Clemens's episode had been a good one. As many of the episodes of "Animal Tales" had been. I had some initial concerns on the series. Mostly related to how well they would cover various issues related to people's privacy. Conflicts between good and evil aside, going too much into people's private lives was wrong and invasive as far as I could see. Some of that may have been a tiger's instinct as a solitary animal, but a lot of that seemed to be common sense to me. Even humans had their moments where they wanted privacy and had their secrets. I was sure that Molly and I had had plenty of those before we put on several hundred pounds of muscle and bone.
And the Animal Tales series had so far avoided getting too personal with issues. The host, Wallace Paige had asked Arsenia if he could ask about her bust-line in the premiere episode rather then simply drawing attention to it. And in the episode on Clemens, he made no effort to even touch on the incident that involved his own coworkers trying to get him fired for releasing venomous snakes on a tour group. The memory of Clemens telling Molly and I that story at dinner still made me shudder. Molly and I had had to put up with a lot when it came to anti-Animal Person related racism when it came to groups like R.A.M. and so forth. Clemens's story made it clear that these prejudices weren't left to Columbia Falls, Montana. And the Animal Tales staff and host had decided not mention that. Possibly because it was a painful memory, or possibly because the incident had made the news. Molly and I didn't know for sure.
But the things they did cover had been interesting enough to see. Some of the "security" footage from the convention that Clemens and Jenny had attended that depicted Clemens play wrestling with Arnold Schwarzenegger and then laughing with the actor and former California governor over something that made both Molly and I chuckle at. And of course as the episode had gone on, some things that were knowledge about the specific species were used. Jose Rodriguez had explained various facts about the Gila Monster in the premiere episode. One of the two Japanese sisters who had become Japanese Bobtails explained the long cultural importance that the Japanese Bobtail had, even before the creation of "Hello Kitty". And as part of Clemens' episode had been some following of his work in the zoo and his helping to deal with the invasive Burmese Python in Florida and the knowledge that other foreign python species, including the African Rock Python had also been found there. Clemens largely explained the differences between each snake species and how he advised the state officers responsible for removing the invasive snakes from Florida. These things included the larger size of the Burmese Python and the African Rock Python's more aggressive temperament. It was all very interesting, and might actually be a way to educate people on various animals or on foreign cultures in a way that was largely limited to cable channels in other situations.
Of course there were some minor hiccups in Clemens' episode. Before showing a clip from the convention the main cameraman had seemed to focus on Jenny for something. Either chewing on gum or jerky, or something, or maybe she'd had to yawn... something that made it look like she was talking. At the same time Clemens had made his comment on his meeting of Arnold. It was obvious by his voice that it was Clemens who had answered, but because of the camera angle, it seemed like it was Jenny who had spoke. But that wasn't too bad, and I was sure the audio would make it clear who was speaking.
"It's shaping to be quite the series," Molly commented at the end of the episode, "Informative and not invading privacy."
"Yes, and a good thing to be that way," I nodded.
"What do you think about next week's episode?" Molly wondered, "they say they're covering a man in the UK who became a wolf."
"You know I'm the wolf-man!" I faux sang as I stood up.
"No," Molly chuckled, "You are a tiger. MY tiger."
She stood up and we shared a short hug before heading off to make sure things were put away before going to bed. As we did so I thought over what Molly was getting at with her question. When we had asked Clemens, through Joseph Patten, about things related to Molly's heat cycle and how the Animatrix Serum would affect it, his reply had also included news reports that related to the Animatrix Serum. One of them had been on a UK man who had had cancer and a weak heart who had taken the serum and became a Eurasian Wolf, a subspecies of the Grey Wolf. And according the news report, the man's transformation had cured those ailments.
"It's possible," I shrugged, this actually answering Molly's question rather then joking around as I had done initially, "You can never be certain, though."
Molly nodded to that.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And things continued on relatively quietly for the next week. There were no major problems at work for either Molly or myself. And as things went, we were now largely waiting for the end of the month. The end of February when Molly's next obstetrician appointment was scheduled and we would formally exchange the Ranger that I had owned through my days in high school and through college for the Ford Transit that was specifically built for Animal People that were around Molly's and my size. I didn't know if they were doing anything for Animal People that might have become even larger animals, or animals that had pieces of anatomy that added to their height. But then, we also didn't know if any other people had become animal species like deer, cattle be they wild or domestic, or various antelope species, or the truly massive mega-fauna species such as hippopotamus, rhinoceros, or elephants. All of them would be far larger then Molly and I and wouldn't fit in even the vehicle we had just bought.
