Authors: Anne J. Steinberg
Elizabeth
was delighted with the news; their plans seemed perfect. They would stay at Hilltop until the
Backyard Wildlife
series was completed. Ryan felt that the series would go quickly as the animals in question were those he had known intimately all of his life.
April would have time to finish the book and look for a publisher.
“After I’m finished with the series, we’ll take a year off. We’ll travel anywhere we want to go – Paris, London, Rome. We’ll do it – we’ll do the world,” Ryan promised.
They laughed and clung to each other like two happy children.
The future lay in front of them, mapped out golden with promise.
Elizabeth
set about in a fury, ordering books on bridal gowns, conferring with florists and caterers.
“
Mother, slow down. We haven’t actually set the date. I’m not sure April wants all this fuss.”
“
Of course she does,” Elizabeth scolded. “Every girl wants a beautiful, special wedding that she can treasure all her life. Why, your father and I had ten bridesmaids, and dozens and dozens of white roses, and the catering. Besides, Jenny would have wanted it.”
He shushed her.
“We’ll see, Mother.” He left her rushing up to the attic to unpack her own wedding dress in case April wanted to wear something antique.
Later he apologized to April.
“I’m sorry Mother’s making such a fuss. I hope you don’t mind. She’s always said how she wanted a little girl.”
“
I don’t mind. It’s nice. At a time like this, I miss my mother.” Tears welled up in her eyes.
“
I know,” he comforted her. “If you can stand it, so can I. I guess we can afford to take two weeks off after the wedding. I thought maybe this island in Florida might be nice for a honeymoon.”
April glanced at the brochures of Sanibel and Captiva.
“It looks wonderful. The sun, the sea. We’ll need the quiet and solitude after this wedding.”
Kyle came that weekend.
After dinner when they all went into the study for coffee, Ryan announced, “Kyle, as your big brother, I’ve got something to tell you.” April came over and sat next to Ryan on the love seat. He took her hand, saying, “April and I are going to be married.”
Ignoring the information, Kyle echoed, “
Big brother? We’ll never know who’s the big brother here, will we, Mother?”
Elizabeth
looked down and began crying softly.
“
Oh, come on Kyle. I thought you’d be happy for April and me.”
“
It’s fine,” he said, and getting up he went to the sideboard and poured himself a bourbon. Neatly he threw the drink down and poured another.
Trying to cov
er the awkwardness of the situation, Ryan continued, “We’ve settled on May twentieth.” He looked toward April, pleading for it to be okay.
She smiled and nodded her consent.
“Of course I want you to be my best man. Maybe you could persuade the Governor to stand in and give April away.”
“
What? What did you say?” Kyle shouted.
“
Mother thought we could have the wedding here, one big blowout, then we’re off to Florida.”
“
No, no you can’t do that,” Kyle exploded in a rage. Pacing up and down he stopped in front of Elizabeth. “You stupid old lady.”
With that, R
yan leapt from the chair and stood in front of his brother, his fists clenched, anger making a tic jump under his eye.
“
You can’t talk to her like that. You’re drunk. We’ll discuss this when you’re sober.
“
No,” Kyle roared, “we’ll discuss this now.” He glared at Elizabeth, his face a mask of fury. “I know what you want, you foolish old lady. You want a big to-do, those society-page photographers falling all over themselves. You dimwit, don’t you realize someone will remember April? They’ll remember she’s supposed to be our cousin.”
With that Ryan swung a hard punch.
Kyle staggered back drunkenly and finally crashed into the table and fell on the floor.
“
April, fetch Tom,” Ryan ordered. “I need help to get him up to bed.”
After the men had taken Kyle upstairs, April went over to her aunt and put an arm around the frail, shaking shoulders.
“He’s been drinking,” she apologized.
