Annie's Song (47 page)

Some time later, he returned to his senses to find that he was lying on the attic floor, his lovely wife sprawled naked on top of him, her face pressed to the hollow of his neck. As his vision sharpened, he
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found himself staring into a pair of beady little eyes. A mouse was perched on Annie’s slender shoulder.

Alex blinked, then smiled as he stroked the tiny creature with a fingertip.

Madness. Making love in a mouse-infested attic? He closed his eyes, perfectly content to go crazy as long as this woman he held in his arms was with him.

Three weeks. He could hold her and love her for three more weeks, and he intended to make the most of every second. He’d avoid getting her pregnant, and he’d take every precaution. But love her, he would. As much as he could, for as long as he could.

Three more weeks ... After that, his wife and child would be gone, and his arms would be empty.

So would his life.

Three weeks later, when Alex took Annie and Maddy to the station in Medford to see them off, the morning was cold, gloomy, and damp, a perfect reflection of his mood, which was dismal, to say the least. He had been dreading this moment for over two months, didn’t want to face it, and could have thought of a dozen perfectly rational reasons to do an about-face and take his wife and baby home.

“Have you got your tickets?”

Wincing, Alex realized he was yelling so Annie might hear him over the train’s engine. Reaching under the thick folds of her wool cloak, he caught her arm and drew her to a stop, leaning around so she could see his face as he repeated the question. She opened her reticule, a blue silk bag embroidered with jet beads, and started to fish through the jumbled contents. Alex glimpsed something small and brown wriggling among the papers. Before he could register what it was or react, it took a flying leap.

“Naah-ooh!” Annie shrieked.

“Christ!” Alex swore.

“Mouse!” a fat lady screamed.

From that moment on, all hell broke loose, women screeching and jumping on benches, men stomping about in an attempt to squash the scurrying little creature under their heels. Alex leaped into the fray, not entirely sure what he hoped to accomplish, aside from making a complete ass of himself. With all the noise and confusion, he doubted the poor mouse was going to stand still so he might catch it. But with Annie’s worshipful gaze fixed on him, her expression hailing him as her hero, he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

The mouse took cover between a trash receptacle and a post, whereupon a woman, skirts bunched around her knees with one hand, launched an attack on the mouse’s hiding place with wild swings of her purse. All Alex could think about was Annie’s pet being bludgeoned to death before her very eyes. He dived between the woman and the garbage can, rendering her blows harmless by taking the brunt of them across his shoulders. When his fingertips connected with a furry little body, he made a none-too-gentle
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grab. Tiny teeth sank into his index finger.

“Jesus Christ! You ungrateful little shit!”

“Watch your language, sir!” Kerwhack. The woman’s purse hit him squarely on the ear. As he straightened, Alex raised an arm to protect his face. “How dare you turn a mouse loose in a public place!” she cried. “I nearly had heart failure!”

She looked in fine form to Alex. He dodged another swing of her purse. “Madam, kindly stop swinging that reticule at me.”

She thumped him on the shoulder. “Disturbing the peace! Terrifying innocent people! And a grown man, no less. Such pranks are to be expected from young boys. But you? I’ve a good mind to report you.

Rodents are diseased. Rabies! The plague! How dare you subject other people to—’’ Alex cupped the rescued mouse against his coat lapel. “This is no ordinary mouse. It’s a”—he grabbed at the first words that came to him—”genus attica. It’s very rare. My wife wouldn’t take a thousand dollars for it.”

The woman blinked. “Rare, you say?”

“You have no idea.”

She pursed her lips, the movement twitching the end of her nose and making her nostrils flare. “Did I understand you to say it’s worth over a thousand dollars?”

“That and more.”

“Oh, my ...” She touched a hand to her throat. “Oh, I am so sorry. At a glance, it certainly looked like an ordinary mouse.”

“Madam,” Alex said with his most well-practiced smile, “only a damned fool would charge through a train station trying to catch an ordinary mouse. Thank your lucky stars that you did it no serious injury.”

She raised her penciled eyebrows and leaned sideways to peer at his cupped hand. “You don’t say? A genus attica? You know, now that you mention it, I’ve heard of them. In fact, I think I saw one exhibited at the fair last year. Oh, yes, I’m sure—a genus attica. Yes, that was it. How absolutely extraordinary!”

