The School on Heart's Content Road

by Carolyn Chute

  Judy Lancaster. Willie’s unflappable wife.

  Danny Lancaster. Willie and Judy’s son.

  Ramone Lancaster. A teen daughter. There are three daughters, one unnamed in this novel.

  Delores (Dee Dee) Lancaster St. Onge. One of those three daughters of Willie and Judy Lancaster. She is age nineteen but looks eleven. A small, smiley person. She spends a lot of time at the St. Onge Settlement. Her cheery manner has no small effect on the atmosphere of Settlement life. Brown hair, which has natural spurts and cat licks. She is very pregnant.

  Louis St. Onge (Dee Dee’s young husband). Also about age nineteen; Louis (pronounced Lou-EE, as they do up in the St. John Valley of Aroostook, whence he has come) is a cousin to Guillaume (pronounced hard G, Ghee-yome) “Gordon” (nickname) St. Onge. Louis had lived at the Settlement awhile before he married Dee Dee. Now they live in the dooryard of the Lancasters’ mobile home complex. The Lou-EE–Dee Dee residence is a weird five stories (each story only sixteen by sixteen feet), painted pink. Lou-EE is built like a tapeworm: no shoulders, just arms, legs, long neck, little head. On top, a big brown mountain hat made of felt. Long black beard protects his significant Adam’s apple from view, though the beard is thin, just a scraggly, smoky swirl of a thing. While his father-in-law, Willie, is loud and full-throttle, Lou-EE is like a quaint stage prop but with wonderful eyes, the irises green and golden brown, ringed in black-brown.

  Cannonball. A Scottish terrier, huge teeth, broad chest, short legs. She is black, though some Scotties are brindle. She is round and solid, like—yes, a cannonball, cast iron. She likes food and Lou-EE. Willie rescued her from a life tied to a doghouse. Yes, Willie stole her. But she loves Lou-EE. She is not fond of kids. Hates other dogs.

  Agents

  Names sometimes mentioned: sometimes alias, sometimes real. Some of these are Special Agents (S.A.s), others operatives. Agents appear in many scenes, scheming and plotting for “America.” There are times when the Settlement is crawling with them.

  Jane Meserve (Secret Agent), age six. Yes, only age six but very tall for her age, hushy velvety voice, tells us (very curious people that we are) much about what she observes. Also, she tells her mother (her “Mum”) stuff. And unfortunately, she tells stuff to the tape recorder of Settlement neighbors Bernice and son, David. Our Jane is a gorgeous child with a head of dark ringlets, which she generally wears in a queenly, countessy way, high on top with a glamorous spangled squeegee or a flowery one. Jane is a fan of MTV, fast food, and great clothes. Some of these pleasures may have been developed through her mother, Lisa, but Granpa Pete blames it on Great Aunt Bette, long dead, a strong-willed lady who must have seen many personal demands fulfilled. Jane always walks in a graceful royal fashion, unless she’s having a tantrum.

  Her father, Damon Gorely, is handsome, she is told by her Mum, and talented in rap. He is an African mix person; Lisa—Mum—is a European-mix person. Yes, like most Americans, the Heinz “57 Varieties” types.

  Secret Agent Jane’s spying career begins after a Settlement person gives her a pair of sunglasses that have pink heart-shaped lenses. Frames are white plastic. Jane’s mother, Lisa, says those glasses will give Jane special viewing powers. She suggests that they are real secret agent glasses and that Jane can report to her all she sees. Lisa is in jail, in deep trouble.

  Jane’s Family

  Lisa Meserve. Dental assistant before her arrest. Hair a textured blonde from a product called Light ’n’ Streak. Less strong-willed than Jane. Before jail, wore lipstick. Noticeable blue eyes.

  Cherish. Like Cannonball, Cherish is a Scottish terrier. Though this is not a common breed, there are, yes, two in this story, completely unrelated. Not everybody in America has a golden retriever. Cherish dies when cops leave her in a hot car.

  Peter Meserve, known as Pete or Granpa Pete. Owns a gas station. Mild-mannered. Is Lisa Meserve’s father, Jane Meserve’s grandfather, and an old friend of Gordon St. Onge’s. Probably Pete is of average height, balding a bit, graying a bit. Clean shave. Jowls. A bit of a waist. Wears work Dickies or jeans, something like that. No jewelry. Maybe a tattoo, Popeye or a pretty cowgirl. Maybe a tattoo that has gotten blurry.

