To act on his lust now would be the act of a cad. Not to go farther and not to share with her the ultimate pleasure would be an act of waste and scorn. He groaned.
He shouldn’t scorn her, not Ella, not the most splendid woman he’d ever met and was ever likely to meet. “How does this look for a campsite?”
“Appealing.” She smiled. “Mind you, a bed of gravel on slime would look appealing. The only thing more appealing would be a real bed.”
Although his heart skipped a beat, he ignored her accidental innuendo and glanced at Girl. The dog had a satisfied expression on her face. Along the way she’d found herself a few lizards to eat and a big-eared, small, hopping creature, a bilby, who had paused too long while watching the strangers pass. “I suppose a real meal would be appealing, too.”
“I’m too tired to care. I can make more scones and if we can have a cup of tea, I’m sure I’ll sleep like a baby tonight.”
“We can have a quick, hot snack, and you can have a sleep. I want to go on ahead and scout out the lie of the land.”
“You would leave me alone?”
“You’re safe enough.”
He started a small fire. With a weary sigh, she began to make the dough while he went to the river. He’d seen lilies and knew the tubers to be edible. Uprooting a handful, he washed them and took them back to her. She stared.
“They taste quite bland, and they’re sustaining.” He sat on the blanket she’d set out. “And with raspberries for dessert, I think we’ll be satisfied.”
She watched the flame of the fire in the half light. “Why would you go on without me?”
“I want to see the horse thieves without them seeing me.”
“Do you think you might ask them for the horses?”
“I think I’ll get the horses any way I can.” He grinned. “Then I’ll come back and we’ll leave quickly.”
“So I shouldn’t be asleep. I should be awake and packed.”
“Before I can answer that I want to see if it’s possible to sneak up on them.”
They drank their tea in silence. The night birds began to warble. The ground cover rustled, disturbed by the first foraging of the nocturnal creatures—possums, betongs, wombats, and other marsupials, most with large gleaming eyes and shy habits. A thump rattled a tall eucalypt. Jed had returned, smacking the shafts of his spears loudly against a tree trunk, a warning of his approach.
Cal watched the man emerge from the trees. He strode confidently as if he had night sight. In one hand he held a limp dead duck, his offering for the evening meal. With a smile, he dropped the carcass on Ella’s lap. Jed had apparently appointed himself provider, leaving Cal to feel less than adequate.
“Thank you, Jed,” Ella said politely. “I suppose I should, um, chop off its head before I cook it.” She had a controlled look of martyrdom on her face.
“I’ll do it.” Cal took the duck, swiped off its head with the cooking knife, and threw that and the entrails to Girl, who took her spoils off to consume. He gave the feathered carcass back to Ella.
Jed sat by the fire, cross-legged, and accepted a cup of tea. “Mans rest.”
“How far away?”
“Two hills.”
“I can get there before…?” Cal pointed at Ella and flattened his palms together on one cheek, indicating, he hoped, sleep.
Jed nodded. “I get horses tonight.”
Cal firmed his jaw. “No. I’ll get the horses.”
Ella grinned. “I’ll get the horses.”
Both men stared at her.
“We’ll all get the horses,” she amended, tearing the feathers out of the duck. The down drifted a little in the night breeze. “We have seven horses to collect. It’s logical.”
“Describe their camp,” Cal said to Jed, not certain that, without any help whatsoever, he could lead seven horses quietly through the trees.
The aborigine took a stick and drew in the soil. He indicated a campfire and two men. Then he drew a circle of horses to one side. “Trees,” he said, dotting behind the horses. He held up one hand, indicating the number of horses, which they already knew to be nine with the thieves’ horses.
Cal leaned back on his elbows and stretched out his legs. “We’ll give them a few hours, let them sleep, and I’ll bring back the horses. You two can sleep if you pack first and I’ll wake you when I get back.”
“Cal.” Ella sounded patient. “There’s nothing to stop them following you here and taking back the horses.”
“They won’t see the tracks in the dark and we’ll leave before they wake up.”
