last year to take care of her aging great-grandfather. He had died about a month ago, and Marilee had insisted that she wanted to stay in the family house by herself. It was a situation that would never work in the big city, but here it did. Family and friends looked after the teenager, and a small trust paid the bills.
âI got my GED.â The girlâs voice was neutral but firm. It was none of Sabrinaâs business, her closed expression said, but she was too well brought up to say it aloud.
âIâm happy to hear that. Are you thinking about college, though?â
Marilee shrugged and moved toward the door to the store. Something made her pause and she looked back over her shoulder at Sabrina. âI always did want to be an FBI agent.â
âAn FBI agent? Me too! Well, any sort of secret agent would have worked. You need to go to college if you want to join the FBI.â Sabrina pulled out a notebook and started jotting notes to herself. âHave you taken your SATs? We need to look into scholarships and grants. Maybe a fundraiserâ¦â She muttered to herself as she mapped out Marileeâs future.
âYou really think itâs possible?â Marilee stared at Sabrina with the instinctive awe reserved for schoolteachers and doctors. These people were capable of daily miracles, she knew.
âOf course! We need to get to work, though. Weâll talk soon.â
Marilee nodded, her young face bright with hope. She raised her hand in farewell and went back inside.
âSabrina! Arenât you a vision in pink. And yellow. And green. Andââ Lima said as he came out of the store a few minutes later holding a Styrofoam cup of fragrant, homemade Brunswick stew.
A strangled, creaking noise came from the bottom step, and they both looked down to see that Bicycle was laughing.
âWell, call me a butt and slap me silly. I donât think Iâve seen Bicycle laugh in the twenty years heâs been back on the island. Hey, did you know today was Mitchellâs Day? I hope youâre not planning to go out on the water.â
âLima, thatâs an old wivesâ tale.â After several months on the island, sheâd finally persuaded Lima to tell her the story behind the islandersâ cryptic references to Mitchellâs Day.
Lima snorted. âYou live here long enough, and then you tell me itâs an old wivesâ tale. Youâll see. What have you been doing today, Sabrina?â
Sabrina ran through her morning: her talk with Maggie Fromlin about the strange behavior of the burglar, and then her very unproductive conversation with Mayor Hill Mitchell, who couldnât, or wouldnât, explain how he had known someone had been in his house while he was gone Friday night.
âThat manâs got so many screws loose he rattles when he walks.â Lima shook his head.
âYou know, I wasnât going to say anything, but did you ever notice his yard doesnât have anything green in it? Itâs all rock. No grass, bushes, trees, not even a weed.â
âYeah, Iâve noticed. He did that right after he retired from being a florist for thirty years. I guess he got tired of plants.â
âHill said nothing was missing, and so did Maggie. She remembers a note that the burglar may have dropped, though, reading âMit,â âHar,â âGar,â and âFred.â Ring any bells?â
âYeah, the silent one that only dogs and loonies can hear.â
âMaggie also remembered that the thief was barefoot. What kind of thief breaks into a house barefoot and doesnât take anything?â
âSomeone with more screws loose than Hill.â
âIf only the bad ones
did
rattle when they walked, at least we would know they were coming.â
They thought about that for a while in the sleepy warmth of the noonday sun.
âHey, Marilee,â Lima yelled through the window behind his
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