The Mirror (Northwest Passage Book 5)

by John A. Heldt

  Ginny quietly rejoiced as she watched Richard's smirk morph into a grimace.

  "Let's see what you have."

  Ginny pulled out a photo and slid it across the attorney's desk.

  "This is the first picture I took of this particular couple. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the man in the photo is married. I'm also pretty sure the woman he's groping isn't his wife."

  "This proves nothing," Richard said.

  "It's a bad angle, I agree. Perhaps you'll like this one better."

  Ginny slid Torpedo Number 2 across the table. She could feel the steel hardening in her backbone as she watched the color drain from her adversary's face.

  "That could be me. It could be anyone," Richard said. "You still can't prove a thing."

  Ginny smiled as she pulled out another eight-by-ten glossy. She placed the envelope on the floor and pushed the third photo in front of the attorney.

  "That's the one I like best."

  Richard glanced at the picture.

  "I like it because it shows the adulterer, the bimbo, and the license plate on the adulterer's car," Ginny said. "My dad would call that a three-for."

  "You little bitch," Richard said.

  "I see the tree doesn't fall far from the apple."

  "You can't do this. It's against the law. You could go to jail."

  Ginny's confidence soared.

  "You're right. I could. But I won't," she said. "I won't because you value your marriage – or at least fear what Joyce would do to you in a divorce – and you want to preserve your political viability in your Senate race."

  "I could keep these pictures, you know."

  "I want you to keep them. Frame them or use them as Christmas cards, if you'd like. I have two more sets. I also have the negatives in a very safe place."

  "You're playing with fire, young lady."

  Ginny pressed her lips together.

  "I know. That's why I gave the extra photos to a trusted friend, along with instructions on what to do with them," Ginny said. "If anything unpleasant should happen to me, my friend will give the pictures to your wife and the news editor of the Sun."

  Richard leaned forward in his chair and wagged his finger.

  "You know I can't force the prosecutor to drop the charge."

  Ginny sighed.

  "I realize that. This could still get ugly, but I'm confident it won't. You're a persuasive man. You'll find the words," Ginny said. "I'm giving you until Wednesday to work your magic, sir. If all legal actions against James are not dropped by five o'clock, these pictures go public."

  Richard huffed and pushed himself away from his desk.

  "This is blackmail."

  "I prefer to call it bargaining, Mr. Carrington. You taught me all about the virtues of that the first time I visited your home."

  Ginny grabbed her purse and got out of her chair.

  "You don't need to show me out. I know the way," Ginny said. She smiled. "Have a nice day."

  CHAPTER 74: GINNY

  Wednesday, September 2, 1964

  Ginny hung up the phone and collected herself. Unlike her crybaby twin, she didn't like to cry. She didn't like showing weakness in any form. Every now and then, however, she couldn't help herself. She wiped her eyes and returned to the living room, where Katie sat in her upholstered throne and watched the Dick Van Dyke Show.

  "Well?" Katie asked.

  "He's out. They dropped the charge. James is free."

  Katie popped out of her chair, turned off the television, and made a beeline for Ginny, who stared blankly at the back of the room. She gave her a long hug.

  "I'm so happy for you. I know how hard this has been," Katie said. She pulled back and studied Ginny's face. "It's OK to cry, Gin. It is. This is worth a cry."

  Ginny smiled sadly and returned the hug.

  "I know. I'm all right. I just need to sit down a minute."

  Ginny sat in her chair as Katie returned to hers. When she got comfortable, she took a deep breath and returned her attention to the driest-eyed girl in the room.

  "I didn't think Mr. Carrington would cave. I thought he'd dig in his heels and do something stupid," Ginny said. "Men like him always do something stupid."

  "You didn't give him enough time to do something stupid. You played him just right," Katie said. She paused for a moment. "It took a lot of guts to do what you did, Gin. I don't think I could have done it. I would have probably slipped the pictures under his door and run."

