“My!” Coralee exclaimed. “You’re the early bird.”
“It was hot last night. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Oh, I thought the rain cooled it down a treat. Here, let me take over that. You’re not,” she said, concern in her eyes, “coming down with a fever, are you? Your face looks quite flushed.”
Ella pushed her hair back. Tiredness was beginning to catch up with her. “No, I’m fine.” She yawned. “Just need a decent sleep. I’ll start labelling.”
Labelling allowed her mind to wander.
Hours had passed since that moment on the veranda with Lucas, but it amazed Ella how just thinking about their kisses, the feel of him, could still thrill her. A smile curved her mouth recalling her passionate response to him, how surprised she’d been to realize there was so much more for her yet to experience.
She pasted the labels automatically, pondering the fact of the seven sterile, passionless years of marriage when she’d had no idea what marital love was about.
Now, having experienced Lucas, she knew he was the man to show her.
Oh, if only!
But she had no idea how he felt about her. She did, though, know his views on marriage and freedom. Would he change them for her?
And, a fresh start, he’d said.
What did that mean?
Oh, why couldn’t she just throw her morals to the wind and become his mistress? It would surely be preferable to not having him at all.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the frantic sound of pounding hooves. Ella walked out of the barn and shaded her eyes.
Jonnie…on Lucas’ horse?
Her pulse began to race as she rushed to meet him. He jumped off the snorting animal.
“What is it?” Ella grabbed the rein.
Jonnie’s ashen face ran with perspiration. “They’ve taken Lucas in for questioning,” he gasped.
“Taken…? Who’s taken him? Where?”
“Oh, Ella! The police. They came to arrest him this morning. There was an attempted rape in town last night. They think Lucas did it.”
Coralee and Jack had stopped work. Jack gaped and Coralee held a hand to her mouth. In the silence, a butcherbird sang melodiously.
Lifting her skirt, Ella started running toward the paddock. “Help me get Star ready, Jonnie,” she called over her shoulder. “Quickly. I have to go to him. Where is the jail?”
“Thebarton,” Jonnie yelled running after her.
»»•««
Ella pulled Star to a halt. He neighed, sweating, unused to such a hard ride. She jumped off him in front of the sturdy red brick building with H.M GAOL ADELAIDE in bold black lettering over the stone archway. Tying Star’s rein to the post next to Lucas’ horse, she ran up the steps with Jonnie behind her.
“This is ridiculous!” Ella muttered, angrily rapping the door.
Jonnie, looking as though he might burst into tears at any minute, said, “Gee, Ella. I’m sure glad you’re with me. I wouldn’t have known what to do.”
Ella turned to look at him and patted his arm. “It will be all right, Jonnie. Don’t worry, we’re going to get him out of here in no time.” She rapped the door again and a small opening slid across.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve come to speak with whoever arrested Lucas Helm this morning,” Ella said. “Open the door at once, please.”
“Ooh, givin’ orders out, eh? Well can’t do that, miss. See I’m only the turnkey, and this ’ere’s the guard. You need to speak to the Chief Constable.”
Ella held onto her temper. “And where is he?”
The surly face surveyed her through the grille. “’E’s in the back writing his notes on yon fella.”
“Well then, you will just have to get him or I shall stand here all day banging on your door.”
“Don’t you be givin’ me orders, Miss Hoity Toity.”
Ella leaned closer to the door, aware that a small crowd was gathering behind them. “And don’t you be so impertinent or I shall report you. Now, go and tell your Chief Constable I wish to speak with him right away. Do you hear me?”
The grille slammed shut. Ella breathed heavily. Anxiously, Jonnie furled and unfurled the brim of his hat.
Footsteps could be heard receding on the wooden boards.
“What exactly happened?” Ella asked Jonnie.
“This mornin’, we were working and in they rode, posse-like, asked where Lucas spent last evening. It worried me straight away, ‘cos he’d gone out earlier in the day to see Dorothy and I knew he wasn’t home ’til late.”
“Dorothy?”
“Yeah. And then I supposed, well I thought…” He looked away blushing.
