“How are you, Joe?” she asked nervously. Something in her voice made him look up quickly. He saw Erich and reddened. “Oh, good morning, Mr. Krueger. Didn’t expect you, I guess.”

“I’m sure you didn’t.” Erich’s icy tone made Joe blush several shades deeper. “I want to see how my girls are doing with their lessons.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll tack up the ponies right away.” He scurried into the tack room.

“Is he in the habit of addressing you as Jenny?” Erich asked quietly.

“It’s my fault,” Jenny said, then wondered how many times in the last weeks she’d used those words.

Joe came back with the tack. As the girls squealed impatiently, he put the saddles on. “We’ll each lead one of the ponies,” Erich told him.

“How about you, Mrs. Krueger?” Joe asked. “You up to riding today?”

“Not yet, Joe.”

“Haven’t you been riding?” Erich asked.

“No. My back has been hurting quite a bit.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“It will be fine.”

She still couldn’t tell him about the baby. Nearly four weeks had passed since Sheriff Gunderson had come and there hadn’t been a single word more.

Spring was about to break. The trees all had a red haze around them. Joe told her that that happened just before the budding started. There were shoots of green coming through the mud in the fields. The chickens were wandering out of the chicken house and exploring the territory around them. The boastful crowing of the roosters could be heard from behind the grainery and polebarn and stable. One of the hens had selected a corner of the stable for her own nest and was brooding her unhatched eggs.

“Since when have you had a backache, Jenny? Do you want to see a doctor?” Erich’s tone was loving and concerned.

“No. Let’s see if it doesn’t just go away. I’ve had them before.” She had had mild backaches during her other pregnancies.

Someone fell into step with them. It was Mark. She hadn’t run into Mark since the night of the dinner.

“Hello, you two,” Mark said. His manner was easy. There was nothing to indicate he was thinking of what had happened at the dinner party.

“Stay a minute and watch the way my girls sit their ponies,” Erich invited.

In the past weeks Tina and Beth had made rapid progress on the ponies. Jenny smiled unconsciously at their delighted faces as they sat straight up, holding the reins with rapt concentration.

“They look good,” Mark commented. “They’ll grow to be fine riders.”

“They love those animals.”

Erich left them to lead one of the ponies.

“I’ve never seen Erich happier. He was showing their pictures to everyone at the Hanovers ’ the other night. Emily was sorry you couldn’t make it.”

“Couldn’t make it?” Jenny repeated. “Couldn’t make what?”

“The Hanovers’ party. Erich said you weren’t feeling up to par. Have you seen a doctor yet? I just overheard you mentioning your back. And that fainting spell that night, Jenny. Was that unusual? Do you have any history of weak spells?”

“No. I never faint. And I will see a doctor soon.”

She felt rather than saw Mark studying her. Somehow she didn’t mind. Whatever conclusion he had reached about Kevin’s possible visit and her supposed widow status, he had not condemned her.

Should she tell him that she had no idea about Emily’s party? What good would it do? Erich left us together here because he knew Mark would probably bring up the party, she thought. Erich wanted me to know about it. Why? Was it simply another way of trying to hurt her, to punish her, for the gossip around the Krueger name? How much did people in this community know? She was sure Emily had told her family and friends about the sheriff’s visit.

If Erich believed people thought he had made a mistake and were pitying him, he’d be furious. She remembered his anger when Elsa suggested he had made the smudge on the wall.

Erich was a perfectionist.

As Mark turned to leave, Erich called, “See you tonight.” Tonight? Jenny wondered. Another party? Business of some kind? Whatever it was, she wouldn’t hear about it.

The girls ran to her when they dismounted. “Daddy is going to ride Baron with us soon,” Beth said.

“Don’t you like to ride with us, Mommy?”

Joe led the ponies into the barn. “See you, Mrs. Krueger,” he said. She was very sure he would not call her Jenny again.

“Come along, dear.” Erich took her arm. “Didn’t my little princesses do beautifully?”

My princesses. My girls. My daughters. Not our, only my. When had that begun? Jenny realized that the emotion she was experiencing was stark jealousy. Good Lord, she thought. Don’t let me start getting upset about that. The one good thing in my life right now is that the children are so happy.

They were almost to the house when a car pulled into the driveway, a car with a dome light on the roof. Sheriff Gunderson.

Did he have news about Kevin? She forced herself not to hurry, not to let her face show anxiety. As the sheriff got out of the car, Erich linked his arm in hers. He was holding Tina by the other hand. Beth was running in front of them. The devoted husband standing by his wife in time of trouble, Jenny thought. That had to be the impression the sheriff was getting.

Wendell Gunderson’s face was grim. There was a trifle more formality in his manner even when he greeted Erich. He wanted to speak with Jenny alone.

They went into the library. Jenny thought how in the first weeks this had been her favorite room. The meeting with Kevin had changed everything. The sheriff ignored the couch and chose the one straight chair.

“Mrs. Krueger, there has been absolutely no sign of your ex-husband. The Minneapolis police are treating his disappearance as possible foul play. There is no evidence he planned to stay away. There was two hundred dollars in cash in a desk drawer; he took only a small overnight bag with him when he left. Everyone he worked with at the Guthrie agreed that he wouldn’t walk away from that opportunity. I realize that last time it would have been much easier if I insisted on speaking with you alone. Please tell the truth, because once this investigation is in full swing, I promise you the truth will come out. Did you phone Kevin MacPartland on the afternoon of Monday, March ninth?”

“I did not.”

“Did you see him on the night of Monday, March ninth?”

“I did not.”

“He left Minneapolis about five-thirty. Driving straight through, that would get him here about nine. We’ll assume he might have stopped along the way to get something to eat. Where were you between nine-thirty and ten that Monday night?”

“I was in bed. I turned out the light before nine o’clock. I was very tired.”

“You insist you did not see him?”

“I did not.”

“The Guthrie operator confirmed that he received a call from a woman. Is there any woman who might have called him in your name? Any close friend?”

“I don’t have any close friends here,” Jenny said, “man or woman.” She stood up. “Sheriff, no one wants more than I do to find Kevin MacPartland. He is the father of my children. There’s never been even a hint of animosity between us. So will you please explain to me what you’re driving at? Are you suggesting that I invited or enticed Kevin here knowing that my husband planned to be away? And if you believe that, are you insinuating I had something to do with his disappearance?”

“I’m not suggesting anything, Mrs. Krueger. I’m only asking you to tell us everything you know. If MacPartland was definitely on his way here and didn’t show up, it gives us a starting point. If he was here and we knew what time he left, it gives us something else. Can you see what I’m getting at? I can understand why that might be embarrassing for you but…”

“I don’t think we have anything more to discuss,” Jenny said. Turning abruptly, she left the library. Erich was in the kitchen with the girls. He’d made ham and cheese sandwiches. The three of them were eating companionably. Jenny saw there was no place set for her.