Moon over Madeline Island (17 page)

“I'll give Howard a hand and bring the plates and stuff back in here. What were we thinking?” I chuckle. The kitchen always seems like the best place to be.

“You two sure look beautiful,” Howard says while I help him clear the table on the porch. “The island's working its magic.” He set it all wrong anyway, fork on the right, knives facing the wrong way—really!

“Thank you.” I loop my arm through Howard's, steering us back into the kitchen. “There's something in the air here.”

“I love what it's done to Johnny…me, too,” Howard comments.

“Are you two staying on the island through the winter or…?” I ask tentatively.

“We usually stay until after Christmas and then hightail it down to Key West,” Howard says while I unload his arms, setting the stump table. I do it exactly as Howard had. Who the hell cares what side the fork is on anyway?

“It would be wonderful if you stayed.” Should I beg? “Everyone's been mentioning how lonely it can be here in the winter, but with you two and—”

“Lonely? Winter? What are you two talking about?” Johnny asks, being nosy. “What could be lonely with you two around—excuse me, three.” A muffled meow is coming from inside the fridge. Ruby opens it and scolds Rocky good.

“
There's
a point to consider,” Howard says. “But I was telling Eve here—”

“We wouldn't miss this for all the rum in Florida,” Johnny breaks in. “To be honest, last winter we vowed would be our last. It's gotten way too crowded.”

“I don't suppose anyone is hungry?” Ruby asks. “Rocky and I are ready to serve.”

After eating, we gather around a crackling fire. Howard has his arm around Johnny's shoulder and Rocky's fast asleep in Ruby's lap. I have my feet up on the coffee table, getting all warm and cozy.

“How about coming for breakfast in the morning,” Johnny suggests. “We can show you the site on Howard's computer.”

“Look's like Howard is ready for La La Land,” I say quietly, since Howard's head is resting on Johnny's shoulder. “Sleeping Beauty.”

“He can fall asleep anywhere.
I
can't even nap.” Johnny gives him a little shake.

“What did I miss? Sorry.” Howard rubs his eyes. “What a dream.”

“You were snoring and drooling and the
things
you said,” Johnny says and giggles. “I'm kidding. You did fart, though.” Howard tickles him.

“I dreamt that Ruby and Eve were on a gondola in Venice wearing huge pink flowered aprons on their heads and Rocky was at the helm singing and—”

“At least this time it wasn't
you
wearing the pink dress…dancing on tables,” Johnny says. “I won't go into it tonight, but this is one repressed drag queen here.”

“Off to bed with the lot of us.” Ruby waves her hand and finishes up a serious yawn. “Tomorrow will be here soon enough.”

We steer the boys through the kitchen. Ruby hands them a plastic container of goodies on the way out the back door. We watch them slowly amble through the yard, hand in hand. The bright moonlight colors them silver. Right before they disappear into the path, they turn and wave.

“They are gems,” Ruby says as we both step back into the warmth of the kitchen.

“Kind of gives you hope that love is very much alive in all its shapes and kinds.” I scoop up Rocky.

“A glass of sherry, darling?” Ruby moves a curl out of my face, gives Rocky's head a pat. “My loves.”

“Read my mind. I'll put more wood on the fire and let's have some of those gorgeous chocolates the boys brought over, BT McElrath's I think. That is, if you haven't
eaten
them all.”

 

“Just
one
more chunk,” I say through the goo sticking to the roof of my mouth.

“What could be more delicious…sherry and chocolate,” Ruby replies.

“Wish we could offer the ladies health benefits—too expensive right now. It's on my wish list though. It took me a long time before I could afford it for Watts and Dorothy. I wonder how they're doing?”

“I'm sure you're missed, darling,” Ruby says, reading my mind. “Ruby's Aprons. Ed would be impressed, not to mention surprised as hell.”

“Surprised? How so?” I sink into the cozy sofa and pull a quilt up to my neck.

“No offense, darling, but I never thought at the ripe…
young
…age of…sixty-or-so, I would be starting up a business, living year-round on an island and having so much fun.”

“I was raised to believe that work was right up there with pain and suffering,” I add.

“Me too, darling; now let's take these tired bodies to bed.”

“Good idea.”

We say our good nights and part at the top of the stairs. Just as I turn to go into my room, something swoops through my hair.

“What the hell?” I say as Rocky comes streaking into the room, his tail whipping the air.
Not
a good sign.

Then a little black flying
thing
races around, smashes into the window, and tips over a lotion jar, sending it crashing to the floor! Ruby dashes down the hall.

“Are you all right, darling?” Ruby ducks just as the dark, soaring shape zips between us.

