Rosa's Land: Western Justice - book 1 (4 page)

“Well, I wanted to paint,” she remarked, “but it didn’t take long to find out that I didn’t have the talent for it. What do you do, oils or watercolors?”

For the next ten minutes Faye answered rapid-fire questions from Marlene Jenson. She was relentless, and her interest was almost palpable. Finally she laughed, saying, “You’ll have to excuse me, Mr. Riordan. Aside from accompanying my father, I’m a writer. When I find a subject, I just can’t seem to let go of it. I think I would have made a pretty good prosecuting attorney putting witnesses on the spot.”

“I’m sure you would.” He hesitated then said, “Painting is pretty tame after your adventures in Africa.”

The two were so engrossed in their conversation for the next few moments that a blast of the whistle from the top deck startled them.

“Almost to the dock,” Faye said. He tried to think of some way to ask the young woman to allow him to call, but he had had almost no experience in such things.
She’d be bored to death listening to me talk about dabbling around painting pictures!

Suddenly Marlene, who had been looking out at the waters, cried out, “Girl, don’t do that!”

Faye turned quickly to see a very young girl, no more than six it seemed. She had climbed up on the protective rail that outlined the deck of the ferry. To his horror he saw her suddenly miss a step and tumble with a scream out of sight.

Faye, without thinking, started forward, shucked out of his raincoat, kicked his shoes off, and made a running dive over the side railing into the dark waters.

Marlene couldn’t believe what Faye Riordan had just done. She began to cry out, “Man overboard! Man overboard!”

She heard a sailor yelling loudly, “Cut the engines!”

The engines stopped, and Marlene ran at once to the railing. It was night, and the waters were dark as a coal pit in a coal mine it seemed to her.

The deck was alive with sailors shouting, “Man overboard!” Some had lanterns, but they made little difference in the darkness of the night.

The waters were ebony, and Marlene cried out, “Where are you?” knowing that it was useless but unable to stop herself.

The ferry stopped. The captain ordered two boats put down, and sailors tumbled into them and were lowered to the waters. They started circling the ferry, but the current at this point was very swift. One of the sailors came over and said, “I seen him go over, miss. The bravest man I’ve ever seen!”

Marlene nodded but asked, “How will we ever find him?”

“What I’m afraid of, miss, is that they may have been pulled into the paddles. I seen that happen once on the Mississippi. I hope it didn’t get these two.”

It seemed like an eternity to Marlene, but finally she saw something below moving. She strained her eyes and cried out, “There! Below! There they are!”

One of the boats was close, the men straining against the oars. Marlene watched as they pulled two bodies from the water and then pulled in close to a railing. One of the sailors came on board carrying the child, who was now crying and choking. She saw Faye get up and stagger, and one of the sailors helped him up.

Marlene could not speak for a moment, but her eyes were brilliant. She finally said to Faye, “You’re coming home with me. You’ll freeze in those wet clothes.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Marlene was insistent, and when the ferry docked, she pulled him off the boat, hailed a carriage, and gave the address of her home.

Faye was shaking and shivering.

She pulled him close to give him some body warmth. “We’ll get you thawed out when I get you home, Faye,” she whispered.

The room Faye entered with Marlene was obviously a rich man’s toy. He was still shivering and the soaking wet clothes clung to him, but his eyes went around the room.

Marlene pushed him onto the couch. “You’ve got to get out of those wet clothes.”

Startled, he stared at her. “I can’t do that.”

“Here. Take them off. I won’t look. Don’t be so modest.”

Faye had never undressed in the presence of anyone, especially a beautiful young woman, but she turned her back and demanded, “Hurry up! I’ll get the fire started.” She kept her back to him, and quickly Faye took off his wet clothes, including his shoes and socks. Quickly he wrapped the blanket around him, which brought a welcomed warmth.

While she lit the fire in the fireplace, he glanced at the room. A George II barrister desk and matching bookshelves filled one wall. An ornate marble fireplace, where she was making the fire, was opposite with two small velvet settees facing each other across a low teak table. Along the wall, by the door, was a massive bookcase with glass-covered shelves. Several trophy heads from Africa were on the wall, including a cape buffalo that stared at Faye with glassy eyes … almost malevolently, it seemed. A tiger with its fangs bared watched him from another wall.

“Here. Drink this.”

“What is it?”

“Never mind. It’ll warm you up.”

Faye took the glass that she had given him, took a swallow, and coughed.

She insisted, “Drink it all.”

He drank it down, and the fiery liquid seemed to burn all the way. “That ought to warm me up.”

“It should. It’s ten-year-old brandy. Are you getting warmer?”

“Yes, thanks a lot.”

“Well, let me hang your clothes over something.” She grabbed up his wet clothes, arranged some chairs before the fire, and then came back and sat down beside him. He shivered a little, and she reached out and pushed his wet hair off of his forehead. She left her hand on his cheek and said, “Faye, I’ve seen men, and women, too, do some pretty brave things, but I’ve never seen anything more courageous than what you just did.”

