City Limits
12
Desperate Measures
The Grandfather Tree
GEE ARRIVED at the wedding tree just before the appointed time of nine-thirty Monday morning. He was showered, shaved, and dressed in the crisply pressed shaker shirt Karen had laid out for him. He wore his forest hat and carried his hickory stick.
Jan and Zach Poltanys greeted Gee as soon as he arrived and escorted him to a gathering near where the podium had been during the festival.
“Gee, I’d like to introduce you to some of the other Family heads,” Jan said. “I think you know Leah who stands here for her father, Benjamin Roth. David Lazorack is over with the foresters getting ready for the felling. This is Heinz Nussbaum. Heinz, Gee Evars, our City Champion.”
“I know you’ve met others in my family, but on behalf of all of us, welcome to Rosebud Falls, Gee,” Heinz said, shaking Gee’s hand. “After the ceremony today, I’d like to invite you for lunch with me to meet the rest of the clan.”
“Uh… Thank you. Your daughter, Gretchen, alerted me to expect an invitation. I’m looking forward to it.”
“This is Loren Cavanaugh,” Heinz said, turning to another of the older men gathered near the tree. “Loren, you’ve never met Gee, have you?”
“Good to meet you, Gee. I don’t get out as much as I used to. I’ve been hiding behind my sons, I’m afraid.”
“I’ve met Troy. We play basketball Sundays… when I’m not all banged up.”
“Indeed. Don’t take him too seriously. It’s hard enough keeping his head from swelling with that window on Main Street. You worked with my cousin, Coretta during Harvest and Jessie speaks highly of you.”
“I’m happy to say that Jessie and Jonathon have become two of my best friends,” Gee said. David Lazorack left the tree to join the Family representatives as the mournful sounds of a bagpipe found their way through the Forest.
“That’s a sound that hasn’t been heard at Harvest in too many years,” Heinz said wistfully.
“It’s good to have him back,” Loren agreed.
“Didn’t a bagpipe play at the wedding?” Gee asked.
“Yes. It was our first clue that Pàl Savage had returned,” Heinz said. “I believe you’ve met Pàl. We would’ve had quite a reunion after the wedding if things had gone a bit differently.”
The pipes drew nearer and Pàl strode into the clearing, resplendent in his Black Watch tartan. The foresters stood back as he circled the tree three times, finally letting the last strains of the music fade. Pàl walked over to the Family representatives as the foresters got the equipment in place.
“Welcome back, Pàl,” Heinz said. “That is quite the get-up. You look like your grandfather.”
“When we left Rosebud Falls, Granda took me to Scotland to get me in touch with my roots. I took to the pipes pretty quickly and joined the Black Watch Pipe and Drum Corps. I’m just glad my unit wore a glengarry rather than a bearskin,” Pàl laughed, tapping his hat.
“Pàl, your true roots are right here in Rosebud Falls,” Heinz said softly.
“Yes. But like you, my old friend, there is something about keeping our ancestral heritage alive that makes it easier to understand our heritage in the Forest.”
The canvas catcher surrounding this tree had not been removed after Harvest. While not the wedding shaker, Jessie was the climber who would trim branches and lower them to the ground before cutting the trunk into segments. Sawdust and any remaining nuts would be kept in the canvas catcher. When everything was prepared, Jessie snapped her harness on. Gee glanced at it.
“Don’t worry, Gee. We replaced all the fliplines with cable core lines. And the other climbers have been all over the tree this week to make sure it is clean and trimmed,” Jessie said. “This will really be mostly for show until we start bringing down the sections. That’s what that baby’s for,” she said pointing at a crane. When everyone was ready, Jessie started scaling the tree.
Every bit of the tree was either millable or would be used for firewood. Even the root ball would be dug out. Jessie wore cleats—something not used during the nut Harvest to avoid damaging the trees. A forester tossed her a rope which she looped over a higher branch and then tied to the one she would cut. After pulling her chainsaw up, she made two quick cuts, one from the bottom and one from the top, and the first ten-inch-thick limb swung away from the tree and was lowered gently to the ground. Half a dozen foresters hauled the twenty-foot branch away from the base of the tree and began trimming while Jessie moved to the next limb and repeated the process.
It took nearly two hours to fully limb the tree. Jessie was strapped around a part of the bole that was no more than eight inches across and eighty feet high when they moved the crane up. Orange stripes painted on the tree at twenty-foot intervals showed where the sections would be cut.
“The first section is always the hardest to bring down,” Loren Cavanaugh said as he stepped up to Gee. “She can’t climb high enough to get the crane hooked at the top of the trunk. That means the first section will flip when it’s cut through. On a forty-foot tree, of course, we can use a bucket truck and tie off wherever we want to, but this part of cutting a hundred-foot tree is the most dangerous.”
Jessie tightened the crane line above her cut mark and fired up her fourteen-inch chain saw. She made her first incision as carefully as a doctor, some twenty feet below the top of the tree. The second cut went in at a slight angle from the opposite side.
“Rose Hickory is one of the densest woods there is to cut, weighing in at about fifty-five pounds per cubic foot. That section of tree Jessie is cutting weighs nearly half a ton. They get heavier from there on down,” Loren continued his information.
Everyone held still as a loud pop echoed above the sound of the chainsaw. Jessie jerked her tool free and the saw died immediately. She slid ten feet down the trunk, stopping her descent with her cleats. The crane pulled up and away from the tree as the top flipped upside down. Jessie hugged the tree with her face tight against the trunk as the limbs from the upper section slapped back against the other side. The crane kept moving and swung the section clear of the tree to lower to the ground. Amid the cheers, Jessie’s loud, “Woo-ooo!” with her upraised fists echoed over them all.
