The New Hand, Part Eight

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

LINK TO PART ONE

~

“You look half-dead,” Abby commented.

David opened his eyes long enough to give her a playful glare. He was sprawled on the settee of the flat that he had acquired for her, trying to make himself comfortable. That wasn’t easy, considering that every muscle in his body was sore.

“Is it worth it?” she asked. “Working as a hand, I mean, just to ruin Adam Cartwright?”

He closed his eyes again. “I expect so, but I won’t know for sure until it’s done.”

“It’s been nearly a month and he doesn’t seem ruined yet,” she pointed out.

David grinned. “That’s because I’ve spent the last month learning how to be a tolerable rancher,” he informed her. “I haven’t had a spare moment to ruin anyone. But I’ve also learned the ins and outs of the Ponderosa—and I’ve no doubt that will come in useful.”

He heard her approach him as he spoke. When he opened his eyes again she was kneeling next to him. She looked quite docile as she leaned against the settee—but he knew better than to be fooled by that look.

“I picked up a letter for you today,” she informed him. “It’s written in a woman’s hand and it’s doused with perfume. You don’t have a wife hidden away somewhere, do you?”

He shook his head. “It’s most likely from my mother.”

Her eyebrows shot up at that. “Your mother sends you letters doused with perfume?”

David nodded. “All of my mother’s stationary is doused with perfume. She’s an actress—she feels it’s a necessary affectation.”

Abby smiled. “Is she someone I’ve ever heard of?”

“Yes—her name is Josephine Levine.”

He had the satisfaction of watching her mouth drop open. “Josephine Levine! But she’s famous. Everyone says that she’s a brilliant actress.”

David smiled. “She is,” he assured her.

Abby managed to stop gaping. “Here,” she said, handing him the envelope. “You’d best read it.”

He cringed as he took it from her—his mother was the last person he wished to hear from at present. Nonetheless, he opened it and then held the pages up to the lamplight.

He sighed as he read through the words. “She’s going to be performing in Virginia City…she expects to see me at a dress rehearsal, at the very least…and she can’t imagine why I’ve suddenly taken it into my head to become a ranch hand. But she doesn’t waste much time on that topic—she says she’ll take it up with me when she arrives.”

“She doesn’t know that you mean to ruin Adam Cartwright?” Abby asked.

“God, no. Only Adam, his brothers and you know that.”

“You still haven’t told me what he did,” she said softly. “Why are you determined to ruin him?”

“I did tell you,” he insisted. “We were rival bidders for a timber contract for Ed Niles. I used a rather, ah, underhanded method to win the bid. Adam discovered it and exposed me and walked away with the bid himself.”

Abby narrowed her eyes at him. “That can’t be the reason you’re out for revenge. You wouldn’t blame Adam for exposing you or for winning the bid—you’d just consider him a worthy opponent and redouble your efforts next time. I’ve learned that much about you.”

She paused and peered at him intently. “Why don’t you tell me the real reason you want to ruin him?”

David reached out and touched the long scar that ran from her chin to her cheekbone, disfiguring her face. “Why don’t you tell me who did this to you?” he returned.

She pulled away from him at that and abruptly stood up. Then she stood in silence, blushing furiously. “You’re right,” she said at length. “I suppose we both have our secrets.”

She was deeply offended—David could see that. He swore under his breath as he shifted to a sitting position. “Come here,” he ordered.

When she raised her eyebrows at him, he bit back another curse and changed his tone. “Please come here and sit with me for a moment,” he corrected. “I’ll tell you why I want to ruin Adam.”

She took a seat next to him on the settee and waited expectantly.

“Ed Niles—the man who was giving the timber contract—had a son,” David explained. “A quiet, shy young man named Stephen. He was about twenty. I took him under my wing, so to speak. We became quite, ah, intimate.”

He paused, trying to put the words together. “I liked Stephen well enough, but I decided to use him. I encouraged him to give me inside information—about the other bids, about his father’s business—anything that would help me win the bid for my employer.”

He paused again and took a deep breath. “Adam and I had become friends by this time, but then he found out what was going on. He was furious at the way I was using the kid and he warned me that he was going to expose me to Ed Niles.”

David had been staring ahead as he spoke, but now he glanced at Abby. She was watching him intently.

“I knew that Stephen would be devastated if his father found out what was happening,” he continued. “So I told Adam to keep quiet—I promised to withdraw my bid in exchange for his silence. I just needed a bit of time to make everything look right so that there would be no scandal. He agreed.”

David took another deep breath before continuing. “But Adam went back on his word. He exposed me and Stephen before I could find a respectable way to withdraw.”

Abby stared at him. “That doesn’t sound like Adam Cartwright,” she managed. “He has a reputation of being an honorable man.”

David shrugged. “Nonetheless, that’s what he did. He walked away with the bid—leaving Stephen to face his father. I don’t know what his father ultimately said to him, but I know that he was disgusted with the kid and I imagine he disowned him.”

He paused yet again, wondering how he’d get the last words out. “I—I waited a day and then I went to see Stephen,” he said at last. “But I shouldn’t have waited. When I let myself into his flat, I found him with his brains splattered all over his desk. He had shot himself in the head.”

Abby gasped. “Oh my God,” she said. “What—what did Adam say?”

“He doesn’t know,” David told her, struggling to keep his voice even. “Ed Niles didn’t even allow the papers to print an obituary for his son. He was ashamed of the young man—not so much because he had given me inside information, but because of the intimacies between his son and me. He’s been using his wealth and influence to keep Stephen’s suicide under wraps. Some version of the story will surface sooner or later, but it will be all cleaned up by then.”

Abby put her hand on top of his. “David, you have to tell Adam what happened. And you have to find out why he went back on his word—there must be some part of this story that you don’t know. There must be some misunderstanding. From everything I’ve heard about Adam Cartwright he—well, he wouldn’t have done that.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care why he did it. I hold him responsible for Stephen’s death. I have to—otherwise I’ll have to hold myself responsible.”

Abby bit her lip at that. “Where—where do I fit into your plans?”

David managed a smile. “For now, just keep living under my protection and pretend to be devoted to me. If these cowboys I work with knew that I have no interest in women—well, let’s just say it’s healthier for me to play the game.”

She nodded. “I can manage that.”

“Good. Now go on to bed,” he ordered. “Just let me grab an extra blanket first.”

“I know how sore you must be,” she told him as she looked down at their hands, which were now interlocked. “You can have the bed—I can sleep here.”

But he shook his head at that. “I’m not completely devoid of chivalry.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll get you the blanket then.”

She got up and left the room and then reappeared a moment later with one of the better blankets. “Here,” she said as she tossed it to him. “But for the record, I think you should tell Adam.”

With that she turned on her heel, walked back into the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

David sighed as he spread out the blanket and renewed his efforts to make a comfortable bed out of the settee. He closed his eyes again, determined to snatch some real sleep. But he frowned before he nodded off—Abby’s conscience was starting to get under his skin.

LINK TO PART NINE