Sorry it's taken me so long to post this. I try to take it one day at a time, but lately several days have ganged up and attacked me at once! Part four is forthcoming — I promise!
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"And the bedrooms are up here." Jake said, leading Maggie up the stairs. Chance was down in the garage, still arguing with the Enforcers about how long the repairs on the squad cars would take.

At the top of the stairs a hallway led off in two different directions. Jake pointed left. "Chance's room is the first one on the left. Mine's right next door, and then there's a bathroom and a couple of old guest rooms we use for storage and stuff." He turned to the right. "Over here there's two more bedrooms and a full bathroom." He grinned. "The kat who built this place after MegaWar III had three daughters. I guess he didn't want to fight them for the bathroom every morning."

"Smart kat." Maggie commented, looking around. The hallway was wide and well-lit, although the floor did creak in places. She watched as the wiry ginger-colored kat swung open the first door in the hallway.

"Sorry about the dust." He said apologetically.
Maggie shrugged as she surveyed the room. What looked like a dresser, nightstand, and twin bed were all covered with old sheets, thick with dust. Sunlight filtered into the room from the window by the dresser. An old lamp sat on the nightstand, the broken lampshade looking like an emaciated bat. A door in the wall to the right stood slightly ajar. "You weren't kidding when you said you never used these rooms."

"This is the worst of it." Chance said from the doorway. "The bathroom and study are a lot better."

Jake nodded, pulling the door that had been ajar open. "I used the study for a while, before I found a better room downstairs." Chance shot him a warning look, which he ignored. "And the bathroom's just a little grungy in the corners. Come on, I'll show you the study."

Maggie and Chance followed him through the connecting door to a slightly larger room with a huge window, which provided an excellent view of the scrapyard and the city beyond. Light flooded in, revealing a pair of empty bookcases, a well-worn couch, and a drafting desk near the window. Chance grinned. "Well, what do you think? You want the job?"

Maggie grinned back. "Sure." Then she turned more serious. "But there's things about me . . . well, the thing is," She sighed. "I have a real hard time staying in one place for very long. I've lived in about eight different cities in the past four years. I think I'm going to stick around for a while this time, but . . . I don't make any guarantees. Six months is all I can really promise you."

Jake and Chance exchanged a wordless look. Then Jake shrugged. "Well, there's some things you should know about us, too. See, we have this . . . deal . . . with the Enforcers."

"It's a long story," Chance said, "But the short version is that we run this place to pay back a jumbo debt we owe the Enforcers. Private cars, we keep the cash. . . ."

"But Enforcer vehicles go towards paying the tab." Maggie guessed.

"Right." Jake nodded. "We won't ask you to work for free — we'll handle the Enforcer cars ourselves. The thing is, sometimes business is really nuts. But sometimes it slacks off, and we'll have weeks with nothing to do except Enforcers tuneups."

"I guess that's what you meant when the ad said 'unusual schedule.'" Maggie said. Jake and Chance nodded.

"Well," She said, "If that happens I guess I'll just help you with the Enforcer work." She grinned. "So is there a kitchen in this place, or what?"



"So, that's the tour."Chance said, opening the fridge. "You want a milk?"

"Sure." Maggie accepted the can. "That's the whole place, huh?"

"Well, most of it." Jake spoke up. "There are a few other rooms down that way," he waved his paw towards the living room — and the hangar. "But they're mostly just closets and stuff. There is a room where we keep old parts and tax records. That's right behind the living room. And further down that hallway . . ." He paused. "Well, there's an office and stuff. Some rooms that're kind of private."

"Say no more." Maggie said, holding up one paw. "Curiosity killed the kat, after all. You don't want me there — I don't go there."

Jake grinned at Chance, who grinned back. "So, you'll move in tomorrow?" Chance asked. "We could come get your stuff in the tow truck."

"Don't bother." Maggie said. "Everything I own, I can fit onto Sirocco."

"Sirocco?" Jake asked.

Maggie smiled. "The bike. Right after I built it, my dad named it after a wind that blows in the Tabbiyan desert."

"Tabbiya?" Chance asked. "My was dad stationed there during MidEastern Storm."

"Really?" Maggie grinned. "We have something in common, then. Was he Air Troops or Ground?"

"Are you kidding?" Chance laughed. "He was practically born in a cockpit."

Maggie grinned. "My dad was the same way. He used to say a life without flying was a life not worth living."

"Sounds like I would have liked him." Chance said.

"And it sounds like I'm gonna like it here."

Maggie replied. She lifted the can of milk. "Here's to the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"

Jake grinned. "I'll drink to that!"


"I don't want you to move, Maggie." Eppie Schultz said, watching as Maggie loaded the last of her packs onto the bike. "Shyler will miss you."

"I'm only going across town, Eppie." Maggie smiled.

"But I'm littler that you. Across town is a long, long ways!" Eppie pouted.

"I'll be coming to visit all the time." Maggie assured her.

"And you'll take me and Shyler and Marcus for rides?" The kitten prompted. "And tell us stories about being on the road?"

Maggie laughed and caught the kitten up in her arms, spinning her around. "Absolutely, little one!"

"Maggie!" Eppie squealed in delight. "You're making Shyler dizzy! Maggie!!"

"Better watch out, ketsele." Matthew said in amusement from the top of the stoop. "Those kittens will grow on you. You may decide not to leave."

"Nice try, uncle." Maggie grinned breathlessly. She patted Eppie on the back as she brought the kitten back to earth. "Run on upstairs, kiddo, and help your Mama with that laundry."

"Okay." Eppie stuck her chin in the air proudly. "I'm good at laundry. I can measure the soap all by myself!" Then she bounded up the steps and disappeared into the building.

Maggie grinned as she watched her go. "Sweet kitten."

"She adores you." Matthew smiled. "Her brother, too, though he'll never admit it. In only a week, you have become their hero."

Maggie laughed softly. "Been a long time since I've been that."

"No, ketsele." Matthew said, using the wheelchair lift to lower himself to the ground. "You have always been my hero." He smiled. "Come, now, give your old uncle a hug before you go."

Maggie embraced him, only to feel a slim chain slipped around her neck. Pulling away, she glanced down at the medallion her uncle had placed on her. Then she shook her head and started to take it off. "Uncle Matt . . . ."

He stopped her. "Keep it, Maggie. I am too old to need a good-luck charm."

She shook her head again. "I gave it to you for a reason."

"And it is for a reason that I am giving it back." He clasped her paw in his own. "It was given to me by someone very dear, someone I am very proud of. I am giving it to her because I hope, one day, she will be proud of herself again."

Maggie looked down at the small gold emblem, one of six that she and her squadron had worn together — the only one that still existed. It was part of a past she wanted badly to forget . . . . but it was also a gift from the only kat who still believed in her. Nodding, she slipped the medallion under her shirt. "All right." She smiled at Matthew. "You win."

He smiled back. "Blackclaws always win." He pulled her into another embrace. "Stay well, ketsele."

"I will." She turned reluctantly away, pulling on her gloves and helmet. "I'll see you soon."

"I'll know where to find you if I don't!" Matt replied, smiling. Then he turned more serious.

"Fair winds find you, ketsele." He murmured as his niece and her bike pulled away. "I have a feeling that fate will make a hero of you yet — even if I'm not sure how."

TBC