Sea Change
Page 42
We sat on one of the dock’s benches and looked up at the sky, painted with stars that had shone for thousands of years in their same constellations. Generations before us had guided their ships and wished upon these same stars, and I found myself wondering whether Pamela and Geoffrey had ever sat in this same spot and looked up at the sky that never changed while the earth revolved beneath it.
“Dr. Hirsch called today,” I said. “He wanted to let me know that they’re shipping Dr. Enlow’s remains to England to be interred next to his wife. He’s also releasing Georgina’s remains so that she can be buried in the Frazier plot at Christ Church. Next to Pamela’s new marker.” Beloved wife and mother. I had thought to add a verse to Pamela’s stone, but then I realized that the epitaph I’d chosen said everything Pamela would have wanted the world to know.
I’d been to the cemetery often after my discovery of the identity of my biological parents and my twin sister. It had brought me comfort to lay to rest the enduring presence by my side that had given me reassurance since birth. I hadn’t felt the need to collect other people’s photographs, or felt Jennifer near me since the night I’d learned about the fire, as if we both knew it was time to say good-bye.
Matthew kissed my temple, and I leaned into him. “I’m glad to know Thomas is finally going home,” he said. Then he lifted my left hand, and I felt something cool slide over my knuckle above my gold wedding band. It fit perfectly.
I raised my hand to see better in the twinkling light and saw a familiar gold ring. My eyes met Matthew’s.
“John gave it back to me. Said it wasn’t his to keep.”
Carefully, I slid Pamela’s ring off my finger, then held it up to the light. The band felt heavy in my hand, like a bridge of years that carried with it the hope and love of those who’d gone before. Matthew took the ring from me and slid it on my finger again, and I imagined I could feel the word “Forever” pressed against my skin. I lifted my hand to the light, feeling like the ring had always been there, and that I’d just been reunited with an old friend. “Thank you,” I said, seeing the light in his eyes that rivaled that of the stars.
“It belongs to you,” he said softly. “I think it always has.” His kiss was long and deep, ending only at the sound of a wave of laughter coming from the party, reminding us that we needed to return.
“I almost forgot,” he said, sliding something out from his back pocket. “When I was vacuuming the inside of your car today, I found this.” He handed me a bifold glossy brochure that had been folded in half to fit in a pocket. “I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet, but I thought you might still want it.”
I blinked at it for a moment, then recognized the brochure for the Nathaniel Smith exhibit at the Savannah History Museum.
He continued. “It must have fallen between the seats. I was thinking that if it seemed interesting, we could take a big group down to Savannah tomorrow to do some sightseeing and maybe stop off at the museum.”
I took it from him, then held it under one of the paper lanterns to see better. I tapped the cover with my finger. “This portrait of Nathaniel must have been painted when he was an old man. I think that’s why he didn’t seem familiar to me when I first saw this.” I opened up the brochure and started skimming through the text and photos.
I paused at the first photo, a picture of a midwife’s kit. The instruments lay in their respective places on top of the leather wrap they would be rolled in. But there was one empty spot, indicating a missing tool. A perforator. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I could see the two-handled instrument with the sharp point at the end used to either break the water sac or to assist in the removal of a dead fetus in the days before cesarean sections. How did I know this? The skin tightened on my scalp as I saw Pamela on the beach, wishing she had her kit with her but feeling reassured because it was in Jemma’s care.
I jerked my head toward Matthew. “The skull that was found that we believe was Georgina’s—Tish said it had a small puncture wound, right?”
“Yes. Why?”
I looked down at the midwife’s tools, the glaring omission telling me more than any archaeological dig. I would never know for sure, but I felt sure that Jemma had tried to save Thomas’s life, and in doing so had taken Georgina’s.
“I’m not sure,” I said, still wary of how wide Matthew’s leap of faith had been. “Just thinking about something.” I smoothed my hand across the photo. “Did I tell you that Beth did research on Nathaniel Smith in Boston? The freed slave he brought up with him, Jemma, became a well-known and much sought-after midwife in the city.”
“Maybe they’ll have more about that in the museum.”
