The Dreeson Incident(220)

"Minnie told me that Denise didn't get mad; she got even. That he started it. She didn't offer any details and I didn't ask for any." That was as far as Wes originally intended to go. But. "That I would have lost my temper and messed it up."



"You feel no obligation to bring this to the attention of the authorities?"



"I was quite prepared to let the authorities deal with his treason." Wes paused. "That's political. Threatening Clara, beating Lenore—that was different. Personal. Denise and Minnie didn't do anything that I wouldn't have done if I had caught up with him. That was personal, too, for them. For Buster, for Henry. They only did it better."



"I think, then, that I will arrange a coffee. The two parents. Mrs. Dreeson. Mrs. Wiley."



"I'd suggest that you invite Joe Pallavicino, too. You might get some good input. He knows them as well as anyone in the school system does."



Don Francisco nodded his thanks.





"I know," Don Francisco said, nodding at the three widows, "that for you it was a tragedy. A great personal tragedy, and I do extend my full sympathy to you all. But in the larger picture, both for the USE and for Grantville . . . You do realize, I hope, that as a result of the reaction against the assassinations in front of the synagogue, particularly against that of Herr Dreeson, anti-Semitism as an organized phenomenon will almost vanish from the United States of Europe. So will witch-hunting. For a number of years, at least. Individual prejudices, of course, are a different matter. This may even extend to any kind of outright reactionary political formations in the USE, because, given the nature of the situation, all of them had been dabbling heavily in the anti-Semitic efforts."



Veronica nodded. "So be it. Henry hated all that viciousness. And . . . he would not have liked being an invalid. Not at all. And, as Doctor Nichols had told him, hip replacements will remain a 'thing of the future' for a long time yet."



"As for Grantville itself," Don Francisco began.



This time Inez Wiley nodded. "Yes, this has brought the town together again. It is more . . . more cohesive . . . now than it has been since right after the Croat raid. We were cracking apart. People are so tired, so overworked. So many men have taken jobs elsewhere, the soldiers have been stationed in other places for so long, so many families have been split again. First losing relatives to the Ring of Fire, then to other towns and cities. And so many new people coming in so fast, taking their places in some ways, but not quite. I hate to think that it took the deaths of Henry and Enoch to reverse the breakdown, but since it did and I'm sure it was not the intention of the assassins that it did, God has granted us justice."



She blinked. "So, that's all right. Even if most people won't ever notice how it happened. Otherwise, it's been a little tempestuous since Enoch's funeral. Will and Gina are going to marry each other again, so maybe I'll have more grandchildren yet. Gina's only thirty-three." Her voice caught in her throat, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "If she doesn't shoot him first. I sure hope he's learned his lesson. The power plant is designated safety-critical, so ever since the Ring of Fire, she's been real conscientious about keeping up her target practice at the police range every week."



Don Francisco nodded his respect. He could not have said himself whether the respect was for Inez or Gina. Grantville's women were . . . astonishing. Spiritual sisters of Judith and Jael. Now for the next part.



"Your daughters," he said. This time he gestured to Benny Pierce and Christin. "They are growing up."



Yes, Don Francisco granted to himself, these girls were dangerous. Would continue to be dangerous as they matured. As dangerous as any man such as Harry Lefferts, he thought. More dangerous, perhaps, because people did not see it so quickly in females. His mind drifted back briefly to the City. To the Sultana Valide. He must, if possible, have them. It would be far better to have their potential harnessed than left to run loose.



He hoped he would never have to tell the old man and Denise's mother what Nathan Prickett had written to him from Frankfurt. There was certainly no reason to do so right now. And there was no hurry, of course. Perhaps he should let them finish high school here in Grantville first. However . . .



"The girl Denise," he began, "wrote me a very interesting letter some time back, containing extremely valuable information that she and Minnie had compiled. Combined with other data, it was extremely helpful in tracking the instigators of the attack on the synagogue and the motives for the assassination. Additionally, at the time of the Jenkins child's birth, the girl Minnie delivered an impromptu emergency report that was a model of brevity and relevance. It is time, perhaps, that they should be considering their future careers. I will be starting up a private practice that continues much of my previous work for the government. I believe what you up-timers would call a 'consultant' sort of thing. I will always have need of . . ."