by Robin Roseau
“Have you two ever…”
“No. I don’t date other enforcers. It’s a recipe for disaster. Did Elisabeth ever play, um, a little roughly with you?”
“Yeah.”
“Imagine two enforcers. We’d destroy the house, and then it would go from lovemaking to a fight for dominance.”
“Serena and Emanuel make it work.”
“Emanuel is a very, very good enforcer, but he doesn’t fight Serena for dominance. As I understand it, he fell in love with her when they were both teenagers, and he would have done anything for her. He still would. Wolves can be exceedingly devoted that way, but it’s rare to see a wolf like him able to be so comfortable shedding his need for dominance, even with the devotion.”
“I’d like to get to know the two of them when they aren’t on duty, I think.”
“That’s rare. We’ve been so busy. But it’s getting better. I understand Angel was a godsend, and Monique is going to be, too, along with the other kids coming through the program. But she’s by far the best of the teenagers.” She smiled. “She has a crush on you. On both you and our fox.”
“Yeah. Ah, if only I were twenty-some years younger.”
“Twenty-some?”
I grinned. “So. You’re strong enough to pick me up, right?”
“Of course. Did you want a demonstration?”
“In a minute,” I replied. “Are you strong enough to throw me?”
“Yes.”
“How far?”
She eyed me. “Seriously?” I nodded. “I don’t know. It would depend upon conditions, whether you were cooperating…”
“Expect me to cooperate.”
“Maybe as far as ten yards. I’m not sure. But you’d get hurt when you landed.”
“So, you could, for instance, pick me up right here and throw me into the deep end?”
“No, but I could from the edge of the pool. I’d have to swing you, and you don’t have a lot of places to hang onto.”
I took her hands and began walking backwards towards the deep end.
“Where are we going?”
I looked over my shoulder and came to a stop. “Just here. Cup your hands together.” I cupped my own to demonstrate.
“Oh,” she said. She cupped her hands. I turned around, and then she helped me slip a foot into her waiting hands. She lifted, and I found myself balancing precariously, halfway out of the water.
“Can you throw me so I can dive back in? Don’t throw me too far.”
“Put your hands on my shoulders.” I reached back until I found her shoulders. Then I felt one hand slip out from under my foot, but she held me — and it seemed as if it were easy — with one hand. “Give me your other foot.” After a moment, she had a foot cupped by each hand. “All right. On three, I’m going to start lifting. I’m only going to try to throw you about six feet or so. You should push off from my shoulders so you start to fall forward. If I weren’t about to throw you, you would fall face first. Keep your legs straight.”
“Ready.”
“One… two… three.” On three, I pushed forward from her shoulders and at the same time, she lifted me quickly. I went up and up, lifted my hands forward, and came down in something resembling a dive.
It wasn’t going to win any awards for grace, but it was a dive. When I got to the surface, I laughed. “That was fun.”
I turned around and swam back to her.
“I can throw you higher and further, but I can’t give you any more control. It’s just a little too awkward. Again?”
And I nodded.
We tried a few different things. She threw me six times total. Some turned out to be more graceful than others. By the time we were done, we were both laughing. I returned to her and gave her a hug. “That was fun. Thank you.”
“It was fun for me, too.” She smiled at me. “You’re a strange woman.”
I wasn’t sure that was a good thing. “Oh?”
“I can’t figure you out. You’re serious and playful. You’re submissive and dominant. You’re fierce and so easily frightened. You get hurt, and sometimes you bounce back, and other times you don’t. You’re outgoing and quiet.”
“Well, I’m all those things,” I said. “This has all be such an unexpected situation for me that my old behavior patterns don’t work. But patterns and who I am aren’t necessarily the same thing. I think, consciously or subconsciously, I’m testing new patterns.”
“I suppose.”
“The playfulness is new. That’s a reaction to all of you.” I paused. “I like it. I don’t know how to play the games you play. I haven’t played physically for a very long time, and I was never the sort of athlete that being around all of you requires. But I don’t want to be left out.”
“You enjoyed paintball.”
“I wasn’t very good,” I said. “And I never will be. I liked the games where you weren’t eliminated after getting shot once. I could keep playing. But other than the last game, I got the impression the wolves like the others a lot more.”
“We do,” she said. “Although that last game is probably everyone’s favorite. It would be too much if that’s all we played though. And we’re pretty driven for the type of competition that the elimination games offer.” She smiled. “Perhaps we have time for one water game, but then we have work waiting for us.”
“Oh? What game did you have in mind?”
“Water tickle fighting,” she said.
“Oh no!” I said. Immediately she began stalking me slowly, and, shrieking, I tried to stay away from her.
She chased me all over the pool, but she didn’t swim any faster than I could evade. But finally she herded me into the deep end of the pool, capturing me in the corner. Both of us were laughing when she grabbed me. Seconds later I found my wrists trapped in one of her hands, and she began searching my body for ticklish places.
I was a pretty ticklish person, but I was already laughing so hard, she had a difficult time finding anywhere that was ticklish, especially when I was wet. But still, she soon had me squirming and struggling to get away while we both continued to laugh.
