Swift Runs The Heart

By Mary Brock Jones

Both Geraldine MacKenny and Bas Deverill escaped to the goldfields in search of something – for him, a fortune; for her, independence; for both, freedom. Neither expected the fields to yield so much more.

1860s, Otago, New Zealand

Geraldine finds the life of a wealthy runholder's daughter stiff and constraining. On the goldfields, she has the opportunity to be so much more: independent, responsible, strong. But her freedom is short–lived when she is noticed by notorious bandit Black Jack MacRae – a man who is used to getting what he wants and who never takes no for an answer.

Cheerful, casual, uncommitted – that's the way Bas likes his life on the goldfields. He may be of aristocratic blood, but he thrives on the challenges of commerce and the freedom of the colonies. Rescuing a beautiful girl from the grasp of Black Jack MacRae, however, throws his whole life into turmoil. Geraldine seems to be a magnet for trouble, and the goldfields are a long way from civilisation. Taking her under his wing only makes sense, but Bas has no intention of letting her get any further under his skin. He might want to bed her, but that is no reason to risk falling to the prison bars of respectability – is it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Sep 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9780857990808

Mary Brock Jones

Mary Brock Jones lives in New Zealand, but loves nothing more than to escape into the other worlds in her head, to write science fiction and historical romances. Sedate office worker by day; frantic scribbler by night. Her parents introduced her to libraries and gave her a farm to play on, where trees became rocket ships and rocky outcrops were ancient fortresses. She grew up writing, filling pages of notebooks and filling her head with stories, but took a number of detours on the pathway to her dream job. Four grown sons, more than one house renovated and various jobs later, her wish came true. Her books have made the finals list for the Romance Writers of Australia RUBY awards, the RWNZ KORU awards, and the RWNZ Clendon awards.   To find out more about Mary, visit her on her website.  You can also follow her on: Facebook Instagram Twitter  Google+ Pinterest   

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Dunstan goldfield, New Zealand, 1862

A hand snatched at the cap on Geraldine’s head. You’ll do nicely, said a voice behind her. The accent was the educated English her stepmother tried hard to emulate, the masculine tones too self-assured, and the owner of the voice quite unknown.

Geraldine swung ‘round to do battle, only to find a strange man standing so close she could not move without pushing past him. She froze, looking for an escape route, even as her mouth opened to tell the intruder into the saloon’s kitchen exactly what she thought of his behaviour.

The man showed no sign of shame at alarming her. He was too busy gazing at her uncovered hair with a look of decided satisfaction. Her mouth closed and she groaned silently. Like too many before him, it seemed the stranger was drawn by the hair that was the bane of Geraldine’s life. Like living strands of amber, her father used to say. Wild, uncontrollable and a nuisance, was Geraldine’s opinion. Too many men had lauded its beauty in the past. She set one foot back in slow retreat, even as his hands began again, hauling at the pins holding her hair in place at the base of her neck.

Stop that!

Her hands reached up, but to no effect. He batted them away and continued to release the vibrant curls she had hoped to keep hidden in this new place. He stepped back to admire his handiwork, the widening grin setting his face alight as he saw the effects of his changes. Too annoyed now to be frightened, she gave him back stare for stare.

It was a mistake. Time became irrelevant as her eyes slowly tracked up the newcomer and a strange fancy took her. His face seemed caught in an instant of endless motion. Taut skin tracing lightly over long bones, bright, sun-kissed hair and laughing sea-blue eyes.

Her world tilted sideways. She breathed hard, striving to fight off a rare feeling of confusion. Control. She must take control of the situation.

What do you think you are doing?

Making you pretty for the gentlemen, of course, said the stranger. I need someone to distract the fine fellows awaiting me in the bar while I make my escape.

Whyever would I do such a thing? she said, as she vainly attempted to return her hair to some kind of order and her senses to normality.

Because if you don’t, they will kill me.

It was said so matter-of-factly that she paid it no heed. His next action drove the words from her thoughts completely. Those wayward hands reached up for the neckline of her plain but serviceable gown and pulled the buttons open, laying back the two sides to bare a voluptuous swelling. His hands lingered in a caress that sent her heart into the oddest of thudding strokes.

Molly has lost none of her ability to pick staff, he said in a slow, husky drawl.

She reached up, shocked dismay suddenly driving her to urgency, and dragged the cloth back to its proper place. He would have none of it. One of his slim hands seized both of hers and she discovered a new thing. He may be lean and with none of the bulk of a labourer, but he was very strong. The other hand twitched the folds down again.

No time for games today, my pretty one, he said regretfully. There are customers in there needing distracting. Right now, it’s your professional services I’m after.

