Page 86 of The Identicals
Reed is… well, if he’s on the Vineyard, he’s doing a good job of hiding. Harper might be able to ask people she knows—Rooster? Franklin Phelps? Greenie?—if they’ve seen him or heard from him, if they know where he is.I need to talk to him,Harper would say.It’s important.But she will leave it at that.
Brendan Donegal. Brendan should be sitting by the koi pond at Mytoi or walking on East Beach skipping stones, but now Brendan, too, is dead. Harper takes a deep breath, then winds Fish’s leash around her wrist as she disembarks from the ferry. Fish pulls her along; he knows they’re home. Ainsley is right behind them. Ainsley has aged about fifteen years in the last twenty-four hours, Harper figures. That’s what handling a tragedy does to a person.
They are renting a car from A-A Island Auto Rental, on the wharf. It’s a short trip, but Harper can’t be dependent on cabdrivers who may or may not know their way around by now. They pile into a generic gunmetal-gray Jeep. Nobody will recognize her.
“Are you hungry?” Harper asks Ainsley.
“No,” Ainsley says.
“Me, either,” she says. She hasn’t been able to eat since Edie’s call. “Let’s go do this, then.”
Ainsley nods. She gazes out the window. “It’s so pretty here,” she says.
“That it is,” Harper says.
It’s one of those clear blue days that seem to have been made for the Vineyard. The heat and humidity are gone: everything has a crisp edge. How many days like this has Harper taken for granted? Someday she, too, will die. Fish will die, Ainsley will die, the baby inside Harper will die. It’s a grim train of thought, but it’s not nearly as daunting as what lies ahead. Harper has to see Edie and, in her own way, say good-bye to Brendan.
In Edgartown, Harper obeys every traffic law and speed limit; she lets a driver from Tisbury Taxi go in front of her at the triangle. There is, she thinks, a first time for everything. She can’t have Drew or anyone else from the Edgartown police pulling her over. She drives down Main Street, Ainsley oohing and aahing over the Old Whaling Church and the Daniel Fisher house, then Harper pulls in line for theOn Time III,even though the line is longer by two cars than the one for theOn Time II. But Harper is avoiding everyone she knows, including Indira Mayhew, the ferry master on theOn Time II.
She puts down the window to buy a ticket.
“Long time, no see, my friend.”
Harper turns. Indira is here, working on theIII.
“Hi,” Harper says. “Yes, I’ve been away.”
“Anywhere good?” Indira asks.
“Nantucket,” Harper says.
“You poor child,” Indira says, then she smiles. “I’m kidding. My father used to love taking our boat over to Tuckernuck. And on rare occasions we went to the big island. I remember Cokes and oyster crackers at the Anglers’ Club.”
“It’s good to see you,” Harper says. When the light turns green, she drives onto the ferry.
“Are you okay?” Ainsley asks.
“No,” Harper says.
Chappaquiddick has changed. It used to bring Harper a sense of peace and love—now she feels sadness and regret.Brendan!she cries out in her mind.
She feels it’s her fault.
When she passes the entrance to Mytoi, her heart keens. She continues down Chappaquiddick Road until she reaches the Donegal residence.
Edie is expecting her. She is sitting on the old-fashioned bench swing on her front porch, and when Harper pulls in, she stands.
Harper gets out of the car. Ainsley follows, bringing Fish on a leash.
“Edie,” Harper says. “I’m so sorry.” She embraces the tiny woman at the top of the porch stairs, then she turns to introduce Ainsley.
“My niece, Ainsley,” she says. “And this is Fish.”
“Fish,” Edie says, and she bends down to stroke Fish under the chin. “Brendan used to talk about Fish all the time. I admit it took me a while to figure out that Fish was a dog.” Edie smiles sadly at Ainsley. “My son got things mixed up at times.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Ainsley says.
Edie nods, lips pressed together so tightly they look bloodless. “Would you like to take Fish for a walk on our beach?” she asks her. “I’d love to spend a few minutes with your aunt alone.”
