Fox Island (27 page)

“Thanks, Tulip. I appreciate your stopping
by.” Tony gazed at the dark background with splotches of abstract
color. “And I have a question for you.”

Tulip laid her right hand on Tony’s arm.
“What’s that?”

“Out of a writer’s curiosity, is your real
name Tulip?”

She whispered in Tony’s ear, “No, it’s
Ashley.”

Tony nodded. “It fits.”

Tulip threw her thin arms around Tony’s
neck, hugged tight, and kissed his cheek before she pulled back.
“Thanks for saving those animals.” She tossed a perfunctory wave at
Price, flung herself into the sedan, and ripped up the driveway to
the road.

Price shook her head. “Oh my, I’m afraid
Tulip has a bad crush on that famous author, Anthony
Shadowbrook.”

“Don’t be silly.”

“She’s stuck on you. That’s obvious.”

“No, that’s ridiculous. Look at this
painting.”

“It’s a love gift.”

“Serious?”

“I know when a woman is making a move for my
husband. If that lady shows up in Scottsdale banging at our door,
I’ll seriously rip her lips off.”

“This is getting bizarre.” Tony tugged Price
back toward the house. “It’s time to go home.”

Tony ran the vacuum across the living room
floor when he noticed Price race to the telephone. He shut down the
machine and waited.

“No, she’s not here, Josh. Can I give her a
message? She’s at her mom’s. Maybe she called from there. Josh,
give her some time. She’s got something important to tell her
mother. Josh?” Price talked to the dial tone.

“What’s our middle child up to?” Tony
asked.

“I haven’t known what that kid is up to
since he was six and took his bicycle to the top of the church bell
tower. He said he wanted to talk to Melody.”

“He’s in for a long conversation.” Tony
wound the vacuum cleaner cord. “I’m through in here. You want me to
leave the vacuum out?”

“Okay, I’ll get the bedroom.”

“I’ll sweep the deck.”

“I’ll get the front door.”

Tony headed to the kitchen for the broom as
a familiar voice boomed from the front screen door. “Shadowbrook,
you going to scoot off the Island without saying goodbye to old
Peterson?”

Tony backtracked and held out his hand.
“Thanks for stopping by, Harvey. Did you look over those
declassified Navy papers?”

“I can’t begin to thank you enough.
Absolutely amazing.”

“I was wondering how you thought they’d
affect your book.”

“I think sales will really boom, especially
when I bring out my new book, based on these documents. I’m going
to call it The Conspiracy Continues. Incredible how they concocted
that entire assassination story just to cover up the invasion. This
is the smoking gun. I’ve got proof now.”

“Well, I wish you luck in your new writing
venture.”

“I figure this will take more time to
develop than the first book. Probably a whole month.”

“A month?” Price echoed.

“Hey, that’s the sacrifice we writers have
to make, right? It’s a shame you folks don’t settle down on the
Island. We could use a few more straight-thinking folks. The type
that’s movin’ in makes a man want to pack up for Alaska. I got you
and the missus a little memento of this summer.” Harvey walked out
to the back of his old Jeep CJ5 and pulled out a three-foot piece
of driftwood. A two-foot-high seagull perched on top.

“Is it a carving?” Price asked.

“Shoot, no. It’s the real thing. I trapped
him and stuffed him myself. A little souvenir taxidermied right
here on the Island.”

“But I thought... Isn’t it illegal?” Tony
began.

“Hey, don’t mention it. Happy to do it. You
two brought a little excitement to all of us. Why, everyone I know
is wondering who will be mentioned in your book.”

“Actually,” Price said, “we don’t usually
put the names of...”

Harvey sidled up to Tony. “Listen, it’s all
right with me if you tone down my language at the community
meeting. I get a little spicy, and I wouldn’t want parents upset
when their children read the account.”

“I guarantee none of those colorful phrases
will be included.”

“I knew I could count on you. Well, I’ll see
you folks on down the road. If I ever get to Scottsbluff, I’ll look
you up.”

“We live in...” Price elbowed Tony
midsentence. “Thanks for the present, Harvey.”