“You won’t see many people packing one around, I can tell you that.”

She gestured for a thin little man standing nearby. “Horace, come and look. This man has a genus attica.

Isn’t that amazing? We saw one at the fair last year, remember?”

Tweaking his mustache and rocking back onto his heels, Horace looked surprised to hear that. “Hmm ...

Ah, yes. A genus—what was that you said?”

“A genus attica! They’re valuable beyond measure. You remember.” She came closer to Alex. “May I see?”

Several other people were gathering around. Alex captured the mouse in his cupped hands and parted his thumbs so the woman could have a peek. She assumed a knowledgeable air and nodded. “Oh, yes.

Upon closer inspection, I can see that this is no ordinary mouse. The ears of the genus attica are quite distinctive, are they not?”

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A well-dressed man leaned forward to look over the woman’s shoulder at the mouse. “The nose is quite distinctive as well. Dear God, a genus attica. It’s a miracle some damned fool didn’t smash it.”

“Oh, isn’t he cute?” another woman cried. “Paul, I’d love to have one of those. What a conversation piece. Where on earth did you buy him, sir?”

“Actually, I didn’t,” Alex replied. “You might say I came by him through a special liaison. Connections, you know. As I said, not just everybody has one.”

Annie dashed up just then. Alex relinquished the mouse to her. She held it to her cheek, making soft cooing noises. None of the onlookers seemed to think that was strange, not now that they realized the mouse was a rare and expensive genus attica.

Alex knew when to retreat. He seized Annie by the arm and hotfooted it away from there. He spied Maddy standing near the steps of the train and veered in her direction. “Did ye catch the bloomin’

mouse?” she asked as they joined her.

“Keep your voice down,” Alex whispered. “That woman over there nearly sent for the authorities. Said mice were a health hazard, of all the crazy things.”

“Well, I never!” Maddy huffed.

“From here on, it’s a genus attica. Very rare, very expensive. Otherwise, they might discover it later and put you off the train.”

Maddy shot a look at Annie, who was carefully stowing her pet back in her reticule. “We can’t have that.”

“No, we cannot.”

“A genus attica.” Maddy nodded. “It has a certain ring to it. Have ye got the tickets?”

Alex’s heart leaped when he saw Annie reopen her reticule to get the tickets, but this time she caught the mouse in one hand while she searched. When she came up with the fare vouchers, he nearly sighed with relief. If she and Maddy missed this train, they wouldn’t be able to leave for Albany until tomorrow. As much as he would have enjoyed keeping them home another day, he didn’t think he could survive saying all the goodbyes again. Last night, holding Annie in his arms, not knowing how long it might be before he saw her again, had been agony.

After taking the tickets, Alex made sure she got her mouse tucked safely away. “Don’t take it out on the train,” he cautioned her. “Not everyone has a fondness for”—he lowered his voice—”mice, you know.

In fact, some people are downright peculiar about them.”

“All aboard!” the conductor yelled.

Alex caught Annie’s arm, drawing her quickly along to catch up with Maddy, who was already harkening to the conductor’s call.

“All aboard! All aboard!” the conductor yelled again.

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When they reached Maddy, Alex stuffed the tickets in her hand and took little Bart from her to give him one last hug. Tears burned in his eyes as he nuzzled aside the blanket and pressed his cheek against the baby’s downy hair. After returning the infant to the housekeeper’s waiting arms, he turned to Annie. Her mouth was quivering and her eyes were swimming.

“I’ll write,” he assured her. “It won’t be so bad, sweetheart. You’ll see. Once you get started at school, you’re going to love it.”

She nodded, looking so dismal and forlorn that it was all he could do not to call the whole thing off.

“I love you, Annie, girl. I’m going to miss you every second of every day.”

The end of her nose started turning red. Alex bent to kiss the tip, then gathered her into his arms. He closed his eyes, pressed his face against her hair, and dragged in a deep breath, trying to memorize her scent. He was shaking when he drew away from her.

“I don’t want to go,” she said.

