Chapter 9

By Penny Reed Cardon

This is a Fanfic of Crystal Sprite’s story Texas Gal.
Chapters 1 – 50 of Crystal’s story can be found on Crystal’s Story Site.
http://www2.storysite.org/a_crystal01.html
Chapters 51 – 53 are found on Big Closet.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/author/csprite

This Fanfic is a result of my warped imagination and I take full responsibility thereof.

It has been said that this is not a true fanfic because it is a continuation of Crystal’s story.
It is true that this is a continuation of her story, but according to my imagination.
It is not intended to depict how Crystal would continue the story.

Chapter 9

Friday, July 21, 1972

"Good morning everyone and welcome to our first 'phone in' executive staff meeting," I stated in greeting, as I opened our Friday meeting. "Before Bob and John flew to Brandon, last Wednesday evening, Bob made arrangements for the speaker phone on our conference table. The plan was that Bob, Matt, and John would be joining this morning's meeting by phone, from Brandon. It's very obvious to everyone assembled that the plans changed. I'd like to welcome both Matt and John to JC. I'd also like to acknowledge Bob's absence. He's spending some much needed time with his family. I still wanted to tryout the new phone, so we have Jerry joining us by phone from Portland. How are things in Portland, Jerry?"

"Good morning everyone," Jerry's voice reverberated from the new phone, in the middle of the conference table. "It's a lovely day here in Portland, light clouds, and a gentle wind out of the Northwest."

"Hey there Jerry, send that wind our way, it's going to be a scorcher here in JC," Tom quickly interjected.

We heard Jerry chuckle before adding, "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you Jerry, I'm sure everyone here appreciates your efforts," I replied, with a smile. "However, with Ron and Gerard joining us here in JC, we have a full house, with the exception of Bob.

"And speaking of Bob, in his absence I'll start things rolling with a brief overview of last weeks activities. For anyone who hasn't heard, we acquired 15 additional plants during last weeks buying spree. They consist of mostly news print but with a couple of chemically treated plants in the mix. In addition we've entered into a Limited Partnership agreement with 17 plant owners. We can discuss what a limited partnership means later. However if our estimate is correct, there isn't another independent or single owner, plant in the entire Northwest that is endanger of being forced out of existence. I'm sure that once that news becomes public there will be a lot of yelling in Spokane." That announcement was followed by chuckling and applause from around the table.

"Bill, if you would be so kind."

”My pleasure DD, we're still working on the break even cost for each of the newspaper plants. It's taking a bit longer than I'd estimated because of the sheer number of new plants. Of course, I'm expecting our overall cost to go down because the 13 newsprint plants in the Northwest won't have a loan payment, once the purchases are finalized.

"The situation with shipping paper to our customer's has greatly improved. We used to have shipping arrangements to all of our plants 2 days ahead of the shipment date. That meant that the Monday and Tuesday, after the fire, shipments went out as normal. That was on June 26 & 27. After that, everything came to a halt and nothing moved for 9 days as the warehouses started filling up.

"We got Mark, Shrilly, and the rest of the shipping staff set up in some office space on Tuesday and Wednesday. They knew we had to get paper moving as quickly as possible.”

"Shrilly?" I asked.

"Shrilly Richardson," Ben answered. "She was one of the 5 that volunteered to come down for 30 days to help get things organized. Shrilly flew down on Tuesday July 4th. Along with the other temporaries that flew down from Brandon. Mark drove down, as he was moving down to JC permanently. He arrived on the morning of July 5th."

Bill continued after Ben’s explanation. “Shrilly having the most seniority of the group assumed a leadership role. She came back in on Tuesday afternoon but discovered there was nothing to do, with no paperwork available. She did know that some customers could hold out longer than others. With no information available about our customers’ status, Shrilly called Matt and requested that the sales department in each region contact all the customers to check their status. After Mark was settled in his hotel, on Wednesday, he came back in to the office and jumped right in. The rest of Wednesday, Mark and Shrilly called every warehouse manager to get the status of our truck fleet and drivers. As the customer information started coming in they started arranging for trucks to be loaded and dispatched. The customers with the lowest inventory were on the top of their list.

"Thursday afternoon, July 6th, the first of our trucks started rolling. It was slow going as there were only the 6 people doing the job that was previously done by 40. Add to that, that they were doing everything by hand and mostly they were working from their own memories. Thursday they managed to arrange for paper to be shipped to almost 1% of our customers."

“1%?” I asked.

