Matilda, the Adventuress

by Iris Johansen

  She whirled in the direction of the billabong and let out a low cry of relief. Jacto was coming toward her, flowing from the ghost gum trees with his usual wiry grace.

  “Jacto, you scared me. I couldn’t find your knapsack and—” She stopped. His knapsack was fastened on his back. “You’re leaving?”

  “It is time.”

  “But you’ll be coming back? You always come back.” He didn’t answer.

  “You have to come back. We’re a team, remember? No one in the world understands—” Her voice kept breaking and she tried to steady it. “Why?”

  “You have changed. I have not.”

  “But that doesn’t make any difference. I’m still Manda. I still care about you. I still need you.”

  “You walk a different path now.” For an instant there was a flicker of pain in his expression. “It is a path I have never been able to travel. All my life I have watched it happening. For a day or a year or a decade I have someone to walk with me and then the change comes and I must go on alone.”

  “Jacto …” Her throat was so tight she could scarcely speak. “Stay. You’ll like Roman, if you give him half a chance. I know you have some prejudice against him but—”

  “I have no prejudice. He will make you a fine husband. He knows you well.”

  She frowned. “But you refused to meet him, even to look at him.”

  “It is painful to look at the bearer of sorrow. I knew he was the one who was to lead you to the new path.”

  Manda felt the tears brim and then roll slowly down her cheeks. “Please … stay.”

  He shook his head. “It is time.” He turned away and started across the opal field.

  Her fists clenched at her sides. The sobs were welling in her throat, but she refused to release them. Tears wouldn’t convince Jacto to stay or to return. Nothing would convince him. Except perhaps …

  She took a step forward and her voice rang out over the silent emptiness of Deadman’s Ridge. “Jacto, dammit, you come back to us. If you won’t come back because of me, then there’s another reason.”

  He continued to walk away from her. He did not look back.

  “Do you know the kind of children Roman and I will have? Think about it. They’re bound to be as wild and free and crazy as we were. They’ll want to run the rapids and climb the Blue Mountains and walk the same paths as we did. They’ll need someone to walk those paths with them.” She stopped for breath and tried to steady her voice. “Do you hear me? You come back, Jacto.”

  He stopped and stood very still for a long moment. Then he glanced over his shoulder and the corners of his lips deepened in a faint smile. “I hear you, Manda.” He turned away. “I will think about what you have said.”

  Nothing else. She watched helplessly as he once more started across the opal field toward the distant winding road.

  He did not look back again.

  • • •

  Roman parked his Jeep beside Manda’s and climbed out of the driver’s seat. At first, he didn’t see her, then he caught a glimpse of jewellike emerald and a glint of silken gold against the dark gray of the ancient cleaved rock. Manda was standing in the exact spot where the rock was shorn in two, her gaze on the desert spread out before her. In her elegant outfit she should have appeared totally out of place in these primitive, desolate surroundings, but somehow she didn’t. She looked wild and basic and … beautiful.

  He climbed the slight incline and walked toward her, his gaze searching her face. “I’ve missed you.” That was the understatement of the year. He had felt miserably incomplete while she had been gone. He had an idea it would always be like that now. “I wanted to meet you at the airport, but it was important I finish shooting that scene. I have to try to wrap up the filming here before it’s time to go to Melbourne and watch Addie’s bid for the Cup.”

  “I knew you’d have been there if it was possible. I’ve missed you too,” she whispered. Her gaze returned to the limitless stretch of land before her. “The brook is gone; so are the flowers.”

  “Yes, I told you they wouldn’t last.”

  “You told me they would come back though.”

  “They will come back. I promise you, Manda.”

  “Jacto is gone too.”

  “I know. Brent told me he had left when he gave me your message to meet you here.”

  “I’ll miss him.”

  He took a step nearer and gently touched the shining wing of hair sweeping back from her temple. “I can’t promise you he’ll come back, Manda.”

