Ferry to Cooperation Island by Carol Newman Cronin

Author:Carol Newman Cronin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 2020-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

Mavis

THE ROAD IN front of the Malloy house was pitch black. Mavis stepped carefully, waiting for her eyes to adjust after the bright lights of the bedroom. Her aunt always said babies came quick near a new moon, and Patty had produced a healthy red-faced dark-haired baby boy after only two and a half hours of labor. So much easier for young mothers. Mavis would have a tougher time, if—

She wouldn’t think about that tonight.

Instead of taking the most direct route home, she turned left just before the reservoir and headed up the hill. She told herself the detour was safer (she could easily twist an ankle on the unpaved northern road), but what she really craved was the rare chance to gaze up at the Inn’s gabled grace uninterrupted, without spooking any white guests.

Mr. Dane would be asleep in his private suite by now, off behind the kitchen. Parker. He’d asked her to call him that when she’d picked up last week’s pay check, which should’ve been creepy but instead set off a warm glow in her belly. Joe wouldn’t approve; months ago, while sorting through his papers, he’d made a point of showing her several letters he’d written, citing Parker’s various incursions onto West Brenton property. Even then, Mavis had wondered if he was taking too narrow a view; the Narragansetts weren’t likely to hold any more festivals here on the island. And if they did, they certainly wouldn’t stage them on the original location, right next to the inn, where all those guests would be gawking. So why not replace some of that prickly field—weeds that spiked like a poker against bare feet— with velvet grass? Better for everyone. A vision of toddlers, all giggly-falling-down in little blue and pink overalls, came to her. Babies on the brain tonight.

When she’d tentatively shared with Joe this line of thinking— about the lawn, not the toddlers—he had snorted in disgust, predicting, “Give him an inchworm, he’ll stretch it into a snake.” So Mavis hadn’t followed up with her next thought: that Parker had as much respect for the land as Joe, even if he showed it by digging and planting rather than by leaving it be.

Though Parker’s new tractor barn, on her right—vertical siding, metal roof glinting even in the dark—was a complete eyesore.

At the end of the road, she turned right. A spotlight illuminated the Inn’s fancy sign, which was much too big. Parker was shouting, when a whisper would suffice.

His stutter disappeared when he talked to her; had he noticed?

When the Inn’s lights faded behind her, Mavis stopped at the edge of the darkness to look back at the building’s witch-hat silhouette. Her people had built a strong foundation; the whites had added on, turning it into something that more people could enjoy. Just like this island, she realized.

She would help James with the sit-in, she decided. Even though such close proximity with the whites might be even scarier than her ex-husband.

She let herself into the big house as quietly as she could, surprised to see the kitchen table empty.

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.