by Jane Corrie
Finishing off with a flourish, David grinned at her. 'Course! ' he said airily. 'You won't see another like this; it's special. Guess it's been in Cal's family for years.' He pointed ,to an inscription worked in the soft dark leather. 'See?' he said.
Della saw the initials 'B.T.' inscribed with a flourish at the side of the saddle. 'Father, do you think?' she asked.
David's brows rose. 'Father? More like great-granddad! ' He passed his hand lovingly over the inlaid silver. 'You can't buy 'em like this now. There's plenty that would like to get their hands on one.'
'Does he use it often?' queried Della.
Shaking his head, an action that made a lock of fair hair fall over his forehead, David replied, 'Only for special occasions. I'm getting it ready for Saturday—the races,' he explained and his eyes lit up. 'It'll be fair dinkum. Are you coming?'
Della nodded, smiling at his enthusiasm, but his mention of the races had reminded her of the lessons. `Do you remember much of the alphabet, David?' she asked.
He frowned in an effort of concentration, then sighed. 'Not much,' he confessed.
Taking the envelope out of her pocket, Della said, 'Well, I've made you some cards with the letters on. You'll have to memorise them first before we start on the reading. Have you somewhere you can practise on your own?'
David pointed to a loft above them. 'I kip out up
there,' he said. 'No one's likely to go_ snooping around up there—and I can see the door from there too, so I can see them before they see me.'
He should have said 'her', for it was plain that he meant Cora.
Producing the paperback, Della said with a grin, 'I haven't finished it, but it seemed a good story, you'll have to tell me who did it!'
Taking the book and the envelope, he replied gravely, 'Sure thing.'
There was a little silence, and he scuffed his feet, carefully avoiding looking at her, and Della knew he was embarrassed and was trying to find a way of thanking her.
'I sure wish ' he began.
Della cut in swiftly with, 'Do you think you could teach me to mount the way you do? I'm not sure I'll be able to do it, but I would like to try.'
A huge grin spread over his face. 'Don't see why not,' he said happily. 'I guess Star's just right for that sort of practice—come on,' he ordered as he put the saddle away.
'Oh, no, not yet,' laughed Della. 'We've a lesson first, haven't we?'
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE week passed quickly, and without Cora's inhibiting presence, Della was able to give David a good grounding for his studies. He proved an apt pupil, for the wish to learn was there, and Della suspected he spent all his free time in study.
While she put him through his paces, she listened to his sometimes halting voice as he read aloud to her from the book she had given him, and there were times when she found it hard not to show the elation she felt at the slow but sure progress he was making.
She was well aware that she had to be careful in her dealings with him; his fierce pride had always to be kept in mind. David had not had an easy passage so far in his short life, and only Cal's intervention had saved him from the responsibilities he had had put on his young shoulders from an early age.
His concise explanation as to why he had missed his schooling told its own story to Della, and she was in no doubt of the real reason. A father in and out of prison had been the handicap, particularly as he had run a smallholding.
As the days went by, Della and David formed a close bond. It took a little while for David to get
used to calling her by her christian name, instead of Mrs Tarn, and the only person who might have objected was Cal, and he was busy on ranch affairs, and was quite content to leave Della in David's hands.
However, there was one occasion Cal did put in an appearance, and to Della's chagrin it was during her very first attempts at emulating David's saddle leap on to a moving mount. Like all first attempts, it went sadly awry, and Della, slightly misjudging the distance, missed the stirrups and sailed right over the moving target.
Unhurt, but with her dignity somewhat ruffled, she sat catching her breath and waiting for David's explosive laugh behind her.
After a second's silence she said huffily, 'If you're not doubled up laughing, you might like to help me up I '
The words were scarcely uttered when she felt herself caught by the shoulders and being gently lifted up. Turning, expecting to find a grinning David, she was utterly confounded to find herself meeting Cal's grey eyes, behind which she suspected lurked an amused gleam, but she wasn't sure of this, as his attention was then turned to making sure she hadn't hurt herself, and with quick deft strokes his experienced hands ran down her sides and legs.
When he was satisfied, Della was allowed to recover her tattered aplomb, and Cal turned his attention to David, who stood eyeing him with a certain amount of trepidation in his eyes.
Cal moved towards the stables. 'A word with you, David,' he said ominously, and David's shoulders sagged as he followed him.
Della could guess Cal's reason for talking to David in private and silently applauded it. David was going to be ticked off, but not in front of an audience!
'It's not David's fault, Cal,' she said quickly. 'I insisted he taught me to mount as he does,' she grimaced. 'It's not his fault that I made a mess of it, either! '
Cal turned back to her and for a moment or so, Della wasn't sure her appeal on behalf of David had been successful, but she saw Cal relax, and he gave her a wicked grin, showing his even white teeth, and although Della was relieved, that grin disturbed her.
She had never seen Cal smile like that, and it brought home sharply the fact that she hardly knew him. She was beginning to see why Alice had sighed for him, and why Cora appeared to have lost all sense of reason over him.
Still a little shaken, not only from the fall, but Cal's sudden appearance on the scene, she watched David follow him into the stables. Whatever Cal had wanted to say to David did not take long, and within a short time they reappeared and Della's anxious eyes went straight to David, who quickly reassured her with his now familiar grin.
