*****
“He wasn’t home?” Douglas, Kate’s son, and the love of Eliza’s life stood by the chugging loco-motor and stared down at her in bemusement. “Are you telling me, that my little pepperpot can’t find her man?” He grinned at her, and Eliza felt her ire rising.
As much as she loved Douglas, sometimes he could be a little condescending—especially when it came to her work. “I didn’t just go to his house, Douglas—I scoured all of bloody Dunedin! For such a blowhard he’s lying very low.”
“Well, we can’t be concerned about that little weasel now.” Kate Sheppard appeared on the doorstep, pulling on her driving gloves, and with a pair of goggles hanging from around her neck. She was dressed warmly, because even in Spring in an open topped vehicle would be chilly. “We have to get the petition to Wellington by Monday, before parliament is dismissed for the season. Mr. John Hall has to present it before they close the doors. If he does not then the next parliament is guaranteed to be only more toxic to the cause.”
The chugging of the loco-motor hardly seemed reassuring. Eliza glanced at it. “Then why are you not taking an airship? You could be there tomorrow morning instead of all this fuss and bother…”
Kate slipped her goggles over her eyes and adjusted them, “Because, my dear girl, both commercial fleets are owned by men unhappy with what we are trying to do. Simply put, they have informed all their offices not to sell tickets to us. We may even have a kind of wanted poster out. Very American. So it is this or Shanks’ pony.”
The Agent did some quick calculations. With two nights in hand they should be able to reach Picton and the ferry on Saturday night, and the capital by Sunday.
“And it’s just the two of you?” Eliza didn’t mean to sound dismissive, but Kate and Douglas Sheppard did not seem like a lot to protect the petition, which had taken nearly a year to assemble and would be impossible to replace in time should anything befall it.
Douglas flicked open the lid of the trunk already strapped to the back of the loco. “Don’t worry, she’s in good hands.”
Eliza peered in and got a real thrill to see the huge roll of paper tucked in the case. Thousands upon thousands of woman’s signatures were all in there, demanding the same rights as the men of the country for themselves. It was more than a year’s work, and the voice of an unheard majority.
“I was up rather late last night pasting the final pages together,” Kate whispered over her shoulder, before stepping up into the driving seat of the loco-motor. “I think it will be far more impressive to have John unfurl it across the floor of the debating chamber.” Legions of women in all their different districts had worked long and hard to get these signatures, and then sent all the pages to Kate—Monday would see the culmination of their bravery and determination.
The idea of it unfurling before all those flabbergasted men was quite monumental—yet Eliza knew in the pit of her stomach that Henry Smith Fish had not suddenly disappeared by coincidence. If this petition reached Wellington then he would have failed.
Her mind was thus made up. She spun around. “I want to be there to see that, and I want to make sure it gets there.” The weight of her ponamu handled pistols in the small of her back, under her jacket made her feel a little more comfortable.
Douglas took her hands in his. “I am not sure that is appropriate, Eliza, since we are not yet married—“
“Stuff and nonsense,” Kate interrupted. “I can think of no better guardian of the petition than Miss Eliza D Braun—and I shall do my best to protect her innocence from you, Douglas.” She wagged her finger at him with a grin, before holding out her hand to Eliza. “Climb up my dear.”
The Agent smiled right back at her, before taking her place behind the Sheppards. Kate took a deep breath, as though just about to fling herself off an extremely tall cliff, then shoved the levers forward, and they were off. Eliza could only hope that they were leaving Mr. Henry Smith Fish behind them in a cloud of steam.