The Stars Shine Down (4 page)

“May I go in and see him now?”

“Yes.”

Lara walked into her father’s room and stood there staring at him. James Cameron lay in bed, looking pale and helpless, and he suddenly seemed very old. Lara was engulfed by a wave of tenderness. She was finally going to be able to do something for her father, something that would make him appreciate her and love her. She approached the bed.

“Papa…”

He looked up and muttered, “What the bluidy hell are you doin’ here? You’ve work to dae at the boardin’ house.”

Lara froze. “I…I know, Papa. I just wanted to tell you that I saw Mr. MacAllister. I told him I would collect the rents until you got better and…”

“
Ye
collect the rents? Dinna make me laugh.” He was shaken with a sudden spasm. When he spoke again, his voice was weak. “It’s the Fates,” he moaned. “I’m gang to be thrown oot into the streets.”

He was not even thinking about what would happen to her. Lara stood there looking at him for a long time. Then she turned and walked out.

James Cameron was brought home three days later, and put to bed.

“You’re not to get out of bed for the next couple of weeks,” Dr. Duncan told him. “I’ll come back and check on you in a day or two.”

“I canna stay in bed,” James Cameron protested. “I’m a busy mon. I have a lot to dae.”

The doctor looked at him and said, quietly, “You have a choice. You can either stay in bed and live, or get up and die.”

MacAllister’s boarders were, at first, delighted to see the innocent young girl come around to collect their rents. But when the novelty wore off, they had a myriad of excuses:

“I was sick this week, and I had medical bills…”

“My son sends me money every week, but the mail’s been delayed…”

“I had to buy some equipment…”

“I’ll have the money for you next week for sure…”

But the young girl was fighting for her life. She listened politely and said, “I’m so sorry, but Mr. MacAllister says that the money is due today, and if you don’t have it, you’ll have to vacate immediately.”

And somehow, they all managed to come up with the money.

Lara was inflexible.

“It was easier dealing with your father,” one of the boarders grumbled. “He was always willing to wait a few days.”

But in the end they had to admire the young girl’s spunk.

If Lara had thought that her father’s illness would bring him closer to her, she was sadly mistaken. Lara tried to anticipate his every need, but the more solicitous she was, the more badly he behaved.

She brought him fresh flowers every day, and little treats.

“For Gude’s sakes!” he cried. “Stop hoverin’ aboot. Hae you nae work to dae?”

“I just thought you’d like…”

“
Oot!
” He turned his face to the wall.

I hate him
, Lara thought.
I hate him.

At the end of the month, when Lara walked into Sean MacAllister’s office with the envelopes filled with rent money, and he had finished counting it, he said, “I don’t mind admitting, young lady, that you’ve been quite a surprise to me. You’ve done better than your father.”

The words were thrilling. “Thank you.”

“As a matter of fact, this is the first month that everybody has paid on time in full.”

“Then my father and I can stay on at the boardinghouse?” Lara asked eagerly.

MacAllister studied her a moment. “I suppose so. You must love your father very much.”

“I’ll see you next Saturday, Mr. MacAllister.”

A
t seventeen, the spindly, gaunt little girl had grown into a woman. Her face bore the imprint of her Scottish forebears: the gleaming skin, the arched, fine eyebrows, the thundercloud gray eyes, the stormy black hair. And in addition, there was a strain of melancholy that seemed to hover around her, the bleed-through of a people’s tragic history. It was hard to look away from Lara Cameron’s face.

Most of the boarders were without women, except for the companions they paid for at Madam Kirstie’s and some of the other houses of prostitution, and the beautiful young girl was a natural target for them. One of the men would corner her in the kitchen or in his bedroom when she was cleaning it and say, “Why don’t you be nice to me, Lara? I could do a lot for you.”

Or, “You don’t have a boyfriend, do you? Let me show you what a man is like.”

Or, “How would you like to go to Kansas City? I’m leaving next week, and I’d be glad to take you with me.”

After one or another of the boarders had tried to persuade Lara to go to bed with him, she would walk into the small room where her father lay helpless, and say, “You were wrong, Father. All the men want me.” And she would walk out, leaving him staring after her.

James Cameron died on an early morning in spring, and Lara buried him at the Greenwood Cemetery in the Passiondale area. The only other person at the funeral was Bertha. There were no tears.

A new boarder moved in, an American named Bill Rogers. He was in his seventies, bald and fat, an affable man who liked to talk. After supper he would sit and chat with Lara. “You’re too damned pretty to be stuck in a hick town like this,” he advised her. “You should go to Chicago or New York. Big time.”

“I will one day,” Lara said.

“You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Do you know what you want to do with it?”

“I want to own things.”

“Ah, pretty clothes and…”

“No. Land. I want to own land. My father never owned anything. He had to live off other people’s favors all his life.”

Bill Rogers’s face lit up. “Real estate was the business I was in.”

“Really?”

“I had buildings all over the Midwest. I even had a chain of hotels once.” His tone was wistful.

“What happened?”

He shrugged. “I got greedy. Lost it all. But it was sure fun while it lasted.”

After that they talked about real estate almost every night.

