JC: Ed Biggers
Part 6: Doyen
Chapter 23
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Ling, Kelly, Leroy, Betsy, Linda, Dan, Claire, and the entire staff 
were waiting for William Redman Carter to return home. Much to 
everyone's surprise, he walked into the house and headed directly 
to Linda without pausing long enough for anyone to hug him. He 
stopped in front of his mother and, after a pregnant pause, said, "It 
is time to get you to the hospital."

"What?" asked Linda as a sudden spasm passed through her 
abdomen. Her eyes grew large when she realized what he meant.

"I told you that I would return in time for Eddie to be born. I've 
returned and he's ready to be born," William answered with a grin. 

"Oh my," Linda cried as the contraction grabbed her attention to 
the exclusion of all else.

It was as though no one could act for ten seconds and then chaos 
broke out. The women all looked at Linda with wide eyes when 
they realized what William meant. A very loud Betsy started 
jumping up and down excited at the idea of having her own little 
brother. The women immediately swarmed Linda. Leroy shook his 
head in amazement at how William was able to guess events with 
such accuracy.

William watched the activities with a grin. The celebration of his 
return was turning into a celebration of a new life and that suited 
him perfectly. While William had always been comfortable alone, 
his time at the Native American College had taught him how to be 
at peace with his solitude. It had also taught him how to be 
comfortable and at peace around others. 

Ling took charge. She ordered Walt and George to get two of the 
vans out of the garage and into the driveway knowing it would 
require both vans to get everyone to the hospital. While the two 
men ran out of the room, Ling ordered Sarah to help her cousin 
walk to the driveway. After dispatching Kelly to get Linda's 
overnight bag, Ling called Dr. Liam Connor to inform him that he 
was to wait for them outside the clinic so he could accompany 
them to the hospital.

Realizing that Ed was not there, Dan looked over at William and 
asked, "Where's Ed?"
 
"He's waiting in the car with Betsy for you, Claire, and me," 
answered William.

"We're going to the hospital?" Claire asked in surprise. She had 
expected to be left behind to take care of security.

"Of course you are. You're joining the Carter Clan as husband and 
wife. It is only fitting that the two of you wait in the hospital with 
the rest of the family," answered William. Seeing the surprised 
look on Claire's face, he added, "Besides, someone needs to drive 
us to the hospital. Daddy Ed is so excited he'll probably crash into 
something."

For the first time, Dan found himself laughing at something 
William said. Putting a hand on William's shoulder, he said, 
"Come on. Let's go save Ed from himself."

The crowd at the front door had finally exited the house with Linda 
and Sarah in the lead. The trio left the house and headed to the 
Hugger in which Ed was waiting for them. Claire went around to 
the driver's side of the Hugger and opened the door. In a gruff 
voice, she ordered, "Scoot over, Ling would kill me if I let you 
drive right now."

Ed followed his instructions knowing that it was useless to argue. 
Muttering under his breath, he said, "One of the problems with 
loving a strong woman is living with a strong woman."

Seeing the dirty look Claire gave Ed, Dan asked, "What's one of 
the benefits of loving a strong woman?"

"One of the benefits of loving a strong woman is living with a 
strong woman," answered Ed.

Claire laughed at the contradiction and turned on motor to the 
Hugger. Rather than backing out, she turned the vehicle around by 
driving it over the yard. The drive to the hospital was made in 
record time. Claire was not afraid of using the off-road abilities of 
the Hugger to shorten the trip. 

Pacing nervously in front of the hospital entrance, Ed was beside 
himself with concern. They had beaten the vans to the hospital and 
he was afraid the vans had been involved in an accident. Looking 
over at Claire, he asked, "What could be taking them so long?"

"Well, they could have come by the highway rather than cross 
country. That would easily add ten minutes," answered Claire in a 
calm collected voice. She'd really enjoyed the drive. About 
halfway to the hospital, she had decided she was going to pick up a 
Hugger for herself.

Chuckling at the exchange, William suggested, "Call Kelly on the 
cell phone if you're really that worried."

"Why didn't they come the same route?"

"There's no way anyone would take that route in a regular van with 
a pregnant woman," answered Dan. He was enjoying this far more 
than was probably proper. He looked down at William and realized 
the boy was enjoying it as much as he was. 

