Rocky Island Read Free

to decide. It wouldn’t do for me, but I’m not you and Toby.”
    Irene Smith had one more objection. Toby was hired during the first week in June and would begin work on July 15. “That doesn’t give us time to arrange a wedding.”
    “Mother, we have plenty of time. There will be only family and no big fuss over our wedding. We don’t want and I won’t attend a big formal expensive wedding, so let that be the end of the matter.”
    Irene knew when her determined daughter had bested her, but she didn’t give in quietly. A wedding was her chance to shine socially in the village and she didn’t want to miss it. After several more token objections, Irene conceded and on the afternoon of July 14 had sat in the front row of the small Barrington Passage church along with about thirty other family members and close friends, and watched her daughter marry Toby French. Toby, his tall and muscular frame clothed in a new navy blue suit purchased off the rack in Yarmouth, a red rose in the lapel, had stood with the minister and his father, the best man, watching his honey blonde bride walk down the aisle, her carriage magnificent, her smile radiating happiness. Just watching her approach made Toby’s heart flip to a different rhythm. Allison was accompanied by her father and preceded by her older sister Marie, the Matron of Honor. Allison wore a street-length white dress and carried a bouquet of red roses. The dress emphasized both her height and her trim figure.
    The reception that followed the simple ceremony was equally without pretence and the couple left as soon as they could decently get away to begin their marriage. They drove off in a Ford half-ton truck with a club cab, owned by one of Toby’s friends. All their worldly goods, including Allison’s painting supplies, which were to be transported to the island, were packed in the truck, ready to be delivered to the airport at Yarmouth where the Department of Transport helicopter would fly them and the newlyweds to Rocky Island next day. They spent their wedding night at a nearby motel. Sleep was not a large part of the agenda until other matters had been sufficiently attended to. Sleep finally claimed them and from that night on, Allison slept in Toby’s arms, sometimes spoon fashion, sometimes face to face. After a few days, his right arm no longer grew numb during the night. She never complained that the black mat of hair on his chest tickled her face, and he was never bothered by stray wisps of her silky blonde hair in his face. That sleeping pattern of their bodies became their constant sleeping pattern for years.
    Neither Toby nor Allison had ever flown in any kind of aircraft. The early morning helicopter ride was exciting for them. The chopper was a large federal Transport Canada helicopter based in Yarmouth. It would make regular monthly trips for resupply, and should one or the other need to leave the island, would be their method of transportation. A Zodiac inflatable boat with its heavy-duty outboard engine was kept on the island for the lighthouse keeper’s use and generally would be for emergencies only.
    On their arrival, they were met by the retiring keeper and his wife. The chopper waited on the concrete landing pad while the men unloaded the various items of cargo and took on what was to be shipped out while the outgoing keeper showed Toby around and his wife performed a similar duty with Allison and the house. After about four hours, the new keeper and his new bride were alone, watching the helicopter disappear over the horizon.
    Toby had turned to Allison. “Well?”
    “We’re here.”
    “Going to be okay?”
    “Of course.”
    “What’s first?”
    “Bed—just as soon as I get it made up.”
    “I’ll help.”
    They never did have lunch that day. In fact, Toby just got to the lighthouse in time to turn the light on by the half-hour before sunset deadline. His first time performing that chore, he spent longer at it then he would do as he