Dorothy Garlock (15 page)

Corbin and Annabel watched him limp across the street and disappear behind the blacksmith shop.

“He’s mean!” Annabel gasped.

“Is he the one who bothered you in the store?”

“Yes. He, his brothers and a sister live on the place next to us. I don’t see how Tess, the sister, could be related to such an obnoxious man.”

“Don’t let him catch you alone.”

“Boone or Spinner are usually at the house. And now I have Jack. I’ve never been afraid before.”

“Does your father travel a lot?”

“He’s usually gone part of each week. This time he was gone longer.” She laughed nervously. “My knees are shaking.”

“Come sit down. I’ll stay with you until your father comes back.”

“Thank you for what you did. I wasn’t sure how I was going to shake him,” Annabel said after they were seated on the bench Corbin had hurriedly left when he saw her with Marvin.

“You would have been safer to stay with the crowd.”

“I was embarrassed and thought I’d meet Papa coming back. It’s probably best that I didn’t meet him. I don’t know what he would have done. He’s got a hot temper.”

“Maybe Carter was lucky this time. He only had to put up with me.”

Annabel turned to him. At first she smiled, then she burst out laughing. Corbin couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was as pretty and as sparkling as a spring morning. A smile lit his eyes and tugged at the corners of his lips. In that instant Corbin fell completely, eternally in love with her … and he didn’t even know it.

“Only you! You handled yourself pretty well for a … cripple!” She began to laugh. “You sure took him by surprise.”

“Yeah. Surprise was on my side. The cane came in handy too.”

“Watch out for him. He might try to do something really … mean. I’ll worry now that you’ll get hurt on my account.”

Corbin sat on the bench for a long time after she left him. Murphy Donovan had stopped on the walk and waited for his daughter to join him. They talked for a few minutes. She turned and waved to Corbin, and her father nodded his head before they got into the car.

Corbin’s eyes followed the car until it was out of sight, and he tried not to resent what Murphy had said before he went uptown. The man loved his daughter and wanted to make sure that whomever she married would be able to take care of her. He had been straightforward. He had to give him that.
Maybe,
Corbin thought,
if I had a daughter as pretty and sweet as Annabel Lee, I would feel the same way.

He felt a stirring in the region of his heart and cursed softly.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Carter insulting you?”

“I suppose Boone told you he met me in the store.”

“It’s Boone’s job.”

“Mr. Carter didn’t actually insult me. He was obnoxious in a flirty sort of way. But today he held on to my arm and wouldn’t let go until Mr. Appleby hit him with his cane.” Annabel laughed. “You should have seen him, Papa. He was madder than a flitter.”

Murphy swore.

“It’s over and done with. He’ll not bother me again.”

“I’ll see to it,” Murphy said in an angry tone.

“I really like Tess Carter. I think her brothers might be mean to her. When she brought me the berries, she was shy and scared and acted as if she expected the door to be slammed in her face.”

“The Carters have been in these hills for generations. Everyone I’ve talked to says they are clannish, inbred and ignorant. I was told that when I bought the place and thought they would stay on their side of the fence.”

“Tess isn’t trash. I like her.”

“Believe me, darlin’, an apple don’t fall far from the tree. She’s like her kin. I was told that she was away for a while and when she came back she was in the family way. No one seems to know what happened to the babe. She got rid of it somehow. She’s trash, and I don’t want you to have anything to do with her.”

Annabel remained silent. Seldom did her opinion go against that of her father. However, she believed him to be wrong this time.

They were driving out of town when she asked, “How did you find out about Tess?”

Murphy shrugged. “A fellow here in Henderson told me.”

“Who?”

Her persistence surprised him. He glanced at her. She was looking straight ahead.

“Why are you bein’ stubborn about this? You were raised with quality folk, went to school with quality folk. You be knowin’ the difference.” Off his guard, Murphy lapsed into his Irish brogue.

“I feel that it’s unfair to Tess to call her trash. She can’t help it if her brothers … have an unsavory reputation.”

Murphy slowed the car because the one ahead was in the middle of the road and moving at a snail’s pace. He pressed on the horn. The driver of the car, an old stripped-down Model T Ford, didn’t move over, deliberately refusing to allow Murphy to pass.

“It’s him,” Annabel blurted, leaning toward the wind-shield to get a better look.

