And Those Who Trespass Against Us (19 page)

Catriona's apprehension deeply touched Katherine. Despite the harsh words spoken earlier, Catriona obviously still cared for her welfare. Katherine grabbed the girth. "It isn't that. It's much worse. Alexander's returned. I've managed to stall him by avoiding him. He's in the study." Katherine looked into Catriona's eyes. "And very happy. This would lead me to believe no one's told him about Sister Coreen."

Catriona closed her eyes and bent her head as if collecting herself. She handed the reins to Katherine. "Then I expect it's up to me to break the news. I'd ask you make yourself scarce, for I'm not sure what his reaction will be. If I need you, I'll call."

Chapter Nine

CATRIONA ENTERED THE back entrance of the house and collected herself. She knew today would eventually come. In truth, she hadn't fully prepared herself for it. Katherine's arrival, coupled with her own work on the farm and the surrounding district hadn't given her the time to sit down and think about how she'd break the news to Alexander.

She closed her eyes in pain. She'd never seen him as happy as when he was with Coreen. Now she was about tell him something that would emotionally rend him in two. All at once she felt very old for her twenty-eight years. She longed, just once, to have someone else bear the responsibilities thrust upon her. She reluctantly walked along the corridor to the study where Alexander was. Steeling herself, she grasped the handle and quietly opened the door.

Alexander jolted awake. He rubbed his face and scanned the room, as if to gain his bearings and his gaze settled Catriona. Shaking himself out of his sleepiness, he rose from the leather chair and encircled her in his arms. "Hello, Cat, you look like you've been wrestling cattle again. Should I bother asking who won?"

Catriona carefully returned Alexander's hug. "Why bother. A Pelham always succeeds at what ever enterprise they begin." Catriona's breath hitched, realising Alexander's most recent endeavour would be one met with bitter success. Her eyes guarded, she attempted to keep the conversation between them neutral. "Welcome home. How are you? What stories of the world have you brought with you this time?"

Alexander grabbed her hand and led her to the two chairs next to the fireplace. He eased himself into the comfort of one chair, motioning her to do the same. "The price of wheat has picked up a bit but not half as much as barley has. The men I spoke with told me, as far as crops go, barley isn't easy to grow, but has significant financial benefits. I think next year we'll sew a paddock to see if it'll take. If it does then, my dear Cat," he locked his hands behind his head, a smug look on his face, "I think we'll be well established as one of the most affluent families in the west."

"Not that we truly need it, Alex," Catriona gently remonstrated. "We're
more
than economically self-sufficient here. There're a lot of people in far worse situations than we are."

"I know. Although don't you think it would be nice to well and truly rub it in the faces of those rich impostors? I'm sick to death of their condescending looks every time we go into town." Alexander failed to keep the bitterness from his voice. "I want this property to be one of the most modern properties in the district. With the returns I envision, no one would
dare
treat us like squatters." He closed his eyes and exhaled, attempting to bring his frustration under control. "What's been happening around here?"

Catriona gulped, not yet ready to raise the topic of Coreen. She stood and walked to the liquor cabinet. "Before I begin, would you like a drink? I've been riding all day and need something to quench my thirst. How about a whisky and water?" Not waiting for his reply, she poured a generous helping of scotch into a glass.

Alexander raised his brows. "I don't believe my ears! You drinking alcohol is surprising enough, but before sunset? You
must
have had a hard day. Of course I'll join you. Then you can tell me what's happened while I've been away."

"I'll get us some water and then we can sit down and have a good old talk." She closed the door and went to the kitchen where Katherine was seated.

"How's everything going in there?" Katherine asked, a concerned look on her face.

Catriona busied herself with filling a crystal water jug from the pitcher on the bench top. "Everything's fine so far. Then again I haven't told him anything yet. I think it's going to be a long night. So please don't wait dinner for us." Catriona replaced the pitcher on the bench. "I intend to get him slightly drunk, at least enough so once I tell him about Coreen, hopefully the pain won't be too great."

Katherine moved to Catriona's side and placed her hand over Catriona's. Catriona's gaze alternated between Katherine's hand and her face, which was perilously close to her own.

