In the Shadows

would so much as write to the man to let him know of their escape.

“Stay with us. At the boardinghouse. Mother will let you stay

on as long as you want. And now that Arth — well, we could use

two smart men around the place.”

Charles nodded solemnly. “I’m happy to do it, but you’ll have

to put out an advertisement for the second smart-man role. I don’t

know where you’ll find another.”

Cora laughed, and with the sound some of the pressure

released from Thom’s chest. They were alive, and safe, and free.

They still had each other.

Charles would die. He knew that. But while he was alive, he would

be happy, and that was enough for him.

Thom was already calculating how long an appropriate courtship

would last before he could make Cora his bride.

Cora would say yes, happily, finally freed from the burden of guilt

that had pulled on her for so long.

Minnie watched the ocean, where, at the place where the caves

jutted out into the water, a small, dark craft had launched into the

water. She would make Charles’s last months filled with light and

joy. She would make Cora take herself less seriously. She would

encourage the romance between her sister and Thomas. And she

would wait for the return of a person she never expected to see

again.

When she turned back to the others, she smiled, and they were

all so relieved that none of them saw the dark, empty void that had

taken up residence in her soul, the choices before her. Mary had been

right. Loving someone really was the worst sort of agony.

And she could never stop.

“At least we have each other,” Charles said, holding his hand

out to Minnie. She took it, taking Cora’s in her other. Linked thus,