A Simple Shaker Murder (27 page)

R
OSE NEEDED TO KEEP MOVING, SO SHE WALKED TO THE
C
HILDREN
'
S
Dwelling House instead of phoning. Normally everyone would be at worship in the Meetinghouse by this time on a Sunday afternoon, and the rare change in schedule had left some folks at loose ends. The adult Believers just went back to work, but the children grew cranky at the suggestion of more lessons. Given the chilly weather, Charlotte had gathered them all inside the Children's Dwelling House and set them to cleaning their rooms more thoroughly than usual. Charlotte herself was sweeping the comers of the gathering room when Rose found her.

“Nora? She should be up in her room, cleaning, but I wouldn't stake my soul on it,” Charlotte told her. “She's been out of sorts since Mairin disappeared. I think she's worried to death, so I've been gentle with her. But she does keep disappearing herself. I suspect she's slipping out to look for Mairin on her own, poor child.”

“Remind me which room is hers?”

‘Top of the stairs and two down to the left,” Charlotte said. “Good luck.”

Rose was not surprised to find Nora's room only tolerably tidy—and empty. She checked the bathroom and the other girls' rooms, but Nora was nowhere to be found. Just to be sure, Rose climbed the stairs to the little-used third floor, once filled to capacity with orphaned and abandoned children. She
found neither Nora nor Mairin in the sad, empty rooms, but there was evidence that someone had used the area recently—a blanket tossed into a corner, bread crumbs on the floor, a soiled white cup.

Rose descended the staircase to the second floor. On impulse, she revisited Nora's room, and there she was, frowning in concentration as she dusted the mushroom-shaped pegs that encircled her room, low enough for a child's reach.

“Nora, where were you just now?”

“Um, just now? Right here,” Nora said, with wide-eyed innocence. “Charlotte sent us to clean our rooms.”

“I know that, but I checked a few minutes ago, and you most certainly were not here. There's no place for you to disappear from view in here,” Rose said, glancing around the plain, sparsely furnished room.

Nora didn't respond, apparently hoping the moment would pass and Rose would lose interest. Rose arched an eyebrow at her. Avoiding the dreaded eyebrow, Nora gazed down at her hands, which were clutching a cleaning rag. Her face lightened.

“I needed a clean rag,” she said. “So you must have come by while I was downstairs in the cleaning closet.”

There wasn't much Rose could say to that, though she was sure it was an outright lie. Her suspicions were ballooning. Nora was clever and unpredictable, but Rose didn't believe she would he except for a very good reason. She was fairly certain the reason was Mairin. If she asked Nora directly where Mairin was hiding, Nora would lie again. Clearly, Mairin had sworn her to silence. No matter, Rose felt her heart lift. If Nora was in contact with Mairin, then the child was hiding of her own accord.

“Okay,” Rose said. “You'd best get back to it, then. I'll see you at dinner,” She hoped she'd hit the right balance of cheerfulness and sternness, so Nora would not suspect that she had figured out the secret Nora would be far easier to follow if she had no reason to believe anyone might be doing so.

Rose positioned herself just at the edge of the grove of maples behind the old burned-out Water House. She was hidden from view, and she could see both the front and back entrances to the Children's Dwelling House. Short of climbing out a window in broad daylight, those were the only ways Nora could leave the building.

Rose's knee began a dull throb after about an hour of standing behind a thick maple trunk, peeking out toward the village. She was also feeling silly, as if she'd transformed into one of the children herself. But she couldn't afford to give up. The worship service—and night—would be upon them in four or five hours, and Rose had to know where Mairin was.

She shifted her position so she could lean more comfortably against the tree, and as she looked again, she saw Nora's slender figure slither out the back door of the Children's Dwelling House. Nora peered in all directions but didn't seem to perceive Rose among the trees. Nora edged along close to the building until she reached the southeast corner, then she was out of sight.

Ignoring the objections of her knee, Rose bolted toward the fields in back of the Children's Dwelling House. There were no crops to hide her, but it was the best she could do. She ran east and gradually toward the building until she could see around the corner at which Nora had disappeared. She was just in time to see Nora's head dip down, followed by the cellar door of the South Family Dwelling House.

Rose ran toward the dwelling house, not sure what she'd do when she got there. It would be difficult to follow Nora through the storage rooms and the kitchen without being seen, but she might have to. If Mairin really was in the building, she was extraordinarily well hidden, and following Nora might be the only way to find her.

Nora would surely be moving along fast. Rose lifted the cellar door just enough to slide through, even though it meant twisting her knee. She winced both in pain and at the squeak of the door as she moved it, but she didn't have time to go
more slowly. Nora was well out of sight, and probably hearing, too.

The dirt floor absorbed the sound of her feet, so Rose hurried through the storage areas, looking quickly into each one as she passed. She could not imagine Mairin hiding in any of the dank, clammy underground rooms, despite the proximity to food. She expected Nora to stop in the kitchen to pick up a snack for Mairin and then head upstairs, so she was caught off guard when she reached the last area and peered into the dimness to see Nora's back. The girl seemed to be deciding between raspberry and peach preserves. There was no sign of Mairin.

Rose flung herself back against the wall outside the storage room and looked around her. She couldn't stay where she was; Nora would see her. Briefly she considered confronting the girl and ordering her to reveal Mairin's whereabouts, but there was a good chance she'd endure punishment before she would break her word to a friend. Besides, knowing Nora, the more dramatic the situation became, the more she'd enjoy her role.

