Jane Bonander (22 page)

“—beneath some brush. Fortunately he was found by an old Scottish trapper before a wild animal dragged him off.”

Dinah caressed her husband’s shoulders, letting her fingers roam over his hard flesh. “How could she do that?”

“The old woman, my grandmother, I guess, couldn’t follow her daughter’s orders and kill us. Last year she told Wolf she’d gone back to get him and had found him gone. She didn’t know if he’d been rescued or dragged off.
”

“Poor Wolf. You had the better life, didn’t you?”

He pressed a kiss to the hollow of her neck. “My life wasn’t bad until my father died. Zelda never did care about me. It didn’t matter as long as my father was alive. He was a good man. Too good for her, anyway. He deserved better. When he died, I became Zelda’s personal servant.”

“Was Alice here then?”

He nodded. “Alice has been here as long as I can remember. I guess she came to live with the Fletchers after her husband and son died.”

“Rory,” Dinah offered, feeling a bite of sadness.

“Yes. Alice was more of a mother to me than Zelda. I would often escape to the kitchen because it was warm and smelled good. Zelda would find me and beat me with a broom handle.”

Dinah closed her eyes and pressed her face into his neck.

“So, as far as material things, I probably had the better life. I got an education, too. Wolf had two crusty old miners to look after him. He didn’t have a pot to piss in, but those old men raised him with affection.”

She had a flash of insight. “Is that why you decided to adopt Little Hawk and the others?”

“Yes.” They continued to bob together in the warm water.

She suddenly remembered something. “I have an idea. Do you want to hear it?”

He hugged her. “I want to hear every idea you have.”

“When are you going to San Francisco again?”

“When I can take you with me. We never had a honeymoon, you know.”

There was a warm glow around her heart. “That sounds exciting.” She licked the water off his shoulder. “I’d like to find a gallery that would display some of Emily’s paintings and drawings, especially those of the children.”

He had been rubbing her hips; his hands stopped. “What would that achieve?”

“It would draw attention to her talent. She absolutely glows when she gets compliments, Tristan. Think how she would feel if someone wanted to buy something from her? It would give her a degree of independence. Give her something to work for besides pleasing you and me.

He kissed her and lifted her from his lap. “My dear wife, you are absolutely brilliant.”

“Well, I guess it hasn’t taken you too long to discover that for yourself,” she teased.

They swam lazily, touching and stroking until they were both hungry again. Once they were satisfied, they left the grotto with reluctance.

When they’d dried off and had begun to dress, Dinah gasped with surprise. Through the trees, up from the creek, was a tiny building. “Tristan,” she whispered loudly. “There’s a cabin over there.”

He followed her gaze. “Ah, yes. That’s the old Adams place.” His eyes narrowed and he stopped buttoning his shirt.

“What? What is it?”

His expression changed and he smiled at her. “It’s nothing, love. There hasn’t been anyone there for years.”

She tried to calm her racing heart. “Oh, Tristan, if I had even the tiniest notion that someone had watched—”

He put his index finger to her lips. “Don’t worry about it. It’s empty.”

As they rode to the ranch, Dinah clinging to Tristan’s waist, she wondered at the change in his mood.

Charles stood motionless until they had gone. Fletcher had studied the cabin. Had he seen something?

He swung away, jamming his fists into his pockets. He wasn’t a voyeur. He thought it was a sick thing to do, but he’d watched until they disappeared under the rocky bridge, and again when they had emerged.

So. That was what Dinah Odell looked like naked.

He experienced a stirring as he remembered, but ignored it. He felt a bigger fool when he thought about Fletcher’s size. His own meager organ had nearly shriveled with despair. Normal men were not so generously endowed, and the world was full of normal men. Like himself.

He cursed for letting his mind wander. He had work to do. Martin Odell would arrive any day, and he would expect the cabin to be ready. He was in for a surprise, however. He didn’t think Odell was aware of his niece’s marital status.

Charles winced. He hated to be the one to tell him.

Dr. David Richards’s arrival brought a jolt of reality to Tristan’s life with Dinah. They had skirted the serious issue of what was happening in New York until after dinner. Then, with the three of them seated around the empty dining-room table, David shared the news.

“He’s sent someone out here, I’m sure of it,” David remarked.

“Have you any idea who it is?” Dinah twisted her handkerchief in her lap.

“I think I know.” Tristan took in Dinah’s look of disbelief and refusal to agree. “What are our choices, Dinah?”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe Charles would be involved in this.”

