Tuppence (The Tipton Hollow 3)

“I think she is as safe up there as any young woman living alone in these times can be living anywhere, don’t you?” Mark edged without saying outright that he wasn’t happy that Tuppence was up there alone. There would be nobody more delighted than he was going to be when Tuppence eventually announced that she had sold the farm.

“I heard that Mr Lewis has offered to buy the place off her,” Isaac informed him.

“But she refused.”

Isaac nodded even though Mark hadn’t really asked him a question. Mark shifted in his saddle and looked at his friend. “What do you know about Angus Richmond?”

Isaac snorted. “I know that he is a social climber. He has called upon us already. Mother was a little wary of him because he just appeared out of nowhere but met with him when he turned up on the doorstep because she was curious about him. She says that he was rather pleasant, if brash, but you know what mother is like. To her, everyone outside of her social circuit is brash.”

“Your mother is an astute judge of character,” Mark reminded him.

“She didn’t like him,” Isaac announced bluntly. “We had our autumn ball last week, and she absolutely refused to extend an invitation to him. That should tell you how little she considered his fortune to be estimable.”

“Does he really have a fortune? I heard that he has purchased the local farms at less than their market value, but given the farmers have been financially struggling, they took the money and ran anyway. I can’t blame them. I mean, who wouldn’t refuse a chunk of money to leave a life of poverty?”

“I don’t blame the farmers for leaving. But one must question Richmond’s morals. If he wants to be deemed a local then his business dealings should be fair and honest,” Isaac warned.

“He is a shady character,” Mark murmured.

“Have you cause to look into his background?” Isaac asked, unsure why he was so curious about the man. He was intrigued, but mostly because he wanted to know if he should warn both Tuppence and his mother away from having any association with the man.

“No, but Harriett has mentioned him a time or two. She has spoken to the wife of the last farmer whose property he purchased. Mrs Glover was angry that they had received so little for their place even though they were relieved that they could at least try to get more stable employment elsewhere.” Mark looked at his friend. “If you hear anything about Richmond on your travels, please let me know what you find out.”

Isaac nodded, but lost all interest in Richmond when one of the lights at the farmhouse was extinguished.

Mark, realising his friend wasn’t really listening to him, nudged his horse into a walk. “Well, I had better head back to my brood before Harriett sends out a search party. I will see you soon.”

Once he was alone, Isaac guided his horse into Hilltop’s makeshift driveway and rode toward the house. All was quiet and still. Not a sound could be heard - until he approached the farmyard and heard running footsteps. Reining his horse to a stop, Isaac squinted into the darkness, but couldn’t see anybody moving about.

It seemed odd that Tuppence should need to run anywhere.

“Tuppence?” he called, wondering if there was a problem. The lanterns in the yard had all been extinguished but the lights were on in the farmhouse. “Are you out here?” he asked anyway.

Isaac tipped his head when he heard what sounded like more footsteps. When shadows shifted beside the barn, he leaned forward in his saddle to squint into the darkness. Without dismounting, he went to investigate.

“If someone is here, step out now or be on your way,” he growled loudly. “I am armed and will shoot you. You are trespassing. Get off this land. Now.”

Isaac waited for several more moments but when nothing else moved and no more noises broke the silence, he wondered if he had successfully scared the intruder off. Before he left, though, he completed a thorough search of the farm buildings before studying the house one last time. He contemplated knocking on the door, but didn’t want to frighten her, so decided to leave instead.

“I will come back and see you in the morning,” he murmured thoughtfully before slowly, reluctantly, leaving the farm and making his way home. But as he rode through the night, Isaac couldn’t shake off the distinct feeling that something was terribly wrong at Hilltop Farm, and that Tuppence was in grave danger.

CHAPTER FIVE

The following morning, Tuppence opened the large doors at the back of the barn and shooed the sheep out into the field. With the cattle in another field, and the horses with them, Tuppence set to work sweeping out the stables. Minutes later, with her barrow full, she hauled the morning’s scrapings toward the manure pile – and immediately slammed to a stop.

“What on earth?” Tuppence studied what looked like a bundle of rags

lying at the end of her driveway. Her heart began to pound. She knew that hadn’t been there yesterday but couldn’t think of what it might be. Why would anybody leave a pile of rags on her driveway?

She slowly lowered the wheelbarrow to the ground and ambled toward the strange object. Tuppence didn’t take her eyes off it, not even when she drew closer and the outline of a man became more evident. Her heart raced with panic and fear. Edging closer, she dreaded what she already knew she was going to find. She couldn’t move, breathe, or think. Her mind remained numb and refused to absorb what exactly she was seeing. All she could do was stare at the dark handle of the knife sticking out of the dead man’s back. Eventually, Tuppence tore her gaze off the corpse, but only to glance wildly around the empty landscape even though she already knew she was alone.

“Mother of God.” Her knees felt weak, barely able to keep her upright, but Tuppence forced them to carry her closer to the dead man. A cry escaped her when she took her first look at the man’s face. “Mr Lewis,” she wailed plaintively.

Tuppence felt sick. Her mind began to chug into motion like an old steam engine. Once it was working, it chugged faster and faster until it whirled with possibilities, doubts, and fears, until it raced wildly in all directions, refusing to settle on anything while at the same time Tuppence remained physically frozen in time. She daren’t move. The world around her seemed to fade. Her ears could no longer hear the wind rustling the leaves of the trees above her head. All she could hear was a dull buzzing noise in her heard, which stole all other sounds from the surrounding world. Her eyes could no longer see anything but the wicked handle protruding from Mr Lewis’s back. She stared and stared at it until the world around her began to turn black. When her stomach heaved, Tuppence stumbled backward and fell onto her bottom with her legs stretched out before her.

It took several moments before she was strong enough to force herself onto her knees so she could take another look at the dead man’s face, just to make sure that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. She needed to confirm that it really was Mr Lewis who was lying dead in her driveway having been killed by a knife to his back.

“Was it you at my farm last night? Who did this to you? Why?” Tuppence whispered, but then felt foolish because Mr Lewis wasn’t in any position to answer her. He was dead. Gone. Far beyond help.