“You okay, darlin’?” Jonathon called up to her. The tree she was now strapped to was no more than a straight pole rising eighty feet in the air.
“A little bruised, but nothing you can’t kiss and make better later, baby!” she called back. The foresters applauded, and Jessie went back to work to prepare the next section.
Lunch with the Nussbaums
GEE MARVELED at the view from Heinz Nussbaum’s deck overlooking the river and railroad. The deck and patio, wrapping around three sides of the immense home, showed the dark side as well as light of Rosebud Falls. To the west, Gee could see the coal yard and railroad cars that would take the cargo south. While no longer used to heat homes and provide energy for power plants, the coal was a staple in steel mills and foundries. It was still loaded on Poltanys barges in the north, transported via canal to Rosebud Falls, and transferred to Nussbaum railcars for the trip farther south. It seemed strange that such a magnificent home would overlook the coal yard.
“My grandfather said it was to keep us humble,” Heinz said as he watched Gee taking in the sight. “He said we created the mess, so we should have to live with it.”
“You created it?”
“The coal yard was the result of a deal with the Poltanys clan intended to keep Rosebud Falls beautiful,” Heinz elaborated. “There are seven locks on the canal to bring the barges a hundred miles to here. But it would take three more to get from the West Branch to the south end of Rosebud Falls. So, instead of continuing the canal with locks, we created this transfer point. The same could have been said about the railroad. We could have built bridges and trestles and the Meaghers would have laid tracks all the way to the coal fields. But we compromised. The railroad never crosses the river. Tracks to here. Canal to there. The lives of the seven Families have been filled with compromises. It’s what we do to keep the balance in the city.”
“That’s… educational,” Gee said, not sure what Heinz’s point was.
“You have to look the other direction,” his host continued. They walked toward the other end of the deck and looked out over downtown Rosebud Falls. “We aren’t big, but we have our own beauty—our civic pride, if you will. The downtown has some sore spots. We don’t have quite enough businesses to fill all the storefronts. We fought against Walmart moving in, but we could only keep it outside the City Limits. People are loyal to our local businesses, but the competition is a strain. Look at the falls sparkling over there. And beyond, our Forest. You see, the coal yard and the railroad were another kind of compromise. We sacrificed the beauty of this side to preserve the beauty of that side. Compromise.”
“There are some things you can’t compromise,” Gee said. “You don’t compromise the Forest, for example.”
“Ah, but we did. I don’t think anyone knows the real truth of why the wild woods are not part of the City—part of the Forest. Someday, I suspect, Miss Weisman will dig deeply enough into her ancestor’s private papers that she will uncover what the mystery is. I could not find it in my Family papers. Before World War I, it seems that all the Nussbaum Family records were simply accounts and shipping records. That’s when we got into banking and beautification of the downtown. But at least now, we are moving to rectify the past and bring that section into the City.”
“It must be difficult on some of the Families. Change always is.”
“True. But there is a new generation. Ben Roth’s daughter. My grandchildren. The heir to the Savages. The new guardians of the Forest, Jonathon and Jessie. The doctors and nurses at the hospital. This generation doesn’t know compromise,” Heinz finished. “And they are our future. They are our children, Gee, and they need a champion to protect them.”
“The title was given to me with tongue-in-cheek, so I could have a valid ID, Mr. Nussbaum. Don’t take it too seriously.”
“I don’t stand on formality when I am begging a man to help me,” Heinz said. “Please talk to me as your friend, Heinz.”
“Are you my friend?”
“I hope you will think so when I continue,” the old man sighed. “Your friend—fiancée?—has made a target of herself with her newspaper attacks on that church. She has been vocal in her support of the annexation. She has exposed some of her own Family’s dirty laundry and gotten it cleaned up. If you can’t think of yourself as Champion for the City, think of yourself as champion and protector of your future wife. Whatever you need from my family, the legal support of my daughter, the financial support of the bank, shipping and trading records, access to the other churches, even a little soothing music, we will provide for you.”
“I’m not a miracle-worker,” Gee objected. “I’ve just happened to be at the right place and at the right time to help a couple of people.”
“That’s all we’re asking, Gee. As one of the war orphans, I’m asking you to continue as proxy-holder for the trust that benefits my family. You’ve exercised the proxy to the benefit of the City and Forest once. Just continue to vote your conscience. Cameron?”
“Gee, I’ve acquired a few shares for the quartet over the years. We’d like to give you the proxy for our seven thousand four hundred thirty-seven shares,” the young attorney said. Then he returned to his cousins and they sang.
Approaching Normal
“GEE! YOU’RE BACK!” Nathan shouted when his friend came through the market to the employee room.
“Do I still have a job?”
“Of course you do, my man! How are you feeling? You look like you’re still leaning on that stick,” Nathan said.
“I am. I guess I’m not quite ready to lift the soup kettles, but Doc said the exercise I’d get stocking shelves would be good for me… if you can use me, that is.” Gee looked around and sighed. “To tell the truth, I’m going a little stir-crazy. After I finally managed to stand up from my chair by myself, I couldn’t wait to start getting out of the house.”
“Well, we can sure use you. I hired a high school kid to work a bit after school, but he needs guidance. Maybe you could switch to a later shift for a few days and show him the ropes,” Nathan said.
“I didn’t get here until almost noon today. I waited and left the house with Karen in order to convince her that I could walk this far without exhausting myself. She wants to drive down to pick me up when I’m finished,” Gee laughed.
