Return of the Song

by Phyllis Clark Nichols

  Caroline walked deliberately to Angel and gave her a big hug. “You have the best ideas. I’ll call Betsy on the way home. But we have a bit of shopping to do.”

  “More shopping?”

  “More shopping. I want to buy a new dress for Bella and one for Gretchen for our trip to Athens.”

  “Now Caroline, that sounds sweet, but do you really think it’s a good idea?”

  “Perhaps it’s a bit impulsive and maybe not the best idea, but it’s something I really want to do. I think I’ve figured out their sizes, and I know what I’d like to get for them.”

  “Well, I have an idea. The way I’m moving these days, I will just slow you down. I think I’ll stay right here in this chair. I don’t think Mrs. Kramer will mind, and if she does, I’ll just buy another muumuu. That’ll make her and Sam happy.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Why, yes! Get going.”

  Caroline did as she was told and quickly headed off to several of her favorite stores. In no time at all she’d completed her errands and returned to the dress shop to collect Angel. During the drive home, she reported in detail her recent conversations with Roderick.

  “I was hoping we could do lunch at your house when he comes to pick me up. I can help with the preparation and the cooking, if that’s all right. I want you and Sam to meet him.”

  “ ‘All right’?” Angel’s voice was almost shrill. “Do you think Sam would not finagle some way to meet this fellow? Of course we’ll have lunch at our house, and Hattie will help.”

  “Will Hattie be back from her trip?”

  “She’s been back a week. You’ve just not seen her. I’ve filled her in on what’s been happening since she’s been gone.”

  Caroline, with packages hanging from both arms, and Angel, with one new muumuu, arrived back at Twin Oaks flush with plans. Caroline’s optimistic mood faded, though, as she watched how slowly Angel walked up the stone path to the house.

  She called Gretchen as soon as she got home. She wanted to deliver their packages, but once again Gretchen suggested they come to the studio instead. She realized that coming to the studio was a cherished outing for them and didn’t resist.

  They arrived within a few minutes of her call. Bella went immediately to the piano. Caroline and Gretchen sat at the breakfast table.

  She felt a need to explain to Gretchen. “I know that our trip on Thursday is quite a big step for you and a big risk at this point, but I want so much for this to be a good experience for you and Bella. I’ve tried to think of anything that I could do to make it easier, but I can’t.”

  “Oh, my precious friend, do not bother with thinking about this. Bella and I will be just fine. I’ll waste no time wondering whether or not I’m doing the correct thing. I trust you, and I believe going to the university is what we should do.”

  “I’m so glad to hear you say that. But I did think of one thing. Stay here, and I’ll be right back.” Caroline went to her bedroom to retrieve the packages. She stopped at the door and turned to see Gretchen standing at the kitchen counter looking over into the room where Bella was playing. The language of Gretchen’s heart was etched on her face as she watched Bella play.

  Caroline returned with a large shopping bag in each hand—one for Gretchen and one for Bella. “Angel and I went to Atlanta, and I saw these things in a shop window, and they looked like you and Bella. I just couldn’t leave Atlanta without them.” She hoped God would forgive her for the lie. “I thought maybe you’d like to wear them when you go to the university.”

  Gretchen’s face reddened, and she hung her head.

  Caroline knew at that moment that Angel had been right. How thoughtless! If the packages would disappear and she could reel her words back in . . . But it was too late.

  “Oh, Caroline. I have no way to repay you for all that you do for me and for Bella. I do not know what to say.” Gretchen humbly and meticulously pulled the contents from layers of tissue paper to reveal a floral-patterned broomstick skirt in various shades of blue and green with a baby-blue sweater set to match.

  “You can say something like, ‘Oh, this is lovely. Let me try it on.’ I thought the colors would be so beautiful with your hair and your eyes. And since Bella is almost your size, I got her the same skirt with a green sweater set.”

  With tears in her eyes, Gretchen said, “Oh, I haven’t had anything like this in so long. It is so beautiful.” She placed the clothes on the counter and embraced Caroline. The silence was broken by a whispered “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  Caroline held her at arm’s length. “You’re so welcome, Gretchen. Now I have it all figured out. You can dress over here early in the morning before we leave, and then you can change back into your other clothes when we return. And if you like, you may leave these outfits right here in my closet until you want to wear them again.”

