Against All Odds Read online

  Captain Forde stood up and banged the table also telling them to be silent as shouting was not going to solve the problem. “Unfortunately, what has been read to you is exactly what you signed when you were in Ireland and I know that you will probably have signed three documents each, one which will already have been sent to your employer, one retained in Ireland and you have the third. I hate to push the point home, but if you had been able to read, then you would not be in this situation. These people prey on such as you and they have probably made a fortune this way.”

  Mr O’Rourke was holding his temper in check, and his tearful wife asked what were they to do; they couldn’t let their children be enslaved, she’d see them dead first.

  “Don’t say that, Mrs O’Rourke; there has to be a way out of this,” said Liza.

  “What are you going to do about it?” demanded Mr O’Rourke.

  “With all due respect to you, Mr O’Rourke, Mrs Kelly doesn’t have to do anything about it. You signed the document and you obviously didn’t get independent advice on it. There may be nothing that can be done but I do know that both Lieutenant and Mrs Kelly are going to move heaven and earth to get you out of this situation, possibly to the detriment of themselves and the company. So, before you start shouting and blaming everyone else, just remember that you did this yourself,” said Captain Forde.

  “Were you cajoled in any way into signing? In other words, were you forced or intimidated into putting your mark on these documents?” asked Liza.

  “These are not the documents that we were told we were putting our mark on,” said Mr O’Rourke.

  “Is there a way that we can prove that, Mr O’Rourke? Can anyone else apart from your family state that?” asked Liza.

  “Yes, the person who witnessed my mark,” he said.

  “I see the signature here, who was he? Not somebody employed by the agent, I hope,” said Liza and from the looks on all their faces she knew that she had guessed correctly over who the witness had been.

  “There are three things that can be done,” said Patrick. “The first is to appeal to the employer’s better nature, but I’m not sure that he has a better nature. The second is to convince a judge that these documents were not the ones originally shown to you and therefore, should be considered null and void.”

  “That will probably take more money than we have and how would we prove it anyway? What is the third?” said Mr O’Rourke.

  “We’ll have to resort to blackmail,” said Patrick quite happily.

  “How do we do that, we have nothing that we could blackmail them with,” said Mr Cavanaugh.

  “You’ll have to leave that to my wife and myself. It would be better if you don’t know the details,” said Patrick.

  “We must know what you have in mind; it does affect the whole of our families. Please don’t leave us in the dark,” said Mrs Cavanaugh.

  Captain Forde came to the rescue. “Ladies and gentlemen, you know that this ship and the company behind it is Marchant & Fuller and that company can be quite powerful if it chooses. I hope Lieutenant and Mrs Kelly won’t mind me telling you that Mrs Kelly was previously a Marchant and still owns part of that company. Marchant & Fuller supplies most of your employer’s everyday needs. I don’t think I have to say more, and I apologise to Mrs Kelly for talking so freely about her private business.”

  Liza and Patrick were a little concerned at the smiles and the sighs of relief that came from the four Irish people in the room and Liza felt that she had to say that whatever they may think, she may not be able to create a miracle for them so they should not get their hopes up too high.

  “I’m sure you can,” said Mr O’Rourke, “after all, you’ve created one with me; I’m coming to your reading and writing lessons tomorrow.”

  “Me too,” said Mr Cavanaugh and they both stood up laughing obviously quite confident that Liza and Patrick were going to solve their problems. They all left still laughing and Liza, Patrick and the captain all looked at each other.

  “Well, perhaps tonight you’ll bring me a pitcher of water with my meal and I’ll wave my hands over it and then we’ll have some excellent wine with our dinner,” said Liza.

  “We may not be able to do anything to help them,” said Patrick, “but at least they will have a much more contented voyage in the meantime. At the very least, the employer will not be viewed in a very good light when people learn how he tricks families into slaving for him.”

