"Well, mornin' Willam. I sees youse has come up fer air, finally."

Bill poured a coffee and walked into the living room.

"Morning Nanny Dove. I see you have settled in to our new home."

"Ise bes gittin' used to it. Don't knows why youse 'ad to build da 'ouse bigger."

"Well, hopefully, one day, there will be little ones running around here and we needed the extra room."

Nanny Dove laughed.

"Yea, right. Ise bes dead before youse two 'as kids."

Bill stood and stared at her.

"Oh wait," she added quickly.

"Ise already dead."

She put her hand to her chest.

"And not a grand baby to bes seen."

"Give it a rest old lady."

nanny Dove snickered.

"So wheres bes dat lazy ass granddaughter of mine. Shes bes still sleepin'?"

Bill sat on the couch and lit a cigarette.

Nanny Dove stared at him, intently.

"Dis really bes my 'ouse old lady," he laughed.

Nanny Dove shook her head.

"Dat bes da worse ..."

"I know," Bill cut her off.

"Ise 'as da worse accent in da world."

"At leasts wese agrees on someting. Now wheres bes Matty?"

Bill sat back on the couch, putting an ashtray on the end table.

"She was up early this morning and she is driving to Corner Brook. She is closing down her office and she wants to get the last of her personal things out."

"And youse didn't goes wit 'er?"

"No. Lindsay and Valerie are gone with her."

Bill laughed.

"I really wasn't in the mood to be sitting in a truck listening to three women."

Nanny Dove laughed.

"Youse bes smart dere, Willam. Dat bes a reg'lar hen chatters fer sure."

She stopped knitting and looked seriously at Bill.

"So what's youse tinks youse gonna does about dat Hirst fella dat wants da Bay?"

Bill shook his head.

"I haven't heard from them since they left."

Nanny Dove's look got even more serious.

"Youse didn't sends Freddie and Gertrude after dey, did youse?"

"No," he chuckled.

"They wanted to, but I thought it was best that they didn't."

Nanny Dove went back to knitting.

"Dat bes a gud ting dere Willam. Dem two bes jest a little bit crazy."

"A little bit," Bill quipped, sarcastically.

"They scare me."

Nanny Dove shook her head.

"Don't bes scared be dem, Willam. Dey bes like da others 'ere in da Bay. Dey loves ya and dey will always looks out fer youse.

But whats 'bout dat Hirst feller? Youse gots some kind of plan?"

"I don't know, Nanny. I was talking to Clayton and a few of the other men about the possibility of gold being up there. They don't seem to think there is. And I have to agree with them. If there was, why wouldn't someone have mined it a long time ago?"

Nanny Dove took a deep breath and put her knitting on her lap.

"Da ways Ise sees it, Willam, bes like dis. Ifin dere bes gold in dem mountains up dere, it would means da end of da Bay."

"How so?"

"Tinks 'bout it. Ifin dere do be gold, dat means dat dere will bes peoples comin' 'ere to mine dat gold. Dey be puttin' in roads and tearin' up ours forest and streams and such and dere be big trucks and minin' gear all over da place and deys wud bes blastin' up ours mountain wit dat TNT stuff and 'fore youse knows it, deys be over-runnin' da Bay wits people.

Den 'fore youse knows it da 'ole Bay bes diff'rent. It won't bes our Bay anymore, Willam. It will be changed forever."

Bill understood the point that Nanny Dove was making.

"So is that why you think no one ever looked into the gold thing before? They felt that if they did, then they would lose the Bay altogether?"

"Looks 'round youse, Willam. Youse knows some be da secrets of da Bay. 'ow log does youse tink it wud bes, 'fore youse wud 'ave da authorities in 'ere diggin' thru our past? And what 'bout me and da others like me? Where wud wes go?"

Bill drew on his cigarette and exhaled.

"But if there was gold up there, it would mean a lot of money for the Bay."

"Yes, Willam. It wud bes a lot of money fer sure. But what wud it mean for da Bay? What does youse tink it wud mean for all us linen' 'ere?"

Bill nodded his head, as he snuffed out his cigarette.

"I see what you mean. It would mean the end of the Bay. It would cease to be the little village it is now and would end up ..."

Nanny Dove cut him off as she went back to knitting and rocking.

"A fuckin' shit-'ole. And be dat what youse wants your Bay to be, Willam?"

