Like Melissa, Mac had another face that drew your eye. Not just because she was white and blonde, but also because she had that sparkling smile on her face. For a long time, Mac hid her true self away. No longer. She'd still show her gruff military manner, but when she wasn't being the family disciplinarian for the youngsters, she'd goof around and enjoy herself. In 2085, she'd warn misbehaving toddlers that if they weren't good, she'd sing at them. Here, I'm drawing on my personal experiences. Then she'd produce the most awful screeches. The screeches were so bad that we kids would run and hide. At least, I'd pretend to hide. I always liked my Auntie Mac a lot. When one of us kids was sick or troubled, she'd hold us tight and help us go back to sleep with little lullabies.
Last to tell you about in the photograph was Mathias – another boy who was wearing his school clothes. You can see in the picture that Mathias was getting quite tall. He had always been a bit stubborn. Now, with his voice starting to crack, he had become even more so. Hank and Yolanda's plan was for Mathias to attend the Penticton school with Reese. Winnie said that this wasn't going to happen. When people said Mathias was definitely going to school, she offered to make a little bet with them. Nobody would take the bet. Winnie said that Mathias liked his job as a pilot. He had ample time to study his home schooling bots between landings, and he liked having the responsibility of looking for new product lines. Winnie said the only question that there would be about that school in Penticton decision, was how long his mom and dad would argue with him before they gave up.
# # # # # # # #
The second afternoon of the holiday, the family all went to Calgary's Wilizy Gardens where Wolf and Mac were scheduled to perform in this year's singing contest. So many entries had been received that the organizers had to break the competition into four groups: Albertans under 20, Albertans 20-39, Albertans over 39, and Out-of-Province entries. The Out-of-Province contestants had to compete from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. They could sing two songs, no more than four minutes total in length. In all, the contest had thirty entries ranging from singles to one large chorus. Four entrants from the Out-of-Province category were selected to compete in the finals and the duo of Mac'n'Wolf was one of them.
Sixteen contestants would sing in the finals that were scheduled for that evening while there was still enough light to see the stage. Their exact time slot would be determined by chance before the concert started. A panel of five judges would pick the winner, but they told the audience at the beginning of the concert that they could be influenced by crowd applause. That wasn't good news for Mac'n'Wolf since they'd be competing against twelve homegrown favorites. That afternoon, as they were touring through the new Wilizy building in downtown Calgary, Mac told Melissa that they were happy just to make the finals.
Since they'd be performing before the same judges that they had met that afternoon, Mac and Wolf had decided earlier that they'd sing something different for the finals if they made it that far. They'd sing only one song but it would be Danny Boy, an Irish ballad that was very popular, but which few people could sing because it had some very high notes. When it was their turn to compete that evening, Wolf sang a soft low harmony while Mac took the lead. At the end, she nailed an impossibly high note and held it at full volume, which for Mac meant that it echoed throughout the entire park. They received a standing ovation.
When it was time to name the winner, the judges brought Mac'n'Wolf back on the stage and gave them a little trophy. One judge asked quietly if they had another song that they could sing as an encore. Mac and Wolf hadn't planned for anything like that, but they looked at each other and said simultaneously, Indian Love Call. They knew this song very well because they sang it a lot at home. This time, Wolf also got to show off his voice and again, they received a standing ovation.
# # # # # # # #
The third day of the holiday, Granny held a Raging Gardeners meeting in the community hall in mid-afternoon. Some of the men were playing floor hockey in the gym, others were babysitting the youngsters in the meadow, and Stu and Jock were at the meeting. Stu was reporting to the group on the legal research he had done for Granny. Jock asked if he could attend because he wanted to know more about the Gardeners since they had helped Mac so much.
Stu's report was not encouraging. "I went back 100 years but could find no precedent that would allow the Raging Gardeners to sneak into Washington State, kidnap a man they knew to be a pervert, and who had committed crimes only in the U.S., and bring him back to B.C. for trial."
