Chapter 1

Ed Biggers returns to Arizona where he becomes the head of the Carter Clan.

... to explore the tension between generations.

A conflict exists between learning from one’s elders and learning from self-discovery. On one hand, the elderly have so much experience, that learning from them would help the young avoid many of the same mistakes. On the other hand, the world changes from generation to generation so much, that many of the lessons of the elderly will no longer apply.

Too often, usually after a grand mistake, a person discovers that the advice given to them by their parents or grandparents would have prevented them from making the mistake. The realization that their elders were correct, bothers them more than the consequences of mistake they had just made. Such discoveries significantly undermine self-confidence.

The converse situation isn’t rare, either. A person follows the advice of their elder and finds that the consequences are horrible. Get educated, get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids, save for college, and then save for retirement. At retirement, the person is unhappy with a life spent pursuing goals that did not yield satisfaction when accomplished.

The ironic part of passing wisdom from old to young is that the young tend to believe the myths and disbelieve the facts. They believe that Grandmother and Grandfather who are still married after fifty years never cheated on each other. Odds are good that they both screwed around, but they didn’t divorce as a result. Too bad that mom and dad couldn’t say the same. Odds are good that they screwed around and divorced as a result. Which generation is happier? The young believe that the grandparents are the happy ones, but they never saw the fights and they miss the fact that the two of them do not talk.

Years of discovering that the trivial facts were true, despite initial beliefs to the contrary, only reinforce the most fanciful myths. Sure, touching a hot stove will burn you, but does that mean that studying law or medicine is right for you? It isIt’s possible, but it does not necessarily follow. Proof that a hot stove burns when you touch it does not prove that one should study law or medicine. The question that leads us to believe the myths are true is, “if our elders are proven right ninety-eight times out of a hundred, doesn’t it mean that they should be right the other two times out of a hundred?”

The world has changed. It was once true that if you worked hard for a company, that you would have a job for life. That doesn’t hold, today. Where it once was true that a doctor was well respected, it has changed to where a high-school graduate is dictating medical treatment to the doctor, according to insurance guidelines.

The world has changed, but it remains the same. Men don’t understand women, and a hot stove burns when you touch it. How is a young person to know what remains the same and what changes? When is advice wisdom, and when is it myth? Such questions get answered only after a lifetime, and by then it’s too late - the myths have already been passed on to our children and grandchildren.

John went to the window and looked outside. The sky was overcast and dark. It looked like rain. Heart heavy, Ed stood next to him, and looked at the sky disgusted at the weather. He observed, “It looks like rain.”

John replied, “It won’t rain.”

At a few minutes before noon on Midwinter’s day, all of the Druids, the students, and the whole Carter clan gathered at the clearing to watch the dedication and consecration of the glade. Everyone was dressed, even the first year students wore blue robes. They stood just outside the circle of trees. The clearing, inside the circle of trees, was empty. The ground was covered by dull brown grass littered with dry leaves. The air was still, but carried a the tension of something about to break loose.

A news crew had come to film the ritual, in the hopes of getting fill time on the news. The cameraman had put a cover over the camera in the hopes of keeping the rain off the lens. The reporter had already recorded a simple introduction to the event.

John entered the clearing moving with authority. He was dressed in his brown robes, gray cloak, and carrying his walking stick. The light of the walking stick was on. He presented himself as a small figure dominated by the size of the clearing. A wind started to blow causing his cloak to flap.

John walked to the northern end of the clearing. Lowering the lit end of the walking stick to the ground, he traced a circle around the entire clearing moving in a clockwise direction. As he walked, the wind picked up in a swirling pattern until it filled the clearing. Closing the circle, John walked to the center of the clearing and pointed his walking stick to the north. He shouted, “Let all evil leave this area!”

As he shouted, a meteor came through the clouds above and crashed into the northern end of the clearing. It buried most of itself in a crater leaving a small portion above ground level. The observers of the ritual stepped back in amazement. The dirt kicked up joined the debris swirling in the air around the clearing.

