Thurston House (39 page)

John started at her words. Did he say anything to you?

She laughed and shook her head. No. I tried to ask him about it once, but he wouldn't talk about it, he said it was not something he would discuss with me.

I should hope not. John flushed to the roots of his hair, and looked at her. And then he said something he knew he shouldn't say. He didn't want to discuss Spring Moon at ail, and certainly not with her. You're much more beautiful than she is, little one.

How can you say that? She looked shocked. She's the loveliest woman I've ever seen.

He shook his head and took a step closer to her. No, my love, you are. She was even lovelier than his first wife. With her black hair, and big blue eyes, she looked up at him now and he felt his insides melt. Side by side, with his broad shoulders, still dark hair, sparkling eyes, and jutting beard, they made a handsome pair, and he looked down at her with pride. He could hardly wait until their wedding day. They had begun to tell their friends in the past few days, and Hannah had spread the word all over town. And the news had finally reached his men, and after his, then hers, and there was talk of nothing else in the mines, particularly at the Thurston mines, where they wondered what kind of impact it would have on them. But there was one other man who wondered the same thing when he heard, and he was furious at the hand Fate had dealt him again when John told him that he couldn't stay on. John didn't tell him why he was letting him go, but there was no doubt in Dan Richfield's mind. She had done him in again. And he was going to get her this time. John Harte had given him two weeks to organize himself and pack up his things, and he knew he would have to be leaving town, because there were no other mines nearby except hers and his. The silver mines in Napa were long since defunct, and had been since Jeremiah's time, and there was nothing left now except what Sabrina and John controlled. There was nowhere left for Dan to go. He was thirty-seven years old, and most of his children were half grown or damn close. He didn't even want to take them with him, and was talking about leaving them in St. Helena with some friends. But it wasn't the children he thought of now, as he sat around and drank, wandered in and out of bars, and told the other miners whatever rumors he had heard. She's been sleeping around with him ' hell, they even go at it with that Indian squaw of his, you notice she ain't left yet ' and by the end of the week, he had both mines all abuzz with the filth he spread.

You've been talking about my future wife? John Harte grabbed him by the collar one day as he left the Harte mines. Sabrina was still buried in work at her own. More so now, because in two more months she'd be married and starting to turn the reins over to John. She had to get everything in order for him. And because of that, he hardly even saw her now. But Dan Richfield stared at him now, the stench of whiskey was on his breath as he looked at the bigger, broader man, but he looked unafraid.

It's nothing you ain't heard before, Mr. Harte. She's not been real kind to me.'

That isn't quite what I'd heard.

Or what you'd believe. Dan Richfield was bold, and for an instant it was unsure what John Harte would do to him, and then with a sudden gesture, he let Dan go.

Get the hell out of here, Dan. As I remember it, you've only two days left.

I'll be gone by then. And no one would be grieved, least of all John. He was glad that he had fired him. He had never realized how much he drank until recently.

Where are you going by the way?

Down to Texas, I think. I've got a friend who owns a ranch, and some oil wells down there. I thought that might be a nice change from these rotten mines. He glanced over his shoulder at the mine where he had worked for more than three years, and then back at John.

You taking your kids? Richfield shrugged, and John glared at him. Just make sure you're out of here on time. He had no kindly feelings toward him. It was obvious how much Dan hated John's future wife, and John didn't want him around anymore. It was high time he left, and he put him out of his mind as he walked back to his office to go through the papers on his desk. He still had plenty of his own work to do.

And so did Sabrina at the Thurston mines until almost seven that night, and then in a panic, she looked at her watch. She had promised John that she would ride over and have dinner with him. It was odd to her sometimes how she had a whole other life now. There was someone waiting for her at the end of each day, she had someone to tell her troubles to, share her victories with, be kind to her when she was tired, rub her neck, kiss her face, and she was happy to share the tales of his day with him. She wondered now why she had resisted the idea for so long. She had never even thought of getting married one day, and she had particularly avoided John because she thought he was after her mines. But she had no more fears about that now. The suggestion he had made sounded perfect to her. He would run her mines for her, but the mines would still belong to her. He no longer even suggested a merger to her, he knew how strongly she felt, and perhaps in time it would make sense to her, but if not, it was no longer important to him. She meant much, much more to him, and she knew it.

