JC: Ed Biggers
Part 2: Equilibrant
Chapter 17
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

With eyes closed, Ed floated in the pool on his back with arms and 
legs spread out, enjoying the sensation of the weightlessness that 
the water provided. Kelly and Beth were seated by the pool, 
drinking a fruit beverage that they called a Smoothie. Earlier, Ed 
had tasted it and thought it a rather bland drink, preferring his iced 
tea with just enough sugar to taste the sweetness. Languidly, he 
moved his arms forcing his body to move through the water at a 
very slow speed. The water moved over his body massaging it like 
a gentle hand. He smiled at the whispering touch of the water over 
his cock and balls. There was no way to get that same sensation by 
wearing a swim suit.

A slight disturbance at the door did not attract his attention to a 
degree sufficient to open his eyes and see the cause. Kim stood at 
the door watching Ed in the pool amazed at the total sense of 
relaxation that he emanated. She glanced over at Beth and Kelly, 
taking in their naked bodies and how they held hands. A shiver of 
disgust ran through her body at the demonstration of intimacy 
between the two women.

When Kelly waved her over to join them, she reluctantly moved in 
their direction. She sat down in a chair that was far enough away 
from them that she could hide her disgust and close enough that 
she wasn't being rude. The last thing she wanted was to chase away 
Ed because she couldn't get along with those two Lesbians. Even 
the thought of that word bothered her.

In a friendly voice, Kelly said, "Make yourself comfortable. Would 
you like something to drink? We're having Strawberry Smoothies 
and Ed is having iced tea. We have all kinds of soft drinks in the 
mini-refrigerator."

Tensing at the suggestion to make herself comfortable, Kim 
interpreted it as an invitation to get naked so that the Lesbians 
could drool over her body. Instead of becoming more relaxed, she 
sat up straighter with a body language that conveyed her 
displeasure. She answered, "No thank you. I'm fine."

Kelly and Beth exchanged frowns at the behavior of their guest. 
Ed, hearing the conversation, opened his eyes and saw that Kim 
had arrived. Swimming to the edge of the pool, he said, "Hello 
Kim. Are you sure that you wouldn't like something to drink?"

Having committed herself to a course of action, she felt it would 
create a problem to change now. In a warmer voice, she answered, 
"Yes, I'm sure. Thank you anyway."

Smiling at her, Ed said, "Would you like to take a swim?"

"I'd rather not get undressed in front of those two Lesbians," she 
replied. Even as the words left her mouth, she knew that she had 
made a major mistake. She realized that she had just delivered a 
horrible insult to all three of them.

Fully expecting an angry response, she was shocked by the sad 
tone of voice in which Beth replied, "Oh, you poor woman. I feel 
so sorry for you."

With an extremely sad expression on her face, Kelly said, "It's such 
a shame that a young woman like yourself has such a limited 
concept of love. I truly hope that you understand some day."

In total agreement with his wives, Ed added, "Maybe one day you 
will meet someone that can teach you the truth about what it means 
to love."

She felt like she understood the relationship here very well. These 
women were willing to let her have sex with their husband because 
they didn't want to be bothered to take care of a man. Kim turned 
to him and, with anger that was all out of proportion to what was 
called for, asked, "How can you defend these dykes? You must be 
so horny being married to women that won't sleep with a man!"

Her question prompted laughter on the part of all three. He replied, 
"My God, I'm in here recovering from getting double teamed by 
them. I couldn't get it up now if my life depended on it."

Kelly asked, "What made you think that we don't have sex with our 
husbands?"

Laughing so hard that she could hardly stay in the chair, Beth said, 
"My goodness, you really don't understand."

Puzzled by that reaction, Kim asked, "You do have sex with each 
other, right?"

"Of course," replied Kelly as if there couldn't be any other answer 
that made sense. 

"Almost every day," answered Beth while sharing a caring look at 
her wife. She added, "I also have sex with John and Ed every day 
that they are here."

"Lesbians don't have sex with men!" countered Kim as though she 
had proven some point. Again an anger rose within her that she 
didn't understand. 

Ed said, "Well, I guess that means that they aren't Lesbians."

