And Those Who Trespass Against Us (32 page)

"She left here just after eleven, my dear," Mrs. Connor said seeking confirmation from her eldest. "I wonder where she's gotten to?"

Chapter Fifteen

KATHERINE SPENT AN hour trying valiantly to stem the life force which slowly seeped from Mary's body. The trouser leg she'd stripped and used for bandages was now blood-soaked. Katherine knew, regardless of her efforts, Mary wouldn't last the afternoon.

She was unsure whether the loss of blood or onset of infection was the catalyst, but Mary alternated between calm and delirium. At times the words flowing from her told of one of Mary's more successful bushranging escapades. Occasionally her eyes would open and she would sit up, urging this man or another onto greater feats of daring. When this happened, Katherine carefully eased her down onto the cot and, for a fleeting period of time, Mary was once again at peace.

After a prolonged silent interlude, Mary opened her eyes and, she reached for Katherine's hand. "Thank you for coming and helping me this afternoon," she said with surprising clarity. She laughed humourlessly. "Even most of my
loyal
followers didn't hang around till the end."

Katherine tried to comfort her, but Mary gently batted her hand away. "It's all right. I always thought it would end like this. I'm glad you came." She closed her eyes, her face a concentration of effort. "It's time for me to move on."

"Lay back and conserve your strength. You need all the rest you can get if you're to get better."

"You make a great helper, darling, but a woeful liar. I've got to go, and we both know it. Know that, if things had been different, I'd have loved you with all my heart. Please go before I die. Joshua knows what has to be done."

"Let me stay. I've seen death." Katherine gently chided. "Do you think I'm afraid of it?"

"No, my love, it's not you I'm afraid of. It's me and my actions. I want you to remember me as I was, not with a face contorted by fear. Please, I beg of you, go now." Exhausted, she fell back onto the cot.

A steady flow of tears streamed down Katherine's cheeks as she leaned to kiss Mary. "I'll never forget you," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I'll remember your pride, stubbornness, bravery, and courage. Most of all, I'll remember the love you had for your people and your kindness towards those less fortunate. I'll always cherish that." Leaving her bedside vigil before separation became too much to bear, Katherine made her way to the door of the cabin. With one last look at Mary, she opened the door and stepped outside.

Joshua was where he had sat all afternoon, on the bench on the undersized front verandah, out of the rain. "Mary hasn't got long before." She let the words hang between them. "She told me you have instructions?"

Joshua silently nodded.

"I can help you if you like. There'll be things which need to be done to prepare her--"

Joshua held up his hand. "I'm sorry, Sister, but I have my orders. Mary was adamant you weren't to be here when she died. I was to show you to the main road and send you on your way. She made me swear I would, and it's a promise I'll not break. If you'll wait here, I'll bring your wagon around."

Katherine nodded, suddenly mute and feeling terribly disempowered. To go against Mary's wishes would be wrong. Yet every element of her willpower warred with her not to do just that. Stepping into the rain and up onto the wagon, she followed her guide back to the main road.

The force of the rain made it almost impossible for Katherine to see the road in front of her, and she shivered as a steady stream of water trickled between her shoulder blades. "How m-m-many times do you n-n-need to be told to take a darned oilskin raincoat with you when y-y-you visit?" Her teeth chattered uncontrollably and her hands were numb. She urged the horse onward.

She struggled on, her thoughts dominated by the events of the past few hours. The wagon suddenly lost it purchase on the slippery road and lurched. She slid sideways across the seat, barely managing to maintain a grip on the reins. By the narrowest of margins, she brought the buckboard to a halt. She jumped down to see if any damage had been done. Her feet sank into the quagmire that had once formed the road. Trudging around the side of the cart, she angrily shook her head. The wheel pin was dislodged. The rear wheel was more off than on. Katherine grabbed hold of the wet, muddy round object and struggled to force it back in place. Try as she might, it wouldn't budge in the sticky mud.

With a shivering look of disgust, she walked toward the horse. "I'll have to ride you bareback. At least that's better than perishing in this cold."