And as she swung into her saddle now, her thoughts were filled with him. She rode quickly through the night, taking all the fastest trails she knew so well. She sailed past her own house and into the night, and it took her almost no time at all to reach the Harte mines, and just as she passed the main shaft, her horse threw a shoe.

Damn! She was already late enough, and as he limped along she had to dismount. She thought of leaving him tied to a tree, but you never knew who would come by, and she felt safer walking him the rest of the way to John's and tying him up there. He could always drive her home in his fancy motorcar, or lend her a horse. She liked riding along with him. She liked everything about the life they had already begun to share.

Need a ride? Sabrina almost jumped out of her skin as she heard a voice from behind a tree, and an instant later Dan Richfield appeared, slightly drunk, and leering at her. Or would you like me to carry your horse for you? It was a smart-aleck remark and she had no inclination to respond, but she didn't want to start something with him now. She knew he was leaving in a day or two, and she had successfully avoided him until then. There was no point starting something row.

Hello, Dan.

Don't give me that polite shit, you whore. At least he wasn't pretending to have changed his views about her. She eyed him now, and then pulled at the horse's bit and moved on, but he followed her. She noticed that he had no horse, and no car. He had probably been sitting there, drinking behind a tree.

Why don't you just go on, Dan? We have nothing to say to each other now. It was remarkable to think that she had known him all her life. It was incredible that he had turned out to be so rotten and disloyal. She was glad that her father hadn't lived to see that, and she thought of it now as she turned to him. She wanted to keep him in sight. She wouldn't have wanted to turn her back to him.

You just cost me another job, didn't you, you little bitch?

I didn't cost you anything. She wasn't the young girl she had once been, and her voice was hard, as it often was with the men at her mines. She had learned that lesson long ago, when so many of them had walked out on her. She never treated them like her friends now. They were miners who worked for her, nothing more. She paid them well, and kept up her end of responsibility toward them. But there was a hard edge to her now whenever she had to deal with them. A hard edge that belied the softness in her soul. But only John knew that side of her. And Dan never had. He had only known her as a child. And she was a woman now. It was the woman who turned and looked scornfully at him. You've cost yourself everything you've ever lost. And if you don't stay off the booze now, you'll lose it ail again.

Bullshit. That has nothing to do with why Harte's throwing me out of here. And you know that as well as I do. He tripped, which startled her horse, and they both lurched at the same time. Sabrina pulled sharply on the horse's bit and Dan righted himself and doggedly continued to follow her. She was approaching the first of die cabins now, but no one seemed to notice them and she still had a long way to go to reach John's house. She was wishing that he would materialize and get rid of Dan, but no one did, and Dan went on, following breathlessly. He's throwing me out of here because of you.

I know nothing about that. She looked straight ahead and he grabbed her arm and almost pulled her down.

Like hell you don't. I know you've been whoring around with him, and that Indian whore of his ' I can just imagine what it's like ' the three of you. ' She looked horrified at his words and her jaw dropped. Privately she was still very young.

How dare you say such a thing! What a disgusting ' But he only laughed and went on.

What's he giving you for a wedding present, whore? Spring Moon?

Stop calling me that! Her voice quavered as it rose. And don't speak of him like that. You're damn lucky he hired you at all after I threw you out. Her eyes were blazing at him now and he seemed pleased. He had waited three years for this.

You didn't throw me out. I quit. Or did you forget? About three hundred men and I walked out on you.

They may have, but as I recall, you acted like a damn fool. She didn't have to remind him how, and he looked anything but remorseful as he looked at her. Why don't you just take yourself off now? There's no point in all this, Dan. She didn't want to discuss any of it with him. It was just painful to recall and he was upsetting her, but he was determined not to leave.

