Blessings (14 page)

“Nasty, it’s true. But you can see the other side too. It’s hard to explain to a man who sees the possibility of a few years’ worth of jobs that we have to think of the larger community and of future generations. Put yourself in his shoes if you can,” Arthur Wolfe said.

Jennie sighed. “I can. I work every day with people who don’t have enough of anything. There could be conflict in my mind, too, over this issue, except that I’ve told myself, and I really know, that we’re right in the long run. But as you say, that’s hard to explain to people who need things right now.”

And Arthur, helping the two women as they slid across the icy pavement, repeated Cromwell’s friendly warning: “You’ve got your work cut out for you, Jennie.”

With the aid of a large map and pointer at the front of the auditorium, the proposal was outlined for all to understand: five hundred attached condominiums, seventy-five single-family structures, dam, lake, golf course, tennis courts, swimming pools, and ski run.

The board members sat in a row, slightly elevated, on the platform from which the principal, flanked by the Stars and Stripes on one side and the school flag on the other, ordinarily conducted school assemblies. They wore the same air of authority. Occasionally Jennie intercepted a glance from one of them; male and middle-aged, they were probably thinking that she ought to be at home right now preparing the next day’s lunch boxes for her children.

The meeting was now about to enter its third hour. After the customary give-and-take among experts; technical reports from environmental engineers, consulting engineers, surveyors, and sundry planners; after keen, persistent questioning by Jennie and by the attorney for Barker Developers—the audience, some of whom had had to stand, was restive. People wanted to be heard. They wanted action.

“We have a procedure now,” said the chairman, “that we have to follow. I believe we have some letters to be read into the record. If you will, Mr. McVee.”

“Just one. We have a letter from David and Rebecca Pyle, dated September fourth.”

Dear Sir,

We write to tell you of our concern about the proposed development in the Green Marsh. Our adjacent farm lies lower than the northern end of the property in question, and it is our fear that the water supply, on which our dairy herd depends, will be curtailed and contaminated if the marsh is drained and the lake enlarged. We now have a clear, pristine lake, and it must not be destroyed to become instead a breeder of disease.

If the developer really believes that this will not be the case, then we think he should be made to guarantee in writing that the development will bring no harm, and be prepared to meet the cost of any damages if it should.

We rely on this board to make the right decision and to protect our interests.

Sincerely,

David and Roberta Pyle A letter with a legal tone, Jennie said to herself. They’ve already had advice.

A question came from the dais. “Do you have any comment about that, Mr. Schultz?”

The attorney for Barker, quick on his feet, was standing before the question had been half spoken. He was a young man, about Jennie’s age, wearing skillfully chosen country clothes, slightly worn but not too much so, with a sweater visible under his jacket. His manner was engaging.

“As to written guarantees, Mr. Chairman?”

“Yes, if you care to.”

Mr. Schultz smiled, raising his eyebrows in mild surprise. “Well, sir, as we all know, that’s unheard-of. We stand on our record, which should be sufficient. Barker Development has built condominiums in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, throughout New England, and in Florida. The quality of their work is what has built their reputation.”

Jennie responded. “May I speak, Mr. Chairman? This is not an answer to the very reasonable request in this letter. We have a serious problem here, one that I have certainly tried to bring out this evening. We need to know specifically about things like backup flooding, water elevation, and so forth and so on, if they build as they have outlined. I have noted that Mr. Schultz has not brought a water expert to testify.”

“Mr. Chairman, Mr. Bailey spoke at some length. He is a qualified engineer.”

Jennie persisted. “But not a water specialist.”

Schultz gave a slight shrug, as if to say, Why quibble? “Specialist enough, I think it’s reasonable to say. We had no idea we would meet up with … may I call them rather finicky objections? We expected to be welcomed with enthusiasm, and I believe we shall be, because we are going to improve this town, and most of its citizens understand that.”

Jennie, still facing the chairman, shook her head. “But there are some citizens who do not see things that way. They’re not unsophisticated people who can have the wool pulled over their eyes. There have been other doubts and objections besides the one we just heard: letters to the newspapers—”

A harsh voice interrupted, loudly enough to startle the whole assembly. “They don’t speak for me, and neither do you!”