“Actually a little less than 1%, but that was just the first full day. After returning from our trip into the Northwest I found out that on Friday the 7th shipments went out to another 2% of our customers. All 6 of the folks arranging for shipping came in on Saturday and Sunday, to get ahead on the scheduling. The following Monday Ben organized what we’re calling our shipping department with Mark Johnson as the department supervisor. That day shipments were sent to the next 3% of the most in need customers and 4% on Tuesday. The volume of shipments held at about 4% for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. With having just 6 people doing the work that used to be done by 40, that’s quite an achievement. The regional managers, which Ben had arranged for, arrived on Thursday the 13th. About half of the new hires started on Friday, and the regional managers begin their training. The daily shipments have been increasing each day this week. As of right now the shipping department is able to schedule shipments to 10 to 12% of our customers each day.”

“So as I understand it, we’re capable of sending a shipment to every customer every 8 to 10 days?” I inquired.

“That’s correct,” Bill confirmed. “Although some of them have larger warehouses and don’t require shipments that often.”

“That’s terrific, simply an outstanding job by everyone involved. Just out of curiosity, what was the shipment percentage before the fire?” I wanted to know.

“We averaged a daily shipment rate of 12% of all our customers,” Bill confirmed.

“Outstanding! A mere 30 days after the loss of our corporate offices in Brandon, moving our offices almost half way across the country, and we’re essentially fully recovered as far as moving paper is concerned. Do you have anything else Bill?”

“Just an update about your last little buying trip, up in the Northwest, DD. We spent an average $3.5 million for the 15 plants we purchased last week plus the $15 million for DeForest Paper. That’s a total of $67.5 million, leaving us with $32.5 million from the $100 million from the sale of the timber lands and sawmills. Are we planning on paying off the loans on some of the other plants with the excess? I’m only asking because it will change the overall price per ton.”

“I think we’ll wait until things stabilize a bit more. We have no idea what Alliance is going to do once they have all the details about our buying trip. It might be wise to have a little cash on-hand. Ben, how are things progressing in your arena.”

"Things are starting to settle down in the personnel office," Ben started. "As you heard we've got shipping about where they need to be. We're planning to keep the 5 temporary volunteers for another couple of weeks. Shrilly would like to stay on permanently, but we'd have to find a job for her husband."

"What's he doing now?" I asked.

"He's the 2nd shift lead in the original plant in Brandon," was Ben's reply.

“With bringing the Henderson and Memphis pants on line what openings are there going to be at the JC plant?” John asked, before any else had a chance.

“I know there’s not a 2nd shift lead position open,” Ben replied, straight faced. “There is a 1st shift lead position open.”

John chuckled as I cocked my head and smiled, looking at Ben. “You want to talk with Shrilly and see if her husband would be willing to accept the hardship of taking a 1st shift lead position?”

Ben finally smiled as he replied, “I’ll talk to her as soon as we’re done here.”

“Fine, anything else Ben?”

“As I said, most of the headquarters departments are stabilizing. I’m still working on the additional security that you want and on your Chief of Security. We’ve had a few nibbles to the newspaper ads’ we’ve place and I’ve received some resumes’. I’ll be starting interviews next week. I guess that’s about it.”

“That’s great Ben, thanks. Gerard.”

“Things in the Mid-West are reasonably quiet, with a couple of exceptions. I’ve been a bit concerned about the sudden loss of personal at the JC plant, as we’ve been starting up Henderson and Memphis, but at least I think the 1st shift lead position has been filled. I know the folks in Henderson are real excited to see the plant opening back up. My only other concern is that Sunday Bob is taking about half of my top management people. And, those that aren’t going this Sunday will be going to the Northwest the following Sunday. I know we’re growing like crazy and it’s good to see, it’s also good to give our mid level managers a little more time in the big chairs. There’s a few that I’ll be spending some extra time with, helping them grow into the job, but that’s to be expected. Oh, one last thing. I made arrangements with a flight instructor in Owosso. Like you, he recommended that I pass the written test before we start working with the plane. I’ve picked up some books and I’ve been spending every night studying them. My wife has been complaining that I’m not spending enough time with her. I proposed a solution and she accepted. So now we are both studying and we’ll be taking our exams together.”

“Wonderful, I like your solution,” I complemented. “Have you and Jerry decided who’s getting which plane?”

“I’m keeping the Piper Navajo.” We heard Jerry declare, over the speaker phone.

“Are you sure about that?” Gerard asked Jerry.

“Yes I am!” Jerry proclaimed. “With all the new plants in the Northwest, I’ll need the plane with the most get up and go.”

