Teetoncey (11 page)

He did not get an answer, but for the first time it didn't bother him.

In the kitchen, he said, "You know they got tunnels under the River Thames in London?"

Rachel was peeling potatoes. "No, I didn't know that." She wondered where he'd heard about it.

B
EN WORKED FOR
Mr. Burrus early in the day. As he went about sweeping out, dusting the shelves, and splitting kindling, he kept thinking about the Baedeker book, imagining Teetoncey going to the Metropolitan Cattle Market on the Monday before Christmas or to Covent Garden Easter Eve; riding the electric railway or seeing that place where everyone was in wax statues.

Having never been to any town larger than Manteo, the Dare county seat, which was huge in comparison to even Hatteras village, it almost seemed impossible that London existed. Reuben had told him about Norfolk, Baltimore, and New York. But they now seemed small alongside London, if the red-covered book spoke the truth. He couldn't wait to get back home to read the other one.

After the noon meal, he emptied the ashes in both the kitchen and living-room stoves, filled the wood boxes; then got the books out and was about to head for the dock when Rachel said, "Take Tee with you. It's warm enough." The sun was out, and the temperature was in the midfifties.

Ben shrugged. It didn't matter. While he read, she could sit and do what she usually did. Stare.

Rachel noticed the books under his arm but paid no attention to them. Ben was often reading something. She said, "Don't let her fall in."

Ben nodded, took Tee in tow, and went out.

He showed her the small shad boat which was off to the side of the pier, on the shore. She simply looked at it.

"That's the mainland over there." He pointed.

Her eyes went in that direction.

He got her settled on the dock, legs dangling over, and then sat down beside her, putting his back against a piling header. He glanced at the Baedeker and had an idea. He unfolded the railway map of England which was in the front of the book. "Remember this?"

He stuck it under her nose and watched her eyes. They went away from the map and began to concentrate on the minnows that were swimming around the pilings. Ben sighed and put the Baedeker away to read
The People of London.

They did some incredible things. They could walk by Buckingham Palace and see the queen now and then. At the end of the third chapter, it said that some people went to France on "holiday."

Ben closed the book and looked out across the sound. There was enough breeze to kick up whitecaps. The water was the color of coffee with alot of milk in it. It was clear enough to see Long Shoal Point which was on the mainland well above Wysocking Bay. A schooner was beating down the channel and some Creef boats were out.

France wasn't much farther away than the mainland if you lived in London.

Ben shook his head and glanced at Tee. To think that speechless thing had probably gone to France.

Why, it took them a day's sailing just to get up to Shallowbag Bay in Manteo where the only foreigner was a half-Greek who ran the café.

Ben read until almost sundown and then took Tee backup to the house.

Rachel asked, "How'd she do?"

Unable to contain his exasperation, Ben answered, "She watched the gudgeons."

Sometime during the night he had a dream. As dreams go, it faded in and out and didn't make much sense. But it did involve Elizabeth Lansdowne and a fourteen-room house, along with Queen Victoria, Buckingham Palace, and Birdcage Walk. Also, some talk about going on a holiday in France.

Just as it ended, Ben said, "You know, you're pretty."

Teetoncey laughed back impudently, "You fleech me, Ben O'Neal."

He awakened and lay very still for a while, looking out at the stars, thinking about it. Most of it had come from those books. It was all crazy, as she was.

But she seemed to be getting to him. Like as not, he thought, she'd stay a mystery until the British consul came to get her.

Ben rolled over on his side in an attempt to go back to sleep.

Rachel stirred.

B
EN RODE OVER
to deliver a pint of
penetrate
to Mrs. Scarborough. Lucy was sick. When he got back, Rachel asked, unconcernedly, "Where's Tee?"

"She's here, I guess," Ben replied.

"I thought she was with you."

Ben shook his head.

Rachel said, "Oh, Ben," and they both ran out into the yard. She wasn't in sight, nor was Boo Dog. They began shouting her name but Rachel finally said, "That's not gonna do any good. I'll go up the trail an' you look along the shore."

"Boo has to be with her," Ben said. He followed her around like a lamb now. So he began yelling for Boo, walking north along the sound.

