The Marvels of Prairie Creek

Chapter Forty-Five

Liberty.

Genevieve's mysterious rumor had a name.

Liberty Jane Montgomery.

Months after her escape from Genevieve's father, Catherine had given birth to a girl.

"So it's true." Genevieve placed her hands on her cheeks. "I had a sister." She shook her head. "Father told John so in a drunken state one night. Said if it had been a son, he would've taken the child. But women were ungrateful runaways, more trouble than they were worth. Declared he had no daughters and never would."

"How awful," Jane said.

"Of course he later denied it. Said he had only been talking about me. But John was convinced Catherine must have had another child. And now you say he was right."

Jane nodded, turning her laptop towards Genevieve. "I found Catherine in the nineteen thirty census with an eight-month-old daughter. Liberty. She was born about November of nineteen twenty-nine. Backtracking nine months puts us at February. You said Catherine ran away in April of that year. She would've been three months pregnant."

"My, my." Genevieve peered at the name on the screen. "How ever did you find her? Vivian and John searched for years."

Jane grinned. "The wonders of modern technology. All the census records are online now. It took only a few minutes of searching."

"Astounding." She grasped Jane's hand. "I knew I hired the right person. You're a clever detective. What happened to her? Do you know?"

"Just as we suspected, Catherine married my great-uncle, Arthur Jenelik. They're buried together in Lexington, Kentucky." Jane clicked another browser window. "Here's a picture of their headstone."

Genevieve slapped her hand onto her chest. "My heart is beating so fast! Such news! But what of the girl?"

"I found Liberty in school yearbooks. Here's her picture." Jane clicked to the window she'd preloaded then picked up the photo from her mom's album showing Catherine with a teenage girl. Jane held it up to the screen. "See, they're the same girl. Catherine and my uncle had another girl and two boys according to my mom's pictures, so I searched for Jeneliks and I'm pretty sure I found them. The two boys, I mean. Still living in Lexington. I have addresses and I'm going to write to them. See what they know about Liberty. My guess is she got married, but I haven't found any record yet."

A small sound, like a whimpering child, turned Jane's focus back to Genevieve. Tears ran down the aged woman's cheeks as she stared at the computer screen. Jane dropped the photo on the table and took Genevieve's hand in both of hers. "Are you okay? Do I need to call someone?"

Genevieve turned her watery eyes to her. "I have a sister," she whispered.

*****

The incessant ringing doorbell woke Jane. She checked her phone. Eight forty-seven on a Saturday morning. Who would bother her now?

Alex.

She smiled. Their second date had gone as well as the first, and they'd stayed in his car talking till after midnight. He'd mentioned seeing her again today. Maybe he couldn't wait. Jane threw on her robe. "I'm coming, I'm coming," she shouted as the doorbell switched to loud knocking.

As soon as she opened the door, Danny flung his arms around her, pinning her own arms to her side. He swung her around with exuberance and when he set her down again, she almost lost her balance.

"What in the world!" she exclaimed.

A gigantic grin lit Danny's face. "She wote back." He whipped an envelope from his back jeans pocket and shoved it in Jane's face. "Wead it."