Chapter 9
After the Quinns left, he summer flew by quickly, Sully and Michaela forming a deep friendship through the time spent in one another's company. They passed many days in the outdoors, walking, exploring, and fishing. Further swims were conducted in proper swimming apparel, though Michaela secretly missed the freedom she'd experienced in the water without the constricting costume. Evenings were often spend before the cooling breeze of an open window, the children sitting at the feet of Josie or Johann, listening to stories of their lives, and on occasion, Johann's stories of old Norse mythology, filled with Vikings and trolls and elves. The evening tales provided the inspiration for Michaela and Sully's adventurous hearts as well as their quests out of doors, and the woods often took on the character of some far away and magical land.
Sully showed an inquisitive Michaela how to do each of his chores, and she was fascinated by each one, coaxing him to let her try to do them for him from time to time. Michaela also orchestrated a morning in the kitchen with Josie, so she could learn how to make biscuits and pies, though her unpracticed hands produced overly-handled dough that emerged from the oven hard and dry.
Sully chuckled quietly at Michaela's wrinkled nose as she pried a hard lump of biscuit dough from the tray, laughing harder when it landed with a thud and rolled across the room. Exasperated, she dropped the spatula on the counter, her hands poised on her hips.
"Don't laugh, Byron, I don't know what I did wrong!" she exclaimed, trying her hardest to swallow her own laughter. Josie had stepped out a minute ago to pull summer vegetables from the garden for their supper. "Why do they keep doing that?"
Calming himself, Sully shrugged. "Not sure. Guess you just got the touch" he stated casually, breaking into chuckles again when her mouth dropped open in indignation over his statement.
"How dare you!" Suddenly, a puff of flour bloomed over Sully's head, and he found himself covered in a fine white dust , Michaela's eyes sparkling as she covered her mouth to hide her laughter. Her olive and hazel eyes grew wide, though, when he began to move toward the flour canister, and she quickly grabbed a handful before retreating to the far side of the room, mentally planning her next move.
Not intimidated in the least, and grinning impishly, Sully grabbed the entire canister and charged her, causing her to squeal and run away, as he chased her in circles around the kitchen. He caught her halfway around the large butcher block in the center of the kitchen, grabbing her arm, and she spun around laughing and squealing in delight, throwing her handful of flour at him in an attempt to make him release her. Instead, he dumped the entire canister of flour over her head, watching the loose powder coat her in white.
Gasping, Michaela shook her head to get the flour out of her eyes, and looked up at him incredulously. Torn between laughing and crying, she paused for a moment, before launching herself toward him. Releasing a peal of giggles, she hugged him tightly, making sure to rub as much flour as she could into his hair. Laughing hysterically and trying to get away, he dropped to the floor, twisting out of her arms and finding her hands so he could pin her down to keep her from doing more damage, and then threw his leg over her flailing feet.
Just then, Josie came back into the room and gasped in disbelief to see Sully straddling Michaela, covered in flour, in the middle of the kitchen floor.
"Byron Sully!" Josie's shocked voice broke into their floury world, and Sully looked up from his position over Michaela, the mess they'd made suddenly dawning on him. "What on earth do you think you are doing? Get off of her immediately!" Huffing over to the pair, she took Michaela's hand to help her up, Sully stumbling back a few paces, rather stunned by Josie's anger. "Johann!" she called, as she began to dust off an equally stunned Michaela.
Johann almost immediately entered the kitchen from his library, where he had been researching some rather unusual symptoms. He stopped short seeing the children's powdery white appearance, and Josie's face flushed in anger. Composing himself, not quite sure what had happened, he looked to his wife. "What happened?"
I'm rather unsure of the extent of it, but I came in from outside a moment ago to find Byron on top of Michaela." She saw his eyebrow quirk, not quite understanding her meaning. "On top of her, Johann. On the floor." She gave him a meaningful look hoping he would catch on, not wanting to say more in front of the children.
The implications suddenly hitting him, Johann turned his gaze to a fearful, bewildered looking Sully and Michaela. He was admittedly confused that he didn't see guilt but rather confusion in their eyes, but nonetheless it was apparently time for a difficult conversation. "Come with me, Byron," was all he said before leaving through the garden door.
Twenty minutes later found Michaela in a milky white bath, Josie scrubbing her hair, trying to release all the flour before the water turned it to gluey white clumps in her auburn hair. Josie had remained silent until now, thinking over her words, and feeling as if she couldn't find the right ones. Michaela echoed her silence, replaying the afternoon's events in an attempt to understand why Josie was so upset. They hadn't done anything wrong, had they?
Finally, Josie decided she had better just begin the conversation. "Michaela?"
"Yes Josie?" Michaela murmured, anxious about what would come next.
"Do you understand why what I saw this afternoon when I entered the kitchen was wrong?" Pouring the pitcher of warm water over the young girl's hair, Josie hoped simple questions might reveal what was going on in the child's mind.
Michaela thought for a moment, before attempting "Because it's improper to rough house at our age, and because we made a mess?"
Josie sighed, feeling anxious herself. "No dear. Those things are inappropriate, but I wouldn't have been so upset by that. Actually, it's about… well, about… Do you know about husbands and wives, dear? About when people fall in love?" She came around to the other side of the tub, so she could face the girl looking so caught between childhood and womanhood in the bath water. She hadn't yet reached adolescence, the slight figure barely showing evidence of adolescent curves.
Michaela shook her head. "You mean about coming out and courting?"
Josie smiled softly. "No, I mean after that, dear. About kissing, and touching."
Michaela's mind began to swim, trying to connect where this conversation was going with what happened in the kitchen. As far as she could tell, they weren't at all related.
