Chapter Thirty
After supper that night, Steve pulled Bucky aside in the sitting room before they could sit down, but before Steve could even begin asking Bucky to leave him and Runa for the evening, Bucky spoke.
“Something isn’t right about that man’s visit here.”
Steve frowned, his brow furrowing. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t believe he came here for business. Whatever his reasons for being here are, they have to do with Runa.” Bucky raked a hand through his hair, “I didn’t say anything at the time, but when I cut in on the dancing it sounded like he was trying to talk her into leaving with him.”
Steve gaped at him. “What?” He demanded.
“And when I talked to him earlier today, he was talking about property that belonged to him. Made it sound like she took something, until he came out and said he was talking about a horse. There’s something going on there, Stevie, and I don’t like it.”
Steve frowned. “Neither do I. She seems almost afraid of him, doesn’t want to be alone with him again-”
“Maybe she’s afraid she’d give in to temptation.” Bucky pointed out.
“I know I haven’t exactly given her many reasons to want to stay, but she wouldn’t pack up and go back to being a maid because I-”
“Steve, a man doesn’t travel most of the way across the country for a maid.”
“What, you think there’s something between them?” Steve smiled at the foolishness of that thought, shaking his head. “She isn’t the type to take a lover-”
“Do we really know that?” Bucky demanded, though it sounded like sheer foolishness to him as well. “She’s only been here a month, and we don’t know her all that well, Steve. Not the way we know everyone else on this ranch. She could be hiding something, much as I hate to think about that.”
“We’ll ask her point blank, then. See what she has to say about Brock Rumlow’s visit.” Steve sighed, his smile fading away as his amusement at the thought of Runa running off with someone else or having a lover was replaced with doubt.
“Maybe not point blank, but we’ll talk to her about it.” Bucky agreed. “See what she has to say. It could be nothing, just… None of this is adding up in any other way.”
Steve nodded slowly, before looking in the direction of the kitchen, where Runa was scrubbing dishes, humming to herself as she worked, something she did often. “I don’t like this.”
“I don’t either.” Bucky assured him. “I like her. I don’t think she’d do anything like that, but with some people, you can never tell.”
“Right.” Steve agreed, before moving to sit in his chair, leaving his sketchbook on the shelf for the time being. He hadn’t planned on pulling it down tonight anyway, had planned on talking to Runa, just… A different sort of talk.
Soon enough Runa was stepping into the sitting room, smiling at Steve and Bucky, but her smile turned quizzical when she saw that neither of them was doing anything more than sitting. “Is something the matter?”
Steve didn’t look at Bucky. If he did, he knew Bucky would take the lead, and this was something he had to know himself. “I’d like to know why Brock Rumlow is in town. Why he’s really in town.”
“He said it was for business-”
“It’s not for business.” Bucky shook his head. “He may say it is, but it isn’t. I asked around before we left church earlier. No one knows about anyone having dealings with him.”
For a moment, her expression was one of sheer panic.
“If he isn’t here for business, then I don’t know-”
“We think you do. And Bucky said he overheard some of what he was saying to you on the fourth.”
She blanched, and Steve felt himself go cold. Bucky had been right. She was hiding something from them.
“Runa?” He asked, steel in his voice.
“He… He might be here to check on me.” She finally ventured.
“Why would he want to check on you?” Bucky demanded.
“To make certain I did as I was told.” Runa whispered, looking down at the floor.
“What?” Steve asked, confused.
“What were you told?” Bucky demanded, his expression grim.
“I… I was told if I didn’t marry Steve that Missus Rumlow would find someone to track me down and arrest me for a theft I didn’t commit.”
“Why would she do that?” Steve looked completely baffled, but realization had hit Bucky.
“Because Runa wasn’t the one who wrote the letters to you.” He announced, closing his eyes a moment before opening them and looking at Runa evenly.
“Missus Rumlow did. On my behalf.” Runa agreed quietly, wrapping her arms around herself and keeping her gaze on the floor. “Mister Brock was going to be married at the beginning of June and going to start his own household. She didn’t want me there. She thought the best way to get rid of me would be to send me off as a mail order bride.”
“Why did she want to get rid of you?” Bucky demanded, but Runa remained silent, keeping her head bowed. “Runa,” Bucky gentled his tone somewhat, “Why didn’t she want you around her son?”
“When… When I was fifteen, he tried to…” Bucky’s gut clenched. Fifteen? And the Rumlows had just let it happen? “… I… I didn’t know what it meant, what he intended, it was just… It was nice having someone tell me he cared, stroke my cheek, touch my arm, things like that. He always made time to talk with me, made me smile, gave me little gifts… I didn’t know he would want something in return, that it was all lies. Not until he pinned me down and…” Bucky didn’t want to hear the rest, but she seemed determined to continue. “I tried to cry out but… Then Mister Rumlow came in and pulled him off me before he could do much more than get his hands up my skirts. Mister Rumlow whipped me with his belt, called me an ungrateful whore. Told me that if I ever said anything to anyone about what really happened he’d…” She shook her head, unable to continue, unable to look at either of them.
