JC: Ed Biggers
Part 6: Doyen
Chapter 1
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

… to explore the tension between generations. 

A conflict exists between learning from one's elders and learning 
from self-discovery. On one hand, the elderly have so much 
experience that learning from it would help the young avoid many 
of the same mistakes. On the other hand, the world changes from 
generation to generation so much that many of the lessons of the 
elderly will no longer apply.

Too often, usually after a grand mistake, a person discovers that 
the advice given to them by their parents or grandparents would 
have prevented them from making the mistake. The realization that 
their elders were correct bothers them more than the consequences 
of mistake they had just made. Such discoveries significantly 
undermine self-confidence.

The converse situation is not rare. A person follows the advice of 
their elder and finds that the consequences are horrible. Get 
educated, get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids, save for 
college, and then save for retirement. At retirement, the person is 
unhappy with a life spent pursuing goals that did not yield 
satisfaction when accomplished. 

The ironic part of passing wisdom from old to young is that the 
young tend to believe the myths and disbelieve the facts. They 
believe that Grandmother and Grandfather who are still married 
after fifty years never cheated on each other. Odds are good that 
they both screwed around, but they didn't divorce as a result. Too 
bad that mom and dad couldn't say the same. Odds are good that 
they screwed around and divorced as a result. Which generation is 
happier? The young believe that the grandparents are the happy 
ones, but they never saw the fights and they miss the fact that the 
two of them do not talk.

Years of discovering that the trivial facts were true, despite initial 
beliefs to the contrary, only reinforce the most fanciful myths. 
Sure, touching a hot stove will burn you, but does that mean that 
studying law or medicine is right for you? It is possible, but it does 
not necessarily follow. Proof that a hot stove burns when you touch 
it does not prove that one should study law or medicine. The 
question that leads us to believe the myths are true is, "if our elders 
are proven right ninety-eight times out of a hundred, doesn't it 
mean that they should be right the other two times out of a 
hundred?"

The world has changed. It was once true that if you worked hard 
for a company that you would have a job for life. That doesn't hold 
today. Where it once was true that a doctor was well respected, it 
has changed to where a high-school graduate is dictating medical 
treatment to the doctor according to insurance guidelines. 

The world has changed, but it remains the same. Men don't 
understand women and a hot stove burns when you touch it.  How 
is a young person to know what remains the same and what 
changes? When is advice wisdom and when is it myth? Such 
questions get answered only after a lifetime and by then it is too 
late - the myths have already been passed on to our children and 
grandchildren.

John went to the window and looked outside. The sky was overcast 
and dark; it looked like rain. Heart heavy, Ed stood next to him and 
looked at the sky disgusted at the weather. He observed, "It looks 
like rain."

John replied, "It won't rain."

At a few minutes before noon on Midwinter's day, all of the 
Druids, the students, and the whole Carter clan gathered at the 
clearing to watch the dedication and consecration of the glade. 
Everyone was dressed, even the first year students wore blue robes. 
They stood outside the circle of trees. The clearing, inside the 
circle of trees, was empty. The ground was covered by dull brown 
grass littered with dry leaves. The air was still, but carried a 
tension of something about to break loose.

A news crew had come to film the ritual in the hopes of getting fill 
time on the news. The cameraman had put a cover over the camera 
in the hopes of keeping the rain off the lens. The reporter had 
already recorded a simple introduction to the event.

John entered the clearing moving with authority. He was dressed in 
his brown robes, gray cloak, and carrying his walking stick. The 
light of the walking stick was on. He presented himself as a small 
figure dominated by the size of the clearing. A wind started to 
blow causing his cloak to flap.

John walked to the northern end of the clearing. Lowering the lit 
end of the walking stick to the ground, he traced a circle around the 
entire clearing moving in a clockwise direction. As he walked, the 
wind picked up in a swirling pattern until it filled the clearing. 
Closing the circle, John walked to the center of the clearing and 
pointed his walking stick to the north. He shouted, "Let all evil 
leave this area!"

As he shouted, a meteor came through the clouds above and 
crashed into the northern end of the clearing. It buried most of 
itself in a crater leaving a small portion above ground level. The 
observers of the ritual stepped back in amazement. The dirt kicked 
up joined the debris swirling in the air around the clearing. 

