Chapter 3

William looked across the table at Patrick and asked, "So how are things going?"

"They are going well. Once I got over the initial shock, I found that I can deal with the nudity," Patrick answered although he wasn't going to mention the unease he felt when talking with Lucy.

"Good. After two years here you'll be able to handle most things that life throws at you. You'll need that when you become a Chief," William said choosing his words with great care. It was time to plant a seed in Patrick's mind.

The comment about becoming a Chief surprised Patrick. He hadn't really thought through why William had suggested that he go to the Druid College for two years and then to the Native American College for the remainder of his education. He asked, "When I become a Chief?"

"Yes," William answered. He was silent for a minute and then said, "I'm sorry that we can't spend a little more time chatting. Lucy and I have to go take care of business."

Patrick had a good idea of the business that William had to address. He knew that William had taken responsibility for taking care of the widows of Oscar Meyers. He nodded his head and said, "I understand."

"I knew you would," William said looking towards the door of the dining hall. He was waiting for Lucy to arrive and then they were leaving for the airport. He only had another minute to spend with Patrick.

"I know this is going to sound stupid, but I miss the reservation," Patrick said.

"It doesn't sound stupid at all. You're homesick," William said taking the comment seriously. He gave a short laugh and said, "I've been away from home for a week and I miss it."

"Yeah," Patrick said.

"I like your friend, Linda. She seems like a nice young woman," William said.

"She's from New York City. Our backgrounds are very different," Patrick said. He knew that there wasn't the possibility of a long term relationship. Linda knew that as well.

William smiled at the comment and, rising from his chair, said, "I would say more, but a life without surprises is rather boring."

"What does that mean?" Patrick asked.

"Lucy is here and we must go," William said as Lucy walked into the room. He winked at Patrick and said, "So you swore you could hear me laughing all of the way from Arizona."

Georgia and Debbie were seated on the love seat in the suite of the hotel in Bermuda. They were staring off into space with blank expressions on their faces and not saying a word. Although they were holding hands, one would be hard pressed to say they were even aware of each other's presence in the room. Lucy looked at them thinking they were catatonic. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of the pain they must each be feeling.

William walked to stand in front of them. Without looking at the grief counselors, he said, "They have denied that he was dead. They have been angry at the Powers That Be for his death. They have tried to bargain with the Powers That Be for him to return to life."

"That is correct," Kim said feeling that it wasn't quite accurate. She, along with Nancy, had tried to ease the two women through the stages of grieving. They had underestimated the depth of feelings the two women had for Oscar. The anger had been so intense that it had scared them. The bargains had been so extreme that Nancy had hidden every sharp object on the floor of the hotel. Still, it had all seemed a little too pat to be real.

Nancy had felt that they had failed in their service to the Goddess. The medallions had alerted them to several crises, but had not provided much guidance in handling their grief. All that they had really accomplished was to keep them alive. She wondered if the Goddess had abandoned them. She said, "We've tried what we could, but it just isn't working."

"They are both depressed now and do not want to live," William said passing a hand in front of their eyes. Neither woman blinked.

"Right," Kim said watching what William was doing with curiosity. She couldn't figure out why he was talking about them as if they weren't there.

William stood in front of Georgia and, in a voice reeking of disgust, said, "Oscar made the biggest mistake of his life when he married the two of you."

The transformation in the pair of women was instantaneous. Georgia went from being catatonic to launching her body at William with her hands out like claws, mouth open as if to rend his flesh with her teeth, and a fire in her eyes. Moving so fast that she was a blur, Debbie threw a vase at his head. William spun out of their way the barest fraction of a second before he would have been injured. He smiled at them.

Lucy stared as William danced around the two women who were doing their best to kill him. He stayed close enough to entice them to attack and distant enough that they couldn't touch him. Georgia and Debbie were screaming like cats; a feral sound that sent chills down Lucy's spine. Kim and Nancy had backed away from the fight terrified that it would turn in their direction.

