DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations of the television program"Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years" are the creations of Rysher Television, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended. This story or the new characters created by the author are not to be published on any ftp site, newsgroup, mailing list, fanzine or elsewhere without the express permission of the author.
"Maria Bennett" and all original material included in this story are the creations of Darcie Daniels.
March 1882
"I want flowers in every aisle," she told her blood brother about her wedding plans. "It's just a shame that Curtis Wells doesn't have a church organ. Pachebel's Canon in D is a good wedding song. Maybe we can borrow Mr. Mosby's piano from the Ambrosia Club and roll it into the church. Perhaps we can get Mrs. Baldwin to play. I don't suppose Mr. Cheatham knows anything but saloon music."
Maria turned to face her blood brother, but he sat contentedly on his bench, hat on his face. He did not say a word.
Apparently, Mr. Call had no idea the amount of work that went into a wedding. The wedding was in June, and still there was much to do.
"There are so many people to invite. Of course the whole town is invited, but I should ask some of aunt Elinor's friends to come. I don't suppose they'll travel all the way from Maine for the event, but it would be the proper thing to ask them all the same."
She glanced at her blood brother. He seemed to be in rapt attention underneath his hat.
"And then there are the Greens from Great Falls - they are very nice people. I met them once while they were staying at the Dove. Then I would also need to invite the Higgins. Where did they say they were from -- Stevensville? Perhaps Mr. Bryson from the telegraph office can get me their address. Do you suppose Miss Horn would want to come to my wedding? How does one get a hold of a bounty hunter?" Maria giggled. "Perhaps we should put up a sign - 'Wanted ... Enona Horn to come to Robert Shelby and Maria Bennett's wedding.'"
Mr. Call shifted his hat. Before he again hid his face, Maria glanced at his expression. It was of pure misery.
She frowned. He was right. Perhaps inviting Enona Horn to her wedding would not be a good idea. Besides, Maria wanted her blood brother at her wedding, not cavorting in the livery with the female bounty hunter.
"It's just that I want everyone to come to my wedding. I want everyone to know my joy. Robert told me that he only has a few people that he wants to invite. Oh, Newton, do you know what he said to me? He said that the only person he truly wants at our wedding is me." Maria sighed romantically as she heard Mr. Call make a choking noise under his hat.
She regarded her blood brother. "You should drink some water, Newton." Then she bit her lip. "Do you think your father will come to my wedding if I invite him? I hardly know Captain Call."
She saw her blood brother's body stiffen. "He ain't much for weddings," he replied into his hat.
Then Maria remembered that Austin told her once that Captain Call did not attend his own son's wedding. Maria sat down beside the blond man and placed her hand on his shoulder. He promptly shrugged it away. Maria wanted desperately to ask him about his own wedding, but she did not want to pain Mr. Call with memories of Hannah. Maria supposed all these plans about her wedding were already causing her blood brother much distress.
"You will come to my wedding, won't you, Newton?" she asked with a little uncertainty. "Uncle Josiah is the proper one to do it, but I want you to be the one to give me away." Maria did not add that is was more than likely that Mr. Call would have to attend the wedding with his hated enemy - Mr. Mosby. After all, Mr. Mosby was her fiancé's best man.
"Where's the preacher?" Mr. Call asked dryly. "I'll give you away right now."
Maria giggled at him. He really was silly, but at least that was settled. Her blood brother would give her way at her wedding. She hoped that he knew that he would have to get a bath and wear nice clothing for the occasion.
"I'm having some satin shipped in from San Francisco," she continued. "Miss Taylor is drawing up some dress sketches right now. Oh, Newton! My veil will be trimmed with pink. I might even have pink flowers in my hair. It should be absolutely lovely."
Mr. Call grunted, stood up, and walked away. Maria followed him.
"Mrs. Traughber makes the most divine fruit cake. I wonder if she will make the wedding cake for us.
"We'll need all sorts of refreshments. I think it might be wise to avoid punch, Newton. Knowing my luck, it will be right over the front of me. I would not want a stain on my wedding gown. Maybe we will have punch, except that it mustn't be red. We'll have to drink something that definitely won't stain."
