| |
When Adele returned Tessie to the stables, Mr. Fernsworth wasn’t there, but another young stable hand took the horse from her without a word. She pulled her purchases from the saddlebag and hiked up the hill, deep in thought. Glancing back the way she had come, beyond the snowy road and frosty landscape that now dimmed with late afternoon darkness, nothing stirred. Still, the inescapable glare of that stranger had buried itself in her mind, and she shuddered.
Adele had left the medicine bag with Grai that afternoon. Too fearful to retrieve it, she also worried that if her uncle found it missing, she’d be in a world of hurt—not as much as Grai would be if the stranger followed her to his hideout. As she passed the footpath to the Madison estate, she avoided looking that way. It hurt her heart to do so.
The sun had near set by the time Adele reached the house. With a soiled skirt, damp coat, and wet hair, she entered through the kitchen again. Mei Ling was nowhere to be found, the stove cold, and kitchen empty. Adele stomped the snow off her boots, hung her coat on the rack in the storm porch, and entered the living quarters. Uncle Nicholas was alone in the living room waiting for her. He stood immediately.
“There’s no need to tell me where you’ve been. I already know,” he said. “Where is my medicine bag?”
“I...I borrowed it for my cut. I’ll go get it.” She turned to exit, but his commanding voice stopped her.
“No. Not now. Sit.”
She faced him but didn’t respond.
“I said sit!”
Adele meandered to the couch and, with as much grace as she could manage, sat down.
“I hear you’ve accused Benjamin of predatory advances. How dare you! How dare you implicate my son in such a way?”
Adele had nothing to say. She knew he’d be irate over such allegations, and she wished Aunt Eloise had kept it between them. But then, being married to someone like Uncle Nicholas, there’d be no secrets between husband and wife, at least not on her aunt’s part.
“I’m going to leave that contention for another time. You will pay for it, but I mean to interrogate you both together. Benjamin needs to know about your poison. A woman can be a snake, and I have no doubt the power of your venom. You will not be using it against my son.” He lifted his chin and took a breath while Adele shuddered.
Benjamin will lie, and then he’ll hurt her the next time they’re alone. If only Aunt Eloise had said nothing.
“That is only one grievance I have against you.”
“And the other?” Adele asked.
“The others?” he snickered. “You took one of my horses from the stables this morning.”
“Mr. Fernsworth saddled her for me.”
“And you lied to him saying I gave you permission.”
Adele fidgeted with her dress. “I’m sorry for not telling you.”
“If you merely wanted to go for a ride, you could have asked. Lying benefits no one. But that is the lesser of my worries. Lila’s necklace was found in your room.”
“What?”
“I’m not a fool, Adele. I’ve been wise to your shenanigans from the moment I walked into your parent’s shanty and packed your trunk. Your family’s name is in itself wicked. How your aunt ever survived the squalor of your bloodline is beyond me, save for the fact that I married her before the taint could spread. Once Lila finds out about her necklace, she will press charges, and you will be incarcerated. At that time, the Barringtons will be rid of you and your family’s bane!”
“I did not steal...”
“Not a word. I have proof and I don’t need you to lie to me on top of it. I’m setting those matters aside for now. I have a greater concern for the moment. What is this story my grandchildren are telling me?” He clasped his hands behind his back and paced in front of her with an alarming presence.
Adele took a deep breath, gathering her senses. How did Lila’s necklace get in her room? And what did the children tell him? She honestly had no idea what her uncle referred to. “What story is that?”
“Magic in the garden. Beyond the gate. What wild tales are you telling them? Why do you even go beyond the gate? That’s not our property. You’re forbidden to go there.”
“I didn’t know, sir. And I haven’t told your grandchildren any stories at all.”
“No? The stories they’re repeating are much too advanced for them to fabricate on their own. Especially Peter. Normally the boy would laugh at Maggie, but he rattles on about the same thing she does.”
Adele shook her head. He stopped in front of her, feet spread military fashion. Adele swallowed and a cold sweat formed on her brow.
“Rainbows in the garden? Spirits floating around the backyard? Do these stories have anything to do with disappearing jewelry?”
“I didn’t steal Lila’s necklace.”
“Now they say they heard you talking in the garden. To whom? Who are you meeting out there? Are you talking to yourself? Or do you have a partner scrutinizing our property?”
Adele’s entire body turned stiff.
“I’m not a thief.”
“No? It’s my experience that the chips do not fall far from the block, Adele. Your parents were thieves. They murdered someone while robbing him. He was an upstanding citizen. A professor, and yet they had no regard for the man’s place in life. Is that your plan as well? To murder my family and steal everything we own?”
“That’s absurd.”
“I knew this was dangerous, bringing you here.”
Adele stood. “I’m not a thief. I would never hurt you or Aunt Eloise or Lila or anyone in this family. I’m devastated that you would think that!”
“If it upsets you so much, then tell me what you’ve been doing. Because as long as you lie, I will think the worse of you.”
