"Now we're going into the store to buy a magnet. The lady in the store is very nice and she finds one for us. Mommy buys it with a big smile. She won't tell me what it's for. Let's go to the school now. The school is on the other side of this hill, so we have to walk. Now we're at the school and the two teachers are helping little kids learn their alphabet. So let's make a class of students. Rabbit stuffie can sit here, kitty over here, doggy over here. Good. Now we're going to sing the alphabet song."
Quite the imagination. Yolanda let life in the pillow village recede into the background while she prepared to do some baking. She came back to what was happening in the village with a jolt.
"No, no, no," the stuffie in EmmaGee's hand was saying. "You're not supposed to leave me standing on the step that long! I've told you that before. When I ring the doorbell, I expect you to open it immediately. If you have to sit by the door until I come home, that's what you're going to do. I am not happy. I am not happy at all!"
"EmmaGee," Yolanda interrupted. "Put your stuffie down and come into the kitchen, please."
# # # # # # # #
Here's what happened next. Yolanda created a pretend game where a mommy named Bossy would tell EmmaGee what to do, and EmmaGee had to do whatever Bossy demanded. Bossy started by ordering EmmaGee to put the knives and forks on the table for dinner. But Bossy mom was never satisfied and EmmaGee was continually changing the table. When the tears were trickling down EmmaGee's cheeks, Yolanda ended the game and took EmmaGee into the living room, sat down on the rocking chair, and pulled EmmaGee into her lap. They had a long talk about being nice to people and not talking in the mean tone of voice that EmmaGee had used.
"But they were staff," EmmaGee explained. "They're supposed to do whatever I say."
That led to more discussion. Yolanda always in a soft voice and always putting the scenario back to – How would you feel if... If EmmaGee didn't have an answer, or wouldn't answer, Yolanda would say, "Why don't you and I have a pretend game where you get to find out how you would feel?" That would prompt an answer right smartly.
That led to EmmaGee's comment that lots of parents were mean. Why was it wrong for EmmaGee to be just like them? Yolanda asked for examples. She knew some of what Maddy had gone through; she thought it might help EmmaGee if she talked about it. Maddy certainly needed to hear that what had happened to her was wrong. EmmaGee gave a lot of examples and it was at that time that the sitting on the lap position became a very tight hug on the lap position.
Yolanda tried to explain that everything that had happened to EmmaGee was wrong. It shouldn't have happened. The adults were wrong. They were very bad adults.
"Will you make them play a pretend game where you explain what they did was wrong?" EmmaGee asked.
"Yes, we'll do something like that. Who was your favorite pretend mom?"
EmmaGee took a long time to answer. Yolanda initially thought that she'd have to remind her about the question, but she saw EmmaGee's lips moving. There was no sound coming out, but she was talking to herself. The family had concluded that this was her way of reaching a difficult decision.
"Pililiani," EmmaGee replied. "She wasn't a pretend mom, but she was nice to me."
So they talked about Pililiani for a while. And why she was a nice person; and why the other people weren't nice people; and what kind of person EmmaGee wanted to be herself when she grew up.
"I have an idea," Yolanda said. She was amazed that EmmaGee had sat for so long and had remained focused for so long. Time to move on. "You might like this."
"What?"
"Granny hasn't been feeling well for the last couple of days and she hasn't been able to bake. She likes to have cookies in the house for whenever guests come by. She's running out of cookies."
"I had a cookie at her place once."
"I was planning to bake some cookies for her and take them over. You can help. Would you like to learn how to bake cookies?"
EmmaGee nodded, jumped off Yolanda's lap, and scooted into her bedroom. "I have to change," she yelled on the way down the hallway.
Yolanda was in the kitchen arranging ingredients when EmmaGee returned. "Aren't those nice," she commented. "All four butterflies together like that."
# # # # # # # #
EmmaGee was standing on her step stool next to the table. Yolanda was standing behind the mixing bowl. "We're going to make peanut cookies," she announced. "Have you ever had a peanut or seen one?"
"No. I don't think so."
"Peanuts come in a shell that looks like this. Have you ever seen one of these?"
"No. It's all wrinkly."
"The peanuts are inside the shell. You crack the shell open like this." Yolanda squished the shell and opened it. "You will usually find two peanuts inside. Like this. Would you like to taste one?"
"Is it good?"
"I like peanuts. Try. You can eat both."
So, EmmaGee did and smacked her lips. "Those were good. I haven't had any of those before. They're crunchy."
"Your job, as my assistant cookie maker, is to count out twelve peanut shells for me, crack each one open, and take out the peanuts. You know how to count to twelve, right?"
EmmaGee nodded. "I'm up to one hundred now. Reese is helping me."
"After you have the twelve peanuts, you'll put all of them into the mixing bowl and help me stir them into the cookie dough. At that point, if you want to have a peanut for yourself, you can have one."
"Can I have four?"
"You can if you tell me how many peanut shells you'll have to open to get four."
# # # # # # # #
On the way over to Granny's, EmmaGee asked, "Will Granny give me a cookie again?"
"I don't know. We'll see. But you can't ask for one. If you do, she'll say No."
"Why?"
