Read Online Silence of the Lamb's Wool (A Yarn Retreat Mystery) by Betty Hechtman - Free Book Online

herself.” I could see that Bree was operating on nerves now and the words kept tumbling out. “I checked her pulse.” Bree explained that she’d learned CPR recently at her kids’ school. “I wanted to do something to help her, but you can’t do CPR on someone who’s breathing, can you?”
    I let Bree continue to spew while my gaze went to the action on the ground, even though I was still feeling the adrenaline rush I’d gotten from hurrying to keep up with Bree, having no idea who or what we were going to find.
    I knew I had only a few moments to get a look at the scene before Kevin St. John threaded through the crowd, trying to take charge.
    I’d learned from Dr. Sammy that people’s area of focus is really very small. The whole reason Sammy’s magic tricks worked was because of that fact. It was also why people missed all kinds of details outside their center of attention. I recognized that my eyes had locked on the two men in dark blue uniforms hovering over Nicole and I was missing everything beyond that. I forced myself to expand my focus and take in the bigger picture, making note of the details. I saw a smartphone sitting on the bench. Farther down almost to the other end I noticed a circle mark on the wood seat. I pushed my gaze to look at the ground, where a white-lidded red paper cup lay on its side. I noticed a small square-shaped glass bottle nearby. There was something else in the sand, but before I could step closer to see what it was, Kevin St. John stepped in front of me and blocked my view.
    “Ms. Feldstein, I know what you’re doing. There is no need for your amateur detective skills here. Now if you would gather your retreater and move along with everyone else and clear the area.”
    There was no choice but to follow his orders. I put my arm around Bree and joined the line of people heading back to the grounds.
    Bree and I had barely settled on the soft leather sofa in the Lodge when I heard the engine of the ambulance start up and the flashing red light reflect in the building. A moment later the siren went on as it left the grounds. Bree reacted to the sound, but I gave her a reassuring pat. “It’s a good sign that they’re in a hurry to get her to the hospital,” I said.
    I hadn’t broken the news to Bree about who Nicole was. I was barely facing it myself, convinced that she would recover quickly and be well enough to handle the weekend retreat.
    But this was no time to think about my problems. I felt for Bree. She had come so far on the last retreat, learning to be away from her family and to be on her own for a little while. And this retreat hadn’t even really started and already she’d been in the middle of an emergency.
    I tried reassuring her that she’d really risen to the occasion. First trying to help Nicole and then getting help for her. My comments cheered her a little, but she still looked done in. “Can I get you something to drink?” I said, wanting to do something.
    “A soda would be nice,” Bree said, brightening. “I feel a little weak in the knees. Maybe one with real sugar.”
    I met up with Jane on my way into the café as she carried in a brown cardboard box and set it down next to the rack of chips. “I saw the ambulance drive in and everyone heading into the dunes. Did someone get hurt?”
    When she heard it was Nicole, she sucked in her breath and stopped what she was doing. “Is she going to be okay?”
    “I don’t know what happened, but I’m sure they’re doing everything they can for her,” I said.
    “Does Will know?” she said, sounding frantic. “Someone should get in touch with him.” The words were barely out of her mouth when I saw him dash by and head for his blue pickup truck. It roared to life and pulled away.
    “It looks like someone did,” I said. Poor Jane seemed so upset, but then I’d heard that she’d gone through a lot taking care of her disabled mother and all this had probably hit a nerve. I took an extra minute to