“We’ll be as slowed down by the extra horses as they were. That means we’ll have to set a pace we might not be able to sustain. It also means they might catch us if they are so inclined. I think we should take their horses when we take ours. And their boots. That way we’ll make things far more difficult for them. They deserve it. They stole the horses in the first place and put us to this trouble.”
Jed nodded, grinning. “Lose ’orses,” he said, placing his mug by the fire. “Lose boots.”
“That’s a wonderful idea. Perhaps we could mask the tracks as well.” Ella said, smiling. “That would certainly give them something to think about.”
“This is not a game, Miss,” Cal said with a frown, despite being amused by her enthusiasm. “This is a dangerous task not only for you but for Jed. If he is spotted, he’ll be taken for a savage and they’ll be within their rights if they kill him.”
“Dear life. We can all dress as natives and frighten the thievery out of them. We can look like a horde. In the dark, they certainly won’t recognize me as a woman, should they see me.”
“I would.”
She gave him a mischievous glance. “I’m glad. Cal, I would feel less nervous if I could go with you. I don’t want to sit here worrying. If we make plans now we’ll know what to do and we’ll do it efficiently. If the men are awake we’ll wait. I won’t be in any more danger there than I would be here alone. If something happens to you...” Her voice trailed off and her bottom lip trembled.
He could see she wasn’t nervous about herself, and her certainty that she would be safe with him expanded his chest. He tapped his fingers on the side of his cup. “Promise me you’ll obey my every command.”
She nodded. “I promise. I don’t want to be a pest. I want to be of use.”
They ate the scones and the tubers as they discussed their plans. Ella left the duck to stew while they settled down for a few hours rest. Cal didn’t think he would sleep, but he made a pretense so that Ella would. Jed snored like a mating possum and Girl came back and curled at Cal’s feet.
Some few hours later, he awoke. The fire had died and the duck had almost melted into the bones. He served the meat on a single plate and woke the others. Ella sat up, wide-eyed. Jed yawned and stretched. After they’d eaten and cleaned up, they packed the horses, leaving them tethered to the trees.
Jed noiselessly led the way. Cal and Ella had darkened their faces and hands with mud. The wet soil dried rapidly and didn’t do more than take the shine from their skin. Nevertheless, he could see Ella had confidence in her disguise. She reminded him of a child play-acting.
“It’s the first adventure I’ve had in my life,” she whispered, and he believed her. Her eyes glowed with excitement.
They took an hour to walk through the scrub to the men’s campsite, a patch of bare earth closer than he had imagined. Jed’s description was accurate. The horses stood tethered in an outcrop of trees. The men lay by their dead campfire. Spotting two empty rum bottles thrown aside, Cal smiled. Unless the men had harder heads than he supposed, they would pose little threat.
As discussed, he, Ella, and Jed began to pick long grasses. With Jed demonstrating, they tied the grass to their boots, covering the soles. Ella stood between two trees, marking the most direct way through to their own camp so that in the dark no one would be confused as to direction. Jed crept toward
the stolen horses. Cal moved belly-flat to the fire.
One of the men emitted a porcine snort. Cal froze. The man threshed an arm; rolled over; and, after a period of not breathing, began to snore rhythmically. Cal moved on, reaching out a hand for the two pairs of boots that sat by the ashes of the fire. He tucked the footwear under his arm, warily inspecting the sleeping horse thieves. Neither looked particularly prepossessing in the moonlight. The snorer had a gray-streaked, unkempt beard and he looked rotund. The other was younger, with long, limp, greasy hair, receding at the front. Cal recognized them as the men who had asked Vianna for directions.
An open sack sat beside the sprawled and sweat-hardened saddles. Cal peered in. The men had garnered a substantial food supply. With an amused tilt of his lips, he took the sack as well, sliding backward until far enough from the sleepers to stand upright.
