Chapter 2

Linda, an attractive young woman, was a special friend of Patrick. She had a well defined hour glass figure with long shapely legs. Her hazel eyes, flecked with gold, drew attention to her face. Her face with soft features was framed by naturally curly blond hair that gave the impression that she had just come from bed.

As far as most men were concerned, she would have been an ideal cheerleader type except for what many thought was one major flaw. She was the least endowed female on the entire campus. Her breasts barely qualified as an AA cup. She tended to cross her arms in front of her chest as if to hide them.

Despite some confidence problems with her body, she enjoyed sex more than most women on campus. Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the circumstances at the school, Linda was exploring her sexuality. She was willing to try anything once and, if it was pleasant, she would add it to her repertoire of sexual activities. She didn't feel a great desire to take on any and all interested parties, but kept her favors to a lucky few. Patrick was her favorite of the lucky few.

Linda's appearance was great and her enjoyment of sex was an added bonus, but it was her personality that Patrick found to be most engaging. In short, she was intelligent, witty, and kind. She was from New York City and would tell stories about the famous city that Patrick found fascinating. She found his stories of the reservation to be equally intriguing.

The last thing Patrick wanted was to be around Lucy sporting an erection. It was tough enough being around Lucy while he was naked, but sporting an erection would have been absolutely mortifying. With Lucy visiting the college, Patrick found that he was spending a lot of time with Linda taking care of his overactive libido. In fact, he made sure that he visited Linda every time he was to meet with Lucy.

Unfortunately for Patrick's plans, Lucy arrived a little early for one their meetings and found Patrick and Linda seated at a table. Before saying a word, she examined the pair taking in the friendly glances they had been giving each other. Feeling a little playful, she said, "Hello Patrick. Who is your girlfriend?"

"Hello, Lucy. This is Linda," Patrick answered noticing the stress that Lucy had put on the word, 'girlfriend.' Hearing Lucy call Linda his girlfriend suggested images of his parents catching him naked with a woman. He knew how his parents would react if they found out that he was sitting around naked with an equally naked white woman.

"Hello, Linda," Lucy said with a cat that ate the canary smile. She entertained thoughts of singing a very juvenile song about Patrick and Linda sitting in a tree.

Trying not to express the sudden fit of tension he was feeling, Patrick turned to his friend and said, "Linda, this is Lucy Carter."

Linda was very aware that Carter was a famous name around the Druid College and that intimidated her. If Lucy was of that family, then she knew that it was a given that Lucy was rich and powerful. Linda looked at Lucy taking special notice of the clothes she was wearing. It was a weird mix of expensive and inexpensive. The blouse was definitely a designer label, but the jeans were from a chain store. She couldn't see the shoes, but she was willing to bet they were expensive. Lucy was cute, rich, and definitely educated.

Looking back to Patrick, Linda couldn't help but notice the sudden tension he was feeling. It seemed to her that he was unwilling to share with Lucy that they were very close friends and she couldn't help wondering why. She thought that he had shared his full sexual history with her, but his sudden nervousness around Lucy made her suspicious about the relationship between the pair. A small worm of jealousy rose within Linda at the thought that there might be a romantic history there that he had not chosen to share with her. With a slight chill to her voice, Linda asked, "How do you know each other?"

Sensing that the conversation was upsetting Linda, Lucy abandoned her plans to tease Patrick. It was a shame; she had a whole plan of describing the wonderful conversations she would have with his parents. Turning to Linda, she answered, "Patrick and my husband are friends. They go rock hunting and camping together on occasion."

"Oh," Linda said with a much friendlier tone to her voice once she realized that the relationship was different than what she had imagined. She still wondered about Patrick's sudden reticence to talk about her.

"William was my teacher in high school. I wouldn't even be here except that he helped me," Patrick explained. He hadn't wanted to boast about knowing someone so influential around the college.

"I assume that you are talking about William Redman Carter," Linda said putting all of the clues together. She hadn't realized that Patrick knew William Redman Carter and was actually pleased that he hadn't boasted about it.

"Yes," Patrick said.

Lucy leaned forward and gestured from one to the other with a finger. She asked, "So how long have you two been friends?"

"Since school started," Patrick answered. She had been standing next to him before they had to undress and had struck up a conversation while waiting for the rest of the students to make their way into the hallway.

"Really. She's so cute that I bet you couldn't keep your eyes off of her," Lucy said.

"Uh, yes," Patrick answered.

"How long did it take you to strike up a conversation with her?" Lucy asked.

"About ten minutes," Patrick answered. For some reason this conversation made him feel like he was talking to his mother. He didn't think that was such a great thing.

Lucy laughed at the obvious discomfort that Patrick was exhibiting. She was reasonably sure that there was a bit more than friendship between Patrick and Linda. Turning to Linda, she said, "You and I are going to have to have a long talk. I'll be going home and his parents are going to want to know how he's doing. I suspect that you know that better than anyone."

Seeing the frantic look on Patrick's face, Linda said, "That sounds like fun."

Lucy said, "That's great. I'm going to have so much fun telling his mother about what a cute couple you make. She's going to want all the details."

"I'm doomed," Patrick groaned.

"What's the matter Patrick? You look positively green," Lucy asked with a smile.

"You're going to tell my parents that you saw me here running around without clothes on, aren't you?" Patrick asked.

