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it was early october 1946, and noah calhoun watched the fading sun sink lower frothe around porch of his plantation-style ho. he liked to sit here in the evenings, especially after w hard all day, a his thoughts wander without scious dire. it was how he relaxed, a routine hed learned frohis father.
he especially liked to look at the trees and their refles in the river. north carolina trees are beautiful in deep autu: greens, yellows, reds, es, every shade iween. their dazzling clow with the sun, and for the huh ti, noah calhoun wondered if the inal owners of the house had spent their evenings thinking the sa things.
the house was built in 1772, king it one of the oldest, as well as largest, hos in new bern. inally it was the in house on a w plantation, and he had bought it right after the war ended and had spent the last eleven nths and a sll fortune repairing it. the reporter frothe raleigh paper had done an article on it a few weeks ago and said it was one of the fi restorations hed ever seen. at least the house was. the reining property was aory, and that was where hed spent st of the day.
the ho sat on twelve acres adjat to brices creek, and hed worked on the woode lihe other three sides of the property, cheg for dry rot or tertes, replag posts when he had to. he still had re work to do on it, especially on the west side, and as hed put the tools away earlier hed de a ntal o call and have so re luer delivered. hed goo the house, drunk a glass of sweet tea, then showered. he always showered at the end of the day, the water washing away both dirt and fatigue.
afterward hed bed his hair back, put on so faded jeans and a long-sleeved blue shirt, poured hielf anlass of sweet tea, and goo the porch, where he now sat, where he sat every day at this ti.
he stretched his ar above his head, then out to the sides, rolling his shoulders as he pleted the routine. he felt good andnow, fresh. his scles were tired and he knew hed be a little sore torrow, but he leased that he had aplished st of what he had wao do.
noah reached for his guitar, reering his father as he did so, thinking how ch he ssed hi he strued once, adjusted the tension on tws, then strued again. this ti it sounded abht, and he began to play. soft sic, quiet sic. he hued for a little while at first, then began to sing as night ca down around hi he played and sang until the sun was gone and the sky was black.
it was a little after seven when he quit, atled bato his chair and began to rock. by habit, he looked upward and saw orion猎户座 and the big dipper (group of seven stars (iellation ursa major大熊座), geni双子星座 and the pole star北极星, twinkling iu sky.
he started to run the nuers in his head, then stopped. he knew hed spent alst his entire savings on the house and would have to find a job again soon, but he pushed the thought away and decided to enjoy the reining nths of restoration without w about it. it would work out for hi he knew; it always did. besides, thinking about ney usually bored hi early on, hed learo enjoy sile things, things thauldnt be bought, and he had a hard ti uanding people who felt otherwise.
it was arait he got frohis father.
cle his hound dog, ca up to hithen and nuzzled his hand before lying down at his feet. &a;a;a;quot;hey, girl, howre you doing?&a;a;a;quot; he asked as he patted her head, and she whined softly, her soft round eyes peering upward. a car act had taken her leg, but she still ved well enough a hipany on quiet nights like these.
he was thirty-one now, not too old, but old enough to be lonely. he hadnt dated since hed been back here, had anyone who retely ied hi it was his own fault, he khere was sothing that kept a distaween hiand any won who started to get close, sothing he wasnt sure huld ge even if he tried. and sotis in the nts right before sleep ca, he wondered if he was destio be alone forever.
the evening passed, staying war nioah listeo the crickets and the rustling leaves, thinking that the sound of nature was re real and aroused re etion than things like cars and planes. natural things gave back re thaook, and their sounds always brought hiback to the way n was supposed to be. there were tis during the war, especially after a jagent, when he had often thought about these sile sounds. &a;a;a;quot;itll keep yoing crazy,&a;a;a;quot; his father had told hithe day hed shipped out. &a;a;a;quot;its gods sid itll take you ho.&a;a;a;quot;
he finished his tea, went inside, found a book, then turned on the porch light on his way back out. after sitting down again, he looked at the book. it was old, thver was torn, and the pages were stained with d and water. it was leaves of grass by walt whitn, and he had carried it with hithroughout the war. it had even taken a bullet for hionce.
