The Stars Shine Down

At seventeen, the spindly, gaunt little girl had grown into a woman. Her face bore the imprint of her Scottish forebears: the gleaming skin, the arched, fine eyebrows, the thundercloud gray eyes, the stormy black hair. And in addition, there was a strain of melancholy that seemed to hover around her, the bleed-through of a people's tragic history. It was hard to look away from Lara Cameron's face.

Most of the boarders were without women, except for the companions they paid for at Madam Kirstie's and some of the other houses of prostitution, and the beautiful young girl was a natural target for them. One of the men would corner her in the kitchen or in his bedroom when she was cleaning it and say, "Why don't you be nice to me, Lara? I could do a lot for you."

Or, "You don't have a boyfriend, do you? Let me show you what a man is like."

Or, "How would you like to go to Kansas City? I'm leaving next week, and I'd be glad to take you with me."

After one or another of the boarders had tried to persuade Lara to go to bed with him, she would walk into the small room where her father lay helpless, and say, "You were wrong, Father. All the men want me." And she would walk out, leaving him staring after her.

James Cameron died on an early morning in spring, and Lara buried him at the Greenwood Cemetery in the Passiondale area. The only other person at the funeral was Bertha. There were no tears.

A new boarder moved in, an American named Bill Rogers. He was in his seventies, bald and fat, an affable man who liked to talk. After supper he would sit and chat with Lara. "You're too damned pretty to be stuck in a hick town like this," he advised her. "You should go to Chicago or New York. Big time."

"I will one day," Lara said.

"You've got your whole life ahead of you. Do you know what you want to do with it?"

"I want to own things."

"Ah, pretty clothes and..."

"No. Land. I want to own land. My father never owned anything. He had to live off other people's favors all his life."

Bill Rogers's face lit up. "Real estate was the business I was in."

"Really?"

"I had buildings all over the Midwest. I even had a chain of hotels once." His tone was wistful.

"What happened?"

He shrugged. "I got greedy. Lost it all. But it was sure fun while it lasted."

After that they talked about real estate almost every night.

"The first rule in real estate," Rogers told her, "is OPM. Never forget that."

"What's OPM?"

"Other people's money. What makes real estate a great business is that the government lets you take deductions on interest and depreciation while your assets keep growing. The three most important things in real estate are location, location, and location. A beautiful building up on a hill is a waste of time. An ugly building downtown will make you rich."

Rogers taught Lara about mortgages and refinancing and the use of bank loans. Lara listened and learned and remembered. She was like a sponge, eagerly soaking up every bit of information.

The most meaningful thing Rogers said to her was: "You know, Glace Bay has a big housing shortage. It's a great opportunity for someone. If I were twenty years younger..."

From that moment on Lara looked at Glace Bay with different eyes, visualizing office buildings and homes on vacant lots. It was exciting, and it was frustrating. Her dreams were there, but she had no money to carry them out.

The day Bill Rogers left town he said, "Remember - other people's money. Good luck, kid."

A week later Charles Cohn moved into the boardinghouse. He was a small man in his sixties, neat and trim and well dressed. He sat at the supper table with the other boarders but said very little. He seemed cocooned in his own private world.

He watched Lara as she worked around the boardinghouse, smiling, never complaining.

"How long do you plan to stay with us?" Lara asked Cohn.

"I'm not sure. It could be a week or a month or two..."

Charles Cohn was a puzzle to Lara. He did not fit in with the other boarders at all. She tried to imagine what he did. He was certainly not a miner or a fisherman, and he did not look like a merchant. He seemed superior to the other boarders, better educated. He told Lara that he had tried to get into the one hotel in town but that it was full. Lara noticed that at mealtimes he ate almost nothing.

"If you have a little fruit," he would say, apologetically, "or some vegetables..."

"Are you on some special kind of diet?" Lara asked.

"In a way. I eat only kosher food, and I'm afraid Glace Bay doesn't have any."

The next evening, when Charles Cohn sat down to supper, a p'ate of lamb chops was placed in front of him. He looked up at Lara in surprise. "I'm sorry. I can't eat this," he said. "J thought I explained..."

Lara smiled. "You did. This is kosher."

"What?"

"I found a kosher meat market in Sydney. The shochet there sold me this. Enjoy it. Your rent includes two meals a day. Tomorrow you're having a steak."

From that time on, whenever Lara had a free moment, Cohn made it a point to talk to her, to draw her out. He was impressed by her quick intelligence and her independent spirit.