Elizabeth
looked up, her eyes swimming with tears. “He’s nasty about it when he’s
not
drinking. He badgers me constantly to repeat the story over and over – how the twins were found in a hollow log floating in the creek. He demands descriptions and details, and he gets furious if I forget something or tell it in another way. He keeps questioning – was there a note, clothing, anything? I find myself always almost telling him about---” She stopped mid-sentence and wiped her cheeks and said she had a headache and was going up to bed.
“
The teeth, the teeth,” she muttered to herself as she climbed the steps. She must watch herself; she must never tell Kyle about the teeth. Oh, how she wished the Judge were here. William would have known what to do.
Ryan put on a record.
April and he continued to sit in the study sipping after-dinner drinks.
“
God, how he’s worried about it. God knows I think about it sometimes, but Kyle is almost paralyzed with fear that someone will find out.”
April nodded and remained silent.
Ryan paced the room, went to the French doors, and looked down to the cabin. He saw the soft orange light from her windows:
in that instant, he knew
. If it were true, how much worse for Kyle, Kyle who needed respectability, lineage, and family ties that were above reproach.
He turned back into the room.
“It’s Katherine, isn’t it?” she whispered.
He nodded and came to her.
They held each other, their hearts beating in time.
“
He’s my brother. I can’t bear to see him hurt.”
“
I know,” she said.
“
I can’t bear to hurt you, either. I don’t know how important the wedding is to you?”
“
It’s fine,” she assured him. “I was only going along with all the fuss because your mother – Elizabeth,” she corrected herself, “because it seemed so important to her.”
“
How’s the City Hall in St. Louis look to you?” he asked.
“
Romantic!”
“
That’s what I love about you – you have a vivid imagination.”
They took their blood test; three days later they were married in the City Hall, with hired strangers for witnesses.
Th
ey packed, took the plane for Fort Myers, Florida, and began their wonderful honeymoon.
On their return, both threw themselves into their work, happy and fulfilled.
Elizabeth never mentioned the wedding. She showed a renewed interest in scrapbooks, carefully pasting in yellowed newspaper articles concerning the Judge. She kept every news item to do with Ryan and his artwork. Kyle, too, filled the pages with small blurbs and boring articles about state legislation in which his name was mentioned.
She never referred to the humiliating, hurtful incident concerning Kyle.
Rather she babbled incessantly about the boys’ escapades as children, forgetting that April was as familiar with some of them as she was.
A
New York publisher sent the good news that April’s book had been accepted. Secretly, April had Kack’s name added to the publication. After all, the book was really hers! The editors requested that she send Kack’s photo as well as her own. She ignored this, for she knew it would be impossible.
Excitedly, she went to the cabin to tell Kack of the book
’s acceptance. She found her in the small patch of garden that was alive with flowers. Kack was on her knees, patting a mound of dirt. Her shoulders heaved with sobs, and her tears dropped to the earth.
Hoping to turn away and not be seen, April was caught.
“He died this morning. Little rabbits do not live very long,” Katherine said.
Dropping down beside her, Ap
ril patted her shoulder comfortingly. “Which one was it?”
“
Mine, he was mine,” she said simply. “A special one.”
April assumed it was the one she had tamed
– the little one she carried in her apron and that went hopping behind her like a faithful dog. Most she did not tame; Kack had always lectured Bradley that wild animals were wild animals, and not meant to be pets. You should mend and tend them if they were sick or injured, she said, then release them back to their natural habitat.
They huddled together
in silence, and when Kack was composed, April told her of the good news.
“
That’s wonderful. Come, we should have some ginseng tea.” Together they went into the cabin.
As they talked, Kack felt a sensation of doom.
April and Ryan were too happy, too lucky. It was like she and William had been, before the magic wore itself out. Today the rabbit had died.
She listened to April
’s happy talk of the book, the series… All was going so well. April mused about the places she and Ryan would see on their year-long trip.
Still Kack shivered, brooding on the death of the rabbit and the peculiar wilting of the ginseng in the forest this year.
Only yesterday the birds had gathered in the trees and chattered nervously. She tried to quell her fear of omens.
