Chapter Six

A House in the Sun

Suzette laughed and danced about as Erik gave her a tour of their new home. The living room was rich in decoration, filled with paintings and shelves of books and other art. It was alive and inviting, with a cheery fire going in the hearth. It had one large arched window, which was a lovely stained glass portrait of Saint Cecelia. The ceiling was high and painted with a Nordic weaving design around the woodwork.

Adjoining the living room was a large space with an equally high ceiling. There was no furniture in this room and the walls were divided into panels. If the panels had been mirrors it would have been exactly like the type of room that a ballet would rehearse in, but the panels were like tapestries telling a story. In between each panel was an electric lamp reaching out from the wall. The floor was smooth and cool marble.

"What is this room for?" Suzette asked.

"This is where you will have your lessons."

"But there is no desk and no books."

"It's perfect. You'll see."

The next room was a shock to Suzette.

"It's a jungle!" she shouted. And indeed it was. They were surrounded on every side by strange tropical species of trees. Suzette looked above her and saw patches of daylight shining through the branches above her. Hopping about the branches were brilliantly colored little birds, which squawked at intervals. In a large clearing in this curious jungle sat a long, wooden dining table. Suzette turned to Erik and said, "Why would a dinning room be in a jungle, Erik?" Erik shrugged, "It was the best size and shape for a jungle."

"Why would a jungle be in a house?"

"I rarely express myself in the same way others do." Suzette stared about her.

"Well I suppose it is rather pretty," she said finally. Erik led her through the leaves to a hallway with wooden walls ornamented from floor to ceiling with carved wooden figures. He opened one door that led to a comparatively normal kitchen and then to a plain room with a cloak closet and a large window. The window look quite solid, so Suzette was surprised to see that when he pushed it, a large portion of the wall moved away as if on a hinge.

"When you want to go and play in the garden, you can go out this way. Suzette peeked out and saw a lovely and wild looking garden awaiting her. She looked to her right and was shocked again to find that the outside wall of the house had a heavy white door while the inside had a plain wall.

"This door doesn't open!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, it does," Erik assured her.

"Where does it lead?" she asked.

"To a lost room."

"How can a room be lost?" she demanded disbelievingly.

"My, but you are inquisitive today. While I was decorating all the rooms, I lost one. You must never go in there or you will be lost as well."

"Are you really quite serious, Erik? Would I really be lost?"

"Absolutely. Now let us see the upstairs before you go and play in the garden." Suzette gave the door to the lost room one last look and shuddered before closing up the window. She was quite sure that she would never want to go inside.

They backed into the hallway and Erik led her up a flight of stairs. Once they were in the hallway, Erik opened a door and said, "Here is my room if you wish to see it." Suzette went in and observed a comfortable and modest bedroom with a large window swathed in lace and overlooking the garden. The only thing out of the ordinary in the room was a sequence of notes painted on the wall over and over just where it met the ceiling.

"What song is that, Erik?" she asked.

"I will teach you to read it and then you can find out for yourself. And speaking of that, come, I will show you the music room."

The music room was quite large and each wall was covered in aging wallpaper, which featured a busy pattern of daisies.

"I decided to keep this room as it was," said Erik, anticipating her question.

"There sure are a lot of daisies in here," she pointed out. Erik looked about the room at the daisies. They were too large and too bright. They were very silly looking things and in the corners they were falling off the wall clumsily.

"I like daisies," he said.

The music room contained the organ and pianoforte from the house by the lake. On one wall were shelves and shelves of musical volumes. In the opposite corner sat a little desk and a music stand. On another shelf sat a violin and a viola, as well as two cases which Suzette guessed contained other instruments. The only window in the room was quite narrow and almost completely covered with vines.

"We shall have a great deal of fun in here Suzette," he said and she was obliged to agree with him.

"May I see my room?" she asked.

"Of course, my darling," he replied and led her by the hand through another door and up another staircase. At the top of the staircase was a well-lit space with a desk and a sofa.

"This will be your sitting room," he informed her, "And your bathroom is just in there." Suzette stared at the room in excitement. She had never had so much space before. He opened another door and showed her into her bedroom.

