The homecoming, p.32
The Homecoming, page 32
Joe shrugged. ‘This is all I know, Danny. It was one thing to dream when I had someone to dream with, but I don’t think I’ve the courage, or the money, to go to Melbourne now. Yorkie needs me and,’ he shrugged, ‘life here isn’t so bad.’ He looked at Bert. ‘And I do have good friends.’
Bert Marsh clapped Danny on the shoulder. ‘I knew you could do it,’ he said.
‘I didn’t do much—’ Danny began.
‘You got Joe off the hook and that would never have happened if it had been up to old Prewitt.’ He looked from Danny to Charlie and a slow grin creased the corners of his eyes. ‘You and Charlie O’Reilly here make quite a team.’
An unaccustomed flush of heat rose to Charlie’s face and she couldn’t meet Danny’s eyes.
Bert flung an arm around Joe’s shoulder. ‘Let’s go and have a drink, Joe. Celebrate your release.’
Joe shook his head. ‘Another time, Bert. They’re burying Janet in an hour and I want to be there.’
Mr Sloan walked out of the doors to the hall, papers tucked under his arm. He looked up and down the street and seeing Charlie, walked over to her. She greeted him with a smile that was not returned.
Ignoring the others, he said, ‘Matron O’Reilly, a word if you please.’
He gestured her back inside the hall and into the now empty library.
‘I have summoned a meeting of the hospital board,’ Sloan said. ‘Tomorrow morning at ten in the morning. We expect your attendance.’
‘May I ask what the meeting will be about?’
He fixed her with a cold, hard gaze. ‘Your future. Until tomorrow, Matron.’
He turned and left her standing in the musty room.
Charlie hunched her shoulders. She’d been in trouble so many times that she recognised the tenor of the meeting would not be pleasant.
‘What was that about?’ Danny said when she rejoined him.
She shook her head and managed a watery smile. ‘Just hospital business. Sloan is chairman of the board.’
‘What would we do without the Sloans of the world,’ Danny said without amusement. ‘I heard some good news this morning. The train will be resuming on Monday. Means we can get Bertie Campbell out of your hair.’
And it meant Danny Hunt would be leaving Maiden’s Creek, Charlie thought.
Danny glanced at his watch. ‘It’s almost time for the funeral. Are you coming?’
Charlie nodded and they walked slowly down Main Street towards the cemetery.
‘You know, we do make a good team,’ Danny said.
She looked up at him. She’d seen a different man today. In his city clothes, every inch the lawyer. So polished, so sure of himself. In a few days he would be on a train back to Melbourne and she would be forgotten as the tendrils of his real life closed back around him.
‘We do,’ she said.
‘In a foolhardy kind of way,’ Danny said with a smile.
‘That’s a bit harsh,’ Charlie responded. ‘We caught a killer.’
‘There is that,’ he said with a shrug.
They reached the path leading to the cemetery. Charlie looked up at the little crowd already gathering at the gate. ‘Too late for Janet Becker and too late for the others Lily Roberts helped on their way to God. Will she hang?’
Danny shrugged. ‘I suspect a good lawyer would mount a defence of insanity. She may not hang but she will certainly spend the rest of her life locked away.’
‘I don’t know what would be worse,’ Charlie said.
In the meantime she had not only her own future to consider, but that of the hospital. They were now short of two qualified nurses, the hospital was close to unworkable and she had to face the hospital board in the morning.
The Maiden’s Creek cemetery had been badly damaged by the sheer amount of water that had run off the hill above it, cutting channels and holes in the pathways, even to the extent of washing the soil from the most recent graves. Mud clung to Danny’s city boots and the bottoms of his trousers as he and Charlie picked their way to the row of five freshly dug graves that gaped darkly in the wintry sunshine.
In addition to the nurse there were the four victims of the flood to be buried that afternoon, and a sizeable crowd gathered in groups scattered around the cemetery. The Church of England minister had the grim task of conducting all but one of the burials and it felt to Danny that he rushed through the interment of Janet Becker.
