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me the canoe today," he said. "You can break it in for
me, Gabriel. Take it out and put it through the paces,
hear?"
"Yes, Daddy." I tried to contain my excitement.
Would Pierre appear with his father? Would he be
back that much sooner? How would I act? Would I
reveal our secret love? Would Mama sense something
even if I did nothing?
Late one morning toward the end of the week,
three big cars appeared and the men from New
Orleans stepped out. My heart skipped a beat. I had
been waiting with a feverish insanity since I had
awoken, but I wasn't disappointed. Pierre was among
them.
Earlier we had had a downpour, but now the
feather-brushed storm clouds were far off on the
horizon and the sun had already dried the leaves and
the grass. Daddy greeted Monsieur Dumas excitedly,
and Monsieur Dumas introduced Daddy to the other
hunters. As they spoke, Pierre remained in the
background, glancing my way from time to time with
a tiny smile on his lips. Because of the hour at which
they arrived, it was decided Mama and I would feed
the men first. They sat at our outside tables and we
brought our shrimp etoufee, duck and oyster gumbo,
Mama's homemade bread, and wine. It was an
exquisite torture for me to serve Pierre without
revealing my true feelings for him. I tried not to look
at him because I felt the eyes of all the men on me. "Your daughter is quite pretty, monsieur,"
Pierre's father remarked to Daddy. He grunted, looked
