The Other Side of the Wall

by Amy Ephron

  “No, wait, Maxxx!” she screamed out to him.

  And the only answer was the snow falling softly down around her and the distant hoofbeats and wheels turning on cobblestones as the carriage sped briskly away down the London street.

  The street itself looked different. Across the street there were only houses. Tess was sure across the street there’d been another hotel. A little bigger than theirs. She remembered its name. It was called The Splendid, and she and Aunt Evie had discussed going there one day for tea when her mother arrived. A girls’ day. But right now, there were only houses. And a few cars. They didn’t look the least bit modern. And she could hear the distant sound of hoofbeats as “the person who used to be Max” seemed to be riding away in the carriage.

  Suddenly she felt a hand on her elbow. She looked up to see Mr. Cortland. “I was wondering when you were going to find your way out,” he said. “We have to hurry.”

  He lifted Tess into the front seat next to him in his carriage that was parked at the curb. “Go on, Comet. Go on,” he said to the horse, impatiently clicking his tongue the way he had, except he was also brandishing a tiny whip, which he gave the horse a sharp tap with, and expertly handled the reins to turn the horse and the carriage around. “Faster, Comet. Faster. Run like you’re dancing in the sky.”

  Tess held onto the seat as Comet was racing so quickly the carriage itself was almost rocking from side to side. And then—Tess swore that this was true—it was as if Comet was able to, levitate would be the right word, or simply fly just off the ground, carrying the carriage behind her through mid-air, cold air, spectacularly dotted with snow which was falling like petals all around them.

  They could barely see through the snow. Mr. Cortland leaned over to Tess and echoed what he’d said when they’d first met. “Don’t worry about Comet. She knows the way.”

  The way to where, Tess wondered. She could no longer see in front of her the carriage that “the person who used to be Max” had stepped in to. There was just a blanket of snow all around them.

  “Don’t worry. She’s got a nose on her,” he said reassuringly. “Don’t you Comet?”

  Comet shook her mane as if she was answering. And took a right turn in the sky without even being led to. As below her, off in the distance, Tess could see what she thought was the carriage that was ferrying “the person who used to be Max” to wherever he was going. At least she hoped that was the carriage she could see below her in the distance . . .

  * * *

  • • •

  Tess wasn’t surprised when they landed, lightly, as if they’d never been flying, at all, and pulled up to Hyde Park, and Mr. Cortland brought the carriage to a stop at the corner. It was as if Comet had known where they were going. A perfect place to see the snow. Except that there was so much snow now, it was hard to make out anything else. She could see the Ferris wheel up high in the background, stationary, with snow falling all around it.

  Tess thought it was the carriage they’d been following parked right in front of them, the one that she’d seen “the person who used to be Max” step in to. But the driver pulled the reins and turned the carriage around and drove right past them. He passed so closely that Tess could see that only the driver was in the front seat and there was no one sitting in the carriage.

  Tess jumped down without waiting for Mr. Cortland to come around the side. She could see footprints and a path straight through the snow in the park, as if someone had recently walked there and left a path behind them. The snow was so high—she reasoned it was almost up to her shoulder now—with no sign of the snowfall stopping. And no sign of “the person who used to be Max,” just the trace of footsteps deep in the snow going into the park and she reasoned that must have been where he went except she couldn’t catch any sight of him.

  ~ CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT ~

  venturing into the park

  Mr. Cortland jumped down from the driver’s seat and quick as a wink unbridled Comet, freeing her from the carriage.

  He led Comet over to Tess, gently holding onto the reins as he guided her. The horse was unsaddled but there was a blanket across her back obviously intended to help the beloved horse stay warm.

  Comet’s eyes were clear and knowing and she looked directly at Tess as Mr. Cortland, with a nod, handed the reins over.

  Tess realized she didn’t have a moment to consider it. There was not time to make any other choice. She put her foot in Mr. Cortland’s outstretched cupped hand, as a way to lift her on to the back of Comet as Tess threw her right leg over the horse’s back, and took her seat, holding the reins firmly in her hand.

  “It’s all right,” Tess whispered to Comet. “I know that we can find them.” She used the word “them” on purpose. Tess knew that she had to find Colin in order to find Max. Or maybe it was the other way around. But it was both of them she had to find.

  She remembered Adele’s words about Colin, “You’re the only who can put him back on solid ground.” And while Tess didn’t exactly know what that meant, she was certain that moment was starting now. She was starting to understand why Colin might have done this. And the anger she felt at him was starting to melt even though the snow was still falling all around her.

  “Don’t worry Tess. Don’t worry about Comet,” said Mr. Cortland. “She knows the way. And, from what I’ve heard about you, you do, too.

  “Take care of her,” he added. It wasn’t clear whether it was Tess or Comet he was speaking to.

  “Ready?” he asked Tess.

  She nodded and remembering her manners, she said quietly, almost mouthing the words, “Thank you. I promise,” she said as if she was making a sacred vow, “I’ll see you again.”

