After the Wilderness
By Gordon Kearns
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Chapter 16
Santa Barbara: the Flanery estate overlooking the now dark Pacific. Eleven thirty in the evening. Thanksgiving day 1987 was essentially ready for the family journals and albums. It had been a smaller group than usual this holiday. Dan Kinney, Mary Flanery's youngest brother, had been inaugurated governor of Oregon the previous January, and he and his family --wife Jane and their many children and grandchildren --were expected to recognize the occasion in the governor's mansion in Salem. Ordinarily, they would have been part of the ritual gathering at the Flanery estate in Santa Barbara. Uncle Dan was a particular favorite of Marianne's, and she of his. She had visited the jovial Irishman's house during summer vacations in her childhood. And he never missed calling his niece and sending a hand-selected gift on her birthdays. Marianne missed his happy presence this year, but she had been happy to hear his voice when he called earlier in the evening to give his best wishes to his "little Coleen" --and tell her how he had been praying for her and Patty during the recent horrible crisis.
Most of the relatives on the Flanery side of the family were on hand and would be staying the long weekend --Shelly and Mike Casey from Evanston, Indiana, and their three subteen children; and Jim and Elizabeth Quinn, who now lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, and their three children, two boys and a girl, all teen-agers. Both family groups were descended from Sean's youngest sister Jean, who had married Al Casey. Jean had died some fifteen years ago, and Al passed away five years back. Both the Caseys and the Quinns, worn from their plane trips this morning and the big dinner and long day, had turned in for the night, leaving the Santa Barbara Flanerys in the family room postmortem-ing the day's activities. They made a compact family circle around the coffee table. Sean and Mary were seated on the leather couch. Margaret and Katherine each sat on straight back armchairs at either end of the table; and Marianne sat on the more comfortable --to her -- over-stuffed leather chair facing her parents. Patty, in a white sailor outfit with pleated skirt and overblouse with navy blue piping and tie, sat cross-legged Indian fashion on the floor at Marianne's feet.
Momentarily distracted by Patty's movement as she leaned back against her mother's legs, Katherine commented: "Patricia, I hate to tell you this ...I know it's been a long day and all, but when one is wearing a skirt, it really looks better if she sits with her knees together --even on the floor."
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Patty laughed and changed her position so that her knees could be held more properly together.
Then Katherine and Margaret glanced at each other conspiratorially. It was Margaret who spoke. "Katherine and I have come up with a simply wonderful idea. It seems that Patricia has one of those extra long Christmas holidays this year --you know how they come up every few years --and we think this would be an opportune time for the six of us to take an old fashioned vacation together ...as we used to."
Katherine: "Sean, we know if you really tried you could break away for that short a period. And Marianne, you could let that --what's her name, the one you made your ...partner; oh yes, that Rachel Bollinger --you could let her run things at that place while you're gone. She should know what she's doing, although her husband didn't seem to have much confidence in her ... but it's only a week and a half, or so; she should be able to handle that, don't you think?"
However, Mary broke in instead. "Where were you thinking we should take this vacation?" she asked the sisters in general.
Margaret: "Hawaii, isn't that a wonderful idea?"
Katherine: "The big island, as they say, or Oahu; Sean, you could check with our travel agent and decide which, couldn't you?"
Before her brother could respond, Margaret took the puck: "And you, Marianne, you could check with the Archbishop; he'd probably know the best churches for Christmas masses on whatever island Sean works out."
Before her niece could respond, Katherine was back on the ice: "And you, Mary, why don't you take charge of arrangements for the house staff? It would probably be a good idea if as many as possible were given the holidays off -- with pay, off course; a sort of a Christmas bonus. It would help their morale considerably ...especially after all the ...you, know: upset."
Before Mary could respond, Margaret drove in for the score: "Naturally, Katherine and I will take charge of all the personal arrangements --you know, packing lists, notifying family and friends, calling Patricia's school to let them know we'll be picking her up on that last day, and all those other millions of details that have to be taken care of."
Katherine: "It would be just the best thing. We all need a vacation together --just what the doctor ordered for our frayed nerves. And especially for our little Patricia." Which by accident served to direct all the eyes in Patty's direction.
Patty reddened under the attention. She stood up abruptly, straightened her clothes, and walked back to the sliding glass door leading to the outside patio. As Patty turned to face her family again, Katherine exclaimed, "Oh, dear!"
Margaret: "What's the matter, Katherine?"
Katherine: "I'm sorry; but Patricia, I just noticed: you're not wearing a brassiere. You haven't been dressed that way all day, have you?"
Patty walked back and remained standing on her mother's side of the table. She laughed lightly. "No, Aunt Katherine, I haven't. I just took it off a little while ago."
Margaret: "Well, thank goodness. I suppose you wanted to get comfortable after the big day today. But with all the family here, you never know when one of the cousins ..."
Patty, still laughing: "Will walk in and notice?"
