Let us do something, while we have the chance, partner.

Still don't own Chuck.

"That is all her."
-Chuck episode 3.17

Chapter 7—the Weekend

Washington D.C
October 29, 1870

Sarah walked out the door of her hotel room. There were two guards there. She was greeted by a chorus of, "Good morning, Ma'am."

Sarah smiled, "Good morning, I'd like to get breakfast and then head over to the House. Can you arrange that?"

Another chorus of, "Yes Ma'am," echoed in the hall.

Smiling and trying to hold back the laugh, Sarah started walking down the hall. She had a quiet breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. She did feel a lot better. While not taking any drugs might have been a good idea, the strain of cleaning the wounds and the pain that went with it tried her. As soon as she got to her hotel room the previous evening she went to sleep.

Breakfast did go fast. Sarah assumed that the hotel staff had been alerted and was going out of their way to help. She added a sizeable tip to her breakfast check and headed out with the two Marine guards in tow. A carriage was waiting for them and a new mounted guard continued with her. They rode the rest of the way to the President's House in silence.

Upon entering the House, Sarah knew she would have to wait for Mrs. Beckman. But Mrs. Beckman was waiting for her. When Sarah came in the lobby Mrs. Beckman asked, "Are you feeling better, this morning?"

"Yes, the rest was worthwhile. Thank you for directing the Captain to escort me to the hotel," Sarah replied.

"You can thank the First Lady. After she heard what happened, well let's just say that if there are any other problems, you will be staying here for the rest of your visit." Beckman got close to Sarah, "We presume that your visit at the Embassy was not what we expected. Is this about the claim or the other problem?"

Sarah looked at her and answered, "Mainly the other and we need someplace secure where no one can listen in."

Beckman was a bit taken with that, "I assume that the Boss needs to be in on this?"

Sarah nodded, "Yes, he needs to know and it was one of their requests."

"Let's go to the President's Office. We can clear the area," Beckman pointed to the stairway. Once at the office, Beckman cleared the area in short order. Sarah had taken a seat in the office waiting.

Mrs. Beckman came into the office with the President. Sarah stood up and began, "Good morning," but she was cut off.

The President said, "Good morning to you. I am certainly happy to see you well and able to come here. Julia sends her thoughts and prayers." He picked up a cigar and held it up for approval. Sarah nodded. He carefully lit the cigar and let out a ring of smoke. "We did hear from the patrol that caught up with you and got a report from the doctor at the British Embassy. By the way, good shooting. Do you have anything to add to that?"

Sarah assumed that he would have the names of the attackers and where they were from. But she did not know whether Cole shared his observation with anyone other than the Ambassador. She began, "Mr. President, I asked Mr. Barker, the deputy," she saw him nod in recognition. "He checked on the attackers and found one carried the Fulcrum symbol. Their information showed the other men were from Richmond and were what he called trouble makers."

"Fulcrum or not, I am sorry this took place. I have directed Secretary Fish to quietly look into those who briefed you the other day. I believe they are the only others that knew you were going to the British Embassy. I did ask the Ambassador to do the same. He said that Mr. Barker was looking into it," he stamped off some ash from the cigar. "Now what did they say at the Embassy?"

"Well, I believe I have an agreement…" Sarah went through all the highlights from the two hour session. "So in summary, they will keep Fulcrum contained in Europe while we eliminate it in America. After that they will inform Chancellor Bismarck and have him do the rest. Finally, they implied everything would go forward with the talks that Mr. Graham started on the Alabama Claim. Mr. Barker said, 'If you able to keep our enemy out of British Columbia, we should be able to pay.' And I'll see him tonight. He'll pass me any updates."

"Splendid, I wish everything would be that easy. Diane, do you have any updates?" the President asked.

"We have not heard from Chuck. We know he was on his way to the mine and was to be there over the weekend. We have relayed the information about the Ring, but have no confirmation that he has the information." Diane continued, "We did get an update on Mr. Graham and the driver, Mr. Peters. They are both doing fine. Mr. Graham will be recuperating for a few weeks."

The President picked up on what Beckman said, "So for now, you like Chuck report to me. What are your plans?"

"Unless you have any other questions, I was going to go over to the Canadian Embassy and see if I could make an appointment for Monday." Sarah looked at Beckman and noticed that she was starting to write something.