  There was no time to waste. There was no sight of “the person who used to be Max.” And Mr. Cortland made that funny noise he made with his tongue, as if he was clicking it against his cheek, and Comet took off, with full credit to her name, like a rocket through the snowy plough, along the path that Tess could only hope had been made by “the person who used to be Max.”

  It wasn’t a question of holding on—there was no saddle, no stirrups, simply the reins—it was more as if she was truly one with the horse, her body completely in tune with Comet, her legs tightly latched to the horse’s sides, leaning in, completely in step and in tune with Comet’s rhythmic canter and their steady quest for “the person who used to be Max.”

  The snow was all around them, high like a wall or a patch in-between two sides of a mountain, as they raced along the slim visible trail like it was a championship Olympic event and they were on a competitive sled ride. Except the only thing they were racing was time, as the snow continued to build up around them, filling in the path, and the only way forward was by instinct.

  “Don’t worry about Comet,” Mr. Cortland had said. “She knows the way.”

  The way where? Tess wondered. And she couldn’t help wondering if she also knew the way back.

  The snow seemed to stop at a moment, strangely. As if they’d hit the end of the road.

  Comet stopped abruptly, and Tess had to hold herself from tumbling forward as the horse came to a dead stop.

  “Colin!!” She knew it was Colin, now. She could tell even from the back. She could see him standing in front of her. He stood straighter than Max did, slightly taller, although oddly more fragile, his arms longer, his presence quieter even as he stood. The snow was still falling. She wondered if he could see that the road had ended. In front of them was a lake, frosted over as if it had iced.

  And she watched as he stepped onto the icy surface and, in less than a step forward, fell into the freezing water below.

  “Max!!” she screamed and immediately screamed again, “Colin!!” hoping one of them could hear her.

  She could only imagine how cold it must be and see that he might never be able to find a way out of the lake, as the surface was completely frost
ed over.

  There wasn’t a moment to think about what she could do. Tess jumped from her mount and dove, directly down into the freezing cold water that startled her through to inside of her bones, as if cold mercury was running through her veins, and her lungs were in danger of collapsing. She held her breath and dove, deep down until she found him.

  She and Max used to have psychic communication. “Max!!!” she screamed in her mind. And embraced him with both of her arms. And then she did the same thing to Colin, hoping he might be able to hear her, too. Holding her breath underwater, “Colin!!” she screamed in her mind, as she held onto him tighter.

  He didn’t fight her. He didn’t have much fight in him at that point. It was as if he was frozen through. She didn’t let herself think about whether he was breathing. She kicked as hard as she could, kicked them up to the surface. And swam to the edge and managed to push all of them onto the snow.

  “Max!!”

  But nobody answered.

  “Colin!”

  Nobody answered again.

  “Max!!” She started to pound softly on his chest. And took a deep breath and breathed into him. She pounded again on his chest and took another deep breath and breathed it into him.

  And he sputtered. She’d never been so happy to hear such a sound. He sputtered and coughed. She lifted him slightly and hit him harder on the back until she was sure, quite certain he was breathing on his own.

  She took the blanket from the back of Comet and wrapped herself and him in it. She was as cold as he was. Her fingers were almost blue.

  She dropped the blanket for a moment. She held her hand out for Max, cupped it the way Mr. Cortland had but Max (or was it Colin) didn’t respond. She picked his foot up and put it into her cupped hand and lifted him onto Comet’s back. She pulled the blanket up and rested it in front of him. And then, as there was no stirrup to hold on to, hoisted herself up, one hand on the blanket, as if it was almost the beginning of a somersault for life, and took her place on Comet’s back in front of “the person who used to be Max.”

  She took his hands—they were so cold—and wrapped them around her waist. She pulled the blanket up and tried to wrap it around them. She grabbed the reins. She made that noise, that funny noise that Mr. Cortland made with his tongue, and as if the horse knew exactly where she was going, Comet turned around and started to race back again.

  The wind was blowing against them now, or rather the horse was running against the wind which was strong, brisk, and racing as fast as Comet was, as if it was trying to push them back, back into the water. The snowfall was fierce, as well, and furious, as if it was coming down in sheets. It was so cold. It felt like there were tentacles of ice wrapping around them. Tess looked down and thought she saw creatures rising up from the snow like an arctic boa constrictor that had somehow been matched with an octopus, with icy coils for arms that were trying to wrap them and weaving their way up Comet’s legs. Tess watched as the arms tried to wrap them and squeeze them, as if they were trying to get them to breathe the very air out of them, squeezing harder even, as if they were trying to get them to shoot up to space.

  Tess made that noise again, that clicking noise that Mr. Cortland made with his tongue, and kicked Comet gently with her heels. Comet ran faster still, running past the reach of the first creatures whose arms were like tentacles of ice, racing faster and faster still. And finally, so fast that her pace alone out-distanced the cold and Tess felt the warmth of Comet safely guiding them on.

  She stroked the horse’s mane and whispered in her ear. “Thank you.” And then she said to Max, even though she didn’t know if he could hear her, “Hold onto me, please. Hold onto me.” She wasn’t sure, but she thought she felt his arms tighten around her.