John walked to the eastern end of the clearing, and lowered the 
walking stick so that the light was just above the ground. He traced 
a second circle around the clearing moving in a clockwise 
situation. The wind picked up even more. Closing the circle, he 
stepped back into the center of the clearing. He shouted, "Protect 
this area from evil!"

Again, a meteor appeared through the clouds above and buried 
itself in the eastern side of the clearing. A small portion of the 
meteor remained above ground. The observers reacted just as 
strongly as before. The wind inside the clearing picked up even 
more, carrying with it more leaves and dirt.

John walked to the southern end of the clearing and using that as 
the starting point traced a third circle around the clearing. He 
stepped to the center of the clearing and shouted, "Make this area 
invisible to evil!"

When he shouted, he pointed the walking stick to the southern 
point. A third meteor hit the point. The wind picked up even more. 
It was swirling around the clearing forming a cylindrical wall of 
dirt and leaves. John was barely visible inside.

John walked to the western end of the clearing. He drew another 
circle around the clearing. Returning to the center of the clearing, 
He shouted, "Make this area a fortress against evil!"

A fourth meteor crashed into the ground at the western end of the 
clearing. The wind picked up even more. Outside the clearing, 
where the observers stood, the wind was only gently blowing. By 
now, John was a ghostly looking figure inside the clearing. 

Inside the clearing, the wind was a gale. John's cloak swirled 
around him. He stood there with both arms raised. The sleeves of 
his robe fell back exposing his bare forearms. He raised the 
walking stick to the sky. He shouted, barely heard above the wind, 
"I give my love and my life to the Gods and Goddesses to sanctify 
this area."

As his shouted died, a bolt of lightening came down from the sky 
and struck the walking stick. Fingers of electricity walked down 
the stick, enveloping John. When the lightening ended, John was 
gone. A small pile of ashes remained. The wind picked up the 
ashes. As people watched, the ashes appeared to form faces in the 
center of the clearing. A woman's face appeared, smiling upon the 
clearing. That was replaced by a man's rugged face. Then a face 
appeared that seemed to combine the features of both male and 
female. It lingered for several minutes. The faces disappeared as 
the wind spread the ashes across the clearing.

The wind died with an abruptness that was shocking. The heavy 
layer of clouds overhead dissipated within minutes leaving behind 
a blue and bright sky. The temperature dropped a few degrees. It 
was suddenly a beautiful winter morning.

The crowd of observers stood still, looking into the clearing. There 
was no doubt that this was now a holy place. It took a little longer 
for the fact of John's death to sink in. Ling, Linda, and Leroy wept 
at the loss of their husband. Ed and Kelly stood looking into the 
clearing. The children were quiet and waved farewell to their 
father.

The time had come for Ed to participate in the next ceremony as he 
joined the Druids entering the clearing. He walked to south end of 
the clearing where he took his place in front of the Black robed 
Druids. 

Oliver Brown walked across the clearing to stand in front of the 
smoking meteor to the north. He wore the Brown robe that 
indicated that he served all of the Gods and Goddesses. He shifted 
uncomfortably, disliking all of the attention that he was receiving. 

A green robed Druid stepped forward and shouted, "We who serve 
the Goddess greet you, Oliver Brown."

A red robed Druid stepped forward and shouted, "We who serve 
the God greet you, Oliver Brown."

Ed stepped forward and shouted, "We who serve the Two-Sided 
One greet you, Oliver Brown."

The three of them stated together, "We recognize you and name 
you as the Grand Druid."

All of the Druids gathered there performed a half bow in the 
direction of Oliver Brown. Slowly, Oliver returned the half bow. 
He had known that he was the most likely successor to John 
Carter, but had not expected it to occur so soon. He shouted, "I 
thank you for this honor. I shall do my best to live up to the high 
standard that John Carter set."

The Druids came up and introduced themselves to the new Grand 
Druid. Ed was the last one to greet him and it was a very solemn 
moment for each. Oliver said, "You have a position here if you 
want it."

Ed frowned as he replied, "I'll stay here off and on until September 
and then return to Arizona with my family. The children are taking 
a year off from their education."

Oliver nodded his understanding. "You are an invaluable resource, 
but you must follow your heart. This has been a hard day for you 
and your family."

