Like puppets, the locals folded their newspapers, reached under the table, retrieved a white hardhat with some foreign writing fore and numbers aft, s...ood and filed out the front door of the restaurant.A white school bus type bus stopped at the side steps, the men filed onboard, flashing a wallet badge as they passed the armed driver and took a seat, starting at the back and filling the seats on both sides as the bus idled. The driver stood, picked up a chart, and started checking the. "That's Dave!" beamed Rachel from ear to ear.She jumped up from her seat, emptied her scraps into the bin and put herplate into the sink."Where are you going?" asked Mary, her eyes wide and watery."I'll be back soon Mom I'm just going out with Dave!" said Rachel,unable to control her giddiness.Mary's eyes followed Rachel to the coat hanger. She looked and feltincredibly hurt."But - the family dinner it was our idea to -," I'm so sorry Mom. I forgot to tell you. I'll be back soon, I. ”“I’m proud to be a part of what you do for folks Tom and proud that you’d even let me ride with you. I’ll be kinda glad to get back to just riding and looking again for a while too. Not wearing a badge is gonna feel different, ain’t it?”They turned in their badges and collected their pay for the three weeks they rode for the different Sheriff’s. Sheriff Wade made sure they got all they had coming, and told them that he’d collect from the other county Sheriffs later.True to what they’d told the. "You keep the house in order,take care of the shopping and do any errands that need to be done. Ibring home enough for us to live comfortably. It would just complicatethings. Besides, this is how my mother and father did it and they werevery happy with the way things worked." Bill, this is the 21st century. That might have been the way thingsworked before and frankly I can't understand how happy your mother couldhave been once you kids got out on your own and she was home alone mostdays." She.