Healing Grace Read Free Page A

Jessica well. Sadie’s father, Wally was the stable foreman at Mr. Trent’s home, Grace Manor. Sadie lived at Grace Manor with her daddy in one of the houses provided for Grace Manor’s servants.
    Mr. Trent was always nice to her, so Sadie liked him just fine, but between the two of Mr. Emerson’s offspring, her true affinity was with Miss Jessica. If it weren’t for Miss Jessica, Sadie wouldn’t know how to read. She wouldn’t have had an education at all. When Sadie was twelve years old, Miss Jessica had started a school for colored children, and Sadie had been a star pupil.
    Miss Jessica and her husband didn’t live in Tennessee any longer, but they came to visit every now and then. Sadie looked forward to the visits, even though Miss Jessica was always pestering her about applying to the teacher’s college in Washington. Sadie had thought about it. She’d thought about it a lot, but wasn’t ready. And there was no reason to pack up and leave. The work she did was monotonous and Mr. Emerson could be a terrible jabberjaw, but her job was easy and she was well paid. Besides, she was comfortable here.
    Wondering again why Mr. Emerson hadn’t made an appearance, Sadie meandered through the house, stopping briefly to peek into the parlor and the study. Mr. Emerson wasn’t in either room. She was on her way upstairs, assuming he might be napping, when the hackles on the back of her neck began to prickle. Mr. Emerson didn’t take naps upstairs. If he wanted to rest during the day, he did so on the chaise in the parlor.
    Sadie wasn’t surprised to find the bedroom empty. The bed was unmade, but that was expected. It had probably been in the same disarray the whole weekend. The last time she’d been by was Friday.
    It occurred to her that Mr. Emerson might be at Grace Manor. Sometimes he stayed the night, which would account for his absence. But she would have known if he were there. His horse would have been in the stable this morning, and it wasn’t. The last time Mr. Emerson had been at Grace Manor was Friday evening and he’d gone home after his visit.
    The next place Sadie decided to check was the barn. The wagon she’d driven to and from town was in the yard with the horse still hitched, something she needed to take care of, but for now she sauntered on past. The cow and three goats were in their pens, as always, but Mr. Emerson’s mare wasn’t. That meant he was out, except Mr. Emerson rarely went out this early.
    As she stepped back into the yard, Sadie heard a whinny. It hadn’t come from the hitched horse and wasn’t close. To shield her view from blinding morning sunlight she had to hold her hand up. There, in the east field, was Mr. Emerson’s old mare, and she was saddled.
    The hackles on Sadie’s neck prickled again, worse this time. “Mr. Emerson! Mr. Emerson! Are you out here somewhere?” she called, but somehow knew he wouldn’t answer.
    For a moment, she fidgeted, unsure of what to do. Glad that she hadn’t yet unhitched the wagon, Sadie climbed up onto the bench and set out. She would ask her father. Wally would have a solution. He always did.
    Keeping at a good clip, she was soon on the isolated stretch of road that would take her to Grace Manor. Ahead of her, she noticed what looked like buzzards circling. She hadn’t seen them on her way in, but then again, because she’d come from town and not directly from Grace Manor, she’d traveled a different route.
    Moments later, she was almost directly under the circling birds. The grass on either side of the road was tall, and as her eyes scoured it—looking for what, she didn’t know exactly—she noticed an area, not far off the shoulder, that appeared as if somebody had punched a hole in it. At the same time she smelled the rank odor—the stench of death.
    The last thing Sadie wanted to do was pull over and look. She wanted to ride right on past, go straight to her daddy and let him come back to find out what was lying in the