Gates of Paradise (Casteel 4)

taken in the near future. I didn't think he even noticed

we had left.

I had the strangest feeling when we drove up to

the cottage, approaching it on a road off the rear of the

cemetery. It was as if we had all become miniaturized

and we were about to enter the toy cottage, become

citizens of a toy world, a world of magic and makebelieve, the world Luke and I had lived in for so much

of our lives. Troy, the master creator of the Tatterton

Toy world was our magician. He would touch us with

his magic wand and make the ugly and the sad world

go away.

Luke loved the cottage and was fascinated with

all of Troy's new creations, especially the medieval vil- lage. Troy prepared sandwiches and drinks for us, and he and Luke talked about college, Boston, and some of the things he was creating I sat back and listened, happy the two of them were getting along so

well

Finally, Troy sat back, a gentle smile on his

face as he looked from me to Luke.

"Tell me what your plans are now."

"Plans? Luke's back in college. He'll go on to

be a doctor. I supposeIll travel through Europe as my

parents originally planned for me to do, so I can study

the Great Masters, and then attend college myself to

develop my art talent. We'll go our separate ways and

do what we can to make our lives meaning ful." "I see." He looked away, the smile lifting off

his face and disappearing like smoke. When he looked

back at us, his face was full of sorrow and pain again.

"I must confess that I have brought you here with

ulterior motives in mind. Believe me when I tell you I

have agonized for days over these things. The greater

temptation is to bury the past alongside Tony and Heaven and Logan, and live out my days as I

am now. . . ghostlike, apart from the real world,