Thurston House (40 page)

Come. It is cold here. I will take you to John. Sabrina stumbled behind her, wondering what would happen to Dan where he lay, what they would do. She couldn't even begin to think about what had almost happened to her, or of what Spring Moon had done, or the good fortune that had put her on the same path, or had kept her from leaving for another week. Sabrina realized now that it was she that she must have heard behind the tree, not an animal. The only animal had been Dan, and she shuddered from head to foot, as Spring Moon stopped in a dark place and turned to Sabrina again. I will go to John Harte and bring him here. You stay. She pointed to her, but Sabrina began to shiver harder than before and began to choke on her own tears.

Don't leave me here ' I can't ' Don't ' please ' Her eyes were young and wild as the Indian woman watched, and then with a long gentle hand, she reached out to her.

He is there. She pointed to a house only a few yards away, but she didn't want to risk leading her past any of the men. She wanted to bring John here, to her, and then she herself would disappear. Spring Moon was above all things discreet. We will hear you now, if anyone comes to you. You are safe. Her face was so gentle, her voice so soft, as Sabrina stared at her. She wanted to be held in the smooth brown arms, to be cradled and rocked. She could easily see the comfort John had found there for so many years, and then she remembered the things Dan Richfield had said and wondered if anyone else thought that. She began to cry again. She was no longer a woman now, only a frightened child, and she didn't want John to see her like this. She sank to the ground on her knees, with the skirt pulled over her as she sobbed, and Spring Moon knelt beside her. You are safe now. You will always be safe with him. They were powerful words and Sabrina looked up at her. She knew it was true, but it reminded her of all that Spring Moon was giving up, and she seemed to be leaving him so peacefully. You must always be very kind to him. Sabrina looked at her with enormous eyes as she nodded her head through her tears.

I will. I promise you. And then her voice broke and she could barely speak. It had been the most difficult evening of her life, except perhaps the night that her father died. I will be good to him' . I'm sorry ' you have to go' .

Spring Moon held up a hand. It is time for me. I was never his wife. Only his friend. You will be a wife to him. He needs you very much, little one. It was the same thing John called her. You will be a good wife to him. I go to call him now. And before Sabrina could stop her, she disappeared, and a moment later, she started at the sound of running feet. There were half a dozen of them, and then a shout. Stop, dammit! Stop, all of you! She recognized John's voice, some garbled words, and then Where? ' All right, the rest of you go back ' oh my God ' And then the pounding of feet again, and then suddenly he was standing there, looking down at her, as she shivered, and knelt huddled beneath her skirt. He had a blanket in his hands, which Spring Moon had given to him before leading the men away. She had told them where Dan Richfield lay with the knife in his back, and they had gone to look for him. Oh my God ' John's voice was gentle in the night air, and she lowered her eyes, she could not look at him' .

No ' no ' please ' don't' She wanted to tell him not to look at her, but she couldn't say the words. She could only sob and cling to his legs, and suddenly the horror of what had almost happened came down on her with its full force. The tears washed the blood from her cheek, and he wrapped her in the blanket as if she were a very small child and swung her up in his arms, cooing softly to her as he had to his little girl long, long, long ago, and he walked her into his house and set her down on the leather couch in the living room. He looked at the damage to her face then, and the look in her eyes, and if Spring Moon hadn't already done it for him, he knew he would have killed Dan Richfield. But Spring Moon had told him quickly and bluntly that the girl hadn't been raped, not yet, and he was grateful for that. But had her knife missed its mark or taken a moment longer to pierce his flesh ' he shuddered at the thought, and knelt on the floor beside where she lay.

Little one, how could I let this happen to you? You'll never go anywhere alone again. I promise you that. I'm going to send a bodyguard everywhere with you. I'll be your bodyguard ' this will never happen again. ' But the main reason that it never would was that Dan Richfield was dead. The knife had gone right through his heart and he had died instantly. Spring Moon had an extraordinary hand with a knife, as he knew full well.

If it hadn't been for her ' Sabrina began to catch her breath as she took a sip of the whiskey-laced tea he was forcing her to drink, and she tried not to think of how she looked. She was still hiding beneath the blanket he had brought out to her, and Spring Moon had gone to retrieve her clothes and brought them to John before disappearing again. And he was looking at her now as though he had almost lost what he cherished most. What if Dan had killed her, the thought was more than he could bear, and there were tears in his eyes as he turned to her again. FH never let anything happen to you. Never. Do you understand that? I'll never let you out of my sight. ' She stretched a trembling hand out to him and took his hand.

It wasn't your fault, it was mine. She was regaining her composure now, but she would have been unable to stand up, her knees were still shaking so hard. It was an old fight he had with me. It could have happened anywhere. It's a wonder he didn't come to find me at the mine long ago. He hated my guts, that was all ' and you know yourself, this almost happened before. I was lucky it didn't happen then, and luckier still that Spring Moon happened along tonight. And then she looked at John. She knew that some of his men had come to the door to speak to him a short while before. Is he dead?

John nodded his head. He is. The knife went through his heart.

Will anything happen to her? Sabrina knew it could. Spring Moon had been defending her, but she was an Indian girl and the law could take a dim view of it, but John had already thought of it before Sabrina did.

She'll be on the train to South Dakota tonight. And his body will be found tomorrow ' he wasn't well liked. ' John sounded convincing to her and she knew he wouldn't be questioned by the law. They would take his word for it, and the knife would have disappeared. You have nothing to worry about. He sounded stronger and quieter than she had ever heard him before, and she had never felt as protected in her life. And neither does she You're both safe, and he deserved exactly what he got. I'm only sorry I trusted him once.

