At that time my bedroom was a poem of shed
light. Climbing the burning hill I could see that the wind was sleeping in its
sarcophagus, although it would wake up at night, and a rebellious sunbeam fell
oblique over my tent through the three ash trees which were escorting it from
behind, embellishing it with a tunnel of light that announced me that this was
the place where I should stay to sleep on. Before going up I had seen that
there was then Lucy, who had already returned from the street and was now with
her little king in her arms, Olivia, Miguel and my mate, who saw my troubles to
go up and came towards me.
− "Today you should
not walk, Nike." –he said.
− "Actually I caught
a bus to Alder Street. Richard has lent me the money so I could catch it. I
have had to choose between two vile acts, Luke. Or I can't go out with you
tonight. But we should leave now. At my pace, it will take more than an hour to
reach anywhere."
− "Good for Richard.
Nobody who loves you should allow you to walk today. You've come to your house,
My Mate. Let’s get closer to your tent. Before that, we have to talk."
With a bit of rebellion, it seemed that Luke
was not very willing to my going to the street this afternoon, we approached the
threshold of my house, where we would spend a while talking. Lucy and Paul went
into their tent. Olivia read something on the outside of hers. It was still
blowing west, but gently, and nothing hampered her comfortable reading. Miguel
seemed to prefer a stroll near the river, where his twin was then washing.
− "Nike, I'm really
curious about you. What has happened this morning?"
− "Luke, we
should go now. I can tell you everything in the Basilica or wherever you want
to go this afternoon. But remember that I'm back to go again to the
street."
− "First we will stop
here for your feet to rest, My Mate. And then we'll see −and as I was still
rebel, he insisted−. You had better do it."
I had so much to tell, and so much anxiety to leave that I began by the end.
− "I am still
working on the Thuban Star. I've got it, Luke. By the way, Samuel Weissmann
wants to invite you to eat on Monday."
− "Tell me
everything from the beginning, Nike. Since you woke up this morning."
That pause was really needed. The main thing
was to tell him my many temptations and it seems that I kept reproaching myself.
− "Nike, my
friend. I'm already beginning to know that anything about you that you can tell
me that does really hurt you, you go and tell me. I hope you will get soon to a
day when you can find balance in your dignity. All of us have had temptations.
On the street they are inevitable. And if my words are not worth for you,
remember which result ih has been. You are back here."
− "Finally I succeeded, My Mate –and I was talking about the antiques shop, the
incident with the drunken young man and the bakery. Later I told him how in
Vicar’s End I was not the same. How I found Richard there and how I entered the
Thuban Star, some of my conversations with him and Anne-Marie later. And I was
about to give a summary of my allegation before the raiders−. It was indeed
Walter Hope the man who saw me yesterday in that alley among the rats."
− "Now you will speak
of him and the raiders. First I must remind you that Anne-Marie I'm already lucky to know. I presume, for what I know of her, that she has shown you
loyalty this morning. And I am also very curious to know Richard."
−“He will come to the
Torn Hand when we least expect him. He will come soon. But if you let me talk
to Samuel, perhaps you can drink at the bar with him on Monday."
− "Do you already
call him Samuel?" − Luke noticed everything.
− "This morning he
has behaved with me as a friend. I don't know if you think that I am naive,
Luke."
− 'You know that
yesterday I got the impression that he really likes you. And you always
categorize people as they are. If you think that he is a friend, it is that he
really is. Tell me quietly what you told the raiders."
I explained as best I could and with certain
hurry some of my words and the final vote. Luke looked at me sympathetically when
he learned that I had renounced my salary.
− "I do not need any
more money, My Mate. And I sensed that only that way they would allow a
beggar to work in the Thuban. And finally I retired to my office where Samuel
surprised me by inviting me to a soup. I had to eat, Luke. If I didn't, I
couldn’t concentrate on my work and I would be fired."
− "Of course,
Nike. And that reminds me... I guess you are still hungry. We have some fish so that you can be fed. Wait a second. I'm going to my tent."
His absence would last ten minutes because,
as I later learned, he had been playing with his son till he'd fallen asleep again.
Miguel had returned a few moments ago and watched Luke and me talking. He
respected our dialogue but I knew he wanted to talk with us or me alone. In
fact, when my mate went away, he came immediately close to me.
− "Nike, I
wanted... before any other thing, to apologize for my doubts. Something Luke has told me of your day yesterday, but in my distrust, I thought again that
you were not going to return and you see, I'm mistaken again."
− "You don't have
to apologize, Miguel. You are usually right. Today I have lived a morning of
temptation and I was about to throw it all away. But here I am."
− "But you are still
going to your work. Of course that I can understand. What I find
incomprehensible is not that you choose a world or another, but that you want
to preserve both."
− "You lack
information, Miguel. I would tell you, but certainly I should first tell the
truth to a certain person –and seeing on his face clearly the doubt that
person was his partner, I had to add−. John and I have nothing. Really. Neither
I am in love with him nor he with me. It is not that."
− "My father,
Nike, was a war correspondent. His twin brother, my uncle Mark, too. They covered
the Spanish civil war information, but they finally ended up separated each
on one side. He used to tell me that the worst of the war was not the
fratricidal battles, but the trace there was later: hatred, grudges and
revenge. Perhaps you've already lived the battles. For what Luke has told me,
you did yesterday with great dignity. But you will have to choose a single side
soon, or you'll hate one of them, possibly this, the street. Really, what retains
you?"
− "Excuse me,
Miguel, if I still hide some information. I really think there is
someone who should know it first."
− "But you are
still in your job."
− "It has not
been easy for me to keep it, but yes, I'm still in it. But I assure you that I
don't really need it. I'm there in case things went wrong. Seriously, Miguel, I'd
like to tell you more, but I can't. Only remember this: nothing holds me. I
want to be here."
I guess he would answer me, but just then Luke
returned. Miguel moved away quietly saying that he was going in search of his
partner. My mate sat next to me with three yogurts in his hand, which he offered
me.
− "We have
several sardines for the night, but I thought that if I give them now we would
have to light a fire first. And Olivia has purchased today a lot of yogurt, for you
because, believe me, you will probably need them. Have them and we will talk a
little longer."
− "We should go now, but really, My Mate, thank you for the food."
I dreamed that I could soon feed them all
with what Luke and I had brought from the street.
− "Miguel’s words
are always sensible. But they may err in that they are not suitable for you.
You must follow one of your stars and find your own north."
− "I did not know
that Miguel’s father had a twin brother."
− "His father and
his uncle were born the same day. He has found his twin in Pollux. You and I
called each other twins and yesterday we were again and to still be, we must now
talk."
Luke’s star, Denebola; and that of Nike,
Zosma, seen for the first time by untrained eyes can be confused with Castor
and Pollux. That day everything was for Nike stained glass, mirrors, images that looked
like twins, but with his mate he had already begun to look for his fleece, and
wanted to return soon to the street to still be with him an Argonaut. On that
necessary rest for his feet, constant twins reflected their brother and this
October 5 Nike could finally move to Gemini.
− "Nike. You
won't come today to the street. Olivia is waiting for you with everything ready
to cure your feet. Look –he went on as best he could when he saw that my protest was
becoming rebellion−, imagine for a second that one day, you and I still mates,
I woke up shivering, with clear signs of weakness, of fever. What would you do?"
− "I would go for
both, and also for your wife. Because Luke, if I'm still your mate, as I would
like to, I should taka care of her part too."
− "Once I have
spoken with Lucy, I can tell you that she will leave every morning to find food
for two. And now you want us to go, you and I, to find food for three? It wouldn't
be fair, Nike. As it would not be that you searched for food for Paul. Today he
only needs his mother to be well nourished. But neither for Lucy nor for me it is clear now whether once he stops feeding from her, we would allow you to feed him.
Last night my wife and I had a conversation that one day you will know. Give us
time, My Mate."
− "How has Lucy’s
day been today?"
− "It has been
very good. She and I have food enough for tonight. Now I will leave to find
yours."
− "In any case,
Luke, or with pain in my heart I will have to think seriously if I continue
with you, if one day you tell me that Lucy’s morning has not been good, you and
I will go out to beg for three."
− "Ok, My Mate."
− "And now we are leaving, right?"
− "Nike, look at me.
Yesterday I could have prevented your hunger, because surely there was food for
you in the outskirt, but you were telling me what steps we should take, and hunger seemed to me to
be beautiful, if I was willing to live it with you. Many nights we suffer from
it, and you went to the street to learn and measure your resistance and it was fair
that you knew everything before taking any decisions. And also in this sense we
have been twins. I did not eat my first night here. But we have not been twins in everything. My first day on the street was actually on November 19. Lucy led me to St
Mary's Church and there I lived what was yours according to our religion, but you
have not lived. There I felt shame for the first time."
− "Luke, I don't
know for what reason you are telling me this, if you want to talk about
something true or are only telling me a story. I'm sorry, My Mate, but no way I'm
going to believe that you felt ashamed of Lucy."
He again cried with me. I saw he was so
moved that he gave me a hug. In such a lachrymose condition it was difficult
for him to speak.
− "God bless you,
Nike. It's increasingly clear for me to say that it is a pleasure to be your mate. No, I didn't
feel ashamed of Lucy, but I felt shame. Listen to me. When, with an outstretched
hand, there on the stairs of the Church I was, inexperienced but determined,
for the first time, a neighbor from Jerusalem Street, a friend of my
father’s went through the square. And then my cheeks turned a deep red when I
noticed that he had recognized me and for a second I thought: where the hell am
I? And what am I doing? It didn’t last more than half a minute, until my eyes
looked again at the extraordinary woman who accompanied me and then instead
of shame I felt true pride. I happily greeted this gentleman and from
that moment I don’t remember to have felt it. Being next to Lucy saved me. I
have never had shame of being at her side, but I was ashamed, the first day, of myself.
And my mate reads me again, even the lines of the past that nobody has ever
given him to read. Do you understand now?"
− "I do, Luke.
And I think it is quite natural to feel shame in the street. It will also reach
me or perhaps it has already reached me, you tell me. But I knew that you could
not have lived it with Lucy."
