Forget-Me-Not Bride (16 page)

They fell into an unhappy silence. Everyone else who had signed up with the Peabody Marriage Bureau had known exactly what they were letting themselves in for. But Edie hadn't signed with the Peabody voluntarily. Edie was a victim.

As usual the deck was crowded and as Lilli looked out over the array of men sitting and standing in close-knit groups or lounging against the deck-rail, she knew Edie's chances of being partnered with a gentle, understanding man were virtually nil. Gentle men didn't choose to prospect for gold in the harsh climate of the Klondike. Although some looked respectable and well-bred the vast majority looked to be hooligans.

A man sitting on an upturned water-can a few yards in front of them was typical. He had the features and neckless build of a bulldog. His hair needed cutting, his nails needed trimming and his neck needed scrubbing. Even from a distance he smelled of dried sweat and he had a twist of chewing tobacco in his hand. She watched him gnaw off a piece, her stomach heaving in revulsion. Dear Lord, what if Lucky Jack hadn't come to her rescue! What if she had found herself legally shackled to a man like that!

There were a few, very few, exceptions to the rule. The Englishman in his superbly cut riding breeches. The Easterner in khaki. The Reverend Mr Jenkinson. Ringan Cameron.

Even as his name came into her mind she saw him. He was standing, as always, alone. His green plaid shirt was open at the throat, his britches snug on his hips. He was a fine figure of a man, honed, hard and, though red-headed men were most definitely not to her own taste, handsome.

And he thought her a trollop. She clasped her hands together a little tighter in her lap. He had totally misunderstood the situation and why she was allowing it to so trouble her she didn't know. It wasn't as if he was a friend whose good opinion she valued. He had saved Leo's life and for that she was deeply grateful and always would be. But what he thought of her morals was neither here nor there and feeling so uncomfortable just because he obviously thought badly of her was downright ridiculous.

Ridiculous or not, when he turned his head in her direction she turned her own head swiftly away, not wanting him to catch her staring at him, not wanting to have to live with the expression she knew she would see in his eyes.

Ringan frowned. Yesterday, when he had deposited her kid brother streaming with sea water at her feet, her warmth and gratitude had been overpowering. He hadn't wanted her gratitude of course. It had deeply embarrassed him. But it had pleased him to realise that he hadn't been wrong in surmising she had a loving, generous nature. Her character had shone in her eyes. Eyes the blue of forget-me-nots.

He knew, of course, the reason for her change of attitude towards him. Being seen walking the decks with Lucky Jack Coolidge during daylight hours was one thing. Being caught in a passionate embrace with him in the moonlight was quite another.

He dug his hands deep in his britches pockets. God damn it to hell! What was a young woman who looked so absolutely untarnished doing in an indecently close clinch with a worldly ne'er-do-well like Lucky Jack Coolidge?

He shrugged his massive shoulders. What she was doing with Coolidge was really none of his business. The affair was a pity though. She deserved better than to be hoodwinked by a professional rogue and her bright-faced brother and sister deserved better than to be towed along in such a dubious wake.

There was no point in remaining within her view and he turned on his heel, strolling aimlessly in the direction of the prow.

Sensing his departure Lilli looked covertly after him. Why was he always so determinedly alone? The other men aboard boat were always deep in conversation with each other, those venturing north for the first time eager to glean tips from those returning. She wondered if it was because it had become public knowledge he was a paroled criminal, but dismissed the thought as ludicrous. The hardened men travelling north in the hope of wresting a fortune in gold from Arctic creeks would hardly be chary of consorting with a man with a prison record. Looking around at her fellow passengers, Lilli felt sure that a very high proportion of them probably had a similar history.

As she watched his receding back she saw heads turn admiringly. The focus of their attention was a young woman. And the young woman was Lettie.

‘Kate!' she said urgently, ‘Turn round and look at this!'

Kate swivelled round, resting an arm on the back of their bench seat. ‘My, oh my,' she said in satisfaction when she saw Lettie, ‘isn't that just a sight for sore eyes?'

