The Cinder Pond

Jeannette Duval is the restless heart of a rambunctious clan that has made a weather‑worn scow and the nearby Cinder Pond their unlikely home. The Duval family—father Léon, mother Mollie, and a tumble of half‑siblings—live on the edge of Lake Superior, where the iron‑town skyline is framed by a smoky furnace and a crumbling wooden wharf. Their world is a patchwork of salty breezes, cramped quarters, and the ever‑present hum of adventure waiting just beneath the surface.

One crisp morning a flash of navy‑blue serge—Roger Fairchild’s finest boys’ suit—splashes into the pond, and the boy inside the garment disappears beneath the water’s green depths. Driven by curiosity and a sense of duty, Jeannette dives into the mystery, her big black eyes reflecting the rippling surface. The accident sets off a chain of discoveries that will test the family’s resourcefulness and draw them into the hidden stories of the pond and the town beyond.