By chance we saw your ad in a travel magazine yesterday. What a
surprise to see your smiling faces! It looks like a wonderful resort. We’ll
have to come visit sometime.
Izzy and I have moved into a small house. We even have a car! I am
working in a substance abuse center and he is leading hiking tours
through the local mountains. We are very happy here. Sorry we can’t
leave an address, but Izzy is still in trouble for what happened in Los
Angeles. My father is trying to help us straighten that out. Bless him!
We have a one-year old girl. Her name is Zara. She loves music and is
already showing signs of being a dancer, though she can hardly walk.
Maybe someday she can get a job at your resort! I see that Sammie Davis
is playing there. Izzy sort of credits him with his turnaround. Hopefully
Sammie has given up driving.
Early this morning I visited the new Biddenbrooks. I like the new logo.
I ordered a Manna Teaand threw up. But I don’t think it was the drink.
You know what that means. We are already discussing possible names.
Have you heard from Roy or Yak? I’ve tried to locate them but they seem
to have dropped off the face of the earth. I suppose, so have we all. If you
run into them, please give them our love.
We think about you all and the time we had together very often. It
seemed that magic brought us all together, and that magic drove us
apart. Still, we have our memories. Izzy has been writing a book about
them. He wants to preserve you all between the pages like his favorite
leaves. After all, you helped preserve him. Don’t worry, he’s changing
names to protect the innocent.
Don’t bother looking for us, though. The postmark is phony. We’ll find
you as soon as we are out of the woods.
Au lait!
Love,
Sprout and Izzy.
Niles pulled two folded pages out from behind the letter. One was a
photocopy of Izzy’s driver’s license and another was a copy of his
membership card for the AAA. The address was blacked out and
scribbled over: “The American Automobile Association is the largest
non-religious organization in the country. We’ve joined the cult of
the incarnation!”
“The boy’s still looney,” said Niles.
“And that pretty one,” Alma Pantera pointed to the photo, “I
ABYSSINIA
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