Ella frowned. “What?”
“I wondered if he’d called in to see Mary. I didn’t know what to think.”
For a brief moment Ella’s resolve faltered, but then she said, “No, he wouldn’t have done that, I’m sure.”
“Anyway, they said a woman had been assaulted, an attempted rape and as Lucas had been seen in the area by a fisherman, they were having him in for it. Gee, Ella, I’m scared, because Lucas sort of didn’t put up a fight. He just let them take him.”
Ella felt drained. She had no further words to assure him, for she didn’t know herself where Lucas had been. But of one thing she was certain. His innocence. She believed implicitly in him.
After what seemed an interminable wait, the thump of heavy boots sounded and the door finally opened. The same churlish fellow who’d spoken through the grille allowed them in, banging it shut behind them.
He beckoned Ella and Jonnie to follow him down a short corridor to a door at the end, which he knocked timidly on. A harsh bark ordered, “Enter!”
“The people who want to see you about the Helm chap, sir,” the turnkey said, pushing the door back.
“Lead them in, Watts.”
The minute Ella saw the Chief Constable’s quick appraisal of her face and figure, her confidence soared. She smiled. “Thank you for agreeing to see us at such short notice, Constable. I’m sure your time is very precious.”
He nodded. “Please take a seat. You young man,” he said, pointing to Jonnie, “can stand there. Name, if I may madam?” The pale eyes roamed her face.
“Ella Bickerstaff, I…”
“Ah, Mrs. Bickerstaff! I should have realized. There can’t be another lady of such beauty in Adelaide.” He inclined his head slightly. “I was sorry to hear about the sad demise of your husband on the Venture. One of my cousins returned from England on the same ship, said the poor man had a huge fit, convulsed and fell overboard.”
“Oh, dear. How these things become exaggerated, Constable. My husband actually died of a malady of the heart. Now.” Ella struggled to keep the irritation from her voice. “The reason for my visit here today, sir, is to request the release of Lucas Helm. This absurd assumption that he attempted to rape some female last night…”
“Er, hm.” The Constable coughed behind his hand. “Madam, the, ‘some female’ you refer to, which I regret having to mention in your presence,” he said, sighing loudly, “was in fact, what we politely refer to as a lady of the night, and whatever our opinions on such a person, she still does not deserve to be assaulted. Her statement says that in the dark, Helm, drunk apparently, attempted to gain favors without payment. When she refused, he decided to try and take them anyway. Most unseemly talk for a lady of your standing to listen to.”
Ella looked at him steadily. “I gather you are speaking of a prostitute?”
The Constable flinched and looked down, twiddling his pen. “That is correct.”
“Well it is preposterous, Sir! Whatever the lady’s profession, Lucas Helm is a respectable man who most certainly would not attempt to rape her, or indeed anyone else. And, I might add, he would not be drunk on the street.”
“Well, Mrs. Bickerstaff.” The pale eyes narrowed. “From your avid defense of Helm, I take it he is a good friend of yours?”
“We’re neighbors, yes. You
clearly know his farm abuts Woomba and that I own it?”
The Constable sighed. “I do. But then neighbors, respectable or otherwise, I’m afraid, sometimes wish to keep unsavory secrets to themselves. You cannot possibly know what drives a man to certain actions on such a flimsy acquaintance. Especially a man with Helm’s reputation.”
Ella’s heart started to thud against her ribcage. “Meaning?”
The Constable shuffled through the pile of papers on his desk and held up one. “This has been in my possession since Helm arrived in Adelaide. Up until now it has been filed away as unimportant, but now, well….” He began reading.
“In eighteen sixty nine, Lucas Helm was given a fifteen year sentence in London, England for the attempted rape of his employer’s wife, Collette Pallin and was transported to Western Australia. His victim became mortally ill and the family ascertained that on her deathbed, Mrs. Pallin retracted her allegations against Helm. After serving only two years he was given his freedom and a ticket of leave.”
