Authors: Kit Pearson
March 25, 1933
Dear Daddy,
There’s a lot to do here in the spring! Aunt Jean and I have planted seeds for radishes, beans, peas, and lettuce in
the rectory garden. I helped Noni prune her roses. She paid Biddy and Luke and me a nickel for each starfish we collected at low tide. Noni cuts them up and digs them around the roses for fertilizer. Her roses grow so big that they win prizes at the fall fair.
Last week there was a loud thumping in the woods behind the house. I asked Noni what it was and she said it was grouse! In the spring the boy grouse thumps his wings to attract the girl grouse—isn’t that strange? I hear them every day.
Aunt Jean is having a feud with Mrs. Cunningham because she said Aunt Jean cheated at Whist. Now they won’t speak to each other. Noni told me they have always had feuds, even when they were both girls on the island. Biddy and I will never argue like that.
Love,
Doodle
April 4, 1933
Dear Daddy,
Noni ordered me a whole lot of spring clothes from the Eaton’s catalogue because I’ve outgrown all my other ones. I’m getting two dresses (one blue and one yellow), several blouses, two skirts, black shoes and brown sandals, a blue tweed coat, and a straw hat with flowers to wear for Easter. I’ll feel like a princess!
Maud is coming home for Easter. She’s bringing her friend Sadie with her because Sadie’s parents are in Vancouver looking after Sadie’s sick grandfather.
I wish Sadie wasn’t coming! They’re going to sleep in our room and I have to sleep in the box room down the hall. Noni
had to move her trunks and hat boxes up to the attic to make room for my cot. Biddy is going to visit her cousins in Comox for the holidays and I won’t have anyone to play with.
Much love,
Polly
“A
nd thank you for bringing our Maud and her friend Sadie home to us to share our Easter celebration,” said Uncle Rand as he finished grace.
Sadie winked at Polly, and Polly winked back. Sadie was turning out to be a pleasant surprise. She joked as much as Gregor and she called Polly “Pollywog” just the way he did. Polly was enjoying showing Sadie the island. Yesterday she and Maud had taken her fishing off the wharf. They’d caught so many cod that Mrs. Hooper couldn’t cook them all. They put the extra fish in a basket and took them to a poor family near the lighthouse.
Polly hadn’t meant to eat any of the cod, but she’d tried a bit and it was so good that she couldn’t resist it. Now she stared at the roast lamb Aunt Jean was putting on the table. She tried to think of the little lambs playing in the meadow. Before she could refuse any, a plate of lamb was passed to her. Polly nibbled at a bit of it. It was so delicious she had to eat more.
Everyone at the table was so jolly that it was hard to feel guilty. Gregor’s and Sadie’s voices rose in a crescendo as they teased each
other. It was so obvious that they liked each other. Sadie managed to be wherever Gregor was, and he kept gazing adoringly at her. Aunt Jean seemed to have just as great a crush on Sadie as Gregor did. She had long conversations with her about her family and approved of everything Sadie said.
Sadie had already told Maud and Polly how much she liked Gregor.
“But he’s so goofy!” Maud said.
“That’s why I like him. He’s goofy, but inside he’s as principled as his father. I’m going to marry him one day.”
“Marry him!” Maud looked stunned. “Sadie, how can you know that? You’re only sixteen!”
“I just know,” said Sadie quietly. “You wait and see. Now, who is this creature shadowing me?”
Tarka started whining. Sadie had taught him how to dance in a circle for a cookie.
After Easter dinner Polly went upstairs to change out of her new yellow dress. Maud came into the box room. “There’s something I want to talk to you about, Poll,” she said.
Polly shivered. Had Maud heard from Daddy? She had been unusually silent these holidays.
It wasn’t Daddy. Maud sat down on the bed and announced that she had become a Christian.
“But you already are one!” said Polly.
“Now I’m really a Christian—I’ve been saved.” Maud had a queer look in her eyes, as if she were staring at something in the air. “I’ve received Jesus in my heart, Doodle. It’s incredible—I’ve never felt so certain about anything in my life!”
Maud told her how Miss Guppy had taken her and four other girls in her special group to her church in Victoria one Saturday
afternoon. The minister had asked people to repent of their sins and come up and receive Jesus.
