Chapter 34

Eddie stood with his legs spread shoulder wide and his fists on his hips. Glaring at the man standing in front of him, he said, "My brother is the smartest person alive."

"There are a lot of very smart people in this world, young man," the distinguished looking man said with amusement in his voice. He added, "As Provost of this University, I can tell you that many of them are here on this campus."

"I don't care who you are. My brother is the smartest person alive. He's going to win a Nobel Prize, just like Daddy John Carter and Daddy Leroy."

William stepped over to Eddie and put a hand on his shoulder. It was hard to believe how much his brother had grown over the past few months. He was almost as tall as William already and probably would grow another six inches before this growth spurt ended. Everyday he looked more and more like Ed. It was hard to believe that Eddie wasn't a clone. Hoping to diffuse the situation, William said, "Eddie, I see you've met the Provost."

"Yes. He doesn't believe that you are the smartest person alive."

William smiled at the claim and said, "There are an awful lot of very smart people in this world."

"That doesn't keep you from being the smartest of them all," Eddie said with a curt nod of his head.

Seeing the exchange from across the room, Lucy came over and gave Eddie a big hug. She smiled at him and asked, "Are you bragging about your brother again?"

"I'm not bragging, I'm stating a fact," Eddie said defensively.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. I'm on your side," Lucy said with a wink at the Provost. The elderly man smiled back at her. She whispered in Eddie's ear, "I think he's the smartest guy in the world, too."

"Sorry, Lucy. It's just that the people here don't seem to know how smart my big brother is," Eddie said with a sigh. He pointed to William and said, "Even William doesn't seem to know how smart he is."

"Let's go see your brother John. I'm sure that he'll agree with us," Lucy said as she steered him away from the Provost.

When they were out of earshot, William said, "That's my little brother. He's the family cheerleader. According to him, my little sister is the greatest athlete who has ever lived. My brother, John, is the greatest biologist since the emergence of blue green algae. And, my sister, Beth is the greatest architect since man first decorated the entrance to a cave. Of course, he's right about them."

The Provost laughed at the comment about the cave. His specialty had been in anthropology. He said, "It is understandable. You do come from a rather intellectually distinguished family. He has a right to be proud of all that your family has accomplished, Dr. Carter."

"Thank you, sir."

"I was really quite pleased when I learned that you were coming here to complete your studies. You are the first Druid College graduate to attend our school and to attract someone of your stature was quite a coup."

William smiled at the use of the Native American term and said, "You have a lot of well known scholars on campus. I doubt that I'll be the last graduate of the Druid College to finish my education here."

A tall gentleman in a gray suit approached the pair. The Provost noticed him first and turned to greet him. "Hello Governor."

"Hello, Samuel. So you finally got my son through his Master's degree."

The Provost laughed at the suggestion that he had anything to do with it and said, "We enjoyed having him on campus. You should be proud of him."

Turning to face the Governor, William took a moment to examine the father of his friend. He was about to introduce himself when the Governor said, "You are William Redman Carter, or I guess I should say - Dr. Carter. Doug has told me a lot about you."

"I hope he didn't tell you the truth about me, I'd hate to ruin my sterling reputation," William said with a smile.

The Governor laughed and said, "I can see why my son likes you. You have the same twisted sense of humor that he does. Where is your lovely fiancée?"

"She's riding herd on my little brother," William said.

"Ah, the young man who proudly informed me that you are the smartest man in the world," commented the Governor with a chuckle. He had liked the young man. It was nice to find someone who felt so proud of his family.

"Yes, that would be him."

The Provost said, "He's quite tenacious when it comes to defending Dr. Carter."

William looked across the room at his little brother with more than a little pride. Eddie was a good kid. He said, "Eddie is special and I mean that in a positive way. He's going to take my father's place in this world and those are some big boots that he's got to fill. You don't know how important it is to me to know that Eddie will carry on my father's work."

"He's going to be the next John Carter?" asked the Governor looking over at Eddie with renewed interest.

"No. He's going to be the next Ed Biggers," William answered.

The Provost said, "Ah, so he's going to serve the Two-Sided One."

"No. That is my destiny. His is to be the guardian angel for a small town in Arizona," William said. Looking over at the Governor, he added, "You never know. He just might become the Governor of Arizona."

The Governor said, "My son speaks very highly of Ed Biggers. He seems to value his conversations with your father quite a bit. I'd like to meet him."

Grinning at the thought of his father around a politician, William said, "He's the only guy dressed in a black robe in the room. You're free to try and chase him down, but I've got to warn you that he avoids politicians like the plague."

