"No, just you. I want you to deliver a message to them. Amaury must be returned to us along with a considerable payment they will surrender to us for their boldness," he stated in answer. Quickly, the don had him write down a note of his demands, and then he rode off into the darkening landscape. Fiorella crossed over and sat down next to him, snuggling up.
"I heard what you said before. I shall now show you heights of pleasure one of Mexican blood can produce over those of ebony that you crave," she said in a sultry tone. To her surprise, the don backhanded her harshly.
“Away, wench! I’ve sampled your goods plenty of times, and there is nothing to excite me from a worn-out soiled dove like yourself. I shall go without until the time comes, and those women are in my hands, begging me to pleasure them,” he said in disgust, looking at her. Rising, she gave him the middle finger before stalking off to another more receptive man as his laughter followed her.
***
The time before dinner was time well spent for the two women from Alamieda. The twins had drawn them each a bath that felt like supreme luxury after the long ride and violent encounters they had survived. For her part, Honor felt as civilized as she had since before leaving her father’s party. She smelled of lilacs from a perfumed oil one of the twins had lent her. All and all she was feeling quite alive and well.
Honor Elizabeth, however remembering the party, did experience a quick flash of guilt for having to leave the festivities so early. The judge was the best father any woman could hope for. She knew full well that in the South there were many mulattos like herself, but most of them had been borne from the evil of masters forcing themselves on the women they held in servitude.
Her beginnings had been nothing like that though. Her father had lovingly told her that her mother, Miss Lizzie, had been the right woman for him at the right time in his life. She had been a dear friend who for all practical purposes raised his two small children, Cass and Dutch, at a time when they had needed a mother. When the judge had returned home after being presumed lost at sea with the infant Lijuan in tow, Miss Lizzie had not batted an eye and began to care for the baby as if she was her own. It had been then that the pair's love had truly blossomed.
Eventually, Honor had been conceived, but what should have been the joyous occasion turned to sorrow and tragedy as Lizzie struggled to bring her into the world. Ultimately, she lost her life delivering Honor Elizabeth. She had often blamed herself for the death of her mother, but her father never had. If anything, he had loved her even more as the last link to the forbidden love he had shared with the beautiful slave woman he had helped gain freedom. With a sigh, Honor shook her head and returned to the present. Her father would have understood her need to get to Quillan as soon as she could.
As she toweled off in front of a full-length mirror, she casually looked her body over. All the sisters were of different heights. Starting with Cassandra being the tallest, Lijuan was the shortest with Honor and Cattie in between. The one thing they did share was their large rounded breasts that were above their tapered waists. Their hips, too, were of the sexier nature. Honor could acknowledge that between their figures and good looks they easily sparked desire from men. Most men would become instantly colorblind if it meant a chance to be with them. So luminous were the four sisters that even a few women found their eyes drawn to them. The lucky ones found themselves treated to Catalina's sultry charms.
Honor didn't think she was being vain thinking about the Wilde sisters' allure. Facts spoke for themselves, but she also knew there could be a dark side to their looks. She would never have admitted it to Katie, but the thought of what the Melendez family had planned for the two had been terrifying to her. Honor, above all, was a lady, and the degradation Marquita had described unnerved her. However, it had also fueled her self-preservation instincts allowing her to prevail over the evil sisters. Honor concluded it was time to stop thinking of the near miss with horror and focus on the present. As if to highlight that thought, a knock at the door sounded. One of the twins had pressed the new dress Honor had bought in Godspell as It had not traveled well in her saddlebag.
The girl also had arrived with a dress for Katie draped over her arm. Katie had risen from braiding her hair into twin pigtails and took the dress with many thanks. She was pleased they had one that fit her figure since she had not thought to bring one herself. Honor did not know that the reason Katie had forgotten was that while she was packing, Quillan's new lady love Bessie Scott had been going full tilt about how the crazy half breed had pulled a knife on her in the night, and so the distraction had made her forget the dress.
