A BRIDGE TO WISEMAN’S COVE BY JAMES MOLONEY
ESSAY AND CHAPTER BY CHAPTER SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK
Justine. Chapter. 21.
Harley is baking another cake with Joy so Carl goes into the lounge room and starts talking with Justine. She tells him he should talk with Maddie and not be shy.
All the other boys just see her good looks but Justine says she loves to talk and Carl should just go for it. Carl learns that Maddie had a brother who died quite young. Justine thinks that her parents were hoping for a boy to replace him when Maddie was born.
In The Kitchen. Chapter 22.
Harley drops the mixing bowl and loses his temper swearing and everything. Carl gets between him and Joy trying to protect Harley. Joy is very upset by this and can’t believe that Carl would ever think she could hurt Harley.
Things calm down and Harley and Joy hug and make another cake. Joy finds out how long Kerry has been gone and thinks they should go to the police as she is a “missing person”.
She tells the boys how much they mean to her and what a great help Carl has been. They might even be able to save the business.
Rest Day. Chapter 23.
Joy has the boys stay with her over Easter. She notices how tired Carl is from washing all the cars…holiday traffic… and demands he have a day off each week. Justine and Carl grow closer and talk a lot about his mum. Harley seems to be happy in joy’s company.
Near Pelican Reach. Chapter 24.
Harley steals $10 from Beryl and gets kicked out. Joy takes him in for a week and then he returns to Beryl’s. There is a boating accident some of the boys are out on the bay in a small boat.
The boat overturns. Harley drifts away in the current and is missing for 3 hours. Carl begs Skip to help in the search. He says he can’t and the barge moves off.
Turn of the Tide. Chapter 25.
Carl runs and jumps on the barge, he again begs for Skips help and tells him to forget about the past and his leg and help. Skip finally says he will as he curses the name “Matt”. They get his dingy and heads off with Carl.
Everyone else is searching for a dead body but Skip knows the tides and they find Harley on a sandbank alive. Skip gives him his shirt… it looks like the past is now behind him as he heads back to shore with the boys.
Harley Redeemed. Chapter 26.
Harley recovers and stays with the Duncan’s. Maddie returns but snubs Carl. Skip and Joy want to take Harley in to live with them. He will be so much better off away from Beryl.
Win Win. Chapter 27.
Carl tells Beryl that the Duncan’s want Harley to live with them. Beryl is drunk and Bruce has just dumped her. She says no. Carl tells her she can still keep the social security money and that no one would ever know. He also gives her the money he has earned. She relents and there is no pretense at all now. All she ever wanted was the money.
Arrivals and Departures. Chapter 28
Harley packs and leaves with Joy. Carl is invited to spend Anzac day on the island. Maddie and Justine will be there also.
The Champagne Pools. Chapter 29.
They head off on Anzac day. Harley has settled in well. Maddie does not talk to Carl. They stop at a group of pools that bubble like champagne. Justine tells Carl that Maddie is stressing out because her mum wants her to move to the city with her sister and she is having trouble with Nathan. Justine talks with Maddie and she gives him a kiss and apologizes for the way she has behaved. She say’s he just like part of the family now.
The Osprey, Chapter 30.
Maddie is cool with moving to the city and tells Carl she is finished with Nathan. Carl tells Maddie that he and Skip are going to save the barge. Maddie realizes just how much skip loves the barge and says he turned up just in time. Joy found a spot to release the osprey, she allowed Carl to use his arm to launch the bird. It was a magic moment for them all especially Carl. They all go swimming, Justine and Carl seem to be finding more in common like pale skin and over weight. They rub sunscreen into each other and talk.
The Pizza Queen of Wattle Beach. Chapter 31
It’s April, Justine is having a going away party for Maddie and invites Carl. A pizza party. Harley is doing well with the Duncan’s; living at Wiseman’s cove keeps him out of trouble.
Beryl is back with Bruce they invite him to the bowls club for a meal. Everyone there seems to know him as the “kid from the ferry’. Bruce offers Carl a job working with him on the tow truck, Carl refuses and Bruce really cracks up and gets very angry. It seems that he wants him away from Skip and the barge.
