When they got back to shore, Elon and Jax were already there. After pulling their kayaks up on the rocks, Lucy and Eli joined them.
“How’d you do?” Lucy asked, shoving Elon over on the beach towel. “Jax show you how it’s done?”
Elon laughed his big deep laugh. “Oh, I did fine. I just…that’s a teeny-tiny boat! I’m a big tall man! I felt like some kind of Weeble-wobble toy out there!”
Jax giggled. “You should have seen it!” he said to Eli. “He got in and the boat, like, sank. I mean, not all the way, obviously, but down pretty far. And Elon…” Jax laughed harder and Elon punched him. “He just had this look on his face, like ‘Whose idea was this?’ He looked like Zeus whenever he’s stuck on top of a cabinet or something.”
Elon gave Jax a look over the top of his sunglasses. “Oh, that’s right. Mock me. Mock me, the Great Elon!” He waved a hand like he was disgusted, but Jax just laughed harder.
Lucy kissed Elon’s cheek. “Poor baby.”
Jax lay back flat on his towel, staring toward the rocks.
Eli leaned over.
“So…did Dad hear anything back from Natalia or John? It’s kind of weird that they’re just gone.”
Jax shook his head. “He said there was no answer at the house. He doesn’t have their cell phone numbers, since they never work around here anyway.”
“Where do you think they could be? Do you think something’s wrong?” Eli pressed.
Jax just shrugged. “Who knows? But Sam’s dress rehearsal is tomorrow, and if he doesn’t talk to Val before then he’s going to bust a gasket. He’s freaking out.”
“Have you guys seen any of the play?” Lucy asked. “What do you think?”
“We watched part of a rehearsal. It’s pretty good,” Eli said.
“I don’t like the way they talk…all the thees and thous make it hard to figure out what’s going on,” Jax complained.
Lucy nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. But it’s a pretty funny story. All these crazy fairies messing around with us mortals, playing games and using magic spells just to screw stuff up.”
“Yeah! They make these two guys totally crazy for this one girl, and everyone’s freaking out and running around in the woods. But the best part is when that dumb guy gets turned into an ass!” Eli said.
Jax snickered.
“Ass meaning donkey, dum-dum,” Eli said, but Jax just kept laughing.
Elon joined him. “It would be kind of funny, if he turned into a big old butt,” he murmured, and Lucy swatted him.
“Thanks for keeping the toilet humor going,” she said, before turning back to Eli.
“I think my favorite line of that play—and it’s so cool, because Sam gets to say it—is ‘What fools these mortals be!’ That’s us. We’re the foolish mortals, running around panicking over blond wigs and friends who wear dresses occasionally”—Jax looked up sharply, and, grinning, Lucy went on—“and even the lighthouse! Our wonderful lighthouse! Well, we foolish mortals think we’re in charge, but changes happen. And sometimes good stuff comes out of them.”
Eli looked skeptical. “I don’t see what’s so good about losing the lighthouse,” he said. “I think it stinks. It will never be the same here. Never.”
Lucy nodded. “True. But sometimes not being the same can be even better.”
It was the worst rehearsal Sam had ever been to. He stood backstage, listening to Alan yelling at the four actors who played the lovers.
“Come ON, people! We are live tomorrow! This is NOT the time to forget your blocking and bump into each other!”
The actors mumbled and shifted around onstage. Earlier they had botched an important scene where they needed to dash around searching for each other, and the play had ground to a stop.
“Okay, take it from the beginning of act four, scene one. And please focus. We don’t have all day to get this right.” Alan disappeared again, and the actors took their places.
Sam wiped his sweaty hands on his velvet knickers. He would come onstage shortly, watching the fairy queen, Titania, fall in love with the country fool, Bottom, whose head had turned into that of a donkey’s. He wished he felt more in character. He couldn’t stop worrying about the costume, panicking that Val had disappeared without ever coming up with whatever good idea she’d had to show Alan, assuming Alan even remembered. He couldn’t go on in these knickers. And Alan had been so mad about the wig! Though he supposed he owed Zeus for at least getting rid of—
“SAM!” Alan’s voice bellowed from the front of the house.
