"Oh, why do things have to be so awful?" She spoke aloud, shaken by her misery.
A gleeful voice rang out in the stillness. "Hey, little lady. Things don't have to be awful. I'd say they're lookin' better all the time."
With a bone-chilling lurch of terror, Lisbeth saw them, but it was too late to escape. There were three of them, bedraggled men, leaping out of the bushes to drag her from her horse. She tried to beat them off with her leather riding crop but was no match for them, and they threw her to the ground.
"Yeah," one of them snarled as he licked his lips in anticipation and began to unbuckle his trousers. "Things are goin' to get real good."
* * *
"She'll be real mad when she finds out I went and told you," Joshua said as Raven swung up on Starfire. "And she might not even run up on them rowdies, but they can be real mean, and I was worried for her."
"You did the right thing," Raven assured him, reining the stallion about. She had come as fast as she could after he had run to the house in a frenzy over Lisbeth going off by herself. She had followed him back to the stable, taking time only to harness Starfire, leaving off his saddle to ride bareback.
Workers in the fields along the main riding path told her they had seen Lisbeth pass by. She seemed to be heading for the deep woods beyond the gardens, which was not cleared except for equestrian trails. It was dense, isolated, and certainly no place for a woman alone with river rowdies sighted, especially one as defenseless as Lisbeth.
Mariah had told her about Lisbeth having a quarrel with Barley, but Raven felt it was none of her business and had thought no more about it. Now she worried that Lisbeth would be brooding and not pay attention to where she was going.
She would have liked to give Starfire his head, to allow him to go full speed. Instead, she held him to a walk so she could be alert for any sound or sign that Lisbeth might be in distress.
Then she heard it—a shrill scream that was quickly muffled—not far away. To the right, toward the riverbank.
Raven knew not to go charging in on horseback, even though she felt the impulse to do so. But the scream had to mean Lisbeth or some other woman was in danger, and if guns were involved, shooting might start if the culprits heard anyone coming.
Dismounting, she moved stealthily through the bushes toward the direction of the sound. With her hunter's instinct, she knew how to avoid doing anything that might make a noise.
Finally, she peered through the leaves to see a nightmare unfurling. Three men had dragged Lisbeth to a clearing where they had made camp, there to guzzle whiskey till darkness, when they would creep about looking for something to steal. Lisbeth was being held down on the ground. One of the men had a hand over her mouth, and she was moaning in terror. She was about to be ravished, and the horror of it was that from where Raven crouched, she could not risk a shot without hitting her.
There was no time to wait. The man positioned between Lisbeth's legs was about to assault her. Unbuckling her holster so they would not realize at first that she was armed, Raven dropped it noiselessly at her feet, then straightened and shouted, "Let her go!"
The men all turned at once. One of them whipped out a gun and aimed it at her. "Who the hell are you?"
"Never mind who I am. Let her go. She's my sister."
The one hovering over Lisbeth flicked his eyes at Raven and immediately decided she was much more fetching. She was filled out, not puny. And if she put up a fight, it would only make it better. He didn't like to take his pleasure on a crying, whimpering woman. "Is that so?" He snickered. "Well, we might just do that if you're willing to take her place."
Stunned, the man holding Lisbeth lifted his hand from her mouth. She raised her head, amazed that Raven had walked right into the clearing. She had to be out of her mind.
But Raven knew what she was doing and responded with a taunt. "If any of you rowdies think you're man enough, come ahead."
That did it.
Lisbeth was forgotten as they charged toward Raven. The one with his pants down tried to yank them up and stumbled but kept on going, determined to make the dark-haired beauty pay for her insolence.
Raven saw Lisbeth struggle to her knees, but she was still too terrified to make a run for it.
They drew closer, and Raven's hands began to open and close, fingers aching to plunge downward and grab her guns, but she could not make a move until Lisbeth was out of the way, and she was directly behind the approaching men. Raven knew if she didn't act quick, they would be on her, and it would be too late.
