Where she woke, coming over on her back, pulling away sheet and blanket for the warmth, or the sense of it, dappling the room walls and ceiling in a gentle rise and fall of reds, yellow, blazing to orange brought her to her elbows — Paul! to the foot of the bed and the window in the frolic of flames through the branches outside. She got his shoulder and shook him, reached for the light, for the phone when down below the foot of the hill erupted in flashes of red, blinding white, pounding bells climbing right up to her — Paul please! both hands on him pulling him over, eyes sealed and his mouth fallen open, his hand fallen empty to the floor and she came back to the window all of it out there now light and sound, the bark of a bullhorn, hoses dragged past the fence palings as the last of the garage windows and white went in flames reaching for the branches above catching for a moment one here, one higher as though fueled to climb the firmament till suddenly the roof fell in a shower of spark and fire leaving the boys down there in silhouette on the dying light, the same boys clambering up the hill in the afternoon grown older, or their brothers, deep in fire helmets that disclosed no more than the jut of a chin, ankle deep in black raincoats fidgeting fire axes near their own height in restive unemployment till the smallest of them turned to see her in the lighted window up there and rallied the others to share his discovery, sent her back to darken the room, to pull up the sheet, to lie still with the heaving calm beside her, and the smell of smoke.
6
Climbing the hill, waiting for breath, the old dog had fallen in beside her where she stopped again almost to the top, her hand steadied on a scorched fence pale drawing deep on the smell of ashes that still tinged the air, looking up to the house before she stepped out into the black gape of the road. The front door stood wide open. She'd barely crossed when the dog blundered past throwing her off balance in its own haste up the step where she stumbled, recovered in a reach for the doorway holding to it, looking in, backing off, breaking into a voice gone hollow with — Who…
— Out! damn you get out! and damned the black dog came past her, ears laid back in a transport. — What happened here.
— I don't, what…
— And over there… He'd come out as far as the newel, his hand thrust past her from the frayed cuff pointing — there, what happened.
— It, it burned, it just burned down last week the night that day you were here and, but what… far enough in now to see the silk flowers scattered among pieces of the vase smashed on the floor, — how did that…
— I just got here, front door standing wide open somebody broke in, somebody in a hurry, here… he had her arm, took her hand firm in one of his but she pulled it away, coming down on the edge of the love seat. — How long have you been gone? Just this morning she told him, since early this morning, she'd had a call from a Mister Gold at Saks telling her they'd found her purse and she had to go into town anyway, she had to sign some papers for a lawyer and then when she went to Saks to claim her purse they'd never heard of Mister Gold, there was no Mister Gold, and — Yes, and while you were there to see Mister Gold they were here to rob the house, they had your keys and your, what is it… She'd come up in a sharp turn for the kitchen to pull open the drawer there digging under napkins, placemats, — something missing?
— No… she got it closed — it's, nothing no.
— Ripped the lock off the door to my room there it wasn't even locked, I left it open didn't I? for Madame Socrate to get the trash out?
— I locked it.
— You, why. Why did you lock it.
— I don't know.
He stood there pulling off the raincoat, looking into the room's disarray as though matching it to memory, and then — Elizabeth? without turning to her — I'm, it's very difficult to say anything that's, that I'm very sorry about what happened, to say anything that would help… She didn't say anything to that, bent down freeing a crease in her stocking from the bite of her shoe, hair spilled away from the white of her neck as she straightened up suddenly caught with his arm around her, his breath close — that I've felt very badly…
— Mrs Booth? twisting sharply away from his hand grazed at her breast — I've felt very badly Mrs Booth, isn't that how it goes? I'm sorry I disturbed you Mrs Booth? Then why haven't you even called.
— I tried to call you this morning when I…
— I wasn't here! I just told you I wasn't here, I just told you I was in New York if you think I, if you thought I'd just be sitting here this whole horrible week waiting for you to call?
— I didn't mean…
— I'm going to make some tea. Do you want some tea?
— I, no… He pushed the wad of the raincoat from the chair where he'd dropped it and sat down, digging out the glazed envelope of tobacco, watching the shape of her back to him where she made busy filling the teakettle. — Has she been here? Madame Socrate?
— Well she, not exactly.
— Not exactly?
— I mean she's not very dependable she, I should call the police shouldn't I. To report it.
— I'd just, maybe later… spilling tobacco as his thumbs brought the paper together, — let me look around my room in there first, there might be…
— I mean it might just have been those boys those, awful boys… she broke off for the phone, tensed for the second ring and then, with the third — no don't answer it!
— But I thought you…
— Because they keep calling, those newspapers I mean how they even got this number they even came up here, the front door, the back door looking in the windows, I mean I had to hide in that little bathroom for hours under the stairs they think they have the, they think people have the right to know everything about you, that they…
— No no no, they just have the right to be entertained, that's all it is… He'd reached over to lift the phone breaking off its ring, dropping it back — why they go to the movies isn't it? why people read novels? Get the inside story, explore the dark passions hidden in the human heart and the greater the invasion of privacy the better, that's what wins prizes. That front page picture of your Reverend Ude huddled down with Senator Teakell? passing him that ten thousand dollar bribe for his television licensing? That's what gets the Pulitzer Prize it's not about art, it's not about literature, about anything lasting, it's the newspaper mind, what's here today and you wrap the fish in tomorrow, it's just…
— That's not what it was.
— What what was, the…
— I said that's not what it was! And he's not my Reverend Ude no I've seen it, I've seen that stupid picture before that's not what it was.
— Never seen two faces so engrossed in conspiracy.
— That's because they were praying… The cup rattled the saucer coming down from the shelf — it's not funny! What are you laughing at it's not funny it's, it was just like him coming up to you on those courthouse steps, when you said he took your arm at that courthouse in the, in Slopover kneeling down with him to repent it was in a hospital, Senator Teakell's daughter was in the hospital you can even see the hideous flowers behind them it's right there, look at it. That pile of newspapers, it's under there with the rest of the trash all those pictures of, they get a picture and then make up a story to go with it. Paul said it was all Victor Sweet, those people behind Victor Sweet that they fixed up that bribe story just to smear Sen…
— Where did they get the picture?
— I don't know, I don't know who gave them the picture I don't…
— Then how do you know what the…
— Because I know who's in the bed! because it's Cettie in the hospital bed you can see the corner of it behind that hideous that, that cross with all those hideous flowers because I know Cettie! Because we were all best friends Cettie and Edie and I, Edie Grimes her father was this close friend of Senator Teakell's and Edie's been raising money for him, I mean for Victor Sweet she thinks he's charming then she ran out of money, I mean it was mostly her own money she was raising she thought her father would be furious. He calls Victor Sweet a black marshmallow she thought he'd be furious but instead he just gave her more money right out of her trust and, because that's…