Read Online Crow Mountain by Lucy Inglis - Free Book Online Page B

little lady a glass of wine, son. If she wants one.’
    â€˜Yes pl—’
    â€˜No. Hope won’t have any. And Mr Crow, Caleb, might I insist that just as you have a name, my daughter, Hope, also has a name.’
    Cal had already stood up. Hope’s eyes flickered to his, and held. He hesitated, then sat back down, still looking at her.
    â€˜Oh well, sure. Didn’t mean nothing by it.’ His father began to make stilted conversation about Meredith’s research.
    Hope picked miserably at her food, appetite gone. The Crows ate a lot, helping themselves to more, listening attentively to Meredith.
    â€˜Considering how vast swathes of Montana have suffered so terribly with the pollution from mining, the ranch is a remarkable survival story.’
    Cal’s father nodded. ‘The problems are more down Butte way, but yes, this state has got more than its fair share of troubles because of mining. Then again, a lot of Montana was built on mining, so that’s a snake eating its own tail.’
    Hope’s phone chimed in her pocket. She pulled it out, wondering who would be texting her in the early hours from England. The message displayed on the screen. She shoved the phone back into her jeans.
    â€˜Who was that?’ Meredith’s voice was sharp.
    â€˜No one.’
    â€˜No one doesn’t text you at three in the morning.’
    Hope studied her plate. ‘It’s just one of those welcome to a foreign country messages.’
    Meredith stood up and held out her hand. ‘Give it to me.’
    â€˜Honestly. They’re just reminding me to make sure my data roaming is turned off. Which it is.’
    â€˜Give.’
    Hope put the phone into her mother’s hand. When Meredith finally spoke, her voice was thick with emotion.
    â€˜You told me you didn’t have any contact with him.’
    â€˜I don’t. Much. He’s having a break on a night shoot and was trying to make sure we got here safely.’
    Meredith’s voice rose. ‘A night shoot? For this ridiculous detective thing? And you told him we were coming here? When?’
    â€˜He emailed.’
    â€˜ Emailed ? How does he have your address?’
    Hope hesitated. ‘James messaged me.’ James was the eldest of Hope’s half-brothers. There was only three months between them. The row was escalating, and there seemed to be nothing at all Hope could do about it.
    â€˜Messaged you how?’
    Biting her lip, Hope cringed. ‘On Facebook.’
    â€˜Facebook? We agreed social media wasn’t healthy.’
    Hope’s fingers tightened around her fork, white-knuckled. ‘No. You told me it wasn’t. The way you tell me what to do all the time.’
    Meredith’s volume rose again. ‘Only to protect you. That’s all.’
    â€˜I don’t need protecting from your problems with what he did to us. I need a life of my own,’ Hope flat-out yelled back.
    â€˜How could you? After everything? How could you betray me like this?’ Tears glittered in Meredith’s eyes.
    Hope pushed up from the table and headed for the door to the terrace, almost blinded by her own tears. She felt sick and dizzy. The bluff in front of her spun as her knees gave out and the hard wooden decking came up to meet her.

I have no idea for how long I was unconscious. The carriage had shattered on impact, leaving me lying upon a large piece of padded seating, which had apparently saved my life. The only thing I could see clearly were the four huge brown mounds of the horses, nearby. Flies were already gathering over their corpses. A crow perched on the head of the closest one, and began to feast on the animal’s eye. Bile rose in my throat. That would soon be my fate, if I didn’t get up.
    I tried. Part of the coach siding was pinning me across the chest. Every bone in my body felt broken and the back of my head was a sticky mess of agony. Even lifting my hands to push at the