The more she thought about it the more she was sure she should return to help Wesley.
But first she’d have to escape Bud and Cal. As they walked, she began to look for a hiding place, a place to spend the night all alone in the big, lonely forest. She shivered.
“You would like to rest?” Bud asked from behind her.
“Oh no,” she said sweetly, smiling up at the big man. “I’m just fine.” Wesley, she thought, was worth the trial of being alone in the forest.
Chapter 21
Escaping the boys was harder than Leah had imagined, and hiding from them was even more difficult. She practically buried herself under leaves and shrubs, then held her breath as Bud and Cal walked all around her. After a nearly silent conversation, they separated and went north and south. Leah didn’t move but stayed in her crouched position until her legs ached.
At sundown the young men returned and inspected the ground carefully. They seemed to know she was near them and wanted to give her time to emerge from hiding. But Leah waited until nightfall before she crept out of her hole. Bud and Cal were nowhere to be seen as she started up the mountain.
Every sound made her jump and after only a few yards, her spine was rigid with fear. It wasn’t until after hours of struggling that she felt someone was near her. “Revis!” she exclaimed, then stood still.
“Bud and Cal,” she said with a sigh. “I know you’re there so come out.”
As if they were part of the forest themselves, the young men emerged to stand beside her.
Perhaps she should have felt that she’d been caught, but she suddenly felt safer and was actually glad to see them. With a grin she looked up at them. “Now what happens? Do you take me screaming down the mountain? I warn you, I will scream. And kick, too,” she added as an afterthought.
The men seemed puzzled by her. “Why do you want to return to Revis? Your husband wants you safe.”
“And who will keep Wesley safe with both of you gone? And Revis will hurt Verity because there’s no one to protect her and he’ll probably beat Abe because I’ve escaped.”
“You care for your brother?” Cal asked.
“Perhaps. I’m not sure. I do know I can’t run away and let Wesley take on Revis by himself. Will you help me?”
Bud looked at Cal.
As Leah watched, the two young giants seemed to engage in silent communication. Abe had said they were brothers to Revis, but right now she wondered how close they really were.
“Do either of you ever ride with Revis on his robberies?”
“No,” Bud said.
“Then why…? Why do you stay with him?”
“He pays us for firewood and game and for watching his cabin to see that no one comes near.”
Leah’s curiosity was piqued. “Does he pay you well?”
“We have bought land in the town at the foot of the mountain. We are going to be farmers.”
“The town…? You mean Wesley’s Sweetbriar? How much land do you have?”
They looked at each other. “It is now eight thousand five hundred sixty-two acres.”
“Thousand?” Leah whispered. “The two of you own thousands of acres of land?”
“Wesley knows our land and says it is good. He said he will help us build a house and help us buy seed and tools.”
Leah couldn’t help laughing. According to Abe the boys were stupid, but in truth they were smart enough to make themselves rich. “When are you planning to leave Revis?”
“We owe him something. He helped us when we were children,” Cal said. “But our debt is close to being paid. We will leave soon.”
“And now you have a new protector. Wesley will help you as much as you need. And if you’ll help me now I’ll…” She couldn’t think of what she had to bargain with. “I’ll cook for you. While you’re building your house and barn I’ll give you meals.”
For the first time ever, in the moonlight, she saw the men smile, and they looked even younger. Their size made them frightening and she guessed they were used to stares and odd remarks, but she was rapidly growing fond of them.
“On the way down here,” she said slowly, “I saw a patch of wild strawberries. Have either of you had strawberry cobbler with a thick crust on the top, little holes cut in it with hot strawberry juice oozing over the crust? Or maybe you’d like something called chicken in a coffin. It’s a chicken baked with—.”
Bud cut her off. “What do you want done?”
“We do not murder people,” Cal injected.
“No! I didn’t mean—.” She saw they were teasing her. “Does Revis know what the two of you are really like?”
Cal’s face hardened. “Revis thinks we are his, as his mother did, but Revis does not treat us like slaves. We make him pay us well for what we do. You should not return to him.”
