Characters courtesy of Alliance, to be returned, in tact, asap!
Big Red Surprise!
It was only a couple of days until Holly’s 40th birthday. Everybody had been telling her that the big 40 would be one to celebrate in style. Holly’s heart however, longed for only one thing. She had a dream that one day she would be swept off of her feet by a Mountie and would ride off into the sunset. She knew that this was only a dream, and one she was quite sure would never come true. Little did Holly know that in a couple of days her life would change forever.
Holly often wrote to a friend called Emily by email. They would spend long hours telling each other of their dreams and aspirations in the hope that one day they would come true. They both shared the dream of a swish of red serge and off into the sunset. Emily understood how much passion Holly had for this dream and desperately wanted to make her friends dream come true. Now was her chance. With Holly’s birthday fast approaching she knew she had a lot of work to do.
On the Thursday before the big day, Emily promptly visited the Canadian Consulate. Here she was greeted by a chap called Turnbull. He was a very sweet man. He seemed to be so proud of the position he held at the Consulate - knowing that he stood little chance of promotion he put himself whole heartedly into his work, it was his duty. He offered Emily a seat and told her that it would be a few moments before the Inspector would be able to see her.
Emily slowly took in her surroundings. It was a very old building in which the Consulate was located. Stairs ran up behind the reception desk at which Turnbull sat. Every now and then he would look up from his work and a smile would appear on his face. The hallway where she sat felt warm but cool at the same time. She was very aware that at any moment she could be face to face with the very person she wanted to see. As Emily drifted off into an imaginary land of the RCMP she was suddenly brought back to her senses.
‘The Inspector will see you now Emily’. Turnbull had left his chair and was waiting to escort her into Inspector Margaret Thatcher’s office.
Slowly, she rose from her chair and proceeded to follow him towards another room across the hallway. Turnbull opened the door and showed her inside. She heard the door click shut behind her. At the desk sat a very beautiful woman with dark hair, piercing eyes and a very definitive presence.
‘Good Afternoon, I’m Inspector Thatcher, how can I be of assistance to you’.
The Inspector came round from the back of her desk and greeted Emily with an open handshake.
‘Good afternoon’ replied Emily. ‘I understand that you have a Constable Benton Fraser
working for you at this Consulate’
‘That’s correct. Constable Fraser is our Liaison Officer’.
At last, Emily had tracked him down. Now all she had to do was put the plan into action.
‘Is the Constable off duty at the moment, only, you see, I need to ask you a personal favour’.
For the next half hour Emily sat with the Inspector (who by now was on first name terms) and told of her friends dream. She told of how Holly had longed to be swept off of her feet by Benton Fraser but had almost given up hope of it ever happening. That Benton knew of Emily’s existence but was not aware of Holly and how jealous Holly was of this. The Inspector listened intently, occasionally leaving her seat and walking towards the window and back again. This slightly unnerved Emily for she knew that Meg was attracted to Benton herself but surely she wouldn’t object to a little sharing between friends?
‘I fully understand.’ Meg looked at Emily’s face which was full of desperation. ‘The package will be delivered on Saturday as you have requested, on one condition’.
‘Uh oh’ thought Emily - here come’s the crunch.
‘Name it’ she said reluctantly.
‘Yourself and your friend Holly need to understand what it is to be a member of the RCMP. The dedication it takes. You and Holly will attend a weeks training at the RCMP academy so you can understand why we do what we do for Canada’.
Emily’s thought she’d died and gone to heaven. A whole week surrounded by Mountie’s. Sheer bliss. She gently rose from her chair and approached the Inspector. She held out her right hand - ‘Deal’ she said with a tone of achievement in her voice.
The two women shook hands and the deal was done. Emily left the Consulate with a sly grin on her face. She could not believe what she had just done.
It was Saturday morning. Holly woke with the realistaion that it was her big day. Her 40th birthday had arrived. Throughout the day she was swamped with gifts and cards from all her family and friends. However, when she checked her email she was quite upset to find that she had nothing from Emily. ‘Perhaps she has forgotten’, thought Holly, it would be quite typical of Emily to forget a birthday. The only day she remembered was the 12th of every month when it was ‘Honour a Mountie Day’. This basically meant wearing something red, preferably boots if you had pair, and taking a moment to remember why Mountie’s were Mountie’s. Holly was suddenly brought back to reality by a knock on her front door.
She could see a figure through the abscured glass panes but couldn’t make out a face. Upon opening the door she saw a handsome young man dressed in a Royal Mail uniform.
‘Special delivery’ he spoke rather abruptly.
‘Yes, that’s me’ replied Holly.
‘You’ll have to come and collect it from the van’.
So, off Holly went, following the delivery man closely. When they arrived at the van Holly was handed a small white envelope.
‘Is this it?’ she enquired
‘Yes, I think somebody is having a joke at your expense’. With this he jumped back into his van and sped off down the road like a maniac.
Holly slowly walked back to her house. She looked down at the envelope. On the back she could feel the embossed paper where it had been sealed down. It then dawned on her that a maple leaf adorned the lower left corner of it. Her heart began to thump. ‘It’s a message’ she thought. ‘Perhaps....... no, calm down, just open it’ she told herself.
The note read as follows:
Happy
Birthday to you
Do
you want one Mountie or two
How
about Benton Fraser?
You
know your dream might come true.
Check
your email Holly - I haven’t forgotten!
With this Holly flew over to her computer, switched it on
and downloaded her emails. There
was one from Emily. Her heart was
in her mouth beating faster and faster. The
email told her to walk out into her front garden and wait there for a special
delivery. This Holly did.
Infact she had never moved so fast.
She practically flung herself out of the door in trepidation of what
might be about to happen.
She stood, quietly, alone on the pathway outside her
house. The afternoon was still,
nothing moved. In the distance she
could hear the feint noise of a horse. It’s
shoes clipping the road as it walked gently in her direction.
Holly turned to face to approaching sound.
She was absolutely stunned to see a Mountie approaching from the end of
her road. He was in full dress uniform and sitting astride a beautiful
stallion. As he got closer and
closer Holly was able to see that it was infact Benton Fraser.
Her legs went weak, she became quite breathless.
She knew she had to keep her senses about her but it wasn’t going to be
easy.
The horse stopped directly infront of her. ‘Good afternoon. Would you be Holly?’ the handsome figure enquired.
‘I would’ came the stunned reply from Holly.
Benton dismounted and stood infront of Holly. She reached out and felt the red serge uniform. He was real - very real.
He took hold of her hand (shaking as it was) and gestured towards the horse. He helped her into the saddle and then he followed - Holly’s dream had come true.
A land of RCMP, deaf wolves, and red serge awaited her. She clasped her arms around Benton’s waist and held on tightly - she was never letting go of him. He gently pulled on the reins and in a moment Holly’s life was changed. They rode off into the sunset (well perhaps it was a bit misty, it was October after all) and lived happily ever after.