Wild Dream

by Duncan, Alice

  Ivy sniffed disdainfully and glared until Fermin had slunk away. Then she turned to confront Charley, who still hung out the window.

  “You just stay there, young man. I have something to say to you.”

  In dismay, Charley watched as Ivy seemed to storm toward the barn door. Shoot. And things seemed to be going pretty fine, too. Well, he thought bitterly, what could he expect? His whole life had been rotten ever since the band joined up in sixty-one.

  He turned around and shrugged his shoulders to let his men know he didn’t have any idea what Ivy was peeved about. All the men looked worried, especially Lester, who began to chew his lip.

  Stalking into the barn, Ivy didn’t halt until she stood directly in front of Charley. Then she stopped dead, planted her fists on her hips and craned her neck back to look him in the eye.

  “Young man, you fellows played so loud even I could hear you while I was hanging up the wash out there.” She pointed in an easterly direction.

  Charley cleared his throat and wondered how one went about apologizing for rehearsing too loudly.

  “I swear to goodness, Mr. Charley Wilde, I haven’t heard anything that pretty since I left Georgia.”

  His mouth open to begin an apology, Charley gaped at Ivy. His spirits, which had sagged when he thought she was mad, began to inch up again. Since he knew better than to believe anything good might really happen to him and his band, he hollered, “You mean you liked it, ma’am?”

  Ivy shrieked back, “Liked it? Why, I loved it. You men are the best horn players I ever did hear! I got my darling Addie bringing y’all some of my special apple brandy, and I made you up a mess of fritters. I expect you’re all done in, what with all that blowing you’ve been doing.”

  Charley realized his mouth still hung open and shut it. He looked at the band. He’d never seen so many men turn so many interesting shades of red in his life.

  “Why, thank you, ma’am,” he managed to say at last.

  “Tut, tut, young man. The only thanks Addie and I need is for you to do all your practicing here from now on in. And if it wouldn’t be an inconvenience for you, I’d take it as a pure kindness if you were to say you’d play for my Ladies’ Literary League meeting here next Wednesday. The ladies would be charmed.”

  A swift look at the band members gave Charley the confidence to say, “We’d be honored, ma’am. We’d be truly honored.”

  # # #

  Addie found Charley resting under an apple tree that evening after supper. By the time she hit the apple orchard, she was plumb tuckered since she’d walked all over creation, including to the barn, both meadows, and the chicken shed, trying to find him.

  But there he was, looking handsome as anything, leaning against the apple tree, chewing on a straw and peering up into184 the heavens.

  Charley started into a half-crouch when he heard her approach. When he realized it was Addie, he settled back down and sighed.

  Although she wasn’t altogether sure, Addie took his sigh as one of welcome. She waltzed over, climbed onto the fence and dangled her feet. “Pretty out tonight, isn’t it, Charley?”

  “I reckon.”

  Encouraged by his terse reply, Addie continued, “You boys play beautifully, Charley. I never heard anything so pretty in my life as when you played ‘Long, Long Ago.’ And I like to drown in my own tears when you played ‘When the Awful War is Over.’”

  “Cruel,” said Charley.

  Addie, who had been peering into the mysterious sky and feeling just dandy, was startled. “I beg your pardon?”

  Distracted by the flash of the pretty ankles Addie persisted in swinging beside his head, Charley felt grumpy. There was something about the chatty Miss Adelaide that drew him like a fly to honey, and he neither liked nor trusted it. “I said cruel. ‘When This Cruel War is Over.’ That’s the name of the song.”

  “Oh.”

  When he looked up, Addie’s eyes sparkled with happiness. He wished they wouldn’t do that. She was too dratted appealing, always approving of him this way. A man could get used to it, and this man couldn’t afford to do anything so stupid.

  While he was pleased with the direction the fortunes of his band seemed to be headed, he was unsure about the wisdom of living at the Blewitt farm, especially as it had been Addie’s own other aunt who’d shot him. He didn’t see that he had much choice. Addie’s delicate feet and ankles swung into his line of vision again and he glumly decided it would be hard, however necessary it might be.

