Lady in the Mist - Laurie Alice Eakes [110]
After another twenty minutes of slicing and crushing strawberries, then sliding the mass into one pot for jelly and another for jam, Tabitha thought the smell of strawberries would forever make her ill. The company was lively, though. Deborah and Dinah could talk of little other than their new gowns for the Midsummer Festival. Letty reminded them of all the work they still needed to do to have them ready in time, and urged them to clean more quickly. The girls complied. Not wanting the work in the kitchen to stop until Dominick appeared to tell her his search was complete, Tabitha slowed on her slicing.
“Getting tired?” Letty asked. “We should get Dominick in here to help you.”
“Where is he?” Dinah asked. “When food’s involved, he’s usually around.”
Tabitha laughed at that, then told what she could only justify as a stretching of the truth. “Not today.”
“Maybe it was having to kill a snake,” Dinah suggested. “It would put me off my feed.”
“He wasn’t off his feed earlier.” Letty gave Tabitha a quizzical glance. “Is he really off sulking somewhere?”
“I don’t know where he is.” That, at least, was the truth—more or less. She smashed a batch of strawberries so hard, juice sprayed over the sides of the bowl.
“They did have a lover’s quarrel,” Deborah crowed. “Look how she attacked those poor berries.”
“You were telling me about the embroidery on your gowns?” Tabitha made the change of subject deliberately obvious.
The girls giggled.
Letty frowned, her hands still. “What is he up to?” she murmured. “He looked like you’d handed him the gold at the end of the rainbow when you two came inside. It wasn’t a quarrel you were having.”
“No, but I expressed my interest in helping you all with the strawberries, and he wanted nothing to do with it.” Tabitha smiled. “He doesn’t seem to like domestic work.”
“No, but he’s good about telling us when we boil his egg too long,” Dinah called across the kitchen.
“He likes it runny.” Deborah made a gagging noise.
Letty scolded her, though she laughed while she did so.
“Three minutes, Dinah,” that young lady mimicked Dominick’s accent, “or it’s completely inedible.”
Tabitha laughed and wished she could hug him at that moment, then fix him three-minute eggs for the rest of his life.
“And the toast,” Deborah exclaimed. “He calls them fingers and—”
The back gate slammed and footfalls raced up the path. All the ladies in the kitchen swung to face the opening.
“Tabbie.” Fanny Trower flung herself into Tabitha’s arms. “Tabbie, Raleigh’s missing.”
“Missing? Where?” Tabitha took a deep breath to calm the sickening thrum of her heart. “No, don’t answer that. It’s a stupid question. I mean, when was the last time anyone saw him?”
“He went to bed like the rest of us.” Fanny’s words emerged between sobs. “Early. He and Father were going to go out fishing at dawn if the weather broke. But when Father went into Raleigh’s room, he wasn’t there. His bed hadn’t been slept in, and his window was open.”
“They stole him out of his room?” Dinah shrieked. “What kind of monster—”
“Dinah, hush.” Letty’s command was a whiplash. “Keep to your work,” she added more gently.
Afraid she might be sick, Tabitha took Fanny’s hand and led her outside. “Tell me everything you know about Raleigh last night.”
“There’s nothing more to tell.” Fanny’s pretty face was red and swollen from crying. “We hoped you might know something. But no one’s seen you for hours.”
“I’ve been here for quite a while.” Tabitha began the mundane task of scrubbing her hands in the basin beside the kitchen door, seeking calm with a routine exercise. “The Parkses knew.”
“No one there remembered. They’re upset too.”
“Yes, I know.” Tabitha continued to scrub her hands. “You say Raleigh’s window was open?”
“Ye-es.”
“Was the floor wet?”
Fanny stared at her. “My brother is missing and you’re worried about