Mary and Alvin Ch. 29

Nina

Alvin stood on the deck of the Annie Mac, looking up at the rigging. Bonita sat on the top spur, her legs wrapped around the main mast.

Moosie sat at his feet and looked up as well. He gave out one sharp bark.

"Easy, bub," Alvin told him, "she's just fine."

Bonita unhooked the tangled line and the sail fluttered down.

Laura walked out of the boathouse and toward where Annie Mac stood on her trailer.

"Jeezum, Alvin," she said, "you do know it ain't legal to have an eleven year old kid working in a boatyard, right?"

"She ain't working, she's taking sailing lessons."

"Uh huh, even though she's known how to rig for a couple of years. Anyway, I've got Eli Littlefield from Rockport on the line. Figured you best talk to him."

Bonita shimmied down the mast and hopped on to the deck next to Alvin as he took the phone from Laura.

"What's it about?" he asked, holding his hand over the phone.

"A boat rental," Laura said with a shrug.

"It's October. Wicked late for a rental, ain't it?"

Laura shrugged again. Alvin raised the phone to his head.

"Hey, Eli, how's the boatyard business down in Rockport?"

"Good," Eli told him. "But I got a bit of a situation, though. Family of leafpeepers, here on vacation. They took a mind to seeing the color from the water side. I thought, well alright, a little last bit of income for the season, so I booked them, but when I put my boat back in the water, I found she must have gotten banged or something coming out, sprung a leak in the hull."

"You ain't got another boat to rent them?"

"Nope, everything is wrapped and put up for winter. So, I thought if you still had anything in the water, you might like the business. You renting out that ketch you bought off Skip Moody?"

"Well, in fact, we were just putting her up. These folks experienced?"

"Husband says he's licensed by the state of Ohio."

"Ohio? So this is some dubber been rowing on a pond?"

"No, says he's got extensive experience on the Great Lakes."

"Hold on a second, Eli." He held the phone against his chest. "He run this by you?" he asked Laura.

She nodded. "Long as they stick to the bay, I don't see the harm."

He spoke to Eli again. "How long they looking to rent?"

"A week, they said. Talking about cruising the coast around MDI and what not."

"How's the weather outlook?"

"Well, there was that tropical storm coming up from Bermuda, but that's veering off to the east."

Alvin scratched his head and looked at the sky. There was not a cloud in sight. "Alright then," he said, "send them up here."

He handed the phone back to Laura.

"Guess what?" he said, turning to Bonita, "That sail we just took down? Let's get her back up."

They rehung the sail and Alvin and Laura hooked the trailer to Alvin's pickup, and drove it to the town landing. With Bonita as his guide, Alvin backed down the launch ramp and put Annie Mac back in the water. They had just finished when a tan SUV pulled on to the landing and parked.

The man who got out was tall, slightly paunchy. He walked around the vehicle and opened the passenger door for his wife. As she stepped out, the rear door opened, and a boy of about ten climbed out as well.

"Are you Mister Faulkner?" the man asked as Alvin and Bonita walked up the ramp.

"Yes, sir," Alvin replied, extending his hand, "And this is my granddaughter, Bonita."

"Bonita Maria Ortega-Faulkner," Bonita said with a tone of pride that made Alvin grin.

"I'm Jim Mitchell," the man said as they shook hands. "This is my wife, Elaine, and our son, Jamie."

Alvin shook hands with the two of them, then he led Mr. Mitchell into the harbormaster's shack to go over and sign their contract. Mrs. Mitchell wandered over to the railing and looked out across the harbor.

"I saw you on the boat," Jamie said to Bonita, "Do you sail a lot?"

"Yeah, I'm my Papa's first mate."

Jamie looked impressed. "How old are you?"

"I am eleven. My birthday was last month."

"My Dad takes his boat out on Lake Erie a lot, but I only went a few times." He blushed. "I don't really like it."

Bonita shrugged and looked over her shoulder toward the shack, hoping to see her grandfather come out. She was getting hungry and would much rather go home and get lunch than stand here listening to this flatlander kid.

Jamie cleared his throat. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Bonita said reluctantly.

"Are there sharks out there?"

"Yeah, of course. It's the Atlantic Ocean, right?"

"You ever see one?"

"I've seen blue sharks a bunch. And one time a honkin' big basking shark swam right under our boat. They just eat plankton and stuff though."

