Chapter 13
Turkey straddles the East and the West giving it a culture that is a curious blend of the two worlds. No city reflects that dichotomy more than Istanbul. It is a city in which the majority of the population follows Islam, yet it is home to the Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is a city filled with synagogues, churches, and mosques, often with unlikely pairings standing side by side.
Istanbul is a modern city with roots deep in the past. The Hippodrome, a horse racing track, dates back to Roman times. Occupying a position inside the Hippodrome stands the Obelisk of Thutmosis III, an obelisk carved of pink marble in 1490 BC for the Temple of Karnack and brought to Turkey in 390 AD. Surrounding the Hippodrome are buildings, many of which were constructed under the Ottoman Empire. In a modern parallel to the obelisk, skyscrapers reach to the sky. The majority of structures date from modern times, but the architectural landscape is not homogenous. An ancient building will stand with a stone's throw of a modern building.
The antiquity of the Hippodrome drew Oscar like a moth to flame. Debbie walked around the Obelisk of Thutmosis III wishing that she could read the inscriptions upon it. She knew that Oscar and Debbie could read them, but that wasn't the same as reading it herself. Turning to Oscar, she said, "So you are telling me that they stole this from the Temple of Karnack in Egypt and brought it here to decorate their race track way back when the Romans were here."
"That's right," Oscar said.
Georgia said, "That is one large hunk of solid stone. It must weigh fifty tons. How on earth did they ever get it here?"
"Good question," Debbie said staring at the subject of discussion.
"This is only the top third of it. The full obelisk was brought here in three pieces. The bottom two pieces were lost," Oscar said repeating what he had read in the tourist guide that was in their hotel room.
"That's one big piece of stone," Debbie said unable to get over the size of the obelisk.
A man bumped into Oscar and mumbled an apology. Oscar, wearing blue jeans and a shirt, rather than his robe and cloak had just been the target of a pick pocketing attempt. Before the man had managed to take two steps, Oscar grabbed him by the wrist. The simple grasp turned into an arm lock within a fraction of a second. In a low growl, Oscar said, "You just made a major mistake. I'd like my wallet back."
The man was about to protest his innocence when he noticed that the woman wearing the strange hat was holding his partner in a similar hold. He couldn't believe that the short guy and the woman had managed to capture them both. He said, "I don't have your wallet. You can search me if you want."
Using her free hand, Georgia thumped the head of the man she held with a finger and said, "He gave your wallet to this fellow."
"Would you mind retrieving it for me?" Oscar asked with a smile. He flicked a finger against the head of the man he held. It made a satisfying noise that sounded a lot like the sound made when testing a melon.
Debbie glanced over at Oscar and rolled her eyes. She said, "Would you just threaten them already and let them go? Looking at the obelisk is giving me ideas."
Flicking a finger against the man's head, Oscar answered, "The threats start after I get my wallet back. Until then, we just torture them."
The man Georgia was holding held up Oscar's wallet for her to take. Ignoring it, Georgia thumped his head and said, "Let me get this straight. The proper order is to torture them, get your wallet back, threaten them, release them, and then really hurt them if you see them ever again."
The man said, "Here's the stupid wallet!"
Oscar thumped his captive once on the head and said, "That sounds about right to me."
"Ouch," the man complained trying to duck his head.
In the posture of impatience that women learn while waiting for their husbands in the tool department of a hardware store or at the fishing department of the sporting goods store, Debbie crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She said, "Would you get it over with already? Looking at this obelisk has given me ideas and I'm beginning to get impatient."
Georgia grabbed Oscar's wallet out of her captive's hand. Waving it around, she said, "You're so lucky that she's getting impatient. We'd have stayed here all day discussing what to do with you."
Winking at Georgia, Oscar said, "My ineffective little thief, consider yourself thoroughly threatened. You know what I mean; bodily harm complete with insertion of body parts in orifices that were never intended to hold body parts. You know... that kind of stuff."
Georgia lifted the wrist of her captive provoking a groan. She said, "The same thing he said applies to you, but I'll include removal of sexual body parts. I know it sounds sexist, but I enjoy collecting them."
Debbie shook her head at the threat made by her wife. They were having too much fun with this and would play with the pair for quite a while longer. She might as well join in. Giving in to temptation, she said, "Come on you two. Break one of their ribs and let them go. That should be enough fun for now."
