The Sand Dollar by Maggie Christensen

Author:Maggie Christensen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Cala Publishing
Published: 2018-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-five

Jenny and Mike had spent another day trawling through documents, with only a short break for lunch and a few calls next door for Jenny to check in on Maddy. They were sitting on the floor in Mike’s cabin surrounded by books and folders.

“I think I’m done for the day.” Jenny put down the document she’d been reading intently. “It’s amazing the similarities I’m finding between the land issues for the Native Americans and the Australian Aborigines. I hadn’t realized.”

“Yes, indigenous people the world over have had to fight to retain their birthright. That was the focus of the conference I attended when I visited your neck of the woods.”

“Of course. I’d forgotten.” Jenny sat back on her heels. “You know, I’ve read a lot about it over the years, but it never really made much impact on me. But now, hearing about the land rights here and thinking of Jed and his family, it brings it all much closer.”

“It’s your birthright too, remember.”

“Yeah, still can’t get my head round that one. Jane and Steve were my parents, the ones who brought me up. Thea and Jed are still a fairytale to me, a couple of star-crossed lovers somewhere in my past.”

“Mmm.” Mike gathered the papers together and stacked them neatly beside his desk. He reached out his hand to pull Jenny to her feet. “We need some fresh air. How about a walk along the beach to blow away the cobwebs?”

“Sound like a good plan.” Jenny stretched as she rose and stifled a yawn. “Wow, I hadn’t realized how long we were sitting there. I’m getting quite stiff. I guess Ben would like some exercise too.”

“What brought you here?” It was some time later, and the pair were strolling along the beach. Pushing her windblown hair out of her eyes, Jenny looked up at Mike’s rugged face.

“To the beach?” he asked, smiling. They were walking along the edge of the ocean with the roar of the waves making conversation difficult.

“No, to Oregon, to Seal Rock. It’s a pretty lonely spot.” She was curious why he’d left his busy city and university life to hole up here.

“That was the attraction.” Mike stopped and, picking up a pebble, hurled it into the sea. “I’d had enough of the jockeying for position, the politicking. University life isn’t the esoteric searching after knowledge it seems to be. It can be as cut-throat as any big business. When Mary died, even before then,” he reflected, “I knew I’d been there long enough.”

“I never thought of universities in that way,” Jenny replied. “To me they’ve always seemed like glorious halls of learning.”

Mike laughed. “You are a romantic, aren’t you? No, they’re just like any other large organization, where you have a lot of very different individuals with different ideas of what should be done and how they should do it. Maybe a bit worse than most. Academics are all very committed to their own views.”

“You mean, just like the organization I’ve decided to leave?”

“Pretty much. You’ve enjoyed your time here?” he asked, in a different tone.

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