Sound of Fear

by Marta Perry

  “She’ll find that harder than she thinks.” Amanda’s jaw set. “If she’d ever admit she handled the situation badly with Melanie... But she won’t.”

  “It would be the first time,” he said. “But to get back to practical matters, you may well find yourself in line for a share of the Winthrop property. I say may, because I can’t predict which way Elizabeth will jump. But as Melanie’s daughter, you ought to.”

  Amanda shook her head. “I don’t want anything from them. I’m getting tired of saying it. I just want the truth, and I’m beginning to think it can’t be had.”

  He clasped her shoulder. “You’re not getting discouraged, are you? With Jacob coming today? He may spread some new light on Melanie’s death.”

  “He may, but we’ve probably heard everything he has to say from Sarah.” She paused. “Will you join us when I talk to him?”

  “Nervous about meeting him?”

  “No.” She made a face. “Actually, yes. Did you know he has a family? I have five half siblings. I always wanted a brother or a sister.”

  “Your wish has come true, then.” He sensed that she was still getting used to the idea.

  “I guess.” She shrugged. “We’ve talked about this before. I’m not sure how I’ll feel when I see him.”

  “I thought you were more concerned with facts than feelings.”

  “I suppose I said that at some point, didn’t I?” She turned her face toward him, and they were close enough that he could see the flicker of laughter in the blue of her eyes. “I say a lot of things.”

  He smiled back. “We’ve had a lot to talk about. There’s nothing like a crisis for forcing you to get to know someone quickly.”

  She nodded, but the smile faded from her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt Jacob, but I can’t manufacture feelings for him.”

  “He won’t expect that.” At least, he hoped not. Amanda had enough to deal with without coping with the feeling she’d disappointed this father she’d so suddenly acquired.

  Amanda stirred, as if she’d like to be doing something, anything, so long as it was active. “The frustrating thing is that I still haven’t found any proof as to my adoption. Without that...”

  “Without that, I’d guess that the court would still take Juliet’s obvious wishes into consideration. And Juliet’s brother might not like the time and expense involved in a prolonged court case. He might be willing to settle.”

  Her hair brushed his fingers as she turned her head again. “He might,” she admitted. “But knowing how my mother felt about him, it would go against the grain to let him pocket anything of hers.” She hesitated, and it was clear she had something else she wanted to say. “I remembered something about Juliet’s brother that probably explains his interest. I was very young, probably five or six, but I overheard them arguing. He referred to me as ‘a stray kid’ and basically said he knew I wasn’t hers.”

  He gave in to the urge to run his fingers through her hair. The strands clung to his hand, curling around it. “So he suspected all along. But he didn’t have any proof, or he’d have brought it up by now. Still, where he’s concerned, you might have to decide what you’ll give up to be free to start that new life you spoke of.”

  A new life...maybe here? He didn’t think that had even entered her reckoning at this point. After everything that had happened here, the idea would probably leave a bad taste in her mouth.

  He had to accept it. Once she felt she’d learned all she could here, she’d leave. It would be for the best. Wouldn’t it?

  * * *

  AMANDA TRIED TO maintain a pleasant, smiling facade as she waited with Sarah’s family for the approaching car to pull up. Trey stood next to her, and she was grateful for his presence, little though she wanted to admit it. She could handle this meeting with her father alone, but it wasn’t a sign of weakness to be glad he was there, was it?

  The car stopped, and a man slid out of the passenger’s side. The driver rolled down his window. “I’ll be off now. Have a good visit.”

  Jacob was already being rushed by Sarah, closely followed by Amos. While Sarah hugged him. Amos pounded his shoulder in typical male fashion. A spate of Pennsylvania Dutch flowed out, and then stopped when Sarah raised her hand in warning.

  “Ach, Englisch, everyone. Remember.” She linked arms with Jacob. “You remember our kinder.” She waved at her assembled children.

