The Grace Stories Page 17

  ‘But Tom, might she just need a little more time? Perhaps if I feed her more corn . . . or we could buy some molasses from town . . .’ Beth’s eyes were wide with concern.

  ‘If she was going to get better, she’d be showing it by now. The horse is dying!’ Tom stood abruptly and took his plate to the bench. A silence hung thickly over the kitchen. Grace wished it could swallow her.

  Late that night, Grace lay fully dressed under her covers, listening to Tom and Beth whispering to each other as the baby fed. After Alice had been changed and was sleeping again, Grace was pulling back her covers when suddenly she heard Beth coming out from behind the partition. Grace leapt back into bed and pulled her blanket high. She heard Beth leave the house and go outside to use the privy. When at last she returned and the house was settled and quiet, Grace got out of bed.

  It was very dark in the kitchen as the fire had died away and Tom had put out the lamps. I won’t light the lamp until I’m outside, thought Grace. I can’t wake Beth or Tom. She couldn’t imagine what they would say if they caught her going out so late. Would they think she was stealing? Or running away?

  Grace tiptoed as quietly as she could to the table. She hoped the pounding of her heart didn’t wake Alice – it seemed as loud as a drum. She felt in the darkness for a small sharp knife from the cutlery box and slid it up the sleeve of her dress so she could keep her hands free. Then she took the slush lamp, and when she was safely outside, she struck the wick with the stone flint.

  The light it cast seemed tiny to Grace under such a vast, dark sky. How can someone as small as me make a difference in such a big world? she asked herself. Can I really save a horse that is dying?

  Grace pushed the questions from her mind and followed the path down to the creek. Branches crackled underfoot as she walked. She imagined brown snakes lying across the trail in wait and trapdoor spiders coming out of their holes. The leaves sounded as though they were whispering as Grace passed by. ‘It’s nothing but the wind,’ she told herself. In the lamplight, the gum trees looked like ghosts. ‘They’re nothing but shadows,’ Grace said firmly, gripping the lamp.

  Then something screeched, high-pitched and furious. Grace wanted to scream and had to hold herself back. ‘It’s only a possum, screeching to protect its nest,’ she told herself. ‘I’ve heard them enough times when I’m using the privy at night.’

  Grace held the lamp out in front of her. Soon she came to the edge of the creek. The sound of the running water didn’t comfort her as it usually did. In the night it sounded unfamiliar, like hushed voices speaking words she couldn’t understand.

  Grace’s hands shook as she searched through the bushes and shrubs that grew beside the creek. Where was the tree? Why didn’t I watch more carefully where Mulgo went? she asked herself, angrily. The branches cut her hands as she fumbled through the bush. I can’t do this! Grace thought. It’s too dark!

  She imagined strange animals waiting in the bushes – giant lizards, rats and bats . . . It took all Grace’s courage not to run back up the hill to the safety of her bed.

  At last, in the shadowy light cast by the lamp, Grace saw a tree with a thin trunk and wide leaves. Growing up and down the trunk were the small hairy fruit that Mulgo had given her to taste. Cooroowal! Grace pulled away a long, young, green shoot from as high up on the tree as she could reach, the way she had seen Mulgo do. Then she headed east up the hill, cutting across the bottom of the house towards Glory’s field. With the branch in her hand, full of the sticky white medicine, Grace didn’t feel as scared.

  Glory stood listlessly, her nose close to the ground, her feed bucket still full at her feet. When Grace came close, the horse did not even notice that she was there. The wound didn’t seem to have changed since the day before, and Glory’s stomach looked even more swollen. Even the udder beneath her belly looked puffy. The poison must be filling her whole body – if this doesn’t help her, I don’t know how much longer she will live, Grace thought.

  Grace hooked the lamp over the fence and pulled the knife out from under her sleeve. She cut the cooroowal branch in five places as she had seen Mulgo do, then she dripped the sticky white sap over Glory’s wound. When the wound was covered from one end to the other, Grace tossed the branch into the darkness and unhooked the lamp from the fence.

  Before she left she bent down in the dirt close to Glory’s face. ‘Please get better, Glory. For Tom, who loves you so much.’