They beat the van to the hospital by a good ten minutes even 
though they left after it. For five of those minutes, Ed was getting a 
running commentary from Kelly over the cell phone. The fact of 
the matter was that Ed was concerned because Linda's first 
pregnancy had been so rough. Even though she had breezed 
through this one, he remembered the months spent by her bed 
before William was born.

Almost as if he was hearing Ed's thoughts, William said, "Eddie 
isn't going to be like me. He's going to be more Cowboy than 
Indian."

"Cowboy and Indian?" asked Ed surprised by his use of the words.

"Yeah, we can do that too. We'll play on different sides of the 
game. You know, I think that's a great idea. I'll get to practice 
scalping him."

Ed stared at William unable to believe what he had heard his son 
say. He said, "What?"

Even Dan was surprised. That was the second humorous thing he'd 
heard him say. Looking down at William, Dan said, "You've seem 
to have picked up a sense of humor while you were at school."

Nodding agreement at the statement, William said, "Yes. I did. It 
was one of the more important lessons that I learned."

The van with Linda showed up and all attention turned to getting 
her into the hospital. Although they could have used their wealth in 
most circumstances to smooth things out, there was no way to get 
around the petty bureaucrat in admissions. While Ed argued with 
the woman, Dr. Connor ushered Linda into the delivery room to 
perform a more extensive examination of her condition than had 
been possible in the back of the van. It was Cathy who came to the 
rescue and provided completed versions of all the necessary 
admission forms. 

Ed had started towards the delivery room when Kelly grabbed him 
by the arm. She said, "You might be a modern man, but we're old 
fashioned girls. I'm her birthing coach. She doesn't want you there, 
so you go over to the waiting room and pace like you're supposed 
to."

Dan and Leroy steered Ed down the appropriate hallway with 
William and Betsy following behind. William walked while Betsy, 
in an effort to burn off some of her energy, hopped along 
attempting to touch the ceiling. Ling and Claire were well behind 
the kids making sure that Betsy didn't decide to head in the wrong 
direction.

It wasn't until they reached the waiting room that everyone 
welcomed William home. William entertained them with 
descriptions of his adventures at the Native American College. 
Betsy slowed down enough to listen to some of his stories. One of 
the things he had learned was the art of story telling. It had been 
the most difficult lesson for him to learn.

Kelly came out and announced, "It's time for you to meet Edward 
John Biggers."

The family watched as Ed approached the bed and looked upon his 
newborn son for the first time. An instant connection between 
father and son blossomed with a strength that was almost visible. It 
was a magical moment and everyone in the room knew it. Kelly's 
hand went to her medallion. Ling, seldom given to tears, was 
openly crying. William went over and put a hand on Ed's back. 
Dan and Claire held each other feeling honored that they had been 
allowed to witness this event. Even Betsy paused to watch the 
connection become established. Linda, exhausted from the 
delivery, gave voice to a line she had practiced just for this 
occasion. "Ed meet Ed."

Ed had visions of them playing Hunt The Bug-Eyed Monsters, 
riding through the desert together, and digging rocks out of 
interesting geological formations. He bent down and kissed his son 
on the head. In a soft voice, he said, "We are going to have so 
much fun together."

Turning to Linda, Ed kissed her gently and said, "He's wonderful."

While Ed took care of the exhausted mother, the rest of the family 
swarmed around the baby. Each took turns meeting the baby. As 
was always the case when someone joined the family, each 
established a special relation with the new member. Betsy's eyes 
glowed as she looked upon the baby. Turning to Ling, she said, 
"He's going to be a lot of fun."

It was late afternoon before the family returned home. Once there, 
Ed decided to take a walk through town and spread the news about 
the birth of his son. Leaving the women to spread the news with 
the staff, Leroy chose to come with him. When they reached Ed's 
old house, Rosa and Maria ran out from their house across the 
street. Rosa screamed, "So you have a new baby in the Carter 
Clan!"

"Yes, Eddie Biggers. He's a chip off the old block," said Ed unable 
to keep the pride from his voice.

Maria laughed at the comment. She said, "Parents lock up your 
girls, Eddie Biggers in town."

"She knows you too well," said Leroy. He chuckled and patted his 
husband on the back. 

