really hot almost every day. Uncle Vince says he had no idea Canada could get so hot. âHardly fit for an Englishman,â he complains at breakfast. Bertie has still not arrived from England. Sheâs waiting for her house to be done.
Itâs washday and Alice is hanging the sheets on the clothesline while Frances hands her the pegs. Itâs so hot and breezy that the first sheet is dry by the time her mother getsthe last one up. She starts to take the dry ones down but then pegs them back up again and says, âOh bother, letâs we two girls go to the lake.â
Frances canât believe it. She hadnât even asked.
She puts on her bathing suit while her mother packs a lunch and their beach bag. She says they can stay for only an hourââso donât pester me to stay longerââand they get in the car and go. Her mother has changed into clean shorts and a sleeveless blouse, and she has her sunglasses on. Frances sits on the seat beside her in her yellow cotton bathing suit, wishing she had some sunglasses too.
It takes half an hour to get there. There are no other people at the spot they like because itâs a weekday, but there are several cars in the parking lot and a few families down the beach where the picnic tables are. Frances immediately goes to the shore and begs her mother to go in the water with her and hold her for the dead manâs float, which Alice does, but not for long because, she says, their white English skin burns too easily. She makes Frances put on a hat and convinces her to sit on the blanket in the shade and play crazy eights.
When her mother says she has to go the toilet (âBadly, FrancesâI canât waitâ), Frances doesnât want to go with her. She hates the pee smell of the outhouses and tells her mother that she will throw up if she has to go near them. Her mother says she can wait outside, but even then Frances digs her heels into the sand and has to be dragged along until they reach a path through the trees, and then she gives in and follows.
âYou wait right here,â her mother says when they come to the outhouses, one for men and one for ladies. Thereâs another path through the trees, which is the one Francesthinks leads to the playground. Her mother sees her looking at it and makes her promise she will stay right where she is. Frances promises, then her mother lifts the latch on the ladiesâ toilet and goes in.
Frances can smell the toilets, even outside. She starts to walk backwards away from the smell, but it follows her, so she turns and runs through the trees and down to the beach, even though she knows her mother will be mad. Sheâs just about to sit on the blanket when she sees an old Styrofoam rescue ring lapping at the waterâs edge, so she walks down to the shore to check it out. She looks up and down the beach. In one direction, there are some teenagers throwing each other around in the water and a man tossing a stick as far as he can into the lake for a dog to fetch. In the other direction, thereâs a little point of land with shrubby trees on it but no people. There doesnât seem to be anyone watching Frances.
Sheâll be quick, she thinks. Try out the ring and then be back on the blanket before her mother returns. ( Is that her mother calling now ?) She knows she should waitâsheâs not allowed to go in the water on her ownâbut instead she grabs the ring and runs along the beach until sheâs out of sight around the point. She steps into the ring, pulls it up to her middle, and wades into the water until she feels her feet lift off the sandy bottom (magic!), and all of a sudden sheâs bobbing like a frog on a lily pad.
She forgets about her mother and the blanket. All she thinks about is how perfect it is to be floating on the warm surface of the water as though sheâs in a magic water world. When she looks down, she can see rocks on the bottom of the
Itâs washday and Alice is hanging the sheets on the clothesline while Frances hands her the pegs. Itâs so hot and breezy that the first sheet is dry by the time her mother getsthe last one up. She starts to take the dry ones down but then pegs them back up again and says, âOh bother, letâs we two girls go to the lake.â
Frances canât believe it. She hadnât even asked.
She puts on her bathing suit while her mother packs a lunch and their beach bag. She says they can stay for only an hourââso donât pester me to stay longerââand they get in the car and go. Her mother has changed into clean shorts and a sleeveless blouse, and she has her sunglasses on. Frances sits on the seat beside her in her yellow cotton bathing suit, wishing she had some sunglasses too.
It takes half an hour to get there. There are no other people at the spot they like because itâs a weekday, but there are several cars in the parking lot and a few families down the beach where the picnic tables are. Frances immediately goes to the shore and begs her mother to go in the water with her and hold her for the dead manâs float, which Alice does, but not for long because, she says, their white English skin burns too easily. She makes Frances put on a hat and convinces her to sit on the blanket in the shade and play crazy eights.
When her mother says she has to go the toilet (âBadly, FrancesâI canât waitâ), Frances doesnât want to go with her. She hates the pee smell of the outhouses and tells her mother that she will throw up if she has to go near them. Her mother says she can wait outside, but even then Frances digs her heels into the sand and has to be dragged along until they reach a path through the trees, and then she gives in and follows.
âYou wait right here,â her mother says when they come to the outhouses, one for men and one for ladies. Thereâs another path through the trees, which is the one Francesthinks leads to the playground. Her mother sees her looking at it and makes her promise she will stay right where she is. Frances promises, then her mother lifts the latch on the ladiesâ toilet and goes in.
Frances can smell the toilets, even outside. She starts to walk backwards away from the smell, but it follows her, so she turns and runs through the trees and down to the beach, even though she knows her mother will be mad. Sheâs just about to sit on the blanket when she sees an old Styrofoam rescue ring lapping at the waterâs edge, so she walks down to the shore to check it out. She looks up and down the beach. In one direction, there are some teenagers throwing each other around in the water and a man tossing a stick as far as he can into the lake for a dog to fetch. In the other direction, thereâs a little point of land with shrubby trees on it but no people. There doesnât seem to be anyone watching Frances.
Sheâll be quick, she thinks. Try out the ring and then be back on the blanket before her mother returns. ( Is that her mother calling now ?) She knows she should waitâsheâs not allowed to go in the water on her ownâbut instead she grabs the ring and runs along the beach until sheâs out of sight around the point. She steps into the ring, pulls it up to her middle, and wades into the water until she feels her feet lift off the sandy bottom (magic!), and all of a sudden sheâs bobbing like a frog on a lily pad.
She forgets about her mother and the blanket. All she thinks about is how perfect it is to be floating on the warm surface of the water as though sheâs in a magic water world. When she looks down, she can see rocks on the bottom of the
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