Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) by Karen Ann Hopkins Page A

the children whatever they wanted. The girls cheerfully recited their orders to Mariah, who rewarded the girls with a bright smile and she even paused from her work for a moment to gossip with Mareena about a new family that had just moved to the community. Before she left the table, Mariah tilted her head to me and asked in an even tone, “Anything else for you?”
    “No, I’m fine, thank you.”
    Mariah hesitated, and for an instant I saw a flash of uncertainty in her eyes, but then it passed and her face was emotionless once again. I was still holding my breath when she walked away and I couldn’t help wondering what secrets the girl was hiding.
    Rowan returned and took the seat beside Mareena and across from me.
    “Jotham is an interesting fellow,” I said casually.
    Rowan smiled. “He’s a good man. We’ve been friends for thirty years.”
    I couldn’t keep the obvious question inside a moment longer and even though I already suspected the answer, I asked, “What happened to his face?”
    It was Mareena who answered me. “Jotham was in the house with my mother when it exploded. She died, but he survived.”
    The information was swirling around in my head so rapidly that I almost felt dizzy when Rowan added, “He was holding Cacey in his arms at the moment that the house went up and he shielded her against his body to protect her.”
    I struggled to collect my thoughts. “Was it a gas leak?”
    Rowan nodded and sagged back into the chair with a sigh. “At the time, I was working especially long hours, and even though I had smelled more gas in the air than usual, I ignored the nagging feeling in my gut and took my other children to the autumn horse sale in Michum County, thinking that I had time to check into it when I returned home.”
    Mareena reached over and patted her father’s hand and said in a quiet voice, “It wasn’t your fault, Da.”
    I felt a mixture of sadness for both Rowan and Jotham and also the biting suspicion that there was probably a lot more to the story than I was getting at the moment. Poplar Springs was definitely not the quaint Amish community that was being advertised to the tourists.
    With the nagging question as to why Jotham was in the house with Rowan’s wife while Rowan was away at a horse sale banging loudly inside of my head, I said, “Jotham must be quite the hero around here then.”
    Rowan’s eyes narrowed as he stared back at me. I wasn’t expecting that particular reaction, but figured that if I was going to find out what was going on around here, I’d have to push a few buttons along the way.
    “Girls, get the sandwiches wrapped to go. You need to head back to the farm to begin your afternoon chores,” Rowan said.
    “But we wanted to wait a while longer to see if Elayne and Rachel come by. We haven’t visited with them in some time,” Mareena said in a pleading voice.
    “Be on your way. There will be other times for idle chatter,” Rowan ordered firmly.
    I watched the emotions of anger and resentment pass quickly over Mareena’s face before she swallowed in defeat. “Up, up, Lucinda,” she commanded.
    Lucinda turned to say goodbye to me and then she hurried away with Mareena who was tugging on Cacey’s hand.
    I looked back at Rowan and snapped, “Don’t Amish kids ever get a break?”
    Instead of my question upsetting him like I thought it would, he answered wearily, “I’ve explained this too many times to count to outsiders like you, but I guess one more time isn’t going to hurt me.”
    “Go on,” I coaxed, knowing that nothing he could say would win me over.
    “Our children grow up very differently than yours. They learn to work hard and take on responsibility at a young age, and it prepares them for our way of life as adults. My girls have it even tougher since they have no mother to guide them and they’ve taken over her responsibilities as well. But they do have some freedom.” As if he suddenly really wanted to convince me, he said