Savage Spring (17 page)

“I see,” he said, taken aback by Alex’s revelation. “That could explain many things I haven’t understood. What are you and your sister running from, Alex?”

She lowered her head. “I cannot speak of it.”

“Don’t you know I will help you in any way I can? What can be so horrible that you can’t speak of it to me?”

“I…Xandria killed a man,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “If she is discovered, she will be hanged for murder!” she cried between sobs.

Tag raised her head once more and wiped the tears away with a handkerchief. “Tell me everything, Alex. I know that if Xandria killed anyone it had to be for a good reason.”

“I cannot tell you. Don’t ask it of me!”

“Damn it, Alex, don’t you know I’ll stand behind you and your sister in whatever comes your way. Tell me,” he encouraged, brushing a mass of curls off her forehead and smiling down at her.

“I…Xandria and I have lived with my stepmother and stepbrother since my father died. My mother’s father had left Meadowlake Farm to me…and Xandria. My stepmother knew the only way she could get her hands on the farm was to force…Xandria to marry my stepbrother, Rodney. She brought me…us to Philadelphia, where she held us prisoner in her sister’s house. She found a preacher who was willing to marry Xandria to Rodney against her will.” A sob tore from her throat as she remembered that awful night when Rodney had come to her bedroom, trying to force his attentions on her. “My stepbrother tried to force Xandria to…he was going to…”

“I think I know what you’re trying to say…go on, Alex,” Tag urged.

“Xandria tried to get away from Rodney and picked up a lamp, and threw it at him.” Alexandria placed her trembling hands over her eyes, trying to block out the memory of that
awful sight when her stepbrother had been engulfed in flames. “It was awful—Rodney was on fire! She didn’t mean to harm him, honestly she didn’t.” She took a big gulp of air and dried her eyes on the handkerchief Tag handed her.

“My stepmother locked me…and Xandria in the basement. She was going to have me…and her declared insane and have us locked away forever.”

Tag pulled the boy to him, trying to bring him comfort. “What happened then, Alex?”

“I…we escaped, and you know the rest.”

Tag raised her face up and studied her closely. “Yes, I believe I do. Have you seen your stepmother or stepbrother since that night?”

“N…no.”

“Then you don’t know if your stepbrother is really dead?”

“I don’t think anyone could be so severely burned and live. He must be dead! It was so awful! I didn’t mean to do it, but I had to get away from him!”

Tag’s eyes widened in shock. Alex was so upset he hadn’t even realized what he had just said. Tag lifted the boy’s face up to him and studied it with a different aspect. Yes, the features were delicate…too pretty to be a boy’s; beautiful really…even with her hair chopped off. He wondered how he could have been such a fool. He had been so caught up in his own problems that he hadn’t noticed what was before his very eyes. Alex was Xandria! Most probably her name was Alexandria!

Suddenly, he was horrified that he might have taken a young girl to his bed and stolen her innocence! He couldn’t allow Alex to know he realized who she was—not yet. “I’m going to ask you a question, Alex, and I want you to answer it honestly. How old are you?” He dreaded to hear the answer, fearing she would prove to be a child.

Alexandria raised her face to him. “I haven’t been truthful with you. I’m eighteen.”

Tag took a deep breath and let it out slowly as relief washed over him. “I think you have had a hard day, Alex.
Why don’t you run upstairs and climb into bed. We will talk more later about how to help you…and your sister.”

She stood up reluctantly. “You aren’t mad at me, are you?”

In that moment, Tag wanted to take her in his arms and hold her so he could assure her that everything would be all right. “No, Alex, I’m not angry with you. Go to bed now.”

He listened to the soft pad of her footsteps as she left the room. This evening had been a revelation to him. His feelings for the boy Alex had become entangled with his feelings for Xandria. What were his true feelings for her?

Trying to dismiss her from his mind, he picked up the documents with his name scribbled across the front and tried to read them, but his eyes became blurred with tears. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes. He thought of Morning Song and the life he had once shared with her. They had been like two carefree children playing at life. There had been no major problems confronting them. He thought of Alex, and how she had touched his life. His feelings for her were altogether different from what he had felt for Morning Song. Morning Song had been sweet and gentle, while Alex was wild and unpredictable. He remembered making love to her and admitted that she had made him feel things that he had never felt with Morning Song. Was it love he felt for Alex? If it was, then what had he felt for Morning Song?