  ***

  Over the next three weeks, the voyage was relatively smooth both in the calmness of the seas and the fact that Liza’s English lessons were running well. It was good to hear the French and Spanish passengers making valiant attempts to communicate with not only their Irish companions but also with the sailors. As always, the children found it easier to learn than the adults, and that meant that they were helping their parents to further their education. Reading was a little more difficult for the foreigners and writing was not easy for the Irish passengers, but they were making great headways, and they all seemed to enjoy congregating in the Ready Room trying to outdo one another with their knowledge. At times, it was quite noisy, but good humoured.

  Patrick and Mary also enjoyed being part of the socialising that Liza’s lessons seemed to create and one morning, whilst they were all competing to be the best at reading, the first mate looked into the room and told them all to stay where they were until told otherwise as they could see some very rough weather on the horizon, and it would be safer for them in that room rather than trying to make their way back to the hold. In fact, they had already battened down the hatches in readiness for the swell so they couldn’t return.

  The door to the Ready Room had been left open up until that time as the room was rather crowded and they had all felt the need for fresh air, but the first mate insisted that it was now closed for safety reasons.

  “I know it’s getting a little dark in here, but if we can light the overhead lamps, I’ll be able to read to you and we don’t need as much translation as we used to, but if we come to anything that you don’t understand, I’ll make sure it’s clear for you all. If we are here even longer and it gets too difficult to see, then we’ll get our French and Spanish students to tell us a little about where they come from and let them do it in English as much as possible,” said Liza.

  “We could tell you about where we come from as well,” piped up Mrs Cavanaugh.

  “That’s a good idea; yes, we’ll do that as well. In fact, there’s no reason in the future why we don’t incorporate that into our lessons,” said Liza.

  “It would be interesting to hear your story, Mrs Kelly, so you should go first,” said Mrs O’Rourke.

  “No,” shouted one of their children, “I want to hear the lieutenant’s story. He’s fought Indians and Mexicans and lots of other battles. I want to hear all about that. I want to be a soldier when I grow up. Please tell us your story.”

  “One day, I may,” said Patrick, “but we could be here some time, so let’s start with being read a story and see how we get on.” He really didn’t want to say what he had done over the years, some of it had been quite distasteful, but he would water it down for the children.

  The ship was beginning to rock quite considerably and suddenly there was a flash of lightning and a loud crack which seemed overhead. Each family gathered closely together and Patrick brought the boys and Mary over. He placed the boys on either side of Liza, with Mary next to Matthew and he took up a position next to John. Everyone was becoming uneasy and the ship was listing badly one way and then the other.

  Liza looked at Patrick over the head of John and smiled reassuringly and then she did the same to Mary and calmly she started reading to everyone but she now had to raise her voice a little to combat the sound of the waves, the wind and the thunder. The large table that they were sitting at had been secured to the deck presumably for just such an occasion as this, but their chairs were beginning to slip and slide. Liza carried on reading for a while, but it was be
coming obvious that sitting around the table was not going to be safe, so everyone was moving towards the walls, although the chairs were going to be a problem but everyone felt safer sitting on the floor up against a wall.

  It was felt that the overhead lantern ought to be put out as it was swaying considerably and becoming dangerous. It was now very dark in the room, apart from the lightning flashes which were increasing frighteningly.

  Patrick put an arm around John and eased him together with Mary to the corner of the far wall, he then came back but the sea swell was now so vast that he could only cope with getting Matthew over to Mary and John. Liza stood up and was also moving towards them holding on to the table as she went, but then there was a loud crash and part of a book case came adrift and hit her on the back of the head and she fell to the floor. The storm was increasing and the ship tipped again and Liza slid under the table along with some chairs and other debris and as she tumbled with great force, she once again hit her head, this time on the large table leg which knocked her unconscious.

  She was nowhere to be seen. Patrick called her name but could hardly be heard above the noise of the unrelenting storm. Mary pulled at his trouser leg and pointed to the floor under the table and when he looked down, all he could see was a small part of Liza’s head and she was bleeding and not moving. He couldn’t get to her from the side because of all the mangled chairs and bits and pieces which were on top of her. He managed to slip under from another angle and started pulling what he could from her, all the time fighting the horrendous listing of the ship. His heart was in his mouth; she wasn’t moving. He pulled a few more pieces of wood from her and slid closer putting his hand on her, he could feel her breathing and he, in turn, breathed a sigh of relief.

