Page 88 of An Affair at Stonecliffe

“Gil, run!” Noelle shouted as she dragged herself out from beneath Diggs and scrambled to retrieve her makeshift weapon.

Diggs rolled over and grabbed her ankle. Frantically she tried to pull away, but he clung to her tenaciously. Gil jumped on the man’s back, drumming his fists against him. With a roar, the man let go of her as he surged to his feet, and Noelle grabbed the branch. She swung back to face him, her arm raised, and saw that Diggs held Gil against his chest, one hand firmly around her son’s throat.

Noelle froze. Diggs nodded, a grim smile curving his lips. “Aye, that’s right. I have him. Drop that stick.”

Noelle did as he said. “Don’t hurt him. Please. He’s just a child.”

“I won’t if you do what I tell you.”

“I will.”

He nodded toward the clearing. “Go back to the house. And don’t try nothing. I can see everything you do.”

Noelle nodded and started walking back, her mind racing. Diggs could have killed Gil right there and then. For that matter, he could have done it far earlier. Why had he not? Was it possible that when he was faced with actually killing a child, he hadn’t been able to make himself do it?

Seizing on that thought, she said, “Killing a man is one thing, but killing a child? You know Gil. You watched over him that day in the park. Surely you must hesitate at the thought of murdering him. Doing this will haunt you the rest of your life.”

“Shut up.”

Noelle ignored his words. “Think of what will happen to you. There is no way you can conceal this. Everyone will know. When they find Gil and me gone, and you, as well, they’ll know. What do you think Carlisle will do when he discovers your treachery? He’ll hunt you down; you know he will.”

“Enough! Shut up, I tell you, or I’ll do it right here and now.”

Noelle stopped and swung around to face him. She saw that Diggs had shifted Gil, who was still struggling, and now held him under his arm like a package, pinning the boy’s arms to his sides and making it more difficult for Gil’s kicking feet to reach Diggs. Now that his hand was no longer around Gil’s neck, perhaps she could rush him, and he would release Gil. Diggs was not a large man, and right now, in her fear and fury, she felt as if she could level a stone wall to save Gil.

“Move on,” he said gruffly, but Noelle stood her ground, waiting for him to come closer, tensing to spring. He stopped, his face red with anger, and began to curse. “Go on, I tell you!”

He raised his hand, gesturing toward the house, exposing his side, and Noelle launched herself at him. He half turned, so that she hit only his side, but that was enough to make him stagger backward, feet slipping on the dirt path, arms windmilling. He lost his hold on Gil, who tumbled to the ground. Noelle was knocked off her feet by the collision, and her skirts impeded her as she tried to stand.

Diggs grabbed her arm, pulling her up, his face contorted with fury. He drew back his arm to hit her. Suddenly there was a loud crack, and red burst across his temple. Noelle gaped at Diggs, stunned, as he crumpled to the ground, his hand falling away from her arm.

“Mama!” Gil ran to throw himself against her, wrapping his arms around her legs.

Carlisle, Noelle thought, her heart leaping inside her chest. Carlisle had found them. She whirled to look behind her. A man stood at the edge of the clearing, but it was not Carlisle. In her shock, it took her a moment to realize who he was and another instant to remember his name.

“Mr. Thompkins!” The lawyer! Nathan’s lawyer. What was he doing here? “What—I—” She glanced down at Diggs’s lifeless body on the ground, then back to Thompkins.

“Oh, my. Oh, dear.” The man ran forward and stopped short, staring down at Diggs. “Is he—oh, dear.”

“Yes, he’s dead.” Noelle took his arm, thinking that he might be about to swoon.

But Thompkins only blinked a time or two, then turned to her. “I didn’t really—I mean, he was about to—I’m so sorry.” His gaze was pulled back to Diggs.

“Why are you here?” Noelle asked, turning him away from the body. “Not that I’m not eternally grateful, but I don’t understand.” Gently prying Gil from her leg, she picked him up and began to walk toward the cottage.

Beside her, Mr. Thompkins, his hands twisting aimlessly around the pistol, began his explanation. “I, well, when I realized, I had to come. I mean, of course, first I went to Stonecliffe, or else I would have been here sooner. When Mr. Thorne wasn’t there, well, I didn’t know where to go. But then I remembered about the nurse’s cottage. It’s empty, and I realized that would be the place. Mr. Adam Rutherford’s nurse, of course, but Mr. Thorne had great regard for her, and now, naturally, she’s gone, but no one else...well, thank heavens I was right. I wasn’t sure... I couldn’t believe, I mean, not really, that it was he. But still, of course, I had to act.”

He babbled on in this manner all the way to the cottage, but Noelle didn’t try to stem the flow or make sense of what he was saying. She was too shaken herself to put things into order. The important thing was taking care of Gil, who was clinging to her, his head on her shoulder. Noelle rubbed his back, murmuring words of reassurance to him.

For a long time Gil was silent, but when she carried him into the bedroom and set him down on the bed, he said, “Why did Diggs do that?”

His lower lip trembled slightly, and his eyes welled with tears. Noelle smoothed her hand over his head. “I’m not sure, dearest.” She bent and kissed his forehead. “I think someone must have paid him.”

“Where’s Uncle Carlisle?”

“I don’t know that either. I’m going to talk to Mr. Thompkins and see what I can find out.”

“He talks silly.”