Riverbreeze: Part 2 (40 page)

Burnett stiffened, looking disdainfully down at Robert’s hand. “Do not touch me ever again.” He said, enunciating each word, pulling his hand from Robert’s grasp. “Or I will have you charged with assault.”

“I’ll touch you again and again if I want to.” Robert said, grabbing Burnett’s hand again and holding it up. “How did this happen?”

Burnett smiled. “So Abigail told you, did she?” He laughed then, an evil laugh, pulling his hand from Robert’s grasp. “Did you know that she has the hottest, tightest cunt this side of the Atlantic? Almost as tight as a virgin.”

Robert went berserk at those remarks. He hauled back and punched Burnett right in the nose, getting some satisfaction when he heard the crack of bone and saw the explosion of blood. Burnett staggered back, dropping his hat again, his hands flying up to cover his face. “You broke my nose!” He said stupidly, his voice muffled.

“I’m going to do a lot more than that.” Robert said, going after Burnett again. With both fists, he started pummeling Burnett, first in the ribs, then an uppercut to his jaw, then a jab to his cheek. Burnett put his hands up to try to block the blows, then he flailed at Robert, then he tried to hit back, but Robert was relentless. It was hardly a fair fight because Robert was a lot stronger and taller than the other man. And he had a purpose.

Burnett finally fell to the ground, grunting and panting. “Stop. Stop.” He gasped. He rolled over onto his hands and knees, his gulping breaths sounding harsh in the silence of the woods.

“Did you stop when you set that fire?” Robert ground out between gritted teeth. He kicked him in the ribs and Burnett went down again, flat on his face. “Did you stop when you were attacking Abigail?” Robert kicked him again in the buttocks, then he bent down and grabbed a handful of Burnett’s hair, lifting his bleeding face up. For good measure he spit in Burnett’s eye.

“Please…” Burnett pleaded through bloody teeth. Blood was also dripping off his chin, landing with little plops on the mossy ground.

Robert looked down on him and felt no pity. “Please what?” He sneered, breathing hard.

“Please stop. I’ll do whatever you say. I’ll do whatever you want.” He said, utterly defeated.

“Leave this land. Leave Virginia or else I will come after you again. Do you understand?” He demanded, gripping Burnett’s hair so that the skin over Burnett’s forehead was stretched tight. It was the best Robert could do for Abigail. She was right; Burnett was right. Burnett would never confess and without his confession there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him.

“Yes. Yes, I’ll leave.” Burnett agreed, his face twisted in pain. He reached up to grasp Robert’s wrist, but Robert jerked his head. “Put your arm down!” Burnett cried out, doing as he was told.

“Do you promise? Because if I ever see you around here again, I promise to ruin you, maybe even kill you.”

“I promise…” He said, raising his hands in surrender. “I promise!” He repeated louder when Robert jerked his head again.

“Good.” Robert let go of his hair, shoving his head in the process and Burnett scrambled to sit up. “Do you see this spit on my boot?” Robert stuck his boot out right in front of Burnett’s face. The spittle had dried, discoloring the leather, and it was dusty with bits of leaves stuck to it.

Burnett nodded, wary. “Yes.” He whispered.

“Clean it off, with your tongue.” Robert ordered, his voice hard. “And don’t get any blood on it.”

Robert watched coldly as Burnett hesitated a moment, then wiped his sleeve carefully over his mouth and chin, wincing. “Come on.” Robert prodded impatiently. Burnett slowly lowered his mouth to Robert’s boot, but at the last second, he defiantly spit on the dirty leather again. “Go to hell, Bassett.” He growled, grabbing Robert’s ankle and jerking him off balance. As fast as he could move, he threw himself at Robert’s legs, and the both of them crashed to the ground.

Robert scrambled back while Burnett pushed himself into a fighting stance, holding his fists out in front of himself. So, the little turd had more courage and strength than Robert thought. But not enough.

“No, you go to hell.” Robert said, rushing him, head low and fists raised. He easily blocked Burnett’s feeble punches, then ended the whole thing with a solid jab to Burnett’s already broken nose and another uppercut to his chin.