  When Grace returned to the house, every­body was still sleeping. Nobody had noticed she’d been gone. She could hear Alice’s noisy snuffling little breaths from the kitchen.

  Grace wished she could hold the baby close to her chest to calm herself. She crawled under the blankets of her bed, too tired and frightened to even take off her dress. ‘Goodnight,’ she whispered to herself. ‘Goodnight Glory.’

  Every night that week, Grace waited until Alice’s last night feed before stealing out of the house to tend to Glory’s wound. She didn’t know if it was doing any good – there was never enough light to see if the medicine was making any difference. During the day, Grace was very tired. She would almost fall asleep when she was meant to be sewing with Beth in the evenings.

  One night, Beth looked across the room at her. ‘You’re as pale as a ghost, Grace. Alice and I have been working you too hard,’ she said, kindly. ‘Are you getting enough rest?’

  ‘Oh, yes, plenty of rest. I like looking after Alice. I’d wash a hundred more nappies if I could!’ Grace joked with her mistress, hoping she would not see how exhausted she was.

  ‘You must be sick of doing everything alone, with me resting in bed and Tom away all day. But you’ll be happy to hear I’ve been feeling better and better,’ said Beth. ‘I am up and about more and more. Soon I’ll be fully recovered and you will have to race to keep up with me!’

  Grace laughed. She was glad that Tom was away during the days. He was felling trees at the borders of his property. He saw Grace only in the early mornings. Grace dreaded the moments when they were in the hut together as Tom ate his breakfast and gathered his things. She always seemed to get in his way, no matter how hard she tried to avoid him. The hut seemed to shrink, as if it wasn’t big enough for both of them. Grace could only relax when Tom had left and she could no longer see him from the windows, rifle slung over his shoulder, as he headed for the back of the property.

  Because Grace was so tired and so anxious about each coming night, the days seemed to go more slowly. She missed Hannah and Liza and thought of them constantly. She knew Liza was busy on her farm helping the cows to calve, and that there was no chance she might surprise Grace with a visit. Liza had explained all that – but still Grace couldn’t help hoping. Often she would look up from whatever task she was doing, thinking that she would see Liza riding along the path on Hilary’s back with Hannah tucked in behind her.

  But she was always disappointed. How much longer will I have to wait? she wondered.

  It was the seventh night in a row that Grace had stolen out of the house at midnight to go to Glory. She was halfway across the field when she heard the crackle of branches breaking underfoot behind her. She swung around holding the lamp high. ‘Who’s there?’ she said, her voice trembling.

  There was no answer. It’s nothing, she told herself. I’m silly to call into the darkness. She continued across the field, but as she walked she sensed someone was following her. She felt glad for the cold steel of the knife hidden under her sleeve.

  Finally, Grace arrived at the fence where Glory stood. ‘Oh, Glory, it’s me again,’ she whispered, touching the horse’s shoulder, ‘come to try and make you well.’

  As Grace worked, cutting the branch with the knife then dripping the sap down the wound, she couldn’t stop herself from shaking. The feeling she was being watched never left her. It didn’t make any sense – if it were her master who had discovered what she was doing, he would shout at her to get away from his horse. And her mistress was always close to Alice when it was dark. Gr
ace thought of the ghouls in Hannah’s stories, and shivered.

  Before she left Glory that night, Grace noticed that the horse’s belly was even bigger. She was terrified that Glory might not make it through to the next morning. When she had finished treating the wound, Grace put her arms around Glory’s chest.

  ‘Oh, Glory,’ she whispered, ‘I didn’t mean for this to happen to you. I’m very sorry.’

  When Grace got back to her bed, she wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. She was so very tired and the horse was getting worse. What if the medicine she was using for Glory was making her sicker? Maybe she was just hurting the mare more. Perhaps it’s better if Tom knows how much harm I’m doing and sends me away right now, she thought, miserably. Perhaps I should just tell him everything – that way he will know why Glory is getting so much worse.

  THE next morning, Grace was woken when Tom came bounding into the room as Beth was making breakfast.

  ‘Beth, my love,’ he said, his face flushed. ‘Glory’s doing better today! She’s eating her feed again! And there’s light in her eyes! I can’t explain it – the alcohol swabs didn’t seem to be working, so I stopped using them. And now she’s getting better. It’s a mystery!’ Tom took his wife in his arms and danced around the kitchen. ‘I think the foal will be saved after all!’

