The trio scuttled away, though the wind brought snatches of their murmuring to Libby’s ears.

“He wouldn’t . . . Mr. Wearne . . . don’t even like each other.”

“But she’s his girl!”

Libby sneaked a glance at Mabena to see what she thought about being known as Casek Wearne’s girl by the schoolchildren on Tresco, but she didn’t seem to be paying them any heed. She’d moved closer and was frowning down into the hole. “Did you see this, Oliver?”

“The hole?”

“No.” Mabena knelt down, reached into the hole, and came up with something thin and colorful dangling from her fingers. “Beth’s bracelet.”

“What?” Oliver took it from her, his arm drifting away from Libby’s back. An absence she felt like a blow. He flipped the beaded length over, fingering the frayed end with a frown. “No surprise it came off—she was losing it all the time. But it isn’t dirty. Not like it would be had it been in that hole for months, getting rained on and muddy.”

Mabena huffed. “And if it was coming off all the time, why didn’t she take it to Mam for fixing?” Her gaze flicked to Libby. “I made it for her—my first attempt, using my mother’s jewelry-making supplies. No surprise the clasp wasn’t as secure as it ought to have been, but Mam would have fixed it for her.”

So Mabena and Beth were good enough friends that her first jewelry-making attempt was a gift for her—another piece to the puzzle Mabena seemed set on keeping her from putting together. Libby made a mental note.

Oliver shrugged. “You know Beth. She hates to part with a trinket she loves, even for a short time.”

“And look where that’s got her.” Mabena took the bracelet back. “So, she was here recently then. Probably since the last rain. But the hole doesn’t look freshly dug, so she was investigating one she made earlier, or one someone else—perhaps Johnnie Rosedew—had put here.”

Libby stepped around the hole, only wincing a little when she put weight on her foot. The twinge was minor, really. She’d be right as rain in a few minutes. “So that leaves us . . . ?”

“Absolutely nowhere, other than certain Beth’s still about—as we more or less knew anyway.” Mabena huffed again. “Come on, then. Let’s see what else the island has to tell us.”

Oliver moved to Libby’s side and offered an arm, eyes twinkling. “For support, my lady? We don’t want you tumbling down any rabbit holes into Wonderland.”

She smiled and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. She didn’t need the support. And he hadn’t needed to offer. But he had, so she’d take it.

And she wouldn’t even investigate that cracking sound she’d heard from her bag. No sense in ruining the moment.

15

28 JUNE 1906