coward. He’d fought, and fought well, in the trenches during the Great War. But Featherston intimidated him, as Featherston intimidated almost everyone. “Yeah, Jake. Sure, Jake,” he mumbled, and left the Confederate president’s office in a hurry.
Laughing, Featherston said, “He doesn’t get it, Ferd. And he’s gonna be as surprised as a ten-year-old when the magician pulls the rabbit out of his hat when we give those justices what they deserve.”
“The difference is, this way we’ll kill ’em dead, and everybody’ll stand up and cheer when we do it,” Koenig said. “He doesn’t see that.” He hesitated, then asked, “You’re sure you want one of our people filing suit against the law?”
“Hell, yes, as long as nobody can trace him back to us,” Jake answered without hesitation. “Whigs’d take weeks to get around to it, and I want this to happen just as fast as it can.”
“I’ll take care of it, long as you know your own mind,” the attorney general said. “You know I’ve always backed your play. I always will, too.”
“You’re a good fellow, Ferd.” Featherston meant every word of it. “Man on the way up needs somebody like you to guard his back. And once he gets where he’s going, he needs somebody like you more than ever.”
“When we started out, they ran the Freedom Party out of a cigar box in the back of a saloon,” Koenig said reminiscently. “Did you ever figure, back in those days, that we’d end up
here
?” His wave encompassed the Confederate presidential mansion.
“Hell, yes,” Jake replied without hesitation. “That’s
why
I joined: to pay back the bastards who lost us the war—all the bastards: coons and our own damn generals and the Yankees—and to get to the top so I could. Didn’t you?” He asked it in genuine perplexity. He could judge others only by what he did himself.
Koenig shrugged broad shoulders. He was beefy fat, with a hard core of muscle underneath. “Who remembers now? For all I know, I went to that saloon and not some other place on account of the beer was good there.”
“It was horse piss,” Jake said. “I remember that.”
“Now that I think back on it, you may be right,” Koenig admitted. He looked around as if he couldn’t believe the office where they sat. “But hell, we were all just a bunch of saloon cranks in those days. Nobody thought we’d amount to anything.”
“
I
did,” Featherston said.
His longtime comrade laughed. “You must’ve been the only one. Those first few months after the war, a thousand different parties sprang up, and every goddamn one of ’em said it’d set the Confederate States to rights.”
“Somebody had to have it straight. We did.” Jake Featherston had never lacked for confidence. He’d never doubted. And his confidence had fed the Party. During the dark years after Calkins gunned down President Hampton, his confidence had been all that kept the Party alive.
That and the wireless,
he thought.
I figured out the wireless a couple of jumps ahead of the Whigs and the Radical Liberals. They ran after me, but they never caught up. They never will, now.
“We’ve got some old bills to pay, you know,” he told Koenig. “We’ve got a lot of old bills to pay, matter of fact. About time we started doing that, don’t you think? We’ve looked meek and mild too long already. That isn’t our proper style.”
“Had to get this bill through Congress,” the attorney general said. “One thing at a time.”
“Oh, yes.” Featherston nodded. “It’s been one thing at a time ever since we didn’t quite win in 1921. That’s a hell of a long time now. I’m going to be fifty in a few years. I haven’t got all the time in the world any more. I want the whole pie, not just slices. I want it, and I’m going to get it.”
“Sure thing, Sarge,” Ferdinand Koenig said soothingly. “I know who you want to pay back first. I’ll start setting it up. By the time we do it, everything’ll
Laughing, Featherston said, “He doesn’t get it, Ferd. And he’s gonna be as surprised as a ten-year-old when the magician pulls the rabbit out of his hat when we give those justices what they deserve.”
“The difference is, this way we’ll kill ’em dead, and everybody’ll stand up and cheer when we do it,” Koenig said. “He doesn’t see that.” He hesitated, then asked, “You’re sure you want one of our people filing suit against the law?”
“Hell, yes, as long as nobody can trace him back to us,” Jake answered without hesitation. “Whigs’d take weeks to get around to it, and I want this to happen just as fast as it can.”
“I’ll take care of it, long as you know your own mind,” the attorney general said. “You know I’ve always backed your play. I always will, too.”
“You’re a good fellow, Ferd.” Featherston meant every word of it. “Man on the way up needs somebody like you to guard his back. And once he gets where he’s going, he needs somebody like you more than ever.”
“When we started out, they ran the Freedom Party out of a cigar box in the back of a saloon,” Koenig said reminiscently. “Did you ever figure, back in those days, that we’d end up
here
?” His wave encompassed the Confederate presidential mansion.
“Hell, yes,” Jake replied without hesitation. “That’s
why
I joined: to pay back the bastards who lost us the war—all the bastards: coons and our own damn generals and the Yankees—and to get to the top so I could. Didn’t you?” He asked it in genuine perplexity. He could judge others only by what he did himself.
Koenig shrugged broad shoulders. He was beefy fat, with a hard core of muscle underneath. “Who remembers now? For all I know, I went to that saloon and not some other place on account of the beer was good there.”
“It was horse piss,” Jake said. “I remember that.”
“Now that I think back on it, you may be right,” Koenig admitted. He looked around as if he couldn’t believe the office where they sat. “But hell, we were all just a bunch of saloon cranks in those days. Nobody thought we’d amount to anything.”
“
I
did,” Featherston said.
His longtime comrade laughed. “You must’ve been the only one. Those first few months after the war, a thousand different parties sprang up, and every goddamn one of ’em said it’d set the Confederate States to rights.”
“Somebody had to have it straight. We did.” Jake Featherston had never lacked for confidence. He’d never doubted. And his confidence had fed the Party. During the dark years after Calkins gunned down President Hampton, his confidence had been all that kept the Party alive.
That and the wireless,
he thought.
I figured out the wireless a couple of jumps ahead of the Whigs and the Radical Liberals. They ran after me, but they never caught up. They never will, now.
“We’ve got some old bills to pay, you know,” he told Koenig. “We’ve got a lot of old bills to pay, matter of fact. About time we started doing that, don’t you think? We’ve looked meek and mild too long already. That isn’t our proper style.”
“Had to get this bill through Congress,” the attorney general said. “One thing at a time.”
“Oh, yes.” Featherston nodded. “It’s been one thing at a time ever since we didn’t quite win in 1921. That’s a hell of a long time now. I’m going to be fifty in a few years. I haven’t got all the time in the world any more. I want the whole pie, not just slices. I want it, and I’m going to get it.”
“Sure thing, Sarge,” Ferdinand Koenig said soothingly. “I know who you want to pay back first. I’ll start setting it up. By the time we do it, everything’ll
Similar Books
