@@@@@Wireman!" It was Annmarie Whistler Wireman, 82
@@@@@Wireman!" 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?"
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"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: 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 timeDiving and snorkeling may
have been his hobby in the early twenties, but I
670
think that around 1925, eating dinner became his
chief diversionSo who told him?"
Annmarie came out of a door near the end of the
hallThere was a goofy, unbelieving grin on her
face that made her look half her forty years
"Is she-"
"She is," came Elizabeth's cracked but
unmistakable voice"Come in here, Wireman, and
let me see your face while I still know it
ix
I lingered in the hall with Annmarie, not sure
what to do, looking at the knickknacks and the big
old Frederic Remington at the far end - Indians on
poniesThen Wireman called for meHis voice was
impatient and rough with tears
