Read Online Anna To The Infinite Power by Mildred Ames - Free Book Online

found out Rowan wanted to guide his own career. I should tell him now, Rowan thought, but he’s got enough on his mind with Anna.
    “Well, I guess I got that out of my system. Anyhow, I feel better. Are you about ready to go home?” his father asked.
    Rowan quickly wiped rosin off the stick of his bow, placed the bow in the violin case, and closed it. “Ready.”
    “Let’s go, then. Let’s find out if your mother’s started dividing up the community property yet.”
     

8
     
    Inside Michaela’s apartment, Anna sneezed. She glanced around suspiciously. “Do you have a cat or a dog? If you do, I’ll have to leave right now. I’m allergic. And phobic.” She would have complained about perfume as well, except that Michaela was wearing none today.
    “No, I don’t have animals,” Michaela said. “I was just dusting a collection of mine. Maybe that made you sneeze.” She wore a black leotard over which she’d fastened a skirt. Jet earrings dangled from her ears.
    “Are you a dancer, too?” Anna asked.
    “Dancer?” She glanced down at her outfit. “Oh, the leotard, you mean. Oh, no. I just find it comfortable for meditation.”
    Meditation? Was that some sort of new fad? Anna didn’t know anyone who meditated. What would the woman meditate about anyhow? Nothing good, Anna was sure.
    “Come along,” Michaela said, leading the way to a sparsely furnished living room with a spinet tucked away in a corner. “It’s not exactly a grand, but it has good tone.” She motioned to the bench. “Sit down, Anna.”
    Anna put her carryall on the floor and took a seat at the piano. “What do you want me to do?”
    “I want you to pretend I am not in the room. Play anything you like.” She sat down on the couch. “I’ll just listen. After I’ve heard you, I shall be able to tell in what areas you need work.”
    Anna was not at all interested in playing anything. She thought for a moment, then decided on the easiest thing she could think of, Beethoven’s Für Elise. Although she had several pieces of sheet music in her carryall, including the one she’d chosen to play, she needed none of them. Once she’d learned a piece, she could see the notes as clearly in her head as if she were staring at the page. As far as she was concerned there was nothing wrong with her playing. She learned quickly, made few errors, and held to the rhythm called for. What more could anyone ask? “Don’t you have a metronome?”
    “No, I don’t.”
    That upset Anna. She was used to a metronome, liked a metronome. The tic, tic, tic, tic seemed to frame a little unit of time which she could precisely fill with just so many notes, all very neat. Oh, she would be lost without a metronome.
    Michaela said, “You mustn’t worry about anything like that. Just go on and do the best you can. I shall be able to tell what you need.”
    Anna felt very cross. She was certainly not going to perform well without a metronome. As her hands touched the keys, picking out notes, her tongue began to cluck out tics against the roof of her mouth, on and on relentlessly, a full accompaniment to the music. When she finished, she said, “Well, how did I play?”
    Michaela grinned. “I don’t think you would have played a bit better with a metronome.”
    “Thank you,” Anna said. “Shall I play anything else?”
    “No, that won’t be necessary. That’s enough for today. I think I see exactly what’s needed. I’ll work up something for next week and we’ll really begin then.”
    “But I’m supposed to have an hour.” Anna was disappointed. She had planned to concoct some excuse to give her a chance to find the INAFT machine. Now there would be no time.
    Michaela said, “On the first day I always like to get acquainted with my pupils. Do you think you can amuse yourself while I see if I can find us a snack? You might enjoy looking at my collection of boxes.” She pointed toward a decorative screen that appeared to cut off a view of a dining