Acadian Star

by Helene Boudreau

  “Is this where all the superstars hang out?” Monsieur Gallant teased.

  “Mom! Dad!” Meg wrapped her arms around them. Her mom gave her a kiss on the cheek. Wineberry Red #115. Meg smiled and brought a hand to her face.

  “We’re so proud of you, chérie! But are you okay?” Madame Gallant pulled back a curl from Meg’s forehead and winced. “Everyone is talking about the tumble you took in the washroom.”

  “I’m fine. It’s nothing, really.” Meg searched behind them, hoping to see someone else. “Tante Perle? Is she with you?”

  “You mean you didn’t go get her?” Madame Gallant asked.

  Meg bit her bottom lip. A stirring of doubt threatened on the edge of her thoughts.

  “I meant to, I really did. But then I fell, I guess…and then I don’t remember…” What did it mean if Tante Perle wasn’t there? “I hope she’s okay.”

  “Well, I’m sure Tante Perle is fine. I’m more worried about you.” Madame Gallant’s face creased with concern. “Should we take you to the hospital?” She fussed with Meg’s hair and surveyed the bump on her forehead.

  “No, no. I’m okay. It’s just been…well, a really long day.”

  Madame Gallant seemed to understand and pulled Meg into a hug. “Aunt Dini told us about the move before the concert. I’m sorry.” She stroked her daughter’s hair.

  “Hey, why don’t you get yourself changed and meet us next door at Chez Tuck’s?” Monsieur Gallant asked. “Our Acadian Star deserves a bit of a celebration, don’t you think?”

  “Sure.” Meg managed a smile and waved goodbye as she headed into the washroom with her backpack. She glanced at herself in the mirror—same old Meg. In fact, the washroom was exactly as it had been hours before. Drippy pink hand soap. Empty paper towel dispenser. Water splattered all over the floor. No wonder she’d slipped. That made sense. That was real.

  And of course her mom was right. Tante Perle was fine. To think she’d believed she had been transported through time on some wild quest. Crazy, Meg thought.

  Mireille popped out of one of the washroom stalls. “Ugh, I couldn’t wait to get this thing off.” She balled the woollen skirt up and shoved it into her bag. “Oh, Meg! I’m so happy to see you. Can you believe we’re going to Halifax?!”

  “We?” Meg shook her head, trying to make sense of what she’d just heard.

  “Well, with Nève off to Fort McMurray and me runner-up…ooh! I’m so excited! Hey, we can drive to Halifax together! Maybe we can be roomies!” Mireille squealed and headed for the door. “Well, bye! See you next door. It’s time to ce-le-brate…”

  Meg cringed as she entered the busted stall to change. She could still hear Mireille shrieking as she snapped the door latch shut. A familiar pair of shoes peeked out from the next stall.

  “That you?” Meg asked.

  “Mm-hm,” Nève said.

  “You hear that?”

  “Yup.”

  “Isn’t this just so unfair?” Meg pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt from her bag and untied her apron.

  Meg listened for an answer. She could hear Nève zip up her backpack. The door squeaked as her cousin stepped out of the stall.

  “You okay?” Meg asked.

  Nève let out a chuckle. “I’d cry if it wasn’t so funny.”

  “What?” Meg asked.

  “I was just wondering who’s got it the worst. Me, because I’m moving, or you, because you might get stuck in a car talking about licorice root tea with Mireille all the way to Halifax.”

  Meg snorted a laugh as she folded her apron. She was about to stash it in her bag when a bundle of white cloth slipped from the pocket.

  Meg gasped.

  “You ready to go?” Nève asked. “I hear there’s a party next door.”

  “Oh!” Meg jumped. “Um, I still have to change. You go ahead.”

  “You sure?” Nève asked.

  Meg picked up the cloth and stared at the bundle in her hands. It was the handkerchief Geneviève had used to wrap the shells on the ship. Meg needed more time to sort out what all this meant.

  “Yeah.” Meg did her best to mask the alarm in her voice. “Tell my mom I’ll be right over.”

  “Okay. Hurry up, though.” The washroom door whooshed to a close as Nève left.

  With trembling hands, Meg pulled the cloth away. The two parts of the oyster shell had fused together as if they had never been apart.

  She told me if we ever found the other half, we’d be friends forever.

  So it was true.

  All of it.

  A rattle rang from within the oyster shell. Meg held it up to the light. A tiny pearl lay inside.

  “Tante Perle,” Meg murmured.

  Meg raced from the parish hall, thoughts still whirling in her head as she reached Tante Perle’s shack. Earlier that day, she couldn’t wait to get out of that shack, not wanting to believe the crazy story her great-aunt was trying to tell her.

  But it wasn’t a story. It had all been true. Meg really had travelled back in time to the Deportation and so had Tante Perle.

