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Novelo Rectangle

The man she had buried was back and knocking. Elizabeth ran to the door the minute she heard her fiance's knock. She would know it anywhere, 3 short taps followed by a hard rap. As she ran down the stairs, seeing his face through the front window, the stairwell seemed to get longer and steeper. Elizabeth tried to move faster, seeing her love's face becoming concerned; but as the stairs stretched themselves into unfamiliar shapes, she lost her footing on the carpet and tumbled; down, down, down... The knocking continued, but not in its familiar pattern. Elizabeth snapped upright to find her mother banging on her bedroom door. "Elizabeth! Elizabeth Anne Brown! You get yourself out here this instant, the cow is about to burst for want of milking and the chickens are half starved!" Elizabeth sighed, blinking back tears from the dream of her lost love. It had been a morning just like this, she had gone to milk the cow and planned on meeting Luke, the stable hand, outside the barn. Only the night before he had asked for her hand in marriage, and Elizabeth was thrilled to accept. But that morning... That morning Elizabeth found Luke already in the barn, hanging lifeless from the rafters. She could still hear her own scream echo when she walked into the barn. The sheriff had come, of course, and investigated; but the death was ruled a suicide. Elizabeth was the only one who didn't believe that. What reason would her sweet Luke have to hang himself from the rafters, only the day after proposing to her? No. It wasn't like him. As Elizabeth buried her sweetheart in the church cemetery, she vowed to find the truth behind his death. Unfortunately, that was three weeks ago, and Elizabeth was no closer to finding who had murdered her late love than she had been that day in the barn. She sighed and rubbed the tears from her eyes once more, steeling herself to return to her household chores, just as she had been forced to do every morning since the incident. Her mother swore it was the only way to get through grief, to carry on with life as normal. Elizabeth resented her for it, but there was nothing she could do. Her one sure escape, her only safe place, was gone. And nothing she could say or do would bring him back. Elizabeth shook her head, brushing those thoughts aside. She stood and dressed, threw her hair into a bun, and headed for the dreaded barn. Today she was expecting to meet someone there for the first time since she lost her fiance. Someone she hoped could help. Alan Jones, a famous PI from a couple towns over, had agreed to help her solve the case of her lover's death. Elizabeth's steps quickened as she approached the barn, seeing detective Jones standing in front of the doors. He greeted her with a serious expression and a firm handshake, and cut straight to the chase: "where did it happen Miss brown?" Elizabeth stepped inside the barn and pointed to where the guilty rope had been wrapped around the offending rafter. Before she could get a word out, detective Jones had shimmied up a support beam and crawled out to the middle of the rafter. He unwrapped the rope and inspected the entire length of it. He allowed the rope to swing freely as he inspected the rafter. He climbed down from the beam, and inspected the rope from below. He stepped upon a stool and measured the length from the noose to the ground with a piece of string he pulled from his pocket. "Well, miss brown," he said, turning suddenly to where Elizabeth stood anxiously awaiting his words, "you are correct. This was no suicide. The question now is who did it." As they stood, discussing the evidence (the distance was not far, and the rope showed a struggle. Smudges of mud on the beam indicated someone had been up there, but Luke's boot prints had only led directly beneath the noose.) a loud crash sounded behind them. They turned to see Elizabeth's mother had just dropped a milking pail. "I thought we were through with men in this barn." She muttered before storming angrily out. Elizabeth and detective Jones swapped glances that said everything they were thinking. "Does she have both means and motive?" Jones asked Elizabeth, nodding in the direction her mother had just gone in. Elizabeth thought for a moment. "She was furious when she found out about the engagement... Said she was losing both her best workers and that she couldn't believe her daughter was marrying a stable hand. And she had the means, its her own barn. She chloroformed my little sister's kittens last week, so I know she could knock someone out easily. And shes stronger than you and I put together, years of farm work'll do that to you." Detective Jones nodded and wrote down some notes. "I'll be in touch." He said, and turned and walked out of the barn. "Who was that?" Elizabeth's sister Emily popped her head out of a hay bale. "That's detective Jones. He's helping me find out... Some information about what happened with Luke." "Ohhh!" Emily exclaimed. The. She dropped back into the hay bale with a giggle. Elizabeth returned to the house to find her mother cursing at detective jones, who was trying to ask her a few questions. "I didn't do it and that's that!" She insisted, crossing her arms and glaring at him. Finally detective jones nodded and left. Elizabeth's mother whirled on her heel, rolling pin in hand, and turned her cursing on Elizabeth. "How dare you let that man into our home." She seethed, brandishing her rolling pin threateningly. Elizabeth tried to run, but wasn't fast enough. A bruise across her back was enough to remind her if who was in charge in this house, and she didn't want another. She fled out the front door, went around the house, and bolted for the barn. Emily stood in the center of the barn, looking up at the rope detective jones had left swinging freely. The little girl started speaking without turning towards Elizabeth, eyes fixed on the constant swinging of he rope. "Fascinating things, ropes are." She said. "So many uses. To pull things, to swing, to bind things together." She turned towards Elizabeth. "They're all the same you know, men. Dad gave up on us, succumbed to the smallpox like a little kid instead of fighting for our family. Luke would've done the same to your family." Elizabeth's eyes widened and she began to back up. Emily raised her eyes and net Elizabeth's. "But I had the power to save you. I saved you Elizabeth!" Her eyes were pleading. A shiver went down Elizabeth's spine as realization dawned. It wasn't her anger prone mother who had killed her sweetheart. It was the calm, logical, gentle little girl standing before her. "Momma left the chloroform out after she killed my kitties. Luke said he'd put up a swing for me and well... It was all easy from there. He woke up pretty quickly, but I already had him. He wasn't gonna hurt my sissy. No. Not ever. I kept him contained real good." She took a step towards Elizabeth. "I have to keep you safe big sis. Forever." Emily took another step forward, a small blue glass bottle in one hand and a rag in the other. "I have to make sure you can't go out and get hurt, sissy."she said. Elizabeth kept backing up, praying this was a nightmare. But this time, there was no waking up. Her only hope was that detective Jones would find the truth... Even if the only witness would be swinging from the rafters.

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From the rafters

dragonqueen06

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From the rafters

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Julia Smith

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