“I felt as if I was
pulled
up there, Poll. I was crying so much I could hardly walk. Everyone else was crying too.”
“You were crying?” Maud never cried! “I thought you were an
Anglican
now,” added Polly.
“I was, but that’s not enough for me. It’s not enough for Miss Guppy either. She has to pretend she’s an ordinary Anglican in the school. Polly, you have to promise me to keep this a secret from Noni. Miss Guppy might get into trouble if someone found out.”
“Okay, I promise. Why would I tell
anyone?
It sounds so strange, Maud! I don’t think you should have anything to do with it!”
Maud gave her a most un-Maudish, sickening smile. “Dear Polly—I know it’s hard for you to understand. This is all very new for you—for me too!—but you’ll get used to it. I truly hope, Doodle, that one day you’ll be converted as well. I’m going to send you a book to read. If you could accept Jesus like I have, I’d be so happy!”
Polly stood up. “I already accept Jesus! I go to church every Sunday and I say my prayers every night! I think this new religion sounds weird, Maud. Daddy wouldn’t like it.”
“Daddy has nothing to do with it,” said Maud. “And we’re not supposed to talk about him, remember? I knew you’d be like this, Poll, but Jesus is already working on you—I can tell.”
“He is
not
working on me! You’re crazy, Maud!” Polly flounced out of the room.
She found Sadie in the kitchen holding a wire mesh strainer to the wall. “Oh, Polly, you’re just in time—I’ve trapped a hummingbird! It must have come in through the window. Help me put this cardboard under it.”
They carefully slid a piece of cardboard under the strainer. For a few minutes they examined the tiny bird. It had a bib like dazzling orangey-red jewels.
Sadie pressed the cardboard to the strainer as she carried it into the yard. “Keep calm, sweetheart—we’ll soon have you free.” When she released the hummingbird, it zoomed straight up into the sky.
“Gosh … wasn’t that nifty, Pollywog?”
Sadie was so kind and warm that Polly decided to ask her about Maud.
“So she told you.” Sadie sighed. “That’s a hard one, kiddo. When Maud first came to school, I’d sometimes hear her get up at night. She’d sit by the window for hours. I guess she was missing your dad. But now she seems so happy, and so certain that this religion is for her.
I
think she and the rest of the Guppy’s group are nuts! But when I tell her that, Maud just smiles like a saint and says she hopes I’ll be converted someday too.”
“That’s what she said to me!”
“Never mind. I’m sure she’ll get over it. Last year Ann was part of the same group and now she won’t have anything to do with them. Maud is still your sister and she still loves you—just hang on to that.”
“I’ll try,” said Polly. But it was hard to be hopeful about Maud. First Polly had lost her to St. Winifred’s. Now, it seemed, she had lost her to Jesus.
May 25, 1933
Dear Daddy,
We had a very nice Easter holiday, but Maud told me she
has joined a strange new religion. I wish you were here so you could talk her out of it.
Daddy, do you think I’m a wicked person for eating meat and fish? But Uncle Rand eats meat, and he’s a rector. During Lent he gave a sermon about living up to your principles. I’m not very good at that, Daddy. I really think it’s wrong to eat animals, but then I can’t resist. It’s so confusing.
Yesterday was Empire Day and it was so much fun! Kingfisher Island had a huge celebration and lots of people came in boats from other islands. There was a parade and lots of races. I went in the sack race and Biddy and I went in the three-legged race, but we didn’t win. Biddy’s mother won first prize in the egg-and-spoon race. There was a men’s softball game between Kingfisher and Valencia. Kingfisher won! In the evening there was a dance and I stayed until after midnight! We had strawberry ice cream. Aunt Jean danced so much that she hurt her back.
Love,
Polly
June 22, 1933
Dear Daddy,
I feel so bad! Last night I left the deer gate open by mistake and this morning almost all of Noni’s flowers had been nibbled to the ground. She scolded me very sharply—it’s the first time she ever has. I couldn’t stop crying. Noni loves her garden so much and now she has to start all over again. At least her roses were saved—they are enclosed in a separate garden.
Oh, Daddy, how could I do such a stupid thing! I’m usually so careful about shutting the gate, but while I was weeding I heard Tarka bark and I thought he was chasing a deer so I ran
out. Tarka was greeting Biddy and Bramble and I was so glad to see them that I forgot to go back and shut the gate.