Beckman looked up, "We'll send a note over to the Embassy and let you know. Will 9 AM do?"

"Yes, that would be fine. I just need to check in with their deputy. He is friends with Mr. Barker. I am hoping to get introductions to their Ontario Oil Company. I want to make sure they have not been approached by Fulcrum. Then Chuck and I will take a look at British Columbia. There have been a series of strikes there. It would seem to be a valuable target," Sarah concluded.

The President put his cigar down, "Yes, good plan. I've heard of the strikes in British Columbia. That would be a good target for Fulcrum. Well, is this anything else?" Both shook their heads, "Then I'll likely see you tonight. Thank you and good day." He took Sarah's hand, "Be careful."

Mrs. Beckman and Sarah left the office and went across the hall to the telegraph room. Beckman sent the message to the Canadian Embassy. Sarah wrote out another to Chuck to warn him. She also sent messages out to her friends warning them. She smiled to herself. She hadn't really considered anyone other than Langston a friend until she met Chuck. Now looking at the stack of messages, she realized she had quite a few.

Sarah went out to visit Langston next. She remained with her guards and escort the entire weekend. Cole saw her twice but had no further information. She met briefly with the President on Sunday evening, but neither he nor Beckman had more information.

Washington D.C
October 31, 1870

Monday seemed to come fast and Sarah was happy. Chuck was to be riding into Visalia today. She would at least hear from him. She was hoping for some word before she got on the train. She made her appointment at the Canadian Embassy. It was fairly easy and she at least got a break. One of the owners in the Ontario Oil Company was coming to Boston at the end of the week. She arranged to get a message to him that she would like to meet him.

Next she went back to the hotel to finish packing. Her guards helped her get things to the carriage. On the way to the train station, she stopped at the telegraph office. She had her hopes up. She went to the counter and asked the clerk. He gave her one message. She went to the side and opened it, "Ring threat eliminated. Am fine. More later. Love always CB." She wrote a reply, "Good. Love SW." Returning that and a coded message into the clerk, she paid for the messages and left with her escort.

The trip on the train to Boston was uneventful. She had a similar accommodation in this train as the one down. The train arrived in Boston before midnight. The two marshals from before, Marshals John Redding and Gary Fortner, met Sarah at the station. They escorted her over to the hotel. When she checked in, the receptionist gave her a telegraph message. She looked. It was a coded message from Chuck. She put it in her purse and headed to her room.

After the bell boy brought her luggage in and was tipped, she settled down to decipher the message from Chuck. It was a long message. At the beginning it was fairly pointed, he wanted someone with her all the time. He explained that he had set it up so that someone was always there. That likely meant his order was countered when she got to Washington. He was going to have one of his old friends at the Secret Service investigate. Then he outlined the activities of the weekend. He explained the attack by the Holguin gang, the follow-on attack by La Ciudad and then the Ring. He also explained that the mine was producing high grade ore. His load at the assayers brought in close to $12,000. His mining equipment made it to town. He was going to take that and supplies back to the mine.

Boston, MA
November 1, 1870

Sarah met her escorts in the lobby of the hotel. "Morning gentlemen, would you like to join me for breakfast?" She had found that the hotel was becoming the regular stop for the Harvard crowd and it was best to have an escort with her at any meal or function at the hotel. When she entered the dining room, she found that today was no different. There were several tables with five or more young men trying to become sober enough to attend classes that morning.

The maître d' was kind enough to show her and her escorts to a table away from the young men near the window. Breakfast was going fine until the bellhop approached calling out her name. One of the young men got up from his table to follow the bellhop. As the bellhop got close to the table, the young man took the paper from his serving plate. His friends at his table were encouraging him with taunts to do it. He walked to the table holding the paper and using his silver topped cane as a baton to twirl. His cockiness was lost in a flash. When he moved next to Sarah, he put the cane under his arm and started to put his hand on her shoulder.

Sarah whipped the cane from his hold and put the tip at his throat. The two Marshals had the guns out, cocked and pointed at his head. Sarah's face was hard with her lips drawn in a straight line, "You might want to rethink your morning. Put the paper down on the table and then move back." She watched him do as she told him. "Now, join your friends and leave."

