Bella's Vineyard (9 page)

“I’ll be fine.
Put it on. It’ll be better for both of us if you do.”

Bella, not wanting
to ask what he meant by that, put the shirt on. It was still warm from where
he’d worn it, and smelled of him. Wearing it made Bella feel that she had
become a part of him for a little while.

Using the wall
to guide her, she sat down on the ground, her legs suddenly very weak. She did
not know if that was from the fear or Vance’s nearness – she could feel him
very close to her, joining her on the ground, leaning against the opposite
wall  – but either way, her legs would no longer hold her weight.

“Are you all
right, Bella?”

“Yes. No. I’ve
never been shot at before, nor had a man rub dirt all over my best dress.”

“I’m glad to
hear it.”

“How long do you
think we’ll have to stay here, Vance?”

“I don’t know.
Maybe when my horse gets back to town, they’ll realise something is wrong and
come looking for us.”

“But they won’t
know where to look.”

“They’ll find
us. Don’t worry.”

She felt him
move in the darkness, then his shoulder nudged against hers. “Sorry,” he said,
“I’m a little cold. I thought we could share some body heat.”

“Have your shirt
back.”

“No, you wear
it. It looks better on you.”

“You can’t even
see me.”

“In my
imagination it looks better on you.” Outside it sounded as if some small stones
fell from the ledge. “Shh.” She heard him cock his gun, and waited, hardly
daring to breathe to see if anyone came to the entrance of the cave.

A voice called
out in the night. “Are you sure this was the way they came?”

“That’s Bill,”
whispered Bella.

“Shh…”

“Yes.” The
second voice came from further away. “I’m sure of it.”

More stones
fell, and Bill swore out loud. “The boss didn’t say nothing about climbing the
canyon,” he said. Half of his back came into view in the mouth of the cave, but
it did not seem as if he noticed the cliff face had ended. “I hate heights.
Where are you? Are you coming up?”

When Bill
lurched forward, nearly falling to his death, Bella gasped, which was followed
by Vance clamping his hand over her mouth. It was lucky for Bella that Bill’s
own cry in the night covered her own. Bill scrambled for purchase on the ledge.

“Hell, I’m
coming down,” he said, moving back the way he came and out of sight. “Before I
kill myself. I didn’t sign up for this.”

After a few
minutes of waiting and watching, Vance got up and moved towards the entrance, keeping
his gun aloft. He looked out to either side, before coming back to sit next to
Bella.

“They’ve gone.
Now we just have to hang out here until we’re sure they’re not waiting at the
bottom of the canyon.” So they waited…

It was morning
when Bella opened her eyes. The sunrise shone into the cave, lighting up their
hiding place, and bringing much needed heat. She moved her head to find that
she was using Vance’s bare chest as a pillow, with her hand resting on his flat
belly. His skin felt smooth against her cheek and fingertips. She traced the
line of his torso with her fingertips, from his naval up to his chest, feeling
her excitement rising. She stroked his nipple with the tip of her finger,
fighting the urge to follow it with a kiss.

His hand clamped
over hers. In less than a second he flipped over, and pinned her to the floor
of the cave, with the weight of his body holding her down. He shifted slightly
and her eyes widened as she became very aware of the effect her touch had on
him. 

“Vance … ” Before
she could say another word he kissed her, pulling her body roughly up to him
with one hand on her back, whilst the fingers of his other hand searched for
the bottom of her dress, and began to slide up past her stockings to the silky
skin of her thigh, sending darts of pleasure shooting through her. She raked
her fingers along his bare back and answered his kiss with one full of longing.

“Marshal!
Marshal! Are you up there?”

Vance pulled
away, and dropped Bella like a stone. “They’ve found us,” he said. “You go
first.”

“Why?” Bella’s
breath came quickly. She straightened her clothing, beginning to feel the
weight of her shameless behaviour.

