After Alice Fell(71)

She digs her fork through the berries and cream, slices the soft cake beneath, and raises it to her mouth. Then, “Aren’t you eating any?”

“I’m not hungry,” I say.

Lionel takes the other two plates. “More for me, then.” He sets one to the side table and the other to his lap.

“If I were a queen, I’d make you eat it.” Cathy stabs the air with the fork. A berry slips off to the rug. “Then I’d know if it was poisoned.” Her laugh is light. Then she pops the piece in her mouth and chews.

Saoirse stands directly in front of the lantern light. The silver refracts the lamp, and Lionel squints when a beam hits him. “I’ll go, then.” Her gaze moves from me to Cathy.

“No.” I stare at her.

Cathy raises an eyebrow.

“She might as well stay until we’ve finished,” I say. “You’re nearly done, but Lionel has a whole other piece.”

“Get me another glass of wine, then. And move out of the way. You’re blocking the showing.” Cathy’s jaw shifts back and forth as she finishes another bite.

Now Saoirse has moved to the sideboard. She busies herself with setting the tray just right, with picking up the wine bottle, her look to me as she turns around full of nerves. She presses her lips tight and looks toward the hall as if she’d rather be anywhere but here. As if she’s lost the nerve. All I need is a witness. Someone who will believe me. Believe Alice.

When you see, call for Elias. Send him for the constable. It’s all you will need to do.

“Do you want to read the narration, Lionel, or shall I?”

“I want to eat the cake.” He has the face of a man satisfied that all has settled to peace in his abode.

“No, I think it should be you. You read so well.” I pluck the cards from the box and hold them out.

He doesn’t argue. Just balances his plate to his knee and takes the cards.

The hinge on the lantern squeals as I open it. I hold the slide up to make certain I set it right, then push it in place.

Lionel straightens the cards and clears his throat. “ONE.”

The sheet before us fills with color. A barn door. A man in a tall hat and a woman pleading from just outside the screen.

“ONE: I saw her with him and he said no not you I do not want you anymore you’ve ruined everything. And she said she wouldn’t leave and then he pushed her and said he’s chosen. Don’t come here anymore! he said. But she did come.” He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and blinks. He peers at the image. I watch him in the mirror, the way his brow wrinkles and he looks puzzled. “I don’t . . .”

Cathy holds her fork in midair. “What’s this?”

The hinge squeals. I replace one slide with the next. “Go ahead, Lionel. Card two. It’s perfectly marked. Alice was fastidious about things like that.”

“TWO: We’re going for a row, Let’s go in the boat, Liddie. And Lydia said—I’m not feeling well. But the fresh air is good, Cathy said, and, Alice mind the babe, you can do that, can’t you, Alice?”

The air is still and so brittle I feel it will crack.

I yank the cards away. “You don’t need a slide for the next bits. You already know the scenes.” I press my thumb to the cards, then snap them up in my grip. I don’t need to read them. They have burnt themselves to my brain. “In fact, I’ll just read the last card. In case you’ve forgotten specifics. SEVEN: He tied the rope around her chest and said don’t let go of that end, Alice, it’s dark. We both pulled and pulled with the rope around a tree trunk to hoist her because of the grasses. Her skirts were terrible heavy with water—”

Cathy cries out. Her plate tumbles to the floor, leaving a streak of red jam and bits of cake. She balls her hands into fists and pushes herself off the seat. “What are you doing?”

“And he laid her down. Liddie! he said & he stared at me. & then pulled at the hood but the knots were terrible tight. I caught it in my teeth and ripped it. Her head bounced and swiveled I thought she would say something but she was dead. Liddie! he cried. CATHY, I yelled. IT WAS CATHY.”

Lionel crouches over, his hands scraping his skull. “Liddie . . .” His chest heaves as he slurps in air.

“Did you know, Lionel? Did you know what she’d done?” I squeeze the cards in my fist.

“My God . . .”

“You can get Elias now, Saoirse.”

Her head wags back and forth, and her hands grip the edge of the sideboard.

“Tell him to send for the constable.”

“No. No constable.” Cathy’s voice stutters. She lurches up, grasping the slide box. “Didn’t I tell you, Saoirse? Didn’t I say? Do you listen to yourself? Just like Alice, just like her.”

Lionel bolts from the chair, grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the room down the hall. My shoes catch and slip on the floor, pulling the rug like an accordion. My elbow hits the railing, and I cry out as the splint ricochets into my ribs.

“Let me go.”

His grip digs into the soft of my skin. I yank and pull.

“Let me go.”

“Put her in her room.” Cathy follows behind, pushing at his back.

A high screech careens off the walls. I catch Toby from the corner of my eye, standing behind us on the landing, his hands covering his ears. My God, did he see?