you dinner The cabin was cold and Gran built a fire in the stove They ate toast and eggs at the table by the window but Becca couldn’t even see the bay Only her own reflection moved in the darkness as if night were a wall that shut out the beach the sea and all the islands and mountains across the water It’s misting up Gran said when she came back from the woodpile Becca fiddled with the little bottle that held the pearls Gran had collected over the years Mum had pearls too a necklace that she wore when she and Dad went out somewhere fancy Mum’s pearls were perfectly round and elegant and party-like They made Becca think of beautiful clothes and perfume Gran’s pearls were small as blackberry seeds nobbly and misshapen They came straight from oysters Gran had found on the beach and they made Becca think of wet shoes and the sea and the mysterious things that go on inside oysters But Mum’s pearls and Gran’s had one thing in common each one glistened with a moony shine What do you do in the dark she asked Gran Now that you’re here play Scrabble Becca set out the Scrabble They played furiously Outside fog left its prints on the window and the sounds of the sea hushed and receded You can’t do poutine Gran said It’s not English Not permitted Well there’s no word that means poutine in English Becca argued so I’m allowed to use it Poutine is poutine And look It means I can use all my letters And I can turn ax into axe on a triple
word score You can’t use words that aren’t English Gran insisted And anyway you can say poutine in ordinary English chips and cheese curds and gravy It’s just not one word It’s in the Scrabble dictionary said Becca We looked it up once trip The Scrabble dictionary Gran snorted In the good old days we just used our brains That’s how I play and that’s the rule at my house English words and use your own brain Becca saw another word she could make somewhere else Pouting she spelled staring down at the board Maybe this visit was going to be worse than she’d thought Gran went on to win by about a million points See Even if you’d got a bonus for using all your letters I would have won she said Becca packed up the game without saying a word Well it’s time to go Gran announced They were going out It was coal-dark by now and cold too Go where To get oysters Get your boots on Becca Gran threw the oyster shuckers and old oven mitts into her backpack In the dark Yep A nasty Scrabble game and now Gran was taking her out into the woods in the dark and fog It reminded Becca of a creepy fairy tale she’d read once Hold my hand said Gran’s voice in the dark You don’t want to
Can’t we use flashlights Becca asked Why can’t we get oysters from your beach We’ll use the flashlight later Your eyes won’t get used to the dark if we use it now And the fog gives its own light We’re going all the way to Mayfield Point because the beach out there has the best oyster beds I hope you’re feeling energetic It’s a long way What’s that smell They stopped in the road and Gran sniffed Trees blood Gran said Sap Somebody is clearing to build a cabin Trees blood Becca shivered Mist drifted among the trees Sometimes Becca could see trunks and sometimes branches She and Gran walked the trail to Mayfield Point in a glimmering haze breathing water droplets lighter than the night Do you hear that Gran stopped suddenly and pulled Becca still Becca listened hard It could have been the clouds making a tiny beside her patter on salal leaves It’s the sound of your own self Gran told her It’s the sound of your heart in your ears your blood flowing Then Becca heard it a rushing noise inside her own head as if she had a moon-snail shell to her ear and was listening to its ocean rhythms The sound of her own heart They walked on The path curved through the forest toward the sea Becca’s feet told her she was walking uphill and then that she was passing the tree with the eagles nest Are the eagles still here she asked clutching Gran’s hand Yes but their babies are teenagers now Gran said Look we’re
coming out on the beach But there was nothing to see just fog all around Becca felt pebbles underfoot and banged her shin on driftwood She felt seaweed squish and the crunch of oysters Can’t we use the flashlight she asked In a minute Gran must see in the dark Becca thought stumbling beside her Here’s a good rock Gran said and she sat on it Yech Soaked through already Becca laughed Okay You bring me the oysters and I’ll shuck them Gran directed Where do you think they are now Becca asked On the beach No I mean Mum and Dad Becca said Maybe they didn’t go because of the fog They’re above the clouds and we’re right in them the very same clouds They’re holding hands and saying Becca’s going to have a wonderful time with her old grandma I hope they don’t get up to no good Gran paused Well they don’t really know we’re out on the beach in the middle of the night Now where are those oysters Can I use the flashlight Oh yes Now’s the time I thought you weren’t supposed to eat oysters Becca said That’s in summer said Gran In February it’s okay more than okay But we won’t take many Just enough for stew for the two of us and Frank Oyster stew Ew That as well as totally unfair Scrabble rules and