“I’m truly sorry that we forced you out of our home,” Nathan sighed. “I’m so glad you ended up with a true friend and love.” He hesitated as if he was going on with an apology, but Gee shook his head.
“How about if I start in the canned goods aisle. Has anyone been helping Mrs. Resnick reach things from the top shelf?”
“Everyone!” Nathan laughed. “I’ve already got a cart loaded for stocking.”
“Mr. Gee,” Ryan said when he’d put on an apron. “It’s nice to see you back.”
“Thank you, Ryan. So, it’s you they hired to replace me?”
“Not replace. No one could ever do that! I’m just filling in for a little extra cash. I’ve got a girlfriend, you know.”
“Nothing taxes the wallet like dating.”
“Especially when your parents have cut you off,” Ryan growled.
“What? Why?”
“The Moffats and the O’Rourkes have been feuding for seventy-five years just because they opened competing drugstores after the war,” he explained. “Even though the O’Rourkes sold the Rexall years ago, the families still insist the other is somehow evil. Shannon and I were forbidden to see each other and when we refused, both families cut off our allowance to keep us at home. So, we got jobs.”
“Hmm. I guess you don’t have to be one of the seven Families to have family problems,” Gee mused. “How are you doing?”
“Well, we don’t have a lot of time together. I think that was part of the plan. But the opposition of our families has made our relationship stronger. Um… Thank you, by the way.”
Gee didn’t need Ryan to explain why he was being thanked, remembering his advice to the teen about buying condoms. He smiled.
“Say, I understand Rena got out of rehab. Has she come into work yet?”
“I saw her on Saturday and heard her tell Mr. Panza she’d be back Monday morning. I haven’t seen her, though.”
Family Dinner
“WE’VE BEEN SUMMONED,” Karen said as she looked at the card. “A formal invitation, no less.”
“What? Summoned by whom?” Gee asked. They’d taken their evening glass of wine and the stack of mail to bed with them after Gee returned from a fun night at the library with the children.
“The patriarch of the Roth Family is holding a dinner Saturday night, to begin at sundown. ‘Benjamin Roth requests the honor of your presence at a Family dinner Saturday, October 20, at the close of Sabbath.’ Simple, to the point, and beyond refutation. I’m sorry, my love, but we are going to dinner at the Roth mansion Saturday night.”
“I’ll try not to be too awed,” Gee laughed. “I doubt his mansion has anything on this one.”
“Oh, my poor naïve man. You have no idea how ostentatious a Family mansion can be. Great-grandmother settled for a small city home. That’s this one. I believe we might be the only one of the ‘cottages’ that was built on less than an acre.” Karen shook her head sadly. “The Roth Estate covers over ten acres along the river. The old man rattles around in it like a pebble in a coffee can.”
“Why doesn’t Leah and her family live with him?”
“When she married Don Augello, Benjamin nearly cut her off entirely. It wasn’t until Don converted and hyphenated his name to Roth-Augello that Benjamin even consented to seeing his grandchildren.”
“Why would he invite us… me?”
“He is the only one of the Family heads that hasn’t had the pleasure of your company. I’m sure he wants to see what the fuss is about. He’s getting old—ninety-one, I think. Each time there is a Family gathering, everyone expects him to name his heir. At the moment, the only one he would dare to name is Leah, but he’s afraid the dynasty is dying.”
“We’ll go and see him,” Gee said softly. “He will see that you are by far the best choice.”
“Ugh! Why would I want to be head of the Roth Family after the disgrace they visited on Celia Eberhardt and her mother?”
“Perhaps because you brought the disgrace to light. No good deed goes unpunished.”
“Is that why you end up in the hospital or jail every time you help someone?” Karen laughed.
Karen was puzzled when she walked into Axel’s office and found Cameron LaCoe sitting behind her editor’s desk. She had learned long ago that the newspaper was owned by a trust managed by the Nussbaums, but they’d always stayed far away from the office. The summons on her desk had been in Axel’s handwriting.
“Cameron?”
“Hi, Karen. I just wanted to tell you what a good job I thought you were doing in keeping the heat on that church,” Cameron said.
“Are you the editor now?”
“No. I’m the publisher. Traditionally, the publisher hasn’t taken an active role in managing the paper, but when the trust was signed over to my cousins and me, we decided there were some practices that we did not want to continue. The elimination of bylines, for example, and ownership of content. How do you like your new contract, by the way?”
“I admit that when I read it and your mother went over it with me, I thought it was too good to be true. I own all my source material? You have first rights to my stories but ownership continues with the author? That’s certainly not common.”
“Becoming far more common now that republication covers an online universe. You do note that our first rights include an online version of the newspaper should one evolve—and it will. But there are too many opportunities for reporters to earn more from their work. We’re a newspaper. A story is only good while it is new. A clever reporter should be able to come up with all kinds of ways to resell her stories—repackage them even. Like creating a lengthy exposé—say a book—about the practices within this church you’re investigating. Don’t you think?”
“Cameron, are you encouraging me to take the battle a step further than I have?” Karen asked with some amusement in her voice.
“I know that you have what it takes to do it,” Cameron answered. “I don’t know if you’ll want to. That’s up to you.”
“Well, thank you for the vote of confidence and encouragement,” Karen said, preparing to leave the office.
“Karen, that isn’t what this meeting is all about.” She stopped at Cameron’s words and turned back to the young attorney.
“The other shoe?”
