Sons of Fortune (53 page)

“It
may become clearer after a meeting I’m having at three o’clock this afternoon,”
said Nat.

“That
sounds interesting,” said Joe.

“It
could well be,” said Nat, “but I can’t say anything at the moment because even
I’m not sure what it’s all about.”

“
Curiouser
and
curiouser
,” said
Joe. “I’ll look forward to hearing more. But what do you expect me to do in the
meantime?”

“I
want you to go on buying every Fairchild’s share you can lay your hands on
until close of business tonight. Then let’s talk again just before the market
opens tomorrow morning.”

“Understood,”
said Joe, “then I’d better leave you and get back on the floor.”

Nat
let out a long sigh, and tried to think what Murray
Goldblatz
could possibly want to see him about. He picked up the phone again, “Linda, get
me Logan Fitzgerald-he’ll be on his New York number.”

“Your
wife did stress that it was urgent and she called back again while you were
speaking to Mr. Stein.”

“Right,
I’ll phone her while you try and find Logan.”

Nat
dialed his home number and then began strumming his fingers on the desk as he
continued to think about Murray
Goldblatz
and what he
could possibly want. Su Ling’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Sorry
I didn’t-call you straight back,” said Nat, “but Murray
. .”

“Luke’s
run away from school,” said Su Ling. “No one’s seen him since lights out last
night.”

“You’ve
got the chairman of the Democratic National Committee on line one, Mr. Gates on
line two, and your wife on line three.”

“I’ll
take the party chairman first. Would you ask Jimmy to hold and tell Annie I’ll
call her right
back.
”

“She
said it was urgent.”

“Tell
her I’ll only be a couple of minutes.”

Fletcher
would have liked a little more time to compose himself. He’d only met the party
chairman a couple of times, in a corridor at the national convention, and at a
cocktail party in Washington,
D.c.
He doubted if Mr.
Brubaker would remember either occasion. And then there was the problem of how
to address him, Mr. Brubaker, Alan, or even sir. After all, he’d been appointed
chairman before Fletcher had even run for the Senate.

“Good
morning, Fletcher, Also Brubaker.”

“Good
morning, Mr. Chairman, how nice to hear from you. How can I help?”

“I
need to have a word with you in private, Fletcher, and wondered if you and your
wife could possibly fly down to Washington and join Jenny and me for dinner one
evening.”

“We’d
be delighted to,” said Fletcher, “when did you have in mind?”

“How’s
the evening of the eighteenth looking? That’s next Friday.”

Fletcher
quickly flicked through the pages of his appointment book. He had a caucus
meeting at noon, which he shouldn’t miss now that he was deputy leader, but
nothing was penciled in for that evening. “What time would you like us to be
there?”

“Eight
suit you?” asked Brubaker.

“
Yes, that
will be fine, Mr. Chairman.”

“Good,
then eight o’clock it is, on the eighteenth.

My
home is in Georgetown, 3038
n
Street.”

Fletcher
wrote it down in the space below the caucus meeting. “I look forward to seeing
you then, Mr. Chairman.”

“Me
too,” said Brubaker. “And Fletcher, I would prefer if you didn’t mention this
to anyone.”

Fletcher
put the phone down. It would be tight, and he might even have to leave the
caucus meeting early. The intercom buzzed again.

“Mr.
Gates,” said Sally.

“Hi,
Jimmy, what can I do for you?” asked Fletcher cheerily, wanting to tell him
about his invitation to have dinner with the chairman of the party.

“It’s
not good, I’m afraid,” said Jimmy. “Dad’s had another heart attack and they’ve
rushed him into St. Patrick’s. I’m just about to leave, but I thought I’d give
you a call first.”

“How
bad is he?” asked Fletcher quietly.

“Hard
to tell until we hear what the doctor has to say. Mom wasn’t exactly coherent
when she got in touch with me, so I won’t know a lot more until I’ve been to
the hospital.”

“Annie
and I will be with you as soon as we can,” said Fletcher. He touched the bridge
of his telephone and then dialed his home number. It was busy. He replaced the
phone and began tapping his fingers. If it was still busy when he tried again
he decided he would drive straight home and pick Annie up so they could go over
to the hospital together.

For
a moment, Also Brubaker flashed back into his mind. Why would he want a private
meeting that he would prefer not to be mentioned to anyone else? But then his
thoughts returned to Harry and he dialed his home number a second time. He
heard Annie’s voice on the end of the line.

“Have
you heard?” she asked.

“Yes,”
said Fletcher, “I’ve just spoken to Jimmy. I thought I’d go directly to the
hospital so we could meet there.”

“No,
it’s not just Dad,” said Annie. “It’s
Lucy,
she had a
terrible fall when she was out riding this morning. She’s concussed and has
broken her leg. They’ve put her in the infirmary. I don’t know what to do
next.”

“I
blame myself,” said Nat. “Because of the takeover battle with Fairchild’s I
haven’t been to see Luke once this term.”

“
Me
neither,” admitted Su Ling. “But we were going to the
school play next week.”

“I
know,” said Nat. “As he’s playing Romeo, do you think the problem might be
Juliet?”

“Possibly.
After all,
you met your first love at the school play, didn’t you?” asked Su Ling.

“Yes,
and that ended in tears.”

“Don’t
blame yourself, Nat. I’ve been just as preoccupied with my graduate students
these last few weeks, and perhaps I should have questioned Luke more closely
about why he was so silent and withdrawn during term break.”

“He’s
always been a bit of a loner,” said Nat, “and studious children rarely gather a
lot of friends around them.”

“How
would you know?” asked Su Ling, glad to see her husband smile. “And both our
mothers have always been quiet and thoughtful,” Su Ling added as she drove onto
the highway.