“What in the world?” Then it dawns on me.
“Bat!”

“Oh—
bloody hell!
” Ruby screeches, as it flies into my hair and gets stuck. “I detest the buggery creatures!”

Reaching into my hair, I yank out the pencils and swing my head around like crazy. I'm screaming “Holy hell” and “Fucking bat!” Bending over, I give my head a violent shake, then lift and bring my head up and swing it back. The damn thing soars out of my hair, across the room and slams against the wall. In slow motion it slides to the floor, landing with a thud.

“Little bastard!” I want desperately to take my hair off and throw the entire mess into the washing machine.

I grab Rocky. We tiptoe over to the pile of black fur and peer down at it. Eyes very wide—ours, that is.

“Is it dead?” I ask in a half-whisper.

“I don't think so…the tummy is moving,” Ruby replies. We can hear pounding at the back door.

“I think I prefer mice,” I say, half kidding.

“The boys must have heard us. I'll let them in; you keep an eye on our visitor.”

“I need something to defend myself with. Here—take Rocky or I think he'll eat it and catch something horrible.” I hand Rocky over, looking around my room for a bat-killer weapon.

“This umbrella should do the trick. If it moves, run it through!” Ruby does a run-through demo with my floral-print umbrella. “I'll be right back.” She leaves me with
it!

The boys come running up the stairs with Ruby close behind. They crowd into my bedroom. Before any of us can think, Rocky dashes between Howard's legs and pounces on it. In a flash, it comes to life! Letting out a horrible squeaky-squeal, it flies into the air.

Insanity! We're all pawing at the air—jumping around. Johnny leaps on my bed, Howard tries to swish it out the window with a handful of my bras and I'm defending Ruby with my trusty umbrella.

Then, all on its own, it zooms out the window and into the night. My umbrella decides it's time to snap open—and so it does. We look at each other, then at Johnny standing on my bed and burst into laughter.

I hand my open umbrella to Howard and he gives me my bras as if handing me a string of fish.

“W
hat a spread!” With my arms open wide, I'm trying to absorb the “Martha Stewart” breakfast goodies laid out on the flawlessly coordinated table. Denim blue stoneware, matching placemats with linen napkins folded just so. “This is so nice of you guys.”

Their cabin (as they refer to it) is enormous, tastefully rustic and filled with pottery. Arts-and-crafts furnishings give it a manly feel, while floor-to-ceiling windows fill the great-room with sunshine and warmth.

Johnny places a platter of heart-shaped waffles on the table. We're informed we have hot maple syrup or whipped cream for toppings.

“Coffee smells
scrumptious
,” Ruby says. “Your table is lovely and how did you manage fresh raspberries?”

“Out back,” Howard says. “There's a big clump of bushes along the north side of our shed.”

“This sure is a sweet place you two have.” I plop down into a love seat that's overflowing with cushy pillows. “Where in the world did you find all this McCoy pottery?” I get up and move toward a small yellow vase perched on a shelf.

My mother had collected this stuff and I catch my breath recognizing this vase, identical to the one I broke as a little girl…. Mom ran over—hearing the crash—and instead of yelling at me she took me in her arms. She said she had buckets full of vases but only one little girl. Besides, now there was one less thing to dust. I smile and carefully put the vase back on the shelf.

“Mostly antique shops. Some pieces are from an aunt—she's the one that got me hooked,” Johnny remarks from the kitchen. “I
have
gotten some pieces on eBay—but that feels too much like cheating. So we pick up a piece here and there.”

“It's an amazing collection,” I say.

“After we finish brunch, we'll show you the Web site.” Johnny beckons us to sit around the table and we dig in. I wonder if there's a Weight Watchers group on the island.

 

Howard starts clicking his mouse, so we move in closer around him. Ruby maneuvers her way into the middle. There are pictures of the boathouse, the cottage, several of Rocky and one of Ed's smiling grandparents standing near to a beautiful speedboat next to the dock. The best one is a close-up of Ruby's actual apron.

“You've done so much,” I marvel. “And so fast. It's great. What do you think about an eight-hundred number? Maybe set it up so people can buy directly from the site too?”

“Sure!” Howard sits back, folds his arms over his chest. “No problem—I can easily set up an eight-hundred number as well as a shopping cart.”

“We were wondering”—Johnny clicks back to the picture of Gustave and Adeline—“did you two notice how
long
that boat is?”

“You know,” Ruby says, putting her nose about an inch from the screen, “it
is
rather long. How in the world did they get it so close to shore? I mean, we could hardly get the duck that close in and it's much shorter—and look here.” She points to the boathouse doors that are open in the background.

