"… and race you back!" She turned her horse and was away. I scanned the view one last time before following her in hot pursuit.
Later, Jules and I enjoyed a salad lunch; everyone else was out. I decided to continue reading Claire's diary. I ensured my door was locked and settled down at the desk. The curtains lifted in the breeze and I reached up to shut the window. As I did so, I noticed Matt standing in the shadow of the barn watching the house. I waved to him but he was looking elsewhere and didn't notice me. I frowned and sat back down pondering. Perhaps I should be more suspicious of Matt as the killer; after all, he had found Claire hadn't he? The police had questioned him and released him but was that purely due to lack of evidence? Surely he was the most logical suspect given the circumstances. I sat motionless for some moments thinking it all through.
I glanced down at the diary, my eyes scanning down the pages until I came to the last entry Claire had made, the day before her death.
'I don't know what to do. Everything is such a mess and Daddy won't listen to me about the figures. We aren't even talking properly anymore. Now on top of everything else, Matt has proposed for real. Why couldn't we have just carried on as we were? He knows how I feel—what a mess!'
I re-read the entry twice and still it didn't make a lot of sense. I flicked back a page.
'Had a huge row with Daddy today about the figures, he won't hear me at all. I wonder if I should have left home after college like all my friends did. He doesn't seem to see me as an adult yet, despite my age. Surely he sees the success I have made of the dude side of the business. He must trust my judgement on this! So why won't he believe me when I tell him about the inaccuracies that I have found? We always had such a good relationship but lately he is shutting me out. I think I'll apply to a couple of advertisements I've seen for business managers in other states. Perhaps we need some distance. It would kill me to leave here but maybe just the threat of leaving would be enough to change his mind.'
I sat thoughtfully; so there was a rift between our father and Claire. Why had he not told me about that? Then there were the discrepancies that Claire had found. It sounded like the dude ranch needed some investigation. Again Liam sprung to mind. It seemed that I always came back to Liam. I scrolled back further but all I read were domestic entries and Claire's personal shopping requirements. At that point, Jules knocked on my door and called out that it was time for supper. I had no choice but to hide the diary away yet again.
Chapter Eight - Stoicism
The following morning, Jules and I were up early before the rest of the household were stirring. We made ourselves hot coffee and rolls for the journey and waited for Liam to collect us from the front of the house.
It was very cold and a sparkling frost covered the ground. I wore a thick dusty pink woollen polo sweater that had been Claire's as well as my new jeans. I made myself snug in a chunky sheepskin jacket that I found hanging in the closet downstairs. I had no idea who it belonged to but I suspected due to the fit, that it had been Claire's. There were knitted gloves stuffed into the pocket and I was grateful for their added warmth. Jules was dressed similarly in jeans, a shirt and sweater topped by a thick felted jacket and scarf. Her hands were bare and red from the cold already. "Have you any gloves with you?" I asked her, concerned.
"I'll be fine. We don't want Liam to leave without us. He'll be here soon, I'm okay."
"Look," I said, "you run and fetch them and I'll watch for Liam, he will wait for you."
"I don't know," she replied. She was hesitant and undecided. "I hate leaving you on your own, even for a second."
I was gratified. It was nice to feel someone was caring for me. If the truth was told, I felt a little let down by my father. Oh, he said all the right things, but his absent behaviour left a lot to be desired. "Ah, here he is," Jules said.
An ancient blue pickup was rattling down the drive towards the house.
"Is this your old banger?' I asked him, once Jules and I were seated inside.
"Old banger? I'll have you know this here is the work-horse of pickups, a Chevrolet Apache. My dad had one of these babies and I always promised myself one. In a bar one night, a fella asked if anyone wanted to buy his Chevy and the rest, as they say, is history. We were destined for one another, weren't we baby?" He patted the steering wheel lovingly.
"The only important thing is does the heater work?" Jules asked, her teeth chattering.
"Sure thing… can't you feel it?" Liam put his hand over the grill. "Yeah, it's definitely on," he confirmed.
