The Piano Tuner Read Free Page A

a question?”
    “Yes, Mr. Drake?”
    “Well … to be honest, I
am waiting to hear what is wrong with the piano.”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “The piano. I was contacted
because I am being hired to tune a piano. This meeting is most comprehensive
with regard to the man, but I don’t believe he is my
commission.”
    The Colonel’s face grew red. “As I
stated at the beginning, Mr. Drake, I do believe that this background is
important.”
    “I agree, sir, but I don’t know what is
wrong with the piano, or even whether or not I can mend it. I hope you
understand.”
    “Yes, yes. Of course I understand.” The
muscles in his jaw tensed. He was ready to talk about the withdrawal of the
Resident from Mandalay in 1879, and the Battle of Myingyan, and the siege of
the Maymyo garrison, one of his favorite stories. He waited.
    Edgar
stared down at his hands. “I apologize, please, please, do
continue,” he said. “It is only that I must leave soon, as it is
quite a walk to my home, and I really am most interested in the Erard
grand.” Despite feeling intimidated, he secretly savored this brief
interruption. He had always disliked military men, and had begun to like this
Carroll character more and more. In truth, he did want to hear the details of
the story, but it was almost night, and the Colonel showed no sign of stopping.
    The Colonel turned back to the papers, “Very well, Mr. Drake, I
will make this brief. By 1874, we had begun to establish a handful of secret
outposts in the Shan territories, one near Hsipaw, another near Taunggyi, and
another—this the most remote—in a small village called Mae Lwin, on
the bank of the Salween River. You won’t find Mae Lwin on any maps, and
until you accept the commission, I can’t tell you where it is. There we
sent Carroll.”
    The room was getting dark, and the Colonel lit a
small lamp on the desk. The light flickered, casting the shadow of his mustache
across his cheekbones. He studied the piano tuner again. He looks impatient, he
thought, and took a deep breath. “Mr. Drake, so as not to detain you much
longer, I will spare you the details of Carroll’s twelve years in Mae
Lwin. Should you accept the commission, we can talk further, and I can provide
you with military reports. Unless, of course, you would like to hear them
now.”
    “I would like to hear about the piano if you
don’t mind.”
    “Yes, yes of course, the piano.”
He sighed. “What would you like to know? I believe you have been informed
of most of the details of this matter in the letter from Colonel
Fitzgerald.”
    “Yes, Carroll requested a piano. The army
purchased an 1840 Erard grand and shipped it to him. Would you mind telling me
more of that story?”
    “I can’t really. Other than
hoping to repeat the success he found in reciting Shelley, we can’t
understand why he would want a piano.”
    “Why?” The
piano tuner laughed, a deep sound that came unexpectedly from the thin frame.
“How many times I have asked myself the same question about my other
clients. Why would a society matron who doesn’t know Handel from Haydn
purchase an 1820 Broadwood and request that it be tuned weekly even though it
has never been played? Or how to explain the County Justice who has his
instrument revoiced once every two months—which, I might add, although
entirely unnecessary, is wonderful for my affairs—yet this same man
refuses an entertainment license for the annual public piano competition? You
will excuse me, but Doctor Carroll doesn’t seem so bizarre. Have you ever
heard, sir, Bach’s
Inventions
?”
    The Colonel
stuttered, “I think so … I’m certain I must have,
but—no offense intended, Mr. Drake—I do not see how that has
anything to do with—”
    “The thought of living for
eight years in the jungle without Bach’s music is horrid to me.”
Edgar paused, then added, “It sounds beautiful on an 1840
Erard.”
    “That may be, but our soldiers are still
fighting.”
    Edgar Drake took