excerpt
Pong the laundryman came because, for the first time since coming
to Nimkus countless years earlier, he had been urged to do so by
the secretary of the association himself.
“Me come,” Pong said to Will, “me come vote for Missy Ben. Missy
Ben nice, kind lady.”
Most of the merchants were there as was Roger McKinnon, the
manager of the Royal Bank. Mr. McKinnon supported his wife in
her decision to resign from the Association but, like the merchants,
he had a living to earn and he was well aware that his rival, the Bank
of Montreal, had recently opened a branch in Bradshaw. However,
he let it be known that he intended to support Clive Porter the café
owner for secretary.
Also present was someone else who had never attended an annual
meeting or who had not, until a few weeks ago, been a member of
the Association. Alan McNeill sat in the second row with Dave and
Penny. Not once did he take his eyes off the young, blonde woman
who occupied a chair on the stage between Clive Porter and Arnold
Johnson whom Will was challenging for the position of president.
When the votes were counted, Director Charlie Draper introduced
Mrs. Sarah Fielding as the new secretary. She had won over
Mr. Porter by just seven votes. A few days later the town matrons
realized, to their chagrin, that the number of resignations and no shows
totalled exactly eight.
Gratified to have won a seat on the executive of the Agricultural
Association, Sarah looked forward to working with Will, who had
beaten Mr. Johnson handily. But at the same time she felt reluctant
to tell Ben. He was asleep when she arrived home at eleven o’clock
that night, and his mood, when he came in for breakfast the following
morning, did not invite any admissions of having gone against
his wishes. She was not at all comfortable about bringing up the
subject of the meeting but she decided to get it over with. She put
her fork down and looked across the table at her husband.
“Guess what, Ben?” she said in a rush, “I was elected secretary of
the Agricultural Association last night.
Libros Libertad 