by Faye Hall
Watching the boy run off, he hoped upon hope this boy would be able to tell him something regarding Phoebe’s whereabouts.
He needed to find her...and soon.
Chapter Nine
Walking down the main street of Holme Hill toward the bank, Duncan wondered what he was going to do about his cattle station. Upon losing possession of his station a few years back, he had lost touch with the sellers and buyers in the district, both of which he now needed if he were to get his station back to what it once was.
Up ahead of him, he spied Henry Johnson on the corner near the bank, a fellow cattleman who had once been a constant business associate of his some years back.
Stopping a few feet from him, Duncan took his hat off, wiping the sweat from his brow on his shirt sleeve.
“You’re looking well, Henry,” he greeted him familiarly.
Henry turned suddenly to face him.
“Duncan?” he asked as if disbelieving who he was seeing. “I heard rumour you had returned to town. Good to see you again, my boy.”
“Henry, I need to sell my cattle as soon as possible if you’d be interested,” he proposed humbly.
Henry Johnson shook his head, looking regrettably. “I can’t afford to at the moment, Duncan. I’m sorry, son. Just these rustlers are costing me a fortune in repairs and lost stock.”
“Rustlers?” he asked.
Henry nodded. “Since just before you left town, my cattle have been getting raided near nightly. I’ve lost thousands of pounds worth of stock, not to mention the damage the bastards have caused to my yards.”
Duncan thought for a moment.
“If I can fix your rustler problem will you buy the cattle, Henry?” he asked.
After thinking on the offer given to him for a while, Henry finally nodded.
Reaching out, Duncan shook the other man’s hand in settlement of their arrangement.
“I’ll send some men to your property tonight, Henry.” he explained. “The cattle will be delivered to your station in the morning.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Duncan.” Henry warned him. “These rustlers are like ghosts.”
He nodded. “Maybe so, but in my experience even ghosts can be caught.”
Shaking hands with the man one last time, Duncan turned away from Henry and went to see the bank about acquiring the money he needed to start implementing the rest of his plan.
Walking into the bank manager’s office, he took a seat.
“The partners and I were under the impression you had left town, Duncan,” the bank manager said taking a seat opposite him at his desk.
He smiled. “I think that was the general intention, don’t you, Robert.”
Robert merely nodded, suddenly looking very uncomfortable in his seat.
“So what are you doing here, Duncan?” the bank manager asked. “Surely you must know your parents took you off the company’s bank accounts?”
He nodded. “I don’t want my parent’s money, Robert. I want the sapphire ring you have locked away in my aunt’s deposit box. The one she left to me upon her death.”
“I can’t do it, Duncan,” Robert muttered awkwardly, pushing back away from his desk. “You must know your family have been asking me to give them your aunt’s ring for years now, but as I have told them, there is certain protocol that has to be gone through, identities that have to be verified. It’s not a simple exchange that I can make.”
He stood from his seat, annoyed by this man’s continued avoidance. “You can shove your protocol, Robert. You know as well as I do that the sapphire is mine.”
Robert fidgeted nervously with the buttons on his cuffs. “The partners have to agree, Duncan. I can’t—”
He slammed his fist on the desk. “Either you get the gem for me now, Robert, or I will go straight to my father and tell him that you have been skimming off the company's bank account for years...I’ll also tell him about you and my mother.”
Robert stood up from his seat, knocking the chair back against the wall. “You can’t come in here demanding—”
“I can and I will!” Duncan roared. “I wonder what the managing directors of the bank would think if I were to tell them of all that happens in this bank...all that happens in your office?”
Fastening the buttons on his jacket, the banker, walked around the desk.
“F…Follow me, Mr MacAllester.”
Leaving the bank, the sapphire ring in his pocket, Duncan walked across the dirt street and into the jewellers.
“How much will you pay for this?” he asked, putting the beautiful piece of jewellery on the counter.
The jeweller looked through his examining glass at the gem carefully.
“T-This is a-a-m…”
“I know what it is,” Duncan interrupted. “I need to know what you will pay me for it.”
The jeweller removed his examining glass and looked up at him, astonishment covering his face.
“I-I can’t price this, sir.” he explained. “In truth, I’ve never seen anything like this...ever.”
Realising this bumbling man wasn’t going to be of help to him, Duncan thought of a better way to approach the matter at hand.
“I need at least £250. Can you give me that much?”
The jeweller nodded, a very stunned look on his face. “This ring is probably worth at least double that, sir.”
Duncan nodded. “As I am well aware, but right now I need that figure of money for something that means far more to me than the actual value of that ring.”
Duncan left the jewellers and walked back out into the street, knowing with certainty he could now pay David Pola and his men for their future services to him, regardless of the progression of his cattle station. That said, he needed his station back up and running to its fullest as soon as possible. He had no intention of working for his family any longer than necessary. The sooner he found the whereabouts of Phoebe and moved her to safety, the sooner he could return to his once peaceful life.
