The Bushranger's Wife

by Cheryl Adnams

  She smiled at his sweet suggestion. The nanny they had hired for the evening so that they could have this time together was a treasure. Henry was not used to strangers, but he took to Clara the moment she sat on the floor and played with him.

  ‘No. I don’t need help at home. Just treat me to little holidays like this occasionally and I will be blissfully happy forever.’

  ‘Whatever makes you blissfully happy, my sweet.’

  ***

  Back at the apartment, Jack paid Clara the amount due, plus a little bonus, which sent her on her way with a giant smile on her face and a promise to be available whenever they needed someone during their stay.

  He checked on Henry, sleeping soundly, and then returned to the bedroom.

  ‘Darling, I was thinking …’

  Closing the door behind him, he turned to see Prudence, standing at the end of the bed, wearing a revealing ivory-coloured silk and lace nightgown. The yellow glow of the single lantern behind her illuminated her red hair, long and flowing and brushed to a shine.

  The sight of her had him instantly hard.

  Since Henry had been born, their lovemaking had been infrequent. At first, Jack had been worried about the strain giving birth had put on her poor, slight body. Then Henry had been their priority, as they struggled to learn how to be good parents. They were often tired, and stressed whenever Henry had a little sniffle and when he’d had colic.

  This trip to the city had mostly been to get them away from the district in case Viktor made his way there. But it had also allowed them to relax, and it had been important for them to spend time alone to remind them that Henry had come from a place of real love, and they needed to find that again.

  Now, as he stood staring at his beautiful wife, he knew that nothing had changed his love for her, his desire for her.

  ‘What were you thinking, Jack?’ she urged him to continue his sentence.

  No idea. He had no idea what he had been thinking before he’d walked into the room and seen her.

  ‘I was thinking, how lovely you looked tonight,’ he said, walking slowly towards her. He lifted his hand to her cheek, looking her up and down. ‘How beautiful you look now. My angel.’

  ‘My devil,’ she returned, with a wink, and leaned forward to kiss him softly on the mouth. ‘But you have entirely too many clothes on.’

  She began to undress him. Peeling his jacket from his arms first, dropping it to the floor. He helped by kicking off his shoes, as she undid his tie, his shirt buttons, before her hands lowered to the waist of his trousers, undoing the buttons there, pushing his trousers to the floor so he could step out of them.

  He stood before her, naked, and revelled in the long, slow, sensual study she gave him, one eyebrow rising as she reached out and took hold of him.

  ‘I’ve missed you, Jack.’

  ‘I didn’t go anywhere,’ he said, his voice affected by his arousal.

  You’ve been so gentle with me these last months, and I have appreciated it. You’ve been so sweet. But I’ve missed the devil, Jack.’

  ‘He’s always been here, waiting.’

  ‘No more waiting,’ she said. Roughly, she pulled him against her and locked her mouth with his. His mind and body exploded with the raw passion between them. He devoured her; she enveloped him. Her scent, the feeling of her soft skin against his, wrapped around him like a hot blanket. The silk and lace of her nightdress scraped against his sensitive skin, igniting and inciting wildfires. He was a goner. And he was the luckiest man on earth.

  He tossed her to the bed, none too gently he realised, but when he checked her expression, she showed no signs of being hurt or upset.

  ‘Take me, Jack,’ she said. ‘Love me like you used to.’

  Leaning back, he shimmied the silky sheath up and over her head, leaving her bare and beautiful before him.

  ‘So exquisite.’

  Her eyes glowed in the light from the lantern, her pale skin shone, and when he ran his hand from the length of her neck, down across the small mound of her breast, along her belly, the belly that had carried his son to him, love exploded inside of him.

  ‘I love you, Pru.’

  ‘I know, Jack. I love you, too.’

  He caressed and tasted her body, feasting in all the places he remembered would light her up, and when she arched her back on the bed, he lay his body down on hers and filled her. They made love, not softly or quietly, but with a sort of fevered frenzy, until they both fell exhausted against the sheets, sweat matting their hair and slicking their bodies together.

  Taking his weight from her, he pulled the sheet up so she wouldn’t get a chill, and hooking his arm around her, he fit her back against him.

