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I took his hand and hurried across the lawn to the car. Afterward, I snuck my gift up to my room and put it with my most private and personal things. Drake came to me that night before we went to dinner to ask what Luke had given me. He knew about the way we had exchanged birthday presents since we were twelve. I showed the plaque to him only after he promised not to tell my mother. I didn't show him Luke's card.
"That doesn't look like it," he said when I uncovered the box. "Not the way I remember it."
"But it must be, Drake. He found a picture and took it to the photographer."
"I don't know." He shook his head. "Magic castle. You're still really intrigued with that place, aren't you?"
"Yes, Drake. I can't help but be."
He nodded, his eyes small and thoughtful. I put the gift away and we joined my parents for my birthday dinner. But that night, before I went to sleep, I took it out again and looked at it and wondered if Drake was right to continue to make fun of our fantasy game. Would I ever really find such a magical and wonderful place? I wondered.
One day a few weeks later, I received a letter from Drake. He often wrote to me to describe his college life or give me advice. Even though he could be a tyrant at times and at times cruel to Luke, I missed his wit and humor and big brother--like antics. I looked forward to receiving mail from him and having him call me from time to time. His letters were usually filled with anecdotes about college girls or fraternities and events at Harvard. He told rue about the picture of the championship rowing team in which my uncle Keith, Drake's stepbrother, a man neither of as saw much or heard from, appeared. So I wasn't surprised to receive this letter from him. What surprised me was the thickness of it. The envelope was so stuffed, I thought he had put something else in it beside a sheet of his personalized stationery.
I sprawled out on my lace quilt and opened Drake's letter.
.
Dear Annie,
I have news that I know will excite you. It has been very exciting for me, but you do your best to keep this from Heaven.
After your wonderful birthday, all the way back to college I thought about your fascination with Farthinggale Manor, and since your childhood days how you and Luke have built it into something fantastical. I decided the only reason you two act so silly about it is because you, as well as I, don't really k e ow much about it or about the mysterious Tony Tatterton, my step-great-uncle and your step-greatgrandfather. So I did something I know would upset Heaven, but I did it mostly for you.
Annie, I wrote a letter to Tony Tatterton, introducing myself and asking him if I could come visit. What must have been moments after he received it, I received a phone call from a man with
a very distinguished-sounding voice, who invited me to Farthinggale Manor. That man was Tony Tatterton and I accepted his invitation.
Yes, Annie, I have just returned from your magical kingdom and I have some rather sad, tragic, and yet fascinating news to tell you.
First, let me say it is a truly enormous place. And that wrought-iron gate is there. Oh, not quite as big as you and Luke always pretend it to be, but a rather big gate with large letters.
But, that's where the fantasies begin and end. The house is dark and dilapidated. Believe me, I am not saying this because I have often ridiculed you and Luke whenever you pretended Farthinggale was your magic castle. There is nothing magic about it now; only something tragic.
The big doors actually squeaked when they were opened. A butler who looked as old as Methuselah greeted me and. I entered the enormous building. The entryway seemed as big as the gymnasium in the Winnerrow High School, but it was dimly lit and the curtains were drawn everywhere so that I felt chilled.
I saw the long stairway and some of my childhood memories flashed across my mind. The butler showed me to an office off right, and there I met our Tony Tatterton. He sat behind a large, dark mahogany desk with only a single small lamp casting any illumination in the room. In the shadows he appeared gaunt, but when I was announced, he stood up quickly and had the butler open the curtains.
Although he didn't it my image of what a multimillionaire would look like, I found him warm, intelligent and very friendly. He was very interested in my career and as soon as he heard I was studying a business curriculum, he offered me an opportunity to work in his enterprises. Can you imagine?
Of course, our conversation dealt mainly with your mother and with you. He was very interested in learning about you. At the end I felt somewhat sad, for he looked so lost and lonely in that huge house, hungry for anything I would tell him about the family.
Of course, we never got to talk about the reasons why Heaven and he no longer communicate, but I will tell you this. After spending time at Farthinggale with Tony Tatterton, I wished the breach between them could somehow be mended.
When I see you again, I will go into greater detail. At last you won't have to depend upon your and Luke's imagination to discover what Farthinggale Manor is all about. You have a witness who will tell you the truth. You might not want to paint any more pictures of it, but maybe that will be good because you can go on to happier and brighter subjects.
Can't wait to see you again.
Love, Drake
.
I put the letter down. For some reason it had brought me to tears, tears I hadn't realized were streaming down my face the entire time I had been reading Drake's description of Farthy and Tony Tatterton. It was like I had been reading the obituary of a dear friend.
Drake meant no harm, I'm sure. He did only what he thought I would have wanted him to do, but in doing it, he had brought the curtain down on fantasy and illusion and on childhood dreams, and left me feeling empty and sad.
More than ever now, I wanted to know what it was that had driven my mother away from
Farthinggale and left that distinguished elderly man alone in those enormous rooms and deep shadows.
