Wineglass on the Veranda

By Carol Fortino

Alex Crabbe was a young child whose life came undone after his mother died. His first placement in a foster home subjected him to emotional abuse and pornography. Although he is eventually moved to a loving home, questions remain: Can the early exposure to pornography so warp his young mind that he cannot overcome those images as an adult? Will his early experiences propel him to unconscionable actions that will lead to his demise, or will they instead rescue him from impending death?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984520630

Carol Fortino

Carol Fortino is a retired professor of science and environmental education who lived in Australia for a number of years. Since retiring, she has published three poetry books: When the Bus Stops, Sketches on a Napkin, and Somewhere Between plus two novels: The Rings of Hubris and Driving Forces. When she is not travelling internationally, she lives in Beulah, Colorado, enjoying family, friends and wildlife that frequent her small mountain town.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Carol Fortino.

Library of Congress Control Number:        2018904239

ISBN:                  Hardcover                        978-1-9845-2065-4

                            Softcover                          978-1-9845-2064-7

                            eBook                              978-1-9845-2063-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Rev. date: 05/21/2018

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CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

A Note of Thanks

About the Book

Book Club Questions

Other Books By Carol Fortino

Prologue

There is a cluster of islands off Brisbane, Australia – a city of about two million people. Berundji is one of those islands. Residents move on and off their speck of land with regularity – retirees going to see grandchildren, students crossing to catch the bus for high school, and businessmen walking off the ferry to their BMWs in the locked car park. Local artists, policemen, shopkeepers and other residents choose to live on the island for many reasons. Some folks had to resettle on Berundji due to economic circumstance that kept them subsisting on the dole. These families, except for their required yearly appearance at the downtown Brisbane social services office, feel constrained – island fever at its worse.

Overall it is a peaceful island, except for the occasional theft that sometimes can be traced back to the vagrant teenage boys who live in the small house off the main road and only attend school sporadically. The constable assigned to the island kept his eye on them.

Chapter One

Louise Hammel, a semi-retired professor from the USA, never felt claustrophobic or unsafe when she was invited to house sit on Berundji island for her long-time friends, Marge and Dick Hampton. Every couple of years they would leave for extended periods to work or vacation overseas. Then, the house and garden were Louise’s to tend and enjoy. Sometimes she would take their car on the ferry to Brisbane to meet her fellow researchers. She had completed her Ph.D. ten years before at Queensland University of Technology but still did collaborative work with University of Queensland colleagues on mentoring of professionals. Over the years that focus had extended to youth and lately to a new thrust of mentoring children in foster care. Sometimes, the group would decide, rather than eating at the faculty lounge, to take the CityCat ferry to Queen Street Mall for a leisurely lunch and spirited discussion of the latest research.

This year, Louise arrived on Berundji the week before the Hamptons left for the UK. They had a wonderful time catching up with each other, the neighbors and various friends she had met through the years. Marge made sure Louise knew that next Sunday night’s yoga would be held at Charlene and Ralph Baker’s.

This gathering had become a Sunday evening tradition for a few couples and an occasional single, like Louise. Sometimes the Milanos, who lived a few houses down but still worked in Brisbane’s Central Business District, would join the group. Then early Monday morning they would motor back across the bay in their little tinny.

On yoga night, the hosts would push back their furniture and everyone would roll out their mats for a silent meditation as the sun set over Moreton Bay. This was followed by a gently guided yoga practice. Afterward, they all enjoyed a simple meal with stimulating conversation about books, international politics, a bit of local gossip and, most appealing, nary a word about sport.

One glass-cut day in October (a phrase Louise found poetic to describe the smooth ocean water), the neighbors invited her to kayak across the Bay. They tried to spot dolphins on the mirrored waters, always looking out for the elusive manatees. When they reached Filtry Island, they enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch before they paddled back – a carefree, yet exhausting day.

The first year she had come to the island, Louise had met another neighbor, Therese, the artist who lived across the way from the Hamptons. One day they had tea in her warm and cluttered painting studio. Therese told Louise about meeting her husband while living in London. When he retired as a medical researcher, they moved to Berundji Island to enjoy its quaintness and quiet, a perfect place for her as an artist and her husband, now a well-known wood carver.

Louise told Therese how she had come to know the Hamptons when they both lived on the mainland. She and Marge had done environmental education work together and the two married couples had enjoyed some good times. After her divorce and taking a position back in the USA, Louise still remained friends with them.

During their tete-a-tete, Louise asked Therese to help her work the remote control system for heating the Hampton’s big house because it was still fairly cool these spring mornings and evenings. The two-story home was situated at the south edge of the bay and the breeze could whip up rather fiercely. The two women figured out how to replace the batteries and point the remote to the control panel of the very efficient zone-heating unit that Louise wished she had back at her condo in the States. On the way out, Louise invited Therese over for tea the next morning.

When Therese rang the doorbell the next day, she looked casually elegant, sporting a necklace and earrings she had fashioned that complemented the zebra-striped shirt she wore over black pants. The day had warmed up a bit, so they sat out on the veranda. The kookaburras greeted them noisily. The birds were missing Dick who regularly fed them little rounds of mince that he placed on the railing.

Therese told Louise about the Berundji art show coming up in a few weeks and that she had a couple pieces ready to hang. We should go together, she suggested.

Louise nodded, "I went to the spring show with Marge a couple years ago. I bought a painting of flying jabaru, those black-necked storks with dark green backs and red legs.

Therese laughed, saying, Those silly ‘policeman birds’ as we call them, run amok squawking around the park outside my house.

Louise replied, "I loved the movement of pre-flight that the artist captured so well. It hangs in my condo alcove along with another intricate woodcut that my friend who lives in