Echoes of Tomorrow by Jenny Lykins

Author:Jenny Lykins [Lykins, Jenny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jove
Published: 1997-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

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"That poor gal don't know nothin' but her name, Mistah Reed. Her name and yours. She say it be like she woke up screamin' yo name and then there you be standin' in front of her."

The master of Oak Vista stared across the desk at his long-time housekeeper. He had an eerie feeling that all was not as it appeared. Nell was not a good liar, but he couldn't decide if she was prevaricating, or if she was merely uncomfortable about the strange arrival of an even stranger visitor.

The crunch of carriage wheels alerted the household that yet another visitor had arrived. Reed was dismally aware of the probable identity of that person. Knuckling his eyes and shaking his head in denial, he rose from behind the desk and made his reluctant journey to the door. No sense in putting this off.

A veritable cloud of ruffles floated on the breeze in the open door as Angeline sashayed into the foyer. A fleeting thought struck Reed that he much preferred his shirt as feminine attire over this abundance of frippery.

"Reed, sugar, aren't you ready to go visiting?" The pouty look of reproach on Angeline's face had the stamp of being well rehearsed.

Reed had forgotten. The morning's bizarre events had wiped the scheduled activities completely from his mind. He smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand, and after a mental note to never repeat that painful gesture, he wondered where on earth he had ever picked up such a thing.

"I am sorry, my dear. I will be ready in a moment. Business, you know."

He almost - but not quite - cringed at the sound of several elephants galloping down his staircase. For some reason he couldn't quite pinpoint, he wasn't surprised when he turned and found only one small woman creating all the ruckus. Strangely enough, he'd known it was her before ever looking.

"Is this the business you spoke of?" Angeline's voice dripped with such ice, he half expected to see her breath plume in a mist when she spoke. He sent up a prayer of thanks that Elise no longer wore his shirt.

"Angeline, may I present Miss Elise Gerard. Miss Gerard, Angeline Simon."

Elise marched up to Angeline and stuck out her hand, exactly as she had done earlier to him.

Reed groaned.

"Miss Simon, how do you do?"

Angeline turned her frosty stare of disbelief to Elise's out-stretched hand.

"I am fine, thank you." She ignored Elise's gesture and gave her an almost imperceptible nod of her head. Elise withdrew her hand and knocked some imaginary lint from her skirts.

Silence reigned as the trio stood; one bristling, one itching to remove himself, and one seeming to be happily unaware of the tension vibrating the air.

Reed interrupted the silence by clearing his throat.

"It seems Miss Gerard has met with some sort of accident or illness. She...appeared at Oak Vista this morning, knowing only her name."

"And yours." Elise volunteered this useful piece of information in a much too cheerful fashion. When two sets of eyes turned to her, she immediately lowered her eyebrows into a look of studied confusion.

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