“Charles Avery?”

Dinah shot Tristan a look of fear.

“What do you know about him?” Tristan tried to appear calm, for Dinah’s sake.

“He’s with the
Times.
Came to see me a few months ago, but I wasn’t available. He spoke to a colleague of mine.”

“See? Charles shared all that with me. I told you he was telling me the truth, Tristan.” Dinah appeared a bit relieved.

“Yes, but to have him show up so conveniently.” He shook his head. “Too coincidental.”

David rested his elbows on the table and tapped his chin. “You are wanted for questioning regarding Daisy’s death, Dinah.”

Dinah put her face in her hands. “Poor, dear Daisy.”

“Everyone’s speculating as to how she got into that discipline box.”

Closing her eyes, Dinah folded her hands, prayer-like, and rested her lips against them. “Daisy planned the entire thing. It sounds as if I’m merely shifting the guilt, but I’m not. Daisy died in my arms.”

She took a deep breath. “It wasn’t until the day she was to leave that she told me what she wanted to do. Neither of us thought this far ahead. At least, I didn’t. When she finally convinced me it was the only thing to do, I didn’t look back and wonder how others would perceive what I’d done. All I knew,” she added, shaking her head, “was that I would be free from that…that despicable place.”

Tristan took her hand, gripping it in his. “They can’t seriously consider foul play, David.”

“The physical evidence is pretty damning, but they’re willing to listen to Dinah’s story.”

“I’m surprised Uncle Martin hasn’t convinced them all I’m a homicidal lunatic.”

“Oddly enough, your uncle was championing your cause. In a way.”

Dinah looked doubtful. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I think he wants a hand in whatever decision is made about you. On the surface, he appears to be working with the police. I would bet that he’s doing his own investigating behind their backs. He doesn’t want you hanged for Daisy’s murder because then he’d lose the trust, so he’s mouthing platitudes about your innocence. As long as you’re alive and incarcerated one way or another, he controls your trust fund.” David opened a flat leather case. “Don’t ask me how I got this, but this is your father’s will.”

Dinah nodded. “I’ve seen it before.”

David shoved it toward Tristan. “In essence, as long as Dinah’s alive but not free, she’s right where Odell wants her. However,” he added, “when she married you, it became a problem for him. The last I heard, he didn’t seem to know about it. I’m sure, though, that if he’s given the possibility a thought, it’s undoubtedly been his worst nightmare.”

“I’d rather hoped it would be.” Tristan winked at his wife, who tried to smile, but failed. Her fingers were cold beneath his.

Tristan scanned the contents of the will. At age twenty-two, Dinah would become a very wealthy woman in her own right. “What strikes me as odd about this is that the loophole Odell found is big enough to drive a rig through.”

“Papa had no reason to believe Martin would do such a thing. While I was growing up, Martin appeared to be the perfect uncle, brother, and brother-in-law.”

Tristan shoved the will across the table. “What do you suggest we do?”

“I wish I had the answer to that. Unfortunately, I must leave the day after tomorrow. I’m scheduled to deliver my paper on women behind asylum walls in San Francisco.

“Oh, that reminds me,” he added. “Dinah, the laws are changing for women. The matron at Trenway was fired for cruelty. You must remember that it will take a long time to reverse things, but it’s starting to happen. With more funding, I see real progress in the future.”

After bidding David good night, Tristan circled Dinah’s waist with his arm and they retired to his room. She was quiet. He knew nothing he said or promised would help her.

“I think tomorrow we should bring some of your things into my room. Get that one cleaned up. We can always use another guest room, especially when Wolf and Julia come with their brood.”

Dinah gave him a half smile. “Yes. I’ll see to it.”

He hauled her into his arms again and stroked her hair. “I know you can’t stop worrying, sweetheart, but worrying won’t help.”

She sighed. “Just when I thought things were going to be wonderful, this happens.”

They stood close. “Things will be wonderful, trust me. I’ll be with you from now on. I have to make a quick trip into the high country tomorrow to check on some strays, but David will be here. So will Lucas. Martin Odell is walking a very thin line, Dinah. He’s a thief. A crook. Possibly even a murderer. After all, your sister would have lived had he not locked her up.”

She raised her head and gave him a puzzled look. “Did you know about Charlotte before you read the will?”

He frowned, trying to remember. “I’m sure it was in David’s letter.” He kissed her forehead. “I imagine you miss her very much. What was she like?”