Charlie stood with an arm around Joe Trevalyn, who wept openly and without reserve for the girl he had loved and with whom he had planned his future. Yorkie stood on the other side of him, stoically upright but with one hand on Joe’s shoulder.
Danny glanced up at his father’s headstone in its lonely corner.
Who had attended his funeral? Who had wept for him? No one, he suspected.
He glanced across at Charlie, conscious she was watching him. He saw understanding in her eyes and his heart clenched. How could he just walk away from this woman he had shared so much with in the past few days? But he had a very different life to return to, one he saw now, all too clearly, had lacked direction and purpose.
Things would be different from now on. His brothers in the law called him St Jude for taking on lost causes, but from now on he would do whatever was in his not-inconsiderable power to see that some sort of system was established to ensure the Joe Trevalyns of the world did not face the injustices of the legal system alone.
Forty-Five
Saturday 13 August
Charlie dressed carefully for her interview with the hospital board, ensuring that she had not a hair out of place and that her uniform was clean and crisp, but she had seen her future in Councillor Sloan’s cold eyes and knew that a decision had already been made. Whatever picture she presented would not change the outcome.
In the hospital kitchen, Margaret Campbell avoided Charlie’s eye as she said, ‘They’re waiting for you in the doctor’s office.’
Before Charlie could ask her any more, the bell to the women’s ward rang and Margaret hurried away.
The hospital board members were gathered behind the desk, an echo of the day little over a month ago when she had been interviewed for the post. Sloan sat in the middle with Doctor Linacre to his left and Mrs Crabtree to his right.
Linus Linacre stared fixedly at the desk as Sloan directed her to the single chair facing them. From the grim faces confronting her, the air crackled with tension.
Charlie greeted them with a smile and did as she was told, sitting straight, her hands neatly folded in her lap, presenting, she hoped, a picture of professional competence.
Behind her corset, her heart thumped and her stomach churned.
Don’t let them see your fear.
‘You know why you’re here?’
Charlie met his gaze. ‘I have some notion, but please put your case.’
Sloan held up a sheaf of handwritten papers. Even across the desk, Charlie recognised Fitzgerald’s writing.
‘We have the report from the inspector,’ he said and slammed the papers down on the desk in a move that made everyone start.
He leaned his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands as he leaned forward. ‘We are fully aware of the exigencies under which the hospital operated during the inspector’s visit and in other circumstances we would be prepared to treat his recommendation with some reservations. However, Matron, what we find difficult to comprehend are your wilful actions of Wednesday night and your willingness to put not only a patient’s life at risk but your own.’
Charlie swallowed. ‘There was a killer in the hospital,’ she said. ‘What would you have me do?’
‘Discuss the matter with Doctor Linacre and ourselves.’
Charlie glanced at Linacre and to her surprise he answered for her. ‘Matron O’Reilly quite possibly considered me a suspect in the case. All the deceased were, after all, my patients. Am I correct, Matron?’
Charlie forced herself to meet his hard gaze. He had been a suspect. She couldn’t deny it.
She cleared her throat. ‘I just knew whoever it was had to be someone inside the hospital,’ she said. ‘The killing had to stop.’
Sloan shook his head. ‘Matron, I don’t know what to think. It is fortunate that your foolhardy plan had a favourable outcome, but this wilful disregard of our position and authority cannot be tolerated.’ He looked at his two fellow board members. ‘I am afraid we have no alternative but to relieve you of your duties.’
Even though she had been expecting dismissal, following the tenor of their brief conversation the previous day, his words went to her stomach like a fist. She found herself staring at the clock on the mantlepiece behind him, hardly comprehending the enormity of what he was saying and hoping she wouldn’t disgrace herself with tears.
‘Matron?’
She brought her attention back to the three people confronting her.
‘When do you want me to leave?’ she asked, her voice high and tight with the effort of supressing the tears that welled behind her eyes.
‘Your termination is effective immediately,’ Sloan said. ‘We expect you will return to Melbourne on the first train.’
‘And in the circumstances, we are unable to provide a reference,’ Mrs Crabtree put in.
