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Horabbed an apple, which I ate in the car I’d intended to hit the public library first thing, but I put that on hold until I h the two stone pillars that mark the entrance to Horton Ravine I took the first left, turning onto Via Beatriz, a narroo-lane road that wound up the hill to the acade was the for, who arrived in Santa Teresa on his retireed in theof inlet valves and flotation devices for toilets, and while he’d amassed a fortune, the source of his money ruled out acceptance in polite society At a lawn party, really, how could one converse with a toilet valve nate?

If he are that the nature of his livelihood forever barred hin of it He purchased a hilly thirty-five-acre parcel, which had languished, undeveloped, near the Ravine’s front entrance The property boasted a natural spring, but the general location was deemed undesirable because it was too far from the ocean and too close to town Undisht in heavy equipment and excavated a crater-sized contain water that bubbled up out of the hillside Having created Cli Lake, he set up an extensive network of water pipes that crisscrossed his land He flattened the peak on the steepest of two hills and began construction on a fake English manor house, colass conservatory All the exteriors were clad in a golden sandstone that he had imported from his native Sussex The interiors featured heavy ancient-looking beas, mullioned s, and rich "twelfth-century" tapestries he had made in Japan If there had been an architectural board of review in his day, he would never have been granted approval for this faux-medieval domicile, which was completely out of place in an area noted for its one-story, Spanish-style horown up in poverty with no education to speak of, but he was smart, he was an avid reader, and he had an uncanny understanding of the land The sweeping views fro The Pacific Ocean was visible to the south and the mountains loo out between the two During drought years, Cliation systeardens sufficient to sustain hiins reht he could purchase respectability ae trade, he was sorely mistaken The ladies were prepared to rebuff any overture he ratiate hi sour on their tongues

For the next twenty years, he went about his business, entertaining foreign dignitaries and Washington politicians, men who appreciated his financial acumen and his lively sense of humor When he died, a charter school was established out of his estate Cli Academy was richly endowed, and from the day the doors opened, the well-to-do parents in Horton Ravine clas of the city, additional sandstone-clad buildings were erected, all in the sa architectural style, which set the school apart froravelspace in an area screened by boxwood hedges I locked my car and walked around to the front entrance, where I cli While the grand architectural elements were still in evidence, the interior had been updated and furnished with all the modern conveniences I paused to read the school’sjust inside the doorway In support of its claims of scholastic excellence, the school boasted that one hundred percent of Clie I had to read that line twice One hundred percent? Well, shit Maybe if I’d attended Cli dope with a tatty bunch of ne’er-do-wells at the public high school

A class bell rang and students began to spill out into the corridor I stood and watched the in twos and threes I did envy the to the surface I wanted to believe the offspring of the rich were snooty and spoiled, but such was not the case These kids were friendly, well behaved, and conservatively dressed, no flip-flops, no cutoffs, and no T-shirts imprinted with offensive expletives Some actually sly nice