The Siren's Tale (9 page)

Restless from waiting, I returned to my roaring bonfire.
The leaping flames warmed my cold cheeks, and I extended my gloved hands toward the heat.   

“
I did as you asked, Miss. I kept the fire going,” said Horatio. “I’m getting so tired I might fall over. Is it all right if I let it go out now?”  

I
felt sorry for the boy, but my mission was not yet accomplished. “Why, have you wearied already of the honor of being my knight in shining armor?” 

He squi
nted his dirty face at me. The poor boy never knew whether I was making fun of him or not. When I smiled at him, he grinned so broadly I thought his face might crack. With his crooked teeth chattering, he wiped a dirty hand across his face, streaking it with soot. “You were gone so long, Miss.”

“
I was gone only twenty minutes. You are sure nobody has come to the fire while I was away? You haven't heard any frog jump into the pond?  Remember what I told you. A frog jumping into the pond means certain rain. I don't want to catch my death of cold or have yours be on my conscience.  You must tell me. Was there a
ker-plunk
?”

“
No one at all, miss, and no
ker-plunk
. Will you play for me again?” As he made the entreaty, he put his face right into mine. I jumped back.

“
Horatio, you are filthy. Go wash yourself.”

“
Would you play, if I wash up?”

“
We’ll see.  There might be something else I need you to do for me.”

“
What?”

“
Never mind. Go wash yourself.”  

Just then, my ear p
ricked up. There was a sound from the pond's far side. 

“
Wait, Horatio!” I said, intensely excited. “Stop!”    

“
What is it, Miss?”

I stared into his rounded blue eyes.
”You must go home, Horatio. I mean now!”

“
But miss, you promised you would play for me!” 

“
I know what I promised. But it will just have to wait until tomorrow. It is going to rain, and we’ll catch our deaths out here. You don’t want to get sick and make your mother angry.  She might never allow you near me again.”

The lad looked
as though he were weighing the odds. I had no choice but to improve the bargain. “You win, you little devil. I'll play for you as long as you like tomorrow. But not this evening. Will that get you moving?”

“
Yes, Miss! Don’t forget, Miss. Tomorrow in your parlor, for as long as I like.”

I had already turned
to move off in the direction of the far side of the pond. Once the lad was gone from sight, I took a position nearer the water, where I was screened from any view inside the house by a thicket of tall grasses. There I waited. Finally a second
ker-plop
heightened the pounding in my heart, which was fairly bursting with pleasure, desire, love, and pride.

Pride was uppermost.
So my lover had ditched his bride and come to me. Not even in our clandestine lovemaking in Bulette the day before Curly's wedding had I known such a delicious feeling. Sweet victory!

I heard
a noise, as though an antelope were thrashing its way through the brambles. Then an outline emerged, and Curly strode toward me. He grabbed me by the shoulders with his powerful hands. He saw in my upturned face the fiery joy in my heart. There was no hiding what I saw in his eyes; his blood was aboil. I knew exactly what he was thinking, that here was no mewling calf of a woman like Clare Brighton. I believed I had won him over, not as a siren, but as a woman of spirit, one who relished the flames of passion, wanted sex often, and wanted it with him.

In the heat of the
moment, neither of us noticed Horatio. He had returned, scratched and bruised, and he now emerged in the dying firelight. I called out to ask what the matter was, but suddenly, he turned and ran away. Curly then eyed me more warily. Why had his flare-up of passion subsided so soon? I felt a human emotion that I intensely disliked—disappointment. I spoke first.

“
You’re late.”

“
Who says I’m late?”

“
I do.”

“
Those are frightening words to hear from a woman's lips, lass.”

“
You were ready enough to hear them from Clare.”

“
I had to come,” he said hurriedly, beginning to pace about and circling me like a mad dog. “I saw your bonfire, and I couldn’t stand it. Why don’t you let me be?” 

Little did
he know what I could do to him if I chose! I looked away from him, pretending to be as cool and collected as if we were discussing the weather.

“
Why shouldn’t I have a bonfire like everybody else? Our firewood is the envy of the district. I merely told our lad he might have a small one.”

“
Aye, but it was meant to signal me. I knew it as soon as I saw it.”

“
How you jump to conclusions…like a frog!” I laughed aloud at the sour expression on his face. He stopped his pacing, and the sourness changed to arrogance. 

“
On this same night a year ago, lass, you lit a bonfire as a signal for me to come to you. It was the first night we made love on Hatter's Field. Surely you're not forgetting that. Why else would there be a bonfire at Captain Vye’s house? He told everyone at the inn today there would be no bonfire at Mill's Creek. What say you to that, Cassie?”

I stared coldly into those self-pleased
eyes. “Don’t you dare insinuate I had no cause for signaling you tonight. You have not wed Clare Brighton. I am simply rewarding you.”

“
How do you know I didn't marry her?”

Ignoring his question, I went on.
”You have proven your passion for me, so I decided to forgive your error.”

His sensual
upper lip curled unpleasantly.”Ha! How kind, but if I had known you was calling me up here to scold me, I would not have bothered coming.”

“
But I do forgive you, now you have come.”

“
I insist on knowing who told you the wedding was called off.”

“
Grandfather took a walk into the village today. Coming back home he came across a coal miner on the road who told him of a broken-off wedding in Corinthus.”

