The Forms of Water by Andrea Barrett Read Free Book Online Page A

hauled him to jail and made him appear in court in his dirty clothes, and then they’d taken his license away. “I’d do it,” he said glumly. “I’d love to. But I can’t. They suspended my license.”
    Brendan spun around so Henry could see his face. “Fine. Worry about a piece of paper. Maybe once I get to Wiloma’s, I can talk Waldo into taking me.
He’d
be interested in seeing that land, I bet—I bet he can talk Wiloma into letting him do something with her half.”
    Henry’s stomach knotted. “Waldo knows about the land?”
    â€œI imagine,” Brendan said coolly. “I imagine Wiloma told him. You know she can’t keep anything to herself.”
    Henry could just imagine what Waldo would do. He’d pry that land away from Wiloma somehow; he’d always been able to manipulate her. And then he’d cover it with pretentious houses on three-acre lots, all of them looking exactly the same although they were supposed to be unique. Which was not at all what he had in mind himself; he had big ideas. A vacation complex complete with tennis courts and a health club and cross-country skiing trails, condominiums tucked in the trees, tax credits and depreciation allowances. The units would be small but elegant, energy efficient, cunningly designed. That was the difference, he thought, between a developer and a builder like Waldo: a developer had vision, a developer could
see.
And if he could see it, he could figure out how to finance it. If he could explain it to Brendan, he could get Brendan to go along.
    â€œForget about it,” Brendan said. He spun his chair around again, so that Henry was looking at the back of his head. “I can make my own arrangements.”
    â€œNo,” Henry said. “I’ll take you. What could happen? We’ll drive slowly, no one will stop us. Are you sure you can get us a van?”
    â€œWait here. I’ll be back with the keys.”
    Before Henry could stop him, before he could even catch his breath, Brendan rolled down the hall toward the elevator.

6
    F ROM THE “LETTERS TO THE EDITOR” OF THE
PARADISE VALLEY
Daily Transcript:
    February 
12, 1922
Dear Sirs:
    The report of the Metropolitan Water Commission is deeply disturbing, recommending as it does “the construction of a great reservoir in the Paradise River Valley, and of tunnels sufficient to transport said water to the Metropolitan area.”
    At the town meetings of Pomeroy, Winsor, Stillwater, and Nipmuck, funds have been approved to hire legal counsel to represent our interests in Boston. These men, as well as our elected representatives, have spoken strongly at the hearings held both in Boston and here. But I note with some distress that many of their comments have addressed practical details of the plan. Selectman C. J. Wheeler presented a request that any land required for the proposed reservoir be taken by purchase,
rather than by eminent domain. Representative Hallman argues that the land assessment procedures are poorly described in the proposed bill. X. J. Swanson, counsel representing the businesses of Pomeroy, expressed his concerns that delay over a final decision has been detrimental to commerce in the valley. All excellent points—but are these well-meaning men, in their efforts to safeguard our economic interests, truly expressing our desires?
    Is not our deepest desire that there should be no reservoir? Does it matter how our property is assessed, how we are paid for it, or when we are told that we must leave—when we do not want to leave? Has not the grinding pressure imposed on us by the Commission worn down our resolute opposition and caused us to think only how we might best profit from this situation, when it is the situation itself that we must resist?
    We must keep in mind that this group of engineers and politicians from Boston have one ambition only: to invade our valley, to destroy our