Light Over Water Read Free

his hand.  “Hey, Will,” he said, panting in his haste, “have you
told your father yet?  Does Sam know?  He’ll prob’ly get to go, won’t he?”
              William looked
solemnly at his mother, whose arms tightened around the sleeping baby, and whose
careful smile faded.  He shrugged, but jostled with his friend to get the most
advantageous spot on the dock.
              Alison clutched
Esther’s arm, her heart thumping in her chest suddenly with a strange, fearful
rhythm.
             
    Sam Eliot was
weary, wind-burned and frustrated after his day on the water.  He had argued
with his father about the war off and on today and Sam rehearsed it over again
as they went home after the long work was done. 
    “It’s not our
business,” Reg Eliot stated emphatically, then went on to wonder again at all
the Little Cove boys’ eagerness to get themselves killed. “It’s not a game,” he
declared.  “You go and you’re in it until they let you out, or you die.” 
    “I know,” Sam
replied.  “I know Uncle Alpheus died in a war we had no business fighting.  But
what about the U-boats?  What about Ian Reid and all the others who died on the
Lusitania?” 
    Aubrey Newell, the
third man, listened to them while he carried on filling pots with bait,
attaching the buoys, lowering them in the water and letting out the line.  He
looked bemused but not particularly moved by either argument. 
    Reg nodded
regretfully and said, “Ayuh.  That was real bad.”  He stopped long enough to
heave another trap over the side and straightened up, his hand on his back. 
Then he asked the question he asked each time they had this argument. “How
would your mother feel if it was you never coming back?”  And Sam had nothing
to say to that.
    Now Sam wondered
idly how Aubrey could row with such vigor from the mooring to the dock, his energy
unabated even after a hard day of work.  His face, a broad tanned cheerful
face, was alive with interest as they approached the dock where a crowd had
gathered to meet them.  Esther and Cleo, Sam’s sisters, were there with Alison
Granger, his brother Will and Will’s friend Darren.  His mother was standing
near them, clutching baby Caroline over her swelling belly.
    “There’s a nice
flock of birds come to meet us,” Aubrey murmured to Sam, with his eyebrows
raised and a confident smile settled on his generous mouth.
    Sam looked from
Aubrey back to the wharf.  His mother looked pale and anxious, the boys were
wriggling with excitement and Sam saw Alison gripping Esther’s arm tightly. 
When Darren cupped his mouth and yelled, “We’re at war!” Willie punched him in
the arm so hard that a small tussle ensued and Olivia Eliot spoke an
uncharacteristic sharp word to William.
    “Hush up now and
hold still before someone falls in!”  The anxiety in her voice sounded across
the water.
    Aubrey picked up
the pace and they were carried forward until they nudged the edge of the dock
lightly.  Anxious faces peered down at them as they lifted their gear and
climbed out of the dory.
    Across the small
inlet at the public wharf there was a bustle of activity.  Sam felt a frisson
of alarm mixed with anticipation at the heightened air of excitement affecting
everyone in the village.
    Reg ascended
quickly and took the baby from his wife as he encircled her shoulder with his
arm.  “It’s true, Reg,” Sam heard her say at the same time Willie thrust a
paper in his hands.
    “The president
declared war, Sam.  We’re in the war now.”
    Sam grasped the
paper, taking in its terse headline and scanning the front page.  His gaze
traveled from Aubrey, who was scowling as he secured the dory, to Willie who was
grinning impishly.  His mother looked white, her mouth trembling and her arms
supporting her belly, stroking it absently.  She looked at Sam as if her heart
was broken and he was already gone.
    “You boys stop your
racket!” Reg barked, his lips