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Back The Nest Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Copyright page
  3. Introduction by Will Errickson
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. TREMORS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. SUSPICIONS
  13. 1
  14. 2
  15. 3
  16. 4
  17. 5
  18. DREAD
  19. 1
  20. 2
  21. 3
  22. 4
  23. 5
  24. 6
  25. WITNESS
  26. 1
  27. 2
  28. 3
  29. ALERT
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. ENCOUNTER
  36. 1
  37. 2
  38. 3
  39. 4
  40. 5
  41. 6
  42. HAVOC
  43. 1
  44. 2
  45. 3
  46. 4
  47. 5
  48. 6
  49. SEARCH
  50. 1
  51. 2
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 5
  55. CLASH
  56. 1
  57. 2
  58. 3
  59. 4
  60. 5
  61. 6
  62. 7
  63. COUNTERATTACK
  64. 1
  65. 2
  66. 3
  67. 4
  68. 5
  69. 6
  70. 7
  71. VICTORY
  72. 1
  73. 2
  74. 3
  75. 4
  76. 5
  77. 6
  78. 7
  79. 8
  80. 9
  81. EPILOGUE
  82. About the Author

Meantime along her way there were the familiar and beloved old friends. There was the poverty grass, so named because it grew only in poor soil. It was usually found on the dunes, but there were patches of it here and there around the island, a welcoming mossy carpet of silver green. From nearby houses along the lanes she passed came the distinctive fragrance of boxwood. There was the crisp bayberry plant, too, its berries a gray-­green color that glistened to gold although the sky was cloudy again this morning.

On the path, Elizabeth saw a beautiful conch shell. Some child must have dropped it, perhaps when the people had hurried to the evacuation ferries. She tried to shake that thought out of her head. They would be coming home soon, it would do no one any good to dwell on what had happened. Picking up the conch, Elizabeth smiled as it reminded her of the captain telling how he and his fellows had used these shells as horns when they were young fishermen out in dories blowing signals to the mother ship.

The pink lavender of beach peas invited Elizabeth Carr, and among nearby junipers she made out a flower whose name she had loved best as a child—the “pearly everlasting.” She had thought that should be the name for the inside of oyster shells, which truly shone like pearls.

On her left, Elizabeth recognized the very same blueberry bushes from which she had so often come home with a happily smeared face. The fleabane plant was across the lane, supposed to keep away fleas—which she, thankfully, had never acquired.

Elizabeth stopped near the top of the climb to enjoy a stand of beach plums. How many times she had stood on this very spot, mouth and eyes wide in wonder at the sight in the flowering season. Their blooming had put to shame the celebrated Japanese cherry blossoms she later knew along the Potomac.

She turned at the top of the hill to look back down the path she had come, taking in gratefully the variegated flowers, the neat houses, the tidy village centering on the harbor. The sky was a stretched gray canvas, but the clouds were light and slow-­moving this morning. The sea seemed calm. The well-­known streets, stores, and landmarks were reminders of her childhood security on Yarkie. Tears came to Elizabeth Carr’s eyes. How, how could the horror of the past days have happened amid this peace! Thank God it was all over.

5

FIVE

The New Place was quiet. There was much to be taken in, fresh ways to be dealt with. There was the strength of rebirth, but at the same time the weakness of lack of independent experience. There was little motion, some fluttering of antennae, but mostly it was a time to rest, to let new balances become established.