The first kiss between Thad andMary was one for the story book. She felt like she was floating offthe ground and she was actually was, until he realized that itwould probably be best if she was kept in the dark about his lifeas a hunter, at least for time being. But, that's the thing aboutsecrets: the longer you hold them, the less likely the truth is tocome out.
After a steamy weekend, Maryaccompanied Thaddeus back to the biggest and most fertile farm Maryhas ever laid eyes on. She happily said "I do" to both him and thefarm, and they were married on six months after they met inSt.Louis, in what could be termed a shotgun wedding in those parts.The O'Donnell's were an old school clan who believed that kids hadto be raised my a mother and father joined in holy matrimony. Thadand Mary were all-too-happy to tie the knot, as they had been toobusy farming and doing a variety of in-house activities to evennotice that they weren't married.
Five months after the joyouswedding, Mary gave birth in what could be termed as a "difficult"delivery. While she had been carrying like she was going to givebirth to a litter of babies, Dr. Jones said on many occasions "Yougot one strapping boy in there that is raring to get out andfarm!"
There was so much activity on herstomach that Mary would joke, "We should let him milk the cows andchase after the hogs."
I could sense that my worldchanged the minute that Calvin and Emily Brewster entered the worldtwo minutes apart. It's was the classic case of one baby coming outand everyone relaxing and rejoicing for a moment until Dr. Jonesexclaimed, "Hold on! There's another one fixin' to getout!"
FAMILY II (Gary)
This was about the time that I wasgoing to pay Gary a visit, because it was the first time since wemet abruptly that the sides were not in our favor. With one huntergoing to be joined by another two in 18 years, we would be oneperson short of a fair fight unless Gary had followed myinstructions. Truth be told, he usually did, although don't tellhim that or he will get a big head.
Garrison always love to tell thestory how he and Eloise Walsh met. He, unlike his polar oppositeThaddeus, opted to live in Virginia Beach after he returned fromEurope. He heard it was a place for lovers, which obviouslyincreased his chances of finding a suitable and passionatebride.
He was skipping shells across theocean's surface one night at sunset after weeks of unsuccessfullyconnecting with the opposite sex. Gary cocked his arm and was aboutto sweep his arm through the throwing zone when he felt a slightimpediment. He always liked to complete tasks, so he completed thethrow and then turned around to fetch another shell when herealized that the "impediment" that he felt was a human skull, afemale one at that.
"Are you all right?!" a shockedand disturbed Gary asked the person even before he knew she was awoman.
Eloise was groggy from taking ablow to the head from a super-human being, who obviously hadforgotten that he had such strength. It's true that Gary doesn'tknow his own power, his brute strength sometimes. It took her a fewminutes to come to her senses and realize what planet she wason.
"What happened?" she asked as shetried to focus on the two Garrison's in front of her. Eloiseexplained it this way in subsequent years, "He had sort of a glowaround him, well, both of him, and I thought he was an angel sentto me from heaven."
It was lucky for Gary that I wasdoing a little soul-searching and his wife-to-be was on the prowlfor a mate, so the bump on the head only accelerated what wasproblem going to occur. Gary has always been the strong, silenttype but when he needed to talk he talked, just like when we firstmet and he yelled at me to duck when Thad was trying to shoot andarrow between my eyes.
This time, Gary was loaded with asimple directive, "I like the beach. It is a safe place. We shouldlive here."
She smiled and replied, "Okay, Ilike the beach, too."
They were married six months laterand Eloise gave birth to Sharon within hours of Mary Brewstersquirting out up the twins. I felt a certain vulnerability when Caland Emily were born, and then more secure when Sharon entered ourworld, because the sides would be even whenever we resumed outactivity again 18 years hence.
LIT
After leaving Europe so it couldrebuild its physical and mental framework, I meandered around theother continents, hanging out and hunting with lions in the plainsof Africa, enjoying the friendly and adventurous people ofAustralia, and dancing and drinking with the passionate senors andsenoritas of South America. And, when my elevated mood started todeflate, I realized that I had been afloat an iceberg inAntarctica, so I left there and went to Asia to try to rebuild myshattered self, my damaged psyche.
I spent a few years at a communein Tibet, completing a vow of silence over the first year - which,if you know me, was tough to complete - and then went into evendeeper thought my second year. Those monks were pretty savvy for agroup that didn't get out much. There was one monk in particularthat appeared to have a sense of consciousness above all others.This young man's was Tenzin, but everyone called him Dalai. Inlater years, I came to realize that this 20-something was the 14thincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
"You have been quiet and you havebeen noisy, but always noisy inside," he said in a calm, butconfident voice as he pointed toward my head and then myheart.
I had thought for some time that Iwas ascending to some higher level of being, but all I was reallydoing