He had missed his cue.
His face hot and sweaty, Sam rushed onstage. “Sorry! Sorry.” He took his position.
Alan looked disgusted, and Sam closed his eyes briefly, trying to remember the magic of learning to play a character, becoming that character for a little while, at least. He tried to remember who Puck was, a mischievous immortal who didn’t really care about anything or anyone. He began to speak his first line.
From backstage, his phone rang, with a loud, embarrassing rap song that he’d programmed in as a joke. He froze.
“WHOSE PHONE IS THAT?” Alan screamed, now completely enraged.
Sam closed his eyes again, wishing more than anything in the world that he had never agreed to do this stupid play. “Sorry,” he said again, and waited for the explosion.
But Alan just stood there for a minute, looking pained. Onstage, Teddy and Julia watched sympathetically. Julia winked once, trying to make Sam smile, but he couldn’t manage it.
“Okay. Okay, it’s fine. Terrible rehearsals can equal great performances. I’ve seen it happen. We just have to get through this.” Alan seemed to be talking to himself, pacing and muttering.
Onstage the actors stood silently.
“Let’s take a break. Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?” Alan said finally.
Sam sighed and slowly walked offstage.
—
When Sam got home from rehearsal he wanted nothing more than to disappear into his room and slam the door behind him. The only problem? He didn’t have a room, or a door. Instead he had a tiny house filled with his three brothers, his aunt Lucy and her boyfriend, Elon, and both his parents, all loudly making dinner, setting the table, playing Monopoly, teasing the cat, and—it looked like—plotting world domination.
Sam scowled and walked straight through the house and out to the back deck. He stared at the landscape in front of him, the early-evening light turning everything a dim, glowing blue, the scrubby grass blowing and waving in the wind, and beyond, the lighthouse, looming as tall as ever behind its metal fence.
He sighed, feeling almost like crying. What the heck was wrong with him? It was just the end of summer, that was all. Just the changing of the seasons.
“What’s on your mind?” Lucy asked from behind him.
Sam didn’t turn around. He shrugged. “Nothing. Just thinking.”
“About the lighthouse.” It wasn’t a question.
Sam shrugged again. “I guess. And the play. And stuff.”
Lucy sat down on the edge of the deck, pulling Sam next to her. Sam sat with a thump, the warm wood feeling good in the quickly cooling evening air. It felt almost like fall. He lay back, staring up at the sky, and Lucy lay next to him.
“How was rehearsal?” she asked.
Sam gave a short laugh. “Well, it was brutal. Mostly. I kept screwing up, and so did a bunch of other people. But by the end we had kind of gotten it together. I mean, sort of.”
“Are you nervous about tomorrow night?” she asked. “Shakespeare’s a big change from Annie. But I suspect you’re going to be great. There’s so much fun and mischief and energy in that play, and you’ve got that to spare!”
“I’m not too nervous, but my costume is horrible. After today’s rehearsal I wasn’t about to even bring it up with Alan. But I guess I just have to deal with it. It’s only for three performances.” He sighed. “It’s just weird, that’s all. I mean, this summer…everything’s differen
t.”
“What do you mean?” Lucy asked.
Sam’s thoughts burst out like a dam breaking. “Well, let’s see. This time last year we had the lighthouse. And I had never even thought about being in a play, let alone spending half my time in rehearsals. And now we hang out a ton with Val and Alex, and last year we didn’t even know them, and this year it seems like all we’re talking about is this stupid Kark guy, when before we didn’t even know he existed. Nothing’s the same!”
Lucy nodded slowly. “Yeah, I hear you. That is a lot of changes. Especially because…well, these things are taking up a huge part of your brain! I mean, the play alone is a big deal. Then add everything else!” She sighed and suddenly pointed. “Hey! Check it out. First star.”
Sam looked. As he watched, more stars popped out, faint in the last light of the day.
