The Perfect Matron

by Dave Hicks

 

Chapter 2

 

1

 

After lunch, we went to church. Katherine had gone through my wardrobe to find something she thought was suitable for me to wear.

"We need to buy you some decent clothes," she commented, holding up a shirt for inspection. "However, this will have to do for the time being."

"Do I have to wear a bra to church?" I asked.

"Of course you do," she smiled. "You have to wear a bra all the time, from now onwards. There are no exceptions. And you’ve got to get dressed up to go to church and that includes suitable underwear."

"Oh," I replied.

"Wear this one," she said, holding up one of the new bras she’d bought me.

"That’s the one with those squishy bags in it," I said.

"Yes," she replied, with a cheeky grin. "So it is."

"But I’ll make me look even bigger than I already am," I objected.

"Mm," she smiled. "I suppose it will, won’t it."

"That cheating," I remarked, trying to hide my uneasiness with a poor attempt at humor. "Pretending to have bigger breasts than you really do have?"

"All’s fair in love, war and underwear," she laughed. "That’s rule number one. Women learn that at a very early age."

It did make me look bigger.

 

2

 

It was a pleasant, modern church made of sandstone; set in among lawns and trees on the edge of town. There were about thirty cars and a few busses parked in the lot. Claire, the priestess, dressed in a full length white robe, was standing at the entrance welcoming people as they entered. Inside was an open area with long seats either side of an aisle leading to an altar. Behind the altar was a large picture window of stained glass, featuring a woman in a long white robe similar to Claire’s. Music played softly in the background. I guessed there were about two hundred people present. I sat with Katherine towards the back of the church. I was still conscious of people noticing my breasts. A woman tried to sit next to me, until she saw the look on Katherine’s face and decided there were plenty of vacant seats elsewhere.

Gazing around, I realized the whole church was filled with women and children. Lots of children. There was only two other men, apart from myself. One of them was the miserable person I’d had met the night before.

The service lasted for about an hour. More than enough time for me and most of the younger children to get restless. Katherine gave me an icy look a few times for fidgeting. The service followed a conventional format of singing and praying, followed by a sermon about; the evils of lowering moral values, too much preoccupation with luxury and not having enough hard work. Then some blessings for people with an illness of some kind. Then more singing, prayers and an announcement of coming church events.

On the way out, Claire asked if we could remain for a few minutes, so she could talk to us. We sat under a tree in the shade and waited, while Claire bid farewell to the other worshipers.

"Where are all the men?" I asked Katherine.

"That was about normal," she laughed. "Karalan men are about as rare as ducks with teeth. Or rocking horse compost - for that matter."

"So where did all the children come from?"

Before she could answer my question, Claire came over to us.

"Thank you so much for waiting," she smiled.

"It was a lovely service," said Katherine. "We thoroughly enjoyed your sermon."

I nodded in agreement, as it seemed like the appropriate thing to do.

"Thank you," she replied. "I wanted to ask you - do you had any preference on how your donation should be used?"

Katherine turned to me with a questioning look. I shrugged in response.

"That’s your decision, my dear," I said to Katherine, playing the obedient husband. "I leave all those sorts of judgment in your hands."

"Any way you see fit," Katherine said. "I’ll make another donation later but I’d rather not have it known, who made it. I’d like it to be anonymous."

"That’s wonderful," beamed Claire. "The money is really needed. You can be sure it won’t be wasted."

We said good-bye and drove home.

"Why did you ask her for our next donation to be anonymous?" I asked.

She chuckled.

"We’ve got a church full of women," she explained, with a grin. "By keeping it a secret, I know no better way of making sure everyone knows about it?"

"Ah," I replied, as it dawned on me. "That’s pretty sneaky."

"It’s all part of being a Karalan woman," she smiled.

We changed into more casual clothes and underwear and sat on the back verandah, overlooking the lake, with coffee.

 

3

 

"I saw so many kids," I said to her. "Where are all the fathers?"

She looked at me for a moment.

"You saw them at the service," she replied.

"Oh," I said.

I thought for a moment, as the realization came over me.

"You not shocked?" she asked me.

"Not really - I suppose," I said. "It makes sense, in a way. If you don’t have kids then the religion dies out pretty soon - doesn’t it? I bet you Karalan women aren’t allowed to have sex with anyone outside of the religion either. Are you?"

Katherine nodded.