“The first rule in real estate,” Rogers told her, “is OPM. Never forget that.”

“What’s OPM?”

“Other people’s money. What makes real estate a great business is that the government lets you take deductions on interest and depreciation while your assets keep growing. The three most important things in real estate are location, location, and location. A beautiful building up on a hill is a waste of time. An ugly building downtown will make you rich.”

Rogers taught Lara about mortgages and refinancing and the use of bank loans. Lara listened and learned and remembered. She was like a sponge, eagerly soaking up every bit of information.

The most meaningful thing Rogers said to her was: “You know, Glace Bay has a big housing shortage. It’s a great opportunity for someone. If I were twenty years younger…”

From that moment on Lara looked at Glace Bay with different eyes, visualizing office buildings and homes on vacant lots. It was exciting, and it was frustrating. Her dreams were there, but she had no money to carry them out.

The day Bill Rogers left town he said, “Remember—other people’s money. Good luck, kid.”

A week later Charles Cohn moved into the boardinghouse. He was a small man in his sixties, neat and trim and well dressed. He sat at the supper table with the other boarders but said very little. He seemed cocooned in his own private world.

He watched Lara as she worked around the boardinghouse, smiling, never complaining.

“How long do you plan to stay with us?” Lara asked Cohn.

“I’m not sure. It could be a week or a month or two…”

Charles Cohn was a puzzle to Lara. He did not fit in with the other boarders at all. She tried to imagine what he did.
He was certainly not a miner or a fisherman, and he did not look like a merchant. He seemed superior to the other boarders, better educated. He told Lara that he had tried to get into the one hotel in town but that it was full. Lara noticed that at mealtimes he ate almost nothing.

“If you have a little fruit,” he would say, apologetically, “or some vegetables…”

“Are you on some special kind of diet?” Lara asked.

“In a way. I eat only kosher food, and I’m afraid Glace Bay doesn’t have any.”

The next evening, when Charles Cohn sat down to supper, a p’ate of lamb chops was placed in front of him. He looked up at Lara in surprise. “I’m sorry. I can’t eat this,” he said. “J thought I explained…”

Lara smiled. “You did. This is kosher.”

“What?”

“I found a kosher meat market in Sydney. The
shochet
there sold me this. Enjoy it. Your rent includes two meals a day. Tomorrow you’re having a steak.”

From that time on, whenever Lara had a free moment, Cohn made it a point to talk to her, to draw her out. He was impressed by her quick intelligence and her independent spirit.

One day Charles Cohn confided to Lara what he was doing in Glace Bay. “I’m an executive with Continental Supplies.” It was a famous national chain. “I’m here to find a location for our new store.”

“That’s exciting,” Lara said.
I knew he was in Glace Bay for some important reason.
“You’re going to put up a building?”

“No. We’ll find someone else to do that. We just lease our buildings.”

At three o’clock in the morning Lara awakened out of a sound sleep and sat up in bed, her heart pounding wildly. Had it been a dream? No. Her mind was racing. She was too excited to go back to sleep.

When Charles Cohn came out of his room for breakfast, Lara was waiting for him.

“Mr. Cohn…I know a great place,” she blurted out.

He stared at her, puzzled. “What?”

“For the location you’re looking for.”

“Oh? Where?”

Lara evaded the question. “Let me ask you something. If I owned a location that you liked, and if I put up a building on it, would you agree to lease it from me for five years?”

He shook his head. “That’s a rather hypothetical question, isn’t it?”

“Would you?” Lara persisted.

“Lara, what do you know about putting up a building?”

“I wouldn’t be putting it up,” she said. “I’d hire an architect and a good construction firm to do that.”

Charles Cohn was watching her closely. “I see. And where is this wonderful piece of land?”

“I’ll show it to you,” Lara said. “Believe me, you’re going to love it. It’s perfect.”

After breakfast Lara took Charles Cohn downtown. At the corner of Main and Commercial streets in the center of Glace Bay was a vacant square block. It was a site Cohn had examined two days earlier.

“This is the location I had in mind,” Lara said.

Cohn stood there, pretending to study it. “You have an
ahf
—a nose. It’s a very good location.”

He had already made discreet inquiries and learned that the property was owned by a banker, Sean MacAllister. Cohn’s assignment was to locate a site, arrange for someone to construct
the building, and then lease it from them. It would not matter to the company who put up the building as long as its specifications were met.

Cohn was studying Lara.
She’s too young,
he thought.
It’s a foolish idea. And yet…“I found a kosher meat market in Sydney…Tomorrow you’re having a steak.”
She had such
rachmones
—compassion.

Lara was saying, excitedly, “If I could acquire this land and put up a building to meet your specifications, would you give me a five-year lease?”

He paused, and then said slowly, “No, Lara. It would have to be a ten-year lease.”

That afternoon Lara went to see Sean MacAllister. He looked up in surprise as she walked into his office.

“You’re a few days early, Lara. Today’s only Wednesday.”

“I know. I want to ask a favor, Mr. MacAllister.”

Sean MacAllister sat there, watching her.
She has really turned into a beautiful-looking girl. Not a girl, a woman.
He could see the swell of her breasts against the cotton blouse she was wearing.