“Is he the son-of-a-bitch that’s been botherin’ you?” Without waiting for an answer from his daughter, Murphy swore, loud and long.

“Let him go, Papa! Don’t do anything!”

“Hold tight, darlin’.” Murphy’s temper was up. He was not in a reasonable mood.

He increased the speed of the powerful car and rammed the back of the lighter Model T. Annabel saw Marvin Carter’s head snap back, as she was propelled forward. Murphy, his hands gripping the wheel and a string of curses coming from his mouth, continued to push the car.

“Papa! Stop!”

“I’ll teach that son-of-a-bitch to put his hands on my girl.”

Murphy put his foot on the brake and let Marvin’s car go ahead a short distance, then speeded up and connected with it again with a jarring impact.

“Don’t … Papa!” Annabel cried in a shrill voice. She was holding on to the door with one hand and bracing herself against the dashboard with the other.

“Bastard! Goddamn hill trash!” Murphy shouted.

The Model T was shoved off the road with the second impact. The car careened through the brush until it collided with the trunk of a thick ash tree. Marvin jumped out just as the radiator burst and boiling water spewed out. Murphy pulled the car to a stop and stepped out.

“Papa, don’t! Please don’t!”

Murphy paused beside the sedan and looked at his daughter’s anguished face. Tears were running down her cheeks. He looked back to see Marvin Carter lifting a heavy tire iron from the wrecked car.

“I’ll kill you!” Maddened almost to the point of insanity, Marvin ran toward them, swinging the weapon.

Realizing not only the danger to himself but to Annabel, Murphy jumped into the car, slammed the door shut and stepped on the gas. They shot around the crazed man, who threw the tire iron at them as they passed. It bounced off the hood of the car with a loud thump.

Annabel cried out in alarm.

“It’s all right, darlin’. He won’t hurt you.”

“I’m not worried about myself, blast it all! I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be leaving here in a couple of weeks. I’m goin’ to be buyin’ you a house in St. Louis. What do you think of that?”

“Are you going to be there?”

“Yes.” He turned up the lane toward the house. “I’m thinking about buying a hotel.”

“You’re giving up the … business?”

“I’m selling it.” A broad smile softened his features.

“Papa! I’ve prayed that you’d do that. You don’t have to buy a house. If you’re going to run a hotel, we can fix up a suite of rooms there.”

“No. You’re going to be havin’ a proper home where folks will be lookin’ up to you. You can entertain with musicales and afternoon teas just like the hoity-toity folk. I’ll be able to afford havin’ household help, darlin’ girl. What do ya be thinkin’ of that?”

Annabel gazed at his beaming face and into eyes that looked back at her with all the love his heart could give. He had been risking his freedom, his life, all these years in order to give her this. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that living in a big house in St. Louis and entertaining with musicales was her idea of a perfectly awful existence. So she said, “That will be nice, Papa.”

“I promise you, darlin’, that you’ll never again be livin’ in a house without electric lights, indoor toilets and such.” He stopped beside the back porch. “In a few days I’ll be leaving to finish up the deal.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“Only a few days. A week at the most. Then we’ll go to St. Louis and look for a house. While I’m gone, Boone will be stayin’ with you every minute. I’m goin’ to tell him to shoot that mangy polecat if he gets within a stone’s throw of you.”

“If you’re afraid for me to be here, why can’t I come with you?” Annabel asked before she went up the steps to the porch.

“No, no, darlin’. I’ll be busy and be feelin’ better knowin’ you’ll be here with Boone. Go on in and fix your papa a glass of tea while I be havin’ a word with him.”

Boone was sitting on a box beside the barn door. “What happened to the hood of your car?”

“Long story. Where’s the boy?”

“Out on the horse. I told him to stay off Carter land.” Murphy snorted. “If that son-of-a-bitch steps foot on this land, I want you to shoot him.”

“Jack? What’s he done?”

“Carter! The big one with blond hair. He pestered Annabel, put his hands on her!” Murphy was still so angry, his jaws quivered. While pacing back and forth in front of Boone, he related all that had happened. “She says we owe thanks to Appleby, the lawman you found shot. He forced Carter to turn loose of her and sent him on his way.”

“Then she’s right. We owe him our thanks.”

“I ain’t trustin’ him.”

“You don’t have to. He won’t be around for long.”

