JC: Ed Biggers
Part 5: Stasis
Chapter 9
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

The chair on which Ed was seated was of a style known as an 
Adirondack chair named that way because of the locale in which it 
was invented. From his seat on the porch of a cabin by a lake in 
Upstate New York, he watched the wildlife around him. It was 
mid-afternoon and hundreds of boats moved around the lake, 
leaving wakes that died out before they reached the shore. 
Occasionally, a boat would come close and the wake would cause 
little waves to break on the rocks that littered the shore.

Ling came out on the porch to sit beside him, missing Betsy 
already. In a conversational tone of voice she said, "We've been 
here for four days."

"I know and I still haven't managed to relax," replied Ed. He 
pointed up to the porch roof where a small yellow light was lit. The 
light meant that someone was watching them and that they needed 
to be careful about what they did. 

"We need some supplies," remarked Ling, "perhaps we should go 
into town and pick up something for dinner tonight."

"That sounds good. How about we leave after a quick swim?"

Looking around at all of the boats on the lake trying to see if any 
of them were acting as if they were watching the house, Ling 
answered, "Sure. I'm up for a swim."

In one smooth motion Ed stood and removed his robe. Underneath 
the robe, he was wearing a simple bathing suit. Ling removed her 
wrap revealing her white bikini. The suits were necessary, as this 
was a public area where families that held to different beliefs about 
nudity were staying. Holding hands, they ran to the shore and into 
the water laughing as splashes flew around their legs. The water 
was very cold compared to the hot and humid air around them. At 
least it wasn't as hot or as humid as North Carolina. 

They played around in the water, enjoying the moment as they 
splashed and swam. For the first time that day, they actually 
relaxed. After a half an hour, the two of them emerged from the 
lake and went up to the porch. Once there, they picked up the 
clothes they had dropped and entered the house. 

They carefully entered the second bedroom and shut the door 
behind them. Now that they were in a sound proof room, Ed 
whispered, "Okay, what's with the yellow light?"

George turned from the monitor and, in a low voice that wouldn't 
wake Walt or John, answered, "There was a boat out there that was 
watching you two on the porch. They also had a parabolic 
microphone."

Nodding, Ling asked, "Did you get a picture of the people in the 
boat?"

Pointing to the computer screen where a grainy picture of a boat 
was displayed, George answered, "This is the best picture we were 
able to get. Three guys in the boat, one at the controls and two 
pretending to fish. You can make out the parabolic microphone 
right here."

Ling looked at where he was pointing and nodded her agreement. 
She asked, "Do you recognize any of them?"

Bending down to get a better view of the picture, Ed, in a voice 
that was a little louder than he intended, answered, "Can't make out 
enough details of their faces. Sorry."

"It is a poor quality picture. They could be the bad guys or news 
reporters trying to get the scoop on how a Druid takes a vacation," 
replied George in a whisper. He had tried to clean up the picture 
somewhat, but his attempts failed to bring out any details that 
would enable them to identify the men. 

From the couch, John complained, "Can't you keep it down a little 
over there? I'm trying to sleep."

Looking over at the pair of men sleeping on the couch, Ed said, 
"Sorry John."

The pair of them slipped out of the second bedroom. After 
removing his trunks and putting on a pair of briefs and his robe, he 
went out on the porch. The rental house next to theirs along the 
beach had a new couple moving in that afternoon. Ed noticed and 
wandered over to greet them. As he approached, the man 
unpacking the car straightened up and observed the Druid robes. 
With surprise on his face, he said, "Hello. I'm Stanley Bender."

Extending a hand, Ed said, "I'm Ed Biggers."

A young man with his hair cut in a buzz cut came out of the house 
walking towards the car as though he was being tortured. It wasn't 
until he reached the car that he looked up from the ground and 
spotted Ed. Surprised, he shouted, "You're a Druid!"

Laughing at the announcement, Ed said, "Yes, I am a Druid. I'm 
Ed and who are you?"

"I'm Paul," replied the young man thinking that he was going to 
have some stories to tell his friends when he returned to school in 
the fall. He wondered how many people his age had a chance to 
meet a real live Druid.

"Nice to meet you Paul. Let me guess, you are about fourteen years 
old?"

"Wow. You must have super powers to know that."

The idea that it required super powers to guess someone's age 
made Ed laugh. He replied, "I guessed your age. I run a Halloween 
Haunted House that has kids through it by age, so I've seen lots of 
kids your age."

"Cool."

