A Circle of Dead Girls

by Eleanor Kuhns

  ‘I just happened to be driving down the road, coming from town,’ Rees said defensively.

  ‘So, you went to see the circus too. Wish they’d never stopped here. Drunken brawls everywhere. The jail is full. And now this,’ Rouge said, turning back to the gentleman kneeling by the body. ‘What’s the story, Dr Smith?’

  ‘Pretty sure she’s been interfered with,’ said the doctor. ‘And I believe she was strangled, just exactly as it appears but I’m not sure if that’s what killed her. There was a struggle. Her nails are broken and her hands are scratched. Although what effort this little slip of a thing could make I can’t guess. Her left arm is fractured.’

  ‘From the struggle?’ Rouge asked.

  Smith hesitated. ‘Could be,’ he said at last. ‘But I don’t think so. It’s a clean break.’

  ‘Could it have occurred if she were thrown?’ Rees asked. ‘Say, from horseback? Or from the top of a carriage?’

  Dr Smith looked up, frowning. ‘You remember Will Rees, the fellow that solved the murder of that Shaker girl a few years ago?’ Rouge said hastily. ‘And the kidnapping of my niece last winter?’

  The doctor eyed Rees sourly. ‘Huh,’ he said. ‘I remember you. Always snooping. I daresay you’re smarter than you look.’ Turning back to the body, he continued his analysis. ‘Yes, the child’s broken arm could occur if she were thrown. She would have landed more heavily from an elevated point. But the man who threw her would have to be strong.’

  ‘Could it have been from horseback?’ Rees persisted.

  ‘I always said you were clever,’ said Rouge but not as though he meant it. Rees shot a glare at the constable.

  ‘Maybe,’ Dr Smith said. ‘But I don’t see how a man could twist—’

  ‘What if he were standing on the horse?’ Rees interrupted.

  Dr Smith stared at him and then nodded very slowly. ‘That might work. But who stands on a horse?’

  ‘Clearly you haven’t stopped by the circus,’ Rouge said.

  ‘Tell them about the farmer,’ Daniel said suddenly.

  ‘What farmer?’ Rouge asked.

  ‘Mr Reynard,’ Rees said pointing.

  ‘Ah. The Reynard family.’ Rouge pronounced it Ray-no, after the French fashion.

  ‘But the farmer didn’t do it,’ Rees said, turning to look at Daniel. ‘He was in town all day.’

  ‘I saw him there,’ Rouge said. ‘Anyway, I would never suspect him. I’ve known him all my life.’

  ‘His boy saw something,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Mr Reynard’s son saw a rider going fast on the road,’ Rees explained.

  ‘Doing tricks,’ Daniel said. ‘It sounded like one of the circus performers.’

  Rees nodded. He’d seen the lanky man with the blackish hair standing on a horse. But that didn’t mean the trick rider was guilty.

  ‘Of course, it would be,’ Rouge said. ‘Thieves, diddlers and vagabonds all. And now rapists and murderers too. I’ll talk to the lad but I’ve no doubt we’ve found our man.’

  ‘Now, wait a minute,’ Rees said. ‘We don’t know that yet. Shouldn’t we ask around and see if the performer is innocent? I saw him in town myself around four thirty so …’

  ‘The entire county saw him then. Or soon after.’

  ‘Well then, maybe others saw him before that. Maybe he’s innocent.’ Rees did not bother hiding his impatience.

  ‘You said she’d been murdered during the afternoon,’ Daniel pointed out.

  ‘I think,’ the doctor said, rising and wiping his hand on a rag, ‘that she was accosted earlier than four. Just a guess but I believe she could have been murdered any time from two or three on. The day was warm and the stiffening would have occurred more slowly than usual.’

  Rees acknowledged the truth of that with a nod. ‘So, around three?’ he said. Exactly what he’d thought.

  ‘Enough of this,’ Daniel said sharply. ‘I need to bring her home. We’ll take care of her.’ His voice broke.

  ‘Not yet,’ Dr Smith said. ‘I want to take a look at her, tomorrow, at my office.’ He gestured behind him. ‘I brought my wagon.’

  ‘You can have her after,’ Rouge said, attempting, in his clumsy way, to be sympathetic to Daniel’s grief.

  And when it looked as though Daniel would still protest, Rees said, ‘Dr Smith might find some clue to the child’s murderer.’

