The Settlers series was written as a tribute to the
magnificent pioneer women who battled alongside their men to open new frontiers
in far flung corners of the globe. It was inspired by letters sent from Australia
home to England by these women who were often torn away from the family and
homeland they loved, forced to endure all kinds of deprivation, but faced every
struggle with strength and fortitude. In this day of washing machines,
supermarkets and homes filled with mod-cons it is difficult to imagine a life
without these amenities, let alone to perceive what it must have been like
traipsing after your menfolk to settle in unknown parts, often over miles of
dangerous territory.
Since Tricia McGill is currently in hospital and we wish her a speedy recovery and return to her writing, BWL is posting this excerpt of one of our favorite books from Tricia. Here for your enjoyment are the Prologue and first two chapters of Distant Mountains. To purchase the book from one of your favorite retailers, visit this link:
https://books2read.com/Distant-Mountains
Prologue
Moreton Bay
September 1828
A kookaburra warbled its silly head off.
Laughing, no doubt, at the stupidity of man. And the cruelty.
The sun beat down mercilessly as the
cat-o-nine tails whirled and cracked. Dear
God! Rem thought. What had he done to deserve this agony? What had brought
him to this—fixed to this triangle like a carcass nailed to a barn door.
He tasted blood as he bit down on his lip.
Bile rose in his throat. He wouldn’t scream. Through the battering pain, he
registered the quartermaster sergeant calling out stroke number thirty-six.
Blood flowed freely down his back now, soaking his trousers.
The magistrate used the cat for revenge. Rem’s offence was so piffling it was
laughable—if a man felt like laughing, as the bird up yonder did. Fifty lashes were
the most the magistrate had been able to impose for a single offence. Thank
God.
Through the lancing pain, Rem knew he must
not scream, must not blubber and forever be known as a crawler. Hanging onto
consciousness by a thread, he sagged against the bloody, filthy bars of the triangle;
a frame tainted by the blood of so many men, and now would carry his.
“Cut 'im down!” the scourger shouted, and
through his agony Rem recognized his punishment had ended.
Tripping over the hole made by the
scourger’s feet during the vile beating, Rem was kept upright by Scab and
Salty, the only two men he could vaguely term as mates in this hell. In a
flagrant act of disdain, he spat at the feet of the man who had inflicted the
agony he now suffered as he stumbled and was half-dragged away. The man who gave
him the “red shirt” swore viciously, and before he lost consciousness Rem
warned himself to watch what he did in future. These bastards would soon have
him back on the frame if he didn’t toe their line.
Chapter One
June 1826
Freedom was sweet.
The air was pungent after a short spell of
rain. It was cold, the chill air biting, but Rem reckoned he’d never really
feel the cold again. Not in this country, where the sun shone more often than
not; where the coldest day only called for an extra layer of clothing. He had
almost forgotten the biting winds and bone-chilling cold of London. The
thoughts had receded into some dark corner of his mind, along with the memories
that still periodically invaded his sleep. Memories of hunger and desperation;
days of despair when he had wondered if life was worth all the bother entailed
to get through each day.
“Uncle Remy, where are you?”
Rem grinned as he pushed himself onto his
elbows. His nephew had sought him out again. Not that he minded; the boy was
good company, always ready for a new lark. Seven come September, Tim was mature
for his age. Boys grew up fast out here in this new land. Here a lad like Tim
learned early on as they all did that he had to work the land; put every ounce
of his energy into it to reap the benefits.
“Over here, lad.” Rem watched Tim, hair the
color of ripened corn drooping over his forehead, trotting toward the
riverbank. One of the sheepdogs, a black and white mongrel, loped at his heels.
Tim always had a dog nearby and it would be strange to see him without one of
his perpetual companions.
“What you doing sitting out here, Uncle
Remy?” Tim squatted on his haunches by Rem’s side. “Mama was getting all of a
fluster because you were supposed to be working on the new barn, and the
foreman said you’d disappeared.”
“Not disappeared, boy, just taking a break.
And, we both know your ma can get herself into a state over the simplest of
things. Don’t the air smell good?” Rem put his head back and sniffed
appreciatively.
Tim nudged him, sighing. “Air doesn’t
smell, silly. The cattle stink, so do the horses after they do a business, but
air hasn’t got a smell.”
Rem ruffled the golden hair. Pushing himself
to his feet, he hauled Tim up with him. “Come on, let’s go make my sister
happy,” he said, swinging Tim easily onto his back. He strode up the hill with
his burden, the dog yelping at their heels. The boy gripped him about the
middle with his knees and shouted encouragement at his mount.
His sister, Bella, four months along with
her fourth child was at this irksome stage. Her husband Tiger was often off
with his shepherds, laborers, or field hands, and at these times she liked to
know Rem was near at hand.
