Our first stop was the Kalispell Walmart as we began the journey back to Peoria, Illinois for Leona's wedding. I gave Frank Rhoer the keys to my "old" Ford Ranger, since Molly and I were too big to drive it, and we made our way out. It was fairly tight squeeze for Molly and I in the back seat, and while we did our best to take up as little space as possible, we were still pressed together.
"You guys going to be okay?" Frank Rhoer asked as we began driving down toward Kalispell.
"We will," Molly replied and lifted her head to nuzzle her muzzle to mine, "and besides... we are married. I have no problem being close to my husband."
"Okay..." Frank Rhoer shrugged from the driver's seat and drove on.
The drive to Kalispell was a quiet one, and I spent most of it marveling at the beauty of the mountains and forests beyond the roadway. In some places they were farther away then others, but it was still beautiful scenery. After the short trip between our home and Kalispell, we were soon walking through the parking lot of Kalispell's Walmart.
"So why the side trip here?" Frank Rhoer wondered as we made our way in.
"We need to get a sort of dressing blind," I told him, "like what they use in theater dressing rooms so that actors do not see each other changing."
"But the two of you are married," Frank Rhoer protested, "surely you two have seen each other naked."
"We have," Molly chuckled first, "however, we can not afford two hotel rooms on this journey, which means that you will be in he same room as us, Uncle Frank."
"You know I would never try to spy on you while you're changing," Frank Rhoer replied.
"I know," Molly replied, "but this has more to do with sleeping then with changing clothes. You see, most fabrics irritate our fur. It itches badly. Our normal clothes are all silk because we've found that silk doesn' bother us as much... but we don't want essentially ruin our clothes by sleeping in them... so we sleep in the nude..."
"This blind is so I don't see you while you sleep," Frank Rhoer spoke as he caught on.
"Yes," Molly and I nodded as we made our way in.
Neither Molly nor I really knew where go in the store to look for the blind that we needed. It could be considered a "specialty" item that a store that specialized in "general goods" like Walmart wouldn't have because the raw demand for it wasn't as high as others, but since this was the first time we were looking for such an item, we figured it best to look for it anyway. After a few minutes of what amounted to aimlessly wandering through the store, we came across a Walmart employee who we felt could help us.
Molly explained to the employee what we were looking for, and to our good fortune, the employee could in fact help us.
"Portable dividers are in our home/office decor section," the employee answered as Molly finished the description what we were looking for, "I'll show you to them."
We then followed the employee through what seemed like a maze of isles and display areas until we cot to a series of isles that had a small selection of office furniture there. The employee then pointed down the isle.
"The dividers are at the end of the isle on the right," the employee spoke, "can I help you with anything else, sir, ma'am?"
"No, this should be good," I responded, "Thank you for your help."
The employee nodded and moved off, likely returning to the task h was working on when we asked him for his help. Molly and I then made our way down the isle with Frank Rhoer following us. Their dividers were fairly varied. Most were actually a solid wall on a stand, like what most office cubicles were made of, but there were a couple of folded up dividers at the very end of the isle.
"How big does this need to be?" Frank Rhoer wondered, "they all look like you'd both tower over them."
"The height of them isn't that important," I shrugged, "what we need is for them to be long enough to stretch out the length of a bed."
Molly was looking at the tags for the folded up dividers while I talked with her Uncle. Eventually she leaned two forward.
"These are the only two that are the right length, George," she announced as leaned them forward.
I looked at them. By the drawing on the tag, one had the image of a Chinese dragon on it while the other had a simple floral pattern on it.
"I have no real preference," I shrugged, "though I might lean against using the dragon one."
Molly slowly nodded, "Yeah... I'd tend to agree. A lot of my dresses already have a very "Chinese" vibe to them in the way they look... it'd be nice to have some variety."
"Aren't there tigers in China though?" Frank Rhoer wondered sounding curious.
"Yes, but they are different subspecies from Molly and I," I told him, "the Siberian ranges into northern China a bit, and there are small number of Southern Chinese Tigers living in southern China... Molly and I are Bengal Tigers which live in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh."
"Oh," Frank Rhoer responded, now sounding curious, "do you know what the difference between them is?"
"Usually size and the length of the coat," I commented, "Bengal Tigers are larger then Southern Chinese Tigers but Siberian Tigers are larger then both of them, and the Siberian's coat is also thicker and longer to deal with the cold winters of northern Asia... Molly and I can cope with cold weather and can survive it, but for the most part our coats are better suited to warmer climates... though since we have no sweat glands now, the coldness of winter will be somewhat of relief after the summer."
"Having sweat glands doesn't make it easier for us in the summer though," Frank Rhoer quipped, "if a person isn't careful, even we can get heatstroke..."
Molly and I nodded while I lifted out the folded divider with the floral pattern on it. And with it, we made our way toward the checkout and then prepared for the long road ahead.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Once on the road again we resumed the fairly quiet task of riding along in the backseat. As we drove south, Frank Rhoer brought up a topic related closely to the drive.
"You know, I've been going over the plan you two have for covering the route to Peoria," Frank Rhoer commented, "You two do both know that on the Interstate we can make very good time. By your schedule we won't arrive at your parents home, George, till Tuesday."
"We know," I nodded.
"You know that once on the interstate we can cover a lot of ground quickly," Frank Rhoer commented, "we could get further per day then what you have planned."
"I'm sure," I nodded, "but since we're depending on there being vacancies in the hotels that we visit, I don't want to be driving deep into the night... and since I haven't been living with my folks anymore, if we show up late at night at their home, we could be in trouble for burglary. And arriving on Tuesday won't really be a problem. Leona's wedding isn't until Friday and the rehearsal is on Thursday. I'd assume that we'd have most of Tuesday to visit with my folks and Wednesday for Molly to get her booster shots."
