The Last Celtic Angel

by Wallace Jan Ecklof

  “Now sit down and eat your breakfast, I’m going to get dressed, and I don’t want any more attitudes from you young lady, have I made myself clear.”

  Answering meekly Katy says, “Yes Mother.”

  Turning on her heel Deanna stomps up the stairs so angry she could scream, not as much at Katy, but at that son of a bitch, father of hers. One of these days he will run into someone he can’t intimidate. Deanna can only hope she will be there to see it.

  Down stairs Jonah tries to reason with his sister. “You know Katy you brought that on yourself, you were out of line. I always take your part, and you know it, but Mom is right this time. All she’s trying to do is keep this place and make us happy. The divorce was not her fault, nor ours, it was your father’s, don’t look at me with that face. I know because I caught him with another woman.

  Mom never wanted you to know because of the way you feel about him, but now it’s time you did. You have been beating her up and yourself all this time when it’s him, you should be angry at. I’m sorry I never told you, but Mom made me promise. You’re old enough to know now, she wouldn’t tell you because she loves you that much and so do I.”

  Katy does not know what to say, but she knows her big brother has always looked out for her, and she knows they never lie to each other. It’s just such a shock after all this time and blaming her mother to find out it was him all the time.

  “Jonah I’m sorry I have been such a bitch to her, and look what I’ve done to myself as well.” Katy starts to cry.

  “Well, now you know and maybe it will help you with some of the issues that you have been dealing with, either way we will deal with all this as we always have together as a family, Ok? Don’t let Mom know that you know or your father, because we all can be weak and fall down. All it just proved was that their marriage was not strong enough to survive. Lots of people get divorced you know that. Just remember we are a family, You, Mom and Me.

  Don’t let him turn you against anyone anymore, just open your eyes and think more with your head than your heart.” Jonah walks over and puts his arms around her “I will always be your big brother and be here for you. Now go get yourself ready and wipe your eyes.” He turns to go out when suddenly he faces his sister and says to her, “I believe you’re stronger than you know.” He tells her this as a way to reassure her.

  Katy looks up at him and nods her head, “I’ll be ok, I love you, and I’m glad you’re my big brother,” and she gives him a hug and goes up to get dressed. Jonah hears his mom coming down the stairs and pours her another cup of coffee.

  “Mom, don’t worry about Katy, I spoke to her, and she’s ok with this morning. Just let it pass and concentrate on your new job. Katy and I will be fine and yes, we will go with you tomorrow for dinner. Tell me about this man, and the pretty girl.” He plops into a chair, a huge smile on his face waiting for her to answer.

  “Well he’s a charming person very accomplished and his home is right out of something from 19th century California, I mean the way it looks and the way the interior and exterior are designed. Even the barns are of Spanish architecture. There are white fences and adobe walls, large fichus trees and bougainvilleas everywhere, and lots of flowers.

  He’s a horseman, I feel it more than I know it, and he does more than just train them. I think he is the real thing when it comes to riding them too. His people, at least the ones that I met, are all Spanish and treat him like a Don of old Mexico, they even call him Patron.

  He told me to call him Jamie from the first time we met. What I mean is, he’s not snobbish or aristocratic himself, it’s just the way his people that work for him have of showing respect. You and Katy will have to understand that when you go out there, it is like nothing you’ve ever experienced.” thoughts of Jamie are in Deanna’s mind as she explains all this to Jonah.

  “Do you like him, I mean as a person or do you still think that he is up to something underhanded and trying to make a killing on a land deal. He’s holding up the horse estate thing that they’re trying to get passed the zoning dept you know.” Jonah sits back with a very adult expression on his face.

  “How do you know about the zoning dept?” She is somewhat amazed that an eighteen year old would know anything about it.

  “Everyone is talking about it at school, I guess it’s a topic of conversation at just about every dinner table in Wellington and many people are planning on investing in Southwest Properties when they go public. Even I know that ranch is the gateway to that development, and he holds the key.” He sits back with a smug look on his face. He is going to make one hell of an attorney.

