JC: Ed Biggers
Part 4: Adjournment
Chapter 6
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

The Halloween festivities were scheduled to start in two hours and 
the haunted house was ready for business. For now, it was closed 
as the people who would work in it took the time to relax before 
the busy evening. The kids, on the way home from school, 
gathered outside the haunted house speculating about what they 
might see this year. Some of the younger kids looked at it with fear 
as the older kids egged them with horror stories and rumors of 
what would be inside. Watching them, Ed couldn't help but smile. 
A simple reminder that everyone needed to be in costume later sent 
the kids running home.

With nothing to do, Ed walked over to the bar to visit Shirley and 
help her with any preparations that she might have for the evening. 
Entering the bar, he found Shirley sitting with the rest of her 
family. Shirley was holding the younger of their two kids in her lap 
and was kissing it on the top of her head. Edward was bouncing 
their son, John, on his leg giving him a ride. Both of the kids were 
beaming from the attention being given them.

Mary, sitting with her back to the door, was describing her job in 
the haunted house. She was stationed in a dark booth in the part 
reserved for the older kids and adults. This part of the haunted 
house included air jets that when aimed at someone's back felt like 
a cold hand touching their back. Her job was to trigger the jets and 
show a holographic ghost behind the intended victim. 

Shirley noticed Ed come in the bar and winked at him as he snuck 
up behind Mary. When he blew a puff of air on her back, a very 
startled Mary almost flew out of the chair. She let loose a scream 
and turned to look at Ed. With false anger, she tapped him on the 
arm and shouted, "You nasty man! You scared the daylights out of 
me."

Laughing at the success of his little joke, Ed said, "I came over 
here to see if Shirley needed any help for tonight."

Waving a hand in a gesture of dismissal, Shirley said, "The nursery 
is all set up. We've got a dozen cribs and two dozen sleeping mats 
for the young ones. It is amazing how many young children there 
are in town now."

Sidney Fitzpatrick pet his seeing eye dog, Timmy, and said, "It 
might be that people have remembered how to love each other in 
this town."

Shaking his head in wonder at the kinds of things going on in 
town, Edward said, "I saw a couple, in their sixties, making out in 
the park the other day. The man had his hand inside her shirt as 
they were lying on the ground listening to music. They looked like 
a couple of teenagers."

Giggling, Mary said, "That was Manuel and his wife. I saw her 
giving him a blowjob a little later behind the concession stand."

Putting his hands over his ears as though to block out all sound, 
Sidney said, "Now that is something this little monkey wishes he 
could have seen."

The gesture of putting his hands over his ears puzzled Ed and he 
asked, "What's with the hands over the ears?"

"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Two out of three isn't 
bad," explained Mary as she reached over and fondled Sidney's 
crotch. She winked at Ed and said, "You should see what he does 
when I start talking dirty to him."

Ed laughed at the mental image that conjured. He could see Sidney 
trying to fill his mouth with her breast while she talked dirty to 
him. Sitting back in the chair, Ed looked at the family gathered 
there. They were six very happy people that were satisfied with 
their lives. The idea made him wonder why there weren't more 
people that had achieved that same level of happiness and 
satisfaction in their lives. 

Dr. Hayes followed by Ling and Kelly carrying the babies came 
into the bar. When Ling spotted Ed, she said, "There you are. We 
were looking all over for you."

Looking sheepish, Ed replied, "Just finished with the haunted 
house test runs and came over here to help."

Going over to the bar, Dr. Hayes set his medical bag on the 
counter. He and Kelly were going to watch over the nursery so that 
parents and the older children could enjoy the festivities. They had 
done that the previous year and everyone in town had appreciated 
knowing that a doctor and a nurse were watching over their kids. 
Looking over at Ed, he asked, "You promise there won't be any 
heart attacks because of that scary house you built?"

"I promise," answered Ed laughing at the doctor. He asked that 
question last year, but ended up going through the haunted house at 
least four times last Halloween.