  Some of the St. Onge Wives

  Claire St. Onge. About age fifty. Once, she and Gordon were legally married, but then divorced. Now she’s back, a wife by Settlement law. Claire is a short woman, short and fat. Graceful and seemingly light on her toes. Both of her parents are Passamaquoddy. She grew up in Princeton, upstate. Many cousins, some who visit from the reservation, some who live at the Settlement. Claire’s long black hair, beginning to gray, is often worn up in a bun for that teacherly effect when she has classes at USM (the University of Southern Maine), she being an adjunct history teacher. But often she wears it down and it is comely. While in the Settlement gardens, she wears jeans and long shirts, but much of the time she wears homemade skirts with those frequent displays of embroidery many Settlement women show off in. One of Claire’s most striking features are her old-timey spectacles: turn-of-the-century, round steel frames. These give her a severe and grim sepia, quite managerial, aspect.

  Bonnie Lucretia (Bonnie Loo) St. Onge. Her legal last name is Sanborn as she was once married to a young man by that name. He died in a tractor-trailer wreck. Bonnie Loo’s maiden name is Bean. She is twenty-six. A tall, rugged person, she wears her dark hair streaked orangey blonde from the bottle. She has a child, Gabe, from the trucker husband who died. Two additional youngsters by her present husband (wed by Settlement law), Gordon St. Onge. She wears regular glasses at times, rather bulky ones, but her contacts are her favorites. Her eyes are golden green-brown. Movie-star eyebrows curved exquisitely, one of her best features, but she is raw to look at, sometimes, and snarly of manner. But also curious and smart and witty. Most people at the Settlement think of her as the head cook.

  Penny St. Onge. Gordon’s first wife to come to him through Settlement law. She is a tall honey-haired woman, late thirties. She is the mother of the oldest St. Onge child, a girl, fifteen-year-old Whitney (Whitney is Penny’s legal last name by outside law). Penny is a pleasant, easygoing person who enjoys Settlement life. She loves books and quiet evenings alone, but also she’s there for the social stuff. She has a lot of overly full daytimes. She enjoys long walks in the fields, often with Gordon. Many people swear that Penny is so classically lovely she is prettier than her daughter who, though a handsome girl, has inherited too many goofy expressions from her father.

  Stephanie (Steph) St. Onge. Another of Gordon’s wives who joined with him and Settlement life early on. In her early forties, she is a rosy-cheeked brown-haired quiet type. Her daughter, Margo, fathered by Gordon, looks “just like her” and has her mother’s wallflower ways.

  Gail St. Onge. About age forty-five, mother of Michelle. Gail is another earlier wife of Gordon’s and Michelle is fourteen, only a bit younger than Penny’s Whitney. The two half-sisters look a lot alike, though Michelle has brown hair, Whitney is more blonde. Both have the somewhat Nordic look of their father (even though none of them are Nordic). Meanwhile Gail, an ex-biker and recovering alcoholic, a semi-recovered smoker, still has a biker style of dress, and her collarbone and entire neck has a ring of roses tattooed there forever. Her voice is husky. Eyes dark and close together. Nose a big puggy. Hard lines in the skin from hard living. Quiet. Reserved. Hair is straight, dark, shoulder-length, and sometimes neglected, sometimes silky and fresh.

  Lee Lynn St. Onge. Witchy. Looks witchy. Has witchy ways. Mid-thirties, has a year-old tyke named Hazel, fathered by Gordon. Lee Lynn is busy collecting healing herbs, makes salves and tonics, herbal teas. Very affectionate with everyone. She has wild hair, early gray. She is always braless and wears long flowing dresses, clanking bells (at the throat, for instance), and, around one ankle, a rusty leg iron (looks like the real thing) like a slave. Her high thin voice is cutting to some ears, and her roaring enthusiasm over everything goes against the grain of some of the more curmudgeonly personalit
ies.

  Glennice St. Onge. A Christian woman. Late forties or fifty. A wife of Gordon’s. She was married before, however, to a man who left her with an envelope of money (his week’s pay), their kids, and their home, taking only his beagle puppy and gun. Glennice grew up around tractors and trucks and farming. She’s very good with vegetables and machines. She loves the Settlement life and is a wonderful teacher to all the Settlement youngsters. Glennice is a churchgoer and believes in a big biblical God. But she also sees Gordon as a supernatural godlike being, which is a bit of a joke for other Settlement people, who see Gordon as full of the weakness of mortality. Glennice has features too small for her large face. Big glasses. Hair frizzily permed.

