Monday, May 3, 2010 - Whereat yo pad?"
Jack was now looking off to the...
Whereat yo pad?"
Jack was now looking off to the side, into the
shadows leading to the ruined parlor, bemused,
eyes distantHe looked neither conscious nor
unconscious; he looked someplace between
Wireman let go of me and reached into the food-bag,
where I had stowed the two Artisan padsJack's hand flexed a bit, and Noveen
appeared to bend her head slightly to study it as
I first flipped back the cover and then unzipped
the pouch that held my pencils
I rummaged again, and took out Libbit's pale green
It was the only one still long enough to afford a
decent gripIt must not have been her favorite
991
colorOr maybe it was just that Duma's greens
were darker
"All right, now what?"
"Draw me in the kitchenPut me up agin the
breadbox, that do fine
"On the counter, do you mean?"
"Think I was talkin bout on the flo?"
"Christ," Wireman mutteredThe voice had been
changing steadily with each exchange; now it
wasn't Jack's at allAnd whose was it, given the
fact that in its prime the only chanel bags to buy fake ventriloquism
available to make the doll speak had been provided
by a little girl's imagination? I thought it had
been Nan Melda's then, and that we were listening
to a version of that voice now
As soon as I began to work, the itch swept down my
missing arm, defining it, making it thereI
sketched her sitting against an old-fashioned
breadbox, then drew her legs dangling over the
edge of the counterWith no pause or hesitation -
something deep inside me, where the pictures came
from, said that to hesitate would be to break the
spell while it was still forming, while it was
still fragile - I went on and drew the little girl
992
standing beside the counterStanding beside the
counter and looking upLittle four-year-old girl
in a pinaforeI could not have told you what a
pinafore was before I drew one over little
Libbit's dress as she stood there in the kitchen
beside her doll, as she stood there looking up, as
she stood there
Shhhhh-
-with one finger to her lips
Now, moving quicker chanel j10 watch fake than ever, the pencil racing,
I added Nan Melda, seeing her for the first time
outside that photograph where she was holding the
red picnic basket bunched in her armsNan Melda
bent over the little girl, her face set and angry
No, not angryvi
Scared
That's what Nan Melda is, scared near to death
She knows something is going on, Libbit knows
something is going on, and the twins know, too -
Tessie and Lo-Lo are as scared as she isEven
that fool Shannington knows something's wrong
993
That's why he's taken to staying away as much as
he can, preferring to work on the farm shoreside
instead of coming out to the Key
And the Mister? When he's here, the Mister's too
mad about Adie, who's run off to Atlanta, to see
what's right in front of his eyes
At first Nan Melda thought what was in front of
her eyes was just her own imagination, picking up
on the babby-uns' games; surely she never really
saw no pelicans or herons flying upside-down, or
the hosses smiling at her when Shannington latest louis vuitton shoulder bag brought
over the two-team from Nokomis to give the girls a
rideAnd she guessed she knew why the little ones
were scairt of Charley; there might be mysteries
on Duma now, but that ain't one of emThat was
her own fault, although she meant wellvii
"Charley!" I said"His name's Charley!"
Noveen cawed her laughing assent
I took the other pad out of the food-sack - almost
ripped it out - and threw back the cover so
savagely that I tore it half offI groped among
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the pencils and found the stub of Libbit's black
I wanted black for this side-drawing, and there
was just enough to pinch between my thumb and
finger
"Edgar," Wireman said"For a minute there I
thought I sawit looked like-"
"Shut up!" Noveen cried"Ne'mine no mojo arm! You
gone want to see this, I bet!"
I drew quickly, and the jockey came out of the
white like a figure out of heavy fogIt was quick,
the strokes careless and hurried, but the essence
was there: the knowing eyes and the broad lips
that might have been grinning with vintage cartier watch either mirth or
malevolenceI had no time to color the shirt and
the breeches, but I fumbled for the pencil stamped
Plain Red (one of mine) along its barrel and added
the awful cap, scribbling it inAnd once the cap
was there you knew what that grin really was: a
nightmare
"Show me!" Noveen cried"I want to see if y'got
it right!"
I held the picture up to the doll, who now sat
straight on Jack's leg while Jack slumped against
995
the wall beside the staircase, looking off into
the parlor"That's the bugger who scared
Melda's girls
"What - ?" Wireman began, and shook his head
"Melda seen the frog, too," Noveen said"The one
the babbies call the big boy
That's when Melda finally corner Libbit in
d'kitchen
"At first Melda thought the stuff about Charley
was just little kids scaring each other, didn't
she?"
Noveen cawed again, but her shoebutton eyes stared
with what could have been horrorOf course, eyes
like that can look like anything you want them to,
can't they? "That's right, wholesale chanel jewelry s
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