Run into Trouble

CHAPTER 18

Today we’re going from Carpenteria State Beach through the city of Santa Barbara to a point on Hollister Avenue west of Goleta. Don’t underestimate the run as it is close to marathon distance. Remember that the beach heads east-west here. This is an opportunity for each team to use its skills at picking a route because there are many ways to go. The best route may be some distance inland. For starters, we suggest that you don’t try to follow the beach directly west of Carpenteria, because you’ll run into a marshy area. Go inland to Carpenteria Avenue. You young studs may be tempted to go through Isla Vista to ogle the luscious lovelies on the bathing suit optional beach near the University of California at Santa Barbara. If you do, you’ll get bogged down in sand and dead ends, and it may cost you a million dollars.

“This is where we separate the men from the boys.”

Drake was feeling better than he had at any time since the race had started. Not only physically but his face was almost back to normal. Practically gone were the black eyes and discolored nose. He had to look closely in the mirror to tell that his nose was permanently enlarged and had a slight hook to it. He told himself that he had never been vain about his appearance, but it was nice that the visual reminders of his injuries were disappearing.

Melody chuckled. “This life seems to agree with you. I’ve never seen you acting so youthful. Perhaps your aging clock is rewinding, and you’re getting younger.”

“That would be nice, to a point. Right now I’ll settle for gaining on Tom and Jerry.”

They were running an inland route carefully picked out by Drake who had acquired a map of Santa Barbara. One thing he had learned in the service of his country was map reading, and he figured that gave them an edge over the other teams.

Melody looked around her. On a summer Saturday the locals and tourists were heading for the beach or shopping. The sidewalks weren’t crowded.

“I don’t see anybody else. We haven’t been this alone since the first few days when everybody ran away from us. Hopefully, that isn’t happening today.”

“We’ll be doing quite a stretch on Hollister Avenue. We should find out how we stand then.”

Grace had eaten dinner with them last night. After dinner, Drake had gone through his routine of getting ready for the next day, including taking a cold bath. That hadn’t given him time to talk to Melody alone. “I take it that you and Peaches are buddy-buddy now.”

“Not even matey-matey, but he did open up to me a little. I got the impression that he’s not a member of the Fred fan club and won’t play his silly games.”

“So he’s not part of the threatening letter team.”

“Not if we can believe him. He also said he’d take care of Grace.”

“I heard you tell her that. Although I think she considers you to be her biggest protection.”

Melody laughed. “Well, I did do a little finger twisting. Speaking of mates, how did your chat with Blade turn out? I take it that he’s the one who put you on to this bloke Sterling.”

Drake had told Grace to be on the lookout for Sterling and had given her his description without telling her where he had obtained the information. She hadn’t asked. He filled Melody in on what Drake had said about Sterling.

“I may be able to get Peaches to help look for him.”

“Be careful doing that. Do you trust him?”

“We have to trust somebody. Did Blade have any other words of wisdom?”

“He says the military thinks we’re in World War Three, but not the president. There’s a difference of opinion. Hopefully, the president can retain control of the military, like he’s supposed to. But some people, in and out of government, are trying to influence public opinion in favor of war.”

“That’s scary.”

When they spotted the Giganticorp bus parked on Hollister Avenue marking the end of the day’s run, Drake and Melody still didn’t see any runners in front of them. As they drew closer, they saw Peaches standing beside the bus, presumably holding a stopwatch, but he appeared to be alone.

“Where is everybody?” Melody asked. “Do you think they’re inside the bus?”

Drake was afraid to speculate. Either he and Melody were very late, or just perhaps… As they came up to Peaches, he had a smile on his face. It was the first time Drake had ever seen him smile.

“Congratulations. You’re the first team to finish.”

As Peaches wrote their time down on a clipboard, Melody gave Drake a big hug. Memories of how good her hugs felt flooded back. They waited for the other teams to finish. And waited. It was a good five minutes before the next team came into view. The two runners approaching weren’t Tom and Jerry. Or Phil and Brian, the overall second place team.

It took forty-five minutes before all the other teams straggled in. Drake and Melody stood on either side of Peaches, peering over his shoulder at the clipboard as he wrote down times, comparing them to the teams’ overall times, which were also on the clipboard. He didn’t seem to mind.

When the dust settled, Drake and Melody had not only gained on all the other teams, they had passed Mike and Aki and were now in eighth place. They hugged again.

Drake wasn’t a fan of speechmaking by politicians. He remembered being in a stadium full of Eisenhower supporters when he was in college. A member of Eisenhower’s campaign staff had the crowd chanting “I like Ike,” louder and louder, whipping them into a frenzy. Drake, who didn’t participate in the chant, felt like an observer from another planet. The ability of one man to bend the crowd to his wishes scared him. It reminded him of what he had heard about Hitler’s hypnotic power over audiences.

The reason he wanted to hear this speech was because of the events that were taking place around them-and the fact that the speaker was Casey, making the first big campaign speech of his Senate race, right here in Santa Barbara.

The other runners had passed on the event, feeling that their sleep was more important. Fred apparently had already been with Casey all day. Melody invited Peaches who declined to come. Grace produced the keys to the company car and sat in the backseat.

“It’s curious that Mr. Messinger is giving a speech here in Santa Barbara just as the runners are coming through.”

Grace was the only one who called Casey Mr. Messinger. Melody turned her head around from the passenger position in the front seat.

“Everything in politics is curious, but you can bet your knickers it’s all carefully planned.”

“Knickers?”

Drake, an expert at Brit-speak, laughed. “She means panties. Casey will undoubtedly mention Running California in his speech. I just hope he doesn’t try to get us on stage like he did at the Coronado Bridge. We’ll sit in the back and be inconspicuous.”

Judging from the number of cars parked in the lot beside the auditorium, it was a popular event. As they 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?”