Chapter 4—Weddings and Plan
April 22, 1632
Mobile Home, Higgins Storage Lot
"Did he ask her out?" Liesel asked.
"Yes, this morning." Johan laughed. "Very worried he was about it too. Once he remembered he isn't allowed to date. Lady Higgins was about to burst out laughing over it."
"I think it's cute," Liesel said.
"I think it's a problem waiting to happen," Dieter said. "None of these up-timers know how to handle their money. If they didn't make it by waving their hands and printing more dollars, they would all be paupers by now."
"American dollars are good money," Johan insisted. Much more than Dieter and Liesel, he'd been involved—at least peripherally—in the discussions of Grantville money.
"Did I say it wasn't?" Dieter asked. "I'm happy enough to get American dollars. They're better than Kipper und Wipper money, that's for sure. All I'm saying is, they don't know how to handle it. And David, little Donny, maybe even Lady Higgins, are all going to marry for love. Then where will we be? They need to be practical about this now that they are rich. You know, Lady Higgins gave all that money to the school concrete program? Well, she borrowed it from the bank. It's part of—"
"Enough, Dieter," Liesel said. "I swear, you'd worry if they gave you a million dollars."
"Well, of course," Dieter said, grinning now. "I don't have any idea what to do with a million dollars. What about you, Mr. Director Kipper? You're a good fifth of the way there."
"Never mind that," Liesel insisted. "I want to hear what David's going to do."
"He's on the phone in the big house," Johan said, "calling to invite the whole Wendell family to the opening of The Importance of Being Earnest. That way it's not officially a date, and they aren't defying their parents."
"Oh, that's sneaky," Dieter said.
"I want to see that play," said Liesel, with a hard look at Dieter.
"Not the opening, we won't," Dieter said. "I just get my guard salary. We can go see a matinee maybe, or watch the broadcast version." Often plays at the Grantville High theater were videotaped for later broadcast on the cable network that was also run from the high school.
May 7, 1632
Badenburg Tailor Shop
Bruno Schroeder ran the cloth tape measure up David Bartley's trouser leg while Johan stood three feet away, having one of Bruno's journeymen measure him. The cloth tape was an up-time device and highly prized, so Johan was being measured with a knotted string. Johan fought down his grin, then remembering his new dentures, let it show.
There was a drawing of a man in very full hose, a tight bodice and leather shoes with a brass or gold buckle. The hose were padded at the top to accent the buttocks, and David had been muttering about them, calling them diapers since he arrived. Johan knew that they were a style that was already out of fashion, replaced with the tighter and longer knee pants that were called breeches, but Karl Schmidt was going along with this style to appease his friend, Bruno.
Johan was feeling especially lucky, because even though he was staying on the board of the Higgins Sewing Machine Corporation, he was thought of as David's man, so he would not have to buy the very fancy outfit that David was getting. Johan would get a pair of up-time pants in dark green and a gray-brown jacket over a white blouse. He was also getting a cut that would let him get to his pistol easily, without making it obvious.
Bruno was going on about the importance of Karl Schmidt's and Ramona Higgins' wedding and how "You have to make a good impression for your mother's sake. It's not just going to be up-timers there, you know. Prominent down-timers from as far away as Eisenach will be there."
Johan was profoundly grateful that he didn't need to make a good impression.
June 2, 1632
Badenburg
Johan lifted the mug to his mouth and drank down a large swallow of the dark brown beer. He was a little drunk, but only a little, and besides, he wasn't nearly as angry at the world as he was back when he was a mercenary soldier.
"Director Kipper?"
Johan looked up. It was the mayor of Badenburg.
"Just the man I wanted to see." He came over to the table where Johan was sitting. It was an outdoor table, and it was loaded. There was a pig with an apple in its mouth, and in front of Johan was a large plate full of ham, coleslaw, and pickled beets. Next to the plate was a large chunk of bread with plenty of soft butter ready to hand.
The mayor sat on the bench beside Johan and then looked around severely. The pretty girl and the young man across from them got up and left. Johan would have preferred the young couple stay. The scenery was better, for one thing. Then the mayor breathed on him, a mixture of alcohol, garlic, and a lot of onion. Johan started looking for a way out.
"So, tell me about the mutual fund or investment bank that your young David is setting up.”
Johan didn't have the least idea what the mayor was talking about, but he had played cards and dice for years and knew how to keep his countenance bland. He considered. It was clear that the mayor—who was no great friend of Karl Schmidt—thought something was up. The mayor was also normally no great friend of Johan. So Johan smiled a big, happy, smile and just as unconvincingly as he could manage, he said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Mayor. I don't even know what a mutual bank or investment fund is."
The mayor's face clouded up. Johan knew that the mayor knew him well enough to know that after hearing the mayor say mutual fund and investment bank, Johan would not confuse the words. The mayor would be sure he was lying through his false teeth. But he wasn't. Johan had no idea what was going on.
"Director Kipper, I am the mayor of Badenburg and a major property owner. I have a right to know."
Johan shrugged is ignorance, and the mayor got up and left, displeased. Johan started to go back to his beer and his meal, but found that his appetite was on leave. He looked regretfully at the meal before him and went looking for David.
David was not to be found.
Hans, who was also at the wedding, said he had gone off with Karl Schmidt. "If I was just married, I wouldn't be talking to my stepson. I'd have better things to do."
"Me too," Johan agreed. Mistress Ramona was a very attractive woman. "But that's probably how rich people get rich."
Hans looked at Johan and Johan blushed. Between his salary as a director and his stock, Johan was a wealthy man. He just didn't think of himself that way. He was just old Johan, Master David's man. Which reminded him . . . he needed to find David.
For the next two hours, Johan Kipper looked for David Bartley and fended off questions about the investment bank and mutual fund that he didn't know a thing about. He managed to sound like he knew all about it but was being discreet. Then, some twenty minutes after Karl Schmidt and Ramona Higgins left for their wedding trip, he was called to the Schmidt house, where he met up with Frantz Kunze, David and the gang, and the mayor of Badenburg.
As Johan came into the room the mayor sniffed, and Herr Kunze said, "Don't be angry at Johan. He was just doing his job."
"I suppose he will be on the board of this new mutual fund, just like he is for HSMC," the mayor said grumpily.
"I suspect the Sewing Circle will insist on it," Kunze agreed.
And that was how Johan Kipper ended up on the boards of two of the largest corporations associated with the Ring of Fire, the Higgins Sewing Machine Corporation and Other People's Money.