Stanley handed his son two suitcases and said, "Take these into 
your sister's room."

Stamping his foot in a minor act of teenage rebellion, Paul asked, 
"Why can't she carry her own luggage?"

"Because she's helping your mother clean up the cabin. Now move 
it, buster."

Turning to apologize, Stanley stared at Ling as she came up beside 
Ed. After she put her arm around Ed, he put his arm around her and 
performed the introductions. "Ling, these are our new neighbors 
out here, Stanley and his son Paul. This is my wife, Ling."

Ling, looking exceptionally good in her white sundress, said, "It's a 
pleasure to meet you both."

"God, you're beautiful," declared Paul as he stared at her transfixed 
to the spot. Once he realized what he had said, he picked up the 
suitcases and ran into the house blushing the entire way.

His departure brought a laugh to Ling and she said, "Young men 
are so much fun. I can't wait until Little John is that age."

Stanley finally recovered and said, "Little John is your son?"

"Yes. He's not quite six yet."

Stanley nodded and said, "That's a fun age. They still think you are 
the smartest person alive. Wait until they get to be teenagers."

The idea that his kids thought of him as the smartest person alive 
was funny to Ed. He said, "Oh, our kids have already figured out 
that we aren't the smartest people they know."

Elbowing him in the side, Ling said, "Speak for yourself, 
Cowboy."

"Little John adores Catherine. He thinks she's the greatest thing 
since sliced bread."

"Oh, that's only because she is always taking him out to watch the 
animals."

Realizing that they had wandered off topic, Ed said, "Sorry. We 
really have a hard time not talking about the kids."

"You have more than one child?"

"There's Beth, Little John, Betsy, and William," replied Ling proud 
of all the children. 

"That's quite an armful. We stopped at two," said Stanley. 

Realizing that they had wasted too much time, Ed said, "I hate to 
say this, but we had better run to the store and pick up some food 
for tonight."

"You're right. We'll see you when you get back, okay?" Ling asked 
the question as she glanced back at the house making sure that 
everything was all right there. 

At the store, Ed and Ling waited patiently in line to pay for the two 
steaks, corn on the cob, and baking potatoes that they had 
purchased. The young man packing bags seemed a little clumsy as 
he dropped a bag on the floor as he went to pack their purchase. 
Bending down, he picked up the bag and set it on the shelf. With a 
smooth motion, he put their purchases in the bag. 

As Ed paid for the purchase, the young man asked, "Could I carry 
this out to your car?"

Smiling at the young man, Ling said, "sure you can. Let's see, your 
name is Howard, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Howard knowing full well that she knew his 
name. 

As the three of them walked out to the car, Howard said, "Having a 
Druid around here sure is of interest to some folks. We've had all 
kinds of people asking questions about you. Yesterday, a pair of 
men came in asking about you."

"Ah, I hope you told them we were big tippers," Ed joked fully 
aware that they were probably being watched.

Howard smiled, "No. Just told them that you usually came into 
town about this time."

"It's tough vacationing when everyone asks about you," replied Ed.

"I could deliver the groceries to you after I get off work, sir," 
suggested Howard. It was tough slipping the extra food for the 
three men back at the cabin into their bag. He understood the need 
for the pretext, but it was getting old.

"No, that's okay. We actually enjoy the chance to come into town," 
replied Ed. They were trying to establish a pattern of behavior that 
would enable their pursuers to select the proper time and place for 
an attack on them. He paused and then said, "If we forgot to buy 
something, we'll call you."

Ed opened the back door of the hugger while Ling seated herself in 
the driver's seat. She always drove. Bending over to put the bag in 
the back, Howard gave Ed time to pull out the money for the tip. 
Straightening up, he found Ed holding out two bills. Smiling, he 
said, "Thank you, sir."

Taking the money, he could feel the note hidden between the two 
bills. He slipped them into his pocket and returned to the store as 
Ed watched him walk. On the way, Howard stopped and pushed a 
couple of carts together to return them to the front of the store for 
customers to use. 

Once Howard had returned to the store, Ed closed the back of the 
Hugger and got into the passenger seat. After buckling the seat 
belt, he turned to Ling and said, "Ready."

As they pulled out of the parking lot, an old car parked across the 
street pulled away from the curb. The car followed them, keeping a 
good distance behind. Ling didn't try to lose them, but she did keep 
a sharp eye on the road ahead in case they tried to trap the car 
between two cars. 

