William Redman CarterChapter 51
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"So you're going to become Dr. Carter?" Eddie asked while watching his brother pack up his books.
William looked over at his little brother. The boy was turning into a good looking young man. His short black hair, piercing grey eyes, and subdued Native American features gave him an exotic look. William knew that it wouldn't be long before the girls started following his brother around town. Pulling the roll of tape over the top of the box, he answered, "Yes, if I ever manage to get out of here and write my Dissertation."
The young man bent over and put his hand on his back while holding his other arm as if supporting himself with a cane. Trying to sound like an old man, he said, "My Winnebago is acting up. What should I do?"
"I'd get a dictionary if I were you. It's lumbago, not Winnebago," William answered with a grin. He picked up the box and added it to the pile of boxes by his desk.
Eddie straightened up and smiled at his big brother. He went over to the couch and took a seat while he said, "It's been fun hanging with you this week. I don't get to see you very often."
"I know. When we move to Arizona we'll get a lot more time together."
"You bet. Dad and I have been out to your new place a couple of times. Pop even went out there with us once. There are lots of good rocks on your place."
William didn't need to ask which father to whom his brother referred. Eddie called Ed, Dad, and Leroy, Pop. Dan was the lucky recipient of the informal, Pappy. Dan complained, but actually appreciated that Eddie had taken to him like a father. Of course, Eddie usually called him Pappy with one eye scrunched and his lips twisted as if he were Popeye. He replied, "It's good to know that you'd come out there for the rocks at the very least."
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that."
"I know. I'm just teasing you."
Eddie relaxed in his chair and watched as William opened his file cabinet. Looking at all of the papers within the drawer, Eddie asked, "Did you read all of those papers?"
"Yes."
"Wow. You're going to win a Nobel Prize just like Pop and Daddy John," Eddie said. He spent hours in the library looking at the two medallions displayed in the trophy case that Kelly had installed there. He was quiet for a moment and then asked, "Why didn't they make a big deal out of Daddy John's Nobel Prize?"
"Daddy John and Daddy Leroy earned their Nobel Prizes in different ways. Daddy John felt like he was serving the Goddess when he did his research on the Fusion Well and couldn't really take too much credit. He didn't even tell the family when he won it. Mommy Kelly heard about it on the television. She sure was mad at him for not telling the family.
"On the other hand, Daddy Leroy earned his through years of hard work and thoughtful study. I was so proud of him when he went up there to receive the prize. You were there, but you weren't more than six years old at the time."
Eddie remembered the event very clearly. He nodded and said, "I remember that. Pop had this real funny expression on his face."
William laughed his agreement. Leroy had been so happy that his smile went from ear to ear. At the same time, he was so overwhelmed by the honor that there were tears in his eyes. Remembering that moment reminded him of what Kelly had observed. He said, "Mommy Kelly said that Leroy proved two things that day. The first was that science for the sake of humanity was more honorable than science for the sake of money. The second thing Leroy proved was that a man who reached for the stars was capable of catching them when supported by a loving family."
"Mom Kelly is almost as philosophical as dad."
"You're distinguishing the mothers by name?"
Eddie shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Do you realize how hard it is to come up with four different names for mothers?"
"You're smart. I'm sure that you came up with a good half-dozen words that mean mother."
Eddie grinned at the comment that he was smart and said, "I tried giving them each a different name like I did with the fathers. It went well until I called Mom Claire, Mammy. Apparently that is not a good thing to say to a black woman. Dad and Pops came down hard on me for that one. I decided it was just easier to call them all Mom."
He could understand why Claire would object to being called Mammy. He asked, "Did you figure out why they were upset?"
"Yes. I didn't realize that it was an insult to black women. I heard the term in one of the old black and white movies that dad has and thought it was just another way to refer to a mother. The movie didn't use it in an insulting manner."
"I like Daddy Ed's old movies," William said. The visits to the house in Arizona always included a number of hours watching old movies with his father on the couch. Some of the films, by modern standards, were totally politically incorrect and contained content that would be considered racist, sexist, and overly religious. They could show a black saying, 'Massa, ' and men giving cheesy pickup lines to their secretaries, but the film couldn't have a kiss that lasted too long. He commented, "There are lots of things in those old movies that wouldn't ever appear in a modern film."
"I made him promise to leave you the old westerns while I get the Sci-fi," Eddie said with a wink. He knew how much William enjoyed the old grade B sci-fi movies.
