Chapter 3

Indiana’s youngest sister, Leah, met Indiana and Montana at the entrance to their house, a lavish mansion on Nob Hill.

“Mother’s in an unpleasant mood,” Leah whispered in warning.

The sound of shouting emanated from the sumptuous reception room. “I’m not paying that amount. This is extortion!”

Three men hurried out of the house, their faces red. They were followed by the sisters’ mother, Mrs. Deborah White. Her face was likewise red. She turned to face the sisters. “Can you believe that? The plastering work they did on the cellar cracked in the latest tremor, and now they want to charge an even larger sum than last time to repair it. No one can afford those prices! Well, your cousins will have to pay for it. The house is no longer my responsibility.” Deborah snorted in a most unladylike fashion. “Indiana, where’s my crystal decanter?”

Indiana’s voice trembled, despite her earlier daring. “The store is closed today, but I can send a maid to get the decanter tomorrow.”

Deborah waved her hands in the air. “What did you say, Indiana? Closed? Does the store have tremor damage, too? Besides, we only have one maid left—Misty!” Her voice rose to a high pitch.

Indiana shook her head. “No, Mother, there was no sign saying any such thing.”

Deborah’s expression blackened, and she stormed out of the room.

At that very moment, the house entrance was rocked by a tremor. The three girls clutched at each other, wondering if it would worsen, but to their relief it did not. Indiana stared at the Italianate marble floors, and watched with horror as tiny, hairline cracks appeared.

Indiana was used to tremors, but this was the first time she had seen one cause damage to the foyer. As the shuddering lessened, Indiana let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her grip on her sisters. “They’re getting more frequent, I’m sure. They’re lasting much longer than in past years, too.”

Montana nodded in agreement.

Leah gasped and pointed to the corner of the room, in which stood a large Iron Fiske fountain adorned by acanthus leaves in a circular design, along with representations of birds and arabesques. The water, which usually flowed nicely out of the mouth of a statue of a crane, had stopped, and for a time dribbled brown water before bubbling back to its usual state of crystal clear water. “Did you see that? The water stopped just then.”

“It is quite strange, Leah,” Indiana said. “Has anyone seen Misty? Oh, there you are.”

Misty, Indiana’s maid and close friend, appeared from the kitchens where she had been giving instructions on behalf of Mrs. White.

Indiana signaled to her. “Misty, let’s go to town.”

Misty nodded agreement, and the two set off. Indiana’s thoughts soon drifted back to marriage. Was it possible she could escape marriage to Mr. Hollway? She shook her head. There was no way she would ever grow to love Mr. Hollway, not in a million years. What’s more, Indiana had always yearned for a marriage full of love, love right from the start. She didn’t relish the idea of having to grow to love someone. I wish I wasn’t such a hopeless romantic, she thought.

“Miss Indiana, did you hear what I said?” Misty’s tone was insistent.

Misty’s voice snapped Indiana back to reality. “Sorry? No, what did you say?”

Misty sighed. “I said, have you noticed that the sea seems far more choppy than usual?”

“Oh no, I actually hadn’t taken any notice.” Indiana stopped and the two women looked toward the bay. “Now that you mention it, it does look, well, kind of angry.”

“That’s what I thought.” Misty’s voice held a note of fear.