The City of Mirrors

Perhaps a time would come when it would feel right to share this with the others. On that day, she would lead them to the boat and show them what she had discovered. But not just yet. For now—like her journals and the story they told—it would be her secret, this message from the past, engraved upon the transom of a derelict lifeboat.

BERGENSFJORD

OSLO, NORWAY

* * *

88

Carter held his breath as long as he could. Bubbles rose around his face; his lungs were screaming for air. The world above seemed miles away, though in fact it was only a few feet. Finally he could endure it no longer. He pushed off and zoomed to the surface, exploding into the summer sunshine.

“Do it again, Anthony!”

Haley was clinging to his back. She was wearing a pink two-piece suit and cobalt-blue goggles that made her look like an enormous bug.

“All right,” he laughed, “just give me a second. Besides, it’s Riley’s turn.”

Haley’s sister was sitting on the pool deck, dangling her feet in the water. Her bathing suit was one piece, green, with a flouncy skirt and a single plastic daisy appliquéd onto one shoulder strap; she was wearing orange water wings. Carter could toss her into the water for hours without her getting bored.

“Again! Again!” demanded Haley.

Rachel walked toward them from the garden. She was dressed in shorts and a white T-shirt streaked with dirt; on her head, a broad straw hat. In one gloved hand she held a pair of shears, in the other a basket of freshly cut flowers of various types and colors.

“Girls, let Anthony catch his breath.”

“I don’t mind,” Carter said. He was clinging to the side. “It’s no bother.”

“See?” said Haley. “He says he doesn’t mind.”

“That’s because he’s being polite.” Rachel removed her gloves and dropped them into the basket. Her face shone with sweat and sun. “How about some lunch?”

“What do we have?” Haley asked.

“Let me think.” Her mother frowned theatrically. “Hot dogs?”

“Yay! Hot dogs!”

Rachel broke into a smile. “I guess that decides it. Hot dogs it shall be. Do you want one, Anthony?”

He nodded. “I can always take a hot dog.”

She returned to the house. Carter climbed from the pool and got towels for himself and the girls.

“Can we swim more?” Haley asked, as he was rubbing her hair. It was blond, with flecks of a copper color. Riley’s was a soft, heathery brown, quite long. She liked to wear it in pigtails when she swam.

“Depends on what your mama says. Maybe after lunch.”

She made her eyes grow wide. That was the kind of girl she was, always putting on a show to get what she wanted. It was the funniest thing. “If you say yes, she’ll have to say it, too.”

“Don’t work that way, you know that. We’ll just have to see.”

He squeezed the last of the water from her hair, sent the two of them off to play, and sat at the wrought-iron table to catch his breath and watch. There were toys all over the yard—Barbies, stuffed animals, a brightly colored plastic play set Haley was too big for but still liked to fool with, the two of them pretending it was other things, such as the counter at a store. Haley had gone off in one direction, her sister in another.

“Look!” Riley yelled. “I found a toad!”

She was crouched over the path by the garden gate.

“Is that right?” Carter said. “You go on and bring that over here and let me have a look.”

She walked to the patio with cupped palms extended before her, her big sister following.

“Now, that there is one handsome toad,” Carter declared. The creature, a mottled tan color, was breathing rapidly, loose skin flapping along its sides.

“I think it’s disgusting,” Haley said with a sour face.

“Can I keep him?” Riley asked. “I want to name him Pedro.”

“Pedro,” Carter repeated with a slow nod. “Sounds like a fine name. Now, of course,” he went on, “he may already got one. That’s something to consider. Something he goes by with the other toads.”

The little girl’s face pinched with a frown. “But toads don’t have names.”

“Now, how you know? Do you speak toad?”

“That’s silly,” the older girl stated. She was tugging at the bottom of her suit. “Don’t listen to him, Riley.”

Carter leaned forward in his chair and raised a finger, drawing their attention to his face. “I’m going to tell you something true now, both of you,” he said. “And that is this: everything got a name. It’s got a way to know itself. That’s an important lesson in life.”