s always looking to help others.’

‘And it’s a good thing to encourage the young ones.’ Joseph nodded his approval. ‘It’s the only way this country’s going to survive isn’t it? There’s still more convicts and ex-convicts than free settlers and will be for quite a bit, I imagine. If we don’t make something of them, we’re all sunk.’

‘A lot of free settlers don’t believe anything good can come of convict stock,’ Mary shook her head. ‘But we’ll show ’em.’

‘We’ll certainly do our best, love. It’s a future for this little fellow that’s my greatest concern.’ William softly touched the forehead of his sleeping son. ‘And our darling daughter here.’ He chucked Elizabeth under the chin and she beamed up at him. ‘Well, it looks like you’ve gathered quite a pile here on the counter, Mary. ‘So we’d best pay for it and load it into the cart. Let’s get our family home before dark, eh?’

***

‘The mountains are hazy today, Will.’ Mary made conversation as they headed away from Parramatta. Sometimes he was very quiet and she wondered what he was thinking.

‘They are,’ William answered distractedly.

‘I heard there’s been another attempt to get across them. Some man called Caley started from somewhere just near us. But after three weeks he came back, exhausted. It’s a wonder he didn’t lose all sense of which way to get back. It just looks like a black maze of trees to me. And they say there are huge gullies and rock walls and thick bush. I don’t understand what they’d want to be going over there for anyway. Do you?’ She nudged him as she finished, coaxing him out of his thoughts.

‘They’re looking for better land, lass.’

‘What would make ’em think there’d be better land over there? It looks wild from here.’

‘They won’t know until they get over there and see, will they? It’s the challenge, and the possibility of expansion of the colony. And then there are men who just want to explore, no matter what they find. It’ll happen one day, perhaps after my time.’

‘After your time! Now you listen here William Douglass. You’re not yet fifty years old and you’ve a lot of time left. Enough to see them cross those mountains if that’s what men want to do. And enough to see this son of yours grow up and make a life for himself. You’ve poured yourself into enough sons of others. Don’t you be giving up on me now, just when I’ve managed to give you a boy of your own.’ Her voice was cross, hiding the clutching fear that lurked in her heart. She couldn’t imagine life without William. ‘And what’s more, I’m not finished with birthing,’ she went on. ‘I’m intending that we have more yet.’

‘You’re nearly forty, Mary. How likely is it you’ll go on having children? You’ve had enough trouble already, haven’t you?’

‘Well, what about Ellen?’ she persisted, ignoring his last remark. ‘She’s older than me and she’s still having babies.’

‘Well, just so you know, I’m more than happy with the two we’ve got. A beautiful daughter and a fine son. It’s as much as man needs or deserves.’

‘Not you, Will. You deserve much more than I’ll ever be able to give you, but at least we can try for a couple more. Unless you’re sick of bedding me, that is?’ She stared straight ahead, repositioning the baby in her arms to ease the bumping of him as the cart rattled across the uneven track. ‘With all the work everyone did on this road it might be smoother,’ she mumbled, waiting for William to reassure her that he was not tired of her.

‘I’m far from sick of being with you, Mary,’ he answered softly. ‘And if I wasn’t driving this cart I might give you a slap on the rump for suggesting such a thing. Have you seen sign that I’ve lost interest?’

She glanced sideways and saw a grin creeping across his face. ‘No, I must say I haven’t,’ she nudged him. ‘Just checking. You’ve been a bit quiet lately and I’ve been worried about you, is all.’

‘I’m not quiet because of you, love. I’m still feeling sorry that…I’ve let certain things happen. That’s all.’ He looked at her sadly and indicated with his eyes that he was thinking of Elizabeth.

‘Oh,’ Mary said. ‘I understand. I feel the same.’ She patted his leg and looked back where Elizabeth was curled amongst the sacks of sugar and salt they’d bought. She smiled warmly and received a grin in kind from her daughter. ‘Sometimes I think she’s just fine and other times I worry too. We’ll just have to watch her carefully and make sure she’s safe in the future, won’t we?’

William turned to her and smirked. ‘It seems we’ve swapped places a bit lately, love. You the optimist and me thinking too much about the past, eh?’

‘Well, I’m learning from you, Will. So if I have to give you a bit of your own medicine sometimes, then so be it.’ She squeezed his knee fondly.

‘Right,’ he nodded, putting one hand over hers and holding it firmly until there was a sudden jolt of the cart as they went over a rock. He grabbed both reins again and steadied the horse. ‘And as for the track, everyone did their bit as we were ordered by the Governor and it’s certainly better than it was, but roads deteriorate quickly with the rain and constant traffic. There’s a lot in the colony that needs constant upgrading and maintenance and not enough men to do it all. Until we get a bigger population everything will be hard going. He patted her knee again. ‘Don’t worry, love. I’m not about to give up. As long as I have the strength I’ll do what I can on our few acres. If we don’t make a success of it, it won’t be for lack of trying.’

***

Dan Jurd was waiting by the small store shed at the highest point of William’s plot. Elizabeth’s face lit up when she saw him and she waved her hand discreetly. As he moved to the side of the cart where she was about to alight he extended his hand and she took it readily and jumped to the ground.

‘I hope he deserves the trust she places in him,’ Mary said, not so quietly as William held his arm out to help her down.

‘He’s her hero, love. It’s understandable. He did rescue her.’

‘I’m surprised she’d trust any man, rescued or not. If we’d still been on the streets of Lincoln, I’d have taught her how to defend herself good and proper. I didn’t think she’d need that here. Not on our own property. Just goes to show, it doesn’t pay to trust anyone.’

‘And does that extend to me, now?’

‘You know not, Will. I’ve always trusted you, but only you.’

‘Well, whatever instinct you used to know I’d not hurt you, Elizabeth’s used to judge Dan, I reckon. He’s a good man. Now don’t keep going over it in your mind. It’ll drive you crazy.’

‘I just want her safe, Will. And I’ll kill any man who wrongs her myself in future,’ she mumbled through gritted teeth as they wandered towards the hut. Thomas was stirring and stretching in her arms.

‘He’ll be wanting his feed, lass. You go on inside and fix him, eh?’ William patted her on the shoulder and turned back to where Dan and Elizabeth were still talking animatedly.

***

‘Could I have a word, Will?’ Dan pushed his hair back from his forehead as he approached, signaling to Elizabeth that he wanted to speak to her father alone. She smiled sweetly and nodded as she started in the direction of the hut. ‘I wanted to ask you about Elizabeth starting at the school at Green Hills,’ Dan started tentatively. ‘I’ve been there this morning and I’ve been thinking that it’d be good for her.’

‘Aye, Governor King’s made it known that it’s available for anyone. For a subscription, mind. I’m not sure I’d have the two pence an acre it cost every year to be sending Elizabeth for schooling. And to what end? I thought it was more for the boys to learn about working the land. That’s why I’ve encouraged you. I can see the sense in that.’