JC: Ed Biggers
Part 6: Doyen
Chapter 16
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Hands laced behind his head, Ed sat beneath a tree with his long 
legs stretched upon the ground with his back supported by the 
trunk. Sitting with his back to a tree like this was a relatively new 
experience for him and he was enjoying it. Maybe it was just the 
chance to enjoy watching nature go by that he enjoyed. 

It was four days after mid-summer's day and he was waiting for a 
student to emerge from the Carter Glade. A noise behind him 
attracted his attention, but he was too lazy to turn in order to find 
out who was making the noise. He guessed that it would be Oliver 
since the Grand Druid would be out here for the same reason he 
was there.

"Did she show up yet?" asked Oliver on seeing Ed Biggers leaning 
against the tree. The tall lanky cowboy actually looked comfortable 
with his back to the tree.

"Not yet," answered Ed not bothering to turn and look at Oliver. 
He unlaced his fingers and pointed to a nearby tree as he said, 
"Pull up a tree and have a seat."

Oliver walked over to the tree and sat down. The rough surface of 
the tree pressed into his back, making it an uncomfortable seat. 
Once he was settled in place, he said, "Only five out of ninety five 
students were called to go into the glade. Four have come out. 
Three servants of the Goddess, one servant of the God, and the last 
one to emerge will serve the Two-Sided One."

"I expected more students to be called," commented Ed. He had 
known that John had expected about five percent of the students to 
actually get called, but it seemed like such a small percentage that 
he had never accepted it. 

"John didn't," said Oliver with certainty. John had discussed his 
expectations with Oliver one afternoon while going over the 
philosophy behind how he had established the school. It had been a 
very enlightening discussion.

"John was John. I'm just an old cowboy nearing the end of a cattle 
drive," replied Ed with a grin. The return of the last student from 
the glade had come to symbolize the end of his intense 
involvement at the college.

"I'd never say that you were nearing the end of a cattle drive," said 
Oliver looking over at the Druid sitting under the tree. In his black 
robe, silver hair, gray eyes, and tanned skin, Ed didn't look at all 
like a cowboy.

"I'd have never thought that Kristie Prevatt would end up serving 
the Two-Sided One," remarked Ed changing the subject.

"Isn't she the one who lied to her parents about not getting into the 
school?"

Thinking back to that day when he had been confronted by her 
parents, Ed had to laugh. She had lied to her parents so that she 
could go to a college where her boyfriend had been accepted. It 
reminded him of his lie to the family about going rocking hunting 
when he really intended to see the Gods and Goddesses. Shaking 
his head, he commented, "I guess I should have predicted that she 
would end up serving the Two-Sided One. After all, my service 
started with a lie."

Oliver looked over at Ed with a smile and shook his head. The 
story had been related to him once about how Ed had lied to John 
Carter about the fact that he was going to challenge the Gods and 
Goddesses. The result had been his acceptance into the service of 
the Two-Sided One. He commented, "I would say that your old life 
ended with a lie and your service began with the truth."

"John sure was angry," said Ed with a sigh. He smiled to himself 
remembering how everyone had told him to go home when he had 
come out of the woods. 

"You miss him, don't you?" Oliver asked while shifting to get more 
comfortable. His new position was much more comfortable.

"Yes. I miss him a lot," said Ed looking away from the Grand 
Druid as he answered. He missed John as a friend and husband. 
The fact was that he had lost the one person with whom he could 
confide his dreams and concerns. It was a major loss. 

A noise from the glade caught his attention. Looking over in the 
direction from which the noise had originated, he noticed Kristie 
stumble out of the woods looking dazed and confused. She was 
wearing her blue robes and a gold medallion. He stood up and 
went over to her. As he walked, he called to her, "Over here, 
Kristie."

Looking around, she turned to face him. It took her a minute for 
her to recognize who it was that was approaching. In a dreamy 
voice, she said, "You're so substantial."

"What do you mean?"