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Margaret: "Yes ...and besides, it's just not seemly to hint of immodesty in the public areas of the house." Then she softened. "I'm sorry, Patricia. I don't mean to be scolding you tonight. It's just that you aren't a little girl any more; you're a grown young lady --a very beautiful one, at that; and when you're wearing something white --you know, your sailor suit --it's very ...apparent if you don't have a bra on." Before Patty could respond, Margaret returned to the original subject. "But that's neither here nor there. The important thing is that we set our sights for the Christmas holidays. We all have our jobs to do. And yours, Patricia, is to get back into the swing of school."
Katherine: "Which reminds me, we'd better start thinking about which it'll be when you graduate in June: Brown, Yale, or Harvard. We have your acceptance letters from all three; and in all fairness, we need to let them know our intentions."
Margaret: "Just think about it, Patricia. We don't have to make a final decision until after our vacation, which is our number one priority right now."
Katherine: "Agreed."
Silence. The hurricane of plans and instructions in propriety left Sean, Mary, Marianne, and Patty mentally reeling when the twins were finally finished. It was several seconds before any of them realized it was truly their turn to respond.
Mary: "Well... I... it sounds nice. I hear Hawaii is a beautiful place. And we haven't been away together for any length of time for years."
Sean: "I suppose I could break away ...I'm sure they have telephones over there in case of a company emergency. What do you think, Marianne?"
Marianne: "What I think doesn't matter." She looked at her daughter. "Patty?"
Eyes were again on the seventeen year old. She didn't address the issue directly, but there was a resolute look to her face. "You asked me about my bra a moment ago, Aunt Margaret. Obviously. I didn't have it on ...as I said. What you didn't know is I don't have panties on, either." She lifted her skirt so all could see her uncovered pubes. One could hear the twins' startled intake of breath. "I'm ...sorry," she said, letting her skirt fall back in place. "I didn't mean that to shock you. I took off my underclothing so I'd be ready to go as soon as our day was over."
Mary: "Go? I don't understand, Patricia."
Patty let a moment pass before continuing: "About the plans --for Hawaii on my Christmas vacation, I mean --there's something ...some things I have to tell you." A beat. "To start with, about the vacation: well, it doesn't exactly mean anything any more. I'm quitting school."
Mary: "Quitting school, I don't understand ..."
Patty: "Just what I said. I'm dropping out. I'm not going back to St. Mary Magdalene Monday."
Katherine: "You can't mean that, Patricia. Nobody in our family has ever dropped out of school."
Sean: "Oh, I don't know about that. In the old days ..."
Katherine: "This isn't the 'old days,' Sean. It isn't ...seemly for a young lady to drop out of school any more."
Margaret: "She's right, my dear. We can't permit you to do that."
Patty: "I love you both very dearly. You've been my shield against so many things while I was growing up. And I've always listened to you and trusted your judgment." A beat. "But on this, I've made up my mind."
Margaret: "Marianne, you're her mother. Tell her she can't do this."
Marianne: "As Patty said, she's made up her mind. And I don't think I want to try to change it for her."
Mary: "But ...would Brown take her if she doesn't have a diploma?"
Patty: "That doesn't matter, either. I'm not going on to college."
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Mary: "But with your grades --you're throwing so much away." A beat. "If it's because you want to get that scholarship, I think we could learn to live with that."
Katherine: "Oh, no; none of that nonsense. There are some things not up for bargaining. If this is an attempt to get your own way ..."
Patty, smiling: "No attempt to 'get my own way,' Aunt Katherine. Although it would've been nice if you'd have given in on that point -- because it was important to me. But no, this isn't blackmail. I'm not going back to high school; and I'm not going to college --any college." Before her aunts could respond, Patty charged onward: "There's more than school I have to tell you about. This is the hard part. I... I'm leaving here, too. I won't be living at the estate any more."
Mary: "But where ..."
Patty: "Oh, here and there ...wherever I feel like at the time."
Margaret: "This is craziness. You come down to earth this minute, young lady."
Sean: "I suppose the most logical question is, why --though after what Marianne told us Monday, I think I know --but I would like to hear your reasoning."
Patty: "I... two nights ago, I stood on the planet Mars --I really did; and I scratched my name in the dust --and Rachel's name, too; she was with me." A beat. "You know what else I've been doing for the last week and a half? I've been flying all around the world in my wave. I sat on the top of a train going across the salt flats; I stood on the very edge of an oil-drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico; I slept in the Irish Wilderness; I was on top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis; and I danced in a farmer's field in Kansas." She lifted her left foot, untied the fifties style saddle shoe, dropped it to the floor, and repeated the procedure with the right shoe. "School ties me down so, so much. The walls ...keep me from the sky and the mountains and the forests. Clothes keep me from the air ...and my wave. I have things I want to learn about math and physics, but I can learn them better without sitting inside walls and inside clothes.