“Well, I guess I’ll give you that one, Jerry,” Gerard conceded. “I guess I’ll be getting the Cessna 206. Ron looks like you and I are the slow bunnies of the group.”

“That’s OK. I’ve been flying a 206 around for a while now and it gets me where I need to be just fine. Besides, it beats driving to each of my plants,” Ron declared, with a smile.

"Well, I hope the VP for the Northeast region will enjoy being a slow bunny as we already have a 206 for that region," I added to the discussion.

"You mean the 206 that Bob fly’s," ask Matt. "Won't he want that down here so he can get around?"

"We acquired 4 planes with the purchase of De Forest Paper. One is the Piper Navajo that will be staying in the Northwest. Another is the Cessna 206 that we'll be moving to the Midwest region. There were also 2 Beechcraft King Air B90's, I'll be keeping one as my personal plane and Bob will use the other," I explained.

"De Forest paper had four planes?" Ben asked.

"Yes they did," I simply stated. "Their main plant was very remotely located. But we're getting off track again. If that's everything Gerard, let's move on, Ron."

"Overall, everything in the Southeast is running well. Sales are still increasing. Although the rate of increase has slowed a bit, we’re still inline with the other sales offices in the company. I'm still going to be keeping a very close eye on them. The folks in Memphis are excited to see their loved one's coming home. We're still receiving random calls from the folks in Ridgely, wanting to know when their plant is going to re-open. I know the company line is ‘Not until we need the volume.’ But that’s starting to feel like a lie. I know the chances of us re-opening Ridgely is about 1000 – 1. Is there anything else we can officially tell these people?”

“Well, I haven’t discussed this with Ben yet, although Bob and I discussed it briefly. In a month we’ll be reopening the Glide, Oregon, plant. The plant near Walden, Oregon, will come online the month after that. I’m sure there will be a lot of transfers from the Hills Creak plant, but that will just leave openings there, that we’ll have to fill. Now, I’m not going to buy their houses here and I’m not going to buy anyone a house in Oregon, but I will offer Piermont trucks to move their personal effects, if anyone wants to relocate to where there are jobs,” I explained what Bob and I had discussed.

“Is that official, can we tell that to the folks in Ridgely and Paducah?” Ron asked.

I thought about the pros and cons for a few moments. Hoping that something wasn’t going to come back and bite me where I sit, before I answered, “Yes, that’s official. Piermont will provide transportation to anyone wanting to relocate to Oregon. That’s one trip, one way. Any trips they want to make to look things over, look at housing, or whatever, is on their own. If they end up working at Hills Creak they would have lots of time to look for a house after they move in to an apartment. I’m told that the apartments in the dormitories are actually quite nice. Would you agree Bill?”

“Yes, I would agree,” Bill replied. “The room I was staying in was furnished; it had a nice living room, a combination kitchen and dinning room, and an impressively spacious bedroom. There were some units with 2 and 3 bedrooms.”

“So the official company line is; we will pay transportation cost for anyone that wants to relocate to Oregon, in about a month. As for when we will be re-opening Ridgely or Paducah; that will happen when there is a demand for paper from those plants. I know that isn't what they want to hear, but it's the best we can do,” I explained carefully.

"I understand," Ron acknowledged. "I'll build up the relocation angle as being a really great opportunity. I guess that's all I have."

"Thanks Ron. I want you to know that we really appreciate the job you're doing. Jerry, other than crazy, how are things going in the Northwest?"

'Taking a page out of Grandma's play book, I knew that a little schmoozing during a meeting never hurts.'

Jerry chuckled before starting in on his report, "I'm not sure that crazy is the word for it, but life up here isn't dull. The original 13 plants that the region started with haven't been growing as we would like, but it's not because of poor management or employee moral. As you know it's been a struggle keeping customers. Consequently I've asked the sales staff, here in Portland sales office, to ask a few questions whenever their contacting a customer we've sold to in the past and when that customer hasn't placed an order recently. Primarily, we're asking who are they buying from and what they were offered that drew them away from us. We've found that if the questions are worded the right way and in a tone of friendship rather than in adversarial tone or sounding like an interrogation, most of the purchasing agents will openly tell us why they've changed suppliers. What we've found is that by far they've been going to Alliance, but there's no surprise there. What we have found to be surprising is that the sales people at Alliance seem to have a lot of leeway when is comes to stealing our customers. They start off by offering to undercut us by $5 per ton and some switched for just that. If the customer doesn't bite at $5 per ton the sales rep will drop the price by another $2, and so on and so on, until they reach a bottom offer of undercutting us by $15 per ton. If that doesn't sway them over they'll start in on juggling invoice dating, up to 5% off and in some cases up to 3 months out."

