“So tell me, how’s it going?” asked Jimmy. “You learn how to say anything good yet, like, I don’t know, maybe something like, ‘your place or mine’?”

Carter laughed and gave a shrug. “I’m getting there,” he said. “Takes time, you know.”

“Yeah, sure. And what about this professor? What’s his deal?”

“He’s all right,” said Carter, “but I gotta tell ya, it’s like spending an hour and a half with Henry Higgins three times a week, if you know what I mean.”

“Henry who?” replied Jimmy, evidently not knowing exactly what he had meant.

“Never mind,” chuckled Carter. “Why don’t you just go back to staring at the scenery, and let me listen to my tape?”

With that Carter pulled on the headphones and gazed out at the water, where a small boy was having the time of his life chasing the waves as they slipped back to the ocean before rolling once more toward the shore, chasing him back the other way. Carter smiled at the sight and closed his eyes. Then, imagining himself to be a child again, he reached for the cassette player and pushed the PLAY button.

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 9

Giancarlo loosened the cord of the cloth pouch and let the pocket watch slide out into the palm of his hand. He sat there for a time at the kitchen table holding the watch up to the light, studying the delicate design of its exterior before opening the cover to examine the interior. Though he tried to forget about the presence of the timepiece in his house as he came and went from day to day, he nonetheless often found himself brooding over it, as he was doing now. At the moment, he was reflecting on his decision to take on Carter as a pupil. Giancarlo had reasons of his own for making this choice. As he turned the matter over in his mind, however, it occurred to him that his initial motivation in continuing the lessons had, at least in part, been replaced by something else.

Curiosity.