Cui Bono

XVII

Katherine had just finished mucking out the horses' stalls, and put the shovel and wheelbarrow away, then washed her hands and grabbed a pail of hay, and started feeding the horses.

"Shelly told us you'd be in here."

Katherine looked to the entrance of the barn, and sighed when she saw her father, Ricki, and Jean. "As you can see, I'm busy."

"And what we have to tell you is important."

"Then make it quick."

"The way you behaved at Daniel and Isabella's engagement party was appalling."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "So that's it? You just want to chew me out for putting the Van Groningen/Groeneveld/Naslund clan in their place?"

"It's the way in which you did it, Katherine. We know you're not gentle when dealing with people when they step out of line, but, last night, you were the one who was out of line."

'You know I've never cared about being popular, especially among the rich and hoity-toity." Katherine deposited some hay into a horse's feed bucket.

"This isn't about being popular, Katherine. But you don't have to be so harsh when putting people in their place."

Katherine looked at Jean. "Why did you come here again?"

"Katherine."

"Like I said, I'm busy. And, right now, the horses need feeding."

"You've done this for as long as I can remember. You've always used whatever work you were doing as an excuse to avoid difficult conversations."

"This isn't a difficult conversation, Dad. This is yet another lecture about the importance of kissing the asses of people who have more power than I do, and thus consider me lesser than." Katherine deposited hay into another horse's feed bucket.

"When was the last time you had a vacation?" Ricki asked. "An actual vacation. Voluntourism projects don't count."

Katherine paused in front of a stall, and looked at Ricki. "Oh, so you mean where I sit around on my ass and just take up space? Only people who don't have to work for their money do that kind of shit, Ricki. They're lazy and selfish, so there's no feeling in their minds that they have to justify it."

Ricki sighed. "I was afraid of this. Katherine, I personally have every reason to believe you're on the verge of a psychotic break; the three of us spoke before coming here, so I know your father and Jean feel the same way. And I agree with Jean that it's never helped that you've always had enablers—Julie, Shelly, Lily, Duff, and Nate. You've busted your ass and helped others since you were old enough to understand the concepts of work and altruism. That's great, but you've never taken any time for yourself." She held up a hand to cut off any response from Katherine. "To recharge your batteries. If things don't change, you're going to wind up in a sanitorium.

"As it happens, I've talked to Uncle Dominic and Aunt Patricia recently, and they would like to see you again. So I've taken the liberty of booking a space on an airship to New York City."

"What?"

"In a city of over a million, your chances of bumping into He Who Must Not Be Named are somewhere between remote and astronomical. And who knows what he'll be doing in October—or if he'll even be there."

"October? I'm going in October?"

"You're going near the end of this month."