It was now or never. "Lisbeth, duck!" she screamed, dropping for her guns. She came up firing—one shot, two, three.
She clipped the first man right where she intended, in his upper right shoulder. The second man was also on target, directly in the leg. The third man she wanted to be special, for he was the one who had been about to take Lisbeth first. She shot off his ear to give him something to explain for the rest of his worthless life.
After making sure Lisbeth had crawled to safety, Raven fired off three more rounds to hit each man's holstered gun and shatter it. "Now get out of here," she told them. "And if you ever step foot on Halcyon ground again, you'll be buried in it."
The one with a shoulder wound helped the one with the leg wound hobble toward the woods. The man with only one ear left was having trouble with his pants. He would run a few steps, stumble, grab at his pants, then scramble a little farther before falling again. Finally he disappeared into the bushes with the other two.
Raven ran to help Lisbeth stand. "Are you all right?"
"I... I think so," Lisbeth said, then whispered, awed, "You were going to take my place, Raven. You were going to let them take you instead of me."
"Oh, not if I could help it," Raven said lightly. "I just had to get their attention so I could go for my guns. I had had to drop them on the ground so they wouldn't see I was armed and start shooting, and then I couldn't fire because you were in the way. But it's over now. Let's get you back to the house so Mariah can see to those bruises and scratches on your face."
* * *
They rode along in silence. Finally, as they left the woods and the house came into view, Lisbeth asked thinly, apologetically, "Aren't you going to tell me what a fool I am?"
"Foolish. But not a fool," Raven said softly. "There's a difference."
Suddenly Lisbeth had to know. "Are you able to shoot like that because you're part Indian?"
Raven almost laughed but didn't. She knew what it was like to feel ridiculed. "No. Being an Indian doesn't have anything to do with it. I was just fortunate that my stepfather—who was white—wanted me to be able to take care of myself and saw that I learned how. I'm glad he did."
"So am I." She hesitated, feeling awkward, then added, "And I surely do thank you."
"I'm just glad I got there in time." Raven's heart was pounding with excitement to think she had finally done something right in Lisbeth's eyes.
A thousand emotions were churning within Lisbeth right then. Among them was shame. But she could not talk about that. It was something she had to sort out for herself, later, when she could be alone.
A few more moments of silence passed, and then Lisbeth asked shyly, "Do you think I could ever learn to shoot like you do?"
"What did you say?"
"I said"—Lisbeth swallowed hard—"would you teach me to shoot like you do? And maybe ride a horse too? These sidesaddles are kind of clumsy at times."
"Why..." Raven stammered, not knowing what to say. Then she laughed and nodded. "Sure. I'd like that a lot." She described how she would teach her first how to handle a gun, then how to shoot. And when Lisbeth got really good at it, she'd show her how to draw fast too. "I can also teach you to throw a knife," she added enthusiastically.
With all the sincerity she possessed, Lisbeth said, "I want to learn everything you can teach me, because I never want anything like that to happen to me again." She shuddered to envision what it would have been like to be raped by tho
se men.
Raven held out her hand. "I'm glad, Lisbeth. And I hope this means we're on our way to being friends."
Lisbeth was at a loss for words. Only a short while ago, she had wanted nothing more than to have Raven out of her life forever. Now Raven was extending her hand, and she was actually taking it. What was wrong with her, for heaven's sake? Well, she knew the answer to that. Thanks to Raven, she had been spared the worst nightmare a woman could endure. So how could she continue to hate her and want her out of her life?
Then she remembered her scheme and knew she had to stop Selena before she went through with it. "There's something I have to do," she said, reining Belle toward the cotton fields.
"But your face—"
"I'm fine, really. I'll see you at supper."
* * *
Raven watched her ride away, pleased to think it was the first time she could look forward to the evening meal. She only wished Julius could be there too. Perhaps she should try to reason with him again. It would help the situation if Lisbeth would go with her. Raven dared to hope that after today she'd agree.
