It was a slow and laboured journey along the dusty road with the old horse and the rickety old cart which incidentally was long overdue for retirement. Peter talked to the horse constantly for the entire trip and he was sure as he flicked his ears back and forth that he agreed with everything that he said. He told him about life on the high seas and about his grandfather who had been a seafarer as well. The horse snorted when Peter told him about Susan and how that encounter was such a shock and something that he would never forget. Peter waved to the odd few cars that would pass by and they would ask if everything was okay as they slowed down to pass.
It seemed to take an eternity but eventually Ringwood came into view from quite a distance away and Cassie had been right, it was a lovely tidy, well designed and well-maintained little village, but it did seem that it was a long way from anywhere else. Cassie had known which direction the cart would come from so she was waiting outside a café for Peter to arrive with the horse and cart. It was heading for twilight when they first appeared as a spot out there on the track in the distance.
"My goodness, you've been hours, what took you so long?" she asked trying not to laugh too much. "I think that Harry and Mary had a lot more confidence in the old cart than me. If my ship was like this it would have sunk in the harbour before we even cast off." He knew that he had made the correct choice as the car had only room for three people and there was the horse to consider as well.
"How is Mary feeling, I hope someone gave her something to eat and drink." Cassie loved everything about this man. He didn't even know these people, but he had put them first before his own welfare. Cassie scoffed at him, "Mary is annoyed at having to stay in the town hospital overnight when she says that she is more than okay. They want to see you and say their warmest thank you for helping them." She smiled at him and said that it was a very nice thing that he had done for them. "They were in quite a pickle just stuck back there in that old cart." One of Harry's friends came along and saw the different people in the familiar old vehicle and offered to take care of it and the horse for them.
Amy saw the anxiety in Mrs Thornton's eyes as she clutched the telegram that Robert had just delivered in her hands. She wanted to ask but she could see that this was something that might be important for her and her alone. It looked like her father had found more information after spending some time rummaging around on his desk as he had promised. She opened it carefully and it read, 'officer's name, Peter Glover and wife, Mrs Pennington.' Elizabeth gulped as she read the surname of Glover and knew that it was the same one as Christine's. Obviously, the wife's name of Mrs Pennington must mean that this man was someone else and not her long lost husband.
Elizabeth had a sigh of relief and she was so thankful that she had kept it quiet and hadn't made any mention of this to Christine as it would have been heartbreaking for her to have her hopes raised and be disappointed at the finish. She had to admit to herself that it was quite a coincidence though for the officer in question to have the same name and he had in fact been at sea just like Christine's husband. Elizabeth was still not convinced after all this but now it seemed that there was nothing left to do.
She decided against her better judgement to discuss everything with Rosemary and Lee. She would need to be a settling and calming influence on Rosemary who may find it hard to convince her best friend that she wasn't going to let the cat out of the bag to Christine. There was the original letter from her father and then the phone call and now the telegram that could indicate something and yet prove nothing. Rosemary was not that helpful as her first reaction was that it would have been a wonderful story for the newspaper but of course they couldn't use it. Also, any conversation that she remembered that she might have had with Christine had not revealed anything else. There must be countless numbers of Peter Glover's roaming around out there in the country. This one could even be a distant relative or something.
"Well, I didn't expect this as I was wandering along, but now, to see this little town like this, is a credit to the people who put in the time and effort years ago. You said that I'd be surprised, and you were right." Cassie laughed and took him by the arm, "Come on, let's go and see if Mary is still with us. She was grumpy when I left her to come and see where you were." He was happy in that he hadn't got muddy boots in the task of extricating the cart from the ditch or else he wouldn't have gone inside the hospital. Cassie had a beaming smile on her face as they opened the front doors and walked inside. She got the reaction that she was expecting from all the nurses in the foyer as nobody would have expected to see a tall dashing naval officer turn up in a place over one thousand miles away from the sea.
"Can we help you captain?" asked one nurse with a grin as Cassie escorted him straight past because she knew where to go. Harry and Mary were well known in the town and, as such, Mary would always cop a lot of flak from the doctors and nurses who were looking after her. She had been given top class service and she was starting to feel a lot better. She brightened up completely when she saw Peter come through the door.
