JC: Ed Biggers
Part 4: Adjournment
Chapter 8
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

This was the first time that Ed had traveled outside his normal area 
while wearing his black robe and the reactions that he received 
were beyond anything that he would have predicted. People stared 
at him when he walked by them. It wasn't the kind of stare that 
people gave freaks, but the kind of stare they gave a celebrity. 

Months of television coverage about the mysterious Druids had 
made the name a household word. Whenever there was a forest 
fire, Sid was on television talking about how the Fusion 
Foundation had helped put it out and, of course, he was wearing 
his Druid robes whenever he was interviewed. Druids had found 
children lost in the woods, brought down drug rings, rescued 
people from burning buildings, and stopped riots. Every night, at 
least one Druid was on television talking about something that they 
had done to make the world a better place. 

Walking beside Ed, Linda was unnerved by the attention. The 
closer she stood to Ed, the more attention she received. Finally, she 
whispered, "They're staring at us."

In a soft whisper, Ed said, "No, they are staring at my robe. For 
most of these people, this is the first time they've seen a Druid."

"Wow, how do you stand it?"

"I don't know. This is my first time to experience something like 
this. Usually, I'm able to fade into the background," answered Ed 
as they arrived at the ticket counter. Ed found the line for first class 
and went up to the counter. 

The woman, wearing her airline outfit, almost hid behind the 
counter. Summoning her courage, she asked, "What may I do for 
you sir?"

Ed was about to answer when the supervisor came out and relieved 
the woman. The supervisor asked, "What may we do for you sir?"

"I have reservations on a flight out of here," answered Ed. He 
flipped open his identification so that the man could look it up in 
the computer. 

The supervisor paled when he saw the ID for the IRS. After 
working on the computer for a full minute, the supervisor said, 
"Yes, Dr. Biggers. I'll print up your ticket right now. Do you have 
any luggage to be checked?"

Shaking his head, Ed pointed to the saddlebag slung over his 
shoulder while Linda held up her travel kit. Handing the tickets 
and a card to Ed, the supervisor said, "Okay, sir. Here are your 
tickets and this is a complementary key to the VIP lounge for you 
to use while waiting for your flight."

Looking at the key, which was nothing more than a credit card 
sized piece of plastic with the logo of the airline on the front and a 
computer strip on the back, Ed asked, "Is this normal for first class 
passengers?"

"No, sir. You are a Druid and we'd like to extend this courtesy to 
you."

Ed frowned, irritated at receiving special treatment, and looked 
over at Linda who was standing there wide-eyed. Rather than make 
a scene, he said, "Thank you."

The two of them walked away from the counter and headed to the 
gate. It took them less than a minute to get through security. When 
they passed the VIP lounge, Linda asked, "Can we go in?"

"Sure," replied Ed enjoying her sense of adventure. Normally, he 
would have enjoyed it, but he hadn't liked the way it had been 
offered him. 

They sat at a table as a waitress came over to them to get their 
drink order. While Ed ordered a coke, Linda ordered a glass of 
wine. The waitress, as she set the beverages on the table, said, 
"That will be …"

A man caught her attention across the room by gesturing wildly. 
When she finally understood what he was signaling, she said, 
"These are on the house."

Frowning at the sudden change in what she was saying, Ed asked, 
"How much would they normally be?"

"Eight dollars," replied the waitress.

"Thanks," replied Ed. Not having seen the man behind him making 
the gestures, he was irritated at the way she had suddenly decided 
to make them complimentary. 

When the waitress had left the table, the man from across the room 
came over to their table. When he arrived there, he held out a hand 
and said, "Welcome to the executive lounge."

Looking up at the man, Ed asked, "Do we have you to thank for 
our drinks?"

"Yes. I believe that you are the first Druid that we've had come 
through this airport."

"Not really. We usually fly out of here on a private jet, but this is a 
vacation trip rather than a business trip. We thought we would save 
a little money, so we are going by commercial airline," replied Ed.

"Oh, so you live around here?"

Glancing over at Linda, Ed said, "Basically."

An awkward quiet descended on the group as the man looked at Ed 
trying to figure out what that answer meant. A memo had passed 
over his desk that all airport managers were to look for a Druid that 
might be interested in consulting for the airline. This particular 
firm was in financial trouble and it was hoped that having a Druid 
make suggestions would help the company. 