One day Charles Cohn confided to Lara what he was doing in Glace Bay. "I'm an executive with Continental Supplies." It was a famous national chain. "I'm here to find a location for our new store."

"That's exciting," Lara said. I knew he was in Glace Bay for some important reason. "You're going to put up a building?"

"No. We'll find someone else to do that. We just lease our buildings."

At three o'clock in the morning Lara awakened out of a sound sleep and sat up in bed, her heart pounding wildly. Had it been a dream? No. Her mind was racing. She was too excited to go back to sleep.

When Charles Cohn came out of his room for breakfast, Lara was waiting for him.

"Mr. Cohn...I know a great place," she blurted out.

He stared at her, puzzled. "What?"

"For the location you're looking for."

"Oh? Where?"

Lara evaded the question. "Let me ask you something. If I owned a location that you liked, and if I put up a building on it, would you agree to lease it from me for five years?"

He shook his head. "That's a rather hypothetical question, isn't it?"

"Would you?" Lara persisted.

"Lara, what do you know about putting up a building?"

"I wouldn't be putting it up," she said. "I'd hire an architect and a good construction firm to do that."

Charles Cohn was watching her closely. "I see. And where is this wonderful piece of land?"

"I'll show it to you," Lara said. "Believe me, you're going to love it. It's perfect."

After breakfast Lara took Charles Cohn downtown. At the corner of Main and Commercial streets in the center of Glace Bay was a vacant square block. It was a site Cohn had examined two days earlier.

"This is the location I had in mind," Lara said.

Cohn stood there, pretending to study it. "You have an ahf - a nose. It's a very good location."

He had already made discreet inquiries and learned that the property was owned by a banker, Sean MacAllister. Cohn's assignment was to locate a site, arrange for someone to construct the building, and then lease it from them. It would not matter to the company who put up the building as long as its specifications were met.

Cohn was studying Lara. She's too young, he thought. It's a foolish idea. And yet..."I found a kosher meat market in Sydney...Tomorrow you're having a steak." She had such rachmones - compassion.

Lara was saying, excitedly, "If I could acquire this land and put up a building to meet your specifications, would you give me a five-year lease?"

He paused, and then said slowly, "No, Lara. It would have to be a ten-year lease."

That afternoon Lara went to see Sean MacAllister. He looked up in surprise as she walked into his office.

"You're a few days early, Lara. Today's only Wednesday."

"I know. I want to ask a favor, Mr. MacAllister."

Sean MacAllister sat there, watching her. She has really turned into a beautiful-looking girl. Not a girl, a woman. He could see the swell of her breasts against the cotton blouse she was wearing.

"Sit down, my dear. What can I do for you?"

Lara was too excited to sit. "I want to take out a loan."

It took him by surprise. "What?"

"I'd like to borrow some money."

He smiled indulgently. "I don't see why not. If you need a new dress or something, I'll be happy to advance..."

"I want to borrow two hundred thousand dollars."

MacAllister's smile died. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No, sir." Lara leaned forward and said earnestly, "There's a piece of land I want to buy to put up a building. I have an important tenant who's willing to give me a ten-year lease. That will guarantee the cost of the land and the building."

MacAllister was studying her, frowning. "Have you discussed this with the owner of the land?"

"I'm discussing it with him now," Lara said.

It took a moment for it to sink in. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that this is land that / own?"

"Yes. It's the lot on the corner of Main and Commercial streets."

"You came here to borrow money from me to buy my land?"

"That lot is worth no more than twenty thousand dollars. I checked. I'm offering you thirty. You'll make a profit of ten thousand dollars on the land plus interest on two hundred thousand dollars you're going to loan me to put up the building."

MacAllister shook his head. "You're asking me to loan you two hundred thousand dollars with no security. It's out of the question."

Lara leaned forward. "There is security. You'll hold the mortgage on the building and the land. You can't lose."

MacAllister sat there studying her, turning her proposal over in his mind. He smiled. "You know," he said, "you have a lot of nerve. But I could never explain a loan like that to my board of directors."

"You have no board of directors," Lara told him.

The smile turned to a grin. "True."

Lara leaned forward, and he could see her breasts touching the edge of his desk.

"If you say yes, Mr. MacAllister, you'll never regret it. I promise."

He could not take his eyes off her breasts. "You're not a bit like your father, are you?"

"No, sir." Nothing like him, Lara thought fiercely.