  “Well Mr. Knows It All, don’t be saying anything when we go out to the ranch. That is part of what I am trying to find out by doing this interview.

  Mr. Ellsworth, he’s the publisher of Pro Horseman, and he is very suspicious of the principles of SWP, and that’s why he wants the story on Jamie and the ranch just to make sure that they are not conspiring together. They could all be crooks, and we have to be careful.”

  Jonah looks at her and says “Mom give me more credit than that. I’m not just a kid anymore. I understand perfectly and if I can help you, I will you know that,” he smiles and gives her a big hug.

  She’s so lucky to have him, he is very much like his father, kind and intelligent it’s a shame, he never got a chance to know him.

  Hearing Katy coming down the stairs, she wonders what kind of mood she is going to be in after the episode earlier.

  “Ok, I’m ready I don’t feel much like breakfast if you don’t mind, I will get something at school. Mom I’m sorry about before I was wrong, are we alright now?” Katy gives her a hug and a kiss something that she has not done in a long time.

  “Sure baby I was going to say the same thing to you. I love you very much.” Deanna says holding back the tears.

  “Well if we’re alright, I am going to get the car,” interjects Jonah “Let’s get going Katy, or we’ll be late. Mom I’ll drop off today and I can pick Katy up to, there’s no practice until next Tuesday, the coach has some stuff to do and the season is over except for the Christmas Tournaments. Let’s get a move on Katy; I’ll take you to Mickey D’s, Ok,” he says over his shoulder as he runs out the door?

  “Mom I’m glad I have a big brother.” She says with a smile.

  “Me too Sweetie, me too, and I’m glad I have you. Love you, have a great day, see you tonight.”

  At the door, she turns and runs back and gives her mother a big kiss, then turns and runs out the door. Sometimes her children never cease to amaze her.

  Deanna suddenly realizes that she has to call the magazine and talk to Collins. This story is too good to waste with just two columns. She has to influence them with not what she has found out, but his whole lifestyle not to mention the ranch, the rehab plus his sensitivity with people and horses. The man is a story all by himself, regardless of any of the other ingredients thrown in.

  Knowing horses as she does, they are extremely intuitive not to know people who aren’t sincere; he has a touch and understanding that told her he may be the real deal. His rehabilitation techniques are certainly different and until Deanna can check them with a qualified therapist she can’t say that they don’t work. He’s invited her to come and observe him at any time, either he thinks her stupid and inadequate, or he has nothing to hide.

  She has noticed that Jamie has a love and a concern for the land that a developer wouldn’t, just the way he talks about it and the cattle and quality of the range. She finds it hard to believe that this is some land scam, if it is then Jamie deserves an academy award as a great actor, which he might just be.

  Dialing into the office Deanna waits for Agnes to pick up, “Hi Agnes, how are you, this is Deanna Gaynor, is Mr. Collins busy? He wanted me to call in today with the results of my interview yesterday.”

  “Please hold I will see if he can speak to you.”

  How she hates listening to elevator music when they put you on hold it always
seems like it is the longest time before they come back on and the music sucks.

  There is a click in the receiver, “Gaynor, I have been waiting for your call, what took you so long, I’ve been here since seven this morning.” He growls. “What have you got, good news I hope, when can I see some copy?” He fires questions at her machine gun fashion.

  “Well Mr. Collins, I was coming in this morning to talk to you about that if you have the time. There are some things that came to light that we may need to evaluate before we rush to print, and it would take too long to go over on the phone. I can be there in about an hour if that would be alright with you.” Deanna holds her breath and waits for him to hit the roof, he’s so impatient already.

  “Are you telling me that you didn’t get anything yesterday at all?”….. She imagines his anger rising in his face to the color purple on the other end of the phone.

  “I did, but it’s more complicated than we first assumed, and I wanted to go over it with you and get your opinion before I proceed further along sir,” Deanna lies to him, but it’s working, he’s thinking over what she just said.