Furious that Ed didn't understand the perversion that sat in the 
same room with him, Kim screamed, "Real women don't have sex 
with women. Only Lesbians have sex with women. Only Lesbians 
force young girls to have sex with women!"

Her outburst had opened doors that had long been locked. 
Memories of a vile aunt that had abused her when she was much 
younger flooded back. Months of beatings had been followed by a 
year of serving as a pussy slave to her aunt and her aunt's circle of 
perverted friends. She knew from personal experience that there 
was nothing loving about sex between women. 

It was her Grandfather that had rescued her from that life of hell. 
He had healed her and, more importantly, protected her from the 
predation of her aunt. She knew that men loved women and treated 
them with respect. Sex between a man and a woman was glorious 
and loving. Sex between women was hateful. Women tortured 
each other sexually and only a Lesbian would enjoy that kind of 
thing.

Kelly and Beth looked at each other, neither knowing how to 
comfort the woman. Any sign of affection would be interpreted as 
a violence against her. The two of them looked at Ed. For the first 
time, they had an insight into the kind of obstacles he had faced in 
rescuing those damsels in distress. Even if it was John that rescued 
them, it was Ed that comforted and healed them. 

Ed stayed in the pool, realizing that exposing her to any intimate 
embrace would make her feel vulnerable in front of his wives. She 
would cling to him expecting him to chase away the women and 
that was the worst thing that he could do for her. All he could do 
was watch her with concern as the tears ran down her face. Facing 
inner the demons that had been planted in her when she was young 
was something that she had to do for herself. 

It felt like an eternity had passed before she recovered enough to 
look around. She saw the trembling lips and tears in the eyes of 
Beth and Kelly as they shared her pain. They were holding hands 
tightly, sharing their sadness and their strength to overcome. If she 
hadn't known that they had sex with each other, she would have 
been happy at their support. In her confused state, she saw their 
actions as guilt.

The only noise in the room came from the water lapping against 
the edge of the pool as the implications of what Kim had said sunk 
in. In a voice that was so soft that it wouldn't normally be heard, 
Ed said, "Only monsters force children to have sex. Only monsters 
take pleasure out of ripping the innocence out of the innocent. 
There are monsters of both genders. There are no monsters in this 
house that will harm you. You are safe here."

She stared at him wondering how he could say that when he lived 
with two Lesbians. She had looked to him to chase away the 
women, but he had allowed them to stay. On their rock hunting 
expedition, she had watched him care for a drunk and change the 
man. If he could do that for a total stranger, why couldn't he do it 
for her? She felt betrayed by him. If she could have stood, she 
would have run out of the room.

In a voice perhaps more quiet than Ed's, Kelly said, "Believe him, 
Kim. He and John are the greatest monster hunters in the world."

Beth said, "They have hunted down serial killers, rapists, white 
slavers, and other criminals. Thousands of people have been saved 
by them."

To hear himself described as a monster hunter amused Ed. Mental 
images of him as a vampire hunter armed with cross and stake 
threatened to make him laugh, but the situation was too serious for 
that. He said, "You think I have betrayed you because I haven't 
chased the wicked Lesbians from the room."

The fact that he echoed her thoughts grabbed her attention. He 
continued, "I haven't chased them away because they aren't 
monsters. They would never hurt you. I know that you don't 
believe me when I tell you that, but it is the truth. You also won't 
believe me when I say that lesbians are real women that have 
found it easier to love other women than to love men. They aren't 
evil, just human beings looking for someone to love who can love 
them back."

With a bitterness that was cutting, Kim said, "I'm sorry, but you 
don't know what you are talking about."

Wishing that John was here, Ed slowly climbed out of the pool. 
The total relaxation of his swim was replaced by a pensiveness that 
was almost painful. His naked body dripped water on the floor of 
the pool room. He walked over to where the towels were kept and 
dried himself and then wrapped the towel around his waste to 
cover his privates. As he did that, Beth left the room. It was several 
minutes later that she returned wearing a bathrobe and handed 
another one to Kelly. Kelly slipped the robe on and then walked to 
the other side of the pool. While they were arranging the chairs so 
that they were directly across the pool from Kim, Ed got on the 
telephone and requested that Bob come to the pool room.