  “Yah, but Isaac and Thomas have surely grown a foot.” It was the first time Amanda had heard her father’s voice—a soft baritone with the characteristic Pennsylvania Dutch rhythm.

  “And here is Amanda.” Sarah smiled, but her eyes were anxious.

  Amanda had a spasm of panic. What would she do if he tried to embrace her? Or should she offer to shake hands?

  But he made both unnecessary by stopping a couple of feet away, as if trying not to crowd her. “It is wonderful gut to see you at last, Amanda.”

  His voice was soft, his smile gentle. He was approaching her, Amanda realized, as she would approach a skittish animal. The thought gave her smile a little more warmth.

  “It was good of you to come.” She gestured to Trey. “This is a friend, Trey Alter.”

  Jacob nodded, shaking hands with Trey. “I’ve heard about you from my cousin Sarah. She tells me you’re helping with—” a shadow darkened the clear blue of his eyes “—with all of this.”

  “I’m doing everything I can,” Trey said, his tone easygoing, as if this sort of meeting happened every week. “Thanks for coming so quickly.”

  Jacob nodded. “Maybe I should have...”

  “Business can wait until after supper,” Sarah said. “It’s ready, so all of you get to your seats. Girls, help me dish up.”

  Her daughters abandoned their curious staring and hurried ahead of the others toward the kitchen.

  Amanda’s tension eased. Sarah was giving her a chance to adjust before they got into what must be a painful conversation. And giving Jacob that opportunity, as well. She didn’t know about Jacob, but she was glad of the respite.

  Conversation bounced happily around the table, giving Amanda an opportunity to watch Jacob without, she hoped, anyone noticing. Oddly, she hadn’t formed an image of him in her mind, but she wasn’t surprised to note that his eyes were as blue as hers. His face was that of someone who worked outside in all weather, his hair and beard a light brown, touched with lighter strands.

  It was a kind face, she realized as he listened intently to a story told by Sarah’s youngest, Mary Elizabeth. When Melanie fell in love with him she’d probably seen the strength, along with the blue eyes and fair hair. She found she was hoping Melanie had recognized the kindness, as well.

  He glanced up at her in that moment, smiling a little, and his look was touched with a love and longing that disconcerted her. Confused, she looked away.

  When the last crumb of pie had been eaten, Sarah put the girls to work cleaning up, while Amos and the boys disappeared toward the barn. A setup job, she decided, especially when Sarah gave the three of them a conspiratorial smile.

  “You three might go out on the front porch and sit awhile,” she said. “It’s a fine and private place for a talk.”

  Amanda felt herself guided to the front door by Trey’s hand on her waist. Maybe he was trying to assure her that he’d be there. Either that or making sure she didn’t bolt away.

  Jacob waited while Amanda and Trey sat on the porch swing and then pulled a chair up facing them.

  “We must talk,” he said. “I know you have questions, but first I must say how happy it makes me to see my daughter at last and to know you’ve had a gut life.”

  “Yes, I have. My mother—Juliet Curtiss, my adopted mother—was a wonderful parent. She encouraged me to follow my own dreams. Did Sarah tell you I’m a veterinarian?”

  “
She did. It’s a fine thing. She says you have as gut a hand with a hurting animal as I do.”

  “Sounds as if Amanda got that from you,” Trey said, filling the gap while she struggled with the idea of having inherited her gift from this stranger.

  “I wish...” He shook his head. “We can’t change the past, and I am happy with my Katie and the kinder. But I would have wanted to know you all those years, even if Melanie and I weren’t together.”

  That startled her—that calm acceptance that they wouldn’t have married. “Didn’t you love her?” The question came out sharper than intended.

  “She was my first love.” Again, his voice was gentle. “But in the years since, it has wondered me how it came to happen. Melanie wasn’t happy at home. Her grandmother...you’ve met her grandmother?”

  “Yes. She isn’t a very—” she sought for the word “—understanding person.”