Rosa said, "So tell me all the details about Eddie Biggers. How 
much did he weigh, how big was he, and what time was he born?"

Leroy filled them in on the details while Ed described how much 
the child was like him. Realizing that Ed and Leroy had spent 
almost half an hour with them, Maria said, "You two had better go 
on and spread the news. I'm sure others want to hear all about it."

Ed and Leroy took their leave and resumed their wandering 
through town. After two hours of talking with people, Ed found 
they were in front of the Ortega household. Manuel was seated on 
a chair in the front yard. Waving, he said, "Hey, Ed. Leroy. Come 
on over and have some iced tea. Joe will be home soon."

Ed and Leroy walked up to where Manuel was seated on one of a 
half-dozen chairs scattered about on the porch. The hardest 
working man in Arizona had aged over the years and looked like 
an elderly man. Ed was shocked by what he saw and, once again, 
he was reminded that the friends of his youth were growing old. 
Sitting down in a chair, Leroy said, "Ed is now the father of a nice 
looking baby boy."

"I was kind of expecting the news," said Manuel. He had seen the 
two vans picking up the doctor before heading towards the 
highway. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. 
Handing it over to Ed, he added, "Here's a little something for your 
son."

"What is it?"

"A promissory note for a five thousand shares of our company," 
answered Manuel knowing that Ed would've argued against 
money, but wouldn't reject such a gift. They were expecting the 
shares to sell for over four dollars a share.

Touched that Manuel would want to make his son part of his 
company, Ed said, "Thank you."

"So how is the public offering going?" asked Leroy seeing that Ed 
was lost in thought.
 
Ed hadn't known that Manuel and Joe were taking their hauling 
company public. In fact, he hadn't been following the expansion of 
the company very closely at all over the past few years. He sat up 
and paid attention as Manuel described going through the process 
of taking a company public. Since a number of companies funded 
by Ed had gone public in the past, he understood the process quite 
well. 

While Manuel was telling Leroy about the company, a young girl 
of five years of age came out of the house. Manuel turned to her 
and said, "Kelly, go in the house and tell your mother we have 
company. Ask her to bring out some iced teas for us."

The little girl smiled at her grandfather and headed back into the 
house. She shouted as she entered the door, "Mommy, we gots 
company. Grandpa wants some tea."

Ed laughed at the excitement of the little girl. When the door 
slammed shut behind her, Manuel flinched. Shaking his head with 
a wry grin plastered on his face, he said, "She'll never learn to 
close that door properly."

"I'm sure you spoil her rotten," said Leroy.

"Yeah. It's so much fun being a granddad. I'll admit that Kelly's a 
little wildcat. That kid can't keep still. Not as bad as your Betsy, 
though."

Leroy rolled his eyes and replied, "There isn't another child on the 
face of this planet who is as bad as Betsy."

Juanita came out of the house with a tray of iced teas. She was 
wearing a very nice sundress that showed off her figure in a most 
attractive manner. Smiling at Ed, she said, "The news has spread 
all over town. Congratulations. I heard that he's a charmer just like 
his father."

Grinning as he accepted a glass of tea from Juanita, Ed said, "If 
we're lucky, he'll get his looks from his mother. At least that way 
he'll have something going for him."

"He needs to get them from somewhere if he's to have any looks at 
all," said Leroy with a wink at Ed.

Juanita laughed at the joke. Turning to Leroy, she said, "I heard 
you guys had a real break-through last week. Something about 
actually curing one of those diseased deer."

"Yes. It looks like we found a compound that stops Chronic 
Wasting Disease in its tracks. Where'd you hear about that?" asked 
Leroy. He hadn't announced it to the public yet, although a copy of 
his paper was circulating amongst the small number of researchers 
in the area.

"You forget that my cousin is working for you," said Juanita 
handing a glass of tea to him. 

Unaware that Leroy had made progress in his research, Ed asked, 
"So what's the news?"

"About two years ago, we discovered a little protein fragment 
seems to be the cause of the illness. Gnats can pass that protein 
fragment from one animal to another. The entry point is in the tear 
ducts. Fortunately, it is a rather low probability event, so we don't 
see a horrible epidemic spreading through the deer population," 
answered Leroy. He knew that if conditions were right and they 
had a huge increase in the gnat population one season, then the 
number of infected animals could skyrocket.