“Maybe. Axel asked me to handle this part because there has been some animosity between the two of you. Understandable. I’d like you to take point on election coverage. You have been needling the church with your investigative material. Don’t stop that. But we have a lot of election issues that are being inadequately covered. We have nineteen days—thirteen issues—before the election. Including Election Day. We have a congressional race. We have City Council elections. We have school board elections. None of those are being covered and they all have a bearing on what we most want, the annexation vote. You’re doing a good job driving that, I want you to take on the rest.”
“Who do you want me to support?” she asked warily.
“You are the investigative reporter,” he responded. “Tell me who the paper should support.”
“Really?”
“It’s a new world, Karen. You are in a position to shape it.”
“My, my,” Karen breathed as they pulled up to the Roth mansion Saturday night. “Uncle Ben is really going all out. Look.”
“What?”
“That’s Celia and Jo Ransom getting out of Leah’s car. This could be an interesting night,” Karen said.
“He won’t be nasty to them, will he?” Gee asked. He’d not yet had the opportunity to meet the war orphan of the Roth clan, but just based on Karen’s research he was predisposed to favor Celia and her granddaughter.
“No. Leah has really been very nice and is helping get them accepted. I don’t think she’s leading anyone into a trap. Let’s see what’s going on.”
When they entered, Gee was introduced to Leah’s sons, Joseph and Jude. The youngest, Levi, was away at medical school. Joseph grinned lecherously at Jo but pulled a very young woman with bright eyes forward to introduce as his wife, Judith. Gee was shocked at the apparent disparity in their ages. Judith looked like a teenager and he was certain Joseph was in his thirties if not forty.
Gee had met Jude, Laura Lazorack’s fiancé. He was a polite but slightly aloof man. His dark beard was not quite full enough to be identified as Orthodox, but he had long curls hanging at the side of his ears and wore black rimmed glasses that made him look scholarly. He and Laura politely greeted the guests.
“My youngest son, Levi, won’t join us,” Leah said. “He has sworn never to return to Rosebud Falls. I believe he thinks he would be trapped into becoming the family patriarch.”
“He wouldn’t,” Judith spoke up. “Joseph will lead the family.” She was haughty, and it was obvious that Joseph didn’t share her expectation. But it was her mother-in-law whose eyes she held. While they waited for a response, Jude pressed a small cap into Gee’s hand and pointed to how to wear it at the table. Gee complied.
“Dear, no matter how ambitious you are and how clever, no one in their right mind would trust Joseph to manage the family fortune,” Leah sighed. “Don’t worry. You’ll have your own little empire to rule, but you will never live in this house. Ah, here comes Dad.” The old man, Benjamin Roth, tottered into the dining room scowling at everyone and shaking off the hand of his assistant. He made his way to the head of the table, helped by his cane. There was a quiet shuffle as each person took a place at the table, standing behind his or her chair. Without waiting to be introduced to anyone, Benjamin stretched a hand out toward the table laden with food for their dinner.
“Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam shehakol niyah bidvaro,” he said.
“Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, at whose word all came to be,” the family responded and Ben sat heavily in his chair.
After the formal blessing, food was passed, and the conversation was similar to any other family. Leah asked about Laura’s family and whether her brother had returned from his honeymoon. Gee noticed that the youngest person at the table, Joseph’s wife Judith, dished food and helped with Benjamin’s plate.
“Is there anything else you need, Zeyde?” she asked obsequiously. It was obvious she was not taking Leah’s word on the line of succession.
“It is time to officially welcome our newest family members,” Leah said. “Our lost sheep have been found. Here is to Celia and Jo Ransom. Welcome to the Family.” Everyone raised their glasses, including the old man, though he never looked up at Celia, sitting to his right. Celia insouciantly lifted her glass and tapped it against his, startling the old man. He looked up at her and she raised an eyebrow at her.
“L’chaim,” he finally said.
“To life,” she responded. The old man actually grinned at her. He reached for an envelope he’d dropped beside the table when he entered the room. Judith scrambled to get it for him.
“Let me get that for you, Zeyde,” Judith exclaimed, rushing to pick up the large brown envelope at his feet.
“Oh, suck up to your husband, not to me,” he growled at her as he took the envelope. “I believe this is yours, Celia.” Aside from the few words of the blessing and the toast, they were the first words he’d spoken during the meal. The chastised girl had a tear running down her cheek and leaned against Joseph. “You have my regrets for a life wasted. May your granddaughter live long to enjoy the blessings herein.”
“Benjamin, I know you helped provide for me after mother died. I don’t hold you responsible for what your father did,” she answered softly.
“To the third and fourth generations,” the old man sighed glancing at his grandsons. “Too soon old and too late wise.”
“Yes… Fetter,” she said, surprising him once again.
Don leaned over to whisper in Gee’s ear, “That means uncle.”
The old man straightened and brought everyone’s attention to him.
“About the next head of the Family…” he stated boldly. Judith clutched her husband’s hand so hard he grimaced, but neither he nor his brother met his grandfather’s eyes. “Jo or Karen?”
“What?” Leah exclaimed. Even she seemed taken by surprise.
“Understand, there is only one person in this room proven acceptable to lead the Family, and he is not related,” Benjamin said, scanning the room. He paused on Don, but the banker simply smirked and shook his head. “If George Evars marries Karen Weisman, that is the succession. He has eaten the nut and the Forest accepted him.”
“If all it takes is to eat a stupid nut, I’ll eat it,” Judith declared.
“And you would die.” Silence fell on the table as they all looked at Joseph. “Meyn libe, only a Family member can survive eating a nut. In every instance, a non-Family member will die if not given an antidote within half an hour. And half of those in the Family who try die as well.”