− "How extraordinary
you are, My Mate. Yesterday not only did you not live it, but at all times a man
who was next to you could feel genuine pride to be with you. I noticed it
twice; I noticed that just as I was never ashamed of Lucy, you would never be
ashamed of me. You introduced me warmely both to Samuel Weissmann and Simon
Bonner. And everything was so natural in you that you surely didn’t notice your
greatness. For this reason, Nike, it will be real happiness for me to go to the street for you.
Your mate is going to show you the same happiness to be your mate that you
showed me yesterday. Today you need to stay here and Olivia, who is
waiting, will relieve those blisters that do not allow you to move around the
streets. If you do not remain quiet this afternoon, tomorrow it will be for you
impossible to walk no matter you want to continue showing your loyalty to me. I
will summarize everything: you're My Mate; you do not feel ashamed of me, you take
care of my wife and my son's meal. I am so proud of you that I want to
return to the street with you tomorrow. But if you want to do it, it is vital
that you stay here today. Remember that you've already said that if I had a
fever, you would go for both. I will do that today. Even if you don’t walk next
to me, you'll be on the street with me."
− "Luke, I would
like to go, but I know that you won't let me. And it's okay. Either way, I will
go with you tomorrow. Olivia is watching me. She wants me to go to her.
Just a question then. Are you going on Monday to lunch with Samuel"?
− "If you think it
is ok, I will approach Avalon Road at about 12. If you come a second to the avenue,
you can tell me whether I may enter the bar to meet Richard and there await Mr. Weissmann's arrival. Or else, I will still be doing my job in the urban
center until 1. And then tell your boss that at that time I'll be at the door.
I guess I'll have no trouble to find it."
− "You will see a
window with the Argonauts. There are precisely Castor and Pollux."
− "Good, Nike.
And now go with Olivia, who is waiting. Mistress Oakes has been happy to leave
alone today knowing that her girl was expecting to cure your feet."
We were still mates, but that evening I
could not go to the street. Luke was sensible enough and was very right. When I
stood up, I swayed and I would have fallen if it were not because he held me.
My conditions were very poor and I was forced to look at it recognizing that
indeed, in order to continue to be his mate, today I had to suffer to not be able to
accompany him.
Olivia saw me finally come to her, closed
the book she was reading and went into her tent, saying "now you must wait
for five minutes, while I prepare the ointment." Luke helped me tenderly
to sit down and then told me that he was already leaving. "But even if it's only me that can walk, we will both go, because you'll mentally be with me. See you tonight,
My Mate."
Olivia came out right away, holding a green plastic
dish filled with a strange whitish potion, but clearly smelling like vinegar. She
also had a book in her hand.
− "Since you'll have
to spend an afternoon here, maybe you don’t know what to do. And if you liked
Alice, I can lend you the second part. Yes, Nike, Lewis Carroll also wrote Through the Looking-Glass,
and What Alice Found There. It will please you. This time it's a
chess game. But I won’t tell you more. If you finish it, we can talk about it.
Now you will notice that your feet are alleviated and you can walk. But
even if you can do it, I do not recommend you to walk. Let your feet rest.
Stay here and spend the afternoon reading."
− "You pamper me
too much, Olivia, but you are always right. And with you I discovered the
pleasure of reading. Since I cannot accompany Luke, it will be great to spend the
afternoon together with all of you. You already are nearly all."
− "Bruce and my
mistress will return soon. Anyway tonight we are well stocked. But it would be
desirable to tighten our belt a bit. For years I have always succeeded in predicting
weather, and tomorrow afternoon it will rain a lot. Let us save something to
eat for dinner then."
I was glad I had only eaten two yogurts. I
would eat the other one at night and would try, seeing what food was available, to leave
the sardines for the following day. They were still feeding me, and although I
would like to do something else for them, I still could not. From that 5th of
October, my next goal would be bringing food for all of them, to return part of what
they had given me. If life allowed me to be forever with them, I would go at
the pace that the street and my mates were indicating me. But I looked
back to see with which magic potion the priestess wanted to cure my feet.
− "What exactly
is that, Olivia?"
-"This remedy was
taught to me by Mistress Lauders, also a beggar. A few days after childbirth, my
feet were full of blisters. Four spoonfuls of yogurt and one of vinegar. You
mix everything and leave it to stand for five minutes. And when it is ready,
like now, it is applied on your feet. Come on, Nike, take off your shoes."
I did not know in what conditions my feet would be after more than 24 hours without a shower. That shyness, that
embarrassment, were also part of our indignities, but Olivia, who must be
understanding what I was thinking, looked me in the eyes and spoke:
− "Come on, Nike.
Do not blush. I have healed many beggars’ feet. All of the Torn Hand, sooner or
later, have passed through my hands."
I took off my shoes with a smile. Olivia had
just included me, I supposed, in the list of the Torn Hand beggars. She then
began to anoint my feet with that cream, not entirely whitish. I would be lying
if I didn’t say that this mixture gave me immediate relief. I would be able to
walk later, but I would still have to try. But when she went to the right
foot, she looked at me with affection, as if she feared to lose me again and
asked me:
− "When are you leaving
this time, Nike?"
I didn't yet have a handkerchief to dry the
endless tears that I shed that year, those months, every minute. I replied as I
could.
− "I won't leave,
Olivia. I'm not leaving anymore. At least that is my intention. I know that on
August 6 I also made a promise that I could not fulfill. But this time I will be
stronger: I assure you I’m going to stay."
− "It is a
pleasure to have seen you again. And whenever I see you I'm going to tell you. I
have now finished, Nike. Now it is only necessary that I put these sterile
gauze on your feet, one in each foot −it was said and done. With both feet she wasn't for longer than a minute−. Now put on your socks and shoes and you'll see how you
can not only be upright, but you will walk without problems. Anyway, tonight do
not move much and stay here quietly reading or thinking. And in any case, if
you find yourself strong enough, do not go further than the river."
I told her that I would go awhile to the river
to check how I walked. And also because they went to the Kilmourne to
wash the cutlery, and although I had only messed a spoon, I wanted to get used to
doing the work everyone did. Before returning to the threshold of my tent to
read, I met John, who was carrying firewood. I told him to explain to me a bit what
was exactly what they did. He advised me to stay seated, at least today, but I already
saw that I could walk without difficulty, and if they had not allowed me to go
to the street, I was at least able to do a job where feet were not used. We do
during the day several piles of firewood stacked on the index finger, between
Lucy and Luke’s tent and Menhir Bridge. Trunks we had enough for two weeks.
− "Okay, Nike –he
said−, but not now. If at night you see that your feet are ok, we will come
here and carry the firewood to the usual place of campfires and we can even light
the bonfire. Now rest."
I lost a few minutes in walking to "the toilets",
my new bathroom, and next I definitely stayed under the shadow of the three ash trees
in my new lobby. There I would be for several hours reading Through the looking glass, till I nearly finished it. I had never learned
to play chess, but some time later, a man who you still don't know, Protch, taught
me. One hour I had just spent there reading when I saw that Lucy and her son
approached.
− "Nike, Paul won’t
sleep today. Surely he will if you cradle him awhile."
And she placed him in my arms again. I
begged her to sit, occupying the east side of my stone threshold.
− "Can you see?
He was somewhat uncomfortable. He needed to swing a while in your chest."
-"Thanks,
mate" I did not dare to give yet that vocative to everybody, but an unexpected
tenderness in Lucy made me find it easy and natural that evening to give her
that name. It was strange how my vision of her had been changing to start
slowly thinking that without her calm looking at life the Torn Hand would never
have had any sense.
− "Luke told me
many things last night and you see that a minute ago he came to our tent and
told me some more –the little king sought a position and ended up finding one
for all the moments when he was in my arms. He preferred to curl up on the
left side, almost on my shoulder. He looked at me tenderly one moment, and
seemed to smile, before snoozing safely for about a quarter of an hour. When finally
I handed him to his mother, he was still deeply asleep -meanwhile Lucy,
pointing at him, said−. He was in your mind all afternoon yesterday. And so was
I, I'm sure. At least a while ago when you were talking with Luke. And about
that I wanted to talk to you."
− "You should
find food for both of you, Lucy. And when Luke comes with me, we will seek for
three."
− "Nike here we all
seek for all. The day will come for you –seeing me crestfallen− when you can
bring for others. All of us have been through what you're through now. If you
remember August 5, only Mistress Oakes, Bruce and John could be in the street -
then I saw back in the outskirt the first two she had mentioned. Mistress Oakes went to talk to
her daughter. Bruce seemed to have stayed at the door of his tent waiting for me.
Only Luke was out, although he had just left, supposedly for two−. You know
that so that Paul can eat now it is only necessary that I'm well fed. And look,
since Luke and I cannot go together, I always thought that my husband would
need some company in the streets. And when I met you, I would have suggested,
of all names, yours. But keep in mind that yesterday was for Luke and
me completely unexpected and we could not have things planned. I understand
your scruples, which seem correct to me. So he and I have just talked. Look,
I'll go out every morning to search for the three of us. In reality, for eight, Nike.
We must never forget the other five. And so, you can leave every afternoon with
Luke, and can take care of me too because I will have taken care of
the three of us before. Only thus I would find it a fair agreement. What do you
think?"
I had to agree. I would have liked Lucy and
Luke to be always together, but it wasn't possible. This way, I would go with
him and could search for her and her son. I resigned myself: I didn't know whether
there could be a better chance. I hoped that the following day was better, but I
spoke to her of what her mother had said of rain tomorrow afternoon.
− "We should go
in the morning. All of us. Nike, since this will be your first weekend here, you may
consider what you can do on Saturday and Sunday morning. I suggest you to begin in St
Mary. There are two morning masses: 9 and 12. I could go to the first while
Paul stays here to your care, and upon my return, you can go together."
Lucy didn't want to distract me for longer
knowing that Bruce wanted to talk to me and I had Through the looking glass also as alternative company. I handed her
back her son and she went to talk to her mother and Mistress Oakes, in the tent
of the latter. Miguel and John liked to spend evenings of good weather with a
stroll through the surrounding area. Bruce, as I supposed, then came to my
side.
− "I would like
to invite you to a coffee, Nike. There are three bars in Millers' Lane. But the
closest is called The Last Road."
− "I know it,
Bruce. I was there on August 4. But I have no money for a cup of coffee. Leave
it for tomorrow. Then I will have one with you happily."
− "According to
what Luke has told me, yesterday you won 50 budges.
Do you still have them?"
− "Yes,
Bruce."
