Death Between the Pages

by Beth Byers

  “What did you do to my boy?” Aunt Hobbs demanded, turning on them.

  “Nothing! I was trying to stop the bleeding. Dean! Call for help!”

  Dean seemed to be in stupor, but Evelyn grabbed his hand with her bloody ones. “Please, Dean. We don’t have the telephone.”

  He nodded stupidly and then turned and rushed across his back garden towards his house. His wife and two children had stepped out of the cottage and he shouted at them to get inside.

  Evelyn stared as Warren jerked. “Please Aunt Hobbs,” Evelyn said, “put pressure on his wounds.”

  “Stay away from my boy,” Aunt Hobbs hissed darkly. “Stay away from my boy or I’ll wring your neck like I should have the day your father dumped you on my doorstep.”

  Evelyn crawled backwards, like some sort of insect, barely realizing that tears were falling down her face until Martha Lenz shoved a handkerchief into her hands. Dean’s wife wrapped an arm around Evelyn’s shoulders, and Martha was crying too while Aunt Hobbs wailed over the unconscious body of her son.

  JOSEPH AARON

  “There’s a telephone call for you, Joseph.” Eunice was in the doorway, apron covered in flour and a smidge in her hair. She must have been letting Janey help bake.

  He rose, glancing around. Everyone who would normally call him was in the room. Joseph frowned. That was never a good sign.

  Joseph followed her to the library where the telephone was housed.

  “Detective Inspector,” the voice on the other end said. “Constable Rogers here. We’ve a situation over by Thorland Farm.”

  “Thorland Farm?” Joseph asked. “I’m not sure where that is. What’s happening?”

  “Thorland Farm,” repeated a voice from behind Joseph. Of course Robert would have followed. “That’s near where Evelyn lives.”

  Constable Rogers continued. “Seems that a fellow over there was stabbed. He’s still alive, but we can’t get ahold of the doctor.”

  “I’ll find him and bring him.”

  “The man needs to get an auto.”

  “Agreed,” Joseph said. “I’ll be in my uncle’s auto since I cut through the wood to their house.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out. Hurry, please sir. There’s a family ruckus going on here along with a man dying, and there’s no question that this was a crime. It’s really more than I can handle even with Jimmy having started. He’s not able to do much more than keep the aunt away from the girl who seems to have stabbed this fellow.”

  “Who is the girl?” Joseph demanded, but he was afraid he already knew. He turned towards his brother who had followed him to the library. There was worry in those dark brown eyes, and Joseph could well imagine how he might have felt in the early days of caring for Marian and having something put her in danger.

  “Some girl named Hobbs. They’re all related.”

  “Lovely,” Joseph grumbled. How would Robert feel about what had happened? Just how well did Robert know this girl? He was infatuated for sure. But then again. “Is the wounded fellow really large?”

  “Like two men,” the constable agreed.

  “I’m on my way.”

  “I’m coming,” Robert said as Joseph returned the receiver to its cradle.

  “You’re not an officer.”

  “I’m a concerned local.”

  “Why do you want to come?”

  “I’m not an idiot. I heard Thorland Farm and saw the way you looked at me. What happened?”

  “Someone stabbed Warren Hobbs.” Joseph sighed. “Stay out of things, Robert. I’m not kidding.”

  “You can give me a ride and take what help I can offer, or you can have me show up a moment later.”

  Joseph’s gaze narrowed on Robert, and the two of them faced off. They’d have descended into an argument, but Charles cleared his throat. As one, the two brothers spun, and stared. “I heard much of that,” their uncle said, “and I’ll come as well. You will need help. Someone has to find the doctor and I’ll keep Robert in hand as well.”

  Joseph bit back a groan. “Someone has to tell the women.”

  “Eunice can,” Charles said. “I won’t have Georgette deciding to help when she’s shifted from walking to waddling. For that matter, we need to keep Janey out of things as well. Our ladies are nothing but trouble when there’s been a bit of madness.”

