The Eclipse of Moonbeam Dawson

by Jean Davies Okimoto

  “I don’t think the Queen’s coming.” She smiled, hoping he’d joke with her.

  “Probably not.” He tried to return her smile, but it was a weak attempt. “Look, I don’t get this. I just don’t really understand why you’re in jail. Harvey explained the charges to me, we’re not talking about a big crime here. Don’t you just pay a fine and that’s it?”

  “Bear Alert educates people to bring an end to trophy hunting and the trade in bear body parts.”

  “I know that, Mum,” Reid said quietly, trying to be patient. “I don’t need the speech.”

  “When we intercepted Orville Webb and his slimy California customers, I know we sent a message to him that his drive-by beach shootings aren’t going to be so easy.” Abby scooted back on the bed and crossed her legs under her. “I can’t believe people think that’s a sport. Driving a boat next to the shore, jumping out on the beach downwind of a defenseless animal, and gunning it down!”

  “I know, Mum.”

  “They’re organizing in the states, too. There’s a group in Michigan, called C.U.B., Citizens United for Bears, that’s trying to get a petition to change their laws. Can you believe it’s legal there to set out bait to train the bears to feed in a certain spot? They put out pizza and doughnuts and all kinds of junk, then the hunters go to where the bears come to feed and shoot them at point-blank range.”

  “That’s terrible. But Mum—”

  “And hunting with dogs is legal there, too. They put radio transmitters in the dogs’ collars. The dogs chase the terrified bear for hours until it’s exhausted and climbs a tree. Then the so-called hunters go to the place where the signal comes from and shoot the bear out of the tree. This has to stop all over North America!”

  “Mum, forget the speech, okay?” He looked at the bars of the cell. “Please?”

  “Okay.”

  “Why are you the one in jail? Just tell me that.”

  Abby sighed and finally explained what had happened. Four of them had been arrested: Gloria’s brother, John Burgess, Gretchen Coe, Art Lockwood, and Abby. A number of other people had been involved, but only as lookouts to alert them if Orville Webb was in the area. After John Burgess was arrested he decided to pay the fine. He would be back at U.B.C. in the fall when the judge from Port would be in Tofino for the trial. He decided staying in the Asian communities working to stop the demand for bear body parts was a better use of his time than coming for the trial. The other two, Gretchen and Art, wanted to go to trial to bring the issue to the attention of the media. They each had lawyers, a woman and a man from Vancouver who represented the logging protesters without charge and wanted to help Bear Alert. Abby explained that each defendant was required to have a lawyer and there weren’t any other lawyers in the area who would represent her without charge. “And Bear Alert is against using taxpayer’s money for public defenders,” she added.

  “It seems pretty obvious what you should do, Mum. Just pay the fine and leave these beautiful surroundings.”

  “Harvey says he’ll pay for one of the top lawyers in Vancouver if I want him to. He makes it all so easy.”

  “Harvey must have a lot of money.”

  “He does.”

  “I thought you didn’t like rich people.”

  “Not all rich people. There’s just a certain type I can’t stand, and Harvey’s not that type.”

  “So what’s the problem?” Reid stood up. “Just tell the constable that you won’t pay the fine and then go to trial.”

  “It’s just that I’m afraid of being too dependent on Harvey. You know I’m a romantic person. I believe in love at first sight, but you have to be careful. Sometimes it turns out to be lust at first sight.”

  “I found that out.”

  Abby sat forward. “Things didn’t go so well with that girl?”

  Reid walked across the small cell and leaned against the wall facing her. He hated to give her the satisfaction of telling her she’d been right. And he didn’t like having been so stupid. But at least he knew she wouldn’t rub his nose in it; his mum could be flaky, but she wasn’t mean. So after a minute he just told her. “She was like you said.”

  “I’m sorry, honey.” Abby anxiously twisted a strand of her hair around her finger. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure. But I did a lot of thinking while I was there. And I know I can’t go back to the way we used to live. I want to go to school in Ucluelet next year. And there’s something I’ve got to tell you. It’s about my name.”

