The Moon and the Stars

by Constance O'Banyon

  “You know a lot about me,” she said, standing and moving across the room. “Do I also have the right to ask you questions?”

  He had been scribbling on the paper and paused to glance at her. Laying his pen aside, he gave her his full attention. “What would you like to know about me?”

  “Whatever you want me to know.”

  He glanced at the floor as if editing his thoughts. “Caroline, I believe Dolly told you some of my background. My earliest memory is of living on the streets of New Orleans. If I had a mother and father, I do not remember either of them. But I do not want you to think that is important to me—I hope it is not to you.”

  “I do not care about your past.”

  “There was a woman, Maude Blackman, who ran a bakery—she was toothless, had frizzy gray hair and a stooped back. Many people shunned her because they thought her a witch. But I loved that old woman. She took me in at night and saw that I was fed. I slept in the back room of her shop.”

  Caroline realized that he was sharing information with her that very few people were privy to.

  “I hung out with a rough gang of older boys who were always in trouble. They would rob people, sneak into houses and take things. Maude saw me with them one day and dragged me into her shop. I have never had a thrashing like the one she gave me that day. She said I was not to hang around with those boys, because I was going to grow up and be somebody. She made me work in her kitchen, scrubbing floors and washing pots and pans.”

  “She must have been very kind.”

  He shook his head. “Maude was never kind to anyone. She spoke broken French, she was crude and always said exactly what was on her mind. But the only time I have ever cried in my life was the day she died.”

  “How old were you?”

  “I do not know my true age. Maude swears I was six when she took me in—that would have made me seven years old when she died.”

  “So young.”

  “Younger than Jonathan was when I found him.”

  “What did you do after Maude died?”

  “My life was very different from yours. My earliest memories are of always being hungry.”

  She could not stop the tears that swam in her eyes. “But see what you have become. You are a man hundreds of people look to for their livelihood.”

  “I owe a great deal to Maude and to Anton. After Maude died, I moved to the docks, because I had learned that I could sneak into one of the warehouses and find a warm, dry place to sleep on a cotton bale. And I could always find food there. I had been living in Anton’s warehouse for three months when he discovered me. The rest you know. He took me in and made me his heir.”

  “He was a father to you.”

  “Not in the true sense. He was a hard man, and it was not in him to show affection, but that was all right with me. I did not know how to give affection either. He sent me to one of the best schools, and I looked forward to class every day. Until I went to that school, I spoke very little English. Anton did not approve of my speaking French, so I tried to please him. But as you have probably noticed, when I feel deeply about something, I revert to my native language.”

  “Maude would have been proud of you today.”

  “Caroline, just as you quarreled with your father, I quarreled with Anton. He had a passion for guns. We had a country home at the time, and he would take me hunting almost every weekend. Not because he liked my company, but because he discovered I could shoot straight and fast. He taught me everything he knew about guns.”

  “So when you quarreled with him, you ran away and became a bounty hunter.”

  “I had no money of my own, and I did not want Anton’s. The one thing I could do well was use a gun. I remember the day I went into a sheriff’s office, in Abilene, Texas, and took a wanted poster off the wall. I then went after the man. As time passed, my reputation grew, and so did the price to hire my gun. I was a bounty hunter for nine years.”

  “Dolly told me your father became ill and sent for you.”

  “Oui. By the time I arrived in New Orleans, Anton had only hours to live. He told me that he had left me everything in his will, and that I must promise to lay down my gun and take care of the people who worked for him.”

  “And you did.”

  His gaze met hers. “I kept my promise until Brace Duncan wrote me. Then I went in search of you.”

  She didn’t want to talk about Brace. “What was Jonathan like when you found him?”

  “The day I found him, it was raining. He was huddled between two buildings trying to stay warm and dry. He was ill and feverish, so I carried him home with me, and Mary took care of him. I had no intention that day of letting him live with me. But when his health improved, I could not bring myself to put him in an orphanage, and he did not ask to leave. I wanted him to have a suitable future, so I eventually enrolled him in a school in Baton Rouge. At the time, I thought it was the best thing for him. You made me understand that I was wrong.”

  “And you made me understand how much you cared for him. He is a wonderful boy. I have seen him grow and change every day.”

  “It is because of you that he is so happy now.”

  “I believe you understand him better than anyone, because you grew up much the same way.”

  “You now know as much about me as anyone, Caroline. I am a man who does not know his parentage. I am a man without a past. Will that ever matter to you?”

  “Of course not. Why should it? I am more interested in the man you are today.”

  “When you agreed to marry me, did you think of me as one of your noble causes? Did you think you could help me like you tried to help Michael Duncan?”

  “You are nothing like Michael.”

  “In what way are we different? We both wanted you. I want to know about the man who came before me.”

  She did not understand his mood. “Actually, the two of you are very different. You will never really need anyone, Wade. Michael could never stand alone.”