“
Does anybody else know?”

“
I suppose the whole town does by now. Surely you don't think I would signal you if I thought you were married!”

He looked confused, but my focus held him taut.
“N-n-no,” he stammered.  

“
Admit it.  You stopped the wedding because you could not bear to give me up!”

I was holding him fast with my eyes, willing
him to confess the power I held over him. I wanted to hear him admit he loved me above all others, as I did him.

“
You could not bear to give me up. Admit it.”   

He
turned away, breaking off the spell of our locked eyes.

He muttered,
“Am I always the dupe of some woman? A young woman's complaint cost me my lawyer’s position. The Widow Brighton broadcast her low opinion of me to the whole town. And now, after mending fences and putting it right with my rich fiancée, you, the woman I love, give me no respite! What future inferno lies in store for me, I do shudder to think. Perhaps you know, Cassie, as I suspect you come straight from hell.” 

Curly's
insolent speech deserved punishment. I was standing before him tall and straight, and I silently willed him to worship me. He quickly obliged, kneeling before me.

“
You are a goddess, my love. Your creamy skin, your voluptuous body, those long ribbons of flame-colored hair. Your mouth was formed to be kissed. Even your one flaw, a tooth that is a bit crooked, is adorable. When you smile, as you did just now, I am undone by its devilish gleam. How can I resist you? I am wax to your candle!”

I sighed. It was no good using tricks to make him adore me.  I wanted him to love me as a human woman, not as a siren. However, for the sheer sake of amusement, I continued the act. I threw aside my
purple headscarf and shook my waist-length hair so the red-gold curls streamed in the wind. I began to prance about and swirl my skirts, lifting them to reveal a bit of leg above the boots.

“
Have you seen anyone you like better?”

“
No one even close, by Mungo,” he said hoarsely.

“
Not even Clare!”

“
Leave her out of it!”

“
Should I also omit the smear on my reputation, when you deserted me for Clare because of her money? Is dwelling in limbo what you require of someone you love?”

“
I am sorry for your pain,” he said morosely.

“
What was that? You are sorry for my pain? As if you could make me feel such an emotion! I felt only boredom, for having to live on among such small people.” He bridled at my new tack; a claim of boredom always served to make him livid.

“
I despise them all the more, for what they have done to you.” He liked that better. However, he picked up my scarf, came close, and wound it about my neck. He said menacingly, “I should kill you right now. You will be the death of me one day.”

Exulting in the passion behind his words,
I moved under his touch. He put his hands on my face and stroked my temples, then my hair. I submitted drowsily. As his hands thrust inside my bodice and pinched the engorged nipples, I shuddered with keener pleasure.

While
he continued to fondle me, he resumed his moody thoughts aloud. “Do you know what this re-igniting of our lost love means, darling? I shall come to see you, as before. And yet, until this moment, I was resolved to do no such thing. After this one last goodbye kiss, I was determined never to see you again, to do the right thing by Clare.”

No
sooner had Curly said her name than he began to devour me with his hungry, wide-open lips. I wanted him to continue, but my pride was stung, so I pushed him away.  “I do not care to see any more of you. I won’t give myself to you, not ever again. I swear by all that is holy.”

“
Holy? Ha!  Since when did you value holiness?” 

I turned aside, planning to march off, bu
t he grabbed me and spoke fiercely. “Cassie, natures such as yours do not adhere to hypocritical rules. Neither do natures such as mine. You're Eve and I'm Adam, at your eternal service.” 

He let me go, then bowed in an exaggerated fashion, grinning
.

“
So, ape, you think my situation is funny? Disrespect is what I get in return for all I've given?” I was so angry that I stomped my foot. ““I have done without you before, Mr. Drake. I can very well do without you in the future.”

“
Yes, my dear, but the point is that you will not want to.” He laughed and gave my inflamed cheeks a hard pinch. “And what Cassandra wants, Cassandra gets.”

“
Leave me at once!” I commanded. My lips and limbs were quivering with a mixture of heady, treacherous human emotions. Curly stood for a while and absorbed the dangerous current between us. For his own protection, I willed him to go.

“
Yes, I’ll go,” he said. “But I’ll be seeing you again, very soon.”

“
Only,” I said, “if you admit the wedding was broken off because you love me best.”

“
I don’t think that would be a good policy,” he said. “The lawyer in me advises me not to give you so much power.”

He wisely kept his eyes away from the current flowing from mine, as he mi
ght have been burned to a crisp by looking directly at me when I was filled with outrage.

“
Admit it!” I cried.

He turned his b
ack to avoid my glare. Suddenly, my anger cooled; I shrugged and dropped my eyes. He turned back to me and preened his moustache, as if gloating over a victory. But I was not done with him, not yet.

“
Where is she now, your bride?”I asked in a casual tone.

“
I won't speak of her any more with you,” he said pettishly. “I came in obedience to your call. That will have to do as a sacrifice for the goddess tonight.”

“
As you wish,” I said with a show of indifference. “I willed you to come, and you did. I am willing you to go from me now. The rest bores me.”

His eyes grew dark.

“You are too hot-blooded to play at any cold tricks. I knew before the night was out I would be back in your web. I drew you out before you drew me.”

“
If that is so, then we are bound together by destiny as well as desire. Either way, I freely give you up. I leave you to your sordid fate.”