  “Your name?”

  “I changed my name. Ever since I’ve been at Stere Island Lodge I’ve—”

  “What’s wrong with your name? Moonbeam Dawson is a perfectly good name!”

  “It’s weird.”

  There was a long silence. Finally she said, quietly, “Okay. I admit it’s unusual. But it’s a beautiful name. It’s a cultural thing, Moonbeam. Take for instance a name like Red Feather, that might sound weird for someone of Irish descent or French or something, but if you’re Native it’s not weird at all.”

  “But Moonbeam isn’t even a real Native name. You just made it up!”

  “That never bothered you before, Moonbeam.”

  “My new name is Reid. It’s from Bill Reid the Native artist who’s half-white and half-Haida.”

  “Really?” she seemed to soften a little. “How’d you happen to think of that?”

  “Gloria helped me figure it out.”

  “Oh.”

  “I changed my name on my application form at the resort. And I wrote the NIRCS about it and told them to change it on all my records.”

  “Just like that! Behind my back! Why didn’t you discuss it with me, Moonbeam?”

  “Reid. Start calling me Reid, Mum. Everybody at work does.”

  “Look, I have to sign permission forms for you to be in correspondence school, I’m still your parent. You can’t just go do these things!”

  “I didn’t say you weren’t.”

  “This is too much. First you eat meat, then you change your name—” her voice started to break.

  “Mum, I know this isn’t easy. But I’m going to find out what I have to do to make it legal. I might have to wait until I’m eighteen or something, but in the meantime, it’s Reid whether it’s legal or not.”

  There was another long silence. Abby ran her hand through her hair and looked away from him, shutting him out. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to remember not to call you Moonbeam,” she finally said, her voice so quiet he could hardly hear her.

  “You can if you put your mind to it.” Reid tried to cheer her up. “Gloria said you were one gutsy lady.”

  Abby couldn’t help smiling.

  “See, Mum, I just want to be more like regular kids.”

  “That’s what you mean about going to Ukee next year, I suppose.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I know there’s an easy solution. Harvey wants me to live with him, and there’d be plenty of room for the three of us. I don’t think you’d feel cramped there.” Abby bit her lower lip. “He’s serious. I mean, he says he’s at a place in his life where he wants marriage and kids. But I have to establish myself here, I don’t want to just cave in and let some man take care of me. And who knows if we really are right for each other?” Abby twisted her hair tight around her finger. “You understand, don’t you? It takes time. I mean after all, we just met! Don’t you think I’m right?”

  “I can’t tell you, Mum. It’s up to you.”

  “Do you like him?”

  “He’s come on pretty fast. But I think he’s a good guy.”

  “Maybe we could add on to the cabin on Palmer’s Land. A whole separate room for you. What do you think about that idea?”

  “I think we better get you out of jail first. One way or another.” She looked so pathetic sitting on the bed in the cell. It was a familiar feeling. Worrying about her, feeling sorry for her. But he’d been doing a lot less of that since Harvey had been in the picture. “Mum, if Har
vey did pay for your lawyer and then it turned out that you wanted to break up, would you feel obligated to stay with him?”

  “No. I’d feel bad, but not obligated.”

  “Then I think you should let him help.”

  * * *

  Harvey was pleased when Reid called him from the jail to let him know Abby would take him up on his offer. Not only pleased, but grateful. “I hated seeing her in jail, even if it wasn’t for that long,” he confided, his voice flooded with relief.

  It was odd, having Harvey feel grateful to him. But it felt good, more equal somehow. Within twenty minutes of Reid’s call, Harvey had paid Abby’s bail and taken her to Palmer’s Land. A man of action, Reid had to admit. His mum could use that.

  Reid stayed at Harvey’s that night after calling Jim Goltz, who arranged with Claude to have Reid work the lunch and dinner shifts the next day, instead of the breakfast and lunch shifts that had been scheduled. It had been a long, exhausting day, and Reid went to bed as soon as they got to Harvey’s after they dropped Abby off at Palmer’s Land.

