923
"Did you Polaroid the drawbridge?" I asked Jack
"Please tell me you did
"Yeah, but I thoughtthe German measles
story
"Let me see the photos," I said
Jack reached into his back pocket and produced
some PolaroidsHe shuffled through them and
handed me four, which I dealt out on the kitchen
table like a short hand of solitaireI grabbed
one of the Artisan pads and quickly began
sketching the photo that showed the cogs and
chains under the opening drawbridge - it was just
a dinky little one-lane thing - the most clearly
My right arm continued to itch: a low, sleepy
crawl
"The German measles story was genius," I said"It
will keep almost everyone awayBut almost isn't
good enoughMary wouldn't have stayed away from
my daughter if someone had told her Illy had
chicken p - Fuck!" My eyes had blurred, and a line
that should have been true wandered off into
falsehood
"Take it easy, Edgar," Wireman said
924
I glanced at the clockThe drawbridge
would go up at noon; it always didI blinked away
the tears and went back to my sketchMachinery
spun itself into existence from
chanel classic purse the point of the
Venus Black, and even now, with Ilse gone, the
fascination of seeing something real emerge from
nothing - like a shape drifting out of a fogbank -
stole over meAnd why not? When better? It was
refuge
"If she's got someone to attack us with and the
drawbridge is out of commission, she'll just send
them around to the Don Pedro Island footbridge,"
Wireman said
Without looking up from my drawing, I said: "Maybe
notA lot of people don't know about the Sunshine
Walkway, and I'm positive Perse doesn't
"Why?"
"Because it was built in the fifties, you told me
that, and she was sleeping then
He considered this a moment, then said, "You think
she can be beaten, don't you?"
"Yes, I doNot killed, maybe, but put back to
sleep
"Do you know how?"
925
Find the leak in the table and fix it, I almost
saidbut that made no senseThere are more of Libbit's pictures at
the other houseThe one at the south end of the
keyThey'll tell us where Perse is and tell me
what to do
"How do you know there are more?"
Because there have to be, I would have said, but
just
chanel replica handbags then the noon horn wentA quarter of a mile
down the road, the drawbridge between Duma Key and
Casey Key - the only north link between us and the
coast - was going upI counted to twenty, putting
Mississippi between each number as I had when I
was a childThen I erased the biggest cog in my
drawingThere was a sensation when I did it - in
the missing arm, yes, but also centered between
and just above my eyes - of doing some lovely
piece of precision work
"Can we go now?" Wireman asked
"Not quite yet," I said
He glanced at the clock, then back at me"I
thought you were in a hurry, amigoAnd given what
926
we saw in here last night, I know that I amSo
what else?"
"I need to draw you both," I said
iv
"I'd love to have you do a picture of me, Edgar,"
Jack said, "and I'm sure my mom would be totally
blissed out - but I think Wireman's rightWe
ought to get going
"Have you ever been to the south end of the Key,
Jack?"
"Uh, no
Of that I'd been almost sureBut as I tore the
picture of the drawbridge machinery off the top of
my pad, I looked at WiremanIn spite of the
louis vuitton denim purse lead
that now seemed to be lining my heart and emotions,
I found that this was something I really wanted to
know"What about you? Ever been down to the
original Heron's Roost for a little poke-and-pry?"
"Actually, no Wireman went to the window and
looked out"Drawbridge is still up - I can see
the western leaf against the sky from here
927
I was not to be diverted so easily"Why not?"
"Miss Eastlake advised against it," he said, still
not turning from the window"She said the
environment was badGroundwater, flora, even the
airShe said the Army Air Corps did testing off
the south end of Duma during World War II and
managed to poison that end of the island, which is
probably why the foliage grows so rank in most
placesShe said the poison oak is maybe the worst
in America - worse than syphilis before penicillin
is how she put itTakes years to get rid of, if
you rub up against itLooks like it's gone, then
it comes back
This was mildly interesting, but Wireman still
hadn't actually answered my question
"She also claimed there are snakes," he said,
finally turning around"I
women gucci handbags have a horror of snakes
Have ever since I was a little boy and woke up one
morning on a camping trip with my folks to
discover I was sharing my sleeping bag with a
milkieIt had actually worked its way into my
undershirtIt sprayed me with muskI thought I
was fucking poisonedAre you satisfied?"
928
"Yes," I said"Did you tell her that story before
or after she told you about the snake infestation
on the south end?"
Stiffly, he said: "I don't rememberI see what you're saying
- she wanted to keep me away
I didn't say it, you did, I thoughtWhat I said
was, "It's mostly Jack I'm worried aboutBut it's
better to be safe
"Me?" Jack looked startled"I don't have anything
against snakesAnd I know what poison oak and
poison ivy look like
"Trust me on this," I said, and began to sketch
himI worked quickly, resisting the urge to go
into detailas part of me seemed to want to do
While I was working, the first angry car horn
began to honk on the coast side of the drawbridge
"Sounds to me like the drawbridge is stuck again,"
Jack said
"Yes," I agreed, not looking up from my
chanel bags online drawin