Waiting for the Moon

Selena touched Maeve's wet cheek. "Oh, Maeve. Our children will never be afraid of you. They will know from the beginning that Grandma has good days, and not so good days. And they will know that you love them. That will be enough."

"No." Maeve said the word softly, shaking her head.

"Yes," Selena answered firmly, believing it with all her heart. "It's what Herbert should have told Ian long, long ago."

Maeve sat back on her heels and hung her head. "I pray you're right."

"Don't pray, Maeve, believe."

Ian leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Checkmate."

Johann stared at the board, empty but for a few key pieces. Like Ian's king and queen and Johann's rook. "Damn."

"That's two in a row for Dr. Carrick," Andrew said with a bright grin.

276

Johann smiled. "I'd think about changing to poker, but with Ian's degenerate background, I wouldn't have a chance. How about charades? You're far too stuffy to perform well."

Ian started to answer, but his words were cut off by the sound of a carriage approaching the house. At once, Andrew and Edith and the queen surged to their feet and thundered to the front door. They squished together and stared out the small side panel window.

"Who'd be out on a day like this?" Edith said. " Tis rainin' cats and dogs."

"It's an old man on an even older wagon," Andrew said.

The queen gasped and dropped into a knee-popping curtsy. "It's Albert. He's come for me at last."

Edith made a clucking sound. "If that's the royal carriage, things ain't goin' so well in the homeland."

Ian pushed back from the game table and got to his feet, strolling toward the door. Opening it, he stood in the entrance. The wagon came to a slow, groaning stop, then a man climbed down from the driver's seat and walked up the gravel path.

The stranger was a big man, with the broad shoulders and beefy arms of a farmer. A floppy-brimmed brown hat, splotched by the rain, covered his face and fell in folds above his ears. He wore a brown, rain-marked woolen suit and heavy black boots. At the bottom of the porch steps, he paused. Without looking up, he climbed the stairs slowly, one creaking step at a time.

Finally, on the porch, he looked up and pulled off his hat, crushing it beneath his arm.

Immediately Edith and the queen screamed and scrambled backward.

Half of the man's face was horribly scarred. An old scar, by the looks of it. Ugly, purplish ridges creased his cheekbone; the skin pulled his left eye down in the corner. One ear was a dark hole in the middle of raised, welted flesh. Short, close-cropped gray hair grew thick

277

and full on the right side of his head, and in tufted patches on the left.

"Hello," Ian said. "I'm Dr. Carrick." The stranger reciprocated with an uneven smile that, pulled hard at the scar tissue. "I'm Elliot Brown." "Come in," Ian said, backing into the foyer. The inmates scattered like ants, scurrying into dark corners to watch the scarred man's entrance.

Elliot stepped over the threshold and paused on the small rug in front of the door. His huge, booted feet made the rug look like a postage stamp. He stared down at the floor for a long minute, then cleared his throat and looked up. "I'm sorry to bother you... ." Ian smiled. "Don't worry about it." Elliot reached into his big, damp pocket, pulling out a wrinkled, dirty piece of paper. "I've come about the woman you found. She's my wife."

"Oh, Lord," Johann said from the parlor. His chair squeaked as he rose, his heels clicked across the hardwood floor.

Ian stared at the old man in shock. "What?" "Ian! Look!" Selena's high, excited voice cut into the silence. She stood at the top of the stairs, wearing his mother's wedding dress. Her long hair cascaded around her flushed face.

Smiling, she hurried down the steps. When she saw the stranger, she came to a sudden stop. Her mouth fell open for a split second, and then she was smiling again. "We have a guest." She glided over to Elliot. "Welcome to Lethe House, sir. May we steal your coat?"

"Hello, Agnes," Elliot said, taking a hulking step toward her. "Sheriff Monahan told me a woman was staying up at this place. He knew you were missing. I've come for you."

Ian could barely turn, barely move. This man, this scarred, shambling man, had come for Selena. Come for her. The words cycled through his brain until he couldn't think of anything else, could barely breathe.

278