The only person we knew that had ended up in that direction had been a young man named Miles. But he had become a Thompson's Gazelle and was still about the same size he had likely been when he was human. Still, his horns had made the wondering over the height issues of vehicles and obvious one for people who became such animals. When Miles had come to Bandhavgarh before Molly's and my first Thanksgiving in Columbia Falls, he had arrived in an old Ford Bronco that looked like it had had its roof removed to fit his horns. But then, a lot of that was something that Molly and I could only wonder at. After all, tigers were not known for having horns or antlers. They were known for eating animals with horns or antlers.
But things continued on quietly over the course of the week. In the course of it, Molly and I would get the answer to the question as to who the man who had become a wolf was. The "wolf-man" that appeared on the Animal Tales series was the man who had had cancer and various heart problems. Unlike the other Animal People in the series who had so far been in their early to mid twenties to early to mid thirties, the man who had become a Eurasian Wolf was in his mid to late forties. He raised sheep in Yorkshire and had in and out of various hospitals over the course of his treatment. Though conventional medicine was doing little. And it turned out the idea to use the Animatrix Serum had been made by a younger sister who was afraid of her children losing their uncle. The man had ultimately accepted it and took the serum, and it had seemingly cured him of the things that were ailing him. The choice of the Eurasian Wolf as the specific species came from more of a naturalist position that wolves were "big" but not "bad". His sister and his nephew and niece also jokingly made references to BBC series, "Being Human" (which the SyFy channel in the US had copied).
Despite a tiger's natural rivalry with wolves, Molly and I felt happy for him. That the Animatrix Serum had allowed him to be healthy and be with his family. And that was the important thing. And Molly and I were all to aware of that. Family was important, and ours was in the process of growing.
After a quiet week, our phone rang one Saturday while Molly and I were working with various pieces of home maintenance and laundry type of things. I had been sweeping out our guest bedroom when it rang. As I was in there, I had the realization that it wouldn't be a guest room for much longer. Soon, it would be our cubs' room. The thought of that made me smile a bit, and led to me nearly jumping when the phone rang.
"I got it!" I called downstairs to Molly who was with our laundry.
I moved over to the phone and answered it. It was Officer Howard who had called.
"Good afternoon, Officer Wayne," Officer Howard spoke as I answered, "Anything going on?"
"Nothing much at the moment," I answered, "Keeping clean and so forth."
"Ah-ha, how is Molly?" Officer Howard wondered.
"Doing well," I answered, "very happy at the confirmation that she is pregnant."
"I see, when is her next appointment?" Officer Howard asked, "I know you've asked for that day off... but I don't have the paperwork in front of me at the moment."
"Next week," I answered, "On Thursday, I think. I don't have the appointment card in front of me, either."
"Thursday sounds about right, don't worry," Officer Howard replied.
"Is something going on, sir?" I asked, "are you needing me to come in?"
"Not today," Officer Howard answered, "but I have picked up the new DARE officer. I want you and Officer Barnes to come in tomorrow morning and show her around. The two of you will then resume your normal patrols on Monday. Is there any problem with that?"
"No, sir," I answered, "Officer Barnes and I will be there."
"Very good, see you tomorrow," Officer Howard replied, "at the time you'd be expected at the school for the DARE work."
"So you'll be returning to patrol duty?" came Molly's voice as I hung up the phone.
"Yes, dear," I said carefully.
There was no way I could have hid it. Our ears were good enough to pick up a good many things. We would hear and understand what people whispered when we were in the same room as them. And while Molly may not have heard what Officer Howard had said, I was definitely sure that she had heard me.
"You know Officer Barnes and I will be careful," I added.
"I'm sure," Molly slowly nodded, "but I wouldn't be much of a wife if I didn't remind you."
We both shared a brief hug.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next morning I quietly made my way into the station. Molly remained at the cabin, mostly checking with some of the things around the cabin and shoveling a bit of snow that had fallen during the week. She also mentioned something of running errands in town as I went in. The walk into the station was quiet with no real trouble. And of course, I met Officer Barnes when I made it to the station.
