Sound of Fear

by Marta Perry

  “Jacob?” Holding on to a convenient outcropping, she tilted her head back to look up, squinting against the sun.

  Movement caught her eye. For an instant she thought it was Jacob. But Barney burst into a hysterical volley of barking, and the shape resolved itself into a large rock. It quivered on the edge for a second and then plunged right toward her.

  Frantic, she shoved herself out of its path, thankful for Barney’s warning, her hands scrabbling for something to hang on to, flattening herself against the cliff by instinct.

  The rock hit bottom with a resounding crack and a splash, followed by a shower of smaller stones loosened by it. She ducked her head, compressing herself as if she could merge into the cliff while they bounced and rattled past her.

  The echo of sound died away, and she could think again. Jacob—he must have heard the rocks fall if he was at the top. Why wasn’t he calling to her? But Barney was barking furiously, and she could hear the scrabble of his feet as he tried to come to her.

  “Barney, stay!”

  Only the need to keep him safe let her raise her face from the shelter of her arms and assess her position. She was a good two feet from the trail, on the other side of the outcropping that had been her handhold. Now she gripped it with both hands, chest pressed to the surface, while her feet...

  She managed to look down and was instantly sorry. She stood on a ledge of rock—solid enough, but barely deep enough to hold the balls of her feet. Her heels overhung a sheer drop to the rocks below.

  Heart thudding, she pressed her face into the rock, struggling to get her breath back. How on earth had she gotten here? More to the point, how was she going to get out?

  Slowly, very slowly, she tilted her face back. Jacob was here, somewhere. He’d help her. She scanned the top of the cliff rearing over her head, looking for his face.

  But it wasn’t Jacob who peered down at her. It was Betty...passive, ineffectual Betty, who didn’t look so ineffective at the moment.

  Betty was looking at the base of the falls, no doubt expecting to see a body there, but finding only Barney straining up. For a moment she seemed puzzled, and then she spotted Amanda.

  Betty shook her head, clucking as if she’d just discovered an outdated can of food in the kitchen.

  “Why didn’t you just let go?” Her voice was still querulous. “Now I’ll have to shove even more rocks down.”

  “Betty, wait!” Frantic, she scanned the trail in either direction, but it was hopeless. She couldn’t get to it, and even if she did she’d be a sitting duck whether she tried to go up or down.

  “Well, what is it? I have to get back before anyone thinks I’m taking too long at the grocery store.”

  Was the woman mad? Or just so obsessed with her own agenda that she saw Amanda only as a pawn to be removed?

  “You don’t want to do this. You’ll be caught. And it’s not worth it. I’ve already told you I don’t want anything from Elizabeth.”

  Betty’s face contorted. “You think I believe that? That’s what Melanie said, too. But she didn’t mean it, and neither do you.”

  “Melanie...” Her brain started to work. “You were the person who was here with her that day, weren’t you?”

  “No one ever figured that out. No one even suspected. But then you had to come.” Betty sounded vexed. “If only you’d gone away. I tried to show you that you weren’t welcome here. Any more than your mother was.”

  Certainty settled deep. “You killed her, didn’t you? You killed my mother.”

  “Poor Melanie. The golden girl, her grandmother’s pet, child of the favorite son. Getting herself pregnant that way. I thought for sure she’d never come back. I’d finally get the attention I deserved.”

  Had Elizabeth ever noticed the seeds of division she was sowing in her own family with her favoritism? Had Melanie seen how much Betty resented her? Or had she innocently flaunted her status as the favorite?

  This was no time to be thinking of family dynamics. She pressed herself against the rock, aware of how cold her fingers were, clutching their perilous hold. Her only chance was to keep Betty talking. At least while she was talking, she wasn’t hurling rocks down.

  If she sent Barney for help...but where? No one was near.

  “How did you get rid of Melanie? Why didn’t anyone else know she’d come back?”

