Frontier Wife (23 page)

He dragged his fingers through his hair as if trying to gain control of himself once more. “Sorry about that, I’ve got a lot on my mind. Would you like a drink?”

“Yes, thank you.”

She sat down again, watching as he pulled a cord to summon Mrs. Rogers. She appeared within a short time carrying two glasses of orange juice.

“Put the tray there.” He indicated a small table. “That will be all, thank you.” He handed Tommy a glass before picking up his own.

She sipped hers, watching as he swallowed his own in a couple of gulps.

“We should be drinking champagne.” He dropped into a chair, crossing his long legs at the ankles. “I don't drink alcohol during the day if I'm working.”

“I don't drink it at all.”

“Yes, I remember. We might need to change that.”

He sat for a time without speaking, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Tell your brother I'll have water and feed brought to him every second day for the stallion. The mares will have to take their chances with the rest of my stock, that's the best I can do.”

“What about Jamie?”

“What I said about him still stands. He's to live here until he's old enough to be sent to Melbourne Grammar to be educated. Another thing, I'll be responsible for his discipline too.”

She jumped out of the chair. “Exactly what do you mean by discipline?”

“I won't beat him, if that's what you're thinking. I had too much of that as a child. I won't allow you to turn him into a sissy, either, always clinging to a woman's skirt.”

“He's not a sissy, he's only a baby.”

“He's not a baby any longer; he's a normal, intelligent little boy who needs a man's discipline. Your brother fell down in his duty leaving him to your tender administrations. I won't make the same mistake. Both your horses have been watered. If you want to be home before dark you better leave now. We’ll collect Jamie on our way.”

She put her glass down and stood up, before picking up her hat from where it lay on the table.

“Did you trim this?”

“Yes.”

“Clever, clever, Tommy.”

She would have loved to be able to smack the sarcastic, taunting smirk off his handsome face.

They went outside and the heat seemed to have intensified.

“I've never known it to be so hot, and I’ve lived all my life here.” He helped her mount, swung himself into the saddle of his own horse and picked up the reins of Jamie's pony.

They rode out of the front yard, across dusty paddocks shimmering in the hazy heat. In the stockyards bellowing cattle jostled with each other. She could only see three stockmen working.

“You stay here.” He handed her the pony's reins. “I'll get the boy. No point you choking in all this dust.”

She watched him gallop off on the large powerful gray that he always rode. By the way the beast kept tossing its head she knew it would take a lot of strength to keep him under control.

At the stockyards Adam spoke to one of the men who handed Jamie up to him. With Jamie sitting in front of him, he cantered back to where she waited.

“Tommy, Tommy.” Jamie waved excitedly. “Are we really going to live here?”

She threw Adam an angry look. He told the child on purpose, making it impossible for her to change her mind.

“Is it true, Tommy. Really?”

“Yes, it's true. Will you like that?”

“Yes. Adam said now I'm going to live with him, I can be his off, off. What did you say?”

Adam gave a low chuckle, which did funny things to her insides. “Offsider.”

“I'm going to have a room of my own, too.” He looked at Adam with such adoration she felt a lump in her throat. David should have been his hero, not this darkly handsome, ruthless man who would soon be her husband.

To be honest, David hadn't bothered much about Jamie, just treated him with a kind indifference.

“I wish we could stay with you now,” Jamie said.

“You can't live here until I marry Tommy, then this will be your home.”

“For always?”

“Yes.”

“We had another house once.” Jamie’s brow puckered. “We had to sell it. You won't lose all your money like we did, will you?”

“No, I won't lose my money; with you to help me we'll become even richer.”

Although she hated him for forcing her into a loveless marriage, Tommy couldn’t help being moved by the way Adam handled Jamie. He treated him as an equal, never talking down to him as most grownups did.

Adam rode with them to the edge of his property. “I'll be in touch when all the arrangements are finalized.” He lifted his hand before riding off, a tall man, hard and ruthless as the frontier land that spawned him.

****

After the Lindsays left, Adam set off to see Sophia, a confrontation he didn’t look forward to. The Bothroyd station was as well set up as his own—pity he had to forgo it by marrying Tommy. By the time he stepped onto the flagged verandah, he started regretting his decision. Still time to back out if he wanted to. Damn it, he didn’t want to subject his sons to the harsh, loneliness that tainted his own childhood. More importantly he wanted Tommy with such a burning hunger it scared him. It was only lust, but he wanted her and he resented the fact that he did. If she ever found out the hold she had over him… But she wouldn’t if he kept his head.

A maid ushered him into Sophia’s private sitting room. He went over to a huge bay window and stared out over the extensive gardens. Being close to the mountains and cooler, the property was no where near as parched as his.

“Adam, what a pleasant surprise.”

