Chapter 55

Everyone walked around the house quietly in an unnecessary attempt to avoid disturbing William. He was seated at his desk staring off into space. There was nothing significant demanding his attention. That meant there was nothing to take his mind off his problems. Happy Harry's death had hit him hard. He had to do something to take his mind off his sadness.

Spinning around in his chair to face Lucy's desk, he said, "I'd like to go to Arizona and check out the house."

Lucy's eyes were moist at the thought of the pain he was feeling. It hurt so much to see him in such pain. Softly, she said, "I've got finals coming up. You'll have to go there alone."

Feeling even more depressed, William said, "I forgot about that. I guess I can wait ten days."

"No, I don't think you can," Lucy said thinking that having him get out of the house would be the best thing for him to do. She looked at him and said, "William, you need to get out of here. Go see the house. Spend a little time in the desert with Daddy Ed. Visit with your friend Dale."

The discussion was cut short with the ringing of William's cell phone. Looking at the Caller ID, William wondered why someone from the Druid College was calling him. Opening the phone, William said, "Hello."

"William, this is Oliver."

"What can I do for you, Oliver?" William asked.

"I need you to visit a high school tomorrow," Oliver answered.

The next morning found William walking down the halls of a high school in Columbus, Ohio. It was a five minutes before noon and a bell rang. Looking around, William wondered what the bell meant. His curiosity was satisfied less than five seconds later when students streamed out of the doors lining the hall. Amazed at the frantic activity around him, he listened as a young female student said, "I can't believe that the Songster is here!"

Another student said, "Oh, he's so dreamy. I'd just die if he touched me!"

Confused, William headed on to his destination. While walking, he overheard other kids talking about someone named Street King, who was also there at the school. He started to turn towards Rock to ask about Songster and Street King, when Rock said, "The Principal's Office is over there."

William went into the office and was relieved at the relative quiet in the office. A stout woman sat behind a desk and looked up at William with a frown. Not recognizing him, she said, "Have a seat. He'll see you when he's done with his meeting."

"I'm..."

"Young man, I don't want to hear any backtalk from you. He'll see you when he's done with his meeting," the woman said sharply while pointing at one of the chairs. She gave him a glare that was intended to send him scurrying to the chair.

Rock held up a hand over his mouth to cover his grin. William said, "But,..."

"Sit down!"

William reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number while the woman behind the desk looked as if she was about to explode. Turning his back to her, he waited for Oliver to answer the phone. When Oliver answered, William said, "Would you call the school and let them know that I'm at the school, but that I can't get in to see the Principal?"

Without waiting for an answer, William closed the phone and took a seat. Once she was convinced that William was behaving in the proper manner, the woman turned to Rock and asked, "May I help you?"

Rock was about to answer when the telephone on her desk rang. She held up a hand and said, "Hold on a moment."

It was hard to control his laughter while watching the sequence of expressions that crossed the woman's face. Rock finally gave up and burst out laughing. He looked over at William and shrugged his shoulders. The woman hung up the telephone and looked at Rock. In a slightly nervous voice, she asked, "Are you Dr. Carter?"

"No, he is," Rock answered still chuckling.

"Oh," the woman said with an expression on her face as if she had just bitten into a lemon. Looking at William, she pointed to the door and said, "The Principal will see you now."

Rock followed William into the office trying to manage a business- like face. Inside the room, there were five other people and Rock immediately snapped into his bodyguard persona. There was a man in a business suit seated behind the desk. In front of the desk, a middle-aged man with long hair, beard, and blue jeans was seated in one of the chairs beside a very classy looking woman. A rather rough looking black man was seated in a chair beside the woman with a very large and intimidating black man standing behind him.

William deduced that the man seated behind the desk was Principal Jenner. He nodded to the man and said, "Principal Jenner, I'm William Redman Carter. Sorry to be late, but I had some difficulties getting here."

