Impetuous Masquerade

by Anne Mather

  ‘No?’

  ‘Why should I?’ Lisa linked her slim fingers together. ‘I don’te remember half of what you told me last night!’

  ‘But you do remember what I said about Rhia?’

  ‘Oh, Jared…’ Lisa moved her head from side to side. ‘I think this whole situation has got out of hand. It was a mistake to bring the girl here—I said so at the time. And as it turns out, Glyn’s known who she was all along.’

  ‘So he told me.’

  ‘You’ve spoken to him?’

  ‘This morning, yes.’ Jared paused. ‘You were right, I had planned to go to Calgary today, but Horse hurt his shoulder yesterday, and I went to see him before leaving. When I got back to the house, Maria told me you and Rhia had gone out together, so I went to see Glyn, to find out if he knew where you had gone.’

  ‘I—I see.’

  ‘Which reminds me—’ Jared’s eyes narrowed, ‘where is Rhia?’

  Lisa shrugged. ‘Somewhere about, I guess. How should I know? I’m not her keeper.’

  Jared’s mouth hardened. ‘But she came back with you?’

  Lisa pursed her lips, and then, disturbed by the glinting anger in Jared’s eyes, she reluctantly shook her head. ‘No.’

  ‘What do you mean—no?’ Jared caught her by the shoulders. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘I’ve told you, I don’t know.’ Lisa winced as his fingers bit into her flesh. ‘Jared, you’re hurting me! Let go!’

  Jared took no notice. ‘Where is Rhia?’ he demanded. ‘You might as well tell me. I’m not going to let go of you until you do.’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Lisa gazed up at him with wounded eyes. ‘Jared, I really don’t. If I did, I would tell you.’

  Jared held her eyes with his, ignoring the inviting warmth that spread into hers. ‘Where is she?’ he persisted. ‘Where did you leave her? She went out with you. Why didn’t you fetch her back?’

  Lisa sighed, her fingertips stroking the soft brown leather of his lapel. ‘Darling, I know it was naughty of me, and you’re probably going to be very cross, but—well, I parked the car, and—and we arranged to meet at a certain time. When I got back to the car, Rhia wasn’t there. So I left.’

  ‘You left her in Moose Bay!’ Jared was incensed.

  Lisa said nothing, merely continued to look up at him with a warm, melting submission, and with an exclamation of distaste he let her go.

  ‘You—bitch, Lisa,’ he said harshly. ‘You selfish little bitch! I could wring your bloody neck!’

  ‘Darling!’ Lisa caught her breath in pained affront. ‘How can you be so cruel! After—after all we’ve been to one another.’

  ‘We’ve been nothing to one another, Lisa—nothing,’ retorted Jared curtly, but she caught his sleeve.

  ‘That’s not true. Jared, you wanted me. Before—before Glyn was born, you wanted me—’

  ‘And could have had you, too, if I hadn’t had more respect for my brother,’ replied Jared brutally. ‘Stop kidding yourself, Lisa. I was eighteen—a youth! I guess I was flattered because an older woman showed me she found me attractive.’

  ‘Not so much older,’ declared Lisa resentfully. ‘You’re thirty-six, Jared—’

  ‘And you’re nearly forty, Lisa!’ Jared was in no mood to spare her feelings. ‘Now, where is Rhia? Where will I find her?’

  ‘That’s your problem.’

  Lisa turned towards the stairs, and as she did so, Ben came in from outside. He looked askance at his son’s brooding features, then gave his attention to his daughter-in-law.

  ‘Y’know you’ve got a flat?’ he asked, and she was obliged to answer him.

  ‘Yes, I know,’ she said tersely. ‘I’ll get one of the men to fix it.’

  ‘Seems like you’re going to need a new tyre,’ exclaimed Ben, glancing at Jared. ‘Threaded it to ribbons, she has. Not surprising, I guess, on those mountain roads.’

  Jared’s eyes darkened. ‘What mountain roads?’

  Ben studied his son’s angry face for a few moments, then looked up at Lisa. She, sensing Jared’s sudden vigilance, made to escape upstairs, but Jared was too quick for her, his booted strides easily overtaking her before she reached the landing.

  ‘What mountain roads?’ he demanded of her savagely, and Lisa’s face crumpled beneath his savage glare.