She got closer to the beast and let out an anguished cry. He was balancing the greater amount of his weight on three legs and, despite her gentle coaxing, wouldn't put any weight on the fourth. "I don't believe this." She stomped her foot, only to have mud spatter up the front of her habit. Laughing through chattering teeth at the picture she must be presenting, Katherine began the slow walk home.

MRS. CONNOR HAD barely finished her sentence and Catriona was out the door and on her horse. She galloped away from the home and back from where she'd come. Where had Katherine gone? A sudden thought dawned on her. Wasn't it somewhere nearby that the bushrangers had kidnapped her? Had that happened again? If so, she hoped she'd at least be out of the bloody rain.

As her horse precariously negotiated its way around the next bend, Catriona froze. Sitting off to one side of the road was the horse and wagon used by Katherine, who was nowhere to be seen. "That wasn't here last time I passed by. Where are you?" she called out.

Catriona angled her horse to the side of the wagon and leant down, immediately recognising the extent of the damage.

She examined Katherine's horse. One of its forefeet barely touched the road. Catriona quickly unharnessed the animal and ran an expert hand down the lame leg. She gently coaxed its hoof off the ground. Deeply embedded in the centre was a sharp white piece of quartzite, a stone which regularly plagued horses in these parts. She carefully extracted the piece with her knife, and then allowed the beast to test its weight on the now unencumbered foot. She nodded. "There you go." Catriona remounted. "Once you feel a bit better I've no doubt you'll find your way back to Susan and a nice warm stable."

Catriona's mild concern for Katherine's safety was now growing to full-blown fear. Urging her horse into as much speed as she dared, she rode through the unrelenting rain, all the while struggling with the state of the liquid road.

Rounding a bend, her face changed from a study of concentration to one of shock. Staggering along the road under the weight of her habit was Katherine.

Catriona reined in her horse and leapt from her saddle. "My God," Catriona yelled over the sound of the rain, "are you all right? You're drenched."

Catriona grabbed Katherine and spun her around. Her heart turned to ice at what she saw. Katherine's eyes were glazed as if in sleep, her lips already tinged blue. She looked like Catriona had when she was a child and fell into one of the dams in the middle of winter. If it hadn't been for her father, she might have died. Despite the current situation, Catriona couldn't help but smile at the way her father teased her for years after about how blue lips never did suit her.

She gently shook Katherine.

Katherine's eyes took on a fuzzy focus as she blinked at Catriona. "C-c-c-cold," was all she could manage.

Pulling the other oilskin from her saddlebag, Catriona wrapped it around Katherine's shivering form. After a fair degree of manoeuvring, she managed to get them both on her horse and turn the animal for home. The hard riding she'd already done, combined with the added weight, made the return trip painfully slow. By the time they arrived at Gleneagle, Katherine had progressed from cold to delirium.

Wasting no time, Catriona managed to halt her horse near the kitchen entrance. She dismounted and softly elbowed the horse.

"Off you go, old feller. You know where the stable is."

With Katherine in her arms, she took the stairs two at a time. Kicking the door open with her foot, she carried Katherine to her old room. She placed her in a chair, then tore the top bedcover off the bed and swaddled Katherine in it.

She bit the inside of her lip trying to remember how her father had saved her when she fell into the dam. Suddenly it came to her. He got her out of the wet clothes and stayed with her until she was warm. That
must
be the key.

Catriona unwrapped Katherine from the bedcover and looked at her habit. She pulled her out of the chair and turned her around, looking for buttons which would identify a way to disrobe her. "This is like unravelling a puzzle," she grumbled, her concern mounting at Katherine's continually shivering form. "There's more than one way to skin a cat, or nun. I'll have another one made--I promise."

Catriona pulled her pocketknife from her trousers. She cut and then tore the front of the dress from neck to waist and literally peeled Katherine from her habit and drenched undergarments. She picked up the bedspread from the floor and roughly dried Katherine's wet form, to kick-start her circulation. Satisfied she was at least warmer than what she'd been, she carried Katherine to bed and lay her down. After stoking the room's fire, she went in search of more blankets.

