Moonlight Dancer (14 page)

“Hello, Charlie.” He sounded anxious, tentative.

Her anger dissolved at the sound of his voice. She greeted him eagerly. “Guess what? I found Charlotte’s journal.”

His eyes lit up. “She kept a journal? I didn’t know that.”

“Well she did. It was all about you.” She took a step toward him. “She loved you a lot, but then I guess you know that.”

He nodded, and Charlie looked aside as he struggled to control his emotions.

Her tone turned brisk. “Anyway, I learned some things. She wrote about the ring, and how she wore it on a chain around her neck, like you told me. But when she heard about…you know, about you being killed, she threw it away.”

“The ring? She threw it away?” He looked around the dance hall as though expecting to find the answer. “Why?”

“I don’t believe it was something she planned to do. I got the impression that it happened in a moment of despair.” She paused. “According to the family story, she stayed in the attic for several days when she first got the news. It must have been after that.” She flashed him a sympathetic glance. “I’m sorry Harm, but it was only a ring. And trust me, she never stopped loving you. Every word of the journal confirms that.”

“But the ring!” He looked down at his hand, his expression bleak. “The rings were our touchstones.” He raised his head, his eyes pained. “They were our link. I swear, when I wasn’t with her, I could touch my ring and almost feel her heart beating.” He lowered his eyes. “And she said the same thing.”

“Wait a minute.” Charlie held up a hand. “Help me to think this through. You both had rings and you felt the same way about them. Then sometime before the first full moon after your death, she threw hers away.”

He stilled, watching her intently.

“And at the first full moon, did you see her at the dance hall?”

“Yes.”

“But she couldn’t see you.”

“No.”

“That’s it!” Her gaze rested on one of the carousel horses without really seeing it. “That’s the key. You have your ring, and you can see her. But she doesn’t have her ring, and she can’t see you. Do you see what I mean?”

Comprehension flooded his face with hope and his voice with determination. “Now all we have to do is find her ring.”

“We?” Charlie laughed. “I like the way you say that.”

Harm grinned. “And I like the way you laugh. It makes me think anything’s possible.”

Charlie’s thoughts turned to Jason. Was it true? Was anything possible? She recalled the way he’d spoken this morning, the way he’d looked at her with eyes so blue they made her heart ache. With a supreme effort she refocused as Harm spoke.

“Do you think we have a chance?” He’d turned serious again.

“Well…” Charlie hated to offer false hope. “There are a couple of pages left in the journal that I haven’t read yet. Maybe there’s a hint in there about where she threw it.” She frowned. “Although she probably would have looked for it herself.”

“Even so.” His smile had returned. “It’s something.”

“Yes, it’s something.” Charlie gestured to her cleaning supplies. “I have to get this done before I can get back and see if there’s anything else.”

“I understand.” He placed his Stetson on his head; she couldn’t see his eyes. “And even if you don’t find anything, I want to thank you for trying.”

“It’s the least I can do” she said, moved by his words. “And I haven’t given up yet.”

Charlie kept glancing toward the horizon as she drove home. Thunderclouds boiled up, dark and menacing. By now, she’d learned that here in Saskatchewan clouds didn’t necessarily mean that rain was imminent. But today they looked different and she drove a little faster, relieved when she saw the driveway on the left.

“Jason asked about you.” Janelle was at the drafting table when Charlie walked in.

“What did he say?”

“He just asked if you were around. I told him you’d gone to finish cleaning and I didn’t know how long you’d be. Was that the right thing to say?”

Charlie’s mood lightened. “That’s good, and besides, it’s the truth.” She pointed out the window. “Look at that. Look at the way the rain is falling out of those clouds.”

“Some farmer will be happy.” Janelle cocked her head. “Do you hear that?”

“No, I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly. There are no birds singing. They can sense a change in the weather.”

Her aunt was right. Even the weeping willow was still. Not a breath of air moved the leaves.

“I’ll go and close up the barn. I left the windows open earlier. Would you check all the windows in the house and look for Thomas while you’re at it? If we get thunder, he’ll be scared stiff.” Janelle headed for the barn.

The first clap of thunder sounded in the distance. Then Charlie heard something else. Faint at first, the sound grew louder as it came on hard and fast. She recognized the sound of Jason’s ATV as he came tearing around the corner of the barn.

“Charlie! I’m so glad to see you.” He paused to catch his breath. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. He looked over his shoulder at the approaching clouds.

“We’re okay” she said coolly. “Janelle is closing up the barn and I was just about to check the windows in the house.”

“No, it’s not that.” He jumped down and took a step toward her. “Charlie, I need your help.”

She refrained from reminding him that the last time she’d seen him he definitely didn’t need her help. “You do?”

“Annie is missing. Wendy and I have been looking for her for a couple of hours, and we can’t find her anywhere.” He raked his fingers through his windblown hair. “Listen Charlie, I know we have a lot to talk about, but right now I need your help. Brad’s gone to pick up the twins and they won’t be back for a couple of hours.” He looked into her eyes. “I need you to find Annie.”