“So,” the constable continued, “when the event occurred last night and Helm was in the vicinity, I suddenly recalled this paper and had to bring him in for questioning. With the Pallin woman dead,” he said, shaking the paper, “how am I to know what is true and what is not? Could Helm somehow have obtained a falsified report, making him out to be innocent? At this point in time we shall have to wait and see. My job now will be to write to the authorities at the port he landed in. Until then, we shall hold him here.”
Ella’s heart slowed and her eyes narrowed. “Poppycock, sir! It sounds like a fairy story to me. Falsified papers indeed. I’ve never heard such rubbish. You have no reason at all for holding him. He was clearly innocent of the incident in London, so on what evidence did you arrest him here? Being in the vicinity of a crime does not mean you have committed it!”
“Madam, I am beginning to find your manner offensive. Will you please remain calm or I will have to conclude the interview.”
Ella felt Jonnie’s touch on her back and took a deep breath.
“What we know,” the constable continued, “from speaking to Helm last night is that he was in the vicinity, that he heard a woman scream and ran to her aid. He saw a man disappear into the shadows then went to the woman who began screaming hysterically when he tried to help her. In the ensuing tussle she ripped his shirt. Helm then stated that on hearing the police whistle he stayed where he was, and that’s how he was discovered, trying to restrain the fraught female. Of course we took his word for it and let him go. But then, early this morning the woman came to see me and maintained it was he who had attempted to rape her.”
“Oh, for goodness sake! That is so far-fetched as to be ridiculous!” Ella, unable to contain herself, said heatedly. “I know he is innocent. You are accusing a man of a crime, on the flimsiest evidence, which could sully his reputation for years. Have you no shame, sir?” She felt Jonnie’s restraining hand move to her shoulder. “Chief Constable, I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to understand this. How did the woman know it was Luc…Mr. Helm? Surely in the dark it was impossible to see his face?”
The constable held up a piece of blue checked cloth, a triumphant smile lighting his face. “This is what she ripped from him in the struggle. It’s all the evidence I need. He’s wearing the shirt right now with this piece missing from it.”
Ella felt close to despair. “Well of course, if there was as you say a tussle when he tried to help her, I’m sure in such a struggle it’s not impossible for a shirt to get ripped. It doesn’t mean he raped her! There must be dozens of men in town wearing such shirts.”
The Constable frowned and laid the piece of material with the papers. “Madam, I fear I am unimpressed with your agitated state. We’ll have to let a court decide his guilt or innocence. That is not for any of us to do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more paperwork…”
“Wait! One moment. There is something that as an officer of the law you should know.” Ella’s amber eyes focused on his. “Yesterday when I was bathing in my lake—nude I might add, I looked up to see the flash of a blue shirt in the copse dividing my property from Mr. Helm’s. A man had been watching me. It certainly wasn’t my neighbor as I believe he was with this young man, Jonnie at the time, so could this other man be the one you should be looking for instead? After all, someone who spies on naked women is capable of other crimes too, don’t you think? And, I might add, on my way to Glen Ayre I did see a short, stocky man leaving the ranch. He was definitely wearing a blue shirt.”
“Ella!” Jonnie exclaimed. “That’s the man who called at Glen Ayre yesterday. Lucas said he was a nasty piece of work and more or less threw him off the property. Ella’s right,” he said hotly to the constable, “you should be looking for that villain instead!”
The constable thumped his desk. “Do not assume to tell me my job, young man! Like I said, I cannot judge these matters. As a neighbor your defense of him is to be expected, I suppose, but we shall just have to wait and see what happens when the case comes to trial. We will put all the evidence before a jury and if Mr. Helm is found innocent, he’ll be released. Now, I really cannot spare any more time with you, I have other equally urgent matters to attend to.” He rose to his feet. “Good day, Mrs. Bickerstaff.”
“One more question if I may?” Ella smiled sweetly. “What time was the incident last night?”
The constable sighed, clearly irritated. “Um.” He studied his notes and then threw the papers on the desk. “Nine thirty.”
