Pt 5

Harry stepped back and said, "You have to admit, that's one good looking man."

William chuckled and asked, "Is that what it is?"

"Of course," Happy Harry said. There was a hint of offense in his voice.

Grinning, William asked, "The fact that it is the spitting image of you doesn't have anything to do with your impression of it?"

"Not at all," Harry said, "That's a good looking man, plain and simple."

Amused by the exchange, Dante asked, "So I can cast it?"

"Outside of the fact that I'm rather disappointed that Half Feather wants to immortalize me as a collector of pigeon droppings, I don't have any objections," Happy Harry said. He reached over and rubbed William on the head.

"How about the bust?"

"I look like a love sick puppy in that," Harry said pointing to one of the two busts of him.

Nodding his head, Dante said, "I captured the expression on your face when you saw Lady Lucy down in Atlanta."

"He does look like a love sick puppy. Of course, he always looks like a love sick puppy when Lady Lucy is around," William said with a wink at Dante. Harry had the grace to blush.

Pointing to the other bust, Harry said, "I like that one better. It gives me a fatherly appearance."

"Funny you should say that about that one. I captured the expression on your face when William and Lucy stopped by the Homeless Hotel in Savannah."

Lucy wrapped her arms around her husband and said, "That's just how he looks at you, William."

Harry mumbled, "One of the problems with artists is that they see too much."

Having to speak loudly to be overheard over William's laughter, Dante asked, "So what about the busts?"

"You can cast the second one," Harry said looking embarrassed.

"Actually, I'd like to cast both of them. The second one is for William," Dante said moving over to a third bust that was covered with a damp cloth.

"Why cast the first one if William isn't paying for it?" Harry asked.

"When I showed the sketch for it to Lady Lucy, she told me that she liked it. She mentioned something about you and her meeting next to a little waterfall in Virginia," Dante said. He removed the cover off the third bust and said, "I thought your bust and this one belonged beside that waterfall."

Happy Harry stared at the bust. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. The emotions in his voice made it difficult to understand his words. "That's my beautiful Lady Lucy. You really captured her spirit."

"I'm going to mount the two of them on a granite block so that you are looking into each other's eyes," Dante said. Harry and Lady Lucy had performed the dance of love for over thirty years. Their love for each other was just as fresh as the first day they had met. Their characters were such that they couldn't be together in life, but Dante hoped that with this gesture they would be together in spirit.

Maggie, tears in her eyes, went over to Dante and hugged him. She had seen the work, but hadn't heard his plans for it. She said, "That's so sweet."

"You'll wait until I'm gone?" Harry asked.

Shrugging his shoulders, Dante said, "I could wait. I could also put it up so that you could meet her in front of the statue when the weather is warm enough for a swim under the waterfall."

Harry grinned and said, "I like the idea of that."

"Dante's got the soul of a poet," Maggie said thinking it was the most romantic thing she'd ever heard. She wanted to wrap herself around Dante and never let go. Despite years as a prostitute, Dante was her first boyfriend. She smiled to herself at the thought of him being her boyfriend.

Lucy went over to Maggie and whispered in her ear, "He's a keeper. How about we go off for a little girl talk?"

"Sounds good to me," Maggie answered. Maggie led Lucy out of the studio, leaving the men behind. Maggie was familiar enough with the layout of the studio to know the perfect spot for the two of them to talk. She had been there her entire spring break and would be heading back to New York City the next day.

Watching them leave, Harry said, "You boys are in trouble now. The women are conspiring against you."

Winking at Harry, William said, "I don't have anything to worry about. My fate is already sealed. It's Dante who should be worried. I wouldn't be surprised if my wife isn't giving Maggie step by step instructions on how to get a man to propose to her."

"And what would be wrong with that?" Dante asked. The past week with Maggie visiting him at his studio had been one of the finest weeks of his life. He was totally smitten by her and he knew it.

"She's had a hard life," Harry commented watching Dante closely.

"It never touched her soul," Dante said. Over the past few months of traveling with Harry, he had gained the ability to see past the surface and into the depths of people. Looking over at the statue of Harry, he knew that for a fact. It was the best work he had ever done.

"And?"

Dante remembered how nervous Maggie had been the first time they kissed. She had trembled when his lips touched hers. She had relaxed into the kiss with all of the passion of a school girl. There had remained in her the ability to love and he had found it. He smiled and said, "She's got a good soul."

