Stone Junction by Jim Dodge Page B

attract way too much attention on the water.’
    Exasperated, Daniel flung his arms out to indicate the salon. ‘Then why bother doing this?
Any
of this? Why not just make it cheap, practical, functional?’
    ‘Because it wouldn’t be doing it right,’ Elmo said. You could have broken a fist on his voice.
    ‘Is doing it
halfway
doing it right?’
    ‘In this case, yes. Shit, son, we couldn’t really afford to do this much right, and a power plant would double up the budget and make it worthless for what we have in mind.’
    Daniel muttered, ‘It just makes our work seem pointless.’
    Elmo dropped a meaty hand on Daniel’s shoulder. ‘Now
that’s
up to you, whether it’s pointless or not. Far as I’m concerned, you two did one helluva job, and before you go on bulldogging my ass about this engine and get me feeling mean, let me say thanks, okay? Now you can keep chomping if you want, or we can sit down at this fine table here and talk.’ He lifted his hand from Daniel’s shoulder and touched the polished tabletop. ‘What kinda wood is this anyhow?’
    ‘Walnut,’ Daniel said.
    Elmo caressed it with his thick fingers. ‘That’s just plain fine.’
    Annalee said, ‘A long way from that scabby old card table, isn’t it?’
    ‘A million miles.’ He glanced at Daniel. ‘You done chewing?’
    ‘If it makes any difference,’ Annalee said, ‘I agree with Daniel.’
    ‘It makes a difference, but it doesn’t change nothing.’
    Annalee sat down. ‘Then let’s talk about something else, like the million miles between here and there and where we’re going next.’
    ‘That’s up to you,’ Elmo said, sitting down across from her. ‘Next month the boat here’ll be fitted out with radio equipment. There’ll be a permanent crew of about a dozen, and occasionally a full house. You’re welcome to stay on and learn some communication engineering, which is a good skill to have these days, or there’s an opening in our Waco language school if you want to learn Spanish while making sure our borders stay open to certain goods and people. There’s a communal salmon boat in Washington that could always use some extra hands; it’s got an engine, too, at least most of the time, and a crew that would have been pirates a hundred years ago. Or, if you want to learn the fine arts of printing and photography, there’s a paper house about to start production––’
    ‘Paper house?’ Daniel interrupted.
    ‘Documents. Licenses. Stuff like that.’
    ‘Forgeries.’ Daniel nodded.
    Elmo shrugged. ‘Well, we have a lot of official seals; we just don’t have a lot of official authorization to use them.’
    ‘Where is this paper house,’ Annalee asked.
    ‘Berkeley. In California.’
    ‘Berkeley, California,’ Annalee repeated with a dreamy joy. ‘Credentials of identity, certificates of accomplishment. Perfect. We’ll take it.’ She looked at Daniel. ‘Assuming it’s acceptable to you.’
    ‘I’d like to live in a city,’ Daniel said.
    ‘For how long?’ she said to Elmo.
    ‘Till you get tired of it or it burns up – paper houses tend to do that. But the better the papers, the lower the heat.’
    Annalee nodded. ‘When?’
    ‘Now, if you want. It’ll be another month before all the tools and materials are delivered, but the house is ready.’
    ‘It doesn’t need an engine, does it?’ Daniel said, but he was smiling.
    Elmo grinned in return. ‘You know what they call a bulldog that knows when to let go?’
    Daniel shook his head.
    ‘Smart.’
    ‘Do you know what they call a boat without an engine?’ Daniel said.
    Elmo sighed. ‘Let me guess. Dumb?’
    ‘No. They call it a communications center.’
    ‘You know, I’m gonna start packing a spoon with me.’
    Daniel didn’t bite.
    Elmo explained anyway. ‘All the shit I have to eat on this job, I could use one.’
    Annalee said, ‘As long as we’re asking questions, and since you trust us enough to run a print shop, there’s something I