"Broussard, John A - Kay Hoshinobu - Highway 7" - читать интересную книгу автора (Broussard John A)

"It would cost too much. He said he couldn't afford the extra impact fees that would be charged up to his development. Actually, there wasn't that much difference in cost. And he claimed that the re-alignment would delay the Mall opening. But he's about three months' behind in his completion date as it is, so I can't imagine why that would be such a big deal. His lawyer sounded pretty desperate. He even claimed that there was some kind of old Federal Road crossing the proposed road section, and that a Federal environmental impact statement would be needed before construction could continue. He could be right about that, though.

"Anyway, he couldn't convince the judge, so Fordyce has filed appeals. One, to overturn the original decision to shift the road section, and the other to force through that injunction. But he couldn't get that injunction in the meantime, and the work's going ahead."

"So what do you think his real reason is for fighting this road section?"

Kay looked thoughtful. "Maybe Lily had the answer. He really hated PPA and the other activists because of all the trouble they'd caused him by delaying the road building in the first place. Who knows, maybe he just wants to see that heiau destroyed to get even. Then again..."

Kay paused. "There may be another reason. You may have been on to something when you said Fordyce didn't want to have the house torn down. He could have had something more substantial than a sentimental reason for wanting it left untouched. I think I'll call the Sergeant who's handling the case. He might be able to help me with that other reason."

"C'mon Sid," Kay said, the moment she hung up. "We're off to the building site. I think I know the answer."

"OK. Fill me in," Sid demanded, as they drove off to Highway 7. "What did the Sergeant tell you that set you off?"

"It's just a hunch," Kay answered. "Let's wait until we get there. I want to see how far the work's progressing. I especially want to see what they've done to that house site where Fordyce used to live."

The first worker they encountered was an angry Manuel Gomes standing at upturned ground next to the house site. "Damn! If anything else can go wrong, it will. So now one of our dozers uncovers a bunch of bones. Everything's going to have to stop until one of them university profs shows up to look at them. With our luck, it will probably turn out we're digging right in the middle of a Hawaiian cemetery and the bones are five hundred years old."

Kay shook her head. "I doubt it. I doubt it very much. I'd be willing to bet that those bones are only about twenty years old."


JOHN A. BROUSSARD was born in Cambridge, Mass in 1924 and graduated from Harvard and the University of Washington. He taught on the college level for twenty years and wrote non-fiction and reviews before turning to fiction; he's sold about sixty short stories recently. His first novel, a fantasy called MANA, will be published in November by Pulsar Books (ISBN 1-58697-206-5). You can find more information at www.fictionwritings.com.

Copyright (c) 2000 John A. Broussard