Arms tired from holding her, Kelly set Beth on the floor. Free of 
her mother, Beth walked around the table wobbling very little. She 
paused to check her brother, resting comfortable in Ling's arms, 
before going over to the slightly older John riding on Edward's leg. 
When John saw Beth, he immediately hid his head against his 
father's chest. After a few seconds, he turned to peak at Beth who 
stared at him in confusion. 

Ed watched the interaction between Beth and John with interest. 
This was the first time that she had been in a situation where she 
was meeting another kid her age and it was clear that she didn't 
know how to proceed. Finally after watching John for a minute, 
she said, "Hello."

John buried his head further into his father's chest. Watching the 
reaction of Beth, Kelly said, "He's shy."

"What's shy?"

"He's afraid to meet you," answered Kelly with a little smile. 

"Strange."

After staring at Beth for a minute, Shirley turned to Kelly and said, 
"Her verbal skills are very highly developed."

Even though the statement was targeted at Kelly, Ed said, "I was 
reading a book on infant development the other day. In some areas, 
she appears to have the cognitive development of a two-year-old. 
Physically, she's a year old and her motor skills reflect that."

Getting bored with John, Beth wandered around the bar checking 
out the sights. Finding the pile of toys, she squealed with delight. 
Sitting on the floor, she started building things with some small 
wooden blocks. Seeing what was going on, Kelly smiled and said, 
"She loves wooden blocks."

Mary asked, "How about dolls?"

Dr. Hayes said, "She has several dolls and only plays with one of 
them. The problem is the fathers. They play with blocks."

"Hey, I like playing with the blocks," replied Ed as he looked over 
at Beth as she built another arch. Because all of the blocks were 
square, the closest she could get was a lintel. Watching her, he got 
an idea to get some blocks made that would allow her to construct 
a real arch. With a little pride, he said, "The other day she built a 
hollow pyramid."

Shirley looked over at Ed like he was speaking Greek, or perhaps 
more accurately Egyptian. With a question in her voice, she said, 
"I take it that is significant."

Surprised, Ed looked up and said, "I bet there are ten year old kids 
that couldn't do that. It is actually a very sophisticated structure 
that uses balancing forces to keep it from collapsing."

Laughing at the passion of Ed, Kelly said, "Ed is disappointed 
because Beth is more interested in Physics than Geology."

With a smile, Ed replied, "Wait until I take her out rock hunting, 
then we'll see her change her mind."

Dr. Hayes interjected, "Just wait until Leroy starts taking her to 
watch the animals. You and John won't stand a chance."

John climbed off his father's lap and went over to where Beth was 
playing with the blocks. He watched her building some structure, 
but after a minute knocked it down as he said, "Mine."

All of the adults turned their attention to the interaction between 
the two children. Beth frowned at the abrupt actions of John and 
asked, "Really?"

"Mine."

Shirley started to get up to talk with John, but Kelly put a hand on 
her arm. Surprised, the mother looked over at Kelly and said, "I 
have to teach him to share."

"There are more ways for that to happen than direct intervention by 
the parent."

Beth said, "They are nice."

"Mine."

"Is that the only word you know?" asked Beth confused by the 
singular response to every thing she said.

"No."

Beth stood with her hands on her hips, mimicking the same 
position her mother used when she was upset about something. 
Disturbed, she grabbed John by the hand and led him to the table 
where her parents were seated. For a minute she looked from Kelly 
to Ed with concentrated deliberation. Finally, she pulled him over 
to Ed. Taking John's hand she reached out and touched it to the 
medallion. Her action took both of her parents by surprise.

John stood there for a moment and then said, "Let's play."

The two kids returned to the pile of toys. Within minutes, they 
were playing with the blocks on the floor. Beth would point to a 
block and John would fetch it for her. They played quietly as Beth 
worked to recreate the structure that she had been building earlier. 
Watching them, a fascinated Shirley asked, "What just happened?"

Frowning as he tried to understand what had happened, Ed replied, 
"I'm not sure, but I think she took the matter to the Two-Sided 
One."

Looking over at Little John, Mary was quiet and said, "I would 
rather not question it."