Ed opened the glove compartment and removed the remote that 
controlled the cameras that had been added to the car. When the 
road straightened out, he took a couple of pictures of the car 
behind them, knowing that it was too far to be able to make out 
any details of the license plate or the people in the car. When they 
reached the road on which their cabin was located, the car behind 
them suddenly sped up and passed them. Ed snapped a couple of 
pictures as the car approached. 

When they stopped in the driveway, Ed pushed the button that 
would upload the pictures to the computer inside the house. He 
replaced the remote in the glove box before getting out of the car. 
Going around the back, he unloaded the groceries. Together, he 
and Ling went up to the house. The yellow light in the porch roof 
was on indicating that they were being watched. 

Unlocking the door, both entered the house relaxing at being out of 
view of their unknown watchers. Ed carried the bag of groceries to 
the kitchen while Ling went into the second bedroom. After 
putting the groceries away, he joined the rest of the group in the 
second bedroom. Much to his surprise, John and Walt were awake. 
John said, "While you were gone, two men stopped by and 
checked out the house. We identified one of them as one of the 
guys you captured with the Molatov Cocktails. The other one had a 
limp. I suspect he was the motorcyclist that shot you and Leroy."

George was busy working on the computer examining the images 
that he had uploaded from the cameras in the car. There was only 
one picture that showed enough detail to know who was in it. Ed 
glanced at the picture and said, "That's the one that was driving the 
car when we caught them with the Molatov Cocktails. The other 
guy looks a lot like Devin, but I'm pretty sure that it isn't him."

Turning away from the computer, George asked, "What did you 
learn from Howard?"

"Two guys were asking about us yesterday. Howard answered all 
their questions. We set up an excuse for him to come out here in 
case something really important happens," answered Ed. 

Walt watched the monitor that covered the house next door and 
shook his head. Irritated at the complications of the neighbors, he 
said, "I wish that idiot landlord had rented that house to us. It only 
makes things more complicated."

"The house on the other side of them is full of FBI agents. They'll 
make sure the family is safe in case anything happens." John and 
Walt had that discussion on several occasions, but Walt still felt 
bad about having civilians in the middle of a possible battlefield.

Ed asked, "So what is the deal with the neighbors?"

"They're clean. He's a civil engineer for the state. Oversees the 
design of bridges. She's a volunteer for the Red Cross and teaches 
CPR at evening classes for them," answered George. 

Standing in the middle of the room, Ed was thinking about the 
situation. He said, "It looks like we have at least four men that will 
show up here when they decide to make their move. It might be as 
many as eight."

"Why do you say eight?"

"We have two in the car that followed us, two that came here when 
we were gone, three in the boat, and Devin," replied Ed.

John was silent for a moment as he thought about the implications 
of that. Ling, George, and Walt had permits that allowed them to 
carry guns. There were the four agents two houses down. He didn't 
like the odds. "We may need more backup here."

Nodding his agreement, Ed said, "While you are arranging that, I 
suggest that Ling and I take the opportunity to get to know the 
neighbors a little better."

Glancing over at the monitor, Walt said, "The adults are out back 
in the chairs. The kids are swimming in the lake. The wife is a real 
treat to the eyes. "

Ed and Ling left the second bedroom and went outside. They stood 
on the porch allowing Ling a moment to examine the surroundings 
to assure herself that it was safe. Pretending to notice their 
neighbors, Ed waved and headed over there with Ling following 
behind. 

Once they reached the neighbors, Stanley made the introductions. 
His wife, Marsha, was an attractive woman in a middle class sort 
of way. Her hair was styled short and her figure showed signs that 
she had born two children. She said, "I never thought I would 
actually meet a Druid. I see your group on the television all the 
time."

"Thank you," replied Ed. 

Stanley gestured to two folding lawn chairs and said, "Have a 
seat."

Sitting down in the chair, Ed said, "Thanks, I don't mind if I do."

Watching the children in the water, Marsha said, "Stanley was 
telling me that you've had four kids. You don't look like it."

Smiling, Ling replied, "I only had two children. My two wives had 
a child each."

The smile on Marsha's face faltered as she looked from Ling to Ed. 
She asked, "You have three wives?"

Nodding, Ed replied, "Yes. I have three wives and two husbands."

"Oh my. I don't know what to think of that," replied Marsha with a 
frown. She came from a fairly conservative community and things 
like that didn't happen there.

Interested, Stanley sat up and asked, "Who are the others in your 
family?"

"John, Leroy, Kelly, and Linda," replied Ed. 

"Where are they?"