"Why? I thought Druids were supposed to provide counsel to us politicians."

William chuckled at the thought of his father giving advice to a man running for office. He said, "My father is a human lie detector. Half truths and lies drive him bonkers."

The Provost looked at the Governor and laughed at the hurt expression on the man's face. He knew the Governor prided himself on dealing with people honestly. The Provost said, "No wonder he avoids politicians."

"I'm going to have to talk to my son and tell him to leave your father alone. How can he fill my shoes if he doesn't learn to lie a little," the Governor joked.

"Speaking of the devil, here he is," William said as Doug approached the group.

"What?" Doug asked.

"Your father was just saying that he was going to have a long talk with you about your chats with my father."

"Why?"

"He says that my father is stunting your political career since you aren't learning to lie," William said.

"Sorry dad, I promise I'll practice telling a lie every day," Doug said with a wink at William.

"That's a good start, son. I counted three lies in that one sentence."

William asked, "Three?"

"The first one was that he was sorry. The second one was a promise and we all know that by definition a promise from a politician or his family is a lie. The third one was that he was going to tell a lie every day. Makes a politician proud to see his son follow in his footsteps like that," the Governor said as he put an arm around Doug and hugged him close.

William burst out laughing. Grinning at the rare display of public affection, Doug said, "I'm just a chip off the old block."

Once the laughter died down, the Provost asked, "So Doug, what are your plans for the future?"

"I'm going after my doctorate in history. I've got an idea that I'm considering as the primary thesis of my dissertation, but I haven't fully committed to it yet," Doug answered with a shrug. He still hadn't found what he considered to be an ideal historical episode on which to put forth the idea of a failure of followership.

Suddenly serious, the Governor said, "If you pursue that topic, I'm pretty sure that you can get federal funding to support your work. The more that I think about it, the more I'm convinced that it's one of the most significant problems facing the world today."

Doug looked uncomfortable for a minute. Biting his lower lip, he said, "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't use your influence to help me with the funding."

"There's no need to go after government funding. I'll fund your work," William said.

The Governor's initial reaction was to get upset at Doug's suggestion that his help would not be appreciated, but William's comment demanded his immediate attention. Surprised, he asked, "Why?"

William smiled at the man's sudden change in expression and said, "Because I'm going to need his work to complete mine."

Stunned by William's reference to completing his work, Doug asked, "You're really going to pursue it, aren't you?"

"Yes. If you can demonstrate the problem, then I'll find a solution to it," William said.

"Where's your little brother?" the Governor asked. Over breakfast that morning, Doug had told him what William had proposed to do.

William looked around and spotted Eddie with his father talking in the corner. Pointing over to the pair, he said, "He's over there with my father. Why?"

"I'm going to march over there and tell him that he's right about you. That is the most ambitious project that I've ever heard anyone undertaking. For some reason, God help me, I believe that you'll accomplish it."

After a discussion in which more details about their future research projects had been exchanged, William drifted off to meet with other guests. He moved into the main room of the mansion where most of the guests were gathered. The party, in honor of his receiving the doctorate and Lucy receiving her bachelor's degree, was being held in the home of the University President. That hadn't been his plan. However, when the University President had heard who was on the guest list, he had volunteered his home.

William hadn't gone more than a dozen steps when Jan approached him. She smiled and said, "Congratulations, William."

"Thank you, Jan," William replied feeling a little guilty. For the first few months of her residency in the house, he had been in Texas. The past few months had been exceptionally busy. Much of his time had been spent negotiating the last draft with his supervisory committee. He said, "We haven't really had a chance to talk much since you moved into the RV. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great. I apologize about not coming into the house more often. It's just that I spend most of my time in the RV. I love it in there. I love the privacy, the quiet, and the comfort. I've never really had a place that I could call mine," Jan answered. There were times when she spread out on her couch luxuriating in her privacy.

It was easy to tell that Jan was very happy. Her smile was contagious and he was quickly infected with her happiness. William said, "I'm really glad that you like it. Lucy has loved having you around."

"Lucy has been wonderful. She takes me to school with her when you aren't available. We go shopping every week. She's been teaching me to cook. Of course, Lisa has been helping me with that as well."

William said, "It sounds like you've been busy. Now that it is getting warmer, maybe you could start joining us for Tai Chi in the morning."

"I'm not really much of a morning person. I've been getting up kind of late every morning," Jan replied feeling a little embarrassed at rejecting his offer. She felt that rejecting his offer was the same as denying that she owed him a lot.