The Chandlery
The Porch
Lucy and Hannah spend a lot of their time here when the weather allows, which on Creek Island is most of the year. Most of their decisions, and more than a few serious conversations, happen in the Adirondack chairs over a cold drink or a cup of tea. The porch sits deep under the roofline of the old Chandlery and looks down over Tortuga Creek and the larger harbor below, where boats still come in with the tide, looking for safe harbor.
Centuries ago, merchant ships and pirate ships alike sailed out of this harbor for parts unknown. Whether they came back or not was always the question. Or the fear. The harbor was the hub of transportation then, and it still is now. People arrive and leave from here. News, goods, commerce, and trouble all find their way ashore from here.
With its weathered floorboards, old beams, Adirondack chairs, rope-hung bed, and rough tables, the porch feels like an extension of the house. It is where breakfast is eaten in the morning, where conversations stretch long after dinner, and where the breeze off the water makes even the hottest Georgia days bearable.
On those unbearable nights, Lucy sleeps here instead of in her own room, with the breeze rocking her to sleep and the ghosts of the past keeping watch.
