walked up the steps, Drake realized he was getting some looks from people wondering how he deserved to have a beautiful woman on either side of him, each dressed up in a short skirt and sheer silk blouse, as if they had consulted each other. They undoubtedly had. He had even taken some care with his own appearance. At least they didn’t look like runners.
They found seats in the back as the crowd filled much of the auditorium. When the lights dimmed and a man appeared onstage to introduce Casey, it turned out to be none other than Fred. The three exchanged looks as Fred launched into a mercifully short introduction.
When Casey appeared, he received a generous round of applause. Drake and Melody went through the motions of clapping; Grace was more enthusiastic.
Casey was a good, if not great, public speaker. He touched on some of the usual subjects: prosperity, jobs, crime, taxes. Then he mentioned Running California. The runners had just come through Santa Barbara. They were a good advertisement for California and would promote tourism.
Unfortunately, one of the runners had been killed in the Malibu incident. Of course this had been featured in all the media, and when he told a story about Harrison’s parents saying that the race must go on, he received a round of applause. This allowed him to segue into the security of the California coast.
Casey talked about the troops in Malibu and the patrolling naval ships, but he said that more had to be done. Drake was beginning to nod off when Casey said that people living on or near the beach were in danger from any attack. Something in Casey’s tone brought Drake to full alertness. Casey continued to speak.
“The California beaches have always belonged to the people. They always will belong to the people.”
Applause.
“As the law stands now, beaches are public property below the mean high-tide line. That has allowed houses to be built on the beach at Malibu and other places.”
Other places close to Santa Barbara.
“The time has come to return the beaches to the people.”
The crowd cheered. Drake saw an appalled expression on Melody’s face that must have matched his own. There were undoubtedly some beach landowners in the crowd. What must they be thinking?
Casey went on to explain how creating a buffer zone between the water and any buildings would enhance security, and, at the same time, allow the people, as he called them, better access to the beach. His speech was a rousing success.
“Wasn’t Mr. Messinger great?”
Grace was bubbling with enthusiasm for Casey. Drake glanced at Melody sitting beside him in the car, hoping that she would offer a response to Grace, as he didn’t want to be the one to stick a pin in her balloon. Melody turned her head toward the backseat.
“Do you think it’s a good idea to take away the property of people living near the beach?”
“If it would make them safer.”
Drake couldn’t remain quiet. “How do we know it would make them or anybody else safer when we don’t know who made the attack? Casey didn’t say how wide the buffer zone should be, but it would undoubtedly include thousands of homes throughout California. Where would the money to compensate the homeowners come from?”
“The state would buy them.”
“With your tax dollars. Even if the state has enough of your money to do that, do you want government arbitrarily gobbling up private property based on unsubstantiated fears? A basic tenet of a free society is the right to own property without the government being able to confiscate it arbitrarily.”
“But these are rich people, and they’re blocking access to the beach.”
Drake was about to respond, but Melody interrupted him.
“So far we haven’t had any trouble getting to the beach. True, we’ve had to run around columns holding up houses a couple of times at high tide. But even if access could be better in places, that doesn’t justify kicking everybody off the beach.”
Drake cut in. “Isn’t it interesting that Casey is making this a class issue, based on income, when he clearly could own all the ocean front homes he wanted?”
Grace spoke softly, almost to herself. “Wouldn’t it be great being married to a senator?”
CHAPTER 19
The route from Hollister Avenue near Goleta heads west on Hollister to El Capitan State Beach where you will meet Route 101. Take Route 101 west. Even though it’s a freeway here, you can run on the left shoulder, but watch out for traffic. Route 101 turns inland at Gaviota State Beach. Be sure to stay on the road as we won’t be going through Vandenberg Air Force Base. Take Route 1 where it heads toward Lompoc. The day’s run ends at the top of the first hill on Route 1. There’s no good alternative to these routes, so we won’t have any independent thinking today. Just remember to have plenty of water and/or Gatorade with you for the final push up the hill on Route 1.
“Did you hear about the music festival that’s going on in New York at a place called Woodstock or something like that?”
Tom asked the question of his partner Jerry, as well as of Drake and Melody. They had been running together since Route 101 had turned inland from the beach and started climbing steeply. Now they were on narrow Route 1, running single file and climbing even more steeply.
“I saw pictures on the news this morning,” Melody said. “They estimated that half a million people have showed up. How do they all get fed?”
“I guess if they stay stoned, they don’t notice how hungry they are.”
Jerry was laboring and sweating profusely and not laughing.
“Fred’s directions said hill, not mountain.”
It was also a lot hotter here than along the beach. The double whammy of heat and the steep climb had left the other runners somewhere behind them out of sight. Tom, who was also sweating, took a drink of whatever was in his bottle.
“This is the first real hill we’ve seen. The Boston Marathon doesn’t have hills like this.”
Drake’s chuckle was strangled by his heavy breathing. “Nobody would run a marathon that had this kind of a hill.”
It was interesting to Drake that he and Melody seemed to be handling the climb better than the other runners. They had both been training in the mountains, which had ups and downs, and the thinner air had increased their lung capacity. Drake was bothered some by the heat, but he had brought enough liquid with him to keep from being dehydrated.
Melody’s sleeveless Running California top was plastered to her body with sweat, which might be appealing if the men had the energy to notice, but she kept running, slowly but steadily. She passed Tom, who had been leading, and started pulling away from him. Drake was her partner; he should be staying with her. He made an extra effort and also passed Tom.
They were spending the night in the picturesque Danish community of Solvang. Melody took a cold bath and a cold shower. She had a rest. These activities restored her body to something resembling normalcy. She sipped a cold drink as she got dressed and then went out to the lobby of the motel to join Grace in a tour of the quaint
