Chapter 19

Kelly sat down on a bench as the kids started to play on the swings at the school ground. Beth and Little John were giving pointers on how to swing, to William; but the swing was just too big for him. He slid to the ground and stepped away nearly getting hit in the head by Beth who didn’t realize that he had crossed in front of her. He would have been hit if he hadn’t ducked when she swung forward. Kelly, seeing the near miss, started to climb out of her seat, but stopped when Beth said, “Don’t walk in front of or behind someone swinging. You’ll get hurt.”

Now that he was standing off to the side, William turned back to Beth and nodded his understanding. Going over to the slide, he looked up at it wondering if he was strong enough to climb all the way to the top. Taking a deep breath, he started climbing. Kelly, seeing what he was doing, started to run over to the slide in the hope of catching him if he should fall. She stopped when William reached the top and then slid down without hesitation. Brushing off the dirt from his shorts, he stood up at the base of the slide and looked up at the top wondering if there were taller slides anywhere.

She returned to her seat when William went to one of the riding toys and struggled to climb up on it. The youngest of the children was totally fearless when it came to physical activities. The only time that he didn’t try something was when he decided that he wasn’t strong enough to do it properly. She had never seen him hurt himself no matter what he had tried.

The recess bell rang and fifty-seven seven-year-olds came running out of the school to play in the playground. The screams of kids taking a break were unmistakable. The three Carter kids stopped and gathered together, watching the kids run over to the swings and other activities on the playground. Kelly watched her kids as they reacted to the sudden swell in playmates. This was the most number of kids that any of them had ever seen and it would be interesting to see how they would react.

Beth went over to watch the girls playing jump rope while Little John directed William away from some of the bigger kids. A number of boys were kicking a ball around and the two Carter boys went over to watch. Little John looked like he wanted to join in, but he wasn’t going to leave the side of his little brother. Kelly was concerned and thought that she should try to talk William into sitting with her so that John could play.

As she went over to get him, she noticed him turn to look at a larger kid that was pushing around a little kid. This was clearly an uneven fight, but the teacher watching the kids on the playground hadn’t noticed. William pointed at the big kid and, in a clear loud voice, shouted, “Evil!”

The volume was loud enough to attract attention from kids all over the playground. As the teacher turned to see what was happening, Beth, John, and William had moved between the big kid and the small kid. Standing between his older brother and sister, William pointed his finger at the bully and said, “You are evil! Do not touch that kid again.”

“And what are you going to do about it?” asked the big kid as he looked down at the three little kids. Rather than wait for an answer, he moved to push William to the ground.

Kelly started to run over to the kids finding that she running next to the teacher. The teacher swore, “That damn kid won’t leave the little kids alone.”

The three Carter kids had reacted before the big kid had a chance to touch William. Beth and John had tackled him to the ground and William had thrown himself on the kid’s head. Between the three of them, the big kid was effectively pinned to the ground. Moving so that he was straddling the kid’s neck, William leaned down and said, “You shall never hurt another kid again. Do you understand me?”

The big kid tried to hit William, but William just grabbed his ears and twisted as hard as he could. The shock and pain caused the kid to scream and burst into tears. William repeated, “You shall never hurt another kid again. Do you understand me?”

The kid screamed out, “I un’stand ya!”

William released the ears as Kelly and the teacher arrived. It took a minute, but the adults soon had the kids separated. The big kid, his arms held by the teacher, glared down at William who stood with his legs apart and his hands on his hips. Angered, the big kid tried to kick William. The attempt was unsuccessful and, as the teacher tried to restrain the kid, William retaliated by punching him in the balls as hard as he could. As the big kid curled up into a ball, William leaned forward and said, “I shall not tolerate such evil.”

In shock, Kelly stared at William and didn’t hear what the teacher was saying to the child. She knelt down and said, “You can talk.”

William just shrugged his shoulders as if to say that it was old news and went to stand by his brother and sister. The brother and sister looked at each other over William’s head and made faces suggesting that this was news to them. Kelly watched the interaction wondering what other secrets the children had that she had no clue even existed.

