Indian Pipes Read Online Free Page A

letter.”
    Elizabeth returned from upstairs, running a comb through her damp hair. “Okay to come back?”
    Hiram nodded, and Elizabeth joined them again at the table. “Are you still talking casinos?”
    “Not exactly,” said Victoria.
    Hiram reached for his pipe absentmindedly. “Patience claims a casino will bring in jobs for Aquinnah.”
    “Go outside if you need to smoke,” said Elizabeth.
    “I don’t
need
to,” said Hiram, stiffly.
    “Once they build a casino, Aquinnah will sell liquor, and the town won’t be dry any longer,” Elizabeth said.
    “Some members of the tribe think that would be a benefit,” said Hiram.
    Elizabeth looked from her grandmother to Hiram. “What were you two discussing, anyway? Jube Burkhardt? You both seem really upset.”
    Victoria looked out the window.
    Hiram picked up his empty mug. “No one was quite sure where Burkhardt stood. If the tribe loses its case for sovereign immunity and can’t get permits in time, they’ll probably turn to private investors who’ve already shown interest in funding a tribal casino.”
    “Could Jube have held up the application for six months? And would that have been long enough to give a private investor an opening?” Elizabeth asked.
    “Absolutely.”
    “I’ve heard you saying at some point, Hiram, that he was upset about motorcycles. Was it the noise?”
    Victoria turned back to the table. “His house is more than a mile from the main road.”
    “It wasn’t just the bikers,” said Hiram. “He was upset about his taxes going for a casino. The taxes on his property were more than he earned, he said.”
    “He could hardly sell his family’s house,” Victoria said. “It would be like selling your child.”
    “Did he have children?” Elizabeth asked.
    “He had no family except for his nieces. At one time he planned to give his property to his younger niece, but night before last he seemed unsure.”
    “The younger niece?” Victoria was surprised. “I would have thought he’d give his property to both equally.”
    “The elder niece is fooling around with a biker.”
    “Ah,” said Elizabeth. “So that’s it.”
    “He figured he could get out of paying taxes,” Hiram said, “by giving the younger niece the property now, with a life tenancy for himself.”
    “Does she have money to pay taxes?” asked Elizabeth.
    “Burkhardt figured that was her problem, not his.”
    Elizabeth made a face. “Nice guy.”
    “During the tribal meeting, he thought about his taxes going to a casino, he told me. What right would a foreign nation have to fund a casino with U.S. taxpayers’ money?”
    “Probably be an advantage to be a foreign nation,” said Victoria.
    “A Native American tribal entity is hardly a foreign nation,” said Elizabeth. “Sovereign nation is different.” She got up, refilled Hiram’s coffee mug, and held the pot toward her grandmother.
    “No, thank you,” Victoria said. “Jube’s house has a nice view. Right on Tisbury Great Pond, surrounded on three sides by water. You can see the ocean from there.”
    “An expensive piece of property.” Hiram stirred milk and sugar into his coffee.
    “What do you think it’s worth?” Elizabeth asked.
    Hiram shrugged. “If you still have the taxpayers’ listing from the
Enquirer,
I can tell you.”
    Victoria lifted herself out of the chair and went into the dining room, where she sorted through a heap of papers and magazines piled on the piano bench and on the floor next to it until she found the issue Hiram wanted.
    Hiram paged through the tax supplement. “Burkhardt.” He scanned the columns. “Here it is. Burkhardt, Jubal. How does eighteen million dollars sound to you?”
    “You must be joking.” Victoria was aghast. “It couldn’t possibly be worth that much.”
    “He’s got thirty-two acres and waterfront.” Hiram peered at Victoria over the top of his glasses. “The real estate people would describe it as a charming, historic