Peterson retreated toward his Jeep,
then yelled back. “Take it easy with that bird. Those legs aren’t
all that strong. You could snap them off if you banged it good.
Best carry it in your lap.
Adios,
amigos!
Hey, I almost forgot to tell you,” he shouted
from the driveway. “Anthony Shadowbrook is now an honorary member
of the Chainsaw Militia.”

They waved as he departed.

“We are not taking that home,” Price
said.

The next two hours they finished packing,
scrubbed the house, and entertained six more visitors.

“Do you think we’ve got everything in
the four suitcases and two briefcases?” Price dusted the picture
frame of
Two Girls at the
Beach.

“Except for one red rose, a mystery acrylic
painting, a stuffed sea gull, a dozen gooey brownies, a basket of
fried chicken and homemade biscuits, a bag of miniature daffodil
bulbs, a Clay Baby in the shape of a rotund hula dancer, and a jar
of wild cherry preserves.”

“And chapter five,” Price added.

“Two copies of chapter five,” he
corrected.

“We’ll take them with us on the plane.”

Tony studied the recently acquired
treasures. “What about the rest?”

“We’ll lunch on the food. I’ll cram the
bulbs and the rock in my briefcase.”

“Yes, go on.”

“The rest can go in the basement. But I’ll
feel real guilty.”

Tony patted the sea gull. “Guilty enough to
carry these lovely items on your lap all the way to
Scottsdale?”

“Not that guilty. Come on, let’s eat. Then
we can have our last walk.”

They settled down at the deck redwood table
just as Melody and her mother appeared and sat down with them.

“Well, the Shadowbrooks turned my world
upside down ... again,” Barbara said. “What am I going to do
now?”

Price searched the woman’s eyes for a
hint of her condition. This woman didn’t need more
disappointments.
Lord, I surely hope we
did the right thing.

Melody hugged her mom. “We had a really good
talk. We both believe Grandma changed her name to Jessica after the
wreck.”

“Are you going to talk to her?” Price
inquired.

“Frankly...” Barbara blurted in her
characteristic loud voice, “I don’t have the slightest idea how to
bring the subject up without falling to pieces or causing Mother a
heart attack. How would you suggest we tell her we think she’s
pretended to be her dead twin sister for over fifty years?”

“I’m not sure. Would you like us to go with
you?”

Tony felt his heart sink.
No, no, no! Price, we can’t do that!

Melody’s eyes brightened. “That would be
great, Dr. S. We were hoping you would say that. But maybe we ought
to get a bite to eat first.”

“Why don’t you join us?” Price ignored
Tony’s jab. “We have more than plenty.”

Barbara nudged her daughter. “Don’t just sit
there. Get us some plates.”

The four of them left Mrs. Reynolds’
apartment after 2:00 and trudged back to the car. Tony chauffeured
them in the white Oldsmobile back to the house.

“It’s going to take a while for Mother to
get used to us knowing her secrets,” Barbara said.

“At least she wasn’t hostile,” Price
added.

“Or even bitter. I think your love and
understanding helped a lot,” Tony said. “It could have been easy
for you and Melody to approach her with a lot of anger.”

“A few weeks ago, I would probably have
cussed her out, then gone home for a drunken jag.”

“You were real calm, Mom. I was proud of
you.” Melody sighed. “I was a nervous wreck.”

“That’s a switch. Well, I’m glad she
admitted the whole thing.”

“Do you think she’ll recant?” Melody said.
“Tomorrow she might claim to be Jessica again.”

Barbara pulled off her heavy dark sunglasses
and wiped her eyes. “She’s got to work it through her own way. But
so do we.”

Price turned around from the front seat. “I
did hear her admit that Bennington was your father.”

“Yes,” Melody injected, “but she also said
he was a jerk whom she hoped would rot in Hades.”

“She’s been living in deception for a very
long time,” Tony reminded them. “It will be difficult to
change.”

“What do you think you’ll do now?” Price
asked.

Melody twirled a lock of her hair. “Get you
guys to the airport, then...” She sat straight up and slapped the
palms of both hands on her knees. “I’m going to be a
schoolteacher.”

Price smiled her full approval. “I’m sure
you’ll be a great one.”

“The first thing I’ve got to do ... is call
up this Mr. Bennington.” Barbara choked up.

Melody slid closer to her mother and slipped
an arm around her. “Go ahead and say it, Mom.”

