Moonlight on Water by Jo Ann Ferguson

LIBRARY was lettered across it. She had not guessed that the village was getting a library. Would the residents of River’s Haven be allowed to borrow books, too? She would have to find out—after she discovered where Kitty Cat was and impressed on the little girl the need to remain in the Community.
    Rachel looked both ways along the main street, then rushed across it to Delancy’s General Store. A train must have recently arrived, because the street was filled with carts and people going in every direction in a hurry.
    She climbed up onto the porch and went into the store, pausing just beyond the doorway to let her eyes adjust to the dim light within. Slowly the interior of the store emerged from the shadows. Two women were talking at the back of the store. She recognized one as Alice Underhill, her dark blouse dusted with chalk, who was the schoolmistress in Haven. The other woman was as easily identifiable. Emma Sawyer, who ran the store. Mrs. Sawyer’s silhouette was not as slender as it had been the first time Rachel had met her, for Mrs. Sawyer was already showing signs of her pregnancy.
    Rachel lowered her eyes. It would be expected that she give Mrs. Sawyer congratulations on the impending birth. She could not. Her mother and cousins had had this happy glow when they received news of the coming child … and then they had died.
    Both women turned as Rachel walked toward where they stood beside a pair of rocking chairs. Again that twinge struck her. She must speak to the steward in the woodworking shop in River’s Haven about having a rocker made for her cottage. Rocking Kitty Cat to sleep would be so wonderful. Reminding herself that she should not be thinking of such a thing now when the little girl was missing, she greeted the two women.
    Miss Underhill gave her a terse “good afternoon,” then bid Mrs. Sawyer a good day. The glare that the schoolteacher fired in her direction told Rachel that Miss Underhill did not want to be in the company of someone from River’s Haven. Rachel should be accustomed by now to the insult, but each time it hurt. If those who were frightened by the Community would come out to see how peaceful and prosperous it was, maybe they would set aside their prejudices.
    â€œMiss Browning, right?” asked Mrs. Sawyer.
    â€œYou have a good memory.”
    â€œIt’s important when one is running a store.” Mrs. Sawyer smiled.
    â€œIs Sean here?”
    â€œHe just ran down to the train station for me. Do you want to wait?”
    â€œNo. I’m looking for Kitty Cat.”
    â€œAgain?” The shopkeeper’s face became abruptly serious. “Is she lost?”
    â€œNot exactly lost. She left me a note that she was going to visit Sean.”
    â€œShe can write that well at her young age?”
    Rachel chuckled. Her shoulders relaxed, and pain burst from the tension easing across them. “Her message was clear enough for me to guess this was where she was bound. When Sean gets back, will you ask him if he’s seen her? I’ll keep looking around the village.”
    â€œDon’t take this the wrong way, Miss Browning, but—”
    â€œYou are wondering if Kitty Cat keeps running away because she doesn’t want to be at River’s Haven.” She sighed. “She loves living at River’s Haven, except for not being able to see your Sean and her other friend, Brendan Rafferty.”
    â€œCould she have gone to Mr. Jennings’s farm to visit the Rafferty children?”
    She shook her head. “Her message was that she was coming to see Sean. She’s been talking nonstop about the village ever since she came here a few days ago. I’ll look around and see if I can find her.” She thanked Mrs. Sawyer before rushing back out onto the street.
    The glint off the river below caught Rachel’s eye. Kitty Cat had been talking about the village and the steamboat. Could she have gone there