"You look like you are made out of granite. There's a sense of 
strength about you," she answered. 

Ed looked at the gold medallion on her chest. The confused 
genitalia imprinted on the surface identified beyond a doubt that 
she was a servant of the Two-Sided One. Until that moment, it had 
been a guess which of the Gods and Goddesses she was to serve -- 
a guess based on the robes prepared by Catherine as directed by the 
God she served.

She turned her head to watch Oliver approaching her. Again she 
was struck with a sense of solidity and strength. She was surprised 
that the ground didn't shake as the pair of men walked. With a 
smile, she said, "You too."

"Okay," replied Oliver knowing that she probably didn't 
understand her gift yet. It had taken him a while to discover the 
true nature of his gift from the Two-Sided One. With a smile, he 
said, "Let us take you to Catherine so that you can get your robe."

Kristie walked between Ed and Oliver on unsteady legs thinking 
about what she had just been through and what faced her when she 
returned to class. When they were halfway to the school, she 
stopped and touched the arms of her escorts. Tense, she said, "I 
don't want to see my classmates yet."

"Of course," said Oliver in a voice intended to reassure the young 
woman. Each of the students coming out of the glade had said the 
same thing. He had not predicted that they would react that way, 
but he understood their actions only too well. It was hard to discuss 
what it was like to meet the Gods and Goddesses. To be barraged 
with questions right afterwards had to be a daunting prospect. 

The trip to the back door of the administration building took about 
half an hour since she occasionally stopped to look around at her 
surroundings. As they reached the door, Ed said, "Come talk to me 
once you have a recovered a bit."

"Okay," replied Kristie, thankful they understood her need for 
some time alone. She looked at the two men, amazed at how they 
appeared to her. After a full minute, she added, "You're so solid."

Laughing at her continual return to the topic of his solidity, Ed 
said, "Get some rest and we'll talk later."

He watched her approach Catherine and accept a stack of black 
robes before going into the administration building. It was good to 
have another servant of the Two-Sided One. Even with her, there 
were only four of them, five if he included Oliver. He was the 
longest surviving servant and had been gifted with truth sense. 
Annette had the ability of far-sight. Jeff was a mathematical wizard 
and could decode complex ciphers just by looking at them. Oliver 
could see the purity of heart and the jest of life in the people 
around him. Kristie claimed he possessed solidity, but it was a 
question of what she meant by that.

Entering the apartment, the first person he encountered was Linda. 
She was standing by one of the bookcases in the living room with 
her back to him. He looked over her body appreciating the view. 
She wore blue jeans that were just tight enough and a white stretch 
top. Her long black hair split the line of her shirt in two and ended 
at the top of her jeans. The sight was too sexy to ignore.

Walking up to her, he slid his arms around her so that her breasts 
were resting on his forearm. He nosed her hair enjoying the scent 
of her shampoo. When she hummed her pleasure at being the 
recipient of his attention, he kissed her neck. She pressed her body 
against his in time to feel his cock erect. She giggled and asked, 
"Are you happy to see me or is that a baseball bat in the pocket of 
your robe?"

Ed laughed at the variation on an old joke and said, "I'm happy to 
see you."

She rubbed her ass against him, enjoying the feeling of his 
erection. In an excited voice, she asked, "Would you like me to 
take care of that?"

"No," answered Ed startling her. He ran his hands over the front of 
her body and added, "I'd like to take care of it with you."

Linda was puzzled until she realized Ed wanted to make love to 
her rather than accept a blowjob or spend hours in one of her 
special chairs. She said, "Sounds kinky to me."

Laughing, Ed nuzzled the back of her neck. Breathing in her scent, 
he said, "You smell like cactus and the desert. How come I've 
never noticed that before?"

"That's the aloe vera in my body lotion," answered Linda with a 
giggle. Only Ed would find the scent of aloe vera sexy. 

