Daughters of Silence Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  About the Author

  Chapter

  1

  Shadyside Village 1878

  “Shadyside Station! Next stop!” Jenna heard the conductor shout.

  She looked up from her book. Had they reached Shadyside already?

  As she felt the train slow down, her heartbeat quickened. She couldn’t wait to see her best friend Hallie again!

  Peering out her window, she saw the village of Shadyside coming into view. Crowded with wagons and horses and buggies, the town’s wide Main Street bustled with midday shoppers. Jenna spotted a big general store, a bake shop, and a post office.

  Just past Main Street, Jenna caught sight of pretty white houses, standing side by side on quiet, treelined lanes.

  “Shadyside Village,” the conductor called again from the front of the car. “If you’re getting off at Shadyside, folks, better get packed up.”

  Jenna looked outside again and spotted Hallie and her parents on the platform. She leaned out of the window as far as she dared.

  “Hallie! Over here!” she called, waving frantically.

  “Jenna!” Hallie squealed as she waved back.

  Hallie lifted her skirts and ran alongside the slowly moving train. Her curly blond hair lifted on the breeze and her blue eyes sparkled with excitement. Jenna rose from her seat, then grabbed her carpetbag. The fabric of her long dress and petticoat swished as she hurried toward the front of the car.

  As the train wheels ground to a stop, she flew down the stairs and straight into Hallie’s arms.

  Hallie swept her up in a tight hug. “You wouldn’t believe how much I missed you!” she exclaimed.

  “Well, you’re the one who moved away,” Jenna teased, pushing her friend out to arm’s length. “I declare, you’ve grown a foot!”

  “Before you know it, I’ll be as tall as you,” Hallie retorted. “Oh, Jenna, I’m so glad you could spend the whole summer with me. We’re going to have such fun!”

  Jenna smiled and squeezed Hallie’s hand. Hallie was her best friend in all the world. As close as sisters, her parents always said. Jenna wished they really could be sisters.

  “I can see that you two girls aren’t wasting any time catching up, are you?” Jenna heard Hallie’s father declare with a laugh.

  She turned to see Hallie’s parents standing right beside her. Mr. Sheridan still looked tall and thin. His wide smile made her feel warm and welcomed. He wore a dark suit and a high, starched collar. His thick black mustache curled up at the ends, adding to his refined air. Mrs. Sheridan looked as pretty as ever. From beneath the rim of her stylish bonnet, her bright blue eyes sparkled as she greeted Jenna.

  “Welcome to our new home, dear,” she murmured. “We’re so glad to have you!”

  “Thank you for inviting me,” Jenna replied, remembering her mother’s instructions about minding her manners.

  “Let me take your bags, Jenna,” Mr. Sheridan offered. He picked up a large suitcase that the conductor had carried off the train for her.

  “I’ll take the carpetbag,” Hallie insisted. She grabbed up the smaller bag, then linked her arm with Jenna’s as they followed Hallie’s parents to the street.

  Mr. Sheridan led them to an open carriage where two horses patiently waited, tethered to a post. He set down the suitcase and helped the girls climb in. Jenna took a place next to Hallie on the seat facing forward and Mrs. Sheridan sat on the seat opposite. After tying her case in the back, Mr. Sheridan hopped up on the driver’s bench and took the reins.

  “Gidd-up,” Mr. Sheridan called to the horses. Kicking up a cloud of dust with their lively gait, the horses set off on the road that led away from the station and village. Their hoofbeats made a gentle clop-clop sound on the hard-packed road. Jenna relaxed and watched the passing scenery.

  Mrs. Sheridan opened her parasol with a snap. “I’ve made your favorite dessert for tonight, Jenna.”

  “Peach pie?” Jenna felt her mouth water as she said the words aloud.

  Mrs. Sheridan shook her head. “Two peach pies.”

  Jenna spotted a group of young men and women who’d gathered in front of the saddle shop to talk. They seemed right around her and Hallie’s age. One girl waved, but the others just watched curiously as the carriage passed by.

