Melody (18 page)

They laughed again.

“I don't understand. What are you trying to say?”

“We're not saying anything,” Betty replied quickly, her smile evaporating. “And don't tell anyone we did.”

The bell rang. I stared at the three of them for a moment and then stood up.

“Where do we dump our trays?” I asked.

“Just follow Theresa. She knows how to clean off tables,” Janet told me.

I rushed from their annoying laughter. It was making
my blood boil. I followed the others to an opening in the wall where trays and dishes were placed. Theresa waited for me there.

“Making new friends?” she asked dryly.

“More like new enemies,” I responded. Her eyebrows lifted. I thought I even detected a small, tight smile on her lips.

“English is next,” she said. “We're reading
Huckleberry Finn.”

“I read it.”

Theresa paused and turned to me. “You did? Good. Then maybe you can help me for a change.”

“I'd love to,” I shot back, my voice as tight and firm as hers.

She stared a moment and then she smiled warmly for the first time. Her pearl black eyes brightened and she laughed. I laughed, too.

Betty, Janet, and Lorraine stared at us with amazement as they walked past and down the corridor.

“Do the witches from
Macbeth
have English now, too?” I asked Theresa.

“Witches?” She gazed after Lorraine, Janet, and Betty. “Oh. Yes.”

“Good,” I said firmly.

We walked on, Theresa talking more freely now about our teachers, our classes, and the way things were.

Cary waited outside the school building at the end of the day. He looked up sharply when I appeared.

“My mother wants you to walk home with May and me,” he explained. “But you don't have to if you don't want to.”

“I do,” I said. He started walking quickly.

“Are we walking or running?” I asked, keeping up with him.

He glanced at me.

“I don't like to be late for May,” he said.

“She doesn't know how to get home by herself?” I asked innocently. He stopped and spun on me.

“She's deaf. She might not hear a car when she crosses the street.”

“I bet she would look carefully first,” I said. “She's a bright girl.”

“Why take chances?” he said.

“She needs to feel she can be on her own,” I told him.

“She's only ten. There's plenty of time for that. Besides, we're wasting time standing here and arguing.”

“We're not arguing,” I said keeping up with his pace. “We're only having a conversation.”

He grunted like Uncle Jacob and kept his face forward as he took long strides.

“I see you made friends with the most popular girls at school already,” he commented.

“I'd rather be friends with Theresa Patterson,” I replied. He shot a glance at me, a look of surprise on his face.

“She's a brava.”

“So?”

“If you hang out with them, the others won't be as friendly. You won't be included in their gossiping and you'll never get invited to their wonderful parties.”

“I'll risk it,” I said. Although he didn't turn back to me, I saw a smile form.

May was waiting patiently for us at her school. She broke into a wide, happy smile when she saw I had come for her, too, and I signed hello. She ran to us, but Cary began to sign quickly. Whatever he told her calmed her down and she walked along holding tightly to his hand. I was at a great disadvantage not knowing the language of the deaf. I made up my mind to learn as much as I could as quickly as I could.

Aunt Sara stood at the front of the house when we arrived. She rushed to us, her face full of expectation. I could tell that the way she was gazing at us as we all came walking up the street made Cary uncomfortable. I heard him mumble something under his breath, and then he quickened his pace, tugging May along.

“How was your day, children?”

“The same as always,” Cary muttered and walked through the gate and past her quickly. May paused to tell Aunt Sara her school news. Her fingers and hands moved so quickly, I wondered how Aunt Sara could keep up. She didn't seem to be paying much attention either, because as she nodded and smiled, her eyes were focused on me.

“It's so good to see three of you come down the street instead of only two. Was school okay? Did you make new friends, dear?”

“It's hard to make friends the first day,” I replied, without revealing anything in my tone of voice.

“Of course,” she said. “Would you like something cold to drink? Laura and I would enjoy a glass of iced tea about this time of the day.”

“That sounds nice. Did my mother call?” I asked hopefully.