"My school now is everywhere in the world." She elicited another gasp as she stepped out of her skirt and laid it in Marianne's lap. Her mother neatly folded it and set it on the coffee table. "And my home is everywhere in the world. There are so many wonderful places to be."
Mary: "But this is your home, Patricia."
Patty: "Not after tonight."
Margaret: "Not after tonight? What are you going to do?"
Patty: "In just a few minutes, I'm going to get in my wave and leave."
Katherine: "But where will you go?"
Patty: "For tonight, there's a beautiful island off Greece --Patrick showed me --I think I'll go there. It's daytime there, but I'll find a shady spot looking out over the Mediterranean and catch some sleep. Tomorrow, I don't know yet ...I'll think of something."
Katherine: "You mean you're never coming back?"
Patty: "Oh, yes; I'll be here for Christmas, and next Thanksgiving "
Margaret: "But it's so long in between ...Couldn't you come back for Sunday mass --or at least, our little brunches?"
Patty: "Would you mind if I came naked?" She slipped out of her sailor-suit blouse and handed it to Marianne, who folded it and set it down as she did the skirt.
Margaret, staring at her nude grand-niece: "Well... the servants ...I mean I don't think ..."
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Katherine: "It wouldn't hurt you to wear clothes one day a week --the Lord's day, at that."
Patty sighed deeply. "I'm ...I'm sorry, Aunt Katherine."
At that moment Kevin Quinn --at fifteen, the oldest of Jim and Elizabeth's children --walked into the room. He had been restless and when he heard voices downstairs, he put on his robe and came down to join in whatever was going on. As you would expect, he was quite surprised to see Patty, his beautiful second cousin Patty, standing stark naked before his eyes.
Patty grinned at the boy. "Hi, Kevin. Come on in."
Margaret: "I don't think ..."
Patty: "You don't think he should see me this way. But I don't mind at all --and I bet he doesn't, either. Come on in, Kevin. There's room on the floor over here by me." Nervously he sat where she indicated --very aware of the sensuality she exuded. Addressing her aunts again: "So this isn't the place for me any more." Another sigh. "I'll be in and out of Bollinger's -- if you ever want to get in touch with me." To her mother: "I'll see you there next week some time, mom --probably Monday or Tuesday." A beat. "I do have the feeling you all don't really believe in my 'magic.' But it's true; you'll see in a moment. She made the rounds, kissing each of the stunned Flanerys, who in their own ways did love their little girl. Then she knelt on the floor and kissed cousin Kevin on the lips.
She rose and bit on her lower lip. "I... I guess I'll see you on
Christmas. Don't worry; I'll wear clothes for the occasion." A beat. "Hawaii's out for me, of course. I could meet you there ...in my own way ... but you wouldn't want ..." Another beat. "Good bye, I... love you." And she vanished.
Margaret: "She disappeared ...I... where ..."
Marianne: "There's no way of telling. She could be two thousand miles away from here by now; or on the Greek island she talked about." She chuckled. "Or she could be zipping around this room, tuning in on our conversation ...or zipping through our heads, reading our thoughts."
Quiet held sway in the room.
Then Mary: "I... I don't understand. Our Patricia is magic, isn't she?"
Marianne: "As I said Monday, she's not actually magic; but she's something pretty close to it."
Sean: "So if the disappearing part is real, then ..."
Marianne: "The rest of it? about being from an alien race? Yes, that's real."
Mary: "And the rest --about dying by the time she's forty"
Marianne: "True." A beat. "And their vulnerability: naked and naive, they live a perilous existence. Rachel's parents were killed by hunters. And there are always the Reverend Gillettes."
Another pause. Then Sean: "No more than will-o'-the-wisps, you said."
Marianne: "A light, fragile, short existence."
Katherine: "Just flying around from one place to the other ...never wearing clothes ...dropping out of school... dying so young ..."
Margaret: "It's such a waste --as if her life has no meaning."
Kevin Quinn, shyly: "Does her life ...have to have meaning? I mean, just seeing her like that --you know, all naked ...and so pretty. I don't think I'll ever see anything ...anybody so pretty. And when I think about her being invisible and going anywhere she wants in the whole world ... that's so ...great. It's what we always wished we could do. But Patty can really do it. It sort of makes you happy to know that somebody can be that free, doesn't it ...that there is a Patty in the world." A beat. "And to think: she's my very own blood cousin."
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Mary: "And my very own granddaughter." A beat. "Marianne, you don't think she's ever coming back to us? I mean, besides Christmas and Thanksgiving."
Marianne: "You'd have to accept her the way she is: a naked, free spirit."
Mary: "Margaret? Katherine?"
Katherine: "The child can come back to us whenever she wants. But our home is the culmination of a proud family heritage. We have a tradition of impeccable moral standards. Our generation --and yours as well, Marianne -- has been raised in a genteel environment. I don't think it's fair to expect us to change our way of life --or our home. Our home is a civilized bastion, which we've devoted our heart and soul to build. I don't think it's asking too much that Patricia wear clothes in our home."