Two women and a man came into the bar with another child. 
Setting the child down, they watched as he walked over to where 
Beth and John were playing. The two children greeted him and 
incorporated him into their activities. Their arrival caused Ed to 
check the time and say, "It's time to get over to the haunted house. 
The kids will be coming soon and we have to do the makeup on 
our volunteers."

Mary and Sidney went over to the haunted house with Ed. Mary 
helped wrap Sidney in the strips of bandages so that he could be a 
proper mummy. The seeing eye dog sat in the corner watching the 
proceedings with interest. While Mary did that, Ed was busy with 
Ling putting makeup on the volunteers from the retirement home. 
Mrs. Hayes was already in her witches costume and was talking 
with the children that had stopped by to see how much longer it 
would be before the haunted house opened. 

It wasn't long before everyone was ready for the haunted house to 
open. It operated on a schedule with first graders allowed in for the 
first half an hour. The second graders were allowed in the next 
half-hour. Each hour, making the rooms darker, adding special 
effects and more interactions with the volunteers increased the 
scariness of the exhibit. By the time the high school students would 
go through it, the haunted house would be very scary.

Mrs. Hayes started letting the kids into the house, allowing a group 
of five with their parents to enter at a time. All of the kids were in 
costumes. The first room was poorly lit and as the door closed 
behind the kids, the people waiting in line could hear them scream 
as the floor shook. Later in the evening, the room would go 
completely dark. 

After a moment, a door opened leading them to a witch's glade 
where a volunteer dressed like a witch was stirring a bubbling 
caldron of apple cider. The bubbling was caused by small pieces of 
dry ice in the brew. As she filled small cups with the cider, the 
witch cackled, "This witches brew shall make some of you tall and 
others small. Go through the door to the right to grow and to the 
left to shrink!"

Most of the kids waited for their parents to tell them that it was 
okay to drink the potion. It didn't take long for them to finish the 
little cups of drink. Surprisingly, all of the kids threw their empty 
paper cups into the caldron labeled trash. Later in the evening, the 
display would be darkened and the witch would appear to cast a 
spell on one of the people turning them into a toad. 

The next room was designed with the proportions all wrong so that 
kids on one side of the room looked like giants and those on the 
other looked like midgets. At first, the kids looked in horror 
believing they had actually shrunk or grown, but then realized that 
a trick had been played on them. The kids screamed in pleasure as 
they raced around the room, going from large to small and back 
again. This room would be turned into an elf camp for the bigger 
kids. Of course, the elves would play practical jokes on the 
teenagers.

An old man dressed like Dracula entered the room at the far end 
and directed the group into a darker room. This room was 
decorated with coffins and covered mirrors. Some of the kids 
moved closer to their parents as they wondered if this was truly a 
vampire. As he led them past a wooden coffin filled with rubber 
bats and plastic spiders, Dracula said, "One and one alone may you 
take. More than that and I'll suck your blood."

Under the watchful eye of Dracula, each kid took a toy out of the 
caldron. When one of the kids, trying to be brave, took two toys, 
Dracula smiled and said, "Now I feed upon a child!"

As Dracula slowly approached, the kid immediately dropped the 
second toy back into the coffin. After he returned to his mother's 
side, another door opened and the group moved out of the room. 

They entered an Egyptian tomb complete with mummy. As he 
started to step from a sarcophagus, Sidney shouted, "Who dares 
risk the curse of the mummy?"

The movement of the mummy was enough to scare the young kids 
from the room. In a mad dash, they all raced to the exit. At the exit, 
a good fairy dressed in a long flowing gown with very delicate 
wings greeted them. She gave them all little bags of candied corn 
in a large trick or treat bag. After that, she waved her wand over 
them all and said, "You are protected from bad dreams!"

The kids immediately dispersed to go trick-or-treating with dreams 
of filling their bags with sweets. Most of the items to go into the 
bags would be little toys, skeletons, rings, stickers, and other items 
that young kids would enjoy. Many of the storeowners had agreed 
that the last thing anyone wanted was a lot of kids hyped up on 
sugar running around town, a sentiment that was shared by the 
parents.