Ryan
’s insistence on taking her to the studio to see his finished statues made her even more uneasy; the sight of the life-like hare, possum, the raccoons, and all the others in the series gave her goosebumps. Her flesh crawled. She knew a primitive fear: now that her son had captured them in such life-like forms – had he stolen something from them?
Ryan worked at a feverish pace, but the work had come easy until now.
His deep bond with the creatures had made it so. He was pleased, for he felt that these tame, small, everyday animals were just as important and beautiful as the exotic ones he had painted in Africa.
Last in the series was the tiny, almost extinct owl.
He had studied pictures of the bird and had sat for many hours quiet as a stone, in the dark, and watched as the owl came to the bent sycamore to drink from the river. Even he, with his intimate knowledge of the woods, could not discover its nesting grounds. He only knew where it came to drink.
Ryan did not feel comfortable with the background he had on
the owl. He needed to get closer; he needed to study every movement, every quiet posture.
April felt his frustration.
He had come to the end of the series and now the work went badly.
“
I need more photographs – a whole series of them. I just feel so tired, so looking forward to our trip, that I mustn’t rush. I mustn’t cheat by doing inferior work now. I’ll set up the time-lapse camera tonight.”
They were both looking forward to Kyle
’s weekend visit. Things had been better since the outburst. Kyle felt guilty at having cheated them out of a big wedding, and so he made a great effort to be warm and charming to everyone. Elizabeth had forgiven him. It seemed he was back like he used to be. Things in his life were going well – or so he told them. Secretly, however, he brooded.
He was due to run for Governor next year; the political machine was behind him, and he was confident.
Yet he worried about the shadow that followed him.
Ryan had planned on talking to Kyle this weekend about Mother, the house, wh
at should be done about the help… He had given a lot of thought to it all, since after their extended trip, he and April were to move to Florida permanently, to live on Captiva.
On their honeymoon they had both fallen in love with the romant
ic island, with its stories of pirates who kept women captive there, and the talk of buried treasures. The Ding Dong Sanctuary was the place Ryan felt closest to God. The fantastic wildlife, birds that migrated there, the creatures – alligators, fox…and the beaches alive with shells… As two people so very much in tune with God’s creation they could think of no other place where they would rather spend their life than among nature’s generous bounty of plants and animals on that island.
Kyle
’s visit went well. He teased Hannah, presented his mother with a sapphire locket to match her eyes, and brought fresh lobster flown in especially from Boston, as he knew it was Ryan’s favorite food.
Elizabeth
watched fondly as the boys played ball in the clearing next to the patio.
Such handsome boys, so athletic.
As they jostled and played on the lawn they reminded her of the Judge when he was young. He had been like that – fun, exuberant. Tears filled her eyes. She missed him so. If she was honest, she had never cared for the physical part of her marriage, but the Judge was a thoughtful man, and after the unsuccessful pregnancies he had not bothered her with that sort of thing again. She had never worried about it, just felt relieved that that part of their marriage was over. Now she missed the feeling of protection he had given her. She still had Kyle. He would make her feel safe; he would have power like the Judge. She relished the thought of being the mother of a Senator, of the Governor… Like Kyle, her dreams were bigger. Ryan, too – he brought her honor. His fame was something she tasted like a sweet chocolate on her tongue.
Elizabeth
went to bed early that night, happy and content.
Ryan cautioned April not to wait up for him as Kyle and he needed to talk and resolve some family business.
They retired to the library. Ryan was cautious as he did not want to taint the bond of love and companionship that they had again achieved.
He clear
ed his throat. “Kyle, April and I have decided we want to move to Florida after the trip.”
“
Great, it sounds good, little brother.” They both gave a chuckle at the ‘little brother.’ It was a game they had played as children. They had always badgered Elizabeth as to which one was born first. She had pretended confusion and would name first one then the other, then shake them both off, saying ‘I don’t remember. Childbirth is painful – you’re not really awake for it.’ Later when they had grown up, they never thought to ask. Now they knew they would never know.
