Mosquitoes of Summer (12 page)
Read Mosquitoes of Summer Online
Authors: Julianna Kozma
“MOMMY! IT HURTS SO MUCH!!!”
When Hannah and Lucy reached Emily, they saw her lying half-buried in a mud puddle. Emily’s pale face was streaked with tears mixed in with a bit of horse manure for good measure. Her blond hair dripped rivulets of mud down her much cherished Anne of Green Gables t-shirt. If it weren’t for the look of genuine agony on her sister’s face Hannah would have found the entire incident quite funny. However, Emily’s forehead was already sporting a bump the size of a walnut. More disquieting was the fact that Emily’s arm did not look normal. Mom was cradling Emily’s head in her lap and bent forward as she whispered soothing messages in her ear.
“Daddy, why is the Em’s arm all twisted like that?” she whispered, eyes bulging with panic. Without waiting for an answer, Hannah quickly knelt next to Emily and held her other hand, trying to calm her down. Emily tried to focus on Hannah, but her eyes were already beginning to glaze over from the shock. Through her own tears Hannah tried comforting her sister.
“You’ll be okay, teeny one,” cried Hannah, babbling at her sister while she wiped Emily’s face with a crumpled napkin. “Everything will be alright, you’ll see. Remember, we’re mosquitoes of summer, and it’s our job to be the biggest pests we can be. And you’re the best at that job. So we need you in tip top shape.”
“We need to get her to the hospital in Summerside right away,” said Dad. “Waiting for an ambulance will just take too long so we’ll drive her ourselves. Hannah, run back to the car and prepare the blanket for Emily. Here are the keys. Hurry.”
As the girls ran off, Hannah glanced back uncertainly and saw Avonlea staff helping Dad lift Emily into his arms. Carefully cradled against his chest, Emily was groaning, while Mom, consumed with worry, walked briskly beside them. Hannah’s summer was certainly turning into an adventure. Unfortunately for Emily, it came at a painful cost.
The wind howled all night. Sudden gusts rattled the doors and windows. Rain lashed violently against the glass. Lightning flashed erratically, cutting bright streaks across the pitch black sky. Seconds later, thunder boomed, drowning out whispers or shouts. Hannah felt the power of the storm through the soles of her feet and nuzzled closer to her stuffed cat, Boots.
Mom and Dad were still at the hospital with Emily. Hannah was spending the night at Lucy’s house. They had planned a sleepover, but it was not supposed to happen under these circumstances. She missed her family… especially Emily. Her sister always shared a room with Hannah and they were rarely apart at night. Even though Lucy was sleeping in the upper bunk above Hannah, it was strange knowing that the Emzo was lying in a hospital bed.
The trip to the hospital had seemed to take forever, but as soon as her parents walked through the hospital doors, nurses took charge and Emily was whisked off to triage. Unlike the Quebec hospitals that Hannah was used to, the Summerside institution was efficient and fast. Within an hour they had Emily sedated, stabilized, and prepped for surgery.
“How long will it take, Dad?” asked Hannah.
“Not too long I think,” he replied. He watched Mom pace the hallway. “Why don’t you and Lucy walk around and explore the shop and cafeteria. Here’s some money if you want to get yourselves something to eat or drink. Roger and Alice should be here in about an hour to pick the two of you up so be sure to be back here by seven o’clock.”
The surgery took an hour. It was a bad break, not just a fracture and the procedure was explained using nasty sounding medical jargon, half of which Hannah could not understand. By the time her sister was out of surgery, Roger and Alice had joined her parents in the waiting room. After the happy verdict came in that Emily would live to annoy another day, Hannah left for French River.
The storm moved in sometime during the night. It was quick and sudden. According to the 11 o’clock evening news, the island was placed under a severe wind warning, with gusts blowing around 90 km/hour. According to Roger, those were major winds, not far from hurricane force. Hannah wondered if their flags would still be there in the morning.
The Buzzel House shook. The Buzzel House creaked. The Buzzel House protested with each gust of wind. Hannah crawled under her blanket and listened to Roger or Alice moving about in the next room, probably making sure the windows were still tightly fastened. Meg was shaking under Hannah’s bed, poor thing! Finally, after an hour spent listening to the storm, Hannah drifted off to sleep and woke up late next morning.
“They’ve closed the bridge,” said Lucy as she smeared some maple butter on her toast. “The wind is much too strong and I guess everyone is afraid that cars and trucks will be blown off into the water. Power is down in a lot of places. Summerside lost its streetlights and the shopping area is closed because there is no electricity. Parks Canada is warning everyone not to go near the water because the rip tides are so strong. The waves are gynormous!”
