Page 38 of Winterset

“Wait! No, I don’t think you should—” she began, but the boys were already gone.

She jumped up and hurried after them. They stopped abruptly beside the body, and Anna almost stumbled into them. For a long moment all three of them stared at the body of the man lying before them. He lay on his back, his arms and legs splayed. He was young, barely a man, and his bright blond hair spread like a fan around his head. His eyes were open and staring lifelessly up at the leaves above him. His shirt was torn across the front and arms, revealing long scratches.

There was blood everywhere—his hair, the raw, gaping wound of his throat, spilling all over his chest and arms and onto the ground around him. It was dark and sticky, pooled in some places, and the stench of it was everywhere, filling the air.

Anna stumbled back, pressing her hand tightly to her mouth. Con and Alex turned toward her, their eyes huge in their white faces. They stared at her for a moment; then suddenly Alex turned and ran a few steps away, falling to his knees and retching. Con came over to where Anna stood and sat down abruptly on the path, pulling his knees up and bracing his elbows on them, and dropping his head to his hands.

Anna swallowed hard, willing herself not to give in to the nausea that washed over her. She had to be strong, she told herself. She had to take care of the twins. But her legs were trembling so much, she thought it was a wonder she was even able to stand up.

She leaned over Con. “Let’s go back to that rock. All right?”

He nodded, and she gave him a hand to help pull him up. They went over first to Alex, who had stood back up and wiped his mouth. He looked at Anna shamefacedly.

“I’m sorry, miss.”

“Nonsense. I feel the same way myself,” Anna assured him, putting a hand on each boy’s shoulder. “Let’s sit down for a moment and collect ourselves.”

They walked back to the rock and sat down, the boys dropping onto the ground at Anna’s feet. They were silent, their eyes turning back now and again to the body that lay a few yards from them.

“What happened to him?” Alex asked at last.

“I don’t know,” Anna said.

“The Beast. That’s what all the servants are saying killed that girl,” Con said.

“That’s just a story,” Alex said scornfully, but his mouth trembled a little as he looked back at the body.

“It certainly looked as if an animal attacked him,” Anna admitted. “But my suspicion is that it was a person.”

“The same man who killed the girl?” Con asked.

“It seems likely.”

“We had better tell Reed,” Alex said, looking up at her.

“Yes, we had,” Anna agreed. “Can you boys run back to the house and get him? I—I think I should stay here with…” Her voice trailed off, and she turned to look again at the body.

Con and Alex looked at each other.

“We shouldn’t leave you alone,” Alex said doubtfully.

“I’ll be all right,” she assured him. “That poor man cannot hurt me, and I am sure that whoever or whatever killed him is no longer around.”

“It doesn’t seem right.” Con and Alex looked at each other again, and then Con said, “Alex can go, and I will stay with you.”

“No, I don’t want one of you alone,” Anna said immediately.

“But you said that he was long gone.”

“Yes, I imagine, but…”

The boys, however, had made up their minds, and they were, apparently, as stubborn as their brother. In the end, Anna agreed, and Con dropped down beside her, while Alex started off at a trot across the footbridge.

Anna leaned down and put her hand on Con’s shoulder. “Thank you for staying with me. It was very kind of you.”

“We could not leave you here by yourself,” Con told her gravely. “It is not the sort of thing a gentleman would do.”

Anna smiled. “I think that you and Alex are very fine gentlemen.”