After tapping Kelly on the shoulder, the teacher finally managed to get her attention. Kelly looked up and said, “I’m so sorry, I was just distracted.”

The teacher, still holding onto the bully, said, “Don’t worry about your kids being in trouble, Harold has been hitting the little kids ever since school started. This is the first time anyone ever hit him back. Are your kids okay?”

Looking over at the three kids standing together providing a unified front, she answered, “They’re fine.”

The teacher looked over at the kids and shook her head. It was hard to imagine that the little fellow had taken on Harold and won. She looked at Kelly and only then realized that she was a Druid. Her hand flew up to her mouth as she realized who these kids were. There were five children of Druids in the school and they were all advanced for their ages. The classes with Druid children in them tended to be very quiet and well behaved. Many of the teachers had commented on how an air of calm surrounded these kids and projected that calm to the kids around them. It was almost unnerving, but very appreciated by the teachers. She said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize who you were.”

“Who am I?” asked Kelly surprised at the statement.

“Aren’t you one of the Carter wives?”

“Yes, I am,” replied Kelly still not sure what the teacher was getting at.

“Your kids are here to get tested, right?”

Understanding burst over Kelly as she realized that news about the kids would have spread over the school. She nodded as she answered, “Yes. I thought I would give them a little time to play on the swings, before they went in to get tested. We don’t have swings at the college, so they seldom get to play on them.”

“I understand. I’m so sorry this happened.”

Kelly shook her head looking over at her three children. With a smile, she said, “I’m not. They take after their fathers, moving between the strong and the weak to protect the weak. They use as little force as necessary to stop the strong. I also discovered that my youngest son can talk.”

The teacher couldn’t believe that a mother would give that response to her children getting in a fight. It was as though she were proud of them. Instead, she suggested, “You might want to take your children into the school for testing now.”

Kelly nodded and joined her kids. Together they went into the school, leaving behind a confused teacher and a very embarrassed bully as one of the kids pointed out that he had just been beaten up by a someone that was only three years old.

When the children had been in the fight with the bully, Ed was across the country in Arizona taking a moment of pleasure in the pool at home. Linda was swimming in the pool with him, talking about how tough it was to be here without William. This was her first time to be away from William, and it was tearing her apart. Unfortunately, she had a very busy autograph tour to take, which would end in California. While there, she would hopefully sign a contract to make a movie based on her book.

Understanding how tough it was for Linda to leave William back in North Carolina, Ed asked, “Would you like to call them?”

Sighing, she answered, “It wouldn’t do any good. The kids are getting tested now.”

Ed said, “I sure was surprised when I found out that he could read.”

“Tell me about it,” replied Linda. How could a mother not know that her child could read college level material? She still couldn’t believe that every time she left William alone with the other kids, he was spending the time reading.

The telephone in the pool room rang. Getting out of the water, Ed went over to it and hit the speakerphone button to answer it. He was surprised, when Kelly said, “Hi, guys! Have I got news for you!”

The cheerful tone in her voice was a great relief for Linda who had feared that the call signified some major problem. She called out, “What’s up, Kelly?”

“Linda, you aren’t going to believe this!”

“What?”

“William talked today!”

The surprise was enough that Linda almost drowned. Coughing as she stood up in the pool, Ed asked, “Are you okay?”

Kelly asked, “What’s happening?”

“I think that Linda just about drowned when you gave her the news.”

Still coughing, Linda croaked, “What word did he say?”

Kelly laughed and answered, “I didn’t hear his first word, but I understand that it was ‘evil.’ He spoke whole sentences as he was threatening a bully.”

Confused by the disjointed fashion in which the story was emerging, Ed said, “Hold on. Start at the very beginning.”

Linda pulled herself out of the pool and went to listen at the speakerphone. Both of them listened open mouthed as Kelly related the activities that had occurred on the playground. The behavior exhibited by the children were clearly that of Druids protecting the weak from the strong. Ed smiled with pride as he heard the story. Linda, more worried about the kids fighting, was still amazed to learn that her son could talk. It was as though a dream came true for her.