Kim watched the activity with confusion and then looked to Ed for 
clarification. Holding up a hand to prevent discussion, Ed went 
around the pool to engage in a whispered conversation with Beth 
and Kelly.  She was startled when another man entered the room 
and took a chair at the far end of the pool. 

Walking around the pool to Kim, Ed said, "There are some things 
that I do not talk about because I find them extremely painful. I 
know that you don't trust Kelly and Beth so I have asked them to 
sit on the other side of the pool from you while they tell you some 
things that I have seen. I have asked Bob to sit at the end of the 
pool to act as a moderator. I will leave you with them, but I will be 
close enough so that if you call out I can return. Listen to what 
they have to say."

Trembling at the idea of being left alone with the two women, Kim 
said, "Please stay here."

Holding out his medallion, he said, "Touch this and you will know 
the truth of what I say."

Although she had not noticed the medallion around his neck until 
that moment, she remembered what had happened when Harry had 
touched it. Trembling with fear, she reached out and touched the 
medallion. As she did, he said, "You are safe here. They will tell 
you the truth and you can believe what they say."

A warm feeling of total safety flooded through her. It reminded her 
of the safety that she felt in the arms of her Grandfather. She felt 
the power of the medallion as it emphasized the truth of his words. 
She nodded and said, "I will do this."

Ed left the room, looking back at her once before leaving the room. 
Outside his energy left him as he sagged against the wall and slid 
down to sit upon the floor. He could hear everything that was said 
inside, the distance between the participants in the discussion 
forced them to speak in loud voices. He listened as Beth said, "Ed 
has rescued many damsels in distress. In fact, he has saved so 
many young women that we kid him about it."

Interrupting, Kelly said, "I think we should tell his story from his 
first rescue and proceed in chronological order."

Sitting outside, he couldn't see the expressions and gestures that 
accompanied the discussion. It surprised him that they started with 
the earthquake in California since he hadn't viewed himself as 
rescuing any damsels. However, listening to them tell the story, he 
had calmed down the kids rescued from the fire, the women 
traumatized by the destruction around him, and had served as a 
model for other men to emulate. They did give much of credit for 
that to John, but he felt that they had overstated his role. 

He could hear the gasps from Kim as she learned about the 
amputation murderer and the white slavers. They didn't spare any 
details about the nature of the monsters they had caught nor what 
they had done to their victims. The discussion painted a very clear 
picture of good versus evil with Ed and John serving the good.

The time passed slowly until the pair reached the story of the 
victim that had been held in the convenience store. They included 
that he had taken care of the mother as well as the daughter. They 
told how he had detailed to the mother and daughter how they were 
to act with the police, giving them a sense of control over the 
situation. 

The picture that they painted was of a man that knew evil when he 
saw it and that it was not possible to mislead him. He was shocked 
when they described his service to the Gods and Goddesses. They 
told how he had been blessed with the ability to always know the 
truth when presented with statements. The real surprise is when 
they said that he didn't necessarily know how people felt about him 
and that it was the one blind spot that he had. 

At the end, Kim knew they told the truth, but still couldn't accept it 
in a way that would help her conquer her demons. She said, "I hear 
what you say and know you believe that it is true, but I am having 
a hard time accepting it."

Kelly said, "Bob, could you call Ling and ask her to bring my 
scrapbook? I give her permission to use the security override."

Kim watched nervously as Bob went to the phone and made a call. 
Once he was finished on the phone, he stood next to the door for 
Ling to arrive. 

Ling arrived after a minute and looked down at Ed. There was no 
rational situation that she could identify that would explain his 
position in the hall. She asked, "What is going on?"

Ed answered, "They are helping someone heal."

Entering the door, she looked at Kelly. In a very business oriented 
tone of voice, she asked, "Do I have your permission to use the 
security override?"

Negligently, Kelly replied, "Yes, you do. The scrapbook is in the 
draw of my desk upstairs in the study."