  “Well, anyway, whatever the name was, I got real choked up. You play so well, Charley. I was really impressed.”

  “Thank you.”

  Addie heaved a breathy sigh, and Charley had a sudden itch to wrap his hand around her silky ankle and smooth it up her calf and—no. He solved his immediate problem by sitting on his hand. The ground was stony and it hurt.

  “I can’t tell you what a joy it is to have you here, Charley. Oh, I’m real sorry about your arm and all. And I know you wanted to go to Albuquerque and play there. Your audience would be much bigger than my aunt Ivy and me up in Albuquerque, after all. But I just want you to know how much I like your bein’ here and playin’ and all.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Oh, no. I’m the one who should thank you. I swear, I’ve never met a finer group of gentlemen in my entire life, Charley. Never, not once.”

  Charley stifled his groan and buried his head in the arm he’d crossed over his bent knee. He leaned hard on his hand to keep up the pain.

  It didn’t do any good. Her happy sigh ripped through him like a bullet and lodged in a place too indelicate to mention.

  “Oh, Charley, I’m so glad you and Lester have come to stay with us.”

  “Won’t folks talk, Miss Adelaide, about two single ladies putting 184 ¿up two single fellows?”

  He made the mistake of looking up into her eyes again. They were so pretty. He looked away again immediately.

  “In Rothwell?”

  Addie’s trilling laugh tore thick scabs away from nostalgic wounds Charley hadn’t felt in months. He ached for the old times, but for some reason wanted Addie in them with him. He considered that a bad sign.

  “Good heavens, Charley, out here on the frontier, a body’s got to make do with whatever’s at hand. Reckon you didn’t have to live so rough in Georgia, but nobody’ll think anything about us lodging and feeding two workers, trust me.”

  “If you’re sure, ma’am.” His voice, he realized, had begun to croak.

  “Oh, gracious sakes, yes. I’m sure.”

  Well, Charley guessed he’d better not sit out here any longer. A few more minutes of Miss Adelaide’s adoration, not to mention the sight of her naked flesh whipping past his head, and Charley was apt to forget he was reared to be a gentleman. He stood quickly.

  “Good.” It sounded too curt, so he added, “We appreciate your hospitality, Miss Adelaide.”

  “You’re not goin’ to bed now are you, Charley?” Addie, dismayed, stared up at him. Oh, my, he was so tall and handsome. The perfect prince.

  “Yes.”

  She was surprised at the gruffness she heard in his voice. Maybe his arm was paining him after all that playing he’d done and he was too much of a gentleman to let on.

  Charley cleared his throat and said, “Er, yes, ma’am. I do believe I’d better go to bed now.” He turned abruptly and took off toward the house.

  Addie frowned at his back. Then she scrambled down from the fence and tore off after him. Charley lengthened his stride until he was almost loping, but Addie was a nimble creature and soon caught up with him. She grabbed his good arm.

  “Well, I reckon you musician fellows do need your sleep, Charley,” she panted.

  He said, “Mmmph,” and she guessed he was agreeing with her.

  Peering up at his face, she noted lines of stress and shook her head. She clutched his arm tightly as they ascended the porch steps. Charley yanked the front door open and stepped aside to allow her to enter fi
rst. Addie smiled at this further show of gentlemanliness.

  “Well, you sleep tight now, Charley.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Charley took the stairs two at a time. Addie stood at the foot of the staircase and stared after him, wondering how he’d look in those shockingly tight knit drawers her aunt Ivy said the knights of old used to wear. With a sigh, she decided he’d look fine. Just fine.

  Addie peered out her window at the stars for a long time before she crawled beneath her quilts, her nightly moondreams spinning intricate tales of valor and glory, love and romance.

  Her heart raced as she envisioned her gallant knight slaying infinite numbers of evil guards, climbing the vine-covered castle walls, and spiriting her away into the dense forest. Of course, as soon as the fear of danger was past, his passions overcame him and he ravished her by the light of the fire. It was, of course, summertime, as Addie didn’t care to chill her own naked flesh or that of her knight.

  No, no, no.

