Where Old Ghosts Meet - Kate Evans [45]
12
Nora shivered as she hopped into the car, her cheeks pinched, her hair whipped into an unruly mass by the wind. “It’s turned chilly all of a sudden.” She was breathless, having sprinted the last hundred yards to the car. “One minute it’s a beautiful sunny day and the next it’s freezing.”
“Look!” Peg pointed towards the lighthouse where a thick bank of grey fog had appeared on the horizon and was slowly creeping towards the land. “That’s the way with the weather around here. It can turn quick as an eel in a barrel.”
Nora shivered again. “That’s a truly wonderful place out there. It’s nature at its very best. I can’t believe I had it all to myself, just me and the birds. The isolation is part of the magic.” A light mist had begun to settle on the windshield. She smiled and turned to Peg. “I’d never have ventured out here without you. I’m so glad we came. Now, where is Golden Bay where you used to go with your father? Can we drive there?”
“No dear, you have to walk across the barrens or take a boat.”
“How far to walk?”
“Oh, two or three hours, I suppose. You don’t want to be at that now. It’s a shame you’ll not be around a while. Pat would be glad to take you on the boat, but maybe you’ll come see us another time. I’d like that.”
“So would I.”
Nora put the key in the ignition but as she was about to turn it, she stopped. “When I was sitting out there all alone I thought about him, my grandfather. Tell me, Peg, was he a generous man? Would he have been the type who’d take the trouble to send gifts to people he didn’t really know?” She sat back, leaving the key dangling. “We had a parcel one time from America. We didn’t really know who sent it. The story was that it came from cousins, and to tell the truth I didn’t care one way or the other, but later on I wondered if he had anything to do with it. Would he bother with the like of that?”
“Yes, he would. He never came home empty-handed. There was always something, no matter how small.”
“But to strangers? Did he ever mention anything to you about sending a parcel to us?”
“No, I never heard tell of it. He wasn’t the kind to talk about the like of that. He’d just do it. Was there nothing to say where it came from?”
“I don’t know. My parents never said.”
A long wail sounded from the lighthouse as the fog slowly crept inland. The tip of Bird Rock disappeared into the mist.
“We should be getting back.” Nora was beginning to feel apprehensive, even a little frightened by this sudden change in the weather. They were terribly isolated and not a soul knew where they were.
“He wasn’t a selfish man.” Peg was oblivious to Nora’s concern. “He was good-hearted, you have to understand that. It was more of a thoughtless way he had.” She sounded slightly exasperated. “Most times he just didn’t know what was needed of him. He didn’t know what to do.” She dragged out the last word for emphasis. “Life and living comes easy to some. It just follows along one day after the next, but for others, it’s just an endless struggle.” She was looking downwards, rubbing her swollen knuckles.
“You must think I haven’t been listening to you, that I haven’t tried to understand what you are saying, but I have,” Nora said, feeling a little hurt. “You see, until now I’ve always seen him in a poor light, as someone who didn’t care about anyone or anything, so it’s not easy to suddenly turn around and think of him kindly. You had a different experience, you saw his good side.” She glanced nervously in the direction of the advancing fog.
“I saw all sides,” Peg insisted.
Light rain covered the windshield like a fine gauze. “We’d better go.” Nora turned the key in the ignition.
“I had a child to care for when Matt returned that second time.
The keys clanged against the shaft of the steering wheel.
“Not my own child,” she added quickly. “My sister’s child. She died having little Sheila. Her husband had two others to care for and couldn’t manage everything on his own, so I took the new baby to raise.