by Kit Pearson
Maud told her how Miss Guppy had taken her and four other girls in her special group to her church in Victoria one Saturday afternoon. The minister had asked people to repent of their sins and come up and receive Jesus.
“I felt as if I was pulled up there, Poll. I was crying so much I could hardly walk. Everyone else was crying too.”
“You were crying?” Maud never cried! “I thought you were an Anglican now,” added Polly.
“I was, but that’s not enough for me. It’s not enough for Miss Guppy either. She has to pretend she’s an ordinary Anglican in the school. Polly, you have to promise me to keep this a secret from Noni. Miss Guppy might get into trouble if someone found out.”
“Okay, I promise. Why would I tell anyone? It sounds so strange, Maud! I don’t think you should have anything to do with it!”
Maud gave her a most un-Maudish, sickening smile. “Dear Polly—I know it’s hard for you to understand. This is all very new for you—for me too!—but you’ll get used to it. I truly hope, Doodle, that one day you’ll be converted as well. I’m going to send you a book to read. If you could accept Jesus like I have, I’d be so happy!”
Polly stood up. “I already accept Jesus! I go to church every Sunday and I say my prayers every night! I think this new religion sounds weird, Maud. Daddy wouldn’t like it.”
“Daddy has nothing to do with it,” said Maud. “And we’re not supposed to talk about him, remember? I knew you’d be like this, Poll, but Jesus is already working on you—I can tell.”
“He is not working on me! You’re crazy, Maud!” Polly flounced out of the room.
She found Sadie in the kitchen holding a wire mesh strainer to the wall. “Oh, Polly, you’re just in time—I’ve trapped a hummingbird! It must have come in through the window. Help me put this cardboard under it.”
They carefully slid a piece of cardboard under the strainer. For a few minutes they examined the tiny bird. It had a bib like dazzling orangey-red jewels.
Sadie pressed the cardboard to the strainer as she carried it into the yard. “Keep calm, sweetheart—we’ll soon have you free.” When she released the hummingbird, it zoomed straight up into the sky.
“Gosh … wasn’t that nifty, Pollywog?”
Sadie was so kind and warm that Polly decided to ask her about Maud.
“So she told you.” Sadie sighed. “That’s a hard one, kiddo. When Maud first came to school, I’d sometimes hear her get up at night. She’d sit by the window for hours. I guess she was missing your dad. But now she seems so happy, and so certain that this religion is for her. I think she and the rest of the Guppy’s group are nuts! But when I tell her that, Maud just smiles like a saint and says she hopes I’ll be converted someday too.”
“That’s what she said to me!”
“Never mind. I’m sure she’ll get over it. Last year Ann was part of the same group and now she won’t have anything to do with them. Maud is still your sister and she still loves you—just hang on to that.”
“I’ll try,” said Polly. But it was hard to be hopeful about Maud. First Polly had lost her to St. Winifred’s. Now, it seemed, she had lost her to Jesus.
May 25, 1933
Dear Daddy,
We had a very nice Easter holiday, but Maud told me she has joined a strange new religion. I wish you were here so you could talk her out of it.
Daddy, do you think I’m a wicked person for eating meat and fish? But Uncle Rand eats meat, and he’s a rector. During Lent he gave a sermon about living up to your principles. I’m not very good at that, Daddy. I really think it’s wrong to eat animals, but then I can’t resist. It’s so confusing.
Yesterday was Empire Day and it was so much fun! Kingfisher Island had a huge celebration and lots of people came in boats from other islands. There was a parade and lots of races. I went in the sack race and Biddy and I went in the three-legged race, but we didn’t win. Biddy’s mother won first prize in the egg-and-spoon race. There was a men’s softball game between Kingfisher and Valencia. Kingfisher won! In the evening there was a dance and I stayed until after midnight! We had strawberry ice cream. Aunt Jean danced so much that she hurt her back.