He swung around when Sophia spoke. Wearing a deep green gown, with her dark hair pulled back from her face and caught up in a ribbon, she presented an attractive picture. Only the petulant drooping of her lips marred her beauty.

“Sophia, I won’t procrastinate. I’ve called over to tell you Tommy Lindsay has agreed to marry me.”

“What!”

“I’m sorry if you had any expectations.”

“Expectations,” she shrieked. “I thought we were betrothed.” Her pretty face turned red and ugly.

“There was never anything official.”

“There didn’t need to be. Everyone thought we would marry. I’ll be humiliated, a laughing stock.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll let it be known you decided I wasn’t good enough for you.”

She minced up and hit him in the face. The stinging slap forced his head back.

“We have nothing more to say to each other.” He strode from the room.

Sophia followed him out on to the verandah. “So, the great Adam Munro has fallen in love with some insipid, little English Miss,” she jeered. “You’re welcome to her.”

Loving Tommy had nothing to do with it. He mounted his horse and galloped away. Vicious damn women; if they weren’t needed to procreate, the world would be better off without them.

****

“Touser’s lost.” Jamie dashed over to Tommy as she pegged out the washing.

“He’s probably having a nap somewhere,” she soothed, wondering how she could remain so calm when in less than a week she would be Adam’s wife.

“I’ve called him. Why won’t he come?”

“Perhaps he didn’t hear you.”

“He’s lost, he’s lost.” Jamie’s voice rose in anguish and his eyes glistened with tears.

“Oh, darling.” She knelt down and cupped his face between her hands. “Don’t be upset, he won’t have gone far.”

What if he had ventured over to Adam’s? Even though he admitted a dingo and not Touser slaughtered his sheep, Adam was ruthless enough to shoot the animal on sight if he found him wandering free. How Jamie persuaded him to let the dog accompany them when they went over there to live was a mystery.

“I’ll just put the washing basket away and get my hat then we’ll search together, all right?”

“Hurry up.” He tugged at her hand.

“We can’t go rushing around in this heat, otherwise we’ll get too exhausted,” she cautioned. “We’ll have a cool drink before we go.” She glanced at Jamie’s flushed, perspiring face and her worry intensified. Common sense warned her they should wait until David returned from town. But Jamie, desperate to find Touser, would start searching on his own the moment she turned her back.

After they finished their drink, she collected her hat and they set off in the direction of the barn. Touser probably sought refuge in there from the searing heat.

“I searched in there,” Jamie said.

“We’ll look again in case he hid under some straw.”

“Touser, Touser,” they called out in unison, but received no answering bark.

A thorough search yielded nothing. They went to the water hole, checked out all his favorite haunts but could not find him. She felt close to despair, Jamie absolutely distraught.

“Get Adam,” he sobbed. “He’ll find him.”

She didn’t want to go anywhere near Adam if she could help it. The next few days would be her last taste of independence. Once she became his wife, and lived under his roof, the freedom to come and go as she wished would be curtailed. Like most men, he would have set ideas on how he expected his wife to behave. David, with his lazy, easy-going nature always gave her a free hand. Adam would not.

She wrapped her fingers around Jamie’s grubby little paw and squeezed it. “We’ll keep looking for a while longer. David will be home soon so he can help. If we can’t find Touser, then we’ll get Adam.”

They searched for another hour until the heat drove them back to the homestead for a cool drink.

“Phew.” She collapsed exhausted on a chair. “It’s so hot, let’s have a little rest and something to eat.”

“We’ll find him, won’t we?” Jamie’s eyes beseeched her.

“Of course we will, darling,” she lied. Would someone have taken the dog? He was old. On pain of death she wouldn’t admit this to Jamie, but the animal was so ugly no one would want to bother with him, especially in the middle of a drought.

After a quick lunch, they commenced searching again. Swirls of red dust whipped up by the wind added to their discomfort. With dogged determination they kept on going. Several black crows circling over the little pine plantation Uncle Henry had planted were a sudden, chilling sign that something dead lay down there.

“Jamie, run back to the homestead and see if David’s there.”

“No.” He clutched her hand. “See the crows; Adam says crows come when something dies.”

“It’s probably a fox or a rabbit.”

Jamie dropped her hand and dashed away. “Touser, where are you, Touser?” The only answer came from the cawing crows.

With her skirt and petticoats slowing her down, Jamie streaked ahead. When she arrived at the little pine forest he knelt in the pine needles beside his fallen friend. “Touser, Touser.” His tears fell on to the dog’s lifeless body.

“It’s no good, darling.” She tried to pick Jamie up. “I’m afraid he’s dead.”

“He’s just asleep. Wake up.” He shook the dog’s front paw.

“It’s no use. He’s gone to doggy heaven to be with God.”