of the night?” Ophelia asked. “I have this idea that seeing your heart’s desire probably makes you hungry.”
“I can’t stay,” Fran said, surprised. She saw Ophelia’s expression and said, “Well, hell. I thought you understood. This is just for you.”
Ophelia continued to look at her dubiously. “Is it because there’s just the one bed? I could sleep on the floor. You know, if you’re worried I might be planning to lez out on you.”
“It isn’t that,” Fran said. “They only let a body sleep here once. Once and no more.”
“You’re going to leave me up here alone?” Ophelia said.
“Yes,” Fran said. “Unless you decide you want to come back down with me. If you’re afraid.”
“If I did, could I come back another time?” Ophelia said.
“No.”
Ophelia sat down on the golden quilt and smoothed it with her fingers. She chewed her lip, not meeting Fran’s eye.
“Okay. I’ll do it.” She laughed. “How could I not do it? Right?”
“If you’re sure,” Fran said.
“I’m not sure, but I couldn’t stand it if you sent me away now,” Ophelia said. “When you slept here, were you afraid?”
“A little,” Fran said. “But the bed was comfortable, and I kept the light on. I read for a while and then I fell asleep.”
“Did you see your heart’s desire?” Ophelia said.
“I saw it,” Fran said, and then said no more.
“Okay, then,” Ophelia said. “I guess you should go. You should go, right?”
“I’ll come back in the morning,” Fran said. “I’ll be here afore you even wake.”
“Thanks,” Ophelia said.
But Fran didn’t go. She said, “Did you mean it when you said you wanted to help?”
“Look after the house?” Ophelia said. “Yeah, absolutely. You really ought to go out to San Francisco someday. You shouldn’t have to stay here your whole life without ever having a vacation or anything. I mean, you’re not a slave, right?”
“I don’t know what I am,” Fran said. “I guess one day I’ll have to figure that out.”
Ophelia said, “Anyway, we can talk about it tomorrow. Over breakfast. You can tell me about the suckiest parts of the job and I’ll tell you what my heart’s desire turns out to be.”
“Oh,” Fran said. “I almost forgot. When you wake up tomorrow, don’t be surprised if they’ve left you a gift. The summer people. It’ll be something they think you need or want. But you don’t have to accept it. You don’t have to worry about being rude that way.”
“Okay,” Ophelia said. “I will consider whether I really need or want my present. I won’t let false glamour deceive me.”
“Good,” Fran said. Then she bent over Ophelia where she was sitting on the bed and kissed her on the forehead. “Sleep well, ’Phelia. Good dreams.”
Fran left the house without any interference from the summer people. She couldn’t tell if she’d expected to find any. As she came down the stairs, she said rather more fiercely than she’d meant to: “Be nice to her. Don’t play no tricks.” She looked in on the queen, who was molting again.
She went out the front door instead of the back, which was something she’d always wanted to do. Nothing bad happened, and she walked down the hill feeling strangely put out. She went over everything in her head, wondering what still needed doing that she hadn’t done. Nothing, she decided. Everything was taken care of.
Except, of course, it wasn’t. The first item was the guitar, leaned up against the door of her house. It was a beautiful instrument. The strings, she thought, were silver. When she struck them, the tone was pure and sweet and reminded her—as it was no doubt meant to—of Ophelia’s singing voice. The keys were made of gold and shaped like owl heads, and there was mother-of-pearl inlay across the boards like a spray of roses. It was the gaudiest gewgaw they’d yet made her a gift of.
“Well, all right,” she said. “I guess you don’t mind what I told her.” She laughed out loud with relief.
“Why everwho did you tell what?” someone said.
She picked up the guitar and held it like a weapon in front of her. “Daddy?”
“Put that down,” the voice said. A man stepped forward out of the shadow of the rosebushes. “I’m not your damn daddy. Although, come to think of it, I would like to know where he is.”
“Ryan Shoemaker,” Fran said. She put the guitar down on the ground. A second man stepped forward. “And Kyle Rainey.”
“Howdy, Fran,” said Kyle. He spat. “We were lookin’ for your pappy, like Ryan says.”
“If he calls I’ll let him know you were up here looking for him,” Fran said.
Ryan lit up a cigarette, looked at her over the flame. “It was your daddy we wanted to ask, but I guess you could help us out instead.”
“It don’t seem likely somehow,” Fran said. “But go on.”
“Your daddy was meaning to drop off some of the sweet stuff the other night,” Kyle said. “Only, he started thinking about it on the drive down, and that’s never been a good idea where your daddy is concerned. He decided Jesus wanted him to pour out every last drop, and that’s what he did all the way down the mountain. If he weren’t a lucky man, some spark might’ve cotched while he were pouring, but I guess Jesus don’t want to meet him face-to-face just yet.”
“And if that weren’t bad enough,” Ryan said, “when he got to the convenience, Jesus wanted him to get into the van and smash up all Andy’s liquor, too. Time we realized what was going on, there weren’t much left besides two bottles of Kahlua and a six-pack of wine coolers.”
“One of them smashed, too,” Kyle said. “And then he took off afore we could have a word with him.”
“Well, I’m sorry for your troubles, but I don’t see what it has to do with me,” Fran said.
“What it has to do is we conferred some about it. Seems to us your pappy could provide us with entrée to some of the finest homes in the area. I hear summer people like their tipples.”
“So then,” Fran said, “if I have this right, you’re hoping my daddy will make his restitution by becoming your accessory in breaking and entering.”
“Or he could pay poor Andy back in kind,” Ryan said. “With some of that good stuff.”
“He’ll have to run that by Jesus,” Fran said. “I ’spect it’s a better bet than the other, but you might have to wait till he and Jesus have had enough of each other.”
“The