Hannah joined her friend at the table and helped herself to a Mary’s Bake Shoppe cinnamon bun (best bakery in PEI, according to Hannah). “Too bad Emily’s not here. She’s missing out on her favourite breakfast,” continued Lucy, in between bites of her toast.
Hannah paused in mid-bite, looked down at her bun, and shrugged. Oh well, Emily was sure to make up for it one way or another.
By late morning the rain slacked off and the sun came peeking out behind scuttling clouds. However, the wind still showed no signs of weakening. Sitting on the porch in the back of the house, Hannah and Lucy could hear the distant boom of crashing waves coming from Arrowhead beach. The sea was in an uproar.
“Do you think anything will wash up on shore today?” asked Lucy, licking the drips from the sides of her ice cream cone. Every once in a while the wind whipped a drop of sticky vanilla ice cream on to the girls. By the time they crunched on the last bit of their cones Hannah and Lucy were covered in white smears.
“Maybe,” said Hannah, watching the wind flatten the rye field just past the Smith’s backyard. Seconds later the yellow grass sprang back up, ready to face the next gust. “But we don’t have time to head down there. Your parents will be driving me back home. Emily must have left the hospital by now and I want to be the first to sign her cast.”
Route 20 from French River to Darnley was a disaster zone. Hannah gaped out the window of Alice’s Toyota, unable to believe her eyes. Huge trees lay sprawled across lawns, roots exposed. Multi-coloured mailboxes were knocked down into driveways. Bed & Breakfast signs hung crookedly from broken hooks. Large wooden picnic tables were completely overturned and lay where they had fallen. And the leaves! They were everywhere except in the trees. The strong winds had ripped them off, sometimes with the branches still attached.
Wow, thought Hannah. She never saw such a violent aftermath from a summer storm before. As they passed Jack’s house she noticed that his trampoline was no longer in the backyard but instead lay in the drive, upside down. As the car pulled into the Blue Lobster’s driveway, she noticed the flag pole lying on the ground in between the lobster traps that had held it up.
When Hannah opened the front door, she noticed that Jack was inside; already drawing on Emily’s cast. Looking up, he waved to Hannah and Lucy. “Look at this! I drew a pirate on your sister’s cast. Isn’t it cool? And I’m the first one to sign it. The Bean pooped on it, so I guess he left his signature too.” When he saw Hannah’s dirty look he exclaimed: “What?! She said I could!”
Hannah sighed and went to see her sister. “How ya doing?”
“Great! Mom and Dad got me McDonald’s. Then they got me this stuffed dog. It’s pink! They said I can lie on the sofa and watch TV all afternoon. And I get to have my favourite food. And they’re going to rent me a DVD. And I get to take a special bath tonight. And Jack is here. And he drew a real pirate. And did you see the storm? And what about that ocean? The waves are HUGE! I saw it from the bridge in Darnley. And the people of Avonlea Village called and said I get a lifetime pass to get in. No more paying for me! Isn’t that cool? And what’s new with you? ”
Hannah and Lucy stared, speechless, at the human chatterbox. No, make that inhuman. It was even worse than usual. Mom crept up behind them and whispered “She’s on pain medication. Instead of making her sleepy, it kind of makes her a bit hyper.”
“You think?” said Dad, bringing Her Highness a bowl of heavily buttered popcorn.
“Mom, can Lucy and I bike down to the beach?” Hannah grabbed a handful of popcorn out of the passing bowl. “We want to see what the waves are like.”
Mr. Bean, getting a whiff of the popcorn, was bouncing up on down on his perch.
“Up-UP! Hello Mr. Bean! Cutie pie! Kiss kiss! WATCHA DOIN?!?”
Hannah scooped up a handful of popcorn and approached the Bean. Squeak! In one amazing leap, the green monster was splattered flat in the middle of Hannah’s chest. “So much for waiting” said Hannah, as she tried to pry the Bean’s claws off her shirt. Unfortunately, he was not letting go and the shirt was stretching to an alarming degree. Luckily, Lucy came to the rescue and convinced the Bean to let go, using popcorn as bait. There were only three holes in Hannah’s t-shirt. Not bad.
“Can I come to the beach with you?” asked Jack, hopping from one foot to the other. In between hops he managed to give the Bean a wary look while he stuffed a fistful of popcorn into his mouth.