"Remember, if you need me I'm here," Katherine softly said.

Catriona looked deeply into Katherine's eyes, too moved to transfer into words what she felt. This morning she'd been so angry with her. But how could she remain angry with someone so beautiful? Setting the crystal jug on the table, she placed her other hand over both of theirs and wistfully smiled. "I," Catriona flinched at the sound of a cough coming from the direction of the study. "I'm sorry. I better go." She half-heartedly removed her hand, picked up the jug, and returned to the study.

She found Alexander had already helped himself. "Do you want some water?"

He held out his glass. "I won't say no."

She barely poured a dash of water into his glass. "Let me fix mine and I'll be right with you." Catriona poured a scant amount of whisky into her glass, filling the rest to barely below the brim with water. She sat opposite Alexander, took a hearty sip and placed her tumbler on one of the occasional tables. She opened her mouth to commence her sanitised version of what had passed during his absence but was cut off.

"By the way, I met the new sister this afternoon-- Katherine, I think she said her name was. She seems very nervous. She rambled on at quite a pace and was very reluctant to be alone with me. I think I surprised her with my sudden arrival. What do you think of her? Is she always so on edge?"

Catriona mulled over his question. She could hardly tell him her feelings for Katherine raged between the impetuosity of love, strongly tempered by the sensibility of friendship. "She's not usually so jumpy. In fact, she's a stubborn and proud woman."

Alexander threw his head back and laughed.

"Then you two should get on famously. Why, once winter gets here, with your combined stubborn pride, there may not be any need to light a fire in the house. So, how many disagreements have you had so far?" Alexander smiled. "Why Cat, I do believe you're blushing."

"I'm not the only one in the family with
pride
," Catriona deflected. "Who do you think
I
got it from?" The two shared a laugh. "As for Katherine, we've had our disagreements. We still share a lot of common ground though. She has a desire to help the less fortunate families of the district, and she's been doing very well." Catriona took a sip from her watered-down scotch. "They've very much accepted her."

Alexander snorted. "I didn't think I'd live to see the day when you said you had so much in common with a nun. There must have been changes around here since I was gone," he said good-naturedly. "What else has happened?"

Catriona tried to marshal her thoughts. Rather than commence from when Alexander left, she elected to work backward. Hopefully this would buy her the time she needed to find the words to explain what had happened.

He contentedly listened to the occurrences of the town, occasionally stopping and asking her to expand on some minor point or another. She told him about the first visit Katherine had made to the ladies of the district, and Mrs. Greystone's reaction to Catriona escorting her to the front of her house.

Alexander grinned. "You can't help yourself, can you? You've always taken great delight in upsetting that fossil."

"If I didn't carry on so, then what would she and her old cronies talk about? There's hardly any other excitement out here and, besides," Catriona added, a cheeky gleam in her eye and a smile on her mouth, "she deserves it."

Her smile sobered when she realised she'd arrived at the day of Katherine's arrival and the dust storm. She swallowed the remains of her drink and rose to make another. She picked up Alexander's empty glass and refilled it, again with a greater portion of whisky than water.

Alexander frowned as he took his glass.

"Things must have changed, Cat." He accepted the crystal tumbler from her and cradled it in his hands. "Two whisky's in such quick succession. I don't think I've ever seen you drink so much, except when you allow things to get to you. As I remember, the last time you consumed too much I ended up having to carry you to bed. Of course, all you did the next day was vow and declare you'd never touch another drop. Don't tell me the new sister is driving you to it."

Catriona looked away, innately aware of how easy Alexander could read her. "It's not like that. I thought it would be nice for us to share one together. We very rarely get the chance, what with you touring the country all the time and me stuck here."

Alexander's brows furrowed and he rubbed his chin. He leant forward in his chair, locking Catriona's eyes with his own. "You're hiding something, Cat. What's the matter? Have those old witches in town upset you with their gossip? I've told you to ignore them. Their cruel talk isn't worthy of a response from you."

Catriona looked down at her hands and shook her head.

"You're scaring me. What's wrong?"