  “That was my cleverness.” Betty actually preened herself. “I was always in touch with Melanie. She thought I was on her side. When she was determined to come back, I arranged to see her before anyone else did. I told her that her grandmother would never forgive her. That she should arrange to meet with Jacob so they could run away together. I even suggested the meeting place, and she went along with it.”

  “She trusted you.” Well, why not? She must have thought her aunt Betty was sympathetic.

  “She made it easy. I drove her here. And while she was leaning over, watching for the first glimpse of her lover, I just gave her a little push.” She smiled. “No one survives a fall from the cliff. You won’t, either.”

  With that, she shoved another rock over. Shaking, Amanda thrust herself against the rock face, holding on by sheer force of will. A rock hit her shoulder, sending pain radiating through her. Worse, numbing her arm so that she could barely feel her fingers.

  Her cell phone was in her pocket, but it may as well be back in Boston for all the good it was doing. She didn’t dare let go even with one hand to reach for it.

  Below her Barney was barking again, shrill and furious, but he couldn’t help her. She was alone.

  How much longer could she hang on? Until someone came? But who would come? Obviously the note supposedly from Jacob hadn’t been genuine. And after what had happened between them, Trey wouldn’t be looking for her. She was alone. But Betty didn’t know that. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.

  “It’s no good, Betty. Sarah knows I was coming up here, and she insisted on calling Trey. He’ll be here soon.” If only that were true.

  “Not soon enough,” she said. “You can’t hold on much longer. You should have let go. This accident is going to be fatal. Maybe he’ll arrive in time to pull your body from the creek.”

  “You arranged the other things that happened to me.” Who would have suspected Betty?

  “Not really arranged. All I had to do was tell that useless boyfriend of Carlie’s how dangerous your claim was. I think he liked the idea. But he was inept. I could have done a better job myself. And when the police found him out, he actually tried to blackmail me. Me! I couldn’t allow that.”

  Amanda’s shoulder hurt abominably, and she couldn’t feel her fingers. How could she hold on through another deluge? Her only chance was to keep Betty talking and hope for a miracle.

  “Is he the one who broke into my house in Boston? No, that was you, wasn’t it?” She remembered, now that it was too late, something Betty had said about her lovely home, implying she’d seen it.

  “I was worried about the painting, you see. I kept track of you. I even knew when Juliet Curtiss came here to paint the falls. I thought it best if the painting vanished before it gave you ideas. All the time my mother was hiring private investigators to find you, I knew where you were. After all, Melanie confided in me. I just didn’t know about that dog.” She sounded aggrieved. “The painting led you here. Too bad.”

  Amanda heard her scuffling around at the top, probably lining up more rocks for another assault. It was no use. She couldn’t hold on any longer. If she let go...

  She yanked her mind back from that deadly place. Her mother would be ashamed of her. Did she mean Juliet? Or Melanie? She fought to clear her head. Did it matter? They had both been strong women in their own way, willing to fight for what they believed. Strength seeped back into her. Betty was pushing another rock to the edge. She could hear her ragged breathing
and the scrape of the rock.

  Be ready. Hold on. Don’t let them down.

  A scrape of rock, and she braced herself. It was coming—

  But it didn’t. There was a confused babble of sound. Voices. A volley of barks from Barney.

  And then an arm coming around her, supporting her. Jacob. Her father. And from above, Trey’s voice, anxious.

  “Hold on. They’re bringing the rope. Can you manage until then?”

  “Yah, for sure.” Jacob sounded strong, and his arm was steady. “My girl isn’t going to fall.”

  She wouldn’t let go, not now. Now with Trey there, and her father’s arm around her. Somehow the name that came to her lips was the Pennsylvania Dutch term the children used. “Daadi.”

  “That’s right.” Relief filled his voice. “You hold on until I get the rope around you. Listen for Trey. He’ll tell us when they’re ready to pull you up.”

  More voices up on top. And then Trey, seeming very close. “We’re ready.”

