1974, Winter

The large, warm kitchen smelled of apple pulp. Mrs. Howard was making applesauce in an enormous kettle in the huge fireplace, which she insisted was the only way to do it correctly. But before the apples were boiled and mashed and then stirred with cinnamon, they had to be peeled and cored and sliced. The two girls sitting at the table had been doing this, on and off, since mid-day. Mr. Howard had gotten out of the house early, since Mrs. Howard had claimed it was a day for the girls.

"Apples were sacred to the queen of Heaven." She said, proudly. "And harvest-time is when Demeter thrives."

Mr. Howard cleared his throat. "If I recall correctly--" he said., and was interrupted.

"Obviously, you don't." Mrs. Howard said. "I insist the girls and I have some alone time. And if you want to feel like you're part of the whole process, you can go pick up some apples. Lots of apples."

"Certainly, dear." Mr. Howard said, hiding a smile and going back to his newspaper. Mrs. Howard nodded perfunctorily and kissed him on top of the head. Alexandra had blushed from the corner, under the pretense that she wasn't paying attention.

"I'm going to be smelling apples for years." Alexandra said. But she wasn't really complaining...she loved these times when it was just her and her mother, with no opposite views to fight over or arguments to have.

"Me too." Grace said beside her. "And I've cut my fingers so many times. There's a lot of my blood in that applesauce, I'll have you know. You're eating part of me."

"Thank you for that valuable information." Alexandra said. "I'll remember your sacrifice." She giggled, and then took a bite out of the nearest un-pealed apple.

School had just started a while back for both of them, Alexandra starting her senior year at the high school and Grace starting her freshman year at the junior college on the mainland. She hadn't wanted to think about the pressure of getting into a four-year school last year, with all the graduation things going on, and then her mother had gotten sick. So Grace had just decided to take a year off and then go to junior college. She was tolerably happy. It was the people up here, her family, that mattered most to her.

"Oh! Hey...too bad you took a bite out of that apple." Grace said suddenly. Alex looked up.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, and took another bite.

"I mean, you need a whole apple. I heard of something once..."

"We've got plenty of those." Alex said, drawing another apple out of the large cloth bag. "What kind of something?"

"A game. It's actually supposed to be a divination, a prophesy. Tells you who you're going to marry." Alex raised her eyebrows.

"With an apple, huh? How quaint." Alex laughed. "Okay. How do you do it?"

"You're supposed to peel the apple, all the way around, in one big spiral." Grace said. "To start. Careful now, make sure you don't break it."

Mrs. Howard came in from the parlor. "I've heard of that." She said, in her no-nonsense matter. "That's not a thing for girls to try. You shouldn't even worry about getting married yet." She said, but didn't attempt to stop them.

"Lots of girls get married at nineteen." Grace said, a little offended. They weren't girls.

"Not my daughter." Mrs. Howard said.

"And it's not like you need a divination, Gracie." Alex piped up. "You and Nick are stuck together like glue." Grace blushed bright red.

"That doesn't mean I'm gonna marry him." Gracie said. Alex smiled sagely. Her grin widened and Grace ducked her head.

"Well, okay, maybe I will." Grace said. Alex started to chuckle. "Stop laughing! Not like it's any of your business or anything." Gracie said, a little embarrassed. But her face was lit up and she was smiling like the whole sun was behind her eyes, so Alex knew she wasn't bothered. Besides, she had to stop chuckling--if she slipped, the peeling would break. At that moment, though, something broke through her cloud of concentration--a harsh sound, like a gunshot bursting into the warm room. Something that felt like a cold wind touched her neck, and she shivered.

"Oh!" Gracie exclaimed. "Get out of here, you evil thing. Go on now, get!" She said sharply, and went around behind Alex to close the kitchen window that looked out onto the garden. "Why do you think that thing was here, Mrs. Howard? You never see crows in winter…do you?"

