Chapter 89: On to Washington DC

Monday, June 7, 1971

It was late when we reached the train. Kip helped us transfer our luggage and purchases from the coach, to the waiting railcars. He had a handheld radio clipped to his jeans.

“What’s that?” Penny asked him.

“It belongs to the railroad. They gave it to us to be able to talk to the engineer, or even a dispatcher, if the need should arise. After what happened on the trip out here, I think they want us to be able to contact them if we need it,” Kip explained, handing the radio to Penny. “This way, we can just let them know when we’re ready, and they’ll pick us up with their next convenient freight.”

“That’s wonderful, Kevin!” Penny said.

The teens couldn’t resist the chance to torment Penny.

“Kev-in?” Nicky repeated teasingly, as the girls all giggled.

Kip just smiled at the teenagers, not really embarrassed, but still new enough on the job, not to risk teasing back yet. Still, his smile disarmed them, causing them to forget about teasing Penny, for the moment.

They giggled again as they headed for the train. I detected a few stimulated libidos in the bunch.

Ileana and Mikeya stopped to kiss my cheek as they went by.

“I guess I’ll see you later?” I thought to them. They had been patient with my hectic schedule since we left the ranch last Wednesday.

“You’d better! We’ve got a surprise for you!” Ileana thought back quickly.

“I’ve got a surprise for you, too!” I replied.

The ladies had all boarded when Kip approached me.

“Boss?” Kip said.

“Not yet,” I replied.

He looked to see what was going on with me.

I smiled. “Sorry, bad joke. I was thinking literally, for a moment,” I explained. “What’s up?”

“It’s going to take me a little while to get used to working for a civilian,” Kip offered. “I wanted to ask you if I heard right. Are you looking for more trained females? For protective service?”

“Go on...” I told him.

“Well, my big sister ... she’s a year older than me,” Kip explained. “She’s been working nanny patrol for this congressman from out west, for the last couple of years. But he lost his bid for re-election and didn’t come back to DC in January, so she’s been doing mostly freelance stuff since then. I was thinking, that if you were looking for someone else for security, especially if you’re looking for a woman, Karla would be good. She’s had some training and a couple of years’ experience. And I think she’d fit in well with your family.”

I scanned him while he had his sister on his mind. Kip was one of those, who kept their emotions buried, so it was hard to scan him completely. Unless, of course, he had what you were looking for on his mind at the moment.

“Where is she now?” I asked.

He grinned.

“She’s in the galley. She’s also a better cook, than me!” he said.

“Okay. I’ll have Penny talk to her. If Penny says okay, your sister gets thirty days to try us out. If, after thirty days, she approves of us, it’s a standard one-year contract.”

“Does that mean I’ll be reporting to Penny?” Kip asked, as he immediately remembered Saturday night.

“As I told Penny earlier, neither of you worked for me this weekend. Neither of you will work for me these next two weeks. She starts the twenty-sixth, and you start on the twenty-ninth. You’ve got that long to work it out between you. I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t affect your performance or my family,” I explained.

“Okay ... that’s fair. Can I ask for one more favor, since you seem in a good mood?” Kip asked with a grin.

“Sure. Shoot,” I replied.

“If you hire Karla, could you pay her a little more than me?” Kip requested. “I’ll be glad to take a cut in pay. But I know my big sister, and it would make her feel better, to know her little brother isn’t making more than her.”