  “You have thought of everything, my precious friend. I like your idea very much.” There was no need to explain why Gretchen liked the idea. Caroline already knew.

  The morning arrived and so did Gretchen and Bella. Caroline took great joy in seeing Gretchen exchange her gray sweater for a new blue one. Gretchen dressed first and then helped Bella change clothes. Bella did not put on her new skirt and sweater as eagerly as Gretchen.

  Gretchen twirled Bella around to see the skirt swish around her calves. “Look, Bella. This skirt makes you look like a beautiful dancer.” Bella showed no change in expression, not the normal delight of an adolescent girl who’s just been told how beautiful she is. She was a picture—her blonde hair tumbling in curls below her shoulders, her silver-green fixed eyes, looking always beyond what Caroline could see, and the slight blush on her young, unblemished cheeks.

  Gretchen left their old clothes on Caroline’s bed almost as if she were leaving more than old clothes behind. They walked arm in arm to the car. Caroline put her portfolio in the back seat with Bella, and they were off.

  Gretchen’s response to the drive was the response of one who had been confined for years. “Oh, look, the corn’s been harvested, and the stalks are so dry.” Then she pointed out the window. “Look, Bella, see the cows and the tractor?” Gretchen delighted in everything she saw—the bridges over the dry creek beds, the moss-laden oak trees, the farmhouses, the barns, all the things Caroline never noticed as often as she made the drive. Bella, in the back seat, acknowledged nothing.

  They arrived at the University of Georgia half an hour before their appointment with Dr. Martin. Caroline drove them around pointing out certain buildings. “That’s the dorm where I lived when I was a student here,” she noted.

  Gretchen’s head swiveled from side to side. “Oh, Caroline, it must have been so wonderful, walking from building to building and under all these trees. Look at them—the students. They all look so engaged with life. And to think of all the learning that goes on here and what it can mean for so many.”

  It was timely for Caroline to see the campus through someone else’s eyes, but she didn’t mention the possibility that she would move here to teach and continue her studies. There was no need in planting that troubling seed. Not today anyway.

  She parked on the west side of the music building and led Gretchen and Bella up the marble steps and through the entrance into the rotunda. “Here we are. This building is like my home away from home.”

  Bella remained very close to Gretchen and kept her eyes focused straight ahead. Even when Gretchen tried to point out something for Bella to see, Bella kept her focus, never veering. They walked down the long hallway lined by large wooden doors opening into professors’ offices and music studios. When they reached Dr. Martin’s office, the door was open. Annabelle was standing at the window looking out across the campus.

  “Good morning, Dr. Martin.” Caroline ushered Gretchen and Bella through the doorway.

  “Oh, and a very good morning to you, Caroline. And I’m so happy you’ve brought your friends.”

  She introduced them. Gretchen was ca
utiously shy, and Bella remained expressionless.

  Annabelle invited them over to her small conference table in the corner next to the window. Her desk was across the room. Her walls were a hodgepodge of paintings, posters, and photographs, all with the piano as their theme. A glass curio behind her desk housed her collection of little pianos and music boxes—many collected from travels and others as gifts from students and two that had come in gift boxes from Caroline.

  “I’ve invited Dr. Wyatt Spencer to come over and meet you all this morning. He is a bright young colleague here at the university, a professor of psychology. He just phoned to say he’s running a few minutes late, but we could have something to drink while we’re waiting.”

  This gave Caroline time to tell about her meetings with Bella. In the middle of Caroline’s description of hearing Bella play for the first time, a tall young man with an athletic build entered the room, not quietly but confidently. He wore khaki pants and a bright yellow pullover shirt with his sunglasses suspended from a string around his neck. His tanned ankles were visible above his deck shoes. He carried a clipboard and keys in his left hand and a tall mug in his right. His complexion and tousled light brown hair showed signs of hours in the sun.

