Chapter 138: Chapter 138: The Girl Who Was Hunted - Chapter Fifty-Four

MICHAEL “I don’t think I can add much to this,” I say. “I’ll go for a walk down by the river while you’re all in the university. Give me a call when you’re done, and I’ll meet up with you.”

When I re-join them, a couple of hours later, James and Richard are sitting at a table, each nursing a beer.

“Where’s Charlotte?”

“Gone shopping,” says James.

“Shopping? When did Charlotte ever go shopping? She hates shopping.”

“It’s a university town,” says James wryly. “She’s just discovered the street with all the second-hand bookshops….”

“Ahhh... Right…. Might as well get a beer then.”

“Several beers I should think.”

I order myself a drink. “How did it go? Got her course details sorted out?”

“Yes, and we’re both quite pleased with the result,” says Richard. “James said, and I suspect you agree, that, for her own safety, he’d be happier having Charlotte close at hand, rather than away for long periods….”

“Yes, I am happier with that….”

“Good. So, we’ve arranged with the university, that she can cover a lot of the material by distance learning and online training. So long as she can pass the exams, that covers all the academic material.

And the practical experience presents no difficulties. I’ll make sure she works her way around everything that’s available in the industry within fifty miles. James here can handle that. He has a better grip on that side of things than I do.”

“Sounds ideal. And the university is okay with that?”

“I’m making sure they’re okay with it. They lean on the Haswell Corporation for a lot of favours. I’ve called some of them in this time.” He looks smug, sips his beer.

“You like getting your own way, don’t you?” I comment.

“Privileges of wealth.” he smiles. “I can recommend it.”

“I imagine you can. And by the way, you’ve not pulled the wool over my eyes, about at least one of your reasons for wanting Charlotte close by….”

He eyes me. “Meaning?”

“Charlotte is not Beth’s bodyguard.”

“Mmmm…. She’s done a better job of it than Ross. On his watch, Beth has been kidnapped twice, and Charlotte herself escaped when he was supposed to be guarding her.”

“That still doesn’t make it Charlotte’s responsibility to look after your wife….”

James watches us, narrowed eyed and silent.

Richard nods, musing over his beer. “Are you going to explain that to her? Or would you like me to try it?”

He has a point.

Let it go….

“And Charlotte, is she satisfied with your arrangements with the university?”

“She seems to be, yes,” says Richard.

I glance across at James. “You’re unusually quiet. Do you think she’s happy with it?”

“She’s happy enough,” he says, dryly. “And for once in this, she’s going to do as she’s damn well told.

She’ll get what she wants this way, so she has no good reason for arguing about it.”

I fall silent, sipping my drink as they discuss future plans, the re-timed plans for the City project, the move to the new headquarters….

He’s feeling better…. The arrogance is back….

…. though you’re a good man, my friend…. even if you have sharp edges...

But what if you weren’t…...?

You had a failed marriage and it didn’t turn you…. You simply found an outlet….

Did Klempner go wrong because of what happened with Charlotte’s mother?

No…. He was already a trafficker…. He turned her stomach….

There were two of them, and she was made to choose….

My thoughts are interrupted.

“Ah, Charlotte, there you are.” James eyes the bags she carries, weighing her down. “I see you have enjoyed yourself.”

Her eyes are sparkling, jade-bright against her pale skin. “Oh, yes. What a great place….”

“Mind if I look at what you’ve bought?”

She pushes her bags towards him, James working his way through her book stack, raising eyebrows at some of her choices, muttering to himself as he does so. “’Modern Cosmology and Philosophy’, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, ‘The Mythology of the Ancient Greeks’, Asimov’s ‘The Gods Themselves’, ‘Fundamentals of Physics: Mechanics, Relativity, and Thermodynamics’, ‘The Complete Sherlock Holmes’, Lovelock’s ‘Gaia’, ‘Pride and Prejudice’…. An eclectic mix. Have you considered specialising?” He is laughing quietly, despite the implied criticism.

“Specialisation is for insects….” she sniffs.

