To Rise Above Read online

  “A baby?” I asked. How silly of me. Of course it was a baby.

  Father simply nodded.

  “Boy or girl?”

  “Boy.”

  He was such a darling with a shock of dark hair and big dark eyes.

  “Where did he come from?”

  “Samuel.”

  “Mister McKinnon?” I’m sure I couldn’t hide my surprise. “It’s not …” I couldn’t go on. Surely the baby couldn’t be Mister McKinnon’s but what would he be doing with a baby otherwise?

  “It’s a long story but I’ll explain later. Meanwhile …” he glanced toward the house.

  I think I guessed what his thoughts were at that moment: how was he going to tell Mother?

  “Mother doesn’t know, does she?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet.”

  We smiled guiltily at one another. We both knew that Mother would come round to the idea of another baby – it’s just being surprised that she doesn’t like. And of course as much as I love and trust Father it does seem a little suspicious.

  “I have a letter from Samuel explaining the situation.”

  I almost laughed out loud. Father was looking and acting like a naughty schoolboy complete with a letter from the schoolmaster explaining his actions!

  Reluctantly – or so it appeared to me – he rose to his feet, and placing a swift kiss on my hair, entered the house. I sat there in the sun just enjoying the feeling of that tiny baby in my arms. He weighed so little and smelt so good. I just wanted to pick him up and kiss him all over. It was like he belonged in my arms always even though ten minutes before I hadn’t even known he existed.

  I soon heard running feet, and Father – Father who never raises his voice – called over his shoulder to Katie and told her to join us too.

  Mother hurried into the garden and then stopped. “Oh the poor darling,” she exclaimed when I held the baby out to her and she took him into her arms. Suddenly my arms felt so cold and bare.

  Mother then turned to Father and asked him if he intended on making a practice of bringing home stray babies. Father turned red and explained that he hadn’t planned on bringing the baby home – that he had had every intention of leaving the baby with Samuel until he had first checked with Mother that she was happy to have another child in the house. But once he held the baby he fell in love with him and there was no way he could’ve left him behind.

  By this time Katie had joined us and she asked what Samuel had to do with the baby. She actually looked rather hurt but then Father explained how Samuel had come across a hut and had helped deliver the baby and how the baby’s grandfather had threatened him with a gun.

  Katie’s hand flew to her mouth and she asked when this had happened.

  “Eight days ago. Why?” Father replied.

  Katie looked pale. “That was when – that day I couldn’t get Samuel out of my mind – his name just kept popping into my head.”

  “And you prayed for him.” It was more a statement than a question from Father, but Katie nodded.

  “I’d say your prayers were answered,” Father said as he moved over to Mother and put his arm around her shoulders. Together they looked at the baby sleeping in Mother’s arms. It made my heart twist because it looked so – so right. Like he belonged there.

  “Are ye to keep him then?”

  Father raised his head and looked at Katie, then looked at Mother. Mother smiled up at him and nodded. Katie and I clapped our hands.

  Then Katie asked what I’d been wondering. “Is it to be for always? Or will someone come and take him back – like that man tried to do with Seamus?”

  Father removed his arm from Mother’s shoulders and moved away slightly – probably so that we could see him better.

  “As far as we know there are no relatives to claim him. The police magistrate in the Government Town made enquiries and sent out a search.” Father stopped and looked at the ground, then looked at Mother, “They found the hut. And the body of the girl and her father.”

  Mother gasped but Katie and I looked at each other puzzled. Father had told us that the girl had died during the birth but how had her father died? Katie’s eyes widened and I wondered what I had missed. I was about to ask someone to explain but one look at Father’s face and I knew he didn’t want to tell me. Besides, he was speaking again.

  “Samuel arranged for the funeral and the house was searched. There was nothing – nothing – to tell us who the two were or where they came from – not even their name.”

  “So we can keep him?” I asked.

  “Yes. We can keep him. He’s ours,” Father paused then continued. “I called in to see the magistrate here after landing and he gave me some new information. The man who has threatened us and tried to take Seamus from us over recent months has admitted that he is not Seamus’s father – although at one time he did know Seamus’s father – and that his actions were the result of trying to get back at me.”

  “Why?” Mother seemed surprised – as we all were.

  “It seems that I treated his son not long after we arrived here and the boy died. If I remember correctly, it was convulsive cough and the boy was near death when he was brought in.” Father raised his shoulders slightly. “Everyone deals with grief differently. He obviously had a hard time coming to terms with his.”

  “Oh Renton,” Mother was obviously touched by the story and ready to forgive the man for all the hurt he’d caused us. I wish I could be more like her but I still feel angry for what he put us through.

  Father cleared his throat. “However, it does appear that Seamus’s father is alive somewhere even though he has never claimed the boy. I’ve instructed the magistrate to make further enquiries. Hopefully we will be able to legally adopt Seamus with his father’s permission.”