While the little taps on the head and teasing banter was upsetting, the offhand way in which Debbie had mentioned breaking ribs was extremely effective in instilling fear in the two captives. In fact, they found her blasé attitude to their predicament frightening. It suggested that this wasn't the first time they had people in that position.
Oscar and Georgia released the wrists of the men they held. As the men took advantage of their freedom and fled down the path at a fast run, Oscar asked, "Were we supposed to break the rib first and then release them?"
"You know, I think you're right. The moment they ran off I realized that I might have gotten it backwards," Georgia said with a laugh. She tossed Oscar's wallet back to him.
Oscar grabbed the wallet and put it into his back pocket. After putting an arm around Debbie and hugging her to his side, Oscar said, "You mentioned that you had an idea while looking at the obelisk."
"It looks a lot like a pointy-ended penis," Debbie said in baby girl voice that sounded innocent, but was anything except innocent. She slipped an arm around Oscar's back and nudged him with her hip.
"Oh, that does give me an idea," Georgia said suggestively.
Putting his other arm around Georgia, Oscar said, "I suppose we'll have to go back to the hotel and explore this idea a little more fully."
As they walked back towards the hotel with Oscar sandwiched between the two women, Debbie said, "You were definitely having too much fun with those guys back there."
"Too much fun? I don't think so," Oscar said with a grin. The only thing that he had hurt was their pride.
"Aren't you supposed to be some sort of holy man or something? I recall reading something like that in a newspaper," Debbie said. She poked Oscar in the ribs when he bumped hips with her.
"Really? I didn't know that. I have a hard time imagining me being a holy man," Oscar said with a grin. When Debbie laughed, he asked, "Did I ever tell you the story about how I learned to fly while meditating?"
"Yes," Debbie said giggling. She had heard it a dozen times and the image of Oscar flying through the air and landing in the pond still caused her to laugh hard enough to almost wet her pants. It didn't matter that he told that story every time she said that he was a holy man.
"I'll tell it to you again," Oscar threatened. His grin let her know that his threat wasn't serious. He looked over at her with a lecherous grin and added, "Prepare yourself for the story!"
"No, not the story!"
"The story!"
"Anything but the story," Debbie said pretending to fear hearing the story once again.
"Anything?"
"Uh, tell me the story," Debbie said.
Oscar tilted his head back and laughed at the exchange. Pretending like he had forgotten what story he was going to tell, he said, "Hmm, which story should I tell?"
Debbie laughed and started to sing, "On a broken horse he rides..."
Georgia joined in the song substituting the word camel for horse. Oscar said, "Okay, I give up. I won't tell the story."
"Good," Debbie said with a grin. Realizing that the building they were approaching was the hotel, she adopted the baby girl voice and said, "That obelisk really looked like a erection. It made me feel all tingling inside."
As if trying to make up for lost time, Debbie was practically insatiable in bed. Oscar would wake in the morning with her mounting his morning erection. After that, she would turn to Georgia for more. Finally, she would beg both to make love to her together. Of course, they couldn't resist her pleas. By lunch time, she was ready for another round of loving. There were quickies before dinner and then long slow sessions in which both Oscar and Georgia made love to her before falling asleep exhausted.
Oscar was not about to complain although he did wonder how Debbie was still able to walk. After one particularly energetic session in bed, he said. "I've missed you so much."
"Same here," Debbie said snuggling in closer to her husband. She missed nothing more than having her mates hold her in their arms. This visit was coming to an end and she dreaded the arrival of the time when she had to step onto the plane to return to Israel.
"I've decided to change my itinerary," Oscar said.
Sitting up, Georgia looked at Oscar in surprise. Curious, she asked, "What are your plans?"
"I was going to head onto Syria from here, but I've decided that it should include the lower half of Europe as well. We'll head out to Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, France, and then Spain," Oscar answered.
Debbie sat up and looked at Oscar. Biting her lower lip, she considered her workload. Deciding that it wasn't that heavy, she said, "I might be able to go on a portion of that trip with you. Maybe I can do the Italy, France, and Spain segments."
"We'd love for you to come with us," Oscar said getting excited. He looked across the bed at Georgia and saw that she was nodding her head in approval.
