As the end of the summer approached, all the signs of a return to school and the fall were coming. The air began to get cooler, signaling the return of the cold winter temperatures. There was a fair amount that would have to be done to get things ready. Though not all of those preparations were popular.
"Why are you draining the pool?" Megan asked as I attached a hose to a small drainage valve at the bottom of the pool.
She was behind me and standing beside Molly and Officer Jenkins and Barnes. She had come up for another swim as the end of the Summer Sun program approached. At present she was struggling with Officer Barnes who was trying to dry her fur.
"It's early August," I answered, "Fall and Winter are coming. This pool is largely made of plastic. If we leave the water in it through the winter, it'll break the walls when it freezes. That'd ruin it for next summer, right?"
"I suppose," Megan answered while still drying off, "I like your pool. It's nice and cool and I can splash in it."
I glanced up toward where Molly and my bedroom was in our Cabin. Officer Barnes and Officer Jenkins had again offered me a ride home after work in combination with their mission to pick up Officer Jenkins' daughter. When we made it to the backyard where Molly was supervising Megan's play in the pool, Megan leaped from one end into the air and did a cannonball not to far from where Molly was standing. The resulting splash caught her by surprise and left Molly soaked. She was presently inside drying off and changing clothes while Officer Barnes and I dealt with the last things to be ready for winter and get Megan dry.
"I saw," I gave a chuckle, "you got Molly good with that last one."
Megan beamed a smile, showing she was pleased with her antics.
"It's fun," she answered.
"I'm sure," I answered, "and it will be here next summer to give you, me, Molly some shelter from the heat. But as the days are starting to get cooler, we need to prepare for winter."
Megan slowly nodded. By then I had the hose extended out so that the water in the pool would drain into some of the pasture land that was now part of Bandhavgarh Ranch and Preserve. That had been going fairly well too. Frank Rhoer and his daughters Nessie and Molly managed to get all of the cattle we'd bought from Simon and Laura branded with the specialized brand that looked like the head of a tiger. They managed the auction of the things that Laura and Simon couldn't take with them, and it went fairly well. Meredeth even reported to Molly one afternoon that they actually made a little bit more then what we had paid for the cattle in the auction before the auctioneer was paid. They were presently in process of moving from the home they had lived in near Beauregard's former ranch to Michael York's old home. Molly and I had offered our help where we could, Frank Rhoer insisted he had everything well in hand.
"So you'll still have the pool next year?" Megan asked as I opened the valves to drain the pool.
"Yes," I nodded, "and it'll be ready to keep everyone cool."
Megan nodded and finished drying herself off. She then turned to follow Officer Barnes while Officer Jenkins collected the stack of clothing that Megan had left just inside the back door to the cabin. As we reached the front door, Molly was just coming down the stairs.
"Bye Miss Molly!" Megan waved to Molly as she followed her mother and adoptive father through the door.
"Bye, bye," Molly waved back with a slight chuckle, "have a good night."
Officer Barnes and Jenkins then drove off with Megan seated in the back seat. While as a tiger cub she was bigger then she had been when she was human, she was not as big as Molly and I were and could still fit in a car. Officer Jenkins at one point had managed to make a call into Leon one day to ask about Megan's rate of growth would be, since things like that related to lifespan, and Megan's life was changed far more drastically then Molly's and mine had been. We were already adults and were largely done growing by human standards when we changed. Megan had a lot of growing still to do. According to the answer that Officer Jenkins got, it didn't appear things such as our lifespans was entirely affected, as the bodily cell-division and other microscopic indicators of the rate of aging seemed unaffected by the Animatrix Serum's changes. That probably would mean that Megan wouldn't really experience a growth spurt until she was closer to twelve or thirteen years old when her body would begin to go from tiger cub to an adult tigress.
"So how was your bath?" I snickered at Molly after shutting the door.
"Ha, ha, ha," Molly faked a laugh back, "Next time you can hang around when a cub decides to send water flying at you when you're not expecting it."
I only shook my head, "it looks like you gave her a good time. She was very happy with the pool."