Adele trembled, the lie shifting like vomit in her throat. But she couldn’t come completely clean, not without telling him about Grai. And then what would he do? What would Grai do? She wanted her uncle’s trust, but she couldn’t earn it. Not now. Not as long as a murderer still sought to kill Grai. For all she knew, Uncle Nicholas could have started the assault, with Benjamin being the one who carried it out.
“The truth is, I stole nothing. I have no idea how Lila’s necklace got in my room, and I left your bag outside by accident. I’m sorry. I’ll go get it.”
“Who is out there, Adele?”
“No one!” She whirled about.
“Don’t step foot out of this house. Go to your room. You will fall in line like everyone else in this family or you’ll be sent to the asylum before I can blink an eye. Go!”
She turned to him. Asylum? Her eyes burned with tears.
“Yes. Asylum. Your aunt seems to think you’re overwhelmed with grief and have no idea what you’re doing. There’s a place for people who can’t think properly. It would take no effort on my part to take you there. Go to your room. Now!”
Adele drifted to the stairs as her uncle stormed into the foyer. She stopped midway, her heart pounding as she watched her uncle put his coat and his boots on, grab his gloves and hat and take his rifle out of the gun case.
“Nicholas,” Aunt Eloise called him from the hall. “What are you doing, Nick?”
“I’m going to find a trespasser.” Uncle Nicholas looked up at Adele and pointed. “Go to your room!”
To avoid bursting into tears in front of him, Adele raced up the stairs to her tower, slammed the door, and pulled open the curtain to her window.
Night had fallen, the garden had grown dark but for a gas lamp that someone had lit before sunset. Uncle Nicholas hurried through the snow bundled in his thick wool coat, his hat tipped low over his head and the rifle resting on his shoulder. He marched confidently toward the gate. Soon he disappeared into the shadows.
Adele waited by the window, hoping not to see the light of Grai’s spirit. Hoping the two of them were tucked safely in the root cellar and would not come out. She watched until her eyes grew weary. No sound, no movement disturbed the evening. She paced the room and flinched when Butterscotch jumped from the desk onto the floor. Adele walked to the door and let the cat out. Even the house had fallen silent. The lanterns in the hallway had been snuffed and only one small oil lamp remained lit at the bottom of the stairs. Perhaps Uncle Nicholas had come back in through another entrance and she hadn’t seen him.
She withdrew to her bed, still not ready to change into her nightclothes. Pacing and worrying at night was nothing new to Adele. How often had this been her requiem as a child in Port Galleon? Worrying and wondering when her parents were going to come home. She never felt safe until her parents walked in the door. Ultimately, her security had never been a reality. There was no safe place which she could call home. The cottage in Port Galleon had been a façade, a smokescreen for the evil her folks partook in, and she, being a child, had no idea what they’d been up to.
Tonight, those same memories haunted her. She lived identical to the way her parents had lived—lying, hiding, sneaking, her secrets consumed her in the same way. Uncle Nicholas could be right. Perhaps her deceptive lifestyle would take her to the gallows—or the asylum. These lies were all because of Grai. She had never agonized over someone like this before. Even her parents’ death did not give her nausea and cause her head to spin. If Uncle Nicholas kills Grai, she will never forgive him. If Grai dies, she will never forgive herself.
The sound of a gunshot made her jump. And then another.
Adele gasped, leaped out of bed, and raced to the window. She saw nothing and assumed her uncle had been on the Madison’s property when he fired the gun.
“No. No!” She moaned and then screamed. “No, please don’t!” She bit her knuckles, stormed through her room, grabbed her knapsack, and ran down the stairwell. Her aunt had already rushed to the foyer to don her coat, slip on her boots, and race out the door. Adele followed,
“Eloise,” her uncle called from somewhere in the dark. “Come quickly. I think I’ve shot a man.”
She heard someone moaning, and Nicholas’s voice echoed through the woods.
Adele trailed after her aunt, putting her coat on as she ran. Aunt Eloise slid on the ice and fell, landing on a cushion of bustle. Adele rushed to her and helped her up.
“Where is the medicine bag?” Aunt Eloise asked as she brushed the snow off her dress.
“It’s on the bench next door. Are you all right?”
“Next door? What in the name of Lincoln is it doing there?” Aunt Eloise’s glare lasted only a second, interrupted by Uncle Nicholas calling again.
“Eloise! Hurry!”
“Where is he?” her aunt asked in disgust.
“Come this way.” Adele held on to her arm so she didn’t slip again. Snow illuminated by starlight guided them, but the shadows of the foliage were so dense she had to follow the vines to find the gate. When she did, she pushed the honeysuckle aside to help her aunt through.
“Why in heaven’s name do you know about this gate and this property? What have you been doing, Adele?”
Adele led her aunt on the trail, now completely in shadow. Even the hoarfrost reflected no starlight. Soon they heard men talking angrily with one another. Adele bit her lip, tears leaking out of her eyes and chilling her cheeks, certain she’d find Grai wounded or dying.
