13 WINDOWS

Chapter 16 Part 2: LIGHT SWITCH

Rupert decided to stay at his mother's home again that night because he was concerned that she would attack his Aunt Emeline, like she had done with Serena. He wasn't sure what had caused his mother's outburst, and his Aunt had remained silent for the rest of the night. Rupert knew that he had to get his hands on that photo album.

He stayed in his and Terry's old room. The blinds were closed, of course. He was never really able to relax in this musty old house. He lay down on his old bed, thinking about his brother. How different his life would have been if he was still around. He knew he would probably be a happier person and so would his mother.

He reached his arm under the bed and found one of his old drawing books. He opened it and flipped through the pages until he came across a picture he had drawn of Hans.

It was a very detailed drawing. The mole, the strange look in the man's frightening and determined eyes. Rupert felt a chill run up his spine. He closed the book.

He thought he heard a sound outside. He looked up at the window alarmed. He got up slowly and walked towards the wooden frame of the window. He peeked behind the blinds. He saw something move. A flash of white clothing! His heart skipped.

Then he saw some frizzy blond and grey hair. Rupert exhaled. It was his mother walking in the backyard. Her nightdress was gleaming in the moonlight. She was lifting her arms to the sky and singing something mournful and strange.

Rupert realized he had very little time. He opened his bedroom door quietly. He peeked into the family room. Emeline was asleep in front of the TV. He walked quickly upstairs and then up the attic stairs. His mother had left the door open.

Rupert looked frantically for the photo album his mother had been clutching. He scrambled around looking under all of the old junk. Then he glanced over to his mother's mattress on the floor. He lifted it and felt underneath.

Sure enough there was a booklet. It had an old, worn brown leather cover. He unsnapped a button latch and it opened onto the last page. He started flipping through the pages backwards. The first pictures at the end of the book were of Rupert and Terry playing in the snow. Rupert smiled sadly. He turned over more pages. There was a picture of his grandmother when she was a younger woman in Ottawa. It must have been from the '50s. There was a picture of his grandfather, Irving Stewart, with Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. Rupert's grandfather had been a noted Canadian historian.

Rupert realized at that moment that it was an old photo album of his grandmother's. He turned to a page of his mother looking like Janis Joplin with her father. He flipped the pages back. There was a family portrait of Sandra, Emeline and their parents. It was black and white and worn at the edges. The two daughters were sitting on the floor in front. Standing in the back was his Grandmother Isabel and his Grandfather Irving. Emeline, who looked to be about nine or ten, was smiling confidently. But his mother, five years younger, must have been in the middle of a movement when the photo was taken. She was blurry. It was just like his mother to ruin a portrait like that. Always the rebel.

He continued turning the pages backward. Further back there was a ticket for an ocean liner with the date September 23, 1946. He continued backwards.

Now the pictures were from Europe. There were pictures of his grandmother as a young woman in front of a wooden house. There was a sign on the door that said 86 Bachstraße. Another picture was of her and some of her girl friends on summer vacation. The picture had the words 'Mit Miriam, Interlaken, 36' written underneath.

He turned to the first page of the photo album. His grandmother's name was written in the left hand corner of the inside cover. It said "Isabelle Streicher." He did not know what the name 'Streicher' was. Her maiden name was Schwarz.