Jules and I glanced at each other and she grimaced. "Here." I peeled off my gloves and gave them to her. "We'll share."
"Thanks," she said with real gratitude and pulled them on.
"Funny how your voice comes and goes like that," Liam said, eyes straight ahead watching the road.
I started and was about to reply, when I felt Jules's hand on my arm. She gave a warning squeeze. "Liam, how long will it take to get there do you reckon?" she asked as a distraction.
"Maybe a couple of hours, no more, maybe we'll stop at Jim's for a bite first."
"Jim's?" Jules asked.
"Yeah, he runs a diner half way to Harry's place, best steak n' fries around. So who's hungry?"
I spoke, remembering to whisper. I even tried my sexy drawl. "We've hot coffee and rolls for our return journey later, would yer like some then, Liam?" Crumbs, I sounded more Irish than American.
"That'd be good. Hey, Claire, your voice is real strange. You must have knocked your head for sure, so how's your memory doing?"
Jules and I exchanged another frantic look. This time I replied, "It's really weird, I remember some things but others have just gone. My voice does come and go but the doc thinks that I might have banged the cerebral part of my brain that deals with speech."
"Hmm, seems to me it's more of a shock kinda thing." Liam glanced at me and gave me a smile. "You'll get back to normal when you're good and ready, you can't push these things."
I was touched and relieved; he didn't suspect a thing after all. "You sound as though you know what you're talking about," I said, seriously.
He was silent for a few minutes and then started to speak again in a low voice. "I'm a psychologist. My sister once had a bicycle accident and suffered headaches afterwards. When they started she wouldn't go to the doc'. She insisted it was part of the healing process. It wasn't, of course. It was a cerebral bleed and she died in her sleep. The doctors on your case are doing the right thing, giving you a nurse twenty-four seven. Of course, our health insurance then was no great shakes. You're real lucky, Miss Claire, your daddy can pay. Hey listen though, you get headaches you tell Jules here straight away okay?"
I was moved by his speech, the longest one I had heard Liam make so far and I was intrigued. I cleared my throat. "Um, thanks, Liam, I'll remember that. I'm sorry about your sister, it must have been a terrible shock for you and your parents." He nodded but said nothing more. Jules met my eyes and raised her eyebrows before taking in the view once more.
Jim's restaurant, Steak and Fries, lived up to expectation. I only had Jules's word to go on for that as, much to my disgust, Liam had kindly ordered egg and fries for me, remembering that I was a vegetarian. Would I ever get to taste a large, juicy American steak I wondered as I tucked into my very rubbery eggs? I glanced across at Liam to find his eyes on me. He immediately grinned, making no attempt to look away and I found myself smiling shyly back. "You've probably told me before about your family, Liam, but I've no recollection of it. Where is it you come from?"
"Wyoming and no, I don't think I ever did tell you 'bout my folks. They had a farm. My great-great-grandfather bought the land after he and his wife left Ireland at the start of the famine in 1845. Land was cheap over here then and he knew farming. He made a success by using the land diversely, crops, cattle and even hogs. I grew up on the family farm but I moved to Denver when I was thirteen to live with my aunt. My uncle died, and since they had no kids, she was real
lonely. My mother was ill at the time and had to go into hospital for an operation. She needed recovery time afterwards, and to lessen her load, my father sent me to stay with my aunt." He stopped and took a mouthful of food.
"That must have been real hard on you. What was wrong with your mother? Oh! I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked that."
"No, no, that's okay. Mom had breast cancer and she had to have a breast removed. She's alive an' well and living proof you can beat the big C." He smiled at us both.
"Did you want to stay on in Denver after she was well again?" Jules asked.
"Yeah, I did for a while. I was settled in school and my aunt was well off. It made a change from constant chores and being the only kid in school with second-hand clothes." He saw the look on my face and laughed. "What can I say? I was shallow then, most kids are at that age."
"Not anymore?" I teased.
"I hope not," he said, seriously.
