Page 40 of Winterset

“Are you sure?” Anna asked.

“Those aren’t the marks of any animal I know. Only thing that big is a bear paw, and I don’t think you have many bears lurking around here. Besides, he was laid out there. It looks…staged, like he was arranged this way for someone to find. To see.”

“But why?” Anna asked.

“Now, that, ma’am, I don’t know. People do things that surpass all comprehension, I’ve found.” He turned to Reed. “I’ll stay here while you take Miss Holcomb and Con back to the house.”

Reed nodded. “Yes. Thank you. I will return as soon as possible.”

He took Anna’s arm, and they started toward the footbridge. “I should have ridden over, as Rafe did, I suppose. That way I could have brought you a mount. After what you experienced, I am sure you are very tired.”

“My knees are a trifle shaky,” Anna admitted, summoning up a faint smile. “Oh, Reed! That poor boy! His poor parents. It doesn’t bear thinking of.”

“No.”

They joined Con at the footbridge and crossed it, heading back to Winterset. It seemed a much longer way returning than it had been walking over that morning. Anna was glad for the support of Reed’s arm.

When they reached Winterset, Reed led them inside and up the stairs to Kyria’s sitting room, where she and Miss Farrington were sitting with Alex, anxiously awaiting their arrival.

“Anna!” Kyria cried when Anna and Reed walked into the room, and she jumped up to rush over and enfold Anna in her arms. “You poor dear. Come sit down with us. I’ll ring for some tea, shall I? And then perhaps you would like to lie down.”

“Take good care of her, Kyria,” Reed said. “I am going back to wait with Rafe. Send the constable and the doctor on as soon as they come.”

“I will,” Kyria promised, looping an arm around Anna and guiding her over to the sofa.

Reed followed, and when Anna was seated, he bent down to take her hand. Anna’s fingers curled around his tightly as she realized how much she did not want him to leave.

He smiled into her eyes, giving her hand a squeeze. “Let Kyria cosset you for a while. I will return as soon as I can. Try to put it out of your mind.”

Reed left, and Anna did as he suggested, letting Kyria and Miss Farrington fuss over her, arranging pillows around her on the couch so that she was comfortable and plying her with tea. Alex and Con retreated to their room. The boys would, Kyria explained to Anna and Rosemary, handle what had happened to them as they did everything—together.

Kyria thought Anna should lie down, but Anna did not think she could sleep, and, frankly, she was reluctant to close her eyes, for she knew that the image of the dead boy would come flooding back. Miss Farrington read aloud from The Moonstone, but Anna found it difficult to concentrate on the story. She kept waiting for the sound of Reed’s return.

The constable and Dr. Felton arrived, and Anna, more familiar with the area than Kyria, directed them to where Reed and Rafe waited for them. After they left, Rosemary once more gamely took up reading. She was, Anna thought, really a sweet girl. She could see why Kit was drawn to her. If only things were different…

Time crawled on, and tea had long been served before the men came back to the house. They had little new to say. The doctor had confirmed that the wounds were very similar to those on Estelle Akins’ body, and the constable had recognized the victim as Frank Johnson, whose father’s farm lay not far from the footbridge where they had found the boy’s body. The constable had seen him, in fact, in the tavern only the evening before. He had apparently been walking home from the tavern when the killer had struck.

When tea was over, Reed drove Anna back to Holcomb Manor in the trap she had driven over in, his own horse tied to the back. They sat side by side, the trap small enough that his arm pressed against hers, and Anna found it comforting to have him next to her, large and solid. They said little, for which Anna felt grateful. She was still too shocked by the events of the day to talk much. It was soothing to feel the fading glow of the summer sun on her skin, to have her cheek brushed by a stray breeze, to soak in the familiar beauty of the land and the slowly setting sun.

When they reached the Manor, Reed walked her to the door, and she found herself slipping her hand into the crook of his arm as if it were the most natural thing to do. He covered her hand with his own for a moment.

“Will you be all right? Is your brother here?” He looked down into her face, his own brow knotted in concern.

Anna nodded, smiling at him reassuringly. “Yes, I shall be fine. I imagine Kit is here, and, if not, there is a whole houseful of servants. I will be perfectly all right.”

They stood for a moment, looking at each other, and Anna thought that he was going to lean down and kiss her, and she was not sure what she would do. She was so tired and heartsore, and it seemed too great an effort to erect her customary barrier between them. But just then the door was opened by one of the Holcomb footmen, and the moment was gone.

Reed bowed over her hand and went back down the steps to his horse, and Anna went inside. She found Kit in his study, going over some papers, and he looked up at her entrance with a smile.

“Ah, thank heavens. I hope you have come to save me from an accounting of the farm rents.”

“No. I—” Tears sprang into Anna’s eyes, surprising her almost as much as her brother.

“Anna! What is it?” Kit rose and moved around the side of his desk to her.

“Someone else has been killed,” she told him tersely.

“What!” Kit took hold of her arms. “Are you sure?”