“Oh, swimming is about my only physical achievement.”

“It wasn’t just swimming. To go over in that dark water with that paddle wheel threatening to cut you in two … did you think about it at all?”

“Never gave it a thought. If I had, I’d never have gone.”

“How did you find that girl?”

Faye thought for a moment, wiped his face with his hand, and then said, “Well, as soon as I hit the water, of course, everything was just like being in a black box with no windows. So I just began swimming around feeling with my hands. I heard the paddles churning near, but I knew the child was somewhere. Then I touched something. It was her dress. I grabbed at it, caught her, and pulled her up, but the ship had gone on by us. She was scared, and I had to hold her head up. I couldn’t make much progress. It’s a good thing the ship stopped and they sent those boats.”

She took the glass from his hand and then took one of his hands in both of hers. “You deserve a medal for that.”

“Oh no, not really.”

She sat beside him, eliciting every fact about the rescue. Finally she laughed and said, “You know what I’m doing, don’t you? I’m going to put this in a story. It may be in the
New York Times
tomorrow with your name and all. You’ll be a hero.”

“Oh, don’t do that, Miss Marlene.”

“A modest hero!” Her eyes arched upward, and she squeezed his hand. “That is rare.”

They talked for a while until his clothes dried, and he drank several more swallows of the potion. As a matter of fact, by the time she had turned her back and he had struggled into his clothes, he was more than half drunk. He never drank alcohol other than one glass of wine with a meal. Now he felt warm and slightly dizzy.

When he stood up to leave, she put her arms around him and said, “I’ll never forget what you did, Faye, never!” She lifted her face, and even a shy man such as Faye Riordan could not resist lowering his head. Her lips were soft and yielding yet firm.

Faye felt something rashly stirring between the two of them and knew he was out of his depth with this woman. As he held her, it was as if something old and something new had come into him. There was a wild sweetness here and a shock that was completely outside his years of experience. He was also startled to feel the desperate hunger of her lips, which caused a hunger of his own to meet it. He felt himself losing control and suddenly drew his head back. “I–I’d better get back. I’ll miss the ferry.”

Marlene stared at him, her eyes wide. Then she began to laugh. “Well, I found a bashful hero. I didn’t think there was a man in America who could walk away from me at a time like this.”

“Would you—would you come and visit me, and I could show you some of my paintings?”

“Of course I will. When shall I come?”

“Would day after tomorrow be too soon?”

“Not at all.” She walked to the door with him and hailed a carriage. When he got in, she said, “Dream about me, Faye.”

He smiled, and as the carriage lurched off, he thought,
Maybe I’m a better man than I’ve always thought!

Marlene came right on the hour, and Pat Ryan met the carriage and handed her down. She started up the steps and was greeted at once by Faye.

He smiled nervously. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

“You must think I’m a fickle woman. I told you I’d be here.”

“Come in. I want you to meet my family.”

Faye had not prepared Marlene for the rest of his family. He introduced her to them, and Marlene saw at once that Faye was more his mother’s son than his father’s.

Eileen Riordan was a beautiful woman with auburn hair and light blue eyes. She came forward and said, “It’s so good to meet you, Miss Jenson.”

“And a pleasure to meet you. Faye’s already told me much about you.”

Marlene turned to Caleb Riordan and had to look up to him.

He was much larger than Faye, a strongly built man. He smiled and said, “I couldn’t believe what you wrote in the paper about my son.”

“It’s all true,” Marlene said. “As a matter of fact, I could have been even more dramatic.”

She turned to greet Max and Leo, carbon copies of their father, she noticed, and then the group went in to dinner. It was an ornate dining room, and the meal itself was ornate. Marlene was perfectly at home.

The Riordans were fascinated by her career and plied her with questions, which she answered graciously.

Max was staring at her and said, “I wish I’d been there to see Faye save that child’s life.”

“So do I,” Caleb said instantly. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if Max or Leo had done it.”

“Why are you surprised about Faye? He went over the side of that boat in total darkness with paddle wheels churning just like I said. I thought he was a dead man. So did the rest of the crew and passengers on the ferry.”

“He won’t talk about it.” Eileen smiled.

“Well, if I’d done it, I’d be talking about it the rest of my life.” Caleb grinned. “I never have done anything that heroic, but I’m proud of you, son.”

“Thank you, Dad. Probably the last heroic thing I’ll ever do.”

“Don’t say that, Faye.” Sitting next to him, Marlene smiled. She reached over and put her hand on his head. “Once I get my hand on a hero, I make sure he comes through. I’ll find you another desperate situation.”

Everyone laughed.

After a fine meal and an hour’s talk in the parlor, Marlene left.

“That’s some woman.” Caleb shook his head. “I’ve never seen anyone quite like her.”

“Neither have I,” Leo said. “She’s been all over the world. Done everything.”