"You hate Sci-fi," William replied.
"I don't hate them. I just love Westerns even more. There are enough old Westerns out there that you don't have to watch Sci- Fi."
For the rest of the time that William packed for his trip, he and Eddie discussed various cowboy actors. For the most part they agreed, but William had always been partial to John Wayne while Eddie liked Clint Eastwood. It was the kind of conversation that two brothers who didn't see each other very often might have. William felt bad that he didn't have more time to spend with his little brother.
Their conversation came to an end when Tim came home. William watched Eddie and Tim get out the radio controlled cars. After finishing his packing, he picked up a box of his papers and carried it to the Hugger. It took several round trips to get all of the books and papers into the back of the Hugger. He arrived back in the house in time to hear his father say, "That's a real wicked course you've laid out there. Are you sure that the cars can go through some of those arches?"
"You bet," Eddie answered. He had set up the gates with one of the cars in place. Looking out the corner of his eye, he knew that William wasn't going to pass up this chance to play.
Ed leaned over and examined the starting line. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "You've got four cars set out here. There's you, Tim, and me. We are all ready to play. Who's the fourth one for?"
"Oh, I set that one out just in case someone wanted to play a little before going off to the wilds of Arkansas to write," Eddie answered. Shaking his head, he added, "Of course, William would never consider playing with us after looking at this course. He'd never be able to get through all of the traps we've put here."
Tim grinned when he realized what Eddie was doing and said, "I don't think that William is good enough to run this course."
Laughing at the obvious attempt to sucker him into playing, William said, "Just one run and then I have to pack my clothes."
It was two hours later that Lucy came home and found the four of them seated tailor fashion on the floor guiding their cars through an extremely complex obstacle course. She fought to suppress a laugh upon seeing the identical expressions of concentration on their faces as they maneuvered their cars. Each of them had the tip of their tongue out as they worked the controls. She had teased William that he should invent a tongue controlled car because he moved his tongue in the same way he moved the little lever on the radio controller. Trying to sound like a mother who has just returned home in time to catch the kids trying to shave the cat, she said, "Boys!"
Her outburst caused Tim to lose his concentration and his car ran into William's car. The pair of them brought down the stack of blocks that had been the gate through which they were to guide their cars. Ed and Eddie both tried to take their cars over the pile created by the collision. Their two cars collided and brought down more blocks. All four of them groaned at the situation.
Ed sat back and, after glancing at Lucy, said, "I don't think we're getting out of this one."
"I thought you were going to let William pack today."
William solemnly nodded his head with wide eyes and said, "I tell you, it was a conspiracy against me. I didn't stand a chance."
Lucy laughed at the expression on Ed's face and replied, "Right."
William glanced over at Lucy and winked. He had warned her that they were going to end up playing with the radio controlled cars after Tim came home from school. He replied, "I've got all of the books and papers loaded in the Hugger. All I've got to do is pack my clothes and I'm ready to leave."
"That's not all you have to do. I've got bags and bags of stuff for the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom out in my car. You need to load that into your Hugger, too."
"Bags and bags?"
"Yes, bags and bags."
"Have I told you lately that I'm goo-goo over you?" William asked.
"Every day. Morning, noon, and night."
A puzzled look came over Eddie's face. He asked, "Goo-goo?"
"That means madly, deeply, and truly interested," answered William with a wink at Lucy. The word had come to mean so much more than that to the two of them.
Lucy waited for Eddie's response. Instead of what she expected, he said, "I thought that was gaga."
William hugged his little brother and said, "You just might be right."
The interaction between the brothers brought smiles to the faces of Ed and Lucy. Ed was happy that the two brothers got along so well. He was worried that with Eddie being the youngest, that he would be left behind by his older and more talented siblings. Eddie adored his older brother and thought he was the smartest person in the world. Beth and John were a little more distant from their brother, but they were also almost ten years older and busy with their careers.
Enjoying the attention, Eddie said, "I'll help you load the car."
William stood and said, "Come on, Eddie. I'm sure that working together, we'll be done before you know it."
When the pair had left the house, Lucy said, "William really loves Eddie. He's such a good kid."
"Yeah, William's something else," Ed said knowing that she was actually referring to Eddie, but he felt the description applied equally well to all of the Carter kids.
Lucy laughed and said, "I'm not the best judge of that. I'm goo- goo over him."
