Chapter 53

The activities being performed by the occupants of the house would never be the subject of a Norman Rockwell type of picture. The scene just wasn't cute enough. Lucy, seated at her desk, was busy writing up her solution to the math problem that William had given her. At his desk, William was busy changing his program for predicting economic and social trends. Over at the dining room table, Jan was writing on a pad of paper; capturing another chapter of her book. At the other end of the dining room table, Rock and Natalie were cleaning their pistols. Lisa was seated on the couch doing cross-stitch while Ken was at the other end of the couch reading a manual for the new satellite dish receiver. Tim was lying on the floor reading a science fiction book that he had borrowed from William.

The discordant figure was Forest Shadow who stood at the entrance to the hallway with her arms crossed. She was watching them unable to believe that this was how the group would choose to spend a Saturday afternoon. Looking out the front window, she could see that the weather wasn't all that great. It was cold and wet, but not quite raining. She frowned and wondered what she would do for the rest of that afternoon.

William turned in his chair so that he faced the rest of the room and said, "Trouble is coming. We've got three minutes."

Looking up from her laptop computer, Lucy asked, "What kind of trouble?"

"Bang bang shoot-em-up kind of trouble."

Both bodyguards put down the parts of the pistols they were cleaning. Reaching behind their backs, each bodyguard pulled out a pistol from its holster. Surprised that they weren't scrambling to put together their guns, Forest Shadow asked, "Where did you get those from?"

Ignoring the question, Rock asked, "Where is it coming from?"

"Coming down the road towards the house in a black car," William answered. He pulled out his key ring and, after fumbling through the set of keys, unlocked a drawer of the desk. He reached inside the drawer and pulled out a pistol. Looking around, he said, "Non- combatants into the safe room."

Lucy smiled at William and unlocked a drawer of her desk. She pulled a pistol out of it and said, "Non-combatants into the safe room."

"Where did you get that?" Natalie asked with a frown.

William just looked at the pistol with a raised eyebrow. He wondered whether Ling or Claire had given it to her. Regardless of which one it was, he knew that they would have made sure that she knew how to use it.

"Momma Claire," Lucy answered. She checked the pistol with practiced ease.

"Did she teach you to use it?" Rock asked.

"Do you think she would have given me a gun if she even suspected that I couldn't use it?" Lucy asked.

"Point taken," Rock said walking over to one of the bedrooms. Opening the door, he shouted, "Lock and load! It's time to rock and roll!"

Within fifteen seconds, Nicole came out of the room carrying a sniper rifle. Seconds later, Colt came out of the room carrying two assault rifles. He handed one to Rock who immediately checked it over. Nicole and Colt were wearing t-shirts and underwear.

Forest Shadow looked around the room in shock at seeing everyone arming themselves. She looked over at Lisa and Ken wondering what they thought of the matter. Ken had walked over to the closet and removed a pump shotgun. He picked up a box of headsets from the closet and handed it to Rock. In a voice that conveyed her nervousness, she said, "It looks like you're getting ready for the OK Corral."

Tim was getting off the floor and said, "William is rich. There are lots of bad people out there that don't like rich people. Some of them are dangerous."

Lisa took Forest Shadow by the arm and said, "Come with us. We'll wait in William's room."

"Don't lock up until the guard gets there," William said. Walking over to the door, William pushed the button on the intercom and, speaking into it, said, "Come into the house, right now. We're expecting bad guys."

Looking out the window, William watched the guard emerge from the guardhouse. Despite being overweight, the man made good time running up the drive to the house. William opened the door and let him in. Puffing from the short run, the guard asked, "What's going on?"

"Bad guys are coming," William said. Gesturing down the hallway, he said, "Get into the safe room."

Colt turned to Rock and asked, "What's happening?"

"I'm not sure. William says that trouble is coming," Rock answered while handing out the headsets that would allow them to communicate.

"Did a bird tell him that?" Colt asked while putting on the headset. He turned it on.

"Not this time," Natalie answered while putting on her headset. She adjusted it so that it wasn't tangled in her hair.

William said, "Do you remember that rumor that I was the one who was going to bring peace to the Middle East?"

"Oh shit," Rock and Colt said at the same time.