"And let me guess," I said. "I suppose Karalan women don’t believe in artificial insemination of any kind, do they? It has to be the old fashioned way or not at all? Everything’s got to be completely natural. Am I right?"

"You’re absolutely right," she confirmed, with a nod.

"And I’m expected to do my bit in fathering the next generation, I suppose?" I asked.

"Do you want to?" she asked cautiously. "It’s you right, you know."

"No way," I stated firmly. "I’m drawing a definite line at that."

"You’re sure?" she asked again.

"Absolutely," I answered firmly. "Let them find a stud elsewhere. I’m not into that sort of thing. It goes against my religion - if I ever had one. Anyway, my genetics are all screwed up because of the radiation poisoning. I could be fathering all sorts of strange looking children, with two heads, red eyes and webbed feet. "

"But that’s so wonderful," she cried in delight, rising quickly from her chair.

Her hip struck the table, spilling coffee everywhere. I sprang from my chair to avoid getting coffee over me. She hugged me tightly and started crying. Coffee dripped from the table top to join a broken cup on the floor.

After a while, she stopped crying and noticed the mess.

"I’ll get a cloth," she said, releasing me and hurrying inside the house.

She returned and started mopping up the coffee. I sat on the verandah steps and waited for her to finish. She stood behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Would you like to go for a walk," I suggested.

"Okay," she smiled.

 

4

 

It was late afternoon. We left our shoes at the house and walked along the sandy edge of the lake. Katherine didn’t say anything for a quite a time. While she was deep in thought, I looked at the birds and the occasional animal. You don’t get a lot of them in space - a very expensive luxury. I realized I’d spent most of my life living in some very un-natural environments. I was hoping this place would be good for me.

I removed my clothes and waded into the lake until the water was up to my hips.

"Coming in?" I asked, with a smile.

She nodded and started to undress. She removed her dress and girdle but not her bra and panties.

"It’s really warm," she commented, in surprise.

"There’s a geothermal spring out there," I explained, pointing towards the center of the lake. "The water’s always this warm. Even in the middle of winter. It gets quite steamy and spooky looking in cold weather. One of the reasons why the surrounding vegetation is so different from anywhere else. Almost sub-tropical. It never gets really cold here. We never gets frosts and the snow just melts away before it hits the ground."

"And you own all of this?" she asked.

"And all the land around it," I confirmed. "Including every hill you can see. And then some. It’s quite a large area."

"It must be worth a fortune," she said.

"My parents wanted to keep it as a wildlife sanctuary." I smiled. "Some pretty rare plants grow here, apparently. It’s the climate. But I don’t really care how much it’s worth, as long as it’s protected and stays that way."

"Tell that to some greedy property developer," she smiled, moving deeper in to the water. "They’d love to get their hands on it."

"They never will," I assured her. "I’ve made quite sure of that."

"Are there any vicious, biting things swimming in here with us?" she asked cautiously.

"Pretty unlikely," I said. "The sharks and alligators would’ve cleaned them out years ago. There might be one or two giant squid left - but I haven’t seen one in weeks. Not forgetting the piranha fish of course. Just don’t do anything to annoy them."

She smiled at me and shook her head. She waded in further until the water was up to her waist.

"My lovely, perfect man," she smiled.

"Am I?" I asked quietly.

"Yes you are," she whispered, looking into my eyes.

She held me very tightly to her for a while.

"Do you want to go in deeper?" I asked her.

No," she replied. "This is plenty deep enough for me."

"I won’t let you drown," I assured her.

"I can never drown," she laughed. "The silicone in my breasts, is a little more buoyant than normal flesh."

 

5

 

After dinner, we sat together on a long stuffed sofa, looking at the moon on the water, from the verandah.

"This is so romantic," she sighed. "It’s like something out of a movie - or a dream. Please don’t let it end."

"It won’t," I assured her. "It’s all paid for and we’ve got more than enough money."

"That’s not what I’m worried about," she said, give my hand a squeeze.

"What then?" I asked.

"Your health," she replied. "I’ve been quickly looking through some of the books and data cards I got from the library today. They’re on space medicine. Radiation sickness to be more specific."

"Ah," I said.

"Do you remember the name of the drug they gave you?" Katherine asked.

"No," I replied. "It might have sounded like Solar, something."

"Then there’s every chance it was Sovaralene," she said. "Does that sound right?"

