CHAPTER 17
Zach Shanghasi met them at the door of the caravan. ‘Sit down, make yourself comfortable,’ he said, ushering them to seats at a table. ‘Sorry about the boxes, Beth is busy packing. Don’t know if she told you, but we are moving into the Palace for a while, least ‘till we have something of our own. Hey, and how about young Mattie?’ he added. ‘Believe he came near to stealing the show. You must be proud.’
‘Yes, we are,’ replied Sara. ‘He’s usually such a quiet little boy, but what he did today shows the kind of child he is.’
‘Yes absolutely,’ replied Zach. ‘Maybe also the kind of family he comes from.’ He drew up a stool to sit facing them. ‘Anyway, thank you for coming,’ he said ‘I meant to be here when you arrived, but this morning’s meeting lasted longer than expected.’
‘Oh, that’s fine, but did you see Princess Serena while you were there? asked Sara. ‘Truth is, I can’t stop thinking about her, wondering how she is. Oh, I know it was a foolish thing she did, causing so much trouble, but she is only nine when all is said and done.’
‘Oh, there’s no need to worry about Serena: she is absolutely fine and, strange as it may seem, neither she nor the Prince seem to have suffered in any way from all that has happened, the publicity. Quite the reverse in fact. At least not a far as the people of Mandredela are concerned. All they know and all they seem to care about is that both Serena and the Prince acted out of love for Princess Janine and that, as far as I can see, is about all that is needed to excuse just about anything and everything in this country. Not that I’m saying the Prince has the best of reputations, and I’m not denying he went over the top and lost his way after the death of Janine, but I have had any number of discussions with the Prince over this past year and I’ve learned to know and respect him. Yes I suppose it took him longer than it should have done to get over the loss, but the Prince Xavier I now know has one thing on his mind and that is to improve things for the people of this country. Believe me when I say he has great plans for Mandredela - plans he likes to call his Janine plans.’
‘But back to why I asked you here.’ he continued.’ He looked first to Leo and then to Sara. ‘The problem is how to start?’ Almost immediately, he was pushing from the table. ‘I know,’ he said. He walked to a cupboard and came back with three glasses and a bottle of wine. He poured three measures. ‘Taste that,’ he said. ‘Tell me what you think.’
Sara was quick to reply. ‘I think it is really nice,’ she said. ‘Not that I know the first thing about wines, but yes, it’s nice, very nice.’ She looked around at the caravan. So luxurious, even with boxes piled in every corner. And she looked at Zach Shanghasi. Here she was, a farmer’s wife: one day worrying herself witless about the harvest, desperate for it to be good, next day sampling a wine with one of the richest men in the world. And yet for reasons she did not even try or want to understand, she felt completely at ease with him. Such an ordinary man, so easy to like.
‘Yes, a good wine,’ agreed Lou, taking his time. Sara took a sideways look at him. He seemed relaxed enough, but Sara knew Leo; knew how hard it was for him to be comfortable or relaxed while he was so unsure of the Shanghasis and their eagerness to make friends with his family. Knew he was still questioning if it was something to do with Pearl. As he said, no one else had been invited to the circus as their special guests. Gung Ho, for one, could not believe it!
‘Most years,’ said Leo, forcing a smile and taking a second sip, ‘we grow a few grapes and, if they turn out anyway near good, we put a few bottles to one side for ourselves. Not many; depends how much rain we have had. But yes, I agree with Sara, this seems really good. Better than mine, that’s a certainty.’
Zach laughed. ‘Yes, and I hope you don’t mind me saying you are no doubt right. Actually I’ve had a long list of experts do a series of tastings on this wine and they all agree that it is a superb wine – what they like to call a complete wine - and one they would be more than happy put their names to. Me? Well, I’m like you: no expert, no connoisseur, but I like it too. But why, you may well ask, am I sitting here talking to you about wine? Well, before I answer that, there’s a question I would like to ask.’ He refilled their glasses. ‘Yeltsin is a small town, ‘he began, ‘with a small population. So why, do you think, we brought one of our circuses here? Even this one, the smallest we have.’
Lou was quick to answer. ‘Well, I can truly say that was a question that I asked the moment I heard you were coming here. Seemed you had no chance of making a profit, but what do I know? I’m just a farmer.’
