Chapter Ten: The Empty House
Doctor Avery’s brother lived in a pale house beside an abandoned toll road.
The building had been rented for only one month, long enough for people to arrive without establishing a household that neighbors would remember.
When Mercy visited with her aunt, the shutters were closed and the stable emptied.
A woman in the neighboring orchard had seen a carriage leave at night carrying two women and a bundle wrapped in gray cloth.
The driver had claimed they were relatives traveling to Richmond.
Augusta recognized the description of the bundle because Miriam used that same gray cloth around her daughter.
But the carriage was heading west, away from Richmond.
When Mercy brought this news to the barn, Amos had arrived with Josiah and a horse borrowed from a sympathetic mill owner.
Caleb stood so quickly that the crate beneath him tipped over.
“How did you get away from Red Cedar?” he asked.
Amos smiled without happiness.
“Silas decided a carpenter who couldn’t explain where his assistant went must be useful somewhere else.”
“He sold you?”
“He tried.”
“What happened?”
“Josiah arrived with a receipt for a job that required my labor before the sale could be completed.”
Josiah coughed.
“The receipt was written by a man who believes accounts should be used to open doors, not close them.”
“Are you free to leave?” Caleb asked.
Amos looked at him.
“Not in the eyes of the law.”
“But I am here.”
The distinction settled heavily over the room.
Mercy unfolded a map and traced the toll road westward.
“There is a way station at Old Orchard,” she said.
“The carriage might have stopped there.”
“Who runs it?” Amos asked.
“A man named Cyrus Bell.”
Amos’s face changed.
“Cyrus is my nephew.”
Caleb turned toward him.
“You have family there?”
“I did, the last time I heard.”
Amos pressed a hand against the table.
“We have not spoken since his mother died.”
Lottie studied him.
“You don’t have to go.”
“If Miriam is there, I can speak to him.”
“He may be watched.”
“So are all of us.”
They agreed to send Josiah ahead with a delivery of milling parts, while Caleb and Amos would travel on foot through the wooded edge of the river.
Lottie would remain behind to receive messages about Ruth and the other women at Hawthorne.
Mercy wanted to join them, but her aunt needed her near the road where Doctor Avery might return.
