"Cougars?" I asked carefully.
I didn't want to come off as some idiot bet Madeline Pryor's comment could have multiple meanings. The Mountain Lion was known by many different names. Among them: Mountain Lion or for short Lion, Puma, or Cougar. The problem was in various "slang" words that had been creeping into common use. Among them was the word "cougar" for an older woman that people found attractive and possibly sexually. Now Ms. Pryor's private life was her own so long as she obeyed the law and didn't endanger anyone. And I generally preferred private things stayed private.
"Yeah... big... well not big compared to you, maybe, but big when compared to a house cat, brown furred cats that are holding out in these mountainous areas," Madeline Pryor replied.
I breathed a sigh of relief at that. She was referring to the animal and the conversation wouldn't go down any embarrassing road.
"I don't think you'd have a problem," I commented, "The Mountain Lion that Molly killed had attacked a student..."
"Your partner's girlfriend's daughter," Madeline Pryor clarified.
"Yes, and Molly reacted to save the girl's life," I nodded, "though it ended up in a blood donation by Molly and the girl becoming a tiger cub."
Madeline Pryor nodded, "Yeah, your chief has already told me a lot about what you two have had to put up with around her. It's funny how "do you get along well with Animal People" has to become an actual question on forms... I would have thought a lot the racist things in this country were beaten and locked away in the sixties..."
"Some things never die," I gave a sigh, "they just stay hidden or isolated."
"I'm sure," Madeline Pryor nodded again, "hopefully things will continue to get better... and don't worry, your wife and I should get along fairly well... if we meet. To be honest, in my past experience, my work was kept in a spot where I would be interrupting teachers, regardless of their level, as little as possible."
"Yeah, and for the most part that is to be expected here," Officer Barnes spoke up, "the mandatory drug tests are all scheduled in advance, and we have a calender here that should allow you to know when you're expected to meet with the drug dog officer and so forth. They may call you in for security functions for either sporting events, conferences, prom, or special holiday parties that they schedule, and so forth."
He then gestured to the calender on which the scheduled dates and times were listed on each day for specific meetings that the DARE officer would be expected to take. For the most part it was empty as there weren't that many of those scheduled events on the list and that one of the other officers had volunteered to do security for volleyball and basketball since her daughter was on those teams. Though the fact that the daughter had been suspended from school for participating in the attack on Amos, then Amy and Marcella might have changed that. If it had, Officer Barnes and I didn't know for sure.
"I see," Madeline Pryor acknowledged the things that Officer Barnes had kept on schedule, "and you have all of the appropriate phone numbers I'll need there too, I take it."
She was looking toward a sticky note that Officer Barnes had placed at the bottom of one of the calender pages.
"That's a sticky note," Officer Barnes gave a slight chuckle, "you can put them wherever you think would organize the office as you see fit."
Madeline Pryor nodded.
"The portion where you'll be interacting with teachers and students the most is going to be with the health classes," I commented, "mostly as part of their drugs segment... now we've done those for the year... so you're probably off the hook on that for this school year, but we do have the notes and outlines that we had taken down to make sure that everything was organized properly."
Officer Barnes nodded at that and then began shifting through the draws of the desk and presented the outline that Officer Barnes and I had used for the "don't do drugs" lecture that we had to give. Madeline Pryor looked through it, nodding as she did so and then set the papers down on the desk.
"Are you sure you two are transfered patrol officers?" Madeline Pryor inquired, a slight teasing edge to her voice, "because this all seems to be very well done... better even then a lot of DARE officers do."
"Well... when the Health/PE teacher explained to us what the previous predecessor had done, we found it to be lacking in substance," Officer Barnes shrugged, "it amounted to "don't do drugs or you'll go to jail" which you wouldn't even need a cadet from the academy to do."
"So you did more," Madeline chuckled, "and you did a very good job."
Officer Barnes and I nodded to that, as it officially ended the tour for Madeline Pryor and finished the rundown of things that she would be expected to do as the Columbia Falls DARE officer. We then prepared to leave the high school and locked up the building as well, to make sure that no trespassers could get in. Once we made it out to the patrol car, Officer Barnes handed Madeline Pryor the keys to the school buildings and the DARE offices.
"And I believe these should go to you," Officer Barnes told her, "the DARE offices and security camera rooms are marked off on each key... in case you forget anything from the tours we gave you of the other buildings..."
"I don't think I will," Madeline Pryor replied, "and your chief also let me see the basic schematics the station has so I could learn the layout. Nothing should go wrong..."
"Nothing should," Officer Barnes and I nodded.
"Other then that, I would believe that is all," Officer Barnes commented, "and we can head back to the station and enjoy the rest of the day."
"Thanks," Madeline Pryor nodded, "I'm still moving some stuff in... so, thank you."
Looking around the largely empty parking lot and back driveway area, I slowly stretched my legs a little. Our day was done and we wouldn't be needed any more today to mark the end our DARE service. We would resume normal patrols tomorrow.
"I think I'll walk back, Fred," I told him, "one last time from the high school, anyway."
