would receive him for she had not replied to his letter.
At last he left the drive and crossed the carpet of lawn until he
reached the lip of an amphitheatre. In the bowl below him stood a
miniature replica of the Parthenon temple. Clean, white, marble
columns in the sunshine, with a circular fishpond like a moat around
it. He could see the shapes of carp gliding slowly through the green
water below the lily pads. The lily blossoms were white and gold and
purple.
Ruth sat upon the raised marble edge of the pond. She was dressed all
in black from her throat to her toes, but her arms were bared and she
held them out and cried: 'Walk, Storm. Walk here to me.'
Ten paces away, her solid bottom solidly planted on the lawn, Storm
Friedman regarded her mother seriously from under a bang of dark
hair.
'Come on, baby,' Ruth urged her, and very deliberately the child leaned
forward. Slowly she elevated her plump posterior Until it was pointed
towards the sky, displacing a laced and beribboned pair of pantaloons
beneath the short skirt. She remained like that for a few seconds and
then, with an effort, came up on to her feet and stood balanced
precariously on her fat, pink legs. Ruth clapped her hands in
spontaneous delight, and Storm smiled in triumph, displaying four large
white teeth.
'Come here to Mummy, ' laughed Ruth and Storm completed a dozen
unsteady paces before abandoning this form of locomotion as
impractical. Dropping to her hands and knees she finished the course
at a canter.
'You cheated!' Ruth accused, and jumped up to catch her under the arms
and swing her high. Storm squealed ecstatically,
'More!' she commanded. 'More!'
Sean wanted to laugh with them. He wanted to run down to them and
gather them both in his arms. For suddenly he knew that here was the
whole meaning of life, his excuse for existing.
A woman and a child. His woman, and his child.
Ruth looked up and saw him. She froze with the child held to her
chest. Her face was without expression as she watched him come down
the steps into the amphitheatre.
'Hello.' He stopped in front of her, twisting his hat awkwardly
between his hands.
'Hello, Sean,' she whispered, then the corners of her mouth lifted in a
shy, uncertain smile and she flushed. 'You took so long. I thought
you weren't coming.'
A great grin split Sean's face and he stepped forward, but at that
moment Storm, who had been staring at him with solemn curiosity, began
a series of convulsive leaps accompanied by yells of: 'Man! Man!' Her
feet were anchored against Ruths stomach, which gave power to her
thrusts. She leaned out towards Sean determined to reach him, and Ruth
was taken by surprise.
'Sean had to drop his hat and catch Storm before she fell.
'More! More!' yelled Storm, continuing to bounce in Sean's arms.