He heard shuffling footsteps enter the room and knew Farley had just come in. Opening his eyes, he watched the old man take a chair, propping his feet up on a footrest.

“All hell’s broken loose, Farley. No one is who they are supposed to be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the old trapper asked, eyeing him warily.

“I mean no one with the exception of yourself is who they say they are.”

Farley grinned broadly. “I ’spect you found out ’bout young Alex. I wondered how long it would take you to know that he was a she,” he chuckled, showing a fair amount of white teeth.

Tag sat up and studied Farley’s face. “You mean she told you and didn’t tell me?”

Again Farley chuckled. “She didn’t have to tell me. I knowed it almost from the first. I can’t see how you missed it, though. You must be slipping when a beautiful young gal can convince you she’s a boy.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tag asked sourly, thinking he really was a fool.

Farley scratched his head. “Well, I didn’t see as how she was doing any harm, and I figured she was in some kind of trouble. ’Sides, with her running off to your room most ever night, I figured you knowed she was a woman, leastwise, I hoped you did.”

Tag’s eyed gleamed brightly, and the look he gave Farley warned the old man that he had better watch what he said. “I don’t want you to think badly of Alex, Farley. When she first came to me, she had never been with a man before,” Tag said, feeling he needed to defend Alexandria.

“I knowed she were innocent—anyone could tell that just by looking at her.”

Tag shook his head in bewilderment. “I have just been sitting here reflecting on my life…past and present. I know I should do the right things and marry Alex.”

“Is that what you wanna do?”

“Hell, how do I know? Morning Song hasn’t been dead that long, and I feel as if I am betraying her in some way.”

“Now, how could you feel like that ’less you feel guilty for loving Alex? If your heart weren’t in it you wouldn’t give it another thought.”

Tag stood up and walked over to the window, throwing the curtains aside. “Would you think me disloyal to Morning Song if I told you what I felt for her wasn’t as deep or as meaningful as what I feel for Alex, Farley?”

“Come on back over here and sit, Tag. I’m ’bout to talk to you like I would ifen I was your real grandpa.”

Tag walked back to the chair he had been sitting in and waited for Farley to speak.

“I watched you and Morning Song together, and I always thought the two of you acted like young children. I always felt this thing tugging at you, and while you will think it was you wanting to face your uncle, I always knowed that a big part of it was that you weren’t completely happy.” Farley sat forward and lowered his voice. “You see, Tag, you had outgrown Morning Song. I always knowed you loved her like a good friend more than anything else. Joanna thought the same thing, too, but she never said as much to you.”

“I don’t know, Farley. I have been asking myself if Morning Song were still alive, could I give Alex up and return to her?”

“What did you answer yourself?”

“I would never be able to forget Morning Song…”

“But?”

“I’m damned if I know,” Tag answered, shaking his head. “I have never before been this unsure of anything in my life. I feel like all hell’s about to break loose.”

“Well, the way I seed it is you don’t have to make that choice. Sad as it is, Morning Song is dead. You shouldn’t forget that you have a little daughter, though.”

“No, I never forget that.”

“I ’spect you should just sit tight and let nature take its course.”

“Farley, Alex doesn’t realize that I know who she is.”

“Well, you got all the free advice from me you’re gonna get for one evening. I think I’ll turn in.”

“Wait,” Tag said, holding the documents out to the old man. “Alex was able to get these for me tonight.”

“You know I can’t read. Was they the papers you was wanting?”

“Yes, and I never thought anyone could do such a good job in forging documents. If I came forward now and declared who I am, no one would believe me because these are so convincing. I myself could almost believe they are legitimate.”

“What do they say?” Farley asked with interest.

“In part, they say that I, Taggart James, give my Uncle Howard and his wife, Claudia, full power to administer my estate in my absence.”

“The hell you say! That woman and her Mr. Garner done went and committed something unlawful. Ifen you asked me, I’d say you had a good case against them now. I don’t know much ’bout the law, but I know enough to see what they did would send them to prison for a long time to come.”

“Yes, but I cannot go to the authorities just yet. I need more proof, and the only way I can get that is to spend more time with Claudia.”

“I’d sooner stand next to a blackwidder spider than that woman.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Tag said, standing up and placing the forged documents in his desk drawer.

“By the way, I seed that sailor again tonight.”

“Where?”

“He was standing under that big elm tree out front, just gazing up at the house. When I started toward him, he just kinda faded away.”

“I wonder if he’s been hired by Claudia to keep an eye on me?”