  As he reached up to move her head, there was another loud crash and the table collapsed on them both, splitting as it went. One of the masts had crashed through the roof and onto the table, luckily missing everyone but breaking the table and pinning both Patrick and Liza to the floor. Patrick was now also unconscious and a large piece of rough wood was pressing heavily on his back.

  Liza was having some very strange thoughts. She really wished Patrick would move away from her as he seemed so heavy. He must have been eating too well recently, I must ask him to move, she thought, but somehow she couldn’t form the words. There were some loud noises going on, she wanted Charlie Penn, the carpenter, to stop banging so loudly. What was that screaming? It was Matthew shouting for mummy and daddy and there was another voice saying the same thing.

  “Mummy, Daddy,” he was calling. Ah, that was young John, that’s nice, thought Liza; he’s finally become our son. She also wanted the ground to stop moving and wondered how they managed to build houses with moving floors.

  Nobody but Mary and the boys knew that both Patrick and Liza were trapped. There were screams coming from one or two people and Mary could see that some bones had been broken. She couldn’t leave the boys and in a grand effort, she screamed and made herself heard by Mr O’Rourke.

  She held the boys closely to her and screamed again until Mr O’Rourke made his way towards her. He realised that Liza and Patrick were missing and he looked to where Mary was pointing and all he could see was a small part of Liza’s head poking from the side of the table leg and blood seeping onto the floor.

  “Oh dear God,” he said. “Are they both under there?”

  Mary nodded and tried to comfort the boys who were crying and still calling for their mummy and daddy.

  It didn’t take long for Mr O’Rourke to gather enough helpers to firstly lift and move the mast which was still leaning on part of the table and ease the smashed table top from Patrick and Liza. They carefully removed the splintered wood from Patrick’s back and then lifted him off Liza and the debris which seemed to have accumulated around her again. He was regaining consciousness and it took him a minute or two to come around completely and he could see that Mr O’Rourke was attempting to clear the way for them to get Liza out of the tangled mess that had once been the table and a few chairs.

  Regardless of his sore back, Patrick was on his knees also pulling at the debris and finally they got to her and Patrick gently pulled and slid her from the mess. The ship was still rocking badly, but the worst seemed to have passed. Patrick was trying to lift her but his strength seemed to have disappeared and Mr O’Rourke put a hand on his shoulder leading him to the side where Mary and the boys were, while Mr Cavanaugh lifted Liza and carried her to where Patrick was and placed her gently on his lap.

  “She’s not dead, is she, Daddy?” asked Matthew who was still crying.

  “No boys, she’s not dead. She’s just hit her head and it’s made her sleepy. We’ll be able to make her better when this storm is over,” said Patrick.

  “I thought you both were dead,” whispered John between sobs.

  “So did I,” said Mary and Patrick realised that she was also crying.

  It took another hour for the seas to ease a little and for the sailors to move the mast away from the door so that they could easily leave. The first mate was the first to enter and was shocked at the devastation that had happened in the room. He had also found that the cabin that he was sharing with the captain had been seriously damaged.

  Patrick, Liza, the boys and Mary were the last to leave. Liza now had her eyes open but wasn’t really aware of what was happening. She made an attempt to stand but found that her legs didn’t seem strong enough to hold her body upright which she found puzzling. Patrick carried her to their cabin and laid her on their bed. Their cabin hadn’t been damaged too badly. There were many broken objects and clothes and furniture was strewn everywhere.

  Captain Forde came to see how Liza was; he had heard that she had been hurt. Patrick suggested that the boys and Mary move in with them so that the captain and his first mate could at least have somewhere to sleep. So beds were moved and the boys would be sleeping in one bed and Mary could have a little privacy behind a blanket slung across a rope in one very small corner. The cabin was not large, but they would manage through this emergency.

