The pool of St Branok

"Your wife is sleeping. She will sleep for several hours. She will need nursing for a while. Mrs. Bowles is quite experienced. She will know what to do. You have a son."

"But I thought ..."

"I admit to my surprise. I did not think it would be possible to save them both. I believe your son is going to be a tenacious young fellow."

Justin and I just stared at each other; then he put his arms round me and hugged me.

That day stands out in my memory as one of perfect happiness.

There was no place for anything but rejoicing. That which we had thought lost was restored to us. Morwenna was weak but all she needed was careful nursing. As for her son, he was a lusty young baby. The little difficulty in arriving was not going to upset him.

Mrs. Bowles preened herself; she was the heroine of the hour in her own opinion; she it was who had presided; she had known when to send for the doctor; she had known all along that everything was going to be all right.

I saw Morwenna later that day. She lay there, her eyes shining: she was beautiful in her complete contentment; and when Mrs. Bowles laid the baby in her arms she looked like the Madonna.

"I have never thought to be so happy," she said. "Angelet, you must write at once to Mother and Pa and tell them they have a grandson."

I was too emotional to speak; as I had sat on the stairs I had said to myself over and over again: How am I going to tell the Pencarrons? And now there was only joyful news to impart.

Justin was there, smiling at Morwenna, marveling at the perfection of his new son. Everyone wanted to see and touch the baby, but Mrs. Bowles stood over him like a stern sentinel protecting him from invaders.

There was great rejoicing everywhere.

That was a perfect day.

The first thing I did next morning was to go to Morwenna's room. Mrs. Bowles was sleeping at the house; she was going to look after Morwenna for as long as she considered it necessary. She was sleeping in a room next to what was now called the nursery.

I said that when Morwenna was well enough we would go to Melbourne and buy a cot and perambulator for the baby. I wanted to buy some toys.

Morwenna laughed at me. "He won't be playing with many toys yet. He would like a nice furry thing to cuddle perhaps."

I sat by her bed for most of that morning telling her how frightened we had been ... how we had waited all through the night.

"You are all so wonderful to me," she said.

"Ben Lansdon rode ten miles through the night ... and ten more bringing back Dr. Field."

"I shall never forget what he did."

"Heaven knows what would have happened without the doctor, Morwenna. You would have all those complications."

She laughed. "Justin is delighted with the baby," she said softly.

"He is even more delighted with you," I told her. "There was a choice, you know ... at one stage the doctor said he could save your life or the child's ..."

"I didn't know that."

"Justin said, save you. You see, you are loved, Morwenna."

There were tears in her eyes. "Did he really say that, Angelet?"

"Yes, he did."

"I ... sometimes wondered ..."

"What?"

"Whether he truly loved me."

"Why? Did he ever seem not to?"

"Oh no. He always said he did. But I couldn't really believe that anyone could care like that for me."

"You are a silly creature, Morwenna. Well, now you know."

"I am so happy. Fancy! Here, in this place, I am happier than I have ever been in my life. Isn't it odd? And isn't it wonderful?"

I agreed that it was.

The news spread through the town. One-Eye's and Cassidy's gold had disappeared, and David Skelling with it. He must have stolen it and gone off during the revelries. No one had noticed him go and neither One-Eye nor Cassidy had missed the gold for twenty-four hours. It had taken them all day to sleep off the effects of the celebrations.

For the next day there was no talk of anything but the robbery; and then when it seemed that One-Eye and Cassidy had lost their fortunes and that David Skelling was obviously the thief, the arrival of the new baby and the difficult birth with its final happy conclusion didn't turn their minds from the terrible fate of the two miners.

There was a great deal of marveling at the skill of the doctor and Mrs. Bowles. It was the latter's finest hour. She was staying at Golden Hall where Morwenna was with the baby; and when she came into the town people would gather round her to hear the tale.

"It was touch and go," she told them. "Dr. Field, he said to me, 'Mrs. Bowles, what do you think of this?' And I told him straight. I said, 'It's either her or the baby.' And he said, 'That's what I'm afraid, Mrs. Bowles. But we'll do our best.' And we did. The Lord alone knows how we did it. We pulled them both through. I never thought we could but we did."

I guessed the tale would be told for years to come as she weighed out the sugar and sliced the bacon.

We were all in a state of euphoria that week. Morwenna was getting better every day. Happiness was a great restorer. Mrs. Bowles was growing prouder and the baby stronger.