The Magnificent Spinster (42 page)

She was fast asleep, and had been for hours when she thought she heard a hesitant tap on her door, waited a second, and was sure she heard it again.

“What's that? Who's there?” When she opened the door a flashlight in her eyes blinded her. Who in heaven's name could it be at one in the morning?

“Aunt Reedy, thank goodness I got the right door.”

“Esther! Good heavens, child, what's up?” Jane whispered.

“It's Tony. He has a temperature of a hundred and five. I'm terrified that he has pneumonia again.”

Half asleep still, Jane acted from some subconscious level. “You're tied up at the dock?”

“Yes.”

“Let me think.” Then after a moment, “Come downstairs. I think I can reach a doctor in Northeast Harbor.” So they tiptoed down to the office.

“You'll freeze without a wrapper,” Esther said, for Jane was in pajamas.

“Never mind. I'll dress if we can find him and if he can meet the boat at Northeast … it would take about a half-hour. Is it still raining?” she asked as she found the phone, Esther holding the flashlight so she could see to dial.

“No. It's foggy, though.”

“Not good.”

The doctor did answer, bless his heart, and after talking with Esther agreed to meet them at the dock in Northeast in three-quarters of an hour.

“Oh, what a relief!” Esther said, tears in her eyes now.

“I'll take a candle up and be down in five minutes,” Jane said. “It's going to be all right, dearie.”

It was strange how shock can slow one down, Jane thought, as it seemed to take an eternity to dress, and in spite of her comforting tone with Esther, she could not help wondering how they would make it through the fog. Did they have a powerful light on the lobster boat? She tried to remember what buoys to look for once they were in the sound. Dick would have a map, she supposed. What felt like hours later they were setting out, Jane with a powerful flashlight because they had, as she had feared, no floodlight on the boat.

Luckily Dick had got the
Tiny Tot
stove going in the cabin and it was very warm, lit by an oil lamp. Jane had to laugh when she saw that not only little Tony was in there, all wrapped up and very pink in the face, but also a basket of kittens. “We couldn't leave them,” Sonny said.

“It is rather a gypsy caravan, I'm afraid,” Dick said. “We'd better get going.” He decided that Jane could stand on the ten-inch wash deck beside the cabin and light the way with her flashlight while he was at the wheel on top of the cabin, “my flying bridge,” he called it. Sonny and Esther sat down on the deck, leaning against the cabin door.

“Bear left a little,” Jane called up as Dick righted the boat after the turnabout from the dock and crept into the fog.

It was pretty scary, she had to admit, with visibility very poor indeed. But there was nothing to do now but do the best they could and just hope.… And farther out across the sound the fog lifted, what a miracle! So they made it to the town dock guided in at the end by the lights of a car, which must be the doctor's, Jane thought.

And indeed it was. Dr. Sherman turned out to be very young, and not at all dismayed by having been routed out in the middle of the night. “Let me see that boy,” he said at once. And congratulated Dick on the warmth in the cabin when he went down. “It's pretty chilly outdoors.”

Tony looked at him with drowsy eyes, as he sat down on the bunk, “Who are you?” he asked in a sleepy voice. “Please go away and let me sleep. I am awfully sleepy.”

“It's the doctor, Tony.”

“My legs hurt,” Tony said. “I think I'm sick.”

The cabin was awfully hot, and Jane took Sonny out on deck with her while the examination proceeded. When it was over the doctor suggested they go outside. He laid a cool hand on Tony's forehead and said, “You're going to be all right, son. Now you go back to sleep.”

“Well?” Esther asked, when they were all outside in the cool darkness.

“My guess is that it's a virus, not pneumonia. The temperature is high—you were quite right to call me—but I expect it to go down within twenty-four hours. But he can't stay on this boat.”

“Where can we go?” Esther asked. “We were on our way north—it's a holiday.”

Jane had been listening intently and wondering where she could bed them down, all four. Why not Edith's house? Angela would not be coming for a week or so.… “I think I can put you up, dearies,” she said.

“Oh Aunt Reedy, that would be wonderful!” Esther breathed.