‘Well, farmer or not, you are absolutely right.’ replied Zach. ‘We knew from the start we would be making a loss by coming here – of course we did, it’s our business to know - and yet here we are. Let me explain. First of all, some of the artists you saw today have not performed for the Shanghasi before – would you believe the trapeze artists! – while others were anxious to try out new routines, new presentations, that kind of thing. Also, we always have a large number of acts wanting to audition for our various circuses and Yeltsin seemed an ideal place for this. Away from everything and actually, it’s something we do most ever year and always in a small, out-of-the-way place such as this.;
‘However, the much more important reason was that both Beth and I simply had to be here. For well over a year now, we have been in talks with Prince Xavier about a number of business ventures we had in mind and the time had come when we needed to have some face-to-face meetings. There were decisions to be made, things to be finalised and there was a need to get going on some of them.
‘Actually, it all started more than a year ago when Prince Xavier first came to see me. Paris it was, and we sat in a little café by the Seine and talked and talked. Talked until it was dark and the waiters were fast losing patience. He came asking for help, but by the end of that evening, not only had I agreed to help, but could hardly wait to get started.
To put it in simple words, he wanted the Shanghasi Corporation, which is Beth and me and a great many of the clever people we employ, to support him in his great – or should I say almost overwhelming - ambition to make this country a better place for his people to live in. Mandredela is a poor country surrounded by mountains and a country that seems to have been locked in a past it finds hard to shake free from. It is mainly a farming country, but as you most certainly know, its farms are poor, dirt-grubbing farms and how can they be otherwise without a proper irrigation system. Irrigation is the key, and yet the cost would be impossible for a country as poor as this.’
Leo was suddenly sitting straight in his chair, staring at Matt.
‘And so we decided that we should try to think of ways to make Mandredela a not-so- poor country; a country that might perhaps one day be able to think such a scheme. And that is exactly what the Prince and Beth and I are about: to one day make Mandredela prosperous enough for her to start dreaming dreams about a new future. Dreams which I truly believe could one day become real.
‘Suchno has a reservoir of sorts that just about manages to supply the town with water, but I’ve had engineers look at the problem and they tell me that by building a dam higher in the Madras and by extending the reservoir to at least five times its present size, it is more than possible. Easier said than done!
‘The trouble is that the cost would be far in excess of what this country can possibly afford - at least at the present time - and that leaves one answer. To see what we can do to make Mandredela a more prosperous country. And, how do we do that? By taking a look at the skills and the goods that Mandredela produces for itself – has done for years - and see if there are some we can sell to the rest of the world. To bring in money to Mandredela. Surprisingly, we found many.’
He filled their glasses to the top. ‘This wine comes from the vineyards of two brothers. Two brothers with large families, with side-by-side vineyards a few miles north of Suchno and believe me when I say they are poor. Most they have ever done is make a kind of living by peddling their wine from doo
r to door and selling a few bottles on local market stalls. Well, we are well on our way to changing that. What we decided to do was build two new bottling sheds, call in a production expert and have the Prince act as their sales manager. I tell you, having a royal prince do the selling is quite some help, especially one with the enthusiasm of Prince Xavier. All right, no denying he has a habit of jumping the gun and orders are already pouring in, but at least it shows our wine scheme has success written on it and I think those two families have seen the end of their poverty.
‘Next, we took a look at the Madre Mountains - hard to escape them in this country – and it seems Prince Xavier has long held ideas about turning what is a couple of very ordinary ski runs into a really good resort. A top-class resort with a village of cabinsski lifts; restaurants and all the rest of the things that attract people who love skiing and have money to spend. I know next to nothing about the sport, but from what the Prince tells me and from the many enquiries I have made, I must confess that I am really excited about the whole venture. And so, yesterday, we gave the go-ahead to a team of planners and told them to start right away. The Prince, as you might well guess, is already planning a world wide selling tour.
‘Then of course, we have the lockets. The Mandredela lockets. Now let me say right off that I do not believe we could sell your country’s lockets abroad – not in a million years and not even with the Prince doing the selling. In my opinion, a complete waste of time even to think about it. But the craftsmen who make them – well that is something different. Their clocks and watches are simply exquisite, no other word, and their jewellery designs even more so. This I can say with more than a little confidence for jewellery, watches and fine clocks are something I do know about.
