Star Chamber Brotherhood by Preston Fleming Read Free Book Online Page B

was still in Utah back in 2008 when the problems started. In those days I think I favored secession.”  
    Werner gave a good-natured laugh. Nancy Widmer looked at him oddly, as if she had never heard someone utter such a word out loud.
    “I’m not familiar with Utah, Frank, but for us in Concord, the Unionist side was the only conceivable choice at the time. That’s simply how it was. But, honestly, how could we have known? How could any of us have known what kind of people were running the Unionist Party, and what they intended to do when they had power? We thought they were Progressives like us. So we took them at their word. And now they turn out to be bloody Bolsheviks!”  
    Nancy shook her head in disgust, and then took a large sip of her spiked tea. Werner had the distinct impression that she would have drunk her rum neat if it had been later in the day.
    “And my husband helped put them in power!” she continued. “Ron and his partners contributed millions over the years to the Unionists. But when they came into power, we lost everything. And I don’t mean just money. When Ron was diagnosed with heart disease, the doctors told him it was treatable. But when the time came to schedule his operation, the Health Service disapproved it. Too old! After a lifetime of paying taxes! But never mind; we thought we’d do it privately. Except that no surgeon would treat him outside the system for fear of losing his license. And by then, no exit visas were being issued for treatment abroad. So when the heart attack finally came, they sedated him to ease his pain, and then more and more sedation, till he died. ‘Terminal sedation’ is what they call it. What I call it is euthanasia. And it’s why I will never ever set foot in a government hospital again.”
    Nancy Widmer’s eyes welled with tears but her jaw was firmly set and she sat perfectly erect in her spindly Windsor chair. At that moment Werner sensed in her an inner strength that had been handed down from New England ancestors who had cleared the rocky land, fought the Indians, overturned British rule, and authored the great enduring experiment called America.  
    “Do you have grandchildren, Nancy?” he asked to steer the conversation in a more positive direction.
    “Oh, yes,” she responded, recovering quickly. “Both are out of college now and working as teachers till they can find something else. But I was very lucky to have them near me for a few years while they were boarders at the Academy.”
    “Really? What years did they graduate?”
    “Oh, that would have been six or seven years ago.”
    “Then they probably didn’t know our girls,” Werner replied. “Our older one graduated five years ago, and the younger one left a year later, when the state took over.”
    “I believe that’s when Monica Cogan was at the Academy. She was in the very last graduating class. Her parents were very dear friends of mine. In fact, Monica came back this year to work there. Of course, it’s not a boarding school any longer. The state has turned it into a completely different sort of place, as you probably know.”
    “Would you happen to know how I might get in touch with Monica?” Werner inquired. “I believe our daughter Marie may have known her. Did you say she’s a teacher at the Academy?”
    “Well, not a teacher, exactly. More like a trainer or organizer of some kind. I don’t have a number or an address for her just yet. Though I’m sure that if you go to the old admissions office on Main Street, someone can tell you how to find her. But brace yourself. It’s not the old Academy. You’re not going to like it.”
    By now, Nancy Widmer had regained her composure and seemed in a hurry to get on with her day. She made a show of finishing her tea and Werner quickly followed suit.
    “Thank you so much for inviting me, Nancy,” Werner said, rising from his chair. “If there’s anything else I can do to help…”  
    As if suddenly remembering