"I'm sure," Molly nodded and then looked at me, "will our cubs be like that?"
"Hopefully," I responded and nuzzled her softly.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The days continued to pass fairly quietly. With the Summer Sun Program now over, I was the only one who had to get up for the moment. Patrols had been quiet with Officer Barnes with nothing major going on. There were the obvious "routine" calls, but nothing big and deliberate. A couple of them had some miner escalations when I caught the scents of something that smelled "off". It was eventually identified to be drugs. These cases had resulted from guys that were "driving through", as it were... but they wouldn't be allowed to continue that for the time being. Other then that, our work had been quiet.
And with the "quiet" atmosphere that Columbia Falls had settled into work-wise, I was able to deal with a few pieces of personal business. The first was related the coming hunting season. The fliers for the coming hunting season had recently come out to give the present regulations for the season and the areas of public land that could be hunted on. With them out, I made my way into one of the places where the tags could be bought as soon as I could.
"Hello, Officer," the shop keeper spoke from the cash register, "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong, and I'm actually off duty," I spoke, "I'm on my way home."
The man then looked up and noticed who he was talking to.
"I'm here to buy the deer and elk tags for myself and for Molly," I told him.
"Hunting tags?"
"Yes," I nodded, "the maximum for myself and for Molly."
"I see," the cashier nodded and then began fiddling with a drawer behind him, "How many Elk tags and how many White Tail and Mule Deer tags?"
"We'll take one Elk tag for myself and one for Molly," I answered, "the rest can be White Tail and Mule Deer tags."
"You both hunt? You and the tiger lady?" he asked using the nickname the kids had long given Molly.
"We intend to," I answered.
"Where do you plan on hunting?" the cashier wondered, "anyplace good?"
"Just on the land we own," I explained, "Michael York's old ranch land."
"Oh..." he spoke for a moment, "I think I read somewhere that he left his ranch and cattle to you..."
"The cattle were left to his daughter," I answered, "the land was left to Molly and I."
"Oh... so did you buy some of the cattle then?" the man asked.
"Yes," I nodded, "Michael York had enough that his daughter couldn't take all the cattle and expect to feed them all."
"Ouch," the man commented, "Mr. York was a fairly swell guy. Let me hunt on his land quite a bit... until my knee started acting up. I can't handle the rough terrain very well anymore."
"It's beautiful country though," I commented as I handed him the money to pay for the tags.
The man nodded and handed me the set of tags that were listed to me. He held onto the tags I intended to give to Molly.
"Just let your wife know her tags are ready," he told as he placed those tags in a different cabinet that was above his head, "our store policy is that if you're buying tags for multiple people, the people the tags go to have to pick them up themselves. Just to make sure we don't have any poaching and such. Everyone that sells the hunting tags has to do so. The Game Wardens only sell us a select number to sell... so we can have individuals come in say they're buying for multiple people and then leave keeping all the tags for themselves. It's basic policy."
I slowly nodded, "I understand. Poachers probably wouldn't bother with buying tags, but I can understand. I trust Molly won't have to pay again?"
"No sir, all she has to do is come in and pick them up," the cashier answered, "it's odd though... from the way my daughter goes on about how nice the tiger lady was last year... it's hard to picture her holding a .22 and going after deer."
"A female tiger is just as much a hunter as a male tiger is," I told him, "the hunting season allows us to legally put the hunting instincts to work."
"You have them? Like what all the R.A.M. guys and Hireman have said?" he gasped, making me sigh.
"We have the instinct, yes, but R.A.M. and Hireman have inferred that we are controlled by those instincts," I sighed, "that is not true. Molly and I are perfectly in control. Just as people feel they are in control of their instincts."
As I turned to leave, he came up with a different question.
"Do you like it?"
"What?" I asked back as I turned back toward him from the door.
"Do you like all this Animal stuff? The fur and all that?" the man wondered, "It seems that a lot of people have given you a mighty hard time."