“He did it.”
“The exception proves the rule,” Don Roth-Augello said. “If word of that got out, we would have a rash of suicides from people just like you eating the nut and never waking up. Be happy with what you have. Joseph will take care of you and you will never lack for anything.”
“My grandfather,” Benjamin sighed. Everyone looked at the old man. “He challenged his brother when the succession was decided. Fortunately, my father had already been born and thus an existential crisis was averted.” He chuckled at his own joke, but it was not clear that anyone else understood it. “He died. His brother became head of the Family and adopted my father, Aaron, as his heir. The Forest chose.”
“Mr. Roth, I can’t really head your Family. I… I need to represent all the Families,” Gee said. “I need to represent the Forest.” Benjamin nodded.
“So. Karen or Josephine. We have not yet escaped the trial.”
The old man pushed his chair back so violently as he stood that it crashed to the floor behind him. He turned and left the room in silence shuffling away with his attendant quickly at his side. Judith started to go after him but Joseph wisely put a hand on her shoulder and she stayed seated.
Jude raised his glass and the others at the table followed his gesture, waiting for his toast.
“Cousins,” he said.
“Gee… uh… Grandma says I need to talk to you,” Jo said quietly.
“Don’t,” he said. “Don’t take the challenge. Take what you have and live your life.”
“Thank you, but that isn’t what I was going to ask,” she giggled. “Grandma says that I am her heir to the war orphan trust and I have to make a decision. I made it long before she told me, but I want to tell you. We… I would like you to continue to hold the proxy for our shares of SSG stock and continue to vote your conscience for the City and the Forest.”
Gee sighed and looked at the young woman feeling far more pressure than if Ben had declared him heir.
“I will do my best, Jo.”
Final Proxy
“YOUR ANALYSIS of candidates has become more pointed,” Gee said as he finished reading Karen’s article Tuesday morning. “It feels like you have unleashed a whole new aspect of your election day preparation.”
“I got commissioned by my publisher to be the point person on election coverage and to present the candidates in an honest light,” Karen said. “I never expected this, but in spite of their desire that I cover it on behalf of the newspaper, it still goes out with my byline so people can identify me easily. They’re even running my photo as the special reporter for the election.”
“It seems likely to make you into a target. Karen, I want… I’d feel… Please let me accompany you more. I know you can’t hide until the election is over but let me be near you as much as possible.”
“I don’t need a protector, Gee. I need a supporter. Encourage me. Praise me. Love me. But don’t hover over me.”
“It’s so hard. But I have to say, some of this is truly great analysis.”
“What did you like?”
“The article about US Representative candidate Josh Hardin.”
Hardin has said that every decision and every vote in Congress will be weighed against his belief in God and the Bible. But Hardin is quick to point out that most people don’t actually understand the Bible so he will pray carefully for God’s enlightenment. In other words, Hardin pledges to weigh each vote against his personal interpretation of the Bible. Not yours or mine. Not the Torah. Not the Koran. Not the Bhagavad Gita. He won’t even specify which version of the Bible he will be using.
“That’s good but quoting the oath of office to him and getting his response was brilliant,” Gee said.
Hardin will take the congressional oath of office but reserves the right to act according to God’s will above the constitution. For those who do not understand the oath congressmen, senators, and even the vice president take, it is as follows:
“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
In other words, Hardin will swear an oath under God and immediately break that oath to the people and to God if the decision goes against his personal belief, even if that is not according to the Constitution. How faithfully can Hardin discharge the duties of this office when he has already stated that he will break his oath under God?
“Did I use any circular logic in that argument?” Karen asked. She seemed to puzzle it out again and shook her head. “No, that’s what he said he would do.”
“At least he’s not really local. Our congressional district is so huge that his home is over fifty miles from here,” Gee said, looking at the map Karen kept spread on her desk. “I worry more about City and School Board candidates coming after you.”
“I’m not too worried about that,” Karen said. “So far, it appears that they are all truly straight-shooting and honest candidates. They disagree on the best way to handle specific issues and priorities for the budget, but those are things that need to be worked out in any governing body. Not everyone agrees on the best way to run things. The real issue that divides people continues to be the annexation. I’ve already put together the next four articles that weigh the pros and cons and show exactly what each means. And everyone will hate me for anything I say that disagrees with them.”
“Just who I wanted to see,” Birdie said as Gee walked into Jitterz.
“Going to read my tealeaves, Birdie?” Gee joshed back. He reached for the cup of coffee Elaine held out to him. “I loved your music at your grandfather’s house last week,” Gee said to the barista as he paid her.
“Thank you, Gee. I just wanted to get that business stuff out of the way so we could sing. That’s really all that’s important.” Elaine smiled at him, but it was a sad smile. All Elaine’s smiles were sad. Gee turned to Birdie who stood with a food box wrapped in tinfoil.
“What do you have there?”
“Food for an old man. Come and walk with me.”
The two crossed Main Street at Sixth and headed south on Mill Street. It was a familiar route to Gee. He often walked this direction when he visited his friend, Wayne. At the corner of Peach Street, Birdie turned left. The half-block-long street had only one house on it, a large blocky building. Gee tentatively followed Birdie up the rickety steps to the front door where she pounded loudly.
“Hey! Old man! Come and eat some breakfast. I made French toast for you,” she called through the door. She didn’t step inside.
“Is that you, you old witch?” the old man who came to the door snarled. “What are you feeding me today? Eye of newt.”
