At least getting to Blanche Tickle this time was going to be quicker, even if it was more complicated. Adam and Deke had spent odds and ends of time over the course of a week to work it out, to get it done while keeping security as tight as possible.

It began with Adam finding another public computer, this one at a library, and e-mailing Mary that he was on his way. When he checked back on an employee computer down in the office a couple days later, she told him that she’d be ready and waiting for him.

The business he’d told Bob and the others about going to England had been strictly a cover story, and a little thin at that. Studying possible new machinery was no longer part of his job description, and he’d hinted to Bob that the real reason was a little more personal and really a cover story. But it meant that he didn’t have to do the car shuffle with the pickup for once. In the very small hours of the next morning he was in his car, heading for the Ambassador Bridge and Ontario. By midmorning he was in Toronto, checking in at the airport for a flight to England on a discount British airline.

Careful research on Deke’s part had revealed that the flight made a stop at Gander, Newfoundland both ways, and occasionally discharged or picked up passengers there. Further investigation proved that the airline didn’t mind very much if he only rode as far as Gander while he paid for going to England, or vice versa. By mid-afternoon Adam was getting off the plane in Gander, and picked up a pre-arranged car rental.

One of the downsides was that Gander didn’t have a lot of rental cars available, so he was stuck with another tinny Asian econobox, rather beat up from having spent its life on rough Newfoundland roads. It’s not a short drive from Gander to Blanche Tickle, but he made it there while the sun was still in the sky, a huge improvement over the over five days it had taken him to get there a few months before.

It was still a very nice day for Newfoundland as he drove down the now-familiar track to Blanche Tickle, then turned off for Mary’s house, to find some carpentry work going on – an addition was obviously being built. Mary was working with several men on the addition; he recognized some of them, including Evan, from his previous visit to the settlement.

“Adam!” she said with a smile when he got out of the car. “Ye didn’t bring the truck this time?”

“No, long story, and not worth going into right now. How have you been, Mary?”

“Just fine,” she told him, and threw her arms around him in a hug. “I wasn’t expectin’ ye till I got your e-mail a few days ago, but it’s good ta see ye. I didn’t think ye were gonna make it up here at all this summer, an’ I wanted ye ta see what’s been happenin’ around here.”

“Well, the chance came up and there’s a little business for us to do,” he said. “Besides, I figured I really wanted to see you and Matty again. Where is he?”

“Aideen, one of the girls from the settlement is watchin’ him,” she said. “I kinda figured it’d be best not to have him underfoot at times like this, an’ he seems ta like playin’ with her. Been kinda handy too, since I’ve had some other things I’ve had ta do this summer.”

He looked at the work under way on the house “So what’s going on here, anyway? Is the house getting a little cramped?”

“Naw, not that,” she said. “I had ta add on ta the house a little since I’m gonna be puttin’ in an indoor biffy.”

“I thought you couldn’t do that here.”

“Well, we can’t right here,” she explained. “But it seems that some of the people Andrew is bringin’ in here aren’t quite happy with havin’ ta head outside when they want ta take a crap, so we decided we’d look inta puttin’ in indoor facilities. I figured as long as we’re at it I might’s well have ’em myself. I may have grown up havin’ ta go outside in the middle of a blizzard, but that’s not sayin’ I liked it all that well, even back then.”

“What is the world coming to? Flush toilets in Blanche Tickle? What’s next?”

“I think Andrew and I can figure somethin’ out. It ain’t the first new thing we’ve come up with, either. Anyway, Andrew found a man from up ta St. John’s ta come up with a way ta do it. We’re gonna put a holdin’ tank in here, an’ pump the stuff up ta a leach bed back inland a ways. The authorities have all signed off on it, an’ some of the other people in the settlement are goin’ ta get with it, too. Gonna be a big change around here.”

“Sounds like a reasonable idea, and one I would never have thought of,” he said. “I suppose you used some of Matt’s money to do it?”

“Aye, I ’bout had ta, and I knew ye were goin’ ta be bringing me that money from your father, so I decided I could put it ta good use. Did you get that all worked out?”

“Pretty much,” he said. “There’s some paperwork you have to sign, but one of the pieces is the acknowledgement of your receipt of the funds in the Bank of Canada. I guess you’ll have to go to St. John’s to deal with it since you don’t have a bank here, but it’s said and done, and all that’s left is to get the pieces of paper signed and into the proper file folders.”

“That’s good. It’s gonna take another couple summers’ worth of rentals to pay for the work, but both Andrew and I think it’s gonna be worth it. But like I said, it’ll be worth it ta me ta not have ta go outside ta the biffy when it’s blowin’ a winter storm.”

