Review, Edit and UpdateMy work this morning was to flesh out several pieces of dialogue that had no obvious action to them. Other than that there was only one typo that needed, and received, my attention.
A Moving Story
Samuel did have a story to tell. The two sisters, Dez and Emmie, were hoping it was about the Beaufort Estate. In fact, they assumed it would be about the construction of the mansion or marriages that were solemnized under the ancient redwood; even the driveway - had horse drawn carriages clip clopped to the mansion for a ball? Maybe even the origins of the toolshed. But no, Samuel wasn’t in the mood for any of these stories. He walked the two women to the end of the garden where it almost disappeared into middle section of the apple orchard. The land past that stretched away from the orchard and down towards the freshening stream. Samuel had told them about the stream before, but it wasn’t the stream that had a story today. Blackberry bushes scrambled along the banks of the stream, their white flowers and new little blackberries, hard and green signalled a delicious harvest.
“This is beautiful, Emmie! Did you know about this?!” Dez was stunned. A city girl she knew about streets and sidewalks, but her country past at her grandparents farm had been shrouded in a long city life.
“Not really. I knew there were blackberries down here. Cook always talks about going blackberry picking with Samuel when they’re ripe. Then we have blackberry jam, pies, fresh blackberries, and blackberry crumbles. They never wanted any help and, at the time, I was too arrogant to think I should do such menial work.”
Dez was still enamoured of all that she saw. “Listen to the birds! And there are hundreds of bees. Our bees, when we get them, will be well fed right here on your property.......................”
Samuel cleared his throat with purpose. “Are you two ladies goin’ to talk all day?”
In their excitement, they had almost forgotten about Samuel. Dez quickly turned towards him. “I'm so sorry, Samuel! I guess we got carried away. It’s just that it’s so beautiful and peaceful. We’ll be quiet - won’t we Em?”
Emmie was still distracted by the beauty of her property. Property she had never seen. When her husband was alive, she had been too busy with the dizzying life of high society. When he was gone, plunged too deeply into her grief. “Yes, of course." Emmie's attention refocussed when she heard heard Dez speak her name, she asked Samuel. "Are you going to tell us more about the beginnings of the orchard?”
“No, ma’am. Keep walkin’. Follow me over here and look just beyond the big rocky outcropping.” Samuel had already started walking and talking at the same time. The two sisters had to step quite smartly to keep up and hear him what he was saying.
They were trying to follow where Samuel seemed to be pointing but they couldn't really identify anything except the outcropping. “What are we supposed to be looking at? Emmie, can you see anything but the land?”
Emmie was thoughtful for a moment and then her face cleared. “I can’t see very much more, Dez. If I am right about where we are, from the main road, I have noticed a little cottage in that area. Is that right, Samuel?”
Samuel replied with certainty. “Now you’ve got it, Mz. Beaufort. Move over here a bit." He pointed again. "There. Can you see that little place, Mz. Dez?"
Emmie was more than a little disappointed that his stories were probably about that cottage, not about the estate. She had been so eager to learn more about the land that she owned, and this funny little man was showing her a cottage that wasn’t even on her land.
Trying to sound pleasant, Emmie asked “But Samuel, what has that cottage got to do with the Beaufort Estate? It's not even on Beaufort land?" Trying not to sound as impatient as she was, Emmie added. "We might just as well all get back up to the house."
“Now, Mz. Beaufort. Just hang on." Samuel did something he rarely did. Just for a second, he put a gentle hand on Emmie's shoulder. "That little cottage is the start of the whole thing."
“Ok, Samuel. Tell us the about it so we can get back to our work on the orchard.” Dez could tell that both of them were upset. Emmie because she was annoyed with Samuel. Samuel because he'd had to take time out from his own work.
Not trying to hide his impatience, but being polite Samuel just kept on with what he knew was important. “Remember we're on an island, not many....what are they called...landscapers...... would take on such a bit of a place. But nature's done up that little cottage just fine.” Indeed there was a small cottage. It was nestled in an outcropping rocks, dotted with low bush, daffodils, tiny purple wildflowers and the stunning back drop of the distant ocean, water silvered blue and glittering. Dez leaned back against the nearest rock prepared to listen.
“You know that extra garden you had me dig?” Samuel seem to be off in some other direction. “I finally found a use for it. I just planted extra potatoes for the new folk that’ll be moving in.”
Emmie was ready again to walk away. Now, he was talking about planting potatoes. This has been a big waste of time. “Dez let’s go. Samuel, I apologize for taking you away from your work. We’ll find our way back.”
Elizabeth had told him Mz. Beaufort had changed from that flighty, high minded woman. He'd best tell her she was dead wrong. “Don’t you want to hear about the soldiers? Not all the soldiers but the Colonel?” Samuel leaned up against a moss covered rock.
Emmie had turned to walk away, but when Samuel spoke about a Colonel, she stopped and turned back. “Now you have my attention. Yes I do want to hear about the soldiers, but only if it relates to the Beaufort Estate. What do you know that we don’t know? And who is moving?” Emmie was interested, but after the afternoon’s wild goose chase, she wasn’t going to relax just yet.
“That little cottage, 'bout as old as yer mansion, is about a half mile outside the west boundaries.” Samuel paused, squinting into the afternoon sun. “I don’t rightly know the exact dates. Never was good at keepin’ dates straight. There was a war down south. The folks on this island were worried. Some Canadian military were posted here, but there was no fort just yet. No place for’m to live ‘cept for the mansion on your land. ‘Commandeered’ I think is the word. Yep. Those soldiers commandeered the mansion….it was still new and grand in them days. Now, mind you, I’m telling you what grand’pappy told my pappy. But the Colonel? He needed a quieter place. He just took right over that cottage! He had guards posted outside the door 24 hours a day. I s'pose, in them days, that was the right thing to do. He had all his meals cooked up by the big house staff and brought down to the cottage. So that’s where the stories about soldiers come from. That little house has had someone living in it ever since that Colonel marched his soldiers out. ‘Cept for this last year. When I’m workin' at this end of the garden - and it’s huge one - I keep my eye on that little place. One day, I saw a movin’ van come in and load up. Then a little red car - couldn’t make out what kind - drove off. I b’lieve it was a young couple that lived there, no kids. That’s where the feelin’s about some movin’ around come from. That’s one empty house down there. It’s a pretty little place. Just right for a couple that love each other. A bit of a yard for plantin'. A nice little road to get to the main road. And if they’ve a mind, just a short walk over to the mansion for tea with me n’ Elizabeth.”
Emmie and Dez looked at each other puzzled. Emmie turned to Samuel in surprise “Moving? Whose moving around here, Samuel?”
Samuel shook his head. “I’m sure I don’t know, Miss Emelina. Nobody that I know of right now. It’s just a feelin’ I get now and then. Don’t you mind me. I’ll walk you back up to the house. Elizabeth should have a bite to eat for us.” Samuel’s story-telling was over; but the story was not.
“When all the details fit in perfectly,
something is probably wrong with the story,.”
~ Charles Baxter,
Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction
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