"Let me guess, Doug was the one who invented that term."
Surprised, Lucy answered, "How did you know?"
"I know the young man. He's a good one. William was lucky to find him," answered Ed. They had several discussions since their first meeting and Ed had come to like the young man very much. The one thing that impressed him the most about Doug was that he had that same sense of protectiveness towards his country that Ed had towards his town.
"He's coming over for dinner. He wanted to say goodbye to William before he left for Arkansas."
It was a large crowd that gathered around the dinner table. Ed and Doug were seated across from each other, a configuration that was sure to produce considerable discussion over the meal. William and Lucy sat side by side, as did the pairs of bodyguards. Tim sat next to Cole feeling honored that the Druid would pay attention to him. Ken and Lisa looked around the table having a sense of family. They viewed William to be their son more than their employer. They were sad to see him leaving for three months.
Ed sat back after finishing his meal and asked, "So Doug, why haven't you gone into politics?"
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Seated in the student center, William drank a glass of iced tea while waiting for Lucy to get out of her class. She was taking her mid-terms and had been feeling the pressures of late. This afternoon was particularly rough since she had two exams one after the other. He had come along to provide emotional support fully confident that she would ace each exam. An angry young man carrying a tray of food approached the table next to his. The young man threw his tray down on the table and then...
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William walked out the front door of his house to await his visitor. His daytime bodyguard, Colt, walked behind him wondering why they had come outside. For all he knew, they had left the house just to stand around all day in the sunshine. His eyes automatically checked the surroundings for any threats. The two men headed over to the driveway with William leading the way. A minute later, a rental car pulled up in the driveway. Colt glared at it as if it were a direct threat. He relaxed when...
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Cupping a match in his curled fingers to protect it from a light wind, William lit a cigarette. He shook his hand putting out the match and dropped the extinguished stick into a bucket. Holding up a hand, he said, "The screen door will slam in a minute." Despite the warning, Dale jumped when the screen door slammed shut making a noise like a rifle shot. He said, "I'm glad you warned me." "The cook takes out the trash every night about this time. It used to startle me every time I...
The months passed without much of anything too remarkable occurring. William spent most of his time working with the candidates running for office. Lucy worked on the program trying to find ways to represent the quality of the society graphically. Construction on the facility for holding the computers was progressing nicely. The young couple kept the staff very busy as well. With the ever increasing need for data, Victoria spent nearly every hour of the day searching for new sources of data...
Spreading margarine on the slice of toast with long smooth motions, William was getting ready to enjoy breakfast. Lucy watched him, waiting for him to cut his slice of toast along the diagonal. Rich enough to afford butter, it always amazed her that he actually enjoyed margarine more. William looked up from his toast and winked at her. Rock, the nighttime bodyguard, was watching him with narrowed eyes. The other three bodyguards were seated at the far end of the table eating their eggs....
William stared at Lucy in shock. Unable to believe what he thought he had heard her say, he asked, "Excuse me?" Pointing to the woman at the front of the conference room of the Carter House, Lucy said, "I asked her to remove her clothes." "I thought I misunderstood you," William said. He glanced over at Mary Gold. The woman had her head down and was hiding her mouth behind her hands. The twinkle in her eye suggested that she was trying not to laugh. The twenty-four year old woman...
The Catholic religious wedding ceremony for Cathy Black Thorn and David Light Wind started at noon. It was a traditional Catholic service and lasted for almost an hour before they exchanged their vows. The Catholic priest provided a nice service in which he blessed their marriage. To tell the truth, Lucy had found it rather boring. She also felt that the bride wasn't given the kind of attention that most women sought in the wedding ceremony. At two, the bride and groom met at their future...
"Is it working?" Lucy asked watching the array of monitors at William's desk. Shaking his head, William answered, "I don't know. We've only progressed ten years in the simulation. We've got another ninety to go." "It's been running for twenty hours," Lucy said looking over at the clock. They had started the program the previous day at noon and it was now just a little after eight in the morning. "That's right," William said woodenly. His eyes examined the curves of the...
William shook his head in amazement while going through the stack of papers Barbara had handed him. She had all of their expenditures typed up for the accountant complete with receipts. The confirmations for chartered jets were in a neat little stack. The agenda for the meetings had been typed up with copies for everyone. Looking up at Barbara, he said, "You are amazing. I don't know how you keep up with everything." Upon hearing more praise from William, Barbara squirmed in her chair. It...