The summer found Maggie living with Dante in his studio. During the day, she worked in the local office of the Fallen Angels while Dante cast the statues to complete William's commission. They both found their days rewarding, but that was nothing compared to the evenings together.

Completely naked, Maggie reclined on the sofa. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open as if ready to receive a kiss. Everything about her pose screamed out for the right man to come and make passionate love to her. Seated across from her, Dante's hands drove a pencil close to its breaking point capturing the sight. He said, "You're so beautiful."

"You're the only one who thinks that," Maggie replied. The intensity of his gaze upon her body thrilled her. His eyes missed nothing. She knew that he saw every flaw in her body, but there was no trace of them in his work. She asked, "Are you going to show this to anyone?"

"You have asked the question that torments the soul of this artist and lover," Dante answered pausing from his drawing.

"Torments?"

"Yes. As your lover I want you all to myself. No one but me should be able to gaze upon your body. As an artist, I want the world to see it. Such beauty should not be hidden. It has to be shared. The conflict is tearing me apart," Dante said. He looked down at the sketchpad.

"I don't mind if others see it," Maggie said. She knew that plenty of men had already seen her naked and under circumstances that were very seedy. After all, she had been a prostitute.

"I do. I love you. I have since the day I met you. I want to protect you from every eye that might look upon you with lecherous intent," Dante said.

Maggie's breath was taken away. It was the first time that Dante had told her that he loved her. Rather than react, she said, "There's a small matter of my past."

Rising from his chair, Dante approached her while saying, "Your past is in the past. I don't care about what you've done in the past. I care about the now. I care about the future. I want you to have the best present and future possible."

"That's nice," Maggie said. She bit her lower lip to keep from crying.

He lowered his body to cover hers and said, "I love you."

Maggie was going to answer that she loved him too, except she was too busy returning the passionate kiss he was giving her. She opened herself to him and let him know that she loved him in the best way that a woman could. In doing so, the toxins that had been in her body were released. She had become whole for perhaps the first time in her life.

Maggie stepped out of her class and was surprised to find Dante waiting for her. Living with him for three months over the summer had been more wonderful than she thought possible. Since the new school year had started, she had missed him more than she could put into words. Her dorm room, despite the fact that she shared it with a bright perky roommate, seemed so empty. She tried to fill her time with study, but spending twice as much time as necessary didn't fill the lonely hours.

Dante said, "Surprise. I missed you so much that I just had to come out and say hello."

Grinning, Maggie said, "You came all this way just to say hello. Don't tell me now that you've accomplished your mission that you're going to go back to your studio."

Putting an arm around her, he steered her out of the building. He headed in a direction that was not quite headed towards the student union building. He said, "I thought we could have a cup of coffee before I drove back."

"It's Friday and I don't have classes until Monday morning."

"You don't say," Dante said with a grin that suggested he had plans of a special kind.

"I do say," she countered with a grin that matched his. She bumped into him with her hip as if to let him know that the lower part of her body was interested in making contact with the lower part of his body.

Passing by one of the benches in Washington Square, Dante maneuvered her so that she found herself sitting on the bench. Across from her was a tent that ruined the view, but her eyes were on him. Kneeling, Dante took her hand and slipped a diamond ring on it. Looking into her eyes, he asked, "Will you marry me?"

Open mouthed, she stared at him speechless. This was absolutely the last thing she had expected to happen. It seemed like her brain wouldn't work and she couldn't say a word. There was a tap on her shoulder. A male voice from behind her said, "Say yes."

"Yes," she repeated numbly. It fully registered that Dante had proposed. She shouted, "Yes!"

She grabbed Dante and kissed him. She hugged him with such energy that she nearly squeezed the life out of him. It took another minute before it dawned on her that Happy Harry was standing behind her. She swiveled her head and shouted, "Happy Harry!"

"Guilty as charged." Harry said with a wink. He waved his shepherd's staff and pointed across the walk. He said, "Look at that."

Her head spun in time to watch the tent fall to the ground and reveal a statue of a woman seated on a park bench with a young man on bended knee proposing to her. There was a small angel seated on the bench beside the young woman. Maggie stared at the statue for a full minute before she realized that the woman was her. She grabbed Dante and hugged him again.

Happy Harry laughed at the expression on Dante's face. The young man was still on one knee and was being held against the seat of the chair. Maggie was nearly killing him in her excitement. Harry winked at the students who had witnessed the entire proposal. One of the young men was looking from the couple to the statue and back again. Harry said, "Love hurts."