"That's absolutely ridiculous," Matt exclaimed. "How on earth can they keep track of how much to charge which customer. Not to mention when they're going to be paid and how much to expect to be paid for the paper they've shipped."

"Well according to our sources, after 2 to 3 months Alliance starts bumping up how much they charge on the invoice," Jerry went on. "Just a little bit with each invoice until they're charging their normal price per ton. As long as the purchasing agents and the account payable accountants don't talk with each other, nobody's the wiser. By the way, Alliance's normal price is about $20 per ton higher than our normal price."

"That's not entirely surprising," I replied. "We know they're underhanded in their dealings with the competition and with their suppliers. It doesn't surprise me that they don't treat their customers any different. The fact that their normal price is higher than ours doesn't surprise me either. Our research showed us that when they buy a plant all the equipment is replaced. Therefore they must be carrying a substantial debt on each plant."

"I wonder what they do with the old equipment?" John off handedly asked.

"Scrapping it or possibly selling it dirt cheep overseas," Gerard speculated.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t be selling it to anyone who they would consider as being competition,” Ron added.

‘That might be why we haven’t been able to sell the forming machine out of Ridgely’ I thought to myself.

“What they’re doing with the old equipment doesn’t really matter to us, what does matter is that they’re installing new equipment. Their labor cost may be lower than ours, but their operating overhead will be higher because of the debt of the installation. Like us, they may have some plants that are debt free to compensate, but knowing that their normal price is that much higher than ours leaves us with a lot of potential customers,” I concluded. “Is there anything else Jerry?”

“Only that some of the plant owners are asking when we’re going to take over so they can leave. Obviously, from the sounds of it people will be arriving on Sunday to begin that process,” Jerry stated.

“That’s correct, Jerry,” I started. “However, Bob won’t start assigning management people to the new plants until Monday afternoon. He and I have other business to attend to Monday morning.”

“You’re coming to Portland next week?” Jerry asked.

John chuckled for a moment before I could reply.

“Yes I am, but let’s save that for future business. Moving on, Matt, how are things in sales?”

“Currently sales are moving along very well. Because of the regional sales offices there was almost no impact due to the fire in Brandon. By the Friday after the fire we had rented enough office space and had enough phone lines hooked up to put the Brandon sales office back on line, in full force. Quite a few of them have been concerned about loosing their jobs, wondering if the moving of the headquarters to JC meant moving the corporate sales offices to JC as well. I told everyone that until they hear it from me; they’re to do their jobs as they have been.

“As for the art department, we’ve kept them intact as well. It took a little longer to recover the lost artwork for the new notebook covers, but the team pulled together and reproduced everything that was lost. The artwork for the new notebooks has been sent to Bloomington and they started production of the covers yesterday.”

“That’s terrific news Matt,” I complemented. “I was wondering if we were going to make the deadline for the notebook covers. It’s great to hear how well the team stepped up and pulled together. Just for my own information, what are the notebook cover designs for this coming semester?”

“Well, over the years we’ve discovered that a few designs are really popular so Flower Power is being brought back as one of this semesters designs, that is flower power was the theme but the design is new. Research has also told us that featuring one of the currently popular bands or singing groups goes over big. This semester we’re featuring The Jackson 5, and next semester they will be replaced with Karen and Richard Carpenter.

"The others in the top ten this semester is a group of Kittens playing. Also, there’s a design featuring an assortment of Puppies. There’s a Paisley design, along with a design with 6 mythical Fairies, a collection of Muscle Cars, an artist rendering of a sea battle with a Pirate Ship, and a picture of the Night sky featuring several Constellations.

"Lastly, one of our artists, Tiffany, said she’d never seen a comic strip as a notebook cover. Another one countered saying, ‘Who would want to see the same cartoon every day.’ Tiffany replied with ‘What if the dialog bubbles were blank? They could make up their own comic every day.’ We all thought that sounded pretty good but what comic strip would be popular enough to make the cut. Eventually, it was decided that Peanuts was one of the most popular comics out there. So I contacted Charles Schulz and pitched the idea. After some discussion it was agreed, Mr. Schulz would do a 5 strip layout without dialog as a contest. Anyone can fill in the dialog bubbles and send a copy of the cover to us, by Thanksgiving. We will forward them to Mr. Schulz who will pick the 5 best. First prize will be $250 and Mr. Schulz will publish their comic. Second prize will be $100, along with 3 Third place prizes of $50.”