It hit her like a physical blow. He was here only because he needed her help. She glared at him. “Oh, I get it. Yesterday I was a freak, and now you want me to find your niece. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way.” She turned her back and walked toward the house.

“Charlie I said I’m sorry.” The desperation in his voice stopped her in her tracks. “You really knocked me out with all that stuff about ghosts.”

She turned to face him. “You hurt my feelings, Jason. You know that.”

He nodded and a small smile played with the corner of his mouth. “I slept on the couch last night, for what it’s worth.”

His words went a long way toward soothing her aching heart. A sudden gust of wind shook the leaves. The storm was coming and Annie was out there somewhere.

“What I said a minute ago? I meant it. Communicating with a ghost isn’t the same as being able to find someone who’s lost. I’m not like those psychics on television who can tell you where to find things you’ve misplaced.” She paused, and her thoughts turned to a gold ring. “But I’m willing to help.”

The tension drained from his face and he took an uncertain step forward. “Thank you.”

Jagged lightning snaked across the sky and they both stilled, counting, waiting for the crash of thunder. It rolled over them a second later and they scrambled toward the ATV. “It’s almost on top of us” he said as Charlie clambered up behind him.

They paused outside the barn long enough to inform Janelle what was going on. Her response was immediate. “I’ll close up the house and drive over to sit with Wendy. She’ll want to stay close to home in case Annie comes back on her own.”

Jason nodded and as the ATV surged forward the first drops of rain began to fall. By the time they reached the Fleming farm Charlie’s hair was plastered to her scalp.

The anxious expression on Wendy’s face told them what they needed to know; Annie hadn’t returned. “Janelle is coming over and Charlie and I are going back out” he called, raising his voice over the growing storm. Wendy nodded, her eyes wide with worry.

Jason pulled the ATV into the barn. Rain pounded on the metal roof, making conversation almost impossible. “Come on” he called. Let’s go into the stable.” He reached for her hand and they ran through what was now a downpour into the comparative silence of the wooden structure. Charlie sat on a bale of hay, collecting her thoughts while Jason calmed the nervous horses. The only thing she knew about Annie was that she liked to read.

“Jason” she said thoughtfully, “didn’t you tell me that Annie likes to find different places to hide? Places to read quietly?”

He nodded. “Yes, but I’ve looked everywhere I can think of.”

“Then let’s look again.”

“Well, she likes the barn.”

“Let’s go back there.” She summoned her calmest voice. “We’ll find her, Jason. We just have to cover all the bases again.”

They returned to the barn, oblivious to the rain. Charlie searched every possible hiding place downstairs while Jason climbed the wooden ladder to the hayloft. He caught her eye on the way down and shook his head, unwilling to compete with the sound of the rain on the roof. Charlie drew him back to the stable where they could talk.

“Okay” she said, forcing him to sit down. “Let’s think this out logically. What is it about today that would cause her to go somewhere different from her normal haunts?”

He drew in a deep breath. “Only that her brothers are coming home today.”

“Maybe she’s in their room. I’ll bet they don’t usually let her in there.”

“Wendy and I both looked there.” A weak smile flitted across his face. “It was one of the first places we checked.”

“Okay.” She kept her voice even. “What else? There must be something.”

“No.” He pulled a piece of straw from a bale and stared at it without really seeing it. “Unless she’s gone out to the twins’ tree house. Now that’s really off-limits.”

“Where is it?”

“About half a mile to the south.” He looked relieved and frantic at the same time. “If she was in there and got caught by the rain she wouldn’t leave. She won’t let anything happen to her precious books.”

“Sensible girl.” Charlie stood up. “Can we go there on the ATV?”

“You’re sure you want to come?” He glanced outside. “It’s coming down pretty hard.”

She ran outside, lifted her arms and raised her face to the pounding rain. “I can’t get any wetter that I already am. Come on, let’s get going before the rain turns everything to mud.”

He walked out to meet her and within a few steps he was drenched all over again. Perhaps the rain was blurring her vision, but his eyes seemed to be a softer shade of blue.

“Charlie Mitchell, you’re crazy.” He pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss that left little doubt as to his future intentions.

“I know” she said, smiling up at him. They were standing in a downpour, his niece was missing, but things were definitely looking up.

“Put this on” he said brusquely, placing his Stetson on her head and leading her toward the ATV. “We’ve gotta go,” he murmured hoarsely, “but when this is over, we have some talking to do.”

The ATV skidded sideways in the muddy yard and she clutched his wet shirt, grateful when they finally reached the trail that ran alongside a field of hay. Trying to shield herself from the pelting rain, she peeked out every once in a while to see if they were nearing a grove of trees.

“It’s down there” he shouted over his shoulder. “In those willows.”

The trees grew beside a small pond of water, the soil around its perimeter churned up by cattle. “This will bring the water level back up. That’s good,” he informed her as they slowed down. “The boys’ hideout is on one of those trees” he said, sliding off the ATV and offering her his hand.