“Ach. That’s Irish for you. You know voodoo uses only the fresh blood of a chicken. I mixed it with the eggs and dipped your bread in it.” The old man shuffled onto the porch and sat in an Adirondack chair without acknowledging Gee. Birdie gave him the plate of food and he dug into it hungrily.
“Who knew chicken blood tasted like cinnamon?” The old man chuckled.
“You. You’re only crazy when it suits your purposes. Who do you think you’re fooling?”
“You. You’re only voodoo when it suits your purposes. Otherwise you’re as Irish as I am.”
“Only if one of you Irish boys came to Haiti and knocked up my mother,” Birdie said.
“I’m Irish by birth,” he said. “You’re Irish by spirit. One’s as good as the other.” The old man picked up the last piece of bacon on his plate and held it to his lips. “Who’s this?” he demanded, looking at Gee for the first time. “Don’t I know you?”
“Collin, this is Gee. He’s our City Champion. Gee, Collin Meagher. Last remnant of the Meagher clan. You’ve got something Gee needs, Collin,” Birdie said. The old man squinted at Gee.
“You can’t have any of my newspapers. If there’s a date you want to look at, I’ll let you read it, but it has to go right back where it came from.”
“There’s newspapers in the library, Collin. He doesn’t need a newspaper.”
“Library newspapers!” Collin spat. “They put them on microbe film. I tried looking at it once. You can’t feel the paper. You can’t feel the news. Just little dots on a screen that hurts your eyes. Got to feel the news. Never be informed if you don’t read the newspaper. What do you want, City Champion?” he demanded. Gee finally understood why Birdie brought him here.
“I’ve been visiting all the beneficiaries of the war orphan trust funds,” Gee said. “The trustee gave me the proxy to vote the shares at the last meeting, but I want to get confirmation from each beneficiary that they want me to continue to vote their shares on behalf of the City and the Forest.” Gee was startled when the old man began to laugh.
“That was some meeting! Six million votes. ‘Let’s just let Gee make all the decisions.’ I laughed at that Deacon fellow all the way out of the building.”
“I admired your courage in voting your shares when it seemed you didn’t have a chance to succeed,” Gee said.
“Did it once before,” Meagher said. “Got word they were going to clear-cut a portion of the wild woods. I stumped around everywhere I could go and got a bunch of shareholders together. When they brought up clearcutting, I rallied the troops and we outvoted them. Stopped it cold. That was before they passed the change so that the board automatically held the proxy for all unvoted shares.”
“Then you’ve long defended the Forest,” Gee said.
“They stole my great-niece. Right in front of my eyes, just down the street there. Took her out of her little swing and drove away before anyone could react. And then they disappeared. I swore I’d hunt them all down and ruin them. That’s why I read the newspaper. That’s why I ate the nut. I see things. I know things. I’ll watch them all hang from the tallest hickory.”
Gee shook his head. It sounded exactly like the scene Karen had described from years ago when she was babysitting.
“You have allies now,” he said. “The young Family scions are determined to put a stop to this.”
“Birdie, call Violet over here,” Collin said as he nodded his head. Birdie turned to talk on the phone while Collin motioned Gee inside.
Newspapers sat in floor-to-ceiling stacks all around the room. Not just The Elmont Mirror, but the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, and USA Today. Some towers looked ready to topple. Collin found a pen and pulled a stack of papers toward himself as he sat on a couple of newspapers on his chair. “The old men wouldn’t help me when I begged of them. They weren’t even sure I was the head of the Family,” he continued to mumble as he scratched on a form. “So, I ate a nut. I had a vision. The Families are going to change. The Forest demands it.” He finished copying down numbers from a stack of papers nearly buried beneath old newspaper, signed his name, and handed the form to Gee.
It took a moment for Gee to decipher the figures.
“This is a proxy for the eighty thousand shares you voted at the meeting,” Gee said.
“Talk to Leah Roth,” Collin said. “That lawyer who voted forty-seven thousand had her proxy.” Collin didn’t sound at all like the crazy old man he appeared to be. “I’ve sold all my land except the plot this house sits on. Every penny I put into their stock, just so I could pull it down around their heads. They call you our champion. Well, ride into the joust with that. But you have to promise me one thing, young champion. All the trees become a part of the Forest. Every one. I don’t care if I ever see a penny out of this, as long as those bastards never see another nut. Not one tree, boy. Not one tree.”
“Violet’s here,” Birdie shouted from the doorway. Gee followed Collin out of the house. Birdie’s daughter gave Collin a hug.
“What is it, Uncail?” Gee had heard Violet speak on many occasions but had never before heard the Irish lilt to her voice that she put on for the old man.
“This man is the champion for the Forest. I’ve given him my proxy to vote my shares in SSG to protect it. You need to decide if you’ll give him the proxy for your shares.”
“I don’t have any shares.”
“You are the heir of the Meaghers. There is a fund that has been accumulating in your name fed by a trust that holds one hundred thousand shares of SSG stock. You’ll never be able to touch the stock, but you can direct how the shares are voted by your proxy,” Collin said. “It’s best you build up a lot of friends before you have to take over the Family.”
Violet looked like Collin had been talking in a foreign tongue. Her puzzled expression was turned first on her mother and then on Gee before she locked on Collin’s old eyes. Slowly, she nodded.
“Mr. Gee, I’d like you to continue to vote the shares in my Trust according to your conscience and for the benefit of the Forest. Will you agree?” she said softly.
“I agree.”
A Descending Darkness
“A CANOE? We’re not going to do it in a canoe!” Shannon giggled as she climbed into the craft with the blankets and basket she packed.
