"But you don't have to work on it now. You've been
cooped up in school all day. Go get some fresh air.
Laura liked to walk on the beach and hunt for
seashells."
May was still completing her chores so I went
out by myself. The sky still had patches of deep blue,
but most of it had become covered with what looked
like storm clouds, bruised and sooty puffs that rolled
angrily from the horizon. The ocean looked more tempestuous, too. I could see Cary and Roy Patterson on the lobster boat bobbing beside the dock. I walked out a little way. Cary left the boat and started back
toward me and the house.
"There's going to be a storm," he said as he approached. "It's a nor'easter," he added, continuing
past. I said nothing and continued to walk toward the
ocean. "Didn't you hear what I said?" he called. I turned.
"Look at the sky. Even a landlubber like you
should be able to see rain comin'."
"Don't call me a landlubber."
He smiled. "Well what are you?"
"I'm a person, just like you, only I was brought
up in a different place. I'm sure you wouldn't know
your way around a coal mine, but I wouldn't call you
silly names just to pump myself up."
"I'm not doing it to pump myself up." I turned away. To my surprise, he was at my
side in moments. "Keep walking in this direction and
you'll get caught in a downpour. Look at the breakers.
The ocean is talking to us, telling us what to expect.
See how the terns are heading for safer ground, too." "Where's Uncle Jacob?" I asked, gazing toward
the dock.
"He took today's catch into town. It wasn't
good. Only four good-size lobsters in the traps." "How do lobsters get trapped?" I asked. "We bait them with stinky dead fish and set
them on the ocean bottom. The lobster crawls into the