"Supposing for the sake of argument," MacAllister said carefully, "that I was interested. Who is this tenant of yours?"

"His name is Charles Cohn. He's an executive with Continental Supplies."

"The chain store?"

"Yes."

MacAllister was suddenly very interested.

Lara went on. "They want to have a big store built here to supply the miners and lumbermen with equipment."

To MacAllister, it had the smell of instant success.

"Where did you meet this man?" he asked casually.

"He's staying at the boardinghouse."

"I see. Let me think about it, Lara. We'll discuss it again tomorrow."

Lara was almost trembling with excitement. "Thank you, Mr. MacAllister. You won't be sorry."

He smiled. "No, I don't think I will be."

That afternoon Sean MacAllister went to the boardinghouse to meet Charles Cohn.

"I just dropped by to welcome you to Glace Bay," MacAllister said. "I'm Sean MacAllister. I own the bank here. I heard you were in town. But you shouldn't be staying at my boardinghouse; you should be staying at my hotel. It's much more comfortable."

"It was full," Mr. Cohn explained.

"That's because we didn't know who you were."

Mr. Cohn said pleasantly, "Who am I?"

Sean MacAllister smiled. "We don't have to play games, Mr. Cohn. Word gets around. I understand that you're interested in leasing a building to be put up on a property I own."

"What property would that be?"

"The lot at Main and Commercial. It's a great location, isn't it? I don't think we'll have any problem making a deal."

"I already have a deal with someone."

Sean MacAllister laughed. "Lara? She's a pretty little thing, isn't she? Why don't you come down to the bank with me and we'll draw up a contract?"

"I don't think you understand, Mr. MacAllister. I said I already have a deal."

"I don't think you understand, Mr. Cohn. Lara doesn't own that land. I do."

"She's trying to buy it from you, isn't she?"

"Yes. I don't have to sell it to her."

"And I don't have to use that lot. I've seen three other lots that will do just as nicely. Thanks for dropping by."

Sean MacAllister looked at him for a long moment. "You mean...you're serious?"

"Very. I never go into a deal that's not kosher, and I never break my word."

"But Lara doesn't know anything about building. She..."

"She plans to find people who do. Naturally, we'll have final approval."

The banker was thoughtful. "Do I understand that Continental Supplies is willing to sign a ten-year lease?"

"That's correct."

"I see. Well, under the circumstances, I...let me think about it."

When Lara arrived at the boardinghouse, Charles Cohn told her about his conversation with the banker.

Lara was upset. "You mean Mr. MacAllister went behind my back and...?"

"Don't worry," Cohn assured her, "he'll make the deal with you."

"Do you really think so?"

"He's a banker. He's in business to make a profit."

"What about you? Why are you doing this for me?" Lara asked.

He had asked himself the same question. Because you're achingly young, he thought. Because you don't belong in this town. Because I wish I had a daughter like you.

But he said none of those things.

"I have nothing to lose, Lara. I found some other locations that would serve just as well. If you can acquire this land, I'd like to do this for you. It doesn't matter to my company who I deal with. If you get your loan, and I approve your builder, we're in business."

A feeling of elation swept over Lara. "I...I don't know how to thank you. I'll go to see Mr. MacAllister and..."

"I wouldn't if I were you," Cohn advised her. "Let him come to you."

She looked worried. "But what if he doesn't...?"

Cohn smiled. "He will."

He handed her a printed lease. "Here's the ten-year lease we discussed. It's contingent, you understand, on your meeting all our requirements for the building." He handed her a set of blueprints. "These are our specifications."

Lara spent the night studying the pages of drawings and instructions.

The following morning Sean MacAllister telephoned Lara.

"Can you come down to see me, Lara?"

Her heart was pounding. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

He was waiting for her.

"I've been thinking about our conversation," MacAllister said. "I would need a written agreement for a ten-year lease from Mr. Cohn."

"I already have it," Lara said. She opened her bag and took out the contract.

Sean MacAllister examined it carefully. "It seems to be in order."

"Then we have a deal?" Lara asked. She was holding her breath.

MacAllister shook his head. "No."

"But I thought..."

His fingers were drumming restlessly on his desk. "To tell you the truth, I'm really in no hurry to sell that lot, Lara. The longer I hold on to it, the more valuable it will become."

She looked at him blankly. "But you..."

"Your request is completely unorthodox. You've had no experience. I would need a very special reason to make this loan to you."

"I don't under...what kind of reason?"

"Let's say...a little bonus. Tell me, Lara, have you ever had a lover?"

