John Casey - Compass Rose

She let go of him when she thought she was about to kiss him. She stood up straight and put her hands on his chest. “You. You’re Miss Perry’s best friend.” They were standing between the back of the hearse and the front of the church, the people flowing around them. Had she been about to kiss him? On his mouth?

And then she was in Captain Teixeira’s three-bench van along with a part of his family — Sylvia and her husband, and Dick’s stern-man, Tony. Captain Teixeira got out and pulled Rose in. He called to Mary Scanlon, but she called back, “I’ve got to go to Sawtooth. See you there!”

Tony was at the wheel. Captain Teixeira told him to turn his lights on. Then he said, “Wait. We should bring Tory Hazard with us. Sylvia, go get Tory. She’s right there at the top of the steps. Tony, if you turn the lights on, you have to run the motor. Rose, you sing beautifully, as good as Mary. One of these days I’m going to teach you a fado. Maybe Sylvia better teach you, I don’t sing so good. I lost my whistle. Tony, let the priest’s car go ahead. Then let Jack go, that’s the only family car. That’s nice, his armband. Lydia liked traditional things.”

Sylvia and Tory arrived, and Captain Teixeira made room for Tory beside him on the middle seat. He put his arm around Tory and said, “You okay?” He turned to Elsie. “I’ve known Tory since she was a little girl. And her father—”

Tory put a hand on his knee and said, “Ruy, please. I’m sorry. It’s just …”

Captain Teixeira shrank a bit, took a breath, and said, “You know Elsie, right? And her daughter, Rose? Rose sang the soprano part. Mary Scanlon was the alto.”

“Mezzo,” Rose said. “It’s an octave lower than my part, and it could be an alto but it’s a mezzo-soprano. There’s other places she has to sing higher.”

“You little smarty pants,” Sylvia said. “I used to change your diapers.”

“Okay, Tony,” Captain Teixeira said. “Right behind that car.” He looked out the back window. “That’s Eddie Wormsley’s pickup; he could’ve cleaned it up some.”

Elsie looked. “It’s okay. He’s driving Tom Pierce.”

“Now you mention it, where’s Dick? He was around yesterday. I know Charlie’s at sea.”

“Dick’s in Boston. Charlie had an accident, and he’s in the hospital there.”

Elsie felt Rose lean forward even before she heard Rose’s voice. “Mo-om! Why didn’t you tell me? Jesus, Mom.”

In between Elsie and Tory, Captain Teixeira turned, squeezing Elsie one way, Tory the other. He said, “Don’t talk to your mother like that.” He said this matter-of-factly. He stayed turned. After a long pause he added, “You’ve got a beautiful voice and you’re a beautiful girl, so be a good girl. Now your mother’s going to tell us about Charlie.”

As Elsie began to tell what she knew, she felt she was dropping stones in a still pool, sending ripples to every side — to Tony, who was Dick’s right-hand man; to Sylvia, who’d been in love with Charlie; to Rose … Tom was the brother Rose saw more of, joked with, but she’d cried out for Charlie, even if she turned her alarm into blame.

Captain Teixeira said, “Oh, meu Deus! That’s a terrible thing for Dick and May.”

“That’s all I know,” Elsie said. “And Rose — Tom thought he’d better wait to tell you till after you sang. So …” Elsie heard herself speaking to a van full of people who knew her place in this story. It had seeped drop by drop into common knowledge, so completely that Tory Hazard was the only one who had to furrow her brow.

Captain Teixeira said, “Tony, only the hearse goes through the gate. You pull in beside that black car. Okay. We’ll take a minute before we get out so we can each have a good thought for Charlie to get better.”

When Captain Teixeira raised his head and let out a loud breath, they all began to stir. Captain Teixeira said to Tory, “You got to pull that handle kind of hard. The other way. The door slides back.” After Tory got out, he turned. “You go ahead, Sylvia; I got to take my time.” As Rose slid past he said, “Rose, I know you’re feeling bad about Charlie. I think he’s going to be okay. But there’s another thing. This is your first funeral, right? I got to tell you the priest is going to say something when we throw the first bit of dirt on the coffin. I’m telling you now so you know. He says, ‘The earth and the sea shall give up their dead and the corruptible bodies shall be changed … ’It always gets to me. It makes me see too much. Okay, here we go. Give me a little tug, would you? I stiffened up some.”

Elsie looked at Rose’s face as she took Captain Teixeira’s hand. Since Captain Teixeira had bossed Rose around, Elsie expected Rose to have put on her mask of sullen compliance. Elsie’s second guess, now that she saw Rose smile, was that Rose had been seduced by his calling her a beautiful girl. Wrong again. Rose was someone strange. Her smile was serene, confident, and womanly. She took Captain Teixeira’s other hand and guided him out of the van. She ran her hand down his back as if straightening him. She turned and said, “Mom? You coming? You two should be together for this.”

Rose’s sudden grace was as mysterious to Elsie as Rose’s music but more unnerving. More than their quarrels, this unforeseen full green leaf made Elsie foresee Rose’s growing up and away from her.

The doctor, the neurologist whom May trusted right away, said she was sure that Charlie would make a complete recovery, but she couldn’t say how long it would take. “He’s very healthy; he’s very strong physically and mentally. I think he’d get better on his own — the subdural hematoma has already shrunk by itself — but therapy will help with any lingering symptoms. I think that little speech impediment will clear up a bit faster, and he’ll get his motor skills back faster, too. Some people think physical therapy is good for the brain. In any case, therapy will give him something to do. I can tell he’s not used to just sitting around. That would drive him up the wall. Probably drive you up the wall, too.”

Deirdre O’Malley, who was standing behind May, Dick, and Tom, said, “I believe in the mind-body link; it did a whole lot for me when I was hurt. But mainly I want to say you were great, really great. The neurosurgeon would’ve started cutting, but you—”

“Thank you,” the neurologist said. “We actually worked it out together.” She turned to May and Dick. “I’m sorry we couldn’t keep you posted every minute, but we were both pretty involved. I’m glad it’s looking good now.”

May thought that Deirdre might be feeling rebuked, so she said, “This is the woman who dove in and pulled Charlie out of the water. She’s an EMT.”

“Yes, so I heard.” She took a breath and added, “Good job.”

When an orderly rolled Charlie out the front door, Dick was there with his pickup, Phoebe with her Saab, and Tom on a motorcycle. May said to Charlie, “You’ll be more comfortable in Phoebe’s car.” She looked at Dick. Dick had said he was sorry for taking off by himself, but he’d added, “I just had to do something.” May hadn’t said anything.

Dick said to Tom, “Something wrong with that car of yours?”

“Still in the shop.”

Deirdre said, “That’s Walt Wormsley’s motorcycle.” They all looked at her. She said, “He used to do some work for me. But, hey, this’ll work out. Tom, you can ride with your family, and I’ll drive Walt’s motorcycle. That way I can swing by and pick up some things from a friend’s house and it wouldn’t slow anyone down. It’s okay — I’ve driven it before.”

Tom shook his head. “I can’t do that without Walt’s say-so. Look, I’ll take you, and everyone else can go on ahead.”