Love,
Polly
June 22, 1933
Dear Daddy,
I feel so bad! Last night I left the deer gate open by mistake and this morning almost all of Noni’s flowers had been nibbled to the ground. She scolded me very sharply—it’s the first time she ever has. I couldn’t stop crying. Noni loves her garden so much and now she has to start all over again. At least her roses were saved—they are enclosed in a separate garden.
Oh, Daddy, how could I do such a stupid thing! I’m usually so careful about shutting the gate, but while I was weeding I heard Tarka bark and I thought he was chasing a deer so I ran out. Tarka was greeting Biddy and Bramble and I was so glad to see them that I forgot to go back and shut the gate.
Noni isn’t angry any more, but I can tell she’s still upset. She keeps saying “What’s done is done” and that I should stop feeling guilty, but I can’t.
I’ll tell you everything I’ve been doing and maybe that will help me feel better. Biddy and I have taught Tarka and Bramble to ride in the baskets of our bikes. Biddy had to tie Bramble in at first, but Tarka was good right from the start. He stays very still, even when he barks at other dogs we pass. He really likes zooming down hills—he puts his head up and his ears blow back. I used to hate leaving him at home when I went off on my bike, but now I can take him all over the island! He’s such a smart boy.
I’ve been helping Biddy and Luke herd sheep. We run behind them and shout at them. Biddy’s father and his helper sheared the sheep—it comes off their skins like a coat. We stuffed the wool into gunny sacks and my hands got slippery from the oil in it.
We went to Victoria for four days and stayed in the Empress Hotel again. Aunt Jean taught me how to swim at the Crystal Pool. The water was lovely and warm and it wasn’t hard to learn. The adults were all so proud of me. The trouble is, Daddy, that I’m still afraid to swim in the sea, but I couldn’t tell them that. At the end of our stay we brought Maud home for the summer. St. Winifred’s gets out earlier than our school.
I don’t feel any better, Daddy, so I’m going to stop now.
Much love,
Polly
After Polly had hidden her letter to Daddy she began weeping again. Maud came into the bedroom. “Doodle, what’s the matter? Are you still upset about leaving the gate open?”
Polly nodded, sniffing up her tears.
Maud gave her a handkerchief and a hug. “Don’t worry, Poll. Noni isn’t mad any more. She forgives you—so does God!”
Polly sighed. She had hoped Maud had changed since Easter, but she was even stranger than before.
“Did you read the book I sent you?” Maud asked. “It would help you right now.”
The book was called Jesus Is Calling You. Polly hadn’t even opened it.
“No, I haven’t,” Polly told her. “I’ve already told you, Maud—I’m not interested in your weird religion.”
Maud just put on one of her holy looks. “You’re just not ready yet, but you will be.”
Was Maud going to be this impossible all summer?
On the evening of Polly’s last day of school there was a graduation ceremony at the community hall for Alice, Milly, Hana, and Chester. Almost everyone on the island came. Milly gave the valedictory address, and the school choir sang. Polly’s eyes stung when Alice sang Daddy’s favourite song, “There’s a Long Long Trail A-Winding.” Alice’s voice soared like a lark and her expression was serene, not nasty.
“She’s going to your school this fall,” Polly told Maud at the reception. “You’d better watch out, because she’s a terrible bully!”
“She won’t get away with that at St. Winnie’s,” said Maud.
Polly went up to Milly and Hana, chatting in a corner. “What are you going to do now that you’ve finished school?” she asked them.
“What’s Chester doing?” asked Polly casually, as if this weren’t what she really wanted to know.
“He’s going to St. Cuthbert’s in Victoria,” said Hana.
That meant she’d only see Chester in the holidays, thought Polly. And he lived on Fowler Bay on the other side of the island, so she probably wouldn’t see him much even then.
Oh, well … why did it seem so important? Chester was only a boy, after all.
Polly left the hall to go to the privy. When she came out, there was Chester! He was sitting on the stairs of the hall.
“Hi, Polly,” he said. “It’s so hot in there, I had to come outside.”
“Hi, Chester.” She tried to think of something to say. “Umm … congratulations on graduating.”