  * * *

  In the morning, there was a steady drizzle as Reid and Harvey boarded the Clayoquot Biosphere Project boat. The seagulls, ever optimistic, flew around the old fishing boat hoping some morsel might find its way into the water as they left the dock and headed out from town to Duffin Pass.

  “I was north of here up at Baseball Bay when Abby was arrested,” Harvey said as he steered around Felice Island. “I wasn’t an official lookout for Bear Alert since the biosphere project is strictly scientific. But since I happened to be up there anyway for the project, John Burgess asked me to radio them if I saw Orville Webb, which I did. Guess I have to admit it bothers me sometimes that I’m not on the front lines, so to speak. You know, the way Abby has been. That she was the one to get arrested.”

  “Don’t feel bad. I think she was doing the part she wanted to do.” Reid laughed. “I’m surprised Mum didn’t run on shore and throw herself in front of the bear to protect it.”

  Harvey chuckled and glanced at Reid, and they exchanged smiles of mutual understanding.

  “Want to take it?” Harvey offered the wheel as they moved past the southern tip of Stubbs.

  “Sure.” Reid changed places with him and took over. He steered first a little to the port side, then starboard, getting the feel of the boat. “It handles pretty well.”

  “For an old tub.”

  “How far have you taken it?” Reid asked.

  “Prince Rupert is about as far north as I’ve gone.”

  “Been up to the Charlottes?”

  “Haven’t yet, but hope to someday. There’s a project called Sandspit 2006 going on in the Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii. They use both the Canadian and the Native name. Anyway, they’re in the midst of a community-based economic planning process. Logging’s been their mainstay and now they want to diversify and stabilize their economic base. I’ve thought about doing some consulting for them.”

  “That’s where my dad was from.”

  “Do you have any relatives there?”

  “Probably. But the impression I got from Mum was that my dad’s family had a lot of problems. He was the only one to make it and they resented him. Supposedly, they broke off ties with him when he went to university.” Reid looked over at Harvey. “But who knows? Maybe he broke it off with them.”

  Harvey hesitated. “Ever think you’d like to go up there someday?”

  “I don’t think Mum would want to.” Reid carefully turned the boat, rolling over the waves, cutting down the angle of the pitch of the boat.

  “I was thinking about just you and me going up.”

  Reid let the wheel move through his hands, angling over the next wave. “I’d like to do that, someday.” Then he smiled, and pointed the bow straight for Stere.

  * * *

  It was a hot day in the middle of July when they got word that the judge from Port would be in Tofino in October for the bear trial. Abby told Reid about it on her weekly visit to meet with Anne Depue. It was the peak of the season at the lodge and Abby’s designs had been enormously successful. In fact, she had trouble keeping up with the demand, not a problem she had ever been faced with before.

  Reid was down at the marina helping his mother and Harvey unload her boxes for the shop when a huge yacht came slowly toward the dock, heading straight for the slip next to them. Reid looked up, squinting in the hot summer sun. It was the Regina II.

  Michelle Lamont spotted him from the deck and began madly waving. “Hi, Reid!” She wore khaki shorts and a bright orange halter top and Reid couldn’t help but laugh to himself, remembering what Gloria had said about his not having had a chance.

  Harvey took the last box from Reid. “Abby and I can take these up. We’ll see you at lunch.”

  Abby lifted several of the boxes, which were stacked in a pile on the dock. “Right. You shouldn’t have to work on your day off.” She walked down the dock with Harvey. “We’ll see you in the dining room about one,” she called over her shoulder. “Our treat!”

  As soon as Abby and Harvey were at the end of the dock, Michelle climbed down from the yacht and made a beeline for Reid. She smiled, tossing her hair back as she leaned close to him. “How are things going?”

  “Okay,” he said casually.

  “Didn’t I just overhear that it was your day off?” Her voice was seductive, breathy and soft.

  “That’s right.”

  “How ’bout taking me out for a ride in your boat? Or maybe we could go to the beach?”