"Big day, today," Officer Barnes spoke.
"I suppose," I shrugged, "we're only supposed to give the new DARE officer the tour and that's about it. Once that is done, we'll be expected to go home."
"Yeah, but still big," Officer Barnes answered, "nothing against the DARE program, but it isn't the place for me."
"We did a good job at it," I commented.
"Yeah, yeah I suppose we did," Officer Barnes replied, "I'd still prefer patrol work to to DARE work."
I nodded and opened the door for him. We entered the station's "lobby" to find Officer Howard waiting with a middle aged woman waiting for us. As we entered, Officer Howard turned to face us, and ushered the woman to look toward us as well.
"And here they are now," Officer Howard announced, "Officers Barnes and Wayne."
"Pleased to meet you both," the woman said to both of us.
She shook Officer Barnes' hand and did her best to shake mine, though she seemed a bit surprised at how much larger my hand was in comparison to hers.
"Officer Barnes, Officer Wayne, this is Madeline Pryor, former DARE officer for Sweetgrass, Montana," Officer Howard announced.
"Former...?" I wondered, what had happened there.
"Our school system there was extremely small and poorly funded," Madeline explained, "the end of the last school year was its last year as an independent district. The Sweetgrass district was then combined with the Sunburst, Kevin, Oilmont, and Ferdig districts. They all meet in Sunburst now... and as such I was no longer needed and laid off. It was an "honorable discharge", but since I'd only been hired to do the DARE work there, I couldn't transfer over to patrol work."
"That won't be a problem here," Officer Howard spoke up, "Officer Pryor will join the other patrol officers during the Summer and Christmas breaks."
"Thank you," Madeline acknowledged him.
Officer Howard then turned to Officer Barnes and I.
"In the meantime, why don't the two of you take Officer Pryor to the various schools here, show her the DARE office and brief her on the various projects the two of you had worked on while you were filling in."
"Of course, sir," Officer Barnes answered.
"You can use your patrol car for this," Officer Howard then finished and returned to his office.
We then lead Madeline out of the station and then to the car that Officer Barnes and I normally patrolled the city in when on patrol duty. While I climbed into the backseat, Madeline sat down beside Officer Barnes in the front seat.
"Are you comfortable back there?" she asked me when she noticed me laying across the back seat.
"About as comfortable as I can be," I shrugged, "It's no problem."
"Okay," she said, sounding somewhat nervous.
We then drove through the town and showed Madeline Pryor where the Elementary School, Middle School, Central Office, and High School were. As we arrived at the High School, Officer Barnes parked in front of the DARE car that was normally kept there. He had been in charge of the "tour" so far, as it was easier that way. Madeline wouldn't have to divide her attention between what we were driving by and me in the backseat.
"The main DARE offices are here," Officer Barnes said carefully, "and from here you can monitor things at the various schools as they happen. All the schools have some areas where their security cameras can be monitored, but you can also observe all of the schools from here."
He opened the one door and showed Madeline to the DARE office that Officer Barnes and I used since Bill Williams killed the previous DARE officer.
"And for the most part, things are relatively quiet here," Officer Barnes finished the "tour" type information, "there are the occasional flare ups of trouble, but the worst of that has passed."
"Things related to your School Board elections that made national news?" Madeline asked.
"Yep," I nodded, "and with all that over, we're starting to regain our sanity."
"Good to hear," Madeline chuckled, "Though, what about the occasional animal sighting... wolf packs occasionally came south from Canada into the Sweetgrass area."
"We haven't had much in the way of wolves... we had a Mountain Lion once, but for the most part, the greatest danger in that direction would be at the Elementary School... and dealing with those sorts of things would be dealt with by patrol officers and animal control," Officer Barnes answered, "You won't be explicitly required to deal with wild animals. Not unless you're already there..."
"And the kids at the Elementary school have my wife there to protect them," I quipped.
"Yeah," Officer Barnes commented, "Molly Rhoer-Wayne... killed the one Mountain Lion we had and saved my girlfriend's daughter. You can't miss her when you introduce yourself to the principals tomorrow. She looks just like George, except slightly smaller, has different stripe markings, and is pregnant."
"Hopefully it won't be a bad meeting then," Madeline answered, "I've had a relative fondness for cougars."
I sincerely hoped she wasn't making some joke.