A Greater World (30 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two – Arrested

Elizabeth stood on the steps as the constable led Jack Kidd away to the police truck. Nat's body had already been taken to the mortuary for the post mortem examinations. As McDonald Falls had no police cell, Kidd would be taken into the next town and held until a magistrate determined whether to charge him or not. She had little doubt of the likelihood of that.

She went back into the house and took up her place again beside Will's bed, waiting for the ambulance. The boy drifted in and out of consciousness and was clearly very weak. She held a cup of water to his parched lips to help him drink whenever he was able to accept it.

Here she was again, keeping a bedside vigil beside a sick child. This time, although the doctor's prognosis was good, her anxiety was acute. Her stepson, while not of her own blood, had come to feel like her own. Will had been her first real friend in this place and a true and faithful one. She had rejoiced in his growing confidence and the way he'd taken care of her own little boy and from the moment of his birth treated him as his brother.

He called out Elizabeth's name in his sleep. As she sat beside him, holding his unresponsive hand in hers, she realised he had been nursing a crush on her. It explained his attacks of blushing and the increasingly frequent tongue-tied silences in her presence. She smiled and whispered, 'Whoever wins your heart, Will Kidd, will be a very lucky woman.' He showed no signs of hearing and continued his restless sleep.

His brow was clammy so she wiped it with a damp cloth and reached again for his hand. It was harder to believe that Will and Nat had been brothers than that he and Mikey were. She shivered to think how close they had been to losing Will. But at what price? She was afraid now for Jack Kidd. She'd seen another aspect of him recently and tonight's revelations had intensified that. The loss of his first wife and the estrangement from his son had conspired to harden him. A rough and ready countryman from the start, any softer sides to his character had been brushed aside when he'd built a hard shell to present to the world. Not so different from herself? Underneath the brusque and cold exterior, was an unhappy and disappointed man, whose early struggles to keep his family fed and clothed and whose losses of successive children and then his wife, had killed any joy and capacity for happiness.

She knew she must stand by him and help him face what lay ahead. He'd killed Nat to save her life. Standing by him was the least she could do. She'd postpone joining Michael in New Zealand – she couldn't add to Kidd's suffering by abandoning him for another man, his son in law and trusted foreman to boot. Her heart ached for Michael, but Kidd needed her. Michael would understand and they could be together soon. Once this mess was sorted and Kidd out of custody, she'd find a way to break the news to him and follow Michael.

Will stirred, opened his eyes and tried to pull himself up. She put her hand on his shoulder. 'Steady on, Will. You need to rest.'

'Elizabeth!' he looked both shocked and overjoyed to see her sitting at his bedside. 'What's happened? Where am I?'

'You're safe with me at Wilton's Creek. Can you manage a bit of clear beef broth, my darling?'

A look of alarm crossed his face as the memory of the fight rushed back. 'Where's Nat? What happened?'

'Nat's gone. We'll talk about it later. You need to rest and get well.'

His eyes darted round the room and he realised he was in his father's bed. At the same moment he became aware of the pain and with a groan, sank back and closed his eyes, just as the ambulance pulled onto the hard standing outside the house.

Once she had seen Will safely installed in the small hospital at McDonald Falls, her thoughts turned to Michael. She went to the post office to send a telegram.

TERRIBLE ACCIDENT WILL INJURED AND BROTHER NAT SHOT DEAD - STOP - KIDD ARRESTED - STOP - GO WITHOUT ME - STOP - SEND ADDRESS I WILL FOLLOW WHEN ABLE - STOP - E.

At the same time she sent a second telegram, addressed to Harriet.

WILL IN HOSPITAL - STOP - NOT SERIOUS BUT NATHANIAL DEAD AND JACK ARRESTED COME QUICKLY STOP E KIDD

Over the next few days, Will gained strength. Elizabeth helped him walk a few steps across the ward and sit upright in a chair. When she felt he was strong enough to bear it, she broke the news of his brother's death and his father's arrest. He bit his lip and gripped her hand. As she looked at his face to read his reaction, she saw something in him had changed. The wide-eyed enthusiastic teenager had gone, and there was a world-weariness in his face.

Doctor Reilly visited daily and showed his approval of Will's progress. When Will was fit enough to return to home, Verity was waiting at Kinross House for them, standing beside Mrs Oates and Mary in a welcoming line-up. As they embraced, Elizabeth saw that Verity was crying.

Once Will was dispatched to his bed, they sat down in the drawing room.

Verity said, 'I can't believe it, Elizabeth. I don't know why the good Lord has sent you so many troubles. It's not right. It's not fair.'

Elizabeth was silent, but inside her, despite all this, the thought that drowned out all others but could never be expressed, was that she had to go through all this without Michael. She pulled herself up to her full height and took a deep breath. 'I have to be strong. My husband needs that. I have to be there for him.'

'I'm sure they won't hold him long. They can't possibly. He did what any man would do in the circumstances. He protected his family from an intruder. The police will realise there's no case to answer and he'll come home soon.'

'It's not so straightforward. The intruder was his own son, Verity.'

Verity gasped. 'Nathaniel?' Her hand was clasped to her mouth.

Elizabeth noded.

'Everyone thought he was dead,' said Verity. 'He hasn't been seen in years. Mr Kidd thought he was an intruder?'

'I don't think so. I think he knew exactly who he was.'

'Dear goodness! Tell me what happened.'

'Nat turned up out of the blue at Wilton's Creek. He surprised me and made advances to me. Very aggressively. Will arrived and came to my rescue. Nat pulled a knife on him and my husband shot Nat to save Will.'

'Goodness gracious!'

'I gave the police a statement and told them that Jack was acting to defend both Will and me. Nat was a nasty piece of work.'

