“How?” she whispered.

“His heart apparently gave out. He was terribly ill.”

My mother let out a gut-wrenching sob.

Rose gave her a gentle nod. “I know this must be difficult for you, and for that I am sorry.”

As pain twisted my mother’s face, anger rose in my chest. Yes, I thought, my father’s dead because Rose killed him. I pressed my fingernails deeper into my palms.

Rose continued. “I believe the boy may have had help in his escape.”

That shut the room down.

“And you thought it was Grace?” Jamie asked, looking at me.

My mother recovered enough to express outrage. “That’s absurd!”

“Is it, Julianna?” Rose snapped. “Didn’t both of your children recently betray this community? Do I not have good reason to question their loyalty?”

My mother stared at her without offering a defense. Because Rose was right.

Jamie was looking at me with suspicion, just as Rose had done moments earlier. He thought I could be guilty as well. Little did he know how right he was. He, perhaps more than Rose, might be my greater challenge now.

“I have to ask the hard questions,” Rose said, pacing to her right. “But it appears Grace was here. And I suspect that you will attest to that, Jamie?”

He hesitated, then offered a reluctant nod. “She came home this afternoon.”

Rose nodded. “Which means that either the boy did escape on his own or someone else helped him. We will begin home searches at first light tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Jamie interjected. “Why not tonight?”

“If he’s being held in someone’s home, he’ll be there in the morning. If he escaped on his own, he’s likely gone to the wind.”

“Or hiding in one of the abandoned buildings,” Jamie said. “For that matter, he could have found a way into any of our public buildings. Let me take a team out tonight and search everything but the homes. If he’s on his own, we’ll find him.”

She eyed him, impressed, I thought. Surely he wouldn’t go to the trains, not so far out at night.

Rose gave him a nod. “Alright. Take Claude and any guardians he recommends. Search every vacant building, every storehouse, every nook and cranny of the farm—everything but the homes inside the perimeter. We start with the homes at first light.”

She stepped past Julianna and paused at Jamie’s side. “You were right to be concerned. We’re not safe as long as that boy is at large.” She glanced back at Julianna and me for a moment. “Stay inside, and be on guard.” And then she was gone.

We stood there as her footsteps clopped down the stairs, across the main floor and out the front entrance. The sound of the door closing echoed up the stairs.

Jamie dropped his arms to his sides. “Promise me there’s no truth to her accusations,” he said, looking directly at me.