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who
could test her. “I’ll give you three months to at least complete
the basic training on controlling situations with firearms. If you
haven’t progressed that far by then I’m confiscating the guns. At
some stage I’ll need to come out to the cabin to view the guns in
their storage so I can see that everything is up to current
regs.”
    Michael glared at Simon “You better
not be messing with me Simon. If I find you’re using Tyra to expand
your operation I’ll come down on you with the full force of the
law. The legislation states that only a one-person operation is
allowed. Is that clear?”
    Simon smiled the smile of victor,
“Perfectly clear.”
     
     
    Tyra was totally aghast, “did you just
bribe the local police officer”?
    “ Of course not, Michael is
far too honest for that”, Simon paused, “but he’s not stupid
either. No one in the town wants the youth club to close. I have
the kind of money that can make things happen. No, it was just,
let’s say an opportunely synchronous transaction.”
    “ A what?”
O pportunely synchronous transaction my
ass .
    “ I expect by next week
there might even be some new gym equipment out of that little
donation. We’ll even enrol you in a few self defence classes there.
I’m thinking Aikido as its more spiritually focused and a little
bit of Indonesian Pencak Silat which is an extremely versatile
fighting style and will get you fit and nimble on your feet. A
couple of the locals are masters.
    Tyra’s jaw dropped. “Aren’t you
forgetting a little something here? You know, fifty year old
sedentary librarian and all that. And what was all that about your
one man operation?”.
    Simon eyed her uncertainly. “We’ll get
to that later. I have a client tonight so you’ll find out all about
my business then”.
    Tyra knew he was hiding something but
guessed it would be futile to pursue it further. She hoped it
wasn’t something criminal but if the cop knew about it couldn’t be
too bad, could it? If she was going to find out tonight she’d find
out tonight. “What’s next then? You said something about going to
the pub”.
     
     
    The Bush Ranger’s Rest was a worn down
small country town pub. It had been built in the eighteen hundreds
when bush rangers really did roam the area. It still had the
original post and rail fence out front for tying your horse
to.
    Simon leaned on the lichen covered
post and rail, in the shade of a large cootamundra wattle that was
just starting to come out into bloom. He reached into his pocket
for a small container, took out a pinch of dust and placed it
carefully in his palm. “Before we go inside I need to open your
eyes to a deeper level of reality. I need to blow a bit of this
dust into your eyes. It won’t hurt but your eyes might water for a
moment”.
    Tyra wasn’t too sure about this but it
couldn’t be any stranger than anything else he’d shown her, could
it? “It won’t do any long term damage will it?”
    “ Not at the micro-dose I’m
going to use”.
    Not exactly
reassuring but “okay”.
    Tyra’s eyes did indeed water. “Bloody
hell, what was that stuff?”
    Simon ignored her question and just
waited.
    The watering stopped and
she looked around and … wow! There were little bits of light flittering around
the opening blooms of the wattle tree. Tyra looked at Simon and was
not entirely surprised to see him encased in bright light, mostly
white but with hints of gold, violet and magenta.
    Simon arched his brow, “Ready
then?”
     
     
    Inside the pub they found a table
against the wall. The room smelled of beer, old carpet and polished
wood. There was a clink of glass as the waiter behind the bar
stacked a small dishwasher. Tyra was not surprised that Simon had
chosen a position where he could easily see everyone in the
room.
    “ Two of your usual?” asked
an obviously tired but friendly young waitress.
    “ Thanks Melissa. That would
be great, keep the change”.
    Melissa beamed at him. Being