Looking over at him, Natalie said, "I thought they knew by now that you don't fuck with a Druid. Pardon my French, Lucy."

"Pardoned," Lucy said with a grin. She held out a hand to get a head set. With a shake of his head, Rock handed her one.

"I'm not a Druid, yet," William said with a shrug of his shoulders. Turning to Lucy, he said, "Lucy, you and Ken will stay in here. We're going to go outside where we can take care of business."

"You're staying in here with them and we're going out there to take care of business," Rock said looking at William. He was ready to shoot him in the leg if he gave too much of an argument.

"I stand corrected," William said with a smile. For some reason, Rock didn't trust that smile. He handed him a headset while shaking his head.

William opened the door and the bodyguards slipped outside. Closing the door behind them, he slid the dead-bolt into place. Turning to Ken and Lucy, he said, "You two get behind the couch."

When they went to go around the couch, he said, "Wrong side. Sorry."

Lucy said, "That puts our back to the front of the house."

"I know," William answered while walking to the back door. When he reached it, he opened the door. Seeing the looks Lucy and Ken were giving him, he said, "Don't worry. I have my reasons."

From over his headset, he heard Nicole say, "Close that damned door."

"They're coming in the back door?" Lucy asked looking at William and thinking that she'd prefer it if the door was closed.

From outside, there was a very loud squawk from one of the birds. William smiled and said, "I know a bad guy is coming. So does our friend out there."

"What friend?" Lucy asked.

"The skunk that lives at the bottom of the hill," William answered covering the microphone on the headset. He pointed through the door at the small animal curled up by the patio bar. He raised a finger to his mouth and said, "We need to be quiet now."

Lucy and Ken ducked behind the couch. Lucy was having a hard time keeping from giggling at the thought of what the skunk would do when the bullets started flying. Ken looked at her and whispered, "Did anyone ever warn you that William has some mighty strange friends?"

While Lucy succumbed to her giggles, William grabbed a coat before he slipped into the kitchen to wait. He didn't have to wait long. The sounds of shots being fired from the front of the house filled the air. Three minutes had passed since he had made the announcement.

When there was a surprised cry from the backyard and a noxious odor filled the house, William stepped out of the kitchen. A man was on the patio dancing around and waving his assault rifle in every direction. Taking careful aim, William shot the man in the right shoulder. Like Ling, he didn't have a problem with shooting an armed attacker in the back. The rifle dropped to the ground. Holding his nose, William stepped out of the house and kicked the gun away.

Deciding that it had done its duty, the skunk ran into to the woods leaving its scent behind. Kneeling down beside the wounded man, William put his pistol in the man's face. Still holding his nose, he said, "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a problem with body odor?"

The resulting tirade was in a language that William didn't understand. He did get the gist of what the man meant by the tone and expression on his face. From a distant tree, the Raven gave a couple of squawks that he did understand. Laughing, William said, "He just wanted to help."

Over his headset, he heard Lucy ask, "Is it clear?"

He answered, "The back is clear. Wait for word from the bodyguards."

His answer was echoed by an all clear from Nicole and then the rest of the bodyguards. Nicole came walking up the path from the pond with a scowl on her face that could have curdled milk. From her stand in the woods, she had seen the attacker turn and start dancing around. Convinced that William had been doing something weird, she had held off on her shot. His shot from within the house had taken her by surprise. She glared at William and said, "I had him in my sights."

"I had a better shot," William said.

When she got close enough for the odor to hit her, she turned her head away and said, "That explains why he started dancing around."

"You thought it was because of something that I did?" William asked with an innocent expression on his face.

"I was positive it was you," Nicole said. She still wasn't sure if he didn't have something to do with the guy getting sprayed.

Lucy came out of the house and looked at the guy at the ground. The odor brought tears to her eyes. She said, "I guess your friend came, gave his two scents worth, and left."

"Oh that's bad," William groaned at pun.

Colt came around the side of the house and looked at the scene in front of him. He had overheard the conversation between Nicole and William over the headsets. Despite being irritated that William had interfered, Colt couldn't resist temptation. In a stern voice, he said, "Didn't you know that use of biological and chemical weapons are a violation of international law?"