The question caught her completely off-guard.

"I...no." She could feel the deal slipping away from her. "What does that have...?"

MacAllister leaned forward. "I'm going to be frank with you, Lara. I find you very attractive. I'd like to go to bed with you. Quid pro quo. That means..."

"I know what it means." Her face had turned to stone.

"Look at it this way. This is your chance to make something of yourself, isn't it? To own something, to be somebody. To prove to yourself that you're not like your father."

Lara's mind was spinning.

"You'll probably never have another chance like this again, Lara. Perhaps you'd like some time to think it over, and..."

"No." Her voice sounded hollow in her own ears. "I can give you my answer now." She pressed her arms tightly against her sides to stop her body from trembling. Her whole future, her very life, hung on her next words.

"I'll go to bed with you." Grinning, MacAllister rose and moved toward her, his fat arms outstretched.

"Not now," Lara said. "After I see the contract."

The following day Sean MacAllister handed Lara a contract for the bank loan.

"It's a very simple contract, my dear. It's a ten-year two-hundred-thousand-dollar loan at eight percent." He gave her a pen. "You can just sign here on the last page."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to read it first," Lara said. She looked at her watch. "But I don't have time now. May I take it with me? I'll bring it back tomorrow."

Sean MacAllister shrugged. "Very well." He lowered his voice. "About our little date. Next Saturday I have to go into Halifax. I thought we might go there together."

Lara looked at his leering smile and felt sick to her stomach. "All right." It was a whisper.

"Good. You sign the contract and bring it back and we're in business." He was thoughtful for a moment. "You're going to need a good builder. Are you familiar with the Nova Scotia Construction Company?"

Lara's face lit up. "Yes. I know their foreman, Buzz Steele."

He had put up some of the biggest buildings in Glace Bay.

"Good. It's a fine outfit. I would recommend them."

"I'll talk to Buzz tomorrow."

That evening Lara showed the contract to Charles Cohn. She did not dare tell him about the private deal she had made with MacAllister. She was too ashamed. Cohn read the contract carefully, and when he finished, he handed it back to Lara. "I would advise you not to sign this."

She was dismayed. "Why?"

"There's a clause in there that stipulates that the building must be completed by December thirty-first, or title reverts to the bank. In other words, the building will belong to MacAllister, and my company will become his tenant. You forfeit the deal and are still obligated to repay the loan with interest. Ask him to change that."

MacAllister's words rang in Lara's ears. "I'm really in no hurry to sell that lot. The longer I hold on to it, the more valuable it will become."

Lara shook her head. "He won't."

"Then you're taking a big gamble, Lara. You could wind up with nothing, and a debt of two hundred thousand dollars plus interest."

"But if I bring the building in on time..."

"That's a big 'if.' When you put up a building, you're at the mercy of a lot of other people. You'd be surprised at the number of things that can go wrong."

"There's a very good construction company in Sydney. They've put up a lot of buildings around here. I know the foreman. If he says he can have the building up in time, I want to go ahead."

It was the desperate eagerness in Lara's voice that made him put aside his doubts. "All right," he finally said, "talk to him."

Lara found Buzz Steele walking the girders of a five-story building he was erecting in Sydney. Steele was a grizzled, weather-beaten man in his forties. He greeted Lara warmly. "This is a nice surprise," he said. "How did they let a pretty girl like you get out of Glace Bay?"

"I sneaked out," Lara told him. "I have a job for you, Mr. Steele."

He smiled. "You do? What are we building - a doll-house?"

"No." She pulled out the blueprints Charles Cohn had given her. "This is the building."

Buzz Steele studied it a moment. He looked up, surprised. "This is a pretty big job. What does it have to do with you?"

"I put the deal together," Lara said proudly. "I'm going to own the building."

Steele whistled softly. "Well, good for you, honey."

"There are two catches."

"Oh?"

"The building has to be finished by December thirty-first or it reverts to the bank, and the building can't cost more than one hundred seventy thousand dollars. Can it be done?"

Steele looked at the blueprints again. Lara watched him silently calculating.

Finally he spoke. "It can be done."

It was all Lara could do not to shout out loud.

"Then you've got a deal."

They shook hands. "You're the prettiest boss I've ever had," Buzz Steele said.

"Thank you. How soon can you get started?"

"Tell you what. I'll go into Glace Bay tomorrow to look over the lot. I'm going to give you a building you'll be proud of."

When Lara left, she felt that she had wings.