  “I know you can’t.” Her lips were trembling as she smiled at him. “He guides his own life. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve promised him our firstborn child. Perhaps all our other children too. I thought it would be a lure he couldn’t resist. Our kids will probably need all the help they can get. Who knows? They may want to set out to find a mystical island where unicorns live and black swans fly and there are adventures every single day and—” Her voice broke. “I think they could find that island with Jacto.”

  He felt his throat tighten helplessly. How he wanted to help her, but all he could do was share her sorrow, not banish it. “I think so too.” His arms enfolded her carefully, and he rocked her tenderly. Poor little Peter Pan, face-to-face with her nemesis at last. No, it wasn’t Manda who was Peter Pan, but Jacto. Manda had come to terms with maturity as Roman himself had done eight years before, and in her own individual way. She was no tame Wendy, but his wild, bright-plumed Manda, whose warm, loving heart was aching now. His lips brushed her temple. “Maybe someday we’ll go there too. I can’t promise you adventures every day, but I’ll do my damnedest to make you happy, love.”

  She lifted her lips and kissed him. “But I will have adventures every day. I’ll be growing and changing and learning to love you more and more.” She smiled. “If it’s possible to love you more. You were wrong, Roman, when you said I didn’t know what love was all about that day we were here. I may love you more now, but I did love you that morning. I just needed a little time to think about what it meant.” She looked him directly in the eye. “And for your information, even when I thought you were being a suspicious bastard, I decided you were worth sticking around and reeducating. I do want to share dreams and make those dreams come true. I think I can handle the sickness-and-health clause, too, but there’s not going to be any darkness in our life, Roman. We’re going to be so happy that we’re going to light up the whole bloody world.”

  He laughed. “You bet we are.” She was bouncing back. The sadness was still there, but he could practically see the joyous indomitable vitality that was the essence of Manda returning with every passing moment. “Well show them all what a marriage should be.”

  “The first thing I’ll have to do is perform some first-class surgery.” One finger touched the scar on his left cheek and traced it down to the corner of his mouth. “You need a few hangups removed and I’m just the lady to wield the scalpel. Let’s get one thing straight, you’re not ugly.”

  He frowned. “Manda, I—”

  Her fingers swiftly covered his lips. “Be quiet and let the surgeon have her say. You’re not handsome, but you could never be ugly. You have too much intelligence and character in your face to ever be unattractive.” She grinned. “And you’re the sexiest man on the continent of Australia and maybe even the whole world. I can’t be in the same room with you without wanting to rip off your clothes and—What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m undressing you.” His swift fingers finished unfastening the last button on her chamois vest. “You should never say things like that to a sex-starved man without expecting an instant reaction.” He parted the vest and inhaled sharply. “I didn’t think you were wearing anything underneath it. That chamois clung like a second skin.”

  His head bent and she felt his warm breath searing her nipple. Her fingers tangled in the thick crispness of his dark hair. She was suddenly breathless. She could feel the fluid heat between her thighs
and her muscles were clenching with familiar tension. “We’re going to make love … here?”

  “I think it’s entirely appropriate, don’t you?”

  She wasn’t sure she could think at the moment. “The rocks …”

  “I’ll get a blanket from the Jeep.” He looked up and smiled. It was a beautiful smile. “That’s a lovely outfit, but I’d like to see you wearing only the sunlight and the desert, Manda, and I want to remember you belonging to me in this special place.” He wanted something more; he wanted to erase the last traces of sadness clinging to her and replace them with a memory of joy.

  He drew her gently to the ground and was suddenly looking down at her with dancing eyes, his face illuminated by laughter. “Don’t you want to make love with the sexiest man on the entire continent of Australia?”

  Tenderness, love, and laughter were gazing at her from Roman’s face. How could she answer anything but what she did?

  “Oh, yes.” Her arms slid up his shoulders and around his neck. “By all means, love, I could hardly let an opportunity like this pass!”

  The sun had gone down, but there were still a few delicate streaks of pink in the deep indigo of the sky as they walked back to where the Jeeps were parked.