  He walked straight to Annabelle with a greeting. Then, giving her no time for introductions, he turned to Gretchen and introduced himself.

  “Good morning. I’m Wyatt Spencer, and who might you be?” His straightforwardness took Gretchen aback. She shyly responded with her name. He then moved to Bella and said, “And if she’s Gretchen, then you must be Bella. I’ve been anxious to meet you.” He extended his hand to her.

  Bella never responded, moved, or took her eyes off Dr. Spencer. He studied her for a few seconds.

  Caroline remained in her seat, standing only when Dr. Spencer moved in her direction. She extended her hand. “Good morning, Dr. Spencer. I’m Caroline Carlyle, a student of Dr. Martin and a friend to Mrs. Silva and Bella.”

  “Good morning, Caroline Carlyle. Dr. Martin has told me about you and your wonderful talent. I’m very pleased to meet you, and I’m most grateful that you’ve talked Mrs. Silva into bringing Bella to meet us.”

  Caroline removed her hand and sat down. “You’re very welcome. I was just telling Dr. Martin about my meetings with Bella and how Mrs. Silva has known for years about Bella’s gift. Bella seems to have some characteristics of a musical savant. We’re here to find out.”

  “Sounds like you’re a woman on a mission. I like that. Dr. Martin has told me a bit of the background, and I can always get the details later from you, but right now I want to hear Bella play.” He took the empty seat at the conference table.

  “Do you suppose you could play for us now, Bella?” Dr. Martin rose from the table, holding out her hand to Bella.

  Bella did not move.

  Dr. Martin turned to Caroline. “Perhaps it would be better for you to coax her into playing.”

  “I think Gretchen might be better at that than I am.”

  Gretchen took Caroline’s cue and rose to her feet, taking Bella’s arm and lifting her from her seat. She walked toward the piano, assuming Bella would sit at the bench, but Bella stood exactly where Gretchen stopped. Gretchen whispered into Bella’s ear. She still did not move.

  Dr. Spencer wrote something on his clipboard.

  After a slight hesitation, Caroline went to the piano and started to play. She noted that Dr. Spencer had stopped writing and fixed his eyes on her, but she locked her eyes on Bella. Continuing to play with her left hand, she extended her right hand to Bella.

  Oh, please, dear heart.

  There was more than one sigh of relief when Bella joined her on the piano bench. Gretchen picked up Bella’s hands and placed them on the keyboard. Caroline gently slid off the bench, and as she did, Bella moved slightly more toward the center. She picked up Bach’s Solfeggietto in C Minor right where Caroline had left off. Her body rocked back and forth as if the movement was choreographed into her brain before she was born. Gretchen and Caroline returned to the conference table. Bella never stopped.

  As she continued to play, Dr. Spencer moved closer to the piano in stages. In between sliding his chair, he stopped to make notes. Finally, his chair was almost touching the piano bench. Bella never seemed to notice. He continued his writing.

  Dr. Martin sat in astonished silence as Caroline and Gretchen smiled, glad for someone else to finally see what they knew to be true: Bella was rare.

  This went on for quite a while before Dr. Spencer rose and returned to the table. “Remarkable, absolutely remarkable. I’ve read about musical savants. I’ve seen videos taken of them, but I’ve never seen one in person. You may be right, Miss Carlyle.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “From what you have reported to Dr. Martin and from what I’ve observed today, I’m almost certain. However, there are some tests we’d like to do, but it would require spending more time with Bella here at the university. Or perhaps some of the work could be done in Moss Point.” He turned to Gretchen. “Mrs. Silva, are you willing to move forward with this?”

  Gretchen searched Caroline’s face for assurance and turned to the professors. “Dr. Spencer and Dr. Martin, you are learning today what I have known for years. My Bella has a very special gift. Perhaps God couldn’t give her a gift so big and so rare without taking some things away. It would not have been fair. There are things Bella cannot do, but she can make music. If what you are suggesting will help her to make her music, then I am willing to do it.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful,” said Dr. Martin.

  Dr. Spencer smiled and nodded in agreement.

