Bella's Vineyard

by Sally Quilford

  “Yes, do come,” said Henrietta. She was a motherly woman, who Bella guessed had once been pretty, before blooming a little too well under the California sun. “We’re always short of young people at these affairs. The new marshal is coming. He’s already caused quite a few hearts to flutter in the town.”

  “He seems like a good man,” said Ike. “He’s already fired two deputies who were on Griffiths’ payroll. Milton has a chance to thrive with a man like that in charge of law enforcement.”

  Henrietta was more interested in the party than local politics. “There’ll be dancing, and food, and my husband has hired a band from Nevada city, haven’t you, Ike?”

  “You had her at ‘the new marshal is coming’,” May murmured at Bella’s shoulder, as she put a plate of cookies onto the table. Bella hoped she was the only one to hear it.

  “Your brother will also come, we hope,” said Henrietta. “Such a handsome young man. Between him and the marshal, the young ladies of Milton are spoiled for choice. Your brother is very polite. I met him in the town only the other day. I love the way he speaks. Like a real English lord.”

  “We’d be delighted to attend,” said Bella. “If my brother can’t come, I’m sure May will be happy to take his place.”

  There was an awkward silence. “Yes, certainly,” said Ike. “Certainly. You’ll be very welcome Miss Tucker.”

  “I doubt it,” said May, without a trace of malice in her voice. “But I’m darned if I’m letting Bella travel back alone at night.”

  When the Petersons had left, Bella found May in the kitchen. “The Petersons weren’t very warm towards you. Have you had a falling out with them at some point?”

  May stopped washing the dishes and turned to face Bella. “Honey, there’s things you don’t know about me. Things I’ve been afraid to tell you, in case it turns you against me. But I should have known it would become obvious, by the way people are with me.”

  “Why are they like that, May?”

  “I told you the other day that your aunt and me looked after each other because we didn’t have husbands. The truth is neither of us wanted a husband. Because … well … we had each other. Do you understand?” May paused to allow the significance to sink in. “I didn’t wanna tell you, you being such a nice young lady and all that, and maybe you don’t wanna get mixed up in such things. I’ll understand if you’d rather I up and left.”

  “Oh May was that all?” Bella walked across the kitchen and took May’s hand. “I think I guessed on some level the day I arrived. It was the way you talked about Aunt Bella. And your boots being at the side of her bed.” Bella smiled and blushed a little. “They seemed as if they’d been there all along. I knew there was a reason she left England all those years ago. The family secret, whispers at get-togethers, that sort of thing. Father always knew, I think, but he loved his sister, and always spoke of her with affection. I don’t pretend to understand such things, obviously no-one has ever explained the details to me, me being a nice young lady and all that.” She grinned. “But it seems to me that if you’re lucky enough in this cold, hard world to find someone to love, and who loves you in return, then no one has the right to judge you or say you’re wrong.”

  “Honey, you truly are your aunt’s niece. She’d have been so proud of you.” May’s eyes filled with tears as she put her arms around Bella and hugged her roughly. “Darn it, I’m as proud of you as if you were my own kin.”

  Over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table, May told Bella everything. About dreadful time she tried to explain her feelings for Bella’s aunt to her parents. That was when May’s father turned her out. Her mother had tried to intervene on her behalf, but to no avail. May had to meet her mother in secret, but those were rare and precious occasions.

  “It was the worst kept secret in Milton,” said May. “Still is. I guess people just don’t know how to take me. Oh, they’re civil enough. I am a woman after all, so they think they have to be. Your aunt was okay, because she dressed like a lady all the time, so at least they could pretend she fit in. I’m still not one of them. My brother … well, you met him. We never did like each other before I come here to live. I don’t have to tell you his feelings on the matter. Since my mama died, and then your aunt Bella, I’ve got no family to speak of.”

  “Yes you have,” said Bella. “If you were Aunt Bella’s,” she paused, “intended, that makes you my aunty too. I think. Goodness, it’s complicated isn’t it?”