Mr. Call did not reply, except that he picked up his pace. Maria had to quicken her step.
"I surely hope that it won't rain on my wedding, Newton. Spring weddings are so lovely. Sunny and cool - that's how it should be. I can arrange everything else, but the weather is out of my hands. We did consult an almanac, and it looks like it will be a nice - "
Maria stopped abruptly when she saw something from the corner of her eye. It waited at the edge of town. Its cold blue eyes stared at her. Its teeth were as white as its coat, and Maria knew the teeth were sharp as the cold of the air. It did nothing but stare at her. It was all too familiar. Her heart pounded.
"Newton, do you see that?" she asked fearfully. "Newton?"
Her eyes darted to her blood brother, but he was already gone. When her gaze returned, the white wolf was gone, too.
Maria told herself that she was only seeing things. The excitement of the wedding was making her mind muddled and unclear. Perhaps it was best that she stay indoors for the remainder of the day. There was not going to be another of those silly white wolf incidents in her life, not if she could help it. She remembered how painful the last episode was.
Maria attacked the floor with a broom. The Peale residence always needed sweeping, especially with two men tracking in mud and snow. With her back to the door, Maria felt the cold air nip at her heels as the door opened. She could hear Austin's feet tramp on the floor. She dared not turn around until she heard the door close. Maria was afraid to look outside and see something that should not be there.
"What are you doing here?" Austin asked her. "Thought you'd be out making plans. You haven't been here since the day Shelby proposed to you, except to sleep."
Maria detected resentment in his voice. She knew that he did not like her fiancé.
"That's not true," she shrugged. "I'm here now."
Austin grunted and plopped himself on a chair. "Have a fight?" he asked rather hopefully.
Maria did not wish to discuss her fiancé with him. "Not that it's any of your concern, but we don't quarrel. We've never really quarreled. Robert is good to me."
Austin harrumphed. He watched her sweep the floor.
"Well, something else is bothering you then."
Maria laughed at him nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about." She did not look at him.
"Fine," Austin remarked, standing up quickly. He went to his room.
Maria sighed. She did not trust her cousin. If he knew that she had even glimpsed the white wolf again ... Maria remembered how he had used the information to publicly humiliate her. Her cousin would be the last person on earth that she would tell.
Not that she had seen the white wolf again anyway ... it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She could sweep those dreadful thoughts away as easily as she could sweep this floor.
Nothing was wrong.
Maria was surprised to find that a lot of dirt had already been swept under the rug in the Peale house.
He was, without a doubt, the most admired male in town. Women cooed over him, and he turned every female head his way. When he smiled, female hearts melted. Little Lawrence Robert was the cutest baby in Curtis Wells, perhaps in even all of Montana.
Maria, of course, could not help but be enamored by him when his little baby arms and legs waved in a burst of spontaneous excitement. He gurgled at her, giving her a charming, gummy grin. Maria, like any giddy female, cooed and clapped her hands at him and was instantly rewarded with more frenetic baby energy. She wanted to hold him, but very few people were allowed to touch him while he was under Miss Selena's protective care. Maria frowned. The only reason why Miss Selena had stopped in front of the bench with the baby buggy was because Miss Florie had to get a few items in the general store. Miss Selena surely did not stop with the baby on Maria's account.
Maria wished that Mr. Mosby would just marry Miss Florie. It just was not right for the baby or the mother.
"How are you, Miss Selena?" Maria asked the brunette woman.
"Fine," she replied, not looking Maria in the eye. "And you?"
Maria nodded. She had been so busy with wedding plans that she had very little time for other things, whether real or imagined. In fact, she has seen nothing to cause her alarm for days. It was safe to plan again for her wedding. "I'm making the wedding list. You will come to the wedding, won't you, Miss Selena? Both you and Miss Florie? It wouldn't be the same without you."
The brunette woman gave Maria a suspicious look. After a moment of scrutiny, Miss Selena relaxed.
