Under Dark Waters by Bernadette Calonego

Author:Bernadette Calonego [Calonego, Bernadette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-04-13T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

Alice Harrison took Sonya into the living room, where a TV blared full volume. Her husband sat in an armchair. She leaned over the walker beside him.

“This is Sonya, from Berlin. She’s here because of Else and George,” she shouted into his ear. The old man regarded Sonya through watery eyes.

“Alford is ninety-five,” Alice announced proudly. “I’m eighty-seven.”

She sat down on the sofa, full of energy.

“We ran the Wistaria post office; my father was the postmaster, you see. Please sit down . . . I often went to visit Mrs. Seel on horseback. Her house was cozy. She had many cross-stitched quilts. But she was lonely, of course.”

It was difficult to follow the old lady’s flood of words, which Sonya could barely hear over the blast of the TV. Sonya peeked at the screen. A football game.

“Alford was a trapper like George. But he was never away as long as George was. Else called him Georg, in German. Did I pronounce it right? George was a good provider, proud of his family. But he didn’t take care of himself. He smoked.”

She closed her eyes and stopped talking. Then she shot up from the sofa.

“He raised beavers. How many beavers did George have?” she shouted at her husband. “How many beavers?”

“Two. A pair.” Sonya had trouble hearing his weak voice over the sports announcer’s commentary.

“Else had to take care of the beavers,” Alice continued. “She was one smart person. Very different from George. She was very emotional.”

“How did she show that?”

“When the government built a road to their bay, the workmen knocked down several fir trees. Mrs. Seel was beside herself. She screamed at the men. ‘You can’t cut down my trees!’ But they sure could, take my word for it.”

“Were Else and George happy together?”

Alice reflected. Sonya could plainly see that question made her uncomfortable.

“They made the best of it. George was a good neighbor. He looked good, he worked hard. She really didn’t complain. Except . . . if he didn’t come home the day he promised to. I believe he was proud of her, but he had a peculiar way of showing it. Come with me. I’ve a lot of photographs.”

She jumped up, amazingly nimbly, and returned soon with her hands full of albums. Sonya got itchy fingers. Pictures for the exhibition! She would have to persuade the old lady to lend her some.

Alice asked her to sit beside her. The pictures were small: black and white, with white, frilly edges. Sonya’s practiced eye saw everything.

Else at a picnic with Wistaria schoolchildren, sitting in the grass, wearing a broad-brimmed hat.

Else with her daughter Gloria, looking sturdy; her facial features were harder and broader than in the portrait Rupert had of her as a girl.

Else with her infant in the snow, the infant warmly wrapped. Her hair was cut short and lying close to her head.

George Seel with Rupert in his arms, posing in a chair in their house. A big, strong man and a tiny baby.

Sonya went excitedly through the pictures, imagining them enlarged in the museum.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.