But would she want to share that peaceful life with him? He had never before put much thought into sharing his life with any woman he had bedded, but now…
There was something about Phoebe that haunted Duncan, to the point where he would wake from his sleep, his body wet with sweat, his mind swimming with the naked beauty that she was and her silken words begging him to take her in ways no Godly woman should want.
She was the devil’s own temptation and he was willing to risk everything, including his life to get her back.
Shaking his head at his own imprudence, he feared he was acting little better than a lovesick fool, a behaviour he had always been careful to avoid. He had watched men lose everything for the love of a woman. He had seen them throw caution to the wind, and ultimately destroy their lives all so they might hear some lady surrender their heart to them.
Duncan had seen men do exactly what he was willing to do now.
Looking around him at the business of the townspeople, he tried to make himself see reason. He had nothing to offer any woman, let alone one like Phoebe. He certainly wasn’t capable of surrendering his own heart to her.
Glancing up ahead, Duncan caught sight of a black haired woman walking slowly past the shop windows, her slender figure clothed in a long sleeved bodice that sat against her hips, the narrow fanned skirt covering near to the heel of her boots. His heart thudded loudly in his chest. Phoebe?
Desperately fighting through the crowd of shoppers, he tried to catch up to her. As he neared her though, he began to notice certain differences from the woman he had travelled with. The woman he had grown so fond of had a strength about her, one visible in the pride she held herself with as she walked. This woman he was following now though seemed to be scared of everyone who passed her, and startled at every passing noise she heard.
This wasn’t his Phoebe.
Still following this woman, Duncan tried to catch her attention several times but she avoided him. Finally, his emotions ove
rcoming him, he could take no more of her ignoring him. He needed to know for certain who she was...and he needed to know now.
Closing in on her as she stopped before the draperies shop window, he reached out to her, grabbed her elbow, and turned her around to look at him.
Instantly he noticed her deep brown eyes, like dark pools for him to drown in. Her pale skin seeming paler than he remembered; the redness of her lips made him ache for the mere taste of her again. And he would have, in that instant, had she not looked like a rabbit being cornered by a fox.
“Y-You’re alive?” she stammered, tears welling in her eyes.
Suddenly Duncan didn’t know what to say to her. This woman was his Phoebe, yet wasn’t the woman he had come looking for. The woman before him now was barely a shadow of the woman he met in Ravenswood some months back. His hand came up cautiously to her face, his fingers brushing against the slightly blushed skin of her cheek, and he found himself wondering where the woman he had known—the woman he now ached for—had gone.
Phoebe pulled her elbow from his now loosening hold, and straightened her attire. Her eyes staying averted from his as she stepped away from him.
“Excuse me, sir, but it seems you have me mistaken for someone else.”
He reached for her again, his fingers firmly gripping her forearm pulling her back to him, confused by her denial.
“No, I don’t, Phoebe,” he assured her. “I know who you are—I know every inch of you.”
Duncan let out a heavy sigh, half surrendering to the emotions this woman was again stirring up inside of him. “You are a hard woman to forget, Phoebe. I should know. I have been haunted by the mere image of you since you were taken away from me.”
She pulled free from his hold yet again. Lifting her hand to her face, she brushed the loose strands of hair from her face. He didn’t miss the bruises that were revealed by her slightly raised sleeve.
“What the hell happened to you?” he gasped, trying to reach for her. “Why are there bruises on your wrists?”
Phoebe avoided him by taking a step back, tentatively pulling her sleeve back down to cover her discolored skin. “I’m sorry, Duncan, but I have to go. It is good to see you are unharmed after all, but I really have to leave you now. If I am seen—if we are seen—”
She breathed deeply as if steadying herself. “Your brother will not be happy if he hears word of your return. He will be more unhappy to know I was talking to you.”
His eyes narrowed on her, fearing what she might be hiding from him. “What has Gordon done to you?”
She stayed silent, her stare shifting away from his, tears obviously welling in her eyes again.
“Has my brother touched you, Phoebe?” he asked, dreading to hear her answer but knowing he must. “Has that bastard laid a hand on you?”
Finally she looked back to him, tears falling down her cheeks, her naturally red lips trembling. “Gordon hasn’t shared my bed if that’s what you're asking, Duncan. It seems your brother finds his pleasures in other ways.”
Phoebe turned away from him then, walking into the crowds littering the main street, leaving him in a myriad of emotion.
Duncan had found Phoebe...after weeks of waiting for any news of her here she was, in flesh and blood and again so close to him.
She was more beautiful than he remembered, holding herself with an elegance that far surpassed any other woman walking the street. His heart ached to hold her to him again, but seeing the woman Phoebe now seemed to be, he doubted she would allow it. She seemed so guarded now, so separated from the world around her...so separated from him.
This last thought made his heart ache. Duncan knew he couldn’t confess to any form of love for this woman, a foolish emotion he knew better than to indulge in, but still it pained him to think of the distance she now insisted lay between them. He didn’t know what she had been made to endure in his absence, nor did he know to the full extent the relationship she now held with his brother. All he knew was he had to find out for certain who or what had caused her bruises and take her away from such a danger.