“Sit down, my dear. What can I do for you?”

Lara was too excited to sit. “I want to take out a loan.”

It took him by surprise. “What?”

“I’d like to borrow some money.”

He smiled indulgently. “I don’t see why not. If you need a new dress or something, I’ll be happy to advance…”

“I want to borrow two hundred thousand dollars.”

MacAllister’s smile died. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“No, sir.” Lara leaned forward and said earnestly, “There’s a piece of land I want to buy to put up a building. I have an important tenant who’s willing to give me a ten-year
lease. That will guarantee the cost of the land and the building.”

MacAllister was studying her, frowning. “Have you discussed this with the owner of the land?”

“I’m discussing it with him now,” Lara said.

It took a moment for it to sink in. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that this is land that / own?”

“Yes. It’s the lot on the corner of Main and Commercial streets.”

“You came here to borrow money from
me
to buy
my
land?”

“That lot is worth no more than twenty thousand dollars. I checked. I’m offering you thirty. You’ll make a profit of ten thousand dollars on the land plus interest on two hundred thousand dollars you’re going to loan me to put up the building.”

MacAllister shook his head. “You’re asking me to loan you two hundred thousand dollars with no security. It’s out of the question.”

Lara leaned forward. “There
is
security. You’ll hold the mortgage on the building and the land. You can’t lose.”

MacAllister sat there studying her, turning her proposal over in his mind. He smiled. “You know,” he said, “you have a lot of nerve. But I could never explain a loan like that to my board of directors.”

“You have no board of directors,” Lara told him.

The smile turned to a grin. “True.”

Lara leaned forward, and he could see her breasts touching the edge of his desk.

“If you say yes, Mr. MacAllister, you’ll never regret it. I promise.”

He could not take his eyes off her breasts. “You’re not a bit like your father, are you?”

“No, sir.”
Nothing like him,
Lara thought fiercely.

“Supposing for the sake of argument,” MacAllister said carefully, “that I was interested. Who is this tenant of yours?”

“His name is Charles Cohn. He’s an executive with Continental Supplies.”

“The chain store?”

“Yes.”

MacAllister was suddenly very interested.

Lara went on. “They want to have a big store built here to supply the miners and lumbermen with equipment.”

To MacAllister, it had the smell of instant success.

“Where did you meet this man?” he asked casually.

“He’s staying at the boardinghouse.”

“I see. Let me think about it, Lara. We’ll discuss it again tomorrow.”

Lara was almost trembling with excitement. “Thank you, Mr. MacAllister. You won’t be sorry.”

He smiled. “No, I don’t think I will be.”

That afternoon Sean MacAllister went to the boardinghouse to meet Charles Cohn.

“I just dropped by to welcome you to Glace Bay,” MacAllister said. “I’m Sean MacAllister. I own the bank here. I heard you were in town. But you shouldn’t be staying at my boardinghouse; you should be staying at my hotel. It’s much more comfortable.”

“It was full,” Mr. Cohn explained.

“That’s because we didn’t know who you were.”

Mr. Cohn said pleasantly, “Who am I?”

Sean MacAllister smiled. “We don’t have to play games, Mr. Cohn. Word gets around. I understand that you’re interested in leasing a building to be put up on a property I own.”

“What property would that be?”

“The lot at Main and Commercial. It’s a great location, isn’t it? I don’t think we’ll have any problem making a deal.”

“I already have a deal with someone.”

Sean MacAllister laughed. “Lara? She’s a pretty little thing, isn’t she? Why don’t you come down to the bank with me and we’ll draw up a contract?”

“I don’t think you understand, Mr. MacAllister. I said I already have a deal.”

“I don’t think
you
understand, Mr. Cohn. Lara doesn’t own that land. I do.”

“She’s trying to buy it from you, isn’t she?”

“Yes. I don’t have to sell it to her.”

“And I don’t have to use that lot. I’ve seen three other lots that will do just as nicely. Thanks for dropping by.”

Sean MacAllister looked at him for a long moment. “You mean…you’re serious?”

“Very. I never go into a deal that’s not kosher, and I never break my word.”

“But Lara doesn’t know anything about building. She…”

“She plans to find people who do. Naturally, we’ll have final approval.”

The banker was thoughtful. “Do I understand that Continental Supplies is willing to sign a ten-year lease?”

“That’s correct.”

“I see. Well, under the circumstances, I…let me think about it.”

When Lara arrived at the boardinghouse, Charles Cohn told her about his conversation with the banker.

Lara was upset. “You mean Mr. MacAllister went behind my back and…?”

“Don’t worry,” Cohn assured her, “he’ll make the deal with you.”

“Do you really think so?”

“He’s a banker. He’s in business to make a profit.”

“What about you? Why are you doing this for me?” Lara asked.

He had asked himself the same question.
Because you’re achingly young,
he thought.
Because you don’t belong in this town. Because I wish I had a daughter like you.

But he said none of those things.

“I have nothing to lose, Lara. I found some other locations that would serve just as well. If you can acquire this land, I’d like to do this for you. It doesn’t matter to my company who I deal with. If you get your loan, and I approve your builder, we’re in business.”