An Acquaintance with Darkness - Ann Rinaldi [81]
He said nothing.
"Didn't you tell me the bodies you brought back from Memphis were alive? And when I asked you if I would find dead bodies at the lab if I went there, you said no. That it was the end of the semester and they were all gone. Isn't that right, Robert?"
"Yes," he said hoarsely.
"I believed you, Robert. I was convinced Myra would make a fool of herself."
He'd allowed the horse to slow to a walk. "How long ago did you know Myra's father was doing an investigation?" he asked.
"I've known it for a while, but I've been able to keep her at bay."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I wasn't supposed to know what was going on."
"You suspected. You admitted that to me the last time we had this conversation. You should have told us."
"You should have told me things, too."
"Could you have been trusted? As soon as you found out, you decided to run away."
"Because I was betrayed. Not because I found it out."
We rode in silence for a minute or two. We were a block from Uncle Valentine's house. "Where is Uncle Valentine?" I asked.
"Home, waiting for you. He arrived at about eight this morning. Traveled on the cars all night. The minute he found out you were missing, he sent me for you. And I haven't slept all night. I was tipped off yesterday afternoon, just as I returned from my trip to the ironclad, about the police raid on the lab. I got there first, with two other students. Just in time to get the bodies out."
"So the police and reporters have nothing to go on, then."
"No. Only you have. You know now what we're doing. And you can turn us in anytime you want to."
"How dare you! Do you think I would do that?" He didn't answer.
"How did you find me? How did you know where I'd be?"
"Annie. She came around to see your uncle and told him—the train time and everything—so I knew you'd be in the vicinity of the depot. You can thank Custer for the rest."
"Annie." I fumed. "A fine friend she is."
"Yes, she is a fine friend. You're lucky to have her. She was worried about you running off to Godforsaken Richmond. There's hardly any food in Richmond. There's military rule. Annie felt she owed your uncle that much. I wouldn't criticize Annie. She knows what she's about."
"And I don't, I suppose."
He drew the chaise up in front of the house. "Did you let Addie go?" The brown eyes pinned me. I could tell he was hoping I would say no.
"Yes," I answered.
"Well, you've really repaid your uncle for all his kindness. I don't know why he puts up with you. I think he should put you in a convent school."
"I'm not Catholic."
"Well, maybe you'd learn right from wrong."
I gave a bitter laugh. "Like Johnny Surratt did?"
He was decent enough not to elaborate on that thought. He fell silent for a moment.
"The Spoon and the Mole have been working for my uncle all along, haven't they?" I asked. "And that night at the cemetery, when he chased them from my mother's grave, he planned it all so I would be indebted to him, didn't he?"
"Because he wanted you to live with him. He knew your mother had turned you against him. She knew about the body snatching. He wanted to make you think he was opposed to it, yes. But you wanted to live with people who were planning on assassinating the president."
"That is unfair, Robert!"
He sighed. "I'm weary of this. My head is spinning. I need to go home and sleep....Go into the house and face the music. He's waiting for you. I wish you luck."
I clambered down from the chaise. He handed down my portmanteau and the basket with Ulysses in it. "For your information," I told him, "I wanted to get in touch with you yesterday afternoon, when Myra sprang her plans on us. But I couldn't."
He nodded briefly. "A lot of good it does us now," he said.
I picked up my things and moved away. "I hate your mustache," I said.
23. Nothing and No One, He Said
I WAS TREMBLING when I went into the house. I set my things down in the hall. Ulysses meowed