She gasped, striving in vain to pull away from this madman. Her cheeks were even redder than her hair at the unmistakeable allusion. Professional ser… No. You’re mistaken. I don’t serve in the barroom. Molly said I was to be a kitchen maid.

An eyebrow rose in unimpressed disbelief. What wages did she promise?

She told him, and he laughed triumphantly. That’s twice the wages of a kitchen maid, even on the goldfields, as well you must know. Though remind me to increase her cut of the profits. Damn, but you’re beautiful.

Her cut? You mean, you’re…

…the owner of this fine establishment? Yes—and therefore your employer. I have no doubt Molly intended you for the kind of work to which your looks are admirably suited, but you can talk to her about that later. Right now, I need you to get in there and amuse those men before they come looking for me.

A firm hand shoved her hard in the back. Before she knew what was happening, she was through the canvas flap separating the work area from the rough barroom.

She had been in here once only, when Molly had taken her on earlier this day, after her arrival in the raw gold town. She had seen, then, the primitive table surrounded by rough benches, the hastily erected walls and ceiling of canvas and the crudely built sod chimney. However, in the morning it had been empty; now, four men lounged on the benches. Their blackened hands played with tin mugs and grimy beards hid what little of their faces could be seen under the broad brims of their miner’s wide-awake hats.

She stood, fixed to the spot, and then felt the unmistakeable hardness of a gun barrel nudging her in the back. The stranger of the kitchen was still here. She moved slowly forward, the scraping of her feet on the stony dirt of the floor bringing the men’s heads swivelling towards her.

She stopped short again.

Black Jack MacRae. It had to be him. The scar on the cheek of the largest man was unmistakeable. Remembered words shot through Geraldine’s head. Memories of campfires on the long trek up here disguised as a youth, the stars of the clean southern skies, the chill of the inland night even in these early summer weeks, and the stories told by the experienced hands flocking here from the goldfields of California, Australia and Tuapeka to seek their fortune on this latest field of dreams. The Dunstan they called it, stretching for miles along the rugged banks of the wild Molyneux River in the unexplored interior of Otago in New Zealand’s South Island.

The name of Black Jack MacRae had featured often in the men’s stories. Black of hair and black of heart, they said, the scar on his cheek a relic of an unfortunate miner in Ballarat who had dared to protest when fleeced by Black Jack. The miner was long dead, and Black Jack was sitting just six feet from her.

From somewhere she found her voice. Can I get you gentlemen anything?

It was as if her words released the collective breath of the men. MacRae himself looked his fill, his steady eyes moving slowly up and down the length of her. She stepped backwards, his scrutiny too intense to be other than an unwelcome menace. Nor could she ignore the very real threat behind her. The cold barrel of the gun through the canvas prodded into her, demanding she move forward. She plastered what she hoped was a smile on her face.

Black Jack glared round at his men as their eyes drank in the sight of her. Eyes off. She’s mine, he ordered, and the men looked away as, to her horror, Black Jack himself leaned forward, with what might pass for a smile of appreciation slashing across his dark face.

She coughed nervously. Perhaps something to drink? she said.

Whiskey. And something to eat. We might be in for a long wait, he grunted. Unless you can help us?

Yes, certainly, she gasped. Anything to get rid of them.

Bas Deverill? You seen him?

The name meant nothing to her. What mattered more was that she get out of this place. She was rapidly starting to question the wisdom of her plan of seeking a new life on the goldfields.

How could she ever have thought this a good idea? Escaping to the bright promise of the wild inland country had sounded so exciting back in the safety of her aunt’s house in Dunedin. For eighteen months she had listened to the men talk in the street, ever since the first gold rush in New Zealand had begun at Tuapeka to the south of the town and brought men pouring off the ships and through Dunedin on their way to the fields. She had seen the eagerness in their eyes and longed to join them, to find a place more interesting than the strict world of her widowed aunt. Her marvellous plan did not take into account the likes of Black Jack MacRae, or the stranger in the kitchen. She must get away from here, but to do that, she needed time. She had to stop these men following her.

He was in here not so long ago, sir, she managed to get out. Didn’t say where he was going, but did say he would be back soon. Why don’t I bring you all a plate of stew while you wait for him?

All the men looked pleased at that, even going so far as to grin at one another. Their chief looked at them, then back at her and nodded assent. Then added, Make sure you bring a plate for yourself, lassie. It’s a long while since I shared a meal with such a fine young lady. One grimy hand began to slowly stroke his heavy thigh.

Somehow she got out of that room, and no sooner was she safely out of sight than she snatched up her bundle of possessions from the corner by the kitchen chimney. She had not unpacked much, there being no place to store anything, so it took but a moment to stow what was left inside the blanket, roll it quickly about the contents, tie both ends and sling the whole over her shoulder.

