Don't Tell a Soul

by Kirsten Miller

  “Is this Lark’s phone?” I asked as I clicked the home button.

  The answer appeared on the screen in front of me. Her wallpaper was a close-up of Grace Louth’s face as portrayed in the mural. I switched the phone off immediately and looked around to make sure no one else could have seen it.

  “Oh my God!” I whispered. “Why didn’t you give this to the police?”

  “You think Louth’s sheriff’s department has the resources to crack an iPhone password?” Sam asked. “Besides, the fire department determined that there wasn’t a crime. So the phone isn’t technically evidence. I drove up to Hastings to give it to Lark, but the hospital wouldn’t let me see her. They wouldn’t even deliver the phone to her room.”

  “That’s when we started to wonder if Lark was still there,” Miriam said. “Now we’re convinced that she’s not. We think she’s here in Louth, and she’s been sneaking back into the manor to look for this.”

  “But I don’t understand. Why all the secrecy?” I asked. “It’s her phone. Why doesn’t she just ask if anyone’s found it?”

  “Remember when I told you I thought Lark had discovered something while she was researching the manor?” Sam asked. “Whatever it is, I think it’s stored on this phone.”

  I knew he was right, and the phone in my hand suddenly felt a lot heavier.

  “We want you to give the phone back to her,” Miriam said. “But you can’t let anyone else know that you have it.”

  “Not Maisie, not Nolan, and definitely not James,” Sam warned me.

  “Why don’t you trust James?” I wanted to hear them say it out loud.

  “He claims Lark inherited mental illness from her father—and that it began to surface after she moved into the manor.” Sam looked over at his mother. “But Ruben suffers from PTSD. He got it serving our country. It’s not something you can pass down to your children.”

  “I believe Sam told you that I was working at the manor the night April Hughes went missing?” Miriam asked, and I nodded. “People claimed she lost her mind and ran into the woods. I knew in my heart that what they said about her wasn’t true. I did what I could back then, but I’ve always wished I’d done more. I’ve lived with the guilt for thirty-five years. I wasn’t going to sit by and let the same thing happen to another girl.”

  “Especially after what Lark said when they found her that night,” Sam added.

  “James told me Lark was raving about the Dead Girls,” I said.

  “No,” Sam said. “A friend of mine’s dad is a fireman. He told me Lark was only talking about one Dead Girl that night. She kept saying she’d seen April Hughes.”

  The hospital emergency room’s glass doors slid open, and the three of us went silent as two young men in down coats entered.

  “What the hell are they doing here?” I whispered. It was Mike and Brian.

  The two of them stopped a few feet inside and scanned the waiting room. I knew they were looking for me. Someone must have told them I’d be there. When they finally saw me sitting with the Reinharts, Mike gave Sam a curt nod.

  “I need to go have a word with those guys.” Sam rose from his seat. “Mom, why don’t you drive Bram back up to the manor.”

  Miriam picked up her manila envelope and slipped the photograph and note back into it. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get you home.”

  Out in the parking lot, Miriam guided me to a pickup truck. She opened the passenger door first, and took a moment to brush off the seat, which had been covered in a fine layer of dirt.

  “Sorry for the mess,” she said. “I had to take a fresh load of soil to one of my greenhouses before the snow started again yesterday.”

  “You have a farm?” I asked.

  “My husband and I grow organic vegetables. Of course, he’s been doing it all himself these past few months.”

  I was confused. “Why did you take a job at the manor if you have your own farm?”

  “Hop in,” she said, and I figured I wasn’t going to get an answer. But after I climbed into the truck, Miriam was still standing there. “My husband thinks I’ve lost it. But a woman I liked died at the manor, and I wasn’t satisfied with the explanation that was given. I don’t know how this will all turn out, but the worst thing in life is regret, and I knew I couldn’t live with doing nothing. And now that you’re there, I’m not going anywhere.”

