The Ebb Tide

by Beverly Lewis

  Lifting the stone to the sky, she studied the way the light shone through. The beautiful stone was absolutely clear! No polishing necessary.

  “Glory be,” she whispered, wanting to dance for joy. Lest she cause a spectacle, though, Sallie sat there, watching the sun begin to set on this most incredible evening.

  31

  Wow, this is one of the rarest types,” Kevin told her as he peered at the crystal while they sipped their root beer floats.

  “If I hadn’t actually stepped on it, I would’ve passed it by.” Sallie loved sharing her discovery with someone who seemed to take as much delight in it. “And just when I was close to givin’ up.”

  Grinning, Kevin made a whistling sound. “Are you kidding? You didn’t look even close to giving up.”

  Sallie nodded. “I guess I can be pretty determined!”

  Reveling in her discovery, she enjoyed the taste of the root beer, though it was far sweeter than the kind she and Frannie made every summer. “Have ya ever had Amish root beer?”

  Kevin took another sip. “Cousin Bekah makes it to sell at their roadside vegetable stand on White Oak Road. So yes, I have.”

  “Which do ya prefer?”

  He pointed out that Amish root beer had a yeasty flavor. “And it doesn’t fizz nearly as much when you add ice cream.”

  “I guess it’s what you’re used to.”

  He agreed, marveling again at the perfect stone Sallie had found, even taking out a flashlight to shine through its surface.

  Sallie laughed. “How clever to carry a mini flashlight on a keychain!”

  “Some carry pocketknives, but I prefer a light.”

  Eventually, they gathered up some small shells for his mother’s craft project, using the flashlight, though the sky was still a bit light. Then they headed to the car.

  During the short drive back, Kevin told her about the weeks ahead, giving her a cursory rundown of his internship obligations before it was time for him to return to EMU at the end of August for his senior year. In spite of his casual tone, the work sounded daunting.

  “If it suits you, next Saturday morning, we could get together for a little while,” he said. “I thought you might enjoy looking around the area more.”

  She opened her mouth to accept, then realized the day. “Frannie will be visitin’,” she said. “Another time, maybe?”

  Kevin was quiet, as if thinking. “What about Wednesday evening for a quick drive down to the lighthouse . . . unless you’ve seen it by then.”

  She managed to contain her excitement. “Wednesday’s fine, if it doesn’t take away from your studies.”

  He glanced at her. “I’ve got some time.”

  “I don’t want to interfere with your work, Kevin. Might not be enough hours in your day to accomplish everything.”

  “Listen, Sallie, I’ll make up the time, even if I have to stay up later.”

  She thought on that. “Well, you know what they say ’bout burnin’ the candle at both ends.”

  Kevin nodded, playing along. “No worries here.”

  When they drove up to the Logans’ house and parked at the curb, lights were on in the front rooms of the house, and Sallie could just imagine what Autumn might say tomorrow, if she was still up and peeking out the window.

  “I’ll see you Wednesday evening right here at seven-thirty,” Kevin said.

  “Till Wednesday,” she whispered, opening the car door. “Da Herr sei mit du.”

  “The Lord be with you, too, Sallie.”

  Keeping her composure, she hurried back toward the path to the cottage, imagining Kevin waiting politely till he could see her no longer. Not wanting to look back to see if he was still there, she pinched herself.

  Goodness, this is better than Australia!

  Before leaving for Duckies Farm Market with Evie early Monday morning, Sallie showed Autumn and Monique the amazing gem she’d found. “It was buried in the sand beneath my foot,” Sallie told them as they touched it, Autumn asking to hold it up to the window so she could peer through it. “If I hadn’t taken off my sandals, I doubt I would’ve felt it,” Sallie said.

  “It’s gorgeous,” Monique murmured, her strawberry-blond hair swept up in a large clasp. “Are you going to sell it or keep it?”

  “You could probably get a lot of money for this,” Autumn said, eyes blinking. “I’m not kidding.”

  “Nee, wouldn’t think of sellin’ it,” Sallie said, taking it back when Autumn handed it to her.