After supper, while Lisbeth was in a good mood, she would take her into the study and show her all the books and ledgers, so she would have an understanding of all the plantation's business. Raven wanted her to know that she had no intentions, no matter what the will decreed, of taking Halcyon over. If possible, she would like for the three of them to run it together.
Raven slowed.
The three of them. Not four.
Sadly, she knew she could never include Steve though she desperately longed to, because eventually he would drift out of her life. And while the moon-mad nights of passion were exquisite, she knew one day the memories would hurt, for they would be all that remained of the deepest love she would ever know for any man. But till that time came, for as long as she could believe he cared, if only a little, she would savor every moment.
Leaving Starfire with Joshua, she returned to the house, wanting to finish up her work in the study and tidy up so everything would be in order for Lisbeth.
Just as she started up the front steps, Mariah came out to meet her. Raven could see that she was was upset.
"It's that Selena Leroux and her baby," she said. "She's sittin' on the back porch waitin' to see you. I told her you weren't here, and she said she was gonna get a whippin' from her pa for sneaking out of the field anyway, so she'd just wait till you got back."
Raven felt a little chill of foreboding and told herself she was being silly. "All right. Bring her to the study."
"Don't know what she's doin' comin' here anyway, white trash like that," Mariah grumbled as she went inside. "She won't tell nobody who gave her that baby 'cause she probably don't even know herself."
Raven went to the study and sat down behind the desk, wishing her knees would stop knocking together as she tried to think of why Selena might want to see her.
There was a hesitant knock on the door. After drawing a deep breath that seemed to be pulled from the very pit of her soul, Raven called out to her to enter.
* * *
In one of the cotton fields, Masson Leroux shaded his eyes with his hands against the relentless sun and watched Lisbeth ride by. She seemed to be looking for someone, glancing right and left among the thick rows of green leaves, dotted with popcorn blossoms of white. The slaves, dragging their shoulder sacks behind them, scarcely glanced at her as they toiled in the heat.
Masson figured she had to be looking for Selena; otherwise the prissy little snot wouldn't be out on such a hot day. Her kind stayed inside sipping ice-cold lemonade, fanned by a pickaninny with a big palm leaf. They didn't get out in the sun with the flies buzzing all around.
He wished he could tell her she could forget about her little scheme and not worry about Ned Ralston's bastard anymore, because he was going to take care of everything.
But he would wait.
It would be a lot more fun to tell her when it was all over and done with... when Raven was feeding the catfish in the bottom of the Alabama River.
Chapter 25
Selena was shaking as she held her baby. She was sitting in a chair opposite the desk. Her mouth was dry, and there was a big knot in her throat as she wondered if she would be able to speak the horrid lie.
Raven could see she was nervous but would not let herself think anything other than it had to do with Masson. "Is this about your father, Selena? Is he still making trouble for you? I spoke to him yesterday about his drinking. I'm afraid I had to warn him that if it keeps up, I'll have no choice but to ask him to leave Halcyon."
Selena stared at her, thinking how pretty she was, how nice she seemed, kind and caring. If she were in love with Steve, it was even sadder what Lisbeth was making her do, because she sensed that Raven would be good for him; as lonely as he was, he needed somebody, even though he didn't realize it. But she had never stuck her nose in Steve's business—till now.
When Selena still did not speak, continuing to look at her with a strangely mournful expression, Raven prodded gently. "Please. Tell me why you're here. You don't have to be afraid."
Selena bit her lip to try and hold back the tears. Raven certainly wasn't acting like she was mad at her for sending for Steve all those nights, like Lisbeth had said. But she wouldn't dare let on about it anyway, would she?
"Selena, I want to help you, but I do have other things to do." Raven did not want to appear unsympathetic to whatever had her so upset, but she had not said a word in nearly five minutes.
