by Norah Hess
Spots of angry red appeared on D'lise cheeks. "Are you accusing me of—"
"Exactly, lady. There will be no more galavantin' around while I'm at work."
D'lise shot a look at the determined jut of his jaw and lost all self-control. She had planned to tell him quietly about the teaching job, explain how the mothers had more or less shamed her into taking the position, how time dragged so with him gone all day. But she realized now that he couldn't care less how she spent her days. His prime concern was that people would think he was being cuckolded, that his friends would laugh behind his back.
With angry defiance snapping in her eyes, she glared at Kane, her clenched fists on her hips. "You might as well know right now that I have agreed to be Piney Ridge's new schoolteacher. I start January second."
"So!" Kane shouted back, "the pair of you have dreamed up another scheme to see each other. He'll pick you up in the mornin's and bring you home at night. How big a fool do you think I am?"
"I think you're all manner of fool!" D'lise yelled back. "I probably won't see Samuel at all unless I run into him accidentally."
"Hah! Do you expect me to believe that you're crazy enough to make that trip twice a day to Piney Ridge alone?"
"I don't intend to make it alone. Old Tom Spears is going to ride with me. He'll come by in the mornings, ride with me to the village, then return with me at the end of the schoolday."
Kane glared back at her for several seconds then, turning on his heel, left the cabin, slamming the door behind him. "That's it, go to your squaw." D'lise stared at the shuddering door before collapsing into a rocker.
Her head was beginning to ache with a dull throbbing. Scrag came and rubbed against her legs, and Hound laid his head in her lap. She wondered if they were aware of her unhappiness.
The clock struck six and she jumped to her feet. The cow had to be milked. The poor thing was probably in a lot of pain. Supper was going to be a little late also.
Kane was feeding the horses when she entered the barn, but he didn't look up as she walked straight to Spider. No word was spoken between them as she hurriedly coaxed the milk into the pail, then fed the chickens. His back was still turned to her when she left the barn.
As D'lise buried three potatoes in the hot ashes, then covered them with red coals, she wondered how it would all end. How long could they go on with this coldness that had developed between them? How many evenings could she sit alone in the cabin, knowing that her husband was spending his time with his squaw?
Forty-five minutes later, as she placed a platter of steak and a dish of stewed turnips on the table, she still hadn't come up with an answer. For the time being she must live one day at a time, she told herself.
D'lise picked at her supper, her ears alert for the sound of footsteps. Kane had to be starving. When half an hour had passed, and he hadn't returned, she covered the steak and turnips, placed them on the hearth to keep warm, and returned two of the potatoes to the hot ashes. After setting two pans of scraps on the floor for the cat and dog, she undressed and went to bed.
Although she was sure she wouldn't close her eyes all night, the next thing D'lise knew, the sun was pouring through the window. She turned her head and looked at Kane's pillow, and a stab of pain and bitterness jabbed her heart. There was no imprint of his head on the plump pillow. He had not slept with her. He had spent the entire night with Raven.
She sat up in bed and wearily ran her fingers through her curls. Was this his way of telling her that their marriage was over?
A cynical grimace curved her lips. Their marriage had been doomed from the beginning. Wedlock was hard enough when two people loved each other. It never ran smooth when only half of a married couple felt love toward the other. She had known from the start that Kane didn't love her. It was true he took great pleasure in her body, but evidently he found more satisfaction with Raven. Even in that respect she hadn't been able to hold him.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, her bare toes fumbling for her moccasins. She had pushed one foot into one when her eyes strayed to the fireplace and widened. There lay Kane's bedroll, all tangled up with Hound asleep on it.
Her pulse sang. He hadn't spent the night with Raven. "Nor did he spend it with you," she muttered, putting on the other moccasin.
Nevertheless, her steps were light as she made up her bed and folded Kane's blankets.
Chapter Fifteen
To her surprise, D'lise began to look forward to each new day. She soon found that she loved teaching her students. There were several of them, ranging in age from six to seventeen. Samuel's little girls, six and eight, were her favorites. They were well-mannered children, eager to learn, and never gave her any trouble.