“Matt – that’s fantastic. I’ve never heard of anything like that being done. That’s what I call being innovative,” I praised. “Pass my complements on to the entire art department. Anything else?”

“I actually think this counts as new business, but several of our artists have suggested we should get into the market of the 3” X 5” mini spiral notebooks. The demand for them is climbing, in all markets from grade school to business, according to our research. I just don’t know if our existing spiral binders can do a 3X5 or if we have the excess capacity to produce them,” Matt added.

"That's an interesting question, Matt," I added. "Actually, that's 3 interesting questions. The first, should we produce 3X5 mini spirals? I would have to say yes. As to the 3rd question, do we have the capacity to run them? To answer that question I'd have to defer to Bob. However, in Bob's absence I'll have to make a couple of calls while we break for lunch. Now getting back to the 2nd question, will the existing binders produce them? To answer that I would have to ask John."

"I know there was some adjustment capability in the magazines on the 6130's, I just don't remember how much. Normally I'd go refer to the manual in my office, but right now I'm an engineer without an office. I do know who has that information and I can give them a quick call during lunch," John apologized, and explained.

"Looks like we'll both be working through lunch John, anything else Matt?" I pressed on, not making any reference to John's office at this time. We would discuss it later.

"That's everything, except that we've got almost a hundred sales people waiting on Bill and the new price for newsprint," Matt concluded.

"As soon as we have the numbers and DD gives her final approval, you'll be the first one I call," Bill assumed Matt.

"Thanks Matt, Bill. You're up John."

"Well, I haven't started my inspection tour of all the company's production plants yet, someone's been keeping me busy,” he stated, with a smile. “But I had contacted the chief engineer at most of the plants the week before and after the fire in Brandon. At that time they reported that everything was well in their plants. As for the 14 recently acquired plants, I’d say they are about 50 / 50. Some of the owners were cutting costs by cutting maintenance. The other owners knew that without proper maintenance the machines wouldn’t perform like they should. Of those 14 plants, 4 have some very old, slow, formers. Although, I think they would be ideally suited to run the novelty napkins and some of the Appalachian children’s products. Most of the others are comparable with Greenfield and Brandon. A couple of the plants have faster equipment, not quite as new as JC or Concord, more like the equipment in Gorham. I guess that's it for my report on the plants."

"Thank you John. Tom, how’s are things going in purchasing?”

“It appears that we’re a little understaffed again. With all the new plants that have been added it looks like we could use another 3 to 4 people, to handle the additional workload. As for supplies to the existing plants, we've been struggling to keep things rolling. There were some shortages of chemicals to a few plants causing them to slow down for a few days. However with the new people that Ben hired we’ve been able to keep supplies flowing to all of the plants. We’re still watching the new people closely while teaching them the in’s and out’s of purchasing and supply chain management. Everything should be settled and flowing smoothly by the middle of next month, including supplies to all the new plants.

“I’ve contacted Jonathan Roberts, as you suggested, and he jumped at the opportunity to provide chips to our Northwest plants. We’ll be buying all the chips he can produce at the price you and he discussed, for the first year. The price will be reevaluated yearly based upon his costs, not ours, and product availability. With those arrangements he was more than willing to sign a 10 year contract. Mr. Roberts also passed on the names and contact information for another 6 independent logging companies who he thought would be willing to provide chips and logs to Piermont under the same arrangements.”

“Excellent Tom,” I complemented. “I knew that Mr. Roberts was very displeased with one of his other customers. I’m pleased that you were able to work out an arrangement that is agreeable for everyone. Do you have anything else?”

“Just one more item, I was surprised with the arrangement you made with Roy Blu. Just to make sure things there don’t get out of hand, I’ll be handling all his transactions personally,” Tom concluded.

“That great Tom, if there’s any problem with Roy let me know immediately and I’ll take care of it. It’s good to hear how easy you make purchasing sound. I know that keeping the supplies and equipment, for a company this size, flowing is in reality no easy task. You’ve done an amazing job under the most trying times.

“All of you, without each and every one of you Piermont would not be the company that it is today. In fact, without the dedication of each and every one of you Piermont would have never have survived the devastation that the loss of our corporate headquarters could have been. Thank you all.” I paused for a moment to let the sincerity of my last comment sink in.

“I see that it’s almost lunch time, so why don't we break for lunch. Nancy has arranged for something, I'm not sure what, as we've just started sampling from the various local establishments. Sorry Jerry, but you're on your own."