Although my laughs were a lot like shrieks.
“Do you surrender?” she finally asked.
“I surrender! I surrender!”
She pulled me backwards against her, and I went still. Then she held me for a moment longer before releasing me. I turned around in the water, and she carried a serious expression.
“What was that last part?”
“A hug,” she said. “Come on, Prisoner, we have work to do.”
* * * *
When we got back, instead of continuing on the first side, we went to the other side and started there. We were just to the point we could turn around and work from below before company began to arrive. When it did, it was in the form of most of the enforcers, Kaylee and Ember.
“Ah ha! My extra credit workers.” I turned to Portia. “They don’t owe that much time, but I made them promise to keep me company, too. But I’m having a grand time with you.”
“Well, let’s get them both up. They can haul shingles for us, and we can both nail. Keep working here.” I took over with the nailer, and she brought a couple of bundles of shingles, leaving them where I could reach them without having to get up and down. Then she disappeared off the roof, but I heard her directing everyone.
A few minutes later, Kaylee and Ember appeared. “Portia said to do whatever you said,” Ember said.
So I explained what we were doing, and I even taught them both to use the nail gun after asking them if they were smart enough to avoid nailing their own hand. I pointed out it was a gun, after all.
They were good kids, and careful.
“All right. Let’s play a game.”
“While we’re working?” Ember asked, carefully positioning a shingle for Kaylee to nail.
“Sure,” I said. “We’re going to take turns. We’re each going to say something about ourselves the other two don’t already know. If neither of us know it
, then you get two points. If one does, and one doesn’t, you get one point. If both already know it, then you lose a point.”
Ember laughed. “You don’t know a thing about me, so this should be an easy game.”
“But fun?”
“Sure,” she said. “Who goes first?”
“You do,” I said. “We’ll go you, Kaylee, then me, around in a circle like that.”
“All right. My full name is Ember Marie Johnson.”
Kaylee cocked her head. “I didn’t know your middle name.”
“Two points for me?” she asked, and I nodded. “Oh, I like this game!” she said with a laugh.
God, the wolves were fun.
“My turn,” Kaylee said. “Well, if we’re doing names… Mine is Kaylee Alice Moss.”
“I knew that,” Ember said.
“I didn’t. One point. I suppose I should keep Ember’s tradition going, but after this, we should try to change things around. I am Zoe Everest Young.”
“I didn’t know that,” Ember said.
“Neither did I.”
“Okay,” I said. “From now on, to keep things going, we’ll say something only if we know. Otherwise we’ll each assume two points.”
“My turn,” said Ember. “I was ten when my aunt told me about Ms. Burns’ program here at the school. I knew right away I wanted to be in the program. I bugged my teachers to help me learn everything I could so when it was time, I could come here. “
“Oh wow,” Kaylee said. She stopped working and stared at Ember. “That’s cool, Ember.”
“I agree. I applaud your devotion to science, Ember.”
She smiled, a little shyly. “Your turn, Kaylee.”
“All right. I gave a speech at Michaela and Lara’s wedding.”
“I knew that,” Ember said. “I was there.” She looked at me. “But I had forgotten. Does that count?”
“Hmm. What do you think, Kaylee?”
“One point,” she said. “I bet you didn’t know, Zoe.”
I laughed. “No, I didn’t.”
We went around with our game while we continued to lay the shingles, but we had fun getting to know each other better. I could tell the girls didn’t know each other that well, and the scores grew steadily.
I wasn’t sure how long we had been playing when Portia reappeared on the roof. She was pulling another air hose with her and had a second nail gun.
“Hey, Portia,” Kaylee said. “This is fun!”
“Good,” Portia said.
“We’re playing a game,” I said. I explained the rules. “Did you want to join us? We can declare a winner and start over with fresh scores.”
“Maybe in a bit. The enforcers are going to help me with something first.” And sure enough, we were shortly joined by the adults.
Ember, Kaylee and I continued to nail shingles, working steadily while sharing stories. I saw the adults shifted the piles of waiting shingles so that Portia could lay out the rest of the underlayment underneath where the shingles had been sitting. She thanked the adults, and then they were gone. She came over to join us.
“I should have done that part differently,” she said. “If I had brought the replacement roofing boards and underlayment home myself, we could have had that done before the shingles were delivered. Live and learn.”
Both of the girls looked over at her for a moment then went back to the shingles. It was Ember’s turn with the gun. Portia watched critically for a minute and also checked our completed work.
“You’re doing a good job. Let me show you how we can use two people nailing, and then we can start up your game again.”
Five minutes later, we were really flying our way up the roof, both nailers going like crazy.
And I started learning more things about Portia.
A few minutes later, Kaylee said, “I was only supposed to be here a half hour. But Portia, may I stay?”
“Yeah,” Ember said. “Mine was forty-five minutes. Why was Kaylee’s only thirty?”
“Because Kaylee was already in jail, and I didn’t have as much leverage as I did with you,” I said with a grin.
“Well, may I stay, too, Portia? This is fun.”
“Are your parents expecting you? Should you be doing homework?”
“Well, my mother isn’t expecting me,” Ember said with a smirk.
