Bound For Eden (4 page)

There, in the doorway of the bathhouse, stood Victoria. Her brown eyes were huge as they took in the mostly naked man standing in front of her sister. Her cheeks flamed. ‘What is going on here?' she blustered, obviously half scared to death, but trying for Alex's sake to be brave. ‘Adam!'

Alex could hear Adam shuffling across the courtyard and she shook her head frantically. Adam hadn't seen her dressed up like this yet, and she knew he'd give her away. ‘Go back to the room, Adam,' she called quickly, glaring at Victoria. ‘We'll join you in a minute.'

‘Alex?' Adam's lazy voice drifted through the open door. ‘Vicky said you were gone.'

‘I'm not gone. Go back to the room now.'

‘I can see the moon.'

‘Really? You can tell me about it when I come up.'

‘Alrighty.'

Alex heard him singing softly to himself as he went back inside. She darted a glance at Luke, and saw him watching them curiously, his towel loosely tied around his hips. Now that Victoria was here she felt ashamed of herself. Nice girls didn't do such things. Victoria would certainly never get herself in this position.

Alex cleared her throat guiltily. ‘Victoria, this is Mr . . .' Alex paused, realising that she didn't even know his last name.

‘Slater.'

‘Mr Slater. He's captain of a wagon train.'

Victoria had turned to face the courtyard, her back to Luke Slater's indecent state and her gaze firmly fixed on the water pump. Even from across the room Alex could see that she was as red as a beet. ‘I don't believe a reputable operator would do business in a bathhouse,' she said primly.

‘I paid your brother to help me with my bath,' Luke said smoothly, thinking to placate her, but his words had the opposite effect.

Alex had rarely seen Victoria lose her temper, but she certainly lost it now. ‘You get upstairs this minute,' she ordered shrilly, crossing the room and seizing Alex by the arm. ‘What are you thinking? Ma and Pa would be ashamed of you!'

Her words cut Alex to the bone. ‘I can explain—'

‘And you will.' Victoria almost dragged her sister from the steamy room, keeping well away from the indecent man in the towel.

Luke watched in bemusement as they disappeared into the darkness of the courtyard. He could hear the poor boy being chastised all the way across the dusty yard, through the corridor and into the depths of the hotel.

He looked back at the greasy bathwater and sighed. He'd have to clean it up himself, before he went Dolly's for a drink and a hand of cards.

‘Would you let go of me?' Alex complained, wrenching her arm away from Victoria as they climbed the stairs. ‘There's no need to get so upset.'

‘There's no need to . . .?' Victoria trailed off, too angry for words. ‘Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but wasn't that a naked man down there with you?'

‘He thought I was a boy,' Alex hissed, glancing around to make sure there was no-one to overhear.

‘Well, you're
not,
' Victoria hissed back.

‘He can introduce us to a wagon maker.'

‘I don't care if he can introduce us to President Tyler, you were out of your tiny mind getting yourself in that position.' Victoria slammed the door behind them as they entered their room. ‘Get out of those clothes this minute. Your little plan has gone far enough.'

Alex rolled her eyes and flopped down on the bed. A cloud of dust puffed up from the saggy old mattress and she sneezed.

‘Bless you,' Adam said sleepily from where he lay on his bunk, staring out at the full moon. ‘I can see the man, Alex.'

‘What man?'

‘Don't go changing the subject, I haven't said my piece yet.' Victoria snatched the hat off Alex's head.

‘The man in the moon.'

‘Yeah? What's he doing?'

Victoria sputtered and yanked at Alex's sleeve. Alex rolled out of her grasp.

‘I think he's making cheese.'

‘Leave me be,' Alex snapped when Victoria kept coming for her.

‘I mean it, Alexandra Barratt, you get those clothes off this instant.'

‘We have to find a wagon and a group to join, you madwoman,' Alex shrieked, as Victoria pulled on the straps of her overalls. ‘You don't honestly think people are going to do business with two women?'

‘We have Adam.'

‘The moon is made of cheese.' Adam's dreamy voice stopped Victoria in her tracks. As Alex watched, the anger drained from her face and she slid to the bed, the battered hat dropping from her fingers.

‘It's the only way, Vicky,' Alex said carefully, bending to retrieve the hat. ‘The Gradys will be looking for a man and two women. We didn't use our names when we checked into the hotel, and I told that man down there that our name was Alexander. There's no reason they'll ever find us.'

‘What if they
see
us?'

‘If they see you, just tell them you haven't seen me since the night of the fire. They'll think I ran off with the money.'

‘That doesn't explain why Adam and I are heading out west,' Victoria said sourly.

‘Sure it does. Our home is burned to the ground, you have very little money, and you have a brother in Oregon. Where else would you go?'

‘Oh Alex, why is this happening to us?'

Alex's heart ached to see her sister's despair. If she had those Gradys here, in front of her, she would kill them with her bare hands, just see if she wouldn't.

‘Stop worrying and go to sleep,' she soothed, even as she enjoyed her murderous fancies. ‘Everything will seem better in the morning.'

‘You keep saying that,' Victoria grumbled, ‘but it never does.'

Alex heard the clang of tin in the courtyard and moved to the window. Below, in the silver moonlight, she could see Luke Slater emptying his bath. She couldn't believe he could lift it – filled with water it must weigh as much as he did.

Even fully dressed he looked magnificent.

‘You're blocking the moon,' Adam complained, and reluctantly she tore her gaze away and left the window.

He'd said there was room in his travelling party, she mused dreamily, indulging in fantasies of spending months at his side. Then she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Alex wasn't usually vain, but right then she wished with all her heart that she hadn't cut off her beautiful hair. She scowled at the scruffy boy in the mirror, and he scowled right back at her.

Five

Luke was a reasonable man. He didn't pick fights. But neither did he back down from them.