"It looks like it could break your back," the young man commented pointing at Dante.

The girl with him had tears in her eyes. She slugged his shoulder and said, "Look at me, I'm crying. That was so romantic and you go and ruin it all by saying something like that."

Dante finally got seated on the bench next to Maggie. Tears were in her eyes as she said, "Look at me, I'm crying. That was so romantic."

"I love you, Maggie James."

"I love you. I can't get over the fact that you put a statue of your proposal there for me. That's incredible."

"I wanted it to be here so that when you are rushing from one class to another that you would be reminded that you are my fiancée," Dante said.

She looked across at the statue and saw that a couple of men were raising the tent. The idea that they would hide the statue hurt. She asked, "What are they doing?"

"Oh, the official unveiling isn't until tomorrow," Dante said. Seeing the expression on her face, he said, "I asked them to test the release mechanism today. I figured the event it celebrates should occur before the statue is shown."

Leaning over the bench, Harry said, "He wanted me to serenade you while he proposed, but I thought that was over the top."

"That was your idea!"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Harry said with a wink at Maggie.

Maggie laughed at the exchange. She looked down at the ring on her finger unable to believe that she was engaged. Turning to Harry, she said, "I can't believe that you're here."

"I had to come and make sure that you said yes. I had to watch my evil plot come to fruition," Harry answered with a smile while wiggling his eyebrows. He added, "I hope you have all the happiness that Lady Lucy and I have had."

"Did you come out here just to see this?" she asked.

"Yes I did. There's nothing more splendid than love," Happy Harry said as he stood up. Waving his shepherd's staff up in the air, Harry walked away singing, Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing.

Listening to him butcher the song, Maggie said, "He's not Frank Sinatra."

"No, he's not. He's better," said Dante while watching Harry walk away.

"Did he really come all the way out here just to see you propose to me?"

Nodding his head, he said, "Harry really wanted to be here. When I told him what I wanted to do, he made me promise that he could give the signal to reveal the statue."

The engagement lasted a year. For Dante it was a busy time. He had finished the commission from William by delivering the statues of his father and the busts of his father and grandfather. All of the statues of Harry had been delivered to Fusion Foundation Centers for their ultimate erection at the selected sites.

In addition to working on the commission, Dante had set up a studio in New York City where he could be close to Maggie while she was going to school. Once the studio was operational, Dante produced works of art at an incredible rate. He was inspired and called Maggie his muse.

His agent had walked into his studio four months after Dante had moved into it. He'd been struck dumb by the works he had seen. This agent had made only a single comment, "Rodin, you have now become the second best."

Even though he was already a well known artist, Dante's fame grew to the point where his name was becoming a household name. In his previous brush with success, Dante had gone to the parties and given interviews. In this brush with fame, Dante made sure that Maggie came first. He had come to realize that great art required a passionate soul.

The sale of a single piece brought enough money to pay for the honeymoon. It was a small piece of Happy Harry followed by a multitude of individuals who were clearly homeless or prostitutes. The title of the work was, Exodus from Poverty. It was an overnight sensation.

The wedding of Maggie and Dante was a quiet little ceremony. It was held in a quiet spot in Virginia by a small waterfall. The priest stood in front of a granite block on which two busts, one of Happy Harry and one of Lady Lucy, were staring at each other for all time. Although Happy Harry couldn't be there in person, he was there in spirit watching over the ceremony.

It was a simple ceremony in which the couple exchanged vows in the time honored tradition. Although she had argued against it, Dante had talked her into wearing white. Afterwards, she was thankful that he had insisted. Her old life was behind her.

The guest list included a dozen people who ran different Homeless Hotels from across the country and a handful from the Fallen Angels from New York and Pittsburg. Harry's absence was the source of a little sadness, but Lady Lucy was there. William and Lucy had attended as well. Because Maggie had disowned her family, there wasn't a father to give away the bride. Ellen Boyd, the head of the Fallen Angels, filled that role.

Several years later, a private reception was held in an art gallery. It was held the day before he was to open a one man show entitled, "The Hungry Man Exhibit by Dante." Dante and Maggie stood at the door and welcomed their guests. After everyone had arrived, they entered the gallery. It was absolutely quiet in the room.

