Summer

by Michelle Zoetemeyer

  Maggie accepted the joint graciously. She used Peter's Zippo to light the twisted end before inhaling the pungent smoke, taking it deep into her lungs and holding it, then exhaling slowly. She resisted the urge to cough, holding the second drag even longer than the first. She passed the joint to Peter who took a couple of deep drags before returning it to her.

  They passed the joint to and fro until it was nothing more than a screwed up bit of paper. “Oh man, this feels good,” Maggie exclaimed, now under the weed’s euphoric spell. She loved being high; the world was a much nicer place. It heightened her senses and made even the most mundane appear magical. Like the moth flapping about in the light of the candle, one moment close enough to burn its wings, the next circling around and around, shattering the light and casting fragments of brightness against the dark night.

  She watched as the last of the day’s tension drained from Peter's face, restoring his image to its former glory. And he was glorious too, thought Maggie; she had loved him for so long now that she sometimes forgot that fact. Peter sensed her scrutiny and turned to face her. He reached out and tenderly stroked her face, “You okay?” he asked gently.

  Maggie nodded.

  “Me too,” he said.

  Her desire to wander out into the night even stronger now that she was stoned, Maggie asked Peter to walk with her.

  “Where would you like to go?” he asked.

  “Down by the creek,” she said, not giving the matter a second thought.

  While Peter went inside to get his shoes, Maggie waited for him on the lawn. The evening was still quite warm, despite the late hour and Mike had told her that tomorrow was going to be another hot one. Thinking of Mike, she smiled. Her chance encounter with him earlier that day had proven to be invaluable. She was only sorry she never got to thank him for it.

  Maggie took Peter's hand and together they walked slowly in the direction of the creek. The moon had risen, enabling them to see a little bit of their surroundings, but they took it easy nonetheless. In their heightened state, the extra care they took not to trip in the dark made the short journey quite long. Neither of them minded though, they were both content to just be together.

  When they got closer to the edge of the creek, Maggie took the lead and guided Peter carefully down its sloping banks. “Watch your step on the log,” she warned, “it was dry yesterday, but it might be wet now.”

  Peter took Maggie’s advice and let go of her hand in order to balance himself properly. When Maggie stopped midway across the bridge and sat down, he did the same. They dangled their feet over the edge of the tree. It was too dark to see the creek below, but the gentle babble of water running over rocks let them know it was there.

  At first neither of them spoke, and then when one of them did, it was Peter. “You know how you’re always saying how nice it would have been to have grown up together?” he asked.

  Maggie nodded, “Uh huh.”

  “Well, I can kind of imagine what it would have been like, sitting here with you, dangling our feet over the edge like this,” Peter swung his legs back and forth, “I reckon this is the kind of place where we would have been happy to hang out, don’t you?” Peter pointed to a nearby tree, “I mean look around us, take that tree for example; I can imagine you as a tomboy, climbing that tree. You were probably even good at it too.”

  Maggie laughed, “I was a lousy climber actually. My mother used to have kittens whenever I went near a tree. She had her own ideas on what little girls should be doing for recreation, and I can assure you it didn’t involve climbing trees or playing around in the bush with boys.”

  “I bet it did involve dolls though, right?” Peter joked.

  “Yep, it sure did,” she laughed.

  Peter screwed up his face in sympathy with Maggie and her mum’s idea of fun. “Well it’s never too late to learn how to climb trees.”

  ***

  Later that night, after having shared another joint and exhausted an array of topics, Maggie and Peter lay on a blanket staring up at the stars. “What about that?” Peter asked, trailing his fingers along the inside of Maggie’s forearm, light as a feather.

  She squirmed and pulled away laughing. “Stop! That tickles.”

  “And that?” he let his fingers trail all the way up her arm and gently traced around the outline of her breast.

  “Mmm, that feels better,” she confirmed.

  “And that?” he encircled her hard nipple before gently massaging it back and forth between thumb and forefinger.

  This time she giggled. “You know I like that.”

  Peter propped himself up on his elbow and looked down into her face, he planted a kiss on her forehead. “And I know you like this,” he added, leaning down to take her nipple into his mouth.

  Maggie let Peter nuzzle her breasts for a while, before pushing him back on his back and tucking herself under his arm, snuggling in close. The warmth from his body felt nice after the cool night air.

  Maggie swatted a mosquito away. “Ready to go inside?” she asked. She had no idea what time it was. It felt as though they had spent most of the night on the blanket, their naked bodies soaking up the starlight, until the stars no longer shone as brightly.

  “In a minute, I just want to stay out here a little longer,” Peter ran his hand down Maggie’s back.

  Maggie snuggled in closer, as the sun’s first rays brightened the night sky.

  Chapter 64

  Thursday, 19 December 1968

  “What time do you want to get away?” Peter asked.

  Maggie had carried the small wooden card table out onto the veranda so that she could lie out her Tarot spread. She ran her hands over its smooth surface, tracing its patina of use with her fingers. It was the first opportunity she’d had to do a reading since getting the cards on Tuesday, and since they were not in a hurry to go anywhere, she was happy to put Peter off for a while.