Burnett dropped like a stone, completely knocked out.

Robert looked down on him and spit on the son-of-a-bitch one last time.

* * *

He came out of the woods, tugging down his sleeves and straightening his doublet. He brushed leaves off the seat of his pants and carefully sucked on his knuckles. He was satisfied with what he had done for Abigail and Beatrice. Burnett would leave if he knew what was good for him.

Most of the people were finally leaving after their hour of socializing. They waved and nodded at Robert in farewell, oblivious to what had just happened. He nodded calmly in return as if he were in a drawing room rather than just coming out of the woods where he had pounded a man’s face to a bloody pulp.

Jamie ran up to him from out of nowhere, frantic. Roger was slightly behind him. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Really?” Robert answered, unconcernedly. He nonchalantly brushed a leaf off his forearm. “I had to take a piss.”

Jamie glared at him. “There’s a privy for that, a two-seater.”

“Both were occupied. I couldn’t wait.”

Jamie stared at his brother, than barked an incredulous laugh. “What a liar you are! Elizabeth and Evelyn told me you took Burnett into the woods. Where is he?”

“He left.” He shrugged his shoulders slightly.

“What happened to your hand?” Roger asked conversationally, coming forward. He gently raised Robert’s hand with the backs of his fingers.

Jamie gasped. Robert’s knuckles were scraped and raw.

Robert smiled weakly. “We had a little fight.”

Jamie laughed again, shaking his head. “A little fight!” He exclaimed.

“Did you kill him?” Roger asked in a matter-of-fact voice.

Robert stiffened indignantly. “No, I did not kill him. Although I should have for what he did.”

“What did he do?” Roger asked. “I haven’t heard of any charges against him.”

Robert’s lips tightened. His eyes blazed. “He murdered Beatrice Warren and he raped Abigail!”

Roger’s eyebrows flew up in shock. “Those are serious accusations. Are they true?”

“Yes, they are true.” Robert declared firmly. “But I took care of it. He left and he’s not coming back. Look, I do not want to talk about it anymore. Where are the women? I want to go home.”

Roger looked into his eyes. “I hope this incident will not come back to haunt you, Robert.”

Robert smiled a little, grateful for Roger’s concern. “There were no witnesses.” He said, squeezing his friend’s shoulder with his good hand. “I learned that from him.”

“Mmm.” Roger murmured, regarding Robert with forbearance. His mouth twitched slightly in amusement.

Robert did laugh. He clapped one hand on Jamie’s back, the other on Roger’s back, wincing a little. “Let’s go find the girls and go home. This day has given me quite an appetite!”

* * *

Later that evening, Robert slipped into the parlor. Abigail was sitting in front of the fire, reading. She looked up, not saying a word.

“Am I disturbing you?” He asked. He hadn’t spoken to her at all about the fight. In fact, no one had spoken about it at all, only because Robert had given everyone a warning look whenever they tried to bring it up. But he hadn’t wanted to talk about it in front of the servants. Now they were in their quarters; Jamie and Evelyn were upstairs in their room with the dogs and Elizabeth was in the kitchen, writing a few notes in her diary.

“No.” She said quietly, placing her book on the little table by the fireplace.

“He won’t bother you again.” He said, taking a few steps closer to her.

“Thank you.” She whispered, clasping her hands in her lap. She was trying not to cry, but a single tear ran down her cheek, illuminated by the candlelight.

“Abby…” He stepped closer still. “Do not cry. ‘Tis over.”

She pulled out her handkerchief. “I know, but when I saw his hand…” She dabbed at her nose. “It brought back all the awful memories.”

“I know. I know.” He said, moving to stand in front of her. “I wanted to kill him.”

Her head jerked up in alarm. “Did you?”

“No.” He said, reassuring her. “But I gave him a new nose.” He smiled impishly.

“Robert!” She gasped at his blitheness. “What did you do exactly?”