  His lips quirked. “No. Melanie rebelled against all her rules, and I think maybe I was the means to rebel. If we’d married...well, I don’t think she could have settled down to be an Amish housewife.”

  Trey put a hand over Amanda’s. “You knew she was pregnant?”

  “She told me when she was sure. I wanted us to run away and get married, but she thought she should talk to her grandmother first.” His eyes darkened. “I never saw her again until the day she died.”

  “Sarah said you used to meet at the falls.” Trey must want to get to the crucial point. “How did you know to go there that day?”

  “I had a note. It had been left on the back door.” Jacob’s face tightened as he remembered. “It was very short. Just said to meet her at the falls at ten o’clock that morning. I went and... Sarah told you what I found.”

  “She did, but it’s important that we hear it from you. There might be some little detail that she missed or didn’t know.”

  Amanda discovered she was content to let Trey take over this part. It gave her a chance to wrestle with her feelings. She imagined, if she’d thought about it, that Jacob would have been pining for his lost love all these years. His insight into the past required some getting used to.

  “Yah, I see.” Jacob looked down at his hands, clasped loosely in his lap. “Well, I went right away, but I had to walk, and that took time. I was afraid I wouldn’t get there by ten, but I was a little bit early.”

  “Which way did you go?”

  “I cut through the woods to the lane that comes in at the top of the falls. Then I went through the woods again over that little ridge because it was faster on foot.”

  Trey nodded as if he understood the route.

  “I was still in the woods when I heard Melanie’s voice. I thought she was calling me, so I answered. But then I realized she wasn’t. Someone was with her, and she was talking to that person.”

  “Man or woman?”

  “I don’t know. I think Melanie must have been facing toward me, so I could hear her more clearly. She’d speak, and then there would be the sound of words I couldn’t make out. It worried me. Why would she bring someone else when she came to meet me? I hesitated, thinking maybe it was somebody she wouldn’t want to see me. And then I heard it—the scream.” Jacob’s voice broke. He stared down at his hands, clenched together now, the knuckles white. “I ran through the brush, breaking it down and calling her name.”

  He cleared his throat and began again. “When I got to the place, there was no one there. I went closer, out to the edge where I could see down. She was lying there at the bottom. Like a broken doll.”

  Amanda realized she was holding her breath and let it out. “How could you be sure she was dead?” The first question she asked, and it was a terrible one.

  “She looked...” He stopped, shook his head. “I had to get to her. I climbed down, slipping on the wet stones. I put my arms around her and lifted her out of the water, but it was too late. She was dead.” He looked directly at Amanda. “I checked her breath, felt for her pulse. Nothing. I just...just held her in my arms and cried.”

  “We know eventually you went for help. But in all that time, you never saw or heard the other person?” Trey was gently insistent.

  “No. If I had, I would say. But I don’t know, just that someone was with Melanie when she fell. I’m as sure of that as that we’re sitting here together.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  A SILENCE FELL when Jacob stopped speaking. Trey expected a comment...a word...something from Amanda, but she sat, eyes lowered, seeming to communicate only with her thoughts.

  A spark of irritation flared. She might at least acknowledge how difficult telling that had been for Jacob.

  Apparently it was up to him. “I’m sorry. It can’t be easy for you to relive it, even after all this time.”

  Jacob’s face was somber, his blue eyes, so like Amanda’s, bleak. “Yah.” The muscles in his neck stood out like cords. “But it is Amanda’s right to know how her mamm died. I should have spoken out at the time. Now...well, now I will do whatever she thinks best.”

  Trey grasped Amanda’s wrist, compelling her to emerge from her absorption. “It’s up to you, Amanda. What do we do now?”

  She looked from him to Jacob. “The police should hear this.” She gave Trey a challenging look. “You think it’s too late to do any good, don’t you?”

  Trey tried to sort out his feelings even as he shook his head. “Not necessarily. I suppose it’s still possible that it can lead to something. I’m just not overly optimistic of knowing everything after all this time.”

