Chapter 20

John looked around at his surroundings slowly realizing that he recognized this place. It was where he had met the Goddess for the first time. This time, the stream was not in a ravine, but ran naturally along side the meadow. The region retained that eerie feel to it that threatened to overwhelm the senses. Maybe it was the fact that the life force was so close to the surface here that you could almost see it pulsing in each living thing.

She was kneeling by the side of the stream, a hand in the water feeling the current while fish swam past gently brushing her hand. She was nude and just as beautiful today as she had been in the past. Looking upon her mesmerized him. Today she looked sad rather than sexy or forbidding.

John looked down at himself seeing that was undressed. His cock was erect and hurting. He felt exposed, as though all of his thoughts were visible to her. He wondered if he was about to be raped again. He corrected himself, wondering if he was going to make love to the full force of nature again.

The woman looked up at him with sad eyes. “I’m glad you came to my summons.”

“What do you ask of me?”

She came to him and embraced him gently. It was the most amazing embrace of his life. The comfort conveyed reminded him of his mother’s hug when he had fallen down as a child and scraped his knee. It was more than that, though. There was an intimacy to it that was like a lover expressing her love.

She said, “I’m so sorry, John. I had nothing to do with it, and couldn’t prevent it. I have no direct power against pure evil. That is his realm, and he has no one there who can say ‘no’.”

John thought about her words. He asked, “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

“Yes, John. She’s dead.”

John asked, “Was there anything that I could have done?”

“No, John. You couldn’t have kept her from going. If you had gone with her, you would be dead, too.”

“Thank you,” he replied accepting what she said. There was no reason for him to feel guilty. She had given an important gift him.

“You need to return to Austin by four this afternoon. The other will not live if she gets the news while alone at home.”

John woke up in a cold sweat. The top of his sleeping bag, where he had been lying on it, was soaked. He looked around the darkened room and knew what he had to do. Getting up, he went to the telephone. After a long call, he had reservations on the first morning flight to Dallas and a connecting flight to Austin. The price for the ticket was outrageous. They always were when you bought them the same day as you needed to travel.

He would have to leave soon to make the flight. He dressed thinking about what he needed to do. Fully dressed, he picked up his backpack. It had all of his clothes in it. He threw in his toothbrush, toothpaste, and hair brush from the bathroom. His camping gear was scattered around the house and he didn’t have the time to collect it. He threw in the latest draft of his dissertation. He would give it to his adviser in its current state. It was the third draft and pretty solid.

Stepping into the night, he locked the door behind him with a dull click. There was no moon and consequently the stars were unusually bright that night. He walked across the street to Ed’s house. It was just a dark silhouette against the starry background. Kelly’s Honda was parked in the driveway. Knowing those two, they went to bed early and to sleep late. He hated waking them up, but he couldn’t afford to wait. He walked up to the door and knocked on it. There was no answer. He knocked again.

He heard someone stumbling around in the house. He thought how Ed would react to a stranger showing up in the middle of the night. It wasn’t likely that he would invite them in for tea. He called out, “Ed, it’s me. John!”

Ed opened the door and mumbled for him to come in. John stepped in and stopped just inside the door. Ed stepped back and John realized that he was naked. Then he noticed the pistol in Ed’s hand. The gun caught his attention much more than Ed’s nakedness. Ed set the pistol in a drawer of a small table by the door. He mumbled, “Sorry, didn’t know it was you.”

“I’m so sorry to be here this early. I’ve got to leave town right now.”

It took a moment for the statement to filter through Ed’s sleepy mind, but when he had finished processing it he snapped awake. He asked, “What’s the matter?”

John was about to answer when Kelly came out of the bedroom naked as well. In his current state of mind, he didn’t even think of her nudity. However, the image was stored for later appreciation. She was wiping the sleep from her eyes and asked, “What’s going on here?”

“I’ve got to leave right now to catch a plane to Dallas and then to Austin.”

Ed asked again, “What’s the matter?”

“Betsy was killed in the Middle East.” Saying it aloud hurt more than he thought it would. He missed her already.

Kelly cried out, “Oh my God!”

The concern on Ed’s face was clear. Anyone that knew them both would understand how much pain John had to be feeling at the loss of Betsy. Ed asked, “What can I do?”

“Take care of the house and see if you can get the rent extended for another month. I’ll be back to buy it.” He handed Ed the keys to the house. John looked around numbly and saw Kelly crying. He said, “Take care of Kelly. She needs some comforting. I better go or I’ll miss my plane.”

Kelly came up to John and hugged him tightly. Her naked body pressed against him. He didn’t notice the nakedness, only the caring that motivated the hug.

She cried, “Take care of yourself. If there’s anything we can do, let us know.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

Ed nodded and said, “Really! If there’s anything we can do let us know. We’ll take care of it. Call collect if you want.”

John turned to the door and opened it. He turned back to Ed and said, “A man can’t have a better friend than you, Ed.”

