JC: Ed Biggers
Part 4: Adjournment
Chapter 15
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Lying on the floor of the living room with his head supported by 
his right hand, Ed was surrounded by a dozen small radio 
controlled cars as he watched a couple of them actually move. 
Across from him, Little John was busy with his remote control 
guiding one of the cars through a maze of obstacles that Ed had 
just finished constructing. John was seated on the couch fiddling 
with his controller trying to get his car out of a tight spot that was 
created by Leroy's car. Leroy was laughing at John even though his 
car was upside down after having fallen off the bridge. Beth's car 
was nearly at the end of the course, but had hit a tower of blocks. 
The blocks had come crashing down on it and she was having 
difficulty getting her car out of the mess.

At the door of the living room, Kelly and Ling watched the scene 
in dismay. It was hard to believe the husbands were as bad as the 
children in ignoring their calls. Kelly said, "We're hungry."

There were five choruses of 'Just a minute.'  John finally got his car 
free and raced to catch up to Beth, but it ran off the course and hit 
another stack of blocks. Little John, tongue out and following the 
movement of his car, had just passed Beth and was ready to cross 
the finish line when a giant hand came down and grabbed his car. 
Everyone looked up at Kelly holding the car as she said, "We're 
hungry."

Grumbling in a good-natured manner, the group got up and 
followed the two wives out of the room. As they went, Ed asked, 
"Where's Linda?"

"She's waiting for us there."

"Oh," answered Ed feeling a little guilty about holding up the 
dinner. He knew that Linda was still weak and shouldn't have to 
put up with their games.

Kelly noticed the look on his face and said, "She didn't want to 
disturb you guys. The five of you haven't had many chances to 
play together lately."

Leroy stopped at his room and said, "I'll be right there. Don't wait 
for me."

While Kelly looked over at Leroy with impatience, Ed didn't notice 
that Leroy had left the group and had just walked on. The kids had 
gone with him, but John stopped to look at Leroy only relaxing 
when he saw the black man wink at him. The family went to the 
dining room without Leroy.

Linda was seated at a large table with William in an infant sling, 
keeping him close so that when he pulled on her shirt, she would 
know to feed him. When his diapers were dirty, he would kick in 
the sling and point downwards. The child was not slow, as he 
would stare directly into her eyes as he made his requests just to 
make sure that she knew he was serious. Little John and Beth were 
convinced that he was waiting to say something that would be 
meaningful. None of the parents wanted to argue with them.

Sitting next to Linda, Ed reached over and touched him on his 
nose. William smiled back at him. Knowing exactly what Ed 
thought, Kelly said, "Gas."

"Nope, he smiled at me," replied Ed.

She had gone through this with Ed over Beth holding his finger 
when she was an infant. It was well known that infants didn't 
smile. Even as she thought this, Beth sat down and grabbed his 
hand wrapping her hand around one of his fingers. Ed turned to her 
and smiled. He received a smile back and a comforting squeeze on 
his finger letting him know that she believed William smiled at 
him. 

Everyone in the family looked around the room at the naked first 
year students while they waited for Leroy to show up. The students 
were slowly adjusting to being naked all of the time. There were 
still complaints about the lack of privacy in the restrooms, but the 
experience was necessary for their further development. The first 
year dorms were much quieter at that time in the year even though 
less than two months had passed since the beginning of the new 
year. 

This was the second class of students to enter the College and they 
were going through the same difficulties in adjusting to the new 
lifestyle as the first class had experienced. It would take almost a 
year before any one of the students would make it through the day 
without trying to impose some moral outrage to an action that 
caused no harm. 

The first week had been extremely tough and even Little John had 
told one of the students to grow up. The reaction had been one of 
surprise, but the student was actually one of the better-behaved 
students now. Apparently getting put into place by a three-year-old 
was a bit much for an adult ego. 

Ed noticed that a number of students were starting to drift into the 
dinner room. They were doing nothing but standing around as if 
they expected something interesting to happen any time now. He 
turned to John and asked, "What's up?"

The question prompted John to notice the unusual behavior of the 
students. After looking around, he shrugged and said, "I have no 
idea."

