“Thank you, Detective, thank you all.” Billie leaned her head back against Neil, and he brushed her hair out of her eyes.
Martha and Jake pushed through the crowd to Sandy’s side. She had called them after everything happened, knowing they might be aware of lights and sirens.
Suddenly a tiny warm body slid under Sandy’s arm to its mother, sitting at Billie’s feet. The final puppy. Where had it been and had Lillie been looking for it when the melee hit?
“That little fella spoken for?” The constable reached down and picked up the puppy as Lillie tried once again to bathe it.
“No, but he’d make a great police dog, don’t you think?” Billie smiled at the cop who had continued to look for her when the others had not.
“Yes, I do. Can I have him?”
“What do you think, Lillie? Okay if your boy grows up to be a policeman?” Billie patted the head of the dog who had been with her through so much, and Lillie smiled her doggie smile.
Epilogue
Gentle breezes blew across salty water, then through Billie’s long dark hair. She sat on the bench seat next to the galley, hoping to not get her white sundress and sandals soaked. Mom always loved the dress on her. She said it reminded her of the pinafores she wore as a child. She wasn’t a child anymore.
The brass urn in her lap reflected the sunlight, and an occasional drop of water rolled down its side. Her mother had loved the sea. When Giselle left the ballet to have her baby, she picked Sandhill Island for the beach. She said it freed her soul.
Rico, in the linen suit he wore to the funeral, adjusted the white fedora to shade his eyes. His cane rested on the floor of the boat, his gnarled hands placed on the top. Neil helped him to a seat, after he had seated the women. Billie turned to find Poppy standing on the dock. She waved, and he returned it with a salute.
What would she do without Neil? He had offered to take them out to scatter the ashes. He had learned so much since the first time she went out on the water with him. He had a great teacher. What would she do without Poppy and all the people of Sandhill Island? They were a community—a family—and they looked after each other.
Pulling away from the dock, the Overboard plowed through the wake of another vessel coming in. The boat rocked slightly, and Billie, her mother’s urn in her lap, looked out to sea. Gulls flew overhead, waiting on mullet to come to the surface or scraps to be thrown over from fishermen. The circle of life. One organism died so others could live. Much like Billie and Giselle. Even though Joe Franks had not personally killed her mother, she died because of him just the same. If Franks had not broken into the house to find Billie, he wouldn’t have threatened Giselle, causing the final stroke. But, Giselle had died, just like Steve and Jimmy. Billie was left to carry on.
The bottle green ocean at the dock quickly became navy blue as the boat headed out to deeper water. They would meet Paul at his normal shrimping place and then spread Giselle’s ashes. They were the people who had known and loved Giselle, they and one newcomer. Billie knew she would have loved him too. Neil understood her pain. He had been through the death of parents and the ending of a relationship and understood moving on.
“She was the most beautiful woman I ever knew.” Rico spoke first. No one on the boat had anything to say since leaving the dock. He gazed at the urn that held the remains of his lover. “If I hadn’t had responsibilities elsewhere…,” He trailed off and stared out to sea, then back at Billie, wiping a tear from his eye. “I had a wife and children, and your mother wouldn’t let me break the family up. I could have been a father to you also, Billie, but your mother said no. I hope you understand. I loved your mother. I also loved my wife and family, and they had to come first.”
“I understand, Rico.” She placed her hand on his arm. Maybe someday she’d get around to calling him Dad. “I wish I had known you earlier too, but I had a good life with Mom. She provided a wonderful home and loved me very much. I had only one parent, but I had a great one. I also had Martha.” Billie nodded to the woman who sat across from her in the blue dress.
“You were easy to love, sweetheart. You and your mother both. Now that things have changed, and Giselle is gone, we still have each other.”
Billie saw the shrimper in the distance. Neil pointed the nose of the boat toward the ship that sat idle and waiting. Once within a safe distance, he stopped the boat. Paul and his workers stood on the deck of their ship and waved. Billie waved back. Then they all stood at attention, the water like glass as evening approached.
Billie stood first. Taking the top off the urn, she moved to the back of the boat. “I love you, Mom,” she said simply and tipped the urn, emptying ashes into the ocean. The gray dust floated on top of the water. When she turned, Martha stood next to her with Neil at her elbow to steady her in the rocking boat. She handed the urn to her mother’s friend. Martha ceremoniously sprinkled a portion of the ashes on the water as she whispered under her breath then walked back to sit.
Rico took the urn from Billie and clutched it to his chest. “I loved you always,” he said, sobbing, “and I’ll take good care of our little girl.” He brushed away a tear that oozed under his sunglasses and rolled down his leathery cheek. In turn he sprinkled part of the ashes, the ocean receiving them impatiently. Rico handed the urn back to Billie. Leaning on the cane, he wobbled back to the bench.
Inside the urn there remained some of the ashes of the woman they all loved. Billie couldn’t take them home, as much as she wanted to. Her mother belonged to the sea. She spilled the last of the ashes over the side watching them float, then filter down to depths only the ocean understood. Neil instantly appeared beside her, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips, gently kissing fingers that had just held the urn.
“It is a beautiful thing you just did. Your mother would have been proud.” Then he kissed her lips and led her back to the seat as she held the urn in one hand.
The sweet sunlight of evening shone on the calm ocean. Birds rested, floating on the surface as the sun began to sink. A golden glow covered the water as well as the sky; sea birds dipped silently down for their supper in the ethereal quiet, reminiscent of a church.
Gulls screeched as Neil started the engine of the Overboard and turned for the dock and its home on Sandhill Island.
A word about the author…
Peggy Chambers calls Enid, Oklahoma home. She has been writing for several years and is an award-winning author, always working on another. She has two children, five grandchildren, and lives with her husband and dog. She attended Phillips University, the University of Central Oklahoma, and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. She is a member of the Enid Writers’ Club, Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc., and Oklahoma Women Bloggers. There is always another story weaving itself around in her brain trying to come out. There aren’t enough hours in the day!
Peggy writes a weekly blog that you can find at http://peggylchambers.wordpress.com/ Like her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BraWars, or connect with her on Twitter at #ChambersPeggy.
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