he rubbed thver, dusting it off just a little. the the book open randoy ahe words in front of hi
this is thy hour o soul,
thy free &a;a;lt;tt&a;a;gt;&a;a;lt;/tt&a;a;gt;flight into the wordless,
away frobooks, away froart,
the day erased, the lesson done,
thee fully forth erging,
silent, gazing, p the thes thou lovest best,
night, sleep, death and the stars.
he sled to hielf. for so reason whitn always rended hiof new bern, and he was glad hed e back. though hed been away for fourteen years, this was ho and he knew a lot of people here, st of thefrohis youth. it wasnt surprising.
like so ny southern towns, the people who lived here never ged, they just grew a bit older.
his best friend these days was gus, a seventy-year-old black n who lived down the road. they had t uple of weeks after noah bought the house, when gus had shown up with so hode liquor and brunswick stew, and the tent their first evening together getting drunk and telling stories.
now gus would show up uple of nights a week, usually arou. with four kids and eleven grandchildren in the house, he o get out of the house now and then, and noauldnt bla hi usually gus would bring his harnica, and after talking for a little while, theyd play a few songs together. sotis they played for hours.
hed e tard gus as faly. there really wasnt anyone else, at least not since his father died last year. he was an only child; his ther had died of influenza when he was two, and though he had wao at oi, he had never rried.
but he had been in love ohat he knew. ond only once, and a long ti ago.
and it had ged hiforever. perfect love did that to a person, and this had been perfect.
coastal clouds slowly began to roll across the evening sky, turning silver with the refle of the on. as they thied, he leaned his head bad rested it against the rog chair. his legs ved autotically, keeping a steady rhyth and as he did st evenings, he felt his nd drifting back to a warevening like this fourteen years ago.
it was just after graduation 1932, the opening night of the neuse river festival.
the town was out in full, enjoying barbecue and gas of ce. it was hud that night - for so reason he reered that clearly. he arrived alone, and as he strolled through the crowd, looking for friends, he saw fin and sarah, two people hed grown up with, talking to a girl hed never seen before. she retty, he reered thinking, and when he finally joihe she looked his way with a pair of hazy eyes that kept on ing. &a;a;a;quot;hi,&a;a;a;quot; shed said sily as she offered her hand, &a;a;a;quot;fiolda lot about you.&a;a;a;quot;
an ordinary beginning, sothing that would have been fotten had it been a her. but as he shook her hand ahose striking erald eyes, he knew before hed taken hisbreath that she was the one huld spend the rest of his life looking for but never find again. she seed that good, that perfect, while a suer wind blew through the trees.
frothere, it went like a tornado wind. fin told hishe ending the suer in new bern with her faly because her father worked for r. j. reynolds, and though he only he way she was looking at hide his silence seeokay. fin laughed then, because he knew what was happening, and sarah suggested they get so cherry cokes, and the four of thestayed at the festival until the crowds were thin and everything closed up for the night.
they t the following day, and the day after that, and they soon beca inseparable. every but sunday when he had to go to church, he would finish his chores as quickly as possible, then ke a straight lio fort totten park, where shed be waiting for hi because she was a newer and hadnt spent ti in a sll town before, they spent their days doing things that were pletely o her. he taught her how to bait a line and fish the shallows for largeuth bass and took her expl through the backwoods of the croatan forest.
they rode in oes and watched suer thuor, and to hiit seed as though theyd always known each other.
but he learhings as well. at the town daob barn, it was she who taught hihow to waltz and do the charleston, and though they stuled through the first few songs, her patieh hieventually paid off, and they daogether until the sided. he walked her ho afterward, and when they paused on the porch after saying good night, he kissed her for the first ti and wondered why he had waited as long as he had. later in the suer he brought her to this house, looked past the decay, and told her that one day he was going to own it and fix it up. they spent hours together talking about their drea - his of seeing the world, hers of being an artist - and on a hud night in august, they both lost their virginity.
when she left three weeks later, she took a piece of hiand the rest of suer with her. he watched her leave town on an early rainywatched through eyes that hadnt slept the night before, the ho and packed a bag. he spent theweek alone on harkers island.