  “When I’m done here, Babe; we can go then. I shouldn’t be too long. I just want to have a go at doing a reading.”

  At the mention of a reading, Peter stuck his head around the door. “That’s okay, take your time,” he said. He knew how eager she was to study her cards, “I’ll be outside washing my car.”

  Maggie smiled. He’d only had the car two days and he was washing it already. She didn’t bother telling him that he was wasting his time and that as soon as they went for their drive, it would get filthy again, especially if he took it all the way to the lookout as he was suggesting. The road was dirt almost all the way.

  She picked up the cards and slowly shuffled them back and forth, taking her time to infuse the cards with her energy, she touched each of them in turn in the hope that they might connect with her spirit. Having never laid out a Tarot spread before, Maggie decided to rely on the book. As a first attempt, she chose to do a simple reading and did as the book instructed.

  First she shuffled the deck thoroughly, then she split it into three piles before rearranging the stacks in a different order one on top of the other. Taking the first three cards from the pile, Maggie laid them face down, side by side, from left to right. According to the book, the card on her left represented the past, the middle one represented the present, and the one on her right, the future.

  With very little knowledge of what the cards meant, Maggie held the book in her hand, ready to look up the first card she turned over. It was the Two of Cups. The picture on the card depicted a man and woman facing each other, holding hands with a cup in each of their free hands. Above them a winged, lion-headed creature looked down. According to the book, the Two of Cups was a good card to turn up, especially if the reading had to do with a relationship. The card represented commitment, interest in one another, closeness and sharing. It also signified a spiritual connection and a sense of soul-relatedness.

  Thinking about the cards’ meaning Maggie was comfortable that she had turned up a card that accurately represented her past. She wasn’t really sure what to expect when sh
e set out on her journey to learn more about the Tarot, but the fact that she was able to relate to the first card gave her the confidence to continue.

  Before she turned over her second card, she flicked through the book, randomly selecting a card here and a card there to read about. She wanted to reassure herself that it wasn’t simply the case that all the cards had something meaningful to say, but it was apparent after reading only a handful of them that very few had any relevance to her current situation. Even after she scanned the meanings of many cards, she came across none that described her and Peter's relationship quite as well as the Two of Cups.

  Except for maybe the Lovers. The picture on that card showed a man and woman holding their hands out beside them, no hint of shame between them despite their nakedness. When she saw the card, she was immediately reminded of the other night when she and Peter had laid under the stars together, naked. The book described the Lovers as a card for Geminis. Both her and Peter shared the star sign Gemini, and although people often misunderstood the twins as having a split personality, Maggie believed that the duality of the Lovers described them best. It supported her view that without Peter she was incomplete; that she was the sum of them both, male and female.

  In the end, she decided that the Lovers card would have been a more appropriate card to turn up as her future card. It talked about new relationships or a new stage in an existing relationship, whereas the Two of Cups described the relationship they had shared until now. She didn’t bother trying to analyse the workings of the Tarot, like most things of a spiritual nature, Maggie had learned that there were always more questions than answers. So, instead of challenging the matter further, she turned over her second card. It was the Queen of Pentacles.

  In the spread she had selected, the card was supposed to reflect her current situation; the here and now. It showed a queen sitting upon her throne, her head bowed in quiet contemplation, a single pentacle in her hand. The image immediately reminded Maggie of herself, especially these past few days. She had come to the cottage to contemplate her relationship with Peter, and although the Queen that sat before her looked far more calm than Maggie had felt, she felt that her appearance was significant nonetheless. In Maggie’s mind, the green foliage with the red roses surrounding her, and the rabbit at her feet, were a reflection of the cottage and all its earthly wonders.

  The book confirmed that the Queen of Pentacles was indeed an earthy person. She was described as being at home in the countryside, just as Maggie was at Bellbird Cottage. Supposedly a patient person, something that Maggie was not, the Queen of Pentacles was a reliable, down to earth, practical person, especially when approaching relationships. While Maggie felt that a link existed between her and the woman in the card, it was the last line of the description that caught her attention and confirmed the connection with her current situation.

  The book said that the Queen of Pentacles was someone who understood that “passion lasts a night, whereas friendship lasts a lifetime.”

  While Maggie believed that passion could last longer than a night, she understood the intent of the message clearly. After all, had it not been something that she had only just come to understand fully after her encounter with Mike. It was also that eventual understanding that had led her to comprehend what Peter had been experiencing.

  With the third card still face down, Maggie was becoming excited. So far the cards had been uncannily accurate, making the third and final card all the more intriguing. The last card represented her future, and although Maggie had a good feeling about her and Peter's life together, she was eager to see what the cards revealed.

  She turned it over slowly; her breath caught in her throat as the image of a skeleton dressed in black knightly armour appeared. It was mounted on horseback, and carried a black flag with a white rose emblazoned on it. In front of the white horse, two small children knelt in prayer and a religious character, perhaps a bishop, stood before it and also prayed. In the distance, a single boat floated on a river. Atop a hill, the sun shone between two towers. Despite the yellow sun in the background, the card had a very bleak and solemn mood to it; Maggie knew it represented death before she even read the words at its base or saw the number thirteen printed on the card.

