Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance Read Free Book Online

mean that you don’t sleep in that world? You’ve been awake for almost four hundred years?”
    â€œPaint and canvas his body became on that day,” answered Granny Custos. “But his soul never forgets the flesh. Sleep will not come to him in such a place. Hunger will not be satiated. Time passes and yet doesn’t. Weariness and pain are all that are afforded you. A wonder it is that his mind has not wandered and left him entirely. A wonder indeed.”
    Pim’s eyes studied the table.
    Claudia tried to imagine what it would be like not to sleep for hundreds of years. Or to always be hungry. She looked to Granny Custos. “How do you know so much about that place? Have you been there?”
    The old woman smiled a secretive smile and turned back to Pim.
    â€œWhat is your greatest desire, boy?” Granny Custos asked.
    â€œTo leave this painted prison. To escape.”
    â€œAnd what would you risk for it? Your body? Your existence?” Granny Custos shot a glance toward Claudia. “Your friends?”
    â€œMy body was stolen centuries ago,” Pim replied. “My existence is only misery. My friends…” He, too, looked at Claudia. “I have but one. And, no, I wouldn’t risk her.”
    Claudia’s heart skipped a beat and she felt her cheeks turning pink. She didn’t like the way they were discussing risking bodies and existence, but Pim had called her his friend . One he wouldn’t trade for anything. Even freedom.
    In the silence that followed, Claudia took a breath and then asked Granny Custos, “Do you know how to set Pim free? Because if you do, and if I can help, I will. I mean, I don’t have any special skills or anything, but I’ll do whatever I can to get him out of there.”
    The chocolate eyes of Granny Custos were suddenly lost in a nest of wrinkles as she grinned and let out a cackle of laughter. At first Claudia thought the old woman was laughing at her pitiful offer to help. But as Granny Custos pushed back her chair and rose carefully to her feet, she patted Claudia on the shoulder and muttered, “Good, good, good.”
    Granny Custos padded through the kitchen doorway. Her voice trailed back with the sounds of bottles and dishes and rustling paper. “There are many ways to enter the world behind the canvas. But fewer ways to exit. And when a person enters with a curse…” She made a clicking sound in her cheek.
    Finally she reemerged from the kitchen, hefting a serving tray laden with tins, bottles, bowls, and a dozen other items. It looked like she was getting ready to make soup or a salad dressing or—
    Claudia felt a tingling in her fingertips, just as when she had turned over the painting that faced her bedroom wall. “You do know, don’t you, Granny Custos? You know how to get Pim out of there.”
    â€œ Naturalmente ,” the woman replied. “Of course. Of course.” She turned to Claudia with yet another secretive smile. “Who do you think created the world behind the canvas? Built it up? Raised it from the ground?” She leaned in close, poking Claudia with her pipe stem. “Granny Custos, that’s who.”

 
    C HAPTER 6
    F OR A moment, the room was silent, except for clicks and tinks as Granny Custos unloaded her tray.
    â€œWhat do you mean you created the world behind the canvas?” Claudia asked. “That’s impossible. Pim’s lived there for hundreds of years.”
    Granny Custos shot her a warning glance with one squinty eye. “Not old enough for you, am I? I was mixing colors and dabbing palettes when his mother was a bambina .” She gestured at Pim, who stared at her with wide eyes. “Speaking of colors…” She looked around at her collection on the table, harrumphed, and then turned the corner of the dining room. She was back in a moment with a long wooden case in her hands and a book half tucked into her shawl.