Daddy grabbed a bat that he kept by the back door and marched out.

“Are you girls all right?” Mama asked.

Ruth looked at Talley and then at her mother. She wanted to be brave and pretend that what she’d seen didn’t matter. But her bravado crumbled, and she hugged her mother tightly.

Her mother wrapped her arms around Ruth and Talley, holding both girls close. “It’s all right, baby girls. It’s all right.”

Ruth savored the scents of cinnamon and sugar that clung to her mother’s dress. “You haven’t called me ‘baby’ in a long time.”

Her mother smoothed her hand over the wisps of hair that had escaped her barrettes. “Because you don’t like it when I do. And I suspect Talley thinks she’s all grown up too.”

Talley shook her head. “No, ma’am.”

Ruth hugged her mother again. “Do you think Mr. Manchester’s spirit will come and get me?”

“Why would you say such a thing?” Mama asked.

“Henry said ghosts live on the beach near the water.”

“Henry makes up stories,” Mama said. “Most of everything he says isn’t real. That’s what makes his stories so much fun.”

She drew back and looked up at her mother’s face.

“Henry looked serious, like he meant every word.”

Mama smiled. “Sometimes I think he believes all his stories. As long as you don’t take him too seriously, he’s harmless.”

“I’ve never seen a dead body,” Talley said.

Mama drew in a steady breath. How many behind-the-scenes problems had she handled like this? “Let Daddy have a look. Mr. Manchester might be passed out.”

“He didn’t move,” Ruth said. “His chest didn’t rise and fall even a little bit.”

The back door squeaked open. And when Ruth twisted around and looked at her daddy’s face, she saw the grim resolve. “I need to call the sheriff.”

“Is it Mr. Manchester?” Mama asked.

“Yes.” He looked at the two girls, his face etched with worry. “And he’s dead.”

Mama held the girls close. “How?”

“It looks like he drowned. But the sheriff and the doctor will have to make that decision.”

EDNA

When the sheriff came, Edna let Jake do the talking. Jake and Sheriff Hank had grown up within a few miles of each other; they’d hunted and fished together, and both had served in World War I.

Sheriff Hank lifted the blanket covering Peter Manchester’s body as it lay in the sand, dragged out of the tide’s reach. He stared at him a long time, studied his neck, checked his hands and his pockets. He found the bracelet that Ann had reported missing to Edna days before. Ann accepted the bracelet but didn’t offer an apology.

Next, the sheriff spoke to Ann, who reported Mr. Manchester had drunk heavily. “He’s been trouble since the war.” As if that explained it all.