“Smarty-pants. Is Michaela expecting you at home?”
“I’ll text her.”
“I can call my mom,” Kaylee said. “She’s probably with Michaela anyway.”
“If your mother gives permission, then I would really appreciate your help,” Portia said.
“Does it continue to count against Zoe’s sentence?” Ember asked.
“It does.”
We worked for another hour and a half when Portia said, “All right. We’re done for the day.”
“No…” said Ember. “Already?”
“Quitting time. Zoe and I have been at it all day.”
Both girls glanced at me then turned to Portia. “May we come back tomorrow?” Kaylee asked.
“If it’s okay with Serena and Michaela, then yes, we would love to have your help.”
“Cool!” Ember said.
“Before you go, you can help cover everything up.”
Field Trip
Thursday, everyone met in front of the school an hour after school got out. Zoe’s roof wasn’t done, but she assured me that it would be fine for the weekend.
We all drove up in a convoy of SUVs. The pups were staying behind, but from the goodbyes they shared with their mothers, I got the impression this happened with some regularity. There was clearly a lot of love, but no tears.
We had all of Michaela’s students, including Layton. Michaela must have been satisfied with his paper. We also had the enforcer students as well as six enforcers. The rest were staying to manage the compound and keep the pups safe.
I again wondered about a lifestyle requiring guards to keep your children safe.
There were a lot of people.
Michaela gathered around. She had a clipboard and looked around, checking off names, then she said “All right. There are a lot of us on this trip. We’re going to play a quick game, and we’re going to do this a few times. The kids should all know each other by now, but this is the first trip for some of you. And there are adults who don’t know all of you. So we’re going to go around and each introduce ourselves. We’re going to be quick. For the adults, I want your names and what your job is on this trip, very briefly. For the kids, I want you to tell us your name, age, and what class you are in. We’ll do the kids from the enforcer program, then the science program, then the various adults. But Lara and I will start.”
She paused and looked at her mate for an instant.
“I am Michaela Burns. I am the teacher for this event.” She turned to Lara.
“I am Lara Burns. I’m here to do whatever Michaela tells me to do.”
The kids laughed at that.
“Okay, enforcer students. One of you pick.”
One of the boys said, “I’m Nash Fields. I’m 15 and a freshman.”
After that, I met Shelton, Evangeline, and, of course, Monique.
“Okay,” said Michaela. “Evangeline, you have a different name you prefer?”
“Yes, Ms. Burns,” she said. “But you know it.”
“I do, but many here do not.”
“Oh. Sorry. I like Evangeline, but it’s a mouthful. My parents usually call me Line.” She pronounced it like Lean. “I really like my whole name, but most people shorten it.”
I vowed to call her Evangeline anyway.
“All right,” said Michaela. “Good. Now the science program students.”
There were a great many of them, seven girls and six boys. Amongst the girls, I learned that Kimbriella was often called Kimber, but the most unusual name was Cassiopeia. She could also be called Cassie but asked us not to call her Cass.
I thought that was an unexpected name. Cass
iopeia is from Greek mythology, a queen who was vain about her appearance. I would learn later from Michaela that her mother didn’t know the full etymology of the name and thought she was naming her daughter after a particularly beautiful Greek goddess.
Still, I thought it was a lovely name, and during the trip I would call the girl both Cassie and Cassiopeia.
When the kids were done, Michaela said, “All right, the remaining adults. Let’s start with you, Zoe.”
“I’m Zoe Young. Like Lara, I’m here to do whatever Michaela tells me.”
Next were Bertram and Gretchen Beck, who I learned were Cassiopeia’s parents. They described themselves as “chaperones” and admitted to knowing little about science. Bertram introduced both of them, and Gretchen struck me as almost mousy, which I found an unexpected personality for a werewolf.
I would learn during the trip that Gretchen wasn’t the brightest bulb, but she was kind, exceedingly good with the kids, and loved her daughter to pieces. Bertram was a little rough around the edges, but it seemed like perhaps he knew it and was trying to be on his best behavior.
The enforcers went last: Elisabeth, Serena, Karen, Portia, Angel and Scarlett.
“Excellent,” Michaela said. “I’m going to talk for a few minutes, and then Elisabeth has more to say. Then we’ll assign vehicles.” She looked around. “This is a lot of people, and it would be easy to misplace one of you. We’re going to do a few things. First, I want all of you to pair up. Science programs, pair up together. We have an odd number, so there will be one group of three. I want boys with boys and girls with girls. Hold hands once you’re in your groups. Enforcer students, you are assigned to one of the enforcers. Elisabeth?”
“Monique, you’re with Portia.”
“Yes!” said the girl, immediately moving to Portia’s side.
“Shelton, you’re with Angel. Nash with Karen. Line, you’re with Scarlett.”
Each of the kids moved to stand next to his or her assigned enforcer.
Elisabeth turned to Michaela, and she was watching the students. I saw that Kaylee and Ember were together, and they had Cassiopeia with them as well, forming the group of three. Iris and Lindsey were together, and I would learn they were best friends. Kimber and Valeria formed the last group of girls.