"Me? I'd never do that. Now William, that's a different story. I'm sure that if there aren't enough juicy details that he'd just invent them," Lucy said. At the look of horror on Patrick's face, she burst into laughter. Patting him on the arm, she said, "I'm just kidding."

"You don't know my parents. They are very conservative," Patrick said.

"You forget that I attended your sister's wedding and met your parents there. I think they'll understand that your current state of dress is not by your choice," Lucy said.

Patrick shook his head and said, "My parents will never understand."

"They'll understand when you tell them that it was undress or leave school," Lucy said.

"That's true," Patrick said. He'd rather face the entire tribe naked than tell his father that he quit or failed out of college on the first day.

'September, October, and November — that's one quarter. December, January, and February — that's a second quarter. March, April, and May — would be a third quarter, ' Lucy thought trying to remember the school break schedule. Lucy turned to Linda and said, "I'd like to invite you and Patrick to visit us at our home during your end of May break. I'm sure that Patrick's family will enjoy meeting you."

"Why then?" Linda asked with a frown. They had a week long break starting at the end of February.

"William is in the glade at the moment and we don't know when he'll come out. When he does come out, we have to take care of Debbie and Georgia. He also has to begin his service. I don't know what we'll be doing at the end of February," Lucy answered. Her voice broke when she said the names of Oscar's widows.

"Who are they?" Linda asked noticing the sad expression that came over Lucy's face.

"They are Oscar's widows. William and Oscar were friends; he promised Oscar that we would take care of them," Lucy answered wondering if William was going to find someone to make that kind of promise to him.

Feeling like a heel, Linda said, "Oh. I didn't know."

"That's okay. There's no reason that you should have known," Lucy answered. Almost none of the news stories had mentioned Oscar's widows. It was almost as if they didn't exist. The idea that the women in his life were ignored so thoroughly irritated Lucy. Of course, she also understood that it was probably for the best.

"How are they doing?" Linda asked wondering if Patrick had known Oscar as a result of his friendship with William.

"They are in Bermuda resting in a hotel. They haven't recovered from the shock of his death. According to the bodyguards, they were in a room across from the square where Oscar was killed. They saw the whole thing," Lucy answered. The grief counselors had been waiting for the women to recover sufficiently to begin the process of healing. They didn't expect to have a chance for at least another day.

"Those poor women," Linda said trying to imagine watching someone she loved die and finding the idea heartbreaking.

For the next ten minutes, the two women chatted about topics that were of no interest to Patrick. At first, he tried to follow the conversation, but that was impossible. He looked from one woman to the other wondering how he had suddenly become cut out of the conversation. When they started discussing various clothes designers, his mind drifted to the tests that he was facing later that afternoon. He was suddenly pulled back into the conversation when Lucy said, "So you'll be coming for a visit during the end of May vacation."

Linda answered, "Sure. That sounds like fun."

Lucy had made the noon-time trip to the glade twice with Catherine and Oliver in the hopes that William would return. Those trips had required her to trudge through near blizzard conditions in which the snow fall was so thick that it was hard to see more than five feet. She had stood in the snow storm shivering from the frigid air that whipped at her clothes sucking away all warmth. Others had exited the glade, but there had been no sign of William.

This day though, the storm had broken and there was a bright blue sky. It was still cold, but the wind was still and the sun was warm. Her clothes that had been ineffective against the storm now felt too warm. She felt that the weather was a promising sign as she made her way along the path. Further adding to her hope that William would return from the glade that day was that other Druids who were visiting the College went out with her as well.

A crowd of Druids gathered around the path from the glade waiting for Oscar to arrive. Lucy looked from face to face trying to interpret the mood of the Druids. It was hard to tell what they expected to learn out there. Almost everyone looked nervous and unsure. Oliver paced, in part, out of nervousness and, in part, to keep warm. Lucy was sure that Catherine wore a dozen layers of clothes under her robe because she looked positively toasty.

Seeing her look around the crowd with a slight frown on her face, Ed Biggers believed that she was worried that so many people would overwhelm William when he came out of the glade. It never occurred to him that she was worried that William wouldn't return from the glade. He went over to her and said, "I did ask them to wait for him back at the school."

"What?" Lucy asked not following what he was trying to say.

Ed smiled at her confusion and realized that his concerns were unfounded. Her fears were the normal fears of anyone waiting for someone to return. He said, "I asked everyone to stay back at the college so that William would have a chance to get used to whatever gifts he's been given."

"Oh. I guess I don't know what to expect," Lucy said worried about her husband. She bit her lower lip and looked down the path that led from the glade.

"No one knows what to expect. Kelly was in shock for almost a full day when she came out. I don't think it was that hard on me or John. Beth sailed through without missing a beat," Ed said.

"What happens when you met them?" Lucy asked.

"As far as I know, we all have different experiences in the glade," Ed answered rubbing a hand over the medallion.

"What do you mean? Don't you know what others have experienced?" Lucy asked looking up at her father-in-law with surprise.

Ed fidgeted nervously and answered, "We don't talk about it."

"Why not?" Lucy asked. She had assumed that everyone there understood exactly what was happening to William.

Ed was quiet for a moment trying to figure out how to answer her question. Finally, he said, "It's too private. Do you share with people the details of your first sexual experience? You don't need to answer that. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do that. Now everyone assumes that their first sexual experience was a lot like everyone else's, but you don't really know that for a fact. Meeting with the Gods and Goddesses is a lot like that. It is even more private than your first sexual experience."