He moved quietly toward Jed, who held the rope halters of all nine restive and alert horses. Cal took the Clydesdales, the stock horses, and Miffy, leaving Jed to manage the men’s horses with one hand and the carriage pair with the other. Without a spoken word, Jed and Cal separated. Jed went farther into the bushland riding one of his four horses and Cal led his group on foot to where Ella stood. She grabbed one pair of boots, tied the laces together, and slung the footwear around her neck. She tied the next pair and slung them around Cal’s neck. Then she mounted one of the stock horses bareback, using Cal’s cupped hands as a boost. Cal balanced the sack over the other stock horse before he mounted.
Then, silently, he led the Clydesdales back to their camp. Girl bounded from nowhere, following. When Cal saw the silver ribbon of the river, he laughed aloud.
“I might take up a life of crime,” Ella said with a jaunty sideways glance. “It’s far easier to steal horses than I expected.” After whirling them around her head, she threw a pair of men’s boots into the water.
Cal untangled the other pair and set them sailing high into the dark night, watching them splash into the center of the river. “Should the thieves wish to follow,” he said in a satisfied voice, “they’ll do it the hard way.”
Chapter 14
The midday sun blared across the wilting landscape. Wiping her sweaty brow with her forearm, Ella glanced around at the site of their very first camp. “How on earth did we make such good time?”
Cal eased his saddle position. He hadn’t shaved for the past two days, but having a stubbly chin didn’t detract from his looks. Instead, a slight disreputability added to his clean-cut appeal. “It’s always harder to leave than to return.” He now rode one of the Lannock’s horses and Ella the other. Jed had spirited away the stock horses and the carriage pair in an effort to confuse any would-be follower.
“That sounds profound.”
He shrugged. “Don’t you find it so?”
“I suppose. We mainly walked from here, but we rode back because we know the way. Should we go farther?”
“How do you feel? Do you want to rest? We’ve been on the go for half a night and half a day.”
“I have the idea that if I get off this horse, I won’t be able to get back on. Let’s continue until we find a good place to cross the river. Then we can stop.”
Cal glanced at Girl, who had taken the opportunity to rest. She and the stolen horses, together with a dun and a piebald belonging to the thieves, had walked without stopping for almost twelve hours. Cal kept the thieves’ horses on lead reins but long since, he had removed the rope halters from Miffy and the Clydesdales. Whenever they or Miffy grew distracted by green feed, Girl nipped at their heels, keeping them up with the riders. “A good place? Do you mean a shallow place?”
“Of course. We don’t need to make anything more difficult than need be.”
Cal nodded and in another hour, he found a rocky riverbed where the water trickled, wide but shallow. Without looking at Ella, he crossed, the tethered horses behind him. Ella watched closely. When he reached the reed-covered bank, he dismounted and removed the saddle from his horse.
Now certain she would not be out of her depth she began to guide hers through the gleaming water. Her horse, likely sensing her apprehension, picked skittishly at each shining ripple. With a tense back and a pounding heart, she finally arrived beside Cal. She, too, dismounted, rubbing the back of her neck, conscious of his assessing gaze.
As he loaded his saddle onto the thieves’ piebald, he said, “Perhaps if Girl hadn’t rushed at you that day you would be swimming with us by now.”
She made a rueful mouth. “The billabong was a test I failed.”
“I’m sorry,” he said simply.
“It doesn’t matter. Swimming won’t be a part of my future. I’m about to be a city girl, remember?”
He nodded. “We’ll let the stock rest while we make a cup of tea. As soon as we’ve eaten, I’ll change you over to the dun. That way, we can keep going until almost dark.”
She let out a breath. “I could certainly do with a snack. What do we have?” Girl licked her hand. She glanced down and patted the tail-wagging dog. “How sweet, Girl. Thank you. I think she just congratulated me for crossing the river without a word of complaint,” she said with a lightness she was far from feeling. “And she is very brave herself and probably very tired.”
Cal tossed over the bundle he’d had since the foray into the thieves’ camp. “Look in the bag. See if I stole anything edible.”
