Settling the Account (15 page)

‘Well, you might feel differently when
you’re a man. But at least leave it till then.’

‘No, I’m
never
going to,’ he
insisted.

‘Oh, Davie, what would I do without you?’
She almost sounded as though she was crying again, but her voice
was happy, and that was all that mattered. ‘You’d better go back to
bed, darling. Try and get a little bit of sleep.’

He did not want to leave the warm softness
of his mother’s bed, not just yet. ‘Can’t I stay with you? Just for
a bit?’

She laughed, a muffled sound of pleasure.
‘All right, then, just for a little while. I’ll wake you up in
time, anyway. I’ve been awake all night waiting for you, I don’t
think I’ll get to sleep now.’

David laid his head on her soft chest and
slipped into an untroubled sleep.

December 1897 – January 1898

Some months before her latest baby was due,
Lizzie had discovered that her usual nurse, Mrs Parsons, planned to
be away from Ruatane in December when the baby was expected.
Encouraged by Amy, she had sent Frank to ask Mrs Coulson if she
would oblige.

‘She didn’t really want to,’ Lizzie reported
to Amy after Frank’s mission. ‘She said she doesn’t do many
deliveries at people’s places any more, she just has women to stay
with her. She says she’s getting a bit old to do all the
housekeeping and looking after the other children and all that.
Frank talked her round, though.’

‘It’ll be lovely having Mrs Coulson here,’
said Amy. ‘I’ll be able to come and see her lots.’

‘Come and see
me
, you mean,’ Lizzie
said in pretended indignation. ‘Me and the new baby. I should hope
that’s more important than some old nurse.’

‘That’s no fun, I see you nearly every week,
and you having another baby’s no novelty,’ Amy teased.

‘It still is to Frank,’ Lizzie said. ‘Every
time I have one, you’d think it was the first baby ever born. He
doesn’t get in a real state like he used to, thinking I was going
to break or something, but he’s still like a little kid with a toy
whenever we get a new baby.’ She let her hands rest on the mound of
her belly. ‘Me, I’ll just be glad that’s over with for another
couple of years.’

But the smile that played around Lizzie’s
lips gave the lie to her attempt at sounding blasé. ‘It’ll be nice
to have a little one around again.’

*

Amy did not manage to be present at the
birth of Lizzie and Frank’s new daughter; Rose arrived too suddenly
for that, on the evening of a sunny day in early December after a
bare two hours of labour. But Amy paid her first visit the next
morning, walking briskly down the road while the dew still lay in
the shady places.

Mrs Coulson greeted her with a warm embrace,
and Amy let her head rest on the older woman’s chest as if she were
a small child. ‘It’s been far too long since I saw you, my dear,’
the nurse said.

She released Amy, and turned towards the
bench. ‘I’ll just finish these few dishes, then you can come and
see my latest little one. Not that I can take much credit for this
one, mind you—she’s the sort of baby who comes out looking like
she’s done it all before. And such a bonny little thing.’

‘Is Lizzie all right?’ Amy asked. She took
the dish towel from Mrs Coulson and dried the last few plates.

‘Right as rain. You’d hardly know she
delivered just last night—I can see I’m going to have trouble
keeping that one in bed for two weeks. Most women relish the chance
to put their feet up, but not her.’

‘Lizzie doesn’t like missing anything,’ Amy
said. ‘If you tell Frank she’s to stay put, he’ll make sure she
does. He takes good care of Lizzie.’

‘I do like him,’ said Mrs Coulson. ‘He’s
such a dear. He fusses around Mrs Kelly all the time, seeing that
she’s comfortable. I didn’t want to take this job on, not with all
the other children to cook for and clean up after, but Mr Kelly
looked so worried when I tried putting him off. I just couldn’t say
no to him.’

‘I told Frank he should ask you,’ Amy
confessed. ‘I said you were the best nurse in town. I hoped I’d be
able to come and see you if you did decide to look after
Lizzie.’

‘Yes, Mr Kelly said you’d praised me to the
skies,’ Mrs Coulson said, giving Amy a fond smile. ‘Anyway, Mrs
Kelly’s mother took the two youngest boys off home with her last
night, so there’s only three of them to do for. And the girls are
old enough to help. You’ve finished those dishes? Come and see the
little one, then. Mr Kelly’s up there with them, he can’t bear to
stay away for long.’

She led the way up the passage, and Amy
followed her into the front bedroom. ‘Here’s a visitor for you, Mrs
Kelly,’ Mrs Coulson said.

