The High Tide Club
“I shouldn’t have danced with Gardiner,” Millie said. “It didn’t look right.”
“Why shouldn’t you dance with my brother? He was your host. And it wasn’t as if your fiancé was dancing with you. Honestly, Millie, I don’t understand why you have to marry him…”
“Don’t!” Millie shook her head. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
* * *
She slipped into the dining room and chose the chair beside Ruth’s.
“Good morning,” Samuel Bettendorf boomed. “How’s our bride today?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Millie said. “Please forgive me for oversleeping. I guess I’m not used to late hours and champagne. But it truly was a lovely party, Mr. B. Russell and I are so grateful for your hospitality.”
Mrs. Dorris came into the room and offered a platter heaped high with golden fried chicken.
“No, thanks,” Millie said quickly. “Is there any coffee?”
“Where is Russell?” Samuel asked.
Josephine rolled her eyes, and Ruth choked back a giggle.
“He talked about going fishing this morning,” Millie said. “Or maybe hunting?”
“I know some of the fellows went out fishing on the big boat with Captain Morris because I saw them off,” Samuel said. “Russell wasn’t with them. If he did go out later, in the skiff, I hope he got Omar or one of the other boys to go out with him. These tidal creeks have so many twists and turns, it’s easy to get lost if you’re not familiar with the topography.” He sipped his coffee and turned to his daughter. “And what are you young ladies up to this beautiful day?”
Josephine consulted her best friends. “Maybe some bridge, if we can scare up a fourth?”
“Good idea,” Ruth said. “Maybe Gardiner can play.”
Samuel set his coffee cup down with a clatter, got up, and abruptly left the room.
Josephine watched his departure with a sigh. “Gardiner’s gone,” she announced. “He took the early boat.”
“Gone where?” Millie’s blue eyes widened with surprise.
“Canada. He’s joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. He says he’s not going to sit around and twiddle his thumbs while Hitler invades the rest of Europe. Papa’s furious. He and Gardiner have been arguing about this for months. Papa says what happens in Czechoslovakia and Poland is none of our business, but Gardiner is dead set on doing this. You know he’s had his pilot’s license since he was eighteen.”
“Gardiner’s a gun jumper? Aren’t you proud of him?” Ruth asked.
“He’s really gone?” Millie repeated. “To Canada? You’re sure?”
“I took him to the dock myself,” Josephine said. “He was trying to leave without saying goodbye to anybody, but I caught him sneaking down the back stairs with his valise this morning, and I made him tell me what he was up to. He was afraid Papa would try to stop him from going.”
“He never said a word,” Millie mumbled.
“Gardiner’s like Papa that way. He plays his cards close to his vest. I’m mad at him too, of course. To think he thought he could just disappear like that, without telling anybody. He said he planned to send a telegram once the train stopped in Atlanta, but honestly, that’s so like a man.”
“I think it’s terribly exciting,” Ruth said. “Think about it. He’ll be going to Europe, fighting those awful Nazis. My father says Hitler won’t stop at Czechoslovakia and Poland. He won’t stop until he’s goose-stepped all the way across the continent.”
“Don’t let my papa hear you say that,” Josephine warned. “He doesn’t want our country dragged into another war. You know he fought in the last one.”
“My father did too,” Millie said. “Mother says he was never the same after he came home from France.”
“Let’s not talk about war anymore now,” Ruth proclaimed. “It’s too sad.”
Josephine jumped up from her seat. “Agreed. Come on, girls. We’ll take a ride in the roadster and stir up some kind of fun. And you know, there’s a full moon tonight. I say it’s time for the High Tide Club to meet. What do you say?”
Ruth clapped her hands. “Brilliant!”
“I’ll get Mrs. Dorris to pack us a picnic dinner, and we’ll send for Varina to come too.” She looked over at Millie, who was gazing out the dining room’s french doors at the garden outside.
“Did you hear, Millie? Tonight’s the night!”
“I heard,” Millie said.
* * *
Josephine drove the roadster to Oyster Bluff, and the others waited while she knocked on the door of the simple wood-frame house where the Shaddixes lived.
It was nearly dusk, and guinea hens roosted in the lower branches of the chinaberry tree that shaded the yard, which was swept sand neatly bordered with sun-bleached giant whelk shells.
“I can’t come with y’all tonight,” Varina said.
“Of course you can,” Josephine said. “It’s Saturday night, isn’t it?” She lowered her voice. “We’re going to Mermaid Beach. For the High Tide Club.”
The girl shook her head. “No, I can’t. My daddy won’t let me.”
A man’s voice came from within the house. “Varina? Who’s that you’re talking to out there?”
“It’s me, Josephine,” the older girl called. “How are you tonight, Harley?”
Harley Shaddix’s crutch thumped against the wooden floor with each step. He appeared in the doorway behind his daughter. “I’m fine, Miss Josephine. Hope you are too. I saw Mr. Gardiner over on the mainland this morning. He told me where he’s going. Mighty proud of him.”
“I’m proud too, but so sad to see him go. Harley, would it be all right if Varina took a ride with us in the car? We’re going to take a picnic down to the beach.”
Harley looked down at his daughter. Varina was dressed in a pair of her brother’s outgrown, cast-off denim overalls and a long-sleeved blouse that had been her mother’s. The pant legs and shirtsleeves were rolled up to size. She looked so tiny against her father’s powerful mass. “You done your chores? Washed up in the kitchen? Memorized your scripture verses for tomorrow?”
“Yes, sir.”
He smiled and patted her shoulder. “You been mopin’ around this house all day. Time to get out and have a little fun. Go ahead on with Miss Josephine, then. And you mind your manners, you hear?”
He looked past Josephine at the car parked at the edge of the yard. “Just the ladies tonight? You know there’s all kinds of critters skulking around this island at night. What happened to all the menfolk?”
“Most of them left this morning,” Josephine said. “But don’t worry about us.” She patted the pocket of her skirt. “I’ve got Papa’s .45, and I know how to use it.”
“Maybe I oughta stay home,” Varina said. “I got a headache.”
Josephine took the girl’s hand. “Come on, Varina. It’ll be fun.”
“Get out on the beach and get you a lungful of that good salt air, you’ll be right as rain,” Harley said firmly.
* * *
Josephine parked the roadster under a cluster of trees at the end of the crushed-shell path that ended at the point they’d dubbed Mermaid Beach.