Publisher's Synopsis
'Chatsworth's Women' is a continuation of 'Cicely's Deflowering Ritual', a story about a population of people who live in the shadows and have no documents to make them count as citizens of any country. Some live deep in forests as near cavemen. Others have relatives who can 'go into town because they pass as general population. Others have to hide in the shadows or some get to the Summerhaven Camp where they can live as they are used to living but their children can go to school, Relatives who have been 'living white' are offered free college in Summerhaven and encouraged to become involve with their roots and perhaps help work toward getting the clan ready for when something happens that forces them to'come out of the shadows and become part of the mainstream world. When Mecante employee Arnold Chatsworth was interviewed after the rescue of the kidnapped woman, he explained that his job included much more than crisis negotiation. 'it's not often you need to talk a monster out of a cave, ' he said, 'but how often do you need a gross of pencils or a new stapler, or someone to refill the water cooler? You want anything like that, you got to see me.' The following is a transcript of his talk with Roy who had been lured out of the cave and chained inside a cage: 'Angela go to your boy and make him feel safe -the helicopter ride is going to be fun! Roy, I am coming in to talk to you.' Chatsworth walked into the cage with his clipboard. 'My name is Chatsworth and I represent Mecante and some good people who have been in situations just as difficult as the one you are in now. You have lived in a cave with a bad attitude a long time. It is going to feel great to never have to worry about peasants with pitchforks and torches coming after you. There are some small details we need to agree on to make that happen. The bottom line is this: Act like a crazy animal and get treated like one and probably killed. Act like a civilized man and a great dad, that is how you get treated. 'Your son is a good looking guy. Sure, you have mixed feelings about his getting Angela's genes, but it is a fact, hairless is dominant over full coat. One in four may get a coat like yours. but they will get teased in school. Love a woman without fur, you get naked kids, it's just the way nature works. You chose her and dragged her back to the cave. And Angela really loves you, Ray, she has never once mentioned leaving you here or asked what happened to that Gucci bag. 'Now the bottom line is this: you have a son and a bun in the oven. You can watch them graduate smiling from college and Mecante pays. No school loans. Or I can take them on a field trip to see your skeleton and coat on display on different floors of the San Diego Natural History Museum. Now, which is it to be?' It only took Roy a minute to decide on the graduation option. 'Roy, There is going to be mucho security when we land. These people heard things about your being dangerous. So you need to stay cool. By morning it will all be different. A trip to the barber-no amount of creme rinse is going to untangle that fur-and what did you roll in anyway? Hey you never did it skin against skin before! You have a whole new thrill in store. 'You'll have sore fingers for a few days, it is no fun to be declawed, but Angela agreed if you did she would not bring the cattle prod to bed any more. 'Roger will show you a couple of available caves- I don't see you as a stick and mud Hogan man. One just rehabbed, the other, guano still in place, bulldozer ready. But if they find artifacts we got to let the archeologists have at it for 6 weeks. By the time they got off the helicopter at Summerhaven, Chatsworth had everything worked out. Another bad situation would now be a happy clan family living in the sun.