At five, the costume contest for children that weren't in school yet 
was held. The variety and complexity of costumes was surprising, 
but most amazing was the fact that none of the costumes were store 
bought. As Halloween had become more of a community event, 
entire families worked to costume their children. There were kids 
dressed up like battleships, rockets, clocks, vampires, princesses, 
and fantasy characters of all kinds. 

The Sheriff found Ed watching the progress of kids through the 
haunted house. As he approached, the Sheriff said, "I heard the 
kids talking. They say it is the best haunted house yet."

Smiling, Ed said, "Wait until the teenagers go through it."

Laughing at the memory of the white-faced teenagers exiting the 
house last year, the Sheriff asked, "It's scarier than last year?"

"Lots. So how many people do we expect to get this year?"

The Sheriff looked around and said, "About ten thousand."

"That's a lot. The population of the town is only a thousand."

"Yes. This is turning into one of the biggest events in the whole 
area. People are driving miles to come here."

Frowning, Ed asked, "I should have asked earlier if you needed 
help with security."

Shaking his head at the idea that Ed should have made 
arrangements for security after all of the other stuff he had done, 
the Sheriff replied, "You see all the men wearing gunfighter 
costumes with the badges. They are volunteers from town to help 
watch over things. We have over a hundred of them walking 
around here."

"That's good."

The Sheriff looked over Ed wearing his Druid robes and asked, 
"So are you going to be wearing that outfit all of the time?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

Nodding, the Sheriff looked out over the crowd with eyes that 
searched for problems. Turning back to Ed, he said, "I was 
watching the news the other night. I saw there was a Druid 
advising the President. Later, I saw the Director of the CIA giving 
testimony in the Senate and a Druid was sitting behind him. I see 
that you guys are everywhere."

"That's the idea. John wanted the world to see us so that the 
students of the Druid College would have a chance to help change 
the world into a better place to live."

Smiling, the Sheriff decided it was time to drop the bombshell on 
Ed. He said, "That reminds me why I came over here to talk to 
you. A little after sunset, you and Father Donnelley are to be 
interviewed about this block party for the ten o'clock news."

"Father Donnelley and me?" asked Ed surprised at the choice of 
people to be interviewed. He asked, "What about the Mayor and 
Shirley? They are far better people to be interviewed about 
tonight's activities."

"It was their idea to have you two represent the town."

Sighing, Ed replied, "I guess I had better go talk to him before the 
vultures arrive."

The Sheriff laughed at Ed's characterization of the press. It was 
well known that the Carter Clan kept their distance from the press. 
Neither man liked to boast about their actions. He watched as Ed 
turned over responsibility for watching the haunted house over to 
Edward.

After wandering up the street, Ed found Father Donnelley hard at 
work running the cakewalk. Ten young kids were walking around 
the circle hoping to land on the square where they would win a 
cupcake. Since the event was free, most of the kids played until 
they won. After watching for a few minutes, Ed walked over to the 
priest and said, "Hello Father Donnelley."

Turning to face Ed, a frown formed on the face of the priest. With 
an unenthusiastic tone of voice, he answered, "Oh, it's you."

"The town leaders decided that you and I should be interviewed at 
sunset by a couple of reporters for the ten o'clock news," replied 
Ed ignoring the lack of friendliness on the part of the priest.

"Whose bright idea was that?"

"The Mayor and Shirley according to the Sheriff."

The priest frowned and replied, "They aren't going to be happy 
until we fight or become friends."

When the priest punched the button on the tape recorder, one of the 
children let out a cry of delight and ran to collect her cupcake. Ed 
watched while the priest went through the spiel to bring the next 
set of kids onto the cakewalk and then punched the button to start 
the walk. Ed said, "Ever see so many happy kids?"

"No, I haven't."

"Regardless of any theological differences that we may have, at 
least we can agree that these are healthy happy kids."

"Amen to that," replied the priest.

Ed watched as the priest went through the routine of selecting 
another winner and then started another group through the 
cakewalk. He waited until the music was playing, before he said, 
"Did you put up a collection plate this year?"

"No," replied the Father Donnelley. Every year Ed made the same 
suggestion to him, but he didn't do it. 