She wanted to explain things to him. “Cal,” she said quietly, “if Bud were in trouble would you risk your own safety to help him or go somewhere safe? Wesley is the man I love and I believe I can help him.”
“I would die for my brother,” Cal said, “and he for me. We will help you.”
“We will take you back to Revis and when your man returns—.”
“Returns! Where did he go? What’s he up to?”
“He did not tell us. He said only that he would be back in two days. You can stay at Revis’s cabin until then or we will hide you in the woods.”
“I’ll go back to Revis. At least there I can help Verity and see that everyone is fed. Shall we start walking?”
Bud looked down at his foot. “Perhaps we should wait until morning, when there is light.”
“But I’d like to get back in case Wesley…” She stopped. “I guess we can’t pick strawberries at night, can we?”
“No,” Bud said with a smile.
“What did you boys eat when you were growing up?”
“Gray things,” Cal said grimly. “Big bowls of gray.”
Leah tried not to laugh at his bleakness. Someday perhaps they could visit Stanford Plantation and see the vast quantity and variety of food there. And too, they might like to meet Clay Armstrong’s pretty young niece.
She sat down. “I guess we could get some sleep.” Without another thought she curled into a ball on the damp ground and went to sleep. One thing about having guardians half the size of a mountain, it made one feel safe.
Leah had just finished putting another meal on the table in the little cabin, but she hesitated calling the men in to eat. Wesley had just arrived, sunlight flashing off his buckskins, his face serious as he talked to Revis. Leah could see the tension in the cruel smaller man; Revis’s shoulders were hunched together as if he expected a blow any minute.
Over the past few days Leah had stayed close to Bud and Cal. She was amazed at how deep her hatred of Revis went now. Again and again she saw him kill the settler and shoot the woman. Once he tried to sweet-talk her into believing he’d done it out of his growing love for her, but Leah knew he’d murdered the travelers because he couldn’t abide being turned down.
The closer Leah stayed to the boys the more she liked them. They were silent while Abe spoke to them and of them as if they had the intelligence of the floorboards. A few times she caught Bud’s eyes twinkling.
Revis brought a load of fresh eggs and cream to the camp and Leah made a big custard covered in burnt sugar. But before she’d allow Bud or Cal to have a morsel, she made them tell her what they knew about Wes. They knew only that Wes was pretending that he was from the Dancer and would work with Revis.
“I’m sure Revis will welcome him with open arms. He’ll just love sharing his command,” Leah had said with disgust.
Now Wesley was outside explaining something to Revis, and Leah’s throat was dry in anticipation of how angry he was going to be with her. Maybe she should have obeyed him and gone to Sweetbriar, but then she’d had another look at him. Neither Kimberly Shaw nor any other woman was going to get him if she could help it!
“Abe,”
Leah said as she saw her brother walking toward Wesley. Abe would tell Revis who Wesley was. She was almost to the door when she heard Abe say, “Who’s this, Mr. Revis?”
Leaning against the door, Leah breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Somehow Wesley had taken care of Abe. What in the world had Wes promised Abe to make him go against his precious Mr. Revis?
Now the only unaccounted problem was Leah. She smoothed her hair, her dress, and tried to brace herself. She hoped he wouldn’t be too surprised to see her.
She was bending over the fire when he entered the cabin.
“And who is this pretty bit, Revis?” Wesley drawled. “I heard you had all the comforts up here but I didn’t know about this one.”
Slowly Leah turned to face him. There was no surprise on his face, but his eyes were shooting fire.
“Leah’s mine,” Revis said in a hard voice. “I don’t share her and there’s no question of who she belongs to.”
Wesley, with a slow smile, stepped nearer Leah. Only she could see his face and what she saw there made her step backward. His anger made her afraid.
“Wesl—,” she began.
He grabbed her about the waist, pulling her to him. “Watch out, pretty lady, you’re about to step into the fire. My name’s Wesley Armstrong, what’s yours?” His eyes were warning her and threatening her all at the same time.
