A forceful wind pushed across the shoreline, stealing its way up the embankment as it hurried toward the stately brick mansion known as Bell Bennier.

The house seemed strong, impenetrable with a defiant grace that stood and faced that which was sent her way as if divinely held there throughout the generations. Within the boundaries of this land called Bell Forest, the inhabitants remain strong and resilient, just as the brick and mortar and the long avenue of weathered oaks that usher you to her door.

A squeak of hinges intruded into the kitchen as six-year-old Sassy rushed past her mother, reaching the freezer just as the screen door slapped against the door frame. Pushing open the lid, she scrambled around in the bottom until she located the half-eaten Push-Up Popsicle that she’d deposited there earlier. “Maddie wants to be my sister!” Sassy proclaimed, hurriedly and out of breath.

“That so?” Lou questioned, not paying the girl any mind. Busy with both hands in the biscuit dough, she folded it over and over methodically, stopping occasionally to push a loose strand of hair away from her face with the back of her arm.

“Ah huh, told me so this mornin…says ‘cause that’d make you her momma.” The spring on the screen door stretched out taunt before slamming shut as Sassy ventured back outside.

Lou stilled. For a long moment she stood, staring down at the soft dough that formed around her fingers. Snatching her hands out of the wooden bowl, she moved to the sink, placing them under a cool stream of water as a hot path of tears ran down her cheeks. Grabbing the corner of a dishtowel from the oven handle, she dried her hands, blotting her face with the sleeve of her shirt as choked back tears. “Mercy, mercy me,” she whispered. Pulling a chair away from the kitchen table, she eased her weight down with an exaggerated breath, pondering the revelation of her daughter’s words.

Forgive me Lord for bein so blind. I’m whatcha call blind in one eye and can’t see outa the other!

Heaving a weary sigh, Lou got up and headed out the door, passing her boss, Jim Warren on the back steps as she hurried down to the lawn. Shielding her eyes in the late afternoon sun, she asked, “Where’s that boy?” Turning her “good” eye toward Jim, she waited for his response.

Lou’s bright blue glass eye gleamed in the sun. It didn’t seem to matter to Lou that her other eye was brown, matching her skin. She prized that blue eye. And, after the initial shock, most people just seemed to accept the oddity without question.

Jim turned to appraise her. “Jude? He’s at the barn. Why, you need him?” He slapped his dusty hat against his leg as he studied his cook’s expression. Few things pulled Lou away from the kitchen, and that fact alone was cause for concern.

“Yeah, I need him and right this minute! I ain’t fixin to have this.” Her jaw was set. With both hands placed firmly on her hips, she scanned the area, looking for a glimpse of Jim’s son, Jude.

“Whatever he did, when you get finished with him, send what’s left over to me.”

“Oh, that boy ain’t done nothin wrong; I just need him to get that Kabobble thing out and take me over to Madeline’s.”

Jim twisted his lips to keep from grinning. Tugging on his ear, he said, “I’ll get the Kubota for you. Hold on, let me get Jude so he can drive you over.” Jim reached down and unclipped the walkie-talkie from his belt. “Madeline all right?” he asked, before calling for Jude.

“From now on she gonna be. Yeah, she sure gonna be if I have anything to do with it,” Lou’s voice trailed off as she scanned the field for Jude.

Jim heaved a sigh of relieve. Thank you Lord! He’d hinted around for months now hoping Lou would read between the lines and step in to help with Madeline. At the age of twelve, Madeline needed a woman’s hand and there was no hand better than Lou’s.


Jude eyed Lou cautiously as they approached the cottage. What has Madeline done to light a fire under Lou? Lou never leaves the house with chicken left to fry.

Lou’s lips were pulled in tight forming a straight line. It was frightening to see the determined look on her face.

Jude rolled up near the back steps of Bay Cottage and killed the motor. Taking a deep breath, he held it in, pushing air from cheek to cheek as he nervously waited for the showdown.

Wasting no time, Lou slid out of the seat and headed toward the door. From the worn out look of the steps, she decided to test them before putting her whole weight down on the shaky boards.

The door suddenly flew open and out stepped Madeline.