Which brought him to a couple ofmonths ofnightly sleeping pills and which bring him right now to remembering that Iris has sleeping pills, though ofthe over-the-counter variety.Daniel slips out ofbed, steps through the darkness ofthe guest bedroom, and his foot lands on something furry and alive.He jumps back, frightened.He hears a low groan, and he turns on the flashlight.Scarecrow.She has been curled next to him all this time.She rubs against his legs, and when he bends to pat her she wiggles her hindquarters.
He finds his way to the bathroom.It’s small.Cold.White-walled, tiled, strictly utilitarian.Tub, toilet, sink.He is as careful and quiet as possible.To the right ofthe sink is one ofthose novelty gift mirrors meant to look like the cover ofTimemagazine, with the wordsHAMPTON WELLESMANOFTHEYEARembossed on the glass.To the left ofthe sink, a toothbrush holder affixed to the wall, with two brushes in it.A large and a small.He pulls out the one that is clearly Iris’s.It has a zebra-striped handle, pigeon-pink rubber gum massager at the end, unusually full head ofbristles.He touches it against his lips.
Daniel props the flashlight onto the side ofthe sink and opens the medicine chest.Hampton’s shaving gear, four different kinds ofchil-dren’s cough medicine, liquid aspirin.Sominex.He pries offthe cap, only to find the foil safety seal still intact.He peels it back without really considering the audacity ofwhat he is doing.He shakes two tablets out and then realizes he must take them without water.Fine, whatever.
Just then, the ring ofa telephone.He switches offthe flashlight, holds his breath, as ifhe were not an overnight guest making a trip to the john but a thiefabout to be discovered.A second ring.And then he hears Iris’s voice.
“Hello?”
Daniel grips the edge ofthe sink for stability.
”I was asleep,”Iris says.
In the darkness and stillness ofthe house, her voice is everywhere, it is close, it is right next to him.“You know more about it than I do and I’m right here,”Iris says.And then, a little later, she says,“Okay, ifthe power’s still not on, we’ll get to the train station and come and stay with you down there.”And then, finally,“Me too, bye.”
Daniel knows what“me too”means.
Iris hangs the phone up and a moment later Daniel sees the glow from her flashlight as she comes out ofher bedroom and down the hall.
Her footsteps are silent;the only way he can gauge her approach is by the brightening ofthe light.Should he pretend he was having a pee, quickly stand over the toilet? But what about the door—how can he be doing that with the door wide open? He could be washing his hands—but what sort oflunatic would be washing his hands in the middle ofthe night? Not to mention there is no electricity, no pump, no water.
Iris walks into the bathroom and captures him in the beam ofher flashlight.She is wearing sweatpants and a turtleneck sweater, slipper socks, and a brightly colored Egyptian cap.“Are you all right?”she says.
She reaches down to ruffle her fingers through the fur on top ofScare-crow’s upturned head.
“Yes.I’m fine,”Daniel says.
”I heard you in here,”she says.
”I’m okay.”
“I was going to check on the kids,”she says.A little exhaust comes out ofher mouth as she speaks.
He steps into the corridor and they walk to Nelson’s room.Daniel turns offhis flashlight, relying on hers.He is right behind her, with the dog at his side.The dog loves him, he feels this working in his favor.
Iris stops short, forcing contact.They collide softly, his toes on her heel, his chest against her shoulder blades.
She doesn’t so much step back as shift her weight slightly toward him, increasing the contact.Contact displaces the still water between them, and in the splash ofit intimacy rises in the wake.
Daniel lowers his forehead so it touches the back ofher head.They are still.He breathes her in.She notches backward.His lips find her nape.She lifts her chin, exhales.He wraps his arms around her.
They have crossed a line, but it seems to him they have not ventured too far, not yet, they can still go back, no one will be the wiser.
Iris takes a step forward and Daniel releases her.They go to Nelson’s room.Nelson is in the upper bunk;he has flung offthe covers, his legs stick out over the side ofthe mattress.Ruby is on the bottom, a slowly dimming flashlight poking from the bedclothes and casting upon her sleeping face a cold white light, like the shine ofa dying moon.
“I want to tell you something,”Iris says, barely whispering.It’s as if she is willing to wake the children.
“Let’s go,”Daniel says, pulling softly on her.“We don’t want to wakethem.”
In the hallway, she pulls the door to Nelson’s room three-quarters closed.“They’re really sleeping deeply,”she says.“They’re so cold, the poor babies.”
“Ruby always sleeps soundly.”
“I can’t sleep at all,”she says.“I never can.I doze, I go in and out.I think sleep is too much ofa commitment for me.”She laughs.
“Maybe you have too much on your mind,”he says.Is that it?She is suddenly exotic to him, opaque and unknown.No, that’s not it.He just doesn’tgether, he lacks that little snap ofinstant understanding.He must concentrate, she is something he mustworkat.
Daniel remains silent.It is like sitting quietly in the woods, things come to you, the life ofthe forest forgets about you and resumes.After a few moments, his silence draws her out, she comes softly to the edge ofit like a deer.
“I’m going to tell you the truth right now,”she says.
She sees alarm in his eyes and she places a comforting hand on the side ofhis face.
“I’m not going to say anythingbad.”
“Okay.”
She is puzzled, she tilts her head, regards this strange creature.
”When I first saw you,”Iris says,“I liked you so much.I mean right away.It was a very strange experience.You seemed perfect.”
“That’s me, all right.”
“I’m serious.It was sort offrightening.First ofall, you were taken and so was I.”
She’s talking about it in the past tense,thinks Daniel.As if now we were free.
”And second, I mean the thing that was even more frightening was sensing that ifwe were to get together and something happened, ifyou turned out not to even like me, or ifyou took advantage ofme, I would never recover from it.I just knew from the start it would be fatal.”
“I would never hurtyou,”he says.He hears his voice in the strange dead air ofthat house.
“You wouldn’t mean to,”she says.She moves her hand away from him, but he catches her, presses his lips against her palm.The kiss goes to the pit ofher stomach.
Ruby awakens.Their voices have found her in her sleep, carried her toward them.She calls for Daniel, her voice dry, cracked, and low.
Daniel goes back into the children’s bedroom, sits on the edge ofher bed.He feels something poking at him, at his ear, the side ofhis head.He realizes it’s Nelson’s foot, waving back and forth, though Nelson is still asleep.
“Are you all right?”Daniel whispers to Ruby.
”Yes,”she says.“I have to go to the bathroom.”She raises her arms, as ifit’s a matter ofcourse that he will lift her, carry her.
When Ruby is finished, Daniel carries her back to Nelson’s bedroom.