‘In my early days I was employed for a time as head buyer for a London jewellery company and, years later, I bought a small chain of jewellery shops which I still own and which, I am happy to say, is now doing more than well across Europe and America.’ He gave a smile. ‘Actually, that is where I met Beth. She was their sales manager.
‘Anyway, and perhaps because she has my love of fine jewellery, Beth decided she wanted to take a lead in this particular project and has already organised them into a single unit, a sort of co-operative and, from what she tells me, they are sky high about their prospects, can’t wait to get started. Especially as they have a ready-made customer, namely me.
‘So then, that is how things were when we arrived in Yeltsin: three projects ready to go with only a few final touches to make and contacts to sign. Other projects were in the pipeline, but we decided three was enough for a start.
‘But then, on the day we opened here, two young girls arrived at the Rumble Tum. Said their names were Pearl and Lilac. Pearl and Lilac Santino, they said. Santino? I asked myself. Now where have I heard that name before? Santino?. Santino?. Couldn’t get it out of my mind. Santino?. And then I remembered. Of course, of course, the horses! The Santino horses! The most famous horses in the world until the war came to destroy and change so many things.’
Leo was still staring at him, but now Sara was staring too; neither one seemed able to breathe. Zach smiled first at one and then the other. ‘Yes the Santino horses, I said to myself, how could we have missed this as a project to investigate? The name itself was enough for that! Believe me, I couldn’t get to the Prince fast enough and after he had jumped up and down a few times, he was pushing me through the door and yelling for me to see you right away. Not to lose a moment. And so I arranged for Beth to invite you to . . . ’
Leo was suddenly standing, his face white with excitement. ‘I shall give the finest stable in the world,’ he said in a voice barely a whisper. ‘I’ll give you horses my Grandfather would have been proud of .and I’ll make the name Santino famous again. As famous as it ever was.’ He sat down again and stayed with his face cupped in his hands.
‘He has never stopped dreaming about them. Never once.’ Sara had reached to place her hand on Zach’s arm. ‘All those years studying them, reading about them, all the changes, every new idea. Even now, he knows all that is happening in all the main stables: their horses, their breeding successes and their failures; the results of all the competitions; the races. Have no doubts, Mr Shanghasi, Leo will breed you the finest horses in the world. It is more than a dream.’
Zach turned his hand into hers while managing to laugh out loud. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t be saying this,’ he said, still laughing, ‘but this looks as if it could be the easiest deal I have ever made. Mind you, this is certainly not something to rush into. As I have just said, Prince Xavier is more than keen and I must admit to being more than a little excited myself, but there are many, many things to consider. In your interest perhaps most of all.
‘But first things first and I think I should tell you something about the Shanghasi Corporation and what we could expect from a future working together. In my opinion and from what I can see, this project could possibly offer a quick return – say a year or two- but it is much more likely, I feel, to be an enterprise that would call for many years of hard and dedicated work. Mind , we do have the Santino name and there is no telling how much that is worth. On the other hand, the Shanghasi Corporation will, if we do decide to go ahead, not only finance each and every aspect of such a business, but will spare nothing to make it a success.’ He looked directly at Sara. ‘And that means looking after you and your family as far as money is concerned. Money and your well being. ‘And why? he continued. ‘ Because we at the Shanghasi sincerely believe that our partners should feel free to devote their skills, .their knowledge and experience in trying to make certain we have every chance of success and we do not believe that anyone with money or family worries can easily achieve that.’
He stood quickly then. ‘Obviously this is a great surprise for you, for both of you. It is a lot to take in and I think we would be better to stop at this point and enjoy the rest of the day with your family. I understand Beth has arranged something special for us at the Rumble Tum and I’m really looking forward to it - haven’t eaten a thing since breakfast and I’m absolutely starved. One final word. If it is convenient, I would like to call on you in the morning to explain things in more detail and answer any questions you might have. And then, if you think you are satisfied enough to be signing an agreement, I will be suggesting you give thought to hiring a lawyer. Shanghasi will pay his costs, but he must be one of your choosing. As I say, you have a lot to think about. This could be the biggest decision of your lives.’
He turned to open the door, but stopped. ‘Leo,’ he said, turning. ‘I am a businessman and I assure you this has nothing to do with Pearl.’
‘I will give you the finest horses in the world,’ replied Leo.