The nurse was right, Amy thought; Lizzie
showed little sign of her recent exertions. She was sitting up in
bed waving one hand around to illustrate a point she was making to
Frank, while he held her other hand in both of his. A small,
blanket-wrapped bundle lay in the cradle close by Frank’s
chair.

‘Come and look at my daughter, Amy,’ Frank
said, taking advantage of the fact that Lizzie had just paused to
draw breath. ‘Isn’t she a beauty?’

Amy knelt beside the cradle and carefully
lifted the blanket to admire the tiny baby. ‘She’s lovely.’ She
stroked her hand over the little girl’s fuzz of dark hair and
planted the softest of kisses on her cheek. ‘She’s not going to be
fair like Maudie, is she?’

She rose to sit on the bed and embrace
Lizzie as Frank moved his chair to make room. ‘You look so well,’
Amy told her.

‘Of course I am,’ said Lizzie. ‘It was all
over in no time at all. I could just about get up tomorrow.’

‘No, you won’t,’ Frank said before the nurse
had a chance to protest. ‘You’ll stay in bed till Mrs Coulson says
you can get up. I don’t want you wearing yourself out. Maybe you
should try and have a sleep this morning.’

Lizzie pulled a face at him. ‘I didn’t say I
was going to get up, just that I could if I wanted. Don’t be such
an old fuss-pot.’

‘You see that she behaves herself, Mrs
Coulson,’ Frank said. He rose to his feet. ‘Well, I’d better get
this milk down to the factory or we’ll have the bank turning us off
the property.’

‘I should think so,’ said Lizzie. ‘I’m sure
Mrs Coulson doesn’t want you under her feet all morning.’

‘I don’t know about that,’ Frank told her
with a grin. ‘At least I’m keeping you quiet so you can’t go
bossing her around.’

He silenced Lizzie’s indignant protests by
leaning down to kiss her, then made his way out of the room.

Mrs Coulson left Lizzie and Amy to chat
while she smoothed the covers over the sleeping baby, checked to
see that Lizzie’s bleeding was normal, and folded a pile of clean
napkins.

‘Look at these lovely flowers lying here
with no water,’ she said when she went to put the napkins in a
drawer. ‘I didn’t see them earlier.’

‘Frank brought them in when he came up from
milking,’ said Lizzie. ‘See the pink roses? He said Rose and me
should have some roses, ’cause that’s her name, but he could only
find a few.’

‘I saw a nice vase in your parlour before,
I’ll put these in some water,’ Mrs Coulson said. She gathered up
the flowers from the dressing table where Frank had left them, then
bustled out of the room.

‘Rose,’ Amy said, looking down at the baby.
‘That’s a pretty name.’

‘Mmm. It’s a good thing I had a girl this
time, we couldn’t think of any more boys’ names. But I’ve had
Rose’s names picked out for ages. Rose Amy, we’re going to call
her.’

‘Lizzie, I didn’t know you were giving her
my name,’ Amy exclaimed in delight.

‘I would’ve done it years ago, but I had the
two boys in a row, then we managed to put off having Rosie for a
bit. Three years we’ve got between Danny and her. I had more than
two years without a baby on the way, that’s the longest time in all
the years we’ve been married.’

Amy kissed her on the cheek. ‘Thank you for
naming her after me.’

‘Well, it’s about time, isn’t it? Three
daughters—it’s time I gave one of them your name.’

Amy studied Lizzie’s face, wondering if her
cousin remembered that Amy had given her own daughter Lizzie’s
name.
Ann Elizabeth. I wanted to give her the best names I could
think of
. ‘You know, Lizzie, you look better than ever,’ Amy
said, making her voice light. ‘It suits you, having babies.’

‘Oh, I should be used to it by now,’ Lizzie
said. ‘I’ve had six of them, after all. Rosie was no trouble at
all. It gets easier every time, really.’

Amy laughed. ‘I’ll take your word for it.
You’re the expert, anyway. I’ve only had four babies.’

They chatted away about the new baby, and
Amy was so engrossed with Lizzie and Rose that she was vaguely
surprised when she realised Mrs Coulson had come back into the room
with Frank’s flowers in a vase. The nurse was studying Amy with an
expression that struck her as rather odd. Mrs Coulson put the
flowers on the dressing table and left again without saying a
word.

Despite her insistence that she was
completely back to normal, Lizzie began showing signs of drowsiness
after a few more minutes.

‘It’s just left over sleepiness from the
chloroform,’ she assured Amy after a large yawn had escaped her.
‘I’m not really tired at all.’ She yawned again, and gave Amy a
rueful grin. ‘Well, maybe I am a bit. I might have a little sleep
before Rosie wakes up again.’

