Frontier Wife

by Margaret Tanner

  “I have no objection.” David chuckled. “I don't fancy your chances though.”

  A grinning David preceded a tight-lipped Adam into the room. “Adam has something he wants to ask you. I'll go out the back and keep the young fellow amused.”

  “You have something you wish to ask me?” She dusted the flour from her hands.

  He stood in the middle of the floor his feet planted slightly apart, his arms folded across his broad chest, arrogance oozing from every pore. “I've spoken to your brother, who has no objections. I want you for my wife.”

  “What!” Her ears must be playing tricks on her.

  “You heard me the first time. I want you for my wife.”

  “Me? Your wife?”

  “Yes.”

  No mention of love, just want. Even in the heat of the kitchen her limbs froze. This cold ultimatum wasn’t the way she expected a man to ask for her hand in marriage. Bended knee would have been a dream come true but she would have settled for tenderness or warmth.

  “Why give me the honor?”

  He ignored her sarcasm. “Because you're suitable.”

  “Me suitable?” Hurt made her voice shrill. “To be the wife of the High and Mighty Mr. Adam Munro, with his forty thousand acres of prime frontier land?”

  “Yes.” He ground the word out. “You can give me the sons I need.”

  “I find your proposal obscene.” If he loved her she would be the happiest woman in the world right now.

  He brushed aside her protest. “I need a presentable wife, who has a fondness for children. You qualify on both accounts.”

  “What about Miss Bothroyd?”

  “Suitable in one respect, not the other. I want the wedding to take place as soon as it can be arranged.”

  This couldn't be happening. She blinked away sudden tears, because he wanted a brood mare, not a wife. “I should be flattered that you now find me suitable for your purposes, but the answer is no.”

  He stared at her as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

  “I told you, the answer is no.”

  His lips tightened and his jaw thrust out with undisguised determination. “I want you for my wife. I'm a wealthy man, within reason I can give you anything you want.”

  She made to speak.

  “Let me finish.” He had not moved his stance so much as an inch. “If you're worried about Jamie, don't be. I’m fond of him and naturally he will make his home with us.”

  “I'm sorry. I don't love you, and you don't love me.”

  “Love! My father thrashed all that nonsense out of me when I was ten.”

  “It isn't nonsense. You can't live your life without love.” She looked at him. His eyes, cold as ice floes, made her shiver.

  “I don't need love. I want strong healthy sons and you can give them to me. You have spirit. I like that in a woman. It’s necessary in a frontier land like Australia. You're a slight little thing.” His gaze ran up and down her body, boldly assessing. “A bit narrow around the hips, maybe, but together we could produce fine sons.”

  “Is that all marriage means to you, a chance to beget sons?”

  “Yes, I've made up my mind.”

  The sheer arrogance of the man took her breath away. “You can unmake it, because the answer is still no.”

  “You're not meant to live like this.” He waved his hand about, encompassing the room with one dismissive movement. “I have a large comfortable home; you could wear fine clothes. Later we could take a trip to England, if you like. Think what I can do for Jamie.”

  She made to speak, but he waved her to silence.

  “I know you want him to have a good education. I can provide that, even send him to Eton. If David attended there, he would have no trouble being accepted, and I can afford to pay his expenses.”

  He had delivered his proposal in such a cold-blooded, unemotional manner it sucked the warmth from her body. “I'm sorry, the answer is still no.”

  Angry color stained his cheeks. It was obvious he wasn’t used to not getting his own way. His whole body tensed and became rigid. “I want you for my wife, pretty English rose. You accused me of being ruthless once and I admit it. If you don't marry me, you'll find out exactly how ruthless I can be.”

  “I won't marry you, now or ever.” Her eyes flashed blue flames of defiance.

  “I'll bring both you and your brother to your knees before I'm through, that's a promise.” He turned on his heel and strode out of the room.

  As soon as he left David returned, the grin on his face fading when he noticed her distress. “What happened? By the speed at which Munro departed, I take it you turned him down.”

