Alana

by Barrie, Monica

  In order to wreak her revenge, Crystal had made herself accept what was happening. She’d known that to accomplish what she’d set her mind to, she would need money–a lot of money.

  So, Elizabeth Montgomery had allowed herself to be turned into a whore. She took on the name they gave her, Crystal, and buried the one given at birth. Although she was a prisoner of the bordello, she began to accumulate money from her customers. At the same time, she made a friend in the bordello–the cleaning boy, a mute former slave who was being treated far worse.

  As horrible as her life had become, Crystal had seen how terrible Chaco’s was. She had taken pity on the ill-treated black boy and helped him whenever she could. In return, Chaco would always stay near her, in case one of the bordello’s customers decided to beat Crystal up–a not unusual occurrence.

  Within three months, they had formed a bond of friendship that was soon unbreakable. In that time, Crystal had begun to teach Chaco a way to speak.

  As part of her life as a wealthy and educated young woman in San Francisco, Crystal had been a volunteer teacher in the school for the deaf and mute, where she had taught young children to use sign language. In Nevada, Crystal had put that experience to good use. Every day, while the bordello slept, she had taught Chaco how to communicate.

  A year later, Crystal had put away enough money to escape. She had told Chaco of her intentions, and he had asked to come with her. Her plan was simple: Crystal, with the judicious use of a gold piece, had convinced another of the whores to cover for her and use Crystal’s room for the night so that she could make her escape.

  As it had turned out, she needn’t have bothered, for as she and Chaco were climbing out of a back window, a fire had already started on the lower levels of the building.

  In the confusion surrounding the fire, she and Chaco had made their escape. From Nevada, they had gone back to San Francisco, where Crystal knew she could not show herself. But once there, she had spent three weeks investigating the men who had taken over her business.

  What she learned in that short amount of time had given her the base from which she would gain her revenge on all of the men involved–and especially on the faceless man who controlled all the others. Caruthers and Murdock had simply followed his orders. She did not learn that man’s name, but she did discover another link: A man called Charles Ledoque, who lived in Charleston.

  Four months later, Crystal and Chaco had arrived in Charleston, where she had purchased the old Pomeroy house and had set up her business. The money flowing into her accounts since then had been put to good use. Within a year, Crystal had learned all she could about Charles Ledoque. As her knowledge increased, she also discovered that Ledoque was but another step upward in the powerful consortium that included Caruthers and Murdock.

  When Crystal had arrived in Charleston, she was no longer Elizabeth Montgomery. From the day she stepped into the house on Tadd Street, she had become Crystal Revanche–taking the French word for revenge as her new name.

  Rising, Crystal stood and let the water cascade from her luxurious curves. After stepping out of the tub and drying herself, she sat at her dressing table and brushed out her silver-blond hair.

  A rush of sadness struck her when she thought of the woman she had yet to meet, Alana Landow. She felt sorry for her because Crystal knew exactly what was happening to her.

  “And I will help her, if she will let me,” Crystal told the green eyes that stared so intensely back at her.

  14

  Alana stared out the window of her hotel sitting room, peering into the gray, overcast day. She clasped her hands together so tightly, the knuckles showed white. Her mind was adrift, her thoughts revolving around one single thing–-the ten days remaining until Ledoque called in his notes.

  For five weeks, Alana had done everything in her power to find someone who would become her partner. But, with each man she’d spoken to, she’d begun to realize more and more the impossibility of her situation.

  She had met each businessman with high hopes and an open mind. Time after time, she had left with her hopes dashed. Either they did not want to do business with a woman or they did not want to risk their money on a shipping company that had no contracts and only liabilities.

  Increasingly, Alana thought about Rafe. She wondered what might have been, had she but listened to her heart and gone with him instead of bending to the obligation that had held her to Jason.

  A persistent tap called her back to awareness. Smoothing her dress, Alana pulled back her shoulders and walked to the door. The man she had been waiting for, Robert Matthews, had arrived.

  Please let him be the one to help me, she silently prayed as her hand hesitated near the large brass knob.

  Carlton DuPont had told her of this northern businessman a week ago and had arranged a meeting in his office. When it ended, Matthews had promised Alana he would give her his answer in a week. He was, she believed, her last hope.

  Opening the door, she smiled at Matthews and invited him in. Robert Matthews was not overly tall, and his rotund body had a soft and pampered look. He had a round face partially covered by long sideburns and the chalky complexion of a man who spent too little time out of doors. Still, Alana cared little about his looks. Her only concern was for the help he might give her.

  Matthews spoke as soon as he was seated across from her “I have given a great deal of consideration to your proposal.”

  When he paused, Alana felt herself nod her head as if that action would urge him on. But, she sensed something else in the way he was looking at her. Refusing to let her thoughts get out of hand, Alana waited patiently for him to continue. When he did, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I must tell you that I am interested in the Landow Shipping Company. However, I cannot accept a forty-nine percent partnership in exchange for bailing your company out of its present financial situation.”

  Alana stared at him, sensing that he was not turning her down. She said nothing.