"What if we found somebody real friendly and cooperative in Washington State?" Melissa asked.
"The Raging Gardeners have shaky legal status as it is. Hank's credentials are for a legal entity that no longer exists. Granny has status only because Hank forgot to put a time limit on her deputization. No U.S. law enforcement group would even dream about cooperating with you. Even if they did, we wouldn't want them to know anything about you. The justice system in Washington consists of small little police forces run by elected police captains who may or may not be honest and/or know what they're doing. They'd blab far and wide about you."
"Same thing south of Saskatchewan," Jock added. "Police, courts, judges – few and far between. There is no state presence. Just tiny little pin pricks of justice."
"Before somebody asks if that means that we could just go to the U.S. and do what we wanted, the answer is that we won't. Because it wouldn't be legal. We aren't doing this to seek revenge. We're doing this to seek justice." Granny – putting her foot down.
"Lots of perverts hunt in Canada," Mac said. "More than enough to keep us busy."
"I hate to give up on this," Wanda disagreed. "These are perverts who are working for something called Safe Haven Ranches. It's not the same as one pervert who feels the urge and attacks some defenseless girl. Somebody is making money from capturing and selling little girls."
"Dad, that group that Sven and his buddies were selling arms to in North Dakota – could they have been Safe Haven?"
"I never pursued it, Mac," Jock said. "It wasn't my jurisdiction, for one thing. Exactly the same situation you're in, actually. I don't believe they'd be the Safe Haven group. It's a long way from North Dakota to the western side of Washington State." Jock held up his hand in a just a minute gesture, while his military mind marched down some well-worn brain passages. "The military justice system may offer you some opportunities for, shall we say, creative cooperation?"
"Meaning what?" Granny jumped in.
"Meaning, let me talk with Stu here and we'll play with some words."
"My pleasure," Stu said.
"What else do you need?" Granny asked.
"I need Mac and a ride to Regina. I hear you have a jumbo plane."
"Mathias can pilot you."
"Perhaps Mathias could show me the on-button? Mac, Stu, and I can talk in the plane."
"Meeting is temporarily adjourned until...?"
"After supper, I think," the commanding officer of the Saskatchewan military said. "If Stu is as good as I believe he is, this won't take long."
# # # # # # # #
"So help me, God." A murmur of eight feminine voices finished the swearing in ceremony.
"And stand easy." Mac's voice. "That means that you can move your feet apart, clasp you hands behind your back, and relax a bit."
The eight women did just that. Seven were in a straight line facing the brigadier-general and one was standing in front of that line but facing the same way as the group. The brigadier-general wore his full dress uniform complete with medals. His shoes were shiny black, his trousers were black, and his jacket was a resplendent green over a white shirt. On his head, he wore a green beret that matched his green tie. All green colours were Rider Green from the glory days of the Roughriders. When Saskatchewan adopts a favorite colour, they don't go halfway.
Mac was facing the group like her dad and was dressed in an identical fashion, but without the medals.
Granny was standing in front of the line of women.
She was dressed as she always was – buckskins and moccasins – but with a Saskatchewan beret on her head. Behind her, in order from left to right, were Wanda, Momaka, Yolanda, Melissa, Yollie, Dreamer, and Winnie. Patella was sitting on her haunches at one end of the line and Scapula was her twin at the other end. Each woman had placed a green beret on her head, but otherwise, they were dressed in a normal fashion. Each wolf wore her every day set of fur to go along with her beret.
"Time for the first roll call, Brigadier-General?" Mac's voice.
"Yes Exec, I think so."
"RG Unit, stand at attention! That means you bring your feet together again, put your hands by your side, and stand up straight."
The RG Unit did as instructed. "What's RG mean, Mac?" Winnie was not aware of the protocols of remaining quiet when you're standing at attention.