  ‘No one will ever hurt you, my Pru,’ he said softly, although the change in her breathing suggested she was already asleep. ‘I will protect you and Henry with my last breath.’

  ***

  Pru smothered her smile as Jack pushed a now eight-month-old Henry down the street in the elegant baby carriage. She’d never seen him look so proud, or be so friendly to everyone they came across. He usually kept a low profile, not wanting anyone to recognise him as Jack the Devil. The way she had. He nodded at people, said hello, stopping whenever a woman wanted to take a look at Henry happily sleeping beneath his warm, pale blue knitted blanket.

  ‘The proud daddy,’ she said with a chuckle as they began to walk again. At this rate it would take them hours to make it to the beach and back to the hotel again.

  ‘And why shouldn’t I be?’

  ‘I’m the one who went through hours of painful labour to bring him into the world,’ Pru argued, good-naturedly.

  He leaned over and kissed her. ‘Of course, my darling. I am proud of you, too.’

  Pru just snorted out a laugh and rolled her eyes.

  ‘I was thinking,’ Jack said in a lowered voice.

  He’d been looking very pleased with himself since they’d risen that morning. Their lovemaking had been wild and exhausting, and had rekindled their sense of fun and adventure that had been on hold since Henry had been born.

  ‘Always a dangerous thing when Jack gets to thinking.’

  He slapped her backside, and she chuckled at the horrified gasps from the pair of women who witnessed it as they passed by. She didn’t care. She loved to see Jack in a playful mood.

  ‘How would you feel about having another baby?’

  She stopped walking, such was the shock of his suggestion. But she didn’t say anything. Didn’t know what to say. Remembering how to move her legs, she began walking again to catch up with him and Henry.

  ‘It’s a bit soon to be talking more children,’ she said, finally finding her voice.

  ‘Not right this minute. But would you consider it?’

  Would she? Did she want to go through all of that again? Jack was a wonderful father and he loved Henry dearly, as did she. Would another child be a second blessing on their family? Of course it would.

  ‘I would consider it,’ she said, suddenly liking the idea. ‘But not yet. Let’s wait ’til Henry is a little older.’

  ‘And we’ve had more time to “reconnect”, as you say.’ He leaned down to nibble on her ear, and she felt it in the lowest depths of her abdomen.

  ‘I suggest we go home and put Henry to bed,’ she said, keeping her voice low. ‘And then you can put me to bed, Mr Fairweather.’

  It was his turn to stop walking, and she grinned saucily back at him.

  ‘Prudence?’

  She was still smiling when natural reaction had her turning at the call of her name. Her smile fell quickly though, and a cold dread ran through her body as she recognised the woman standing before her.

  ‘Grandmother.’

  If she was surprised to see Lady Deidre Stanforth, then her gran appeared doubly so to see her.

  Slowly, the woman’s eyes tracked across Jack and then to the baby carriage. Pru held her breath as Deidre stepped forward and, with narrowed eyes, peered into the pram.r />
  She said nothing for a long moment. Then her eyes lifted again to look at Jack. Deidre turned a strange puce colour, and Pru thought her gran looked ready to pitch a fit right there in the street. But, being the consummate Lady Carrington, she gathered herself.

  ‘Handsome child. A boy?’

  ‘Yes,’ Jack said, more pleased than wary, Pru noticed. ‘His name is Henry.’

  ‘A good name,’ Deidre said, not taking her eyes off Jack. ‘I wish I could say it was good to see you again, Mr Fairweather.’

  Pru watched her grandmother’s calculating eyes move slowly from Jack to her and then back at her baby still sleeping soundly.

  ‘Where do you reside?’ Deidre asked. ‘I should like to send a gift of congratulations.’

  Fear struck like a hard fist to her chest. There was no way in hell she was letting her grandmother know where they were living.

  ‘We have to be going,’ she said and, shoving Jack out of the way, she took over carriage duty and began to walk brusquely down the street, back in the direction of the hotel.

  ‘Pru!?’ she heard Jack call after her but didn’t stop. ‘Prudence! Wait!’