  GEORGETTE AARON

  “Spill,” Georgette ordered, propping her swollen ankles onto the ottoman in front of her. She gestured to the spare chair and Eunice took a seat.

  “I didn’t hear much,” Eunice said and received a chorus of boos. “I’m not an eavesdropper.”

  “But you did hear something,” Marian said, leaning forward. “They all left and they said the tea was canceled and gave no explanations. My goodness, they might as well have announced that something terrible happened and given that Miss Hobbs is nearly an hour late, I’m going to assume it has something to do with her.”

  “Well.” Eunice shook her head. “They said if the doctor appeared, he needed to go to Thorland Farm immediately.”

  “He’d have been here by now if he knew,” Lucy said, blushing lightly when they all glanced at her. Her affection for the young doctor had become more and more apparent. “He must not be able to telephone yet.”

  “So a doctor was needed at Thorland Farm. What does that have to do with Miss Hobbs?”

  “She lives by there,” Janey said, peeking out from behind the desk.

  “Oh Janey!” Georgette said, shaking her head at the lightly dusty girl. “Come over here.”

  They all looked at each other as Janey perched near Georgette’s feet.

  “The doctor called to near where Miss Hobbs lives,” Marian said. “That must be why Robert went. It must have been quite a crime for the local boys to call in Joseph. It’s not automatic, you know.”

  “Should we go?” Janey asked brightly.

  “No,” Eunice said. “We’ll wait and see and then help as we may. But if they’re working on a crime…I don't know…scene, they don’t need sightseers.”

  “But we’d help,” Janey argued. “Maybe Miss Hobbs needs someone to hold her hand or help her.”

  “No,” Georgette said gently. “We can’t simply appear and demand that they let us help. Jane, love, they know that we’re here and we will help if it’s needed.”

  Janey’s mouth twisted and she glanced at her sister, who was ready to nod and emphasize what Georgette had said. Marian and Eunice both nodded when Janey glanced away with a dark scoff.

  “Jane,” her sister said. “Please don’t break out in the middle of the night or attack anyone with a cricket bat. A man as large as Robert described would be able to take that cricket bat from you, Janey. Please, just please recognize that you’re smaller than you think and not nearly as strong as someone like him.”

  “You know,” Janey said, “we could walk to Dr. West’s office. You’ve helped him before. Maybe you should see if he needs any help.”

  Marian gasped in an attempt to hold in a laugh while Georgette didn’t bother. “That is an idea,” Georgette said. “A reasonable one especially if you stop and get…Eunice, what might we need for tomorrow?”

  Eunice sniffed. “They’ll never believe I hadn’t thought ahead for food tomorrow.”

  “But,” Georgette said, “what could we use?”

  Eunice paused. “If Robert and Joseph were to join us for breakfast, it would be reasonable to get an excess of bacon for those two.”

  Lucy studied Janey. “You’ll have to stay here with Georgette and make sure she has what she needs. Eunice is busy enough and we haven’t helped nearly enough today.”

  Janey frowned and her obstinate look said she was ready to decline, but instead, she took in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and said, “May I read to you?”

  Georgette smiled and nodded and Janey rounded on her sister. “If you’re going to go, I want to hear about it later. You can’t leave me out because I’m little.”

  Lucy’s g
aze narrowed on Janey as she asked, “Or what?”

  “Or,” Janey said with a dark smirk, “I’ll have less incentive to remain behind.”

  “That’s enough,” Georgette told Janey flatly.

  There was a short look of alarm on Janey’s face as though Georgette had done something more than a mild rebuke, and her eyes shone for a moment.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Georgette told Janey. “You need to be respectful to your sister, who is trying to look after you. If you can show yourself as trustworthy for more information, you’ll receive it. That starts with less eavesdropping and less threats. Now Lucy, go see what you can do to help Dr. West and find out what you can for us since Joseph is probably supposed to keep things quiet and Robert and Charles will certainly go into overprotective mode if whatever happened is as bad as it seems from the little dribbles of information we’ve ferreted out.”

  Marian didn’t bother to hide her laughter as she followed Lucy from the room, pausing to give Georgette a wink.