Everyone at the table noticed the unusual behavior. Ed was about 
to call one of the students over, when a number of them started 
humming the theme song from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Someone 
shouted, "Look, it's Arizona Jones."

Ed's head swiveled so fast that he almost hurt his neck as Leroy 
came into the dining room. The sight of a black man wearing the 
Indiana Jones outfit, complete with bullwhip surprised Ed beyond 
his ability to react. This was the outfit that he had gotten Leroy as a 
graduation present. Leroy cracked the whip as all of the students 
laughed at the expression on Ed's face. Leroy shouted, "Okay, Ed. 
That treasure belongs in a museum."

Ed started laughing so hard that he could hardly stay in his chair. 
With a huge smile on her face, Ling ran over to Leroy and said, 
"Protect me from the bad guys, Arizona."

The students slowly dispersed laughing as they went. Every time 
Ed looked over at Leroy, he cracked up and started laughing again. 
Leroy swaggered over to the table and sat down across from Ed. 
As tears ran down Ed's face from laughing so hard, Leroy said, "I 
hate snakes."

The entire family was laughing at how Leroy was dressed. Ed 
finally got himself under control and said, "Hello, Dr. Jones. What 
treasures are you chasing now?"

Smiling at Ed, Leroy said, "I've found all the treasure I need. Two 
husbands, three wives, and three kids."

John clapped his hands in applause as he spoke, "Well said, Dr. 
Jones."

Little John and Beth just looked at each other and decided this was 
going to be a game they would get to play when they got older. It 
definitely looked interesting, even if they didn't understand it. Beth 
said, "I think you look good in that outfit. You can wear it when 
you go camping with Daddy John."

At that, Ed had to leave the table to get full control of himself. As 
he left, Linda said, "I think you got him good, Leroy. Or should I 
say Arizona?"

Leroy laughed and said, "I was so surprised when I opened his 
present. The more I thought about it, the more fitting I thought it 
was."

The first one to catch on was Kelly and she burst out laughing, 
"You mean that was a present from Ed?"

Smiling at the family, Leroy said, "Yes. There was a little note that 
said there was a Dr. Jones tradition that had to be carried forth."

Shaking his head, John said, "That reminds me of the rubbers 
incident when he bought the bright yellow rubber galoshes for all 
of us."

Linda said, "That Ed. He really knows how to have fun."

Nodding, Leroy said, "He also bought me some hiking equipment 
that's first class as a more serious present, but I have to admit that I 
really liked this one."

Ed returned to the table when the waitress brought his Beef Fajitas. 
As the beef on a bed of onions and peppers sizzled from the hot 
skillet, he waved a hand over it wafting the smell to his nose. He 
appreciated the aroma of fresh food cooked to his specification. 
The rest of the family did not miss his enjoyment of the food. It 
was not unusual for them to wait while he went through his normal 
ritual of appreciating his food before eating. It was almost a ritual 
reminder of the bounty provided by the Gods and Goddesses that 
should be enjoyed to its fullest extent.

Looking up, Ed noticed everyone watching him. Puzzled, he asked, 
"What?"

"You just enjoy your food so much."

"What can I say? I like to eat," replied Ed.

Bored at staying in the college, Ed decided to take a drive around 
the countryside. At home, he would have taken his horses out for a 
ride. Here, he didn't have a horse to ride or even a place to ride. 
The property around the Druid College was being used as a place 
to grow a number of endangered species of plants and casual 
movements around the property was discouraged. 

After pulling out of the college, he turned in a direction that led 
away from the airport since this wasn't a direction that he had 
explored. About a mile down the road, he noticed a for sale sign. 
Pulling off the road, he pulled out his cell phone and called the 
number on the sign. In a few minutes, he had the details as to the 
location of the real estate office that was handling the property. 

He headed directly to the real estate office, his intended 
exploration over for the day. The road to the office was pleasant 
with trees covering the road and the fall colors trying to come out. 
It would be a few more weeks before the colors turned to their 
optimal splendor. For now, it was just the odd tree or two that was 
displaying yellows and oranges. 

Pulling into the parking lot, Ed got out of the rental car and entered 
the office. A young woman, slightly overweight, was seated at one 
of the three desks. It was a bare office that looked like it didn't do 
too much business and the business that it did probably wasn't high 
value properties. 