  She closed my door, and I watched as she walked around to the other side. At that moment, I envied Sam more than anyone else in the world. I would have given anything for a mother like his—someone I knew in my heart I could trust.

  “Miriam,” I said once she’d settled in behind the wheel. “Do you know those two guys Sam went to speak with?”

  “Mike and Brian,” she replied. “They were on Sam’s football team last year.”

  “They’ve been following me all over town,” I said.

  “Following you?” When Miriam looked over at me, she must have seen I was serious. “I’ll tell Sam to make it stop. If they continue, we’ll have a chat with Sheriff Lee.”

  “Do you think they might be dangerous?” I asked.

  I expected her to say no, but Miriam thought for a moment. “I can’t say for sure,” she admitted. “Most people can be dangerous under the wrong circumstances. I’ll give you the same advice I’d give my own daughter. Don’t trust what anyone tells you. A girl should always go with her gut.”

  * * *

  —

  The drive home ended too quickly. I’d hoped for a little more time to prepare. Before I knew it, we’d passed between the hedges on either side of the drive, and the manor had come into view. I could see that someone was waiting. The pickup rolled to a stop in front of the entrance, where my uncle stood in the doorway.

  James hardly resembled the wild man I’d seen the previous night. A cashmere robe covered crisp blue pajamas, and his hair had been tamed by a comb. From a distance, he could have been mistaken for Mr. Rogers. I got out of the car, unsure what to make of the transformation, though as I got closer, I could see the red veins in his bloodshot eyes and patches of gray stubble that had escaped his razor.

  “Bram!” When James threw his arms around me in a smothering embrace, I could hear his heart racing and smell the scotch seeping out of his pores. “What happened? I’ve been frantic! I woke up to a note that said you were in the hospital!”

  “Your niece decided to take a walk through the woods this morning and ended up getting lost,” I heard Miriam say. She managed to make the incident sound more annoying than life-threatening. “Ruben Bellinger found her half-frozen and called an ambulance.”

  When James released me, I saw real terror on his face. “That man was here? In the woods around the manor?”

  “I believe Bram had wandered onto Ruben’s property,” Miriam said.

  “Oh my God.” James held my shoulders while he scanned my body as if searching for bloody wounds. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

  “No,” I said. “He saved my life. Why do you think he would hurt me?”

  James’s expression twisted. He looked at me as though I’d sided with Satan. “Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” he asked, his voice rising. “That man is a lunatic. When Dahlia was alive, he used to sneak through the woods to watch the manor at night. I could hear him trying all the doors and windows. I had to install new locks just to keep him out. I don’t even want to think about what he would have done to us if he’d ever gotten inside.”

  I could tell my uncle wasn’t purposely lying, but I didn’t believe he was right. “You heard Ruben Bellinger trying to break into the house?”

  “Every night!” James exclaimed. “He couldn’t accept the fact that Dahlia had moved on and remarried. He would have done anything to get her back. I can’t even tell you how often I had to stay up until dawn to protect my family from that
hillbilly head case.”

  “If Ruben’s so crazy, why did you let Lark go live with him?” I blurted.

  James’s expression turned dark. “I had no say in the matter,” he answered. “It was her mother’s decision. Dahlia had a soft spot for Ruben. She never believed that he might be dangerous. I warned her against letting Lark leave the manor, but she wouldn’t listen. I think we all know how that turned out, don’t we?”

  “How did it turn out?” I pressed. I wasn’t trying to be difficult. I truly didn’t understand what he was trying to say. Did he think Lark’s father had put her up to starting a fire?

  James shook his head as if the answer should have been clear.

  “What were you doing out in the woods, anyway?” he demanded.

  “Taking a walk,” I replied, realizing the moment I said it that I should have come up with a better excuse. “I’ve been down to Louth a hundred times. I got bored. I wanted to see something new.”

  “You went for a walk in your pajamas?”

  “I didn’t expect to run into anyone in the woods.”

