role of spy, the role you, dear Kate, found so unsympathetic. I expressed opinions I would die rather than embrace, but I did it rather well, not overdoing it, just sounding right-wing, weepy (so much more convincing than emphatic rhetoric), and determined to get my own back on the filthy liberals who had ruined our country. I told her I was related to one of the dead at Waco. I had a story ready should she demand it, but she didn’t. She seemed relieved to have met someone in New York who thought as she did. Despite the few right-wing, homophobic students,I can’t believe she found many converts here; it must, at any rate, be uphill work.”
Kate paused, as Reed had reached the tollbooth on the Henry Hudson Bridge. Banny stirred as the car stopped. Kate soothed her while they waited on line to pay the toll, and resumed her reading of the letter when they were again under way.
“Harriet ought to take up the writing of fiction,” Reed said. “Do go on; she’s every bit as good as John Grisham.”
“I didn’t know you read him,” Kate said.
“Someone left one of his novels in my office. Well, all lawyers are intrigued by this sort of thing, at least at first. Who doesn’t dream of the chance to make millions by putting his litigation experiences into a book? Go on with the letter.”
Kate, grinning, continued to read: “She told me that she was particularly grateful to have an older woman to help her. Through her son, she was trying to recruit college students, but she seemed to sense that their devotion was likely to be ephemeral, and she wanted some surer workers in the community. She then told me about stalking abortion clinics in the city; I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but it came down to the fact that New York women, joining arms in a kind of barricade, prevented interference with women approaching the clinic. I badly wanted to point out that not all or even most of the women coming to what she insisted on calling ‘abortionclinics’ were coming to the clinics for abortions, but one does have to remember one’s role.
“I’ll save further tidbits of our enlightening exchange until we meet over some sustaining libation. For now, I’m suggesting you read this letter en route to Dorothy Hedge because, when I asked her if the son was her only child, she was quite forthcoming about Dorothy, about how Dorothy had betrayed the cause and so on, which was what I wanted to hear. But then, she said something that made me prick up my ears. She mentioned the kennel Dorothy runs, and something about the way she put it convinced me that she had been there. It was a slip, and I pretended not to notice. But if they are such enemies, why did she go to see her at her kennel? Well, there are many possible reasons that do not indicate Dorothy’s sympathies with Mama, but I thought I would mention it just so you take care of what you say. Don’t reveal anything about Toni or me, or any plans. My suggestion—and I know how little open you and Reed are to suggestions—is to play it kind of dumb. I don’t mean that you and Reed could ever appear really dumb. But just say, ‘It was such a fright,’ and ‘I’m so grateful to have Reed back,’ and don’t go into any details about anything. I know that you, Kate, had decided to trust her, and your instincts may well have been right. But let’s be more certain before you trust her anymore. Yours in the fight for the good and true, Harriet.”
“Good letter,” Reed said. “I think she’s suggesting,without quite daring to say it, that we gush on giddily, and I think she’s right.”
“Can we possibly be convincing as giddy innocents?”
“We can give it a try. I, for one, have never been kidnapped before. You, for another, have never received a ransom note. I think if we confine ourselves to being a little repetitive about these things, we’ll persuade her, at the same time making believable the fact that we’ve been talking about our adventures to
Kate paused, as Reed had reached the tollbooth on the Henry Hudson Bridge. Banny stirred as the car stopped. Kate soothed her while they waited on line to pay the toll, and resumed her reading of the letter when they were again under way.
“Harriet ought to take up the writing of fiction,” Reed said. “Do go on; she’s every bit as good as John Grisham.”
“I didn’t know you read him,” Kate said.
“Someone left one of his novels in my office. Well, all lawyers are intrigued by this sort of thing, at least at first. Who doesn’t dream of the chance to make millions by putting his litigation experiences into a book? Go on with the letter.”
Kate, grinning, continued to read: “She told me that she was particularly grateful to have an older woman to help her. Through her son, she was trying to recruit college students, but she seemed to sense that their devotion was likely to be ephemeral, and she wanted some surer workers in the community. She then told me about stalking abortion clinics in the city; I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but it came down to the fact that New York women, joining arms in a kind of barricade, prevented interference with women approaching the clinic. I badly wanted to point out that not all or even most of the women coming to what she insisted on calling ‘abortionclinics’ were coming to the clinics for abortions, but one does have to remember one’s role.
“I’ll save further tidbits of our enlightening exchange until we meet over some sustaining libation. For now, I’m suggesting you read this letter en route to Dorothy Hedge because, when I asked her if the son was her only child, she was quite forthcoming about Dorothy, about how Dorothy had betrayed the cause and so on, which was what I wanted to hear. But then, she said something that made me prick up my ears. She mentioned the kennel Dorothy runs, and something about the way she put it convinced me that she had been there. It was a slip, and I pretended not to notice. But if they are such enemies, why did she go to see her at her kennel? Well, there are many possible reasons that do not indicate Dorothy’s sympathies with Mama, but I thought I would mention it just so you take care of what you say. Don’t reveal anything about Toni or me, or any plans. My suggestion—and I know how little open you and Reed are to suggestions—is to play it kind of dumb. I don’t mean that you and Reed could ever appear really dumb. But just say, ‘It was such a fright,’ and ‘I’m so grateful to have Reed back,’ and don’t go into any details about anything. I know that you, Kate, had decided to trust her, and your instincts may well have been right. But let’s be more certain before you trust her anymore. Yours in the fight for the good and true, Harriet.”
“Good letter,” Reed said. “I think she’s suggesting,without quite daring to say it, that we gush on giddily, and I think she’s right.”
“Can we possibly be convincing as giddy innocents?”
“We can give it a try. I, for one, have never been kidnapped before. You, for another, have never received a ransom note. I think if we confine ourselves to being a little repetitive about these things, we’ll persuade her, at the same time making believable the fact that we’ve been talking about our adventures to
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