And it did take awhile for Rathik's supplies to arrive in Columbia Falls. A lot of their arrival was surprising to me in many ways. In my studies to help Molly when she transformed, I had also came across a lot of things that related to the tiger in Indian folklore and in the Hindu religion. The tiger was heavily venerated by Hindus for its connection to Durga, a warrior goddess, as well as others, including Shiva, one Hinduism's "Big Three". I'd also found that various Hindu stories also painted the tiger as a powerful forest/jungle god in its own right. But these tigers were all mundane tigers... four legged, and likely did not have many of the human like attributes that were mine and Molly's present anatomy.
Molly and I, while it was quite obvious what species of animal we resembled, still had many features that were associated with humans and to a lesser extent, apes. Molly still had breasts. Our shoulders were still arranged like a human's. Our hands, while obviously paw-like, were far more dexterous then a mundane tiger's, as we both retained opposable thumbs. Our vocal cords were arranged to allow us to both roar and speak in human languages, and there were other differences that I didn't really wish to think about. Either way, it was clearly obvious that we were different from mundane tigers.
And from what I read on the tiger's place in Indian mythology, the only "tiger" that resembled Molly's and my forms was the weretiger. A form of werecat, the weretiger in India served the same purpose as the werewolf did in European society. Sorcerers using black magic to transform themselves into tiger-like beings to eat people. And because of that similarity, I would have thought a traditional Indian family like Rathik's would have feared Molly and I for religious reasons rather then overblown scientific ones that groups like R.A.M. had used.
But then, maybe his family understood more about science then it would seem... so I figured it was the idea to not judge the book by its proverbial cover.
In any case, it took until the Sunday after his family's arrival for all of their equipment to arrive and be assembled in an old office area that was downtown. Mugdha had actually called our cabin to let us know they were ready. And with me being given a day off on that day as part my regular schedule and Molly not having school, we went on down to see Rathik and Mugdha open their shop. As we arrived, there was a small crowd of people gathering there already. Molly and I quietly joined them as Rathik and Mugdha stood near a large piece of red ribbon tied in front of the door to the shop. Aadi, Kalamala, and Shanti were also present and Aadi was holding a pair of scissors.
"Thank you all for coming this afternoon," Rathik spoke, "I know is common for Christians to consider Sunday a day of rest, and I do not wish to get in the way of that, so I will be brief. This will be the Bengali Silk Shop in its first Columbia Falls branch..."
Mugdha then pulled down on a string that pulled a cover off of a sign that displayed his store's name, which was done in a Roman style font with two images of a tiger's face on either side of the title.
"Their images..." Molly whispered to me, "they have our markings!"
I looked at the images on the sides the sign. The one on the right had Molly's distinctive "v" above the eyes while the one on the left had my triangles above the eyes.
"We will provide the people of your town with quality silk for your needs and privileges at a reasonable cost," Rathik continued, "and especially for your town's resident animal people to provide them with attire that does not irritate their fur."
He then gestured to Molly and I as we stood there to observe, making the people that were there glance back to us. A couple of people gave me almost nervous and distrusting glances, but their reactions to Molly seemed far more encouraging. I guessed that was still a lot of Patten's declared hatred based off of a lack of information coming through... but I let that go. Molly and I weren't there for a fight or argument.
"We will formally open for business tomorrow morning at eight AM," Rathik finished, "and we wish to thank you for allowing my family to declare our shop ready to open."
And with that, Aadi took the scissors and cut through the red ribbon. There were a few claps as the people that had gathered for the ceremony then dispersed. As they did so, Rathik and Mugdha came forward to actually speak with us again.
"What do you think?" Mugdha asked first.
"It looks nice," Molly said slowly, "interesting that you used our stripe patterns for your sign..."
"Our shop here is to cater to the two of you," Rathik answered, "the sign shows that."
"Can you sustain yourself on just two customers?" I asked, curiously.
"My brother is taking over our New York offices," Rathik replied, "and I'm sure you won't be the only Animal People here for long."
"We aren't already," I told him, "my partner's girlfriend's daughter had to receive a transfusion of blood from Molly a while back and is now a tiger cub."
"Yes, we've seen her at school," Kalamala spoke up, "though we're all too old to be in her class level."
"What grades are they in?" I wondered.
"Aadi is in fourth, Kalamala is in third, and Shanti is in second," Mugdha replied, "all very smart young children."
"And anyway, we probably will not be providing clothing to just animal people," Rathik spoke, "others will come for measurements."
"We wish you both the best of luck," I said to Rathik and shook his hand.
"Thank you."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And from there, things progressed quietly. Officer Barnes and I continued our DARE work mixed with some light patrolling on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those days seemed to be kept rather quiet. Nothing major occurred on the days we were out, or at at least in the areas where we were. As we weren't called to back anyone up on anything big, which both Officer Barnes and I guessed was to keep our work in replacing the killed DARE officer open.