Amy smoothed the covers over Lizzie and
tucked her in, then went out to the kitchen, where Mrs Coulson was
peering uncertainly into the various drawers and cupboards.

‘She’s having a sleep,’ she told the nurse.
‘She’s been trying to make out she’s not tired, but she could
hardly keep her eyes open. Silly thing,’ she said affectionately.
‘Shall I show you where things are?’

‘Oh, that’d be a big help,’ Mrs Coulson
said. ‘It’s going to take me long enough getting the meals ready
without having to find everything first. I’m afraid I’m not as fast
as I used to be.’

Amy persuaded Mrs Coulson to sit down while
she explained the arrangements of Lizzie’s kitchen and larder, then
she helped the nurse prepare the vegetables for lunch. When they
finished, they shared a cup of tea on the verandah. ‘Take your time
doing the rest,’ Amy said. ‘You won’t need to finish getting lunch
on for ages.’

‘Thank you, dear. I won’t have anything to
do this afternoon except looking after Mrs Kelly and the little
girl. Mrs Kelly said not to start on dinner until her other girls
are home from school. She wants them kept busy cleaning up the
kitchen and peeling potatoes and suchlike, so they won’t get up to
any mischief while she has to keep to her bed.’ The nurse laughed
at the notion. ‘I don’t think there’s much mischief goes on in
this
house. Mrs Kelly keeps them all in line.’

‘Yes, she does,’ Amy said, smiling. ‘She’s a
good mother. And doesn’t she look well? You must have done a good
job with Rosie.’

‘Oh, there was nothing to it. She hardly
needs a nurse, she takes to it so naturally. There’s no challenge
at all delivering babies for someone like Mrs Kelly, it’s as easy
as shelling peas. Not like battling away with yours,’ she said,
giving Amy a pensive smile. ‘Those great big boys of yours! What a
struggle it was.’

‘Mmm,’ Amy agreed. ‘I’m not made for
childbearing, am I?’

‘Not really, dear. Especially not with a
great big husband like yours. It’s a good thing you’ve stopped
bearing.’ She gave Amy a thoughtful look. ‘You haven’t had a child
for a long time now.’

‘No, I don’t seem to get with child any
more,’ Amy said, avoiding Mrs Coulson’s gaze.

The nurse reached out and patted Amy’s hand.
‘Well, that’s your affair, my dear, but I’m sure it’s for the best.
You certainly look well these days, not like that pale little
creature you used to be. And so frightened! I’ll never forget that
first day your husband left you at my house. I thought you were
going to run away from me out into the rain and give birth in the
garden, you were such a fearful little thing.’

‘Oh, I was,’ Amy said. ‘I didn’t think I’d
be able to bear the pain and everything, not after… well, I thought
it’d be awful. But then you were so kind to me, I wasn’t scared any
more. Not until I had to go home again,’ she added in a low
voice.

‘I know, darling,’ Mrs Coulson said softly.
‘It wasn’t easy for me to send you home after David was born, not
when you’d told me how your husband behaved after you had
Malcolm.’

‘I shouldn’t really have told you about
that.’ Amy smiled at Mrs Coulson and laid her head on the older
woman’s shoulder for a moment. ‘You’re so easy to talk to, that’s
the trouble. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. That’s all over.’

‘So it is, my dear. I’m glad he’s seen a bit
of sense, however you’ve managed it. Anyway, never mind all that
business,’ she went on briskly. ‘How are those boys of yours
getting on? I never see anything of you these days, and I do take
an interest in the children I bring into the world, you know.’

Amy sighed. ‘I don’t know what to say about
Mal, really. Oh, they’re both strong and healthy, and they’ve grown
so tall. They both take after Charlie for size. But Mal…’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t know what to do
about him. He’s getting into bad company, getting up to goodness
knows what mischief. I just don’t know what to do.’

‘It’s natural for you to worry about your
children, dear—I’ve never known a mother who didn’t. But are you
sure you’re not painting it a bit blacker than you need? How old is
Malcolm now? Thirteen?’

‘Twelve. Only twelve.’

‘Well, what boy of twelve doesn’t get up to
a bit of mischief? It’s all part of growing up.’

‘Not like this. I don’t expect him to be
perfect, honestly I don’t. But I’m so worried about him. Those boys
he mixes with—they drink, you know, and Mal’s much too young for
that. And this latest thing—did you hear about what happened at
Reverend Simons’?’