Jamie shivered, and Bonita briefly considered teasing him, telling him that he ought to be more worried about giant squids or poisonous jellyfish, but she knew her grandfather would not like that, and there was nothing she dreaded more than Papa's disapproval.

"Sharks don't come close to shore much," she reassured him, "and they won't bother you. It's not like you're going swimming. That water is wicked cold."

Alvin and Mr. Mitchell came back out of the shack, followed by Ralph Ennis, the harbor master.

"I want to say again," Ralph was telling Mitchell, "Keep a close eye on the weather. If you stick close to shore, you'll never be more than an hour or so from a safe harbor."

"I think we will be okay, but thanks," Mitchell replied. He called to his wife and son, who came to join him.

"Hey!" Bonita called to Jamie as he walked away. He turned back to her. "Stay out of the water, bub. You'll be fine."

He waved at her and disappeared down the ramp.

***

Mary took a bite of cinnamon doughnut, then brushed the crumbs off her sweater. Jennifer was collecting money from a young couple. Their two little boys were dancing from foot to foot at the entrance of the maze, eager to explore it's depths.

The corn maze had been Theo's idea. He had seen one over in Kennebec County, and thought it might be a good idea for the farm, a way to bring in some extra income after the crops had been harvested. Mary was skeptical at first, but had to admit that he had been right.

When the last ears of corn had been picked, she sat down with Jennifer and plotted out an intricate pattern of pathways, which Theo and Yusef cut through the brittle brown stalks with riding mowers. At every dead end, they mowed a small clearing. The whole family gathered for a scarecrow making party, and each clearing had it's own straw stuffed guardian. The pathways were decorated with hay bales and pumpkins and pots of chrysanthemums in many colors. Placing the flowers had been one of Mary's tasks, and she did not let anyone in on a secret; the red mums marked the most direct path through the maze.

Jennifer had set up the farmer's market stand beside the entrance. In addition to admission to the maze, there were pumpkins and gourds for sale, cups of fresh apple cider, and Jessica's doughnuts.

The maze was a hit from the first day it opened. Alvin and Tim had put up signs at crossroads all across the county, and the girls had handed out flyers at school. Mary and Jennifer were already kicking around ideas for how to make it even better next year.

Alvin's truck bounced into the driveway. He stopped and let Bonita hop out. Moosie had been sleeping under the table, and ran to her.

"Where's Hannah?" Bonita asked Mary.

"She's up at the house, reading a book, I guess," Mary said.

"She always wants to be inside," Bonita frowned. "Come on, Moosie," she called, and ran into the maze with her dog at her heels.

Alvin parked in the dooryard, then walked back down to the maze.

"I thought you'd be home sooner," Mary said when he approached.

"Would have been, but we got a call on a rental, so we had to put Annie Mac back in the water."

"Really? In October?"

"They wanted to see the fall colors from the water side."

"Oh, that's kind of a nice idea."

Alvin looked at Jennifer. "Can I steal your helper for a while?"

"Sure," Jennifer said.

Alvin held out his hand to Mary. She took it and stood. He picked up a chocolate doughnut from the table and took a big bite as he led her into the maze. They walked along, holding hands and swinging their arms.

"You seem in a mighty chipper mood," Alvin said.

"I love autumn in New England," she said. "I love the color and the cool nights and the smell of wood fires. And you, I love you."

They passed a turnoff and Alvin pulled her toward it.

"That's not the way out," she said.

"Good."

He led her into the alcove in the corn and wrapped his arms around her. They could hear a child laughing and Moosie barking, but both sounded far away.

"How can it be," he asked her, "that when I married you, you could not have been more beautiful, but now, you are?"

"Oh sweetheart." She leaned in to him and they kissed deeply. Alvin ran his hand down her back and over her hip.

"Now, don't get handsy" she admonished him, "There are kids running in and out of here."

"Later?" he asked her.

"Sure, baby, tonight."

But by then, they would be concerned with other matters.

***

Alvin called up the stairs. "Hannah, supper is ready, come on down."

He went to the kitchen and sat at the table. Mary set a plate in front of him; roasted pork loin, baked acorn squash and steamed broccoli. He wrinkled his nose at the broccoli but said nothing. It was a fight he had lost long ago.

"What's keeping her?" she wondered, putting Hannah's plate down at her seat. She waited a few seconds, then went to the bottom of the stairs and called. When she heard no answer, she told Alvin to go ahead and start eating, and climbed the stairs.

The door to Hannah's room was locked. She rapped and said, "Hannah, supper's ready, come eat."

