Yesterday's Promise

by Linda Lee Chaikin

  Rogan’s fist smashed into Heyden’s belly, followed by a chop to the back of his neck, bringing him down on one knee, but Heyden came up again and rammed Rogan, sending him slamming against the wall. A picture crashed to the floor.

  Heyden took a swing at Rogan but was met with a blow to the chin that sent him backward against the stove. The collision sent a kettle clattering to the wall. Heyden slumped to the floor. This time he moaned but did not get up.

  Evy stared at the scene in confusion. What is going on!? Her gaze swerved to Rogan. Could she trust him? What if—

  He came to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her. His dark, earthy gaze held her captive.

  She hardly recognized him. He was tanned deeply from the African sun and now wore a small mustache. Although Rogan had never lacked masculine appeal, he was even more handsome now.

  “Rogan! What are you doing?”

  Rogan’s eyes hardened into rock. He started toward Heyden again.

  “No,” she cried, and he looked up at her, and for the moment she searched his face, his gaze told her nothing.

  “My one regret, Evy, is that I wasn’t here to protect you from him.”

  Evy looked from Rogan down to Heyden. From him?

  “What are you saying?” she whispered.

  “I believe it was Heyden who came to Rookswood years ago to confront Henry, believing he still had the Black Diamond. They had a row and things went badly, and Henry was shot, but I’ve no solid evidence to prove it.”

  “And you never will,” Heyden countered suddenly. “You’re lying through your teeth. Don’t fall for his schemes, Evy.”

  Heyden caught the edge of the table and pulled himself up from the floor. He leaned there, his lip cut, looking up at them with a thunderous scowl. “It’s the diamond he wants, Evy, not you. Don’t you see? The Black Diamond. He knows now that you’re the one van Buren heiress. The one person Jendaya will trust to tell where the Black is hidden.”

  Rogan went toward him. He grabbed Heyden by the front of his shirt and jerked him forward. “You’re lucky you’re still alive,” he said through gritted teeth. “If I were you I’d sit down nice and quiet and start worrying about being hanged.”

  He pushed Heyden into a kitchen chair and leaned toward him.

  “You think I don’t know it was you who killed Henry that night? You were convinced he had the Kimberly Black, but you were wrong. But by the time you discovered you were wrong, it was too late. Henry caught you red-handed in his study, and you decided to silence him.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re raving like a lunatic. Evy, go for Lord Brewster at once.”

  “Stay where you are, darling. Heyden van Buren is a murderer.”

  Darling. Evy couldn’t have moved if she wanted to.

  “You’re out of your mind,” Heyden sneered. “I was a boy when your uncle was killed. I was in the Transvaal and can prove it. If anyone killed him, you did. You and your obsession for his map and the Black Diamond.”

  Evy snapped awake. Which man should she trust with the sealed envelope? Rogan, of course—but was she absolutely certain? Her love must not get in the way. She would remain silent for now.

  Heyden’s use of the term “a boy” struck her. What had he told her the other night in London at Chantry Townhouse? Even a boy was capable of murder? Yes, that was it. Even a boy…

  “I wasn’t old enough to confront Henry,” Rogan said, “but you were. But I’ll admit there had to be someone else older and wiser who put you up to coming to Rookswood that night. Someone who also believed Henry had the Black Diamond.”

  “Keep talking. You’re only making a fool of yourself in front of Evy.”

  “Who was it, Heyden? Out with it! Julien Bley? No, not Julien. You despise him and his plans for British expansion into Boer territory. Was it Inga?”

  Heyden’s defiant smile was fixed. “If Mother and I decided to take back the diamond, why not? It came from the Transvaal Republic, Dutch territory. Territory stolen by the British. That diamond was a van Buren discovery. Julien stole it from Carl. Yes—from Evy’s grandfather. Julien even arranged for Carl van Buren to be killed in that mine explosion to take control of the discovery.”

  Could that be true? Evy wondered.

  “I’ve no particular love for Julien, but there’s no reason he would have arranged Carl van Buren’s death,” Rogan said.

  “I wouldn’t put it past him. Inga thinks so. My father was killed, too, in the same explosion with Carl. Had I held onto the Black Diamond in the Cape House stables that night, it would have gone for a good purpose, to finance a war with you cursed English! We will yet have one, and we will win.”

