Page 23 of The Women of Wild Hill

There were plenty of people on the estate at that moment. Whether any of them wanted to deal with the man and his wife was another issue altogether.

“That must be Rose!” The man bounded back down the porch stairs with a hand outstretched. “It’s good to meet you at last. I’m your uncle Charles and this is your dear aunt, Renata.”

“Why, look at you!” Aunt Renata had clearly chosen her favorite. “What a beauty you are! You look nothing like your sister. And yet you’re both the same. How is that possible?”

“We’re twins.” Rose, who was always so charming, lost interest in her aunt, whom she’d immediately and correctly pegged as an idiot.

“Where’s your mother, girls?” Charles inquired.

The front door of the cottage opened and a gust of wind swept Charles’s hat off his head and blew Renata halfway across the lawn.

“Here I am,” Sadie announced. She’d arrived in New York Harbor as a pretty nineteen-year-old lass who enjoyed wearing men’s clothing.

Now she was thirty-five and utterly magnificent.

Five foot ten, she had her clothes tailored to make her appear even taller and used a dye that turned her naturally red hair a deep rosewood.

“Hello, Charles, to what do we owe the honor of your visit?” she asked, making it perfectly clear that she was neither honored nor pleased to see her husband’s brother standing in the drive.

Charles appeared to have been struck dumb, like a mortal finding himself face-to-face with a goddess. If he’d doubted his sister-in-law could be responsible for his brother’s death, he must have reconsidered in that moment. It was his wife who first found the courage to speak.

“Dear Sadie,” she said, rushing forward to plant a kiss on her host’s cheek. “I am your sister, Renata. I must say—the rumors do not do you justice. You’re even lovelier than they claim.”

“Are those the same rumors that have me murdering my husband?” Sadie asked. “I believe my mother-in-law may have had something to do with those.”

“Mother went a bit mad when Angus died.” Charles had finally found his tongue. “She’s been gone for five years now, and Renata and I have come to mend fences.”

“Is that right?” Sadie sounded amused, even if she didn’t look it. She let the words linger in the air before she continued. “Well then, do come inside, and let’s have some tea while we catch up.”

The twins caught the girl sneaking a quick peek at Sadie, who was ushering the in-laws into the cottage, and saw their opening. When the adults were gone, they hurried over to the horseless carriage.

“Hello,” Rose greeted the girl. “I’m Rose, and this is my sister, Ivy. I can tell you’re nice. You have a lovely pink aura. What’s your name?”

Silence followed and the girl continued to stare straight ahead. She was pale and seemed a bit sickly.

“She must not have a name,” Ivy teased. “How sad. Shall we give her one? I’ve always been fond of the name Eustace.”

“Eustace!” Rose exclaimed. “How lovely!”

“I was told not to speak,” the girl managed to whisper while barely moving her lips.

“Who told you not to speak?” Ivy was utterly appalled. “This is our house. Sadie makes the rules here.”

“I’m just a servant.”

Ivy screwed up her face and looked at Rose, who seemed equally perplexed. “What does that matter?”

“I have to obey their commands.”

Rose rolled her eyes as she leaned toward her sister. “I knew I didn’t like them. His aura was gray as a storm cloud and she didn’t have one at all.” She turned back to the girl. “Why did they bring you to our house if they won’t let you speak?”

“The mistress demanded I come. So I won’t talk to the others.”

“The other what?” Ivy asked.

“The other servants!” In her frustration, the girl finally showed a flash of life.

Rose and Ivy giggled and the girl smiled cautiously. “What’s your name?” Rose asked.

“Molly,” the girl replied.

“Well, we’re rescuing you, Molly,” Ivy announced.

“Yes!” Rose agreed, opening the door of the automobile. “Now, come along for some fun before we get cross.” Rose had never been cross a day in her life.

“If we’re caught, you can say we kidnapped you,” Ivy added.

Once Molly was out of the car, Ivy and Rose each took one of her hands.

“We know a place where your captors will never find you,” Ivy said, giving her sister a mysterious look.

“The thicket?” Rose inquired.

“Indeed,” Ivy replied.

“Shall we run?” Rose asked.

“I think it’s wise,” Ivy said. “They could come for her at any moment.” And the two sisters flew with their guest past the old mansion, across the meadow and into the woods.

The thicket grew along the tall brick wall that circled the estate.

The raspberry and blackberry bushes had been around since Bessie’s day, and the Campbell who’d built the mansion had allowed them to stay, having seen their potential for keeping trespassers at bay.

Nothing short of barbwire could have served the purpose so well.

