and then I realized that she was talking about Aden Fiske and not the dean or someone at Caldwell College, where I teach.
I nodded solemnly. “I think that’s really for the best. I’m sure you and he will work something out. But in the meantime, what are you going to do when the real disturbance starts? What are you going to do when they start construction on the gift shop?”
Mrs. Bellamy looked suspicious, as though her victory had just been snatched away from her. “What do you mean?”
“If you’re upset now, what will happen when a construction crew comes in here and starts putting together a little shed for gifts and restrooms and that sort of thing?”
Her mouth moved for a few seconds before she could make the words come out. “They can’t do that!”
“Why not? They seem to be doing it now; you didn’t geta notice about this from the city, to come to a planning meeting and discuss it?”
“There was something—but no one said that this was going to happen! This is incredible!”
That’s how houses get built, I thought. I shrugged. “I guess you should have spoken up then.”
Trembling anger made Claire Bellamy resemble an irritated Shih Tzu even more, and when I turned away to get back to work, I could feel her eyes boring little holes into my back before she finally huffed and went away. I was just glad that Bucky was in the car asleep, or that wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as it did: Bucky had no sense of tact. Then I was kind of sorry that my sister wasn’t there for the show; I always envied her ability to combine wit with her sharp tongue. It would have been fun to watch, even if it wasn’t good politics, an immature part of myself complained. Nice fireworks before Independence Day.
I squatted back down to look at what Meg was in the process of uncovering, swallowed the last mouthful of my cold coffee, then stood up again with a frown. If there had been someone out here, early in the morning, causing a “racket” as Mrs. Bellamy called it, what were they doing by the side of the house? More than that, had they been doing anything to the site?
I pulled the rest of the tarps back, but nothing appeared to be amiss, apart from the unit where Joe was working. There were two slight concavities in the side of one, near the top, and I realized that Joe had been sitting on the edge of his unit to take notes, compacting the soil underneath him and leaving an impression of his bum. There was no real harm yet, but I’d warn him to sit outside the unit, so the wall wouldn’t collapse as the soil dried out. Nothing wrong here, so I strolled around the side of the house, where there were some trees and bushes planted to conceal the maintenanceshed and trash bins. This was where we’d located our spoil heaps, but there was nothing wrong there either, no trash, no beer bottles that might have been flung by teenagers partying down by the water, no sign that the shed had been at all tampered with, which was good, because that’s where we were storing our tools and screens at night. I heard Bucky call my name, her voice coming from in back of me, by the units.
“I’m back here, Buckminster. I’ll be out in a second.” I noticed something by the far edge of the shrubs, almost to the front of the house. It wasn’t anything more than an odd break in the shadows, a little more solid than I expected to see there, but I thought I’d have a look in any case. As I walked past, dozens of little sparrows flew out of the bushes where they’d been hiding, nesting, sleeping, whatever.
“Sorry guys,” I said. “I didn’t mean to get you up at this ungodly hour too. Though technically it’s in your contract to be awake by now.”
The break in the shadows resolved itself into a patch of mottled pale light and utter black, far too definite to be a shadow, the breaks too regular. Then I realized that the mottled white was actually part of someone’s lower leg, the flesh that showed between a dark
I nodded solemnly. “I think that’s really for the best. I’m sure you and he will work something out. But in the meantime, what are you going to do when the real disturbance starts? What are you going to do when they start construction on the gift shop?”
Mrs. Bellamy looked suspicious, as though her victory had just been snatched away from her. “What do you mean?”
“If you’re upset now, what will happen when a construction crew comes in here and starts putting together a little shed for gifts and restrooms and that sort of thing?”
Her mouth moved for a few seconds before she could make the words come out. “They can’t do that!”
“Why not? They seem to be doing it now; you didn’t geta notice about this from the city, to come to a planning meeting and discuss it?”
“There was something—but no one said that this was going to happen! This is incredible!”
That’s how houses get built, I thought. I shrugged. “I guess you should have spoken up then.”
Trembling anger made Claire Bellamy resemble an irritated Shih Tzu even more, and when I turned away to get back to work, I could feel her eyes boring little holes into my back before she finally huffed and went away. I was just glad that Bucky was in the car asleep, or that wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as it did: Bucky had no sense of tact. Then I was kind of sorry that my sister wasn’t there for the show; I always envied her ability to combine wit with her sharp tongue. It would have been fun to watch, even if it wasn’t good politics, an immature part of myself complained. Nice fireworks before Independence Day.
I squatted back down to look at what Meg was in the process of uncovering, swallowed the last mouthful of my cold coffee, then stood up again with a frown. If there had been someone out here, early in the morning, causing a “racket” as Mrs. Bellamy called it, what were they doing by the side of the house? More than that, had they been doing anything to the site?
I pulled the rest of the tarps back, but nothing appeared to be amiss, apart from the unit where Joe was working. There were two slight concavities in the side of one, near the top, and I realized that Joe had been sitting on the edge of his unit to take notes, compacting the soil underneath him and leaving an impression of his bum. There was no real harm yet, but I’d warn him to sit outside the unit, so the wall wouldn’t collapse as the soil dried out. Nothing wrong here, so I strolled around the side of the house, where there were some trees and bushes planted to conceal the maintenanceshed and trash bins. This was where we’d located our spoil heaps, but there was nothing wrong there either, no trash, no beer bottles that might have been flung by teenagers partying down by the water, no sign that the shed had been at all tampered with, which was good, because that’s where we were storing our tools and screens at night. I heard Bucky call my name, her voice coming from in back of me, by the units.
“I’m back here, Buckminster. I’ll be out in a second.” I noticed something by the far edge of the shrubs, almost to the front of the house. It wasn’t anything more than an odd break in the shadows, a little more solid than I expected to see there, but I thought I’d have a look in any case. As I walked past, dozens of little sparrows flew out of the bushes where they’d been hiding, nesting, sleeping, whatever.
“Sorry guys,” I said. “I didn’t mean to get you up at this ungodly hour too. Though technically it’s in your contract to be awake by now.”
The break in the shadows resolved itself into a patch of mottled pale light and utter black, far too definite to be a shadow, the breaks too regular. Then I realized that the mottled white was actually part of someone’s lower leg, the flesh that showed between a dark
Similar Books