“So that’s the big news of the summer in Blanche Tickle, I take it?”

“Aye, an’ I think it’s good news, too. Any news from your end, ’specially about Brittany?”

“That’s something we need to talk about while I’m here,” he told her. “I think the threat is reduced, but I’m not sure. We’ll still need to be careful. Other than that, I don’t know if Jake has told you, but I bought a boat. In fact, I bought it from Amanda.”

“He said somethin’ like that, that she bought it an’ didn’t like it, so now she’s out lookin’ for another one, and hopefully one she fancies more. Don’t know if she’d found it yet, hadn’t the last I heard.”

“Not the last I heard either, although I haven’t talked to Jake very much. In fact, I haven’t been up to his place since I got the boat. I can see why Amanda decided it wasn’t what she wanted because it wasn’t the boat for what she wanted to do with it. But it’s working just fine for me.”

“Is it a big boat? I didn’t really hear a lot of details ’bout it.”

“No, about the size of the Mary Sue, in fact, but a lot lighter, light enough to haul around on a trailer. I’ve been keeping it near home, and have been out sailing it on Lake Erie every chance I get. The week after next a friend of mine and I are going to trailer it up to Georgian Bay and sail around up there with it. From what I can find out, it’s nice country, a lot of little islands. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Are ye thinkin’ of followin’ along behind Matt, and sailin’ across an ocean or two?”

“Not really,” he told her. “And definitely not in that boat. It’s just not built for it. But I knew I wasn’t going to keep it when I bought it. Amanda’s is just an cheap one to learn if this is what I want to do in the future. I figure on buying a bigger boat, more set up for coastal cruising, probably in the next year or two. Everything is still a little fuzzy on that. It’s a case of wait and see what happens.”

“So if ye’re thinkin’ about buyin’ a new boat, are ye thinkin’ about sailing it up here?”

“Might be,” he smiled. “I haven’t really thought about it, but it’s an idea worth considering. It’d be the long way to go to Florida for the winter, but it could be fun.”

They talked for a few more minutes about the Knick-Knack and sailing around Lake Erie, as Adam noticed the carpenters were in the process of putting away their tools and knocking off for the day. Evan wandered over to say hello and talk for a few minutes before heading back to his home. “Guess that’s about it for today, Mary,” he said. “Don’t guess we’ll be gettin’ anything done the next few days ’cause of the cod opener.”

“Aye, I was expectin’ that. The cod have ta come first. Ye an the b’ys are makin’ real good progress on it, and ye ain’t hearin’ me complainin’ ’bout it.”

“We’ll get it done,” Evan said. “Might take a while to do it ’round the fishin’, but it’ll get done. Good ta see ya again, Adam. If you’re gonna be around a while, maybe we can find a chance ta sit and talk a spell.”

“I’d like that, Evan. It’s always good to see you again.”

After they were gone, Mary suggested, “Let’s go over ta the shade on the far side of the house and sit a spell. Aideen will be bringin’ Matty home before long, but things are a little different with all the artist people around, and we need ta talk about that.”

“Sure, Mary. I figured things would be a little different with them here. I hope I’m not going to be putting you out too much.”

“Naw, there’ll always be room for you, Adam. But I’m a mite pinched for space right now, what with the artist people in the rental cabins an’ the house torn up for the addition. I’m thinkin’ since ye have a boat now, ye might not mind stayin’ on the Mary Sue. It ain’t a lot of room, but the bunks sleep pretty good, I can tell ye that.”

“Mind? I’d be honored,” he said. “I haven’t slept on the Knick-Knack very much, but I’ve done it and starting to get used to it.”

“Good, we solved that one easy. It’s on the moorin’ out there,” she pointed. “An’ ye’ll have ta row the skiff out ta it. But I’m thinkin’ ye must be becomin’ waterman enough that ye’ll do just fine. Now, the other thing is that I ain’t doin’ a lot of cookin’ these days.”

“How’s that? Trouble?”

“Not at all. It’s another thing with the artist folk. See, last summer meals got a little awkward since I was only rentin’ the houses. Those folk want ta paint an’ draw, not peel spuds an’ like that. So, after you were up here in the spring, Andrew and I got ta kickin’ it around, an’ we decided ta do somethin’ about that. So what we did is take one of the houses, the one ye stayed in last spring, an’ we converted it into a kitchen and dining room. It’s still a little on the primitive side, but I’ve hired Nessa, a woman from here in the settlement, ta do the cookin’, an’ I just get paid for the meals as part of the rent. I mean, we run the rent up a bit ta cover the cost, so I’m makin’ out on it even after hirin’ Nessa and payin’ for the food. It’s all kind of a family meal thing, an’ since I’m payin’ for it, Matty an’ I eat with them, too. No reason you can’t join in.”

