A New Fear (13 page)

N
icholas sat next to Ruth on the parlor sofa a few hours later. She held a cup of tea in her hands, clutching it so tightly her knuckles were white.

Nicholas did not know what to say to her. So he just sat there in silence.

His mind raced over the events that had occurred since he arrived in Shadyside. So many deaths.

“I need to tell you something, Nicholas,” Ruth said. She kept her eyes on her teacup.

“What is it?” Nicholas asked when she did not continue.

“I do not know how to say it,” she admitted.

Nicholas felt like groaning. He wanted to be alone. He needed time to think. To figure out what he was going to do.

But he could not leave Ruth all by herself. “Tell me,” he urged, trying to sound patient.

“It was my father’s last wish that I marry you,” Ruth said all in a rush.

“What?” He gasped.

“I was as shocked as you are.” Ruth set her teacup down and turned to face him. “Last night I sat up with him. I was holding his hand. He started talking about dying.”

Ruth sniffled. “I told him not to be silly. But he would not stop. He said that he wanted us to marry if anything happened to him.”

Nicholas bowed his head and studied his shoes. I can hear the pain in her voice, he thought. I know she is hurting. I do not want to hurt her further.

But I cannot marry her.

Nicholas could not stand the thought of touching Ruth. Her cold, moist skin gave him chills. And her black fish eyes repulsed him.

I have to tell her about Rosalyn. Then she will understand. She will never have to know I would not have married her under any circumstances.

She twisted her hands in her lap. “I know you do not love me. I do not love you either.”

Nicholas glanced at her, surprised. Perhaps she did not wish to marry him! He would convince her that her father would never want her to marry without love.

Nicholas felt his entire body relax.

“But we could be good company for each other,” Ruth continued. “I have plenty of money. You would never have to worry about that.” Ruth gazed at him pleadingly.

Nicholas stood and walked to the empty fireplace. Her voice held a deep sadness. He knew it would be lonely for her living in this large house all alone. But that was not his responsibility.

He turned to face Ruth. He decided not to mention Rosalyn. It might only make Ruth feel worse. “I am sorry,” Nicholas said, “but I do not think either one of us would be happy if we married.”

“You are probably right. But I had to ask,” Ruth explained. She sighed. “I owed my father that much.”

Relief flowed through Nicholas. “I will help you any way I can. I owe your father, too. He showed me much kindness.”

Ruth rose to her feet and nodded. When she spoke her voice was calm and even. “You are welcome to stay in my home as my guest as long as you like.”

“I’m not sure that would be proper,” Nicholas began. “You are an unmarried—”

“No,” Ruth interrupted. “My father would want you to stay here. If you will not do it for me, then please do it for him.”

Reluctantly, Nicholas nodded. “Very well.”

A pitiful smile touched her lips. “Thank you. I have a terrible headache. I think I shall go lie down for a while. Make yourself at home.”

Nicholas watched as she slowly shuffled out of the room. She looks so tired and frail, he thought as he sat down. Her father’s death was a horrible blow to her.

And to me, he added. And to me.

Mr. Manning could have thrown me out the day I
barged into his home demanding my fortune. Instead he gave me a job.

Nicholas’s stomach cramped. Could Mr. Manning be another victim of the Fears’ bad luck?

Disaster had come to every person who had been kind to Nicholas since he arrived in Shadyside. Ike. Betsy. Mr, Manning.

Wait, Nicholas thought. Slow down. Bad luck is not the only explanation.

No, there was an explanation that made much more sense.

Jason Goode.

Jason hates me. He hated me from the beginning.

No, Nicholas remembered. Not from the very beginning. From the moment he found out I was a Fear.

He was friendly until Betsy arrived with my lunch. I thought he was jealous that she was fussing over me—but he did not know I was a Fear until Betsy used my last name.

Discovering I was a Fear changed his attitude toward me. He hated me from that moment on because of the feud between our families.

Jason knew Mr. Manning liked me and was looking out for me. Jason could not stand that. So he killed Mr. Manning.

But what about Ike and Betsy? Jason cared for them both. Was his hatred of the Fears so great that he could maim his friend and kill his own cousin?

Jason probably planned for me to be running the saw, not Ike, Nicholas decided. I was running it that
morning. And I was new. I bet Jason did not think Ike would allow me to switch jobs so soon.

Jason wanted to hurt
me
—not Ike.

But what about Betsy? Her death was no accident meant for him.

Jason tried to keep her away from me, Nicholas remembered. Every time he saw us together, he sent Betsy away.

Maybe Jason could not stand the thought of Betsy marrying a Fear. Maybe he thought she was better off dead than suffering the bad luck of the Fears.

Jason is not going to get away with it, Nicholas swore. If it is the last thing he does, Jason will admit the truth.

And he will pay for the lives he has taken.

Chapter 25

N
icholas did not knock on Jason’s door. He slammed it open and walked inside.

Jason stood near the hearth, jabbing the fire with a poker. He spun around.

“What are you doing here?” Jason demanded. His lips twisted into a sneer.

“I came to get some answers,” Nicholas shot back. “I want to know how you felt when you saw Ike’s hand spurting blood—thanks to you.”

Jason’s eyes turned dark with anger and hatred. His body went rigid. “That was your fault!” Jason yelled. “You—”

“I want to know how it felt to kill Betsy,” Nicholas interrupted. “Your own cousin.”

“Nooooo!” Jason howled. “You killed Betsy.” He lunged at Nicholas, the poker out in front of him.

