Monterey: Camellia Chapter One
Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day saying, I'll try again tomorrow. – Mary Anne Radmacher
1880
Jarrod T Barkey Esquire
New York
Jarrod opened the latest letter from Nick. He had been gone from the ranch for almost two years and he still missed it every day. These letters seemed like a lifeline to his past life. Not enough to erase Rimfire and his mistake marrying Beth, but he yearned for home. He wanted to go back to Stockton, but could he? He had been back two times in two years and his family had been here twice. It wasn't enough but it would have to do.
He had built a very successful life here in Manhattan. He was a confirmed bachelor, invited to all of the Knickerbocker elite parties, visited the Hamptons, went yachting with clients on Long Island, had his choice of high-class escorts and ladies of course who were not looking for the altar… he had more prestigious clients every day. He purchased a brownstone at a select address. Gentlemen's clubs, gambling establishments, an opera, and a theatre box filled out his perfect life as a gentleman attorney in the largest city in America at the beginning of the industrial revolution.
—The best scotch, the finest cigars, and the premier tailor in town—. He would be 36 years old this year and was as successful as a man could be.
When his family would come to visit, they were awed by his life. They were proud of him but it always felt like something was missing. It was. Part of the Jarrod they knew died at Rimfire and—with Beth.
They couldn't understand that and he couldn't explain it. New York kept him busy and busy kept him sane.
He went back to the letter. Nick shared all the news of the ranch and the family. His brother had a son and twin daughters now by his Russian Princess, Katarina. Tab and Sophie and May… they must have changed so much since he saw them last year. Tab had toddled to him, coached by Nick with a practiced Pappy on his lips and a big Nick smile. He looked at the photograph of the twins Nick had sent this past fall wistfully. His brother already had three children in the nursery, time was racing on.
Mother, Audra, and Heath wrote as well regularly with an obvious when will you come back home tucked in their well-meaning letters. So many nights, he longed to sit at the fire and sort out an issue with mother or argue with Nick or joining forces with Heath against Nick He had made a great deal of money in investments, gambling, the fledgling stock market, and commodities. He invested it back into the ranch accounts.
If something ever happened to him, they would be taken care of. The doctors had told him to lay off the scotch and cigars. He had sincerely tried but at the end of a long day in the judicial halls, he always reverted back. His gut and twinges in his chest reminded him of his own mortality.
Back to Nick's letter, he went. Nick had done some further digging and had found another Spanish land grant. It had been auctioned off around ten years ago and bought by a British oil holding company. Oil had not been found on the property by the company but an underground aquifer had been. The holding company had surrendered the property to a shipping company in lieu of debt payment. With the right equipment, it could be drilled and provide more water into the Russian land grant… the problem was that it was located at a key juncture for the railroad.
If Western Coastal RR, Peter Crown, and Hannibal Jordan, got their hands on it, they could put a chokehold on the Valley for good. Water for the farmers and cattlemen alike, transportation of crops, the small farmer barely getting by...all at jeopardy again. Another Sample's farm, what his father died for...
Nick's friend said the railroad was assured of whatever cash was necessary to secure the property. The British shipping firm would be in San Francisco to take bids on that parcel and others it owned in the west in two months. Would we have the cash reserves to try for the land?
Of course, Nick if you only knew how much I have acquired the past two years for the family
He would write back and tell Nick to proceed…he went back to check the original holding company, Benson Oil. That name meant nothing. Lots of start-up kerosene businesses failed unless Standard Oil grabbed them first. Rockefeller knew how to monopolize a market. It was acquired by Beaufort Shipping in the settling of debt for back payment.
"Beaufort? Seems like I have heard that name before…"
His clerk knocked on his door and he laid down Nick's letter. He put on his tailored jacket and went out to greet his newest wealthy client. Jarrod Barkley was the most sought-after lawyer in Manhattan and he definitely dressed the part..
Two Months Later in San Francisco
Nick, Katarina, and Heath went by private rail to negotiate for the Benson Oil land grant owned by the shipping company. Victoria and Audra had offered to keep the children to allow the couple to have a weekend away and Heath had a meeting set up with a mining operation friend who was in town. Jarrod had told Nick to bid as high as necessary to buy the land. He would take care of securing the funds for them.
They signed into the Occidental hotel where the land was to be proffered in their business meeting rooms downstairs. The three of them ate a scrumptious lunch and prepared for the auction. Heath and Nick signed in on the auction register and took their chairs in the antechamber early. They had prepared themselves for the worst. Crown and Jordan came in about thirty minutes later.
Nick's hackles were already up and this only made it worse. Heath only knew the stories of the men responsible for Tom Barkley's death and the raid on Sample's farm, his first day as a Barkley brother. Nick eyed them with unadulterated hate in his eyes. Their insolent manner only made it worse.
A clerk came through and took the sealed letters of credit from each bidder to be verified by the bank before bidding would take place in an hour. Numerous men were seated around the room for the various pieces of land being auctioned today. Heath would be glad when this was over and he could get Nick out of here without killing the railroad men in cold blood. An hour passed slowly in a staring match...
"Mr. Barkleys, can you come this way please?"
Crown and Jordan's heads shot up. What was going on?
Nick assumed bad news as they rounded the corner into a private room, "Did you get our letter of credit from the bank? Was there a problem?"
The clerk responded, "I am not privy to my employer's business." He closed the doors to the antechamber.
Heath and Nick looked at each other in confusion. Outside the room they were seated in, they heard parts of an argument. They were not sure if it concerned them or not.
"This is why women should not be in the business world. They are not suited for it. Their humours get out of line and they can not make decisions. Women are irrational creatures. This is preposterous. My contact at the railroad assures me they will go as high as needed and that means more commission for us."
"Do you know what this property is worth? Do you know how much our auction firm will lose from the impulse of a woman?"
"Shhhhh here she comes"
"Your attempt to silence your conversation failed. I will pay your commission on this sale out of my own profits from the other pieces of land auctioned today. I will review my decision to use your company again once our business is done, sirs. I hope that is rational enough for a woman" declared an authoritative female voice.
She added coldly, "On the appraised value of course...my appraisal and not your inflated bidding estimate."
Nick and Heath were both wide-eyed listening to this woman berate the auction company representative who challenged her in the hall.
They were taken off guard as a diminutive woman stepped into their room. The strong tone she took did not fit her small stature...but neither did Victoria Barkley, crossed both of their minds at the same time. She was a little over five feet tall with auburn hair and large green eyes. The business shirtwaist she was wearing was elegantly tailored.
"Don't you want me in here to carry on the negotiations?" stammered the man.
She glared icily at the clerk and responded with a "No" and closed the door in his face.
She turned and looked at Heath and Nick with a much kinder expression. She extended her hand and smiled, "My name is Elizabeth Beaufort."
"Nick Barkley, ma'am, and this is my brother, Heath"
"And the brother of Jarrod Barkley, correct?" They nodded.
"Then we have some business to conduct."