The Eclipse of Moonbeam Dawson (13 page)

Reid clutched the box tighter.
Shut up, mush mouth. Who asked you?
“I've got to get to work. I'll drop these off.” Reid took off for the lodge, running as fast as he could.

He tore across the lobby and charged into the boutique. “Anne, hi!”

“Hi, Reid. What's the hurry?”

“Just brought this for Mum.” He put the box on the counter. “She'll be here in a minute. Oh, by the way,” he tried to sound casual, “I just wanted to mention that if she calls me this weird name, it's just a nickname she has for me. It's not my real name or anything.”

Anne looked puzzled but before she could say anything he was out the door and halfway across the lobby. Abby and Harvey saw him as they came in the main door.

“I took the stuff to the shop,” he told them.

“Thanks, Moonbeam.” Abby smiled, not noticing him wince as she said his name. “Listen, Harvey's got a surprise for you. He can show you while I'm meeting with Anne.”

So what. Who cares what he has.
Reid headed for the door. “I've got to get to work pretty soon.”

“It won't take long,” Harvey assured him.

“I've got to be at work in twenty minutes.”

“That's plenty of time.” Harvey smiled. “All we need to do is go back down to the marina for a few minutes. Okay?”

“Okay. I guess so,” he said, wishing the minute he said it that he had just said no.

*   *   *

“How do you like your job so far?” Harvey asked as they walked on the path leading to the marina.

Reid didn't say a word until they reached the steps.

“Okay.”
It's none of your business, seagull slime.

“Meeting some people your age? Your mum said she thought that would be a nice thing for you.”

Not another word until the bottom of the steps.

“Some.”
Don't tell me what my mum says, you jerkhead.

“I noticed a hoop near the apartments. You play there?”

Nothing until they were at the south end of the marina. “A little.”
Just show me your stupid surprise and shut up, maggot.

“Well, here we are.” Harvey stopped in front of the old fishing boat. Reid looked at the writing on the hull.
CLAYOQUOT BIOSPHERE PROJECT.
So that was it. This must be the boat he uses when he goes around the sound counting birds and fish or whatever it is he's doing.

“I'm going to be using the marina as a base. I'll be in and out of here a lot, but I'm not going to be using my skiff much so I thought I'd leave it here for you.” Harvey pointed to the smaller boat, tied to the fishing boat.

“You mean for me to just use? Like whenever I want to?”
What are you trying to do, buy me off?

“Sure. Abby says you've driven one like this before.”

“On Sproat Lake. Rainbow Callanti's father used to fish there and we'd trailer his boat over from Heather Mountain.” Reid walked over to the skiff and looked at the motor, then the steering wheel, the choke, and the throttle. “It's pretty much the same.”

“Good.” Harvey looked at him, like he was waiting for something.

Reid stared at the skiff.
If you think I'm going to roll over this easy, you're crazy.

“It handles well. But I wouldn't take it out in anything too rough,” Harvey advised.

“I wouldn't.”
I know that, you idiot. What do you think I am, some fool that doesn't know the difference between a lake and an ocean?
“But I don't think I'd really use it.”

“It's in good shape. You just have to supply the gas.”

“I wasn't going to hit you up for gas money.” Reid was insulted.

“That's not what I meant. I meant just that it's in good shape and ready to use,” Harvey said patiently.

Reid put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the boat.
Just say it. It won't kill you. Even if he does have slimy ulterior motives, you gotta say it.

“Yeah, well, thanks,” he finally mumbled.

“Here's the keys.” Harvey reached in his pocket and handed him a set of keys with a small float attached to the key ring.

Reid looked at the keys, then he looked at Harvey. “I'm not going to need those.”

