Whispers Beyond the Veil Read Online Free Page B

more.” The policeman smiled and I felt a little safer, for the moment at least.
    â€œI would like to give such a man a good thrashing myself although I doubt my weapon of choice would be a parasol. I shall need your name and your address in order to contact you if necessary.” He leaned over to a large wooden desk for a notebook and a pencil.
    â€œMy name is Ruby Proulx.” The truth felt sticky on my tongue. Father and I never used our real names in the show, hardly even with each other. We had used so many false names my real one felt rusty with disuse. As a reminder to myself of my intention to go straight I had decided during my long train journey to use the name my mother had given me. If I had known the first person I would speak it to would be a policeman I might have been tempted to hold off on my rehabilitation.
    â€œAnd your address?”
    â€œI’m not certain of my address.” I once again felt the gnawing concern that had accompanied me on the journey from New Brunswick to Maine. The rashness of my journey occurred to me once more. In the cold light of the police station I felt foolish for fleeing from the life I knew with nothing but a photograph tucked into a letter sent to my mother twenty years earlier.
    â€œIt needn’t be the one for a hotel here in Old Orchard. I shall need a permanent address as well.”
    â€œI haven’t one of those, either. I’m here in search of someone but I am uncertain as to her exact address.”
    â€œIf she’s a full-time resident of long standing I expect I can help you to locate her. What’s her name?”
    â€œHonoria Belden.”
    â€œOf the Hotel Belden?” Officer Yancey’s eyebrows shot upward, then scrunched back down as he squinted and scrutinized my face.
    â€œI believe so.”
    â€œHow do you know Miss Belden?”
    â€œI don’t.” I loosened the ties on my purse and withdrew a much-handled envelope. “This letter and accompanying photograph were amongst my late mother’s things. I believe Honoria Belden is my aunt.” I handed the papers to Officer Yancey and watched as he handled them carefully. He inspected the address on the envelope and then removed its contents. He read aloud from the card enclosing the photograph.
    â€œâ€˜I am certain they have softened. Please come home. Your devoted sister, Honoria.’”
    â€œI knew you reminded me of someone. And not just because of your unorthodox use of a parasol. The family resemblance is marked.” He handed me back my things and I glanced at the photograph again. I had lain on my cot every night for years imagining what the inside of the hotel was like, what surrounded it. But most important, I wondered about the women in the photograph and whether or not I would ever meet Honoria.
    â€œIs Miss Belden expecting you?”
    â€œI would be very surprised if she were.” I felt my stomach lurch with nervousness. If Honoria refused me I would need to call on all my skills to keep body and soul together. The purchase of the train ticket had eroded my savings. I doubted I had enoughmoney left for more than a single night’s stay in a hotel and certainly nothing left over for food.
    â€œThen I’d say both of you are in for quite a surprise.” Officer Yancey seemed amused by something, and I must confess it left me with an even greater sense of unease than before. What about a hotel was cause for such a knowing smile? “As soon as you are feeling able I will take you to her myself. It is but a short walk from here.”
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    W ith my hat pressing uncomfortably against the bump on my head, we set out for the Hotel Belden and whatever might await me there. The sun blazed hot above us as we made our way downhill and toward the ocean. Seagulls circled daringly, one even snatching a bit of food right out of a small boy’s hands.
    â€œIs this your first