  “And you found it while you were with Kevin,” Autumn whispered to her as they headed out to Evie’s car, out of Monique’s earshot.

  “Your mother knows, silly girl.”

  Autumn simply smiled as they walked around the pool toward the driveway, where Evie was already sitting behind the steering wheel.

  “You know what I think?” Sallie said as they approached the car. “I think going to Duckies will be another adventure for you.”

  “Adventures are gut, Miss Sallie,” Autumn teased.

  “You’re bein’ silly this morning.”

  “You fed me feathers for breakfast.”

  Laughing, Evie backed out of the driveway, looking casual and relaxed. “We have a list, right?” she asked as they moved through the residential streets.

  “Right here.” Sallie pulled it out of her purse. “Thanks for letting us borrow your mom’s canner, and pickin’ up a dozen jars and lids, too.”

  “Not a problem,” Evie said, glancing at Sallie. “When Monique told me on Saturday what you were planning to do, I was more than happy to help.”

  So nice to have a willing driver, Sallie thought. She wasn’t tempted to learn, though there had been a couple times she would have preferred some lighter-weight clothing. She wondered how it would feel to dress in a flowing skirt like the one she’d seen last evening.

  Just to be cooler, she told herself. It didn’t mean that her surroundings—or Kevin—were having an influence on her.

  Surely not.

  At Duckies, Sallie headed to the white stand with a makeshift sign along the split rail fence that read Key Lime Pie. A large selection of Early Girl tomatoes were on display under umbrellas out front, and inside, a wide variety of other fresh vegetables were lined up in organized sections, including broccoli, snap beans, early cauliflower, cucumbers, sprigs of dill, and other herbs. When Sallie inquired if there were any pickling cucumbers to purchase, she was directed to the back of the stand, where a large quantity was stacked in black plastic bins.

  “We’ll have a pickle party!” Autumn announced later as they carried the cucumbers to the trunk of Evie’s car.

  “A picklin’ bee,” Sallie recited. “Frannie and I love canning with our sister, Laura.” Sallie mentioned again that Frannie would be coming that weekend. “I hope both of yous can meet her.”

  “Yous?” Autumn asked, giving Sallie a quizzical look.

  “Puh!” Sallie said, laughing. “Plural for you. I try not to let my Dutchy talk slip in too much.”

  “That’s okay with us . . . ain’t so, Evie?” Autumn said, giggling in the back seat.

  Now Evie was laughing, as well, and Sallie could hardly wait to get started.

  Two letters awaited Sallie in the Logans’ kitchen over near the bulletin board when they returned. Sallie was happy to see Cousin Essie’s handwriting on the first one; the second letter was from Frannie. Sallie postponed opening both because she wanted to help get things set up in the kitchen so they could make pickles that afternoon.

  “Go ahead and read your mail,” Monique urged her.

  “Maybe Autumn can put the cucumbers in the sink to soak, if she’d like to,” Sallie suggested while Evie loaded the Ball jars into the dishwasher.

  Sallie took Frannie’s letter over to the window and quickly scanned through, finding more details about Frannie’s arrival, including that her driver would be picking her up around two o’clock for the trip. Frannie had also given an update on Perry, saying he was already involved wi
th physical therapy and had mentioned the card and note Sallie had sent him. I have no idea what you wrote, but it did the trick!

  Sallie murmured to herself, “I told Frannie what I wrote him.”

  “You all right, Miss Sallie?” Autumn asked from the sink, where she was standing on a step stool and running cold water.

  “Oh, sorry.”

  Putting the letter in her pocket, Sallie thought, Poor Perry must be doing worse than I thought if he’s making such a big deal over a get-well card!

  32

  The quart-sized jars were being sterilized in the dishwasher as Sallie helped Autumn scrub the bumps from the cucumber skins that afternoon. Sallie cut the ends off all the cucumbers and sliced them into long spears. Then, after removing the jars from the dishwasher, she packed the spears inside the warm jars and added one clove of garlic and a small sprig of fresh dill to each.

  Meanwhile, a brine of vinegar, salt, and water was heating on the stove to a rolling boil.

  “How do you say pickle in Amish?” asked Autumn.