John walked to the eastern end of the clearing, and lowered the walking stick so that the light was just above the ground. He traced a second circle around the clearing moving clockwise. The wind picked up even more. Closing the circle, he stepped back into the center of the clearing. He pointed his staff to the east and shouted, “Protect this area from evil!”

Again, a meteor appeared through the clouds above, and buried itself in the eastern side of the clearing. A small portion of the meteor remained above ground. The observers reacted just as strongly as before. The wind inside the clearing picked up even more, carrying with it more leaves and dirt.

John walked to the southern end of the clearing and using that as the starting point traced a third circle around the clearing. He stepped to the center of the clearing and shouted, “Make this area invisible to evil!”

When he shouted, he pointed the walking stick to the southern point. A third meteor hit the point. The wind picked up even more. It was swirling around the clearing forming a cylindrical wall of dirt and leaves. John was barely visible inside.

John walked to the western end of the clearing. He drew another circle around the clearing. Returning to the center of the clearing, H he pointed to the west and shouted, “Make this area a fortress against evil!”

A fourth meteor crashed into the ground at the western end of the clearing. The wind picked up even more. Outside the clearing, where the observers stood, the wind was only gently blowing. By now, John was a ghostly looking figure inside the clearing.

Inside the clearing, the wind was a gale. John’s cloak swirled around him. He stood there with both arms raised. The sleeves of his robe fell back exposing his bare forearms. He raised the walking stick to the sky. He shouted, barely heard above the wind, “I give my love and my life to the Gods and Goddesses, to sanctify this area.”

As his shouted died, a bolt of lightening came down from the sky and struck the walking stick. Fingers of electricity walked down the stick, enveloping John. When the lightening ended, John was gone. A small pile of ashes remained. The wind picked up the ashes. As people watched, the ashes appeared to form faces in the center of the clearing. A woman’s face appeared, smiling upon the clearing. That was replaced by a man’s rugged face. Then a face appeared that seemed to combine the features of both male and female. It lingered for several minutes. The faces disappeared as the wind spread the ashes across the clearing.

The wind died with an abruptness that was shocking. The heavy layer of clouds overhead dissipated within minutes, leaving behind a blue and bright sky. The temperature dropped a few degrees. It was suddenly a beautiful winter’s day. morning.

The crowd of observers stood still, looking into the clearing. There was no doubt that this was now a holy place. It took a little longer for the fact of John’s death to sink in. Ling, Linda, and Leroy wept at the loss of their husband. Ed and Kelly stood looking into the clearing. The children were quiet and waved farewell to their father.

The time had come for Ed to participate in the next ceremony as he joined the Druids entering the clearing. He walked to south end of the clearing where he took his place in front of the Black robed Druids.

Oliver Brown walked across the clearing to stand in front of the smoking meteor to the north. He wore the Brown robe that indicated that he served all of the Gods and Goddesses. He shifted uncomfortably, disliking all of the attention that he was receiving.

A green robed Druid stepped forward and shouted, “We who serve the Goddess greet you, Oliver Brown.”

A red robed Druid stepped forward and shouted, “We who serve the God greet you, Oliver Brown.”

Ed stepped forward and shouted, “We who serve the Two-Sided One greet you, Oliver Brown.”

The three of them stated together, “We recognize you, and name you as the Grand Druid.”

All of the Druids gathered there performed a half bow in the direction of Oliver Brown. Slowly, Oliver returned the half bow. He had known that he was the most likely successor to John Carter, but had not expected it to occur so soon. He shouted, “I thank you for this honor. I shall do my best to live up to the high standard that John Carter set.”

The Druids came up and introduced themselves to the new Grand Druid. Ed was the last one to greet him and it was a very solemn moment for each. Oliver said, “You have a position here if you want it.”

Ed frowned as he replied, “I’ll stay here off and on until September and then return to Arizona with my family. The children are taking a year off from their education.”

Oliver nodded his understanding. “You’re an invaluable resource, but you must follow your heart. This has been a hard day for you and your family.”

