leaning over the pram as the mother pushed the cover back.
“Hello there,” the mother said to her baby. “Hello, my beautiful boy.”
Grace watched his tiny hands come up against the rays of the sun, face squished in irritation. She shaded his eyes with her hand, eyes drinking in the sight of him.
“He’s just six months,” the mother said. “Healthy as a horse. Watch his hands. If he gets ahold of you, your fingers will be in his mouth.”
A tiny fist reached up, latching on to Grace’s pinkie with a strength she hadn’t expected, his skin as soft as velvet. A breath escaped her in a rush as he pulled her down to him, and Mary squeezed her other palm.
“He’s not so great,” Mary assured her. “Smells something awful.”
“Mary,” the mother chided her again.
Grace disentangled herself from the baby, pulling the pram cover back and over to shut out the sun. Mary tugged on her hand and when Grace leaned down to her, she found the little girl bounding into her for a hug. The pressure of the little body against her own brought back a wave of memories, and she fought to keep her balance as Mary leaned into her.
“We best be going, Mary,” her mother said, and Grace pushed herself to her feet, hastily wiping tears from her eyes.
“’Bye, lady,” Mary said, waving to Grace as they walked away. “I hope I see you again.”
“Me too,” Grace said once they were out of earshot. Her fingers played with a frayed corner of Alice’s letter, her eyes still on Mary’s golden crown of hair. “I’ll not stop writing.”
“Grace? Grace?” Her name sailed over the green hills, calling her out of her reverie and resurrecting the blank eyes the asylum staff expected to see. Letter shoved safely in the folds of her dress, she stood and waved to gain Janey’s attention.
The nurse spotted her and crossed the space between them, hair flying loose from the tightly coiled bun she usually wore. “There you are. Someone is wishing to speak with you.”
Grace’s stomach rolled. She’d thought Thornhollow would give her more time to collect herself before tracking her down. Janey groaned in irritation as the ends of her hair whipped around her face. “The wind today,” she complained, beckoning Grace to come out from under the shelter of the willow branches. “It’ll pull my hair whichever way it pleases, comb and brush notwithstanding. And you with a gentleman come to see you and your own head a sight indeed.”
Grace’s head jerked up at Janey’s words, confusion in her glance.
“It’s a policeman, name of Davey,” Janey explained. “Said he wanted to speak with Dr. Thornhollow but nobody could find him. So then he asked for you and wouldn’t leave until we produced you. I don’t know what it is you and the doctor are up to, but if it brings the like of him around here every now and then I don’t think I dislike it.”
Grace smiled to herself, aware that Janey was madly trying to tame her hair for more reasons than one as they came around to the front of the asylum. Davey was waiting on the gravel path beside his mount, his hat in his hands so that it wouldn’t be blown from his head.
“Here she is, Officer,” Janey said, voice brighter than usual.
“Thank you, miss,” Davey said, hands turning the brim of his hat in a circle as he spoke, eyes everywhere except the women’s faces. “I appreciate you finding her for me.”
“It’s no problem, no problem,” Janey said quickly, then looked back and forth between the two of them. “Well, I’ll just be out of your way, then, let you go about your business.”
Davey waited until Janey had gone into the asylum. He approached Grace cautiously, hands still buried in his hat and his eyes never quite able to settle on her own.
“Thank you for . . . for seeing me, I suppose,” he began slowly. “I have something to say to the doctor, but he don’t seem to be here and I got to say this thing before I lose the nerve to get it out.”
Grace raised an eyebrow to invite him to continue, breaking the usual dead stare she reserved for strangers.
“You see, when you’re a new man on the job you’re supposed to learn from the ones above you. But George . . . don’t get me wrong, he knows his trade. He can handle the drunks and the men going after their wives and