His voice shifted to one that conveyed less certainty. "A couple of 
weeks ago, we synthesized a new protein fragment. It binds with 
the bad protein fragment and renders it inert. Of course, having 
something work in a test tube doesn't mean much. Last week, we 
tried it out on one of our infected deer and it appears to be gaining 
weight." 

"Wow, that is news. How come you haven't mentioned it to us?" 
asked Ed. He knew Leroy's research was a lifelong project that was 
characterized by long periods of slow progress punctuated by 
sudden breakthroughs. Since Leroy didn't have many chances to 
celebrate his successes, Ed wanted to make sure they didn't miss a 
single chance. 

"I wanted to make sure of my results first," answered Leroy. He'd 
had several occasions where he thought they made a big 
breakthrough only to find he had been mistaken. They'd celebrated 
one of them a little prematurely and he'd always felt a little 
embarrassed by it. 

Manuel asked, "Can you make any money on it?"

"Not for CWD. There's a possibility that a similar thing might 
work on Mad Cow Disease. If that is the case, then there is a lot of 
money to be made on it." Leroy doubted that he'd ever see money 
as a result of his research. It wasn't that glamorous. He glanced 
over at Ed and said, "I know it isn't a cure for cancer, but I'm a 
biologist who works on animals."

"Don't apologize. I know how important your work is. You're 
doing something that very few people can do -- adding to the body 
of knowledge possessed by mankind. I can't think of anything 
more important than that," answered Ed knowing that Leroy felt 
that his work wasn't as valuable as the work the others in the 
family performed. Leroy and Ling were not growing wealthy in the 
same way that Ed, Kelly, and Linda were. 

Manuel looked down at the ground for a minute as he thought 
about what Leroy had said. Looking over at the black man, he 
asked, "Do you need funding for your research?"

Leroy answered, "We won't be able to look at Mad Cow Disease 
for a long time."

"No, I'm talking about the deer disease."

"There's not much of a chance to make money on that," Leroy said. 
He wanted to make sure Manuel understood exactly what he'd be 
funding. He had a lot of hopes on this treatment. There were still 
some questions that remained to be answered. It wasn't clear what 
effect the second protein fragment would have on healthy animals. 
It wasn't clear how they could distribute it to the animals in the 
wild. Finally, it wasn't clear if the effects were long term. The only 
thing that was certain was that no one would be getting rich out of 
it.

"I know. I'm not looking to make any money on this. It's just that I 
wasn't always rich. More than once, a deer meant the difference 
between feeding my family and all of us going hungry. If the deer 
had been sick, we'd have been out of luck. There are other folks 
out there in that situation. Maybe I can't help them directly, but I 
can help to make sure there are deer for them to eat." The emotions 
in his voice conveyed his honest desire to help for all to hear.

"I can understand that and we'd appreciate any help that you can 
give," Leroy said.

Juanita put a hand on her father-in-law's shoulder. In a soft voice, 
she said, "You're a good man, dad."

"Not really," he said, "It's just that there are some things that need 
to be done. For the first time in my life, I'm in a position to help 
see that they get done."

Ed laughed at that and said, "For the first time in your life? I know 
better than that. You've given jobs to thousands of people. That is 
an important thing and you did it. You've donated a lot to other 
causes. That is important."

"Hard to be humble around this guy," said Manuel with a wink at 
Juanita. 

Having finished his iced tea, Ed stood and said, "We'd better head 
home before the wives think some young woman like Juanita 
offered us a better place to spend the night."

"I understand what you're saying. You have to keep the women in 
your life happy. Leroy, give me a call tomorrow and we'll work out 
the arrangements for funding your research. Ed, you hold that note 
and when we go public I'll get those stocks over to you," said 
Manuel. 

"Joe will be sorry to have missed you," said Juanita.

"Give him our regards," said Ed.

As they walked home, Leroy thought about Manuel and Joe. He 
figured that the stocks they had given for their new son would be 
worth about twenty-five thousand dollars. It was a very generous 
gift. Funding a research project that wouldn't return much money 
was a very generous act. Manuel wasn't an educated man, but he 
was a very good man. When they turned onto the main street, 
Leroy said, "I'm always amazed at the generosity of the people in 
this town."

