Lilac Temptress (38 page)

Not having any success, Sierra decided
she would not waste the remainder of the day. She asked Ben if he
would grant her a tour of the Vieux Carré. Ben conceded, but warned
her that they couldn’t dawdle, as they needed to return to Newhaven
before dusk.

Ben and Thomas walked with Sierra,
while Ben spoke of the sights. They strolled along Jackson Square,
beautified by oaks and natural blossoms. Tourists moved along the
cobblestone pavement. Sierra mingled with the crowd, gazing up at
the St. Louis Cathedral, adorned with triple steeples that towered
above the green of the square. She noticed a statue of General
Andrew Jackson sitting upon his bronze horse. The Cabildo building
and the architecturally matching Presbytere flanked the Cathedral,
as well as the block-long Pontalba buildings with their lacy
ironwork galleries.

Making her leave of the Place d’Armes,
she admired the talents of the local landscape artists, working to
preserve in oil paintings, the spellbinding atmosphere around them.
Hawkers brazenly showcased their goods over rustic tables and from
hastily pitched stands. Children standing with their parents
enjoyed sugar cane pralines and taffies. Ben walked alongside her,
and Thomas was seemingly attentive toward her, and guarded her as
if to shield her from any invisible dangers. The shear size of
Thomas was intimidating enough to part the crowds before them. She
continued in her promenade down the busy streets.

“
We should not enter these
parts, Lady Maudet,” Ben advised.

Thomas silently nodded in
agreement.

“
And why not, dare I ask?”
Sierra challenged.

“
There is nothing in that
direction but vermin and scum,” Thomas answered, speaking to her
for the first time that day.

Sierra considered Thomas with surprise
marking her face. For most of the day he had been silent, making
his large size even more intimidating. Thomas never smiled or
laughed; he only stared blankly, distrustful of anything or anyone
crossing their path.

“
Gallatin Street is two
blocks of vulgar, filthy, wicked…” Thomas continued uninterrupted.
“It’s a lawless street, Lady Maudet, with barrel houses, gin mills,
brothels and dance halls. No place for a lady. Men that enter those
parts are more skilled in mischief, mayhem, murder and
robbery.”

“
That street does not look
so awful from where I stand,” she countered. “Walk with me
gentlemen while I go and have a look for myself. Sometime things
appear worse than they really are.” Sierra thought of her not so
long ago past, dancing in William’s tavern and living in a brothel.
Places like Gallatin Street did not frighten her in the
least.

“
Drake would not allow for
this, Lady Maudet,” Ben stated adamantly.

“
Drake will not hear of
this.” Sierra eyed him firmly and started down the street leaving
both Thomas and Ben no choice but to follow.

“
You see, it is not so
bad,” Sierra remarked walking through the doors of a small saloon.
Ben and Thomas glanced at each other apprehensively. The pub was
crowded—mostly with men drinking and gaming while sparsely garbed
women waited tables, delivering drinks.

“
Relax gentlemen—don’t look
so tense,” Sierra cautioned as a scantily clad woman caught her eye
sitting on the lap of a man who seemed strangely familiar,
regardless of the light moustache and chin stubble he donned.
Sierra quickly made her way through a crooked walkway dodging
waitresses, men and tables.

“
Jason?” Recognition
flashed across Sierra’s stunned face. The woman who sat on the
man’s lap stood up slowly and walked away without saying a word or
causing any trouble.

“
I am sure I don’t know who
you are,” the man said, his voice sturdy and hard. “I am Trent
Calloway,” he said watching two men approach Sierra and come to a
stance behind her, one of them appearing to be her strapping
bodyguard.

“
Jason, I know it is you!”
She slammed her fists onto the table. “Why did you abandon
me?”

The man stared at her in quiet
contemplation. “Gentlemen, is this lady with you? Surely she has
mistaken me for someone else.”

