"What cancer?" Missy asked.
"She was diagnosed in the summer of '95. You were only ten, then. They operated at the university hospital in Morgantown. She was back and forth for radiation and chemo for a long time. She had to take leave from her job for nearly a year. Joe was still working out of Morgantown. He rented out the house in Fairmont and moved them all up there into an apartment so she wouldn't be faced with driving back and forth all the time, or finding someone to drive her if she was too nauseated. Got an older woman to live in so she didn't have to worry about constantly finding sitters for Juliann or where Billy Lee would be after school."
"How did I miss all that?"
Debbie sighed. "There were other things going on here at the time. And we didn't see them all that frequently anyway, so you may not really have noticed the difference. Aside from being sisters, Aura Lee and I didn't really have the same friends, the same acquaintances, by then. It had been over fifteen years since we shared that apartment while we were at the university. She was in Charleston for seven years and then had her own concerns the first few years after they got married. The doctors had to take both Billy Lee and Juliann by C-section and neither pregnancy was what they call uncomplicated."
"I've been getting so much news lately," Missy said, "that I sort of feel like one of the guys who were under the gun in the 'Charge of the Light Brigade' poem."
"If you think about it," Debbie said, "mostly our families only saw one another when all of us were out at your Pop and Nani's for a holiday. You and Chip were enough older than Billy Lee and Juliann that you were set to watch them more often than you played with them, really. The two of you had Eric and Dana to play with. Bill was a bit older. In fact, half the time he watched the little ones while the four of you played. He's always been very responsible."
Missy leaned forward, her elbows on the table. "And Dad and Uncle Joe don't really get along all that well. I know. Anyway. Is she okay now? Aunt Aura Lee, I mean?"
"As far as I know," Debbie said. "I certainly hope so. Because if the cancer recurs, down-time, there's not going to be much anyone can do about it."
"Yeah," Missy said. "Bill and Ron go on and on about that sort of thing when they're talking to one another out at Lothlorien. On and on and on. That the kind of research they're trying to do will be of more help to our children and grandchildren than to our parents and grandparents."
Chapter 65
Magdeburg
"You're sure about that?" Mike Stearns took his gaze away from his office window and looked back over his shoulder at Nasi, sitting in a chair next to his desk. The spymaster had just returned to the capital that morning and had requested an immediate meeting with his boss.
"Yes," said Francisco firmly. "I have weighed the matter carefully, and for many hours. Double-checking myself to make sure I did not overlook any piece of the puzzle."
Mike looked back down at the Elbe. With such a nice sunny day, he had the window open, so he could enjoy some fresh air. "It seems a little incredible, though."
Nasi smiled, a bit ruefully. "Yes, I suppose. But it's not, really. I was only able to unravel the plot myself through a haphazard series of chances. However preposterous the overall logic of their scheme might have been, Ducos and his people carried it out quite well in the details."
Mike nodded. "Yes, I understand. Still… Nobody knows?"
Nasi made a face. "Well… I wouldn't put it quite that strongly. Cory Joe Lang knows the truth, of course, and perhaps his sister Pam. But both of them have every personal reason to want the matter kept secret. Ed Piazza and Wes Jenkins-perhaps Arnold Bellamy also; always hard to tell with him-understand much of the plot, at least at it impacted directly on Thuringia and Franconia. But I spoke to both of them and they are agreed that no good purpose would be served by making the matter public. It's quite clear that Laurent Mauger had no idea that he was actually working for Ducos' fanatics, nor did he know what they had planned in the way of attacks on the hospital and synagogue. He was, as you say, a 'cat's-paw.' Or a 'patsy,' if I understand that term correctly."
He shrugged. "So why make his role public? Or that of Dumais, who was his agent on the spot? That would only have the immediate effect of damaging the personal situations of Velma Hardesty's children, Cory Joe and Pam and Susan. Who are certainly blameless in all respects. And, in the long run, it would be foolish. Far better for us to have a lead into some of the inner circles of the Huguenot political exiles, which we now have through the Mauger connection. Not to mention…"
"Yes, I understand. Duke Henri de Rohan will be quite careful to stay on good terms with us, from now on. Lest we drag this mess out from under a rock and beat him with it."
"His brother Soubise, as well. Both quite capable men, and who can say what alliances might be valuable in the time to come? As it stands, Rohan sent me a letter recently assuring us that he had no knowledge whatsoever of Ducos' intentions. He also provided me with some details of the plot that had previously been obscure, that his agents had uncovered themselves. I think that's a connection that will prove valuable in the future, especially given his close ties to Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar."
Mike turned away from the window and resumed his seat behind the desk. "Okay. And I'm not really worried about Ed and Wes anyway. But what about the kids? They've got to know most of it."
"Oh, yes. But the four who are critical-Denise, Minnie, Ron Stone and Missy Jenkins-have every reason to keep quiet also." Nasi raised his fist and coughed into it. "Not, you understand, that I was so coarse as to threaten to press murder charges against the two girls. I made no reference to the matter of Holloway's killing at all. Still, they have every reason to, as you say, let lying dogs sleep."
"It's 'sleeping dogs lie.' But I see your point." Mike chuckled softly. "Not that they'd really have much to worry about. No jury in Grantville would convict Denise of murder. Hell, not even manslaughter. Not after what Holloway did before he beat it out of town, and not after what her father did at the synagogue. But she's only sixteen, and the kind of kid who takes it for granted that her relationship with the authorities will always be a contentious one."
He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking.
"And no one in the leadership of the Committees of Correspondence knows anything," he mused. "Like everyone else, they're assuming that the killings were carried out by one or another of the anti-Semitic outfits."
"Exactly." Nasi chuckled also, much less softly than Mike had done. "It's amusing, in a way. Ducos' people did their job too well. By keeping their own role hidden and using anti-Semites and other fanatics as their… ah, forward men?"
"Front men."
"Yes, front men. By doing so, they completely failed in their ultimate aim. I doubt if there is a single sane person in the Germanies who suspects Cardinal Richelieu of the deed. Instead, everyone is blaming our homegrown reactionaries-who were actually not much more than patsies themselves."
"Vicious, stinking, filthy patsies," said Mike, re-opening his eyes. "And soon to be very dead patsies, many of them. And good riddance."
He sat up straight. "All right, Francisco. We'll do it. Is Gretchen back in Magdeburg yet?"
"She's supposed to arrive tomorrow."
"Fine. Pass the word quietly to Spartacus that I'll want a private meeting-very private-with the two of them, as soon as she returns. Um. Better include Gunther Achterhof in the invitation also. For something like this, it'd be pointless not to involve him from the start."
Nasi nodded. "And which of the lists do you want me to have ready for them?"
"All of them," said Mike grimly.
Nasi's eyebrows went up. "You are certain?"
Mike nodded. "Yes, I am. Every last scrap of information you've put together on the USE's anti-Semitic outfits."