The young man's eyes were big as saucers. He sobered up in the instant. He stuttered, "M…my ap… apologies. Keep the cane." He turned and left their table.

The maître d' came rushing over to the table with two men from the kitchen. The men grabbed the young man and took him back to his table. The maître d' said sincerely, "Please accept our apologies. Your breakfast is certainly on the house. Again we apologize for the event."

Sarah saw his name tag, "I am sorry too, Peter." She decided the hotel could provide some assistance if a real threat came forward. "I was recently attacked and probably over reacted. Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome miss, anything we can do, just let me know," Peter smiled.

Sarah smiled at a thought, "I'll be out this morning, but would like to see if you could have this cane run over to the silversmith at this address." She wrote the address and on a separate paper the instructions on what she wanted done. "Please give this to Mister Allan. He'll know how to bill me." She gave him the papers. "Thank you."

Peter replied, "Thank you, Miss."

Sarah opened the folded message. It was an encoded message from Chuck. She folded it and put it back in her purse. She looked at the senior Marshal, "John, I'll have to go review the message I just received. While I do that, you might let Peter know what we are concerned about and show him the Fulcrum symbols. He or his staff might see these people and tip us off."

Sarah went to her room and decoded the message from Chuck went to his room. This one explained his current activities. It ended with, "Love always CB."

Sarah encoded him a message which outlined her plans for the day. Most importantly, she was to get the value of her grandfather's estate today. Depending on the value, she would begin moves against Fulcrum in the east. She ended the message with, "Think it might be best to meet with Hiram at Cheyenne or Denver. With you forever. Love SW." She felt better. After the episode at the restaurant, she was not sure this would be a good day. Now that she had word from Chuck she was happy.

She met her escorts in the lobby again. John told her that they would get full cooperation from the hotel. It was a better day. They took the carriage in front of the hotel over to her lawyer. Mister Eddington met her at the door. He escorted her to his office.

"I know that you know this is preliminary, but I need you to sign this statement. It says that all of the findings have not been completely audited and the final results might change." Eddington watched her sign the document. "The estimate at this point is $248,341.52. That does not include the house in Lexington, the townhouse here or the beach house at Newport. According to the appraisals their combined worth is $109,010. There are no outstanding loans against them. Next there is the shipping company. I have a complete listing of the company assets and get reports on a daily basis on their cargos, invoices, receipts, and balance. Currently the company includes the Boston and New York Railroad, the Northeast Shipping Company, and the BP, Burton Publications. Our records show the annual proceeds going to your grandfather averaging $119,000. The assets were appraised at $1,435,763. Our estimate is for the total worth of the company, if it was for sale, is $7,000,000."

Sarah was having a hard time with this. She remembered the fun times at her grandfather's beach house at Newport. It always seemed cool and nice down there, even on the hottest days of the summer. She remembered the old schooners he had as models on his mantles and bookcases. She was able to list all of his ships one summer, so long ago. Then she remembered the arguments between her dad and grandfather about railroads. Her dad pushed for the lines out west. Her grandfather was working the lines in and around Boston. She thought that he had started the railroad business as an extension of his shipping. It started by buying a few cars, and ended with his company owning the whole railroad.

"Miss Walker," Eddington paused. She nodded. "The company appears to be on solid ground. Your grandfather had little interaction with it these last few years. The company's general manager is a retired Rear Admiral John S. Senway. There is a board of directors. They consist of retired bank presidents, lawyers, a merchant, and a trader." He gave her the list of names to review. "Now, I do need you to sign these documents." He watched her sign the paper. "That's all we have this morning. This paperwork will be submitted for the judge and should be ready later this afternoon." He thought for a moment, "You'll be able to develop whatever business dealings you want prior to that, but I would recommend you hold off on anything final until after the judge's review."

"That's fine. Thank you for putting this together for me. Will I be able to go see the company holdings now?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, I would think that would be seen as due diligence on your part to make sure you know what is a part of the company. You could also stay at any of the houses. They are furnished and a maid service is available," he added. "We can have you stop at the Company this afternoon. Say around two o'clock?

Sarah stood up and Eddington followed, "I believe I will visit the properties and company if I can today. I'll be leaving tomorrow if I can. Next I need to visit with Misters Upton and Langdell. Thank you again. Have a good day."