She heard a muffled response, but the door did not open.

"Come on, honey, it's getting cold."

The door opened and Hannah brushed past her without a word. Mary followed her down the stairs.

"Honey, why was your door locked?"

"To keep people out," Hannah muttered. She flopped into her chair and stared at her plate. Mary sat down across from her.

"Something wrong with your food, honey?" she asked.

Hannah shrugged and took a bite of her squash. Alvin reached over with his fork and stole a bite from her plate.

"You got your own, Papa," she scowled.

"I'll eat 'em both if you ain't careful," he said.

"Go ahead," she muttered.

Mary sighed. "You don't have to eat your supper if you don't want to," she said, "but don't think you're getting a snack later."

"Don't care."

"Well, alright then," Alvin said, "If you ain't going to eat your supper, you might as well go back to whatever is more important."

Hannah pushed her chair back and left the kitchen.

"She's practicing for being a teenager," Mary said.

"Oh yeah. When Charlotte was about her age, she decided she would only eat white food. That didn't last long."

Alvin's phone began to buzz. He took it from his pocket and looked at the screen.

"You know I told Hannah that we didn't do phones at the table, right?"

"Good thing she went away then. It's Laura, I better take it."

"Alvin, you checked the news?" Laura asked immediately when he answered.

"No, we're just having supper."

"Turn on the TV. They are talking about Nina."

"Who's Nina?"

"Hurricane Nina, the one that slammed Bermuda."

"That's downgraded, and moved out to sea."

"Well, the bitch turned on a dime and is barreling right into the Gulf of Maine."

"Jeezum."

"Yeah."

"Meet you at the wharf."

"What's the matter, honey?" Mary asked after he had hung up.

"That hurricane. Nina. Supposed to be headed out to sea, but it's turned and is coming our way."

"Oh dear. Is it going to be bad?"

Alvin shrugged. "Hard tellin', not knowin', but we ought to get everything battened down in any case."

Mary cleared the table while Alvin went into the living room and turned on the television.

"She's moving fast, " he told Mary, repeating what he learned, "She'll be in the bay by morning."

"What can I do to get ready?"

"We'll be fine here, we've got a generator and plenty of food. Just make sure anything you want to keep ain't out where the wind can take it."

He put on his work shoes and jacket, kissed Mary and went out to his truck. He thought about fetching Bonita to go with him, but decided she'd worked plenty that day. Let the little girl be a little girl.

Laura was already at the wharf when he arrived. They cleared the yard of anything that might blow away and checked the wrapping and supports on all the stored boats. They put tape on the windows of the boathouse and the diner.

"You think we ought to pull SeaJay out of the water?" Laura asked.

Alvin nodded, then stopped. "No," he said, "Let's make her snug but leave her at her berth."

Laura frowned. "I don't see why we don't get her out. The season's over."

Alvin shook his head. "I might need her."

As he looked out over the still calm water of the harbor, all he could think of was that the Mitchell family was still out there somewhere.

***

It was nearly midnight when Alvin got home. Mary was dozing on the couch, but sat up as he entered. He kicked off his shoes and sat down beside her.

"You must be so tired," she said, holding his hand and stroking his forehead.

"Well, we got everything locked down. Should be in good shape."

"Well, that's good. But you still look worried. Do you expect it to be that bad?"

He shook his head. "No, not really. But Mary...that family from Ohio...They are out there on Annie Mac."

"Well, I'm sure they will know to get to shelter, won't they?"

"I'd sure hope so. Ralph got them on the radio and warned them. But you know, I'm not sure that he understands that he isn't on Lake Erie now. I just hope he's taking this as seriously as he should."

"Did you try to call him on the phone?"

"Yes, but you know how hard it is to get a connection out there."

"Well, sweetie, all we can do now is wait it out. Let's get to bed."

"Sounds good. How's our moody princess?"

"Still hiding in her room."

"You think there's something serious going on?"

"I don't know. She knows we are here when she's ready to tell us. I don't want to push her and make her defensive."

Alvin agreed and stood up, wincing a little bit as he did so.

"Your back bothering you, honey?"

"It's a touch sore."

"You go on up, I'll be along in a few minutes and give you a back rub."

She plugged in her phone and tablet to charge. They had the generator, but there was no point in drawing on it any more than they needed. She shut off the lights and looked outside. The trees were swaying in the wind, but there was no sign of rain yet. By the time she got upstairs, Alvin was fast asleep.

