WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Chapter 2

Confrontation on the Sidewalk

"Hey, Joan!"

Joan turned around on the college path to see who was calling her. "Hi, Elizabeth."

"Haven't seen you since the play."

"No, I've been rather busy." God had sent her on some difficult missions recently. One had to do with a smuggling ring, and the other was mollifying her sister-in-law Lily, who had just learned Joan's secret and was a bit jealous. But she couldn't say that to Elizabeth.

"I heard you got kidnapped. Must have been exciting."

"Exciting is when it happens to somebody else. I was terrified."

"Do you think they'll make a movie out of it somebody?"

"Dunno." Neither Joan nor Ryan Hunter had wanted to discuss the real issue behind the kidnapping: his attempt to prove to Joan that God didn't care what happened to her. Media people wanting the full story must have been confused.

"If they did, who would you want to play you?"

"I sort of like Amber Tamblyn. But I really don't want to dwell on that incident, Elizabeth."

"Sorry." That was characteristic of Elizabeth: she liked drama, but she could also be quite sympathetic to a real-world problem. "OK, there's something else I'd like to talk about. I ran into Agnes yesterday. She said she had asked Adam to do a poster of her as Lady Godiva, but you guys turned her down."

"Yeah. It's about a plan to build a factory outside of town, and I'm not too interested. The transaction seems legitimate; it's not like one of those corrupt schemes we used to see in Arcadia."

"You don't see it as Agnes does. Her mom is a professor in the school, and she grew up here. She loves the small-town atmosphere. And she's seen weird student protests all her life, so she decided to create one herself."

"In that case, I hope she isn't too mad at us." Joan felt a little twinge of remorse, but remembered God's warning.

"No. I explained what happened when I tried to pose nude for Adam last spring – everything went wrong, even with good intentions on everybody's side. She seemed mollified."

"Thank you for doing that."

So it looked like God's agenda had been satisfied: no protest poster. But Joan's serenity was messed up by Elizabeth's next remark.

"Besides, she told me yesterday that she had thought up another gimmick for the protest. She's going to try it tomorrow."

"Huh?"

Elizabeth seemed oblivious to Joan's dismay. "Paul Revere. She decided that you don't really need to put a naked lady on a horse to get attention. Horses themselves can attract attention, if they appear where you don't expect them. Old Thompson said he'd lend her one."

"I don't follow."

"She's going to ride up and down the sidewalk in front of the real estate office, waving a protest sign and calling out her message. That's bound to get some attention."

God wasn't going to like that, though Joan still wasn't clear on what His objection was.

------------------

Joan called Agnes that night, on the pretext of thrashing out the Lady Godiva business.

"No, Joan, I'm not annoyed about dropping the nude ride idea. It's the wrong time of year for it anyway. People see a naked lady in November, and they'll probably just think Brr-rr. I came up with another idea anyway."

"Elizabeth told me. Ride a horse up and down their sidewalk and embarrass the hell out of them. But what about the logistics? If you wander into the street you may be breaking traffic laws, and if you ride on their property that may be considered trespassing, particularly if you trample on something. Either way that'll give the realtors an excuse to get you out of their way. How are you even going to turn around?"

"One of the neighboring businesses seems to have their own grudge against the realtor. They said I can use their parking lot. And there's a little park area on the other side of the block. You'll see."

"But—"

"Can't stop and chat now, Joan; I've got to pick up my "Revolutionary War" costume before the shop closes. See you tomorrow."

Joan switched off her cell and looked at Adam in dismay. "Dammit, she's going ahead with the plan. Why can't God give me a reason for stopping her? Something that I can tell her?"

"I guess we're supposed to figure that out," said Adam.

Joan sighed. "Well, there isn't much time left for that. I thought we were home free several days ago."

"Maybe if we see her tomorrow and talking her into STOPPING the protest, that'll be OK."

"Maybe."

-------

Joan and Adam looked up the address of the realtor on the internet, and walked to the street in late morning. There was already a crowd there, and after pressing through, the couple saw Agnes on horseback, clad in a blue coat and white pants. She was holding the reins with one hand, and with the other she was waving a sign saying "The Factory Is Coming", resting the handle on her shoulder. From the sound of the crowd, however, they seemed more entertained by the unusual sight of a cute equestrienne in downtown, than by the matter of the factory.

To Joan, it appeared that Agnes was not entirely comfortable in the saddle. Joan didn't know much about riding horses, but she knew how NOT to ride one: Grace's palomino had run away with her a few months early. To her, Agnes looked nervous.

After Agnes had turned around in the parking lot, and started riding the other way, the door of the realty office and a fat, middle-aged man stomped out. If Agnes looked cute, he seemed typecast for the role of The Heavy.

"You have to stop this!"

Agnes reined in her horse, which kept stamping on the pavement. "Fine. You stop the landsale, and I'll stop the protest."

"That isn't a fair arrangement. I'm making a legitimate business deal."

"And I'm making a legitimate protest."

"Legitimate, maybe, but selfish. Suppose that horse of yours makes a mess on the sidewalk? You'll be inconveniencing pedestrians for the rest of the day."

"I'll clean it up. What's worse, a little pile of horse-s*** or pollutants that get pumped in our air to stay?"

"I'm calling my lawyer and see what I can do to get you off my pavement." He stomped back in the office. Of course, what he intended as a new strategy looked to everybody else like a retreat from a confrontation. There was some clapping from the crowd, and shouts like "You go, girl!"

Encouraged, Agnes turned her horse so that she was facing the crowd. "People of Baconia! Don't let a pack of money-grubbers screw up your city! If he doesn't like my horse on his sidewalk, then let him spare the grasslands where the horses belong. Don't—"

At this point, a number of things happened at once.

Suddenly there was a deafening blare of noise from the window of the realty office. Once she recovered from the surprise, she realized that it was rock music, and a tune she actually liked.

But the unexpected noise spooked Agnes's horse. It reared up, and Agnes, caught off guard, fell backward over the tail, the sign still clutched in her hand. She hit the ground and didn't move.

A member of the crowd dashed forward and examined the girl, and that the moment the loud music stopped. The examiner called out: "Somebody call 911. She banged her head badly. She needs a hospital!"

Adam and Joan stared at each other, and said the words on both of their minds:

"The bad ripples---"

Was it an accident, or something worse?

TO BE CONTINUED

(Author's NOTE: The kidnapping that Elizabeth mentions occurred in an earlier story, IN THE MIDST OF MINE ENEMIES. Joan's difficulties with a horse happened in another story, ANOTHER JOAN)