Dinah shivered in his arms. “She was beautiful, Tristan. She had shiny blond hair and a perfect complexion. She was petite and dainty and had a sweet, gentle disposition.” Her words were caught up in a sob. “I always wanted to be more like her. She was like Mama. She would have made a wonderful wife. And mother too.” Her sobs deepened and she burrowed her face against the front of Tristan’s shirt.

He held her and let her cry. God, what this woman had been through. He was surprised she had any spirit left.

After she composed herself, she asked, “What if Uncle Martin convinces the law to arrest me for Daisy’s murder?”

“Let’s take this one step at a time, love. First of all, I don’t want you wandering off the ranch alone. Don’t even go into Hatter’s Horn until this is resolved. If you’re tempted to accompany Alice in to buy supplies, send one of the boys, instead.”

He drew away and looked into her fearful eyes. “Will you promise me that?”

She shuddered and went to the window. “I’ll feel like a prisoner all over again.”

“Promise me,” he ordered. “Now that I’ve got you, I don’t want to lose you.”

She gave him a faint nod. It was something.

Cleaning her room helped take Dinah’s mind off Uncle Martin. For all she knew, he could be in California right now, plotting to return her to Trenway. She refused to believe she’d gone through all that she had this past year only to find herself back where she started.

Tristan had held her long into the night. It had been comforting; he made her feel safe. She knew, however, that if Martin Odell had a plan for her, she wasn’t safe anywhere.

She set the doll with the cracked face aside, deter-. mined to return it to the attic. It obviously held painful memories for Emily.

After depositing the last of her personal items in the room she now shared with Tristan, Dinah picked up Charlotte’s diary and flipped through it, stopping briefly at the page that always filled her with such pain. Whoever Charlotte’s Teddy was, he was responsible for her death. Inadvertently, perhaps, but responsible just the same. With a shake of her head, she closed the book and put it in a drawer. Would she ever learn the truth? It would haunt her forever if she didn’t learn how Charlotte had died.

A bittersweet feeling clung to her. Everything would be fine if she didn’t have to think about her uncle. Charlotte’s painful, lonely death weighed heavily on her mind as well, but that thought would be etched there forever.

Dinah had a stack of old clothing and other things she wanted to discard, including Daisy’s battered travel bag. As she descended the stairs, her arms full, she spied Little Hawk at the door to the kitchen.

“Little Hawk?” When he limped to the stairs she asked, “Would you mind putting all of these old clothes in Alice’s rag bag?”

He took them in one arm, then gripped the broken handle of the bag. “What do you want me to do with this?”

“Throw it away, I guess. I don’t need it, and it’s torn. The handle is barely attached.”

When he left, she glanced up the stairs. She should stop in to see Emily, but she was afraid her own agitation would spread to her. It didn’t matter. She had to check on her.

She took the stairs again, then knocked on Emily’s door. Emily called a muffled come in on the other side and Dinah entered.

Emily turned and gave her a triumphant smile. “It’s finished.” She moved away from the portrait.

Dinah brought her hands to her mouth. “It’s incredible.” She found Emily’s gaze and smiled. “It’s absolutely incredible.”

“I’ve named it too. See?” She pointed to the lower part of the canvas.

Dinah bent and read:
Tristan/Teddy Portrait of man and boy.
She frowned, for the name Teddy clearly jumped out at her, causing a feeling of dread to hover near her stomach.

She looked at the window and chewed on her thumb, trying to calm the sick feeling in her stomach. She was being foolish, she knew. Teddy was a common nickname. She was merely jittery because of Uncle Martin. Still, she couldn’t shake the odd sensation.

“Dinah? Is something wrong with the picture?”

She heard the rejected tone in Emily’s voice, but her mind was busy with other words, other names. “No. It’s… it’s fine. It’s wonderful.” The contents of her stomach continued to pitch and toss. Emily said something else, but Dinah didn’t hear.

“Dinah?”

“What?” For some reason, Emily looked crushed.

“Are you sure you like it?”

“I love it, why?”

Emily shrugged one shoulder. “I asked you where we should put it and you didn’t answer. As if you didn’t want to put it anywhere.”

Forcing aside her feelings of discomfort, Dinah reassured Emily. “I’ve got something on my mind. I’m sorry, Emily. I think it should go in the great room. What do you think?”

Not convinced, Emily nodded. “That would be fine. Now… now I have something else to do.”

“Yes, of course. So have I. I’ll see you again before lunch, all right?”

Emily turned away before she nodded.