  “It’s so beautiful.” Manda stopped and looked out over the panorama of earth and sky. “It makes me feel small, yet … powerful. It’s as if I’m a part of it all, an extension of all that strength.” She shrugged. “Do you know what I mean?”

  He nodded. “I know.” He gazed out at the horizon. “I have something to tell you. The jeweler from Sydney called before. I left the encampment. He was able to get a firm offer of only four hundred thousand for the opal.”

  Manda experienced a sinking disappointment. “Damn, I was afraid of that.”

  “I suppose you won’t take the last hundred thousand from me?”

  “Not if I can think of any other way.” Her brow wrinkled in a frown. “There has to be something I can do.”

  “There is.” Roman smiled. “I’ve already done it. I didn’t think you’d accept money from me, so I made a few phone calls.”

  “Phone calls? To whom?”

  “One magazine in Sydney. Then two overseas calls to People magazine and Rolling Stone in the U.S.”

  “Magazines?”

  He nodded. “We’re about to have the most publicized wedding since Prince Andrew married Sarah. And for that publicity you’re going to receive a great deal of money, my love. One hundred thousand dollars to be exact.”

  She was gazing at him in bewilderment. “But you hate publicity.”

  “But I love Manda Delaney.”

  Oh, and she loved him. What a beautiful thing to do! She threw herself into his arms and hugged him with all her strength. “Roman, you’re wonderful, you’re fantastic, you’re—”

  He chuckled. “I like the sexiest man in Australia superlative best. That definitely bears repeating.”

  “The sexiest man in Australia, in the Pacific, in the universe!”

  “That’s enough.” He kissed her with loving sweetness. Then he made a sound low in his throat, drew her closer, and kissed her again, roughly, and with searing passion. He lifted his head and said thickly, “I was wrong. It’s not enough. It’s never enough. Let’s go back to the trailer and go to bed.”

  She laughed up at him. “It’s not even dark yet.”

  “It will be soon, and if we’re not in bed by the time it is dark, I guarantee I’ll be seeing what you look like wearing starlight.” He gave her a quick kiss and turned her firmly in the direction of the Jeeps.

  His arm encircled her waist as they walked. “Now, I’ve been thinking about the tax question on the five hundred thousand dollars. That’s going to be a tremendous bite, but I think I’ve come up with a solution.”

  She nestled contentedly closer. “You have?”

  His expression was thoughtful. “Suppose you sell me the story for a screenplay? It has possibilities. Three sisters, a near-impossible quest, clanger, love. There’s no reason why you …”

  And Manda’s joyous laughter rang out in the timeless stillness of the outback night.

  Epilogue

  Hell’s Bluff, Arizona

  “Did you see this story in People magazine?” Sierra Delaney glanced at Deuce playing solitaire at the card table across the library. “ ‘The wedding of the year.’ How can anyone stand to have their private lives spread all over the tabloids like this?”

  “Not everyone has a privacy fetish like the Delaney clan.” Deuce skillfully plucked a jack from the middle of the deck and placed it on the queen of hearts. “The news of your marriage to York didn’t break in the media until almost two months later.”

  “But these are Delaneys too. Australian Delaneys, that’s what caught my attention. The bride is a Manda Delaney and her two bridesmaids are her sisters Sydney and Addie Delaney. According to this story, they appear to be … extraordinary. I guess it’s not possible they’re distant relatives?”

  “It’s a common enough name.” Deuce played a seven of diamonds on an eight of clubs. “And, as far as York knows, the Shamrock Trinity are the last of the line. Though there have been a few bogus relatives who have cropped up from time to time to try to acquire a bit of the Delaney lucre.” He smiled with satisfaction. “Ah, I’ve won again.”

  “Of course you won. You always win. You even cheat at solitaire. I can’t see how you can possibly regard the game as any kind of challenge.”