  “Do you like it here?” Jenna asked, turning back to her friend.

  The other girl shrugged. “It’s all right, I suppose. But everyone else has lived here forever. It’s hard to make friends.”

  “You will,” her mother promised. “It just takes time.”

  “Well, Jenna’s here now,” Hallie told her. “And we’re going to have fun all summer long.”

  A short time later, Mr. Sheridan turned the horses down a quiet lane on the eastern edge of town and then onto a gravel drive.

  “Look, Jenna. There’s our house,” Hallie announced brightly.

  A short distance down the gravel drive, Jenna spotted a pale yellow two-story house with dark-green shutters and a tall brick chimney. The house sat on a long green lawn and several old oak trees made the place look shady and cool. She liked the wide front porch with its flower boxes and wooden swing.

  “How pretty!” she exclaimed.

  Mrs. Sheridan smiled at her response.

  “Here we are. Watch your step getting out, ladies,” Mr. Sheridan announced as he brought the carriage to a halt at the front of the house.

  Jenna breathed in the fresh scents of the blooming flowers and clean country air. A tantalizing aroma of food wafted on the breeze and she felt her mouth water. “Hmmm, something smells delicious,” she noticed.

  “Cook should have supper all ready for us,” Mrs. Sheridan returned. “Girls, you go wash up while I help Cook put the dishes out.”

  Jenna followed Hallie out of the carriage and into the house. It felt like home to her at once. This was going to be a wonderful summer, she thought.

  After a delicious meal, including two slices of peach pie each, she and Hallie sat out on the porch swing. It was fully dark now, and the shadowy places beneath the oak trees looked velvety thick and soft. Jenna watched a sliver of moon rise slowly in the sky. She felt a soft breeze whisper past her cheek and heard the tree branches creak and sigh.

  Jenna pulled her feet up onto the seat and wrapped her arms around her knees.

  “Remember how we used to stay up late and tell ghost stories?” Hallie asked suddenly.

  “Do I ever,” Jenna replied. She poked Hallie in the shoulder. “Remember when you told me that story about the Green Man? I guess we were only about eight or nine years old.”

  “You thought it was true,” Hallie added, grinning.

  “I didn’t sleep for a month,” Jenna told her. “I kept waiting to hear him scratching on my window with his long, jagged fingernails. I could have strangled you when I found out you’d made up the whole thing.”

  “I bet I could still make your hair stand on end, Jen,” Hallie teased.

  “Not anymore,” Jenna retorted. “I’m too old to fall for your wild stories, Hallie.”

  “Sure you are,
” Hallie agreed with a teasing grin. “So you won’t mind strolling over to the graveyard tonight? I’ve got a great story to tell you that I heard around town and it would be way more fun to tell it in just the right setting.”

  Jenna’s spine tingled with unease. “A graveyard?”

  “You’re not scared, are you?” Hallie challenged.

  “Of course not!” Jenna retorted. “There’s nothing to be afraid of in a graveyard.”

  Then she realized that Hallie had done it again. Well, actually, Jenna realized, she’d trapped herself. She shot Hallie a simmering glare. But Hallie only smiled at her.

  Finally, Jenna smiled back. “You’re a twit, Hallie. All right, I’ll go. But it’s your fault if we have nightmares for the next ten years.”

  “Come on,” Hallie called eagerly. “Follow me.” She ran off the porch and across the front lawn. Jenna caught up with her out on the street.

  They walked quickly and passed two other houses where Jenna saw the front parlor windows glowing with warm light. She felt a sudden urge to turn back. Then she bit down on her lip and kept walking.

  The street grew darker as only moonlight lit their way. Jenna noticed that the houses had disappeared. On either side of the road she saw only a stretch of thick woods. The damp leaves and twisting tree trunks glimmered in the moon’s silvery light.

  “Maybe we should have brought along a lamp,” Jenna suggested.

  “Too late now,” Hallie replied with a shrug. “Look, there’s the entrance.”