  “The forest isn’t safe this time of year,” James said. “A girl froze to death out there a while back. You know what your mother would think if she heard about this.”

  My life was stuck on a loop. No matter where a conversation started, the subject always returned to drugs. “They tested me at the hospital. I’m completely clean.”

  “I’m not sure a drug test would convince your mother you’re well. Teenage girls don’t usually set out to explore the woods in their pajamas first thing in the morning. It’s a little unusual, wouldn’t you agree? Do you really want to give your mother the excuse she’s been looking for?”

  And there it was. James had just confirmed what I’d long suspected. My mother wanted nothing more than to dump me into a cardboard box with no label and send me away. “No,” I said. “Do you?”

  “Of course I don’t, sweetheart,” he answered, his voice lowering. “I’m on your side. But you haven’t lived in Louth long enough to realize what kind of trouble your misadventure will cause. By the end of the day, every single person in town is going to know about your visit to the hospital this morning. And they’re all going to be talking about how another girl lost her mind at the manor.”

  He was annoyed because his reputation was at stake. He was my mother’s brother, after all.

  “I’ll make sure everyone knows the truth,” Miriam said. I’d almost forgotten she was there. I was grateful she hadn’t left me to face him alone.

  James glared at her. “You and I both know that no one in this town gives a damn about the truth. Look at what they say about Lark. The girl has a long family history of mental health problems, and they make her out to be the victim of an ancient curse.” He turned back to me. “I’m trying to open an inn, Bram. The last thing I need are more stories about girls who’ve gone nuts here because of the curse. I invited you here because I thought we would be good for each other. I thought the two of us could prove all the rumors wrong.”

  That’s why he’d invited me to stay. Maisie had told me that James had gone around town talking about the troubled girl he’d taken in. He’d used me to look like a good guy—and to prove that his inn wasn’t cursed. “I’m sorry,” I said. Sorry that I had such a selfish asshole for an uncle.

  “And I forgive you,” James responded graciously. “But I’ll be keeping a closer eye on you until I’m convinced that you’re responsible enough to make your own decisions. So no more walks in the woods for a while.”

  “There you are!” a voice called out. I turned to see Nolan hiking up the drive. “Hello, Mr. Howland, Ms. Reinhart,” he greeted the others.

  “Nolan!” I was almost relieved to see him. Neither of the others seemed thrilled.

  “I just got back to Louth, and Jeb at the coffee shop said you were in the hospital this morning.” He gave me a once-over. “You okay?”

  I glanced at my uncle, who was glowering. Nolan followed my eyes and saw it, too.

  “I’m sorry,” he said uncomfortably. “Am I interrupting something? Should I come back later?”

  “We’re having a family discussion,” James informed him. “But, please—stay for a moment. My niece seems to keep finding herself in life-threatening situations. First she’s in a house that’s attacked by a band of thugs. Then she almost freezes to death in the woods. I know you were involved in the first incident. What did you have to do with the second?”

  Nolan opened his mouth but appeared too stunned to answer.

  “Nolan wasn’t even in Louth this morning,” I said in his defense.

  “I couldn’t sleep at our house last night, so I drove down to Manhattan,” Nolan added. “But our windows should be repaired by this evening.”

  “Ah, yes, the broken windows,” James replied. “Any progress identifying the culprits? How many enemies could anyone have in a town as small as this?”

  There was a subtle shift in Nolan’s expression. “As you know, my father’s investment in the manor seems to have stirred up some resentment in town.”

  “Of course,” James said. “The fact that they hate you couldn’t have anything to do with the disappearance of a young woman named Ella Bristol.”

  Nolan’s expression remained unchanged. “I think you’ve been misinformed, sir,” he said. “Ella has not disappeared. She posts regularly on her accounts. I know there’s lots of gossip going around town, but the truth is, Ella wasn’t happy in Louth.”