  Ginny laughed to herself. She knew that's exactly what Katie would have done in the same situation. She also knew that her sister would walk across a river of lava to save Mike Hayes. Their differences were a matter of style.

  "I should tell Nana to open the envelopes anyway – after we're gone."

  Katie shook her head.

  "No. That would be petty," Katie said. "You're better than that. It would also change the past. We both agreed that we shouldn't do that."

  Ginny gave Katie the why-do-you-always-have-to-take-my-fun-away stare. She knew she was right, but that didn't lessen her appetite for vengeance. She wanted to exact a pound of flesh from the entire Carrington family and throw it to the neighbor dogs.

  "I know."

  "So what's James going to do now?"

  "He's going to stay home tonight and tomorrow. Mr. Greer has given him the day off. He's been very supportive of James," Ginny said. "We should probably write him a note or something. Most employers wouldn't have kept him on through something like this."

  Katie nodded her agreement.

  "Most employers wouldn't have hired him in the first place," Katie said. "When are you going to see James again?"

  "I'll see him tomorrow night. I know he wants to see me sooner, but I want to give him time with his family. He needs that."

  "He needs time with you too," Katie said.

  "I know. I've already set aside Sunday night."

  "Just one night? Why don't you go away for a couple days?"

  "I'd like to, but he has to work all weekend."

  "So what are you going to do?"

  "I'm going to have him over for dinner," Ginny said. "I'll tell him everything then. I don't see any point in keeping the truth to myself. James deserves to know the reason I'm leaving after all he did for me."

  Ginny frowned as she thought of their pending separation. She didn't at all look forward to telling James that she was leaving his life forever. She could only imagine how that would make him feel after a week like this.

  "How do you think he's going to take the news?"

  "I think he's going to take it hard. He likes me, Katie. He likes me a lot. He's already talked about moving to California to find a job or go to school. He doesn't want this to end."

  "Mike's the same way."

  "Are you guys still going to go to Whidbey Island?"

  Katie nodded.

  "We're leaving Saturday morning. We might still call it off if Mrs. Hayes takes a turn for the worse, but right now she's doing OK. Patsy is going to spend the next two weeks with her."

  "Why don't you leave on Friday then?" Ginny asked. "Neither of you has to work. Take the whole weekend, Katie. As long as you're back by Monday, I don't care."

  "We're going to Nana's Friday night, remember?"

  "Oh. That's right."

  "There's also something I need to do here Saturday morning."

  "What?"

  "I have to run an errand, that's all," Katie said. "It doesn't matter. I'll be fine leaving in the morning. What's one less night with Mike when I won't see him again?"

  Ginny looked at her twin closely. She could detect fresh gloom.

  "Are you going to be all right, Katie? Are you going to be able to say goodbye?"

  Katie shot her sister a hard glance.

  "Do I have a choice? Yes, I'll be able to do it. I just need to figure out how to do it," Katie said. She took a breath. "This is harder for me, you know. You like James. I love Mike. I love him so much it hurts."


  "I know," Ginny said.

  "I just wish I had a few more weeks," Katie said. "Then I could help him with his mom and this draft business. Now I have to tell him he'll never see me again when his world is collapsing. I wouldn't be surprised if he jumped off a bridge."

  "Don't say that."

  "Why not? He's had a terrible life, Gin, and it's about to get worse. I'd think about jumping if I were staring at all that. It's not fair. It's just not fair."

  "When's his physical?"

  "It's on September 21. He has nineteen days before the Army takes him."

  Ginny glanced at her sister again and saw she was getting worse, not better. She knew that Katie would find a way to get past Mike Hayes, but she now wondered whether leaving him for good would cause lasting damage.

  "Maybe not," Ginny said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean what if he came with us?"

  "He would never consider it," Katie said. "He would never leave his family."

  "Are you sure? Didn't you tell me just last week that his mother's dying wish was to see you two married someday? I wouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Hayes gave you her blessing."

