Savage Land (21 page)

'You can stop the big brother act. I don't need one any more.’ Her lower lip trembled while her breath came with a quickened pace as she fought to hold back the silent sobs.

His eyes mirrored the hurt and anger that surfaced at her words.

'I think you need a swift kick in an appropriate place!'

'Danny!’ Coley called out sharply as he turned away towards the house. ‘Danny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you.'

He hesitated a moment before turning back to face her.

'No, I don't imagine you did.’ His eyes narrowed as he studied her. ‘But you're right. You're a big girl now. It's time you started working out your own problems without leaning on someone else. Whatever you've got yourself into, you're going to have to get yourself out on your own. Good night.'

She gulped down her tears while she watched him walk back towards the house. She knew what she was doing. Of course she did!

The steady drumming of rain on her windowpane greeted Coley as she woke from a restless night's sleep. The dark, sunless morning mirrored the depression that had hung over her head since yesterday morning. With stiff, listless movements she dragged herself from beneath the covers, grimacing at the growling thunder that vibrated the glass in the windows. She grabbed a pair of Levis from the drawer and with an unhurried motion pulled them over her legs up to her waist before reaching in another drawer for an ochre-coloured sweat-shirt. A very unglamorous combination, she thought, as she drew a careless brush through her hair, but then she didn't feel altogether too glamorous anyway. She glanced briefly at the jars and tubes of make-up lying on her bureau before shrugging at her reflection. Who cares? she thought, and ambled out of her room. Halfway down the hall, she passed the opened door leading into Tony's room. She stopped, surprised to see Tony inside with an open suitcase busily engaged in throwing clothes into it.

'Tony, what are you doing?’ Coley asked in a dazed voice.

'You got eyes, Princess. Use them.’ His voice was sharp as he continued piling clothes into the case without looking towards the door.

'You're leaving, aren't you? Where are you going? Why are you going?'

'Someone else now has control of the kingdom and the castle.’ Tony walked over to the doorway, his thin face twisted with bitterness. ‘I won't be sticking around to play knave any more.’ His lips curled over his words as his slender fingers imprisoned her chin turning her frowning face up to his. ‘You know, Coley, you not only have big eyes, you have a big mouth as well. Between you and Jase, you've finished me here at the ranch. I've got as much luck as my father had.'

'I don't know what you're talking about,’ she murmured as Tony released her chin in distaste and walked back over to his bed to resume his packing.

'Go ahead, play your little games, but don't expect me to believe that you don't know about Uncle Ben's latest move.’ At Coley's puzzled expression, Tony slammed the lid shut on the suitcase angrily. ‘Oh, go on. Just get out of here. You've been a pain ever since you got here!'

Confused, she turned away from the door, hurt by the bitter contempt in Tony's voice as he ordered her from his room. The stairwell yawned before her and she made her way slowly down the steps. She hesitated briefly at the bottom. Breakfast waited in the dining room, but she wasn't hungry.

Coley slipped on to the porch, jamming her hands in the pockets of her jeans as she wandered along the wooden railing. A distant jagged bolt of lightning sent her retreating back to the safety of the house walls. She walked aimlessly along the L-shaped veranda, her desultory thoughts keeping her company, until she was halted by the echoing rap of a hand against a window. She glanced through the shadow-darkened glass to see Ben motioning insistently for her to come inside. Her mind raced to think of an excuse ... to no avail. So with a sigh, and a bowed head, she accepted the inevitable and re-entered the house, turning down the hallway to Ben's study.

'You're certainly a ray of sunshine this morning,’ he scoffed at the sullen expression on Coley's face as she entered the room.

'It's not exactly sunshine weather outside,’ she retorted quickly, sending him a withering glance.

'Seems to me I recall you were frightened of our thunderstorms. You were showing a lot of courage just now wandering out there on the porch.'

Coley glanced out the window at the dark, rolling clouds. Their angry forms seemed to mirror her own tossing and tumultuous emotions, her anger and bitterness mingled with tears of frustration and hurt.