In the mean time, Ed was trying to figure out what the man wanted 
from them. He didn't trust the entire setup and wouldn't until he 
knew what they wanted from him. Linda sipped her wine feeling 
important just for being in the room. 

Finally, the man broke the silence. "Are you interested in 
consulting for our airline?"

At last the truth was out. Leaning forward, Ed replied, "Not really. 
I want to be on the board of directors."

Shocked at the audacity of the suggestion, the man sat back in his 
seat wondering what to do. The memo hadn't covered this 
situation. There was only one thing that could be done and that was 
to call his boss at corporate headquarters. Standing, he said, 
"Excuse me for a moment."

The man stepped away from the table as he reached into his pocket 
and made a call on his cell phone. From across the room, Ed 
watched him talking on the phone with his boss. Incredulous that 
Ed would have the nerve to ask that, Linda asked, "Do you really 
think they would put you on the board?"

Smiling at the expression on her face, Ed said, "Maybe not, since 
the guy didn't ask my name. We'll see what happens next."

The man finished his conversation and returned to the table. Sitting 
down, he said, "If you'll give me your name and contact 
information, the office will get in touch with you."

Ed pulled out one of the family cards and handed it to the man. 
Glancing at it, the man put the card in his pocket without giving it 
a second thought and said, "I'll forward this information on."

Ed pulled a second card out and handed it to the man as he said, "I 
think you should call your boss back."

"Why?"

"You might want to keep your job," remarked Ed. 

The man left the table and called his boss again. This time, the 
conversation was much shorter with the man looking at Ed several 
times as shock spread across his face. Pale, the man returned to the 
table and said, "Dr. Biggers. They accepted your proposition. At 
the next board meeting you will be recommended to become a 
member."

"Thank you," replied Ed with a smile and a wink at Linda. Her 
reaction was a little more muted as it was the first time that she had 
seen Ed use his influence. 

The man looked at Ed for a minute and said, "Thank you for 
making me call a second time. You probably saved my job."

"No problem," answered Ed. He checked his watch and added, 
"We had better get to the gate. Our plane is about to board."

Linda finished her wine before standing up while Ed left a ten-
dollar tip for the hostess. The two of them left the lounge and 
headed to the plane. They made it just in time and took their seats 
in first class. Once they had seated themselves, Linda asked, "So 
why were you so sure that they would put you on the board?"

Looking over at Linda as she sat proudly in her chair, Ed 
answered, "A lot of companies have been trying to get Druids on 
their boards. I know this airline is in trouble and the fact that they 
only wanted a Druid to consult suggested that if I were to play 
their game, they'd be out of business before too long. I'm sure that 
someone there has a list of who's who among the Druids. I am 
pretty high in that list."

Raising an eyebrow, she replied, "That's rather conceited of you."

"No, it just makes me old. I've been serving the Two-Sided One 
longer than anyone else alive," answered Ed honestly.

"Is that how rank is determined among the Druids?"

"Yes. That and how many Gods and Goddesses you serve. John 
serves three and that makes him the highest ranked Druid. There 
are three that serve two and they are the next highest ranked. Jerry 
has served the longest of anyone. Then there is Mary, she's been 
serving the second longest. Then there is little old me."

"So you are the seventh highest Druid?"

"I guess so. I don't really think about it because it doesn't mean that 
much," replied Ed. It was funny, but the only Druid that seemed 
able to call upon others was John. Otherwise, Druids just showed 
up where and when needed.

Linda looked at Ed with a funny expression. It was hard to believe 
that two of her husbands were that important and neither one 
thought of themselves as special. In a way, she felt as if she and 
Leroy were the least significant people in the family but no one 
had ever treated them that way. 

The trip was without incident. When they landed, Ed told Linda to 
stay in her seat until everyone else had disembarked from the 
plane. Confused, she did as he asked and watched as tired looking 
passengers shuffled from the back of the plane wrestling with their 
carry-on luggage. Their clothes, wrinkled from sitting in the same 
position too long, looked like they had been worn for a week rather 
than half a day. Turning to look at Ed with concern, Linda asked, 
"What's the matter with everyone? They look like they've been in a 
fight."

Ed pointed to one of the men and said, "Look at him. He's flying 
here on business and will probably have to make a sales pitch 
within an hour or two. If he can't come across fresh and alert, he'll 
probably blow the sale."

"But what's the matter with them?"

"When everyone is off the plane, I'll show you," answered Ed.