Taking her hand, Ed led her to his bedroom. Once there, they 
undressed each other taking delight as increasing expanses of skin 
were revealed. They made slow passionate love over the next hour. 
After both of them had come, they lay side by side enjoying each 
other's company. 

Feeling relaxed, Linda decided it was time to broach a subject that 
had been on her mind ever since she learned that William would be 
leaving. Placing a hand on the center of Ed's chest, she said, "I'd 
like to have another baby."

"Are you sure?" asked Ed concerned about her health. Her 
pregnancy with William had been a very rough time for both of 
them. She had been confined to bed for most of the pregnancy. Ed 
had spent almost every day by her bedside. He didn't want her to 
risk her life in an attempt to have another child.

"Yes, I'm sure," she answered with calm assurance that all would 
be well. 

"You had difficulties carrying William."

"I asked the Medicine Man about that and he claims there will be 
no problems," replied Linda. The Medicine Man claimed that it 
was the two powerful and very different spirits warring inside the 
child that had made the pregnancy so rough. Carrying a child with 
a strong spirit was tough, but carrying one with two strong spirits 
was life threatening.

Leaning over to suckle on one of her breasts, Ed accepted the 
pronouncement of the medicine man as fact. Relieved, he said, 
"I've never been able to deny you anything."

A little thrill ran through her body at the knowledge that he had 
agreed to father a child with her. Linda lay back and enjoyed the 
sensations of his mouth on her nipples. She cooed, "That feels so 
good."

"It feels good to me, too," said Ed as he watched her body react to 
his actions. It amazed him that after so many years, his wives still 
found him desirable. He looked forward to returning with them to 
Arizona for good. 

"You're too happy," commented Linda as she held the back of his 
head to keep his lips where they were. She was quiet for a moment 
while she considered what it meant when Ed was that happy and 
then said, "You're going back to Arizona."

Ed gave her nipple a little love bite. When she relaxed her grip on 
the back of his neck, he answered, "In a couple of days. I won't be 
back until graduation."

Linda turned onto her side so that she was could face him. He 
moved so that they were looking at each other. She asked, "Who's 
going with you?"

"Captain Jones," answered Ed. The soldier still had not accepted 
the unusual lifestyle lead by Ed and Leroy. More time with the 
man was needed to address that issue. 

Despite the soldier's real disgust at the fact that Ed made love to 
his husband, it hadn't been difficult to convince the Captain to join 
him on the trip back to Arizona. The soldier had a very willing 
woman waiting for his return. A very mature looking Mona had 
greeted Nathan at the end of the weeklong desert trip and that the 
greeting had gotten very personal once the couple had been left 
alone. 

"So you're leaving three horny wives here all alone?" asked Linda 
with a pout. Leroy was back at his laboratory studying Chronic 
Wasting Disease. 

Raising an eyebrow, Ed teased, "I'm sure there are a few students 
around here who would be very willing to step up to the task if you 
get too desperate."

"We're going to miss you," said Linda. It was always hard when Ed 
left, but none of the wives were willing to give up a minute with 
the children.

"You'll be off the birth control pill by the time I see you," 
commented Ed.

Linda smiled at the explicit acceptance that he would be happy to 
father a child with her. She said, "Don't forget that Leroy's award 
ceremony is in August."

"I know. It's a week before graduation. Despite how much I dislike 
that town of professional liars, I'll be in Washington to attend," 
replied Ed with a sour taste in his mouth. He felt it was about time 
that Leroy started getting national recognition for his research, but 
wished the ceremony could have been held somewhere else.

After an hour of small talk, Linda left to check up on the kids 
leaving Ed alone in bed. For a long time he thought about 
becoming a father again. Pleased at the idea, he showered and then 
dressed while planning what he would do for the next couple of 
days. 

Kristie approached Ed while he was enjoying a banana split in the 
sixth year dining room. Although he wouldn't say it, he was hiding 
his mid-afternoon snack from his family. Sitting down without 
waiting for an invitation, she said, "You are so solid, like you are 
made of steel. The students seem solid enough, but a few of the 
staff appear almost ethereal. I'm not sure what to make of it."