  He’d been reported killed in battle. During Gettysburg. He’d single-handedly held the vile Yankee marauders at bay, only to die defending his general. Only Addie, his faithful love, with whom he had a soul-deep connection, believed he hadn’t really died, but had crawled to safety. He’d been miraculously healed by Indians, who recognized a hero when they saw one.

  She’d spied him from the window of the attic she’d been forced to live in since the cruel war’s end. Now she raced down the staircase to greet him on the porch of the ruined plantation.

  With a hearty sigh and a dreamy smile, Addie decided either scenario would do tonight. They were both perfectly lovely.

  Only this time—for the first time—her Prince Charming had a face.

  Chapter 4

  “It isn’t going to hurt me to do a little carpentry work for you and your aunt Ivy, Miss Adelaide.”

  Charley spoke through gritted teeth. Shoot, he hated her fluttering around him this way and treating him like a blasted invalid. It was embarrassing. It was stupid. He took another peek at Addie, all competence and grace, and groaned inside.

  It was seductive.

  She shook her head, sending golden sparks shooting into the morning sunlight, and making the knot in Charley’s chest ache a little. She gave him a mock frown, her full lips puckering.

  One of the first things he’d noticed about her was her mouth. The night he’d ridden in here, scared and in pain, though, her mouth had looked too big. Now it looked as if it had been made for him to kiss, fashioned by some devil sent to earth expressly to torment him. He couldn’t stand it.

  “Don’t you be a silly Willy, Charley Wilde.”

  Good God. Why was it that Miss Adelaide Blewitt, a nonsensical piece of goods if he’d ever seen one, with her “gallant southern gentleman” hogwash and her ceaseless chatter, appealed to him so much? Charley couldn’t recall being so attracted to a female before. Ever. Clearly, he’d been without a woman for too long.

  Addie dipped her washrag in the bowl of warm water and pressed down on Charley’s naked shoulder to keep him in the chair. “You sit yourself right down and be still, Mr. Charley Wilde. I swan, you’re just the silliest man, always wanting to be up and pounding on nails and such when you need your rest.”

  “I don’t need to rest.”

  Charley stared glumly at the countryside surrounding the Blewitt farmstead. She’d dragged him out to this chair on the front porch directly after breakfast, a meal she and Ivy insisted he and Lester take in the dining room. They’d told the ladies they’d as soon eat in the kitchen, feeling awkward about putting them to so much trouble, but neither one would hear of such a thing. Claimed no proper gentleman should take his meals in the kitchen. As if he and Lester were proper gentlemen.

  “Fiddlesticks.” Addie gently washed his wounded arm.

  She quit scolding and began to hum “The Bonnie Blue Flag.” Charley sighed.

  Poor Lester was about to die from a surfeit of Ivy’s attentions, too. Charley feared for him; Lester wasn’t used to being fawned over by a lady.

  “Now, let’s just take a look-see here.” Addie bent over and squinted carefully at Charley’s healing wound.

  She wore a one-piece muslin print frock which buttoned up the front, a costume which should have been demure, even prim. The morning was a warm one, though, and Addie hadn’t bothered to button the top couple of buttons of her shirtwaist. It was a departure her proper southern sisters back home in Georgia would certainly deplore, Charley thought wryly.

  Her concession to the weather gave him an enticing peek inside her dress, however. When she bent over to inspect his arm, he almost swore at her to cover herself up.

  Blast it. He didn’t need to see that gentle swell of lush bosom cupped in cotton lace. What did this silly girl think she was doing, flaunting herself at him this way? Why, what if he really were a black-hearted, from-the-cradle criminal like Fermin Small believed him to be? What if he really were a vicious robber and a thief? Charley knew right good and well a real desperado wouldn’t be so stoic as to resist this blatant an invitation. With an effort, he dragged his gaze away from her charms and scowled at her.

  “Why, Charley, that’s healin’ up fine. You’re going to be healthy as a horse pretty soon.”

  Addie gave him the sunniest smile he’d ever seen, and Charley realized, shocked, that she wasn’t flaunting anything. No, much worse, she truly was as innocent as a new-born babe.