“Do you still have the originals?” I ask.

Johnny hands me a stack of photos, I sort through them looking for the dock shot and notice how the cottage changes over the years: the addition of the wraparound porch, a picture of the boathouse being built. Then I come to the one of Gustave and Adeline.

“Oh look.” Ruby points out a side window that faces our cottage. “A cardinal is sitting right there on the path. How lovely.”

“Let's walk over to the boathouse and say hello to the little feller,” I suggest as I snap out of my thoughts. “I have to say, you and Johnny have done so much. We're really grateful.” The boys both smile with “aw shucks” all over their faces.

Keeping an eye on the bird as it sails ahead of us, we stroll along the path leading through the birch trees to our cottage. The bird follows the shoreline with us, and not until I reach the boathouse does it flit away into the woods.

“What a wonderful day,” I proclaim, starting up the wooden stairs to the second floor of the boathouse. “Just the right amount of chill to get the blood moving.”

Johnny and Howard open doors and Ruby gets the coffeepot loaded. I sort through all the tapes I brought down and realize we haven't anything to play them with. While over at the boys' cabin I had put together a list of things that need looking after. I add a tape player.

“Howard and I can build some shelves along this wall for the bolts of fabric.” Johnny points to the far wall where the deer head is mounted. “What are you going to do with the bedrooms?”

“The beds need to be moved out.” I head in one bedroom and then the other for a look. “We can use the dressers for storage. One room will be an office and break room combination and the other will be…shipping and whatnot.”

“This really is the ideal setup, Eve,” Ruby says, smiling. “We need a microwave, some nice dishes for lunch, chairs out on the deck for cigarette breaks and…I
must
tidy up this old fridge and stove a bit more—Good Lord!”

“How about if Ruby and I head up to the barn and poke around for chairs and a desk. You two can start taking apart the beds,” I say to the boys.

“Sounds good to me,” Johnny replies. Howard nods.

We start out the door. As the screen door slaps shut, Howard says to Johnny, “I want a raise!”

“
I'll
give you a raise,” Johnny chides. They giggle.

Soon Ruby and I are digging through our pile of
very
carefully stacked items from Eau Claire.

“I'm so glad we kept my microwave.” I pull it out. “We must have enough sets of dishes for…'Course you
can
always use another plate, you know,” I offer, seeing Ruby's guilty look.

“I should have gotten rid of the whole lot,” she says, exasperated. “I'm a dish junkie, so I've ended up with all this!” She points to a stack of boxes as high as her.

“Oh
hell,
Ruby—it's something you enjoy collecting. How many sets you think you have there?” I raise my eyebrows, counting. “That many…” I'm wondering how she snuck some of these in. Sly dish junkie.

“I've only got
four
Christmas sets, so that's a saving grace, wouldn't you say?”

“Well…sure I would. I got rid of my stereo though.” I change the subject, realizing it's a lost cause and who cares, anyway. “The speakers alone weighed a ton, but I'll
die
if I can't play music down there. This is serious.”

“The stereo in the living room is too enormous to move,” Ruby observes. “You know, Ed had a system in the library.”

“Wonderful…Besides, quiet in a library is best.” I head into the cottage.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” I pick up Rocky from the stump table. “You never used to get up on the table at…This is home now and you need to keep your paws on the floor. Come with me, young man.”

We walk toward the library; the toad-window casts a greenish glow on the floor and walls. Turning into the library, I stand in the middle of the room and inhale the calm.

Opening windows to let in morning air, I look around, trying to figure out just where this stereo is. Since I did all the wiring for a music system at my salon, I know how you can hide them, but for the life of me I can't see a thing. So I start opening some of the cupboards that run underneath the bookshelves.

Most of them are loaded with more books, some have magazines, one's filled with a collection of rocks. I run my hand over a few and decide to have a look at them another time. I get to the end of one wall and am about to look into the cupboards under the window, when I notice the wall is much thicker than the window frame. Yet there's no door or shelves. Standing back, I study the entire wall. On either side of the window, it's built out, but there doesn't seem to be an opening. I go over to the left side of the window and start tapping it with my knuckles. Then I try pushing the entire wall and—violà! The wall snaps open. Ruby breezes in holding two mugs of steaming something.

“I forgot all about those closets.” She hands me a mug. I can smell the chocolate. “I've been meaning to give them a look and you found them all on your own.”

“Here's the stereo.” I start pulling it out.

“This is one of the speakers, dear.” Ruby holds up a tiny black box.

“I'll be! So small.” We gather up our find, then head back to the kitchen.

