Bella's Vineyard (4 page)

“This rabbit has
looked you in the eye.”

“I’m not going
to let that bother me anymore. If you don’t believe me, come by for dinner and
we’ll share our rabbit stew with you, won’t we May?”

May and Vance
exchanged knowing glances and a conspiratorial smile.

“I think I know
who’s won this battle,” said Vance, throwing his hat onto the table and sitting
down.

“Do you want
bacon and eggs? I can rustle up some grits?” May asked, bustling around Vance
five minutes later, as he sat with Bella in the kitchen. They sipped on coffee,
and made small talk.

“Grits?” Bella
mouthed to Vance whilst May’s back was turned.

“I’ll explain
later,” he said. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to kill anything.” He turned to
May. “No, thank you, Miss Tucker. These pancakes will do just fine.”

“May, come and
sit down,” said Bella. “You’ve done enough this morning.” Bella felt guilty
that May had fallen so quickly back into the role of housekeeper. Bella was
also very aware that the food they ate had been supplied by May. She would have
to check her own money, which was stowed safely away in the bottom of her trunk
out of Andrew’s reach, and pay May back.

“I got cleaning
to do. Besides, you two young ‘uns don’t want an old woman hanging around you.”

“May, you don’t
have to …” May was gone before Bella had even finished her sentence. “I wish I
could pay her a wage,” she said to Vance.

“I gather she’s
okay for money,” said Vance. “Her father was one of the early prospectors. Did
better out of the mines than most men who came later. Pretty shrewd with his
money too, I hear.”

“You wouldn’t
think it looking at Bill Tucker.” Bella wondered why May worked as a
housekeeper when she had money. “Oh, did you know? The older man we met on the
coach is her brother.”

“No, I didn’t
know that. Well, that makes me worry a little less. He’ll probably leave you
alone now.”

“You don’t have
to worry about me,” said Bella, secretly thinking that there was so much
obvious bad blood between May and Bill there was no guarantee of any security
in the connection.

“You’re not in
England anymore, Bella. Everyone out here lives in relative isolation, so help
is often a long time coming. It mightn’t hurt if you could get a guy up here to
keep watch.”

“Andrew will
come soon,” said Bella, sounding doubtful even to herself.

“Your brother is
not the sort of man I’m thinking of,” said Vance. “I mean someone who’s handy
with a gun, and who can maybe help you out around the place.”

“I’ve been
talking to May about getting the vineyard up and running,” said Bella. “She
says it might take a couple of years before we can grow decent crops again, but
she knows some of the Chinese men who used to work here, before Griffiths and
his people chased them off. She’s going to approach them and ask if they’ll be
willing to work in return for some of the profits.”

“That’s not a
bad idea. How can she be sure they’ll come back?”

“She thinks
things have changed. The other landowners are starting to resent Griffiths,
whereas before they all fell into place behind him. Apart from Aunt Bella. She
knew all along he was a bad man.”

“You know he
wants to buy this place off your brother.”

Bella was silent
for a moment. “I had a feeling that’s why he wanted to talk to Andrew. He’s
wasting his time. The vineyard isn’t for sale.”

“Your brother
might have other ideas.”

“I don’t care.
It’s not for sale. I gave up everything to come here. I’m not about to turn
around and go back again.”

“Well…” Vance
looked at her for such a long time that she began to feel self-conscious. She
knew her hair was not as neat as it could have been and she was wearing an old
blue gingham dress of her aunt’s, having been too exhausted to unpack clean
clothes the night before. “You were right about English women, weren’t you?”

Bella smiled. “I
told you not to underestimate us.”

“I don’t, Bella.
But you shouldn’t underestimate Griffiths and what he’s willing to do to win
this place. Men like him don’t have the same sense of fair play that most
decent folk do. He’s building an empire and he doesn’t care who he buries under
its foundations.”

Bella shivered,
feeling for a moment as if the sun had gone in. “Let’s talk about happier
things,” she said. “When will we meet Gloria? I was thinking last night that …
well … if she needed somewhere to stay, I mean if she came to visit you, she’d
be very welcome here.”  Bella had thought no such thing, and could not
comprehend why she suddenly blurted out the offer. Later, when she began to
dread Gloria’s imminent arrival, she would wonder what on earth possessed her.

Vance stayed for
a little while longer, and then started back for the town.

“You did good
catching that rabbit,” he said, when he was sitting on his horse ready to go.
“But it was a bad idea not to kill it immediately.  They sense weakness.
Whatever you do, don’t let him talk you into giving him a name between now and
supper time.” He winked at her and rode away.

Bella watched
him, and found she still looked for him when he was far out of sight.

She turned and
went back into the house, thinking that it was time she unpacked. But first she
went to the rabbit in the kitchen. She gently lifted him out of the box and
held him close, feeling his velvety soft fur against her cheek. “Because you
fought so valiantly, I’m going to call you Hector.”

“I’m just going
out to talk to Shen,” said May, coming downstairs wearing her riding jacket as
Bella was on her way upstairs to unpack. “I hear he’s working at one of the
gold mines.”

“Will Shen want
to come here if there’s gold to be found in the mines?” asked Bella.

“Ain’t much gold
left, honey. Most of the prospectors have taken it. It’s just penny ante stuff
nowadays. Enough to buy a man a meal a day and a room above the saloon.”

“But it’s still
more than I can pay,” said Bella.

“Viticulture is
in Shen’s blood,” said May. “I think he’ll come back just for the pleasure of
doing something he’s good at.”

“Well if you
think he will, then ask. Make sure the terms are fair, May. I don’t agree with
slavery. Which reminds me, before you go, let me give you some money for the
food and a couple of week’s wages. I can’t pay you beyond that but perhaps
something will turn up by then. I could find work in the town.”

