Harlot at the Homestead (12 page)

Kenan raised his gun and pointed it directly at Montgomery’s heart.

The old man began to cry again. “But whadda I done? I don’t know how I got here, sir. I’m lost.”

“You been lost for a while, you bastard!” Kenan spat.

Voices sounded a ways off. Small circles of light moved across the land as the other men approached. Hell. They’d be here soon and his chance would be gone.

He lowered the lamp to the ground then held his gun out in front of him, supporting his one hand with the other. He found the trigger with one trembling finger. He looked into William Montgomery’s eyes. The old man stared back and sudden understanding filled his face like the first rays of dawn.

“I’ve done something bad, ain’t I?”

Kenan scowled at him. He tried to swallow but his mouth was bone dry.

“I did somethin’ and it hurt ya…and yours?”

“That’s right.”

William hung his head. “Then I’m sorry, sir. I’m so, so sorry. I ain’t been right. I’m sick and I don’t know why! I can’t…” He rubbed his eyes with a dirty hand. “I just can’t remember anything like I used ta.”

Kenan kept his pistol in position but he felt the ball of anger in his stomach begin to unfurl. William Montgomery had done wrong. He had failed as a man, as an uncle and as a human being. He had let another man take his niece to use her for his own pleasure. Catherine had been used and abused, physically and emotionally scarred. But this man before him had clearly paid for his crimes. Though Kenan knew that shooting Montgomery would provide a moment of satisfaction, he also knew that it would be fleeting. The man once known as William Montgomery had long since gone and left in his wake a weakened and childlike wreck. This remnant of a man was no danger to anyone and it seemed that this sickness of the mind was suffering enough.

Kenan holstered his gun then sighed with relief as the fiery ants scuttled out of his heated brain, trickled down his body and legs and ran off into the night.

“Kenan!” Matthew appeared at his side. “You found him!”

Kenan turned to his brother, wrapped an arm around his shoulders, then pulled him to his side. His throat ached with emotion. As the other men arrived and gingerly took hold of William Montgomery, all of them reluctant to touch him because of the shit stink, Matthew guided Kenan away.

“Come on, big brother. Let’s get on home.”

Kenan allowed himself to be led.

As they neared the house, he stopped and placed a hand upon Matthew’s shoulder then looked into his eyes.

“You were there all along weren’t ya?”

Matthew offered a weak smile.

“You saw what…what I was gonna do?”

“Kenan,” Matthew spoke softly, his eyes full of love and concern. “You were gonna do what every man worth his salt would do. But I know why you didn’t. And you’re an even better man because of it.”

Then Matthew pulled him into a rough, brotherly hug.

Matthew was right. It was time to go home.

Chapter Ten

Kenan awoke in the gray light of dawn. Groggy with sleep, he smiled as he recalled their nocturnal activities. When they’d got home last night, Catherine had snuck in after Rosie had fallen asleep and they’d made slow, tender love. He’d stirred once, about an hour ago, to find his cock rock hard and deeply immersed in Catherine’s mouth. He’d reached out to pull her up to his chest but she’d stayed where she was and moved her lips and hands on him. The combination of her hot breath, the ridges on the roof of her mouth and the grazing of her teeth against his shaft had combined until he’d been unable to control himself and he’d come hard into her, shooting his seed deep into her throat. She’d swallowed his essence with pleasure then crawled up the length of his body and curled herself around him, her little head upon his shoulder.

He’d held her close for a while then been unable to resist any longer. Her warmth and her sweet scent had aroused him again, so he’d slipped his arm from beneath her and wriggled down the bed to return the favor. She’d gasped when he’d covered her cunny with his mouth and he’d run his tongue over her lips, before opening them with his fingers and seeking out her hard bud. He’d licked it and suckled it until she’d arched her back and cried out then he’d drunk deeply of her hot juices as she’d come against his mouth. Not wanting to waste her musky lubrication, he’d snuggled up behind her and slipped into her then she’d squeezed him with her pussy and he’d pulsed slowly into her whilst using his fingers to make her climax again.