− "Of the three
bars there are in Millers' Lane, The Last
Road is the cheapest. The price of a cup of coffee is 40 budges. I suppose that you will not object
when you will still have 10. And I can also leave you a coffee paid for
tomorrow. Come with me, Nike."
− "I would really
have no problems in another moment. But so far not only don't I bring anything,
but you don’t stop making my life comfortable. I'm a parasite, Bruce."
− "Anyone can
have a bad day, and that happened to you yesterday. You will feed us one day.
But if you really want to bring food for all of us, you must now allow, since today we are
eight, the other seven to feed you."
I was eager to have a coffee with him and I
had to nod. I told him that I would if he indicated me temples and mass hours.
Smiling, he promised to write all down on a napkin during the coffee.
It was a blessing to notice myself again able
to walk and it was also to join Bruce for a coffee, but I assumed that he would
have beer. I remembered how there in August I had read two horoscopes and in
what state of mind I was then. Well, I'm here. I found the newspaper and I
started to read my signs, while Bruce, who knew David, the waiter, introduced
me.
− "This young man that you can see with me,
David, is called Nike. At the moment he lives with us. Treat him well. Look,
here I leave you money in advance so that he would come to have breakfast in
the morning."
David Fieldman greeted me fondly this time.
The beggars of the Outcasts and the Torn Hand were good customers. The more I
knew him, the more I realized that he had a pleasant conversation and could
talk about everything with ease. This first day we chatted only awhile of how
that October was being and the probabilities that it would keep on raining.
As Bruce pointed me out all the temples he
knew, including the so far temples in Downhills and Fairfields, I finished reading Leo
and Cancer. They hardly ever said anything similar and they even contradicted. Leo
told me that it was still early for love, but Cancer explained that someone was
falling in love with me.
Since predictions did not convince me, I began
to look at Bruce's list. He had written the name of more than twenty
temples, some far from home. I asked him what the closest ones were, in
addition to St Mary, and the Basilica.
− "In Templar
Village, close to St Mary, you can find the small parish of St Mark, in Damascus Road,
very near Luke’s former house. You will soon know it. But their mass schedules
are mostly holidays in the afternoon. In these days of rainy weather I don't
know. But maybe you know something of Riverside –and when I answered I didn’t,
he said−. The eastern part, so close to us, is also Catholic. Next to St
Alban's Road, on the corner near number 21, you'll see St Stephen. If you go
into the core of this new city, you have The Holy Ghost Church. The West is
Lutheran, like all the adjacent neighborhood of Evendale. There are more
churches and chapels. But I'm the only one who likes to roam so far from home. But as long as you
continue next to Luke, let him show you locations, hours, temples and other
habits that we who live on the street have."
I asked him to tell me something more about
nearby churches, and there we were for almost half an hour, while I watched every
now and then the napkin and asked him new questions. It was the first time that I
thought, without saying anything to him, that if I continued to be a beggar, one
day I would like to go with him.
But finally we finished our coffees. He had
asked for one too. And although I knew that when he was alone, he always asked for beer,
next to me he never did. Everyone showed me similar tact at the bonfire. For
there was a bonfire that night. I spent several hours reading until I saw Luke
come back. I went to him and assured him that I could already walk. Also his
day had been good. Everybody had returned beautifully provided. I spoke to him of
what Lucy had told me about the second mass at St Mary, saying that now I could
go with him. When we were all together, I went to look for firewood. My mate
came with me and we lit the fire.
Two exact months had passed from my last
campfire, on August 5, to this October 5. We were all soon sitting together, at
that time the little king in his father's arms. But mine were not empty. A few
minutes later Ted came to me. Everyone assured me that in two months Ted had
not approached the fire, smelling from afar that I wasn't there. We started to chat. They
told me that it would be better to heat the sardines now rather than tomorrow. There
were 20. I ate two. I couldn't eat more sardines no matter they offered me. Mistress
Oakes seemed to understand me.
− "Nike only needs
now to hear someone again telling a story. You, my girl, can do it, something you
began to tell me, but we were interrupted and I don't know the end."
Olivia was going to tell a recreation from her
reading, I soon recognized it, of Through
the looking glass.
− "Alison was a brave and tenacious girl −I startled, recalling my love story with Alison
Wright. But Alison and Alan, I thought, Olivia invented names that reminded her
of Alice− whose parents could not value her qualities. They neither spoiled nor
hurt her; they simply neglected her. She used to dream of wild horizons, seeing
in her imagination long valleys and high mountains, with large and clear skies,
but not knowing how to plan her future. One day she was walking by the river
with her friend Alan, only a year younger than she. They agreed to talk and he
told her that he had been hired by the realm of red pieces to play endless
games of chess in which many affairs of State were solved between both
kingdoms, white and red. Alan suggested her to experience a game the following
Saturday and Alison went there. She was surprised to see a huge battlefield shaped like
a board with 64 squares, 32 of them white and the other 32 black. The girl was
allowed to enter the game as a pawn. Soon she saw that things were not going
well for the Red Kingdom, which soon lost its Queen. Alison was told that if a
pawn reached the eighth square it could become any piece, also the Queen. This
tempted her and she went resolutely to the opposite point. But she was going
northbound, and the wind was blowing from the north and her walking was
impossible with a headwind. Whenever she tried to move forward, she realized
that she moved a step forward, and two steps eastwards, sometimes westwards; or
two steps forward and one eastward or westward. The White Kingdom then stopped the
game asking the Red one if they remembered the rules. Alan approached to
explain to Alison that it was the knight that moved that way. Decidedly the white
team accepted her as such, once the girl arrived, because at last she arrived,
to the eighth square. And Alison never became the Queen, but she was admitted
as a new piece, even if she was a maiden, of a knight. The game lasted longer
than expected. The Red Kingdom lost the game, but for the White Kingdom it was
difficult to win, because Alison’s movements long protected her King. But she
was hired. The girl was in countless games. She had a future now. And this is
how many are dreaming to be queens to at least stop being pawns, and they find in
fate an unsuspected sidewalk: neither queen nor pawn. Time softens its arrows
and sometimes makes you a knight."
When Olivia mentioned the north wind, as if
it had been a magical invocation, the west wind of all day reappeared. We
finished hearing her tale quite frozen. I went to my tent for the sheep skin
coat. But the others, once they had all eaten, started leaving. I stayed one
little longer with Luke to put out the fire and definitely agreed with him that
at about 11 o'clock we would go to St Mary, to the 12 o’clock mass.
Neither queen nor pawn, I thought the second
night in my tent. That October 5 I had not been either fully a raider or fully a
beggar. But I had learned to deal with them on the street, although that day I
had not walked it. I could already walk and tomorrow I would move down the
city even if I had to learn to do the movements of the knight. Thinking about
all this, I fell asleep and I don’t even have memories that the night was
cold.
I woke up shortly before 7. I left my tent
right away. I wanted to see how I walked that morning. I moved without problems
fortunately. And Olivia, my healer, already was in the fire. I spent with her a
quarter of an hour and we spoke of Through
the looking glass and her tale of last night. But I had not finished the
book and we didn’t speak much. I myself made my coffee every morning and she,
with sandwich bread, taught me to do some toasts. She was speaking of some cheap
shops in Riverside Avenue adding that the bread was bought from Monday to Friday
in a bakery of Alder Street. But in the weekend it was better to eat sandwich bread. It was not enough to bring food to fill a sandwich. We also had to
deal with bread. They were several days before I could bring money to go for
it. I remembered the place: Alder Street, corner of Damascus Road, a small
bakery without name. But there was no bread in the afternoons, and with my
schedule, I had to give the money to someone to bring it. But of my part soon Lucy
took care.
As I did not know how to kill time, that
morning I had too much time and although briefly, we talked about books, an idea came
to me there in the second bonfire with Olivia. I thanked her for helping me
regain my ability to walk, and telling her I was going for a walk, I moved soon in a westerly direction. I was five minutes in The Last Road, which was already open, having a second
coffee, the one Bruce had paid for. And after a while I went out. I had
conceived the idea of walking towards Deanforest and bring some necessary
things. Nothing I felt on my feet of the hard day yesterday and it only took me
half an hour to return to that house. I had two clear objectives: to find what I
needed and to have a shower. On Monday morning I would have a new one prior to
attending the Thuban. And when in the afternoon I told Luke, as usual,
reproaching myself, he told me that whenever he needed to have one he went to
his brother's house, but also in Temple Road there was a place of public
showers, where someone could wash for only 30 budges.
I was pleased to enter hot water again, as
clean as the many tears I had rained in that very bathroom. So as not to cry, I
began to think of all I needed. But to go back with so many things... That would
not be practical. I thought that they could need them. Yes, I would go into the
garage. If they lacked so many things, I would also lack them. ... The men even
sought their clothes in the landfill. I'd go there quite often, I thought, but the
street had caught me so suddenly that I did not even have any blankets.
So when I got out of the shower, I looked
for all the essential things. An alarm clock, an umbrella, something to cover
me. I thought about bringing also a couple of blankets, but no, not from there. I
opened the wardrobes. I knew what I wanted. Another exquisite Siddeley wool
sheep skin coat. This was brown. I would not take it to the street, but it would
cover me from cold in my tent as long as I did not find blankets in the
landfill. And if it did not freeze, I could even return Luke his blankets. I
accumulated all these junk in the kitchen. It still had very little dust. Agnes
had cleaned thoroughly. I remembered that in a couple of hours she would be
here, as every Saturday. She has her key and will enter, I thought. Well, today
she will not find Mr. Siddeley. Next Saturday I might come and explain the
situation to her, but she will continue being paid her salary. In terms of
food, I certainly wasn't going to take anything, but I started emptying the fridge.
Several trips to the garden to throw it all into the containers, and finally I
came back. I still had to go to the library.
How I was moved seeing a deserted country. Those soft armchairs where I used to sit seemed to be begging me to sit on them again,
placidly smoking with a cigarette in my hand, recalling its lost image. But no,
evoking former cries of loneliness made me cry, but I was already with them in
the same country. At least I was going to take something of the best of your
fantastic territories, I spoke to it, oh you magic kingdom of words. Without
much thought, I took four volumes by Shakespeare, in the hope that they liked its reading:
Othello, Macbeth, King Lear and the
Tempest. If one other day I came with more time, I would keep on searching the
library.
