After enjoying second and third helpings of their veritable Thanksgiving feast, everyone pitched in to clear the table, store the leftovers, and wash, dry, and put away all the pots, pans, and other dishes that couldn’t fit into the dishwasher. Tidying the dining room and kitchen took well over an hour, but even then, everyone still felt too full to eat dessert.
“Let’s take Pepper for a walk on the beach,” Natalie suggested. But Marion pointed out that the little animal was too tuckered from his earlier excursion.
“To be honest, I’m a little tired, too. I could use a nap,” she admitted. “Why don’t you all go without us, and when we reconvene, we’ll have pie?”
“The guys probably want to watch the game. I’ll take the children to the beach,” said Jeannine. “Do you want to come with us or are you a football fan, Caitlin?”
“I’d love to go with you.”
“Me, too,” said Shane.
“Really?” objected Darren. “You know you’re making me look bad for staying behind, don’t you?”
“Sorry, man,” he replied. “But if my team’s not playing, I’m not watching.”
So Jeannine, Caitlin, Shane, and the three children set off down the street and through the woods behind the cottages. They descended the staircase and at the bottom, Jordan urged his siblings, “Let’s go this way this time!”
As they headed south, toward the inlet, a surge of panic filled Caitlin’s heart. She hadn’t been to that part of the beach—where Nicole had drowned—in twenty years. Could she really go there now? But then she decided she’d be too distracted by watching the kids and conversing with Jeannine and Shane to dwell on what happened to Nicole there.
The tide was out, so the children wove their way through the maze of long, narrow tidal pools while the adult slowly strolledalong the drier sand, chatting about Jeannine’s work as a part-time nurse. She was interrupted by her daughter’s screams; the boys seemed to be ganging up to throw seaweed at their sister. Jeannine cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted at them to stop, but when they continued, she said, “Excuse me, I need to put an end to this before it escalates.”
She broke into a sprint and soon she was a hundred yards away. Shane and Caitlin continued to hug the shoreline. As they approached the “end” of the beach where the river would divide Lucy’s Ham from Benjamin’s Manor when the tide came in, Caitlin spotted a bench overlooking the inlet.
“Hey, look, that was never there when I was a teenager. I’ll race you to it.”
Shane groaned. “Let me save you the effort. You win, I concede. I’m so stuffed I can hardly move.”
“That’s exactly why you need to pick up your pace,” Caitlin called over her shoulder, as she began to jog. “It’s good for digestion.”
“Show-off!” he shouted, making no attempt to catch up with her.
When she neared the bench, she noticed what looked like a slanted, waist-high table in front of it.Oh, cool, it’s a plaque of some sort, she realized.
But when Caitlin drew closer, she gasped to see the plaque was superimposed with a large photo of a ballerina. Her dark hair was pulled into a sleek bun. Wearing a white, gauzy dress that looked more like a nightgown, the young dancer was striking an Arabesque pose. Although her face was only shown in profile, Caitlin immediately recognized the girl was Nicole, even before she read her name and the dates of her birth and death beneath the photo.
Her breath was coming in quick puffs and Caitlin gripped a corner of the plaque as she read the inscription:
The tidal river you see 25 yards in front of you during high tide may appear shallow and gentle, but the current is unpredictable. It can turn swift and strong without warning, knocking waders off their feet. When the tide is ebbing, the current has the potential to pull a child or small adult out to sea. When the tide is coming in, it can push them toward the marsh.
Even the most experienced swimmers may have difficulty keeping their heads above water, which is what happened to Nicole Dixon, a young, beautiful ballerina visiting Dune Island on a family vacation. Unfortunately, despite the heroic efforts of two bystanders, they couldn’t rescue Nicole and she died.
Nicole’s family and the Dune Island community urge you to exercise caution. If you must enter the tidal river, please only go in ankle-deep, and use the buddy system. Taking extra care could save your life and spare your loved ones the grief of losing you.
Caitlin clutched her sides and staggered backward. Reading the plaque was like hearing Nicole’s grandmother all over again, and she was overcome with grief and sadness.Nicole had so much talent, so many dreams.It’s unfathomable that she’ll never go to college or travel or have a career…
“Hey, there,” Shane said softly, touching her arm. “You okay?”
She’ll never fall in love and get married…Nicole is gone. Her life is over.
“I-I-I have a stomach ache.”
“Maybe you should sit down?”
“No. I need to go to my cottage.”
“Sure. We’ll take it slow.”
“I want to go alone—I need to be by myself. Please don’t follow me,” she pleaded. “And tell Marion I’m sorry I can’t comeback for…” Too nauseated to say the wordpie, Caitlin didn’t finish the sentence.