The owner of the gallery, Susan Mardoe, stood to the side with a worried expression. She had expected the guests to include some of the richest clients of Dante. Instead, the guests were homeless men and women. They were filthy and smelled. She didn't want to be around them, much less touch them. It was one thing for his works to be of homeless, it was another matter entirely to have to meet them.

She watched, wide-eyed, as all of the guests gathered in front of a single piece. She had expected them to run to the works for which they had modeled. She had expected gasps, comments, curses, or even jokes about the works. She had not expected the silence. She had not expected them to walk past the images of themselves to stand in front of the only piece that wasn't for sale in the entire collection. She had not expected the tears.

The gallery owner had been shocked when Dante had brought the statue in and told her that it was there for that day only. She had stared for hours at the statue taken in by the subtle majesty of it. It was a powerful piece that portrayed a spirit that couldn't be broken. It had been difficult for her to accept the idea of a statue celebrating a crippled woman. She wondered why he brought it for only a day and why it wasn't for sale.

Dante walked over and stood beside the statue. In a quiet voice that carried easily through the silent room, he said, "Friends, I give you the Chicago Angel."

The Duchess of Dallas, a raven haired beauty, looked over the statue with a critical eye. In a soft voice, she said, "You really captured her spirit."

"I can't believe that she wore the metal braces for you," the Duke of Dallas said stunned by the power of the life sized statue.

Nodding his head, Dante said, "Everyone insisted that she wear them."

The Duchess of Dallas, holding the hand of a five year old little girl, stepped forward. She saw this as an opportunity to thank the woman who gave her so much. It was impossible to do that in person since Amy didn't feel as if she did anything special enough to deserve thanks. That was part of what made her so special. In a shaky voice, she said, "Thank you Amy for all that you have done for me."

Nodding his head in agreement, the Duke of Dallas said, "Thank you Amy for saving the life of my wife."

Bad Betty stepped forward and said, "Thank you, Miss Amy, for being you."

Lady Lucy stepped forward and said, "Thank you, Miss Amy, for being there in case anything had happened to me. You are the only woman who Harry could have loved more than me."

Only after everyone had finished their private exchange with the statue did they seek out the works for which they had posed. Much to the owner's surprise, their reactions were unlike those of any model she had ever seen. Bad Betty, who was standing in front of the bust of herself, finally asked, "Can I touch it?"

"Yes," Dante answered.

Bad Betty touched the bronze bust with reverent awe. Barely able to talk because of the emotions she was feeling, she said, "This is so beautiful. I can't believe that I'm helping such a cause."

Across the room, Susan Mardoe was trying to figure out what was happening. Seeking an explanation, she turned to William. Confusion evident in her voice, she asked, "What was that about?"

William examined the owner of the gallery. He saw a superficial woman who knew all the trendy things to say and how to act around others who followed the latest trends. Instead of answering her question, he asked, "Have you ever met a living legend?"

"I've met a lot of the rich and famous," she replied. As the owner of a very successful gallery in New York, that was a given.

"There's a vast difference between rich and famous and a living legend. I'm rich and famous, but I'm not a living legend. My father, John Carter, was a living legend when he was alive."

Lucy looked at William in amusement at his comment about himself. She knew that he was a living legend among the Native Americans despite the fact that he chose not to see that. She was also sure that the woman was not aware of that fact.

Susan recognized the name of John Carter and understood what William meant about a living legend. She still didn't understand what that meant concerning the subject of the statue. She asked, "What has that got to do with that statue?"

"Miss Amy, also known as the Chicago Angel, is a living legend," William answered gesturing to the statue.

"I've never heard of her."

"Some of your clients will know of her. If they were to see this statue, they'd offer you millions of dollars to sell it to them," William said. He walked over to stand in front of the statue. Looking back at her, he said, "One day in the distant future, copies of this statue will stand beside the statues of Happy Harry in every Homeless Hotel across the country."

"Oh."

"Gaze upon this statue and understand that you are seeing something that will not be shown for at least another twenty years," William said.

The owner looked at the statue and thought, 'A statue worth millions of dollars and hidden from view for twenty years. What a shame.' Aloud, she asked, "So why were they so awed by the statue?"

William pointed to the busts of the homeless in attendance. He then gestured to Dante who was standing to the side with an arm around Maggie watching the guests look at their statues. It was obvious that Dante was humbled by their reactions to the busts. He said, "The proceeds from the sale of those statues are paying for the castings of that statue."

"So?"

"Dante has given his guests two gifts today. He has immortalized them and he made them part of something bigger than them."

The End