Spectrum (The Karen Vail Series) (16 page)

24

>ELLIS ISLAND

Upper New York Bay

Jersey City, New Jersey

40°41′58.4″N 74°2′22.5″W

Monday, May 21, 1973

The following Monday, while the children were at school and Fedor was at work, Livana went to the Queens library in Long Island City and spent thirty minutes reading the
World Book Encyclopedia
, learning about Ellis Island.

She knew that it served as a major way station for immigrants coming from a variety of countries, but she had not realized that it operated for six decades, beginning in 1892. Millions arrived on boats and gained entry, while some were turned away as being infirm or diseased.

New arrivals were observed as they climbed the stairs from the baggage area to the facility’s Great Hall. Those who had difficulty with the steps were more likely to be rejected as lacking the ability to maintain gainful employment in America.

According to the encyclopedia, the people who were too ill to enter the US were placed in the hospital infirmary on Island 2 or in the psychiatric ward on Island 3 of the contiguous three-island compound. After they were well enough to travel, they were permitted to enter the country—or deported. Some never made it out of the hospital.

As someone who had emigrated to the United States in modern times, Livana empathized strongly with the thousands who set sail for America, full of hope. She knew how they felt.

And yet the precariousness of her own dream caused her to wonder: if she had known what was in store for them, would they have ever left Greece?

It was a moot point, she knew. Nothing could turn back the calendar and give her the opportunity to choose over again. Life had thrown her a vicious curve, and she now had to push forward. She and Basil were survivors as youths, so they would find a way, once again, to persevere. Rather,
she
would.

Livana paged further into the article and found information on what appeared to be the place where she, Fedor, and the kids would live: Officially known as US Marine Hospital 43, or the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, the complex consisted of over a dozen brick buildings built from 1902 through 1908.

Lacking someone to leave the children with, Fedor and Livana decided they would all travel to the island on the following Saturday to scout it out and make sure it was habitable. Although she had reservations about the move, Fedor felt they had already spent too long in town. Each minute they remained in Astoria they risked retaliation. They used the week to pack and prepare.

According to the friend of Fedor’s coworker, Island 3 was a paradise lost. Livana felt that a woman’s sensibilities about what was feasible would at worst supplement that assessment, and at best point out gross inadequacies that would make a life there insurmountable.

What’s more, taking the word of Fedor’s acquaintance about the comments made by someone
he
knew was dubious at best. That said, she did not share her concerns with Fedor. Until she saw the place for herself, there was no point. And other than some wasted time, there was little to lose by packing their belongings and preparing for the best.

“Where is this place?” Cassandra asked.

“Remember that class trip last year to the Statue of Liberty? It’s right near there. In fact, it’s so close you’ll be able to see it from where we’re going.”

“I don’t want to go,” Niklaus said. “Why do we have to move?”

Fedor shared a look with Livana. “Sometimes there are things that only adults understand,” she said. She turned around to face Niklaus, who was belted into the pickup’s jump seat behind Fedor. “This is one of those times.” She knew it was a poor answer, but she could not tell him the truth. For that matter, kids were intuitive, and they probably had a decent sense as to what was going on. If not now, eventually—three years, maybe five—they would figure it out.

After renting a motorboat for the day from a merchant near Battery Park, Fedor and Livana loaded up suitcases from the Dodge and set off for the iconic—now abandoned—island retreat.

As they approached, Miss Liberty, which had been a small figure in the distance, grew in size. Although it was still a ten-minute ride away, it looked much closer to its three hundred foot height than when they had pushed off from Manhattan. The day was bright and sunny, and her green skin sparkled against the blue sky.

Fedor brought them around to the south end of the island, closest to the statue, and maneuvered them against the granite block seawall. He tied the boat to one of three vertical steel girders piercing the water’s surface. The pillars, which were likely left over from a structure Fedor could not identify, would serve them well as a temporary docking point.

