Alana (36 page)

When
Rafe saw the waiting coach, he breathed easier. He knew that a full platoon of guards would be hunting for him soon. No one had ever successfully escaped the Bristol.

Then, as he saw a figure running toward them, Rafe froze to the spot, his hand tightening ferociously on Alana’s while he stared at a sight out of a dream.

“Elizabeth,” he whispered. Confusion and shock twisted on the gaunt lines of his face. He shook his head, and then he looked at Alana, whose smile told him that he was not hallucinating.

“She’s dead,” he insisted.

“So were you. No, Rafe, she’s very much alive.”

Then, Crystal was in Rafe’s arms, her hands digging into his back, her sobs echoing above the African plateau.

It took several minutes for Crystal to calm down. When she finally released her brother, she said, “We can’t waste any more time. We have to go right away!”

Rafe, looking from Crystal to Alana, was still stunned. “How did you find me?”

“Later,” Alana declared, pulling Rafe forward. “Soon we’ll have all the time in the world. But not if the prison guards catch us.”

Inside the carriage, Alana sat next to Rafe, and Crystal and Chaco sat opposite. They were jubilant as the carriage started out. Behind it, Basuto warriors followed at a half run, several of them trailing long leafy branches that obliterated the tracks of the wagon.

Rafe settled himself in the seat, drew in a deep breath, and then looked at Alana. Before he could ask one of his thousand questions, Chaco spoke. At the sound of his voice, everyone in the carriage was struck speechless, an irony which did not escape Chaco.

As the others stared, Chaco told them exactly who and what he was. His much abbreviated tale took a half hour to tell, and when he finished, he turned to Crystal, who was the first to speak.

“All these years,” Crystal whispered incredulously.

“It was necessary for me,” Chaco stated.

Crystal smiled, blinking back the tears that spilled from her eyes. “I know Chaco, I’m–I’m just–” When words failed her, Crystal used sign language to explain her feelings and to thank him for his help, both here and ever since she had met him.

“We have shared so much of our lives, Crystal,” Chaco said in a low voice, “that it is very hard to think of leaving you. But I must, for my father is growing old, and I will be the next leader of the Basuto people.”

“You will be a wise leader, one who will not be deceived by the white men who are trying to own everything on this continent,” said Alana, adding, “and you will be able to count on my support, and that of Maklin-Parkins, too.”

Chaco nodded gravely to Alana. “I thank you for myself and my people. In the years to come, your help might make the difference between the survival or the end of the Basuto people.”

Rafe continued to gaze at the three players in this still-not-quite-believable melodrama. Finally, he could hold himself back no more and, turning to Alana, he spoke.

“I think it’s time for my explanation. And,” Rafe asked dryly, “just why did the driver call you Lady Parkins?”

As they continued on their journey from the diamond fields to Port Elizabeth, Chaco’s warriors still followed behind. While they traveled, Rafe learned first of his sister’s life after he had left San Francisco on his ill-starred voyage.

Crystal spoke slowly, explaining all that had happened in the past seven years. Three hours after she had begun, she was once again dry-eyed. She looked at her brother and waited for his angry response.

Rafe held Crystal’s gaze for several minutes. All the old anger had risen with her story: the deep-rooted hatred for the men who had tried time and again to destroy his family. Added to his long-simmering fury was the new rage over what Crystal went through. At first he had been devastated by the knowledge that his sister had become a whore, but that soon passed as he willed himself to think rationally. Finally, when he was able to speak, he did so in a level voice.

“You are here, Elizabeth, and alive. That’s all that’s important. You did what you had to do. That you did not die in the fire in Nevada is more important than what you did to survive after that. You not only survived, you prevailed. You enabled Alana to keep Riverbend and Landow Shipping, and because of you, we are all here together today. You aren’t a whore, Elizabeth, you’re a lady.”

Crystal went into his arms then and held her brother close.

A little while later, after Crystal returned to her seat, Rafe looked at Alana. “Talk to me, my love. Tell me everything.”

Alana gazed at him as he took her hands. She tried to speak, but she could not. Taking a deep breath, Alana made herself tell him everything. She spared nothing, and every word she spoke was the truth.

When she finished, she tried to pull her hands free, but Rafe would not allow it. “I’m sorry, Rafe. If there had been a shred of hope that you were alive, I never would have married Edward.”

Rafe shook his head and released her hands. He turned from her to look out at the land.

“In all the time I spent in that mine, I never once thought of you with another man.”

Alana turned from him, unable to stop her tears. “Don’t,” she whispered.

Rafe said nothing; instead, he continued to stare at the land and the sky as he tried to digest all he’d been told.

They stopped several hours after nightfall to make camp. Rafe maintained his strange silence.

Two of Chaco’s warriors brought game back for their meal; neither Rafe nor Alana ate. They sat apart from each other, staring off into their own troubled worlds.

After the meal ended, Crystal, knowing it would be the wrong time to speak to either Rafe or Alana, walked with Chaco and learned more of his past. They talked for an hour, and when they returned to the campfire, they found Rafe still staring vacantly at the fire. Alana was gone.

Chaco called out in his native tongue and was answered immediately. “She is walking nearby,” he told Crystal. “One of my people is close to her.”

Crystal went to Rafe and sat next to him at the fire. “Why can you forgive me and not Alana?” she asked.

Rafe didn’t look at his sister; he just stared at the fire. Finally, he said sullenly, “You were forced into what you had to do; Alana married the man willingly.”

Crystal did not look at her brother; rather, she stared into the orange flames. When she did speak, her voice was low, but her tone was intense.