Rem had been out here beyond Bathurst with
them for a year now, and she still often stared at him as if she couldn’t quite
believe they were together. He wasn’t surprised by that—he often had to pinch
himself to prove it wasn’t a dream. At times he dreaded he would find himself
in the hellish hold of the transport ship.
Or worse, at Newcastle where he could even now be with the gangs quarrying
stone or working down the coal mine. Worst of all he could be with the
lime-burners; the convicts who burned the seashells used to manufacture the
lime used as mortar. By all accounts, it was the vilest job a man could have.
Tiger could be a hard taskmaster at times,
never letting him get off light with any job. Not that Rem would expect to. He
would be eternally grateful for Tiger’s intervention on his behalf. Tiger had
seen Rem released into his care when the authorities were just about to send Rem
off to the hellhole Newcastle had become. If at times he got itchy feet and the
tasks became tedious, Rem only had to recall the awful days spent on the
treadmill in Sydney before coming out to Tiger and Bella’s property here, west
of the Blue Mountain range.
Tiger had built Bella a fine house of
stone, with two floors and a veranda that went right around its sides. It sat
proudly on the ridge facing the river, outbuildings now springing up in its
surrounds. The barn Rem was supposed to be helping to erect was the latest of
these buildings.
“Here you go.” Rem helped Tim off his back
as they reached the six steps that led up to the front porch.
“See you later,” the boy yelled as he ran
off, his dog at his side.
“Where you off to in such a hurry?” Rem
called after him. But Tim was already out of earshot, likely in a hurry to
escape his mother’s schooling. Not that he would be able to do that for long, Bella
was strict about his lessons and set aside at least three hours a day for that
activity.
“Remy?” Bella’s sharp call brought him up
short as he turned toward the almost completed barn.
“That’s me.” Changing direction, he grinned
and mounted the steps. His sister stood by the open door, wiping her hands on
the apron covering the front of her plain blue woolen dress. Rem didn’t think
he’d ever get used to having such a beautiful woman for a sister. Those around
her didn’t notice the limp she’d had since a bolting horse trampled her in
Stepney years ago.
Her rich auburn hair formed a loose bun at the
nape of her neck, but tendrils had escaped and framed her expressive face. Her
green eyes sparked with merriment “Where did you sneak off to again?”
“I was just taking in the air, love. Isn’t
it a fine day?” He half-closed his eyes, looking up to the sky, where not a
smidgen of sun peeped through the gray clouds.
“Fine?” She made a disparaging sound in her
throat. “You’ve got a vivid imagination.” There was a soft chiding note in her
voice. His sister knew more than anyone that any day was fine while they were
able to walk free and breathe the air of free men and women.
Yes, he was still a convict, with five
years to go before he could claim his ticket of leave, but compared to life
before Tiger rescued him, this was the next best thing to being able to hold
his head up as a free man.
Bella’s nursemaid, Agnes, smiled shyly at
Rem as she joined her mistress on the porch. Rosie, the eight-month-old and youngest
of Bella and Tiger’s brood, rested on Agnes’ hip. Agnes, seventeen and a plain
little thing, had been with Bella and Tiger since they set out on their epic
journey across the mountains in 1824.
“Isn’t it a fine day?” Rem asked the girl,
knowing she would agree with him if he declared it was as hot as hell, and the
sun had blistered his skin. It was flattering to be idolized. Bothersome at
times, but nonetheless a wonderful thing to have a female willing to do
anything he asked. Some devil inside him often wanted to see to what lengths
she would go to please him, although his kind heart wouldn’t allow him to do
it.
“It certainly is,” Agnes agreed, as he’d
known she would. “'Tis a bit cool, but that’s not to be sniffed at. Beats
summer when the sun makes you shrivel.”
Agnes didn’t like the hot weather. She
complained it burned her fair skin, brought her out in freckles, made her skin
go blotchy, and made her feel weak as a dish rag. Although complained wasn’t
the right word to use; Agnes never did anything quite so definite. She was too
mousy and insignificant. A small apologetic grumble was about as close to a
complaint she dared to venture.
Bella nodded to Rem and went back inside
the house. Agnes’s skin turned to the color of a beet as she stared at Rem. Her
eyelashes were so light they could barely be seen—this only added to her mouse-like
appearance. She jerked the baby higher into her arms, and bobbed Rosie about on
her ample hip until the child squealed. As if surprised at what she’d done,
Agnes crooned soft words of apology to the baby.
Rem knew he shouldn’t do it, but the girl
begged to be teased. Moving within a foot of her, he gave her the smile more
than one maid told him was appealing. “How’s the little mother today?”
“I’m fine, and how are you?” She nibbled on
her lower lip as her eyes adored him.