  The two women looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  Bella wanted to look her best for Amelia Peterson’s engagement party. She told herself it was because she was making her debut in Milton society, and that it had nothing to do with the fact Vance would be there.

  “What do the women wear to parties around here, May?” she asked. They were in her bedroom, and Bella was once again throwing dresses all over the floor. This time it was in frustration at finding nothing she felt was suitable. She had pretty dresses, but each time she held one up against her in front of the mirror, she ended up imagining how Vance might see her, and was left feeling inadequate.

  “You’re asking me that?” May raised an eyebrow and gestured to her faded shirt and leather chaps.

  “What have you seen them wearing?”

  “Your aunt bought a really pretty dress just before she died. She was going to wear it to the cattleman’s ball, but then she got sick. It’s a pretty little garment. White lace, with ruffle type things here…” May pointed to her shoulders, then shrugged. “You’ll find it in her wardrobe.”

  Bella searched and found the dress May described right at the back, still wrapped in tissue paper. “We’ll have to take it up a little,” she said. Her aunt had been a little bit taller than her. That didn’t matter on the day dresses, which were cut to midi-length so as not to get in the way of work, but the ball gown hung past Bella’s feet. “And I think the ruffles can go.” To Bella, it seemed they made the dress more suitable for an older woman, but for her it felt too fussy. By the time they had finished several hours later, the excess ruffles had been removed, leaving the dress with a clean-cut sweetheart neckline and a wide blue sash around the waist.

  They were eating a dinner of steak and fried potatoes when Andrew arrived back from Milton.

  “Bella, I’ve found a way to get out of this place,” he said, sitting down at the table. “Arthur Griffiths has offered us a fair price for the vineyard. We can go back to England, pay off my debts and have enough to live on.”

  “We’re not selling the vineyard, Andrew,” said Bella, putting down her knife and fork.

  “Bella, dearest, at least think about it.”

  “How much money do you owe?” she asked. Andrew looked at her and May sheepishly.

  “Not much. I can soon pay it off. With your help.”

  “I don’t have any money. You took it all, remember.”

  “Do we have to discuss this in front of the hired help?” asked Andrew, his voice rising to its familiar petulant tone.

  “May isn’t the hired help. She’s family.”

  “There are some things you don’t know about her,” he said, glowering at May. May stared him down, until he was forced to shift his gaze to the tablecloth.

  “I know everything there is to know,” said Bella firmly. “I know she’s generous enough to keep us in food for a while.”

  “Which is exactly what I’m talking about. If we sell the vineyard you can pay her back what you owe her, and then we can…”

  “Andrew, I’m not going. Not now. May and I have a plan to make the vineyard work. We won’t be rich, but we’ll be able to make a decent living. Of course, we’ll need your help.”

  “Me? You want me to work in the vineyard?” Andrew snorted.

  “We have some Chinese workers starting work tomorrow but, yes, we’ll need help.” Bella knew it was futile to even ask, but she wanted to give Andrew a chance to show his mettle.

  “I’m a gentleman,” said Andrew. “Just as my
father was a gentleman. You don’t honestly expect me to get my hands dirty?”

  “We’ve got to earn a living, Andrew. May and I can only do so much.”

  Andrew stood up. “You do what you want, but I’m not going to help you in this ridiculous undertaking.”

  “Where are you going?” asked Bella.

  “Back to Milton. I’m going to take a room there.”

  “You don’t have any money.”

  “I’ll do what I’ve been having to do all week. I’ll borrow some until I win it by my own skill at cards. At least I’m not relying on charity.”

  Bella winced. Andrew left, slamming the front door behind him. “Oh, May,” she said, pushing away her plate and putting her head in her hands. “What am I to do with him?”

  “You’re to let him learn that in this country people don’t get what they want just through birth right or winning it in a game of chance. They have to work for it.”