"I suppose you could see them all the time." Mrs. Howard said distractedly. She was trying to figure out whether or not this batch of apples had boiled long enough. "I don't think they fly south. They're carrion eaters, crows."

Grace shivered. "How awful."

"It takes all kinds, now, Gracie." Mrs. Howard reprimanded her gently. But then she frowned. "But I know how you feel…my grandmother used to say that a crow at the window means evil spirits are afoot. I'd almost believe that…it's cold so early this year. Look at the snow outside. It's better the window was closed, anyway. Are you done peeling the apple yet, Alex?"

"Almost, mom." Alex said. She was just maneuvering around the tricky part at the bottom now, where it became all curvy and complicated. "And I mean, it's probably none of my business at all…" Alex said, in a tone that meant she intended to continue, "But you two have just been dating since you were younger than me. If you don't get married, soon, I'll graze in that pile of dried-up leaves on the lawn." Mrs. Howard clucked her tongue in a disapproving fashion, but she was smiling. Alex finally finished peeling the apple in one long spiral, and gathered it up delicately in two hands.

"Wow...on your first try." Grace marveled, quickly changing the subject. "That would have taken me ages. You're pretty quick."

"Oh, hush." Alex said. She didn't want to think about it. She especially didn't want to think of the fact that in her mind she had just seen her small graceful hands peeling the apple perfectly on the first try. She definitely didn't want to think about the fact that what she usually saw playing out in her mind turned out to be exactly, eerily, true. "What do I do now?"

"Kiss it." Grace said definitively. "Kiss it and think of...I dunno, some hunk or something. Someone you can love."

"Marriage isn't all about love." Mrs. Howard put in. "It's about respect and working together. A partnership."

"How boring." Alex yawned. "There's got to be something romantic and dashing about love and marriage."

"That's for newlyweds." Mrs. Howard said practically.

"Now, toss it over your shoulder. Your right shoulder." Grace said. Grace's words were coming faster now, Alexandra noticed. Was she actually excited about this funny little ritual that bored teenagers had practiced for centuries before their time? It probably wouldn't even work, she thought. A spiral on the floor is only that, a spiral.

But still...

She tossed it over her right shoulder, thinking of a tall, brooding, handsome man that she saw only in her dreams. The face was only in shadow, but the voice was rich and melodic, and his voice made her feel as if she were the only cherished thing in the world. She never saw his face, but his voice...he could melt hearts with that voice. The spiral seemed to hang in the air for a moment, almost as if floating while making its decision, and dropped to the floor behind the chair. Simultaneously, all three female heads looked down at the shape it had formed.

There could be no mistake about it. It had formed a perfect, if slightly rounded-off, 'B'. Grace was frowning.

"But that's so funny." Grace said, wrinkling her nose. "That doesn't make any sense at all."

"Why not?" Alex asked, turning her head from the spiral to Gracie."

"Well, it's just that none of the boys around here have names with a B, that's all. There's Richard and Charles and Grant, Ian and Nick and Marshall, David and Will and Adrian, and James. That's it. No B's. Not even in last names. The only ones up here that have last names that start with B's are girls."

"Mary and her sister. And Melissa and her cousin, Sophie." Alexandra said, in a soft voice. "Well, I don't have to marry a guy around here, you know."

"Certainly not." Mrs. Howard said. "You've grown up with these children, but there's no reason you have to marry among them. That's only sense."

"Right." Alexandra said, and thought it ironic that this one of the few things she and her mother had ever agreed on. "Anyway, it's silly. It can't tell the future. It's only a little apple." Mrs. Howard's eyebrows arched and she swept the apple peel with a glance.

"Better pick that up." She said, and turned back to the mashing.

Alexandra has picked it up, and started peeling another apple--the easy way this time--when she heard a loud clatter.

"Hey what was that?" Grace asked. "It was pretty loud."

"I wonder..." Mrs. Howard said. "Probably a shutter. The wind's been pretty strong. You girls stay here." She waved them back into their seats and went into the living room, out to the way of the back porch.