Leaving Eddington, she went a few blocks away to Henry Upton's offices. Henry welcomed her at his office. Representatives from Atlantic Oil were in his office. "Miss Walker, this is Ben Deval and Joel Albans. They are from Atlantic Oil."

"Great, good morning gentlemen," she smiled at them.

"I have already explained a little about the organization you and your partners have found," Henry offered.

"Gentlemen, please have a seat," Sarah began. "My partners and I are fighting a ruthless group of people called Fulcrum. They are intent on domination. When I was here last, they were plotting to take over the state government. Then over the last few days, I was attacked by four men when Langston Graham and I were coming back in a carriage from the British Embassy. Langston and our driver are still in the hospital recovering. Then my partner was attacked by an assassin along with three murders. All of that was planned by Fulcrum."

Henry thought he knew the answer, "And what happened to the attackers?"

Sarah looked down. She did not like this and knew that Chuck had a harder time with it than she did. She whispered loud enough for them to hear, "They are all dead."

Ben was the first to ask, "So, who or what are you?"

Sarah decided that it was important that they know, "We are government agents. I am a special agent for the State Department. My partner that dealt with the assassin is a Secret Service Agent. My other partner is a U.S. Marshal. Our mission is to stop Fulcrum."

Henry smiled, "Well, she is a bit more than that. She is the daughter of John Jay Walker, owner of the Pacific Western. And probably more relevant she is the heir to Burton Enterprises, the parent company of the Boston and New York Railroad, the Northeast Shipping Company, and Burton Publications. Her partner is a prominent railroad engineer and a partner with the Honorable Hiram J. Schwartz of H & J Schwartz and Company, New York."

Joel followed up with the next question, "So what do you want from our company?"

"We would like to become a partner, a small one, with your company. I know that you are not publically traded, so I had to assume that the company is held by a limited number of investors. We really don't want to disrupt anything. But we would like to be a part of the company so that we know what is happening," Sarah smiled at them.

Ben was almost jumping for joy. After he and Joel exchanged a smile, he said, "Certainly, we can do something like that. We were concerned that your company was going to buy us out. We were preparing to fight that but we would be more than happy to add you as a small partner. Say an investment of $10,000 or so."

"Actually that is the point. We don't want you to be bought out by Fulcrum or one of the agents. We can invest $10,000 right now and if necessary increase that amount if it helps position the company to prevent a buyout." Sarah concluded. They spent the next hour outlining the arrangement. Henry agreed that his office would put it together and have it ready to sign that afternoon. Sarah excused herself and used a side room. She wrote an encoded message to Chuck saying that her itinerary would follow, but she intended to leave the next day. She said that she expected to be in Cheyenne on 7 November. Sarah, Henry, Joel and Ben adjourned to a close by restaurant, the Jacob Wirth, and met Chris Langdell there.

Sarah brought Chris up-to-date on the recent events. He invited her to the next session of his new class. He asked that she provide the details of her activities and anything the students could study. She agreed and set the time to be at his office at four o'clock that afternoon.

The afternoon was busy. She got a briefing and tour from Admiral Senway. She took a lot of notes and asked for records and decision papers be delivered to the railroad car she would be taking the next morning. She also had a schedule established for her trip. It would take six days to get to Cheyenne. She would be using her lines for the first part of the trip.

That evening Sarah wrote Chuck a summary of the day and that they were successful with Atlantic Oil. They were a limited partner but would be involved with the company decisions. She ended it with, "Love SW."

Boston, MA
November 2, 1870

The next morning Sarah headed to an early departure on her a train of her company.

A/N Okay Partners, little history.

Use of the term 'First Lady' was verified from History Channel show on the Presidents

Appeared from White House Museum site that the President's office was on the second floor through 1870.

Located an Oil company in Canada centered at Oil Springs, Ontario back in 1858, Google

Union Station did not open until 1907. Wikipedia.

There was a hotel owned by George Young in 1870 Boston. The one Sarah stays in is imagined to be similar. See Wikipedia

One of the Boston railroads at the time included three lines that merged into the Boston and Albany (B&A) railroad in December of 1870.

Jacob Wirth Restaurant in Boston was established in 1868. See Google

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