Ling went to the room and entered the security override code. The 
next time that Kelly would go in the room, it would tell her that 
someone had unlocked her door without her being present. She 
found the scrapbook and returned to the pool room. Not allowing 
her in the room, Bob took the scrapbook from her and carried it 
over to Kim. Almost all of the episodes that the wives had 
described were documented in the scrapbook. There were citations 
from public officials and letters of thanks from the people he had 
saved.

While she perused the scrapbook, Bob went through the business 
of attending to the comfort of the people around him. He 
distributed smoothies to Beth and Kelly, a diet coke to Kim, and an 
iced tea to Ed. He ordered a little snack tray for Kim and a larger 
one for the wives. 

After almost an hour of reading the articles in the scrapbook, Kim 
looked across the pool at the pair of woman talking quietly to each 
other. There were some things that bothered her in the articles she 
had read. When they noticed her looking at them, they turned their 
attention to her. She said, "Many of the things here include you 
two as active participants."

Kelly answered, "Yes, we were there as medical support. It was 
John and Ed that did the rescuing."

In a very soft voice that barely carried across the pool, Beth said, 
"We don't like to talk about our role in these things."

Kim shouted, "Ed."

Ed stood up and entered the room. The short amount of time, 
confirmed that he had been close and would have come in if 
anything bad had happened. She said, "Could you take me to my 
room?"

Ed nodded as he answered, "Sure."

Waiting for her to stand up, he was puzzled when she continued to 
sit. It dawned on him after a moment that she couldn't stand. He 
bent down and helped her out of the chair. When she started to 
collapse, he picked her up and carried her to her room. As he 
walked, she buried her head against him. 

At the room, he had to wait for her to use her palm on the scanner 
to open the door to the guest room. She carried her inside and set 
her on her bed. Sitting on the bed, he gently stroked her hair. As 
she relaxed, he said, "We will leave in the morning. You won't 
have to ever come back here if you don't want to."

Relieved, she said, "Thank you."

"You are welcome," replied Ed. After a moment of silence, he 
said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"If I had known, I might have done something different. I don't 
know what, but I would have tried to allow you to interact with 
them in a less exposed environment" Ed didn't really know what he 
could have done, but the nakedness in the pool room was probably 
a major problem.

"Don't be that way. I knew that you guys were going to be naked 
and I thought I could handle it. I had no idea that I couldn't handle 
it, so how could you know?" Kim had buried the memories of her 
mistreatment by her aunt. While the idea of Lesbians had bothered 
her, she hadn't known that she would react in the fashion that she 
had. 

Ed said, "I'm going now. The door is secure against unauthorized 
access. It takes the security person and a member of the household 
to override it. That will also set off a general alarm in all of our 
rooms."

Weakly, she said, "Thanks, good night."

Ed left and returned to the pool room hoping to find his wives. 
Entering, he found the room empty. The glasses and plates had 
been cleaned up suggesting that everyone had assumed that the 
room was not going to be used. Undoubtedly, his wives had 
assumed that he would spend the night with Kim. He dropped his 
towel and stepped into the Jacuzzi, turning on the massage jets.

After half an hour, he heard Kelly walk by the door. She happened 
to glance in and spot him. Entering the pool room, she sat down on 
a chair next to the Jacuzzi. With a sigh, she said, "I have no idea 
what really happened to that poor girl, but it must have been 
horrible."

Sighing, Ed replied, "I could find out, but I won't invade her 
privacy that way."

"I know," said Kelly. This evening had severely drained her 
emotionally. She asked, "What do Beth and I do when we are 
around her?"

"The only thing you can and should do is be yourselves. Don't 
crowd her or make her feel trapped that she can't flee."

"She must really fear us," said Kelly. She had seen how Kim had 
not been able to stand on her own.  

"I don't know if that is true or not," replied Ed. The human mind is 
a mysterious thing. The month with Beth had proved that to him. 
She had taken the death of Betsy and twisted it into guilt that she 
hadn't been a good enough slave. Believing that if she could be a 
good slave that it would bring Betsy back, the woman had nearly 
gone over the edge for good. 