Barbara sniffled into a tissue. “I’m going
to call my father and introduce myself before he dies,” she managed
to say with a shaky voice. “I hope I can keep from yelling and
screaming about him showing up fifty years too late.”

“Do you want to call him now?” Tony
prompted.

“No. Not yet. I’ll wait until ... No, I
think … it would be better to call right away, when Melody’s with
me. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll chicken out.”

When they reached the house, Melody and her
mother marched to the kitchen phone. After packing the car, Price
and Tony hiked to the beach for one last look at Puget Sound and
penitentiary island across Carr Inlet spread with a great expanse
of wooded mystery, full of stories yet to be heard. Northwest a
hazy outline of the Olympic Mountains shimmered like a mirage on
the horizon. A seagull flopped in the air above them, as though
expecting tidbits to be thrown. Tony skipped a rock across the
water and the gull swooped down for inspection. Price picked up
litter--a flyer for a luau sponsored by the Yacht Club and some
scratched-out lottery tickets.

Tony swept his arm above the gravelly shore.
“And now we bid a fond farewell to Fox Island, a memorable respite
in a sea of turbulence.”

Price hugged Tony’s arm close to her chest.
“Phoenix was 106 yesterday.”

“Good, we’ll be going home during a cool
spell.”

“What do you think’s happening up there?”
She nodded toward the house.

“About fifty years of suppressed emotions, I
suppose.”

“Do you think the shock will be bad for his
health?”

Tony squeezed Price, then pulled away to
peer at a car coming down the driveway. “I don’t figure his health
can get any worse. We better go see who that is.”

Kim and Amigo without body paint bounded out
of the flaking gray ’58 Mercedes and ambled toward them. “We just
came down to make sure you had a ride to the airport.”

“Thanks for the offer. Melody’s inside.
We’ll make it fine,” Tony answered.

“You mean, if we leave in the next five
minutes.” Price pushed her sunglasses up. “We really appreciate
your coming by, don’t we, Tony?”

“Yes, we do. In fact, we have something for
you. Don’t go away.”

“You do?”

“We do?” Price echoed.

Tony ducked inside the front door and
returned with the acrylic painting. “Kim, you are so into art, I
thought you could appreciate this original piece.” He turned it
around.

“Wow, for me? It’s great.”

“What is it?” Amigo asked.

“He doesn’t know squat about art. See that
big rock, it’s symbolic of the forces of the universe. And the
sunlight represents the centuries of time. And this flower is you
and me, Amigo.”

“It is? What about the cloud thing with the
red lipstick?”

“That’s the breath of life about to be
kissed into us.”

“I knew you’d like it.” Tony nearly crowed
with delight.

“Boy, someday, I’d sure like to paint like
that,” Kim said. “Did you paint it, Mr. S.?”

“Oh no, I assure you, I couldn’t paint
anything like that. But it is an original piece from a local
artist. You won’t find another like it anywhere.”

“Wow!”

“What about me?” Amigo pouted. “Do you have
something for me?”

“As a matter of fact...” Tony ignored
Price’s frantic motions as he ducked back in the house. Out came
the stuffed sea gull. “I want you to have this.”

“A sea gull?”

“Not just any sea gull. Its name is Adios.
Is that awesome, or what?”

“I don’t get it.”

Kim shook her head. “Come on, Adios, Amigo
... see?”

“Oh, wow, that’s cool. It’s like the
dawning of Aquarius. It’s a sign, a cosmic omen.
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do ...
a Twilight
Zone thing. I can hardly wait until I show the guys at
work.”

“Where do you work?” Price asked.

“Dos Amigos restaurant.”

“What do you do?” Tony pressed.

“Dos Amigos--that’s me and my dad. We own
the place.”

“Your real name is Amigo?”

“Amigo, Jr.”

“Well, Amigo, Jr., thanks for stopping by to
check on us.”

They blew diesel smoke all the way up the
driveway.

Price glanced at her watch. “We’ve got to
go.”

“You want me to check with the ladies?”

“Here they come.”

Melody grabbed another box of tissue as they
scooted out the door.

“Well, what did he say?” Price quizzed.

“We’d better get you to the airport. Mom’s
going to ride with us. We can tell you everything on the way. Mr.
S., would you mind driving? My eyes are a little blurred.”