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Brad Williams laced his fingers and stared at his computer screen. One last reading before it went to print:
Local Amish girl finds Washington letter worth $1.6 mil
Serenity, PA—Jemima King of Lancaster County was the lucky finder of a letter written by George Washington. Miss King’s letter was verified by appraisers as a genuine and previously undiscovered correspondence from Washington to his wife, Martha, probably written during the Revolutionary War. It was recently sold at Brinkley’s Auction House in Philadelphia for $1.6 million.
Miss King says she found the letter hidden in the back of an antique clock that she purchased at the Satterwhite Gift Shop in downtown Serenity.
“I didn’t know what it was at first,” Miss King said. “It was very sweet, a letter from a man in love. You could tell that he was worried that he might not see his wife again.
“I was glad that the letter turned out to be real, and that he got to come back again to Mrs. Washington. I like to think that they were happy.”
The director of Brinkley’s, William Danforth, says that interest in the letter was intense. “We haven’t seen a letter like this for years,” he commented. “The rarity of the letter, coupled with the intense interest, combined to push the price past a million dollars – a new high for this type of historical document.”
Miss King says that the sale will have no impact on her way of life, and that she plans to save the money.
The anonymous buyer is a collector of American historical documents, and lives in Washington D.C.
Brad frowned, and bit his lip. His first major story in print.
He looked at the photo. It hurt his ego to admit it, but just as he’d suspected, the photo was what made the story. Jemima’s beautiful, innocent eyes looked up at the camera like some adorable fawn’s. She was such a fantasy girl that it was hard to believe she was really one of the “plain people.”
He leaned back into his chair and sighed. He felt like an idiot, and he wouldn’t want anyone else to know it, but he’d uploaded the other four photos Eddie had taken onto a thumb drive and meant to keep them, since he wasn’t going to see her again.
He closed out the story and opened the photo file.
Eddie had been fast; there he was, giving the Duchess a celebratory hug when the sale figure had been finalized. Her little fingers curled over his back, and she was staring into space, as if she couldn’t believe it.
Then, a split-second later, the two of them half-turned toward the camera. The Duchess was now looking stunned and a little scared; and his expression was one of dawning comprehension and anger.
In the third – the one they ran, and cropped to only show Jemima – she was looking full into the camera with that deer-in-the-headlights look.
And the last, a giant hand covering the lens. His hand.
Brad cursed under his breath. Eddie, I’m going to send to Duluth on the principle, you sneaky little weasel!
The sound of his office door opening made him close the file quickly and look up. Delores stood in the opening, hand on hip.
“Well, wonder boy, are you still game?”
He pursed his lips and reached back to open his wallet. He pulled out a bill and slapped it on the desk. “Fifty.”
Delores smirked, and set another bill down beside it. “Well, we just went live. It’s the moment of truth, hot shot. Let’s see if you stay an intern—or become a reporter.”
Brad drew a deep breath and clicked over to the Ledger’s social media page. There was his story, and that stunning picture of Jemima.
He dropped his eyes to the story’s page views, and Delores moved behind his chair to look.
One view. Five, fifteen. Then...nothing.
Brad went very still. He could feel his heart beating in his throat. Come on, come on.
Sixteen views. One share, two. The first comment:
‘Wow she’s so beautiful!’
Followed by:
‘Wow she’s so RICH! Marry me, gorgeous!’
Brad exhaled and looked up at Delores. Her face was as unreadable as stone.
Twenty views, twenty-five. Five shares, thirty-five views. More comments:
‘Why don’t I ever find anything like this?’
‘Hey, I’ve been to that store!’
Fifty views. Ten shares, sixty, sixty-five views.
Brad glanced at his watch. They’d been live for less than five minutes.
Seventy-nine views, twelve shares. More comments:
‘What did the letter say?’
Delores stirred behind him. “Put a link to the Washington letter at the end of your story.”
Brad straightened and tapped keys. “There you go.” His eyes returned to the page views.
And widened. Damn—just in that short time – two hundred sixty views, fifty-one shares. More comments:
‘If I were her, I’d get on a plane and never look back. Aruba, baby!’
‘She looks like a painting.’
‘Think she’d turn English?’
Three hundred thirty-seven views. Sixty shares.
Delores’ secretary walked in, smiling. “The Amish Barbie story just got picked up by Channel Four.”
Brad frowned at her, but Delores only asked: “Did they credit us?”
“Yeah.”
Delores relaxed and turned to look at Brad. “Well, it looks like you earned your wings, wonder boy. You were right. It’s going to be big.”
She placed a large hand on his shoulder. “You’re now a full-time reporter for the Ledger. You just earned fifty dollars. And lunch, on me. I’m taking the office to O’Malley’s to celebrate.”
Brad looked up at her in relief and tried to smile, but his mouth wasn’t working right. His lips felt like they were crooked.
“We’ll talk about your salary and your new assignments tomorrow. No more yokum stories for you, my boy! Get your coat,” Delores commanded, and swept out of the room like a ship casting off to sea.
The pretty secretary lingered and Brad noticed, with surprise, that she had a distinct gleam in her eye. She slid one hip over the edge of his desk and swung a shapely leg in his direction. “Looks like you’ve scored big. Congratulations, Brad.”
He met her eyes. They were large and blue. One of them winked at him.
He smiled faintly, and then turned his lips down. Oh, why not. It might be good for him to get the Duchess out of his system. Or, at least try.
He picked up his coat and slung it over one shoulder, and extended an arm to the giggling blonde girl. “You’re coming with us to O’Malley’s, right?” he asked.
“Sure,” she purred, and took his arm.
But after they had walked out, the comments continued to appear on the social media page.
‘I’m in love!’
‘She must be wearing makeup. Nobody looks that good naturally!’
‘I bet the house where she lives is picturesque. I wish I could see it!’