Kelly didn't reply, knowing that there wasn't a reply to such a 
statement. Instead she said, "I think it would be best if she didn't 
come back here."

"Why do you say that?" 

Kelly said, "Beth is in her room crying. This time, the anger was 
involuntary, just like a fevered patient that hits the nurse in the 
midst of a delirium. The next time, such anger will not be so easily 
excused."

He understood her reasoning, but countered, "Let the patient 
recover and then if the anger explodes there will not be a reason to 
excuse it."

Sighing, she said, "You're right. It is just so tough. I've never been 
the subject of unreasoning anger and fear."

Looking across the pool, Ed answered, "Men see that occasionally. 
Women that have been raped or abused by someone they trusted 
often end up hating all men with unreasonable fear. We leave them 
alone, perhaps wrongly. I understand your feelings."

"Do you see it often?"

"Every time that I rescue a woman that has been in trouble, there is 
a moment where they look at me in that fashion," answered Ed.

Getting out of the chair, Kelly leaned down and kissed Ed. She 
said, "I love you, Ed Biggers. Just keep going out there and 
rescuing those damsels in distress."

Without giving Ed a chance to respond, she ran from the room. 
Watching her leave, Ed wondered what he had done. For the next 
few days he would be with Kim and perhaps in that time, some 
healing could begin.

Ed woke in the morning, his normal groggy self. Dressing in his 
jeans and shirt, he went to the dining room in search of a cup of 
coffee. It wasn't until he was in the middle of his second cup that 
he noticed Kim and Marguerite was in the room with him. Smiling 
weakly, he said, "Good morning."

Slightly embarrassed by her behavior the previous evening, Kim 
answered, "Yes, it is a good morning."

Taking another drink of his coffee, Ed said, "I'm afraid that I'm not 
awake yet and haven't had a chance to look outside."

Giggling, Marguerite said, "You have to ignore Ed until after he's 
finished his second cup of coffee. Before then, he says goofy 
things."

Leaning over to Marguerite, Kim said, "I know."

Marguerite joked, "Other than that, he's pretty harmless. Good in 
bed, but harmless."

Kim laughed and left the dining room. As she left, she said, "You 
can let Beth and Kelly know that it is safe to come in for breakfast. 
I'm going to walk a bit before we leave."

 Marguerite did not have a chance to tell Kim that Beth and Kelly 
had already eaten. Turning her attention to Ed, she brought out his 
breakfast. Setting the Spanish omelet in front of him, she stepped 
back and smiled as he looked at the food. He finished his second 
cup and started to work on his third while he ate.

Kim had decided to walk along the parapet looking over the desert. 
As she climbed the stairs, she heard female voices talking. She 
froze, not wanting to attract their attention. As had been the case 
that first night here, she could hear everything the two women said.

The first thing she could clearly make out was Beth saying, "I felt 
so sorry for her last night that all I wanted to do was to hold her 
and comfort her. If I had done that, she would have thought I was 
trying to rape her. All I could do was sit there and watch her 
suffer."

Hearing that, Kim was shocked that these women felt sorry for her. 
It didn't fit with what she knew about Lesbians.

Kelly said, "I talked to Ed last night. He told me that whenever he 
helps a rape victim, she looks at him the same way that Kim 
looked at us. I have no idea how he can help someone after being 
looked at that way. All I wanted to do was cry. She must hurt so 
much."

This conversation confused Kim more than anything that she had 
heard last night. How could someone look at Ed like he was a 
horrible? She had never seen him do anything harmful. 

Beth said, "I have worked so hard to learn how to heal wounds of 
the flesh. How does one heal wounds of the spirit?"

Kelly answered with a question, "How did Lily Green heal you?"

Beth answered, "I don't know. I was so out of my mind with grief 
about Betsy's death, that I couldn't think straight. Lily is a servant 
of the Goddess and that is her gift. There are times when I envy the 
Druids for their abilities."

Kelly said, "It is easy to envy them for their abilities, but I feel 
sorry for them because of the price they pay. One look at John's 
body is enough to know that they pay a high price."

