Finding a portrait of Tolly

Or is it?

Glorina

After I'd been working for a couple of weeks, I found the first portrait of Tolly. There had been some niggling resemblance to him in people in the backgrounds of other paintings, but they'd seldom had names in the descriptions, so I could pass that off as a resemblance, perhaps an ancestor. Certainly, the orange hair, like red, and all the various red-browns and brown-reds were almost ubiquitous in Tel, and had been for centuries. My own glossy black hair stood out as quite exotic.

But when I pulled this painting out, I barely looked at it at first, just verified that it was the same painting as in the description, and set it up to be photographed, almost by rote.

It wasn't until I looked through the camera to verify that the lighting and other settings were right to get the best representation of the painting without damaging it that I noticed. I looked through the viewfinder, and for a moment thought that Tolly had slipped in front of my camera for some reason. Then I actually looked directly at the painting, and sat back on my stool. It was Tolly. He was a few years younger, his hair longer, pulled back into a ponytail, and a slightly brighter orange. There was a bright sparkle of an earring in his ear, as was the style in that era, and I thought that the painter had specifically highlighted it. Rich rings were on his fingers, and he was wearing a jewel encrusted robe, the same shade of blue he wore every day around the place. I checked the date of the painting. About a thousand years ago. And it was an authentic portrait, not a modern one in that style. But those were Tolly's plain, honest, features, and looking out of the canvas with the same amused detachment I'd seen on his face so often. I vaguely wondered how long he had had to keep that pose. No, it couldn't be him. Must be some relative. Ancestor. Or even just a look-alike. But . . . I looked at the name. "Tolbert Lichtsol". Not the same name. But . . . similar. Considering the time, he'd probably have been known to his friends as Tol, not Tolly. But . . .

I shook my head. I'd wasted enough time on this one painting. I set it aside, rather than putting it back away, next to the other paintings that still needed more research.

When my back and arms started aching to the point I could no longer ignore them, I decided to take a break. A stretch and a yawn, and I realized I'd worked until mid-afternoon again. I checked; I'd done more than my self-imposed quota. So, I could take off the rest of the day, and do my other work.

My real boss had kept pestering me for information on the piece of land that Tolly-Mr. McLichtensen owned just to the north of town. Tolly had talked about it when I asked, said it was just a picnic area by a stream, nothing to get worked up over. But my boss kept insisting there had to be more there, because they had an elaborate alarm system set up. But when I had tried to subtly ask Tolly about an alarm system, he just laughed at the very idea.

My real boss was also starting to get impatient that I had made no progress in seducing Tolly. Not enough that that there was more than just a hint of reprimand in his voice. I told him truthfully that Tolly still called me "Ms. Hoi", and insisted that I call him Mr. McLichtensen. I did not tell him that if I had been even half-trying for anything more than the friendship that I was trying to cultivate, he might have nothing to complain about with my progress.

At least he hadn't started hinting yet that I should move on to a different target. Like Jasin.

Jasin would not be as easy as Tolly would have been, but I was confident that I could do it, with enough time and subtlety. Anything direct would not work. But coming at him sideways, so that he wouldn't even notice the direction the friendship as moving . . . I would be able to do that. And Jasin was kind. He would be gentle.

But I didn't want to. Somehow, that would be a betrayal not only of the friendship he and Belinda had offered me, but also Tolly's. This was not something I had ever thought about before, on my other jobs.

At the landing, I hesitated. I was hungry. Should I go to the dining room and get something to eat? Light, because it wasn't that long until dinner. Or go to Tolly's office and talk to him there? I wanted to get his reaction on that portrait I found.

Lunch won out. Mainly because there was no guarantee that he was in his office. Or Jasin's, where he seemed to hang out almost as often.

I didn't know where he went otherwise. He didn't keep a schedule that I could predict yet.

Belinda was working in the dining room, like usual. I hadn't seen her take a day off since I got here. Though she must, because she and Jasin seemed so happy, so content with each other. And their children seemed to be reasonably content also. From what I saw of them. They came in some afternoons after attending classes at the library, and on days off. The older one helped sometimes, cleaning tables and washing dishes and such.