William stepped out the front door of the hotel and froze. Rather than facing a run down street in San Diego, he was in a meadow. There in front of him was a contrived scene of life and death. To his right, a man was facing death as a giant wrecking ball swung towards him from behind. To his left, a different man faced an identical death. He shouted, "Duck." Both men stared at William as the wrecking balls swung through them. William stared in horror at the result. Two broken bodies lay on...
The activities being performed by the occupants of the house would never be the subject of a Norman Rockwell type of picture. The scene just wasn't cute enough. Lucy, seated at her desk, was busy writing up her solution to the math problem that William had given her. At his desk, William was busy changing his program for predicting economic and social trends. Over at the dining room table, Jan was writing on a pad of paper; capturing another chapter of her book. At the other end of the...
The gymnasium of the activity center was empty except for a long table at which the tribal elders of all the local tribes were seated. All eyes were watching the door at the far end of the room for their visitor. The tension in the room was high. Most of them expected their visitor to argue with them about their conservative stance and they were not looking forward to it. They were sure that they would lose this argument with this particular visitor. Looking around the room, Robert White...
Talking quietly with each other, Lucy and William waited in the theater for Eddie to arrive. The theater room had four rows of ten seats each facing a large screen. Each chair was large and comfortable with a holder for a soda built into the armrest. Beth had ordered the chairs from a real theater supply company. Like a real movie theater, the floor slanted down towards the front of the room. At the entrance to the room, there was a snack bar complete with a typical theater-style popcorn...
Greetings had been exchanged and the guests shown their rooms in the Carter home. The next order of business was to relax. William stripped off his clothes and headed towards the pool. He jumped in feet first, reveling in the feel of cool water against his bare skin. Lucy and Ann, naked as well, slipped into the pool right behind him. Before they had even moved a dozen feet from the edge, Betsy charged into the poolroom throwing off her clothes even as she ran. Without pause, she jumped into...
William and Ed returned to the hotel refreshed from their little swim at the Mayor's house. William felt confident that another candidate had been found with a good chance of winning. They entered the suite laughing about the mayor's reaction on discovering them swimming in the pool. The laughter turned to surprise when William spotted his mother relaxing in the living room of the suite. She was seated next to Lucy. He said, "Momma Kelly! What are you doing here?" Seeing that William...
Lucy watched the screen through red eyes that saw the world through a blur. She hadn't sleep for the past thirty hours. The programmers were asleep on the floor having exhausted the last of their stamina under the nearly constant pressure from Lucy. Even if she hadn't been so tired, it would have been hard to interpret the results. There were a hundred curves all overlaid one upon another. After running twenty four hours, the model had projected ahead only twelve years. Considering the...
Amused by what he was doing, Derrick led the little horse using the reigns. Lucy was seated on its back holding onto the saddle horn with white knuckles. She was nervous; feeling like the horse was huge and ready to run away at any moment. She looked over at William and, voice tight with tension, said, "I've never ridden a horse before." "You don't say. I would never have guessed," William replied with a grin from atop the horse that Derrick had given him. It was a nice quarter-horse...
"Your mother and I watched your meeting with the White Buffalo on the news. That's how we knew to go to the ranch," said Lucy. "Pardon?" William was not aware that there had been a television camera at the ranch. "Someone filmed the whole thing with their video camera. It was on the television within half an hour of it happening." "So what did you think?" "Strange. It was like you weren't there. Your face was blank. Your voice was strange with an odd echoing quality to it. When...
Following behind Rock and Natalie, Lucy and William entered their home with a sigh of relief. They had both been very busy since their graduation. The summer had started with locating, hiring, and delivering Dante to Harry for the purpose of creating a statue of the elderly Druid. That had been followed by their wedding with a week of parties, their honeymoon, visits to a number of tribal councils, and a few visits to Homeless Hotels around the country. Exhausted, they planned to stay at home...
Ling and Betsy stopped the car at the front gate leading to William's place. Over the past year, the front of the property had changed to where it looked more like the entrance to a military base than a ranch. There was a little guard shack that sat beside a closed metal barrier. Ling's trained eye recognized the retractable barrier was capable of stopping a charging dump truck. Worried about the kind of reception they would receive, Betsy asked, "Are you sure that he'll see us?" "It...
