Moon over Madeline Island

by Jay Gilbertson

  “You have such a nose for this, darling,” Ruby replies. “I would never have thought of turning this place into a factory. I bet we have buckets of people ringing for an interview.”

  “Ruby…the phone hasn’t rung once.”

  “I know, darling; have patience. Things move a little slower up here.”

  “What was that? A buzzing or something; there it is again.”

  “That, patient one, is the phone!”

  “Damn—the phone. I piled too much crap in front of the deer head!” I say, wildly pulling dusty curtain rods, a metal bed frame, brooms and what looks like a gun away from the phone’s hiding place. “Hello?” I say, out of breath, holding a stuffed squirrel in my other hand. I pass him to Ruby.

  “Hey, this Eve Moss? The drape lady?” a friendly male voice asks.

  “Um…yes it is.” I guess I asked for this.

  “This is Charlie…Charlie Bruns. You must have given out the wrong number. Been getting all your calls…Ladies looking for you and all…A man, too.”

  “Oh really? I am so sorry. I should have double-checked the number.” Shit shit shit.

  “No harm done,” he assures me kindly. “Things like this happen. Kept a list of who called for you.”

  “Thank you so much…. I really am grateful.” Is this a nice guy or what?

  “You renting Ruby’s place for the fall or—”

  “I live here…the Prévost Place. Used to be, anyway. What I mean is, yes, I do live here…with Ruby.”

  “Ruby Prévost? Well I’ll be! Say…you wouldn’t want to stop by, would you? Sure would enjoy visiting with her and meeting you, too.”

  “Oh sure…we’d love to come over. Thanks.” I give a questioning look to Ruby, who nods. “We could stop by later this afternoon.”

  “That sure would be nice then. Yes sir, sure would. Should be around ’most all day.”

  “Okay, and listen, thanks again for being so understanding.”

  “Sure sure. No problem at all—my pleasure. ’Bye now.”

  “Okay then. ’Bye.” I let the phone go and it slides upward, picking up speed until it snaps back into the deer’s mouth, making a funny pop as the jaw clomps shut. I look over at Ruby; she lifts her shoulders and shrugs.

  “Of all the people to…” Ruby says. “Charlie lives down the road a bit.”

  “I’m positive I gave the right phone number to that woman. His must be really similar. I should have insisted on seeing a proof before it went to press. He a friend of yours?”

  “Charlie? Yes…yes, he was, is. He’s very much alive, but his wife passed away quite a while ago,” Ruby says, correcting her tenses. “He and Ed did a lot of fishing together. Such an odd fellow. Pleasant…but odd.”

  “Certainly seems nice and my God, what a deep voice,” I say. “Might be fun for you to see him again.”

  “Oh yes indeed,” Ruby says. “Ed always referred to him as the birdman. His yard is filled with the most remarkable birdhouses. He smokes…but not the legal stuff.”

  “Oh? Oh.” I’m guessing Charlie must be one of those pot-smoking earthy types. “He’s keeping a phone list for us; doesn’t seem the least bit put out. I certainly got the feeling he’s wanting to see you…us.” Hmm, I wonder if he likes sassy Brits? Not to be a meddler, God forbid, but if they both lost their spouses…And that sexy voice.

  “You know, darling,” Ruby purrs, “let’s take a break now and visit Charlie. We’ve been at it for hours and it’s looking so much better. I should tidy up a bit, though.”

  “We should bring him something. You know, to thank him for being so…neighborly,” I suggest. Then I lie, a white lie: “The van’s out of gas…Not a drop…Fumes.” My van is so unromantic, but a boat ride in that duck…

  “Let’s take the duck then,” Ruby quickly says.

  “We could pick him up and take him for a ride.”

  “Why not?” Ruby warms to the idea. “After all, he did help fix that thing.”

  “Might as well throw in lunch too.” I wonder about her and Charlie—together. “How about you gather some picnic goodies and I’ll get the duck out.”

  “Lovely.”

  We head up the path to the cottage and around to the back porch. Ruby and I lug the cooler into the kitchen and plop it onto the stump table. We think better of it and put it on the floor in front of the fridge since neither one of us could reach into it up there on the stump table.

