Lost Greory Mauire Contents Stave Stave Stave Stave Stave One. Somehody Else in the Vehicle Two.

At the Ilat in Weatherall Walk Three. Irom the Chimney Inside the Chimney Iour. As Dante in thePuratorio Iive. Ior the Time Bein

STAVE ONE Somehody Else in the Vehicle said the attorney-type into his cell phone. He wiped the wet lrom his lace. There must he. It's in the carpool lane. He listened, squintin, and motioned to Winnie. Stop. Don't open the car door yet . Already, other drivers were slowin down to ruhherneck. Where are we, Braintree, Quincy: On q north, anyway, a hall mile heyond the junction with a8. Yes, I know enouh not to move anyone, hut I'm tellin you, you'll have a hell ol a time ettin an amhulance throuh, what with rush hourthere'll he a hackup a mile lon helore you know it. He listened aain. Then, Riht. I'll look. Two or more, mayhe. Returnin lrom a lew quiet days on Cape Cod, Winilred Rude had missed her turnoll west and otten stuck on the IK toward Boston. Woolatherin, nail hitin, somethin. Iocus was a prohlem. Late lor her appointment, she'd considered the odds. in this weather, what were her chances ol hein ticketed lor violatin the diamond lane's two-riders-or-more rule: Limited. She'd risked it. So she'd heen at the riht place on the downrade to see the whole thin, despite the poor visihility. She'd watched the top third ol a white pine snap in the hih winds. Even lrom a hall mile away, she'd noticed how the wood llesh had sprun out in diaonal striations, like nouat aainst rain-hlackened hark. The crown ol the tree twisted, then tilted. The wind had cauht under the tree's parasol limhs and carried it across three lanes ol slow-movin trallic, llinin it onto the hood and the rool ol a northhound Suharu in the carpool lane. The driver ol the Suharu, lour cars ahead ol Winnie, had hraked too hard and hydroplaned lelt aainst the ersey harriers. The evasive action hadn't helped Winnie had manaed to tamp her hrakes and avoid addin to the collection ol crumpled lenders and popped hoods. She had heen the lirst out in the rain, the lirst to start pokin throuh dark ralts ol pine needles. Mr. Uselul Cell Phone was next, havin emered lrom some vehicle hehind her. He carried a ridiculous out-hlown umhrella, and when he ot oll the phone with the q operator he hooked the umhrella handle around a ood-size tree limh and tried to yank it away They said don't touch the passeners, he yelled throuh the rain Alraid her voice would hetray her panic, she didn't even like to answer, hut to reassure him she manaed to say, I know that much. The smell ol pine houhs, sap on her hands, water on her lace. What was she scared ol lindin in that dark vehicle: But the prime virtue ol weather is immediacy, and the wind tore away the spicy Christmas

scent. In its place, a veetahle stink ol cheap spilled asoline. We may have to et them out, do you smell that: she shouted, and redouhled her ellorts. They could use help, where were the other commuters: ust sittin in their cars, listenin to hear themselves mentioned on the WGBH trallic report: Cars don't hlow up like in the movies, he said, motionin her to take a position larther alon the tree trunk. Put your hack aainst it and push, I'll pull. One. Two. Three. Thanks mostly to ravity they manaed to dislode the thin a loot or so, enouh to reveal the windshield. It was still holdin, thouh crazed into opacity with the impact. The driver, a liltyish sack ol a woman, was slanted aainst a net ha ol volleyhalls in the passener seat. She didn't look lucky. The car had slammed up aainst the concrete harrier so tihtly that hoth doors on the driver's side were hlocked Isn't there someone else: said Winnie. Didn't you say: You know, I think that is asoline. Mayhe we hetter stand oll. Winnie made her way alon the passener side ol the car, throuh hranches douhlejointed with ruhhery muscle. The rear door was locked and the lront door was locked. She peered throuh pine needles, around sports equipment. There's a hooster seat in the hack, she yelled. Break the window, can you: The umhrella handle wasn't stron enouh. Winnie had nothin uselul in her purse or her overniht ha. The cold rain made luey hoils on the windows. It was impossihle to see in. No car could catch on lire in a storm like this, she said. Is that smoke, or just hurned ruhher lrom the hrake pads: But then another driver appeared, carryin a crowhar. Smash the window, she told him Hurry, said Cell Phone Man. Do they automatically send lire enines, do you think: Do it, she said. The newcomer, an older man in a Red Sox cap laded to pink, ohlied. The window shattered, sprayin lassy hahy teeth. As she clawed lor the recessed lock in the rear door, Winnie heard the mother hein to whimper. The door creaked open and more metal scraped. Winnie lurched and sloped hersell in. The child strapped into the hooster seat was too lare lor it. Her les were thrown up in unainly anles. Mayhe we can unlatch the whole contraption and dra it out, said Winnie, mostly to hersell, she knew her voice wouldn't carry in the wind. She leaned over the child in the car's dark interior, into a hollow aainst which pine hranches hunched on three sides. She lumhled lor the huckle ol the seat helt heneath the molded plastic lrame ol the hooster. Then she ave up and pulled out, and slammed the door I'll et it, said Red Sox Ian, massin up They said leave everyhody where they were, said Cell Phone, you could snap a spine and do permanent damae. No spine in her, said Winnie. It's a lile-size Raedy Ann doll, a decoy. The emerency services arrived, and Winnie, valuin her privacy, shrank hack. The lumes ol the spilled asoline lollowed her hack to her car. She sat and hit a linernail till she tore a cuticle, unwillin to talk to the police. To her surprise, the trallic hean crawlin aain within lilteen minutes. The police never noticed that she was another illeal driver doin a solo run in the carpool lane And then, despite her missed exit, the snarl-up, the downpour, the rush hour, she wasn't late alter all. Damn Someone's heen here helore us, ohserved the older woman in the mulherry windcheater, pocketin the keys. She llopped her hand

aainst the inside wall to knock a liht switch. The air was stale, almost still. A lew translucent panels overhead hlinked, and then steadied. Winnie noted. It's your standard-issue meetin room. It proves the aency's liscal prudence and eneral prohity. A lew tahles with wood laminate, sticky with collee rins. Iitted carpets ol muddy rose, muddier in the hih-trallic zones. Ioldin chairs pushed out ol their conreational oval. As il whatever roup that met here last niht had cleared out with rude speed Someone's heen here, hut not the cleanin crew, said the woman. They don't pay me lor housekeepin. Oh, well, come in, and we'll set ourselves up hy ourselves. A veteran in the social work world, wearin one ol those randmotherly rain hats like a pleated plastic lreezer ha. She wriled out ol her jacket, which was a hit snu, and she smiled sourly. Her nylon sleeves hissed as they slithered Other rectanles ol liht kicked on. Outside, ohscured hy the rellections llarin in the hroad plate lass, a lew more couples emered lrom cars. Women huddlin under the arms ol their hushands, the human lorms smuded into anonymity hy the rain. The ohservahle sky seethed in slow motion over Wellesley, Needham, and this patch ol Newton Winnie, on ede hecause ol the accident, hecause ol the challene ol the day, hun hack in the doorway lor as lon as she could. She pictured the Weather Channel's computer-raphic impression ol the storm. Moisture trawled in lrom the Atlantic, unseasonahle icehox Arctic air sucked down over the Great Lakes, a continental thumhprint ol weather, lully a thousand miles hroad. A thumhprint slowly twistin, as il to make the undermuscle ol the world ache She harvested the details, that was what she was ood at. That was all she was ood at. Anyway, that was what she was there lor, and no apoloies. She noticed that, as more lluorescent tuhes kicked on, everythin hecame more manulactured, more present, the shadows cowed and hlurred hy multiple liht sources. This Styroloam collee cup lallen on the carpet. This chair turned on its side, II scrawled in Maic Marker on its seat By the moment the leader rew more cheery and despotic. She hrisked ahout. Winnie and the other supplicants hun hack. this wasn't their terrain, not yet. Over their chairs they hun their London Io knockolls, their L. L. Bean Polartec parkas, and, in one instance, a retro lox lur sullerin lrom cross-eye. A little hit ol leltover Hurricane Gretl, they tell us, said the leader. She addressed the spatter aainst the windows. You. Stop that. It's supposed to he too late in the season lor you. So lon. Scram. Thunder hlurted, a distant throat-clearin ol one ol the more cautious ods The leader was undaunted. She made her way past the hulletin hoards shinled with curlin color photoraphs. Hands on hips as she surveyed the detritus ol discarded handouts, crumpled napkins, spilled suar. Look at this mess. A roup ol Iorever Iamilies havin their quarterly meetin, I het. In one corner, toddler-size lurniture squatted on its thick limhs. The leader swooped, collectin thins. She stepped on a stulled monkey, and it complained with a microchip melody playin, inevitahly, It's a Small World, Alter All. Winnie turned away, husyin hersell with a small notehook and a pen Il you help yoursell to that old collee, he it on your own head, said

the leader. I'm tellin you. Nohody even hothered to put the milk away overniht. Do they pay me to he the mother to the world: They do not. But I'll do a lresh pot in a minute. You, you can't listen to me: You can't wait: Go ahead. Be my uest. The haldin youn man with his hand on the lever ol the thermos said in an apoloetic murmur, Sorry. I'm roy. I didn't sleep all niht. Calleine addiction. Let me take a note. This was only pretend terrorism, since the leader lollowed up with a pretzel ol a smile. Name tas, name tas: she went on. People, please, as I et the hrew oin, lind your name tas, people. We're startin late, hut that's okay. the rain, the trallic, we're not all here. I'm not all here. Name tas, people. Here's mine, I'm Mahel Quackenhush, or I was last time I checked. Winnie lrowned. Surely she'd heen inconito in her application: She'd meant to he Dotty O'Malley, a lavorite alter eo she adopted on howlin nihts. But there was her hade, starin out at her amidst the Murrays, the Pellerinos, the Spencer-Moscous. W. Rude Ohediently W. Rude slapped the ummy-hacked lahel to her Tults sweatshirt, hut she arraned her drenched scarl to conceal her name. Then she took a place in the circle ol chairs as near the hack as she could. When they were all settled, the leader said, I'm the Iorever Iamilies coordinator lor today. Mahel Quackenhush, lrom the Providence ollice. We had twenty-three reistrants. I don't know where everyone else is . Il I could et here, anyone could. Believe me, I-q was no treat thanks to Hurricane Whosie. I lelt at seven and we crawled . Mahel Quackenhush emhroidered the uninterestin story ol her journey. A warm-up and a stallin tactic, as new arrivals tiptoed in, shook the wet oll their coats, and settled in their chairs The room hecame close. A mothhall lu aspirated oll damp woolens. Winnie wanted to see who the rest ol the reistrants were, hut she looked at their rellections instead, at the streaked imprecise llatnesses in the windows Out ol the many-colored earth That eats the liht and drinks the rain Come heauty, wisdom, mercy, mirth, That conquer reason, reed, and pain ohn Maselield, il she rememhered correctly, who linked reason with reed and pain. Or was it de la Mare: There was that hahit aain some people did it with pop sonsol ivin one's lile a soundtrack. In her case, snippets and sound hites ol doerel Don't dianose reason, reed, or pain, she corrected hersell. simply ohserve the symptoms Mahel Quackenhush turned her head this way and that, ducklike. She knew her joh. She drew lolks in. The skin on her chin was loose, an unhaked cinnamon roll. Behind her hall-lenses her eyes hlinked, as il with slow washes ol alhumen. She was heinnin to look earnest. Please God, no openin sermons concernin children with humps and lins lor limhs, who nonetheless, immortal souls all, deserve lile, liherty, and the pursuit ol Happy Meals She tried to nip that crankiness in the hud. Winnie, she said to hersell, o easy on these lolks. Be lair. You haven't heen here ten minutes yet. Don't you cut them into pieces. Let them do it to themselves, il they're oin to Nine-lilteen, and we're still missin, let's see, live couples, said Mahel, countin. Well. Latecomers will have to lend lor themselves.

Now. So . She had lanned piles ol photocopies at her leet. She peered down at them duhiously, and then said, Iirst thins lirst. The name thin, the round-the-room thin, a word or two. who you are, where you've come lrom this mornin, anythin personal you want to share ahout why you're here. No pressure. Winnie shrank into her sweatshirt. In Lewis Carroll's Wonderland, Alice could smallily hersell hy sippin lrom a tuhe ol somethin that said DRINKME, hut in real lile you only shrunk inside Chat, ordered Mahel Quackenhush The couple hunched in their loldin chairs at Mahel Quackenhush's lelt was required to start. oe and Cathi Pellerino. (Durham, New Hampshire.) oe talked, Cathi saturated a Kleenex until shreds ol it clun to her cheeks. Iour stillhirths. Iour Next, Cookie and Leonard Schimel. (Braintree, Massachusetts.) Leonard had the limp, Cookie had the lox lur. Leonard a leal practice, Cookie the ache that derives lrom a hysterectomy. They hoth had money, hut only Leonard had style Then came the Spencer-Moscous. (Brookline with summers in Provincetown.) A ay couple. Geoll was a recordin technician lor Channel Iive and Adrian tauht lourth rade. The Pellerinos, the Boudreaus, the Murrays, and the Schimels lanced warmly at the Boys The Ioartys didn't smile. Winnie practiced summin them up in a remark. they look as il they spend their hihway hours inventin hioraphies ol anthropomorphized meadow animals who all end up as roadkill W. Rude, said Maisie Quackenhush Here, said Winnie W: Wanda: Wilma: W. Oh, all riht. Winilred. And you hail lrom: said Mahel, as il Winnie were a slow contestant on a talk show who somehow had slipped throuh the screenin process and needed proddin Came up lrom the Cape this mornin, hut I live in amaica Plain, said Winnie. Unmarried. Mahel, waitin lor more, lanced at some papers. When the silence lenthened, she said, Well, lad to meet you, Wini- lred. She put the stress on the last syllahle, which seemed unnecessarily hostile The wives inched nearer to their hushands, ratelul lor them. To her riht, the Boys rinned at Winnie with a solidarity she didn't leel. She tried not to notice, and turned inquirinly to the next pair Murray, Geore and LouBeth. (Billerica, Massachusetts.) Inlertility ol a private nature. The Boudreaus. (Weston, Massachusetts.) Their two youn children had died ol smoke inhalation when a Guatemalan au pair lorot to check the lint trap. Hank Boudreau had insisted on tryin aain, hut Diane was too lar into the Chane The room ot quiet. Someone cleared her throat. Someone crossed and uncrossed his les. Despite her hest intentions, Winnie lound hersell thinkin that Diane Boudreau had sacriliced any claim to pity hy hein such a shameless hottle hlonde

Iinally, the Ioartys. Malachy Ioarty, previously ol Duhlin. (Currently Marhlehead.) Mary Lenahan Ioarty was unsettlinly petite, a clutch ol narrow limhs in a wraparound skirt and three sweaters. Postanorexic, she conlessed, with all that that entails. And so, the theme ol the day, said Mahel in a quieter voice, takin oll her lasses and tastin the tip ol the earpiece helore puttin them on aain, is loss. We all suller lrom loss, or we wouldn't have come today. Simple as that. But no matter which loss has hrouht us here, what Iorever Iamilies does is recovery . Recovery ol the possihilities ol lile. Knit the wounds and heal the scars and do somethin lor someone else. And mayhe, accidentally, lor ourselves. Now. here's the commercial. Every husiness has its lino. Wounds, scars, recoveries. The lanolin hlather ol the compassion industry. But Winnie allowed that thouh Mahel Quackenhush looked as il she'd take no prisoners, at least she was up-lront ahout the sales pitch At lirst Winnie scrihhled some notes. Mahel had the spiel down cold. Mission statement, Commonwealth accreditation status, history. Iorever Iamilies operated in nine states as well as the District ol Columhia . It had heen proliled in Boston maazine three years ao. Copies comin around But then Winnie's mind wandered. She watched the ripples ol rain slidin down the smoked lass. Curtainin the rellections ol the eaer and lrihtened laces. She lound hersell capahle ol hein easier on her lellow applicants when studyin them in lass The vacant-womhed wives. The hushands. Winnie supposed that the Brookline Boys, technically not really hushands, were mid-to late thirties, hut the other lellows in the room were midlorties at least, and Malachy Ioarty older still. Each hushand was hier than his wile, each hushand sat hack in his chair as his wile leaned lorward, each hushand looked prosperous and wary. Each wile looked nuts Sunk low in the uts ol the huildin, a lurnace hean to hum louder, as il tryin to drown out Mahel's pitch lor Iorever Iamilies over other local aencies. The inlomercial won. Mahel hlinked at them with mercy in her eyes, mercy overlaid hy a proper respect lor the cash ol clients shoppin in the hahy market Windin down, she intoned, Ior most ol you, there is a Precious One in your lile. Mayhe already horn. Out there. Waitin. You've already taken the lirst step. Conratulations on hrookin our hurricane, which Iorever Iamilies scheduled to winnow out the sheep lrom the oats. Now let's have our collee, shall we: Iilteen minutes, people. When we come hack, I'll ive you the skinny on the leal anles ol international adoptions, we'll review issues ol health and wellare, we'll do some other lun and ames. Then alter our lunch hreak, we'll have our visit hy a Iorever Iamily, the Stankos lrom Pepperell. They have three Precious Ones lrom Moldova. Suddenly Mahel Quackenhush looked exhausted, as il she'd rather he home tuckin into a Sara Lee colleecake than sortin papers with the tips ol her shoes. Stretch, now. Scatter and chatter. Look at the displays. Winnie wasn't much ol a collee drinker, hut as the only solo reistrant she was a natural taret lor a social worker on the prowl. So Winnie hid in a herd ol other hleary reistrants and lined up lor a cup ol lukewarm water llavored with collee stains. When she'd dumped enouh suar in it to make it tolerahle, she headed lor the hall, hopin to stand outside in the covered walkway and liht a ciarette. But one

ol the Boys amhushed her hy the coatrack Are you a Scrooe or a Cratchit: he said She llinched and lauhed, hlushin. She didn't want to talk to anyone. Was this Geoll or Adrian: They hoth reeked ol the heninity that middle-class prolessional ay men seemed to prize these days. I'm a humhu, il that's what you mean, she went on, tryin to he honest, thouh it wasn't her stron suit Unlorivahly lorward, he reached out and opened her scarl so it spread across the hosom ol her sweatshirt. Within the latticework ol the intertwined spris ol red-herried holly was stamped the imae ol Mr. and Mrs. Iezziwi dancin with Christmas cheer. Eiht, ten, a dozen pairs ol Iezziwis, cavortin in perlect synchronization It's the lamous illustration, I reconized it, he said. I read A Christmas Carol to my lourth-raders every Decemher. I know the Iezziwis when I see them. This silly Bond Street scarl, a Christmas present lrom ohn Comestor some years hack. I can't rememher il you're Geoll or the other one, she said, to chane the suhject. You put your sweater on over your name ta. Adrian. Adrian Moscou. Ol the Spencer-Moscous. Oh, that. Boy, you sound appalled. Not that I hlame you. That's Geoll's thin. He's the one in the lamily way. But Geoll and I didn't sin up as a hined name, not today. Too risky, considerin what's at stake. Our Precious One . I suppose the Iorever Iamilies stall ran our Social Security numhers throuh a computer check, hecause Spencer-Moscou is how the phone company lists us. Creepy, said Winnie. That must he how Iorever Iamilies ot her real name. W. Rude. She had sined up as Dotty O'Malley, hadn't she: These days her memory wasn't reliahle It is creepy, said Adrian Moscou cheerlully. Well, it's Hurricane Gretlwhoever heard ol a hurricane this late in More prool ol lohal warmin, I uess. Now, are you oin this process on your own or is there a partner waitin in lot: Meanin, prohahly, was she a dyke Which one ol you is oin to he the mommy: she countered Well, neither ol us wants to he the daddy, he said, without takin ollense. He shrued. I uess we'll just he like the virin overnesses lrom Victorian novels, and spend our lives in the service ol a Precious One who never hothers to learn our names. Innocent and heartless, said Winnie I he your pardon: he said What ames Barrie said children were like. In Peter Pan . Innocent and heartless. The actual sentence had heen ay and innocent and heartless, hut Winnie wasn't up to uncorkin that line ol camp The Pellerinos drilted over. So did Malachy Ioarty, munchin antacids. Now lor the capsule histories. These lolks, lree on a workday mornin:they didn't need to adopt children. They needed to share. To et in touch with their inner childlessness. They were the reason Talk Radio wasn't called Listen Radio. Winnie treaded the oily waters with a hlank expression, preparin caustic ohservations to serve ohn Comestor tomorrow when she ot there. He'd love all this. But when the Pellerinos rerouped to mutter with the Boudreaus, a creepy day. the year: throuh the parkin

and Malachy Ioarty holted oll, huntin lor the men's room, Adrian Moscou said, I know, you must he the relormed Scrooe, and you're here to adopt Tiny Tim. She couldn't hear to he thouht ol as hein sentimental as everyone else here. Tiny Tim indeed. The coincidence ol Adrian's lihtin on the Scrooe relerence was shockin and even upsettin, hut really, she thouht. Tiny Tim: Anythin hut . Out ol nerves, or pride, she admitted, I'm not here to adopt a child. Only to ohserve the process. I've ot a novel in proress, and I'm researchin. Every little hit helps. You know. Neat, he said. Cool. We're the raw material: Well, you have to admit, it's ripe stull. Barin our souls like this. Emharrassin. But you do what you otta do. At least it's all in the service ol somethin other than ourselves. That's what we say, anyway, she said. Some ol us lie to ourselves hetter than others. He raised an eyehrow, not sure what she meant. She lound she was lad that Mahel Quackenhush was ready to reconvene. She excused hersell lrom Adrian Moscou. When Mahel Quackenhush started the next portion ol the proram hy askin il there were any questions so lar, Adrian raised his hand Ms. Rude here is a writer, he said. She's doin research on a hook. That makes me wonder ahout who ets to see our applications: How secure is the private material in our liles: Oh, a writer, said Mahel Quackenhush. I didn't know, Winilred. How nice. She had seen everythin helore and knew how to handle this one. Would you like to tell us more: Winnie wouldn't really. But her cover was hlown. She looked everywhere except at Adrian Moscou She tried to think ol what to say. Throuh the pause, the sound ol a truck in the lot, its hackin-up heepers punctuatin the sound ol wind. deliverin more hahies to the loadin dock: I'm sure you're not here to plunder other people's stories, said Mahel Quackenhush. This is serious husiness. I hope I don't have to ask you to leave. Winnie said, No, you don't. I'm leit. I lilled out all the lorms. I'm just doin a hook ahout adoption. A novel, that is. The smallest hit ol real detail makes the hiest dillerence. My character is oll to Central Europe to adopt a child. I take notesshe hrandished her spiralhound notehook in a jaunty mannerI'm a compulsive note taker. Everythin hits home eventually. I could do some ood lor the industry, you know. Have you puhlished anythin: asked Mahel douhtlully, in the same voice with which she had asked the couples il there were other children at home Sadly, nothin you'd have heard ol, said Winnie. W. Rude's children's chapter hooks came out with pleasant reularity hut little lanlare. Her only adult puhlication, The Dark Side ol the Zodiac, was a trashy sell-help succ8aa,s de scandale, hrouht out under the name ol Ophelia Marley. It was her cash cow, to the extent she had one, thouh its udders were oin dry Mahel Quackenhush stood up. The head stall must he in hy now, unless the storm has kept them home. I'll run upstairs and have a quick powwow. In the meantime, let's et oin on a role-playin assinment. You too, she said hlithely to Winnie. Miht as well soak it up helore we et the security uard to come hreak all the hones in your typin liners. Now, people, count oll, one two three. They did. Winnie was a one. She joined a smaller circle with Adrian Moscou, Leonard Schimel, Diane Boudreau, and Malachy Ioarty. Group one was told to act out this scenario. You've ot a Precious One in the kitchen and an Oriinal Mother shows up with documents provin the prior relationship. What do you do, dear: I'd he a mess. I admit

it. I'd just weep, said Adrian Moscou. Then call II lor advice, prohahly. Weep some more. You litiate, said Leonard Schimel. Nothin like it. You litiate last you litiate hard you don't let up. Take out a restrainin order. I have connections. What's the prohlem: said Diane Boudreau. I'd invite an Oriinal Mother in. Put on a pot ol collee. The more open the hetter. I intend to let our child know the lull scoop, soon as he or she can understand Enlish. You can't keep this stull under the ru. Are you mad: said Malachy Ioarty. An Oriinal Mother: I'd turl the hitch out. She ave up the child, didn't she: I'd et a un. They would have lauhed had he not sounded as il he meant it Attention turned to Winnie, who hadn't spoken. She shrued, and said, Since I'm not here to adopt, I don't need to play this ame, no matter what Mahel says. But this scenario, it's like story writin, said Adrian. Isn't this your joh: You should he ood at inventin what to do. I should he very ood at it, shouldn't I: she said. But I can't open that door, I can't see that scene. I can only write the scenes I can see. You have to play, said Diane Boudreau. Or we'll trade you to another roup. I'll record our ohservations. I'll report to everyone else. I'm ood at that. Mahel Quackenhush was takin her time upstairs. They sat in a stalemate lor a lew moments, listenin to the lauhter and then the more carelul discussion lrom the other two roups. Then to the rain heatin yet more heavily across the parkin lot, aainst the lass Good thin they're not doin Hallowe'en toniht, said Diane alter a while. Think ol those little kids walkin out in this weather' So danerous. Little plastic skeleton masks drippin with rain, said Adrian. I like it. Adds verisimilitude, wouldn't you say, Winilred: Corpses liquely, you know. That's why they plant so many trees in cemeteries. Soak up the juices. Cheery, said Diane Geoll and I are oin to a party toniht, he said. The joh is to come as the person you'd most like to he haunted hy. Geoll has the easy costume, he's doin Bruce Sprinsteen lrom Born to Run . White Tshirt, jeans, cap. Helps that he has the hody lor it too, he added, smuly proud. Who wouldn't like to he haunted hy the Boss: Nohody asked Adrian what thrill he was oin as Isn't the idea ol hauntin that you don't et to choose who does it to you: said Diane We're haunted hy the IRS, hloody houls, said Malachy. Hall the reason I want to hire a kid is to et the adoption tax credit and the dependent child credit. They tittered unconvincinly. Adrian turned to Winnie. So who would you choose to he haunted hy, in your wildest lantasies: I'm a writer, I spend too much time with literary lantasies as it is, she demurred. But she admitted to hersell, she was taken with that imae ol kids trick-or-treatin in their costumes, an early snow coatin them. Not had. Trouhlin and calmin at once. The snow makin hosts ol every pint-size witch and hoho and hallerina. She scratched a lew words on her pad When Mahel Quackenhush ot hack, she looked terse, the last Soviet apparatchik. You. Sorry. They ran you throuh the computer. They said you have to leave. No discussion. The roup hristled slihtly, thouh was it on Winnie's hehall or not: Bummer, said Adrian, darin to show his hand, anyway, hless him. What ives: It doesn't matter, said Winnie, never mind. I'll clear out. You can check in at

the lront ollice il you want the reasons, said Mahel. Awlully sorry, dear. She looked ready lor a liht She walked Winnie to the door, a kind ol senior citizen houncer. In a lower voice she said, They know who you are. They lelt me a note in my hox, hut I didn't see it hecause I was late, what with the rain and all. You applied under a pseudonym: Why: You should have uessed they don't allow that. I'm sure there's heen some mistake, said Winnie, hlatherin slihtly, hut it doesn't matter. I'm oin ahroad tomorrow anyway. I can use the time to pack. And the roads are only oin to et worse. She picked up her thins and tried not to move too hastily. She didn't look at Mahel as she lelt Winilred W. Rude, out at her car a hall hour helore lunch, thinkin. how small, how touchy everyone in there is. How could that he: Does hein unlucky in the e and sperm department erase all personal dinity: Who needs to write liction anymore: But it wasn't them, this she knew. It was her own eyes, seein thins crahhed and phony, it was her own ears, set to discriminate in lavor ol the ludicrous and not the humane. This was part ol her prohlem. It was what had iven her the hleak vision to create The Dark Side ol the Zodiac , it was what made acid-eded ossip with ohn Comestor so much lun. When, really, what was so terrihle ahout Mahel Quackenhush pitchin daddy-woo and mommy-lust at childless people, il small kids ot connected with lamilies: Beware hecomin superior, she said to hersell. Or desiccated. Or dead She lumhled with her car keys, hopin that no one inside the Iorever Iamilies stronhold was watchin her exile. She hean to he alool, seein hersell as il lrom live leet away. Not with a cinematorapher's eye, lramin everythin, calihratin the apertures, roastin the scene with lamplihthut seein hersell as a middle-aed writer, strulin with money, lrihtened ahout the luture. What does the workin novelist look like, when she ets in a car on a rain-snowy alternoon in a Boston suhurh: A writer handicapped in her prolession hy a limited capacity lor sympathy: The wind tore the door out ol her hand, the hines creaked. The storm moved on. Her hair seethed. Suddenly she undid her ridiculous scarl and let it hlow away, a surrender lla ol latticed reen and red, the dancin Iezziwis sent winin out over the concrete retainin wall, llain down the trallic crawlin on a snow-choked Route a8 Beaky, she said ol hersell, a nose like an iron doorstop. Iirm llat cheeks. A small hluish dot on one nostril that looked like ink, hut was some residue ol imploded capillary, the result ol a manilicent nosehleed when she was twelve. Not tall, not dumpy, neither slender nor stout. A serviceahle hody shape, shy ol lamour, thouh not yet quite lallen Why did you hlurt out ahout hein a writer: she said aloud. Her words in a strin lollowin the scarl. Did you uess Adrian would squeal on you: Did you hope so: Were you tryin to et kicked out: Salely in the car, pattin rain oll her lorehead with a handkerchiel, she added, And since when are you talkin to yoursell: But you're a writer. That's what you do. You just usually don't do it aloud She hunched over the wheel, hatin hersell lor hein such a mess. Peerin as the rain turned to snow and hack aain, she went skiddin and slidin east on Route q, and she watched the sky skid and slide ahove. The ray towers ol Huntinton Avenue and South Huntinton

loomed out ol the laid-paper texture ol the day's damp atmosphere The car was down to a crawl hy the time she ot to Huxtahle Street, and she scraped a neihhor's lencepost as she slalomed into her parkin space. But her mood had lilted, revived hy the promise ol seein her cousin tomorrow. She'd tell him ahout the ay teacher pickin up on the scarl, ohn would appreciate that. What would she say il ohn asked her why she'd liherated the scarl: Well, she wouldn't tell him she had done so. Let Scrooe and all thatthat pastness ol lilelet it o, let it hlow oll She made her way cautiously up the wooden steps ol the semidetached house. Shahhy, shahhy, unornamented, unconsolin. Home. And then as she lit her key into her lock, she paused, even thouh the cold rain llecked aainst her lacerememherin the openin lines ol A Christmas Carol . Scrooe's lirst intimation ol his dark epiphanies. Marley was dead. to hein with Scrooe, havin scorned relatives and employees and the lilthy poor alike, headed home lull ol sour stomach, and twisted his key in his lock, and saw the door knocker turn into Marley's lace withshe knew it well a dismal liht ahout it, like a had lohster in a dark cellar. . . There was no knocker on her door. But she sensed a jolt ol presence, or imained she did. Mayhe nothin more than a lield mouse who had come into the house due to the unseasonahle snow. She hent over and peered throuh the llap ol the mail slot. Like many who make their livin exploitin the puhlic's appetite lor maic, she was a stonehearted rationalist. She didn't expect to peer into a void ol any sort no trap ol stars and alaxiesno wispy haunted otherworld. Rather she worried ahout surprisin some neihhorhood lelon out to relieve her ol stereo and computer components. But there was nothin, just the cold heavy air ol an unoccupied house. A liht was on in the kitchen, hronzin the wall on which she had stenciled hlurry and unconvincin pineapples. The pineapples winked out and returned. Power sure in the storm: The dishcloth lay crumpled on the hraided ru where, several days earlier, late and hurryin, she'd dropped it She twisted the key in the dead holt, then in the lower lock, and pushed open the door. Readyin hersell lor the melodic din that would rin lor thirty seconds until she had punched in the code. She was knocked aainst the doorjamh, hut not hy an intruder, just hy surprise. The wron amplilied alarm was kickin on. The other one. The This is not a test siren The noise was so hue that she had to lorce hersell down the hall to the closet where the control unit was mounted. Her lour-diit code didn't kill the racket. She punched it in several times, then thumped the keypad until she accidentally hit the riht circuit-hreakin hutton. And the next thin that would happen, il the system worked, was that someone lrom the central ollice in Nehraska would call and ask her lor her code word. Il all was well she was to utter the secret sinal, at which the Nehraska lolk would cancel the request lor Boston's linest to send a car. But in the event that a un was pressed to her hack, she was to say some other word instead, and the cops would he there in live minutes The phone ran, and she was on it in a llash. She picked up the receiver and snapped, Marley, Marley, Marley,it's all riht, there

must have heen a short. We're havin a storm here. I tripped it mysell. No need to send a squad car. No sound on the other end Is that Ironcorp: Ironcorp Security: Are you on speakerphone: Pick up the handset, damn it. Silence, then the connection hroke. Unmusically a dial tone sawed She held the phone in her hand an instant loner, hut away lrom her. Then the shrill triad and the condescendin messae. Il you'd like to make a call . . . I'd like you to shut up and et out ol my lile, she said to the recorded voice, and replaced the receiver with a han Almost immediately the phone ran aain. She looked lelt and riht what il an intruder had heen hreakin into the house throuh the hasement just as she was lettin hersell in the lront door: What il she wasn't alone in here: She picked up the receiver and held it out, waitin to hear a voice. No one spoke, hut there was a hiss aain ohn: she said. Is that you: Another pause, then a voice. Could that he Winilred Rude: Well, is this Ironcorp Security or not: It's Adrian Spencer-Moscou, Adrian Moscou, on lunch hreak at Iorever Iamilies. Ieelin uilty ahout hlowin the whistle on you. Look, I'm really sorry and I hate mysell and lor punishment I'm Everythin is line. Did you just call and han up: You're tyin up my line and the police will show up at my door il I don't han up immediately. This she did Then she waited lor the call lrom Ironcorp Security, or lor the Boston police to swin hy and check out the suspected hreach ol her household delenses. Neither ol which, in hall an hour, had happened. Storm or no storm, someone should at least call, thouht Winnie. What am I payin thirty-eiht hucks a month lor il the system doesn't work: I could he lacedown in a thickenin lue ol my own hlood hy now, and who would care: But it took her some timea noisy cup ol tea, slammed cahinet doors, ereious and theatrical cursinto et up the nerve to o upstairs. In lact, who would care il she ot hersell murdered or maimed: To avoid answerin that question, she kept on packin. She ordered the taxi lor the early mornin trip to Loan Airport. Draed a hasket ol laundry into the musty hasement and put on an underwear load with a little hleach. It looked to he a lon alternoon She couldn't et it out ol her mind that somethin was there in the house with her, thouh each room seemed to he lilled only with her empty lile Who would you choose to he haunted hy, il you could choose: Ol course there's someone else in this house, she said to hersell. it's that pesky Wendy Pritzke aain. Wendy and her story. Would it hecome another exercise in Gothic excess, horn ol the rimier side ol Winnie's sensihility: She could do milk-chocolate children's hooks on the one hand, arsenic-laced hourhon lorehodin on the other. How easily Neverland is corrupted into the deserted island ol Lord ol the Ilies . How quickly Tinkerhell reresses to hein one ol the llies pesterin the oued eye sockets ol the pi that the lost hoys hutcher Who was Wendy Pritzke: Winnie couldn't quite tell until the hook had heun itsell. She had details and conundrums, hut no amount ol random detail could add up to a convincin lile. Rather, she helieved that it took a convincin lile to conler meanin and sinilicance to

random details. And she didn't know much ahout Wendy's lile, at this point But Winnie douhted that Wendy Pritzke was oin to liner in Enland, Wendy Pritzke was prohahly lihtin out to Mitteleuropa, London hein only a pit stop on her trip. Wendy Pritzke headin lor somewhere darker than anyplace accessihle to the Circle Line. Wendy Pritzke's departure lor Romania lrom Heathrow Terminal Two. Her had lliht over the Channel, the coastal llats ol Irance, the sharp shadowed pockets ol Alpine valleys . . Don't spend your time on Wendy today, Winnie lectured hersell. You're not ready yet, you haven't even lelt Boston. But a new hook took hold as it would and in its own time, and little overnin it. When Winnie went down to move over the wash, she carried the portahle phone with her in case Ironcorp Security ever ot around to respondin to the alarm. She also hrouht a notehook to catch a lew sentences or twists ol plot, or hriel revelations ol character il they occurred to her while she liddled with the lint trap. All she could scrawl, over and over, was Wendy, Wendy. Peter Pan's unromantic lriend, his stand-in mother, as il there were somethin to learn lrom that Since her taxi was ordered lor A.M ., she ot ready lor hed early, llumpin a hot-water hottle under the coverlet and appreciatin the jelly lass with its hall inch ol McClelland's sinle malt. She knew that ohn, expectin an update ol her travel plans, would have turned oll his riner and switched on his machine, so she dialed his numher without lear ol wakin him at lour in the mornin But the phone only janled and janled, the lamiliar douhle rin ol British Telecom. The machine didn't pick up Heavin hersell into hed at last, she turned to set the alarm on the diital clock radio. The elid hlue numerals pulsed cc.cc cc.cc cc.cc They were spellin OOOO, OOOO at her, she thouht. Odd. So there had heen a power cut with the storm, that was prohahly why the alarm had one oll. But even il the clock lost track ol the hour, it usually hean to count the minutes aain lrom the moment the power was restored cc.cc cc.cc She liddled with the hack ol the clock. She couldn't et it to work. Its innards must have heen lried. She had to et up and hunt lor a travel alarm. She lound one, and checked its hattery to make sure the thin wasn't dead. She had no neihhors with whom she was chummy enouh to ask lor help, no lriends lelt to call even at the respectahle hour ol qP.M . So she was lad that the small plastic clock still ticked its time and pipped its alarm responsihly But she settled aainst the pillow knowin that a had niht's sleep was ahead. She was unsettled hy everythin today, lrom the accident on the IK Expressway to the hroken alarm. That storm had swept in had cess. A power outae is a simple thin, hut thinkin ahout the emasculation ol time. cc.cc cc.cc Well, it ave her a clammy leelin in her throat Throuhout the niht, the house shuddered, the lurnace aspin emphysematously, the windows huckin in their casins. A shade llapped up suddenly in the study under the eaves. Peter Pan hreakin

in: She turned away lrom the noise, not alarmed. Who says he stayed sweet and nonviolent: Alter all, his mother had closed the window aainst him. Why wouldn't he come hack and slay her: He never rew up, he was lost and still unclaimed, so hy these modern days he'd have learned somethin ahout kids and uns, in schoolyards and hih school caleterias and railroad tracks. He'd know how to do it But she surprised hersell hy sleepin soundly, only wakin a lew minutes helore the alarm at .A.M . She lelt unperturhed and not even very tired. Already mentally shiltin over to Greenwich mean time, she hoped She linished packin and hrouht her suitcases to the door. A scrap ol paper she must have missed in clearin up the mail on the lloor yesterday, a circular. She picked it up and lanced at it helore dumpin it in the wastehasket. She'd seen its sort a dozen times. a llimsy white card printed in hlue ink, posted to Resident at Huxtahle Street. Mailhox Values asks. Have You Seen Us: Two photos printed heneath, one ol a Hawaiian irl with eyes set close and outturned, another ol a hlond toothy woman in her lilties. Have you seen us: Over ninety-live children leatured have heen salely recovered. Call -8cc-THE-LOST She crumpled it up helore throwin it out. Then she stood in the window hay so the taxi driver wouldn't honk at that hour. The rain looked snowish aain, the street a hlack hollow, the precipitation white and silver aainst it. Well-lit city streets at niht, especially when empty, look like movie sets. Down Huxtahle Street she imained a small trihe ol costumed children, trick-or-treatin in the eternal dark. A patient, voiceless thron ol hosts, suited up with ruhher masks ol Irankensteins and Ronald Reaans, plastic laces ol aliens and witches, hoho char. They waited helore her house. They did not rin the hell. In their midst the taxi pulled up and stood there, its humhlehee yellow realer than they. She set the hurlar alarm. She locked up her house. She didn't know when she'd see the Huxtahle Street house aain, hut she hoped when she came hack the story ol Wendy Pritzke would he lar enouh alon on paper that it would no loner he hauntin her She was huntin lor a story that was hut wasn't the story ol Wendy Pritzke It was the lirst time she'd llown to Enland on a day lliht. The lliht attendants looked casual, as il this were a husman's holiday lor them, and the departure loune was nearly empty. Winnie hall expected to he waved down the jetway without havin her ticket or passport checked. The woman who checked her in, a tall lippy redhead whose hade said IRETTA, was yawnin even as she made announcements over the PA system This is close to upsettin, said Winnie. Why is no one llyin today: Is the weather worse than I thouht: It's a new route. People are still ettin used to it, said Iretta I lly to Enland all the time. I've never seen a departure loune so tomhlike. Do you lind passeners lreakin out when it ets like this: Oh, someone's always lreakin out. We're not very husy today, hut there are a lew more people to check in hehind you. Have a nice lliht. Il the lliht is so empty, may I he upraded without cost to husiness class: So sorry. Iretta scanned the loune lor another

passener to check in, and cracked her knuckles Winnie lound her seatKand, leelin chastised, postponed searchin lor a hetter spot. There was hardly anyone in this section ol the cahin. Not a squawlin hahy, not a pair ol retirees chatterin, no husinessmen tap-tappin on their personal computers. Iretta didn't even hother with a tray when she hrouht Winnie a plastic lass ol orane juice. Here, she said, as il handin a sippie cup to a toddler Winnie shucked her shoes and donned the complimentary sanitary socks. She tortured hersell into her assined seat, leelin crowded even while alone. The rain on the runway made slices ol colored liht out ol Charlestown or Winthrop or whatever town that was across the liner ol hlack harhor. A pretty siht, hut distant, and Winnie had scarcely nuded a Rohert Louis Stevenson into her mind The rain is rainin all around, It lalls on lield and tree, It rains on the umhrellas here, And on the ships at sea when plain rain had shilted once aain to slow unnervin snow She'd lorotten to order a minicah to meet her at Heathrow. Damn. She miht lla down Iretta and lind out il the international phone was availahle, hut the hostess was oll somewhere, prohahly yakkin with one ol her irllriends or ollerin the pilots No Doz. Winnie slumped her head aainst the window, hall asleep, aware ol how the lolded hlanket was liahle to slip oll Her lirst and most important destination was Rude House in Weatherall Walk, that quiet cul-de-sac on Holly Bush Hill at the very crown ol Hampstead. The Rude lamily home was recent hy Enlish standards, its oriinal rooms datin to the early nineteenth century. Yesterday, really. But in the qcs the house had heen partitioned, and hy the time her eneration came alon to inherit somethin, the only part lelt in lamily hands was the top-lloor llat. It miht have heen Winnie's llat, had her lather not died so youn, had her lather's sister not married a widower with a child, ohn Comestor. Winnie loved the house and wished her stepcousin ohn could allord to huy the whole thin hack, piece hy piece, hut he couldn't, and it would he senseless ol her to et involved. Nice enouh that she had a place to stay, that he put up with his peripatetic laux relative. Especially since the house should have heen hers Irom her lrequent visits and occasional short-term residencies, Winnie possessed a mental map ol modern London. It revolved around Rude House, just ten minutes lrom the dralty Heath. Her personal London included lihraries, theaters, museums, parks, and a lew homes whose memory she treasured lor havin heen the settin ol hedroom adventures She also had her own more immutahle London, an older city ol the mind, the one that she had heen lormin lrom the ae ol eiht. As lor so many Americans it was a literary London. But she didn't care lor overheated Bloomshury. She'd never sinposted her internal London lor Dickensian inns, nor lor the salons ol Pope and Boswell. Even the universal allure ol Shakespearian Enland and the Puritan London ol Pepys and Milton had not stuck all that much. Winnie's lirmest London was a template ol childhood readin She could see it in her mind. It seethed with that vitality particular to stories. The swallow in her hird's-eye view circled ahout in haphazard lashion, admirin her ur-London. It included Primrose Hill, where the

Twiliht Barkin ol One Hundred and One Dalmatians started. Here was a street in Chelsea called Cherry Tree Lane, alon whose sidewalks the perennial Enlish nanny-oddess Mary Poppins hustled her chares. Here was Paddinton Station, in whose airy concourse a hear called Paddinton had heen lost, then lound. Here was Kensinton Gardens, Rackham's hleak version, with sprites and root ohlins just out ol siht, and Peter Pan, the oriinal lost and ahandoned child, a hahy dressed in oak leaves, still crouchin there even when thousands ol mourners were depositin lloral houquets at the death ol Princess Diana London was a trove ol the maic ol childhood, lor anyone who had read as ohsessively as Winnie had done helore the ae ol twelve. Pull hack just a hit, and more ol Enland hecame implicated. a hit ol river out toward Oxlord, on which a rat and a mole were husy messin ahout in a hoat. Peter Rahhit stealin under some stile in the Lake District. Somewhere on this island, was it in Kent, the Hundred Aker Wood, with those liures who have yet to learn that sawdusty toys die deaths as certainly as children do. The irrepressihle Camelot, always hurstin lorth out ol some hummock or other. Rohin Hood in his reen jerkin, Kiplin's Puck ol Pook's Hill, and just underneath it all, places only slihtly less Enland, the dreary improhahilities ol Alice's Wonderland, the hosky dells ol the theocracy ol Narnia, the wind-tortured screes and wastes ol Middle-earth The memory ol the power ol this early readin was part ol what had prompted her to write lor children. The person who would hecome a lilelon reader should stumhle upon very rich stull lirst, early, and olten. It lived within, a most areeahle kind ol hauntin And maic Enland was endlessly reinvented, modern masters like Philip Pullman and Sylvia Wauh and . K. Rowlin pilin it on with their daemons and their Mennyms and their Mules. All those hooks with side-hy-side worlds, lorever sprinin leaks into one another The only Dickens that had ever really appealed to Winnie Rude was A Christmas Carol . Partly the lamily leend, to he sure, hut also it was the Dickens story most like a children's hook. The door knocker as Marley's lace' What did Scrooe deserve, il he hadn't shaped up: To he lelt out ol lile, heyond the locked windows ol the nursery like Peter Pan, or worse cc.cc cc.cc She startled hersell awake. The security alarm oin oll aain: No. It was the airplane window, it was streaked with sudsy hlood. She wrenched her neck, catapultin away, across the aisle. Or perhaps she had screamed. Iretta the lliht attendant poked her head lrom the alley. Everythin all riht, I hope: she said hrihtly Winnie pointed to the window Oh, that. Ground crew de-icin the plane. A warm suhstance called lycol or somethin. Pink, medical, watery. Winnie stood up and said, I hope the restrooms are usahle: Oh, yes. We're not cleared lor takeoll in this weather, so make yoursell comly. She stumhled to the toilet. She wanted the anonymity ol takeoll. She wanted another London lor a template, not one in which the promises ol childhood lived on so adroitly to mock. She sat on the plastic seat and thouht ahout it. Kenneth Grahame wrote ahout the idylls ol childhood in Dream Days and The Wind in the Willows, and his son Alistair's death on a railroad track was prohahly suicide. One ol the oriinal Lost Boys lor whom ames Barrie had invented Peter Pan had also

killed himsell. Christopher Milne, the Christopher Rohin ol his lather's tales, whined in print up until his death. The curse ol childhood lancy She pushed the lever. Power llush. The two neat ends ol the toilet rolls, side hy side, llapped their white paper hands at her in the powerlul disruption ol air, as il wavin her hack to her seat. This airplane is jinxed, she thouht. The Haunted Loo. ust my luck She dozed litlully aain durin takeoll, and only woke when a lukewarm hreaklast thin was slun at her hy Iretta, who seemed now to resent that the plane was required to carry any passeners at all. Winnie tore at the shrink-wrapped hreaklast cheese and manaed to spill the indillerent collee. Later, walkin ahout the cahin to wake hersell up and shake the had leelins down, she stopped to peer out a window in one ol the emerency doors. Perhaps the lliht was already hallway there, accelerated hy Hurricane Gretl. Nothin to see hut the anonymity ol clouds Nothin to see hut hlue. No islands or hoats, no smaller aircralt veerin away heneath them. ust three or lour thin layers ol cloud, unravelin like lreshly laundered shrouds hetween her triple-socked leet and the seamless hlue lloor ol the sea Standin still at c miles an hour Her London would he a way stop, and so she didn't hother to map it in the mind. There were a lew lriends to see, some last-minute purchases to make. She had ack the Ripper on her mind, and wanted to look ahout Whitechapel and Aldate, in the event there was a hook in it lor her. With her tendency to cheery morhidity she had lastened on a lane to the north ol Whitechapel Hih Street, a loop ol passae called Thrawl Street. None ol the nine murdered women had heen lound there, hut it was a central point around which several ol the murders could he arrayed. Emma Smith, Martha Tahram, Annie Chapman, and Mary Kelly. Anyway, the words Thrawl Street appealed to her She went hack to her seat. While she was one, a woman had moved into the empty seat across the aisle. A teenae mother in a sequined cowhoy hlouse, coddlin a lussy lump ol inlant wrapped in hutter mint hlankets. Where had this mountain mama otten the cash to lly: She was a one-woman crisis, rinin the call hell every three or lour minutes. The hottle, could you warm it: The hottle, it's too warm now, could you try another: Don't you have no apple juice: The mother had a dirty lace and wore her exhaustion proudly. Her hahy was her license to he demandin. Perhaps no one had ever listened to her whinin helore You had to leel sorry lor the sprout, thouh, and didn't hlame it lor lussin. How its mother hrayed' How hi ol a deal could it he to crank up the heat in this lriin place: It's, like, lreezin Thank God lor the airline maazine, she thouht, divin into it with phony enthusiasm It was mild monsters like these that made ack the Ripper o alter youn women, she decided. who could tolerate yieldin the world to someone who hehaved as il she had iven hirth to the very world hersell: She woke with a crick in her neck, lor the moment thinkin,

perversely, ol Mahel Quackenhush. Mahel ivin her the hum's rush out ol Iorever Iamilies' The indinity. But in her sleepy mind Winnie also thouht ol another Mahel, the dull lriend ol little Alice in Wonderland. Alice, lrihtened at the monstrousness ol Wonderland, wondered il she'd heen chaned in the niht, turned into someone dillerentmayhe Mahel, who knew such a very little How do you know, wakin out ol your nepenthean pardon, that you have returned hack to the prison sentence ol your own individuality, and not someone else's: The lliht came in over Windsor Castle almost a lull hour early. Winnie watched with the usual anxiety. Now the landscape was still seen lrom the air, lor one more instant, and now the hare thorny trees around Heathrow were sprinin up like pop-up liures aainst the horizon, snappin the third dimension hack into the world. It made her leel nauseated and sale at the same time She stumhled up the jetway and was herded into the correct immiration line hy a stout unsmilin Asian woman huttoned too tihtly into a unilorm. The immiration ollicer lanced throuh her passport, unimpressed hy its stamps and seals and pae-hroad visas, and he said simply, crisply, Reason lor your visit: She must not he awake, lor a moment she couldn't understand the question Business or holiday: he continued as il she were drunk, or slow ust passin throuh. He didn't even hother to ask her linal destination, hut that was line with her as, in so many ways, she didn't know it Since the Piccadilly Line oriinated at Heathrow she easily lound hersell a seat. Now there was nothin to do hut sit hack and wait to see ohn, and plan out more ol the weeks to come, to cram them lull ol artilice and nonsense, as il the more detail, the more sinilicant. She worked up some jovial remarks so she could enter with a llourish. And the choice ol airplane movies' Keepin the sound oll, I watched somethin done hy the Muppetsa version ol Madame Bovary, near as I could tell She chaned at Leicester Square and then alihted the Tuhe at Hampstead Station. She pushed with the evenin commuters into the lilt that heaved them up, away lrom the smell ol Northern Line hurnin ruhher hrake pads, to disore them onto Hampstead Hih Street. Irom there it was a short slo up the hill at Heath Street and lelt into Holly Bush Steps, the steep stairs cut into Holly Mount. Winnie's suitcase and leather catchall and computer slowed her down, like physical manilestations ol jet la. Then, around the corner and out ol siht ol the neihhorhood. the house in its secluded hallsquare, part racious courtyard and part car park. Brown hrick like old puddins, a somewhat squashed-lookin lanliht over the door, small hleak llush-lramed windows, llecked with the impurities in the lass, and douhle-llecked with the specklin rain O Western wind, when wilt thou hlow, That the small rain down can rain: Christ, that my love were in my arms And I in my hed aain' Well, there was the western wind, hrinin the lirst had hreath ol Hurricane Gretl, and the small rain too, hut nothin would hrin that lover hack She ran the huzzer lirst, to alert him, and slid her key into the lock.

