"Eric Flint - Grantville Gazette - Vol 4" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

making her unhappy. Perhaps the marriage wasn't as good an idea as Father thought. Time would tell.
"Very well, we will speak to this girl. Perhaps she knows something we do not."
***
Vicky wondered what the two young men wanted as they approached. So help me, if someone else tries
to hit on me, today . . .
But no, that wasn't what they wanted. They just wanted to talk about the gas ovens. Vicky figured that
the oven works would be a success, over time. Once the problems of transporting the compressed natural
gas were solved, the business would expand rapidly. Until then, business would be a little slow, but the
investors' estimate of being able to sell ten thousand ovens in the next two or three years was pretty solid.
Vicky knew that the oven works had about half a dozen investors, all down-timers. The one up-timer
involved led a team of down-timers trying to come up with designs for cooking stoves, camp stoves,
space heaters and so on. They had a couple of working prototypes and a plan for mass production. It was
a good investment, one she would be happy to have. Still, she let the young men explain all this, while
she waited for them to make up their minds.
Vicki tapped her finger on her lips thoughtfully. "Well, even though it's risky, this does sound
interesting. I do want to reinvest the many thousands of dollars I was fortunate enough to make in the
sewing machine company."
Arend said, "I'll sell you my thousand shares at nine dollars each."
"That seems awfully high," said Vicky. "One explosion of a home and there goes my investment. What
if someone died of a gas leak in their home? Of course, Heinrich, on the design team, is awfully cute!"
Vicky batted her eyelashes.
Arend pulled Henning off to the side and whispered in his ear for a minute. Both nodded to one another,
then walked back to Vicky.

file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Flint,%20Eric%20-%20Ring%20...Gazette%20Vol%204%20(.html%20v3.0)/1011250008___1.htm (3 of 27)4-1-2007 2:19:44
 - Chapter 1


***
Finally, the young men made a real offer. A good offer, the one she was waiting for. She signaled Mrs.
Gundelfinger, who came rushing over, clearly intent on protecting Vicky from someone who was trying
to take advantage of her youth. Her attitude increased one man's determination to sell, and he lowered
the price again. Curiously, the other man seemed to believe Mrs. G's protective act. He backed out of the
deal, which was a bit surprising. But Vicky was still able to buy one thousand shares of the oven works
for the discount price of three dollars per share.
After finalizing the deal, Vicky asked how Judy was doing. When she heard the answer, she decided to
look for another sucker.
***
"You are an idiot, Henning. And don't think I'm going to accept that worthless company stock as
Justine's dowry. You should have sold it."
Henning studied Arend with irritation. The stock wasn't worthless, but Arend refused to see that. Even if
it had been worthless, selling it to a child was more than Henning was willing to do. Arend actually
seemed pleased to have foisted the stock he considered worthless onto a child. In a way, that attitude
bothered Henning even more than the money he believed Arend had thrown away. It was money that, at
least in part, was to have provided support for his sister.
***
A beautiful, warm autumn Saturday in seventeenth-century Germany was too good to be ignored. It
seemed like every family in Grantville was out and about and had some business in town.
"Oh, Bill," Blake said, "will you just look at her. She's gorgeous. She's a dream. She's, she's . . ."
"A pretty girl. But has red hair." Wilhelm Magen was looking elsewhere. "That one, the one with the