Warning at Eagle's Watch (19 page)

For there was more than pure tiredness that etched the look of unhappiness on his face, she knew.

There was a conflict going on inside him. And so she contented herself with the knowledge that when the moment arrived for him to take his leave on each of those lovely evenings, he was at least a more relaxed man than he had been on his arrival.

Their conversations were sometimes lively ones. He talked of the world, of some of the patients that he was fond of, of his newly experienced impressions of the northern coast of Maine. Of politics, of so many things.

But when the conversation began to veer toward his future plans, his goals in life, those long dark, shadows that pained her so much would once again become etched on his face. What was he hiding that upset him so much?

She prayed silently on those occasions that the time would come when he would trust her enough to share whatever burden or fear he was carrying deep inside him.

Trust. And did she trust him? He knew about the things that she had faced here at the castle. He often begged her to think of her safety and future and avoid the risk that lurked at Eagle's Watch. And half of her knew that he was right. But still, she couldn't go. She wouldn't go. He didn't press the issue, beyond his constant warnings for her to be careful. And so their relationship began to develop, though sometimes slowly, painfully, with so many words unsaid.

She had never spoken of the circumstances that had brought her to Eagle's Watch, of her feeling of responsibility to Miss Matilda for the many opportunities in her life. She spoke of her love of nursing, of her aspirations to succeed someday as a surgical nurse, of her excitement at the great strides the medical world made daily, and of her pride in being even a small part of such a noble profession.

She longed for each of Kent's visits, for the chance to be close to him, to hear his voice, to watch his handsome face as he spoke to her. And her love grew.

* * *

Summer ended early in northern Maine, and Hillary was surprised to look outside one morning and see the tinges of color that were appearing on some of the trees. Fall was coming. She could not stay at Eagle's Watch forever. She knew that she would have to think about the future, to part with Scotty, to settle things with Kent one way or another. And yet, the puzzles of her accidents were not even close to being solved.

She donned her comfortable clothes, and decided to take a walk by herself, to soak up some of the last rays of the summer sunshine and enjoy the scenery around her.

She moved away from the shoreline, the rhythmic rumble of the waves becoming duller as she walked. She headed down the tree-lined lane that led ultimately to the main road. The fresh air cleared her head and put a smile on her face. She quickened her pace.

Twang!
A sharp noise, seeming very close by, made her jump.
Twang!
It rang out again. Her heart leapt into her mouth.

Gunshots! Her feet went into action automatically, and she found herself scrambling over one of the large gray rocks that spotted the woody area. She tried to control her pounding heart.

What on earth was happening? She crouched in silence, her body resting on the soft bed of pine needles behind the rock. Maybe it was a careless hunter, an irresponsible child with a BB gun... a million explanations rose to greet her. But she shoved them all away. She knew it could be no accident. Once again, she was being attacked, scared. Someone was trying to get rid of her.

She felt alone and very frightened. Large tears rolled down her troubled face, but she brushed them away with the sleeve of her shirt. She had to stay calm, she had to stay alert. At first she heard no other sound in the wilderness, and her searching eyes could spot no one. Then the sound of a car engine reached her ears, and she heard a vehicle driving away.

But which way? Under the treetop cover, with the lane turning and curling through the woods, sounds echoed and bounced back and forth, so she had no idea which direction the car had taken. Had it come from town? Was it now sneaking furtively back? Or what?

When the sound had died away, she pulled herself up to her shaking legs and started back for the castle. She couldn't fool herself anymore. Someone—someone she knew—was a raving lunatic. He had to be stopped. She couldn't avoid the issue any longer.

The house was quiet when she returned, as it had been when she left. It was hard to believe that so much had happened since she had walked out the door. But it had happened, and for once she was going to do something about it. For weeks, she had postponed what she realized now was inevitable. These incidents would keep occurring, perhaps even with evil success. The culprit had to be caught. And she would try to cushion Scotty from the psychological blow somehow.

She crossed to the study and dialed Kent's number, desperately needing someone to talk to, needing the reassurance that she knew he would give her.

The phone rang for quite some lime. She was about ready to replace the receiver on the cradle, when it was suddenly answered by a breathless female voice.

The feminine sound startled Hillary, confused her.

"Is Dr. Harris there?" she asked evenly.

"Why no, he's not. This is Pat Hobart. My husband is the keeper of the lighthouse. His phone also rings in our house, and when he's away, we take his calls for him. I'm sorry it took me so long to answer, but I'm alone here, and it takes me a bit of time to maneuver my wheelchair to the phone."

Hillary's pulse returned to normal. At least it was no mysterious female lingering in Kent's home. She remembered that in exchange for the lighthouse quarters he was to aid the keeper's invalid wife.

"This is Hillary Holt, Mrs. Hobart. I'm the nurse at Eagle's Watch."

"Dr. Harris's Hillary? Why, how nice to talk to you. He's spoken of you often."

Hillary's blood ran warm in her veins, and she blushed.

"I'm afraid he's gone away. I don't expect him back until night. Is there a problem with Miss Scott?"

"Well, there's a problem, but Miss Scott's health is more or less fine."

"Dr. Newburg is at home, I believe, if you'd like to get in touch with him."

Hillary rang off with a promise to come and visit the ailing Mrs. Hobart. She dialed Dr. Newburg's number. He would not be as personally comforting as Kent, to be sure, but his advice would be worthwhile, since he was such an old acquaintance of Scotty's.

"Hello." His voice sounded preoccupied, and Hillary had a moment of regret at bothering him.