  "Even if she did, he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't leave her. I know Mike, Ginny. He's not the kind of person to leave his mother, particularly at a time like this. He won't do it."

  "How do you know? Have you asked him?"

  "No," Katie said. "I haven't."

  Katie sighed and gazed at Ginny.

  "But I'm going to Saturday night."

  CHAPTER 75: GINNY

  Friday, September 4, 1964

  "Let's see some ivory, ladies."

  Joe Jorgenson held the camera steady and captured the smiles of four photogenic females. The fifth, Joanie Jorgenson, had run off after just three flashes. Playing with her friend next door clearly had more appeal than standing still and saying "cheese."

  "OK," Joe said. "Let's have one more with Virginia, Ginny, and Katie."

  Cindy Jorgenson glared at her father and walked out of the room.

  Ginny laughed to herself. She wanted to walk out too. She was much more comfortable taking pictures than posing for them, but she understood the significance of the moment. This was literally a snapshot in time that she could take with her when she left 1964.

  Joe pressed the shutter release on the camera that Ginny had used for fifteen weeks. Apparently convinced he had satisfied his obligation as a stand-in photographer, he handed the device back to his wife, nodded at the twins, and returned to the backyard, where a greasy grill, a broken lawn chair, and other important matters awaited his attention.

  "Joe hates taking pictures," Virginia said. "He doesn't like operating gadgets with more settings than the TV set, but he's pretty good with a camera. I have no doubt these pictures will turn out fine. I'll process them right away so that I can give them to you before you go."

  "Thanks, Nana," Ginny said.

  Virginia put the camera on the mantle above the fireplace in the living room. When she was done, she turned around and took a good look at her tenants and great-granddaughters.

  "You girls look like you could use a walk. I know I could."

  "A walk sounds good," Ginny said.

  "Katie?"

  "Count me in."

  The three women grabbed their sweaters and walked out the front door into the refreshing but surprisingly chilly evening air. They headed north on Dalton Avenue, toward Ravenna Park, and commenced what would probably be the last substantive conversation they would ever have.

  "How's James doing, Ginny?" Virginia asked.

  "He's doing OK. He's still a little rattled by the whole experience, but he's getting better."

  "How's he taking the news of your pending departure?"

  Ginny frowned.

  "He's sad. He doesn't want me to go," Ginny said. "Mike's the same way with Katie. He doesn't want her to go. Neither one said much at our going-away party at the store today."

  Virginia forced a smile.

  "I guess I'm in good company then," Virginia said as she put her arms around each of the girls. "I don't want you to go either. I'm going to miss you two."

  "We're going to miss you," the twins said in near unison.

  "I still have so many questions for you that I don't know where to begin."

  "Then why don't you just ask?" Katie asked.

  "OK. I'll start with an easy one," Virginia said. She turned to the senior twin. "Ginny, do you like your name?"

  Ginny gave Virginia a puzzled look and nodded.

  "I do."

  "What I mean is do you like the fact you were named after me?"

  "That's the thing I like most," Ginny said.

  "How about you, Katie? Do you like the fact you were named after one of your mother's friends?"

  "I do," Katie said. "I like it even more now that I know more about her and the hardships she endured in that camp. My parents never told me much about her."

  "Did you ever have the opportunity to meet her?" Virginia asked.

  "Yes and no," Katie said. "Our folks took us to Portland a few times to see Mrs. Saito when Ginny and I were toddlers, but I don't remember the visits. She died before we started school."

  Virginia nodded but kept her eyes forward.

  "Do you remember her, Ginny?"

  "No. My memory is as bad at Katie's."

  "I see," Virginia said. She took a few steps and looked at Ginny. "Did you ever have the opportunity to meet me?"

  Ginny froze when she heard the words. She knew that Nana had done more than ask an idle question. She had requested a clue about her own mortality. She took a hard look at the inquisitive woman and decided that – in this case, anyway – honesty was the best policy.

