No one is as important enough to walk wherever he wants. He's bound to run into something that will stop him.
Mature Content: No
With: Charles Wentworth Sr and Judge Ben Robertson
Location: Helena, Montana
Time of Day: Morning
Charles looked at his watch for what was probably the fourth time in the last ten minutes. His old friend was due at any minute and he was anxious to know why he had come all this way to speak with him when they could have done so in Kalispell.
He had left Washington as soon as he could and thankfully it had been a trouble-free trip so far. The plan had to been to find either a stagecoach or hire someone to take him the rest of the way to Kalispell. The snow was already melting making the trip there impossible. It was a trip he had wanted to make for some months, ever since he had found out that Charlie had quit college and headed west to be with his brothers. The imminent arrival of his first grandchild and the coming winter had made it impossible to go back then.
In a way, it was a good thing the mission to go get Charlie and drag him back to college had been delayed. It had given time for him to calm down and along with a few other things that had taken place in the last few months, a chance to re-assess his motives and relationship with his sons. Even Becky had her say and what she said had made sense. Even though, he would always try to convince one or more of his sons to join him Washington, deep down he knew that they had made their own paths just like he did.
Picking up the telegram that he had received upon his arrival in Helena, he re-read it. Ben had asked him to stay at Helena until he could get there as he had something important to discuss. The telegram had been a surprise as his last correspondence with Ben was in late November.
A knock at his room door, alerted him to the fact that his guest had arrived. Going over to the door, he opened it and smiled, "Ben, it's great to see you. Come right in."
Judge Ben Robertson, smiling a bigger smile, entered the room and shook hands with his old friend. They had both grown up together in Wilmington, Ohio and even though he was a couple of years old than Charles, they treated each other like brothers. When the time came to go their separate ways to seek their fortunes, he had gone westward, while Charles had headed east. They wrote to each on a regular basis and had even managed to see each other a few times over the years.
The two men spent the next thirty minutes reminiscing and catching up with each other. Charles, reluctantly decided to get to the reason why Ben had wanted to see him now. "Your telegram said that it was important. I hope it has nothing to do with my sons."
"No, they're not part of this, well at least not yet. We're hoping to ask Matt, but I wanted to ask you first. I have a business proposition for you and I'm hoping that you will agree to it. The stakes are high, and the future of Kalispell depends on it."
No one is as important enough to walk wherever he wants. He's bound to run into something that will stop him.
"The future of Kalispell? That sounds a bit ominent. I hope it isn't that bad."
"It could be," Ben answered, "It all depends on you ask."
Leaning forward in his chair, he sighed deeply, "Kalispell is a good town and we all want the best for it. The town has been offered a couple of concessions in exchange for land to build a hospital and an orphanage. The hospital and orphanage will be privately funded by one person."
Charles frowned, "I don't understand. If the town doesn't need to worry about financing this project, then what's the problem?"
"The financing and in particular the person doing it is the problem. If the town council agrees to this project, then the land and not to mention the hospital and orphanage will be owned by a Steelgrave."
"I think you better start at the beginning."
Ben nodded, "I think you're right. When you know what the problem is, I'm sure you will understand why we need your help."
For the next few minutes, Ben told Charles about the Steelgraves and their history in the area. When he had finished, he leaned back in his chair. "As you can see, we are in a bit of a quandary. Even though Leah says that her father has nothing to do with her plans and that she is estranged from him, there's always the possibility of them reconciling their differences and getting together on this."
"I see," Charles replied. He already had an idea of where this was going but he wanted to know more. "A hospital and orphanage is important but since you don't want a Steelgrave to fund it or be in charge then you have to find another solution. What does the town council want to do?"
"To put it simply, the town council feels that we should find a way to do this ourselves. People in town are aware of Miss Steelgrave's plan since she has had a lot of stories written about it in our local newspaper and therefore we can't say no to her unless we have a plan of our own. We already have some local business owners interested in investing, but they wish to remain anonymous as they do business with the Steelgraves. The bank has decided to stay out of it all together since it can't be seen as favouring one side over the other. So, we're looking for major investors and please forgive me on this, but since I knew you were coming, I wanted to ask you to invest in our town. Hence, the reason why I asked you delay here before heading to Kalispell."
Looking at his old friend, Charles could see the hint of desperation. Whoever these Steelgraves were, they were a force to be reckon with. The least he could do, was to see if the town was worth the investment. "All right, tell me what you want to me do and I'll see. I can't promise anything until I look over the town and hear what the town council has to say. I may also want to do some investigating of my own before I make my final decision."
Ben smiled, "That's all I ask. For you to consider what we propose is more than enough and more than I could ask you to do. It's a pity your sons don't know you the way I do."
Lowering his head, Charles sighed, "Yes, I've made a lot of mistakes over the years where they are concerned. A large part of the problem, was my own dogged determination to have them be what I wanted them to be and not what they wanted to be. A lot of things have happened in the last six months or so that's made me start to think about my life and what I have should have done."
Ben placed his hand on Charles's shoulder, "It's called getting older and wiser, and we all get there sooner or later. I just hope it's not too late."
"Thanks, I hope it's not either," Charles lifted his head up and pulled out his pocket watch, "Well, it's nearing lunch, so how about we go downstairs to the dining room and we can talk this over some more."