"Booster shots?" Frank Rhoer asked.
"Vaccinations to make sure I don't contract Rabies or some other virus that tigers are vulnerable to," Molly told him, "the ones who did the first set of shots are there, so I can use them... I'll probably need to get them to provide a list of the exact vaccinations they're using so the Columbia Falls vet can administer the next set of booster shots next year."
"I see," Frank Rhoer replied.
Much of the rest of the morning went buy quietly as we drove along. Frank Rhoer played the radio in the front seat while Molly and I gazed out the back window of my truck at the scenery going past us. Occasionally we saw a deer grazing in the clearings by the side of the road. The animals seemed unconcerned with the traffic, and my eyes picked up on their movement quickly. As I watched them as we drove by, I did feel the urge to stalk and pounce on them. Just as Molly had on the drive out to Columbia Falls. Glancing over to her, I found that she was just as entranced as I was at seeing an animal our instincts recognized as prey.
"You'll enjoy the hunting season," Molly then said softly to me after a moment, "all the instincts to hunt are strong... and the hunting season will allow you to put them to good use without endangering anyone."
I nodded, recognizing what sounded like the comments I had long ago made to Molly in favor of moving to Columbia Falls. All of that seemed so long ago now, and both of us had changed since then. Molly was now more confident in herself and accepting of what Changes had done to her... and I had obviously joined her.
"I may need to learn from an old hand at the hunting game," I quipped, nuzzling the side of Molly's head.
"Then stick we me," Molly gave a smirk and nuzzled me back, "I'll teach you all of my tricks."
Frank Rhoer ignored our conversation hunting as we drove on. As we did so, Molly and I shared a private laugh between the two of us.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And the rest of the trip went well. Eating was a little more heavily planned then most things. We generally went to some fast rood restaurant's drive through, allowed Frank Rhoer to order what he needed, and then we settled down to eat at the closest rest stop that had a small picnic area to dine at. Molly and I ate the steaks that we had pre-cooked and packed on paper plates that we had brought with us as well, while Frank Rhoer enjoyed his hamburger and fries or Subway sandwich. The meat didn' quite taste as good as it normally would because by preserving it in the igloo, Molly and I had to eat it cold, but we weren't going to complain. Buying hot food would be too expensive for the both of us and so we had little choice.
Riding along also went fairly quietly. We listened to radio and talked with Frank Rhoer about things, mostly on the scenery that we saw. He seemed to enjoy it as well, and told us about his younger days driving through the same territory when his wife was alive and the both of them were much younger. And Molly and I did enjoy the stories. They all had some good moment that the two of us as a young married couple found attractive and hoped we would have the time together to try.
And in the end, the traveling schedule I had made did take some time, but we were rewarded with good lodgings and a place to sleep at night. The portable divider that we had bought in Kalispell did its job well, and each stop gave Molly and I a chance to get out of the back seat and stretch our legs. But we did make good time on the Interstate as Frank Rhoer had predicted and got a bit ahead of the schedule Molly and I had originally laid out. At about six o'clock in the evening, Frank Rhoer pulled my "old" Ford Ranger onto the curb outside my parents' home.
I found that my Mother was sitting out on a wooden sliding bench under the front windows to the house. As Frank Rhoer let Molly and I out, she began approaching the vehicle. As we got out, we both stretched to loosen up all the muscles that had probably "cramped" out from the long drive. As we did so, both of us let out a low grunt.
"Grrrrrraaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhhh!" Molly and I grunted out as we stretched out our muscles.
We then made our way around the truck and quickly found ourselves being hugged by my Mother.
"George, Molly! Oh it's great to see you!" she announced as she approached with arms wide.
Molly and I squeezed together to give my mother a chance to at least try to get her arms around our waists.
"It's good to see you too, Mom," I replied.
"Your father is still at work, but I expect he'll be home soon," my Mother informed me, "and he'll be glad to see the both of you. I'd hoped that such a visit would involve me meeting my grandchildren, but I suppose you two are being smart in terms of planning..."
Molly and I gave a soft chuckle, though something told me that Molly was a little bit embarrassed by the statement.
"I won't go into heat again until this winter," Molly said slowly, "so at the earliest, George and I won't be physically able to welcome cubs into this world till next year."
"And I can wait, dear," my Mother replied, "never think like I'm wanting to rush you to do anything. I want you and my son to be healthy and happy together."
"And that we are," I smiled and nuzzled her softly, "Very healthy and very happy."
My Mother only chuckled a little bit as Molly nuzzled her as well. It was after that greeting that she recognized Molly's Uncle approaching us on the front lawn.
"And who might your "chauffeur" be?" my Mother asked curiously.
"Mom, this is my Uncle, Frank Rhoer," Molly began the introductions, "Mom, meet Frank Rhoer. Uncle Frank, this is my Mother-in-Law, Polly Wayne. She is George's mother and wife of Jacob Wayne."
"Your son is a good man," Frank Rhoer told my mother, "regardless of his species. I am proud that my niece found a man like him... and married into a family with similar names to her own... Polly and Molly... only one letter difference."
My Mother, Polly Wayne, chuckled a little, "Yes, we've always know the interesting similarities of our names. Molly and I had some good humor with it when she and George first actually started dating."
"Much to my embarrassment," Molly quipped, which only resulted in a few laughs.
"Why don't you all gather your things and come in," Polly Wayne replied, "George and Molly, you two can have the guest room, as it is big enough for the two of you... if you two decide to be intimate... please try to roar quietly..." Both Molly and I blushed, hoping my Mother wouldn't notice it through our fur, "Mr. Rhoer, you can take George's old room."
"Thank you, ma'am," Frank Rhoer answered politely and we all made our way into the house.