She did not sleep well herself. Her mind would not shut down. She thought about Hannah. Something was upsetting her little girl, and she could not get her to say what it was. And she worried about Alvin. She knew that he would fret constantly about the Mitchells, even though there wasn't anything he could do. But he was Alvin Faulkner, he had to be the one who made all things right. That has to take a toll on a person, she thought, emotionally and physically.

Eventually she drifted off to sleep, but it was not yet dawn when the sound of the rushing wind woke her up. Alvin was standing by the window, looking out.

"Come back to bed, baby," she whispered.

"I told him to keep close to shore. So did Ralph. Ralph told him right out to watch the weather."

"And I'm sure he did, honey."

Alvin sat on the edge of the bed. "I hope to hell he did." He stood up. "I'm going to check the news."

Mary laid back and sighed. After a minute she got up, pulled on her robe and followed him downstairs.

"You want some coffee, love?" she asked.

"All right," he nodded, scanning through the TV channels.

She brought him a cup, then curled up on the end of the couch. The early news came on, and Nina was the lead story. Rain began to patter against the windows as they watched video of high waves crashing over the Rockland breakwater and of fallen trees blocking roads on Mount Desert Island.

Hannah came down and stood at the bottom of the stairs. She watched the news for a minute.

"There's not going to be school today, is there?"

"Definitely not," Alvin said.

"Good," she muttered, then went to the kitchen.

"First time she ever didn't want to go to school," Alvin chuckled.

Mary grinned, but Hannah's remark troubled her. She always wanted to go to school. In a few minutes, she came back, eating a slice of toast with peanut butter and carrying a large glass of orange juice.

"Can I go down and see Bonita?" she asked, "I don't want to be here alone all day."

"Don't we keep you entertained?" Alvin asked, feigning offense.

"Well, can I?"

"No," Mary said emphatically.

"Why not?"

"Hmm. I don't know. The hurricane, maybe?"

Hannah heaved her shoulders, then stomped up the stairs. When she reached the top, she shouted down, "It's only a tropical storm."

Mary stretched out on the couch and dozed. When she woke up, Alvin was asleep in his recliner. She got up and went to the kitchen. There was ground beef in the refrigerator. She decided she would make a big pot of chili. It seemed like a good day for it. While she was cooking, the power went out. The generator came on automatically a minute later, but the lights were noticeably dimmer.

Alvin came into the kitchen.

"The generator wake you up?" Mary asked.

"Yes it did. I suppose it's meant to."

He went through the mudroom to the barn. Rivulets of water were running under the door. He had stacked a good supply of firewood against the wall and he gathered up a large armful. He lugged it into the house and started a blaze in the fireplace. Once it was burning well, he turned down the thermostat and shut off the television. No use wasting the fuel in the generator, he thought, there's no way to know how long we'll be without power.

Mary let the chili simmer and pulled the rocking chair close to the fireplace. She had been waiting for a chance to start Rachel's latest book, and there were worse ways to spend a stormy day than sitting by the fire with a book.

Hannah and Buster came down the stairs. "It's cold in my room," she whined.

"Your father turned the heat down," Mary said without raising her eyes from her book.

"Why?"

"He thinks the hurricane might blow away all the oil in New England and we will freeze to death this winter."

"I just think it's prudent to conserve what we've got," Alvin said.

"And how much have we got?"

"Three quarters of a tank."

Mary shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Can I watch TV?" Hannah asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Mary said. Alvin started to object, but shrugged and sat back in his recliner.

The rain continued all day. Occasionally the wind would die down, but soon, it would begin to roar again. Every now and then, a loud bang or a dull thump would come from outside. Mary would startle each time, but Alvin showed no concern. "This house has stood here for more than a hundred and fifty years," he said, "It's seen plenty of storms worse than this."

Late in the afternoon, as the gray sky was fading to black, there was a rap on the door. Alvin opened it, and Moosie ran in and began to shake, spraying him with water.

"Bad Moosie," Bonita said, following him in. Jennifer was behind her, holding an inverted umbrella. Danni brought up the read, wearing her rain slicker and plastic wrapped deputy hat.

"The wind fucked up my umbrella," Jennifer grumbled, stashing it in the corner.

"Would you like some chili?" Mary asked, "I made a huge pot."

"Hell yes, that sounds great," Jennifer said, "Danni has to go on duty in a little bit. I thought maybe Bonita and I could hang out here."