I though for a moment and shook my head.

"Sorry, I don’t remember," I replied. "It could’ve been. I’m just not sure. I wasn’t feeling too well at the time.:

"How long since it happened?" she asked.

"Four years ago."

"And when did your breasts start growing?"

"Are all these questions going somewhere?"

"Yes," she answered firmly. "Just answer the questions or I’ll have to resort to torture of a most gruesome kind."

"My breasts started growing almost immediately," I replied. "They said it was an unusual reaction but it had been known to happen, in the past. It was to do with the way my DNA had been reconstructed and it was nothing to worry about."

"And have they’ve been gradually getting bigger ever since?" she inquired.

"Yes," I answered.

"They didn’t just grow in a spurt, then stop?" she asked.

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "They just get a little bigger every year."

"And your sex drive hasn’t been affected?" she inquired.

"Not that I know of," I replied, with a smile. "Although I've never been exactly an athlete in that area. I think that’s more to do with age than anything else."

Katherine nodded her head thoughtfully.

"So what’s wrong with me?" I asked.

"I want to do tests," she said. "I have a fair idea but I want to be completely certain. I don’t want to make a diagnosis until I have more data to work with."

"You can’t be a doctor anymore, I’m afraid," I told her. "Not with your new identity. If you start practicing medicine without a license, you risk drawing attention and blowing your cover."

"I’m not thinking of going into general practice," she smiled. "I’m only your doctor now. Anyway - married Karalan women don’t have jobs. They work for the church, boss their husbands around - if they lucky enough to have one - and produce many children."

I nodded.

"Okay," I said. "Now tell me when I’m going to die

"Don’t you even joke about it," she said. "That’s not the least bit funny - even when it is a joke."

I was a little surprised at intensity of her reaction to my statement. It indicated she felt very strongly about me.

"I’m sorry," I said. "It was a dumb thing to say."

"No," she said, sadly, "I’m the one who should be sorry. It’s just the thought of losing you is too horrible to think about."

I thought for a second.

"What sort of equipment would you need, to set up a very good laboratory?" I asked her. "I mean, very good - the best. It has to be the best - with no compromise. Could you make out a list."

"I guess so," she replied, a little surprised. "It’s mostly all standard stuff. I’ve used most of it all before - at various times. It really depends on how far I want to go with it. If I needed to do original research, you could end up spending a fortune."

I rose from the sofa and pulled gently on her hands.

"Let’s go spend a fortune," I said, with a grin. "I’ll order it all on my computer right now. I can pick it up later, from the depot in town."

 

6

 

We sat together, in front of the computer, browsing through the various catalog screens. Whatever took Katherine’s fancy, I ordered. If she objected to the cost, I ordered it anyway. I added equipment I thought looked interesting, unusual, expensive or useful, when she wasn’t watching.

"You’ve ordered more than enough to fill a well equipped research laboratory," she said, when we were finished. "Where on earth are we going to put it all?"

"Follow me," I smiled, rising from my chair and taking her hand.

I conducted her through a concealed wall panel in the library and down a flight of stairs, to the basement. I switched on the lights, revealing a vast, open area, with white walls and a ceramic tiled floor.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

"Big enough?" I asked.

"It’s huge," she replied.

"My parents worked for various museums and universities," I informed her. "They used to keep all their bugs and stuffed animals down here. It shouldn’t take long to get the cold room and refrigerators working again. It can be completely sealed and sterilized, if needed. It’s air conditioned and biologically filtered. There’s emergency power and an isolation area."

"What sort of work did they do?" she asked.

"They made illegal whisky," I answered, with a laugh.

"Be serious," she said sternly, pressing her bosom against me. "Or I’ll have to be firm with you."

"But I like it when you do that."

"Answer the question," she ordered, firmly.

"When my parents met, my father was a naturalist," I related. "A very good one, by all accounts. My mother was an artist - a painter I think. You know - two layers of undercoat, sand it back, then one coat of gloss. She was a stifled, wealthy young woman, sick doing what was socially expected of her. After they were married, they both discovered she had a flair for the natural sciences. A natural naturalist, you might say."

I waited for her to laugh but there was no response.

"He used to say - she was a better scientist than he was. They built this underground laboratory, then put the house on top of it. It’s ideal for temperature stabilization and containment."

"How deep are we?" Katherine asked.