Over his shoulder she could see Revis as his dark face turned darker. Here was something she hadn’t considered. If she showed Revis she preferred Wesley, would Revis slip a knife into her husband’s ribs?
“Unhand me, you filthy thief,” she said loudly and watched the confusion in Wesley’s eyes. “None of your kind will ever touch me.” Taking advantage of Wes’s astonishment, she pushed away from him.
Wes began to recover himself. “I think I’d like to have this little filly, Revis,” he said smugly. “Maybe we can work out a deal.”
“Leah is mine,” Revis repeated, teeth clenched.
“Maybe the lady should choose.” Wes smiled as he confidently advanced toward her. “Maybe you have trouble with women, but I don’t. Come here, wench.”
“Wench!” Leah said with a gasp. Perhaps she did love him, but this wench business was a little too much. To her right was a bowl of cornbread batter she had just mixed. With a little cat smile forming on her lips she lazily lifted the bowl, then with a quick motion tossed the contents into Wesley’s smiling face. While he stood there flinging globs of batter off his face, Leah turned to Bud and Cal. “This overdressed peacock is the same as the other one. If he gets too near me I’ll serve you raw bacon for breakfast.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Revis give a satisfied grunt, turn on his heel, and leave the cabin. Now all she had to deal with was Wesley’s rage. “Wench indeed,” she snapped before moving out of Wesley’s reach.
Before he left the cabin to wash, he didn’t say anything to Leah, but the look on his face made her swallow hard.
“Do you think he will beat you?” Bud whispered.
“Would you let him?” she asked, aghast.
“You were mean to him,” Cal answered.
“Be quiet and eat,” she said, and only then realized they were laughing at her. “I hope you realize it was your cornbread I dumped on him. Maybe next time it’ll be the apple tart I’m baking for supper.”
“We will not let him beat you!” Bud and Cal said, eyes wide, then they grinned at her. “You sure are an exciting woman, Leah.”
“I hope Wesley agrees with you,” she said heavily before turning back to the fire.
As the sun began to set and Leah was once again loading the table down with food, Wesley entered the cabin. If he looked at her, Leah didn’t see because she was afraid to turn in his direction. She knew he didn’t understand why she’d turned him down. No doubt he thought he could protect her better if she were his wench.
Still playing her role, she stepped completely out of his reach when she put food on the table. She could feel the eyes of both Revis and Wesley on her.
“So you know of this rich wagon?” Revis was saying to Wes. “The Dancer sent you to lead for this one job?”
Wes looked around the room at Bud, Cal, Abe, Verity, and Leah. “Perhaps we should talk later.”
Revis gave a slow grin. “Bud and Cal are my brothers. Abe wouldn’t talk, would you, Abe?”
“No sir, Mr. Revis,” Abe said with his mouth full. “Secrets are safe with me.”
“And Verity is too frightened to tell anything,” Revis continued.
“And the pretty one?” Wesley asked.
“She’s mine and she can’t leave,” Revis said in a hard voice. “Now tell me what you were sent here to tell me.”
As Leah served food, Wesley mapped out a plan to attack a pair of wagons that looked as if they belonged to settlers but were in truth carrying gold.
“The Dancer always knows of these things,” Revis said as he leaned back in his chair and lit a thin cigar. “And tell me, how’s he doing? He looked fit the last time I saw him.”
“You know the Dancer,” Wes said. “He’s healthy as always. He mentioned the last time you met, at his house.”
“At the party, yes.”
“He seemed to be angry about you and a young woman.”
Revis smiled. “His daughter, actually. Didn’t he mention that the young lady who was so taken with me was his beautiful daughter?”
Wesley grinned, too. “The Dancer failed to mention that little detail. Now if you’ll all excuse me I think I’ll tramp up the mountain to that pond I saw and take a bath.”
He stopped in front of Leah and ran a finger down her cheek. “Perhaps you, pretty lady, will join me.”