  "No," Ginny said. "I didn't."

  Virginia smiled sadly.

  "So I don't make it to 2001?"

  Ginny shook her head and lowered her eyes. She immediately second-guessed her decision.

  "You don't, or at least you didn't the first time around," Ginny said. "You were gone by the time Katie and I were born. I only remember stories of you."

  Virginia glanced at the western horizon, where an orange-red sun began to say good night, and then returned her attention to her kin. She wore the face of a woman who had just been given a sobering diagnosis, which, in a sense, she had.

  "One of my great hopes was to see the twenty-first century," Virginia said. "I had hoped to see your parents again, particularly your mother, and see what the world had done with itself."

  Ginny slowed to a stop and looked at Nana.

  "There's no reason you still can't," Ginny said. "Like I told you before, you're in a different time stream now. You don't have to live your life as you did the first time. If you take care of yourself, there's no reason you can't live another forty years or more."

  "Do you really believe that?" Virginia asked. "Do you believe we can change what God and the stars have ordained?"

  Ginny wanted to give an unqualified yes, but she couldn't. She didn't believe people were fated to live a certain life any more than they were fated to pick a certain entrée at a restaurant, but she admitted that her faith had been shaken. She suspected that fate was behind everything from the events of September 11, 2020, to the twins' fortuitous encounter with Nana at Greer's.

  She also had a hard time dismissing Katie's relationship with Mike as a coincidence. She had seen the wedding photo of Katherine and Michael Hayes and had found the couple's physical resemblance to Katie and Mike even more unnerving than their common names.

  Ginny considered these things and others as she pondered a reply to Virginia's difficult question. She proceeded carefully.

  "I believe we can. You can choose a new course, Nana. I just can't guarantee your life will turn out differently," Ginny said. "I'm not a fortune-teller. I don't have a crystal ball. What I can say is that if you give up smoking, you'll improve your chances of living longer. If you do nothing else, do that. Do that for us."

  Vir
ginia smiled.

  "I just may. I plan to see a physician next month and go over the possibilities."

  "Please follow through," Ginny said. "You won't regret it."

  "I'm sure I won't. I can't imagine regretting anything that might give me the chance to see you again," Virginia said. She pulled the girls closer. "Have you decided when you want to leave on Monday? I can take you to the fairgrounds at any time."

  Ginny realized she hadn't given the matter much thought. She knew she and Katie had to return to the House of Mirrors, but she wasn't sure when. She didn't know whether the time portal would even be active on Monday.

  Marta the Magnificent hadn't specified a time or a day or even a year. She had said only that the girls would have one opportunity to go back home and one opportunity only.

  Ginny knew that the House of Mirrors would not be open Sunday. She had called the fair's office and learned that only a few exhibits would be open the first day. The Cedar River Country Fair would not get under way completely until Monday at four.

  "Let's plan on leaving at three thirty," Ginny said. "Are you OK with that, Katie?"

  Katie nodded.

  "Are you sure?"

  "I'm sure. Mike and I will be back by Monday morning."

  "Where are you going?" Virginia asked.

  "We're going to Whidbey Island."

  "I see."

  Ginny studied Nana's face as she processed the information. She saw a smile and a frown. It was clear Virginia didn't care much for Katie running off with a boy for the weekend, but it was also clear she understood the circumstances. This was not a time to cast judgments.

  "I can come back earlier," Katie said.

  "No. No. Take your time," Virginia said. "Believe it or not, I understand a young woman's heart. I was nineteen once too."

  "Not to us you weren't," Ginny said with a playful edge.

  Virginia laughed.

  "You watch your mouth, young lady, or …"

  "Or what?" Ginny asked.

  Virginia sighed.

  "Or I'll make sure I live long enough to give you a good spanking."

  Ginny smiled at Virginia and pulled her close.