Chapter 9

The chair on which Ed was seated was of a style known as an Adirondack chair named that way because of the locale in which it was invented. From his seat on the porch of a cabin by a lake in Upstate New York, he watched the wildlife around him. It was mid-afternoon and hundreds of boats moved around the lake, leaving wakes that died out before they reached the shore. Occasionally, a boat would come close and the wake would cause little waves to break on the rocks that littered the shore.

Ling came out on the porch to sit beside him, missing Betsy already. In a conversational tone of voice she said, “We’ve been here for four days.”

“I know and I still haven’t managed to relax,” replied Ed. He pointed up to the porch roof where a small yellow light was lit. The light meant that someone was watching them and that they needed to be careful about what they did.

“We need some supplies,” remarked Ling, “perhaps we should go into town and pick up something for dinner tonight.”

“That sounds good. How about we leave after a quick swim?”

Looking around at all of the boats on the lake trying to see if any of them were acting as if they were watching the house, Ling answered, “Sure. I’m up for a swim.”

In one smooth motion Ed stood and removed his robe. Underneath the robe, he was wearing a simple bathing suit. Ling removed her wrap revealing her white bikini. The suits were necessary, as this was a public area where families that held to different beliefs about nudity were staying. Holding hands, they ran to the shore and into the water laughing as splashes flew around their legs. The water was very cold compared to the hot and humid air around them. At least it wasn’t as hot or as humid as North Carolina.

They played around in the water, enjoying the moment as they splashed and swam. For the first time that day, they actually relaxed. After a half an hour, the two of them emerged from the lake and went up to the porch. Once there, they picked up the clothes they had dropped and entered the house.

They carefully entered the second bedroom and shut the door behind them. Now that they were in a sound proof room, Ed whispered, “Okay, what’s with the yellow light?”

George turned from the monitor and, in a low voice that wouldn’t wake Walt or John, answered, “There was a boat out there that was watching you two on the porch. They also had a parabolic microphone.”

Nodding, Ling asked, “Did you get a picture of the people in the boat?”

Pointing to the computer screen where a grainy picture of a boat was displayed, George answered, “This is the best picture we were able to get. Three guys in the boat, one at the controls and two pretending to fish. You can make out the parabolic microphone right here.”

Ling looked at where he was pointing and nodded her agreement. She asked, “Do you recognize any of them?”

Bending down to get a better view of the picture, Ed, in a voice that was a little louder than he intended, answered, “Can’t make out enough details of their faces. Sorry.”

“It’s a poor quality picture. They could be the bad guys or news reporters trying to get the scoop on how a Druid takes a vacation,” replied George in a whisper. He had tried to clean up the picture somewhat, but his attempts failed to bring out any details that would enable them to identify the men.

From the couch, John complained, “Can’t you keep it down a little over there? I’m trying to sleep.”

Looking over at the pair of men sleeping on the couch, Ed said, “Sorry, John.”

The pair of them slipped out of the second bedroom. After removing his trunks and putting on a pair of briefs and his robe, he went out on the porch. The rental house next to theirs along the beach had a new couple moving in that afternoon. Ed noticed and wandered over to greet them. As he approached, the man unpacking the car straightened up and observed the Druid robes. With surprise on his face, he said, “Hello. I’m Stanley Bender.”

Extending a hand, Ed said, “I’m Ed Biggers.”

A young man with his hair cut in a buzz cut came out of the house walking towards the car as though he was being tortured. It wasn’t until he reached the car that he looked up from the ground and spotted Ed. Surprised, he shouted, “You’re a Druid!”

Laughing at the announcement, Ed said, “Yes, I’m a Druid. I’m Ed and who are you?”

“I’m Paul,” replied the young man thinking that he was going to have some stories to tell his friends when he returned to school in the fall. He wondered how many people his age had a chance to meet a real live Druid.

“Nice to meet you Paul. Let me guess, you are about fourteen years old?”

“Wow. You must have super powers to know that.”

The idea that it required super powers to guess someone’s age made Ed laugh. He replied, “I guessed your age. I run a Halloween Haunted House that has kids go through it by age, so I’ve seen lots of kids your age.”

“Cool.”

Stanley handed his son two suitcases and said, “Take these into your sister’s room.”

Stamping his foot in a minor act of teenage rebellion, Paul asked, “Why can’t she carry her own luggage?”

“Because she’s helping your mother clean up the cabin. Now move it, buster.”

Turning to apologize, Stanley stared at Ling as she came up beside Ed. After she put her arm around Ed, he put his arm around her and performed the introductions. “Ling, these are our new neighbors out here, Stanley and his son Paul. This is my wife, Ling.”

Ling, looking exceptionally good in her white sundress, said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

“God, you’re beautiful,” declared Paul as he stared at her transfixed to the spot. Once he realized what he had said, he picked up the suitcases and ran into the house blushing the entire way.

His departure brought a laugh to Ling and she said, “Young men are so much fun. I can’t wait until Little John is that age.”

Stanley finally recovered and said, “Little John is your son?”

“Yes. He’s not quite six yet.”

Stanley nodded and said, “That’s a fun age. They still think you are the smartest person alive. Wait until they get to be teenagers.”

The idea that his kids thought of him as the smartest person alive was funny to Ed. He said, “Oh, our kids have already figured out that we aren’t the smartest people they know.”