Rem shrugged. “Tell the truth, Aggie, I’m
bored to my high teeth. There are few chances out here to ease the monotony. I
know I should be grateful for Tiger taking me on and bringing me here, but I’m
not made for the country life. I miss the noise and bustle of the city. Not
that I wish to return to Stepney.” When she shook her head and gave him a look
of condemnation that he could be so ungrateful, he hastened to add, “But a bit
of excitement would add spice to this dull existence now and then. If you know
what I mean?”
“Seems to me the city life only brought you
into more strife than a body needs,” she scolded softly.
Rem moved in closer and ran a finger over
the blush on her cheeks, chuckling at her huffy response. “True.”
Glancing about, he bent in closer, until he almost touched noses
with her. He could feel the heat coming off her rounded body, could practically
feel the shiver he guessed ran through her at his closeness. “But there’s
strife, an’ then there’s other things the town has to offer.”
“Rem O’Shea, seems to me you don’t know
when you’re well off.” She hunched a shoulder when he continued to stroke her
cheek, but she didn’t step out of his range, as any city miss would have done.
She was a sweet little chit, unworldly and naïve.
Rosie reached out to grab at his hair, and
he laughed as he took the tiny fist into his hand and kissed the tips of her
fingers, which pleased the child, and made Agnes tremble even more.
“Oh, I know well enough. But don’t you
yearn for a bit of excitement in your life now and then, Aggie girl?” He
watched with a kind of fascination as the blush fluctuated on her face. What a
shame she wasn’t more prepossessing. What a pity he didn’t share her
infatuation. That at least would ease the boredom that gripped him at times
until he could yell. Of course, he liked to think he wasn’t so fickle all he
thought of was a wench’s looks, but her temperament was so bland. Rem liked his
women with fire and fervor and a temper to match his own.
“Excitement? I get more than my fair share
of that chasing after young Tim, Annie, and this little 'un.” She glanced at
the babe in her arms, smiling down at Rosie affectionately. The child pinched Agnes’
nose, making it turn an unbecoming shade of red. “Then there’ll be another one
come November, so I’ll have my hands full.”
“Mm, my sister and Tiger certainly are
helping to populate this part of the world, ain’t they?” He laughed, chucking
Rosie beneath the chin. “But looking after toddlers and tots ain’t my idea of
fun, Aggie. I had something different in mind.” He eyed her plain garb, scuffed
boots, and mobcap. Her clothes did nothing to enhance her round shape. “Don’t
you ever want to dress up and traipse around like the gentry?”
“I’m not gentry, and can’t see the point in
yearning after the impossible,” she stated pragmatically, shrugging. “I’m happy
to have a good home here with the missus and master. And you should be too.”
Rem sighed and turned to stare where the
mountains loomed in the distance, like an impenetrable barrier between him and
the excitement he craved. She was right, of course. He should be happy, but he yearned for so much
more out of life than tending sheep and building barns and tilling the soil.
Tiger was happy enough building his empire, and Bella was content to stand at
his side and bear his children. If only Rem didn’t have to wait another five
years to gain his ticket of leave, and his freedom.
Without another word he sauntered off to
the barn, hands dug deep into the pockets of his breeches.
* * *
Agnes watched his broad back, her eyes feasting on the strong length
of his legs, the width of his shoulders, his head of rich dark red hair that
reminded her of burnished chestnuts when the sun caught it, turning it to
flame. The familiar yearning weighed heavily on her heart. If only she were
even slightly pretty. If only she were more intelligent and bright as a penny, as
were most other girls of her age. She’d learned a lot sitting in on lessons the
mistress gave Tim every day, but knew she was still as unworldly as when first plucked
from the orphanage nearly two years ago by the master, to come here over the
mountains with them as nursemaid.
There weren’t many young females around
these parts, but the few who had come west with their kin were certainly more
fetching than she, with her ordinary brown hair and face that wouldn’t stand
out in any crowd, large or small. Her bosom was too big for her body, making
her top-heavy, or so it seemed. Her behind stuck out so she looked like one of
the ducks waddling about. That the babies fitted snugly on her over-large hips
was about all that could be said in her body’s favor. Even if she forced
herself into a corset, she doubted she would look any more attractive. No, an
ugly duckling she was, never to become a swan.
With a drawn-out sigh, she pressed a kiss
on Rosie’s cheek. This would likely be her lot in life. To look after other
folk’s children, to die an old spinster out here in the wilds; never to know
the joy of nursing her own babe at her breast.
“No use pining for things that will never
be, eh?” she asked the child as she stepped back inside and walked along the
passage stretching from the front to the back of the lower floor of the house. Entering
the kitchen, she put a bright smile on her face.
The family’s second child, Annie, who would
be two-years-old in a month, sat on a rug near the stove that threw out a
welcoming heat; the rag doll Agnes had made for Annie’s last birthday was cradled
in her arms.