noah ran his hands through his hair and checked his watch. eight-twelve. he got up and walked to the front of the house and looked up the road. gus wasnt in sight, and noah figured he wouldnt be ing. he went back to his rocker and sat again.
he reered talking to gus about her. the first ti he ntioned her, gus started to shake his head and laugh. &a;a;a;quot;so thats the ghost you been running fro&a;a;a;quot; when asked what he ant, gus said, &a;a;a;quot;you know, the ghost, the ry. i been wat you, workin day and night, slavin so hard you barely have ti to catch your breath. people do that for three reasoher they crazy, or stupid, or tryi. and with you, i knew you was tryi. i just didnt know what.&a;a;a;quot;
he thought about what gus had said. gus was right, ourse. new bern was haunted now. haunted by the ghost of her ry. he saw her in fort totten park, their place, every ti he walked by. either sitting on the bench or standing by the gate, always sling, blond hair softly toug her shoulders, her eyes thlor of eralds.
whe on the porch at night with his guitar, he saw her beside hi listening quietly as he played the sic of his childhood.
he felt the sa when he went to gastons drug store, or to the masonic theater, or even wherolled downtown. everywhere he looked, he saw her ige, saw things that brought her back to life.
it was odd, he khat. he had grown up in new bern. spent his first seventeen years here. but whehought about new bern, he seed to reer only the last suer, the suer they were together. other ries were sily fragnts, pieces here and there of growing up, and few, if any, evoked any feeling.
he had told gus about it one night, and not only had gus uood, but he had been the first to explain why. he said sily, &a;a;a;quot;my daddy used to tellthat the first ti you fall in love, it ges your life forever, and no tter how hard you try, the feelin never goes away. this girl you been tellinabout was your first love. and no tter what you do, shell stay with you forever.&a;a;a;quot;
noah shook his head, and when her ige began to fade, he returo whitn. he read for an hour, looking up every now and then to see ras and possu scurryihe creek. at hirty he closed the book, went upstairs to the bedroo and wrote in his journal, including both personal observations and the work hed aplished on the house. forty nutes later, he was sleeping. clewandered up the stairs, sniffed hias he slept, and then paced in circles before finally curling up at the foot of his bed.
earlier that evening and a hundred les away, she sat alone on the porch swing of her parents ho, one leg crossed beh her. the seat had been slightly da whe down; rain had fallen earlier, hard and stinging, but the clouds were fading now and she looked past the toward the stars, w if shed de the right decision. shed struggled with it for days - and had struggled so re this evening - but in the end, she knew she would never five herself if she let the opportunity slip away.
lon didnt know the real reason she left the followingthe week before, shed hio hithat she ght want to visit so antique shops hast.
&a;a;a;quot;its just uple of days,&a;a;a;quot; she said, &a;a;a;quot;and besides, i need a break froplanning the wedding.&a;a;a;quot; she felt bad about the lie but khere was no way shuld tell hithe truth. her leaving had nothing to do with hi and it wouldnt be fair of her to ask hito uand.
it was an easy drive froraleigh, slightly re than two hours, and she arrived a little before eleven. she checked into a sll ino her roo and unpacked her suitcase, hanging her dresses in the closet and putting everything else in the drawers.
she had a quick lunch, asked the waitress for dires to theantique stores, thehefew hours shopping. by four-thirty she was ba her roo
she sat on the edge of the bed, picked up the phone, and called lon. huldnt speak long, he was due iurt, but before they hung up she gave hithe phone nuer where she was staying and prosed to call the following day. good, she thought while hanging up the phone. routiion, nothing out of the ordinary. nothing to ke hisuspicious.
shed known hialst four years now; it was 1942 when they t, the world at war and arie year in. everyone was doing their part, and she was volunteering at the hospital downtown. she was both needed and appreciated there, but it was re difficult than shed expected. the first waves of wounded young soldiers were ing ho, and she spent her days with broken n and shattered bodies. when lon, with all his easy char introduced hielf at a christs party, she saw in hiexactly what she needed: sooh fidence about the future and a sense of hur that drove all her fears away.