Elbowing him in the side, Ling said, “Speak for yourself, Cowboy.”

“Little John adores Catherine. He thinks she’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

“Oh, that’s only because she is always taking him out to watch the animals.”

Realizing that they had wandered off topic, Ed said, “Sorry. We really have a hard time not talking about the kids.”

“You have more than one child?”

“There’s Beth, Little John, Betsy, and William,” replied Ling proud of all the children.

“That’s quite an armful. We stopped at two,” said Stanley.

Realizing that they had wasted too much time, Ed said, “I hate to say this, but we had better run to the store and pick up some food for tonight.”

“You’re right. We’ll see you when you get back, okay?” Ling asked the question as she glanced back at the house making sure that everything was all right there.

At the store, Ed and Ling waited patiently in line to pay for the two steaks, corn on the cob, and baking potatoes that they had purchased. The young man packing bags seemed a little clumsy as he dropped a bag on the floor as he went to pack their purchase. Bending down, he picked up the bag and set it on the shelf. With a smooth motion, he put their purchases in the bag.

As Ed paid for the purchase, the young man asked, “Could I carry this out to your car?”

Smiling at the young man, Ling said, “Sure you can. Let’s see, your name is Howard, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” replied Howard knowing full well that she knew his name.

As the three of them walked out to the car, Howard said, “Having a Druid around here sure is of interest to some folks. We’ve had all kinds of people asking questions about you. Yesterday, a pair of men came in asking about you.”

“Ah, I hope you told them we were big tippers,” Ed joked fully aware that they were probably being watched.

Howard smiled, “No. Just told them that you usually came into town about this time.”

“It’s tough vacationing when everyone asks about you,” replied Ed.

“I could deliver the groceries to you after I get off work, Sir,” suggested Howard. It was tough slipping the extra food for the three men back at the cabin into their bag. He understood the need for the pretext, but it was getting old.

“No, that’s okay. We actually enjoy the chance to come into town,” replied Ed. They were trying to establish a pattern of behavior that would enable their pursuers to select the proper time and place for -an attack on them. He paused and then said, “If we forgot to buy something, we’ll call you.”

Ed opened the back door of the Hugger while Ling seated herself in the driver’s seat. She always drove. Bending over to put the bag in the back, Howard gave Ed time to pull out the money for the tip. Straightening up, he found Ed holding out two bills. Smiling, he said, “Thank you, Sir.”

Taking the money, he could feel the note hidden between the two bills. He slipped them into his pocket and returned to the store as Ed watched him walk. On the way, Howard stopped and pushed a couple of carts together to return them to the front of the store for customers to use.

Once Howard had returned to the store, Ed closed the back of the Hugger and got into the passenger seat. After buckling the seat belt, he turned to Ling and said, “Ready.”

As they pulled out of the parking lot, an old car parked across the street pulled away from the curb. The car followed them, keeping a good distance behind. Ling didn’t try to lose them, but she did keep a sharp eye on the road ahead in case they tried to trap the car between two cars.

Ed opened the glove compartment and removed the remote that controlled the cameras that had been added to the car. When the road straightened out, he took a couple of pictures of the car behind them, knowing that it was too far to be able to make out any details of the license plate or the people in the car. When they reached the road on which their cabin was located, the car behind them suddenly sped up and passed them. Ed snapped a couple of pictures as the car approached.

When they stopped in the driveway, Ed pushed the button that would upload the pictures to the computer inside the house. He replaced the remote in the glove box before getting out of the car. Going around the back, he unloaded the groceries. Together, he and Ling went up to the house. The yellow light in the porch roof was on indicating that they were being watched.

Unlocking the door, both entered the house relaxing at being out of view of their unknown watchers. Ed carried the bag of groceries to the kitchen while Ling went into the second bedroom. After putting the groceries away, he joined the rest of the group in the second bedroom. Much to his surprise, John and Walt were awake. John said, “While you were gone, two men stopped by and checked out the house. We identified one of them as one of the guys you captured who had the Molotov Cocktails. The other one had a limp. I suspect he was the motorcyclist that shot you and Leroy.”

George was busy working on the computer examining the images that he had uploaded from the cameras in the car. There was only one picture that showed enough detail to know who was in it. Ed glanced at the picture and said, “That’s the one that was driving the car when we caught them with the Molotov Cocktails. The other guy looks a lot like Devin, but I’m pretty sure that it isn’t him.”

Turning away from the computer, George asked, “What did you learn from Howard?”

“Two guys were asking about us yesterday. Howard answered all their questions. We set up an excuse for him to come out here in case something really important happens,” answered Ed.

Walt watched the monitor that covered the house next door and shook his head. Irritated at the complications of the neighbors, he said, “I wish that idiot landlord had rented that house to us. It only makes things more complicated.”

“The house on the other side of them is full of FBI agents. They’ll make sure the family is safe in case anything happens.” John and Walt had that discussion on several occasions, but Walt still felt bad about having civilians in the middle of a possible battlefield.

Ed asked, “So what is the deal with the neighbors?”

“They’re clean. He’s a civil engineer for the state. Oversees the design of bridges. She’s a volunteer for the Red Cross and teaches CPR at evening classes for them,” answered George.