"Hello Mary, you look a lot better than a few hours ago." A young nurse came in to see her, "You should have left her there," she remarked with a glare and a smile. "That's my niece," growled Mary, "you'd think the young ones would show more respect for their elders. She probably thinks that it was me who drove the cart into the ditch as she turned her evil stare to her husband." The growl changed to a grin, "we want to thank you for what you did for us, you actually got off the train so that you could help us, we will never forget it." Cassie piped in, "Even a ship's captain has to eat sometime, do you think that they could find him something in here?" Peter didn't was to impose but again, Cassie would not take no for an answer.
After a while the four of them were all sitting together just as if they were having a picnic. The only thing that was missing was the campfire. Harry and Mary had not had much of a chance to talk to Peter and soon they started to ask how it was that a naval officer should appear out of the blue here in their little town. "I've come here to try and find a Mrs Carla Graham who might be able to give me some sort of a lead to help me find my wife, she used to be Carla Pennington before she was married.
My family back in Ashford and others along the way have given me names and places so I am pinning my hopes on someone knowing where she might have gone after all this time." As he described his story from some weeks ago when he was discharged from the merchant navy to the present, the three pairs of eyes soon turned into ten as many of the nurses had come to see this ship's captain and became totally entrenched in his story. "I haven't been successful yet, but I've met some wonderful people along the way." Some nurses hugged each other in despair and got teary as he described his last hour with Bert and his meeting with James at the funeral. Mary looked at her cheeky niece, "You should marry a man like this then he might teach you to show more respect for your auntie." All the nurses laughed, "She only hurts herself so that she can come in here for a free feed."
Harry knew the reception that his wife always got from this lot and he would sit there and just enjoy the show. In his best grumpy voice, he asked, "Are any of you going to tell Peter where Carla can be found or are, we going to leave him in the dark.?" They all glared at Harry because this nice sea captain had captured their entire attention and there was no room for anything or anyone else at the moment. They all wanted to argue over who was going to sit next to him.
Elizabeth was on her way just quietly to the Infirmary with a batch of freshly baked cookies as a heartful thank you for the care that Faith and Christine had taken with her cut finger. She knew that it wasn't a life threatening injury but they had understood very well and insisted to her that infection could have been a real issue if her finger wasn't checked and looked after. "Elizabeth, you can call in here anytime if you bring these with you." Faith decided on a second one even before they made a cup of tea to go with them.
Elizabeth was pleased how she had learned by trial and error over time to finally be able to cook with some confidence, "you should have seen the ones I used to make in the beginning. They were like rocks and they were black. People ran away for miles when they saw me coming with my latest efforts. Back home in Hamilton we had cooks and hired help, so I never had to know anything about cooking. I had a very rude awakening and a steep learning curve when I first came here."
There was always a task to be done in the Infirmary and Christine was always so very diligent and fussy with things and how they had to be always in their place. "We had a lady who would come to school once a week when I was a little girl to teach us how to cook and prepare meals. She was kind but very strict and we would always be told if there was too much flour or not enough of something else. We loved her and her cookies were scrumptious. I always remember how she would say, you need to mix it a bit more Miss Pennington. We knew we were in."
Elizabeth's cup spilled and dropped to the floor and she gasped, Faith looked up in surprise, "Elizabeth, what's the matter, you look like you just saw a ghost. Christine, she looks like she's hyperventilating." Christine hadn't finished her sentence but hurriedly got her some water, but Elizabeth struggled to drink it because she was trying so hard not to cry. This was very upsetting for them because their friend was in distress and they were helpless, and they just had to wait and sit with her. Faith got her to take some deep breaths and she started to settle down a little. Elizabeth took hold firmly of Christine's hand and looked deep into her eyes, "Christine, you had better come and sit down, I have something to tell you."
Cassie's parents had waited at the railway station and were very concerned when they found that she wasn't there as expected with other passengers who had got off the train in Ringwood. They had accosted the station master who instructed his staff to hold the train from departing so that some answers could be obtained. The conductor had seen the red flag in position and soon found the anxious parents to tell them that a man in a uniform and a lady had got off the train about ten miles back so that they could help a couple of beleaguered elderly people who were in difficulty.
