Chapters (25)
- Praise
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-one
She broke off when she heard the sound of cars speeding up the drive, doors slamming. “Everyone’s here.” Ann pressed a kiss to Laura’s brow. “Everything’s all right now.”
Susan burst through the doorway first, stopped, braced herself as her heart tilted. “Well,” she managed calmly enough, “what’s all this?”
“I fell off a cliff,” Laura told her. “Michael got me up. I hit my head.”
That was all she got out before the room filled with people and hands that wanted to touch and voices that babbled questions.
“Quiet.” Thomas took his daughter’s hand, shot the order out to the group at large. “Josh, call the doctor, tell him we’re bringing Laura in—”
“No.” Rousing herself, Laura sat up and patted Kayla’s head as her daughter laid it in her mother’s lap. “I don’t need the doctor. I’ve just hit my head.”
“It’s a nasty bump,” Mrs. Williamson tutted as she continued to clean the blood and dirt from Laura’s head. “Wouldn’t be surprised if you have a concussion here, little girl. Michael?”
He didn’t notice all the eyes that focused on him. All he could do was stare down at Laura. “I don’t know how long she was out. Five, six minutes. But she’s been lucid, her vision’s not blurred. There’s nothing broken.” He wiped a hand over his mouth. “She had a dislocated shoulder. She probably fell on her left side. It’ll be sore, but she’s got good rotation.”
“I don’t want to go to the hospital. The ER will be packed with people after a tremor. I don’t want to be one of them. I need to be home.”
“Then you should stay home.” Margo crouched beside her. “We can take care of you. You gave us a scare.”
“Gave myself one.” Murmuring, she wrapped her arm around Ali as the girl burrowed into her side. “I’m fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. It was quite an adventure.”
“Try scuba diving the next time you want an adventure.” Reaching over the back of the couch, Kate laid a hand on Laura’s shoulder. “My heart can’t take this.”
“We found Seraphina’s dowry.”
“What?” Kate’s fingers gripped. “What?”
“It’s there, on the ledge where I fell. There was a cave, and it was there. Wasn’t it, Michael? I didn’t imagine it, did I?”
“It’s there. I’ll get it for you.”
“You’ll be getting nothing,” Mrs. Williamson said, lifting her voice over the fresh spurt of questions. “Sit down before you fall down, boy, and let me see to your hands. You’ve made a fine mess of yourself.”