“I don’t know, but it surely do seem strange how he keeps turning up everywhere we go, don’t it?”

“Let me know if you see him again. By the way, Farley, you are going to have to stay out of sight for a while.”

“How so?”

Tag told the old trapper what Alex had overheard that evening in Mr. Garner’s office. “As you can see, they know about you, and if Claudia were to see you, she would recognize you right away.”

Farley stood up and ambled toward the door. “You can trust me to lay low for a spell,” he said over his shoulder.

When Farley had gone, Tag walked back to the window and stared out into the night. It was long past midnight, and the full moon lit the countryside with its brightness. He looked down at the elm tree where Farley had said he had
seen the sailor earlier. He watched as a shadow detached itself and moved away from the house. He wondered who the man could be, and why he was keeping such a close watch on him.

Turning away, he blew out the lamp and walked toward the stairs. He was bone weary, but he had so much on his mind, he doubted he would sleep tonight. It was still hard for him to think of Alex as Xandria. What a fool he had been not to see through her disguise right from the start.

When he lay down on his bed he tried not to think about Xandria. He was almost afraid to examine his feelings for her too closely. One thing he was determined to do was help her, if it were at all possible.

Alexandria lay on her bed, wide-eyed and sleepless. She watched the shadows caused by the wind blowing the branches of big oak tree outside her window dance fleetingly across the wall.

Falcon Knight was really Taggart James, she kept thinking over and over to herself. Tonight, part of the mystery about his past had been unraveled, but there was still many questions to which she would have liked to know the answers. Who was the woman Falcon was supposed to love? No matter how she tried to transfer her thoughts, they always seemed to slip back to the woman Falcon loved. No, not Falcon…Taggart James.

Alexandria closed her eyes, and she could almost feel his strong, sensitive hands move over her body. She ached for him to hold her. It mattered that he loved another woman, but she wouldn’t let that stop her from going to him. What would happen if she were to go to him right now? Of course,
he now knew about her killing her stepbrother, and he might no longer want to be with her.

She sat up and swung her legs off the side of the bed. Perhaps she would go to him once more—just one last time. She had already decided that she would have to leave now that Taggart knew about her past. She knew it would be hard to face him now that he was aware of her guilt. Of course, he wouldn’t blame Alex for what had been done to Rodney—she could stay on as Alex! No, that wouldn’t do at all. Tomorrow she would have to leave—but tonight…tonight she would go to him for the last time as Xandria.

She took off her clothing and removed the velvet cover from the bed, draping it about her shoulders.

Her excitement mounted as she walked down the hall toward Taggart’s bedroom. She had to slow her footsteps to keep from running to him.

By the time she reached his door, her knees felt weak, and she didn’t know if she had the nerve to enter his bedroom. The irony of her situation hit her full force. Since the very beginning, she had always been the one to go to him. What if he didn’t really want her and was too kind to hurt her feelings? In that moment, she knew she couldn’t walk through that door. She could only guess at what he thought about her conduct.

Alexandria remembered being shocked at the way Molly, the tavern maid, had thrown herself at Tag. How sanctimonious she had acted then. Now, she realized, she was no better than Molly. Perhaps she was even worse than the tavern maid. At least Molly didn’t try to cover up what she was—while Alexandria always crept about in the dark of night when she went to Falcon’s room.

She took a step backwards with the intention of returning to her bedroom when the door was flung open and Tag stood staring down at her.

“I had hoped you would come tonight, Xandria. Won’t you come in?” he asked, moving back to allow her entrance.

She shook her head and took another timid step backwards. His hand closed around her arm, and he pulled her forward, shutting the door behind them.

“I didn’t think you would come to me anymore,” he said, giving her a searching glance.

His bedroom was flooded with moonlight, and Alexandria felt shy knowing he could see her so clearly. The other times she had come to him, his room had been in total darkness.

“What am I to do with you, Xandria? You have become a real dilemma for me.”

“I…am sorry,” she said softly. “I do not mean to be a bother to you.”

“Ah, so you speak at last,” he said, smiling slightly. “In that case I will ask you to answer something that has been puzzling me for a time.”

“I will if I can.”

“Remember the note you wrote me, warning me of Claudia’s treachery?”

“I remember.”

“How did you find out about her and Mr. Garner?”

Alexandria ducked her head. “I was hiding in her garden and I overheard Claudia Landon and Mr. Garner talking.”

“I see. Was that the night of the party?” Tag asked, remembering how Alex had asked him to take him to the party with him that night.