  I dash upstairs, throw my filthy clothes in a corner and put on an oversized T-shirt and baggy shorts, and throw some cold water on my face. I look into the bathroom mirror and see the gray hairs moving farther into my part. You know, I may just ditch this hair-color thing. Maybe. Until I’m sure, I zigzag my part, tie a big scarf to hold the ponytail and head down and out to the barn to rev up the duck.

  The afternoon is busy turning humid and sticky. I wipe sweat from my brow while backing up the duck to the porch door, then I hop out. Ruby, on the other hand, never perspires. Me, I drip. Bitch.

  We’re fighting with the cooler, trying to lift it up the side of the duck while balancing it on the ladder. Thank God the boys come to the rescue.

  “Damn. This thing weighs a ton!” Howard takes the cooler off my shoulders and sets it up onto the side of the duck. “You ladies simply do not believe in packing anything lightly, do you?” He shakes his head while straightening out his back.

  “Enough food for all of us, if you’d care to join an impromptu picnic,” Ruby says, coming back out of the cottage, looking fresh.

  “Long story. Come aboard and we’ll fill you in,” I say over the side of the duck. Ruby climbs up, followed by Howard. Johnny is last, so he pulls up the ladder. Rules of the road: last one in pulls up the ladder.

  I put on a tape of Billie Holiday, who starts singing, “Trav’lin’ Light.” And off we go. Down the road, over the bridge and through the woods to find Charlie’s place. This time I’m trying my best not to go so crazy fast. Keeping an eye peeled for the deer. Ruby is busy chatting up the boys, her bracelets jangling like crazy. She’s one of those people that if you tied her hands together, she couldn’t say a word. Hmm.

  “Which way, Ruby?” I ask.

  “Left, at the gate; then it’s a mile or so down to where there’s a bank of trailers. Watch for a birdhouse-mailbox. It marks the start of his driveway. You can’t miss it, darling.” She jumps right back into her chat.

  I smile to myself. I do that too—carry on several conversations at the same time with different people. Oh maybe not catching every word in every situation, but one must edit anyway. Don’t want to miss a thing. I’ve found that sometimes the best stuff is delivered in the least bit of speech.

  “He’s a woodcrafts man,” Howard says. “You won’t believe his yard.”

  “Ed knew him for years,” Ruby replies. “But you know, he was the hardest man to figure—never spared many words.”

  “We’re coming to some trailers,” I inform whomever. I slow down, then turn left in front of a miniature Victorian-mansion, three-story, combination birdhouse-mailbox. All that fancy work to get bills and bird poop. Makes you think.

  Charlie’s driveway is a couple of ruts, like ours. The grass in the middle makes a scraping noise under the duck. The drive curves, then dips down a bit. I slow to a crawl; on either side of the road are birdhouses. Hundreds of them. They perch atop tall, thin poles, giving the illusion of floating. Some have hand-painted signs on them with names like Radcliff’s Roost, Patty’s Perch, Cat-less Crib and Shakespeare’s Shack. (Are you getting the idea?) Every one is brightly colored.

  Rounding a final bend, the drive leads up to a curious pink and chrome trailer surrounded by billowy willow trees. Bright red geraniums in flower boxes hang from every window. Wind chimes clang and sing in the breeze.

  Around a far corner, a path leads off into the woods. The willow tree’s branches, slinking over the trailer, sweep back and forth across the metal roof, making a rustling sound. Like an overweight woman
’s nylon-covered thighs rubbing together.

  “Isn’t this divine?” Ruby half-whispers. “Looks as though the ground is swallowing up his house.”

  We all climb down from the duck. The boys hang back a bit, admiring the carvings on the flower boxes. Ruby reaches up to knock, but before she can, it opens.

  “Well, well…if it isn’t Ruby Prévost. What a sight you are.” Charlie comes out onto the small stoop.

  As he steps into the sunshine, he seems to unfold. He’s so darn tall. Setting down an enormous coffee-stained mug on the rail, he takes Ruby’s hand with both of his. His gray hair is tightly pulled back into a ponytail that reaches to the middle of his back. Wearing a tank top and shorts, he’s the picture of health. I couldn’t begin to guess his age. Sixties? Seventies? A deep tan sets his brown eyes off. He’s a fox.