The trip back to Austin was horrible. Connections were tight and the planes were crowded. On the flight to Austin, he sat in a row with two other very large men; eight hundred pounds of people in a row that shouldn’t hold three normal size people. He had the aisle seat and spent most of the flight leaning into the aisle. He was tired, hungry, and emotionally drained by the time he arrived in Austin. It was a little after noon before he landed, but he still had to rent a car to drive to the house. He stood in the rental line and ended up having to accept a larger car than he wanted because he didn’t have a reservation.

It seemed like an eon had passed between leaving Arizona and arriving home to Austin. Tired, he knocked on the door rather than letting himself in. Mrs. South didn’t know he was returning and he didn’t want to scare her. She peered through the peephole in the door and then swung the door open. Happy to see him, she shouted, “John, you’re home early!”

John smiled at the warm reception. He said, “I missed your coffee and just had to stop by for a cup.”

He entered the house and wearily sat down at the kitchen table. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was one o’clock. The news would get here in three hours. He wanted to stay between her and the telephone, but he was tired. She fixed a pot of coffee fussing the entire time about how tired he looked. He laughed it off and said, “I worked too hard on my dissertation.”

“Oh, you kids. You need to learn how to pace your life a little better.”

“I know. Youth is wasted on the young!”

Mrs. South laughed, “But thank god for Viagra. It gives us seniors a chance to make up for opportunities lost as youths.”

John shook his head in amusement. He really liked her attitude towards sex and life in general. He asked, “Where’s your boyfriend?”

“He said that he had to go home, but I think he went to the pharmacy to get his prescription refilled. He asked the doctor for a month’s supply and the doctor asked if four would be enough. Jim told him he needed at least sixty. Damn doctor didn’t believe him so he only got fifteen.”

John laughed and said, “Well, he might be home by half past three. Why don’t you ask him to come by about that time? Give us a chance to talk a bit and then get out for one of those early bird dinners.”

Instead of answering, Mrs. South poured him a cup of coffee. He cradled the sides of the mug in both of this hands drawing on the warmth. He hoped that it would help warm the empty coldness that had crept into his heart. He couldn’t act as if anything was wrong until the news arrived. He took a sip of the coffee and sighed.

Expressing his pleasure, he said, “You make a great cup of coffee.”

Mrs. South sat down across the table from him. She looked at the tired lines on his face and thought about his past behavior. She could sense that something was wrong and knew that John wouldn’t tell her until he was ready.

She nodded and said, “I’ll give him a call to come down. After you finish your coffee, why don’t you take a nap? I promise I’ll wake you when he gets here.”

John took another sip of coffee and held it in his mouth for a moment. He wondered if Betsy’s alarm clock was still here. If it were, he’d set that just in case Mrs. South, in her desire to be kind, decided to allow him to oversleep.

He nodded and said, “Sounds like a good plan to me. However, I could use a bite to eat.”

“I just happen to have some chocolate cake here. I was gonna let Jim eat it off me, but I think I can spare a slice for you.”

“Oh you kinky lady! If I have to eat the slice off you, I will.”

Mrs. South laughed and said, “I’d do it, but it would make Jim madder than hell!”

“You don’t mean to tell me that he’s jealous.”

“You know better than that. That old reprobate would be mad because he didn’t get to watch you do it.”

John laughed and shook his head. Those two were ones for the record book. They had a more active sex life than most married couples a third their age. When he thought about it, he realized they probably had a more active sex life than he and Betsy had. The thought brought a tinge of pain that he struggled to cover.

Mrs. South set a large slice of chocolate cake in front of him. She sat down, serious all of a sudden. She said, “Something like your hero urge drove you back here, didn’t it?”

John finished the bite of cake in his mouth and washed it down with the coffee before answering. “Nothing is certain yet. I’ll know more later.”

“It must be bad.”

“Probably, I’ll know more later.”

Mrs. South studied him carefully for some clue. She watched as he finished the cake and coffee. When he sat back, he looked up at her. He suggested, “I’ll tell you what I can when I’m certain.”

Mrs. South nodded and said, “Get some sleep. I promise I’ll wake you when Jim gets here.”

John went into his room. Betsy’s alarm clock was on the night table where she always kept it. He set it to go off at 3:15. He looked at the floor and then at the bed. He didn’t have his sleeping bag here, so he decided to use the bed. The only time he used a bed was when a woman was there to share it. Despite the memories the bed raised, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

The alarm rang on time. John woke up shaking his head and trying to rid himself the nightmares that plagued his sleep. It took him a few moments to find the alarm clock, and even longer to turn it off, but at least he was awake. He took a minute to collect his thoughts. He got up and headed out of the room. Mrs. South, seated in her favorite chair, watched the cable news program on television.

He joined her. They were silent as the news program unfolded. This particular show was about the economy. John watched with interest and wondered how Jenny and Jack were doing with their business. The thought made him realize that he would need to call them tonight. He wondered how he was going to break the news to them.