Ben went almost a mile, searching for footprints in the sandy mud; calling for Boo. There was no trace of her. He began to worry, though she couldn't very well get off the island without a boat, and there wasn't anything to hurt her. No animals large enough; the cottonmouths were sleeping the winter out.

Then he thought of the sink sand patch just below Salvo. All she'd have to do is step into it, and fare the' well without a gurgle. He and Kilbie had tossed rocks into that sink patch; they'd gone down in five seconds. It had swallowed a sheep whole.

Heart in his mouth, he broke into a run and burst through the thicket looking for tracks. Boos or hers. But the mud near the sink patch hadn't been disturbed aside from some heron marks. She hadn't been there.

Ben yelled for the dog in vain, and then began running south.

In the distance, he could hear his mother hollering. "Teetoncey! Teetoncey!" It carried on the wind.

He ran past the house to find Fid. He could cover more ground on the sand pony. Then, out of the corner of his eye he caught a splash of red down on the dock.

There she was, sprawled out on her stomach, looking down at the minnows; Boo Dog draped out by her side, stupidly asleep.

Ben blew out an angry breath and walked down. He shouted at her. "Why didn't you answer us, you idiot!"

She lifted her head and gazed back at him innocently.

Boo also lifted his head. That made Ben wild. He kicked Boo in the stem and said, "Least you could have done is barked."

Then he pulled Tee roughly to her feet. "C'mon."

He waited in front of the house until his mother got back She was puffing coming up the lane. "Where was she? My heart's poundin'."

"Out on the dock"

Rachel said, "Teetoncey, child, don't go out of the house unless you tell me." Instantly, Rachel thought—
Now, that's a silly statement.

The girl gazed blankly at Rachel as she had at Ben.

"You see," Ben said.

Rachel nodded. "I guess we're gonna need to watch her closer now."

Ben mumbled, "Or put a bell aroun' her neck."

Rachel said, "She didn't mean to," and they went on in. Suddenly, Rachel stopped. "Ben, you realize she put on her own coat an' hat? That's another good sign."

Ben snorted. "If she'd gotten into that sink near Salvo, that's all that would have been left of her. That hat floatin' on top."

It happened again Sunday.

Rachel went to Mrs. Burrus's to read Bible, and Ben stayed around the house to keep Tee company but finally in late morning decided to put Me
and the John O'Neal
back, in the water. He wanted to check the rigging, too. Hardie Miller had been none too easy-handed when he'd righted the boat.

Ben saw that Tee was safely on the couch, still in her nightgown, turning the pages of the Sears catalog slowly. That was enough to occupy her for an hour, at least. He went down to the dock and began work on the boat.

About noon, Rachel returned and saw the nightgown on the floor in Ben's room. She hurried outside.

"Tee down here anywhere?" she asked.

Ben straightened up with a start. "She's in the house."

"No, Ben. Where's the dog?"

"He went off early." Every so often, Boo would prowl away on an expedition, sometimes going as far as Hatteras village.

"Well, she's gone again," Rachel said, with a slight annoyance in her voice. "I'll change my shoes..."

My fault this time,
Ben thought, and went to find Fid. But that sand sink hovered in his mind. Carrying the bridle and bit, he hurried along the shore until he located the pony. The tackie wasn't too far away, engaged in his usual gnawing. Ben quickly slipped the bridle on, mounted him, and went at a gallop for the sink, leaning over along the way in hopes of seeing her tracks.

He crashed through the thicket and pulled Fid up short, hopping off. No footprints were visible. He mounted again.

Which way now? That girl was getting to be too much for them, he thought.

He cut across the island and headed for Heron station, thinking she might have walked the trail; maybe someone spotted her.

Luther Gaskins was out behind the station, sunning himself after noon chow and reading a month-old copy of the Norfolk
Pilot.

"You see Teetoncey?" Ben shouted.

"Nope. Haven't seen her since we got her outta the surf."

"She's lost, Luther. She did it Friday, too. She's startin' to roam worse 'n' heifer."

Gaskins got up. "You check the sink near Salvo?"

"She's not there."

"I'll tell Cap'n Midgett. How long's she been gone?"

"No more'n an hour."