Ed was joined by Kelly and together they returned to the rest of the 
family. The children were huddled around Ling, Linda, and Leroy 
giving them comfort. Ed looked over at Ling seeing that she was 
devastated, sitting on the ground crying with her hands covering 
her eyes. Linda and Leroy were in shock, standing in place with 
tears running down their faces. 

Ed and Kelly exchanged a look and then helped take everyone to 
their suite for privacy in dealing with their grief. The children were 
remarkably untouched by his death, a fact that gave comfort to Ed. 
He had been afraid of how they would take John's death. Betsy was 
still too young to understand what had happened.

Ed watched as William went over to the reporter. The little boy, 
five years of age, stood facing the camera. In a solemn tone of 
voice, he said, "My father died in the service of the Gods and 
Goddesses after having lived his whole life serving them. We are 
proud of him for his accomplishments. He has given the world a 
great gift by this great sacrifice. The world is a better place 
because he lived and is a lesser place because he is gone. We loved 
him and now we shall miss him. That is all we have to say about 
the matter."

The speech by William surprised Ed on many levels. He was the 
only one in the family that had the presence of mind to deal with 
the public at large and he had done so in a magnificent manner. Ed 
was busy keeping Ling from collapsing, basically having to 
physically carry her to the college. 

Inside, Ed helped Ling to their apartment suite. She collapsed on 
the couch and cried some more. By then, Linda had finally 
processed that John was gone and was crying just as hard as Ling. 
Leroy kept sitting in the chair repeating, "I thought I would have 
more time with him."

Ed could see that Leroy felt guilty about being gone so much of the 
time. It was not fair as Leroy was performing important work and 
growing as a person. He went over to his husband and said, 
"Leroy, every minute that you spent with John was lived to the 
fullest."

"I should have been here more," replied Leroy.

Kelly watched the exchange and then leaned over to Ed as she 
said, "Let me help Oliver while you help the family."

Nodding his agreement, Ed said, "Please do. Let me get Reverend 
Leroy in here before you go."

Ed went to the back of the house where the Reverend had retired 
after the ceremony. He was shocked by the events that had 
occurred and was trying to reconcile them with his beliefs. He 
looked up sharply when Ed called him, "Reverend Jones. Leroy 
needs you."

The Reverend stood and followed his son-in-law out of the room. 
He was shocked when he saw the devastated looks on the faces of 
the family. Entering the room, he looked at Linda and Leroy. They 
were Christians and, after a quick glance at Ed, he took a place at 
the front of the room. Holding his hands together and bowing his 
head, he said, "Let us pray."

Leroy and Linda immediately bowed their heads as Kelly slipped 
out of the room. Reverend Jones said, "Lord, help us through these 
difficult times. I know the Bible tells us of the sacrifice of your 
son, Jesus, on the cross. There is little said in the good book about 
the family and friends left behind. We know that they must have 
felt grief at the loss of such a powerful and loving man."

After a slight pause, the Reverend continued, "Today, we have 
witnessed another sacrifice of a man for his Gods and Goddesses. 
You know our grief and we wish that you would lend us your 
strength as you lent your strength to Mary and the apostles. Help 
us through this time of loss. Amen."

The prayer had the desired effect on Linda and Leroy as they 
replied, "Amen."

The Reverend joined them on the couch and they talked among 
themselves in quiet voices. Ed spent his time talking to Ling, 
working through her grief. After a while, she said, "You knew."

"Yes, I knew," replied Ed as he held his wife in a tight embrace. 
He added, "So did you."

She pulled away and looked at him in surprise. It was a fact that 
she had suspected it would happen. One couldn't stay around the 
kids without knowing it. She replied, "Yes, I guess I did."

Little John, Beth, and William came into the room with Betsy in 
tow. Seeing Linda and Leroy in such pain, Little John said, "Don't 
be so sad. He knew what was going to happen and looked forward 
to it."

Beth said, "We love him and know that he'll be watching over us."

William looked at his parents feeling sad for Linda and Leroy. 
Ling appeared to have overcome her initial shock at the death of 
John. As he had expected, it was Ed that had the strength and will 
to pull the family through the crisis. Looking over at Ling, he said, 
"I'm so glad that Oliver Brown was here."

