Feather for Hoonah Joe by Marianne Schlegelmilch

Author:Marianne Schlegelmilch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Publication Consultants

Chapter Thirty-Five

Sal Returns

It was as if Sal’s trip and Joe’s additional trip to Rhinebeck had never happened, the way the two of them jumped right back into the life that had always been their norm.

The flight back from Juneau had been as smooth as the flight there, and this time Joe even pretended to be impressed with Doug’s flying skills and Mara’s diligence in coaching him.

Sal was waiting when they got back, and by the looks of things, completely her old self.

“What the hang, Donald, Darrell, Denton—”

“It’s Dennis, Mrs. Michael,” the exasperated summer worker said more patiently than most would have. “Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Williams can explain everything about the bowl to you.”

“Yeah, perhaps!” Sal sniffed before stomping off while muttering something under her breath about the colossal waste of time they were all spending on a worthless piece of pottery that even the dog wasn’t impressed with.”

Still, despite her misgivings about the situation with the bowl, the fact that there was solid evidence that it was a priceless artifact did not escape her attention.

“So, Darrell—”

“It’s Dennis, Mrs. Michael.”

“Whatever,” Sal dismissed him. “You say that you’ve got the true blue goods on this bowl so as ya kin prove it’s ours?”

“I do, Mrs. Michael,” Dennis answered.

He began explaining the entire sequence of events leading up to the discovery that the bowl was valuable, including the photos, glazing, offer of his father to handle the case without charge, and the letter from the Director of Museum Affairs in Honsu, Japan.

“And, if that is not enough to convince you, then I think you should see this.”

Dennis took Sal into the back room where he kept all the files and photos of the tsumani debris. He pulled up a chair to make her as comfortable as possible, and then proceeded to insert a flash drive into his computer, turning it towards Sal and adjusting the screen so she could see it.

Minutes later, the replay of the breaking news bulletin by Elzianne LaMonte played across the screen.

“I don’t need to see any more,” Sal said in her perfect Sylvia LaMonte speech pattern, then she abruptly got up and left the room, leaving Dennis Connor to wonder what had just happened.

Mara was the first person to see her leave.

“Sal, you look upset.”

Sal brushed past her and began arranging things on the tables inside Beachmoppers.

“Sal, what’s wrong?”

Sylvia LaMonte stepped back, squared her shoulders, brushed a wisp of gray hair back from her face, and began walking towards the door. Then, just as abruptly, she turned and walked back to Mara.

“I thought I could bury the past,” she began. “Then, when I went back to Rhinebeck, it was all still there.”

She went on to explain her meeting with Monsignor St. Jean, his death, the box with his belongings, the key, the safety deposit box with the envelopes, and her surprising—even to herself—rejection of Joe Michael.

“The first time, it was just me being scared to face him; scared to let him know who I really was, and scared just because I felt scared,” she said.

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