Romeo Blue by Phoebe Stone

drying goldenrod bending and rustling and glowing yellow with the wind and moon.
    Then I saw a shadow of someone up on the road, walking briskly towards the house. It startled me at first but soon I realized it was Derek. I ran up as fast as I could to the road. We stood there in the stark moonlight, our long, pale shadows shimmering on the road before us. “Derek. Oh, Derek. I just heard Gideon say there is a big German agent in the area,” I said. “Don’t you think we should tell Gideon about your father and Fitzwilliam?”
    Suddenly, Derek grabbed me. He wrapped his one good arm round me and he held me really tightly. I was pulled in close against him and I could feel him trembling. He kept on holding me like that and he pushed his face against my cheek. His lips brushed across mine and I felt as if I were swimming in a warm blur. Then he whispered, “Fliss, don’t say anything yet. It has nothing to do with my father. We have to figure this out on our own. Don’t say anything. I want to get to know my father first. I need to get to know him. My father is my business. No one else’s.” Then he let go of me and rushed on into the house, leaving me standing alone in the shadows.

Yes, America was losing many, many ships along the coast. German U-boats were everywhere, lurking, and when supply ships or even convoys went through the eastern waters, U-boats torpedoed and sunk many of them. It was like an epidemic. Gideon was dark and gloomy about this and he had gone off to talk with a friend who was on sub-watching duty up on the hill in a cement tower with open windows all round the top. It was tucked away in the pinewoods but if you looked up at the hill, you could see the eye of the tower poking out of the trees.
    It was another one of those windy, rainy days and Derek had built a fire in the fireplace. Everyone was out of the house that day, as planned, and Derek’s father had just arrived. He was standing in the hallway with an umbrella that the wind had ripped to shreds and turned inside out. He was quite wet. The water rolled off his macintosh and he stamped his boots. Then he shook off the macintosh and shuddered. “Oh, I’ll keep this on,” he said, touching his hat. “It loses its form if I take it off when it’s wet. It will dry to a perfect shape this way.” He smiled at Derek, and Derek looked proud and pleased. Derek’s father was happy to see the fire in the fireplaceand the two of them settled down together in front of it, like old friends.
    I brought in the tea tray. All the while I kept wishing Gideon would suddenly come back and barge in and ease my mind about this. I did not like deceiving him. But there was nothing wrong with a father visiting with his son, was there?
    “Well, she is British,” Derek was just saying, “and one of my favorite Bathburns, actually.”
    “Honestly, truly, Derek?” I said, setting the tea tray down. I put the cups out and poured the tea. “I am actually a dual citizen,” I added, looking away.
    “But this is terrific for you, my son, to have someone your own age here. And to live in this marvelous house. What a view, even with the rain. Do you often see whales and porpoises?”
    “All the time,” said Derek. “We see all sorts of creatures, even sharks, I think.”
    “Sharks too! Quite exciting. Is that one there now?” Derek’s father pointed out the window.
    “Look through these binoculars. It’s probably a seal. They love rain,” said Derek.
    “Oh,” he said. “Oh, how do you focus them? Let me see. I guess I need to remove my glasses.” He took off his glasses and looked through the binoculars. “Ah yes, I can see the water now. There are certainly plenty of birds floating about.” Derek’s father put down the binoculars. “Well, this is a grand place. The water is quite rough out there today!”
    “Did we live here by the water when I was a baby?” Derek said then, suddenly. The words came out in a rather awkward way and he