All heads turned. In the third row a man stood boldly, as if he had just thrown a fastball and was waiting to see who would catch it. About forty-five years old, he had a strong, rather good-looking face with thick black hair and several days growth of dark beard. He wore a motorcycle thug’s black leather jacket; opened, it revealed a soiled shirt and a powerful chest.

The astonished chairman reprimanded him. “Address the chair please, and no one else.”

“Fine. I’ll tell you just what I think. They and their preservation committee! And a bunch of foreigners come up here from New York. They don’t want anybody to make a dollar, do they? Sure, they’ve got all they want, so who cares? Who gives a damn!”

Voices broke out all over the hall.

“Foreigners? Since when is New York City a foreign country?”

“Quiet here!”

“He knows what he’s talking about!”

“Damn right, he does!”

“Should be thrown out, the fool!”

“Good boy, Bruce!”

“Oh, shut up!”

“Quiet here! Have some respect!”

“You’re out of order, Mr. Fisher. Please moderate your language or sit down.”

The gavel was pounded fiercely. Order was restored and questions were resumed. Someone asked about recreation facilities, to which Mr. Schultz replied that there was to be a clubhouse, a baseball field, and water sports on the enlarged lake.

“All for the use of the purchasers?” inquired Jennie.

“Well, yes, it will be a club community. A clubhouse with the usual features.”

“But at present,” she said softly, “the land is available to everyone, to all citizens, for recreation. Your development will take it away from them, and that should be noted, I think.”

The harsh voice rang out again. Fisher stood up and scoffed. “For everyone! For a handful of nature nuts, that’s who. Bunch of Communists from the city come up here and talk about nature. Wouldn’t know an owl from a polecat if they fell over one. Communists, that’s all. Against progress, against private property. People want to invest. They’ve a right to invest their money. The country was built by people like this Barker outfit.”

Young Mr. Schultz put on a benign expression in acknowledgment of the praise. Crazier and crazier, Jennie thought.

The chairman raised his voice. “I’m telling you again, Mr. Fisher, sit down.”

Fisher ignored him. “You’re nothing but a hired gun, Miss Beluski, or whatever your name is. I can’t pronounce it. I’m not a rich man like the folks who hired you.”

There were cries of “Shame!” and also some applause.

“Out of order,” shouted the chairman, his mild face now flushed, his expression baffled.

“I represent a group of concerned citizens, and I’m no more a hired gun than Mr. Schultz is.” Taking care to observe protocol, Jennie replied not to Fisher but to the chair.

“A hired gun!” repeated Fisher in defiance.

The chairman rose from his seat. “Mr. Fisher! We shall have you removed from this hall if you don’t sit down and keep quiet.”

Fisher sat down. Out of the corner of her eye Jennie watched him. What she saw was concentrated hatred. But why? That voice … He looked about seven feet tall. And the black leather jacket seemed a symbol of violence. She controlled a shiver. Silly … He was only a common tough, some sort of mental case. It was all in a day’s work.

“It’s late,” the chairman said. “There’s time for a brief summation if either of the attorneys wishes to make one. After that this board will study the matter and will report by the end of the month. Mr. Schultz?”

Schultz spoke briefly. “Actually I have nothing to add. Barker Development rests on its reputation and its willingness to invest substantial sums in this town, thus showing confidence in the town’s future as it enters—as we all make ready to enter—a new century. We hope that no overemphasis on conservation will be an obstacle to the welfare of human beings. It is a sentimental, elitist attitude, revealing a preference for wildlife—for deer or migrating birds—over human beings. I thank the board for its courtesy,” he said agreeably, “and leave with confidence that you will vote on the side of progress.”

Jennie had intended to be brief and factual. But the easy smugness of her opponent, coming after the hostile disruption, shook her intensely, and when she stood to speak, her voice quivered.

“Mr. Chairman, this is an historic moment for your town. I do believe that everybody here will have reason to remember how you decide the question that has been brought before you this evening.