  When Addie saw his frown, she said, “Oh, Charley, I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?”

  “No, you didn’t hurt me,” he choked out. Not unless intense frustration counted as hurt.

  She had no idea, Charley perceived with something akin to despair. She had absolutely no idea the effect she had on him. He glared down at the porch floor and saw her bare feet peeking out from beneath her skirt.

  “Well, I’m glad I didn’t hurt you. I’m going to put some more salve on your wound now, and then bind it up again, so you just sit right there for another little minute, Charley.”

  Addie gave his shoulder a cheery pat and tripped off, ankles flashing.

  “All right.” He watched gloomily until the door swung shut behind her. Then he stared at the door.

  It wasn’t fair. He’d kept seeing those pretty ankles of hers all night long. They’d swung back and forth in his dreams, just as they had when she’d sat on the fence next to him, until he thought he’d lose his mind. He’d better find those rubies fast.

  “Here we are, Charley,” Addie sang as she popped out the door again. She hadn’t bothered to put any shoes on, he noticed.

  Brushing a couple of loose strands of hair back from her face Addie said, “Whew! It’s going to be hot today. It gets this way in late spring around here sometimes. It’ll be hotter than Hades for a week or two and then all of a sudden, it’ll snow.”

  Charley grunted.

  “But it sure isn’t gonna snow today.” A ripple of laughter gamboled across the warm April morning air and teased Charley’s already overwrought senses. Then she unbuttoned another button.

  Damn. Damn, damn, damn. The girl practically stripped herself184¼ naked and danced around in front of him, tempting him until his trousers were about to bust open. And then she called him a gentlemen. Well, if that didn’t beat all.

  “Here we go.” Her hands felt like heaven as she rubbed the soothing salve into his arm.

  “Did you make that salve yourself, ma’am?” he asked, trying to distract himself.

  “Oh, my, yes. Why, we only have one doctor in town, and he’s usually busy tending people’s horses.”

  Tending horses? Charley wasn’t sure he’d heard her quite right. Before he could ask, she rattled on.

  “I reckon I’m about the next closest thing to a doctor in these parts. Don’t know why. My aunt Ivy says it’s a gift.” She laughed gaily, letting Charley know she thought little of her own abilities.

  Charley didn’t think little of them. Somewhat gloomily, he acknowledged
to himself that Doc Rivers back home in America City couldn’t have done a better job on his arm. Wasn’t that just the way the world worked? This little chatterbox, as bright and twinkly as a summer star—not much more than a girl, for heaven’s sake—not only kept a farm running with nobody in the world but her deaf aunt and a hired hand to help her, but she also cooked up a storm, healed people’s wounds, and had the sunniest disposition he’d ever run into.

  And he was going to steal her rubies. Guilt clamped around Charley’s insides like a stomachache.

  She stood beside him as she worked, her bosom at eye level. He tried to behave as the gentleman she believed him to be, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. His eyes stuck as if glued to her open bodice and he found himself trying to gauge the size and relative firmness of those barely hidden riches of hers. Oh, sweet Lord have mercy. He couldn’t stand much more of this.

  “All righty,” she said after torturing him for a minute or two.

  She skipped over to her little basket of tricks and bent over. Then she looked up when a strangled sound crawled from Charley’s throat.

  “Did you say something, Charley?”

  “No.”

  With another bright smile, Addie said, “All right.” And she bent over again, showing Charley everything he’d just wondered about.

  The silly girl didn’t even wear a corset! Charley wanted to bury his head in his hands, rock back and forth in his chair, and moan for an hour or two.

  “I’ll just bind the wound with clean linen, Charley. Then you probably ought to rest some more.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake. I’ve been resting for two days!”

  Addie lifted her head, a hurt look on her face, and Charley felt like a beast. He ran a hand through his hair.

  “I mean—I didn’t mean to swear, Miss Adelaide. It’s just that I’m not used to sitting around. I thought Lester and I were supposed to be working for you and Miss Ivy. So far you haven’t let me do anything at all.” He sounded pathetic, sniveling at her this way, but he couldn’t help it.