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“And the horse’s name?” Emily dropped her hand from the broken spot on the stable wall.
Jeremiah shifted back and forth on his feet. “Why does the horse’s name make any difference?”
“I believe in a case like this, it’s best to gather all the information no matter how insignificant, including the name of the horse that killed Willa’s brother,” she said evenly.
He pulled on his sleeve again. “His name is Terror.”
My heart clenched when I heard the name. I don’t know if I might have felt better if the horse had a more subdued name like “Sam” or “Sunset” or something. Terror sounded like a name that the horse felt obligated to live up to, and it seemed that the animal had no choice in the matter.
“The horse is still alive,” Emily said. “You didn’t have the horse destroyed after killing a man? I find that to be very surprising. Masters put down dogs for less.”
Carlo looked at his mistress in concern, as if he knew what she was saying.
“No,” Jeremiah said, looking increasingly uncomfortable. “He’s a champion racehorse, and Mr.Johnson wouldn’t hear of it. He believes that it’s not the horse’s fault, and the horse should not pay the price for the accident.”
“How can it not be the horse’s fault when Henry is dead?” I blurted out.
Jeremiah glanced at me with sadness in his eyes. “Mr.Johnson believes Henry was to blame, not Terror.”
I felt like he had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart in a vise. My breath became shallow. If Emily noticed how I struggled in that moment, she gave no indication. Carlo, however, walked over to me and leaned against my side. He might just make me into a dog person yet.
“What will happen to the horse now?” Emily asked.
“He is being kept away from the other horses in the barn. A veterinarian came yesterday and examined the animal and said that he would be well enough to race again by the time the season begins in spring.”
“Did the veterinarian find anything out of the ordinary that would indicate why the horse had such a terrible reaction?” Emily loosened the ribbons on her bonnet, and it fell to her shoulders. She then removed the bonnet.
Out of habit, I stepped forward and took it from her hands. As her servant, it was my duty to hold and carry anything that she wished.
“Yes,” Jeremiah finally said.
Emily crossed her arms, and the fabric of her cloak brushed across the stable floor. “And what was it?”
Jeremiah didn’t look her in the eye. “There is a burn mark on his left flank. A number of burn marks, in fact. The veterinarian said that none of the burns were too severe that Terror would not recover. They are superficial burns—in his words. However, they would be painful enough to upset the horse and cause him to fight back. They would have caused him to kick through that wall like he did.”
I drew in a breath. “Who would be so cruel to do that to an animal?”
Jeremiah had my answer, or I should say he had the accepted answer. “It is believed that Henry did it.”
I gasped. “He would never! Henry had a very soft heart for all creatures. He would—”
“And this is what you believe?” Emily interrupted me and asked with a raised brow.
“No, miss, but I learned what I believed does not hold much bearing with the men who make the rules in our society.” Jeremiah studied my face. “I do not believe Henry hurt that animal. I think...” He trailed off.
“What do you believe?” Emily asked.
There was a banging sound of a door hitting a wall in the back of the stables. “Jeremiah!” a man shouted.
“I must go. You can wait here for me. Do not make much noise. It would be best if you did not gather more attention than you already have.” He stepped out of the stall and disappeared around the corner.
Emily looked at me for the first time since we entered the building. “What do you think, Willa?”
I stared at her. Emily was quite different from other women of her station. It was not that often that I was asked to give my opinion, and I certainly had never been asked to give my opinion on a matter as vital to me as the circumstances surrounding my brother’s death. I held tight to her bonnet in my hands. The satin was smooth against my palms.
“I do want to know what you think, Willa,” she said in a quiet voice. “Do not assume because I am from another class that I don’t value the opinion of my servants. In truth, you know more about the real circumstances of the world than I ever will. You are in it, while I will always have some level of separation from it.”
I looked her in the eye. “I think—I think it’s all a lie. Henry would never burn a horse. He wouldn’t. When he was a child, he would carry spiders from our rooms and release them outside. He gave a portion of his meal to the mouse family that lived in the walls. He was kind. Yes, he had a way of finding trouble, but his motivation was kindness and doing what he believed was right. Maybe that didn’t follow convention and maybe it made his life more difficult, but he did not care. He was a free spirit with a good heart. No matter what Jeremiah, Mr.Johnson, the police, or anyone says, I know my brother. I know him better than anyone else. He would not be so vicious.” I took a breath as I finished my speech and was amazed that I had been able to say all of that without bursting into tears.
