Wynn in the Willows Read Online Free Page B

that dipped into a valley. The granite cliffs that were too sharp and steep to climb hemmed in one side, with a residential area on the other side.
    “Aunt Roxie?”
    “Yes, dear.”
    “Why did Mom sell the house and leave the island with me?”
    Roxie turned towards her.
    “I mean, why didn’t we just stay here?”
    “I wanted you both to remain here. I thought it was a golden opportunity to be close to my sister again.”
    “Again? So, you once were close?”
    “Yes, closer than one could imagine. Our dad called us ying and yang.”
    “What happened?”
    The start of storm clouds rolled across the sky. The sunny day had crumbled and was now becoming overcast.
    “Life. Jealousy. Disagreements.” She sighed. “Just normal sisterly stuff. Being the only child, you don’t know how things can get between siblings.”
    Wynn tested the windshield wipers as she pulled into the reserve.
    Campers were allowed to stake tents in the forest but trailers, ATVs, and three wheelers weren’t allowed on the island.
    “Why don’t I park and we take a trail?”
    Roxie glanced at the clouds and shook her head. “Rain is close; I smell it in the air. Besides, I don’t have on good walking shoes and my ankles tend to twist on uneven ground. Let’s plan on another day.”
    “OK, but you now owe me two days, one for birding and one for hiking.” Wynn turned and headed back towards the cottage. She wanted to press her aunt more, but decided against it. She needed her aunt’s full cooperation to learn the depths of the past.
    “Drop me at the Tree House and I’ll walk back down to the cottage.”
    Wynn pulled up to the front of her summer residence. “This car is so perfect. It fits me. Thank you, so much.”
    “Well, it thrills me to give you something you can use, Wynn.” Roxie got out.
    Wynn got out, too.
    “Why don’t you come down for dinner in a little while?”
    “Great. Then you can explain to me this curse Owl was talking about.”
    “Forget about the curse. It is nothing but nonsense. As a scientist you must know that.”
    “Well, something sure keeps Owl up at night, walking.” Wynn turned to go inside. “I’ll see you later.”
    “Wait.” Roxie froze.
    “What?”
    “Listen. Don’t you hear it, too?”
    “Hear what?” Wynn listened, thinking she’d catch the trill of a songbird. “No, I don’t…wait, I do think I hear something…someone’s…calling our names?”
    “Roxie! Wynn!”
    Wynn felt a ripple of fear.
    “Where are you?” Owl stumbled out of the woods and faltered down the path. Her skin ran with perspiration. “It happened again! The island curse struck, there’s another widow!”
    “Whose husband is it this time?” Roxie asked, concern etched on her features.
    “Jackie’s husband is dead!”
     
     
     
     

5
     
    A week later, Wynn drove along the coast with Verdi’s Rigoletto music soaring. She planned to explore the sandy beach near the cliffs where fish were known to be in small pools of water during low tide. She’d take samples of the plankton and check the nitrogen levels at her lab.
    She pondered her aunt’s circle of friends, the flurry of activity as they circled around Jackie, who was waiting for her husband’s body to come home and be prepared for the funeral. They received visitors who dropped by with condolences and food.
    Wynn had never really been part of a community who loved and helped each other so much. She found it mesmerizing and something inside her heart longed for the same sense of belonging. She’d only been able to help out a little, because her research project was using up the better part of her days.
    The sugar-white sand had patches of crushed gray shells of zebra mussels and mats of rotting algae. She navigated across it to reach the base of the rock face and stood in the shallows of a small basin. It was nice shelter and the current was nonexistent; the perfect place for catching minnows in her hand or skipping stones; skills she