like me, kids like the ones at the school...they don’t get that. Not often. If not ever. To have a police officer come and speak to them. You know, who isn’t trying to scare them straight, but just maybe talk a little bit about responsibility, the community, those kinds of things, well I think it would be really important.”
Pansy nodded slowly. “I can come by. Before the interview.”
“Excellent,” he said.
“Just give me directions.”
Which was how she found herself driving toward the Dalton ranch. She’d had a vague idea of where it was, so she didn’t need detailed instructions on how to get there. But she had never been there before.
It was a beautiful property with manicured green lawns and pristine, freshly painted barns. Everywhere you looked there were pieces of evidence of Hank’s good fortune. From the brand-new ranching equipment to the big shiny trucks on down to the details like sheet metal roofing and specially treated decks and fences that were guaranteed to withstand the weather and had cost thousands of dollars to have installed.
“He’s something else,” West said. He gave her instructions to pull around to a barn which was apparently near the classrooms, and when they did, they saw his brother Gabe.
When Gabe saw them, his eyes widened. And Pansy realized that it must look weird. Whatever you thought was happening, the situation looked weird. West in the passenger seat of her police car, her pulling up in her police car... So much for keeping things low profile.
She turned the engine off and stepped out of the car, adjusting her belt out of force of habit. West got out, rising high above the car as he straightened.
“Before you ask, if I were in trouble I would have been in the back seat,” West said.
Gabe lifted his hands. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“Sure you weren’t,” West said.
“You got me,” Gabe said. “I was totally going to say something.”
“Hi,” Pansy said, extending her hand. “I’m Officer Pansy Daniels. It’s obvious your brother didn’t talk to you about me coming by.”
“No,” Gabe said. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“He thought that it might be a good idea if I came by at some point and had a talk with the kids. About...well, about being good citizens, kind of.” She winced. “Of course I won’t say it like that, because then they’ll throw rotten fruit at me and immediately decide that everything I have to say is lame.”
Gabe and West smirked. She was struck by how alike they looked.
It was so clear that they were brothers. And yet, given the way that they stood when they were near each other, she could see clearly that they weren’t all that comfortable around each other yet. They definitely didn’t have the ease of family.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Gabe said. “Honestly, most of the contact these kids have had with adults has been pretty bad.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” West said. “I was thinking that it would be good for them to deal with an authority figure that didn’t treat them like they were a problem.”
“I’m a big believer in the idea that we need to provide a support system for each other in this community,” Pansy said. “And I... I’m going out for police chief. If I get it, I guarantee you that’s going to be a big part of my job. Community outreach. Making sure kids like these, whether they’re from Gold Valley or from somewhere else, know that they can always make a different choice. That they’re not going to be labeled as trouble based on where they came from, what they look like or even what they might have done in the past. Everybody deserves a fresh start.”
She felt like it was something her dad might have said.
Something he might have done if he were here and were able to talk to these kids.
Because of what he’d taught her. About rules and responsibility. Even if he didn’t know she’d ever learned it.
And it made her feel warm. Made her feel like she’d found a way to take some pieces of him, of what he’d left behind, and bring them into the present.
“I agree,” Gabe said. “It’s what I’m trying to do here.”
He set about to showing her around the facility, and uncharacteristically, West was quiet during the proceedings. The whole place was wonderful, and by the time Pansy had to leave to get back to her interview, she was feeling enthused. She dropped West off at