She rushed through the back door, just in time to collide full-on with a rangy brown horse being urged on harshly by its owner.

The stranger of the kitchen!

Well, he owed her and no one could be as bad as the men behind her. Stop! she whispered.

You leave me little choice but to do so, he whispered back in an equally fraught tone. Move aside. I have to get out of here.

Not without me, you don’t. One of her hands clung desperately to the horse’s reins. I will not be left to the mercies of that crew in there.

He looked down, anger scarring the mobile features, and she could feel the assessment in his gaze. Then a frustrated grunt shook him, and a lean hand reached down for hers.

If the only way I can make it safely out of the Dunstan is with you behind me, then hurry and get up here.

It might not be gracious, but she accepted nonetheless, one scared glance over her shoulder as they quietly moved off through the canvas shanties proving to her relief that they were as yet unseen.

He kept his horse to a careful, steady pace, to all appearances just one more among the hordes of arriving miners who sought a place to pitch a tent and stake a claim. How he did it, Geraldine knew not; tension knotted her insides and the urge to dig her heels sharp into the horse’s flank almost overpowered her.

At last, they had left the tents and the crowd behind them. He took to the barren hills behind the township, rough and untracked but he seemed to know where he was going. It was hard going though, the land too rugged to give her the relief of a speedy flight. Then they were out again, back on the track that had first brought her to the Dunstan field. Looking around, she soon saw they were much further along it than she had expected. There was still the odd party of miners flocking toward the township, but too few to be of concern and those too weary to do little more than raise their heads in a glance at the couple on the horse racing so hard away from the township.

It was a long while before he pulled the horse up and turned it off the road down a small gulley to the river bank. It was quiet spot, hidden by the bank from the road traffic above and with steep ridges blocking scrutiny on either side. He slid off the horse, holding out those lean hands of his to help her down. That mesmerising grin was back, a knowing light vibrating in the depths of his eyes.

A frisson of fear rippled through Geraldine. This was a very lonely place.

A drink, my lady. His eyes were definitely bright with amusement and she snatched away from the electric feel of his hands on her waist. Ah, he said. Do I take it that introductions are in order? Miss…?

MacKenny. Geraldine MacKenny, she replied, before she knew that the words were to come out, then raged at herself for such carelessness. Using her real name indeed! Her head shot up proudly.

And you? Who might you be?

Mr Sebastian Deverill. Entirely at your service, I do assure you.

Mr Deverill. A pleasure, she replied with automatic cordiality. Sebastian Deverill. Bas Deverill! The hand she had proffered with the courtesy came back to her keeping. Why did the man have to grin at her like that?

MacRae and his mob may want to kill me, but I promise you I don’t share their method of dealing with troublesome strays, he said, and there was a definite touch of laughter in his voice. Though I perfectly understand you questioning your actions in leaping so precipitately onto my horse. A pity it’s too late to rectify that mistake. There is no way now that Black Jack will not believe you to have been working with me all along.

No!

So I’m stuck with you. There was a decided air of resignation in his voice. For to leave such a pretty piece of appallingly stupid femininity to her own devices is more than even I can contemplate. Mind you, there is always hope of a reward for my kindness.

I can cook, clean and sew, she said stoutly. Anything else you might be imagining can stay inside your head.

Ah. So I gather my first assumptions about you were wrong then? You really didn’t know why Molly employed you so readily? Which is a sad waste of a beautiful woman such as yourself, I have to say. She suddenly realised where his eyes were set, and hastily tugged her gown down over her bared ankles. It did nothing to quell the interested grin on his lips. He gave a quick lift of his shoulders before continuing. As to what little you do offer me—I’ve survived the goldfields of Victoria, Tuapeka and now the Dunstan without domestic staff. I can manage sufficient cooking, cleaning and sewing to get by. In case you haven’t noticed, the Dunstan is not Mayfair and my meagre skills are quite adequate for the company I keep.

Mayfair?

London, he explained. You have not visited that fair city, obviously.

No, she said, hating the monosyllabic answers that were all she seemed able to summon. She shook herself, taking an unconscious step back from the uncomfortable blaze of energy he engendered. She squared her shoulders purposefully.

Where to now? she said in a firm voice.

Ah. Now, there you have me. I know where I was intending to go, but it is no place for a lady.

That’s for me to decide. Can Black Jack find us there?

It’s unlikely.

Then where is this place?

That’s my business, but it’s isolated enough to keep me safe from Black Jack until some other problem makes him forget me. However, I usually take women to lonely places for one reason only and you tell me you are not about to oblige me in that. Or not without a parson’s blessing, I guess you to mean, which is a noose I certainly have no plan to wear. So it’s farewell. Dunedin is that way. He pointed to the south track, heading to the Lower Dunstan. You still have time to catch the ferry crossing the river, or find a bed for the night. You strike me as a resourceful woman, one who can find a ride back to the coast readily enough.