Of the Bellows children, Josie, thirteen, was well behaved but wasn't too bright. D'lise feared she wouldn't be able to teach the girl a great deal. Her two brothers, James, seven, and Daniel, ten, although bright, were real mischief-makers, always doing something to disrupt the other students.
Then there was Becky Patton, age sixteen, and her three brothers, Josh, fourteen, Raymond, twelve, and Jessie, ten. The boys behaved fairly well, knowing that if they didn't they'd feel the strap at home.
Finally, there were four Jessup children, three girls and one boy, ranging in age from six to ten. Thinly clad and always looking hungry, they sat in their seats as quietly as mice.
D'lise sighed over her first cup of coffee. There were the two Davis girls, thirteen and fifteen. Lillibeth, the younger, was interested in an education and paid close attention to everything her teacher said. But Amy, the older one, shouldn't have been taking up her time. She was already as man-crazy as her eighteen-year-old sister Rosy and was more interested in Jason Thomas, age seventeen, than she was in learning anything.
Jason was in charge of building a fire in the school's fireplace every morning and keeping the woodbox filled. Most times when she and old Tom arrived at the sturdy little building with its bell hanging from the porch, Amy was with Jason, a smug, contented look on her narrow little face. D'lise often wondered what the two of them got up to, all alone, and what time they arrived at the schoolhouse.
When she mentioned her thoughts to Tom one day, he'd grunted and stated as if it were a fact, "They be buildin' more than one fire."
D'lise grinned and poured herself another cup of coffee. Tom Spears was a cantankerous old man, who had come to the remote, unvisited wilderness years ago and built his cabin. He had lived alone all his life, and some said that he was strange because he didn't invite friendliness from most people. But united in their loneliness, a fast friendship had developed between D'lise and the old gent.
Tom was uneducated, couldn't even write his own name, but he was quite intelligent and thought deeply about many things. One day when they were discussing the women who whored for a living, she had remarked that she somehow felt sorry for those women, having to cater to a man's lust. Tom had agreed, then asked, "You ever look deep in a whore's eyes? They look kind of used-up. Like they've seen too much." She had thought it was a good description of the women's eyes.
The old fellow was racked with rheumatism, unable to run a trapline anymore, and the winter days were long for him. But in the summer, he always planted and tended a large garden that kept him outside under the sun, which eased his aching joints somewhat.
She had heard that he gave away much of what he grew, but that he put a lot away for his winter use. Ever since school started and he rode with her to and from Piney Ridge, he had kept the Devlins supplied with dried stringbeans, which he called leather britches, kernels of sweet corn, dried apples, crocks of sauerkraut, potatoes, dry beans, and the best pickles she'd ever bitten into. The dried vegetables, soaked in water overnight, were almost as good as if freshly picked.
D'lise in turn shared her eggs with him, and kept him in bread, pies, and cookies.
D'lise had just finished her second cup of coffee and was rinsing out the cup when Tom halloed the cabin. She slipped on her f
ur jacket, picked up the school papers she had been grading, and hurried to the barn. As usual, Tom had Beauty saddled and waiting for her.
As they headed the mounts toward the village, Tom glanced up at the chimney and said, "Look how the smoke is goin' toward the ground. That means it's gonna rain."
"Or maybe snow." D'lise slid him a twinkling look. Sometimes she liked to bait him. "After all, it's still February."
"No." Tom shook his head. "There won't be no more snowin'. March arrives next week, and before long the days will get longer and the sun warmer. I can't hardly wait for to feel the hot sun beatin' down on me again."
D'lise had her doubts about the rain. The sky was as blue as it could be. She slid Tom another teasing look. "Do you suppose it will hold off until we get home this afternoon?"
"Yes, more's the pity," Tom snapped. "There's one smart-tongued lady I'd like to see get her rear end soaked."
