Lewis & Ondarko - Best Friends 03 - Now and Zen (5 page)

“Find it?” she laughed. “Besides the fact that it’s being linked to the Island Chamber web site, you mean? Everyone’s been looking at it.”

Just then, two older women walked past them, watching the screen over their shoulders.

“Oh, look, it’s the invitation.”

They both did a little imitation of the dancing figures on the screen. One of the women did a double take upon seeing Pat and Deb.

“Say, aren’t you them?” she asked, pointing to the screen.

Deb blushed.

“Yup, that’s us alright. Funny isn’t it? One of our kids made it,” she explained.

“Well, we’re just glad they did. We came from San Francisco because of it.” Taking Deb’s hand, the woman pumped it vigorously. “It’s great to meet you. We already signed up for your ‘So You Want to Write’ class. Wait until we tell our friends that we met you personally. Well, we won’t keep you. See you at solstice.” Turning to leave, the woman began humming
Come to the Islands,
the tune from the video.

The woman laughed again.

“Fresh donuts. Any takers? Yours are free today for bringing us so much business.”

After eating two donuts each, and paying their bill, they headed out the door.

“You know there are an awful lot of women out here,” Deb noted, looking down the street. Pat shook her head dismissively, not bothering to look. She was eager to get their luggage stored at the cabin.

“There must be something else happening this week.”

As if to belie her words, a young mom approached her.

“Oh, I’m so glad we’re doing this for solstice. What a good model for our daughters,” she said, nodding at the little tow headed girl who clung firmly to her hand. “Thanks, ladies.”

“Who was that?” Deb wondered as the woman strode purposefully away, the solemn eyes of the little girl looking back.

“Dance, Mommy,” she said, her eyes twinkling in recognition.

“Must be someone who lives on the island.” As they approached the log cabin, Pat changed the subject. “Here we are, and just like normal, the key is in the door for us. Don’t they get the concept of key and lock?” She shook her head.

“This is an island. If someone robs the place, where are they going to go? Do you think it would be easy to get on the ferry with a bunch of stolen vases and not get caught? Relax, most of the planning is done and organized. Now we get to just relax and enjoy.”

And with that, Deb pushed open the door on what would be their most challenging adventure to date.

“Oh, oh. There’s going to be more to this retreat than I thought,” Pat said to herself. While waiting for their friends to arrive, she sat down and picked up an old notebook lying on the side table. Idly glancing through it, she got up, started rummaging through drawers, and pulling out others. She sat back down to study them.

“Hey, look at this, will you?” Pat grunted as she pulled herself up from a trench in the well-used couch. She waved it at Deb who was busy putting on a pot of water to boil for tea.

“Isn’t it great to be here at last?” came the response from the kitchen. Coming into the room, she plopped herself down in a big old wooden chair next to Pat.

“Whatcha got?”

Handing her the black journal, Pat pointed to the cover.

“It’s the thingy people write in when they rent the cabin. This one only goes back five years. This cabin was built in 1905. Can you believe it? So I looked in a few drawers and guess what I found? Other journals. You’re holding the earliest one in your hands.”

Avoiding the couch this time, Pat sat down and put her feet up.

“Cool, huh?”

“Look, it starts on June twenty-first, on a solstice.” Deb paused a moment trying to read the faded date. “Looks like… 1912.”

Pat took an afghan from the back of the couch and covered herself. Even in June it could be cool out on Madeline.
Glad I brought my long johns,
she thought. Glancing over, she saw that Deb had turned on a floor lamp and was squinting at the writing.

“Read it out loud… Please.” She settled in comfortably. She knew Deb would read it since she loved history.

“Let me just figure it out first. It’s so faded.” Reaching out, Deb grabbed her glasses from the end table.

“There, that’s better… hmmm.”

Just then a steamy whistling noise came from the other room.

“Stay there,” Pat said. Afghan around her shoulders, she headed for the small kitchen. “Do you want passion peach or green?” Already engrossed in deciphering the words, Deb didn’t answer.

“Guess its passion peach then.” After taking out the cups and saucers and steeping the tea, Pat found a pretty, antique, wooden tray to put them on.
The people who own the cabins are so thoughtful,
she thought, finding honey, napkins and even a tin of cookies to add to her tray. She brought it all back into the living room and handed a cup to Deb, along with two cookies on a napkin.

“So, can you figure it out?” she asked as she took her first sip.
Perfect.

Deb put her cup down on the floor beside her chair, the tea forgotten for the moment.

“Listen to this.”

Adjusting her glasses and holding the book to the light, she haltingly began to read.

“Isn’t that interesting?” Deb asked.

“She must have been one of the year-round folks, the stranger I mean. Welcome to my island indeed,” Pat answered as she snuggled farther down into her covers. “Blackberries sound so good.”

“Or she could have been from a summer family. You know how they are. Sometimes been here for generations, think they own the place. Anyway,” Deb pondered, “don’t you wish you knew the rest of the story? Who the strange beautiful woman was? Why she disappeared before the husband and boys could meet her? And… ” She stopped after glancing over at her friend and realized by the gentle rise and fall of the afghan, that Pat was fast asleep. Smiling, Deb picked up her cup, took a sip, and went back to reading. She, too, was soon fast asleep. A knock on the door woke Deb from her unexpected nap.

“Hello!”

