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“May?” Miriam raised her eyebrows only slightly.
“May Trelawny,” Mullane said.
Miriam smiled. It was delicate, and a little shy. “You called her May. That suggests you knew her quite well, even that you were friends?”
“We were. She was a woman of character, kindness, imagination, and…and fun.” He said it warmly, and there was sweet memory in his eyes. “I miss her deeply.”
“That’s what Rebecca Thorwood said of her,” Daniel put in. “That is her goddaughter. I don’t think she knows exactly how Miss Trelawny died. I will not tell her, if it is not necessary. I think she believed Miss Trelawny was a good horsewoman.”
“She was,” Mullane agreed. “It was a…” He stopped, raising his hands in the air, and then shrugging. He fell silent.
Daniel looked at Miriam. If they were ever to find out more about May Trelawny’s death, it was now or not at all.
Miriam understood. She nodded so slightly it was almost imperceptible. “Dr. Mullane, what happens to the house?”
Daniel drew breath to remind them that the postmistress had said someone wanted to buy it, then realized that that was not the issue.
“What are you thinking, Miss fford Croft? Mr. Pitt mentioned the death may not be accidental before. The horse was startled by something and lashed out. It appears to have panicked, but we will probably never know what happened. May’s injuries were very violent, as if the animal that caused them were in great fear or pain, but there was nothing to account for that. And certainly there was no one else seen in or near the house. No reason for the incident but terrible mischance. If you are thinking that the animal was drugged with something, we tested its blood and there was nothing discovered.”
“No injuries?” Miriam asked.
“Nothing but a few bruises. Poor May was trampled. Horses are very heavy animals. If you have even been trodden on, you will remember it.” He looked palpably distressed.
“May we see the animal?” Miriam asked earnestly. “Please?”
“I don’t know what good that will do, but of course you may.” He rose to his feet and gestured for them to follow. He led the way out of the side door of his house and into the yard, to the stables and carriage house. It made sense that he would keep a trap and horses. If he were needed urgently, he would not waste time walking, even though nowhere was more than a couple of miles. The stable was quite a large building. He probably kept a store of both hay and grain there in the winter.
“I’ve two horses of my own as well,” Mullane told them as he opened the door and led them inside, showing them the stalls. All the animals pricked their ears as they heard the steps. One of them whinnied. “All right, Acorn,” he said gently. “Nobody’s going anywhere. Hello, Hazel.” He touched the next horse where it poked its head over the half gate. “We’ve come to see Rosie.” He stopped by the last stall where a beautiful bay mare was watching him, and then Daniel and Miriam. She stepped backward sharply. “All right, Rosie,” Mullane soothed. “Nobody’s going to hurt you, girl.” He turned to Miriam. “Perhaps you would talk to her, Miss fford Croft? She’s been more used to a woman, though she’ll have to get used to me now, I suppose.” He turned to Daniel. “Sorry.”
Daniel stopped.
Miriam went ahead, very softly now, talking to the horse all the time. She opened the stable’s half door and went in.
Daniel was holding his breath. He wanted to stop this. What if the animal really was damaged in some way, frightened or hurt, and she kicked whoever was there, as she had apparently done to May Trelawny? How would they stop it?
Miriam hesitated.
Daniel thought she was going to come back out again, but she stood where she was, beside the animal, still talking to it. It was a one-sided conversation, and quiet, but the horse’s ears flicked. She was listening.
“What happened, eh?” Miriam said, reaching out and touching its neck.
The horse stood perfectly still.
“Did something frighten you?”
Daniel was hardly breathing.
Miriam slid her hand over the horse’s neck, still talking quietly. “What happened, eh? Was someone there, other than May? Someone you didn’t like?” She moved her hand farther down its back. “Did they hurt you?” Her hand moved another six or seven inches.
No one moved.
She slid it a little farther, and suddenly the horse threw its head back and lashed out, kicking violently behind it.
Miriam went white as a sheet and leaped away, but she did not cry out.
Mull
ane shot forward and grasped the horse’s halter. “Quiet, Rosie! Quiet, girl. There now! Nobody’s hurting you.”
