Spencer Falls …
Meg stood at the window looking at the rolling, treeless expanse behind the office she'd been manning for the last eight years. It was blue skies and green grass for as far as she could see. Every great once in a while she saw a bird wheeling over head or a rabbit scurrying from one grass clump to the next.
"They'll be here within the hour." She kept telling herself. A cold chill ran up her spine, despite the spring thaw taking place outside. The last attempt on her life had nearly been successful, leaving her with a deep gash in her shoulder, bruises and small cuts across her face from flying glass. Someone had cut the brake lines on her car, sending her toward a swollen ravine. The only thing that had saved her was a boulder about the size of her desk half way down the steep embankment.
Before that there had been the poison in her salad dressing. Her poor cat, Perkins, had suffered a painful death after sneaking into her kitchen and eating a chicken strip out of her salad. Two months before Perkins' death Meg had been the victim of a hit-and-run. The driver sent her spinning on a wet road, disappearing into the night.
A tap at the door startled Meg as she stared into the distance. Officer Wilder stepped into the office. The young officer tried unsuccessfully to hide a smirk.
"Inspector, Constable Maggie Kowalski has arrived, she's in the front office." Wilder noted the way his superior officer controlled her breathing.
"Send her in, thank you." Meg adjusted her blouse, trying to pull herself together. She hadn't gotten much sleep since the attempts on her life had begun.
Maggie strode in to the office, still wondering if she was walking into a trap. Aurora, Diefenbaker's daughter, trotted along behind. She was relieved, though understandably puzzled, to see Inspector Thatcher behind the desk.
"Hello, Inspector Thatcher, I'm ..."
"Surprised to see me, I suppose." Meg finished before the other lady Mountie could.
"Honestly, yes." The petite, blonde officer nodded, her blue eyes the same shade as chicory flowers. "The reassignment orders were vague." Maggie put it mildly. Aurora edged toward the stranger. She could tell there was something different about her.
"I pulled so many strings to get the two of you here, I felt like I was playing a harp." Meg tried to make a joke to lighten the mood. Maggie blinked. Sitting on her haunches, Aurora groaned.
"I called you, as well as Constables Fraser, here to investigate attempts on an inspector's life." Meg winced at the sentence.
"Who's life, Ma'am?" Maggie stepped forward, her keen eyes taking in the distraught officer before her. Aurora watched the women as they spoke. She could hear the change in the stranger's tone.
"My life, Constable Kowalski." The Inspector answered, her voice tight. Maggie's eyebrows shot up.
"I'd rather not go into detail just now, but there have been three, separate attempts on my life." Meg whispered in a conspiratorial tone of voice.
Maggie didn't see how that had anything in the least to do with her but kept her question under her Stetson.
"So, when is Benton arriving?" Maggie switched the subject, trying to keep the Inspector calm. The young, she-wolf nudged her owners hand. Maggie looked down at her briefly, scratching between her ears. A tap at the door brought both Mounties back to the present.
"Sir, the second supply plane has arrived." Maggie saw the way Thatcher's face lit up. From that glow it could only be one person coming, Benton Fraser.
"Radio the air field and tell them I'll be along in a few minutes to pick them up." Meg said. When the junior officer had left the room she took a deep breath and turned back to Maggie. "You can stow your things here in my office until later, would you care to accompany me to the air strip?"
"Yes, Ma'am, thank you kindly." Maggie still wondered at why the hell she had been called half way across the territories but she went along for the ride.
"Ben, why didn't you tell me you get motion sick?" Benton tried to remain calm as he walked over to a patch of dirty snow and tried to remove as much of the boy's lunch from his shoes as possible.
"I'm sorry, Dad, I haven't ridden in an air plane in a while." Ben looked pale and embarrassed. Fraser sighed and knocked his boots off.
"Sir, the post radioed, someone will be out to collect you in a few minutes." A young Mountie walked up to the veteran officer. Benton nodded, glad to back on land. Ben still looked faintly green around the gills.