“Yes,” Alexandria whispered. She glanced at his handsome face, which was clearly defined in the moon’s brightness. She felt very vulnerable knowing he could see her equally well. “Yes, it was the night of the party,” she said softly, wishing she hadn’t come to his room at all. “I had to see you one last time, Falcon, before I go away,” she blurted out.

He arched an eyebrow. “Oh, so you have decided to go away, have you?” he asked, smiling to himself. Now that he knew she was Alex he didn’t feel unduly distressed at her announcement. “I’m glad you have come to me tonight. I have been thinking about you and would like to talk to you seriously.”

Alexandria was more than a little hurt that he didn’t seem concerned that she wasn’t coming back again. Her eyes were clear as she looked at him, masking her hurt. “All right,” she said, wondering what he wanted. She suspected he wanted to talk to her about her stepbrother and felt shame that he knew about the horrible deed she had done. “Do you want to ask me about Rodney?”

“Yes, in part. Come sit in the chair by the window so you will be more comfortable.” He clasped her arm and led her across the room and sat her down while he stood over her, realizing how beautiful she really was. If her story were true, and he had no reason to doubt it, she had no one to turn to but him. He pulled up a stool and sat down beside her. Since the stool was low, it put him on her eye level.

“Tell me about your stepmother and stepbrother, Xandria,” he said in an insistent voice. Tag would still let her play her little game where she pretended to be Xandria. He feared if he were to tell her he knew who she was, she might really run away.

She turned her face away and stared out at the moonlight. “I don’t want to talk about them. It’s too horrible to remember.”

He took her chin and turned her back to face him. When his eyes softened, Alexandria wished she could reach out and rest her head against his shoulder, knowing she would find comfort there. As if he read her thoughts, he pulled her forward and held her tightly against him.

“Don’t you know I would do anything to protect you, Xandria? Why can’t you trust me? Alex does.”

“Oh, I do trust you, Falcon. I just don’t want to burden you with my problems when you have your own troubles.”

“It seems you have become my problem, Xandria,” he said, brushing her cheek with his lips. She could feel the strength of his arms about her and knew as long as he held her this way, no one could harm her.

“I never meant to be your problem. I don’t know what to do anymore. I cannot hide the rest of my life.”

“If you will trust me, perhaps you won’t have to hide at all, Xandria,” he whispered against her ear. “Tell me where your stepmother is staying.”

“At the time of the accident, she was staying with her sister, Annabelle Norris, on Front Street. She may since have gone back to the farm in Valley Forge.” She pulled back and stared at him. “You wouldn’t go to her and tell her where I am, would you?”

“You know better than that, Xandria. I merely want to understand what you are facing. I don’t know if you are aware of it, but you yourself just referred to what happened to your stepbrother as an accident. I’m sure if the authorities knew how your stepmother was trying to force you into a marriage against your will, they would be on your side.”

“You aren’t going to go to the authorities about me, are you?”

Tag noticed the fear that caused her amber eyes to widen, and he wanted to assure her that he would take care of her. He hated the thought that she had been made to suffer at the hands of such unscrupulous manipulators as her stepmother and stepbrother. She had such an endearing quality about her, he couldn’t imagine anyone’s wanting to hurt her.

“Xandria, I would do nothing to cause you distress. You should know by now that I wouldn’t do anything that would harm you.”

“Yes, I do know that. I was just wondering…do you…are you disgusted by me?”

He laughed and tugged playfully at a loose curl that fell over her forehead. “On the contrary, I am enchanted by you. I would have thought you knew that by now.”

“I don’t know anything for certain anymore. If you had told me a few short months ago that I would come to a man’s room at night and allow him to…” She lowered her eyes. “I…would never have believed such a thing about myself. I am not only a murderess, but a…I don’t…know the word for what I have become.”

He smiled and forced her to look into his eyes. “You have become my lover. Is that so hard for you to admit? You came to me at a time when I needed someone. You gave unselfishly of yourself, while asking for nothing in return.”

She blinked the tears from her eyes. “That’s not quite true. You allowed…Alex to stay with you.”

“That was easy, Xandria. Alex has become indispensable to me.”

“I must go now,” she said starting to rise, but he put a restraining hand on her arm.

“I am not finished talking to you yet, Xandria. I have something very important to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“I want to ask you if you will do me the great honor of becoming my wife.”