Charlie blinked. ‘No reference?’
Linacre half rose to his feet. ‘Colleagues, I have said this to you privately and I will now say it in her presence. Matron O’Reilly and I have not seen eye to eye, but she has brought something to this hospital, to this town, that was sorely needed—professionalism and a genuine concern for our patients. How many more people would have died in our care if Roberts had not been caught—beginning with Martha Drew? She didn’t endanger Martha’s life, she saved her.’ He turned to Charlie. ‘Matron, if the board won’t give you a reference, I certainly will.’
Charlie looked up at him. ‘Thank you, Doctor Linacre.’ Her voice sounded dangerously near cracking.
‘Your comments are noted,’ Sloan’s voice dripped ice. ‘Matron, I am conscious that you are giving shelter to displaced persons in your cottage and we are not completely without heart. You may remain in the cottage until you leave. After that your friends will have to make other plans for themselves.’
Charlie swallowed, taking a deep breath as she composed herself. She would not give them the satisfaction of faltering.
‘While I appreciate your wish to be rid of me, could I just point out that the hospital is desperately short staffed. We have lost two nurses in the space of a week, which means we only have one qualified nurse for each shift. I have arranged an assistant for the night shift, but my plan was for me to provide the coverage on the day shift.’
‘We have sent to Sale for temporary replacement staff and in the meantime, effective immediately, Sister Margaret Campbell will be appointed matron. She will have to make do with the staff she has available.’
‘An appointment we should have made in the first place,’ Mrs Crabtree put in, ‘had it not been for the insistence of Matron Birch.’
Charlie felt nothing. Her mind and body had gone numb. Their voices receded into the distance and she was once again a small child facing an injustice that was not of her making. She half-expected one of them to produce a tawse and ask her to hold out her hand.
She rose to her feet with an abruptness that caused the chair to totter uncertainly. ‘If there is nothing else,’ she said. ‘Please excuse me. I am sure you wish to brief Matron Campbell on her responsibilities.’
Unsurprisingly she all but bumped into Margaret Campbell in the hall outside, and the look on her face told Charlie the woman had been listening at the door.
‘Charlie, I—’ Margaret began.
‘Don’t say a word,’ Charlie said, fumbling with the keys on her belt. ‘You’ll need these.’ She thrust the heavy bunch of keys at Margaret and turned and walked away with as much dignity as she could muster. She couldn’t bear for the other woman to see the tears that welled in her eyes.
She walked over to the paddock where Amos’s horses were still agisted and leaned on the fence, breathing hard to steady her emotions. Old Sam ambled over to her and pushed her with his soft nose.
‘Sorry, old chap,’ she said. ‘I don’t have anything for you.’
She ran a hand down his long nose and buried her face in his neck. The scent of horse was oddly soothing.
‘Miss O’Reilly!’
She inwardly flinched at the sound of her name and straightened, turning to see Linacre striding across the grass towards her.
‘Miss O’Reilly, I’m sorry. That was badly done.’
Charlie swallowed, hoping the man did not see the tears in her eyes. ‘This posting meant a great deal to me, Doctor.’
Linacre looked down at the toe of his boot. ‘I am sure you heard stories of what happened in Sydney and I owe you an explanation. I made a mistake … a bad mistake, and a wealthy and influential patient died. It was suggested it would be prudent for me to leave for a while so I did, leaving my wife and children behind.’ He swallowed. ‘It has been a long and lonely year, but I am fortunate to have formed a friendship with a good woman, a widow, and on those occasions I have been somewhat hard to locate, I have been with her.’
So that explained his absences and the smell of perfume. The alcohol was probably habitual.
‘I am not proud of myself, but my wife has made it clear she does not want me to return to the family home, so I have been cast adrift. I hope you understand. You are without doubt one of the most talented and professional nurses I have ever worked with,’ Linacre said. ‘I know you and I did not see eye to eye on a couple of occasions, but I want you to know that Maiden’s Creek will be poorer for your departure.’
