Well, we are back home again and relaxing. Most of the women and children we freed from Wickers’ control have homes to return to and family to help them. Two women did not, one was from Spain. Her name is Aletia and she is a nurse. She tried going back to the hospital where she worked and when they found out where she had been the last 2 years they would not take her back.

I offered her a job at our clinic right away, we really do need another nurse, especially since Bridgette is also our vet. Aletia jumped at the opportunity and now we have 3 nurses and two doctors, a much better balance for us since we seem to end up in that clinic so much. Then there is Fridr, a beautiful woman from Iceland which we found out was a good friend of Sigurbjorn.

Annelie had contacted her when Sigurbjorn had been killed since she was listed as a contact of Sigurbjorn. “Would you like to join our team?” I asked her. “Yes, I really would,” she said, then she put her head down, “but I do not know if I have any qualifications that you might want.” “Many of those here never had any special qualifications when they first joined,” I told her, “it is not something that is necessary to be a team member. By the way, your name certainly fits you perfectly.”

She blushed a deep red. “Now look what you did,” said Sky, “you embarrassed her.” “I did not mean to do that,” I told Fridr, “I apologize.” “That is okay,” she said smiling, “it is the nicest compliment I have had in a long time. But I sure do not feel like it fits after that last couple of years.” “I know how you feel,” said Sky, “I have been through that too.

Several of us girls have gone through the very same thing and we like to help each other.” “You will have to pass our tests and learn things like fighting and using guns,” I said. “I have taken self defense courses and my brother taught me to shoot a handgun, 2 different kinds. I have taken a very extensive first aid course as well, plus a wilderness survival course in Iceland and another one in Canada.”

“Well, I would say you are off to a good start,” I said smiling, “considering you have no special qualifications.” “You embarrassed her again,” said Sky looking sternly at me, then she said to Fridr, “you have my personal permission to slap Steve any time he embarrasses you.” “Oh my, I, I, don’t think I could do that,” she said with wide eyes.

“See, she is nice,” I said to Sky. In retrospect, that was probably not the best thing to say, as a slap echoed its way around the room. “That is how you do it,” Sky said to Fridr, “it is really quite easy after you get to know Steve (then turning back to me) now go over and give her a hug and apologize.” I decided to do so immediately.

“Hey, does that slapping rule apply to everyone?” asked Mandy. “No, only to adults,” said Sky, “I better not catch you doing that, you come to me instead and I slap him.” “That is what I thought,” said Mandy sighing. Everyone laughed. “Hey, I see it was your birthday 8 days ago,” said Tracy. “Yeah, big deal,” said Mandy with her head down.

“Oh, sorry Mandy,” said Tracy, “I guess it was not much fun.” “I had the mayor for my birthday,” said Mandy quietly, “Wickers thought it was real funny.” Then she started crying. “Come here Mandy,” I said gently, and she walked over to me, “right here, or are you afraid of me?” She stopped crying and half smiled, then she jumped up on my lap.

“Hey, what is with that?” she asked. “Just a brief cuddle,” I said, “I do things like that sometimes.” She looked at me. “I like longer cuddles,” she said smiling. I look at Sky. “If you don’t, your other cheek will be sore too,” she said. That was good enough for me. Everyone laughed again too. “Although we are a bit late,” I said, “we are going to give you a real birthday party. Would that be okay?”

Mandy’s face lit up right away. “YES!” she screamed, “of course it will be!” “Where is Madison?” I asked. “Playing with the cats again,” said Mandy. “Muffin, Storm,” I said. “They will never hear that,” said Mandy. Right then there was two thumps as Muffin and Storm came sliding in landing against my leg. “Wow, they must have good hearing,” said Mandy.

“They do,” I said, “okay you two, up here. Time for you to say hi to Mandy properly.” Meow,meow!=Hi Mandy, nice we can talk with you now! Meowr.=Yep, like that we can talk on our own by ourselves with you. “Cool, you and Sky can talk for the cats,” said Mandy. The cats look at each other and swish their tails. “Um, no, we don’t do it,” I said, “the cats do their own talking.”

“Yes, it is true Mandy,” said Sky, “they really can communicate with us on their own.” “Wow, that is so cool!” exclaimed Mandy. Mandy and Madison will be staying with us too, hopefully Mandy will get her life returned to normal. Well, that concludes this case, for us anyway. But I am sure a new case will come along very soon.

The End. A new case is coming soon.

©2024 Steve McLeod.