Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Joanna poured herself a cup of coffee and dialed her grandfather’s number. He answered after the first ring. “Hello?”
“Hi, Grandad.”
“Hey, sweetheart.” His deep voice brimmed with affection. “It’s nice to hear your voice. How are you doing?”
“Good as gold,” she replied. “You won’t believe what I’ve been doing.”
“Do tell.”
She carried her coffee mug to the kitchen table and sat down among toppling piles of magazines and open books. “I’ve been researching Sable Island.”
For a moment he said nothing, and she worried that she’d overstepped an unspoken boundary.
“Is that okay?” she asked.
He remained quiet until Joanna mentally winced from the silence.
At long last, he responded. “That curious mind of yours ... Why am I not surprised?”
She sighed with relief, then chuckled into the phone. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t help it. Everything you told me about the horses was so fascinating. I’ve become a little obsessed, to be honest.”
“Obsessed?” He paused. “How?”
She pulled one of the books toward her. “Well ... at first, I was mostly interested in the horses, but then I stumbled across a book about the history of the island. It covered the Humane Establishment from its beginning to its end in the 1950s. There’s a whole section about John Clarkson, because he was the last superintendent, and they mention his daughter, Emma.”
Silence dropped into the connection between them. When her grandad finally spoke, his voice was guarded. “You don’t say.”
Still amazed by what she’d learned, Joanna charged forward. “Grandad, are you aware that your shipwreck was the last one on record before the lifesaving station was shut down? And that the details of the wreck and the rescue are in a book called Wrecks of Sable Island ? I’m sure you’re in other reference books as well.”
He pondered that for a few seconds, then asked hesitantly, “Does it say anything about me and Emma? Personally, I mean?”
Joanna paused as she pictured her grandfather alone in the house that he’d shared with his wife for more than fifty years. She imagined him pacing next to the telephone at the mention of the woman he’d once loved and lost.
Joanna turned a page in the book. “No, nothing at all. There’s no mention of any connection between the two of you. It only says that you were nursed back to health on the island.”
“Well, that’s accurate.” A half a minute must have passed before he spoke again. “Does it say anything about what happened to Emma in the years after she left the island?”
There it was at last—the curiosity that continued to live and breathe in him. All along, Joanna had suspected it never died.
“No.”
She waited patiently for him to react to her flat response. Seconds ticked by conspicuously.
“What else did you learn?” he asked. “You were looking for information about the horses. Are they still there?”
Joanna picked up her coffee cup. “Yes, they are, and there’s a story about that. Remember when you told me about Emma writing letters to the government to try and stop people from capturing them and shipping them off the island to sell them?”
“Yes.”
“Well, the government finally listened, and in 1961 they passed a law that doesn’t allow anyone to interfere with the horses. You can’t even touch or feed them. They’re to be left alone and remain wild. They’re federally protected.”
“Goodness. Isn’t that wonderful.”
“It is, isn’t it? And these days, no one lives there except for the weather station personnel. But here’s the best part.” Joanna paused a moment—worried again that she was overstepping—but decided to forge ahead nevertheless. “I’ve looked into it, and it’s possible to visit. There’s a helicopter pad. Or airplanes can land on the beach.”
Joanna forced herself to stop talking. She waited for her grandfather to say something.
“You’re chuffed to bits, aren’t you,” he finally remarked. “I can hear it in your voice.”
Joanna set down her coffee cup. “Yes, and I can’t lie. I’m buzzin’ to go there. I want to see the horses, like you did.” She hesitated and chewed on her thumbnail. “I don’t suppose you’d come with me?”
He spoke decisively. “No, sweetheart. I’m too old for that.”
“Oh, tosh! You’re as fit as any sixty-year-old. I was looking at pictures in the books, and most of the people who visit Sable Island these days are older, probably because it’s not cheap. But for some people, it’s a lifelong dream.”
He cleared his throat uneasily, and Joanna sensed his reluctance. It left her feeling deflated. “I really want to go,” she told him pleadingly. “It seems like such an incredible place. And the horses ...”
“I’ll never disagree with you about that,” he replied. “And you don’t need my permission to go.”
“I’m not asking for your permission. I’m asking you to come with me. I really wish you would.”
“Why?”
She thought long and hard about that. Was it because she didn’t want to go alone? Or did she want this for him as much as for herself?
“I don’t know,” she finally confessed. “Maybe I want to take you back to a place that was special to you, so that you can see it again and enjoy the memory of it and maybe get some closure.”
“I don’t need closure,” he told her. “I got that a long time ago when I went there with a ring.”
Joanna looked down at the open book on the table and flipped a few pages. “Forgive me for saying this, Grandad, but I’m not sure I believe you. I saw the look in your eyes when you told me about Emma. I felt your frustration about how things turned out.”
Or maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic.
“Either way,” he replied, “it doesn’t matter. A visit to Sable isn’t going to change anything. It’s all in the history books now. Emma’s not there. She’s long gone.”
Joanna tapped her finger on one of her travel brochures. “But what if we could find her?”
An electric current seemed to buzz through the telephone lines.
“No, no ... don’t start with that,” he said.
“With what?” she asked innocently.
“I know what you’re up to. You’re trying to play matchmaker.”
Joanna chuckled guiltily. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Don’t get shirty with me, you little rascal. I can read you like a book.”
Finally, Joanna sat back and groaned. “Okay, fine! But humor me. Wouldn’t it be fun to take a walk down memory lane?”
“For what purpose?”
She was usually quick on her feet, but in that moment, she couldn’t formulate an answer.
“None of us can go back in time,” he told her.
“That’s true, obviously,” she replied. “But maybe that’s not what this is about. Maybe I just want to travel somewhere and see some of that beauty you talked about. I’d love to get a look at those horses. Maybe there’s something drawing me there because it might be a game changer for my career.”
He paused a moment, then sounded pensive. “If it’s beauty you’re looking for, Sable Island is the place to find it.”
Joanna felt a fresh flush of energy and sat forward. “Then let’s go! If nothing else, it’ll be an adventure, and something you’d be doing for me . I don’t know why, but I have a feeling this is where I need to go. Who knows where it might lead me professionally? And you’ve always been my biggest supporter.”
Finally, he exhaled in defeat. “You drive a hard bargain. Fine. Let’s go and see where it takes us.”
Joanna smiled as she opened the phone book to ring a travel agent.
“Suddenly my life feels full of suspense,” she said.
“Mine too,” her grandfather replied. “But I still think I’m too old for this.”
“Oh, tosh. You’ll be grand.”