Michael Rowe - Enter, Night

“You’re right, they did get out of Parr’s Landing.” Jeremy’s eyes met Christina’s over the table. “They did. They got away and they met their destiny. And the best part of their destiny was having you.” He reached over and put his hand over Morgan’s. “I’m so very, very glad they did.”

Morgan allowed Jeremy to hold her hand for a brief moment, and then pulled it gently away as though to avoid hurting his feelings. Her love for her uncle was unquestioned. The question for Morgan seemed to be how much of that love she could show without feeling disloyal to her father, at least for now. Christina observed their interaction and saw that Jeremy understood. She sent a silent prayer of thanksgiving for Jeremy’s presence to whichever divinity took under its wing the families of fatherless girls and husbandless wives.

When the food arrived, Morgan took a bite of her toast and asked Jeremy, “Isn’t it weird having a town named after you? I mean, I’m going to see my name everywhere, aren’t I? That’s going to be weird. Wasn’t it weird for you and Daddy?”

“It was weird,” Jeremy admitted. “But you get used to it. Your dad and I never thought twice about it. You won’t either, after a while. And the town wasn’t named after us, it was named after our great-grandfather- your great great-grandfather. He founded the town in the late nineteenth century. That was a long time ago, and nobody thinks about it anymore. We’re just like anybody else.”

“Then why did you leave? Why did you move to the city? If it’s so great, why didn’t you stay?”

Jeremy glanced around the diner, which was slowly filling with people. He lowered his voice slightly. “Morgan, you know why I had to leave. There were… problems. I know you know what those problems were. Your dad and mom and I have told you about them. We don’t need to discuss it again here, do we?”

Morgan looked chastened. “I’m sorry, Uncle Jeremy,” she said. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

“It’s fine, Morgan. But we have to remember that we’re not in the city anymore. Things are a lot different out here. There are things we can talk about in public and things we can’t talk about.”

Time to nip this one in the bud, Christina thought. “Sweetheart, I know you’re nervous about today. I know you’re nervous about meeting your grandma for the first time, especially after everything we’ve told you about her. Try to remember that the bad things we told you about happened a long time ago. Your dad and I were very young and your grandma and grandpa were very mad at us for running away together and having you.”

“They didn’t want you to have me?”

“Morgan, we’ve talked about this before. They didn’t think it was right for us to have you since we weren’t married.”

“But you did get married. You are married.”

“They wanted your daddy to stay in Parr’s Landing, go to university, and take over the mine. When the mine shut down, they blamed him for not being there to help save it. They were mad at both of us, honey. But they weren’t mad at you.”

“I don’t think we should go there. I think we should go home.”

“That’s all in the past,” Christina said, ignoring Morgan’s last comment. “Your grandma Parr was very nice to invite us to come and stay with her for a while.” Christina saw Jeremy wince. She pursed her lips to signal to him to keep quiet. “We need to get back on our feet.”

“Why couldn’t we get back on our feet in Toronto?” Morgan’s bottom lip began to tremble. “Why did we have to come here? Daddy didn’t want us to come back here. He hated it here. He told me so. And now you’re making us move here. It’s not fair.”

“I know, Morgan. But we have to make the best of it when there’s no alternative. And believe me, there’s no alternative. It’ll be what we make of it.”

“It’ll be fine,” Jeremy said. “It’s a beautiful part of the country, Morgan. And your grandma’s house is very old and very big. There are wonderful log beams on the ceiling and lots of paintings on the walls. It’s on the top of a hill with a great view of the town and the river below it.”

She brightened. “So, are we rich? I’d like to be rich.”

Christina and Jack had never been the beneficiaries of any part of the Parr fortune after they’d left the Landing together, so there had been no reason to inculcate Morgan with any illusions of wealth. As a result, it had simply never occurred to Morgan that her new life in Parr’s Landing would be any less hand-to-mouth than her old life in their house in the Cabbagetown district of Toronto.

“Morgan-” There was a warning edge to Christina’s voice.

“Your grandmother is rich,” Jeremy corrected. “Well, she’s not as rich as the family used to be before the thirties. But yeah, she’s rich.” Jeremy looked across the table at Christina. This time, she was the one who winced. “But she’s very stingy, so it doesn’t matter if she’s rich or not. It doesn’t matter to us, anyway. But you’ll get to stay in a beautiful house, one that’s so big you won’t hardly have to see the rest of us unless you want to.”

“Beautiful, beautiful,” Morgan said sullenly. “I always know when you’re lying because you say things like ‘beautiful’ instead of describing them properly. It’s not beautiful at all, is it? It sounds like an old witch’s castle or something. Daddy said she was an ogress. He said she ate her young. I bet it’s a horrible house.”

Jeremy smiled. “I think your father was speaking metaphorically, sweetheart. Did he really say that she ate her children?” He laughed. “Did he actually use that phrase-that exact phrase?”

“Yeah, he did. Why?”

“Because that was my line. That was something I said to him once about your grandma. I was kidding, of course. I don’t think she literally eats her young. Although, she might want to eat her granddaughter. You never know. You’re delicious.” Across the table, Christina felt Morgan relaxing. Jeremy had succeeded in distracting her from her fretfulness. She’d started to giggle. Jeremy continued, his voice ominous. “The winters are very long up here and Parr’s Landing is in Wendigo country.”

“What’s a Windiggy?”

“Not ‘Windiggy,’ Wendigo . It’s an Indian legend. The Wendigo was a cannibal spirit that possessed men and made them eat human flesh.”

“That’s disgusting,” Morgan said, her nose wrinkled in distaste. “I bet it’s fake anyway. There’s no such thing.”

“When we’re settled in, I’ll take you up to Spirit Rock,” Jeremy said. “I’ll show you the Indian paintings on the cliffs above Bradley Lake. You can see for yourself. They’re supposed to be paintings of a real Wendigo. Your dad and I used to swim there when we were kids. Everyone in town has seen them.”

“For real?” Morgan’s blasé façade of adolescent disinterest slipped momentarily. She’d loved legends and stories ever since she was a little girl, something Jeremy had clearly remembered and was now using to his advantage. Christina again met his eyes but this time she smiled. He smiled back.

“Well, the paintings are three hundred or so years old,” Jeremy said seriously. “And they’re pretty faded. But yeah, that’s what they’re supposed to be. There was a Jesuit missionary settlement on the site of the town sometime in the seventeenth century. There are lots of stories about it. Parr’s Landing is a pretty interesting place if you know what to look for.”

“Mom, why didn’t you tell me any of this stuff when I was growing up?”

“Oh,” Christina said, affecting nonchalance. “I don’t know. It’s something you really need to see for yourself.” I didn’t tell you any of this stuff because I didn’t want to think about any of it. I wanted to forget it all. And I never wanted you to be curious enough about it to go find out about it on your own. You were supposed to be my city girl. And instead, here we are. “It’s really a beautiful town in its own way, Morgan. I think you’re going to like it a lot. At least let’s try to give it a chance, shall we?” She looked hopefully at Morgan. She laid her hand on top of her daughter’s, much as Jeremy had done earlier, but this time Morgan didn’t pull her hand away.