Kevin Quinn: "But if it means you won't see her again ..."
Katherine could no longer continue. She dabbed primly at her eyes with the white lace hankie she always seemed to have in her hand. Margaret, speaking haltingly, herself trying to maintain control of her emotions: "Patricia ...will always be ...proud ...and secure in the knowledge that her home will ever be a steady bulwark of civilization ...the solid rock of her ...Flanery heritage ...which will ever be here in a time of need. It wouldn't be her ...home if we allowed it to be anything less." A beat. "It is a principle from which we can never back down." Then she, too, wept.
Kevin looked up to Marianne and asked softly, "If I can get my father's permission, do you think I could visit Patty at ...that resort?"
Marianne: "Bollinger's. Yes, Kevin, she'd love to see you there."
Kevin: "Can I take off my clothes if I come."
Marianne: "Sure, that's the idea of the place."
Mary: "I'd like to come sometimes, too. But I... I don't think I'd want to be ...nude, of course."
Marianne: "That would be fine, mother. Just your being there would be the important thing."
The twins said nothing more.
Marianne took over control of Bollinger's on Monday of the following week at the "signing." Between Jack, Phil Wagonner, and herself, the resort would operate smoothly until Rachel's return. Marianne saw little of Patrick during that period --except those nights when she wasn't "on call." It was agreed that the person "on call" would sleep in the apartment behind the desk. Otherwise, Phil bunked in the staff cabin and Jack in his own place. On her free nights, Marianne would generally be someplace in the world with Patrick. Officially, room 231 was held in reserve for her and Patty --on those few times when Patty was on the grounds.
One such night was Wednesday of that first week of new ownership. Patty returned for a date with Phil Wagonner. A "Sixties Night" was held in the gymnasium, with pictures, newspapers, posters, and music of that era. Late in the evening, about midnight, Phil escorted his girl back to her room. Instead of a good-night kiss at the door --as on their first date --Patty opened the door and, taking his hand, drew him into the room --and to the water-bed, for which, until this night, Patty had limited use.
Early the next morning, as Marianne was returning from one of her nocturnal excursions with Patrick, she met Phil as he stepped out of room 231. "Good morning," she said brightly.
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"Good morning," he answered, his cheeks aflame. He quickly slipped down the hall and out of sight.
Inside the room, Marianne found her nude daughter kneeling in the center of the mildly rocking bed, sitting comfortably back on her heels. Twisted and tangled bed linen surrounded her. Her hair was totally tousled, with several strands hanging without discipline over her face to her chin. And on her face she wore a most un-enigmatic grin. Marianne smiled and joined her daughter on the bed.
"Did you have a good time?" she asked Patty.
Patty: "Yes, I did. I sure did."
Marianne: "Did you and Phil make love?"
Patty: "Yes, we did. We sure did make love."
Marianne: "More than once?"
Patty, still grinning: "Lots more than once." And she threw her arms around her mother. "Last week by the ocean, Rachel and I did about everything two girls could do with each other; and last night on this water-bed, Phil and I did about everything a boy and girl could do with each other. Mom, I sure do like sex."
Marianne, hugging her little girl in return: "You're your father's daughter." A beat. "And your mother's, too."
Once Rachel was back, the business of the resort moved away from its survival mode. Over the following months Rachel's creative mind, added to Marianne's business sense and the substantial resources of Flanery Enterprises, gradually brought about several positive changes at Bollinger's. The computer system was expanded; work was begun on a new 100 unit lodge and a heated indoor swimming pool; the desk staff was increased; and a national promotion campaign was instituted --outdoor and sports magazines and cable networks --targeting the average family without previous nudist experience. The wholesome, tasteful environment of Bollinger's was emphasized, along with the theme: "Why not give us a try?" --with a money-back fun guarantee. Rachel and Marianne made a great team, so that each had plenty of free time to pursue "outside interests."
Once Sister Daniella was out of the ICU, there was an almost non-stop parade of visitors to her bedside. Patty and Rachel were regulars, of course. And there was a constant stream of fellow nuns, St. Mary Magdalene alumni, and students and their families --and two gentlemen who looked upon her as nothing less than Joan of Arc personified. Harry Waterman and Lindsey Martin visited two to three times every week, bringing with them armies of stuffed animals and boxes and boxes of sinfully delicious Swiss chocolates. On one of their visits they ran into another regular, Marianne Flanery. In the course of their conversation when a nurse had shooed them out of the room for bed-pan time, they revealed they were looking for positions outside the California Patrol. Their actions on that fateful Monday, rather than bringing them respect in the organization, produced just the opposite. They both received an official reprimand for their behavior during the incident. Their total disregard for standing orders (remember, they were to have watched over traffic flow only) was declared insubordination. This came down from the highest level: the governor. Their noble act had embarrassed him because of his unqualified support for the Reverend Goodman Gillette. They were now made to understand that promotion should not be expected within the next millennium --or two. Within the ranks, they were treated as in near Coventry. Friends were rare. Decent duties were rarer. Secretly their fellows expressed regret for the situation, but their own jobs were at stake if they acted differently toward the two. Marianne was surprised that the governor had such authority over the operation of the patrol. But the fact is, as Harry and Lindsey realized only too well, the governor is the boss of bosses.
