Read Online The Haunting of Brier Rose by Patricia Simpson - Free Book Online Page B

As it was, his meal
lodged in his chest, bound up by the terse words between himself and the
housekeeper, and by the idea that he might be in the process of being framed.
    "Whatever you may think you have found in Rose, Mr. Wolfe,
be assured that you are wrong about her. She has no family. Do you understand?
None. Just because she has red lair doesn't mean she is connected to any
family."
    "I never said she was." Exasperated, Taylor sighed.
'Look, Mrs. Jacoby, I have no interest in Rose Quennel. "None whatsoever.
How many ways do I have to say it?"
    She studied him, staring at him from the corner of her eyes as if
to judge the veracity of his words. He kept his gaze steady, willing her to
believe him, until she turned and left the morning room. Taylor watched her,
wondering what in the hell was going on.
    One thing he was sure of, he wasn't about to become a victim of a
frame job, no matter how beautiful the bait. The sooner he recovered his normal
eyesight, the better. And that meant finding out all he could on the subject of
the human eye and related diseases. He finished his breakfast and then limped
up to the study on the second floor, where he spent the rest of the morning on
the phone ordering books about the human eye, vision and anything else remotely
related to his peculiar problem. He was determined to get his normal sight
back, no matter what the doctors said. Doctors had misdiagnosed their patients
before. They could be wrong in his case, too. Taylor hoped to God they were.

 
    Rose stayed in the third floor workroom for most of the day. She
didn't want to take the chance that she might run into Mr. Wolfe in the parlor
or on the stairs, and she certainly wasn't in the mood for waiting on him. But
by three o'clock she was suffering from hunger and heat. Her hair was damp, and
her dress clung to the backs of her legs. She couldn't bear another minute of
the heat. A dip in the pond just outside the grounds would revive her and give
her the impetus to continue her work. She had made great strides in finishing
the scarf and deserved a break.
    She slipped out of the house and caught a glimpse of Mr. Wolfe
walking down the lane. Rose took the opposite direction and headed for the back
gardens, toward the pond at the rear of the property. As she got closer to the
pond, her anger faded, replaced by the joy she always felt when walking through
the canopy of fir trees. Stellar jays squawked as she strolled down the path,
alerted by the presence of Edgar, who soared ahead.
    Just as she was about to turn off the path to the pond, she heard
a snuffling noise and a growl. Rose stopped at the Y in the path and cocked her
head to listen. The growl was closer this time, coming from the curved trail
ahead of her. Though she knew it was impossible, she could swear she heard her
name— Roselyn, Roselyn, Roselyn —as
if some kind of creatures were chanting her name as they ran. The hair or the
back of her neck rose, and she turned to flee just as four black-and-orange Rottweilers
burst around the bend in the path and thundered toward her, panting and
snarling. They had huge blocky heads and powerful jaws frothing with white
foam.
    Rose knew enough about dogs not to run or show fear. If she did
either, chances were that they would attack her. If she could stand her ground
and intimidate them, she might buy enough time to find a way to escape.
    "Back!" Rose shouted, glancing around for a stick with
which to defend herself . The dogs tRotted around her, sniffing the ground and growling. They had massive chests, as big a
man's, and muscular legs and necks, and she was certain she would be no match
for them. She backed toward the berry bushes where the two paths joined and
looked down. A rock lay on the ground near her feet. Without taking her
attention off the dogs, she crouched down and picked up the rock.
    "Get back!" she shouted again, brandishing the rock.
"Get!"
    The dogs showed no fear. Where had they come from? The