  ‘I—I don’t know, do I?’ she sobbed. ‘I don’t know what he’s talking about, drunken old fool. If—if I had my way, he’d be in a home, where he belongs. He—he’s not fit to live with decent people—oh!’

  She broke off abruptly as Jared’s fingers stung across her cheek, and then went with him sullenly when he hustled her back downstairs. In the hall again, he turned to his father, and keeping a firm hold on Lisa he demanded harshly: ‘What do you know?’

  Ben shifted a little uncomfortably now. ‘Look here,’ he muttered, looking unwillingly at Lisa, ‘a tyre’s easily replaced. It’s nothing to do with me, really—’

  ‘No, it’s not,’ spat Lisa coldly, but Jared’s warning look silenced her.

  ‘Go on,’ he said to his father. ‘What did you see? I guess you saw Lisa, on your way back from town.’

  ‘Town?’ echoed Lisa, frowning, and Jared nodded his head.

  ‘You didn’t know Pa had gone to town, did you? He went to see Doc Palmer. I guess you wouldn’t see him, if you went—oh, my God!’ His face paled visibly. ‘Rhia! My God, Rhia! What have you done to her?’

  He shook Lisa violently, and her teeth were chattering as she tried to answer him. ‘D-done?’ she stammered. ‘I’ve done nothing. Stop shaking me, Jared, you’re making me feel ill.’

  ‘I’ll do more than that, if I have to,’ snapped Jared savagely. ‘She took Rhia—Val—out with her, and didn’t bring her back,’ he explained briefly to his father. ‘Where did you see the station wagon? What direction did it come from? For God’s sake, if Rhia’s out there, we’ve got to find her!’

  ‘Calm down, son, calm down!’ For once, Ben took control, turning on the sobbing Lisa without hesitation now. ‘I saw her on the road from Grifter’s Pass,’ he declared steadily. ‘She didn’t see me. She was having some difficulty keeping the wagon on the road with that flat tyre. I followed her in.’

  ‘So—’ Jared turned to Lisa, ‘are you going to tell me where she is, or do I beat it out of you?’

  ‘You wouldn’t—’

  ‘Don’t try me.’Jared was grim. ‘You crazy little fool! If you’ve harmed her—’

  ‘I haven’t.’ Lisa was sulky. ‘I haven’t done anything. I—I only wanted to frighten her, that’s all. I intended going back for her.’

  ‘Did you?’ Jared was sceptical. ‘You expected me to be away today, remember? If I hadn’t been here when you got back, who would have guessed where Rhia was?’

  ‘That’s right.’ Ben looked anxious. ‘Gee, Jared—’

  ‘What’s going on?’ They all stiffened at the sound of Glyn’s voice as he slowly descended the stairs. He was bathed and dressed, his hair neatly combed, and a pair of dark glasses resided on his nose. ‘Do you know I can hear your voices right across the house?’ he exclaimed humorously. ‘What is it? Some kind of private party, or can anybody join?’

  ‘Your mother’s taken your young lady out into the mountains and marooned her,’ declared Ben, before either Jared or Lisa could say anything.

  ‘My young lady—you mean, Rhia?’ Glyn blanched.

  ‘Rhia?’ Ben looked confused now, but Jared had no time to enlighten him.

  ‘I’ll explain later,’ he said, pulling Lisa after him to the door. ‘Are you coming? I’ll get Horse to join us. The more eyes that are looking out for her, the better.’

  ‘I’ll come, too,’ said Glyn eagerly, but now Jared held up his hand.

  ‘Glyn—’

  ‘I know, I know. She’s not interested in me,’ Glyn exclaimed tautly. ‘You don’t have to paint a picture. I’m not blind any more. I guessed how it was between you two, the night we arrived here.’

 
Jared stared at him, wanting to say something by way of mitigation, but Glyn only shook his head. ‘Get Horse,’ he said. ‘I’ll get my coat. Like you said, the more eyes looking for her, the better.’

  Rhia was frozen. Even though she was wearing gloves, and her hands were pushed deep into the pockets of the suede coat, her fingers were numb, and her feet had long since lost the ability to feel pain.

  How long was it since Lisa had driven away and left her? One hour? Two? She was afraid to look at her watch, afraid to discover that it was later than she thought, and that soon the darkness of evening would begin to shroud these rocky passes. She had guessed where she was. Through the drifting shrouds of mist, it was occasionally possible to glimpse the rocky crags around her, and she had come to the conclusion that she was no small distance above sea level.