  Thirteen was usually a lucky number for Maggie, her and Peter had met on the thirteenth and later married on the thirteenth of October, but the ominous look of the card before her made Maggie’s heart start inexplicably. Almost too afraid to read the card’s meaning, a big smile crossed Maggie’s face when she learned that the card very rarely represented the death of a person. In contrast, the Death card appeared to be more about life than death. The book explained that when the Death card was turned up in a reading, it usually meant the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one. It represented a time for change and the natural transformation of life. For every end, the book said, there was a new beginning.

  Maggie liked the idea of a new beginning. It was exactly what she and Peter needed.

  ***

  The look of disappointment on Maggie’s face was sufficient to indicate to Peter that Stephen was not coming. “Well?” he asked, as soon as she replaced the receiver.

  She shook her head, “He said he has a few things on before Christmas, but that he would catch the train up after Boxing Day. He’s going to take my car back with him, that way I can come home with you.”

  “What else did he say?” Peter pressed her. He had told Maggie about his conversations with Stephen and she had assured him that he would come around in his own time. At times, Peter felt that Maggie knew his son better than he did. On this occasion, he hoped that it was the case, and that Maggie was right about Stephen. He figured that if Maggie had managed to forgive him, and he knew that she had, then perhaps his son would find it within himself to forgive as well.

  Maggie sensed Peter's disappointment also. “Hey babe,” she kissed the back of his hand, “stop worrying about it, he’ll come around. He just needs to come to that point on his own.”

  Peter nodded, he knew she was right, but it made him sad nonetheless. He never should have left things so badly between them, but then, looking at Maggie’s face, he knew that the decision to come to the cottage had been the right one. “Here,” Peter held out his hand for the phone, “I better give Michelle a call. Hopefully, we’ll have better luck with her than we did with her brother.”

  Maggie smiled as she handed him the phone, then waited while he dialled Bea’s number. After a short conversation with Bea, Peter handed the phone back to Maggie and relieved her of her shoulder bag. While he dug around in her bag for a pen and something to write on, Maggie chatted with her aunt.

  “She’s hardly ever home these days,” Bea informed her, “but you’re bound to catch her on this number.” Then, before Maggie could ask her whose number it was Bea was reading out a string of numbers. Maggie took the pen and paper from Peter and wrote down the phone number that Bea assured her would put her in contact with her daughter. They said their goodbyes and promised to catch up on the twenty-second.

  Maggie dialled the number that was scrawled before her. “Hello,” said a male voice. She assumed it was Paul. “Hi, can I speak with Michelle please?” she asked politely.

  “Sure,” said the voice, “I’ll just get her for you.”

  Maggie gave Peter the thumbs up while she waited for Michelle to come to the phone.

  “Shelby!” Paul called. “Shelby, it’s for you!”

  A short spell later, Michelle’s voice came on the line, “Hello?”

  “Shelby?” Maggie asked playfully, “I thought for a minute I had the wrong number.

  “No, you have the right number, Paul always calls me Shelby. His sister is also named Michelle, so there’s less confusion this way.”

  “I suppose I could get used to it,” admitted Maggie.

  “Where are you calling from?” Michelle interrupted. “I tried your place a number of times over the past few days, but no one ever picks
up.”

  Maggie explained that she had come to the cottage earlier than planned. When Michelle asked if Peter was there with her, Maggie told her that he was. It took some of the concern out of Michelle’s voice.

  After a short conversation, Maggie handed the phone to Peter. “Hey, how’s my little girl?” he asked.

  Peter spoke for a few minutes more and then joined Maggie outside. “Looks like we’re on for the twenty-second,” he announced.

  “Is Shelby coming to Bea’s too?” she asked, taking the opportunity to enunciate Michelle’s new name.

  “Nope,” Peter shook his head, “I told her that we’d go there for lunch first, and catch up with Bea afterwards. Paul’s place isn’t that far from Bea’s, so we should have plenty of time to visit them both. And,” he added with a mischievous grin, “that should still get us home, and in bed, by a reasonable hour.” Maggie smiled. “Besides,” he added, “I got the impression that she wanted to see us without Bea there.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  Peter shrugged, “Who knows, maybe she has some news for us.”

  “Yeah,” said Maggie, “and maybe she’s just sick of having her old great-aunt hanging around.”

  They both laughed. “So,” she reminded him, “that means we still have almost three whole days together – alone – before we have to leave the cottage again.”

  Peter smiled at Maggie knowingly. He reached out and grabbed her. As he pulled her into his arms, he asked, “And what do you have in mind, dare I ask?”

  “You may,” she said, holding out her hand for his car keys, “you promised me a drive, remember.”

  He made a show of thinking about his response, almost as though he didn’t trust her with his new car. “Don’t worry,” she said with a grin, as she sunk into the driver’s seat and slipped the car into gear, “I’ll be as easy on her as I will be on you later.”

  She could have sworn she heard him groan as she put her foot down and drove off.