I managed with some indecision to leave that
land which had so many dream pages. I heaped the books in the kitchen and went
to the garage, which if you still remember, Protch, was on the north. And there
were my three cars, as a consequence of the unproductive waste of my entire life.
I selected the Chevrolet. It seemed to me that its white would be less striking
in the grey whiteness of Millers' Lane. I went to the kitchen to pick up everything I had
stacked there, I loaded the car and started it. I knew which road would take me
to the Torn Hand. Due to the travel in August in Anne-Marie’s Plymouth I remembered
that Millers' Lane was a one-way street and I had to enter on the south, down the
roundabout of Rivers' Meet. There was a perfect place right on the sidewalk of The Last Road. There it was parked there for months: I
would go everywhere on foot, but if my mates one day needed a car
urgently, there would be my Chevrolet. Since that time I always walked with its
key in my pocket. I finally got out. Bruce and Luke were next to the former’s
tent. They had seen me. They came to help me. The sky was covered with grey
threats everywhere. It was going to be a rainy day. It was half past eight.
− "Two minutes
ago Lucy left −said Luke−. If you had come on foot, you would have seen her."
Being three, in a single trip, we finished unloading.
Bruce moved away to the street, that day only in the morning. So he was not
going to get far away. He would go to St Stephen. I was alone with Luke in my
threshold. We would now have to wait for his wife to return.
− "I've read the
four −he began to say, talking about the books I had brought−, but my favorite one
by Shakespeare is The Tempest."
I told him that I would read it with pleasure
and I guess that I reproached myself for having brought things that belonged to me, but I had
not won in the street.
− "You have, from
what I see, your own codes; sometimes stricter than ours. Listen to me, My Mate.
When John came to the street, he also brought some things for everyone. We have
no problems in accepting something of a beggar, and, today you are one −accepting
something of a beggar. Again that fleeting idea came to me that bothered me
for a second. I knew that this scintillation of my mind would explain Luke’s
dirt if I could join this thought with his latest words−. And he also left his
car on Wall Street, next to Wrathfall Bridge. It is true that it was useless
when he moved to Knights Hill, where I met them. So don't let certain things
alarm you. You are on the street. Not even clothing you have brought because
you prefer getting it like us. Anything else that belongs to you, you can use
as you please."
Without a compass, getting right or wrong,
it is true that Luke did not reproach me while I myself did. I had a lot to
learn and had been with them very briefly. He also began to talk to me
about his brother.
− "Yesterday I
went to the Church of St Mark, and then I went to James’ House. I was talking
about you. He wants to see you, but now it is difficult. This year he goes in
the afternoon to the University and you are going to work in the morning. There
are still weekends, but this one I've recommended him to not get out of his
house, for it is not going to stop raining. So I have agreed with him, if you also
agree and continue here next Saturday, October 13, to go together to his house
and I will also show you when getting back the whole of the nearby outskirts."
Shortly after came towards us, or I had better
tell you that it came directly towards me, as if we had known each other for life,
a gray cat who I had not yet seen. I assumed that it would be Theseus. I didn’t
even have to convince him. I grabbed it and put it directly on my arms.
− "Theseus, of
course. Well, Nike, you finally know it. Who knows if Telemachus or Ted might have
spoken to him about you? He seems to know very well who you are. It is, as Telemachus is and
like its mother, Tessa, was, of some neighbors. The woman was here one morning up here
to pick up Telemachus and introduced herself. Shirley Matts she is called. We
know little more. It seems that they did not call it Theseus, but Achilles, but
she told us that from that night it would have both names."
I spent more than half an hour with
Theseus-Achilles in my arms. Luke left and as I could, my right arm occupied
with the cat, the left one with Through
the looking glass, I finished it and I finally said as I had heard
Olivia in summer: it has been a pleasure. I occasionally looked at Luke taking
care of his son. In his father’s arms they went for a ride. Paul loved being
taken to see the landscape. Lucy arrived at 11. Her short morning had been
quite good. That night, whatever day my mate and I had, we would all eat.
Finally we went back to the street at five
past eleven in the morning of Saturday October 6. We took Calvary Road, which I
knew was the best way to reach St Mary. Luke came behind me, letting me
guide, and knowing well that my compass would show where our north was. Yes,
all the milestones of the road were as I remembered them. And finally we
arrived at the Church twenty minutes before the mass. Now we did sit on its few
steps. No other beggars had come yet and we saw the arrival of the believers
and our hands were languid dew, not rain, but something was falling. When the
mass had already begun, a young beggar approached, not only fairly clean, but with
many soft cologne drops, and I noticed he called Luke by his name, not by his
surname. My mate turned to me:
− "Nike, I will
introduce you to Enoch Reed, one of our neighbors."
He was one of the Outcasts and he began to
chat with Luke with enough confidence. And then it struck me that he spoke of Vera
Lloyd as if she were his partner. According to what she had told me, I remembered her matched
to one Vince, but I said nothing. I would have the chance later to ask
Luke.
And shortly after I wondered whether he was sane.
For his conversation he seemed to be. But every time an attractive girl came
near, he made the same sign. He took one of his hands to his face, focused women and
finally he seemed to press with his finger an imaginary button. I.e. Protch, he
took photos, but without a camera.
Anyway, I spoke awhile with him, enough to
realize that when talking he was a very lucid man. But he left soon, without even
waiting for the exit of the believers. He said that he was well stocked
for all weekend, and recommending us, if something we needed, to get close to their
outskirt to dine with them. It seemed to be that if there was a newcomer to the
Outcasts or the Torn Hand, a dinner was held to know one another well, and I was
invited, since I was the last acquisition in the two outskirts in the south
area of the river.
When he left, I asked a couple of questions
to my mate.
− "But, Luke,
Vera Lloyd was not dating one Vince?"
−“Do you know her?"
− "I saw Vera twice
in August. But I met only her. She spoke to me, let’s see if I remember them
all, of four women and two men. The other three women were called Katie, Evelyn
and Loraine. The men were Vince and Enoch. And I thought that Vera was dating
Vince."
− "And so it was.
I don't know the reasons, but Vince ended up dating Katie. I don't know whether Vera
felt betrayed, but a few days later, she matched Enoch. It seems rather
complicated, but maybe it surprises you to know they are still all great
friends. But you wanted to ask more about Enoch, right? Dare."
− "Let’s see how I
say this. He seems to be a sane man. But those signs he was doing a while ago,
as if he was taking photos..."
− "Enoch’s life
is quite complicated. I couldn’t summarize it. When he reached the street, they
began to call him "deprived" and still their mates,
affectionately, do. You can see that when they met him, he often made a sign
indicating that he was without a single dain,
"deprived". It is a pleasure to chat with him. And he never loses his
lucidity no matter how tormented be his mind which needs some innocent
distraction. He has lived for years taking photos, not only of beautiful girls; he has
photographed all the sights of the city. The funny thing is that everything he "photographs" this way never falls off his memory, and he even has
several albums: "The best moments of the Outcasts", "Beautiful
girls", "The city" and some more. Sometimes he has shown me. Well,
Nike, don't you now question my sanity, but he describes the photos he has taken
and kept on his albums with so much detail that one is able to see them."
I had then no more comments. If Luke, who knew
him, found him sane, I wasn't going to disagree. And in a week, I would confirm
this opinion. And yes, Protch, he even showed me the album of "The city",
and sitting next to him, I recognized every place, even some that I still
had not seen. And I don't care what you think of me, but his photos of
Hazington are really remarkable.
The mass ended and the devotees of St Mary
were somewhat more generous than those of two days earlier in the Basilica. We collected
three dains. I was making progress.
On my second day on the street I had managed to gather at least for us. Now it
wasn’t difficult for me to convince Luke to give me only the third part, for
the other two would be for him and his wife. Still we didn't know whether we could
return in the afternoon, although looking at the sky it seemed unlikely.
Perhaps with an umbrella, I thought, I already had one too. And I wanted to
keep trying for the others, to bring them something, the idea that in my
early days really obsessed me.
We stopped at a shop along the road,
somewhere that opens on Saturday morning, since we had to invest well the three dains, even Lucy’s. We finally spent
them in donuts. The way back took us a little more because of the time that we has spent in
the shop, but we were back before 2. And for very little. Just going up the camp, it began to rain. It fell softly, but determinedly. And the sky
seemed another photograph by Enoch, where you could see the dark tone of
that compact mass would not stop. I couldn't do anything but stay in my tent and read, with
hopes that at any moment the rain would stop and Luke decided to leave again.
Meanwhile I started The Tempest.
Prospero, Duke of Milan, a shipwreck which must
have happened a day like today (I heard from my tent the dense rain that turned
the distressed skies into an ocean), the spirit of Ariel... Sometime later they
told me that Ariel means Lion of God. Another lion. And no doubt its roars were
clearly perceived in the whipping that the storm was giving to my defenseless country.
The few times that I dared to look outside I saw it all full of puddles, but that way the wheat ears would be watered again from which soft spring would sprout
one day.
At a time when god flood wanted to be
fair with His creatures, someone knocked at my door. It was Luke. I had not even
had lunch and he realized that a first time beggar as I was would be thinking when he would eat. He brought me three yogurts, and encouraged me to eat
them all.
− "Today it will
not be possible to light a bonfire. Within a few hours, I will bring you a
couple of donuts and then you had better go to bed."
I was enjoying The Tempest, I mean the literary one. It was better to stay all
afternoon inside the tent accompanying Prospero between spells, magic and
witchcraft. Only an enchantment could achieve that we could get out tomorrow, I
thought. Sounds of footsteps made me with some frequency take my head out from
the inside of my tent. Soon everyone arrived: Mistress Oakes and Olivia
first; Miguel and John later. I greeted them lovingly, with enough time for
them, equipped with umbrellas, to tell me that it would be better to spend the
night in the 'house'. But it wasn't that October 6 when I knew it.
Finally, and also, although short the
path from his tent to mine, provided with a good umbrella, Luke came to bring
me dinner. And he left again. I don't know if you know, Protch, that
pleasure to not stop reading a book even while you eat. They say that surely it
was his will, but since then (now I think I have read them all), for me the best by
Shakespeare is The Tempest. I
went on, after eating, with resolution, until the end of a dialogue that was
catching me. I didn’t finish it that evening. I finally had to surrender to
evidence. The deluge not only would make it impossible to light a bonfire, but may God’s
will be different, it would continue the following day. So, already defeated, I lied
down, I curled up among blankets and two sheep skins, and in a short time I wasy asleep, dreaming of lions, whose photos I saw in an album, taken
without a camera, somewhat blurry, but where I could perceive even the
undulations of the savannah, longing for tomorrow to have that blonde sun that glinted.