  Sallie reminded her that their language was actually a dialect of German called Pennsylvania Dutch. “Or Deitsch, to be more exact. And pickle is Bickel. And you would say Salzlaag for pickle brine.”

  Autumn nodded and tried repeating the words, patting her hands on the pink-checked half apron her mother had tied around her tiny waist. “What language did you speak first, Miss Sallie?”

  Sallie laughed, enjoying her company. “Well, Deitsch, of course.”

  “I thought so!” Autumn grinned.

  “I didn’t learn to speak English till I attended school.”

  Autumn’s happy expression suddenly changed to pensive as the wheels whirred in her head. “You know what? There’s a craft and food fair this Saturday . . . and we could’ve made a bunch more pickles to sell there.”

  “Oh, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of pickles and other food items, too.” Sallie thought of Kevin’s mother and her seashell crafts. “Maybe sometime we’ll have to do a craft using common shells. Would ya like that?”

  Autumn brightened again. “Sounds fun. And you should also make a pretty display for your Cape May diamond.”

  I’ll put it on the dresser in the bedroom, where my panda can watch over it. The two things that remind me of Kevin . . . Sallie laughed softly.

  “What?” asked Autumn, eyebrows raised.

  “Ach, ain’t nothin’.”

  Once the hot brine was poured over the cucumbers and the jars were sealed, Sallie carefully placed the jars in the canner on the stove to process.

  Later, when the pickles were cooling on the counter, Sallie and Autumn stood back to admire their handiwork.

  “Our picklin’ bee went pretty well, jah?” Autumn teased.

  Evie came into the kitchen, finished with dusting. Although she’d declined participating, she insisted on helping clean up, though Sallie was adamant about assisting since she’d made the mess. Soon, though, Evie shooed both Sallie and Autumn out of the kitchen to make supper.

  Reluctantly, Sallie made her way to the living area, taking a seat near the tall windows. There she made herself comfortable, feeling the nubby fabric of the Turkish area rug under her feet as she began to read Cousin Essie’s news from home. Amongst other things, such as the farmers’ concern over the dry weather, the various local canning bees, and which young people were baptismal candidates for this September, Essie had written that Aaron would be going in for surgery on Monday, July 21. The antibiotics for the ear infection he got after his cold have done their job, and the doctors say it’s safe to move ahead. Wanted you to know, since Barbie Ann is real nervous about it, to say the least.

  “Please give them peace, Lord,” Sallie murmured, reading on.

  Essie ended her letter with Whatever you do, keep praying for him.

  Sallie nodded and refolded the letter. Except for sounds coming from the master suite, where Autumn seemed to be talking Monique’s ear off, the house was calm, so Sallie closed her eyes and prayed again for her dear nephew.

  She also prayed for Perry’s recovery, as she’d promised in her letter to him. Maybe Frannie will hear about that one, too, she thought with a smile. Frannie’s fiancé, Jesse, and Perry were close friends—practically like brothers. Frannie and Jesse must go and visit Perry nearly every day, Sallie thought.

  She tried to imagine Perry hobbling around on crutches, as hardworking and vigorous as he’d always been.

  Frannie will know all about it. . . .

  Suddenly, Sallie realized how much quieter things had gotten. Monique and Connor must have dozed off, because Autumn had gone outdoors to sit in the sun on one of the chaise lounges. Sallie could see her out there, staring at the pool.

  Sliding open the patio door, she asked Autumn if she’d like to go with her to the cottage for a while. “I want to show ya my new seashell book. It has photographs of shells from all over the world, including the Hawaiian Islands and Australia. And one of the shells is something I wondered if you’d ever seen.” Sallie described the shell of an argonaut, or paper nautilus.

  Autumn leaped up and hurried over to her, reviewing again who should get the pickles, besides Evie and Rhiannon’s grandparents.

  Not wanting to bring Kevin into the conversation, Sallie said, “Well, I think your mother would want most of them, considerin’ she paid for all the ingredients and the jars, too.”

  “Cool! That means I can help Mommy decide who we share them with, right?”

  This struck Sallie as cute, and she reached for Autumn’s hand as they walked through the trees and the dappled sunlight.