"Now who could that be, I wonder?" D'lise chuckled.
"It's a little smart-ass ridin' half a horse-length behind me," the old fellow grumped.
They entered the village then, and riding up beside her elderly friend, D'lise gave him a twisted grin. After a moment, he returned it. They pulled rein in front of the schoolhouse and were greeted by Jason and Amy sitting on the top step to the porch. Both looked as innocent as babes.
"Look at the boy," Tom said in an aside as D'lise slipped out of the saddle. "That little whore has just about wore him out."
"Tom!" D'lise whispered the exclamation. "You don't know that."
"I know. It's plain to see. He's all droopy and she's full of vinegar. Come lunchtime and you let them out to eat their lunches, them two will run to the woodshed and go to it until the school bell rings."
"Do you know that for a fact?" D'lise looked at him wide-eyed.
Old Tom nodded. "Yep, I do. I've watched them."
"That wasn't very nice of you to spy on them, Tom," D'lise scolded, "even if they shouldn't have been doing it."
"I didn't spy on them exactly. The first time I just kinda happened on them when I went to the shed to get an ax. The other times I see them go in there, I just imagine they're doin' the same thing. I'm sure they're not sittin' in there holdin' hands."
"I hope that foolish girl doesn't find herself pregnant someday," D'lise said, still whispering.
The old man's lips twisted in a thin smile. "That Jason had better pray that she don't. It could belong to any one of a dozen men, but you can bet she'd name him as the father. His daddy, Buck, would peel the hide off him should he have to marry into that riff-raff."
D'lise gave the teenagers a narrow look as she came up the three steps to the porch, and did not return their smile. Over the coming weekend she'd think of some way to keep the pair apart—at least during the time they were attending school.
As usual on Friday, the children were restless, anxious for school to let out, to enjoy two days away from readers and spellers. D'lise sighed her relief after looking at the school clock and seeing it was three-thirty. Only another half hour to go.
"Who wants to sweep the floor?" she asked, and every hand in the room except those of the older boys went up. That was female work. She chose Becky Patton. Becky would get all the corners.
The clock struck four, and there was a hurried rush of slates put away. When D'lise gave the word, the children filed out of the room in an orderly fashion, then whooped like a pack of Indians on the war path as they ran off in different directions.
Tom waited for D'lise, holding Beauty's reins. As she came down the steps, he pointed a finger at the northwest sky. "Take a look at them black clouds buildin' up there, Missy. I told you it was gonna rain. We might even get wet before we get home."
"Well, let's get a move on." D'lise swung into the saddle and led off. "It won't do your rheumatism any good if you get soaked through by a cold rain."
An early darkness had descended by the time they reached D'lise's cabin. Old Tom started to take Beauty to the barn to unsaddle her. D'lise took the reins from him. "I'll take care of her," she said. "You get on home. You just might make it before those clouds open up."
"If you don't mind, I think I'll do that," Tom said, and lifted his mount into a trot, mindful of the icy condition of the trail.
D'lise turned Beauty into her stall, stripped off the saddle, and pitched her a forkful of hay before sprinting toward the cabin. She pushed the door open just as the first drops of rain began to fall. The hound darted out to lift his leg against a tree, then dashed back to scratch at the door. Scrag lay in her rocker looking smug as Hound shook himself, showering water over the hearth. He didn't have to go outside when nature called. Back in a corner was a long pan of dirt for him to use.
D'lise lit some candles and changed into one of her work dresses. She was uncovering the live coals and adding wood to them when the rain began in earnest. Old Tom was going to get wet, she thought, shaking her head worriedly.
As she went about preparing supper, the rain thundered on the roof and sheeted down the window. She glanced often from the potatoes she was peeling, searching the trail Kane always took when running his line. She tried not to feel sorry for him in the cold, drenching wetness.
Nevertheless, she lit another candle and placed it in the window to guide him to the cabin.
As she laid out three pork chops to be dredged in flour later, a happy thought came to her. Surely Raven wouldn't come out in this downpour to meet Kane in the barn.