'Maybe I was hoping the rain would wash some of this Savage dirt off of me,’ she said sarcastically.

'Have you had breakfast yet?’ Ben asked. At the negative shake of her head, he added, ‘I thought not. An empty stomach usually sharpens the tongue as well as the appetite.'

'Surely you didn't call me in here to discuss my eating habits,’ Coley said huffily, turning from the window to face him.

'Hardly,’ he answered with an indignant snort. His bushy brows lowered over his eyes as he studied her intently. ‘I was wandering why you didn't join the celebration last night.'

'It must have really been some celebration,’ she replied with a bitter laugh. ‘I just saw Tony upstairs, packing.'

'Don't change the subject on me, girl. I asked you a question.'

'Did it ever occur to you that I didn't think it deserved an answer?’ Coley answered smartly. Then she noticed the knuckles on his hand, white from gripping the armrests on his wheelchair. The memory of their last argument came bursting through her bitterness and she sighed her defeat. ‘I just didn't feel like celebrating the grand occasion.'

'But it's what you've been wanting all along.’ A flicker of hurt and confusion gleamed briefly in his blue-grey eyes.

'When have I ever said I wanted you to buy me a husband?’ Coley asked dejectedly, her chin trembling as she fought to hold back the tears that threatened.

'I don't know what you're talking about,’ Uncle Ben replied, a frown creasing his forehead. But Coley noticed the brief start of guilt that had preceded his answer.

'I went all through this last night with Jase, Uncle Ben, so it doesn't do any good to play innocent.’ Her sad eyes gazed at him with pity. His misguided attempt to give her the man she loved had backfired. ‘I'm not going to marry him.'

'You're not going to marry ... Did he propose to you last night?’ The hawk-like look was back in his eyes.

'Not really,’ Coley answered. Her chin straightened defiantly as she met his eyes. ‘I didn't give him the opportunity.'

The funny half-smile on his face disturbed her, as if he was laughing to himself. ‘You—uh—didn't give him a chance to explain things, huh?'

'There wasn't anything to explain,’ Coley strove for an air of nonchalance that didn't match her nervous movements. ‘He hinted that I should consider an engagement to ... to humour you. But I refused.'

'Naturally,’ Ben replied smugly.

'You don't seem very upset,’ she said, a confused frown creasing her forehead.

'Should I be?'

'Yes, I mean, I would have thought ... wasn't that the purpose of...’ She suddenly felt she was putting her foot in her mouth.

'I have the feeling that you were in my study yesterday morning. Am I right?’ Coley nodded her head affirmatively at his question. ‘I take it you heard part of a conversation between Jase and myself.’ Again she nodded. His eyes crinkled at the corners as a short mirthful laugh escaped his lips. ‘Oh, Coley, nothing good comes from listening to keyholes.'

'I'm certainly glad I did,’ she replied, slightly angered by his laughter as well as confused. ‘Oh, Uncle Ben, how could you have dangled the ranch as a present to Jase for marrying me? Didn't you think I have any pride?'

He tried desperately to keep the smile from his face with only slight success. ‘I would say you have as much pride as any Savage on this ranch. As for dangling you as bait for Jase, I guess that was my final test of him.’ His expression was sombre as he gazed abstractedly out the window before turning back to her. ‘You should have stayed for the entire conversation. Then you would have heard him refuse the ranch under that condition, just as I would have done had it been me in his place. No, Coley, I signed the ranch over to him
with no strings attached.'
The last words were spoken clearly and concisely so that there was no misinterpretation.

She stood in horrified silence as the full meaning of the words sank in, before she collapsed into an arm chair.

'What have I done?’ Her eyes filled with tears as she turned to Ben. ‘The horrible things I said to him last night! Oh, Uncle Ben, what am I going to do? I love him so much!'

'The same thing I did yesterday, Coley’ he replied with a tender smile. ‘Apologize and tell him what an old fool you've been. Except in your case, when you've been a young fool.'

