In the Shadows

“But it’s safe for Arthur?”

“What Arthur does is his business.”

“But what I do is yours?”

“Strawberries!” Charles said, standing.

Minnie’s scowl melted in confusion. “Strawberries?”

“Do you think they’ll have any today? It’s Market Day down

by the pier, isn’t it? I’d love some strawberries.”

“Don’t be silly,” Cora answered, standing to fold the blanket

and tuck it into the basket. “Market Day is overpriced nonsense

for the tourists. If you want strawberries, we’ll go through John.

He’ll do us fair.”

Charles knew she’d say that, of course. They’d already had

this discussion when Thom had come back with a basket of fruit

two days prior. But Cora was no longer arguing with Minnie,

because now she had a task. And both sisters had forgotten

about Arthur. The way Minnie studied the older boy, Charles

suspected he was the source of her far-off, troubled gazes. Divert-

ing her attentions from Arthur was also essential to his quest for

a kiss.

“Yes, let’s avoid the market,” Thom said, shuffling his feet and

dodging Charles’s eyes with an odd intensity. Come to think of it,

Thom had been in a strange mood when he came back with that

silly basket of fruit. Charles had thought it merely worry for his

health, but maybe it was something else entirely.

“The old church is on the way. It’s haunted,” Minnie said,

with the same reverent sweetness another girl might comment on

the stained-glass windows or historic steeple.

“Perfect!” Charles held out his elbow to her, noting with plea-

sure when Arthur drifted behind them.

The chapel was a narrow white building, too small for the