Alex moved to May-Jewel’s side. “Oh, Alex,” she exclaimed, “now we won’t have to worry about keeping your estate, and we can repair it and get lots more servants and have lots of parties!” Then she became serious and added, “Oh, but to think that they had been in your safe all along, Mr. Jameson. Just think of what we’ve been through because of them. The horror of Charles’ murder, the well, Selina and Garth! The total senselessness of it all!”
Neal stood shocked by what he was hearing. “You mean that all those deaths occurred because one old man didn’t remember bringing the gems to me?”
They could only nod in silence.
“Unbelievable.”
* * *
The sound of the shovel digging the small grave mingled with the restless winds off the moor. It was the final knell for the sorrows of the Craig family. The women joined hands with Alex and Neal as David said a simple prayer over the remains of the infant who was buried beside its mother. Wistmere had given up its last ghost, and the memories of what had happened would one day fade from their minds.
A soft wind teased at Katherine’s bonnet as she stood by the grave. It seemed to whisper to her, dree yer ain weird. She smiled, for she knew now that she did have control over her own destiny. She would do more than just carry on. She would prosper and always remain the mistress of Wistmere.
About the author: Rachel Secor is the pseudonym for the mother and daughter writing team of Leona Callander Seaver and Belinda Barrett. They’ve collaborated on numerous writing projects over the years, and they even attended college together at one point: Leona focused on history, and Belinda obtained a BA and MA in English Literature. When not writing, they spend time seeking family connections in genealogy; Rachel Secor is one of their ancestors. The authors live in upstate New York with Belinda’s husband, three dogs, and eight chickens.
Other works by Rachel Secor: Flight of the Great Blue Heron: A Boy’s Time-Travel Mystery
Legend has it that if you stand under the path of a great blue heron, happiness and joy will follow you always. But that’s not how 12 year old Sam Hobbs feels when he moves with his mother to his grandfather’s isolated farm in upstate New York. Restless and bored, Sam spends his days exploring the farm. When Sam finds a mysterious magnifying glass buried in the barn, he quickly learns that it has extraordinary powers. The magnifying glass transports him back in time to 1860 and the Blue Heron Inn. But this is no ordinary inn – it’s the final station on an Underground Railroad line that moves escaped slaves over the Canadian border just to the north. And the day he arrives is no ordinary day – for the Blue Heron Inn is about to burn down, and two victims will be buried in a secret chamber beneath the rubble until their discovery sixty years later. With his magnifying glass taken from him and his life in danger, Sam must help stop the murderer, retrieve his magnifying glass, and find his way home under the path of a great blue heron.
Also from Rachel Secor and available May 2020:
A Most Sweet Bargain
Victoria Storr is keeping a secret. She was headed for missionary work when her parents were killed, leaving her to raise her sister, Lily, and younger brother Mark the best she can, and this includes keeping from Lily the fact that her present admirer, Nathan, may jeopardize her future. To avoid any confrontation, Victoria fools her sister into leaving Albany for their summer house in the Adirondacks. But Lily’s beau follows.
To complicate matters of the heart, after arriving in Bannon Falls Victoria becomes infatuated with two different man, one who promises worldly love, the other promises something deeper. But when it comes to falling in love, Victoria is on her own, for she has no experience in discerning what romantic love is. She soon realizes that the wrong choice might just pose a greater threat to her than Nathan does to Lily.
Before long the truth about Nathan is revealed, but now he’s the one in danger. His past in England has caught up with him. He, too, has been followed into the mountains by someone seeking revenge and who won’t stop until he’s dead.
What can the Storr family do to save Nathan? Will Victoria have the insight it takes to choose the man she is destined to marry? Only their faith in God and each other can save the sisters and the men they love.