Mum and dad soon found Cassie waiting at the café for Peter to arrive and she explained the situation to them. After finding out that Harry and Mary were in good hands, they expected her to bring this strange newcomer to the town, back to their place for the night. They were relieved that their headstrong daughter was okay, and they looked forward to meeting this man who had taken it upon himself to order the train to be stopped so that he could help a couple of townsfolk.
Once the elderly couple had been sorted out Cassie told him, "My parents have insisted that you stay the night at our place and then we can go and see Carla in the morning." Many of the nurses had tears as he said goodbye knowing that his search for his wife could take years before he would find her. They had never had someone with a story like this come to their town. "She must be something very special for him to give up the command of that new ship," said one pretty nurse sadly.
Cassie's parents had prepared a little snack for their visitor when they arrived because they knew that the hospital staff would not let him out of there without feeding him. "I'd like you to meet my parents Peter." They welcomed him inside and then introduced themselves as Anne and Richard Mortimer. They were impressed with him right from the outset and they could see how he had no problem taking charge of the situation back on the road to provide vital assistance to their friends. They could see why he was able to operate the big ocean-going cargo vessel taking it from one side of the ocean to the other. "Please stay with us for the night and then Cassie can take you to see Carla tomorrow. She is very highly thought of in this town and we couldn't do without her.
Christine sat down very gingerly next to Elizabeth and waited expectantly for what was to come next. She was frightened and on edge because the worried look on Elizabeth's face seemed to imply that some sort of tragedy must have happened that concerned her. No, that could not be it because Elizabeth had sauntered happily into the Infirmary with her cookies and now it seemed like the roof had fallen in. "Christine, this is going to be good news but it's going to take some explanation." Faith had sat down with her arm around Christine just as curious and knowing that there was some very powerful story that was imminent which might need some absorbing.
Elizabeth's heart was pumping like never before, and she paused as she took hold of Christine's hand. "Christine, I'll start from the very beginning." Christine was clinging very tightly to Faith wondering how anything like this could be good news. "I recently got a letter from my father in Hamilton who is the owner of a big shipping line. He writes to me regularly and part of his news on this occasion mentioned something that sparked my interest about one of his ship's officers who was now finishing his sea duty. My father said how he tried everything to convince him to stay on by offering him the command of a brand-new ship. He was held in such high esteem by his captain, but he felt that he had to decline this attractive offer because he was going to search the country for his wife."
Christine's hair on the back of her neck stood up and she had a shiver as she squeezed Elizabeth's hand, "My husband was just a seaman in the merchant navy who had to report to a midshipman or someone, he wasn't an officer by any means." Elizabeth had a full head of steam now that she had been able to make a start, "Christine, I was curious and I rang my father and I asked him for any names if he had them, he said that he would send me a telegram as soon as he could find the names that he had written down." Elizabeth was trying to hold back tears as she continued, "Christine, the telex read that the officer's name was Peter Glover and his wife was Mrs Pennington."
These words hit Christine like a lightning bolt. It couldn't possibly be real, but the names were right there. "Christine, this has to be you, it couldn't possibly be anyone else," cried Elizabeth. "Do you know what this means? You have a husband out there somewhere who is looking for you." This was all too much for Christine, she started to cry in Faith's arms. She looked around and she couldn't find any words and she was completely powerless to comprehend any of this. Tables were now turned and now Christine was the one who needed water and help from her friends to try and settle down. She was a professional with other people's feelings in a crisis but now she just couldn't grasp the situation, she was going to need some time.
All of a sudden, she looked up at Elizabeth, "Well, where is he?" she cried, "I have to go and find him." She stood up and said to Faith who hadn't said a word, "I'm sorry Faith, I have to go and pack so that I can look for him back at Bakersfield. His parents are at Ashford and they might know something." She was now frantic and in despair. "How is he ever going to find me? He'll have no idea where I am." she cried. She stood up and straight away, it was like there wasn't a moment to lose. "No Christine, I'm going to get Nathan and Captain Foster. They will know what to do." pleaded Elizabeth as she ran out the door and raced over to the jailhouse.