Wearing nothing but a loincloth and a small leather bag around his neck, William walked to the edge of the stream. Once there, he paused and looked down at the ground. At the border between water and land was a stone that caught his attention. Kneeling, he picked it up. The stone was the diameter of a quarter with a thickness of a quarter of an inch. The edges were worn smooth. There was nothing remarkable about the stone except for one feature -- the center of the stone had been worn away...
"Uh oh," William said as he pulled into the driveway. Rock, Colt, Natalie, and Nicole were standing in the driveway with their arms crossed and a frown on their faces. They didn't look too happy to see him. "I forgot about them." He turned off the motor and stepped out of the car. Looking at the four body guards, he asked, "How did you enjoy your vacation?" "You dumped us in the middle of nowhere," Colt said. "Sorry about that," William said. He glanced over at the front door to...
"Do you think I should open a publishing house?" William asked. "No," Linda answered putting the manuscript on the table. She had just finished reading it and had been very impressed. She knew Happy Harry, but not many of the other homeless. She had noticed that the manuscript had Forest Shadow crying like a baby by the time she had finished it. "Okay, so who do we take the manuscript to?" "Al Maloney would probably be the best person. His publishing house has handled a lot of best...
John Carter, William's older brother, squatted down by the campfire and picked up the coffee pot. While pouring a cup, he asked, "So what do you think of Betsy's legal problems?" Shrugging his shoulders, William answered, "I don't know what to think. I keep hoping that the father will drop the charges. It would be a disaster for the prison system if she were to go to jail. The thought of that sends shivers down my spine." John laughed and asked, "What do you think the chances are of...
The last test, marked with an A+, joined the rest of the tests stacked on the left hand corner of William's desk. Looking over at Lucy, he said, "That's the last one." "So how were the grades?" Lucy asked looking up from her work. "Not bad," William answered patting the stack of test papers. The first eight weeks of teaching had been hard on William. He didn't have any real experience of dealing with high school students. Getting his early education at the Druid College had not...
William rushed into the hotel and looked around the lobby. The elevator door opened and Lucy stepped out looking around the lobby. They met halfway with a hug that was just on the tasteful side of being publicly acceptable. William said, "I've missed you." "I missed you," Lucy said burying her face into his chest and enjoying his scent. It felt good to feel his arms around her. "I'm so glad that you could make it here," William said running a hand across her back. It felt so right...
It was the day after Thanksgiving and William sat in his hunting stand watching the area in front of him for an older buck to appear. Several does and a young buck had passed in front of him a little after sunrise, but they were young animals that would strengthen the herd. He was waiting for an older deer to come through. There was a nip of cold in the air that was usual for that time of year. He could actually see his breath. Frost had covered the few grasses that grew along the banks of...
The squick of a white board marker flying across the white board filled the air. William looked up and watched Lucy work through the equations on the board; her hand moving at almost a blur. She stepped back for a second and then dived in for another round of simplifications. Her hips swung from side to side as she worked her magic on the mathematics. With her entire body participating, her long hair started swaying in a most seductive manner. William was entranced. Frowning, Lucy stepped...
Lucy stepped out of the truck and went around to the back to get her suitcase. Before she had a chance to pick it up, Ken had grabbed it while looking at her as if she should have known he'd carry it. The van with Linda and Ed pulled up beside the car. Looking around the parking lot in front of the country hotel, William said, "We'll get checked in and then I need to get on down the road." "Are you sure that you don't want me to come?" "Lucy, I'd love for you to come, but you...
"Son, you know I have to tell the truth," Ed said looking William in the eye. He had finally caught up with William before his son had entered his office. "Yes, I know that," William said with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looked away from his father breaking eye contact. "You know that it isn't always an easy thing for me to do, don't you?" "Yes, I know that." Shaking his head, Ed said, "You can't hide away from the world forever. Your little brother has asked you...
Ken removed his clothes and placed them on the patio table. The past four weeks had wrought major changes in his physique. He had lost fifteen pounds, with even more fat having been turned into muscle. His shirts were too large around the waist and too small at the shoulders. He glanced over at his wife to see how she was reacting to stripping outdoors. Lisa's body was a soft red color, flushed as a result of embarrassment. After a month of morning exercises with William, Ling, and Tim...
"Where's Betsy?" "She's grounded," Eddie answered. He shrugged his shoulders and, looking over at his mother, said, "All she did was have a little swim." "Naked, in a public aquarium, and with sharks," Ling said filling in a few details that Eddie tended to forget. Putting an arm around his little brother, William pulled Eddie against his side and said, "At least she didn't get threatened with a spanking." "True," Eddie said. He was tired and wished that he had been able to...
