Chapter 67

When I finally got my stomach back under control, I got dressed and packed my few clothes into my bag and set it by the door. Kat was still packing and grumbling about how she had so much stuff. I sat down at the table and was finally able to eat a little of the different pieces of fruit while I watched her. When she carried the third bag over by the door I was chuckling at her. She gave me a dirty look but kept packing. When three men from the village knocked saying they were supposed to take our luggage down to the beach, she had six large bags packed and was sitting on the edge of the bed looking around to see if she had missed anything. I was still at the table sipping lukewarm coffee and chuckling between sips.

"I really don't see the humor in all of this, Jon. You came with one small bag and I have six. Why should I have more than you do, even with the makeup and other feminine things I have to carry? Where did I accumulate all of this from?"

"Kat, half of the stuff you brought you never wore, and the other half was stuff you really didn't need. That's why I liked being a soldier. You learn real quickly only to take what you can pack in one bag, because you never know when you might have to leave in a hurry and not be able to take more than one bag. It's a good lesson to learn, hon."

"I bet the women in the Military today have more than the men to carry around."

"Actually they all have the same. If you go to a departure point they all have one large duffle bag and their weapons. The women in the Military today don't have any extras to carry unless they can fit it in their duffle bags with all their issue stuff. The services don't have room for all the extras during transport and deployment. Actually, if you can learn to pack right, you could probably fit most of what you have in those six suitcases into one regulation duffle bag. Kat, are you happy going back to Virginia or would you rather live here?"

"To be truthful Jon, I am torn about it. On one hand, I love being here, but I miss our home in Virginia. I know Sally is really excited about going back, but I think Myrna is getting spoiled because she doesn't seem as enthused about leaving as I thought she would. Jon, did you really mean it when you said we could come back and stay here during the winter?"

"Kat, if that's what you want, then we can and will do just that. I don't have a problem with living here and working cases that I can hand pick. I can work a case and come back when I finish, then go out on another one when you get tired of me lazing around. With your doctor friend coming, you will have something to do. You would be able to be a nurse again, which I know you miss. With him being here, I won't have to worry if you have problems during delivery if I am off on a case. I think he would love to have a qualified nurse on call to help. I think I could make arrangements with the Sheriff for Sally to stay with her best friend during the school year. I could check on her on a regular basis every time I went back to work a case. I know she and Judy would love it and I am sure the Sheriff wouldn't have a problem with it. With the church being in so much disarray, I don't think they would give a second thought about me or the rest of us. There are only four of the leaders alive, and they are in hiding. Sooner or later they will run out of funds to pay for their protection. Jubal will be coming back soon and I think he and Verna will end up together. Farley is the wild card but if Myrna's reaction to him was real, I think he will stick pretty close to where she is. You know, I am wondering if the relationship she had with Carver was more out of being lonely than love as she thought. The whole time I have known her I have never seen her go out, other than to the store or to visit some relative that was close by. I never saw her go out on a date or to a bar or anything. She just stayed around the house taking care of Sally and me. I hope she does finally get to meet someone she can come to really love so she can be as happy as we are."

We didn't discuss it any further because the Corporal came to the door to tell us our rides were on their way. He also informed us there would be a Legion Battle Helicopter escorting us to U.S. soil. It would land and fuel at the airport we were going to. After looking at Kat and seeing the alarm in her eyes, I immediately asked why, and was quickly told that the Captain wanted to make sure we were not bothered until we got to our jet. He assured us they had heard nothing about any threat, but the Captain felt he owed us the escort for all I had done to help the men. I thanked him and asked that he pass my thanks on to the Captain. He smiled and saluted before backing out and closing the door. She quickly kissed me before looking around one last time as we went out the door. When we got to the patio, everyone was waiting for us and we all walked down to the beach together. When the helicopters landed, we once again loaded all of luggage into one, with Kat and me as the only passengers. As we took off, I stared at all the bags and wondered if suitcases had babies, because there seemed to be twice as many as before. Kat leaned against me, looking out at the island as we flew out of sight. Somehow I knew what she was thinking and hugged her as the house went out of sight. The flight back seemed shorter somehow, and again I was met by the same customs officer. This time he didn't ask me about my guns or even if he could look in the luggage for contraband. He did ask if we were carrying any fruit or vegetables back with us and Kat just laughed and told him they were only good if freshly picked. He just smiled at her as we walked toward the jet. When we got to the steps we were met by the man and woman Tiny had sent to meet us. I recognized both of them from the restaurant and immediately smiled. We got another surprise as we climbed aboard. Jimmy was there waiting with a big smile on his face when we got in the cabin.

"We didn't bring a flight attendant this time. I volunteered to be the server on this flight to get away from the city for a free ride to a tropical paradise. You know, the sand and surf type of thing, but I haven't seen anything since we landed. I wasn't told when we left I wasn't allowed to leave the plane, so I just had to look out of the window as we flew in. Jon, the next time you go to your island can I come too?"

"Jimmy, you should have said something. You were more than welcome to come and enjoy yourself. As a matter of fact if you ever want to go on vacation, just let me know and I will make all the arrangements for you to go there to stay awhile."

"Jimmy!" I heard, and watched as Sally ran and jumped into his arms. He hugged her with a big smile on his face. They were talking a mile a minute as the plane took off. I looked around and saw Timmy with a sad look on his face as he looked out of the window at the ground rapidly disappearing. I nudged Kat and tilted my head toward him. She looked and just smiled sadly.

"Jon, that's probably the only place in his life that he ever felt safe and happy. When we get to the house, I think he will probably go back to being his normal chatty self. Jon, do you think it will be safe for him to play with the dogs when we get there?"

"Kat, once we introduce him to them and they know he is supposed to be there, I think they will all have a ball together. When we got them, their owner said they were just like a normal pet, and loved to fetch and play Frisbee. The way it was explained to me, they were like normal dogs except for the fact that they wouldn't let anyone inside the fence without one of us telling them it would be ok. I was worried about it too because I know how Sally is around any kind of animal. To her, they are all pets regardless of who they belong to. I planned on buying all three of them and maybe a fourth later on. Well, Wife, you won't have to worry about running out of hot water anymore. Tiny put a huge hot water tank in because, as he put it, we would probably need it."