C h a p t e r T w e n t y-Four
Fevery Summer Days
When we finished, Artie turned to me and didn’t really smile, nor shrug, but something in between.
I think he was just as surprised as I was, that he actually sang.
With his eyes fixed on mine, he said, “That was very brave of you, Annabelle.”
“You were braver than me,” I said, mildly baffled that he didn’t give himself any credit.
“But I knew you were, anyway.”
“Knew that I was what?”
“Brave. You were brave all along. Even when you weren’t.”
That might have been the kindest thing he had ever said. To me or anyone.
But I didn’t reply, right then.
I wouldn’t have known what to say.
That afternoon we went outside and Eloise told us we could use her back lawn for any adventures we might have. The grass was cut short and clean and her flowers were outliving mine so spectacularly that I must have been doing something wrong.
But ah, you can’t really waste your life being cross about trivial things. And life is so spectacular, even with the pain that comes with it. The passing afflictions, each little heart throb that makes you believe you’ll never be at peace again. Things do pass, no matter how hurt they may leave you.
The sun shone on my bare arms, which looked tanner now than back home. There was so much sun here. And when there was rain, there was so much of it.
There was so much of everything, whatever thing that was.
“I think we should play a game,” Henry’s voice was louder above the others. “This is a nice, big, open space. And there’s planted trees for bases, if we need them.”
“Hiding spots too,” I added in.
“She’s very kind for letting us play out here,” Henry acknowledged thoughtfully. Then he clapped his hands and made his declarations authoritatively. “Now we must play a game. What shall we play?”
“Knights,” Charlie hollered.
“But we aways play knights,” Felix whined. “Aren’t we too old for such silly games?”
“Old for knights?” Charlie looked alarmed. “How old are you?” he asked Felix.
Felix raised his shoulders and grinned proudly. “Fourteen. Practically a gentleman.”
“You, a gentlemen?” Claudia snorted. “I never thought I’d hear you wish for such things.”
Felix shrugged. “Well, I figured since most of our wealth is gone, I must become a gentleman and move to the big city someday, to seek a proper occupation.”
“Occupation?” Charlie repeated and snickered to himself.
“It’s a job,” Felix explained.
“I think I shall stay here,” I told everyone, and stretched my arms above my head. “I can’t imagine going to the city.”
“You lived in a city,” Charlie said.
“Not really, no. Not all of England is cities. We just lived in a goodly sized town. We had our plot of land, but…” I looked around. “Nothing like the freedom here.”
I could tell this was making Henry feel uneasy, so I didn’t describe home any more.
Charlie walked around by himself, singing quietly under his breath. I could feel Artie watching him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smile at his little brother. That made me smile too. Charlie was a very pleasant boy.
“When’s his birthday, Artie?” I asked quietly under my breath so Charlie could not hear.
“Around October. The sixteenth, I think.”
“And when is yours?”
“July fourteenth.”
“It passed and you didn’t tell me?” I put my hands on my hips with a laugh that was half humorous, half disappointed.
He shrugged. “Don’t care much.”
“But you’re sixteen now,” I said, surprised and still upset he didn’t tell anyone, didn’t even tell me.
“Well, when is yours, since you care so much about birthdays?” he said, trying to sound irritated, but I saw the amusement on his face.
“November nineteenth.”
Henry waited patiently.
“Now can we play a game?” Felix cut in.
“Yes,” I turned to him. “What shall we play?”
We ended up playing a series of many different games. Tug of war, which the team I was not on, won, and a dramatic game of catch the robber, who was Felix at that point. Charlie plunged on top of him into the soft dirt and declared him, “nice and caught.”
Eloise—she said I could call her Eloise, which felt strange because she was a grownup—brought out a tray of lemonade and toast with jam and set it on an outdoor table beside a chair. There she sat with her book, and glanced up from time to time and watched us.
I came over one moment and sat on the grass next to her chair. “It’s a little breezy today, is it not?” I said through a pant. I grabbed a piece of toast.
“Yes, it is.”
She looked serious right now.
I didn’t say anything.
“I must apologize, but I haven’t had so many children in this back lawn for nearly three decades.”
“Oh. Did you have any of your own?”
“Sixteen.”
“Oh,” I said again. “That’s a good amount.”
“Most would think that a troublesome burden. I never did, anyhow.”
“If I may ask, where have they all gone?”
Her eyes never glanced at me, all the while she spoke. She could be very grave and still when she wanted to be. “Six of them died in the war. One went missing. The other nine are scattered everywhere. Out of all of them, I have ten grandchildren.”
“Oh my.”
“They visit from time to time. They all live far away, most of them in the city. But never have I seen all my grandchildren at once, in this house.”
“That would be an awfully big crowd.”
“I suppose it would.”
She wore a long black dress with ruffles and different interesting patterns and pieces. It was fancy and beautiful, but not anything silly and frivolous. Her hair was in a loose bun at the middle of her head, not too low, nor too high.
“Where's Madge?”
“Probably out in town, dillydallying. She always is. But she’ll be here when I need her.”
“Well…” I shrugged my shoulders. “That’s nice of her.”
“She is nice, isn’t she?”
I hadn’t barely spoken to her, but I could tell she was a loyal companion to Mrs. Rivet or else they wouldn’t have been together for so long.
“You know…” she began, and I looked up at her and then at Charlie who joined us. Eloise gave him a kind smile. “When you reach forty, they say you’re at the top of the hill. You know, that hill you’ve been climbing all your life. I’m well past that hill and now I don’t know what to do. My children have all gone. What do you do when you’ve reached the top of that hill?”
“You go sledding.”
I looked at Charlie curiously, for his words surprised me.
“Beg pardon?” Eloise asked.
“You reach that hill and then you go sledding.” Charlie was unsure why both of us looked at him so.
But I think it was brilliant.
Those July days were blurry and hot and fevery, as I liked to describe them. We had so much fun that we wouldn’t even know the time of day. We would wake with the sun and sleep with the stars, and sometimes we’d completely forget what had happened that day because we did so much. Everything was fuzzy and happy and we simply enjoyed ourselves each day, not thinking about time or any borders with which we were entrapped in.
For us, the blue sky was our limit.
And that sky did seem to go up so very far.
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