Her smile wilted like a flower without sunshine and water. “No, dear, not yet.”

I tried not to look disappointed. “I'll just go and change into something else. I'd like to see the cranberry bog.”

“Oh, yes. It's right over the hill. Maybe Cary will take you,” she suggested. May tried to get Aunt Sara's attention and interest again. Her hands resembled small fluttering birds, but Aunt Sara babbled on about her quiet afternoons with Laura. By the time I got to my room, Cary was emerging, dressed in a worn pair of pants, dirty sneakers, and an old shirt.

“I've got to go help my father with today's catch,” he said as he passed. I was standing in the doorway. “I don't have time to take someone sightseeing.”

“Can I help?” I called after him, but he was bouncing down the stairs and didn't reply.

Why did he avoid me? Coming home from school, he had looked embarrassed walking with me at his side, and whenever he spoke to me, he always looked at something else. Was I that detestable? I was sure it had something to
do with his resenting my being in Laura's room, using Laura's things. I couldn't wait for Mommy to call so I could at least get the shipment of my other things.

I changed into my own jeans and blouse, loosened my hair, and put on my older pair of sneakers. May had already changed out of her school clothes and was waiting for me. She signed something I didn't understand.

“Wait,” I told her and scooped up the book on sign language. “You and I will practice, okay?” I said holding up the book.

She nodded and I took her hand. As we descended the stairs, Aunt Sara called from the kitchen.

“Is that you, dear?”

“It's May and me,” I replied. She appeared with only one glass of iced tea in her hand. “Come, sit with me a minute on the porch,” she said, handing me the glass.

“Thank you, but doesn't May want any?” I held up the glass. May started to nod.

“May has something to do,” Aunt Sara said harshly. She gestured at her and May's smile faded. She looked at me a moment and then ran to the rear of the house.

“Where's she going?”

“May helps with the laundry, folding towels and putting away the linens. It's her chore. Everyone has a list of chores,” Aunt Sara said.

“Where's mine?”

“Oh, there's time enough for yours, dear. I want you to get settled in first.”

“It's not fair,” I said looking after poor May. “Maybe I can help May.”

“No, dear. She'll be fine. Come.” Aunt Sara led me to the porch. “Tell me all about your day at school. Laura used to describe everything so well that I felt I had been right there beside her,” she said with a short, thin laugh. She sat in a rocker and I sat on the small bench.

A tiny song sparrow perched itself on the red maple tree and paraded as if to show off its plumage. The afternoon sun had fallen behind a thin layer of clouds,
and a cool breeze passed through my clothes, giving me a sudden chill. I looked toward the beach where the sunshine was still strong.

I told her how I felt about my teachers and how I thought I really wasn't behind in my schoolwork, how I was even a little ahead in some classes. She listened attentively, but she looked disappointed, as if I wasn't telling her what she really wanted to hear.

“You didn't make friends with anyone yet?”

“Theresa Patterson's nice,” I said and she grimaced.

“You should make friends with the daughters of the better families in town, dear. That way you'll get to meet nice, respectable young men.” She smiled. “I'm sure you will. You're too pretty not to succeed. It's what I always told Laura, and sure enough . . . sure enough . . .” She hesitated as if she had forgotten what next to say and then she turned abruptly toward the ocean. “We're going to have a neap tide tonight, Jacob says.”

“What's a neap tide?”

“It's when the moon's at its first or third quarter. It's at its third quarter. The breakers could be as high as seven feet. Stay away from the water tonight,” she added. She sighed deeply. “Laura went out on the neap tide and never came back. I never laid eyes on her face again.” She shook her head slowly. “Only Robert's body was recovered.”

“But Laura has a grave,” I said.

“Yes. I had to have a monument for her, a place for her spirit.” She smiled. “Only a clamshell's toss away as you saw. I can go there whenever I want and talk to her. I told her all about you last night, so I'm sure her spirit's looking over you. That's why I know she'd want me to give you this.” She dug in her dress pocket. “Hold out your left hand, dear,” she ordered. I did so slowly and she put a gold charm bracelet around my wrist and locked it on before I could resist. “Oh, it looks perfect on you.”