“Because if you
don’t, I’m going to ignore them and finish what we just started.” He took a
deep breath. “No. Give me my shirt. I’ll go and speak to them, then when we’ve
gone, you make your way home.”

“Why?” She asked
again.

“Because if they
find out you’re here, they’re going to start wondering exactly what we’ve been
doing here all night. It’ll ruin your reputation.”

He put on his
shirt and made to leave the cave. Before he did, he turned back with a
heart-wrenching smile. “Next time you touch a man like that, you’d better be
willing to deal with the consequences, because there might not be a deputy on
hand to save you.”

It was early
evening when Bella woke up in her own bed. She had spent the morning avoiding
May’s searching glances. The explanation she gave did not sound plausible, even
to her. In the end, she feigned tiredness and sought the privacy of her
bedroom. She must have been genuinely tired, because the next thing she knew
dusk was falling and she heard shouting outside.

She jumped out
of bed and went to the window. Griffiths stood looking down over the vineyard.
Tom and Bill were hammering at the door of the bunkhouse, ordering Shen and the
other Chinese workers to come out. Shen opened the door. The murderous look in
his eyes caused Bill and Tom to step back momentarily, before they regained
equilibrium and ordered him out using the most abusive language Bella had ever
heard.

Tom wore a
bandage around his arm, which Bella presumed was a result of being shot by
Vance.

Wearing her
dressing gown, and with her hair tousled around her head, Bella ran downstairs
and out of the front door, closely followed by May coming from the parlour.

“What on earth
is going on?” asked Bella, standing on the porch. She was surprised by how
imperious her own voice sounded.

Griffiths turned
and smiled. “Good evening, Miss Tennyson. I’m sorry to have to tell you that
you must leave this vineyard.”

“Leave?”

“Yes, you, Miss
Tucker there and the workers. As I’m a gentleman I’ll give you and Miss Tucker
till the morning to pack.” His voice became oily. “Of course, we could come to
an understanding where you remain.”

“Don’t you
worry, Miss Bella,” said May. “I’ll chase them off. Darn it, I left my gun in
the kitchen. Varmints, catching a lady unawares like this.”

“I’ve no
intentions of leaving here,” said Bella. She held back May who had decided to
put up her fists instead. “What gives you the right to order us off?”

Griffiths
paused. “Of course, I’ve been very remiss not to explain my presence here.” He
reached into his pocket. “Last night, your brother and I got into a game of
cards. He ran out of money and no one else would lend him any. So he wrote this
IOU. It gave me permission to take possession of the vineyard, and everything
on it.”

Bella pulled her
dressing gown tight, not liking the way Griffiths looked her up and down as he
said those last few words. May nudged her slightly and pointed to the approach.
Vance was riding towards them. Just the sight of him gave Bella more courage.

“I’m afraid that
won’t be possible, Mr Griffiths,” said Bella.

“It’s more than
possible, Miss Tennyson. I won it fair and square.”

“I’m afraid
not,” she said. She spoke slowly, to allow Vance more time to reach them. He
appeared to understand and speeded up on seeing Griffiths and his men. Bella
hesitated. Andrew would be furious with her, but he should never have put her
in this position. “You see, Mister Griffiths, the vineyard does not belong to
my brother. Aunt Bella left it to me. The deeds are in my name.”

Griffiths’ face
turned pale. “What?”

“The vineyard
belongs to me, not to my brother. He didn’t want people to know …” Bella
stopped. Her brother’s pride seemed irrelevant, and she did not want to enter
into further discussion with Griffiths. “I really am surprised you failed to
check.”

“I just
assumed…”

“Yes, as most
people did, I’m sure,” said Bella. “But my aunt believed in women owning
property. Now, Mr Griffiths, I would like you and your men to leave
my
land.” 

Bill and Tom
seemed to realise more rapidly than Griffiths that they were in a difficult
position, not least because whilst Bella had been talking Shen and the other
workers surrounded them.

“This isn’t
over,” said Griffiths. “It’s a matter of honour.”