  “It was awful. When I refused him he threatened to bring us to our knees.”

  “What can he do? I don't have any stock left for him to confiscate except the mares. He's short of feed and water so he won't want them.”

  Tommy said no more, just doggedly continued with her chores. David didn't understand. He hadn’t seen the fury on Adam's face, nor did he know how pain rent her heart asunder.

  ****

  As Tommy sat darning a hole in Jamie’s shirt one evening, David stormed inside. “This is the limit. Munro dammed the creek further upstream; there's only a trickle coming through to us now. What am I supposed to do for water?”

  “Can't you stop him?” She threw her sewing to one side and leapt to her feet.

  “How?”

  “Go to the law,” she raged. “Have him locked up. It’s illegal. He can’t do this.”

  “The law! Munro and his kind are the law on this frontier. People like us stand no chance of getting justice. I should have let that friend of the Reverend Lawson shoot his mares like he planned. No wonder he wanted to offload them onto me. I saved him from spending money on bullets.”

  “It was too good a chance to miss out on and Jamie loves the pony. You weren't to know Adam Munro would do such a contemptible thing. It’s because I refused to marry him. This is his revenge.”

  He paced up and down like a caged lion. “I'll have to water them by hand from the well I suppose, what else can I do?”

  “Maybe you could take them down to where the water is dammed.”

  “Three miles there and back? Sorry, not this fellow.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I'm acting like a swine, but, Tommy, I'm at my wit’s end.”

  “I thought Adam took his sheep down south.”

  “He did, most of them have gone. He needs the water for his cattle. A pity Jim isn’t here to advise us. If only it would rain.”

  Rain would be a godsend. Adam Munro’s head on a platter would be even better. How could a man be so despicable? So vicious and vindictive, just because she spurned his marriage proposal. She inwardly railed against the drought and Adam Munro.

  They scanned the horizon as hundreds of others did each day. Nothing, except a great expanse of blue dominated by a large red ball of fire. The ground was so cracked and dry now, when David tried digging down for water, his shovel hit rock-hard clay.

  Each day, David led his horses over to the well, brought up water in the bucket then emptied it into a trough, time-consuming work; but not as back-breaking as carting water in buckets to keep their small vegetable plot going. In the evening, with Jamie and David's help, Tommy trudged backwards and forwards, watering one section per evening. She could have wept watching her once flourishing garden struggle for survival.

  She let her flower garden die, but worked desperately to keep the vegetable patch going. With little money they had to be as self-sufficient as possible. Reverend Lawson, a keen gardener, sent over a bucket full of tomatoes each time David called in to see him for their weekly game of chess.

  What kind of idiot did he take her for? She stopped to have a rest between the well and her garden and ran a trembling hand across her perspiring forehead. If he played chess it wouldn’t be with the minister. Then there was the weak excuse about going over to the Manse to fix Mrs. Lawson’s piano. Tommy gave a tired chuc
kle, and flicked some of the water out of the bucket onto her face.

  ****

  The heat continued unabated. Day after day the sun seared down, turning the ground into a cracked dustbowl. They received no word from Adam, so she began to relax again. They only had the horses and two house cows now. David killed the last of their sheep and she salted as much of the meat as she could. Once they ate this they would have to go without.

  After a heated argument, Tommy persuaded David to take her remaining jewelry to the bank to sell. All day she fretted on the outcome. When David returned at sundown, she watched him leading his horse. By the droop of his shoulders she knew he carried bad news.

  She rushed out to greet him. “What happened? Didn't you get a good price?”

  “The bank wouldn't touch them, said no one wanted to waste money on jewelry now. I couldn’t even get money using the farm as collateral. Munro must have spoken to the bank manager. When I asked him outright he as good as admitted it.”

  He threw his hat on the verandah. His hair was damp, plastered to his head, his face streaked with dirt where the dust and perspiration mingled.