"You haven't figured out your gift?"

Her hand flew to her chest and covered the medallion. Recalling 
from memory the words on the medallion, she said, "Sense of 
Rightness. Strength of Will."

"Ah. What do you think it means?" he asked just before shoveling 
a spoonful of chocolate ice cream into his mouth. This was a 
proper banana split with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice 
cream complete with chocolate syrup, diced pineapple, and 
strawberries topped with whipped cream and cherries cradled 
between a split banana. It was totally decadent and he was savoring 
every bite.

"I think I see the will power of people as solidity, but I don't 
understand the part about rightness. Everyone one I've seen 
appears to be same."

"Do you think that is because everyone here has learned to live by 
the two rules?" asked Ed. He carefully maneuvered his spoon to 
capture some of the vanilla ice cream and chunks of pineapple. It 
was a good combination of flavors and brought a smile to his face.

"I didn't think about that," she said. Sitting back in her chair, she 
thought about it and wondered if that were true. If so, she needed 
to get away from the school where she might be able to get some 
experience with a more representative sampling of people. 

"We are going to a water park tomorrow. You can join us," said Ed 
looking up at her to see her reaction.

"What about school?" asked Kristie surprised to hear him suggest 
that she ignore her studies.

"What about it? You've become a Druid," Ed answered with a 
knowing smile. 

"I've still got to pass this semester."

"And what classes do you have this semester?" 

"My practicum," answered the young woman. She had chosen 
social work as her field of study, motivated by her past as a 
member of a dysfunctional family. Looking at Ed, she realized that 
every sixth year student would have the same answer. A practicum 
required that students experience their field. Embarrassed, she said, 
"Oh. I see."

"Yes. The Two-Sided One has given you a gift that makes it 
impossible to fail this quarter. For the rest of your time here at the 
college you will be developing that gift by using it," said Ed.

"You didn't have a period of practice," she asserted.

"Yes I did. It took me a long time to discover the full extent of my 
gift. At first, I thought I was a human lie detector who could tell 
when people told lies. I've come to discover that I have the ability 
to expose lies and evil things that are hidden. I'm still discovering 
aspects of my gift," he countered. 

"Does that mean I have graduated?"

"Yes," he answered knowing that it would surprise her to hear that. 
He used the side of his spoon to cut off a chunk of the banana. The 
chunk of banana floated in a sea of melted vanilla and chocolate 
ice cream. For a half second, he chased the banana with his spoon 
before capturing it. He smiled as the spoon slid into his mouth and 
the flavors burst upon his tongue. 

She watched him eat his banana split while considering what she 
should be doing with the rest of her life. It dawned on her that the 
jobs she had been considering wouldn't allow her to fully utilize 
the gift she had been given. Her future had suddenly become a 
maze of possibilities. 

Time passed in which she was lost in her thoughts and Ed tried 
various combinations of flavors in his banana split. Having 
finished half of the banana split, Ed pushed the dish away and sat 
back while patting his stomach. Looking over at Kristie, he 
interrupted her thoughts. "There's a Druid who could probably help 
you sort out your future."

"Who?"

"A certain hobo by the name of Happy Harry," answered Ed with a 
smile at the idea of her and Happy Harry traveling around the 
country together. 

The caravan of cars pulled into the parking lot of the water park. 
On arriving at the airport, the Carter Clan had discovered the van 
they had reserved had suffered mechanical problems and they had 
to take three cars. Ling was driving the lead car with Ed, Betsy, 
and Little John as passengers. Everyone was dressed in casual 
clothes as was appropriate for a day at a water park. Ed wore his 
blue jeans and work shirt rather than his black robe.

