Page 63 of Winterset

“So you went looking for him?”

She nodded. “I knew he had gone into town tonight to play cards. He does it once a week. Some of the local men meet at Dr. Felton’s every Tuesday for cards—the squire, Mr. Norton, Miles. So, when I had that feeling, the only thing I could think to do was to ride into town. Of course, if I had ridden there only to find Kit peacefully playing cards with the other men, he would have been enormously embarrassed.”

“But your intuition was correct.”

“Yes. I saw trees, and, when I thought about it, I was fairly certain that what I had seen was a certain stretch of road, before you reach the larger highway. It is a little finger of the woods that stretches out, with the lane cut through them, and the branches arch overhead, forming a kind of roof.”

Reed nodded. “I know where you’re talking about.” He frowned. “So you actually saw what was happening? You had a vision?”

“Yes. I…well, I was just looking out the window, and my mind was drifting, I guess. And suddenly I was filled with fear. It swept over me. And I knew, I just knew, that something was terribly wrong. I had to sit down. I felt weak. And then I saw these branches, and I could feel the night air on my cheek. Suddenly there was a tremendous pain in my head, and I was certain that there was something wrong with Kit.”

“Pretty accurate, I’d say,” Reed mused. He reached over and cupped his hand against Anna’s cheek. “You may have saved his life.”

Tears threatened again as she whispered, “I think I did.” She blinked away the tears, muttering, “Damn.” She drew a breath, then went on, looking into Reed’s eyes. “When we rode up, I saw…someone bending over Kit.”

“What! Who was it?”

Anna shook her head. “I don’t know. It was very dark beneath the trees. I only saw this—this shape bending over him. I could tell nothing about him—height or size—except that he wore some sort of cape. He turned, and I glimpsed…something.”

“What do you mean? You saw his face?”

“I’m not sure what I saw. It must have been his face, but there was something odd about it. It was only for a second, and then he turned and ran. It was terribly dark, and I couldn’t send Cooper after him. It would have put him in too much danger.”

“Of course.” Reed rose and began to pace about the room. “Do you think it was the same man who murdered the other two?”

“It seems unlikely that there is another person running about attacking people.”

“Yes. It rather stretches one’s credulity.” He turned to her. “When you say odd, what do you mean?”

“I can’t tell you. It was only an impression. It just—it didn’t exactly look like a person. You can question Cooper. He saw it, too, but he seemed as uncertain as I about what he saw. It’s the sort of thing where you expect to see something, and then it isn’t what you expect. It takes you a moment to adjust, but he was gone in a flash. I can’t tell you what was wrong with his face, but the whole scene gave me the shivers. It was so eerie….”

There was a knock on the door, and Anna jumped, then let out an apologetic little laugh. “Come in.”

It was the doctor, followed by Thompkins with a tray containing a teapot and cups, as well as a few sandwiches and cakes that the cook had added. The doctor looked at Anna, then over at Reed, but if he found anything odd about Reed’s presence there at this time of night, he said nothing. His eyes went to Kit’s form on the bed.

“Good heavens!” he exclaimed. “I scarcely believed your man when he told me. I just saw Sir Christopher not an hour ago.”

“Then he did play cards with you this evening?” Anna asked.

“Yes, of course. He was the last to leave, in fact. Not half an hour after I bade farewell to him, your man was knocking on my door.”

The doctor strode across the room and bent over Kit, examining the wound. “Hmm. Looks like he got a good crack on his head. Do you know what happened?”

“No,” Anna admitted. “We found him like this. He was lying in the lane, and his horse was near him.” She described the location.

The doctor frowned as he took out a bottle and cloth and began to clean the wound. Kit winced and let out another noise.

“I suppose he could have fallen from his horse,” the doctor mused. “And struck his head. He had a few drinks, although I certainly would not have thought him drunk.”

“Kit is a good horseman. Even when he’s been drinking, he can stay on a horse. And I can’t imagine that he was riding fast through there. It was rather dark.”

“Perhaps he did not see a branch and it knocked him from his horse. The trees are very low-hanging there.”

“There was someone with Kit,” Anna said. “When we rode up, someone was bending over him.”

The doctor looked at her, startled. “Who?”

“I don’t know. He ran away.”