but it certainly affected the relationship between Ned and James and might even have something to do with James wanting to take over Dionysus.'
'Did you know that James was at the funeral?' I asked.
'No.' Elma and Arrow answered together.
'He left as soon as it was over.'
'I wish he had stayed and spoken to me,' Elma said. She looked hurt.
'I think he had some business to attend to in LA,' I said. Why was I apologizing for James?
'It sounds just like James,' Elma said, dismissing him, abruptly. 'But back to my story. When they lived in Scotland, Ned and James hung around with a group of local boys in Wick. They did some crazy things, as boys will. James was the ringleader and Ned was his lieutenant. James invented a game that they played. It was a kind of gambling game. They called it, simply, The Game.'
She took a sip of cognac. I did too. It caressed my taste buds and went down smoothly.
'Whenever any of the boys wanted any of the others to do something for him, such as fix him up with a girl or cover for him when he had done something wrong, they played The Game. They had a bunch of squares laid out in a field, outlined by stones. The boy who needed the favor would stand at a mark and throw another stone into the squares. That stone was painted white. If it landed in certain squares he won and got the favor; if it landed in others he lost.'
'It sounds vaguely like roulette,' I said, 'with more of a skill factor.'
'James was very good at physical games as well as mental games,' Elma said. 'When he played he could always get the stone in the right squares. I don't think he ever lost.'
'What was the penalty for losing?' Arrow asked.
'Whatever had been agreed on beforehand. Which brings me to the point. One of the boys in the group was killed while scaling a cliff above the North Sea. He fell off and landed on the rocks below. Ned and James were both there when it happened.
'Neither one of them would talk to me about it, but the rumors said that climbing the cliff was a penalty for losing The Game. I heard that James had chosen the penalty and demanded that it be carried out on this particular day, even though it was foggy and raining and the rocks were slippery. Not long after that Ned and James left Wick forever and came to the States.'
There was silence while we digested what Elma had said. I swallowed the rest of my cognac in one gulp and felt a burning sensation in my throat. Elma and Arrow sipped theirs.
'Did that incident alter your feelings toward James?' Arrow asked, breaking the silence.
'Over a period of time that and the fact that he deserted me did,' Elma said. 'When I ran into him here years later and found out he was married, the news had no effect on me.'
Was Elma telling us this as a way of assuring us that she would vote her stock against James? Possibly. I certainly felt more at ease.
'What happened to the other members of the gang?' I asked.
'When I left Wick they were all still there. They're probably there to this day. For most of them a long trip is to Glasgow or Edinburgh.'
Chapter 19 PROXIES
For the next six days I did my own thing. I ran and worked my baseball card business. Each day I checked the auction for the Wagner card on eBay and each day I was still the leading bidder. I tried not to think of what would happen if I actually got the card.
I visited my father in the hospital. When he came home on Saturday I visited him in the castle. We didn't talk about Dionysus. I actually told him something about my business and he was interested enough to give me a couple of suggestions. I couldn't remember when we had talked so much.
Jacie and I were nice to each other-the way people are when they've been through an ordeal together. Luz fussed around my father, cooking food for him that he wasn't ready to eat yet, and ended up giving it to me.
I spent a day and two wonderful nights with Esther. I took her and her son, Emilio, to a Dodger game and even got him a baseball autographed by Steve Garvey, who was there for an old-timers' day.
On Tuesday morning I got a call from Arrow. Her first words were, 'Karl, we've got a problem.'
I almost asked her whether she had spilled food on her kitchen floor again and needed help with the cleanup, but her tone of voice warned me to be serious. I said, 'What's the matter?'
'James is going to mount a proxy fight to take over Dionysus and Elma is going to vote her shares with him.'
I hadn't spent much time thinking about Dionysus for the last few days and this news came as a complete shock. I stuttered incoherently for a few seconds before my brain got into gear and I said, 'What made Elma change her mind?'
'I don't know that she actually changed her mind. Remember, she never told us before how she would vote. Apparently, James spent most of yesterday with her. I went to her house this morning to work on her finances. James convinced her that Richard is in no shape to run Dionysus, and without Ned new management is needed.'
'Actually, Richard is well enough so that he can probably deal with this personally in a few days.'
'I've already talked to him.'
I had a strong desire to scream at Arrow, but before I could get beyond 'What!' she said, 'He called me after he got home from the hospital and made me promise, on pain of instant dismissal, that I would let him know if I heard anything at all about what James was up to.'
Damn! This was a good way to give my father a setback. But it was too late now. 'What are your plans?' I asked.
'Richard wants me to come to the house at noon for a strategy session with him. I want you to be there too.'
'I can't. I have an appointment this afternoon.' My regular volunteer session at Emerge.
'This is important. Can't you change it? Please? I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.'
'Does my father want me there?'
'Karl, I want you there. You've been in this thing up to your eyeballs and you know more than anyone else about what James has done lately. And you owe it to your father. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
I was silent.
Arrow continued, “Richard said his cook would make us lunch.'
Now I could agree without acknowledging that I owed something to my father. 'At least we won't starve. When Luz makes lunch she goes all out.'
I didn't want canceling my sessions at Emerge to become a habit. This was the last time I would do it for my father or Arrow or anyone else.
I slipped into the castle through one of the sliding doors near the pool and delicious aromas emanating from the kitchen immediately drew me there. Luz was up to her armpits in pots.
I said, 'The only reason I agreed to come to this meeting was because I heard you were cooking a feast.'
' Gracias,' Luz said, giving me a hug even though she had a large spoon in her hand. 'Mrs. Patterson told me you might come so I made more.'
'Wild toros couldn't keep me away. And with you cooking for him, Mr. Patterson will soon be well.'
' Es verdad. He looks better already.'
'Dionysus stock is up this morning. It is because people know you are taking care of Mr. Patterson.'
' Mucho dinero,' Luz nodded. 'The company will be all right.'
It was more likely that the stock was up because something had leaked out about James' plans, but I didn't
