Indian Summer by Tracy Richardson Read Free Book Online Page A

freshly-brewed coffee. The rumpled covers on the other bunks are empty, so the boys must be up. At first she doesn’t remember her dream, but when she looks over at the clock it stirs her memory and it all comes flooding back. It’s been so long since she had a flying dream that she can’t recall the last time. This one was particularly realistic, she thinks, but it was just a dream. But what about when she felt like she was flying on the way to the Children’s Fair? She hadn’t been dreaming then. Did she imagine it? Marcie has never spent much time analyzing her dreams, and since the meaning of this one isn’t at all clear, she puts it out of her mind. She doesn’t want to get left behind from the day’s activities.
    Dressing quickly in shorts and a t-shirt and sliding her feet into flip-flops, she goes downstairs to the kitchen in search of breakfast. Eric is at the counter making sandwiches.
    “You missed all the bacon,” he says, pointing to a plate empty except for crumbs and bacon grease. “We were going to wake you up, but Mom made us wait. It’s almost ten, and we want to get out fishing.” Wrapping a sandwich in foil, he asks, “Do you want ham, turkey, or bologna?”
    “Ugh. I haven’t even had breakfast yet. I guess I’ll have ham. Is there any cheese?”
    “Cheddar or Swiss?”
    “Cheddar, please.” Marcie pours herself a bowl of cereal and milk and takes it out to the porch. Her mom and Aunt Lucy are sitting at the table enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee and talking. Janey and Michael have toys and cars strewn all over the floor, and Michael has built a wall out of blocks around Speck and several other stuffed animals. Speck barks a greeting to Marcie, but stays good naturedly in his enclosure. Michael says, “This is my Zoo. Do you want to see it? Speck is a lion.”
    “Maybe after I eat. Speck is a good lion.” Michael nods and goes back to playing.
    “Good morning, sleepyhead. Sleep well?” asks her mom.
    “Yeah.” She stifles a yawn. “I’m still waking up. Where’s everyone else?”
    “Your dad, Uncle Mark, and Poppy are golfing, and Mamaw is—where else?—in the garden. Eric and Drew are getting ready to go fishing with Al. Are you going along too?”
    “Definitely.”
    “I want to go fishing, Mommy!” Michael pipes up.
    “We’ll go fishing off the dock, honey. We don’t have time before we leave to go out on the boat,” replies Aunt Lucy. Janey hauls herself off the floor using Lucy’s shorts and says “uppy.” Lucy picks her up, sets the toddler on her lap, and continues. “I’m glad we got to see everyone yesterday. But it’s never long enough.” She sighs. “We’ll try to come back and see you kids sometime during the week. Jill, you and Paul are leaving tonight?”
    “Yes, right after the cookout at the Swyndalls’. I leave for the dig first thing in the morning. Marcie, I suggest you hurry up and get ready if you’re going fishing. Drew and Eric are anxious to go. I had to stop them from waking you up. I figured you deserved to sleep in on the first day of summer.” She smiles at her fondly.
    “Thanks. I was really tired for some reason.”
From flying
, she thinks, but sitting here at breakfast with her cousins and aunt, it seems a little ridiculous. People can’t really fly. It was only a dream. She finishes her cereal and thenhelps Eric pack the picnic lunch. She runs upstairs to put her bathing suit on under her clothes in case they decide to go for a swim off the boat, hurries back down again and outside to the boat docks, arms loaded with beach towels and, of course, sunscreen. Eric is putting the cooler into Al’s fishing boat as Marcie runs up. Drew is already in the boat. They are obviously ready to go. Al, on the other hand, is talking to one of the neighbors a few houses down and appears to be in the middle of a long story. With his free hand, the one not holding Pansy’s leash, he is gesturing and pointing, and they are both