“Shannon? Honey, is this too… unromantic? For our first time? I mean… It seems so planned out.”
“I’ve known for months we were going to do it,” she sighed. “How long have you had those condoms?”
“Um… two months. A little more.”
“And all that time, there was only one reason to have them and we both knew what it was. I think that I’ve had enough time to think it over and be sure this is what I really want. I love you, Ryan. Take me to the secret hideaway you found and make love to me.”
“We don’t need to go far from shore,” Ryan said. “We just paddle a few hundred yards this way and after the fence we get to the woods. It’s not as nice as the Forest, but once the annexation goes through, the foresters will clean it up in no time.”
“You sound so enthusiastic. Are you thinking of becoming a forester?” The canoe glided across Lake Aldo almost silently as Ryan thought about her question.
“Becoming a forester sounds neat,” Ryan finally said. “I’d like to, but… my dad, you know, wants me to be a pharmacist.”
“But what do you want, Ryan?” He looked at the pretty girl in the bow of the canoe and smiled.
“You.” He answered with a giggle.
“Keep paddling.”
“I think the best way for me to end the feud is to become a forester and steal away the prettiest girl I know.”
“Maybe they’ll have home lots on this side of the lake available when it’s part of the city and we can build a cottage in the Forest,” she said dreamily. Ryan maneuvered the little craft against a tree root and scrambled to get out and pull the canoe to shore. Shannon stepped out without getting wet. Once the canoe was secure, they picked up their blankets and headed into the woods.
“A cottage is just what I found,” Ryan said. “Only it’s more like an abandoned shack near the quarry.”
“A shack with you will be my palace.”
Gee finished the light tasks he had at the market Saturday morning. It had been five weeks since his fall from the tree, and while normal activity was fine, he found sudden movements, lifting too much, or an unexpected sneeze were enough to send the muscles around his injured ribs into spasms. Even making love with Karen was done carefully.
The walk from the market home always seemed to improve his flexibility and the promise Karen had made of a relaxing afternoon with popcorn and a movie inspired him to a brisk pace. He had to slow a little to stop twinges from breathing too deeply, but he was more than ready to be home.
He laughed as he approached the house. Karen had spent the morning decorating for Halloween and the mansion looked haunted. She’d strung orange lights and set out tombstones next to the drive. Cobwebs masked the porte-cochère from the door. A creaky sound effect played when he opened the door.
“Karen? I’m home!”
No answer. Gee wondered what his fiancée was planning as a surprise. He walked through the house quickly, checking the sitting room and study where they spent much of their time. Seeing no one, he naturally headed for the bedroom. Karen was not there and did not respond to his repeated calls. He came back down to the kitchen and spotted the note on the counter.
Rena called, desperate to talk. Hiding near the quarry. I’m on my way.
Love, Karen
Gee reached for his cell phone.
“They’re going to kill me,” Rena sobbed into Karen’s chest. “He didn’t have to drug me. I’d have done anything for him. I love him. Then he sent me to the camp and they kept giving me the drug. I’m not me anymore!”
“Rena, honey, we need to get you out of here and someplace you’ll be safe. Who did this to you?”
“They did. The church.”
“Pastor Beck?”
“No! Maybe. I think Deacon drugs the communion. I don’t think it’s Pastor. I love him. He doesn’t need to drug me.”
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. I don’t think we’re safer here than in the hospital. We need to go now, though, Rena.”
“Oh, my God!” Rena screamed. She was looking over Karen’s shoulder. Karen started to turn, but a strong arm gripped her around the waist and a hand held a sweet-smelling cloth to her face. The last thing she was aware of was a long, wailing scream.
Shannon inhaled to scream and Ryan clamped his hand over her mouth.
“Shh. Shh. Baby, don’t make a sound. He’ll know we’re here.” Shannon was hyperventilating but nodded her head. Ryan released her mouth and she gasped for air.
“He killed her!” Shannon whispered. Ryan held her close to him and tried to soothe his panicked girlfriend.
“We don’t know for sure, but if we don’t hurry she could die at any minute. Listen, Baby. You need to call 911. I’m going to climb down in the pit and see if she’s alive or if there’s anything I can do to help her.”
“They’ll know we’re here! Everyone will know why we came out here. I’ll be grounded forever,” Shannon moaned.
“Shannon! Listen! There is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you, but this is bigger than us. Honey, she could be dying. We have to get help. Here. Here’s your phone. Dial the number and tell them where we are. Then you can run far away. But be quiet, baby. We don’t know where that guy took the other girl. Shannon, you have to do it now!”
With that, Ryan broke away from his girlfriend where they were hidden in the underbrush. They’d been on their way to the shack he knew of in the woods when they almost stumbled onto the man attacking two women at the edge of the quarry. Ryan ran to the quarry and looked over the edge. He wasn’t sure if that was her in the shadows or not. Water had filled the quarry up to about twenty feet below the edge. Ryan looked for a way down and began to climb. He wasn’t Gee. He couldn’t just dive from there. But he could help.
“9-1-1. State the nature of your emergency please.”
“We… I… Just saw a murder. I think.”
“We are tracking your cell phone as being at Savage Sand and Gravel.”
“Yes. No. At the quarry. She… He pushed her over the cliff… and then dragged the other girl away into the woods.”
“Tell me what part of the quarry,” the operator said. “Do you know who it was?”
“Um… I don’t know. We approached from the lake. My… my boyfriend… is… He went to try and save her. He’s in the quarry, too.” Shannon held her hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs. “I’m scared. Please hurry!”