  She looked up, to find him just above her on the trail. He reached out, tantalizingly close but not able to touch her.

  “Amanda, listen. The rope will keep you safe. But there will be a moment when you have to let go. Just a moment, and then you’ll be close enough that we can grab you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  He looked reassured by the single word. “Okay.” He glanced up, as if signaling someone above him. “Now.”

  She peeled her fingers off the rock, forcing herself to focus on each one. For an agonizing moment she hung free, suspended. Then her father’s hands were grasping her legs, swinging her feet over to a secure foothold while Trey wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

  Safe. She was safe.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  IT SEEMED TO Amanda that it took only seconds until they’d reached the top. Or had she blanked out for a moment? She sank down on the ground a safe distance from the edge, nursing her injured shoulder.

  “You’re hurt.” Trey squatted beside her. “How bad?”

  She managed a faint smile. “You always seem to be picking me up after a mishap.” She glanced at Jacob, kneeling on the other side. “You and my father.”

  Chief Carmichaels bent over her, his ruddy face concerned. “Paramedics are on their way. We’d already called them for her.” He jerked his head toward the huddled, weeping figure that was Betty.

  Amanda looked once and then averted her gaze. It was somehow indecent to see her that way.

  She closed her eyes and found herself leaning against Trey’s shoulder. “I think I’ll just rest until they get here.”

  “Good idea.” He brushed a kiss lightly against her forehead, and she sensed him exchange a look with Jacob. “We won’t leave you. Not ever.”

  * * *

  AN HOUR LATER, after a visit to the emergency room for Amanda, Trey drove her and Jacob back to the farm. Chief Carmichaels, after one look at Trey’s determined face, dropped his insistence that Amanda give a statement, muttering that tomorrow would be soon enough. Relieved that he didn’t have to engage in battle on the subject, Trey had agreed.

  Now they sat at the welcoming table in Sarah’s kitchen, with the older of the kids grouped behind them. Amos seemed to give up any thought he might have had of excluding them. Not only were they deeply concerned for their cousin, but they’d inevitably hear a garbled tale from someone else. Best to be armed with the truth.

  Trey and Jacob sat on either side of Amanda. Trey studied her face, still pale and drawn in profile. She probably ought to be in bed, but she’d insisted she couldn’t relax just yet. She rubbed her left arm, enclosed in a sling to give her badly bruised shoulder extra support.

  “Hurting?” he murmured, leaning close. “Those capsules the doctor gave you...”

  A faint smile flickered across her face. “I’m not ready to be woozy just yet. I’ll take one when I decide to lie down. Besides, Sarah’s herbal tea is what I need right now.” She extended the smile to Sarah, who lifted the fat brown teapot, ready to freshen the cup.

  “Just a little,” Amanda said, watching the amber brew refill the cup. She darted a look at Trey. “Did Chief Carmichaels say anything about what...about Betty...”

  He clasped her left hand. “They took her straight to the hospital for evaluation. He said she was in no state to be kept in the local jail.”

  “No, she wasn’t.” He felt the shudder that went through her. Amanda would probably be a long time forgetting that experience.

  And it would take some doing for him to erase the memory of looking down and seeing her clinging so precariously to what seemed like sheer rock. No pleasant picnics at the falls for him, not anytime soon. It was just as well that he and Jacob had decided to split up, with Jacob going to the base of the falls and him to the top. When they’d heard the dog, they’d known they were right.

  Amanda tightened her grasp on his fingers. “I don’t know what a psychiatrist would think about it, but a lot of what she said in the intervals of trying to knock me off the cliff pointed to a lifelong grievance against her mother for favoring first her older brother and then his child. When she saw a chance to claim everything for her children, she grabbed it.”

  “Wicked, that’s what I’d call it,” Sarah said. “Downright wicked. But we have to forgive, or we’ll be forever tied to the woman.”

  Was that directed toward Jacob or toward Amanda? Whichever, it was good advice. Sarah had a gift for putting spiritual truths into language a child could understand.