After offloading the luggage and leaving the children to watch over it, Fedor and Livana searched the buildings that covered an area encompassing about a dozen football fields.

While the vegetation was grossly overgrown, the landscaping had a park-like feel. Large trees lined the perimeter of the central quad, brimming with greenery—weeds, vines, and fallen branches.

“Hate to admit it,” Livana said, “but this place is really nice. Very pleasant. And no one around.”

“I told you, my friend said it was beautiful.”

Livana grinned at him. “I had my doubts. But it’s winning me over.”

While coursing the island, they encountered very few people, as expected. There was one other young family and several rough drifter types that made Livana uneasy. They engaged none of them, figuring that these people were all here for a reason, and it was none of their business. If they left them alone, perhaps they would return the favor. In time, if they struck up a relationship, that was fine.

An unshaven male with long, greasy hair leered at Livana as they passed by him. They stopped and Fedor stared him down. The man turned away and then entered one of the buildings, pulling the door closed behind him.

Livana brought her arms across her chest. “That was creepy.”

Fedor clenched his jaw. “He bothers you, you let me know. Remember what Basil told Dmitri after he was bullied? You gotta look these guys in the eyes, stand up to them, make them back down.”

After patrolling the grounds, they examined the structures’ exteriors and found them in good condition—their tile roofs were sound and they would, with a little work, protect them from the elements. The interiors, however, were in severe disrepair. Windows were broken; doors no longer sat squarely on their hinges. The plumbing ran rusty water and electricity was inoperable because the generators had been shut down, no doubt twenty years ago when the islands were abandoned.

The carpeting had disintegrated, leaving bare wood plank floors that were coated with years of filth. But the architecture was intact, and the design was impressive, with high ceilings and arched window casings.

“This place was beautiful,” she said. “Hard to believe it was a hospital.”

“This one was a staff house,” Fedor said. “There’s a fuse box in the hall-way listing the rooms of each person who lived here.”

The building had a view of New York City, the bay, and Liberty Island. Livana thought the nighttime view of Manhattan’s lights would be uplifting. And after being banished to this abandoned hideaway, she welcomed anything that could raise their spirits. With some work, she felt that this could be a very pleasant place to live.

They found the children where they had left them. After lugging their suitcases into the building, Niklaus and Cassandra began fighting over which room they would each take.

Dmitri, not surprisingly, had no preference, so Niklaus assigned him to the one adjacent to his own, while Cassandra claimed the one across the hall that had an attached bathroom. Livana and Fedor took the two bedrooms on the second floor.

Livana had thought of perhaps sharing one with Fedor, but she felt awkward suggesting it. There had never been any attraction between them. Although she knew he was a good soul and she had depended on him since Basil’s murder, that was not enough to assume their relationship could blossom.

Livana remained on the island to clean the dust-filled rooms and dirt-covered floors while Fedor returned with Niklaus to Battery Park to load the rest of their belongings and purchase cleaning supplies and food as well as everything they would need to make the house warm during winter and watertight during inclement weather. He also planned to purchase locks for the exterior doors. It seemed silly because there were so few people living there, but at the same time there was no police presence, and thus no deterrent for someone bent on doing harm.

After their last load, Niklaus remained on the island while Fedor returned the boat to its owner. Three hours later, he poked his head into their new house and told Livana he had bought something for them.

They went out to their makeshift dock where a fourteen-foot aluminum powerboat was tied off.

“You bought that?” Niklaus asked. “For us?”

“We need a way to get back and forth. When I was talking with the guy I rented the boat from, I saw this sign a few doors over that said ‘Marine Exchange.’ I told him I was looking to trade in my pickup truck—”

“You got rid of the truck?” Livana asked.

“I didn’t have enough money to buy a boat and keep the truck. When we go to the city, we’ll use the subway to get around.”

Livana knew it was a more difficult decision than Fedor was letting on. His truck was new, something he had always wanted. Now it was gone.