The only parking spaces were a good distance from the entrance of 
the water park. Wishing she could park closer, Ling pulled into one 
of the spots. Once she had turned off the motor, she turned to give 
last minute instructions to the kids, but Betsy had opened the door 
and was halfway to the entrance of the park before she had a 
chance to say a word. Frustrated, she said, "That kid is going to kill 
me!"

Shaking his head at the fact that the trip was already getting off to 
a bad start, Ed said, "I'll go up to the gate and pay for everyone 
while keeping an eye on her."

Excited at the prospect of a day at the water park, Little John said, 
"Let me go after her."

"Okay," Ling replied as Little John sped out of the car to find his 
sister. Ling sighed and said, "I'd keep her on a leash, but she'd 
chew through it in a minute."

"Get the rest of the family together and meet me at the gate," Ed 
said before getting out of the car to follow the kids.

The simple act of running filled Betsy with joy and she would have 
run all the way to the gate except she saw a little girl struggling 
with a man in the parking lot. The little girl, about nine years old, 
was terrified and kicked her legs against the man holding her. 
Betsy came to a halt and stood in front of the man with her hands 
on her hips watching the pair struggle. The little girl was frantic. "I 
want my mommy!"

"I'll take you to your mommy," growled the man while trying to 
get control over the wriggling girl in his arms. 

"She's back there," cried the girl. 

Tired of wrestling with the girl, the man slapped her across the 
face. He'd wanted to grab her and go, but she had fought far more 
than any of the others had. She screamed when the man hit her.

On hearing the scream, Betsy acted without thinking. Her heel 
came down on the man's instep with her full weight behind it. A 
blow of her fist, delivered in perfect form, to the man's groin 
immediately followed. He dropped the little girl who ran away 
screaming. Almost in slow motion, he bent over in pain with eyes 
that stared without comprehension at his attacker. Betsy danced 
around him for a second. Taking advantage of his bent over 
position, she slapped both hands flat against his ears rupturing his 
eardrums. His eyes crossed and he fell to the ground. 

Backing up, Betsy proceeded to deliver kicks to his ribs with as 
much power as her little body was capable of providing. It was 
almost thirty seconds after she had started kicking when Little John 
reached her and shouted, "Stop it, Betsy."

Dancing back, Betsy said, "He was hurting a girl. I'm going to hurt 
him."

"Stop it! He's unconscious," shouted Little John looking at the 
wreck of a man on the ground. He could see the blood running out 
of the ears of the man. The boy stepped between his sister and the 
man to keep her from hitting him again.

The two siblings stared at each other until a security guard came 
running up. Panting, he looked down at the man on the ground and 
then at the two kids. A girl had come running to the gate shouting 
that a man had tried to kidnap her and he had charged out to find 
the man. He had not expected to find the sight that greeted him on 
arriving. Trying to catch his breath, he asked, "What happened?"

"He is a bad man!" 

Turning to face the guard, Little John said, "My sister says that 
man was hurting a girl."

Betsy dodged around Little John and kicked the man another time, 
shouting, "Bad man!"

Ed arrived in time to see Little John holding Betsy away from the 
man on the ground and the security guard with his hand pressed 
against his forehead as though trying to fight off a headache. In a 
commanding voice, Ed shouted, "Betsy! John! Stop it."

The two kids froze and then turned to face their father. Fully 
expecting to be praised for her actions, Betsy said, "He's a bad 
man. He hurt a girl, so I hurt him."

It was impossible not to hear the truth of her words, but her actions 
had gone beyond hurting the man. Approaching the man on the 
ground, Ed looked over the damage. It was obvious the man was 
seriously injured. Looking up at the guard, he said, "Call an 
ambulance and the police."

Still staring in disbelief at Betsy, the security guard said, "The 
police are already on the way."

"I think an ambulance is more important at the moment," Ed said 
shaking his head. The small trickle of blood running out of the 
man's ears concerned him.

"Who are you?" the guard asked attempting to gain control over 
the situation.