"You sure?"
"Of course," Maria smiled. "I want everyone to be there."
"Thanks."
The baby decided to gurgle in excitement, and Maria laughed at him. Maria wished that Mr. Call had been sitting next to her so that he could see the cutest baby in the world. Maria would have to tell Mr. Call all about it when she saw him next.
"You want to hold him?" Miss Selena asked tentatively.
Maria beamed. "Yes." She immediately placed down her paper and pencil. She cooed high pitched nonsense to little Lawrence Robert as she wrapped him in her arms. He giggled in delight as she held him and tickled him and kissed him. She jounced him playfully in her arms.
Then she tensed when she saw it. It startled her. She gripped the baby.
The baby began to cry.
Maria loosened her hold and tried to shush the child, but Miss Selena quickly took the baby away from her. She gave Maria a suspicious look.
Miss Florie stepped out from the store and took one look at her wailing baby. She looked to Miss Selena. Miss Selena looked grim and placed the baby in the buggy. Miss Selena and Miss Florie hurried away from Maria.
The wolf stared at her from the edge of town.
Maria swallowed. It was starting again.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?"
Maria tore her gaze away from the wolf and stared into her fiancé's face. She smiled at him, clenching his hands. "Nothing."
"You went away there for a moment," Mr. Shelby said quietly.
"I was thinking about the wedding," she lied.
He smiled at her. "Funny, I was thinking about that, too," he replied in husky tones, nuzzling her neck.
Her gaze settled on the wolf. It had not moved.
She hugged her fiancé fiercely, burying her face into his chest.
Perhaps it would go away if she ignored it.
Her fiancé pulled her closer.
She wrapped her arms tightly about her as she sat next to her blood brother. He looked out on the horizon.
She wished that he would turn his head the other direction. Perhaps then he would see the wolf, too.
She stared at it, an unnatural tightness compressing her chest. She felt like crying.
"Something eating you? You ain't been jawing at me."
"I'm going crazy."
He regarded her. "Already knew that."
She bit her lip. He was right, of course. She had been insane all along.
"Why do you think that?" he asked, his voice a little more gentle.
"I'm seeing things."
"What things?"
Maria pointed at the wolf, her eyes shifting to the ground.
"What?" he asked after a moment.
She looked up. She was not surprised that the wolf was gone.
"Nothing," she whispered.
She stood up and left him.
She stayed indoors and avoided looking out any windows. The thing never appeared to her inside a building. Windowless rooms were safest.
If she did go outside, she kept her eyes to the ground.
"I'm fine, really," she told Mr. Shelby, pulling her blanket to her waist. "Just a few days rest, and I'll be fine."
Mr. Shelby regarded her suspiciously. "I don't want my fiancé sick."
Maria tried to divert his attention. "You should go over the wedding list."
"Hang the list. I want you better."
Maria smiled at him. She had not seen the wolf in days. She had been careful to stay inside, of course. It was getting more difficult to think of reasons to stay indoors. Maria was afraid to go outside.
"I'll be all right. I'm just a little tired, that's all."
He tucked her on the sofa, kissing her gently on the cheek. "Hurry."
Before he opened the door to leave, he turned and scrutinized her. He shook his head before leaving.
Maria bit her lip. She hated lying to him.
"Maria, you should go outside," Josiah suggested.
She shook her head at her uncle. She was afraid to see something that should not be there. "I'm not feeling well."
"You've said that for the last few days. You'd feel better if you got some fresh air."
Maria smiled at the irony of her uncle's words. She remembered saying something similar to him the last time that he went into one of his episodes. She echoed what her uncle had told her at the time, "I'm better off in here."
Her uncle shook his head, sighing. "It's unnatural," he said.
Maria agreed. She was her uncle's niece.
Maria's heart swelled, knowing at that moment Mr. Shelby was the handsomest man in Curtis Wells. He stood next to Mr. Mosby, waiting for her to come down the aisle.