The captain had just finished packing up and was just in the process of saying his thanks and goodbyes to Nathan as Elizabeth hurriedly arrived at the jailhouse very short of breath. She grabbed them both, "You must come right now and stop Christine from doing something silly." Nathan and the captain looked at each other in surprise but they soon saw Christine from down the road heading out the door in distress. Without Elizabeth asking them to, they raced over to her and stopped her and asked her what was wrong. She cried, "My husband is out there somewhere, and he needs me." Nathan was aware of the situation with her husband, but this was all new to the captain, "Please Mrs Glover, come and sit and tell me what has happened."
Elizabeth explained it all to the captain as Christine was far too distraught to recount all the details. "I have to go and find him; he is out there somewhere, and he'll never be able to find me. I only came here in the first place because of my grandmother and he won't know that." She motioned that she was to leave but the captain grabbed her with both hands, "Please don't do this, Mrs Glover, we can help you. You must have faith in us and let us do our job." His voice was so calming and full of authority and she relaxed and settled into his arms. "I give you my promise Mrs Glover, we will find your husband. We find people who do not want to be found so this is a job that we are most capable at." If Elizabeth was five minutes later he would have been gone and she would have missed him.
We can do this wherever you wish but Mrs Thornton and Mrs Glover, I need you both to sit with me and Nathan and tell us every single detail that you can think of right from the beginning." She still had tears but now they were different ones, it was going to be a terrible ordeal to have to wait but she somehow knew that this man was going to find her husband for her. It was now obvious to her that this man had not ascended to the rank of captain just by accident, but he was going to show that he knew his job extremely well and his wide-ranging administrative skills were going to come in very handy here.
It was still daylight when they started, and he had written down everything that was said no matter how trivial that it may have seemed and by the time they finished it was well into darkness. Elizabeth thought how lucky they were to have caught the captain just minutes before he departed to return to Fort Clay. She was feeling very drained as she rose to head home.
"Elizabeth, just a moment," said Christine grabbing her arm affectionately, "Thank you so much for doing all this for me. It must have been so hard for you to have to tell me this when you were still wondering if it was all correct. If it wasn't for you then I would still be having it in the back of my mind that he might have been lost at sea. Now I know that he is out there somewhere, and he will eventually be found. Elizabeth, you are a good friend." Elizabeth thought as she walked home that this was about the nicest thing that anyone could say to her.
Peter was extremely thankful to the Mortimer family for taking him in for the night as it was getting late in the day and to try and find somewhere to stay might have been awkward. Before retiring for the night, he sat outside in the dark looking at the stars. As nice as any family could be, he felt very lonely and he needed Bert's final words and Susan's encouragement to keep him from fretting about his long search for Christine.
He would lie down at night and he could still hear and feel the rolling sea and the sound of the ship's engines. What was he going to do when he would run out of names to follow up? It was something that he would have to address eventually. He was well occupied through the day, but it was the nights that he dreaded. He couldn't bear to think of Christine after being four year's apart. Was she sitting somewhere watching the same stars that he was, maybe she had moved on from him and even had a family of her own to look after?
He had heard that Carla was a well thought of member of the community and no wonder, she was one of the three doctors of the town. She ran a busy Infirmary in the main street of the town but she could also refer patients to the hospital when necessary. Peter had learned not to hold out for much hope, but she was Christine's aunt. She had the same reaction as everyone else when she saw Peter come through her front door. "My goodness, a naval officer a million miles from the sea." She held out her hand with a broad smile, "Hello Cassie, welcome back from your stint in the big city, I didn't expect you to bring me back a present like this."
Carla was very attractive just like all the Pennington's and he could see the resemblance to Christine and Susan. Her husband was the local constable so Peter could see that they would have a lot of influence in this town. She looked like she would inspire a great deal of confidence in people when her services were required. She looked at Peter and could see how her niece had fallen for him, "I knew that Christine had got married but I never heard anything after that. She used to write to me through her youth and I could see that she was a top-level student at school. She had so much confidence and determination so I can tell you Peter that she would have turned her hand to something worthwhile after you went away. I can also tell you that she would be waiting for you somewhere.