Noni isn’t angry any more, but I can tell she’s still upset. She keeps saying “What’s done is done” and that I should stop feeling guilty, but I can’t.
I’ll tell you everything I’ve been doing and maybe that will help me feel better. Biddy and I have taught Tarka and Bramble to ride in the baskets of our bikes. Biddy had to tie Bramble in at first, but Tarka was good right from the start. He stays very still, even when he barks at other dogs we pass. He really likes zooming down hills—he puts his head up and his ears blow back. I used to hate leaving him at home when I went off on my bike, but now I can take him all over the island! He’s such a smart boy.
I’ve been helping Biddy and Luke herd sheep. We run behind them and shout at them. Biddy’s father and his helper sheared the sheep—it comes off their skins like a coat. We stuffed the wool into gunny sacks and my hands got slippery from the oil in it.
We went to Victoria for four days and stayed in the Empress Hotel again. Aunt Jean taught me how to swim at the Crystal Pool. The water was lovely and warm and it wasn’t hard to learn. The adults were all so proud of me. The trouble is, Daddy, that I’m still afraid to swim in the sea, but I couldn’t tell them that. At the end of our stay we brought Maud home for the summer. St. Winifred’s gets out earlier than our school.
I don’t feel any better, Daddy, so I’m going to stop now.
Much love,
Polly
After Polly had hidden her letter to Daddy she began weeping again. Maud came into the bedroom. “Doodle, what’s the matter? Are you still upset about leaving the gate open?”
Polly nodded, sniffing up her tears.
Maud gave her a handkerchief and a hug. “Don’t worry, Poll. Noni isn’t mad any more. She forgives you—so does God!”
Polly sighed. She had hoped Maud had changed since Easter, but she was even stranger than before.
“Did you read the book I sent you?” Maud asked. “It would help you right now.”
The book was called
Jesus Is Calling You.
Polly hadn’t even opened it.
“No, I haven’t,” Polly told her. “I’ve already told you, Maud—I’m not interested in your weird religion.”
Maud just put on one of her holy looks. “You’re just not ready yet, but you will be.”
Was Maud going to be this impossible all summer?
On the evening of Polly’s last day of school there was a graduation ceremony at the community hall for Alice, Milly, Hana, and Chester. Almost everyone on the island came. Milly gave the valedictory address, and the school choir sang. Polly’s eyes stung when Alice sang Daddy’s favourite song, “There’s a Long Long Trail A-Winding.” Alice’s voice soared like a lark and her expression was serene, not nasty.
“She’s going to your school this fall,” Polly told Maud at the reception. “You’d better watch out, because she’s a terrible bully!”
“She won’t get away with that at St. Winnie’s,” said Maud.
Polly went up to Milly and Hana, chatting in a corner. “What are you going to do now that you’ve finished school?” she asked them.
“I’m going to work in the hotel and Hana’s going to work on her family’s farm,” said Milly.
“What’s Chester doing?” asked Polly casually, as if this weren’t what she really wanted to know.
“He’s going to St. Cuthbert’s in Victoria,” said Hana.
That meant she’d only see Chester in the holidays, thought Polly. And he lived on Fowler Bay on the other side of the island, so she probably wouldn’t see him much even then.
Oh, well … why did it seem so important? Chester was only a boy, after all.
Polly left the hall to go to the privy. When she came out, there was Chester! He was sitting on the stairs of the hall.
“Hi, Polly,” he said. “It’s so hot in there, I had to come outside.”
“Hi, Chester.” She tried to think of something to say. “Umm … congratulations on graduating.”
“Thanks. It’ll seem really odd not to go to school on the island any more. I’ve been there for seven years!”
“Are you—are you looking forward to going to school in Victoria?”
“Sort of. I’m hoping to get on the football team. But I’m glad it’s not until the end of the summer. Isn’t it great? Two whole months of freedom!”
Polly nodded. In school she’d always been able to talk easily to Chester; why did she feel so tongue-tied? She didn’t know whether to go in again or to stay outside. Finally she sat down beside him.
Neither of them spoke. A frog chirruped from the ditch and the noisy din inside seemed far away. Chester leaned forward, pecked Polly’s cheek, and ran away down the road.