Her bedside vigil went on through the night. She left her only long enough to unsaddle her horse, and change out of her own wet clothes into a dressing gown. It would do no good to have her stabilise Katherine only to have
herself
fall ill. Catriona spent the rest of her night seated by Katherine, gradually peeling off blankets as her condition improved. Despite her best efforts to stay awake, sometime in the early hours of the morning, Catriona too drifted off to sleep.

KATHERINE ABRUPTLY WOKE, aware of well-known, yet most recently unfamiliar, surroundings. As she roused herself, the events of the previous day came flooding back. She could recall, fairly well, to the point when she'd been stranded by a lame horse and broken wagon. From then on, her memories were like scenes on post cards--captured moments in time.

She had snatches of a memory involving Catriona finding her and then carrying her through the house. She also remembered Catriona coming at her with a knife and a ripping sound. Glancing at the black and white heap in the corner of her room, she realised she had been physically extracted from her habit. She creased her forehead and trailed a tentative hand across her body to discover she'd also lost her undergarments.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a shape. Turning her head ever so slightly, she saw Catriona asleep in a chair by her bed, her head lolling forward. Clothed in a dressing gown, which reminded Katherine of one of her father's, she looked like she'd been there for quite a while. Her memories came flooding back, and Katherine recalled Catriona's presence throughout the night, at various times removing blankets from her, while forcing her to stay in bed. She must be worn out. At least she's now getting some well-needed sleep. Katherine languished in bed, content to look at Catriona all day if she could.

Catriona's face was a study of tranquillity, making her appear younger than her years. Her face was at peace, bereft of the bitterness around her mouth and her all-to-often creased forehead. Katherine's thoughts drifted to the previous day, and what she'd finally admitted--feelings she'd secretly harboured and railed against for so long.

Catriona's head jerked uncomfortably forward, and she awoke. She grabbed on to the sides of her chair for stability and then blinked twice, as if taking her bearings. She looked at the bed and Katherine's inquisitive eyes.

"How are you?" She scrubbed her face with her hands as if to shake off her sleep. "You had me worried last night. At one stage you were a shade of blue."

Katherine smiled at Catriona's concern. "I feel fine, considering what I can remember going through. But the horse and wagon--they're still out there. I think the horse's leg is broken."

Catriona placed a reassuring hand on Katherine's arm. "I wouldn't worry if I were you. The wagon will need to be fixed, but the horse just had a piece of quartz lodged in his hoof, which I took out. I've no doubt once he allowed some time for the pain to subside, he headed for his stable at Susan's store. I'd be surprised if he's not there now, demanding his oats."

Catriona's attention strayed to the pile of what were now rags and back to Katherine. "I think you should be more concerned about yourself. I couldn't get you out of your damned habit last night. I swear you must lock yourself in it every day. I had to cut you out of it. I'm sorry. I'll get you a new one."

"You don't owe me anything," Katherine replied, her eyes locked with Catriona's pools of blue. "If it hadn't been for you, I'd have probably died last night. I'm sure you had good reason for any action you took."

As if embarrassed, Catriona nervously cleared her throat and stood. "I'm sure you must be hungry after what you've been through. Why don't I fix us both some breakfast?"

Katherine captured Catriona's hand. She looked down, questioningly, at Katherine.

"I need to tell you something." Katherine took a deep breath. "I've made a decision."

Keeping a firm hold on Catriona, Katherine sat up, conscious of the bedclothes pooling around her waist. Catriona was glued to the spot, her eyes alternating between Katherine's face and her alabaster form.

Reaching forth with her free hand, Katherine took hold of the belt keeping Catriona's dressing gown closed. After slight resistance it gave way, revealing a break in the cloth and the beauty concealed inside. Catriona shrugged her shoulders and the robe fell to the floor.

Katherine bit back a gasp as her eyes lingered on Catriona. Her narrow waist served to accentuate her delicate yet curved breasts and toned body. Katherine pulled back the bedcovers and shyly scooted across the bed, silently inviting Catriona to join her.

Catriona sat on the bed. "Are you sure?"

Katherine pulled Catriona down to her. "I've never been so sure of anything in my life."