Allie's Moon by Alexis Harrington Read Free Book Online

she’d stitched herself. In
fact, needlepoint was the only diversion she permitted herself.
Right now, however, she used her needle and thread to mend one of
her chemises. The hammering overhead had begun about two hours
earlier, and while she had no idea whether the man knew a thing
about roofing, just hearing the noise was a relief. At least
something was getting done.
    “ That name sounds familiar but I don’t
remember him. Who is he?”
    “ He was the sheriff in town, Olivia.
You remember that.”
    “ Hmm, maybe. Why isn’t he the sheriff
anymore?”
    Why, indeed. “He started drinking. He
eventually left his job.”
    “ Is he married?”
    “ I believe he was. I’m not sure he is
now.” How could he be? What woman would let her husband deteriorate
into the town drunk? Althea wondered. If she were his wife, she
certainly wouldn’t have allowed that. In Althea’s opinion, it was
almost sinful to waste a life by frittering it away.
    “ I didn’t see him. Is he
handsome?”
    “ Yes, at least he used to be. The
liquor has taken a toll on him.” She glanced up from her mending.
It wasn’t like Olivia to express an interest in any man. But she’d
been feeling so much better, perhaps she was coming out of her
shell. The hope Althea had nursed in her heart for her sister
sparked a little flame. “Why are you so curious?”
    Her sister shrugged. “Oh, no reason. He won’t
do the work as well as Daddy would have liked,” she observed with
an artless finality.
    “ I’m sure that’s true,” Althea said,
and bit back a sigh.
    “ Daddy was very particular about the
way things should be done, and he wouldn’t have wanted just anyone
pounding on his house, Althea.” Olivia’s slightly imperious tone
made Althea clench her back teeth. Their father had been a
difficult man to please in all things save one. Olivia had given
him as much joy as a joyless man could feel. Althea had given him
as much displeasure.
    “ Then it’s a good thing he won’t know
about this, isn’t it?” Althea asked.
    Olivia stayed at the window. “I guess. I see
your Mr. Jefferson has been in the barn.”
    “ Hicks, dear. His name is Jefferson
Hicks. Of course, he’s been in the b-barn. That’s where the ladder
was.”
    “ Well, he’s left the door open.” She
turned then and looked at the clock. “Goodness, it’s nearly three.
I believe I’ll go up and take a nap for a while. That is, if I can
sleep with all that hammering.” She dropped a light kiss on the top
of Althea’s head and swept from the parlor.
    Althea heard her soft tread on the stairs but
remained in the chair. She would not get up and look, she told
herself. She wouldn’t go see that open doorway for herself. Perhaps
Olivia was mistaken—
    Overhead, she heard muted footsteps and
supposed that Jefferson Hicks was walking around up there. She put
aside the mending, then took it up again. Finally she put it down
and rose from her chair.
    She approached the window with a sense of
dread, and when she looked across the yard her fear was confirmed.
The barn door was open, and she saw the black, yawning portal that
brought back the horror of that summer afternoon as vividly if it
had happened yesterday.
    ~~*~*~*~~
    Tucking the hammer into the waistband of his
jeans, Jeff kept a tight grip on the rim of the chimney and
straddled the peak of the roof to look out across the valley.
Somehow up here the world looked different—cleaner and new-born
under the afternoon sun. From the roof, Decker Prairie seemed more
like a sleepy village instead of a busy town.
    A high-pitched call overhead caught Jeff’s
attention. He shaded his eyes and looked up in time to see a
peregrine falcon cross the sky, its wings spread to catch warm
drafts of air. Off in the distance, a ribbon of shining creek wound
across the Ford land and disappeared into the woods. And even
farther away was Mt. Hood, a snow-covered giant with miles and
miles of fertile farmlands on its western