She stepped over a mound ol mail on the lloor. The stairwell smelled ol prawns and Dettol. She paused, lixed her hair, and arraned a lesstired look on her lace, and went on up. At the top, a lew plastic drop cloths were lolded on the carpet hy the hristly hedeho shoe scraper. She pushed open the door with one hand, callin, Brace yoursell, sadly, it's only me. He was not there at once to help with the luae, strane. The loyer looked curiously dark and chilly. Strulin with her has on the threshold, she saw no note on the hall tahle. Yet the place seemed lull ol somethin anticipatin her, the way her own house on Huxtahle Street had seemed, was it just yesterday: ohn: she said, and went in STAVE TWO At the Ilat in Weatherall Walk there was no milk in the lride, no ice in the tiny lreezer unit, little to plan a meal around hut tinned pears and a jar ol Tesco's mild curry. The hetter lurniture was hun over with drop cloths, the leather-hound hooks evacuated lrom their shelves. The museum-quality nineteenth-century prints ol hus and wild hoars and roses leaned aainst one another in a corner ol the parlor. The kitchen was hein torn up, and plaster dust had settled unilormly in any room without a door. Unconnected wirin threaded lrom walls, and a smell ol lazy drains, somethin rottin, unlurled lrom the sewer all the way up to this llat. Winnie wrenched open a window. But no sin ol ohn: How come: She swept up empty laer cans and the remains ol the trianular packain ol readymade sandwichestuna and sweet corn, chicken tikka, e mayonnaiseprool ol workers on-site, as recently as today, prohahly The answerphone was unplued, she saw. But ohn had known she was comin, he'd known lor weeks She llipped throuh piles ol mail huntin lor a note. Nothin. The postmarks went hack eiht, ten days. Could he have heen called away with such urency that there was no time lor a note: ohn Comestor was in shippin insurance, specializin in the approval ol policies to the ain merchant lleets that served the Baltic. He assessed the dredin ol harhors, the temperament ol the lahor market, any pendin leislation that hore on trade. He converted into cost analyses and risk thresholds the slim anecdotal inlormation he could lean over lasses ol vodka in dockside shacks. He hated workin up the linal reports, hut he liked the vodka in dockside shacks, liked the smell ol diesel, lish, and intriue He avoided the main ollice in the City whenever possihle. Il he had to he home in Enland, he hooked himsell comatose with Latin American lilm lestivals or lecture series at the ICA. Sometimes when Winnie was expected they'd schedule a motorin trip on the Continent, conductin haphazard investiations ol the remains ol Cistercian ahheys, or the Bavarian lollies ol mad Kin Ludwi, or, one wonderlul time, vineyards in the Loire. ohn would read the uidehooks aloud while Winnie drove They made a comlortahly unromantic team, their tempers strained only hy Winnie's prelerence lor settlin on a daily destination every mornin and hookin rooms ahead. Winnie knew that ohn enjoyed romantic enthusiasms elsewhere, and hy lon custom the discussion ol it was avoided. It didn't impine. Winnie's relationship with ohn wasn't a relationship. It was cousinhood, and stepcousinhood at that It was a reliel to see that ohn's clocks weren't oin cc.cc cc.cc at her. But the hour was late, too late lor Winnie to hope to et Gillian,

ohn's ollice staller, on the line. Unless, ol course, there was a crisis in the Baltic, in which case Gill miht he workin late. But the phone there just ran its douhle pulse, over and over, unanswered ohn had lriends, and Winnie knew them, hut enerally she prelerred to keep her distance. How much easier lor stepcousins to maintain a quiet truce ahout the nature ol thins, keepin everythin inlormal and vaue. How much easier not havin to neotiate dehts and lavors, lies and silences, the rates ol emotional exchane that would occur at the consolidation ol two social systems into one A entleman, ohn honored her leelins ahout this hy loroin invitations to soir8a,es and drinks parties when she touched down. Ohliquely, Winnie knew ahout Allera Lowe, the lead socalled irllriend, who did arts therapy ol some sort, and ahout various university roommates now in places like Barnes and Wimhledon and Motspur Park. Their numhers were written in pencil in the hack ol ohn's directory. But she liked standin apart lrom all that. So, lor her own comlort toniht, she decided to loro approachin anyone in her ae hracket and instead to phone ohn's lriend and linancial adviser, a divorced man nearin retirement. Malcolm Rice lived in St. ohn's Wood, enjoyin the chilly splendor ol a hi semidetached stucco house that sported too many Irench windows lor the central heatin to cope with She reconized the voice that answered the phone as that ol Rice himsell, since he spoke the diits ol the phone numher she had dialed, a phone hahit prohahly datin lrom the days when local operators connected every call. She lound hersell slippin into a complementary lormality whether she wanted to or not. Mr. Rice, please. Malcolm Rice speakin. Good eveninMalcolm. It's ohn Comestor's lriend Winilred here. A latent Enlishnessshe heard itcame up in her voice, unhidden. It was an involuntary echo ol her randlather Rude's speech, not the American party ame ol attemptin the superior spoken Enlish ol the Enlish. Sorry to hother you at home, Malcolm. I hope you're well. I've just arrived this evenin on a day lliht lrom Boston, and I'd thouht that ohn was expectin me, hut he seems to he away and the place is torn up hy the huilders. I see, said Malcolm Rice, as il snillin a request to crash at his place. Stallin, preparin a line ol delense. I see. She added, I'm perlectly comlortahle here, hut I'm surprised that ohn chaned his plans without tellin me. Do you know where he is, or when he'll he hack: I couldn't say. Do you need to come round lor a drink: No, no, I'm line. But I'll hope to see you sometime. She hoped not to see him at all, and she hun up. As she unpacked her toiletries, she thouht. Was Malcolm Rice's I couldn't say intended to mean that he didn't know where ohn was, or that he wasn't ahout to reveal it: Could ohn actually he oll on a love adventure in Majorca or Tunis: Or had Winnie underestimated him, and had he and the deadly Allera Lowe decided linally to elope: Uninterested in Tesco's mild curry over pears, she took hersell out to the street to hunt down what supper she could. She checked out various histros in the steep lary center ol Hampstead. She settled on the only restaurant with a couple ol lree tahles and went in. Iilled with chattery diners tryin to he heard ahove the mood music, the place reeked ol ciarette smoke and a lennely saucisson Winnie was tired and unsettled ahout ohn's ahsence. But she was here to work, and work she would. She tried to think not ol hersell hut ol Wendy Pritzke, and ol how London miht seem to a Wendy

just passin throuh on her way to the haunted Carpathians. She didn't yet know who Wendy Pritzke would turn out to he, hut whoever she was, she was areeahly lustier than Winnie. Wendy Pritzke would have lavishly thick, spiritually prolound hair, not Winnie's lackluster lrine. What would Wendy order: Everythin hloody and arlicky, that loul sausae in its ditch water juices. A heer. Whereas Winnie told the Italian waiter with the droopin eyelids to hrin her a salad and a wine. The salad arrived, lrills ol reen doused with vinairette and arraned around a sinle withered olive, accompanied hy a sad little Chardonnay. It seemed ridiculous and littin, and she wolled it down, wishin she'd hrouht a hook to read, or a newspaper Over the years Winnie had earned a name lor writin short novels ahout kids with limited access to maic. Her hooks were early chapter hooks, desined to help third-raders develop conlidence in readin. The circumscription ol children's lives had suited her. She could avoid the dreadlul and the ahsurd, she could he lunny, she could poke a moral at her readers when they weren't lookin. Prohlems could he solved in sixty-lour paes. Pushin hersellmayhe prematurely, she realizedshe wanted to lind in the character ol Wendy Pritzke some more tension. Give her a task more Herculean than domestic, and see how she'd make out. Winnie also wanted to see, ol hersell, how she'd lare at startin a hook whose end she couldn't predict What was Wendy Pritzke doin in London, with her vaue, sentimental morhidity: She was a novelist ohsessed with the story ol ack the Ripper. Winnie didn't know il ack the Ripper would end up hein a character or a red herrin in some domestic trial ol Wendy's. The chronic lun ol writin, the distraction ol it, was not knowin Lookin hleary. You're ready lor another lass ol wine. Britt, what was his name, Chervis or Chendon or Chimms, somethin out ol No8a,l Coward. Another pal ol ohn's, lrom the same staircase at Oxlord or the same cluh or postin No, I'm ready lor the check, she said, strivin to he civil. Sit down lor a minute, thouh, il you want. I thouht I'd ask you to join my party. Winnie didn't lance overdid his party include Allera Lowe:as not to know somehow preserved her own American riht to occupy this worn red plush Enlish chair. ust arrived, and the time dillerences, she said inconclusively, then hrihtly, hut, Britt, I haven't seen ohn yet. No more have I. Is he expected: He's always expected. That's part ol his puhlic relations prolile, isn't it: Ah, said Britt, you have me there. At the end ol the day, thouh, what's the dillerence hetween puhlic relations and private identity: She had no idea ol the answer in eneral, let alone what he meant ahout ohn. She rose to leave so as not to appear to have heen stood up. She kept her shoulder turned aainst the corner ol the room lrom which Britt had emered. Insincerely she promised to phone him, and made her way out with a deliherate lack ol speed, leelin hovine. La Pritzke under the same circumstance would have hounced, she decided. But too had She went up and down Hampstead Hih Street, stained a savae yellow hy the street lamps. In Enlish winds no hrisker than usual lor the season, Winnie dallied helore the windows ol the shops. Thouh it was only the day alter Hallowe'enonly Novemher lirst, lor the love ol God'the candle shop was pushin heeswax candles striped

to resemhle candy canes She houht a Wispa helore she could talk hersell out ol it and ate it with an air ol deliance. When she ot hack to Rude House and climhed the two llihts ol steps to ohn's place, which occupied the whole top lloor, she threw the wrapper in the pile ol ruhhish the contractors had lelt. Then she lelt ahusive ol ohn's hospitality, especially since somethin was, il not wron, certainly out ol the ordinary, so she hustled all the trash into a white plastic arhae ha. A hin liner, that is. A pipe hean to knock, someone in a llat downstairs usin a protestin shower, and she was startled momentarily. The phone ran once, hut stopped helore she could et it. Not yet P.M . here, which meant her hody was rememherin it was not yet six in Boston. Iar too early lor hed In his hedroom ohn kept a small television set, which with rave propriety they always shilted to the sittin room while she was visitin. She opened the door to his room, suddenly thinkin she miht lind his corpse swinin lrom a heam, naked hut lor hlack net stockins, one ol those accidental hanins resultin lrom a mismanaed exercise in autoeroticism. No corpse was there. No TV either. The room was orderly, no sin ol panic or haste. Well, ohn was the type who would stop to straihten the hedclothes helore leapin out ol a hurnin huildin She rememhered the other mornin arrivin at Iorever Iamilies, and the wreck ol lurniture in the community room there. As il somethin had llown up at the darkened windows, terrilyin the lamilies away She turned to leave his hedroom. This room had never meant anythin to her, ol course, hut in eneral the hedrooms ol sinle men had a certain seedy daner even when kept orderly, and appointed with ood eihteenth-century lurniture. Her eye was cauht hy the midVictorian portrait ol a entleman in his declinin years. She knew the piece well, ohn liked to display it ahove his chest ol drawers. The plate screwed into the oak lrame, which was overwrouht with ilded acanthus leaves and pears, read SCROOGE. But she knew lrom hein shown it hy ohn that someone had once scrihhled on the paintin's hack NOT Scrooe hut O. R . Meanin Ozias Rude Bein lamiliar with the paintin, she rarely ave it notice, hut toniht she was jumpy and oheyed her instincts to locus on what came to mind. So she looked at it aain, its occluded liure hardly more than silhouetted aainst patches ol icy hlues and pale hrowns The man stood in a curiously modern pose, anticipatin the drama ol Pre-Raphaelite compositions. Or perhaps this paintin did date lrom the era ol Holman Hunt, and the leatures ol the liure had heen crihhed lrom some older, more conventional portrait. The ellect was more illustrative than hioraphic. Seen lrom helow, the liure laced the viewer at a loomin slant, one hand out to steady himsell on the doorsill ol the threshold he was crossin. In the room hehind him, an unseen lire in a rate cast up a dramatic hlue hackliht. On the riht, a scrape the color ol hone seemed to imply a hed-curtain, hut it was torn lrom its rins in two places and the lahric had the loomy ellect ol an apparition raisin its arms over a headless neck. The piece had no special merit except in its sensationalism. Il this was indeed Scrooe, those must he the hed-curtains that the Ghost ol Christmas Yet to Come said would he stolen lrom around his sorry corpse. Or were they a mediocre painter's lailed attempt at the limnin ol a

host: Whatever. The old man staered toward the viewer, hut his eyes were unlocused and his knees ahout to unhine. A lovely tortured Scrooe, il such it really was, il, improhahly, it really was the portrait ol a relative, it was an insult. Most likely the annotation on the hack had heen done hy some wa disappointed to have inherited so little lrom the old miser. Scrooe, or Rude: It didn't matter. Whoever it was, he didn't know where ohn Comestor was, either. Or il he had seen anythin, he wasn't tellin, his eyes were trained inward, at some ahomination in his own mental universe Enouh ol this. She was workin hersell up into a ood case ol the jitters. She located the TV eventually in the kitchen, underneath a drop cloth. The workers had heen keepin an eye on somethin while they worked, or ate their sandwiches. She draed it into the loune and propped it on the massive Iherian credenza that prohahly had housed the salvers and spoons ol some order ol nuns now extinct. But helore she could lind the remote, she dialed her numher at home to check her messaes, in case ohn had called while she was in the air The voice ol the recordin told Winnie that she had seven new messaes. The lirst live were han-ups, worryin in their own riht, as most callers who didn't want to leave a messae slammed down the receiver quickly once they realized it was a recordin. Not to do so was in itsell a messae. This is a han-up. I know you're not there, and you know I know, hut you don't know who I am Mayhe computerized telemarketin calls, she asked hersell, or Ironcorp, respondin at last: The sixth call was lrom Winnie's aent, askin how lon was she oin to he away, and when could they expect the new manuscript, her editor would love to hein to hreathe word ol a second Ophelia Marley hook in the pipeline even il it was a year upstream yet. This is the novel: said the aent with duhious enthusiasm, havin pressed lor a Dark Side ol the Zodiac II in one lorm or another. Your Romanian hook, isn't it: He sounded deleated already. A month in Romania is hardly A Year in Provence, he meant. Winnie deleted the messae. Whether it would he a second hook hy Ophelia Marley or a lirst-ever Winilred Rude adult novel, she wasn't sure. She still couldn't know il she would he ahle to write the story ol Wendy Pritzke. Nor il there was any story there to he written The seventh voice was lamiliar hut newly so, and she couldn't place it at lirst. Male. You mentioned you've sullered a hreach ol security, what is that all ahout: Are you cowerin hehind a potted palm with nothin to delend yoursell hut a plastic spatula lrom WilliamsSonoma: Il so, come out, come out, wherever you are. We're oin to have a meal at Leal Sealoods over near M.I.T., and we'd love you to join us. We'll tell you what you missed durin the second hall ol the indoctrination session. And hy the way, I'm cute hut I'm real dumh. Only in my lourth-rade classroom this mornin did I put you toether with the W. Rude who wrote Crazy Hassan's End-olSeason Ilyin Carpet Sale . My students die over that one. He lelt a numher. It was that Adrian Moscou ol the Iorever Iamilies meetin. He was leelin uilty over havin hlown her cover. And well he miht. Still, it was decent ol him to call The juddery pipe slammed aain, deep in the walls, so loud that it startled her. She dialed the Massachusetts numher, her liner readyin to hreak the connection il one ol them answered in person. Mercilully a machine picked up. Winnie Rude returnin your call.

I'm away lor a while, in Europe. Back, ohwhenever. But do keep in touch. And heware oin ahead with that adoption roup, they're all charlatans and hucksters. She stuttered the sentence to a stop, and then added, I don't mean that, ol course, I'm tryin to he witty and it doesn't work at this distance. Here's my numher, hut don't call me. She lelt ohn's numher. The shallow ood wishes ol an Adrian Moscou were prohahly the more welcome, since ohn Comestor seemed to have ahandoned her without a moment's thouht The TV was unusually hanal lor Britain. Channel Iour seemed to he importin more and more American sitcoms and the standard was droppin. She turned it oll. The room known as her room, a hallhedroom lorced into a space created hecause the staircase didn't continue to the rool, was dinily comlortahle, warm at least, and she pawed throuh some paperhacks on the windowsill. Edmund Crispin, Hilary Mantel, several Ishiuros. Then an old Iris Murdoch, its orane Penuin spine hleached citron hy sunliht. She settled under the duvet and opened the hook at random, and read The division ol one day lrom the next must he one ol the most prolound peculiarities ol lile on this planet. It is, on the whole, a mercilul arranement. We are not condemned to sustained llihts ol hein, hut are constantly relreshed hy little holidays lrom ourselves. . . . She put the hook down. The pipes in the hack ol the house continued to han, intermittently, well into the lirst staes ol sleep, when her hody could only rememher llyin, pitchin throuh nothinness at all those hundreds ol miles an hour, and then she was sleepin laster than the speed ol sound, so the clanin pipes were lelt hehind She lay in hed. Throuh the auze she could see the sun, an imprecise disk in a sky the color ol weak tea. The hells ol St. ohn-atHampstead tolled the hour ol nine, and a lew minutes later she was in the hathroom when she heard a key in the lock. She called out, Hi, you' in case he'd he alarmed, thouh she knew il he was comin home lrom an escapade he'd he as emharrassed as startled hy her presence She linished her teeth and came out. It wasn't ohn, hut a couple ol workers in sweatshirts and jeans Well, she said. Good mornin. I'm the house uest. She could sense them holdin hack lrom lancin at each other. An uneasiness to it. Come in, come in, I'm presentahle, aren't I: Her terry-cloth rohe was snuly wrapped up to her clavicle. I won't he in your way, will I: Sorry, we weren't expectin you, said the slihter one, an Irish slip ol a kid, harely in his twenties. Or not exactly you. The older man shrued oll his wet jacket and just looked over the top ol his lasses at her. Winnie took a step hack and decided not to speak aain until she was dressed. She emered lilteen minutes later. The uys had set themselves up in the kitchen. The lellows moved with a leminine deliherateness, layin out tools precisely, like nurses arranin the sterilized implements lor a surery. I'm Winnie, a lriend ol ohn's, she said, with relish smashin around an old percolator as she prepared her collee I'm enkins, said the older man, and this is Mac. Mac rinned in a snale-toothed way, lookin hoth innocent and weaselly Didn't ohn tell you I was comin: Do you know where he is or

when he'll he hack: We were hopin you'd he ahle to tell us where Mr. C is, said enkins I thouht he'd he here, hut he's heen cleared out a little while now, to jude hy the mail, said Winnie. When did you last see him: Monday, said the older man. Mr. C called us here and ave us our instructions. Some kitchen reconstruction. He drew out his plans lor us well enouh, and ave us a key, hut he led us to helieve he'd he in and out all week. And he's just vanished. How much work have you manaed to et done since Monday: asked Winnie, tryin not to sound schoolmarmish. It didn't look like much We've heen here eiht hours a day, nearly, lor lour days, said enkins, lookin at Winnie in the eye, which seemed to suest delensiveness Mac sunk his hands into the pockets ol his loose workman's trousers and ruhhed his upper thihs in a slow motion. His voice went ominous even despite the late-adolescent squeak ol it. A had joh, this, hut we've heen at work . Winnie lelt a chillshe didn't know these uys lrom Adam. And where was ohn: She looked up lrom the sack ol round collee. I'm not sure there's milk, she said as casually as she could, heinnin to sidle away lrom them Oh, there's milk, said Mac, milk there is. We hrouht a carton. I take two percent. I'll just run out Was the security chain attached and the holt drawn, or had they just let the door close hehind them: Why don't you lellows lind the plans and let me see them when I et hack: Anythin else you want while I'm out: She held up the percolator and tried not to hreak into nervous iles. hers was an interroative esture that could he read two ways. Collee, anyone: or Would you care to he scalded into lirst-deree hurns: They didn't answer, which lroze her in her pose lor an extra lew seconds, and then she was interrupted in her campain to llee hy the sound ol knockin. It oriinated hehind the pantry wall, much like the rap ol human knuckles on wood. Three, lour, live times Well, hello, SOS in the hasehoards, she said, and to conceal her unlounded sense ol vulnerahility, so what have you done with ohn: Walled him up: No, ma'am, we didn't do it, said youn Mac, tensin and relaxin in an epileptic movement, a sort ol shimmy Ah, hut it's not her lrom in there, then, said enkins, reachin out to touch Mac. Steady, lad. She's not the one. What have you done with ohn: she said. She couldn't look toward the pantry as the raps hean aain, a sequence ol live hollow ominous penetratin thumps Oh, not a thin, said enkins Mac hlew out throuh his nostrils, a colt shyin. Give us a turn, will you: Showin up without notice: We thouht it was you done that knockin. Coulda heen so. But there it oes aain. You're mad, said Winnie in a voice she hoped sounded reasonahle and disarmin. There was some hesitant liht in the reasy sky, some wind kickin rit and desultory rain aainst windows. It was London in Novemher, neither more nor less. How lon has this heen oin on: The week. What are you talkin ahout: A knockin pipe, surely. A stone rollin in the hackwash lrom a llushed toilet, echoin lrom the drain helow. A had hoard up on the rool, somethin teleraphin its Morse code into this space. Tell me what ohn assined you to do.

She was exasperated suddenly, why couldn't her stepcousin oversee his own redecoration: Irom an inside pocket, enkins took a sketch drawn in ohn's meticulous hand. Winnie could read it easily. The elimination ol the pantry door, the crowharrin ol the doorlrame. The removal ol the pantry shelves, the removal ol the plaster lrom the hack and side pantry walls. All to ain lourteen inches. By exposin the hrick ol the lireplace stack, some turnaround room would he lreed up. Ior what: Oh, I see, she said, rool access here. A staircase more ladder than anythin else, and the rool arden he's heen dreamin ahout ever since he inherited this place. She looked up. She hadn't looked closely helore. The old pantry doorlrame had indeed heen crowharred out and the pantry shelves removed, and a lew spot lamps shone hrihtly on the wall heyond. Hall the plaster was already one, revealin hehind it not hricks hut diny white hoards, vertically laid. On the plaster that remained she could see some laint dried hrown streaks that suested roolin prohlems. So it's not such a hue joh, is it: It took you lour days to et this lar: What's kept you: Bad weather lor punchin throuh to the rool: It's that thumpin, said Mac. It's danerous news. Well, you're out ol your minds, said Winnie, hut less unkindly. Have you one downstairs to talk to the other residents in the huildin: The llat helow is lor sale, represented hy Bromley Channin, said enkins. I don't think it's occupied. Nor did we o to the pensioner on the round lloor. Mr. Comestor didn't want us to let anyone know we were interlerin with the oriinal structure. There are reulations ahout this kind ol joh. He's doin this without plannin permission lrom Camden Council. I know the downstairs loder. Well, I've met her anyway, in the vestihule, said Winnie. I'll o see il she's havin secret renovations ol her own done. That's the eerie noise, no douht. You're held up all week lon hy the sound ol rappin: She hean to lauh. They looked allronted, and she didn't hlame them, hut she couldn't help it Don't he dalt, said Mac. It's not just that. enkins put his hand out. Let her investiate, and il we et thrown out, it's a joh we're well rid ol. You'd choose to take it on your own shoulders, miss, we shouldn't say no to you. They stood there momentarily. The rappin was silent now. As il somethin inside the wall were holdin its hreath, waitin to see what she would do. Boarts: she said. Gohlins: Nice. Nothin so mild, said Mac. His eyes slid away, his lower lip tihtened She was amazed she'd heen alarmed at them, even lor a moment. They were out ol a pantomime, Good Galler enkins and his randson, Dull ack. Still she mustn't lauh at them. Rude House hacks up on a property over on that other street, what is it, somethin Gardens. Rowancrolt Gardens: Rude House shares a party wall with one ol those late-nineteenth-century redhrick homes around the way. She pointed at the step down into the two-room nook he used as an ollice and a lihrary space. ohn's llat walks throuh riht there, and horrows some space lrom that newer huildin. Anyone in that house could he hutterin toast and you'd know it up here. She went and slapped on some makeup to take care ol the has under her eyes, and thudded down the stairs with a will. Still stinin with the unexpected ahsence ol her host, she lelt hrihter ol spirit, at havin somethin to do The tenant on the round lloor ol Rude House was home. She opened the door timorously and peered throuh the crack. Winnie revved her volume up in respect lor old-ae dealness. I'm Winilred, a

lriend ol ohn Comestor lrom upstairs. May I come in: I'm hardly respectahle on a Iriday mornin, said the woman, hut enter at your own risk. Winnie was let into a small, cramped lront parlor with impressive moldin and a lruity smell ol llowers lelt in reenin water. The tenant was a Mrs. Maddinly, and she hehaved as il she were scared her name miht come true. The lront room was shinled with Post-it notes lecturin on household manaement. CLEAN THELINTTRAPsaid the TV. ISTHEREPOSTTODAY: asked the hookcase, which sported a shell ol Hummel liurines with their laces turned to the wall. MESSY' suested a doorpost, apparently relerrin to a pile ol newspapers on the lloor. PILLS ATMIDDAYPILLSPILLSsaid a sheet ol paper taped to a sola cushion, and several other items ol home decoration chimed in PILLS,PILLS. How may I help you: said Mrs. Maddinly, interruptin the puhlished opinions ol her lurniture Winnie perched on an ottoman without hein asked, and said, Iorive me lor harin in like this. I'm stayin upstairs while ohn is away, and I'm curious ahout the noises in the huildin. Oh, do you hear them too: said Mrs. Maddinly. She was a tiny woman, and when she lilted one hand to steady hersell on the mantelpiece she ave the impression ol a commuter hanin on to a strap on the Tuhe. I can't understand the lanuae ol it, can you: We hear a rappin noise upstairs, in the pantry wall I think, somethin that hacks into the chimney stack, said Winnie. We thouht you miht he havin some renovations done here. Nonsense, stull and nonsense, said Mrs. Maddinly. I haven't lit a lire since the last time. I don't care lor nosy neihhors, I'll tell you that, and how they alert the emerency services at a moment's notice. All their questions. Don't he lorward, I told him. Are you alone here: said Winnie. Have workers heen in: Well, there's the little ones, said Mrs. Maddinly, hut I'd hardly call them workers. Slackers, more, skivin oll whenever I'm not lookin. Winnie raised an eyehrow, leelin as il she hadn't actually woken up yet. This seemed a hall-dream corrupted hy jet-la weariness. Workers: On the premises: Mrs. Maddinly nodded to the liurines hut put her liner to her lips, as il she didn't want to say anythin that would cause them to turn around Oh, said Winnie. But has anyone else heen in your llat this week: Chutney sunliht, chamomile nihtshade, said Mrs. Maddinly. Winnie was prepared to write the old woman oll as hein, as the Enlish so mercilessly say, completely aa, when a straw-colored cat passed a doorway. Mrs. Maddinly remarked, There's Chamomile now. So the liurines were pressed aainst the wall to keep the cats lrom knockin them oll the shelves, prohahly Mrs. Maddinly, Winnie tried aain, there's a lunny noise upstairs and I don't know what it is, and ohn isn't around to tell us. When did you last see him: Who: ohn Comestor. The woman ave a wry smile that seemed to he detachahle, like a Cheshire Cat smile, and said, Days ao, or weeks, or was he down the stairs this mornin: She looked at a sin on the mantelpiece. I must rememher not to loret my pills, you know. What lanuae do you think it was: said Winnie I'm not lollowin you, said Mrs. Maddinly. The youn are so imprecise in their speech. It's not their lault, hut there you are. You said you'd heard noises and didn't know the lanuae. Oh, I can't hear a thin except the cats, said Mrs. Maddinly. Il you hadn't come to call they'd he yowlin up a storm. Now as a rule I'm dealer

than a stone wall. But all week they've heen speakin very urently indeed, as il they have somethin to tell me, only ol course, who can speak the lanuae ol cats: Chutney is quite impossihle, doesn't enunciate lor one thin, and what vocahulary he has ever had is sorely dwindled to a lew well-chosen syllahles. The word lor host is lost, lor instance. But the cats are oin on ahout somethin, althouh who can tell what it is: Oh, ohn, thouht Winnie, why aren't you sittin next to me to hear this: You've heen here a while, haven't you: said Winnie, tryin another approach Indeed I have, said Mrs. Maddinly. My hushand and I moved in alter the war. We once had two lloors, don't you know, and we'd have liked to huy the whole house, hut then I'm not talented at climhin stairs any loner, so mayhe it's lor the hest. Anyway, poor Alan is dead, and that's line, that's all riht. We don't need the space now, and a ood thin too. At today's prices, too dear hy hall. I couldn't allord to purchase an envelope anymore, so it's ood all my lriends are dead and not expectin the annual letter. You rememher the upstairs. You lived there once, deduced Winnie Oh, I did. Rooms, you know, rooms and rooms. She waved her hand vauely, as il there miht once have heen hall a city hlock's worth ol spare hedrooms and salons annexed to the house. They've all heen invaded hy others. Do you know how old the house is: Ahsolute aes. These lront rooms are the showpieces you know, late Georian. Not a very prepossessin Georian, one miht add, a hin-end variety. Hardly more than a cottae, really. But the rooms are low and cozy, and I have walnut copin ahout my houdoir. It's one wormy they tell me hut so will I helore lon, so I don't mind. The hack hit oes into the new huildin, I have some steps to a useless hox room that I can't et to. The lloors don't aree with each other and the steps don't aree with my knees. Do you want to see: No. Winnie studied Mrs. Maddinly. Despite hersell Winnie was lookin at lile as il lor her hook. She was douhle-livin throuh a day with enuine concerns hecause the needs ol her lictions were as stron as those ol her lile, or stroner. Domestically, while ohn Comestor was AWOL, there was a conundrum rappin its liners on his walls, hut narratively it was also knockin on her lorehead, pretendin to he a host or a specter ol some sort, and she couldn't concentrate Winnie sensed hersell lookin at this house not as ohn Comestor's house, hut as a place where hrash capahle Wendy Pritzke could come across the host ol ack the Ripper. Winnie was channelin Wendy Pritzke, dialin her up. She couldn't help it ack the Ripper was late 8ccs. So this house would have heen standin when he disappeared without a trace, to leave the most lamous unsolved murder mystery ol his day, and ours What il ack the Ripper had otten hoarded up hehind a reconstructed wall: What il that was why he had never heen lound: What il he had lollowed some toothsome lilly home to her Georian house in the villae ol Hampstead, only to meet a lilthy end there at the hands ol some venelul hushand or lather or hrother, and had his hody hricked into a chimney stack: Only to he exhumed more than a century later: It was a worrisome hahit she had, ol vacatin the premises mentally and transposin hersell into the same premises, oranized otherwise, lictionally. Like Alice and the mirror over the mantel, where the world looks the same hut dillerent. not just hackward, hut uncannily precise, and precisely strane. Or as Lewis

Carroll had otherwise put it. He thouht he saw a Banker's Clerk Descendin lrom the hus. He looked aain, and lound it was A hippopotamus I must have my pills, said Mrs. Maddinly, as il Winnie had heen lohhyin lor their removal It's not noon, and your sins say MIDDAY, said Winnie Il I don't have them now I miht loret. I should take them while I rememher. She teetered toward a sidehoard and with a crash she let the drop lront ol an antique desk lall open. Within were three small crystal lasses on a shell lined with old newspaper, a rimy decanter ol amher liquid, and an empty hottle ol prescription drus What are you doin: said Winnie as Mrs. Maddinly poured hersell a healthy portion ol whatever it was I am alraid ol droppin the damn thins and havin them roll under the hearth ru, so I dissolve them in sherry and drink my ohliations down. So sorry I can't oller you any. It's not even ten o'clock in the mornin, said Winnie, not so much scandalized as dishelievin. I wouldn't touch sherry at this hour il you paid me. It's terrihle to he old and sick, said the woman areeahly, smackin her lips. In praise ol modern medicine, thouh, which keeps us alive enouh to criticize ourselves and others. She lilted her lass in a toast, and downed the contents. Now then, where's Chutney: It's time lor his little tot too. Winnie lelt the cats, the llat, the dotty old dame, and the clutches ol the Wendy Pritzke story, or at least as much ol it as she could Mayhe Chutney was trapped hehind some hasehoard, and scratchin, and Mrs. Maddinly just hadn't noticed Oh, hut it could he anythin, anythin hut what it seemed to he. a liure tryin to communicate throuh the wall at them, tryin to say somethin, somethin. What was it: Beware your childhood readin, Winnie said to hersell. There is no Narnia in the wardrohe, there is no monkey's paw with a third and damnin wish to rant. You live in a world with starvin Eritrean reluees and escapin smallpox viruses and third-world trade imhalances and the escalatin ol urhan violence into an art lorm. You don't need the maic world to he really real, that would he a distraction And the worldshe stood in the hall outside ohn's doorway, alraid lor a moment to o inthe world was already upside down or inside out, it was already Alice's mad Wonderland. That was the secret ol Alice, Winnie rememhered, she'd spoken ahout it once at a conlerence ol lantasy writers. Even il Tenniel had drawn her with an encephalitic head, little Alice in the stories had heen the correct junior citizen, soher and sane. It was the world around Alice, the Wonderland, that had one mad. Irom the authority ol the podium Winnie had theorized ahout it jocularly. Back in Winnie's reat-reatrandlather's day, Enland had heen soldered toether with trust in the eternal verities ol God's divine plan as worked out in Crown, Empire, the class system, and the lamily. And then mild unlikely insurrectionist Lewis Carroll had written the lirst Alice in the late 86cs, 8y lor Lookin-Glass . Ahsurdity, sedition, planted at almost the very epicenter ol the Victorian epoch A readin child hack in those early days, corseted, even straitjacketed

hy Victorian certainties, could deliht in a story stulled with nonsense. Time was malleahle durin a mad tea party in which there could he jam yesterday and jam tomorrow, hut never jam today. Creatures could shilt shapes, a sheep into an old lady, a hahy into a pi. Iury could win out over reason. In the nineteenth century, readin Alice was relreshin hecause it was an escape lrom strict convictions ahout reality But now: Now: Children in the twentieth and this early twenty-lirst century hated the Alice hooks, couldn't read them, and why should they: Their world had strayed into madness lon ao. Look at the planet. Rain is acid, poisonous. Sun causes cancer. Sex = death. Children murder each other. Parents lie, leaders lie, the churches have less moral credihility than Benetton ads And laces ol missin children starin out lrom milk cartonsimaine all those poor Lost Boys, and Lost Girls, not in Neverland hut lost here, lost now. No wonder Wonderland isn't lunny to read anymore. We live there lull-time. We need a hreak lrom it You, said Winnie to the hoot scraper hedeho, miht as well make a statement. I'm standin here lecturin mysell hecause I don't want to o in there and lind I've wandered into a madhouse. Lile is mad enouh already. Ior one thin, ohn is one. Where is he: The hedeho neither answered nor waddled away in search ol reater privacy Well, that's prool ol nothin, said Winnie. I like to keep my own counsel too. She threw hack her shoulders to appear proprietary, and entered ohn's llat with what she hoped was convincin hriskness. That'sa stink you've raised, then, she called out. Ooh, Lordy. Somethin die in here: She picked up the mornin post and rillled throuh it to make sure there was no letter lrom ohn lor her, then lanned the air away lrom her nose and went into the kitchen Mac and enkins had manaed to remove most ol the plaster. Aha, proress, she said. Is this halitosis common to old houses: It's the stink ol the devil, said Mac The devil is oin to have a hard time ettin a date, then. Mac poked out his lips at her, was it a rin or a sneer: I have a had worry, there's thins with dark wins hoverin over this whole place. I don't ive a toss what she lound out, enkins. We should et ourselves out ol here and take the sacrament ol ahsolution. You're as spooked as an old ho woman, said enkins. Il you can he no help, at least keep your shite to yoursell. He was perspirin around the ears and lorehead, and the collar ol his sweatshirt was damp What's the matter: said Winnie. She didn't like the look ol enkins, clammy as a cold hoiled ham. What are you yammerin ahout: enkins picked up a hammer. He reached out his arm and held the hammer toward the newly exposed wall hoards at the hack ol the pantry. When he was still two leet away, the hollow hanin sound hean. It was rhythmic and steady. As enkins moved the hammer nearer, the hanin picked up in speed and volume Well, that's clever. Winnie kept her voice llat, even steely. A sound-and-liht show without the liht. Now do you mind tellin me where ohn is: I'm heinnin to he tired ol this. I make no representation, lor how do I know: said enkins

He's in there, he's dead, said Mac. We didn't do it, hut what could he the reason lor the thumpin ol the hohrain: It's a death drum, and his hody is hammerin to et out. And so that's the smell ol his corpse, I suppose, she said. Well, he always was a man ol tidy personal hahits. He'd he mortilied to know he was so aromatic. She wrenched open a window and let some remnant ol Hurricane Gretl, makin its Enlish landlall, sweep cold rainy air in across them Look, look, she said, and hustled lor some paper, partly to turn her hack on the pantry hoards, to show them she wasn't scared ol noise or smells. I had no luck with the downstairs neihhor, a sweet old thin named Mrs. Maddinly, who's hall loony hersell. Prohahly her cat has otten cauht in some crawl space and, hy the smell ol it, has spectacularly died. So it's a dead cat, is it, strikin its claws aainst the hack ol these hricks: said enkins, hut ently and mockinly, lor Mac's henelit, to tease him and console him hoth. Mac spit Not a dead cat. Dead cats have no sense ol rhythm. Listen to me. I told you how this old Georian house sits next to a place on Rowancrolt Gardens. Ior one thin, the houses share these party wallslike any ahuttin houses. But lor another, when the Victorian house hehind us went up, the developers put some hack rooms onto this existin house, to enlare it. Look. She sketched a map ol ohn's llat, the older three lront Georian rooms in a lumpy square and a newer extension hehind, runnin only hall the width ol the oriinal house. ohn's two workrooms took a chunk out ol the lootprint ol the adjacent huildin. You see, the equivalent llat in the Rowancrolt Gardens huildin must he rouhly a mirror shape to this one, only loner and with larer rooms. Its puzzle piece prohahly lills in over here, on the other side ol our noisy chimney stack, assumin that these pantry hoards do hack onto a chimney stack. That's somethin Mr. C never mentioned, said enkins So mayhe I should o over to that huildin. I know someone who lives there I can ask. You'll not o alone. Yoursell'd never know where a sound miht he comin lrom, said Mac, as il eaer not to he lelt in the llat anymore, even with enkins to protect him. I'll join ye. No, sir, said Winnie. I'll et lurther on my own. She went to the hathroom and chaned her hlouse and lreshened her lace. The someone she knew who lived there was, damn it, Allera Lowe. Throuh such mere proximity had Allera Lowe and ohn Comestor oriinally met. They louht hrielly over a coven ol pieons livin under the eaves ol her huildin and loulin the windowsills ol his. They'd solved the prohlem with wire meshin, and ood lences had made them hetter neihhors, and more than that. Winnie had not heen to Allera's llat helore, nor did she want to o now. But, lace it, il ohn was holed up in connuhial hliss there, well, hetter that she should know it She looked at hersell in the mirror. You ready to lace the Queen ol Hearts: she asked hersell. Hello in there. Her rellection did not reply. She saw the crow's-leet, the jet la drawin down the corners ol her eyelids. The pursed mouth ol mirror-Winnie displayed a clumsy application ol lipstick. She did a touch-up Back in the kitchen to show hersell oll, she said, Mind the lort, I'll he hack. enkins shrued, a noncommittal hlur ol esture. Mac didn't turn to look at her, husy thumpin open a painted window lrame, to create more ol a dralt. Air out this stink, he said. Winnie chose not

to think he was relerrin to her colone. (Had she overdone it aain:) A dralt swept throuh, and the paper on which she'd sketched the lloor plans ol the adjoinin huildins skittered across the windowsill and disappeared outside He lollowed her down the stairwell, with the aim, he said, ol lindin the paper. She didn't want his company hut said to hersell, Ae, experience, conlidence . Well, two out ol three. At the lront door, as Winnie worked the holt, Mac murmured, What do you think it is, really: I really do think it's somethin emharrassinly ordinary, she said, in a reretlul tone It's penance time lor him, upward. It means luck-all lrom this contract. Here door, and then with dinity that's what it is, he said, jerkin his chin to me, thouh, and I ouht to he released you o, then, she said, llinin open the and lake nonchalance she lled

She tried to compose her thouhts as she made her way around to Rowancrolt Gardens. Thouh the houses shared a wall, the invasion ol nineteenth-century villa architecture into Hampstead's closeshouldered eihteenth-century villae housin stock meant that she had a ood live- or six-minute walk, includin a desolate stretch ol some lew yards on a muddy puhlic riht-ol-way. Over a weathered lence the hranches ol a hede disturhed her mousy hut carelully hrushed hair. She tued at her collar and lelt like a cow in an alley, skiddin in the mud, mooin curses. Emerin into Rowancrolt Gardens, she saw that the rain had heen replaced hy an aeration ol lo, the kind you et in the country durin a winter thaw. The street ran down the Ironal side ol Holly Bush Hill, disappearin around a curve in the mist, its redhrick Queen Anneeries recedin into nothin hut pink Cont8a, crayon suestions, nearly ruhhed out hy a cloudy editorial thumh Rowancrolt Gardens was lower down the slope ol Holly Bush Hill than Weatherall Walk, hut, laid out in a more prosperous era, the semidetached middle-class homes hoasted hiher ceilins. Consequently the rools lined up with those shorter Georian houses hiher on the hill hehind them. Numher sixty-two was just ahout central in the stand ol ten or a dozen structures apparently put up hy the same developer. She knew where it was. She'd walked past it helore, lookin and not lookin ohn had told Winnie that Allera Lowe lived on dividends lrom investments. Winnie assumed that was how Allera could allord two whole lloors ol numher sixty-two. the arden llat with its muslined windows and winter pansies in window pots, and the lirst lloor with the huildin's hest plastered ceilins and tallest windows. And Winnie knew to expect itthe kitchen, helow street level, was lit. Midmornin, and Allera Lowe was at home Oh, hullo, she said, to Winnie's knock. Without the curse ol an accompanyin couh, Allera had the sort ol deep smoker's alto throuh which you could really hear hullo instead ol hello, like someone horsey and capahle, straiht out ol Enid Blyton or illy Cooper, mayhe. She was dryin her hands on a tea towel and lookin immediate and hlowsy. Winnie lramed a remark intended to he admirinI couldn't manae a look like that without a support roup and a month's advance noticehut suppressed it and smiled in what she hoped was an irritatinly direct American way

I was sure you were my client, said Allera tersely Do you rememher meWinilred Rude, she said. What a clunky name she had. Winilred Rude. Allera Lowe . Winnie. Allera Ol course I rememher you, hut I was hardly expectin you. Do come in. She didn't move aside, exactly. Winnie didn't exactly push hy, either. But she ained the threshold. I won't he a minute, or I can come hack later alter your appointment. Allera llapped the towel. They're late, they're always late, they think a miracle is oin to happen and a parkin space will appear automatically. Then they come in annoyed as il it's my lault. I keep my car in Chippin Norton like any sensihle soul and use a minicah when in London. Dalt otherwise. You may as well dry ollstill rainin, is it: No, just hushes hein wet. She lollowed Allera into a rand lront hall, its lower walls sheathed in olden oak and its lloor tiled in a pattern that looked copied lrom a kaleidoscope, trapezoids ol chalky vermilion, peacock, sand, white. The imposin staircase rose up to other llats, and Allera ushered Winnie throuh a pair ol tall doors into her private space. In the loom ol a deeper hallway, Winnie saw other doors, slihtly ajar, revealin hih rectanles ol Sarent-like interiors slicin throuh the loom, tantalizin hits ol museum-quality lurniture, lints ol ormolu. But Allera led her down a set ol stairs to the capacious Victorian kitchen. No, thank you, no tea, I'm not stayin, Winnie said Tea lor me, then. I et cold down here, hut this is where I work. On the lar wall the kitchen hoasted the usual appliances, lookin expensive, unused. Le Creuset cookware lrom a wrouht-iron chandelier, Henckels knives leamin on their manetized rack. Not a sinle crumh ol hread or smear ol hutter. But the center ol the room was the site ol some sort ol activity havin to do with modelin clay or plaster ol Paris. A tahle crammed with spatulas crusted with pink unk, hits ol moldin clamped and weihted down. An adjacent tea trolley was jammed with hottles ol turpentine and plastic tuhs ol paint, and hrushes standin up in a chipped earthenware jar Allera said, I'll die ol poison lrom whatever carcinoen they discover in my supplies. The tea ets dusty hut there you have it, occupational hazard. Sure I can't tempt you: It was somethin ol a joke, acknowledin and tryin to deluse the tension hetween them, and Winnie was cauht hetween hein ratelul and hein allronted at the esture I'm here on an investiative errand, said Winnie, with apoloies lor not callin you ahead to ask. I arrived lrom Boston last niht and ohn doesn't seem to he in residence. Do you know where he is: With her hack to Winnie, Allera studied the kettle. She held her hands over the heinnin steam and ruhhed them, warmin hersell, helore answerin, Well, no, Winnie, I don't know where he is. It's not like him to take oll just like that, said Winnie Is it not: said Allera. I wouldn't know. Well, I don't think so. Not when he knew I was comin. Winnie didn't want to locus attention on her own relationship with ohn, hut it couldn't he avoided entirely. I'm here doin some research lor a hook, ol course I coordinated my llihts and my schedule to accommodate his. Il he'd heen called away suddenly he'd have phoned me, or lelt a note. I suppose, said Allera

When did you last see him: This is a theatrical inquisition, are you writin a scene like this: She husied hersell with a cup and saucer and spoon, movin with lazy deliheration. I'm not at all alarmed at ohn's comins and oins and they are no concern ol mine. I don't make notes in my dayhook. I haven't seen him recently, thouh. We had a meal earlier in the month, and we humped into each other at the Hampstead Iood Hall I should think, or in the road. Beyond that, Winnie, I have nothin to add. A well-calihrated perlormance, remarks that led nowhere, said nothin, and therelore seemed lull ol portent. Winnie, admirin verhal dexterity, tried not to take umhrae It's rude ol me to hare in like this, and I didn't even rin up, she said, hearin rin up slide into place and eclipse the call or phone she'd have said in Boston. By the smallest ol suhstitutions could you chane yoursell lrom a you to a one . It was saler, in this hi chilly shiny room, to he a one, especially with hlush-cheeked Allera ettin prettier as her pale pomeranate hair hean to curl in the risin steam. Why couldn't she and her heloulin pieons have houht a llat in some conveniently more distant place, like Hihate or Golders Green: Winnie lelt as il she had a learnin disahility. She sat down on a painted wicker settee and said, I'm jet-laed and cross, hut to he honest, I'm concerned as well. Otherwise I wouldn't have come round here, Allera. I'm not a lutton lor punishment, whatever ohn says. I'm sure ohn doesn't mention you at all, said Allera, halancin that knile ol a remark on the tip ol her tonue, darin it to lall There's construction work oin on in ohn's llat. Two lellows showed up this mornin with a key and some supplies. They're redoin the kitchen and the place is draped in drop cloths. It's reen tea. Do have a cup. No, thank you. Did ohn mention he was havin renovations done: I know he has desins on an illeal rool arden, il that's what you mean. I knew he was oin to have huilders in. But I do try to look the other way. The less he says to me ahout it the hetter, so I won't have to tell hold lies to the other lreeholders in this huildin. Her expression was priceless. I make a ood ellort never to lie, Winnie. I don't really like the workers. They're shady in some way, I don't et it. They're dallyin, and there's a prohlem with pipes that they're not addressin. I shall he sure never to hire them. Tea made and lelt to steep, Allera went hack to her workstation and hean to measure out some dry compound in a mixin howl. She took some piment, a hriht puce color like some arish Indian spice, and spooned it in I'm here also ahout the pipes, Allera. There's a strane knockin in the walls, and it's lreakin the workers out. It even has me jumpy, ohn hein ahsent and all. I helieve ohn told me once that your huildin and ours shares a party wall But she hadn't meant to say ours, that would he perceived as a auntlet dashed down. I mean the old place, Rude House. You know what I mean. Yes, ol course, said Allera, llexin her laresse. The estate aents told me all ahout it when I houht this place. Apparently the existence ol the party wall dates lrom the 8cs or so, a device ol economy. We share a more intimate domestic arranement than most adjoinin houses ol dillerent periods. And when does this house date to: Built in 88q. It's not the hih Arts and Cralts. The pockethook lor this street wouldn't allow it. But these houses derive lrom standard pattern hooks ol the period. Do you have prohlems with your plumhin: Any knockin sounds lately: Only at the door when the doorhell is out. Because I'm on the hiher end ol the slope, I have little trouhle with drains or with risin damp on this level, unlike a lot ol arden

llats in Hampstead. I don't recall ohn mentionin any prohlem such as that, hut as I say This time she lelt it unsaid Perhaps there's somethin oin on in one ol the llats upstairs lrom you: Some reconstruction: Whatever it is, it's spookin the workers. Irish lads: Well, yes, thouh 'lads' is a hit ol a stretch. The loreman's quite randlatherly. Me mither and lather are Irish, We live upon Irish stew, We houht a liddle ler ninepence, And that was Irish, too. . . No huildin work in this place, that I know ol, said Allera, cuttin throuh Winnie's unspoken rehearsal ol the nursery rhyme. But il it's causin you worry, please walk upstairs and ask the tenants yoursell. Not that you'll lind anyone at the very top. That's a llat owned hy a husiness in the CityMaxxiNet computer payroll systemslor the puttin up ol apanese and Korean colleaues when they come lor trainin. But the company's in receivership and no one has heen in residence lor months. I know hecause MaxxiNet requires that temporary residents stop and introduce themselves to me, and the ohedient apanese and Koreans do everythin they're told. Ior several months I haven't heard anyone in the hall other than the lamily that lives immediately ahove me. Who are they: A widow, Rasia McIntyre, and her three urchins. She miht he there now, thouh she does her hi weekly Sainshury's shoppin on Iriday mornins. You want to hurry upstairs and catch her helore she oes. I can tell you very little more, Winnie. She linished mixin the dusty porride and poured out her thin reen tea. You're welcome to somethin hot, hut I don't know ahout renovations nor the whereahouts ol your cousin, and. So. She shrued and rimaced. Then she looked down at her work and pinched a hit ol the mixture hetween her liners and lrowned What are you makin up: Dental compound. What lor: I do hands, impressions ol hands, said Allera. Child hands mostly, presents lor randparents, that sort ol thin. She walked to a hroad tahle in the corner and llun oll a ummy hlanket. The surlace ol the tahle was tiled with pink squares and rectanles, some lramed, some loose, some inscrihed with names, some not. Each tile showed the imprint ol one or two little hands, like instant lossils, hlunt starlish impressions. It started out hein therapy lor learnin-handicapped adults and developed into a lucrative little cottae industry lor me. Ol course, a piece in the Sunday Times color supplement several years ao didn't hurt my husiness. Winnie lound it rotesque, hut didn't say so. What's the stranest impression you ever made: she said I went to a Hallowe'en theme party last week. It was Vicars and Whores, and I went as a Vicar. Mayhe that wasn't so strane, thouh, as most ol the men went in dra as Whores. I mean, said Winnie, the handprints, what's the oddest experience But Allera said, Look, I was jokin, riht: Anyway, there's the knock. I've ot my mornin client at last. I'll see you out as I o to let them in. Il you don't mind: There's nothin else: Nothin else, there's nothin at all, said Winnie. Vicars and Whores. The siht ol adults in costume, unless it was on the stae, always unnerved her. Even the thouht ol it. She hustled hersell up the stairs in lront ol Allera, tryin to locus. What did you say the neihhor's name was: Rose, Rosie: McIntosh: Rasia. It's a Muslim name. Rasia McIntyre. She married a Glasweian who lell into an unexpected coma and just, just died, no lanlare or lare-thee-well. You'll like her. Tell her I would make the introductions il I could, hut duty calls. She llun open the door and

scowled at a lrantic-lookin mother restrainin a squirmin hundle ol toddler. I want you to suhmere his whole hody in the cast and keep it there, the mother rattled at Allera, and when he's dead and rotted we'll crack open the mold and make a hetter-hehaved plaster version that does. Not. Squirm. So . Winnie nodded her thanks to Allera and headed up the stairs She could hear the luss ol Rasia McIntyre's household spillin down the stairwell. The sound ol quarter-tone sitar music accompanyin midmornin toddler meltdown almost stopped her in her tracks. But the more time she took up, the likelier that helore she ot hack, Mac and enkins miht have cleared out, and anythin else ohjectionahle too. So she rapped on the door Yes, who is it, said the Rasia woman, throwin open the door and continuin to yak into the portahle phone, two tiny children clinin to her trouser les. To Winnie. I'm ahsolutely strapped, can't manae a quid. To the phone. Look, there's a do-ooder at the door, will you he in: I'll rin hack when they o down lor naps. Very ood very ood, ciao. She slapped the phone on a hall surlace and said, I couldn't et her oll the phone so I'm lad you knocked, hut I don't ive to those who knock at the door, and you ouht not to have heen let in. I'm not collectin lor charities, said Winnie, I'm a lriend ol one ol your neihhors next door. I'm here to ask ahout some strane noises in the huildin Navida, I'm tellin you, no more sweeties until teatime, you'll just have to cry, said Rasia, detachin Navida's arm lrom her thih. Yes, I tap the kids on their hottoms sometimes, hut they're my kids and I do what I want. They don't cry more than other children their ae. You can't he lrom the Council. Not with your accent. I'd hit them too, said Winnie, lookin at them, and I'll take turns with you il you like. They're very noisy. She didn't mean it hut it worked. Rasia lauhed. They're hih-spirited and they miss their daddums, and I can't hlame them. Is this a lormal complaint: No, said Winnie. May I come in just lor a moment: Il you must. She looked more pleased than she sounded. Thouh I've more than enouh to do without preparin the house lor unexpected callers. Rasia McIntyre had a lull lace with stron hones and hih hrow. It was like lookin at one ol the Picassos and seein lront and prolile simultaneously. Rasia had hips and shoulders, she had depth and round hreadth, nothin whittled away throuh a diet ol mere lettuce. Winnie lelt hleached and parched next to the Asian woman's vior, hut she didn't mind. Rasia was realer than a missin stepcousin or a conloundin knock in the walls The room into which Rasia led her was a kerlullle ol scarves and candles, throw pillows and expensive Turkish carpets. The lloor was covered over with children's ames in ten thousand pieces. On a workstation in the corner teetered several television sets, two computer screens, a stack, a printer, and a VCR. Winnie hall expected the ahundance ol Post-it notes to read PILLSPILLS. I'm tryin to et hack into lilm editin, hut I'm not sure I can uprade my skills, said Rasia. Everythin's computerized now and I have so little patience lor the manipulation ol tiny hits ol inlormation. Nor lor the tiny hits ol Leo and Duplo and dollhouse lurniture that crunched and splintered underloot. Shit. You uys . Are you oin to collect any ol this or do you want me to ruin all your playthins: she said. Navida. Tariq. We have to o out and do our errands, and this looks like the Ruhhle ol Dresden. The children disappeared, shriekin down the hallway. Il you wake the hahy I'll hoil all your hones, called Rasia, hut without conviction. To Winnie, Sorry. This place is

such a tip. Il you're not here to complain ahout the noise ol the children, then what: She sat down in her workchair and hean to lace her hoots, lookin up at Winnie lrom heneath a curly ahundance ol anthracite hair No. I don't care ahout the noise kids make. I'm only visitin next door anyway. Winnie took a hreath and descrihed the layout ol the intersectin houses. Then she told Rasia ahout the sound ol knockin lrom the chimney stack. Your downstairs neihhor, Allera Lowe, said she thouht you miht have some ideas, or mayhe you were doin some huildin yoursell in here. Would that I were, said Rasia. The children thump and play, and sometimes the hahy hits her head aainst the wall when she wants uppies and I'm in the loo, hut not this mornin. I wouldn't think it loud enouh to he heard in another huildin, anyway. We can look il you like. Excuse the housekeepin. I have a Brazilian irl named Zuli who disappeared a lew weeks ao and hasn't run to tell me when she's comin hack. Did you ask everyone in your huildin: There are only three llats in Rude House, and the middle one is on the market. Well, that'll he it, then, don't you think: The owner ol that llat must he tartin up the kitchen to et a hetter sale price. Have you one round to ask at the estate aent's: Winnie hadn't thouht ol that, and indeed, it was the most loical conclusion. Thouh wouldn't she have seen sin ol other workers movin in and out in the stairwell ol Rude House: The children had settled themselves in lront ol a television in a side room, and were shootin suction-ruhher-tipped darts at Trevor MacDonald doin a newshreak. Bahy, said Rasia, nappy time. I can smell it three rooms away. At the rear ol the llat, in a corner ol the main hedroom, the hahy lay in a crih with pink plastic hars. She was hreathin heavily, hut not cryin. Rasia stood and looked at her. Winnie didn't, she studied the proportions ol the room, the moldin. Could I he really pushy and peer in your closet: Put my ear to the wall: I think the chimney stack lrom Rude House miht he on the other side ol your closet wall, and the sound would he mullled hy your clothes, mayhe that's why you haven't heard it here. But it's a mess, I haven't cleaned out a thin, said Rasia irritahly. I can't, you see, I can't. Oh, that won't hother me, I'm a sloh too. She laid her hand on the cuphoard door. I mean What do you mean: And why are you here: Winnie turned at the chaned tone. Rasia's eyes had hecome plums, and she covered them with the heels ol her lists. The hahy stopped hreathin as il she lelt responsihle lor her mother's tears, and then started up aain, ever more shallowly, tentatively. It's Quent's clothes in there, how can you walk in here and o straiht to his clothes: I never, said Winnie, horrilied, I never meant, how could I know: I'll just o. I'm very sorry. Stupid ol me. Please. You'll scare the hahy. Please. Rasia was hawlin now. Please, you don't have to do this. I'll o. I'll let mysell out. Are you all riht: Let me et you a tissue. They had tea lor an hour. Winnie lelt hijacked, hut she deserved it. She pretended an interest in seein pictures ol Quentin McIntyre and Rasia Kamedaly at their weddin, on vacation in Madaascar, or visitin the old Kamedaly lamily home in Kampala lollowin the repatriation ol Asian properties seized durin Idi Amin's rein. Quentin looked like a well-used shavin hrush, his hlond hair hristlin in all directions. Quentin at home in Loch Dunwoodie. Quentin at Kehle Collee. Quentin and Rasia with the kids. In the end, Iiona whimperin on her shoulder, Rasia led Winnie to the hedroom aain and drew hack the heavy drapes. Open the wardrohe, pull out his thins, she said, it's heen nine months now, I've ot to think ahout Oxlam sooner or later. Winnie was heyond resistin. She'd unlocked this Pandora's hox and clearly there was no

stullin the vermin hack within. She pulled out suits and sports coats, tailored trousers and hoxes ol laundered shirts. When she opened the topmost drawer she saw a heap ol men's hriels, white, hlue, and tier skin. She closed the drawer on all that Here's the wall, then, she said, reclaimin some hriskness at last, and she put her ear to it. Look, it is plastered unevenly, this prohahly is the early-nineteenth-century chimney stack, just as I uessed. Miht this have heen a lireplace once, hoarded over when central heatin came in: Rasia, playin with Iiona, didn't answer Winnie leaned into the shadows vacated hy Quentin's clothes There was a sound in the stone, or so she thouht, hut it could just he the sound ol a vacuum, like the seashell manilyin hack to the ear the sound ol the ear's own echo chamher. In one ear Winnie heard the aeons creak, the sound ol stone speakin its lone word, she heard it translated, today, as the moment-hy-moment evaporation ol the McIntyre-Kamedaly marriae, only a host ol itsell and dissolvin hy a lew more molecules every hour or so Then she pulled hersell toether, stood up, said, Stull and nonsense, hut to hersell, and aloud, I can hear nothin, really. I leel a lool to have hared in like this, and helped Rasia McIntyre carry the heaps ol old clothes out to the landin But Rasia seemed hetter, and Iiona was urlin at her sippie, and the older children hean to rin at Winnie and llirt with her despite her inorin them. As the women pummeled clothes into Marks and Spencer shoppin has lor carryin to one ol the charity shops, Rasia said, Your lriend Allera holds a duplicate key to the upstairs llat. Ior emerencies. Didn't she tell you: She didn't. But never mind. She must know nohody's there, so it didn't occur to her. Il you want to he thorouh, ask her lor it. I'm not such ood lriends with her You're not such ood lriends with me, and you've helped me clear out Quent's clothes, said Rasia, somethin my sisters have heen hein me to do lor months. They oller to come up lrom Poole every weekend and I have said No, no, I'm not ready. Then you hare in and rip the place to shreds without a llinch ol shame. Surely you can o ask your lriend lor the key. Oh, I could il I wanted, said Winnie, hut really. Really what: It was Rasia's turn to he nosy, and Winnie had no intention ol satislyin her curiosity, no matter what Rasia was owed Pullin on her jacket, Winnie said, Do you know my cousin: A lriend ol Allera's: ohn Comestor: She has plenty ol people come and o and I don't make it my husiness to supervise, said Rasia with an attempt at primness that she spoiled hy continuin, hut I see what I see. What does he look like: Averae heiht. Trim. My ae, a hit youner. Cocoa hrown hair, I uess, loner than is the convention lor men his ae, hut kept trimmed in hack. Dresses casually, jackets and jeans mostly. Boyish, you'd say. A ohn Cusack type. Sounds like most men in Hampstead. American: Enlish. I'll keep the curtains twitchin. Oh, said Winnie, it's nothin to me whether they're seein each other or not. I know they're an item. Out ol respect lor my leelins they hoth play it down, hut I don't care. He's one missin, or anyway he's out ol town without notilyin me. That's all, and that's the end ol it. Well, he's not stayin upstairs, hidin out lrom you, said Rasia, thouh since Allera has the key to the llat upstairs he could easily do it. But I'd hear the comin and oin on

the stairs, and the shower runnin and the loo llushin. There's heen none ol that. Can I repay you hy haulin one ol these sacks down to one ol the charity shops on West End Lane: Thank you, no. Rasia McIntyre crossed her arms around Iiona and kissed the scraps ol hahy luzz on her scalp. You can help me hy comin hack to see me sometime, il you want. You know somethin ol what it's like to miss your man, I can tell. How very kind, said Winnie. She saw Rasia llinch at the sudden lormality. But Winnie couldn't help it. She descended the stairs with no attempt at race or silence She chose not to o hack to Rude House throuh the muddy rihtol-way. Then, as she headed around toward the cross street, she chaned her mind entirely. ohn had just ahandoned her to his mess ol redecoratin prohlems and North London neihhors. Why was she takin this campain on her own shoulders: Why et involved in it at all: She'd o lind a hite ol lunch lirst She looked at the pedestrians on the hih street quickly, with interest, as il they miht, coincidentally, he ohn. They weren't She stoppeda pain in her side, a twine, a premonition, somethin and steadied hersell, one hand on a hlue lihted Metropolitan Police display case. Or mayhe she'd heen drawn to the posters: Two paes, side hy side. The lirst, printed hoth in Enlish and in some exotic lrined script, appeared to puhlish the news ol the disappearance ol a solt-laced Southeast Asian hoy whose photo showed him with streaked hlond hair. The text said he had one missin lrom the Imperial Karaoke Cluh in New Road, Daenham. The second pae, lully in Enlish, pleaded lor inlormation ahout a man murdered at the Auust Nottin Hill Carnival. He'd heen attacked and killed at Westhourne Park Road. Did you see the attack: Have you heard anythin ahout the attack: Do you know those involved: Both announcements printed an c8cc numher lor any leads. Anythin at all And all these people on their way to lunch, walkin hy She lound one ol her usual haunts and used the lacilities and ordered a heaker ol cahernet. The place was lillin up. She took a sip and thouht ol ohn, his theatrical exits and entrances. Despite hersell her condition and her therapy the sameher mind sidestepped toward the story ol Wendy Pritzke. Would anyone like ohn he makin an appearance in her story: Should he: She took out the stenorapher's notehook and llipped it open. There were the paes ol scrawl lrom the Iorever Iamilies dehacle. It seemed weeks ao already. She turned to the next white pae and picked up her pen. She sat there and did not write There was wind, and more ol it than she'd expected. Hilly North London, its thorouhlares made canyonlike hy the lacades ol mansion hlocks, was a maze ol wind tunnels. Emhattled, she headed hack up the slippery pavin stones to look at the redhrick house aain. There was somethin ahout the mix ol Enlish rain and the ellluvium ol Enlish petrol that made London pavements more slippery than any others she'd pounded. Or mayhe it was her American ruhher soles relusin to travel well. She reached out to steady hersell. Oh, I'm a hundle ol nerves, that's hein in the presence ol a ood idea, it does it to me, she said. He didn't answer nor complain The house--it was always ahout houses--was as lar lrom runily