Everything was as she hoped for. Everyone was there, smiling at her. Flowers were on every aisle, and her veil was trimmed with pink. Maria could see the cake in the corner. It was nearly three feet high. But it was Mr. Shelby's hazel eyes that drew her complete attention. They spoke of his warmth and love.
She could not wait to join him. She walked up the aisle, clutching a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
She loved him so much. He was everything to her.
She dropped the bouquet. The wolf stood in the middle of the aisle, snarling at her.
She backed away, the wolf advancing towards her. Mr. Shelby's hands beckoned her forward.
Maria let out a cry as she sat up in her bed.
It was just as it had been before ... Maria could not avoid the wolf. It taunted her during the day and haunted her in her dreams.
She truly was going crazy.
Her body wracked in painful sobs. She knew what she had to do.
"Quit doing this, damn it," Austin swore. "You're acting crazy. Go outside. Quit cooping yourself up in here all day."
Maria did not look at him, but she answered him over her shoulder. "But I am crazy."
Austin cursed and paced about the room. "Stop acting like Father."
"It's in the blood, Austin."
Austin clenched his fist. "Damn it. What's wrong with you?"
"You just can't wait to tell everyone, can you?" she hissed. "That would make you happy."
Austin's jaw clenched. He slammed the door as he left.
Her eyes were swollen from crying, but she made no attempt to remedy it. After this afternoon, there would be no point anyway. It would be all over.
Her heart pounded as she heard a knock on the door. He was here.
Maria threw her blanket on the sofa, giving up the pretense that she was ill - physically. She opened the door.
He rushed at her, nearly crushing her to him. He looked angry.
"Do you mind telling me what this is all about?" Mr. Shelby demanded, shaking her. "First I get this cryptic message about our wedding, and then Austin -"
"What did Austin say?" Maria snapped. She knew her cousin would tell the whole town.
Mr. Shelby's mouth tightened. "He 'advised' me to knock some sense into you, that's what. I'll take him on his advice if I don't start hearing things to my satisfaction. Now you tell me what the hell is going on."
Maria frowned. Her fiancé did look very angry.
She took a deep breath. "I've been lying to you."
He did not answer her, but she felt his hands grip into her shoulders.
"There are things that you don't know about me. It's not fair of me to marry you, Robert."
He looked like a man that had a rug pulled out from under him. His hold on her loosened. She pulled away from him and retreated to the sofa.
"What things?" he managed to ask.
Maria wished that she did not have to answer him. "I told you once that I was odd. I should have told you that I was crazy."
He stared at her. "You're serious? You're not just saying this to get out the wedding?"
Tears welled in her eyes. She knew that he would not understand. She looked down to the floor.
He sat down next to her.
"A year ago, I started seeing things. Nobody else in town could see them. They haunted me in the day and the night. I could think of nothing else. The whole town thought I was crazy. I was crazy."
His voice was very calm. "Are you still seeing them? Have you seen them all the time we've known each other?"
Maria frowned. "Well, no. Just recently."
"What do you see?"
She did not want to tell him.
"What?" he repeated, growing impatient.
"Wolves," she answered.
He stared at her.
"Er, one wolf," she added. "A white wolf."
"A white wolf," he repeated.
Her gaze returned to the floor.
"Do you see the wolf right now? In this room?"
She looked into his eyes, slightly offended. "No."
"Where do you see it, then?"
"Outside. Only outside. Except when I dream about it."
He sighed, clasping her hand. "So does this wolf ever ... talk ... to you?"
She could not believe that he was that silly. "Of course not. It's a wolf."
He started to laugh at her. "Then why do you think you're crazy?"
"No one else has seen it," she reasoned.
"Have you asked anyone else if they've seen it?"
Maria hesitated. "I tried to point it out to Newton, but he saw nothing."
"Have you told anyone else?"
"I didn't want anyone to think I was crazy. The town was so sure of it last time."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to think I was crazy."
Mr. Shelby shook his head, laughing to himself. "Honey, you're going to drive me insane. I'm sure of it."