  Daniel stared at the three men facing him for several seconds. Then, swallowing, he nodded and stepped back.

  Since violent death was almost unheard of among the Shakers, none of them wanted to touch the body. It was left to Rees, Constable Rouge and Dr Smith to carry the remains to the coroner’s vehicle. The corpse was beginning to stiffen but had not become completely rigid so the transport was easier than it could have been. Rees guessed Leah had not weighed more than one hundred pounds fully clothed.

  When the remains were laid carefully in the wagon and the coroner had left for the town, Rees turned to Daniel and Aaron. ‘I want to question Shem so I am going to Zion. Would you wish a ride home?’

  ‘No, thank you,’ Daniel said. ‘I’ll go ahead. I want to inspect the springhouse and make sure we have room for … for …’ He sucked in a breath and turned his face aside. Rees patted Daniel’s shoulder in comfort.

  ‘I’ll go with you,’ said Aaron, to Rees’s surprise. ‘And we’d better hurry. The light is almost gone.’

  FOUR

  Rees spent the trek across the dark field wondering why Aaron had accepted a ride to Zion. Not for the company. He was the least sociable of men and, unlike most Shakers, he was neither pleasant nor gentle. Of sour disposition, he could be argumentative, a trait Rees had seen more than once. The Shakers were pacifists but Rees had seen this Brother lose his temper and engage in fisticuffs although, perversely, that had made Rees like him better.

  His question was soon answered. As soon as he had lit the lanterns on his wagon and climbed into the seat, Aaron spoke. ‘Do you think the little hen went down the lane?’ he asked.

  So now Rees knew Aaron wanted to quiz him about the murder.

  He took his time replying. He directed Hannibal onto the road. Although there were still some vehicles driving into town, most of the traffic was now heading east. People had finished their business in town or, more likely, were returning home from the circus.

  ‘That would make sense,’ Rees said finally. ‘The lane is shorter. But the body was lying closer to the main road so I would wager that she took that way home.’

  ‘Was it one of the men from the circus? Is that what you think?’ Aaron asked.

  ‘I don’t think anything at this point,’ Rees said sharply. ‘We don’t know enough.’ He glanced again to his left, at the fields that were now invisible. In the dark the smell of freshly turned soil seemed even more intense. Without the Shakers searching for Leah she could have lain in the straw for a week or more. By then the circus would have left and the guilty man, if he were among them, could have run anywhere.

  ‘Another week or so before that straw was cut down,’ Aaron said, as though he could follow Rees’s thoughts. ‘Then the girl would be lying out in the open, her sin obvious for everyone to see.’

  Rees almost pushed Aaron from the wagon seat. ‘She was a child,’ he said, turning to glare. But he wasn’t surprised. He knew that Aaron did not believe in the value of women, an opinion that caused friction among his Shaker Family. Aaron folded his arms across his chest.

  ‘She beguiled Shem into taking her to town, to that traveling wickedness called a circus.’

  ‘I don’t believe she did,’ Rees said. ‘We’ll see what Shem has to say about that.’

  Aaron shook his head. ‘I don’t want you speaking with him.’

  ‘That’s not your decision,’ Rees said, his determination growing in the face of Aaron’s obstruction. ‘He may have seen or heard something.’

  ‘He didn’t. He was with the circus horses,’ Aaron said in a gruff voice. ‘He told me that.’

&
nbsp; ‘So, you questioned him?’ Rees asked, turning to look at the other man. ‘And told him what to say, I’ll be bound.’ Although Aaron was barely visible in the gloom, Rees could see the angle of the Shaker’s head. He was staring straight ahead, refusing to meet Rees’s gaze.

  ‘Tell me what you know,’ he said in a harsh voice. ‘Tell me.’

  Aaron hesitated, chewing his lip.

  At last he spoke. ‘I don’t have to tell you anything,’ he said.

  ‘Your own God will judge you,’ Rees said.

  Without speaking, Aaron jumped down from the wagon. Rees went to pull Hannibal to a stop but the Shaker, turning, ran into the darkness and disappeared.

  Rees drove into the center of Zion. Most of the windows in the Dwelling House were dark but the nearby dining hall was brightly lit. It was suppertime. There was no sign of Daniel, so Rees pulled up in front of the Dwelling House and waited. After a few minutes a lantern appeared at the southern end of the main street, growing larger as it bobbed toward him. He peered at the yellow light; it looked as though there were two people approaching him. As they drew closer the shapes resolved into Daniel with Esther by his side. Esther was an escaped slave but she had lived in Zion for many years and had risen to the position of Eldress. She nodded at Rees.