  “Then you admit knocking Henry unconscious in the stables?”

  “Yes. But I didn’t kill him that night at Rookswood. I wasn’t anywhere near Grimston Way.”

  “So that was your motive…to use the diamond to finance a Boer war? You’re crazy if you think you could have sold that on the international market.”

  Heyden glared at the scorn in Rogan’s voice.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Chantry. We could do it all right, and we will. We’ll get the diamond yet.”

  “You were around fourteen when Katie van Buren escaped Cape House to meet Henry in the stable. How did you manage to knock him unconscious?”

  “I was hiding in the stables before Henry came in. I knew Katie was coming to meet him there. Katie had Inga send Henry a message at Capetown harbor to come meet her. I was the messenger boy, though Katie didn’t know it. Before Henry arrived, I chose a spot where I could overhear everything they said. I heard them plotting about the Black Diamond and running off with it. But Katie wanted to go to Rorke’s Drift first to get Evy. When Katie and Henry came back from the house with the diamond, I was ready. He saw me when he came in for the horse, but he underestimated me. He thought I was on his side. He asked me to see to his golden gelding in the stall. When his back was turned, I clobbered him. I had the Black in my hand when I went out the back stable door with his horse. But someone jumped me from behind as I was mounting. I know now it was Dumaka.

  “When I awoke I was lying in a ditch behind the stables. Henry’s horse was still around somewhere. I heard Anthony looking for the horse. A short while later, when Anthony and Julien were accusing Henry of stealing the diamond, I was able to get back to the house to my mother, who fixed the bruise on my head. She hid me for a few days so Julien didn’t notice. He was always so occupied he never paid much attention to what Inga was doing anyway. There was a time when Inga tried to steal the Black, but she couldn’t find it, though she often searched. Katie was the only one who figured out where he kept it.”

  “So Inga was in on the whole thing,” Rogan said.

  “Absolutely. The entire van Buren family is dedicated to the Boer Republics.” He hastened a glance toward Evy. “But Inga loved Katie. She had no intention of hurting her, but she knew that Boer independence took precedence over everything else.”

  Evy remained silent, studying both men.

  “Then we both know that it was Dumaka who took the Black from you at the stables,” Rogan said. “You tried to get information about Dumaka from Jendaya at Dr. van Buren’s mission, isn’t that right? But she didn’t trust you and got away that night.”

  Heyden gave him a measuring glance. “You were at Jakob’s mission?”

  “I was there a few days. He told me everything he knew. He said you were looking for Dumaka and the Black. When I put two and two together, I knew the reason you were coming back to England was to find Evy and bring her back to South Africa. You were hoping to use Evy to gain information from Jendaya, but the woman was too smart to trust you.”

  “Jendaya should have cooperated with me. If she had, I wouldn’t have needed to bring Evy into this at all. Jendaya knows where Dumaka is. She’s just a stubborn old Zulu.”

  “She was wise. And she’s come to faith in Christ, and she wouldn’t have coope
rated with you anyway. She ran away because she guessed you would use Katie’s daughter to get information to take them to Dumaka. That it would be a dangerous and foolish move on your part. I know Dumaka. I’ve already spoken with him. He’s a warrior. And he’s fanatical about his spiritual beliefs. Beliefs that concern that Black Diamond. I’ve thought long and hard about why Dumaka would have worked for Julien Bley at Cape House. He’s an induna. With Jendaya it was different. She was a Christian, and she was recommended to work for Julien by Dr. and Mrs. Varley, who were at Rorke’s Drift at the time.”

  Heyden narrowed his eyes. “Dumaka knew Julien had the Black and was just waiting to find its location before he took Julien’s head for a trophy. Lucky for Julien he never did. Why Dumaka let me live, I don’t know, but it didn’t have anything to do with sentiment. He was probably just short on time.”

  Heyden looked up at Evy. “You accuse me for wanting to bring Evy to meet Jendaya, but Evy wants to meet her, and Jakob as well.” He turned a sharp glance on Rogan. “It would have worked, too, if you hadn’t come back with your meddling. You’re after the diamond too. Why not be man enough to admit it?”