“It seems like an awful imposition,” Dick said.

“It's a bit of luck that the nieces and family won't be coming till a week or so. Of course we can manage. She turned to the doctor. “Do you think Tony would be warm enough in the boat till tomorrow? It will take a bit of organizing, you know, to open a cold house and get fires going.”

“Oh, he'll be better off tonight right where he is,” the doctor said reassuringly. “I wouldn't think of moving him in this night air.”

“Good,” Jane said, “so all we have to do now is get back to Wilder.”

“Wilder, is it? I've always wanted to land on your island. Maybe I could pop over tomorrow and see how Tony is getting on.”

“Could you?” Esther said. “Oh, how kind that is of you!”

“Glad to do it. Now you keep the boy warm. Keep him on liquids and I'll be over in the afternoon after my office hours.”

“Good night, then, or rather good morning,” Dick said, “and so many thanks.”

They watched the doctor's flashlight cast a beam on the car, then the car lights go on, and he was off and away. They were alone in the dark while Dick fiddled with the motor, but finally it did start. Jane took up her position; Sonny went to the bow and Esther down to the cabin, where Tony fortunately had fallen asleep.

“We are homing pigeons,” Jane said as they rounded the dangerous turn and just missed a buoy. “It does seem a lot easier now.”

It was three o'clock when Jane got to bed again in the silent house. She did not feel tired, only elated that the whole expedition had been brought off. Wonderful what the adrenal gland will do! But the problem now was to get it to quiet down. It was dawn before she had got all the logistics together in her mind about the morning. She must call Bruce before seven and tell him to bring the jeep down to the dock so Tony could be driven to Edith's house. And also carry up their provisions, sleeping bags and such. But finally, as the first birds were cheeping, she fell asleep, with the alarm set for half-past six.

“What an adventure!” was her last conscious thought.

It was a great comfort next morning to find Sarah and Annie having their breakfast when she went down in her wrapper to call Bruce. She had quite a tale to tell as she drank down a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. On occasions like this, Sarah's quiet efficiency and imagination were simply invaluable and Jane gladly let her take the reins in her hands. The English family were expected at noon, but Sarah would take charge there. “And we'll have the Wellens settled in long before that,” she said. “What time did you say we'd go down and move them?”

“I think I said nine. It all seems like a dream now, so I'm not sure. But I know I told Bruce nine, so that's it.”

“My guess is they'll sleep late, so if we go down at nine, all will be well.”

“Miss Jane,” Annie intervened, “you just go up and have an hour's sleep … that's what you need.”

“Oh,” Jane laughed, “I'll never wake up if I do. I'll have a good breakfast and a hot bath and that will do the trick.”

By next day, a brilliant morning, everything was smooth sailing: the Wellens settled in and Tony feeling a lot better; the English family happily ensconced in the little house and Christopher, their eldest, delighted to find a playmate his age in Sonny Wellen. Dick planned to take them fishing in the lobster boat, and Jane came down to breakfast after eight singing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” and quite herself again.

“Sarah, we've got the right boys to go treasure-hunting … what do you think? Tomorrow maybe. I'm just dying to see if we can find it!”

“It's a piece of luck that Sonny and Christopher get on so well,” Sarah agreed. “And why not? Shall I suggest the plan when I go down after breakfast?” Then she added, “What is your thought, Jane? A massive expedition or a secret treasure hunt with only the boys?”

“I hadn't thought,” Jane said, eating a second piece of toast.

“If we all go it will be a great public scramble,” Sarah said. “Why not just you and me and the boys, after all?”

“Then we shall have great tales to tell when we get home, and I think we had better invite the English over for supper, and Dick and Esther if they feel they can leave Tony. But,” she stopped, remembering Frances, “it might be a little much for Frances, all the brouhaha … maybe we'd better wait for a big gathering until after she leaves; what do you think?”

Annie chose to answer this by saying rather gloomily, “Miss Jane, you expect too much of yourself. Bad enough to climb that mountain at your age, and you had better do it this year, by the way. And what about my sail, Sarah?”