Pretending he hadn’t noticed, Alex kissed her forehead. Then he turned to Maddy. “You’ll write? Once a week, at least.”

“Lands, yes. I told ye, Master Alex, I’ll write ye every week without fail!” She handed the tickets to the conductor, then, cradling the baby in one arm, grabbed Annie’s wrist. “Come along, lass. They’re gonna leave without us.”

“If anything goes wrong, wire me. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”

“Not to worry,” Maddy called. “I’ll wire if we need ye.”

Alex clenched his teeth and shifted his gaze to Annie. Big blue eyes, clinging to his. As Maddy started up the steps, Annie craned her neck to look back at him. He lifted a hand to wave. Then, just like that, she was gone.

He walked alongside the train, searching for her face at one of the windows. The train began to move.

He picked up his pace, desperately searching, determined to get one more glimpse of her. Just one.

When the train pulled away from him, he staggered to a stop, staring after it, feeling more desolate than he ever had in his life.

When Alex returned to Montgomery Hall, the house seemed utterly silent. Feeling indescribably lonely, he wandered from room to room, seeing Annie or the baby everywhere he looked. Gone. In his study, he sat before the fireplace, stared into the soot-blackened firebox, and thought to himself that the darkness was an omen. They were gone, and there was every chance they might never come back. As difficult as it was, he had to accept that. Frederick tapped on the study door. “Might I get you something, Master Alex? A cup of coffee, perhaps? Or have one of the maids bring you in some lunch?” Alex sighed. “I’m not really hungry, Frederick. Thank you, anyway.”The butler walked farther into the room.

When he reached the hearth, he did the unprecedented and sat in the opposite chair. “I know it’s no consolation, but you’ve done the right thing, sir. Difficult, I know. But, in the end, it will be what’s best for her, and for the babe.”

That realization was small comfort. Alex said nothing.

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“Maddy will write regularly, I’m sure. And before you know it, Annie will be sending letters.”

Alex nodded. “It’ll be easier then, I suppose. But it’ll be a spell before she learns to read and write, Frederick.”

“Yessir, I know.” The man fell silent for a moment, hands turned toward the fireplace as if to warm them even though no fire burned in the grate. “What you need are some projects to keep you busy. One thing the two of us might set our minds to is a mouse cage. I hate to complain, but since Annie sprang all the traps in the attic, we’re being overrun. Droppings in the flour this morning, no less.”

“Dear God. You tossed it out, I hope.”

“Well, sir, not exactly. Given the fact that the creatures seem taken with it, I, um... took it upstairs. I thought maybe—well, if they have food up there, perhaps they’ll stay out of the kitchen.”

Alex groaned and rubbed his forehead. Then he gave a halfhearted laugh. “Frederick, that’s mad.

Feeding the attic mice? Have you any idea how quickly they multiply? I can’t recall the exact figures I learned in college, but the multiplication factor is phenomenal.”

“You’re right, of course. Quite mad, feeding the mice.” He slanted a look at Alex. “I’ll let you be the one to reset the traps, if you’d be so kind.”

Alex groaned again. “I can’t do that. Sure as hell, I’d catch a favorite of hers. Maybe you have a point.

I’ll have to build a cage for them.” Recalling the incident at the train station, he recounted the story to Frederick. “Maybe we could go into business and sell the buggers,” he joked. “Five hundred a head.

What a bargain!”

Frederick grinned. “I’d be pleased to just give them away, sir.”

“No problem. I could have gotten rid of two dozen this morning, easily. Incredible, isn’t it? Tell people something is rare and expensive, and they immediately want one.”

As Alex fell silent again, Frederick said, “If you want help with a cage, I’m handy with a hammer and nails.”

“Thank you, Frederick. I appreciate the offer.”

“After we’ve rounded up Annie’s little friends, perhaps we can reset the traps?”

“There’s a thought.”

“As for their multiplying, perhaps I can”—the butler cleared his throat and lowered his voice—”discreetly dispose of any unwanted offspring.”

“We’ll have to do something,” Alex agreed listlessly, and returned his gaze to the firebox.

“Don’t feel too down at the mouth, Master Alex. It’s not as if you can’t go visit her whenever you wish.”