"You can't even defend Oscar's honor! Bah! You're worthless!" William taunted.

The screams picked up in volume to where it hurt the ears. Georgia went low while Debbie attacked his head. William moved out of the way in a manner that should have been physically impossible and said, "You can do better than that."

After twenty minutes, Lucy got bored and decided that there was nothing she could do to help. She knew that when it came to fighting no one was better than William. As she went to the door of the suite, she said, "I'm going to get some coffee."

Narrowly avoiding a flying ashtray, William said, "You might as well get a nap. I'm going to be here for a while."

For two hours the two women chased William around the room with a ferocity that was truly terrifying. The two grief counselors watched the entire time amazed at William's ability to evade the duel attackers. It ended almost as quickly as it had started. Georgia launched one final attack and when it failed, she collapsed on the floor in tears. Debbie tried to attack William two more times before collapsing to the floor.

William stood over the pair of women for a second and then glanced over at the grief counselors. He said, "I hate to say it, but I think they were still in the denial stage. Now, I think it is pretty safe to say that they have passed through the anger stage."

Nancy looked over at Kim and then back at William. Swallowing heavily at the idea of ever facing that much anger, she said, "I think you're right."

"Help them get to bed. They are exhausted and need their rest. We'll resume in the morning," William said. He turned to join Lucy in the restaurant of the hotel in which they were staying. He knew that she was about to order dinner and he wanted to get there before the waiter arrived.

"That was a horrible thing to say to us," Georgia said still angry at William.

"I know and I'm sorry that I had to say it," William replied.

Debbie looked at William and noticed the gold medallion around his neck. She said, "You serve the Two-Sided One."

"Yes, I do," William said looking over at Debbie.

"Can you talk to him about returning Oscar to us?" Debbie asked with hope in her voice.

Realizing that they had someone who could intervene on their behalf with the Gods and Goddesses, Georgia sat up. She said, "I'll give my life for his."

"I'll give my life," Debbie said.

"Why should I?" Oscar asked as if getting ready to negotiate a major deal.

The question brought both women up short. They had each assumed that he would do whatever it would take to help Oscar. Georgia and Debbie looked at each other in a nonverbal exchange of information. Finally, Debbie said, "We'll do what ever you want of us."

"Like what?" William asked leaning forward. He picked up one of the hotel pads of paper and a ballpoint pen. Leaning back, he put the pen to paper and waited for an answer.

"We'll sleep with you," Georgia said after a quick glance at Debbie.

William pursed his lips as if deep in thought. He made a little note on the pad of paper and then said, "Not enough. What else?"

Debbie couldn't believe that William was acting like such an ass. She said, "You say you're his friend. Why are you acting this way?"

"I won't dignify that question with an answer," William said. He looked down at his pad of paper and said, "So far all you've done is offer to sleep with me. What else will you do?"

"We'll give you everything we have," Georgia said.

"Everything?" William asked.

"Yes, everything we own. Our money, our cars, our jewelry,... everything," Debbie answered.

"That's not enough," William said adding another note to the pad.

"What else do we have?"

Frowning, William answered, "I don't know. You'll have to tell me. Don't forget, we're negotiating to see if I will intervene on your behalf to bring Oscar back."

The negotiations began in earnest. The pair of women pleaded, begged, and tried to use guilt to get William to intervene on Oscar's behalf. There were tears, threats, and invocations to the Gods and Goddesses. William kept saying that it wasn't enough, but they kept trying to find that one little thing that would convince him. The hours passed and William remained firm in his position.

After close to twenty hours of non-stop attempts to get William to help them, Debbie sat back in her chair. In a flat voice, she said, "He's not going to help us."

Georgia's head fell forward in resignation. She said, "You're right."

William looked at Debbie and then at Georgia. After a minute, he said, "There is no bargain that can be made that will return Oscar to you. It is not that I won't do it; it is that I can't do it. The Two- Sided One can't do it. Oscar has passed over to the other world. You must accept that."