A glimmer of hope rose in her as she remembered Jason's words the night before that she would be looking for him to apologize. ‘Where is he?’ she demanded hoarsely, swallowing the pride that had announced last night that she would never beg his forgiveness.

The old man blinked quickly at the tears in his own eyes and glanced out the window.

'Knowing Jase, in this kind of rain, I'd be out checking the washes for stray cattle in case of a flash flood.'

Coley leaped from her chair, her cheeks wet with tears, but her face glowing from an inner sunshine. As she dashed from the room, Ben wheeled as rapidly as he could after her shouting instructions.

'He'll probably be over in the eastern section near Blue Rock Mountain. Cut across the lower pasture,’ he called as the screen door slammed behind the running girl. ‘You should be wearing a raincoat!'

As he came to a stop in front of the screen, he chuckled to himself. She was in love. She wouldn't even notice it was raining. He pushed the door open and wheeled on to the porch. A few minutes later she came scurrying out of the barn leading a reluctant roan. Mounting quickly, she waved a hasty hand in Ben's direction before galloping off into the rain.

She raced across the flat pasture land, the tall grass giving her horse footing despite the torrential rain. The wind whipped her face, the raindrops stung her cheeks, but still she didn't check her pace. Then the land began to rise and dip as she reached the undulating foothills. Coley slowed Misty down, not wanting to risk laming her favourite mount as they began to climb the hills. Little rivulets of water were racing down and the sparse growth could not hold them back. In places, the ground was a sea of slippery, oozing mud just as it had been that first night she had met Jase.

She pulled Misty to a stop on the top of a ridge and searched the surrounding slopes and bottom land for a sign of him. A jagged bolt of lightning flashed brilliantly in front of them as Misty tossed her head and neighed her misgivings while the earth trembled beneath them from the accompanying roll of thunder. Coley patted the roan's neck reassuringly. She shivered slightly, her clothes soaked to her skin. For a minute she wondered how she would find him, then her eyes lit up with an idea. The lineshack! It was somewhere near here. Jase would stop there sometime during the day. He was bound to.

She touched the roan's side with her heel urging the horse down the sloping ridge. The dry washes at the bottom of the slopes were filling with the run-off water. Even now Coley could visualize the water rising at the highway crossings. Farther and farther she and her mount rode, crossing hills, riding down canyons, until the highway loomed its shiny grey ribbon in front of them. She cantered Misty along the flatland until she reached the plateau that she had climbed on foot so long ago. Giving the horse free rein, she clutched the saddle born tightly while the roan bounded up the steep slope, muscles straining with each slippery step, until they reached the top. Minutes later the lineshack loomed darkly against the morning's rolling thunder clouds. A thread of grey smoke mingled with the clouds and rain. With a shout of joy, Coley slapped her horse on the flank with her reins.

Huddled against the building under the overhanging roof stood the big red horse that Jase always rode. Coley dismounted quickly as she and Misty reached the building. Impatiently she tugged her horse under the roof with Jase's. Then she was off, racing around the building to the door, bursting inside with a shower of raindrops. Inside she stopped short, her happy eyes taking in the still form of Jase in the act of pouring himself a cup of coffee. Suddenly she was shy, frightened. What was she going to say? Where did she begin?

'What are you doing here?’ Jase finally spoke, sitting the pot down and walking around the table towards her.

'I'm sorry. I was wrong. I was a fool.’ Her words were rushing out of her mouth like an unloosed torrent of water. ‘You've got to forgive me. I didn't mean all those horrible things I said. Forgive me, please forgive me.'

'You rode all the way up here to tell me that ... in this weather?’ He gazed at her through half-closed eyes, his tone mocking.

'Of course! Don't you understand, Jase? Uncle Ben explained everything to me. You see, I only heard part of your conversation with him. I thought you'd made a bargain with him to marry me.’ She struggled for the words that would make him understand. Her happiness evaporated with each passing second that he stood there so indifferently.

'And now that you know differently,’ he said blandly, ‘what am I supposed to do? Forgive you?'