Debbie considered her research and said, "I could probably work weekends and late every evening for the next month. I'm sure they would let me do that to get three weeks or so of vacation."
"Don't kill your self by overworking," Oscar said running a hand over her breast. He loved the softness of her pale white skin and how her nipple became hard under the stroking of his hand.
His touch invoked a purr of satisfaction from Debbie. She said, "I won't."
Georgia watched Debbie and Oscar. In a way, she felt guilty that Debbie wasn't getting any real time alone with Oscar. For months she had all of Oscar's attention while Debbie was left alone in her apartment. She said, "I was thinking of going out for a while and letting the two of you have some private time."
Thinking that Debbie might enjoy that, Oscar said, "You might consider going shopping for things to use on the trip."
Debbie reached out and grabbed Georgia's hand. She begged, "Don't go. I can't stand the idea of being away from either one of you any more than is necessary during this visit."
"Wouldn't you like some time alone with Oscar?" Georgia asked feeling very touched by Debbie's request for her to stay. She still wanted to give her wife some private time with Oscar.
"I'm married to both of you. I've missed both of you so much. Stay with me," Debbie said not wanting to miss a single minute with either of them. She leaned over and kissed Georgia's hand while looking up into her wife's eyes with a hurt puppy dog expression on her face.
Throat tight with emotion, Georgia said, "I'll stay."
"Now lay down here and let me wrap my arms around you," Debbie said in a low sultry voice. She settled back into the warm embrace of Oscar's arms.
Fighting back tears, Georgia said, "I think you have more in mind than a hug."
"Later. For now, I just want to bask in your love," Debbie said enjoying the feeling of being sandwiched between her two lovers.
"I love you," Oscar whispered into her ear.
"I love you," Debbie said without distinguishing to whom she was speaking. Oscar and Georgia knew that she was speaking to both of them. Within five minutes, Debbie was asleep.
The telephone ringing woke Georgia from a deep sleep. Still feeling groggy, she reached over and picked up the phone. She mumbled, "Hello."
"Hello George, it's me," Jennifer said brightly.
Blinking her eyes, Georgia stared at the clock and asked, "Jed, do you know that it's three o'clock in the morning?"
"It is three o'clock in the afternoon, little sister," Jennifer answered with a laugh. She could imagine how the three of them had been spending their time together.
When she turned to look out the window, the bright light was almost enough to hurt her eyes. She grunted and said, "Oh, you're right. What's got you calling at this ungodly hour?"
Chuckling, Jennifer answered, "I just had your new wheels delivered to the hotel. The receptionist has your keys. You're traveling in style."
"What kind of car is it?"
"A Mercedes," Jennifer answered.
"Nice," Georgia mumbled. A stray thought crossed her mind and she sat up. Curious, she asked, "Who is paying for all of this?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you are delivering cars to us. We've been staying in hotels. Oscar is spending gold coins left and right. You arranged for a private jet to bring Debbie here. Where is all of that money coming from?" Georgia asked.
"William Redman Carter is underwriting your trip. We haven't even made a dent in the budget he set aside for Oscar," Jennifer answered surprised that Georgia didn't know that fact already.
"Oh," Georgia said wondering why William would choose to spend the kind of money required for Oscar's mission. She thought it would have been collected from all of the other Druids. For that matter, William wasn't even a Druid.
"I'll talk to you later, George," Jennifer said with a smile in her voice.
"Not if I know it is you on the phone, Jed," Georgia replied.
After hanging up the phone, Georgia sat on the edge of the bed. Oscar and Debbie were still asleep despite the noise she had made. Curious about William's role in this, she recalled the letter William had sent to Oscar on their wedding day. She had watched Oscar read it several times during the trip, but he had never shared it with her. Looking over at Oscar, she said, "Temptation, your name is Eve."
Unable to resist lure of forbidden fruit, she went over to Oscar's bag and pulled out the letter. Feeling guilty she went into the bathroom closing the door behind her. She closed the lid of the toilet and sat down to read the letter.
My dear friend Oscar,
I do not know how it is that you can shoulder the burden that your service requires. Even Atlas would run from such a load you will carry. There is no doubt in my mind that you are a much stronger man than I. I think I would collapse under weight of such a responsibility. I find such strength and dedication to the Gods and Goddesses remarkable. To tell the truth, I am in awe of you.