She looked up at him and took in his black robe. Having seen 
enough of them in town to know what they represented, she asked, 
"You're one of those Druids, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

She frowned for a minute and then shrugged her shoulders as 
though she decided that it didn't really matter to her.  A lot of 
people in the area were very puzzled by this group of people. At 
night they would see them on the news, always in a positive light. 
Around town, they helped people without being asked. She'd even 
had one stop and help her with a flat tire. The man seemed nice, 
but she was really disturbed by the bear that had watched him 
while he worked. In a rather bored tone of voice she asked, "So 
what can I do for you?"

"I called about the property that is a mile down the road from the 
Druid College."

She knew exactly which property he meant. The owner had put it 
up for sale as soon as word came out that they were building some 
sort of religious school in the hope of unloading it before the 
property values went down. The property values had gone down 
for a while, but that hadn't lasted long. After a year of having the 
school open, there hadn't been any problems with students running 
wild so the property values had rebounded. She replied, "Oh, you 
were the one who called."

"How much land is there and how much is it?" asked Ed going 
directly to the issue at hand.

She answered, "It is four hundred acres and is going for $2500 an 
acre."

It didn't take Ed long to do the math. The price was an even million 
for the property. He recalled that John had bought the land for the 
college at $1500 an acre. If he paid the same amount, then it would 
only be six hundred thousand dollars. Ed replied, "The owner is 
rather proud of that place, isn't he?"

"Speculation on the possibility that your school will buy the 
property or a couple of businesses might move in." She knew that 
the land was priced a little higher than other properties in the area, 
but it wasn't that outrageously priced.

Ed sat back and thought about it for a minute as he considered 
what he could do with that land and how much he was willing to 
pay for it. It took him a minute to fish out his cell phone to call 
Cathy and find out how much money he had in his family property 
account. This was money that he had never spent in the entire time 
that the fund was established. When Cathy answered, he asked, 
"How much do I have in my property fund?"

The lack of a greeting did not disturb Cathy. She was used to that 
single-minded focus when he or John was doing something. After 
looking up the account, she answered, "A million two."

"Thanks," replied Ed as he hung up the phone. The woman sat at 
her desk looking at him with a puzzled expression unable to 
believe that he would be that rude to someone on the phone. 
Turning to the woman, he said, "Can you ask the owner if he'll 
accept eight hundred thousand for the property?"

She considered the consequences of such an offer and realized that 
her commission would be close to twenty four thousand dollars. 
The owner was a miserly individual and she suspected that he 
would balk at that amount, but it was worth a shot. Nodding, she 
answered, "I could ask."

"Okay," replied Ed as he waited for her to make the call. 

She sat there looking at him waiting for him to say something else. 
It dawned on her that Ed was waiting for her to make the call. The 
intensity with which he was watching her unnerved her. She 
requested, "Could you please leave while I make the call?"

Nodding, Ed went outside and sat on his car wondering why she 
wanted him to leave. He decided that she wanted to see what price 
the owner would actually accept and didn't want him to know. It 
would be a simple matter to find out that value, but she didn't 
know that. As he sat there, he thought about the kind of 
improvements that he could make to the land. A barn and corral for 
horses would be good, as would a small house to use after putting 
up the horses. 

The door opened and the woman calling out disturbed his thoughts, 
"I've talked to him."

The rental car shifted as he slid off the hood and headed towards 
the door. The movements of the car made him wonder if he had 
been gaining weight without realizing it. He hadn't had to buy any 
larger pants or get a bigger belt. Entering the building, the woman 
said, "He said that he would take nine hundred thousand."

"What did he say to the eight hundred thousand?" asked Ed 
knowing that she had not told the full truth.

She licked her lips and answered, "He really wants nine hundred 
thousand."

"I realize that he wants that much. You told me that already. 
However, I bet he said that he would accept eight hundred 
thousand if I wouldn't budge," replied Ed. 

He was too accurate in his assessment of what Mr. Gavin had said. 
Deciding that it would be better for the negotiations to take place 
between the principles, she picked up the phone and called him. 
When he answered, she said, "Mr. Gavin, it might be better if you 
come down here and negotiate with the buyer."