My first Sunday on the street, if it weren't
for the so different night, seemed a twin of the previous day. I looked at the aspect
of the sky. It was still raining and it seemed impossible to light a bonfire,
despite the gentle rain. I would have to start the day without a cup of coffee, and I
was not sure I could earn it on the street. I didn't know what Luke would tell
me, but I hoped we could go. I retained Bruce’s napkin, a very useful guide for my
first days. There was a mass in St Stephen at 11 o'clock and at St Mary at 12.
It was 8 when Luke came to my tent. He preferred getting wet to bringing an umbrella
for so short a walk and such insignificant rain.
− "Good morning, My
Mate. Come, Bruce is going to invite us to a coffee in The Last Road."
They kept on inviting me. I could do nothing
but shrug my shoulders and accept the situation. I hoped that soon the day would come when I could return them something of all the treasure they had already
given me.
You could well see that David Fieldman was
accustomed to Bruce and Luke's talks and probably talks from all of them. When my mate
introduced me as such, David gifted me a different smile, and we were chatting
about the animals he saw on the neighbourhood. He did not know the names and we
told him how we called the cats. But it was a short conversation. Luke and I
had to decide what we were going to do. It would have been better, perhaps, to go
to St Stephen, but Bruce told me that morning Mistress Oakes and Olivia
would try there and surely also Miguel and John. He would get wet but he was
going to other places in Riverside. I wanted to know St Stephen, but if I
went there, all of us would be in the same place. Except
Lucy, who was going to risk going to the Basilica. There was a mass at 9. Finally I convinced Luke to take our umbrellas, and whatever the weather was, to
go to St Mary at 12.
While we were waiting for his wife's return,
Luke was inside his tent with his son and I was on mine ending The Tempest. When I came back from the
street, I did what I had never done before, for you know that I had never liked reading. I started the same book at the beginning. Rereading
since then is for me as exciting as reading. Prospero, Miranda, Ariel and all
others had squatted my soul for a few hours and I wanted them to search well
and to find a room where they could lie down comfortably.
We knew that Lucy’s day had not been good and
equipped with two umbrellas Luke and I went to St Mary. But on rainy days
people sometimes desert churches. Better than Thursday, but worse than
yesterday. Something we could buy even if I do not remember what. Luke told me
that in the outskirt we could find something to eat, mainly a lot of bread,
and this is how I also started to get used to the delight of eating bread and
bread.
At 3 o'clock it began to rain so strong that
not even within my tent I felt safe, and it was almost a flood at 7. It was
then that Mistress Oakes came to talk to me.
− "We had better
spend the night in the "house", Nike. We are all going there."
− "But I have no
key, Mistress Oakes".
− "Come with us.
I've already told Luke to give you one as soon as possible. We are going now.
If you don't come, you'll spend the night in an abandoned camp."
The next day I had to work, and fortunately I
remembered to take the alarm clock before leaving. I also took blankets and the
sheep skin. It was a new commotion to see the eight under umbrellas, tired
and in procession, going up the stairs leading to the "house", some with
the little we still had, mainly lots of bread.
Finally, with all of them, I went up the
same stairs that I had referred to you that night out of Baphomet. The disco no longer existed, but the back of Alder Street
did. The stairs had more than one hole, but if you walked looking at the steps,
there was no real danger. Lucy was the one who inserted her key in the lock and
finally we all entered.
Henry Shaw's former house was small, but
soon I saw the two things that made it charming and comfortable. It was full of light, and it had lots of windows and a balcony, where Mistress Oakes took me at once, so that I could see it. it could also be noticed, that even
without anything in, it was a surprisingly warm place, a gift for beggars
in cold winter nights. There was no bathroom, but Miguel took me to see a
part of the "house" which I will not describe, Protch, which was good
as such.
When I went to the balcony, I had to wear a
coat. My first mate took me there so I could look at what could be seen
around. When we arrived, we were only eight, and Paul, who was then in his
father's arms, but the "house" was fgetting full as we were talking on the balcony.
That night we were 19 people sleeping there, everybody on the floor and wrapped in blankets.
There were no beds.
From that torch open to the universe, I could
see our six tents and the whole camp. And I even believed to see Ted roaming
there in a fruitless search of human company. I sighed and I turned to Mistress
Oakes.
− "This
House..." -I doubtfully began.
− "It is
Henry Shaw's home, a beggar at the end, but you're wondering who it belongs to, isn’t
it? −and my face gave her an affirmative answer−. There are three beggars who
are now their owners: Sheila Grant, from Blood Cattle Route; our neighbor
Vincent McFarlane, from the Outcasts; and one Madeleine Oakes –and when I
looked at her with astonishment, she said−. Yes, Nike, I am one of the three
legal owners of this house. When Henry died, in his will he left three names, of
three beggars that he supposed would always live on the street. And indeed all
three of us are still alive and we have not turned away from here. I believe
that I am now the most veteran beggar of the city, once a year ago my great friend
Shannon died. Our neighbor Vince is tireless. He was chosen for the Outcasts, who
when Henry died were also six, but other six. Only Vince has resisted. Sheila
Grant was chosen from the beggars of the outskirt further north, which
you may not know, Blood Cattle Route. And I was chosen from the beggars of
Umbra Terrae Boulevard. Yes, Nike, I then lived only with Olivia and Lucy, in
that shady place. Bruce had not come yet and we had not moved to Wrathfall Bridge.
And what else do you want to know?"
− "How was it
that Henry Shaw came to the street?"
− "In this city
there are several houses like this. But this is the only one that legally
belongs to beggars. And of course we, its three co-owners, if you want to call
us thus, have made a copy of the key to everyone in the city. Now you must
have one, but Luke will make you one tomorrow."
− "But Henry
Shaw?" –I insisted.
− "Don't be
impatient, Nike. I was coming to him. In this story, it is vital to tell you
another name: Gary Blake. He was Henry’s brother-in-arms in I don't remember
which war, one of the many in which this country has been involved; and a cousin
of Cynthia’s, who became Cynthia Shaw, Henry’s wife. He was a great friend of both
and often frequented the house we are in now. Gary was mainly an
alcoholic, but he had a singular personality. Look, he had many brothers and
sisters, five or six, I do not remember well. And when alcohol led him to ruin,
and to the street, his brothers took care of him. They all collected money to
buy him a comfortable and decent house in Evendale. Gary could not live more
than one month under this roof. He felt as many of us feel sometimes: the friends
gained on the street are friends forever. I can only explain it saying that our
freedom, not having to justify ourselves before anyone, is emancipation, or rather a
bohemian way of life, which you no longer want to lose. Gary then did something
extraordinary that it is often talked among beggars. He sold the house they
had given him, and with that money he was feeding, as well as spending it on
alcohol, until his death. But he got angry with his brothers and sisters and never again went
to Evendale, even though he used to sleep there, under the bridges of the
railroad. And now I come to an end. Cynthia died in a traffic accident. Her
husband loved her with what I call a dangerous love; He had put his wife in the
center of his world. And when she died, without a clear center, he felt
completely abandoned. He just seemed to come to life during the hours when
his friend Gary visited him. One night he slept with him, here, Nike, in the Torn
Hand, which before he came was deserted. He also began drinking alcohol, which
would end up taking him to death. But he achieved freedom and finally, when he
was dead inside, before death he had a second life. The house belonged to him,
although he never slept inside. He began by spending a night there with Gary.
He then invited Vince and the primitive Outcasts. All of them he lent a key and
well, so it all started. Now all the beggars of the city have a copy. And
Sheila, Vince and I are as proprietary as Vera, Luke or you."
We went back inside, two or three more slices
of bread for each and finally I wrapped myself in blankets and I tried to sleep. It was not easy to spend the night among so many people,
especially because when you were already asleep, someone suddenly reached the
"house" and you woke up. But finally everybody around me, I was able.
Paul, however, had a good night and never cried and slept soundly, so warm as in his
cradle, but knowing that all the hearts he loved were there.
The alarm clock rang, as it was planned, at
a quarter to five. Without much confusion, I got up and I said goodbye to my
mates who were then awake: Olivia, Lucy and Luke. I agreed with the
latter to see each other before noon in Vicar’s End. I told him how to locate
it and added I would take my head out of the window of my office and when I saw
him, I would come down. When I was leaving, I discovered that Henry Shaw's "house" was rickety, but fairly clean. That very afternoon Mistress Oakes
would tell me that once a week the Outcasts and those of the Torn Hand came up
and cleaned it, especially in these cold months. So soon I was also taking care
of this important room of my new house.
The weather had improved and Olivia, who had
time to tell me, did not predict any more rain all week, perhaps some isolated
short downpours. It was no longer difficult for me to walk to Deanforest, and I
counted the time: half an hour, sometimes a little more. I looked at the garden
wanting to detach myself from all its opulence, because I sensed that a day would soon
come when I would never again inhabit it. It was a joy to enter knowing
you're only going to have a shower, find some clothes and return to the world you have chosen. I had a thorough shower, knowing that I was going to
work; I changed clothes and lost some more time, but not too much, in selecting
the clothes that I was going to bring to the Thuban. Walking up there was easy
and short, but I caught the Daimler, to carry all the clothes. Avalon Road had
a laundry where I could take it when it was dirty, and for that I was willing
to use my Siddeley money. They had recently installed in my office a new file
cabinet closet, now almost empty, that would be good for me to store clothes. I parked
the Daimler on the very façade of the company, so now I had the Chevrolet in
Millers' Lane, the Mercedes in Deanforest and the Daimler parked in Avalon
Road.
Just when I got out, I met Samuel
Weissmann, who was waiting for me. He wanted us to speak about various topics, he
said, and would later come up to my office to bring me up to date. "Just a
minute," I said, "I'm going to take all the clothes to my office". He helped
me to store it in the file cabinet closet. And then we went down and he
invited me to have breakfast. I greeted Richard who seemed unmoved at seeing me
arrive with Samuel, but anyway he dared not speak much. My boss wanted to say
that, considering the undeniable hostility shown to me by Walter and Harold, he had
decided that my next business will be primarily on the hands of Anne-Marie and
Thaddeus. "All you three together can be a good team. You shall count with
me in any case. And under Norman's supervision, in case you need him."
