Bella's Vineyard (11 page)

When she opened
her eyes again, Shen’s boys had gone. May sat at the table darning her socks.
“Did you have a good sleep, honey? I’ve kept your dinner warm.”

“How long did I
sleep?”

“About an hour
or so. It’s what you needed. The boys said to say goodnight. They didn’t want
to wake you. They’re good kids, Shen’s sons, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they’re
decent young men. May?”

“What, honey?”

“I’ve been
thinking about going home.”

May put her sock
down. “You are home, honey.”

“You know what I
mean. I’m exhausted and sad. I wondered if … well … if you could buy the
vineyard from me. I won’t ask much. Just enough for my fare home and enough to
live on until…”

“Until what?
What are you going to do in England? You’ve told me yourself that there’s no
way a young lady out there can earn a living.”

“No, that’s
true. But I could take in mending. Or write. There’s a lady in our village that
writes stories and sells them to newspapers. Years ago, she was published in
Charles Dickens’ magazine, Household Words.”

“Is he the one
who killed off Little Nell?”

“Well … yes.”

“I was just
about to forgive him for that then he killed off that poor little street girl,
Nancy.”

“Actually I
think Nancy died before Little Nell.”

“Whatever. I
don’t think he likes women, this Dickens guy, so I’m not sure I want your fate
in his hands.”

“He’s dead,
May.”

“Well that just
goes to show, doesn’t it?”

“May, we’re
getting off the subject. Of me returning home.”

“And what do you
think the marshal is going to say if he knows I just let you up and leave for
England all on your own?”

“I doubt he
cares very much,” said Bella, sadly. “He’s going to be returning here a married
man, May.”

“Now how did you
work that out?”

“They’re engaged
and he’s gone to meet her. The proper thing to do, if they’re travelling
together like that, would be to get married. I’ve thought about it a lot, and
it seems to me that’s why he’s gone. I can’t be here when he returns. I can’t.
I love him, May.” Bella put her elbows on her knees and rested her head in her
hands.

“What happened
that night up on the canyon?”

“Nothing.” Bella
sat up again. “I promise you, nothing happened.”

“Darn it, honey,
I don’t care if you did or if you didn’t. I just wanna be sure that if you do
run away from here you’re not taking a bundle of other trouble with you. I’d
never let you go if that were true. We’d work it out together, honey, you and
I.”

Bella stood up
and went to sit at the table. She reached out and put her hands over May’s. “I
am not having a baby if that’s what you think. Nothing like that happened. At
least, I mean, it didn’t go that far.”

“So he kissed
you then?”

“We kissed each
other.”

“Well, what are
you worrying about? If he kissed you it means he’s got feelings for you. He
won’t marry this Gloria person.”

“He loves her
May. I was just an interlude.”

“Honey, you’re a
smart young woman, but you haven’t got a clue when it comes to men.”

“And you’re an
expert?” Bella raised an eyebrow.

“Well, maybe
not, but I know how someone’s eyes look when they could eat a person up like a
plate of pancakes and syrup.”

“But men don’t
always love the women they kiss, do they? Look at the girls down at Aunt
Kitty’s. I doubt very much the men who go there love them.”

“They don’t go
to Aunty Kitty’s for the kissing.”

“What do they go
for?”

“I ain’t talking
to you about that sort of thing. Happen the marshal will teach you one day.
Well some of it, anyway. Not all of it. I’d shoot him myself if he did that.”

“Not if he’s
married to another woman he won’t. I’m not stealing another woman’s husband,
May, and neither do I intend being someone’s mistress.”

“Bella, honey,”
May took her hand. “Forget about the marshal for a minute. I know that’s hard
for you to do. He fills up your every waking hour. I understand that. But think
of me for a moment. When you came here, it was like mine and your Aunt Bella’s
baby girl had arrived from nowhere. I know we’re not blood relations, but I’ve
come to feel like you’re my own girl. You’re hurting over Andrew’s death and I
know the marshal being gone is adding to that pain. But there’s others here who
love you and take care of you. Me, Shen, the boys. We all think you’re the
cat’s whiskers. Who have you got like that over in England? Who’ll take care of
you when you’re sick, or help to mend your broken heart? One of those pale
young men you told me about?”

“I’m beaten,
May. This country, it’s won. Like the man said on the train, it’ll drive a
person mad. I can feel myself losing my grip.”

“Aw, honey, you
just lost a loved one. Of course you’re losing your grip. The only reason this
country drives people mad is that those who come here don’t learn that you
gotta climb those mountains. You can’t just stride right on over them. Your
brother … God rest his soul … didn’t learn that. You know that. Deep down I
know you do. I ain’t saying it’s easy, honey, and I ain’t saying it won’t break
your back and your heart at times, when you think you’ve got so far up then
something knocks you back down again. But you got it in you to reach the top.
You just can’t give up now.”

“It’s such a
hard climb, May,” said Bella. A tear rolled down her cheek.

“I know, honey
but you’re making the mistake of thinking you gotta do it all alone. You
haven’t. You got me to pull you up. And Shen, and the boys. We’ll be there,
holding out our hands to you.”

How could Bella
tell May that as much as she loved them all, it was not their hands she wanted
to see when she looked up?

“The Marshal
will be helping you to, if you just trust in him,” said May, who was even shrewder
than Bella had given her credit for.

“He’s going to
be married to someone else, May.”

“It ain’t over
till it’s over,” May said, sagely.