Principal Jenner studied William with a raised eyebrow. The young man looked like he was the same age as the students roaming the halls. It was hard to believe that he had his doctorate. Of course, the fact that the Grand Druid had called and arranged his visit should have clued him to expect the unexpected. Gesturing to the others, he said, "You're not late. Please have a seat. I assume that you recognize everyone here."

Looking over the people in the room, William said, "I'm sorry, but I don't know any of them."

The admission took the Principal by surprise. Sitting up, he said, "That gentleman, over there, is Darnel Jenkins. The lady is Tonya. The other gentleman is Street King."

William looked from one to the other and settled on Street King. The gold chains and gemstone encrusted medallion hanging off one of the thick chains didn't seem to fit the man's name. Curious, he asked, "Are you one of Harry's people?"

The black man stared at William and asked, "Harry's people?"

"Yes, Happy Harry," William said thinking it would be nice to find out how things were going on the street since Harry's death.

"Is he a record producer or something?"

"No, Harry was a Druid," William answered looking over his shoulder at Rock only to find that his bodyguard had turned away and his shoulders were shaking. He wondered why Rock was laughing.

"I'm not one of his people," Street King said. He had never encountered a Druid before, but was very familiar with their reputation.

The big black man standing behind Street King asked, "Who is your friend?"

"That's Rock," William answered.

"What's he find so funny?"

Rock turned and looked around the room barely able to keep his amusement under control. Shaking his head, he said, "I'm sorry, but William has no idea who any of you are or what you do. Street King, when he was asking you if you were one of Harry's people, he was really asking if you were homeless."

"Say what!"

"Your name is a street name," Rock said.

Shrugging his shoulders, William said, "My street name is Half Feather."

"What kind of musician are you?" Darnel asked wondering how any musician could be so ignorant of three of the most widely known names in the music industry.

"I'm not a musician," William answered looking around that the others. They were all staring at him as if he were from another planet. He swore that he was going to give Oliver a piece of his mind when he saw him next. He asked, "Are you musicians?"

"I'm The Songster. Rock and Roll forever, dude."

"I'm a singer," Tonya said with a slight Irish brogue to her voice. Seeing the blank expression on William's face, she added, "New Age."

"I'm a rapper," Street King said feeling insulted that he had to identify himself.

"Oh. I'm not very familiar with those music styles. I prefer classical music," William said.

"If you're not a musician, what are you doing here?" Tonya asked looking over at William.

"Oliver Brown asked me to come here and report on what I see," William answered wondering what being a musician had to do with this meeting.

Irritated at being asked if he was homeless, Street King asked, "Who in the hell is Oliver Brown?"

"The Grand Druid," William answered realizing that he lived a completely different world from them. He wondered what he was doing there.

"You really don't know why you are here?" Tonya asked wondering how it was that this kid came to be there. She had traveled all the way from Ireland for this single afternoon experience.

"Not really," William said. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "I guess Oliver wanted me to meet you three."

"We're here to hear Greg Banner sing. This is one of six performances that he's giving this month," Darnel said. He had rearranged his schedule just for this chance. He couldn't imagine that Greg only sang at High Schools.

"What's so special about him?"

Principal Jenner said, "He's a very talented musician. He only sings at high schools. The strange thing is that after one of his concerts, all of the behavioral problems in the school disappear. It's like he weaves a magic spell over everyone through his singing. We've had a lot of problems with racial incidents here on campus and I asked that he play here this afternoon. These three very well known stars came here to listen to him."

A chill went through William and he took the one remaining chair in the office. Staring at the floor, he considered the description of the man's talent. After a moment, he asked, "He weaves a magic spell through his music?"

"That's how other Principals have described his performances."

Shaking his head in wonder, William said, "It couldn't be true."

Greg had visited a school in the neighborhood where the Street King had grown up. As a result of that single performance, crime had dropped in the area. All of the kids were talking about that singer and interest in his music had dropped significantly. Curious, he had come here to this high school to hear the man for himself in the hope of finding out what had happened. He said, "Look kid, I have no idea who you are or why you're wasting our time. Tell me why I shouldn't have my man throw you out of here."