Alex looked nervous and was clasping her hands. Grace looked at Alex with concern in her eyes. "What is it, Alex? It's only some old shutter. Nothing to worry about."

"I know." Alex said. "I know that, but I don't believe it. I've got this deep yawning pit inside...and I'm so nervous. I don't know why." She said.

"Silly." Grace said, but took Alex's hand anyway. "It was the shutters, of course. They're old and heavy, so of course when they hit the house they're gonna make a loud clatter. Happens in my house all the time. Your mom will just go out and latch them and it'll be fine." Right then, Mrs. Howard came back into the room.

"Well, I latched the shutters." Mrs. Howard said. "But that wasn't what the noise was. It was the funniest thing. You know that old willow broom I keep in the stand in the living room?"

The girls nodded.

"Well, it just fell right over. It's stood for lord knows how long, and today it just decided to up and fall to the ground. That must have been what made the noise, against the hardwood floor and all." She looked at Grace in a funny way, and gave her a nervous wink. "You know what that means, Miss Old-Wives-Tales." She said.

"What?" Gracie asked, looking puzzled.

"Broom fell." Mrs. Howard said, in a far-away voice. "Means, company's coming."

Where Alex's hands had only been shaking before, now she felt her eyes widen and her skin grow clammy and cold. She didn't know what it was, but she was dreadfully nervous...almost afraid of something.

"Hey mom?" Alex said, standing. "I don't feel too well, and we have most of the apples done. I think maybe I should head up to bed."

"Cramps?" Mrs. Howard asked, and Alex nodded, just to allay questions. The only thing this had to do with her stomach was the butterflies in it. What she really wanted was to curl up in a little ball with her teddy bear and whimper. She hoped her mother would grant her approval soon--she didn't think she could remain standing much longer. Finally, Mrs. Howard nodded.

"Yes, I think you should lie down. I'll bring up the hot-water bottle." Mrs. Howard said. "Go on up." Alex turned and began walking towards the stairs in the living room.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The front-porch door, only a few feet away. Through the frosted glass, they could see a shadow. Alex froze suddenly. She wasn't about to fall, but all of a sudden she felt like she couldn't move if she tried.

"Now, who could that be?" Mrs. Howard asked wonderingly. She made her way over to the door, but looked back over her shoulder and caught sight of Alex. "Alexandra! Sit down immediately!" She scolded. Grace came over to guide Alexandra to a chair.

"She's right." Grace said. "You're awful pale. I'll go see who it is." Grace said. "Hey, maybe it's Mr. B." She said, with a wink. Alex moaned and leaned her forehead on the chair back.

Though she knew the time was passing in seconds, each click of the clock seemed to take an eternity. She was living and dying in the spaces between those seconds, because she knew that whoever was behind that door was going to completely change her life.

Too slowly, far too slowly, Mrs. Howard and Grace made their way to the door. What was taking them so long, Alex wondered. How long had it been? A thousand years, an eternity? How long had her heart been beating so erratically it was like to fall out of her chest any second? Couldn't fate just stop toying with her and get it over with?

Alexandra's vision blanked out. Her body acted with no permission from her, completely out of it's own accord. With knowing in the least what she was really doing, she flew out of the chair. She wouldn't know until later that she had moved so fast it was near supernatural, that she had looked like a black-and-white blur moving in a different time frame, that the look on her face was one of passionate agony. Somehow, she got to the door and wrenched it open, forgetting totally that Mrs. Howard and Grace were even there.

With sound, with his voice, came clarity. When it's musical lilt touched her ears, her vision cleared and she felt human again.

"Good evening." He said. His eyes were blue and ocean-deep, his cheeks, ears and nose were pink from the frigid air outside. His hair was shaded gold--gleaming in the shadowed twilight, soft waves brushed back over his ears. Lips perfectly chiseled, perfectly kissable. Strong chin, good shoulders, nice arms, and his hands, clasped in front of him, were clean and...sensitive? An artist's hands. His whole being was a masterpiece. "I was wondering if perhaps I could borrow some matches..."