"Do you know where Mr. McLichtensen is?" I asked Belinda as she was making her rounds of the tables to make sure that everyone was happy.

She frowned slightly. "At the moment? Isn't he in his office?"

"I haven't checked yet. I wanted to ask before I made a fruitless trip up there."

"Knowing Uncle Tolly, he'd have wandered off somewhere else by the time you got there anyway," she agreed. "Tell you what, I'll check around a bit, and get back to you by the time you're done with lunch." She eyed me. "You didn't need him for anything urgent, did you?"

"No, just an . . . oddity, a curious thing I found while working on his paintings."

"You didn't find any pictures of UFOs, did you?" she said with a light laugh.

"No, but pictures of dragons, unicorns, and other so-called mythical creatures," I said, answering her tone.

She laughed. "I remember when they were still fighting the fact that unicorns were real, and had returned. You wouldn't believe how busy we were then, between the tourists wanting to see for themselves, and the scientists wanting to study them. Both usually went away unsatisfied." She gave me a confidential wink. "Uncle Tolly was making money hand over fist then at the restaurant and rooms. That's when he decided to redo the rooms up so nicely. Though I think he was really just trying to have an excuse to get his own apartment fixed up."

I laughed dutifully. "I haven't seen his apartment yet," I said.

She nodded. "Not many people have. He tends to be private at home." Then, changing the subject, "Was there something in the Crypt that shouldn't have been there?"

I laughed. I had found some odd items down there, usually among paintings that probably hadn't been touched in over ten years. "No, it's about a painting."

She looked at me speculatively for a moment. "I wonder . . . never mind." She smiled and moved on to the next table.

True to her word, she came back around just as I was taking my last bites. How good it was to be able to eat just as much as I wanted! Though I should still be careful not to gain too much weight, or I'll have to starve it off later again.

"Uncle Tolly's out visiting his--" She stopped abruptly, then continued as if she hadn't, "little park land. He should be back soon, though. You can go wait in his office if you want. I'll let him know you are looking for him."

"Thank you, Belinda," I said. Why had she hesitated before saying where he was? "I keep hoping he'll take me there. Does he have any . . . do you know if he's got any alarms or anything on that land?"

"Alarms?" She looked startled. "Not that I'm aware of. Why would there be? There isn't anything . . . not anything anyone else would want, anyway . . . out there." She looked at me quizzically. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just an idle thought," I told her. Why had my boss insisted that there was? And a rather sophisticated system at that?

"They usually don't mind if anyone just sneaks in there, usually, as long as they aren't disruptive, or leave a mess," she continued.

"They?" My ears perked up.

"He. I meant 'he'. Uncle Tolly," she said quickly. Then, "I'll tell him you'll be waiting in his office."

There was something odd there, then. But I wouldn't get anything more this afternoon from her, that was obvious.

"Thank you, Belinda," I told her as I got up.

She smiled at me. "Are you enjoying it here, Glorina?"

"Yes, I am," I told her, truthfully. If only I didn't have to report back constantly to my real boss. And send him things I found out by spying on them.

"I'm glad to hear it. You've started to look a lot more relaxed than you did the first couple of days you were here."

I had? I must be losing control of my face. I needed to do better.

She gave me a sharp glance, and said, "Glorina." Then I thought that she changed her mind about what she was going to say. "There is life outside of work, you know. I don't think you've stepped outside of the building, buildings, since you've been here."

"I've been enjoying exploring this big building. Buildings."

"I've noticed you exploring, and I'm glad you like it. But there are a lot of things to see here in Tolichton, and Sandy Beach, and other places nearby. You shouldn't miss seeing them while you are here." Then she burst out laughing. "Not that I'm one to talk. But I do get out at least occasionally." Then, a big grin, as she said, "Jasin sees to that."

I kept smiling, while fighting down a sudden wave of panic. Leave the building? By myself? With no one with me? I was still trying to persuade Tolly to take me out to see that little parkland he had, but only because my boss kept saying there must be something important about that. Otherwise, I was happy to keep to the illusion of safety within these walls.

"I'll . . . I'll think about it," I told her.

"You do that," she said, and wandered off to the next table.