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"What are ...what can you do now?" Marianne asked.
"We're trying for outstate, but there's no doubt the word's out that our names are 'Mud,'" Harry answered.
Lindsey: "We just sent our applications in for the Oregon Patrol; they're a decent organization --and it wouldn't be a big move for our families. But we don't have much hope."
"Oregon?" Marianne said, her thoughts suddenly focusing in on Uncle Dan. "Oh, I wouldn't give up yet."
Sure as shootin', within days they each received a call from the commandant of the Oregon State Highway Patrol, and by the new year they were proud members of that "decent organization." It seems a governor does have some influence in such things.
After three returns to surgery, weeks of tender care and therapy, and the constant doting attention of Dr. Phil MacClean, Sister Daniella had recovered sufficiently for release from the hospital. Sister Agatha, the acting principal of Mary Magdalene, accompanied her wounded fellow on the shuttle flight north to Monterey, where they were met by Sister Cecilia in the school van for the final leg of the trip home. The proud nun refused the convenience of a wheelchair, insisting on the slow, painful alternative of a one-handed walker. Waiting for them at the school's front steps as the van pulled into the driveway were the one hundred and nineteen students and the teaching staff of forty full and part time religious. When the van came to a stop and Sister Daniella saw the reception awaiting her, she forcibly straightened her back and stepped out the door Sister Cecilia held open for her. Immediately, the group erupted into enthusiastic applause for their courageous principal. As the sound cascaded down from the top of the steps, Sister Daniella summoned every ounce of her lifetime of dignity and bowed slightly to the right and to the left and marched up the steps like a true grand lady of the theatre. Myra Silvers gloried in this brief reprise of the wonderful excitement of a long-ago magical world of footlights.
It was, of course, impossible for Sister Daniella to keep up with the demands and stresses of her position, demands she once accepted as second nature. Sister Agatha would continue on as the in-fact school administrator, with Sister Daniella falling into the role of principal emeritus. It would be an arrangement that would most likely continue on into future years. She did hold tightly to her extra-curricular drama club; and as time passed, she would become the informal, roving personal advisor for her girls, which they grew to appreciate even more than her official status of the days before the crusade.
Her nightly tours never stopped, albeit considerably slower than before. The stairs were major obstacles; after each flight --up or down --she found it necessary to rest a few minutes before continuing. And it was a rare evening indeed when one or more of the girls wouldn't stop her along the way for down-to-earth bits of advice or patient listenings. As in the past, she conducted most such off-the-cuff conferences in a pew in the Sacred Heart Chapel.
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Sunday nights were special occasions. Every week, without exception, she found Patty Flanery waiting at her final stop in the chapel; and they would spend several minutes at the communion rail --Patty kneeling to Sister Daniella's right, joining the nun in silent prayer. Normally after praying they would engage in a mutual catch-up of gossip, relaxing together in the front pew. For these visits Patty was, of course, as she always was, nude. And at least once a month the bare-assed Rachel Bollinger would be at Sister Daniella's left side for both prayer and conversation.
There were no secrets to these Sunday night episodes at St. Mary Magdalene Academy for Girls. At first, knots of giggling teen-agers in their pajamas and robes squeezed around the small windows in the doors at the back of the chapel to watch Sister Daniella's naked guests. Later, after a daring couple of freshmen actually slipped inside the room and knelt quietly in a pew at the rear, it became normal for a half dozen or so students --and teachers --to be on hand for the visits of the magic Patty and Rachel. Often after prayer they would move forward to join the gossip session.
Several times, Patty and Rachel tried to prevail upon Sister Daniella to shed her garments and join them in their wave. Though her own inate adventurous spirit was tempted by the offer, the sister never took her friends up on it. Sister Daniella was what Sister Daniella would be.
Chuck Wohl enjoyed a fuller recovery than Sister Daniella. However, his endurance was also permanently affected by the injury to his lung. And he often suffered recurrences of pain in his rib cage, especially after strenuous activity. When the desk staff was increased, Wohl was the first assigned to one of the new positions; and, under Rachel's effective tutelage, he became quite good at the job.
In the time they worked so closely together, the affection of each to the other grew; and more often than not they were seen in each other's company at dinner and evening activities. One day, when they both happened to be off-duty, they were seen walking up the trail to the Chapel in the Woods. When they didn't return for several hours, Marianne and Jack drew the conclusion that Rachel had taken her friend for a trip in her wave; a true assumption as it turned out. There was a tiny tropical sand island in the Caribbean, one of thousands spotting the cucve of the West Indies. It was a place, which --according to Denise and Jeffrey --years ago served as a summer base for Rachel's people. Rachel and Chuck lay side by side and enjoyed the sun in their little paradise. Chuck had been overwhelmed by the experience of the wave and now felt a new and more profound closeness to the lovely red-head lying next to him. Their lovemaking was tender and fulfilling. Many other such occasions spiced the ensuing months. Rachel and Chuck were accepted as a steady twosome by the guests and staff of the resort.