  “Charlie darling, so nice to see you,” Ruby gushes. “We’re so sorry about all those messages from—”

  “Not another word. Glad it happened. Fact is, I should’ve come by myself. To pay respects and all….” Charlie bows slightly to Ruby. “Now…this must be Eve.”

  “Hello there Charlie. Nice to meet you.” I offer my hand. “You probably know Howard and Johnny.” I point.

  The boys nod their hellos. Charlie nods back, then walks over to the duck.

  “Well I’ll be. So she still runs. Not many of these around anymore. What a sight.” Charlie chuckles. “I remember when Ed drove this tub up from some farm down south near Oshkosh. Took a whole summer just to get all the horseshit—horse crap—off her. The motor was a mess, too. But Ed and I fixed her all up.” He pats the duck’s underside with pride.

  “We’re hoping to take you on a lunch ride. To apologize and…” I start. Charlie raises his hand to protest. But his face gives him away.

  “Like I said…really…no apology necessary. To be honest, I only got three or four calls—jotted them down somewhere. I sure will take you up on your offer of lunch and a ride, though. Let me go grab some sunglasses and let’s go.” He saunters back inside his trailer.

  We look at one another. Ruby is checking her lips in a tiny mirror in her straw bag.

  “Good heavens…he hasn’t aged a minute,” Ruby says with some disgust. “Hardly seems fair and did you see those arms?”

  They are nice and lean, his arms, the kind that could hold you an awfully long time. Ruby and he would make quite the pair. In my head I sing a few bars of “Matchmaker.”

  Charlie is back seconds later. He’s covered up with a white shirt and a ratty gray fedora sits rakishly on his head. We all clamber back up the ladder and into the duck. I turn us around and slowly drive by the floating birdhouse city.

  “Take a right on North Shore Drive,” Charlie directs. “Then another quick right down this driveway. Ease onto the little beach over there. She still floats, right?”

  “She sure as hell does!” I say with a laugh and hit the gas. I drive straight into the lake, switch to the prop drive and off we go.

  Howard and Johnny are deep in a discussion. Ruby and Charlie are carrying on like old friends. I put the duck into a higher gear and head over to where the outer Apostle Islands are. The lake is calm; our wake ripples across the mirror like surface. The wide-open feeling is breathtaking.

  I click on the microphone. “Our tour today features the Apostle Islands, where an impromptu lunch shall be served, compliments of none other than Miss Ruby. Please note that the captain has turned off the no-smoking sign.” At which point Ruby and I both light up.

  “You two—and smoking,” Charlie slurps out of his coffee mug. “That is one habit I am happy to say I have kicked for good. No wonder you’re both so short.” I look into the rearview mirror, winking at Ruby.

  “We’re thinking about trying to quit.” I take a couple of drags, then put my cigarette out, feeling suddenly conscious of the fact that our smoke was flying right into everyone’s face. Ruby puts hers out, too. I snap shut the ashtray and make a mental note to clean it out and fill it with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Much better habit.

  “I used to smoke cigarettes,” Charlie says sadly. “Gave them up for good when the Missus passed. Feel as though I killed her, I do. She never smoked a day in her life, but inhaled my smoke. Sure do miss…Sorry.” He stops talking, looking over at Ruby in apology. The rest of us look out to the lake in order to give him a moment.

  “Now Charlie…isn’t that taking on a bit much?” Ruby asks. “Didn’t you go outside to have your smokes?”

  “Nope. I told her it was my house and I’d be damned if I’d smoke anywhere but in my house. Stubborn fool.” Charlie spits out “fool.” “I still smoke, but not…never mind.”

  “Legal cigarettes.” I try to let Charlie know I could care less. “Should be legal as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Why Eve Moss. You—radical,” Ruby chides. “I had a lady friend in cancer treatment. Only thing that kept her eating—kept her alive—was her marijuana cigarettes.”

  “Well I haven’t got cancer. Just enjoy it is all. Grow it myself too,” Charlie boasts. “Silly it’s not legal. Never understood it.”

  “I think it’s all tied to the government,” Johnny comments. “Control…taxing and, well…money. Everything’s tied to money.”

  “If our friends with AIDS hadn’t smoked it,” Howard adds, “they would have died even sooner.”

