Fox Island (20 page)

“He’s a very humbled, hurting old man.”

“Living with the consequences of his
actions.”

“Look at the misery that action caused
generations to suffer. He needs to find God’s forgiveness before he
dies.”

“‘
What does it profit a man to gain
the whole world and lose his soul?’”

“That’s the same verse I thought of. He
officially apologized to Melody as a representative of the whole
Davenport family.”

“How did Melody take it?”

“She was stunned at first, then upset. Now,
I think she’s proud.”

“Proud of what?”

“She sees herself as one to carry on the
Davenport tradition on the Island. This is her cross to bear, the
family secret Davenports must endure forever.”

“And the new pickup helps to ease her
burden?”

“That’s for sure. Did you ever see a gal
giggle so much?”

“Yep. When you first drove home the Mustang
convertible.”

“I didn’t giggle.”

“You did too.”

“I might have been moderately happy, maybe a
refined chuckle or two, but I certainly didn’t...” She could see
the sparkle in his blue eyes.

“You giggled like a junior high girl after
her first kiss.”

“And how does Mr.
I-never-dated-anyone-but-you-babe know that junior high girls
giggle after their first kiss?”

“You told me.”

“Oh.”

Chapter 8

Almost a year before the bridge opened, the
U.S.S. Bashaw became the first submarine to run the Navy Acoustic
Range at the recently constructed facilities on Fox Island. Most
submarine testing is done these days in Southeast Alaska, but
research and development continues at “The Naval Surface Warfare
Center, Fox Island Acoustic Laboratory.” Located at the end of a
tree-lined lane, the inconspicuous unit is dedicated to generating
procedures and equipment for measuring underwater acoustics for
ship silencers. While the urgency for development of such devices
has lessened with the demise of the Cold War, being prepared for
the unknown future drives researchers to continue
experimenting.

Unknown futures tend to motivate us all.

Sometime after midnight, Price, Tony, and
Melody returned to the house exhausted.

“You didn’t warn us a day at your Fox Island
Fair would be so wearing.” Price kicked off her teal and purple
tennis shoes and claimed the whole couch for herself.

Melody collapsed on the navy chair, feet
stretched on a tapestry footstool. “We don’t usually have some
wacko run into the middle, painted in tiger stripes, yelling ‘set
my people free!’ and chasing the entire petting zoo into the woods.
Mr. S., I still can’t believe you roped that Angora rabbit.”

“I roped the donkey, the Shetland, and the
llama, but you can’t toss a loop on a rabbit. My nylon rope must
have slapped up against him hard enough to stun him until he was
caught.” Tony pulled off his boots with a wooden bootjack, then sat
on the brick hearth and tugged down his socks.

“I don’t suppose as much money was raised as
they had hoped,” Price added, “what with everyone tramping over the
Island looking for Fluffy, Pierre, Nigel... and the rest of the
animals.”

“That’s one fair no one will forget.” Tony
got up and stretched. “Are you sure it was Amigo who set them
loose?”

“Yeah, I’d recognize that body paint
anywhere,” Melody insisted.

“Tulip said she had nothing to do with it,
and I believe her,” Price injected. “We don’t agree on much, but I
don’t think she wanted those animals running out into the night to
get hurt.”

“She was a big help out in the woods
rounding them up,” Tony added.

“You two were in the woods a long time....”
Price thought about giving him a suspicious look but was just too
tired.

“I figured it was my civic duty.”

“What? Chasing animals? Or frolicking with a
professional wood nymph?”

Tony shuffled off to the kitchen.

“Mr. S.,” Melody called, “can you bring me a
Diet Coke? Thanks.” Then she turned to Price. “Amigo used to work
for them, you know.”

“He worked as an environmental
activist?”

“Yeah, when he was still in college. Lots of
students do it in the summer. It can be pretty good pay, especially
if you’re still mooching room and board at home.”

“They hire protesters?”

“Sure. It pays up to $8.00 an hour, and all
you have to do is hold a sign and scream an occasional obscenity.
Every spring and summer the want ads are crammed with job offers.
But I think Amigo was too weird even for them. I never thought I’d
see Tulip and Harvey Peterson working side by side on
anything.”