"Because it's rude to visit somebody only so that you can get a cookie. That's not why we're visiting her. We're giving her a gift because we want her to feel better."
"If she did offer me a cookie, do you think I could have four?"
"We'll see. Don't forget to say thank you." She's certainly fixated on the number 4. I wonder why.
Later that evening, Yolanda decided that it was time for EmmaGee to learn about her mommy and daddy being dead. She didn't say anything about them being murdered or burning up in a fire.
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Chapter 14
Saturday, June 1. Beanstalk met with the Captain of the Special Ops platoon in the center of the Regina football field. Jak had described it as the only recognizable landmark in southern Saskatchewan. Bean didn't know about that, but it was certainly easy to find. She took the captain south to the Little Missouri National Grassland site in North Dakota. It was reasonably close to all of the Safe Haven Ranches. From Google map, she was able to estimate that the Montana and South Dakota ranches were about 300 miles away, or a helicopter flight of one or two hours depending on how much you wanted to risk being noticed. Minneapolis was much further away, but Jak hadn't said anything about the platoon having to cover that area. With their hiding place being in North Dakota, the platoon was closest to the ranches scattered around Sakakawea Lake. About 100 miles, or less than an hour away. Bean didn't know that these were the ranches that concerned the Wilizy the most.
The captain looked at the wilderness of the area and approved. He gave the location of the proposed campsite to somebody on the other end of a walkie-talkie and then invited Bean to stick around and meet the guys. While they waited, he gave her two long-range walkie-talkies and showed her how to use them.
Walkie-talkies (WTs) were essential communication tools for the military in the 1900s and remained in place until computer technology replaced them. WTs were radio transmitters and receivers built into a compact, portable, easily used device. The WTs had a handle that could be turned to generate enough power to send and receive the messages. As radios, they could broadcast and receive voice communications over various radio frequencies. The ancie
nts had radios in all their homes in the first half of the 20th century and used them to listen to entertainment like dramas, comedies, and music. By changing the frequency with a tuning dial, the ancients could listen to all sorts of different content.
When the military used WTs, the two people communicating with each other would have agreed ahead of time on what frequency they would use. But there was a risk that anybody else who had a radio receiver tuned to that frequency could hear the conversation. The two communicators were essentially sending their conversation into the air for anybody to listen to. Military people used coded messages that were in English their native language but which would reveal nothing of value to a stranger. Meeting at the usual place and time, as we agreed, for example, told a listening stranger nothing.
WTs were able to broadcast and receive, but they could not do both at the same time. They weren't like telephones (another ancient communication tool) where two people could talk at the same time. These particular WTs had a range of about 100-150 miles on the flat terrain of the prairies and the conversations worked like this.
When the captain wanted to talk to Bean, he pressed the Send button and talked. Bean's WT would be in its stand-by mode – Receive. When the captain was finished talking, he'd end his message with the word Over and press his Receive button. The word Over was to tell Bean that it was now her turn to talk. She would press her Send button and talk. When she was finished talking, she'd say Over and push her receive button. When the captain was finished with the conversation and wanted to tell Bean that he wouldn't be saying anything else, he'd say Over and Out.
# # # # # # # #
Reese spent three days at Ranch #4 looking at slaves and their colours. Through Winnie, he asked Pililiani to identify the slaves that would be the most likely to let information slip, or who'd deliberately leak information to the bosses. She identified them by standing next to them and drinking from a large cup after supper. Reese added the colours of these people to his chart. On the third day, he happened to notice that Ranch #4 had two bosses who had remarkably light colours. They also had some heavy, savage looking purple/orange streaks that he hadn't ever seen before. Reese suggested that Winnie tell Pililiani about them because those savage lines could be dangerous for them during the rescue. Winnie did mention them to the housekeeper, but Pililiani revealed that she already knew about those two bosses and she'd be careful.
After Ranch #4, Reese proceeded to take colour scans at the other Montana ranches. He spent one day per ranch, focusing heavily on the field slaves who would be fighting the battles. He found no slaves that had risky colours. He decided to check the bosses too but found none with those purple/orange streaks. While Reese and Marie were concentrating on the Montana ranches, Marie had started looking at the South Dakota slaves. She followed them to their work and back, listening to their conversations. She was looking for leaders who tried to give their fellow slaves some hope. Marie identified one or two at each ranch and then waited for Winnie and Reese to meet her.
# # # # # # # #
William was trying to find a way to explode ammunition electronically. He called for TG's assistance when he ran out of ideas. Meanwhile, Lucas was meeting with Melissa in the satellite compound to pull together the outlines of an overall battle strategy. Mac joined them whenever possible. In the evenings, the boys would take Lucas out to the local pub so that they could people-watch over drinks that looked alcoholic but weren't. Lucas had been close to only Theo before, but now found himself pulled into Wolf's circle too.
Wolf had a lot of talents that he didn't normally let people see. Singing was only one of them. He had a sharp scientific mind as well. On the last night Lucas was at the satellite compound, Mac and Wolf performed the songs that they were going to sing at the next Wilizy talent show they could attend. Afterwards they dragged Lucas up to the makeshift stage in their living room to sing some songs with them. Lucas had a surprisingly good baritone now that his voice had changed. Wolf was a tenor. Mac gave him some breathing exercises that would help him develop a voice that could carry over a parade ground. "You should sing more often," she said as she hugged him good-bye. "You could be good."