When Kelly hung up, Linda turned to Ed and, with tears of happiness running down her cheeks, said, “I have to go back, even if it’s only for half a day.”

Nodding, Ed said, “Go get packed and I’ll tell Cathy to arrange a flight out there for you.”

Going into the office, Ed told Cathy, “We have a mother that has to go see her child. Can you arrange a flight to North Carolina for Linda?”

Worried, Cathy asked, “Is William okay?”

Nodding, Ed said, “He said his first word and his mommy wasn’t there to hear it.”

Relieved to hear the good news, Cathy laughed at how happy Linda must be about her son talking. She turned to the telephone and started making the arrangements for Linda to get there. Knowing the autograph schedule, she arranged for a flight the next day to the first stop on her grand tour.

Linda flew out of the house, getting a ride to the airport from Bob. Ed didn’t even have a chance to tell her goodbye or wish her a nice flight. With her departure, Ed was left alone in the house with the staff. Ling was competing in California and Leroy was in Wisconsin checking out Chronic Wasting Disease among the deer population.

Moving into the kitchen, Ed sat down and looked at the two women dancing as they cooked. Marguerite and Shuana were having a good time preparing lunch. Watching them reminded Ed of days gone past. He laughed as he said, “I don’t know what to think of this. Two women in here dancing on my grave, and I’m not even dead yet from their cooking.”

Without taking a break from their dancing, both women turned and threw foam balls at him. Their actions shocked Ed, as he was not expecting anything like it. Doing his best to come up with a witty comeback, he said, “Now that I have built up an immunity to your poisons, you’re trying to stone me!”

The two women winked at each other and danced over to the counter. As one, they turned and sprayed him with water pistols. Defenseless and laughing too hard to flee, Ed raised his hands and shouted, “I give up!”

Marguerite burst out laughing at the look on his face. Giggling, she said, “Finally got you.”

Ed was still laughing at their surprise attack. Talking between chortles, he agreed, “You got me, but I’ll come up with a suitable revenge.”

Shuana laughed and said, “Hollow threats.”

“Since I’m the only family member here, how about I take everyone out to dinner tonight to Maria’s?”

Marguerite and Shuana glanced at each other, deciding that they would cook the dinner intended for that night the next night. Marguerite answered, “Sure, that would be great.”

“When will lunch be served?”

“In three hours, if that is okay.”

Nodding, Ed said, “I’ll go over to my office and return in time for lunch.”

Shuana laughed as she said, “Good. Your negative attitude towards our cooking is spoiling the broth.”

Chuckling, Ed went to the door as he called out over his shoulder, “That’s it. Blame me for your mistakes.”

Two wet spots showed up on the back of his shirt as the pair shot him a final time with the water pistols. In response, Ed sped up his exit followed by the giggles of the two women. Rather than be irritated, he was pleased to see them working and playing together. It meant that the staff was happy.

The walk to his old house only took a few minutes. He felt comfortable moving under the wide-open Arizona sky, unable to believe how much he had missed it. It was almost a shame to go into the building.

When he reached the house, he was surprised that the door was locked. Fishing his key ring out of his robe pocket, he unlocked the door and entered finding that there were groans coming from the back office. Smiling, Ed wondered if the sounds indicated what he thought they meant. Rather than disturb who ever was in the back office, Ed went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of iced tea.

Standing in what used to be his dining room, Ed looked around the office noticing a number of minor changes in the layout. They had moved the receptionist’s desk to a side, with the office equipment directly behind the desk on a table. A new conference table had been moved into the dining room. The furniture in the waiting room had been improved and a number of rock samples had been mounted on the wall as décor.

A huge map showing detailed geological features of the state covered the wall. He was familiar with every site shown on the map, having been present when each and every measurement had been taken. They had a second version of the map in the office safe that showed mineral deposits. This second map predicted a large number of sites where additional mineral deposits could be found.

His hands traced common features of the Arizona landscape. Seeing the landscape of the entire state drawn out before him only reminded him how much he liked the desert. His attention was distracted by the clear sounds of a female orgasm in the office. He listened with a smile wondering who was in there.