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"She’s not hopeless She laughs soot plenty of resources"
"Which could do so ood if properly applied"
"I don’t want the uy who could ever spend a dime of it on yourself But you could direct those resources to people who have a greater potential for an acceptable quality of life than she does, people ould be more likely to be helped"
Billy tolerated Ferrier also because the physician had been so effective in pre-trial depositions that the etting near a courtroo of Barbara," Ferrier continued "If I were in her condition, I wouldn’t want to lie there like that, year after year"
"And I would respect your wishes," Billy said "But we don’t knohat her wishes are"
"Letting her go doesn’t require active steps," Ferrier re tube"
In her co reflex and could not properly s Food would end up in her lungs
"Re tube and let nature take its course"
"Starvation"
"Just nature"
Billy kept her in Ferrier’s care also because the physician was straightforward about his belief in utilitarian bioethics Another doctor ht believe the saent--of ument, but he would not act without Billy’s approval
"No," Billy said "No We won’t do that We’ll go on just the e have been going"
"Four years is such a long tier"
Chapter 42
Six o’clock sun on the vineyards filled the ith summer, life, and bounty
Beneath her pale lids, Barbara Mandel’s eyes followed the action of vivid drea on the barstool by her bedside, Billy said, "I saw Harry today He still sreatest achieve been disbarred"
He didn’t tell her anything else about his day The rest of it would not have lifted her spirits
From the standpoint of defense, the teak points of the roo bathroom less Thefeatured a blind and a latch The door could not be locked Like every hospital bed, Barbara’s had wheels Thursday evening, as ht approached, Billy could roll her out of here, where the killer expected to find her, and put her in another room, somewhere safer She wasn’t tethered to life-support syste from a rack fixed to the bed fra main corridor, no one could see around the corner to this ing rooht be able toseen, then return here to wait for the freak
Assu it came to that crisis point Which was a safe if not happy assulancing in the roo cha possibilities
When he returned to her roo: "… soaked in water…
sested a bad dream, but her tone of voice did not She spoke softly and as if enchanted
"… cut by flints… stung by nettles… torn by briars…"
Billy had forgotten his pocket notebook and his pen Even if he had remembered them, he could not take the time to settle down and record these utterances
"Quick!" she said
Standing at her bedside, he put a co hand on Barbara’s shoulder
"Give it ently
He half expected her eyes to open and to fix on him, but they did not When Barbara fell silent, Billy squatted to look for the cord that powered the bed’s adjustable-ht, he would have to pull that plug
On the floor, just under the high bed, lay a snapshot taken by a digital camera Billy picked up the photo and stood to exaht "…
creep and creep…" Barbara whispered He turned the snapshot three ways before he realized that it depicted a praying mantis, apparently dead, pale upon pale painted boards "… creep and creep… and tear hicha norh the front doors and here they wished, without any requireister "… hands of the dead…" she whispered Because Barbara required less attention than conscious patients with their myriad complaints and demands, nurses did not attend her as frequently as they did others "… great stones… angry red…" A quiet visitor ht stay here half an hour and never be seen at this bedside--or entering, or leaving He did not want to leave Barbara alone, talking to an eh she must have done so on countless previous occasions Billy’s evening, already fully scheduled, had been coent task "… chains hanging… terrible…" Billy pocketed the snapshot He bent to Barbara and kissed her forehead Her broas cool, as always it was cool At the , he dren the blind Reluctant to leave, he stood in the open doorway, looking back at her She said soh he had no clue why
"Mrs Joe," she said "Mrs Joe"
He did not know a Mrs Joe or Mrs Joseph, or Mrs Johanson, or Mrs Jonas, or anyone by any name similar to the one that Barbara had spoken And yet soht he did
The phanto his spine With a prayer as real as any that he had lied about to Gretchen Norlee, he left Barbara alone on this last night in which she ht remained in a sky too dry to support a wisp of a cloud, the sun a therathered to a stillness as if in anticipation of a cataclysmic blast
Chapter 43
The picketed front yard contained no grass in need of , but instead a lush carpet of baby’s tears and, under the graceful boughs of pepper trees, lace flower
Shading the front walk, an arbor tunnel was draped with trumpet vines Orchestras of silent scarlet horns raised their flared bells to the sun The arched-lattice tunnel, a preview of twilight, led to a sunny front patio where pots were filled with red garnet, red valerian
The house was a Spanish bungalow Modest but graceful, it had been tenderly maintained
The black silhouette of a bird had been painted on the red front door The wings were on the upstroke, the bird in an angle of ascent Halfway through Billy’s brief knock, the door opened, as though he had been expected and had been awaited with keen anticipation Ivy Elgin said, "Hi, Billy," without surprise, as if she had seen hih ain the door It had no
Barefoot, she wore khaki shorts cut for co Hooded and cloaked, Ivy would still have been a lamp to every moth that flew
"I wasn’t sure you’d be here," he said
"I’m off Wednesdays" She stepped back fro on the sun side of the threshold, Billy said, "Yeah But you have a life"
"I’ pistachios in the kitchen"
She turned and walked away into the house, leaving him to follow as if he had been here a thousand tiht and a floor lamp with a tasseled sapphire-silk shade accoliht-blueThe artwork seemed to be from the 1930’s
He made some noise on the hardwood floor, but Ivy did not She crossed the room as if a slip of air always separated the soles of her feet from the fir planks, the way a sylph flythe surface tension of the water
At the back of the house, the kitchenarea
Beadboard paneling, French-pane cabinet doors, a white tile floor with black-diamond inlays, and an ineffable quality made him think of the bayou and New Orleans charm
Ts between the kitchen and the back porch were open for ventilation In onesat a large black bird
The creature’s perfect stillness suggested taxider, Billy felt invited to the table, and even as he sat, she put a glass of ice in front of him She picked up a pitcher from the table and poured tea
Also on the red-and-white-checkered oilcloth were another glass of tea, a dish of fresh cherries, a sheet-cake pan piled high with unshelled nuts, and a bowl half full of liberated pistachios
"You’ve got a nice place," Billy said
"It was randmother’s house" She took three cherries from the dish
"She raised me"
Ivy spoke softly, as always Even at the tavern, she never raised her voice, yet she never failed to make herself heard
Not one to pry, Billy was surprised to hear himself ask, in a voice softened to match hers, "What happened to your mother?"
"She died in childbirth," Ivy said as she lined up the cherries on thesill beside the bird "My father just moved on"