‘Well, how come it’s dated for nearly three weeks ago?’ her mother said, her cheeks flushing with annoyance. ‘Why would you do something like this behind my back?’
‘But Mom, we should be proud!’ Kate exclaimed. ‘Susie is going to Harvard! Imagine! It’s so amazing.’
Susannah would never forget the look of disappointment on her mother’s face.
‘But that’s not what a girl your age should be doing,’ she’d said. ‘You should be looking to get married and start a family.’
‘I can come back and do that after college,’ Susannah tried to placate her, although in her heart she had no intention of getting married and having children. If she said this out loud, her mom and even Katie would be shocked.
‘There’s plenty of time for all of that,’ Kate had backed Susannah up. ‘Mom, this is going to be a wonderful adventure for Susie. And she’s so clever, she got the scholarship too!’
Tears began to well in their mother’s eyes. ‘Why are you doing this to me? Leaving us all alone.’
‘We’ll cope, come on now, Mom,’ Kate said as their mother pushed her plate of food away. ‘Matthew can come over any time we need. There’s Gramps Olsen, Aunty Marjorie and Uncle Karl. We’re not alone.’
Their mother got up from the table, leaving her dinner unfinished. She picked up the letter again, waving it at Susannah. ‘You should have asked my permission first,’ she said to Susannah. ‘What daughter does this behind her mother’s back?’
‘I knew you wouldn’t let me if I asked you,’ Susannah said.
‘Absolutely I wouldn’t,’ her mother said. ‘What kind of future will you have if you go off on your own to a big city like Boston? No man on this island will want you when you come back full of notions.’
‘I don’t care.’ Susannah could feel herself getting angry. ‘I don’t want any of the men on this island. They’re all thick and ignorant.’
‘Oh, Susie, that’s not a nice thing to say.’ Kate spoke up. ‘What about Matthew? He’s not thick and ignorant.’
Susannah bit her lip despite wanting to tell Kate exactly how little she thought of Matthew.
‘Why can’t you be normal, like Katie?’ their mother asked her. ‘What’s wrong with you? Every girl wants to get married and have babies.’
‘But I don’t, Mom!’ Susannah took a breath. ‘I am going to Harvard no matter what you say.’
‘It’s Susie’s dream,’ Kate tried persuade their mother. ‘She’s worked so hard for it.’
But their mother was shaking her head, fury blazing in her eyes as she slammed Susannah’s letter down onto the kitchen table.
‘You’re just like your father. Selfish! I begged him not to leave and he did it anyway,’ their mother complained. ‘He didn’t have to volunteer!’
The two sisters locked eyes in shock. Their mother hadn’t spoken about their father in years, and before that it had always been in glowing words. They had grown up thinking he was a hero.
‘What do you mean, Mom?’ Kate asked in a small voice.
‘He didn’t need to leave Vinalhaven,’ their mother ranted. ‘He had a family to look after. There were plenty of young single men who were willing to fight. But Ronald was a show-off, just like you, Susannah. Had to go and prove himself to the world.’
The bitterness in their mother’s tone was something they’d never heard before.
‘So I guess you’re going anyway,’ her mom said, her face tight with fury. ‘But you don’t have my blessing.’
‘I don’t need it!’ Susannah shouted back, feeling protective of her father’s memory.
Her mother gave her a hard slap across the cheek. Susannah felt the wedding ring dig into her flesh, a stinging burn to her face. Kate gave a small scream in surprise.
‘Don’t ever raise your voice to me again,’ their mother said, her voice flinty with anger. ‘You’re no better than me and don’t you forget it.’
‘I don’t think I’m better than you,’ Susannah retorted, but their mom had stormed out of the room. The sisters heard her stomping all the way up the stairs and banging her bedroom door.
Kate gave a long whistle. ‘I’ve never seen Mom so mad! Are you okay?’
Susannah nodded, pressing her hand to her hot cheek. Now her initial flash of anger had died down, doubt had begun to creep in. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t go? It’s upsetting her so much.’
‘But you’ve worked so hard,’ Kate said. ‘All those afternoons in the library with old Mrs Matlock. I would have died of boredom!’
‘But what about you, Kate?’ Susannah was nervous about leaving her sister. Kate was completely besotted with Matthew Young and Susannah was worried things would get too serious while she was away.
Kate took both Susannah’s shoulders in her hands and looked right into her eyes.
‘You are going to Harvard, young lady, if I have to put you on the boat myself!’
Since that day, there had been an uneasy truce between Susannah and her mother. A cold politeness, which was almost worse than the anger. Several times, she’d nearly relented and told her mom she’d stay after all. But Kate wouldn’t let her. Whenever Kate wasn’t on a date with Matthew, she was at the sewing machine making herself new clothes. Susannah had never worried about her own wardrobe before but now she couldn’t help thinking she might look shabby at Harvard. Telling herself it didn’t matter one bit how she looked, Susannah spent most of her final two weeks in the library, trying to prepare for college by reading every single history book on the shelves, and avoiding her mother. One afternoon just before closing, Mrs Matlock sat down next to Susannah.
‘Have you found somewhere to live yet?’ she had asked her.
Susannah shook her head. ‘I’ve enough saved up for a room the first week but I need to find a job and lodgings pretty quick. My scholarship doesn’t cover everything.’
‘There’s a family I know,’ Mrs Matlock said. ‘My sister-in-law’s niece is married to a professor at Harvard. They’ve two boisterous young boys and I think they’re