"This town is filled with houses that most folks wouldn't look 
twice at, but the people who live within them are often worth 
millions. I have to admire them for keeping their feet on the 
ground. It's a good place to raise a child. I can't think of a better 
place to raise Eddie."

They were about to reach Shirley's bar when Leroy said, "Let's see 
if Shirley is here."

"No way I can walk by here without stopping in," said Ed with a 
large smile.

"You'd think they would rename it Ed's place considering how 
much time you spend here."

When they entered the bar, Shirley called out, "Husbands, lock up 
your wives because Ed Biggers is on the premises."

"Don't worry men, I've come to spread the news about the birth of 
my son -- Eddie Biggers," shouted Ed.

"Families, lock up your daughters because Eddie Biggers is in 
town," corrected Shirley.

Her shout was greeted with cheers, laughter, and shouts of 
congratulations. Ed actually blushed. Leroy patted him on the back 
and quipped, "Poor Eddie. He's got a reputation and he isn't even a 
day old."

Ed laughed at the comment and went over to the bar where a pair 
of glasses filled with soft drinks was waiting for them. He took a 
seat where he could talk to Shirley. Leroy sat next to him on a 
stool closer to the door. 

Feeling like teasing Ed, Shirley said, "I hope he got his looks from 
Linda. The kid needs something going for him."

Putting his hands over his heart, Ed said, "Oh, I'm wounded. One 
of the great loves of my life has called me ugly. I think I shall 
never recover."

Shirley leaned across the bar and caressed his face. She said, 
"Don't worry, Ed. I still love you."

The trio teased each other in the manner that only old friends could 
manage. Ed had a wonderful time catching up on the gossip about 
Shirley's family. The relationship between Beth and John was a 
long topic of conversation. John was halfway through his first year 
of Druid College. When Beth returned, they would be together in 
school and their long-distance love affair would have to face the 
stresses of living in close proximity. All of the parents were 
convinced the kids would go through the transition without a 
problem.

Home from the hospital, Linda leaned against Ed while he was 
seated on the couch in the informal living room. He had an arm 
around her and cradled Eddie in his other arm. Linda sighed and 
then said, "It's great to be home."

"I know what you mean," said Ed without looking away from 
Eddie. Eddie seemed to share his sentiment about being home.

Linda sat up and looked at Ed in surprise. She asked, "You know 
what I mean? Since when have you been stuck in a hospital for two 
days?"

Embarrassed at his misunderstanding, Ed said, "Oh. I thought you 
meant that you were happy to be here at home for good."

From her seat at the other end of the couch, Kelly said, "I'm 
convinced that Ed wouldn't think of a stay in the local hospital as 
being away from home. So long as he can see the desert out the 
window, he knows that home is only a few steps away."

"If you recall, my graduate research project showed that desert 
mice took about a year to become acclimated to cold climates. Ed 
is a desert rat. Using Ed as an example, I guess we can't conclude 
the same thing about desert rats," said Leroy. Ed wrinkled his nose 
in a bad imitation of a rat.

Ed chuckled softly and looked down at the infant nestled in his 
arm. He said, "I think they are making fun of us. We can't help the 
fact that we are desert critters."

"You're so sure that he's going to love the desert, aren't you?" 
asked Ling. She didn't really understand the relationship between 
the desert and Ed. As far as she was concerned, it was the great 
mystery about her husband which she would never solve. 

"Of course, I'm sure of that. He and I have a common soul," said 
Ed looking down at the infant with a smile. He didn't know how to 
explain the connection between them any better than that. 

Winking at her wives, Linda asked, "So how are you going to raise 
Eddie?"

"I'm going to teach him how to ride, camp, and hunt rocks. We're 
going to spend as much time out in the desert as the demands of 
modern life will allow," answered Ed. He kissed the infant on the 
top of the head taking in the smell of baby. Looking up at the rest 
of the family, he said, "We're going to grow together. Eddie is 
going to grow up while I grow old."

From his position on the ridge that was part of one of the 
mountains in the Superstition Mountains, Ed looked down at the 
camp below with pride watching his son hard at work. It was hard 
to believe how fast the years had passed since the day when he had 
held the infant in his arms. It seemed like yesterday when he was 
lying on the floor playing a game of peek-a-boo with him. 