“Most issues aren’t as black and white as
folks make them out to be. Very few people want to see animals
needlessly harmed.” Tony balanced cold drinks on a tray. “There’s
points to be made on all sides. We couldn’t have found half the
animals without Harvey’s infrared night vision scope.”

“Why would anyone own such a device?” Price
asked. “What legal reason does anyone have for wanting to see in
the dark?”

“I don’t want to know,” Melody yawned. “I
wonder if they’ll ever find the two turkeys or the armadillo?” She
took a deep swig of her soda. “It was sort of fun, like a big,
all-island scavenger hunt.”

Tony laughed. “Maybe it will become an
annual affair—The Fox Island Diversified Animal Night Roundup.”

“We haven’t been this united since the
county tried to change our street names to numbers corresponding to
Tacoma. Can you imagine having a 132nd Street on Fox Island? I
can’t remember ever working together quite like we did
tonight.”

Tony pulled a dining chair into the living
room and sank down on it. “Here.” Price yawned and pointed to the
end of the couch, but he stayed put.

“I spent all day responding to thirty-two
letters, and all night chasing animals. And all I want to do is
write books.”

“Do you get much fan mail?” Melody
asked.

“He keeps pretty busy with correspondence,
for a minor celebrity,” Price responded.

“A minor celebrity?”

“That’s what our son Josh calls his dad. A
few years ago Tony appeared on a television show where the host
spent several minutes clarifying who he was and what he had
written. Josh decided that true celebrities need only their name
for an introduction, but minor celebrities need a whole
explanation. So we call him a minor celebrity.”

“You’re the most famous author I’ve ever
met,” Melody assured him.

Tony jumped to his feet at the sound of the
telephone. “It’s never good news after midnight,” he mumbled.
“Shadowbrooks.”

“Daddy, it’s me, Kath.”

“What is it? What’s wrong, babe?”

“Nothing. I’ve just tried to call you all
night and you just got home.”

“What’s up? Is Kit all right?”

“How would I know? I haven’t seen her since
this morning. When I got home from work, I found a note saying that
she and Line were going to a movie, then out to fix someone’s
car.”

“I’m sure she’ll be home soon. Why did you
call?”

“Josh was trying to get ahold of you. When
he couldn’t reach you, he asked me to be sure and call.”

“Is he all right?”

“Is who all right?” Price called from the
couch.

“Josh,” Tony said.

“What emergency ward is he in?”

“What happened, Kath?”

“Nothing, Daddy, relax. Josh got a call this
afternoon that they needed him and Paul to fly up to Seattle
tonight to do some sort of stunt on a water tower for a TV show. I
guess the regular guys got hurt or something. Anyway, Josh hopped
on a plane and flew up there. He was thinking maybe it would work
out to visit you and Mom.”

Tony turned to Price. “Josh is in Seattle.
Right now.”

“Anyway, Daddy, he said he’d call you when
he could.

They’re supposed to only be there one day,
and he doesn’t think he’ll have a rental car.”

“Does he need to stay here tonight?”

“No. They’re shooting the scene at some
little town near Mount Rainier in the morning, so they’re driving
straight to the set. I just thought one of you might want to hang
around your place tomorrow, in case he called.”

“Thanks, Kath. How’s Kit’s new job
going?”

“I wouldn’t know. We don’t talk much. She
spends most of her time on the phone with good old line.”

“Now, that’s a switch. She usually doesn’t
talk more than three minutes on the phone to anyone, including your
mother.”

“She was on the telephone two hours and
forty-three minutes last night,” Kathy reported. “Not that it makes
any difference to me.”

“Look after her, Kath. You’ve had more
experience with this sort of thing. Good night, kid.”

When he explained the conversation, Melody
scooted out the door and the Shadowbrooks got ready for bed.

Tony dreamed of stumbling through a brushy,
overgrown forest at night, trying to rope wild turkeys while being
chased by a large, vicious Angora rabbit.

Price dreamed of young men jumping off water
towers, each one higher than the next. The last one overshadowed
Mount Rainier.