Kim listened, confused about the talk of Druids. She did not 
understand the part about Beth being healed. She missed some of 
the discussion while trying to puzzle out what they had been 
talking about. Her attention returned when she heard Kelly say, 
"No matter how much she may hate us, I am glad that she is going 
with Ed."

Beth said, "Yes, I worry about his out there alone too. He needs 
her, but probably not as much as she needs him."

Kelly said, "Let's admit it. We need her more. We need her to go 
out there with him."

Beth said, "I sleep better knowing that he isn't out there alone. I 
wish we could find someone for John. He goes out for so long that 
if he got hurt, we'd never know until after he died."

Kim had totally mistaken their motives in connecting her with Ed. 
She hadn't realized they viewed her as a person to help him in case 
of trouble. Was letting her sleep with him the price they were 
willing to pay for that ease of mind? That was an awful high price 
to pay.

She was about to leave when she heard Kelly say, "One day Ed 
will help her heal and then maybe we can be friends."

"What do we do until then?"

Laughing, Kelly said, "Ed suggested that we be ourselves. That we 
never crowd her or make her feel trapped."

"Are you sure that he was a cowboy?" asked Beth.

Laughing, Kelly answered, "Yes, I'm sure he was a cowboy. I 
watched him work cows one night."

Kim went downstairs and returned to her room. She packed her 
clothes to be ready to leave when Ed was ready to go. She headed 
downstairs to wait for him. The only rooms she had really 
experienced were the dining room and pool room. She went to the 
dining room. Marguerite was sitting there drinking a cup of tea. 
Looking at Kim, she frowned and asked, "Are you okay?"

Kim asked, "What do you know about Druids?"

Marguerite answered, "I'm afraid I don't know that much. John and 
Ed are Druids. They are in the service of the Gods and Goddesses. 
They live by two rules. If it harms none, then do it. Protect the 
weak from the strong. All that live in this house must follow those 
rules as well."

"Are Druids good?"

Leaning forward and speaking in a low voice so that no one would 
overhear her, Marguerite said, "I think that John and Ed are saints. 
All of the Druids that I have met are special. They will step in front 
of a bullet meant for an innocent in a second."

"What about Beth and Kelly?" asked Kim.

Marguerite leaned back and said, "They are the most amazing 
women I've ever met. They are caring, giving, loving, and 
generous to a fault. They don't have to work, but every day they go 
into the hospital to help heal people. Actually, I think everyone in 
the family is a saint."

John entered the dining room. He had returned from his trip late 
last night and would be here for two days before returning to his 
mission. Sitting down at the table, he looked at the pair of women 
and said, "I see we have a guest. Nice to have you back here Kim. I 
hope your visit has been pleasant."

Realizing that John did not know about the unpleasantness of the 
previous evening, Kim answered, "I'm afraid that I haven't been a 
very good guest. You may want to talk to your wives."

Raising an eyebrow at the admission, John asked, "Was anyone 
harmed as a result?"

"I believe I have hurt their feelings. Some old wounds of mine 
were reopened, but the harm was done to me years ago," replied 
Kim. 

Marguerite watched the exchange hiding a smile behind her hands. 
She knew that John would handle the situation. Her feeling was 
confirmed when John said, "That is the problem with harm that has 
been inflicted upon people, particularly when they were young. It 
isn't that people mean to do any harm, but that the harm emerges 
unbidden and uncontrolled with a desire to spread the effect to 
others. It might be something as simple as a smell or a complex 
confluence of circumstances that serves as a trigger. The trick in 
halting such a propagation of harm is to understand its true roots 
and heal them."

Kim nodded fascinated by what John was saying. Rapt, she 
listened as he continued, "My family is healthy enough to 
recognize that situation and not to allow it to harm them. So I 
would say to you that they are not harmed. For yourself, you now 
know it exists inside you. It is important that you work hard to heal 
it so that it can't emerge to harm others that are less healthy than 
my family."

She asked, "What shall I do until I am healed?"

No one had noticed that Ed had entered the room behind them. He 
startled everyone when he said, "You will go hunting rocks with 
me."

John laughed and shook his head at the simple answer that Ed had 
given. He said, "Yes, that is a good idea. Life must go on."