“I’m well aware of the conflicting thoughts some of you must have. You want jobs, and these people are offering to create them. But I remind you that the jobs will be short-lived. They don’t really solve your problems. These builders will flock in and be gone in a couple of years.

“I’m aware, too, that if the Green Marsh is destroyed, it won’t be the end of the world. But it will be the end of a part of your particular, familiar world.”

The auditorium was quite still. People were listening. The members of the board were leaning forward, watching Jennie.

“Even if it should be true—and I don’t believe it—that this project wouldn’t affect the water table, there are too many other things to be reckoned with. Think! All that gorgeous land and the creatures who have lived on it for thousands of years would be gone forever. All the space and the peace that have served you and your children …” She felt impassioned, which surprised her. She saw herself as she’d stood with Jay that morning at the top of the rise overlooking the marsh, the lake, the dripping trees; the immensity of foggy green had stretched as far as one could see, to the northern line where the silent hills began.

Her mind wandered. She had been so free that morning, as if she’d had wings. There’d been no weight, no looming threat of disaster, no hovering cloud. Now the cloud closed in again, the weight clamped down on her throat, and she faltered. And then in panic remembered where she was. They were waiting… .

Mercifully her mind picked up the thread of her thoughts, and she was able to go on.

“It is not fair to vote all that away, to give it away in exchange for short-lived dollars. Let us at least give the state a chance to incorporate this land within the wild and scenic system, so that others, years from now, may walk there and fish and swim and watch the birds and the changing seasons. I ask you, gentlemen, I plead with you to deny this application.”

For several seconds after Jennie stopped speaking, there was a marked, unusual stillness, without a cough, a rustling of paper, or shuffling of shoes. Every face in the row on the dais was turned to her, and she had a flashing thought: Why, they all look surprised!

The chairman said as he rose, “Thank you very much. Thank you all. The meeting is now adjourned.”

Slowly Jennie made her way through the crowd as it pressed toward the exit. As they moved forward, some people offered congratulations. “I teach sixth grade, and I’m trying to give my pupils some understanding of what you said.” And, “You spoke to the point,” and, “I couldn’t agree more.” But other faces were stony, staring at her with disapproval as they passed, and deliberately turned away.

Far ahead, at the foot of the short flight of steps that led to the outer lobby, she saw the Wolfes waiting for her. Suddenly she was weary, unsure of her accomplishment. It was just then, as she started down the steps, that she was roughly shoved in the small of the back. She staggered, tripped, and was saved from falling only by stumbling against, and being caught by, the man in front of her. Shocked and furious, she cried out, and turning,

she found her face only inches away from the laughing mouth—wet, red lips; decayed brown teeth—of the man in the black leather jacket.

“Why, you …” she began. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Still laughing, he gave her a jab in the side with his elbow as he slipped through an opening in the throng and ran out the front door.

Jennie’s heart was still pounding when she reached the Wolfes. They were flushed with excitement, and for some reason unexplainable even to herself, she hid her distress.

“Jennie! You were marvelous!” Enid cried. “You really were. Wait till we tell Jay!”

It had begun to snow. Sticky, wet flakes fell slowly through the still, windless air and must have been falling during the hours when they had been indoors, for the icy pavement was hidden now under soft fluff, as was the car. Jennie and Enid got in while Arthur scraped the windows.

“I really think you moved the board people. I kept watching their faces. Some of them I’m sure of,” Enid said. “The chairman, certainly.”

“He was probably on my side, anyway, before I said a word,” Jennie reminded her.

“Well, all right, but there are others who were on the fence before. I know. Mr. Sands kept nodding at some things you said.”

Arthur started the car, and they joined the slow line leading out of the parking lot.

“Yes, you gave them something to think about,” he agreed. “You did well, coming up against Schultz. Talk of smooth! He knows his business and knows how to persuade.”

Through the veil of snow Jennie thought she recognized the battered car with the signs, and her enemy driving it. The huge head; the huge, round shoulders … but perhaps not …