Part Twenty-Nine

From her kitchen window Peggy could see the sky had turned an intense shade of pink. As she gathered her things and began her walk down the hill to the ferry terminal she noticed how clouds all the way across the sky were trimmed with rosy color.

"What did you find out?" Raoul said to her after she had boarded the 5:20 ferry and took her seat.

"I can't change it," she said. They were talking about her flight reservation to Washington, D.C., for their presentation to a Congressional committee. Raoul had wanted them to fly together. But her organization, as a matter of policy, always flew on the cheapest flight available. Raoul had chosen a more expensive direct flight.

"But the state's paying for the trip," he said.

"Apparently it doesn't matter. That's how it is in the nonprofit world. You watch every penny regardless of who's footing the bill. Keep that in mind when you're suing us."

"How many stops do you make?"

"Denver and Cincinnati."

"Ouch."

"Oh, and I can't stay in your hotel. It exceeds government per diem."

They motored out of Eagle Harbor just as the sun was rising over the Cascades. The waters of Puget Sound were extremely calm. Peggy pointed north, "Look, you can see Mt. Baker."

"So where are you staying?"

"I got a room at the Tabard Inn."

"The what?"

"Tabard Inn. It's near Dupont Circle. One of my colleagues recommended it. Supposedly charming and old-fashioned."



Then she said, "Did you get the place you wanted?"

He nodded. "The Marriott downtown. Hmm, that puts a damper on things, doesn't it?"

"You could always change to my place," said Peggy.

"Do they have high-speed Internet access?"

"I doubt it."

"Do they have an indoor lap pool and an exercise room?"

"I think you get your exercise by going for a walk."

Raoul sighed. "Tell you what, I'll pay the difference for you to come stay at the Marriott."

"I don't think so. I might get spoiled. I think you should come see how things are in our world."

"But I'm accustomed to a certain level of comfort when I travel."

"I'm sure the Tabard Inn is comfortable. Some of the rooms have private baths."

"Only some of them?"

"I also heard it has a great bar."

"Well that's something. Perhaps with a jolly old-fashioned bartender who gives you free drinks."

"You know, for a high flying traveler you sure are cheap. I don't know if I want your type in my hotel. You might give it a bad name."

"Hotels love putting up travelers from our law firm," said Raoul. "We want our lawyers to travel in comfort…"

"Is that so they don't make mistakes when they're suing poor nonprofits like us?"

"You aren't going to let that go are you?"

"Why should I? I've worked for the Northwest Environmental Fund for twenty-three years. I believe in what we do and I know we are right in this particular case. If your team wins the lawsuit it will be due to some technical detail."

"We get paid to worry about technical details," said Raoul.

Peggy suddenly stopped talking and looked at Raoul. "I have a great idea," she said as she placed her hand on his arm.

"What is it?"

"Why don't you leave your law firm and come and work for us?"

"What? Defect to the other side?"

"We could really use someone like you. Imagine if you put your legal talents and your attention to detail to a worthy cause. You would feel great about it."

"I happen to believe that protecting the property rights of citizens is a very worthy cause."

"But there are already lots of good lawyers who do that. We need lawyers like you on our side."

He looked out of the window. As they approached downtown Seattle, the tall buildings with their glassy exteriors reflected an orange glow from the morning sun.

"I think you're serious," he said.

"I'm very serious."

Then Ferdinand, the jazz drummer, came by holding a laptop computer. "Did you hear the news?" he asked.

"What news?"

"I just read about a terrorist attack in London. Several buses and underground rail stations have been bombed."

Peggy felt a sense of dread deep within her. "What a tragedy. I feel sick."

Raoul looked both saddened and angry. "I can't help wondering if we've squandered opportunities over the last four years. We've spent billions upon billions of dollars in Iraq, and lost sixteen hundred lives, and we're not any safer than we were in 2001. Shouldn't we have put those resources to actually infiltrating terrorist groups?"

Ferdinand said, "Somebody's setting the priorities, and I guess catching terrorists wasn't one of them."

Peggy looked at Raoul. "I know what my priorities are: it's to do the things that matter. Otherwise, you might reach the end of your life thinking that you didn't do anything at all."

He looked like he was searching for a reply. "You have an uncanny way of getting to the heart of things."