A Call to Arms Read Online Free Page B

within ten days, do you think, Herr Van der Heyden?”
    â€œWe shall make it so, Mr. Cutler. We shall start tomorrow morning by reviewing the accounts line by line, and we shall continue our work until you and Will understand every element of our business, from our sources of supply to the customers we serve in Asia, Europe, and North America. Once you have mastered the ledgers, we shall visit several plantations on which we harvest spices. I am not certain which you will find more to your liking: the exotic plantations out there or the accounting books in here. I hope you will find enjoyment in both. It is, after all, your future.”

Two
Bermuda and Hingham, Massachusetts, October 1801
    H E APPROACHED the open door cautiously, reluctantly, loath to enter. But he had to go in. He had to come to grips with the harsh reality. His love for his father bade him continue, as much today as it had two weeks ago when he received Katherine’s letter at the naval base in Virginia.
    His father lay supine on the bed, propped up by pillows, clean white linen sheets pulled up across his chest. He appeared to be asleep, but it was hard to tell, so drawn and ashen was his face. Richard’s two sisters, on deathwatch, sat on chairs near the foot of the bed. They were on their feet the instant Richard entered the room.
    Anne was first in his arms. “Thank God,” she breathed. “Thank God you have come. ”
    Lavinia, the younger and more emotional of the two, burst into tears when her turn came to embrace him. She tried to speak but choked on her words; she could only clutch her brother tighter, her message as clear to him as if it had been preached from a pulpit. He held her close, comforted her, dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief until her sobs subsided.
    â€œ Leave him, Liv,” Anne soothed. “He needs to be alone with Father. ”
    â€œ Yes.” Lavinia swiped at a tear. “We’ll be downstairs helping Katherine with supper,” she half-whispered.
    As they left the room, Richard drew a deep breath and turned to his father. To his surprise he found him awake with a weak smile of welcome on his chapped lips.
    Powerful emotions coursed through him. “Father.” He kissed him on the forehead, then knelt down on the floor beside him and clasped his father’s left hand between both of his own, as if in prayer. “Father. ”
    â€œ You have come, Richard,” Tom Cutler murmured. “I have been praying you would. ”
    â€œ Of course I came, Father. I will always be here when you need me. ”
    Tom Cutler gave Richard’s hand a faint squeeze. “You have been a good son, Richard. You have made your mother and me very proud. I will be with her again soon. So please, do not weep for me.” Richard had to lean in close to hear. “Time is short, my son, and there are things I must say. Promise me you will think on my words. ”
    â€œ I promise, Father,” Richard said, and the tears welled up despite his best efforts to control them.
    Fifteen minutes later Richard Cutler, deep in thought and remembrance, walked slowly down the front stairway. His cousin Elizabeth Cutler Crabtree and his daughter, Diana, a precocious thirteen-year-old already showing her mother’s grace and beauty, met him at the foot of the stairs.
    â€œ Richard?” Lizzy asked tentatively after he had embraced her. Katherine, Anne, and Lavinia joined them in the front hallway.
    â€œ He’s asleep now,” was all Richard could manage. No one pressed him to say more, respecting the tears in his eyes. Not until later that night, when he and Katherine were sitting alone together in the parlor of their home on South Street, did Richard confide in his wife.
    â€œ He told me I have his blessing to remain in the Navy. He knows that is where my heart is. Caleb will manage the family business, though I will be involved to the extent I am able. He wants Caleb and me