Price was up and in the kitchen when Tony
returned from his early morning run. He noticed she had dressed,
combed her hair, put on earrings, and wore a sweet perfume that
radiated above the kitchen scents. “I can’t believe this. Sausage
sizzling in the frying pan, breakfast aromas lapping outside on the
deck, and Dr. Shadowbrook all dolled up like you were on your way
to a faculty meeting. What’s the occasion?”

“Guess who’s in the shower?”

“Who?”

“Our middle child.”

“Josh?”

“Oh, you do remember his name.”

“You’re kidding. How’d he get here?”

“Their plane was late getting in, and they
missed some connections, so Josh and Paul hitched a ride out to Fox
Island. Paul crashed on the downstairs bed.”

“But he didn’t know our address.”

“The people that gave him a ride know us. A
couple young ladies in a new black Dodge pickup.”

“Melody?”

“She called Kim and they drove to the
airport about 2:00 A.M. They waited around, then ran back and forth
between Alaska Airlines and United until they spotted a couple
Arizona looking guys.”

“What do ‘Arizona guys’ look like
anyway?”

“Suntanned and cute, according to the
girls.”

“Four of them in the front seat of the
pickup? A little crowded, don’t you think?”

“Guess not. Melody whistled in here with a
huge smile.”

“And Josh?”

“Same smile.”

“When did he get in?”

“Right after you left to go running.”

“How’s he look?”

“As handsome as his father, of course. Only
younger.”

“I mean, his hand. Is it healed?”

“He said he wears an elastic bandage and
it’s fine. Looks like it fractured real close to where he hurt
himself the first time he jumped off the roof of the house.
Remember?”

“When he was ten?”

“No, the first time. He was seven. You were
off in New Mexico on some research trip. I had to rush him to the
emergency ward by myself.”

“Fortunately, we never had a two-story
house.”

“Melody and Kim are going to drive the
fellas to the shooting. They think they can get the girls passes to
watch today’s taping, so the gang will head out after
breakfast.”

“When do they sleep?”

“They’re young, Tony. You do remember being
young?”

“Vaguely.”

Within thirty minutes, Josh, Paul, Kim and
Melody joined Tony and Price for breakfast on the patio. Paul’s
cropped, sandy blond hair was much shorter than Price remembered.
He lost the surfer look. And she couldn’t help stare at her son.
Give him twenty-five pounds and twenty-five years and he’d look
just like Tony. She saw a young man, but she still thought of him
as an adventurous little boy. How tough to give them up.

“You all right, babe?” Tony nudged.

She dabbed her eyes. “I think I got too
close to the onions I chopped for the omelets.”

The summer morning fog quickly burned away
as they talked of work, movies, a new apartment, and Kathy and Kit.
When they finished eating, Josh led the procession to Melody’s new
pickup.

“Melody’s taking you back to the airport
tonight?” Price asked.

“If we wrap up this shooting today. I think
it’s not much more than falling off the water tower.”

“Great. Nothing for a mom to worry
about.”

Suddenly, Josh swished his mother off her
feet and hugged her close. “I love ya, Mom. I’ll be careful.”

Her eyes welled and she turned quickly to
Paul and grabbed his hand. “You take care of each other.”

Paul grinned. “Yes, ma’am. Mr. Shadowbrook,
I sure like that River Breaks series of yours. I can hardly wait
until they’re made into movies.”

“Thanks, Paul. Take it easy, Josh. We’ll be
home in about three weeks. Tell Mark and Amanda when you see them
we’ll have a big family barbeque when we get back.” He turned to
Melody. “If it’s too cramped in your rig, you can take the
Oldsmobile.”

“Get real, Dad.” Josh climbed in next to
Melody.

“Yeah, Dad,” Melody echoed.

The foursome roared up the drive.

Tony and Price hiked hand in hand to the
side of the house and upstairs to the deck. “Josh and Melody?” was
all he could mumble.

Price stacked dishes and swatted flies. “Why
not?”

“But it seems, so... well, she’s almost like
family.”

“Go take your shower, Shadowbrook.”

“But think of it, what if they got serious?
We’d have to read all her book proposals for sure.”

Mid-morning the phone rang. Price rushed
into the house as Tony hardly looked up from the pile of notes
scattered around his laptop. Soon she stood in front of him, hands
on her hips. “What’s up?”