In his conversations on Friday, he had appeased the latter and convinced
Thaddeus that now he should cooperate more than ever with me, if he wanted to
continue profiting. This conversation reminded me of the game of chess in Olivia’s
story. Pieces were moving and I found out which pawns were willing to make the
red team with me. I had already reached the eighth square, transforming myself
into a beggar; they had not yet arrived and had time to choose which piece they
would be when they reached it.
And he finally asked me whether I had already
told Luke of his invitation and what he had answered. I told him that he
would be here at noon and that if he did not object, he would wait for him in
the bar, talking with Richard. The latter then made the undeniable gesture to
say: "at last I will meet him, Nike." Samuel replied that it seemed
to him a good idea and told me to tell Prancitt that he would come down at
about half-past 12.
Once coffee was finished, he accompanied me
to my office where he was more than one hour talking to me about projects I would
be involved now. I won’t mention them to you, Protch, I will just tell you that since Thaddeus was the head of the industrial section, in the
industrial I should move in later. Seeing me showered and clean, he told me
that the next day I would again meet customers. Finally he left and I managed
with well-oriented mind to concentrate on the work. Up to half past 11. From
that moment it was all making constant trips to the window to see if Luke had
reached Vicar’s End. It was too early, but I was already impatient. I started
smoking a cigarette and before ending it, at ten to twelve, I saw his silhouette
along the alley and looking up. I called him shouting: "Luke, wait, now I
shall go down."
In three minutes I was already beside him. When
I saw him in Vicar’s End I couldn't help but give him a big hug. So long
looking out of that window dreaming to see him one day and now he was there, in
the alley. I was going to say something, but he spoke first:
− "Take this copy
of the keys of the "house", Nike. It wasn't fair that there still was
something that we could live and my mate could not. Now enter the house
whenever you want. It is yours too."
− "Luke –I was
moved and changed the subject−, through this door you can enter the bar, but
behind the counter. And I want you to know the main entrance. Come with
me."
I took him proudly to Avalon Road. I showed
him the window of the façade and taught him to recognize Castor and Pollux, on
the left.
− "Miguel and
John have long been here. And now we the other twins are going in."
Sean,
our doorman, was lectured by Samuel to let in any beggar today. I led Luke
to the bar and I remember he told me that it seemed to him a palace. I took him
to the bar before Richard, who looked at us with curiosity and his best smile.
I made the introductions and immediately they spoke to each other, as if they had
known all life.
− "Welcome, Luke.
It is two months that your mate does not speak to me of something else that it
is not the seven of you. I think that I already know everyone. Let me see: this
morning the seventh and the eighth have entered together. And now you are
going to allow me to invite you two to a cup of coffee. And don't tell me,
Nike, thatis in your salary. These coffees I will pay."
I nodded, and though all my life I had felt
a parasite, I had to get used to the fact that now, even if I continued to be, the
constant invitations emerged from the clear source of friendship. They began to
converse amicably, mainly about me. It is not always pleasant to stay to hear
compliments about oneself, and they were getting that I did not know where to
look. But Richard began to make me a clear gesture to leave them alone, and at
the same time he told me to trust him. I don't know if it was credible the
excuse that I had a lot of work, but I finally left, but not before appointing
to meet Luke on the Torn Hand at about 4.
I don’t remember at all what else happened
that morning. But back in our outskirt, I wanted to see my mate’s face and I
wanted him to tell me about his interviews with Richard and Samuel. And when we
finally met, I couldn't help but ask him inconsistently, stammering.
− "How was it? I mean... what... what did you think?"
− "I think I can tell
you Richard and I have become good friends. I didn't know that he was almost a neighbour.
He has promised that soon he will come here for he’s dying to get to know us
all. And Samuel is still better than I thought. He has taken me to The Golden Eagle. When he asked where I
preferred to go, I told him that anywhere but The Silversmith. There was where we did not eat, and I would only return there with you, one day that we
are willing to eat. We have had Sunday Roast. But I can tell you
something more this afternoon. Today it is sunny and at 5 o'clock there is a mass
in St. Stephen. It is about time you know it. Are we going, My Mate?"
We walked this time heading south. In St
Alban's Road I was looking at the numbers, looking forward to seeing the entrance hall
of Richard’s house, but we soon reached number 21 and actually there we turned
right and soon we were at St Stephen’s square.
The true heart of Riverside, as you surely
know, Protch, is the square of The Holy Ghost Church, but the tiny twin towers
of St. Stephen hit my face by surprise when I did not expect to find
them. The temple is an ochre roundness that timidly opens to the eastern sun
with rejuvenated face, as young as this neighbourhood or second city where
Hazington has expanded in the last two centuries. But the sun was a fantasy. I
didn’t like the grayish colour of these clouds. It seemed that people were crowding,
but little by little everyone left. A passerby dropped something in our hands.
But then came a woman beggar that Luke also introduced me.
− "She is another
neighbor, Nike. Katie Chamberlain."
− "So you are
Nike. We are waiting for dinner all together. But Vince has thought that it
would be better on Sunday, which is his birthday. And I know my surname is
familiar to you. I am one of the famous Chamberlains of the city. I even have a
street. But as you can see, some of us, the last Chamberlains, are down here,
almost in the mud"
Katie Chamberlain had a difficult to
describe beauty. It was in her dimples. At times her face seemed that of smallpox
and however that, strange as it may seem, combined with the charm of her green
eyes and her strong personality, made her extremely attractive. So sarcastic,
so accurate in her words, it was always expected something more behind the
curtains, which were finally unfurled and showed you that the only point
that you had not wanted to look at was the only valuable point.
But suddenly clouds wanted to be noticed. It
was only ten minutes, enough for the square to be deserted. Katie ran to
Riverside Avenue where she said she was to meet Vince. There were three minutes
of fierce hail and Luke and I, while we were looking for a place to be
sheltered, were, as the saint of the Church, bloodthirstily stoned. But it did
not last long and we went back out of the interior of the temple, since it was
here that we took refuge. The crowd looked at us a second disdainfully, and with
some shock, because their ears could not help but hear the bullets that hit the
ochre of the towers.
We were there for half an hour more and when
the alms givers left we had the same fortune of earlier days: we could buy food
for us, but we got nothing for the others. Anyway, I had grown
accustomed by now to not eating until we saw the luck that the other six had had.
With sun again we were walking back while I asked Luke to tell me more of his
conversation with Samuel.
This was the first time those days that I
began to find him strange. The rarity is that his eyes did not seem to be where
his mind was. I sometimes believed that Luke was not there. I feared that he
was angry with me for something, but when at last he answered a question that I
had to ask him several times, the same smiling mate answered with unsuspected
warmth and an unknown tenderness.
− "You ask me
about my interview with Samuel. You see, My Mate. These days your life moves in
two worlds. My interest to know Richard and eat with Samuel was based on
knowing on what kind of hands you are on that side. And the same reason, my
friend, had your boss in meeting me. He knows that I am your mate and that for
you I'm very important. Both of us love you, Nike, and now we are calmer. I've
also started a friendship with Samuel, and for that, I had to undress myself
thoroughly in a few words that one day I may tell you. He is a surprising man,
difficult to get shocked. A man of integrity that is completely on your side.
Have no fear, Nike; you can treat him as a real friend."
And he said little more. We were already
reaching the outskirt, too early, but soon we saw that hail had made everyone's
feet return frightened to our camp. And we soon lit a fire. We were eating, and
what was already usual for me, each of us telling how he had had the day, when
we felt a few steps climbing the hill. Luke, looking in that direction, was the
first to be aware of his presence.
− "It is Richard,
Nike."
I got up to greet him and welcome him to the
place that was my home now.
− "What a
pleasure to see you here, Richard, my friend. Give me a big hug."
After the intense greeting, he was a couple
of minutes looking at the terrain, as if giving his approval. He then started to look, first only at me; then at me in the environment.
− "Now that I see
you here, Nike, you seem to belong to this place. And everything around you is
yours. Also you will see I've been watching everything with your eyes for two
months and this place has the exact air of what you've told me. I'll come here
one evening you have more free time so that you show me those bridges, the river,
the lake, the alder grove, everything you have described to me. But let’s see
what they your mates think of me now. They are all looking at me; Luke, who
fortunate I already know, with true affection. But I will recognize them all. You
won't need to introduce them."
− "Now I will take
you to the bonfire. There is not much food, but we have something. Would you
like to eat with us?"
− "I come from my
house where I have just had dinner, Nike. Do not worry about that."
− "Ok. But look a
minute –it was the time and within a few days it would no longer be visible−
towards the northeast –and not knowing where it was, I showed him−. That's your
star: Deneb –and I also showed him Vega and Altair, all the recognizable summer
triangle− and that is the Swan, your constellation." –and my fingers were
pointing out the whole cross; or Swan flying carefree south of the Milky Way.
− "It really
moves you. The Swan startles, but it shakes more to have a friend who has given
it to me."
And we went to the bonfire. Richard greeted
them one by one by their names and I didn’t have to introduce them. And he also
did so in chronological order. It was simpler than you think. He had met Luke
that morning; he had worked with John. Only one day he had met Miguel, but he had
retained his face. Therefore the only man he didn’t know was Bruce. And the three
women he knew by their different ages. When he said hello to Olivia and Lucy
nothing in his gesture showed that he had reasons to hate the surname
Rivers. And John spoke before him.
− "Not Mr.
Richmonds, Richard. Now only John, please. But it is a pleasure to see you
again."
We told him to sit among us. He sat next to
me, this time facing north. My mates asked him questions about his life.
He doubted whether to tell something about his dark past out of respect to the
Rivers and finally he only talked about how what I had told him had made him
able to recognize them all and know the order of us eight.
It struck me how intensely Lucy and
Richard looked at each other that night, as if both were sharing a piece of information with their
eyes and they were talking with their eyes, giving each other mutual support on any
initiatory secret that both shared and for the others it was hidden. It was the
first time that they had seen each other and I found it strange. But later in a
loud voice, he asked Lucy and Luke about Paul, and he spoke to them of his two children,
Armand and Crystelle, only a month younger than the little king.