  At the cottage, Autumn curled up beside her on the sofa, reaching for a pillow and squeezing it as Sallie picked up the book. Sallie glanced toward the open bedroom door and spotted the stuffed panda, wishing she’d put it in a different spot. She opened to the bookmark. “See this? The argonaut mother makes a featherlight shell cradle for her tiny eggs.” She pointed to the pearly white shell. “Isn’t it just beautiful?”

  “How do ya say that in Deitsch?”

  “Schee, which also means perty.” Sallie gently tousled her ponytail.

  She giggled. “I like how it sounds . . . like talking about a girl.”

  Sallie smiled. “Funny, I never thought of that.”

  “We should go to the tropics and find one of those shells,” Autumn said, her expression earnest.

  “The mother argonaut tucks her arms inside the shell and floats with her eggs out in the waters of the ocean,” Sallie said, smiling at Autumn. “What would ya do if you ever found one?”

  Autumn’s eyes twinkled. “I probably never will.”

  “But ya don’t have to travel to admire the photo, jah?” Sallie said, gazing at the picture. “The argonaut is a kind of octopus,” she explained. “The shell is a safe way to carry her babies.”

  Autumn leaned in closer to study the picture. “A floating nursery.”

  “The Lord made such tiny creatures, ain’t so?”

  Autumn nodded. “All of us started very little,” she said softly.

  Sallie slipped her arm around her. Then, pointing to the shell again, she said, “Just think of all the miniature brothers and sisters floating along together in the water, waiting to be hatched.”

  Autumn was silent, as though pondering that.

  Pointing again to the breathtakingly pretty shell, Sallie said, “Ya know, I almost wonder if we were s’posed to learn ’bout this argonaut shell.”

  Autumn looked up at her with big, serious eyes. “You do?”

  Nodding, Sallie said, “I do.”

  Autumn fell strangely quiet as she continued to gaze at the exquisite shell.

  And Sallie realized she was holding her breath.

  ———

  Incredibly, Autumn did not comment about the stuffed panda, and Sallie was relieved, fairly certain Autumn hadn’t paid much attention to anything other than the picture of the argonaut shell. She even asked if she could show it to her mother
during supper. “Is that all right?”

  “Sure. It’ll be interesting to see if she knows anything ’bout it.”

  Autumn nodded and went out with Sallie to the deck. “Can we go to the zoo this week?”

  “Let’s see, I read somewhere ’bout an exhibit goin’ on there. I’ll find out.”

  “We can check the newspaper. Hey, maybe Rhiannon can come with us, too!”

  “I like your friend a lot,” Sallie told her as they watched the colorful koi swimming below them.

  “And she likes you,” Autumn said. “She’s jealous that I have a young nanny.”

  “But she has you to play with.”

  “Not every day, though.”

  Sallie said she would enjoy bringing Rhiannon along with them to the zoo if it made Autumn happy. “And if your mother and Rhiannon’s grandparents agree. I love to see you smilin’ and laughing, ya know.”

  “And you, Miss Sallie, have been smiling a whole lot more than usual. And I’m not kidding.”

  Sallie laughed, pressing her hands to her warm cheeks.

  “You’re turning red,” Autumn said, another round of giggles coming.

  Ach, so perceptive!

  33

  The trip to the zoo was discussed at suppertime that Monday, but it was postponed until the following week, because Rhiannon was going to New York City for a few days. Autumn really wanted her friend to go along, so she told her mother and Sallie that she was willing to wait.

  “We’ll go to the beach and walk the promenade while Rhiannon’s gone, if you’d like,” Sallie suggested. “And do some shopping, too, maybe.”

  “Shopping?” asked Autumn, suddenly elated. “When?”

  “How ’bout tomorrow morning?” Sallie thought it would be fun to take a closer look at some of the shops at Washington Square.

  “Okay, and we can have ice cream sundaes for lunch!” Autumn’s eyes absolutely twinkled. “My grandpa Logan says he always starts with dessert, in case he kicks the bucket before dinner. He’s so funny, Miss Sallie. I think you’d like him!”