The Lincoln Myth(106)

“Lincoln trusted you enough to send that document.”

“I’m not sure it was from trust. He had to quiet Brigham Young and secure the west for the North. He knew Young would never just take his word, so he sent something of enough value for Young to see he was serious.”

“But Young could have given it to the South,” she said. “And ended it all. From everything I’ve ever read, Mormons of that time hated the federal government.”

“That’s true. We felt it had abandoned us. But it’s equally true that we cherished the Constitution. We never saw it as our duty to destroy the nation.”

“You don’t believe the White Horse Prophecy, do you?” Daniels asked.

“If you had asked me a few days ago I would have said no. Now I’m not so sure. So much of it is becoming reality.”

The president looked tired. “Six hundred thousand people died in the Civil War. More than all of our other wars combined. That’s a lot of American bloodshed.”

And she heard what had not been uttered.

Probably for nothing.

“But we can’t blame Lincoln for what he did,” Daniels said. “He had a difficult decision, and he made it. We’re here thanks to that call. The world is a better place, thanks to that call. Exposing that document would have ended the nation right then. If that had happened, who knows what the world would be like today.” The president paused. “Still, he suppressed the will and words of the founders. He chose, on his own, by himself, to determine what was right for this country.”

And now she realized why she was here. “A choice you may have to make soon, too.”

Daniels’ eyes found hers. “If that document still exists, I’ll have the same decision. Madison’s notes are a problem, but they’re only notes. His reputation for altering and editing makes them suspect. Not near enough proof to dissolve the country. But the document itself, signed and sealed, that would be a deal breaker. Who knows what the courts will do with it. That ball could bounce in any direction. And public opinion? It won’t be good.”

She faced Snow and decided to take advantage of this opportunity. “What is the significance of Falta Nada?”

“It’s a place, one Rowan will be familiar with.”

She caught something in Snow’s eyes. “You want him to go there?”

“It’s necessary that he go there. But it’s important that it be on his own initiative. He cannot sense he’s being led.”

“Do you know much about the man who first owned this house?” Daniels asked her, breaking the moment.

Actually, she did. Francis Preston Blair. Part of Andrew Jackson’s informal group of advisers, the so-called Kitchen Cabinet, publisher of an influential Washington newspaper. He eventually sold the newspaper and withdrew from politics, but returned to the forefront in 1861, becoming one of Lincoln’s trusted friends.

“Lincoln sent Blair to Richmond,” Daniels said, “as an unofficial envoy, to set up peace talks. Those talks happened, at Hampton Roads, in February 1865. Lincoln himself went, but when the South insisted on independence as a condition to peace they reached no agreement. The union   was non-negotiable, as far as Lincoln was concerned. Right to the end, he stuck to his guns.”

“You never finished your answer,” she said to Daniels.

His eyes focused tight. “I don’t want to be forced to make a decision as to what to do with that document. I don’t ever want to see it.”

“Then why tell Rowan what was inside the watch?”

“He and Salazar have to be stopped,” Snow said. “If I die, which could at be any time, Thaddeus Rowan will be the next prophet. That is our way. He is senior in line. Once he’s the prophet, he’ll answer to no one.”

“We tried to get him to quit,” Daniels said. “But you can guess what he said to that.”

Yes, she could.

“Right now”—Daniels held up his fingers—“we have ten people who know of this. Of those, we control all but three—Rowan, Salazar, and Cassiopeia. We’re not sure how much Cassiopeia Vitt knows, but I’m assuming it’s enough. I’m not worried about our people—or you, me, and the prophet here. We all know how to keep a secret, and none of our folks knows it all anyway. But those other three? They’re wild cards.”

She understood. “Even if we manage to get control of the document, Rowan, Salazar, and Cassiopeia can talk.”

Daniels nodded. “And one of them will become the next supreme head of a wealthy and influential religious organization. Rowan has a solid reputation and national credibility. Every indication is that Salazar will be at his side. That’s a dangerous man who we know has murdered one of our own.”