"Did you have any other brothers or sisters?" Jules asked.
"Nope jus' the one sister, Jessie was older than me. She and Mom were real close. Jessie was a big help when Mom got sick, you know nursing her an' running the house and all. Mom took it real hard when Jessie died after her bicycle accident."
"Is it strange when you go back to visit home?" I asked, curious now about this man.
"Yeah, kinda I suppose. I guess I feel I don't belong in either place now. That's why I took this job, you know? My own destiny centred on another State, exciting stuff," he grinned with that sexy, wicked smile, "even though it upset your dreams, kitten."
I wasn't quite sure what he meant until I remembered what I had recently read in Claire's diary so I assumed it had something to do with being in charge with the dude side of the ranch.
"Oh, I don't mind, after all, it won't be long before I take over the sole running of the whole kit and caboodle!" I said, unable to resist baiting him.
Liam turned his head and flashed a teasing grin at me. "Well now, darlin', from what your daddy tells me, that day will never come!" I scowled at him and wondered what my father had actually said.
"Hey, don't you look at me like that, angel. I can't help it if your Pa's dead against you burning your bra!" He chuckled and I stared at him in amazement. Was he right—was my father a male chauvinist? It made sense as to why he gave no credence to Claire's warnings. What had she found out? I vowed to spend however long it took me to read her diary until I found out the answer.
Back in the truck, Jules and Liam sang an awful rendition of an Elvis song. They murdered the tune and left me shaking with mirth; especially Liam's deep drawling "I'm in lurr-ve... I'm all shook up... yeah... hey... hey."
We were driving up a winding road with a steep drop to one side. I was engrossed with the spectacular views, when a car suddenly appeared, speeding around the corner in front of us. It fish-tailed out of control, ending up on the wrong side of the road and heading straight towards us. Liam wrenched the wheel over and the pickup lurched suddenly towards the drop. I screamed. The other car missed our truck by a hair's breadth but instead of stopping, the driver continued on his way. Liam struggled to straighten the truck as it swerved out of control, heading towards the road edge; we veered, tipped and careened out of control on the downward incline. We bounced sickeningly against rocks, ever onwards, descending the steep slope until the truck came to a bone jarring halt, our fall broken by a bushy coppice of small trees. Dazed, I lay twisted in my seat. I turned my head slowly to look at Jules who was slumped by my side. She had blood trickling down the side of her face; she was white and her eyes were shut.
I tried to say her name but nothing came out. I must have fainted because I don't remember any more until I heard a name called urgently over and over again, "Claire, come on open your eyes, Claire, Claire!"
What was my name? Oh yeah—Nicola—so why was someone calling me Claire?
"Come on now wake up," then a whisper, "Nicky, Nicky wake up now."
I opened my eyes. It was Jules, her poor face gory with blood and her nose was bleeding. I turned my head to look at Liam; he had a large bruise on his forehead and a scratch on his cheek. I lifted my hand and touched it with a fingertip, gently. "Poor, Liam, oh dear, he's spoiled his handsome face," I said dreamily.
"Claire," Jules said again.
"What? No, Nicky—I am Nicola." I nodded to emphasise the point.
"Yes, I do know that," Jules spoke gently, "but you are pretending to be Claire remember?"
I shook my head. "No, my head aches."
Jules looked anxiously at me. "I'm going to take a look at Liam now, all right?" She scrambled out of the truck and ran around to the driver's side.
My memory slowly returned and I began to remember where we were.
"Will he be okay?" I glanced anxiously at him, he seemed to be still unconscious.
"I must try to move him. I need your help, Claire, there's the risk of fire. We must get him out of the truck. Do you understand me? How's your head feel?"
I reached up and rubbed my forehead, it did feel sore and I was very dizzy. "It's a bit painful but otherwise I'm okay, I think. Give me a hand to get straight and I'll help you with Liam." Jules reached in and helped me to sit up properly. Luckily my legs seemed to be in working order and I gingerly climbed out of the truck. My legs were stiff and painful though. My shoulder hurt like hell but otherwise I thought I was all right and, I guessed, extremely lucky to be alive.
