Breakwater Bay by Shelley Noble Page A

the wind, or a tree branch, but Mother rushed to open it. And little A from across the way fell inside to the floor. He was soaked and freezing. He tried to say something, but his teeth were chattering so hard we couldn’t understand him.
                 “Is it your father?” Mother asked. He shook his head. “Her. On the beach. Help her.”
                 God, I’ll never forget his words or the look of sheer terror on that boy’s face.
    Meri sat up. Little A? Who was little A? But she thought she knew. What other A lived in the only house across the way, but Alden? She read ahead, wondering where all this was going. There was some more writing that was indecipherable, but she just skipped over it. She’d go back later and read every word. But for now . . .
                 K, who’s a sturdy woman, told me to gather some heavy blankets and she carried him upstairs. When I reached the bedroom where she’d taken him, he was already under the covers. We piled on more blankets. K told me to watch him, and she and Mother hurried away. He was so pale, I just fell down on my knees like a child and prayed that he wouldn’t be taken, too.
    The passage ended. Meri turned the page.
                 My God, she’s a mere child. Not much older than A. She wasn’t anyone from around here. I couldn’t imagine why she would be out here alone and on the beach.
                 She was awake but could barely stand, and K and Mother had to practically carry her up the stairs. I went to get a nightgown for her and when I came back, she was sitting on the bed wrapped in a blanket. When she raised her hands to put on the nightgown, I saw and understood.
                 She was pregnant. Very pregnant. And my heart broke all over again. Even as I looked enviously at her huge round belly, she doubled over and screamed. I recoiled, I admit it. But only for a moment, then I prayed that she would deliver her baby safely and it would be healthy and it would live.
                 They laid her back on the bed, just as another cry was wrenched from her.
                 I’ll call for an ambulance, Mamma said. K lifted the nightgown, pushed the girl’s knees up, and said, No time.
                 And that’s when things began for me. When my will to live came back again.
                 Everything began happening at once, and not easy. Not like with me. Not just an exhale and she was gone. But with flailing and screaming. The baby came quickly. Katy said she must have been in labor for hours. It was horrifying to consider. Out in the storm and in labor. I hope when A wakes up, he can tell us what happened.
                 He did wake up. The baby came on the most bloodcurdling scream you’ve ever heard, and I remember thinking this girl never had Lamaze classes. It was a stupid thing to think at a time like that, but that’s the way the mind works sometimes.
                 Katy did what midwives do and swaddled the baby in a blanket that had been heating on the radiator. I was holding the girl’s hand; she’d been clutching it so hard that it hurt, now it lay still in mine. But she was breathing.
                 The door burst open and A stood there wrapped in a quilt. “Don’t hurt her!”
                 K came to him and leaned over and braced her hands on her knees to look him in the eye. “She’s fine. That was good screaming. She’s had a baby. Do you want to see?”
                 He nodded. I remember his cheeks were flushed, but the rest of him was shockingly pale. The quilt trailed behind him as he followed her over to the crib where my baby would never lie. Now a healthy baby lay there.
                 He peered down at her then looked at me. “Is that your baby?”
                 Tears just came to my eyes and I couldn’t