  Georgette returned to the library as soon as Lucy and Marian left and she’d had a chance to visit the bath. This baby seemed to be re-enacting country dances on her bladder. She eyed Janey, who eyed her.

  “What do you think happened?” Janey asked.

  Georgette’s mouth twisted as she considered whether she should answer, but then another thought occurred to her. “What do you think happened?”

  “Dr. West being called for means that someone got hurt.”

  Or killed, but Georgette didn’t say that.

  “Joseph and Robert going probably means that the girl Robert likes is in trouble.”

  Or that things were very, very bad. But Georgette didn’t say that either.

  Janey’s face screwed up and then she asked, “Do you think that what Robert wrote happened? That the girl he likes killed that big man in his book? The one who solves problems with his fists?”

  It was that very idea that had Georgette concerned. If she were able to leave the baby behind and go investigate, she might have done so. But this baby was still growing inside of her and Georgette wouldn’t risk him.

  She nibbled her bottom lip and then told Janey. “Well, just because everyone else has left doesn’t mean we can’t have scones and treats.”

  Janey’s eyes brightened and she skipped out of the library with Georgette following. She had little desire to have a grand tea in the parlor with just Janey when her beloved Eunice would be puttering around the kitchens, so a homier tea in the kitchen with all of them would be much better.

  EVELYN PARKER

  “Help is on the way, Ev.” Dean’s scowl was dark and mean when he looked at her, and Evelyn winced. He must think that she had hurt Warren as well. It wasn’t as if Dean didn’t know how mean Warren was to Evelyn, but she wouldn’t have hurt him. She would have said that to be doubted like this was the worst thing she’d experienced but she had been abandoned by her parents.

  “She won’t put pressure on his wounds,” Evelyn whispered to Dean.

  He frowned at her, his gaze settled on wife, and then he glanced at Aunt Hobbs.

  “Mrs. Hobbs,” Dean said, “you need to put pressure on Warren’s wounds or I will.”

  Aunt Hobbs stared at him blankly and then started screaming at Evelyn again. “What have you done to my boy? What have you done?”

  Evelyn would have backed away from her aunt, knowing what it meant when her eyes turned that black, but Martha Lenz was bracing her from behind. Before she could ask Martha to move, Aunt Hobbs lunged towards her, and her fingers dug into the soft flesh of her throat.

  Evelyn tried to gasp, but no air was available to her. She felt nothing more than those determined fingers cutting off her air and heard nothing more than the snarls pouring from her aunt’s mouth.

  A moment later, Aunt Hobbs was yanked from Evelyn and she crumpled to the ground again, her face pressed into the dirt, as she gasped. She shivered, seeing that dark hatred again and knew she would never, ever sleep in the same house as her aunt again. How could Evelyn when she’d seen into the depths of hell in her aunt’s eyes?

  “Here now,” an unfamiliar man said. “You all right?”

  Evelyn didn’t answer. No, of course, she wasn’t all right. But people never really wanted the truth from her. They wanted her to lie and make them feel comfortable and then turn away.

  “Jimmy,” the man said, “press down on those wounds. You call the doctor, Lenz?”

  “Ah, no. I thought he just came along with you lot.”

  The other man cursed and Evelyn wiped the tears from her eyes to focus and realized it was that kind constable. She’d have groaned if it were possible, but she wasn’t able to even croak. It felt as though her throat had closed in and she was breathing through the cracks that remained.

  She scooted back, getting farther from her aunt who was raging at the constable, at Lenz, and at the poor new fellow who worked for the police who was getting as covered in blood as Evelyn was.

  “Lenz, keep the mother off of Miss Hobbs and keep Jimmy from having to stop helping your friend. I’m going to use your telephone.”

  Constable Rogers left and Evelyn scooted farther away from her aunt until she was almost in the shadows of Dean and Martha’s house. Martha went along with Evelyn, whispering to her, but Evelyn wasn’t listening and had no idea of what she was saying. They were, both of them, crying as they watched poor Jimmy try to keep Warren alive while Aunt Hobbs stared at Evelyn as though it were possible to mentally send someone to Hades.

