Once Upon a Wardrobe(69)

No, there was no place for it at all. By the time I was eleven I was a sophomore in high school. I must try harder, be better, abide all disgrace until I found a way to succeed and prove my worth.

But at night Howie and I had our secrets. In the darkness of his bedroom he rose, his little sneakers tangling in the sheet. He smiled at me. “I’ve already got my shoes on. I’m ready.”

I suppressed a laugh and took his hand. We stood stone-still and listened for any breaths but our own. Nothing.

“Let’s go,” I said, and he laid his small hand in mine: a trust.

We crept from the brownstone and onto the empty Bronx streets, the wet garbage odor of the city as pungent as the inside of the subway. The sidewalks dark rivers, the streetlights small moons, and the looming buildings protection from the outside world. The city was silent and deceptively safe in the midnight hours. Howie and I were on a quest to visit other animals caged and forced to act civil in a world they didn’t understand: the residents of the Bronx Zoo.

Within minutes we arrived at the Fordham Road gate and paused, as we always did, to stare silently at the Rockefeller Fountain—three tiers of carved marble children sitting in seashells, mermaids supporting them on raised arms or sturdy heads, the great snake trailing up the center pillar, his mouth open to devour. The water slipped down with a rainfall-din that subdued our footfalls and whispers. We reached the small hole in the far side of the fence and slipped through.

We cherished our secret journeys to the midnight zoo—the parrot house with the multicolored creatures inside; the hippo, Peter the Great; a flying fox; the reptile house slithering with creatures both unnatural and frightening. Sneaking out was both our reward for enduring family life and our invisible rebellion. The Bronx River flowed right through the zoo’s land; the snake of dark water seemed another living animal, brought from the outside to divide the acreage in half and then escape, as the water knew its way out.

And then there was the lions’ den, a dark caged and forested area. I was drawn there as if those beasts belonged to me, or I to them.

“Sultan.” My voice was resonant in the night. “Boudin Maid.”

The pair of Barbary lions ambled forward, placing their great paws on the earth, muscles dangerous and rippling beneath their fur as they approached the bars. A great grace surrounded them, as if they had come to understand their fate and accept it with roaring dignity. Their manes were deep and tangled as a forest. I fell into the endless universe of their large amber eyes as they allowed, even invited, me to reach through the iron and wind my fingers into their fur. They’d been tamed beyond their wild nature, and I felt a kinship with them that caused a trembling in my chest.

They indulged me with a return gaze, their warm weight pressed into my palm, and I knew that capture had damaged their souls.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered every time. “We were meant to be free.”





About the Author




Photo by Bud Johnson Photography





Patti Callahan is the New York Times, USA TODAY, and Globe and Mail bestselling novelist of fifteen novels, including Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Surviving Savannah, and Once Upon a Wardrobe. A recipient of the Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year, the Christy Book of the Year, and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year, Patti is the cofounder and cohost of the popular web series and podcast Friends & Fiction.

*

Visit her online at patticallahanhenry.com Instagram: @pattichenry Facebook: @AuthorPattiCallahanHenry Twitter: @pcalhenry





Praise for Patti Callahan





Once Upon a Wardrobe


“The stories of C. S. Lewis have long been a comfort and a beacon to me, lighting the way in my darkest hours. Reading Patti Callahan’s Once Upon a Wardrobe, I felt just as I did upon first discovering the wonders of Narnia: joy, hope, and the sustaining knowledge that grace can be found in the pages of a beloved story. This remarkably moving book deserves to be embraced and cherished as the classic it will undoubtedly become.”

—Jennifer Robson, internationally bestselling author of The Gown

“Once Upon a Wardrobe is a tender, enchanting tribute to the power of story and the myriad ways it can both break and heal our hearts. It is the story of a dying boy and a loving sister and the path a treasured story takes from one heart to the other. Perfect and timely and beautiful and poignant, it is everything the world needs right now.”

—Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène

“Beautiful, tender, and poignant, Once Upon a Wardrobe is a rare treasure. Written with elegant prose, warmth, and a clear passion for her subject, Patti Callahan has crafted a love letter to beloved Narnia, and to the power of story to inspire, connect, and heal. Truly magical.”

—Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author

“Callahan (Becoming Mrs. Lewis) once again visits the life and works of C.?S. Lewis in this enlightening novel of logic and imagination, faith, and reason . . . this enchanting novel of faith and hope is a must-read for fans of C.?S. Lewis. Readers will be eager to return to the world of The Chronicles of Narnia with new insights.”

—Library Journal, starred review

“Enchanting and luminous, filled with the love of family, this is a story for anyone whose life has ever been changed by a book. Megs and George will stretch your heart, perhaps fracture it, then shine light through the cracks and send your spirit soaring. It is impossible not to be swept away by Patti Callahan’s exploration of what lies beneath C. S. Lewis’s beloved land of Narnia. This is storytelling at its finest, deepest, and most profound. A triumph.”