Chapter Eight

In Bella’s
dream, the ship pulled into an empty quayside and only she disembarked. As far
as she could tell, she was the only passenger to have made the trip. No one
waited for her as she walked down the gangplank. It came to her with a painful
realisation that May had been right. She had no one in England. The gangplank
slipped from under her the moment she put one foot onto the quay. She spun
around to see the ship already starting its return journey. On the top deck,
two people waved to her. She could not make out the woman’s face, although she
knew instinctively that this woman was more beautiful and more wonderful than
she could ever be. She could tell that by the way the man kept his eyes on the
woman as he waved goodbye to Bella.

“Vance…” she
whispered. “No, please, don’t go.”

They drifted
away into the distance, then the sky became ochre and the ship went up in
flames. Suddenly she was back in the kitchen at the vineyard. May was baking a
cake but when she took it out of the oven the fruit was burned. The aroma hit
Bella’s nostrils, sickly and sweet.

“Come on,
honey,” said May. “You’ve got to…” The voice faded before Bella could make out
what she said.

Did she say eat
it? Bella thought must be it. But she did not want to eat it. The cake was
burned and it would taste awful. Besides what was May doing baking cakes when
Vance’s ship had gone up in flames? It was hardly appropriate. “No,” said
Bella.

“Honey, honey,
you’ve got to wake up.”

“I am awake,”
said Bella.

“Darn it, I
can’t wake her. I wonder if the smoke got to her.”

“You shouldn’t
have burned the cake,” said Bella.  May took her by the shoulders and shook her
roughly, which Bella felt was over-reacting a bit just because she said she did
not want the cake. May shook her again.

Bella’s eyes
snapped open. She was in her bedroom and by the red light shining through the
windows, it appeared that the sun had risen. She could still smell the burning
fruit.

“What is it?”

“Thank God,”
said May. “The vineyard is on fire. Get up, honey. Shen and the boys are trying
to put out the flames, but we don’t know how far it’s going to spread.”

Bella was very much
awake then, and rushed around looking for something decent to wear.

“There’s no time
for that, honey. Here’s your dressing gown. We gotta get out of here.”

They ran
downstairs and out into the yard. The fire was on the left of them, near to the
bunkhouse and due to the direction of the breeze it advanced on the building
rapidly. Flames jumped and crackled, sending sparks up into the night sky.
“Shen and the boys?” said Bella.

“They’re okay,
they all got out. They’re round the back getting water from the pump.”

Bella was about
to turn away and follow May to the approach when she saw a tiny head poking out
from the bottom of the bunkhouse door. “It’s Hector!” She ran down the path.

“Honey, come on,
you can’t risk your own life just to save that darn rabbit. Bella, please, come
back. Oh, damn that girl. I knew I should have killed that rabbit on the first
day. Shen! Shen! We got a problem.”

Bella could hear
May prattling on, but her only focus was in saving Hector. She had not let him
live to have him cooked in a fire. Besides, he was one of the family. She would
no more leave him to his fate than she would leave May, Shen or the workers to
theirs.

As she grew
nearer to the bunkhouse she noticed something else. A foot stuck out from the
end of the building, and the flames were getting closer to it. She ran to the
side and saw by the light of the fire that the man had tripped and banged his
head on a rock. It was Bill Tucker.

Whatever her
private thoughts about him, and the fact that he had clearly been involved in
setting fire to the vineyard, Bella knew she could not leave him there to die.
Hector, she realised with an aching heart, would have to take his chances.  She
called for the others, and then tried to drag him out.

“Bella, honey,
get out of there. You’re gonna get burned.”

“May, it’s your
brother. He’s been hurt.”

He was very
heavy and it took her a few minutes just to move him a couple of feet. She
could hear the others calling to her, the air becoming filled with a cacophony
of shouting, but she was so intent on the task in hand she could not hear what
they were saying. When she felt the heat on her back, she understood exactly
why they had been shouting. She dropped Bill to the ground and turned around.
The breeze had sent the fire around in an arc, so that she was trapped in the
centre. The only way to go was the direction of the bunkhouse, but there was no
door on the other side, and she could no longer get around it. Only a few yards
separated Bella and the fire, and she had nowhere to go.

She heard the
others call something about blankets. Yes, that was a good idea. She ran into
the bunkhouse and found a couple of blankets, draping one over Bill and the
other around herself. Then she heard the others say something about water. She
searched the bunkhouse again but there was no water. Only the moonshine that
Shen and the workers drank. She doubted that would help, though if she were
honest she would not have minded a drink of it to steady her nerves.

She came back
out of the bunkhouse just in time to see the flames shoot higher and a large
body, covered in a blanket from head to toe coming towards her. Whoever it was
swooped her up. She realised the blanket was soaking wet, and at last
understood that they had not been shouting instructions to her, but making
plans to save her.

“What about Bill
Tucker?” she cried.

“We’ll do our
best to come back for him. Right now I want you somewhere safe.”

“Vance?” Despite
the circumstances, her heart gave a joyous leap.

“Hold on tight
and cover your head, darling, it’s gonna get a little warm.” With that, he
hurtled through the flames and carried her to safety.

Chapter Nine

They pulled Bill
Tucker out of the fire, but he did not regain consciousness. May tended him
whilst the Bella, Vance, Shen and the other workers ran from the pump with
buckets of water, trying to stop the spread of the flames. The vineyard itself
did not come right up to the front door, but there were shrubs and small trees
along the pathway, all of which were brittle due to the hot, dry weather. All
it needed was for some sparks to jump across and the house would be next.

After an hour
others began to arrive from the canyon. Ike Peterson and his boys, Mr Grant and
his cowhands. They formed a chain, bearing buckets of water from the pump at
the back of the house to the fire at the front. They worked with silent
determination.