Jerusha sat absolutely still, all the blood drained from her face.
Jenny went on, the words pouring out. “There’s something else I need to say to you, Papa. I’m going to go on with my search with or without your help. This need to know who my birth mother and father are will always be between us until I find out and am whole again. If you really understood me you would know that finding out about my past is the key to my future. Unless I unlock it I’ll never know who I am.”
Reuben rose from his chair. “You will not do this,” he shouted. “I forbid it!”
“You can’t stop me!” Jenny shouted back.
Reuben took control of himself with great effort. His next words were like ice. “I can and I will.”
Jerusha rose halfway from her chair and leaned forward with her hands on the table, shaking like