Nicholas dove at Jason’s knees. He knocked Jason to the floor.

Jason’s head hit the hearthstone with a thud.

But the blow did not stop him. Jason rolled over and straddled Nicholas, pinning him to the floor.

Jason raised the poker high over his head. Aiming it at Nicholas’s face.

He is going to kill me, Nicholas thought. He twisted his body with all his might. He knocked Jason offbalance.

The poker slid across the room and landed near the door.

Nicholas rolled free and jabbed his knee into Jason’s stomach. He grabbed Jason by the throat.

“Confess!” Nicholas yelled.

Jason wheezed, trying to speak.

Nicholas relaxed his grip on Jason’s neck. But kept his hands in position.

“Confess what?” Jason demanded.

“You killed Mr. Manning and Betsy! You set up the accident at the mill that maimed Ike. You wanted me out of Shadyside. So you attacked everyone who was kind to me.”

“I wanted you out of Shadyside,” Jason shot back. “And I threw the rock at your head—I wish now it had killed you. But that is all I did.”

“You are a liar.” Nicholas dug his knee deeper into Jason’s stomach. Jason grunted in pain. “Tell me the truth!” Nicholas demanded.

“That is the truth. I would not kill innocent
people—even to hurt you. Especially Betsy.” Jason’s eyes filled with tears. “I loved Betsy. She never harmed anyone. Someone killed her. But it was not me.”

Nicholas stared down at Jason. Could he be telling the truth?

“Who killed her, then?” Nicholas asked. He released Jason. They both climbed to their feet, watching each other warily.

“You did!” Jason insisted.

“No! You are blinded by your hatred. Why would I kill Mr. Manning or Betsy?”

“You killed Betsy because she was a Goode.” Jason glared at Nicholas. “The Fears never needed a reason to kill the Goodes.”

“My mother was a Goode,” Nicholas protested. “A Goode who married a Fear.”

“I do not believe you,” Jason said. But the anger had gone out of his voice.

“I am going to find out who killed Betsy,” Jason vowed. “If you lied to me, if I find out you killed her, then I will come after you.”

“Fine,” Nicholas agreed. “And if I find out that you are the murderer, I will kill you.”

Nicholas and Jason stared at each other for a long moment. Then Nicholas turned to go.

Someone sprang out of the shadows beside the door and dashed toward Nicholas.

Chapter 26

R
uth! What was Ruth doing here?

Ruth ran past Nicholas.

With a screech, she grabbed the poker off the floor.

“Stop!” Nicholas yelled.

But Ruth did not hesitate. She reared back and plunged the poker into Jason’s throat.

Blood spattered across the wall.

Jason fell backward onto the wooden floor.

He gasped for breath. A wet, sucking sound.

Nicholas rushed over and grabbed Ruth’s shoulder. She twisted away from him with a snarl.

Nicholas watched in horror as Ruth turned the poker back and forth. Nicholas could hear it grinding into the floor below Jason’s neck.

Ruth had stabbed Jason so hard the poker had popped through the back of his throat.

She was insane. Completely insane.

Ruth did not appear anything like the shy, awkward girl Nicholas had come to know. Had her father’s death driven her to madness? Or had she kept it hidden away inside her always?

Bright red blood bubbled from Jason’s mouth.

He stared blankly up at Nicholas. A surprised expression frozen on his face.

“Now you will have to marry me,” Ruth said. She dropped the poker and turned around. A triumphant smile on her face.

“Ruth! Why did you kill him?
Why?”
Nicholas cried.

Ruth’s eyes bored into his. No more staring shyly at the ground.

“I killed him so that if you do not marry me, you will hang for murder,” she announced, her voice confident. “I will swear you killed Jason. And no one will take your word—the word of a stranger and a Fear—over mine.”

“You killed Jason to force me to marry you?” Nicholas asked. He felt dizzy and sick.

She tilted her chin up defiantly. “I decided I wanted to marry you the day I ran into you on my bicycle. And I always get what I want.”

“Even if it means killing an innocent man? What kind of woman are you?” Nicholas demanded.

His heartbeat pounded in his ears. He could hardly believe what he had seen with his own eyes. Ruth. Weak, mousy Ruth was a brutal killer.

“Jason is not the only one I killed to win you,”
Ruth said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I killed Betsy. I poisoned my father. And I arranged Ike’s accident.”

Jason’s knees felt weak. What was she saying? How could she calmly explain that she had killed her own father?

“Why? Why, Ruth?”

“I did not want you to have anyone to turn to—except me. I wanted to make you absolutely powerless and friendless. So you would be forced to depend on me for everything,” Ruth explained. She sounded pleased with herself.

She really sees nothing wrong with what she has done, Nicholas realized. She wanted something—and she did what she had to do to get it. Simple.

She is evil, Nicholas thought. Pure evil.

“You said it was your father’s last wish that I marry you,” Nicholas said weakly. He had actually pitied Ruth. Wondered how she would get along without her father.

She shrugged. “I am certain it would have been his last wish—if he had had the strength to wish for anything at all.”

Ruth sauntered toward the door. “No more questions, Nicholas,” she ordered. “None of the details matter now. What matters is that I want to get married right away.”

“I will not marry you,” Nicholas vowed. The thought of spending his life with Ruth sent a shudder through him.

“Oh, I think you will. The alternative is death,” Ruth said flatly.

To Nicholas’s amazement, tears welled up in Ruth’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. What was happening?