Ed raised a hand and said, "How about we meet at a restaurant and 
discuss this over coffee?"

"He would like to meet you at a restaurant and talk about it over 
coffee."

The woman continued to talk on the phone for several minutes. 
Bored, Ed looked around the room. There was a calendar with the 
name of the real estate company on the wall opened to a picture of 
a pheasant taking flight. The wood paneling was faded with age 
and probably hadn't been oiled since it was installed. The wood 
desks were probably bought new twenty years ago and showed the 
scratches, dents, and dings of every day use that had passed since 
they were new. The faded carpet was worn in a path between the 
desks. 

When she hung up, she said, "He'll meet us at the Possum in 
twenty minutes."

"Good," replied Ed. He sat back and looked at the woman as he 
said, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Ed Biggers."

"I'm Lisa Waters. So why are you interested in the property?"

"Horse Riding and camping."

"Pardon?"

"I would like a place to ride a horse and to take the kids camping."

"You aren't going to add the land to the school?"

"No."

The revelation surprised the woman that this man was willing to 
pay that much money just to have a place to ride a horse and take 
his kids camping. She said, "You are aware after the land was 
purchased by the College that all of the land around it was zoned 
for commercial and residential use."

"That's fine with me. I'll probably put a barn, corral, and small 
house on it. That's residential use."

"I think the idea was that it would be subdivided and sold for track 
homes or developed for a hotel."

"What a horrible thing to do with a perfectly fine piece of 
property."

"It would be worth a lot of money," replied Lisa as though that 
mitigated all negative consequences of developing the land. 

"Ms. Waters, there are many things in life that are more important 
than money. There's the smile of kids when you take the time to 
play with them. There's the pleasure that man and woman can 
share. Eating a perfectly prepared meal can be a source of joy. 
Taking a quiet moment to appreciate a sunset over the desert. 
Those things are much more important than money."

"You must be rich to think that," scoffed Lisa.

Looking across at Lisa, Ed said, "I used to earn a living as a 
cowboy. I didn't make much money, but I had a house that my 
parents left to me when I was orphaned at sixteen. My best times 
were spent finding rocks out in the desert. Believe me, I've been 
poor. When I went to college in my late twenties, I made only 
enough to cover my basic living costs, but every night I watched 
the sunset."

She stared at him in surprise at the passion that his voice conveyed 
when talking about hunting rocks and watching sunsets. She asked, 
"How do you make your money?"

"Hunting rocks."

The answer took her by surprise and she had no ready reply. 
Glancing at her watch, she said, "Let's head over to the Possum. 
It's two blocks away and we should reach it before Mr. Gavin 
arrives."

Nodding, Ed asked, "Do you mind if we walk?"

Surprised at the request, she answered, "That would be fine."

The two walked down the street to the diner. As they walked, Ed 
looked at the local businesses. A few of them had clear signs that 
they had been recently renovated. He commented, "It looks like a 
few of the businesses in the area are doing pretty well."

"The College is spending a lot of money in town. Some of the 
businesses are growing because of it. Others aren't getting that 
much of the pie."

"Why do you think that is the case?"

"Not many of the people there come into town to eat, go to the 
movies, or buy personal items. It tends to develop a very lopsided 
economy."

There was no way that anyone from the College would come into 
town to eat at a restaurant here considering the high quality of food 
available in the dining rooms. He said, "I'm sure that will change 
with time. We have two hundred students now and I'm sure that 
their parents will be coming to visit a little more frequently."

"I've never seen one of the students from your school."

"You won't until they are close to graduating. For now, they have 
classes five days a week and study groups on weekends."

"What about summers?"

"They have no holidays, except for a few days between quarters."

"No holidays?"

"Right. They live that way for six years."

"Six years!" This was news to her. She had assumed that it was a 
normal college. This was beginning to sound like a major 
brainwashing operation. 

"Yes."

"You guys must be brainwashing them to keep them there that 
long."

"No. We just have a very thorough curriculum. They will be 
advising companies, politicians, and government agencies when 
they graduate."