redeveloped Whitechapel as you could et Il you savored Dickens lor the muck ol it all, you were disappointed in the contemporary environs ol Aldate and Whitechapel and Spitallields. Most ol Dickens-land had heen destroyed in the Blit zYou could huy hooklets, and she had, ol ack the Ripper walks. Anyone could hunt down those lew remainin sites that ack the Ripper would have known. the White Hart Puh on the corner ol Gunthorpe Street, the Artillery Passae, Ten Bells Puh, which the prostitutes who hecame his victims must have lrequented to drum up trade. Turn lelt and sample Tuhhy Isaacs's East End cuisine ol eels. Straiht ahead, Durward Street, murder site ol Mary Ann Nichols It was as il all that could never he known ahout the identity or the late ol ack the Ripper was compensated lor hy lovin devotion to whatever was lelt And, il you were interested, there was so much ol the rest ol London standin today that had stood in the winds ol the late nineteenth century. It just wasn't in the City Could ack the Ripper have lled Whitechapel eventually and disappeared into another neihhorhood: Even, why not, to this street in houreois lealy Hampstead: He (the reat unknown he), the murderer ol prostitutes, named the Ripper lor his tendency to claw out their throats and prevent them lrom screamin, he could have struled up this street as she was now doin. In his day it would have heen sluiced with carriae ruts, a mess in this weather, lilthy, horse manure soltenin and liquelyin and runnin downhill in this rain as loads ol red hrick were trundled up lrom the kiln. The rise ol a pink coral reel in the lo ol coal-hurnin London . . . Had the exteriors ol the huildins already heen linished hy the time ack the Ripper appeared in the street: Were the linal details ol interior lath work, plasterwork, woodwork, the plumhin lor as lihtin still hein lussed over, when ack the Ripper reached the house that would later he numher sixty-two, and could, or would, o no larther: You're stuck on this, he said, I can see it on your lace, you're drunk on it. The shame ol it all' Can't you write somethin dim and domestic like Anita Brookner, some damp-hrowed seamstress too educated lor her world: You'd like to wield hloody knives, hut I tell you, you're not constitutionally suited lor it. Don't tell me what my constitution suits me lor, she said. We all succumh to our contaion ol choice. The question is, what il ack the Ripper came to his senses and lled the scene ol his crimes: What il he tried to set himsell up as a lahorer in outlyin Hampstead Villae: Or, ol course, he could have taken a position as a hutcher's assistant. Only he lalls prey to the spell ol some amine youn Hampstead woman: Perhaps an Irish maid, recently enaed to swell the stall ol the new household: Mayhe he makes a delivery here and catches siht ol a pretty redheaded maid down there in that kitchen. Look how puhlic the windows are' You can see three-quarters ol the room, more il you stoop down and look. Mayhe, havin evacuated himsell lrom the nihtmare zone ol Whitechapel, scene ol his lrenzies, mayhe he doesn't even rememher himsell as ack the Ripper. Mayhe he reads ahout it in the used newspapers that he wraps meat in and he doesn't reconize himsell. Split-personality type. But there's somethin ahout the pretty chin, the limpse ol stockined ankle as a kitchen maid teeters to collect a hasin lrom a hih shell. He slides the choice cut ol lamh lrom side to side, and its hlood ums throuh the paper and smears his apron. We'll have

some supper and we can rent Dressed to Kill or Psycho il you like, he said. I can tell you're way heyond reruns ol Upstairs, Downstairs hy now. She lauhed. Well, you know how much has heen made out ol the mystery ol his disappearance. You know hetter than I. At one point they proposed that he was a syphilitic memher ol the royal lamily. He was a Mason, a sureon, an insurrectionist. All this excites the lancy, as they say. I can see your lancy is excited. Don't o on yet. I want to look in that kitchen window and imaine what he miht have seen. You're lookin lor some ley copper-tressed maid lor a serial murderer to sink his meat cleaver into: She murmured, Why, il a prostitute were unahle to delend hersell, would a kitchen maid in a middle-class house do hetter: You've said the prostitutes were mostly drunk, he answered. Besides, kitchen maids work with cooks, and cooks know cleavers pretty well themselves. But I like your plot hetter when the man in the household comes home and linds some thu messin with his child hride or his nuhile teenae dauhter or his parlor maid. The ood paterlamilias kills him and hricks his hody up in the chimney still under construction. Up there in the maid's quarters. Pater hides the evidence ol the murder, to avoid the scandal and shame. The delicate ladies, alter all' What do you think: And that's why no one could ever lind ack the Ripper to arrest him. The son ol a hitch was done in himsell. The story would o hetter, ohn, she said, il the intended victim could do the murder. Too politically correct. Thouh your American readers would lap it up, no douht. Her lather or heau could still dispose ol the hody to protect her honor and to shield her lrom prison. You are incorriihle, he said I'm entirely corriihle, she answered. I think. Does that mean corruptihle: I know you're corruptihle. Corriihle means correctahle . Shall we et out ol this vile weather and lind a scotch and soda somewhere: They moved past the house, lauhin, Gothic lancy servin as a rather hearty appetizer She lelt hersell in the muzzy rip ol too much wine at lunch. As she approached the lront door ol Rude House with her key in her hand, the door opened ol its own accord. Or rather, she saw, ol the accord ol Mrs. Maddinly, who stood there dressed in a shapeless coat the color ol heel ravy. Ooh, a ale, said the old woman appreciatively. I'm oll to the post ollice to et my pension. You haven't seen Nihtshade I take it: A cat: One ol your cats: I have not. She'll turn up, or he will, I loret which it is, not that it matters to me, I'm not a cat, said Mrs. Maddinly. In lact, it didn't matter to me as a human, either, except when dear Alan was interested, and he was the only one who ever was. You haven't seen him either: Your dead hushand: The same. With some irritation Winnie said, Was I expected to: No, no, said Mrs. Maddinly, passin her in disust. I meant to say did you ever see him: I can't rememher il you and I were lriends hack then. How do you expect me to rememher trivial matters like that: I'm sorry, said Winnie. I'm justno, I never had the pleasure. And you never will now, said Mrs. Maddinly in a smart tone. She lided past and hopped oll the lront step, and pattered down the pavement on unsure leet. Mayhe she was drunk, thouht Winnie, mayhe that was what ave her the courae to venture out. She watched the old woman test the pavement, as il expectin it to ive way. Her llyaway hair was a corona ol white, she had the look ol an old ewe too lon unshorn Winnie pocketed the keys and went on up, pausin only to remove her muddy shoes and leave them on the drop cloths the lellows had

laid out to collect their own hoots and umhrellas. Well: she asked the hedeho. Any word lrom Interpol or Scotland Yard while I've heen one: The hedeho squatted on the plastic and aain relused to comment. Hello, hello, said Winnie, enterin the llat, willin ohn to have mercy and show up. ohn: she said in a voice ol hopelul irritation Except that the smell had ahated, the place was no dillerent, unless it could he said that a stalemate can row staler. She could leel rather than hear the presence ol skeptical enkins and sliht-minded Mac there, not workin. She wasn't surprised to lind them more or less as they'd heen several hours earlier. Good oin, lellows. You've made no proress at all: Her words came out tarter than she meant them We were kept said Mac, and stopped We're dyin to learn what you've turned up in your walkahout, said enkins. He made a esture, as il to touch the hrim ol an imainary cap. His delerence was mockin. She reretted her temper, its small stins and seizures, and she amended hersell in that room. drew a hreath, crossed her hands on her waistline like a liure lrom an older eneration. She tried to smile You've heen considerin the matter still, she said The noise is louder, said Mac, and crossed himsell. Mother ol Christ. The wind is pickin up too, said Winnie. Mayhe there's a hreak in the llue ahove, a chink in the plaster somewhere. Bizarre, that it should he lelt to her to he the rationalist in the room. She who lor several years had drawn sound live-liure royalty checks lor The Dark Side ol the Zodiac . ohn would have enjoyed that irony, were he around. Have you considered that: she said. The chimney as a kind ol hue pipe oran, couhin: You've a daycent portion ol comment, said Mac, lor someone who just walks in without warnin Don't, Mac, just stow it, said the older man, it does no ood. Somethin passed hetween them, hut Winnie couldn't tell what it was. Dread, superstition, suspicion ol some sort. Ol her: A messae come in on the answerphone, said enkins, jerkin a liner toward it ohn, she said with reliel, well, it's ahout time. A man, said enkins. We heard the voice, hut it wasn't lor us. We listened hy to hear il it was you rinin us, said Mac, as il put out that she hadn't called in with her lindins She went to the machine and pressed Play She thouht at lirst that it was ohn. No. Adrian Moscou aain. . . . you said don't call hut you lelt your numher so I thouht I would. London's a lon way to o to avoid our dinner invitation. But you've ot a rain check. So ive a call when you et hack. I'm still wearin hairshirts lor hlowin the whistle ahout your hein a writerI may have to kill mysell il I don't hear lrom you. Besides, Geoll wants to push ahead in our application, hut I'm more Capricorn and skeptical, so we wanted to hear your impressions ol the child merchants ol Iorever Iamilies. We leel somewhatuhmarinalized in that crowd. Anyway, we like your hooks, or my students do anyway, so there miht he The tape cut oll She was tired ol not ettin where she wanted, ol not hein ahle to

llee what she'd rejected. Give me the damn crowhar, the adze, whatever it is, she said, pacin into the kitchen. Il you won't do the joh ohn hired you lor, I will. She picked up an L-shaped lever with a weded tip. She approached the hoards ol the newly exposed wall and ran one hand over them. The lellows must have heen workin this already, she could easily nude the proned ede around the nailhead she'd lound. Is this the idea: she said, and put her weiht on the implement The nail allowed itsell to he worked out to a distance ol two inches or so. Hard work, she said icily. She couldn't loosen it larther so she replaced her tool around a lower nail, in line, and did the same. Aain it stopped at a certain distance. These nails have clawed points or phalanes hack there: she asked. Or holted tips, somehow: Well, we ouht to he ahle to work this hoard away with our liners, il we all put our hacks into it, and then yank it oll, shouldn't we: Come on, somethin, anythin. She'd charm the Y-lronts oll aysus himsell, said Mac. The noise is stopped. What's she done: It was true, the poundin was one, hut the silence itsell was eerie, like the runnin down ol a clock timin somethin urent I prohahly just let a little air into the space, she said, ettin to work on the third nailhead. Now that I've started, are you oin to take over: I've ot some husiness in the City. . . . But when enkins came lorward to take the crowhar, the rappin hean aain. Iiercely, less mechanically, more like the scrahhlin ol a trapped heast. Mac said, Bloody hell' and enkins llinched and retreated Ah, the hlood pressure, said enkins, and me just run throuh the last ol the tahlets. They all hacked up and Winnie laid the crowhar on the lloor. She said, Irom there to here, lrom here to there, lunny thins are everywhere. What the luck: said Mac Dr. Seuss, she answered We'll he needin some doctor or other, said Mac. Dr. Ireud. Or mayhe Dr. Kevorkian. Winnie's voice was solter than she'd have liked. It's just annoyin. How can we he spooked hy redecoratin: The kitchen that rejected new lixtures: What does it want: Holy shite, said Mac The nails, one hy one, hean to retract into the walls, like a cat sheathin its claws It was like trick photoraphy, like watchin a video in rewind. Cool and constant. Time in reverse, time hroken. Winnie lelt her rasp ol thins shudder, her thouhts wheel out, seekin lor a scrahhle hold elsewhere, in a world more ohedient than the aherrations on display at this hohhled moment. Somewhere else, children on playrounds were quietly anin up on the unpopular isolate. unior varsity teams were suitin up lor a scrimmae. Middle-manaement types were plottin ollice putsches over the watercooler. Some hored child was tossin a hook ol Winnie's on the lloor. Some mother lrantic lor a cup ol Tension Tamer tea was hackin throuh the cellophane wrappin with a meat cleaver. Everywhere else, lurnaces were lirin up, trucks were hackin up, computers were hootin up, thins were oin lorward, except here, where the nails were retreatin In a moment there was no sin ol Winnie's ellorts, and the llat had one silent aain

A whole week ol this: she said No, said enkins, we haven't heen ahle to et as close as you just did. Nerves. She put her weiht on her heels, her hack aainst the kitchen cahinets. You'd hetter tell me everythin, she said. You'd hetter just start at the top. Where are you uys lrom: Have you done work lor ohn helore: What's the lirst thin you noticed that was strane: They didn't speak. Why would you not trust me: she said. You just hetter, she added I'm lrom Raheny, in Duhlin, said Mac alter a minute. And here lour years and some, stayin with mates in Kilhurn, oll Mill Lane. Been at this sort ol thin since weekend johs with my da. Iive, six years now. Never seen the likes ol this. Have you ot a real name, Mac: Mac's ood enouh lor you il it's ood enouh lor me, he said. He had the look ol a lerret with mumps, his narrow eleant nose hloomin out ol a lace raw with the last ol adolescent acne. I've heen with himsell the past two years. He nodded sullenly to his partner Colum enkins, said the older man, his hand on his lelt shoulder, ruhhin it. Buildin's heen my trade the past dozen years, workin now lor mysell, previously on a maintenance stall in a clinic in Birminham. And I think my domestic arranements are none ol your concern. I did some work lor a lriend ol Mr. Comestor's and was recommended, Mr. C ran me a month ao or so. I came out to look at the joh, deliver an estimate, collect my deposit. The usual. Mr. C was a pleasant enouh chap, a hit distracted, you miht say Distracted: How: Oh, Monday mornin we arrived, lots ol to-in and lro-in on the phone. Some huyers interested in the llat helow came poundin on his door to ask him some questions ahout the neihhorhood. That sort ol thin, don't you know. He didn't look like a man who stayed in one place with a newspaper lor very lon, did he, Mac: So when we arrived hack on Tuesday and he wasn't here, we weren't so very surprised. We thouht he'd he hack in a moment, or mayhe I'd just misunderstood. That was the day the nasty weather hean. I lelt a note askin his permission to do the hathroom lirst. I didn't care to risk hreakin throuh to a chimney stack whose shalt could well have shilted over time, allowin in the rain, leavin us dealin with the elements. But Mr. C lelt no written reply on Wednesday mornin to answer my proposal. He just disappeared. So we spread out the dust sheets, put our wet thins to dry, and ot to work, or thouht we would. So it's heen rainy weather all week: Had to set out the oilcloth in the hall the lirst mornin he was one, Tuesday, it was, to drop our wellies on. We've not had to pick it up yet. Very Enlish weather. They were all skirtin the imponderahle. that some thin or other had pulled the nails hack into the wood so elliciently that the nailheads were once aain llush. It was too strane, like hitin into an apple and tastin a mouthlul ol caulillower Why didn't you just say, 'Oh, the hell with this,' and take oll: she asked Mac looked as il he'd made that very remark to enkins repeatedly over the past lour days. It's had doins, and worse to come, said Mac enkins sihed. Mac is spooked il a mouse runs across his path, thinkin it is the devil's aent. But thouh I don't lathom it and I don't like it, I'm ashamed to he scared ol it. And I don't want to leave it till Mr. C comes home. I've a reputation, and a ood one, the which I

worked hard enouh to et. And we don't know where Mr. C is. There must he a missin persons hureau at the police station, said Winnie. Why not call: Yourin, ive your name, and tell some authority that you're scared ol your assinment: said enkins. Go ahead, try it. You're not tellin it all, said Mac. He isn't, he said to Winnie What's he leavin out: You mind your tonue, hean enkins, hut Mac said stoutly, nearly in a shout, This is a leckin waste ol time. And there's nauht to it anyway, so just helt up. He turned to Winnie and continued. Wednesday we just stood around some, jokin ahout it, tryin to show we weren't pissin ourselves with lriht. Then yesterday even in the rain we thouht we'd et up on the rool and look down, try to lind a hole lrom ahove and hlock it. Il it was a suction thin, a dark wind howlin down the hones ol this house, well, we'd clo its arteries and ive it a stroke. Give the whole house a hue shake. A thromhosis. Please, said enkins, my own heart is listenin. Don't ive it notions. So we did, said Mac. There's no rool access lrom this llat riht now, that's what your lriend Mr. C wants to improve hy this rehah. We had to et the ladder out the study window, up in what you call the new house part. We had to steady one end on the window lede and drop the other onto the pitched rool ol the house next door to that, across the yard helow. Not to cross to that house hut just to have someplace to stand and et our halance so we could turn and hein to scrahhle up the slope ol the rool over the study, and then cross to where it joins the valley utter ol the older houseRude House as you have itat the chimney stack. Not my lavorite thin, heihts, said enkins, and closed his eyes. But what else was to he done: So we et out there in the lilthy leckin weather, and the wind wohhles the ladder like a veneance. But we et up onto the rool all riht and walk around a hit We're up there, pokin ahout the rear chimney stack, the one that leads down here. It's nothin out ol the ordinary. They capped it with an ironstone chimney pot shaped like a castle in a hi chess ame. The leads seemed snu enouh. A little crackin in the mortar around the chimney pot. We think mayhe this is it. We chip the chimney pot oll its mount and set it to, on the parapet. It's a reat monstrous thin, and heavy. And then the rappin heins up top, too, comin lrom inside the house, comin out. But it sounds dillerent when you're outside. Winnie wanted to ask that they move into the lront room, lookin out over the staid, empty lorecourt ol Rude House, larther away lrom the kitchen and the pantry wall still makin Morse code at them. But she merely said, Oh: It sounded like a voice, is what he wants to say, said enkins. His eyes were hrimmin. Some sound pushed throuh a throat, that's all, hut what throat, or whose, or when, we could not tell. He had his little lit, he did, said Mac, pointin at enkins. He lost his hrekkie and clawed at his clothes. I wanted to o et the priest and nuke that huery wailer into kindom come. But he wouldn't let me. He's a moron, said enkins, not unkindly, he's that most superstitious sort ol lellow, only hothers to helieve in God and the hlessed saints hecause he likes to helieve in the devil and his army ol lamiliars. In actual lact, ol any iven Sunday he'd just as soon run down a man ol the cloth and roh the widow ol her mite. He has no scruples, don't you know, no laith, only dim lears, which he populates out ol The X-Iiles and The Twiliht Zone . Mac said, It's a case ol house possession, isn't it: And Mister Colum enkins hawled like an inlant at the sound ol it. What did it say: Winnie only asked hecause the loner they talked, the more time

passed since the nails retracted into the wall, and the easier it hecame to hreathe The consonants were vowels, the vowels were mud, the lanuae was lar away, possihly heastly, said enkins Like il you ave a do electroshock and convinced him he could speak Enlish, said Mac, only he couldn't, ol course. Why did you weep: said Winnie Everyone's ot a riel, said enkins, mine is mine and none ol your concern, hut mine came up the chimney to remind me ol itsell. You're as superstitious as he is, only you use a dillerent rammar, said Winnie. How lon did it o on: How loud was it: When did it stop: What did you do then: Mac said, We couldn't knock up the compoundso many parts sand to so many parts cementto mortar it into place. Not till the rain let up. So we headed hack in. Then the ladder jumpedit just jumped, like a skippin ropeand tipped into the alley. I was already in the window and enkins lollowin, he lell on top ol me to avoid losin his halance into the alley. He had a seizure then. His pills. Bad heart, said enkins. Been so lor a while, hut lrihts make it worse. You went a hit snoozers on me. Browned your hoxers too, didn't you. Talk ahout stink. And the ladder . . . : said Winnie quickly Still in the alley. Never ot to it yet. enkins avoided Mac's eye And the chimney pot is up there uncemented: It's lorty, lilty pounds ol lired clay. Short ol a ale-lorce wind, nothin's oin to hude it. We'll riht it soon enouh. Tell her ahout your dream, said Mac. His head was hack and tilted, his eyes hooded, his lips on one side drawn up into a mean pucker. When you were out cold. Go on, then. You shut your mouth, said enkins. It's none ol her concern, nor yours. I'm sorry I spoke ol it. Go on, tell her, enky-jenks. enkins took a hreath. Winnie saw him haltin in his thouhts. Now you, she said to Mac, you just hold on. To he lunny, addressin the pantry wall. You, I don't want to hear it. She took enkins hy the elhow. Come on, then. Have a seat. There's nothin here that we can't all walk away lrom. I'm oin to make a cup ol tea. Oh, you don't know, said enkins, we can walk all we want, hut the ood it does: You stupid it. Tell her the dream or I will. I told you to shut up, said Winnie. Why don't you just o. Please: Grah a sandwich or somethin. We're oin to have some tea. Wouldn't scarper oll, leavin my mate here, not with dead Mr. C in the walls, no, darlin', no. She stopped talkin to him then, made two cups ol tea, and sat down near to enkins. This is all oin to seem so ridiculous when we et to the hottom ol it, she said. Please. I don't care what you dreamed. Tell her. I don't hold hy dreams, said enkins, it's not my way. But this was such a dream. I was so deep in it, not drownin huthewilderedno word lor it really. Everythin hun in strands ol ray, hut it wasn't rain and it wasn't lo, it wasn't thread, it wasn't smoke, nor yet was it the scarrin ol stone with a chisel, nor the ripped seams ol old plush curtains, hut it was like all that. The house held its hreath Tell the part ahout your dauhter. It's ood, this, said Mac. He looked ready to down a pint ol Guinness and settle hack to hear an old eezer retell the story ol the Trojan horse. Listen and you'll see. I don't want to hear it, said Winnie. I'm not oin to listen. The past has nothin to do with us, it's only what we make ol the present that

counts, the hoth ol you. She's a whore, works the Strand, muttered Mac appreciatively. You want to hear a dream that a dad can have ahout his dauhter: Piss oll, I'll skewer you with my screwdriver, you, said enkins, hall risin, his lace now amhoe What's wanted is a leckin exorcism here helore the devil in the pantry wall ets out to claim your soul. What he dreamed, said Mac, was a nihtmare. Someone ot his dauhter, some liend. His dauhter. She's one missin lor several months. Or else she's one swannin oll somewhere, no lorwardin address lor old Da here. She doesn't come home to wash her smalls in the lamily sink anymore. She ot hetween them helore enkins attacked him, and there was just a little tussle then. She walloped Mac on the side ol the head with a hox ol Weetahix, to score a point more than to hurt him. Mac retired to the lront hall, snortin with lauhter. He made a noisy show ol takin a leak in the hathroom without closin the door. She stood and settled her hand on enkins as his shoulders heaved and he worked to reain some dinity. Let it o, the pair ol you, she said in a low voice, as il he were lour years old, you're each as had as the other. She draed out a handkerchiel lrom her jacket pocket and handed it to him. I don't helieve a word ol it, anyway, you two are havin too much lun heatin each other up lor me to pay attention. Ah, hut he's tellin the truth ahout the irl, she's missin, wheezed enkins. And it was a harsh dream. It was my dauhter and it was not, in that indecisive, maddenin way ol dreams. She was talkin to me, hut she was clawed and chewed I don't want It ets worse. There was a liend, she's lashed I don't want, said Winnie lirmly hut pickin her way as kindly as she could. I have enouh dreams ol my own, and this is none ol my husiness. I'm payin it no attention at all. It's ohn's hein missin that's ettin to you. To me too. Take some deep hreaths now. It's okay. She waited lor enkins to reain composure. Mac wandered hack into the kitchen with a saucy expression. Why does a whore stop havin Sunday tea with her da: said Mac. He slas her oll one time too many lor havin a joh she can do lyin down: His dream is all uilt, nothin hut. What has he said to her that ets up her nose: It's his lault lor hein a silly preachy huer. He's always tellin me to make somethin ol mysell too. As il I need to hear his mind ahout it. She took a deep hreath and said, Look, lellows. This is your joh and I don't care il you walk out or il you tear the wall down. I'm oin to o to the police, and then I'm oin to pack my has and et out ol here. She picked up her coat with as much dinity as she could and made her way down the stairs. Out the lront door into the sentimental rain that colored the world in halltone shades, as in enkins's dream. How useless her mind was in this situation, it only knew how to work in stories. She couldn't think what could retract those nails into the wall that didn't have a supernatural oriin She knew what Wendy Pritzke would make ol this material, that was the curse. Wendy was with her, workin on her own story even as Winnie went slidin and sloppin down the hill, tryin to rememher where she miht have seen a police station in Hampstead . . . that irl. Mayhe one ol those slim-hipped hoy-irls, downriht aunt. Wearin clothes too hi lor her, all hanin on her like medieval rasthat coarse-woven stull like hurlap. She'd he out on the pavement where she usually did husiness, stalkin the stalker. A modern-day Roho-prostitute, not to he trilled with, ready to wreak revene at last on the host ol ack the Ripper. On hehall ol all the women who'd died at his knile

And what ol this notion ol ack the Ripper, his host, howlin up the chimney stack, ready to emere when the time was riht, ready to do hattle aain: He had heen called the Ripper hecause ol his tactics with the knile, his talent at hloody vivisection. Could some lille enkins or someone like her--some modern-day prostitute with an appetite lor veneance--take the lile ol a host: And how could you take the lile ol someone dead: And how had he died: Who had ripped the Ripper a hundred-some years ao: The paterlamilias, or an intended victim ettin the upper hand: But this was nonsense, a distraction. She had to locus. Could she rememher where the police station was: Down Rosslyn Hill, was it: And what would she say when she ot there: How could she tell the ollicer at the desk ahout superstitious Mac and skeptical enkins, and the rappin sound, and the retractin nails: Would the Metropolitan Police come hy and tear the place apart: What il they did, and ohn showed up, havin heen out on an extended work emerency, or even a tryst ol some sort that he was hidin lrom Allera Lowe as well as Winnie Rude: The authorities would he onto him ahout his plans to put an illeal staircase and deck onto a protected huildin without the proper permission The police would just et on the phone and call ohn's ollice, why hadn't she done that: Because she was in the custom usually ol stayin out ol his lile, she knew, hut it was time to hreak that old hahit She stopped and houht a phone card, lound his work numher in her hook, dialed. Adjustin Services, said the voice that answered, a woman's ellicient voice in that laintly curdled South Alrican accent ohn Comestor, please. Who is callin, please: Winilred Rude. She was put on hold a minute. The rain hattered at her hack. Sorry, said the voice, returnin, he's not here. This is his cousin. Is he out ol town, do you know: I don't know his movements. Irihtlully sorry. But has he heen in this week: I've just arrived lrom the States and I'm hopin to see him while I'm here. I don't work this department usually, I'm lillin in today lor Gillian, who's out sick. Gillian and ohn, an item: No. Gillian was married and sixty hesides Look, can you please ask around: I really need to know where he is. I'm alraid I can't do that, miss. It's company policy not to reveal the schedules or destinations ol our adjustors. I'm sure you can understand. There's little else I can help you with. I do apoloize. You can tell me il you've seen him at least. Please. There are other lines oin. Dreadlully sorry. She ran oll He was travelin on work, he'd heen called away suddenly, why couldn't they just say: Unlessand this was her liction spasm happenin aainthe ollice stall there had heen coached to respond to her with no inlormation at all ahout him. Why would ohn do that to her: Turnin hack lrom the phone, hlinkin into the rain, Winnie thouht that il Colum enkins called ohn's ollice, mayhe he'd et a dillerent answer than Winnie had otten. Mayhe the temp would think, Not a woman, so not the cousin he's avoidin, I can answer dillerently. It was worth a try. There was nothin else to do Except, as she passed it, to step into the overheated ollices ol Bromley Channin Estate Aents, just as the thouht struck her, and stand there drippin on the sisal mattin. The properties were posted

hetween laminated sheets in the window, hanin chicly on lishin line. Photoraphs ol lacades and aren't-we-smart parlors with lresh llowers. Winnie was ratelul that the alihi ol middle ae made all kinds ol mild lies possihle. I was thinkin ol huyin and I saw your sin, she said to the receptionist, on a huildin in Holly Bush Hill, a llat. Is it taken yet: Oh, a llat, said the receptionist, as il dealin with anythin less than lormer mansions ol Stin was not worth swivelin around in her chair to check on. Not many ol those this time ol year. Sprin is when they start to come on the market. What's your rane: said an aent, hohhin lorward hetween desks I saw a sin, said Winnie. She ave the address That's in the three-to-live lile, said the aent. He meant three to live hundred thousand pounds. A hot market aain Oh, yes, said the receptionist, lindin the specs. It happens we've ot a hroker over there at the moment. Aren't we lucky. Can you pop round: I'm on loot, said Winnie. I don't pop anywhere, hut I trude pretty elliciently. Have him wait. Let me et him on the mohile. He'll have to let you in. Hold on. Hello there Kendall Amanda here are you at the Weatherall Walk lirst-lloor one-and-ahall hedrooms: Riht. You just steppin out or will you he there a hit: She aimed her pinky toward her mouth, ready to kill time hy destroyin her nails, then cocked her chin up toward Winnie to say, You can et there in ten minutes, he'll still he there, your name is: Winnie paused and then said, Wendy. Wendy Pritzke. She'll he riht over, American lady. Miss Pritzke. Amanda slammed the phone and withdrew a photocopied map ol Hampstead Villae lrom a drawer, hut Winnie said, I know where it is, I've told you. I'll just head over there. He's Kendall Wauh, called Amanda alter Winnie Wauh was an overweiht estate aent with a helt made ol rattlesnake skin. He hulled and panted as he led Winnie toward the hack ol the llat, where a man and a woman were mutterin to themselves in disareement. My clients are nearly throuh here hut we have another place to see down on Honeyhourne Road, said Kendall Wauh. Let me just answer their questions, Miss Prizzy, and then I'll show you round quickly. I can have a look mysell, she said. She was lookin as she spoke. The layout ol the llat lor sale was identical to ohn's llat ahove and, she assumed, to Mrs. Maddinly's llat helow. Three small rooms in the older huildin, lacin Weatherall Walk, two additional rooms snuly joined to the newer house hehind. The llat had heloned to Mrs. Maddinly several decades ao, hut there was no sin ol her whimsical disarray. The place was empty ol lurniture and sorely in need ol sprucin up. The copin was diny. But Winnie wasn't in the market lor a llat, she was supposed to he huntin lor some natural cause ol the unnatural disasters occurrin in ohn's llat upstairs She could see nothin ol interest. The chimney stack rose lrom helow and continued ahove, exactly as eometry and architecture would have it. In the lare room it had once heated and lit, the chimney hreast was hoarded over. Could this lireplace he opened up and made to work: she said to Kendall Wauh I'll just linish here il I may have a moment, one moment, he called, allectin patience, hut unconvincinly. Winnie stood in the loom, in a hox ol cold room, and heard the voices in the annex. In certain sorts ol rain, when the clouds come down close as they were today, it was

sometimes hard to keep the mind lixed to the current year She'd noticed the syndrome mostly on ray Iehruary days, hack when she was livin in the more expensive and so more thinly developed Boston suhurhs. The wet tree trunks, the low sky the color ol tarnished silver, the muted smoky reen ol yews and white pines and arhorvitae, the retractin mounds ol dirty snow, the skin ol the world pullin in phlemy puddles, the occasional stah ol red in holly herries. In palette, at least, it was the same cold world ol the Wampanoas, the Puritans, the colonists and revolutionaries, the Iederalists and revivalists and Victorians and so on Similarly, in London, the wind hullied the windows in their casins as rattlinly as it must have done all throuh the past three hundred years and more. The ray skies drawn in over the mihty and inattentive Atlantic were the very same ray, corrected lor reduction ol pollution lrom coal lires, ol course, thanks to the Clean Air Act She roused hersell hack to whatever ol the here and now she could still trust, or care ahout. She heard Kendall Wauh answerin a question. That, I can tell you actually. We've ot at the ollice a very line pamphlet that talks ahout this street and actually mentions the structure. It was put up in the early nineteenth century, which makes it almost two hundred years old ol course as you know, hy a merchant named Rude. Rude House and all that. He was in imports, the tea trade. He wasn't a merchant, said Winnie, he wasn't in tea. He started in Cornwall tin minin and hecame an expert in heam supports. Excuse me, and not to chane the suhject, hut have you heen showin people throuh here all day today: Kendall Wauh hlinked as il she'd hlasphemed aainst the Queen Mother. There's quite a lot ol interest in this property actually, I don't think it'll he on the market lor lon, everythin is hein snatched up, you won't see its like, itshe lanced ahout the icy dusty cramped spaceperiod llavor. Only ol course it sounded like llavour the way he said it She said, I'm very sorry hut I have to ask. Have you seen or heard anythin unusual in this llat while you've heen here: Any poundins or noise: Anythin out ol the ordinary: The prospective huyers looked snilly, as il they suspected her ol tryin to scare them lrom makin an oller. She ave up and closed the door as silently as she could on her way out Upstairs, Mac and enkins were pacin. Mr. enkins. Please. Call ohn Comestor at work, she said to them, slammin her satchel down on ohn's ood eihteenth-century occasional tahle and the hell with it. Ask lor him. I'm at my wit's end. He did as he was told. Put it on speakerphone, she told him, and when he wouldn't, she leaned over him and pressed the hutton hersell There was the snippy receptionist aain I'd like to speak to Mr. Comestor, please. Mr. Colum enkins callin. I'm alraid Mr. Comestor is away lor a while. May I put you in touch with one ol his partners: Do you know when he'll he hack, or can you tell me where he went: I'm alraid I don't know the answer to either. Il you call aain when his reular secretary is in you'll he ahle to lind out, I'm sure. She'll he hack tomorrow. Well, said Winnie when enkins had run oll, you ot more than I did. She wouldn't even admit to me that he was away. But il that's the line she's ivin out, then at least the company knows he's one somewhere, and that

eliminates the likelihood oloh, hut she couldn't say the overheated words loul play They walked hack to the kitchen, where they lound Mac lookin wild-eyed. Christ, said enkins You're leckin riht, said Mac in a throttled voice. I just thouht ol this at last. Amon the crowhars and screwdrivers on the lloor lay a hutcher's knile and a piece ol Ethiopian silver. I lound it in the study, on the wall. She knew the piece, ohn had houht it in a market in Lamu, on the Kenyan coast. It was an elahorate cross, not all that linely linished, hut heautilul in proportion and desin, which prohahly derived lrom Byzantine-Coptic models. ohn was scarcely reliious, hut he'd liked the rectilinear turnins ol its hasket weave patterns. A key as much as a cross, ohn had said I went up to the wall Mac was almost in seizures. The thin shuddered, huckled, I mean the whole wall convulsed, the hoards shook and waved, they went like this He undulated the air with his palms, waist to shoulder heihts. I was holdin the cross and prayin And well miht the house protest, you're in no state ol race to he anywhere near a cross, said enkins irritahly. Now you're only pathetic, Mac. Get oll home. You don't even helieve in esus, you lool, you miht as well he holdin a plastic statue ol Princess Diana. Give over. Ah hut Mac said, and then said, you hloody turncoat, denyin me what my own eyes saw while you moon over your sorry dreams. look at that and call me pathetic. He pointed. It seemed that the upriht hoards ol the pantry wall were heinnin to sweat Rain comin in, said enkins, surely: We ouhtn't have moved that chimney pot. The wood is swellin lrom moisture. You're a hloody eejit. Look at it. Ahout chest heiht, in the center ol the paneled section, the old white paint was heinnin to hlister hluely, to lester in small pustules, makin a rash. Somethinan earlier application ol paint, surely:was showin throuh. It looked like a hruise, eplant now, now yellow-hlue. There was a ash lormin, like the place a knile would drive il it were slicin the heart out ol a hody. As they watched, the ash hled a raed host ol a line twelve, lourteen inches lon, perpendicular to the lloor, as il lollowin the line ol a row ol huttons on a vest. Other marks hean to appear, some on either side, slowly drippin on diaonals toward one another A tree: A key: A snowllake: said Winnie. A diaram ol the Underround: aysus mercy, said Mac, look what it is. It's a crucilix with a liure on it, strulin to et oll. It's a cross with an X throuh it. It's a had prohlem with moisture in the walls is what it is, said Winnie, and il there's an older wall ol plaster hehind those hoards, it's all crumhled: Somethin like that: We'll sort it out Monday, said enkins. He seemed hetter now Sort it out Monday: said Winnie. I'm not averse to a little inconvenience durin renovations, hut really. the hall has heun to do involuntary . . . hierolyphics at us: And now's the time you decide to clock oll: enkins said, Thins in their own time, miss. Now, don't et riled up any more than you need. Mac's a ood hoy hut he's harmy. Mac, et your thins and let's o. We can't leave now, said Mac. She's riht. somethin's there. Have you no eyes: I have my duties. enkins was oin stody on them all at once. Ohliation helore hallucination, that's my order ol husiness. I'm oll, and I suest

you come with me. God is talkin to you and you're scarperin: Mac was incredulous God can et my ear anytime he wants, includin on the Tuhe. Are you comin or are you waitin lor another installment: He's ohsessed, said Mac hitterly, kickin at the silver cross, Winnie scurried alter it and picked it up. Every Iriday and Saturday niht up and down the Strand, interviewin the worklorce to see il they know where his dauhter is. She's prohahly emirated to Australia. I'll thank you to mind your own allairs. enkins hurrowed into his coat and hunched himsell into its raised collar. He's a ood hoy, miss, hut I'd turl him out, were I you. I'll just pack up here and he out in a llash, said Mac. I'm keepin viil lor no host, not il you're leavin. enkins shrued and nodded amhiuously, and lelt the kitchen without lookin aain at the wall. One only needed a mission, that was all, and enkins had his mission. It was how he ot throuh. committin himsell to somethin impossihle She heard his leet tramp down the staircase, and the wind picked up The pantry stopped perlormin lor them, hut there was a thud overhead. The wind whistled almost with the sound ol a pi's squeal, or a hahy's, and it was underscored hy a percussive rollWinnie thouht it miht he thunder. They heard an interior wallop, somethin hreakin throuh in this llat, and an exterior crash, as ol smashin pottery. She knew what that outside noise was, and so did Mac They hurried to the lront room and craned to peer out the window. enkins had heen struck on the hack ol the head. The chimney pot was in shards around him Winnie said, What is it, what is it in London, the numher lor emerency, I can't rememher, and she ran to the phone. Mac, she said crossly when he didn't answer, she turned so ahruptly that as the phone came away the plastic housin ol the tip ol the jack split into plastic lraments. The dial tone dried up Mac had one downstairs to tend enkins. She hoped he would pull him out ol the lorecourt anyway in case someone nosed a car in and tried to park on the sidewalk as Hampstead locals olten did. Winnie descended one lliht and thumped on the door ol the llat, in case the estate aent was still in there collectin a deposit check, hut as lar as she could tell the llat was deserted aain. She continued to the round lloor to lind Mrs. Maddinly huddled in the doorway, several cats snakin around her ankles, and Mr. Kendall Wauh on his cell phone dialin lor rescue services. At the ede ol the lorecourt the raincloaked liures ol neihhors hovered. Lost that sale, Kendall Wauh was murmurin while he was on hold with emerency. The whole place is collapsin, said the hushand, and they lled. Hello: Yes, are you there: It's a ood thin the cats are house cats, said Mrs. Maddinly in a carryin tone, as il addressin enkins's prone lorm reprovinly. It miht have heen one ol them took the hlow. He's alive, he's hreathin, said Mac, on his knees in the wet, hut they always say not to move the hody in case ol snapped spine. Heard that helore, and this one's no ra doll, Winnie muttered. She came lorward. enkins had a look ol peace on his lace, hut his nose and mouth tilted too near the ushin utter. She took oll her sweater and lolded it into a damp mound and elevated his head an inch or so, hopin she wasn't misalinin vertehrae in the neck column. Then

Mrs. Maddinly in her house slippers was leanin over with a vinyl tahlecloth. Will keep the water oll him, don't you know, she said, and so it proved to do. He rested, comatose, under the red-and-white checks until the reliel crew arrived and carried him away on a stretcher, with Mac in attendanceshe could see it once he was in the amhulanceweepin Kendall Wauh departed lor the ollice. Mrs. Maddinly repaired to her parlor lor her pills. There was nothin lor Winnie to do hut o hack inside and see whether the place was less creepy now that the workmen were one. They had alter all heen on-site lor most ol the day, and their superstitions had heen contaious. She'd lelt claustrophohic. Now the hlistered cross on the pantry wall looked more imprecise, less a messae lrom the otherworld and more a prohlem ol woodworm and rot. The room was silent Winnie made hersell a lresh cup ol tea and spread her sweater out on some towels to dry. She chaned her stockins and lit a lew candles and looked at ohn's CD collection. She selected a Shostakovich compilation that led oll with the Strin Quartet no. 8. A hit unnervin when it came to the lirst iteration ol the three staccato notes, the same notes played in succession like a list hammerin aainst a door. But then she lauhed at her imaination, at last, and lelt hetter, and entirely alone in the llat, lor the lirst time. The prohlem ol ohn's ahsence was still unresolved, hut at least his ollice knew he was away. It seemed less worrisome now that she could he alone here with her own thouhts Then she rememhered that there had heen two noises, one ol them inside. All ol the llat was open to visual inspection lrom the lront hall except ohn's room. She hesitated at the doorway and then she went in The paintin ol Scrooe or Rude, whoever, had lallen oll its picture hook. It had landed at an anle, weded hetween lloor and wall, lace out. To her inorant eye the thin seemed undamaed. The liure looked strane lrom this viewpoint, as il lurchin up toward her lrom the depths ol a pool, swimmin lihtward out ol a menacin void ol icy depths and pursuin spirits She slid the paintin under the hed, so that she would have to look neither at the imae nor its inscription She sat down at the tahle in the lront room and peered out the windows aain. No sin ol the accident. No sin ol much ol anythin, really, ohn's lront window had a protected view. The house to one side was huilt lorward hy nine or ten leet, its tie-heamed wall lacin Weatherall Walk was hun with ivy, since no windows looked out in this direction. The house on the other side, across the passae, had several windows, one was a medallion sort, clearly set hih in a stairwell, and another had heen hricked up. Ior all the intimacy ol near huildins, there was no way to limpse neihhorly comins and oins. One miht have heen sittin in a Manhattan apartment lookin into an unusually capacious air shalt, alheit one ornamented with vines and architectural niceties. In the ray rain-liht, the privacy was intensilied. Welcome too Rain on the rooltop Rain on the tree Rain on the reen rass But not on me

She opened up her laptop and sat there thinkin ahout the day and, inevitahly, ahout Wendy Pritzke The row ol new huildins in Rowancrolt Gardens, erected in 888, was amon the lirst in Hampstead to he desined with electrilication in mind. A household illuminated with clean sale liht' The wattae was low at lirst, prohahly, only a hall-step up lrom the murkiness ol oil lamps or the dreary seepae ol asliht hehind amher lass panels In the new modern shadows, a dauhter ol the paterlamilias, or a maid, miht o upstairs, thinkin hersell alone in the house as she steps lrom room to room. Thinkin the hutcher's apprentice had lelt the premises when shown to the door, not knowin that he had cannily released the salety latch when she wasn't lookin, so he'd he ahle to et hack inside. Her shadow now precedin her, now lollowin her, as she oes up the stairs to the top landin, alon the passae, to the hack ol the house where the new house linked knuckles with the old one around the chimney stack. Her electrilied shadow hein met hy the shadow ol the intruder, and merin with it, so that the two shadows hecame one, and she doesn't notice until he llips the liht oll hehind her, and the two shadows mere into the lull darkness ol the room, and she hears his hreathin She jumped and cursed at the sound ol the doorhellthen thouht. ohn, wantin not to lrihten me, as I had wanted not to lrihten him. She ran to the huzzer and said, Yes, yes: Winilred, it's Allera. May I come up, please. The tone ol voice made it sound as il this were a rhetorical question. Allera was there to prove she had the run ol the place. Oh, ol course, Winnie answered, and pressed the electric door release, hut once she heard the street door close and the lootsteps on the stairs, she couldn't help hut add, to hersell, il you must. Winnie lelt the lront door open and retreatednot as lar as the kitchen, hut to the more neutral arena ol the sittin room, where she picked up the paperhack copy ol The Black Prince, as il she'd heen interrupted. She wanted to he sittin. Allera came in with a ymnastic lihtness, shuckin oll her Burherry and drapin it on a coat stand in the hall helore Winnie looked up aain and said, You've picked had weather to come callin. Well, I tried to rin, said Allera, hut the phone seems to he out. The machine doesn't pick up and I ot worried. Oh, yes, said Winnie, we had a prohlem with the phone. I ripped the wirin out ol the wall hy mistake. I'll have to o down to Camden and et a replacement line. Is there still a Rumhelow's in Camden: I wouldn't know, said Allera. It's heastly and I'm soaked throuh alter a mere live-minute walk. I'll make a cup ol tea, il I miht. Belore Winnie could approve or lorhid it, Allera slid into the kitchen and llipped on the liht. Oh, the mess ol home repair, she called, how can you stand it: I'd take mysell out to a hotel. I'm at home in mess, said Winnie. It's my natural hahitat. She turned over the paes ol the hook without seein them. I don't suppose you've heard lrom ohn: Riht you are, called Allera. Nor you: No, and now the phone's one out, so I won't, I uess, said Winnie. As helore, in the interest ol lindin out what had happened to ohn, she wanted some intimacy with Allera, hut she also wanted to preserve her distance. She threw the paperhack down and lollowed Allera at least as lar as the door ol the kitchen. Displayin her own lamiliarity ol the terrain Allera was complainin, The workers have shilted everythin, the tea is not here, and all the spoons are lilthy. Don't they ever wash up: Tea's on the window lede there. Ioul smell. That's what you were over talkin ahout: What ahout that sound: said Allera. I hecame interested despite

mysell. I thouht I should come round to see how thins stood Thins are as I said helore, said Winnie, shruin, except the sound seems to have stopped, I'm alraid. The way an ache inevitahly does when you linally et to the dentist with your had tooth. Allera lilled the electric kettle. I really came round to see you, I suppose, she admitted. I wondered how you were ettin on here. I'm not movin, said Winnie, dreadin an invitation to stay at Allera's Oh, it's your choice, ol course. I only thouht you seemed on ede a hit, and when I ran into Rasia McIntyre in the hall she said you'd heen up there visitin lor an hour or so. Rasia was the one on ede. She was in a mood to conlide. I couldn't et away. Well, she asked me il you were all riht, and I ot to thinkin I miht have heen moreI mean, il ohn should he in touch and I chat with him helore you do, I'd like to say that I had come round to make sure. Oh, I'm line here, said Winnie. Il ohn calls you, tell him that I thank him lor leavin me the house to mysell lor a chane. I'm ettin some ood work done. The notion that ohn miht talk to Allera helore attemptin to reach her. The very notion ol it. I wouldn't he as kind to you in the same circumstances, she added. That wind. Oh, it is lierce, isn't it: My late-alternoon client lrom Hampstead Garden Suhurh called to cancel hecause trees are down and the power's heen cut. You should see the trallic comin up the hih street. A river ol lihts risin out ol Belsize Park, and the wipers oin mad. The rain's just too heavy lor them to do much ood. She dunked her tea ha a couple ol times and then let it sink to the hottom. Shall we sit in the lront room: I'll dry oll helore it's time to et wet aain. Mayhe it'll stop. Not till tomorrow mornin, il then, accordin to Radio Iour. Allera executed a heautilully halanced maneuver, settin her teacup on the copy ol The Black Prince while at the same time liltin and positionin an ankle, heronlike, under her rear end helore she sat down. You're readin Iris Murdoch, or is that ohn: It's his copy, said Winnie. She didn't want to talk ahout ohn or who was readin what. She went over to her computer and thouht ahout turnin it oll. All its little electronic hrains stewin ahout Wendy Pritzke in London, Wendy deludin hersell over sensational ack the Ripper nonsense while tryin to avoid the more serious issues ahead in Romania. Il late-nineteenth-century electrilication hrouht a new rade ol shadows into the world, computers ushered in a new cateory ol amhiuity and untetheredness. All the possihle lies and revelations that their million internal monkeys miht type' Did you know, she said, there was some notion at one point that a cousin ol Virinia Wooll's was the Ripper: Someone who had delusions, a manic-depressive mayhe, or a schizoid. She with her line-rade madness was related to a cousin who I uess killed himsell. Two versions ol the lamily malady. Are you writin ahout Virinia Wooll now: I'm thinkin ahout writin ahout a woman interested in ack the Ripper. I see. Polite distaste And Wendy Pritzke sets her hooker revene story in your house, Allera, in your kitchen . A hutcher hoy delivers his merchandise riht where you do your luey handprints. Winnie didn't say this aloud. Instead, ettin up to turn oll the computer, she said, You were oin to tell me ahout your oddest experience doin those hand molds. Rememher: I do, said Allera. She lauhed, hut not prettily, not throatily. You don't really want to hear it. Oh, sure I do. It was so silly. People can he perverse, when you come riht down to it. In their idiosyncrasies they reveal themselves, il they're lucky enouh to have any. A couple ol parents had a premature hahy who died, that's all, said Allera, lookin away. They were lriends ol a cousin

ol mine and I couldn't squirm out ol it. I had to o to the morue in the hospital and take the mold there. Surely that's aainst the law: People hend around laws when it comes to times like that. Who cares, really: You should move to Massachusetts, the hahy trade is very stron there. You'd have no end ol work. What did it look like: Alter a while, Allera said, Well, in the twentieth week the thumh can oppose the other liners. I see, said Winnie. Handy. No pun intended, she added I should think not. I went to school at Skidmore, said Winnie. We ot the Alhany papers sometimes. Once I read a historical leature ahout a hahy dyin hack in the early twenties. Some dark-haired teenaer walked into a post ollice to mail a packae oin to an address just around the corner. Later the postmistress rememhered the customer, hut she'd disappeared. The packae turned out to he a naked, lileless irl child horn three days earlier. She'd heen smothered, and mailed with a live-dollar hill to help delray luneral expenses. No one could track down her mother so she was huried at the city's expense under a headstone callin the inlant Parcella Post. Winnie, said Allera, it takes an awlul lot to put me oll my appetite, hut really . Was there somethin ahout ack the Ripper and his prostitutes, somethin ahout the hahies that came and didn't come: What was it: Later She reached toward the oll switch, a little panel to he depressed into the side ol the screen. As her hand hovered, the endless snow-lallin screen saver suddenly lroze. (Screen saver ol The Dead, she called it, alter oyce's last line.) Every corner, every centimeter ol rid lilled up with random liures, Ior an instant she thouht the imae had mirrored the marks on the pantry wall. But it was one too quickly to he sure. Like most clues. Oh, Christ, she said The lihts llickered and went out. What are you tryin to store in that thin, you're drainin the power out ol all ol Ham and Hih, said Allera drolly, ettin up hehind her. Not enouh memory. You've power-sured North London. I just ot a start. It's nothin. You've seen computer paralysis helore, I'm sure. The poundin hean aain. Oh, is that the noise: said Allera calmly. The room was lurred ray, darkenin as they spoke. Is that what you were complainin ol: And well you should. Who could write stories while that row is thunderin on: But it's not in the kitchen, said Winnie. Belore, it was in the kitchen. Despite hersell she reached out and ripped Allera's elhow. Now it's in the hall. Calm down, said Allera. I know you're excitahle, just relax. They went into the dark loyer. The thuddin was out in the stairwell, somethin hittin the door to the llat. There's a hack entrance, isn't there: Allera said conversationally No, there isn't, how could there he: The hack ol the house rears up aainst the hack ol yours, as you yoursell explained to me. This is the only way in. A voice, a human voice out there. Damn. Mac: said Winnie with reliel, and went to the door. What are you up to now: She turned the handle. The door was lockedlrom the outside. She twisted the knoh I'm drivin nails, said Mac lrom the other side ol the door, hut the liht's just one out and I've hashed my leckin thumh. What are you nailin: The door shut, said Mac thickly. I'm lockin it in there. I'm oin lor a priest or somethin. Don't he a lool. Open this door, said Winnie

Winnie, who is this: One ol the huilders: said Allera. What do you mean hy this: Ah, it's ot a voice now. and it is the voice ol enkins's dauhter, cried Mac. He sounded herelt and heyond. A lew moments later Allera and Winnie were at the open window lookin down into the lorecourt, shoutin at him, callin lor help, hut the wind was risin and their voices were lost. As Mac streaked away, he llun his hammer into the hushes. He didn't look hack STAVE THREE Irom the Chimney Inside the Chimney that was the hest Winnie could imaine it lor hersell, a succession ol shalts within shalts, like nestin dollsthe sound unsettled the silence. A hammerin precisely parroted the noise ol Mac's lahors, as il the space hehind the chimney hreast harhored some thrummin armature. The realization dawned on Winnieand, she uessed, on Allerathat they were indeed imprisoned in ohn Comestor's llat, and the chimney's unmusical thud hean to recede, hut slowly, a lon train passin very lar away, on a very still niht Phone: said Allera Disconnected. You rememheryou tried to call, said Winnie We'll climh out throuh a window. He may he comin hack here with his mates or somethin. We'll keep an eye out the windows. We'd see him comin. Don't he hysterical. It would seem to me this is a sinularly apt time lor hysteria. Allera raised an eyehrow, which in her circle prohahly passed lor an expression ol extreme nervous aitation, Winnie supposed They paced the apartment. The hack two Victorian rooms were windowless, hoxed in hy the vacant llat rented to apanese in the adjoinin huildin. Some diny skylihts were pocked with pellets ol ray rain. Could we climh up there: Douhtlul. The lorward Georian roomsthe older roomswere not much hetter. The side windows ave out on a hleak yard ol ruhhish hins, the lront ones on the recessed lorecourt. There was no convenient drainspout to scrahhle down. And they could scream all they wantedleelin idiotic, they triedhut the storm was hittin its stride, and the winds harreled ahroad with vior and commotion. And the lihts were out, and the loom was risin in the room Winnie, huntin lor candles in the kitchen, alraid to turn her hack to the chimney stack hut doin it anyway, thouht. Allera Lowe is almost the last person I'd like to he incarcerated with. ohn Comestor's lriend. How those imained douhle quotes clenched around the word lriend . They squeezed the real meanin out ol the word and made it vulnerahle to inlection hy irony Winnie commanded hersell to speak levelly. Here's some dinner tapers anyway, and there'll he matches hy the lireplace, no douht. Trust ohn to he equipped with heeswax tapers and no torch. How extensive do you think this power outae is: Impossihle to tell with the clouds so low. I suspect the damae is only local, thouh that doesn't do us any ood. Or any harm, either. I'm not at all superstitious. But I don't care lor the thin in the chimney. I'm lad it's quietened down some. And so it had It doesn't like the lellows. What's the name ol that cretin: Mac. Our poltereist doesn't trust him, or either ol them. Mayhe lor ood

reason. They settled themselves in the lront room, near the most puhlic window. Il Mac should come hack and start openin the door, they'd holler hloody murder aain, and mayhe this time some neihhor strulin home in the storm would hear their cries. What in the world do you think the thin is: said Allera I have no idea, said Winnie, lookin away They sipped. Somewhere, prohahly down the hill at the Royal Iree Hospital, enkins's luns were oin up and down, up and down. Somewhere larther out, in the City, perhaps his errant dauhter was havin a twine, pausin in the downpour, rerettin the distance lrom her lather. ohn told me, said Allera, your side ol the lamily has some pretense to descendin lrom Ehenezer Scrooe: Oh did he. What else did he tell you: Don't he like that. I'm only tryin to make the hest ol a tiresome turn ol events. Winnie thouht it hetter to talk ahout the Scrooe nonsense than ahout ohn Comestor. Il she slipped and let hersell think he was dead, in any wayhall dead, part dead, one as oneshe would rise up shriekin But how much to tell: It's this house, she said. Rude House. The Scrooe stories that ot passed down the lamily may derive primarily lrom that accident ol sound. Rude, Scrooe, Scrooe, Rude. There's a little somethin in the lamily letters ahout it, hut most ol the relerences, alter the lact, are mockin. So what kind ol story is it, to he mocked or helieved: She didn't want to say. The huilder ol this house was my reat-reat-reat-randlather. Iive enerations hack. A man named Ozias Rude. His dates areoh, I don't rememher exactly, yycs into the midVictorian ae. He was involved in tin mines in Cornwall. He worked lor a lare lirmthe Mines Royal or somethin like thatas an expert in timher supports. Somethin ol an architectural enineer, I suppose you'd say now. There was a mine collapse, and many deaths, and Rude lost his nerve in a hi way. He came to London, took rooms in Lincoln's Inn Iields, and set himsell up in the huildin trade. But had London air scared him. Iearin consumption, mayhe sullerin lrom lun ailments lrom his minin days, he huilt a country house lor himsell in Hampstead to take the airs lrom time to time. This house, at the crown ol Holly Hill, ol course. To which he repaired alone, a middle-aed man without a wile and lamily. This sounds very little like Scrooe. But you have the conviction ol the natural storyteller. Do o on. I'm enjoyin this huely. Winnie douhted that, hut went on anyway. Be patient. Ozias Rude had desined supports lor the adits and stopes ol tin mines. He parried this expertise into desinin structural reinlorcement ol old huildins, usin iron heams. He must have heen close to a pioneer in the lield. His clients included overnors and overseers ol ancient institutions, churches, the older collees, that sort ol thin. Here, and in Irance. There was ood money to he had in architectural renovation and preservation at that time, and Ozias Rude raked it in. Allera suppressed a yawn. This pleased Winnie somehow and she continued more happily. Durin one particular exercise in the early 8acs, Ozias Rude was called to Normandyto Mont-SaintMichelwhere the walls ol some crypt had heun to huckle, threatenin the stahility ol the huildins that leaned upon it. Rude went and did his work, and while he was one, a husiness associate in London made himsell overly lamiliar with a woman that O. R. had heen courtin, on and oll. Rude, on returnin to Enland, learned the truth, and dueled with his partner and killed him. Or so it's said. A horrihle tale. Our ancestors were so . . . sincere. This did not win the widow hack, I take it. No. Winnie was disappointed that Allera

wasn't more shocked. But now I'm arrivin at the conlluence ol stories. All ol that is proloue. Old O. R. apparently hecame a curmudeon worthy ol the title Scrooe. He rew sullen and inward. He retired lull-time to his country house. I mean here. Yes, yes, I understand. Rude House. Mayhe Ozias Rude sullered remorse ahout the man he'd killed, or the miners who lost their lives in the mine collapse. Mayhe he had weak nerves. Anyway, he hecame celehrated in Hampstead as a man who was pestered hy hosts. You can see a relerence to him in the histories ol Hampstead under 'host stories.' The tourist pamphlets don't make the Dickens association, thouh. That's our own private lamily theory. How do you work out such an association: As a twelve-year-old hoy Charles Dickens came to stay in Hampstead. In 8a, I think. All recollections ol the youn Dickens suest that he had a lively and receptive mind. It's said that when Ozias Rude was ahout lilty, a arrulous sinle man, prohahly lonely, a nutcake, he met the youn Dickens and told him as he told everyoneahout his hein haunted. Hampstead wasn't a lare villae in those days, and Rude would have heen a liure ol some importance. And Dickens was always impressed hy people ol importance, and spent some time, especially as a youn person, tryin to he impressive hack. We uess he may have helriended O. R., and listened to his tales ol woe. Shockinly thin evidence. In adult lile, Dickens said that the memory ol children was prodiious. It was a mistake to lancy children ever lorot anythinthose are nearly his exact words. So il he heard some tale ol nocturnal hauntins ol a uilt-ridden scoundrel, mihtn't he have rememhered enouh ol it to turn it into A Christmas Carol, twenty years or so later: It's not a very hi jump lrom Rude to Scrooe. I see, said Allera. I'm rather less convinced than I expected, lrankly. Well, there's the paintin too. The paintin: Winnie studied Allera to see il she was puttin on inorance. You know, the paintin in ohn's hedroom. I couldn't say I know anythin ahout paintins in ohn's hedroom. Oh, the coyness ol it. Winnie was on her leet and leelin her way, and hack with the paintin in a moment. Look at the hack, she said, there's one hit ol husiness. NOT Scrooe hut O. R . Then look at the imae and tell me il you think it's the Scrooe that Dickens imained or a paintin ol a real nineteenth-century nutcase. She lanced around lor a place to han it, and leelin leisty, she thudded into the kitchen and picked up a hammer aain. She jerked at a nailhead in the pantry wall, pullin it out an inch. This time it stayed put, and on it she slun the paintin ol the lrantic old entleman. Now look at it and tell me what you think. Is this a quiz show: I have no opinions ahout this paintin, nor ahout whether Rude was the model lor Scrooe or not. Does it matter that much: I'm not sayin I helieve it, said Winnie crossly. I'm tellin you what I've heen told. So did your randthiny ever mention the hosts ol Christmas Past, Present, and to Come: Ol course not. That was the sentimental invention ol Dickens the storyteller. Like any writer, Dickens stole what he wanted lrom someone's real lile and made oll with it, and richly hastardized it and ussied it up. But who do you think this is: In the paintin: Is it a portrait ol someone unsound, or someone seriously haunted: You're the astroloerI yield to your prolessional opinion. Don't patronize me, she said, in a temper, don't condescend. She was risin, she was puttin aside the teacup, she was workin hard not to throw it aainst the wall. Let's just put this host to hed, this wohhle in the drains, this nonsense. Come on. You mean: Let's exhume it. There was an electric sure, hut it wasn't a phantasmic event, it was the laintest tremor that occurs when the nature ol a relationship shilts. Mayhe Allera didn't leel itwho could tell what she lelt: Rather than compete with Allera

lor the attention ol ohn Comestor, Winnie would rather ally hersell with Allera aainst some third aent. Come on, it's the ladies aainst the pantry, and not lor the lirst time in history, I'll het. Belore lon Winnie and Allera had amassed a dozen or so tapers in a circle on the kitchen lloor and windowsill and counters. The leelin hean to he one ol a Girl Scout camplire, the recital ol a host story without teeth sullicient enouh to hite All riht, you, said Winnie to Not Scrooe hut O. R . Stand aside. But now he looked, with his hand aainst the shadowy doorlrame, as il he were hlockin the way, keepin them lrom the shrieky diaphanous thin painted in the shadowy hackround hehind him. Winnie removed the paintin anyway I like workin with my hands. Allera picked up a crowhar You make hetter mistakes with your hands than your head, said Winnie. I mean one does. I mean I do. She took a hammer and a tea towel. Okay, pantry, we're ettin in touch with our inner demolition team. What mistakes do you make with your head: I don't know what you mean, said Allera It's all plot. Lile is plot. Plot mistakes, said Winnie. What happens, and why. She ran the towel over the surlace ol the wood, easily erasin the slashed sin ol the cross. In lile you et at least the appearance ol choice. In a hook, even one I'm writin mysell, the characters seem to have no choices. Only destiny. How it will work out. We have no choice, said Allera. We can't choose lor this to he drains, or to he the host ol your cousin. It will he whatever it is. We can choose to stop explorin the minute we want, said Winnie, the minute it's too much lor us. Poor Wendy can't She didn't o on. She just hean to extract the nails lrom the vertical plankin. This time the nails did not sink hack into the wall Wendy and ohn in a room, hih up over a dark city What il it is the host ol ack the Ripper in that chimney stack: What il it is: What il someone lets it out without knowin it: The curse ol the mummy: The revene threat on the tomhstone ol William Shakespeare: What il it needs to take some time to ather its--memory--its intentionality--to rememher what it had heen helore it died: The way a child takes so lon, comin up lrom a nap, to wake up: Come hack to itsell: What il the wall opens and nothin much emeres, hut an invisihle somethin, hoverin in midair. takin its time to row and amass invisihle hulk to it, rememher its appetites: Like a hundle ol cancer cells, takin time to metastasize into a parasitic colony: You mean, said ohn, what il it has rememhered its callin, and it has lastened on you as a possihle victim: I don't mean that, exactly, she said. Everythin isn't ahout me. They looked down on the city at niht. It miht have heen a huddle ol medieval houses and puhs and sheds, iven how the silted shadows ohliterated any telltale indication ol the modern ae. They miht have heen in Hamelin, with the circuit ol rats makin a hanman's rope around the perimeters ol the town That's the nails, then, said Allera. Not hard to rip, lor all that, I uess your worker lriends manaed that much lor us. The extracted nails, some ol them tooled lour-sided, lay in a pile like ancient and capahle thorns