Rachel and Patty were as constant to their steady beaus as their nature would permit. But ...
After being subjected to months of politicking, cajoling, pleading, and teen-age misery making, Jim and Elizabeth Quinn finally caved in and allowed their oldest son Kevin to visit his cousin Patty at Bollinger's Resort. At home he never allowed himself to be seen naked --or even in his underwear.Whenever he was in the shower or otherwise using the bathroom, the door was slammed and locked tight against any possible intrusion, as was his room door when he changed clothes. So it was difficult for his parents to understand Kevin's sudden interest in becoming a nudist; they hadn't heard about the events of that memorable Thanksgiving night. But he was a growing boy, after all; and perhaps a few days of co-ed sun-worshipping would ease his path through this confusing period in his life --and keep him off their backs for awhile. So early Saturday morning on Presidents' Day weekend, using his own savings to finance the whole trip as he solemnly promised --Kevin Quinn checked into Bollinger's.
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That afternoon, after introducing Marianne, Phil Wagonner, and Chuck Wohl to a new computer program on payroll accounting, Rachel skipped sprightly around the desk to join Patty and her cousin from North Carolina; and with Rachel holding the boy's right hand, and Patty his left, the three of them ran giggling out of the lobby and down the lawn --to vanish when they were some fifty yards away from the building.
"Will-o'-the-wisps," Marianne said, musing. Then: "I wonder where they're taking him."
Phil: "There's a beach up the coast. It's one of their favorite places."
Chuck: "It's Kevin's 'growing up day.' They're going to confer on him his rites of passage."
Marianne: "You mean ..."
Phil: "Yep. He's going to be one experienced teen by the time they bring him back."
Marianne: "How do you ..."
Phil: "They told us. They don't keep secrets." A beat. "Even when the two of them go off sometimes together and make love with each other --they never hide it from us."
A pause.
Chuck: "One night about a week and a half ago, Rachel went to Jack Bollinger's cabin --with the out and out premeditated intention of seducing him. You know how he'd been so depressed since Darren left; well, Rachel figured 'a little romp in the sheets' was just the thing to bring him out of his doldrums. The result was a night of solid sexual intercourse." He laughed. "It's pretty obvious that her 'cure' worked. Have you noticed Jack lately?"
Marianne: "Now that you mention it, he does seem to have returned to his old cheerful, gregarious self."
Chuck: "She figures he's going to need a booster shot every now and then."
Marianne: "A ...you do realize, don't you, sex is a pretty demanding aspect of their make-up."
Phil: "Uh huh. Jeffrey explained that to us when he heard we were getting serious in our relationship with the girls."
Chuck: "But I wonder, have they always been this interested in the subject? I don't remember seeing Rachel play around so much ...before."
Marianne: "I didn't know Rachel. But my Patty was a very reserved young lady. What happened, I think, is when they came to know about their unusual background, and they experienced the release their wave gave them from human restrictions, it was as if the dam broke. Before, they were confused; their natural drives were in terrible conflict with their rather straight upbringing. So in answer to your question: yes, they were always 'this interested,' but it wasn't until last November that they discovered it was all right to be interested. I think, too, that their near execution for merely being what they were dissolved whatever reservations they harbored for acting out their normal instincts."
Another pause.
Marianne: "What do you guys think of all this?"
Phil: "Do you mean, does it bother us? Are we jealous?" A beat. "I have to admit at first I was a little edgy about it, especially when I knew they were doing it with each other."
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Chuck: "But I don't think jealousy was the problem. Phil and I talked this over a lot in the early days. When you come right down to it, we felt as if we were supposed to resent what they were doing. Do you know what I mean? In our society it's as if your girl or wife or whatever belongs to you. And if she runs around on you, it's an insult to your pride."
Phil: "But when Jeffrey explained the situation to us, it helped. This was the way our girls were." A beat. "Besides, what was it you said they were, Marianne? Oh, yes: will-o'-the-wisps. That describes them, all right. They just flit around the Earth for a short period of time and they're gone. You can't own a will-o'-the-wisp. You can't even hold one down. You have to let it just be, and enjoy the privilege of seeing such a magical sight."
Chuck: "I think Rachel's getting to love me --and I think Patty's getting to love Phil. And that's enough for us. To require they change or behave in such and such a way as a demonstration of that love would be to deny their will-o'-the-wisp nature --and in the end only demonstrate our own selfishness. God, it's great when Rachel comes to me and wraps my arms around her shoulders and trusts herself to me."
