The Point of Vanishing - Maryka Biaggio (large ebook reader TXT) 📗

November 2, 1928

Dear Anne and Oxford,

Barbados is a broken-down place, populated by poor black people who work sugar cane fields and live in lowly shacks. I didn’t have time to research the island before we left New Haven. So, I quizzed the ship’s captain, who told me to avoid talk of absent landowners or working conditions in their fields. The young men here do have a restless look about them, which I can certainly understand. They have no choice but to toil in the blazing heat, knowing full well they’re fattening the purses of wealthy colonists.

Barbara and I are lodged in a small inn in Bridgetown for $2.50 a day each, which includes meals. We have a few hundred dollars in savings and Barbara’s Harper advance at our disposal. I have a little of that in traveler’s cheques, and the rest stowed at Connecticut Savings. I want to avoid dipping any further into our reserves so we can afford an apartment upon our return in January, what with the house rented for the year. That means I must sell some articles to keep us afloat. Pictorial Review has promised $50 for a story about Barbara’s early education, so I need to get on with that. A hurricane struck and wreaked damage on some islands to the north, and I’m inquiring about selling a report on the vagaries of life on hurricane-threatened isles.

I’ve learned we can find less expensive accommodations on other islands for $1 to $1.50 a day, so we’ll soon leave Barbados. I couldn’t live in New Haven on what little we’re spending here, and that reassures me this journey wasn’t altogether impractical.

But roaming about as itinerant writers is a dubious subsistence. Will you, Oxford, write to Wilson and see if he won’t make regular contributions to the account? We must have something to fall back on, so we don’t end up stranded on these islands.

The very thought of Sabra reduces me to tears. I miss her terribly. I hope with all my heart that she’s happy with Adele Tyler. Before departing, I asked Wilson if he would return to New Haven to care for Sabra, but he refuses to leave New York. I told him he may visit Sabra if he wishes, but he’s not permitted to bring Miss Whipple along. I’ve asked Adele to contact the two of you should he not respect this wish. Of course, if he sees fit to return to New Haven alone, he’s more than welcome to take over Sabra’s care.

Now and then, Barbara shows signs of her old carefree spirit, and I’m grateful for that. But one of our adventures nearly went awry. A few weeks ago, we hiked across a desert area on the northernmost tip of the island, and I collapsed from the heat. Thank God Barbara thought to revive me with cactus juice. Still, it was frightening and left me feeling sapped and vulnerable.

I’m all malaise of late, and I don’t know if I’ll ever regain the energy of my youth. The malaria is here, so we sleep under netting. If by some chance, I should die on this journey, I wish for you to undertake Barbara’s care. She needs a man in her world, and you, Oxford, are the best kind of man a girl could have for a guardian. I leave it to the two of you and Adele to decide on the optimal situation for Sabra. Of course, if Wilson is willing to take up his moral responsibility to his daughters, that would be best.

Leaving home behind was wrenching. I can’t say where it’ll lead, for I’m finding my way by blind intuition. Knowing that I have such dear friends as you for comfort and advice sees me through. I bless you every day for all the kindnesses you do my daughters and me.

With love,

Helen

After she’d informed Wilson of their whereabouts and plans, it wasn’t long before his first letter found her.

November 14, 1928

Dear Helen,

I have no idea when this letter will reach you or what condition it’ll find you in. Perhaps you don’t even receive news of the States down there, so I’ll tell you that Herbert Hoover won the presidency in a landslide. It seems not even Democrats wanted a Catholic in the White House.

At the risk of subjecting myself to further complaints—for you seem bent on misapprehending everything I say and rattling off claims to our friends about my “improvident ways” —I must question your decision to embark on this journey. It forces us to communicate at long and uncertain distances and intervals. You are wasting funds needed for essential exigencies, such as the maintenance of the house and the girls’ general comfort. I ask that you make this a short and hopefully rejuvenating vacation rather than the crack-brained expedition you seem set on. We have important matters to settle.

And I do worry about Sabra. I wish I could take her but seeking employment must be my highest priority. Surely you miss her and yearn to tuck her in at night and watch Barbara read to her. I have no doubt Adele Tyler is taking excellent care of her. But, frankly, I’m appalled that you abandoned her.

It also surprised me to hear you required the new tenant to sign a full year’s lease. What were you thinking? I understand it helps with the house payments. But if you expect me to pay the taxes, you must give me some idea of when you’ll return and how we’re to settle the financial side of things. In fact, if you have a proposal regarding the finances, I’ll gladly take it under consideration and draw up divorce papers for you to sign on your return. You know I’m prepared to hand the house over to you. It’s only right that you and the girls have a secure haven for your future.

I’ve received Barbara’s delightful letters about Barbados, and I’ll write to her as soon as I