But she was gone now. He rubbed his eyes. A chill settled in his belly as ideas began to nag at him but he tried to push them away. It was all okay now. He’d settled his score with old Montgomery and no longer had to seek out the old man for revenge. He hadn’t forgotten about Thomas Henderson but that would keep for another day. All he wanted now was to move on and start to live his life again—to believe that it would all be okay.

A horse whinnied out in the barn and Kenan sat up straight. Which one of his brothers would be taking one of the horses out this early?

He jumped out of bed and pulled on his trousers, not bothering to put on his union suit first. The seams of the pants rubbed at his naked flesh and his cock felt unwontedly free as it swung against the itchy wool.

The barn door creaked. What in the hell…

He ran from the bedroom, through the living area and flung open the front door.

Suddenly, Catherine came into view, mounted on his horse. She was wearing her green traveling suit and she had a bundle tied to her back.

“Catherine!” he called. “What the hell are you doing?”

She looked at him over her shoulder then turned the horse around so that she could face him and mouthed
I’m sorry
. Her emerald eyes glistened with tears and her hair blazed crimson in the rising sun. She was more beautiful than ever and Kenan watched, his heart filled with confusion and awe, as she dug her heels into his mare’s flanks then galloped away.

He walked out to the perimeter fence, oblivious to the stones that bruised his naked feet, and watched as her figure became smaller then disappeared from view.

Catherine rode hard. She knew that if she slowed down or even stopped that she would turn around and ride back to Kenan. Her heart felt fit to burst and her head was tight with pain. Kenan had looked so lost as he’d stood there watching her go. Though it hurt to do it, and she felt like she would die with the agony of being separated from him, she knew that it was for the best. The comments she’d overheard last night and her uncle’s fragile state meant that she really had no choice. How could she stay with Kenan knowing that, in spite of their intense passion, he might never be able to forgive and forget what had happened? The words he had uttered on his return from the cattle trail just kept spinning round and round in her head like an incessant twister:
I’ll not have folks saying that the Duggans have a harlot at their homestead
. Add to this the fact that her presence there could put Rosie’s happiness in jeopardy and she felt compelled to leave.

And she was needed now, anyway, by her own relatives. Though something deep in her heart called out to her, reminding her that Edie and William had hurt her, let her walk into a life of shame and pain, she still felt the pull of familial obligation that she’d been brought up to believe in. Letting go of it was unthinkable. If she didn’t have that, and she didn’t have Kenan, what did she have? At least duty gave her something solid to cling to.

So she returned with a heavy heart and mind to the homestead of William and Edie Montgomery, not knowing what to expect when she got there, or if she was really even wanted.

Kenan stood in the yard watching the dust roused by Catherine’s flight as it began to settle. He couldn’t believe that she’d just taken his horse and ridden away. What on earth was wrong with her? Just hours ago she’d shown him her adoration through a very intimate act and now she had galloped away like the devil himself was on her tail without so much as a goodbye, let alone an explanation.

Had he done something to upset her? Had he said something in his sleep or even last night? She had been very quiet on their return from the wedding party but he’d suspected that she was tired and content to rest in his arms as they shared his saddle.

Following his encounter with Catherine’s uncle, Kenan had felt the knot between his shoulder blades loosen and he could even believe that maybe it was okay to hope that there was the possibility of a normal life on the horizon. Perhaps he could move on, settle down and reclaim the dreams he’d once believed destroyed.

But now this. Had she changed her mind following the wedding? Did she believe that they could never have the happiness displayed last night by the bride and groom? Did she feel too damaged by events to look into the future? How he wished that he knew.

There was only one way to find out. He’d have to go after her.

* * * *

Kenan’s heart beat in time with the hooves of Matthew’s horse as it cantered across the plains. He knew he was taking a risk crossing Indian territory alone but he didn’t care. He had to get to Catherine and quickly. He’d thrown his clothes on and briefly explained where he was going to his siblings then he’d saddled the horse and set off. He had a good idea about where Catherine was headed and he intended to try there first.

He made it across the windswept open space without any encounters then headed straight for the Montgomery homestead.

