Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

Author:Lauren Wolk
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2017-03-03T12:14:27+00:00

“Can I help you?” asked a nurse coming out of the nursery just as I meant to go in. Her uniform was so white it made my eyes hurt.

“I’ve come to see Mrs. Pelham,” I said, trying not to sound as uncertain as I felt.

“Well, you can’t go in there,” she said, looking me up and down as if I had fleas, “but I’ll see if she can come out here for a minute. What’s your name?”

“Crow,” I said.

She frowned at me. “Like the bird?”

“Like the bird,” I said.

She raised one eyebrow but went into the nursery and, moments later, returned with an older woman in tow.

“This is Mrs. Pelham,” she said, and then swept off down the hallway like a great white goose.

Mrs. Pelham’s face was old but she moved like someone younger, and when she smiled I could see that her teeth were still strong. I wondered what had mapped her face like that.

She peered at me, her brow furrowed. “Do I know you?”

“No,” I said.

“Then what can I do for you?” she said.

“They told me you used to work in the orphanage.”

She nodded. “Yes I did. For years.”

I hadn’t expected such luck. “I’m trying to find out about a boy who used to live there. His name is Jason. He came from Penikese Island when he was just a new baby. Did you know him?”

Mrs. Pelham stood up straighter. She wasn’t much taller than I was, but she suddenly seemed formidable. And every trace of curiosity in her eyes was suddenly gone, replaced with something else.

“You’re here about Jason?” she said. She looked not angry, quite, but serious.

I nodded.

“This ward is for mothers and their babies,” she said. “But it used to be where the orphans lived.”

It was not a bad place. The corridors were wide, the ceilings high. It was clean with lots of windows.

But it was not a home.

As I stood there, I thought of the cottage that Osh had built. So small. So crooked. The sound of rain on its roof. The sight of Osh stirring the fire. The amber light it made. The shadows flitting on the walls.

“Did Jason live here?”

She pointed. “In the room at the end, there.”

“By himself?”

She sighed. “Why do you want to know about him?”

“I live on one of the other Elizabeths,” I said. “By Cuttyhunk. And I think . . . I wonder . . .” I wasn’t sure how to make my long story short enough. “It’s possible that I have a brother named Jason who was sent here. And I’m trying to find out what happened to him.”

Suddenly, as if I had said something warm and kind, everything stern about her softened. She closed her eyes. Her lips trembled. She backed toward a bench and sat down, her hands in fists beneath her chin, head bowed. “Oh my,” she whispered. “Oh my.”

I sat beside her, and when she didn’t move away I liked her very much.

“Mrs. Pelham?” I said. “Are you all right?”

She opened her eyes and nodded.

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