  He rose to his feet and offered her his hand. “How would you like to eat in the dining room tonight?” he asked, deciding it was time he learned to live with the fact that other men admired his wife.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  It was their last morning on board the Cotton Maid when Caroline stood alone at the railing, her mind wandering as she watched the mud-colored river being churned up by the paddle wheel.

  Wade was in their cabin going over some documents he needed to finish before they docked. This was the first time she had been alone since coming on board, and she needed this time to think about what she was going to do about her father’s death. She had not been able to go to his funeral, so she would have to mourn him in her heart. There would probably be debts to settle, and paperwork to be tended to.

  There was no doubt in her mind that Brace had killed her father. She shuddered, hoping he had not suffered before he died. She had been a coward when she ran away after Michael’s death—she should have gone to the authorities and told them everything. If she had, her father would still be alive.

  She had to stop Brace before he killed again. She could not allow his evil to touch the ones she loved.

  She had to go to Charleston before Brace decided to come to New Orleans. If Wade knew what she had in mind, he would stop her. She would have to be careful that she did not give her plan away.

  A wedding vow was forever or until death. What Wade did not understand was that Brace would come after him, he would come after Jonathan, and he would come after anyone she loved.

  She glanced across the smooth river to a place where the water drifted into a small tributary. In the distance she could see a grove of cypress trees and wished that she could just get in a skiff with Wade and Jonathan and disappear into the swamps where Brace could never find them. But that was not possible—life and reality would soon encroach on her world, and she had to protect the two people she loved the most.

  This time, she would not run.

  When they arr
ived in port, Caroline and Wade were jostled by the crowd as they made their way to the gangplank. Wade took her arm and hurried her out of the crowd and to the waiting carriage.

  The little Frenchman was beaming, and Jonathan stood beside him, jumping up and down with excitement.

  “Welcome home, Wade, madame,” Louis called.

  Jonathan’s greeting was less formal and much more energetic. He jumped into Wade’s arms and reached out to hug Caroline. “I missed you both so much. I’m glad you’re home now.”

  Wade grinned at the boy. “You little scamp. I suppose you gave Mary and everyone else a difficult time while we were away,” Wade said, depositing the boy onto the leather buggy seat.

  “Not much. I did fall into the fountain with my Sunday clothes on. And I broke a plate, but it wasn’t my fault. It just slid right off the table when I was reaching for a biscuit. I did break a window, but I wasn’t aiming at it with that rock I threw.”

  Caroline’s laughter spilled out like a fountain. “What were you aiming at, Jonathan?”

  “A tin can I put on the window ledge. If that man hadn’t sacred me, I wouldn’t have broken the window or fallen into the pond.”

  “It would seem, Jonathan, we arrived home just in time to salvage the house.”

  The boy grinned, looking up at Caroline and then Wade. “I couldn’t wait for you to get back home. Mary let me check the days off on the calendar.”

  They were chatting happily when something Jonathan had said registered with Caroline. “What man scared you?”

  “I don’t know who he was. He didn’t say his name. I was all wet and climbing out of the water when I asked him what he was doing in our garden. He said he was looking for a friend.”

  Wade was speaking to Louis, so he hadn’t paid attention to what the boy had said. He did not see Caroline stiffen when she took Jonathan’s arm and lowered her voice. “What else did the man say to you?”

  “He asked who I was and who owned the house. So I told him my parents were not at home. He asked me if there was a woman living in the house, but before he could tell me her name, Mary came out.”

  Her insides tightened. “And what did you tell him?”

  “Nothing. Mary was real mad because I broke the window, and she came to get me. When I turned back to talk to that man, he was gone. Just disappeared. Mary said I was making it up ’cause she didn’t see anyone. But I did see him—I really did.”

  Caroline felt the same blind terror that she always felt when she thought of Brace. She knew his cunning mind, and how far he would go to get to her. If the stranger had been Brace, she shuddered to think of the evil that had come so close to Jonathan. Her heart gave a lurch when she thought what could have happened to this child if Mary had not appeared.

  Mary was a marvel. While they were dining, the housekeeper got them both unpacked and the master suite prepared for them.

  Wade was meeting with some men in his office, so Caroline went to Jonathan’s room to tuck him into bed. She moved a chair to the side of his bed and opened the book they had been reading before the wedding.

  He yawned and said as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “I’m sleepy, Mommy.”

  “Then close your eyes while I read to you.” Before she was halfway though the first page, he had already fallen asleep.

  She closed the book and watched him for a time. He was a beautiful child, and smart. With Wade to direct him, his future was assured. She wanted Jonathan to be happy, to grow up strong and to be a man of honor—there again, with Wade as his guide, that was sure to happen.

  She bent to kiss his cheek and then blew out the lamp. “Good night, little son.” She left the door half open when she tiptoed into the hallway.

  She walked through the master suite and out onto the gallery. There was a chill to the night, which meant that the wind was coming from the direction of the river. Someone had lit a torch, and she could see the light ripple across the water in the fountain. Deeper into the garden, the light faded to shadows and then into ominous darkness.

  Should she tell Wade what she suspected, or would he merely laugh at her and accuse her of having an overactive imagination?