Lara returned to Glace Bay and told Charles Cohn the news.

"Are you sure this company is reliable, Lara?"

"I know it is," Lara assured him. "They've put up buildings here and in Sydney and Halifax and..."

Her enthusiasm was contagious.

Cohn smiled. "Well, then, it looks like we're in business."

"It does, doesn't it?" Lara beamed. And then she remembered the deal she had made with Sean MacAllister, and her smile faded. "Next Saturday I have to go into Halifax. I thought we might go there together." Saturday was only two days away.

Lara signed the contracts the following morning. As Sean MacAllister watched her leave the office, he was very pleased with himself. He had no intention of letting her have the new building. And he almost laughed aloud at her naivete. He would loan her the money, but he would really be loaning it to himself. He thought about making love to that wonderful young body, and he began to get an erection.

Lara had been to Halifax only twice. Compared to Glace Bay, it was a bustling town, full of pedestrians and automobiles and shops crammed with merchandise. Sean MacAllister drove Lara to a motel on the outskirts of town. He pulled into the parking lot and patted her on the knee. "You wait here while I register for us, honey."

Lara sat in the car, waiting, panicky. I'm selling myself, she thought. Like a whore. But it's all I've got to sell, and at least he thinks I'm worth two hundred thousand dollars. My father never saw two hundred thousand dollars in his life. He was always too...

The car door opened, and MacAllister was standing there, grinning. "All set. Let's go."

Lara suddenly found it hard to breathe. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it was going to fly out of her chest. I'm having a heart attack, she thought.

"Lara..." He was looking at her strangely. "Are you all right?"

No. I'm dying. They'll take me to the hospital, and I'll die there. A virgin. "I'm fine," she said.

Slowly she got out of the car and followed MacAllister into a drab cabin with a bed, two chairs, a battered dressing table, and a tiny bathroom.

She was caught up in a nightmare.

"So this is your first time, eh?" MacAllister said.

She thought of the boys at school who had fondled her and kissed her breasts and tried to put their hands between her legs. "Yes," she said.

"Well, you mustn't be nervous. Sex is the most natural thing in the world."

Lara watched as MacAllister began to strip off his clothes. His body was pudgy.

"Get undressed," MacAllister ordered.

Slowly Lara took off her blouse and skirt and shoes. She was wearing a brassiere and panties.

MacAllister looked at her figure and walked over to her. "You're beautiful, you know that, baby?"

She could feel his male hardness pressing against her body. MacAllister kissed her on the lips, and she felt disgust.

"Get the rest of your clothes off," he said urgently. He walked over to the bed and stripped off his shorts. His penis was hard and red.

That will never fit inside me, Lara thought. It will kill me.

"Hurry up."

Slowly Lara took off her brassiere and stepped out of her panties.

"My God," he said, "you're fantastic. Come over here."

Lara walked over to the bed and sat down. MacAllister squeezed her breasts hard, and she cried aloud with the pain.

"That felt good, didn't it? It's time you had yourself a man." MacAllister pushed her down on her back and spread her legs.

Lara was suddenly panicky. "I'm not wearing anything," she said. "I mean...I could get pregnant."

"Don't worry," MacAllister promised her, "I won't come inside you."

An instant later Lara felt him pushing inside her, hurting her.

"Wait!" she cried. "I..."

MacAllister was past the waiting. He rammed himself into her, and the pain was excruciating. He was pounding into her body now, harder and harder, and Lara put her hand to her mouth to keep from screaming. It will be over in a minute, she thought, and I'll own a building. And I can put up a second building. And another...

The pain was becoming unbearable.

"Move your ass," MacAllister cried. "Don't just lay there. Move it!"

She tried to move, but it was impossible. She was in too much pain.

Suddenly MacAllister gave a gasp, and Lara felt his body jerk. He let out a satisfied sigh and lay limp against her.

She was horrified. "You said you wouldn't..."

He lifted himself up on his elbows and said earnestly, "Darling, I couldn't help it, you're just so beautiful. But don't worry. If you get pregnant, I know a doctor who'll take care of you."

Lara turned her face away so he could not see her revulsion. She limped into the bathroom, sore and bleeding. She stood in the shower, letting the warm water wash over her body, and she thought, It's over with. I've done it. I own the land. I'm going to be rich.

Now all she had to do was get dressed and go back to Glace Bay and get her building started.

She walked out of the bathroom, and Sean MacAllister said, "That was so good we're going to do it again."