“There’s only
one type of work for a young lady in Milton and even if I couldn’t stop you I
reckon that handsome marshal would have something to say about it. I don’t want
anything. Your aunt took care of me when…”

Ignoring May’s
protestations, Bella skipped up the stairs to her bedroom, taking the key to
her trunk from the chain she had around her neck. Five minutes later, she sat
on the floor, frantically searched the trunk, throwing clothes all over the
room, shaking out undergarments and dresses, hoping to see what she was looking
for fall to the floor. “It’s here, I know it’s here,” she said, fighting back
the tears that threatened to flow.

“What, honey?
What’s wrong?” said May from the door.

“My money. It
was in my trunk. I last had it in…” Bella stopped and sat back on her heels,
remembering the chain of events. “The night before last in the saloon. I must
have left the key in the lock after I took out my nightclothes. I only went
downstairs to get some water, and when I came back, Andrew was in my room. He’s
taken it, May. The only money I had – we had - in the world and he’s taken it.”
Bella burst into tears.

May knelt next
to her and put her arm around her shoulder. “We’ll work it out, honey, don’t
you worry. I can loan you some until…”

“No,” said
Bella. “I can’t do that. I barely know you, and already I owe you more than I
can possibly repay.”

“Your aunt was
my friend. She was like a … sister to me. Which kinda makes you family.”

“May, that’s
really sweet, but…”

“Thirty years
ago,” said May, emphatically ignoring Bella, “my daddy turned me out of the
house. I had nothing then and nowhere to go. It was your aunt who took me in. I
only came into money when my father died, and then it was because my Mama
insisted he left me something for all those years I used to help him work the
mine. So I owe your family much more than you could ever owe me.”

“I will pay you
back,” said Bella some time later. She had spent half an hour with her back
against the wardrobe, thinking about what to do, whilst May set about tidying
away the discarded clothes.  She saw no other way than to accept May’s charity.
She couldn’t go back to England because she did not have the money, but she
could at least try to go forward. “We’ll get the vineyard working together, you
and I, and we’ll share the profits.”

“If that’s what
you insist, then that’s the way we’ll do it. Darn it,” said May, her bright
eyes shining with unshed tears, “you’re so much like your aunt. You’ve got that
same determined little chin. She never let anyone or anything beat her.”

“I’m sure that’s
because she had you as a friend,” said Bella.

Andrew finally
arrived at the vineyard late that evening, smelling of alcohol, and swaying on
his feet. Bella flew at him as he walked through the door.

“You stole my
money, Andrew.”

“Bella, dearest,
listen to me. I had a winning hand. I could have…”

“Could have?
Could have? But you didn’t, did you? You’ve lost it all and now I have to rely
on the charity of a woman I only met yesterday.” Bella hated how shrewish she
sounded. For a long time she had felt more like Andrew’s mother than his
younger sister.

“God forbid that
you should have to ask anyone for anything,” said Andrew, his voice rising,
becoming hollow and ugly as it did. “The perfectly wonderful Bella, who never
does anything wrong.”

“Oh, I do things
wrong,” said Bella. “I was wrong to ever believe that I could change you by
coming here. I should have made you face your problems.”

“Good lord,
Bella, you’re not my wife. Now stop nagging me and get me some food. I’m
starving.”

“You don’t speak
to your sister like that, young man.”

“Who are you and
what in damnation has it got to do with you?” asked Andrew, his eyes widening
at the sight of the woman dressed in men’s clothes standing in the kitchen
doorway.

“This is May
Tucker,” said Bella. “She’s aunt Bella’s friend and at the moment she’s taking
care of us, despite the fact we are not her problem. So I suggest you treat her
with a little more respect.”

Andrew paused
near the foot of the stairs, sizing May Tucker up. His high-pitched tones
became soft and contrite, and Bella knew by his eyes that he was already
working out how he could bring May onto his side. “Bella, dearest I’m sorry,
I’m very tired. Miss Tucker, please accept my apologies for my rudeness.” He
tipped his hat to her. “Any friend of our aunt’s is a friend of ours, and I’m
very pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Just don’t let
me hear you talk to Miss Bella like that again.”

“No, of course I
won’t. It’s been a long trip, as I’m sure Bella will have told you.
Unfortunately I managed to leave my manners somewhere along the way, for which
I apologise. Now if you ladies will point me in the direction of a bedroom,
I’ll keep out of your way until I’ve regained them.”

“He soon changed
his mood,” said May, once Andrew was upstairs fast asleep. The two women sat on
the porch together, as fireflies danced around them. May had found a bottle of
wine in the cellar, a deep red that tasted to Bella of raspberries and the
earthy flavour of fresh vegetables. Along with the gentle sway of the porch
swing, it calmed her nerves. It would be too easy to let go, and allow the wine
to ease her into oblivion. But one of her family had to be strong, and even
though Bella sometimes felt her back would break under the strain, she was
determined to be the one.

“That’s Andrew’s
way, I’m afraid,” said Bella. “My father said that my mother indulged him too
much when he was younger, and he’d throw these awful tantrums one moment, then
when he realised he was in the wrong, he’d suddenly become contrite and boyish.
My mother fell for it every time. As have many of the women he’s managed to
persuade to give him money.”

“And you?”

“Not anymore,”
said Bella. She thought of Vance Eagleson. How self-assured and calm he was.
That, to her, was how a man should behave. With courage and dignity. If only
her brother Andrew could develop some of the maturity her father used to
promise he would achieve one day. “Anyway,” said Bella, taking another
fortifying sip of wine, “let’s forget him for a while. We’ll have his hangover
to deal with in the morning. Did you manage to speak to Shen?”

“Yes, and he’s
agreed to our terms. I offered him and his men the bunkhouse. They can eat with
us in the kitchen, if you have no objections.”