Mr. Jensen arrived right on time. In the time John had been gone, Mr. Jensen appeared to have grown ten years younger. Maybe all of that sex was making him young again. John stood up and shook his hand. He said, “I see you’ve taken good care of my landlord here.”

Jim had been over almost everyday since John had left. She had taught him things about sex that he had never known. He was still having difficulty walking after she had used the dildo on him last night.

Jim chuckled and said, “She’s taken better care of me.”

Mrs. South laughed at the comment. She said, “John, can’t you tell that he’s sad you’re back? He was getting used to getting a blowjob on entering the house. Now he’s going to have to wait until we get to the bedroom.”

John acted like he was munching on his arm provoking a smile from Mrs. South. John laughed and said, “Oh, don’t worry about me. I want to see him eat that chocolate cake later tonight.”

Mrs. South started laughing and slapping her knee. Mr. Jensen looked puzzled. John made an exaggerated act of licking his lips. She finally burst out and said, “You keep me laughing like that and I’m going to wet my pants.”

John saw Mr. Jensen’s puzzled look. He explained, “She told me that she was going to serve the chocolate cake on her body and you’d have to eat it off her. She threatened to make me do that, but said you’d be mad that you didn’t get to watch.”

“God above, I just love a randy woman with a good sense of fun.”

It was almost four and John turned to look at the television. International news was going to be covered next. He sat back and realized how they were going to learn about it. He turned to Mrs. South and asked, “Hey, have we got any of that coffee left?”

“Sure.”

John made as if he was going to get up. Mrs. South saw his movements and said, “Now you stay right here. I’ll get you a cup of coffee.”

John made a protesting gesture and said, “Mrs. South, I’m more than capable of getting my own coffee.”

“No. You stay there and talk with Jim. I’m old fashioned and don’t think men belong in the kitchen.”

John slowly nodded his head and said, “Okay, Mrs. South.”

She went into the kitchen. John was pleased that his ploy had worked. He turned to the news program almost ignoring Mr. Jensen. His behavior didn’t escape the attention of the older man. He turned to watch the news. His mouth dropped as the first news story told about a number of volunteer nurses that were killed by a rocket propelled grenade attack in the Middle East. He turned to John to see John looking at him. John nodded his head confirming the old man’s fears.

Mrs. South came back into the room with John’s coffee. She saw the expressions on their faces and knew that something bad had happened. She set the cup down on the nearest table and asked, “What happened?”

Mr. Jensen went over to her and put his arm around her. John looked over in their direction. He answered, “There was a problem in the Middle East.”

“Not Betsy!”

“I’m pretty sure. I’ve got to call her parents and find out for sure.”

Mrs. South raced over to him and hugged him. She cried, “You poor man. I know how much you loved her. You must be crushed.”

John thanked the Goddess. His presence here had changed the news from being a personal tragedy for Mrs. South to his tragedy. She would be strong for him, rather than weak for herself.

He answered, “I’m so lucky to have you here to help me at this difficult time. You are a life saver.”

John spent the rest of the afternoon on the telephone. The first thing he had done was call Betsy’s parents. They had been informed only a few minutes before through official sources that it was definite that she had been killed in the attack. They had decided to have a memorial service in three days time in Austin. There would be a private funeral in her hometown once the body had been shipped back to the states. They invited him to both services and asked if he would give the eulogy at the memorial service.

He then spent the rest of the afternoon calling everyone that knew Betsy in the Austin area. The news spread like wildfire. By the time that he had reached the last name on the list of people he was going to call, they had already been told. When he had quit making calls, he started receiving calls from the EMS, police, and fire department personnel that he knew. All conveyed their sorrow at what happened. That evening, when the long distance rates were lowest, he called his friends and let them know what had happened.

Mrs. South helped as much as she could. She made sure there was always fresh coffee. She cooked a very nice meal for dinner that the three of them ate together at the table. At random times, she would come up and give him hugs. He knew that at her age, she had dealt with the deaths of many friends and relatives. She knew exactly what to say and when to say it. He knew this was a hard time for her. She thought of Betsy as a granddaughter.

The next day, Mrs. South and John went shopping for a suit that would be appropriate for a funeral service. She was pleased to be included in helping him pick out a suit. She enjoyed making sure the men in her life were appropriately dressed for major occasions. Personally, he was glad that she came along. He would have bought the first suit that he came across. She had him try on several suits before picking out one of them that would serve multiple purposes. She made very good suggestions on ties, belts, and shirts. He was surprised when she asked them to tailor the shirt to fit him better. He had never heard of doing such a thing.

Before heading home, they stopped by the university so that he could drop off his dissertation to his adviser. He told the department secretary about Betsy’s death and that he would be unavailable for the next few days. She had met Betsy several times and had liked the young woman. She was pleased to meet Mrs. South. They had talked several times on the telephone, but never met. It always amazed her that he would choose to live in a room rented from an old woman rather than alone in an apartment. She was sure that living with an old woman must put an awful damper on his love life.