Ed closed his eyes and rubbed his ears so that he wouldn't hear the 
answer. Seeing his actions, Ling said, "They are scattered all over 
the country. Kelly is at the Druid College with the children. Linda 
is in California to watch the first cut of the movie based on her 
book. Leroy is out chasing deer through Wisconsin."

Amazed at the kinds of things the people were involved in, Marsha 
replied, "Wow. It must be hard to keep up with everyone."

Ed had uncovered his ears in time to hear the question and replied, 
"We have a very good staff that co-ordinates everything."

"You have a staff?"

"Yes. A secretary, maid, two handy men, a security specialist, and 
two cooks," replied Ed.

The causal manner in which Ed listed off the help made Marsha 
reassess the couple. She said, "You must be quite wealthy."

Leaning over to her, Ed answered, "I'm the wealthiest man in the 
world. I have three wives, four kids, and two husbands that love 
me. You can't ask for more than that."

Ling put a hand on his arm and said, "You always say the sweetest 
things."

"It's true. I wouldn't be half the man that I am today without the 
help of each and every one in my family."

The comment touched Marsha enough that she forgot about the 
money issue. The discussion was interrupted when Fred and Anita 
Smith came over from the house on the other side. As Fred neared, 
he said, "Hello, I hope we aren't intruding."

Fred was wearing a pair of swim trunks and an open beach shirt. 
The swim bag hung from his hand with a towel poking out of the 
top. Anita was wearing a nice one-piece bathing suit with a 
coverall over it. She was carrying her purse with the strap over her 
right shoulder with a hand resting upon it. Ed took it upon himself 
to perform the introductions. 

Fred said, "We're expecting another couple to come in tonight. 
They were supposed to be here this afternoon, but they're late. We 
decided to take a swim before they arrived and saw Ed sitting here. 
We thought we'd introduce ourselves."

Ed stood and offered his chair to Anita. She accepted his offer and 
sat down with her purse on her lap. When it was suggested that she 
set it down on the ground, Anita had replied that she would 
probably forget it if she did that. Her comment was supported 
when Fred told a story about having to return to restaurants to pick 
up her purse. The two acted like it was a long-standing joke. Ed 
covered his face with both hands to hide the grimace invoked by 
hearing the lie. 

Noticing his discomfort, Ling changed the subject by saying, 
"Your children are lovely. How old are they?"

"Susan is sixteen and Paul is fourteen," replied Marsha.

"Oh my. I bet you have to beat the boys away with a stick. Your 
daughter is a very pretty young lady," replied Ling as she looked at 
the teenage girl. She was wearing a very skimpy two-piece 
swimming suit that showed off her young figure to great 
advantage.

Stanley replied, "We haven't let her start dating yet."

"Oh," replied Ling in a flat voice. She didn't feel that it was right to 
keep a sixteen-year-old girl from dating. That was when she could 
explore her feelings and learn how to deal with boys. 

Marsha smiled and said, "She does go out with a crowd of her 
friends."

The difference in the answers suggested to Ling that there was 
more dating going on than the father understood. Sixteen was a 
hard age to keep the hormones under control and the mother acted 
like she understood that. Ling asked, "Is she active in school?"

"She's a cheerleader," answered Marsh proud of her daughter.

The answer confused Ling, as she didn't know what kind of 
activity cheerleading was, since she had grown up in a very 
different environment. Noticing her confusion, Ed explained, "A 
cheerleader is someone that tries to excite the crowd at a sports 
event to support their team. It is a very desired position in high 
school."

"Oh," replied Ling. She smiled and looked at Ed, "Are you my 
cheerleader when I compete?"

"Yes, I am," answered Ed. He added, "Usually cheerleaders are 
much better looking than me."

The group of adults laughed at the obvious joke. Marsha asked, 
"What kind of school did you go to where you didn't have 
cheerleaders?"

"Oh, I went to a private school for six hours a day and then studied 
the martial arts for eight hours every day," answered Ling. She 
added, "I studied the martial arts for more hours than that on the 
weekends."

"You must be quite good," remarked Marsha.

With pride evident in his voice, Ed said, "She's the best in the 
country, perhaps the world."

Shrugging her shoulders and tilting her head to one side, Ling said, 
"I've only competed at the international level once."

"And you won," replied Ed as though it proved his case. Tired of 
standing, Ed looked over at Fred and said, "Why don't we get a 
couple of chairs so that we can sit down?"

Fred nodded and the two men headed over to the cabin in which 
Fred and Anita were staying. As they went, Ed said, "Nice family."

