There was a piece of newspaper at the bottom of what I thought was the now-empty box, and I grabbed it so I could wad it up and throw it away.
Which was when I realized that what I thought was an empty box wasn’t empty at all.
I lifted out a sixteen-by-twenty-inch frame and stared at the single piece of paper behind the glass.
Ella was still in that conference room with me, and when I read what was written on the paper and my eyes lit up, she knew something was going on.
“What is it?” she asked. In her excitement, she bounced up on the heels of her flat, chunky shoes. “Is it something valuable?”
“It depends who you ask,” I told her, and even though it was late, I headed back to the memorial.
It was time to confront the one and only person who could give me a straight answer.
If Ella knew I was standing up on the marble dais next to the statue of the president, she would have gone into cardiac arrest. National treasure and all that stuff. I was so not in the mood to care. I stood right next to that statue, the framed letter I’d found in one hand and my voice raised so that not even the dead could fail to hear.
“I need to talk to you, Mr. President, and I need to talk to you now!”
It must have been a slow day at the White House. Not two seconds later, he poofed into shape beside me.
“Really!” Honest to gosh, the president’s nose was up in the air. “To think you can disturb the chief executive this way!”
“The chief liar, you mean.” I held up the frame and its contents. “You know what I’ve got here? Well, maybe you don’t. Because maybe you never thought anybody would find it, that nobody would ever know about it.”
He harrumphed in a presidential sort of way. “I can’t imagine what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” I gave him a moment to come clean, and when he didn’t, I cleared my throat and read:
My dearest Lucia,
You have, no doubt, heard of the misfortune that has brought me to this delicate point in my life. The reports are sadly true. I was shot by a man with murderous intent, and though I did not succumb to the attack immediately, I have been most inconvenienced and in much pain. The doctors tell me there is hope, but I watch them as they turn from my bed, their eyes downcast and their expressions somber. They dare not speak the words. They do not have to. I know that I am dying.
Here I paused and looked up at the president. He was as still as that statue over on my left and as pale as the marble floor at our feet. He didn’t say a word so, of course, I had no choice but to keep reading.
I cannot leave this earth, my dear, without conveying to you my last good-byes. Though ours was a fragile and momentary relationship, it has remained as clearly etched upon my heart as if it were the love of a lifetime. I cannot part this world, and from you, my dear Lucia, without imploring of you one last request. Give Rufus . . .
Oh yeah, I admit it . . . I raised my voice here and read slowly and carefully, getting the most I could out of the moment.
Give Rufus Ward Henry my love, and tell him how I do so regret that I was never able to properly acknowledge him . . .
I paused again. After all, this was the big moment.
. . . acknowledge him as being as dearly beloved as are my other sons.
That was where the letter ended, and besides, I think I’d pretty much made my point. His eyes glassy, the president swayed on his feet and staggered back, one hand to his heart.
“I remember now,” he said, drawing in a labored breath. “It was in those steamy days of September. I lay on my deathbed, weak and delirious, haunted by my past, my mistakes.” He swallowed hard. “My regrets. I was so much in the throes of emotion and pain, I could hardly think straight. I called . . .” He passed a hand over his eyes. “I called to Jeremiah Stone for paper and ink. I intended . . . I intended . . .” The president stumbled back toward the center of the rotunda, and when he did, the scenery around us shivered and shifted. I fully expected to see that we were back in that White House office, but instead, I found myself standing in a spacious, neat cottage. There was a window opposite from where I stood, and through it, I saw a sweep of beach and, beyond that, the slow rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean. No way I was as much of a Garfield fanatic as Marjorie, but at this point, even I knew enough about the president to know where I was: at Long Branch Beach along the Jersey shore, the place where President Garfield died.
I was alone, or at least I thought I was until I saw a movement underneath the blankets of a nearby bed.
“Stone! Stone!” Even though it was breathless and thready, I recognized the president’s voice. When I stepped closer to the bed, though, I realized I wouldn’t have recognized him as the man under the blankets. Not for all the world.
His skin was gray. His eyes were sunken. He was at least a hundred pounds lighter than the robust ghost who haunted the memorial.
“Stone!” Even as I watched, the president shifted in bed. A spasm of pain crossed his face. His skin was slick with sweat. His eyes were glassy. “Stone, I must write a letter!”
“Of course, Mr. President.”
A door over on my right opened, and as efficient as ever, Jeremiah Stone marched into the room, the ever-present portfolio in his hands. “I am terribly sorry, Mr. President,” he said, as oblivious of me now as he’d always been. “I was just discussing a certain matter with Mr. Windom, your secretary of the Treasury.”
“All is . . .” Another spasm of pain crossed his face, and the president closed his eyes against it, then opened them again. He wasn’t about to let that stop him. Though it obviously hurt, he sat up, and Stone shifted the pillows behind him. “All is well, isn’t it? There are no . . . no . . .”
“No problems of national import. No, sir, certainly not.” Stone adjusted the glasses pinched to the bridge of his nose. “It was nothing more than a trivial thing we discussed and I regret leaving your side so that I might attend to it. What can I get for you, sir?”
“Paper.” The president’s voice was so small and shallow, Stone had to lean closer to hear. “Paper and ink. I would . . . I would like to write a letter.”
“Certainly.” There was a table next to the bed, and Stone set his portfolio down on it. He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out one of those old-fashioned fountain pens, and set that down, too, before he backed toward the door. “I have no blank paper with me, sir, but I will get some for you. I will be back in just a moment. And when I do return, sir . . .” Stone’s gaze darted to the portfolio. “There are papers that must be signed, sir. I know it is inappropriate of me to insist so strongly when you are so discommoded, but really, sir, we must get these out of the way before—”
Realizing what he’d almost said, Stone blanched.
The president reassured him with a wheezing chuckle. “I do not hold it against you for nearly saying the words no one else dare speak, Stone. You are an honorable and efficient aide to me, and I cannot fault you for verbalizing the truth. You wish me to sign these papers before I pass into a better place. That is true, is it not?”
Stone nodded.
“We will take care of it when you return,” the president assured him. “For now, if you might bring me that writing paper . . .”
Stone disappeared, but honestly, I don’t think the president even noticed. For a minute, he was so still and quiet, I thought he might have died. But then he sighed, and like a sleepwalker, he groped toward the bedside table, reached into the portfolio, and drew out a piece of paper. Slowly and carefully, he began to write.