The comment seemed to come out of left field and surprised Ling. 
She asked, "Why?"

"Because we would loose Daddy Ed if he wasn't here," replied 
William after a quick glance at his father. 

Ling stared at Ed wondering what William meant. Shrugging, Ed 
said, "I would have taken over running the College if there wasn't a 
new Grand Druid. I'm not going to see John's dream die."

Everyone turned to look at Ed in surprise. That Ed hated living 
there was well known. That he was willing to live there to make 
sure that the College succeeded, even if it meant his death, was a 
statement of his loyalty to John. Eyes misting, Ed said, "He was 
my best friend and I loved him like he was a part of me."

Everyone realized that they weren't alone in their pain. His 
comment brought them together to face the future without John. 
Beth came over to Ed and wrapped her hand around his finger. The 
gesture touched him and he looked down at her with love in his 
eyes. She smiled up at him and winked.

Little John asked, "Where's Momma Kelly?"

"She's talking to the students. They were all taken by surprise and 
need reassurance that all will be okay," answered Ed. A thought 
came to him and he wanted to slap his forehead with the palm of 
his hand. He said, "I had better call the staff before they learn 
about John over the news."

Ling looked up and said, "Oh my goodness. You had better get on 
the phone right away."

Worried about the future of her education and wondering if they 
were going to have to leave, Beth asked, "What are we going to do 
now that Daddy John is not head of the school?"

Stopping on his way to the telephone, Ed answered, "Beth, why 
don't you tell us what you would like to do."

Beth answered, "I would like to stay here and finish the year so 
that I can graduate high school."

Little John nodded his agreement and added, "Then I want to go to 
college here."

The telephone rang and Ed went into another room to answer it. 
There was a sinking feeling in his stomach, as he feared who it 
was. Picking up the handset, he heard sobs as Cathy asked, "Is it 
true? Is he really dead?"

Taking a deep breath, Ed answered, "Yes, it's true. I was just 
getting ready to call you. I'm sorry that you didn't learn it from us."

Sniffling as she sought to control her emotions, Cathy said, "They 
showed it just a few minutes after it happened on the news. No one 
has had the presence of mind to call you."

Sorry that he couldn't be there to help the staff through the bad 
news, Ed replied, "I wish we were there with you. It would be so 
much nicer for us to be surrounded by our loved ones."

His statement caused her to lose control of her emotions and she 
broke down crying. Ed listened to her, allowing her to get it out of 
her system. It was heart wrenching to hear her crying and he 
imagined the rest of the staff in a similar state. He wondered how 
Marguerite was taking the news. When Cathy had collected 
herself, she said, "I'll tell the rest of the staff what you said."

"Thank you, Cathy."

Cathy disconnected after a tear filled goodbye leaving an 
emotionally torn Ed holding the telephone handset. Setting the 
handset back on the telephone base, he stood in place for a minute 
wishing he were back at home to comfort the staff. Returning to 
the room, he said, "Linda, you might consider calling Sarah."

Nodding, Linda stood and went to the room he had just left. 
Looking around the living room, it was good to see that everyone 
was a little more collected and controlled. He picked up Beth and 
sat down with her on his lap. She snuggled back against him as he 
asked, "So what is it that everyone wants?"

Leroy looked up and answered, "It would be best if the kids could 
stay here until they finish their immediate education needs. That 
means that Kelly, Ling, Linda, and you should be around here for 
most of that time. I'm going to move my lab back to Arizona so 
that I can join the family there. I've missed too much of our family 
life."

The suggestion affected Ed physically as he hoped that they could 
leave for home immediately. Linda said, "We felt that you would 
want to be here for the next few weeks to help Oliver. You would 
probably want to shuttle back and forth over the year until Oliver 
has gotten a handle on everything."

Ed listened with care to everything that was said and then replied, 
"John and I worked out a deal with William Redman for the tribe 
to take in the children for a year."

William smiled at the thought of going to live on the reservation 
for a year. "When do we go?"

"I think that you should spend the year after you graduate from 
high school," answered Ed. There were many reasons for that, but 
the most important was that he felt it was best for the kids to have 
a year of experience dealing with non-Druids under supervised 
conditions.  The only one that looked disappointed was William, 
since he understood that it would be best not to interrupt his 
education for a year. 