"Molly and I have accepted what we've become," I managed to answer, "and it isn't like we can go back. When I first learned about how the Animatrix Serum worked, I learned that the Serum, then an intended cure for cancer was built and designed to be permanent. There is no way back for Molly and I... so we've accepted what we are and learned to live with it. Self pity wouldn't be good."
"I see," the man commented, "do well... and remember to tell your wife to come in and pick up her tags."
"I will," I replied, "it was nice talking with you."
And with that I left.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I quietly made my way home to find Molly looking over a letter in the living room. Dinner seemed to be well on its way already as I could smell it as I came in the door. When I shut the door, she looked up from what she was looking at.
"Did you get our tags?" Molly asked as she noticed me pulling the tags I'd purchased from one of my pockets.
"I've purchased them," I nodded, "though the place has a specific policy on how they sell the tags for multiple people. To make sure I'm not poaching by going over the limit, it is their policy that the recipients of each set of tags come in to pick them up. All you need to do is go in and pick up the tags. They've all been paid for."
"I see," Molly slowly nodded.
"I think he is the father of one of your students from last year," I told her after a moment and moved into the living room.
"And will be in first grade now," Molly nodded, "Moving on up."
I nodded and made a slight chuckle at the reference. For the moment, I set my tags down on a small end table next to our couch and sat down beside Molly.
"So, what are you looking at?" I asked curiously after a moment.
"The first week of school is coming up fairly soon," Molly explained, "They just sent me the roster of who is going to be in my class this year."
Molly handed me the sheet and allowed me to look at it. It included a list of names of the students that would be Molly's responsibility to teach in the coming school year.
"It looks like your class is going to be smaller this year," I commented.
"Maybe," Molly shrugged, "some of them are the younger brothers and sisters of kids I had last year. With as small a town as Columbia Falls is... you can't assume we're going to have large class sizes all the time."
"I suppose we'll have to do something about that," I teased to her and nuzzled the side of her muzzle.
"We're tigers, not rabbits, George," Molly answered, "and while I may end up having a litter of cubs, the average number of cubs tigers have is between two and three. Occasionally four, but anything more then that is extremely rare... and we'll probably have only ONE litter at most, so don't go thinking dirty about siring countless numbers of cubs."
"Even if each one is as pretty as you?" I teased.
Molly only shook her head, sensing a fairly playful mood on my part.
"Sometimes you're simply crazy," Molly answered, "simply crazy."
"Crazy for you," I replied with a smirk.
Molly only shook her head again as I handed her her letter back.
"So, how was your day that's got you in such a good mood?" Molly asked, "anything go on besides buying the tags for the hunting season?"
"Not really," I shrugged, "Officer Barnes and I are sorta counting down the days to the start of the school year, just as you are."
"You two are still assigned to do the DARE work?" Molly wondered.
"Until Officer Howard can arrange for hiring a new person to take over that role full time, we have to," I shrugged, "I think the City Council will work on the budget for next year after the elections in November, but I don't really know for sure when those elected in November would take over."
"Probably January first," Molly shrugged, "or sometime in January. Like the "lame duck" period between the election and inauguration of a new president."
I could only shrug, as I truly didn't know.
"So I'll probably see you and Officer Barnes around then?" Molly asked after a moment.
"At first yes," I nodded, "as we'll have to make some formal introductions to each school so everyone knows who the DARE officers are. Once that is done, most of our work will be split between the Middle School and High School in drug prevention and crowd control. That sort of thing."
Molly nodded, though she also picked up something in the tone of my answer.
"Do you not like the DARE work?" Molly asked.
"It isn't bad," I answered, "and being at the bottom of ladder at the station, I can understand it. But... it takes Officer Barnes and I out of the field... and he has more trouble with it then I do. With the new school year coming, if something "big" comes up, unless it can be solved quickly, Officer Barnes would have to be removed from the case and put behind a desk."
Molly only shook her head and sighed.
"Try not to be too bored, George," Molly answered, "School work has all the same excitement as your work does... especially when it means looking after a bunch of little kids that seem to have ten times as much energy as you do."
"I'm sure we'll BOTH learn that lesson well," I commented.
To that, Molly nodded.