With a drawled, but amused, 'See you later,' to Della, Cal went about his business, and Della,watching his tall back as he left them, waited until he was out of earshot before pouncing on David. 'You didn't get into trouble, did you?' she asked.
'Naw,' grinned a happy David. 'Sure looks like you impressed him, Della.'
Giving him an indignant look, she said: 'You needn't rub it in! '
` No—I mean it,' insisted a now solemn David. 'He wants you to exercise Romano in the morning. Seems he's going to be tied up on some office business.'
Della couldn't believe her ears, she stared at David. 'I don't believe you,' she said flatly. 'You're not doing a Cora on me, are you, David?' she said accusingly.
His grin widened. 'Fair go, Della! ' he protested. 'You wait—he'll probably mention it to you later.'
She did not look forward to dinner that evening. Cora's absence had brought a kind of peace between Cal and herself, although she still felt herself under a probe from those all-seeing eyes of his, and would look up at odd times during the meal to find his eyes on her.
Della also sensed that he was genuinely trying to get to know her, and although she did not resent it, she did not welcome the knowledge either.
In her position it was wiser to keep her distance, but as time went by she saw this was not going to be an easy task should Cal decide otherwise. By now she was aware of his strength of personality and knew Cora had not fabricated when she spoke of his strength of will. Had Della not made her wishes clear to him, she would by now be a very worried person.
As she changed into an apricot blouse and black pleated skirt, she rehearsed in her mind how she would politely but firmly refuse his extraordinary offer of riding Romano.
It was a great pity, she mused, that he had witnessed her abortive attempt that morning. It didn't take a great deal of brain power to work out the fact that
only an accomplished rider would have dared attempt such a feat—it was definitely not in the novice stakes
She wondered whether offering her Romano was his way of apologising to her for giving her Star, and thought it was quite probable that it was; she sighed as she gave her hair a final comb through before she joined him for dinner.
In the event, Cal accepted her refusal with a slight nod of his autocratic head, but made no comment, which slightly threw Della, for having rehearsed her explanation only to find it was not called for, she was definitely put at a disadvantage and she felt vaguely uneasy, not to mention downright ungrateful!
All through the meal she had a disturbing feeling that he was waiting for her to change her mind, and although he was politeness itself, and directed the conversation on an entirely different channel, Della was not fooled by his apparent acceptance of her refusal.
It was this knowledge that made her hold her tongue when she had a distinct urge to comply with his unspoken wishes—besides, she told herself firmly, it would give him a perfectly valid reason for keeping her under surveillance. He might, for instance, suggest a suitable route for the exercise, and Della's and David's day was already planned. Soon Cora would be in evidence again and the lessons would have to be curtailed.
The day of the races dawned bright and clear. The small township they were due to be held at was sixty miles distant, and it meant an early start. So by six-thirty, Cal was ushering the girls into the car. Cora automatically commandeered the front seat beside Cal, and Della just as automatically took the back seat. This arrangement, however, did not suit Cal, and he ordered Cora to make room for Della to join her. There was ample room in the large opulent car for such seating, but Della, not to mention Cora, liked things as they were.
Glancing at Cora's petulant expression as she took her seat beside her, Della thought how once again she had dressed for the part. Her leather two-piece with fringed cuffs on the jacket, and a mock sombrero on her fair hair, now worn long and curling softly over her shoulders, echoed the popular version of how a cowboy should dress, but seldom did. Della,
in a white trouser suit with a blue and white blouse, and straw boater she had brought over with her from England, did not feel eclipsed by Cora's finery.
As the day progressed, she could not honestly say she enjoyed it. For one thing, the race track was crowded, and one had to shout to make oneself heard. Not that Della bothered, she just followed Cora's sombrero after Cal 'had taken himself off towards the changing rooms.
Cora, watching him depart, had turned moodily to Della and said grandly : 'I'll show you where our seats are, and then, if you don't mind, I'll leave you. I've promised to meet some friends of mine here.'
Della could have slapped her; she was laying it on a bit thick, and she guessed it was Cal's insistence that Della should sit in front with them in the car that had sparked off this recent attack.
Making their way through the crowd, they came to a raised platform on which seats had been arranged. Going on ahead, Cora made for the top section, obviously a V.I.P.s' position, and answered airily the several 'Hallo's' given to her by the rest of the elite who sat in royal isolation from the medley below them.
Stopping at two seats that had a reserved ticket on them, Cora said breezily, 'You'll get a good view here. Cal always gets the best,' and with a casual wave, designed, Della thought, for the benefit of those already seated, left her to it.
Alone in her lofty position, Della could feel the eyes of the people seated further along the row casting surreptitious glances at her every now and again, and fervently wished the races would start and their attention be directed elsewhere.
David had gone with the transport conveying Romano to the track, and she wished she could have had his company and hoped he would come to find her after the off, but she realised it was a lost hope. He would presume Cora was with her, and that was enough to make him keep his distance.