She gave him her sweetest smile. “I will indeed have to bathe now that you’ve touched me, but I’ll not bathe with you. That would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?”
She felt a little guilty at the look on Wesley’s face and at the way his hand dropped as if she were something he no longer wanted to touch. The cabin was silent as he left, except for a soft chuckle from Revis.
Later only Bud and Cal were still in the cabin, still eating at the table.
Leah removed her apron. “I’m going to Wesley. Will you see that Revis doesn’t come near us?”
Bud looked at his plate. “What is for supper tomorrow night?”
“Are you blackmailing me?” She smiled at them. “Do a good job tonight and I’ll show you what I can do with that brace of doves you brought in.” With only a bit of hesitation she kissed each one of them on the forehead. “Good night, my lovely princes.”
With that she was out the door and running through the dark forest, up the trail to the cabin where Wesley had stayed. Above that was the pond. The whole time she traveled, she tried to come up with a way to cool his anger. The more she thought about it the more she was sure that she should let her body do the talking.
She stood on a little rise for a moment, looking down at the pond, at Wesley’s long body swimming lazily about. The moonlight gleamed on his dark skin.
This wasn’t going to be nearly as difficult as she’d thought. Coughing a few times to get his attention, and when she was sure he was looking at her, slowly, she began to unbutton her dress. Easily, the stained, sturdy garment fell to the ground and what was left was a semitransparent chemise.
She walked toward him; he was treading water, watching her, the fabric clinging to her thighs with each step, and when she reached the foot of a tall tree she paused. Eyes locked with his, she unfastened the chemise and let it fall.
The last layer of clothing was a pair of drawstring pantalets, so sheer they left nothing to the imagination, and short, soft silk stays.
When Leah was a child, to escape her father’s wrath she’d learned to be very good at climbing trees and now, with agility, she pulled herself onto a long, heavy branch that overhung the pond. Balancing herself, she walked about halfway out. Then, looking down at Wesley, she removed her stays and dropped them to t
he ground, freeing her full breasts to the moonlight. Next she removed the clinging pantalets and tossed them down.
Nude, she didn’t look at her husband, but very calmly walked to the end of the branch, balanced for a moment, then made a perfect dive into the cool water, not two feet from him. When she came up, he caught her arm.
“Lord, woman,” he more breathed than said, “you do know how to get a man’s attention.”
Without another word he pulled her out of the water, half dragging her so that her legs floated out behind her, and led her to the shore. “Leah,” he whispered as he pulled her into his arms, their wet bodies sticking together as if they were one.
With hands on both sides of her face, he kissed her hungrily and Leah put her arms about his neck, knowing that this moment was worth all his anger.
His hands moved down her wet back, playing with the damp tendrils of her hair as his lips caressed her face, kissing her eyelids, her cheeks.
Suddenly he pushed her away. “Here, let me look at you.”
Color rose to Leah’s face. Perhaps he wouldn’t find her pleasing.
He held her hands, pulled her arms out to the side and let his eyes travel down her body. “When we get home I want to keep you in my house just as you are now. I’ll never let you wear any clothes.”
“Oh Wesley,” she said in a girlish giggle. “I’d freeze in the winter.”
“Not with me to keep you warm,” he said as he pulled her to him and began to nibble her neck.
Leah shivered, chills running up and down her spine and down the backs of her legs. The movement caused Wes to pull her closer, and when he kissed her again she felt fire run through her and attempted to move closer to him.
With a soft, seductive smile, Wesley pulled her down to the ground, but when Leah started to touch the grass, Wes moved her to the top of him. “That skin of yours shouldn’t touch the hard ground. Just touch me, my pretty wife.” With that he lifted her and set her down on his maleness.
With a gasp Leah began to move atop him, undulating to the delicious rhythm that began coursing through her body. Wesley caught her hips in his powerful hands and helped her move. And when she felt her body reach a crescendo, she fell forward, wrapping her arms about his neck, pulling him ever closer while his hard thrusts made her feel as if she were drowning.