  “I’ve got other plans.”

  “Oh.” Michelle seemed genuinely surprised. “Well, maybe later. We’ll be here for about three days.”

  “I’m busy.” Reid said matter-of-factly. Then he smiled and left.

  * * *

  As he walked away from the marina, he realized that even though he still didn’t know exactly who he was or exactly where he belonged, he did know what he was not: a boy toy for Michelle Lamont.

  When he was at the top of the steps, Gloria called to him from the bench on the bluff, a spot where she often sat and read before work. He waved and headed to the path that ran along the bluff.

  The breeze picked up and the leaves on the huckleberry and salmonberry bushes on the edge of the path rustled. If the wind got stronger there might be some good surf. One of these days he was going to learn, that was all there was to it, Reid thought as he watched whitecaps forming on the water. He got to the bench and sat down next to her.

  “Good book?”

  “Very. Margaret Atwood’s latest.” Gloria closed the book. “Was that who I thought it was?”

  “Yeah. She wanted me to take her out in the boat.”

  “Are you going to?” Gloria asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

  “I’m only a sitting duck once.” Reid smiled and slipped his arm around her. “I told her I had other plans.”

  “What plans?”

  “I said, ‘I have to cut my toenails.’”

  “You didn’t really say that!”

  “No, I wish I had. But I’m always thinking of stuff I wish I’d said when it’s too late.” Reid smiled at her. “But I do have something important to do this week. The lawyer that’s representing Mum in the bear trial is also going to file papers for me to change my name legally. I’m going in town to sign them tomorrow.”

  “So it’s official.” Gloria looked up at him. “That’s great.”

  “Did I ever really tell you…” he hesitated.

  “Tell me what?”

  “How much it meant. That you helped me get the right name?”

  “I knew you liked it.”

  “I hope so.” Reid looked into her dark eyes, so similar to his own. He felt connected to her, and it wasn’t like they were brother and sister. He wanted to stay next to her.

  The warmth of the July sun enfolded them and above, the huge cedar boughs swayed as the summer wind came off the ocean. And he wanted to kiss her.

&
nbsp; Maybe someday, Reid thought, as he left to meet Harvey and his mother at the lodge.

  Also by Jean Davies Okimoto

  NOVELS

  My Mother Is Not Married to My Father

  It’s Just Too Much

  Norman Schnurman, Average Person

  Who Did It, Jenny Lake?

  Jason’s Women

  Molly by Any Other Name

  Take a Chance, Gramps!

  Talent Night

  The Eclipse of Moonbeam Dawson

  PICTURE BOOKS

  Blumpoe the Grumpoe Meets Arnold the Cat

  A Place for Grace

  No Dear, Not Here

  SHORT STORIES

  “Jason the Quick and the Brave”

  “Moonbeam Dawson and the Killer Bear”

  “Next Month … Hollywood!”

  “Watching Fran”

  “Eva and the Mayor”

  PLAYS

  Hum It Again, Jeremy

  Uncle Hideki

  NONFICTION, COAUTHOR

  Boomerang Kids: How to Live with

  Adult Children Who Return Home

  About the Author

  Jean Davies Okimoto is a widely published author of children’s and young adult books, including Take a Chance, Gramps!, Molly by Any Other Name, and Jason’s Women. She is the recipient of the American Library Association “Best Books for Young Adults” Award, the IRA/CBC Young Adults’ Choice Award, the Parents’ Choice Award, the Washington Governor’s Writers Award, and the 1993 Maxwell Medallion for Best Children’s Book of the Year. Two of her books have been recognized as Smithsonian Notable Books. Her work has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, and Italian, and has been adapted for television for Bedtime Stories on HBO and Showtime. Her play Uncle Hideki, based on her novel Talent Night, was produced at the Northwest Asian-American Theatre, and her plays for young people have been produced in New York, Toronto, and Vancouver.

  She and her husband, Joe, have four grown children, three grandchildren, and two dogs. They live in Seattle and are frequent visitors to British Columbia.

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.