Safety Harbor. Chuck Cooper

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СКАЧАТЬ won’t have it!” said Lou. He called out to Pinna, his assistant, “Get Frank in here!”

      He turned to the women. “Somebody’s got to talk some sense into you people!”

      “Oh, we weren’t the only ones at the meeting,” said Carmelita.

      “Who else? Who else?

      “Sally Hankins, of course. Nate Beard, Jeremy Woods, and [pause] Hope Schofield,” said Katye, with a Mona Lisa smile escaping the left side of her lips.

      “Hope was there?”

      He sank back into his chair stunned.

      “We thought she might have told you where she was going last night, Mr. Mayor,” said Susanna.

      “She told me she was going to a meeting, but she has a plethora of meetings. I didn’t even bother to ask. And Beard and Woods! Those guys are merchants! Business people! They know better than this. What will this do to the city’s image? I’ll be the laughing stock of the Coastal Mayor’s Conference!”

      “Oh, it’s not about any one of us, Mr. Mayor,” said Carmelita quietly. “It’s about the city and the community. It’s about all of us, not just a part of us or a few of us. It’s about everybody. It’s about the people at the Monastery of the Unsettled as well as those of us who live in the city limits. That’s what this community is. That’s what Joe’s Plan is all about and it’s a good one, we think.”

      “Joe’s Plan, eh? Where is Joe anyway? Seems he ought to have the courage to show up and present his own plan!’

      Father Callaghan appeared at the door.

      “To what do I owe the dubious honor of being summoned to Mayor Schofield’s office?” he asked, with a mild look of amusement.

      “This can’t happen, Father.”

      “What can’t happen?”

      “Don’t play coy with me, Frank,” Lou responded.

      “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

      “Of course you do! You’re probably behind all this!”

      “That’s unfair, Lou,” Katye spoke up. “He hasn’t seen the Plan. You know more than Father does!”

      “Well, let’s hear it!” said Father. “I’m anxious to know what I’ve been conspiring to do!”

      “Essentially, it involves having some people in the parade that no one thought about, and some don’t want, and it will change the presentation of the image of the city pretty drastically,” said Susanna. “There are some changes, should we say, in the order of things.”

      Father Callaghan raised his eyebrows.

      “Did Joe leave anything that explains these changes? Any reason at all?”

      Carmelita handed Joe’s Plan to Father.

      “Let me see that!” Lou simmered.

      Frank walked over to the mayor’s desk, handed him the letter and bent over his shoulder to read it. After all of the suggestions that sounded more like instructions, Joe had written a small treatise. Father read it aloud.

      It is my hope that this parade will be an event beyond itself. I will be proud of this city if it has the courage to demonstrate that it is a place where the least of us are great, where all are valued, and where human dignity is respected regardless of station or status, where everyone is free to be who they are without being censored or judged. After all, the name of our home is Safety Harbor.

      No one wanted to be the first to speak up. No words seemed adequate. Even Lou was quiet. There would be no more discussion. Katye broke the ice.

      “We’d better get the Unsettlement involved in this conversation to see if they’re interested in participating.”

      Katye, Carmelita, and Father Callaghan were designated to represent the committee down at the Unsettlement. Half an hour later, they were on their way south. Katye drove. Father sat in the back. Carmelita rode shotgun. They journeyed in silence down the winding road that follows the fanciful meanderings of the coastline. The ocean was a deep blue against the sky. It was nearly noon now. The warmth of the summer sun coming through the car and the rhythm of the majestic waves, had a hypnotizing effect upon the travelers.

      “I suppose we ought to call Rocky and Magdalena and let them know we’re coming,” said Father.

      “I’ve already done that, Father!” said Katye. “At least Magdalena will be there.”

      “I should have known! You and your efficiency!”

      Carmelita was nodding off in the warmth of the sun and shook herself when her cell phone rang. “Oh my! That’s too bad. You’d better go tell her, Marshall, before word gets to her otherwise. I won’t be back in town for a while.”

      “What is it, Katye?” asked Father.

      “It’s Keith Hankins, Sally’s husband,” she said. “He’s been killed in an explosion up in Alaska.”

      “Mother o’ God!” he responded. He made the sign of the cross.

      “Do we need to go back?” asked Katye.

      “No, we’d better take care of business on this parade. We need to stay focused, or those who are advocating for the status quo will take advantage of the situation. Marshall will go and inform Sally.”

      Katye turned left off the Pacific Coast Highway and drove down the long easement. Magdalena was there to meet them. She walked to the car and welcomed each of them with an embrace.

      “Rock’s not back yet,” she said. “He had to go into Lincoln City for supplies.”

      There was a large tent, with open sides, erected for common meals and community meetings. They walked to one of the large tables under the tent and sat down.

      Chapter 8

      Marshall sat in his office with his feet on his desk. He’d only been in law enforcement for two years. How could he do this? Maybe he would order some lunch in the diner and then wait until everybody was gone to tell her. He rehearsed several other scenarios, but they all involved delay in notifying her. He knew he couldn’t follow through with any of them. He just had to go in there and tell her.

      He got in the car and drove the three blocks to the diner, pulling up next to the front entrance. For a few minutes, he sat there in a vacuous state, neither thinking nor feeling. He noticed movement to his right and turned to see Susanna pulling in beside him. Suddenly, he saw a way out. He rolled his window down and waited for Susanna to pass by the car.

      “Could I talk to you a minute?”

      “How may I be of assistance, Deputy?” she asked.

      “It’s difficult to talk about it here. Would you mind sitting in the car with me?” he asked.

      She СКАЧАТЬ