'I hope and pray Mr Kidd will be released soon. What on earth made Nat attack you?'

'He wanted money and was trying to force me to help him get it from his father. I refused. Maybe I should have said I'd help him. He said he'd been in the war. Perhaps he was shell-shocked? But I didn't like him, Verity. There was something frightening about him. I didn't trust him. But look what's happened now...'

'Don't blame yourself. And don't worry about Mr Kidd. The police will understand. The whole town knows Nat Kidd was no good. Hattie said he kicked and hit their mother, God rest her soul. They're bound to let Mr Kidd come home soon.'

'That's unlikely. The New South Wales Police take a pretty dim view when someone is shot in the back, regardless of the circumstances. They've told us they intend to charge him with murder.'

Verity clasped her hand to her mouth with a little strangled cry.

Miranda passed the telegram back to Harriet.

'Hell's bells, Hat, what a terrible thing. What exactly happened?'

'You can read as well as I can. Pa's in jail, Will's in hospital and Nat's dead.'

'I thought Nat died years ago? Where's he been all this time?'

'In the army. He was in Gallipoli and since the war ended he's been living in Perth. He turned up here last week. I was so shocked to see him I let him in but it turned out he just wanted money. I wish he had died years ago. After what he did to Ma. I hate him. I'm glad he's dead.'

'Are you going to go to the Falls? It sounds like your step mother needs you.'

Harriet raised her eyes. 'She can go to hell. I called Kinross House and Mrs Oates says Will's going to be all right and is already out of hospital. There's nothing I can do and I'm not dancing to that woman's tune. Besides I need your help.'

'Me? What can I do?'

'I need you to run a little errand tomorrow. Read this.' She handed another brown telegram form to her friend.

Miranda read it quickly and looked up. 'My God! They were having an affair and she's running away with him! You were right about him after all. What a bastard. You're well rid of him. But this is addressed to him. What if he finds out you've read it?'

'He won't. He was out when it came, presumably buying their tickets to New Zealand. I'm not going to let him see it as if he reads it, he won't get on that boat without her and I want him gone as soon as possible. The sooner he's off the sooner I get my divorce. And I can't stand the sight of him any more.'

'But when she doesn't turn up to get the boat he's unlikely to go without her. He's bound to go back to the Falls to find her and then you'll be really in the soup as he'll discover you took the telegram.'

'That's where you come in, my dear Randa. Let me explain.'

It was almost time for sailing and there was still no sign of her. Michael paced up and down the deck, growing more anxious. He stationed himself near the top of the gangplank where he had a good view over the quayside. A few last stragglers made their way on board and he watched the crew make the final preparations for departure.

He looked at his watch and decided that if she didn't turn up in the next five minutes he would disembark and find out why she was delayed. They could take another ship later in the week. There was still time to grab his baggage and get off. Just then he heard a couple of crew members talking. One held a clipboard in his hands and was consulting the list.

The other man spoke. 'How many we got then, Jim?'

'All here. We can cast off when you're ready, sir. Three no shows. A couple missed their train and wired to switch to the Friday crossing. Then there's a woman who died. Purser's looking for her travelling companion to break the news. Otherwise it's a full house, sir.'

'Righto.' He called out to the men at the top of the gangplank. 'Raise it up, boys. Cast her off!'

Michael grabbed the arm of the man with the clipboard, his chest pounding in fear. 'The woman who died? What was her name?'

The man looked at him, and then frowned. 'Your name is, sir?

'Winterbourne.'

The man nodded. 'I'm very sorry, sir. We had a message this morning from a Miss Verity Radley to say that Mrs Elizabeth Kidd was killed in a car accident yesterday on her way to the railway station. Miss Radley asked for you to be informed. Mrs Kidd was killed instantly.'

The world stopped. The words made no sense.

'It can't be true? She can't be dead.'

'I'm sorry, sir.' The man laid a hand on Michael's arm and patted it. Then with a shrug towards his crewmate, made his way along the deck, leaving Michael slumped against the railings, his head in his hands, as the ship pulled away from the quay and into the harbour, churning the blue water into a milky soup.

Miranda waited on the quayside until she could no longer see the vessel, then made her way up the hill to the cocktail bar of a hotel where Harriet was waiting, her habitual champagne flute in her hand.

'Well?'

'He's gone. It's done,' said Miranda and sat down beside her.

'Then we must celebrate.' Harriet started to fill another glass from the bottle standing in its bucket next to the table.

'No thank you. I don't feel like celebrating.'

'Why ever not? We did it! He's gone for good. I'm free at last. If that's not worth a celebration I don't know what is?'

'I feel ashamed. It was a cruel thing to do. It wasn't even necessary. Why couldn't you have let him have the telegram and let them be together? I thought you wanted to be rid of her too? I can't understand why you should be so selfish.'

Harriet's face contorted with irritation. 'You know I hate her. And anyway I have plans for her too. The evil conniving, money-grabbing, lying bitch is going to get her just deserts.'

'You didn't see him, Hat. He crumpled like a house of cards when the man passed the message on. He was a fair way away but I could tell he was devastated. Broken hearted. I felt awful. It was so unnecessary. He did nothing wrong to you. How can you take pleasure in destroying his life like that?'

'How can you even ask me that, Randa, after what he's done? Marrying me when he was in love with her. Cheating my Pa out of his money. And her cheating me and Will out of what's ours. It's her fault my brother's dead. It's her fault Pa's in gaol. Why the hell should I give a damn that he's broken hearted? He'll get over it. At least he's free. At least he's alive. It's more than he deserves.'

'I'm sorry, Harriet. I want no more to do with this and with you. I feel ashamed and I wish I could undo what I've done. Don't call me again. You're no longer my friend. You're no longer welcome in my home.'