Why? You scared? He seemed to like the idea and he took a step closer to her, and blocked her path, blowing whiskey fumes in her face as she almost reeled from him.

I have no reason to be afraid of you. She was determined to sound calm, but they were in a particularly dark part of the path on the way to John's house, and there was no one around and she felt suddenly very ill at ease. It was one of the rare times she hadn't brought her gun with her. She'd been in a hurry when she'd left and forgotten it in her desk.

Why not? How come you ain't scared, little whore? Or is this what you like? He grabbed at his belt as though to pull it off, and off to her right, Sabrina heard a faint rustling in the trees. She wondered if it was an animal, and she felt her horse stir at her side, but she never took her eyes from Dan's.

You don't impress me, Dan. And if you don't stand aside, I'm going to walk right through you. And then she smiled. She had taken a shot at him once before, and she knew he would remember it, even if she didn't have the pistol with her now. He couldn't know that. She slid her hand into the pocket of her skirt as though it were there, in her hand, and she watched his eyes travel to her skirt.

You don't scare me. You ain't got the guts to shoot me from this close up, do you, little girl? Hell no! He laughed and pulled at her arm, ripping it from the pocket of her skirt, and he saw that she had nothing there, and with that he pushed her back and pinned her against a tree. His face was close to hers, and his body was suddenly grinding against her skirt and she could feel her heart pound in her ears, as she attempted to jerk a knee into his groin but he anticipated her, and grabbed her by her shirt as he flung her to the ground, and a moment later he was on top of her, pulling at her shirt, and tearing at her breasts with one hand, as the other pulled up her skirt. But as she screamed, he silenced her with a slap so hard across her face that blood ran down her cheek and she looked at him with wild eyes as she felt his hand at her crotch, as she tried to roll away from him and he pinned her down again. I should have done this years ago, little whore. You've screwed me out of everything I could have ever had, and now I'm going to screw you. ' I worked for that bastard father of yours for years, ever since I was a child, and what do I get for it ' you, you little bitch, doing everything I wanted to do. He was half crying as he tore her skirt in half and revealed the pantaloons Hannah had made, as Sabrina scrambled through the dirt and cried out again, but there was no one close enough to hear her, and he wrestled her to the ground again. It was incredible that on the edge of the compound surrounding the Harte mines, she was about to be raped by a drunken lunatic and there was no one to help her. He had torn her blouse and her corset off by then, and her firm young breasts were icy cold in the breeze, her nipples rigid with fear as he tore at them, and she struggled to her knees again, and this time he grabbed her by the hair as he had once before, and forced her face into the dirt as he tore her pantaloons in half, leaving an opening more than wide enough for him, as he began to tear at his belt again and then suddenly he stopped as though he weren't sure that was what he wanted to do. He stared at Sabrina unseeingly, dropped his hand from her hair, and then from his belt as he still stared at her, and she looked at him unbelievingly, unable to understand what had happened to him, as he pitched slowly toward the ground, where he fell face first, and then with a gasp, Sabrina saw the reason he had lost interest in her so quickly. There was a long evil-looking knife with a ferocious-looking blade sticking out of his back, the ivory handle delicately carved, and behind him stood Spring Moon, silently looking down at her.

Oh! ' She covered her breasts with her hands, and struggled to her feet. He was dead. Sabrina knew it from the way he looked, and she stood in front of the Indian girl she had watched for so many years, half naked, in torn clothes, one shoe off, one shoe on, her face streaked with tears, the blood from her face dripping onto her bare breast, and Spring Moon beckoned to her. She didn't come too close, and she never touched the trembling girl. There were sobs caught in Sabrina's throat and she couldn't speak, she was making frightened gurgling sounds, and Spring Moon picked Sabrina's skirt up out of the dirt, and handed it to her to wrap around herself, and then she gently took the horse's rein and beckoned again.