"Yes they are."

"I know bad things happen to good people, but it would really be a 
shame for anything to happen to them," said Ed making a point.

"I agree. In these troubled times, neighbors often have to look out 
for neighbors."

They grabbed a chair each and returned to the others. Ed said, 
"Nice chairs. I should have thought to pick up some in town."

"They are nice. We got these from the grocery store. Can you 
believe it?"

The comment almost caused Ed to stumble. He wondered if this 
was a hint that it was time to call Howard. He said, "I never 
noticed them there."

"You might want to pick some up tomorrow. I imagine you'll want 
to sit outside. You never know, it just might storm tonight."

A thoughtful Ed walked along realizing that the FBI had some 
news that things were about to come to a head and that they could 
expect some action that night. Undoubtedly, the three in the house 
already knew what the FBI had found out about Devin. 

The group of six sat around chatting. After a while, the kids got 
tired of playing in the water and joined the adults. Susan was a 
young vibrant woman that was on the verge of discovering her 
sexuality. Ed asked, "Susan, what are your plans for college?"

The young lady, surprised that a Druid would take interest in her 
plans, answered, "I'm thinking about going to SUNY."

Taking up the topic, Ling asked, "What major?"

"Oh, I haven't decided."

Nodding, Ed said, "At the Druid College, we don't allow the 
students to declare a major until after their third year. The first 
three years are spent getting a feel for the different disciplines. I 
admit that for those of us who knew exactly what we wanted to 
study are at a disadvantage, but the broader education is still of 
value."

Interested in the subject, Stanley leaned forward and asked, "Are 
you involved in the Druid College?"

"Yes. John started it and Ed teaches there," answered Ling 
knowing that Ed would minimize his role there.

"My role is just about over, though. I'm returning home and will 
return to teach one quarter a year from now on," answered Ed.

Susan leaned forward and asked, "So should I apply there?"

Having long experience in explaining the entry requirements, it 
didn't take Ed long to set forth the basic requirements that she 
would need to meet. When he had finished, Marsha asked, "Since 
you are teaching there, do your children get in automatically?"

Shrugging, Ed said, "No, but I don't think our kids will have much 
difficulty qualifying."

Frowning at the assessment, Ling said, "They are going to have to 
take at least a year off between graduating high school and 
entering college."

"Why?"

"Because I think that entering college at eight is just too young," 
declared Ling with a look at Ed that conveyed that argument would 
be wasted.

Ed said, "William will probably graduate high school at six."

The other adults stared at Ed and Ling at their declaration of their 
children's ability. Ed noticed and said, "They are prodigies. Beth is 
a mathematician, Little John is a biologist, and William is a special 
case. We're not sure what to make of Betsy."

"That's rather unusual. Do they spend all of their time studying?"

The question caused Ling to burst out laughing. She said, "Are you 
kidding? Their fathers play with them all of the time they aren't in 
classes or busy. All of the wives hold their breaths when the men 
go to the toy store. There's no telling what they'll come back with."

"Hey, there was nothing wrong with the Slip-N-Slide. Even you 
enjoyed that," retorted Ed defending his last choice of toy.

"You guys wore it out in a week," replied Ling. That had been 
quite a week. Half of the student body had come out to take their 
turn sliding down the wet plastic sheet. 

"Sid's bear is the one that broke it," retorted Ed. He added, "It 
would have been okay except Fluffy extended his claws to stop his 
slide. Besides, we thought it was funny when it happened."

Anita was surprised that they allowed a bear around the campus. In 
her surprise, she asked, "You let the kids play around a bear?"

"Fluffy is perfectly safe," replied Ed knowing the Ling wouldn't 
argue with that assessment. The years of having Rover, Shadow, 
and Tiger around the house had given her direct experience with 
wild animals that served the Gods and Goddesses. 

"That's what John tells me," replied Ling.

The mention of John's name told the Benders exactly who Ed and 
Ling were. Paul gave voice to his amazement, "You're a member 
of the Carter Clan!"

"Yes, we are," replied Ed with a smile wondering how the Carter 
Clan had become so famous. 

Marsha said, "I didn't realize who you were."

Leaning forward and placing a hand on her arm, Ed said, "I 
disagree. You met who we really are before you tied us to the 
myths about who we are."

It took Marsha a minute to parse the sentence and to understand it. 
When she realized what he meant, she said, "All you've talked 
about is your family."

"That's who we really are," replied Ed.