Maria was sure that he did not understand the seriousness of what she had witnessed. "It stares at me, Robert. It is doing what it did last time. It haunts my footsteps, and it invades my dreams. Every time I even tried to point it out to someone else, it vanished. I looked and felt like a fool. I thought about it all the time. That's how it is now. I think about it constantly. I had a dream of how it came between you and me. It won't stop."
Mr. Shelby frowned. "It will come between us if you let it."
"But Robert, how can it not? I'm the only one that can see it. What if it doesn't go away? What if I see this every year of our lives? Do you want your children to be brought up with such a mother? Would you really want such a wife? No, it's not fair to you."
"Sweetheart, you're not crazy."
"No, I just can't prove it's real."
Mr. Shelby cursed under his breath. He opened his mouth to speak, but then he changed his mind. He took off his coat. Maria turned away in embarrassment when she realized that he was pealing off his clothes.
"Robert, what are you doing?"
"Hold on," he said when it sounded like he was slipping off his suspenders. "Don't move."
Maria's face reddened, especially when she could hear him unfasten the buttons of his shirt. She wanted desperately to turn around and see him in his glorious manliness, but she was firmly planted in her seat.
"Look at me," he commanded.
"Robert, I -"
"Look at me."
She closed her eyes and turned slowly around to face him. Her eyelids lifted on their own accord. His shirt was opened enough to reveal his torso. It was scarred with claw and bite marks. Maria gasped when she saw it.
"Is this real enough for you?"
She knew that he had been attacked by a wild animal before he came to town, but she had not realized ...
"A wolf?" Maria asked. His scars looked very painful. She desperately wanted to touch him.
"A white one. I told everyone at the trial that's what attacked me."
Maria had tried to forget that whole ordeal. Austin had publicly humiliated her by discrediting her account of the first white wolf. He made her sound like she was crazy. Maybe she was.
"I knew you weren't insane then just as I know it now. Until you tell me the wolf is walking on its hind legs sipping coffee, I'm going to believe there's nothing wrong with you."
She felt overwhelming gratitude. He actually believed her. She threw herself into his arms. "Oh, Robert."
He nuzzled her. When she pulled away to give him better access to her neck, her hands settled on his chest. Then she became aware that he was half-clothed. Her hands rose and fell with each breath he took, and her heart quickened. Her fingers splayed across his chest. She saw a large scar on his shoulder.
He shuddered and drew away from her abruptly. He clasped both her hands in his.
"Did I hurt you?" Maria asked, alarmed.
"No," he replied, his voice rough with emotion.
"It looks like a gunshot wound," she commented.
"It was from a couple of years ago. I'd rather not discuss it." Mr. Shelby appeared uncomfortable. His hands left hers. He began to button up his shirt.
"I'm sorry," she said.
He did not say anything, but continued his work.
Maria bit her lip. "I have one just like it," she finally said, her voice small. "It's on my left shoulder, too."
He stopped what he was doing and regarded her.
"My scar doesn't hurt, either," she added hastily. "It itches a little, but other than that, it's fine."
He still did not say anything, but his eyes softened. She grew uncomfortable under his scrutiny.
"I was also shot in the arm," she said, unable to stop herself. "That was an accident, though. That was right after Captain Call killed the first wolf. Funny, I had the strangest dream while that was happening, too." Maria knew that she was rambling. "Do you think we need to get Captain Call to shoot this wolf?"
Mr. Shelby smiled patiently at her. "No," he replied. He slid closer to her, grasping her hands. "We'll deal with that later.
"Your left shoulder, you say?" he asked, his voice lowering. His hand began to knead the top of her shoulder.
"Here?" he asked.
She looked into his eyes with fearful excitement. "No, a little lower."
She watched his hand slide down by a few inches to rest between the top of her shoulder and her breast.
"Here?" he repeated.
She was unable to speak. She nodded at him. He massaged her. She never felt anything so wonderful. Tears welled in her eyes.
"You all right?" he asked her.
"Don't stop," she commanded, throwing her arms around him. She hugged him fiercely. He was the most wonderful man in the world.
She felt him chuckle in her arms. "Honey, you're going to have to let me go if you want to touch you there."
