‘I can’t wait until school’s out for the summer,’ Kate trilled up ahead. ‘It’s so hard being stuck inside when all you want to do is go to the beach!’
‘Summer’s our busy time,’ Matthew said. ‘Lobster fishing with my dad. It’s when we make all the money.’
‘Do you make lots and lots?’ Kate giggled.
‘Oh boy, it’s unreal,’ Matt said proudly. ‘That’s why I ain’t coming back to school next year.’
Susannah gave the back of Matthew’s head a scathing look. Typical island logic. All the boys dropped out early to lobster fish, enticed by the cash prize.
‘It’s a good living,’ Matt continued, in his attempt to impress Kate. ‘But you work darn hard, I can tell you.’
‘I bet you do,’ Kate said in admiration. ‘Thanks for helping out today.’
‘Aw, I like hanging out with you, Kate, is all,’ Matt said.
Susannah narrowed her eyes as she saw him put his hand under Kate’s elbow to help her clamber up some of the granite slabs.
The bushes were brimming with ripe blueberries. It didn’t take long to fill their baskets. Afterwards, the three of them climbed up to the top of Amherst to the lookout point where Matt said his dad used to watch for U-boats during the war.
‘Told me one time he saw one and called the number he was given. The planes came and sunk it,’ he said, all proud. ‘Down at the bottom of the sea off Vinalhaven, there’s at least one U-boat full of dead Germans.’
‘Oh, that’s horrible,’ Kate squealed.
‘Yeah.’ Matthew shivered. ‘Not the end I’d want.’
The three of them sat down on the granite plateau. Kate lay back and spread her arms wide, as if to invite the sun in. Susannah couldn’t help notice Matthew Young looking at her sister. She was wearing one of the Olsen cast-off dresses and it was a little too small for her. The yellow bud print was strained across her chest and was far too revealing. Susannah glanced away. Stared out to sea. Tried not to think about the way Matthew was looking at her sister.
She couldn’t help herself, though. With a backward glance, Susannah could see Matthew had lain down on the rock next to Kate and was whispering things to her, which were making her sister giggle. The two of them locked in their own secret intimacy. Susannah felt awkward. She knew their mother would be furious with Kate for being so familiar with a boy, and yet she felt like she was the one in the wrong, because she was so different from Kate’s friends Annie and Rachel, and all the other girls in their high school. Any of them would be thrilled to have the admiration of a good-looking boy like Matthew Young, but Susannah saw beyond his charm. There was a hardness in his eyes behind the smile which she didn’t like.
Matthew said something obviously hilarious, which Susannah couldn’t hear because Kate burst out laughing. But it wasn’t a real belly laugh. It was a silly, girly, showy-off laugh. It made Susannah mad. She stood up all of a sudden, almost knocking over her basket of blueberries.
‘Come on, Kate,’ she said. ‘We need to get started on the blueberry jelly. It has to set for tomorrow.’
‘But it’s so lovely here, with the sun on the rocks.’ Kate squinted up at her. ‘We’ve plenty of time.’
‘I’ve got study to do.’
Kate groaned. ‘You’re always studying, Susie. It’s boring.’
Susannah knew Kate was just showing off to stupid Matthew, because in private she’d told her how proud she was, and that Susannah mustn’t give up ever on her dream of going to college. Still, her sister’s words hurt her now. Why did she change so much when this boy was around?
‘Why don’t you go study?’ Matt piped up, giving her a sly look. ‘I’ll walk Kate back with all the blueberries.’
‘I shan’t be long,’ Kate promised.
‘I don’t think Ma will like you to—’
‘I’ll look after her,’ Matt interrupted, and the look he gave her made Susannah feel as if he’d like to push her off the granite, right into the bottom of the sea to end up beside all those German soldier bones.
Susannah huffed, sounding tough but feeling shaken. ‘Well, give me the blueberries then,’ she said, snatching Kate’s basket. ‘I need to make a start on the jelly. And don’t blame me if you get into trouble!’
She turned on her heel and stomped off, climbing down the rock towards the road. She tried her best not to care, but she couldn’t stop the tears from welling up. She dashed them away from her eyes in annoyance, but they just kept falling. Kate preferred to be with a boy like Matthew Young rather than her.
Their mother was out when Susannah got home. She and Kate had planned their jelly making to time with when they knew mother was doing a dress fitting. Susannah crushed the berries into the bottom of the cast-iron pot they used for jam making, before adding water and turning it up to boil. Her tears had dried up, but she was angry now. Her sister knew she was no good at cooking. It was likely she’d mess the whole thing up without her help.
While the blueberry mixture boiled away, Susannah sat at the lacing stand, looking out of the window to watch for Kate. The sun was still high
