Chapter 36

~Erik~

The leather binding of each well thumbed book felt like a reunion as I freed my library from the shipping crates. Too long I had been deprived of these wondrous stories, unwilling to risk damage in the tenement … fine works of literature, volumes of extraordinary scientific discoveries. These were treasures beyond value. I could not help but page through a few of them as I laid eyes on their covers for the first time in two years.

Two years? Had it really been two years since we had crossed the ocean in secrecy? Close enough to be counted as such. My plan to distinguish myself had certainly taken more time than I had anticipated. Flexing my stiff fingers, I sighed … certainly more trouble.

Placing my collection of Greek mythology on the shelf, I was reaching in for the next one when the thundering of feet across the second story of the house came crashing in through my bed chamber door. I turned to find Nadir babbling like a child.

"Erik! Erik!" He pointed over his shoulder, little hops accompanying his words. "A bed. My room, my own room, it has it's own bed!"

Blandly, I resumed the task of shelving my library. "Did you expect to sleep on the floor?"

Beaming, he ran over to mine and caressed the simple polished wood frame. "You have one too!"

"Why yes." I remarked, trying not to laugh at his excitement. "I was going to just get one, but figured you had quite enough of being stabbed in the middle of the night."

"So sturdy, well built!"

"The carpenter I purchased them from had them sitting in his workshop. They both seemed to be ideal for this house. I could have requested something custom made, but I confess, I was in a hurry to move in before the snow fall."

Nadir danced across the floor and grabbed the front of my sweater. "So many less stairs! And wider too! The air is clean and fresh, devoid of the foul odor of human waste. Oh Allah, I can breathe again."

I pried his fingers off before his excited tugging could rend a seam. This was one of the few garments I had at the moment that didn't look like a rag-picker's special. "Go breathe in your room."

Running his hands against the wall, he drifted back out into the hall and towards his room. I sighed in relief. Alone. Once more I had a space to call entirely my own. I doubted that Nadir even fathomed how much self control I had been exercising these past two years sharing our living space. Solitude was almost as powerful an addiction as my opium.

I glanced over my shoulder to the cabinet that held the critical little box. Beside it my beloved Stradivarius in her case. When my hands healed, I owed her a private little session. Now that I had this upper bed chamber with space for all the belongings I had brought overseas I could begin to live again! Not to merely exist … but to live!

A plain desk in the corner waited for me to unpack the finer tools I used when making machines, automatons, and music boxes. Perhaps an activity for the winter months. The hearth would provide both warmth and light, a place to read by. Yes, this room would be my refuge. Behind the oak door, my solitary dwelling where even Nadir would find he was not permitted.

A commotion drew me to the window. I peered out to find a carriage coming to a halt before the front door. A moment later, a gentleman stepped out, taking in the quarry house.

Reed?

Darting down the staircase, I opened the front door to find him caressing the dressed stone. I had little time to do any intricate carving, but fully intended for a few areas to receive more attention. Much of the two story house was rough field stone in appearance, the limestone from my quarry provided a beautiful variance. Tall casement lined windows with shutters were framed with flat dressed stones, awaiting a bit of leisure time.

He glanced up at me, his eyebrows raised. "Good heavens! You built this at the same time as my conservatory and that bank? How Erik?"

We shook hands while I laughed, "That is my little secret. But yes, I cut every stone that comprises this building and set them. Hardly a masterpiece, at least it can be counted as more presentable than … well, this gives me a place to discuss contracts respectably with clients."

"It's simplicity is elegant." He glanced out across the field to the rise of the workmen's houses. The hamlet bustled with activity as the men worked from the area of the quarry reserved for their own use. The homes they built were simple but sturdy, single storied buildings. Women and children who had come up from the city slums tended to a variety of tasks, including tending to the fields that were now awaiting harvest. Baskets of fruit carted from the orchard made their way to the pole barn.

Reed inhaled the sweet air and smiled. "Truly, it is beautiful. Was this village here?"

I shook my head. "That was part of their contracts. The workers wished to leave the tenements are dearly as I. Simple enough to provide for them. After all, what does every man want but a place to call his own. Please, do come in."

Entering the house he removed his hat as I led him through what would be my parlor beside my drafting office. At this moment it was no more than a room with some packed crates in it.

"Forgive me, I did not anticipate visitors yet."

He reached up and touched the gas lamp set into the wall. "You set in gas lines?"

I nodded. "Of course. There is also a simple pump providing water to the house drawn from the well. I only had the time to set it in the kitchen, but considering."

"Remarkable. Most houses in this kind of setting would not have such luxuries."

I waved a dismissive hand. "If a client enters here he should see such a thing and note the attention. Over the winter, I hope to add a few details to the stone. The utmost importance was finishing the house structurally before winter. The first story holds my office and the parlor with a kitchen and a small dining area. The second story is where the two bed chambers are located along with the essential room to attend to ones more personal needs. Out the back window there is a winch for drawing up heated water from the kitchen."

We drifted through the house and his eyes devoured the stonework, rough though it was. Briefly, I vanished from his side, returning with a small cask of Burgundy wine. Tapping it I poured us each a glass.

"What? You thought I would not have a wine cellar?" I handed him the glass. "This is something I have missed dearly … among other things."

We both took a long drink, his eyebrows rising at the end. "This wine, it's excellent!"

"I know my vintages." I swirled the rich wine, resting my hand in the window frame to gaze at the quarry. "I also know an extraordinary tailor when I see his work. Reed, I must request the name of the gentlemen who made that suit you gifted me. I shall be in need of more of his work."

Joining me at the window he nodded. "I will be happy to introduce the two of you. I had hoped that our business relationship would continue. You are a most … extraordinary fellow."

I was relieved at this choice of words. "I do not forget things easily, my friend. I look forward to a profitable year no small thanks to you. What has begun is left up to me to finish."

He glanced at the scabs on my hand holding the wine glass. "You should enjoy a restful winter. A nice quiet one."

Beneath the mask, I felt a little shameful heat rise. "Ahh, well, not to worry. Next year my skin shall be thicker for the tasks I have undergone."

"I have no doubt." He took a long sip of the wine. "Erik, this place has a lot of atmosphere. I know I had mentioned that you needed a place more suited for meeting with clients … however, this is a long way from the city. I think you shall find that most of them won't want to be inconvenienced."

Keeping my eyes on the quarry, I tried not to flinch at the one remark I dreaded to hear. This was a vast improvement over the crippling Bowery … but he was right. The stuffy clients I was after would feel troubled to have to leave the densely packed avenues of the city.

"One step at a time, my good man." I lifted my glass and took a swallow as I watched O'Hennesey and Grimaudo leading a cart with a stone toward the foundation of a house. I assumed it was Grimaudo's in progress.

Land in the city was at a premium, in any place worth the building. But if I secured my contracts right, perhaps there was a remedy to this before the next year was finished.