Phil: "I love having sex with Patty --it's fantastic. But mostly I love Patty. What makes her happy, what thrills her, thrills and makes me happy, too. So when she told me she loves Rachel, that was fine with me; and when she came back all excited about her latest sexual escapades with Rachel, I was excited right along with her. And when she told me she was going to be Kevin Quinn's first experience with sexual intercourse --or second; I don't know what order the girls finally decided on --I thought that was a fine idea, too ...I really did. Tonight, when she tells me all about it, I'll be able to read the happiness and excitement in her whole being; and I'll honestly share her feelings --because I love her."
Chuck: "And Rachel has been in seventh heaven about the changeover in Jack Bollinger. I wouldn't think of depriving her of that thrill; and more, as Phil indicated, I'm thrilled through her."
Late in the afternoon, when Patty, Kevin, and Rachel strode arm in arm into the lobby, Kevin broke away and dashed to the desk. "Marianne, Marianne, I had the greatest time this afternoon," he said with unrestrained enthusiasm. He kissed Marianne on the cheek and ran excitedly for his room to clean up for dinner.
Patty bounced around the desk and took Phil by the hand and started leading him away toward room 231. "It was a lot of fun, Phil; I can hardly wait to tell you all about it."
Rachel gave Chuck a shlurpy kiss and pulled his arm around her waist. "It was a blast," she said "to be in on a young man's inauguration into manhood. And, boy, I can tell you he knows what manhood can be."
Patty took Ernie Bergen up on his offer of live nude modeling opportunities at Three Springs. Though she was capable of existing in the wild without involvement in the human world, she felt that an income of her own --however irregular --would be a symbol of even greater independence. So she became a most welcome periodic addition to the campus landscape. During class breaks and lunch hours when she sat for live art classes, Patty would usually meet with the students on the lawn outside the art school. Passers-by became accustomed to the beautiful nude's presence, and would often stop to take her picture. She never objected.
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She also posed privately for students, faculty, and local artists. More often than not she'd sit for the students for only nominal fees --and for free, if money seemed to be a real problem. Her clients were thoroughly screened by Bergen --for whom she also posed many times. All her earnings were funneled through Bergen and deposited directly into her account in a bank in Bakersfield.
Did her work at Three Springs ever lead to sexual liaisons? Well, there was that private sitting Bergen had arranged with an especially shy male student. His shyness was both exacerbated by and the nourishment for a severe stuttering problem. Patty had intercourse with him --she thought it would give him more self-confidence. Whether it did or not, the episode sure took his mind off his problems for a few hours. For a long time she tried to get Ernie Bergen himself to sleep with her --you know, to show her appreciation. He thought there would be something unethical about it; and then considering the age difference and all... So he steadfastly declined her sweet invitations ...except once; after all, he was human. Of course, Patty faithfully and cheerfully kept Phil Wagonner informed about her exploits.
But it was in the fields of math, physics, and astronomics where Patty expended her most serious efforts. She thought she had a line on that universe organism inter-stellar travel system known to her race for many millennia, but apparently lost when what was thought to be the last of her people emigrated to a new life in a faraway solar system.
Patty haunted the science libraries of such schools as Cal-Tec, MIT, and the University of Chicago. She unashamedly waved the brains of scholars, teachers, professors, and writers. And she sought and achieved the immeasurably valuable assistance of Janet Crespy, and the massive computers of Walker and Associates Silicone, Inc. Janet's male colleagues found a myriad of creative excuses to place themselves outside Janet's windowed office when Patty was there. As an encouragement to their employees to involve themselves in advanced research, private undefined projects such as that in which Janet was now engaged were not taken as unusual. Her nude helper was unusual; however, the directors of Walker and Associates considered themselves enlightened, and the behavior was dismissed as eccentric, but tolerable. Besides, there was no mystery about who the young girl was. Her face, after all, had been seen on t.v. screens of every home in the country. So it was generally concluded to let well-enough alone.
Patty took Janet along with her on several excursions through expert brains. Janet's interpretations of what was found there provided Patty with an incomparable education. Patty knew better than to try to wave the minds of her own people, but she and Janet visited Patrick, Denise, and Jeffrey in their uncivilized worlds, seeking every byte of data that could bring understanding to the riddle of universe organism travel. These interviews and the interpretations of these naked children in the forest provided Janet with an incomparable education. Solution to the riddle was yet a long way off, but with the unique facilities and abilities of the team of Patty and Janet, there was little doubt it would be found someday.
