A terrified scream cut him short.
Jonathan went up the stairs three at a time. Tearing open the door, he plunged inside, then halted, stunned. The room was empty!
But not quite! Jo's strained white hands were clinging to the window sill.
"Wait! Jo!" he shouted. "Hold on. I'm coming!"
Instead of waiting, she relaxed her hold. He reached the window to see her crash into the iron porch railing twenty feet below.
Jonathan watched in horror as the girl fell....
"She's dead, Tom." He looked up from Jo's still face a few minutes later. "Fractured her skull." His voice was matter-of-fact, but there was death in his heart. Now that it was too late, he realized that he had loved her. "Poor child. I treated her very badly, you know."