Halloween fell on a Friday night and the Mayne Island school had planned a community dance at the old Miller barn to lift war-weary spirits. It was slated to be fun for all ages with apple bobbing, a Jack-O-Lantern carving competition, a costume contest and dancing. Chidori was keen on attending and invited me over to her house on Thursday after my shift at the sawmill to show me the costume she had made. Unfortunately, I was running late because I had to stay at the mill to finish an order. There wasn’t as much construction going on in general, with so many men overseas and less pocket money to go around. And rumour in the company was that the mill might need to shut down if the war didn’t end soon and production didn’t return to normal, so when an order did come in we hopped to it to get it filled and sent off on the barge. I hadn’t stacked the hay bales into our barn for my pop yet but, as luck would have it, Donna Mae’s kid brother had the good timing to ride down the road past my house on his dandy Schwinn bike, whistling and dragging a stick behind him in the dirt. I paid him a quarter to finish my chores for me so I could clock out early. My father wouldn’t have approved of my priorities, but he was out fishing with Massey anyway so was none the wiser.
Chidori sat on the steps of their porch, bursting with excitement as I jogged up their driveway in my work coveralls. I dropped down breathless on the step beside her and kissed her cheek. ‘All right, let’s see this costume you can’t wait to show me.’
She reached into a canvas duffel bag and gleefully pulled out a tangle of red yarn.
‘You’re going as a mop head?’
‘It’s not a mop head. It’s a Raggedy Ann wig.’ She stretched it over her own hair. ‘See.’ After a pause to wait for my reaction she said, ‘You would be well advised to gush over how much you love it since it took me hours to make it.’ She rummaged through the duffel again and pulled out a blue dress, white apron with red bows, and red and white striped stockings. ‘I repurposed some of my childhood dresses and a tablecloth for the fabric. What do you think?’
‘I think you’re probably going to win the contest.’
‘Wait.’ She clapped excitedly. ‘You haven’t even seen the best part yet.’ She bit her lip with nervous anticipation as she dug into the duffel and pulled out another, shorter, red yarn wig, a red and white chequered man’s shirt, blue short pants, and another pair of red and white stockings. ‘Would you like to be my Andy?’
‘Good Lord, no. I’m not wearing that.’
Her lower lip pouted out. ‘Why not?’
‘It’s humiliating. I’ll be the laughing stock of all my friends and probably most of the island too.’
‘Pleeeeease. It will be so delightful if we go as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. We would surely win first prize.’ She shook the yarn of the wig in an attempt to entice me. ‘You wouldn’t want to make me sad, would you? I worked really hard on it.’
‘Why couldn’t you have worked really hard on a Babe Ruth costume, or something swell like that?’
She laughed. ‘I’m sorry. But I promise I’ll dance with you as many times as you like if you go as Andy.’
‘That’s bribery.’
‘It certainly is. Try the wig on. I want to see how it looks.’
‘Fine. But the only reason I’m agreeing is because a six-foot Andy doing a Lindy Hop will be a sight to behold and not soon forgotten.’
She giggled when I tugged the wig on, but her hands flew up to quickly hide her expression so I wouldn’t change my mind based on the mockery. ‘It looks wonderful.’
‘You realize Rory and Fitz are going to harass me worse about this than they do about me being sweet on someone who is Japanese-Canadian.’ I took it off and tossed it in the bag.
The cheerfulness dropped off her face and she removed her wig too. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. It was a silly idea. We won’t go.’
Feeling regretful for bursting her bubble I stretched the wig back on. ‘I was only teasing you. I don’t care if people laugh at me. We’re definitely going, and we’re a shoo-in for best costume.’
She sighed and stared down at her clasped hands. ‘You have the wrong idea about Rory, by the way.’
‘Wrong how?’
‘Well, Fitz might have an issue with me being Japanese, but Rory doesn’t.’ She glanced over at my expression as I tried to figure out what would have made her believe that. My eyes narrowed as the reason sunk in.
‘Is he sweet on you?’
‘I don’t know if I would call it that exactly. But he used to write me poems.’
‘Poems? Rory?’
She chuckled at my shocked tone as she hopped up and walked over to sit on the porch swing. ‘Which part is giving you that perplexed look, the fact that Rory writes poetry or the fact that he was sweet on me?’
‘Both.’ I stood to join her on the swing and we swayed casually. ‘I mean, I understand why he would have been sweet on you. I’m just shocked I never noticed. And I’m flabbergasted that he can spell, let alone compose poetry.’
‘Well, admittedly, he’s no Robert Frost. But his imagery and tone are quite sentimental.’
‘When was the last time he wrote to you?’
‘Just before the fall fair.’
My mouth dropped open at how recently it had been carrying on. I was astonished that I’d had no idea.
‘You have nothing to worry about, Hayden. I was clear with him that the feelings weren’t reciprocated. He asked if it was because I had feelings for you. When I told him yes, he was very hurt. Perhaps I should have told you, but out of respect to Rory, I felt it would be unkind to gossip. Please don’t humiliate him by sharing it with anyone else. I’m only mentioning it to you now so you don’t get in a quarrel with him over something that isn’t true.’
‘How does that tidbit of information make things better? Now, I’m going to get in a quarrel with him over something that is true.’
‘No. I forbid you to lose your temper.’
‘That’s going to be tricky, since I still owe him at least one bop to the eye for throwing that cigarette and burning you.’
‘He apologized for that.’ She glanced sideways at me before continuing, ‘He meant to hit you and regretted that he burned me. He came by the house the day after it happened with flowers. I accepted the apology but not the flowers.’
I laughed with some satisfaction at the image of Rory having to walk away dejected with the flowers still in hand. ‘Rebuffing him a second time means he’s probably extra sore now. If he starts something, what do you expect me to do?’
‘You’ll do nothing,’ she said with the authority of a schoolteacher.
‘What makes you so sure?’
A calculated grin stretched across her lips. ‘Because I said so. And if you do fight with him, no kissing with me.’
‘Oh really? Is that so?’ I slid my hand under her open coat and tickled her ribs, which made her squeal and kick her legs. ‘You’re full of all sorts of sassy bribes and threats today, aren’t you, missy? Don’t you care that he tried to burn me with the cigarette? That warrants a quarrel, I think.’
‘Nope.’ As she giggled and squirmed away from me, her mother opened the front door. I still had the Raggedy Andy wig on and Chidori was basically lying on the porch swing fighting me off from the tickle attack. It must have been quite an improper sight. I quickly stood and removed the wig. Chidori sat up and straightened her coat.
Mrs Setoguchi’s expression hung halfway between disapproval and amusement. ‘Hayden, would you care to join us for tea?’
‘Yes, ma’am. Thank you.’
She nodded and retreated back into the house. Once the door shut, Chidori pointed at me with utter delight. ‘You should have seen your face.’
‘I thought your mother was going to scold me.’
‘She would have, but,’ Chidori sprung to her feet and shoved my shoulder to make me turn and face the greenhouses. Her father and brothers were crossing the yard, approaching the house. ‘Whenever my brothers misbehaved exceptionally badly, my mother left the discipline to my father.’ She winked. ‘You’re in big trouble now, mister.’
I glanced back at her brothers and father, wondering how much they had witnessed of us carrying on. I knew she was joshing me, but since I held her father’s opinion in high regard, I couldn’t help but feel the nerves of a little boy who’d just been caught red-handed in an act of mischief.