Dinah almost reassured her again. Instead, she hurried from the room. The names were a coincidence, that’s all. Teddy was a common nickname. It was often short for Edward and Theodore. She’d heard Emily call him Teddy before and it hadn’t struck her as unusual. Besides, Tristan wouldn’t do anything to hurt a woman, and certainly not one who could be taken advantage of. She was edgy because of Uncle Martin and depressed because of Charlotte, therefore she saw the return of the goblins that had haunted her mind over the past year. Even so, she had to tell Tristan, to put her mind at rest. She went to look for him.

She found him preparing to leave for the high country with two of the older boys.

Her body reacted to the sight of him. She loved him so much. Why had the troublesome thought even entered her mind? It meant nothing. Today her mind was filled with new worries and fears. Even so, it wouldn’t hurt to tell him. She wanted to be honest with him about everything from now on. “Tristan? Do you have a minute?”

The look on her face brought him quickly to her side. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”

Dinah swallowed the snag of apprehension. “This is probably a silly question, but when did you visit Trenway?”

He gave her a puzzled frown. “What?”

“When did you visit Trenway? What year?”

He stroked his chin. “Two years ago. Why?”

“That… that’s when Charlotte was there.”

He nodded, still perplexed. “If you say so.”

“I know you would have told me if you’d met her there, but … You didn’t, did you?”

He studied her, frowning. “Why would you ask me that now?”

“I … I’m sorry, I know it’s an odd question, I just—” She shrugged. “Well, I know I’m being silly, but I’d like to clear something up. Did you meet Charlotte there?”

He turned and dug into his saddlebag, searching for something. “How the hell should I know?”

His tone took on a hostile edge, and she should have let it go but she couldn’t. “But you mentioned her last night. You didn’t even seem surprised that I had a sister.”

“I told you I’d read about her in David’s letter. It’s in my desk, Dinah. Go get it if you don’t believe me.” He turned and examined her, as if unable to understand this new mood. “I saw many pretty young women when I was there. I even spoke with a few. They reminded me of Emily. I felt sorry for them.”

He was becoming defensive, impatient with her. And he had every right. He gripped her shoulders. “What’s this about?”

With an embarrassed shrug, she shoved the diary at him, opening it to Charlotte’s last entry, then watched his face. “This is just… I just …” She couldn’t explain her reasons for doing this. They’d become dumber by the moment.

His gaze roamed the page, then it grilled Dinah. “You have some foolish misbegotten notion that this Teddy she refers to is
me?”
His anger was palpable.

“No, not really, I—”

“I can’t believe you’d think such a thing. Do you know me so little? Haven’t I proved I’m a better man than that?” He spat a curse, then tightened the cinch strap on his saddle. “I have no need to seduce mental patients, Dinah. Certainly some of them were pretty. Maybe I even saw your sister, I don’t know. But for you to think that I could do that…”

He turned away from her, swung into the saddle and kicked Rogue into a gallop. Miguel and Henry, on mounts of their own, raced after him.

Dinah turned her fearful gaze on Lucas, who gave her a sympathetic smile, then went into the barn.

She returned to the house, unsure of how she got there, for her knees were weak and her heart heavy with remorse. Of course he couldn’t have done that. She shouldn’t have approached him at all.

David was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. He was a fine looking man, but his beauty paled beside Tristan’s.

“You look as if you just lost your best friend.”

She sagged into the chair across from him. “I think I have.” She opened the diary to the last entry and shoved it across the table. “Tristan thinks I’ve accused him of causing my sister’s death. I had wanted to tell him that having the same nickname as the man Charlotte spoke of in her diary
had
caused me brief concern, but that I didn’t believe for a minute that he had anything to do with it. I wanted to explain that with Uncle Charles practically breathing down my neck, I’ve been in a frazzled state of mind. But Tristan rode away angry before I had a chance to say any of this.”

David swung the book around and thumbed through it. “I didn’t know Charlotte kept a diary.”

Dinah’s heart leaped with anticipation. “You knew her? I mean, you didn’t just know of her?”

He nodded. “She’s one of my case studies. I talk about her in my paper.”

Dinah put her arms on the table and leaned toward him. “Tell me what happened, David. I truly must know.”

He studied her. “You may not like what you hear.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

David looked at her for a long moment before he began. “Your sister didn’t belong in Trenway any more than you did.”

Dinah nodded. “I know that.” Even so, she was relieved to hear someone else say it.

“Part of my paper deals with women like Charlotte. They have physical ailments that frighten their families, or—”

“My family was not afraid of Charlotte’s fits.”