  “I'm sorry, this is my fault. He's doing this because of me.”

  “It's all right.” He patted her hand. “You've sacrificed enough already, I can't let you do any more.”

  As the days passed, their position worsened until it became critical.

  “The well is drying up.” David strode to where his rifle hung on the wall bracket.

  “What are you going to do?” She dashed over, trying to get between him and the gun.

  “We can't spare any water for the horses, I’ve practically no feed; there's only one thing left now.” He stepped around her and took a handful of cartridges from the dresser drawer and stuffed them in his pocket.

  “You're not going to shoot them are you?” Her hands flew to her mouth in horror.

  “What else can I do? Munro has won, he can have the Godforsaken place,” he said bitterly. “I should have realized we couldn't fight a powerful man like him. We have no money to buy anything with; we can't even get credit. We're finished.”

  “No.” She clutched his arm. “I'll see Adam. If I marry him everything will be all right.”

  “Don't be ridiculous. My sister doesn't sell herself to a man for a few bales of hay. We’ll move to Melbourne, I’ll find a job.”

  “I've made up my mind.” She stamped her foot. “Shoot your horses if you want to, go to Melbourne, but I'm still going over to see him. He offered to buy me clothes, take me to England and give me anything I want. I'm sick of scrimping and saving. He's fond of Jamie and is happy for him to come with me.”

  “Tommy!” David’s jaw dropped.

  “He's prepared to pay for Jamie to attend Eton later on. With Adam Munro as your brother-in-law you'll have so many people wanting Warrior, you'll have to put them on a waiting list.” She forced a laugh through stiff lips, hating herself for telling such blatant lies. For acting like a greedy woman, prepared to marry a man for his money and what it could buy.

  “Are you serious?” Hope and disbelief vied with each other on her brother’s face.

  “He's a very presentable man, the most eligible bachelor in the district. I do want to marry him.” She would have walked barefoot over hot coals to be with Adam if he loved her.

  David wanted to believe her; she read the desperate hope in his eyes.

  “You know me. He annoyed me so I refused him at first to teach him a lesson. I meant to accept his proposal all along.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes, he's fond of me.” If only he was. A little fondness would have done for a start. Love could grow if it was nurtured, but Adam didn’t want love in his life.

  “He's got an eye for a pretty young woman and a man would be blind not to see how beautiful you are. I did see him staring at you a few times.”

  She swung her head away to hide her bitterness. He had been staring at her all right, coldly assessing her breeding potential. “I'll ride over to see him now. You saddle my horse while I change.”

  “Are you sure, I mean—”

  “I'm sure. Jamie can come with me.” She left the room on the pretext of getting changed. Her eyes filled with bitter tears. She forced them not to fall.

  I'm doing this for David and Jamie. Adam had won. They could fight him no longer. If they left the farm where could they go? What kind of job could David get in Melbourne? They would be friendless and penniless in a strange land. Mary and Jim, their only friends, were in dire circumstances with a baby to provide for, and would be unable to help.

  The Lindsays had always been proud. She could not stand by and see David humiliated and Jamie facing years of poverty. The promise she made her mother to look after him when her baby brother—a mere scrap of humanity—had been placed in her arms echoed in her ears.

  Jamie liked staying at Adam’s home. Life would not be too bad with Adam, as long as she didn’t let him know her true feelings. The humiliation of his gloating victory. But he wouldn’t find out if she kept her wits about her.

  She had no decent summer riding habit, so she put on a blue muslin gown with white ribbon bows around the flounces. A wide brimmed straw hat trimmed with blue feathers completed her outfit. Pulling on a pair of white gloves, she surveyed herself in the mirror. Her eyes stood out, azure beacons in her pale face. She pinched her cheeks to give them some color, and with a smile fixed on her face, walked out of the bedroom.

  David had saddled both their horses. Jamie already mounted, waited for her, anxious to be off.