  “I’d love him to be able to live the life of a gentleman,” said Bella, “but it just isn’t realistic. Not anymore.”

  “Nope. I don’t like Griffiths very much, but the man hasn’t been afraid to get his hands dirty.”

  “Except when it comes to killing marshals,” said Bella, shivering.

  “Well, maybe you’re right on that score. Not that he even gets his hands dirty then. I mean he’s earned his living. He was respected for it as a young man. Not much liked, I’ll grant you, he’s always been too oily for that. It’s only been in recent years he’s started acting like he’s some kind of God around the place.”

  “What changed him do you think?”

  “This country. It either makes or breaks a man. Sometimes it makes them then breaks them, when they realise they’ll never be as big as those mountains over in the distance.”

  “A man on the train said that men go mad out here. I suppose it doesn’t really help if they were not that stable to begin with.” Bella was thinking of Andrew.

  “No, honey, probably not.”

  Over the days that followed, she tried not to worry about her brother. There was a lot to do in the vineyard, and she was expected to attend the engagement party, despite the fact that she was not in the mood to socialise.

  Shen, a refined old gentleman who put Bella in mind of one of the three magi, arrived with his family and began to teach her all she needed to know about viticulture.

  “We are over fifteen hundred feet above sea level,” he told her. “That is perfect for wine-making, which is why there are so many vineyards in the Sierra Nevada. Our main enemies are phylloxera, an insect that feeds on the roots. And fire. Especially in this hot, dry weather. The plants become brittle, and can quickly go up in flames. ”

  Bella nodded, but understood very little of what he said.

  “Do not worry, Miss Bella. You will soon learn. You are starting with all the tools you need. It costs a lot of money to develop a vineyard and can take up to four years before the grapes are ready to be harvested for wine. Your aunt has left everything you need, including the cellars and the ready-made vineyards. All these vines need now is love and attention.”

  “How did you learn all this?” asked Bella. “What I mean is that I usually associate wine growing with the French.”

  “It is the main profession of my family for many centuries. My father owned a vineyard when we first came here from China. But things are hard for us now. The Chinese Exclusion Act has prevented more of us from entering California and those of us who already live here cannot leave. I have not seen my wife for ten years, because I dare not leave, and she cannot come here.”

  “I’m so sorry,” said Bella. “I hope you are happy with May’s offer. I don’t want to be another person who treats you like a second class citizen.”

  “You at least allow us to share the profits. Few Europeans will even allow that. The vineyards are my life. I enjoyed working for your aunt and I will enjoy working for you.”

  Bella held out her hand and shook his. “The feeling is mutual. Thank you.”

  It was gruelling work, involving miles of walking and backbreaking pruning of the overgrown vines, but in many ways it helped her. She was too exhausted at the end of each day to think much about anything. One thing she did notice, however, was that Vance Eagleson had not been to visit since that second day. She knew he was busy with his new post, and that she could not expect his undivided attention. Still, she missed his calming presence in her life.

  It was on the morning of the engagement party that he visited again. As he walked to the vines where she was working whilst Hector ran around her feet, his face was grim.

  “What is it? What’s happened?” she said, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. “Is it Andrew?”

  “Yes,” said Vance, getting down from his horse. “He’s still alive, don’t worry about that. I’m sorry, Bella, but I had to arrest him last night. He got into a brawl in the saloon. They say he was cheating at cards. I locked him up for his safety. I need you to vouch for him, and promise me that he’ll stay here for a while. If he goes into town he’s gonna get shot.”

  Bella sighed. What else could she do? “Yes, yes, of course. I’ll come down and get him.”

  Bella saddled up a horse for herself and one for Andrew. She had found some tan-coloured culottes of her aunt’s, finding it much easier to sit astride the horse than riding sidesaddle. It was how she had seen most of the young ladies of Milton ride, and gave her a sense of freedom she had never known.

  “I’m sorry for the trouble Andrew has caused,” she said, as she and Vance rode towards Milton.