  “You seem to be drawn to troubled girls. Ella. Bram,” James said. “You were friends with my stepdaughter as well, were you not?”

  “I never thought of Lark as troubled,” Nolan argued. “I haven’t seen one shred of evidence that Bram is, either.” I felt my eyes widen. Nolan hadn’t backed down. No one had ever stuck their neck out for me like that.

  “Are you aware that my niece suffers from a drug addiction?” I gasped when James said it. He waited, eyebrow raised, for an answer.

  Of course Nolan knew. James had told the whole town. But saying it in front of me added insult to injury, and both Nolan and Miriam could see it.

  Nolan directed his answer to me. He seemed embarrassed that he knew. “I’ve heard that Bram is in recovery. Addiction is a disease, and I don’t judge people by their ailments. I think it’s amazing that she’s done so well. I wish I were half as brave.”

  I could tell that James was getting frustrated that his revelations were having no impact. “Perhaps you’re unaware that Bram narrowly avoided being charged with grand larceny after she stole pills from her last boyfriend’s parents?”

  I felt my face buring with anger and shame.

  Nolan glanced at me again before he answered. “Yes, I have heard about it, and I’m afraid I find it all very hard to believe.” I could hear the disgust in Nolan’s voice. “If I were her uncle, I think I’d take a closer look at her accuser.”

  I don’t know how I managed to keep my jaw off the ground. Someone actually seemed to believe I was innocent.

  “My niece is an addict. Facts are facts.” James shook his head as though the suggestion was ridiculous. “And the facts have led me to the conclusion that it is not in Bram’s best interests to spend any time with you going forward. Will you please let your father know that if my niece disappears for any reason, I will hold your family responsible?”

  After everything he’d said, I still couldn’t believe that he’d gone there. “James!” I shouted, and my uncle turned on me.

  “Stay out of this!” he roared.

  “I’ll pass along the message,” Nolan said, perfectly calm. “I’m sure he’ll find it quite interesting.”

  “I’m sure he will,” James sneered. “Have him give me a call if he has any questions.”

  Nolan looked at me. “If you need anything—anything at all—come an
d find me.”

  “Thank you for your concern, Nolan,” James said. “Now please, just go home.”

  Nolan kept his head held high as he turned and walked away.

  James waited until Nolan was out of sight to speak again. “You are not to leave your room for the rest of the day,” he told me. Then he turned to Miriam, who appeared utterly shell-shocked. “Escort my niece upstairs, please.”

  “I don’t need an escort,” I said. I touched Lark’s phone, which I’d shoved into the back pocket of my jeans. I hadn’t planned to leave my room anyway.

  Until then, James had kept his cruel side hidden. Now I knew who he was—and I knew what he thought of me. I couldn’t stay at the manor much longer. If not for Lark, I would have marched out the door right then. But I had to finish what I’d come to do. Miriam had given me the phone Lark had been looking for. I was sure something important was stored on it. Whatever it was, Lark wouldn’t be safe or satisfied until she had it. I had to find a way to return it to her.

  I lay on my bed in the rose room and ran my thumb across the screen. Grace Louth appeared. She seemed so determined—and now I knew why. Had Lark looked at the mural and seen what I’d seen? How much had she discovered about Grace’s escape? And why had April Hughes been the one on her mind on the night of the fire?

  I ran through April’s strange tale in my mind. A curse hadn’t killed her. I knew that much for certain. And Miriam was convinced that the girl she’d met had been scared—not insane. But it couldn’t have been a ghost that had scared her.

  I pulled out my own phone and Googled “April Hughes.” The top stories were the ones Lark had printed out and added to her scrapbook. It was on the third page of the Google search results that I found something that she hadn’t included—perhaps because it wasn’t about April. The article, from the college newspaper the Columbia Daily Spectator, focused on April’s mother and had been written months before tragedy had struck. The first thing I saw was a picture of the Hughes family standing by the waterfront in Louth.