Chapter 70 – The Deal With the Dancers
Late in the evening after The Whosey and The B presented their song and dance to Catherine, after she was driven to the airport and boarded the Gulfstream, Helstof sat with Henric on the sofa in the living room of their home. She needed to tell him about his new life. “We have to be at The Hall tomorrow at 8am. Everyone is going to be there, including the new dancers.”
He said, “I was going out on the boat, test out a new spinnaker.”
“I know dear, and I hate to take you away from that, but this involves the deal Gwen made with the dancers. We’re part of that deal, and it starts tomorrow.” Henric stroked the long muzzle of the borzoi, his faithful friend. Sometimes when he patted the dog he thought he detected a slight indentation in the skull, but couldn’t be sure. Helstof pointed across the room to the Hermitage desk, and said, “Your friend there started all this, remember? And it isn’t over yet. We’ve committed to the team, and we have to follow through.” He nodded at his wife. “We’re going to be involved for quite some time to come, dear. After the production of the lost ballet is over, we’re still going to be involved.” He smiled at his wife, and nodded again. She would get around to telling him soon, he knew that. He always was patient with her. The borzoi nuzzled his hand, wanting a little more attention on the indentation spot. “We’re going to have two great occupations soon. Being around the world sailors, and being ballet impresarios. It’s going to be a wonderful life.”
He said, “How long? How long are we going to be impresarios?”
“Three years.”
“What do impresarios do?”
“Well, they do what Gwen is doing with this production. They’re the boss.”
“Do impresarios pay the bills? All the bills?”
“Some do, and some get other people to pay the bills. Investors.”
“But they can pay the bills if they want to?
“Yes.”
“What are the bills going to be for?”
“Let’s see. The theater. The insurance. The electricity, the coffee, the computers, stuff like that.”
“People?”
“Have to hire a choreographer or two. Musicians. Admin staff.”
“Anyone else?”
“Well, dancers. Gotta have dancers.”
“How many we gotta have?”
“Forty-five. That’s how many we kidnapped from Saint Petersburg. We promised them.”
“We promised them?”
“Well, Gwen did. And Catherine. That’s the deal they made with them on the plane. Otherwise, when they landed in Charleston, they would have called the cops, the FBI, the Russian Embassy in Washington, and the Department of State. Would have called up Hilary Clinton. Told her.”
He definitely could feel a small indentation in the dog’s head. He didn’t worry though, figuring any slight brain damage from the collision with the side of the desk couldn’t result in the dog being any dumber than it was when it was born. “We’re paying for all these people for three years. Plus all the overhead of a major ballet company, plus all the travel around the world?”
“Yes, dear. Plus, all the sailing stuff. All the sailing around the world stuff when we’re not doing the ballet stuff. Maybe a new boat, I don’t know.”
“So why do I have to be at The Hall tomorrow morning?”
“Write checks, dear. Remember, we kidnapped all those people. They brought clothes for two days, thought they were going on a lark to Paris. Now they’re here, in Charleston. We gotta give them a paycheck so they can buy toothbrushes, things like that. Food. Dancing shoes.”
“Ok. It was nice to see Catherine, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, dear, it was very nice to see Catherine.”
“Can’t the woman write the checks tomorrow?”
“If you want her to.”
“So maybe I can go sailing in the afternoon, if I come down to The Hall in the morning?”
Yes, dear, you can go sailing in the afternoon.”
The Lost Ballet Page 70
