Wishes on the Wind (27 page)

    "The Irish have earned that treatment in the mines because of their history as troublemakers."

    "If there's been trouble from the Irish, it's because they've been treated unfairly."

    Choosing to ignore her, David continued. "As for the method of payment, that's the lot of contract miners. We can't pay for the refuse that goes along with the coal."

    ''And it seems you can't pay in full for the coal that goes along with the refuse!"

    "Your brother's been crying on your shoulder. You shouldn't listen to him."

    "Unhand me!" Jerking her arm free, Meg glared up at him. "I've heard enough this day, and if I had any doubts as to the differences between us, you've made them fully clear."

    "Meg, wait." David halted her with his soft plea. "You're condemning my uncle's practices on the word of those who resent everything in the mines, including the payment, because they resent the work. But the truth is that it's a fair system, and it's the only one that's reasonable."

    "So you say my Da and the boys were shirkers, for they had their share of complaints."

    "They were all biased, Meg."

    "And you're not?"

    "From my position of observance, I can see the whole picture, while they couldn't."

    "Aye, I suppose you're right. Their hands were too blistered and their backs too sore to stand above it all and look down on those still laboring like rats in their holes." David's face stiffened at her barb, and Meg nodded. "Aye, they saw things differently, all right."

    "Those who stay in the mines stay there because they want to or can't do anything else! Nobody makes them come to work each day. If they had a lick of sense, they'd use their spare time to educate themselves and their families, instead of wasting it leaning against a bar in their favorite"

    "
 
she been
? Aye,
 
she been
. That's what you were going to say, isn't it? Well, perhaps you're right again and there's all that opportunity down there going to waste while life passes the poor, ignorant fools by. And so you see, I'm more like them than you think, with me letting this golden opportunity you're offering go by as well."

    "Meg, I didn't mean"

    "Leave me be, David! You've said enough."

    Grasping her arm again, David shook his head. "I've said it all wrong, but I haven't said enough if I haven't convinced you to"

    "I said to let me
be
!"

    Again jerking her arm free, Meg started down the trail, clenching her teeth as she heard David's step behind her.

    "Meg, damn it! Meg!"

    Running from the sound of his voice, Meg allowed her anger to deafen her to his plea. She had reached a leveling of the path when David caught her arm once more.

    "Meg, I'm sorry."

    "No, you're not. Leave go of my arm."

    "Meg, I"

    "You heard what she said! Leave go of her arm!"

    Her head turning toward the familiar voice, Meg felt the blood drain from her face as Sean stepped out from under a nearby tree, his face livid under the layer of coal dust darkening his fair skin. David slowly released her arm as Sean walked closer, and Meg sensed more than saw the squaring of his frame as he prepared to meet Sean head on.

    Stepping into the breach between them, Meg attempted hasty reassurance. "Sean, not to worry. David was but walking me to the bottom of the trail. There're some things he'd have me do at the house first thing tomorrow and he"

    "Lies do poorly on your lips, Meg. Don't waste your time expendin' them, 'cause the truth is, I know what this fella's about."

    "Do you? I doubt it." Returning menace for menace, David held Sean's stare. "Meg's been offered a chance to come to live at the house as part of the permanent staff."

    "Ah, great's the honor in that!"

    "Your sarcasm suits you." Ignoring Sean's growing anger, David continued tightly. "If you really care for your sister, you'll urge her to accept. It's an opportunity for her to better herself."

    "What with? The likes of you?" Sean gave a short laugh. "No, thanks. My sister don't need you or a place in your house."

    "What can you offer her instead? Precious little."

    "Aye, precious little to compare with what you're offerin' her!" Sean closed the distance between them in a few quick steps, his breathing rapid in his escalating fury. "Nothin' more than the pride and decency you're hopin' to take from her with your scheme."

    The gold flecks in David's eyes flashed warning of his lapsing control as he growled tightly, "My 'scheme'? Filthy thoughts from a filthy mind."

    "Not as filthy as yours! And I tell you now, you'll leave my sister alone, or you'll not live to know regret!"

    "Sean!"

    David's reply held a note of contempt. "He doesn't frighten me, Meg."

    "Are you too stupid, then, to know reasonable fear? So, let me make myself more clear. My sister's life's her own, and if you try to make it otherwise, you'll pay the price!"

    Meg's low gasp turned Sean toward his sister as he grasped her arm. "Aye, I meant what I said, Meg."

    Turning back to David, Sean continued. "And don't think I fear you or your money. There's ways to bring a man to equal terms."

    "Four men to one or a shot in the dark? Those are the methods you people use to settle your differences, aren't they?"

    "Aye, and they serve us well."

    "Sean!" Turning back to David, Meg shook her head. "I'm sorry. He doesn't mean it. He"

    "That's enough!" Sean's face was lived. "I meant every word!"

    Her glance at David a silent plea, Meg turned back to her brother. "All right, Sean. Please, let's go now. I want to go home."

    "Aye, we'll go." Looking up at David, a new light touching the anger in his eyes, Sean stated flatly, "You may tell them up on the hill that my sister will not return to your house."

    "Sean!"

    "You heard me, Meg!"

    Intensely aware of David's silence, Meg would not chance another glance at his white face as she slipped her hand into Sean's. Her heart hammered in the few moments it took for Sean to grasp it tightly and to draw her with him onto the trail.

    The confrontation abruptly concluded, they continued on down the trail, and it was only when they reached the bottom that Sean halted to look into his sister's pinched face.

    "You should've told me what he was proposin', Meg. It's my duty to care for you."

    "It was an honest offer, Sean. It came from Mrs. Lang herself, and it was meant well."