“You are sure making money on this art colony business.”

“Not a lot of money, but it’s money that wasn’t here in Blanche Tickle before, an’ I try to spread it around best I can. Sometimes these artist folk are a little bit of a pain in the neck, but for the most part everyone gets along pretty well.”

“You know, I think I said it last spring that I’m impressed by the way you’re trying to improve things here in the settlement.”

“I’m just tryin’ ta make it a better place to bring up Matty,” she said. “I keep thinkin’ about what you said last spring, that he has to have a wider vision of the world than I got when I grew up here, and bringin’ in a little of the world is one way ta do it. It still ain’t gonna be like growin’ up down where you are, but there’s good and bad there as well as there is here, and we both know it.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that, but it seems like there’s more good in people and less bad here than there is some other places.”

“Aye, it does ta me, too. Adam, we both know that Blanche Tickle has always been a poor place as far as money goes, but bein’ poor doesn’t make for poor people. These are my people an’ I’m comfortable here with ’em. I don’t know how comfortable I’d be if I had ta live somewhere else.”

“I’ve always felt that about you. I mean, I know you and Matt traveled a lot, but both of you seemed at home here that time I visited you.”

“Aye, ’twas a good time. If Matt had lasted to where we had ta come ashore, I’m thinkin’ we’d probably have wound up here. We talked a little about goin’ up ta Winchester Harbor an’ workin’ for Jake, but it was always a long way off an’ we never got there.”

“That would have worked out well, I think,” he said. “It’s just too damn bad neither of us ever got to find out.”

“Aye, but it happened and there ain’t nothin’ that can be done about it now. Now what was this thing you wanted ta say about Brittany? I got the feelin’ ye didn’t want ta be sayin’ anythin’ about it ’round the b’y’s.”

“No, not that, it’s just that we had more important things to talk about, like how you and Matty are getting along, my boat, and things like that. I can sum up the situation with Brittany pretty quickly. She’s getting better but she’s not all the way there yet, and when I talked to her a while back she even admitted it, which is a very good sign. You remember the last time I was up here I was throwing around the idea of maybe setting up a meeting between you, Matty and her? I mean, somewhere besides here, where if she acted badly she still wouldn’t get any idea where you and Matty are living.”

“Aye, I remember. I got the feelin’ ye didn’t think much of the idea, though.”

“Well, to make a long story short, it’s not an idea that’s gone away, but I don’t think Brittany is quite ready for it, either. What’s more, I talked to her doctor, and while he couldn’t say much, he seems to be of the opinion that it’s not a good idea just yet, either. But in maybe six months, maybe a year, it might be. There’s no way of telling at this point.”

“Adam, ye know I have mixed feelin’s about that. On the one hand, I don’t want Matty ta not know his grandmother forever. On the other hand, I remember what kinda pain in the ass Brittany was when Matt and I went ta see you an’ her the first time, an’ I don’t like what ye and Jake have been tellin’ me about her the last couple years. If she’s getting’ over it, fine. But I’d just as soon be pretty sure she’s good an’ gettin’ over it before we try ta have a meeting like that.”

“That’s exactly my thinking,” he nodded. “But it’s not anything we have to do this month, or even this year. We can wait a while before we have to make a decision. I just wanted to let you know that this could be in the works for someday.”

“That’s good,” she said. “Just so’s you know, I’ve been hearin’ a bit about her from Jake. It seems his parents and her parents are pretty good friends. That means I don’t have ta depend on you for everythin’ I hear about her, an’ what I’m hearin’ from him matches what I’m hearing from ye pretty well.”

“Yeah, I knew about that. It turns out that Brittany is going to be moving down close to her folks, so we may actually hear more through Jake’s parents than we’ve heard in the past. But really, I haven’t heard a lot, but what I have heard is at least a little bit promising.”

“Well, I guess that’s about what we can do, an’ here comes Aideen with Matty now, so we might’s well not talk about it any more.”

“Fine with me. I’ve been missing Matty anyway.”

Aideen proved to be a young teenage girl with a shock of Irish red hair like Mary’s, perhaps thirteen or fourteen, dressed in the worldwide teenage uniform of jeans and a T-shirt. She seemed to be a pretty happy kid, but exuded the air of responsibility that seemed to be normal in Blanche Tickle, even in the younger kids. He only got to talk with her for a moment, for Matty was all over him; it seemed the boy remembered his grandfather.