They came to the patio where Uncle Nicholas leaned over someone on the ground. Another man stood behind them.
“Benjamin!” Aunt Eloise gasped.
“What I want to know is what you’re doing here with this criminal!” Uncle Nicholas asked his son.
Adele had never heard her uncle raise his voice to Benjamin in such a manner, worse than when he sent her to her room. Her uncle shook his fist and trembled with rage. Surely he would have torn into Benjamin if he hadn’t been holding the man he shot on the ground with his knee.
Adele immediately raced to the bench where she had left the medicine bag and brought it to her uncle. Aunt Eloise took the bag from her and rummaged through it.
“The dressings are almost gone.” She looked at Adele in shock. “What did you do with them?”
“I have more,” Adele had brought her knapsack for this very moment and pulled out the newly gained box of gauze. She almost grabbed the other but thought better of it.
“Why is that here?” Uncle Nicholas asked her in the same tone he’d been addressing his son. “You’ve been meeting this man on the sly?”
Adele stared at the man grappling belly down in the snow. Blood pooled around his leg. It clearly was not Grai. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was the same man who had followed her this afternoon.
“Who is he?” Adele asked.
“I thought you would know Adele. His name is Jim Marlin Delaney. He’s the man who helped your parents kill the professor.”
Uncle Nicholas grabbed the gauze out of her hand. After tying Delaney’s hands with a strip, he rolled the man over, pulled up his pant leg, and wrapped the wound.
“Someone needs to go to the stables. Eloise? You’re the only one I can trust.”
“Of course, Nicholas,” she answered.
“Have Fernsworth harness the horses and bring the carriage up here. I’ll take Delaney to the marshal.”
When he had finished tending to Delaney’s wound, he pulled him upright and picked up his rifle. “Benjamin, you better talk. What were you doing here?”
Benjamin looked cowardly, his face pale in the moonlight, his voice trembling. “I saw something in the bushes when I was coming up from the stables and thought I’d follow. I found this criminal sneaking around. Not knowing what kind of crime he had planned, I ambushed him. There’s a price on his head, Father. A bounty!”
“With what weapon were you going to use to catch a murderer, son?”
Benjamin pulled a large dagger from his belt and showed his father. Adele gasped, drawing attention to herself. Shock didn’t overwhelm her because the dagger was a wicked-looking beast of metal—though it was—but because of why they were here late at night. They were looking for Grai and meant to end his life. Adele had led them to him.
“Give me that,” Uncle Nicholas demanded. Benjamin relinquished the dagger and Uncle Nicholas threw it atop another knife he had confiscated from Delaney.
“Benjamin, you and Adele sit over there on that bench.” He hoisted Delaney to his feet.
“Delaney, what are you doing here on Cyrus Madison’s property?”
“I’m not talking to anyone but a lawyer.” The man said. Adele could see him well now. The drawing on the wanted poster had been an accurate likeness. Delaney had pitted skin and a dark mustache. His eyes were black, almost deathly looking, with dark bushy brows. He had a scar on his cheek and the same bandana he wore that afternoon tied around his neck.
“What do you know about this man, Adele?”
“Nothing. Except...except that he followed me home from town today. And he threatened me.”
“You and I are due for a long talk,” her uncle told her. “As soon as I come back from town, I want every last detail. I don’t care whether it’s in the middle of the night or not. Go to the house and don’t come out again. Benjamin, you’re coming with me.”
“You want me to go to the marshals?” Benjamin’s voice squeaked like a mouse. For having tried to murder someone, the man had no backbone.
“Help me get this man to the road.”
With that her uncle hoisted Delaney under his arms, Benjamin supported Delaney’s weight from the other side, and they dragged the convict down the trail.
“You’d better ‘fess up,” she heard Delaney whisper to Benjamin as Adele watched him limp away. She did nothing until they were out of sight and a hush returned to the night. Soon the sound of the horses’ hooves and carriage wheels faded away as well. Adele picked up the gauze that had dropped. There was no way to clean away the soiled snow, and so she didn’t try. Her hands trembled as she packed everything back into the medicine bag. Thoughts rushed through her mind. This was her fault. She had put Grai’s life in jeopardy. She should never have gone into Port Summerhill. If she hadn’t, no one would have heard her questions, nor seen her buy gauze, nor followed her home.
She turned to go and there in front of her stood Grai’s spirit.
She had not been terrified the first time she saw the ghostly form, but tonight his presence sent a chill up her spine, and she stepped back. No lovely smile greeted her, only a cold, unforgiving glare met her eyes.
“Grai wants you to leave. To never return.”
The words broke her heart, and she shook her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Please don’t send me away.”
“Those were Grai’s words.”
“I am so sorry,” she pleaded.
He turned and floated toward the root cellar, but before he disappeared completely, he rolled around and looked at her with those soft sympathetic eyes she’d seen the first day they met.
“I am sorry, as well, Adele.”