  Gretchen continued. “But you need to know that God has brought Miss Carlyle to us for a reason, and I trust her, and I will do nothing she doesn’t ask us to do. So you must ask her.”

  “And what does Miss Carlyle say to this?” Dr. Spencer turned to Caroline.

  “I say we should move forward with the next step.”

  He smiled and made a note.

  Bella continued to play while they made arrangements for the next meeting, which would have to be after Caroline’s return from Kentucky. Dr. Spencer pushed for sooner, but Caroline knew the delay would give her time to figure out what to do about Mr. Silva.

  Finally, Gretchen pried Bella’s fingers from the keyboard and led her to the door. Annabelle thanked Mrs. Silva and hugged Caroline.

  Dr. Spencer extended his hand to Caroline. “I’m so grateful you’ve introduced us to Bella, and I’m very grateful to make your acquaintance also. I really look forward to working with you as we see what we can unlock here.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Spencer, for your time. We’ll see you in a couple of weeks,” Caroline said as Dr. Spencer finally dropped her hand.

  “Oh, by the way, what was that beautiful song that Bella kept playing? I was familiar with most of them, but not this one.”

  “I don’t know which one you mean,” said Caroline.

  “The one that went . . .” And Dr. Spencer hummed the tune perfectly.

  “I agree. That really was a beautiful song. I’m glad you asked,” Dr. Martin said.

  “That was ‘David’s Song.’ ”

  “I don’t recognize that one.” Dr. Spencer jotted something on his clipboard.

  “That’s because I wrote it and it isn’t finished yet.” Caroline stepped abruptly away with Gretchen and Bella before Dr. Spencer could say anything else. They walked out through the long hallway, and down the marble steps to the car. They had taken the first step.

  Caroline parked the car in the driveway, and before she could walk to the door, she heard Sam and Angel’s back-porch screen door slam. She turned to see Hattie running down the steps and down the stone path. Hattie was like family to Sam and Angel. She had been housekeeper, cook, and companion to them through the years.

  “Miss Caroline, Miss Caroline, don’t go nowhere. Mr. Sam, he tol’ me to stay right here till you get home. Miss Angel . . .” Hattie stopped
talking and picked up the tail of her apron to wipe the tears running down her brown face.

  “What is it, Hattie?”

  “Lawd, it’s Miss Angel. She’s done gone and had a heart attack—a big, fat heart attack. Mr. Sam’s says you s’posed to get to the hospital as quick as you can.”

  Time to Dance

   The dreaded message had been delivered through Hattie’s tears. The doctor had sent an ambulance to take Angel to the local county hospital earlier this morning. Sam and Angel had been told a decade ago this day might arrive, but years of denial, medication, and watching Angel go on about her business had lulled Caroline into thinking the doctors could be wrong and that Angel could beat the odds.

  She apologized to Gretchen for having to rush away and jumped into her car for the short ride to the hospital.

  God, I had no opportunity to say goodbye to David. I simply cannot lose Angel that way. Please don’t let this happen again.

  She found Sam in the waiting room outside the intensive care unit. Strong Sam, greeting her with open arms, his own chin quivering as he wiped her tears with his handkerchief. She clung to his arm and remembered a conversation around their breakfast table just a few weeks ago—a conversation about Sam’s handkerchiefs. Angel had pronounced handkerchiefs nasty, handed Sam a box of Kleenex, and vowed she’d never wash another handkerchief.

  “How is she, Sam?”

  “She’s still with us, so there’s hope. The doctors are still running tests, but the next forty-eight hours are critical.”

  “Have you seen her? Is she conscious?”

  “They’ve let me in a few times, but they have her sedated. So we’ve not talked since right after the ambulance picked her up this morning.”

  Caroline started crying again. “Oh, Sam, I’m so sorry. And I hate I wasn’t here. I should have known, and you’ve been here all alone.”

  Sam embraced her while she sobbed. “Shh, Caroline. There’s not one thing you could’ve done. Why, you’ve brought more joy to that little woman than the law would allow, so don’t you go feeling bad now. And besides, this place has been like Grand Central Station today. All kinds of comings and goings, and Brother Andy stayed all afternoon till I sent him home.”