The Solace of Stars by Kathleen Ernst

Author:Kathleen Ernst [Kathleen Ernst]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Level Best Books
Published: 2023-06-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

That evening, after Jacobine had gone to bed, Hanneke stepped outside to watch the night settle on Safe Haven Farm. Her farm. It was reassuring to feel the muddy ground beneath her shoes.

The rain had passed, and the sky was clearing. It occurred to her that although she usually felt closest to her husband when she studied the stars, she walked in his footsteps whenever she strode to the barn or carried buckets to the pump. She owned this property because Fridolin had purchased it, worked it, willed it to her. He was all around her. I still wish I could talk through this problem with you, she told him, but he didn’t answer.

She was wrestling with a new conundrum. Jacobine hadn’t questioned why the deputy sheriff had accompanied Hanneke to the Ketzler farm earlier that day. Perhaps she’d been afraid to ask. Perhaps she’d been so distraught that it hadn’t occurred to her. Hanneke had planned to tell Jacobine about Karoline’s bloodstained skirt…but Jacobine was already anxious and teary-eyed about her mother’s disappearance. Fearing that the laundry basket find would be more bad news than the girl could manage, Hanneke had not spoken of it.

It was another lie of omission, though.

She shook her head at the irony. Moments like this provided reluctant insight into Fridolin’s dilemma when he’d chosen to keep secrets from her. Sometimes, the fear of hurting a loved one overpowered logic. Was that why Jacobine was keeping secrets? The evasions were maddening.

I’m still trying to build trust with Jacobine, Hanneke reminded herself. That required a flexible and gentle touch. Still…the truth was certain to come out, just as Fridolin’s truth had been revealed last spring.

The wind picked up. As Hanneke gripped her cloak more tightly at her throat, a wisp of movement in the distance caught her eye. She squinted toward the Scheune. I just saw a human shadow, she thought.

Didn’t I?

Already, she wasn’t sure. If her eyes had not deceived her, the person had disappeared behind the grain barn. Hanneke fervently hoped that a runaway was seeking shelter in her barn for the night. It would be a blessing to think that she’d helped at least one person that day.

* * *

The next morning, Hanneke and Jacobine walked to the Ketzler Farm. Maybe we’ll find Karoline sitting in the warm kitchen with a cup of coffee, Hanneke thought. She imagined her friend saying, “I’m sorry I worried you. I needed to get away from this place for a while, but I’m feeling better now.”

That forlorn hope vanished when they emerged from the forest path. The chimney was still smokeless, the house still locked and empty. Hans Goetsch had taken the Ketzler livestock to tend at his place, and without even a few chickens in the yard, the farm was truly desolate.

Hanneke put a hand on Jacobine’s wrist. “You know that Deputy Barlow has organized a search for your mother. The word will spread fast. Someone might know something helpful.”

“I know.” Jacobine’s bleak expression didn’t change, as if—unlike Hanneke–she hadn’t allowed herself even a splinter of hope.

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