Sierra didn’t look at him with any
less certainty. “Surely you must know me. You know who I am. I can
see it in your eyes. You remember me!” Sierra ranted in outrage,
her hot flashing eyes set to burn him to cinders. She began to draw
an audience.

“
Come now, Sierra, we must
be getting back to Newhaven.” Benjamin tried to soothe her. Thomas
touched her arm softly, in a tender way to advise her that it was
time to leave.

“
Just take me out of here.
He’s no longer worth a spare second of my time.” Sierra glared at
Jason with venom in her eyes, backing away from the table quickly.
“I am long over you,” she bit off at him before allowing Thomas to
distract and pull her away.

“
Sierra...” The man accused
silently whispered, as he stood to his feet gazing in her
direction. He watched her exit the pub with the two men. His eyes
filled with disbelief.

* * *

Drake growled. There was still no sign
of Sierra even after he had searched the property most of the late
afternoon, including the carriage house. Every so often he checked
in with servants to see if she had returned. What had Ben and
Thomas been thinking in allowing Sierra to convince them to leave
the estate, without his permission?

When speaking with Kyle earlier, Drake
had gained no information as to why Sierra might have disappeared.
In fact, Kyle and Rosaline were just as surprised as he was to hear
of her departure.

And during the later part of the day,
Drake had purposefully avoided Isadora, and fortunately she did not
search him out. He knew it would not be a good thing for her to
witness him in such a Stygian mood. He paced through his study
contemplating how he might handle the wanderers when they returned,
particularly Sierra.

“
Sir, they have arrived, at
least thirty minutes ago. I came to tell you just as soon as I took
care of the horses.” Hayden rushed quickly into the room, gasping,
evidence of his running.

“
Where are they now?” Drake
demanded in a booming voice.

“
Down at the cottage house
sir.”

“
What would they be doing
there?” Drake asked, perplexed. Hayden only shook his head in a
motion that indicated that he didn’t know the answer. Drake exited
the room immediately racing toward the small house.

* * *

Hearing laughter emanating from the
tiny cottage, Drake stood peering through a slightly open-curtained
window, his curiosity getting the better of him. The three were
overcome with laughter. Ben was sitting across from Sierra, who was
sitting next to a usually stoic Thomas—roaring louder than anyone
else. For as long as Drake had known Thomas, he had never even seen
him crack a smile until now. Rather then enter the cottage right
away; he decided to remain silent—secretly following their
conversation.

“
When Drake was a no bigger
than this high,” Ben held his hand in midair, “he was so
mischievous,” he explained. “Always stealing sweet cakes from the
kitchen. And Jeanette—you should have seen her then, catching him
in the act and chasing him around in circles with a broom, but
never quite fast enough to catch him.”

“
Before Rosaline was born,
Drake was the only child for a long time and boy, was he spoiled
rotten,” Ben recalled. “He was a charming little boy—he had all the
female servants eating out of the palm of his hand.

Once, when he was just eight years
old, he snuck into the stable late at night and smuggled his pony
into the house because he said it was afraid of the dark. The pony
ruined most of the lower level that night. You should have seen all
the hysterical commotion the next morning as the servants tried to
get the pony back outdoors into the stable.” Ben bellowed even
harder while reminiscing.

Sierra laughed so hard that she had to
wrap her arms over her stomach to keep it from feeling as if it
would burst. “I can only imagine. Tell me more.” Her eyes were
vibrant and wide with interest.

Drake chuckled softly outside. He
remembered the day that Ben had spoken of, and the look on his
mother’s face when she had pulled him by his ear while shrieking at
Jeanette to come and get him immediately before she gave him a good
whacking.

Ben continued, “We all kept his
secrets when he brought the lizards into the house to frighten the
women. And we forgave him when he tracked mud through the drawing
room.