“
I’m worried about Mother. What will she do, roaming around this mausoleum?” Ryan said.
“
I agree totally. I’m sure the developers are still interested.”
“
Well, Kyle, I didn’t mean to actually sell the property. Why, with the trust funds coming due, if we sold, we’d give it all to the government anyway.”
Kyle leaned forward.
“What do you have in mind?”
“
I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I’ve also talked to Tom and Hannah. It seems the Judge definitely promised them those ten acres west of the cabin.”
Kyle nodded thoughtfully.
“The cabin,” Ryan continued, “has been Kack’s for as long as I can remember. We could give her that strip of land.”
Kyle was silent.
“Then,” Ryan trod softly, “as for the house – we could donate it to the blind, and that takes care of Bruce.”
“
Neat package! Well done, as the English would say. Sure.” Kyle rose and paced. “Mother gets her reward, the Judge finds another philanthropic charity named after him. It won’t do my career any harm either.” It sounded as if he agreed; anger and indecision kept him from saying more.
Kyle poured two drinks; the brothers held their glasses up, clinked them, and he said solemnly, “
To the future.”
They drank i
n silence. Finally Ryan said, “About Mother. I thought that condo you described in St. Louis sounds perfect. The house being donated to be named after the Judge will please her. Even now, she makes Tom drive her into town once a week to see the statue.”
“
I guess she loved him in her own way, whatever that was,” Kyle said sarcastically.
The silence was split by the hoot of an owl.
“Damn, I forgot,” Ryan said. “I had Tom string up the extensions. I need to set up the time-lapse camera.”
“
He’s your last one in the series?” Kyle questioned.
“
Yep. He’s it, and I must say he’s been a lot of trouble. I can’t seem to get it right. I just need some good natural pictures.”
“
Well, come on, let’s go. I’m the photographer around here, little brother, remember?”
“
It’s so dark, we’ll be tripping around out there,” Ryan cautioned. “Your suit – you better change.”
“
I’ll get the equipment.” Kyle went upstairs, changed into khakis and a warm flannel shirt, and came down carrying the camera bag.
The cool night air hit
the brothers and cleared their heads from the liquor. They walked the familiar path to the fishing tree, occasionally pushing aside the thornbushes and cursing loudly when they got pricked. They argued companionably over who would set the cameras. “I know the angles I want,” Ryan stated.
“
Who’s the photographer in this family?” Kyle retorted.
Their loud voices carried in the still night.
When they arrived at the tree, they saw the owl sitting high in the branches.
“
Damn. Damn,” Ryan muttered as he flew away. “Don’t know if he’ll return tonight.”
They set about untangling the electric leads, found Tom
’s extension waiting. It was a dark night. The moon entered and exited the clouds as they drifted quickly in the wind.
Someone said, “
Ready?”
With that word, the
lead dropped and hit the water. Brilliant colors sparked and lit his figure like the Fourth of July. The last sound was his body dropping in the water.
“
Oooh-ooh-ooh.” The terrible hoarse, agonized cry split the night. Kack sat up in her bed, fear catching in her throat. She heard the soft beginnings of the Oh mu’s moan.
She jumped up, clutching a robe, and grabbed the creature.
She put the drops in his mouth to still his fear and ran along the dark banks of the river, her heart beating fast with fear. She knew one of her sons had died!
Tom, who had been setting mole-traps, ran to the tree.
He unplugged the cord and restrained the struggling man, who was screaming hysterically, “Kyle, Kyle! My brother! I’ve got to try----”
He managed to wrench himself aw
ay from Tom’s grasp and dove into the black water.
“
Come back, Mr. Ryan. It’s too late. He can’t be alive now – the electricity,” Tom shouted.
Kack knelt down in the marsh, hidden among the cattails.
She knew that what Tom said was true. She heard the shriek of the Oh mu. She crouched down and waited.