She looked over at him with suspicion wondering if this wasn't 
some sort of plot to take over the normal responsibilities of 
government. It was the kind of activity that would be the plot of a 
great Hollywood movie. She asked, "You're some kind of religious 
group, aren't you?"

"Yes. We serve the Gods and Goddesses."

They reached the diner and entered. A very tired looking waitress 
wandered over to them until she noticed the robes worn by Ed. 
They had only had about a dozen of the Druids come in the 
restaurant since the college opened. Moving with caution, she 
asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, we'd like a table for three. We are meeting a Mr. Gavin 
here."

The waitress led them to a table and threw the menus down on the 
table. As Ed took a seat, his cell phone rang. Irritated, he took it 
out of this pocket and answered it. Without any small talk, Cathy 
said, "There's a Colonel Grey looking for you. He's flying to the 
college in a helicopter and wants to know where you are."

Ed replied, "I'm at the Possum in town here. I'll return to the 
College when I finish my business here."

"I'll let him know that," replied Cathy as she hung up.

He pocketed the cell phone and said, "That was my secretary."

The telephone etiquette shown by these people was horrible. There 
wasn't a hello or goodbye. She didn't know what to make of it. 
Returning to the conversation outside, she asked, "So how come 
you guys haven't been in town trying to attract new followers?"

"We don't do that. We let people come to us," answered Ed. That 
was an easier answer than explaining that people answered the 
calls of the Gods and Goddesses.

"You don't go out to get followers?"

"No. There are only about four hundred of us."

"That's not very many."

"What can I say? We are kept busy," replied Ed. He didn't know 
how many Druids they could expect to come out of the Druid 
College. Even those that weren't called would be instrumental in 
the future.

Mr. Gavin showed up at the table and sat down staring at Ed. He 
didn't like Druids and often referred to them as 'those strange 
fellers.' Getting straight to the point, he asked, "You the feller that 
wants to buy my place?"

"Yes, I am."

"If I'd knowed you was one of them strange fellers, I'd a told her 
not to sell it to you."

Ed sat back and looked around at the people in the restaurant. It 
wasn't that people were hostile, but they didn't trust him. The 
waitress came over to the table and asked, "Do you know what you 
want?"

Ed gestured to Mr. Gavin to place his order. The old man said, 
"Coffee and put it on his bill."

Lisa said, "Coffee."

"Iced Tea, please," replied Ed. With a negligent gesture, he added, 
"Put them all on my bill."

The waitress shrugged and walked off to get the beverages 
convinced that she was going to get another lousy tip. There was a 
commotion at the front of the restaurant as someone said, "There's 
a military helicopter landing over at the park."

"Drat," said Ed as he shook his head. Looking over at the man 
seated across from him, Ed asked, "So you don't want to sell your 
property to me?"

"Right-O, buddy."

The man spoke true and that bothered Ed. It wasn't that he minded 
being disliked, but he didn't want it because of his service. He was 
spared responding by the arrival of a man that strode up behind 
him; his steps announcing his presence. Without looking to see 
who was behind him, Ed said, "Hello, Colonel."

"Hello, Ed," replied the Colonel surprised that Ed knew him 
without turning around. 

"Have a seat while I finish up here," replied Ed.

"I've got a jet waiting for you."

"Where am I going?"

"To an American base in Saudi Arabia. We've caught another 
bigwig. Everything that you require is there."

"What's the hurry?"

"He's a really important guy and we want to catch his confederates 
before they have a chance to move."

Ed didn't like the idea that he was supposed to be at the beck and 
call of Colonel Grey. It was unreasonable to expect that he was to 
drop everything at a moment's notice. Looking over at the Colonel, 
he said, "Have a seat and drink a cup of coffee."

"We need you now!"

Ed looked over at the Colonel and said, "I'm not in the Army, 
Colonel. I'm a civilian and I donate my time to the IRS and CIA. I 
don't charge a dime. You have no right to come here and ask me to 
drop everything at your convenience. I'll come, but I want you to 
arrange a chance for me to ride one of those Arabian horses."

