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"I was afraid you would take this attitude," he said. "I should have known."

"Where are you, Voice? Who are you? Why do we always meet like this in audial encounters at odd moments? Aren't we ever going to meet again face-to-face?"

Ah, what a blunder. No sooner were the words out of my mouth than I looked to the great eighteenth-century mirror over the mantelpiece, and there he was of course in the guise of my reflection, down to the old bag-sleeve shirt I wore, and my loose hair, only he wasn't reflecting me otherwise, but rather peered at me as if he were trapped in a glass box. Lestat's face twisted with anger, almost petulant, childish.

I studied the image in the mirror for a moment and then I used my considerable powers to force it to disappear. That felt extremely good. Subtle and good. I could do that now. I knew. And though I could hear a low rumbling in my head, I was able to sink it down, down below the lovely music, the music of Sybelle playing the piano that came from my computer, Sybelle broadcasting from New York.

The simple fact was, I wasn't interested in him anymore. I didn't even bother to thank him for advising me to come home here, home to these stone rooms in which I'd been born, home to the quiet of this mountaintop. Why didn't I do that? It was he who'd put the idea in my head, he who'd guided me back to the old fields and forests, to this sublime rural quiet, this breathtaking and familiar solitude where I felt so safe, so content.

I didn't care enough to thank him.

Oh, it would have been nice to identify him before banishing him forever. But we don't always get what we want.

Part II

THE OPEN HIGHWAY

THROUGH THE

SAVAGE GARDEN

5

The Story of Rose

THE FIRST TIME Rose saw Uncle Lestan, he carried her up into the stars. That's how she remembered it and nothing ever weakened the conviction that he'd scooped her up from the terrace by the seawall and carried her straight through the clouds and towards the Heavens. Rose remembered always the chill of the wind and those stars above her, millions of stars fixed in the black sky like myriad burning lights. She remembered Uncle Lestan's arms around her, and the way he whispered to her not to be afraid, the way he brought his coat close to protect her.

They were on another island when Rose learned her mother had died in the earthquake. Everyone had died. The entire little island had gone down into the sea, b

ut this island would not, Uncle Lestan said. She was safe with him here. He'd find her people in America. He gave her a beautiful doll with long blond hair and a pink dress and bare feet. It was made of vinyl and would never break.

This was in a beautiful house with rounded windows and big balconies over the sea, and two very gentle ladies took care of Rose though she couldn't understand a word they said. Uncle Lestan explained they were Greek ladies, but he wanted Rose to remember: What was her last name? What was her mother's name?

Rose said her mother's name was Morningstar Fisher. She had no father. Her grandparents didn't like her because they didn't know who her father was and they wouldn't give money anymore to Morningstar. Rose remembered seeing her grandmother and grandfather in Athens, Texas. "We don't know who her father is," the old man had said. Rose's mom had given up, and carried Rose out of the little brick house and across a big field, and they'd hitched a ride to the airport in Dallas and flown away with Mom's new friend, JRock, who had money from his band to live in Greece for at least a year.

"They don't want me," Rose said. "Can't I stay with you?"

Uncle Lestan was so kind to Rose. He had darkly tanned skin and the most beautiful blue eyes Rose had ever seen. When he smiled, Rose loved him.

Uncle Lestan said, "I'll be with you, Rose, as long as you need me."

She woke in the night crying for her mother. He held her in his arms. He felt so strong, so powerful. They stood on the edge of the patio, looking up at the cloudy sky. He told her that she was sweet and good and beautiful, and he wanted her to be happy.

"When you grow up, Rose, you can be anything you want," Uncle Lestan said. "Remember that. This is a magnificent world. And we are blessed with the gift of life in it." He sang to her in a low voice. He told her this was "Serenade" from an operetta called The Student Prince. The song made her cry, it was so beautiful.

"Remember always," he said, "that nothing is as precious to us as the magnificent gift of life. Let the moon and the stars always remind you of this--that though we are tiny creatures in this universe, we are filled with life."

Rose felt she knew what magnificent was as she looked out over the shining waters below, and then up once more at those stars twinkling beyond the mist. Uncle Lestan's left fingers touched the flowering vines that covered the railing, and he tore off a small handful of petals for Rose, and said that she was as soft and precious as these petals, a "precious living thing."

When Rose thought back on it, she remembered seeing him several times before the night the island sank into the sea. He'd been roaming around on that island. He was a tall man with beautiful blond hair, just the most beautiful hair. It was long and full and he wore it back, tied at the back of his neck with a little black string. He always wore a velvet coat, just like Rose's best velvet dress which had been in her suitcase. He had walked around the island looking at things. He wore shiny black boots, very smooth without buckles. Not cowboy boots. And whenever he happened to pass Rose, he smiled at her and he winked.

Rose hated Athens, Texas. But he took her there, though she could not clearly remember the trip. Just waking up in the Dallas airport with a nice lady to take care of her, and a porter collecting their bags. Uncle Lestan showed up the next night.

The old woman and the old man didn't want her. They sat in a lawyer's office on "the town square" at night, and the old man said that they didn't have to make this appointment after dark, that he didn't like to drive at night when he didn't have to, that this was "disruptive" and he and his wife could have explained all this on the telephone. The old woman just shook her head as the old man explained: "We didn't have anything to do with Morningstar, you see, what with the musicians and the drugs. We don't know this child."

The lawyers talked on and on, but Uncle Lestan became angry. "Look, I want to adopt her," he said. "Make it happen!"

That was the first time Rose had ever heard someone say, "Make it happen." And it was the first and last time she ever saw Uncle Lestan angry. He'd dropped his angry voice to a whisper but he'd made everybody in the room jump, especially Rose, and when he saw this, he took Rose in his arms and carried her outside the building, for a walk around the little town.