"I'm Ed Biggers. Betsy and John are two of my children." 

The rest of the family arrived and crowded around the victim. 
Betsy ran to Ling and boasted, "I stopped the bad man."

In the sudden increase in confusion, the security guard decided he 
had lost what little control of the situation he had and got on his 
walkie-talkie for help. While he talked to the security center, Ling 
asked, "What exactly did you do?"

"I stepped on his foot, hit his dinky, slapped his ears, and then 
kicked him all over," she answered with pride. She knew that 
Daddy Ed would have gotten angry if she had kicked him in the 
neck so she had avoided doing that. 

Ling looked over at the security guard and said, "He's probably got 
a broken foot, crushed testicle, punctured eardrums, and broken 
ribs."

As the guard stared at Betsy, Ling hugged her daughter and said,  
"You did a good job, Betsy."

When Kelly went up to the injured man, Betsy said, "He's a bad 
man."

"Don't treat him, Kelly," Ling said, "If Betsy thought it was 
necessary to do this, he doesn't deserve to be treated until it is 
shown he wasn't hurting someone. I'm sure that Betsy did the right 
thing."

Hearing Ling praise Betsy was almost too much for Ed. He said, 
"You should have stopped once the girl got away and you could 
escape."

Kelly felt her skin crawl when she approached the man and 
doubted she could have forced herself to heal him even if she 
wanted to do it. It was surprising that Ed wasn't insisting that she 
heal the man. She could only conclude it was because he felt a 
sense of truth in Betsy's proclamation.

The pending argument was prevented by a strangled cry from 
Kristie upon catching her first glimpse of the man on the ground. 
As she collapsed to her knees, she cried out. "Warped. He's so 
warped."

Ed moved over to Kristie and held her. In a voice intended to 
comfort her, he said, "Tell me what you see."

"It's like looking into some sort of twisted wreck. He's solid, but so 
ugly inside," whimpered the young woman. She didn't have the 
words to describe what she saw when she looked at the man. 
Looking at the man was like having someone reach into her 
stomach and twist her insides. She felt like throwing up.

"A strong will aimed in a bad direction," said Ed looking down at 
the man. He knew the truth would come out.

In Kristie's kneeling position, it wasn't obvious that she was 
wearing the robes of a Druid. Disgusted by the hysterics, the guard 
asked, "What in the hell is the matter with her?"

Helping her stand, Ed answered, "She is new to her service."

The man's eyes grew huge upon seeing that she was wearing a 
black robe. The gold medallion caught the sun, drawing attention 
to her symbol of service to the Two-Sided One. He made the sign 
of the cross and declared, "My God, I didn't realize she's one of 
them."

William laughed at the reaction and said, "There are three of them 
here."

By this time, Betsy was bored and ready to move. Bouncing 
around, she complained, "Can't we go now?"

A police car with siren blaring and lights flashing pulled up as the 
security guard recovered enough to say, "I'm going to need to see 
some identification."

Kristie stood up and backed away. "I've got to get away from him 
for a while."

Knowing that most of the family wasn't needed at the crime scene, 
Beth asked, "Do we have to stand around in the parking lot?"

Chaos broke out as everyone started talking, their voices getting 
louder to be heard over the others. Finally, Ed had enough and 
shouted, "Everyone, calm down. Kelly, I want you to take 
everyone except Ling and Betsy to the water park. The Grundy's 
are waiting for us there, as is Leroy with Shirley and John."

"You take care of the guy over there, you take our statements, and 
you get your manager over here," commanded Ed pointing to the 
cops and security guard in turn. 

At the surprising news that their friends were waiting for them 
inside the water park, Beth and Little John lit up. It didn't take 
Kelly long to round everyone up and head towards the gate to the 
park. The cops, feeling angry at having their authority stolen from 
them before they had even said a word, shook their heads while 
staring at Ed.

As Kelly passed Ed, she said, "I didn't know you invited them."

