Free Last Summer in Louisbourg by Clare Mowat Page B

last drop of her Coke, paid for it, and left the store reluctantly. At least by then she was in a better mood, almost her normal self.
    Next morning there was another early phone call for Andrea. She put on her bathrobe, padded out into the hall, and picked up the phone. It was Penny Goodman.
    â€œAndrea? You do know how to swim, don’t you?”
    What kind of a question was that so early in the day?
    â€œSure, Penny,” she replied. “I took lessons for ages. I got my intermediate badge, and I even started working on my senior’s. Why?”
    â€œMore script revisions. We’ve got a scene coming up that requires filming you in some sort of boat. There’s no danger, of course, but we just wanted to be sure you could swim if you had to. Are you comfortable about being in a boat in the harbour?”
    â€œYou bet. My uncle in Newfoundland has a fishing boat, and last summer I spent a lot of time in it. And before that there was another time…”
    â€œGreat,” Penny cut her off. “Just what we wanted to hear. I’ll get back to you. Bye.”
    When Andrea arrived at the locker room that morning, she found Kenzie Cormier and another little boy fighting on the locker room floor.
    â€œKenzie! Scott! You boys stop it this minute!” she shouted, yanking them apart.
    â€œHe took my shoes!” accused Scott fiercely.
    â€œI never did!” Kenzie loudly insisted.
    â€œBoys! Stop it! The shoes are all the same anyway. Maybe Kenzie put yours on by mistake,” Andrea consoled.
    â€œHe did it on purpose,” protested Scott.
    â€œI doubt that very much,” Andrea said firmly. “Kenzie, if those happen to be Scott’s shoes, I want you to give them back and then you and I will find another pair for you, okay?”
    Grudgingly Kenzie kicked off the wooden shoes and left them on the floor for Scott. He followed Andrea downstairs in his stocking feet. Having just turned five, Kenzie was the youngest member of the entire volunteer corps. He spent Wednesdays and Fridays at the fortress. The other weekdays he stayed with a babysitter in town. He was quite a handful, although Andrea wouldn’t have admitted that to Jackie. She didn’t want her boss to think she couldn’t cope with any child in her charge, especially not Jackie’s son.
    Andrea hunted around in the costume cupboard and found another pair of wooden sabots that almost fitted Kenzie. She stuffed some straw into the toes of the rigid shoes, using the same method that fortress dwellers had once used to ensure a good fit. She got him into his costume in time to join the other children. Kenzie spent the next half hour running after a couple of the bigger boys who were playing hoop and stick. This was another game that had been played by children who grew up here long ago. The only people who played it nowadays were the volunteer corps at the fortress. All they needed was a simple wooden hoop, the kind that was once used by barrel makers, and a stick. The object was to keep the hoop rolling as long as possible by prodding it with the stick. A lot of running was required to prevent the hoop from falling over. It was the perfect game for overly energetic little boys.
    Andrea watched as the children darted along the quayside, laughing and shouting as the hoops continued on their wobbly courses. At moments like this, she sometimes indulged in a daydream that she was actually living her life here that last, peaceful summer back in 1744. The longer she worked here the more she thought about that distant world when there had been no cars, no radios, no computers, no telephones, no washing machines, no hairdryers, no pop music, no magazines. They didn’t even have organized sports in those days, unless hoop and stick could be classified as a sport. There were very few books. Only the children of wealthy parents learned how to read. School was a luxury, the way ballet classes and riding lessons