Edging backward so Nora wouldn't sneak out without her knowing, Rose tiptoed into the next storage area behind her. By easing around the edge, she was able to see the opening from which Nora would emerge. With luck, Nora wouldn't doubt she was alone and look in Rose's direction. A delicate plea to Holy Mother Wisdom probably wouldn't hurt, either, so she said a silent prayer.

The angels must have been listening, because Nora left the storage area at a normal pace, her eyes on the jar she'd selected, perhaps still wondering if the other choice might not have been better. She turned toward the stairs to the kitchen without looking up.

Now Rose wasn't sure what to do. She thought she should wait a few minutes because surely Nora would pick up some bread for the preserves, and perhaps some cheese, if she could find some that hadn't hardened to a rock after being left uncovered. Rose moved into the area Nora had just vacated and counted seconds until she'd gotten to three minutes. She
couldn't wait much longer, or she might lose Nora altogether.

She left her hiding place and headed for the stairs. Just as she reached the bottom step, she heard a scraping sound near the door. She flew back to the safety of a storage area, on impulse choosing the one across from the preserves. Nora's feet appeared, then her arms, laden with food. Rose flattened herself against the wall of the storage area, her cheek touching the rough planks used to shore up the room. Through the cracks, she could smell earth and mildew and ancient dust. It occurred to her to wonder just when the brethren had last done any maintenance in these rooms.

Rose heard Nora pass the opening, then the earth swallowed her footsteps, and Rose could hear nothing until the cellar door creaked. Hoping it was safe to leave her hiding place, she entered the narrow hallway and headed for the steps leading to the cellar door. A streak of gray light disappeared as the cellar door shut.

Again she counted, this time for a minute, before she pushed up the cellar door a crack, just enough to see that no one was outside. Another couple of inches told her that Nora was long gone. She eased through the opening as quickly as possible and ran from one corner of the building to the other, looking for the small figure. Her heart beat at a panicked pace as she spun around and saw nothing—until she squinted out at the fields where she had stood earlier. There was Nora, running through the crusty soil, heading south of the village.

Confused, Rose stayed where she was. There were no trees in that direction, not that she knew of, and surely Mairin wouldn't be hiding out in the open. As she tried to decide what to do, she saw Nora swerve east, toward the orchard. Of course, the orchard. Instead of running after her, Rose stayed behind the southernmost buildings and headed toward the orchard. She tried to stay in the shadows, since now and then Nora stopped and glanced around.

Nora had planned this carefully, the clever little imp. There was no one about. It was nearing the dinner hour, and Wilhelm had suggested that everyone return to their retiring rooms to
change into their Sabbathday best. The worship service would be held immediately following the evening meal.

As Rose watched from the southeast corner of the Meetinghouse, Nora entered the orchard from the south end. Even without leaves on the trees, the area was too dense for Rose to see where the girl had gone. She was about to go searching when Nora surprised her by emerging from the north edge of the orchard. She stopped and looked around. She'd piled the food in her apron. Clutching her booty tightly against her stomach, she bolted north, toward the barn.

The barn made perfect sense. It was the village's newest structure, rebuilt after the old one had burned down. At Wilhelm's insistence, they'd built it larger than necessary, in preparation for the new members the elder was certain would arrive soon. There were unused corners and haylofts that might seem safe and warm to a frightened child. She could easily stay out of sight of the brethren as they went about their chores.

In no hurry now, Rose walked toward the barn, keeping Nora in view, just in case. But this time there were no surprises. Nora disappeared through a small side door of the barn. Rose followed, less concerned now about being seen. She knew Mairin was in the barn. Finding out where was only a matter of time.

The task turned out to be simple. Rose entered to the familiar and not unpleasant smells of hay and manure. She took a moment to adjust her eyes to the dim light and her ears, to filter out the sounds of grunts and lows and pacing hooves. Within moments, she heard the giggling of young girls, coming from somewhere above her. And nearby.

She followed the sounds to a ladder leading to a hayloft. She hoisted her long skirts over her arm and climbed the ladder to find Nora and Mairin sitting on a blanket, sharing brown bread, cheese, and preserves, which they scooped out of the jar with their fingers.

“I see you won't be needing supper tonight,” Rose said.

The girls jumped and clutched each other. They looked far from relieved when they saw it was only Rose. Mairin loosened
her hold on Nora and straightened her frail shoulders.

“It's my fault, not Nora's,” she said. “Nora just didn't want me to go without food. I told her it was okay, I'd done it lots of times before, but she's too nice.”

“And too enticed by a good adventure,” Rose murmured. Louder, she said, “We three are going to have a little chat.” She settled cross-legged on the blanket facing them.

“Don't blame Mairin,” Nora said. “She just got really scared and had to hide.”

“What scared you, Mairin?”

Mairin picked at the fuzzy wool of the blanket.

“Did it have to do with the service scheduled for this evening?”

The girl's eyes nicked toward her, then back to the blanket.

“And did it also have to do with what you saw in the orchard and with whatever frightened you in the woods outside the Schoolhouse the other day?”

Mairin flashed a coppery glare at Nora, who edged away. “You said for me not to tell Charlotte,” Nora said. “You never said I couldn't tell Rose.”

“I
meant
not to tell
anyone
.”

“Nora was worried about you,” Rose said. “She did the right thing. She followed her conscience—and her heart. She's your friend. And so am I, if you will let me be. You don't have to do this on your own. We can protect you.”

Mairin hugged herself and for once didn't dam her tears. It was a start. Rose slid over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “Now, tell me,” Rose said, as the crying subsided.

“I can't,” Mairin said, hanging her head. “I want to, really and truly, but I can't.”