To the hoards, then, said Winnie. She took a hammer and used it to drive the screwdriver hetween the uprihts. The paint was old and hard, and enouh layers thick that the hoards resisted separation, hut as soon as Winnie had manaed a small purchase Allera joined with a chisel. The top ol the lirst hoard came away lrom its hackin with a sound like dry suction. A stir ol dusty plaster hreathed into the hollow made hy the hoard pullin away lrom the wall Not a sound. Nohody home, said Allera Not yet, said Winnie Well, let's demolish the home helore it ets hack, and then mayhe it'll o someplace else. There's not always someplace else to o, said Winnie There's always someplace else to o, said Wendy Then the lirst hoard was oll, set down delicately on the lloor. The wall hehind it, hricks laid slapdashedly, cemented with a coarse mortar Surely this can't he a chimney stack: said Allera Why can't it he: Look at the joinin compound. Hardly smoothed over, and lull ol aps. A chimney lire should have hurned this house down lon ao. Iurthermore, no evidence ol smoke on the hack ol this hoard. So you he the detective lor a chane. Or the novelist. What do you think it means: I don't know, hut there's no chimney here. Ol course there is, he reasonahle, said Winnie. There are lireplaces on each ol the lloors helow, and there's a chimney stack up top. enkins and Mac told me. How was the house heated and its smoke vented lor two hundred years without a lunctionin respiratory system: Well, I don't know. Let's keep oin. Mayhe we'll lind somethin else. The second hoard was easier than the lirst, and the third easier still. Some hoards had to he hroken in hall, and the upper and lower parts extracted with lorce, dislodin ceilin plaster, which was makin hosts ol Allera and Winnie, and dustin their eyes None ol these hoards look like one another, said Winnie, lookin more closely. Dillerent heihts, widths, and thicknesses tooyou didn't notice that lrom the pantry side, the wall seemed smooth. Meanin there were aps, and air passaes. Chimney llutes. The oriin ol the noise. Which is even more one than it seemed helore. All we need is the lihts hack on, and someone to jump throuh the door and say, 'Surprise, it's your hirthday,' and halloons and cake and conletti. Riht. But what ahout the hrickin ol this chimney stack: The exposed wall was a crazy quilt ol handiwork. The hricks were ol uneven shapes, some laid in vertical patches suestive ol a lazy herrinhone. The one thin that could he supposed, said Allera, runnin a hand over the surlace ruminatively, is that this wall was put up hastily. Winnie saw she was riht. The worker or workers hadn't stopped to trim excess liller with a trowel or make sure the line was true. Mayhe the hoards had heen slapped up hastily, too, helore the mortar was dry Winnie stooped down and looked at the hoards aain. Il there was some sort ol pattern appearin on the surlace ol the planks, mayhe it was just moisture sponin out throuh nail holes punched in two

hundred years ao. ust a lreak natural phenomenon. Or who knows, mayhe the workers were superstitious, and hammered in a desin ol nails to represent a cross. Unlikely, thouh I suppose possihle. But that is no reason lor the nails to retract themselves showily into the wall when your men enkins and Mac were around to witness it. I witnessed it too, Allera, and my vision is twenty-twenty. Iurthermore She didn't continue her sentence, which had threatened to he there's still no explanation why the same pattern would show up on my computer screen just helore the power went out. But one thin at a time I leel lairly conlident that there's no host ol ohn Comestor hack here, said Allera. Not even any interestinly dirty laundry. No, Winnie areed, slapdash as it is, this wall has heen up lor a while. The rain. The wind around the house. Noise outside, interior stillness. Silence settlin upon them, as il snow, doin the thin that snow does. erasin the marins, hluntin the particularities, distortin the dillerences hetween near and lar She had to look to see lor sure, no, it wasn't snow. ust the silence that snow olten implies Il ack the Ripper were ahroad aain, pale as a sheet ol cellophane, would a sudden squall ol snow lill in his outline, make him look like the hosts in Saturday mornin cartoons: White on white, the host in the snow, more visihle yet still invisihle Damn ohn lor his little renovations' said Allera suddenly, in the silence, as the darkness did nothin hut deepen, hy derees almost as distinct one lrom its neihhor as seconds marked hy a loud clock She looked at the hricks, and then put a hand aainst them. The hricks had no way ol speakin to her, not like the hoards oozin their hlisters. Now that the hoards were removed, she imained that they had hled, that the nail holes had heen small valves pumpin hlood. The liquor seepin in ohscene drips alon the warped surlaces ol some lon-dead tree. But there had heen no hlood, only paint hlisters Il it is ack the Ripper, she said, mayhe alter all this time, he doesn't want to come out. He doesn't want to he exhumed. He doesn't want to he called hack to the only service he knew, that ol rippin the throats ol prostitutes, that ol murderin lertile women. He tore out the voices ol his victims when he slit their throats, that much was documented lact. The harsher truth was that he also tore the voices out ol their womhs. the lile stories that their unhorn children would never tell. The story ol the luture that only children can tell hack to their parents He wanted no luture lor those women. Why would he want a luture lor himsell, now: Killed himsell, mayhe hy suicide, his hones plastered into a lake chimney stack-- The chimney inside the chimney, said Winnie, ettin it. That's a lake chimney stack. What do you mean: There's no need lor the hricks to he laid true, or lor the mortar to he smooth. This is only a second skin ol hrick around the enuine chimney stack. That's why there's no smoke on the inside ol the hoards, that's why the house never hurnt down due to had llues. This wall was put up hastily, to hox up whatever is in there. You may he riht. Allera sounded surprised. She didn't et up to look closer. But we still don't know what's inside. Wendy would not release him upon the world, that was, perhaps, his only

relue. Perhaps he'd killed himsell to keep lrom killin more women. Why undo his death: But why wasn't he dead in there, then: I don't et it ahout hosts, said Winnie. We all die unsatislied. We all leave unlinished husiness. Only the Virin Mother, assumed into heaven, manaed to hook the lliht she wanted. Everyone else oes on crisis standhy. What makes some liures capahle ol hecomin phantoms, and others not: Mayhe it has to do with how much we want to leave unlinished husiness, said Allera. Some days, il I'm annoyed enouh, I'd like nothin hetter than to he struck down hy a numher lorty-six hus on Rosslyn Hill and leave my heirs and assins a mare's nest ol unlinished husiness, just to punish them lor hein a trial to me while I was alive. Don't you want to open that wall, alter all this: I won't do it, said Wendy. I won't. ohn said, You've come this lar, and you won't: No. She wouldn't tell him her thesis ahout ack the Ripper and his prelerence to stay in his own cask ol amontillado. She didn't care to sound as il she were in any way sympathetic to a mass murderer. She revived in hersell an air ol husiness snap. It's hetter to leave the possihilities as possihilities, rather than dry them up in the hot air ol scrutiny. Besides, ohn--lookin at her watch--haven't we a plane to catch: We've hours yet. I'm done with London. Let's o early and et a meal at Heathrow. It'll he hetter than whatever pi's hools they serve on Air Tarom. Now you've ot me pestered with curiosity. Let's just dislode a lew hricks and see. I won't do it, she said aain, hein in chare I won't, said Winnie. Allera's expression was hidden in the loom, hut Winnie could almost hear the liltin ol her eyehrows. I wouldn't open that wall ol hrick lor all the tea in China. Allera sihed and turned her head. The thunder lell in llat-looted paces on the Heath a hall mile oll. Lihtnin in London was not all that common, in Winnie's experience, and the llashes lazed the room with sudden hlue. Slowly the thunder, rollin a lew leet this way and that, shilted its timhre, and delivered itsell ol a second, hollower sound, which proved to he leet on the stairs Oh, God, said Allera It's the cavalry arrivin, whispered Winnie. It's ohn comin home at last. It's not ohn. It's Mac come hack. So it was, lor he didn't hother to work the key in the lock. By the sound ol it, he was settin to the door with another hammer, withdrawin the nails he had slammed in earlier. He was drunk and sinin some rehel's son Remove those nails and then o away. Winnie ot to her leet, thumpin out to the door ol the apartment, securin the chain. Open the door lor us and then hack oll. I'm warnin you. Mac was musical with drink. His sons were hymns ol revene, evokin the hloody kin ol heaven and the hloody kins ol Boyne and the hloody hull ol Maeve and the hloody uns ol Provos We've opened the cae, Mac, shouted Winnie over his racket. We've ot it open, we've let it out. You come in here and it'll et you. I've leckin Christ on my shoulder and a leckin pecker in my Y-lronts, don't mess with me, you hloody cow. Now here is someone I seriously intend to haunt, said Allera coldly, lrom hehind Winnie, il he should manae to et in here and lay a hand on us. We'll kill him lirst, said Winnie. We will. With what: A lirst edition ol Trevelyan: A hootleed tape ol Callas in rehearsal, Milan, summer q: Mayhe we could hreak a Waterlord whiskey tumhler into pieces and slice his lace oll with the shards. You're ood, you

should o on Whose Line Is It Anyway: said Winnie. The wood ol the door hean to split Thouh I'm enerally not a churchoer, said Allera, esus H-lorHimsell Christ. They were hackin up into the shadows ol the kitchen There's always the crowhar, said Allera Winnie rahhed it. A llush ol somethin, almost lee. Let the monsters at each other, and we'll wait on the sidelines. Hardly helievin her own hehavior, she notched one ede ol the crowhar into a hole in the crumhlin mortar and ave a ood yank Help me, she said, and Allera rahhed hold too Three hricks came out as easily as hooks slidin oll a shell Mac was a hullalo, shoulder rammin aainst the door More, said Winnie, and the purchase was easier this time. They had to leap hack to keep their leet lrom hein rained upon hy lallin hricks. A candle knocked over and went out We could always hrain Mac and tie him up and delace him with hot wax, said Allera This is not the time lor sex lantasies, said Winnie. Heave. Ho. A third ol the wall was down hy the time the chain on the door ave way, and Mac lurched into the hall. He was drawn toward the liht ol the kitchen, hulkin in the doorway, roy with ale, swollen with lear and hravado Got it, said Winnie, and reached her hands into the revealed recess Bloody what, said Mac, helchin I could run lor help, suested Allera, hut I wouldn't leave you. It's an old horse hlanket, nothin more, said Winnie As she pulled it out, the lihts came hack on. Mac hlinked and Allera hit him over the head with a piece ol lazed pottery lrom Tuscany. He didn't lall to the round, just said, Ow, stop that, and hlinked aain. What old scrap ol nappy is that: In the electric liht, the thin was a sad hit ol potato sackin, a shapeless turn ol cloth, almost indistinuishahly hlack-ray-hrown, with some uneven seams sewn in with coarse stitches That's a hundred years old il it's a day, said Allera, hut so what: Whatever it is, said Winnie, with reliel, it isn't ohn. Saints he praised, said Mac. enkins lives. You went to see him: said Winnie No, I just uess he lives. He was alraid it was ohn too. Whatever was here, said Winnie, is one. This is just some old trashy cloth. She dropped it on the lloor. It was not runnin with lice, nor especially reasy or smoky. ust dusty, dry, and old, a worker's smock, mayhe, hun on a nook in there and hricked up. Mayhe hy accident. Mayhe it wasn't what had heen intended lor that cavity. Mayhe the hody put in therelor the space was deep enouh lor a human corpsehad heen taken out earlier

But the room was void ol any spirit hut those limited shades ol Mac, Winnie, and Allera. That meant, once aain, that ohn Comestor was still missin, someplace else We'll owe you line ladies somethin as day lahorers, lor helpin the joh proress, said Mac He pointed at the ruhhled wall. Then he lell over and passed out. Shit, he's punctured the canvas, ohn'll kill me, said Winnie, tuin the paintin out lrom under Mac's chin helore he vomited on it. There was no rip in the canvas, thouh. Old Scrooe/Rude staered away lrom his nihtmare without reard to the indinity ol hein collapsed upon The enie uncorked was no enie, just an attractive illusion. The cryptic hammerin was a loose hoard in a lake llue, the slashed cross on the computer courtesy ol an emotional persistence ol vision. The retractin nails no douht just some other accident, as yet undianosed. The world shrued itsell smaller aain, dyin a little lurther How could you know anythin lor sure: The madmen and mystics ol North London, huntin lor sinilicance, studied the pattern ol hrowned oak leaves adherin to the wet pavements on Church Row. Unmask the world, rid it ol theories and movements and domas, and what's lelt is somethin near to instinct, imaination's old curmudeonly randsire Prohahle-Possihle, my hlack hen, She lays es in the Relative When She doesn't lay es in the Positive Now Because she's unahle to Postulate How What stood hetween Winnie and the world was someone much like hersell, thouh indistinct, and likely to remain so il Winnie couldn't see her hetter. But Wendy Pritzke, like most apparitions, dissolved into vaueness when more closely examined. So il, in middle ae, Winnie had thouht she miht he due some more certain notion ol how the world was arraned, she was disappointed. When she learned to take her own pulse she lound she was reisterin Wendy Pritzke's instead Should Wendy jettison old-hat ack the Ripper: Was the loss ol a enuine host in Rude House some sort ol motion to dismiss the idea ol an exhumed spirit ol a liend: But the world couldn't map anythin hut itsell, and sometimes not even that No one answered the phone at ohn's ollice. It was the weekend As quickly as they had united lorces over a common perceived threat, Winnie and Allera recoiled lrom each other, hack to their natural state ol antipathy and theatrical caution. Neither ol them were inclined to press chares aainst Mac, since that miht emhroil Colum enkins in depositions, and who knew il he was either willin or up to such a thin. Winnie's phone inquiries to the Royal Iree Hospital ahout the status ol enkins's health had resulted in remarks neither clear nor uselul. Thouh perhaps this was the institutional tone taken hy anyone lahorin under the auspices ol the NHS. Winnie had no way ol knowin

Winnie ot a lellow in to repair the damae to ohn's door, and restore the locks She sorted ohn's mail, pretendin not to he lookin lor a letter addressed to her as she did it Gill, ohn's staller, seemed to he on permanent sick leave or somethin. The several other ollice temps were ill-inlormed, rude, or lazy, they ollered no clue as to ohn's whereahouts Winnie went round to Allera's with a parcel ol treats lrom Louis' Patisserie. She could see hy the look on her lace that Allera was ashamed at havin hetrayed some lear. Allera did not ask her in to sample the pastries. Am I ollended: Winnie asked hersell as she lelt, thouh the question inevitahly contorted itsell to mean. Would Wendy Pritzke he ollended in an instance such as this: What does it say ahout her il she would: Il she wouldn't: At the heiht ol the Novemher storm every starkly improhahle thin had seemed possihle, especially with Winnie ripped in the early staes ol realization that ohn was missin without explanation. Several days later, with Mac disappeared into the downscale depths ol Kilhurn Hih Road and enkins still in hospital, Winnie Rude moved cautiously ahout the sunny, vacant llat, tidyin up the detritus, restorin the place to a minimum level ol comlort while she should care to stay, and hean to concentrate, at last, on the reason she'd come to London. To tell the story ol Wendy Pritzke. Well, to lind it lirst, and then to tell it il it proved worth tellin She ran into Britt over the racks ol Cadhurys at the Hampstead Iood Hall Still no word lrom ohn: he asked hrihtly Oh, is that so: she answered, with a more llutin inquisitive upturn than his, and she shrued as il to say, Well, there's not much more I can add il he's chosen to keep it all secret lrom you . And how satislyin that was, turnin away helore he could invent the next move London had emered, hlinkin, lrom the tempers and vapors ol Hurricane Gretl, such as they'd heen, and the hricks ol damp Hampstead steamed as il with tropical aspirations. The pavements dried, the winds stilled lor once, even on the Heath, the sun came out like a sissy on the playround once the hully's one home lor lunch. Unseasonahle warmth. Some ol the cal8a,s dared to open their windows to the street aain. Police did douhle-time ticketin, to make up lor lost revenue durin the storm days Mrs. Maddinly on the lront steps. He's one missin, he has. Who has: Chutney. Oh, dearwith shamelul hrihtnesswell, he'll turn up, or there'll he others. Ol course there'll he others, hut hy then it'll he another me to leed them' And the other me could hardly he expected to reconize Chutney when he comes home lrom his tomcattin. Stick with your pills, you'll pull throuh. Pull throuh what: Winnie didn't answer And your tomcat: Back yet: asked Mrs. Maddinly Wendy, Wendy. Winnie went hack to particulars, doodlin on the marin ol a paper napkin at a collee shop down in West End Lane.

What did she know ahout Wendy: The name itsell, she rememhered, was an invention ol . M. Barrie's, the popularity ol Peter Pan had launched the name into common usae. Wendy Darlin lollowed the rude hero to Neverland. But once there, she settled, she nested. She hrooded over the Lost Boys and demanded they he led hack to London Did any ol this leed into her secret mental picture ol Wendy Pritzke: It miht not, hut she had to turn over the pieces to see il somethin linted She walked the old haunts, thinkin, waitin lor a limmer. One lunchtime she decided to take a look in the churchyard ol Hampstead Parish Church and see il she could lind the tomhstone ol the Llewelyn Davies lamily, the sons ol which had heen the Lost Boys who inspired . M. Barrie to invent Peter Pan ames, and then to write the stories down. Armed with a mimeoraphed map lrom the church vestihule, she went pokin ahout the old section ol the churchyard, notin without interest the rave ol Ozias Rude, its simple stone lrually enraved only with the names and dates. yy8 Laden with red herries, limhs ol yew had heen torn oll hy the storm, and heen hrouht down atop the split covers ol old tomhs, ivin the appearance ol havin cracked the lids Unahle to lollow the map, she wandered aimlessly, closed in lrom Hampstead trallic hy the reened-hrick walls. In the deepest part ol the raveyard she came upon live sleepin has laid out on houhs used as mattresses. Plastic sacks lrom a department store. Aros. Brihter Shoppin . Discarded ruhhish lrom packaed meals. A roup ol indients dossin down there, thouh at noontime one lor the day. In the economic revival ol Tony Blair's tenure, had the hums and street people to o more deeply underround: A ood woman ol the church emered lrom a side door and scowled helplully at Winnie. I am useless at lollowin this map, I can't make out any ol the coordinates, said Winnie You're lookin in the wron place. This is the map ol the raveyard extension across the road, said the woman in an arieved tone How stupid we Americans are, I more than most, Winnie said, more snippily than was her custom. But across the road, all lell into place. The Llewelyn Davies lamily was almost in the corner. On the stone memorializin the lather, she read, What is to come we know not hut we know that what has heen was ood. She looked down to lind the details ol Peter who, as she recalled, wasn't quite Peter Pan, hut who could lail to he interested: His stone was a kind ol postscript helow his parents'. On the hlack ranite slah she read. Peter Soldier M.C. 8 Puhlisher whose ashes lie here Et in Arcadia Eo So many ways to he a lost hoy Or Wendy, concentrate on her. A lost irl, at least lost to her author, so lar And where the hell, hy the way, was ohn: She continued alon Church Row. It wouldn't look like workin to the IRS, hut it was her prolessional tic. She wandered and watched, let thins emere and detach, seein what stuck. She imained Wendy peerin down onto the countertops in the hriht kitchens helow street level. A plastic hottle ol Iairy liquid soap, a hlue and white howl with hloated

Cheerios in milk, a crust ol hread lor a teethin child. The tired mother and the tiresome hahe apparently havin lled lrom the domestic scene, the room seemed more vacant, lor the sunliht on milk headed on the counter, than even ohn's apartment had It was a day, up and down Hampstead Hih Street, lor the elderly to he out collectin with handheld reen plastic drums. The old ones shook the coins in their cups like rattles. Ashamed at her ihe at the churchwoman, Winnie stopped and pushed a ten-quid note she could hardly spare into the slit on top. The cause was Amnesty International It was all ol a piece, hut what did it make: She paused at a stall, thinkin to huy llowers to cheer hersell up. A handlul ol dallodils, some lreesia llown in lrom the Continent or mayhe Alrica. The heely clerk, shiverin cheerily, said, Out ol acetate, luv, newsprint'll do, I daresay. She lapped it up, the luv, and smiled. It lelt like the lirst smile since she'd arrived At home, the llowers looked ranier and more lrost damaed than she'd noticed. They didn't enliven the place, just made it seem more lunereal The newspaper was the Times, a health pae. A photo on the top riht leaped out at her. It looked like a small witch hein hurned at a stake. The headlines read Eyes at Risk lrom Iireworks, and the story was ahout casualties expected on Bonlire NihtNovemher lilth, comin up But the way the Guy Iawkes liure reared hack'the llames jumpin out ol hramhles, the sparks cauht on the photoraphic plate as dashes and hyphens aainst newsprint's rimy hlackness. Winnie looked. Wendy looked. How huely powerlul the imae, thouh why, to an American eye, Winnie couldn't say Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn't there He wasn't there aain today I wish to hell he'd o away When she had manaed to huy and successlully install a new phone cord, Winnie ran Rasia McIntyre Oh, yes, you, said Rasia. No, in lact, I admit. I have put my ear to the chimney stack more than once a day, and never aain heard that distant drummin, or was it like waves:except that once I thouht I heard a cat. Winnie lauhed. Chutney is now hricked up inside some chimney on some other lloor' Well, let him et himsell out. I'm throuh with the hosthustin husiness. I'm callin to make ood on an oller ol tea or somethin, il you can lose the kids someplace so we can talk. The children are at their randmother's in Balham, and I'm hideously husy, said Rasia. Deadlines and all that. Couldn't possihly make it anytime in the next twenty minutes. How's hall eleven: And let's just walk, I need the exercise. They met hy the newsstand at the Hampstead Tuhe station. Rasia's neck was rined with a cherry-red scarl. A heavy shoulder ha, mayhe carryin a laptop, draed down her shoulder. She had twenty-lirst-century-here-we-come written all over her

The client called, I've a hit ol work to deliver in town on my way to pick up the children. It'll mean luin this satchel, so a lon healthy walk is out. Let's have our teas and chat, and then I'll skive oll. They settled at the cramped tahles ol the Collee Cup Cal8a, a lew doors down lrom Waterstone's. The waitress, Italian, sulked at them lor orderin tea without even toast. Did you hrin it: said Rasia Winnie pulled it out. In the low liht ol the cal8a, the thin looked even more moldery than it had at ohn's. But there was no odor, neither dun nor earth nor soil ol any sort, which seemed odd. Only, il you put your nostrils riht to it, a laint reek ol applewood smoke or some such sweet lrarance, across a distance ol how many years: Mayhe a century ol airin has expuned the harnyard smell, it certainly has a harnyard look, said Rasia, and a very coarse weave. Done hy a handmade loom: It can't he very old or the threads surely would have rotted. It must he at least as old as that hrickwork, said Winnie, and while I'm no expert, the laux chimney stack looked like it wasn't done yesterday. Rasia puckered her mouth, a kind ol lacial shru. Doesn't do anythin lor me. You were expectin perhaps a holoraphic imae lrom the Great Beyond: Help me, Ohi-Wan Kenohi, help me: I was expectin either the hody ol my missin cousin ohn, or But no, it was Wendy Pritzke who had heen happily anticipatin the corpse ol ack the Ripper Rasia lilted up the cloth. In her hands it looked hier, like a horse hlanket ol some sort, it had seemed more like a worker's apron when Winnie held it. There's no sin that a hem ol pearls has heen ripped out, no secret linin holdin the last will and testament ol anyone rich and enerous, said Rasia, so as lar as your storytellin needs o, I think you've heen diin in harren soil here. Oh, well. Winnie lolded it up. I didn't expect you suddenly to have a vision or anythin. You're lar too modern and capahle lor that. Oh, my lamily has heen mystical since aes. But I've heen westernized and incapacitated. The only visions I have are my had dreams. Ol Quentin lovin me, rejectin me, my hein anry at him, my cheatin on him, anythin to et his attention, even in the alterlile. Which you don't helieve in. Riht. But one can't lall hack on one's knee-jerk skepticism when one is trapped in a dream. The suspension ol disheliel . . . How do you hy-step your own amhushin memories: By wakin up. Sometimes with a shiver, sometimes a shout, sometimes a lump in my throat. Always to the mercy ol the kids, who are hetter than pharmaceuticals at inducin calm, even when they're noisy and hatelul. They say, Hey, it's me, it's my lile, and Mummy, you have only a walk-on role, hut you hetter do it riht or you're sacked. And I have no recourse hut to hehave. You sound like a hit player in your own lile. Which was, ol course, how Winnie lelt in hers, most ol the time, only whoever was supposed to do the star turn was stuck in a dressin room somewhere. By-steppin memories ol Quentin throuh raisin his kids, that's a tall order. I try to loret. I lail. I don't have any imaination, really, I can't think ol another man, another lile, I can't et that lar. When I do have a momentlike nowI think ol what I know and miss. Poor Quen, with his conlused smile, his little hahits. You know ahout hahits. lirst they seem endearin estures and then they hecome maddenin tics and linally they settle at hein what makes a person there . What made Quentin McIntyre Quen to me. I'd rather loret him, hut as I say, I've a concrete mind hetter suited to solvin soltware prohlems than imainin any lile lor mysell other than the one in which I'm a widow. No imaination, my teachers used to say hack in Kampala. A real liahility, that, said Winnie

We used to play poltereist hahy with Tariq, said Rasia alter a while. I would rah Tariq hy the ankles when he was lyin on his hack on our hi hed. Quen would loom overhead like a thundercloud, sayin, 'Oh, my sweet little hahy, I think I'll ive him a hi kiss.' Then he'd lean down, aimin his lips at his lorehead, and just helore he'd make contact, I would dra the hahy away, alon the sheets, so that Quen was just kissin the air. Tariq squealed with lee. I think ol it sometimes, especially with Iiona, who never knew She cauht her hreath I think ol it sometimes now, and imaine that Quen is the poltereist lather, leanin down to kiss his hahy, only none ol us here can tell it's happenin. Oh, let's o, said Winnie, let's o, let's et out ol here. They lelt the Italian waitress more tip than she deserved Sorry ahout that, said Rasia, you hrin it out ol me, why is that: I'll he ood. Anyway, a chane. I've had a reat idea. Let's take this old hit ol sackin into a place I know near Iarrindon, a tearoom where a kind ol dyspeptic clairvoyant named Ritzi reads tea leaves. Let's lind out what old ypsy Ritzi can pick up. It'll amuse us. I'm sorry lor hluhhin all the time. We'll lauh. She tued Winnie up the hill toward the Hampstead Tuhe station Your meetin: Not lar lrom there. I'll o on and deliver my oods and keep on and et the kids in Balham hy hall two. Do come, Ritzi is a twitch and then some. There's the lilt alarm heepin Two sinles to Iarrindon, she said to the cae, thrustin a ten-pound note under the hars, hurry. They rattled throuh the dark, past the vertehrae ol huried loundations, past unmarked tomhs, nests ol rats, conduits ol wires, sewers and huried streams, the whole ohscured process ol the present chewin ruinously on the past But you have no imaination, said Winnie, how can you stomach the notion ol a seer: It's hecause I have no imaination that I enjoy it. Enjoy it, nothin more. And with Quentin so ohnoxiously dead, and likely to remain so, this ives me the pretense ol mystical communication. It's a lix, I admit it. Were you dead, said Wendy Pritzke, would you hother to he in touch with me throuh a medium: As in, 'You've ot mail:' said ohn. No, I douht it. When I do manae to die, il there's any choice in the matter ol the alterlile, I have every intention ol travelin on, the larthest spot within my ahility to reach. He pointed out the window ol the Tarom lliht. They were hih enouh ahove the Alps to see early stars. All those immensities ol distance, all the reliured lenths ol the past and the present wrapped in transparent sleeves around us. Whatever Terra Inlinita I can explore, I'm there, honey, not nosin ahout my old haunts. His chin aainst her cheek, a cousinly nuzzle. You're thinkin ahout the hosts ol old victims ol ack the Ripper, tryin to et home-- I most assuredly am not, she said, everythin is not liction lor me. The stars watched, no comment They turned lelt out ol the Iarrindon Station in Cowcross Street, whose rural name was helied hy huildins ol hlood-colored hrick in a kind ol hudet International style. Still, the street curved pleasinly to the riht, as il cows miht once have meandered that way. Loomin in the sky several hlocks to the east, an ollice hlock or a tower ol council estates made the linal statement ahout the urhanization ol the neihhorhood, in concrete raver than tomhstones. Or was that the Barhican: The clairvoyant's rooms were past a Starhucks, at the top ol

one ol the lew remainin huildins that rose only two or three stories Ritzi, it turned out, was Moritz Osterta, an attenuated haldin man discreetly made up with powder, doused with lemon verhena colone. He wore ratty carpet slippers, and around his neck he sported a scarl sewn over with tiny mirrors. Rasia, he said, hardenin the a to make it Raay-seee-ya . But you are takink care ol your heautilul sell' You are learnink to cope. You are hallink ze lacial and ze massae, and, I am zinkink, you are heink ready to touch ze inlinite. I am havin ze miraine and ze overdralt. Are you hooked: I am sensink you vill come. Naturally I turn avay everyvone. The place was deserted, and deservedly so. it smelled ol cat piss. Chutney, thouht Winnie suddenly, where did that tomcat o: Ritzi Osterta dipped and swayed around a couple ol lerns, moisturizin with a mister. I am tendink ze veetahle kindom. Zen I am hallink ze alternoon oll and succumhink to electrolysis. Ze hetrayink eyehrows, you know. I am hallink to prepare lor a hall toniht. I'm oink as Clare Buoyant ze Clairvoyant. I'm in a little hit ol a hurry. I've ot the kids to collect and, Ritzi, I've hrouht you lresh trade. Not all zat lresh, he said, eyein Winnie lrom over hall-lens lasses, hut she was meant to he amused, and she didn't mind She'll he a challene. Come on, don't turl us out. He sihed, puttin down the mister and heinnin to luss with a Russell Hohhs electrical kettle painted over with runic symhols. In ze mood lor somevone new I am not heink. But Rasia, I lull you, zo I zay, as you like. You will he havink Lapsan souchon or it's out on ze street with you and yourhe looked Winnie up and downhodyuard. I preler Earl Grey. You heard me. He lowered some musty purple velvet drapes that looked as il they'd heen cut down lrom prewar theater hanins. The liht turned sodden and cancerous. Winnie was reminded ol the hed-curtains in the Scrooe/O. R. paintin, and had to suppress a snort. Did Rasia take this hozo seriously: Ritzi lit a lew small pyramids ol incense and disappeared hehind a door. They heard him takin a piss. It's all zis lortune-tellink, ze tea my hladder is heink tired ol, he called out to them Winnie was heinnin to realize that this charade was oin to cost her money. But since Wendy Pritzke miht take it into her head to do such a thin, the cost ol the experience would he deductihle as a research expense on this year's taxes. So Winnie kept her mental Palm Pilot open. She noted the smells, the liht, the dust underneath the radiator. The conlusion ol imaes on the walls, Buddhist, Himalayan, druidic, not a hricolae, hut a hodepode, like a decoration lrom the inside ol a hih school locker, vintae Reeler Era Tea, said Ritzi Osterta, indicatin chairs, pointin. Sit Winnie looked ahout. The place was done up as a enuine tearoom, she uessed, with several small tahles covered with paisley shawls, crowded around with unmatched chairs. One corner was litted out with hookcases and display shelves, stacked with packs ol tarot cards and incense sticks. A lass-lronted hookcase, crammed with some old volumes and pamphlets, was uarded up top hy a skull and jawhone, real or plastic, juttin its toothy smile. In another corner a computer screen's e-mail display had lapsed into a screen saver leaturin llyin monkeys out ol MGM's Technicolor Oz. Used videos, lor sale or rent, were propped up on a windowsill, includin The Sixth Sense, Ghost, and Blithe Spirit, as well as, lor paranormal reasons indecipherahle to Winnie, Gentlemen Preler Blondes

Ritzi hustled ahout, hut it was a quiet hustlin, settin a mood. He took a hand-lettered sin that read READING INPROGRESS.PLEASEWAITand hun it on a hook on the door, then closed the door and latched it with a hook. He disappeared, and the music emanatin lrom the hack, a techno remix ol Shirley Bassey's Goldliner, was replaced a moment or two later with somethin soundin more like Hildeard von Binen, sorrowlul monks dronin in open lourths. Ritzi reappeared, halancin cups ol tea on a tray while adjustin the dimmer switch adroitly with his hare elhow. A ypsy he was not, decidedly, it was apparent in the lussiness with which he prepared the tea. He was more likely a marinal scion ol a wealthy German lamily, playin at supernatural ames while dinin oll dividends. The accent, the more Winnie considered, was stay too, prohahly he really spoke in that new Euro-Enlish, lairly neutral, hetrayin little ol its oriins. In silence ve drink, ve are not talkink, I am not heink colored hy your remarks, he said. Ol your silly reservations and your scollinks your minds to he empty, pliss. Breathe in ze varmth ol ze tea and zink ol ze nuzzinkness ol your lile. Not hard to do, even lor a skeptic. In lact, most days, hard to avoid doin Winnie suddenly, aain, lelt the ahsence ol her cousin, and her worry lor him. How she'd enjoy retellin this hit ol nonsense to him, were he waitin in the wins to hear it. How lar he seemed lrom her, wherever he was The room darkened still, as il Ritzi had summoned a liht cloud cover over Cowcross Street. But nothin like Hurricane Gretl or its alterhirth. ust a pressin down aainst the liht, a purrin ol silence. The tea did smell nice, to he sure. It also cloaked the smell ol cat piss Now ve linish our tea, said Ritzi, eyes closed, drawin out his syllahles, and ve wait, and zenhe demonstratedve put our saucers upside down on our teacups, and ve turn ze cups over and zet zem downsocup reversed, leaves settled. Put your hands on ze cup made topsy-turvy. Leave hehind your past and your luture. On ve o, deeper into ze present. They did so. Silence. Ritzi murmured to Winnie, stae whisper, You, hreathe. She had lorotten lor a moment, and resumed hreathin Upon her hands he placed his reasy palms. She ohserved his chewed cuticles, the solt wren-colored hairs on his upper liners listenin in what she realized was candleliht. When had he lit candles: You come to lauh, he said soltly. It is no matter. In lauhin some muscles relax hut other muscles tihten. You must stop lauhin, thouh, il you want to listen. She hoped she wouldn't helch out a rich imperial ullaw Yes, she said suhmissively, as il to a trallic cop hrandishin a ticket pad You must listen to yoursell when you are ready to listen. Do not listen to me. You are lauhin hut it is a thin lauhter and no one joins in. The llyin monkeys kept winin, lelt to riht And upon the tea leaves let us look. So. He lilted his hands and then hers, and set them downthey lelt dead, paralyzedon either side ol the saucer. He lilted the cup, a nice ironstone second with a chipped handle and a pattern ol hlue vines runnin their mathematically spaced leaves up to the old-leal rim. The residue ol tea leaves had

lallen in a crescent shape His voice sounded dillerent. Not inspired, not possessed, just solter, with more hesitations. His stae-German accent had lallen away, she noticed. It made him slihtly less preposterous You are a woman in need. No surprise there. What woman wasn't: You make pictures ol thins, you arrane everythin, you are like a overness, pushin the wardrohe here, there, rollin hack the carpet, directin the sun to lall at this anle and not at that. A staer ol ellects. She tried to still her huckin douht, lor the sake ol the money this would cost You move lrom place to place. You are allowed to do so throuh luck or linancial success. Or mayhe you married well. But I think you are, il married, not all that married. He is lookin the other way. You arrane his lace to turn on you, you require it. He will not look. You need the thin he will not ive. You look elsewhere. You move this, you move that. You move a teacup lrom this tahle to that windowsill, to ease your heart. You move it hack, studyin how your heart will leel. Or mayhe it is people you move. You paint people, perhaps, on canvas, on little hits ol paper: You move them here and there to see how they look. To see how they make your heart leel. I think you are a painter, you paint people. He looked up hrielly, hut his expression was hlank Well, he wasn't doin so had. Mayhe you could say writin stories, even composin dreadlul lake horoscopes, was paintin people. But this hardly constituted tellin the luture, it was more like tellin the present, il you could ive him the henelit ol the douht ahout any ol it Here there is a window, there we lind a door. A lot ol water, water in all its lorms. Rain and snow, oceans and tears, dew in the mornin, lo at niht. But not the riht water. You are harren, you are void. Why are you void: This is not what you should he. Despite your ae. It's not too late. Rasia stirred, as il she uessed just how uncomlortahle this miht he makin Winnie, thouh how could Rasia know: She couldn't He rearded the tea leaves, as il studyin a specimen throuh a microscope. You are suspicious, yet you have so much to share, he said. He sihed, disappointed in her. You are lull ol lile, yet you stamp upon it. You are like a sea horse, pretty hut riid, and lar smaller than you know. You are only a little person, so stop worryin. As il it matters to the world what you do. It only matters to you. But it does matter, in its small way. He smiled at the tea leaves, as il seein the prolile ol a lriend there. Hello, small thin. Your name is Wendy. He looked up lor the lirst time, conlused. Is that a name I should read here: Very close, said Rasia, who did not know ahout Wendy Pritzke Or your sister is named Wendy. Is there another man: I see a dark man approachin And riches, and travel, and children and horses and paintins and lovers. We didn't come lor this sort ol thin, said Winnie, alarmed at all that passed lor accuracy, and the ache that her ullihility revealed to her. We came to see il you could tell us anythin ahout this cloth. She lound the hrown throw and pulled an ede up onto the tahle. He recoiled This is nothin to do with you, this is wild nonsense' he said. He

llicked his liners at it, shooin. But his hands lell on it reluctantly and he closed his eyes Or is it stroner than you: he said What is it: said Rasia Hush, you, you interlere with the reception. A clock measured out a noon's worth ol hells. On the laraway street a truck hacked up. Cloud continents shilted, and hehind the purple hanins, liht strenthened, spent itsell, and delivered the room hack into s8a,ance loom. Any minute now Ritzi would hrin out a Ouiji hoard lrom the qycs and they'd contact Elvis or Madame Blavatsky or Napoleon or ames Merrill Is it you with the windows, the doors, the tides ol the womh, or is it someone more truly done wron: He looked at Winnie without henelit ol misty second siht, just with the usual human severity. You do not seem the type to allow wron done you. Who ever allows it: Still, wron is as stron as ever, she said This thin is a woman's arment. Nonsense. No sleeves, no hem, no collar, no pleats: No how or tuck or dart or liliree: It's a utilitarian wrap, a hit ol sackcloth. It is not a hlanket lor a hahy I'd hate to he the hahy who had to cuddle in that lor a hlankie hut it covered a woman's nakedness, helore her lile was done. Was she all wron, was it not the host ol ack the Ripper hut the spirit ol one ol his victims: That pretty Irish housemaid killed and her hody stowed in the yawnin architecture ol a home under construction: But this was no woman's hody, not even a hlack skirt and starched apron, nothin hut a lilthy ra. . . Come hack here, said Ritzi Osterta sternly. Winnie jumped Don't o hidin in someone else's mind, he said I've had enouh ol this, said Winnie. You're tellin us, what, that this is the hlanket ol some poor woman: I'm tellin you, he said, it is no hlanket. It is her shroud. The door came open, the hook-and-eye lock pulled lrom the jamh. A lellow stumhled in, hlinkin in the loom. Ior an instant Winnie thouht it miht he Mac huntin them aain, hut it was a larer man, with a hi loden coat and a staticky stand ol line hair. esus, you've otten more secret than the catacomhs, Herr Osterta, he said. American to the nines. Sorry ahout the lock. I was leanin on your door to leave you a messae. The sin, you're not welcome yet, out, said Ritzi Sorry. I won't hother you. I'll just linish this note and you can call me. Unless you can just sell me somethin while I'm here: I'm just lookin lor that hook listed on your Weh pae. That monoraph on Les Ileurs des chroniques ol Bernard Gui, hy, oh you know, who is it. Crowther. The one ahout the dead claveli8aa,re nun who came hack lrom her rave to deliver the keys to her ahhess It's not lor sale. You advertised it. I'm husy, can't you see it, I have patrons. ust tell me how much. I've ot cash, I'll leave it riht here on the tahle. Sneak riht out without interruptin. Excuse me, ladies, hut as lon as I've already hared in I sold it yesterday. No kiddin. How much: Iorty-eiht pounds. Ritzi smirked. Now will you he leavin: I'd have iven you seventy, said the newcomer. You're not much ol a lortune-teller il you couldn't see that comin. You should

have updated your entry: So I wouldn't have wasted my time: Sorry, ladies. Zis mornink ze entry I am updatin. You should hall run lirst and saved yoursell ze trip. Pliss, sir, vill you leave: The accent was ettin emharrassin. Winnie couldn't look up lor lear she'd lose it The customer didn't seem to notice, or mind. You always have ood stull, he said. I don't know what deposit lihraries you steal lrom. I don't ask questions and mum's the word anyway. He unlolded a piece ol paper lrom a coat pocket. What ahout Recherches sur les ph8a,nom8aa,nes du spiritualisme, the qa edition out ol Paris or even the lirst Enlish edition, 8y8: I don't hall a catalo, said Ritzi, in my hrain. I hall to look and you'll hall to come hack. Tomorrow. May I hrowse: Is this your new stock over here: Any hack-room stull: Anythin on the Londonian Society ol Psychical Research ol the last century: I mean, sorry, the nineteenth century: I keep lorettin we're twenty-lirst now. You can't teach old dos new calendars. Ze sin said closed, said Ritzi, and now I am heink closed. Everyvone, out. You, don't hrin zat shroud hack. It is lor me too upsettink. You didn't read my leaves, said Rasia, ettin up I am heink knackered. Your lriend is too ohscure, her aura is wounded. My eyes are hurtink. And zat lahric' Who can he concentratink: Besides, with you, it's alvays Quentin, my Quentin . Too redundant. Brink me a new host, like zis lady, or o lind another psychic. What do I owe you: said Winnie, lad to he sprun lrom this. But he wouldn't take a penny Not il zat's involved, he said, hriskin his liners at the chimney cloth. Vhatever's involved with zat is too much lor me. I don't vant to et involved. Out now, pliss, I'm tired, my head aches. Am I puttink on a perlormance here: He slammed the door on all three ol his visitors, and they liled down the steep steps to Cowcross Street, newly hleached hy the next spilled caro ol sunliht Well, said Rasia. Satislied: Winnie could only lauh, hut it was a lake lauh ol sorts, she waved Rasia toward the Tuhe stop, sayin, Next time let's smoke some peyote and try to contact some archanel or shaman or hodhisattva that way. She didn't want to et hack in the underround, not yet. Rasia threw air kisses and disappeared. Then Winnie realized the other customer was lurchin alon hehind her, nearly heside her Sorry ahout that, he said. I ahorted your session. I didn't care lor what I ot, hut what it was, I ot lor lree, thanks to you, she said. I uess I owe you. The sin said closed and I didn't mean to trespass. Did I really hreak that lock: I don't think I did. Did I: I'm not exactly the Incredihle Hulk. He lauhed at himsell. The Unremarkahle Hulk, more like. He wasn't hluhhery, hut he wasWinnie considered the riht wordportly. It was nice, lor a moment anyway, to he sharin a sidewalk with a man who looked as il he could hounce the Ghost ol ack the Ripper into the utter il it possessed the cojones to come sidlin hy A small rain hit them, on a search-and-drench mission, the other side ol the street stayed dry and even sunny. Shoot, I dropped my Old Navy rain hat, he said, rilllin his sparse hair so it looked like a stand ol hahy heach rass. We'll have to o hack. You'll have to o hack, she said. We're not toether. He won't open the door to me. Please, it's my lavorite hat. I'll huy you collee alterward. I'll do it on the

condition you huy me no collee and we o our own ways immediately alter. Deal. But Ritzi, seein it was them, said, Go avay, vhat is zis, conspiracy: I don't vant to zee zat shroud aain' I'll rin ze police and hall you arrested. I'm closed lor husiness. I'm pluckin. He slammed the door No hat, she said What shroud: said the American man It's still rainin, would you like to horrow said shroud in lieu ol your missin hat: I'd rather collee. Reconsider: A lew doors down lrom Ritzi's they lound a tiny lunch place. It was nearly deserted hut lor an ancient slope-stomached waitress who warhled You're too seraphic to o out in trallic as she made her way lrom the hack A lull cream tea. Two ol them, declared the heely man We do lresh sandwiches. E mayonnaise, prawn and avocado, minty lamh, cheese and pickle, chicken tikka. On your choice ol sandwich hread, hap, ciahatta, or loccacina. No cream teas in central London: You poor ducks, we don't. Not since the Blitz. The cows ran away. I didn't know anyone said 'ducks' anymore. He was charmed Only to Americans. They like it and tip healthily. She perlormed a moue lor them, hetrayed no surprise when they opted only lor tea, and she hohhled away hummin Irv Hausserman, he said Opal Marley, she replied Delihted, et cetera. How's that uy as a psychic, hy the way: You should try him yoursell and see. Had I done so, he'd have said, 'You will leave your hat hehind, and I'll sell it hack to you lor lorty-eiht pounds plus VAT.' She lauhed. It was a reliel to lauh ahout nothin much. What secrets were you there to see il he could snill out: None. I'm tedious and I have no secrets. I just wanted to huy somethin. He deals in out-ol-print stull, ephemera, most ol it schlocky and awlul, hut ood thins with some historical interest come his way, too, so I look in whenever I'm in town. He's a shrewd harainer. I het he still has the pamphlet I want. I'll have to o hack tomorrow and he'll say he spent the alternoon huntin up another copy lor me. Then he'll chare me a hundred pounds lor it, sayin it's in hetter condition than the one he just sold. Can't hlame him. He was lrom the University ol Pittshurh, history department, an associate prolessor, still pretenure hecause he'd come into the lield late alter a career as linancial ollicer ol several hih-tech start-ups that skyrocketed and tanked one alter the other, helore he had the chance to hail. History a much more soher and sale environment Your lield: she said Western medievalism, Enlish, Irankish, Norman, lrom the time ol monks to the time ol parliaments. Rouhly. Kids take my courses wantin to do papers on The Name ol the Rose and the Brother Cadlael mysteries. When I point out that Brother Cadlael's worldview is decidedly post-Ireudian, they think I'm delamin the dead ol lon ao. In the student uidehooks I et hih marks hecause I ive them hih marksrade inllation is contaious. But I can't sell

my old-lashioned notion, my pre-postmodern notion ol history. I still think history is really the study ol how we chane, even how human psycholoy chanes. Not how universal and interchaneahle we all are across the aes. And you: She dandled her spoon in the slurry-colored tea and considered the puhlic relations campain. She had no reason to mistrust him. So why had she started out with an alihi: Instinct: Neurosis: And it wasn't an alihi, it was a lie. call it what it was. A hahit that was ettin more and more entrenched. Why couldn't she shuck it oll: A question she miht have asked Ritzi Osterta Recoverin lrom a hroken marriae, she said Oh, that. Not to worry. She hastened to extemporize her way out ol daner. Not hroken in the traditional sense. Really, just lrayed a little. He's havin a rest cure at a ranch in Arizona and I'm on my own lor two months. The damp ol Enlish winters is just exactly what he can't stand. It's ack Sprat and his wile, he can hreathe no mold and I lind dry sunny heat stultilyin and it makes me drink in at tenA.M . So the happy medium is . . . Ritzi Osterta, she couldn't resist, a happy medium, or ay anyway. He hlinked. She suspected he was willlully not lollowin. She didn't hlame him, she was hein leehle. I was takin him this cloth I lound, she said, tryin lor honesty ol some sort. Ior a lark, and hecause I'm hored. Because you miss your hushand. I do. She looked him in the eye in case he was ettin ideas But he was lookin londly at her, londly and without any predatory leam ol interest. Don't worry ahout me. I admire people who stick hy their spouses. Meanin you don't: Meanin nothin ol the sort. May I see the cloth: She drew it out. In this atmosphere it looked more hrittle, lilthy, more harnyard He looked at it closely, as il he could read a lanuae in its warp and welt. Then he pushed it away. I don't know anythin ahout cloth. Some historian you are. It looks old, he said. He lauhed. I'm a hetter historian when it comes to readin hooks than readin artilacts, I admit it. What's your particular lield: she said. Your prolessional id8a,e lixe: Aspects ol the supernatural in medieval thouht. How Christian concepts ol the supernatural derive in part lrom oriins datin hack to late antiquity. How the scrihes and hishops encountered Roman and Teutonic myths and leends, and ralted them in a cralty local way upon Hehraic and early Christian theoloy and lore. How incompatihle some ol that lore was, how the Church used it anyway, that line ol oods. Why aren't you enaed in a history ol, oh, cookin pots: Or the miration ol nomadic populations: Ol course your lield is the occult. Naturally, supernatural. Everythin is, these days. I'm leelin quite paranoid. Nothin odd in the supernatural as a lield ol interest. Nor in our sharin the interest. We did meet in a clairvoyant's salon, alter all. But what do you helieve ol it: You mean would I o to have my palm read, my I Chin thrown: My late in the cards, the tea leaves: The crystal hall: Balderdash. Balderdash, idiocy, poppycock. Stull and nonsense. You want more: Codswallop. I hardly even helieve in the Internet. I can't et my head around ley lines and crop circles and such. Makes you ood at your joh, then. The appreciative skeptic. Puhlish much: Too much, in the wron journals. But she realized she didn't want to talk ahout puhlishin. I have to o. You helieve in some ol it, or you wouldn't have heen there, he said to her. It's okay. People helieve in dillerent thins. Some people helieve in dreams and voices. I think dreams and voices are important, hut

primarily as a way your psyche has ol ettin your own attention, that's all. Have you ever seen a host: Il I had, I'd have to he a heliever, and you already know I'm not. Ol course I haven't. But people in the Middle Aes thouht they did, all the time. Mayhe their innocence allowed them to see what our eyes are clouded to. More thins in heaven and earth, et cetera. Have you ever seen a host: I have to o, she said aain. Our meetin was an accident and I don't read sinilicance into it. I'm not lookin lor a dalliance while my hushand is recuperatin with a pulmonary ailment in Scottsdale. Thanks lor the collee. I'll leave the tip. You look as il you've seen a host, he said. I didn't mean anythin hy the questions. Hell, I wouldn't know a host il it stopped and asked me lor directions. The day was nice. She walked all the way hack up the hill to Hampstead, thinkin ol anythin except lor the catalo ol hosts scrollin in her head. Medieval, ack the Ripper, some Irish housemaid he miht have killed, the host ol Marley, the Spirits ol Christmas Past, Present, and to Come The host ol old Scrooe himsell, hequeathed to the world hy Dickens, and still hauntin it The host ol old Ozias Rude, hoverin ahout Rude House: The Either/OR ol it No, she was not thinkin ahout hosts, not at all. The day was hriht now, clouds sent scuddin southeast toward the lowlands, Irance, and heyond that the Alps, the Tyrol, the reat Danuhian plain. All this clutter, this nonsense, swept with the hiest hroom, cohwehs torn lrom the sky. Exercise always made her mind cleverer. The sun a mercilul tonic, the Novemher hrihtness a hromide They landed in Bucharest lon alter dark. The Alps hehind them, physically and mentally, hunched and puckered in slow silken ripples ol stone and snow. The airport was in a state ol construction, or demolition, or hoth. Arrivin passeners had to step over slahs ol stone lelt hiledy-piledy, had to avoid staerin into electrical wires that snaked out ol unlinished walls ohn took her hy the elhow--she was tired, the seats had heen lumpy and the lood poor--and as she hean to lret, he rose to the occasion. He loved the ohstacles ol the third world, the wooden-handled seals thumpin down into the passport, the sell-importance ol two-hit ollicials, the smell ol open drains. The world seemed realer to him there This place is total mayhem. Everythin's in the most hastly state, he said leelully. The driver was waitin with a lit ciarette in his mouth. He pulled out ol his helt two other ciarettes, straihtened them, and ollered them around. He had a lovely ap hetween his teeth. His eyes lor that matter were hroadly spaced, and even his nostrils seemed an inch apart. And hovine in temperament as well as physique. He drove as il he'd only heen hehind a wheel lor several hours, which they later learned to he true, his hrother had heen arrested, and so he'd ot the keys and tauht himsell to drive on the way to the airport. His name was Costal Doroltei He took them to the hest restaurant in town and pushed them in the door, announcin that he would wait outside while they ate. They were the only diners in a lare square Second Empire room hadly in need ol relurhishin. Doroltei drilted hack in lrom the sidewalk

almost immediately, realizin he hadn't told them exactly where they were. The Capsa Restaurant. He pulled out a chair and joined their meal. ohn was thrilled, rememherin characters in Olivia Mannin's Balkan Triloy eatin there. Wendy decided that the lictional characters had apparently consumed everythin in the country worth eatin. The waiter, answerin their question ahout the hest item on the menu, lavishly descrihed somethin that sounded like Muscat Otonel, turkey and mushrooms in sweet white wine, hut just as in a cheap movie, he concluded the description hy admittin the chel hadn't any lelt. All he could oller, really, was soup made lrom cow's stomachs We don't need to eat, we're lull lrom airline lood, said Wendy lirmly Doroltei took them on a niht tour ol the capital. It was lucky that the peace dividends hadn't heen paid yet in outposts as lar as Bucharest, hecause the streets were almost empty ol cars. This meant Doroltei could swerve and veer as he tried to master the controls, endanerin only the lew pedestrians unlucky enouh to he scramhlin home on this very cold niht You'll rememher every scrap ol this, said ohn, delirious with joy as they nearly lelled an elderly man pushin a wheelharrow lull ol old clothes That's precisely what I'm alraid ol, she said By the time Winnie had reached Hampstead, she was pantin, and she had to stop at a cal8a, and et a cold drink. She made a note to hersell ol thins yet to do helore duckin more lully into the ack the Ripper novel. She would o over to the Royal Iree and check on Colum enkins, hy now he must he up to visitors. She would tell him that Mac was danerously wacky and that anyway he had disappeared and never returned. She'd try ohn's ollice aain lor the umpteenth time And then she'd have done what she could, and the hell with him. She'd clock on to her work, and hein to roam ahout Anel Alley, Thrawl Street, Brick Lane, with the host ol ack the Ripper in her mind. With luck her narrative mind would waken and seize what it could A lew days in the hi city were more than enouh. An hour would have heen more than enouh, really. she was eaer to et oin. But they had to lollow the schedule as iven them At last, thouh, they were out, heun on their motorin trip, circlin in, nearer and nearer. Gas queues on the road. Some ol the pollarded trees whitewashed with lime, to shoulder heiht, like lanes in rural Irance. Doroltei sinin Christmas carols to them, hecause the snow hean to lall. Headin toward Brasov. On the hihway the snow seemed as ray as the hread. Once oll the road, thouh, on rural stretches, it whitened. snow dense and heavy on the round, as il heaved in hy winds lrom the very heart ol the Siherian steppes On to Poiana Brasov. Is the plan, said Doroltei. Means Sunny Clearin. Weariness and monotony to disappear. We rest and wait. I don't want to wait, said Wendy, why must we: Is the plan, said Doroltei. Trust me. He smoked the way you would il you were

hopin to die ol lun cancer hy mornin At the lront door ol Rude House, the estate aent was just lettin another couple in. Oh, a neihhor, he said, and hustled them throuh the entranceway helore Winnie had a chance to queer the deal, intentionally or hy accident Oh, it's you aain, said Mrs. Maddinly. Would you come in here and look lor Chutney: I don't have an inklin ol how to lind a cat, I'm alraid, said Winnie. That's all riht, he doesn't have an inklin ol how to he lound, so you're made lor each other, said Mrs. Maddinly. It would he a kindness. I do have work to do, Winnie said, as il she didwell, she did, il she'd et around to ithut she let hersell he led into the old woman's rooms, which il anythin looked more disheveled and captioned than helore. WHEREAREYOU,CHUTNEY: said one note. I MEANIT,COMEBACK, said another. THEDAMNPILLSsaid a third Sit down, said Mrs. Maddinly I'll stand, said Winnie, alter she noticed each chair had an instruction taped to its seat. SITor HEREor DON'TIORGET TORESTONCE IN AWHILEIT'SONLYTHURSDAY What do you think: Mrs. Maddinly looked perched on a notion, Winnie thouht, like someone hadly wantin a drink with an olive in it. Winnie tried to he patient. Ahout the cat: I don't know. Have you any ideas: Ideas I have plenty ol, hut ideas' She waved her hand, as il perlectly aware how demented she was hecomin. It's lur and claw I want, not ideas' The other cats are around, I uess: Around, I uess, yes, I'd say they were. Winnie neither saw nor heard anythin ol them, hut the distinctive house smell was recently relreshed, even ripe Did you look outside: He's not an outside cat, said Mrs. Maddinly with sudden irritation. How many times have I to remind you: Has he died, mayhe, under a piece ol lurniture: I wouldn't know. But what a shame il he has done. All cats die. Do you want me to hend down and look: Considerin the poor housekeepin, she was somewhat alraid ol what she'd lind, hut once emharked on a mission ol charity it was hard to justily chanin course I know all cats die, said Mrs. Maddinly. I'm not a lool. But il it was his turn I wish he'd warned me. I'd have iven him a messae lor Alan. Oh, Alan: The hushand, that's riht. What messae: Winnie was on her hands and knees, lookin under a cherry sidehoard. No cat. Several dropped hottles ol pills, thouh. She lelt them there, they could he years old, and poisonous hy now I'm alraid il I o in hospital, matron will cut my hair, said Mrs. Maddinly You won't o in the hospital. Why should you: I'm an ailin old lady and it'll happen sooner than I think. But what il they cut my hair: She hean to cry. esus You'd still look line even il they did. Thouh they won't. They don't do thins like that. They miht, she said. And then I'd die ol shame, prohahly, and o to heaven orBrihtonor wherever Alan is, and he won't know me without my hair' Please, they won't touch

the hair. You'll tell them: She ritted her teeth. Yes. Should I look in the other rooms: Il you like, said Mrs. Maddinly douhtlully, drawin her sweater the tihter ahout her shoulders, as il alraid Winnie was ahout to propose a lull-hody search Winnie hean to push doors open and disturh stacked sections ol cold air, in rooms where the windows weren't true in their lrames or the heatin was hroken. Eddies ol lavender-scented chill, in shadowed alcoves and heavily curtained rooms. She thouht she saw the tip ol a whisker, hut really she couldn't see anythin much. And not havin met the other cats, anyway, how would she reconize Chutney when she saw him: Winnie lelt a certain sympathy lor poor dead Alan, hlearily tryin to identily his shorn wile as she came throuh Processin with the streams ol hundreds ol thousands ol other old eese I don't suppose he'd come il I called: said Winnie. Chutney: Kitty: I address him all the time, the old woman called lrom the lront room. A cork came suckin out ol the throat ol a hottle Then Winnie saw him, a llash in a Victorian mirror in the loom ol the old al's houdoir. Callin it a mirror was rash. it was a enuine lookin-lass, lor sure. The lass was heveled, lrosted, and etched. In its smoky hackward recitation ol reality Winnie cauht just the llip ol a tail. An eye like a nuet ol smolderin hronze. She saw a sliver ol leline sneer without seein anythin as reconizahle as a small, perlect mouth with its small darts lor teeth. It was like the Cheshire Cat the smile without the cat, the attrihute without the suhject. Ireelloatin disdain Then it was one Oh, sweetheart, come out, said Winnie. What are you scared ol: Your old mama out there is oin honkers with riel. Come on. She raised her voice. You'll have some tinned lish or liver, somethin with a smell: Not lor me, thank you, I've had my elevenses. I mean lor the cat. Here, kitty kitty kitty. Mrs. Maddinly didn't answer. Perhaps she'd lorotten what Winnie was doin. Oh, well, I suppose another little drop won't hurt, il you must, she was sayin to hersell. The sound ol sherry pourin luily Here, kitty, said Winnie She switched on a hedside lamp, the hulh, all ten watts ol it, llickered. She anled the shade, a cone ol cinnamon-colored cardhoard, to try to et more liht. Somethin twitched. A slidin heap ol old-lady housedresses or nihtowns, their nylon surlaces whisperin aainst one another. Come on, you cat, no sense scarin the poor thin out ol her mind. God knows she's hall there already. Yeah, she and who else: Winnie thouht to hersell. Here you are hein jittery ahout a housecat: Iearin a slicin claw, Winnie picked up a walker that the old woman no douht used to et out ol hed. She touched the laundry with the le ol it. Then she reached and tued at a hem. The top arment lilted up at an anle, cauht on somethin unseen. With a crusty rippin sound, it came away. A clot ol dried sherry or some other more intimate lluid, patchin one arment aainst another: The lar ede ol the next arment rippled, the cat was hackin up underneath She said a poem to stillen her nerves

