The weight of water - Anita Shreve [84]
“Was that in the trunk?”
“Yes, the bed was in the trunk, the big chest.”
“While he boarded with you, was Karen a member of the family?”
“She came out visiting me some days.”
“Did she sleep there?”
“No, sir.”
Mr. Yeaton then asked Maren whether she knew if Karen had a piece of silver money. Maren answered that yes, she had seen the piece of silver money in October or November, and that Karen had said she had gotten the money from boarders at Appledore, and that it was kept in her purse. Mr. Tapley then asked her if she knew if Karen kept anything else in that purse or if Maren had seen Karen on the day of the murders put something in the purse.
“Yes,” Maren answered.
“What was it?”
“A button, white button like.”
“Have you any articles of clothing, with similar buttons upon?”
“Yes, have got some.”
“Where was the button taken from, if you know?”
“From my sewing basket.”
“State what was done with the button, how did it come there.”
“She took the sewing basket and looked for a button, and took a button there and handed it to Karen.”
“Who took it from the basket?”
“Anethe, and handed it to Karen, and Karen put it in her purse.”
“Have you any buttons similar to that?”
“Yes, have them with me.”
Maren then produced the buttons.
“Where did you get these buttons?” Mr. Yeaton asked.
“Got them in my sewing basket, found one in the basket and two in my box that I have always kept in my sewing basket. I have a nightdress with similar buttons upon it.”
Maren produced the nightdress, and the Court said to Mr. Yeaton that it did not see how the buttons and the nightdress were relevant.
“We will connect them hereafter and offer them again,” Yeaton answered.
Rich stands at the chart table, a microphone uncoiled and in his hand. Staticky sounds — a man’s even, unemotional voice -drone from the radio over the quarter berth, but I cannot understand what the man is saying. Rich seems to, however, and I watch as he bends closer to the charts, sweeping one away onto the floor altogether and examining another. I am looking for a sweater for Billie.
Rich puts the microphone back into its holder and makes markings on a chart with a ruler and a pencil. “We’ve got a front coming in faster than they thought,” he says with his back to Thomas and me. “They’re reporting gusts of up to fifty miles an hour. Thunderstorms and lightning as well.” A wave hits the sail-boat side to and floods the deck. Seawater sprays into the cabin through the open companionway. Rich reaches up with one hand and snaps the hatch shut.
“The wind alone could put us up on the rocks,” he says. “I’m going to motor in towards Little Harbor, the same as the other boat, but even if we get caught out in the open, we’ll be better off than we’d be here. There’s not enough swinging room.” He turns and looks from Thomas to me and back to Thomas, and seems to be making lists in his mind. He is still in his wet T-shirt and shorts, though this is a different Rich from the one I saw earlier, organized and in charge. Alarmed, but not panicked.
“Thomas, I need you to put sail ties on the main. Jean, I want you to heat some soup and hot coffee and put it into thermoses, and put dry matches, bread, toilet paper, socks, and so on — you decide — into Ziploc bags. We need to lock down everything in the cabin — drawers, your cameras, the binoculars, anything in the galley that could shift. There are cargo straps in that drawer over there if you need them. Get Adaline to help you. We want all the hatches tightly closed.” Rich turns around to the chart table. “And you’ll need these.”
He opens the slanted desk top and pulls out a vial of pills, which he tosses to Thomas. “Seasickness pills,” he says. “Each of you take one — even you, Thomas — and give a half of one to Billie. It could be a little uncomfortable today. And Thomas, there are diving masks under the cushions in the cockpit. Those are sometimes useful in the rain for visibility. Where is Adaline?”
Thomas gestures toward the forward cabin.
“She’s sick?”
Thomas nods.
I look at my daughter, struggling