The Colonel looked at Ed and knew that he spoke the truth. Rather 
than argue further, he sat down and gestured to the waitress for a 
cup of coffee. He wondered where he was going to find an Arabian 
Horse for Ed to ride while he was there. Throughout the exchange, 
Mr. Gavin had been watching the Colonel open-mouthed. The idea 
that one of these Druids could get a full Colonel to travel across 
the country to talk to him make him re-appraise the guy sitting 
across from him. He asked, "Why would they want you to go 
there?"

"I'm a human lie detector. I hear lies when they are spoken and I 
can see lies when they are written. It makes me the perfect 
interrogator of individuals that seek to harm innocent people," 
replied Ed.

"I believe you," replied the man.

"No you don't, but that's not important. I'm still interested in 
buying that land and want to find out why you are unwilling to sell 
it to me at a far market value."

The Colonel accepted the cup of coffee from the waitress and took 
a sip. It was overly strong and quite bitter. He grimaced and set the 
cup down. Lisa had just tasted her coffee and gestured to the 
waitress. After a whispered conversation with her, the woman went 
off and returned with three new cups of coffee.

Ed noticed the exchange and smiled as he took a sip of his iced tea 
while waiting for Mr. Gavin to answer him. The elderly man 
looked over at the Colonel and asked, "What can you tell me about 
this feller?"

"He was one of the two architects of the raids that brought down 
organized crime. He's credited with saving hundreds of people 
from certain death. He has caught a number of serial killers, 
getting stabbed by one of them in the process. He was shot when 
he saved his husbands life when they were breaking up a white 
slavery ring. The last major thing that he did was bring down a 
corrupt real estate developer who had killed a family of four with a 
fire bomb trying to get people to sell their property to him," replied 
the Colonel as he watched Ed turn to stare out the window. 

Mr. Gavin frowned as he recalled all of those stories on the 
national news. Turning to look at Ed, he said, "So you are some 
kind of hero."

"Not really. I just do what I can to make the world a better place 
for my children. John is the real hero in the family. He's saved 
thousands of people, established the fusion foundation, captured 
serial killers, broken up child pornography rings, and built the 
College."

Mr. Gavin considered himself to be a patriotic American and 
dedicated supporter of law and order. He asked, "Any other heroes 
up at that school of yours?"

"Lots. Sid is in charge of the forest fire-fighting unit of the Fusion 
Foundation and works for the National Park Service. We have 
nurses who volunteer their time in all kinds of ways. Some of them 
specialize in the treatment of highly contagious patients that 
require full body suits to protect them. Researchers who are 
attempting to eliminate catastrophic diseases like Cancer, MS, and 
Diabetes. Everyone of them will take a bullet to protect you from 
evil."

Turning to the Colonel, he asked, "Is that true?"

The Colonel nodded and said, "We have a Druid by the name of 
Oscar Meyers that destroyed a dozen terrorist training camps all by 
himself."

"I'll sell it to you for nine hundred thousand."

"Eight hundred thousand and I'll have the money transferred to 
your back account as soon as the papers are signed. I'll also give 
you an additional twenty five thousand if you can locate an honest 
person to serve as caretaker of the property. That person will have 
to know how to work with horses and take care of the land."

"Horses?"

"Yes."

"Okay, eight hundred thousand," replied the old man knowing that 
he wasn't going to get Ed to budge on the price. It was more money 
than he had thought he would get for the land.

Ed fished out one of the family cards and handed it to Lisa. He 
said, "Call her and arrange for the money transfer. I'm going to 
Saudi Arabia now and will be back in about four days. I'll sign the 
papers then if you would be so kind to bring them up to the Druid 
College."

Turning to the Colonel, he said, "I have to return to the College 
and pickup something. If you take the helicopter there, I'll be along 
within twenty minutes."

The Colonel stood and nodded at Ed. As the man left the 
restaurant, Mr. Gavin turned to Ed and asked, "What do you want 
that land for?"

"I need a place to ride horses and take the kids camping. I'll let Ms. 
Woods explain it," answered Ed. Pulling a ten from his pocket, he 
set it on the table to cover the cost of the coffees and left the diner.

The next few days were busy, spent on flight to Saudi Arabia, 
interrogating the prisoner, and returning after twenty-four hours 
there. The high point was riding the Arabian horse across the 
desert there. It was quite a thrill and he made sure that he got a 
picture of him mounted on the horse.