  She kept walking, as quickly as she could. She had to put as much distance between Henry and her grandmother as she could. She felt the hand clasp down firmly on her arm and had no choice but to stop.

  ‘My darling, you’d give the horses at Flemington a run for their money,’ Jack said with a breathless laugh.

  ‘We have to go,’ she told him, her heart racing and not just from the brisk walk. ‘We have to leave Melbourne. Now.’

  ‘What? Why?’

  ‘Because now she knows I have a son,’ Pru said, her eyes filling with tears. Panicked, she began to push the baby carriage, not stopping even when he called after her.

  ‘Wait, Pru! I don’t understand.’ Catching up to her again, he forced her to stop. ‘Pru, what are you so afraid of? She’s an old lady. She doesn’t run your life anymore.’

  ‘Don’t you see? Henry is a future Earl of Carrington,’ Pru said, putting her hand up to stop an oncoming carriage as she crossed the road. Jack tried desperately to keep up with her. ‘My uncles don’t have sons. She will do anything in her power to take Henry from me. From us.’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Jack said, looking at her as though she’d gone crazy. ‘We’re Henry’s parents. She can’t just take him away from us for no good reason.’

  ‘She’ll find a good reason.’

  ‘You’re being ridiculous. She seemed surprisingly pleasant.’

  ‘That in itself should tell you to be wary,’ Pru said. ‘When has she ever been pleasant to you?’

  Jack looked thoughtful but had no answer.

  ‘She’ll be pleasant right up to the point when she serves us papers saying that I am an unfit mother, and she will take custody of Henry.’

  ‘Pru, I think you’re overreacting.’

  ‘Do you remember the story I told you?’ she tossed back. ‘She took me away from her own daughter and kept us apart for twenty-two years.’

  Jack looked down at Henry and then back at her. His expression more serious, as he seemed to suddenly understand that her fear was possibly quite rational. Deidre had done it before; Pru couldn’t be entirely sure she wouldn’t do it again.

  ‘Alright,’ Jack said finally. ‘Let’s go.’

  She exhaled with relief and kissed him quickly before they dashed back along the street and into the hotel. Inside an hour, Jack had their belongings packed and loaded into a carriage to take them to the train station at Spencer Street.

  On the journey to Geelong, Pru barely let Henry out of her sight. She held him most of the way along the train trip until Jack finally took him.

  ‘It will be okay,’ Jack said. ‘Try to relax. You’re safe. Henry’s safe. She’ll never take him from you. I’ll never let that happen, you know that, don’t you?’

  She nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder, suddenly extremely tired.

  ‘At least she doesn’t know where we live,’ Pru said, but deep down she knew that if her grandmother wanted to know, there would be nothing she wouldn’t do to find out. She had the money and resources to do anything she needed to, to get what she wanted.

  ‘Pru, she looked stricken when you ran off with Henry.’

  She met his eyes but said nothing.

  ‘She wasn’t angry,’ he added, ‘just disappointed and … a little sad, I think.’

  What could she say to that? Staring out the window at the passing fields, she did feel some measure of guilt over her behaviour both today and on the day she left. Not to mention the twelve hours she had returned to the manor when she’d left Jack. No matter what her gran had done, keeping her real mother from her, Pru had to admit she had been given a comfortable and happy home.

  But when she imagined Henry growing up without his mother, being taken from her, panic overrode the guilt tenfold.

  ‘She’ll not get her hands on my boy, Jack. Not ever.’

  ***

  On arrival back in Ballarat, the sun was already setting and dark rain clouds were rolling in. Jack left Pru and Henry in the warmth and comfort of The Bath Hotel while he headed back to the transport office to collect their dray to take them the rest of the way home.

  Hearing a noise behind him as he hooked up the horses, he turned and found himself staring straight into the face of Viktor Petrovic.

  ‘Jack the Devil.’

  ‘Viktor,’ Jack said, now looking around to ensure no one was within hearing distance. The office was closed, the lights out, but he could hear traffic on the street and people walking by.

  ‘I’d heard you’d escaped,’ he said. ‘I thought you’d be long gone by now.’