Curious, Linda watched as businessmen tried to get off the plane. 
An elderly woman, visiting family in the area, was struggling to 
get her luggage down the isle and the men behind her raised their 
eyes to heaven as though praying for a miracle.  Linda hadn't seen 
so many miserable people in one place in her entire life. Turning to 
Ed, she said, "Was there a problem back there that we didn't know 
about?"

"No. At least not in the way that you meant," answered Ed. 

When the last passenger from the back of the plane got out, Ed 
stood and paced off the length of the first class. Then he paced off 
the length of coach. In the same space that they had twelve seats in 
first, they had twenty-four in coach. Watching him, she asked, 
"What are you doing?"

Smiling, he said, "Why don't you have a seat over there?"

She flopped down on the seat and, as she rubbed her butt, 
exclaimed, "That's hard!"

After he had finished counting out the length of coach, he edged 
into the seat beside her. She complained, "Hey, don't take up so 
much room!"

Smiling, Ed said, "That is why they looked like hell when they got 
off the plane. Imagine sitting here like this for the next three 
hours."

Frowning, Linda said, "Your knees are hitting the seat in front of 
you."

"Yes, they are, aren't they?"

Linda answered, "Now I see why you guys usually fly in the 
private jet. That's so much more comfortable than first class. This 
back here is horrible."

"This is why I want on the board of this airline. Did you know that 
some people paid almost as much to sit back here as we did for our 
seat?"

"That's criminal."

"No, that's how the airlines operate," replied Ed. Satisfied, with his 
observations, Ed said, "Let's get out of here."

Ed and Linda went to the car rental agency and picked up a 
Hugger. It wasn't long before they were on the road, headed 
towards the cabin. It was surprising, but Ed remembered the route 
with ease despite the fact that it had been several years since he 
had made the trip. Linda looked out the window at all of the trees 
and said, "Wow, it really is green here. Look at all of the trees."

Ed smiled as he drove down roads covered over by tree branches 
with leaves in the early stages of emergence. The main town was 
nowhere near as crowded as it had been the summer when Ed had 
been here. The official tourist season had not yet started and 
wouldn't start for another month, but the locals had returned to 
repair the damage of the winter. Grocery and hardware stores were 
open and busy as people replaced stocks of food and purchased 
building supplies to fix things for the onslaught of tourists. 

They stopped at one of the grocery stores to purchase cleaning 
supplies and food for the week. Teabags for making iced tea were 
a necessity, although Linda raised an eyebrow when Ed purchased 
two boxes of the large size. She watched as he went through the 
store, picking up food that catered to the male taste: coffee, steaks, 
eggs, bacon, bread, canned stew, potato chips, and canned peaches. 
She went along behind him picking up vegetables, flour, 
margarine, spices, lemons, and milk. They looked at the contents 
of each other's shopping carts and burst out laughing. Between the 
two of them, they had gotten everything that they needed.

It wasn't long after they left the store when they reached the cabin. 
It had aged a little since he had been there last, but it still was 
comfortable. The key was exactly where Cathy had said it would 
be. Unlocking the door, Ed looked at the layer of dust over 
everything. It was worse than he had thought it would be, but 
between the two of them it only took a couple of hours to get 
everything straightened up. By then, it was getting dark and cold.

Sitting in front of the fireplace watching the fire, they ate the 
canned stew with buttered bread. It was a heavy meal, but there 
wasn't enough to make the stomach feel heavy afterwards. They 
relaxed watching as the flames of the fire licked heavenward. The 
yellow and red flames mixed, moving in an intricate dance. A 
crackle would open a vent and a very small jet of blue flame would 
emerge. Linda asked, "Why are there little blue flames like that?"

"The interior of the log is getting hot and breaks down into 
combustible gases that burn blue," replied Ed recalling something 
that he had learned in his chemistry class. 

"Does knowing those kinds of things diminish the beauty of what 
you are seeing?"

"Not at all. It just reminds me just how amazing things actually 
are."

Linda looked confused and asked, "Knowing that makes it seem a 
little less amazing."

Smiling, Ed said, "Most people look at a piece of wood and don't 
see anything other than wood. Then you come to understand just 
how complex that little piece of wood actually is and suddenly it is 
a miracle that you can see. Knowing that the wood breaks down 
under heat gives us a glimpse of the fire within."

"It sounds almost magical when you say it like that."

