As they were small things and not much used except by the tourists, the disappearances rated only slight notice, most folks thought they'd simply mislaid or forgotten them, but Uncle Shad began to suspect there was a plot in the making although he was hard pressed to say why exactly. Don't be a jackass, Uncle Willie advised him, Ain't no money to be made in kidnapped umbrellas. But Shad was convinced and began discreetly following the tourists, tracking their movements and watching their rented homes, following them and their children. In time, he discovered a clue - each and every family had made some kind of contact with Willie Foot prior to an umbrella abduction. Where Willie goes,he reported triumphantly, Mischief always follows! Not even my grandmother could dispute this evidence, circumstantial as it was. Willie's escapades were well documented if not legendary and islanders had long since stopped being surprised at his ingenuity. His mind was a mystery but his actions usually followed a well thought out if slightly bizarre path. Well, Nana said, If nothing else, Willie's a creative thinker. What can you do with umbrellas?
Swords? Uncle Shad suggested tentatively.
Chimney covers? Uncle Willie asked with a wink. Parachutes?
Nana frowned at them then turned to Ruthie and me, playing jacks on the kitchen floor. Girls, she called, If I gave you an umbrella and it wasn't raining, what would you do with it?
Fly! Ruthie immediately responded.
Just like Mary Poppins! I added.
Shad and Willie both laughed but Nana's face turned thoughtful. Indeed, she said, Of course you would.
A week or so later at the Sunday School Picnic, just as the softball game was getting underway, Willie Foot came streaking across left field, trailing a stream of tied together umbrellas in his wake and clutching open ones in each hand. He dodged one of the Sullivan boys in center field and somehow managed to trip up young Walter Ryan in right, then headed directly for the embankment, reached it, and before anyone could get to him, leaped off with a mighty war cry - gravity and wind did the rest, miraculously carrying him barely past the rocks, through a flock of startled sea gulls, and with an impressive splash, into the blue green ocean. Before the startled onlookers could react, there was shouting from below as Uncle Shad and Uncle Willie appeared in a dory, rowing for all they were worth toward the umbrella littered water and hauling the little man's body out of the sea.
Man overboard! I heard Shad holler and then, We got 'im, Alice!
Heads turned toward my grandmother, placidly packing up the remains of lunch and smiling slightly. She was never to say how she knew when and where Willie would appear or what he had planned and both uncles stuck to their story that they were simply in the right place at the right time. The next morning each found a box of rocks at their back doors while we discovered a tidy stack of umbrellas neatly arranged in the woodbox.
Nana smiled that same smile. You're welcome, Willie, I heard her say softly.
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