“There’s a lot that’s changed this summer, that’s for sure,” Lucy went on. “But having been coming here since way before you were born, I can tell you that there’s a lot that stays the same too. I mean, I used to lie here looking at the stars with your papa, talking about Archie comics and The Brady Bunch, and complaining that Mimi never let me bake anything in the kitchen because she said it got too hot.” She turned to look at Sam again, and grinned. “I sure showed her, huh?”
Sam smiled too. He liked hearing about how long his family had been coming here. It made him feel more connected somehow. Less like things were slipping away from him.
“Anyway,” Lucy went on, “I grew up here, had my first kiss here—don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you about it! And I got my first summer job here, and even got my own place here, when I couldn’t stand living with your grandparents anymore. And each summer, during those years, seemed totally different than the one before it. Except for the parts that stayed the same, you know?” She paused, and Sam shrugged.
“I guess,” he said.
“Well, what’s stayed the same for you this summer?” Lucy asked.
“Soccer in the yard. The beach. Riding the waves. Catching crabs at the cove. Gilly’s fried clams,” Sam said, after thinking for a minute.
“Right! And the chowder at the Sisterhood. And Captain Jim—he’s been here forever,” Lucy added.
“And second-mortgage muffins,” Sam said. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked over the lawn. It was almost completely dark now, and, right on schedule, the beam of the lighthouse cut through the twilight.
Lucy laughed. “Yep. You know, I worked there one summer, washing dishes. I washed thousands of muffin tins….I couldn’t eat those muffins for a few years after that.”
Sam laughed too. He was starting to feel better. They sat in silence for a minute, staring at the lighthouse beam as it swung around and around.
Papa walked out and joined them. “What’s happening, Booger? How was rehearsal, Sammy?” he asked, sitting down next to them with a groan. “Whoa. The old bones are protesting.”
“We’re just talking about the whole time-flying thing,” Lucy said. “I was remembering being out here—of course, the deck wasn’t built, so we would just lie on the grass—when we were around Sam’s age.”
Papa nodded. “That’s right. We would bring a blanket out and watch for shooting stars.” He fell silent for a minute. “Man, that was a long time ago. How’d you get so old?”
Lucy reached across Sam to shove Papa, who tickled her, knocking Sam over in the process. Dad came out as they were all laughing and Papa was groaning in fake agony.
“Well, that’s a sight I love to see. My favorite sister-in-law maiming her brother in a tickle battle,” he said. “What a gorgeous night. We should have a campfire. There aren’t too many nights left.”
“That’s what we were talking about, sort of,” Lucy said, scooting over so that Dad could sit. “How time is flying by.”
“Tempus fugit indeed,” Dad said. He pulled Sam close to him in a tight one-armed hug. “This boy is sprouting in front of our eyes. As Cicero so wisely said—” he began, but Sam cut him off.
“No Latin speeches! Please!” Sam begged. It was bad enough when his parents got sentimental in English.
Dad laughed. “Fine. I’ll save it for your high school graduation.”
Sam smiled. “I can wait,” he said. “No rush.”
The night darkened around them, and as Sam looked up, star after star emerged, until the sky was littered with them and the Milky Way was fully visible. He remembered Eli spouting on about astronomy: The stars are always there, of course. We just can’t always see them. Our circumstances change, not the stars. Maybe there were a lot of things that stayed the same this year. Maybe they were all still there, just invisible.
Frog felt like his world was exploding. The house was full to bursting, Sam was getting ready for opening night, Lucy, Elon, Dad, and Papa were in muttered conversations and had no time to talk about anything else, and they had only a few days left on the island. Frog was forlornly kicking a ball around the yard when suddenly Alex and Val ran over, panting and out of breath.
Frog ran toward them in amazement.
“Where have you been? We were worried! And Sam is mad about his costume! And our aunt Lucy is here! And—” he started.
Val cut him off. “I have to show you guys something! Where are your parents?”
Alex explained as they went to the house. “We went off-island for a funeral. Mami’s abuela died suddenly. We came back with the babysitter so we could see Sam’s play, but our parents won’t be back until next week.”
