Chapter 9

"Dad! Dad! Look at the Internet news!" Shannon shouted as she ran into my bedroom the next morning. Two seconds later she was blushing and quickly ran out, slamming the door behind her. Mary and I looked at each other and grinned at her embarrassment. With a gentle shove, Mary pushed me off her and I rolled to the side, the mood broken. I wish Shannon had come in about ten minutes later! Trotting over to the computer, I called up Firefox and then looked at the Google news service while Mary cleaned herself off using the towel I had placed under her. I began to curse and Mary quickly sat up in alarm.

"What's wrong, David?" Mary asked. I just pointed at the headlines, too upset to talk. Mary got up and still naked walked over to the computer and looked over my shoulder at the headlines:

"New Slavery Ring Found?"
"Reporter warned not to snoop around by Texas Peace Officer tied to Lawrence Slavery ring! Trespassers will be shot!"

The reporter I had run off yesterday had written a story that should have been in the National Inquirer. He was implying that I was running a slavery ring with barbed wire compounds and armed guards. He had posted rather blurry pictures of Linda, Steven and I returning from our target practice and a shot of our breeding corral for horses to bolster his story. He had even given my name, address and a short description of Mary and the children as well, saying they were being held against their will as slaves.

Mary looked at me, "You look like you should have steam coming out of your ears right now, you're so red." I was really pissed. The more I read the angrier I got. Mary looked at me with concern, "Settle down, David! You're going to have a coronary if you don't!" I took several deep breaths and tried to calm myself.

I must have still looked madder than hell because none of the kids were very talkative during breakfast. Before the kids left for school I looked at Shannon and Linda, "Do you want to stay home today?"

They looked at each other and Shannon answered for both of them, "We talked about it in our room. If we don't go to school people will think some of it must be true."

"I want you to be careful. There are crazy people out there and I don't know what sort of attention this is going to bring to the ranch. If you leave the campus go with a group," I told them. After the girls had left for school I called the sheriff's office, inviting the sheriff to come out to see the ranch and talk to the kids and Mary whenever he wanted, to show there wasn't anything going on.

"I know there's nothing going on or someone would have said something. I still need to go through the motions though. From what the paper has in it, you have a gulag out there and I know that's bullshit! I'll come out after the kids have returned home from school. I need to talk to the kids in school away from you to keep it kosher," he informed me.

"I don't care if you talk to the girls at school, but the boys are Mary's nephews and you need to ask her about them."

I passed the phone to Mary. She listened and then spoke, "You can talk to the boys here when you come out. I don't want them subjected to being called out of class because some lying reporter made up a story." She nodded her head and ended the call.

Turning to me Mary said, "I'm going to sue the Kansas City Star for libel! How dare they claim I'm involved with slavery"?

Now it was my turn to calm her down. She had read the article after I finished and got just as mad as I was. Her instinct wasn't to hit someone, but to sue them. I tried my best to talk her out of it, but she wasn't about to give it up. When she finally calmed down somewhat, she took the boys to school.

I was really pissed about the reporter's lies, but I had enough abuse hurled at me while I was a peace officer to be able to handle it. I decided to ignore it and let the rumors die without reacting to them.

Several reporters from other papers had already started to show up at our neighboring ranches asking questions about the ranch and the 'slaves' I had here. Two had called me and asked for an interview which I refused to give. If I never saw another reporter that would be too soon! Several neighbors called to offer to help me patrol the ranch and keep the nuts from trespassing until the furor died down. I thanked them but told them that we would take care of it ourselves.

Mary brought the boys home and breathed a sigh of relief. Reporters had tried to talk to her but she had ignored them while she picked up the boys. Luckily the school had a policy that no reporters were allowed on school grounds unless invited by the principal or the school board. This relief lasted until Shannon and Linda came home. They dragged in and both looked like they were ready to cry. Linda saw Mary and flew into her arms bawling while Shannon just threw her books across the room. "What's wrong?" Mary asked.

Linda continued sniffling and Shannon soon joined her. "I don't want to ever go back to that school!" Linda whined. Shannon agreed, "The other students kept whispering whenever they saw us. It was awful!" Linda started again, "People kept asking if the article was true! Like they really thought we have slaves out here!" Shannon continued after Linda finished, "The deputy had us pulled out of class and we were cuffed and taken away in a police car. We had to go to the police station and give a statement! I'm so embarrassed! I can't ever face anybody at school again!"

I was upset about the way the girls had been treated. I thought that the sheriff was going to talk to Shannon and Linda, not take them to the police station. Mary and I finally got the girls settled down somewhat when the sheriff showed up. Mike and Steve kept glaring at him until I sent them to their room until he left. Before he left Steve glared one more time at the sheriff. "Don't make my sisters cry!" he warned the sheriff.