He watched Eddie, moving with quiet confidence, take care of his 
horse. Ed had taught him how to ride a pony when he was five. 
The young boy had taken to it like he had been born in the saddle. 
As the years passed, a horse replaced the pony. Eddie had even 
worked part-time at the Auction House while he had been in high 
school. 

Rather than super-smart like Beth, John, or William, Eddie was 
above average. That suited Ed just fine since it meant that he had 
gone through the public school at home. Eddie was a good student 
and usually brought home academic honors. Just as important, Ed 
had gotten to watch him participate in school sports. No one 
cheered as loud as Ed did when Eddie took to the field, regardless 
of whether it as baseball and football field.

Of course, when it came to sports, Eddie had to take a back seat to 
Betsy. She had participated in track and field events in three 
Olympics. She was one of the few people to have competed in both 
the Winter and Summer Olympics. She had run away with over a 
dozen gold medals. Eddie had given up many an afternoon to help 
her train.  

Eddie wasn't jealous of his older brothers or sisters. More often 
than not, Eddie was happiest when they succeeded in something. 
Linda often teased Eddie that he was the cheering section of the 
family. When William had received his Ph.D. in Economics, Eddie 
had walked around the crowd telling everyone that William was 
the smartest guy in the world. He was more than happy to tell 
anyone who would listen that Beth was the greatest architect who 
ever lived and that Frank Lloyd Wright could have learned a trick 
or two from her. He boasted that John was going to win a Nobel 
prize in Biology just like Leroy and Ed was convinced that it 
wasn't an idle boast. 

Like a good older brother, Eddie was protective of his little brother 
and sisters. He watched over Rosa and Shirley, the twins, like a 
she-bear watches over her cubs. The girls were approaching the 
age at which the boys would start taking notice. Ed was convinced 
that any boy who called upon the twins would have to satisfy 
Eddie that their intentions were honorable. The youngest, Manuel, 
was just entering grade school and Eddie was more than happy to 
baby-sit. 

The teasing comments about locking up the girls in town when 
Eddie Biggers was born had come true. Much to the frustration of 
their parents, the girls in town discovered Eddie when he became a 
teenager. It wasn't that he pursued them. It was quite the opposite, 
he was confused by their attentions. His Caucasian features, Native 
American skin tone, and long black hair, worn tied back in a braid, 
gave him an exotic appearance. With the boy's good looks and 
easy charm, very few girls in town could resist him. Many a 
teenage girl had fallen in love staring into his gray eyes and 
pursued him with almost obsessive energy. Ed had lost track of 
how many times some teenage girl had set off the security alarms 
trying to sneak into the house.

It amazed Ed that his son was so willing to give up Friday and 
Saturday night dates to go rock hunting with him. Eddie had the 
same passion about rock hunting as his father. It seemed like every 
other weekend the two of them would load up the trailer with the 
horses and drive out to the desert. 

Although Ed loved all of the children, Eddie was special. The two 
of them were so much alike it was scary. They both approached 
food with the same sensual pleasure. One of the things that had 
worried Ed never came to pass. Eddie had never acted like a bully. 
In fact, he had gathered a circle of friends who would last a 
lifetime. Eddie loved the little town where he had been raised as 
much as Ed.

This trip was a special one for the pair. Eddie had just graduated 
with a BS Degree in Geology at the age of twenty-one. The young 
man had breezed through the program. Part of the reason was that 
he had been living geology for most of his life. His rock collection 
was very impressive. There was no doubt that Eddie would take 
over as the expert on Arizona Geology. They had gone on this 
three-week trip to celebrate Eddie taking over Biggers Consulting. 

In all the years Ed had spent hunting rocks in Arizona, he had 
never even thought to search for the Lost Dutchman's Mine. While 
searching for a place to take a nap while Eddie worked over an 
interesting outcropping, Ed had discovered the site of legend. Ed 
glanced down at the gold nuggets in his hand. One of them was 
almost the size of an egg. He put the nuggets back in their 
collection box. It was marked with the location, 'Lost Dutchman's 
Mine,' but not the co-ordinates. Some things were meant to remain 
a secret.

