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Show Fair Forever 179 I take her stick and add a picture of Beacon 9. "I thought I promised to tell you at lunch, tomorrow." "Can't wait that long," she says, and then she smiles. So I tell her the story, the same as the Captain. I tell her about meeting Amanda in the hospital at Wadesboro. About her calling my mom and coming to stay. About her crying at night and singing to the dawn. I tell about Amanda's cell phone and my haircut and wheelchair tricks; and teaching her to row. And I tell about Cornelius. When I finish, she's wiping away tears. "She didn't come to the hospital?" she asks. "Not even to say goodbye?" "She had already said goodbye," I explain. "I wrote her a letter. I'll mail it when I know her address." Katie sighs and scoops a handful of dry sand, letting it sift slowly through her fingers. "What did you say? Did you tell her you were better?" "Actually, I wrote it before the operation . . . just in case." My friend looks out toward the bay, out toward Beacon 9, then to the lighthouse. "That's a long pull," she says softly. "I can't imagine." She pauses, weighs her next comment. "But Amanda had to do it, didn't she. She had to prove she could make it- prove it to herself." I know she is right, but I don't speak. "Your mom knows doesn't she, about Amanda. But it doesn't matter-what she was running from. It doesn't make any difference. What matters is that she was starting over. When she's better, she'll have a new beginning, like my dad. After he rescued that family at the breakwater, he told me something surprising-something amazing. He said |