  “Ok, see you in one hour, Ellsworth is breathing down my neck, which means his wife is all over him about it, understand?” Collins hangs up the without even saying goodbye.

  Well, she’d better go get ready if she’s to be there in one hour. Deanna’s not sure how to approach Collins, but she’d better come up with something pretty quick. What would be the best way to start off, maybe by telling him that this story could be one of the greatest stories the magazine’s run in long stretch, and she needs more time?

  Deanna pulls into the office lot and parks in visitors parking and heads for the front entrance. Upon entering the building she notices a well dressed large man crossing in front of her. It’s Ellsworth the publisher she recognizes him from his picture hanging as you exit the elevator on the second floor offices of the magazine. She takes the initiative and speaks to him.

  “Mr. Ellsworth, I’m Deanna Gaynor and I’ve been assigned to the Doyle story. I was just going up to Mr. Collins office to lay out some very interesting facts that we were not aware of. I’ve uncovered a whole new slant for this story. I was wondering if you might sit in and listen to my proposal. Your years of experience as a newspaper man would be invaluable with what I’ve put together so far. I need some old blood hound sense of sleuthing, not that you are; ah, you know what I mean.” She smiles with her most innocent look at him. She’s thrown out the bait, now to see if he bites and takes it.

  “Well it has been a few years, since I’ve been asked to use that kind of instinct. That look on your face, I’ve seen before, and it won a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Ok, have me paged when you get in with Tom, and we’ll sit and see what you’ve got.” The door opens for her floor, and she gets out turning to smile at him and wave rather sheepishly.

  Turning toward the editor’s office Deanna spies the formative Agnes guarding his gate like a faithful dog. She can’t help but think of her in that manner, what with her hair in a bun, glasses, and business suit. She’s so prim and proper Deanna wonders if she ever makes mistakes or even passes gas. Oh well, she’s only doing her job.

  “Hi Agnes, Collins wanted to see me, as soon as I got here. I just left Mr. Ellsworth and he said for you to page him as soon Mr. Collins can see me. He wants to sit in on this meeting.” Deanna tells her with all the authority she can muster.

  “Mr. Collins never mentioned anything to me about it, maybe I should check with him first.” She seems to be unsure what she should do, but finally she waves her in and picks up the phone. Deanna sees that she is hitting the penthouse line. So far, so good now to prep Collins for the big boss coming in, and make it look like it was his idea, just so he can save face.

  “Mr. Collins I ran into Mr. Ellsworth coming up in the elevator, and we were talking about the story. I told him that you wanted his advice, from the side of an old newspaper man about the new developments on the story. He’s coming down right away,” trying to show him that it came from Ellsworth.

  “Why would you do that without talking to me first?” Collins’s face is getting red and his voice is rising.

  “Mr. Collins, just like you told me on the phone, both of our jobs might be on the line here, just let me do the talking and maybe you will have the best thing you have ever published or you can berate me in front of the boss and still save face. How about it, just go along with me on this? I promise you, I won’t let you down and you will go up some in his eyes, Ok?”

  They hear Agnes greet Mr. Ellsworth, “Good morning Mr. Ellsworth, please go right in they’re expecting you.” Agnes states loud enough for us to hear, good girl, she thinks to herself.

  “Mr. Ellsworth, Good morning sir, I was just telling Gaynor here to wait until you arrived before filling us both in on what she’s got.”

  Waiting for him to take a seat, she opens her brief case and takes out the tape recorder and the outline that she prepared last night.

  “Mr. Ellsworth, Mr. Collins did a pretty good job of finding out all he could on Doyle and his holdings. We have uncovered a connection between him and an ex U.S. Senator, who happens to be a powerful financier. This man happens to come from the same area of the country that I did and sat on the board of the college that I graduated from. Using that as a spring board to get to Mr. Doyle, I called him and sure enough I got the interview. Mr. Doyle could not, for some reason, refuse a request from Senator Edward Haskell; I went there yesterday and was quite impressed with the ranch and the man.

