The Island of Doves by Kelly O'Connor McNees

Author:Kelly O'Connor McNees [McNees, Kelly O'Connor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

How long has she been out there?” Magdelaine asked the next morning as she placed the pail full of fish on the kitchen worktable. She crossed into the front room to where Jean-Henri stood at the window. She had seen Susannah working in the garden when she returned from the lake. The young woman was crouched down with her back to the lane, hacking at the hard-packed soil.

“I woke at dawn and she was already out there, though I don’t know how she could even see what she was doing before the sun came up. Esmee took her some coffee a while ago because she didn’t want to come inside for breakfast.”

Magdelaine shook her head. “Yesterday afternoon she wouldn’t leave her room. Now she won’t come back inside?”

Susannah ascended a ladder and worked with methodical confidence in the boughs of the apple tree. The small saw Jean-Henri had given her was in her right hand.

“She says it is safer for her to work very early when most people are not yet out and about.”

“She is probably right about that. Not that we get many visitors here.”

“True.” Jean-Henri straightened then. “But yesterday the new teacher at the mission school came looking for me. He wants me to fix their roof.”

“And what did you tell them?” She was a little surprised they would deign to let a Catholic make the repairs. When the reverend and his wife first came to the island a few years back, Magdelaine had tried to extend a welcome, inviting them to the Christmas celebration and other feasts, but they never came. They were interested only in saving souls, and saving them in a very particular way. She had heard they took boys from their families, cut their hair, and forced baptism on them like pouring a tonic down a sick child’s throat.

“I told them I’d be glad to do it, of course.” Her son turned to look at her. “I thought you would be glad to hear that someone must have recommended me to Reverend Howe. My work speaks for itself—I’m building my business. Isn’t that what you want?”

Magdelaine gave him a weak smile. “You know what I want—I want you to get to the city, seize a real opportunity.” She put her hand on his shoulder as a concession. “Let’s not argue about it now. I’m glad for you about the job. Be careful not to fall through into the sanctuary when you are working on the roof—you might get converted by accident!”

They both laughed then. The sun was coming out. Susannah had her calico sleeves unbuttoned and rolled up over her elbows. Her fair skin would burn, even in the weak sunlight of spring, but she seemed not to know or care. She moved the saw to her left hand, but when she tried to grip it, it sailed to the ground. The injured fingers still weren’t ready for work.

Magdelaine glanced at the ground where the saw had fallen and was alarmed to see that it was littered with dozens of small branches.

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