On Monday morning there was not a single workman at the site. Lara was frantic. She telephoned Charles Cohn.
‘The men have stopped working,’ she told him, ‘and I can’t find out why. They keep making promises and breaking them.’
‘What’s the name of the company – Nova Scotia Construction?’
‘That’s right.’
‘I’ll call you back,’ Cohn said.
Two hours later, Charles Cohn telephoned. ‘Who recommended the Nova Scotia Construction Company to you?’
She thought back. ‘Sean MacAllister.’
‘I’m not surprised. He owns the company, Lara.’
Lara felt suddenly faint. ‘And he’s stopping the men from finishing it on time …?’
‘I’m afraid it looks that way.’
‘Oh, my God.’
‘He’s a nahash tzefa – a poisonous snake.’
He was too kind to say that he had warned her. All he managed was, ‘Maybe … maybe something will turn up.’
He admired the young girl’s spirit and ambition, and he despised Sean MacAllister. But he was helpless. There was nothing he could do.
Lara lay awake all night thinking about her folly. The building she had put up would belong now to Sean MacAllister, and she would be left with a staggering debt which she would spend the rest of her life working to repay. The thought of how MacAllister might exact payment made her shudder. Finally, at dawn, exhausted from crying, she fell asleep.
When Lara awakened, she went to see Sean MacAllister.
‘Good morning, my dear. You’re looking lovely today.’
Lara came right to the point. ‘I need an extension. The building won’t be ready by the thirty-first.’
MacAllister sat back in his chair and frowned. ‘Really? That’s bad news, Lara.’
‘I need another month.’
MacAllister sighed. ‘I’m afraid that’s not possible. Oh dear, no. You signed a contract. A deal is a deal.’
‘But …’
‘I’m sorry, Lara. On the thirty-first, the property reverts to the bank.’
When the boarders at the house heard what was happening, they were furious.
‘That sonofabitch!’ one of them cried. ‘He can’t do this to you.’
‘He’s done it,’ Lara said, despairingly. ‘It’s over.’
‘Are we going to let him get away with this?’
‘Hell, no. What have you got left – three weeks?’
Lara shook her head, ‘Less. Two and a half weeks.’
The man turned to the others. ‘Let’s go down and take a look at that building.’
‘What good will …?’
‘We’ll see.’
Soon, half a dozen boarders were standing at the building site, carefully inspecting it.
‘The plumbing hasn’t been put in,’ one of the men said.
‘Nor the electricity.’
They stood there, shivering in the freezing December wind, discussing what still remained to be done.
One of the men turned to Lara. ‘Your banker’s a tricky fellow. He’s had the building almost finished so that he wouldn’t have much to do when your contract was up.’ He turned to the others. ‘I would say that this could be finished in two and a half weeks.’
There was a chorus of agreement.
Lara was bewildered. ‘You don’t understand. The workmen won’t come.’
‘Look, lassie, in your boarding house you’ve got plumbers and carpenters and electricians, and we’ve got lots of friends in town who can handle the rest.’
‘I don’t have any money to pay you,’ Lara said. ‘Mr MacAllister won’t give me …’
‘It will be our Christmas gift to you.’
What happened after that was incredible. Word quickly spread around Glace Bay of what was happening. Construction workers on other buildings came to take a look at Lara’s property. Half of them were there because they liked Lara, and the other half because they had had dealings with Sean MacAllister and hated him.
‘Let’s fix the bastard,’ they said.
They dropped by to lend a hand after work, working past midnight and on Saturdays and Sundays, and the sound of construction began again, filling the air with a joyful noise. Beating the deadline became a challenge, and the building was soon swarming with carpenters and electricians and plumbers, all eager to pitch in. When Sean MacAllister heard what was happening, he rushed over to the site.
He stood there, stunned. ‘What’s going on?’ he demanded. ‘Those aren’t my workmen.’
‘They’re mine,’ Lara said defiantly. ‘There’s nothing in the contract that says I can’t use my own men.’
‘Well, I …’MacAllister sputtered. ‘That building had better be up to specifications.’
‘It will be,’ Lara assured him.
The day before New Year’s Eve, the building was completed. It stood proud against the sky, solid and strong, and it was the most beautiful thing Lara had ever seen. She stood there staring at it, dazed.
‘It’s all yours,’ one of the workmen said proudly. ‘Are we going to have a party or what?’
That night, it seemed that the whole town of Glace Bay celebrated Lara Cameron’s first building.
It was the beginning.
There was no stopping Lara after that. Her mind was brimming with ideas.
‘Your new employees are going to need places to live in Glace Bay,’ she told Charles Cohn. ‘I’d like to build houses for them. Are you interested?’
He nodded. ‘I’m very interested.’
Lara went to see a banker in Sydney and borrowed enough money on her building to finance the new project.
When the houses were finished, Lara said to Charles Cohn, ‘Do you know what else this town needs, Charles? Cabins to accommodate the summer tourists who come here to fish. I know a wonderful place near the Bay where I could build …’
Charles Cohn became Lara’s unofficial financial advisor, and during the next three years, Lara built an office building, half a dozen sea-shore cottages, and a shopping mall. The banks in Sydney and Halifax were happy to loan her money.
Two years later, when Lara sold out her real estate holdings, she had a certified cheque for three million dollars. She was twenty-one years old.
The following day, she said goodbye to Glace Bay and left for Chicago.
Chicago was a revelation. Halifax had been the largest city Lara had ever seen, but it was like a hamlet compared to the giant of the Midwest. Chicago was a loud and noisy city, bustling and energetic, and everyone seemed to be hurrying