he was handso, intelligent, and driven, a suessful lawyer eight years older than she, and he pursued his job with passion, not only win winning cases, but also king a na for hielf. she uood his vigorous pursuit of suess, for her father and st of thein her social circle were the sa way. like the he’d been raised that way, and in the caste (social position, class) systeof the south, faly na and aplishnts were often the st iortant sideration in rriage. in so cases, they were the only sideration.
though she had quietly rebelled against this idea since childhood and dated a fewdescribed as reckless, she found herself drawn to lons easy ways and had gradually e to love hi despite the long hours he worked, he was good to her. he was a gentlen, both ture and responsible, and during those terrible periods of the war when she needed sooo hold her, he never ourned her away. she felt secure with hiand knew he loved her as well, and that was why she had aepted his proposal.
thinking these things de her feel guilty about being here, she knew she should pack her things and leave before she ged her nd. she had do once before, long ago, and if she left now, she was sure she would never have the strength to return here again. she picked up her pocketbook (purse, wallet, handbag), hesitated, and alst de it to the door. but ce had pushed her here, and she put the pocketbook down, again realizing that if she quit now, she would always wonder what would have happened. and she didnt think shuld live with that.
she went to the bathrooand started a bath. after cheg the teerature, she walked to the dresser, taking off her gold earrings as she crossed the roo she found her keup bag, ope, and pulled out a razor and a bar of soap, then undressed in front of the bureau. she had been called beautiful since she was a young girl, and once she was naked, she looked at herself in the rror. her body was firand well proportioned, breasts softly rounded, stoch flat, legs sli she’d ied her thers high cheekbones, soth skin, blond hair, but her best feature was her own. she had &a;a;a;quot;eyes like o waves,” as lon liked to say. taking the razor and soap, she went to the bathrooagain, turned off the faucet, set a towel where shuld reach it, and stepped in gingerly.
she liked the way a bath relaxed her, and she slipped lower ier. the day had been long and her back was tense, but she leased she had finished shopping so quickly. she had to go back to raleigh with sothing tangible, and the things she had picked out would work fine. she de a ntal o find the nas of so other stores in the beaufort area, then suddenly doubted she would o. lon wasnt the type to check up on her. she reached for the soap, lathered up, and began to shave her legs. as she did, she thought about her parents and what they would think of her behavior. no doubt they would disapprove, especially her ther.
her ther had never really aepted what had happehe suer theyd spent here and wouldnt aept it now, no tter what reason she gave.
she soaked a while longer iub before finally getting out and toweling off.
she went to the closet and looked for a dress, finally choosing a long yellow ohat dipped slightly in the front, the kind of dress that was on in the south.
she slipped it on and looked in the rror, turning froside to side. it fit her well and de her look fenine, but she eventually decided against it and put it ba the hanger.
instead she found a re casual, less revealing dress and put that on. light blue with a touch of lace, it buttoned up the front, and though it didnt look quite as nice as the first o veyed an ige she thought would be re appropriate.
she wore little keup, just a touch of eye shadow and scara to at her eyes.
perfu , not too ch. she found a pair of sll-hooped earrings, put those on, then slipped oan, low-heeled sandals she had been wearing earlier. she brushed her blond hair, pi up, and looked in the rror. no, it was too ch, she thought, and she let it back dower.
when she was finished she stepped bad evaluated herself. she looked good: not too dressy, not too casual. she didnt want to overdo it. after all, she didnt know what to expect. it had been a long ti - probably too long - and ny different thinguld have happened, even things she didnt want to sider.
she looked down and saw her hands wer&a;a;lt;big&a;a;gt;..&a;a;lt;/big&a;a;gt;e shaking, and she laughed to herself. it was strange; she wasnt norlly this nervous. like lon, she had always been fident, even as a child. she reered that it had been a probleat tis, especially wheed, because it had intidated st of the boys her age.
she found her pocketbook and car keys, then picked up the rookey. she tur over in her hand uple of tis, thinking, you’ve e this far, dont give up now, and alst left then, but instead sat on the bed again. she checked her watch.
alst six oclock. she knew she had to leave in a few nutes - she didnt want to arrive after dark, but she needed a little re ti.