"About thirty meters," I replied. "We’re well below the water level of the lake. If anything goes horribly wrong, we can flood the place."

"Amazing," she remarked.

"It should do the job, I imagine."

"It’s perfect," she laughed. "More than perfect. I didn’t have a lab like this when I was doing my research at university. So much room."

"That’s good," I smiled.

"I have one question," she said.

"What’s that?" I replied.

"How do we get all the stuff down here?" she asked.

"That’s not a problem," I replied, pointing to the far wall. "See those two large doors over there?"

"Yes," she replied.

"There’s a wide tunnel, leading to an elevator beneath the barn," I explained. "I’ll bring it all in through there. I remember the time when they had a stuffed horse in here, when I was a kid. I have no idea why. Maybe they wanted to get it going again and give it to me for a birthday present."

"It's seems unlikely though," she grinned.

"You know what kids are like. Give them a pile of horse shit and they think there’s a pony in there somewhere."

She laughed. I sounded nice.

"How will you get all the equipment from town?" she asked.

"I’ve got a truck in the barn," I replied. "It’s not new but it should still run okay. At least I hope so. If it doesn’t, I’ll fix it. I’m good at things like that."

"You seem to have thought of everything," she smiled, pressing close to me. "This is just another dream come true."

"As long as you’re happy," I said.

"Always," she said quietly, putting her arms around me. "With you."

For some reason, I didn’t tell her about a concealed interconnecting tunnel from the lab, that lead to many other underground rooms. She wouldn’t need them - the lab room was more than enough for her needs.

Nothing much happened in bed that night. Katherine’s thoughts were on other things. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

 

7

 

Early next morning, I received a call from the depot in town. The first shipment of equipment had arrived during the night.

"That was quick," remarked Katherine in surprise. "Do you need me to come with you?"

"Only if you want to?" I asked.

"I’d rather get some housework done, if that’s okay with you?"

"Sure."

The truck started on the first attempt. I took it into town and loaded the equipment from the depot. There seemed to be rather lot of it and this was only the beginning. When I returned to the house, there was a car parked out the front. I drove the truck in to the barn, to unload it later.

Priestess Claire and another woman, from the church, were paying a visit. When I entered the lounge room, they were seated having coffee.

"Hello, sweetheart," I said to Katherine, kissing her on the cheek.

I greeted the two other women. Claire introduced me to Francis, her companion. Francis was a well groomed, attractive woman, about forty years of age. She had quite a nice, large bosom but not in the same league as Katherine.

"Francis is the Head Woman of our Settlement," Katherine explained. "That’s were many of our women and children live. That’s were a lot of the money we donated, will be used. There’s a real need for it."

I smiled and nodded, not really understanding what they were talking about.

"I had to come and thank you both personally," explained Francis. "The money will go a long way towards putting our Settlement on a secure financial footing. And maybe get a start on the extensions we’ve been planning for so long."

I removed my cash pad from my pocket and started writing. I handed the slip to Francis. She read the numbers on it and her the face went white with shock.

"That may help," I said.

With a shaking hand, Francis passed the check to Claire.

"I don’t know what to say," said Francis haltingly.

"Please don’t say anything," I said, rising from my chair. "My wife had already instructed me to do it. As long as we remain anonymous."

I gave them a smile.

"Now you’ll really have to excuse me. I’ve got some items I’ve brought from town, I need to unload. It’s been a real pleasure meeting you, Francis. And you Claire."

Claire and Francis didn’t reply, stunned by the size of the donation. Katherine smiled at me and gave a secret wink.

 

8

 

Katherine joined me later in the basement. She gave me a hug among the packing cases.

"Claire showed me how much money you gave them," she said.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Just how much money have you got?" she asked. "It’s a huge amount."

"A damn sight more than I wrote on that slip," I smiled. "Don’t worry, I get most of it back as a tax write-off. And think of all the homeless mothers who now have a bed for the night and don’t have to sleep in cold, dark alleys, begging for moldy crusts of bread."

Katherine nodded, then shook her head, trying to make sense of my poor joke.

"Francis would like us to go to the Mother’s House tomorrow," she said. "Just for a visit," she said. "I said I’d find out what you were doing first and then get back to her."

"Do want to go?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said. "It all helps make us part of the general Karalan community. I’m just worried if you’re up to it. You came here for a bit of peace and quiet. I hasn’t worked out that way, has it?"

