He was a rich man, but I don't think that...
He was
a rich man, but I don't think that vaccinates a
man against the treasure-bug"I'm sure it doesn't
"The nanny would have gone with him on his
treasure-hunting expeditionsThe three still-athome
girls, too: the twins and ElizabethMaria
and Hannah were back at their boarding school in
Bradenton, and big sis had run off to Atlanta
Eastlake and his little ones probably had picnics
down there
"How often?" I began to see where this was goingMaybe every day while the debris field was
at its richestThey wore a path from the house to
what was called Shade BeachIt was half a mile,
if that
"A path two adventurous little girls could follow
on their ownTo everyone's sorrow He swept
the pictures back into the folder"There's a
story here, muchacho, and I hermes kelly handbag suppose it's
marginally more interesting than a little girl
swallowing a marble, but a tragedy is a tragedy,
and at the bottom, all tragedies are stupidGive
me a choice and I'll take A Midsummer Night's
Dream over Hamlet every timeAny fool with steady
hands and a working set of lungs can build up a
667
house of cards and then blow it down, but it takes
a genius to make people laugh
He brooded a moment
"What probably happened is that one day in April
of 1927, when Tessie and Laura were supposed to be
napping, they decided to get up, sneak down the
path, and go hunting for treasure at Shade Beach
Probably they meant to do no more than wade in as
far as their knees, which is all they were
permitted to do - one of the stories quotes John
Eastlake as chanel purse white saying that, and Adriana backed him
up
"The married daughter who came backShe and her new husband returned a day or
two before the search for the bodies was
officially called offThat's according to
ShanningtonAnyway, one of the little girls maybe
saw something gleaming a little further out and
started to flounderThen-"
"Then her sister tried to save her Yes, I could
see itOnly I saw Lin and Ilse as they'd been
when they were smallNot twins, but for three or
four golden years nearly inseparable"And then the rip took em both
Had to've been that way, amigo; that's why the
bodies weren't foundOff they went, heigh-ho for
the caldo largo
I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by the
rip, then remembered a painting by Winslow Homer,
romantic but of chanel purses undeniable power: Undertow
The intercom on the wall beeped, startling us both
Wireman struck the folder with his arm as he
turned around, knocking photocopies and faxes
everywhereWireman!" It was Annmarie Whistler
Wireman, are you there?"
"I'm here," Wireman saidWireman?" She sounded agitatedThen, as if
to herself: "Jesus, where are you?"
"The fucking button," he muttered, and went to the
wall unit, not quite runningWhat's wrong? What's happened? Did she
fall?"
"No!" Annmarie cried"She's awake! Awake and
aware! She's asking for you! Can you come?"
669
"Right away," he said, and turned to me, grinning
"Do you hear that, Edgar? Come on!" He paused
"What are you looking at?"
"These," I said, and held out the two pictures of
Eastlake in his bathing dress: fendi spy bag replica the one where he
was surrounded by all his daughters, and the one
taken two years later, where he was flanked by
just Maria and Hannah
"Never mind em now - didn't you hear her? Miss
Eastlake is back!" He booked for the doorI
dropped his folder on the library table and
followed himI had made the connection - but only
because I'd spent the last few months cultivating
the art of seeingCultivating it strenuouslyHe'd gone the length of the
dogtrot and was halfway up the staircaseI was
limping as fast as I could and he was still
pulling awayHe waited for me, not very patiently
"Who told him the debris field was there?"
"Eastlake? I assume he stumbled on it while
pursuing his diving hobby
"I don't think so - he hadn't been in that bathing
suit for a long omega mens watch fake tim