"It was a surprise," replied Ed while shrugging his shoulders. The 
day had started bad and was getting worse.

The cops moved to bracket Ed as the family walked off. They 
figured a red neck had just beaten up someone. One of them 
looked at the guy on the ground and asked, "What happened here?"

"My daughter encountered this man hurting a girl and took him 
down," answered Ed. 

"Can I see some id?" asked the cop looking skeptically at the little 
girl. He'd never heard of an adult man trying to blame his kid for 
beating up someone else. His opinion of the redneck went down 
with the thought, 'The gall of this guy.'

Ed pulled out his id wallet and handed it over to the cop. Refusing 
to take it, the cop asked, "Would you mind removing your id?"

"That's all that's in there," answered Ed turning to Betsy and seeing 
that she was jumping around with a frown on her face. He said, 
"You've got to calm down. We won't get into the park until we 
clear up this mess. Practice your Tai Chi."

The cop stared as Betsy started going through her exercises under 
the watchful eye of her mother. The controlled martial art 
movements gave Ed's claim a little more substance. 

Relieved now that he only had to deal with the cop, Ed turned his 
attention to officers. The cop had taken the wallet and opened it. 
His eyes grew large as he flipped through the identification cards 
from various government organizations. The initial awe quickly 
turned to disbelief. Challenging Ed, he asked, "Do you expect me 
to believe this garbage?"

"Yes," answered Ed, "I expect you will believe it soon enough."

"Watch him," said the cop to his partner as he went over to the car 
and stood by the passenger door such that he could watch Ed. 
Pulling a laptop from inside the car, he entered the information 
from the driver's license on it.

More sirens sounded in the distance as an ambulance and 
additional police cars turned into the parking lot of the water park. 
A manager with a woman and the girl who had been attacked 
arrived at the same time. Jumping excitedly, the girl said, "That's 
the girl who saved me."

Betsy stopped practicing and ran over to the girl. As she came to a 
halt, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thanks to you," answered the girl. Looking down at her, she 
realized that Betsy was half her age. 

The man on the ground groaned. Betsy spun around ready to hit 
him again, but Ling said, "The police are here. You don't have to 
do anything, Betsy."

The mother of the girl asked, "Little girl, did you really save 
Carla?"

"Carla? Oh, you mean her. She got away when I hurt the bad guy," 
answered Betsy bouncing on her toes. All of this standing around 
and talking was driving her crazy.

Seeing her daughter getting impatient, Ling stepped up and said, 
"Return to your practice, Betsy."

"I'm Mary," said the woman to Ling. She watched as Betsy stepped 
away and returned to her practice. She'd never seen a kid of that 
age move with such grace and control.  

"I'm Ling and that ball of fire over there is my daughter, Betsy," 
replied Ling watching the ambulance arrive. They'd be treating the 
man on the ground within a few minutes. From her inspection, it 
was clear that man wasn't dying so she just put him out of her 
mind.

"She really knows that kung fu stuff," commented Mary.

The cop returned to Ed and, with real respect in his voice, said, 
"Sir, your identifications are all in order. We need to take 
statements from everyone. Until we have a clear picture of what is 
going on, we won't know how long it will take. I apologize for 
that, sir."

"May I suggest that you take my daughter's statement first?" Ed 
eyed the waterslide with envy knowing that it would be at least an 
hour before he would be sliding down it. If he didn't want to wait 
that long, there was no way Betsy would wait that long.

The other cop had been over by the man on the ground. After 
getting out his driver's license, he ran a check on the man using the 
computer that was still atop the hood of the patrol car. After a few 
minutes, he came over and said, "That piece of dirt over there is a 
known pedophile. He's a suspect in a case concerning a missing 
child. Your daughter is lucky she was able to surprise him. If he 
had grabbed her, I doubt she would have been so lucky."

Wryly, Ed thought about how Ling had trained her. He said, "He's 
lucky he didn't grab her. She'd have killed him."