  I catch Howard’s eye in the rearview mirror and share a weak smile. The furrow in his brow eases; I like how you can care with a look.

  “It’s been years since I’ve…” Ruby says, and we all inhale and then laugh. “Honestly, when is the last time you read about a high driver killing anyone?”

  “Once the government figures out how to tax it,” I say, slowing down a bit, “you’ll be able to buy it along with a bottle of now legal wine.”

  We’re coming into a grouping of small islands. Some have rock ledges with pine trees hanging over the water.

  “Let’s see…if you pull around over to that cove area there…” Howard maneuvers up the aisle toward me. “On the right…slow down and let me get on the bow so I can watch for rocks.”

  “Rocks? What the hell?” I slow way down. I am not in the mood to sink!

  “This entire area is full of rocks,” Charlie says to my wide eyes reflecting in the rearview mirror. “Go slow and keep a sharp eye out.”

  “Wow—did you see that fish?” I ask as another huge fish shoots up into the air, then splashes down again.

  “I don’t know if I’d have a pot big enough for him,” Ruby says. “He was bigger than me!”

  “Okay, this looks good…. Let’s pull around and into the lagoon there,” Howard says, hopping down from the hood of the duck, walking back down the aisle. On the way he gives my shoulder a good squeeze.

  I drive up onto the little beach area and park over on the edge of the sand, leaving us room to spread out. Charlie lowers the ladder, then helps us ladies off first. I look over to Johnny and Howard as I climb down. Howard is standing behind Johnny, watching us with his big arms wrapped around Johnny’s waist. Those two.

  The island is just big enough for the five of us—barely. The duck and a few scattered pine trees and that’s it. The little beach we’re on faces open lake. I read in a book, back at the cottage, how there are actually twenty-two islands out here. Yet some overzealous “island namer” decided to call them the Apostle Islands. Could this be one of the unnamed?

  Everyone helps unpack the cooler. Ruby brought a red-and-white checkered cloth and I’m trying hard not to laugh as Johnny and she are wrestling it to the ground. A stubborn breeze keeps it dancing. Using all of our shoes, we finally tame it into a sloppy rectangle. The sun is high in the sky overhead and warm air swirls around us. I reach to undo my hair; I love the feeling of hair blowing all to hell. Who the hell cares if I have roots?

  “You must be crazy about your grandkids,” I say, as I help myself to one of Ruby’s man-sized slices of wheat bread and slather it with peanut butt
er, jam and several long slices of banana. No more talking for me.

  “I am,” Charlie replies, with a light in his eyes. “They’re still a big part of my life. Oh we don’t get together as often. But in the summer they all come up for a visit.”

  “You must miss Margie,” Ruby says softly. “I sure enjoyed her and oh my heavens, could she laugh.”

  “Yup. But…I do all right,” Charlie says just to Ruby. “You learn to…We learn to.”

  “I’m sure the four of us could use some of your woodworking expertise from time to time,” I slur through peanut butter goo. “That is, if we can afford you.”

  “It’d be my pleasure,” Charlie says with a crooked grin. “We could work out a dinner barter arrangement.” He winks at me and things are looking good.

  We munch and crunch through our yummy spread. In addition to the ingredients for my peanut butter/banana concoction, Ruby packed crackers, a veggie relish, sliced cheeses and a thermos full of cool well water, which rounds things out just right.

  Eventually we repack, clamber up the ladder and back the duck into the water. I give it some gas and head us off to Madeline Island—to Charlie’s trailer.

  When I turn the duck into his driveway, he says, “Oh geez…I almost forgot to give you the list.” He hands me a crumpled napkin with what looks like scratching on it. “Sorry, I’m not much in the writing department.”

  “Thanks. I had the number corrected for the next issue and if there’s any more calls…” I pull up to his front door.

  “I’ll make sure and jot them down.” Charlie climbs down the ladder. “Or better yet—I’ll give them your number.” He turns and waves us off.

  “Sounds great, Charlie.” I hand Ruby the list and we all wave back.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “What a lovely afternoon.” Ruby pushes open the back door with her hip. “I’m delighted the newspaper woman mucked up the phone number. Charlie is such a love…we simply must have him for dinner.”