# # # # # # # #
That evening, Bean was sitting around a campfire with thirty Scandinavian soldiers who had been in a number of secret operations in Stockholm. Each soldier had recently developed a strong urge to brag about their exploits to a Special Ops lieutenant with boobs. As well, Bean heard innumerable suggestions that her experience would be helpful in verifying that the dark woods around the camp were safe from intruders.
These requests were not all that subtle. Some men would openly invite her to have sex with them. Others would make a few hand gestures to her over the firelight indicating that they thought she was pretty and would like to date her – or something like that. Bean would salute each inviter with a middle finger and that would be it until somebody else thought that he was so much more manly than the other guy that surely she wouldn't be able to resist him.
Bean was having trouble resisting. All of these were men of the type she looked for when she had an evening on her own. So many of them were all clustered in one spot that her body was beginning to ache in need. One man in particular caught her eye. Charming and persistent, he wasn't going to take No for an answer. Bean saw him looking at her, saluted him with her middle finger again, and winked. She couldn't help herself.
Beanstalk had to go before she gave in. The costs were too high. So Bean stood up and told the group. "Guys, it's been charming, but I have to go. I'll be sleeping in my copter, by myself, and in a place that you won't be able to find. Captain, I'll probably be dropping in on you before you go into action." Then she turned away and left before she changed her mind. She'd remember the charming guy. He'd be the first soldier she'd invite into the woods. But not tonight.
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Chapter 15
A few days later, Jak was in the charred cargo hold of the Safe Haven transport copter that had been destroyed by a lightning strike when a thunderstorm had crossed over the slave island. Jak had a healthy dollop of scientific curiosity in her genes. Lightening strikes kill eight people? A girl who isn't smart enough to wear a raincoat in the rain escapes from an isolated island in the middle of a river on her own? Something wasn't right. Let me rephrase that. A lot of things weren't right.
OK, I'm Princess Freya. I've hidden in the back of this beast. Boss #1 has landed it and his sub-bosses have gotten out. Boss #24 has landed Big Daddy's copter behind me in a little clearing. He gets out and talks to Boss #1. They agree that Boss #24 will repair the walkways between the huts on stilts. Boss #1 takes his men in the opposite direction to cut wood. I saw the fresh cuts on the way in. They're directly up river from here. So tell me Princess Freya, how did you sneak out of the copter when there was a full load of cargo between you and the copter's side doors?
...
You climbed over the top of the cargo? OK. Let's say that you did that. You probably had enough space to do that if you were strong enough to lift yourself up to the top box. But Boss #24 is working all around this clearing. Wouldn't he see you leaving the copter?
...
You left through the back hatch? OK. Let's say you're strong enough to undo the latch. This one is stiff. Where'd you find that strength? Even if you found the strength, look what happens when the latch is undone. The hatch automatically goes all the way to a full opening. Yes, you'd get out. But Princess Freya, you're not tall enough to close the hatch. Wouldn't somebody notice that the cargo hatch was open when it had been shut before? So how'd you sneak out of the copter without being detected?
And tell me this Princess Frey: how did you travel to your supposed camp at the other end of this island when a wood cutting crew was directly in front of you and blocking the way?
...
You hid until they went back to the slave village. OK, let's say that worked. So now you're at the other end of the island.
You make a camp and eat some food. Tell me Princess Freya, why did you decide to camp on the U.S side of the island, hike all the way across the whole width of the island, and walk through water up to your waist to the Canadian side. Fred Brown said that was where you were re-kidnapped. Why didn't you walk through the water to the American side? You were right there. The U.S. shoreline is just as close.
...
It looks to me as though this camp that you set up on the American side of the island was a false trail. Tell me, Princess Freya, how did a dumb bunny like you come up with the idea of leaving a false camp behind you?
And while you're at it Princess Freya, how many blankets did you take with you in the copter? You left one in your fake camp. But the New York Safe Haven guy told Fred that he found you shivering inside two blankets. Why would you bring three blankets with you? How would you store them? They're ratty, but they take up plenty of space. Who gave you those blankets? Or perhaps you got the blankets from the sealed crates in the copter. Who opened those crates for you?
# # # # # # # #
I'm Boss #24. I've been sent to catch up with Boss #1. I do so. I land Big Daddy's copter in a small clearing that's outside the security perimeter. I do that because it would interfere with unloading the transport copter. Boss #24 was right. It would.
...
I'm Boss #24. From what I can see inside this transport, it looked like everybody was eating here. Like you said you did. So far, so good.
It's beginning to storm. You leave this copter to tie down Big Daddy's copter. Probably a good idea. You stay there through the storm.
You told Bean that you woke up late because you hadn't been able to sleep from worrying about trees falling on Big Daddy's copter. You walked into camp and found the transport copter with a destroyed rotor from an obvious lightning strike. All of the bosses were inside and were dead. This copter is entirely metal inside. OK, I buy the deaths from a lighting strike.