Following Phoebe at a distance, he caught sight of the errand boy he’d met upon arriving in town.
“What did you find out for me boy?” Duncan asked, reaching out and grabbing the young street rat.
“The lady you asked about, her name is now Phoebe MacAllester. She lives with her husband on the edge of town in that big, grand, stone house.”
“And what of Inkerman Downs Station?” he asked him.
“The Porter place?” the boy asked. “No one lives there, sir.”
Duncan let go of the boy, throwing him some coin, before turning back in the direction he’d last seen Phoebe.
His heart ached knowing she was now his brother’s wife, though he feared such a thing also explained her bruises. Following her again, he knew he needed to speak with her, needed to know for sure just how much she had been made to live through at the hands of Gordon MacAllester.
Closing the distance between them, they were almost at the jewellers when Duncan could take no more and he pulled her into the nearby alley between the stores.
Chapter Ten
Duncan held Phoebe gently by the wrists against the stone wall of the alley, his body moulding into hers as his lips passionately took hers, his tongue gently brushing against her lips begging for a taste of her.
He had wanted to question her when first he had pulled her into the hidden confines of the alley, but being so close to her again—her sweet smell of jasmine taunted him, reminded him of how far this sweet scent travelled on her. Though he knew it was wrong, he couldn’t stop himself from pulling her to him and embracing her.
Craving the feel of this woman’s naked skin against his own, Duncan trailed his caressing lips down her neck toward the V-neck of her gown. His fingers left her wrist, and moved down, pulling her dress from her shoulder....revealing patches of blue, purple and black bruises covering her milky skin.
He stepped back away from her, his grip on her loosening. His gaze held hers, and he began to understand why she had changed so much.
He knew she struggled to hold back her tears, as she pulled the shoulder of her gown back into place. “As I told you, Duncan, your brother finds his own pleasures outside of the bedroom.”
His eyes narrowed, studying her, confused why any man would want to cause such a beautiful woman pain. Hesitantly reaching forward, Duncan carefully unbuttoned the first few inches of Phoebe’s bodice, and slid the stiff fabric down, revealing both of her naked shoulders to his inspecting eye. The bruises that covered her were far worse than any he had ever seen before on any woman.
“Are there more like these, Phoebe?” Duncan asked hesitantly.
She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Why?” he asked, pained by what he was hearing. “Why would any man want to do such a thing to someone as beautiful as you?”
Tears overcoming her, she couldn’t answer him.
He pulled her to him, and held her, hoping to comfort her sobs. He needed to know that at least for this minute she was safe back in his arms.
But it wasn’t long before she was pushing him away from her.
“I can’t stay here, Duncan,” she pleaded. “I can’t stay here with you.”
He held her to him, not willing to let her leave him.
“Come with me, Phoebe,” he pleaded. “Let me take you away from here, away from Gordon. I can keep you safe.”
She shook her head, pulled away from him, and straightened her clothing. “You can’t keep me safe, Duncan. No one can.”
She turned away from him and walked back down the alleyway.
“You said you loved me, Phoebe,” he yelled out to her, desperate to make her return to him. “You laid in my arms, your skin against mine and told me you loved me.”
He walked slowly toward where she had slowly come to a stop. “I won’t send you back to him, Phoebe. Husband or not, I will not send you back to that hell.”
She slowly turned, wiping the tears from her cheek. “You have no choice, Duncan.”
Her words pained him.
“I can’t just watch you leave me, knowing what Gordon will make you live through, Phoebe,” he confessed. “I watched him kill a woman I cared about once before. I can’t do it again.”
“I have been told of some of the women from your past, Duncan, including your brother’s fiancée. I’m curious to know if you loved her, Duncan, or did you just seduce the poor chit to anger your brother?” she asked, coldly.
When he didn’t answer her, she continued. “The woman you claim to have watched Gordon kill was your brother’s fiancée, wasn’t she?”
He couldn’t look at her, fearing what she may have learnt of his philandering past.
“I was a different man back then, Phoebe...I lived a different life.” He sighed heavily. “There are things about my life that you don’t know...things I pray you will never know.”
“So you did love her then?” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “She must have been some kind of woman for you to surrender your heart to her, Duncan.”
“I came back here for you, Phoebe,” he begged her to understand. “I came to rescue you.”
She didn’t budge at his heartfelt words.
“Did you give your brother’s fiancée that same plea?”
Her remark stabbed at him as little else could. He knew she was baiting him into telling her at least this truth of his past. It was one he needed to clarify, despite his reluctance.
“Her name was Erica,” he confessed as he lifted his gaze back to Phoebe. “She told me she loved me. She was going to leave my brother so she could be with me instead. I told her she should stay with him because what I felt for her wasn’t love.”
She bit her lip. “Did you sleep with her, Duncan?”
He nodded, ashamed by what he was admitting to. “I slept with her every night she threw herself at me...but I didn’t want what she did, Phoebe.”