  “Why did you think it was Henry and not Dumaka who took the diamond from you at the stables that night?”

  Heyden shrugged. “I didn’t think of Dumaka then. I thought I might not have struck Henry hard enough to keep him down. That somehow he’d managed to come to and jump me from behind. Later, Inga figured out it was Dumaka. He disappeared from Cape House that same night. He was seen among the Zulu fighting at Rorke’s Drift. Jendaya told me when I talked to her at Jakob’s mission.”

  Silence filled the dim pantry for the first time.

  “Then you didn’t kill Henry Chantry at Rookswood that night?” Evy asked her first question.

  “No.” Heyden looked at Rogan. “There’s your murderer right there.”

  “If that were true, I wouldn’t waste my time talking to you,” Rogan said dryly. “But you haven’t convinced me, Heyden. I think you did come to Rookswood that night. You didn’t know about Dumaka back then. You thought Henry had the Black.”

  There was a commotion at the front door. Wally rushed in, dragging Beth Hooper behind him. Both were flushed with excitement and their eyes wide.

  “Tell ’em what you know and seen, Beth. Don’t be afraid.”

  Beth looked up at Evy. “I’ve seen Mr. Heyden around the village the last few weeks, Miss Varley. I even talked to him down by the inn. He told me all about the Boers and said the British are cruel and unjust to them. He talked about a whip called a sjambok, saying they would whip the British into obedience with it in the next war. He said if I told anyone what I saw at the barn that he would use that whip on Digger, Wally’s dog, and kill him.”

  Wally glared at Heyden.

  Heyden started to get up from the chair, but Rogan shoved him back down.

  “Go on, Beth,” Evy urged. “What did you see at the barn?”

  “I saw Mr. Heyden around the carpenter shop in the barn belonging to Wally’s father the day before I saw him at the inn. Mr. Heyden came riding by, keeping close to the woods, as if he didn’t want anyone to see him. Then I went to hide behind a tree. I saw him sneak in through a window. Then Wally’s dog Digger started to bark. Mr. Heyden took off in a hurry, got on his horse, but he saw me as he rode off into the trees. He was gone before Wally arrived. But the next day Mr. Heyden found me alone and said what I just told you about Digger.”

  Evy was furious. To threaten a child with killing a pet! Her eyes shot from Heyden to Wally. “That was where you hid the sack with the dark blanket, wasn’t it, Wally? In the barn?”

  “It was, Miss. I told you yesterday someone’s been following me for two weeks or so, and it was him.” He pointed at Heyden. “I’ll wager he was trying to find out if I suspected anything. If I still had the blanket, and if I did, where I put it. I recognize his yellow hair.”

  “You are certain, Wally?” Evy asked, keeping her emotions under control.

  “Yes, Miss. Sure of it now.”

  Rogan’s dark brows were drawn together with intense curiosity. “Blanket? What blanket?”

  But before Evy or Wally could say anything, Heyden gave an icy stare at Wally and Beth. “You both think you’re ruddy clever little brats, don’t you?”

  “Intimidate the children again, Heyden, and you’ll soon be missing a few teeth,” Rogan warned, his voice cold and steely. “All right, out with it. You did come to Rookswood on the night Henry was killed.”

  “Absurd! I wasn’t anywhere in England that night. I’ve already told you. I didn’t kill him.”

  Rogan’s dark eyes were glittering. “I think you did, Heyden.”

  “You’re mad, Rogan. See for yourself, Cousin Evy. Yes, quite stark raving mad. He is the insane one in the family.”

  Evy felt drained. “I don’t think so, Heyden. Rogan, I have something I think is important. I found it in Uncle Edmund’s desk.” She turned her back to them, and when she faced them again, she held the sealed envelope.

  The two men looked up at her. Rogan watched intently. Heyden seemed to stop breathing, and his gaze dropped to the envelope.

  Heyden cried out, “Careful, Evy! That’s exactly what Rogan’s been looking for.” He stood, and this time Rogan didn’t push him back down into the chair, for he was staring at the envelope.