“Annie, we'll go today while they are out fishing. I know I promised, but things have been rather thick and fast lately,” Sarah said.

“They always are,” said Annie. She had occasional black moods and today apparently was brewing one of them. “One of these days you'll kill yourself if you don't take care. You are not immortal, Miss Jane.”

“I know,” Jane said, laughing happily, “that's why every day seems such a gift. But I don't feel old, Annie. Do I really seem on the brink of collapse?”

“No, you don't. And that's the worst of it; the way you behave you might be fifty! And all these people come and expect the impossible! Half the time I go to the cookie jar and it's empty. They eat you out of house and home.”

“The island does seem to create huge appetites,” Jane said. But she was aware that Annie would be quite disappointed if no one sneaked in and stole a cookie. “After all, it's you, not I, who is the great provider, Annie. And what about roast chicken for supper?”

“I'll need celery for the stuffing,” Annie said morosely.

“And here's Captain Fuller to take the order,” for Captain Fuller was pushing open the screen door just then. She sat down with a cup of coffee to go over the list with Sarah. Already the new day was gathering momentum. Frances and Erika would be down at any moment for their breakfast. “I'll just run over to Edith's and see how Esther and Tony are getting on. Do you suppose I could steal four blueberry muffins for them?” Jane asked.

“You could but I'll have to make another batch for Miss Frances and Miss Erika.”

“I think maybe not,” Sarah murmured. “If we're going sailing Annie will be pretty busy, you know, this morning.”

“Never mind,” Jane said, “they'll never know what they missed!” And off she went. Then she came back a moment later to ask Annie to tell Frances and Erika it looked like a fine day for a swim or just to sit in the sun by the pool and she would hope to see them there at twelve.

She didn't walk quite as fast as she used to, but that meant she noticed a lot of things she used to miss, Jane thought. The pyrola was in flower near a fallen log, such a magic sight, as it flowered after all the spring things like checkerberry were over, and she stopped to examine its tiny white spires, a little like lily of the valley, but not obscured by large leaves, each delicate frond standing upright. It had been a favorite of her mother's, she remembered. Maybe on the way back she could pick one or two to place on the mantel.

Edith's house, a large one built to contain her large family, stood a little back from the steep ledges on that side of the island, with a roughly cut lawn in front of it. And there Jane found Esther lying in a deck chair reading.

“Oh Aunt Reedy, you blessed person!” she cried out when she saw Jane approaching, and ran to meet her and be enfolded in a warm hug.

“How is the patient?”

“Ever so much better. Dick thinks we could take off maybe day after tomorrow. The doctor was very pleased. He said, ‘That son of yours is a resilient fellow.'”

“Well, that's great news.”

“It's been simply wonderful to be here,” Esther said. “Yesterday Tony lay out here in the sun and watched for the ospreys. He was so excited when they flew over I think it made him well, not an invalid any longer, but a bird watcher.” She looked at Jane shyly and then asked, “Could you sit down for a moment? Do you have time?”

“All the time in the world, dearie,” Jane said, sitting down on a folding chair and stretching out her long legs. “Let's seize the chance for a real talk. It seems ages since we've had one.”

The tide was rising and they could hear the murmur of waves breaking on the rocks below.

“Such a restful sound,” Esther said. “You never get the big surf, do you? That's what I love about the island, the gentleness. Time seems to stand still.” Then she smiled, “Are you still sometimes a witch in your red cloak? When we were children we used to beg you to be a witch for us!”

“I'll try to remember to wear it before you go. Once I have it on becoming a witch appears to be irresistible.”

“Mother still has hers. I guess all Vassar girls hang onto them, don't they?”

“How is your mother these days?” Jane asked. “I feel badly that I didn't manage to drop in to see her more often last winter.” They were exact contemporaries, had been in the same class at Vassar and had made several trips to Europe together, but Snooks, as everyone called her, was gliding into senility. The idea of possibly losing one's mind in old age was not something Jane could contemplate, and she dreaded a visit.

“Oh Jane, she just isn't there anymore.”