Lily's Leap (8 page)

“Next time. So there’s going to be a next time, is there?” she questioned. Her gaze slid to the horses in the clearing yard ahead of them.

Surely she wasn’t planning another escape run after their ride this morning? He had thought they’d forged a bond that would keep her safe until they reached The Settler’s Arms at least. “Forget it. You wouldn’t get a hundred yards head start before we rode you down.”

The silence stretched painfully taut in the fading afternoon light. “I assure you no harm will come to you or Bonnie while you are under my protection. Once we hear from your father I will return you to your family and we will go our separate ways.”

“But what about the horses?”

Did she simply not understand the predicament she was in?

No matter whether her father paid the ransom or not he had every intention of gaining something from the whole debacle. “The horses are ours. I intend to keep them.” He stood. Despite her height he could see the top of her head, the twisted curls tangled and disheveled from their ride. He pushed aside the desire to run his fingers through the silken strands and placed his hands onto his hips.

“I need to get the horses to Sydney. They have to reach the ship in time…”

His temper snapped. “You
need
to do nothing other than remain under my protection until I hand you over to your father.” His fist hit the table scattering the chess pieces like fallen soldiers. “I am making the decisions. Not you.”

The responding stamp of Lily’s foot caused the veranda to creak and groan as she stomped down the steps toward the stable.

Tom turned back to the chessboard slowly picking up the pieces and stacking them side by side in the velvet lined box ready for their next confrontation.

****

She wouldn’t be playing chess with him again or anything else. Not if she had her way. She suddenly wanted to be free of him. Free to do what she originally set out to do. She kicked at the small stones on the dusty track, walking along the length of the fence line. What chance did she have of talking him into anything? Buckley’s or none if his behavior over the chessboard was anything to go by. She could do nothing but bide her time and see what happened when the time was up.

And bide her time she did, but she stayed well away from temptation and Tom respected her distance. The days took on a gentle routine that revolved around the horses, Old Pete’s gastronomic delights and the dubious truce they’d managed to establish. But there were no more clandestine rides, no more intimate candlelit dinners. She’d given up on what she now knew was her ridiculous idea to seduce him. No matter how much they might fight it, the spark of attraction continued to flame between them of its own accord but by some unspoken mutual agreement neither of them acted upon it. It was if life and love were in limbo until the results of the ransom demand were known.

****

“Bonnie?” Lily reached for the hammock slung between the two trees and swayed it gently. Bonnie’s face was hidden by an old cabbage palm hat and one hand dangled languorously over the side of the hammock, her fingers gently tracing the blades of grass as the hammock swung slowly to and fro.

“Hmm?”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Do? Nothing.” Bonnie’s muffled yawn drifted through the balmy afternoon air. It had more than a hint of summer warmth than spring but none of the searing temperatures Christmas brought. “As far as I’m concerned life can stand still. This is my idea of paradise.” She tipped the hat back from her face and starred up into Lily’s eyes. “Oh. You’re serious.”

“Yes. I am. I want to get the horses to Sydney and I want to race Nero at Windsor.” She kicked the toe of her dusty leather boot against the base of the tree, her impatience at the enforced inactivity finally spilling over.

“There’s not a lot we can do right now. We just have to wait until the seven days are up and George returns.” Bonnie swung her legs over the side of the hammock and Lily realized with a start of surprise there was something different about her friend and companion. She tilted her head to one side and stared at Bonnie. Her skin had taken on a glow and the sparkle in her eye would have put the crystals on the chandelier in the dining room at Wordsworth to shame.

“You like it here, don’t you?”

“I love it.” Bonnie replied casually swinging the hammock with her feet like a child on a swing.

“Love it or the company?” Lily asked.

“Both.” Bonnie declared emphatically. “Will is… well, Will is…”

“Special?”

“Yes, special.”

“Oh, Bonnie.” Lily reached out for her hand and clasped it. “I am so sorry that I got you involved in all of this. If it hadn’t been for my defiant determination you would be–“

“Safely back at Wordsworth, bored to death playing nanny to a woman who no longer needed me, clearing up after a drunken sot and living my mother’s life.” She stood up and hugged Lily

“I wouldn’t have it any other way and no matter what happens, nothing will induce me to regret the last few days. For the first time since you returned to Wordsworth you look happy… alive in a way you haven’t been since Dom died, and I want nothing more than your happiness.” She patted her back and Lily relished the affection in her touch.

She stared at her, truly appreciating for the first time the honesty and support that she had taken for granted for so long. Their relationship had changed she realized with a shock. As she had got older, the ten years between them seemed to shrink and now they seemed more like sisters.

“And you should take a good look at yourself.” Bonnie touched her face as she spoke. “This life suits you too. Think long and hard before you leap down any more ravines.”

Lily titled her head back and combed her fingers through her hair holding it up from her warm neck. “I’m certain Father won’t be able to raise the ransom money, Bonnie.” She paused to let her bland statement sink in and Bonnie nodded slowly in agreement. She knew the state of the Wordsworth’s affairs as well as anyone.

“Then what do you think will happen? George will come back, you know.”

“Yes, I’m certain he will, but it will be without the money and with some sort of ridiculous deal my father and his brandy bottle will have dreamed up.” She screwed up her eyes and looked carefully at Bonnie weighing up the wisdom of sharing her plans. “I’ve been thinking and I believe I can make Tom a better offer, one that might create winners out of us all.” Looking over her shoulder she waved at Old Pete as he carried an arm full of logs into the slab hut then grabbed Bonnie by the hand and led her down toward the creek bank. “Come down here. I want to tell you my plan.”

