If she didn’t do something, she’d never see Mum or Father again.But where could she stab him with a hairpin that wouldn’t just make him mad?His shirt collar protected his neck, but nothing protected his eyes.Eyes were soft ...
She yanked the hairpin free of her cloak and aimed true.
His howl rang in her ears, and his hands flew to his eye.
Eleonora didn’t wait.She jumped to her feet, skirted around him, and ran for the door.
Ugly words filled the room.
“I’m going to kill you, you little—”
His voice followed her into the hall and downstairs to a narrow foyer.Bitter cold met her as she stumbled into the dark night.The street was lined with tall buildings, but no one traveled it or sat on the stoops smoking.What should she do?Mum always warned that going out by herself was dangerous, but was it more dangerous than the man upstairs?
A thud sounded behind her, followed by more angry words.He must be coming for her already.Better the dark street than the angry man who wanted to kill her.
She yanked up her skirts and ran.At the first street, she turned, then again when it connected to a bigger one.Street after street she turned until she smacked into a police officer.
“Help!He’s trying to kill me.”
The thin man knelt down and took her by the arms.“Whoa now.What’s this?Who’s after you?”
The words poured out between pants.“I’m Eleonora Brisbane.My parents are Constanza and Marcellus Brisbane.Someone took me from them, and now he’s going to kill me.”
“Brisbane?We’ve been looking for you.Come with me.We’ll get you back to your parents.”
It was a long walk to the station, and the inside was full of people just as scary as the man who’d taken her.
“Don’t worry about them.We’re heading to the chief’s office.You’ll be safe in there.”
He led her up a set of stairs, where it was quieter, and then into an office at the back.When the officer introduced her to him, the chief pulled a peppermint stick from a jar on his desk and offered it to her while he asked a bunch of questions.She wanted to answer them, really she did, but she couldn’t think anymore.Now that she was safe, all her body wanted to do was shake.
“It’s okay.You were a brave girl tonight.You can rest here until your parents arrive.”
Someone brought in a cot and a blanket so she could lie down, but how could they expect her to sleep?The memory of that man chased her every time she closed her eyes.But sleep must have come, for the next thing she knew, Mum and Father cradled her between them, crying as hard as she.Once they settled, the chief asked Eleonora again to share what happened, taking down her description of the kidnapper and asking Mum if it matched the man she knew as Winston.Finally, they were allowed to go.
When they reached the hack, their trunks were packed and loaded.
“Are we leaving for the next city already?”Usually they spent two weeks in a place, but it hadn’t even been one yet.
Mum and Father exchanged looks.
Mum smoothed back Eleonora’s hair.“What do you say to living in a real house with a room full of toys?You can go to school with other girls and make friends with children your own—”
“You’re sending me away?”Eleonora couldn’t breathe.She’d always known the children of other singers lived away from their parents, but she never thoughtshewould.
Father gently took her face between his hands.“No, dear.We would never send you away.We’re starting a new life together, in a new city with new names.You’ll finally have a normal childhood.”
“But I like the opera and traveling.”
“I know, but this is better.You’ll see.You’ll never have to be afraid again.”
Chapter Two
Cincinnati, Ohio
January 18, 1881
FEAR WAS A CAGE, ANDit had Nora Davis’s family trapped and hidden beneath a canvas of secrets and lies.Frustration rippled through her as she stared out the hack window and past the winter-brown landscape to the gray sky, pregnant with the threat of rain.Heaven forbid they reveal to Dr.Chalfant that they’d changed their names to escape a real kidnapper, and thereby prove Mum was sane.Didn’t Father understand that sharing the truth would set their family free?Or at least free Mum from Longview.It wasn’t as if Dr.Chalfant would print the truth in the newspapers and destroy the life Father had carefully crafted for them.How could Father claim to care about Mum’s welfare when he’d rather guard their secret than free his wife from an asylum?
