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"I believe you wanted to talk with me alone?" he said.
"Yes. Thank you."
"What can I do for you, Mr. Kliman?"
Lincoln looked into the cantor's eyes. "There is a boy. My son. He's very sick."
"Sick? Shouldn't you be fetching a doctor, and not a rabbi? Unless…" The cantor looked grim.
"It's not that kind of illness, not physical."
"Spiritual?"
Lincoln thought for a moment. "Cantor, may I ask you a question?"
"Certainly."
"Have you studied
Kaba-Kaba-Jewish mysticism?"
"Kabala. Why do you ask?"
"You believe in God, right?" Lincoln blurted.
The cantor looked shocked. "An impudent question, Mr. Kliman, but yes, of course I believe in God. I devoted my life to helping the Jewish people practice our religion." There was a chastising tone in his voice; Lincoln noticed that he slightly stressed the word "our."
"I didn't mean to question your faith, Cantor," Lincoln said. "I just don't want you to think I'm crazy. I needed to know that you can accept the possibility of something out there that you have no direct evidence for, something-something mystical."
"As a Jew," the cantor said, "I have all the evidence I need for God in seeing the wonders of the Earth each and every day. I rise from bed with praise of Him on my lips and I go to sleep the same way. That does not necessarily mean that I will believe in anything at all, Mr. Kliman."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that-well, I needed to find a religious man, a religious leader, and I didn't feel comfortable going to a Catholic priest. I thought a rabbi could help as well."
"Help with what, Mr. Kliman? You barge in here, claim to be worried about your son, and then question my faith. What do you need my help with?"
Lincoln looked down at his shoes for a moment and wrung his hands. "I'll have to trust you. My son's been bitten, and I need you to lift the curse."
"Bitten? By a dog? Better to see a doctor."
"No, not a dog. Cantor, my son Joseph has been bitten three times by a vampire. And unless I can find a cure by sundown tonight, he's going to turn into one himself."
An hour later, Lincoln and the cantor arrived at Lincoln 's apartment building. It would have taken only ten minutes if they had driven, but the cantor would not ride on the Sabbath, and so Lincoln left his car parked at the synagogue. Although it was early spring, the weather was cold and overcast, and Lincoln had to bundle himself up in his thin jacket as best as he could while they walked.
When they got to his building, the cantor also refused to take the elevator up to Lincoln 's ninth floor apartment, so they slowly climbed the stairs.
The cantor had been decidedly uncommunicative during the walk over, but as they ascended he began to ask Lincoln about the boy.
"Tell me exactly what it is you think happened."
"You don't believe me, do you?"
The cantor shrugged. "That remains to be seen. But I will tell you this much: I find what you describe hard to believe."
Lincoln sighed. "Well, you've trusted me this far, at least. I appreciate that. The others refused to even listen to me."
"The others?"
Lincoln felt his cheeks redden. "Yours wasn't the first synagogue I went to, Cantor. I tried a Reform temple and a Conservative synagogue first, but neither of the rabbis believed me. They wouldn't help."
The cantor nodded, stopped at a landing to catch his breath. "The boy," he prodded.
"Yes. The boy. Joseph is a pretty good kid, does well in school and all that, but recently has been acting very independent. He's just turned twelve; you know what that means."
The cantor shook his head. "Go on."
"Anyway, it started when Joseph came home very late from school three weeks ago. It's only a few blocks away, and I've let him run around the neighborhood before. I mean, I grew up in New York as well, and I never got in serious trouble. But this time he didn't call."
"Don't you meet him after school to bring him home?"
"I can't. I work."
"What about the boy's mother?"
Lincoln looked away from the cantor. "Gone, these past five years."
"Oh. I am sorry, Mr. Kliman."
"Thanks. It's been hard, raising Joseph on my own. Anyway, he finally did come home that night, well after sundown, and he looked terrible. His color was bad, and he looked sick to his stomach. I thought it was food poisoning, as he smelled like he'd been to a fast food place. You know, that cheeseburger smell."
The cantor glared at him. "No, I do not know."
Lincoln felt embarrassed again. "Right. Well, anyway, he practically passed out when he came in the door, and I rushed him to the doctor."
"Nu? What did he find?"
"Anemia. Loss of blood. That and two tiny pinpricks on Joseph's neck."
"Hm. Did he say anything about that?"
"No. He gave Joseph a shot of something, chastised him and me over drug use, and that was all. Only thing is, he didn't find drugs in Joseph's system.
"Joseph refused to answer my questions about where he was that night, and the next day he acted like he had forgotten the whole thing. His color had returned, though, and he ate a big breakfast, so I let him go to school. The next day he came home on time, and I thought that would be the end of it."
"I presume it was not."
"Well, it was for about a week. Then the same thing happened. He came home late, looking very sick, and he almost passed out before I could get him to bed."
The cantor's eyebrows shot up. "You didn't bring him to the doctor this time?"
Lincoln shook his head. "No, I didn't. I know what you're thinking, but after that first time, I didn't want the doctor to chastise me again."
"And did you send Joseph to school again the next day?"
"No, because it was Saturday. A week ago today."
"That makes two bites."
"The third one was last night. Same pattern, only this time Joseph told me the full story. Apparently the vampire-"
"Yes?" the cantor prodded.
Lincoln whispered. "I'd rather not say. Let's just say that she promised to show Joseph a good time, and being the adolescent that he is…"
"I understand. You need not elaborate."
They had reached the door to Lincoln 's apartment, and Lincoln let them in. The room was dark. Lincoln turned on the light and then pulled his hand back from the switch. "Sorry. I forgot, no lights on shabbat, right?"
"No using electricity," replied the cantor. "But you can leave lights on from the day before. Where is the boy?"
"This way." Lincoln showed the cantor through the living room to a small bedroom. They entered and closed the door behind them. It was dark inside. A small figure writhed under the blankets of the bed.
"I'm not going to turn the lights on in here. Joseph asked me not to. He says it hurts his eyes."
The boy moaned from under the blankets. "Dad? Is that you?"
"Yes, Joseph, and I've brought help."
Joseph coughed. "I'm so sorry, Dad. I don't know what got into me. Lily promised so much pleasure, but this is all pain."
"It's okay, son." To the cantor he said, "Please look at him. You'll see that I didn't lie to you. Then maybe you can tell me what to do."
The cantor approached the bed, and slowly removed the sheets. All he could make out was the outline of a shivering child.
"Joseph, I will need light to see you. May I open the shades?"
"Yes," the boy replied weakly, "but please be quick." He moaned again.
The cantor pulled up a window shade, allowing sunlight to fall upon Joseph, who screamed. "It hurts! It hurts! It's too hot! Make it stop!"
"Quiet, Joseph," Lincoln said. "It'll only be for a second." He opened the window, and a breeze drifted in. "There, that will cool you off."
The cantor turned back to Joseph, who quieted down but was clearly in great pain. The boy's face was pale, but his lips were a bright red and there was a reddish tinge in his eyes. The cantor cupped the boy's chin in his hand and pulled open his mouth.