As the two employees returned to their stations, Sarah turned to Woolly.
—You bought a giant panda?
—It’s for the baby!
—Woolly, she said with a smile and a shake of the head.
—I considered the grizzly and polar bears, Woolly explained, but they both seemed a little too fierce.
By way of illustration, Woolly would have liked to raise his claws and bare his teeth, but his arms were too full of the panda.
His arms were so full of the panda that he couldn’t get through the revolving door. So the man in the bright red uniform, who always stands guard at the entrance of FAO Schwarz, leapt into action.
—Allow me, he said gallantly.
Then he opened the unrevolving door to let the brother, sister, and bear onto the little terrace that separated the store from Fifth Avenue.
It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining down on all the horse carriages and hot-dog carts lined along the edge of Central Park.
—Come sit with me a moment, said Sarah, in a manner that suggested a serious conversation was coming.
A little reluctantly, Woolly followed his sister to a bench and sat down, placing the panda between them. But Sarah lifted the panda and put it to her side so that there was nothing between them.
—Woolly, she said, there’s something I want to ask you.
As she looked at him, Woolly could see in her face an expression of concern, but also an expression of uncertainty, as if suddenly she wasn’t sure that she wanted to ask him whatever it was that she had wanted to ask, after all.
Reaching out, Woolly laid his hand on her forearm.
—You don’t have to ask me something, Sarah. You don’t have to ask me anything.
Looking at her, Woolly could see the feeling of concern continuing to struggle with the feeling of uncertainty. So he did his best to reassure.
—Questions can be so tricky, he said, like forks in the road. You can be having such a nice conversation and someone will raise a question, and the next thing you know you’re headed off in a whole new direction. In all probability, this new road will lead you to places that are perfectly agreeable, but sometimes you just want to go in the direction you were already headed.
They were both silent for a second. Then Woolly squeezed his sister’s arm from the excitement of an additional thought.
—Have you ever noticed, he said, have you ever noticed how so many questions begin with the letter W?
He counted them off on his fingers.
—Who. What. Why. When. Where. Which.
He could see his sister’s concern and uncertainty lifting for a moment as she smiled at this fascinating little fact.
—Isn’t that interesting? he continued. I mean, how do you think that happened? All those centuries ago when words were first being coined, what was it about the sound of the W that made the word coiners use it for all of the questions? As opposed to, say, the T or the P? It makes you feel sort of sorry for W, doesn’t it? I mean, it’s a pretty big burden to carry. Especially since half the time when someone asks you a question with a W, they aren’t really asking you a question. They’re making a statement in disguise. Like, like . . .
Woolly adopted the posture and tone of their mother.
—When are you going to grow up! And Why would you do such a thing! And What in God’s name were you thinking!
Sarah laughed, and it was good to see her do so. Because she was a great laugher. She was the absotively best laugher Woolly had ever known.
—All right, Woolly. I’m not going to ask you a question.
Now she was the one who reached out a hand to take a forearm.
—Instead, I want you to make me a promise. I want you to promise me that after your visit, you’ll go back.
Woolly wanted to look down at his feet, but he could feel her fingers on his forearm. And he could see in her face that though her concern remained, the expression of uncertainty was gone.
—I promise, he said. I promise . . . that I’ll go back.
Then she squeezed his forearm just as he had squeezed hers, and looking like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she leaned back on the bench, so he did the same. And as they sat there beside the panda, they found themselves looking across Fifth Avenue—right at the Plaza Hotel.
With a big smile, Woolly stood and turned to his sister.
—We should go have tea, he said. For old times’ sake.
—Woolly, Sarah said with a slump of the shoulders. It’s after two o’clock. I still need to pick up my dress at Bergdorf’s, have my hair done, and get back to the apartment so I can change in time to meet Dennis at Le Pavillon.