  He wants me to do an in-depth story on him and the ranch along with the children that he is giving therapy to as well. There are no drunks or drug addicts on his ranch. The children the State has placed in his care are children in crisis. I watched this man work with horses and met with some of the people that work for him and from what I could see; he seems to be the genuine article.

  I can’t help but sense that there is more here to this than just a two column story. I think it could turn out to be either a great human interest story or one of the greatest frauds to hit this county ever. I feel based on a gut feeling that this would be your Christmas Feature, and I would like to pursue it in that way.

  It’s a way of life that they have out there and something about him that I think hides a deeper story, a secret, The Secret of Rancho de Los Angeles. Even the name inspires a sense of mystery. Let me have a month to collect all the data and see what we have. He has given me full access to his home and the training sessions. He also wants me to follow him at the upcoming horse show that he plans on entering his students in competition.

  He’s trained all the horses himself, and they look magnificent if I do say so. It is not about drunks and drug addicts, but children in crisis and how he reaches into their troubled minds and souls to recover them. It’s about him, if you met him, you would see what I saw. He is the kind of person that walks into a room with one hundred people, and every eye would turn to look at him without him saying a word. He commands a presence that few people ever achieve.”

  Deanna sits down realizing she made the whole presentation without ever referring to her notes or maybe even taking a breath. Now she waits for one of them to say something, and the silence is pressing down on her. She had not expected to be so wordy, and she didn’t even plan on saying what came out of her mouth. She still can’t get over not referring once to the outline. Now to await the sentence, it’s kind of fish or cut bait.

  Ellsworth, who hasn’t said a word since sitting down, stands up and faces her and says. “Ms. Gaynor I have a feeling like I used to when one of my reporters came to me with a hunch for a scoop, I think you have that same fire in your belly that most writers don’t seem to have anymore. I’m inclined to go with you on this thing and see what you come up with. I want facts and results do you understand me,” looking directly at her over his glasses.

  “Yes sir, that’s why we need the extra time, Mr. Collins was saying the same thing just before you ca
me in.” Deanna can’t believe it worked, and she has the go ahead to run with her story.

  “Tom was this the way you saw this?” Ellsworth looks at Collins.

  “Yes sir, I just felt like we did in the old days, when we used to dig out stories. I was hoping you might feel the same way as I did when Deanna outlined this to me, felt you should have a go at this before we signed off on it though, what with the pressure on you from certain circle’s sir,” Collins jumps right on track, like “I knew you were right all along,” letting Ellsworth think he thought it was a great idea all along.

  “Keep up the good work here Gaynor, I’m going to keep my eye on you, don’t let me down.” He winks and smiles, then gets up and leaves the office.

  Collins clears his throat before saying anything to her, “Deanna you almost had me choking when you sat down, but I have to admit you made a great case for the feature, now you will have to deliver it, and it has to be as good as you say.” Collins is mopping his forehead with his handkerchief trying to look relieved.

  “I think it will be huge no matter what I discover, Human Interest or The Great Florida Land Grab in Plain Sight Deal. Either way it shouts of a tremendous article. I will need Tim tomorrow; we have been invited to the ranch for dinner with all the students and some other guests, along with a picture interview and a tour of the ranch. Jamie gave me permission to interview the people that work for him without him present if I like.

  I have a pass card, so I may enter the ranch grounds, whenever I like unannounced. I’m starting on this tomorrow, and I need you to find me a top notch child therapist, so we can have a reference of his methods against conventional therapy to see he’s actually helping these kids that the State has placed in his care.

  We also need a full background check on him as well, go back say twenty five years if you can. Like I said there has to be some connection between him and the whole Spanish theme of the ranch and everything he does. He does not seem to have any Spanish heritage at all. He’s big, blond, with blue eyes. I would put his age at mid to upper forties. I’m going to work on Haskell next week he seems more than just a friend.