Runa didn’t see the shock and then pain that Steve tried to conceal… Or the anger. Bucky did, but only out of the corner of his eyes, he was too busy watching the trembling form of the woman who stood in front of them as if she was at trial and they were judges, jury, and executioners.
“So you never sent out a letter?” Steve demanded, his tone even and calm. Too even, too calm. Bucky looked over at him sharply. He knew that tone. That tone was the same tone he had used on prisoners taken during the war, or anyone who had done something particularly cruel. Bucky knew that the tone of Steve’s voice wasn’t directed at Runa, but rather at what had happened to her. “Missus Rumlow did, to keep you away from her son and his new wife?”
“Yes.” She whispered. “I considered writing a letter, Titus and Iris were trying to talk me into it, but…” She simply shook her head miserably. “I never did.”
Steve clenched his jaw then surged up from his seat, storming from the room, the front door slamming shut behind him moments later, causing Bucky to wince and Runa to jump slightly. Bucky rose to his feet immediately, going to Runa and pulling her into his arms as her shoulders began to shake with barely suppressed sobs. “It’s all right.” He murmured. “He’s not mad at you, I promise, Runa. What happened… It wasn’t your fault. None of this is your fault.”
“I should have said something sooner.” She sobbed out, “But I thought he would send me away and… And I don’t want to go. Even if I did, I don’t… I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“You don’t have to go anywhere, darlin’.” Bucky told her firmly, hugging her tightly, before impulsively placing a kiss on top of her head. “He’s not going to make you leave. I think he is about to go punch Brock Rumlow in the face, though, so I should probably stop him before he gets himself thrown in jail.”
Runa managed a hiccoughing laugh at that. “Ohh, and he would.” She managed, drawing back slightly so she could reach up and wipe at her tears. “I’m sorry. I thought… I thought if I could just pretend that I had sent the letters…”
“I understand. And I’m sure Steve does too. If he doesn’t, I’ll talk him around.” Bucky promised her. “Go and make yourself some tea, calm down a bit. I’ll go talk to Steve.”
She managed a nod, before hugging Bucky tightly. “I don’t know what we would do without you.” She whispered.
“Well, hopefully we’ll never have to find out.” Bucky grinned down at her, resisting the urge to place a kiss on her forehead. That’s a dangerous slope, he warned himself, and she isn’t exactly in a good place for that sort of thing anyway.
“Hopefully.” Runa agreed.
“And hopefully we won’t have to find out what we would do without you.” He smiled, “Go on now.”
She pulled herself from his arms and headed for the kitchen, while Bucky sighed and headed out to the stables, hoping to stop Steve before he went tearing off. As soon as he stepped inside the stable he saw Steve at Gingersnap’s box, staring moodily at her.
“You know you can’t ride her for a while yet, right?” Bucky drawled. Steve sighed, letting his head drop a moment, hands gripping the box door.
“I am well aware of that.”
“Planning on tearing off to Nat’s again? Or finding Rumlow so you can put a bullet in him?”
“No. Finding comfort in the bottom of a bottle isn’t worth the headache the next day, and a bullet is too good for that… That…”
“Bastard? Soulless son of a whore?” Bucky drawled.
“That.” Steve agreed. “I also promised Runa I wouldn’t run off again.” Steve raised his head, looking at Gingersnap and Allegro. “This is one hell of a mess.”
“It is.” Bucky agreed. “And you’ve got a wife in there who is terrified you’re going to send her away, so I’d appreciate it if you could pull your head out of your ass and put the anger aside for a bit so you can take care of her the way she deserves.”
“I’m not going to send her away. Not if she wants to stay after what I have to tell her.” He sighed heavily.
“And what is that?” Bucky raised a brow at Steve.
“I was going to talk to her about it tonight. And it’s between me and her, about why I can’t be a good husband to her, so don’t pry.”
“You can’t-? What the hell, Steve? You can’t just tell her something like that, not after all this!”
“I can, and I will. I have to. It just… Won’t be tonight, because you’re right. I can’t tell her something like that after all of this.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. “I’m going to sleep in the bunkhouse tonight. The last thing she needs right now is-”
“You are exactly what she needs right now.” Bucky snapped, reaching out and giving the back of Steve’s head a solid thwack, furious that Steve was running away and hiding from his problems. “Stop being such a God damned idiot! I’ve had it up to here with you-”
“Ow! Damnitt Buck, I’m not abandoning her!” Steve snapped back, ducking away and reaching up to rub the injured spot. “I intend to go in, tell her good night, tell her I’m not angry at her, but… Bucky, a man forced himself on her. She was forced to come marry me. She hasn’t been able to make her own choices in I don’t know how long, and I want us both to be certain that when I go back to that bed, it is a choice that Runa and I make together. Not one that is forced on her because she thinks she has no other choice.”