They sat quietly with Ed holding her within his arms. She shifted 
and lay down with her head in his lap. Brushing his hand against 
her hair, Ed appreciated the silky smoothness of it. After a while, 
her breathing slowed and she fell asleep. A few minutes later, Ed 
fell asleep. Throughout the night, the fire burned keeping them 
warm for an unnaturally long time, a gift from the God.

It was bright and early when Ed woke alone on the couch. With a 
great effort to move limbs that had been in one position too long, 
he stood and stretched. The smell of coffee wafted out of the 
kitchen, drawing him with the promise of caffeine. Pouring a cup 
and finding it too hot drink down in manly swallows, he stood 
there taking little sips. 

Walking to the living room, he looked out the door. Little tendrils 
of mist rose from the surface of the lake like fairies dancing on the 
water. Drops of dew gave rise to little sparkles thrown across the 
short barely emergent grass. Robins hopped across the ground, 
pausing occasionally with ear to ground as they sought earthworms 
moving in the soil below them. 

The birds, more hungry than wise, ignored Linda. She stood naked, 
motionless in the center of the yard with her arms raised to the sky 
as though welcoming the morning sun. The light on her jet-black 
hair made it look almost magical, giving rise to shades of deep 
purple. Her unblemished red skin, taut with youth, pulsed with the 
life force that beat within it. The sight was enough to take his 
breath away.

Linda turned and looked at him as he appreciated the full 
femininity of her body. Smiling at him, she said, "It's beautiful 
here."

"You should see it from where I'm standing."

Knowing that Ed was complimenting her, she said, "Maybe we can 
bring a blanket out here and make love."

Ed went into the house and grabbed a blanket. Within a few 
seconds he was by her side and spreading the blanket on the 
ground. Even though she had not intended for him to do it that 
second, she appreciated his enthusiasm. 

Sitting tailor fashion on the ground with his erection pointing into 
the air, Ed reached up to Linda to lower her down onto his cock.  
From his position, she knew exactly what he wanted to do and 
settled easily onto his cock. With Linda sitting on his lap, her legs 
wrapped around his body and her cunt impaled on his cock, Ed 
embraced her. This was a slow and steady sexual experience; the 
kind that he loved the most. They were positioned such that they 
could look into each other's eyes, kiss gently, and hold each other 
close while remaining connected in their lower region. Ed started 
flexing his cock causing little ripples of pleasure to spread forth 
form her cunt to her whole body.

Under the morning sun, the breeze caressed their bodies in a way 
that no human touch could. Ed ran a hand through her long black 
hair enjoying the texture of its silky smoothness under his hand. 
Rocking gently on his lap, Linda looked around feeling a release at 
making love under the sky. How many of her ancestors had made 
love just like this? She didn't know, but the idea caused a little 
thrill of pleasure to run through her body.

They stayed in that position for almost thirty minutes as Linda 
slowly moved towards an orgasm. She was very close to coming 
when her legs started bothering her from holding that position too 
long. Desiring a change, she said, "I want you to fuck me doggy 
style."

Smiling, Ed helped her get off him. Once she was in position, Ed 
entered her. Her long black hair had fanned out across her back. Ed 
gathered her hair in his hand and fondled it as he thrust into her. 
She started backing into him as her excitement built towards an 
orgasm. When it came, it was a very large one that was 
accompanied by a loud scream of pleasure.

Ed started changing how he thrust into her, giving pauses of 
random lengths of time between thrusts. The effect of this was to 
tease her body to even higher levels of excitement. When he thrust 
into her savagely for about a minute, she found herself close to 
another orgasm. He stopped and she screamed in frustration. When 
he resumed, she came with a loud cry of pleasure.

Ed continued playing her body like a fine violin. Changing his 
timing, the strength of his thrusts, and teasing her with his touch he 
drove her to heights of pleasure that she hadn't experienced in 
ages. It was normal for her to take full control over sex and this 
was one of the few times that she had let her guard down. 

For his part, Ed was doing an excellent job of controlling his levels 
of excitement. The changes in how he thrust into her allowed him 
to keep from getting too excited. All of that changed when the 
mental image of wrapping her hair around his cock and jacking off 
into it flashed through his mind. Surprised at how quickly it arose, 
Ed came with a startled cry. 