&a;a;a;quot;da,&a;a;a;quot; she whispered, &a;a;a;quot;what ai doing here? i shouldnt be here. theres no reason for it,&a;a;a;quot; but once she said it she k wasnt true. there was sothing here.
if nothing else, she would have her answer.
she opened her pocketbook and thued through it until she ca to a folded-up piece of neer. after taking it out slowly, alst reverently, being careful not to rip it, she unfolded it and stared at it for a while. &a;a;a;quot;this is why,&a;a;a;quot; she finally said to herself, &a;a;a;quot;this is what its all about.&a;a;a;quot;
noah got up at five and kayaked (lightweight single-person oe which is propelled by a double-bladed paddle (developed by the eski) for an hour up brices creek, as he usually did. when he finished, he ged into his work clothes, ward so biscuits frothe day befrabbed uple of apples, and washed his breakfast down with two cups offee.
he worked on the feng again, repairing st of the posts that . it was indian suer (period of unusually warweather ie autu or early winter (in north arica) , the teerature hty degrees, and by lunchti he was hot and tired and glad for the break.
he ate at the creek because the llets were juing. he liked to watch theju three or four tis and glide through the air before vanishing into the brackish (of water) sowhat salty) water. for so reason he had always been pleased by the fact that their instinct hadnt ged for thousands, ybe tens of thousands, of years.
sotis he wondered if ns instincts had ged in that ti and always cluded that they hadnt. at least in the basic, st pril ways. as far as huld tell, n had always been aggressive, always striving to d to trol the world and everything in it. the war in europe and japan proved that.
he quit w a little after three and walked to a sll shed that sat near his dock. he went in, found his fishing pole, uple of lures, and so live crickets he kept on hand, then walked out to the dock, baited his hook, and cast his line.
fishing always de hirefle his life, and he did it now. after his ther died, huld reer spending his days in a dozen different hos, and for one reason or another, he stuttered badly as a child and was teased for it. he began to speak less and less, and by the age of five, he wouldnt speak at all. whearted classes, his teachers thought he was retarded a he be pulled out of school.
instead, his father took tters into his own hands. he kept hiin school and afterward de hie to the lueryard, where he worked, to haul and stack wood. &a;a;a;quot;its good that we spend so ti together,&a;a;a;quot; he would say as they worked side by side, &a;a;a;quot;just likedaddy and i did.&a;a;a;quot;
during their ti together, his father would talk about birds and anils or tell stories and legends on to north carolina. within a few nths noah eaking again, though not well, and his father decided to teach hito read with books of poetry. &a;a;a;quot;learn to read this aloud and youll be able to say anything you want to.&a;a;a;quot; his father had been right again, and by the following year, noah had lost his stutter. but he tio go to the lueryard every day sily because his father was there, and in the evenings he would read the works of whitn and tennyson aloud as his father rocked beside hi he had been reading poetry ever since.
whe a little older, he spent st of his weekends and vacations alone. he explored the croatan forest in his first oe, following brices creek for twenty les until huld go no farther, then hiked the reining les to thast.
caing and expl beca his passion, and he spent hours in the forest, sittih blackjack oak trees, whistling quietly, and playing his guitar for beavers and geese and wild blue herons. poets khat isolation in nature, far fropeople and things n-de, was good for the soul, and hed always identified with poets.
although he was quiet, years of heavy lifting at the lueryard helped hiexcel in sports, and his athletic suess led to popularity. he ehe football gas and track ets, and though st of his teaates spent their free ti together as well, he rarely joihe an oasional person found hiarrogant; st sily figured he had grown up a bit faster than everyone else. he had a few girlfriends in school, but none had ever de an iression on hi
except for one. and she ca after graduation. allie. his allie.
he reered talking to fin about allie after theyd left the festival that first night, and fin had laughed. then hed de two predis: first, that they would fall in love, ahat it wouldnt work out.
there was a slight tug at his line and noah hoped for a largeuth bass, but the tuggiually stopped, and after reeling his line in and cheg the bait, he cast again.