Gaskins went into the station, and Ben slapped Fid's behind, rode down over the sand banks, and headed south along the beach, thinking she might have gone back to the
Hettie Carmichael

He looked far ahead, on past the
Hettie,
but there wasn't a soul on the beach. Seldom was, on winter Sundays. Boo Dog had certainly picked a terrible time to go hunting, he thought, pounding along on Fid. If worse came to worst, he'd run Boo down and have him track her.

He drew up at the
Carmichael
and looked around the wreck but she wasn't there. He checked the sand around the stem. The tide was ebbing out and there weren't any shoe marks.

Ben didn't know where to go next. He thought of riding on down to Kinnakeet station, but that was a good four miles, and she couldn't have very well covered that much distance.

Jabez Tillett loped up on one of the big mules. "You spot 'er, Ben?"

"Not a hair."

"Well, you go on inland. I'll ride this way. Cap'n Midgett called Pea Island an' New Inlet. We'll find her."

Ben rode on up over the bank. Even though he knew the barrier islands were the safest places in the world if there wasn't a gale, he started to worry the way he'd worried Friday. And this time, he'd been responsible.

He rode south for a quarter mile, saw his mother on the trail, and pulled up.

"Any sign of her?" Rachel asked dejectedly.

Ben shook his head. "Filene has turned out search crews from Pea and New Inlet, too. They're on the beach now."

Rachel said, "Ben, think hard. Where could she have gone? I even looked in the closets."

"She's jus' wanderin', Mama."

"Think of all the places you've taken her."

"She couldn't get as far as Hattrus now."

"Closer places."

"I checked the
Hettie Carmichael.
"

Then Ben thought about the snow geese. "Mebbe she's up inland on Pea Island."

"Go, Ben," Rachel said.

Ben cracked Fid's ribs with his feet and headed north.

In twenty minutes, he was on the flats and saw a small figure ahead, barely a speck He muttered, "Damn me, there she is."

He rode on up, and there she was, watching the geese. They squawked and scattered as he got closer and Teetoncey finally turned to look at him.

He felt that same mixture of anger and relief that he'd felt on Friday, but there wasn't any use to yell at her. Ben said, "Girl, we're gonna put a rope on you," and slid off the pony.

He stood over her. "You know what you've caused? Whole Lifesavin' Service is out lookin' for you. Mama is walkin' the trail..."

Tee just stared up.

Ben shook his head. He reached down and pulled her up, then said tiredly, "Throw a leg over that pony."

She stayed motionless.

He repeated it.

Finally, he picked her up and struggled her aboard Fid. He waited for her to take a hold on him. She just sat there. He turned slightly. "Tee, put your arms around my belly." That didn't work, either. So he reached back and took her hands, clasping them around his middle.

"Let's go, Fid," he muttered and slapped a flank.

They trotted toward Heron Head station.

Filene was in the yard. He said, unexcitedly, "You found 'er, eh?"

"She was watchin' the geese."

"That's a good thing to do on Sunday," Filene said calmly, giving her a long look. "She's pert today, ain't she? Got some color in her cheeks."

Then he casually walked inside to phone the other stations and call off the search. Ben thought it was impossible to know what would excite Filene and what wouldn't.

He trotted Fid on home.

 

Not much was said the rest of the day but that night, after supper, Rachel began to talk. Before she opened her mouth, Ben believed he knew what the subject would be.

"I thought about it all afternoon. She may be gettin' too much for us, Ben. She ain't ours. An' if somethin' happened to her out here, I'd never forgive myself. If she fell off the dock or got into that sink sand ... I think it would finish me..."

Ben nodded. He could understand that, after what had happened to his papa and Guthrie.

"I do see signs o' improvement, but they might be jus' wishful thinkin'. An' we may even be hurtin' her in some way. Mebbe a doctor could unlock her mind..."

Rachel moistened her lips and continued, hating what she was thinking and what she had to say. "The other thing, Ben, is that ever single day, whether we know it or not, were gettin' more attached to her. Even if she's started to do pesky things..."

That was also true, Ben thought.

"So, much as I hate to do it, I'm goin to talk to Filene tomorrow, have him call Mr. Timmons an' the British man an' tell them to come an' get Teetoncey. It's best, Ben."