As they both dressed, Honor found herself thinking about their host Francisco Yberra. Damn, he was handsome, she thought, as well as masculine. Earlier she had felt a slight tingle deep within her places of desire in his presence. The sight of his thick chest hair showing where his shirt had been open was enticing to her. The man exuded a certain machismo, yet, she was perplexed. He did not strike her as the sort of man who would allow the kind of trouble in the area that Don Diego was causing. Perhaps she was just projecting her own values onto him. A scoundrel trying anything like that around Cedar Ledge would have found himself out of business in short order by the Wilde siblings, or her father himself.
There was no further time to think of such things as both twins returned and escorted them through the villa. As they walked, Honor was listening to the girls explaining, in halting English, to Katie how long they had been working for the Yberra brothers. It seemed they had only been working for them a brief time having fled their previous employment in one of the wealthy villas in the neighboring valley.
As their story went, it seemed a madman named El Segador was on a murderous rampage against all the old families of the Rio Sangre Valley. This certainly sounded intriguing to Honor, and she was about to turn and ask more about El Segador, which she had been able to translate from some of the Spanish she had picked up from Catalina to mean The Reaper when she immediately halted at the sight of something out of place. It almost looked like smoke was billowing out from underneath one of the doors, and yet she smelled nothing. Katie had seen it too and impulsively she raced towards the door, intent on yanking it open.
“Fire!” Katie yelled.
“No, wait!” Honor Elizabeth called in return. The Wildes had once battled an arsonist with a sinister agenda. Honor knew a little about fires and sometimes, pulling open a door, gave a fire a fresh oxygen source and that could be disastrous. Fortunately, when Katie snatched open the door, nothing happened as she charged inside. Katie came to a complete halt so quickly that Honor bumped into her from behind as she rushed to follow.
"Oh, my …" Katie began and trailed off. Honor considered the room with her friend. She saw what Katie was reacting to, and her mouth fell open.
The floor of the room wasn’t really a floor at all. It was a rocky ground and, in the center, was an oval indentation in the rock that was a madly bubbling hot spring. It reminded Honor instantly of the hot springs the Wilde sisters liked to relax in the ledges behind the house. Only this was inside! The house must have been built around the hot springs! Even more shocking was off to the side someone had engineered some rocks into a tower, and it was somehow feeding some of the hot springs to the top of the tower. It spilled through a spout that created a natural hot shower dropping into a ring of rocks. The icing on the cake was the naked man standing under the shower. He had his back to the women but alerted he turned, and they saw the smiling face of Manuel Yberra.
"We are terribly sorry. Forgive us. We thought the steam was fire. We shall be on our way post haste!" Honor said quickly.
“Then I shall see you at dinner shortly,” Manuel answered, unfazed and still smiling. He seemed to be quite enjoying himself in Honor’s opinion.
“We will be on our way,” Honor said again turning, but Katie was still staring at the man slack-jawed. Honor grinned herself and took her elbow. “I said we are leaving now,” she said again. She hustle
d Katie out of the room and closed the door. Still inside, Manuel’s smile only broadened, hearing the four women giggle in the hallway.
CHAPTER 14
Honor and Katie found themselves sitting side by side in the dining hall. Across the table from them were two empty chairs. At one end of the table sat a stern-looking Rosa, and the other end featured another empty chair.
“Where do you suppose the brothers are?” Katie asked softly.
“Perhaps Francisco was taking his turn in that shower,” Honor answered in amusement. Katie tittered at the thought. Before Rosa had arrived to take her seat, Honor had sat at the table smiling inside. Katie was like her old self and gossiped about what she thought of Manuel’s physique, focusing on one large attribute in particular. Now Honor for her part was herself beginning to get restless. Gentlemen, like her father and brothers, would never have kept women waiting.