  “You are sure this is what you want to do?” David chewed at his lip as he helped her mount.

  “Completely. I feel quite excited about it.”

  He didn’t notice the tremor in her hands or the huskiness of her voice, thank goodness. They set off at a slow trot.

  “Come on, hurry up.” Jamie kept badgering her. It was so hot she wanted to conserve their horses as much as possible.

  He chatted away, telling her once more about his stay at the Munro homestead. If he mentioned again how much he liked Adam, she would scream. He was suffering from a severe dose of hero worship.

  It took them over an hour to reach Adam's property, another fifteen minutes to get to the homestead. It stretched out like a small town with twenty or more outbuildings. The homestead, a U-shaped building of sheeted horizontal weatherboards, had a verandah stretching around three sides. The front verandah profusely covered with vines and various creepers shaded a centrally placed door.

  They dismounted in the front yard. After tethering their horses to the cast iron hitching post they stepped onto the flagged sandstone verandah. Tommy knocked on the door and waited until a middle-aged woman opened it for them.

  “How are you, Master Jamie?”

  Jamie grinned. “Good, thank you. Where’s Adam?”

  The housekeeper glanced enquiringly at Tommy. “I’m Mrs. Rogers, may I help you?”

  “Mrs. Rogers, so nice to meet you. I'm Tommy Lindsay. Jamie told me how kind you’ve been to him.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Lindsay.” Smiling, she ushered them inside.

  The cool ambience of the oak lined hallway hit her straight away. A patterned carpet runner covered the highly-polished wood floors. Before she had time to take in anything else they followed the housekeeper into the drawing room. It was beautiful, painted in duck-egg blue with pretty circular rose cornices. An eye-catching central ceiling rose in shades of cream and blue with gold-leaf trim, dominated the room.

  Tommy’s feet seemed to sink into the thick carpet. At the end of the room she spied a curtained portal which would probably lead out to a conservatory.

  “I’d like to see Mr. Munro please.” She clasped and unclasped her hands behind her back, trying to hide her turmoil.

  “Mr. Munro is down at the stockyards. Could I bring you a cool drink?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Tommy sat on a carved walnut-framed couch.

&
nbsp; “I don't want a drink. I can tell Adam you're here.” Before she could restrain him, Jamie charged out of the room, followed by the housekeeper.

  The tastefully furnished room had chairs arranged in clusters. Over the white marble fireplace hung a large gilt mirror, and on the mantel shelf stood a French clock with a pink porcelain face. An upright cabinet piano made of rosewood had a matching revolving chair.

  Mrs. Rogers returned with a glass of orange juice, and Tommy sipped it gratefully before placing the glass on a small side table. She wandered over to the piano and ran her fingers across the keyboard. Music had been one of her great loves in England, even though she didn’t have a natural gift for it. She picked up a music book and flipped through the pages.

  “You wanted to see me?”

  She swung around to face Adam. He had been working, his pants and boots covered in dust, his blue shirt clinging damply to his back.

  “Yes, I…”

  He stared straight into her face and his eyes narrowed.

  She swallowed nervously. “Where's Jamie?”

  “I left him down at the stockyards.” He thrust his thumbs in his belt and rocked back on his heels. “You baby the boy too much. One of my men is keeping an eye on him.”

  “Is your offer still open?”

  “My offer?” He wouldn't make this easy for her.

  “If you still want me, I'll marry you.” It came out in a breathy rush.

  He didn't answer for a moment and time stood still as she waited. What would become of them if he refused her now?

  “It's been two weeks, long enough for me to change my mind.”

  Her hand flew to her mouth to hide her trembling lips. Her heart constricted, squeezing her lungs so hard she could scarcely breathe. “You've changed your mind?” Her voice wobbled much to her dismay.

  “Do you want to marry me?” He toyed with her, like a cat playing with a cornered mouse.

  She nodded.

  “Say it.”

  “I want to marry you. Please, Adam, if you have changed your mind, tell me.”