Finally, Selena said, "I—" and stopped. She could not do such a thing to Steve. And then her baby stirred in her arms, and she looked down and saw how her mouth twitched with a smile as she slept. Babies smiled in their sleep, she had heard, because the angels were talking to them. Selena never knew she could love anything so much until she held her in her arms for the first time. She was hers, a tiny little person dependent on her for everything.
Raven prompted again. "Selena, please. Why have you come here? What is it you want to tell me?"
Selena bowed to kiss her baby's cheek as she closed her eyes and prayed to God to forgive her for what she was about to do. Then she looked at Raven, took a deep breath, and said, "Steve Maddox is the father of my baby."
Raven swayed and gripped the edge of the desk.
"He was going to marry me till you came along."
Raven's anguished whisper was barely audible. "Oh, God."
Selena lifted her chin. Her brain was screaming at her to go on, get the lie out; she was doing it for her baby, and her baby had no one but her, and if she didn't, sooner or later Raven would run her off, or else Lisbeth would get rid of Raven and then Lisbeth would banish her. This was the only way.
"We've been secret sweethearts for a long time." She began the recitation she had lain awake till nearly dawn memorizing. "I knew Steve wasn't the marrying kind, but I loved him so much I just kept sleeping with him, hoping he would change his mind and want to settle down. When he found out about the baby, he still didn't want to marry me, but as it got closer to time for her to be born, he started talking about it. Then, right before he left to go look for you, he said he'd do it."
Raven had leaned back in the leather chair. Her eyes were closed, her hands squeezed together in her lap. Every nerve in her body was screaming it could not be so, but with every word Selena spoke she knew it had to be.
"When he came back," Selena continued, "I saw right away he was different. He started talking about how he wasn't sure he wanted to get married after all. He said he'd look out for me and the baby, but he just wasn't ready to settle down. I thought once Amanda was born, he'd love her so much he'd change his mind, but he didn't, and finally he told me it was because of you."
Raven's eyes flew open. "Because of me?" she echoed thinly.
"That's right." Selena was able to put anger into her voice, now falling into the role of a woman wronged. "He said he didn't want to leave here, even though he could afford to since Master Ned was le
aving him some money. This is his home, he said, and he was afraid you'd kick him out. So he bedded you, and—"
"No. Stop it." Raven covered her ears with her hands. "This isn't true."
"Oh, yes, it is." Selena slammed her hand down on the desk, and Raven uncovered her ears as she rushed on to finish her lie. "He said as long as he beds you, he can stay on here and run the stables and do anything he damn well pleases, but if he marries me we'd have to leave."
Tears filled Raven's eyes and ran down her cheeks, but she made no attempt to hold them back or wipe them away. She was beyond awareness of anything except this hurtful moment when her life suddenly had no more meaning. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked.
"So you'll give him back to me. My baby needs a name, so she won't have to grow up marked a bastard. She needs a father to look out for her in other ways besides dropping money off once in a while. But as long as Steve thinks he's got to"—Selena paused to give the sneer she'd practiced in the cracked mirror on the cabin wall "—service you, she's never going to have that."
Raven felt a great roaring within and thought she was going to be sick to her stomach. Images flashed before her of Steve making love to her, whispering endearing words as he held her. So tender. So caring. Oh, she'd not been fool enough to think he loved her as she loved him, but she had never felt he was using her to keep his job. Every single second he held her, she had felt cherished and wanted for herself, not like she was merely being serviced, as though he were being paid like men paid the whores at the waterfront. "Dear God, no," she whispered again.
Selena pushed on. There would be time to hate and loathe herself later. Right now, she had to make her performance convincing—for her baby's sake. "Are you saying you won't give him up?" Selena made her eyes wide, and it was not hard to make tears appear. "Lord, what kind of woman are you? I know Steve is a handsome man, and well I know"—she gave a little snicker—"how good he can make a woman feel. I can see why you wouldn't want to give him up. But rich as you are, you can buy the best stud money can buy."
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