And over the course of the next few weeks that remained rather quiet. Some students gave me a fairly wide birth in the hallways when they saw me. Likely Patten or the secretary's assertion that I was an aggressive bully "trickling" down to the student level. Though there were some very positive responses that I could see. The teen who seemed to be strangely supportive of Molly and I was there at the high school, as was the girl he seemed to like. From what I could see, they seemed to be getting along well, even though she was a lesbian... though I couldn't tell whether or not she had told him yet or not.
I also occasionally saw the male teen handle what looked like guide books on the domestic house cat from time to time. It made me wonder if the teen was still curious about becoming an animal person or not, but I also knew it wasn't my responsibility to concern myself with that and so I stayed out of it. I still didn't think that giving up one's form would make anyone happy, but the people who had sued Leon, as Leona, to get the Animatrix Serum on the market had won, so it wasn't like there was anything I could do legally to stop him in the long run. I hoped the teen didn't make too serious a mistake.
As the weeks moved on, the biggest problem that I had was in relation to the heat. As winter's grip faded away and the summer months approached, the warmer temperatures made my fur somewhat more uncomfortable. And while it didn't block my ability to do the tasks assigned to Officer Barnes and I, it didn't mean that I didn't feel the rising heat as it were.
"You okay, Officer Wayne?" Officer Barnes asked me as we stood in the gymnasium attached to the Elementary school while listening to Mrs. Fitzpatrick, who by now had recovered from the wounds she had sustained in the attack on the school was going over the plans for the "graduation" for the Elementary, Kindergarten, and Pre-School kids to their next grades.
"Yeah," I nodded, "just feeling a little warm."
"Molly didn't like the heat during the summer and early autumn either," Mrs. Fitzpatrick sighed, "and I'm privately sure she doesn't like the heat now, either."
I slowly nodded in agreement. The schools were much older then the ones I had been in growing up and definitely older then the buildings the college Molly and I had attended. Much of that was probably because of the small town and rural area that Columbia Falls was. They were built in the fifties and sixties, but the money simply wasn't there to build entirely new buildings as they aged over time. From what Molly had told me, they barely had the money to upgrade the buildings over time. Central air-conditioning was only present in a couple of the schools. And even there, the system didn't go through the entire school. The gym wasn't one of them.
"Makes you glad you have sweat glands, don't it?" I quipped.
"I'm sure," Mrs. Fitzpatrick replied, "Do you need anything?"
"Maybe a little water," I replied, "but that can wait until after we've concluded our business... don't want to take too much away from you."
Mrs. Fitzpatrick nodded and turned back to the gym, which was for the moment empty.
"Anyway," Mrs. Fitzpatrick spoke, "as I was saying, the ceremony won't be all that much... certainly not like what they do for high schools and colleges... shoot, even the middle school's "graduation" is bigger... but, we're expected to run a ceremony to celebrate advancing from one grade to another."
Mrs. Fitzpatrick then gestured to a small platform along the wall.
"The students will come up and receive a few minor awards such as the student of the year and such, and will approach myself, the school board, and the district super intendant at this platform," Mrs. Fitzpatrick spoke, "as well as receiving a very simple "diploma" as it were that announces their advancement to the next grade."
"Do you expect any trouble for this?" Officer Barnes asked, as we had been assigned to provide some security for the ceremony, as we were assigned to take over as the DARE officer's job because of the original DARE officer's death.
"I don't anticipate there being a real problem," Mrs. Fitzpatrick replied, "but, after everything that has happened this year, I don't think I can really be too careful... R.A.M. lunatics, a Mountain Lion, the Principal going nuts and attacking the school, and now a school board member grumbling that you're aggressive..."
"At least Patten isn't a R.A.M. member or former R.A.M. member," I sighed.
"Still... it's a nuisance that the former R.A.M. members will gladly use," Mrs. Fitzpatrick sighed, "regardless of how decent he is. I've tried to tell him he needs to settle his differences with you politely, but he's convinced you are the problem..."
"Nothing that can be done," I answered, "I retorted, "and to a certain extent he may have a point... my temper may have gotten the better of me and I may have honestly taken my attempts to defend Molly too far."
"Still, he shouldn't have taken it beyond his own personal opinion," Mrs. Fitzpatrick sighed, "Running around with half the facts only makes things worse."
"That isn't the issue for now, of us anyway," Officer Barnes told her, "and since he isn't saying George must be fired and shot, there isn't anything we can even really do to supervise his activity. After all, we're only here to monitor criminal activity."
"And we've had more then our fair share of it," Mrs. Fitzpatrick replied, "More then our fair share of it."
"Things will get better," Officer Barnes promised.