fin ended up being right on both ts. most of the suer, she had to ke excuses to her parents whehey wao see each other. it wasnt that they didnt like hi- it was that he was froa different class, too poor, and they would never approve if their daughter beca serious with soone like hi &a;a;a;quot;i dont care whatparents think, i love you and always will,&a;a;a;quot; she would say. &a;a;a;quot;well find a way to be together.&a;a;a;quot;
but in the end theuldnt. by early septeer the tob had been harvested and she had no choice but to return with her faly to winston-sale &a;a;a;quot;only the suer is over, allie, not us,&a;a;a;quot; hed said the she left. &a;a;a;quot;well never be over.&a;a;a;quot; but they were. for a reason he didnt fully uand, the letters he wrote went unanswered.
eventually he decided to leave new bern to help get her off his nd, but also because the depression de earning a living in new bern alst iossible. he went first to norfolk and worked at a shipyard for six nths before he was laid off, then ved to new jersey because hed heard the ey wasnt so bad there.
he eventually found a job in a scrap yard, separating scrap tal froeverything else. the owner, a jewish n nad moldn, was i olleg as ch scrap tal as huld, vihat a war was going to start in europe and that arica would be dragged in again. noah, though, didnt care about the reason. he was just happy to have a job.
his years in the lueryard had toughened hito this type of labor, and he worked hard. not only did it help hikeep his nd off allie during the day, but it was sothing he felt he had to do. his daddy had always said: &a;a;a;quot;give a days work for a days pay. anything less is stealing. that attitude pleased his boss. &a;a;a;quot;its a sha you arent jewish,&a;a;a;quot; goldn would say, &a;a;a;quot;you’re such a fine boy in so ny other ways.&a;a;a;quot; it was the best plint golduld give.
he tio think about allie, especially at night. he wrote her once a nth but never received a reply. eventually he wrote a final letter and forced hielf to aept the fact that the suer theyd spent with one another was the only thing theyd ever share.
still, though, she stayed with hi three years after the last letter, he went to winston-salein the hope of finding her. he went to her house, dvered that she had ved, and after talking to so neighbors, finally called rjr. the girl who answered the phone was new and didnt reize the na, but she poked around the personnel files for hi she found out that allies father had left the pany and that no f address was listed. that trip was the first and last ti he ever looked for her.
for theeight years, he worked foldn. at first he was one of twelve eloyees, but as the years dragged on, the pany grew, and he roted. by 1940 he had stered the business and was running the entire operation, br the deals and naging a staff of thirty. the yard had bee the largest scrap tal dealer on the east coast.
during that ti, he dated a few different won. he beca serious with one, a waitress frothe local diner with deep blue eyes and silky black hair. although they dated for two years and had ny good tis together, he never ca to feel the sa way about her as he did about allie.
but her did he fet her. she was a few years older than he was, and it was she who taught hithe ways to please a won, the places to toud kiss, where to lihe things to whisper. they would sotis spend aire day in bed, holding each other and king the kind of love that fully satisfied both of the
she had known they wouldogether forever. toward the end of their relationship shed told hionce, &a;a;a;quot;i wish uld give you what youre looking for, but i dont know what it is. theres a part of you that you keep closed off froeveryone, includis as if inot the one youre really with. your nd is on soone else.&a;a;a;quot;
he tried to deny it, but she didnt believe hi &a;a;a;quot;ia won - i know these things. when you look atsotis, i know youre seeing soone else. its like you keep waiting for her to pop out of thin air to take you away froall this ... &a;a;a;quot;
a nth later she visited hiat work and told hished t soone else. he uood.
they parted as friends, and the following year he received a postcard froher saying she was rried. he hadnt heard froher since.
while he was in new jersey, he would visit his father once a year around christs.
theyd spend so ti fishing and talking, and on a while theyd take a trip to thast to go caing oer藏书网 banks near ocke.
in deceer 1941, when he was twenty-six, the war began, just as goldn had predicted.
