Gates of Paradise (Casteel 4)

"Tha's sure the way ta think, Miss Annie," Roland said.

He and Luke brought me directly to my room. Never before did it look so wonderful and comfortable and warm to me. Tears of happiness ran over my cheeks. I was home, really home. I would sleep in my own bed, be surrounded by my own things. For a moment it was as if all that had happened had indeed been only a dream. That was the power of my room.

But then my gaze went to the toy cottage and I thought about Troy. It was as if I had grown gigantic and I was looking back at where I had been. I had so much to thank him for. In his own way, he had rescued me, too.

"Oh, Luke, it looks so wonderful. never take it for granted again."

I gazed about hungrily, feasting my eyes on all my things. There were my pictures and art materials, organized as neatly as the day I had left them. The unfinished painting of Farthy I had begun shortly before the tragic accident was still on the easel. How wrong I had been about it, I thought. The colors were too bright, the world around it too soft and inviting. It was truly a picture drawn from a fantasy. No wonder Mommy wanted me to paint other things. She knew I was living in a dream world, and sometimes, living in dreams can be dangerous and tragic.

The only thing that was truly accurate in the picture was Luke. There was nothing imaginary about the way he looked, but more important, I had put him where I most needed him--with me, coming for me, bringing me home.

"I was all wrong about Farthy, Luke," I said. "My pictures were pure fantasy."

"Don't blame yourself for wanting it to be more, Annie. If we don't permit ourselves to have dreams, the world can be awfully dreary. Maybe now we'll be more satisfied with what we have and who we are," he added.

"Oh, Luke, I hope so."

The commotion around us drove away regrets and dark thoughts. George brought in my things and Mrs. Avery turned down the bed. Everyone was chattering at once. Their excitement was infectious.

"I will help Annie by myself now, ladies and gentlemen," Aunt Fanny announced.

"Yes, ma'am," Roland said, and everyone left obediently. I saw from the way they responded that Aunt Fanny had indeed taken over here.

"I'll look in on you later, Annie. Is there anything you want me to bring back?" Luke asked.

"Nothing right now, Luke. Just yourself."

"No problem with that. Matter of fact, you'll probably get tired of seeing me.Ill be like old wallpaper."

"I can't imagine that." I squeezed his hand. He held his face close to mine and I thought he was going to kiss my cheek, but Aunt Fanny spoke up before he made up his mind to do so.

"Well, if ya gain', Luke, go! We have work ta do."

"Sorry. Bye, Annie."

"I'll call Doc Williams so he kin come right ova as soon as possible in the mornn' and check ya out and tell us what we gotta do from here on in."

"And see if you can get the hairdresser up here tomorrow, Aunt Fanny. I want to get my hair back to the way it was as quickly as i can."

Aunt Fanny nodded.

"But tell me, Annie, what made ya do such a thing?"

"Tony talked me into it, convinced me it would make me feel more like a pretty young woman again. He kept talking about Mommy and how she had done it, and he had pictures of her with silvery blond hair. I missed her so that I suppose I was trying to get her back by looking like her, but I didn't know the sick reasons Tony had for wanting me to do it. He was trying to get me to look like my mother and like my grandmother Leigh. You were there; you heard why."

Aunt Fanny's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"I used ta hate Heaven fer not bringin' me ta Farthy ta live with her. I used ta think, here she is surrounded by all them sugar daddies and all that glitter and wealth, but now I understand what she went through. In some ways it musta been harder fer her there than it was in the Willies.

"I neva realized the real reason she was marlin' all about tryin' to reunite the family," Aunt Fanny continued. "She needed her family more'n I did, even though she was surrounded by all them rich things. She was also surrounded by crazy loons, too. That grandmother all shut up in her own madness. Tony Tatterton . who knows what else went on there, And we left ya in their hands . . ." She shook her head.

"It's not your fault, Aunt Fanny. Who could have known? I had the best doctors. Tony was buying everything I needed, including a special nurse. Only she turned out to be horrible."

I described some of what had happened. Aunt Fanny listened, shaking her head and pressing her lips together every once in a while.

"I wished she was here now. I'd wring her neck somethin terrible."

"Aunt Fanny, you didn't seem all that surprised when Tony announced he was Mommy's real father. How did you know?"