She thought of Alice, and sighed, thinking how she would welcome her chatter at that particular moment in time, and looked down at the crowd milling round below her in the hope of seeing her. But after a fruitless search, she came to the conclusion Alice and her family were simply not present; if they had been, Alice would have spotted her by now, seated as she was, in such a conspicuous position.
Suddenly a shout from the crowd signified that the race had begun, and a press of people surged forward towards the rails to get a better view.
Della, watching the crowd, spotted Cora standing in isolation against the rails, and as the leader of the pack, Cal, surged past at a fast gallop, saw her wildly cheering him on. A wave of anger swept over her. So there were no 'friends'; Cora had used the excuse as a ruse to get out of Della' s company.
Her eyes went back to the track again. Cal was well ahead and holding his lead. She saw how man and horse moved as one, and forgot her misery in the enjoyment of the race.
Cal and Romano took part in the first and last race of the day, and won both of them. Cora cleverly timed her reappearance just before Cal joined their' at the close of the meeting, and while he was receiving enthusiastic congratulations from the small knot of people that had crowded round him, Della took the opportunity of slipping away and having a few words with David, who stood on the edge of the crowd, obliviously awaiting orders from Cal.
`Do you ever get a chance of a ride?' she asked him as she joined him.
David's brows raised an inch higher. 'Course not!' he said in some surprise. 'You gotta be registered to ride in these stakes. That's why Cal wants me to join a stable. Romano sure showed 'em the way, didn't he?' he added happily.
He then asked her if she had seen the roan that had won the second race. 'That was one of ours,' he said proudly. 'Cal sold it to a friend of his.'
'One of ours'—the words so simply said, but meaning so much. To David, the ranch was home, the only real one he had been happy in.
Della's thoughts turned to Cora and Cal; was that why Cal was trying to get David work elsewhere? He must be aware of Cora's attitude towards him.
These thoughts depressed her, so she turned her mind to other things. 'Is there somewhere we can get a drink? I'm very thirsty,' she said.
David glanced back to where Cal and Cora stood, still surrounded by friends. 'Cal will have that laid on,' he answered. 'He usually goes to one of the hotels in town.'
'How about you?'
'Oh, I'm okay,' grinned David. 'We'll stop at a pub on the way back, and Jim'll fix me up.'
'I should think Jim is probably waiting for you right now,' cut in Cal behind Della.
Although it was casually said, there had been a certain amount of stricture in his voice, and Della, casting a quick look at David, saw that he had felt it too. A slight flush stained his cheeks as he said, 'Yes boss,' and hurriedly left them.
Feeling Cal's eyes on her, she looked back at him. 'There were some people I wanted you to meet,' he went on in the same casual voice, but something told Della he was telling her to stay put next time and not dash away and seek out one of his employees.
'However,' he continued, noting her slight flush that told him she had got the message, 'we shall no doubt run into them this evening.' He gave her a half-smile. 'We shall attend the local party, and the dance that usually follows it.'
Della's surprise showed in her eyes. She had no wish to attend either a party or a dance, but there was little she could do about it, except thank him as enthusiastically as she was able. He apparently thought it would be a treat for her. With a certain amount of longing she thought of David with the said Jim, now on the way back, and wished she could have gone with them.
As David had said, they took tea in a hotel, and Cora took Della through to the powder room to freshen up before they joined Cal at their table. There Della quizzed Cora about the coming party, and had she known about it? Unhappily she had not known, and it sparked off another attack.
Turning accusing eyes on Della, she said, 'Cal hates that sort of thing,' and adde
d spitefully, 'He's only doing it for you. I hope you're satisfied!'
Giving her a look of exasperation, Della asked, 'And what about you, Cora? Do you really mean to say you don't like parties?'
Cora added another layer of lipstick and gazed critically at the result in the room's one and only mirror which she had appropriated. 'Sometimes,' she said offhandedly. 'Depends, of course, on what sort of party it is. This one will be a complete bore, small town folk falling over themselves to meet Cal; as for the dance! ' she shrugged as if to say that would be even more of a bore.
'Doesn't Cal dance?' asked Della innocently, and was surprised by the furious reaction this question aroused.
'Cal's about the best dancer around this one-horse town,' she spat out. 'He won't get much peace, I can tell you! He's an important man, and a busy one, as we keep telling you. He didn't even have time to take me to the state dance after the Sydney
races, and yet he's making time tonight for you! '
So that was her grievance, thought Della, and she inwardly sighed. With Cora in this mood it didn't look as if the evening was going to be exactly hilarious.
She tried to cheer her up by changing the subject as they left the powder room. 'I suppose you wouldn't know any estate agents, would you, Cora?' she asked diffidently.
Cora's interest was immediately aroused. 'Why?' she asked bluntly.
'Oh,' answered Della casually, 'I'm looking for some premises,' and she proceeded to outline her plan to start an agency.
'Does Cal know about this?' Cora demanded.
'Of course,' replied Della, feigning surprise. 'He's promised to keep an eye out for me. I just felt the more people I could get to look for suitable premises, the sooner I would find somewhere.'
Cora eyed her speculatively. 'I'll ask around for you,' she said as they joined Cal.
'What will you ask around about?' queried Cal as he rose from his seat at the approach of the girls.