Bill shook his head, as he stood up and headed back to the kitchen, for a coffee refill.

"No. I won't allow my Bay to turn into a fucking shit-hole. I like it just the way it is."

He walked back into the living room and stared out the bay window.

"I don't want it to change."

He turned toward Nanny Dove, smirking.

"I'm so rude. Would you like a coffee, Nanny Dove?" 

"Youse bes a fuckin' smartass dere, Willy Boy," she snapped without looking up.

"Willy Boy? Where did that come from?"

Nanny Dove grunted.

"Yes. Dats what Ise bes callin' youse ev'rytime youse bes a smartass."

She looked up at him.

"And dats bes a lot of times dere, Willy Boy."

Bill walked back to the couch and sat down again.

"I just don't know if we will be able to stop a man like Hirst. He has a lot of money and influence and he told me that he has some government official in his back pocket."

"Dey alls bes a bunch of crooks. 'aven't met a politician dat Ise liked."

"And how many have you actually met?"

It was an honest question.

"Bein' a smartass agin Ise sees dere, Willy Boy."

"I wasn't," Bill protested.

"I just asked. I haven't actually ever met one myself."

"Okays. Youse off da 'ook dis time. Next time Ise bes kickin' youse scrawny ass.

And Ise not met any either. But Ise still tinks dey all bes crooks."

Bill sat back on the couch and lit another cigarette.

"I have to agree."

"Chain smokin' Ise sees."

"None of your business, Ise sees," Bill snapped back.

"So, tells me, Willam. When bes youse and Matty gonna give Ise a great-grandbaby?"

Bill nearly spit out the coffee he had just drank.

"Where did that come from? I thought we were talking about Hirst and gold."

"Hirst and gold wills always bes dere."

She turned to Bill.

"But youse two bes runnin' out of time. And Ise don't wants to sees youse two old peoples, sittin' out dere on dat deck in rockin' chairs, all alone."

"We are not running out of time. Times have changed, Nanny Dove. Women have babies now, well into their forties."

Nanny Dove shook her head.

"Well Ise 'opes youse two don't wait too long. Ise gettin' to bes an old woman, youse knows."

Bill laughed and stared at her. He was going to remind her, for the thousandth time that she was dead, but he ruled against it.

"And youse two bes like two moose in 'eat ev'ry nite, so Ise jest figures dat sooner or later she be knocked up. Lessen youse be shootin' blanks."

Bill shook his head, sighing.

"We are using protection, not that it is any of your business."

"Protection from what? Youse spectin' Freddie and Gertrude to pop in on youse or someting?"

"No. Its just that ..."

"Jest dat what? Youse don't wants to be 'avin' a baby wit Matty? Youse jest wants da milk wit'out lookin' af'er da cow?"

"What?

No.

Its not like that at all. We just both agreed that we are not ready to have a child yet."

"Why?"

"Because we don't feel its the right time."

"Why?"

"Because we have a lot going on right now."

"Why?"

"Because we are trying to get everything settled here in the Bay first."

"Why?"

"So that things will calm down and then we can think about a family."

"Why?"

"Because thats the way we feel right now."

"Why?"

"Don't you know any other word?"

"Why?"

Bill rolled his eyes, as he stood up.

"Look. We will have a baby when we are ready. And not before."

He pointed a finger at her.

"And if you say, 'why', I will throw this coffee mug at you."

"Why?"

Nanny Dove smiled.

"Wud youse breaks a perfectly gud coffee mug. Youse knows youse can't 'its me."

"You are a pain in the ass, old lady."

"Loves ya too, Willy Boy."

Bill headed to the kitchen.

"And bys da bys. Is youse be spectin' company?"

Bill shook his head.

"Not that I know of. Why?"

A knock came to the new front door.

"'cause youse gots some."

Nanny Dove disappeared.

Bill put his mug in the sink and walked to the front door. He opened it to see Frank Pittman standing there.

"Frank. Nice to see you."

Bill shook his hand.

"Did we have a meeting planned?"

Frank shook his head, as he walked past Bill. He looked around.

"The new place looks great, Bill."

"Well thank you. It was ..."

Frank cut him off.

"Not to be rude, Bill, but we have to talk.

"Okay," Bill whispered, as he closed the door.

"What's up?"

Frank already had his briefcase open on the small dining table, near the kitchen archway.

He took some documents out and put them on the table.

"We have a huge problem."