“I hope so,” I said, smiling to myself as I continued to skim through the brochure. I was halfway down the second page when I saw it.
“Look,” I said, pointing to the photograph of two miniature oil portraits in a silver double frame. The woman had dark hair and eyes, with a deep widow’s peak and a soft smile. I knew that face, just as much as I knew my own. Just as I’d known when I’d seen Adrienne’s sketch of the same woman. Pamela.
I read the caption out loud. “‘Geoffrey and Pamela Frazier, St. Simons Island, circa 1812. From the Nathaniel Smith collection, donated to the State of Georgia by the descendants of Mr. Smith’s ward, Robert Frazier, 1923.’”
I lifted the brochure higher, wanting to see the portrait of Geoffrey, and the air seemed to shatter around me. It’s you, I thought. I studied the eyes and saw that they were a brilliant blue, just like I remembered. I turned my face toward Matthew, seeing now the resemblance. Except for the color of the eyes, it could have been the same man.
Wherever you go, I will find you. I touched Matthew’s face as he studied my own, my heart singing in recognition. “You found me,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You found me,” I said again.
“Yes,” he whispered in my ear, and I wondered whether he’d understood, and knowing, too, that it didn’t matter. We had found each other.
I allowed myself to melt into him, aware of the falling night and the water around us like a womb, and the sky above watching silently the journey of souls below. Matthew took my hand in his, his fingers touching the ring like a talisman, then led me back toward the ancient house, the house with memories like an ocean’s waves with no beginnings and no endings, its sighs reminding me of how impossible it is sometimes to distinguish between the two.
Photo by Lee Siebert
Karen White is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen previous books. She grew up in London but now lives with her husband and two children near Atlanta, Georgia.
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CONVERSATION GUIDE
Sea Change
KAREN WHITE
This Conversation Guide is intended to enrich the
individual reading experience, as well as encourage us
to explore these topics together—because books,
and life, are meant for sharing.
CONVERSATION GUIDE
QUESTION
FOR DISCUSSION
1. Have you read any of the author’s previous works before? If so, did you enjoy the more supernatural elements blended into White’s story?
2. The spray of the sea, the rich, musky air of a root cellar, the persistent kudzu vines. White conjures up a strong, vibrant sense of place for the reader for life on St. Simons Island. Did you feel like you were transported there (and even into the past) while reading the story? What other descriptions sang out to you?
3. How do the multiple voices in the book come together to tell one story? Do you think the story would be as layered or successful without one of the voices, like Pamela’s?
4. Do you think Ava does the right thing by attempting to dig up the truth behind Adrienne’s final days? Could you have lived with so many secrets or rooms closed off to you? Did you think Matthew was guilty of her murder?
5. Do you think objects, like Pamela’s weddi
ng ring, can carry powerful energies that connect us to the past? If so, how? Are there beloved items in your own collection that might have a similar kind of special energy? What are they?
6. Why do you think Matthew allows Adrienne’s family to think the worst of him after her death? Do you think he goes too far—especially as his actions become more secretive and troubling to Ava—in trying to protect her legacy?
7. Describe the relationship between Pamela and Georgina. Do you think all relationships between sisters are as emotionally complex—or perhaps complex in other ways? How so?
8. Do you think it was ethical for Matthew to hypnotize both his wives, even if the intentions were to be helpful or to unlock their connections to their ancestors? What are the dangers of opening up these psychological doors that have remained closed for so long? What were the results for the two women?
9. Ava is a lifelong collector of undeveloped photograph film (from yard sales and other places). What do you think is behind her attraction to those images, once printed, that feature sisters?
10. Do you think it’s true that “being a mother is like being a gardener of souls”? How is that true for the women in the book? How might it be true in your own life if you yourself are a parent? Do you see this as your role, and how do you nurture your little “seedlings”?
11. Were you shocked by the revelation of Ava’s biological parents? Do you think it was best for Gloria and Mimi to keep her in the dark for so long? What are Jimmy’s feelings?
12. Do you believe in the possibility of reincarnation? Why or why not? Do you think Geoffrey and Pamela are finally together?