Lettie was no longer slouching, nor was her face a sullen mask. The deep raspberry-pink of her dress set her apart from the drably dressed men like an exotic flower amidst a field of rank weeds. Though there was still a certain petulance about her mouth it had the effect of making her look sultry, not bad-tempered, and with her dark-blonde hair burnished to a gleaming sheen and swirled into an elegant knot she looked every inch a lady.

‘Leo and Lottie are with Edie,' she said as she approached them. ‘And Susan is walking with her Reverend and Marietta is scouting for a Mrs Dufresne.'

‘Are you sure she said
Mrs
Dufresne?' Lilli asked with interest. ‘Not Miss?'

‘Mrs, Miss, what difference does it make?' Lettie asked, sitting down beside them. ‘You know Marietta has no intention of honouring her agreement with the marriage bureau when she reaches Dawson, don't you? Do you think it's an actionable offence? I mean, do you think she could have the law set on her and be sent to jail?'

Suppressing her frustration at not having the question of Kitty Dufresne's marital status settled, Lilli said, ‘I imagine all that Mrs Peabody is really interested in is recouping her expenses. If the bureau is adequately paid off I don't think she'll be bothered what Marietta does.'

All the time they were talking she was keeping a sharp eye out for Lucky Jack. Immediately after breakfast she had hurried to the part of the deck she now thought of as their private meeting place but he hadn't been waiting for her there and though it was now nearly lunch-time there was still no sign of him strolling the decks, looking for her.

‘I think I might take a little walk,' she said, hoping neither Lettie or Kate would suggest accompanying her.

From beneath sandy lashes Lettie shot her such a knowing look that Lilli realised she wasn't keeping any secrets from Lettie at all. Lettie had guessed what was going on and she certainly wasn't going to suggest walking with her when it was so obvious she was hoping to accidentally-on-purpose meet with a gentleman.

She walked off in the direction Ringan Cameron had taken. Alone, she was even more acutely aware of the interest she was arousing than she normally was. There were men everywhere. Tall men, short men, pasty men, ruddy men. Men in mackinaws, men in stetsons and fringed jackets. The only thing they seemed to have in common was that, whether broad-shouldered and muscular, or skinny and wiry, they were all undeniably fit. And they were all young or in their prime.

With a shock she realised that what she was seeing was a microcosm of the society she would meet with when she arrived in Dawson. A male-dominated society. A society with only one over-riding interest. The finding of gold.

‘
Lilli! Lilli
!' It was Leo. He was running towards her, Lottie following him at a more ladylike pace. ‘Can we stay with Mr Cameron for a while?' he gasped as he ran up to her. ‘We were with Edie but she's talking to a funny man and Mr Cameron is in the prow and he knows the names of all the different sea-birds and …'

‘What funny man?' Lilli asked apprehensively, knowing that Leo didn't mean funny as in amusing, but funny as in funny peculiar.

‘Just a man going to Dawson. I thought I'd better ask permission to be with Mr Cameron, just so that you know where I am and don't begin worrying about me.'

‘I think Edie might need rescuing,' Lottie said as she walked towards them, confirming all Lilli's worst fears. ‘There's a man talking to her and I don't think she likes it and I don't think she knows how to get away from him.'

‘So I'm going to be with Mr Cameron for the rest of the morning,' Leo said, impatient to be on his way.

‘I think we should go and rescue Edie
now
,' Lottie said, the ribbons of her sailor hat streaming in the breeze.

Lilli thought they should as well. ‘You can stay with Mr Cameron just as long you don't misbehave and you're not to run off or to play suicidal games like acrobats,' she said sternly to Leo. ‘And you're not to talk to anyone you don't know or …'

‘Come
on
, Lilli,' Lottie said, tugging at her hand. ‘I really do think Edie's in need of you.'

Walking so fast she was almost running Lilli hurried with Lottie to where Lottie had left Edie. She wasn't there.

‘What was the man like?' she asked Lottie, standing and staring around her.

‘Not very tall, very broad, very strong-looking …'

All around them men were milling, smoking and talking and laughing. Then, beneath a stair-well, she saw a man built like an ox. He had his back towards her with one arm resting on the frame of the stairs, barring the way of the person he was talking to. Beneath his muscular, tattooed arm Lilli saw the distinctive navy and white flash of a sailor collar. A sailor collar that belonged to a girl's dress, not to a sailor's uniform.