As he approached, the rickety wooden house looked deserted on its small plot of land. The immediate garden surrounding the house was overgrown and weeds tangled with the vegetables, choking the life from them in the same way that William Montgomery’s illness was choking the sense from his mind. Kenan realized that Edie had a fulltime job caring for her husband and that chores such as cultivating produce to eat and sell had clearly had to take a back seat in the wagon. Unexpected pity washed over him as he wondered how they were managing to survive. Edie had never been that practical, being inclined to enjoy pampering more suited to a lady of breeding, and William had catered to her for the majority of their married life. No wonder she was taking it so hard now that her provider had failed in his primary role.

The wind howled around the house as if irritated by its presence on the otherwise flat open landscape and the morning sun cast the western side in shadows. The curtains at the front remained closed and Kenan wondered if he’d made a mistake. Perhaps Catherine hadn’t come here. Maybe her heart was too raw at her uncle’s betrayal and she couldn’t face seeing him again. But that didn’t sound like the Catherine he knew. She had far too good and honest a heart to turn her back on what she would see as her obligations.

He jumped from the saddle and tethered his horse to the fence at the front of the property. The mare snorted and a whinny from the adjacent barn told him that his horse was here too. He’d know that sound anywhere. He climbed the steps to the front porch then stood before the battered wooden planks of the door.

Memories assaulted him like an opponent raining blows upon him in a fistfight. Each one took his breath away and caused his heart to throb with pain. He closed his eyes in a futile attempt to shut them out but they played on, one after another—Catherine, adorned in green satin, stood just there by the fence in the rain, crimson hair falling over her shoulders, face red with cold and embarrassment, her traveling bag in a puddle at her feet. Catherine, dancing and laughing across the grass in front of the house, her feet and head bare, her skirts gathered up as she demonstrated an Irish jig. Catherine…

He put a hand out to steady himself and dug his fingertips into the rough wood in front of him. Catherine had reappeared in his life like a dream, lifting his heart and raising his hopes. Without her, he
had
nothing. Without her, he
was
nothing.

He raised his hand then knocked.

The sound echoed through the empty house and he held his breath, listening for footsteps.

He waited.

After what seemed like hours, he was rewarded by the soft patter of female feet and the door swung wide open to reveal Edie Montgomery. She peered at him, her hair sticking out from beneath a greying mop cap, her face ashen with exhaustion and concern.

“Mr Duggan,” she croaked. “I didn’t think we’d be seeing you again so soon.”

Kenan removed his hat.

“How’s Mr Montgomery?”

“How’d you think?” she huffed. “You saw the state on him last night, didn’t ya? He ain’t no good to man nor beast.”

“Yes, ma’am, and it’s mighty cruel when nature robs a man of his senses,” he replied, biting back the question he was burning to ask.

“Anyways”—Edie Montgomery eyed his hastily clad frame—“I doubt you’re here to ask after my husband.”

Kenan didn’t deny it. He stood and looked her straight in the eye.

“Catherine!” The old woman called over her shoulder.

A noise from within made Kenan lean to the side to look over Edie’s shoulder. Catherine appeared from the dark depths of the house and Edie moved aside to allow her to pass. She walked out onto the porch, wiping damp hands on a stained apron tied at her waist.

He crushed his hat between his hands.

“It’s okay,” Catherine spoke softly to her aunt then pointed back into the house. “He’s sleeping now.”

Edie nodded then scowled at Kenan. “She’s returned to help and I won’t appreciate you taking her away again.” She raised a hand to her brow where she wiped it dramatically to make a show of exhaustion. “We need her here. I can’t…I can’t manage alone.”

Catherine squeezed her aunt’s shoulder. The woman gave Kenan one more sweeping glance before turning and going inside then slamming the door behind her.

Catherine sat on the stoop and patted the space next to her.

“You knew I’d come here?”

“Of course.” He sat next to her so that his thigh brushed hers.

“I’m so sorry, Kenan, for everything that’s happened. I wish that it could have been different.”

“Whoa!” He held up his hands. “Why are you apologizing? What’s going on here, Catherine? I believed that we were trying to rebuild something between us. What happened?”