Lost and Found: A Tale of the Tylwyth Teg

Chapter 5: The Doctor, and A House Call

As it turned out, Tambini's practice was once his home's two-car garage. And it was close enough that I could bike there. To be honest, everything in Cambria is within a reasonable biking distance. My Atala bike is one of my treasured holdovers from my high school years. Made to perfection with Italian craftsmanship, friends would kid me that it had a micro-engine hidden somewhere inside it. It would continue coasting long after their Schwinns would require serious leg pumping.

The Tambini house was made in a Craftsman style, with wood and stone beautifully carved and lovingly mixed. The one difference was its roof, which had strange, Japanese-style tiles with demon faces. Beautiful, but a little spooky, they had been dyed with colors that made it look like a living carpet of many-colored leaves.

"Admiring my Onigawara roof, are you?" said the good doctor from behind me. He carried a basket full of plants and small flowers. "A friend from Japan thought she heard noises in the night when she stayed here, and suggested we hire her cousin in San Francisco to install this for protection from things that jibber-jabber at night."

"And does it work?" I asked, with slightly less humor than I might have employed before last night's double dose of weirdness.

"Like a charm. Doesn't scare normal critters, though. Squirrels keep eating at Anna's bulbs, even when she liberally dusts them with cayenne pepper. Talk about little demons!" We both laughed. "Papa's expecting you. I warn you, he's a character. But he's kind to a fault, and just as quick to laughter as he is to anger. He also can see through insincerity and falsehoods, which served him well as a G.P. Anna Lucia's expecting you for lunch." I was about to protest when a voice came from the house's screened front porch.

"Are you going to keep boring that pretty young woman, or are you going to let me teach her GwyddBwyll? I haven't got all day. I could die of boredom right now, listening to your blabbering."

"Buongiorno, Signor Tambini," I addressed the elderly physician, "Mi chiama Lillian Zakkarian." The immaculately attired gentleman, resplendent in an impeccably ironed white shirt and a snazzy bow tie, stood up straight and kissed my hand. I started, because who kisses a woman's hand nowadays?

Anna Lucia laughed, standing in the archway that led to their living room. She took the basket of greens from Frankie, waving her husband inside. "Papa is very old school, Lillian. If you get tired of being schooled in GwyddBwyll, you'll find me in the kitchen."

"I'll be opening the practice in 10 minutes, so I'll see you at lunch." With that, Frankie left through the front door and walked towards the former garage.

"I'm afraid, good Signor, you have me all to yourself." The elderly Tambini narrowed his eyes and chortled.

"First things first, Signorina Zakkarian. Your Italian is better than mine! English will do just fine. Second, your virtue is safe. And your wife need not worry either." He smiled, with the sly grin of a shared conspirator. "If, of course, I read the faint tinge of pale pink lipstick on your cheek correctly."

"I find myself in the presence of a man to rival Sherlock's Dr. Watson," I said in mock astonishment.

"Indeed, you do. Have a seat and tell me what you know of chess."

"Honestly, I've forgotten anything I once knew about the game. I was learning it to impress this very alluring senior in my sorority and paid more attention to her than the game." I wasn't certain that this was the kind of honesty that Frankie had referred to, but Papa's eyes were sparkling.

"Good, good. You'll find this easy to learn, but very difficult to master. Let me show you. Miss Draconis made this board herself. I daresay it's the only one of its kind. She'd made it for her daughter originally, but Gwyneth hadn't the patience or the temperament for the game. It's redwood from the Muir Woods, inlaid with moonstone mined from our own Moonstone Beach."