  Meg pushed the door open and braced a hand against the door frame. The cool evening air burned her throat as she tried to catch her breath.

  “Ma tante?” she gasped into the darkness of the house.

  Only the smallest bit of light glowed from the hurricane lamp sitting on the table by the stove. Meg rushed to it and turned the wick up to light the space.

  “Tante Perle?” She tore around the shack, swinging the lamp’s light over the shadows. “Tante Perle!” No answer.

  Meg collapsed into a chair. A teacup sat on a saucer in the middle of the table. Meg dipped a finger into the amber liquid. Cold.

  Where was Tante Perle? What if she was still stuck in the past looking for her friend Ginette?

  The irony rose as bitter bile in the back of Meg’s throat.

  She should have believed Tante Perle when she tried to tell her how important the quest was. She should have tried harder to get her to come back when they spoke in the barn. And she should have never made fun of her, just like Nève had said.

  Meg buried her face in her hands and soon her whole body shook with sobs. What if she never saw Tante Perle again?

  Thud! Thud!

  Meg’s head popped up. Where was that sound coming from? She stood and searched the shadows.

  Thud! Thud!

  The soles of Meg’s feet vibrated at the sound of the noise. The cellar! Meg scrambled to the floor and pressed her ear against the cold wooden planks.

  Ma…belle!

  Tante Perle!

  Meg raced out of the shack, lantern in hand. Her heart thundered in her chest as she rounded the corner of the house to the backyard and raced to the cellar door. A stab of pain pricked her finger as she fumbled with the latch. Finally, she freed the metal bar from its clasp and yanked the door open.

  “Oh, ma belle!” Tante Perle hobbled up the stairs. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  The scene brought Meg back to earlier that day when Tante Perle first emerged from the cellar. It seemed like years ago, so much had changed since then.

  “Tante Perle!” Meg cried.

  “Did you do it? Did you keep Geneviève and Marguerite together?” Tante Perle asked as Meg helped her up the stairs.

  “Yes! They’re together now. Or…they were together,” Meg corrected herself, trying to distinguish the present from the past.

  Tante Perle’s eyes glistened in the light of the lantern. “That makes me very, very happy.”

  Meg stroked her great-aunt’s shoulder. “You don’t look happy.”

  Tante Perle looked up. Tears ran down the creases of her wrinkled skin. “I wasn’t so lucky, I’m afraid to say.”

  “You didn’t find Ginette?” Meg asked.

  Tante Perle’s eyes squinted with sadness. “I guess some things can’t be undone. Nothing’s changed.”

  “Oh, Tante Perle. I’m really sorry. Things didn’t turn out the way I’d hope
d, either.” Meg’s thoughts turned to Nève, then back to Geneviève. “But, things did change. You should have seen the look on Marguerite’s face when I left. She looked so peaceful.”

  Tante Perle considered this for a moment and smiled. “T’as raison. And I guess that should be enough.” She chuckled and brought a hand up to Meg’s cheek to pat it.

  “Hey,” Meg said. “Why don’t you come to Chez Tuck’s with me? They’re having an after-concert party.”

  “Oh, non, non.” Tante Perle waved her hand as if to shoo the invitation away. “I couldn’t keep up with you young people, anyway. I’m just an old lady.”

  Meg offered her arm to her great-aunt. “Oh, come on. Aren’t you the same Tante Perle who threw herself over the side of a ship?”

  Tante Perle’s eyes crinkled as she took Meg’s arm. “Oh, beau Dieu. Don’t start spreading tales like that! People around town will think you take after Squirrelly Perley.”

  Meg laughed and led Tante Perle to the restaurant.

  “I can think of worse things.”

  Chapter 22

  MEG AND TANTE PERLE CLIMBED THE STAIRS of Chez Tuck’s front deck, which overlooked Picasse Bay. Moonlight skipped over the surface of the water, flecking the waves with a shimmering radiance. A few people sat around on plastic patio furniture, munching on fish and chips and ice cream cones while enjoying the calm evening air.

  Meg paused at the door. The neon OPEN sign buzzed and cast fluorescent light against her great-aunt’s pale skin. Meg fished something out of her pocket and held it out to Tante Perle.

  “Before we go in, there’s something I need to give you.” Meg placed the oyster shell in Tante Perle’s hand.

  Tante Perle brought the shell to her lips. “Oh…”

  “There’s a little pearl inside.” Meg pointed to the opening between the shells.

  Tante Perle squinted, her eyes almost disappearing in the doughy skin of her face as she brought the shell up to the light.

  “Ma belle.” Tante Perle reached over and stroked Meg’s cheek.

  “Viens.” The bell jingled as Meg opened the door. Oil crackled and hissed from the deep fryer behind the counter as the cook dropped a basket of french fries into the vat. The sharp tang of vinegar punctuated the air. Meg led her great-aunt past the customers waiting to place their orders at the cash.