“How
long do you think it will take us to get there?” asked Nat as he glanced at the
clock on the
dashboard.

“At
this time of day, about an hour, so I expect we should arrive around three
o’clock,” said Su Ling, as she took her foot off the accelerator, once she’d
touched fifty-five.

“Three,
oh hell,” said Nat, suddenly remembering, “I’ll have to let Murray
Goldblatz
know that I won’t be able to make his meeting.”

“The chairman of Fairchild’s?”

“No
less, he requested a private meeting,” said Nat as he picked up the car phone.

He
quickly checked Fairchild’s number in his phone book.

“To
discuss what?” asked Su Ling.

“It
has to be something to do with the takeover, but beyond that I haven’t a clue.”
Nat pressed the eleven digits. “Mr.
Goldblatz
,
please.”

“Who
shall I say is calling?” asked the switchboard operator.

Nat
hesitated, “It’s a personal call.”

“I
will still need to know who it is,” the voice insisted.

“I
have an appointment with him at three o’clock.”

“I’ll
put you though to his secretary.” Nat waited.

“Mr.
Goldblatz’s
office,” said a female voice.

“I
have a three o’clock appointment with Mr.
Goldblatz
,
but I fear I am going...”

“I’ll
put you through, Mr. Cartwright.”

“Mr.
Cartwright.”

“Mr.
Goldblatz
, I must apologize, a family problem has
arisen and I won’t be able to make our meeting this afternoon.”

“I
see,” said
Goldblatz
, not sounding as though he did.

“Mr.
Goldblatz
,” said Nat, “I’m not in the habit of
playing
games,
I have neither the time nor the
inclination.”

“I
wasn’t suggesting you did, Mr. Cartwright,” said
Goldblatz
curtly.

Nat
hesitated. “My son has run away from Tail and I’m on my way to see the
principal.”

“I’m
so ... so ... sorry to hear that,” Mr.
Goldblatz
said, his tone immediately changing. “If it’s any consolation, I also ran away
from Tail, but once I’d spent all my pocket money I decided to go back the
following day.”

Nat
laughed. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

“Not
at all, perhaps you’d give me a call and let me know when it’s convenient for
us to meet.”

“Yes
of course, Mr.
Goldblatz
, and I wonder if I might ask
a favor.”

“Certainly.”

“That
none of this conversation is reported to Ralph Elliot.”

“You
have my word on that, but then, Mr. Cartwright, he has no idea that I planned
to meet you in the first place.”

When
Nat put the phone down, Su Ling said, “Wasn’t that a bit of a risk?”

“No,
I don’t think so,” said Nat. “I have a feeling that Mr.
Goldblatz
and I have discovered something we have in common.”

As
Su Ling drove through the Tail gates, memories came flooding back to Nat: his
mother being late, having to walk down the center aisle of a packed hall when
his knees were knocking, sitting next to Tom, and twenty-five years later,
accompanying his son back on his first day. Now he only hoped his boy was safe
and well.

Su
Ling parked the car outside the principal’s house, and before she had turned
the engine off, Nat spotted Mrs. Henderson coming down the steps. He felt his
stomach churn until he saw the smile on her lips. Su Ling jumped out of the
car.

“They’ve
found him,” Mrs. Henderson said.

“He
was with his grandmother, helping her with the laundry.”

“Let’s
both go straight to the hospital and see your father. Then we can decide if one
of us should go on to Lakeville and check up on Lucy.”

“Lucy
would be so sad if she knew,” said Annie. “She has always adored Grandpa.”

“I
know, and he’s already begun planning her life,” said Fletcher. “Perhaps it
would be better not to tell her what has happened, especially as she obviously
won’t be able to visit him.”

“You
may be right. In any case, he did go and see her last week.”

“I
didn’t know that,” said Fletcher.

“Oh
yes, those two are plotting something,” said Annie as she drove into the
hospital parking lot, “but neither of them is letting me in on the secret.”

When
the elevator doors opened, the two of them walked quickly down the corridor to
Harry’s room.

Martha
stood up the moment they walked in, her face ashen. Annie took her mother in
her arms as Fletcher touched Jimmy’s shoulder. He looked down at a man whose
flesh was drawn and sallow, his nose and mouth covered with a mask. A monitor
beeped beside him, the only indication that he was still alive. This was the
most energetic man Fletcher had ever known.

The
four of them sat around the bed in silence, Martha holding her husband’s hand.
After a few moments she said, “Don’t you think one of you should go and see how
Lucy is getting on? There’s not a lot you can do here.”

“I’m
not moving,” said Annie, “but I think Fletcher ought to go.”

Fletcher
nodded his agreement. He kissed Martha on the cheek, and looking at Annie said,
“I’ll drive straight back just as soon as I’ve made sure that Lucy is OK.”

Fletcher
couldn’t recall much of the journey to Lakeville as his mind wondered from
Harry to
Lucy,
and for a moment to Also Brubaker
although he found that he was no longer preoccupied with what the chairman of
the party wanted.

When
he reached the road sign announcing the intersection for Hotchkiss, Fletcher’s
thoughts returned to Harry and how they had first met at the football game.
“Please God let him live,” he said out loud as he drove into his old school and
brought the car to a halt outside the entrance to the infirmary. A nurse
accompanied the senator to his daughter’s bedside. As he walked down the
corridor of empty beds, he could see in the distance a plastered leg, hooked
high into the air. It reminded him of when he had run for the school presidency
and his rival had allowed the voters to sign his cast on the day of the
election. Fletcher tried to remember his name.

“You’re
a fraud,” said Fletcher even before he saw the huge smile on Lucy’s face and
the bottles of soda and bags of cookies scattered all around her.