“Do you have to go to the bathroom or something?” Lucy was eying Jack suspiciously.
“Nah, my foot fell asleep while I was sitting on the floor,” he mumbled, bits of popcorn flying out if his mouth.
Minutes later the three friends were cycling down the road towards the beach, pedaling hard against the wind. It took them twice as long as usual to reach Twin Shores. As they made their way down some of the camp lanes, they noticed that many of the sites were either empty or a complete mess. Blue and green tarps flapped in the wind, torn from ropes tied to the trees. Some of the tents were caved in from too much rain water and coloured sleeping bags were hung on makeshift clothes lines. The dirt road was scarred by deep gullies filled with reddish brown water. Young kids were having a blast riding their bikes through the mud.
Parking their own bikes at the beach snack bar, Jack, Hannah and Lucy ran down the boardwalk and onto the damp sand. The beach was deserted! There was absolutely no one around.
“The waves are huge!” shouted Hannah, a large smile plastered across her face. “And they’re so LOUD.”
The entire beach area was enveloped by a fine mist of ocean spray blown in by the strong winds. The waves pounded relentlessly against the beach and the water rode up close to where the kids were standing. The tide was twice as high as normal, and a long line of seaweed littered the sand.
“The noise is awesome!” yelled Lucy as she made her way closer to the water’s edge. The waves lapped over her ankles as she turned and faced her friends. “The water is amazing. It’s so warm. Too bad we don’t have our bathing suits.” Just as she turned back around an incoming wave swept in and poured over her waist, nearly toppling her over.
Hannah and Jack laughed. “You don’t need your bathing suit anymore. What you need is a towel,” said Jack. “Anyway, it’s too dangerous to go in right now. The rip tides will get you for sure. See those waves down there. That’s usually where the sand bar is and the water is normally up to our knees. Well, right now those waves would be way over our heads.”
An hour later the trio headed back to the Blue Lobster. “Let’s ride the waves tomorrow.” Hannah could hardly wait. “I think they’ll still be strong enough for some good rides. How about it?”
“What about Malone?” asked Lucy. “I thought we’re going to work on our mystery.”
“But the waves –” Hannah looked wistfully back towards the beach.
“Tell you what,” cut in Jack. “My grandpa is heading down to see Uncle Fred tomorrow. He needs someone to help him cut up the old birch that fell in his yard this morning. Grandpa loves cutting up trees. A real He-Man thing. The tree almost took off the roof of the chicken coop. I’ll just tag along and see what’s up. How’s that for a plan?”
“I’ll come with you, since I live close by,” said Lucy.
“Have it your way,” shrugged Jack, pretending not to care one way or the other but clearly pleased at having Lucy’s company. “We’ll come down to the beach once we get back and fill you in on the developments. See you tomorrow.”
Hannah woke up the next morning to crying and screeching. For a moment, she had no idea where she was. Then she remembered. Dad closed up the camper yesterday. He was afraid that it would be blown into Darnley Bay by the strong winds. She was sleeping on the living room sofa-bed with her sister.
“What’s wrong?” mumbled Hannah, still half-asleep. She turned over towards Emily.
“My arm!” wailed her sister, her face streaked with tears. “It feels like a hundred knives are stabbing my elbow. Make it stop, please, please, please.”
More alert, Hannah noticed that the Emzo’s face was paler than usual, and she looked like she was in genuine distress. After planting a kiss on her sister’s hot forehead, Hannah sighed and got out of bed. She shuffled to her parents’ room but noticed that Mom was already sitting up and looking for her slippers.
Hannah glanced back into the living room and saw the small form of her sister huddled under the blanket, whimpering softly in between sniffles. A tiny hand poked out every now and then and slowly pulled one of her stuffed animals down under the covers with her. There went Frankie … Sally … Snowy … Minnie … and finally Meg, a remarkable look-alike to the real thing. Poor Meg, she was roughly dragged under by her fluffy tail.
“Emily needs some more happy pills,” said Hannah.
“And Mr. Bean needs his breakfast now that he’s been woken up,” responded Mom. “Make him his peanut butter toast while I take care of your sister.”
After breakfast, Hannah teased Mr. Bean a bit, and then went outside and stood still in the middle of her back yard. The sky was a clear pale blue and the sun was already hot. A great day for the beach, she thought. And yes, there it was! A distant boom. It sounded like the whooshing of the wind, but the trees bordering the back yard were utterly still.