“Nine thirty?” Ella took a deep breath as the lie formed on her tongue. “Well then I’m afraid you will not be having your jury after all, Constable. You see, I said Lucas is my friend and neighbor, but he’s also much more than that. He is my lover. And as last night was spent with me, in my bed until midnight, clearly he couldn’t have been in town at the same time, could he?”
Chapter Seventeen
“Oh, Jonnie! Don’t be such a prude,” Ella admonished. She smiled. “It was a fib anyway.”
They were waiting outside the jail for Lucas’ release and Jonnie paced back and forth.
“I’m not a prude. You shocked me, is all,” he whispered. “You told a lie? That’s perjury!”
Ella waved a hand dismissively.
“Heck, Ella you can go to jail for perjury!”
“Fiddlesticks. First of all they’ll have to prove it was a lie.” She smiled. “No one can do that. Anyway, Lucas is innocent, and now, because they’ve had to release him, they’ll hopefully do their job properly and find the guilty man. I’d bet anything it was the man who visited Glen Ayre.”
“Yeah, but Ella…Gee!” Jonnie rubbed his jaw. “Coming out with that stuff about you an’ Lucas. The story will be all over the town before you get home!”
Ella grinned. “Do you think I care?”
Jonnie started laughing. “You really don’t do you? Did you see the look on the Constable’s face? His eyes came out like organ stops.”
“They did. Quite startling! Goodness me though, how people like him do jump in, making assumptions about a person on something which happened years ago. Did you know about Lucas’ past?”
Jonnie shrugged. “No. Clearly it wasn’t something he wanted to talk with me about, I’m only his ranch hand after all. But I don’t care about his past it’s the sort of person he is now that counts.”
“I couldn’t agree more. It’s not important, but that man, Jonnie. How does Lucas know him?”
“He just said someone he’d met years ago, a bad ’un. Nothin’ else.”
The jail door opened and closed with a bang, and Ella whipped around as Lucas stepped outside. He walked slowly toward her, settling his hat. A gesture she had become endearingly used to. A lump formed in her throat at the look in his eyes.
“We need to talk, Ella,” he said.
“Fine.” Her voice didn’t waver. “My place or yours?”
Jonnie interrupted, shaking Lucas’ hand, slapping him on the shoulder. “I sure am gla
d that’s over, Boss.” He mounted the horse. “Are you getting on behind me?”
Lucas shook his head. “I’ll take a ride with Ella.”
“I’ll get back to work then. There’s jobs to be done.” And jumping onto the horse’s back, Jonnie rode away.
Ella mounted Star. “He’s happier now,” she observed. “He was in a bit of a state earlier.”
Lucas said nothing. With the help of the rail and a light agile jump, he sat behind her. She wriggled farther forward into the saddle to give him room and he slotted next to her back.
Like two spoons in my drawer!
She clicked her tongue, and Star whinnied and started walking. Conscious of their closeness, his body nudging hers with the rolling gait of the horse, Ella remained silent, enjoying the feeling.
When they were out of town, Lucas leaned to say over her shoulder, “I don’t quite know what to say to you, but you do realize your reputation as a grieving respectable widow will have disappeared quicker than a magician’s rabbit?”
Ella looked straight ahead. “Like I said to Jonnie, I don’t care. You’re free, that’s all I’m concerned about.”
She heard him grunt.
Maybe, she thought, he needs time to adjust. She could imagine the shock it must have been to him when the constable revealed the reason for his quick release. In bed with the Widow Bickerstaff!
Ella stifled a giggle. Glancing down, she could see his hand resting on his thigh and longed to place her own on top of it. She finally turned into the lane and felt his breath on her neck as he leaned forward to say, “Can we go to Woomba?”
“Of course.” Ella’s heart thudded uncomfortably. “Coralee and Jack will have finished for the day.”
“Good. We need privacy.” He started singing quietly.
‘Cut your name across me backbone
Stretch me skin across yer drum
Iron me up on Pinchgut Island
From now to Kingdom Come.
I’ll eat yer Norfolk Dumpling
Like a juicy Spanish plum
Even dance the Newgate Hornpipe
If you’ll give me rum.’
Australian Odyssey Page 14