She looked concerned.

"It’s okay," I smiled. "Once we’re established in the Settlement, things should settle down a little, I imagine."

"I’m sure they will. My man’s well being always comes first."

Katherine focused on the boxes and cartons of equipment.

"Look at it all!" she cried. "All this lovely, beautiful stuff. It’s like Christmas when you’re a kid - only better. I can wait to set it all up."

"I’ve got to go back into town and get some more," I laughed.

"Look!" she called, getting on her knees and pulling at a cardboard carton. "This is so wonderful. Most top labs could never afford one of these."

She looked up at me.

"You didn’t drop it, did you?" she asked. "Please say you were careful with it. It’s very delicate."

"No, of course not," I said, pretending my feelings were sorely hurt. "Although the big block of concrete that landed on top of it, might’ve done some damage. I did notice something rattling around inside the box that wasn’t there before. It can’t be a very important bit or it would’ve been glued in better. Anyway, give me a blowtorch and a hammer, I can fix anything."

"Go back into town," she ordered, with a laugh, standing up again. "I’ve got work to do."

I kissed her.

"Thank you so much," she said, hugging me tightly.

When I returned from town with more equipment, Katherine was still in the process of unpacking and setting it up.

"I didn’t even order this one," she said, pointing to a complicated piece of apparatus, on a long bench against the wall.

"Is it good?" I asked with a smile. "I like the color."

"Good?" she asked, in amazement. "Did you say good? It’s the latest positron tunneling phase-shift spectrometer. That’s a PTPSS - or Pits, for those who like abbreviations and silly names Not many major research establishments can afford one of these. With this and the other stuff you’ve bought me, I have the capability to do original, leading edge research - right here."

"I thought it looked kind of interesting," I said. "It’s got a lot of knobs and displays on it. But does it make beeping noises, I ask myself? You can tell the good ones by the noise they make. That’s what the saleswoman told me."

She looked at me curiously for a moment.

"You know exactly what phase-shift spectrometer is - don’t you?" she decided. "What was your job, when you were in space all those years?"

"I was a traveling vacuum salesman," I grinned. "I used to keep it in big plastic bottles and sell it illegally on the black market."

"I give up," she laughed, throwing her hands in the air.

I enjoyed it, when she did that. I’m sure she knew it too.

 

9

 

I managed to persuade Katherine take a break for lunch. She had trouble stealing herself away from all her new toys.

"How’s your back and shoulders?" I asked her. "Are they sore?"

"Oh yes," she admitted. "And I know I should lie down for an hour. But it’s so hard to stop. I’m so excited."

"Then why not let me do some of the lifting for you," I suggested.

"I’d rather do it myself," she replied, with a smiled. "If you don’t mind. I know where I want everything to go."

"Well try not to overdo it," I said. "There’s plenty of time."

"You’re right," Katherine smiled, patting my hand. "I’ll take a rest. But only a short one."

After an hour, she returned to her lab. I spent the rest of the afternoon servicing the power generator that supplied the house and completed the installation of the main computer and communications systems.

I made another trip into town to collect more equipment. While I was in town, I met a couple of women I barely remembered from the church service. They recognized me and struck up a conversation. I finally had to make up some excuse, to get away from them.

During the drive home, a thought occurred to me. I hadn’t really worked out what I was going to do with myself - now I no longer had a regular job. That’s if I could call any job I’ve ever did, regular. I knew it was important I keep myself occupied. If I allow myself to get too idle and thoughtful - I’ll start wishing I was back in space again.

I’d always thought I might write a book sometime, about my adventures in space but as yet; I didn’t feel anywhere near settled enough for that.

I knew I would probably see little of Katherine, for a while. Her new laboratory and her duties with the church, would keep her busy. And that’s okay. Although I’m growing very fond of Katherine, I’ve never forgotten the reason why I bought her was to provided me with wife. Now it seems; I’m fair game for every Karalan woman on the planet. I’m not quite sure what they expect from me. There’s no way I’ll be fathering hundreds of children, that’s for sure.

My marvelous plan to avoid feminine attention hadn’t quite worked out the way I’d expected. Out of the pot, into the fire, as my mother used to say.

I went fishing by the lake, for a while. It was just getting dark when I returned to the house. Katherine was still in her lab. I decided to cook dinner. When it was ready, I went to get her.