  The mountains, she thought bitterly, those innocent-looking foothills she had seen from her bedroom window; they were not half so appealing as they had been from that safe distance, and although she tried to still her fears, deep inside she was terrified.

  It wasn’t just the fact that she was cold and hungry, and likely to die of exposure. There was also the horrible suspicion that she was not alone on the path, that something or someone was stalking her, and she wondered with a feeling of panic whether bears had been known to attack unwary travellers. There were bears in these mountains, and goats, and caribou. She had read about them in guide books before leaving England. But what had had a primitive charm in the civilised surroundings of her flat had a distinctly alarming aspect when one was alone and helpless, and although she still clung to the belief that Lisa would come back for her, she was rapidly losing faith.

  She only hoped she had not lost her way. The track over which Lisa had driven had been clear to start with, but the intermittent rain had made the ground soggy, and she could no longer be sure she was on the right path. She seemed to be going down, but in what direction? What if she had somehow turned back on herself, and was now going deeper into the mountains, instead of coming out?

  With thoughts like these for company, she had no difficulty in staying alert, even though she had the distinct apprehension that sooner or later exhaustion was going to take its toll on her. It wasn’t as if she was completely fit. Her back still ached from the fall she had taken in the ravine, and the longer she trudged over these rocky trails, the more certain she became that she did not have the strength to walk back, even if she could find her way.

  Her first awareness that she was no longer alone with her fears came with the blaring of a car horn. It was still some distance from her, but the sound was distinct, even to her frozen ears, and she almost collapsed from the relief of knowing that Lisa had come to her senses.

  Stumbling as she went, she hurried down the shingly slope in the direction of the sound, opening her mouth and calling, but unable to make much noise. Her throat was raw from the biting air, and humiliatingly unsteady. The sounds that emerged were a mixture of words and broken sobs, the most coherent being: ‘Lisa!’ and ‘Here I am. I’m here!’

  The car’s headlight swept her only a few minutes later, and the relief at realising she was rescued robbed her legs of all strength. With a helpless sob, she sank to the ground and ignominiously wept for the hours she had spent in frightened isolation. She didn’t care any longer what Lisa thought of her, whether it gave her some vicious kind of satisfaction to see her humbled like this. She no longer cared about anything but escaping from this awful place.

  ‘Rhia!’

  At first she thought she was hallucinating, that somehow she had imagined the car’s horn and the headlights, and the certainty of rescue. When Jared spoke her name in that rough unguarded way, she felt sure she must be imagining it, and she bowed her head still lower, brought to complete submission.

  ‘Rhia—God, if she’s hurt you, I’ll kill her!’ Jared’s voice spoke again, harsh and emotive, and when strong hands lifted her and possessive arms closed about her, she decided that if this was a dream, she much preferred it to reality.

  But it was no dream, she realised incredulously, looking over Jared’s shoulder and seeing Ben and Horse getting out of the car. And then she became aware that Jared was shaking almost as much as she was, and unable to think of anything but comforting him, she closed her arms about him.

  He lifted his head then, from the chilly hollow of her shoulder, and tearing the wig from her head he allowed her hair to spill down through his fingers. ‘God, Rhia, I’ve been half out of my mind,’ he muttered thickly, and her husky response was stifled by the searching pressure of his mouth.

  It was crazy really, she thought, as one half of her mind stood back from herself and surveyed the spectacle they were making. It was cold and wet, and she was chilled to the bone, but with Jared’s arms about her, she would not have changed a thing.

  ‘If she’d hurt you—’ he choked, unfastening his coat and drawing her inside it, close against the warm hardness of his body. ‘I really think I would have killed her, you know.’

  ‘But she didn’t,’ whispered Rhia softly, snuggling against him. ‘And she must have told you where I was, mustn’t she?’ she added. ‘Or how else did you find me so quickly?’

  ‘Quickly!’ groaned Jared harshly, as Ben put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Do you realise how long we’ve been searching these trails? The better part of four hours! God, I was beginning to lose hope!’

  ‘Jared, get in the car,’ said Ben quietly, patting Rhia’s arm. ‘The girl’s frozen, can’t you see? Explanations can wait until we get her back to the house, can’t they? You’re not helping her by keeping her out here.’