It was a marvelous period of reconnection. With Mary and Matty being so far away, sometimes they slipped from the forefront of his thoughts a little, but when they got together he quickly remembered why he was going to all the trouble in the first place. Matty wasn’t quite two yet, but he seemed more like the toddler Adam remembered Matt being. It would be nice if he could have a little more contact with the boy – and with Mary – than he was managing, but he felt he was doing the best he could for them in other ways.

The three of them just played for a while, with Mary showing her son off a little, until they finally heard a boat bell ringing. “Guess that means Nessa’s got dinner ready,” she said. “We might’s well go over an’ meet some of the artist folk. They really are a nice bunch of people.”

As they walked over to the house Adam had stayed in back in the spring, they noticed perhaps a half-dozen people converging on the place, some carrying drawing pads or easels or the like. Just at a quick glance, Adam couldn’t characterize them as a group; they ran from young to old, men and women alike, some looking pretty normal, others, well, not – but there wasn’t anyone that seemed too far out. But they were a lively and conversational group.

The house, one of the smaller ones, had most of the regular furniture taken out of it, replaced by a big communal table, with Nessa herding them in. She was a heavy-set woman, on the elderly side, with gray hair but a smiling face. Adam wasn’t sure what Nessa had been cooking, but it smelled good and he couldn’t wait to try it.

As people took their seats – Matty in a highchair – Mary introduced him to the group. “This here is Adam Caldwell, Matty’s grandpa,” she explained. “He wanted ta come up an’ see what this was like, an’ ta see Matty, of course.”

Mary introduced the people around the table, including Andrew, who he hadn’t met before. He was younger than Adam had expected, perhaps in his late thirties, and he was a personable, smiling man with long dark hair and a twinkle in his eye, who proved to be a good conversationalist. “Mr. Caldwell,” he smiled. “Welcome to our happy adult summer camp. I guess there’s no need to meet our head counselor and host, since you already seem to know her pretty well. I came up here several years ago and fell in love with the place, and dreamed of inviting people up here for summer art seminars, but it took Mary to make it a reality, and you can’t believe the help she’s been. It’s worked out well so far, and I’m hoping it’s going to continue to work well.”

“From what I see, it has,” Adam told him. “I’m no artist and it’s about all I can do to draw my name on a sheet of paper, but it looks like you’ve been successful. Now, the rest of you, I don’t know what Mary or Andrew have told you about this settlement, but it’s a good place filled with good people who live close to the sea and have shaped their lives for generations because of it. All I can say is enjoy it and learn from it, because people like the ones you meet here are becoming increasingly rare in the world, and we can all learn valuable things from them.”

“That’s one of the things I enjoy about this place,” Andrew said. “It’s more than just the very picturesque scenes to be found here, it’s the rare people. Even though I’m very much an outsider, as is everyone here but Nessa and Mary, I’ve always been treated as a friend. I’d hate to think that anything I do here would ruin that. Now, let’s see what miracle Nessa has wrought in her own art form tonight.”

It turned out to be a happy group with much good conversation, although at least some of it was totally incomprehensible to Adam; he could understand more of someone talking in the thickest Newfoundland accent about cod or crab fishing. The thing that impressed Adam was that he was asked a lot about Matt and his adventures with Mary; apparently their story was not unknown around this table.

Adam felt good as he rowed the skiff out to the Mary Sue in the dying light of the evening. This was a good group of people, and they seemed to be having a good effect on Blanche Tickle, but he had his misgivings; he hoped the artists being present in the summer wouldn’t ruin something valuable about the place, mostly the self-reliance the people showed. Somehow he had the gut feeling that Mary and Andrew understood his worry, and were doing their best to prevent it happening.

Adam couldn’t repress the strange feeling he had as he clambered aboard the Mary Sue, and he knew why. This had been Matt and Mary’s home for the last years of his son’s life. As far as Adam knew, his son had been happiest here – and he had died here, doing what he wanted to do, being out on the sea with the woman he loved. He may have been fated to have a short life, but at least he’d had a memorable one.

He settled into one of the bunks on the Mary Sue, almost feeling the presence of Matt’s spirit, in a way he never got from the photo of Matt that hung in his office back at Caldwell-Deerfield, or the painting of Matt in Mary’s home. He could easily see why she hadn’t wanted to sell the boat, and he couldn’t blame her in the slightest. As he went to sleep that night, he had a strange peace of mind that had eluded him ever since Mary called from Boston to tell him that Matt was in the hospital, and that it didn’t look good. Maybe he was healing a little more.

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