But both Patty and Rachel, separately or together, enjoyed most of all spending their time being free spirits: racing eagles; swinging on jungle vines in Africa or Borneo; doing gymnastics in the Louvre; meditating in ancient Hindu monasteries; intruding on Las Vegas chorus lines; racing each other on the backs of thoroughbred horses on Kentucky farms; sitting atop giant redwoods, jogging around the oval at the Indianapolis Speedway; enjoying sunrise from a reed boat on Lake Titicaca; playing with the naked children and mothers of a shrinking Amazon tribe; picnicking in the shadow of a monolithic head on Easter Island; riding ancient turtles on
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the Galapagos; singing off-key country-western songs from isolated rocks in the Aegean Sea to cheering passing fishermen; spending the night in the depths of Meteor Crater; Arizona; climbing Mount Fuji; taking morning jogs on the Great Wall of China; visiting with Patrick on that oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico; orbiting the Earth in their wave ten miles up; cruising idly low over the land, sensing the auras of good and bad times in human history ...and on and on.
In August, 1988, a baby boy was born to Marianne and Patrick. Marianne would not withhold from him his unique heritage, as she had from Patty. During his early years, Marianne and Patrick would share the responsibility for his care and education, with every possible opportunity afforded for learning the ways of the wave and his life as a naked child in the forest. His home would be Bollinger's --a cabin near Jack's was set aside for the family, though Patty still retained good old room 231 --and his playground would be the world. When he reached five, he would be given the option of selecting his own name, the way the people of his race used to do it. Until then he would be called Robert. The two parents didn't discuss much about the boy's after-five years --Patrick would be forty years old then, you know. However, they did generally agree it wouldn't hurt for Robert to attend the local elementary school when he was old enough --might give him a good perspective on the human side of his heritage ...and a helpful geography background at the same time. Evenings and weekends during his school years, he could live the free life if he wished.
Of course, the twin aunts exploded --several times, actually. Once, when Marianne first informed them of her pregnancy. "You'd think she never heard of the institution of marriage." When they realized Patrick was the father --well, they didn't say anything, but they shook their heads a lot, whispering to each other something like, "We're going to have to put up with that 'magic' nonsense again." They didn't speak to Marianne for a month when she told them she would be keeping Robert at the resort. And the final straw was that education plan. "A Flanery in public school!" And Marianne had yet to mention that in all probability after he finished the elementary grades, she'd give Robert the option of attending or not attending school at all.
In March of 1989, Rachel gave birth to a baby girl. Three men claimed parenthood. Chuck Wohl was her ...mate, so his claim seemed pretty solid. But then the previous June, Rachel had given Jack Bollinger two "boosters," so Jack passed around liberal quantities of cigars to resort guests when the child was born. And the now seventeen year old Kevin Quinn spent a week of his summer vacation at the resort that June. Since Patty was away with Janet Crespy researching satellite data at NASA and in Moscow that week, Rachel took the not unwelcome task of entertaining the virile lad all by herself. He proudly proclaimed to one and all his responsibility for siring the girl-child.
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For a long time Rachel said nothing. The three men seemed to be enjoying their fatherhood status so much, she didn't have the heart to disappoint any of them. Of course, Rachel knew who the real father was. Ever since her week with Denise and Jeffrey she used the effective herbal contraceptive she learned from them. It was a twenty-four hour specific method of birth control. Rachel had scheduled the conception to the day, so the father of her child was no mystery to her. Nor was it a mystery to Chuck Wohl; the two of them had planned it out together. In fact, that particular night they had the best romp either had ever experienced. In the end, they did tell Jack and Kevin the disappointing news. But they all agreed to say nothing to anyone else. That little girl will grow up with three doting fathers, and I don't think she'll mind that at all. As soon as she's old enough, she'll be told -- but I don't think she'll give away the secret, either --being spoiled times three isn't bad.
Some notes worth mentioning. Patrick and Phil Wagonner did not join in the father derby. They checked the arithmetic and decided it couldn't possibly have been one of them. Second, after the birth, Jack moved into one of the rooms in the lodge, turning his precious cabin over to Chuck, Rachel, and his little girl. And third, Phil MacClean insisted on presiding over both births. Robert was born in St. Agnes Hospital in Fresno. But Rachel refused to be a patient in any hospital; never again would she be bound by straps and wrist bracelets. Dr. MacClean delivered her baby in the First Aid Room at the lodge.
At Patty's suggestion Rachel named her child Eileen. Rachel, too, would give her child the opportunity to change her name at five. And Eileen would be given about the same dual upbringing as planned for Robert --although considering Rachel was now thirty years old, it was doubtful she'd be around to see her girl through the sixth grade. Eileen missed the blessing of having twin aunts; however, the Quinns visit their "grandchild" often, --even after Rachel let them in on the secret --and having these fine human relatives can only add to Eileen's sense of belonging as she grows up. Mark one up for this surrogate family: when the Quinns come to visit --and they do come often: always as a total family group, parents and all three children --they join in the spirit of Bollinger's, baring all so Eileen and Rachel will ever feel their support. Their whole-hearted interest in Eileen is indeed fortunate. Chuck Wohl's parents long ago ceased all contact with him because of his involvement with a nudist resort.
Chapters: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18
To Homepage and Table of Contents: The Universe in 700 Words or so
After the Wilderness - Copyright 1990 by Gordon Kearns