A moment later, the two brothers sauntered into the dining room laughing and stamping out their cigars in an ashtray. They did have the manners to bow to the women at the table before taking their seats.
“Apologies. My brother and I were enjoying a smoke on the patio, and he was sharing with me an amusing story. I understand you have discovered our little room of luxury?” he said as a question. Katie looked down and grinned.
“You could say that. That is quite a room,” Honor remarked as one of her fingers trailed across the red napkin that lay on the table before her.
“Our father’s doing. You may have guessed he built the house around it,” Francisco said.
“Indeed so. Speaking of which, will Señor Yberra be joining us? He was a most charming man when Daddy and I came down to buy our coach years ago,” Honor inquired with a smile.
“I am sorry to say that my father has gone to heaven to be with our beloved mother,” Francisco told them with dignity.
“Oh dear, condolences to all of you,” Honor said with feeling.
“Likewise,” Katie added for herself.
“He had a good life and went peacefully. I could not ask for more if he had to leave us,” Francisco allowed.
“You say you have been here before, Señorita Wilde? It must have been while my brother and I were away at school. Our father sent us off to Spain for a year of woodworking with a master craftsman,” Manuel said, leaning back in his chair.
“You know, you are right. It was years ago now, but I do vaguely recall Señor Yberra telling my father that his sons were off learning to improve their craft,” she responded drawing on a distant memory.
“I can’t wait to see the finished coach. It’s gonna be wonderful for my brother to be driving it on our new route,” Katie added enthusiastically.
“I shall personally escort you over to our shop to see it following this repast,” Manuel said with a bang of his fist on the table. Honor thought that gesture was a little over the top, but men were that way sometimes. Then the twins arrived with the food and the group enjoyed a wonderful meal.
They were served the traditional rice and beans, but the main courses were a little different, yet spectacular. Barbacoa and Duck Buñuelos were the perfect complement of spices and subtle flavoring. In high spirits, the brothers were regaling them with tales of life in the Verde Abundante Valley. Honor found the stories quite entertaining — especially a tale about a near-fatal canoe ride.
According to Francisco, the brothers kept a canoe for shooting the rapids on the nearby Rio Vasquez that was an offshoot of the Rio Sangre in the next valley over. One time the brothers had been on the river when a cloudburst in the mountains sent the usually swift river into a raging torrent. They escaped only by leaping onto the branch of an overhanging tree before their canoe had been flipped over. They laughed, saying they had to build a new canoe, but that was minor compared to losing their lives. Even the dour Rosa lightened up and laughed that they needed her to man their canoe to be able to deal with the flash flood because she had been conquering those rapids since before they were born! After much laughter Honor felt it was time to bring the conversation back to Don Diego, and she did so by inquiring as to how Diego's son Amaury was doing. This prompted Rosa's quick return to return to her petulant state.
"Tomorrow we must see him to the doctor's residence. The doctor said he would like him there to better keep an eye on his injuries. He rests comfortably, for now, no thanks to you Americanos," Rosa said sourly.
“That will be enough of that, Rosa! Amaury would not have gotten shot if he hadn’t committed his crimes with his father and the other bandits,” Francisco stated firmly.
"Women have no place with guns!" Rosa declared frustrated. Honor raised an eyebrow, thinking that Rosa would not enjoy meeting her oldest sister who was on occasion referred to as Two-Gun Cassandra.
“I strongly disagree. Now, sir, what is the situation with Don Diego?” she pressed. Honor was momentarily startled when Francisco threw his hands up in frustration.
“When I married my wife, she was a package deal. She came with her lazy older brother Don Diego, his son, and her charming sister, Rosa here.” He said as he winked at his sister-in-law who tabled her petulant demeanor to smile at the compliment.
“All were welcome in our home until that dark day,” Manuel added.
"My little Angel," Rosa said with genuine sadness in her eyes.
