Chapter 5 - The Other Claire
Daniel reached the front door first.
Arthur ordered him to stop.
“No one opens it.”
The knocking continued.
Claire stood in the center of the entrance hall, staring at the door as rainwater seeped beneath it.
The woman outside spoke again.
“I know you can hear me.”
Her voice was muffled by the storm, but Claire felt something disturbingly familiar in its rhythm.
Mason moved toward the side window.
“I can’t see her face.”
Lightning flashed.
For one second, the woman’s silhouette appeared behind the glass.
She was tall, slender, and wearing a dark hooded coat.
Arthur turned toward Margaret.
“Did she tell you anything else?”
“She said she had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Claire is not Daniel’s daughter.”
Rebecca dropped her glass.
It shattered across the floor.
Everyone looked at her.
Claire felt her heartbeat in her throat.
Daniel spoke first.
“This is a trick.”
Arthur’s eyes moved to Rebecca.
“Is it?”
Rebecca backed away.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
Claire stared at her mother.
“What does she mean?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“Nothing.”
The woman knocked again.
“Rebecca,” Arthur said, “tell her.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“There is nothing to tell.”
Arthur looked at his son.
“You have lied for twenty-three years. Do not expect obedience now.”
Claire felt dizzy.
“What happened twenty-three years ago?”
Rebecca’s lips trembled.
Mason whispered, “Mom.”
She turned toward him.
“You knew?”
Mason shook his head.
Rebecca looked at Claire.
“When you were born, Daniel brought you home from the hospital.”
Claire struggled to understand.
“What do you mean he brought me home?”
“I mean I did not give birth to you.”
The words landed softly.
Their meaning did not.
Claire stared at the woman she had called Mother for twenty-eight years.
Rebecca began crying.
This time the tears were real.
“I wanted a child,” she said. “We had lost two pregnancies. The doctors said I might never carry another baby.”
Daniel grabbed her shoulder.
“Enough.”
She pulled away.
“Then Daniel came home with you.”
Claire could barely breathe.
“From where?”
“He said your mother had died.”
“Who was my mother?”
Rebecca looked toward the photograph still lying on the library table.
Claire knew before she answered.
“Eleanor Vale.”
The storm seemed to disappear.
Claire heard only the blood rushing in her ears.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“My name isn’t Claire?”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“I don’t know what name she gave you.”
The woman outside called again.
“My name is Clara.”
Everyone turned toward the door.
“I am Eleanor Vale’s daughter.”
Claire stepped backward.
Arthur caught her arm.
Daniel moved toward the staircase.
“We are not letting that woman inside.”
Arthur blocked him with his cane.
“You are going nowhere.”
“What are you going to do? Hold us hostage?”
“If necessary.”
Mason laughed nervously.
“This has become insane.”
The woman outside continued.
“There were two babies.”
Claire froze.
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Arthur’s face went blank.
“Two?” he whispered.
The stranger’s voice came through the door.
“Eleanor had twins.”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“You told me there was one child.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You told me the baby survived and Eleanor died.”
Still nothing.
Arthur struck the floor with his cane.
“Answer me.”
Daniel’s control finally broke.
“I did what I had to do.”
Claire stared at him.
“What did you do?”
“The harbor was burning. Eleanor was missing. I found one baby in the car.”
“One?” Arthur asked.
Daniel’s eyes moved toward the door.
“The other was gone.”
The stranger laughed bitterly.
“You left me there.”
Claire stepped toward the door.
Daniel grabbed her.
“Do not open it.”
She pulled free.
“That may be my sister.”
“Or someone pretending to be.”
“How would she know?”
“Because someone gave her information.”
Arthur looked toward the dark corridor behind them.
“The person who changed my medication.”
Claire understood.
“You think she is connected?”
“I think whoever brought her here wants this family divided and frightened.”
“We already are.”
The stranger spoke again.
“I have Eleanor’s necklace.”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“What necklace?” Claire asked.
“A silver pendant,” Arthur whispered. “A compass with a blue stone.”
Claire reached beneath her blouse.
A chain rested against her skin.
She had worn the pendant all her life.
Rebecca once told her it had belonged to Daniel’s mother.
Claire pulled it free.
A silver compass with half of a blue stone was set into its center.
Outside, the woman said, “You have one half. I have the other.”
Claire placed her hand on the doorknob.
Daniel shouted, “Claire, no.”
She opened the door.
Wind exploded into the hall.
Rain swept across the marble floor.
The woman stood beneath the stone archway with water running from her hood.
She slowly raised her face.
Claire looked into her own eyes.
The resemblance was not perfect.
The stranger’s hair was darker. Her cheekbones were sharper. A thin scar crossed her left eyebrow.
But they could have been sisters.
They could have been twins.
The woman opened her coat.
A silver compass pendant hung at her throat.
The missing half of the blue stone gleamed in the lightning.
“My name is Clara Vale,” she said.
May you like
Then she looked past Claire at Daniel.
“And I came to prove that he murdered our mother.”