“Thanks. It’ll seem really odd not to go to school on the island any more. I’ve been there for seven years!”
“Are you—are you looking forward to going to school in Victoria?”
“Sort of. I’m hoping to get on the football team. But I’m glad it’s not until the end of the summer. Isn’t it great? Two whole months of freedom!”
Polly nodded. In school she’d always been able to talk easily to Chester; why did she feel so tongue-tied? She didn’t know whether to go in again or to stay outside. Finally she sat down beside him.
Neither of them spoke. A frog chirruped from the ditch and the noisy din inside seemed far away. Chester leaned forward, pecked Polly’s cheek, and ran away down the road.
Polly sat on the stairs for a long time, touching her cheek every now and then. My first kiss! she thought.
But that was the sort of silly thing Biddy would think. It was just a friendly kiss. Still, as Polly walked back into the crowd, she felt as if she were floating. The kiss was a secret between her and Chester—a thrilling new secret that made her other secrets easier to bear.
July 4, 1933
Dear Daddy,
It’s swell to be out of school! I got almost all A’s, and a B in arithmetic because of Uncle Rand helping me with it. He gave me a whole dollar for working so hard! Last week when I was driving around with Uncle Rand I told him that I didn’t understand any of his sermons. He asked me why, and I said it was because he used such big words and long sentences. He thanked me for telling him and said he would try to make his sermons simpler and write them as if he was preaching only to me.
Much love,
Polly
July 9, 1933
Dear Daddy,
Today I saw whales! A whole lot of them, racing and leaping by the lighthouse. Noni and I were there walking Tarka. They were black and white and enormous. I have never seen anything so amazing in all my life.
Oh, Daddy, I wish you could have been there with me to see them! Love, Polly
July 13, 1933
Dear Daddy,
Yesterday Biddy and Luke and I climbed to the top of Vulture Ridge. It’s the first time I’ve been up there. We could see all the little islands around us and Vancouver Island in the distance. We had to keep Tarka and Bramble on their leashes so they wouldn’t fall off the steep cliff. We sat and ate our sandwiches while turkey vultures floated up from the valley. They have tiny red heads.
When I got home, I tried to paint the different blues of the sea and the hills with the vultures flying above. I didn’t think it worked, but Noni said it was the best painting I have ever done. She said it was because I really looked when I was up there.
I think I want to be a painter when I grow up, Daddy.
Much love,
Polly
September 4, 1933
Dear Daddy,
I feel so bad that I didn’t write to you for the rest of the summer! I promise I haven’t forgotten you, but it was so warm and dry that I was hardly ever inside. Maud was home for the whole time, except for one week when she went to stay with Sadie.
Sadie’s parents think she’s too serious about Gregor, so they wouldn’t let her visit the island. But then Gregor went to see her in Duncan, and her parents liked him so much that they let him stay with them for a week!
Now Gregor calls Sadie his sweetheart. Aunt Jean is so pleased, because she likes Sadie and because Mrs. Cunningham is always boasting about Alec and Cynthia being a couple.
Maud was so strange this summer, Daddy. She read her Bible all the time when we were in our room, and the only time she talked to me was when she was trying to convert me. I told her if she didn’t stop, I’d tell Noni. But she knows I won’t, because I promised not to.
Maud and I both helped a lot with the garden and the cooking. We picked cherries and plums and dug clams and fished, but we still had lots of time to play. Biddy and Luke and I rode our bikes to Shell Bay and made rafts out of driftwood. The sand there is white because it’s made out of crumbled shells. The water is warmer than by our house and I went swimming! I was still afraid, but I tried not to let on and I don’t think they guessed. Tarka also learned to swim! He just copied his mother. He loves fetching sticks. We found an old dugout canoe and the dogs came out with us in it.
It only rained a few days, and then Biddy and Luke and I played in the empty schoolhouse. No one cares if we go into it. Guess what we played—school! Biddy was the strict teacher and Luke and I were the naughty pupils.
