The five hour bus ride gives Martha time to plan the steps necessary to begin her new life. She’s feeling joy again as she thinks through her plan. She has good credit. She can rent a small house, buy furniture and a used SUV with four wheel drive for the winter roads. There’s lots of opportunities to volunteer in Pineville. She can make new friends and reconnect with old friends, in spite of her shyness. During the brief bus stop in Flint she calls her mother and asks to be picked up at the Pineville bus stop near the village’s single traffic light.
She spends the remainder of the weekend with her parents, explaining her decision to return and filling them in on her plans. Her mother tells her she’s happy Martha is back where it’s safe. She had worried about Martha’s living alone in Detroit with all the crime there.
On Monday her mother drives her to a car dealership in Oscoda. She buys a used Ford Escape. She’s happy to find a white one with a black interior; she thinks teh interior won’t show the dirt. Martha has inherited her mother’s practical nature. The SUV has a low mileage and the four-wheel drive she wants for the winter roads. Returning to Pineville she turns at the traffic light onto Pineville’s maple tree lined Main Street. She drives the six blocks to where Main Street ends at the Lake Huron shore. She makes a U-turn and drives back past the IGA, the Pinevllle Farmer and Merchants Bank, the Harbor Deli, Donald’s Pharmacy, Erin’s Cut and Curl salon, and the Coffee Mug cafe. She turns right at the light and right again a block further onto Church Street.
She sees a “for rent” sign on a small house on Church Street. There’s a large maple tree in front and boxwood shrubs on each side of the entry steps. ‘It’s perfect’, she thinks. She can walk to Main Street and St. Mary’s Church she’ll attend. The church is on the corner and the library is just three blocks away.
She parks in front of the house for rent and gets out of her car. She pulls her coat tight against the cold wind coming off the lake two blocks away. The air is clear and fresh. She can’t taste any car exhaust. Listening she hears almost no traffic noise. She can barely hear waves whispering along the breakwater in the harbor. It’s December and the lake isn’t frozen yet. The quiet brings a smile. She thinks, ‘This is what I want’. She imagines going to bed in summer with her windows open and falling asleep to the noise of the waves on Lake Huron. She’s sure she made the right decision in returning to Pineville.
Martha is getting a perm at Erin O’Shea’s Cut and Curl salon on one of her free Saturday mornings. Erin says, “You have been back in Pineville for how long now? A year or more?”
“It’s a year and a half already,” replies Martha.
“Are you happy you came back?”
“Oh yes, it’s all working out as I planned. I am happy to be away from the city; back where the air is clean, where each of the four seasons is special, and it’s peaceful and quiet. Working from my home is satisfying for a shy girl like me. I have Sunday dinner after church with my parents. I have a cat. She’s a joy, except she likes to jump on to my lap when I’m typing on my laptop. Her name is Gracie, she’s a tabby I got from the Animal Shelter. I didn’t have a cat in Detroit. I would have had to keep it shut up in my tiny apartment all day and night. I have reconnected with two of my girl friends from high school who work in local shops. We have lunch together at least once a week,” replies Martha.
“How about men? Have you found someone?”
“That’s the best part. I went to the Harbor Deli for lunch one Friday last June. When I went in I saw Willi Lafleur. We dated a few times before I left for college. He recognized me and invited me to join him for lunch. I was surprised how handsome he’s become without the long hair. He was so skinny in high school the long hair popular then made him look immature. He asked me out and we’ve been dating ever since. It’s getting serious.”
“Is he the new Assistant Manager of the bank,” asks Erin.
“Yes, he’s William Lafleur now, and a banker like me. He worked at a big bank in Saginaw for three years after getting his Associates Degree from Alpena Community College. The bank put him through a great training program; rotating him through several departments. His training plus his experience qualified him for the Assistant Manager job here when the position became available. He’s happy to be back.”
“What are you doing for fun besides dating William?” Asks Erin.
“Working, which is fun for me, and I’m busy volunteering at the library for a couple hours each afternoon, the gift shop at Perch Point Lighthouse Saturday afternoons and Helping Hands one Saturday morning a month. And William got me into fly fishing for trout. I was hooked the first time I caught one. I remember it vividly. The feelings of anticipation as the dry fly drifts with the current, surprise when a trout sucks it under, joy when I set the hook properly, satisfaction as I play it skillfully and slide it into my free hand, and fulfillment as I watch the beautiful trout swim away after I release it.” She tries to keep her head still as her hands go through the motions of catching and releasing a trout.
“That makes me want to try fly fishing,” says Erin with a chuckle.
