Lake News by Barbara Delinsky Page A

nothing more than a recap of the allegations. Then, to her dismay, Terry Sullivan turned to Lake Henry.
    Blake comes from a well-to-do family in the small, north central town of Lake Henry, New Hampshire. Her father was a major landowner until his death three years ago. Her mother lives in the family’s large stone farmhouse and oversees the hundreds of acres of apple orchards that make the family business one of the region’s major producers of apple cider.
    The Post’s Headline Team has learned that Blake grew up with a severe stutter that kept her apart from other children.
    Lily sucked in a breath. Swallowing, she read on.
    She turned to singing as a means of communication. Experts on speech defects confirm that this is common. “Our casebooks are filled with examples of children who are unable to complete a spoken sentence, yet can sing an entire song without fault,” said Susan Block, director of speech therapy in the Boston public schools. She also confirmed that severe speech defects may create emotional problems.
    In Blake’s case, these took the form of rebellion. When she was sixteen, she was involved in the commission of a felony. Apprehended and charged alongside a twenty-year-old accomplice, who spent six months in prison for the crime, Blake was put on probation. She completed that sentence shortly before graduating from high school, and left town soon after.
    With a horrified cry, Lily dropped the paper. Devastated, she looked at Elizabeth. She started to speak, buthad to take a calming breath before the words would come out. “That file was sealed!” she finally said. “The judge told us no one would ever see it!”
    Elizabeth couldn’t hide her curiosity. “What did you do?”
    What did she do? She’d been dumb, was what she did. She’d been dumb and young and dying to be popular.
    â€œThe boy I was with stole a car. I didn’t know it was stolen, and there I was, smiling and laughing, having the time of my life because Donny Kipling was so tough he was cool. I was sixteen. I hadn’t ever been kissed. I had barely dated, so I went out with him in that car, and he just kept saying, ‘Don’t worry, this is fun,’ but he told the police I planned it, and witnesses said I looked like I was really into it. There was no trial. The case was continued without a judgment, and when I finished my probation, the charges were dropped.”
    Numb, she picked up the paper again.
    Blake rarely returned to Lake Henry after that. Sources who wish to remain anonymous have told the Post that she is estranged from her mother and her sister Rose. Another sister, Poppy, refused to comment on a recent conversation she held with Blake.
    â€œHow did they know I talked to Poppy?” she asked. Then, furious, she remembered. “Someone listened in on my phone. I heard that click.”
    â€œWouldn’t surprise me,” Elizabeth said. “They’ll do what they have to for a story.”
    Hadn’t Terry said as much? “But the judge sealed that file.How could they learn about it?” She felt violated and exposed.
    â€œBribery.”
    â€œThat’s not fair.”
    Elizabeth was suddenly apologetic. “Neither is this. I have to cancel you out for the Kagan fund-raiser.”
    Lily stared at her, stunned.
    â€œCampaign manager’s orders,” Elizabeth said, gesturing toward the newspaper. “He called when he saw this. It’s too inflammatory. Your being there would be an event in itself. Distracting from the candidate.”
    Lily knew there was more to it. “She doesn’t want to be associated with me.”
    â€œDon’t take it personally. It’s politics. One bad connection can ruin a candidate.”
    â€œBut I’m not a bad connection. The picture they’ve painted is false.”
    Elizabeth sighed. “It really doesn’t matter, y’know? The fact is that this is on the