“All we've left to do is find chairs and a desk.” I put the dusty speakers on the stump table. “If you'd snazz these up a bit, I'd be grateful.”

“Certainly. Rocky can assist,” Ruby suggests as Rocky leaps from my arms, racing out of the kitchen.

I open the barn doors to let the sun in. The boys are coming up from the boathouse carrying a bed frame over their heads. Ruby comes out on the back porch holding the speakers and a ball of gray fur.

“Now, what's in this barn that we can use down there?” Howard asks as we all walk in to “shop.”

“There's some furniture stacked by the workbench,” I say. “Must be a desk somewhere.”

“Here…under this.” Howard points to an enormous moose head. “Doesn't everyone have a moose in their barn?”

“It's a great desk. I love the paint splatters—adds character,” I say. “Wrap it up! These club chairs could go in the office, and
look
here—all these wooden folding chairs!” I point to a stack under the staircase to the loft.

“Just right for the deck,” Ruby adds. “It's lovely to put all these things to use again.”

Johnny backs up my van into the barn to load it with our finds. Then we head down to the boathouse. Howard takes the stereo upstairs and puts on an old Gloria Estefan tape and soon we're cleaning, hauling, and doing the mambo to “one-two-three-four.” We leave everything to sit in the sun to “freshen up a bit,” as Ruby puts it, and join the boys upstairs.

“This is awesome.” I look over the bedrooms. “I'm sure we'll do some moving around later on—but it's feeling very factory-ish in here. Hey…I thought you said there was only the fireplace for heat. Look at this.” I point to a heater vent in the floor. “So there's
got
to be a furnace. Where the hell is it?”

“Good question,” Ruby says. “When guests stayed here it was always in the summertime. Where could one hide a
bloody
furnace?”

We go into the soon-to-be shipping room directly behind the kitchen. Besides the dressers, there's only a closet. It takes up the entire wall. We slide the doors open and—nothing. Not even a hanger.

“I wonder…” I push on the back of the closet. “I just bet there's a little spot behind here like up in the library…. Hmmm—nope. Let's try the other bedroom.”

“You, of course mean the office, darling,” Ruby corrects me.

“What the hell are you two banging on the walls for?” Howard asks, coming out of the bathroom. Ruby and I are all the way into the closet, rapping on the wall.

Ruby's bracelets are making such a racket! Then Ruby exclaims, “Bingo!”

“Well I'll be damned,” Howard says. He and Johnny crowd into the closet and peer over our shoulders, which is an easy thing for them to do.

The back of the closet door opens, revealing a small room. Cool air escapes, sweeping by us. No wonder the bathroom is so small and dark; this room is directly behind the shower.

A trapdoor is built into the floor. I lift a round ring and pull up—locked. Ruby hands me the ring of keys and I try a few that look about right. After the ninth try, the lock clicks, allowing me to lift up the metal door. A whoosh of chilly air comes with it. Smells of iron-y water and decay follow. Peering down into the hole, I can barely make out the handrail of a metal spiral staircase.

“There must be a room at the back of the boathouse down there,” I say. “I just thought it was all water in there. Shall we?”

“I'll go first,” Howard states in a commanding, take-charge voice that for some reason rubs me the wrong way. “Could be bats, you know.”

“Not on your life, buster,” I reply quickly. “I can see more light down there. It can't be very large and if there
are
any bats they better watch their hairy little rears 'cause we are coming down!” I yell this last part to ensure everyone is aware of my position and—mostly to convince myself.

“I'll be…” Ruby mutters.

I start down. With each step of my Keds I feel the dankness on my bare ankles. Ruby is close behind, followed by the boys. I get to the bottom of the stairs and find myself standing on a stone ledge. By the light of several dusty bulbs, I spot three switches next to an old furnace. Its pipes reach up into the ceiling. I flip the first switch.

“This is incredible,” Howard announces, coming down the stairs. His voice echoes off the walls.

The ledge we're standing on leads farther back into the earth. I can see a long, narrow room with a wooden door at the end. Directly in front of us is water.

“This is all making sense now,” Howard muses, while moving slowly down the ledge, toward the wooden door.

“I think I have an idea of what…” It dawns on me. I flick the next switch. A motor in the center of the wall to our left whirs to life, throwing out a dusty electrical odor. The wall slowly parts in the middle and folds in two until finally it's flush against either side. We're now looking into the front of the boathouse and out to the lake.

“Oh, good heavens!” Ruby wipes cobwebs from her hair.

“No kidding,” Johnny adds dryly.

“My God—this is a
brilliant
setup,” Howard says with admiration. “From this loading area in the back here and now that the waterway has become several times longer…”

“I think I see, but…” I say.