She pulled away from him and bit her lip. "You think you might do that to my ... somewhere else?" she asked with all the hope in her heart. She was very afraid that he would refuse her.
He regarded her in astonishment. His voice dropped down wickedly. "Where did you have in mind, sweetheart?"
Maria looked at him for a moment, and then her face reddened. She turned from him in embarrassment. He must have thought that she was brazen hussy.
"I - I didn't mean that," she stammered.
She heard his chuckle. "Of course you didn't. I enjoy teasing my future bride, that's all."
Maria turned back to face him. She gripped his hands. "You still want to marry me? Oh, Robert, you are so good to me."
"I don't know about that. If you recall, I shot you the first time I met you. I'm a man of many sins. I'm lucky to have a woman who will overlook all that."
Maria was astonished to hear herself blurt out, "My back is scarred. It's awful."
She could not believe that she said something so terrible. She looked down to the floor when he did not say anything.
"Did something beat you?" he asked tersely.
"No. I was burned."
"The fire that took your family?"
"No."
"What happened?"
She did not want to think about it. "This is different. The lady that took care of me before my aunt ... she was crazy, you see." Maria could not elaborate. She still stared at the floor.
"Dear God," Mr. Shelby commented.
Maria bit her lip. She knew she should not have told him.
"May I see them?" he asked quietly.
The thought frightened her more than anything else. "Do you need to?"
"No."
Maria looked up at him. He had been so patient with her. He had shown her his scars to reassure her. If she was to show him hers ... he would be repulsed. Yet, he had every right to know. Let him decide whether he truly wanted to marry her after this ....
She stared down at the first button on her blouse. Her hands shook as she tried to unfasten it. A bead of sweat formed at her temple.
He stilled her hands.
"Honey, let me tell you a story. It's about the first woman I ever loved." He unfastened the top button of her blouse. "Do you want to hear about the first woman I ever loved?"
Maria regarded him strangely. He was unbuttoning her blouse, and he wanted to talk about another woman. "Not really," she replied, feeling rather slighted. She was about to bat his hands away and rebutton her blouse when he laughed at her. He stopped her hands from undoing his work.
Then his expression turned serious. "You don't want to hear about the greatest tragedy that has ever befallen me? Maria, I can't believe you're so heartless."
She suspected that he was not entirely serious, just as she knew that he was trying to make her feel guilty. "Go on then."
His fingers toyed with her second button.
"She had long, golden hair and brown eyes like earth touched with dew -"
"You mean mud," Maria interrupted. "She had eyes like mud."
Mr. Shelby laughed at her. "All right. Mud. A man could get lost in those eyes of mud."
Maria rolled her eyes. "Oh please."
"Her name was Savannah," he continued rhapsodically. "You know, like the city Savannah? It's in Georgia, honey. She had a name as golden as her beauty. I fell in love with her instantly, of course."
"Of course," Maria repeated dryly. She looked down. Somehow he had unfastened her second button and was working on the third.
Before her hands could stay him, he commented, "She never knew that I was alive, that Savannah. I wasn't good enough for her. Not enough land or wealth, you see. My name wasn't good enough, either. I come from a distinguished line of - what do you Yankees call us - 'crackers.' I had nothing but my charms, and that wasn't good enough, either."
Maria's jealousy subsided and was replaced by pity. "Oh, Robert."
"I was about to declare my love for the beautiful Savannah when she ran off with that bastard Trent Jackson. She's still with him to this day, as far as I know."
Maria tried to reassure him. "She wasn't good enough for you, Robert."
"I know, but it was hard to try to convince me of that at the time. I was at a tender age, you see."
He looked down and sighed.
Her eyes followed. Somehow he had unfastened another button.
"Can you believe it?" he remarked. "I was of the ripe old age of five. I've been searching for a new love ever since."
Maria's mouth dropped open. She hit him as he grinned.
"Is there supposed to be a moral to that story, you twit?"
He shook his head. "No, I just wanted to get your shirt undone."
Maria's face reddened when she realized that he had done just that.
