Chapter 37 Narnia
Narnia
Kate Shaw
Sunday has been declared a day of rest, and this morning the world outside my window is a pale watercolor of a primordial land. I have nowhere to be and nothing to do as I sip coffee and ponder a miracle I witnessed last night.
After dinner, Gus and Lydia had invited me to walk by flashlight along the rim of the canyon away from the cottage, into the pines and down a ravine to smooth boulders that surrounded a circular glen. Once seated, we turned off our flashlights and the dark became a fairyland. Blue ghost fireflies.
Gus said they are one of two thousand species of fireflies and the most rare.
Tiny quarter-inch beetles skilled at the mating game.
Their pale blue lights glowed for a long minute as they floated two feet off the ground on the hunt for a mate.
This kind of firefly doesn’t live in Baines Creek. I would have noticed.
In a reverent voice, Lydia said, “These are the only fireflies who guard their offspring. The tiny female carries as many as thirty eggs attached to her belly. Their bioluminescence is unique. We’re near the end of their dance of love.”
Rachel and Uncle were with us, and they were respectful.
The magical moment felt like silk and organza and sensual nights, things I have no knowledge of in recent years yet recognized from my past. What has led me to this time of awakening, sitting in an enchanted woods in the midst of a miracle?
Who grants wishes that haven’t been dreamed?
The Sunday’s gentle rousing continues with thick fog gathering and pressing against the window.
For today I let go of worries about Loretty and Birdie and let myself be in this peaceful place.
Tomorrow we will dig deeper into the witch’s mysteries.
Tomorrow I will call Eli and tell him about Loretty.
But today I reach for a book in the Narnia series: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
I lied to Lydia when I belittled these books. I read them because Rachel insisted. “Keep an open mind and engage your imagination,” she had said, knowing that wasn’t my usual practice. “You may enjoy this alternate universe.”
And I did. Even in my thirties, I yearned for a portal to magical Narnia. To escape a world ruled by a witch called Mother. A world that made me hide my sexuality. I wanted to be brave like Aslan. Wanted good to triumph over evil.
On this Sunday in a stone house on the edge of a cliff wrapped in fog, I climb into the familiar covers of Narnia, and the story is even better after my years as Birdie’s student.
I read while wearing thick socks against the chill, sip more coffee, heat a bowl of chili, then doze stretched out on the sofa with Rachel snoring beneath the oak table.
In my dreams I roam through snowy woods on a mission, trying to unravel a puzzle, but I become distracted by the ringing of a bell from far away that no one hears but me. A bell that doesn’t belong in this dream, and I wake to find it’s the telephone. I stand and rub sleep from my eyes.
“Hello?”
“Oh, thank goodness you’re there.” Eli’s voice is breathless.
“I’m here, Eli,” I say and yawn.
“And, indeed you are,” he chuckles and draws out news he deems important enough to call about but not enough to tell me right away.
“Wish you’d been at church this morning.”
“Why’s that?” I play along and stretch.
“We had a visitor.”
“Oh…” I whisper and come to full attention. “She came home.”
“She did. Walked through the door of our little church when I was preaching, and our congregation rose up and shouted hallelujah, and hugged and cried with each other. She didn’t look any worse for wear though her bare feet were coal black with dirt.
Buck and Sadie bout squashed her with their loving and right away Sadie got color in her pale face.
It was a blessed resurrection of sorts, and I wish you’d been there. ”
“Me too. What time is it?” I glance around for a clock.
“Near bout five.”
Five o’clock? Church was hours ago. Eli didn’t reach out to me right away. I was an afterthought.
“We’ve been in a joyful frenzy since she got back, celebrating and spreading the good news. We ended up in the Dillard yard and food kept coming and we had a homecoming dinner nobody planned on. And when I thought the day couldn’t hold any more surprises, it did.”
He makes me ask. “What happened?”
“You were right, Kate. All along you were right. Loretty’s been with her Granny Carly.
I’d gone on home to give the Dillards some privacy, trying to think of anybody who might have been left out of the news, when I found myself walking the trail up to Birdie’s place.
Something pulled me that’a way though I knew Birdie was gone, and that’s when I saw her: Carly Hicks.
She was coming from behind Birdie’s place with her arms full of Birdie’s things. ”
“What things?”
“That red bowl, candles, crystals and such.”
“Where did she get them? The trailer burned down.”
“Don’t rightly know, but here’s the thing: She says she’s gonna stay. And she’s gonna live in your cabin so she can be close to Birdie’s place.”
“My cabin? But where will I live?”
There’s an awkward pause. “Kate, you’ve moved on.”
“Eli, I left last Tuesday. You act like I’ve been gone for months.”
“But school is over and so is your job.” He adds as an afterthought, “But a job done well.”
“And the cabin was contingent on my teaching job,” I say and realize that’s the truth. Still, I thought I was more than a hired teacher. I thought I belonged. That before I left for good I’d have time to say goodbye.
“You did your job admirably—”
“But it’s over.” My voice is flat. “I understand.” Now my voice is blunt.
“Please don’t be upset, Kate. This is good news for Baines Creek. Granny C—that’s what she wants to be called now—will be our new healer. Sadie Blue has her mama back. And Loretty is safe and sound. And you have a new life somewhere else.”
The seconds tick tick tick. Then he says, “You can always visit.”
I am crushed more deeply than I thought possible. I strike out.
“Yes. Some of it is good news, but the coming of Carly isn’t all good news. Those nasty wounds for Sadie and Carly are gonna be slow to heal,” I say, sticking my nose into something that is none of my business.
Eli and I haven’t talked about the real reason Carly Hicks left her newborn behind.
Loretty knows about that kinship violation.
Will she tell anyone? It will have to come to light now, won’t it?
Now that Carly’s name is on everyone’s lips, won’t people keep picking at that old scab?
At least that’s how I see it. But I could be wrong.
The folks of Baines Creek might not ask questions at all.
As quickly as they open their arms to Carly Hicks whose blood is their blood, they’ll turn away from me.