Irene sighed tiredly. “We should see dad in two days.” The twins got out of the car and turned handstands causing Galena to bark excitedly. Irene hugged Anna. “Honey, you’ve been so much help to me; a real rock that helped steady me. Thank you, darling. Your dad will be very proud of you.”
Irene gathered her family and said, “Let’s call dad and tell him where we are. We should be in Fairbanks, Alaska day after tomorrow. I hope we can drive straight out to Nome, but we might have to stay another night and leave the next day.”
The twins groaned and fell on the bed pretending to be sick at the stomach. They cheered up when they were allowed to speak to Herb first. Tom spoke first because he claimed to have the privilege of being the oldest---all of four minutes. Galena barked into the phone when she heard Herb’s voice and nosed all over the phone trying to find him.
Herb was anxious to see his family. “Hey! I’m so excited. It seems like a year since I’ve seen all of you and I sure have missed you. I’ve made new friends but nothing takes the place of family. Just hurry to me safely. You’ve come this far. Don’t spoil your trip by carelessness. I love all of you and am so lonely without you.”
They were all rejuvenated to hear Herb’s voice and know he wasn’t as far away. Galena ran to the door telling them she needed a walk. The twins took her and when she returned she gratefully sank to the carpet. She groaned when she was roused to eat her dinner. They left her eating while they went to find dinner for themselves. Anna was thrilled to practice speaking French to the waitress.
The next morning Anna walked Galena and then left the car to be checked and filled with gas while they had breakfast. Even though they were excited at the near completion of the trip, they told Galena they understood why she was groaning. They were getting tired of climbing in and out of the wagon and sitting so long at a time.
Anna begged to drive because she could travel over roads that were different than any she’d been on. The surface was not smooth and the road wound through forest areas where wild animals were frequently seen.
‘We’re stopping already for lunch?” Tom whined. “Shouldn’t we drive as far as we can?”
“Don’t be selfish,” Tim scowled. “Mom and Anna have been doing the hard work and they deserve a break. Truthfully, I’ll be glad to get out of the car for a while.”
Irene smiled at them and reached to ruffle Tom’s hair. “We’d better eat while we can. We don’t know what we’ll find north of here. Look for snacks to take with you.”
When they left the wagon to walk toward the restaurant, Galena pawed at a window and howled. Tim ran back to her. “Go on in,” he called over his shoulder. “I’ll walk her a little. She might think we’re leaving her in a strange place.” Tim walked Galena, put her back in the car with a chew toy, and ran to join the family.
All afternoon they stopped to take pictures of the gorgeous scenery, and some of the wild animals. Irene cautioned them about getting too close and maybe causing the animals to think they had to protect themselves. They were later stopping for dinner than they had planned. Everyone crawled out of the car, stretching and yawning. For once Galena crawled out and stood quietly beside the twins. They walked her and returned to the car. As Tim put her back in the car, Tom looked around and suddenly spoke excitedly. “Look! Over there!”
Chapter Ten
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police rode up to them on a proudly, prancing horse. The twins ran toward him talking at once. Catching up with them, Irene apologized. “I’m sorry. We’ve always loved movies about the Mounties and love your red coats.”
“That’s fine. My horse is well trained to deal with people and noises. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have this red uniform on. We wear brown and look much like many of your state police do. Today we had a visit from one of our superior officers and we wore the red uniform in honor of his visit. Too, we were on television and the yanks expect us to be wearing red,” he laughed.
“Yanks?” Tom looked questioningly.
“Americans. From the United States.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that you don’t wear the red uniforms normally,” Tom was disappointed.
The Mountie chuckled. “My name is Reginald Churchill, Lieutenant Churchill, but the people around here call me Officer Churchill.”
“Sir, would you please tell me how you train to be a Mountie and how your beautiful horse is trained,” Tim pleaded.
“It would take too long to tell all of it, so, I’ll just say we first train a lot like the military requires. Then we go through another training period of how to make an arrest without hurting the suspect more than absolutely necessary. And of course, keep ourselves safe. We even have pepper spray sprayed into our own eyes so that we can understand how a person being arrested feels and how to deal with it. It sure isn’t pleasant.”
“How is your horse trained?” Tim asked. “We met a Park Policeman in Washington, D.C. and he told us how his horse was trained. Your horse sure is gorgeous.”
“Gorgeous,” Tom teased. “You sound like a girl.”
“Whoa. I call her gorgeous frequently.” The Mountie’s blue eyes twinkled as he dismounted and patted the horse’s neck. When he removed the broad-brimed hat, his straw-colored hair stayed in place. The twins were impressed with his height.
“Wow! How tall are you?” Tom asked with wide eyes.
“I’m six three, but most of the men are six feet.”
“You called your horse her,” Tom said in astonishment. “I didn’t know you could use females.”
The Mountie laughed. “Sure. She’s a good ole girl. Many times my life has depended on her and she comes through.”
“Well, how was she trained,” Tim persisted.
“She was given a thorough training by professionals. Again it would take too long to tell the entire process. Just as some dogs don’t pass the test to be a K-9 dog, some of the horses don’t pass the test. When we’re introduced to our horse, they have no saddle or bridle.” He smiled at the children’s surprised faces. “We have an instructor who tells us what to do. We have to ride, as the old saying goes, by the seat of our pants. Bareback. We learn to guide the horse with our body movements, seat muscles, legs and voice. Then if we have to use a gun or rope, our hands are free to do so.”
“Don’t you ever fall off?” Tom asked in winder.
“Of course, at first. Fortunately I never got hurt more than bruises and a badly damaged ego. I grew up with horses, but, boy did I learn more. Some of the trainees have had broken arms, shoulders out of joint, one even had a broken jaw.”
“Cool,” Tim said softly at the same time that Irene said, “Good grief. Don’t either of you dare to ask to train to be a Mountie.”
The talked briefly, thanked the policeman for his time, and started to walk away. Irene whirled around. “Excuse me. Do you know where we can stay for the night? I haven’t seen a hotel or motel.”
“No,” the Mountie answered in a clipped Canadian accent. “You won’t find them here. You will find bed and breakfasts in homes. There are women, mostly widows, who will keep you for the night and even feed you. Follow me and I’ll show you one of the best.”
He left the reins on the horse’s neck and walked off with the horse following at his shoulder. They were on a short street where a white house with green shutters stood at the end. They walked through a white gate with a high arch over it, supposedly for flowers to trail across.. A clean, white fence stretched