for her funeral She must have spoken about it with Reverend Prospero in person or perhaps with Frankie del Latte I couldn’t imagine either scenario Cumai had always been a mystery to me just like the old mill that had been her home which looked nothing like a mill She was an eccentric woman with large blue eyes and a long neck like a daisy stem I said hello to her every once in a while when I went fishing but I never really spoke to her in all my thirteen and a half years Now I was sorry for that It’s a terrible feeling to go to the funeral of someone whose voice you can’t even remember I followed my father’s lead and stood in the circle around the unlit bonfire with the other men Did you check to make sure you don’t have any iron in your pockets my father asked me I nodded His mood was as black as his clothing It wasn’t the first funeral we’d gone to together and it wouldn’t be the last but it was without a doubt the
strangest one It was one of those typical Scottish moments You couldn’t help using the word magic to describe the behavior of the men and our surroundings The sea wind cut sharply across the top of the hill shrieking as it rose along our backs below the rocky mountain peaks The many islands in the bay stood out of the water like mysterious pyramids seemingly waiting for something to happen On the faces of the other men I saw the same deep sadness that had caught hold of my father Mr McStay Professor Everett McBlack from Scary Villa they all had a hard time looking at each other Seamus Santangelo the TV antenna installer was also there So was the Wild Thresher and even Michael Fionnbhurd the pub boy whom I’d never before seen outside the pub His pants were so short that his calves were bare but there he was next to the rest of us Beside him were the baritones from the Island Choir and Jules the postman
Jules came over to greet us as soon as he saw me He was holding his hat in his hands as if to apologize yet again for when he had almost run me over with his postal van Hello Mr Camas he whispered to my father Hey kids Hi Jules Doug answered patting Jules on the shoulder Got any mail for me My brother’s sense of humor was weird like that cracking jokes at a funeral But Jules smiled all the same Then he looked at me uncertainly the way someone does when they think they’re seeing a ghost I shook Jules’s hand firmly to convince him that it was really me and that I hadn’t died in the accident on the coastal road I finally got around to writing a will I said to him I’d meant it as a joke but Jules’s eyes widened in astonishment You too That’s when I realized the experience had affected
Jules as much as me I nodded and Jules left to take his place at the pyre The stack of wood in the center of our circle was a twelve-foot-tall pile of oak branches placed on a bunch of straw broom and heather As I began to ask my father about the pyre Reverend Prospero motioned for me to shut my mouth We waited in silence for the sun to set