  ‘Then you know why I’m here and not running to New South Wales yet,’ Viktor said, lighting a cigarette. ‘You took off to Melbourne before I could speak to you. That was rude. You owe me the money, Jack. The money from the robbery that saw me go to prison while you and Bobby stayed free. You owe me.’

  ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about?’ Jack shrugged. ‘I’m an honest businessman.’

  ‘Ha! Jack the Devil? An honest businessman?’

  Laughter from the street reminded Jack he had to be careful.

  ‘Keep your voice down,’ he hissed, moving Viktor further into the stables.

  Viktor released himself from Jack’s grip. ‘You have made a good life for yourself here. I’d hate to have to ruin it for you. I’ve been watching you. I saw you settling your pretty wife at The Bath with your son. Nice family. Would be a shame if something happened to them.’

  ‘Don’t threaten me.’ All thought of trying to solve the issue with Viktor politely and easily fled the moment Viktor brought Pru and Henry into it. ‘You go anywhere near them and you will never see your money. All you’ll see is me waving as the police drag you back to prison.’

  Viktor’s expression hardened. ‘You will have to kill me first.’

  ‘That’s also a possibility.’

  Viktor shot out a sardonic laugh. ‘You don’t have what it takes to kill. Never did. You will get me the money, and then you will set me up in one of your shiny coaches and take me to Wangaratta. I hear Dan Morgan is there. He also owes me money.’

  ‘You’re going to try and get money out of Mad Dog Morgan?’ Jack asked with a snorting laugh. ‘Do you have a death wish? The man is psychotic. Even more so than you.’

  ‘Gaol has mellowed me.’ Viktor smiled through rotten teeth. ‘I have never told the police who was with me that day. Told them I couldn’t remember names, that my English is not so good. But suddenly I am recalling the events more clearly. I can take you down with me, should you decide to turn me in.’

  Jack shrugged. ‘Who would believe the word of a convict over a man who runs a reputable business?’

  ‘Not so reputable, I hear.’ Viktor chuckled. ‘Why just the other day, I overheard a gentleman telling someone in the bar that his coach from Melbourne had been he
ld up by bushrangers and he’d lost his favourite pistol.’

  Jack shrugged easily. ‘Wasn’t me.’

  ‘It is clever,’ Viktor went on. ‘Owning a transport company and robbing yourself. Who would ever guess? And I imagine you have taken quite a good haul over the years.’

  Out of patience Jack hissed quietly. ‘Fine, I will get you your money, Viktor. Give me a few days.’

  ‘You have until Sunday.’

  ‘It’s Saturday tomorrow. The banks are closed. How do you expect me to get your money by Sunday?’

  Viktor tossed his cigarette to the ground and extinguished the burning end with the heel of his boot. ‘Don’t treat me like a fool, Jack. I know you have a stash somewhere, hidden, so that when you have to run, you can move fast. I want what you owe me from that heist eight years ago. Get it for me by Sunday night, meet me back here at five o’clock, or I will come and take it from you. And whatever else I feel like taking.’

  ***

  He’d gone over the matter a hundred times in his head. There was nothing left to do but pay Viktor and hope he’d get out of their lives, forever. So when Sunday arrived, he waited until Pru was out of the house, and removing the loose floorboard in the bedroom, he retrieved the canvas bag he’d stashed away for safekeeping. Counting out the money he owed Viktor, he returned the rest to the hiding place and refitted the floorboard, flicked the rug back where it belonged. He needed to head into town, and he needed to leave soon or he’d miss Viktor’s deadline. It was already getting late. Checking that everything was set to rights, he walked through the house and out onto the back porch.

  Seeing him come out, Pru looked up and smiled. ‘Jack, look at Henry.’

  He stepped down off the porch to where his wife and son were playing on a blanket in the backyard. Taking his hand, she pulled him down to sit with them.

  ‘Watch,’ she said and turned back to their son. ‘Come on, Henry, show Daddy.’

  Giggling, Henry crawled over to Jack and grabbing hold of the material of Jack’s shirt, he pulled himself up onto his pudgy little legs.

  ‘He’s standing?’ Jack asked in awe, as Henry let go and clapped his hands together.