Lilli broke into a run, pushing her way past a group of startled men, hurtling up to the broad, menacing male back.

Edie was pressed against the rear of the stair-well, her eyes wide and bewildered. And frightened. Over the muscular arm she saw Lilli's hurricane-like approach and her relief was so obvious and vast that Lilli felt as if her heart had been physically squeezed. ‘My friend would like to come with me,' she said crisply, reaching beneath the iron-like arm to grasp hold of Edie's hand.

The arm didn't move. Neither did his body. Only his head turned. ‘Git,' he said, his eye boring into hers balefully. ‘This is a private conversation and you ain't wanted.'

‘My friend doesn't want to be in conversation with you,' she snapped tautly, knowing she hadn't a hope in hell of physically forcing him to allow Edie to leave the stair-well and knowing that an appeal to good nature would be useless in a situation where good nature didn't exist.

‘Git,' he said again, turning his head away from her and once more fixing Edie with his lecherous stare.

Edie was breathing fast and light, her plump breasts straining against the tightness of her too-small dress. ‘Please, Mister. I want to go,' she said quaveringly. ‘I don't like it beneath these stairs. It's dark and I don't like the dark. I want to go with my friend.'

Lilli didn't know just when Lottie vanished. She only realised she had gone when she looked around for supportive help and found none. Kate and Lettie were presumably still sitting companiably together in the stern. There was no sign of Susan and the Reverend Mr Jenkinson. No sign of Marietta.

‘If you don't release my friend this minute I shall go for the captain.'

The man didn't turn again to face her. Still pinning Edie with his gaze he gave a bark of laughter. ‘By the time you find him and he finds us you'll be too late to stop whatever it is you're trying to stop.'

His crudity was the last straw. Lilli looked towards the nearest knot of men and sensed that unless there was a real ruckus she would receive no help from them. She was on her own. Turning again to the sweat-stale body she released her hold of Edie's hand and sank her teeth deep into the hairy tattooed arm.

As he yelled in surprise and rage and pain, swinging round towards her to retaliate, she clenched her fist and drove it with all the strength she possessed straight into his crotch.

The pandemonium was immediate. As he curled over, bellowing with pain and as the knot of men immediately became aware of the fracas, some of them merely calling out to know what the hell was going on, other striding towards the scene, Lilli seized hold of Edie's hand and dragged her out of the shadow of the stair-well. The urge to run was nearly overpowering but she knew that if she did so the man would only seek Edie out on another occasion when she was on her own. Thrusting Edie protectively behind her, she said so loudly that men as far as twenty yards away heard her, ‘This lecher has been forcing his attentions on my friend and frightening her!'

‘Bitch!' A hand like iron had hold of her shoulder.
‘Bitch!'
he spat at her again, raising his other hand in order to strike her across the face.

‘
What in heck
…' one of their, by now, many spectators shouted, leaping towards him, seizing hold of his arm.

‘There's no hittin'wimmen on this boat!' someone else shouted as Lilli and Edie were suddenly surrounded by a swarm of protective prospectors.

The raging bull at the centre of the ruckus shook off the man trying to restrain him as if he were nothing more than an annoying blue-bottle. ‘I'll do for you, you whore!' he spat and this time no-one was quick enough to deflect the blow he aimed at Lilli.

It was like being slammed into a solid steel wall at the speed of light. Her knees buckled and a blood-red curtain flooded her vision. Dimly she was aware of Edie screaming, of men blaspheming, of punches being thrown. The wood of the deck was rough beneath her cheek. Edie was at her side, sobbing hysterically, ‘
Lilli! Lilli! Please talk to me! Please don't be dead, Lilli
!'

There came the sound of running feet. Voices of authority. The blood-red wash in front of her eyes began to be peppered with a dizzying array of flashing lights.

A Scots voice, no longer imbued with an attractive soft burr but raw with rage, demanded, ‘
What in God's name is going on
?'

Lilli tried to tell him but her tongue felt as if it were a million times its normal size. She wondered if she had bitten it. She wondered if she would ever speak again.