Chapter 4

Chuckling to himself, William shook his head as elements of the near future resolved themselves in his mind. Ken, seated at the dining room table, looked over at him wondering what he had found so humorous. He was about to ask when William said, "It is time for one of my mothers to make an appearance."

Lisa, in the kitchen with Tim, wondered why he hadn't asked her to prepare one of the guestrooms. She came out of the kitchen and looked at William with concern. This was the first that she'd heard of a visitor. She asked, "Should I prepare a guestroom?"

"Her room is ready. I saw you dust it yesterday. In terms of getting ready for her visit, would you mind getting me a bath towel?"

Lisa stood there with a puzzled expression on her face. She didn't understand what his request had to do with getting ready for her visit. Rather than question him, she went to the linen closet and retrieved a bath towel. She gave it him and asked, "Anything else?"

"No, that should do for now," answered William as he set the towel down on his desk. He picked up his book and returned to reading.

Ken stared at him for a minute and then went back to reading the instruction book that came with the Hugger. The Hugger had a built-in button for the garage door, but he didn't know how to program it. For the past three weeks, he had been using the remote to control the door. It was past time to correct that situation, but he didn't want to ask William to explain it to him.

It was half an hour later when William turned to Ken and asked, "Ken, would you get the door?"

Not having heard the doorbell, Ken wanted to ask why he should get the door. The doorbell rang before he had a chance to frame the question. Shaking his head at another example of the strangeness of living in this house, he got out of the chair and headed towards the door. Before he reached it, William said, "Don't make her stand outside."

Ken opened the door and looked at the small oriental woman standing in front of him. She was wearing a loose blouse and pants with simple flat shoes. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail. For some reason, the image of a stick of dynamite exploding flashed through his mind. Stepping back, he said, "Come in."

Without turning to look at the door, William said, "Hello Momma Ling."

He stood and turned to face her as she charged to where he was standing. She wrapped her arms around him and asked, "How are you doing?"

Nearly suffocating within her embrace, William had to wait for her to relax her grip on him to answer, "I'm fine."

"Let me get a look at you."

"You're going to have to let me go to do that," said William attempting to step back without much success. His mother was much stronger than she looked.

Ling released her hold and looked him over. She was relieved to see that he had been eating well and hadn't lost any weight. She said, "You've grown a little."

"It's only been a month since you last saw me," said William with a grin.

"Doesn't matter. You've still grown a little," said Ling.

Laughing at her stubborn instance, William said, "Allow me to introduce you to the staff."

Turning an eye on the couple standing near the kitchen, Ling, in a reserved voice, said, "Please do."

"Momma Ling, I'd like you to meet Ken and Lisa Armstrong. The little fellow hiding behind Lisa is Tim. He's a little shy. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ling. She is one of my mothers."

When Tim peeked around his mother's leg, Ling said, "I didn't know you had a little child living here."

"Yes, you did," said William. He knew there was nothing about Ken and Lisa Armstrong that she didn't know. He would have been willing to bet she knew how much change was in Ken's pocket.

After shooting him a look that would have withered a lesser person, Ling said, "Okay, so I did know."

"How many private investigators did you hire?"

"Two," said Ling frowning.

"Two?"

"Okay, three," replied Ling. They went through this dance whenever she checked on the people around William. There were times when she wished he were more like Beth or John. They just accepted that she investigated the people around them and didn't ask any embarrassing questions.

"Now you're going to tell me about Doug," said William with a smile.

"He's the Governor's son," said Ling.

"I know. Anything else?"

"He seems to be a good kid. I couldn't find anything bad about him," said Ling. With his connections in the state, she'd had problems finding someone willing to investigate him. She was going to do a little looking around of her own just to satisfy her concerns.

"That doesn't mean you're going to stop looking."

"You're impossible," said Ling with more than a little irritation although there was a touch of affection to her voice. She hugged William despite her frustration.

Ken and Lisa had listened to the exchange in horror at what they were learning. The news that three private investigators had checked up on them was shocking. Ken was outraged, but held his tongue. In a very small voice, Lisa asked, "You investigated us?"

"Of course. We're talking about the safety of my son. Would you trust Tim to strangers without checking them out first?" asked Ling. She knew that the only people they trusted enough to watch Tim were their parents. Usually it was Lisa's parents who watched Tim.