It was so reasonable, drat the man. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog of fear that held her in thrall. She must think clearly. Furiously, she marshalled her arguments, all the while keeping one hand held tightly to the stirrup of her rescuer’s saddle.

Could this be the end of her adventure? Was there really no choice but to go tamely home again? A grim frown flitted across her face as her eyes stared at the horizon, caught up in memories of past months. She ignored the quirky twist of interest in the eyes of the stranger.

What was there at home for her? A stepmother who resented and despised her; a home in exile with the widowed aunt from whom she had just escaped, a woman who viewed Geraldine as a holy mission in life and was intent on driving out the devil of rebelliousness she saw blackening Geraldine’s soul; and a father who loved her dearly, but had come to a point in his life where he sought peace first and his daughter’s happiness second.

No, that was unfair. Her father had loved her late mother deeply, but that did not mean he understood the spirit that drove her daughter. She was back to the same dreary dilemma that had driven her to the goldfields in the first place.

If she turned back now, she had two choices: the living death of her aunt’s house in Dunedin, or home to her father’s new run in Canterbury, to be forced to stand aside and watch as her stepmother drove her father to sell up everything he held dear, including the remote land of her earliest years. Only then could she truly make him settle into the narrow respectability of the Christchurch landed gentry his second wife craved so ardently.

Her eyes looked down the years ahead, and her head shook. The denial was automatic. She had tasted liberty too briefly and was not about to lose it. Not to Black Jack MacRae, and certainly not to this man who had ruined her hard-won escape. She looked up again, and a sudden gust of anger blew away the gloom. The man was laughing at her! You said something about a drink, she said curtly. Water will do nicely, thank you.

His shoulders shook harder, but he bowed, gently tugging her hand off the stirrup.

The river is this way, he said, and a decided ripple rang through his words.

Geraldine chose to ignore it. They had stopped by one of the rare, quiet beaches on the banks of the Molyneux, small slivers of peace giving respite from the ferocious, swirling waters of the mighty river of gold. Miners sought out such places, sifting the fine gravels for the gold deposits in them. The river was beginning to fall after the swollen floods of spring and more such places were becoming exposed. As yet, none of the thousands flocking to the fields had found this spot and they had it to themselves.

Carefully, she picked her way down the loose stones on the bank, stooping at the river’s edge to lift a handful of icy water to her mouth. Her thirst quenched, she stood by, watching first the man, then his horse copy her action, noisily slurping at the water.

She looked up from her idle survey of the horse, to find him studying her.

You may be a lady, but you’re not drawing room bred. he said.

No.

He waited.

I was born in the colony, was all she would add. He studied her further, but at her continued silence, he finally gave a quick flourish of a bow, the dratted grin back again.

So I will not have to escort you back to Dunedin?

She shook her head. I made it here safely; I can manage fine.

An innocent woman on her own. I have been wondering how you achieved that.

She blushed. I was in disguise.

He waited, with a look of supreme enjoyment.

I dressed as a youth, if you must know. She had a ridiculous urge to stamp her foot in frustration, even more so when he bent over with a great gust of laughter.

"Sweetheart, there is nothing boyish about you. His hand lifted, gently grasped her chin and lifted her face to study, his fingers lightly stroking the curve of her cheek. Absolutely nothing," he said again, his voice husky. It touched something deep inside her, something she had never felt before, and she ducked her head away from that too-close scrutiny. She took a defensive step back.

It was a very good disguise, she protested. One she fully intended to embrace once this man left her alone. The thick jacket and baggy boys drill trousers had left her a shapeless mass, and the too-big wide awake hat had successfully enveloped the troublesome fall of hair. It had fooled those she met—whatever this man thought.

She would fool them again, too, but where to go? That was the problem—or was it?

It was her turn to study him now, seeing the strength in his fine bones and thinking of the inbred courtesy of his actions, regardless of what he might say. Could she trust him? Did she have any choice? A determined spur lit her heart and she reached for the reins.

Oh, no you don’t, he protested, grabbing for them as well.

You owe me, she shot back.

For rescuing you from one of the most dangerous men on the Dunstan Field?

It’s your fault I came to his attention, she pointed out. I’m coming with you. It’s you who are in my debt, not the other way round, so you can fix this mess you landed me in. After that, my hope is never to see you again.

Suddenly Geraldine lunged onto the horse, swinging herself quickly into the saddle. I’m off. You coming?

Why, you little vixen, and he grabbed at the