A quiet settled on the room as everyone thought about their present 
circumstances and the uncertainty of the future. Ed winked at 
Betsy who was seated on the floor wiggling out of boredom. She 
smiled and looked around uncertain about the muted mood in the 
room. Just a few months short of two, she didn't understand the 
significance of what she had seen. Frowning, she asked, "Momma 
Ling, can we exercise now?"

Ling didn't feel like training at the moment, but had learned with 
experience that two hours of training wore Betsy down enough that 
she could sit for much of the day. Looking at the other three kids, 
she saw that they nodded their agreement and said, "Sure. Let's go 
upstairs."

Ling and the three older kids followed behind Betsy who ran out of 
the room happy to be moving again. Ed smiled as Ling shook her 
head at the exuberance of their youngest child. Leroy burst out 
laughing and said, "I had no idea that our child would turn out that 
way."

"Neither did Ling," replied Ed with a grin. Betsy was driving Ling 
crazy with her incredible store of energy. 

Linda returned to the room after talking to her cousin Sarah back at 
the house. The tribe was going to have a special ceremony of 
mourning for the passing of John. The news had meant a lot to her. 
She announced, "The tribe sends its condolences."

"Let William know," remarked Ed knowing that it would mean a 
lot to his son to hear that news. The ties to the tribe were very 
important to the young man. In some ways, they were more 
important to him than the ties to the Gods and Goddesses. It made 
Ed wonder what the future held for William.

"Of course," replied Linda with a smile. It amazed her how much 
Ed thought about everyone else. Even in this tough time, he had 
been sure to help everyone else deal with the death of John. 

Reverend Jones stood up and stretched feeling that the need for 
him to minister to the family had ended. He said, "I'm going to my 
room for a little bit. If you need to talk to me, please feel free to 
come back."

As the Reverend walked out of the room, Leroy said, "Thanks 
Dad."

"You're welcome, son," replied the Reverend as he smiled at 
Leroy. It pleased him that his son kept his Christian faith, although 
he had come to respect the Druids and their beliefs. The events of 
this day had shaken him far more than he was willing to admit and 
he needed time to reflect on the lessons taught by it.

Ed watched the Reverend leave the room. When he heard the door 
close, he said, "I really like your father. He's a great man."

Leroy smiled and replied, "I think he misses having Henry 
around."

The large black man had stayed with his family in Georgia rather 
than come to the College with the Reverend. Both of them knew 
that the Reverend would be safe at the College and it was a rare 
occasion when Henry could visit his home. Ed remarked, "It must 
be hard on Henry."

"Henry serves God in a way that he never thought possible," 
replied Leroy. His father was not that much of a public figure, but 
he had already had several attempts made on his life. Henry had 
saved him during each of those attempts. 

Linda ran a hand along Leroy's thigh as she said, "You have a right 
to be proud of your father. He is an important man."

The three of them spent the next couple of hours talking about their 
individual plans for the near future. Leroy was returning to the lab 
to perform tests on deer, trying to understand how Chronic 
Wasting Disease was spread. The years of efforts of trying to 
observe an actual transferal of disease had demonstrated nothing. 
He was even thinking about following Ed's suggestion to look at 
the plants. 

Linda had finished her sixth children's book and had been 
approached to make a movie based on her second book. She was 
seriously considering giving up writing children's books. She 
wanted to try her hand at writing an adult book. The movie would 
take up a lot of time and she would not be home much while it was 
in production. This time, she was going to negotiate the voices and 
drawings of the individual characters. 

The future for Ed was in limbo and had been since the college had 
opened. He didn't have anything going on in his life and was living 
from day to day. It was time for him to start planning. 

Kelly returned to the apartment. She had spent the past few hours 
helping the students come to grips with the death of John. Ed took 
one look at her and could tell that she was feeling emotionally 
drained. She dropped down into a chair and said, "Oliver is talking 
to the staff now. He'll be done in an hour."

"That was nice of you to help him," replied Ed letting her know 
that her contribution had not gone unnoticed.

Kelly smiled and shook her head. "If you don't mind, I'm just going 
to sit here for a few minutes."