Ed was joined by Kelly and together they returned to the rest of the family. The children were huddled around Ling, Linda, and Leroy giving them comfort. Ed looked over at Ling seeing that she was devastated, sitting on the ground crying with her hands covering her eyes. Linda and Leroy were in shock, standing in place with tears running down their faces.

Ed and Kelly exchanged a look and then helped take everyone to their suite for privacy in dealing with their grief. The children were remarkably untouched by his death, a fact that gave comfort to Ed. He had been afraid of how they would take John’s death. Betsy was still too young to understand what had happened.

Ed watched as William went over to the reporter. The little boy, five years of age, stood facing the camera. In a solemn tone of voice, he said, “My father died in the service of the Gods and Goddesses after having lived his whole life serving them. We are proud of him for his accomplishments. He has given the world a great gift by this, his greatest sacrifice. The world is a better place because he lived, and it is a lesser place because he is gone. We loved him and now we shall miss him. That is all we have to say about the matter.”

The speech by William surprised Ed on many levels. He was the only one in the family that had the presence of mind to deal with the public at large, and he had done so in a magnificent manner. Ed was busy keeping Ling from collapsing, basically having to physically carry her to the college.

Inside, Ed helped Ling to their apartment suite. She collapsed on the couch and cried some more. By then, Linda had finally processed that John was gone and was crying just as hard as Ling. Leroy kept sitting in the chair repeating, “I thought I would have more time with him.”

Ed could see that Leroy felt guilty about being gone so much of the time. It was not fair, as Leroy was performing important work and growing as a person. Ed went over to his husband and said, “Leroy, every minute that you spent with John was lived to the fullest.”

“I should have been here more,” replied Leroy.

Kelly watched the exchange and then leaned over to Ed as she said, “Let me help Oliver, while you help the family.”

Nodding his agreement, Ed said, “Please do. Let me get Reverend Leroy in here before you go.”

Ed went to the back of the house where the Reverend had retired after the ceremony. He was shocked by the events that had occurred, and was trying to reconcile them with his beliefs. He looked up sharply when Ed called him, “Reverend Jones. Leroy needs you.”

The Reverend stood and followed his son-in-law out of the room. He was shocked when he saw the devastated looks on the faces of the family. Entering the room, he looked at Linda and Leroy. They were Christians and, after a quick glance at Ed, he took a place at the front of the room. Holding his hands together and bowing his head, he said, “Let us pray.”

Leroy and Linda immediately bowed their heads as Kelly slipped out of the room. Reverend Jones said, “Lord, help us through these difficult times. I know the Bible tells us of the sacrifice of your son, Jesus, on the cross. There is little said in the good book about the family and friends left behind. We know that they must have felt grief at the loss of such a powerful and loving man.”

After a slight pause, the Reverend continued, “Today, we have witnessed another sacrifice of a man for his Gods and Goddesses. You know our grief and we wish that you would lend us your strength as you lent your strength to Mary and the apostles. Help us through this time of loss. Amen.”

The prayer had the desired effect on Linda and Leroy as they replied, “Amen.”

The Reverend joined them on the couch and they talked among themselves in quiet voices. Ed spent his time talking to Ling, working through her grief. After a while, she said, “You knew.”

“Yes, I knew,” replied Ed as he held his wife in a tight embrace. He added, “So did you.”

She pulled away and looked at him in surprise. It was a fact that she had suspected it would happen. One couldn’t stay around the kids without knowing it. She replied, “Yes, I guess I did.”

Little John, Beth, and William came into the room with Betsy in tow. Seeing Linda and Leroy in such pain, Little John said, “Don’t be so sad. He knew what was going to happen and looked forward to it.”

Beth said, “We love him and know that he’ll be watching over us.”

William looked at his parents feeling sad for Linda and Leroy. Ling appeared to have overcome her initial shock at the death of John. As he had expected, it was Ed that had the strength and will to pull the family through the crisis. Looking over at Ling, he said, “I’m so glad that Oliver Brown was here.”