Free Bird by Rita Murphy Page A

Here!” He held out the ribbon to me. “For your hair.” I could barely hear him through the thick glass. I signaled that I would come up to the walk.
    “You’re back,” I said, looking over the railing.
    “Yes, miss. I’m back.” A wide smile spread across his face. He held up the ribbon again. “A gift.”
    “Thank you,” I said, lowering the anchor line. The ribbon was made of silk the color of summer wheat, and I immediately tied it into my hair. I was over-joyed to see Farley. I could not deny that his disappearance had caused me more sorrow than I had imagined possible.
    “Where have you been?”
    “Burlington. We brought up a new boat. That one out there,” he said, pointing to a large schooner at the edge of the bay.
    “You’re not working today?”
    He seemed surprised. “No, miss. I’ve been given the week off, but I wouldn’t work today anyway. ’Tis Sunday.”
    “Oh, yes, of course.” The days had flowed into one another, though even with Wysteria here, Sundays were as any other day might be. We mended nets when there were nets to mend. There was no going to church or reading the Bible for us; these practices were for common people, Wysteria said. We had no need of them.
    “Don’t you go to church, then?”
    “No.”
    “Are you a heathen?”
    “I don’t think so. I know I’m not Catholic. Wysteria greatly dislikes Catholics.”
    Farley laughed. “Then she’d dislike me.”
    “Are you Catholic?”
    “Me family is. I have me own ways, but I do go to church and keep at me prayers. Fishermen need more prayers than landlubbers like yourself. Praying can be a good thing.” He gazed up at the Manor.
    I nodded. “You’ve heard about this place?”
    “I’ve heard the stories, but I don’t go in for stories. Mostly I take things as they come to me, not secondhand.”
    “I see.”
    “Can you leave, then? Can you come to the beach and bring your kite?”
    “I’m not sure.” It surprised me to think that I would not jump at the chance to leave, but I felt that strange pull come over me, that dread at walking outside, as if my leaving were a betrayal. Perhaps, I thought, it wasn’t Wysteria who kept me here, but the Manor that claimed my allegiance.
    “Is it the old woman? Is that why you hesitate? Is she at home?”
    “Wysteria? No. She’s ill. She has been taken to the hospital.”
    “You’re alone, then?”
    “Dr. Mead stops by to check on me.”
    “ ’Tis an awful big house to be alone in. I’d ask you to stay on the boat, but we’re seven men and it’s not a place for a lady, to be sure.”
    “Thank you, but I have to stay to watch the Hounds and light the lantern. It’s our duty . . . for the boats on the lake.”
    “Can you not come out if I’m with you? I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”
    “Perhaps I can go for a short while, but I must be back before dark.”
    “That’s grand.” Farley clapped his hands and began climbing down the elm.
    “I’ll meet you outside the front door.” I did not want Farley to come inside the Manor, to ever walk across its threshold. In some strange way, I knew it would not like Farley. Whatever brought me happiness, I was certain the Manor would disapprove of.
    “Bring the kite,” he yelled after me.
    “I’ll bring two if you like.”
    “You’ve more than one?”
    “A whole roomful.”
    “Remarkable!” Farley scrambled down the tree. I ran to the walk and retrieved the Red Dragon and a large blue kite with feathers etched into its sides that I thought Farley would like. I dressed in my heavy coat and boots but left the Hounds inside so they wouldn’t follow us and chase after the kites.

    Farley and I spent the whole of that day together, the first of many to come. I had never played with any other children that I could remember and was unsure how one went about doing so, but Farley had an unending supply of ideas and plans, which occupied us into the late afternoon.
    He was fascinated with kites and wings