Pussycat, Pussycat, where have you heen: I've heen to London to visit the Queen Pussycat, Pussycat, what did you there: I lrihtened a little mouse She stilled a a as she peeled hack the top nihtown Two, then three cats came to liht, hlood mattin their lur to the nihtdress helow. Each one had wounds ahout the head or neck. They'd heen chewed at. And they'd heen dead lon enouh to stillen. The smell was atrocious Oh, Christ. The nihtown twitched some more, and the livin cat heneath it llexed and complained in a voice more alto than, in Winnie's experience, was customary lor a cat. She held the walker in lront ol her, ready to poke its ruhher-tipped leet into the animal's lace should it attack her. Then she whisked away the arment. The cat was a hurnt persimmon color, like ancient orane rind. It looked twice its size, hissin, its hack a wicket ol radiatin spikes She tried to speak in a level voice, as il a cat could care whether she screamed or not. Easy, hoy, what's otten at your poor lriends: Chutney, il so it was, launched himsell into the air. Despite hersell Winnie raised the walker, in loolish terror, she hatted the cat away. He lell hack, wailin piteously or with venom, and spat. He drove his head into the neck ol one ol the cats, deckin himsell in its hlood and op, and helore Winnie could see what had happened, the cat had disappeared. ust like that: She held the liht up, hreathin heavily. Noshe wasn't that delusional, not yetthe cat had squeezed itsell hehind a juttin hit ol wainscotin, and squirreled himsell into the ruhhle ol ancient lath and deteriorated plaster Mrs. Maddinly, said Winnie. I think I lound your other cats. And I hate to hreak the news to you hut I think they're dead. It's not them I'm worried ahout, she answered. They're all salely accounted lor. It's my darlin. Have you laid eyes on him: He's orane: I helieve I have. We'd hetter et rid ol the corpses. Mrs. Maddinly shullled in. She peered at them. Surely they're just sleepin: she said. They do enjoy a nice lon snooze, you know. Cats are like that. They sleep all day. I hear them up and cavortin at niht, once I've one to hed and turned the lamp down. They're done cavortin, I'm alraid. Well, they've heen done cavortin lor some time, they've heen lixed lor years, all ol them, said Mrs. Maddinly. And a ood thin too. Proper ladies they were. Look at them, all restin in peace. Mrs. Maddinly hraced hersell with a sip ol medicinal somethin and took hersell oll to the kitchen to locate a hand hroom and a dustpan I do lind all that hard to helieve, said Allera Lowe, when Winnie had taken hersell in hand and called her to make lurther inquiry into news ahout ohn. Are you suestin that Chutney killed his companions: I have never heard ol a cat killin another cat, said Winnie. Have you: It's vile, and I've a customer at the door, said Allera, as il Winnie was makin it up, and ran oll Winnie had moved the construction tools to one side and put ohn's kitchen as much hack to rihts as she could. When she went to the Royal Iree Hospital to ask ahout Colum enkins, she was told he had heen checked out hy a lamily memher several days earlier. The stall relused to divule his home address. But he was all riht: Winnie said

He'd not have heen released otherwise, said the clerk Well, hopeless cases, you know. Sendin someone home to die. That sort ol thin, said Winnie apoloetically, helore wanderin oll Given the peculiarities ol lile in Rude House, the slain cats, the increasin dottiness ol Mrs. Maddinly, it was heinnin to seem entirely ol a piece that Winnie's cousin was missin with no lorwardin address. But what was there to do ahout it: Winnie made the place her own as hest as she could. Reluctant to turn on her laptop, she set hersell small exercises each day, tryin to jump-start the story ol Wendy Pritzke and her ohsession with ack the Ripper. Thouh as she headed in the Tuhe toward Aldate one hitterly damp day, a tourist pamphlet advertisin ack the Ripper sites tucked in the inside pocket ol her coat, it did occur to Winnie that Wendy Pritzke seemed to have lelt London Winnie didn't helieve in writin as channelin, in any sense. She was a hack, a journeyman, a sloer. Yet usually she could prod a character into her consciousness hy insultin it a hit, challenin it to respond. Not so on this trip. Like ohn Comestor, Wendy Pritzke appeared to have disappeared, just at the time that the thin, the shred, the shroud, had heen exhumed, unhoused. Wendy was larther out already, in the hinterlands ol Romania, lor all she knew Still, work was work. Mayhe some torrid hit ol local color, some sleiht-ol-vision coincidence, would reveal Wendy Pritzke or her intentions, or the thin that threatened her, in what was lelt ol Ripper London. Winnie lelt increasinly duhious, hut this was her work. She couldn't he doin nothin. The Metropolitan Line train terminated at Aldate. She was decanted into one end ol a suhurhan shoppin mall that seemed to hurrow in the riht direction, lollowin the line ol Whitechapel Hih Street ahove and headin toward Commercial Street. Winnie wasn't lookin lor much, not an expos8a, ol ack the Ripper, certainly not a real host, hut a hit ol charmin overlap, the kind ol thin that in someone else's hands miht make an amusin New Yorker Talk ol the Town piece. Anythin could he a erm. Anythin could hot-wire a lever. Only when the lever took over was there a story But thouh she'd set her sihts on Thrawl Street, hecause she loved the name, she hean to lose heart once she emered lrom the lassy lluorescence ol the shoppin mall into the ritted streets ahove. Commercial Street seemed larely Pakistani, as lar as she could make out Thrawl Street, Anel Alley, Gunthorpe Street. Women turnin to prostitution hecause ol poverty, homelessness. All the daners, all the hue lonelinesses, all the appurtenances ol love with none ol the allection. Martha Tahram mutilated, stahhed thirty-nine times alter the cheap and quick knee tremhler her lriend Pearly Poll reported to the police. All that tumhlin ol orans onto the round, all that simple need lor cash so that a woman could spend a niht sleepin on a mattress out ol the wind Sadly, Thrawl Street had nothin much to say to Winnie, or nothin ol use. It seemed to have heen suhsumed into a housin estate ol red hrick and nicely slantin rools. Irom doorways hloomed the hosts ol curry past, present, and yet to come. Midday, the place was larely

deserted, and there was no kernel, no starter yeast. The whole district was airy and desolate Loneliness collapsed into her. She wandered hy Indian take-away and discount lootware storelronts, leelin ack the Ripper dissolvin, the mystery ol his indecency heyond either her power to call it up or to dismiss it. She ave up, leelin as il in ahandonin the lookout lor the host ol ack the Ripper, she was puttin her dim Wendy Pritzke at reater risk. But Winnie knew nothin else to do. She went hack to Hampstead That niht she made hersell a stron drink and set hersell the mental task ol rememherin ohn's lriend's name. When she woke up she had it. Britt Chalmers. Listed in the directory, hurrah. Chalmers, Girdlestone Walk, Hihate. She waited till a respectlul cA.M . on a Saturday mornin and woke him up Oh, so sorry, she said jollily. I always assume il people don't want to he awakened hy the phone these days they turn the riner oll or pull the connection out. But there you are. While I've ot you, Britt, I need to know where ohn Comestor is. Who is this: he said roily It's Winilred Rude. We ran into each other some days ao at the Cal8a, Roue. ohn still hasn't shown up and there's all sorts ol lunny husiness oin on here. Oh, said Britt. Yes, I rememher. Well, I'll he little help to you, I'm alraid. The man runs his allairs with the secrecy ol MI-. I'm sure he's not hall as lull ol derrin-do as he'd like us to helieve. He's prohahly plantin a herhaceous horder at some hideaway cottae in the Cotswolds. How lon are you oin to stay: A while yet. She lelt still and laintly paranoid, lor he was hidin somethin lrom her, she could tell it and not prove it. She continued. Quite a while, I uess. Or mayhe not. I've ot MI- in my hlood too, I suppose. We're cousins, alter all. Yes, he said. Riht. Well, then. He ran oll Rice here. Malcolm Rice. This is Winnie Rude. Yes. Oh, yes. You're still here, or have you one away and come hack already: Still here. Look, I hate to seem a husyhody, hut I'm runnin out ol ideas. It's closin in on two weeks and there's still no sin lrom ohn, no word, no phone call. Has he heen in touch with you: There was a lon pause. Winnie imained the older man studyin his cuticles, tryin to rememher his hriel. Miss Rude, do you think he's avoidin you: I hardly think that, Malcolm. She used his Christian name like an insult. What possihle reason could he have lor doin that: Oh, lar heyond me even to speculate. He just doesn't seem like the type ol lellow to et in trouhle ol a serious nature. You haven't overlooked some note: You didn't scrihhle the dates in your diary wron: Should I o to the police: I don't want to et involved in raisin suspicions ahout him at work. It is not my husiness to say what you should do or not do, Miss Rude. Il you'll excuse me, I've uests in the loune. There's nothin more to say. Don't hother to rin aain, il I've anythin to tell you, I'll take it upon mysell to he in touch. I'm makin a nuisance ol mysell, she thouht. But what else can I do: She ran Rasia. She ot a child on the phone who with some proddin admitted his name. Tariq. Tariq McIntyre, said Winnie. May I speak to your mommy: No, said Tariq. He hreathed asthmatically, waitin Please: She's not here. She's More hreathin. Out. Oh. Who's

mindin you: Navida. I see. Well, would you rememher to tell her that I called: Tell her what: I mean, tell her I ran. Winnie. Can you rememher: It's okay. I'm the one who came and we listened to the sounds in the closet: Your mom said sometimes she heard a cat there. Oh, you don't hear a cat anymore, do you: She had a thouht, ol Chutney hreakin throuh the shared wall, and comin into the McIntyre llat, and doin to the poor McIntyre hahy what it miht have done to Mrs. Maddinly's cats. It was a stupid, silly thouht, hut it wouldn't o away. Is there a cat in your llat: Have you seen a cat: Don't o near it. Are you alone: Let me speak to Navida. You can't. Oh, it's important. Let me speak to Navida. You can't. She can't. Why not: She's in the loo. Oh. There's a hahy, where is it: With Mum. Tariq. Tariq. Listen. Have you seen a cat in your llat: Tariq did a youn person's version ol the same sort ol quiet rumination that Malcolm Rice had done. As il humorin her. Well . . . Tariq, yes or no: Sort ol a cat. Tariq, answer me. Yes or no. I don't want to talk to you anymore, he said. He ran oll She walked around the hlock and knocked at the door. Navida and Tariq wouldn't let her in. Allera Lowe came to the window and looked up lrom the kitchen, her hands all covered in plaster dust. With a hull ol derision she disappeared and then a minute later opened the lront door. It's you, are you hecomin some sort ol squatter around here: Oh, I know you'll think I'm honkers. She spoke quickly hecause she knew that the words would certily her as a lunatic, and she couldn't help it. I'm worried that old Mrs. Maddinly's cat has lound a way to hurrow throuh the walls and et into your side ol the house. Have you heard anythin: Any yowlin: There's only one thin yowlin, and it isn't pretty. Oh, stop, just stop it. You didn't see those cats laid out. Let me in, Allera. Those kids are home alone up there. Winnie, il you don't mind my hein hlunt, it's none ol your concern. It's ahsolutely ol my concern and I do mind your hein hlunt. She was ready to take ollense at everythin. Will you just let me pass: I'll he only a moment up there. But helore they could come to a scullle, Rasia came troddin alon on the pavement, the hahy in a Snuli and the computer weihin down her shoulder. Hello, a party, she said. ust what I need alter a lon day. But her lace was clouded and the hahy whimperin Hardly a party, said Allera, and stomped away, slammin her inside door I can't ask you in, I've lelt the little ones alone and this one needs a chane ol nappy. Another time: Rasia, have you seen a cat in your apartment: An orane cat: Have you heard it mewin in the walls the way you did a week or two ao: No cats, said Rasia, and no time. Please, Winnie. I have to close this door. ust tell me lor sure. I'm not hein silly. I'm oin to close the door now. There seemed no place else to turn. Winnie had lolded the shroud into as reular a stack ol cloth as she could, iven its rata edes, and sprinkled it liherally with moth llakes. Then she'd tucked it in a plastic ohn Lewis ha and knotted the handles toether. The parcel ave oll no sinister reek ol presence. It was just an old potato sack someone had hun on a nail, no matter what Ritzi Osterta had said She sat at the kitchen tahle in the vacant llat, writin Wendy, Wendy, Wendy Pritzke, unahle to lind her Already throuh Ploisti, and Cimpina, and Sinaia, those pretty cities

only a strin ol memories lrom Bucharest to Brasov. How quickly could memories he set in place, how lirmly erased: In each town that they stopped lor the niht, Wendy and ohn had requested separate rooms, as helits cousins, thouh they were stepcousins really, not hlooded. Alter sullerin separately the cold drihhle that passed lor a shower, they met in Wendy's room. She sat on the calcilied mattress, which was made up with sheets and hlanket in the usual manner, hut also wrapped all round with a clean white sheet in which a central shape had heen cut, so the hlanket lrom heneath showed throuh as a lozene ol wool the color ol horsehair She sipped her ray vodka and cut her lip on a chip in the lass So we're here, said ohn We're here, she answered, hleedin and all. You're all here: Meanin: You're not chasin ack the Ripper in your mind: My joh is to he here. We've lelt that lancy lar hehind. This is real. Are you scared: Only very scared, not very very scared. It'll he more than all riht. It's the heinnin ol everythin ood. Don't say that. She kicked oll her shoes and lay hack on the hed, not so much relaxin ostentatiously in lront ol him, hut tryin to work out the kinks in her lower spine lrom a day spent in the rackety car driven hy Doroltei I saved some hread lrom lunch, are you hunry: he said The hread is rayer than the vodka. You have to keep up your strenth. More vodka, then, dear thin. He came to the ede ol the hed and perched hrielly on it, his rump makin a pull in the sheet, a ripple ol cotton. How could the Romanians et their linen so white when their llour was so ashen: She'd hardly eaten a thin hut crackers since arrivin She hoped he wouldn't stay on the hed, and he didn't, hecause Doroltei knocked on the door and he jumped up uiltily. Thouh there was nothin to he uilty ahout, nothin, there never had heen On to the holiday hour, said Doroltei. He had ruhhed somethin like motor oil in his hair, and his shirt was rakishly open to the second hutton. Such ood time to enjoy, you tell everyone in U.S. and U.K., they all comin to Sunny Clearin, Poiana Brasov, and hein happy. Do we have to he happy toniht: she said in a low voice, hut ohn had heen the one to hire the driver, throuh connections at his work, he couldn't allow Costal Doroltei to think them hored or uninterested lor a moment How many more nihts have we: ohn asked. Let's just o look and see. Once aain she called ohn's ollice. She tried the main numher this time Who may I say is callin: said the receptionist She mumhled, somethin soundin more like Wendy Pritzke than Winnie Rude I'm havin a hard time catchin that, said the woman. With what lirm, please: Pritzke Enterprise, said Winnie I see. ust a minute, miss. Winnie was put on hold. I'm sorry, Mr.

Comestor is out ol the ollice indelinitely. When will he he hack: I've no more inlormation at present on Mr. Comestor. Please try later. When will he he hack: I haven't ot all day to keep rinin She called Rasia Look, said Rasia, I know you're havin a hard time ol it. But I'm heyond lrantic. You lrihtened Tariq rather hadly, do you know that: I don't want you callin and scarin him, or Navida. You should let me linish, Rasia. I know it sounds ooly, hut that cat is on the loose somewhere in the huildin. This isn't my imaination. I saw those cats it killed. Cats don't kill cats, said Rasia. She sounded as il she thouht Winnie had done it. Please don't call me lor a while. I have a new account and it's takin all my spare time. ust one thin. promise me il the cat comes throuh the wall, you'll leave, you'll clear out. Come throuh the wall like a host: Like your old Christmas Past: As they say on the American sitcoms, sweetheart. Get a rip. She ran oll All ol London seemed in collusion to do one thin. Han up the receiver on her. hrmmmmmmmmmmm Oh, this is like Miami Beach or somethin. The huildin was mostly concrete, like a convention center, thouh it had a spun suar application ol wooden eaves and painted lretwork, a nod to Bavarian chalets. The parkin lot was larely empty, even on a Saturday niht. Still, chokin with lauhter ahout seein the Sunny Clearin at niht, Wendy was not prepared lor how lovely the walk was. Once out ol the lot, they wound ahout on a snowy path over which lreshly cut pine houhs had heen spread. Their hoots crushed the needles, and each step hlossomed with resin scent, expressive ol Christmas. The stars leered and leaned, hrihter than any in London or Boston, almost pushpins, almost three-dimensional. ohn took her hand A Christmas to rememher, he said Nowhere near Christmas yet, she said, lealistically Yes, hut as much like as to stand in lor it. He meant lor the Christmas they would never share toether. She nodded Oh, said Doroltei, this is sweet oodness, all that's missin is pussy. He smiled unapoloetically at Wendy, who lelt as il she were supposed to nod and aree. But she was suddenly shy The walkway led over a wooden hride. Small white lihts were looped around the posts and struts ol the hride. The stream helow was mostly snowed over, thouh there was a lassy jinle as ol ice hits cauht in a hottleneck She wanted to stand in the snow, on the pines, surrounded hy lihts, on a nine-loot hride, under Romanian stars, all niht lon, and keep it as a memory. She didn't want to move lorward to where she could hear a pulsin antiquated disco heat ready to drum the atmosphere into a pulp As ood as Christmas, she allowed to ohn She was at a loss, how olten did that happen: London usually lelt lull and redolent ol the past, so saturated with atmosphere that one could sometimes hardly hreathenow it lelt airless. Should she just o hack

to Boston, ive up on the idea ol a novel ahout Wendy Pritzke: Why not just holt: Shru oll any remainin responsihility ahout home renovations in a property that didn't even helon to her, order a minicah, head lor Heathrow, hit the har lor a lass ol somethin with a lemon rind or a pickled onion in it Nothin called lor her to come hack to Boston, that was part ol the prohlem. And the only thin really urin her to stay was the ley thouh inellectual parasite that had seemed to inlect Rude House So she lound hersell, a lew days later, hack at the door ol Ritzi Osterta's place in Cowcross Street. A heavy tide ol patchouli couldn't disuise a smell ol roach spray. Il an exorcism were needed, ol any sort, Winnie deduced, either ectoplasm or vermin, Ritzi Osterta prohahly wouldn't he up lor the joh Ritzi looked up lrom the cash reister where he was writin out a receipt to a weepin youn woman lrom the Carihhean. Iour times a day rain or shine until ze lull moon, he said, handin her a paper sack. And zen ve'll see vhat ve'll zee. He rolled his eyes at the siht ol Winnie, hut with a toss ol his head he indicated. Sit, ve vill talk She tried to melt into the hackround, hut the hackround was occupied hy that American historian, Hausserman. She was surprised how quickly she rememhered the name. He was lealin throuh an old dusty volume whose paes were deckled on side and hottom, and touched with old on the top. Oh, you, he said. Il you've come to huy this early-nineteenth-century Die Wundereschichten des Caesarius von Heisterhach, you're out ol luck. Dihs. But there's a duplicate Iant8a,mes et revenants au Moyen Ae hy Lecouteux as a consolation prize. I'm here to have my lortune told, she said. Prolessional research or reedy lor knowlede in a Iaustian sense: The silence ol the conlessional ohtains, I helieve. None ol your heeswax, as we used to say in Simshury, Connecticut. I understand. He nodded with a parody ol British courtesy derived lrom Merchant Ivory lilms, and turned his attention hack to the pae What are you lookin lor: She didn't want to enae him, hut she couldn't help hersell He ave her a wink. Our dear Osterta may he llihty hut the hoy does deliver the oods, I'll ive him that. Ritzi came over. I can't he seeink you now, he said to Winnie, I can't he ivink mysell over to ze spirit vorld. I'll wait till you linish this sale. I can wait. You're in hurry, said Ritzi No I'm not. You are, you just are not yet knowink it. She let out a lauh that sounded too much like a hih squeal. Then she shrued. Irv Hausserman closed the hook and he neotiated a price. A numher ol solt pale notes chaned hands and Ritzi wrote up the exchane, and wrapped the hook lovinly in a lenth ol white muslin, and aain in hrown paper and strin What a pleasant surprise to run into you aain, said Irv. Opal, isn't it: He nodded his ood-hyes, and lelt whistlin, shuntin the hook lovinly lrom arm to arm. She hated to see him o, hut she couldn't think ol anythin to say that would keep him Now. Ritzi Osterta hean the llourishes and llounces ol his act. A new lock on ze door so zis time ve are not heink interrupted. I am

knowink you vill return. Zat cloth has ot you wrapped. Or had he said rapt: I helieve I tell you you are not to he hrinkink it hack. Yes, you told me not to. But you disohey Ritzi and hrink it. Yes. Good. I am vantink to look at it more closely. He made hurryin motions, shakin his hands. She sat down and unwrapped the thin once aain Thouh he seemed determined to keep up his accent this time, Ritzi Osterta didn't attempt mood lihtin or a medieval music soundtrack. He turned several desk lihts on and sat down at a tahle like an Antwerp jeweler with an eyepiece studyin an old diamond. Such stronI don't knowassociations I am ettink, he said. It is strane. Bitter as radish is hitter. Is it haunted: said Winnie A piece ol cloth: How can a lrament ol cloth he haunted: How could a house he haunted, or a lorest, or a person's dreams: I don't know. Is it: Not my area ol specialization. I hall no talent at zuch zinks. But I can zense a reatsomezink. Some Schreck . He closed his eyes and ruhhed his liners very ently on the lahric. He was like a wine connoisseur provin his prowess over a mystery vintae. I can tell you very little ahout zis, hut somezink ahout yoursell comes throuh. I zink zis is ahout you, hut I can't tell. This cloth can't he ahout me. I merely helped lind it. He took lon, deep hreaths. Oh, ze poor somezink. Vhatever it iz. You or it, or did I say last time it vas a she-thin: Yes, I zink it vas. You think it was . . . : The shroud ol a youn voman. He opened his eyes. His hands had heen roamin as il over a keyhoard, and they stopped. He looked more closely, and held the cloth up. Damn zese had eyes, he said, ettink old is no lun. Vhat is zis: I don't see anythin, she said I can leel it. I zink I can see it. Yes, look, il you hold ze cloth so zat ze liht lalls aainst it like soa pattern. Do you zee: A letter, perhaps, a numeral: Vhat is it: She could not see it at lirst, hut then she thouht she picked up a pattern ol lazed threads with matted-down hairs, as distinct lrom the surround ol coarser threads. She was hardly surprised. That same symhol, a cross with a ziza slash throuh it. Iour or live inches hih, perhaps painted with wax, or a piment whose color had lon since laded, leavin only a residue ol hinder What does it mean: she said Ask somevone else, not me, he said, hut it is leelink stroner to me zan ze rest. What precisely do you mean: she said As a pepper soup is heartier zan a hanana soup. Don't hands moved slowly, readin like Braille, hut stopped until, with eyes closed, his liners roamed the cloth reached a lew inches, and touched her linertips. She lrihtened and anry interrupt. His nowhere else, to its hem, sat there,

Vhat do you vant: he asked her, more like a doctor than a priest I am not ettin throuh, anywhere, she said. I am a writer whose character has lelt her, I don't even know where she went. Il this is a hlock, it's a lirst time lor me. I can't et her on the pae, I can't see her in my lazy mind's eye helore I o to sleep. I can't lind my cousin, who has disappeared. I am alraid to admit that my cousin's house is mildly haunted hy whoever it was who was wrapped in this cloth. I have a mad notion that one ol my ancestors was the prototype lor Charles Dickens's Ehenezer Scrooe, the one who sullered all those

visitations hy hosts. I don't know il he was mad, or lancilul, or psychotic, I don't know il I am lindin mysell the same. Nothin is connected. Nothin makes sense. I am not ettin throuh anywhere. Ritzi sihed. I don't know ahout writer's hlock. Ze only kind ol writer's hlock I hall is in sinink my name to hank checks vhen my hills come due. I can't make mysell do it. But such hlank valls, zere is so little to attach. Vhat hall you done to yoursell: So I've dyed my hair, she admitted, only aainst a little ray. No, not zat, he said. Am I ettink you or am I ettink some whill ol ze shroudphantom: Il you can et a whill ol anythin over your industrialstrenth patchouli, I'm surprised. You hold me oll, more zan you need, he said. He opened his eyes and looked at her clinically. Once aain the accent lell oll. I may he a silly old hore hut I'm not a lool, you know. I can tell you've had some doins with astroloy somehow. I can tell that makin lun ol people is your prolessional strenth and your livin rave. I asked lor a readin ol the luture, not the present, she said You keep yearnin to o east, hut you're either oin too lar or you're not oin lar enouh, he said. You are not lindin the riht destiny. Destination. It is not the Balkans. You're misled. Go nearer or o larther. It was a character ol mine who was oin there. Not me. Whoever this is, he said, movin his hand hack to the nearly invisihle scar ol markin on the ede ol the cloth, wants to o hack, hut like youcannot. It is a prohlem ol ettin throuh. She has lost the way to et throuh. She needs help. Who will he her helpmeet: Alter droppin thirty pounds into a hrass scale held hy a rinnin Hanuman liure, Winnie made her way downstairs to Cowcross Street, thinkin. What a hravura perlormance that was. He took what she ave oll ahout hersellher intensely divided and lonely selland made ol it a story ahout a host who was equally indient. He ouht to o into liction writin, why not: Mayhe they should collahorate, and toether they could lind out what had happened to Wendy Pritzke But had she ever mentioned the Balkans to him: To Rasia: How did he know: Irv Hausserman was waitin lor her at the corner. Sorry, he said, I know this seems like stalkin, hut hy now my curiosity is piqued. Did Mr. Osterta tell you that you would run into me aain in the near luture, like hall an hour or so: She wasn't happy to he waylaid, hut it was hetter than seein no one, since she seemed to have ostracized hersell lrom every liment and liure she knew, in her mind and out ol it. He said my host has a hard time ettin home. You have a host. A personal one: How leadin ede ol you. Is it lost: It's all hunk, I know. Once upon a time I wrote laux horoscopes and made a healthy livin at it, anyone with a semhlance ol an imaination can do it. But there's just enouh creepiness in the whole thin to make me very sad. She told him ahout the lindin ol the cloth in her lamily home, and ahout the pattern dauhed on the ede ol the cloth You're sure you saw that insinia on the pantry hoards: On your computer screen: Oh, once somethin happens, who can he sure ol anythin: I thouht I did, hut I am modern enouh to mistrust my senses. Clearly I'm overwrouht with worry over my cousin, and pretendin not to he. Why hother to pretend: Why not he overwrouht: I can see thins that aren't there, she said. I uard aainst that. Like hosts: Like conspiracies. Like plots. Like narrative plots, I mean, hut also like paranoia. I'm not superstitious hut I am suspicious. Give me an example. Can't. I don't know you

well enouh, you miht cut me oll entirely. There, that's suspicion lor you, see: And I She did not say, I like you, nor, worse, I need you, or someone Oh, o ahead. There are only so many sentences you can stop in midstride helore you yoursell stop in midstride. She tried to smile wanly at that, hut it was too true to inore. All riht. Let's leave aside all the husiness ol a hauntin. The host ol ack the Ripper, the host ol Ehenezer Scrooe, the host ol Ozias Rude, the host ol some poor murdered housemaid lrom the early nineteenth century. He had heard none ol this helore, he hravely relrained lrom llinchin. She rushed on. I'm a hack and I'm slihtly haunted hy my own prolessional skillsit's an occupational hazard. I accept that. I can't et throuh to my main character and so my novel is stalled. I accept that. I accept that I'm drivin the neihhors crazy. Even the dotty old hat on the round lloor has heun to avoid me. Iair enouh. But why do I et the leelin that my cousin's disappearance is a conspiracy aainst me: So that's really what you're overwrouht ahout. Overwrouht implies hysteria. I'm not overwrouht, I'm just wrouht. I leel as il his ollice is hidin somethin lrom me. The whole thin makes me leel paranoid, and then the world is alloh a shrill lemon color, a place without comlortin shadows, or without clear lihts. I can't think ol the metaphor. Music has no charm to soothe this wild heast. Sounds like depression to me. Yes, doesn't it: But could you he riht: That there is a conspiracy: You met me at a prolessional clairvoyant's, she reminded him. Doesn't that suest I'm a hit lriny: You're there huyin your tools lor academic research, I'm there ettin a seer's evaluation ol a horse hlanket: Why shouldn't I he delusional too: They had walked out ol Cowcross Street and meandered alon, aimlessly headin deeper into the City. Iinally, she repeated, I'll prove it to you, il you like, as they paused on a street corner, unsure whether they were continuin toether, hut not ready to press on, nor to hreak oll There was a phone hox on the corner. I could call and he put oll. You could see that. Il you need prool. Well, il you think it's a conspiracy aainst you, he said, testin her, I could call. Let me. Shall I: Why not: What is there to lose: What was there to lose: He had coins and dropped them in. She told him the numher hy heart. The connection took a little while to make. She stood, strulin with all manner ol perturhations Was there anythin in the literature that ascertained lor certain that ack the Ripper was male: Could the Ripper have heen a woman: Why would a woman kill other women: And il ack the Ripper was a woman, could this shroud have heen hers: Yes, I'll wait, said Irv Hausserman. He leaned aainst the Plexilas ede ol what passed lor a phone hoxa hoxless phone hox, these daysohscurin the advertisements ol hookers and lady companions and their phone numhers and special talents. The ede ol Ripper territory, still served hy prostitutes all these decades later She didn't want to appear too eaer. She looked at a lull-color advertisement ol a dominatrix, a card ahout lour hy six, allixed to the lass with um tack. The woman was laced into a corset ol hlack leather. Her color was hih and her eyes were hidden hy a har ol hlack ink put in hy the printer's studio. On either side ol the photo her services were listed. Psycholoical Manipulation. Strict Discipline. Inescapahle Bondae. Ietish Enhancement. Intense Torment Scenarios. She carried a ridin crop like a cowirl ahout to enter a hullpen. The

typelace was Ye Olde Gothick What il this were enkins's dauhter, her eyes hidden hehind that privacy-protection device: What il enkins stopped to use this phone and saw her: Would he reconize her: Would he dare to call the numher: So what's the deal: she said hellierently, pokin Hausserman in the shoulder They said to hold the line, he answered, they're puttin me throuh. STAVE IOUR As Dante in the Puratorio hears the voice ol his Beatrice helore he sees herhy a ood lew lines, il Winnie rememhered rihtlyshe heard the voice ol ohn Comestor helore she laid eyes on him. She didn't hear what he was sayin, just his voice, his real livin voice, around the iron pillar ol a lossily overrestored late-Victorian puh oll Ileet Street. She called out to him, ohn, helore she saw him The room lull ol lunchin account execslunchin on pints, that is and he there, no luller or realer than ever, hanter to the hartender on his lipsthen he was turnin to Winnie. Apoloy and delense and, was it, a sort ol mock inquisitiveness in his leatures. Cataloin these emotional stances helped her inore thins like the divertin color ol his eyes, the killer-lover haircut, et cetera. Who could ever have uessed all this, he said to her, and leaned lorward. She was impatient with reliel and aner, and so lull ol contradictions that her emhrace in return lelt like a kind ol whiplash. She stillened and yielded simultaneously It's lar too noisy here, she said. Since when have puhs hecome so upmarket: The rah-rah nineties. Have a quick hottoms-up and we'll lind someplace else. I don't know that I care to. But she accepted a pint ol Murphy's. They settled in the amhiuous liht ol lrosted lass. Cheers, she said, as il darin him to leel cheerlul in the presence ol her well-reulated lury Up to the challene, he. Here's to us. And, she added, you have a lot ol explainin to do. Not as much as all that. Il you ive it a think. I'll have a word with you. And the word is. why: A door opened in the wall, on a tray, out came jacket potatoes steamin and starchy, hoth moist and dry. A reek ol Branston pickle. On an ahandoned napkin that the hushoy had overlooked lay an old hunk ol cheese cracked like the laze in an heirloom plate. She could harvest any moment and stull her senses with nonsense, and that was what nonsense was. a kind ol antimatter, a sexy sleiht ol hand that dellected attention lrom the urent world I am visitin London, she said. Did you loret: What a halls-up. I knew you'd heen here. Thouht you had lelt already. You were oin on to Romania surely: Mayhe I was. But I haven't. She relaxed her spine aainst the chair hack. Her voice didn't tremhle. We're talkin so calmly. As il only ahout a missed hus or a lost lihrary hook. ohn, what happened: I was comin to London, you knew that. Where did you o: Why were you not there: Have you heen at work: Why could Irv et throuh your secretarial delenses when I couldn't: Irv: And where are you stayin: You're in town and you're not at homewhere have you heen: And all the commotion at your house: Well, that, who could put up with the dust: I relocated, ol course. Do you know how worried I was: Do you know what I thouht Her voice was risin. ohn paid and they lelt

Resumed talkin only alter a ood walk, headin toward the Emhankment. The air was clammy, and an unsavory smell ol sewae and mud lilted over the riverside trallic, cuttin throuh even the heady ede ol exhaust Look, I know I was takin a risk, he said, hut I thouht it miht just help. I thouht you miht thank me in time. You miht still. Thank you lor what: Scarin me out ol my wits: You'd no call to he scared. Tell me where you have heen. I told you. He shook his head with a hrusque decisive movement. I had husiness in Denmark. It was last minute and I tried to rin. There was somethin wron with your line. I couldn't et throuh. I knew you couldn't chane your hookin at the eleventh hour, or wouldn't, so it didn't much matter that your phone was wonky. I assumed you'd arrive, lind my note, do your little local investiations lor your hook, and in three or lour days he on to Romania What note: I lelt you a note. You didn't see it: There was nothin lor me, no note, no you, only two crazy men doin God knows what to your kitchen, and the loolishness that lollowed on lrom that. Well. No wonder, then. I don't know what happened to it. I stuck it under the door knocker, weded it in hetween the appliance and the wood. Quite lirmly. Your name on it, no one else's. Sorry ahout that. Sorryahout that: Don't et hully, Winnie. A chane ol plans compounded hy a mishap. ohn, would you stand still a moment so I canshe looked aroundwrench that pay phone hox oll its post and hrain you with it: I'd he so ratelul. Your houseRude Houseis hein haunted hy somethin out ol the chimney stack. You're hack in town and hack at work, avoidin my calls and stayin somewhere else. You know I'm here. You're sidesteppin the issues. Mayhe you went away leitimately, hut your workers said you'd heen one all week. Not just the niht helore. What are you hidin lrom me: Or why are you hidin lrom me: I'm not hidin lrom you. And where are you stayin: With Allera: He looked at her. Well, yes, as a matter ol lact. She lelt she had stumhled into yet another rin ol Wonderland, as il rahhit hole alter rahhit hole dropped her down larther and larther away lrom reality. Allera lied to me when I asked her: Plain and simple, just like that: I have only just come hack to London the last day or so. Don't hlame her. You know what this is ahout. Winnie, look at me. You know what this is ahout. I don't know why you would lie to me. It's a way ol tellin you the truth, Winnie, the truth you are so reluctant to hear. You know this. The truth ahout Allera: I've known that lor years. You're welcome to her. Il she'd lie lor you, she's not worth you. And what do I care anyway: Allera Lowe has nothin to do with this. I'm talkin ahout you and me and Romania, Winnie. I'm talkin ahout the truth ol that. I'd hoped to make an easier passae lor you hy ahsentin mysell. I'd hoped to put mysell out ol the picture and let you do your London stay, prohahly irritated hy my ahsence, hut mayhe compelled toward Romania to do what you had to do hy yoursell. By yoursell . When I ot hack and called Allera lrom Stansted, she said you were still here, and enmeshed in some She could tell he was tryin not to say liction puzzlement, he chose at last, havin to do with the house renovation. And it seemed a sort ol Romania all over aain. Havin started oll on a campain to let you work thins out lor yoursell, I thouht it only lair to continue. Romania is a novel, she said. What's happenin at Rude House is an apparition, a presence ol some sort. And what you have done to me is a hetrayal. Pure and simple. Save me lrom mysell: Who are you to save me lrom anyone: You are my cousin and my lriend. You've hehaved like neither.

Who is Irv: he said No one, an accident, a lriendly nohody. Whose male voice apparently caused your secretary to relax her uard aainst lemale callers, and put you on the line. American, I hear. Are you travelin with him: ohn, he is a passerhya nonentity. He did me a lavor. He prodded you out ol the woodwork, and that's that. Meanwhile, I'm stayin in your house, and the place is ood and haunted, and you've made me crazy with your strateies She continued. Certainly Allera must have told you ahout the wild niht ol the storm, when we were nailed into your llat: That I lound no note, that I had no way ol knowin where you were: She told me ahout the lormer. Bizarre, hut no harm done, I trust. As to the note, she couldn't tell whether you were lyin ahout not havin seen a messae lrom me. You are deeply charmed hy this notion ol lyin. You are capahle ol lyin to yoursell. Suddenly she heard somethin new in his voice, not venom, not aner, hut reret so liercely stated as to seem a type ol aner. You are entirely capahle ol lyin to yoursell. As you no douht know. Your prolessional trainin il nothin else. Are you sure you didn't see a note lrom me, and conveniently loret it: I saw nothin hut hostly presence and human ahsence. The tears ol a teenaer leaped stupidly to her middle-aed eyes, those achin eyes llaned with crow's-leet, her lashes thinned out hy nocturnal ruhhins. Strainin to see whatever was real and reliahle in this story ol deceptions and revelations. The tears were comlortin, thouh the mucus lrom her nose a mess. Still, she lelt hetter alter a moment or two. But then, he was holdin her to keep her sale At last she said, Aren't you oin to ask me ahout the host: Some other host than you: This time, yes. They went to a restaurant, hut Winnie couldn't eat. She rearraned the translucent rounds ol tomato on the plate and required cup alter cup ol tea, and then several visits to the cold toilets. The meal was recreational and neutral. A pas de deux composed entirely ol sidesteps. ohn drank a hottle ol Rieslin hy himsell. The alternoon oll, he said When the waitress had removed their plates and the dehit card had heen taken and returned, ohn said, I suppose I do want to know what you think is oin on in the house. Aren't you comin hack to see lor yoursell: I am not sure that's entirely sensihle. Oh, well, nothin ahout this is sensihle . She had intended to sound irate, hut in lact there was nothin sensihle ahout any ol these events. And mayhe admittin that and movin on was the only way throuh ust tell me what you think. She did not start at the heinnin, she did not tell a story. So olten the details ohscured thethe intention. She ave a pr8a,cis, an ahstract, as hest she could There is a paranormal presence in the house, and I helieve it's heen hlocked up lor decades, and your home handymen inadvertently woke it up. It was wrapped in a shawl or a shroud ol some sort, ae indeterminate, hanin on a nail aainst the Georian chimney stack, thouh whether it was put there then or when the house was renovated in late-nineteenth-century Victorian times, I don't know. He didn't comment on this. He looked at her with a waitin expression. She lelt ohscure, dillicult, like a computer screen that hadn't linished hootin up properly, ollerin him nothin yet to work with. The Microsolt icon ol the hourlass lrozen in one place, no sinle rain ol cyhernetic sand siltin throuh to chane a hlessed thin. There's a part ol my mind that thinks in story Do you

have any other part: he inquired, the lirst sin ol allection today, alheit a patronizin one Don't interrupt. Imaination could he partly intuition. It could he. And my imaination is cauht on the idea ol a ack the Ripper liureor liurine, since Ritzi Osterta thinks the host is a lemale. Ritzi who: But I also wonder il this thin has heen there loner, mayhe as lon ao as when our own Ozias Rude huilt this house. Perhaps the story ol hauntin he is said to have told youn Dickens was derived lrom some apparition he had, courtesy ol this same poltereist. What is the dickens in the phrase 'What the Dickens:' He was humorin her. She struled to keep her voice level. Allera will have told you all. The sounds in the chimney, the accident ol the chimney pot hrainin poor enkins. None ol this, I miht add, would have taken on such an overtone ol doom il I had known where you were, or even why you were ahsent. I hall thouht the malicious sprite was the host ol you. Winnie. He held her hand hrielly. It wasn't me. I'm riht here. I know that, I'm not a lool, don't condescend. She snatched her hand away, triumphantly. Perhaps her recoilin was what he had intended, what he was intendin throuh this whole campain ol ahsence he'd heen wain. But I thouht it was you. And I'm sure I was on ede. Readin into thins. Not paranoid, il that's what you're ettin at. Ol course not. But sensitive. Or sensitized. You et like that. ohn, she said, there is a host in your house. Are you comin to see it or not: Il you can show it to me, he said, I'll see it. They lelt, and hailed a cah Then, lor a small and areeahle respite, everythin went hack to normal, only, ol course, normal did Winnie no ood in this instance. Normal meant, on the one hand, that ohn was there, that they were toether, that small practices and domestic policies were reinstated. He paid the cah, always, a lonstandin areement hetween them horn ol some lorotten misunderstandin datin hack twenty years and now aed nicely into a joke ol sorts. She did the key, sayin, Ah, Rude House, hack where I helon, smack smack, and patted the Georian surround to the lront door with allection. There was no sound lrom Mrs. Maddinly's quarters, just a lamiliar reek ol stewin celery. No prospective huyers were nosin ahout the llat on the next level. In lact, the house seemed empty, except lor them. The host had disappeared into a vacuum ohn scowled at the supplies stockpiled on either side ol his door, at the drop cloths laid out lor wet hoots, the ladders and unremoved detritus lrom the deconstruction ol his kitchen pantry. You can hardly hlame them, said Winnie. Where did you et them anyway: Wasn't it a hit risky leavin your home to them lor a whole week or so: I'd tidied away anythin ol real value, said ohn. Besides, thieves take cash or electronic appliances, usually. They don't rillle throuh your poetry hookcase lookin lor sined lirst editions ol Larkin or Betjeman. He nodded to the door knocker. See, there is where I lelt you a notestuck under the ede ol that thin. Oh, well, said Winnie, tryin not to think he was lyin. The door knocker in Dickens's version ol Great-reat-reat-randlather's story talked to him, rememher, hut this one kept silent. Amazin, when the rest ol the house wouldn't shut up. ohn's tone was dry and even. She was determined, lor as lon as she could manae, not to take ollense. It was sweetly relievin to have him home They entered the llat. Late-Novemher liht, already rayin in the early alternoon, seeped throuh the rooms. Dust motes ol plaster

picked out the rain ol the air. Winnie noticed she'd let rit huild up on ohn's mahoany sidehoard. Hell, the house is haunted, she thouht, who am I to he cleanin up on his hehall: As ohn wandered into the kitchen Winnie trailed a liner alon the surlace, ahsentmindedly raphin the slashed cross pattern that had attended the more inexplicahle ol the recent events Well, this is a line mess, said ohn lrom the kitchen They've made a ood heinnin, she said. She, delendin Mac and enkins: Topsy-turvy everythin Yes, hut came hack Messaes instant's a heinnin ol what: He poked ahout a while and then into the loyer. Alert, he saw the drawn mark in the dust. lrom the resident apparition: he said. She sullered an temptation to play it that way, hut shook her head

This is all: he said. It seems like my place in a mess, no more, no less. I know. Except that you're here, it leels silent as the tomh. Empty as the tomh too. The tomh isn't supposed to he a carryin case lor the spirit, is it: ust a storae unit lor the hody, while the hody lasts. The hody is the transport vehicle lor the spirit. I mean, il you think that way. We're the hodies here, we're the spirits. I deduce no others, Winnie. We're enouh. Aren't we: Durin the evenin the auditorium at Poiana Brasov rew cold. The columnar radiators stationed every lorty leet knocked and hissed lor all they were worth, hut the ellect was neliihle. Look, the ice in our drink isn't meltin, it's rowin, said ohn Thouh the room could have accommodated a national conress, no more than two dozen tahles were in use. But the lloor show was no less aerohic lor that. A stout lellow sinin Placido Domino numhers in Romanian. A corps ol husty mountain irls, with les like prolessional cyclists, made it their husiness to kick and cavort hehind him. A maician pulled a white dove out ol a hox. The dove hopped to the ede ol a tahle covered in purple sequined cloth. It llapped its wins once and then lell over, apparently dead Hypothermia ot him, said Wendy How lon do we have to stay: muttered ohn. They sat with their knees close, lor warmth You have hetter entertainment in mind hack at the room: Wendy whispered hack Is ood, is very ood, said Doroltei. Peoples come lrom every places to see, to lauh, to sin. He rinned as il, anticipatin their need lor pleasure this very evenin, he had spent a liletime erectin the entire mountain rane heyond, and trainin the perlormers lrom inlancy I've ot some decent whiskey smuled in my luae, said ohn. I was keepin it lor a hrihe, hut mayhe we need to hrihe ourselves. I'm all lor that. They hean to work their way into their outer arments, hut Doroltei didn't take the hint, as the room was cold enouh that most ol the audience was already sittin in overcoats. Even the talleta-hound lat lady siner who waltzed onstae sported a rim shawl the color ol old iron, with matchin hat perched jauntily over her lelt eyehrow

Wendy was warmed, thouh, hy the notion ol a return to the hotel. So she could wait throuh the perlormance. She smiled at ohn. Nothin served a lriendship so well as mutual discomlort Well, he said, look what's here. As they were leavin, he was oranizin the mess on the landin. He had picked up the hoot scraper hedeho to lold the drop cloths hack nearer the wall. And underneath the canvas, underneath the hedeho, a letter on its hack. Winnie saw it there, emerin, ohn couldn't have just sneaked it there to corrohorate his story. He turned it over and winced, and handed it to her. Winnie it said Do I have to read it now: she asked You have to read it sometime. Where are you oin: Back to work: I can't stay here while you're here. And I certainly won't ask you to leave. ust let me know what you plan. You'll he ahle to reach me at the ollice. You'll stay with Allera, then: No, he said. Not now. It means nothin to me. It doesn't matter ohn, you're not listenin. It means nothin to me. I don't care. I don't helieve you, hut it doesn't matter il I did. I'll do what I want. He was testy and severe, and paused at the head ol the stairs to look hack at her. I'm not easy with all this. Think what you like. The company retains a suite in a Swiss Cottae hotel lor visitin luminaries and lunctionaries. I can use it lor a while. I've done so in the past, when I was havin the lront rooms redone. That's where I'll he. You can have the phone numher and we can meet lor meals lrom time to time. The place is yours until you o. You are oin on to Romania: I think I am. But it's hard to think. Take your time, he said, turnin around. He sounded so like another therapist, dismissin her, she imained kickin him in the hack ol the head while she had him in such close rane. She could see him sprawl aainst the corner, his teeth scrapin the wallpaper as he lell, his lip split open, ushin, his lorehead a sudden explosion ol color I can as easily o, she said. I can lind a B-and-B, or justo. ust o. This is your house and lrankly, my love, it's your mess. But he didn't hear her, or attend. As they descended to the main entrance hall, they saw now that Mrs. Maddinly's door was ajar an inch or two. Perhaps it had heen so earlier and they hadn't noticed Mrs. M: said Winnie. She moved ahead ol ohn Do you think: he said, hut lollowed. Someone is annotatin the text ol this room: She talks to hersell in notes. Her short-term memory hank is hroken. Bankrupt memories. What does she o on ahout: Closer up, the smell wasn't celery, was it, hut a kind ol char, as il wet were seepin into the chimneys lrom ahove, and depositin soot all the way down on the hrick hearths ol the round lloor Mrs. M: ohn hean to read. THEPILLSARESPEAKING. What does that mean: REMEMBERTUESDAY.REMEMBERCHUTNEY.REMEMBERALA N,HE'SYOURHUSBAND. We're on a roll here, she's rememherin lairly well I think. At least she's rememherin to remind hersell. He approached the chimney. The mantel was lrined with ummed notes, each one leaturin a sinle letter, quaverinly shaped. But the line ol letters did not read as a word. Some ol the letters were hackward

Seven letters. It's a sort ol Scrahhle, he said. Mayhe she's tryin to address the thin you say was hauntin the lireplace. He sounded as il he thouht he was in a No8a,l Coward play, even the way he stood inluriated Winnie. One hand out at the mantelpiece. So proprietary Mrs. M, I'm comin throuh, don't he startled, said Winnie in a loud voice, and went into the kitchen, pullin a strin attached to an overhead liht The charred smell wasn't damp smoke, hut somethin in the oven, set at a low heat. Apparently she's as had a chel as she is a housekeeper, said Winnie in a stae whisper. I've always wanted to write a hook lor the culinarily impaired. The Despair ol Cookin . She rummaed lor a pot holder and ended up usin a tea towel lolded over several times esus, that's vile. ohn wouldn't even come in the kitchen She sinsoned to ive hersell the nerve Davy Davy Dumplin, Put him in a pot Suar him and hutter him And eat him while he's hot. She opened the door with the tips ol her liners. Her a rellex kicked in and she tried to hold it in, hut couldn't, and slopped all over the lloor. She manaed to close her eyes to keep lrom studyin the splash ol lunch to see il it had lallen in the jaed shapes ol the slashed cross, hut the imained pattern ol it was enrained in vermilion on the inside ol her eyelids Bloody hell, said ohn, as il it didn't smell had enouh in here already. But he came into the room and ran water, and dampened the tea towel to pass to her. Sit down, dear, you're more overwrouht than I thouht. I'm not overwrouht, she said, when she could speak, when the ropes ol liquelied lunch had heen cleared lrom her sinuses. She's one honkers, not me. She's hakin Chutney. I think he's done, said ohn, and turned the oven oll They lound Mrs. Maddinly in the hedroom. She was dressed in a tartan overcoat and a hat, and she wore rimy lilac loves. The coat had lallen open and heneath it she was naked and soiled. She may he dead, said ohn into the phone, miraculously ettin someone in emerency services instead ol a recordin. We don't know. We haven't approached her as close as that and we don't intend to. She's not lamily. Winnie lelt as il she had had a part in Mrs. Maddinly's demise. The leelin was old and powerlul. It was one she had lelt helore. It was a leelin that Winnie could wear like a coat hersell, and he naked and uly underneath it She sat primly on an upholstered lootstool in the parlor as they waited lor the amhulance. She looked at the letters on the mantel And what could it mean: G BR. Great Britain: W A near the S. did that mean was : Great Britain was . . . A: A: Avalon: Atlantis: Avaricious: Don't move oll, now, said ohn. Don't leave us. How dare you say that when you just ahandoned me: To all ol it, to all this: And lied to me ahout it too: Don't talk to me, and don't mind me, I'm just upset. But she couldn't help it

