He scrambled down the dune with Margaret right behind, and together they hauled the deer to the shoreline. Pebble used his hunting knife to cut into the deer and remove the organs. Margaret held the still-warm heart in her hands and looked at Pebble. She understood that this wild place and this type of experience made him the man he was, and she loved him all the more for it. Margaret, with the blood of the deer on her hands, her shirt askew and missing a button, could not have been more captivating to Pebble. They rode home in silence, holding hands.
Days later, as Margaret and Pebble drove along the shore, they spotted a group of people standing at the water’s edge, looking at a shrimper’s little green boat that was caught on the rocks. The boat’s owner and his son stood by, gravely watching as their livelihood and most prized possession got tossed against the rocks with each wave that rolled in. Pebble parked the car and went to talk to the shrimper, who was black, and the island’s caretaker, who was from India and a firm believer in his country’s caste system. The caretaker made it clear he had more important things to do than tow the boat off the rocks. From his manner, Pebble could see that the caretaker thought it was beneath him to help the shrimper, even though losing the boat would cause the shrimper’s financial ruin. Margaret held an excited Crispian away from the crowd and watched as Pebble took off his shirt and shoes. He dove into the surf and swam to the edge of the breakers. From there, he climbed the rocks and boarded the boat. He struggled to free it from the jagged boulders but quickly saw it was no use. The engine was submerged, and the hull was filling with water. He swam back, and Margaret stood close enough to hear him tell the shrimper that he would have to wait for the tide to go out. Maybe, he said, they could make the boat watertight by patching the hole, but she saw from their faces that no one believed the boat could actually be saved.
The only thing they could do was drive the shrimper and his son to a telephone and arrange a salvage crew for the boat. Later that night, as Pebble and Margaret sat on the front porch, she reflected on the day’s events. She told him the opening line of a story that was forming in her mind. It was about a windup toy boat dancing on the sea that didn’t know it was the last time it would dance. Pebble said it didn’t sound like a children’s story. She assured him it would be. She was only comfortable writing about animals and children—she lost her way when she tried to write for grownups.
*
Pebble and the men working on his boat lived in old servant quarters on the property. He had hired three men to help build the boat, and two of them would stay on as crew. One night as Margaret made dinner for Pebble’s family, the crew showed up in their sweaty work clothes, expecting to join the feast. Margaret chastised them, saying she couldn’t have all these attractive men wandering around half-naked at her dinner party. One joked that he was wearing his best shirt. Margaret pointed out that it was time to get new clothes when the holes got ahead of the material.
Then, pointing at Pebble, who was attired only in very short shorts, Margaret said he was going to get all the attention from the ladies that night in the hair shirt he had on. He laughed, but no one changed, hoping to make Pebble’s family and the other dinner guests feel stuffy in their nice clothes.
The largest mansion on the island was still Mama Carnegie’s Dungeness, although it was abandoned and in slight disrepair. After her death, the fortune of the family had been divided, and no one wanted to take on the costly upkeep of the big house. Pebble and Margaret climbed to the top of the house’s towering cupola and looked out over the marsh. There, they planned their future, and Pebble gave her an engagement ring to formalize their plans to marry. Before the wedding, Pebble and his crew would first sail to Miami, pick up supplies, and then meet Margaret in Panama. Meanwhile, Margaret had to return to New York, organize her affairs for their long getaway, and then meet with music producers in France. Looking out over the marsh, Margaret was reflective. She said she had been only half alive before she met Pebble. She had at last found happiness and peace, adventure, and boundless love, with him.
When it came time for Pebble to set sail, Margaret christened the boat with a bottle of champagne. Pebble didn’t want to leave, but the sooner he left, the sooner they could be married. They parted the next day, eager to see one another again in three months.
When Pebble reached Miami, letters from Margaret were waiting for him. He had no ship-to-shore phone, so the letters were their only way to communicate. A crewmate’s girlfriend met the crew there and planned to stay while they restocked the boat and headed on to Panama. However, the whole crew’s plans quickly changed when an opportunity to earn some extra cash on a shrimp boat arose. They decided they would dock in Miami for a month. The girlfriend’s plans soon changed, too. She wanted to stay on with her boyfriend instead of boarding her flight to New York City. She offered Pebble her ticket, and he seized the opportunity to go visit Margaret. He jumped on the flight with nothing but what he was wearing—a pair of shorts, sneakers, and a T-shirt.
Margaret loved surprises, and this was one of the best. She and Pebble stayed for a short time at her high-rise apartment. Margaret borrowed clothes for him and introduced him to her friends. On Cumberland, Pebble had shown Margaret his world; now it was her turn to show him the facets of Manhattan she loved. They had never discussed their age difference; it was of little importance to either of them, and although her friends noticed, it was inconsequential. Margaret had found her match in spirit and adventure. They were thrilled for her and could see how happy she was.
Crispian, though, wasn’t too sure about Pebble invading their dwellings. The dog only begrudgingly accepted Pebble at the end of his leash if a walk in the park was involved. Pebble believed the best way to someone’s heart was through his or her dog, so he was determined to make friends with the jealous Kerry blue.
*
The couple cozied up in Cobble Court for a few days in Margaret’s enchanting fur-covered home. Pebble was fascinated by the eccentric touches of Margaret’s writing refuge and the way they had to wind their way through the tenement building. It was like entering a secret world. Pietro kept them fed and cared for as they escaped the real world outside of the tiny house in the middle of skyscrapers.
Margaret was lost in love. She loved lying together with Pebble’s head on her chest. She loved his curls and the weight of his body on hers. When she first met Pebble, she had worried that he was too much of a boy for someone her age. Now she only saw him as a man.