Chapter Sixty-Four

“YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN? And you promise you’ve not exaggerated anything—not one word?” I grasped both of Celia’s arms and locked eyes with her.

“Every word I said is the gospel truth, Miss Lill. Every single word. And it was his shoes—the only shoes like that in the whole church, in the whole of No Creek. They match the colors on that car of his. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”

“Still, we must get Ruby Lynne to say.”

“She nodded when I called to her, but she’s afraid. She’s right—her daddy won’t believe her, and he’ll beat the tar right out of her till she lies, till she says it was Marshall.”

“Not if we take Dr. Vishnevsky and Reverend Willard. He won’t touch her in their presence.”

“They can’t stay with her forever.”

“They won’t need to. Safety in numbers, remember? If Rhoan threatens her, we’ll bring her here.”

“He’ll never allow it, don’t you see?” Celia pleaded.

“We have to make him.”

Celia was scared, and so was I—with good reason. But it meant life or death, sooner or later, for Marshall and probably Olney and maybe even his family. I knew the fire in the barn had been a warning to me of what would come next. If they’d burn me out, they would surely burn out the Tates, and they’d proven they could do worse. We couldn’t wait. “We’ll go now. Reverend Willard’s probably still at the church.”

“Sometimes he takes Sunday dinner with one or another of the congregation.”

“We have to try.”

“I’ll go for Doc Vishy.”

“No, Celia. I’m not letting you out of my sight.” It might have been the better part of judgment to send Celia home and do this alone, but I knew her account of what she’d seen last night would validate everything I said, the cause of Reverend Willard, and the influence of Dr. Vishnevsky. Celia’s presence might also help persuade Ruby Lynne to tell the truth. If the younger girl could be so brave, perhaps Ruby Lynne could, too.