  “When I came to Charleston after the war, I did so to increase my own businesses and to diversify into other fields. I can see the long-range possibilities of an investment in Landow Shipping–”

  Get to the point! Alana screamed silently to herself.

  “–and I would like to become your partner, Alana.” When he said her name, the unmistakable intimacy underlying his voice was all too evident. “However, I will require a fifty-five percent share of the company,”

  “My terms are firm,” Alana stated through suddenly clenched teeth. She and Carlton DuPont had gone over the figures enough times to know that forty-nine percent of Landow Shipping was worth much more than what she was asking. The two remaining ships alone had higher cash value.

  Matthews smiled. “I will relent. Fifty percent…and one other thing.”

  Alana could think of nothing else she had that he could want.

  “Yes?”

  Matthews moved self-consciously in the chair. His chalky skin took on a pinkish hue. “I have been away from my wife for a long time,” he said, each word coming just a little faster than the one before it. As he spoke, his eyes raked blatantly across the swell of her breasts. “I would expect a certain arrangement–a partnership in business as well as–”

  “You are disgusting!” Alana spat as she stood to glare angrily down at him.

  Matthews smiled wider at her outrage. “Do you think I haven’t discovered why you’re trying to find a partner? I’m your only choice, Alana.”

  “You, sir,” Alana said in chilly tones, “are no choice at all. Leave–now!” Her last word was accented by the upward swing of her arm as she pointed one long, slim linger at the door.

  She watched him, hatred pouring from her eyes as the man stood and went to the door. He looked at her once again and sadly shook his head. Then he was gone, and Alana was alone again.

  Tears threatened to erupt, but she refused to yield to them. Staring at the closed door, Alana searched desperately within her for some last
thread of hope; however, she discovered there was none.

  “Oh, Rafe, if only you’d gotten my letter,” she whispered. Even the mention of her love’s name did not help her rise from her misery. She knew that Rafe would not approach her until she gave him the word, and she sensed that her letter had never arrived.

  Slowly Alana sank back into the chair and stared out at the cold gray afternoon, trying to understand what had happened to the world she had once known, in which people helped each other in times of need and did not ask the impossible in payment. She wondered why there was no one, no single soul, who would come forth to help her. It seemed to Alana that only those who wanted to use her, either for their profit or their pleasure, populated this new world she lived in.

  She sat in the chair for a long time, thinking of all the radical changes that her life had gone through in the short span following the war. She was so lost in thought that she did not notice any passage of time, but slowly she became aware of a knocking at the door. Forcing herself to regain her composure, Alana went to the door. Opening it, she found herself face to face with a beautiful, delicately featured woman whose silver-blond hair sparkled like jewelry in the low light of the hallway. The woman wore a high-bodiced blue chiffon dress with a collar that reached to just under her chin.

  “Yes?”

  “Mrs. Landow, may I speak with you please?” Crystal Revanche asked.

  Puzzled, Alana motioned the woman in and then walked with her to the two chairs. After they sat, Alana raised her eyebrows in question.

  “My name is Crystal Revanche.”

  Alana stifled a gasp. She had recognized the name immediately and was shocked that the most notorious madam in Charleston was sitting across from her.

  Suddenly Alana laughed. Her pent-up emotions broke free with her laughter. It took her a moment to control herself, and when she did, she found her laughter had brought tears to her eyes.

  “Are you here to recruit me?” she asked in a bitter voice.

  “Recruit you?” Crystal asked, puzzled.

  “Yes. Everyone seems to want my body for their own purposes. At least you make no pretense about who you are and what you do.”

  Crystal’s eyes widened. Then she too laughed. “No, Mrs. Landow, I am not here to offer you one of my beds. But I am here to help you,” she stated.

  “Help me?” Alana asked in surprise. “How?”

  “I’ve heard of your problems, and I know you’re looking for a business partner. I am in a position to be of service to you.”

  “But why? Are you planning on closing down your, ah–business?”

  “Not at all. Mrs Landow, I am offering you what you need. I will become your partner in the shipping business and pay off all your debts to Charles Ledoque. In return, I will need something from you.”

  “As usual,” Alana said dryly. “Isn’t the shipping company enough?”

  Crystal rose from the chair and went to the window. She spoke as she looked out. “I have learned that in life there are many compromises. It is a lesson that perhaps you too must learn.” Turning back to Alana, Crystal shrugged her shoulders. “You see, the good people of Charleston have recovered admirably from the war, or so it seems. They are beginning to reset order within the town; they are doing their best to close all the businesses that are not, as they say, in the best interests of their society.

  “In other words,” Crystal continued, “they’re cleaning up Charleston, and the first thing to go will be businesses such as mine. Bordellos have outlived their usefulness now that most of the soldiers have left; Charleston’s virtuous young women no longer have to fear their lusty advances.”

  Alana, listening intently to Crystal’s words, was unable to understand what the woman was getting at. “But how will a partnership with me help you?”

  “Before I explain that, there is something else I must say.” Alana found herself drawn into the intense yet warm green eyes of the woman while she waited for Crystal to continue.

  Before she continued, Crystal returned to the chair. Sitting gracefully, she interlocked her fingers and placed her hands on her lap. She stared at her upturned palms for a moment before focusing on Alana’s face.