The mistress was helping Gracie prepare
dinner. The smell of roasting lamb filled the air. Gracie, in her fifty-seventh
year, was as cheerful as a rooster surrounded by hens, and never seemed to
yearn for things beyond her reach. Gracie came over on the same transport ship
as the mistress, and the two were as close as two women could get without being
sisters.
“'Ullo dearly,” she chirped. “'Ow’s about a
cup o’ tea, eh?” That was Gracie’s answer to all ills.
Agnes pulled a face. Gracie was unmarried
and seemed happy enough with her lot in life. She received an offer of marriage
in Sydney, but chose to turn her suitor down in preference of joining the
mistress in this part of the world the master was slowly taming.
“Thank you,” Agnes said as the older woman
put the steaming cup on the table. Bending, Agnes put Rosie in the cradle. She
sat down and sipped the drink, one foot rocking the cradle, her mind on the
tall man with shining red hair who held her heart in his capable hands but
didn’t want it.
Chapter Two
July 2 1826
Rem stared at Sara Greenwood, unable to take his eyes off this
beauty. She was, without a doubt, the most entrancing creature he’d ever seen.
With hair and eyes as black as sin and flawless skin like pure porcelain, her
face was that of a goddess. A bloom on her cheeks gave her face a vital sheen
of good health. How his fingers itched to unpin her silken tresses from their
neat coils. He ached to touch that skin to see if it felt as soft and downy as
it looked.
She carried her youth and beauty with a
proud bearing missing in so many of the young women in the colony; these women
brooded and sulked, despairing of their lot in life after being dragged to this
awful continent by their fathers against their will. Most had pasty faces they
kept well hidden beneath large-brimmed bonnets to shield them from the sun they
saw as an enemy to their complexions.
Rem thanked God it was a Sunday, and they
allowed him to join the small gathering. The thought he might have missed
meeting this goddess made him shudder. Tiger made a habit of inviting all
newcomers to the district to his and Bella’s home soon after their arrival. The
Greenwoods had recently settled here after living in Sydney for five years.
Bella met them briefly on a trip into town, and Rem knew by her remarks she
wasn’t particularly enamored of Edmund Greenwood or his timid wife Eleanor. Rem
couldn’t give a damn about them, but was already half in love with their
daughter.
“So charmed to meet you,” Sara was saying
to Bella and Tiger, who were decked out in the finery kept solely for such
occasions.
Extending her long, slender fingers, Sara
took their welcoming outstretched hands one after the other. Turning to Rem,
she offered the same delicate hand, and he bowed over it reverently. Her scent
filled his nostrils, battered at his senses. Like a garden in full bloom, or a
bowl of roses. Not very poetic, he knew, but she would forever remind him of a
spring day; an English one, where rosebuds sent out their fragrance to entice
the bees, and butterflies were entranced by the colors.
Rem realized his breathing was as uneven as
his heartbeat. As he straightened, their eyes met, and for one infinitesimal
moment Rem felt sure a message passed between them. Could she be as smitten as
he?
“We are delighted to meet you at last,”
Bella said, and for a moment, Rem wondered what she was talking about. So
entranced was he, everything had gone out of his head, except this vision of
loveliness.
“How do you find it here in Bathurst?”
Bella asked graciously as they all took seats on the porch.
Sara spread the skirt of her blue dress
about her knees, her dainty feet clad in black pumps peeped beneath the hem.
Those bewitching eyes, filled with a sort of devilment met Rem’s as Bella continued,
“I’m so glad the weather has seen fit to hold.” She looked to the sky, where a
weak winter sun tried its damnedest to shine through the gray clouds.
“As I’m mighty glad it’s decided not to
rain before we’ve had a chance to settle in our house,” Sara’s burly father said,
as he settled his large frame on a chair, and huffed. “I must say I’m also glad
we brought plenty of help with us to this godforsaken neck of the woods.” He
had a perpetual air of grievance about him, as if the world should have tried
harder to do better by him.
“'Tis a good life, once you grow used to
it, and if you’re prepared to work hard for what you wish to attain, it’s very
rewarding,” Tiger said, looking out over his land. It was obvious to Rem his
brother-in-law was no more enamored of this man than he was. Edmund Greenwood
was brusque to the point of rudeness and loud-mouthed. How did an ugly brutish
man manage to sire an angel like Sara? And how did her meek and homely mother
ever produce such a beauty? Perhaps she had been adopted. The thought made him
smile, and he glanced over at his angel in time to see her watching him, her
delicate brows raised.
Turning to Sara’s mother, Bella offered, “You
must call on me for any help you need. We lean on each other out here where
months can go by without us seeing anyone from the other side of the
mountains.”