  “He’s lucky he’s not dead, Bella. Men around here don’t like cheats.”

  “I’m sure he didn’t cheat,” she said, hotly. “Andrew is many things, but he’s honest.”

  “Is that why he stole the last of your money?”

  “How did you know about that?” Bella’s face burned crimson.

  “He told me all about it while he was drunk last night. He’s sorry, but I think that’s more for being found out than actually taking it.”

  “Anyway, that’s different,” said Bella. “ I mean, stealing from family is not the same as cheating at cards, is it?”

  “Maybe that’s something for you to decide.” Vance fixed her with his intense gaze. “Your brother has a sickness, Bella. One that few men can overcome, especially out here, where there’s not much else to do in the evenings.”

  Bella looked up towards Vance, sitting high and proud in the saddle. She hated that he had such a low opinion of her brother, feeling that it reflected on her. She also hated that their easy friendship had become strained by Andrew’s arrest. “I’m sorry if this has caused you any problems,” she said again.

  “I’m just doing my job,” he said. His voice softened. “And sometimes I have to do things I’d rather not do. I’m only sorry that you’re having to deal with this alone.”

  “I’m not alone. I’ve got May. She’s been wonderful.”

  “Miss Tucker is a very capable woman. Kind of scary too. But I feel a little happier knowing she’s with you.”

  “She thinks you’re wonderful,” said Bella. “So I don’t think you have much to be afraid of. May chooses her friends well, I think.”

  Vance brought his horse nearer and put his hand over Bella’s. They were both wearing gloves, yet the very pressure of his hand sent a white-hot flame searing through her. “I am your friend, Bella. I want you to remember that. No matter what might happen with your brother. No matter how many times I might have to arrest him. You might forget that, when you’re angry with me, but it won’t change the fact that whatever happens, I am your friend.”

  “Why would I be angry with you?”

  “Because it’ll be easier than being angry with him. I just want you to know that I understand where your loyalties lie.”

  “I’m sure it won’t happen again, Vance. Andrew is just lost in a strange land, that’s all. We all are. Me, you, Andrew, Shen, even May, who was
born here. We’re all outsiders in Milton.”

  “That’s true, but some of us care less than others.”

  “Do you really not care, Vance? Or do you just pretend to survive the silent insults of men like Bill and Tom?”

  “There’s a saying. Those that matter don’t mind and those that mind don’t matter. I’m not gonna lose sleep over Griffiths. Besides, I’m not an outsider.” The corners of his mouth turned up, and he had a wry look in his eyes. “My paternal ancestors were here long before the Europeans came. This is our land, and no amount of posturing by Griffiths or men like him is going to alter that.”

  “Have you come to claim it back?” asked Bella with an impish grin.

  Vance laughed. “No. Well, not all of it. Just a little corner for myself.”

  “I wish I could be more like you,” said Bella. “You’re so certain of your place in this world.”

  “Not always,” he said, quietly. “Do you think I’d be invited to the Peterson’s party if I were full Cherokee? Or if it had been my father rather than my great-grandfather? I’m only in this job because I’ve got enough European in me to be palatable to the good citizens of Milton.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true,” said Bella.

  “I’m pretty sure it is. My great-grandfather had a much tougher time of it than I do – his European wife was disowned by her family when she married him – but the bigotry is still there, under the surface.”

  Bella did not know how to answer that. She was tempted to apologise for every white man alive. Sadly, she realised that anything she said would sound trite, or perhaps even patronising, and Vance Eagleson was not a man who would appreciate being spoken to in such a way. She did not want to add to the insults he endured.

  “Your great-grandmother must have loved your great-grandfather very much,” she said. “To be willing to give up so much for him.”

  “Yes, I believe she did at first. But then she began to miss her family and the trappings of their riches. She blamed him for taking her away. She left him when my grandfather was a boy of ten, and returned to her people. They did all they could then to make sure my grandfather was brought up in European ways.”