Triflers Need Not Apply by Camilla Bruce

Author:Camilla Bruce [Bruce, Camilla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405950459
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

27.

Bella

James and I set out to look at Brookside, a promising property in LaPorte County, Indiana. I brought him along as an advisor, though he knew little of farming. Maybe I just craved the company.

‘I have done a little digging,’ he told me in the buggy. ‘He probably didn’t tell you, Mr Williams, when he came looking at the house on Alma Street, that his house in La Porte used to belong to Mattie Altic.’

‘Who?’ I was holding the reins just then; James was peeling an apple with his knife.

‘A whore of some renown. She used to run the place as a first-class bordello.’ He seemed to take some pleasure in telling me this; his voice was smug and his eyes were daring.

‘Is that so?’ I accepted the piece of apple he pushed between my lips. It was very sweet, just the way I liked it.

‘It used to be a lively house back in the day, with music, drinking, and whoring. The whole of McClung Road used to be a rowdy place; last stop before the prairie and all.’ Another piece of fruit pushed against my lips.

‘And now?’ I chewed and spat out a black seed.

‘Decent farmers.’ He sucked on his own piece of apple. ‘Just the way you like it … I must warn you, though, the house has a reputation for suicides.’ He said it as if amused.

‘Not for whoring?’ I raised my eyebrows.

‘That too, but untimely death seems to cling to the place. A couple of brothers who lived there died so suddenly that the coroner was called in to investigate, and the farmer who bought it next hanged himself in the barn. Some even say Mattie herself took her own life.’ He stretched out his legs and sighed with contentment; he always liked a sordid tale.

‘Well, I’m not afraid of either suicide or harlots. I just want a place to raise my pigs.’ I looked back at him and added a smile. He had donned his thick coat that day, and so had I, as the weather was chilly.

His eyes blinked at me, lazy like a cat. ‘The place has certainly seen its share of pigs, and that’s something if you mean to follow through with this plan –’

‘Marrying Peter Gunness?’ I could not keep the amusement out of my voice. It baffled me how much James was against it.

‘Just that … Do you really think it’s wise?’ He nudged my calf with his foot.

‘What else am I to do? Fend for myself as a widow?’ I rolled my eyes in jest. We both knew that I would manage just fine.

‘A new marriage would limit your possibilities.’ He straightened up beside me; his hand came to rest on my thigh.

I glanced at him. His dark hair had gained streaks of silver over the years; he was growing older, my friend, but it did not make him any less handsome. ‘What possibilities?’ My gaze went back to the road.

‘If you should ever dare another enterprise.’ His voice was honey sweet.

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