Deathly Ever After: A 1930s Murder Mystery (Poison Ink Mysteries Book 5) by Beth Byers

Author:Beth Byers [Byers, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2019-09-08T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

MARIAN PARKER

Something had happened, of course it had. Joseph had told her to go to Harper’s Hollow by herself. It wasn’t that she objected, although her mother had. Marian didn’t mind taking the train to Harper’s Hollow alone. She suspected she’d be doing it time and again in the coming years. She was hardly afraid to travel alone.

It was that he hadn’t told her what had happened. She was sitting on this train, her dog lying at her feet, and she was thinking: Was Georgette all right? Had something happened with those orphans they’d taken in? Was Charles hurt? She didn’t think it would be any of those things, not if Joseph was sending her on ahead without an explanation. It had to be something else.

She pulled out her copy of The Chronicles of Harper’s Bend and took a deep breath in. Sliding into the tale that had cemented Georgette and Marian as friends (as it gave Marian a far better idea of Georgette’s nature) was just what Marian needed to occupy her mind. When she arrived in her new hometown, she would confirm that Georgette was well, that Charles was well, and that whatever had happened, they’d get through it together.

The train was rather full and Marian was pulled from her book time after time by the whispering of a large family. Four grown men, their mother, and what looked to be two wives. The men were quite obviously brothers. If you took two, side by side, they could just be friends. . The group of them together, however, proclaimed them for what they were. Two who had matching eyes. Three with the same jawline. The same thick hair in varying shades of brown. The same slight peak at their hairline. Two with quite large frames and two with somewhat more standard shapes.

“Are they sure it is Polly?” one of the men asked again. There was a bit of an agonized tone in his plea that had been what caught Marian’s attention.

“Yes, Harry. For the love of all that is holy, stop asking Mama. She told you all she knows.”

Harry shot a devil’s gaze at his brother and then glanced to the other two brothers. One shook his head, not meeting anyone’s gaze. He was leaning over, elbows on his knees, face in his hands. The other was staring out the window lost in thought. If Marian were to guess, she’d assume he hadn’t even heard the first brother.

“Why did it have to be Polly?” Harry muttered. “Why her?”

No one answered, but the mother wiped away a tear. Her handkerchief was so sopping one of her daughters-in-law reached out and pressed a fresh one into her hand. It didn’t seem to be the first time it had been done for her, and she didn’t seem to notice.

“Do you remember the way she sang every morning?” This was from the one who was still staring out the window. “She was always too good for us. We should have guessed God would take her back.

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