  ‘How is dear Lydia?’ she asked.

  ‘Well,’ Rees said. ‘And the baby is thriving.’ Since Rees’s little girl had been born in Zion many of the Sisters felt a bond with the child.

  ‘You must bring them for a visit,’ Esther said, smiling.

  ‘I will,’ Rees agreed. ‘Now that the weather is improving.’

  ‘We have more important issues to discuss,’ Daniel said sharply.

  ‘Indeed,’ Rees said, turning to look at him.

  ‘Go get the boy,’ Esther told Daniel. As he hurried to the dining hall, she said to Rees, ‘He told me you wished to speak to Shem.’

  ‘I do. He was the last person to see Leah.’

  ‘Other than the villain who took her life. And worse.’ Esther’s voice caught on the final word. Handing Rees the lantern, she went up the steps and into the Dwelling House. She had never told him what had happened to her during her former life as a slave and for the first time he wondered.

  With nightfall the temperature had begun dropping and the breeze had picked up. Rees’s breath turned to smoke in the chilly air. He had not worn his heavy coat and now regretted it. Wrapping his arms around himself, he walked around to keep warm.

  Finally, Daniel returned, shepherding the boy before him and with Aaron drifting behind. All of them wore capes against the evening chill. Rees stared at Aaron, wondering why he had felt it necessary to come as well. What did he think Shem would say?

  The boy seemed all arms and legs and his feet were huge. Rees suspected the boy would be near Rees’s height when he finished growing. A shock of dark hair drooped over his white forehead. He kept his eyes down and his mouth twitched, either in fear or annoyance. Rees couldn’t tell.

  ‘Do you know why you were called out here?’ he asked.

  Shem nodded. ‘Leah is missing.’ With a sideways glance he added, ‘Daniel told me. But I don’t know where she is.’

  But you know something, Rees thought. ‘Where did you go today?’

  ‘Nowhere,’ Shem said. Rees held up the lantern, illuminating the boy’s pale blue eyes. ‘I was here.’

  ‘Don’t lie. We know you went to town with Leah,’ Rees said, his voice sharpening.

  ‘That was this afternoon,’ Shem said. ‘After I finished my chores.’ He glanced pointedly at Daniel and then Aaron.

  ‘What happened after the noon meal?’ Rees asked. Shem shrugged. ‘You walked into town with Leah.’

  ‘Yeah. So what? She wanted to see the circus. Of course, they wouldn’t let her in. She’s only a girl.’ His voice was scornful.

  ‘What happened after that?’ Rees asked when Shem did not go on.

  ‘I saw the trick rider.’ Shem’s voice lifted, filled with excitement and awe. ‘I went to talk to him about his horse. Could I train one of the horses here to do that?’ He paused, grinning with remembered pleasure.

  ‘You met the Frenchman,’ Rees said in encouragement, his teeth clacking together. He was shivering like an aspen tree in the wind.

  ‘Yes. Mr Boudreaux. But Leah didn’t want to wait with me. She got bored and said she was going home.’ Shem shrugged again. ‘I didn’t see her after that. What happened? Did she get lost? Of course, she did. That’s just like a girl.’

  ‘Leah is …’ Rees began but stopped short when Daniel clutched his arm. ‘What?’ Daniel vehemently shook his head ‘no’. Although Rees knew Shem would have to learn the truth some time, he acquiesced. For now.

  FIVE

  It was a slow, cold ride home and the moon was rising by the time he reached home. He could only imagine what his wife would say. And Lydia must have been waiting for him; as soon as he drove through the gate and into the yard, the house door opened and she stepped onto the porch. Holding up a lantern, she said, ‘I expected you home hours ago.’

  ‘I know,’ Rees said. ‘Bad news. I—’

  ‘How was the circus?’ Jerusha asked, following her mother on to the porch. Rees climbed down from the wagon. He paused with his hand still holding the reins. At almost thirteen Jerusha was within an inch of Lydia’s height and quite grown up.

  ‘I didn’t see the circus,’ he said.

  ‘You didn’t?’ Her voice lifted in dismay. ‘Why did you miss it?’

  ‘What happened?’ Lydia asked, sounding resigned.

