Envious Moon(6)

We stopped. The house was massive, huge and black against the expanse of sky. We were looking at the back of it. I sank to one knee, and Victor followed. I felt the grass wet on my jeans.

“The front door is on the other side,” Victor whispered.

“No lights on,” I whispered back.

Three chimneys rose off the roof and high into the sky. The large turret, the one I had seen from sea, was on the ocean side. We kneeled there for what seemed like a long time. Finally I said, “Stay here.”

“You sure?” Victor said, and he sounded relieved. The truth was that I wasn’t sure. I only thought it might be easier if I did this alone.

“Yeah,” I said. “Look for cars or lights. If anything happens, meet me at the boat.”

I didn’t say anything else after that. I remembered that when we were younger we used to jump off the bridge into the tidal river that ran near our neighborhood. We were both scared to jump but we would never admit it. I could only jump if I didn’t spend time thinking about how far down it was. I needed to hurl myself off as soon as I got up on the trestle. I needed to feel my body in the air and then the water when I hit. That was the way I felt looking at the house. That I couldn’t think about it too much. Just get up and run. Do this thing.

I stood and ran across the lawn in a half crouch and I didn’t stop until I reached the back of the house. I was in its shadow and I looked back to where Victor was but I could not see him. I leaned against the wall and its shingles felt as cold as water against my bare arms. My breath was coming hard and fast and I told myself to calm down. I looked up. The roofline looked like it was miles away.

Leaning against the wall, I noticed that there were doors on this side of the house. Places where the wall recessed into itself. Three of them that I could see. I wished Victor was here now, because it might be a good idea to try one of them. But Victor had only described reaching the library from the front door. The last thing I needed was to get lost in a dark house. I started to work my way toward the front.

At the corner of the building I stopped. In front of me was a circular driveway and a road that led to it. The road curved away through the trees. To my right I saw the ocean again and it was a remarkable view even in the thin light. Only the rich had views like this. The land opened up along a cliff walk and then curled back away toward the other side of the island. The sliver of a moon sitting above it all. There were no cars in the driveway. Victor must have been right. No one was here.

I rounded the corner and in front of me was a stone porch. I stayed as close to the building as I could until I reached it. I stepped onto the porch and now I stood in front of the door and I had never seen a door quite like it. Made of heavy dark wood, someone had carved two trees on either side of a leaded-glass window. The trees came together as one above the window, their branches meshing together at their skinniest points. The window was high enough that despite being six-foot-two I had to get on my tiptoes to see through it.

I saw the bottom of a staircase and not much else. I took the large brass doorknob into my hand and I just held it, then I thought again of jumping off the bridge into the tidal river. Don’t think too much, Anthony, I told myself. I turned it and it gave way and the heavy door moved inward. The hinges creaked slightly. When it was open just enough for me to slip through, I did, and I found myself in a large hallway. Suddenly, everything felt like a dream. Somewhere came the beating tick tick tick of a clock and I felt things slowing down. I was aware of my every movement, the twitch of a muscle, the blink of an eye.

I left the door behind me partially open. In front of me and directly to the right was a staircase, wide and with a thick wooden railing on the left side of it. Halfway up, it came to a landing and then the stairs curved away to the right. I stepped forward and on my left was a large room that appeared to be completely empty. It had floor-to-ceiling windows and moonlight passed through them and made rectangles on the floor.

I went to the stairs and began to climb. I tested each step for creaks. There was a carpet that split the dark wood of each step and I made sure I stayed on it. I had my left hand on the railing and I propelled myself forward.

I reached the landing and then up the final stairs and I stood in a large foyer. It was darker up here and for a moment I didn’t move. In front of me were wide openings—bigger than doorways—that led to other rooms. Victor had said the library was on the right but as it turned out there were two openings on the right. I figured he must have meant the far right and this was the one I took.

It was a large room and despite the darkness I could see the books on the wall stacked neatly in ceiling-high shelves. I had guessed right. I went to my knees and began to crawl forward. I felt around with my arms for the carpet and I did not see the small table until it was too late. I bumped it with my shoulder and I heard something tottering. I reached out with my hands, hoping to catch whatever it was but I missed it and a large table lamp crashed to the ground.

I froze where I was. I did not move. I waited for a minute and then another and I heard nothing except my own labored breath. I went forward again, like a blind man, my hands in front of me. I felt the rough wool of the carpet and with my hands I traced the edge of it to the far right corner. I was as careful as I could be and my only hope was that there was not another table or another lamp to knock over.

When I reached the corner, I half stood and I began to roll the carpet back as far as I dared. Then I returned to my knees and I began to scour the floor with my hands, moving my palms in circles across the wood like I was waxing it. The fingers on my left hand touched it first. I grabbed it and I knew right away that it was what we had come for. I picked it up and it was thick in my hand. I brought the envelope to my face and I thumbed the bills inside it. I stood now and since it was too big for my pocket, I stuffed it into the front of my jeans, against my bare skin.