Even Linda, facing away from Ed, could tell that his orgasm was 
totally unexpected. As Ed grabbed her hips and pulled her harder 
onto his cock, frozen in place as his come burst into her body, she 
wondered what had caused such an intense orgasm. Crying out his 
pleasure with a volume that could have been heard around the 
entire lake, Ed shook as the last of his orgasm passed.

Pulling out of her, he dropped to the blanket exhausted. She curled 
up against him looking up at the sky above. When he seemed to 
return to himself, she asked, "What were you thinking when you 
came?"

Embarrassed by his thoughts, Ed answered, "Jacking off using 
your hair."

The fact that his answer came out of leftfield caused Linda to emit 
a burst of laughter. She couldn't imagine a man wanting to do that. 
The come would be almost impossible to wash out of the hair and 
it would probably lead to her hair getting knotted. She asked, "Are 
you serious?"

In answer, Ed took her hand and raised a finger. Wrapping her hair 
around the finger and then slowly twisting moving the hair around 
her finger, he asked, "How does that feel?"

"It kind of tickles, but it feels nice," replied Linda as she realized 
that the sensation could be very pleasurable on a cock. There had 
been many times when she had used her hair during sex to improve 
the pleasure of the act. Usually, it was by running her hair along 
her lover's body. 

"How do you think it would feel if it were a cock rather than a 
finger?"

"For me, it would feel the same since it is just my hair. I imagine 
that for you there might be a significant difference."

The subject was dropped, but the two of them remained on the 
blanket enjoying the sun of early morning. The fog had burned off 
the lake and the birds had stopped making as much noise. It was 
the sound of a car coming down the drive to the cabin that chased 
them both into the house. It was a mad rush to get dressed before 
the car reached a spot in front of the house. Ed emerged from the 
house wearing his robe with nothing under it. 

When the driver stepped out of the car, it took a second for Ed to 
recognize Kip Caler, the FBI agent that had been in on the College 
Serial Killers case. Kip raised a hand as he said, "Hello, Ed. I heard 
that you had come back here and thought I would stop by to see if 
you needed anything."

Leaning against a pillar of the porch, Ed remarked, "Nice to see 
you again. How are things going?"

"Fine," replied the agent. He had good memories of the time spent 
here with Ed and John. It was the first time that he learned how to 
relax with his superiors, a skill that had actually helped him in his 
career. He looked out at the lake and said, "We had a little fun 
there in the lake. I hope you don't throw me in again."

Laughing at the reference to the day that John had come out here, 
Ed said, "You never know."

The door opened behind him and Linda stepped out wearing her 
blue jeans and western style shirt. Even covered, she was a 
beautiful woman and seeing her standing there framed by the door 
took Ed's breath away. The effect on Kip was greater as he had not 
realized that Ed was here with someone else. Ed said, "Linda, I'd 
like you to meet Kip Caler of the FBI. Kip, this is Linda, my wife."

"Pleased to meet you. I didn't realize that Ed wasn't alone or I 
wouldn't have intruded."

Linda smiled as she replied, "Don't worry. We were just relaxing 
under the morning sky."

Relaxing under the morning sky was not the kind of activity that 
normal men would want to do with that woman. Kip said, "I'm still 
sorry about interrupting. I thought maybe Ed would like some 
company fishing."

A great smile spread across Linda's face. Turning to Ed, she 
exclaimed, "Fishing! I haven't been fishing in years. Can we do 
that today?"

"Sure, I need to pick up some fishing gear in town if there is a 
place that is open," answered Ed. It was hard for him to believe 
that Linda would enjoy fishing.

A trip to town to purchase fishing equipment included a stop at a 
local diner for lunch. Located off the main drive, this was a diner 
used primarily by locals. It was a little dingy place, the kind that 
would be overlooked by tourists. It reminded Ed of diners in every 
small town. All conversation came to a halt when the three of them 
entered the room.  As Linda and Kip moved to a table, Ed realized 
that all eyes were on him. 

With a sigh, he joined them at a table. The waitress, after checking 
the rest of the room, slowly made her way to their table. It was 
clear from the way that she moved towards them that she was 
terrified about waiting on them. When she got close enough, Ed 
turned to her and winked as he said, "Don't worry. I don't bite, 
unless you want me to."

Linda laughed and slapped his arm in a good-natured fashion as 
she exclaimed, "You bad man. Scaring the poor waitress. I ought 
to let her beat you senseless."

Laughing at his wife's comment, Ed said, "You're going to destroy 
that image of serious Druid that we've tried so hard to cultivate."