Alexandria was taken completely by surprise. She hadn’t expected him to offer her marriage. Her amber eyes sparkled with joy as he pulled her toward him. To be his wife was all she could ask for in life. Oh, how she loved him! She felt his lips brush her brow, and she closed her eyes.

Suddenly grim reality settled over her. Falcon hadn’t said anything about loving her. He had offered to marry her because he was an honorable man and he wanted to do the right thing by her. No, she couldn’t possibly marry him on those terms.

“No, I don’t want to be your wife,” she said, knowing she had told the biggest falsehood she had thus far spoken to him. “I don’t want to be anyone’s wife. You don’t love me, and I don’t love…you.”

“Are you quite sure, Xandria?”

“Yes, very sure,” she said, standing up and moving hurriedly across the room. When she reached the door she opened it and fled into the hallway, fearing if she hesitated she would weaken. She hoped fervently he wouldn’t try to stop her. He had just offered her the one thing she wanted most in life, and for his sake, her answer had to be no.

She slipped into her room before the tears reached her eyes. Leaning against the door, she unfastened the bedcovering and allowed it to slide to the floor. As she climbed into bed, she buried her face in the pillow so her sobs couldn’t be heard outside the room.

Hearing a light tap on the door, she sat up quickly. What if it was Falcon? Perhaps he had come to ask her more questions. She quickly reached down to the foot of the bed and gathered up her nightshirt, pulling it over her head. Wiping her tears away, she called out for whomever it was to enter.

“Alex, I have come to talk to you,” Tag said moving to the bed and sitting down on the foot, propping his long legs up beside Alexandria.

“It’s late, Falcon.”

“Yes, but I have a dilemma that you may be able to help me with. Will you help me, Alex?”

“You know I will…if I can.”

“First of all, I need to tell you some things about myself, Alex. Since I was twelve years old I lived with the Blackfoot Indians. My sister, Joanna, is married to the Blackfoot chief, Windhawk.”

“Weren’t you frightened?” she asked, amazed at his revelation. She had expected anything but this.

“No, you see the Blackfoot were very kind to me and my sister. They made us feel as if we belonged to them. That’s why I married an Indian princess, Morning Song.”

“You…married an Indian?”

“Yes, and I was very happy until last fall when Morning Song was killed by a bullet that had been intended for me. You see, Claudia is married to my uncle, and they sent some men to kill me and my sister.”

“Oh, Falcon, I’m so very sorry,” she said in horror. “Did you love Morning Song very much?” she asked, knowing she would be the woman he had told her he loved.

“Yes, very much. Before she died, Morning Song delivered our child, which turned out to be a daughter.”

“Oh,” was all Alexandria could manage to say, with tears in her eyes, thinking how much he must have suffered.

“I tell you this because I want to be honest with you. I want to keep nothing important from you.” His eyes sought hers, and she wondered at his reason for telling her about his wife and daughter.

“Where is your daughter now?”

“She is with my sister, Joanna. Before Morning Song died, she made me promise that I would give the baby to Joanna to raise.”

“How awful for you. I am so very, very sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry for me, Alex. I have learned to live with my grief by replacing it with hatred. Perhaps you can better understand now, why I felt I had to return to Philadelphia. You see, the house that my uncle and Claudia live in belongs to me and Joanna. I won’t go into any more details, but I think you can see why I have been forced to be so secretive.”

“Oh, yes, I do. I will help you in any way I can to see that justice is done, Falcon. You can count on me.”

He laughed slightly. “I have come to count on you a great deal, haven’t I? Without your help tonight, I might never have gotten my hands on those documents. You can see now why they were so important.”

“I can’t understand how people can be so evil, like Claudia and my stepmother and stepbrother.”

“No, Alex, I don’t think you can understand. That’s one of the things I like about you. By the way, my name really is Falcon. Actually, it’s my Indian name…Night Falcon!”

“I’m glad you told me about your past, Falcon. I promise no one will hear of it from me.”

“I know that.” He moved to the center of the bed and took her hand. “Now, I want you to do something for me. I have asked your sister to marry me. I hope you will convince her of my sincerity.”

“She won’t marry you. I know this.”

“Perhaps if you were to tell her that I need her—do you think that would change her mind?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she answered in a whisper. He had talked about need but hadn’t said anything about love, except when he told her about Morning Song.

Tag dropped her hand and stood up, crossing the room. When he reached the door, he turned back to her. “Think about what I said, Alex.” With those as his parting words, he opened the door and slipped quietly out into the hallway.