The three of them ran into the house. “Jason! Tom! I need to show you something! Come quick!” Val shouted, not even saying hello to Jax or Eli, who were on the floor sorting shells.
Frog followed Val, wondering what had gotten into her. She was talking to his parents like a grown-up, he thought. It must be important.
Papa came out from his office, with Dad, Lucy, and Elon trailing behind. “Valerie! You’re back! What’s going on with you guys?”
“Funeral. Mami’s abuela. Texas.” Alex spoke in fast bullet points. “But that’s not important right now. Check out what Val has!”
They crowded around Val, introducing Lucy and Elon and trying to talk over one another as they looked at what she was holding. It was her head-mounted video camera, the one she had loaned Frog that day at the cove.
“I didn’t realize Frog had turned this thing on,” Val started. “I thought the battery was dead from the beginning. But it seems he turned it on in the car and just let it run until the battery died. So it was filming the whole time.”
Frog jumped up and down. “Did it get Lili swimming toward me? Is it as good as your video? Did you know your video is on the town website? Dad showed me. We’re famous!”
Val interrupted him. “It’s better than that. Remember you were trying to tell me that you heard Kark on the phone? Listen to this!” She pressed Play and they all strained to hear.
“Hah! No, I was only kidding. It’s worth it, even with all the provincial yahoos. We’re ninety percent there. The inspectors are on the site as we speak, and I have them buttoned up.”
Pause.
“Not to worry. They’re airtight. They’re not even taking real estimates….They’ll go with whatever I give them. It’s in the bag.”
There was silence in which they could only hear Frog’s breathing, fast and nervous. Then Kark again.
“This time next year there will be gorgeous condominiums where that broken-down piece of rock is! And once they’re up I don’t ever need to come back here. So hang in there…we’ve almost got it. And believe me, with the kind of restrictions they have on building here, we can easily charge three to four million apiece. Easily! Everyone wants in on this place, because it’s so ‘unspoiled’! By Labor Day at the latest. I’ll keep in touch.”
The voice faded away, and the sounds of splashing grew louder and louder. Val turned the video off.
“See?” she said, looking around her at their shocked faces. “He is totally c
rooked!”
They all stood silently for a second, trying to digest this. Then Frog stomped his foot.
“I TOLD YOU!” he bellowed. “I TOLD YOU SO!”
Everyone started talking at once.
—
The grown-ups were in a frenzy. There seemed to be a lot of talk about what to do first: if they should go to the police station, or if they needed to contact town hall.
Papa swore. “We need to get to the theater! The show is going to start in less than an hour. We don’t have time to deal with this. Besides, no one’s going to be in their offices at this hour.”
At this, Val gave a little scream. “¡Ay! And Sam’s costume! Mami and I worked on something awesome and then I wasn’t even here to give it to him! Is it too late? What’s he wearing?”
“The totally lame girlie outfit that’s insanely bad and he’s freaking out,” Jax said. Then he looked guilty. “Sorry. I mean…it’s just kind of dumb.”
Val chewed on her lip. “I need to get a ride to town. NOW. He’s going to love the costume we designed, and Alan really liked it when I told him about it before we left.” She looked near tears. “¡Maldición!”
Papa looked up from where he was scrolling through the video. “We’ll drive you in if you can leave now. Right, Tom? We told Sam we’d stop by early to wish him luck. Then we can try to find some of the town councilors, though as I said, I doubt they’ll be available.”
Dad looked a little panicked. He ran his hands through his hair, which stood up wildly. “Lucy, can you and Elon bring the rest of the gang before curtain? You can’t be late! Deal?”
Lucy nodded and promised that she’d get them there on time.
Papa grabbed the keys. “Okay, Val, if you’re ready to go, we’ll leave now. Not sure if the director will be too keen on a late costume change, but it’s worth a try! Ready?”
Val looked down at herself. She was less fancy than usual, Frog noticed, wearing plain old shorts and a pink T-shirt. He frowned. He liked Val’s more exciting outfits. But Val just gave a little sigh and nodded.
The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island Page 15