  Trey rested his arm across the back of Amanda’s chair, letting his fingers touch her uninjured shoulder. Could she forgive? He wasn’t too concerned about Elizabeth or Betty, but for Amanda’s own sake, it would be for the best.

  But the expression she turned toward him was free of anger and resentment. “I’m just relieved I’m still in one piece. And that all the questions have been answered.”

  “Yah,” Jacob said. “We all needed that, ain’t so?”

  Into the brief silence that followed his comment came the sound of a car outside. Barney stirred from his position at Amanda’s feet, wedging himself protectively against her chair. Poor Barney. They’d finally had to tie him to a tree to keep him from launching himself into space to get to Amanda. Trey knew how he’d felt.

  He rose, touching her shoulder lightly before moving toward the window. “If that’s Chief Carmichaels with more questions...”

  But it wasn’t a police car. Mrs. Lindstrom got out of the stately black sedan and went around to assist Mrs. Winthrop from the passenger seat.

  He turned to meet Amanda’s inquiring gaze. “It’s your great-grandmother.”

  She looked shocked, but no more so than he felt. “I thought she didn’t go out.” She started to get up.

  He and Jacob simultaneously reached out to stop her. “You stay put. I’ll help her come in, if that’s what you want. Whatever she has to say, she’ll have to say it in front of your family.”

  To his surprise, she didn’t argue. Reflecting that she’d have something to say about his making decisions when she felt better, he went out in time to give Helen a hand in getting Mrs. Winthrop up the steps to the porch.

  “Should you be out? I’m sure Amanda would have come to you, maybe tomorrow.”

  “I’m not helpless yet,” she snapped. Shrugging off his hand, she forged into the house, with Helen rolling her eyes as she followed.

  “Sorry,” she muttered. “When she had the whole story from Chief Carmichaels, nothing would do but that she come. I couldn’t stop her.”

  In the kitchen, Amos moved quickly to hold a chair for her, motioning to the boys to bring another for Helen Lindstrom. “Please, sit here.”

  She sat, propping her cane against the table next to her. Her hooded eyes seemed
to scan every face until they came to Amanda. “You’re hurt.”

  “It’s not bad,” Amanda said quickly. “Just a bruised shoulder from a rock.”

  Elizabeth’s face grew bleak. “I can’t believe I didn’t see. Betty. All this time, right under my nose.”

  He held his breath, waiting for Amanda to say that it was partially her own fault, but she didn’t. Her face was filled with pity.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice soft.

  What else could anyone say? Whatever her sins, Elizabeth was already paying the penalty.

  “Yes, well, that’s not what I came here to say.” She glanced around the table, her gaze lingering on Jacob’s face. “Small wonder if you prefer your father’s side of the family to the other. But you’re always welcome in my house. I hope you won’t feel you have to stay away from us because of Betty.”

  He could almost feel the generous response welling in Amanda. “Of course not. You are my great-grandmother. I hope we can get to know one another better.”

  “That’s more generous than I expected. Or deserve.” Trey had never seen Elizabeth Winthrop being humble before, and it unnerved him.

  “I think it’s time to let go of the past.” Amanda looked from her father to him. “We’ll make a fresh start.”

  “Good.” She thumped her cane once and then rose, so quickly that Amos and Helen both had to jump to their feet to assist her. “That’s all I came to say. Except...” Her voice softened. “If Melanie had come to me that day, I’d have welcomed her back. And you.”

  Tears glinted in her eyes, and she turned and stumped her way out of the kitchen.

  * * *

  ONCE HER GREAT-GRANDMOTHER had gone, Amanda was swept with a wave of exhaustion. She suddenly found herself too tired to keep her eyes open. She stifled a yawn.

  “I think I’m not going to make sense if we talk any longer. Bed is sounding very good to me. That injection they gave me at the hospital must have been stronger than I thought.”