“I’m not sure. He was eyein’ Annabel.”

“Eyein’ Annabel? Ya can’t blame him for that.”

“She’s not for the likes of him. I told him so.”

“Hell, Murphy, why’d ya go and do that for? It’ll just get his back up. It might make him want to come here and court her just to spite ya.”

“If he shows up out here, send him on his way. Keep her away from him while I’m gone.”

“I’d bet my life he’s a decent man. He’ll not go where he ain’t wanted.”

“He’s a man, isn’t he? If she be on his mind and he gets his sap up, he’ll be after her. Hell, you be knowin’ how it goes when a man needs a woman,” Murphy said heatedly.

“There be places a man can go when his sap is up without botherin’ a decent girl.” Boone looked off toward the woods that separated them from the Carters. He didn’t believe for a minute that Appleby would try to court Annabel if she didn’t want him.

“I’m not likin’ that he’s interested in her.”

“Ain’t nothin’ ya can do about that. Probably nothin’ he can do about it either. When you leavin’?”

“Soon. The sooner I go, the sooner I get back.”

“When’ll that be?”

“Five or six days. Annabel can start packin’ up. We can stay at the hotel while we look for a house.”

“She ain’t goin’ to like that. She thought we’d be here awhile.” Boone stood and fumbled in his pocket for his pipe. “She’s got right fond of that cow. Even give her a name. Mildred.”

“Mildred? Where the hell did she get that? She’ll forget about a stupid cow when she sees the house I’m going to buy in St. Louis.”

“What’re ya goin’ to do with this place?”

“Sell it, if I can.”

“I ain’t a hotel man, Murphy. I’ll buy the place for what ya paid.”

Murphy’s head turned slowly toward his friend, and his mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Buy this dirt-poor farm? What kinda livin’ can ya hack out here? Ya know why I bought it.”

“I know. Ya bought it ’cause Spinner knew ’bout the cave in the hills.”

“And I’d be havin’ a better chance sellin’ out here. Spinner knew that.”

“That’s between you and Spinner. Like Annabel, I’m tired of movin’. I’ve been savin’ up to buy a place. I like it here. I like Henderson. With a few cows and a little luck, I can make a livin’.”

“I thought ya hated cows.”

“I do. I don’t have to love the stupid things to feed ‘em and milk ’em.”

“You never said ya wouldn’t be goin’ with me when I told you about the hotel.”

“Never said I was either. I been thinkin’.”

“Well, be thinkin’ some more. We’ve been together for a long time.”

“Yeah, we have. But yo’re movin’ on to the upper way of livin’. It’s time I found a spot of my own. I ain’t gettin’ no younger.”

“You’re not as old as me.”

“Hell, ain’t nobody old as you are,” Boone said with an easy smile and clapped Murphy on the shoulder.

Murphy whistled through his teeth and the familiar gleam of humor lit his eyes.

“I only got about five years on ya, but I be a hell of a lot smarter than ya be!”

“Well, now, I be doubtin’ that,” Boone replied, mimicking Murphy’s Irish brogue.

“When is Spinner comin’ in?”

“He’s due in Saturday. I ain’t seen hide nor hair of him for a week.”

“He’d rather stay up there than here.”

“Why wouldn’t he? He built it. ’Tis his home.”

Chapter
11

’
B
YE, PAPA. I’LL BE READY.”

“That’s my girl. This is the last move. I promise.” “Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep,” Annabel chided gently.

“The last couple of years have been hard on you, honey, but the end is in sight. I’ll be back in less than a week and we’ll go over to St. Louis. I’ve not completed the deal on the hotel. I want you to see it first. Meanwhile we can take rooms there.”

“Are you sure that this is what you want to do, Papa?”

“Absolutely sure, darlin’.” Murphy put his suitcase in the car. “Boone will be with you. Don’t stray from the house. If you go to the barn, be sure that he or the boy is in there.”

“Oh, Papa—”

“Mind me, darlin’. I wouldn’t put it past that Carter trash to sneak over here, wait in the barn and waylay you. Boone will be on the lookout. I trust him to take care of you or I’d not leave.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be all right. Hurry back, Papa.” Murphy kissed his daughter on the forehead, got into the car and started the engine. With a cheery wave, he turned around in the yard behind the house and headed down the lane toward the road.