  Mother made a sound like a half-sob. “I wish you’d just let it be. What if he wants to take Seamus from us?”

  “We can’t live with that fear for the rest of our lives. That’s why we’re going to do all that we can to locate his father and then hopefully to convince him to sign the papers giving us the legal right to his son. I’m hoping – and praying – that there won’t be any difficulties. In two years he’s never once acknowledged his son.”

  Mother was silent but I could see that she was upset by this news. I understand Father’s viewpoint – he wants to make sure once and for all that Seamus is really ours and can never be taken from us – but I understand too that Mother is scared that Seamus’s real father might decide he wants him after all and take him from us. Even though Seamus’s real father has ignored him all this time, I’m scared too that he’ll want Seamus back.

  The baby stirred in Mother’s arms and she smiled. It seemed a little forced from where I was sitting but that’s Mother – putting on a brave face and making the best of a situation. She won’t say anything but I know she’ll be praying about this situation with Seamus often in the days ahead. I will too.

  And now we have an important decision to make: what are we going to call this brand new baby who is now a member of our family?

  Katie stirred as the cries of the baby woke her. She had promised to take turns feeding the baby at night to give Esther a rest since there was no one else to help with his care. With the family’s upcoming move to Wallis Plains the doctor had given permission for Lola to marry her young man and she no longer lived in the Sanford home although the new family she now worked for permitted her to continue to work for the Sanfords. But she would stay behind when the family moved and they’d be forced to look for more convicts to help with the household chores – a task that she knew Esther was not looking forward to.

  The cries came again, louder and more insistent than before and Katie forced her eyes open. Stumbling across to the baby’s basket she gently cooed to him as she picked him up in her arms.

  “My but ye are wet.” He protested when she lay him down but having cared for her younger siblings, Katie was able to deftly change his nappy and wet clothes b
efore his cry became full-blown. Cradling him close she crept downstairs and began to prepare his milk according to the doctor’s instructions. The doctor had had little success finding a wet nurse whose standards of hygiene matched his own and in the end he had devised a method of feeding the baby using milk from their own cow.

  As she waited for the water to heat, Katie walked back and forth across the room, lightly bouncing the baby in her arms to distract him. It was bad enough that she was awake – the rest of the household didn’t need to be woken by his cries too.

  The milk ready, Katie quietly stole upstairs and settled into the rocking chair that Esther had insisted be placed in her room. Immediately the baby’s cries subsided as he hungrily took the milk she offered him. Despite her coming and going, Seamus had not stirred. She watched him for a few moments, lying on his tummy, his thumb tucked into his mouth, the gentle sound of his breathing reaching her, and she felt her eyes grow damp. These babies – this family – had replaced the family she had lost.

  She sighed and glanced out the window. She rarely drew the curtains at night, preferring to see the moon and stars until sleep claimed her. The moon was high in the sky, casting its silvery light over the scene. Nothing stirred. Everything was still.

  Katie glanced down at the baby in her arms. He was growing sleepy again and soon she would have to return him to his bed but for now she enjoyed the feel of him in her arms, his silky warmth and sweet baby smell. It seemed like years since she had held a baby like this.

  Unbidden a tear slid down her cheek. It had been months – months – since she had heard from her brother Kieran. His letters were usually regular and more often than not included notes or drawings from her other siblings. Occasionally her da would write but more usually he dictated his letter to Kieran. Da had never been comfortable with writing.

  She knew the mail service was irregular. It could take half a year for a letter to reach Ireland and then just as long for the reply to come back. It was frustrating at times but not as frustrating as not hearing at all.

  The baby stirred in her arms and Katie leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead. He was really a sweet dear thing. What would she do without him?

  Standing she carried him to his bed and gently lay him down. As she stood over his crib, making sure that he was still asleep, she uttered a silent prayer. Please God let him never be hurt the way I’ve been. And please take care of my family. It’s been so long since I heard and I’m worried. If it’s not too much to ask, please could a letter come soon? With tears falling silently she crept over to her own bed and slipped between the covers.

  It was a long time before she slept.

  Rhiannon’s Journal

  November 16, 1830

  We’ve decided on a name – it was Katie’s suggestion but it fits so well. He will be called Moses because like the biblical Moses, this Moses was also saved from almost certain death and is to be raised by adoptive parents.

  Moses Sanford. As Katie says, it’s a mouthful all right, but at the same time, it has a nice ring to it.

  Welcome to the family, Moses!

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Seamus, be careful how ye pick up the eggs. Remember, gentle hands. Here, put them in me basket.”

  Katie quickly reached out for the egg just as Seamus’s podgy hands let go of it. Breathing a sigh of relief she placed it in her basket.

  “We don’t have enough eggs that ye can afford to break them,” she reprimanded the tiny boy. Undaunted he looked up at her and laughed.

