The Body in the Sleigh Read Online Free PDF

could become permanent dwelling places.
    â€œWhere did she live?” Faith asked. “I don’t remember ever running across her.”
    â€œDarlene’s parents had a camp on Little Sanpere and they moved in there,” Nan said. “It isn’t much, but it has heat and plumbing.”
    Little Sanpere was a small island that was connected by a causeway to Sanpere, many times larger. The bridge that spanned Eggemoggin Reach stretched from Sedgwick to Little Sanpere, and people who lived on Sanpere, including the Fairchilds, generally thought of Little Sanpere as a place they quickly passed through on their way home. In turn, those who lived on Little Sanpere were a tight community, the same families occupying their land for generations.
    â€œShe worked at the day camp one, maybe two summers. You probably saw her there when you dropped the kids off or picked them up,” Freeman continued.
    Faith shook her head. “I don’t remember seeing anyone that blond. She looks…looked Scandinavian.”
    â€œThat was another new thing. ’Bout a year ago she did it herself with peroxide. Before that she was a redhead. Like a copper penny,” Nan said.
    A copper penny brightly shining in the morning or afternoon sun. Faith had seen her before. Seen her smiling face and watched the campers vie for her attention; try to stand next to her as they waited for a parent. She felt her own eyes fill with tears.
    â€œOh, Tom, you must remember her too. It was when Ben first started going.”
    â€œIs there anything we can do? Would it help if we went to see her mother?” Tom asked. He was squeezing Faith’s hand harder now.
    â€œEarly days. Maybe in a while. Darlene’s not in great shape. Blames herself,” Freeman said.
    Faith nodded. She’d blame herself too.
    â€œHave the police determined the cause of death?” Tom asked.
    There it was. The question that Faith had been both wanting and not wanting an answer to since she’d found the body, muffled against the cold, in the sleigh. The body, so cold that no carriage robe would ever warm it again.
    Freeman stood up and walked over to the large windows.
    â€œBeen a funny winter so far. Plenty of snow, but not even the cove froze yet.”
    â€œIt was drugs,” Nan told them. “An overdose.” She broke down completely and sobbed. “She had tracks up and down both arms. The syringe was right there in a bag. A heroin addict. That’s what they’re saying. Not even eighteen and hooked.”
    Faith got up and put her arms around her friend.
    â€œI don’t know what this world is coming to when children—she was still a child in my book—are in this much misery that they have to escape that way,” Freeman said, turning away from the winter scene in front of him. “Come on now, mother, let’s go home. We’ll call you if there’s anything new. Imagine there’ll be a service. Darlene’s a regular churchgoer.”
    At the door, Nan said, “We thought you’d want to know and better to hear it from us. You know what this island is like for gossip. But you put it out of your minds now. It was a tragedy just waiting to happen for a long time. We all knew that. You concentrate on getting better, Tom, and everybody having a good holiday. Remember, you’re invited for Christmas dinner.”
    Faith smiled. After hearing about this festive gathering for years, being here for it was a lovely bonus. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world. And you still haven’t told me what to bring.”
    â€œJust yourselves is—” Nan started to speak, when Freeman interrupted.
    â€œSome of that chocolate bread pudding stuff you gave us last summer would go down a treat,” he said, rubbing his hands together and obviously picturing the groaning table. As they left, everyone brightened visibly at the prospect of being together for a happy