  “But I won faster this time,” Deuce protested indignantly. “I cut my previous time by a full minute and a half. You have no appreciation of the intricacies involved in high-speed cheating at solitaire.” His lips thinned. “And I wouldn’t be reduced to solitaire if you or York would give me a decent game now and then.”

  “Neither of us have masochistic tendencies.” Sierra tossed the magazine aside. “You’ve been sticking awfully close to the house lately. Could it be you can’t get a game from anyone else in Hell’s Bluff?”

  “Let’s just say it’s become a tad more difficult.” Deuce gathered up the cards and started to shuffle, his graceful fingers moving with artful delicacy. “This town is beginning to cramp my style a bit.”

  Sierra’s smile faded. “And is York beginning to feel cramped too? In the last few weeks I’ve noticed something … different. He’s getting restless again, isn’t he?”

  “A little perhaps. He’s been busy winding up his business in Hell’s Bluff for the last year in preparation for going home to Killara. This is a big step for him. You can’t expect a renegade like York to adjust to the idea of permanence in the flicker of an eye. I think he needs to get away from here for a month or two before he settles down.” He looked up from his manipulation of the deck to smile faintly. “Don’t worry, he’s not going to wander off into the sunset and leave you. York’s more in love with you now than when he married you twelve months ago. If he does take off, he’ll definitely take you with him. He can’t do without you.”

  “And I can’t do without him,” Sierra said softly. “Which means I don’t like to think of him even a bit unhappy if there’s any way I can prevent it. Why the devil didn’t he tell me he wanted to get away for a while? He knows I’d follow him to the moon.”

  “He also knows you’ve been very happy here,” Deuce reminded her. “He told me once he intended to give you everything you ever wanted. He’s aware that a home and a place in life are high on your list of priorities, and he realizes how close you’ve grown to his brothers and their wives. He doesn’t want to tear up any roots you may have planted.” Deuce’s one brown eye regarded her soberly. “Hell never make a move to disturb those roots, Sierra. You’ll have to do it for him, and he may give you a hell of an argument.”

  She nodded. York would fight tooth and nail if he thought she was sacrificing herself for him. “Ill think of something.” She glanced at the clock on the mantel. “York should be back soon from taking Kath to the heliport. I’d better go upstairs and change
. He said he was taking me to Melanie’s place to celebrate with a meal par excellence. Are you going with us?”

  “You must be joking. The opportunity to indulge in the first meal in thirteen months that won’t give me indigestion? How can I resist?”

  Fifteen minutes later, Sierra had changed into a red and white flowered dress of paper-thin voile that floated around her like a summery cloud. She ran a brush through her short dark hair and started downstairs. As usual, her gaze went straight to the portrait of York’s ancestress, Rising Star, on the wall of the landing. She had grown so accustomed to the portrait in the last year, she now looked on the Apache woman almost as a living being.

  “We have a slight problem, Rising Star,” she murmured as she paused on the landing. “He’s going to be very difficult about this unless I manage to handle it just right. Sometimes these Delaney men simply don’t know what’s good for them.”

  She had started down the stairs again, when the front door opened and York walked into the foyer.

  “You’re dressed.” He took the steps two at a time until he reached the step on which she was standing. “And very elegantly too.” He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “I won’t be long. I only need to shave and change my shirt.” He rubbed his jaw back and forth against her cheek. “You feel good. I never get used to how soft and silky you are. Want to come up and help me dress?”

  “We’d never get to Melanie’s.” Her arms went around him and she buried her cheek against his chest. Lord, she was lucky to have him love her. Strong, passionate, and tender, he was everything she had ever dreamed a husband could be. “Do you realize we’ve never taken a honeymoon?”

  His fingers tangled in her hair and he pulled her head back to look into her eyes. “You told me you didn’t want to go away on a honeymoon.” He kissed the hollow of her throat lingeringly. “You were right. It would have been a complete waste. As I remember, neither of us would have made it out of the bedroom to do any sight-seeing.”

  “But we’re an old married couple now. Maybe we should take a long trip before we settle down at Killara. It may be our last chance for a long time.”