About Charles.
They sat at the kitchen table after Lily went to sleep.
Rain tapped against the windows.
Anna kept both hands around a cup of tea she was no longer drinking.
"Charles was different before my father became sick."
Thomas listened.
"He helped us during planting season. He brought medicine. When Papa couldn't work, Charles handled some of the farm accounts because he was employed in his father's mercantile office."
Thomas frowned slightly.
"He had access to your finances?"
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Everything."
Anna closed her eyes.
"I trusted him."
There was no shame in Thomas's voice when he said, "You were supposed to."
Anna looked at him.
Those four words nearly made her cry.
She continued.
"The farm owed Whitmore Mercantile for seed, tools, and equipment. Papa had borrowed against the next harvest after two bad years."
"Then your father died."
"Yes."
"What happened to the farm?"
"Sold."
"Who handled the sale?"
Anna hesitated.
"Charles."
Thomas leaned back.
"Why?"
"His father knew the buyers. I was grieving. I didn't understand contracts."
Thomas's expression darkened.
"How much did the property bring?"
"Twenty-seven hundred dollars."
"Debts?"
"Almost all of it."
"Almost?"
Anna looked toward the drawer where she kept her papers.
"There should have been something left. Maybe three hundred dollars. Charles told me fees consumed it."
"Did you see the accounts?"
"No."
Thomas was silent.
Anna understood what he was thinking.
"You're wondering if Charles stole from me."
"I'm wondering why a man who managed your father's money is now accusing you of stealing from his family."
Anna had wondered the same thing.
But fear had prevented her from examining it.
Thomas asked, "Do you still have your father's papers?"
"In my suitcase."
They retrieved the bundle of letters.
Most were personal.
Bills.
Receipts.
Notes from creditors.
Then Anna found an envelope she had barely examined after her father's death.
Her name was written across it in his shaky handwriting.
Anna.
She opened it.
Inside were three pages of numbers.
Thomas leaned closer.
"Ledger notes."
Anna scanned them.
Seed purchases.
Cattle sales.
Mortgage payments.
Then a line near the bottom.
Whitmore payment, $460.
Anna frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"What?"
"Charles told me Papa still owed Whitmore more than seven hundred dollars when the farm was sold."
Thomas pointed.
"This says he paid four hundred sixty in January."
"I remember that sale. Papa sold twelve head."
"Do you have a receipt?"
Anna searched.
Nothing.
Then she found a short note from her father.
Charles says W. will credit payment next quarter. Must confirm.
Thomas looked at Anna.
"Did they credit it?"
"I don't know."
For the first time, the accusation against her looked different.
Perhaps Charles had not simply chosen her because she was an easy scapegoat.
Perhaps he was afraid she possessed something.
The next morning Thomas rode into Willow Creek with Anna.
He insisted Lily stay with Mrs. Dalton.
Anna objected.
Thomas did not.
"This is adult trouble."
Lily crossed her arms.
"I'm eight."
"Exactly."
"Eight is almost ten."
"No, it's exactly eight."