“So this guy took me over to someone he knew at the exchange,” Fedor said. “He was knocking off early, but I told him what I wanted and when he saw the truck, he decided he could stay a little later to get the deal done. He gave me the boat and cash, which I used to buy waterbeds for us.”

“What’s a waterbed?” Livana asked.

“Some new thing I saw on the cover of a magazine at the marina. You fill it with water and it’s a mattress. I have to put together the frames and buy the rest of them tomorrow, but I should be able to get two together tonight.” Fedor gestured at the boat. “Some Northern Lakes freshwater fisherman traded it in for a new model. What do you think?”

Niklaus stepped up to the water’s edge. “Can I drive it?”

Fedor looked at Livana. “Yeah, of course. Dmitri, you too. Would you like that?”

Dmitri, looking down at the ground, said “I guess,” in a low voice.

“Cassie, you’re gonna learn too. It’s important for all of you to know how to drive it, just in case you ever have to use it in an emergency and I’m not around.”

“Can we do it now?” Niklaus asked.

“Not now.” As Livana led them back into the house, she said, “We’ve got other things to get done to get this place ready for tonight. We’re all going to pitch in so it goes faster. We’ve got about two hours of light left, so we need to make sure that once it gets dark, we know where everything is.”

“What do you mean?” Cassandra asked.

“There’s no electricity.” Niklaus flipped the switch on the wall. Nothing happened. “No lights.”

Cassandra looked at Livana. “So what are we—”

“We’ll use candles,” Livana said. “And flashlights. We’ll figure it out. There’s a lot we have to figure out.” She gathered the kids together and put her arms around them. “Look, I know things have been really awful for us these past few months. But we’re turning a new page. We’re about to start an exciting adventure in our lives. We’re living in a gorgeous place. Very few people are as lucky as we are right now.”

“I don’t feel lucky,” Dmitri mumbled.

Livana reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. “From now on, we’re going to learn a lot about ourselves. We’re going to depend on each other, support each other. That’s what families do.”

WHILE LIVANA AND Cassandra cleaned the house, Fedor worked with Niklaus for three hours, well past dark, putting new locks on the exterior doors and then assembling the beds.

Dmitri sat in his room reading his paperback,
Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert Heinlein. Livana wanted him to contribute like Niklaus and Cassandra but did not force the issue.

They finished assembling Cassandra’s bed first, then Livana and Niklaus filled it while Fedor took one of the candles and headed upstairs to work on Livana’s.

An hour later, as Livana put the finishing touches on Cassandra’s room, trying to make it as homey as possible without furniture, her daughter sat on the newly made bed and started to cry.

Livana set aside the clothing she was laying out and sat down beside her. “What’s wrong?”

She leaned into her mother, and Livana put an arm around her. After taking a moment to compose herself, she said, “I miss Daddy.”

Livana bit her lip, fighting back the urge to let emotion overcome her. At the moment, she needed to be strong for her daughter.

“I know, honey. I miss him too.”

“Why’d they kill him? Why’d he get into that fight?”

Livana stroked her hair. “I don’t have any good answers for you. I’d like to be able to tell you something that makes sense. But I can’t. Your father wished none of this ever happened.”

“But why did those people kill him? Why’d they kidnap Dmitri?”

Livana glanced over at her son’s room, across the hall. The door was closed and she hoped he could not hear them. In a low voice, she said, “There are bad people in this world, honey. We were very unlucky in how things happened. The men who hurt your father were friends with the man who started the fight, and they were angry with Daddy. Bad people do bad things.” Her explanation was accurate but woefully inadequate; she knew the details did not matter. Her daughter was upset, and giving her reasons for why her father was no longer alive would not ease the pain.

“I know you miss him, Cassie. We all do. But you have your memories of him, of going to the park, the playground, the zoo—remember when he was making faces with the chimpanzee?”

Cassandra laughed. “That was so funny. It was like they were talking to each other.”

“That’s what I want you to think about whenever you miss him. Think of the good times you had with him. No one can ever take those memories away from you.”