Kane still went to the barn as soon as he finished eating, and she still found Raven's footprints around the barn door. She and Kane lived in a strained atmosphere that was beginning to tell on them both. Only at night did they find a short time of peace, an erasing of the turmoil that was tearing them apart.
Kane had slept on the floor only that one night. Giving no explanation for his change of mind, he had gotten into bed when he returned to the cabin the next night.
Had D'lise questioned him, and had he had a mind to tell her the truth, he'd have answered that he missed waking up in the middle of the night and feeling her soft body curled up against him.
Each had hugged their own side of the bed for several nights before, in the middle of one night, they had rolled toward each other in their sleep, their legs entwining. The touch of their limbs was all that it took. In a flash Kane had D'lise in his arms, his lips moving over hers with raw hunger. D'lise welcomed his kiss eagerly, and deepening the kiss, Kane moved his body to lie on top of hers, and she opened up to him.
With a hoarse groan, he slid inside her and began a deep, rhythmic thrusting. She caught his fevered pace and lifted her hips to capture each inch of him. In no time at all, she reached the crest of no return. At the same time, Kane groaned his scorching release.
He collapsed on top of her, his face buried between her chin and shoulder. Then, even as his heart still raced, he silently rolled off her and moved to his side of the bed. And as D'lise moved toward her side, she wasn't sure she hadn't dreamed it all.
It had become common practice then, that in the middle of the night they would turn to each other. But they never indulged in morning desire anymore, that wonderful time of leisurely lovemaking.
Flames were leaping in the fireplace, and the meat was fried a golden brown when Kane pushed open the cabin door, soaked to the skin. D'lise wanted to cry out her sympathy for him, help him out of his wet jacket. But she knew he wouldn't want her pity, nor her help, so she silently handed him a towel to dry his face and hair. He muttered something, which she took for words of reluctant thanks.
She kept her eyes averted from him as he stripped before the fire, then changed into dry clothes. She thought about that lean body often enough without looking at it. To see the broad shoulders, the narrow hips, and what lay beyond might make her lose control, make her throw herself against his body. It would be too embarrassing if he should repulse her while he was fully awake. For all she knew, when he turned to her in the middle of the night, he could very well be dre
aming of Raven.
Supper was eaten in its usual fashion—in silence. Kane drank two cups of coffee, then pulled on a hooded oilskin jacket and, as usual, left the cabin. D'lise's lips trembled. Evidently he was sure that Raven would meet him in the barn, regardless of the downpour.
When she had washed and dried everything used in preparing the meal, she sat in front of the fire correcting her pupils' test papers. She found with satisfaction that most of the children were coming along nicely with her tutoring. It gave her a great sense of accomplishment.
D'lise stretched and yawned, then changed into her nightgown. As she lay curled on her side of the bed, she tried not to think about what was going on in the barn.
"You must stop thinking of them," she chastised herself. Constant fretting had pared down her weight alarmingly. Her breasts and hip bones were becoming almost undiscernible under her clothes. Ellen had remarked on her weight loss a couple of times. She had laughingly brushed it off, claiming that keeping her students in line was keeping her in trim shape. Not for the world would she tell anyone that she was heartsick because Raven was back in Kane's life.
It rained for four days, sometimes only a drizzle, other times a steady beat of rain. D'lise tried to talk old Tom into staying home, telling him that the wet and damp would aggravate his rheumatism and that she would be perfectly safe riding to school alone. But he would have none of it, and every morning when she stepped out of the cabin, he was waiting for her, bundled up to his chin.
In those four days, a change had taken place in the Devlin household. Each day now when Kane returned from running his lines, he brought home some traps. And at night, surprisingly, he spent less time in the barn, less than an hour usually. One night D'lise had still been up, sitting in front of the fire in her nightgown, when he walked into the cabin. A tingling ran through the bottom of her stomach as his hot gaze raked over her, raw desire in his eyes.
