Chapter 15

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, who was 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 hadn’t noticed 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 of year, even though less than two months had passed since New Years Day.

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 didn’t 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 had neither a horse to ride, nor 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 was a direction that he hadn’t 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 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’s 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 didn’t 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 principals, 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.”