Lily and Bonnie sank down into the soft sand, pulled off their boots and rolled up their breeches. Lily gasped as she dangled her feet into the cold crystal clear pool created by the rounded boulders that edged the creek bank.

“It’s cold, but nice.” She leaned back on her arms and tilted her face up to the sun.

“You’ll get freckles.” Bonnie threatened.

“Too late. I’ve got freckles.” She turned her face to Bonnie. “Here, across my nose.”

“Very unladylike, you’ll be drummed out of your Aunt’s Sydney drawing room.”

“I hope not because she forms part of my plan.”

“Right. I’m ready.” Bonnie wriggled her bottom deeper into the sand.

“We’ve got two more days and then George should be at The Settler’s Arms. I expect Tom will go and meet him and leave us here with Pete and Will. What do you think?”

“That’s sounds sensible.”

“Right. Then he’ll come back here. If he has the money, all well and good, we will be handed over to George. Tom intends to keep the horses. But there’s no chance my father will accept that. I think he will make an offer or deal to Tom but it won’t be worth the paper it is written on. Tom’s no fool but he is too much of a gentleman.”

“That’s true.”

Lily pulled her feet from the water and crouched closer to Bonnie, keeping her voice low. “I am going to make him a counter offer.” She paused and looked closely at her friend trying to read her face, and see her reaction to the plan. She’d spent hours over the last few days mulling it over and over in her mind and now she needed another opinion. “I am going to tell him if he helps us take the horses to Sydney and deliver them to the docks I will pay the ransom and provide him with unbranded horses from Wordsworth on our return.” Her stomach churned as she waited for Bonnie’s reaction.

“It won’t work. How can you? You haven’t got the money and you can’t touch your inheritance until you’re twenty-one.”

Lily tutted quietly. “When’s my birthday?”

“Not until Christmas. Christmas Eve.”

“Well that’s only about six weeks away.” Lily sat back, feeling triumphant.

“Yes but…A look of confusion crossed Bonnie’s face.

“Yes, but nothing. When we get to Sydney we’ll go and see my aunt and uncle. They have all the paperwork for the shipment. Uncle Richard has no time for my father; he has always held him responsible for his sister’s death. He’ll help. I know he will.” Lily stared at Bonnie. She had to see the sense of her plan but her pursed lip and wrinkled brow didn’t bode well.

“But why would Tom agree? He’d run the risk of being arrested if he shows his face in Sydney.”

“There are plenty of places he can hole up. No one needs to know where he is, at least not until I have spoken to my aunt and uncle. Don’t forget they stand to make money out of the shipment too and it will do Wordsworth’s reputation no good if the truth gets out.”

“Oh, Lily. It’s a long shot. I don’t like your chances.”

“Well, what’s the alternative? If my father doesn’t pay the ransom we are as good as history anyway. Tom’s hardly likely to just let us go and take off into the bush with the horses. Apart from anything else, the brands would give him away every time anyone saw them.”

Lily jumped to her feet and stood in a shallow puddle of water with her hands on her hips while she delivered her final coup. “And Nero can race at Windsor on the way and I can give Tom the winnings as a down payment.” She waited for a reaction, her knee jiggled in the water and made small dark splashes on the legs of her breeches.

Finally Bonnie stood up and smiled at her. “It’s a plan and it’s better than any other we have, so let’s wait and see what George and the next couple of days bring.” She nodded as if agreeing with her own comment and bent down and picked up her boots. “I’m going to see what’s going on back at the house.”

“You won’t say anything to Will?”

“Of course not.” Bonnie threw the words over her shoulder as she waved and walked away from the creek.

Lily shuffled her feet in the sand and bent down, examining the round smooth stones. Selecting one, she stood up and skimmed it neatly across the calm water, counting the jumps before it fell with a plop below the surface. Articulating her plan made it seem more of a reality. Her stomach gave a skip of excitement as she pulled down the legs of her breeches and dragged her boots back on. The shade of the trees along the brook looked inviting and she wandered off thinking through the details. She couldn’t afford to make any mistakes this time.

As she rounded a curve on the creek bank, she came to a halt. Tom lay on his back on a bed of eucalyptus leaves, his chest rising and falling as though he hadn’t a care in the world. His lashes rested like dark fans on his tanned cheekbones. She stepped closer and gazed down at him and her heart contracted. What she wouldn’t give to be in a different time and a different place, far away from the commitments and confusion plaguing her.

****

“Your horses are loose on the other side of the brook.” Tom couldn’t resist a grin as Lily jumped at the sound of his voice and he sat up, marveling at the glorious picture she made. The smooth trunk of the river gum picked out the copper highlights in her hair and the patterned shadows cast by the overhanging branches accentuated the slim but powerful outline of her perfect body.

Her recovery from the shock of his voice was quick. “They won’t go anywhere without me. Watch.”

His gaze stayed on her as she walked to the edge of the creek, her hair dancing in the breeze as she raised a hand to shield her eyes. His breath caught in his throat. It was as if the rays of the sun had been trapped between her burnished curls. She licked her soft lips and placed two fingers between them and blew. Her whistle echoed across the valley and the stallion’s ears cocked and he turned to look directly at her before trotting amicably across the shallow creek followed by every other horse carrying the ED brand.