The
pallid, insignificant woman looked to be about sixty in age, but was more than
likely only in her forties. Rem suspected years of living with a boor had
etched those deep lines on her face. Her pinched mouth looked forever on the
verge of protest. Though, Rem doubted she would ever dare to come forth with a
complaint.
“Thank you.” The words came out on a
thready whisper. Glancing up like a scared hare, Mrs. Greenwood added, “I
didn’t want to come,” earning a wrathful glare from her husband.
“Balderdash!” Edmund waved an arm, his
brows beetling, and she seemed to shrivel even more. “You’ll soon get used to
it. And with kindly ladies like Mrs. Carstairs here” —he gave Bella a sickly,
condescending glance—“you’ll soon acclimatize.”
“I found it very strange when I first
arrived in the colony.” Bella smiled at Mrs. Greenwood, and Rem thought, for
the umpteenth time, what a lovely woman his sister was. “And please call me
Bella,” she invited. “Everyone does. We don’t stand on ceremony here. Being so
isolated we have to become friends.”
Rem wondered if these people knew his
sister and her husband had both been convicts, sent to the colony by the
British Government, same as he had. No doubt they did, for news traveled fast
despite the great distances. Gossip was rife among the Exclusives and the
Emancipists.
“‘Course you did. We all have to learn to
change.” Edmund gave his wife a look that said she would have to change, or
accept his wrath. Her hands trembled, and she twined them together on her lap.
“And how do you like living so far from the
town?” Rem turned to ask the beauty seated beside him.
She shrugged. Her pouting lips were as
soft, full, and pink as the rosebuds she smelt of. His insides ached with the
desire to see if they tasted half as sweet as they looked. Jesus, he wanted to
ravish her, to strip her and taste every part of the delectable body he knew
the wool of her garment hid.
Her eyes slid from his dark red curls to
the boots he was glad he’d polished for the occasion. Something deep inside him
began to shake with his response.
Barely past her seventeenth birthday, so
Bella had told him, and already she wore the look of a woman in control of her
life and her responses. How he would like to help her lose her cool control. He
made up his mind that would be his driving purpose in life from now on; sure in
his conceit he would win her no matter what.
“I would have liked to stay in Sydney Town.
I have my governess and companion still, who accompanied us over here, so I
will have to bear it. For a while.” She sounded utterly bored, and Rem wanted
to stand up and shout that he would take her wherever she yearned to go.
Her father gave her another of his wrathful
glares and boomed, “Bear it, will you? 'Tis my belief there’s too many wrong 'uns
in the town now. Wanted to stay over there, they did.” He jerked his head toward
his long-suffering wife and his beautiful daughter and snorted. “You talk some
sense into them, madam.” His smile reminded Rem of a conniving crook.
“I wasn’t too happy about leaving the town
myself,” Bella said, giving Tiger the special smile she kept for her husband; one
that left everyone else out of the loving and intimate world the two shared.
Rem now knew the full story of how Bella lost
her first husband, Dougal, and her second-born son Dougie, on the dreadful
journey across the mountains to settle over here. She battled Tiger every step
of the way in those days, fighting her love for him. Rem knew that now she
wouldn’t consider going back to town, even if Tiger was to give her the option,
which Rem knew he wouldn’t. His life was here now, with his family, expanding
his empire. Oh, they argued often still, but their fights were the quarrels of lovers;
and any onlooker, including himself, always knew the rows were made up as only
lovers’ tiffs could be reconciled.
“As with all things, it becomes better once
you grow used to the isolation,” Bella continued. “We have quite a few families
settled here now. Our small community manages to get along despite the
differences in our backgrounds.”
“‘Course they do,” Edmund bellowed, as if
no one would dare to argue the case with him.
“I hear you left a manager in charge of
your business in town,” Tiger said, successfully managing to conceal the
disdain Rem knew Tiger felt for this brash man. Rem guessed this was likely now
multiplied after seeing the way Edmund treated
his wife and daughter.
“That’s right.” Greenwood preened as he
smiled condescendingly. Tiger had told Rem and Bella of how Greenwood arrived
in Sydney five years ago as a free man and opened a store stocked with
merchandise purchased cheaply at ports of call on the voyage over.
“My emporium is one of the largest and most
successful now,” he boasted. Grimacing, he shook his head. “If only we didn’t
have to put up with so much riff-raff in the people I’m forced to employ.”
Tiger looked toward the mutton, roasting
above a fire next to the garden, Bella’s pride and joy. One of the hands signaled
it was ready. “It looks as if the meat is about done.”
They strolled to a table laid with cloth
and cutlery, where Rem ensured he sat beside his beautiful enchantress. He saw
Bella’s raised eyebrows, but chose to take no notice of his sister’s silent
warning.