“Give it a try. A Saturday morning fly fishing makes me forget any problems from a week working and volunteering,” says Martha.
“I would try it, but I’ve given up finding a man who would teach me. Your perm is done, what do you think?”
“It’s perfect, as always, “ replies Martha, then glancing at her watch she says, “and I have time to grab a quick lunch before I go to the gift shop at Perch Point for my Saturday afternoon volunteer job.”
Pamela Lafave, the raven-haired Grand Rapids detective who returns to Pineville after her husband dies of an early heart attack, goes to the Perch Point Lighthouse on Saturday afternoon to photograph the late afternoon lake and sky. She wants to capture the colors for painting a lake scene. She learns to love painting the lake when the Pineville Art Society chooses a theme of scenes from the lake the previous year for their annual 4th of July Art on the Lake exhibit.
She snaps a few photographs, then takes a break waiting for the light to change to the mix of pinks, purples and greys she knows will come as the sun gets lower. The gift shop is still open. She decides to buy a new T-Shirt. Not finding one she likes she looks at the books about the local area for sale to tourists. She picks up one titled “Early Polish Lumbermen”. She decides to buy it thinking she might learn something about her great grandfather, who came from Poland to work in the lumber camps. When she’s paying for the book the clerk asks if she’s Polish. Pam answers, “Yes, my maiden name is Novinsky.”
“You’ll love that book,” the clerk replies, “it tells how a second or third son in Poland could escape a lifetime as a serf by coming to Michigan’s lumber camps. Even if he had no money he could get a job. The lumber camp managers provided everything he needed and deducted the cost from his winter’s wages when they paid him in the spring. A man could earn enough in one winter to buy 40 acres of cut over land, or to bring a brother here from Poland,” the clerk explains.
Pam says, “You must have read this book. Are you Polish?”
“Yes, my family’s original name was Krawczak. My grandfather changed it to Crawford. I’m Martha Crawford.”
“I’m Pamela Lafave. My husband’s ancestor, Henri Lafave, came from Canada to work in the lumber camps. I’m hoping this book will tell me if my Novinsky ancestor came to work in the lumber camps as well. Let’s have lunch and share stories of our Polish families.”
“Glad to meet you Pamela. I’d love to have lunch with you. How about this Tuesday at the Harbor Deli in Pineville?”
Perfect, see you there at noon. I’ll be looking forward to it,” Pam replies, as she takes the book and heads back to the lakeshore for more photographs. She thinks, ‘What a delightful young woman. I’ll enjoy getting to know her. Maybe she’s interested in drawing or old books.’
By the Tuesday lunch Pam has read the book on Polish lumbermen. At lunch Pam and Martha compare thoughts about their Polish ancestors and share stories of growing up on farms near Pineville. They share the reasons each left good jobs in large cities and returned to Pineville. Pam learns Martha likes books and volunteers at the library. She tells Martha about the books at Doc Arra’s museum in Pineville. Martha remembers her mother taking her to Doc Arra’s clinic when she was little. She tells Pam she liked looking at all the old things in the Doctor’s waiting room. She says she’s heard Doc Arra died and left his house, attached medical clinic and his collections to Pineville as a museum. Pam invites Martha to come to the museum where Pam and other volunteers are cataloguing the doctor’s collections of things relating to American frontier life. She says, “If you enjoy books you’ll love working with us at the museum.”
Martha asks, “When do you meet?”
“Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00,” replies Pam.
“I can meet then. Most of my evenings are free, except the Mayor has asked me to join the City Council as Secretary for their Thursday night meetings. Marjorie White, who was the secretary, resigned due to health. Marylynn Bates, the mayor’s law office secretary, is filling in temporarily. I’ve decided to accept the mayor's request. Who are the other volunteers at Doc Arra’s museum?” asks Martha.
Pam replies, “There’s Mary Anderson, who works at the Courthouse managing the county records, Peter Brown, the plumber, Sam Weiss, a retired history professor from MIchigan State, and Rev. Joe Penny, the rector at St. James Episcopal Church. We are the Board of Directors. Occasionally others come to volunteer for a few weeks. They usually stop after satisfying their curiosity about the collections and finding cataloguing is tedious work.”
“It sounds like an interesting group. I’ll come tomorrow night if you’ll show me how to do the cataloguing.”
Pam says, “That’s great. Either I or one of the others will gladly show you what to do. Joe usually gives new volunteers instructions on cataloguing the books.”
“I’ll be there. This was a fun lunch. Let’s do it again,” says Martha.
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