Osprey Island

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Praise

OSPREY ISLAND, SUMMER 1988

Prologue - THE ONES THEY CAME BACK FOR

One - THE LODGE AT OSPREY ISLAND

Two - WHERE THE OSPREY MAKES ITS NEST

Three - THE RAPTOR IS A BIRD OF PREY

Four - TO WHAT DIRECTION WILL YOUR CHICKS TAKE WING?

Five - HOW BLACK THE NIGHT THAT BLINDS OUR HUMAN HEARTS

Six - AS FODDER BLAZES STORED ABOVE THE BYRE

Seven - IN THE SHADOW OF THY WINGS WILL I MAKE MY REFUGE

Eight - THE MECHANICS OF FLIGHT

Nine - AN OSPREY BUILDS ITS NEST OF STICKS AND ALL THE RUBBISH IT CAN COLLECT

Ten - HOW THE OSPREY TENDS ITS NESTLINGS

Eleven - THE BLESSINGS OF HYPOTHERMIA

Twelve - ON THE INTERACTION OF SPECIES

Thirteen - THE NATURE OF THE STRUCTURE OF A LIE

Fourteen - THE BROODINESS OF HENS A Brief Lesson in Avian Reproduction

Fifteen - IF THE PRICE WERE TREACHERY

Sixteen - A LONG TIME HELPLESS IN THE NEST

Seventeen - AS THEY FLEE YOU’D THINK THEY FLOAT ON WINGS

Eighteen - WWCD?

Nineteen - THE SHORE RECEDES, AND I TOO ON THE SHORE

Twenty - GRIEF-SPURRED, SWIFT-SWOOPING

Twenty-one - THAT FLESH OF HIS OWN FLESH

Twenty-two - NIGHT IS THE SUREST NURSE OF TROUBLED SOULS

Epilogue - AN EYRIE OF OSPREY

Acknowledgments

About the Author

ALSO BY THISBE NISSEN

Copyright Page

FOR MY MOM AND DAD,

AND FOR S.I.,

WITH GREAT AFFECTION AND RESPECT

It may be thought that I have not dwelt sufficiently on thegenerally assumed evil tendencies of certain birds. I havetried to be perfectly just, but there had been so much exaggeration and sensationalism in writing of birds, that I havebeen careful to investigate all accusations.

—OLIVE THORNE MILLER, The Second Book of Birds

Acclaim for This be Nissen’s Osprey Island

“Much like the great Joyce Carol Oates, Thisbe Nissen creates an exclusive world peopled with both the young and the old. . . . Nissen’s writing is calm and poetic.”

—Baltimore City Paper

“Well-crafted . . . secrets abound in a place where family bonds often go beyond blood relations.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Finally, a perfect beach book with a literary bent. . . . The story unfolds slowly, letting the reader take in Nissen’s carefully crafted prose, but gains momentum at the end, when everything comes undone.”

—New York Post

“Incendiary tension, fueled by grief, alcoholism, and island insularity, build to levels so intolerable that one has to fight the urge to read with one eye closed even while tearing through the pages toward the shocking conclusion. Nissen is the kind of writer who sends the reader compulsively in search of everything else she has written.”

—Library Journal

“Much like her plain-spoken characters, Nissen is a supremely unfussy voice, arriving at surprising places via deceptively simple routes. . . . As a poignant summer reverie, Osprey Island should no doubt satisfy readers who can’t get away to the beach themselves.”

—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Nissen is out to accomplish more than just telling a good yarn. She shows the damage secrets can cause. . . . Engrossing.”

—Tacoma News-Tribune

OSPREY ISLAND, SUMMER 1988

THE CHIZEKS

Bud, owner of The Lodge at Osprey Island, 60

Nancy, his wife, 61

Chas, their son, killed during the war in Vietnam

Suzy, their daughter, a teacher, 36

Mia, Suzy’s daughter, 6

THE JACOBSES

Roddy, maintenance worker at the Lodge, 37

Eden, his mother, 56

Roderick, his father, recently deceased

THE SQUIRES AND THE VAUGHNS

Lance Squire, head of maintenance at the Lodge, 38

Lorna Marie Vaughn Squire, his wife, head of housekeeping, 36

Squee, their son, 8

Merle Squire, Lance’s mother, 54

Art and Penny Vaughn, Lorna’s parents, 69 and 66, respectively

THE LODGE STAFF

Brigid, a housekeeper, 19

Peg, a housekeeper, 18

Jeremy, a waiter, 18

Gavin, a waiter, 19

Reesa Delamico, a hairdresser, 36

Janna Winger, a hairdresser, 19

Prologue

THE ONES THEY CAME BACK FOR