"I noticed the other day that the church needs painting," remarked 
Ed.

"I will take care of my church, thank you very much," replied the 
priest irritated that this pagan was telling him how to run his 
parish. 

Ed turned away to leave and then said, "Yes. It is important to have 
a strong church in this area and you have done a good job of it."

The priest whipped around and, in anger, asked, "What does that 
mean?"

"Attendance at your church is at an all time high and it is due to 
you."

"And?"

"It is important for people to worship a God that stands for good. 
The Catholic God stands for good."

Ed walked away as the priest stared at his back. There were times 
when he didn't understand these people at all. After the Christmas 
pageant last year, he had discovered that John Carter had donated 
the money for it. This year, the money had shown up and he still 
hadn't decided what to do with it. Linda was one of his 
parishioners and he couldn't refuse the money outright. Half of 
their staff attended church on a regular basis. 

He turned back to the cakewalk and stopped the music. Another 
kid ran off to collect his cupcake. The priest gestured to one of the 
other people to take over for him. He went off in search of Ed to 
continue the conversation. It took some time, but he found Ed 
talking to a young couple that had just been engaged. Rather than 
announce his presence, he waited to hear what was being 
discussed. The young man asked, "Would you be our best man?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Ed answered, "I think you need to talk to 
Father Donnelley about that first before you ask me."

The young woman replied, "I don't think he likes you."

Smiling at her perceptiveness, Ed replied, "He and I serve different 
Gods. It isn't that he dislikes me as a person, but he does not trust 
that I serve the good. He is an honorable man that serves his God 
and his Church. You are of his faith and I would not dare to allow 
myself to come between you and him."

The young man looked puzzled and asked, "But aren't you in 
competition over souls?"

"Not at all," replied Ed. Seeing that his answer had not satisfied the 
young man, he explained, "There is great evil in this world that 
seeks to harm innocents. Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Pagans 
are joined in the fight. We would not weaken an ally in this fight 
by trying to steal good people away from their faiths."

The young woman asked, "So what do you suggest we do?"

"Talk to Father Donnelley and get his permission for me to enter 
his church to participate in that most holy of ceremonies. If he 
gives his permission, I shall be there. If he doesn't, then find 
someone who is more acceptable to your faith."

As the couple discussed the matter, Ed stood up and left. On his 
way, he ran into Father Donnelley. Surprised, he asked, "Is it time 
for us to give the interview already?"

"No, it is not. I just took a break," replied the priest deciding that 
this wasn't the time to confront Ed. He had been surprised at how 
insistent Ed had been with the couple that they get his permission. 

Ed detected the slight lie that constituted more of a lie of omission 
than an outright lie. Rather than call the priest on it, he said, 
"Enjoy your break. I guess they want us to meet in front of the 
house of horrors."

"Sure," replied the priest. He left to return to the church for a few 
minutes to seek holy guidance. He had been doing that all too often 
lately. The issue of group marriages had nearly caused him to 
excommunicate everyone that participated in them, but he realized 
he would have lost more than half of his congregation. He had not 
come out against them, deciding that it was better to keep them 
near while he did his best to guide them to heaven. His Bishop had 
agreed. In fact, his Bishop had warned him against raising it as an 
issue at all.

There were more people crowding the sidewalks, even though the 
younger kids had already headed home. Ed returned to the haunted 
house. The kids going through it were in the fifth grade and the 
horrors had become a little more shocking. From outside, he could 
hear the kids having a good time inside even though there were 
occasional screams as they were surprised. 

He relieved Edward so that he could enjoy some of the festivities. 
Of course, he had forgotten to tell Edward that he needed to be 
relieved at sunset to give the interview to the press. Shrugging his 
shoulders, Ed watched the haunted house. A young child and his 
mother came out of the house at one of the emergency exits. Ed 
greeted the little boy and asked, "What's that matter?"

"It was too scary," replied the kid as he snuffled and wiped a tear 
from one of his eyes.

"Oh," replied Ed. He winked in the direction of the mother and 
asked, "Would you like to know how we made it so scary?"

"Gosh, I don't know."

