I had been one of them. My son had met one face-to-fa the other side of the try, and there was no telling to what lengths they would go to follow us. The gelings had e for Edward that night years before, and by going downstairs I had scared them off. But they would be back. They were watg us, waiting for my son. He would not be safe as long as they prowled near our home. Edward would not be safe with them in the world. Ohey fixed on a child for the ge, he was as good as gone. I could not let Edward from my sight, and took to log our doors and latg our windows every evening. They circled around my imagination, ied my rest. The piano offered my sole relief. By posing, I hoped to steady my sanity. False start followed false start. I struggled to keep those two worlds separate.
Fortunately, I had Tess and Edward to keep me grounded. A delivery truck pulled into our cul-de-say birthday, and Edward, at the window, shouted, "Its here, its here!" They insisted that I remain in the bedroom with the shades drawn until my gift could be brought into the house, and I dutifully plied, mad with love at my sons jumpy exuberand Tesss sexy, knowing smile. On the bed in darkness, I closed my eyes, w if I deserved such love iurn, w that it might be stolen should the truth ever be revealed.
Edward bounded up the stairs and hammered on the closed drabbing my arm with his two small hands, he pulled me to the studio. A great green bow stretched across the door, and with a curtsey, Tess presented me with the scissors.
"As mayor of this city," I intoned, "Id like my distinguished son to join me in the honors." We cut the ribbon together and swung open the door.
The small an was not new or elaborate, but it was beautiful from the love given. And it would prove enough for me to approximate the sounds I was after. Edward fiddled with the stops, and I took Tess aside and asked how she could afford such a luxury.
"Ever since San Francisco," she said, "or maybe since Czechoslovakia, Ive been wanting to do this for you. A penny here, a dollar there, and a woman who drives a hard bargain. Eddie and I found it for sale at an old church up in Coudersport. Your mom and Charlie put us over the top, you should know, but we all wanted you to have it. I know its not perfect, but—"
"Its the best gift—"
"Dont worry about the cost. Just play the music, baby."
"I gived my allowances," Edward said.
I embraced them both aight, overe by fortune, and then I sat dolayed from Bachs The Art of the Fugue, lost again to time.
Still enamored with the new mae days later, I returned with Edward from kindergarten to ay and quiet house. I gave him a snack, turned on Sesame Street, ao my studio to work. On the an keyboard sat a single sheet of folded paper with a yellow stiote affixed to the surface. "Lets discuss!" she had scribbled. She had found the passenger list with the names of all the Ungerlands, which I had hidden and locked up aim papers; I could only imagine how it wound up in Tesss hands.
The front door swung open with a screed banged shut, and for a dark moment the thought dahrough my mind that they had e for Edward. I dashed to the front door just as Tess inched her way into the dining room, arms laden with groceries. I took a few bags to lighten her load, and we carried them into the kit and danced around each other in a pas de deux, putting food away. She did not seem particularly ed about anything other than t