"No problem Boss, I'm all set here, I've got pastrami on rye with sauerkraut. Did you know that Tony deliveries?" Jerry inquired.

"No I didn't, how did you manage that?"

"The first time I went to the diner I told Tony that Darla Anne Drake had recommended his out of the way establishment. After that, he's treated me as if we'd been friends forever. And you're right, the French toast is heavenly."

"That it is, enjoy your lunch Jerry. Just call back in when you're ready, we’ll be here," I informed Jerry. "The rest of you are welcome to stay here and eat, I've got a few calls to make and then I'll be back to join you."

I got up, picked up my pencil and notepad, and headed for the door and the executive suites lobby, with John close behind. Ellen Defranko was at the receptionist desk, being that Nancy was taking notes for the staff meeting.

"Good afternoon Miss Drake, is there something I can do for you?" Ellen asked, as I approached her desk.

"There is Ellen, would you get Peter Emos, in Franklin, for me. After I'm finished with Peter I'd like to speak with Nick Nolan in Evansville and then Ronald Starling in Little Rock. Oh, I'll be at the desk in the library office."

"DD, which office can I use for a little while," John asked.

"You’re welcome to any one of the three empty offices, here in the executive suites," I replied, while pointing out the three offices I was referring to. “Pick which one you’d like and it’s yours anytime you’re here.”

I'd just gotten comfortable behind the desk, in the slowly growing library, when the phone rang. After a short visit with each of the three plant managers and I was heading back to my office, thanking Ellen along the way. We continued talking about the new plants in the Northwest through lunch and beyond. When nothing new was being introduced I brought the discussion to a close by revisiting Matt's proposal to produce the 3X5 mini spiral notebooks.

"It appears that there is some unused capacity on our spiral binding machines," I stated. “According to the plant managers, we're only utilizing approximately 65% of their 2.1 million notebooks per month capacity, of course, that's a yearly average. From July through mid December they're pushed to the max. So from January through June we have quite a bit of available capacity. The next question is for John, will the 6130's produce a 3X5 notebook?"

"I called Lenny Burke and had him check the 6130 manual," John started. "We can adjust the width of the magazines some, but they'll only go down to about 8 inches. The actual measurement is so many Millimeters, it's a European thing. I guess it doesn't really matter to us, but it won't do a 3X5. Although he did say that the length can be adjusted to 14 inches, so we could do something in legal size if we wanted."

"That's interesting," Matt thought aloud. "A legal size spiral bound notebook, may have some possibilities. Would that be with the spiral across the top or along the side?"

"I'm not sure," John replied. "It wasn't the 3 X 5 and that is what I was asking about, so I didn't inquire any further. I can call Lenny back and ask."

"Yes, that would be great. It doesn't have to be today, just when you have a chance," Matt replied, while obviously deep in thought.

"I know that look, Matt. Something shook the hamster loose and the gears are turning. What are you thinking?" I asked.

"Nothing I want to discuss right now," Matt admitted. "Just a few crazy ideas that I’ll need to research time into. Then I’ll let you know if they’re worth discussing."

"OK Matt, take your time. So far all of the products you and your design group have come up with have been stellar performers." I paused a few moments before continuing. “Gentlemen, at this time I’d like to inform you that we’ve been contacted by 5 additional independent paper manufactures, in the Northwest.”

Everyone had a stunned look on their faces, as Jerry exclaimed. “I didn’t think there were any more independent manufactures left in the Northwest.”

"Well, they are technically in the Northwest, but they're a little farther North," I replied.

"Farther North? You mean -" Matt started.

"That's right," I interrupted. "They're in Canada. Piermont Paper is going international."

"I knew we'd be going international someday. I just didn't expect it to be today," Bill said, somewhat stunned.

"Well, Monday actually. Sunday I'll be taking a small group up to do the evaluations and talk with the owners," I informed them.

After the mild laughter died down, I continued, "So, Bill, I'm going to need two accountants at the JC airport at Noon Sunday. I've already talked with John about a couple of engineers."

"Are the accountants going to need to speak and read French?" Bill asked.

"I'm not sure. They're all in British Columbia, so I think everything will be in English. I'll have Nancy check when she makes the appointments."

"Not to be the voice of doom, but why are we looking at these five plants?" Matt asked.

"We're looking at them for the same reason we didn't ignore the independent companies in the Northwest, the one's that didn't want to sell out that is. Instead we set up the partnerships. It's true, we buy out companies if it's a good deal and we've taken advantage of someone else's underhanded tactics. But, Piermont does not force other companies out of business and that’s what would happen to these companies if we do nothing. That's what puts us a step ahead of the competition," I stated.