  Her troubled musing was cut short when strong arms slid around her waist and a warm mouth nibbled on her neck.

  She shivered with delight as Wade’s mouth moved to her earlobe.

  “Did you finish your work?”

  He led her into the room, watching how the lamplight cast golden light onto her skin. “I sent everyone home.” He closed the double doors and pulled the curtains. “Nate was here.”

  She spun around to face him. “Where is he? I want to talk to him and find out what he knows about my father.”

  “He will return tomorrow.” He ran his finger around the neck of her gown. “He did tell me more bad news.” To Wade, it seemed he was always the one who had to deliver ill tidings to her. “Your father’s home was burned to the ground.”

  She sucked in her breath. “No! Why would Brace do such a thing? Why, why, why?”

  “You know him better than we do; perhaps you can guess.”

  She slumped down on the bed. “He did it because he wanted to hurt me.”

  “That is what I think.”

  “Not only my father gone, but the memories—everything that was my mother is now ashes.”

  He knelt down beside the bed and gathered her in his arms. “Keep the memories in your heart and be glad you have them.”

  She touched his cheek, and the grief on his face cut into her heart. “You have no memories of your mother and father.”

  “That is not what I meant. I need no memories, I have you and Jonathan and the future. But your memories can never be taken from you—they belong to you alone.”

  She touched her lips to his. “I will always be with you.”

  He rolled her backward on the bed without taking his mouth away from hers.

  “If you are with me, there is nothing more I need.”

  He left her to blow out the lamp, then came back to her. His mouth recaptured hers, and he sank down onto the bed.

  All thoughts of Brace were wiped from her mind as Wade kissed and touched her. She sighed when he molded her to him, and she pressed her face into his neck when he made love to her.

  The shadowy form of a man detached itself from the darkness to stand by the fountain. He crushed his hands into fists as he watched the light go out in the master bedroom.

  “That bastard is touching her,” his raspy voice choked out. “He has soiled her purity, and for that they will all die!”

  He paced back and forth, anger building inside him like lava in a volcano ready to erupt. “I will bring him down—I will bring them all down and her with them.”

  He stalked toward the stairs that led to the gallery, reaching into his pocket to make sure the gun was still there. When his foot hit the first step, he heard loud voices and the sound of running footsteps.

  “I saw someone,” Brace heard one man call to another. “You go around the front of the house, and I’ll go this way!”

  Brace melted back into the shadows, moved quickly into the garden, and attempted to climb the high brick wall. He was not a tall man, so he made several tries, falling back into a muddy flowerbed that had just been watered. After several more attempts, he finally made it over the top and dropped to the other side. His hand darted into his pocket, and he cursed aloud: He had dropped the gun in his scramble over the wall.

  He moved along the wall until he came to the neighboring house. He boldly cut through the yard and found his horse where he had left it tied to a tree branch.

  There would be another time. He smiled to himself. He would not stop until Caroline had paid with her life for betraying him.

  Frank and Elliot Webber met at the front of the house. Both of the brothers were dockworkers, but Wade had pulled them off their jobs to guard the house. Frank, the elder, had been employed by the Renault family for twenty years, and Elliot almost that
long.

  “When Mr. Renault asked us to watch the house, I didn’t think we’d see anything. Until tonight it’s been as quiet as can be.”

  “No one could have got past me,” Frank said, raising the lantern so he could look behind a neatly trimmed hedge.

  Elliot looked disgusted that he had let the man get away. “I tell you, I saw someone! He was sneaking toward the back stairs until I called out to you. Then he must have run off.”

  “What if he went over the back wall?” Frank said, knowing his brother was not likely to exaggerate. If he said he’d seen someone, then he had.

  “Let’s check and see,” Elliot said, already walking in that direction.

  When they got to the back wall, they saw muddy footprints. Elliot bent down and picked up the gun, holding it out for his brother to see.

  “Just look what we have here. A double-shot derringer. Looks like a toy, but deadly. Now, how do you suppose it got here?”

  “Yeah, a derringer,” Frank said, taking it and flipping it open. “And it’s loaded. Even if Mr. Renault is asleep, I think we’d better wake him up for this.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Wade had just made love to Caroline, and he now held her close to him. She had been dealt another blow today. He smoothed her hair out of her face. “Mon amour, give me one more week, and then I will take you to Charleston, and we will settle all your affairs.”

  She rose up on her elbow. “There is no need to go to South Carolina. Brace is here.”

  Wade gave a half shake of his head. “I do not think so.”

  “He is! I know it. And if he’s here, it is for only one reason. He wants to see me dead.”

  He pulled her to him. “You must not think that way. You are protected as long as you are in this house.”

  “You don’t know him like I do,” she said in frustration, wishing she could make him understand. “You have never understood his evil. I am not safe in this house, and neither is Jonathan—and neither are you. Brace was here in this yard.”

  Wade gave her a skeptical glance. “He could not possibly have gotten into the yard. I was not going to tell you this, but I have men on guard.”