    "Not with the devil himself chasin' you to make you comply!"

    "David wouldn't hurt me, Sean."

    His gaze suddenly and unexpectedly tender, Sean raised a gentle hand to her cheek.

    "Ah, Meg, sometimes I forget you're an innocent babe who believes the best of all. And sometimes I hate myself for havin' to make you see the world as it truly stands. But Ma left you in my care, and I'll not let them Langs have their way with you. You're not goin' back there, ever."

    "But Uncle Timothy"

    "You're not goin' back."

    Nodding, Meg grasped Sean's hand and turned to step onto the road. Refusing to move, Sean waited until she looked up inquiringly before speaking again in a softer tone.

    "Did you hear me, Meg?"

    "Aye, I heard you."

    Pausing only a moment longer, they started home.

    "She's goin' back to work in the house on the hill, I tell ye!"

    "And I thought all the bastards lived atop the hill!" Sean stared at his uncle with visible hatred. He had arrived home a few minutes earlier with Meg, knowing in his heart what his uncle's reaction would be to the termination of Meg's employment at the Langs', and he hated the drunken sot all the more for proving him right.

    Sean took a threatening step toward his uncle where he swayed in the kitchen doorway, but Meg stepped between them with a low plea. "Sean, please. Come upstairs with me and let's talk a bit. We must think things through."

    "Aye, ye've to think things through, all right! But before ye go, I'll say it again and make meself clear. The girl's to go back to work on the morrow or yer both out of this house!"

    Sean advanced another menacing step as Uncle Timothy turned away, finally yielding to Meg's whispered, "No, Sean, let him go. He's two sheets to the wind and not to be reasoned with."

    Sean's response came from the bottom of his heart. "I'll kill that man one day."

    Observing from the sidelines, Aunt Fiona silently left the room, and Meg continued earnestly. "Sean, we've naught to gain with such talk. And the truth is that Uncle Timothy's right. With most of your wage going to the tab Da left behind, he's been supporting us with his own money. It's only my wage that's free and clear."

    "The debt is mine."

    "No, it's shared equally between us. Ma would want it that way. You've naught to fear about my employment at the Langs'. I'll not be pressed to join permanent service, and when my learning is improved a bit more, Father Matthew will find me other employment."

    "Aye." Sean sneered. "Just like he did before."

    Taking a step closer, Meg looked up into his face and Sean felt the power of her heartfelt plea deep inside him. "I've not suffered for my employment on the hill, Sean. And I give you my word that should I be pressed beyond my limits in any way, I'll speak to you first so we may set it right."

    Meg rubbed his arm in a way she had done since childhood when imploring him, and Sean felt the hard core of his anger soften as she spoke again. "Sean, please. Father Matthew"

    "Aye, Father Matthew!" His anger reviving at the priest's name, Sean shook off his sister's hand. "All right, go back to work for them Langs if that's what you wish, but, mind, don't deceive me. For if you do, and I discover it, Lang will be the loser."

    Not able to bear the distress in Meg's eyes, Sean turned toward the door, only to pause at her uncertain, "Where're you going, Sean? You've not eaten dinner."

    "My stomach's full with aggravation, Meg. I'll not need food this night." Then, at her look of growing agitation, "Don't worry yourself. I'm all right."

    Out on the street moments later, Sean knew he was not all right. He had given in to Uncle Timothy this time, but he'd not give up his Meg. He'd watch and wait, and when the time came, he'd do what he must do.

    The chill of early morning sank into his bones as David waited on the wooded trail where he last saw Meg the day before. The thought of spending the day at the colliery with his uncle without speaking to Meg first, or without knowing if she had returned to work at all, had gotten him out of bed at dawn and posted him in his present position to await her arrival.

    A shiver passing down his spine, David adjusted the collar of his jacket against his neck, his mind drifting to the day before and his confrontation with Sean O'Connor. There was no doubt the fellow was a bad one, and he wondered again how Meg could see no wrong in the young brute. But he supposed the bond of blood was stronger than even Meg's good sense. He was grateful that the short encounter between O'Connor and himself hadn't ended in violence, for he knew Meg would not have forgiven him easily had they come to blows.

    David darted another glance down the trail. Meg wouldn't allow her brother to dictate the course of her life, would she? The    fellow was only a year or so older than she, and inadequate as a guardian, considering his violent bent. In the early hours of the previous night he had been certain Meg had merely appeased her brother because of the situation's potential volatility. Then he recalled Meg's eyes as she looked up at her brother. The commitment he saw there had caused his insecurity to grow.

    David's stomach tightened. He had learned something else about himself as he lay abed and sleepless the previous night, and the knowledge exacerbated his discomfort. The truth was that he was
envious
of the bond between Sean O'Connor and Meg. The realization that O'Connor was not worthy of Meg's affection or her loyalty only increased his resentment.

    David jammed his hands in his pockets and stared moodily at the tips of his highly polished boots. A fine layer of dust from the trail dulled their shine, but he was blind to all but the familiar face so clear before his mind's eye.

    His head snapping up at a sound on the trail below him, David could hear the hammering of his heart as Meg stepped into view. His relief knowing no bounds, he stepped forward eagerly, only to be halted by Meg's frigid gaze.

    Suddenly at a loss for words, David managed an uncomfortable smile. "I wanted to talk to you before you started work today, so I came here to wait."

    Meg remained silent and David's smile dropped away, leaving him with nothing but words that came from his heart. "I wasn't sure if you'd come today, Meg, but I couldn't spend the whole day at the colliery wondering. I'm sorry I behaved so poorly yesterday. I know now that I did no more than aggravate a situation that I should have handled far differently."