"Well, but I'm sure we have some matches around here someplace." Mrs Howard said, a bit flustered, as the man--he had introduced himself as John Blake, kicked the snow off his shoes. "But are you sure that old cast-iron stove will work? I mean, that house hasn't been lived in for…well, years. It was empty back in my mother's time. And her mother's time, too." But she handed him the matches she had managed to find in the kitchen, anyway. They had invited him to come inside the house, but Mr. Blake had shook his head politely at the invitation, and pointed at his wet and muddy shoes, grinning at the girls.

"Thanks very much, Mrs. Howard. I'm pretty sure it'll work…I mean, back when folks lived up here on the bluff, when the original settlers came, all they had was chopped wood and a stove like that. And flint, to boot. I even have a piece of that, for luck, but I'm not that crazy. The wood's all snug and dry under a tarp." There was something about his smile and his easygoing manner that got right under your defenses…the way he was standing now, rubbing his cold hands together, made one think he could stand to wait all day on that cold, snowy doorstep.

"Well, but it's snowing like anything outside." Mrs. Howard said, peering out the door towards dark and lumbering number thirteen, the house at the end of the bluff, doubtfully. "I mean, I'm sure there's holes in the roof and rats and spiders and heaven knows what." Mrs. Howard sighed, looked at Mr. Blake, and then looked at Alexandra, who frankly seemed almost entranced by the charismatic Mr. Blake. "I mean, there's a very nice inn down in town, and then several hotels on the mainland. Seems as if it would make more sense to stay there…at least until this cold snap blows over. You wouldn't even be able to fix up the house, not in this weather, not for awhile."

"I figure if there's enough space for me to lay down a sleeping bag, and to sweep away the snow, I'll be fine. I've made it through on the tundra before, with a lot less to block the wind. But I thank you sincerely for your suggestions, Mrs. Howard." He said, and cast a glance toward his truck, parked on the end of the street.

"Oh…but…" Mrs. Howard tried to continue, her sense of New England hospitality obviously warring with her sense of decorum.

"Couldn't he stay here, mom?" Alexandra asked softly, her eyes not leaving Mr. Blake's face. "We've got an extra bedroom. The green one."

"I don't know that that would be proper, Alex." Mrs. Howard said, her voice clipped and embarrassed. "After all, Gracie is spending the night as well."

"Mom!" Alex said, even more ashamed. "Gracie was going to spend the night in my room. Like she always does. Wasn't that right, Gracie?" And then Alex ploughed right over Gracie's attempt at a reply. "I mean, come on mom, Mr. Blake is older than Nick."

"Not much older." Mrs. Howard muttered, folding her hands.

"You're being weird." Alex said, disapprovingly. "It is not the nineteenth century anymore, mom. I can still get married if I don't have a dowry, you know." Alex twisted her ring, a nervous gesture, and then she turned to Mr. Blake.

"Mr. Blake? We have an extra bedroom. Would you like to stay with us?" Alex asked.

Mr. Blake smiled down at her. "As much as I'd like to, I don't think that would be a good idea." He said. "It'd make your mother unhappy. But how about a compromise--if you'll let me come in and warm up for a little bit, I'll go and look at the house and see what needs to be fixed…and if it's too much, I'll stay in town until the weather blows over. How's that for a deal?" He asked, and looked in Mrs. Howard's direction. Mrs. Howard nodded briefly, and smiled, the hard eyes relaxing.

"Of course. Come on in, then, Mr. Blake…you'll have to excuse the mess, we're making applesauce."

"Applesauce…my mother used to do that at the first snow." Mr. Blake said, unlacing his boots.

"So did mine…" Mrs. Howard replied, and put a teakettle on the stove. And Alex knew at that moment that Mr. Blake had completely won her mother over.