Her friend Noreen stepped just inside the cabin, duffle bag in one hand, a large antique easel in the other. Setting her bag on the floor, she ran her fingers through her short-cropped hair. Looking around she sighed with pleasure.

“I haven’t been back to this place since the last time we girls got together here. What’s it been? Two years?”

“At least. Look at you!” Deb said, as she entered the kitchen. “You’ve put on weight! You look marvelous, darling.”

Noreen beamed.

“I’m up to my pre-chemo weight,” she said proudly. “Which room is mine?”

“Use the one you had last time, or pick out another one. Your choice. Except Pat and I have already claimed our old rooms. Creatures of habit, I guess.” She hugged her dear friend. Noreen had been in Pat’s very first parish, so Pat had met her first, but Deb loved her as if they were sisters.

“Hey, what am I, chopped liver? I’m here, too,” called a cheerful voice from the back steps behind Noreen. Deb reached out to hug Julie, who entered carrying a toolbox.

Her dark eyes flashing with excitement, Julie took off her rhinestone embroidered baseball cap and gracefully flung it on the hook by the door.

“And look at you!” Deb marveled. “You look younger every time I see you. You’ve still got it, girl. You could still be a model,” she teased. Hand behind her neck, Julie feigned a pose.

“What’s all the ruckus?” asked Pat as she came in with a load of wood from the back yard. “Welcome!” She dropped the wood by the Franklin stove. “Glad you made it early. We could use a good fire starter. It’s a bit chilly in here. Did you see the rooms? Of course not, you just got here. Are you taking your same room?” Pat asked, turning to Noreen.

“That’s what we were just talking about. I think I’ll let Julie pick which one she wants first,” Noreen replied graciously.

“I don’t care which room I have as long as it has clean sheets and no snoring dog lying on the floor. Whew. I’m just glad I found someone to make breakfast at the B and B so we could get here a little early. It’ll be a chance to catch up.”

“Hey, we’ve got a whole four days for that. Isn’t it great? You two pick a room then, and I’ll break out the tea and cookies. Or would you rather we start with Vodka Slushes?” Pat teased. Whenever they got together it was their drink of choice, a signal that they were on vacation.

“Let’s just start with the tea,” Julie called as she checked out the first bedroom off the living room. “Ooh, isn’t this bench in here adorable?”

“We can make that!” all four women called out at once, laughing at the memories of craft projects they had attempted together in the past.

“Well at least I won’t have the store police coming after me for stealing ideas for furniture we want to make on our own,” Pat called from the kitchen.

Once, when the women had been shopping she had drawn a picture of a store bench and taken its measurements so they could reproduce it at home. The saleswoman had admonished Pat and asked her to leave. Properly chided, they had never quite gotten around to making the bench.

“You take this one, if you like it,” Noreen said to Julie, gesturing towards a room, “and I’ll take the one next door. Or do we have to double up?” she continued as she walked back into the front room. “Is anyone else sleeping here?”

“Nope,” Deb replied. “There’s just enough room for four. Our other friends, Linda, Carolyn and Bev are staying right next door. It’s handicapped accessible so Bev can even get her electric cart inside. Linda’s already planning to bring some meals in. She’s such a good organizer. We’ll snack at their place, if that’s okay.”

“Fine with me,” Julie answered as she emerged from the bedroom, having already stuffed her few belonging into the drawers. “As long as I don’t have to cook. I get enough of that from working at the family store and the B and B. I’m on vacation!”

“Talk about doubling up,” Deb continued as she helped Pat set out a tray of goodies. “We just heard from Sadie at the Lakeside Cafe that all the rentals on the island have been booked. I wonder if something else is happening right now out here. It would be horrible if there was some male bonding thingy going on at the same time, wouldn’t it?”

Noreen and Julie just looked at each other and tried not to laugh.

“We know what it is,” Julie said, “but first let’s sit down and have our treats. If you really don’t know, you might want to put something stronger in your tea. Do you want to break the news to them,” she asked, turning to Noreen “or shall I?”

“You tell them about all the women, and I’ll tell them about what happened on the ferry, if they’re over the shock by then.”

“What are you two going on about?” Deb asked, taking a sip of her tea. “Are a group of men really having some kind of meeting out here? Don’t worry. I’m sure we can stay out of their way.”

“No men. Women. Haven’t you seen the YouTube video about this event?”

“Oh, that,” Pat said dismissively. “Martin did that as a lark. You know his sense of humor. His wife got the invite, and he couldn’t resist being funny. He asked us to just use my iPhone to send him something and so we did. As a matter of fact, when we stopped at Lotta’s and picked up these great cookies,” She paused and took a big bite of one. “Sadie showed it to us. No big deal.”

“So, you really don’t know what’s been happening?” Julie laughed. “It’s become an overnight wonder. In the last week, it’s had fifty thousand hits! Everyone in this whole region has seen it, of course, since they know you. And they’ve been sending it to friends and relatives.”

“But that’s not all,” Noreen added, “it’s like the woman singer, Susan Boyle, from Scotland. It’s gone viral. I can’t believe you don’t know this. That’s why the rooms are so booked up. Women are coming from everywhere. Our ferry was totally full, and there were people waiting for the next one already.” Noreen couldn’t hold it in any longer. She leaned back in her chair and laughed. “You are an Internet wonder!”

Pat and Deb just stared at them.

“You’re kidding, right? Why would anyone come out here from just watching that silly little video? And what,” wailed Pat as she started to realize the ramifications, “will we do with them all?”