The Second Coming

to found such communities around the world, communities for all ages. Maybe the kids know something we don’t know, Will.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnyhow, she’s closed the house, but she knows you are coming there.”
    â€œI see.”
    Kitty’s hand came to rest on his thigh. His thigh swelled. “Now listen, Will. This is important.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œI think I know where Allie is.”
    â€œAllie.”
    â€œOh, Will, I need your help, but just look at you. You’re a mess!” Suddenly leaning over, she took hold of a handful of his flank and gave him a great friendly tweak. “Listen, Will, I need to talk to you.” But even as she said this, her mind seemed to wander. Her eyes went away. “You see that car.”
    â€œWhat car?”
    â€œMy car. Right there. What does it remind you of?”
    He looked at the car. It was a black Continental. “I don’t know.”
    â€œDon’t you remember Daddy’s Lincoln?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œDo you remember the last time?”
    â€œThe last time?”
    â€œAfter you came back from Santa Fe. Before you took off for good?”
    â€œAh—”
    â€œWhen we parked behind the golf course like this?”
    â€œAh—”
    â€œHo ho ho you remember all right. Now, Will, listen to me.”
    â€œAll right.”
    â€œWe need to talk. About Allie, for one thing. I need to see you. Go home. Get cleaned up. Shave. My God, where have you been, laying in some gutter? Tomcattin’?” She gave him a poke. “All this time you could have been at Dun Romin’ with me taking care of you. After you get settled, come over to my villa. We need to talk about Allie. I’m right over there in number six, Dun Romin’—don’t you like that?”
    â€œVery well, but if it’s about Allison, I’ll need to talk to Walter too.”
    â€œHoney, I done told you. Friend Walter has split.”
    â€œSplit.”
    â€œChecked out. Long gone. Headed for the islands, or rather the island. Come to Dun Romin’ and I’ll tell you all about it.” She hooked three fingers inside his belt and gave him a tug.
    â€œI see.” He mused: Did Kitty’s special boldness come from a special sadness? Or do women grow more lustful as they grow older? “You and Walter are separated?”
    â€œI told you things have been popping around here!” Now swinging around merrily, she knelt as if she were in a pew, arms on the back of the seat. Was she merry or sad? “No, seriously. It’s been in the cards for years. It’s not that Walter has this thing for his little receptionists—the older he gets, the younger they get—I couldn’t care less. What it is is there’s nothing between us. Nothing. Maybe there never was. So we’ve split. And we’ve agreed. He gets the Georgia island. I get the mountain here.”
    â€œDon’t they belong to Allie?” He was watching her eyes, which were rounded and merry but also going away.
    â€œDid I tell you I think I found out where Allie is?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œShe’s here!”
    â€œHere?”
    â€œNot a mile from this spot. Lewis told me without knowing he was telling me. He thinks the world of you, thinks you’re the solidest citizen around. I didn’t tell him otherwise, that you’re the original flake and we’re two of a kind, the original misfits. Oh, Will, you’re the raunchiest loveliest mess I ever saw, let’s get in the Lincoln—no, I’m kidding. Lewis just happened to mention that a girl’s been living out at the old Kemp place, a shy blond little woods creature. She called it her place. Who else could it be? All he had to say was that she comes to town once a week, goes to the A & P, buys oatmeal, talks funny, says no more than three words, and I knew. It’s Allie. I’m going to see her now. Lewis drew me a map. Want to come? No, you go home.”
    â€œWhat do you and Walter want to do with Allie?”
    â€œJust me. Walter has copped out. He’s agreeable to anything. All he can think about are what he calls his Ayrabs. He and his Ayrabs, as he calls them, are going to turn the island into a 144-hole golf course with an airport big enough to take 727s from Kuwait.”
    â€œVery well. What do you want to do with Allie?”
    â€œAllie.” For the first time the merry Polly