  Mary and the boys helped Patrick clear up all that was broken and they managed to move most of their clothes into the wardrobe. Liza was lying on the bed watching what was happening and Patrick was now beginning to worry about her as she was asking nothing and just accepting what was going on. Obviously the bang on her head had done more damage than he had thought. He had already bathed her head and cleaned the wound and she had just smiled at him as if it was a regular occurrence. Hopefully, she would be better in the morning.

  It was now late afternoon and nobody had eaten anything since early that morning. There was a knock at the door and a sailor was standing there with a tray with bread and cheese for them. He apologised as they were unable to cook anything that day but they were all thankful for something to eat, even though the bread was a little stale. A bottle of wine was with the food, but there was only water for the boys.

  Liza was now coming out of her daze and her head was beginning to seriously ache. Patrick persuaded her to have a little bread and cheese and offered her some wine. She decided that it might be a good idea to put a little in each of the boy’s mugs and fill them up with water; it should relax them a little and do no lasting harm. In fact, she would have the same as she didn’t think it wise to drink too much alcohol with the headache which was getting worse by the minute.

  After eating, Liza rested her head and must have slept for a while. When she woke; Patrick was sitting on a chair with his shirt off and Mary was busy pulling splinters out of his back with a small pair of tweezers. Liza hadn’t realised that he had been hurt and told him that she was so sorry that she hadn’t helped him. The boys were sitting side by side watching his face as each splinter was removed and commenting that each one must hurt and whether it was a big one or not. They seemed to be enjoying the experience whereas Patrick most definitely was not.

  Liza sat up in bed and watched what Mary was doing. “I dare say that smarts
a bit,” she said stating the obvious. “The boys seem to be making the most of your discomfort. We were all very lucky to come through that, have many people been hurt?”

  “One of the French boys has a broken leg and Mrs Cavanaugh has a badly dislocated shoulder. The ships medical man is going to try to put it back in place when he has finished putting a splint on the boy and I think we may hear her shout when he starts. Most of the crew have cuts and bruises but nothing serious, thank goodness,” said Patrick.

  “Of course you were hurt too Patrick, and I didn’t know. I couldn’t even help you, I’m sorry,” said Liza.

  “What do you mean you’re sorry?” exclaimed Patrick. “Have you looked in the mirror? Have you seen your face? It’s not me who was hurt, Liza, it was you. You’re the only one who had to be rescued. You have a nasty cut on your head and the beginnings of a beautiful black eye. You also have a bump on the back of your head and when you talk, you don’t make much sense, although that is getting better now. You’re going to have to thank Mr O’Rourke and Mr Cavanaugh and one or two others for helping to pull you from under the table, or what was left of the table. We all thought you were dead.”

  “I thought you were both dead,” said John. “I thought my new mummy and daddy were dead, but you weren’t. We haven’t got much to eat. I’m getting hungry again.”

  Both Liza and Patrick marvelled at the way a child’s mind works. From a most traumatic life threatening event, the thought of food wipes any lasting sadness away.

  “I really don’t know if there is anything else for us to eat today. We still have some bread and cheese left, so if you’re hungry then you’ll have to eat that. All the crew are busy trying to get the ship back in order so that we can continue on our journey, as at the moment, we are sitting virtually not moving. I don’t think food is their main priority,” said Patrick.

  Much of the food stock was waterlogged. Some of the dry goods had survived as had all the salted meats. Most vegetables had been salvaged and the crate of apples was in good order. Some of the passengers’ food was also salvageable so it was decided that they would amalgamate what they had left so that at least nobody would starve. The lady passengers were going to work with the ships cook to get meals for all the sailors as well as Liza’s family. She said that she would also help, but Patrick made it quite clear to everyone that if they wanted to survive this trip, they should not let her near the galley. Liza protested that she was not that bad to which Patrick said, “But you have to admit it, Liza, you’re not good. It’s not your fault; you’ve never had to cook.”