‘Who are you calling a cheat?' he asked calmly, holding the stranger's gaze.

The man and his brother had been losing steadily to Luke. The more they lost, the more they drank. The higher the neat stacks of bills and coins in front of Luke grew, the blacker their scowls became. Luke had guessed they'd be trouble almost from the moment he sat down. He kept trying to catch Dolly's eye, hoping one of her girls would be available and he'd have an excuse to fold the game, but she was rushed off her feet all night.

‘No honest man wins eight games in a row.'

‘I believe Mr O'Brien won the hand before last,' Luke corrected, careful to keep his voice neutral.

Ned O'Brien, a bookish, buttoned-up easterner, shifted nervously in his seat.

‘One hand,' the man sneered, not sparing O'Brien a glance.

‘Roll up your sleeves,' his brother demanded, ‘so we can see what you've got stashed up there.'

‘Don't be a sore loser.'

‘Loser!'

Fortunately, Luke saw the punch coming and managed to dodge the man's meaty fist. The table went sprawling, sending cards and cash flying. The coins clattered across the bare floorboards and there was an instant rush as men grabbed for them. Luke swore. There went his winnings.

He heard a bellow and looked up to find both men charging at him like wild bulls. There was no way he could escape both of them, so he resigned himself to the pain, lowered his head, and charged them right back.

The collision rocked the room.

‘What in all the seven hells is going on in here?' Dolly screamed from the staircase.

Luke didn't look up. One of the brothers was down and winded, but the other was still standing, his scowl blacker than ever.

‘Cheat,' the man hissed under his breath.

‘Come closer and say it,' Luke suggested.

‘Cheat!' the man bellowed, rushing him again.

Luke landed a punch, but then strong arms seized him from behind, immobilising him. He struggled, but the man's grip was as strong as iron. Don't tell me there's another brother, he thought wryly.

The man he'd punched laughed, rubbing his side, which still smarted from Luke's fist. ‘Thanks, Bert.' He approached Luke slowly. ‘My brothers and I don't hold with cheats.'

Behind him, the winded brother got to his feet. Luke figured he'd better act soon, or they'd be on top of him. Without warning, he threw his head back, smashing his captor full in the nose. He heard a grunt as he jerked free. Bert was bent double, clutching his broken nose, blood gushing over his hands. Luke planted his foot in the man's belly and shoved him to his knees. One well aimed kick finished him off.

He spun on his heel and pounded the next one full in the face before the man had even registered that he was free of Bert. The man went down like a dead weight.

One left to go. This one was obviously having second thoughts though. He backed away slowly, holding both hands up, palms out.

Luke heard laughter and looked up. On the landing beside Dolly stood a runty-looking man, wearing nothing but a sheet. He was lean and ropy with muscle and his face was pointy and sharp. He reminded Luke of a weasel. As Luke watched, the weasel tucked the sheet around his waist and gave Luke a round of applause. ‘I ain't never seen a man take on my brothers and win,' the weasel said. ‘Particularly Silas. He ain't just big and mean, he's crafty.'

‘Which one's Silas?' Luke asked dryly.

The weasel pointed to the body at Luke's feet.

‘I'd like to know who's going to clean up the mess,' Dolly sniped, pulling her wrapper tighter over her loose breasts.

‘Not me, I want what I paid for,' the weasel said, giving Luke a calculating look, before shoving Dolly back towards the bedroom. Luke was glad to see the Mexican climb the stairs and position himself firmly outside Dolly's door, just in case she called for him. Luke didn't like the look of that weasel at all.

‘I think I managed to get most of the bills,' a voice said tentatively at Luke's elbow. He turned to see Ned O'Brien holding out a large portion of Luke's winnings.

‘Thanks,' Luke said, surprised. He honestly hadn't expected to recover any of it. He took the handful and peeled off a few bills for Mr O'Brien.

‘Oh no,' the man demurred.

‘Please. It's not often I get to meet an honest man.' Luke pressed the money on him. ‘Let me buy you a drink too.'

‘What about them?' O'Brien asked nervously, glancing at the brothers. Travis was slapping Silas gingerly on the cheek, trying to rouse him, and Bert had his hands full trying to staunch his bleeding nose.

‘I don't reckon they'll give us any more trouble tonight.'

Luke was right. Eventually, once the blood had slowed to a trickle, Bert helped Travis carry Silas out of the cathouse. Neither of them so much as looked Luke's way.

‘You handle yourself very well,' Ned said, sipping his whiskey cautiously.

‘I have brothers of my own. I've had practice.'

‘I do wonder how I'll manage to survive out west,' the easterner sighed, examining his own slender hands.

Luke laughed. ‘Oh, it's not as rough as all that. Not if you're going to Oregon. We're mostly a farming people.'

‘You're a farmer?' Ned said dubiously.

‘Horse breeder. Although if you talk to my brother, Tom, he'll tell you we run cattle. And if you ask my brother, Matthew, he'll say we're in the lumber business.'

Ned looked confused.

‘We can't rightly agree on what we should do with the land. We tried to vote on it, but what we got was one vote for horses, one vote for cattle and one vote for lumber.'

‘Sounds like you might have an empire on your hands.'

‘Either that or a damned failure.' Luke drained his whiskey. ‘And what do you do, Mr O'Brien?'

Ned cleared his throat nervously. ‘It's Dr O'Brien actually.'

‘A doctor? And you're heading for Oregon? You know we're in need of a doctor in Utopia. It's a great little place in the Willamette, green as Eden itself.'

‘I'm not sure if you're in need of a doctor like me.'

‘Why, what's wrong with you?'

‘Oh, nothing's
wrong
with me. It's just that I'm not that kind of doctor.'

‘What kind are you? Like a dentist? We need a dentist too.'