Gracie began to serve, aided by one of the
new women brought from Sydney recently to help with the household chores. They served
steaming dishes of turnips, carrots, and potatoes.
“You might be wishing you'd stayed in
Sydney, but I can’t tell you how happy I am you're here.” Rem gave Sara his
most beguiling smile, one nurtured in the past year. Agnes, usually the
recipient of such smiles, tended the children at a smaller table set aside for
them. Her antipathy toward the beauty at Rem’s side was blatant. If looks were
daggers, Sara would have been dead within five minutes of Agnes setting sight
on her. Poor insignificant Agnes.
“I don’t know which is worse, to be candid.
I wished we’d never come out to this country of savages, but my father was
convinced a fortune was waiting to be made.” She flicked a glance at her
father, now boring Tiger with a discourse on trading practices. Tiger’s
expression clearly showed his indifference to her father’s monologue.
“And has he made his fortune yet?” Rem
didn’t take his eyes from her face. Every move she made entranced him more and
more. He couldn’t give a brass farthing for her father’s possessions, but
anything that got her talking was worth the effort.
“He’s wealthy, if that’s what you mean. My
mother and I are allowed to purchase whatever we need to make us presentable in
society.”
“Society?” Rem laughed, glancing about.
“Hardly that out here.”
She picked sparingly at the food set before
her. “You’re right. We could all walk around in plain clothes and not give a
fig for our appearance, and who would know or care? It really is a land of
savages.” The poignancy of her quiet statement struck him in the heart.
“I would care.” Rem stared at her hard, and
thought, such a hothouse plant should be pampered and spoiled, brought up
amongst the society in London, not dragged to a godforsaken place like this.
“Never change, sweet Sara. Always stay as beautiful and elegantly attired as
you are now, no matter the cost or effort. Promise me.”
“All right. I will promise you that.” Her
small laugh made his gut wrench. “Will you show me around the property?” she
asked, glancing down the table.
The meal was almost at an end, and the
others were still engrossed in a debate on the merits of sheep farming versus
trading; Tiger enthusing about the price of fleece on the English market.
She had a way of fluttering her eyelashes
that sent Rem’s heart into a spin. Trying not to show his eagerness, and thus
appearing like a smitten schoolboy, Rem rose slowly, bowing over her hand. “I would
be honored.” He pressed a kiss on her knuckle and was pleased to see her soft
cheeks turn delightfully pink.
“Where are you off to?” Edmund bellowed,
interrupting their discussion, as she settled her skirts about her with a pat
of the hand.
Rem held his breath, expecting her father’s
annoyance to deter her, but then she said sweetly, “Rem is going to show me
around, Papa,” and gave Edmund a peck on his florid cheek. She smiled demurely
at Bella. “And I need to walk after such a splendid meal. Thank you, Mrs. Carstairs.
It was most enjoyable. But I shouldn’t have eaten so much.”
“Please call me Bella,” Bella insisted,
waving them on their way. “Go on with you, and enjoy your stroll.” Rem grinned
at Bella’s meaningful look. A look that clearly stated he was to watch his step
with this beauty, or bear the wrath of her father.
Rem knew Greenwood wouldn’t make a scene in
front of Bella and Tiger and smiled to himself. “Come, I’ll show you the
orchard Tiger planted soon after they arrived here.” Offering his arm, he
inhaled her fragrance as she hooked her hand in his elbow.
When they were out of earshot of the
others, he said softly, “You smell as sweet as a garden full of blooms.”
She tapped him on the chest with her fan
and smiled, showing dear little dimples in her cheeks. “Hmm.” With a chuckle,
she wrinkled her nose pertly. “I’m surprised I don’t stink like one of the
horses, considering our mode of transport.”
“There’s no decent lanes or carriage ways
yet. It’s difficult for you to be jolted over the stubble in your wagon.
Tiger’s working hard at improving that. Soon there’ll be a passable road
connecting the properties on this side of the river. You should have seen it
last year when I arrived.”
“Is that how long you’ve been here?”
“Eighteen months to be precise. The house
was half-built, and we lived in sod huts.” He grimaced.
“Don’t you get bored out here in the middle
of nowhere?” she asked as he led her around the almond trees toward where the
stone-fruit trees grew. They were well away from the house now, and he looked
over his shoulder to see if they could be watched from the table.
“Truth is, bored out of my head, Sara.”
With a hand on her back he propelled her to a seat Tiger had positioned for
Bella in the shade of what would eventually be a flourishing apple tree. She
shivered, and he asked, “Are you warm enough?”
“It is cooler here.” She hugged her arms
across her chest.
“Would you like to go back?” he asked,
praying she would say no.
“No, would you?” Slanting him a provocative
look, she flashed him a wicked smile, her dimples more pronounced.