“Stay on the line with me, honey. Help is on the way. We’ll talk while they get here. You stay hidden. What’s your name?”
“Sh… Sh… Shannon O’Rourke. This isn’t how it was supposed to be!”
Gee listened to Karen’s phone ring. It went to voice mail and instead of leaving a message, he redialed. This time the phone connected.
“Karen! Are you okay?” Gee shouted. Silence was broken by a laugh.
“You’re too late, Champ. Your girlfriend has gone… a little nuts.”
Gee heard the phone hit the ground and a crunch before it went dead.
“9-1-1. State the nature of your emergency please.”
“This is George Evars. I believe my fiancée, Karen Weisman, has been kidnapped and is in immediate danger.”
“Do you have any additional information?”
“Yes. I just called her cell phone and a man answered. He said, ‘You’re too late. Your girlfriend has gone nuts.’ Then he crushed the phone.”
“Do you have any idea where this was?”
“Wait. She set up my phone and put some tracking app on it. Can I use it while I’m on the line with you?”
“Make the attempt. I have recorded your cell number incoming and will call you back if it disconnects.”
“This is crazy. I have the app open. It says my last call was to somewhere south of the City Limits. Oh, hell! That has to be the wild woods down near Savage Sand and Gravel.”
“Can you send the coordinates? We have a team working to extract a person from the quarry. Is that where your locator app says?”
“Um… I see. Let me see. Does the quarry have water in it? The app says the phone was somewhere northeast of the quarry.”
“We’ll need the coordinates. Does the app show them?”
Gee read off the coordinates shown on the cell phone app Karen installed on his phone.
“Stay on the line.”
“I can’t. I have to go help.” Gee disconnected and immediately punched in the number for Jonathon.
“Hey, Mr. Shaker Man! What’s up with you this fine Saturday afternoon.”
“Jonathon, I need your help. We need to get into the wild woods. Now! Karen’s been kidnapped and is being held there.”
“I’m on my way. Jessie will head straight for the fence. I’ll swing by and pick you up. I know a path wide enough for a car to get to the fence. Be on the street in five minutes,” Jonathon said. “Damn it! Dad’s calling. I’ll talk to you in five.” The line went dead and immediately rang back.
Gee shoved his feet into his boots and grabbed his denim jacket as he headed for the door and thumbed his phone.
“Mr. Evars, please do not hang up. I have the sheriff on the line from near the quarry. Please stand by.”
Into the Woods
CHAOS REIGNED into the night as county, city, and volunteer rescuers invaded the wild woods. The limited rescue resources of the county had moved immediately to Savage Sand and Gravel. Wayne Savage met them at the gates and followed the firetruck, ambulance, and sheriff’s car to the gravel pit. There, they found a shivering and frightened Shannon O’Rourke lying at the edge of the pit encouraging her boyfriend below.
Ryan lay on a ledge next to the water with the blankets the couple brought to the woods piled on top of him as he shivered next to a breathing but unconscious Rena Lynd. From the time of her first phone call to 911, it took over an hour before the ambulance moved out of SSG and screamed toward the hospital with Shannon, Ryan, and Rena all crammed in the back.
By that time, additional resources had begun arriving at the site to launch a search for Karen Weisman in the wild woods. David Lazorack had sent the alert to the foresters and ten had entered the land through the main gates at Wayne’s invitation. Two sheriff’s deputies arrived along with another firetruck. A call for a rescue dog and forensics expert was sent to state police and they were reportedly on the way as the rescuers searched in the waning light for the path Shannon said the assailant took into the woods. Floodlights from the firetrucks lit the edge of the woods a hundred feet from the quarry road.
When Gee and Jonathon arrived at the south edge of the Forest where an eight-foot chain link fence separated it from the wild wood, Jessie and David were already at work opening a passage. It was not the first time foresters had slipped into the wild woods to assess its condition, and they quickly clipped the wires used to hold their access closed. Two more foresters, including Gabe, who had given Gee instructions at the wedding tree, brought equipment—hardhats with headlamps, machetes, and gloves as the six would-be rescuers wiggled through the opening in the fence and began searching for a path into the woods.
There were multiple short paths into the wild woods, but most ended in a tangle of undergrowth. Gee’s cell phone GPS showed the blinking dot of Karen’s last known position but getting there was a long and painful process. An unexpected ravine cut across their path. Gee ignored the pain in his ribs as he followed Jonathon into the cut, hacking at blackberry brambles along the bottom.
When they found a small cabin, David Lazorack pulled a handgun from his belt and waved the others back. He burst through the door. The cabin was clean and empty but showed signs of recent habitation. No other clues.
“Over here,” Gabe shouted. The others rushed to his side to see a path that was little more than a game trail. They followed along the trail, hearing a dog barking some distance from them. The trail finally opened onto a clearing barely large enough for a shack surrounded by trees and undergrowth. At the same time, rescuers from the other direction broke into the clearing and the sheriff’s deputies took point in bursting into the cabin with guns drawn.
“Medic!” a deputy shouted from inside. “She’s breathing.”
No one attempted to stop Gee from entering the cabin behind the paramedic that rushed to Karen’s side. Careful not to interfere with the medic’s evaluation and conversation over the crackling lapel radio, Gee lay down next to his love and softly touched her hand as he began his plea for her life.
The medic pulled a blanket over Karen’s naked body and, with a fireman’s help, strapped her to a backboard. They carried her out of the wild wood to a waiting ambulance. Gee joined her for the ride to the hospital.
“Please stay with me, Karen,” he pled. “I love you. I love you.”
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