CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The church service made Edna begin to feel sleepy. She could not concentrate on what the priest was saying and her eyes kept closing. Normally, she would have tried her best to pay attention, but this morning, all she wanted was to get back outside into the fresh air. Finally, she stood up and walked out. Monsieur Farival, surprised to see her go, also rose to his feet to follow her and see what was wrong. However, seeing that Robert went after her, he decided to sit back down again. He made a comment to the woman in black, but she ignored him and never took her eyes from the song book she held in her hands.

"I'm sorry," Edna apologized, "I just couldn't stay in there any longer." They stood in the shade provided by the church. Robert looked at her with worried eyes.

"It wasn't a good idea to have come. Why don't we go over to Madame Antoine's? You can take a moment to relax there," he said, leading her gently away from the church.

They came to a very peaceful place where only the sound of the wind moving through the plants could be heard. Edna felt that the people who lived in the little houses of this island surrounded by orange trees must be the luckiest people in the world. They rested for a moment at a nearby fence and asked a young worker for some drinking water. Edna took a drink and then poured the rest of the water onto her face. It felt very refreshing.

Madame Antoine's house was the last one in the village. She greeted Edna and Robert as though they were old friends. She could not speak English, but after Robert explained to her in French that Edna was feeling bad, Madame Antoine did everything she could to provide Edna some relief.

She was a very big woman. Her movements were very slow and not at all smooth. However, she managed to keep her home extremely clean. Her bed looked like the most comfortable one Edna had ever seen. The view from the bedroom window was of the backyard, where an old boat that could no longer be used sat.

Madame Antoine's son, Tonie, was at church at the moment. Robert decided to have a smoke outside and wait for him to return, while Edna rested. Madame Antoine busied herself preparing food for the later meals of the day.

Edna was in the room by herself now. She took off much of her outer clothing, and then removed her shoes and socks. After splashing some cool water on her face, she then laid down on the large, white bed. All around her was the smell of the countryside. It made her feel very comfortable. She ran her finger, gently, along her arms and legs, and took notice of the shape of her body while doing so. Then, putting her arms behind her head, she fell asleep.

While she slept, she could still hear everything that was going on around her. She heard Madame Antoine working in the kitchen. The sound of chickens walking about outside her window was also quite clear. And mixed with the gentle hum of the wind were the voices of Robert and Tonie, speaking French. Edna's French was quite poor, so it was difficult for her to understand what they were talking about. No matter what she heard, everything added to her feeling of relaxation.

Edna woke up feeling that she had slept for a long time. Everything was quiet now. Madame Antoine was no longer in her kitchen, and the chickens seemed to have gone somewhere else, as well. When she looked out the window, she saw Robert sitting alone next to the boat, reading a book. Above her, she saw that the mosquito net had been pulled over her. The position of the sun in the sky indicated that it must have been late afternoon.

Seeing that Madame Antoine had put out some towels and powder for Edna, she got up and cleaned her face and arms at the sink in the corner of the room. She then powdered her nose and looked at herself in the mirror for a while. She now looked healthy and full of energy. She felt great.

In the next room she found some wine next to a plate with a cover on it. Underneath the cover was some bread. Edna ate some of it and had a bit of wine, as well. Once she felt satisfied, she walked outside, pulled an orange from a nearby tree in the yard and tossed it over to Robert, who was surprised to see her out of bed.

Robert looked up and his whole face lit up with joy at seeing Edna. He got up immediately and joined her under the orange tree.

"What year is it? I feel as though I slept for a hundred years," she said, laughing. "It seems like you and I are the only humans left on the planet. Tell me, when did everyone disappear, Madame Antoine, Tonie, everyone at Grand Isle?"

Fixing a part of her clothing for her, Robert joked along with her, saying, "You're right. It has been exactly one hundred years. I've been protecting you all this time, sitting here, reading this book. I'm afraid, however, that I was unable to keep your dinner from going bad."

"I don't care how bad it is, now. I'll eat it anyway! I'm starving." As they walked back to the kitchen Edna asked, "Really, though. Where is everyone?"

"They left a long time ago. They decided not to disturb your rest. I, of course, wouldn't have let them if they'd tried."

"I hope that my husband doesn't get angry," Edna said.

"Why should he? You're safe with me!" Robert said gathering all of the dishes that had been left out for them. "Madame Antoine and Tonie are at the afternoon church service. Tonie told me that I could use his boat to take you back to Grand Isle whenever we're ready."

He began to cook everything again. Madame Antoine had actually prepared very little food. It had been Robert who had gathered everything. He felt proud, once everything was finished, to see Mrs Pontellier eat so much.

"Well, I suppose that we ought to get going," Edna said after finishing the last of her meal.

"It's not very late, actually," he replied.

"Oh, but in a couple of hours it'll be sunset."

"So what? Who cares about the sun?"

They remained under the orange tree until Madame Antoine returned from church. When she arrived, she seemed tired and out-of-breath. Her son, Tonie, had decided to wait at the church until Edna left. He was still afraid of women.

Edna liked sitting there in the yard, under the tree, watching the sun change everything to gold. The shadows slowly moved across the yard. Robert lay next to her on the grass and played with the edges of her shirt.

Madame Antoine sat down in a chair at the front of her house. She was in the mood for telling stories. She talked about how she had left the island only two times in her whole lifetime. Robert and Edna enjoyed hearing about her past, and were surprised when they soon found that it was nighttime. Mrs Pontellier could hear ghosts whispering in the wind. All around them, as they went aboard Tonie's boat, spirits sailed their old ships among the plants that grew along the shore.

(end of section)