  Jacob stirred. “But surely the person who was with Melanie will come forward once it’s known that I heard someone, ain’t so?”

  “If that person is innocent,” Amanda said, her tone sharp.

  For a moment Jacob looked confused. “But what else?”

  Trey stepped in before Amanda could mention murder. “At the very least, the person was negligent. By your own account, the scream followed so close on the voices that whoever was there had to have known, if not seen, the fall. Why didn’t they try to help? Or call for assistance?”

  Jacob nodded slowly. “Yah, I see. It was someone who didn’t want it known he was there that day.”

  “And maybe still doesn’t,” Trey added.

  Amanda’s hand jerked under his. “Or her fall could have been deliberate.”

  “You think she was pushed?” Disbelief laced Jacob’s voice. “Why? Who would do such a thing?”

  “There’s a lot of money in the Winthrop family.” Trey might not want to believe it was murder, but he knew it was a real possibility.

  Jacob shook his head slowly. “I don’t want to bring trouble to my family here, but I can’t be silent. I’ll talk to the police. Just tell me when.”

  “I’ll set something up with Chief Carmichaels for tomorrow. About ten?” He glanced at Amanda. “I’ll pick you both up.”

  He stood, feeling as if he were about to put a stick into a hornet’s nest. “I’ll leave you now. You’ll be wanting some time to talk...”

  “No.” Amanda got up abruptly, setting the swing rocking. “I... I’m really wiped out. I have to call it a night.” She stepped off the porch before either of them could speak, and she hurried toward the cottage without another word.

  Trey hated seeing the naked sorrow on Jacob’s face. “I’m sorry...” he began.

  “She’s upset. It’s only natural.” Jacob laid a hand on Trey’s shoulder. “You’ll walk up with her, yah? See her safely in.”

  There seemed nothing else to say. Trey sped after Amanda, his long strides eating up the distance. She’d wanted Jacob to come. The least she could do was spend some time with him.

  He caught up with her at the turn in the lane, grasping her arm.

  Before he could speak, she’d twisted free. “I don’t want company.”
r />   “I can see that,” he snapped. “Your father asked me to see you safely to the cottage. Oddly enough, he feels protective of you.”

  “I don’t need...” she began.

  “I know. You don’t need anyone. What’s wrong with you? Maybe what you found out about your parents didn’t fit into your ideas of them, but at least try to be polite to the man.”

  He thought for a moment she’d strike out at him. Then she seemed to deflate, the anger swept away by pain that seemed an echo of Jacob’s.

  “I thought I was ready to see him. That all I wanted was the truth.” She drew in a breath. “I wasn’t prepared to feel anything.”

  “And you did.” His own annoyance was washed away by concern for her. “Jacob is your father. You’ll never have a chance to know your birth mother, but you can get to know him. Can’t you give him a chance?”

  “I don’t know.” She rubbed her forehead with a tired gesture, making him wonder how much sleep she’d gotten last night, between her bruises and wondering when Jacob would appear. “I’ll try, but it’s not easy. You can’t say anything about this situation is normal.”

  “No, I guess not.” He ran his hands along her arms. Now was clearly not the time to push anything. “Try to get some sleep tonight, will you? Do you want me to stay?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll take Barney and my cell phone to bed with me. I’ll be fine.”

  He touched her cheek lightly. “Okay. Go on in and lock up. I’ll watch until you’re safely tucked into the cottage.”

  She nodded, turning away before he could venture to kiss her. She walked steadily into the cottage, and even from here he could hear the lock click.

  He tried to put himself in her place. She’d had a lot thrown at her in recent weeks, with everything she’d thought she knew about her family turned upside down, following so closely on the tragic death of her mother. Not surprising that she was hesitant about building a relationship with her father.

  And what about his father? He started back to the car, thinking he ought to let him know before unleashing this bombshell on Echo Falls.