noah walked into his office the following nth and inford goldn of his io enlist, theuro new bern to say good-bye to his father. five weeks later he found hielf in boot ca. while there, he received a letter frogoldn thanking hifor his work, together with py of a certificate entitling hito a sll pertage of the scrap yard if it ever sold. &a;a;a;quot;uldnt have do without you,&a;a;a;quot; the letter said. &a;a;a;quot;youre the fi young n who ever worked for , even if you arent jewish.&a;a;a;quot;
he spent his hree years with pattons third ar, traing through deserts in north afrid forests in europe with thirty pounds on his back, his infantry unit never far froa. he watched his friends die around hi watched as so of thewere buried thousands of les froho. once, while hiding in a foxhole散兵坑he rhine, he igined he saw allie watg over hi
he reered the war ending in europe, then a few nths later in japan. just before he was discharged, he received a letter froa lawyer in new jersey representing moldn. upoing the lawyer, he found out that goldn had died a year earlier and his estate liquidated. the business had been sold, and noah was given a check for alst seventy thousand dollars. for so reason he was oddly ued about it.
the following week he returo new bern and bought the house. he reered bringing his father around later, showing hiwhat he was going to do, pointing out the ges he inteo ke. his father seed weak as he walked aroundughing and wheezing.
noah was ed, but his father told hinot to worry, assuring hithat he had the flu.
less than one nth later his father died of pneunia and was buried o his wife in the local cetery. noah tried to stop by regularly to leave so flowers; oasionally he left a note. and every night without fail he took a nt to reer hi then said a prayer for the n whod taught hieverything that ttered.
after reeling in the line, he put the gear away a back to the house. his neighbor, martha shaw, was there to thank hi bringing three loaves of hode bread and so biscuits in appreciation for what hed done.
her husband had been killed in the war, leaving her with three children and a tired shack of a house to raise thein. winter was ing, and hed spent a few days at her place last week repairing her roof, replag broken windows and sealing the others, and fixing her woodstove. hopefully, it would be enough to get thethrough.
once shed left, he got in his battered dodge trud went to see gus. he always stopped there when he was going to the store because guss faly didnt have a car.
one of the daughters hopped up and rode with hi and they did their shopping at capers general store. whe ho he didnt unpack the groceries right away. instead he showered, found a budweiser and a book by dylan thos, ao sit on the porch.
she still had trouble believing it, even as she held the proof in her hands. it had been in theher parents house three sundays ago. she had goo the kit to get a cup offee, and when shed returo the table, her father had sled and poi a sll picture.
&a;a;a;quot;reer this?&a;a;a;quot;
he handed her the paper, and after an ued first glance, sothing in the picture caught her eye and she took a closer look. &a;a;a;quot;it t be,&a;a;a;quot; she whispered, and when her father looked at her curiously, she ignored hi sat down, ahe article without speaking. she vaguely reered her to the table and sitting opposite her, and when she finally put aside the paper, her ther was staring at her with the sa expression her father had just nts before.
&a;a;a;quot;are you okay?&a;a;a;quot; her ther asked over heffee cup. &a;a;a;quot;you look a little pale.&a;a;a;quot; she didnt answer right away, shuldnt, and it was then that shed noticed her hands were shaking. that had bee started.
&a;a;a;quot;and here it will end, one way or the other,&a;a;a;quot; she whispered again. she refolded the scrap of paper and put it back, reering that she had left her parents ho later that day with the paper so shuld cut out the article. she read it again before she went to bed that night, trying to fathothe ce, and read it again theas if to ke sure the whole thing wasnt a drea and now, after three weeks of long walks alone, after three weeks of distra, it was the reason shed e.
when asked, she said her erratic behavior was due to stress. it was the perfect excuse; everyone uood, including lon, and thats why he hadnt argued when shed wao get away for uple of days. the wedding plans were stressful to everyone involved.
alst five hundred people were invited, including the governor, oor, and the aassador to peru. it was too ch, in her opinion, but their e was news and had dohe social pages sihey had annouheir plans six nths ago. oasionally she felt like running away with lon to get rried without the fuss. but she knew he wouldnt agree; like the aspiring politi he was, he loved being the ter of attention.
she took a deep breath and stood again. &a;a;a;quot;its now or never,&a;a;a;quot; she whispered, then picked up her things ao the door. she paused only slightly before opening it and going downstairs. the nager sled as she walked by, and shuld feel his eyes on her as she left ao her car. she slipped behind the wheel, looked at herself one last ti, then started the engine and turned right onto front street.
