Mystic Mountains

Isabella and Agnes prepared the boys for bed.
    "I be fair worn out missus, I'll stay here along with the boys," Agnes said when Tim and Dougie were settled.
    "I shan 't be long from my bed either." Isabella pulled down the tent flap. She returned to the fire to find Tiger there alone.
    "Thelma 's gone to her tent," he said, when she hesitated.
    "Then I 'll be off to bed myself."
    Tiger caught her by the wrist as she turned.
    "Don't leave on my account. Stay and talk awhile." He tugged gently on her arm.
    "Why the sudden urge to talk to me?" She glared at him. " 'Tis so long since you spared me the time of day; I'm wondering why you should want my company all of a sudden."
    "Oh, Bella. " He took his hat off and rumpled his hair. It clung damply to his skull, and something quivered deep inside Isabella. Running her tongue over her lips she sat on the log, as far away from him as she could get without falling off the end.
    His brows went up and he chuckled. "I have no disease that 's catching, you know. 'Tis a sad state of affairs, don't you think when we can't sit and talk like two adults."
    "You 've not needed my conversation for so long, Tiger Carstairs, I'm thinking maybe you're missing all the females of Sydney Town. How are you going to manage without them, eh? So, you believe Bella will do to pass the time with, is that it? What about Lily, yonder? She's willing to do more than talk with you, so go discuss your day with her."
    Abruptly she rose to her feet. But he was too qu ick for her. In an instant he'd pulled her back down, much nearer to him. "Don't make a scene, Bella." He frowned. "Those cons are thieves and blackguards and the other men aren't much better. As long as they know you're under my protection they'll not lay a finger on you. So don't let them think you want nothing to do with me. I need them to respect me, or I'll have all sorts of trouble on my hands. All right?"
    Isabella sighed resignedly and relaxed a bit.
    "And Lily is a trollop. I want nothing to do with her. That's one of the main reasons I agreed to let her come along. She can keep that lot happy." He nodded across to the group, who were laughing raucously.
    "Oh, it 's a wonder you didn't expect me to be the camp whore. After all that's how you think of me," she snapped, then bit her lip as he gave her a dark scrutiny.
    " 'Tis a long time since we've discussed that matter. Would it help you to know that I long ago decided I was wrong?"
    Isabella shook her head ruefully. "It would have saved a lot of bother if you 'd been man enough to admit that a long time ago."
    Tiger sighed and twisted his hat in his long fingers, thoughtfully studying its brim. "Perhaps. But fate has a strange way of sorting things out."
    "Aye, it has that. Tell me, where is the bride you were so intent on getting yourself? The one who was your pass into society? Seems fate didn't sort things out for you. Couldn't you find a prissy miss willing to come along on this trip inland?" Isabella knew, from Thelma, that he'd forsaken that idea some time ago. What she didn't know was why.
    "That 's about it, Bella." He stared at the fire for a moment. "Like I said, 'tis strange how fate works. Prudence was appalled and, I think, terrified by the thought of marrying a rough ex-con like me. And the other misses were keen to flirt and flutter their eyelashes at me in church, but when it came to courting, they fled behind mama's skirts." He let out a long sigh. "Not one of them seemed enamored of the idea of roughing it beyond the mountains. When I put the proposition to one young maiden she practically fainted clean away. Seems coming to the colony proved enough of a shock to their fragile systems; the idea of living in a tent or a bark hut didn't appeal."
    "What a blow to your ego." She watched him prod the fire with a long stick. "Fancy not one of them being willing to accompany Tiger Carstairs, the legendary lover of Sydney Town, on his trip into the unknown."
    His broad shoulders lifted, and he shook his head. "You came."
    "Only because I have no choice. Given the choice I would have preferred Dougal to get a grant nearer town."
    He turned his eyes on her and stared for so long she shifted beneath his scrutiny. "Are you happy with Dougal?" he suddenly asked.
    Isabella gasped. "You' re unbelievable, d'you know that? Dougal is probably the unhappiest person alive. I had no right to marry him."
    "I didn 't ask about Dougal. I asked about you."
    She dragged her eyes from his