"How are you doing?" Jules asked, she had her arm around me, supporting me as I took a step.
"Um, just bruised I think."
"Right, I'm going to climb into the back of the truck and fetch the tarp. Then I'll go in on the passenger side and see if I can slide Liam back. Can you go around to the driver's side and see if you can free his legs? We'll slide him out of the driver's door if we can and onto the tarpaulin. Then we can drag him away from the truck." I nodded and shuffled over to the driver's side. Liam's legs seemed to be okay and I was able to lift first one and then the other leg out. Jules took each leg from me and laid them gently along the passenger seat. I pulled and twisted his body so that his back was to the driver's door and I was supporting him under his arms, his head resting back against my shoulder. He didn't stir throughout. While I supported Liam, Jules had fetched the tarpaulin from the back of the truck and spread it out on the ground behind where I stood. Jules then squeezed in beside me and supported Liam beneath his other arm. "Ready?" asked Jules, "on the count of three; one, two and three!" Between us, we managed to drag Liam out and down onto the tarpaulin.
Jules knelt beside him and methodically checked him over. I clambered into the battered truck and pulled out two blankets. "I don't think there are any broken bones," Jules muttered. I bent stiffly and covered him in the blankets, tucking them in around him, making Liam as warm as possible. "We need to pull him away from the truck in case of fire," Jules instructed, "but first I need to support his head." She took off her jacket and stripped off her sweater, pulled the jacket back on and then wrapped the sweater around Liam's neck and head, careful to keep his neck straight. We each held a corner of the tarpaulin above his head and pulled carefully, holding it high, so that Liam's head was not bumping along the stony ground. We managed to pull him some distance from the truck onto a grassy and reasonably flat piece of land. I flopped down beside Liam and tucked him up as snugly as I could with just two blankets. I gazed down the slope; tall dark spruce trees grew close together.
Were there wolves in those trees I wondered, trying to see in between the dark trunks and into the grey shadows beyond?
Jules came over to me and placed Liam's rifle on the ground beside me. "What's that for?" I squeaked with alarm.
"Your protection," she stated baldly, "do you know how to use one of these?"
I shook my head negatively.
"Right, well… here's the food and flask. I should be back in two or three hours."
I sat up straight. "What do you mean?"
"I am going to make m
y way back to Jim's steak house for help."
"No-No-No," I pleaded. "You cannot leave me alone here! I don't know how to use the damn gun or anything! What about wolves?" I tried to stand and failed, miserably falling back to the ground with a nasty jolt. My back and hip muscles were in spasm and very painfully so.
"Hey, it'll be okay! You'll be just fine! What's all this about wolves?" Jules actually grinned at me.
"Don't you dare laugh, there might be wolves!" I was cross with her mocking me.
"Yeah well, somehow I doubt it. Look I'll show you how to use the rifle." She picked the rifle up and held it out to me. The barrel pointing towards the tress, safely away from us both. "Okay, so you release the safety lock, point and pull the trigger back gently to fire. Oh, and never, ever point a loaded gun at someone. Well not unless you want to shoot them of course. Look, I have to go, Claire. Liam needs a doctor and it will only take me two to three hours, tops."
"But you're hurt as well. Perhaps we should all wait here together. They will worry about us at The Plomosa when we don't arrive back; surely someone will come looking for us."
"Liam might need medical attention before then, Claire. No, I do have to go. You'll be just fine, it won't be any hardship to cuddle up with Liam and keep him warm! I promise not to be too long."
"All right then," I agreed sulkily. I was scared and confused; I wondered if I had some sort of concussion. "Go carefully, and good luck," I added as optimistically as I could.
"Thanks, Claire… Nicola. I promise to be back by dark okay? By-ee." And with that, she turned and strode off, leaving me alone out in the wilderness, with an unconscious man and a rifle I didn't know how to shoot.
Twin Turmoil Page 8
