Page 41 of Little Shattered Dreams

“Then what happened?”

“I … I don’t know. I was walking, and I … well, it was the strangest thing. I heard footsteps behind me. I was sure someone else was there, on the same path I was on. But when I looked around, I didn’t see anyone. I turned back around and kept walking. A minute or two later, I heard the sound again.”

“Did you see anyone?”

“No one. It was just odd, so I decided it was best to head back to my room. I hadn’t turned around before something hard struck me on the back of the head. And then I … well, I must have blacked out, and now you’re here.”

I glanced at my watch. It was 6:45, about an hour after my mom said she’d left to take a walk. I was sure something sinister was to blame for what had happened to her. In my mind, there was no other explanation unless a rock or some other hard object had fallen from the sky or from one of the trees, knocking her out. The odds of that? Slim.

And there were no security cameras where we were.

As if reading my mind, Calvin started searching the grounds, looking for anything solid enough to inflict the kind of injury she’d sustained.

My mother attempted to stand. “We should get to dinner while we still can.”

“What? No. You’re not going anywhere. You have a gash on your head. It needs to be looked at.”

She pressed a hand to the back of her head and then brought the hand in front of her face. “It’s just a little blood, dear. I feel fine.”

“I don’t think you understand what’s going on here,” I said. “I don’t think what happened to you was an accident. I think someone hurt you on purpose.”

She swished a hand through the air. “Hurtme? Why would someone do a thing like that in broad daylight when they know an investigation is taking place? I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. Just because Quinn is dead doesn’t mean someone’s out to get all of us.”

Unbelievable.

“You’re not going anywhere until the paramedics look you over,” I said.

“Oh, come on now. It’s just a little blood. It’s not a big deal. I’ll just bet a branch fell and hit me on the head. That’s your culprit.”

“But you thought someone was behind you on the pathway.”

“Well, yes, but no one was there when I looked.”

“You can’t be sure no one was here. They could have been hiding.”

“Hiding? Where? I have perfect vision. No one else was here.”

I realized there was no point debating her, so I took my phone, snapped a photo of the back of her head, and spun her around.

“What on earth are you doing?” she asked.

I showed her the photo. “Doesthislook like a tree branch fell from the sky and hit you?”

She leaned in to get a closer look. “Oh, my. It’s bigger than I imagined, but not by much. I’ll get your Aunt Laura to slap a little alcohol on it and a bandage, and I’ll be right as rain.”

“This is serious, Mom. You could have been killed.”

“But I wasn’t. If someone wanted me dead, they would have done more than leave me with a little bump on the head. Quinn was shot. I wasn’t. I don’t see how the two are related. Please stop making it more than it needs to be.”

It was like someone had removed my mother from her body, replacing Nervous Nellie with Chill Jill. It didn’t make sense, and the more I stared at her, the more I could see it in her expression. Shewasworried. She just didn’t want to admit it in front of me.

As I stood there, trying to piece it all together, my mother started walking away. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”

“Mom, wait,” I said.

“Join me if you like, or don’t. Either way, toodaloo.”

Toodaloo?

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