An intruder who managed to scale the wall would certainly balk at jumping down into the thorn-covered brambles.

But Ivy and Rose knew that in the summer months, the terrifying briars drooped with red and black berries.

The three girls plucked them off one by one, filling Rose’s outstretched apron.

Then the twins guided Molly to their secret cove, where they gorged on fruit and licked the juice off stained fingers.

“What a wonderful place this is,” Molly marveled. The color had begun to return to her face. She was lovely now that she didn’t look quite so ill. “Do you not live in the mansion?”

“No, our ghost has other plans for it,” Ivy told her.

“Is it nice where you live?” Rose jumped in before Molly had a chance to inquire about the ghost. The twins knew their uncle had a country home on the other side of the Island, but Sadie and her daughters had never been invited to visit.

Molly nodded. “I think so,” she said.

“You think so?” Ivy responded with arched eyebrows.

“It looked pretty today when we rode down the drive. But most days, there’s so much work to be done inside that I rarely see the sun.”

Ivy didn’t like the sound of that at all, but for the moment, she held her tongue.

Rose leaned over and brushed Molly’s cheek. “No wonder she looked so peaked!” Rose said. “She’s been working too hard. She needs more holidays.”

“What she needs is a swim.” Ivy began stripping off her stockings.

“Oh yes!” Rose agreed, following suit. Within a minute, the girls were bare and their clothes tossed in a pile. Molly shielded her eyes with her hand. “What’s wrong?” Rose asked.

“You’re naked.” Molly lowered her hand but kept her eyes averted.

“As nature made us,” Rose told her. “What could possibly be more beautiful than that?”

“I don’t think she can see it,” Ivy said. “Remember what Mother told us? Out there, they teach girls to be ashamed of their bodies.”

“How terrible!” Rose pronounced. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, Molly, we can swim in our chemises.”

“Even so. If someone should see—” Molly argued.

“No one will see you. This is our private beach.” Ivy ran into the water. “Come in,” she ordered. “The water is magical.”

“I can’t.” Molly seemed pained.

“Are you menstruating?” Rose asked.

“No!” Molly responded, sounding utterly scandalized at the mention of the word.

“Oh, is that something we’re supposed to feel bad about, too?” Rose asked and Ivy tittered.

“I’m so glad we don’t live out there where everything’s shameful,” Ivy said. “What a bore all of that must be!”

At last their guest gave up the fight and stripped down to her chemise.

It made the twins happy to see Molly splashing around in the surf like a little girl.

Which was, in fact, just what she was. Only Ivy noticed the very faint roundness of the belly to which the girl’s garment clung.

Once again, though, Ivy chose to keep her counsel.

But she was beginning to suspect that the Old One had brought Molly to Wild Hill for a reason.

Once they tired of swimming, the girls dressed and began their walk up Wild Hill toward the mansion.

“Look!” Molly pointed up at the mansion’s only visible window. A woman dressed in white, her chestnut hair trailing over both shoulders. Even from a distance, they could see her frown.

“Oh dear,” said Rose.

“Who is it?” Molly asked.

“That’s our ghost, Bessie,” Ivy told her. “The one I mentioned. She watches over our family and often appears as a warning.”

“What do you think she’s trying to tell us now?” Rose was concerned.

“I haven’t the foggiest,” Ivy admitted.

“I know,” Molly said.

“You do?” Rose seemed impressed. “I grew up with Bessie, and even I can’t read her thoughts.”

“Oh no,” Molly told her. “I don’t read minds, either. A man came to see Charles last week. I was asked to serve them drinks and they talked as if I wasn’t there. The man wants to buy this property to build a hotel.”

“Then he’s a very silly man,” Rose told her. “Mother will never sell Wild Hill.”

“That’s what Charles said. So he’s trying to find a way to have your parents’ marriage declared invalid and challenge your father’s will. He said his mother had a lawyer draw up the papers years ago, but she was too scared of your mother to take any action.”

“That was wise,” Ivy noted darkly.

“So he wants to take our home away?” Rose asked. It had never occurred to her that anyone could be quite so vile. “That’s why he’s here?”

“He’s keeping your mother busy while Mrs. Duncan searches for your parents’ marriage certificate. Since your parents were married abroad and none of the witnesses live here in America, the certificate is the only proof your mother will have.”

“And his wife would stoop to such deeds for him?” Rose asked. “Searching for papers to ruin three other women?”

“What choice does she have?” Molly asked.

The twins shared a glance, each wondering if the other had understood the strange question.

“It seems to me that she could choose not to betray other women,” Ivy said.