Ken was about to reply that he wouldn't leave his son with strangers and then realized that was exactly what she meant. William wasn't like his son and Ling had no choice but to allow him to go to school. Given that he and his wife were strangers as far as Ling was concerned, he could understand her checking up on them. He said, "I guess not."

Lisa frowned, but nodded her agreement. She didn't like the invasion of privacy, but understood a mother's desire to protect her child. In a small voice, she said, "You're right."

Tim took another opportunity to look around his mother's leg at Ling. Afraid of attracting the attention of the strange woman, he ducked back behind his mother's leg. Lisa said, "That's okay, Tim. She's not going to hurt you. She's William's mother."

William winked at Tim before turning back to look at Ling. He said, "You chose a very good day to visit. I'm checking out a dojo today."

"You knew I was coming," said Ling knowing there was nothing fortunate about the timing. William was always able to predict what she was going to do.

"You didn't tell me you were coming," countered William with a smile.

Turning to Ken, Ling said, "He told you to get the door before I rang the bell. Didn't he?"

"Yes," said Ken struggling to follow the conversation. He was still trying to figure out what a dojo was.

Still looking at Ken, Ling said, "You and I are going to have a long talk about taking care of my son. My investigators said that you haven't had any training as a bodyguard. You don't even have a carry permit."

"Carry permit?"

"I'm going to have to train you. It looks to me like I'm going to have my work cut out for me," said Ling after looking over the man with a critical eye. He was out of shape, but he had a good foundation on which to build. It could have been worse.

"I imagine you'd like a chance to relax with a swim after your trip," said William. "While your doing that, I'll have Ken bring your luggage to the guestroom."

"That's a good idea," said Ling even as she started to unbutton her blouse. Like most of the Carter Clan, she always headed to the nearest pool on arriving from a trip.

Ken and Lisa stared with open mouths as Ling calmly shed her clothes. She piled her clothes on William's chair after carefully folding each item. Ken couldn't believe the tight muscular body that was revealed as the clothes came off. Lisa couldn't believe how easily the woman undressed in front of strangers. It as if she were alone in the room.

Once she was naked, Ling said, "Don't bother showing me the way. I know where the pond is."

Holding up the towel, William said, "Don't forget a towel."

"Thanks," said Ling taking the towel from his hand. For a fraction of a second, she wondered how come he had it ready before realizing that it was a stupid question.

"I'll be down there in a few minutes," said William.

"Okay." Ling walked out the back door with a backward wave of her hand.

Shocked at what she had observed, Lisa said, "Now I know why you asked for the towel."

"We all tend to hit a pool after a trip. It's a good way to relax and stretch the muscles after a flight."

"That's your mother?" asked Ken unable to believe what he had seen. He couldn't help thinking that mothers had changed a lot since he was a kid.

"Yes, that's one of my mothers. Don't let her small build fool you. She's the most dangerous woman in the country. You'll see for yourself when we go to the dojo."

"What is a dojo?" asked Ken giving into his curiosity and venting his frustration.

"A martial arts school," answered William. He sighed at the thought of what Ken was going to experience over the upcoming month. It was his hope that Ken wouldn't quit out of frustration. He said, "My mother has decided to train you. She's going to teach you how to shoot, use a car as a deadly weapon, and some basic martial arts. I'm pretty sure that she's going to require Lisa to learn some basic martial arts as well."

"What has she got? A black belt?"

"She's so far beyond that, it is frightening. As far as I know, she's never been defeated in a fight. Only one person has managed to fight her to a tie and his skills were given to him by the God," said William.

Ken and Lisa exchanged a glance. They didn't know what to say at the mention of the God, so they said nothing. William looked at Tim and asked, "Would you like to go for a swim?"

"Sure," said the boy. He started to remove his clothes, dropping them on the floor. It was just a couple of minutes later that William and Tim left the house carrying towels.

Once the boys were gone, Ken turned to his wife only to find that she was staring out the back window. With a sigh, he said, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

"That is one beautiful woman," said Lisa feeling inadequate. She looked over at her husband wondering what he thought of Ling. She could understand if he was sexually excited from seeing her. A man would have to be dead not to be excited by a woman who looked like that.

"I guess I better get her luggage and put it in one of the guestrooms."

The owner paled when he saw Ling enter his dojo wearing her brightly colored silk Gi. He competed at the national level and immediately recognized her. He had seen her fight on several occasions and knew that he was nowhere near her skill level. Making a gesture to the class, he barked, "Everyone return to your positions around the mat."