Drake had a remarkable childhood. He’s
well educated from top educational institutions, and his father
started teaching him the family business by the time he was ten.
Drake was raised to be a man and his father, Master Randal, saw to
it that Drake had lessons in fencing and boxing. Master Randal
taught him to have compassion and integrity. He taught Drake to
always try to keep the peace and to be a good humanitarian.
Eventually, his father trained him how to discharge a rifle and
together, Master Randal and I started taking him out to hunt on the
weekends. Drake developed extraordinary shooting skills, quite
exemplary to say the least. He has the natural instinct of a
hunter, and he was quite the adventurer, and likely will always
be.

Rosaline was born when he was fifteen
years of age. And he was then, and still is very attentive toward
her. You should have seen the way her big inquisitive eyes looked
up at him when she was a tot,” Ben grinned widely at the
memory.

“
I can imagine,” Sierra
said warmly. She knew Rosaline must have felt protected. Drake’s
very presence often times made her feel safe.

Ben paused thoughtfully and cleared
his throat. “Young Drake had a lot of responsibilities during that
time. Days were turbulent in these parts with the Civil War at
hand. But those merciless times have long passed… Ah, but rather
let me tell you the story of how he once wrestled an alligator,”
Ben began.

Sierra’s eyes widened with
astonishment. “You must be jesting with me, sir.”

“
My Lady, I speak only the
truth,” Ben assured her. “When Drake was seventeen, I went riding
out into the swamps with him and his father to survey the family’s
unclear acres of land. Late into the afternoon we dismounted our
horses and took a break to eat the lunches Jeanette had packed. We
each found sitting places against a tree. But we were not the only
ones ravenous. Unexpectedly, a gator came all too close. Drake
jumped up seeing it first, only a few feet away from his father,
and charged it.”

“
My goodness!” Sierra
gasped, glancing at Thomas who, hearing the tale for the first
time—grinned, equally amazed, giving his manly nod of
approval.

“
Drake wrestled with that
gator, struggling to keep its head flat, and hold its jaws locked
shut with all his might, no easy feat I can tell you,” he said
seriously, “until his father could grab his shotgun and blast the
beast. It all happened in a matter of seconds really.”

“
What courage!” Sierra
expressed with newfound awe and admiration of Drake.

“
Well, this is
alligator country, and hunters never need let their guard down. But
putting Drake’s bravery aside, or in that case,
plain stupidity
—words his father used
while scolding him for risking his life to tackle that beast—Drake
is a good man with a good heart, and he genuinely cares about
people,” Ben added. “But his loyalty is strongest to his family,
and often he represents his father’s interests,” Ben
explained.

“
He’s the reason why I am
here. Drake wanted to help Kyle and me,” Sierra told Ben, wanting
desperately to share the truth with someone who might be able to
identify with her, rather than only having the pity of the
well-to-do McCalisters. “Kyle and me are not who you think we are.
We are from a small town out west, and Drake offered us a way out
of that place. So we took it. More like I took it. Kyle came along
because I needed him to.”

Thomas stared at her in silent
wonderment.

Ben sighed, and then chuckled lightly.
“Well, I knew there was more to you than meets the eye.” He winked
at her. “You know, Drake won’t be particularly happy about your
little disappearing act today, nor will he be happy that I had a
hand in it.”

Sierra wrinkled her brows, faintly
disturbed by Ben words.

“
Ben is absolutely right
you know. I’m not happy about it,” Drake chimed in as he boldly
entered through the cottage doors.

Ben and Thomas immediately shot up to
a stance. “Excuse us, Lady Maudet,” Ben said, catching the agitated
look in Drake’s eyes, which not only suggested his anger with Ben
but also that he wanted a few moments alone with Sierra. Without
hesitation Ben and Thomas darted toward the exit.

Sierra perched up rigidly and stared
at Drake towering above her. “How long have you been spying?”
Sierra scoffed.

“
Long enough,” Drake
responded without bad conscience and an edge to his
voice.

“
I don’t want you to be
angry with Ben or Thomas.”