"No problem," replied Ed. He stood up and went into the kitchen. 
He took a few minutes to make a couple of smoothies for the wives 
and iced teas for the men. Putting the drinks on a tray, he brought 
them out to the living room bringing smiles to everyone.

Seeing the tray with Smoothies brought a smile of relief to Kelly. 
With clear appreciation in her voice, she said, "I was just working 
up my energy to fix some drinks."

He handed her a smoothie and watched as she took a long sip of it. 
Setting the tray down on the table, he handed out the other drinks 
taking a tea himself. As everyone relaxed and drank their beverage, 
Ed returned to the kitchen and went to work making sandwiches 
for everyone. He lost track of how many sandwiches he was 
making and just kept making them until he ran out of ingredients. 
Grabbing the plate piled high with sandwiches and a bag of potato 
chips, he returned to the living room. 

After he had set the plate down on the table, hands reached out to 
grab sandwiches. He rushed back into the kitchen and grabbed a 
stack of plates for everyone to use. They were grabbed as soon as 
he set them down on the table. The first bag of potato chips was 
empty by the time he sat down with his dinner.

Ling returned with the kids and they swarmed over the 
sandwiches. Beth went into the kitchen and returned with another 
bag of chips. Ling went in and found a full pitcher of smoothies 
waiting for her. Smiling at the thoughtfulness of whoever had 
made them, she poured four glasses and returned to the living room 
with them. 

The kids were sitting cross-legged on the floor eating sandwiches 
and chips. Betsy, for a change, wasn't bouncing around the room 
and the adults appreciated the moment of calm. Leroy finished his 
sandwich and put together a plate for his father. Standing, he said, 
"Let me give this to dad. I sure that he's hungry too."

Thinking about it, Ed prepared another plate with a sandwich and 
chips. He said, "My turn to help Oliver."

He left the apartment and went over to the president's office. 
Setting the plate down on the worktable, he looked around the 
office realizing that he no longer had the right to enter whenever he 
wished. It was a reminder that his role at the college was changing 
to that of just another faculty member. He left the office, heading 
off to track down Oliver.

Oliver left the conference room, exhausted after dealing with staff. 
To his great surprise, he was met by Ed. Taking a deep breath, 
anticipating that Ed was going to make a request of him he said, 
"Hello, Ed."

With an unexpected tenderness, Ed said, "We have prepared a little 
something for you to eat in the president's office. Go there and eat 
in solitude. You need some time alone to get your thoughts in 
order."

This unexpected kindness touched Oliver more than he would 
admit. First Kelly had shouldered some of the burden of dealing 
with the students and now Ed was making sure that he had a 
moment to relax. He wasn't going to argue with the suggestion. He 
said, "Thanks. I'll go up there now."

Ed watched him go and talked to staff members that had been 
hanging around. Catherine rushed over and looked around seeking 
Oliver. Ed called out, "Catherine. Over here."

She approached and asked, "Where is he?"

"He went to the president's office for a moment of quiet. He's got a 
sandwich and chips to eat there," answered Ed with a smile. 
Putting an arm around her shoulder, he led her away from the 
crowd as he said, "How are you holding up?"

"Me? I should be asking you that question," replied Catherine 
surprised by his question.

"Everyone is supporting us, but who is there for you? Oliver is in 
the spotlight, but no one is looking after you and you are affected 
by the events of today just as much as anyone," replied Ed. 

Catherine looked misty-eyed as she remembered the past. This was 
the anniversary of her beginning her service to the Gods and 
Goddesses. She had come out of the meadow into a snow-covered 
area dazed by the entire experience. John had greeted her, taken 
her to eat, and given her the sporting goods store. She asked, "Did 
you know that John was the one that greeted me when I became a 
Druid?"

"Yes, I knew that," replied Ed. 

"I'm going to miss him."

Ed hugged her tightly and said, "Let's head to the office. Your 
boyfriend is going to need you after he's had a chance to relax."

The pair went up to the president's office. Ed left her there and 
went to the apartment. Inside, the rest of the family was waiting for 
him. Kelly said, "We realized something while you were gone."

"What?"

"Now that Oliver is the president of the college, we are supposed 
to move out of this apartment," answered Linda.

Ed sat down and thought about it. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, 
"Perhaps Oliver will let us stay here until we are ready to leave."