Finally, with the excuse to know my tent,
Richard stood up and finally I could ask him the question that I needed to ask.
I pointed out the six tents, indicating where each of us slept, and I
begged him to enter mine and only there he answered.
− 'Do not be afraid
about Luke, Nike. He likes you more than what you think. Soon you'll see it.
This morning I've confirmed everything I already thought. He has not stopped to
tell me about you and in all his words, I've been able to deduce that your mate
is the best friend you can have. I would advise you to stop your fears and to keep
giving him that friendship that so far has overwhelmed him."
I kept having the impression that Richard did
not tell me everything, but it was enough to know that he and Luke had liked
each other. I walked with him back to the bonfire. He was going to stay a
little longer.
The night shone in flickering flames and a
black shadow came near the heat of the fire. Richard stroked it a few seconds,
but it ended up in my arms.
− "Ted." He
said.
− "Is there
anything or anyone you don't know, Richard? −asked John with real cordiality.
− "If Nike knows
it, surely me too, John."
The conversation continued half an hour more.
I think that after Richard’s visit the seven looked at me in a different way, as
a mate who could describe his world with pride. All of them spent that
time hearing the anecdotes that he began to tell of his adolescence. They often
spoke, but little Olivia, who looked thoughtful, as if she suspected somehow
the link that connected her brother with Richard. Anyway, when he finally left,
she said goodbye with her best smile. From the night of the 8th of October,
your cousin Rich, Protch, has not stopped coming to visit us.
Of the morning of the next day, I have
little to tell you. My constant machinations with Anne-Marie and Thaddeus began
and we started to know what skein we had to handle and which threads we
had to move with. In the future we were a good team.
But I also must say that Samuel told me that
one Mr. Dewes, a lawyer I should have an interview with due to some fields
expropriated for the benefit of our company, could not hold with me the
interview which we had appointed, but he could come on Friday at 5 in the
afternoon.
− "I know that it
is not your business hours, Nike. But it would be very important for the
company that you speak with him the day and time that suits him. And for what I
already know of Luke, I know he would not mind going to the street on Friday for
both and you can see each other later anywhere you appoint."
It was a setback for me, sincerely, not to
go the street with my mate early in Friday afternoon. But being a shark was for
me still necessary and I could not offend the company, so I accepted. And then
I asked him the question I needed to ask, what he had thought about Luke.
− "When you introduced
him to me on Thursday, he seemed an intelligent and affectionate man. After
eating with him I know that he was really sincere. I'd like to be his friend as
I'd like to be your friend. I will not go for the time being to the Torn Hand
to see you. The little free time I have, now that I know that you won't relieve
me, it will be spent now with my family, but both Luke and you are going to count
on me whenever you need me. Moreover, he is an extraordinary man. He can find the
essence of what really matters even if there hadn't been any prior words that tell
us that, and nothing else, was the substantial thing. And he appreciates you,
Nike. If something you value my opinion, I would not fear Luke. Quite
the opposite. He likes you more than you think. And so far, forgive me, Nike, I
am not going to say more. We were just two men who appreciate you eating and talking.
But what we were talking about is private. One day you may know it."
Those words by Samuel made me think much, but
I couldn’t decipher them. But nothing else happened that morning that I need to
tell you. I returned to the outskirt after work and I told Luke, who was
waiting for me, that I couldn't go with him on Friday and we decided to leave.
The sun was a medal which adorned the neck
of that October afternoon; my mate suggested we could try our fortune again in
the Basilica, which being such an important temple, had a mass every evening.
Today also at 7. As it was still very early, we first sat on a square of Templar
Village, the first place where I was that was not a church. The day began well.
And long before the hour, we were again on the steps of St Paul. On this
occasion we were the first to arrive. The position you have, like everything
else, is relative. Being on top is optimal for when people leave; for the time
they enter, you had better sit below.
A lady of greyish hair and with enough
wrinkles, looking miserable but smiling and optimistic, sat on the next lower
step. Luke introduced her as Sheila Grant. He could not know Mistress Oakes had
already mentioned her. I knew instantly that she was the power of Blood Cattle
Route. I still had to know Vince, but there was another of the three owners of
the 'house'.
− "In Blood Cattle Route we
have already heard of you, Nike. Your story would surprise us if it weren't
because we already know Miguel’s, John’s and Luke’s; not to mention many of the
Outcasts; or in my outskirt, for example, those of the Spence brothers."
− "Nathan and
Joey Spence?"
− "Do you know
them?"
− "I do not know
what fortune the had when they left this very place five days ago, on Thursday. It
was my first day on the street."
− "Their story is
unfortunately something very frequent. Circumstances that we cannot control which
make us lose everything. Something similar happened to me. But those two will remain, as far as there is enough soul in Nathan, who is supposed to be strongest of
them two. You could say that Joey relies on his brother, but he has something. I
think it is the power of his imagination, stories that he invents. I told him
that one day he should write."
Everything was different from Thursday. The
hat today was filling up, and not just of tobacco. Those who came up the stairs
were especially generous. It was a day of few alms givers, but those who
contributed were especially lavish in two-dain coins. I looked at our harvest not believing we had so much. Meanwhile
the conversation with Mrs. Grant went on, but most of all she was interested in
each of the Torn Hands, as she called us. And she did not forget Paul, but she
couldn’t hide a silent reproach. That woman knew Olivia very well, had seen
Lucy grow on the street, but did not fully understand that she now had a son.
That was our fate, Protch; no one who wasn't of the Torn Hands fully respected
that family, for me sacred. The mass ended and there came the greatest moment for the
beggars above. Variable fortune, but fortune after all. There was no need to go
elsewhere later. When I picked up the money from the hat, it had been 10 dains, a primula, although in coins; we never changed them for the yellow note.
Unexpected flow with which my cheeks were
opened and all the features of my face made me laugh, blessed happiness and
blissful my hand that was inserted into the hat and took out a capital. I, who
had had so much, was the happiest man in the world with 10 dains. Today I could bring something to my mates. Luke
looked at me with an excited face. He knew what that meant to me. October 9,
first day that being eight, the eighth could feed them. And not only that. My
mate suggested that even we could have a coffee. I nodded. I felt indebted to King Alfred, where they had let me in
and I had not asked for anything. There Luke and me were talking about the day
we had had. He also asked me about Sheila Grant. I didn't want to judge someone
I had just known for half an hour, but I told him that I had found her
resistant. Luke looked at me and smiled, confirming me that as usual our
opinions were twins.
In the very Castle Road there were some open
bakeries. Luke told me more about his own story.
− "The first day
I got food for the others Lucy and I entered here and bought an apple pie. And
with what you've got today you will still have three dains. One for each, counting with Lucy too. Tomorrow you already
start with one dain to have two
coffees or whatever you want."
Dinner that night looked like a birthday
party, or maybe it was the happiness that I brought. The candles were my smile;
cake we had, and the little king seemed to participate in my rejoicing and
didn't sleep. My mates fired friendship lights and looked at me as if sayingy: "can you see, Nike? You've succeeded." But I returned the look
as if answering: "this is only a small part of what you have given me. But
patience: I start paying off my debt. To pay you all that I owe you I must be here
for weeks, months, years." Not even the fog that appeared that night was
stronger than the sun that shone that night inside me. They were used to eating
with fog and that phantom never put out their bonfires. When at last I walked to my tent, I slept soundly, tired but ultimately satisfied.
Wednesday 10 seems like any other day, but the
night was different. On the Thuban even the most hostile were getting accustomed
to my double condition. I guess Walter began to understand they wouldn't fire
me and that would make him think, with Samuel on my part, he had better speak to
me naturally. And so, I could finally converse again with my chief accountant. And
Harold came to my office to tell me that as long as I did not speak of his
nephew, he would be able to have necessary discussions and work with me. Waters
were calming and in that calm tide each day I watched Richard, Samuel and
Anne-Marie swimming with the wind in my favor.
The afternoon with Luke in the street was
moderately favorable for us. The fact is that I was getting used to recognize
the food shops that remained open till the evening hours and to always buy cheaper.
We brought something for the others and we had already sat at the bonfire when
we suddenly had an unexpected visit. It was a well-dressed man who was
obviously looking for something in our outskirt. We saw him climbing the slope,
and just at that moment Miguel rose as with shock and called him by his name.
− "Mr.
Vinuesa." -he greeted him restless.
− “Do you know him?"
−asked John, who was uncertain.
− "He is an
attorney, a friend of my father’s. But he should be in Cádiz."−but he was
already beside him. Mr. Matías Vinuesa was about 50 years old, and despite
what he came to tell, you could see he was laconic, reserved, and phlegmatic.
− "It has been difficult for me to find
you, Miguel. In Aubrey, Fielding & McDawn they gave me the address of one Miss Beaulière. A few hours ago I managed to locate her and she told me
that no letter had come to her" −Miguel had left his address in Anne-Marie's house. His former law firm had sent the letter to her address in Evendale.
Several days later I found out that they had missed the number. Mr. Aubrey had
written a 14 so illegible that they had sent it to number 17, and Anne-Marie
did not know of its existence.
− "But what has
brought you here, Mr. Vinuesa? How are my parents?"
− "Your mother is
ok. But on October 1 my friend Matthew had a heart attack. He is still in hospital.
It seems that he will recover from this. But your father, Miguel, is already
very old and wonders whether he will be able to see you again. He asked me
strongly to find you."
− "And how is my
uncle?"
− "I don't know whether it be truth the parallel life that twin brothers tend to have. But
it was the next day when Mark McDawn also had a heart attack. Your mother and
your cousin Brenda Dolores are taking care of both. They are in the same hospital. I
would like you, Miguel, to come with me to Cádiz in a flight that departs
tomorrow."
− "You can see my
circumstances, Mr. Vinuesa. I have been six years on the street. I could not
afford a flight."
− "Your father must have suspected something when for so long he hasn't known anything of you. And he has
given me money enough to pay the flight."
− "There is something
else −and unexpectedly he gave a kiss to his twin−. This is John Richmonds, my
partner. We have been together for three years. He should come with me."
If Matías Vinuesa was surprised he did not
show, in his nonchalance, any feeling.
− "I do not find
it right to introduce him now to a man who has had a heart attack, Miguel."
