'Jack - '
'Mom,' he said, 'sometimes didn't Dad call you up from a long way away, and you knew he was supposed to be in town?'
She raised her eyebrows.
'And sometimes didn't you, ah, walk into a room because you thought he was there, maybe even knew he was there - but he wasn't?'
Let her chew on that.
'No,' she said.
Both of them let the denial fade away.
'Almost never.'
'Mom, it even happened to me,' Jack said.
'There was always an explanation, you know there was.'
'My father - this is what you know - was never too bad at explaining things. Especially the stuff that really couldn't be explained. He was very good at that. That's part of the reason he was such a good agent.'
Now she was silent again.
'Well, I know where he went,' Jack said. 'I've been there already. I was there this morning. And if I go there again, I can try to save your life.'
'My life doesn't need you to save it, it doesn't need anyone to save it,' his mother hissed. Jack looked down at his devastated plate and muttered something. 'What was that?' she drilled at him.
'I think it does, I said.' He met her eyes with his own.
'Suppose I ask how you propose to go about saving my life, as you put it.'
'I can't answer. Because I don't really understand it yet. Mom, I'm not in school, anyhow . . . give me a chance. I might only be gone a week or so.'
She raised her eyebrows.
'It could be longer,' he admitted.
'I think you're nuts,' she said. But he saw that part of her wanted to believe him, and her next words proved it. 'If - if - I were mad enough to allow you to go off on this mysterious errand, I'd have to be sure that you wouldn't be in any danger.'
'Dad always came back,' Jack pointed out.
'I'd rather risk my life than yours,' she said, and this truth, too, lay hugely between them for a long moment.
'I'll call when I can. But don't get too worried if a couple of weeks go by without my calling. I'll come back, too, just like Dad always did.'
'This whole thing is nuts,' she said. 'Me included. How are you going to get to this place you have to go to? And where is it? Do you have enough money?'
'I have everything I need,' he said, hoping that she would not press him on the first two questions. The silence stretched out and out, and finally he said, 'I guess I'll mainly walk. I can't talk about it much, Mom.'
'Travelling Jack,' she said. 'I can almost believe . . . '
'Yes,' Jack said. 'Yes.' He was nodding. And maybe, he thought, you know some of what she knows, the real Queen, and that's why you are letting go this easily. 'That's right. I can believe, too. That's what makes it right.'
'Well . . . since you say you'll go no matter what I say . . . '
'I will, too.'
' . . . then I guess it doesn't matter what I say.' She looked at him bravely. 'It does matter, though. I know. I want you to get back here as quick as you can, sonny boy. You're not going right away, are you?'
'I have to.' He inhaled deeply. 'Yes. I am going right away. As soon as I leave you.'
'I could almost believe in this rigamarole. You're Phil Sawyer's son, all right. You haven't found a girl somewhere in this place, have you . . . ?' She looked at him very sharply. 'No. No girl. Okay. Save my life. Off with you.' She shook her head, and he thought he saw an extra brightness in her eyes. 'If you're going to leave, get out of here, Jacky. Call me tomorrow.'
'If I can.' He stood up.
'If you can. Of course. Forgive me.' She looked down at nothing, and he saw that her eyes were unfocused. Red dots burned in the middle of her cheeks.
Jack leaned over and kissed her, but she just waved him away. The waitress stared at the two of them as if they were performing a play. Despite what his mother had just said, Jack thought that he had brought the level of her disbelief down to something like fifty percent; which meant that she no longer knew what to believe.
She focused on him for a moment, and he saw that hectic brightness blazing in her eyes again. Anger; tears? 'Take care,' she said, and signalled the waitress.
'I love you,' Jack said.
'Never get off on a line like that.' Now she was almost smiling. 'Get travelling, Jack. Get going before I realize how crazy this is.'