Seated at his desk, William listened to the sound of a twelve-string guitar emanating from the guest room. He liked the music Greg Banner created. Lucy loved the music and could listen to it all day. Turning to Ken, he snapped his fingers to get the man's attention. Once he was sure that Ken was looking at him, he said, "Doug is here." Ken reached the intercom in time to hear the signal from the guard. Pushing the button, Ken said, "Let Doug in." "Sure," came the answer. It sounded...
William looked up at the stars overhead. The sight of the summer sky was always special to him, particularly on nights without a moon. The stars seemed so low that you could reach out and touch them. Turning to the dark shape seated next to him, he said, "I love looking at the stars out here." "I do too," Eddie said with a smile. In the dark, his white teeth seemed to stand out. William pulled out his pack of cigarettes and took one out. He handed the pack to his brother and said,...
"Vera." "What?" she answered without even looking away from her computer screen. Her fingers did not slow down in the least bit. William frowned at the tone of voice that she used in answering him. It seemed to him as if she was upset about something. Dismissing his concerns, he said, "I need you to research the sex industry." "Excuse me," Vera said drawing out each word twice as long as would be normal. She saved the file she was working on before turning to face William. The...
"You're going to be heading off to college soon," William said looking across the fire at Eddie. He added another small log to the fire and sat back to watch it catch. "I've got another two years of high school," Eddie said poking a stick into the fire and watching the end start to burn. He pulled the stick out of the fire. The weak flame flickered and died. The small glowing bud at the end of the stick slowly faded. "Enjoy them while you can," William said. Everyone was telling...
The students trickled out of the classroom in ones and twos as they finished their final exams. William sat on the floor across from the door watching them leave. Some looked confident, others angry, and a few as if they didn't care how they did in the class. Those who looked blurry-eyed or were sloppily dressed had spent the previous evening cramming in the hopes of learning the material at the last minute. When Lucy stepped out of the class, she rolled her eyes and smiled. Closing the...
Chuckling to himself, William shook his head as elements of the near future resolved themselves in his mind. Ken, seated at the dining room table, looked over at him wondering what he had found so humorous. He was about to ask when William said, "It is time for one of my mothers to make an appearance." Lisa, in the kitchen with Tim, wondered why he hadn't asked her to prepare one of the guestrooms. She came out of the kitchen and looked at William with concern. This was the first that...
The underground bunker for housing the computers had been completed. A work crew sent by Dan Biggerstaff was busy wiring the room to support the network that would tie the computers together. It was a massive job considering that they were linking ten thousand computers together. It was made even more difficult due to the fact that they were physically located on four separate floors. The room was cold. The air conditioner was set up to cool ten thousand machines, but there were only empty...
Head in William's lap, Lucy was busy reading a math book. His hand was busy stroking her arm in an absent minded manner while he was reading his book. Lucy put her book down and said, "She's got a crush on you." Frowning at the sudden introduction of a new topic, William asked, "Who? What?" "I said she has a crush on you." "Oh, that's nice," William said wondering who had the crush on him. He turned the page and continued reading. "You don't know who I'm talking about, do...
Nancy Darnell, Mistress of Ceremonies for the Druids, stood at head of the platform. She had finished explaining the significance of the ceremony that was to take place and now she was waiting for the bride and groom. This was her first wedding ceremony in which none of the individuals involved were a Druid. Oliver had volunteered to perform the ceremony, but she had insisted that she be allowed the honor. It was, after all, her service. A very serene Lucy walked to the platform from the...
Jack sat in his new office unable to believe the difference that twenty four hours made in his life. His office was larger than the room he was renting. The furnishings were much more luxurious. Barbara Gray had told him that it had been the bedroom and exercise room, but they had converted it to his office. He would have been quite happy if they had left the bed in the room, but he wasn't going to tell them that. He got up and made his way to the break room to get a soft drink. That was...
"What?" Patrick shouted upon learning the nature of the elusive quarry that they were hunting. He was wearing a brand new hunting outfit that he had talked his father into buying for him. The camouflage coverall, the camouflage hat, the orange vest, and hiking boots that had been a source of immense pride had become a source of embarrassment. Unable to believe what he had heard, he said, "We're going rock hunting!" William and Dale were having a hard time controlling their laughter. The...