  ‘Yes, get in the car, Jared,’ Horse agreed behind them, smiling diffidently at Rhia. ‘Get in the back. I’ll drive.’

  ‘Okay.’ Jared allowed Rhia to move away from him with reluctance, and when they got to the car, he made her get inside first, and then got in beside her, drawing her possessively against him.

  Lisa was in the back of the car, Rhia saw with some misgivings, and the older woman viewed her appearance with narrow-eyed sullenness. ‘You see, Jared,’ she declared coldly, ‘she’s perfectly all right. All this stupid panic was totally unnecessary.’

  ‘Shut up, Lisa,’ said Jared tersely, pulling Rhia into the circle of his arms, and Rhia allowed him to do so, too bemused to care how she might feel when the euphoria of being safe again subsided.

  Glyn was up front, Rhia realised, as she allowed her head to rest against Jared’s shoulder, and her eyes widened anxiously at his appraising look. ‘It’s okay,’ he said, reaching over to pat her hand. ‘I guess we all had something to hide, didn’t we? Will you forgive me for fooling you for so long?’

  Rhia moved her head helplessly. ‘I’m sorry Simon—’

  ‘Forget it. I’d already realised you couldn’t be Val. You don’t know your sister very well, Rhia, if you think she would have stuck with me the way you did.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘It hurt,’ he admitted honestly, as Horse got behind the wheel and began reversing back down the ravine. ‘But Jared’s told me about her clearing off to South Africa.’ He sighed. ‘I guess my main reason for bringing you out here was to get back at both her and your boy-friend. I didn’t realise then that Jared’s interest was of a more personal nature.’

  Rhia lifted her eyes to Jared’s face, but in the halflight she could read nothing from his expression. His arms didn’t hold her any closer, his concern for her was no less real. But Glyn’s words had left him unmoved, and she felt the first faint twinges of apprehension. Moments before, she had almost been prepared to believe his concern for her was that of someone who cared, cared very deeply. Now, with Lisa watching them with glowering eyes, and Jared staring broodingly out of the window, she wondered if all of them had not overreacted to a traumatic situation.

  It didn’t seem to take long to get back to the house, but Horse drove fast, and the huge limousine fairly leapt along the track. Even so, it was a relief when the car drew t
o a halt in front of the house, and Maria’s gaunt face appeared, pale and anxious.

  Jared got out first, addressing the Indian woman with a curtness Rhia had never heard him use to her before. ‘Run a hot bath,’ he directed, helping Rhia to alight. ‘We’ve found her, but she’s chilled to the bone. And then fetch up some hot soup. She’s probably starving as well.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’ Maria’s response was eager, showing none of the resentment Rhia might have expected. With a quick smile for the girl, she turned back into the house, and by the time Jared had carried Rhia upstairs, the sound of running water was coming from her bathroom.

  Rhia had objected to him carrying her, but Ben had taken his part. ‘You let him, my girl,’ he declared firmly. ‘It will give him something to do. The amount of adrenalin he’s released into his veins during the past few hours, it’s time he allowed it some outlet.’

  In her room, Maria came bustling out of the bathroom, clucking her tongue when she saw Rhia’s wet clothes. ‘Off with the lot of them,’ she declared, as Rhia shed her coat, and: ‘Don’t lock the bathroom door!’ said Jared, before he, too, left her.

  The bath was deliciously soft and warm and scented with rose water. Rhia could feel the chilliness of her flesh melting away, and she sank down into the fluffy bubbles, content just to relax.

  ‘Are you going to stay in there all evening?’ a harsh voice demanded, and looking up she saw Jared, standing at the side of the bath. He, too, had shed his outdoor clothes, and in brown corded pants and matching waistcoat, he looked dark and disturbing, and devastatingly attractive.

  ‘I—why—’ Rhia was glad of the concealing bubbles to hide her blushes. ‘Has Maria brought the soup yet? I’m sorry, I was just letting the water relax me.’

  ‘And has it?’ He squatted down beside her, his eyes narrowed and intent, but she had the distinct impression he was keeping himself aloof from her.

  ‘Very much,’ she agreed huskily, wondering if she dared ask him what had happened when Lisa came back without her. But shyness, and an unwillingness to become involved in their personal relationships, kept her silent, until Jared suddenly put his hand down and touched the water.