Amanda so wanted to please the two men in her life but it seemed to be almost impossible with this Dr. Montgomery coming. The fear that her father and Taylor shared—that Amanda might act like her mother—was beginning to worry Amanda too. She must not, under any circumstances, forget herself. She must make her father and Taylor proud of her. This professor was a man of great learning and she must not disgrace herself with him. Taylor said Amanda had a frivolous streak in her—no doubt inherited from her mother—that must be suppressed. And he said that the outcome of what happened with the union leaders depended on Amanda’s favorably impressing Dr. Montgomery. A great deal depended on the high caliber of Amanda’s intellectual stimulation of Dr. Montgomery.
She returned to the books.
Hank drove through the beautiful California countryside south of Sacramento, the little Mercer open all around and allowing him to smell the flowers and enjoy the fragrant breezes. It was a beautiful little summer car, no top, no doors, just a bright yellow body, yellow wheels, and black leather seats. It was a man’s car, low to the ground, very fast when pushed, the heavy steering improving the faster it went. The car did have a flaw in the fact that the brakes were next to useless, but its speed and torque (it could climb very steep hills in fourth gear) made up for the bad brakes.
Hank was looking forward to a few weeks of rest on a hop farm. He imagined Caulden’s plump wife serving hot biscuits and gravy in the mornings. He imagined lying in a hammock and dozing in the sultry heat. It would be nice to get away for a while from books and students and papers to grade.
North of Sacramento was Kingman, and he slowed down to look. It was a medium-sized town built around five railroad tracks, and from the hustle and bustle of the people, the place looked to be thriving. There was the Opera House that played motion pictures every Friday and Saturday night and matinees during the week. He passed a rich-looking residential area with big, well-kept houses.
At a filling station on the west side of town, he asked where the Caulden ranch was. The attendant turned and pointed toward the horizon. All Hank saw across the flat land was another town in the distance.
“It’s near that town?” Hank asked.
“That ‘town’ is the ranch,” the attendant replied.
Hank stood and stared at it for a while, looking at building after building spread along the horizon, and he began to understand why the ULW wanted to start at this place. Make a ruckus here and the world would hear the noise.
He got back into the Mercer and started driving toward the Caulden Ranch. He passed several side roads that no doubt led into the ranch but turned when he came to a wide road bordered by palm trees and flowering shrubs. The road led half a mile to a two-story brick house with a wide, deep verandah around most of it.
No one came out at the sound of his car and so he went to the door and knocked. A maid answered, an unsmiling, lusterless-looking little woman who politely took his straw hat, led him out of the dark panelled vestibule and into the big hall. To the left was a pair of french doors, and the maid politely knocked, then slid one door open.
“They are waiting for you,” the maid murmured and Hank moved past her.
In the library, directly before him was a fireplace flanked by two floor-to-ceiling windows that looked into th
e green lushness of a conservatory. He smiled slightly at the sight and thought he’d like to explore the place. To his right were two more doors, both shut.
To his left, he could feel the eyes of people, so he turned slowly and saw two men. The older one had the belligerent look of a mean little kid who was being made to do something he didn’t want to do, while the other one looked as perfect as a store mannequin. He’s a cold fish, Hank thought, and immediately liked the older man better.
“I’m J. Harker Caulden,” the older man said, as if daring Hank to challenge him. “And this is my son-in-law, Taylor Driscoll.”
Hank held out his hand to shake, but Caulden ignored him, so he turned to Driscoll. Driscoll’s hand was as cool as his looks and his hand felt fragile in Hank’s.
“You don’t look like a college teacher,” J. Harker said daringly.
Before Hank could speak, Taylor stepped forward. “What Mr. Caulden means, Dr. Montgomery, is that we assumed you’d be older, a bit more mature.”
Hank grinned. “I hope I’m not a disappointment.”
“No, of course not,” Taylor said. “You are welcome. I imagine you’ll want to get settled before luncheon. Martha will show you to your room.”
Hank knew he’d been dismissed. He nodded and left the room. You aren’t any more disappointed than I am, Mr. Iceberg, he thought, I was hoping for a pretty little farmhouse. Oh well, he could always leave in a day or two. He followed Martha up the stairs.
J. Harker was chewing on an unlit cigar and pacing the library. “I don’t like it one little bit,” he said. “He doesn’t look like a college professor should. He looks too young, too healthy. He looks like he might go out in the fields and lead a strike himself.”
“All the more reason to keep him where we can watch him. I admit his age and looks threw me for a moment, but I will try to make up for the rudeness of both of us. He must be kept away from the fields. We have to save every penny we can this year or we’ll lose everything.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” J. Harker said bitterly. “It’s just that he don’t—”
“Doesn’t,” Taylor corrected him automatically. “Doesn’t look as a professor should. Amanda will—”
“Amanda! Surely you don’t think I’ll let her go out alone with him.”
Taylor’s face showed little emotion. “I have taught her well and she is obedient. She will help us now that we need her.”
J. Harker looked hard at the man who was to be his son-in-law. Taylor seemed to have supreme confidence that he was going to get everything he wanted out of his life. Years ago Harker had tried to get him to marry Amanda, but Taylor wanted to wait until she was “trained properly.” Harker hadn’t protested, but now he thought Taylor was making a mistake if he let Amanda go out alone with this good-looking young buck. “I think you’ll be sorry for this,” Harker said. “She has the blood of her mother in her.”
“I know Amanda,” Taylor said. “There’s something…insolent about that man that Amanda will greatly dislike. Trust me. She will help us.”