"What do you think?" she asked, giving me a hug. "It’s starting to look like a true mad scientist’s laboratory now."

"It looks very impressive," I smiled. "But I think you’ve probably done enough for one day."

She nodded.

"Dinner’s ready," I announced. "Fresh fish. I caught it myself in the lake, so I know it’s a fish. I’ve removed most of the extra eyes and legs it had. It was kind of funny looking. I’ve never seen a talking fish with long fur before."

"Wonderful," she smiled, choosing to ignore my humor. "I could eat a whale. Even a fury one that sings old folk songs."

"Try this one first," I suggested.

After dinner, we spent the evening listening quietly to a little classical music. Fortunately, we both seemed to have similar tastes in that area.

I could see Katherine was very tired and I suggested she go to bed. Reluctantly, she agreed. By the time I’d finished doing a few things around the house and went to join her, she was asleep.

 

10

 

When I awoke next morning, Katherine wasn’t beside me. I guessed she was already in her lab. A bra, shirt and shorts had been laid out for me, on the bed. I dressed and took two cups of coffee from the kitchen, down to the lab. Katherine was sitting at the computer; her attention focused on the display.

She turned and smiled as I entered.

"Good morning, my lovely and most tolerant of husbands," she smiled.

I placed the cups next to her and sat in the vacant chair.

"How are you?" I asked, giving her a kiss.

"I’m fine," she replied. "I’ve been very busy."

"I guessed that," I said, with a laugh. "What time did you get up?"

"A few hours ago," she said, sheepishly. "I just couldn’t sleep. I was thinking too much."

She gave her back a stretch, thrusting her bosom out before her in a most delightful way. She smiled knowingly.

"And how’s everything going down here?" I asked.

"It’s all looking so good," she said, pointing to the computer display. "I’m already getting some encouraging preliminary results."

Rows of multi-colored numbers and symbols were scrolling rapidly up the compute display.

"That’s a readout of your DNA," she informed me. "The computer’s searching for any major anomalies against a generalized standard template. It’s going to take a while, even for this machine - as good as it is. And it is good."

She looked at the display for a moment then turned back to me.

"How can it work so fast?" she asked. "Normally, it would’ve taken days for it to get this far into the problem."

"It’s connected to my machine upstairs," I replied. "They’re both pretty powerful. Between them, you have quite a bit of computing power available to you."

"Ah," she said, raising her index finger and nodding.

She picked up her cup and sampled the coffee.

"Mm," she smiled. "Thanks for this. I needed it."

"My pleasure," I replied, giving her breasts a gently squeeze.

"Oh," she said happily. "Do that much more often."

 

11

 

I returned from town with the last of the major items for Katherine’s lab. Apart from a few less important pieces to arrive later, she now had everything we’d ordered.

"We have to go and do the social thing at the Settlement," she announced.

"Oh yeah," I replied, without enthusiasm.

"Come on," she laughed. "We have to get the visit out of the way, if you want any peace. Now we’re the patrons of the Settlement. There are things they expect of us."

"Okay," I grumble lightheartedly. "You’re a cruel and heartless woman, that’s what you are. I shouldn’t stayed single and bought a goldfish instead."

"That’s the spirit," she remarked cheerfully. "Try to be a brave little soldier, my love. It won’t take long and then we’ll leave you alone."

"I’ll try to be a brave little soldier," I said, with a laugh.

"Excellent," she answered, returning my laugh. "And I’ll see if I can’t buy you some better clothes, while we’re in town."

"Bossy woman," I said, with a smile.

"Admit it," she said, giving me a hug. "You like me this way."

 

12

 

The Settlement seemed a pleasant place. It was located outside the town, in an area of cleared forest. We couldn’t see much of it from the highway. I drove along a gravel road until I came to a group of buildings. The place looked like a village, composed of a collection of low buildings scattered throughout the area. I parked the car outside the main building and we entered a large communal area, where groups of woman and children were engaged in various activities.

Francis emerged from her office to greet us.

"I’m so glad you could come," she smiled broadly.

"It’s our pleasure," replied Katherine.

We were taken on a grand tour. The Settlement was much larger than I expected - more like a small town. It had a school, bakery and workshop. We finished the tour in time for lunch in the restaurant.

We sat with other members while Katherine discussed various aspects of the Settlement with them. As usual, I kept my mouth shut.

 

 

 

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© 2002 by Dave Hicks. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.