His eyes roamed over her body. "You're a damn sight prettier than that Savannah," he added huskily. "Show me, honey. It's all right."
"She was five," Maria argued, trying to wrap her blouse around her. His hands stopped her.
"Show me."
Maria inhaled deeply. She turned to give him a better view of her back. Tears formed in her eyes. She slid the blouse off one shoulder. She waited for him to gasp, but she did not even hear her own breath. She slipped off the strap of her chemise. Surely he would be repulsed then. He did not utter a sound.
Instead, she gasped when she felt his lips touch the base of her neck. He proceeded to kiss her shoulder, and to her astonishment, he kissed her shoulder blade - the very edge of her scars. She was sure that he would have kissed the entire length of her back had it been exposed to him. She cried for the very feel of it. He slid the blouse down off her other shoulder and kissed that side. His lips stopped momentarily as his fingers gently edged down her chemise. His lips kissed the skin exposed there, too.
She had never known such happiness or comfort. Her only thought was to be closer to him.
"Oh, Robert," she declared, turning around to caress his face. "I love you."
He looked stunned, and then his lips enveloped hers. He pulled her closer to him. She kissed him as greedily as he kissed her, and he ripped off her glasses. He devoured her face and moved down her neck. She felt so warm, yet she needed him to be closer. His hands molded her to him. She felt his warmth through his shirt, and her hands slipped underneath his fabric to caress his shoulder and his back. He groaned and eased her down on the sofa. He was on top of her, kissing her shoulders and neck. She eagerly pulled him towards her. He could not get close enough.
"Excuse me," Maria heard a voice as cold as ice water snarl. "I hate to interrupt such a 'touching' moment, but there's something my cousin ought to know." Austin loomed over them with a disgusted look on his face.
Maria could see why as she looked down at herself in horror. Her corset was still intact, but there was little else. The straps of her chemise draped off her shoulders, and her blouse was down to her elbows. Her skirt was pulled above her ankles. She must have looked like a common trollop.
"I send you over to help, and you do this, you bastard," Austin accused Mr. Shelby.
Her fiancé balled his fists, but he said nothing. He protected Maria's modesty as best he could, for which she was grateful. She was sure Austin would not be so understanding about her scars as Mr. Shelby was.
Maria hastily buttoned up her blouse, keeping her back to the wall.
"I was hoping you could pull out of it enough so you could help me tell Father," Austin told her, a sneer on his lips. "You pulled out of it, all right. Here," he said, reaching down to the floor. "You may want these." He tossed something at her.
Maria awkwardly caught her glasses. She felt herself redden with horror. She put on her glasses and looked to the floor. She wanted to bury herself in her fiancé's arms, but she had touched him enough for one day.
"Austin, you really are an ass," Mr. Shelby commented. He began to button his shirt.
"Get out of my house. Our family needs to be alone at a time like this. You're no kin to us, though you were sure trying to get Maria in the family way."
Mr. Shelby grabbed him by the shirt and rammed him against the wall. The picture of her aunt Sarah fell to the floor. Austin's smirk dared Mr. Shelby to punch him.
"Please," Maria beseeched them. This was getting worse and worse.
"Maria, honey? You want me to stay?" Mr. Shelby's eyes were locked with Austin's.
Maria shook her head. "It's all right. You'd better go."
Mr. Shelby shoved Austin against the wall and released him. He turned to her. "I'll see you later, honey."
"Not alone you won't," Austin pointed at him.
Mr. Shelby growled at him, kissed Maria on her cheek, and left the house.
Maria felt like crying, but she would not give her cousin the satisfaction. He looked at her with disgust. She waited for him to attack. She was not prepared for what he said next.
"While you were 'preoccupied' with your lover, they found the Hell Bitch. She was tore up pretty bad. She came in alone."
"What are you saying?" Maria's eyes widened with alarm.
"Call wasn't with her," he replied grimly. He turned to leave, and then he thought better of it. "Reckon he's dead."
She stared at him, stunned.
He sighed, shutting the door behind him.
July 2003