"We were just eighteen when we wed. Our happiness only lasted a year or so. One day, Diego was hitting the bottle as was his custom. He was drunk out of his mind when he said he was going to ride his wagon to Sausalito. You women would not know the way, but it follows a treacherous canyon. My wife knew he would not get there alive. She tried to stop him and was trampled to death by his team of horses as she tried to halt the wagon's progress," Francisco explained, the mirth that had been ever-present in his eyes since they had met him all but faded away.
“How dreadful. I am so sorry for all the losses you have suffered,” she said with sincerity. Katie echoed her feelings. He smiled at her.
"My gratitude, Señorita Wilde, Señorita Dodge. Anyway, it took both Manuel and Rosa to stop me from strangling him to death that day. Of course, he was exiled. Amaury was welcome to stay, but he chose to go with his father," Francisco finished, picking up his wine glass and downing a healthy swallow.
"The Yberras were kind to let us live here as well as supplying a job for my brother. When he killed our little angel, he was thrown out, of course, thus losing that job. In the years since he has turned to the ways of a criminal," Rosa said.
“Still lazy at heart as he has his group of bandits to help him,” Francisco snorted, shaking his head.
“Yet these men follow him?” Honor asked of him.
"He is good at finding new ways to make his ill-gotten gains. The past six months he has been running his "toll" operation scam on the roads and trails around the area," Manuel pointed out as he idly sliced a piece of the pie.
“Why don’t y’all sic the law onto him?” Katie asked reasonably.
“The only law in this area of the valley is the corrupt militia. It is my belief that he shares some of his profit with the leaders for them to look the other way,” Francisco explained. Honor nodded to herself. Her father’s new friend and assistant Marisol San Cristobel had come from Mexico and had shared many stories of the rampant corruption that her brother, a now-deceased crime lord, had exploited to no end.
“He must be making a lot from his con if he can afford to pay off a militia. How much longer do you intend to let this continue?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” he asked startled at her question. She didn’t understand why he would be.
"Why don't you deal with Don Diego yourself. Cut off the head, and the snake dies," she said in return.
“You suggest murdering my brother!” Rosa said dramatically, pounding the table with both fists for effect.
“It does not have to end that way but deal with him you must. If this continues you know, it will affect your business. No foreign buyers are going to want to trave
l through an area so infested with bandits," Honor pointed out logically, and she could see she had hit the nail on the head.
"Si, our business and that of others have been greatly curtailed as a result. I have had discussions with others in the valley, and they are not happy with the situation. His actions are not good for the Verde Abundante. We do agree his villainy must come to an end," he said as Honor Elizabeth stared at him from across the table.
“What exactly are you waiting for may I inquire?”
“I cannot expect a woman to understand the complexities of such things,” Francisco said loftily. Honor snorted lightly with disgust. The attitude these men had towards women was beginning to get old, very old.
“Women understand more than you can guess. Especially if her last name is Wilde!” Honor said concretely.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You come here, your friend shoots my Amaury, and now you encourage the Yberras to kill Dante! Somewhere there is still good in him,” Rosa said and rose in a huff. “I will not sit at this table. You two are just as bad as the white Americano gringos!” She left angrily, and Honor shrugged it off. She was upset about her family, so Honor understood that.
"Forgive her, she is a sweet woman, but she has deluded herself that there is good still in her brother. Please let us return to less serious matters," Manuel said, and with a snap of his fingers, one of the twins appeared with a guitar.
Honor sighed over the lack of understanding these men had towards women. Since they would no longer discuss their problems, she allowed herself to be distracted by the guitar. It reminded her of the love Cassandra had for playing. Many nights at Mercedes's gazebo behind the Cedar Ledge ranch house the family had gathered to listen to her practicing her songs. How she was missing them all right now.
“Yes, it is time to serenade the beautiful señoritas from Arizona!” Francisco said and despite their attitudes Honor grinned at his attempt to woo them.
The Boot Hill Express: Special Edition HBH Version (Half Breed Haven Book 12) Page 12