  “Oh, but I do love ye,” she crooned as she bent down and placed a kiss on his head.

  “Katie.” She turned at Esther’s voice. “The mail has arrived.”

  Grasping the basket in one hand and Seamus’s hand in her other Katie let herself out of the henhouse and half ran to the house. That Esther had specifically come out to tell her of the mail’s arrival could only mean one thing: there must be something for her.

  It had been such a long time since she had had a letter from her kin and she was most anxious to hear from them. At first she had eagerly awaited the mail but then when months passed and no letter came from Ireland, she’d stopped going down for breakfast the days that she knew mail would be arriving from overseas. Samuel’s letters once again came regularly but since they came from the interior they were usually delivered at a later time of the day. It was just the morning mail she had learnt to avoid.

  Setting down her basket in the kitchen she quickly wiped her hands on her apron before removing it. Half dragging Seamus she burst into the dining room where both Esther and Renton sat with smiles on their faces.

  “A letter for you, Katie,” and Renton held out a thick package.

  Katie took it almost reverently. “It’s from home. From Kieran,” she whispered.

  Esther plucked Seamus from Katie’s leg and lifted him into her arms. “Go and read it,” she said kindly. “I’ll look after Seamus.”

  “I think I might go down onto the beach to read it.”

  The doctor and his wife nodded understandingly. “You should be safe there. Just don’t forget to come back.”

  “I won’t.” She failed to smile at the doctor’s joke or to see the smile lighting his face.

  Letting herself out of the house, Katie kept a tight grip on the letter as she made her way down the path to the beach. She had waited so long to receive a letter and she was anxious to open it and devour its contents but, on the other hand, she wanted to savour the joy of finally holding a letter from her brother in her hands once more.

  Stepping from the path onto the sandy beach she was pleased to note that despite the time of year, the beach was almost deserted. Since the man claiming to be Seamus’s father had been arrested, she no longer had any fear of being on her own in such a lonely place.

  Dropping down onto a rocky outcrop she broke the seal and opened the package. From behind the sheets of closely written pages fell a small cross-stitch sampler. Katie picked it up and read the words:

  Virtue and Friendship,

  Let these Guide your Youth;

  Be Honest and Generous,

  And Observe the Truth.

  Eleanor Donovan, 1829, aged 12 years

  Katie closely examined the work. It was neat, without mistakes, and Katie felt a swell of pride that her sister had done such beautiful work. Where had she learnt such skills? And how had she been able to afford the cost of the materials?

  Opening the sheets of paper she was surprised to find that not only had Kieran written but also Eleanor and her da. There were also drawings by her younger siblings on the back of one letter. Katie felt the tears welling up and had to put the paper down until her eyes cleared and she could see the words.

  Dear Katie,

  A new minister and his wife have come to town and they have started up a school for us girls where we learn to read and write and all them things. I can already read and write so the minister’s wife has been helping me with me sewing. She helped me choose the pattern for this sampler. When I told her I was going to send it to me sister in Australia she looked sad. I said that ye weren’t a criminal and I think she believed me.

  Emily and Brennan are getting real tall now. I tell them about ye so that they won’t forget their big sister. We all miss ye a real lot.

  Kieran has said I’m to finish now. He thinks because he’s older than me he can tell me what to do but I tell him that he’s not the boss.

  I hope ye think the sampler is pretty. I worked real hard at it to get it just right.

  I love ye,

  Eleanor.

  Slowly Katie refolded the page and set it back in the package. Picking up the sampler, she gently traced each letter and could almost feel the sisterly love that had gone into such a piece of work. Eleanor, she breathed quietly, before setting it aside again. She would examine it later in even more detail but for now she was anxious to read what the rest of her family had written. Opening the next sheet of paper she began to read:
r />   Dear Katie,

  We have some exciting news to tell ye but I’ll let Da share it so I’ll just tell ye that we’re all doing fine. Eleanor gets bossy at times and tries to tell me what to do but I just tell her I’m older and I ignore her. Da says it’s on account of her being a girl but ye were never bossy, Katie, that I do remember. Emily and Brennan are growing up. Brennan is going to school now. A new minister and his wife have taken over the church and they started up a school for girls and for the younger children that cannot afford to go to the town school. Brennan goes there and is quickly learning ever so much. I don’t have the knack for teaching them their letters that ye did.

  Ye may remember that I was courting a girl? I think I would’ve married her but she died of a fever last winter. Katie, I now understand a little of what it was like for Da when he lost Ma. There were days I felt like I wanted to die too. Her parents gave me her Bible to keep and I have to tell ye that I’ve read that Bible through one end to the other and Katie I believe everything in it. I gave my life to Jesus Christ and I belong to Him now. I know I’ll see my sweet Rosie again one day. If it weren’t for that, I think I’d go like Da did.