So did I. A thousand memories flashed through her mind at once, followed by the hideous image of him tearing her clothes off her back, and a sob caught in her throat again as she squeezed her eyes shut, but John came to her again and held her tightly in his arms.

I'm going to take you home now. He left the blanket wrapped around her, and carried her gently out to his car, and then he drove her home, and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. Hannah was waiting for her, her lips pursed, and her eyes wide as she saw them come in.

What happened to her? She was like a worried mother hen. She's all right. He told her about Dan then, and she was horrified.

That son of a bitch. I hope he hangs. He didn't tell her he was already dead, and she'd find out soon enough.

Thank God someone stopped him in time. You've got good men.

And good friends. There were other women who would have let Sabrina be raped. Spring Moon was losing the man she had loved for many years, but she had protected his bride like her own child, and he was grateful to her. There would be a handsome gift to her, there already had been, and he would put her on the train himself that night. It meant driving till dawn to make the connection for her, but it was important to get her out of town in case someone talked, and once she was gone, there would be no harm done. He looked down at Hannah now, and patted her arm. Take care of my little girl. And she was almost that to him, twenty-eight years younger than he, she seemed almost like a child to him, except that he knew also how powerful she was, how capable, how strong. She would be all right again, and he would keep her safe for the rest of her life. It was what he had promised her, and promised himself before that.

And it was what he promised again on their wedding day, two months after that, as she stood in the church in St. Helena, looking happily at him, with their men eight hundred strong almost hanging from the rafters of the church, crowded in, pressed together like sardines, some unable to get in at all, and watching the ceremony through the open windows as they exchanged their vows. Even those who had abandoned her years before had come today, if not for love of her, then for love of John. Hannah cried openly throughout the ceremony, and both Sabrina and John had tears in their eyes more than once.

There was an enormous open-air reception planned in the compound of the Thurston mines. There was nowhere else that would accommodate them all, especially with their children and wives, and Sabrina had wanted to include them all.

You only get married once, you know. She had smiled happily at John when they were making their plans, although she knew it wasn't true for him. But it was hard to realize that he had been married to someone else before. She had never known his wife, and Matilda had died more than two years before she was born. It was strange to think of him that way, married to someone else, with two children. It was almost as though he were a different man back then. She could envision him more easily with Spring Moon, because she had so often seen him with her over the years, but even that seemed hard to remember now. It was more as though he had never belonged to anyone but her, and as they took the steamer to San Francisco that night, he smiled down at her and took her hand.

What did I ever do to deserve a child like you at my side, Sabrina Harte? She liked the sound of her new name, and she smiled happily up at him.

I'm the lucky one, John Harte.

I know better than that.

He had offered her a trip to anywhere she wished, as their honeymoon, but she had surprised him by saying that all she wanted was to spend some time with him at Thurston House, and they planned to do just that. He had arranged to spend a month in town with her there. They would stay until the Christmas holidays, and then return to Napa to take their businesses in hand. But they had no business on their mind that night, as they arrived at Thurston House well after midnight. She had asked her banker to hire a small, temporary staff for her, and the house was ablaze with light, and when John followed her upstairs, they found the enormous canopied bed turned down in the master suite and a fire roaring in the hearth. There were candles lit, and flowers in enormous vases everywhere. The house had never looked more beautiful to her, and as she looked at the bed that had been her mother's so long ago, and hers after that, she realized that it was her marriage bed tonight, and with a shy look in her eyes she turned to John.

Welcome home. Her voice was whisper soft, and he took her hand and led her back downstairs. They drank champagne in front of the fire in the living room, and at last, as he saw her suppress a yawn, he carried her upstairs, and deposited her on their bed. She had already shown him his portion of the master suite, his bags had been unpacked, and he appeared a while later in his dressing gown, smiling gently at her. She looked like a fairy princess in a pale pink satin dressing gown, and when it fell from her shoulders beside the bed, her hair looked like ebony as it fell over the ivory silk of her flesh, and then swiftly he blew the candles out, and the room was lit by the warm glow of the fire.

Is it very strange to be here with me? he asked her honestly as they slid into bed.

A little bit. I am so used to being here alone. ' But it was not only that. She had had no contact with any man, had kissed no one but him, and the only other man who had ever approached her had of course been Dan. And now suddenly she was John's wife, and it was her wedding night, and all the seriousness and skill she had, the strength with which she ran the mine, meant nothing at all. She was delicate and vulnerable, and more than a little bit afraid of what was in store for her, and he realized that there had been no one at all to talk to her, except her housekeeper, and perhaps no one had said anything at all. It touched him to the quick to realize that and he cradled her in his arms like a child, but the longing that he felt for her as he held her close to him was not what one felt for a child.

Sabrina' . He didn't know how to begin to ask her what he wanted to know. Spring Moon had been so wise when she had come to him, and there had been other women before and after her, but they were none of them young girls ' Matilda had of course been a virgin so long before ' but they had both been eighteen years old ' and now he lay beside this child ' this girl ' and she belonged to him. He looked down at her tenderly. Has anyone spoken to you?

She smiled softly up at him, her face turned to a pale rose by the fire's glow. I think I know' . She trusted him. and she knew she always would, and should have years ago.

But has no one explained it to you? She shook her head, and he kissed her lips, her cheeks, her eyes, and then her lips again. He had to restrain himself, she brought something out in him that he had never known before. Sabrina, I love you so. He whispered the words in her hair, and she arched her body up toward his.

Then that's all I need to know. And with the utmost gentleness he took her hand and slowly kissed her palm, her waist, the inside of her arm, until at last he reached her breast, and the silk of her flesh as he followed it down to the inside of her thigh and then back again, and by morning, as they lay side by side in the master suite of Thurston House, he had taught her all she would ever need to know of loving.