  Grace gasped. She couldn’t believe what she had heard. Glory was getting better? And there was a foal?

  ‘Oh, Tom!’ Beth laughed. ‘What good news! Now put me down this minute – I’m in no state for dancing!’ Beth beamed as she straightened her dress. ‘How much longer until the foal comes, do you think?’

  But Tom was already out the door, singing to himself.

  Grace wondered if she was about to wake up from a dream. She turned to her mistress. ‘A foal? Beth, is there going to be a foal?’

  ‘Oh, Gracie, he didn’t want you knowing – you’ve seen how he is about her, just bloomin’ silly. Yes, Glory’s in foal. She is due any day. Tom didn’t think she would make it. He has been so sure that both Glory and her foal would die – that’s what’s been making him so awful sad.’ Tom’s singing could still be heard from outside. ‘For my Tom to be singing a tune where someone might hear him, something must’ve changed!’ Beth grinned. ‘What wonderful news! But Grace, you look so tired. Can I bring you some tea?’ Beth looked at her kindly.

  ‘Oh, Beth, I’m sorry, it must be so late.’ Just as Grace was about to throw back the covers she remembered she was still dressed from the night before. She decided to stay where she was.

  ‘Let me bring you some tea, Grace. You’ve been working so hard lately, it’s your turn to have some help.’ Beth put the kettle on the stove.

  Grace lay back in her bed. Glory was in foal. It wasn’t the poison swelling inside the mare – it was a baby! And today Glory was feeling better – she was eating again! Maybe Mulgo’s medicine is working after all, Grace thought.

  She had been so sure that things were going so badly and now it seemed something wonderful was happening instead. It was too much to believe.

  ‘I didn’t realise we had so little sugar left,’ said Beth from where she stood at the kitchen bench. ‘It’ll have to be unsweetened tea for you today, Grace.’

  ‘I don’t mind, Beth, I don’t mind at all!’ said Grace. For the first time since Tom had returned, she felt free.

  That night, there was only a half moon, and no stars in the sky. But Grace was too excited to be afraid of the dark. She was going to see for herself if what Tom had said was true – that Glory was much better. Not only that, but that the mare was pregnant and would be having her foal any day now. Grace gathered the cooroowal branch as she always did before beginning the journey across the field.

  Just as she reached the horse’s paddock, the wick in the slush lamp flickered and went out. But it didn’t matter – she had worked on the mare so many nights in a row, she knew how to treat the wound with her eyes closed.

  As Grace grew used to the darkness, she could make out the glistening outline of the horse. This time, Glory raised her head as Grace approached and, though it was dark, Grace could see the difference in the horse immediately. There was energy in the way she held herself and light in her eyes. Grace held out her hand to the mare and Glory came close, sniffing playfully at Grace’s hair and whinnying softly. Grace was thrilled. ‘Oh, Glory! It is so good to see you well again!’

  Just as Grace pulled the knife from her sleeve to go and cut the branch, somebody grabbed her from behind. She screamed, trying to swing around to see who had attacked her. Whoever it was took her by the arm and pulled the knife from her hand. Grace hit out with her fists, and kicked her attacker as hard as she could.

  ‘Help!’ Grace cried out, struggling to get free. A light flashed in her eyes. She looked up, straight into the face of Tom.

  ‘I knew you were up to no good. I knew it!’ he shouted in her face.

  ‘No, no, sir, I . . .’

  ‘Were you going to steal my horse?’ Tom’s hold around her arm was hard and painful. ‘Is that what you were doing out here? Stealing my horse now that she’s well?’ Grace thought Tom might kill her, he shook her so hard. ‘I knew my wife was too soft on you from the start!’

  Grace struggled against Tom’s grasp. ‘No, sir, no!’

  ‘Don’t you dare lie!’ Tom hissed.

  Grace twisted her body so that she faced her master. ‘I wasn’t stealing her! I was out here trying to make her better!’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Tom’s fingers dug into her skin.