  Brianna (Bree) Vandermast St. Onge. Gordon’s youngest wife. Ever. She is only fifteen. Her hair is thick, ripply orange; orange like a crayon. Honey-color eyes. She has always, and still does, work in the woods with her brothers and father on their logging crew. She is a strong, fit girl, sort of tomboyish. She has zealous revolutionary intentions. Does lyrical writing in bold calligraphy and stunning drawings and paintings. Studies history and current events (not commercial media propaganda) all the time. Has a girlish giggle and romantic hungers. She was born with a deformed face, her honey eyes too far apart, the bridge of her nose stretched wide. She is the founder of the True Maine Militia.

  Vancy St. Onge. Also quite young. Pregnant. Not considered pretty, but she is a skilled midwife and natural with elderly and the sick and therefore she is a precious jewel to Settlement life and to Gordon St. Onge. She has a rather square boxy face, square boxy body (even before pregnant). Her hair is flat and rumply brown, never fussed over. She tends to wear big white blouses (even before pregnant). Her eyes are sort of lashless, bottom lip erect, jawline primitive. And yet, yes, absolutely precious.

  Leona. One of Claire’s cousins, also from the reservation. Leona was one of Gordon’s first Settlement wives. Leona has many kids by Gordon, including his oldest son, Cory, who is younger than Whitney by only a few weeks. So Cory is also age fifteen. Katy and Karma are two of the youngest of Leona’s kids. Andrea is a bit older. Many in-betweens. Leona has a great tail of black, black hair.

  Natasha (Natty) St. Onge. One of Gordon’s youngest wives. Age eighteen (almost). She is sharp-featured, blonde. Until arriving at the Settlement, she was a prostitute in Boston, a runaway girl from Ohio. She loves working in the orchards and leatherworking, cobbling, and sugaring. She’s a storyteller, always draws a circle around her of listening ears. Has a new baby who has a nice head of dark hair but no thumbs.

  Other Relatives of Gordon St. Onge, but Living Elsewhere

  Marian DePaolo St. Onge. Actually, her name isn’t Marian but Mary Grace but she is into name-changing for status purposes. Her husband (deceased), Guillaume, she called Gary. Guillaume the son is Gordon. She is tall (taller than her husband had been). She has light eyes. Her dark hair has a lot of attractive gray. Her glasses are of an attractive style. She has wonderful posture. Gordon is her only child. Her brothers and uncles are the DePaolo Bros. Construction. They do huge projects around New England such as schools, banks, malls, big box stores, office complexes. They always have a family member or buddy in the state senate.

  The Fourth Estate

  Ivy Morelli. A native Mainer, Ivy is a reporter and columnist for the Record Sun, the big daily. She is twenty-four, petite, with a big raspy hawhaw of a laugh. Her eyes are blue in black lashes. Her facial expressions at times would serve her well as a murderess or sorceress in an Elizabethan play (when evil truly reigned and the commons were being emptied). Her hair is bowl style, very black, tinted violet. Wacky wardrobe. Wacky earrings. Drives fast. Is rude to fellow motorists.

  Brian Fitch. Ivy’s editor. Ordinary-looking guy about forty, editorly pants and shirt and shoes. Twinkling gray eyes. Editorly hair trim.

  Other Settlement People

  Ray and Suzelle (Gordon’s cousin) Pinette. From Aroostook County.

  Eddie and Lorraine Martin. Their kids include twenty-year-old Butch, Evan (younger), and Kirk (even younger).

  *Remember! There is a character list at the end of this book.

  *Reminder: There is a character list is at the end of the book.

  *Followed by staticky sounds of microscopic concern.

  *Last reminder: There is a character list is at the back of the book.

  * Translation: The situation on Earth intensifies: floods, winds that whirl, droughts, erosion; water, even when clear, glows in ways unseen by earthling eyes; heat like the insides of a sick Earth cow’s stomachs; dropping food production—the great net of the one whole global civilization frazzles, bigger lies, bitter cold, explosions, fire. A pity.