“I can’t understand why you kept it from me all this time,” Jake said.
Avery plopped down in the seat next to him on the porch. “I know, I’m not sure either. Don’t be cross with me, Jake. At first I just wanted to keep the diary to myself. But then after I saw how excited your mother was about finding that book in the loft, I thought I’d better tell you. And then every time I started to say something, we were interrupted. I began to feel that destiny didn’t want me to reveal the secret. After awhile, I knew you would be sore because I hadn’t said anything. So it was a vicious circle for me — one part of me felt guilty and the other part felt that maybe Minnie’s diary was meant to stay hidden.”
Jake sat thinking. After a moment he said, “Have you finished it?”
“The diary? No.”
“Well, you might want to, and then decide what to do with it. I’ll be back tomorrow and we’ll talk more about it.” He put the book down on the table between them and walked off the porch to the trail leading to Camp Huntington. Avery picked up the diary where she had left off.
August 15, 1893
I am desperate. I can’t stand it any longer here. My father will be expecting me back to school in a few weeks. I need to know from William what he expects from me. He has not come to see me in days. So I sent Nate to Pine Knot to deliver a note. I told him to meet me.
He finally came last night and looked so very, very tired. He said his sister had served him notice she was planning to sue. I’m not sure why. But I had enough of his troubles. I told him how I am feeling. As much as I love Nate, why does he have me secreted away in this cabin with the boy? Is he ashamed of me? Couldn’t we admit our love for each other? After all he is planning to divorce Janet, isn’t he?
That is when he confessed a very dark secret, one that only a few families in the area know and no one would ever reveal. He was once in love with Nate’s aunt. She died and he has never gotten over her. He used to stay with her here, in this cabin. That’s why he feels such an obligation to Nate and his family.
I asked him, will you ever tell Nate the truth. He shook his head, sadly. He said no. He couldn’t. Only Ike knows the truth.
Minnie
August 20, 1893
A terrible thing has happened to me, to William, and it has all come to an end. I woke this morning in the early hours, before the sun had even risen in the sky, to find William asleep, next to me in bed. His breath smelled of smoke and liquor, he had been up all night playing cards with his gentlemen guests.
“William,” I cried, “What are you doing here?’
He didn’t talk, he reached for me and I was so terribly frightened. I have never seen that look before, his eyes were dark, distant, he was not my William but some stranger. “What are you doing here!” I cried again.
But I was fooling myself, we have been fooling ourselves all summer. Why did I think this was not how it would end? And then, I heard Nate, he must have heard my cries.
“Get out of here sir,” he said. Suddenly, it was as if William woke up out of a bad dream. He looked confused, he looked crestfallen. “Oh, my Louise!” he cried as he leapt off the bed and stood helpless in the middle of the room. I climbed out of the bed as fast as I could and ran out the door and into the woods. The sun was just rising and I found the tree that Nate and I visit to look for the saw-whet owl.
And I sat there in shock, as I am still in shock, until Nate came for me. He put his small hand out for mine and said, “It’s ok now, you can come back, he’s gone.”
Oh, I know as I write this I should be so glad that William is gone, but alas, I am not. Nate is loading the boat with my things and he is going to take me to town so I can catch the train home. I have to go home now. My magical summer with William is over. It was all just a game, a dream that was never to be.
I do not know what to do with this diary. I cannot burn it because there is no fire and no time to make one. I am going to hide it in canvas and put it in the cavity of the tree. There, I hope, it will rot away into the ground, to be forgotten, just as I hope I will forget my love for William.
Minnie
Avery slammed the little book shut. It had been an exhausting two days and this last revelation put her over the edge. She needed a drink. She scrounged around the kitchen and found a beer in the refrigerator, took it to the front porch and listened to the sounds of the birds calling to each other before bedding down for the night.
The next morning Jake showed up early. Avery heard him in the kitchen banging around in the cupboards for the coffee and then the friendly sound of the percolator. He brought in a hot mug of coffee and she sat up in bed to drink it.
“What should we do with it?” she asked as she blew over her coffee to cool it down.
“Bury it,” Jake said.
Avery’s eyes flickered surprise. “You want to hide it from your mother? What about the rest of the people at the College that have been searching for the truth about Minnie?”
“Some things are best left unknown,” Jake said.
She got dressed and followed Jake to the White pine. Once there he got down on his hands and knees and dug out some of the earth that was at the base of the rotting trunk, put Minnie’s diary, wrapped in canvas, in the earthen hole and covered it. They held hands as they walked back to Camp Kirby.