she wasnt surprised that she still knew her way around town so well. even though she hadnt been here in years, it wasnt large and she navigated the streets easily.
after crossing the trent river on an old-fashioned drawbridge (bridge whibsp; be drawn up or let down to pert or hinder free passage), she turned onto a gravel road and began the final leg of her journey.
it was beautiful here in the low try, as it always had been. uhe piednt area where she grew up, the land was flat, but it had the sa silty, fertile soil that was ideal fotton and tob. those two crops and tier kept the towns alive in this part of the state, and as she drove along the road outside town, she saw the beauty that had first attracted people to this region.
to her, it had all. broken sunlight passed through water oaks and hickory trees a hundred feet tall, illunating thlors of fall. on her left, a river thlor of iron veered toward the road and then turned away befiving up its life to a different, larger river another le ahead. the gravel road itself wound its way between antebellu(pre-civil war (in the usa); pre-world war i) far, and she khat for so of the farrs, life hadnt ged since before their grandparents were born. the stancy of the place brought back a flood of ries, and she felt her iighten as one by one she reized landrks shed long siten.
the sun hung just above the trees on her left, and as she rounded a curve, she passed an old church, abandoned for years but still standing. she had explored it that suer, looking for souvenirs frothe war betweeates, and as her car passed by, the ries of that day beca stronger, as if theyd just happened yesterday.
a jestic oak tree on the banks of the river ca into view , and the ries beca re inte looked the sa as it had back then, branches low and thick, stretg horizontally along the ground with spanish ss draped over the lis like a veil. she reered sittih the tree on a hot july day with soone who looked at her with a longing that took everything else away. and it had been at that nt that shed first fallen in love.
he was two years older than she was, and as she drove along this roadway-in-ti, he slowly ca into focus once again. he always looked older than he really was, she reered thinking. his appearance was that of soone slightly weathered, alst like a farr ing ho after hours in the field. he had the callused hands and broad shoulders that ca to those who worked hard for a living, and the first faint lines were beginning to foraround the dark eyes that seed to read her every thought.
he was tall and strong, with light brown hair, and handso in his own way, but it was his voice that she reered st of all. he had read to her that day; read to her as they lay in the grass beh the tree with an at that was soft and fluent, alst sical in quality. it was the kind of voice that belonged on radio, and it seed to hang in the air when he read to her. she reered closing her eyes, listening closely, aing the words he was reading touch her soul: iaxesto the vapor and the dusk.
i depart as air, i shakewhite locks at the runaway sun...
he thued through old books with dog-eared pages, books hed read a huis.
hed read for a while, then stop, and the two of thewould talk. she would tell hiwhat she wanted in her life - her hopes and drea for the future - and he would listen ily and then prose to ke it all e true. and the way he said it de her believe hi and she khen how ch he ant to her. oasionally, when she asked, he would talk about hielf or explain why he had chosen a particular poeand what he thought of it, and at other tis he just studied her in that intense way of his.
they watched the sun go down and ate together uhe stars. it was getting late by then, and she knew her parents would be furious if they knew where she was. at that nt, though, it really didnt tter to her. all shuld think about was how special the day had been, how special he was, and as they started toward her house a few nutes later, he took her hand in his and she felt the way it ward her the whole way back.
aurn in the road and she finally saw it in the distahe house had ged dratically frowhat she reered. she slowed the car as she approached, turning into the long, tree-lined dirt drive that led to the bea that had suoned her froraleigh.
she drove slowly, looking toward the house, and took a deep breath when she saw hion the porch, watg her car. he was dressed casually. froa distance, he looked the sa as he had back then. for a nt, when the light frothe sun was behind hi he alst seed to vanish into the sery.
her car tinued forward, rolling slowly, then finally stopped beh an oak tree that shaded the front of the house. she turhe key, aking her eyes frohi and the engine sputtered to a halt.
he stepped off the pord began to approach her, walking easily, then suddenly stoppeld as she erged frothe car. for a long ti all theuld do was stare at each other without ving.
allison nelson, twenty-nine years old and engaged, a socialite, searg for answers she o know, and noah calhoun, the drear, thirty-one, visited by the ghost that had e to donate his life.
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