I have given much thought to your service. There is no reason for you to suffer any more than absolutely necessary. With my resources, I can provide you with any and all comforts that you may desire. Towards that end, I have established an account of ten million dollars for you to draw upon. Georgia's sister has agreed to be your guardian angle. Should you need or desire anything, let Jennifer know and she will arrange for you to have it. In the event that you require more, I will gladly add more money to that account.
There is no reason to avoid being selfish. If you wish to stay in a five star hotel, then stay in a five star hotel. Take what comforts you can; where and when you can. If you wish to have Debbie visit you, then let Jennifer know and she will arrange all of the details. Spend the money. Enjoy yourself as much as you can. You, of all people, deserve it most.
I have also sent two hundred thousand dollars in gold coins for you to use. Rather than change money to buy things in rural market places, spend the gold. It is the universal medium of exchange. Don't worry about waste. Anything you spend can be replaced; the time spent miserable or hungry can not be recovered. You have far greater things on your mind than worrying about currency.
The money that you gave me to invest on your behalf has grown to over thirty million. As a result of the recent loss of my gift, I have taken steps to protect your investment. It has been shifted into a conservative fund. It should grow at a rate that is better than five percent per year. I shall give that money to Debbie and Georgia in the event of your death or to you upon demand.
I know that you worry about what will happen to Debbie and Georgia at the completion of your service. Rest assured that I shall watch over them for the rest of my life and do all in my power to assure that they need nothing. Towards that end, I have deposited another thirty million in a trust account for them. I know that may sound like a lot of money, but it is nothing compared to what you are sacrificing through your service.
I have learned that Debbie shall spend her practicum in Israel. It is a given that you will worry about her while you are on your journey. I have taken steps to protect her to the best of my ability. Eight bodyguards have been assigned to watch her from a discreet distance. If all goes well, she will never know that they are there.
When your service ends, mine will begin. It saddens me that I can not be there to help you since I shall be with the Gods and Goddesses. With a little warning, I will arrange to have extra guards present to protect Georgia and Debbie. A jet plane will be waiting to whisk them off to the destination of their choice where they can recover in private. I have also asked Oliver to make sure that a Druid counselor is waiting to help them through their grief.
I am sure that Georgia and Debbie will be at a loss concerning what they will do when your service ends. My house in Pennsylvania is awaiting them. Although it is unoccupied, it is fully furnished. It is currently being watched over by Jan, the second true Druidic Bard. She lives in an RV parked beside the house. The neighbors are nice and will not disturb them. There is a pond in the back that is a great place to swim and relax. The location is quiet and will give them a place in which they can relax while deciding what they want to do next.
There is little else that I can do to help you through your service. I wish I could do more. If you can think of anything that I may have missed, let me know and I shall move heaven and earth to make it happen. You have my word on that. The whole world will owe you a debt that can never be repaid. What I have done doesn't even cover the interest on that debt.
I have a few words of advice given me by my father, John Carter, that I would like to pass along to you. Take care of yourself. Enjoy what moments you can. Take the time to smell the roses and watch the sunrise.
Your friend,
William Redman Carter
Georgia stared at the letter with tears in her eyes. It was the most powerful words set to paper that she had ever read. She barely knew William and couldn't believe what he had done for Oscar. The idea that he would step forward to take care of her and Debbie like he had described in the letter was astounding.
Folding the letter, she put it back in the envelope. Sniffling, she realized that she had never thought about what would happen to her and Debbie once Oscar finished his service. Always her thoughts had been about how his service would end. Never had she thought about what she would do next.
At the thought of what she was going to lose, she burst into tears. Sobbing, she lost all control of her emotions. Nothing had ever touched her as deeply as that letter. Her nose ran and she wiped it with the back of her hand. She tried to control it, but the dam had burst.
After five minutes of crying, Georgia finally managed to regain control over her emotions. There were little stains on the envelope from her tears. She wiped it, but the stains remained. She rose and went to the sink. She blew her nose and washed her face. The primary signs that she had been crying were eliminated. Close examination would have shown the slight puffiness that remained.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she said, "Friendship;
that's such a small word for what William must feel for Oscar to have
done all of that for him."