  She could hear Mr. Cortland saying again, Don’t worry, she knows the way. And Tess certainly hoped that was true, as the path they’d travelled had now been covered again by snow and all that was around them was a blanket of white accompanied by the fierce wind and an occasional strange icicle which seemed to be wanting to trap them and pull them back towards the lake.

  Tess touched her hair and wasn’t surprised that it felt stiff, almost as if it was frozen. Of course, it did, she’d been in the water. She’d rescued “the person who used to be Max” who was now holding on to her. She wanted to turn back and see him, but Comet was racing so quickly that she didn’t have the chance. She had to lean in and race with the horse as if they were one and hold onto the belief that what she felt was Max’s arms around her.

  Still holding on to the reins with one hand, Tess reached back and put her arm around “Max’s” waist. He was so cold that she felt a shiver run through her, the moment she touched him. But he was there. There, behind her.

  “Hold onto me, Max. Hold onto me.”

  But all that answered her was the wind.

  ~ CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE ~

  flashback/flash forward

  Tess could see in front of her that the slopes of snow ended in a moment and they would be out on the street. Out of the park. Almost on solid ground.

  Comet raced on and Tess could hear the almost metallic sound as her hoofbeat hit the pavement and Hyde Park was behind them.

  The snow wasn’t piled up on the street the way it had been in the park. There was just a fine layer of snow on the sidewalk and snowflakes gently falling. Tess felt almost as if she’d stepped out of the wake of an avalanche onto solid ground, or come down a mountain to dryer land, or somehow passed through another doorway.

  The carriage wasn’t parked at the curb. Mr. Cortland was nowhere to be seen. Nor was anyone else. It was the dead of night and only the street lamps were there as their witness.

  “The person who used to be Max” was shivering behind her. She turned and saw that his eyes were closed. He was so pale. He was astonishingly pale. And his eyes were closed. There was something about the way his eyes were closed that frightened her.

  “Max!! Max!! Wake up!!” And then she had to do something she’d had to do to him once before.

  “I’m sorry, Max. I’m sorry,” she said—and then she slapped him full-on on the cheek, leaving a red mark where her hand had been. “Wake up, Max!! Wake up!!”

  His eyes fluttered but then they shut again. “Hold on to me, Max. Hold on to me. Rest your head on the back of my shoulder.”

  She felt him do what she had directed. She felt the weight of his head rest against her right shoulder and his hands tighten their grasp around her waist. “Hold on to me, Max. Hold on to me.”

  There was still no sight of the carriage or of Mr. Cortland.

  Her mind was racing. Why would Colin have done something so evil, stepped into the freezing pond with Max. But then she realized that might not have been what had happened. . . . Although she wasn’t sure what she was imagining could even be true.

  The few automobiles visible parked on the street were strangely old-fashioned. The street lamps looked different. London is full of cameras posted on traffic lights but she didn’t see any as they sped by, not that she’d noticed any traffic lights either. The few lights visible from inside the houses were dim, muted, and often flickering as if some of them were candlelit. But she reasoned, it was late, and probably a lot of people had gone to sleep. She let her hands go slack on the reins and Comet took it as a sign and slowed down almost to a walk.

  Tess leaned in and stroked the horse’s mane. It was cold and stiff and dusted with ice. She tried for a moment to untangle it.

  She whispered into Comet’s ear, “You know the way. My hands are on the reins in case you need me. I know you know the way home.”

  She remembered what Adele had said, “You’re the only one who can put him back on solid ground.” Is that what she’d just done or was trying to do now?

  Tess made the clicking sound the same way Mr. Cortland had and without a hint of Tess pulling the reins in one directio
n or another, Comet turned to the left and began, at a trot at first, and then faster, speeding them along the oddly dimly lit London cobblestoned streets.

  Tess hadn’t remembered that all the streets had been cobblestoned when they went out with Aunt Evie. Maybe it was just that there were cobblestones by the park. Part of London had cobblestones, like the outdoor market at Covent Garden. But Tess remembered the distinct sound from earlier that night, as if all the streets were cobblestoned, and Comet’s hoofbeats made their own syncopated rhythm, faster and faster still, against the cobblestoned street.

  Comet made another left turn again so quickly that they were in danger of falling off. Tess righted both of them. “Hold on to me!! Hold on.”

  Comet continued to race so swiftly that it was somewhere beyond a canter. Then Comet made another left turn.

  At which point the street looked vaguely familiar. Had she seen these houses before?

  Up ahead, a crowd had gathered in front of a house. They were standing almost in a circle, bundled up against the cold, with scarves hastily tied around their necks and heavy overcoats that nobody had stopped to button.

  Comet came to a stop. Tess looked over at the people. “What’s happened?” she asked. “What’s happened?”

  But nobody seemed to hear her.

  She could see Colin’s mother who held the note in her hand. Someone had something like a flashlight and was beaming it on to the note. Someone else was holding what looked like a map as if they were trying to ascertain a possible route. The snow was falling.