"Doesn't that also put us in a position to be taken advantage of by someone who is underhanded?" Ben asked.

"Yes it does, Ben, and we must always be on our guard. However, the rewards are there if we keep on doing what we've been doing."

We discussed the ramifications of expanding into Canada a little longer before I adjourned the meeting. I left Nancy to make the arrangements for hotel rooms in Portland for Sunday night. We would also be making stops in Vancouver, Princeton, Penticton, Kelowna, and Kamloops, and would need ground transportation at each of those airports.

I don’t normally do it, but after our weekly meeting and the meeting after the meeting, I headed for the JC airport and home. I hadn’t been home since we left for the French Rivera. A lot has happened since then and I was really looking forward to a little relaxation time. Roughly 2 & ½ hours later I was circled the house twice and then lined up on our runway. I wasn't sure, because I was concentrating on my banking and air speed, but I think there were several people on the front porch as I sped past.

I was making my way back down the runway, to the tie-down apron, when I noticed several people coming from the house. As I got closer, I recognized all of them, Mom, Judy, Susan, and Ricardo. I was a little surprised to see Judy home so early on a Friday evening. After I'd shut down both engines Susan opened the door and invited everyone to look around.

"Hello everyone, what do you think of my new toy?" I asked over my shoulder, as I was finishing the shutdown checklist.

"This is very nice," Mom said, while sliding into one of the seats, in the main cabin.

"A little cramped compared to grandma's G1," Judy said, sliding in across the aisle from Mom. "But the seats are comfortable," she added.

"I told you it was nice," Susan stated. "Although, this is different than the one we were using a week ago."

"I'm sure the rental was pretty new. This one is 5 years old," I explained as I exited the cockpit. "Still nice and she handles just like her little sister."

"That appeared to be a fairly tight loop you made, circling the house. Have you buzzed a runway like Mr. Davidson did?" Susan asked.

"No, I haven't buzzed any runways and I haven't tried standing her on her tail. I did open her up all the way just to see what she could do," I confessed.

"What's buzzing the runway?" Ricardo asked.

"That's flying the length of the runway, with the wheels up, 20 feet above the runaway, at 200 knots," I explained.

"That sounds like fun," Ricardo exclaimed. "What's standing on her tail?"

"When you get to the end of the runway, you pull back on the yoke, push the throttles to the limit, and shoot almost straight up," I explained.

"WOW, when can we do that?" Ricardo eagerly asked.

I smiled, patted his head, and replied, "When you get your license you can do all the stunts you want."

"Ah shucks, Mom's never going to let me fly," he bemoaned.

I chuckled to myself as I pulled my suitcase and garment bag out of the baggage compartment and we all headed for the house.

I'd gotten home early enough in the day that I dropped my bags, changed clothes, grabbed a couple of apples, and went to see Emily. She perked up and trotted over to see me as I approached the corral. She greedily devoured the first apple, but took her time with the second. I had just enough time for a short ride and quickly saddled Emily and we headed for the far end of the runway, at a gentle pace. 45 minutes later found Emily back in her stall and I was brushing her down. I had just finished with Emily when I heard what sounded like Auntie’s Cessna 206 setting down. I saw Auntie entering the house as I was leaving the barn.

As I was entering the house I heard Auntie asking, “So, who’s visiting?”

“Visiting?” Susan asked. “No visitors, just family.”

“Well then, where did that King Air come from?” Auntie wanted to know.

“The King Air is mine, Auntie,” I said, as I walked up behind her.

Startled, Auntie spun around. Instantly recognized and threw her arms around me, “Darla, it’s so good to see you. I’ve missed having you around here. How long can you stay, what’s with this plane?”

Before I had a chance to answer Rosa announced that dinner was ready.

As was customary at the ranch, dinner sounded like a board meeting. Auntie told us about her oil company, and the status of each drill site. Susan brought me up to speed on her inspections. The reason Susan was home for the weekend was that grandma needed a break from running Ameri-Moore and Susan hopped a ride on the jet. What surprised me was the reason Judy was home so early on a Friday. Actually, she’d been at the ranch for the last 2 days. She didn’t say much at dinner and it wasn’t until we were getting ready for bed that I had a chance to talk with her privately, by inviting myself into her room.

"So, what's going on, Judy?"