“Oh, my,” she said, peering inside. “There’s something to be said for a life of crime. We have leg of ham or a good portion of one. I haven’t tasted ham in a twelvemonth. There’s a round of cheese and a chunk of that lovely German bread. Dried fruit, too. We can have that now and the rest tonight.”
Cal chewed dried apricots while the billy boiled. She made the tea. When she rinsed out the cups, he busied himself transferring the other saddle. The dun lifted his head and nickered, watching the scrubland. Jed appeared, riding one of the stock horses and leading the other and the carriage pair.
“How does that man know when we stop?” Cal asked her in an undertone.
“He always used to find Papa wherever he was. I don’t know how he does it, but it’s a handy skill.”
Jed slid off his horse. “Lose ’orses now?” he asked, looking regretful.
Cal scratched his dark chin. “Perhaps not. I’ve wondered… We have no proof that their horses were not stolen, too. I think we should take them back with us and deliver them to the police station in Noarlunga.”
Ella smiled. “Now that’s inventive thinking.”
Jed shuffled his bare feet. “I go this way.” He lifted a hand and indicated his direction with a sweeping palm. “Through bush. Too ’ard for Missy. I go homestead tonight and tell other missies we done good.”
“You can get back tonight?” Cal lifted his eyebrows.
“Quick, ’ere.” With a bright grin, he took his horses back into the scrub.
Ella’s gaze followed Jed. “I suspect the thieves aren’t close behind us. He would have said if they were. Anyway, I think we would have utterly confounded them with Jed taking his horses in one direction and us going in the other. They wouldn’t have known who to follow.”
“You’re probably right but I think we ought to put as much distance between them and us as we can before dark. We can follow Jed, or...” Cal cupped his hands, prepared to help Ella onto her fresh horse.
“He said it’s too hard for me. I don’t want to test if he’s right. We came this way and I’m content to go back this way. So, lead on, MacDuff.”
He gave her a strange glance. For a moment, she wondered if even now he hadn’t told her his true name and then she wondered at herself for doubting him. The man was truly incredible. He’d taken on a great deal of responsibility to collect seven horses, none of which belonged to him. He had trekked for days, making decisions that neither she nor Jed could. Her safety during this time had rested on his shoulders and she had relied on him, completely. He could call himself MacLangdo
n for all she cared.
“You said once you’d not taken on responsibility before,” she said, examining his strong face.
He gave her a twisted smile. “Only for small matters. My greater test will be—”
She heard a loud crack and a crash of splintering wood. The ground shook. Birds scattered into the air, screeching. A long, low keening sound fought through her throat as she watched the fallen leaf canopy of a red gum shudder in one last rustling throe. She covered her mouth with both her palms.
Cal stared at her, surprise etched on his face. “That was some yards away. We weren’t in any danger.”
She noted his concerned expression and realized she was weeping. “A branch like that dropped on our property six months ago.” She gasped in an effort to stifle her sobs. Using both palms, she wiped her wet face. “Papa was beneath. Now I know he didn’t have a chance. I thought... I couldn’t understand why he didn’t get out of the way.”
“As you saw, it wouldn’t have been possible.” He took a step closer to her.
Taking a step back and warding him off with a shake of her head, she found her lace handkerchief in a little pocket near the waistband of her skirt and energetically blew her nose. “When I saw the debt he left I wondered if perhaps he couldn’t see any other way out. But it was an accident, fate if you will.” Her voice cracked. “I expect that, had he lived, he would have pulled us out of debt the same way I plan to. He clearly knew the value of the carriage horses because he made sure that if anything happened to him I would own them outright.”
“That may be so. It’s possible they wouldn’t be counted as assets should the mortgage be called in. So, perhaps he did leave you protected.”
She glanced at him, uncertain. “You don’t think they could be taken now if one of our debtors wanted his money back?”
“If the debts are considered to be your father’s, and the horses are considered to be yours...”
“I won’t test the premise.” She stiffened her spine. “As soon as we get to the city I shall sell them and buy a house for my family.”
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