"Walk? You live in town?" Madeline Pryor wondered curiously.
"Molly and I live outside of town in that direction," I said, pointing to where Bandhavgarh Cabin, Ranch, and Preserve was, "it's a bit of a hike, but it stretches the legs and helps keep us fit."
"They walk just about everywhere in town," Officer Barnes nodded, "You're sure you don't need a ride to the station?"
"No, I'm good, thank you," I replied and began to make my way out.
After a few moments, I heard the patrol car's engine start and Officer Barnes and Madeline Pryor drove off to return to the station and then to return to their home or apartment.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The walk back to the cabin that Molly and I shared was largely a quiet one, but not without purpose. Madeline Pryor had been hired to be the new permanent DARE officer and would pick up there from where Officer Barnes and I had been doing up until then. Tomorrow, Officer Barnes and I would return to our normal patrol duties. This was the expected switch that was to happen when a permanent DARE officer was hired, but Officer Barnes and I hadn't learned of it until this past Saturday. On a weekend, and one day later we gave her the tour of the district and gave her the basic information on what was expected. This wasn't the issue that was at hand.
The issue had more to do with letting the school district know that a new permanent DARE officer had been hired. Because Madeline Pryor had been hired on Saturday, Officer Barnes and I couldn't have updated the various principals that our time as the DARE officers was coming to an end. I could guess that Officer Howard had probably called Tabby, as she was the new District Superintendent, and let her know of the change and allowed her to carry things from there. And she probably had relayed that information, but I wanted to make sure that there would be no major surprises given in Madeline Pryor's hiring to the teachers and other school faculty members that had become semi-used to having Officer Barnes and I filling in. That left me with one person I could talk with to insure that there were no major surprises.
And so, on my way home, I made my way through the portion of Columbia Falls where Molly's coworker, and one of the school board members, Joseph Patten, lived. I intended for this stop by his home to let him know about the changing of the DARE officers to be a brief one. I didn't want to be in the way of anything. I quietly made my way up to the front door and knocked on it softly. It still produced a relatively loud "knock", and a few minutes later Patten came to the door.
"Hello, Officer Wayne, is there anything I can do for you today? Any problem?" Patten asked calmly. He seemed to be dressed up fairly well, and I couldn't tell if he was on his way to or from church, so I decided to pass on my message as quickly as I could manage.
"No, there's nothing wrong," I said, "I just have a minor update for you. Officer Howard has probably already called Tabby on this, but I'm just making sure..."
"That we know about the new DARE officer?" Patten replied.
"Yes," I nodded, "I didn't know for sure if the school's staff knew yet and and since Officer Barnes and I wouldn't be able to tell the principals in person... I figured it best to let you know and to let Tabby know. Make sure there are no surprises."
"We do know," Patten told me, "I'd assume your chief let you know about the replacement's hiring yesterday?"
"Yes," I answered, "Madeline Pryor. Seems to be a fairly nice person."
Patten nodded, "and the victim of school budget problems and consolidating districts. He presented her credentials to the school board in our last session."
He repeated something that Madeline had said earlier in the day.
"I think she mentioned something like that earlier today while Officer Barnes and I were showing her around," I nodded, "what is this "consolidation" thing... I don't think Molly and I saw any of that growing up in Illinois."
"It's not often done, but is usually the result of a lack of money or a lack of students," Patten answered, "if a specific district doesn't have the funds to maintain the schools in its town, or if the number of students goes below a specific level, the district in question will look to merge with other districts, particularly if the one they're merging with is suffering from the same problems. It doesn't normally happen all that often, but in my experience it normally happens in rural areas where population issues are a major factor. I wouldn't know about states that have more money or more large urban centers like Illinois."
"Ah..." I slowly nodded, "I see... and well, the only thing I had come to you with was to update you on the DARE officer issue. To make sure you all knew about the change."
"We do know, but thank you for the update, anyway," Patten nodded, "How is Molly doing?"
"Doing very well, appetite is growing larger, but that's to be expected," I told him.
"When do you go so see the doctor again?" Patten then wondered.
"This coming Thursday," I replied, "where maybe we'll learn how many cubs Molly is carrying and what the genders are."
"I'm not sure, but I don't think the gender will be identifiable until Molly enters her second trimester," Patten commented, "though I can't really be certain on a lot of these things. Molly has told me you both expect her pregnancy to only be six months, which would put her being due around June or July..."
I slowly nodded as I didn't have the calculations Molly and I had made completely memorized.
"That comes from what we know of Jacki Washburn's pregnancy," I answered, "she gave birth after a six month pregnancy... and well, lions aren't that different from tigers. And the information Clemens gave us seemed to go along with that."
Patten nodded, "I'm sure. And I know I've told Molly this, but while you're here, congratulations on your growing family. You both deserve some happiness after everything."
And I nodded to that. Patten and I may not have hit it off at first, but he had proved to be a good person who had been looking to protect what he saw was right. And with our differences largely settled things had become much more amicable.