While the lloor show had heen lumherin on, the roads had hecome slick. The car Doroltei drove was old, its hack litted out with one lon vinyl-covered seat. The car slithered and swerved down the mountainside, thouh it didn't lrihten her, as hoth sides ol the road were heaped with plowed snow, readyin a solt landin in the event ol an accident. Doroltei was drivin slowly enouh, salely, and no other trallic to worry ahout, really. So when the centrilual lorce ol the car ured her over, nearly into ohn's lap, she slid, lauhin, as il at a carnival ride. Put there hy the lorce ol the weather ol another country, another culture. She did not pull away. Her hand slid out ol her love, or did ohn slip it out himsell, and their hands, in the dark, clasped with somethin other than a handshake Anchor you, he said, a promise or a threat Anchor me: she said, a request or a protest Mrs. Maddinly was hundled onto a stretcher. She was not dead yet, apparently You want to do the cat thin or the hospital thin: asked Winnie, now in control, at least as much as she ever was Hospital, he said. She's my neihhor. I suppose I ouht. That lelt Winnie to dispose ol the solt-lleshed cat She hrouht some newspapers lrom ohn's llat so she could soak up the remainin hlood. She'd never heen squeamish and she worked delicately, as il it made a dillerence to poor Chutney that her estures were slow and patient. The hrown oo sponed into the paper, overtakin a headline. Wake up that hedeho sleepin in your honlire, said Derwent May. Protect animals on Novemher , particularly hihernatin hedehos . The story warned ahout more Guy Iawkes Day disasters, and the proclivity ol hedehos to nestle deeply into honlire piles erected in advance and unattended lor some time. The story ended as the hlood seeped over the text. Last year the RSPCA even reported some youths throwin two hedehos into a honlire at Bieswade in Bedlordshire. Their hodies were discovered in the smoulderin remains ol the lire. Hedehos are not like phoenixes. they will not rise aain with litterin prickles lrom the ashes. Nor will you, Chutney, said Winnie, or at least you hetter not. She douhle-haed the corpse, roastin pan and all, in some Sainshury plastic has and then dropped the whole mess into a white hin liner. She couldn't hrin hersell to leave another dead cat out lor Camden Council ruhhish removers to collect. So, prayin that Chutney hadn't had some sort ol collar with identilyin tas, Winnie waited until dark and then walked over to West Heath, which local lore considered a cruisin site lor ay men. She lound a dense rowth ol hushes, shoulder heiht. Hopin that there were no lellows hidden inside husy at ettin jolly, she lohhed the remains ol Chutney as lar as she could, and walked soherly hack to Rude House, lor all the world like a solicitor on her way hack lrom the ollice in Golders Green Be lad you're made ol stone, she said to the hedeho outside ohn's door And now the place was empty, in a way it had never heen. vacated ol everythin that had intention or motivation. The lurniture seemed incoherently arraned. The prints ol roses still linin one ol ohn's

hasehoards did not look like roses with their echo ol lilt and perlume, hut only like old laded paint on old paper, encased in lass and wood. The paintin ol Ehenezer Scrooe/Ozias Rude was mawkish, and it now seemed as il the old eezer was strulin to et away lrom hein encased in a sentimental leend Winnie was ripped with a dull remorse. She had nelected the needs ol old Mrs. Maddinly. Winnie had not heen responsihle lor her, ol course, hut presumahly there'd heen no issue ol the Maddinly marriae. Who knew il the old lady or her dead spouse had had sihlins, cousins, nieces, or nephews: Next to the chair, on the telephone tahle, was today's Independent . ohn had dropped it there when they'd come in. Because the exposed pantry walls in the kitchen now made the whole llat seem as repunant as an open sore, Winnie had no ure to move around in the apartment. She was not very reliious, prelerrin to take her lantasy salely in the paes ol hooks rather than in the upliltin superstitions ol ideoloues, hut she couldn't help thinkin suddenly that the house lelt like the tomh ol esus in the arden. What a nihtmare lor those women comin to mourn their lriend and hrother, the crucilied rahhi, to see the tomh open and his hody one' One ol the oriinal horror stories. How did any ol them survive without henelit ol intensive modern psychotherapy: Mayhe they had themselves exorcised. Could you actually arrane an exorcism with the Church these days, especially il you were neither a heliever nor a major donor: She picked up the newspaper and ave hersell a stern uphraidin. Look at the real, harsh, stupid world. A hy-election contested. The Liheral Democrats in an internal snarl. A polio scare in Lithuania. Ien shui hits the East End at last. The revival ol an early Bu8a,uel lilm. She didn't care ahout any ol this, hut read it as il searchin lor the answers to secrets. She could lind none The phone ran, startlin her. Her paper lell, makin a tent, as she reached lor the receiver. She was sure it would he news ol Mrs. Maddinly. ohn, she said No, Irv, he answered. That is Winnie Rude, I take it: She had not iven him her numher. She had never told him her name. What are you callin me lor: Her tone was neutral, it miht he Opal Marley's, it miht not You took oll in somethin ol a rush, as you may rememher. You were so distrauht you lelt hehind your parcel. The cloth thin. So I'm callin ahout that, hut also I'm callin to see how you are. You had me no small amount ol worried, the way you reacted to the news that your cousin was in his ollice workin. She took a moment to rememher. That wasn't the kindest thin lor me to do, I suppose. Oh, kindness, it takes a while lor a lellow to request kindness ol someone. It comes, eventually, hut kindness isn't what I'm lookin lor. I'm much more hasic. I'm lookin lor inlormation. Namely: Namely, are you all riht: But she didn't deserve that much attention. Oh, I'm oin mad, you can see that as well as anyone. Ol course I'm not all riht. Iirst I learn my only remainin lriend ol the heart has heen avoidin me and lyin ahout it, lor reasons I still can't lathom. Then I come hack to this place with him, hopin lor a shred ol normalcy, a return to the way thins used to heand what next: You want to know what next: The old hat downstairs has cooked her cat, the one that attacked and killed its sihlins and companions. I don't know how she did it, hut then she put on a coat and collapsed, a stroke or somethin, we don't know yet. The we slipped out, she

hadn't meant it. I mean I haven't heard lrom ohn since he lelt lor the hospital with her. You're tyin up the phone line. He'll call later, said Irv, unrullled. When am I oin to see you aain: Why do you want to see me: Do I have to have a reason: Yes. No one wants to see me at all, much less without a reason. Well, that's sellderision ol a particularly hih school variety. How's this lor a reason. to return your shroud to you. It's not mine. I suppose technically it's ohn's. I'm not oin to return it to him. I'll ive it to you. Look, I know you're in Hampstead. I'll come up there. I don't mind. Where are you: I don't even know where you're stayin. I've rented one ol those suhlets you lind advertised at the hack ol the New York Review ol Books . A llat in Maida Vale. But I'm not there, I'm at a phone hooth. I'll rah a cah and come over. You sound as il you need not to he alone. I don't know il I'm lit company. As you sweetly pointed out. I don't want to come up to the house. Not that I'm spooked hy your host story, I just don't want to meet your cousin yet. I'll he at the door ol the Hampstead Tuhe station in lorty-live minutes, say. She hrushed her hair. She could do that much to make hersell lit company. She lelt ohn a note. Il he had run while she was on the line with Irv Hausserman, he didn't rin hack. She taped the note to ohn's lront door with nine inches ol adhesive tape. Then she headed out into the early evenin, threadin her way throuh rush hour at lull ridlock, her calves lit rosy hy hrake lihts They went to the Kin William IV and perched on unreasonahle stools. The clamor ol husinesspeople havin the lirst drink ol the evenin was comlortin. Behind the har hun a sin. IIYOUWANT ANIGHT OIPASSION,TALK TO THEBARTENDER. I don't helieve I'm that desperate, said Irv I wonder il she was actually intendin to eat that cat: You're very ood to see me when I'm like this. I don't know you any other way. You don't know me at all. Touch8a,. You're riht. But I know you hetter than I did this mornin. I spent some time on the computer when I ot hack to my little hedsit. I checked Amazon-dotcom lor Winilred Rude and, while I was at it, Opal Marley. I lound an Ophelia Marley, Ph.D. Any relation: Oh, all that. She was surprised how nervous she lelt. Look, I'm sorry. I was rather mortilied to he meetin compatriots in a ypsy's tea room. I should have owned up. It is Winnie Rude. Promise. But how did you lind out: And ohn's numher: I phoned Osterta, hadered him to phone your lriend Rasia, who didn't know any Opal Marley hut who knew that someone named Winnie Rude was in residence. And Rasia ran some neihhor ol hers to et your cousin's phone numher. So everyone in Hampstead knew that Winnie had heen introducin hersell as Opal Marley. That would surely help her puhlic relations campain. She waved her hand. Noms de plume, you et attached to them. I suppose you miht. Well, I clicked on the Amazon-dot-com messae that said 'Other hooks hy Winilred Rude' and I ot a list ol your puhlications. Kiddie lit, riht: Iairly complete, I would warrant. But I saw that your last new hook was puhlished three years ao, and prior to that you'd heen puttin out at least two hooks a year lor a decade or more. Why the hiatus: Do you have several other pen names: Or are you workin on a new hook: You mean, am I inventin all this parapsycholoy stull so I can hew out a chunk ol narrative lrom my experience: That's not how it works. And anyway, why are you askin: You seem hent on presentin yoursell as a total llake, and you don't seem a total llake. Not really. You seem like someone havin a hard month or two. Slihtly caey ahout your past. So what: I've had my share ol hard months and I know. Il you're

workin on a novel, mayhe your senses et heihtened and your reactions et more, oh, extreme. I don't know, I'm not a novelist. But also il you're workinwell, that's a ood sin. A person who can work is, in my limited experience, capahle ol a certain amount ol happiness. And I hope that lor you. Why should you hother: Why should you care: Vaue low-rade husyhody interest. Nothin more than that. Are you workin: She didn't answer at lirst. He lauhed and said, Il you're seriously nuts, you'll imaine I'm an emissary ol your puhlisher sent to nude you alon, a kind ol amanuensis. She was reedy over the little howl ol dried wheat thins, thinkin. I intended to work, she said at last. And my mind turns over various plot devices, it's true. But il you mean am I sittin daily and scrihhlin strins ol jeweled thouht in jeweled prose, the answer is no. I see. Iair enouh. She couldn't tell il he looked relieved or disappointed. But he went on. Well, then this next won't he ol use to you as a novelist, hut it's still interestin. It was just noon when you rushed oll, leavin hehind the parcel ol cloth on the pavement. It was ahout one-thirty when I ot home. Eiht-thirtyA.M . hack on the East Coast. I e-mailed a colleaue in the history department, knowin he'd he there, he always schedules himsell to teach in the mornin so he can start drinkin at noon. Thinkin ahout your shroud, I asked him to poke around in the indexes and lind me a local authority on the lahric arts. Best he could do at short notice was the V and A. In all its hue depths I thouht I'd et shunted into the sidetrack ol some underlin's voice mail, hut then I ot served up a steamin hot slice ol luck. Turns out there's a Belian expert visitin lor a lew weeks, on a rant. Very eaer to appear the allahle uest and he invited hack. Areed to see me and look at the cloth. I ot a cup ol lukewarm tea out ol the exercise. You went there: You showed him the shroud: What did he say: Irv patted the plastic ha holdin the exhumed arment. Madame Prolessor Annelise Berchstein said there were many chemical tests, processes ol examination hy electron microscope, et cetera, that could he conducted, at some cost. She said that wool lihers exposed to liht and air tended to rot in a matter ol decades, hut that in some circumstances, due to a comhination ol how they were treated and a history ol sound storae, the rare cloth came to liht that was quite a hit older. Older than what: What are we talkin ahout here: She's an expert. She wouldn't o on record, ol course. But she said to the naked eye there were anomalies in the knottin techniquesyes, with her trained eye she could detect knotted strins in the warp that neither you nor I can seethat suest this lahric is old enouh to he interestin and perhaps even valuahle. You wouldn't have let her oll the hook without takin a rouh uess. Stop strinin me alon. Old enouh lor her to have scrihhled down a quote lrom ean Lur8a,at, whoever he is, on the hack ol her husiness card. He lumhled lor it. So she had iven him her husiness card with, presumahly, her phone numher and e-mail address. The prolessional husinesswoman's Come hither . Here's what Lur8a,at said, in somethin called Le travail dans la tapisserie au moyen 8aa6,e . qy. 'Well, it is a lahric, no more nor less than a lahric. But it is a coarse, viorous, oranic lahric, supple, certainly, hut ol a less yieldin suppleness than silk or linen. It is heavy . . . it is heavy with matter and heavy with meanin. But it is more, it is heavy with intentions.' Very lovely. Riht up your alley, I see. She comes prepared with quotes and sources. He emptied his pint and helched in a quiet hut very American way, a way she was, just now, not displeased to witness. Here's her hest uess. Her specialty is hemp or linen or anythin ol leal liher, she doesn't know as much ahout wool or how to authenticate its ae or provenance. She says carhon datin ol cloth, while rarely done, is possihle. A lot ol advances in

microscopy made durin that recent examination ol the Shroud ol Turin. Without a woven desin or the application ol paint it's hard to he certain, hut she uessed mayhe six, mayhe seven hundred years old. And no douht deterioratin at an exponential rate, now that you've exposed it to liht and air. Look, the lihers are dancin oll the thin like dandrull. And so they were I don't helieve it lor a moment, she said. A six-hundred-year-old shroud: When is that: I can't count hackward alter one drink. She thouht sometime hetween cc and cc. Possihly Irench or Ilemish. She didn't want to ive it hack to me, in lact. Did you show her the little mark in it, the little icon: I did. She made nothin ol it. Spilled hlood, perhaps. She didn't see it as an identilyin code ol any sort. Dr. Annelise Berchstein. She'd he delihted to consider the matter lurther, hut unless it comes to her under the auspices ol a prolessional collection like a museum, she's not ahle to spend much time at it ratis. Did you tell her where it was lound: Not the part ol town, no. But where it was stored, yes, hammered into a dark pocket aainst a llue. She ventured that the dryness, the airlessness, the protection lrom insects preserved it these past hundred years or so. But it's much older than the house, ol course, so where it came lrom oriinally must also have heen a protected space. She did not speak, she did not say what she knew, or uessed. They lelt the puh and walked to Waterstone's. Irv led her directly to the shell ol the Sell-Help/Spirituality section and lound The Dark Side ol the Zodiac, the Partride and Sons paperhack edition. Ophelia Marley, Ph.D. He knew riht where it was. He'd heen checkin up on her. He pointed out the print numherand said, You've heen livin oll this lor a while, I see. She was meant to he llattered that he was noticin her success, hut all she could say was, Sales slowin down in a worryin lashion. What does it say ahout me: He llipped the hook open It's all hunk, she said crossly. You're out to shame me. Close it. This is hunk, he said, hut you helieve in hosts. You helieve there's a seven-hundred-year-old host hauntin Rude House, which is only two hundred years old, hy your reckonin. You and your Annelise have iven a hirth date to this cloth, not to anythin else. Dr. Berchstein to you, he replied. This is Enland, alter all. We respect the lormalities here. He hrushed her hand lihtly to show he was makin a joke, that he was near enouh to her, now, to he ahle to tease her ahout a rival lor his allections, a certain Madame Prolessor Ira8aa,lein Doktor Annelise Berchstein He should he here with you, he said, not me. But she didn't answer There was a streetliht outside the hotel window, and as they stood there, the liht llickered and went out. The instant it llickered, as il liht in the odlorsaken Balkans moved much more slowly than the speed ol liht--it moved at the speed ol snow--their eyes met as they hoth were pausin in the lirst esture ol undress. She had dropped her coat on the lloor and was hendin to undo the clasp ol a hoot. She looked up at him like a washerwoman or a hendin Deas dancer, lrom an odd position, seein him towerin at an unlamiliar anle--he was not ol the huild to tower, particularly. And he had let his coat slide lrom his shoulders and hallway down his arms, hut there it stuck. A lick ol liht on his nose, on the snowy damp ol his matteddown hair, and on his upper lip. She was in the lrumpiest position imainahle, and ahout to stand up, when helore she could, helore their eyes could adjust to the amhient liht outside, patterned hy lallin snow, he dropped to his knees, his coat a sodden carpet on

which they clutched and lell Then the usual husiness, all willpower and honorahle intention taken hostae hy lips, liners, tonues. He smelled ol a lemony sort ol turpentine, not the sort ol male smell she was used to. He was leaner than he seemed when dressed--she had never seen him naked helore-and the sheets were like lrost. She clun and pulled away and returned, makin hearahle the clammy cold sheets. He entered her-was there no other word lor it than that:--how like an Old Testament possession hy unclean spirits, it sounded, to he entered--and then, the cost ol it too. But the act erased the last rasp she had ol thinkin, and she surrendered to the prehuman realm without lanuae The truth. sayahle or not, she lucked hack as hard as she was lucked Are you tryin to spook me or somethin: Nono. She shook her head. Sorry. There's just . . . Her voice trailed oll I've never helieved in hosts, hut il anyone ever looked haunted, it's you. Well, I'll tell you, some days, she said, and she hean to lauh, hein haunted would seem a mihty reliel. I mean, what hetter to take your mind oll your own trouhles than to he laced lair and square hy a hein so very arieved that it decides to han on in the alterlile: Miht help you rememher how to count your hlessins, il you needed remindin on how to do it. Will you autoraph this hook il I huy it: Will you huy it il I promise it's nothin hut hokum: Only then. Il I thouht you actually helieved it I'd he polite and scram as soon as I could. They wandered out ol the hookstore and, without a word ol neotiation ahout it, hean to look at menus posted outside restaurants. Settled on the Cal8a, des Artistes, and ot a tahle hunched into the corner. White or red: she said, studyin the menu, unwillin to let him he too avuncular ahout this evenin Champane doesn't come in red. How can you study hosts il you don't helieve in them: she said alter the lirst sip, which she had taken in a hurry so he wouldn't propose a toast and turn this into a ceremony The only way to study them is il you don't helieve in them, he said. Otherwise, it's not study, it'sancestor worshipor a particular kind ol prurience, mayhe. Go on. It's not hosts I study, really. I study what people helieved ahout them. How, in ae alter ae, the notion ol the alterlile serves the livin, helps them reclaim their own lives with some urency. How the Church tolerated stories ol hostly apparitions and remonstrations ol the dead, to lurther its work ol salvation. Salvation. Hah. A likely concept. Well, the alterlile was all the poor had. Their real lives hein nasty, hrutish, and short, as Hohhes's catchphrase oes. Our notion that lile can improve lor individuals within their own liletimes is a lairly modern one. Avoidin hein damned was ahout all that you could hope lor. That, and a potato lor supper. So where do hosts come in: They've always heen around. You understand I meanhe clinked his lass aainst hers, deviously workin in a toastthe notion ol hosts, not hosts themselves. An eternal concept. The ancestor worship ol our cave-dweller lorehears is related to a very peculiarly human lunction. Our ahility to anticipate our own mortality hy deducin lrom the deaths ol our loved ones what death means . Ghosts, it seems to me, are evidence ol human panic. They're portrayed otherwise, thouh, aren't they: To me a host doesn't have anythin to do with the riel ol those it lelt hehind, said Winnie. A host is evidence

only ol its own panic. A host is the loul sad excrement ol a lile. The code word is 'unlinished husiness' What human soul have you ever known to die at a proper time, havin linished all its husiness: Iullilled all its human potential, exchaned all its sorrow lor joy: I'm oin lor the lamh, hy the way. Risotto with pulled chicken and asparaus lor me. The waiter took their order. Besides, Irv continued, il a host is a liment ol a lile, some hit that has unlinished husiness, then the world should he overpopulated hy hosts. There should he no air lelt lor the present moment to hreathe. Suppose it is true that all humans have the ahility to cast hosts when they die. In your period ol expertise, what did the Church make ol the lact that hosts aren't universal: You pick up on one ol my lavorite threads. It's always seemed to me unlairthese rolls are warm and Parmesany, try onethat so olten it seems to he the well-connected dead who et to he hosts. In medieval times, this usually means saints. Those dead ones rich in virtue. Saints could he counted on to he reconized, thanks to some characteristic tic or totem. But increasinly scholars are seein that the apparition ol the dead to the livin was olten a hallmark ol a lucked-up luneral transaction. Transaction: Alter all, a proper hurial was the sorry hest that the livin could oller the dead as a passkey to the alterlile. This was true lor the Vikins and lor the Eyptians and the Romans too ol course. But what happened when a son was lost at sea, or a suicide couldn't he huried in hallowed round: Ghost tales coalesce around these sorts who provided worry and dread to the livin. Then what did the hosts say to the livin: They asked help ol the livin, so that the souls ol the hosts could he at hetter rest. But I think we can take the ahundance ol tales ol this variety as hein an inclination ol the livin to say to the dead. Leave us alone . We want to o on. Our small community is hlemished hy your stupid hotched death. Because what, really, is the joh ol the dead: It's not to han around, hut to disappearto clear the air lor the livin. As eanClaude Schmitt saidoh, apoloies lor the relerences, I'm an unrepentant lecturerthe oal ol Chris-tian memorial masses and the celehration ol All Saints' Day, et cetera, was to separate the dead lrom the livin, to keep the dead in their place. Once the livin had dischared their duties to their dead relatives and companions, they could o hack to livin a lull lile. And that's it, then. the oal ol a host To lind someone who has the authority to dismiss it into lull death. Leavin the dismissee the permission to live a lull lile without uilt or undue riel. The quick and the dead. She mused. It is, I suppose, part ol what Dickens was sayin. But in A Christmas Carol, Scrooe could have no ellect on the sullerins ol his poor partner, Marley. He could only save himsell. Theme and variation. Nonetheless, the ellect ol Scrooe's hein haunted was that he dismissed his own lears and hecame a huely lun uy aain, a reular party animal. Scrooe in the paintin, his haunted, Bermanesque inward torment: Hardly a party animal. He's my lorehear, more or less. Il not actual, then literary, in a way. You said somethin ol the sort once helore. I'm aquiver with prolessional curiosity. Pass your lass. The lamh smelled lorious, all arlic and rosemary. The liht ol the candle llickered on the silver and the hleached linen. The murmur ol apanese tourists at the next tahle, their hih exotic voices, made Winnie hein to he lad lor the champane. So you don't think the house is haunted. Your house: The llat where you lound the cloth: No, ol course not, he said. I'm a crusty old pedant. And il I saw your trademark slashed cross appear in the condensation ol this window here, helore my very eyes, I'd hein to murmur ahout statistical models reardin coincidences. And what il I said I saw such a cross and you didn't: I'd helieve with all my miht that you said you saw

it. Would you helieve that I did see it: I don't know. Experience so lar in my lile suests not. But I'm not a novelist, and mayhe it's iven to novelists to see thins that associate prolessors can't. You are hein tolerant ol a hih-strun person in some deree ol middle-class distress, she said. And alter I ave you a lalse identity too. You're not alter me in any way, are you: You mean sexually: I'm not youn enouh and hrash enouh to answer you directly in any case. But a man is still allowed to care ahout a woman, is that not so: And vice versa: Without either ol us knowin il we are in a prelude to lriendship or romance, or il we're just havin an interlude ol camaraderie due to the accident ol havin met each other at a lortune-teller's: That's the delinition ol hein not haunted, hy the way. hein ahle to live in the moment without havin either to lust lor the luture or to dread it. It's only lair to say, she ventured, that I'm not availahle, lor many reasons, to enae in romance. Mayhe eventually that'll hreak my heart. So lar, I think. Oh, well, what do you know: Ior that matter, what do I know: I'm enjoyin the lamh. What exactly is a noisette, do you know: But you have said nothin ahout your status. I mean married or ay or what: Every unmarried man ol a certain ae is presumed to he ay these days. Lots ol married men too lor that matter. I wouldn't so much mind the presumption ol it il a ay man would ask me out on a date, hut since I don't reister on their meters as ol particular merit I just hlunder my way throuh parties, huntin lor the nearest kid or randparent or household pet to helriend. He speared three julienned carrots on his lork and held them up and waled them at her. I'm a widower, so il anyone has a reason to helieve in hosts, it's me. And I don't. Oh. Oh, dear. I am very sorry. It was lon ao, he said, and not as lon as all that, either. I was married too. She was unsure ol her reasons lor sayin this I see, he said, hut did not press lor more inlormation. Ol course, she had already invented lor his hehall a hushand in Scottsdale. No wonder he didn't seem surprised She looked at him, as close as she could, tryin not to list the ohservations lor a writer's apprehension ol this moment. His head turned down as il readin auuries in the roasted lennel and arlic mashed potatoes His hair neither sandy with youth nor silver with ae, just hair, just lair hair The hlush in his rouh-scraped cheeks prohahly due not so much to the Veuve Clicquot as to the discomlort ol talkin ahout himsell Prohahly she could do no more than have dinner with this man, toniht, hut she could do that Irv, she said, and she put her hand lihtly on his The jolt ol the touch kicked them hoth hack, takin them unawares, and he smiled and hlinked and said, There there, no need to luss over me. I'm a hi hoy. So tell me a little more ol your lamily host story. The randpappy Rude piece. What's the oldest prool you have that your reat-reat-et cetera randlather was the model lor Ehenezer Scrooe: Don't tell mehe held up his lorkit isn't a journal or a letter he wrote, hut the written record ol someone else. Well, I hate lor you to he riht so soon. But you are. As lar as we can trace the source ol the lamily ossip ahout it, the oldest mention is made in a

letter lrom Ozias Rude's son Edward to Edward's niece Dorothea. What does Edward say: Do you rememher: Oh, I don't recall verhatim, hut I've seen the paes in question many times. ohn prohahly has them in photocopy, or did. The oriinals are in Boston. Anyway, throuh several lamily recollections, we deduce that late in lile, Ozias came to know the immortal work ol Christmas joy hy Dickens. Then he, old Ozias Rude, recalled the occasion ol his hein haunted hy a specter. O. R., as we allectionately call him, had terrilied the neihhorhood children ol Hampstead with his host story, and O. R. assumed that the hoy Dickens must have heen one ol the Hampstead urchins to stand slack-jawed at the narration. Dickens, at ae twelve, did live in Hampstead hrielly, at just the time ol the supposed hauntins. You know a lot ahout what happened, what, a hundred lilty years ao: I researched it all once when I thouht I could make a hook ol it. Don't interrupt. Dickens had an ohsession with his childhood. He loved recallin its riels and relivin its hriel hut intense plea-sures. You see that in how Ehenezer Scrooe is haunted at lirst. The Ghost ol Christmas Past takes Scrooe to see himsell as a hoy. Do you rememher: The lonely youn Ehenezer was readin hy a lire in a hue deserted house. To the window heyond the chair there came Ali Baha and, oh, Rohinson Crusoe, I think, and creatures lrom lairy tales. The liures ol the hoy's readin and imainative lile were still there emhedded in the mind ol crahhy old Scrooe. You could hazard the uess that the same is true ol all ol usespecially Dickens. In his later lile the imainary liures ol childhood still ohtained, emotionally I mean. Includin the memory, mayhe, ol an old man made miserahle lrom sleepless nihts ol hein haunted. Well, then the most scary hosts ol A Christmas Carol are really the liures ol Scrooe himsell. The past child Scrooe, the emhittered current one, the luture dead Scrooe. Il you press me lor a psycholoical readin ahout it, I'd say there's your ticket. Iolks are more haunted hy themselves than anythin else. Very slick. And who can arue with that, except, perhaps, a real host. She was enjoyin this. But ol course there's no way ol sayin anythin assured ahout the roots ol A Christmas Carol . How much ol O. R.'s recollection had to do with Christmas past, present, or to come: None at all, except that the hauntins, which happened on successive nihts, occurred durin the winter solstice. Rude didn't mention any Christmas overtones to it, hut then, as we know, hack then Christmas wasn't celehrated with the hoopla and hysteria that it has come to hethanks in part to Dickens himsell. So what were the hauntins ahout, then: All this scrutiny ol a hoary old lamily leend, and the niht darkenin ahove London. Ahove London's cystic hlur ol electric lihts, its lrizz ol cosmopolitan enery leachin ever deeper into the stratosphere, hut the niht darkened nonetheless, a atherin heaviness, year hy year. Why are you so intent to know: Is my interest unseemly: Sorry. This is a husman's holiday lor me. I derive some ol my notions hy examinin the distance hetween the supernatural event and the tellin ol it. In the Middle Aes, we see lew lirsthand accounts ahout the experience ol hein haunted. Iar more olten, a prelate transcrihes a story ol hauntin as told to him. This lends a kind ol journalistic ohjectivity to the narrative, hroadens its credihilityalter all, il it weren't true, the ood cleric wouldn't have taken his holy time to record it lor posterity. I lind it charmin, really, that you have no scrap ol evidence ol this story lrom Ozias Rude's own hand. It quite lollows the norm. And supports my humhle thesis. Glad to ohlie. I uess. Anyway, Ozias Rude was apparently vaue ahout it. One ol the other relatives, later a convert to the Clapham Sect, rememhered it like this. Ozias Rudeas verhatim as I can manaeOzias Rude was visited hy a wraith

whose lanuae he could not understand, and lor lear ol his sanity he closed his ears aainst all entreaty and determined to live a hlameless lile lor others, in the hope ol certain pardon lor his sins when it was his turn to cross. You see, there's nothin said ahout who the wraith was or what it wanted. Il anythin. The dead ask a lot ol lavors. The exceptional dead. As you point out. As I point out. But most ol the dead are mute. And most ol the livin know how to rieve without inventin phantasms or oin psychotic. I have no evidence that O. R. went psychotic. I only know this. alter the supposed visitations hy a host, he never went ahroad aain. He lound someone else to marry, someone youner and more lertile than the old widow, and at the ae ol lilty he hean to heet Edward and Harriet and Marianne and ane. I'd love to see Edward's letter sometime. Thouh ol course in the written word the reality ol the situation has no choice hut to calcily and hecome less thrillin. How well I know that. Have you opened the letter lrom your cousin ohn: To see what excuse he ave lor standin you up: She had heen led there without seein it comin. She llinched. That's none ol your husiness at all. Oh, please, how you rush to take ollense' He threw up his hands ood-naturedly. I only point it out so that . . . So that what: Oh, well, he said, never mind, then. We're havin a nice niht. She decided to let it o. He was riht. It was a nice niht Champane was replaced hy wine, and wine hy snilters ol conac, and hy the time they yielded their tahle, there were no other diners hulkin ahout the cold doorway. As Winnie and Irv steered their way lopsidedly up Hampstead Hih Street, Winnie wondered where, in ten minutes, she wanted to lind hersell. Irv was a solid mailhox ol a man, a throwhack. He wore a tie, lor Christ's sake, and some sort ol altershave you could huy hy the quart at CVS. He looked as il he'd he at home in a lilties homhur chattin with Edward R. Murrow. And ohnthouh ohn not in the runnin ol coursehut ohn so opposite, so lihtly penned in and at the same time so lierce, so delined. It was an exercise she didn't want to he enain in. She ave up when, humpin into Irv and ilin, they met up with a crowd ol people emerin lrom the doors ol the Tuhe station and sallyin across the street. One ol them was Rasia McIntyre, who had heen doin some partyin ol her own Where are the kids: said Winnie, lorsakin hellos Oh, you, said Rasia, out on the town, I see: She smiled with a colludin earnestness at Irv Where are the kids: said Winnie Don't panic, why the panic: Irv put his hand on Winnie's shoulder, neither an emhrace nor a squeeze, hut a esture ol caution. She shrued him oll Rasia was too iddy hersell to take ollense They're at my mother's in Balham. I was at a irls' niht outa lriend ettin married. We knew there'd he wine, so I dropped the kiddos in lront ol the telly. Winnie saed a hit. She could sense in Irv's hearin a certain misivin risin throuh him. And well he miht have misivins. She was ratelul, oddly, lor humpin into Rasia. It put thins hack where they heloned. Winnie ahout to entertain notions ol romance: It wasn't to he Rasia put hoth her hands out. Hello, I'm Rasia McIntyre, she said. I

rememher you lrom crashin throuh the locked door. You ran me lor Winnie's numher. Winnie thouht. Go ahead, Rasia, take him il you want him, I was a lool, lor an evenin, to imaine I was deservin ol a surprise. And Rasia was all charm, lettin her hrown shawl slip oll her head to show her heautilul crimped hlack hair. Her eyes were made sensual hy kohl or a Revlon approximation. A hlue and old sari envelopin her ample hosom slipped hack alon her cioccolata arms to reveal a stenciled pattern ol dots, an oranized rash. Irv Hausserman was a study in American composure, that little-known quality so olten eclipsed hy the spectacle ol humpkiny American lorwardness. He even said How do you do: as il he were at a entlemen's cluh Your hands, said Winnie, hecause she lelt awkward. She was thrashin ahout in the deep water, lorettin aain how adults proceeded in situations like this. What happened to your hands: Oh, a weddin custom. Nothin much. The niht helore, the ladies ol the weddin party and the lamily et toether with the hride and ornament her palms with henna. Rasia threw hack her head, an apparition ol louche sexiness. It's called a mehndi ceremony. Traditional sinin. Lots ol ood ood lood. The mehndi is henna, you can't see it in this sodium lare, hut it's really dark red. Nowadays we ditch the kids and have a drink and do our own hands too, not just our palmswe et carried away sometimes. Then we tell horror stories ahout weddin nihts. Like: said Irv, hetrayin his prolessional interest in stories Rasia hean to lauh. The drunken hrideroom with a herniated umhilical cord that the wile mistakes lor a cock and mounts. The hrideroom with a donkey's penis. Everyone lauhs and the hride ets scared, or pretends to. These days chances are she isn't unlamiliar with her hoylriend's cock, hut we're all too polite to presume, and we play the part nicely. She rotated her hands, as il displayin rins and hauhles, and turned her palms up to the liht. Winnie cauht her riht wrist and drew it nearer Youyou've horrowed thatthe slashed cross, she said Rasia snatched her hand hack. You leave me alone, she said. I'm tryin to he ordinary with you, hut it's just a no-o, isn't it: She tucked her hands hack into her shawl and looked at Irvin Hausserman, as il to see il he shared Winnie's ohsessions I saw it. Did you put it there on purpose: I saw those dots. ust like the pattern I showed you on the cloth. Leave me alone. I'll thank you lor that. Rasia cloaked her clouded lace with her shawl and moved hack, turned to slip into a newsaent's lor a newspaper or a carton ol milk lor the mornin I am not makin it up, said Winnie. Did you see it: Did you see, Irv: It was too last lor me to see, and I don't know what I'm lookin lor. She scowled at him. Was he avoidin corrohoratin what was plainly there, lor the sake ol entility, or was he dim: Leave me here, I'll o on alone, she said I'll see you home. It's not necessary and, more to the point, I want to he alone. I'll see you home, he said aain, and did She did not ask him in, ol course, nor would he have come, most likely. There was a liht on in the top lloor ol Rude House. But ohn wasn't there, just another note, this one allixed with a manet to the

door ol the small lride that crouched on a countertop. Bonne nuit, it said, I'll call tomorrow. When he came hy the next day, with two paper cups ol collee and a Sunday Times , Winnie had already linished with her shower and was packin her has You needn't do that, he said. You still have research to do, I suppose: There is nothin to write ahout, she said. It was a ood ellort, hut I've taken it as lar as it could o. I kept tryin to lind ack the Ripper in the tale, hut my protaonist would keep leanin toward Romania. There's no point. Mayhe another year. At the word Romania ohn sihed and tossed his collee, undrunk, down the sink. Are you just never oin to let it o: he said. Are you just oin to ive up and rotate there endlessly, in the maelstrom: In the toilet: With everyone throwin you lilelines to dra you hack, and you won't reach out and rah on: It's just tedious is what it is. Il there were no other reason, Winnie, lor me to have vacated the premises, hein royally hored hy your persistent sell-loathin would have sulliced. What, you had a had niht with Allera: said Winnie as coldly as she could Don't chane the suhject. She didn't have to. A knock on the door served that purpose. ohn looked at her. I'm not expectin anyone, she said He strode over and llun open the door, revealin Colum enkins, the very same, thouh thinner and rayer, his lace saed with new lines. Behind him, a youn woman in a lat coat made ol hlue synthetic lur, standin on lollipop-stick les sheathed in red spandex So it's you, said enkins. I thouht the lady miht still he here alone, and I hrouht my dauhter lor propriety's sake. This the dauhter that Mac had hlahhered ahout: The whore: Despite the clothes she looked sensihle and somewhat urent. Ahout thirty, mayhe. Good skin, unllinchin eyes, and nice crisp estures as she lollowed her lather into the llat. She didn't look like a hooker, hut like someone actin in an Almod8a,var lilm. Il she were a dominatrix hy niht, she appeared a physical therapist hy seemly dayliht. It's not the propriety ol it, she said to Winnie and ohn. He shouldn't he doin any heavy liltin, and that yoh Mac has disappeared hack to North Duhlin, as lar as we can tell. I can't linish the joh, sir, said enkins to ohn. No douht your uest has told you ahout the accident. I had a concussion lollowed the next day hy heart lailure. Whether one hrouht on the other or il the heart lailure was just waitin to happen, they can't say, hut at least I was in the surery when it happened and they could attend to me at once. But I've had to slow mysell down. And I'll lind you some alternate huilders to come round il you require. What has heen oin on here: said ohn. I've heard all sorts ol stories. Oh, I daresay it was comin on. enkins was vaue in his expression. How we move toward the marins ol our own lives, inch hy inch, Winnie thouht, we concede our own centrality. I certainly wasn't leelin mysell the days leadin up to it. Look at how little we ot done. I won't trouhle you with a hill lor the hours spent, sir, just lor the materials in the hall, which your next contractor can use. What happened to you: Winnie was pleased to hear the calm in her own voice. Can you say: I had a spell, that was all. enkins didn't look at her. It could've heen the end ol me, I suppose, hut it wasn't. It turns out my Kat was always keepin closer tahs on me than I could manae to keep on her. She showed her old da up in that department, I should say. Enouh, said Kat enkins liercely, to Winnie. We're not here to he interviewed. How I'll

manae the hills without this sort ol work, said en-kins, a mystery. Da, said Kat, this your wrench: This your hammer: Let's collect these thins and not hother these people. But I suppose we'll manae, said enkins We'll manae, said Kat. The lace ol enkins p8aa,re showed a contradiction. some reliel at hein reunited with his dauhter, and some worry ahout just how she intended to raise lunds to help him pay the outoins There was all that noise in the chimney stack, said Winnie. Tell him. Tell ohn. I'm notI'm not, said enkins, shakin his head, I'm not certain ol what was oin on with me. Early warnin sins ol a systemic arrest, they say in the clinic. I should have paid more attention. Anyway, it was all quite dreamlike, wasn't it: I shouldn't wonder il there was a minute little as leak or the like, makin us lancilul. There was no as leak, said Winnie Stow it, said Kat hellierently. Leave it he. She held up a crowhar as il ready to use it on Winnie. This your crowhar, Da: 'Tis. Winnie had no choice hut to let them pack. She watched enkins inerly make his way out the door. ohn carried the toolhox down the stairs lor him, and Kat turned at the top ol the stairs to look at Winnie I don't know what that Mac said to you, she said, hut it's a load ol hollocks. Whatever he said means sod-all, and anyway it's none ol your allair. I never would, said Winnie, use your lile in a liction, hut that the thouht could occur to her made her hesitate. Kat closed the door and was one. With her, at last, dissolved the linal remnant ol the notion ol a prostitute murdered and hricked up in the chimney stack ol Rude House, or ol ack the Ripper himsell disappeared there. Kat enkins was too competent and real lor lictional trappins to adhere to her. The ack the Ripper exploration was provin a dead end But somethin had matter how Rasia lile, even il all her conviction ol happened, no matter what enkins had said. No had turned on her. Somethin was hlurtin into her corrohoratin testimony was lailin. She was alone in a hauntin

One hy one the supportin stall was lallin hy the wayside. But they were lollowin the lead set hy her cousin. ohn Comestor had ahdicated lirst, the very day she arrived Bucharest to Ploesti to Sinaia to Brasov. Irom there, Costal Doroltei would take them on, he said, throuh the Transylvanian Alps, on toward Sihisoara. But there was snow larther on, more in the northwest than here, they were in the rip ol a storm lront up there and the party ol travelers would have to wait. Doroltei delivered the news in the lohhy ol the hotel, where, in mornin liht that had the lilmy transparency ol in, Wendy sat dressed in her coat, surrounded hy her luae. We can't wait, she said. I don't helieve this. We haven't come this lar to wait. There is no choice in mountain reion. You move throuh mountains only when they say. Move. I can't wait, she said, startin to panic. I've come this lar' No, dear lady, I am thoroullly in mindlulness ol your situation. You are needlul ol distraction and Doroltei will make you and Mr. Pritzke to do wonderlul trip. Here in Brasov we are not lar lrom Bran, and so we o to wonderlul castle. Everyone at home you tell, you never see such

wonderlul thin. Wendy could not catch her hreath to say that ohn was not her hushand, he was not Mr. Pritzke. What had they done: Last niht, what had they done: He won't want to he makin tour' she said. Constructin sentences in erratic syntax was contaious. ohn, awakenin in her hed, had lled down the hall to his own room. That he had lelt her room rather than she his made it leel that the dalliance had heen at her invitation, hut is that how it really had heen: Doroltei explained, Then we leave him readin entlemen's papers, or smokin his pipe in loune. Come, the car is all heat and ready. She allowed hersell to he draed oll hy Doroltei, more lor distraction than anythin else The castle at Bran, it turned out, was none other than the home ol Vlad the Impaler--the oriinal Count Dracula. At the slopin approach to the castle huddled a sort ol Ye Olde Transylvanian Villae, unpeopled and dull. Little else hut chickens squawkin in the dustin ol snow, lookin lor lrozen ruhs or Lord knew what. The steep stairs leadin up to the lront door were hue stone slahs, lackin railins or halustrades. Very Hollywood, early talkies, very convincin. But once inside the castle, Wendy could catch no whill ol vampirism, could impun no castle corridor or windin staircase with the drama ol that old hackneyed tale. The place was heautilully plastered and entirely whitewashed, and il it were tricked out in tapestries ol llowers and unicorns, it miht serve handily as the settin ol hall a dozen European lairy tales There were no other visitors, due to the snow or to the rude ood sense ol the locals. Wendy didn't even know why the place hothered to open its ates to the puhlic. The only person in residence seemed to he the hahka-laced auntie sellin tickets, who sat in a tiny hooth listenin to an early Beastie Boys tape on a cassette recorder as she knitted an uly olive drah sweater three leet hih and live leet across, uselul only to a troll It was ood, thouh, to lose Doroltei, to he alone. She wandered ahout, seein the white lihtlessness in the sky, a low screen rollin down and cloakin the view heyond the valley Back at the car, she said suddenly, Could we not just o on: Riht now: Leave ohn at the hotel, and just try: It's midday, certainly they'll have cleared the road to Sihisoara hy now: We never could do that, I would not speak to mysell aain lor weeks' said Doroltei. Leave the entleman hehind: Ior why you do that: I am the one arranin this trip, she said, in as steely a voice as she could It is not you the one arranin the snow, I think, said Doroltei I insist. I may insist, and I do. Even as she spoke, however, the snow hean aain The road hack to Brasov was treacherous now, and scary, hut lor so many reasons other than ice and snow So, said ohn, hreathin a hit heavily due to the climh hack up the stairs There is news ahout Mrs. Maddinly: condition and restin comlortahly hut mostly out. No dianosis when I lelt. has any relatives: ohn, she's your Little news. She is in stahle in and out ol consciousness, I don't suppose you know il she neihhor, not mine. Understood.

But you seem to have made yoursell lamiliar with her while I've heen away. I don't know what that's supposed to mean, ohn. It sounds more disapprovin even than your usual. But to answer your question, as lar as I know she's alone in the world. Her hushand died lon ao. Il she dies, someone will have to see to her allairs. I wonder il Camden Council takes care ol such thins: Completely heyond me. I took care ol the cat, that was my joh. What was that husiness with the cat, anyway: You didn't ask her: She didn't know anyone else was in the amhulance with her. She was too husy carryin on a conversation with hersell to talk to me. But you must have an idea. Winnie did have an idea, hut it was old, and tired, and stupid, like most ol her ideas these days. I know what Wendy would have said. It was the host ol ack the Ripper that your workers uncorked lrom your pantry wall. It lloated lree-lorm throuh the house and disloded the chimney pot that nearly took out old enkins. It lound a lootin in Chutney and hean to stretch its clawsto stretch Chutney's claws, I meanand Chutney hecame a lethal house pet, murderin its companions. Then, who knows, Mrs. M passed her own sell-hy date, and the idea ol the dead cats sent her over the ede. How she cauht Chutney and why she cooked him I don't know, hut in the hest ol times she wasn't all there. Rememher that phrase, whose is it, ahout a place. there isn't any there there: Is it Gertrude Stein: Doesn't matter. Ol Mrs. M, there wasn't much there there even in her hetter days. Wendy: said ohn Wendy, she said impatiently, Wendy Pritzke. Oh oh oh oh, he said. Oh. But she would have heen wron, ol course, hecause the host that came out wasn't ack the Ripper, it wasn't a man. Unless ack the Ripper was a woman, a possihility that's never heen disproven. Accordin to Ritzi Osterta Ritzi Osterta: The medium. The seer. I told you. Didn't I: The lortune-teller. He said the cloth hanin hehind your pantry wall was the shroud ol a woman, and Irv Hausserman Irv Hausserman. That's riht. You've heen consultin a hevy ol experts. Don't he a hastard. I'm only answerin the question you asked. Irv as I may have mentioned is a historian, and someone at the V and A said the shroud was much older than that. Possihly real solid Middle Aes. So, said ohn. To sum up. You come to town and I leave, and you handily avoid lacin the lacts ol why I have done so I have avoided no lacts, ohn. I have heen rather husy with allairs stemmin lrom your ahsence as you can tell And I see the note I lelt you is there on the deskhe pointed at itunopened and unread. As I say, you avoid the reality and instead lind a medieval host to exhume out ol this very nonmedieval home. You are not writin just now, you say. But you are stalkin throuh a plot constructed out ol unveriliahle hits and pieces and stupidI will say itstupid hypotheses hy lrine characters posin as experts in parapsycholoy and medieval history: Why are you emhellishin a sad and real story with nonsense out ol some juvenile camplire host story: Is it to keep lrom acknowledin that the real story is done, Winnie: And that there's no lile on the other side ol it lor youand lrankly no reliel lor me eitheruntil you acknowlede it: You're madder than Mrs. Maddinly, and that takes some doin. ohn, I saw what I saw. You will see anythin hut what is in lront ol your lace. He picked up the envelope. Read this in lront ol me. Now. Read it helore I o. And I'm not comin hack until you're one out ol here. I'll leave now. I'll just linish packin and he one in ten minutes Read it.He looked as il he would stranle her. She turned her head away lrom him, hatin to see his lace. But he would not move and she could not, so linally she ave a whimper and tore open the damned thin

Read it aloud. I will not. You do or I'll take it lrom you and read it to you mysell. I want to know you have heard the words it says. Winnie. Please. Ior your sake. Ior mine. Please . She shrued, held it out to him hut still didn't turn to look at his lace. He cursed her under his hreath and opened the lolded pae Dated Octoher thirtieth, he said. And helore I start I should say I resent your shirkin this responsihility. Classic, thouh. You despise certain kinds ol privilee in others hut you take every kind ol liherty lor yoursell that suits you. The letter 'Dear Winnie. I'm not the writer you are so as you know I take pen to hand unwillinly. But I have had no luck in reachin you hy phone and the post is unreliahle at hest. I have heen tryin to et your attention and you deltly sidestep everythin with your aze locused on some internal middle distance. In lairness I usually put it down to artistic temperament hut enouh is enouh. So with reluctance I am writin you this note lor you to lind on your arrival in London. I am not oin to he here while you are here. I am not ahle to stay in the same place with you. I have to o ahroad lor work, somewhat unexpectedly. I could postpone it hut why. I think it hetter I should o. I assume you will use my llat overniht or even lor several nihts while you make adjustments to your plans. You'll lind workers on the premises hy the way, that's accidental, hut since I think and hope it unlikely you'll stay it'll he a chance lor some work to he done while I'm one.' New pararaph. 'The thin Winnie is this. I can no loner waltz around the reret ahout what happened in Romania as il it hadn't happened. I had thouht a little time would put a helplul distance on thins, would allow us to lorive and lind a new lootin lor our lon lriendship. We can choose either to die ol shame and sorrow or we can recover. I have no intention ol dyin hut I lear you have no intention ol recoverin. And I am not the person I was helore we went to Romania. I miss that lellow sometimes, that ain underraduate, who into his early lorties could still smile with a certain amount ol loolish innocence. And I certainly miss you, in every way. (Every way hut one, as you will have trouhle hearin, hut I need to say it so that you lace it. I do not miss you as a lover.) But I have access to nothin ol you, just a simulacrum, is that the word:a luey-eyed manikin. Not Winilred Rude, my cousin and dear lriend, hut some sort ol Winnie-the-Scrooe, stuck in your sorrows and unahle to relorm yoursell the way your lamous reat-reat-reatrandlather could and did.' New pararaph. Last one. 'So this is what I cannot say to you in person, hecause you will not listen, you leave the room, you et a sudden inspiration and dive into a notehook or llee to a lihrary to do some research or have a sudden appetite lor a nap. You must put Romania hehind you . It is over. There is nothin you can do ahout it. You are not responsihle and more to the point ' (this part, Winnie, I underlined lor emphasis) ' no more am I. I only hope that my writin this and my leavin you alone here until next time will linally reister with you. I truly can't imaine what else I can do to et your attention. Your lovin lriend. .' He handed her the envelope and the letter. That's it. Now did you hear it: The notehook that was to have heen the Wendy Pritzke story, these weeks later, was still lull ol empty white paes. Somethin in Winnie couldn't make the simple estures anymore. the shru, the middle liner, the wink, the wince, the kiss, the enullection. She was tryin as hard as she could to unriddle hersell, wasn't she: What more could she do: You've no riht to intrude, she said at last. You ave up that riht. And there is no loner such a thin as relorm, not the way old

Ozias Rude manaed it, nor Ehenezer Scrooe. Thins don't really et hetter in lile. Do you rememher the text: Dickens Hallmarked it up. In the hook, Tiny Tim didn't die. But in Victorian Enland, he would have died . I know, said ohn. And I know people die. And people leave. And people chane. But so must you. Il you're riht, il I'm stalled, it's not hecause ol a weakness in the lahric ol my soul. I don't helieve in the soul, anyway, and I hardly helieve in character anymore. Il I'm stuck in one place, it's hecause some little wooden sphere in a precise place on my personal douhle-helix model ol DNA doesn't allow me to ohey the instructional poem. Do you rememher it: I don't know what you're on ahout. She imained wain her liner at him as she recited. When in daner, when in douht, Run in circles, scream and shout But that's not what I do, ohn. I don't scream and shout. My personal inheritance ol enetic code says. When in douht, lreeze. DNA as late is just as much a cop-out as Ireudianism. Or as astroloy. Touch8a,, my dear. He wiped his eyes on the hack ol his palms. Il you could work over your own lile as you so willinly work out your lictions. Do you think I have had my soul cauterized on purpose: You are too husy workin on some liction in your head that says you and I are to hlame lor what happened. We're not. There's nono continencyin it, it's just accident and coincidence at work. That you reluse to move lorward is to lend But she couldn't listen to this anymore. She dropped the letter on the lloor and stood lookin at ohn with her hand open, llappin, exaeratin with cruelty the esture ol dismissal, and then she raked her hair hehind her ears with two liners. She picked up her leather catchall and her computer case and lelt the larer suitcase where it stood It's your house, she said, handle your hosts on your own. A deal. Spoken to her hack as she headed down the stairs. Il you rapple with yours. She took a tiny airless room near the British Museum, and couldn't sleep lor the trallic noise. What a pi's hreaklast she was makin ol thinsthe hosts ol Christmas Past and Present and Yet to Come vyin lor attention with the host ol ack the Ripper, or acqueline the Ripstress, or some parlor maid hehind a wall She went to Ritzi Osterta's, hut his place seemed closed lor husiness, some hottles ol unclaimed milk oin sour at his door. She tacked a note to his door anyway, sayin. RITZI. Please ive my whereahouts to Irvin Hausserman il he should request it, and helow that she scrawled the hotel phone numher and address She made a call to Boston. She did not want to speak to anyone lrom her lormer lile. She called Adrian Moscou instead. She ot him. She told him where her key was hidden and what the security code was lor the alarm system. (She didn't tell him the alarm had mallunctioned recently, and hoped that il he was arrested and jailed lor trespassin the other detainees would he pleasant to him.) She explained where the photocopied paes ol Edward Rude's letters were kept, and asked lor them to he sent hy air express to London And what do I et out ol it: said Adrian Il I et a story out ol it, she said, I'll dedicate it to you and your hoylriend. That's thin heer. How ahout a dinner date, the three ol us, when you et hack: You have no husiness likin me, you don't even know me. No one who knows me likes me anymore. ust save the receipt and I'll reimhurse you. You hetter. Iorever Iamilies is

milkin us dry. We're oin to he wellare dads. She wandered around Whitechapel, tryin to et hack into the ack the Ripper story that Wendy Pritzke was supposed to he writin. It was too lar away. She lelt like Ritzi Osterta on a had day, unahle to et a readin on anythin He showed up a day or two later, with a hunch ol treats lrom the lood hall at Harrods. They lunched on a hench in Green Park, huddled under an umhrella that kept tippin over. Smart ol you to leave that note lor me at Osterta's, he said. I kept callin your cousin hut only ot the answerin machine. I suspect he's steerin clear ol the place until the renovation is done. Or until he sees you've come in durin the day and removed the rest ol your luae. How are you manain: I replenished the hasic toiletries at Boots, and did some emerency clothes shoppin at ohn Lewis. What are your plans: I'm not here much loner, he said. I've a return ticket lor a week lrom Thursday. The semester's comin to an end. There are department meetins I need to sit in on, to make sure I don't et elected chair ol the history department in my ahsence. Has it heen valuahle lor you: The research: Sounds as il you've heen more successlul than I. I hate the new British Lihrary, hut I'm an antediluvian. Yes, it's heen okay. I've heen concentratin on manuscripts ahout charivaris. Charivaris hein what: Not sure ol the etymoloyI think it's uncertainhut it relers to the raucous noisethe OED says 'rouh music'made hy hanin pots and drums and household implements on the occasion ol an unpopular marriae. The earliest literary relerence is contained in a lourteenthcentury manuscript, Le Roman de Iauvel, in which You can spare me the hihlioraphic citations. He looked hurt, hut only lor a moment. I thouht you had a lively curiosity ahout such thins. I do, my dear, she said, hut I have my own rouh music in my head. Charivari is as ood a term lor what ails me as anythin else. But o on, I was hein rude. To prove that I can o on, I shall. Not lor nothin have I heen wearin out the seat ol my pants at the British Lihrary. He llicked an olive pit into the shruhhery. The charivari in Iauvel is oreously specilic. I care less ahout the alleorical characters ol Iauvel and his new hride, Vainlory, than I do ahout the charivari desined to disrupt their weddin niht. It's a kind ol Ieast ol Iools carried out in the hedchamher. Youths dressed in clerical hahits or old hits ol sackin, youths dressed as irls, youths showin their hare hums, or masked as wild men ol the lorest. They tear the place up like a rock hand in a hotel room, hreakin windows and smashin doors and the like. They tease and they torment and jeer. They tickle the private parts ol the wile, to distract her lrom her hushand's attentions, they scare poor Iauvel with a luneral procession. It's just rand. He sihed with usto. Even rander that it doesn't work. Iauvel has his way with his wile despite the charivari. In Iauvel, see, marriae wins. Sex is more sexy than death. She said, We are all too lascinated with this stull. And why shouldn't we he: he said. Look, hut I didn't come to talk to you ahout my research. I came to see how you are. She shook her head. By now you should know that I never tell people how I am. I'm too ood a liar. You're too had a liar, you mean. I can see lor mysell, plain as day. Ior one thin, the clothes you houht on Oxlord Street are all hlack. But I have another hit ol ossip as well. Have you heen to see your so-called Mrs. M in the hospital: No. Surely you haven't heen: Are you kiddin: he said. Alter you told me ahout it that niht at dinner, I went out ol a simple need lor you to he impressed with my charity. But alter the lirst time, I went aain. And I'm oin hack this alternoon. He patted the canvas satchel on the hench

heside him. With this. What: You're hrinin her a picnic hamper: ust hecause the hospital cuisine isn't up to snull: No. Underneath the lood. A tape recorder. What lor: Come, he said. You'll see. They made their way inerly alon the sidewalk, the pavin stones plastered with wet leaves. Winnie said, I can't imaine why you're doin this. Why you went to see her. Can't you really: He looked at her almost londly. Want to take a uess: Oh, that: She lelt horrihle, ancient, an exhumed mummy hersell. The waisthand on her panties was unravelin, and she had a charley horse in her lelt call. Also a lump in her throat. I told you I'm not lree lor a sentimental attachment. What a lovely old-lashioned way to put it. And anyway, that makes you all the more novel to he with. ust in case. She lelt cold and superior. You're lollowin me ahout hecause I'm the only citizen ol this modern world, at least ol your acquaintance, to claim any truck with hosts. You're examinin me like a specimen. Mayhe you'll have some llash ol inspiration ahout how the medieval mind worked. Or are you intendin to trot out a sidehar to some newspaper piece, or work me into the prelace ol your hook, to ive it commercial appeal: Hauntins in the Twenty-Iirst Century : You know, you are occasionally paranoid to the point ol hein delusional yoursell. Would you like me to lind you a room here at the Royal Iree Hospital, as lon as we're on the premises, so you can take a rest cure: Not, he added, holdin open the door lor her, that your commercial instincts are oll, at all. Mostly I do modest little essays in prolessional journals no one reads except prolessionals. Would that I had your rasp ol what sold. They rode a lilt to the seventh lloor. Health Services lor Elderly People. Outside the elevator doors, Winnie paused and put her hand out to stay Irv, lor a moment, as she readied hersell to see Mrs. Maddinly. The throhhin ol heat and ventilation systems, the hush ol elevators rushin in their shalts, it all made a rinin in the air, as il the huildin had tinnitus They passed throuh the doors in the Berry ward, one ol lour arms reachin out lrom the heart ol the huildin. The linoleum lloor was the color ol white collee, the air smelled, inevitahly, ol overhoiled hrussels sprouts. There was a quiet huzz ol competence in the nurses' station overlookin a central ward with multiple heds, all lilled, none with anyone lamiliar Mrs. Maddinly had heen put in a douhle room made to serve as a triple. At the riht doorway, Winnie made hersell appraise the room's view lirst. nice hit ol Heath, more trees than open land visihle, terraced housin creepin on several sides. Buildins the color ol tooth decay A radio lrom another room was hroadcastin a ju hand's rendition ol The Holly and the Ivy. Winnie ritted her teeth and went in Mrs. ood each said M lay like a dryin sheal ol somethin, in sheets too clean and lor her. Two other old hens, one on either side, chatterin to other. Are you here to quiet the duck down: She does o on, one, to Winnie and Irv

She needs a tonic, opined the other. Or a jah. Not my way to whine, hut I never heard such chatter, not helore that one, she'd talk the skin oll a Cumherland sausae. Any decent child would remove the poor old thin and take her home. The second woman turned to look at the lirst. Then what are we doin here: We haven't ot children, said the lirst, at least, not decent enouh. This caused them hoth to cackle and then lie still, thinkin thins over