  ‘I’ll be in shortly,’ Rees said, ‘and explain everything then.’ He needed to consider what he would say. He didn’t want to discuss the murder in front of his daughter.

  While he unhitched the gelding and released him in the pasture, he struggled to come up with an explanation that would satisfy Jerusha’s curiosity without frightening her. She did not need to hear about the murder, especially not after her kidnapping the previous winter. Once she’d gone to bed, he’d confide the whole to Lydia.

  As he recalled Leah’s delicate features, the blue veins in her eyelids clearly visible through her translucent skin, Rees felt slightly nauseous. She was so young and so vulnerable. And what if that body had been Jerusha? Or one of his younger daughters: Nancy or Sharon? He shuddered and ran up the porch steps to clutch his daughter to his chest. He could see he would not enjoy a moment’s peace until he was an old man and all the children were grown.

  When she uttered a squeak of protest he relaxed his grip and stepped back, catching Lydia’s worried expression. ‘What happened?’ she repeated as she took Jerusha by the shoulder and drew her away.

  ‘Later,’ he said, shooting her a serious glance.

  Now looking more anxious than ever, Lydia swung the door wide. ‘Come into the kitchen where it’s warm,’ she said. Rees blew out the candle in his lantern and stepped inside.

  Although the fire was banked, he could feel the heat emanating from it. A covered spider sat on the hearth, nestled up to the ashes to keep his supper warm. He pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘Hanson was there,’ he said as Lydia fetched a plate and dished out lamb and new peas.

  ‘Who?’ Jerusha asked at the same time Lydia said, ‘The magistrate?’

  She put the plate in front of Rees and cut several slices of bread from yesterday’s loaf.

  ‘He’s on circuit,’ Rees said, inspecting his dinner. The lamb looked dried out and the peas were mushy. ‘I didn’t want him to see me, to know where I lived. Where we lived.’ He gestured at Lydia and Jerusha.

  ‘Oh dear,’ Lydia said, understanding his concern.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Jerusha said.

  ‘He’s from Dugard,’ Rees said. ‘He …’ What could he say? ‘He isn’t our friend.’ Jerusha’s red lips parted, another question on the way. ‘So, I slipped into the circus arena,’ he went on quickly. ‘I did see a few things.’

  ‘What?’ Jerusha leaned f
orward, her eyes shining. ‘What did you see?’

  ‘A woman in a frilly red dress standing on the back of a horse,’ he said. ‘Riding around and around the ring. But she wasn’t even the best. When the groom took the horse from her – oh my, what a rider! He stood on the back as well but he also jumped from side to side. And he stood on his hands! I’ve never seen the like.’

  ‘My goodness,’ Lydia murmured.

  ‘I saw a dwarf too,’ Rees continued. ‘A clown. But the best, the very best, was the ropedancer.’

  ‘Truly?’ Jerusha asked. ‘You saw a ropedancer?’

  ‘Indeed.’ Rees said. ‘A young woman in a white dress.’

  ‘Probably no better than she should be,’ Lydia said with a derogatory sniff. But she too could not help leaning forward attentively.

  ‘She walked across a rope no bigger than my thumb as though she were crossing a stream on a line of stones,’ he said, caught up in the memory.

  ‘How did you happen to see this if you didn’t attend the circus?’ Lydia asked.

  ‘When I saw Pig– Mr Hanson,’ Rees said, shooting a quick glance at Jerusha, ‘I slipped into the arena. They were rehearsing for the performance.’

  ‘Maybe they’ll have another show tomorrow night,’ Jerusha said, her voice rising in excitement. ‘If you go to that one, you can come home and tell us everything.’

  ‘Maybe,’ he said, trying to recall the dates listed on the bill posted on the wooden wall of the ring. He thought only one date had been written in for Durham but he couldn’t be sure.

  ‘It’s time to go to bed now,’ Lydia said, putting her hands on Jerusha’s arms and steering her toward the stairs. She looked ready to argue but Lydia spoke first. ‘I said you could stay up until your father came home,’ she said sternly. ‘He told you what he saw at the circus. Now it is time for you to retire. You have school tomorrow.’

  ‘Please, Mama.’

  ‘Don’t argue. Otherwise I will not be so generous next time,’ Lydia said. With a sulky nod, Jerusha obeyed.

  As soon as her footsteps faded on the stairs, Lydia turned to her husband. ‘What really happened?’