The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman Read Free Book Online Page B

brick buildings and a series of rooftops and chimneys. She could barely see the sky. She leaned her head out. The air was sultry. She could spy the main road now and the traffic roaring by, streaks of white and red.
    Maddy thought about the sycamore tree in their backyard. She and Allie would stay there for hours, hidden in the branches. Once their mother came out to the lawn and sank down to the grass, where she began to cry. They knew she was waiting for the heron; Allie watched the sky, but Maddy was certain he'd never come back. She was afraid of heights and of the taste of her own disappointment. Her fear must have shown through her skin.
    You don't have to look, Allie had whispered. Just keep your eyes closed. I'll let you know when he's here.

    M ADDY WAS ASLEEP when she heard the man across the hall, shouting. She looked at the clock: ten-thirty again. She went to the door. It sounded like the same fight every night. Maybe all lovers' quarrels were the same hurts repeated over and over again. Maddy put her hand on the doorknob. She could hear her own raspy breathing as she listened to the couple's dispute. It sounded as if it was the end of something.
    She sat down cross-legged on the floor, her ear against the door.
    â€œHow could you do this?” the man said.
    Maddy started to cry even though the quarrel had nothing to do with her. She should have opened her eyes when she was up in that sycamore tree. Maybe then she would have loved her mother. Maybe her mother would have loved her back.
    She fell asleep on the carpet, curled up by the door. In the morning, her bones ached. On her way to breakfast she stopped at the desk to complain about her noisy neighbors to a young woman named Kara Atkins who seemed to be in charge of guest services, however limited such services were at the Lion Park.
    â€œThe people across from me are making a huge racket. They're ridiculous, the way they go at it. I can't sleep.”
    â€œI'm so sorry. Let me check.” Miss Atkins went to the registry and looked up Maddy's room. “Oh, you're on the seventh floor, 708.”
    â€œThey're at it every night. It's endless fighting. I know it's none of my business, but it's very disturbing.”
    The hotel management would be happy to move Maddy to another floor, Miss Atkins said, but Maddy told her not to bother. Paul might come looking for her; she didn't want to chance not being there.
    When she went in to have her breakfast there was Teddy Healy, asleep in one of the booths. He was curled up like a mouse, snoring lightly. He'd been there all night. The hotel management treated him kindly; he was their oldest customer and they seemed to take care of him. Seeing him like that, Maddy decided to pull herself together. Then and there. She did not want to end up drunk in some hotel bar. She was not going to waste away like the heron's wife.
    She had coffee and toast and jam and went back upstairs to collect her dress. It was time for the bridesmaids' prewedding fitting. On her way back to her room, she noticed that the door of 707 was open. She peeked in. Hopefully the fighting couple was at last checking out.
    The room was empty. Not only were there no guests, there was no furniture. No dresser. No bed. Several mattresses were stored up against the wall. It was freezing. When Maddy exhaled, her breath turned to smoky air. Maddy remembered that her mother's bedroom was always cold. She never wanted to go in there; she was afraid. Maybe she was like her father, ready to run at the first hint of a crisis. Allie had to take her by the hand and pull her past the door. It's just Mom, you silly, she would say. She won't bite.
    Maddy went downstairs to the front desk.
    â€œIt turns out I don't have neighbors,” Maddy told Miss Atkins. “There's no one in that room where all the fighting's been going on. There's not even a bed in there.”
    â€œWell, they say it's Michael Macklin,” Kara Atkins explained