  “I was not always a whore, Mrs. Landow. In fact, my family was once quite wealthy. But–but certain things happened, and I am now as you know me. I am not ashamed of what I do.” Crystal paused to marshal her thoughts, knowing that she had almost said too much.

  “Suffice it to say for now that I heard of your dilemma and that I despise Charles Ledoque. I am willing to be your partner and to help you make Landow Shipping into a profitable business. To do that, yu need more money than just the amount of your debts. In order to have that money available, I must stay in business.”

  Finally, Alana understood what Crystal Revanche was trying to say. She stiffened in spite of herself, and her eyes widened with the final revelation of Crystal’s proposal. Before Alana could speak, Crystal slowly nodded.

  “I see you understand. Riverbend is far enough away from Charleston so that the good people will not be overly upset. Yet it is close enough to Charleston to be convenient. Riverbend will be the way for me to stay in business, and the money that flows into its doors will be the means by which Landow Shipping will grow.”

  Alana knew that her jaw had dropped halfway to her chest, but she could not control her wildly spinning mind.

  Crystal stood again, a shadowy smile on her face. “Now that I have truly shocked you, I will leave you to think over my offer. When are the notes due?”

  “T-ten days,” Alana whispered.

  “I will contact you in a week. If you are in agreement–if you want to be your own woman and control your own life without someone else ruling over you–remember that I offer you the way. Good day, Mrs. Landow.”

  With that, Crystal Revanche turned and let herself out. In the hallway, she nodded her head to a figure in the shadow, and a tall black man stepped out of his concealment. With a rapid motion of her hand, she spoke to Chaco. The word she signed described simply what she felt–perhaps.

  Inside her hotel room, Alana struggled with her stormy thoughts, wondering how she could even consider what Madame Revanche had asked.

  Forcefully, Alana made herself stop floundering and think clearly. The ramifications of Crystal Revanche’s offer were unending. Without any doubt, Alana’s place in society would change; everyone she knew would look down on her and label her a whore. She would be dirtying the memory of her entire family, and of Jason’s family as well.

  Then she thought of the alternative: life with Charles Ledoque. It was a terrifying vision that filled her with the chill of death. Would I be any less a whore with him? she wondered.

  More confused than ever, Alana did her best to push everything from her mind. Standing, she went into the bedroom and to the door that connected it with the servant’s room. She knocked once and opened the door.

  She smiled at Kitty and spoke with new determination. “It’s time to pack and return to Riverbend,” she told her.

  ~~~~~

  Rafe paced angrily in the office of the Magee and Montgomery Mining Company. In the room with him were Abigail Hampton and Caleb Magee.

  They had chosen this building to open their San Francisco offices because it was located near enough to the waterfront to be useful and far enough away not to attract any undue attention.

  For three months, Rafe had been busy setting up the offices, hiring people he knew would be loyal and spending whatever free time he had investigating the company that had taken over Montgomery Shipping. By the time Caleb had come to San Francisco from the desert mine, Rafe had found himself no closer to the answers he needed. Now, as he made plans to learn more, Caleb and Abigail both rose against him.

  “Son, you can’t just walk in there and ask them questions.”

  “I can’t?” Rafe replied in a tense voice, his features stiff. “Watch me.”

  “Rafael, Caleb is right. They killed Abraham and as good
as killed Elizabeth with their own hands. Do you think they won’t do the same to you?” Abigail asked.

  “Not if they don’t get the chance.”

  “By marching yourself into that building, you’re giving them that chance. Son, I didn’t spend those long months riding the desert with you to see you get yourself killed now,” Caleb said in a low voice. “The least you can do is to take some advice.”

  Rafe looked at the old prospector and then at Abigail. He saw the barely perceptible nod of her head and exhaled slowly as he sat on his chair.

  “Go ahead,” Rafe ordered Caleb.

  “We’re rich now, you and me and Abigail,” Caleb began, smiling warmly at Abigail Hampton. The three of them each held an equal share in the mine and the mining company.

  “And if I’m not mistaken,” he continued in a level voice, “the reason you wanted to become rich was to avenge the people who took what was yours. You can’t do that if you’re dead.

  Use the money. Damn it, son, we got plenty now. Use the money to lure them.”

  “Don’t you think I’ve been trying to do just that? They won’t rise to the bait,” Rafe stated.

  “Have you given them the right bait?” Caleb asked wisely.

  “What is the right bait?” Rafe shot back.

  “It sure in hell ain’t what you’ve been trying, is it? Besides, we ain’t got much time before I got to go back to the mine.”

  “You don’t have to rush back. Tom McPherson can be trusted,” Rafe said without any doubts. Tom McPherson had been the man in charge of the Montgomery Company’s warehouses. He had lost his job when Elizabeth signed over the papers.

  When Rafe had found McPherson, and the man had recovered from seeing Rafe’s ghost, they’d talked for several hours. Rafe knew McPherson had had nothing to do with the com-pany’s loss, and he offered him the mining job, which he’d accepted immediately.

  “I don’t doubt McPherson,” Caleb said, “I just don’t like to be away from the mine for too long.”