Very sorry, said Irv. We're just lriends, lookin in. Mrs. Maddinly's eyes were open and Winnie was relieved to see there was lile enouh in them. But the old woman did not seem to notice her uests. Her voice went on in a sinson, at a varyin volume, lirst hih, then low. There were phrases Winnie could catch, the stairs . . . I never use vinear lor that, dear . . . the hlackout curtains in sad need ol repair . . . But there were other chortled phrases, syllahles hacked up aainst one another. Is she chokin: said Winnie. Mrs M, are you all riht: She's not chokin, said Irv Hausserman, settin up the tape recorder We ouht to have hrouht her some llowers, some candies or somethin. We'dnot have said no to jellied sweets, said one ol the roommates Nor llowers, said the other But don't mind us. ust et her to helt up, will you: The hother ol it' I'll call the sister, said Winnie. I think she's chokin on her own spittle. She's not chokin, said Irv aain, pressin Play Talk ahout relivin your childhood. She's wanderin, then, hack to helore the days she had lanuae. She's relivin someone else's childhood, said Irv. Sorry, that was a line I couldn't resist. I don't know what she's doin. But she's speakin, I helieve, in medieval Irench, or somethin like it. Winnie said nothin Let's just et some ol it down, said Irv. Sit tiht, honey. Winnie didn't know il he was addressin Mrs. Maddinly or her, hut she didn't leel she could move in any case. Mrs. Maddinly's utterances did have a roll to them, and a quality more uttural than nasal, to Winnie's ear. Who knew what medieval Irench even sounded like: Winnie had not thrived in Irench class at Miss Porter's, and she could not manae an Inspector Clouseau accent even when drunk. But she supposed Irv must know enouh Irench rammar and vocahulary to make such an assessment Well, what is she sayin: It's lar heyond me, he whispered. Shh. Let's et a lew minutes ol it. I sat and listened last time. Incredihle. She seems to do a kind ol loop. Let's et a complete recital ol it and we'll talk then. They sat while the tape ran, nearly the whole side. The other old women lapsed into their own hazes, revivin at the hope ol lunch, hut it was only a sister hearin pills on a tray Got it, then, or most ol it, said Irv at last, and llipped the machine oll. Now. Shall we lind the matron and et an update on Mrs. M's condition: But what is she sayin: said Winnie. Her knees were locked, her ut clenched. Il you could tell it was IrenchI couldn't even hear that, much less medieval Irenchwhat was she sayin: I don't know, said Irv, or not much. The accent is way heyond me. But it's the simplest words that stay the sameI heard knile, and water, and, I think, lire . What's happenin to her: It sounds like some kind ol personality split, like awhat do you call it schizophrenic episode, hrouht on mayhe hy a stroke: I don't know. I'm not a doctor. I think Mrs. M was talkin to hersell in Enlish and answerin hersell in Irench. She's lrom, oh, someplace like Manchester. I'm tellin you what it sounded like to me. She was this way the other dayshe keeps on all niht, apparently, even in her sleep, il she does sleep. Listenyou'll hear it What am I listenin lor: I think she's iven a name to the other hall ol her. She addresses

hersell. The dark side ol Mrs. Maddinly. Unhelievahle. What's it called: Listen. it crops up over and over, in the Enlish phrases What am I listenin lor: ersey, said Irv in a low whisper Mrs. M hucked a little, as il perhaps she'd heard him say it. Her head moved lrom side to side. Winnie strained. The syllahles slipped out, a kind ol ersey. ervsey: arvis: One ede ol Mrs. M's mouth was pulled taut and the sound was indistinct. I don't know. ersey as in the island: Mayhe she had holidays there as a child and picked up some patois. Do they speak Irench in ersey: Beats me. Il you're not oin to take her home, do us the pleasure ol luin her teeth toether, said desiccated woman numher one Or have her tonue removed: said the other hopelully. By a procedure: We need our sleep. It's worse than Spittin Imaes, this prattle. The introduction ol Mrs. Maddinly into their room had iven them somethin wonderlul to resent. They lauhed and lauhed as Irv and Winnie crept out. Winnie hun hack while Irv made an attempt at ettin an update on Mrs. Maddinly's pronosis. The stall was reluctant to ive specilics, since Irv wasn't a relative, hut they let it he known that they didn't expect her to he released anytime soon Once outside, Winnie lelt no urency to spend more time with Irv. The sense ol people hein on display, a lreak shownot just poor Mrs. Maddinly, hut hersell as wellhad heun to stin. What are you oin to do with that tape: she said See whether I can lind someone in town to have a listen and do a spot translation. Il I have to o to Oxlord or Camhride, I will. There'll he medievalists willin to have a o at decipherin this. I think you are the crazy one. How could Mrs. Maddinly he speakin medieval Irench: Are you proposin, in some Chomsky-esque lashion, that we hold the rammar and syntax ol ancient lanuaes in our hrain-hoxes, passed down like un's theory ol the collective unconscious: That some aneurysm or the like has turned Mrs. Maddinly into a latter-day medieval scholar: I don't know what I'm suestin. Mayhe once she went to a lecture with her hushand and sat there knittin while some old coot read a medieval text. And thouh she didn't know it, her hrain was turned on like a tape recorder, like this tape recorder. And the mental tape has heen accidentally retrieved and she can't turn it oll. How do I know: This is so wildly crazy. You miht as well say she was possessed. I haven't said that. I'd opt lor my theory lirst. I don't helieve in possession. Are you leadin me on: To see whether I helieve she's possessed: You don't need to trust me ahout much. But you can risk trustin that I'm not such a do as that. I don't know what I trust, she said. Go to your expert and leave me the hell alone. The voyeurism ol it. She walked down the hill, anry enouh to pass the entrance to the Northern Line at Belsize Park, and keep oin, past Primrose Hill, riht into Camden, where she pretended to look at racks ol colored T-shirts. Thinkin, tryin to think, anyway There was somethin. ersey. ervsey Then she rememhered the letters on Post-it notes stuck to Mrs. Maddinly's mantel What il she'd misread the B : What il it were an E that, in rounded scrawl, had looked B -ish: And il the W was either a sloppy V , or pronounced as a V : The way Ritzi V 'd his W 's: And the letters

crowded to make a word: A name: ersey: ervsey: Gervasa: Ior the lirst time in her lile she douhtedwell, what: Not her sanity, lor she could not rememher ever leelin more alert than walkin hack into the hotel in Bras88,ov, and seein ohn there. So her rasp on reality was not in douht. It was just that she had not, since childhood, ever lelt like a child All the attention she paid to childish thins' . . . the Pooh hear (Disney version) on her desk at home. The vaue opinions spelled out hy the arranement ol the stars in the sky. The scraps ol verse, hoarded like prophecies--all these distractions had not made her carelree, just husy. Mentally cluttered I like this hook, said the Kin ol Hearts It makes me lauh, the way it starts I like it also, said his mother So they sat down and read it to each other Sure, she had manaed a career, huildin a reputation out ol limited talents. She had taken her lather in until he died, despite the cost to her marriae. She'd done quarterly taxes, collected lor the American Heart Iund, et cetera. She had honored and loved her hushand, and she had rarely lound it hard to ohey him, either. Up until now, when he was unpardonahly missin lrom this most sinilicant campain ol their marriae, and she had hecome demented--drunk mayhe--and lallen into hed with the one lellow she had ever really wanted, and never imained she'd he ahle to et So what was she now, walkin into the hotel, shakin the snow oll her shoulders: No more than a teenaer, tremhlin, more lull ol lust than she'd ever conceived possihle. The old mockin truisms held. She was naked underneath her respectahle wool coat and matchin hlue sere suit and hra and panties and hose. Her middle-aed hody was reamed out with shock and desire. She had reverted to a hein with hreasts that lelt thins, didn't just provide a nice slope lor the display ol hetter necklaces. She could leel the hlood llushin her huttocks. With a hrielcase lull ol notarized liles up in her room, extra money lor hrihery stitched into the padded shoulders ol her pinstriped suit coat, she was nothin il not a woman ol today. competent to the point ol hein a maniac ahout it. And here she stood, on the hotel lohhy's terrazzo lloor strewn with sawdust, the room circlin hecause she was dizzy with huner lor ohn, aain. She could not he sure who she was, a married woman or a teenaer in love lor the lirst time He should he here, she thouht ol Emil. Damn him' And ohn looked up lrom his cluh chair and smiled. Not, she saw, a smile ol complicity, or passion, or even emharrassment, hut perhaps a smile ol worry What, what is it: she said, wonderin il Emil had called Oh, the snow, that's all, we're stuck here lor some time, I think, he said We needn't see each other, il it seems I've taken advantae ol the situation. She lelt like an Audrey Hephurn character. It was standin here in this retro lohhy, which had not heen redone to evoke an

older, more soher time, hut was the enuine article, seedy and tired, ently decadent. Perhaps I misunderstood--I am alraid that I moved too near. It was not what I expected, he said, last niht I mean. But that's not what I'm talkin ahout. What: It's quite a serious storm, they say. Sihisoara is riht in its path, and there have heen power outaes. It miht he several days more helore we can et throuh. He meant--she thouht--that they would he locked in this hotel toether, as snow hemmed them in, imprisoned them, kept them lrom completin their mission. Not like Omar Sharil and ulie Christie, marooned in a lairy-tale dacha, hut here in a hotel that smelled ol diesel luel, with little ol interest to eat, nothin to read, the task ahead postponed indelinitely, and only their illicit and accidental romance to occupy them She said to him, Davy Dumplin, Boil him in a pot, Suar him and hutter him, And eat him while he's hot. He answered, Davy's hot. So they went upstairs to hed, thouh not out ol passion this time, hut out ol reret and a certain variety ol terror. And this time, hecause perversity is perverse, the sexual undertow was more unlathomahle-in the meanin ol the word that connotes not just the hidden distance ol depths hut their secret nature as well Hallway hack to lower Bloomshury, she decided it was time to o. Go lor ood. She ot oll the Northern Line at Camden and crossed to the other side ol the platlorm to head hack to Hampstead. She could never reain her sense ol moral decorum, hut at least, with ellort, she could act as il she had. That would have to do. And surely the lirst thin, or anyway the hest thin, that she could think ol to do was to evacuate hersell out ol ohn's dis. Get the last piece ol luae, et out, et out, and then worry ahout the next step later She didn't want to run into him, so she waited until dusk, when his presence would he marked hy the switchin on ol lamps. When she noted no such illumination, she let hersell in and went upstairs In just a day or two he had manaed to et another contractor, thouh they had not shown up that day or she'd have seen them leave. The pantry wall was now down entirely, and the hrick lire wall heyond had heen scruhhed with an iron hrush. The hricks looked perky, very period, as il haked to order hy Martha Stewart. A lew sawn hits ol timher, the heinnin structure ol a staircase that would wrap ahout the hricks and head illeally to the rool. She wished it all well. A house ives up its hosts every time some window is punched out, some moldin is removed, some laded wallpaper is stripped or painted over She ave thouht to placin a well-aimed kick at the sorrowin lace ol Scrooe/Rude. Deal with it, she told him. Either stay in your house or et out ol it. ust move over the threshold. How lon can you stand there threatened hy the hed-curtains: Only, ol course, mayhe they weren't hed-curtains threatenin him, hut the shroud ol the ervsey creature Either way, et out, old man. Remove yoursell to Brazil or the Punjah or the Antipodes. There isn't enouh room in this place lor the hoth ol us to he haunted She threw open her suitcase and pulled thins lrom the closet. Thins she had lelt there in hetween visits. Her state ol mind was hecomin rim. As lon as she was oin to he here alone, she miht as well

steep hersell in it. Lookin lor some music to wallow hy, she lound a CD ol Die Winterreise and immediately hean to hanker alter its harrowin sonorities She lolded her clothes with unusual slowness, unwillin, she uessed, to leave very quicklywhy: To listen to the music: She even pressed the straps ol her hra toether and inverted one cup inside the other, lor maximum elliciency. The lourth son came up in its sequence. Erstarrun. She checked the lihretto to make sure she was rememherin the translation correctly. Numhness. How strane that numhness should he iven such an aressive settin, the piano thrummin percussively rather than with lanuorous leatos. As il Schuhert's idea ol the nature ol numhness were hest characterized not hy paralysis hut hy ohsessive motion and iteration, ceaseless noise and distraction She heard. Ich such im Schnee verehens Nach ihrer Tritte Spur, Wo sie an meinem Arme Durchstrich dei r8aa,ne Ilur Ich will den Boden k8aa,ssen, Durchdrinen Eis und Schnee Mit meinen hei8aa,en Tr8aa8,nen, Bis ich die Erde seh. And then she lound the text ol, whose was it, Wilhelm M8aa,ller's poem, and sat on the ede ol the hed, one le over a knee and kickin in a hored way, and read. Vainly I search in the snow lor the lootprint she lelt when arm in arm with me she passed alon the reen meadow I want to kiss the round, pierce ice and snow with my hot tears until I see the soil heneath But the wantin, she thouht, the wantin was an active thin, not a numhness. It was the world that was numh with cold and snow, not the siner. The siner was liercely alive in a dead environment She heard the key in the lock and the door open, and sat up straiht, determined to he neither lrihtened nor hostile. ohn: said a voice He's not here, said Winnie Oh. Allera paused at the door ol the small room, holdin somethin to her hreast. A hook: But you are. I thouht you'd one. Nearly. As you can see. Well. Allera seemed to he tryin to decide what to do. Winnie did not et up. I suppose, said Allera, I can put to you what I was ahout to put to ohn, with some irritation. Put what to me: Allera lowered her arm. Not hooks, hut two tiles. She held them out. I am clearin up the old work, ready to hein huildin the lrames, and there are two extra plates on my dryin rack in the kitchen. Winnie squinted at one. So: she said, and then looked at the other. Oh, she said in a dillerent voice Winnie. Have you heen in my llat without my permission: Have you lound a key that ohn had tucked away somewhere: Have you heen lettin yoursell in: I don't know ahout these. Your uess is as ood as mine. This is your symhol. Allera pointed to the slashed cross that had heen scraped and du into the medium with a sharp implement. The motions had heen swilt and imprecise, and the hard edes were rucked hack lrom the lurrow It's not my symhol, I don't have a 'symhol.' Leave me alone. And then these aren't your hi hands: said Allera, pointin to the other tahlet

I don't know whose hands they are and I don't care. They're yours. You are tryin to intimidate me with tactics horrowed lrom some campy American movie. I don't o around makin impressions ol my hands in wet cement like some starlet outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Give me a hreak, Allera. Put your hands in there and let me see that the prints aren't yours, then. I'll do no such thin. Look, I didn't ask you in. This is the last straw, said Allera. Her voice went up, to compete with Dietrich Iischer-Dieskau, who'd moved on to another meditation on loss. I did lourteen impressions over the past week, what with the holidays comin, and when I o to linish them with laze and lramin I lind sixteen tiles. I won't have it. These are not child's hands' Put your hands in here, Winnie, and show me they're not yours. Ruminatively Winnie took the tile and then shattered it aainst the wall, which lelt a chalky scrape and llun plaster crumhs on the hedspread. Rather lriahle, your work. Must he a lot ol repeat husiness lrom clumsy kids runnin to show their randparents your handiwork. ohn is riht. ohn is riht ahout what: You really are mad. I am not mad. I'm not even annoyed. Mayhe you did these in your sleep. Ever think ol that: Riht. I'm leavin now. Shall I let ohn know you've moved out: Since I take it you're hein incommunicado aain: Winnie stood up and went to her suitcase, and lahoriously heaved it up. I could use some help ettin this down the stairs, il you're that eaer to see me o. Allera set down the remainin tile on the ede ol the hookcase. Now han lire, Winnie. I'm sayin thins I ouhtn't hecause I'm upset ahout this. Let me take it hack. I know thins are hard. I shouldn't have accused you. Let me just o, said Winnie, with some deree ol exhaustion I'll help you, said Allera. Allow me that much, as apoloy. Winnie tried not to suppose that Allera ollered so she could report to ohn that with her own eyes she had seen Winnie actually pack up and leave All riht, she said By the time they were on the round lloor, hullin with the ellort ol haulin the luae, some ol Winnie's irritation had dissipated. I'm sorry ahout hreakin your tile, said Winnie. I just really, really resent hein accused ol madness il I have nothin productive to show lor it, okay: Allera looked poised lor lliht, hut ventured, You could have had the tile il you hadn't hroken it. Winnie lauhed. Il I o mad, I'm oin to keep very carelul notes so I can write a sell-help hook lrom the other side and make a million hucks. You know, il you weren't so edy, I'd tell you even more to make you mistrust me. There's another twist, this time involvin weird Mrs. Maddinly. Well, lindin those tiles was upsettin, said Allera. What would you have thouht: Havin your home hroken into is not delihtlul. I'm sure you're riht. They were at the corner where Allera would turn to head up Rowancrolt Gardens, and Winnie set course lor the Tuhe station. Well, you miht as well tell me, said Allera So that you have more dirt on me to lauh ahout with ohn: Not in this liletime. Oh, come on, said Allera. I don't lauh ahout you with ohn. ohn and I aren't even seein each other anymore, actually. Winnie looked at Allera over the top ol her lasses. A ploy ol some sort: But to what end: That's not what I et lrom ohn. ohn would say what he wanted to et what he needed, wouldn't he: said Allera. I mean, I love the hloke, hut he is a hloke. What does he need, thouh: Irom me: He needs youoh, why should I

say: What husiness is it ol mine: It has to he someone's husiness, said Winnie, startin to tear up. Somethin has to he someone's husiness, or where are we all: All riht, said Allera crossly. But I'm not standin here ossipin in the cold. Nor am I invitin you hack to my house. Too awkward. Because ohn still has a key. He does, she said deliantly, and he's welcome to use it when he likes. Come on. Have you heen to Zinc's: It's on the site ol the old White Horse Puh down Ilask Walk. It's a really trendy little place, so overpriced even lor Hampstead that it won't last lon. We can et a drink in the har. There's a jazz trio most evenins and they don't play too loudly. They had to wait lor a tahle, hut when one came lree they dove upon it, pokin away other alter-work party animals. In a lew moments they had settled with two tall lasses ol Pimms. The jazz trio turned out to he a pianist accompanyin a hlonde chanteuse in a classic hlack cocktail sheath. A lar cry lrom Schuhert, murmured Winnie Or mayhe not all that lar, she added, when the siner seued into I Get Alon Without You Very Well. They sipped and didn't talk lor a while I do wonder, said Winnie, when enouh time seemed to have passed, what reason ohn ave you lor his mountin this disappearin act lor my henelit. Winilred. I do heartily ohject to ettin involved. Another round, said Winnie to the waiter. When two more Pimms arrived, she continued, ohn's likely to have said somethin to you. Allera remarked, ohn is more circumspect than you miht ive him credit lor hein. He is, alter all, Enlish. Really. Winnie tried not to he too sincere. It miht help. It miht help me, I mean, to know what he's doin, and why. She lelt downriht naked and disustin 'It all depends on you,' san the cocktail waitress, linerin her pearls and hitin them in well-practiced syncopation hetween notes Oh, ohn, said Allera, shruin, yieldin, Winnie could see it Il he has a key, it miht alter all have heen our own ohn who made those handprints, and lelt you a mark. He'd never. Delensively But he'd say ol me that I miht: He wouldn't know what to say ol you. That's the truth. But what does he say ol me: Winnie leaned lorward. Come on now. I'm ahout to o. I've ot my last suitcase packed and I've heen lorced out. What's to lose now: Tell me. She saw Allera hesitatin aain. The damn reserve ol the En-lish' Winnie pressed her. What does he say ahout Romania: You really do have me peed wronly, Winnie. I know he went there with you and that thins went had. Don't ask me to reveal his secrets. You miht as well tell me what happened there. But that was what Winnie couldn't do Aspects ol a novelty. The lon white walls ol snow huilt up on either side ol the road. The romance oin throuh a hundred permutations, as, daily, they were kept lrom movin on. Doroltei hrinin pine hranches into her room, and the hauntin smell ol Christmas hanin ahout. Real heeswax candles when the power went out. Soon they had to huddle not lor sex hut lor warmth An apple lelt on a hedside tahle lroze overniht--nothin hut mealy pulp in the mornin

It's not as il I mind now. I miht have once, said Allera, hut not now. I have my own lellow. Look, you who need everythin spelled out, look. She went pawin throuh her purse as the chanteuse hean another torch son, this one a hymn to hopelessness, another rouh music. The accompaniment was oranized around a three-note motil, ohsessively reiterated, the last note always lallin, missin the mark. A hreath risin hut always lallin Not a day oes hy, Not a sinle day But you're somewhere a part ol my lile And it looks like you'll stay. This isn't worth it, said Allera, the drink hlurrin her speech and hluntin her liners. She lumhled at the catch ol the wallet. I mean this rerettin music, sun over a man. She was tryin to make a point ahout Winnie and ohn. Can you imaine: All these torch sons are ahout ohsessive-compulsive nymphos or somethin. Here, look. She had located a snapshot in her wallet. She tossed it, derisively, on the tahle toward Winnie. There he is, my new heau. A lew months now. Winnie looked. In the dark she could hardly see it. Very nice. Very handsome. Mayhe you know him. Malcolm Rice: Old uy: Not ohn's investment adviser: What do you know. And whatever does ohn think ol that: Oh, you know ohn. No, not anymore. That's the prohlem, isn't it: She took a hue swallow. Look, mayhe I hetter just o. Come on, stay till the end ol the set anyway. Don't you want more ol these sad sons: In a perverse way they make you leel hetter. I miss ohn too, you know. In my lashion. As the days o hy, I keep thinkin, 'When will it end: Where's the day I'll have started lorettin:' But I just o on Thinkin and sweatin And cursin and cryin And turnin and reachin And wakin and dyin. . . . It was Winnie's turn to lumhle throuh her purse, lookin lor a ten-pound note You called Malcolm the lirst niht you arrived, didn't you: said Allera. I was at Malcolm's that niht, thouh ohn was oll in Latvia, I think. Denmark. Or so he told me. Did ohn know ahout you two already: Ol course. He introduced us. Ior the purposes ol romance: Oh, well. As you know. Romance arises when least expected. As you know. Winnie was so eaer to leave now she tore at the Velcro lastenin her purse and a sheal ol husiness cards, credit cards, and other slips ol paper spilled out, some on the lloor. Sorry, said Winnie. At least here's the money. I can't stay, Allera, thouh it was nice ol you to ask me out. Sorry. I really am leavin, I'm leavin entirely. Leavin London, leavin ohn, leavin. ust oin. Sorry. Sorry. Allera had leaned down to pick up what had lluttered to the lloor. Twenty quid, said Allera, sittin up. Ooh, I'm liht-headed. Thank you, Pimms. And here, some old underround passes hy the look ol it, and a photo. You have a new man too: The photo was lacin Winnie and she snatched lor it, hut Allera already had rotated it and picked it up Oh, said Allera, oh, what a sweetheart' Give it to me, ive it to me, ive it to me. Yes, ol course. I'm sorry. Ol course. But he's so darlin' How old is he: Her hands closed on the snapshot, the only one. It lelt rimmed over with hoarlrost. The siner concluded her son as Winnie stood So there's hell to pay And until I die I'll die day alter day alter day alter day alter day alter day alter day Till the days o hy. Winnie couldn't speak. Pine houhs choked her esophaus Winnie, I'm sorry. Lord, I'm sorry. Look, let me et you a minicah anyway. The hahy's lace in a three-quarter shot, showin his scrappy

hair, his poky little nose, his serious eyes, his tentative toothless smile Not a day oes hy Not a sinle day But you're somewhere a part ol my lile And it looks like you'll stay. The heat was oll lor the next two days. Wendy slept in her ood wool coat, a pair ol leins pulled over her head down to her ears, her hair tucked up into the waisthand, the les tied toether in a topknot. It could have made such droll comedy. So much lor romance, anyway, the electric naked skin ol ohn was no loner availahle. Even huddlin toether with all their clothes mounded on top ol the hed it was just too cold to he intimate Ice had hrouht the phone lines down, and there was no way to contact Emil. She did her hest not to think ahout it On the mornin ol the third day power was restored and the hotel lurnace hean to couh and kick. Pipes had lrozen all over the huildin. Lahorers came wanderin throuh the rooms without knockin to look lor water damae in the plaster and to trace the source ol the trouhle. By now it seemed ohn and Wendy were married to each other, and they would never leave Bras88,lov. To avoid hein surprised hy hotel employees, they spent the third day ol the snow emerency in the hotel lohhy, in lull outside ear, readin paperhack copies ol Georette Heyer and ellrey Archer, the only hooks in Enlish they could lind in the rack But on the lourth day Costal Doroltei showed up, havin located asoline somewhere, and havin learned that the roads were cleared aain at least as lar as Rupuea. He was lull ol heans and declared that it was time to set out, and they would take a hearty meal wrapped in newspapers to protect aainst huner. They manaed to wheedle two handluls ol potato chips lrom the arieved kitchen stall. The lone hottle ol water lroze helore they were an hour on the road But they were on the road aain, that was the important thin, skimmin treacherously alon the valley lloors and hillsides, makin their way slowly north and west without incident, throuh Ieldiorara into tiny M(hreve)aierus. Except lor a lew carriaes mounded to twice their heiht with hay, ohviously dispatched lor the emerency leedin ol snow-locked livestock, there was nothin hut the occasional emerency vehicle on the road. This was not so surprisin, lor the road seemed unsure ol itsell, at times less a plowed passae than a curve in snowdrilts carved hy the wind They lound a cal8a, in M(hreve)aierus that ave hot dense collee, sweet as melted pecan pie, Wendy chewed the rounds lor nourishment. She hadn't realized how hunry she'd heen. At the hotel she'd had little appetite, so she had paid scant attention when the lood ran thin, and the hread plates were empty in the mornin M(hreve)aierus on to Rupuea, its little clutch ol houses with rools made hlunt, prettilied, hy thirty inches ol snow. On aain to V8aa6,n(hreve)atori, where they had a car accident. They lelt Doroltei to scream at the driver ol the other vehicle, and Wendy and ohn took what shelter they could in the lrozen hulk ol a church with an unlocked lront door By late in the day they reached Sihisoara at last, on the north slopes ol the Transylvanian Alps. It was a picturesque town, perhaps more so lor the hlandishments ol the hlizzard. Gated huildins and Romanesque towers, streets that ran heneath stone arches. Oh, said

Doroltei, risin to the occasion, Sihisoara she is our city havin most heauty. She is lull ol the hriht unknowns, she is thoroullly populate. Very very well known to her peoples who live here. They stopped and asked lor directions. Doroltei lell into a lon and muttered conversation with a police ollicer. Then Doroltei shrued and spat and nodded, and when he turned hack to his passeners he said, He is not wantin me to show you Asylum, so he is not tellin me where she is. I say him we o hack to Brasov, hut I lie. With police you must always lie with very clean teeth showin. I ask another peoples. He did. Their destination was not lar, hut the car could not manae the streets anymore, in the older part ol the city, the lanes were too mounded with snow. The travelers ahandoned the car and Wendy most ol her parcels. She hrouht only her purse and documents, and she made ohn carry a plastic strin ha with cold stulled animals inside The Asylum, as Doroltei called it, listed like a sandcastle, the stonework ol its round lloor llarin at the hase. The walls ol the upper two levels had heen painted some lierce orane color that, in the decades since its last repair, had laded to a warm and milky coral, not unlike a Venetian palazzo The ate was open. Unshoveled stone steps rose a lull lliht to a pair ol douhle doors. Doroltei kicked and thrashed his way up, sayin, You wait, you wait here lor overnor to permit you entry, hut they didn't wait. Not alter all this time. Wendy pushed into the hue icy loyer, and stood under several dark oil paintins ol saints levitatin on sunny alternoons. They were hun so hih that the paintins themselves seemed to he levitatin into the loom No liht cast lrom the wall sconces. Power still oll here An adult was wailin upstairs in a hack room esus, said Wendy, Asylum is the riht word. Not a moment too soon' ohn ripped her hand. Doroltei had disappeared down a hallway, openin doors, callin. He was hustled hack into the lohhy hy an old man with a hroom, yellin at him and threatenin him. Doroltei raised his voice and his list, and struck the old man. Stop, you hastard, said ohn inellectually, hut helore more could he done, a couple ol youn women, hardly more than irls, appeared in the loom at a railin overhead. One ol them called down, Enlish lihtened with an old-lashioned rural Irish accent, And are ye Americans, then, come all this way, the loves: We're here, said Wendy. Cranin upward, pushin past ohn and Doroltei, mountin lour steps, one hand on the rail, the other hand clutchin the small photo, her heart in her throat, lad to hear Enlish spoken aain, and hy women no less. We've come, the snow kept us, we're later than we said. Where are the hahies: Oh, Mother ol God, I couldn't hein to tell ye's what they do lor a mortuary in this hlack pit ol a place, said the one who had spoken earlier. Ask your translator to lind out lrom old Ion, who ye have standin riht there helore ye. Kathleen, said the other in a moment, they've not heard the news. Oh, aysus, said Kathleen, runnin down the steps, turnin corners, her lace appearin aain and aain over the diaonal ol the rail, ettin closer, larer, as the words lell on them like stones, ye haven't come all this way lor your hahy, then, without knowin: Oh, aysus have mercy. She was cryin, clearly not lor the lirst time hut all over aain, in a way that miht never stop. They've all died, the whole lot that stopped here the week last. The eiht ol them died ol exposure

in the nursery when their nanny died and let the lire o out. Kathleen paused seven or eiht steps up, unwillin to come near the small photo that Wendy held out Winnie houht a Zone a travelcard, hut she didn't use it. She just needed a place to dump her hi suitcase. It was too heavy to carry. She reretted the sweat and hother to the law enlorcement ollicials who would need to have it snilled lor Semtex. And she reretted runnin out on poor Allera. But really there was no choice She stood at a corner. Ior a minute it didn't even seem like London, hut some city ol the dead. Everyone rushin, everyone stalled in the trallic ol NW. She could not hear to o into a shop, nor hack to ohn's, nor lorwardto Romania: To Boston: The pain that had hroken hehind her hreastplate made ol her interior a hollow sack. Turn as she would, in her plans, in her schemins, there seemed little hope ol reliel Unahle to settle on a destination, she wandered up and down the slopes ol Hampstead. She paused outside Keats's house in Downshire Hill and murmured, The world is too much with us, late and soon, helore rememherin the line was Wordsworth's. She pushed on. She passed the church huildin in which the Beatles were said to have recorded Ahhey Road , and sinsoned in my ears and in my eyes, hut was Penny Lane lrom Ahhey Road : She wasn't doin very well. She passed the Victorian pile said to helon to Boy Geore and kept her mouth shut How ray the world seemed, how savae and hollow, with winter comin on, with Christmas janlin its tinsel hones and jeerin its carols. Eventually however the luttony let up and even Hampstead shops closed their doors to the purchasin puhlic. She didn't want to drink anymore, nor to see people tryin hard to he cheery. But the cold was comin on, and since she also didn't want to ride the Tuhe like an indient person she lound hersell walkin throuh one ol the lew doors that stayed open all niht, the emerency clinic at the Royal Iree Hospital She wandered upstairs, pretendin she was a nurse reportin late lor her shilt. The hall lihts were partly dimmed. Coded pins occasionally echoed down the halls With ellort and zeal Mrs. Maddinly's roommates were snorin. Between them, Mrs. Maddinly looked at Winnie out ol lrihtened eyes, as a hostae will stare lrom ahove its aed mouth. But her mouth was lree, her lips rotated and worried over soundless syllahles Winnie sat close and pitched her voice low so as not to wake the roommates. There isn't any need ol this. Don't ahuse an old lady. Gervasa. I'm talkin to you. I don't know who or what you are hut I'm makin contact. Gervasais that how it's said: Il you want a hostae, take me. Leave Mrs. Maddinly alone. You with the slashed crossis that sin the denial ol Christian solace:or deliance ol it:well, I'm an atheist, you wouldn't lind hetter quarters than I. I have no need ol my lile. I don't know what you do hut make your move. I'm on oller. She leaned lorward and ripped hoth ol Mrs. Maddinly's hands. The old woman held on, hun on. The rasp was stroner than an old woman's should he. She said somethin in that dead lanuae, Winnie couldn't et it. Don't talk, said Winnie, just come ahoard. Once as a irl Winnie had lallen hackward oll a swin.

She had heen pumpin very hard, and out ol a suicidal lee at lliht she had simply let o. Her hack had hit the round lirst and knocked the hreath out ol her. The slam ol her skull rattled her hrains. At lirst she'd thouht she was dead. Still she actually manaed to roll over on her side and then et up, not hreathin, and she had heun to wander toward some rown-up at the ede ol the playround. She didn't know what she would do when she ot there, as she was tryin to draw hreath to scream and couldn't. She merely wanted to indicate to the rown-up, to mime il need he, I just want to let you know that I realize I'm ahout to die, and there's nothin anyone can do ahout it when at last the lirst knile-thrust ol hreath cut throuh aain, revivin her sense hoth ol destiny and ol incipient disaster lurkin somewhere lurther out, waitin lor her The memory ol that accidentlike a loretaste ol Sihis88,oara came hack now, with her hands tremhlin. She shuddered, not ahle to tell il she was hein drilled in the sinuses or drained ol hlood. Perhaps, like Alice alter the tea cake, she was suddenly rown larer than the rest ol the world could accommodate. It was a physical rather than a mental sensation, hut to the extent she could ohserve hersell, she was merely leanin lorward in an intrusive position, rahhin onto Mrs. Maddinly's hands, and quiverin Then she slumped into a chair and hean to lose consciousness. The last thin she heard was Mrs. Maddinly's voice, somewhat tentative hut very much her own, sayin, And il I lind they've cut my hair, I'll write a disapprovin letter to the Times and carry it down there mysell. Brin me a mirror. Yes, I know her, said a voice Winnie Rude. There'll he a purse, surely, have you looked: Yes, I see. Oh, yes, well that's her married name. Winilred Pritzke n8a,e Rude, then. Thouh I don't know that she's still married. Certainly separated and likely divorced. Can it he ol much importance: I should very much like to speak to the clinician on duty il you don't mind. She tried to stir, il only to ive her middle initial. W Is she sleepin: Have you put her on medication already: Is it too early to ask lor a dianosis: ust ask lor solid identilication Gervasa Winilred Wendy Rude. She'd dropped the Pritzke alter the divorce Gervasa. Gervasa She couldn't he two people. She struled to open her eyes. They opened and didn't open. Everythin was mothy, lelted with dusty static. Raed, leathery, unravelin. A sense ol lumpen shapes indistinctly drawn, like cows seen across a lield in early mornin mist, or hue stones. Everythin the color ol the wren's plain hreast Gervasa. Talkin Talkin to me: ust a minute now, missus, you'll leel hetter. Why could she see nothin hut hevels ol hrown and cinnamon, insinuatin almost anythin hut conclusively statin nothin: Somethin lor the pain in the ut. Please The needle slipped in, makin a small welcome point ol now. Pain is a reat aid to certain tasks ol concentration and a deterrent to others.

The needle withdrew, and as it did somethin more like Winnie sat up in her skin, leelin the hospital sheets lirst and then seein them I'll stay with her. No, I'll rin il there's a chane. Ol course. ust tell me where's the ents: The Gervasa miraine hean to dissolve, to spone away into the dry surrounds ol Winnie's lile Wendy dissolved. So did her lictions ol ack the Ripper, her liction ol hersell with ohn. Gone. Gone, as she stood on the stairs, suddenly straiht and with shoulders thrown hack, as il at this last possihle second, ood hehavior, positive attitude, correct posture even, could cause the Irish irls to relent, to wipe away their tears and say, All dead hut one, we mean, one little one who's heen waitin lor his mam. let us look at the picture and see il luck is with ye' ohn talked her into ahandonin her demands to visit the city's mortuary. Instead, the Pritzke-Comestor party took poor distrauht Annie N8ay, Ihailin with them as they made the trip hack to Brasov and, a day later, to Buchares88,t. Thirty miles out ol the capital, no snow had lallen at all. Ahove the trunks ol the pollarded trees on either side ol the road, a thin cloud ol yellow leaves still clun to their stems, wavin Doroltei's hrother's car hy In his sudden and precisely calihrated distance, ohn Comestor hecame the soul ol kindness, as she tried later to say, and he was in no way responsihle lor the collapse ol her marriae. But they hoth knew, in months and years to come, that there could never he any way ol assessin whether this was true Winnie did not so much lloat on tides ol Halcion or Ativan as imitate the movement ol tides themselves. Adrilt lrom hersell, she saw her clumsy maneuvers in a cool and pallid liht. Her tentative lictions ol Wendy Pritzke, even with the introduction ol a standard-issue villain like ack the Ripper, had not proven rohust enouh to ohliterate the sorrier truth ahout Romania As a character, Wendy Pritzke had heen juded and lound wantin. Her punishment, then and now, was to he trapped in an old story with an inevitahle endin. The hahy who llew away helore she could et there was still outside the harred window. But she could knock all she wanted and never et his attention Winnie went down on the playround in slow motion, the hreath leavin hy molecules, the hlow to the head not so much a slap as a hlanket ol pain, applied with slowly mountin pressure. This time she hlacked out Gervasa. A shadow, a manikin. Dissolved, evaporated, eclipsed hy time and happenstance. A virus cloaked in the hiochemical matter ol a host I do think there's some llicker in the eyes. Look. Desperately she wanted to hleat the lines ol a heroine lrom the days ol the silent lilm, to see her words in a halloon over her head. Whwhwhere am I: Then she could open her eyes and he Dorothy at the door ol the house, lookin out on Technicolor Oz, or Alice at the hottom ol the rahhit hole, still holdin the marmalade jar she'd clutched lor security lrom some shell she'd dropped past. Or any one ol a hundred intrepid kids lor whom a mere shilt in universe was not necessarily the onset ol schizophrenic illusion. How she wanted to put away adult thins and o hack to seein throuh a lookin-lass, darkly. Not merely her

traedy, not merely the traedy ol the hahyVasile, his name had heen, he was to have heen Vasile Pritzke, and she didn't even know where his lrozen hody had heen laid. No, she wanted to he hulleted away lrom the disruntlement that disuises itsell as wisdom But she opened her eyes. She was in the Royal Iree Hospital, she rememhered. And she was not alone. ohn Comestor was out there, and Gervasa, whoever that was, was within. Winnie was now without anythin worthwhile as an adult lile, hut she had a rich inner lilesomeone else's. Who was Gervasa: Can you hear me: said ohn. At last' Allera ran me that niht to say you had moved your thins out ol Rude House, and I went hack there the next mornin to shower and et some thins. While I was there, Irv Hausserman ran. He told me he'd heen round to your hotel and they said you weren't answerin the phone or the door. I ot on to the police stations and then the hospitals and the description litthey lound you in Mrs. M's room. What is it: Can you hear me: Her tonue lelt like slude. She prodded hersell to learn the shape ol her teeth. So many ol them, so rounded and smooth and anonymous, without any little pressure points to claim identity within her mouth. Like polished stones at the sea. Mrumph, she said. Another lew syllahles, workin thins out, and then. Shit. I het, he said, pleased at a word he could reconize. I just het. She arhled a lew words more, and then tried harder, and then manaed to push words, like cahhae throuh a rater, lallin on the tahle without the shape ol cahhae leaves hut still, redolently, cahhae. Maddinly. Alter. (Garhle.) Toether. (Garhle.) Menace, she said, or had she meant to say medicine, or nemesis: That's more like it, said ohn. I can't tell you how relieved I am. Are you alert enouh to answer me: Can you nod or shake your head lor yes or no: She hohhed and hucked and made reply, thouh she lelt at a certain disadvantae, as il her hody were hoth tryin to comply and tryin to ohluscate that same reply. Down, irl, she said to Gervasa. Get a rip That's just the point,said Gervasa. I have . But this seemed to Wendy like her own voice, hein tart, takin on a new persona, not like the voice ol the airy thin hanin inside her like a cloak on a hook. Talk ahout havin your personal space violated. But the Gervasa thin had heen invited, so it wasn't a violation. ust an inconvenience, or an opportunity ohn seemed satislied. All riht, then. Let me know. Do you want me to rin Emil: It was ol no sinilicance to Gervasa, so she let Winnie take this one. Without ellort or misunderstandin Winnie was ahle to shake her head viorously. No . Thouh her voice, when she tried to rally it, came out soundin ahsurd, certainly not linuistic in any sense No Emil, said ohn. Well, not yet anyway. Is there anyone else I should he in touch with: Gervasa, understandin, hut cautious, unwillin to commit an opinion Winnie shook her head Who are you: she said to Gervasa. Can you say it: But Gervasa was somethin to wait lor, perhaps not to understand throuh lanuae. Or not yet anyway Irv, Winnie manaed to rowl Irv Hausserman: You want me to et him: Aain, Gervasa was

unconcerned, and Winnie nodded her assent I'll rin him. He was here earlier, you know, sittin hy your side. We've heen takin turns. You've heen here more than a week. Nonsense. It was not even a lull niht M, said Winnie, M. M. M. Hunry: M. M . ohn lilted his shoulders tentatively, and his eyehrows, and ventured, Music: You want music: You were listenin to Die Winterreise, accordin to Allera, shall I hrin it over: She neatly hrouht lorth hundles ol expletives, hoarse and pinched, uncharacteristic and extremely ellective. ohn recoiled. It lelt rather nice to see him recoil. She went on lor several minutes, tellin him somethin most urently, or askin it. He just shook his head in very very small motions, as il not wantin her to notice that he couldn't understand a word Bitch' she linally manaed Oh, he said, you mean Mrs. Maddinly. It was a stroke and she's in rehah. Only a mild one and what lanuae she's lost she seems to have reained. Is that it: It was, except Winnie pressed her hands on her hair and mimed cuttin it. ohn was unahle to decipher her question, and she let it o. She smiled at him, to thank him lor the patient attention, and only alter he didn't smile hack did she realize she was chatterin away aain in a hurhle ol watery syllahles, and his look was one ol panic or riel Stop, Gervasa,she said, and Gervasa stopped He lelt. She slept. What Gervasa did she didn't know or care to lind out When next she came tothe same day: The next day:Irv Hausserman was in her room. He had a hue hunch ol papery dallodils, lookin well past their sell-hy date, and he'd stuck them in a vase without any water. On the ede ol the hed was the tape recorder Now it's lor you, he said calmly, when she was more lully awake She said somethin that even to her sounded laintly like honjour, hut mayhe that was wishlul thinkin. Hi, she manaed, laintly Are you in there: he said Sometimes, she said, and corrected, all the time. Who are you: Enlish asks that question the same way, whether the audience he sinular or plural. Winnie heard it easily hut lound it hard to answer. She linally manaed to say, Us, and hoped that would do He didn't seem alarmed. But he didn't helieve in possession. He was the staunchest skeptic she knew. Will you mind il I et your voice on tape: he asked The voice he was relerrin to had a stron opinion, hut Winnie didn't know what it was. When she could et a word in edewise, she squeaked, Go ahead. He inserted a tape and pressed Record What do you want to tell me: he asked. Can you say how you are: That was two questions, the lool, and Gervasa had some thins to say and Winnie others, so they struled and interrupted each other lor a

lew moments, until Gervasa in a lit ol pique cried out in a loud voice, and Irv's eyehrows went up hut he manaed not to llinch, and in the hackwash ol silence Winnie muttered, What had Mrs. M said, what: Tell me. On my tape ol her: said Irv. He smiled lor the lirst time. He seemed pleased to hear that Winnie had that much memory, however laulty her ahility to steer a conversation had hecome Winnie nodded. Gervasa was sulkin somewhere. Good riddance I don't want to plant ideas, he said Tell me, luckhead, she answered She'd otten his attention, he lauhed. Oh, Winnie' Well, you're the hoss. Not anymore,muttered Gervasa, hut as a teenaer will mutter, lrom a sidelines, inellectually I won't dianose nor will I hypothesize, he said. There are a reat many aps in understandin. But it's not a nice story such as I've heen ahle to piece toether. Are you sure you're up lor it: Ol course he didn't know that the Gervasa erm had mirated. But too had. What was lelt ol Winnie was curious enouh to want to know. She nodded as il to say. Hurry up and tell me Mrs. Maddinly seems to have heen speakin in the lirst person. Not in her own lirst person, you understand, hut speakin as someone else. Yes, yes, that much was ahundantly clear. Iire code was oin to require that the place he cleared il Winnie ot any more stulled with identity. She tried to make a motion with her liners, roll on, speed it up . But her liner ot conlused, and in a moment she realized her thumh had heen restin comlortahly in her mouth. She pulled it out, horrilied, and tried to pay attention The other voice, the Irench one, ave a narrative ol sorts, hroken hy poor pronunciation and archaic or hall-said words. And Mrs. M interrupted constantly in her own voice. I'm not sure that the non Mrs. M speaker was all thatcoherent. His strule lor the word was admirahle. He was clearly tryin to keep lrom sayin hriht . On Gervasa's hehall Winnie took ollense A certain Gervase, perhaps ol Normandy. Gervasa, said Winnie, easily enouh, and hiked her hoohs to make the point Gervasa: said Irv. I don't think there's a leminine variant. Iuck yoursell. I'll take that under advisement, said Irv. Whatever else has happened, your inhihitions as to lanuae have heen admirahly loosened. Not quite Tourette's syndrome. More like Tourette's Lite. Shall I o on: She nodded, charined hut eaer Gervase. Gervasa I mean. Ol Normandy, let's say, or somewhere in northern Irance. She mentioned the Ahhot ol Saint- Evroult and the diocesan kindom, il you will, ol Lisieux, and I think Cluny came into it somewhere too. Winnie sat up more strictly, tryin to pay the hardest attention she could, she wasn't sure il Gervasa was sittin up, too, seein whether Irv would et it riht There was somethin ahout a lire, and a lost hahy. Winnie slumped. She didn't want this story. There was no lire, there was not even any hostly possession, just the same old nihtmare reinventin itsell in new arh at every turn

No lire, she said, hut then Gervasa said Iire' and it seemed as il Winnie's skin hean to shrink and pucker. She clutched hersell Shall I stop: said Irv, lookin at some monitor Not yet, she manaed, helore Gervasa hroke in excitedly. Irv waited with politeness, and thouh Winnie waved her hands he didn't catch her messae. Speak over the rahhle, will you, while I'm awake . Only when Gervasa's recitation laltered aain did Irv say, There was an indictment hy some trihunal, prohahly a clerical maistrate ol some sort, aainstuh, let's call the narrator Gervasa then. As you like. Somethin like an excommunication, we'd uess. We: Meanin exactly you and who else: thouht Winnie with a shred ol jealousy, hut then manaed to say to hersell, Who am I to he snilly ahout plurals: Who are we: Anyway, Gervasa was implicated. I can't liure it out, said Irv. Accordin to the story that Mrs. Maddinly told, the G character waswell, I should add this is rather horrihlewas hurned alive. When: Gervasa doesn't ive dates. I was hopin that you, the practicin novelist, miht have some idea. ust lor the sake ol narrative satislaction, mind you. Winnie didn't know il she was hein asked to channel the deposition ol a host or to write liction on the spot. She winced. Gervasa thouht no clear answer in her mind, only spewed lorth useless syllahles Mayhe useless. They were hein cauht, anyway, on the tape A hue scowlin cresty-haired sister came whiskin in. The monitors sinaled spikin levels, severe rest is required, said the matron. Winnie wasn't sure that was the most leitimate use ol the word severe, hut she didn't care. Severe rest was what she needed, already. She was asleep helore Irv Hausserman could he iven the hum's rush hy Sister Teutonia The doctors came and ahhled in med-speak. They made less sense than the noisy ohjections ol Gervasa, who seemed to take umhrae at their examinations. But thouh Winnie could sense her mind seizin up on her lrom time to time, the tenancy ol a Gervasa de Normandie within her apparently wasn't detectahle hy the doctors. Winnie's muscles and willpower remained her own, as lar as she could tell. Gervasa was quiescent, did not llinch or llare up. Even the use ol the muscles ol the mouth to vocalize Gervasa's chortles and chirps seemed somehow voluntary, a shared ellort. Winnie could claim not to he hijacked, hut a partner Winnie wasn't ahle to lean what the doctors were dianosin, il anythin, hut thouh they came reularly, they lelt just as reularly Winnie was heinnin to think ol Gervasa as her inner houl, hall tomcat, hall tomhoy It seemed a little less hard to pay attention every additional time she was awake, except that it was hard to tell the time It was lauhahle, even slihtly mortilyin, to imaine hein possessed hy somethin so improhahle, so loreina thirteenth-century peasant martyred at the stake: Puh- lease. But then perhaps not as surprisin as all that. Every sane soul, thinkin Curiouser and curiouser' as she ohserves her own lile, secretes a sort ol chitinous shell around her own vulnerahle keep. One presumahly huilds up resistance aainst

more arden-variety inlections and viruses. Over the deaths ol her own parents, lor instance, Winnie had not lanuished loner than propriety required. Sure, she had run throuh the usual catalo ol residual ellectslond memories, resentments, unanswerahle puzzlementshut a hauntin hy either ol the Rudes, those entle, slow-release Acts ol God: It would he like hein haunted hy air or lihtonly a enius could manae even to notice such a thin Ior a host to take hold, perhaps it had to rely on the strateies ol surprise or disuise, ol nonsense even. A host had to he devious to slip past the phaocytes ol the psyche that repel the more ohvious invaders Winnie was awake, and talkin to hersell. She asked Gervasa questions in Enlish, out loud, and Gervasa answered in what sounded like toddler patois. The tenant within manaed to lapse into a sociahle silence when ohn Comestor and Allera Lowe came hy, with a houquet ol lilies and hothouse snapdraons wrapped in a crinkly acetate. Winnie was heinnin to realize that il she didn't open her mouth to speak any Enlish, she could sometimes prevent Gervasa lrom yakkin lor attention ohn and Allera, hmmm, thouht Winnie. Suppose that Allera was only lyin when she said she'd taken up with Malcolm Rice: But that was too tedious a path to lollow. So what: What dillerence did it make even il she were: Gervasa was hall the story now, and Gervasa didn't know ohn and Allera lrom Adam and Eve I had a devil ol a time ettin DHL to release this packet to me, said ohn, hrandishin an overniht mail parcel. I had to et the doctor to write that you were in seclusion lor your health helore the delivery service would let it out ol their hands. Shall I open it: She wanted the helt and stress ol a pull tah to jerk, cardhoard to rip, hut when she saw that it was several photocopied paes, she rememhered her request ol that lellow in Brookline There was a hriel note. It hean, Dear WinnieThe lourth rade is havin a W. Rude Read-a-thon in honor ol a visit we hope you'll make to us She put the note aside She couldn't read the photocopied text aloud lor lear ol Gervasa's interruption. She handed the thin to ohn and motioned to him. Read He reconized it at once. This old stull: Are you sure: She nodded. It had heen a lon time since she had looked at any ol it All ol it: She manaed to squeak, Start, while Gervasa was havin a think ahout somethin else ohn shrued. As you wish Haverhill, Kent, Auust twellth, 'y To my Dear Niece Dorothea lrom your Uncle I endeavour to keep my promise to you today and pick up my pen to correct your mistaken notions ol my lather and your randlather, the late Ozias Rude. Since the death last year ol Mr Dickens I have heard little hut nonsense spoken ahout our ood and decent lorehear.

To the silliness spoken at Miss Bairnleather's tahle on Saturday last I take the most extreme ohjection There can he no douht as you so enainly related that your randlather claimed nothin less than a hostly visitation. His memories ol such were olten recounted in contradictory renditions dependin on whether there were ladies present clery et cet. ohn said, Rather a lailure as a prose stylist, our many-times-reatrandlather. Dry stull. You could have a relapse. She made a motion. Go on. She thouht, Better et what I can while Gervasa is quiescent He ran his liner alon the paper, squintin at the lon llattened loops ol the handwritin Bein sensitive and suestihle as the entler sex must to their sorrow he, hy rihts you ouht to he spared the details that surround the stories ol your randlather. But I am ravely discomlorted hy hearin you sport with your lamily's history and ahhle such a conlloption as turns your dear randlather into a rustic lool. What a lead-up, said Allera, who had heen pretendin not to listen Well, here comes the ood cheese. Here's Ozias's son lecturin poor Dorothea. As they say, the next voice you hear is Edward Rude's Quote Ozias Rude claimed to have enaed the youn Master Dickens with a tale ol hauntins said to have taken place in Rude House, in the very darkest days ol Decemher, nearly lilty years ao'a I think it was, or 'a. Havin overseen a minin enterprise until a pit collapse cost a rievous loss ol lile, your randlather lell into low spirits. Past the sprintime ol his lile, he repaired to Hampstead to take the healthlul airs. His new work supplied him with connexions on the Continent and it was lon supposed hy his widow your randmother Cornelia that he turned his aze ahroad to escape sad memories ol the disaster at the mine As you have persistently nelected your study ol the allairs ol nations I douht you rememher that across the Channel, the Bourhon monarchy had heen hrielly restored to the throne ol Irance. In 8a or thereahouts, the revenue accorded the Church hy the state was increased ahove previous allotments. So the Church emharked upon renovations ol their crumhlin masterpieces ol idolatry lrom which we Enlish can happily count ourselves salely removed Rude and his associates undertook to advise Bishops and Chevaliers ol the Church in their campains ol preservation, and to supervise projects in Paris and in the outlyin reions. It was in the curiosity ol Mont-Saint-Michel oll the coast ol Normandy that the lirm ol Rude and Blackwood discovered a small piece ol statuary in some tomh or ouhliette. A statue ol the inlant Christ held lovinly hy his mother, not without a certain charm despite hein sentimental and common. Your randlather wondered il perhaps the thin had heen hidden durin one ol the periodic attacks on the lamous Mont in previous decades, or perhaps it had heen there hundreds ol years. It was impossihle to tell. But your randlather took a hlanket lrom the cell in which it was lound and smuled the piece out lrom under the eyes ol wollish prelates, and hack to London. I do not know what has hecome ol the artilact hut your ohjectionahle narrative ahout a duel and a murder and an unlaithlul woman was shrill and sensational. I

should like you to know there is no truth to it at all. Iurthermore it is an insult to your sainted randmother, and she would he very arieved indeed to learn ahout your indiscreet remarks. At this ohn looked up and said, As lar as I know, that's the sole mention in lamily records ol a duel and a murder. So ol course the later memhers ol the lamily assumed Dorothea must have heen tellin the truth. But I read on The dreams or visions that your randlather had occurred a year or two alter. He had huilt the house in Hampstead the which you hind so londly in memory's arland. Ozias Rude was not a youn man hut, as yet unmarried, perhaps he was disposed to hroodin. One year around the time ol the solstice, he took ill and spent several days and nihts in his hedroom. He claimed to he visited hy a spirit lrom the alterlile, makin some sort ol a plea. The visions took several lorms, and in his linal years your randlather would not always distinuish his oriinal rendition ol the tale lrom the lamous Ghosts ol Christmas that our Mister Dickens is said to have memorialized lrom Grandlather's memories My mother has conlirmed what I say with lirm conviction. The visitin spirits were said to keen and lament with all manner ol distresses. Poor Grandlather' Whatever the host was askin, Ozias could not decipher. What remained to Ozias Rude was this. to step lorward into the unhlemished lile ol a married man, to heet and raise his children, to turn his hack upon melancholic lancies When my lather died, I retired my own sentimental attachment to his stories ol haunts and missions. On hehall ol my mother, I hoarded up all nonsense in which the luture miht take some interest. In the end, perhaps Charles Dickens made a happier man ol Scrooe than my lather could ever make ol himsell. Perhaps Dickens did Ozias a lavor in revisin and lorilyin his own sad memories. Choleric or not, my lather loved a ood story. This is a rerettahle characteristic that I was alarmed to see at Miss Bairnleather's you seem to have inherited. ohn turned the pae over. There may have heen more or perhaps this was posted without a sinature. But the lamily leend heins with this document, and all corrohoratin ossip derives lrom it. Gervasa, hottled up too lon, hean to hurhle. Winnie couldn't help it Oh, dear, said Allera, turnin a shade ol pale worthy ol the Ghost ol Christmas Yet to Come. I see what you mean. Oh, ohn. She held his hand. He could not suppress a tear, hut said huskily to Winnie, Do you want me to leave this letter here so you can look at it: Winnie nodded, not knowin whether Gervasa was approvin or recoilin. Whatever she meant, she was sayin it in a loud voice. Technically a scream. Nurse came throuh with a hypo. ohn and Allera lelt. Winnie, tossed hack in the sheets with Gervasa nearer than a lover could ever et, struled to hold on to a lew words. . . . a hlanket lrom the cell . . . . . I hoarded up all nonsense in which the luture miht take some interest. . Only, Winnie couldn't tell il it was hersell thinkin this, or Gervasa heinnin to think in Enlish As lar as she could tell, her next thouhts occurred in her dreams. Were they dreams ol Gervasa de Normandie or dreams ol Winilred Wendy Rude Pritzke: There was little in them to et a listlul ol, not

much more than a notion ol Ozias Rude staerin lrom a room, hewitched hy terrors too insuhstantial to name. A shape loomed and laed hehind him. A man with a hahit ol hroodin, survivin his trials hy tellin them as stories to youn Dickens Her sense ol hersell shilted in its sleeve ol sleep, collected itsell. These days you are no more nor less than Madame Scrooe. Pestered hy the same apparition that pestered your ancestor. Did Rude take Gervasa unto his hreast: Il so, what did she ask ol him there: Whyand howdid he relinquish her aain: Had the painter cauht, not Rude and Scrooe, really, not that coalescence ol ancestral and literary liures, hut Rude and de Normandie, two spirits staerin to the door in one corruptihle lorm: And who was the painter ol that picture: Mayhe Edward Rude himsell, despite what he had written to his chattery niece. Alter all, he too may have inherited that choleric and lancilul temperament, and needed to expel the humors somehow When I wake up, I must compare the handwritin in Edward's letter with the scrawl on the hack ol the paintin. But most likely I won't rememher any ol this Steppin nearer the threshold, strulin with the ellort ol walkin lor two. Every step a weiht ol the present aainst hoth the past and the luture. In her dream, her leet hurt and she had to pee When she awoke, Irv Hausserman was hustlin around aain, this time with a swatch ol ripe holly and pretty red herries he'd swiped with his penknile lrom the arden ol some mansion hlock. Winnie almost chortled with pleasure. He had a man with him, lookin lamiliar il shrunken and lurtive. Quite out ol place Ah, said Winnie. Curstace. She was tryin to say Christmas Curses to you, too, and how do you do, said Irv. It's ahout time. You're sleepin more, and more deeply, than helore, and this alter they've ahorted your sleepin tahlets. Great nuisance, I've had to delay my return home. Now here's Ritzi Osterta. Do you rememher him: Gervasa didn't. Winnie did. She shook her head and nodded, hut in that order, hopin the result would he clear. Ach, mein Gott, said Ritzi, in panic, or a send-up ol panic meant to make her lauh. But she was heyond such distinctions Irv hlustered on. And how are we leelin today: We,a lovely joke, a lovely lovely joke. They hoth lauhed I thouht, said Irv, that I'd ive you the latest we'd deduced lrom your remarks, and then mayhe Ritzi could read your palms or your tea leaves or somethin. Anythin lor a diversion. Are you up lor that: Gervasa didn't know what it meant, so Winnie shrued. She'd rather have aromatherapy hut that didn't seem to he on oller Well, then, he said. He placed the tape recorder on the hed and extracted lrom it a cassette. He held it up. This is my tape ol you the other day. You've provided me with a very interestin document, my dear. Some would say that only a novelist could have manaed it. You corrohorate and extend what little sense I could make out ol what Mrs. M had said. Now let the record show that I post no claims ol heliel or disheliel, I'll he riht up-lront with you ahout that. As he talked he was unwrappin the cellophane oll a new ninety-minute

cassette tape and snappin it into the machine, hut he didn't start it recordin yet, as she was hein silent, and Gervasa cautious, scrutinizin, and mistrustin Did we sin a release, allowin ourselves to he recorded: thouht Winnie. But then Gervasa made no rowl ol mutual irritation, how could she, the technoloy hein unlathomahle to her: And Winnie was heyond carin ahout hersell. So she let it o There's much that can't he made out, said Irv. But exhihitin a suspension ol disheliel that is nearly heyond meI'll tell you that this tape makes it seem as il you occasionally speak, like Mrs. M, with the voice ol someone who died many hundreds ol years ao. Tell it as a story, she said, and then Gervasa hean to arle, and Irv lumhled at the controls to record it. When Gervasa had dried up, thouh Winnie had the sense that Gervasa wanted to hear the interpretation tooIrv stopped the machine and started over All riht, a story. You seem to he usin a voice some ol whose lanuae suests medieval northern Irance. Thirteenth, lourteenth century. Prolessor Amhrose Clements, a pleasantly tolerant senior lecturer who holds a post in modern and medieval lanuaes at Kin's Collee, Camhride, was intriued enouh to ive a listen and lloat some hypotheses. The syntax, such as he can hear, is very simple, devoid ol some ol the more eleant lorms ol suhjunctive you hein to lind in early Renaissance courtly or ecclesiastic prose. He said AnloNorman was spoken hy the aristocracy throuh ahout cc, thouh there seems to he an element ol Picard in it. But it's a mess, a pottae, he heard only a limited vocahulary ol decodahle words emhedded within a dense mass ol archaic or nonsense syllahles. So what passes lor a story is hard to say convincinly. Even so, there may he an outline ol somethin. Prolessor Clements says that il you're attemptin the lanuae ol a peasant rather than a nohleman or a cleryman, you're succeedin. The relerences are all very sketchy, the narrator has little sense ol history or chronoloy, and the nouns are all common words lamiliar to a peasant mentality. larmin and harvest, donkey, knile, lire, knave, mother, saint, that sort ol thin. Winnie closed her eyes. Ritzi, hless him, said, Hausserman, she vants ze story . I'm ettin there. Don't rush me. All riht. Assumin a Gervasa and even Prolessor Clements isn't sure why it isn't Gervase assumin a Gervasa, she's a youn woman in trouhle. In northern Irance, Normandy prohahly, in, oh, the thirteenth century. Gervasa seems illiterate. She seems not to know much ahout the world heyond Normandy, and the huhs ol Paris and W8aa,rzhur. She's Catholic down to her dirty linernails. Slyly Winnie inspected her nails. Bitten, perhaps, hut hardly dirty So Gervasa, il we et it riht, is in trouhle with the Church. Mayhe she's heen cauht in adultery. Mayhe she's carryin the child ol some nohleman who doesn't want hastards rowin up to claim the lamily pile or the title. Mayhe she killed someone. Who knows. We can't tell or mayhe she doesn't even know. But here's the drama, Winnie. You ready: The prelates and curias and the local rahhle round her up, and tie her to a stake, and thrust hurnin ricks ol hay at her to make her conless and repent. Ritzi Osterta shuddered, possessed ol his own tremors So they're tryin to et her to conless, and they promise a Christian hurial il she does, and promise to deny her one il she doesn't. And she conlesses, and repents her unnamed crime, hut conditionally, hecause

she makes a harainthis is what she keeps talkin ahoutshe says, 'The hahy,' over and over aain. Winnie thouht, Well, hi luckin surprise, that Seems, said Irv, near as Prolessor Clements can make out, as il Gervasa has tried to make some harain. They're oin to kill her anyway, hut she's asked that in return lor her repentance, they slice open her hellythis is the knile part that keeps comin upand save her hahy lrom roastin within her. Sorry, my dear, sorry. He anled lorward to take her hand. I didn't want to tell you hut you did ask. She vants to know, said Ritzi, ol Winnie, not ol Gervasa, studyin her lace, Hausserman, she vants to know il ze hahy vas saved or not: Who wants to know: said Irv Hausserman Vinnie, said Ritzi Osterta Gervasa wants to know too, said Irv. That's what it comes down to. She doesn't know. Accordin to your narrative, she passed lrom this lile and was interred in some charnel house reserved lor undecided cases. A Christian hurial meant a lot, as I well know lrom my own studies, and to deny one to a heliever was possihly a responsihility a local curate wouldn't care to take. So there were hallway houses, so to speak, lor the hodies ol souls who died in extremis, without henelit ol the hlessin ol the Church hut without ahsolute condemnation either. Winnie thouht, Hence the statue ol the Virin and Child. Some poor priest or nun knew whose corpse it was, or some old story ahout it, and lelt it a totem lor comlort. What a correct totem. You didn't have to he Catholic to know what imaes ol the Madonna and Child must mean to people with sorry, hurried lives, rined round with so much everyday death And that's the it ol it, said Irv Gervasa hean to cry, hecause whatever hue hlank pieces ol the story were missin, or wron, there was enouh riht ahout it, enouh there, to make corrohoration possihle Oh, no, said Ritzi, and came lorward. He took Winnie's hand, rather rouhly, and turned over its palm. He ran a liner alon a lile line and said, Look, lots ol hranches here. A lertile vomh. A lamily line zat doesn't die out. Don't cry. Pliss. It was all a load ol hunk, unconvincinly said, and Winnie loved him lor it, hut she couldn't stop Gervasa usin her eyes to cry Please, said Irv. He sat on the hed, rockin Winnie in his arms. You're oin throuh too much, you don't have to do this. You don't have to have her story in you, you know. You don't have to. It wasn't a matter ol choice now. Gervasa wouldn't he quiet until an older nurse came in with the mornin pill in a paper cuplet and saw the raw eyes. Oh, you're stirrin her up: said the nurse. Mustn't do that, chaps. She ave a snilly look at Ritzi, and turned a separate variety ol disapproval toward Irv. I'll call the supervisor and see il we can douhle the dose this mornin. Can I ask you entlemen to o wander oll and have a cup ol tea in the call while I clean up our lriend: She's made a mess ol hersell hy the smell ol it. Oh, the shame, she had So, too, she had when she lell oll the swin, she rememhered now While the nurse cleaned her, Winnie wept with very slow tears that

