Chapter 40: Apple Season (September) Part 5
"Fabian, this summer I did a lot of thinking and talked to people wiser than I am. One of them pointed out to me that when you love someone, you take them as they are, were, and will be. If I didn't think I could do that, you might have had a different answer on the carousel. I couldn't have agreed to be a family with you. We share the good stuff and the bad stuff from now on. Promise me." She ran her fingers through his hair and he smiled, his eyes full of tears.
"I promise," he said. "I'm sorry, Lisa."
"I understand," she said. She smiled, then kissed him. Then she pulled back and stared, her mouth open.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It just occurred to me that it was your mother I was quoting right now. She told my fortune back in May. Everything she told me has happened."
Fabian laughed.
"That does not surprise me. That woman is scary. But she's a good mom and she likes you. What did she say?"
"It didn't make any sense to me at the time, but now that I know you saved my life.... She said I've been waiting for someone. Someone who was important to me in the past. Then she said that this man has a past, but I am his future as he is mine. That the nature of love is past, present and future." She told me all of that before I'd really met you!"
"I do not know how she does what she does," Fabian told her. "And the worst is that she cheats -- she finds out the name of the next person in line, for instance, and lets you know that's what she did. So you tend to take everything with a grain of salt. That's how she's so good. She doesn't take herself too seriously -- wrapping herself in mystical. She's a carnival attraction first and foremost. But she knows what she knows. She tells you and it's up to you.
Overheard in the diner some time in June:
"So my Lisa is seeing your Fabian."
"He's very taken with her. I've never seen him like this before. Hal, if he hurts her, I promise you I'll make him suffer for it."
"I seriously doubt he saved her life just to come back some day and ruin it."
"He doesn't remember that, Hal."
"You're kidding? I'll never forget that afternoon! Lisa fell out of that canoe and I though for sure she'd be drowned. Then Fabian was in after her and I was scared to death the boy's heart would stop and I'd have to explain it to you and Fatima! She really hit her head, too -- there was so much blood. She had a concussion and still gets headaches sometimes. We were lucky Fabian was there to pull her out and that his heart was a lot stronger than we thought."
"We thought for a while he might have a heart murmur, but it didn't happen, thankfully."
"He really doesn't remember what he did?" Lisa's father asked.
"No," Larry said, shaking his head. "He'd been having dreams about the gazebo and the lake, but he doesn't know what it means. He needs to remember for himself. He will -- don't mention it and give him time."
"Hey -- while we're on the topic of drowning. Please warn your people to stay well clear of the mill races? I know they look like fun, but it really is dangerous. We had a teacher who was into extreme sports. Just this past April, he decided to go down the tail race -- the one after the wheel -- on a raft. There are secondary wheels, though, that not many know about. They are for boosting the electric generator. They tore the raft apart and the flow was too fast for him to keep up. Instead of flying out over the falls and engaging a parachute like he planned, he plummeted over the edge. The parachute pack got stuck in some rocks. Chief Taylor tried to stop him from going in the first place, and then went into the falls after him. Chief Taylor got a foot stuck. Both drowned. You have a lot of college kids among the carnies -- please make sure they play it safe."
INTERLUDE
The river flows from the north. On the east bank are the state game lands, which are heavily wooded and very rocky. The river flows over a rocky falls and into the headrace of an old textile mill. This land is one of the few areas in the United States that grows fabric-grade flax, and the mill processes that flax into linen the same way that it has been done for generations. The mill's wheel and tail race also power electrical turbines. Past the mill, the river flows into a large oxbow lake; a lake created by the curve of a river. The neighboring county seat on the other side of the gamelands is named Oxbow for this geographic feature. The lake and river curve around Twin Mills, population 10,000 or so, cradling it like a hammock.
The lake has a broad beach, which is very popular in the summer. In the autumn the game land forest bursts into a riot of leaf color, which brings as many tourists as the lake and other attractions do in the summer. Along the lake shore are tourist cabins and a camp, which the town rents to various groups from March through October. The meander of the river is sharp, and the lake spills into another rocky area where it briefly flows north again. Here is the location of the west mill, a feed and flour mill which houses more power turbines.
Acres of farmland spread north from the town, radiating for several square miles; it can take up to an hour to travel to and from Twin Mills. This is another draw for tourists, the town is almost as isolated as an island. The farmland is highly productive and the farms are usually looking for ways to add more land.
The people of Twin Mills are proud of their town. It is picturesque, self-sufficient, and tends to be peaceful. The farms and businesses are usually taken over by local talent in the following generation. Very little is ever for sale to outsiders.
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