“Well…” He pulled up a stool and sat down, facing her. “I beat him senseless.” He said quietly. “And I told him to leave the colony.”

Abigail leaned forward a little. “What did he say? Did he agree?”

“Oh yes. He promised to leave.” He answered, satisfaction in his voice. He did not tell her what had happened towards the end of their confrontation. He didn’t want to worry her that Burnett might come back after Robert had pushed him too far.

Abigail seemed to melt in relief. She let out a huge sigh. “Thank you. Thank you, Robert.” She cried, weeping a few tears into her handkerchief.

Robert patted her shoulder awkwardly. “You’re welcome, Abby. I’m glad I could do something to avenge you and Beatrice.”

“Thank you.” She whispered again.

Robert didn’t know what else to say or do so he started to rise.

“Oh.” She said quickly.

“Yes?”

“May I talk to you about something else?”

“Of course.” He sat down again.

She shifted in her seat, slightly nervous. “Well, I know Robin will be coming home in a day or two…” She paused, unsure of herself.

“Yes, he will.” Robert waited patiently.

“I..uh…” She stammered and looked down at her lap. “I won’t be able to nurse him anymore. My milk has dried up.”

“Oh.” Robert was surprised. He hadn’t realized that. “Well, I guess it was time to wean him anyway.”

She twisted her handkerchief in her lap, peeked up at him, then quickly looked down again. Very quietly she said, “We’ve never talked about what I will do when I’m no longer needed.”

“Oh Abigail.” He said soothingly. “You may stay here as long as you wish. You’re always needed. You’ve become like a sister to Jamie and me.”

She looked up, hope and joy in her eyes. “Really?”

He laughed. “Yes, really.”

“I wasn’t sure…”

He placed his hand on hers and squeezed. “There’s no need to worry.”

“Even with Elizabeth and Evelyn here now?”

“Even with them. You’re welcome to stay.”

“Well, then…” She smiled shyly. “I was thinking of continuing Beatrice’s work, and I would need a place of my own to do that.” She rushed on, her confidence restored. “I still have money from the sale of the farm and I thought if you would be so kind to allow me to build a small cottage on a piece of your land, I could start another herb garden and…” She stopped, seeing Robert’s wide, amused smile. “You’re laughing at me.” She dipped her head, embarrassed.

“No, I’m not laughing at you.” He squeezed her hand again. “I think ‘tis a marvelous idea. We’ll map out a place for your cottage tomorrow and start to make plans for the cottage and garden. You’ll make a fine healer.”

“Oh Robert, thank you.” She threw herself at him, ending up on her knees, hugging him.

He was more than taken aback by her enthusiasm. At first he didn’t know what to do, then decided to hug her in return. He gently put his hands on her back and held her, feeling her slight bone structure.

At that moment, Elizabeth walked in.

* * *

“So, Abigail doesn’t like men, hmm? She seemed to like you a lot.” Elizabeth said teasingly, taking the bodkin out of her hair and shaking her head. Her hair fell luxuriously over her shoulders and down her back.

She and Robert were in their bedchamber getting ready for bed. Robert had just spent the last half hour explaining everything to Elizabeth, the shared hug with Abigail, her plans, the fight and the reasons for the fight. Elizabeth listened to it all with equanimity, surprising Robert. He thought she would have disapproved of his actions. Robert ignored that remark, eyeing her lustfully. “That is cruel, you know, doing that in front of me at this time of the month.”

She laughed lightly. “I can’t even take down my hair?”

“No.”

“Shall I put it back up?” She said, raising her hands to gather her hair behind her head.

“No.” He said with a sigh. He regretfully turned aside, saying, “You know Abigail only sees me as a brother, nothing more.” He took off his doublet and folded it neatly before placing it in the trunk.

“I know…” She said taking off her collar. “But I do love to tease you.”

He only grunted, pushing his breeches down and stepping out of them. He laid them on top of the doublet.

“But to be honest, I’m glad she doesn’t like men.” She said, unbuttoning her bodice and slipping it off.

He turned sharply to face her. “You are? Why?” He asked, completely surprised.