“I can't take this,” I said. “It isn't right.”

“Laura wouldn't want you to have it if it weren't right. It will bring good luck. You know why, don't you?”

I shook my head, afraid to even guess.

“You were born June twelfth, right?”

“Yes,” I said, holding my breath.

She widened her smile.

“Don't you know, dear?”

“Know what?”

“Laura was born June twentieth. You're both Gemini. Don't you see?”

I shook my head, still holding my breath.

“Gemini, the twins. That was Laura's sign, that's Cary's sign, and it's your sign,” she said. “Isn't that wonderful?”

“I don't know anything about astrology,” I said.

“One night when it's clear, I'll show you your constellation. Laura and I loved to see it in the night sky.” She gazed up as if it were already night and the sky were blazing with stars. May timidly appeared in the doorway. Aunt Sara asked her if she had completed her chore and she signed back that she had.

“Maybe May can show me the cranberry bog?” I suggested. Aunt Sara nodded, disappointed that I didn't want to sit and talk some more. She reluctantly told May my request. May beamed, took my hand, and urged me to follow her.

“Come right back!” Aunt Sara called from the porch.

“We will,” I promised.

“I've got nice flounder for tonight's dinner. It was one of Laura's favorite meals,” she cried.

May pulled harder. I laughed as we broke into a run around the rear of the house and over the pinky-mauve and pearly pebbles toward the hill. Toward the ocean I could see Cary on the boat working with his father and Roy Patterson. It looked as if he was gazing our way, but he didn't wave.

May lead me to the top of the hill. We paused and I looked down at the cranberry bog. It was all in blossom.
It looked like a second sea of pale pink. May gestured wildly with her hands. I was sure she was explaining the planting, the flooding, the draining, and the harvesting of the berries. It was frustrating not to understand.

I sat her down beside me on the top of the hill and opened the book about sign language. If we worked together, I thought, I would make faster progress. We were still practicing gestures when Cary and Uncle Jacob returned from the dock.

“Hey!” Cary barked. “Get her back to the house.” He made some gestures and May stood up.

Using my new skills, I thanked her. She hugged me.

When I looked back, I saw Cary glaring at us. He lowered his head and then plodded after Uncle Jacob. I took May's hand and we followed.

“May showed me the cranberry bog,” I told him when we entered the house. He was in the living room with Uncle Jacob. “It's beautiful.”

He snorted. “See if you still think it's beautiful when it comes harvest time.” He cut past me quickly to go upstairs.

“If I'm still here,” I called after him. Couldn't I say anything that would please him?

“Go see if Sara needs any help with dinner,” Uncle Jacob commanded. He didn't even say hello and he had no questions for me about my first day at school. He snapped his newspaper and sat back to read.

May looked at me, wondering, I was sure, what all the dark faces meant. I smiled at her reassuringly. Then I heard the phone ringing.

Oh let that be Mommy, I prayed. I had never longed to hear her voice so much. No matter what her faults were, how much she had annoyed or disappointed me before, I would be grateful for the sound of her voice.

Uncle Jacob lifted the receiver reluctantly and said hello. His eyes were on me.

“I said go help Sara,” he ordered. I took a step past the doorway, but paused to hear him talk.

“Yeah,” he said, “She's here. She's looks a lot like
Haille. Guess you'll see for yourself soon enough,” he added. “It's bound to bring back memories.”

Suddenly, I felt eyes on me and turned to look up the stairs. Cary was standing there glaring.

“Eavesdropping isn't very ladylike.” He went back upstairs, leaving me feeling cold.

I choked back my tears and went into the kitchen, where I was sure Aunt Sara waited to tell me how she was preparing Laura's favorite meal.

8
 
A Stormy Warning