'And he was just a ranch hand?'
'Well, a little more than that. Russell made him foreman just a week or two after he came here. But after he arrived, things went sour.'
'What kinds of things? Problems with the cattle?'
'Much worse than that. The first spring after Ben first appeared on the doorstep, my Aunt Adeline-the one you were named after-disappeared. She was only twenty years old. Ben took her and her brother Cade to town one day, and when it came time to leave, they couldn't find her. It was like she'd vanished into thin air. The whole county looked for day and night for weeks, but they never found a trace of her. At the time no one blamed Ben, but later on people began to suspect he'd had something to do with her disappearance. There was never any love lost between the two of them. '
'That hardly proves he did anything to make her disappear.'
'Yes, but he was the most likely suspect. And then just after fall roundup Grampa Warner was found dead in his bed, strangled.'
Though she'd heard that part of the story before, Addie's face wrinkled with disgust. 'How awful. But how did you know for certain Ben Hunter did it?'
'The cord that was used to strangle Russell was a string from Ben's guitar. He was the only one on the ranch who played the guitar. Oh, he could make the most beautiful sounds with it. Music would just float out over the house at night.' Leah shuddered delicately. 'I was just a little girl then. I would lie in bed and listen to that music, thinking it was just like angels' songs. And there was something else they found… oh, yes, a button off Ben's shirt, right there by the body.'
'Sounds to me like he was guilty.'
'Everyone thought so. And he had no alibi. So he sneaked out of town in a hurry and he's never been seen or heard from since. If he'd come back before now, he'd have been dry-gulched in a minute. But now I guess he figures he's too old for anyone to want to hang him.'
'I don't know about that. People around here have long memories. I think he's bought himself a whole lot of trouble by coming back. I wonder if it really is Ben Hunter. Do you think he's sorry about killing Russell?'
'I don't know.' Leah shook her head doubtfully. 'I wonder why he did it.'
'He's the only one who really knows. Most people think he was paid to do it. Grampa Warner had a lot of enemies. Or maybe it was… something about a will… I never understood.' Leah sank back into the pillow, suddenly exhausted. Addie gripped her slender hand tightly as she felt it go limp. 'Don't you ever go near him,' Leah said breathlessly. 'Don't ever. Promise me.'
'I promise I won't.'
'Oh, Addie, you look so much like her. I'm afraid of what might happen if he gets near you again.'
'Nothing would happen,' Addie said, unable to understand why Leah's eyes were so feverishly bright. 'What could he do? He's the one who should be afraid, not us. I hope someone tells the police about him. No matter how old he is, justice is justice, and he should pay for what he did.'
'Just stay away from him, please.'
'Shhh. I won't go near him. Don't fret.' Addie waited until Leah fell into a troubled sleep. Then she stood up and walked over to the window staring outside. She remembered a leathery face the color of tobacco, and startling emerald eyes. Had that old man stared at her like that because she resembled Adeline Warner? She wondered how close the likeness might be. Never having seen any pictures of her, Addie had only Leah's assurances that she looked like Adeline. There were no photographs, no keepsakes, nothing to prove that Adeline Warner had ever existed, save a carefully inscribed name in the family Bible.
Disappeared. How could someone disappear without a trace? Every time she'd heard mention of the missing Adeline, the mystery of it had fascinated her. Today was the first time she'd ever heard about Ben Hunter having something to do with it. Unable to contain her curiosity, she pressed Leah about it when she brought in her dinner tray that night.
'Just how much am I like Adeline?'
'I've always said you're the living image of her.'
'No, I don't mean looks. I mean the way she
'What strange questions to be asking, Addie. What does it matter how much like her you are?'
Addie stretched out at the foot of the bed, smiling lazily. 'I don't really know. Just curious.'
'I guess I can tell you a few things. You're very different from Adeline Warner, honey. There was something a little wild about her, something exciting, and it didn't sit well on a girl her age. She was spoiled by everybody. ' Leah paused and her eyes became soft and distant. 'Adeline was sweet as sugar when she got her own way, and that was pretty often. But there were things about her that made me uneasy. I was fascinated by Aunt Adeline, thought she was the most beautiful woman alive, even more beautiful than my mother. But she was a schemer. And people never seemed to mean as much to her as money.'
'Did people like her?'
'Goodness, yes. All the Warners doted on her. Her father was just wild about her. She was Grampa Warner's favorite child, even though Cade was his only son. And every man in the county fell in love with her sooner or later. The men went crazy for her. And 0l' Man Johnson-when he was young, he lost his head over her, never did recover from her disappearing like that. She had him in her spell, just like she had everyone else.'
'Definitely not like me,' Addie said ruefully, and chuckled. 'Now, if only I looked like Mary Pickford, no man around here would stand a chance.'
'You don't give yourself the chance, honey. The only men you see are the ones in the hospital. Veterans of the war. Crippled and tired men-it's not good that you spend all your spare time nursing and taking care of them. You should be visiting with young men your own age. Going to dances and parties instead of hiding here with me.'
'Hiding?' Addie repeated the word indignantly. 'I am not hiding from anything. I like to spend my time with you.'
'But there are times when you could call one of the neighbors to come and stay with me a few hours. You don't have to be here all the time.'
'You're talking like it's a terrible chore to be here with you. But you're the only family I have. I owe you everything. '
'I wish you wouldn't say that.' Leah turned her attention to the dinner tray and salted everything on the plate with a heavy hand. 'I wish I could know I've done right by you. I don't want you to wind up an old maid, Addie. You should be married and have children.'
'If the Lord intends that, he'll send the right man along-'
'Yes, but you'll be so busy taking care of me, someone else'll get him.'
Addie laughed. 'One thing's for sure. If I do end up married, it won't be to anyone I've met so far. There's no one in Sunrise I'd have as a husband. And the only new man in town is Ben Hunter.'
'Don't tease about him. He worries me. Even if you hadn't told me he was here, I'd still know something was wrong. It's like a shadow's fallen over the town.'
'Isn't that strange? I feel like something's different in the air too. Like something's waiting to happen. Now that Ben Hunter's returned, wouldn't it be funny if the old Adeline suddenly appeared after fifty years of being missing?'
'She'll never come back,' Leah said with utter certainty.
'Why not? Do you think he killed her?'
Leah was quiet for a long time, her gaze becoming distant. 'I've thought about it for years. I think her disappearing like that bothered me more than anyone except her daddy. I never stopped wondering what happened on that day she vanished. It's haunted me all my life. I think something strange happened to her, something different from being killed or kidnapped, or running away, like most folks said. People just don't