But when he heard her voice, his became more friendly instantly. "Why, Hillary. How are you? Is Miss Scott all right? Is there some emergency?"

"Oh, no, Doctor, there is no emergency as such, but I needed to confer with someone about something important that needs to be done at Eagle's Watch. When I explain, you'll see why I came to you." And so she related everything that had happened since her arrival at Eagle's Watch—the mirror, the cliff, the car accident, and finally the shots in the woods. He was speechless as he listened to her tale of horror.

"And Dr. Harris knew of this and has done nothing about it?" His voice was indignant.

"Oh, no," Hillary cried in Kent's defense. "He strongly wanted to take measures against it, but I made him promise not to. You see, I've been very worried about what the shock of hearing about this would do to Scotty."

"Quite right, quite right."

"But don't you see, we are going to have to convince her to announce the contents of her will, to show the would-be killer that I've got nothing to do with the inheritance."

"You mean that you aren't named in her will? Then how did this all come about?"

"Well, you see, she enjoys teasing her family. And I'm not sure what she has finally written in her will, but, believe me, I really don't think that she's named me. And we've got to at least bring this all out into the open, and I thought it would be better to have a doctor on hand when she finds it all out. I tried to call Dr. Harris, but he's away for the day."

"Hillary, what you're doing is really very risky, you know. The shock could kill Priscilla. I just don't know."

"But what about me?" Hillary wailed. "The next accident may be more on target, and the shock of that may kill her too. What else can we do?"

"Maybe you should go away, Hillary. Scotty is as strong now as she will ever be. She doesn't need to have a full-time nurse anymore. That will protect both of you, until we can find out who is at the bottom of this."

His words made so much sense, but they were the last that she wanted to hear. She did not want to run away. She did not want to leave Eagle's Watch and Scotty and Kent, with such a shadow over her head.

But she could see no other way. Not right now. There were tears in her eyes as she hung up the phone. She had been too close, too involved to see the picture clearly. She probably should have left long ago. As Kent had suggested. As Dr. Newburg now suggested. She climbed the steps to her room with a heavy heart.

She was standing staring out her window at the huge expanse of blue ocean when Scotty appeared in her doorway.

"The waves sometimes have a way of soothing frayed nerves, don't you think, Hillary?"

She turned to face the clear blue eyes. "I guess so. Scotty, there's something I want to tell you."

"Yes?" The old woman's eyes lit up expectantly, and Hillary bit her lip and said the words that came so hard to her.

"I'm going away now, Scotty. You really don't need me any longer, and I've got to make plans with my own life, you know."

A shadow had come over the white, wrinkled face. "I see. Well, you must do what you think is best."

She turned to leave the room, and Hillary felt as if her heart were breaking. It was all she could do to keep from blurting out the truth, from running to the woman whom she had come to love so.

"Would you tell Mrs. Raymond I'd like a tray in my room this evening, Hillary," she said. "Don't care to join the family for dinner."

I have to go away, Hillary wanted to scream. It's the only way to avoid the eventual tragedy that's bound to come sooner or later to both of us if I stay. Please, please understand, Scotty. But her tongue couldn't say the words. "I'll tell Mrs. Raymond," she said simply.

After Scotty had gone, she considered avoiding the dinner table herself, but decided to face the hostile group, if only to announce her departure.

She took out her few suitcases and began sorting her possessions, wishing that she could get rid of the lump in her throat.

Chapter 17

Dinner was disastrous. There was a heavy feeling in the air, and the comments made by the inhabitants of Eagle's Watch were biting and critical. They picked constantly on each other, easing up only occasionally to join ranks to make snide remarks to Hillary.

At least I don't have to endure this ridiculous behavior any longer, she thought, trying to console herself, but that didn't make her feel much better.

She made her announcement at the end of the meal and braced herself for the barrage that she knew would come.

"Good riddance," Belinda said.

"Having done what you planned to do, you can now take your leave, is that right?" Arnold said.

"Leave the poor girl alone." This was from Mitchell, and she threw him a thankful glance.

"I wouldn't exactly call her a 'poor girl.' Think of what she's going to have in the future," Arnold muttered.

"Found another little rich lady who needs your devoted care?" Belinda snapped.

She bore all that she could, her face muscles taut, and determined not to be goaded into an argument. That was the last thing that she needed at this point. She was very glad when the opportunity came to leave the table.

There was the sound of thunder in the sky as she passed the front door, thunder so loud that she almost didn't hear the knocker outside. She crossed and pulled the massive door open, the wind and beginning rain blowing against her. Would it be Kent? She fervently hoped so.

But it was not. Instead, it was the slight Mr. Browning, the lawyer, looking older and less distinguished as he stood soaking wet in the foyer, the rain running in rivers from his drenched coat.

"I seem to have gotten caught in quite a downpour," he said. "I certainly should have brought along my umbrella, with the sky so threatening, but Miss Scott seemed to think it was imperative that I got here immediately, and I drove off without it."

He removed his wet outer clothing, and Mrs. Raymond appeared from nowhere to take it.

"Miss Scott called you?" Hillary questioned.

"Why, yes, didn't you know? She said she had decided to have a family meeting to disclose her intentions with her estate, and that it was to be tonight."

The relatives had conic from the dining room at his arrival and now stood around him, open-mouthed with surprise.

"My, my, this could be exciting," laughed Mitchell. "Rather like something out of an intriguing novel, wouldn't you say?"

No one answered.

"Well," he went on. "Is anyone going to tell dear Aunt Priscilla of Mr. Browning's arrival, or are we all going to stand here and be consumed by curiosity?"