Bucky’s anger ebbed considerably at that, and he gave a nod. “Just make sure you tell her that.”
“I will.” Steve sighed.
“You don’t have to sleep in the bunkhouse, you know.”
“I don’t want to put anyone through the trouble of making up one of the other rooms for use-”
“-You could always come bunk with me.”
Steve paused, and he looked to Bucky, and there was so much longing in that look that Bucky found himself responding to it, taking half a step forward, knowing that Steve’s longing was reflected in his own face.
“Just like old times?” Steve asked Bucky quietly, and there was an invitation in those words, an invitation Bucky couldn’t ignore.
“Just like old times.” He agreed, voice just as quiet, but a bit rough with desire, thinking about what old times entailed.
And then like a bucket of cold water poured over him, he thought of Runa, sitting in the kitchen with her tea. He couldn’t do that to her. Steve was hers now, not his, and Steve would never be his again.
“Well,” He amended, looking away. “Not exactly old times. You’re a married man now, Stevie. Got to keep my hands to myself.”
Steve looked away as well, nodding once. “I’ll sleep in the bunkhouse.” He said suddenly, pushing away from Gingersnap’s box stall, the moment between them passing so easily, burning them with its heat, yet also burning itself out in an instant. “But first I’m going to go talk to Runa for a few minutes.”
Bucky gave a nod. “I’ll go let the others know you’re not exactly in the doghouse, but you’ll be joining them tonight anyway.”
“Right. Thanks.” Steve strode out of the barn, his shoulder brushing against Bucky’s as he passed him, and he looked over at Bucky once more, longing and sorrow intermingled, before looking away and heading for the house.
He found Runa in the dining room, a steaming mug in front of her on the table, as well as a thin slice of the pie she had served after dinner. There was rarely food left over after meals these days, and everything went to the pigs except desserts. Those were still good for a little while.
“Are you all right?” Steve asked, causing Runa to give a slight start. She looked up at him sharply, and it was easy to see she had been crying, her eyes rimmed with red, her nose a bit red as well, and splotches of color on her cheeks.
“I’ve been better,” She confessed, looking back down to her pie, “But I’ve been worse as well so… I don’t rightly know.”
“I want you to know that I’m not upset with you.” He told her softly, reaching to take her hand after a minute. “It’s important that you know that. I was just so flaming mad at what they did to you I couldn’t quite contain it, and I didn’t want you to see it. What they did… You didn’t deserve any of that.”
“I deserved exactly what I got.” She said bitterly, not looking at him, though she didn’t pull her hand away from his. “I was stupid and naive.”
“You were barely more than a child, and shouldn’t even have been out of the school house, let alone working as a maid. And working for a family like that!” Steve shook his head. “It wasn’t right. It always bothered me that they put you to work like that when you were only twelve, but I kept my peace, since you seemed to think so highly of them-”
“They were good to me-”
“No, they were not.” He told her firmly, gripping her hand a little tighter. “Tell a child a lie often enough, they’ll come to believe it as truth.” He pointed out.
“I never looked at it like that.”
“You never told anyone who could point it out to you like that.” Steve said softly. “Your Titus and Iris, didn’t they know?”
“They knew there was a flirtation with Mister Brock. They just thought we were caught kissing. Nothing more than that.” Runa kept her head bowed.
“Runa, look at me, please.”
She looked up, and she looked so sad and weary that Steve wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but he wasn’t certain if that was the right thing to do in this situation. He’d never known of a woman who had been hurt like this by people she was supposed to be able to put her faith and trust in.
“What happened was not your fault. You were young and couldn’t know better. I’m betting your mother passed before she could ever tell you anything about menfolk and what to watch out for. I’m also betting that Rumlow knew that, and took advantage of it, and you. Now, here’s what we’re going to do for now. Tonight, I’m going to go sleep in the bunkhouse.” Runa opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head, “Let me finish, please.” She shut her mouth, and he continued, “Tonight I’ll sleep in the bunkhouse, because you didn’t really agree to this, marrying me, sharing my bed. Tomorrow evening, when things are a bit calmer, you and I will talk and figure out what we want to do going forward. I’m not going to make you leave, no matter what, not unless you truly want to go. This is your home now, and it wouldn’t be the same without you.”
She gave a relieved smile at that. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank just me. I’m not keeping you around just because I like you, though that is a big part of it. It’s also that if you left, we’d have a revolt in our hands until we could find someone else to cook for us.” He managed to tease her, earning a laugh.
“I suppose that’s true enough.” She agreed, giving his hand a squeeze. “Thank you, Steve. For understanding.”
“That’s what husbands should be for. Being understanding. I have to work on that, but… Well. I hope to do better.”
“You will. And I’ll do better as well. We’ll figure it out somehow.”