She managed a watery smile. ‘Thank you, Doctor, that means a great deal to me.’ She held out her hand. ‘I really do mean it,’ she said.
He took her hand and gave it a firm, peremptory shake. He was a man not given to extending praise or compliments, and she knew what it had cost him to speak up for her.
He bobbed his head, turned, and walked away.
A chill gust of wind blew down the valley and Charlie wrapped her arms around herself, shivering in the cold. She had to swallow her pride and face Margaret Campbell with whatever dignity she could muster.
She found Margaret in the matron’s office, looking through the paperwork. She looked up as Charlie entered without knocking.
‘I am so sorry,’ Margaret said. ‘It is so unfair after everything you have done.’
Charlie shrugged. ‘They were right. I acted recklessly and I should have consulted them.’ She managed a wry smile. ‘I’ve never been good with authority. I suggest that I accompany your brother back to Melbourne when the train is running and we can make arrangements for him.’
Margaret nodded. ‘That sounds an excellent suggestion,’ she said, straightening. ‘I’ll make the arrangements. If he’s travelling with you, we won’t need to get a nurse up from Melbourne.’
‘I am staying on at the cottage until I leave.’
‘I think that’s the least they could do,’ Margaret said.
‘I shall expect to hear what arrangements you have made with respect to your brother. Until then—’
The word ‘matron’ stuck in her throat and she turned on her heel.
Breaking the news of her dismissal to Amos and Netty provoked outrage from her friends and it was all she could do to prevent Netty from marching down to the bank and giving Mr Sloan a piece of her mind.
‘It will accomplish nothing and just make a bad situation worse,’ Charlie said firmly. ‘And for now, please don’t say a word to anyone. As far as I am concerned my priority is to work out what to do with you. Once I’ve gone, you can’t stay here.’
Netty’s shoulders slumped and she looked at Amos. ‘We’ve decided we’ll be taking up Adelaide and Caleb Hunt’s offer of a cottage on their property out of Mansfield. Adelaide’s asked often enough and we’ve nothing to hold us here now except sentiment.’
‘There are nicer places in the world to be sentimental about,’ Charlie said. ‘I believe Mansfield is quite lovely.’
‘It’s still close to the mountains and Amos will have proper space for his horses,’ Netty said. ‘Now don’t fret about Amos and me, we’ll be fine. We’ve nowt to keep us here except the horses, and Amos can make any arrangements for those with young Johnny.’
‘Old Sam’s coming with us,’ Amos said. ‘The others will find buyers easily enough.’
Charlie asked how Amos proposed to move the large, old horse from Maiden’s Creek to Mansfield.
‘Johnny can bring him over the mountains when the weather fines up,’ Amos said. ‘I’d like to see the lad right and there’s always work for a good horse handler.’
‘It’s you, lass, what are you going to do?’ Netty said.
Charlie shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I don’t want to go back to working in a big city hospital,’ she said. ‘Perhaps it’s time I looked at the opportunities for a qualified nursing sister, maybe in outback Queensland.’
Netty’s face could have been framed. ‘Queensland? It’s hot and dusty and uncomfortable. You’re a mountain girl. You’d hate it.’
Charlie laughed. ‘Thank you for your faith in me, Netty. I go where I am needed and if it’s the outback of Queensland then so be it.’
Netty studied her. ‘You’re needed here, lass, but they’re too blind to see it.’
Any futher discussion of Charlie’s future was curtailed by a rap on the door.
Netty opened the door to admit Danny. His gaze went straight to Charlie and she forced a smile.
‘Charlie? I thought you would be at the hospital.’
‘No,’ Charlie said rather more sharply than she intended. ‘I’m not needed.’
He looked her up and down and frowned. No doubt he was wondering why she was not needed in the middle of the day when they were so obviously short-staffed. She couldn’t tell him. The shame of her peremptory dismissal was too raw.
‘I’m glad you’re here, Danny,’ Netty said. ‘We were just saying to Charlie, Amos and I have discussed matters and we would like to take up your mother’s offer of a cottage on the Mansfield property. We’ll come as soon as the train is running.’