Linda turned to the waitress and said, "Don't mind him. He's just a 
little child at heart."

Not knowing what to make of the comments, the waitress asked, 
"Do you need menus?"

Relaxed in the presence of Ed, Kip answered, "Yes."

She handed out three menus and went to get some water for them. 
Other patrons had whispered exchanges with her, as they were 
curious about what had been said to her. She returned to the table 
with three glasses of water. The glasses were dimpled brown 
plastic, the cheapest glasses employed in diners all across the 
country. Setting them before her customers, she asked, "Are you 
ready to order or do you need more time?"

The menu was a typed page with the items listed on the left and the 
price on the right of the page. It was easy to see that the owners 
catered to locals with healthy hearty dishes intended for hard 
working people. Ed spotted the Chicken and Dumplings and 
smiled, as he knew exactly what he was going to order. He looked 
up at the waitress and asked, "How are the Chicken and 
Dumplings?"

"Lots of people order them," replied the waitress, still scared of 
dealing with a Druid. Like many people, she had seen them on 
television and they had taken a larger than life stature. She didn't 
know what kind of people they were, but she did know that they 
knew some of the most important people in the country.

Catching a slight dissonance in her answer, Ed asked, "I take it you 
don't like them yourself?"

"Not really, but that doesn't mean much. Other people like them 
though," answered the woman intimidated by how his gray eyes 
seemed to see into her.

There was a ring of truth in her voice and Ed relaxed. Smiling, he 
said, "We all have our individual preferences and who am I to 
judge yours. I'll try the Chicken and Dumplings."

Nervous that he would dislike them, she answered, "Would you 
like to try a taste of it first?"

"No, that's okay."

The waitress was getting increasingly more nervous, a fact that 
wasn't lost on Linda. She understood how imposing the Druids 
could be. Even though she was married to three of them, whenever 
they had a Druid visitor, she found them unnerving. Trying to help 
the waitress get more at ease, she said, "I'll have the stew."

Kip chimed in as he ordered, "I'll have the stew also."

As the waitress started to leave, Ed stopped her when he said, 
"Iced teas all around."

She scribbled it down on her pad, angry with herself for not having 
asked. Practically running, she went to the kitchen to turn in the 
order. As a result of a conversation in the kitchen, it was the owner 
who came to the table carrying their iced teas. Ed noticed the 
change in who was waiting on the table and asked, "What 
happened to our waitress?"

The manager started to come up with a story, but stopped the 
moment he saw the gray eyes of Ed looking him straight in the eye 
with an unwavering gaze. Instead, he replied, "She is 
uncomfortable serving you."

Knowing that it was the truth, Ed sighed. Smiling up at the 
manager, he said, "Amazing how people know when you consult 
for the IRS. Scares them off every time."

The news that Ed worked for the IRS made the manager nervous. 
Kip joked, "That's okay. When you go overseas, you can tell 
everyone that you consult for the CIA."

Surprised, Ed asked, "How did you know about that?"

Shocked to learn that Ed actually worked with the CIA, Kip 
answered, "I was making a joke. I didn't know that you worked 
with the CIA."

Shrugging, Linda said, "They have him interrogate terrorists. It's 
the least dangerous thing that he does."

The manager looked at Ed wondering what kinds of things he did 
that was more dangerous than interrogating terrorists. Sighing, Ed 
said, "I kind of liked our waitress. Is she your daughter?"

"No. I don't have any children."

Looking at Linda, Ed said, "I have two, a girl and a boy. I highly 
recommend parenthood."

The manager, knowing the question that was on everyone's minds, 
decided that it was time to ask, "What brings you here?"

"Vacation. I needed a place to rest."

"The town isn't really open for business yet."

"I know. The last time I was here, I worked on my dissertation. 
There were so many tourists, but I prefer it quiet like it is now."

The man was surprised that this wasn't his first visit to the town.  
He shrugged as he said, "It is quiet at that."

"Our little town has about a thousand people in it. I like small 
towns."

The manager looked at Ed puzzled about his talking about small 
town life. How could someone that was a Druid live in a small 
town when they consulted important people? It didn't make sense. 
He asked, "You like small towns?"

"Yes. I like having neighbors that know me and treat me like a 
person rather than a celebrity. It's comforting to be around good 
hardworking people that take care of their business like the folks 
around here."