− "Only you must go −said John−. This is
not the time to meet my in-laws. Let's walk a while and talk about it. Now,
more than ever, I'm going to show you all my love and my tenderness."
And both walked for half an hour. Mr.
Vinuesa stayed with us and it was very difficult to know what to say. It was
hard for him to know that Matthew’s son was in the street and it was not the time
for us to talk about the stories of the others. So it was a tense time in which
we could not find any topics of conversation.
The twins returned with faces like mirrors
that showed they had been crying a lot, and comfort and safety has been given, Miguel
promised John, that he would return soon. Meanwhile he would frequently
write to Anne-Marie’s house. She undoubtedly would bring the letters to the Torn
Hand when she received them. Ensured that Miguel would go to the airport at 10
in the morning of the next day, October 11, Mr. Vinuesa said goodbye to us and
there we were seven people who didn't know how to look at Miguel or what to tell
him. Until we finally asked him to tell us some things about his parents or his
country.
− "Although I've
been there for just a few years, that is my homeland; and there are my parents,
my uncle, my cousin. They have told me that since the dictator died nobody can recognize
it. These are better times. But I have not seen my country for several years and
am not going to return to live happy events. I would have liked to take John to
walk by the sea of Cádiz. Some other day; in this I trust −and turning to his twin
soul−. I don't know how I can cope without you. Not even one day we have been
separated yet."
− "Your father is
the only one important now, Miguel. And in the distance, I will continue with
you. I hope you come back soon and can bring some good news."
<
His six mates started to leave them
diplomatically alone, so they lived their last bonfire together in some time.
I had hardly slept when in the morning I got
up and found Miguel at the bonfire with Olivia. He was mentally preparing to
say goodbye to John and take a bus to the airport. Mr. Vinuesa was waiting for
him at half past 8.
− "I hope to see
you again upon my return, Nike. If it is
not, let me repeat to you that it has been a pleasure to meet you and having
lived with you the best of these seven days you have been with us."
− "You shall see
me again, Miguel, I promise. Whatever it is, on your return you will find me
here. And meanwhile I hope I can know by John that everything is right in your
country."
Finally I had to stand up. That day I
walked well, but I wanted to live my penultimate hours at the bonfire with him,
and I was not able to leave in time, like every morning, to Deanforest. So when I
reached the Thuban, I lived for the first time the feeling of opening with my key
the wide area of the showers, and have there the first of many. Then I went up
to my office and I changed clothes. It was something new that was soon going to
be also a routine.
Of day 11 I don't have much to tell. In the
afternoon we returned to the Basilica, since I told my mate that now that I
had been a week in the street, we should walk back there. The evening, with bright
sun, was also favourable. Upon my return to the outskirt it was strange to feel
everyone arrive slowly and not seeing Miguel. His hole at the bonfire was too
noticeable, but the shoulders where he used to lean on were there. I didn't
know how to look at him. John had gone to the street alone many times, but he always found Miguel when he returned. He should now get used to a time of painful
solitude. I was going to say goodbye when we saw someone climb the slope in
that week of so many visits. It was Anne-Marie. She knew for me that her friend
John would need her company more than ever. Her arrival was strange to me,
although I had seen her here, because she now also came to visit me.
− "Soon I will be
with you, Nike. And with all of you –she said affectionately−. But soon I hope that
John takes me awhile to walk and talk" –she was a minute looking around
the camp, but mainly the latest acquisition: my tent. She still had not seen it
there. She said that on her return she hoped I showed her.
John was invigorated, as the year with its
spring, whenever he talked with his beloved Anne-Marie. I do not know which
shoulder his great friend had lent him, but he returned with another
appearance, calmer and with a light he had borrowed, like a planet which
continues to know around which sun it must to turn although it momentarily finds it in an
eclipse. For many days I wasn't capable of approaching John and ask him about Miguel
and hoped that my look of encouragement was enough. But it was then Anne-Marie’s
turn to walk again, now by my side, with the second friend who had gone to the
street.
I took her to see my tent. She came in
expecting to find I don’t know which miseries, but when we left she breathed a deep
sigh and said:
− "I think that even if
there are many things I could tell you, from here you will not move. Now I will
have to come more often, also for you. Nike, that sadness John has... I had
not seen him like that before. He will need you as much as he needs me. As I will
not be able to convince you to get out of the street, I will ask you something
quite different. Do not get away from here if it is clear enough for both that this is
already your place. At least, I want you to be where you want to be until
Miguel returns, and for John to be a warm home. The coals he needs he can find
them in your fireplace. I love you so much –I was startled by her sincere weeping−
that I promise that because of you two I'm going to love the others. Yes, also
Luke."
We talked facing east. Her last words made
me see all the efforts that in recent months Anne-Marie had done and how, even
if her friends could disappoint her, she had a source of affection toward us
that flowed rivers of renewed respect, murky as the flow might be. I had spent
several days wanting to give her a star. But I had not seen how easy it was.
Richard had Deneb; Samuel was the owner of Altair. And with three beloved
hearts on the Thuban I could make a summer triangle. I looked at the northeast again
and saw it, white, bright, majestic, the second brightest star in the
northern hemisphere.
− "Anne-Marie,
wait a second: would you like a star?"
− "You increasingly resemble
John. But all the time that I have known him, he has never thought about
that. And from you I have had to accept more bitter things lately. But I like
this gift: which one do you want to give me?"
− "Look over
there. Soon it will not be visible this year, but it will reappear when the
spring becomes summer. That brilliant one is Vega. Its constellation is the
Lyra. But you will identify it more easily if you distinguish well the summer
triangle. John told me that one day it will once again be the pole star."
And around 12,000 BC it also was. Vega,
always in the zenith, its inexhaustible lighthouse illuminates the skies many nights
in the year, on its way from east to west. It seems to mean "falling"
or "landing", but it has also been called "life of the skies",
"messenger of light", and more beautiful names. It is officially
Alpha Lyrae: the Lyra is not easily distinguished, but Vega shows you where you can
find it. Nike had already proposed to Samuel Weissmann that Anne-Marie directed
the Thuban and, as her star, perhaps one day she relieved Nike as polar light
in the same building that bore the name of another former sky guide. Vega for
Anne-Marie: in a week, Nike had been the star giver, but once completed the
summer triangle, he stopped.
She was sitting with us for more than one
hour and in her conversation with the seven now we clearly saw that she knew
inside out each stone of our roads. It was good in her that light of friendliness
that she shared with everyone. She even accompanied Mistress Oakes to her tent
when she withdrew. And finally she left when she saw our usual night shade, Ted.
Anne-Marie didn’t like cats very much.
Friday 12 I lived almost entirely in a bad
mood. It began, I knew, my second weekend in the street, but it seemed that I
could not easily get out of work. With what little I had saved those days, I
ate for the first time in the dining room, more to gain time than out of hunger.
Then I returned to my office, where I learned some business and did some
backlog waiting for Mr. Dewes. He finally came, but a quarter of an hour late. He
was one of those men who are not satisfied with saying a thing just once. We
had to repeatedly return to the same points, with constant comments about the
benefits that steel had brought to the world. He was an insufferable customer
but I already had years of experience in dissimulation and at 6 o'clock I
managed to finally say goodbye to him, both satisfied at last in the affairs
that were interesting to the company.
I had agreed with Luke to see each other in
the Basilica. But I couldn't find him, so late I arrived. One more Friday that
I had not been able to go to the street with him. Then I knew he had also had a
good day, and a month later I knew he had withdrawn soon, his mind an apparent darkness.
That October 12 he had found William Rage.
In the Torn Hand I found him in a scene that
I still had not lived. Luke was next to Mistress Oakes’ tent. On the
outside, she had placed a carpet, small and green, which she kept carefully and
used from time to time. It stood for a rug. Mistress Oakes was reading Luke the
Tarot cards.
− "Come close, My
Mate. I've spent several months with so much fear of the prophecy that I have
never dared ask her to read the cards for me. But finally I asked her to do it and to look
at that."
− "But on that I
cannot see anything, Luke. But all the cards are telling me the same thing. I
don't think that with them I can see whether the prophecy will come true. But I do see that
however much you live, you'll be very happy. I can see you have a new reason
for happiness and you should not fear: you'll be able to keep it."
Luke had enough with this omen. It was clear
that he had new reasons to be blessed and our mistress confirmed that whatever they
were, they were solid. So happy I saw my mate that when then she asked me if I
wanted to see what the cards could tell me, I took courage and said I would.
She advised me to concentrate on something
intensely, while she shuffled. I did not know this ritual, but since then I
have experienced it on numerous occasions. She made me the one which is known
as Three Cards Only: one card was for the past, another one for the present and
one last card for the future. With the first two she was so right that I thought
it was intuition and her personal knowledge of parts of my story. But with the
third, representing my future, I was surprised.
− "You have the
Empress, Nike."
She was a young woman, in her childbearing age,
sitting on her throne. But I couldn't help, after hearing the mention of the Empress, to remember the name that Lucy and Luke would have been calling their daughter,
if girl it had been. My first mate looked at me with clear gestures of not understanding
anything, of an enormous bewilderment. She explained to me that the Empress was
active femininity and it was a card of good omen if it was not upside
down. She recommended me to try now with the minor arcana. They are 56. But I
kept seeing Mistress Oakes confused.
− "The minor
arcana are not clarifying me anything. Maybe because I look at them according
to their usual symbolic meaning. Clearly you are the ace of gold and if you
look at all the cards all number five accompany it. I know that somehow this also
has to do with the Empress. I am somewhat confused, because there is a
part that I am not able to read, since I find an impenetrable mind that has to
do with everything that I tell you. All I can say as a conclusion is this: “one
will turn into five”. I don't know what it means, but I increasingly see it
clearer. That's how it is, Nike, but it will only be possible with you."
One will turn into five. You have to wait,
Protch, but Mistress Oakes, even when she did not understand, was always right.
− "All this
labyrinth has to do –she concluded− with Dignity. That of your first nine days
here, which will now be a constant in your life. It may not have been
easy for you to react to everything you've seen and find a way to give the true
measure to things. But finally Dignity has given you a few feathers and is
inviting you to take flight."
And Luke, who was still there, said:
− "Perhaps Dignity
can be found in flying. Or perhaps, due to
having had my parachute one day, finally I jumped off the indignity of my life,
as you are doing now, My Mate, and in the streets that we walk, I found my
wings."
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