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Show Moon - 69 The cottage was beside a lake and all around the lake were trees turning yellow and deep ravines with thick bushes and winding paths. It was Grandpa Tad's summer cottage, not far from Woodstock. He hadn't come here since his wife died, but he'd given the key to James, said it would be his someday. The cottage was built out of wood faded to gray, and set on a hill so that the back jutted out on posts. They could go out and stand on the porch and feel as if they were soaring toward the lake. In the kitchen was a pump they had to work a long time to get the water flowing. The rooms were tiny, except the living room, which had a huge stone fireplace with a rocking chair in front of it. An old sofa and deep worn armchairs were arranged around a braided rug. On the wall near the kitchen was sepia photograph of a woman wearing a white dress with a high lace collar. Her head was tilted a little to the side, which, despite her correctly somber expression, made it seem that she was flirting. This was Mary, Grandpa Tad's dead wife, the grandmother Joy had never known. In the distance were the Catskills, which on a clear day rolled up red and orange and gold, mysterious in the haze from the lake. Joy imagined shepherds climbing up those hills looking for all the sheep lost and afraid among the trees. Leading to the cottage was a driveway paved with river stones where, once she had finished grieving for the lost discipline of dance, she discovered the delight of rocks. Hours she spent on her hands and knees searching for stones that matched the pictures in the rock book she'd bought with saved-up allowance. She glued the stones to the bottom of a shoebox she'd cut so the sides were |