But what? I had some hopes that our expedition... But what? I had some hopes that our expedition to
the south end of the Key might put an end to the
whole nasty, festering businessThe biggest
hurdle, after all, was belief itself, and as long
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as we didn't backslide in the bright Florida
sunshine tomorrow, we were over that oneIt was
possible we might see upside-down birds, or that a
gigantic hop-frog monstrosity like the one in my
dream might try to bar our way, but I had an idea
those were essentially wraiths - excellent for
dealing with six-year-old girls, not so good
against grown men, especially when armed with
silver-tipped harpoons
And, of course, I would have my pad and pencils
I thought Perse was now afraid of me and my
newfound talentAlone, still not recovered from
my near-death experience (still suicidal, in fact),
I might have been an asset instead of a problem
Because in spite of all his big talk, that
black gucci bag Edgar
Freemantle really hadn't had another life; that
Edgar had just switched the backdrop of his
invalid's existence from pines to palmsBut once
I had friends againsaw what was all around me
and reached out to it
Then I'd become dangerousI don't know exactly
what she had in mind - other than regaining her
place in the world, that is - but she must have
thought that when it came to mischief-making, the
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potential for a talented one-armed artist was
greatI could have sent poison paintings all over
the globe, by God! But now I had turned in her
hand, just as Libbit hadNow I was something
first to be stopped, then discarded
"You're a little late for that, bitch," I
whispered
So why did I still smell gas?
The paintings - especially the most dangerous ones,
the Girl and Ship series - were safely under lock
and key, and off-island, just as Elizabeth had
wishedAccording to Pam,
gold chanel earrings nobody in our circle of
family and friends had taken sketches except for
Bozie, Tom, and Xander KamenIt was too late for
Tom and Kamen, and I'd have given a great deal to
change that, but Bozie had promised to burn his,
so that was all rightEven Jack was covered,
because he'd owned up to his little act of
thieveryIt had been smart of Wireman to ask him,
I thoughtI was only surprised he hadn't asked if
I'd given Jack some artwork myse -
My breath turned to glass in my throatNow I knew
what I'd forgottenNow, in this deep crease of
the night with the wind roaring outsideI'd been
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so fixated on the goddam show that I'd never
thought much about who I might have given work to
before the show
Can I have it?
My memory, still apt to be so balky, sometimes
surprised me with bursts of Technicolor brillianceI saw Ilse standing barefoot
in Little Pink, dressed in shorts and a
white chanel bag shell top
She was standing by my easelI had to ask her to
move so I could see the picture she was so taken
withThe picture I didn't even remember doing
Can I have it?
When she stood aside, I saw a little girl in a
tennis dressHer back was turned, but she was the
focus of the pictureThe red hair marked her as
Reba, my little love, that girlfriend from my
other lifeYet she was also Ilse - Rowboat Ilse -
and Elizabeth's big sister Adriana as well, for
that was Adie's tennis dress, the one with the
fine blue loops along the hem(I couldn't know
this, but I did; it was news that had come
whispering up from Elizabeth's pictures - pictures
done when she was still known as Libbit
Can I have it? This is the one I want
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Or the one something wanted her to want
I tried Ilse, Pam had saidI wasn't sure I'd
reach her, but she just got in
All around the doll-girl's feet were tennis
louis vuitton mahina balls
Others floated shoreward on the mild waves
She sounded tired, but she's okay
Was she? Was she really? I had given her that
damned pictureShe was my Miss Cookie, and I
could refuse her nothingI had even named it for
her, because she said artists had to name their
picturesThe End of the Game, I'd told her, and
now that clanged in my head like a bell
iv
There was no phone extension in the guest bedroom,
so I crept out into the hall with my silver
harpoon clutched in one handIn spite of my need
to get through to Ilse as soon as possible, I took
a moment to peer in through the open doorway
across the hallWireman was lying on his back
like a beached whale, snoring peacefullyHis own
silver harpoon was beside him, along with a glass
of water
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I went past the family portrait, down the stairs,
and into the kitchenHere the rush of the wind
and the roar of the surf was louder than
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