“No, but I’m beginning to understand Martin Odell’s plan. I don’t believe he thought she would actually try to kill herself.”

“If that’s what you think, then you’re wrong. Charlotte wouldn’t have done that.”

David sighed and stroked the end of his blond mustache. “She may not have been insane when she was committed, but trust me, Dinah, she was not completely sane when she died.”

Dinah pressed her fingers over her eyes. “It was that place, wasn’t it? That horrible, filthy place killed her.”

“She escaped into á fantasy world. It was the only one in which she could survive. A lot of women do that.” He continued to flip through the diary. “This is proof.”

“The diary is proof that she wasn’t sane?”

He leaned into his chair. “We’re not talking about a nice, sweet sanitarium where the rich go to dry out, where one could maybe meet someone and fall in love. We’re talking about Trenway. You should know that what she describes in these pages bears no resemblance to that place.”

Dinah studied her hands. He was right, she knew that. “I didn’t want to believe there was anything wrong with her,” she murmured softly. She was almost afraid to ask her next question.

“What about her pregnancy, David? Was it real or imagined?”

Sighing, he closed the book and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m afraid that was real. I don’t have to tell you how that might have come about.”

An ache so physical it might have been a blow, made Dinah clutch her stomach. Her poor, darling, frail Charlotte. “And this Teddy that she calls her lover?”

“Edward Doppling. The matron’s son. His nickname was Teddy, and I’m quite sure he wasn’t her lover. Unfortunately, he was probably her rapist.”

The word clawed at Dinah’s ears. Of course. The matron’s son. “He wasn’t there when I was, but I do remember some of the talk.”

“He left Trenway that spring after Charlotte died. Not necessarily because of that, but his mother thought it prudent to ship him off for someone else to worry about. He was the male equivalent of Matron Doppling, only worse because he was stronger and could do more physical harm.

“Oh, sweet Mary. If he raped poor Charlotte, her mind could have snapped from it. Was she insane, then?”

“Well, if it helps, I wouldn’t consider her insane. Not really. I think she created a world unlike her surroundings in which she could be happy.”

“Do you think she killed herself, David?”

He toyed with his coffee cup. “As you well know, patients aren’t allowed to have anything that can be used as a weapon.”

“Then she couldn’t have killed herself.” Dinah felt a surge of hope.

“Knowing Charlotte as I did, I don’t think so. Even with her fragile hold on reality, she fought to keep fragments of her life together.”

His admission softened the sharp edges of Dinah’s pain. “Was nothing ever found to prove it one way or another?”

He stirred his lukewarm coffee. “No one cared, Dinah. I’m sorry if that’s blunt, but to the hierarchy at Trenway, dead is dead. But I did discover something.”

Again, Dinah swelled with hope. “What?”

“I believe she died trying to deliver her baby.”

Dinah pinched her hands together in her lap. She closed her eyes against the image of Charlotte trying to deliver a child in Trenway’s filthy conditions. “Was it a boy or a girl?”

There was a heavy pause. “I don’t know.”

“She aborted?”

He shook his head but didn’t look at her. “Whatever she had was full term, but it was never found and there’s no record of the delivery. At least none I could find.”

Dinah’s hands went to her mouth. “You mean there might be a child somewhere?”

“I didn’t want to tell you this, because I didn’t want you to get your hopes up. I suppose it’s possible she could have delivered a healthy child, Dinah, but I don’t think you should dwell on it.”

“Not dwell on it? How can I not?”

He put his hand over hers. “Because there’s no way to trace it. If you try, you’ll only be disappointed.”

She jerked her hand from his. To ask her to simply ignore the possibility of Charlotte having had a living child was like asking her to ignore breathing. She wouldn’t pursue it with him, but she definitely would tell Tristan. He would help her. He wouldn’t give up on it.

With shaky fingers, she picked up the journal. “Thank you, David. I didn’t necessarily want to hear the news, but I had to.

“I certainly hope there’s a way to make Uncle Martin pay for all of this. I’d like to confront him myself and make him tell me to my face why he did what he did.”

“Dinah, I know Tristan warned you to keep alert. Don’t take any unnecessary chances. Martin Odell could be anywhere.”

“Oh, I know. I’m not going to do anything foolish, David. I can finally put my fears to rest about Charlotte, anyway. And also let her poor memory rest in peace.” Even so, Dinah felt guilty that she hadn’t had a chance to say good bye.

“I’m sorry I didn’t have better news.”