"As far as the Saskatchewan military is concerned, it means Radar Group. You are a special unit created by the Saskatchewan military to use radar and other electronics to discover threats to public safety. But as far as we're concerned, you are the Raging Gardeners. It's common for military units to give themselves nicknames. You did."
"And we're all in the Saskatchewan military now?"
"Yes."
"And do we have to march around like you did with your arms swinging high and you feet stepping high?"
The General answered for Mac. "Corporal Winnie. In the military, it is very important that all officers and soldiers follow a certain way of doing things. Like the way we march. Or how we salute. It's a way of showing everybody that we're a team. And as a team, we always do things properly. We don't take short cuts. We don't get lazy. We do them properly. It's like the Raging Gardeners. You are a team. You hunt down perverts. But you do it properly. You give them a trial. You give them a chance to defend themselves. You apply the sentence of the court fairly."
"When Mac and I dress in our uniforms and march that way, we are just following historic military traditions. Not to do that would be disrespectful to the people who came before us. You are a team too. But because you are a secret team operating undercover, we don't expect you to act in a military fashion most of the time. But when the RG unit is on military parade like you are now, we do ask that you respect our traditions by standing at attention when asked to and answering roll call with the words Present, Sir. Let's try that now."
"Colonel Granny?" ... "Present, Sir."
"Captain Wanda?" ... "Present, Sir."
"Captain Momaka?" ... "Present, Sir."
"Lieutenant Yolanda?" ... "Present, Sir."
"Sergeant Melissa?"... "Present, Sir."
"Sergeant Yollie?" ... "Present, Sir."
"Sergeant Dreamer?" ... "Present, Sir."
"Corporal Winnie?"... "Present, Sir."
"Private Patella?" ... "Growl."
"Private Scapula?" ... "Growl."
"Executive Officer Mac?" ... "Present, Sir."
"And stand easy." The women did as General MacLatchie ordered. The wolves dropped to the floor.
"RG group may return to their chairs."
They did.
"Smoke'em if you got'em."
"I don't have anything to smoke, Mac." Winnie again.
"It's a very old way of telling soldiers to relax. Military rule is now suspended."
# # # # # # # #
"In English please Jock? What have you done?" Colonel Granny taking the initiative.
"I've created a special military unit – the Radar Group that is nicknamed the Raging Gardeners. This undercover, highly secret group reports only to me. Nobody else in the Saskatchewan military will know that you exist."
"Tomorrow I'll message the head military people in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington to advise them that I have created Saskatchewan's RG Force to help us control cross-border activities like trafficking in weaponry, chemicals, drugs, and people. The RG force will also be tasked with stamping out activities that are prejudicial to the continued security of the jurisdictions that are signatories to the accord and/or are prejudicial to the safety and well being of the citizens within those jurisdictions. Stu wrote that, God help us. He can make clear thoughts disappear inside an incomprehensible maze of words."
"I'll advise my military counterparts that since much of the RG's activities will be electronic-based, that may mean that our surveillance and tracking might leak into their territory. I'll ask them to allow that. All the military forces in this area of North America have more problems than they can handle. These forces cooperate freely if it makes us more effective. The words trafficking in weaponry, chemicals, drugs, and people will catch their attention. Every U.S. state will allow RG activities to extend into their territory because we're all trying to eliminate those activities. Stu has also written a very vague reference to stamping out activities that are prejudicial to the safety and well being of citizens. They'll agree to this as part of the whole package. They won't realize that these words give you a very broad opportunity to operate in these states."
"In other words, we are now able to go into these states and track people that we suspect are perverts."
"The way Stu has worded it, you are able to go into these states and track people who are picking their nose if you suspect that this behaviour is unsafe or prejudicial to other citizens anywhere in the northwestern part of the U.S."
"And we can bring them back here?" Wanda asked.
"Stu has that covered too. Saskatchewan is offering to charge any criminals that the RG unit finds and put them on trial – solely in the interests of keeping justice for such criminal cases uniform across the region. If any criminals have to be incarcerated, Saskatchewan will offer to handle all the costs."