Catriona put down her drink and leant forward, so Alexander's face was inches apart from hers. "For once it's got nothing to do with them." She slowly blinked and exhaled. "Alex, not long after you left, the town was hit by a dust storm, much bigger than any we've had in the last fifteen years. This one caused untold devastation. I gather you didn't return through town on your journey home?" He shook his head. "Then you won't know what it did to the place. Most of the shops made of wood were blown apart." At his look of concern, she took another drink.

"At the height of the gale a number of people sought refuge in the Town Hall. So much debris was blown about in the street it was a natural place for everyone to go. The Town Hall collapsed." Her voice wavered. "Most of the people inside it were killed."

A slight twitch formed below Alexander's eye. He looked away, rose, and walked to the windows, hands thrust into his pockets, back turned to her. "I'm terribly sorry it happened. If there's anything we can do for the people who've suffered, that you haven't already done, then we will." Alexander turned and stared intently at Catriona. "Cat, where's Coreen?"

Catriona tried to speak but the words wouldn't come. Silent tears fell down her cheeks. Alexander crossed the room and knelt in front of her. He held her arms with his hands and looked steadily at her. "Catriona, where's Coreen?"

She lowered her face to regain her composure, but without success. She raised her head. "She's gone," she managed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Alexander's face ran the gamut of emotions from disbelief to anger. "What do you mean she's gone? Please tell me she's left. Say that the sister out there convinced her to return to Sydney. I can be packed in the hour and ready to follow her." He desperately searched her face. "You see Cat, I've wonderful news. I've found someone who'll marry us."

To prolong the inevitable would only make it worse. She gently removed his hands from her arms and firmly held on to them. "You don't know how much I wish I could say she's merely left here. But it's not true." Alexander's face resembled a child's who suspected his Christmas was about to be ruined. "She was in the Town Hall on the day of the dust storm. I'm sorry, Alex, she was dead by the time they found her."

Alexander pushed himself away. Unable to steady herself, Catriona fell back into the chair. He silently paced the room like a caged animal. He closed the distance between them, roughly grabbed her, and shook her. "It's not true, you're hiding something. That nun out there has convinced her to return to England. That's it, isn't it? I bet that's why she was sent out here. I won't have it, I tell you! And I won't have her in our house!" Loosening his grip, he wheeled toward the door.

She barely caught his hand in time and held it in a vice-like grip. "It has nothing to do with her!" Maintaining her grip, she calmed her tone. "She's dead, Alexander. You can't imagine how I wish she wasn't, but she is. Katherine arrived on the day of the dust storm. It's not Katherine's fault or any one else's. There's nothing
anyone
could have done to save the people in the hall."

Alexander lost his battle to maintain his composure, and his face puckered up, like a child's does only seconds before they cry. Collapsing to his knees, he noiselessly wept. Catriona followed him to the floor. Unable to offer any words of comfort to ease his pain, she put her arms around him and gently rocked him, as he had done for her the day their parents died. Thinking back on that day, and about Coreen, she too wept.

During the course of the late afternoon and early evening, Catriona managed to move him from his position on the floor and back into one of the chairs. She only left the study twice--on both occasions to get more water for the scotch.

THROUGHOUT THE LATTER part of the day, Katherine tiptoed through the house, listening to the muted sounds of weeping and words coming from behind the closed door of the study. Occasionally she could make out Catriona's emotionally charged and pained voice sharing in Alexander's sorrow. She longed to give her relief from the burden she was bearing.

In an attempt to guide her thoughts elsewhere, she wrote a series of lessons for the Connor children, who she hadn't visited since the incident with the bushrangers. She paused, her mind's eye suddenly filled by the smiling face and challenging words of the enigmatic Mary Carraghan regarding who she lived with.

Lost in her thoughts, she started at Catriona's entrance. Catriona wordlessly refilled the crystal jug and then returned from whence she'd come. Katherine watched her leave, her own emotional awareness heightened. Again the laughter and challenging words of Mary Carraghan pervaded her thoughts: "
Does that not leave you living with a woman? If you weren't a nun, what do you think would be said about you?"