“I want nothing more than to be here with
you.” Rem took off his jacket and draped it across her shoulders. “Is that
better?”
“Much.” She shrugged into its warmth. “Now
you’ll be cold.”
“Me? Not while I’m this close to you. You
set my blood afire, did you know that?” Rem longed to plant a kiss on one of
those indentations on her cheek, to explore it with his tongue. He held her
gaze and reached for one of her dainty hands.
Her chuckle was charming as she tapped him
again with the fan. “Gentlemen aren’t supposed to say things like that to
ladies,” she admonished, but he got the distinct impression she wasn’t the
least affronted by his bluntness.
“I ain’t a gentleman, Sara. I’m a convict,
plain and simple. Does that bother you?” Sitting beside her, he pressed his
thigh to her skirts. She didn’t move away, although her look said she was
slightly shocked.
“No, it doesn’t bother me. Unless, of
course, you intend to act like one and be brutish. What did you do to get
transported?” she asked.
Rem shrugged. “Same as most. Not a lot.
Pinched food to help my family. Most convicts are just like me, ordinary men
and women charged with transportation for petty crimes.” The memories, dulled
in the past year, resurfaced. “Papa died in prison, our mum died the year I was
sent out here, and one of our sisters died of starvation and the cold.” Rem
grimaced as he remembered the awful winters they had to endure; winters with no
food, no heat, and the threat of disease a part of their everyday existence.
“How sad.” She seemed genuinely appalled by
his plight. “So is Bella all the family you have left?”
“No. We have another two sisters and two
brothers still in Stepney, although Carlos, the eldest, will more than likely
end up here soon. Likely the others will too eventually. It’s the way of
things. A fact of life.”
“Carlos? What a foreign-sounding name. Why
would your brother be named such?” Her limpid eyes turned on him inquisitively.
“Our papa was Spanish.” Her eyes widened,
and Rem quickly asked, “Does that bother you?”
“Bother me? Why no.” With a careless flick
of the hand, she said, “But it does surprise me. Although it shouldn’t really,
for your sister’s name, Isabella, is Spanish, is it not?”
“Right.”
“And now that I look at you closely I can
see you do have the appearance about you unlike most of the English men here in
the colony.” Her gaze roved over his face. He sincerely hoped she liked what
she saw.
“And is my different look distasteful to
you?” Rem knew he was seeking compliments from her, but couldn’t help himself.
How he yearned for her to be as entranced as he was by everything about her.
“Distasteful? Why of course not.” Leaning
closer, she said in a husky tone that set his pulses to racing and his heart
pounding at a fierce rate, “You're extremely handsome of face. But I expect
you’ve been told so by countless women.” With a sniff, she looked swiftly away.
Rem chuckled, feeling ten feet tall. “A few
have assured me I’m not ugly. In truth, you’re the first to tell me I’m
handsome,” he lied. “And I can’t say how much it pleases me to know you admire
my looks, for I must tell you that I find you the most entrancing woman on
earth. You’re beautiful, clever, witty…”
“Stop.” With a laugh, she held up both
hands then tapped him on his knee. “You’ll turn my head with your compliments.”
“I only speak the truth.” Rem bent his head
to whisper near her shell-shaped ear, “I love you with all my heart. And when
I’m out of my term and a free man; then I’ll ask your father for your sweet
hand.” He placed a kiss on her knuckle, and a tremor raced over her skin. He
hoped it wasn’t just the cool air causing it. He hoped she was as enamored of him as he was
of her. “Will you wait for me?”
Her eyes widened at his impudence, but he
knew without being told that his words captured her interest. “What nonsense.
How can you speak of love, Remy? You’ve only just met me. How can you possibly
have such strong feelings for me on such a short acquaintance?”
“Love knows no boundaries, of time or
place. I’ll feel the same fifty years from now as I feel at this moment,” he swore
with fervor, cupping her chin with his palm. Strangely, he knew his words were
true. He had felt a strong attraction for a few women before, but nothing like
this all-encompassing devotion that seemed to fill all his senses.
“I know not what to say.” Her voice was low
and husky. She made no move to remove herself from his touch, and that thrilled
him to the core.
“Then say naught. Or say you return my
feelings. But don’t say you feel nothing for me, or I shall die.”
“Stuff and nonsense. Of course you won’t
die,” she said prettily.
With a hand over his heart, Rem sighed
elaborately. “But I will. I thought females were more romantic than us men.”
Rem grinned.
“We are.” She chuckled, a lovely sound that
made his heart turn over. “We want men to fawn over us, to treat us as if we’re
hot-house plants.”
“There you are.” Rem touched a finger to
her dainty nose. “I’ll treat you as if you’re the most precious person in the
world. Just say you like me a tiny bit.”