James’ brow furrows. “That’s a quote, isn’t it?”

Her eyes slide up to his, “Yes Master, it is.”

He looks out of the window, scratching the bridge of his nose. “I know the reference, but for the life of me, I can’t think where from.”

She stares at him. “It’s from ‘The Notebooks of Lazarus Long.’ taken from Heinlein’s ‘Time Enough for Love’.”

He still looks puzzled. “That’s an old nineteen-seventies science fiction novel, isn’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever read it. Why would I know the quote?”

“You might not have read it Master, but you’ve had it read to you, in the hospital…. while you were unconscious….”

“While I was unconscious?”

Charlotte’s eyes are brimming. “You were just lying there, dead to the world, and I was talking to you, hoping you could hear me. And when I couldn’t think of any more to say, I read to you…. and you did hear me.”

*****

CHARLOTTE It’s getting a bit embarrassing, my Master emotional, and I’m on the edge of tears. Richard, I think deliberately, shifts the conversation to something more routine.

“How’s it going with the spa-hotel development, Michael?” he asks. “‘Life and Beauty’ was it? That’s what you’re calling it? Plans on track?”

Michael looks relieved at the change in subject.

“For the most part, yes,” he says. “Just the usual snags and hitches you expect with any sizable project…”

“Such as?”

“Um… such as trying to get a swimming pool installed. I’ve got all the permissions in place to convert one of the out-buildings, but the bank isn’t willing to extend the finance any further until I’ve got three years’ trading accounts.”

“But you’ve been running ‘Life and Fitness’ in the City for years.… and turning a healthy profit, surely?”

“Yes, but you know how it is since 2007. All the banks have tightened up the rules.”

“Umm.…” Richard rubs the back of his neck. “Take this the right way, but I’d be happy to help.”

Michael stiffens, his voice cool. “Thanks, Richard, but I’m not a charity.”

James chuckles. “Now, who’s suffering from stiff-necked pride?”

Michael glares at him, but my Master is unabashed.

Richard is equally cool. “It wasn’t a charitable offer, Michael. I’m a businessman. It was a proposal.”

“Ah. My apologies.” His voice contrite, “What did you have in mind?”

“I’ve been watching the reaction of Elizabeth’s friends to this ever since you told us about your ideas, and I know they’re queuing up to visit, especially since most of them already use your City Centre….”

“So?”

Richard scratches his chin, rubs the back of his neck. “Okay, my cards on the table. Michael, I’ve been itching to find a way of getting in on your project. And it seems to me that this might work for both of us.

I’d like to fund whatever’s needed to get the spa-hotel project up and running, as it should be, from Day One, in exchange for a shareholding…. How would you feel about that?”

“What size of share are you thinking of?”

“Got your figures to hand?”

“No, but I’ve got them in my head.… Anyone got a pen and paper?”

The barman produces a pen. A paper bag from my book purchases is commandeered. Michael jots down figures on it, ‘Hmmm’s for a minute, stares into space, writes some more, then passes it over to Richard.

Richard works his way through, staring at the notes and numbers thoughtfully. Then he gazes into space for a minute, fingers twitching.

Counting on his fingers? Working a calculator in his head?

Then he scribbles more notes and annotations.

Finally, he writes a one-line sentence under the lot, glances at Michael for a second, then, against Michael’s raised eyebrow, and my Master’s barely suppressed amusement slides the bag across the table to me.

“Let’s see how your accountancy’s coming on, Charlotte. What does that lot mean?”

I scan the hieroglyphs in front of me….

I set out to study physics and learn the secrets of the universe. Then I changed to engineering, so I could learn how to build a city. Now, I’m being asked to…. cost it?

“Um…. Michael’s put down the value of the site from a surveyor’s assessment, along with what he paid, plus the mortgage from the bank. There’s the value of the work done so far, and what’s still needed. There’s an estimate of numbers of clients, income and expenses over the next three years….

Michael… you hold all this in your head?”

He sucks in a smile. “You run a business, that’s what you do, at least if you expect to stay in business.”