Granny saw Stu's sly hand at work. "The other jurisdictions will gladly give Saskatchewan the responsibility for dealing with any criminals we find. It saves them the costs of court time and jail time."
"And if they don't like what we're doing with the perverts?" Yolanda asked.
"How would they find out? The agreement does not require the Raging Gardeners to tell anybody what you do with the criminals you find," Stu answered.
# # # # # # # #
The last event that I want to pass on to you happened after the visitors had departed and life in the home compound was settling back to normal. Dreamer, Lucas, and Theo were having a three-way work out in the gym. One person shooting or driving, another person defending, and the third person passing. Just like Granny had said they should.
Not wanting to quit yet, they took a water break and huddled together under the basket talking and drinking. If a spectator had been close enough to hear the conversation, that spectator would have heard Dreamer saying things like:
"It made me afraid to undress."
"I hid in the closet I was so frightened."
"After a long time, I managed to undress in front of Winnie, but got scared again."
"No man would want a wife who freaks out if he sees her partly undressed."
"Momaka said I should try it in a secure environment where nobody would hurt me. You said that you'd be willing to help me get better."
Theo's reaction to what followed next in Dreamer's speech was abrupt and shocked. "You want us to do what?" And after she explained in detail, he blurted, "I'm not going to look at you when you're undressed!"
Lucas' reaction was calmer. "Then don't look. Just standing in front of her with your eyes closed will help Dreamer."
Then Dreamer said something.
Theo couldn't believe what she said. "Right now? Here?"
Lucas tried to calm him down. "Theo, nobody is here other than us. You're not going to look; I don't care one way or the other."
Dreamer left the huddle and went to her sports bag. She turned her back on the boys and took off her top. She took another top out of her bag, put it on, turned back to the boys when she was covered again, and re-joined the huddle.
"My shirt was absolutely soaking in sweat," she said.
&nbs
p; "You can open your eyes, Theo. She only showed us her bare back."
Of course, that's what a spectator would have heard if he had been close enough. For invisible Wizard, who was high in the air at the other end of the court, he never heard those comments. He had come to the gym to see how Dreamer's basketball was going. He had done that several times that holiday. And he had been wondering what if....
Tonight, he saw Dreamer get partially undressed in front of his brothers and that started him on another kind of wondering.
Back to the Table of Contents
Chapter 14
On September 1, Jenkins placed a sleeping Karita on the big soft bed in a second floor bedroom in the Big House overlooking the wide expanse of land that was Ranch #4. Big Daddy had led them to the bedroom next to his own. Karita's few possessions were stored on the floor of the ample, but empty closet. "We'll find some clothes and toys for her," Big Daddy assured Renfrew. "I'll treat her as if she were my own daughter."
Renfrew was assigned to a bedroom on the fourth floor where the house staff bunked four to a room. Jenkins would become one of the ranch's bosses. Bosses carried wands. Workers wore dog collars. In future, Jenkins' affection for the feel of an electronic wand in his hand and the sight of a writhing body on the ground would be confined to his supervision of the men working the cattle south of the ranch. He'd be far away from little whiny girls who screamed uncontrollably at the first bite of pain.
Jenkins had to work away from the house because Big Daddy was very protective of the young teenage girls who made up the majority of his house staff. Mrs. Big Daddy didn't object to the large number of teenagers that Big Daddy liked to have in his house. In fact, she actively encouraged their presence. Mrs. Big Daddy was the business brains behind Ranch #4's success. Big Daddy's job in the ranch's business plan was to keep crop production high.
Big Daddy's wife wasn't actually called Mrs. Big Daddy. I gave her that name to show you her relationship to Big Daddy. Their husband/wife relationship was somewhat clouded by the many temporary husbands Mrs. Big Daddy met when she travelled. She liked to travel. Big Daddy encouraged her to travel. They got along well in that part of their marriage.