Suzette sighed with delight when she saw it. It looked just like a princess' room out of a fairy tale. The window was large and round and looked out onto the street. The ceiling was painted blue and white like the sky and was filled with angels, fairies, Pegasus's, dragons, and flying carpets. The walls were a mural of princes, thieves, damsels, elves, witches and heroes. There were shelves of enticing books and splendid toys. Suzette approached the shelves and took down a fairy in a lovely silk dress. Erik showed her how to wind her up and in an instant the fairy's wings were working and she was dancing about the floor. Suzette chose another toy, a bear this time, and wound it up. This one played a tune as it danced. Erik wound up and released a dragon, which slithered quickly about the room. Before long, the entire shelf of toys was dancing, jumping, and playing on the floor.

"Did you make them?" Suzette shouted over the racket.

"Just for you," he told her. Suzette jumped into Erik's arms with joy and kissed him.

"Is it really ours?"

"Of course, my dear Suzette."

"And those bad men won't find us here."

"Never. Do you like it, Suzette?" he asked.

"I love it!" she responded, "I want to stay forever!"

"I'm glad. Shall we start on your lessons?"

The weeks went by and Erik and Suzette became quite happy in their new home. Erik roused her early each morning and gave her lessons until lunch. After lunch, Suzette played for hours in the garden before they ate supper and Erik continues her lessons in the 'daisy room'.

It was a very private place. There were walls of shrubbery on all sides so no one could see inside. There were bursts of red, blue, pink, purple, yellow and white in every direction. There was a favorite space of Suzette's along one wall, where several large pine trees grew together and formed a lovely green cave where she could hide with Elizabeth and the other dolls that Erik made for her. She made them little beds of fine long pine needles. Then she caught hold of the lowest big branches and climbed up the tree as high as she could. There was a nice flat branch where she could sit and look over the house and into the street. She could also see into the closest garden, which belonged to a grand old lady. She liked to watch this woman working in her flowers beds, without being seen. She loved the time she spent swaying in the pine trees and playing in the soft needles as much as the time she spent with Erik in the school room and the daisy room.

Erik watched her playing with satisfaction although he disapprovingly pointed out the tears in her dresses, lost shoes and stockings, and pine needles in her hair. He wasn't angered though. He simply patted her hair and shook his head saying, "A little garcon manqué. That's what we have here."

One afternoon, Suzette came in earlier that usual and found Erik working on the new opera he was composing. He looked up when he heard her enter and saw that she was holding a moderately sized gray cat.

"Ahh!" shouted Erik.

"Meow," said the cat.

"May I please have this cat?" asked Suzette. Erik was confused by this request.

"What do you mean, darling? How can you have a cat?"

"I want it to live with us in the house," she explained as she set the cat on the floor. Erik eyed the animal distrustfully.

"I don't think that cats are meant to live in the house." Suzette giggled at this statement. Erik was not kidding. He looked at the cat again and the cat looked back with green curious eyes. Suddenly the cat leapt in the air and landed on Erik's lap. He shrieked and leaned as far away as he could from the cat. The cat put it's forepaws on his shoulder and sniffed at his mask.

"Meow," the cat said again. Erik cringed.

"He wants you to pet him," Suzette explained. Erik reached up slowly and petted the creature's back gingerly. It was warm and soft. The cat turned his head suddenly and Erik was afraid that it would bite, but it only licked his hand with its scratchy tongue.

"Nice, little cat. . ." Erik said meekly and petted the cat again. The cat lay on its side and fell asleep in his lap.

"So may I keep the cat in the house?" Suzette asked.

"I suppose so," he whispered as not to wake it, "As long as the cat has no objections."

As weeks turned into months and months into years, Suzette, Erik, and the cat, which came to be called Othello, grew right into the house in the sun. Erik relished every footstep of Suzette progress but she grew so quickly that she often kept him off guard. She became generous and affectionate, befriending the children in a nearby orphanage and bringing them toys that Erik had made. Erik enjoyed his little girl and devoted himself entirely to caring for her and teaching her. He watched with delight, as she grew smarter, wilder, and all the more charming in his eyes. He was enchanted and bewildered by her funny habits. She played like a boy, crawling and rolling on the ground and climbing in trees and she had all but abandoned the custom of shoe wearing. She cared little for lovely ribbons, make-up, or how to dance. She was interested more in books, art, nature, and experiencing all of the beauty that life had to offer. Her playfulness and disregard of custom and etiquette caused him worry from time to time but he cherished her so that he thought to himself, "If there is any fault in it, let me take the blame and leave my garcon manqué as I so love her." And so he did and he was happier then he ever imagined that he could be, living with a young girl and a cat in the house in the sun.