Free Keeping Secrets by Joan Lowery Nixon Page B

you children run outside and play?”
    Peg tried not to look as aggrieved as she felt. Not more than fifteen minutes ago Ennie Swenson had called Peg a young lady, yet now she was sounding just like Ma! Peg tossed back her shoulders and tried to look as old as she felt.
    Danny grabbed Peg’s arm, jerked her to her feet, and propelled her out the back door. He didn’t stop until they had reached the field behind the barn.
    “Stop that!” Peg pulled away with such force she lost her balance and flopped onto the grass.
    Danny dropped down beside her. “Then don’t act so prissy in front of Ennie.”
    “I wasn’t prissy.”
    “You were, too. You should have seen your face.”
    Peg’s lower lip curled into a pout. “She said we were children.”
    “You are a child. You’re only eleven.”
    “Eleven’s almost grown-up.”
    “It is not.”
    “Is too.” Peg broke off a handful of grass, enjoying the stinging, sour fragrance as it tickled her nose. Laughing, she threw it at Danny.
    Puzzled when he didn’t laugh, too, Peg demanded, “What’s the matter with you?”
    Danny’s face was serious as he looked at Peg. “I could tell that you didn’t want to spend a lot of time gossiping with Ennie about Miss Hennessey,” Danny said. “But if you do know something about her, you have to tell me what it is.”
    Taken by surprise, Peg could only blurt out, “Why?”
    “The Miller house … the Parker house now … there’s something strange going on there.”
    Peg leaned close, a little frightened by the seriousness in Danny’s voice. “What something strange?” she whispered.
    “Ennie sent me over to the Parkers with one of her cakes and a bowl of eggs when they first moved in,” Danny said, “and I’ve ridden nearby a couple of times since … near enough to see, that is.”
    Peg grabbed his arm, exasperated that it was taking him so long to explain. “See what? Tell me, Danny!”
    “The Parkers live on a farm,” he said, “so by rights they should work it. But they’re not farming. They don’t have animals, and they’re not growing crops. How can they manage to survive on a farm if they don’t work it?”
    Peg tried to remember all that Miss Hennessey had said. “They’re not staying long. It’s just … just temporary.”
    “That doesn’t make sense. If they’re in these parts for a short time, then why not stay in town?”
    “I don’t know,” Peg said.
    “Maybe there are things about the Parkers and Miss Hennessey we
should
know. Our Union’s at war.” Danny tried to look serious, but his scowl soon dissolved into a grin. “I mean it, Peg,” he said. “You and I could find out.”
    “How? By asking questions?”
    Danny nodded. “And by keeping our eyes and ears open.”
    Peg took a sharp breath. “Do you mean spying?”
    “Not the I-Spy-peeking-around-the-corner games that little children do.”
    Peg’s face grew warm, and she quickly looked away. Just a few weeks ago she and May had been playing spying on Marcus.
    But Danny hadn’t noticed Peg’s embarrassment. “I mean carefully watching and listening to find out what the Parkers might be up to.” He looked at Peg intently. “Do you think you could do it?”
    Peg sat up a little taller. “Of course,” she said. “I’m not a child.”
    “Then tell,” Danny said. “How much do you know about Miss Hennessey?”

9
 
    P EG LAY BACK on the soft grass, letting the sunshine seep through her skin and warm her bones. She had promised Danny to find out what she could about the Parkers and Miss Hennessey, and now he wanted her to tell everything she already had learned. But what did she really know that she could tell? Miss Hennessey had been a guest in their home—quiet and shy, but friendly—and Ma trusted her.
    Her suspicions were only that—suspicions, with no proof behind them. How could she tell Danny about Miss Hennessey’s cousin, who was one of Quantrill’s raiders? Or about the deception under which