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The chatter and chaos of new arrivals ensued, but they paused long enough to wave goodbye to Gus, who said he’d be back at two thirty unless he heard otherwise.
“Annie Casson, you really popped out,” Rose said. “I didn’t notice on the boat, but my goodness! You’re such a little thing, too.”
“Yeah, the doc said that’s why I’m so big. It’s all out here.” She held her hands out away from her body.
“Quick, let’s get you off this dock. When I was going to have Maggie and we came to visit, my mother wouldn’t let me sit on the dock because if a gator crawled under it, I’d lose my baby.”
“Mother, for God’s sake!”
“I’ve had two kids here in Cypress Cove, and that’s an old wives’ tale,” Calista said.
“It’s awful,” Maggie replied.
“Oh, we definitely lived a different life back then,” Rose said. “You won’t appreciate your freedom fully until you have a child of your own.”
“I’m not sure what having a kid has to do with it,” Maggie said, wishing her mother would be quiet.
“I never had a child, so I can’t vouch,” Aunt Elizabeth explained, “but I remember my sister, Greta being pregnant with Rose and all the preparations to keep her safe.”
“Like what?” Katrina asked.
“Every night, my dad, Lonnie Landry, lined up thirteen pennies at the door. Folklore said werewolves could only count to twelve, so once they got to the thirteenth penny, they’d start over again and count all night until daybreak when they’d have to flee.”
“Werewolves?”
“They were a thing here in the cove,” Aunt Elizabeth said.
“They still are,” Calista said.
“He did it every night no matter what,” Rose said.
“Well, that does it for me,” Maggie muttered, rolling her eyeballs at Katrina. “Are you hungry?”
She’d set out pitchers of ice water, iced tea and of orange juice and had coffee ready.
“I don’t believe in old wives’ tales,” Annie said.
“You should,” Rose said, wide-eyed.
Annie, Maggie and Katrina looked at her, surprised.
“I’ve known you all my life,” Katrina said. “And I never thought you were superstitious. You’ve never said a thing about it.”
“Really, Mom, Kat’s right. You never raised me with any of that as far as I could tell, but I could be wrong. Maybe that’s why I’m so weird.”
“Ha! Maybe. Your father wouldn’t hear of it,” Rose said. “I did things so he didn’t know, closing the shades at night so the moon rays wouldn’t get on you.”
“We should base behavior on science,” Katrina said. “Alphé’s mother reads palms, if you can believe it. She takes money for it, which right off the bat makes me suspicious.”
“It’s true,” Calista said. “At all the festivals, people line up down the street to have their palms read by the great Mae Beaumont.”
The conversation intrigued Annie though and she wanted to hear more. While they ate, Rose and Elizabeth regaled them with stories of the efforts people who lived in the bayou made to stay safe from werewolves and vampires, alligators and the devil.
“I don’t believe any of it,” Maggie said, thinking that if she ever had a child, she might think twice before she allowed her mother to care for it. “Curses and all that don’t belong anywhere near a pregnant mother and a new baby. We need to sage Annie now.”
“There you go!” Rose shouted. “That’s superstition, too.”
“I don’t care. At least it’s positive.”
