Night in Eden by Candice Proctor

Author:Candice Proctor [Proctor, Candice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, General
ISBN: 9780804117586
Google: 1IutAAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0804117586
Publisher: Ivy Books
Published: 1997-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"Manure!" Quincy stared at the malodorous pile heaped up behind the stables, and his handsome black eyes flashed with indignation. "Ye want me to shovel manure?"

Bryony glared right back at him. "Captain St. John left orders you were to help me with the garden two days a week."

"He didn't say nothin' about manure."

"Gardens need manure." She handed him the pitchfork. "Now, load it into the cart so we can get it dug in before it starts raining again."

Quincy's chest rose and fell rapidly, and she knew he hovered on the brink of refusal.

The clatter of hooves on the cobbled yard brought both their heads around. Gideon appeared at the corner of the stables, leading a limping horse. He stopped and threw Quincy a long, searching look. Quincy mumbled something obscene that most fourteen-year-old boys had never even heard, let alone said, and grabbed the pitchfork.

Bryony blew on her numb fingers and hugged her cloak against the cold. It had been unbelievably wet and miserable for weeks now, reminding her more of an English winter than what she expected spring in New South Wales to be. She watched Quincy just long enough to make sure he knew she was serious, then she left the paddock and walked into the stable, where Gideon was unsaddling his gray mare.

"I'm glad you happened to show up when you did."

She stroked the mare's velvety soft nose. "I was afraid for a minute there he wasn't going to do it."

"Sure he'd have done it, even without me," said Gideon, stripping the saddle off the horse's back. "He was just wantin' to make it clear it was a touch beneath him, that's all."

She reached up to straighten the mare's forelock, hesitating. She didn't want to ask, but somehow she couldn't seem to help it. She tried to make the question sound as casual as possible. "No word yet on when Captain St. John is coming back?"

Gideon's eyes met hers over the horse's head. "No." She knew he wasn't fooled. He'd probably seen the way she looked up, anxious, every time someone rode into the yard, every time there was a step on the veranda. He knew she was watching, waiting.

Bryony felt herself blushing and turned away. She hadn't even been told what had taken St. John back to Sydney so unexpectedly. She thought Gideon probably knew, but she'd been too shy to ask.

As if sensing her thoughts, Gideon said, "It can take awhile to get a ship ready to sail."

Bryony whirled back around. "Ship? What ship?"

Gideon was busy working a currycomb over the mare's withers. "The Lady Laura. She was running a shipment of coal to India, and she come back earlier than expected. The Cap'n is planning to send her to England next, with a consignment of wool."

"You mean, he owns this ship?"

"Aye. The Lady Laura, and a couple of others. And when she sails for Britain this time, she's goin' to bring back my Mary and the boys."

"Oh, Gideon!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him, laughing.

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