"If you understand, then you'll know that you don't have to be 
afraid of it," suggested Ed.

"Okay," answered the kid as he wiped his nose with the sleeve of 
his costume. 

Ed took the boy and his mother behind the haunted house and 
showed how they made the floor move. Then he showed the boy 
the elderly people as they were taking their breaks. The sight of all 
these old women, dressed like witches, sitting around drinking tea 
and talking about their grandchildren made the little boy giggle. As 
he went through the whole background of each room, the little boy 
relaxed.

When they were done, Ed suggested, "Now that you know how it 
is done, do you want to go through it again?"

"Sure."

Ed watched as the mother took the little boy back into the line. 
When they came out the other end, Ed greeted him with a high 
five. The mother took away a happy little boy, a sight that pleased 
Ed more than he could put into words. He returned to his patrol 
making sure that nothing bad happened.

Well before sunset, he spotted the camera crew as they headed 
over to the haunted house. The crew went along the street taking 
background shots. Finally, the reporter stood in front of the 
haunted house as she introduced the story. Watching them at work, 
Ed wondered how they could enjoy that kind of work. Here they 
were amidst people having a great time and they held themselves 
back from joining in the fun. 

As it approached sunset, the news crew set up at the exit to show 
the kids coming out. It was here that they were going to perform 
the interviews with Father Donnelley and him. Edward came over 
and looked at the activity for a moment before he said, "Time for 
the great show."

Sighing, Ed answered, "I guess so."

He waited for Father Donnelley to show up before he went over to 
the reporter. The shock on her face when she saw his robe was 
almost worth the trip. The two men stood side by side looking 
uncomfortable at being in front of the camera. The reporter, a 
rather attractive woman, gave an introduction to both of the men. 

Once she had finished her bit, she shoved a microphone in front of 
Ed's face as she asked, "Halloween is a Pagan holiday, so are you 
sponsoring this as part of being a pagan?"

Ed replied, "My fondest memories of childhood are of trick-or-
treating. Father Donnelley and I are in this to help create happy 
memories that will last these children the rest of their lives. Later 
tonight, we shall celebrate the religious aspect of this holiday, each 
in our own way."

The reporter turned to the priest and asked, "The Catholic Church 
used to burn witches. How do you feel about having pagans in 
town?"

Taken aback by the question, Father Donnelley glanced at Ed for a 
second before answering, "The pagans in town have been active 
supporters of all kinds of community events. Dr. Biggers has put 
on the haunted house. Dr. Carter has supported many other 
activities in town. They have helped to make this town a nicer 
place to live by providing honest and wholesome activities to 
provide a sense of community. I have no problem with that."

Dissatisfied with the answers she was getting, the reporter asked, 
"How many pagans are there in this town?"

Smiling, Ed answered, "There are three, although John is currently 
living at the Druid College where he serves as President of the 
College."

Feeling like she was going to score, she asked, "So how many 
pagans would you like to see living in town in the future?"

"That is not up to us to decide."

She turned to the priest and asked, "So how many of your 
parishioners have they tried to convert away from Christianity?"

"None," replied the priest in all honesty. He added, "They 
recommend that people start coming to church more frequently."

Ed took the microphone away from the reporter and said, "Tonight 
is Halloween and in our little town it is a holiday for children. The 
kids are going from store to store knowing the treats they get are 
safe. Entire families are enjoying themselves. We have a haunted 
house, a cakewalk, magicians, mimes, and others entertaining kids 
of all ages, from infant to ninety."

As he handed the microphone to Father Donnelley, Ed said, "I'm 
sure that Father Donnelley would like to say a few words about the 
activities here."

The priest took the microphone and said, "This evening is a special 
occasion. Once a year, kids get to dress up as superheroes and give 
voice to their imaginations. Our town wishes you and yours a 
Happy Halloween."

He handed the microphone back to the reporter. When he was sure 
that the camera was off, he turned to Ed and said, "Thanks."

"For what?" asked Ed puzzled at the words of the priest.

"For not letting this blow up into a Christian versus Pagan 
argument."

"I would never allow that to happen. Such an argument would 
harm many."