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t give me that, and don’t look at me with those puppy dog eyes. They don’t work on me, only on mother and auntie. I know you’re working at the Textile Division Headquarters, like you did last summer. So why did you come home Wednesday night?”

It was some time before Judy looked up and answered me, “I just couldn’t take the isolation and threats anymore,” she reluctantly replied.

“Threats! What threats?” I demanded.

“They started after we got back from the Riviera,” she sadly said, as she retrieved an attaché case from her closet. “They were subtle notes at first, but as the weeks went by they got to be more and more threatening.” Judy handed me a folder she’d pulled out of the attaché case.

I started reading through the different notes, some were hand written, some typed, the one in the back of the folder were created by pasting words and letters onto the page. The latest were the most threatening.

As I was looking through the notes, Judy continued. “Remember last year I told you that everyone suspected that you were secretly orchestrating the layoffs from behind the scenes. The latest rumor is that I’m your spy, so nobody will talk with me. Well, except for 1 exceptionally kind lady. She sort of took me under her wing last summer and helped me in so many ways. She’s the one that gave me this.” Judy was holding what appeared to be an inter-office memo.

“You may not know, but after we got back Grandma took me into Mr. Edwards office and asked that I work under each of the department heads for 3 months, to get a better feel for the division as a hole. Mr. Edwards seemed a little reluctant but agreed to do as Grandma requested. I’ve been working for Mr. Kelleher, the Farm Production Supervisor. I've been collecting, organizing, and condensing the various reports he receives ever week. The reports are supposed to come in every Monday. It takes me 3 days to consolidate all the information so Mr. Kelleher will have the results for his Friday morning staff meeting.

"Everything started out well, Mr. Kelleher was happy with the work I was doing and I was learning a lot about farms and the problems they’ve been having. Then some of the reports started coming in on Tuesday instead of Monday. Then some weren’t coming in until Wednesday. I was staying late 4 and 5 hours every Wednesday and Thursday, just to get the reports finished. The last month I've been working long hours, running myself raged just to get Mr. Kelleher the reports he needs. Last week some of the reports didn't come in until Thursday. I didn't know what to do. I went to my friend and asked her what I should do. That's when she handed me this memo."

Judy sadly handed me the page she'd been holding out of reach, say, "I can't tell you were this came from, I promised her I wouldn't reveal her identity."

It did appear to be an inter-office memo with the expected header information, date, recipients, and so on. The body of the memo was short and to the point.

Attention
Until further notice:
All correspondence or information going to any of the intern's working in the Division Office Complex must go through my office.

John Edwards

Exec VP

After reading the memo and thinking about it for a few moments I asked, "Have you heard anything suspicious about any of the interns?"

"I haven’t heard of any problem with them, there are about a dozen interns working in the office building," Judy replied. "They also refer to me as an intern because I'm not actually on the divisions’ payroll."

"I see. Have you talked with Grandma since you came home?"

"No I haven't, not yet. I didn't know exactly what to say."

"Judy, you disappeared from work for two days without talking to anyone. That's considered a ‘No Call, No Show’. If you were working for Piermont that would be grounds for immediate termination, that is if you weren't unconscious and in a hospital. However, this could also be considered extenuating circumstances," I said, holding up the memo as I headed for the door. "Along with the other notes you’ve been getting. Come with me, we need to call Grandma."

The closest phone was in the upstairs kitchen, being used so seldom these days I thought we'd have it to ourselves. As I suspected, the kitchen was empty. Picking up the phone I dialed Grandma's ranch house, or was it her mansion.

"Hello Darla Anne, it’s so good to here from you. Where are you today, still in Jefferson City?" Grandma asked, after her house keeper told her who was calling.

“Hello Grandma. No, I needed to clear my head and get some fresh air; I’m at the ranch with everyone else, including Judy.”

“Judy’s there, with you? Thank goodness. Mr. Edwards left a message with my secretary in Portland on Thursday afternoon, saying that she didn’t show up for work Thursday morning. The message went on to say that they sent someone to Judy’s apartment to check on her but there was nobody there. I was out of the office on Thursday and didn’t get the message until I was leaving Friday afternoon, with Susan. Is everything alright, she isn’t hurt or anything?”

“No, no, she’s fine, but it's urgent that we talk with you. May we come see you tomorrow afternoon?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen the family, so why don’t I come over there. The three of us can discuss Judy’s problem and then I’ll stay for dinner. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like a great plan Grandma. We'll see you tomorrow,” I replied. A few minutes later we said our goodbyes’ and Judy and I went downstairs to join the rest of the family.

* * * To Be Continued * * *

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