  “Maybe I should go home.” Tante Perle shuffled a bit behind Meg. “All these young people, I should leave you to your celebrating,” she whispered.

  Meg glanced over. Tante Perle looked like a schoolgirl on her first day of kindergarten. She patted her great-aunt’s arm to reassure her. “C’est bien.”

  A dozen or so faces turned to mark their arrival as they wove their way through the dining area.

  Meg stopped before the booth at the back where her family was sitting. Madame Deveau had her back turned, deep in conversation with Uncle Vince. Nève, her mom, and Meg’s parents stared on, absorbed in the discussion.

  “The Acadian Star house band?” Uncle Vince asked. “You mean for the finals in Halifax?”

  “Your band is exactly what we’ve been looking for. We’ll be taping the show through to the end of the summer. Interested?” Madame Deveau asked.

  Meg’s heart quickened. What did this mean? She saw Nève’s eyes dart from Uncle Vince to Madame Deveau.

  “Does that mean we get to stay?” Nève shrieked.

  Everyone at the table fell silent as Uncle Vince stood. He took off his cap and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Well…the boys in Fort McMurray aren’t going to like this.” He glanced from Aunt Dini to Nève and smiled. “But I guess they’re just going to have to wait a few more months.” He reached to shake Madame Deveau’s hand. “I accept.”

  “Yay!” Nève screamed. She caught a glimpse of Meg and jumped out of the booth to hug her.

  “That means we can go to the finals together!” Meg squealed.

  Mireille looked up from a nearby booth. She huffed and got up to go to the washroom.

  “Now I feel kind of bad for that licorice root tea joke,” Nève whispered to Meg, trying to suppress a giggle.

  Meg’s mom and dad rose to congratulate Uncle Vince while Meg and Nève got lost in excited chatter.

  Uncle Vince held up a hand to speak. “Now, you heard as well as I did. It’s only until the end of the summer. After that, we’ll have to see what happens. But until then, thank you, Madame Deveau.”

  “You are very welcome. And please…call me Ginette,” Madame Deveau hushed.

  Ginette.

  The name robbed Meg’s breath like a northwest wind off the ocean bay. She froze and stared at Tante Perle.

  “Ginette?” Tante Perle’s jaw slackened.

  Madame Deveau turned to face her. A flash of recognition rippled across her face.

  With uneven movements, Tante Perle reached out to touch Madame Deveau’s face. “Is that really you?”

  Meg drew her chin back in surprise. Could it really be?

  “Yes…yes, it’s me.” Madame Deveau giggled and reached out to take Tante Perle’s hand. They stared at each other, smiling.

  “It’s been…” Tante Perle began.

  “Too long,” Madame Deveau answered with a smile.

  The two women hugged and laughed as Meg and Nève did the same. Could it really be true? Had the curse on the Gallant family finally been lifted?

  The front door jingled. A boy with ice cream smeared all over his face waved his arm in the air and yelled, “Come quick, everybody! You’re never going to believe this!”

  Meg grabbed Nève’s hand and filed outside with the others.

  “There must be a dozen of them!” The boy pointed out over the bay. Off in the distance an unmistakable spectacle glimmered in the moonlight.

  The whole group gasped as the dolphins surfaced and dove.

  “Will you look at that?”

  “Beautiful.”

  People pointed and whispered as if speaking out loud might break the magic of the moment.

  Meg’s dad and Uncle Vince pulled over some chairs and offered them to Tante Perle and Ginette.

  Ginette turned to Tante Perle as they sat. “I’m so glad I came home in time to see this.”

  “I’m so very glad you did, too,” Tante Perle agreed.

  “This is better than anything in the whole wide world,” Nève whispered to Meg. “I wish I could stay right here forever.”

  “Me too. But what’s going to happen after the summer?” Meg asked.

  Nève smiled.

  “Aren’t you the one who told me not to worry about stuff until it happens?”

  Meg grinned. It felt like ages since they’d had that conversation while waiting to pick up their Évangeline costumes. “You’re right,” she said.

  “That’s good, ’cause whatever happens, I’m thinking our matching houses overlooking Picasse Bay would look great right over there.” Nève pointed farther down the coast towards the point. “You in?”

  “I’m in,” Meg answered with a smile. Standing there, watching the dolphins dive and surface in Picasse Bay, it seemed to Meg like anything was possible.

  Another jangle of bells sounded from behind. Meg glanced over at the restaurant door.

  “I can’t believe it!” Mireille stood stunned, her mouth half open, as she took in the dolphins’ spectacle.

  “I can,” Meg said.

  She leaned to kiss Tante Perle on the cheek, then gazed across the moonlit water of Picasse Bay and watched until the last dolphin disappeared beyond the point.

 

 

 
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