  Up ahead, Jenna suddenly spotted two tall marble pillars covered with patches of green moss. A wrought-iron arch stretched between the pillars. She could barely make out the curling letters of the sign on the arch. She paused and squinted up at it.

  “Shadyside Cemetery,” she slowly read aloud.

  “What did you think it would say?” Hallie chided. “Come on, slowpoke,” Hallie urged as she grabbed Jenna’s arm. “We don’t have all night. My parents will wonder what happened to us.”

  Jenna felt her friend tug her through the gate. The sign’s shadow fell across Jenna’s face as she passed beneath it, and she felt her body tremble with an involuntary shudder.

  “This is a creepy place,” she whispered.

  “Why are you whispering?” Hallie asked. “It’s not like anyone can hear us.”

  “I …” With a laugh, Jenna threw up her hands. “You’re right. I suppose I whispered because … everyone whispers in graveyards, don’t they?”

  “I guess they do,” Hallie agreed, leading the way deeper into the cemetery’s dark shadows. Rocky and choked with weeds, the winding path curled around the rows of headstones. Jenna felt hard stones press through the soft soles of her shoes. In the pale moonlight the rows of headstones looked like jagged teeth poking up from the earth.

  A thick mist clung to the ground and the breeze sent pale gray tendrils coiling along the path and around the stone slabs. The air smelled wet. And with each breath Jenna noticed a taint of something else, a repulsive, foul scent she couldn’t quite recognize.

  “Look!” Hallie cried, pointing at a large, dark shape ahead.

  Jenna squinted into the shadows. After a moment, her eyes adjusted and she could make out a small, square building with a domed roof. As they walked closer, Jenna saw a figure perched over the entryway, just in front of the dome.

  They stood in front of the marble building and Jenna looked up at the figure. A statue of an angel, she realized. Nothing that unusual to find in a cemetery. Many people liked the idea of placing such a stone guardian over the resting place of a loved one.

  But this had to be the most hideous angel she’d ever seen. The most menacing, malevolent guardian.

  Carved in black marble and covered with patches of slimy green moss, its monstrous face wore a snarling, sinister expression. Jenna felt a shiver race down her spine as she gazed up at its disturbing face. The sightless eyes bulged out of their sockets and its thick lips curled ominously, baring long, pointed teeth.

  Green moss, like spiderwebs, hung from the heavy black wings. Wings that to Jenna looked far too large for the angel’s emaciated body. Hunched around bony, slouched shoulders, the long feathers tapered to knife-edge points. Jenna’s gaze rested on the angel’s hands: gnarled claws, folded and clasped to its sunken chest.

  “What is this place?” Jenna stammered.

  “It’s a mausoleum,” Hallie whispered. “The Fear girls are buried in there. People say their ghosts roam this place.”

  Jenna swallowed hard. “There’s no such thing as ghosts, Hallie,” she declared.

  Hallie leaned her back against a nearby headstone. “Maybe once you hear this story, you’ll change your mind about that.”

  Jenna crossed her arms over her chest. “I doubt it.”

  “Okay, we’ll see.” Hallie tossed her head back and slowly smiled. “Here’s the story. There are awful rumors about the Fears here in Shadyside. Terrible stories … They say that Simon and Angelica Fear are evil. They say that their daughters died violently. One of the sisters killed the other. And because the girls died violently, their spirits are tied to this place forever.”

  The wind tossed the branches of the trees, filling the night with whispers. Jenna could almost imagine voices amid the rustling. She could almost imagine someone watching her from the shadows. She resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder. Or up at the hideous angel.

  “But that’s not even the worst,” Hallie told her. “People say …” She paused for dramatic effect. Her words sounded in a husky whisper. “They say that when the Fear girls were buried, their bodies had no bones! They say there are nights when the girls’ skeletons walk, not dead, yet not at rest. Forever searching for a way to come back to life.”

  Jenna’s eerie mood vanished. “Hallie, that is really too much. I’d believe in ghosts before I’d believe that ridiculous story.”

