Tales of the City 03 - Further Tales of the City

children?”

Gangie
    L ITTLE EDGAR AND HIS SISTER ANNA RAN ACROSS THE brown lawn at Halcyon Hill and accosted their grandmother on the terrace, each tugging joyfully at a leg.
    “Gangie, Gangie … look!”
    Frannie set her teacup down on the glass-topped table and smiled at the four-year-olds. “What is it, darlings? What do you want to show Gangie?”
    Little Anna thrust out her tiny fist and uncurled it. A small gray toad, pulsing like a heart, was offered for examination. Frannie’s nose wrinkled, but she did her best to sound appreciative. “Well, now … just look at him, would you? Do you know what that is, Edgar?”
    Edgar shook his head.
    “It’s a fwog,” said Anna, somewhat smugly.
    Edgar cast a disdainful look at his twin. “I found it,” he declared defiantly, as if to compensate for his vocabulary failure.
    “Well, it’s just wonderful,” said Frannie sweetly, “but I think you should take it back where you found it.”
    “Why?” they asked together.
    “Well … because it’s one of God’s little creatures, and it looks like a baby to me. It probably misses its mommy. You wouldn’t like it if someone took you away from your mommy, now would you?”
    Four almond eyes grew larger; two little heads shook simultaneously.
    “Well, then … you run along and put him right back where you found him, and Gangie will have a big surprise for you when you get back.”
    Frannie watched as they scurried back to the edge of the rose garden, delighting in the classic simplicity of the scenario. She was sure she had spoken the same words—in the same place, moreover—when DeDe had been that age.
    “Could I have a word with you, Mother?”
    The matriarch turned around to confront the grown-up DeDe, looking lean and beautiful and unusually … purposeful. “Hello, darling. Will Mary Ann join us for tea?”
    “She just left,” said DeDe.
    Frannie pecked her daughter on the cheek, then glanced lovingly in the direction of the twins. “They’re such a joy. I can’t tell you.”
    DeDe’s smile was weary. “They seem to have taken to you, all right. Mother … could we talk for a moment?”
    “Of course, darling. Is something the matter?”
    DeDe shook her head. “I think you’ll like it. I hope you’ll like it.”
Emma kept the children amused with ice cream in the kitchen, while DeDe sat with her mother on the sunporch and explained what was on her mind.
    “Mary Ann is going to release the story,” she said. “Not yet, though … maybe a week or so from now. We haven’t quite worked that part out yet. The point is … I think you and the twins should be out of town when it happens.”
    “What?”
    “Think about it, Mother. The publicity will be excruciating no matter what we do. I just don’t want you or the children subjected to that kind of pressure.”
    “That’s very sweet, darling, but sooner or later that’s bound to happen, isn’t it?”
    DeDe nodded. “To some extent … but things will have cooled down somewhat, and I think you’ll be better equipped to handle it.” DeDe handed her mother a page from the travel section of the Chronicle. “I think this looks marvelous myself. They say it’s the most spacious ship afloat, and it sails for …”
    “DeDe, what on earth …?”
    “Hear me out, Mother. It sails for Alaska next week for a two-week cruise. You see the glaciers and lovely old Russian buildings in Sitka …”
    “DeDe, I’m touched by your thoughtfulness, but … well, I like it here, darling. And I really don’t think the publicity will be too much for me to …”
    “Mother, I want the children out of town!”
    Frannie was taken aback by the ferocity of DeDe’s declaration. “Darling, I’ll do anything you want. I just don’t understand why it’s so … well, so important to you.”
    DeDe composed herself. “Just help me on this, Mother. Please. It’s a marvelous trip. The twins will adore it, and you’ll get to know them so much better. It’s perfect, really.” She looked at Frannie almost plaintively. “Don’t you think?”
    The matriarch hesitated, then gave her daughter a hug. “I think it sounds lovely,” she said.

A Starr Is Born
    T HE CLOTHES FROM WILKES BASHFORD ARRIVED AT Prue’s house about half-an-hour before Father Paddy did.
    “What do you think?” the cleric asked breathlessly. “Daniel Detorie helped me pick them out. I know I went overboard on the Polo shirts, but the colors were so yummy I couldn’t