The words just came out of his mouth, surprising him almost as much as Harvey, but he didn't seem to be able to stop them. He just couldn't stand the idea of taking anything from this guy. He didn't want to owe him any more than he already did for helping him get the job in the first place. Harvey Hattenbach had moved in on their lives too much as it was. Maybe the guy could take over with his mother, but he'd better think twice if he thought all he had to do was bribe him with his stupid boat. Besides, the way things were going, he was sure he couldn't get anyone to go boating with him anyway.

“Thanks anyway,” Reid muttered. Then he turned and walked back to the lodge, leaving Harvey standing on the dock next to his boats.

*   *   *

Abby met him on the path as she was leaving the lodge. She seemed to be in a hurry.

“Honestly, I don't know how you can stand it.” She balanced the box on her knee.

“Stand what, Mum?”

“The people in this place. The sooner I get back to Palmer's Land the better.” Abby ran her hand through her hair, and looked back at the lodge. “I knew it would be like this.”

“I thought you liked Anne Depue.”

“Not her. She's lovely. There was this young girl in the shop, one of the guests. She came over to look at what I was showing Anne and Anne tells her they're handwoven and that I spin the wool myself and the girl says, ‘how sweet.' Then she says how her mother says we should encourage cottage industries, but of course her mother only buys Missoni knits. Then she prances out of the shop.”

“I don't really get it.” Reid looked at his watch.

“Go ahead. I know you have to go to work.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I don't expect you to get it. Missoni's a fancy Italian designer of knits and that girl was just an arrogant, patronizing little twit, that's all. I know her type like I know the back of my hand.”

Reid walked backwards on the path. “Is the shop going to sell your stuff?”

“She took six out of eight!” Abby picked up the box.

“Not bad!” He waved, then turned and jogged toward kitchen.

“Hey!” She called after him. “What'd you think of Harvey's surprise?”

Reid kept jogging, hoping she'd think he hadn't heard.

*   *   *

Reid worked on his geometry between the lunch and dinner shift and by midmorning the next day he had finished not only all the assignments that were due, but even a few that weren't due for another three weeks. When he lived at Heather Mountain, Meadow's dad had explained everything really well. The work wasn't all that hard for him, just long and time-consuming, which was why he avoided it. But with Gloria gone this week, he was actually glad to have something to take his mind off things. He just wished Friday would get here so she would be back.

Reid didn't realize how much he had depended on talking to her. The other kids his age who were going to work here wouldn't start until school was out. Until then, Gloria was it. But even if there were lots of people his age at the lodge right now, he knew he'd still want to spend time with her. She was really nice. He just wished they could have talked before she left Monday.

Michelle was a whole other story. After the disaster in the dining room Sunday night, he had stopped daydreaming about her. A girl like that was just out of reach.

And as for Harvey and his mother. Well, they seemed perfectly happy to have him stuck out here on this island and out of their way. That was probably why Harvey brought the skiff. So he'd stay here on his days off and leave the love birds alone. Well, it hadn't worked. And on his next day off he was going to Palmer's Land and he'd hang around and get in their face and there would be nothing they could do about it. He'd also eat the blueberry jam. All of it.

After the lunch shift, he gave his assignments to Amy at the front desk to put with the rest of the mail that would go out later that afternoon. Then he got his basketball from his apartment and went to the court to shoot some hoops. Reid stood in the center of the court facing the basket, holding the ball at his side.

“Oh, Canada, our home and native land. True patriot's love, in all our sons command.” The national anthem starts the game.

His first shot goes in.
Swish!
Beautiful. He gets the rebound, takes it out, pivots, then drives for the basket. Score! Fantastic. There's no stopping him.

“You're really good.”

“Huh?” Reid swung around and the ball bounced out of his hands. He couldn't believe it. She was standing there. Right next to the court, watching him. Michelle Lamont, looking like a movie star or a model or something. She was chewing a blade of grass and leaning back against the trunk of one of the huge trees on the edge of the court.

The ball bounced several times, then rolled toward Michelle. She moved away from the tree, kneeled down, and picked it up. Then she walked slowly over to Reid.