“No,” said
Vance, “It’s a matter of law, and you know as well as I do that a man cannot
pledge something that does not belong to him.”

“I wouldn’t push
your luck if I were you, Marshal. You never know what might happen one night
when you’re travelling home.”

Bella felt an
icy chill run up her spine. So Griffiths had been behind the attack.

“Like the last
two marshals, you mean,” said Vance. “Maybe you’d better hire someone who can
shoot a moving target in the dark.” He nodded towards Bill and Tom.

“I had nothing
to do with that,” said Griffiths. His voice had become low, dangerous. “I mean
with the last two marshals.  I heard you were ambushed last night. It just so
happens my men were both up country doing some work for me. I got the paperwork
to prove it. It took them all night. Not that anyone would cry over your loss.”
He glanced up at Bella, with an evil gleam in his eye. “Well, not for long if I
had anything to do with it.”

Bella gasped as
Vance jumped from his horse and went to stand eye to eye with Griffiths, though
it was more a case of Vance’s eye to Griffiths’ forehead. “Like I said, a man
cannot pledge what doesn’t belong to him. That includes his sister. Now you run
along and leave Miss Tennyson to go about her business, before I take you in
for trespassing and have those two men arrested for trying to kill us.”

Griffiths seemed
to think about it for a long time, his hand hovering over his gun belt. The air
was thick with tension, and Bella could hear May breathing heavily next to her.

“Come on,
Griffiths, you won’t get your hands dirty,” said Vance. “At least not with
witnesses.” Vance turned to Bella. “Shall I arrest him for trespassing?”

“Yes, lock the
varmint up,” said May. “Him and his no good men.” She cast a hateful glance at
her brother.

“No,” said
Bella. “Just make them leave.” Later she would regret not saying yes, but at
the time she had no hint of the heartache to come.

“This isn’t
over,” said Griffiths, as he got onto his horse and rode away. The workers
stepped aside to let Bill and Tom leave, jostling them as they did so.
Griffiths’ men got on their horses and followed him.

Vance called
Shen over and had a quiet conversation with him. Shen nodded, before relaying the
conversation to one of the younger workers. The young Chinese man got onto his
horse and rode off at break neck speed towards Milton.

“Thank you,”
Bella said to Vance, when everything fell silent. May had made herself scarce,
muttering something about cooking up a mess of beans for everyone. “I’m glad
you were here.”

“It’s my job.”

“But that’s not
why you came,” said Bella.

“No. Would you
walk with me a moment?”

Bella tied her
dressing gown tighter, and walked alongside him in the vineyard. It was already
starting to show the benefits of Shen’s expertise, with much of the excess
growth pruned back. Vance was in a serious mood and said nothing for a while.
“What is it?”

“I’m leaving.”

“You’ve only
just arrived,” said Bella, trying to sound light hearted.

“No, I’m leaving
Milton. Not for good. I need to go and see Gloria. I have to talk to her.”

“Yes, of
course.” Bella had dreaded this moment, but she fought hard to regain her
composure. “I suppose it’s about last night.”

Vance stopped
and turned to her. “Of course it’s about last night. And this morning. Damn it,
Bella…”

“I know, but
you’ve nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing happened.”

“I still need to
see Gloria. To tell her.”

“Is that wise?”
asked Bella. She wanted to make it easier for him, to take away the pain in his
eyes. “It was just a kiss brought about by too much punch, the moonlight ride
home and being stuck together in tense circumstances. That’s all. There’s no
need to ruin your whole life because of it.”

“Is that all it
was?” asked Vance.

“Yes. Wasn’t
it?” She wanted him to say no, to tell her that he wanted her as much as she
wanted him. She longed to be in his arms, feeling his mouth on hers and his
hands caressing her as they had that morning. But she also wanted him to be
happy. He was a good man, and his need to go and see Gloria suggested to Bella
that despite what happened between them, he really loved his fiancée.