  “Well, maybe you wouldn’t say that if you ever saw the look on people’s faces around here whenever the name Fear is mentioned.”

  “What kind of look?” Jenna asked.

  “Well, almost as if they’re … terrified.”

  Jenna sighed. “Hallie, you’re too gullible. Remember, you’re new in town. Whoever told you that wild story was only teasing you. They probably laughed all the way home.”

  “Oh, Jenna! Sometimes I think you’re way too sensible for your own good,” Hallie remarked.

  “Oh, Jenna, yourself,” she retorted. “Look, we’ll prove it. We’ll walk right up to that mausoleum, and you’ll see for yourself that there are no ghouls or ghosts or dancing skeletons anywhere around here.”

  Hallie’s eyes glinted as she looked around. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Anything that will make you stop believing that wild story is a good idea. Now come on.” Taking Hallie by the hand, Jenna started walking toward the crypt.

  Dry leaves rustled underfoot as they made their way through the gravestones. Jenna glanced up at the angel statue. It loomed above them, looking even larger and more menacing.

  “Can you see the inscription yet?” Hallie asked.

  Jenna squinted at the letters carved above the lintel. For a moment, they seemed almost to squirm. “All I can make out from here are the names and dates. Julia Fear and Hannah Fear. They were almost the same ages as we are when they died. How sad.”

  A cloud passed over the moon, plunging the cemetery into total darkness. Jenna looked up. Everything looked and felt different. The headstones seemed to shift into twisted, shadowy shapes. Coils of mist looped up from the ground, alive and seeking … something. All around, the trees muttered and groaned with a hundred voices.

  Then the air turned cold. Impossibly cold. Enfolding her like an icy shroud, numbing her body until only fear remained. Unable to take another step, she stopped.

  As suddenly as it had come, the cold vanished. Jenna shook her head. It had all happened so fast … It couldn’t have been real. Her imagination had been playing trick
s on her, no doubt.

  And then the clouds passed, revealing the moon once more. Jenna stared down at the inscription again.

  “Hallie!” she called, her heart beating hard, pounding its way right out of her chest.

  The other girl turned. “Jenna, what’s the matter?”

  “The inscription!” Jenna hissed, forcing the words up through a throat gone tight with fear. “It says, ‘Hannah and Julia, beloved daughters of Simon and Angelica Fear.’ And it says … It says …”

  “What?” Hallie demanded impatiently.

  Jenna took a deep breath. “It says, ‘They are not dead.’”

  Chapter

  2

  “What did you say?” Hallie’s eyes opened wide. The whites of her eyes gleamed in the dimness.

  “Look for yourself,” Jenna urged. “It’s right there!”

  “‘They are not dead,’” Hallie read.

  The girls stood staring at each other for a moment. Jenna wanted to say something sensible, but her throat felt dry and choked with fear.

  A deep, eerie sound broke the silence. It sounded to Jenna like someone moaning. The mournful noise seemed to echo from all directions at once. Hallie gasped. She clutched Jenna’s arm so hard it hurt.

  “W-what was that?” Hallie whispered.

  “An owl,” Jenna whispered back. “I think.”

  Hallie tugged at her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The breeze wafted through the trees. Branches tossed back and forth. Dark shadows leaped across the front of the mausoleum. Jenna leaned forward as she saw something dark spattered across the lower part of the inscription.

  Jenna let her breath out in a huge sigh. “Look, Hallie. Some mud or dirt is hiding some of the words.”

  “I don’t want to know any more,” Hallie hissed.

  “Nonsense. There’s always a sensible explanation for these things,” Jenna insisted. “Just wait one more minute.”

  Jenna reached out to touch the inscription. The dark substance crumbled beneath her fingertips, leaving grit on her skin.

  “Don’t touch it!” Hallie cried.

  “Hallie, it’s only dirt,” Jenna told her.

  “Oh.” Hallie heaved a sigh. “I thought it was blood or something.”