Ed looked up at the most glorious sunset he had ever seen. It was 
breath taking in its beauty and it was clear that the Gods and 
Goddesses had gone all out on this one. The sky was painted with 
colors he didn't know existed. Aloud, he said, "This is spectacular. 
A perfect end to a perfect day."

Eddie Biggers was busy building a campfire while waiting for his 
father to return to camp. It was approaching sunset and his father 
would return once the sun had disappeared below the horizon. He 
looked up at the ridge where his father was seated and smiled at 
the sight. Not many men his father's age could ride around the 
desert the entire day and still look fresh. He knew his father had 
slipped off for a nap, but he'd never mention it.

The wood finally caught fire and he stepped back to watch it burn. 
Looking up at the sky, he noticed the sun had gone down. He 
turned back to see if his father was having any trouble getting 
down from the ridge. Much to his surprise, he saw a blinding flash 
of light appear from where his father had been seated. He waited, 
but didn't see any signs of motion. There was a sinking feeling in 
his stomach when he recalled what William had told him before 
the trip.

The two hundred yards to the ridge seemed to take forever to 
climb. Stepping past the horse tied to a bush, Eddie finally 
scrambled up to where his father was seated. Ed's open eyes stared 
off to the horizon without blinking. A glanced down at his chest 
told Eddie all that he needed to know. The Medallion was gone. 
His father's service to the Gods and Goddesses had come to an end.

As a moan escaped from his chest, he knelt down and looked at his 
father. He looked like a bronze statue of a cowboy. His hat, 
covering gray hair, was worn level, giving him an intense 
expression. It was softened by the wry smile on his face that made 
him look as though he understood some cosmic joke that all others 
were denied. His leathery skin was wrinkled from decades in the 
sun. 

Reaching over, Eddie passed a trembling hand over his father's 
face to close the eyes. The skin was already cool to the touch. 

As tears welled up in his eyes, Eddie pulled out his GPS and took a 
reading. Holding the GPS in one hand, he pulled out his cell phone 
from his pocket with the other. Flipping it open, he spoke into the 
microphone, "Call Home."

When Mary Gold answered, he considered telling her what had 
happened. After giving the matter a second thought, he said, "Put 
William on the phone."

"How did you know he was here?" asked Mary Gold in surprise. 
After glancing over at William, she handed him the phone without 
further comment.

After placing the handset to his ear, William said, "He passed 
away."

It wasn't a statement or a question, but something between the two. 
Voice breaking, Eddie answered, "Yes."

"I'm sorry Eddie," said William feeling his throat tighten. He had 
promised himself that he wouldn't cry when the news came, but it 
was an impossible promise to keep. Tears ran down his face.

"At least you warned me," Eddie said. He looked over at his father 
and fought back the tears. He needed to keep it together until he 
had done everything that was necessary.

"That doesn't change the fact that you've had to face this alone," 
said William. He felt sorry for his little brother, but it was the way 
it was meant to be. He said, "Give me your GPS co-ordinates. I've 
got a helicopter here and can be out there in twenty minutes."

Relieved to hear that William was coming, he gave his older 
brother the GPS co-ordinates and then hung up to wait for the 
helicopter. Eddie had known that his brother would come through 
for him. William was always there when he needed a helping hand. 
In fact, most times his brother was there before the help was 
needed.

Stashing his cell phone back in his pocket, Eddie thought about all 
the things he needed to do. He had to take care of the town by 
arranging for a memorial service. He'd hold it up at the high school 
where everyone could gather. There would have to be food, lots of 
food, so that people would have a chance to relax and swap Ed 
Biggers stories. Ed had loved his hometown and Eddie knew the 
town would show its love for Ed. There wasn't a single person in 
town who wouldn't miss Ed. 

Some people would need special attention. Eddie considered those 
he would need to visit when he returned to town. There were some 
that required help to live through this crisis. He would have to visit 
Aunt Shirley and Aunt Rosa, Ed's two oldest friends. That would 
be a very heart-wrenching visit.

"Don't worry. I'll watch over our little town, Dad," Eddie said. He 
knew his father's spirit would be watching over it as well. 

Sitting down next to his father with tears running from his eyes, 
looked out over the desert. His father had taught him so much 
about love - love for the desert, love for his town, and love for 
people. As tears overwhelmed him, Eddie said, "I love you, Dad."