As Officer Jenkins and I returned from our patrol, we returned in a fairly calm silence after dealing with a man who had been high on some hallucinogen. As Officer Jenkins brought the car into its parking space, she returned to some of friendly banter she had engaged in earlier.
"So, you and Officer Barnes get along well, right?" she asked as she opened the back door to let me climb out.
"Yes," I said slowly nodded as I stood up and stretched, "most of the officers here have been very tolerant of me and my..." I paused and glanced at myself for a moment and then finished, "...fur."
"A police officer is trained to enforce the law and to see the truth," Officer Jenkins replied, "we can't just decide to oppress someone... the laws wouldn't allow it."
"You've all still been more accepting of the "possibility" that Molly and I still have human intelligence and capabilities... that we aren't now mindless animals," I told her, "Molly hasn't heard from some of her best friends in high school since her transformation... and many of them called her fairly frequently while she was human."
"That I'll give you," Officer Jenkins shrugged, "I don't think every Officer went that way... but none of them were going to argue with Officer Howard, and the ones that thought that way didn't interact with you beyond what they had to."
"Maybe, but Officer Barnes and I have got along well," I said firmly, "And you've been rather friendly."
She smiled and nodded, "Yeah, and that leads to the favor I'd like to ask you..."
"You want me to play matchmaker for you and Officer Barnes?" I wondered.
She slowly nodded.
"You ought to muscle up the courage to ask him yourself," I told her, "if the two of you get along well while off duty, it shouldn't be too hard."
"It's hard though... maybe its some lingering thing that should have gone away with high school," Officer Jenkins worried, "we've been fairly good friends... what if asking him out destroys that friendship?"
"I doubt that will happen," I commented, "if he is your friend, he'll remain your friend forever. Asking him out won't change that."
By that time we made our way into the station. Officer Jenkins took one look at Officer Barnes shuffling papers at the desk.
"I can't do it right now," Officer Jenkins answered quietly, "and not just because we're still on duty... I just can't..."
I only sighed as it looked like I was going to be dragged into a small behind the scenes drama. I wasn't about to play matchmaker. It wasn't my place, but something told me I'd be dragged into it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next few days went fairly quietly. Officer Barnes manned the desk and continued his recovery from the wounds sustained during Beauregard's arrest. I managed to have lunch with him a couple of times by bringing in some pieces of meat from home. I made sure that it had been cooked before I brought it in. Molly and I could digest raw meat, but we both knew that people would be "groused out" by it. So when we took meat in packed lunches, we made sure it was cooked.
The talks with Officer Barnes had been fairly quiet talks on how he was doing and how his recovery program was going. I was sure that Officer Jenkins hoped I would put in a good word for her with him, but I wasn't going to get in the middle of this sort of game. Officer Jenkins would have to find the courage to ask Officer Barnes out, just as I had done earlier with Molly.
There wasn't much in the way of activity on the patrols over those days that Officer Jenkins and I patrolled. There was the occasional speeding ticket issued, but nothing really big happened. That was a relief to me. No pursuit of a man high on hallucinogens... no R.A.M. lunatic working on a diabolical plan. To a great extent, it was the sort of work that I had thought I would be doing when I urged Molly to think about moving to a small rural community.
Eventually, enough quiet days passed that we got to a Saturday when I had a scheduled day off. Molly and I had planned to sleep in that morning, since neither of us had to go into work that morning. However, a phone call at about eight thirty changed those plans. The ringing sent both of us sitting up in bed almost as soon as it started to ring.
"Ung," Molly grumbled, "who could be calling this early the morning... when we don't have to be anywhere?"
"Only one way to find out," I grumbled, and got up.
I made my way over to the ringing phone and answered it. I found it was Albert Ames.
"Good morning, Mr. Wayne," Albert Ames spoke in a fairly chipper voice, "I wasn't interruptin' anything? Was I?"
"Just my sleep," I mumbled.
"Ah... the morning sun is good for ya," Albert Ames gave a chuckle, "It revitalizes everything."
"I'm sure," I commented.
"I got good news for you!" Albert Ames answered.
"Hmm?" I asked after a moment.
"I got your brand finished," he announced, "I'm gonna be takin' it down to Michael York's ranch and meet with your hired man... Mr. Rhoer. It was a fairly complicated design your man came up with, but it's interesting, and I LOVE a good challenge."
"That is good to hear," I said softly, "I take it you and Frank Rhoer will be branding them today?"
"Yes," came Albert Ames' answer, "I'm looking forward to seeing you and your wife there..."
"Us?" I asked.
"Of course, they're your cattle, aren't they?" Albert Ames asked, "shouldn't you want to see the action go down?"
"As I said before, Molly and I aren't ranchers, we're doing this for her Uncle," I told him.
"He's told me as much," Albert Ames answered, "but still, you're the boss, you ought to be there. It's a moment of pride."
I got the feeling like he wasn't going to take "no" for an answer.
"I'll be down for a few moments," I sighed heavily.
"Good, can't wait to meet Molly," Albert Ames replied, and hung up.
"So, what was that about?" Molly asked ask I hung up the phone.
"We have to get up," I sighed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Molly and I managed to get dressed and head out down the road to Michael York's ranch. When we arrived, we found Albert Ames' truck parked next to Frank Rhoer's. Albert Ames was then holding a long metal rod which had some metal "carving" at the end. I assumed it was the branding iron that Frank Rhoer had designed. Mr. Ames then turned toward us as we came closer.
"Well hello, again, Mr. Wayne," he shook my hand then turned to Molly, "and this must be Molly."
"And you must be Albert Ames," Molly said politely, though somewhat agitated that she couldn't sleep some more.
"Yes," Albert Ames nodded, "it is good to meet you. I was just showing your foreman the brand for your cattle. Beautiful, isn't it?"
He then held up up the branding iron for us to look at. It looked like he had had to put a lot of work into it, but it did look like the design Frank Rhoer had come up with.
"It looks good," I commented, "so how will the plan work to brand them, since you've called us down to come watch?"
"Nessie and Meredeth are setting up a series of chutes and gates with the extra pieces Mr. York has available," Frank Rhoer spoke up, "they will lead them to an already constructed gate system that will allow us to place your brand on the flank of each animal... they'll have to go above Ebenezer Smith's brand, but since Mr. York and Mr. Ames have seen to crossing that brand out already, we shouldn't have a problem."
Molly and I nodded.
"So come on!" Albert Ames said enthusiastically, "let's get this going. You two should enjoy it."
We would have enjoyed some extra sleep, but followed Albert Ames as he moved along.