"Thank you kindly." Fraser picked his pack up from the floor of the bush plane and hauled out Ben's duffel bag as well. A chilled breeze from the mountains north of the post filled the consulate Mountie's lungs. Benton smiled at the smell of fresh air. It had been too long since he'd smelled something other than car exhaust and fishy, lake air.
"Would you like a cup of coffee, Sir?" The young Mountie asked, leading them toward the hangar office to wait on their ride.
"Yes, thank you." Fraser hefted his pack on his shoulder and followed. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."
"Officer Hansen, Sir." The younger Mountie answered, turning slightly to look at the living legend following him. "If I may, Sir, I've heard of some of your exploits." Benton had seen the hero-worship smile on a few other, young officers over the course of his career. At first it had been because he was Robert Fraser's son, then it had been because of his merits.
"Oh?" Fraser sighed silently, placating the young man's curiosity.
"Look, coming up the road." Ben pointed at a reflection in the hangar's window of a silver, Jeep Liberty cruising slowly toward them.
"Dad, I believe it's Inspector Thatcher driving, and I believe Aunt Maggie is in the passenger seat." Benton squinted, wondering if his eyes were betraying him.
"Maggie MacKenzie is your sister, Sir?" Hansen asked in awe.
"Yes." Benton answered without his usual elaboration. He watched the Jeep park and the two women get out. Maggie out distanced Thatcher easily. It had been too long since he'd seen Meg Thatcher. Her dark hair was short, cut in a loose style just at the top of her shoulders. Ben's heart stopped in his chest when she walked close enough to see her expression clearly. He saw the professional mask he'd grown accustomed to in Chicago, but there was fear deep in her warm, brown eyes. He noted the cuts and bruises on her face.
"Inspector Thatcher, hello." Fraser shook her hand, trying to remind himself to breathe normally. He scoped out her left hand-unadorned-good.
"Constable Fraser, good to see you." She gave him a tight smile, her hand lost in his grip.
"You were the source of the temporary reassignment orders?" Meg nodded at his question.
"Let me introduce my son, Ben Fraser. Ben, this is Inspector Margaret Thatcher." The boy politely shook hands and smiled, a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he looked from the petite woman to his dad.
"Pleased to meet you, Inspector." Benton laid a heavy hand on his son's shoulder to remind him to be on his best behavior. "Dad told me you worked together at the consulate." The boy left it vague. Meg raised an eyebrow and looked at Fraser. She was surprised at how much Ben reminded her of his father.
"Yes, I was his superior officer for what, two years?" Meg smiled, looking at Fraser. He seemed a little nervous.
"Yes, Inspector, I believe so." Fraser adjusted his Stetson.
"I bet it was a long two years, he tends to get into trouble." Ben couldn't help himself, he saw his father squirming and had to turn the screw. Meg laughed when she saw Fraser nudge his son, a stern glare on his still handsome features. Ben looked up at him, an innocent smile on his face.
"The Constable kept busy, yes, time passed quickly actually." Meg winced as the bruise on her cheek reminded her of it's presence.
"Have you eaten lunch, Ben?" Maggie asked, checking her watch. Ben looked at his father and frowned. Aurora had made herself a pest, sniffing both Ben and Fraser, finding Diefenbaker's scent all over both of them. She also smelled something else, but didn't care to imagine what it could be, it was nothing pleasant she was certain.
"Sort of." He shrugged. Maggie shot her brother a puzzled glance. With the sharp snap of fingers, the lady Mountie called Aurora to her side. The young wolf shuffled back to her place.
"Motion sickness." Fraser answered. Maggie understood perfectly.
"I have some saltine crackers back at the post, you're welcome to them, Ben." Thatcher offered.
"Thank you kindly, Inspector." Ben and Fraser spoke in unison. Everyone laughed as they walked to the Jeep.