"Let's just put it this way, dear. When a man and a woman lie down together, it should only, ever, be when they are married, and in private. It's part of how they show their love for each other, by being close… So, when that happens outside of marriage, can you see how that might look bad?" Josie's kind brown eyes held Michaela's, watching as realization bloomed there, and she nodded.
Michaela looked down, suddenly extremely embarrassed. "I didn't know, Josie," she murmured softly, meekly. "I'm sorry. We're not like that, Sully and I. I never even thought about that. We're just friends." Michaela's small, repentant voice was pleading for understanding.
Standing up and wrapping a large, soft towel around the girl, she squeezed her in a tight hug. "I see that now, dear. Just be careful. I'd hate for you to find yourself in a situation you didn't understand someday."
Michaela hugged her back, grateful that Josie could be so understanding, and sure that had her mother found them, she wouldn't be allowed to see Sully any more. Dressing quickly, she combed out her hair and turned to the older woman.
"May I go find Byron now? I want to apologize to him."
Josie nodded, smiling. "You may try. But don't interrupt him if he's still speaking with Johann."
"Yes ma'am," she agreed as she slipped out the door and down the hall, heading outside to the barn.
Sully was there, alone, kicking at pebbles and looking angry.
"Byron?" He looked up, surprised, and immediately turned red. Unknown to them, Johann had been much more specific with Sully than Josie had been with Michaela, deciding it was time to issue him a detailed education during his own bath.
"Hey, Mike," he replied, leaning against the barn door, head lowered a little.
Sensing only somewhat accurately his feelings, Michaela reached out to him. "It's alright, Sully, we didn't know… But now we do, so it won't happen again…" Sully barely responded, nodding his head slightly but not looking up. "Was Johann angry?"
Sully shook his head, finally looking at her. "Nope. Just told me why we shouldn't be doin' that." He paused, gathering the courage to go on, and took a deep breath. "Sorry, Mike, I didn't mean… I didn't mean anything by it." He looked at her, trying to see if she was hurt, embarrassed, offended, or anything. "Are… are you ok?"
She smiled, warmth and affection radiating from her eyes and smile. "I'm fine, Byron. I didn't know it was bad either… Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just kinda embarrassin's all."
Josie called them to dinner then, and they smiled at each other, before turning to walk inside, surrounded by the shimmering twilight of their childhood on a summer evening.
During the last week before the Quinns returned to take Michaela home, the Nordheims took the children to the shore. A doctor friend of Johann's owned a little cottage there, and Michaela and Sully delighted in the relaxed atmosphere, warm sunshine, and cooling sea breeze. They spent hours on the beach, searching for shells along the beach, exploring sea life in the shallow tide pools among the rocks, and swimming in the shallows.
For the sake of simplicity, Josie prepared simple smorgasbords for their meals, locally baked bread and jam for breakfast, and sausage, cheese, pickles and other little treats with their bread for lunch and dinner. A few times, Johann surprised them with little meat pies or other delicacies from the local retailers along the shore. Michaela delighted in these new treats, being accustomed to formal meals in Boston, but her favorite was the ice cream. She and Sully were afforded one dish each day, and they tried every flavor in an attempt to choose their favorite.
On their last day at the shore, the pair walked slowly down the shore, the water just tickling their feet as they walked, dishes of ice cream in hand. It was early afternoon, and the sun was shining brilliantly through the waves. Michaela was wearing her typical light blue dress, and Sully thought she looked like a part of the sea, the white tatting around her neck and wrists mimicking the frothy waves.
Sully finished his ice cream quickly, and glanced hungrily at Michaela's hands as she chattered happily about the fun they'd had this summer. She had barely eaten anything, and her ice cream was turning to soup.
"You gonna eat that?"
Michaela looked at the lumpy dish, feeling as if she'd had enough ice cream this week to last her a lifetime. Her eyes rose to Sully's, which were still focused on the sweet blackberry confection in her hands. The corner of her mouth quirked up, and she grinned mischievously at him.
"No, you can have it… if you can catch me!" With that, she broke into a dash through the surf, giggling and squealing her mirth, her hair flowing behind her in curls and waves with her movement, as he shouted challenges after her.
Slowly, he caught up, grabbing her from behind and trying to get to her hands. She twisted and squirmed to get away, but he caught her again, both trying not to spill the ice cream, but not wanting to give in to the other, either. Giggling, Michaela raised the dish above her head, trying anything to keep it away from him. Laughing, Sully jumped for it, easily reaching it due to their similar heights, but not expecting in the process to see the ice cream soup spill onto Michaela's head, running in thick streams over her windblown hair.
Gasping, Michaela just stared at him, emotions flitting through her eyes as Sully waited in horror for her reaction. As she looked down to see if the confection was on her clothing, it dripped down onto the front of her dress and skirt, and that was the deciding factor.
"Last one in is a rotten egg!" she shouted, running into the water. Sully's eyebrows rose in surprise; she hadn't been swimming in anything but her bathing costume since that first day. Barely hesitating, he ran in after her, swimming out to dunk his head and then returning to jump waves as she tried to rinse the ice cream from her hair.
Clothes clinging to their bodies, a dripping Sully and Michaela returned to the beach cottage to change clothes before dinner. Josie gave them questioning looks as they entered together, and looking only slightly guilty went silently to their separate bedrooms to change. They emerged to sit together on the window seat overlooking the shore, reading the last chapters of the Swiss Family Robinson together while they waited for dinner time.
Josie looked on silently over her knitting, from time to time making eye contact with Johann over his medical journal, both thinking there was something about these two they just couldn't put their finger on, and wondered if they even knew how singular and how precious their bond truly was.