The beginning of a hero is a strange, fickle thing that doesn't come about often.
It certainly doesn't come about often in the Northwestern region of Canada.
But it happened to come about for one woman, a tall, blonde, cleft-chinned woman by the name of Deidre, who'd recently married a Québécois man (with a little bit of Yupik First Nations Native in his blood) by the name of Praise-Be Do-Right.
Deidre Do-Right was the first female Mountie to get admitted into the RCMP. She was strong, she was tough, she was determined...and she always got her man. After she'd served in the RCMP for almost twenty years, she'd retired, and Inspector Fenwick had not hired a single woman into the RCMP ever since.
But why had this happened?
It all started one certain day when Deidre was preparing to receive her assignment from the Inspector. She'd gotten dressed in her finest Mountie outfit, and true to how she looked she was stalwart, loyal, steadfast...
And pregnant. Very, very pregnant.
"Are you...certain you can handle a mission such as this?" Fenwick asked.
"Yes, sir, Inspector!" Deidre replied, saluting. "In the name of Canada, I shall, or my name isn't Deidre Do-Right!"
"I'm a tad worried." The Inspector replied. "Sure you are our most competent Mountie, but...er...how do I put this lightly?"
"Oh, Inspector, just because I am a woman does not imply in any way that I—" Deidre started.
"Actually, it's not that, I was going to ask if you're going to do your job in your, er, condition--and, oh my, are you...er, lactating...right now?" The Inspector made a slightly disgusted face.
"No sir, I am not." Deidre replied, not even noticing the wet spots on her chest.
The Inspector didn't have the heart to tell her.
"Alright..."
The Inspector was still greatly concerned for her, for he too was a new parent. Off in a small pink crib lay his newborn baby daughter, Penelope—but everyone just called her "Nell". He was namely concerned for Deidre's well-being because his wife just so happened to lose her life as soon as she gave Nell her's.
"—Very well then." The Inspector replied, going to pick little Nell up and feed her. "Your assignment is simply to patrol the land in case of any sort of villainy."
"Yes sir, Inspector Fenwick!" Deidre replied.
And so, Deidre set out patrolling on one of the many Mountie horses (one of them recently had a youngster, that they just called "Colt" for the time being, and then "Horse"—also, baby Nell seemed to favour him) through the wild Canadian landscape. She rode up the side of a small mountain, a hand on her stomach with the baby kicking within, and gazed at the trees as the leaves were turning amber.
"Beauty, eh?" She asked her horse as if he could talk.
Suddenly, Deidre happened to notice a pack of wolves attacking a defenseless female moose.
"Oh, no you don't..." she gritted her teeth.
Quickly, despite being pregnant, she went into action, grabbing a stick and shooing them away.
"—And stay out, eh?!" She hollered back at the wolves, then started tending to the moose.
The moose was clearly injured from the wolves, but Deidre patched her right up, and soon, the moose started ambling back to her herd. But just as the moose walked a few steps away...
"OH!" Deidre exclaimed, leaning down, hands covering her large stomach. "MERCY!"
Deidre was Canadian through and through, and nary a swear word did touch her lips.
But her baby was coming, and the pangs of labor were really getting her up in a dander.
Deidre laid upon the ground, removing her restrictive Mountie skirt for females, and prepared to give birth. At that exact moment, the moose she'd saved earlier rushed over to Deidre, bleating.
"Oh..." Deidre breathed heavily. "It's you..."
("O' Canada" instrumental plays)
Like the story of Androcles, the moose cow knew that Deidre was in labor and wanted to help her in any way she could.
She laid down next to Deidre, for she had given birth to her fair share of calves, and let Deidre hold onto her fur as she gave birth, nuzzling her long snout onto Deidre's pregnant belly.
All the animals of the Canadian forests began watching as well, and even though the day was rather cloudy, the sun appeared to break through exactly on the grassy area where Deidre lay. It honestly seemed as though all of the earth and nature had briefly come to a halt.
Deidre recalled her labor exercises and classes, and with a few pushes and screams, she was able to give birth to a perfectly healthy little boy.
(Instrumental stops)
Once Deidre arrived at the camp, she'd given her resignation to the Inspector to be with her son.
"Whatever will you call him?" The Inspector asked as Deidre held her new son, wrapped in a Canadian flag that was being used as a temporary baby blanket.
"...Dudley." Deidre replied. "His name is Dudley Do-Right."
And the rest was Canadian History.
——————
End...
Happy Mother's Day!