  ‘Tom, let her go!’ Grace heard another voice. It was Beth. She stood facing her husband, holding a lamp in one hand and Alice in the other. ‘Leave the child be!’ Beth sounded as angry as her husband. Alice cried in her arms. Tom released his hold and Grace dropped, the last of her breath pushed out of her as she hit the ground.

  ‘I found the girl out here with a knife, Beth! She was coming for Glory – I caught her just in time!’ Tom shouted back. Alice cried louder.

  ‘Oh, Tom, you damn fool! It’s Grace who has saved Glory, don’t you know? Right under our noses!’

  Tom stood blinking in the lamplight. ‘What are you talking about?’

  There was a pause as they looked towards Grace. This was her chance – if Tom was ever going to know who she was, she had to explain herself. She got to her feet, mustered all her courage, and spoke to her master, looking him straight in the eye.

  ‘Sir, I never meant to harm your horse. I know how much you love her. If I had a horse of my own like Glory, I would love her just the same,’ she said. Grace took a deep breath. ‘I only ever wanted to save her for you. That’s why I was out here – I was putting medicine on her cut – so that she might get better.’

  Grace had never spoken so much to Tom, to any adult, at one time. It was as if the words had been building inside her ever since she first met him when he came looking for a servant at the Factory all those months ago.

  Grace knew she had to go on. ‘Horses are the most important things in the world. I know that, just like you know it. In London, I was only a mudlark. I never had a home or a family – loving horses was all I had, sir. It was what I lived for.’ It wasn’t until Grace was saying the words out loud that she realised they were true. She couldn’t stop now; Tom had to hear everything. ‘I was sent here for stealing apples. I wanted to feed them to a cabbie’s horse. They were going to slaughter him because he was so thin and poorly. I had to help him – same as I had to help Glory. And then, when they were chasing me, because of the apples, sir, it seemed the best thing to do was climb on his back and ride away from them, so that’s what I did. I wasn’t trying to steal him, or hurt him. I would never try and harm any horse. I would rather die myself, sir.’

  Grace had finished; there was nothing left to explain. If Tom got rid of her now, at least she had spoken her truth to him.

  Tom looked dumbfounded, his face blank and pale in the lamplight. Beth stepped closer to her husband.
<
br />   ‘Everything she says is true, Tom. She’s been tending to Glory each night – I’ve seen it for myself.’

  ‘What do you mean? Tending how?’ Tom’s voice was raspy and uneven.

  ‘With some sort of sap from a tree branch, which I’m certain she got from Mulgo. Is that right, Grace? I followed her one night and watched what she did.’

  ‘And you didn’t tell me?’

  ‘Oh, Tom, you’re the best man I know and at the very same time you are as pigheaded as they come. I knew if I told you, you’d forbid it, and Glory would die. Grace wasn’t trying to steal the blasted horse, Tom, she was saving her for you!’

  Grace watched as Beth went to her husband and put the baby into his arms.

  ‘You should say sorry to Grace, Tom. She has done nothing but help us. And here you are accusing her of theft. How bloomin’ ridiculous! Where do you think she was going to run to? The bleedin’ Blue Mountains?’ Beth took Alice back and rocked her in her arms.

  Tom stared at Grace. He’s going to get rid of me, Grace thought.

  Tom looked up at the sky.

  ‘Oh, Grace . . .’ he said at last, ‘we’re not so very different, you and I. A mudlark and a chimney sweep.’ He shook his head and looked at the ground. ‘With nothing to love but horses.’

  ‘I think it’s time we all went inside,’ said Beth. ‘Alice has had enough. And so have I. Come on, you two. We can check on Glory again in the morning. There will be no more secret trips outside – for anybody. Grace, is that clear? Tom?’

  ‘Yes . . . yes, of course . . . ma’am.’ Grace nodded. Tom was silent.

  ‘And don’t you dare start calling me ma’am! It makes me feel one hundred and fifty!’ Beth put her free arm around Grace’s shoulders as they walked back towards the house. Tom followed close behind. Nobody spoke.

  BACK in the hut, Beth and Tom took Alice behind the partition and Grace climbed into her bed. She was too exhausted to go over in her mind the terrible things that had happened that night. She didn’t want to think about how angry Tom was and how much he had wanted to hurt her when he had found her with Glory. Grace pulled the covers tight around her and fell into a deep, dark sleep.