She fell in love with you and that would be all that matters to her. I would gamble my life savings that she is living her life waiting and knowing that you will be back with her someday." This was very encouraging for Peter who was needing every skerrick of good news. "I'm different though," she added, "I would toss my husband in an instant for you Peter." Cassie was horrified and laughed with Carla. Cassie had heard from many others that about fifteen years ago that Carla had landed the most eligible bachelor in the entire district.
"Oh, before you go Mrs Thornton, I need your father's home and his business phone number." Elizabeth had just finished talking to Christine when she got this strange request at this time of the night. "You're not planning to ring, now are you, it's getting late." she asked. The captain smiled at her, "At least I'll have a fair idea where he will be. I'm sure he has hauled employees out of bed at night when the occasion has arisen. Lights were still on at the Mercantile so he was confident that he could organise Florence to place a call even at this late hour.
"Good evening, I'm sorry to impose but I wish to speak with Mr Thatcher please." The captain had tried the work number first rather than the home number. "I'm sorry, Mr Thatcher is in a late meeting and has asked not to be disturbed, can I take your number please?" The captain as cool, calm and collected offered the following, "I am Captain Eric Foster, second in command at Fort Clay but I am currently on duty at Hope Valley. Mr Thatcher will see the urgency of my call once I explain it all to him. I have some very important questions for him from his previous communication with his daughter."
Elizabeth's father remembered the recent communique to his daughter and didn't hesitate to excuse himself from his meeting, "Good evening captain, it seems my information has turned something up sir, how can I help you?" Captain Foster liked this man right from the outset, "I will be grateful for any information that you can give me sir but mainly I will need the place where Mr Glover was discharged and the name of the officer in charge who I will speak to urgently. Your information has proved that Mr Glover's wife is the nurse here in Hope Valley and your daughter confirmed it after she found out Mrs Glover's maiden name. The discharge port will be my first step sir."
Elizabeth's father was astounded, "It is a small world indeed sir, anything that you can do for this man will be greatly appreciated. I spoke with him on the phone for quite a while and found him to be a perfect gentleman and very sincere. He knocked back the command of our brand new ship in favour of searching for his wife. I don't like losing men of his calibre, but I promised to support him in any way I can. I will telegraph your information as soon as I can, and I will be at your disposal any time of the day sir. Will you please give my best wishes to Mrs Glover and tell her that our prayers are with her and her husband."
"I'm so sorry that I can't give you any additional help to find Christine, Peter but I know she's out there somewhere waiting for you. When you get settled back home Cassie, can you come and give me a report on how you got on with your stay in the big city." Carla had been instrumental in organising the chance for Cassie to gain more experience in her chosen field.
Just as they were heading for the entrance, the front door opened rapidly with a man rushing inside in a mad panic, "Doctor Graham, you have to come quick, Mandy is in pain and something must be wrong." He was clearly in distress and Carla tried very hard to calm him down, "What's wrong Chet, surely Mandy can't be having the baby today, she was fine yesterday and she's not due for another three weeks." Carla swung into action immediately, "Cassie, you had better come with me just in case it's not a false alarm. I'm sorry Peter but we will have to go right now to help Mandy." Both ladies grabbed essentials and headed quickly for the front door, "Don't worry Chet, everything is going to be just fine, you'll see." Chet raced out and rode home to comfort his wife while waiting for the doctor to get there.
"Peter, would you please help us out and come along as well, Chet is going to need someone to be with to keep him from panicking." They headed outside and Peter wondered where the mode of transport might be. "I hope your cart is better than the one that Harry and Mary use, it's only good for firewood now." Carla laughed, "No cart anymore for me, I have a car to drive around in." Chet and Mandy lived on the outskirts of the little town and it wasn't a very long trip. "Peter, I'm so glad you are here, I'm not expecting this to be anything other than a straightforward delivery, but Chet won't settle until this baby is safely in his arms. Mandy's baby, two years ago was stillborn, and it seemed to end their lives for an eternity. Mandy shouldn't have but she blamed herself and no amount of consolation could help Chet get over the loss. Their little baby boy is buried in a special place at the cemetery so you can see why I need you Peter." It seemed like it was very fortunate that Cassie had returned from her six weeks of secondment at the big city hospital as her and Carla had worked very well together in the past.
