From Here to Paternity

weren’t all they should be in regard to both the purity of their research and the respect owed her. I got the feeling she was taking digs at Lucky—Dr. Lucke. But I can’t be sure. There might be another entire ‘party’ of people in this thing. Still, her venom was like nothing compared to Gortner’s.“
    “I feel sorry for her, too, but when you promote a bizarre idea you’ve got to count on a certain amount of flak. And she set this up herself. It’s not as if she walked into it as innocently as a lost lamb. Speaking of lost lambs, where are all of ours?“
    Shelley looked at her strangely for a moment, then gestured to the pool. “Those two water rats are our sons, and the glamour girls showing off across the way are our daughters. Did you think I chose to sit around the pool because I like what humid, chlorine-stinking air does to my hair?“
    Jane laughed. “I hadn’t even noticed them. Shelley! Don’t you see what this means? It’s the first hint I’ve ever had that motherhood is a curable condition!“

Chapter 7

    “Oh, I asked Paul about the deed thing,“ Shelley said.
    “Deed thing?“
    “Remember? Tenny said something about HawkHunter wanting Mr. Smith to give the resort to the tribe.“
    “Oh, right.“
    “Well, it’s actually sort of interesting historical stuff. The tribe did own this land originally. This land and another hundred or so square miles. The government gave it to them, which is bizarre when you consider they were here first and the U.S. government granted them their own land. Anyway, back then, there was a rule that if Indians wanted to sell their land to somebody, they could, but they had to have a Presidential order approving the sale.“
    “Why?“
    “I presume because they didn’t have the same concept of land ownership and a lot of people were out to rip them off. Anyway, there was a missionary here at the time, and the tribe wanted to sell him this big chunk where the resort sits now. Of course, it wasn’t anything then but uninhabited land. So they all worked it out to everybody’s satisfaction and got the President’s approval to the sale.“
    “So what’s the problem?“
    “The problem was that by the time the document was filed, the missionary was dead. HawkHunter’s argument is that the tribe sold the land to the missionary, not to his wife and children. The deed doesn’t mention heirs.“
    “Ah… I see how that could be tricky. Isn’t Paul concerned?“
    “No. You see, the President’s signature was dated before the minister’s death. It just wasn’t filed until a week later. That’s the most important point Another is that the tribe accepted payment from the minister’s widow, which indicates that they did recognize and approve that the land was going to the heirs. Apparently there have been a number of cases in the last ten years or so with tribes trying to reclaim land, and although some of them have won their suits, the court is obligated to consider intent. Also, the land has had title-insurance all that time, so if by some extraordinarily unlikely chance it came to court and the court ruled in favor of the tribe, the title insurance company would be stuck with the bill.“
    “So the investors aren’t concerned that the tribe has any real legal claim on the land?“
    “No, they’re not the least concerned about the legalities of the thing. But I think some of them might be very worried about the public relations aspect of it. That demonstration in front this morning was sort of colorful and interesting and lasted only a half hour or so, but if the tribe becomes really militant about all this, it could be bad for the resort’s business. It doesn’t look good to have stolen land from the Indians and then desecrated their burial ground. Even if neither accusation is really true.“
    “So Paul and the investors are wavering?“
    “Oh, I have no idea how they feel about it. I was just airing my own idea of how they might feel. All they seem interested in is their balance sheets and financial projections.“
    As she’d been explaining all this, Shelley had glanced around from time to time to make certain they weren’t being overheard. Now she gave Jane a subtle end-of-discussion signal as an older couple came into the pool area.
    The man went to speak (rather fiercely, it appeared) to the young person who worked at the concession stand where snacks as well as swimming paraphernalia were sold; the woman approached