The night of the party, Carl gets there a bit early spends some time with Justine… he is losing some weight from the hard work he is doing and is starting to feel good about himself. Nathan has been invited; Justine wants to call it a “piss off Nathan party”. Kids arrive and talk to Carl about Harley’s rescue and working on the barge.
Everyone in town seems to feel that Carl has saved Skip’s business. Nathan arrives and gives Maddie a charm bracelet and slowly tries to get her out of the room. Carl blocks their path and an argument takes place between Carl and Nathan.
Carl baited Nathan a little more about his father being a crook with his tow truck and Nathan got angry and said things about Skip…. This was enough for Maddie she told Nathan to go… Carl is now standing up for himself and using his size to his own advantage.
The Last Wedge. Chapter 32.
The party continues after Nathan has left. They all watch videos, Justine is sitting with Carl. Maddie, Justine and Carl eat pizza after everyone leaves and then they clean up.
Flashes. Chapter 33.
Justine walks Carl home after the party. She says that she sees flashes of his real self as though he is only alive sometimes. They are holding hands and talking of Carl’s mum Kerry.
He finds out that the Duncan’s wanted him to stay at Wiseman’s cove with Harley.
The Curse of the Matts. Part 2. chapter 34.
Carl gets up early next morning and Beryl confronts him about and demands that he take the job with Bruce on the tow truck. She finally owns up that Bruce owns half of the other barge and they want to get Carl away from Skip because he is keeping the Duncan’s business afloat. She tries to blackmail him by saying she will take Harley back. She also tells him that the accident that crippled skip 20 years ago also killed his small son Graham and that’s why he hates the Matt’s. Bruce blames Beryl for not getting Carl to take the job.
The Rinsing Machine. Chapter 35.
Carl continues to work for Skip but can’t bring himself to talk about the accident. Beryl opens up a little more about Dessie Matt and how he got 6 years for manslaughter and never came back after he was released. There is some construction work going on at the ramp. Turns out to be a car rinsing bay for the use of “wattle lady” passengers only. Skip says that this will probably be the end.
Drifting With the Tide. Chapter 36.
The rinsing machine had an immediate impact and business dropped, “wattle lady” was now getting most of the business again. 2 strangers go over to the island. No fishing gear.
Skip’s barge slips its moorings. Carl thinks it was deliberate. Justine confronts Carl and wants to know why he has not retuned her calls.
A Shooting War. Chapter 37.
Someone shoots out the windows on the “wattle lady”, Skip is blamed. Carl finds the 2 strangers talking to Skip and Skip tells him that it is all over and they are selling the barge. Carl is devastated the barge has become his life. Joy tells him that all will be explained in a few days.
A Bridge at Last. Chapter 38.
Carl is home with Beryl since the barge stopped running. Local newspaper has the headline “Bridge at Last” developers are building it. Bruce is going to be ruined since he sunk so much money into the “wattle lady” he dumps Beryl and blames Carl. Turns out Bruce shot up the barge hoping to blame Skip. Joy arrives at Beryl’s and tells Carl that they sold the barge to the development company because they needed one to use until the bridge is built. The 2 strangers on the island were from the development company.
They had to keep it secret and could not tell him earlier. Joy tells Carl she wants him to live with them and that she wants him to go to the missing person’s bureau about Kerry. She says you have to know.
Missing Persons. Chapter 39.
Carl and Joy go to “missing persons” Carl recognizes his mum’s photo in one of the books and does not let on it’s his mum. He asks the policeman how she died. There was a bus accident she was a stowaway on the bus and no ID.
The Pine Forest. Chapter 40.
Joy drives him home. She knows Carl recognized his mother. Carl runs off into the pines and Joy follows. Carl says he did not tell the policeman it was his mum because he did not want to believe she was dead. Joy again asks him to come live with them and Carl tells her that he knows the truth about the accident and how her little boy died. Carl is devastated and breaks down. Joy comforts him.
Carl Matt. Chapter 41.
Carl returns to find that Beryl has taken off. Probably with Bruce. He packs his belongings and leaves. He walks along the beach and Justine finds him. She tells Carl that everyone is looking for him and that he is wanted. Carl had been hoping all this time that his mum would come back.
They all get on the barge for a last trip. Joy tells Carl that the policeman from missing persons had more information. It seems that Kerry died 5 days after she left home she was on a bus coming back to towards her kids not away from them. It really was just one of “her holidays”.
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