Mandy was anxious but not in the same desperate state that her husband was in. Chet was hovering over her and protecting her like an eagle on the nest. "Chet, you are going to have to give us some space so that we can go to work in here." instructed Carla. Peter gently took him by the arm and coaxed him outside so that they could see where the family dog was sitting. He had been barking and had wanted to see what all the fuss was about. They looked after the horse who had been quietly walking around the yard looking for his bucket of feed.
Chet was quiet but Peter could see that he was a bundle of nerves, so he didn't push him for any incidental conversation or even introduce himself. He would occasionally look over at the house wondering what was going on in there. Chet hated the thought of his lovely wife being in agony and him being the cause of it all. "I see that you are in some sort of a uniform Peter, I haven't seen anything like that before. The only uniform we see around here is Carla's husband, the local constable." Chet seemed to settle down a little and was resigned to knowing that he just had to wait and let Doctor Graham do her job. He knew that she had delivered many babies in the town and the outlying district, so he knew that his wife was in good hands.
They wandered around the yard and Peter got him to talk about their land and how they made a life together. Chet was a competent farmer and he would raise animals and grew crops in season. He started to talk about how he had met Mandy in the beginning and how they were just friends for many years and somehow, they decided that they couldn't live without each other. He asked Peter about his uniform and what it meant, "Are you in the army or something?"
They finally sat down on the edge of the porch and Peter told him about how he had grown up on the land, but he had always listened intently to his grandfather who had been a sailor on the big ships many years ago. "I was fascinated by the ocean and I eventually decided to join the merchant navy with his blessing and learn everything that I could about the massive sea going vessels that travelled the high seas just like my grandfather." Chet would look back at the door of the house occasionally but he was interested in Peter's story, "I have always been here in this town and never had any desire to go anywhere else, I've never seen an ocean and I can't imagine what it must be like, water as far as the eye can see."
Peter told him about how you had to learn to use the stars to navigate and guide your ship to its destination. "What's taking them so long, I hope Mandy is not suffering too much and everything is going to be alright." Chet felt helpless at not being able to do anything, he just had to wait. Peter put his hand on his shoulder and smiled, "The baby is not going to come until it is good and ready and not before, He or maybe a she is the one in charge in there, not the doctor or Cassie."
Chet got around to asking Peter how it was that the man from the sea arrived in Ringwood so far away from the ships. "Christine and I met at a dance and I knew instantly that she was the one for me. It wasn't long before we were married, and we hardly got a honeymoon before I was ordered back to the ship. After four years at sea, I was finally able to choose to end my naval service and start looking for my wife and now I'm looking everywhere for her. I won't stop until I find her." Chet could see the sadness in Peter's eyes and also, he could see the determination that he had to see this quest through to the end.
"Does this uniform mean that you were the captain of the ship?" It looked very impressive and important as far as Chet was concerned. "No, I was second in command to the captain and the responsibility that we all had was immense. We delivered food and goods to many countries that were in dire need at the time. We saved many lives of people who would have starved if not for us and our old, battered ship." There was no noise or movement from the house and Chet's face fell, "Surely everything is alright, I can't bear it if it's like last time. Our little boy would have been two years old and I wonder what he would have been like."
He sat there with head in hand until he heard a noise from inside the house. "That sounds very much like the cry of a little baby." smiled Peter. Soon Cassie appeared looking happy but very tired after a long birth, "Would you like to come inside Chet and see your family?" He was very excited and very relieved, and Peter had to gently guide him up the steps. He peered in through the door and saw Mandy tired but beaming with her new little baby, "Chet, come over here and meet your new little daughter, she is so beautiful." He couldn't stop looking at her and he could see how she looked just like her mother. Peter waited outside as this was not his family. Carla came out and put her arms around him. She knew where Peter's thoughts were and he needed some understanding at this time, "I'm so thankful that you were here for Chet when he needed someone Peter. Someday down the track this day like today is going to be yours to remember. You will hold your own child in your arms just like them."