Milk

         Tide



            It was early spring. I walked past the inn and saw a young couple stepping out of a silver-gray Peugeot. They had driven over while the water was rising, and the car was wet along the sides. Each had shoulder-length hair and was of slender build. The man was just a little taller than the woman and they resembled each other like two siblings.

            That same evening the innkeeper, Poul, called.

            —There’s a couple who’d like to go out tomorrow.

            I looked at the tide table and gave him a time. Then I went out to the barn to get the wagon ready. I swept it out and arranged a row of straw bales along each of its sides. I checked the oil in the tractor and filled it up with diesel. Before I went inside again, I glanced toward the sky. There was a thin cloud cover, and almost no wind. It’ll be nice out tomorrow, I thought.

            The next morning I woke to the sound of raindrops on the window. I put water on for coffee and went out to check on the sheep. When I returned, the window in the kitchen was all fogged up. I ate breakfast and watched the rain through a small opening, which I kept wiping clear with my shirtsleeve.

            Five minutes before ten I started the tractor and drove to the inn. The young couple sat in a corner of the dining room eating breakfast.

            —They know it costs extra when there’s only two? I said to the innkeeper, who stood behind the counter.

            He nodded.

            —And there’s no guarantee they’ll see anything, I said.

            —That’s fine.

            He walked over and exchanged a few words with them, and they raised their heads and turned to me. The young man nodded almost imperceptibly, and the woman registered my presence like someone who sees a ship far away. Then she dipped her head and said something to the man.

            The innkeeper returned.

            —They’ll be ready in five minutes.

            I nodded at him and went out to the parking lot. It was still raining, and I seated myself in the tractor cab.

            Fifteen minutes later the door opened.

            They had each borrowed rain gear from the innkeeper, I noticed. Their pant legs bunched at their feet, and their sleeves covered their hands. The woman wore a pair of sturdy insulated boots, the man a pair of green rubber boots.

            I climbed from the tractor to help them up. We walked to the back of the wagon, and I opened the tailgate.

            —It might get a little cold, I said.

            —We have extra clothes, the man said and nodded in the direction of a little backpack the woman held in her hand.

            We drove through town and onto the dike. The water had begun to retreat and small islands of sand poked up everywhere. With the tractor crawling down the dike, I cast a glance in each of the mirrors: in one I could see him, in the other her. I could see him smiling and saying something to her; I could see her staring ahead of us, past the mirror and out across the water.

            It was the first time I was out that year, and the fall storms had dug new ruts in the sand and filled up old ones. One spot was so deep I had to drive around it to get past. The rain lessened, and a short while later I noticed that the young couple had pulled their hoods down.

            She got out a camera and I watched her photograph a flock of starlings that passed us.



            When we were almost halfway out, I noticed something lying on a sandbank to our right. I veered off route, and when we got a bit closer, I was able to see that it was a sailboard: its orange sail swelling off and on in the weak breeze. I climbed from the tractor, and as I bent over the board, I realized that the woman was standing right beside me. She stared at it, and then turned and snapped a picture of the tractor and wagon.