“Of course I like you.” With smiling eyes,
she examined his face until he felt foolish color rise up from his throat.
How
ridiculous. Only females were supposed to blush.
“You're a personable young man. Far nicer
than the other young bloods in town who fawned over me.”
“Nicer? Ye gods! Is that all you think me?”
Rem made a sound of disgust in his throat.
“Yes, nicer.” She pouted, and Rem turned
away. “In truth, I found some of the men who asked to court me absolute bores.”
As he faced her again, she wrinkled her nose. “All right, I think you the most
handsome person I’ve ever set eyes on. But that’s not to say I can return this
love you foolishly claim to hold for me.”
“Foolish? Jesus, you’re enough to squelch a
man’s ego.” Rem blew out a large breath. Still, she was so young. He would give
her time. Soon her feelings would match his. At least while they were so
isolated out here he could court her, woo her, and win her. In his heart, he
had no doubt this would be the outcome.
“How am I to know these feelings you
profess to feel for me aren’t merely because there are very few women of our
age out here,” she said with a touch of hesitancy.
Rem held up a hand to silence her on that
subject. ‘No. Don’t ever accuse me of being so fickle, I beg you. I’m
twenty-three years old and way past pining over females simply because their
looks take my fancy. Believe me; this emotion within me will only grow with
time I assure you. Allow me to know my own capacity for caring.”
“You overwhelm me, Remy.” It was true, he
saw. Patience, he cautioned. They heard Greenwood’s shout, and she looked
behind her as Rem cursed silently. “There’s my father calling me. We’d best go
back now.”
She rose and handed him his coat as he
stood too. Her delicious scent of flowers still clung to it, and he pressed his
nose to a lapel as he pulled it on.
“Sara.” Catching one of her hands, he
brought it to his lips. “Can I ask a favor of you before we rejoin the others?”
“A favor?” Her eyes were clear as she gazed
up at him, leaving her fingers trapped within his.
“May I kiss you?” Rem knew that in polite
society the question would have been received with absolute shock and disdain.
But out here they were ruled by a totally different set of circumstances.
“You may kiss my cheek.” She tilted her
head. Rem placed his mouth over hers, smothering her small gasp of shock.
Capturing her in his arms, he pulled her against his length, stifling her small
protest.
This was heaven, paradise. Without thought,
he deepened the kiss, tasting her with his tongue. With a smothered exclamation,
she pushed at his shoulders. Rem released her slowly, stepping back a pace. Keeping
his hands on her spine, he sighed deeply.
“A lady doesn’t allow a gentleman to kiss
her that way,” she whispered, her cheeks flushed and her lips dewy.
He grinned. “I’m not a gent, we’ve already
decided that. And don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that as much as I did, or I’ll
call you a liar.”
“I…I…” With a flustered movement, she
pushed at a few strands of hair that had escaped her bonnet, which was slightly
askew. “If my father knew you’d kissed me in such a wanton manner, he’d likely
have you thrown into prison.”
“Are you going to tell him?” Rem touched a
finger to her bottom lip. She jumped and stepped out of reach.
“No, as long as you don’t do it again.”
Rem moved in on her, catching her fidgeting
hands. “You don’t mean that, do you? Swear to me you didn’t like it one little
bit, an’ I’ll promise never to touch you again.” He swallowed hard. Jesus, if
she did that he’d likely go barmy.
Her lips were nectar, tasted better than the finest wine Tiger served at his
table. They intoxicated him as no brew ever could.
She looked over his shoulder, nibbling on
her lip again. “Perhaps I liked it a little. But you must never let my father
know.” Fear showed in her eyes. “He treats me as a child still.”
“He wouldn’t harm you, would he?” The
thought of the brute setting a finger on her in anger had him ready to kill the
man. Heat burned his cheeks.
“No, of course not.” She fidgeted with her
hair again. “My father loves me in his own way. But I fear what he would do to
you if he learned you’d dared to kiss me.”
“I’m glad you fear for me.” That was surely
something in his favor.
“My father wants me to marry a man of
worth, Remy.” There was a note of pleading as she said, “Promise me you’ll
watch yourself around him.”
“I promise, but let me also promise this.
One day I will be a man of worth. Then I’ll ask for your hand, mark my words.
And he won’t refuse me.”
Her sigh told him she wasn’t too sure of
that eventuality.
“Just a minute.” Rem tugged gently on her
arm as she began to walk back.
“What is it?” Halting, she gazed at him
while he straightened her bonnet.
“There. If no one looks too closely at your
pink cheeks they’ll not guess you’ve been kissed by your future husband.”
“Oh Remy” She slapped at his wrist as he
ran unsteady fingers along her cheek. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I’ve been accused of being that,” he said
on a laugh, as they walked slowly back to join the others. “Among other
things.”
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