  “Rogan’s been in Grimston Way for weeks now, sneaking about. Just as he did when he was a boy. And yet he dares to accuse me. He’s the one who really killed Henry. I told you Rogan was here, didn’t I? I warned you. I was right, wasn’t I? Don’t let him get that envelope, Evy. It was Rogan who was searching the attic for something incriminating when you came home unexpectedly on Allhallows Eve. It threw him into a panic. He lost his head. And when you started up those steps, he was so frightened you’d recognize him that he pushed you down! You’re on crutches now for the rest of your life because of him.”

  Rogan whirled and looked at her in shock. “Pushed?”

  Heyden went unexpectedly pale.

  Rogan took a threatening step in his direction. “You just stated that Evy had been pushed down those steps.”

  Heyden was speechless.

  “Yes,” Evy cried. Her gaze fixed on Heyden. “How would you know I was pushed, Heyden? How would you know?” she repeated. Her heart thudded as she started down the steps without her crutches, leaning against the wall for support, emotion seizing her. “I’ve kept that horrifying nightmare to myself. I’ve told no one except Mrs. Croft, and she would never tell you. She doesn’t trust you. It was you, wasn’t it? I never thought of you, but I did fear it could be Lord Anthony Brewster.

  “And now—it was this letter you wanted, that you were searching for when I came home and surprised you. It was you who lost your head and came at me in a panic…with the blanket over your head. That hideous dark blanket that came at me…and shoved me backward. But Uncle Edmund outsmarted you! The letter you found in his desk was a decoy. The right envelope, but the wrong letter. Henry’s letter to Edmund is here inside this envelope. Edmund outsmarted you—good was wiser than evil. Uncle Edmund was as wise as a serpent, though harmless as a dove.”

  Rogan seemed to be in shock for a moment more. Then, blazing with anger, he turned toward Heyden, but too late. Heyden caught up a chair, bringing it down with a sickening noise against Rogan’s head.

  Evy thought she screamed but heard nothing come from her throat, just the pounding of her heart in her ears. She watched in frozen horror as Heyden kicked Rogan in the head and then started toward her with wild eyes. Wally and Beth tackled his legs and brought him tripping to the floor with a thud. Wally swung a chair against him, but not powerfully enough. Beth began hurling cups and glasses and pans at him as Evy fought her way up the steps with the letter to lock herself inside the attic. As Rogan started to stir, Heyden decided to flee while he had the chance. He broke from the pantry, rushing through the parlor like a crazed demon. Wally went out after him.<
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  Rogan pushed himself up from the floor, staggering, trying to regain control. He went after Heyden and Wally.

  Evy came back down the steps, her hands trembling, gripping the envelope.

  Wally burst back into the pantry from the front parlor.

  His eyes were wide and his face flushed. He pointed behind him. “The blond fellow jumped on his horse and took off. Master Rogan did the same, and now they’ve galloped off into Grimston Woods. Rogan was close behind. That black horse of his rides like the north wind!”

  Evy sank to the step. She couldn’t think clearly. Heyden, a murderer—

  And Rogan—

  And she loved him desperately, but—

  She dropped her head into her palms and out of desperation started to pray. “Oh, Father God, help Rogan, protect him, help us all!”

  She felt Beth’s trembling arm around her shoulders and raised her face. The girl’s eyes were anxious, and she was trembling and breathing hard. “Don’t be afraid, Miss Varley. He’s gone now. Master Rogan will stop him. Remember what you told me about God having plans for us, even if they’re different than we expected? They’re good plans, because God loves us.”

  Evy’s heart melted. She put her arms around Beth, and they held on to each other tightly.

  “Thank you for being brave enough to speak up, Beth. You did the right thing. And you were right to hurl those dishes at him. Even if we won’t have any more cups and saucers for a while.” She laughed nervously, and Beth suddenly grinned.

  Beth touched one of Evy’s crutches. “There’s a reason for painful things, even if we don’t always know what it is at the time. You were right, Miss Varley.”

  “It’s the Lord who is right,” Evy said. “He will be our confidence.”

  Wally came up and grinned at Beth. “Say, Twin, we done pretty good together, didn’t we?”

  “We did. How’s Digger?”

  “Chewing on a bone.”

  “You both are heroes,” Evy said with a smile. She held up the envelope intact.

  “Are you going to open it?” Wally urged.