  Evelyn coughed as she let her head lean against the side of the house and then winced. That lump on the back of her head from Warren shoving her against the wall was still tender. She sniffed and then wrapped her arms around her knees. She had worn her favorite dress and it would never be the same again. She found herself wondering if she cared more about her dress than her cousin. As much as she wanted to say that she cared more about her cousin, what she was feeling was relief.

  If he lived, and she hoped he did, she’d have time to get away from him and Aunt Hobbs while he was recovering. If he died—she closed her eyes, not wanting to go there in her head. She trembled and then realized Martha’s weeping was a silent, horrified shuddering.

  Evelyn found herself wrapping her arm around Martha, even though she was still struggling to breathe, and rubbing her hand down Martha’s arm. If she were capable of speaking, she’d have told Martha that things would be all right, though she had no idea if it were true.

  “Evelyn?” someone called.

  She had no idea how much time had passed but she realized that the doctor was kneeling next to Warren and there were other fellows milling about.

  “Evelyn?” The person was squatting in front of her now. She slowly focused on his face. It was the handsome Robert Aaron looking at her with deep worry, and she tried to reply but she couldn’t. He glanced at Martha and asked, “What’s this?”

  “Mrs. Hobbs attacked her,” Martha said hoarsely.

  “What?” Robert gently put his hand under Evelyn’s chin, letting his fingers linger on her throat for a moment and then said, “I’m taking her inside of your house, Mrs. Lenz, and getting her something to drink.”

  Martha didn’t answer and Evelyn found she had no thoughts about it at all. She was lifted in his arms as though she weighed nothing, carried into the cottage, and then set down. She blinked stupidly at Mr. Aaron as he spoke to her. She couldn’t quite focus on his words, but she felt somehow better. A moment later, he wrapped his coat around her and it was only then that she realized she was shivering.

  First he pressed a cup of water into her hands and helped her to drink it and then a little after that, he pressed a hot cup of tea into her hands and helped her to drink that as well. The pain in her throat hadn’t faded, but under his tender ministrations, she was able to focus on what he was saying.

  To her surprise, he was talking about books and the weather and strange people he’d seen on the train, flitting from on
e subject to the other with little rhyme or reason.

  Evelyn rubbed her hand over her forehead, saw the blood on her fingers again, and jumped from the table only to have her knees fail her. Mr. Aaron caught her just as her knees hit the floor and he helped her up again.

  “Off,” she said, showing him her bloody hands. “Off, off.”

  “All right.” His voice was so gentle that she wept at the sound of it. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard anything so kind directed her way. “I’ve got you, Evelyn. It’s going to be okay.”

  Evelyn stared at him, wishing she could believe that what he was saying was true.

  10

  JOSEPH AARON

  It wasn’t that Joseph hadn’t seen Robert lift and carry away Evelyn Hobbs, it was just that Joseph had seen those strangulation marks on her throat as clearly as Robert had. Evelyn hadn’t even realized the two of them were standing over her, taking in her dead-eyed stare and the sobbing of Martha Lenz, who had probably never seen anything like what she was witnessing at the moment. Robert removing Evelyn from the scene had been best.

  Dr. West rose and crossed to Joseph a few minutes later. “We’re going to take him to my surgery.”

  Joseph lifted a brow, silently asking a question.

  “It’s a miracle he’s alive right now. I don’t have a lot of hope,” West admitted. “It’s bad, Joseph. If he makes it through the next day, he might make it, but I have little hope that he will.”

  Joseph nodded. “I know you have to focus on Hobbs, but it seems that someone attacked Evelyn Hobbs as well.”

  “Her aunt strangled her,” Dean Lenz told them and they both started. Neither of them had realized he was lurking behind them until he spoke. “Mrs. Hobbs found Ev over Warren and attacked.”

  “Over him?” Joseph asked, his heart clenching for his brother.

  “According to Mrs. Hobbs, Ev was killing Warren.”