“Here.” Her voice was soft and breathy as she handed him the ball, and she stood very close to him, looking up at him with her cat eyes.

“Thanks,” he stammered, taking the ball from her. Then he began nervously dribbling it in place, not sure what to do next.

“You must play on a team or something.” She smiled her dazzling smile, still standing just inches from him.

“No, not really.”

“Not at school?”

“No.” He bounced the ball in place and looked at the ground.

“I would have bet anything you were a first-string starter.”

“Really?” Reid gulped. Then he bounced the ball some more.

“Absolutely.” She sighed. “You just looked fantastic, the way you shot and everything.”

“Well, actually I did play a little at my other school.” Reid began to dribble the ball toward the basket.

“What school?” Michele followed him along the side of the court.

“A school near Heather Mountain.” He pivoted and shot.

“Oh, that was close,” she said appreciatively as the ball bounced off the backboard.

Reid got the rebound and drove into the basket. His famous hook shot. This time it went in.

“Great!” she squealed, like his own private cheerleader. “I've heard of a prep school called Mountain Academy, is that where you played?”

“Yeah.” The word just came out of his mouth. He didn't know how it happened.

“They must have won every time you played.”

“Well, sort of.”

“Are you working here while you're on spring break?”

“Not exactly.” Reid caught the rebound and went straight up for his jump shot.

“Oh, almost,” she said, as the ball hit the rim of the basket. “You must be on leave from school on one of those work-study practicums, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Does it get kind of boring? It seems pretty quiet being stuck out here on this island away from everything.”

“There's the usual outdoor stuff.” Reid's next shot missed the basket, hit the backboard, then bounced toward her.

“I suppose that means hiking, fishing, hunting.” Michelle ran after the ball, picked it up, and tossed it toward him. “You probably do all that stuff.”

“Yeah.” Reid had to lunge to get the ball, which missed him by three feet.

“Nice catch, bad throw.” She laughed. “What do they hunt for around here?”

“Oh, the usual.”

“Like deer and bear, I suppose.”

“Yeah.”

“When we flew in, we started coming down by this island not too far from here and the pilot pointed out a black bear that was sunning himself on a rock. It looked like it could kill someone just as easy as look at them. It was huge.”

“They get pretty big,” Reid said with authority.

“Is that the kind you hunt?” Michelle's eyes were wide.

“Oh, yeah,” Reid said casually, while he dribbled the ball toward the basket.

“I'd love to go with you.” She walked over under the basket and put her arms around the pole that held it.

“Huh?” Reid threw an air ball.

“We're only here for a week.” She held on to the pole and leaned out next to him, swinging back and forth. “When's your day off?”

“Thursday.”

“That's the day after tomorrow.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Great, we can go then!” Michelle smiled, tossing her head back. Then she let go of the pole and pranced off through the trees.

Reid watched her disappear down the path. Slowly he walked toward his apartment like he was dazed, or underwater, or in a dream. At his door, he fumbled with the handle like a sleepwalker, then shut it behind him, crossed the small room, and slumped on the couch.

He stared at the walls. How had this happened? Michelle Lamont thinks he's the star basketball player for some fancy prep school who's here on some kind of work-study deal and that he goes hunting all the time and that on Thursday he's going to take her bear hunting.

Bear hunting!
He'd never held a gun in his life, much less gone hunting for animals. His mother had always been completely against guns. She had never let him have one, not even a toy gun. Not even a water pistol. What a mess! How was he ever going to get out of this?

Reid went in the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. Could he just tell her the truth?

Michelle, I lied. I do not go to Mountain Academy. For five years I lived at the Happy Children of the Good Earth commune near Heather Mountain, and I don't own a gun, and not only that, I have no idea how to shoot one. I have never gone hunting in my life.

Reid splashed some more water on his face, then grabbed the towel and dried it. Then it hit him. Michelle Lamont had actually talked to him! She actually came over and hung around him!