“You were always a stubborn man, Rafe. Perhaps now is the time to bend a little. Alana followed you across the world. She spent months searching for you, fighting to get any word at all to you. When she heard the report of your death, she almost died herself. Edward Parkins saved her life because he loved her. He searched this entire country looking for you because he loved Alana. He never once tried to take advantage of Alana before or after the report of your death, because he respected not only Alana, but the love she had for you.”

“I don’t–”

Crystal would not let him continue. “When he asked her to marry him, Alana could not refuse after all the kindness he had shown her. And let me tell you something else, Rafael Montgomery!  Edward Parkins was a kind and gentle man who not only gave everything unselfishly to Alana but also backed both of us in our fight against Allison.

“Alana never forgot you, Rafe, not once. She spent enormous sums of money trying to find out who Allison’s agents were in South Africa, for she wanted to expose them and have them sent to prison for killing you!”

“Stop!” Rafe roared, turning to face his sister.

“No!” Crystal shouted back. “You think about what I’ve told you, Rafael, and you think hard! For I will not have any brother of mine treat a person I love the way you are treating Alana.”

With that, Crystal left Rafe alone, to try to come to terms with himself.

~~~~

Alana wandered alone beneath the stars that covered the South African plateau. The scents carried upon the night breezes were vastly different from those with which she’d grown up. The night sounds were totally unfamiliar, too, yet she felt no fear of the night or of the land, because it was now a part of her.

What she felt, was alienation from Rafe. Although she’d tried to prepare herself for this, it was worse than she had imagined. She’d hoped he would understand, but she knew he had been through a great deal already and had never expected this.

Her love for him helped her to empathize with what he was undergoing. Even if he rejected her, the fact that he was alive and free was important to her, for she would always love him, come what may.

Clearing her mind, Alana turned and went back to the campsite. She saw that Rafe was gone, and Crystal was talking with Chaco. Silently she went to her blankets and lay down beneath the vast African sky. As tired as she was from the long day and all the excitement, she could not sleep.

Rafe stayed away from the camp for the entire night, trying to sort out the thoughts that warred within him. Every time he tried to push Alana’s marriage from his mind, the image of her with another man attacked him mercilessly.

When day chased night away, he gave up his fight and returned to camp. After eating a light meal in silence, they set out again. The two women went into the coach, while Rafe went up to the driver’s seat with the driver.

At noon, when the coach stopped, Chaco came over to them. He smiled sadly at Crystal and Alana, and then grasped Rafe’s hand in his.

“I must leave you now,” he told them. “My men reported the guards are a half day distant. We are at the border of my lands. The guards will not go into Basutoland; they will believe Rafe is hiding there. My warriors will cover your tracks until tonight to assure your escape.”

“Chaco,” Alana said, walking to him and taking his hand in hers, “thank you for everything. I shall never forget you.”

“Nor I,” Crystal stated as she joined Alana. Instead of speaking she used her hands to sign.

You are more than a friend to me. You are my brother also.

Chaco nodded his head.
As you are my sister. Find peace now, make a life for yourself,
Chaco pleaded.

You know me too well, Crystal signed. I have not yet taken my vengeance.

Strike swiftly, sister, before he learns too much.

I shall, Crystal promised. Now return home and show your people your greatness.

Chaco nodded and stepped back. As the two women watched, he gathered his people around him and walked proudly away.

After they were gone, Crystal spoke. “We have to move quickly. There is still more to be done.”

“What else?” Rafe asked, unaware of all their plans.

“The man who arranged for you to become a prisoner must be forced to sign a confession.”

“Why bother? I’m free, and we can leave South Africa.”

“But Alana can’t leave so easily. Not now. And, Rafe, Alana never made a secret about her attempts to find and free you. She even approached the governor on your behalf. They’ll know it was she who engineered your escape, and she will be arrested unless we get a confession from Devreeling.”

Rafe looked from Crystal to Alana. “Then we’d best get moving.” With those words, he turned and went back to the coach.

Alana watched him, longing to run after him, to grab him and make him face her. Not once since yesterday afternoon had he spoken directly to her, let alone touched her.

“Be patient,” Crystal advised.

Alana stared unhappily at Rafe’s back. Then she turned to Crystal. “You can’t go back to Allison now. It’s too dangerous.”

Crystal smiled. “Watch me.”

~~~~

Two days later, they arrived at Port Elizabeth and rendezvoused with the Harmony. Alana smiled at the weathered face of Captain Miles Sanders.

“Are we ready?” Alana asked immediately.

“Within the hour,” the captain replied.

“Very well, Alana said. “We will pick up the ‘package’ now. Please make sure we can leave the instant we return.

An hour later, the ‘package’ put in a small cabin below deck, Alana, Crystal, and Rafe stood on the deck of the Harmony, watching Port Elizabeth grow smaller behind them. Two hours later, near the coast, the Harmonay dropped anchor.

By nightfall, Alana knew she was coming close to complete exhaustion, but she was afraid to go to her cabin. Last night, as she had slept in the moving coach, she’d had several horrible dreams–dreams of Rafe leaving her forever.

Rather than risk sleeping, Alana walked the port side of the deck, trying not to give in to the sadness that was only a thought away. She tried to think of what direction she should take with her life, but could think of none without Rafe.

Shivering, Alana turned from the railing, and as she did, she froze, for Rafe was standing not five feet away. His emerald eyes glistened from the light of the shipboard lanterns.

She realized that since they’d boarded he had shaved off his beard. His strong chin and sensually full mouth finally visible to her eager gaze.

Willing control over her wildly racing heart, she drew herself straighter. Smiling softly, she looked at his jet hair. “There is more silver than I remember,” she said.