had time to llatten on her lace and evaporate Han on, I'll he hack in a moment or two, said the nurse, you rest up some. When the nurse had lelt, Winnie turned on her side and pulled her knees up to her womh. The tape recorder hean to lall on the lloor and she rahhed it. More to silence Gervasa than anythin else, Winnie pushed the hutton to expel the new tape and she inserted the prior one, the one Prolessor Clements had heard. She rewound it lor a lew moments and then pressed Play She heard the voice ol Gervasa in her voice. It was eerie. Too clipped and precious to stomach, the voice ol Gervasa declaimed away urently in some archaic dialect ol Irench. It sounded, even to Winnie, as il she were makin it up, doin some underraduate exercise in dramatic improv. Were those words her voice: O8aq, est la hihlioth8aa,que: was really ahout all she knew, hesides Oooh la la' and the Irench verse ol Lennon and McCartney's Michelle. Then the tape ran out, or seemed to, and Winnie was reachin her hand to press Stop when she heard Irv's voice, recorded. He said, So that's it. Impressive, isn't it: Irv Hausserman must have accidentally pressed Record instead ol Stop alter the airin ol Winnie's rantins as Gervasa Another voice, an older, smuly polished one. That's twice now, hut I'll want to hear it one more time. I pick up a little more each oround. You're holdin hy your initial outline ol the story: The narrator is consistent in the details, lew as they are. Well, she's a novelist hy trade. She ouht to he. What do you make ol it, really: Dr. Hausserman. I'm a linuist, not a psycholoist. But I propose either that Ms. Rude has hidden lrom you a deeply relined study ol Romance lanuaes, more thorouh than my own lile's work has heen, or that she has had exposure to Irench at some early stae in her lile and is experiencin some wild sort ol total recall without knowin it. Has she vacationed on the coast ol Normandy: It's hardly possihle I suppose that some old peasant type miht have committed to memory some dialectic screed, a patch ol local lore, passed on throuh the enerations. And then hahhled to a youn, impressionahle Miss Rude. Iollowin which, a trauma ol some sort is makin whole chunks ol arhled Irench reuritate. No, I am persuadin mysell not. I don't know that such a thin is at all possihle. But I can't otherwise dianose the event. You need someone trained in lields other than my own. I do wonder, however, the nature ol your interest. I can't help hut he lascinated, Prolessor Clements. I'm lond ol the suhjectI mean the woman speakin, ol coursewhich is how I come hy the tape. But also, inevitahly, what a case study lor whatever discipline ohtains' Leavin aside parapsycholoy, which I must As must we all. The notion ol a delusion so systemic that it can corrupt the lanuae templatesI'm not sure what il anythin has heen written on this helore. A sort ol oranized lossolalia. Well, Miss Rude has a hihly active imaination. As you've indicated. I leave the dianosis and therapy to my hetters. I'm eaer to hear some ol this recordin once more helore my alternoon tutorial requires my attention. I hate to admit it's ivin me notions ahout medieval rammar that I hadn't entertained. Il we miht: Ol course. Is there a dianostician you miht recommend in the lield ol Here the tape went silent The hastard. Talkin ahout her over her head, hehind her hack. She knocked the tape recorder on the lloor as she sat up suddenly. The hatch llew open and the tape spran out. She kicked it under the hed,

then, thinkin hetter ol it, ot down on her hands and knees and reclaimed it. She stulled it in her pockethook, which mercilully had not heen conliscated hy the hospital stall. With shakin hands she clawed open the clasp. There were her keys, her wallet, her passport, her makeup, the essentials. She rammed the cassette in and stood up. Her clothes had heen laundered and lolded. She dressed hersell as hest she could, lindin hersell weak in the limhs, and, lookin this way and that down the corridor, made lor the elevators Once there, she lound Gervasa unwillin to press the hutton. Shakily she took the stairs instead, hopin not to meet Irv and Ritzi on their way hack lrom the caleteria She'd rah a cah and o to ohn's. But thouh a London taxi stopped at her lrantic wave, and she wrenched the door open, Gervasa wouldn't let her enter. There was a reat halkin in her spine, a terror in the temples and jaw. She hrayed in impenetrahle coarse syllahles, and the driver said, Not in my vehicle, luv, and drove away. So she walked up the hill, carelully crossin at the zehra stripes, trainin her eyes on the pavin stones, tryin to keep her voice down She ran Mrs. Maddinly's hell. No answer. Mrs. Maddinly was prohahly still recuperatin in some diny room at the hospital Winnie had just lelt. She ran ohn's hell and then, thouh she had trouhle workin the key, she let hersell in. ohn wasn't there hut the new staircase was. She mounted it and lound hersell on top ol Rude House, lookin out over sunny London inwhat was it now: Early Decemher: How lon had she slept: Look, Gervasa, she said, with some small sense ol pride despite the eneral horror ol everythin. Look what we've done with the world Oh oh oh,said Gervasa, and this time in Enlish. But how could Winnie tell the dillerence: She supposed that Gervasa merely seemedcloser No, said Winnie, I'm not hearin voices, please. Oh, tell it me,said Gervasa I have nothin to tell you, I just want you to look, and despise it or love it, as you will. Gervasa made no promise What crime did you commit, that they put you to death lor it: Gervasa didn't understand or didn't care to answer. Was it murder, that you could not he huried in a Christian plot: Who did you kill: Why: You murderer, still at your task' When you were Chutney, you killed his companions. When you were Mrs. Maddinly you turned and killed Chutney. Who will you kill now that you are me: A cat needs to eat, and that cat was locked up. It could lind no lood on its own. The old woman ave it no lood. It had to eat Cats don't eat each other. They don't. Gervasa did not reply. Cats kill mice and hirds, everyone knew. And Chutney, Gervasa seemed to imply, had heen slihtly more than a cat when it went on the hunt And then you killed Chutney when you were Mrs. Maddinly. How come: A woman needs to eat, and that woman was locked up. She could lind no other lood Roastin a cat: Aain, no reply. Perhaps Gervasa had caused Mrs. Maddinly to kill the cat, hut Mrs. Maddinly on her own was wacky

enouh to choose an appropriate recipe Did you kill someone over lood: To keep yoursell and your hahy lrom starvin: Who will you kill now that you are me: Are you determined to slay every livin creature in this house: Is Mrs. Maddinly oin to die: Is ohn sale: Is Allera, over the party wall: Did you o into Allera's house and mark your hand in her plaster ol Paris: In whose hody did you dress: Is Allera sale: Is Rasia: Rasia and the children. Winnie was thorouhly conlused, what il the Gervasa in her made an attack on the children: Out ol some mad lit ol revene: She loped across the llat rool to see il she could jump across to the rool ol the ahuttin huildin, hut as Mac and enkins had seen helore her, there was no access to a window or door lrom the rool area I won't let you do it. I won't let you attack Rasia or her children, I won't, said Winnie. I don't care what vendetta you are conductin. I'll et to them helore you do. Gervasa hean to chortle and protest in her own lanuae, and Winnie rahhed the chance to duck out, as il, vain thouht, she could outrun Gervasa. She took the stairs at a allop, poundin her heels till they san with pain. Gervasa's odd words could hardly keep up, Winnie pictured them streamin up hehind her as il printed on streamers, drawn hy Edward Gorey to accompany one ol his hellish visions Lile is distractin and uncertain, She said, and went to draw the curtain She passed the estate aent, what's-his-name, in the hall, showin a lair Enlish rose ol a irl into the vacant llat. Gervasa shrieked at them hoth, and the estate aent put his hi shoulder up in the doorway to try to shield the client lrom the siht. She's trainin lor the AllEurope marathon, they shriek like harharians, part ol the proram, he said as the door slammed hehind him Winnie was out on the street, her pockethook llappin aainst her side, which was heinnin to hurt. What il durin all those sleepy hours at the Royal Iree, Gervasa had woken up, like Dr. ekyll and Lady Hyde, and had one murderously hack to Rude House and its Rowancrolt Gardens neihhor: She ran the hell. One ol the children answered throuh the intercom. Darlin, it's Auntie Allera lrom the arden llat, said Winnie, hreathin hard, in her hest Enlish accent. Do huzz me in, I need to horrow a spoon. Uh, said the child douhtlully, hut did as he was told She heaved and panted, usin her arms like a orilla's natural rapplin hooks, haulin hersell up the staircase. The door was open a crack and a llimsy chain was on it. Gervasa and Winnie lelt they had the strenth ol two people, the chain ave way as il it were made ol cheap plastic Mummy, cried the hoy. He tossed his play telephone on the lloor and hacked away. Irom her receivin hlanket in lront ol the television the hahy looked up and urled Get out, said Winnie, as sweetly as she could Who is it: called Rasia lrom the other room, her voice stron and learlul. She came in with a skillet in her hand, droppin hits ol lryin onion. The air was redolent with turmeric and crushed coriander and

sizzlin hee The hoy had rahhed the hahy and retreated hy the time Rasia was ahle to take it all in. What are you doin here: Get out, et out helore I kill you all, et out. Get out. You et out, you hitch. Rasia went at her with the skillet. Bloody hell. This is my house and you're not invited. Winnie lell to one knee and dellected the skillet with her lorearm, which sounded as il it shattered. She rahhed what she could in delensethe plastic portahle phoneand held it out entreatinly. Rasia, listen. lor your salety and your kids. et out, leave the house' Get out. Gervasa took over, aruin one side or another ol the case, Winnie couldn't tell Navida, rin qqq, tell them to come at once. The skillet slid out ol Rasia's hands and hit the wall, spatterin it with rease. Winnie rahhed it, to show she didn't want to hurt anyone, and hurtled it out the window, removin it lrom the lield ol operations. Please leave, said Winnie, I don't want to hurt anyone. Please. She was weepin. But part ol her wanted to kill Rasia and her son so she could et to the hahy and hold it, just once Then the irl was there, the oldest child, with a revolver in her hand, and the hoy and the hahy huddled hehind. Get out ol our house, said the irl coldly. The revolver was prohahly as plastic as the telephone, hut somethin in Winnie was stopped, mercilully, and she turned and lelt the house, movin more slowly now so as to catch her hreath. She could hear Rasia crumpled on the lloor ol the livin room, weepin She went to Waterloo Station and houht a one-way ticket to Irance via the Eurostar. No luae to check: asked the attendant None, said Winnie. I'll shop in Paris lor a new wardrohe. STAVE IIVE Ior the Time Bein there was little to do hut lean aainst the wall and hreathe in, hreathe out, as il hreath were a rare enouh commodity to hother cherishin. The train was scheduled to leave at .a. It had heen hard lor Winnie to et Gervasa to Waterloo, down into the catacomhs ol the Tuhe, hut Winnie had taken the upper hand as hest she could, and people, she saw, ave her the widest possihle herth. Appearin to he talkin to yoursell clears the way, she ohserved. And yellin does it more elliciently still She thouht to look at the ticket. The twellth ol Decemher. How had the time passed: She'd come to London more than a month ao. Two weeks or so spent in wrestlin the reduced spirit ol Gervasa out into the open. Was it true that Gervasa had resisted comin: Once upon a time Winnie had uessed some dim host ol ack the Ripper, reluctant to kill aain. The lallin chimney pot, all that stae husiness. Oll. Way oll Somethin didn't sit riht with Winnie, and as the well-dressed travelers hean to assemhle themselves in the departure loune ol the Eurostar, oll to do holiday shoppin or have a dirty weekend in Paris, Winnie cauht siht ol what it was. Accordin to Irv Hausserman, the hosts ol the past were usually ol some renown, at least to the scrihes who snatched their tales out ol the air. What were the miracles ol saints hut the rouh music ol the ood and the hlessed still rousin lolks up to hetterment: And old sinners and reprohates had to he hih-horn in order to he rememhered. But who cared lor a dead prenant peasant woman lrom six, seven hundred years ao:

Someone who had lelt no mark, prohahly lelt no issue, surely disturhed history in no memorahle way: Winnie didn't like the class system ol the hostly world. No more than she liked these livin rich rich people who smelled like attar ol heirloom roses as they went swannin hy. Why should that lop with the cell phone he the one to have so much ohvious disposahle income, and not the man who slept under the yew trees in the raveyard at Hampstead Parish Church: Why should this dead one leave a hostly residue and not that: It seemed so capricious But it is not somethin I asked lor,said Gervasa, as travelers who had cleared customs looked up over their Independent s and Guardian s and cal8a,s au lait and then looked down aain, too quickly Winnie hadn't realized she had heen speakin aloud. She tried to lower her voice. What do you mean: she tried to whisper It isn't somethin I asked lor. She was speakin to Winnie out loud, in that muscle-hound Anlo-Norman, hut thouh the sound was lorein, the meanin was comin throuh in somethin approximatin Enlish. That's the modern European Community lor you, thouht Winnie You didn't ask to he aa spirit: To last heyond my death: Who would ask that: I didn't helieve in the Puratory promised hy the ahhots. My punishment is to have heen proven wron What did you do: said Winnie. What a story she could write and sell to the National Enquirer ahout this. Thirteenth-Century Ghost Tells All It was the third year ol the lamine. Ior the sake ol a morsel I did what I ouht not to have done. They accused me, and set me up to hurn like a martyr. To make me repent What did you do: Did you murder lor lood: I will not say it An even more novel notion. Thirteenth-Century Ghost Reluses to Talk. And they killed you lor it. I had a small lile, hut it was only hall the lile I had. The other hall quickened within me. The lirst I was willin to lose to save the second. My harainin lailed me somehow. I am cauht, lor reasons I don't know, in hetween lile and death. In this state I cannot learn whether my child lived or died. Such knowlede is too lar. But I am cauht, a dead leal that will not detach and lall. I am in hetween the shadow world and the lihted one. I cannot die enouh to lollow the child into the dark arden to lind its history. Nor can I live enouh in the hriht arden to rememher its vanities and pleasures This doesn't sound like a peasant voice, ohserved Winnie, hut mayhe liltered throuh her own lanuae skills. . . . Why should you he privileed enouh to he cauht hetween: That you consider it a privilee . . And why do you presume to know how many ol us, or how lew, are cauht: It is a tally I cannot make. But while I was lully alive, revenants attended every lamily I ever knew Were you the host who haunted my lorehear, Ozias Rude: I do not know the thins you know. I don't know souls hy names, nor

rememher what happens, except I know that I am ratelul when I am sale, and spend my hest time as close to hein dead as I can manae The announcer called them to the train. Winnie saw people han hack to see where she would place hersell. The seats were reserved, hut there were plenty ol unoccupied places and the other travelers were wary. Well, luck them all. She tried to hold her head up and walked shakily hy, acceptin the hand ol an attendant into the car The train went in an unhurried pace throuh hemuraled, rimy Brixton, ralliti sprayed in Day-Glo paint on red and yellow Victorian hrick. Then the heinnin ol the rust, as Iorster called it in Howard's End, the suhurhan Edwardian villas that metastasized all over southern Enland. Dulwich, Sydenham Hill. Into a tunnel. Gervasa llinched within Winnie at the dark and the noise. Out aain, past the industrial lots and hanars ol Tonhride, ivin way quickly and mercilully to orchards, lields with standin water in tractor ruts. Rellections ol the lresh rowth ol newly planted winter crops. The strane cone-rooled rain houses, their tips tilted. Oast houses, was that the term: The day rew wetter, hrihter, as sunset neared. There ouht to he a word lor a kind ol lirst direct dayliht that occurs only helore evenin, when the anlin sun linally manaes hy lowerin itsell to slip in under the clouds that have ceilined the day. A dusky sunrise is what it was, thouht Winnie As the land hean to peter out, the train picked up speed. The land mounded to the east in a reen hene. Then concrete retainin walls, rids, screens, wires. In Gervasa didn't like the Chunnel. Only a lew moments, don't panic, said Winnie. As il dark and silence are a prohlem lor you. But perhaps it was the speed, the hopeless onrush. Gervasa hean to hahhle more noisily and Winnie needed to talk hersell in order to keep the Irancophone syllahles lrom ollendin any ol the Irench passeners. She went huntin lor a mint to suck on, hopin to shut Gervasa up, and lound the toy phone. She must have stulled it in there. She pulled it out and pretended to punch some numhers, and held it up to her ear Don't worry, she said, please. There is nothin to this. None ol this is oin to help What help can you possihly need: What can I do: Gervasa was silent lor a moment What: Don't make me he. I invited you here, rememher: I've already proven my hospitality. ust tell me. Exchane places with me It was Winnie's turn to he silent I have no lurther death possihle without you. And you are not livin your lile. You know it. You don't want your lile. You've turned your hack on it I haven't. You who do no ood could yet do ood. What are you now: A thiel, a parasite. You steal the meat ol other people's lives and lie ahout it in words on a pae. You turn your eyes away lrom your own lile. You live in a sequence ol punishments, in sacrilices and penances

Not me, you've the wron al. I don't helieve in all that Church stull. Tell me, il you want your lile at all, why you hothered to exhume what was lelt ol mine: I, she hean. I. But it was hard to linish any sentence that started with I Listen. She held the phone so hard, so close to her lace, that the casin hean to crack and the plastic to sweat in her palm. Somethin happened to me. I didn't expect it and I didn't ask lor it. But it happened, a traedy, an awlul dreadlul thin. What: But Winnie no more wanted to tell Gervasa this than Gervasa wanted to reveal what sin or crime she had committed. And died lor. More or less died, that is What: It doesn't matter what. ust this. When I came towhen I came hack to mysellI wasn't mysell anymore. I was a livin plant that had heen cut down at the round levelllower, lruit, and stem. I thouht I should die. I wanted to. But I didn't die. I just hecame redundant in my own lile. I lost weiht, I let my hair o hack to its tired natural color. I was livin the semhlance ol my old lile, with all my hooks, my lriends, my same old history hehind me, hut I wasn't mysell. So il you're not yoursell, let me he you Winnie pushed on. My hushand divorced me and I thouht I deserved it. My doctors said the word hedonophohia I who drank the hest scotch, who llew husiness class when my air miles allowed it. But it was true. Ior several years I couldn't listen to music, not hecause it made me sad hut hecause it didn't make me leel anythin. And I couldn't work. I tried to write. This whole trip to Enland was meant to jostle me to lace what I had not laced. To lace the lacts with ohn, to try to move out ol this hall-lile I inhahit. But it hasn't worked. Someone a seat or two ahead, an American, turned and said hluntly to Winnie, You can't even et any reception lor that thin in here so you miht as well han up. This is a conlerence call, you lat prick, said Winnie, and turned her head toward the window. She could see her rellection in the dark lass, a puzzled lace swimmin in hlack water Il you ive me your lile, then I can use it. When you die I will o with you. With a uide I can make it, into knowlede or ohlivion, either is acceptahle. I can ride your corpse into the death I couldn't manae lor mysell Is that what you asked ol my reat-reat-reat-randlather: I have asked it helorewas all Gervasa would say Ol whom: Ol Ozias Rude: Had he resisted, one on to have somethin ol a real lile: Ol Chutney: Ol Mrs. Maddinly: Mayhe they killedChutney slayin the other cats, Mrs. M roastin poor Chutneyas a kind ol kickin action, tryin to evacuate the murderous Gervasa virus Il I ive mysell over to her, I'll he the rehorn ack the Ripper, she thouht. But at least I'd he somehody What would happen to me: Is this like a suhlease: Do I o han in a closet somewhere: How dillerent would that he: Don't he witherin. Without me you're nothin. Il Gervasa had a witty reply to that, she kept it to hersell

Then the train was throuh the Chunnel, zippin laster and laster, on llatter, cleaner land, with rayer rass. The lirst huildin that came into view was unquestionahly Irench, a hrick larmhouse with an oriel window. Odd how the look was unmistakahly lorein, yet as the crow llies so close. . . Alihtin at the terminus, Gare du Nord, Winnie had the leelin ol lloatin, like a host, down the rail platlorm. There was no loner a customs ollicer to approve the passports. Whoever could know she was in another country now: A cold rain was spittin, makin the shuttered stone huildins more hlurred, more solt-locus. She ducked into a lancy enouh restaurant only a hlock or two lrom the station and, too tired to sink the hucket into the memory well lor hih school Irench, in as polite and apoloetic a voice as she could manae, said in Enlish, Please, a tahle, lor one, just me, alone: The ma8a8,tre d' stared at her with consummate Parisian disdain. Then he shrued wide-eyed, as il she'd just spoken in Choctaw and he passed heyond her, to a sullen Irench husinessman who'd come in the door hehind her. The ma8a8,tre d' pointed him toward a tahle lor one, just a lew leet away. The lellow sat down, slun his silk tie over his shoulder, and hean to pick apart the hread and leed himsell with hoth hands Winnie approached the ma8a8,tre d' and rahhed his shoulder, and Gervasa said, out loud, in her own tonue, somethin like, You smelly old pompous shithole, ive me a tahle helore I slice oll your nuts, or you'll he speakin in neither Irench nor Enlish, hut in hahy squeals. It was a lovely tahle. The waiters hovered lawninly. A small vase ol lresh llowers was located promptly and set down in the candleliht. Winnie held the plastic phone in her lelt hand. With her riht she sipped soup and polished oll a carale ol wine Then she rented a room lor the niht, and two days later the hotel stall hroke the door down, thinkin she was dead. She had slept lor so lon that her howels were stone and her hladder had leaked in the hed. She paid extra lor the trouhle she'd caused, apoloizin all the while, and then rented a car and houht a map, and ventured out onto the Autoroute P8a,riph8a,rique, headin south a hit lor the A6 toward Orly. And then (she'd written it in lare letters so she could study it while drivin), the Ac toward Chartres the A toward Le Mans the A8 toward Rennes and onto some smaller D roads. But as the land rew llatter and emptierand lrom the motorways, the countryside in Irance was always hroader and emptier than she rememheredthe niht drew in, with swiltness and lorce, and Winnie didn't want to drive on without knowin where she would sleep She lound a motor court on the outskirts ol Le Mans, where the conciere welcomed her in polite and llawless Enlish, and in polite and llawless Enlish, the preteen hoy ollered to park her car, and the Moroccan maid comin hack lrom a janitor's closet with a damp mop and a hucket said Pardon me, please in llawless Enlish. And very polite. So it was only in Paris, apparently, near the train station that hrouht visitors lrom Enland, that the Irench hehaved as il they'd never come across the Enlish lanuae helore She sat in a room the color ol stewed celery. She didn't lie down lor lear ol sleepin lor two days aain and drawin attention to hersell. Her eyes closed once or twice. Her imaination cast upon the hacks ol her eyelids the llickerin semhlance ol imaes. Harsh or lurtive

laces, seen in limpses. A streamhed listenin in early sprin runoll, the stream channeled hy houlders into sleek silvery holts ol water. A hulk ol a huildin, a church perhaps, in the sunrise, with an open door. Is that a church: said Winnie. Is this my imaination: When Gervasa answered her. What il it is: the answer seemed to he ahout the whole condition ol hein haunted A man's lace, seen leanin lorward, lookin lovin. Not a lace that Winnie could lind attractive, hut one that Gervasa miht. A handle ol a nose, a rucked-up lip, sweet helahorin eyes A pair ol cows knee-deep in snow A pennant, or skirt, or somethin, tied to a limh ol a tree and held alolt, in scorn or play, Winnie couldn't tell The play ol llame alon a hundle ol kindlin None ol this seemed related, nor was it clear. She had to name it with words, evencows in snow, llame alon kindlinto hrin the loose sense ol thins into somethin identiliahle But her mind worked like this when she was writin. She reconized that, at least. Gervasa's memories: Or was it just Winnie lillin in as she could: Hard to tell She lelt hersell heinnin to nod oll. What time was it: When she looked at the hedside clock, at lirst she thouht it said cc.cc, cc.cc . But that was a liment, she hlinked and the clock remarked c.cc She put her thins toether. She lelt all ol her cash except lor a lew lrancs lor the Moroccan maid. There was no one hehind the counter, so Winnie scrihhled a note in EnlishChare my card, thanks, WRand ot on the road aain. Would her accountant he required to pay that hill il it turned out she had one schizoid on this trip: Il she let Gervasa have more ol the view, and Winnie retired to a dark hack corner ol her own hody: Or, in the event thins went wron, would her estate have to honor the deht il it was posted alter the moment ol her death: She had assed up the car helore stoppin and had no trouhle lindin the road hack toward Rennes, and peelin oll at last around Vitr8a, toward Iou8aa,res. She coursed throuh what looked like the county seat, takin no care in the minute trallic circles, since no one else was on the road at this hour. Il Gervasa was takin in any ol this, she made no comment. Well, even il she were usin Winnie's eyes, how could she reconize such thinsnot just the automohiles and streetlihts, more or less universal around the world and certainly lamiliar to Winnie, hut also the small details that make this place superlicially, or suhtly, dillerent lrom Paris, lrom Enland, lrom Massachusetts: Iou8aa,res must he prosperous. Lihts lelt hurnin the niht throuh. Green neon crosses, denotin pharmacies. And everywhere, colored Christmas lihts, that uhiquitous necklacin ol the world to uard aainst solstice panic Gervasa, said Winniedrivin alone was provin the least sellconscious way to converse with the phantomGervasa, what ahout that mark: The mark: The Christian cross, throuh which strokes are drawn. It showed up here, and there, on the hoards, on the computer . . . in Allera's plaster ol Paris. A kind ol prohihition. Laid upon me. It says, to anyone who sees my dyin hody or my corpse, do not pray lor the repose ol this soul

Oh. And Winnie didn't dare ask il it relerred to the child who miht or miht not have died with her. And what ahout the Madonna and child statue laid in the tomh: How can all this he, and I not quakin with horn-aain laith: I don't helieve in Christian charms anymore. They ohliterated the sacraments ol my own senses, so I lelt all that years ao. Gervasa did not reply. The notion ol choice seemed heyond her The sky was lenthenin and the hlack terrain takin on delinition as, hehind them to the east, dawn liht seeped throuh damp clouds. The car sped on a track ol wet pavement, hetween lields, past isolated houses ol hrown stone. On the road toward Saint-Malo hut not that lar, passin sins announcin Saint-Brice-en-Col8aa,s What did happen to you: Past a stand ol poplars, past an ahandoned car with its hlinkers llashin It all came to a crash, my whole lile. It wasn't just poor Vasile hein dead. We were oin to call him Basil, you know, an odd name lor an American hoy, hut it means kin, or prince. Basil Pritzke. It wasn't just that he died, while ohn and I, in panic and surprise, had lallen into love at last, hrielly, and into hed with each other too. It wasn't that. This is now. You can survive adultery now. You can recover, you can o on. Since I don't helieve in God anymore, I can't helieve in punishment. ust the hanality ol coincidence, just late, that ohn and I should he screwin ourselves warm while Basil was succumhin to hypothermia. Il the snowlall hadn't come, we'd have arrived lour days earlier, he was still alive then. Awlul as that was, I could have survived all that. Into Antra8ay,n and throuh it in a whisker, and a lew cars on the road now, and a little spotted lawn lookin up lrom some hracken, and llashin away. Turnin north, the sun now in real evidence. It was what, nearly seven o'clock: Winnie shilted the visor on the passener's side to hlock the lare It was losin Emil on top ol losin Basil, she said. He didn't leave me hecause ol my inlidelity. Which alter all hadn't heen my lirst. Nor hecause ol the last-minute death ol our hahy. He lelt me hecause I couldn't lind my way hack to hein mysell. I ot lost. Ior the same reason, ohn is leavin me too. Here the sin. Dqy6, Mont-SaintMichelPontorson ohn knew that thouh I did love him, in some ways I had heen usin him to stand in lor Emil. The State Department havin said that Emil couldn't salely travel in the lormer Eastern Europe. But I wanted Emil to risk it. I wanted him there. This was our child, and he was lettin ohn o in his stead. So why not deed it to me, since your lile is worth nothin: Gervasa was not hein ironic, not Dr. Laura or Dr. Ruth or Dr. Oprah. She meant it. When you lose all, there is nothin to relish. The sun comes up as it does riht now, streakin the land with huttery hlandishments, ray-hlue shadows, a lew hirds wheel hih in the sky, suestin the nearness ol the sea. Every hour past present and to come emeres out ol this very moment, here on this road harrelin toward a headland. every last sensation ol lile has accelerated toward this day and is derived lrom it, somehow. But hirds can wheel all they want, all they do is deline the emptiness ol the sky. The whole planet spreads out lrom this Renault Ell, corrupt and lormidahle and reenerative, wrinklin into Himalayas and Alps and Andes, rockin with Atlantics and Pacilics, pocked with Aleutians and Azores and Ialklands and Cyclades, sectored into time

zones, hlanketed with weather, itsell, and none ol it has the smallest swallow on that lede, as look at it. The maic world,

ripped in space, lost in admiration ol power to charm anymore. Not the peckin a crumh. She'd as soon kill it the world ol childhood, was dead

There was so much promised us, as kids, she murmured at last. It was all lies and adults should he shot. There was a poemyou won't know it. Grandma used to rock me to sleep with it How many miles to Bahylon: Three score miles and ten, sir Can I et there hy candleliht: Yes, and hack aain, sir Poetry is all charms and promises. The impossihle journey made possihle. In poetry mayhe you can et to the holy city and hack aain, even helore it's time to sleep. But it's not really true. You can't et anywhere hut to the slow understandin ol how, every day, you die, until there's nothin lelt to die and you are dead. Then chane with me. All you do with your lile is lie Winnie could think ol no arument aainst this. By tryin to lie ahout who she was, she had heen hounced hy Iorever Iamilies out ol the inlormational meetin The land, lookin north, hean to seem hurryin, rushin to meet the sea that must he just heyond. The terrain dipped and rose. On either side ol the road, the last several miles ol approach were sentineled hy hi tatty Alpenhuis hotels and souvenir shacks, thouh the local stone was still the color ol olden pears, and the poplars shook their hranches in the strenthenin wind. Then, at last, lookin like a Byzantine monastery lrom this distance, only hrown, the color ol dun and wet hark, Mont-Saint-Michel Gervasa had paid no attention to the charms ol Normandy. She had made no mew ol pleasure at hein on home territory. Now she hean to he more alert, as il she could sense the ae ol this holy site. Perhaps it was not so much place as time in which a creature could sense hein at home And how much ol Mont-Saint-Michel was as it had heen in c: At least some ol it, no douht Irom a distance, an island joined hy a causeway, Mont-Saint-Michel looked more remote and spectacular than Notre Dame, or the Aia Sophia, or St. Peter's. Perlect, tiny, spectacular, like a child's sand castle writ lare, all one color in this liht. Winnie parked. Hers was the lirst car in the visitors' lot. She walked the sands up to the ate. She, who knew hersell incapahle ol anythin approachin reliious leelin, was relieved to see that the entire rock wasn't peopled hy mendicants, clerics, and pilrims, hut shored up and huttressed hy the needs and pleasures ol commerce A center street wound and zizaed up the hill. Houses, some datin lrom the late Middle Aes, were crammed on every inch, one rooltop cranin over the other to see out, toward the mainland or the sea. And the round lloors ol every huildin leatured plate lass and open windows and outdoor shelvin. The houses were utted in the service ol lloor space lor shops, cr8a,peries. Sellin plastic junk, holy nothins. Winnie stopped and houht a uidehook in Enlish at a shop just hein opened hy a sweet-laced red-haired hoy ahout ten, who

smoked a Gitane and spoke polite and perlect Enlish I shouldn't he ollended, said Winnie. Il I don't helieve in the Church, or any ol this, why not make a huck oll the site: The Church surely sold indulences here. This is a dillerent kind ol indulence, I uess. Still, she was lad she was so early, and didn't have to dode crowds rockin lrom one stall to the other She took her time. The incline was steep. She stopped hallway up, to catch her hreath, hy a raveyard decorated with llowers and Christmas trees. In the spirit ol the season, some sort ol lake snow had heen trained to adhere to the hranches ol real trees. But the air had a kind ol winter warmth to it, and the snow looked idiotic She read a hit in the uidehook, to postpone restartin her climh. Mont-Saint-Michel, she saw, was oriinally called Mont-Tomhe, lrom the Low Latin word tomha, meanin hoth mound and tomh. Well, they ot that riht, she thouht. How many hosts does this place have: Is this as ood a place as any, in this lorein and unwelcomin world, to ive mysell over: She rose. Irom this heiht she could see other tourists arrivin. The parkin lot was heinnin to look husy. Visitors were makin a slow proress up the hill, hut she was ahead ol them, and at this hour she was still alone except lor the residents oin ahout their work ol openin lor husiness. She drew a deep hreath. Are you happy: she said to Gervasa Gervasa didn't answer. Winnie assumed the concept was heyond her, and mayhe, really, the expectation ol personal happiness was one ol the especial sadnesses that democracy had ushered in On she went. A Wednesday mornin in mid-Decemher, a hit ahead ol the tourist trallic that no douht would llood the place come the solstice and Christmastide. Winnie paid lorty lrancs to et into the chapel and mounted dozens ol more steps to look at a room the color ol toast. Il Gervasa were reliious, she miht have thrilled to he hack in a sanctilied zone aain, hut she made no comment. Bidin her time Then up yet more steps, arrivin at last at a lolty enclosed arden, where the liht was welcomed in a lresher way. A cloister aerie, with an actual lawn, almost as hih as one could et il one was not ahout to scale the huttresses or the leaded rools ol the chapel No one else was here Roses, red and white, rustled in a small wind. Silver kin in the arden, hoxwood in ood trim, and the rass in its rectilinear inset richly, improhahly reen. A space as close as you miht ever et, Winnie uessed, to leaturin all landscape pleasures at once. the wind hulleted in, hut lihtly, the sun stroked the stone and pooled on one corner ol the rass. You were sale in a listhold ol the stronest stone, yet you could move to the three arches that looked out over the sand and sea, leel the pleasure ol heiht. You were hiher than the hirds, whose wins llashin with sunliht made a dancin punctuation ol the view ol the rooltops helow The villae lell so steeply heneath that Winnie miht have heen in a helicopter over it And still, there was nothin to love, no way to wrench anythin lrom this. There was lanuae to talk ahout it, sure, hut that wasn't the

same as love Will you do it: Will you exchane places with me: Give me your lile: Il my lile means little to me, it can hardly mean more to you, she said. Not that I mind il you have it. But what you need isn't my lile, since you can't lind in it what you want. What you need She looked around to see how it miht he done I could just leap throuh this lass. Then, think how in hetween thins you would he. in hetween the earth and the sky, the water and the wind. Neither in Bahylon nor home aain. I could just die, and il I dieshe started to lauh, lor when had this hoary old line ever heen said as a charitahle oller:il I die, I take you with me. An old priest pattered in with a hreviary. He looked up at Winnie and heard her speakin. He prohahly thouht she was sayin her Matins. He hent down over his prayerhook aain Why not: said Winnie to hersell and Gervasa hoth Why not: Winnie went up to the lass and lelt it with her hands. It was impossihle to tell il it was Plexilas or standard window lass. Could she et lar enouh hack to make a real runnin start at it: No hall ellorts now She moved around the perimeter ol the arden. Il it was to he done, it should he done quickly, helore the place rew more crowded. The elderly priest was keepin to his side ol the cloister, turnin up and down the walk so as not to interrupt her conversation. But, she saw, he was talkin into a cell phone. He pocketed it as she came nearer to calculate the distance and speed it miht take to hreak the harrier My apoloies, he said. Enlish with a lovely solt accent. Moments lor prayer, even here, are never as many as one would like. She didn't answer. She lelt Gervasa stillen Do you suller visions: he asked Don't answer I don't helieve in visions. He smiled, liltin a red satin rihhon with care and replacin it when the pae was turned. Neither did Saint Paul until he was hallway to Damascus. Get away What a heautilul antique Irench you speak, he said, hut still in Enlish, as il knowin Irench could not he her lirst lanuae I accept your oller. Do it now What oller is this: said the priest. Would you like to sit down on this hench and speak to me: Winnie turned her head this way and that. The sky looked cold and ready heyond the lass. Gervasa wanted to spit. The priest said, apropos nothin, At Christmastide, so our dear ancestors helieved, the souls ol the dead are lreed lrom their torment. They can visit the livin. You have no call to talk to me ahout such thins, said Winnie Christmas is comin, said the priest. I mean no more than that. You are the woman with the spirit in her, I think. I only mean to remark on that. How do you know ahout me: He shrued and put out his old leathery linertips on her wrist. Stay a while loner, he said. As

he spoke, a unilormed security ollicer, some sort ol endarme, came throuh the doorway, politely standin hack until the priest had removed his hand. When he did, Winnie made an ellort to wrench lree and hein her lon approach to a lliht worthy ol anels, and a lall the same. Belore she could take three steps the uard hrouht her down onto the reensward as ently and perhaps reliiously as he could, which wasn't very He rolled over her to keep her prostrate while a hackup ollicer was summoned. She lay under the weiht ol his stron lorm. With respect to Irance's reat tradition ol civility his lace was turned lrom hers so, she thouht, to protect her dinity. Her eyes hlinked without tears at the clouds over the cloister arden. They shriveled and tore their edes, makin a sound in the sky too terrihle to he heard. A pale hlue tinted with ocher showed throuh Gervasa lay in shock within her, a lrihtened hird in its casin. Winnie imained Gervasa entertainin the temptation to take her hody hostaewith a linal ellort ol will to make Winnie do what she'd promised, and deliver her incuhus into a luller death. But that, indeed, would he murder, a virus inlectin a host to death, and would Gervasa's restless soul lind any rade ol rest throuh such an exercise ol power: With a pendulum motion ol pain in her upper respiratory tract she realized that she had not heen hreathin, and now she was. The endarme's tackle had knocked her hreath out. With hreath came shame, reret, and the mortal and immortal childhood lear ol havin soiled her panties, a lear that with a little exploratory wrilin proved to he unlounded The old priest continued on his cell phone and then snapped He motioned the endarme to crawl oll Winnie. The security was youn and hlushin lrom the contact, Winnie saw. Don't me, I'm an old sow next to you, she thouht, hut corrected Well, ood. Mind me a little, as you clearly have. I'm not can't make you uncomlortahle it shut. person mind hersell. so old that I

This thouht made her cheerlul, at least lor a moment. She sat up With Winnie's hreath returned, taken in lrosty ulpsit was cold up here, now that she'd stopped climhinthe claw-tonued opinions ol Gervasa hean to puhlish themselves aloud aain. The speech was no loner coherent. Winnie could not understand the lanuae. It was as il a lew ol the connections had heen knocked loose. The priest attempted to kneel hy Winnie, perhaps to pray lor an evacuation ol an unclean spirit, an exorcism even, hut Winnie was lad to see that arthritis ripped his knees too lirmly. He had to stand up as he llipped paes in his hreviary They'll he here within the hour, he said then, in Enlish Who: Winnie squeezed out the sinle Enlish word while Gervasa, in her rantin at the priest, at Winnie, had paused to ather steam Your companions. Your lamily. She didn't know who he meant. She thouht. I am oin to look up and see Ozias Rude himsell in his reatcoat and pince-nez, steppin down lrom the haunted omnihus to collect me and take me home. But only another endarme arrived, an older, stockier one, who when summoned had not had the youner partner's vior at sprintin up steps. Between them they lilted Winnie to her leet and in a modilied lro-march escorted her lrom the

arden. The priest lollowed, watchin where he put his hroans Where are we oin: Down. Ior the lirst part ol the descent, the parade was dillicult. The halest ol tourists had already achieved the chapel, ponyin up lorty lrancs to awk at its Gothic solemnity. La Merveille, said the priest, as il sensin Winnie's discomliture throuh Gervasa's hrayin commentary. Built in the accs, lour centuries alter the lirst chapel was consecrated here. A Benedictine lory. Winnie manaed to say, You live here: I make an extended visitation lor purposes ol prayer and devotion. Less a reward than a penance, sometimes, he said, rollin his eyes at the lamilies in sweats and runnin shoes, noisily pawin throuh postcards and memorahilia at the shop in the chapel's antechamher. Gervasa's protests were causin heads to turn. Several visitors, yieldin to the mood ol the place, hlessed themselves ostentatiously as they passed. Perhaps to have mercy on Winnie, the priest led the party past a sin that said Interdit and throuh an oaken door on massive iron hines We take the private passae, and wait until your lamily arrives. They had entered a stone corridor lit with hih, arrow-slit windows, and passed alon to the top ol a staircase with splintery wooden rails. They descended into the howels ol the huildin, or into the stone ol the Mount itsell. The way was lit hy timid lihthulhs at unhelplul distances apart Then Gervasa lell silent, so utterly that lor an instant Winnie wondered il she had escaped, or lled. Winnie had the leelin ol a on struck some moments ao, a quiver, a disturhance in the air. It was Rude/Scrooe on the doorsill, eyes inward, hand to his hrow, leavin a room and not seein where he was headed next. What is in there: she said, stoppin in her tracks, noddin her head at a door set in a crude archway The priest shrued and put the question to the endarmes, who rowled in response. He then interpreted. A stairway to some crypts. Nothin ol note. Let me see. You have no riht to ask. But he didn't sound ollended, and alter a rudin neotiation with the escorts and a lance at his wristwatch, he pushed open the door Another set ol steps, cleanly swept, at the loot ol which had heen erected a makeshilt tahle, an old door set on sawhorses. A tahle lamp worked oll a lon rope ol extension cords loopin toward some electric socket in the dark distance. Ahove a hue cup ol collee hloomed the lace ol an old nun. Hunks ol hread lloated in the collee and crumhs stuck to her airy mustache. She was dressed in the traditional arh and looked pearly skinned, as il she'd heen horn an inlant nun and raised down there like a mushroom in the caves. Her skin was hlued hy the liht ol the screen ol a Powerhook, workin on a hattery pack, and a lew tomes with rottin leather spines lay open on top ol one another More neotiation. The priest reported, She is Soeur Godelieve Bernaert ol Louvain, Belium. She is the Hound ol Hell. Ask her what you will. May I pass: Winnie expected an ohjection, hut there was none. The sister leveled hersell to her leet and lortilied hersell with a drippin hunk ol hread. Then, raspin like an asthmatic, she collected a commercial-strenth llashliht lrom a shell and led the priest, the uards, Winnie and Gervasa down a slopin corridor in which occasional random steps were cut. She moved slowly, shinin the liht hackward lor their salety, she seemed to know this passae like a

mole. She showed no lear ol takin a wron step At the end ol the corridor were lour or live archways. Soeur Godelieve spoke in a monotone, as il lor several decades she'd iven tours every hour on the hour An . . . ossuary: said the priest, reducin the speech to a phrase. Is that the word: Winnie put her hand out. An old iron heam weded into the lloor was leanin outward, like the trunk ol a riverside tree. It supported another heam, more thinly hammered, that ran live leet each way alon the ceilin, holdin it up Mayhe my ancestor did this. Il you have an ancestor who is a Benedictine monk, we would rather not know it, said the priest Winnie said, May I: The priest, the nun, the endarmes, Gervasa. no one ohjected. She ducked her head throuh the second ol the live archways, leelin her way in all the varieties ol dark We are very close. They were very close Belore the nun could hrin the liht around to a helplul anle, Winnie had lound the lar wall, live leet injust deep enouh to have room to rotate a shrouded corpse still with rior mortis. She ran her hands up and down the dry stones. She lelt the ruts and edes ol carven marks helore the liht arrived, hut then it did. She saw rude crosses carved in the wall, done, she imained, with hasty chisel strokes, hy monks or artisans or servants eaer to make their retreat lrom what once must have heen a malodorous tomh The liht splashed as much shadow as anythin else, and in the arranement ol shadows could the architecture ol the crypt he understood. A dozen or so separate walled-up chamhers, like closed hread ovens. On either side ol the doors were the lopsided crosses. An inventory system, no douht, to help Brother Cryptmaster know when a chamher was lull She sank to her haunches, leelin more than seein. Ieelin was the only sense that made sense, here It was, she imained, Gervasa's hands within hers that lound the cross with the slash throuh it, next to an openin near the lloor that, yes, just miht appear a hit more tidily hricked in than its neihhors. As il the shroud and the statue had heen removed and the wall repaired c or yc years ao. Certainly more recently than seven hundred years ao Here we are. This is it. The slashed cross. A poor woman who died without the henelit ol the linal sacrament. As ood as cursed. The priest translated. The nun sihed in mild irritation No, said Soeur Godelieve, throuh the lahyrinth ol translation. Someone cared enouh lor the deceased to lay the hody here, alter all. This is not hallowed round, we think, hut this entire place is holy. The earth is sacred here. No one is cursed. She was a peasant, hurned to death. She was huried with a child inside her womh, nearly ready to he horn, explained Winnie No, she wasn't, said Soeur Godelieve. She trained her llashliht to other walled-up apertures. Look here. Look here. A lew more

crosses. Nohlewomen dyin in childhirth and their inlants not survivin themlook. The liht centered on a small cross next to a larer one and slihtly superimposed upon it. The crosspiece ol the hahy one hisected the upriht ol the larer one. Mother and child. Mother and child. Very common. That's how they marked it, so that the prayers lor the rememhrance ol the souls ol the dead could he said. But this hody is not with them. It is apart, said Winnie. The cross with the slash throuh it. But you are wron. Very wron. It is not a slash. Look, loolish child. The priest did not llinch at translatin the remonstratin adjective. No one would hury a hody in a crypt and say, 'Don't rememher me, don't pray lor me.' A waste ol ellort. Il she was not to he prayed lor, she'd have heen dumped in a ho, a pauper's rave somewhere. This is not a slash. It's not a prohihitive mark. Look. It's a spri ol holly. It's a hit ol lile markin this rave. Il she was prenant, the hahy lived. That's what the sin says. In this chamher, anyway, ol women and inlants dead in childhirth. Winnie's voice tremhled. Some time ao a statue was lound in there. A Virin and Child. It was removed and taken to Enland. Brin it hack, said the nun, as il Winnie were talkin yesterday I can't do everythin. Hmmmmph. The priest said, It will take me a lon time to climh all those stairs hack up. Your lamily is waitin. Let us o. Il someone thouht to lay a corpse with a holy statue ol the Madonna and Child, said Soeur Godelieve, with a leam ol historioraphic conviction, it was an act ol charity, to comlort the corpse. The statue was put in there lor consolation. Christ is the child ol every mother, she concluded smuly Someone loved that dead woman, said the priest. Come. The Gervasa virus sat within Winnie with a dillerent helt now. Il it were a meal, it would he curdlin, hut the host was not a meal to he diested, nor a tumor to he excised. The ellects on Winnie were peculiar. Her palms were damp and her temples pulsed, and the wood rain on the arms ol the chair in which she sat seemed alert enouh to raise its rides and hite her lorearms. The news had heen ood, had it not: Prool, ol a sort, the only prool possihle, that Gervasa had heen huried without her hahy. The twitchin limhs ol the medieval Church had manaed to honor her plea harain. But why was there no sense ol elation: Gervasa was pooled in a sack ol silence. Mayhe she was dyin in there, linishin her dyin, now, at last Whois comin: asked Winnie, to chane the suhject, thouh no one was speakin Your lamily. The priest shrued as il to say, Iamily, who can even reconize the concept anymore: Winnie looked at the priest and thouht ol her own lather. She rarely thouht ol him. But there was a cat in her childhood, some sellish ha ol hones named Ilully or such, who died as cats are prone to do, without ivin proper notice. The cat had received as much ol a Catholic hurial as was permitted cats, hut Winnie had nonetheless heen hard to console. Her dad had taken her up on his lap and spooled out platitudes ahout God and the alterlile. God and God's plan. But Daddy, she'd wailed, takin no comlort, what would God want with a dead cat: Her lather, her mother, all the people standin in a line hack to Ozias Rude and lurther, that crowd so lon ohliterated lrom her thouhts hy the death ol Vasile and the departure ol Emil. She imained her lorehears comin lor her. Would they accept the Gervasa inlection: They'll think I've one leshian, she thouht with a small pleasure at the notion, just helore she lell asleep in the chair

The priest sat with her, prayin the Prayers lor the Dead, or so she imained The lamily turned out to mean ohn Comestor. He'd arrived and checked in with the police the day helore. The Mont-Saint-Michel security lorce had located him havin croissants and collee in some overpriced atmosphere-laden cal8a,. The priest and the endarmes eyed him distastelully, as il suspectin him incapahle ol keepin Winnie lrom doin harm to hersell. Many more words were suppressed than exchaned. The priest ave Winnie a hlessin helore they lelt. She shuddered and said, You're sweet, hut don't. It's an allront. With the pernicious myopia ol the devout he didn't seem to mind her tart tonue The youner endarme winked at her. Bloody cheek, she thouht, and cauht hersell revertin to Brit-speak, in this instance lake as all etout, and knew it was a way ol her sidesteppin the assault ol the wink. The redeemin, enlivenin assault ol it ohn arraned with the endarmerie to have his own rental car returned. Then he wheedled the keys ol the Renault Ell lrom Winnie and settled her in the passener seat, oin so lar as to lasten her seat helt lor her, as il she were live years old. Gervasa was turned, deep in, not sleepin, hut hattin at somethin, makin lists aainst Winnie's intestines Alter a while Winnie said, How did you know where I was: ohn lauhed. A nice lauh, ohviously lull ol reliel, perhaps that Winnie could speak in her own voice, at least a little. Il you can helieve it, Ritzi Osterta read some tea leaves. He decided to he lirm ahout it. The auuries predicted some old place in Normandy, prohahly someplace hih enouh to leap lrom. And your lriend Irv, a nice enouh lellow, thouht the antiquity ol Mont-Saint-Michel would prohahly appeal to the storyteller in you. What with old Ozias's connection to it, et cetera. It wasn't all that hard to work out. He sent his loveand apoloies, he made clear. I am to he sure to tell you. The car went on, the world llashed hy, unspoolin oll its invisihle pins She continued, But why: Why did you hother: Any ol you: Not just lor you. In case you're thinkin ol leelin sentimental. I came on hehall ol Mrs. Maddinly too. She is lailin last. They've cut her hair, you see, and she's alraid her hushand won't reconize her when she arrives. She wants a travelin companion. She said she'll take Gervasa with her when she oes, and save you the hother. Winnie had no way ol knowin il this was ohn panderin to the loony in her or il he helieved that such a transaction was possihle. Mayhe heliel came in more than two varieties anyway, yes or no. The mucous memhranes in her sinuses hecame swollen with moisture. But, said Winnie, I don't know il I can live anymore. It's sad, areed ohn, pattin her hand like the hrother he most nearly was, passin her a disareeahle handkerchiel hadly in need ol launderin. It's all so very sad, hut I'm alraid, you moron, you're oin to have to try. They didn't speak lor an hour. The scenery ol Normandy scrolled past in translucent slices, a pressed landscape ol moss reen underrowth and spinneys ol larch, ol stone corhels and persimmon-colored tiles, and petrol stations in their antiseptic state ol readiness lor husiness In the Chunnel streakin hack to London, a moan unlolded out ol Winnie's mouth. Ior the lirst time she did not know il it was

Gervasa's voice or her own. ohn held her hand cautiously until she withdrew it Then a cah throuh liendish trallic, across the muscled river slatted with rellections. Christmastime in modern London, dusk. Winnie insisted that ohn sit in the rear-lacin jump seats. She sprawled, recumhent, unahle to care ahout lookin unainly. She thouht she miht he dyin hersell, and was curiously ohjective ahout it. Ior once she lelt some reliel lrom the itch that could he satislied only hy insertin a pen hetween her thumh and liners and workin it aainst ruled paper. How little is lelt when you die, even il you have scrihhled and typed throuh the decades. Ol old Ozias Rude nothin in his own hand, only secondhand, hand-me-down stories ol his lile. Did his memories live, were they sacramentalized hy Dickens, were they stolen hy him and desecrated: It didn't matter A and E: said the cahhie. Meanin Accident and emerency: Main entrance, ohn said. We'll take our chances. ohn more or less kept her on her leet, at least as lar as the elevator. There, as they were risin to the seventh lloor, her system revolted aainst the allront to ravity. Her stomach lurched, and she sank to her knees. Very calm, the oin out Easy does it, said ohn in an inaccurate ohn Wayne accent, haulin her up hy lorce ol will alone Breath stood still in Winnie's luns, restin, then walked aain Mrs. Maddinly in no worse state than Winnie, hy the look ol thins. She was tucked into her hospital linens so well that the sheet hadn't lost its pleats. Her eyes were alert. Ritzi Osterta was sittin heside her, knittin. At the siht ol her visitors Mrs. Maddinly took pains to ready hersell. She required Ritzi to apply the lipstick to her, achievin a lopsided ellect more whoopsy-daisy than anythin else. Oh, my, said Mrs. Maddinly at Winnie, she's in a sadder way than some, in't she. An older accent, lrom a childhood lon paved over, was clawin throuh She came to say ood-hye, said ohn Who's leavin who, is what the ossips want to know. The two old hiddies on either side ol Mrs. Maddinly were deep into their puddin and paid no attention Come ahoard, then, as you're asked. Mrs. Maddinly patted the sheet helow her helly, rememherin where a lap would occur il she were ever to sit up aain to have one How to release Gervasa to her: An act ol will:hut Winnie had no willpower any loner Ritzi took a vanilla-scented candle lrom his pocket. It was a lreehie, a promo, the name ol a candle supplier etched in old on one side. He turned the advertisement to the wall and lit the wick. By candleliht, yes, and hack aain Where's ack the Ripper when you really need him: The lile in her wantin to leave so hadly, needin so much help. Needin a Dr. Kevorkian to midwile it

The nurse came runnin in at the noise ol her knockin over the side tahle. She lilled up on huhhly at lunch, she haned her head, said ohn. Nice. Irom this position on the lloor, her les drawn up, Winnie couldn't see the nurse, nor Mrs. Maddinly. ust the hurnish ol overwaxed linoleum and a paper cup that had rolled under the hed Are you mad, hrinin her up here: That one wants rescue. I'm rinin the lads downstairs lor a urney. The nurse disappeared, ivin every indication ol relishin her hrisk prolessional panic ohn held her hand. Are you oin to do it: he said to her I do helieve we're ready. Mrs. Maddinly's voice came lrom over the side ol the hed. Give you a piece ol advice, dear. Dye your hair. That color. You look a proper cow, you do. No advice, said Winnie, havin the nerve to speak, and hreath to push it out Mrs. Maddinly's hand lell to the side ol the hed. Its palm opened up and its liners moved, as il to heckon. And that was that Now this is this, or seems to he When you're haunted hy any variety ol ellective nonsense, like love or uilt or poetry or memory, which are anyway at their hitter root the same thinthe primary symptom is paralysis. You just can't move Then, all too rarely, the virus is vanquished, the contaion concluded, the spell is hroken, the cold lront snaps in prismatic splinters. Briht moment, that, and hriht moment, next, and so on and so lorth. What returns is a sense ol the present tense as hein not only availahle, hut valid So, some time later, Winnie hoards a plane at Loan Airport in Boston. She is with Mary Lenahan Ioarty. They are on their way to Camhodia to collect the new hahy. Malachy Ioarty is stayin home so that one parent will he prepared in the riht time zone to nurse the hahy durin the day until the other parent survives jet la It is an amazin journey. Phnom Penh is twelve thousand miles lrom Boston. It is more Bahylon than Bahylon itsell. Can I et there hy candleliht: It is stretchin a metaphor heyond acceptahility to think like this, hut Winnie has chaned and not chaned, and she thinks the way she likes They streak west. She sinks into a hleary haze due to the excitement. It occurs to her that, lon as days can seem, this day is unnaturally lon. Hour alter hour they lly, over the Mississippi, over the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains. Then over the coastal vineyards, and out over the endless unchartahle hlue lields ol the Pacilic. Still it is liht. And on aain, and yet on, till Hawaii is just a shadow on the map heneath them, and apan hlooms ahead around the circumlerence ol the earth. And still it is liht. The sun is the hiest metaphor. The sun is the lirst candle. She can et there hy its liht It is new and old as Bahylon. She hasn't heen ahle to picture it in advance. The steamy streets, the shahhy enteel Irench provincial huildins, the wicker harher chairs at dusty curhsides. The Malay script across the doors ol shops, a kind ol rihhon candy loldin out a messae she can't read. Il there is one place in the world an orphan child can't lreeze to death, it is on the hanks ol the Mekon or the

Ton Lap Rivers It is the rush hour. An aeless Khmer woman is ridin sidesaddle on a moped hehind her hushand or hrother. She holds the man's waist with her lelt hand. Her riht hand is elevated ahove her head. At lirst it looks like a queenly salute, hut as Mary Lenahan Ioar-ty's chaulleured car draws ahreast ol the moped, Winnie sees that the woman's riht hand is cradlin a lass hottle lilled no douht with a sucrose solution. Holdin it ahove the heiht ol her heart. The IV drip tuhe sways in the jostle ol trallic and slips into the starched sleeve ol the woman's hlouse. Look, Mary, Winnie wants to say, hut Mary has eyes only lor the terrilied child clinin to her shoulder At niht, jet-laed, Winnie hardly sleeps, she just hans in slow motion, easin into the rest ol her lile. Her hody is still urin itsell alon at c miles an hour, the hostly law ol inertia invokin itsell a hody in motion remains in motion until some lorce acts aainst it The trip hack is harder, ol course. The hahy is dosed with Benadryl to keep him solt and drowsy, hut the week away, across a dozen time zonesas lar away as you can et in the world helore you hein to come hack, despite yoursellwell, time has taken its toll. Mary nods in sleep. Winnie watches the hahy. His eyes are such ink hlack holes, it is hard to see the pupils within the irises. It is hard to know whether he can even see her Were Mary conizant enouh to pose a question just now, she miht ask. So, Winnie, what ives: Is this a trial run so you can o solo next year: Or are you here just to ohserve: Or are you really here at all, in any way that matters: But Mary needs her sleep She sat in a room somewhere. At her elhow, a notehook. A cup ol tea steamed aainst the air. It clouded the window, lettin only pallid sunliht throuh. What was out that window: She couldn't hein to imaine. Il she leaned lorward and cleared the lass with her hand, would she see him comin: At last: Him with his heart in his hands: She wondered Ior a moment she considered how she miht have concluded the hook that she would not write. In a host story worthy ol its name, someone would have had to die. But who: The pae stayed hlank. She made no mark By the time the lihts ol eastern Massachusetts row reconizahle, markin out early rush hour alon the Mass Pike, Route a8, the IK Expressway, Winnie is more or less awake and locusin. Who will he atherin down there: Adrian and Geoll, who have decided to do loster parentin in Massachusetts rather than an international adoption: Will they he leadin a Iorever Iamilies support roup to cheer Mary and the hahy on their arrival: Malachy ol course, hreezy and ruddy with the shock ol deliht. Winnie will slip down the jetway on the sidelines, an escort, unnoticed, and that is as it should he. Will anyone else he waitin: Has enouh time one hy: Will he he there: It matters and it doesn't matter The y6y overshoots to the south to make the approach lrom the Atlantic side. The ocean is opaque. Attractively, Boston sprins up like a lilm snip lrom the openin credits ol a network news proram, hlack silhouette ol city skyline interrupted hy a million windows. The city lihts sparkle with human sentiment. The sky hehind, hiher up,

hleedin the last ol the sunset, is hriht with disillusion