In July, Noni gave watercolour lessons to children and Biddy and I were part of the class. Some of the girls were staying with relatives on Kingfisher for the summer and we felt proud that we live here all year round. I did a lot of paintings besides what I did in the classes and Noni has framed some of them.
A few nights it was so hot that Maud and I slept on the porch. We could hear the otters squealing across the road.
We went on lots of picnics with the family—to the lighthouse or to Walker Island, or to a tiny island called the Boot.
The best part of the summer was the fall fair—they call it that even though it’s in August. I entered three paintings—one of a hummingbird, one of whales, and one of turkey vultures—and they won first-, second-, and third-prize ribbons! Noni won first prize for roses like she always does, and Aunt Jean got second prize for her chocolate cake. Biddy won for the best carrots in the children’s category. She and I and Luke dressed up as the Three Musketeers for the parade.
The only thing I didn’t like about the summer was in July, when Aunt Jean and Uncle Rand had paying guests. Maud and I had to help make beds and clean and cook for them, and they always wanted to use the rowboat.
I am very brown and I’ve grown two inches! Uncle Rand measured me on the kitchen door. My arms and legs are strong from doing so many chores.
Last week Noni told Aunt Jean she was pleased that Uncle Rand’s sermons were easier to understand. He doesn’t use big words or long sentences any more, and sometimes he even makes jokes! He looks straight at me when he tells them. I didn’t tell Noni that he changed because of me, but I felt warm inside.
I talked to Uncle Rand about Maud (she only made me promise not to tell Noni). He said he was glad Maud had found a way to God that suited her, but that he hoped she would learn to be tolerant of other ways. He agreed with me that I already have Jesus in my heart.
Tomorrow I start school again. I’m looking forward to it because Alice won’t be there!
I’ve been living on Kingfisher Island for a whole year now! It seems more like a hundred years. So much has happened that I can hardly remember my life in Winnipeg.
But I still remember you, Daddy. I still miss you so much, and even though I often forget to write to you, I pray for you every night before I go to sleep. Are you all right? How I wish you could come to see me!
All my love,
Polly
CHAPTER TWELVE
VIVIEN
“School this term is going to be much easier without Alice,” said Biddy as they got off their bikes and crossed the field.
It will seem lonely without C
hester, though, Polly thought. She had run into Chester a few times during the summer, but their secret embarrassed them so much that they couldn’t speak.
“Look, Polly—a new girl!” whispered Biddy as they entered the classroom.
Polly followed Biddy’s gaze. A skinny girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes stared boldly back.
“Biddy and Polly, this is Vivien,” Miss Hunter told them. “She’s in grade six, like you. Vivien, you can sit with Dorothy. I want all three of you to help Vivien feel comfortable.”
Miss Hunter turned to cope with the little ones who were at school for the first time. Vivien continued to stare, until Biddy finally said, “Hi,” and the others followed.
Vivien didn’t answer; she just gave a little grunt and sat down beside Dorothy. Dorothy, who was very shy, couldn’t even look at her.
At recess Vivien answered their questions curtly. They found out she was an only child and had moved with her parents to a fruit farm near Fowler Bay. “We used to live in Sidney,” she told them, “but my father lost his job. Now he’s starting over again on the island. His brother owns the farm, and he asked us to come and live with him. Biddy—that’s your name, right?—did you know you have something between your front teeth?”
Biddy giggled nervously. “Oh, that must be bacon from breakfast!”
For the rest of the first day of school Polly and Biddy tried to make Vivien feel comfortable, as Miss Hunter had asked them to. But Vivien didn’t have to be made to feel comfortable. She was so confident it was as if they were the new girls and she had been at the school for years. Even though her clothes were shabby and ill-fitting, she wore them as though they were brand new. She told Polly a better way to tie her shoes and ordered Dorothy to clean up their shared desk. And she asked a lot of snoopy questions.
Polly listened to her quiz Biddy and dreaded her turn. Sure enough, after school Vivien turned to her and asked what her parents did.