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quietly.
    Suddenly I understood. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” I murmured. Naturally Miss Hallstead would be upset by anyone not knowing how to swim.
    She sat up slowly and patted my hand. “I overreacted,” she stated. “The agency people were obviously right; of course you don’t need to know how to swim for this job. I was just taken aback for a minute.”
    You were more than just taken aback , I thought. Aloud I asked, “Are you all right, then?”
    “Yes, dear. I’m fine now. I’ll work for a few hours; then you come and see me, okay?” She smiled.
    I promised to return, then went back to my room, where I sat down at the desk and wrote a quick note to my best friend in New York, Simone. She had asked me to update her when I got settled. Ever since my parents died and Alan left, I hadn’t been interested in spending time with my girlfriends, or even my aunts in Connecticut. I had withdrawn into myself, preferring to be alone; I wasn’t ready to get back into the world I knew. It probably would have been better if I had spent time with other people, but my friends had been good about giving me the space I needed. They were concerned, though. I knew Simone would be anxious to hear how I was doing. I would ask Pete to mail the letter for me the next time he went to Cape Cartier.
    I fixed my own lunch and ate alone again in the dining room. Vali had taken a tray to Miss Hallstead and I made a mental note to try to encourage Miss Hallstead to take her meals in the dining room. It would be good for her to venture out of her rooms for a change of scenery a few times a day.
    After lunch, I peeked in on Miss Hallstead. She was working busily, so I took a notepad and systematically went through the rooms downstairs, making notes of the changes that would have to be made in order for Miss Hallstead to move through the rooms with ease. In most of the rooms there were area rugs that would have to be secured with double-sided tape so that she wouldn’t trip on them. In addition, I would have to rearrange the furniture in some of the rooms to facilitate her movement through them. I went in search of Leland to ask for help in completing these tasks. I found him in the kitchen getting instructions from Vali for airing out and cleaning two rooms upstairs.
    When I entered the kitchen, both Vali and Leland turned around and waited impatiently for me to speak.
    “Leland, if you get some extra time this afternoon, could you give me a hand moving some furniture around and taping down some of the rugs downstairs? I’m trying to make it a little easier for Miss Hallstead to move around on this level of the house.”
    Leland nodded and mumbled, “I’ll help you later, when I’m done helping Vali.”
    Vali looked at me malevolently and snapped, “I’m going to need him for quite a while. Stephan and Will are coming late this afternoon and their rooms have to be ready.”
    I had no idea who Stephan and Will were, although I remembered that Pete had mentioned something about Miss Hallstead’s adviser and nephew. Before going upstairs, I thanked Leland and said he could find me in my room or with Miss Hallstead. It was becoming clear that I was going to have a significant amount of downtime in this new job. I located the camera I had brought and I headed outdoors to try my hand at some river shots.
    It had warmed up since morning and was beautiful outside, so I left the flagstone path almost immediately and set off through the woods. The trees swayed in the gentle breeze, and I could hear again the music made by the wind in the branches. I could also hear other sounds: a boat, several birds, and a low rumble that I couldn’t identify. I kept walking, figuring that I would eventually find the water, and came out of the woods on the channel side of the island. I immediately saw that the strange noise I had heard was coming from a ship moving slowly through the channel. I snapped several pictures of the gigantic boat as it