"She fell out of the goddam pony-trap and hit...
"She fell out of the goddam pony-trap and hit her
head on a rock, or so it says hereWoke up in the
doctor's infirmary just as they were getting ready
to transport her to the hospital in StIt says, 'The seizures
continue for Baby Elizabeth, although they are
moderating and seem to do her no lasting harm'
And she started painting pictures!"
749
I said, "The accident must have happened right
after the big group portrait was taken, because
she looks exactly the same, and they change fast
at that age
Wireman seemed not to notice"We're all in the
same rowboat," he said
I started to ask him what he meant, then realized
I didn't have to
"She fell on her headI shot myself in the head
You got your head crushed by a payloader
He waved daytona rolex his hand as if to indicate this made no
differenceThen he used the hand to grip my
surviving wristHis fingers were cold"I have
questions, muchachoHow come she stopped painting?
And how come I never started?"
"I can't say for certain why she stoppedMaybe
she forgot - blocked it out - or maybe she
deliberately lied and deniedAs for you, your
talent's empathyAnd on Duma Key, empathy got
raised to telepathyBut it's also
completely goneWant to know something, amigo?"
"Sure
He cocked a thumb at the tense family group across
the room from usThey had gone back to their
discussionPop was now shaking his finger at Mom"A couple of months ago, I
could have told you what that hoopdedoo was about
Now all I could do is make an educated tiffany jewelry us guess
"And probably come out in much the same place," I
said"Would you trade one for the other in any
case? Your eyesight for the occasional
thoughtwave?"
"God, no!" he said, then looked around the caff
with an ironic, despairing, head-cocked smile"I
can't believe we're having this discussion, you
knowI keep thinking I'll wake up and it'll all
be as you were, Private Wireman, assume the
position
I looked him in the eye
x
751
According to the Weekly Echo, Baby Elizabeth (as
she was referred to almost throughout) began her
artistic endeavors on the very first day of her
at-home convalescenceShe quickly went on,
"gaining skill and prowess with each passing hour,
it seemed to her amazed father She started with
colored pencils ("Sound chanel watch familiar?" Wireman asked),
before progressing to a box of watercolors the
bemused John Eastlake brought home from Venice
In the three months following her accident, much
of it spent in bed, she had done literally
hundreds of watercolors, turning them out at a
rate John Eastlake and the other girls found a
little frightening(If "Nan Melda" had an opinion,
it wasn't offered in print Eastlake tried to
slow her down - on doctor's orders - but this was
counterproductiveIt caused fretfulness, crying
fits, insomnia, bouts of feverBaby Elizabeth
said when she couldn't draw or paint, "her head
hurted Her father said that when she did paint,
"She ate like one of the horses she liked to
draw The article's author, one MRickert,
seemed to find replica cartier tank watches this endearingRecalling my own
eating binges, I found it all too familiar
752
I was going over the muddy print for the third
time, with Wireman where my right arm would have
been, if I'd had a right arm, when the door opened
and Gene Hadlock came inHe was still wearing the
black tie and bright pink shirt he'd had on at the
show, although the tie had been pulled down and
the collar was loosenedHe was still wearing
green scrub pants and green bootees over his shoesWhen he looked up I saw a face
that was as long and sad as an old bloodhound's
"Eleven-nineteen," he said"There was never
really a chance
Wireman put his face in his hands
xi
I got to the Ritz at quarter to one in the morning,
limping with fatigue and not wanting to be bay bag chloe th