When told this, Lovely objected strenuously but there was no one to argue with. After ten days in the hospital, she was moved to a rehab facility in Jacksonville where she stayed for two weeks before being moved to an assisted living home ten miles west of Camino Island.
When Mercer completed her tour and returned to the beach, she and Thomas drove over to see Lovely. It was not an uplifting visit. Diane warned them that she was not improving.
Lovely looked much older and the left side of her face sagged. Her speech was slurred and she said little. She was happy to see Mercer but immediately began crying. Mercer sat on the edge of her bed for an hour, rubbing her arm and telling her about the bookstores she had visited and all the people across the country who now knew about Lovely Jackson and Dark Isle.
Mercer returned the next day, and the next, and alternated times with Diane. The nurses said their visits buoyed Lovely’s spirits, but she was clearly declining.
In late August, Mercer and Thomas said goodbye and began their drive back to Ole Miss. Classes started in three days. Mercer promised Lovely she would see her soon, but she suspected that was their final visit.
Barely audible, Lovely thanked her for such a wonderful book, for caring so much about her and her people. “You made us famous,” she said.
Mercer left in tears and cried for an hour in the car.
Diane called every day with the same update. Nothing much had changed, things had certainly not improved.
On September 28, Lovely Jackson died at the age of eighty-two, the very last descendant of the proud people who lived on Dark Isle.
9
Pursuant to the instructions written by Lovely and given to Miss Naomi, her body was cremated and her ashes were put in the black and gold ceramic African vase she had owned for decades. It was on the middle shelf of her bookcase in the den.
Two months later, when Mercer and Thomas were on the island during the Thanksgiving break, they gathered at the harbor one afternoon with Diane and Miss Naomi. Ronnie, in a thirty-eight-foot fishing boat, took them across the chilly waters to the pontoon pier at Dark Isle. Their mission was a secret. They had told no one. Ronnie was curious but never asked.
They walked the gravel drive to the center of the island, to the cemetery where they admired the work that had been done by the archaeological teams. The remains of over 120 people had been dug up, cleaned, photographed, indexed, and reburied in metal coffins.
In one corner, where Lovely believed her family to have been buried, Thomas unfolded a small shovel and dug a hole. They placed the vase into it, secured it with packed dirt, and covered it up.
Lovely’s last wish was to rest in eternal peace with Nalla close by.