The Dangers

Of

Daring Officer

Dolly

Chapter 3

Perils of the Christmas Elf

by Skytower

There are big houses and little houses and even medium sized houses. But when you are only a little above a foot tall every house is a grand chieftain's hall. Ordinary structures become equal in size to the fabled Tower of Babble or the Cathedral at Notre Dame. This particular house was like a thousand other houses in California. A poured concrete foundation that supported a single floor and an attic crawlspace. The backyard boasted an in-ground swimming pool and a garage. 12-foot high hedges that provided privacy and a sound barrier from the road fenced in the yard. Merry McCormick had been dropped off from the road. Thrown out of a nondescript blue van that barely slowed down. She had suffered no injuries from being thrown. One of the advantages of being only a little over one foot in height was a drastically reduced body weight. Also Merry had been encased in a solidly built rubber ball shaped like a child's idea of a space ship. Merry herself was dressed in a pair of green tights, a green long sleeve tunic, belted at the waist with a wide black belt and sporting white fluffy cotton around the neck and wrists. Her long platinum blonde hair had been cut short and tinted green. Her ears had been shaped into delicate points and they poked through her hair and through the two holes in the brim of her green felt elf-hat. Her soft blue eyes had been allowed to remain the same, but makeup had artfully been applied to her face. Her cheeks were red, her nose dulled and her chin slightly pointed. Padding in the suit reduced her hourglass figure to a slightly plump one.

The spaceship-disguised ball had bounced off of the sidewalk and into the hedges, lodging solidly between two branches. A moment after it stuck firmly the door on it opened and Merry stepped out. It was a cool cloudless night lit by streetlights and a full moon. The back yard stretched before her like a football field. Hoisting a large sack on her back Merry started forward. This was not her first housebreak, but every other time she had been carried to window, door or crack in the wall. Not this time. This time her masters had stressed stealth above all else.

They didn't tell her why of course, they seldom explained their actions. They didn't need too. The Group, as Merry thought of them, had taken her months before. They controlled her size and monitored her every action. Disobedience was met with horrible consequences.

Merry made it across the yard without incident. To anyone of normal size it would have looked like a normal yard, with toys scattered about randomly. To her it was a moonscape of half-grown grass and mud, with deep gullies and large temples. Once at the side of the house she made her way over to where a clothes dryer vent protruded from the wall. From her pack Merry took out a string with a magnet attached to it. She wound up and threw the magnet. It clamped onto the metal with a slight sound that no one but Merry heard. Once she was sure the magnet was secure Merry started to climb.

The trip through the dryer vent was like a trip through an old dusty room filled with cushions. The air was stale and warm while the metal walls were cool. Lint lined the tubular walls and the only light came from the propped open dryer vent door. But she managed to get through it and then crawled out of the vent into the empty space under the drier. Here there was still plenty of dust, but no sign of mice or rats. Merry let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding in. At her size a mouse or a rat could be a deadly enemy. If one had been there and attacked Merry would have had no choice but to fight. Death in battle was preferable to facing her masters if she failed.

Dim light came through another vent and Merry went over and peered through the metal bars. The drier was located in a small laundry room. No one was there and there were no sounds in the house. Merry pushed opened the vent and stepped inside. The room held a washer, the dryer Merry had just stepped out of, a table and a TV. Merry moved through it quickly and into the living room. When she was a little ways into the living room Merry froze.

Christmas had been a part of Merry's life, mostly in her childhood. She had grown up in a house with the tree and the stalkings (hung from a stereo speaker, not a fireplace), but by the time she had become a police officer the holiday had faded for her. Her parents had died and as a single woman she often worked Christmas so that the married officers could stay at home with their families. The last few years she hadn't bought a tree and since moving to Pine Woods she hadn't even decorated her own house.

The owners of this house loved Christmas. They loved it a lot. The smell of fresh pine and gingerbread filled the room. Garland lined the four corners of the room, a poster of Santa Clause from the famous Coca-Cola add of the 1940's hung on the wall. Ornaments even hung form the light fixture in the ceiling. But the tree was what really stunned the shrunken woman. It reached from the floor to the ceiling and was wider, or seemed to be, wider than a car. Ornaments, tinsel, lights and even homemade paper chains and strung popcorn adorned it. It blazed between the front door and the door leading into the kitchen. Blazed as if the spirit of Christmas had taken corporeal form. Beneath it were presents and then more presents. The entire scene burned itself into Merry's brain and brought a lump to her throat.

"These are people who know Christmas." She whispered to herself and if there was envy in her voice she didn't bother to hide it.

{It is pretty yea, but get moving.}

The voice could not have been heard by anyone but Merry. It was not sound, rather it was a message spoken into her own mind, as if in her own thoughts; but it was not her thoughts.

Merry crept across the room and looked down a short hallway. Four doors, two on either side faced each other. The first door on her left would be the older daughter's room, with the younger daughter's room across from it. The next door on the right was the parents room and the one across from that was a nursery. Merry prayed that the baby slept soundly. At the far end of the hall was the door that led to the bathroom.

Merry walked down the corridor to the parent's door and listened carefully. No sounds came from the room. The door was opened a crack and Merry peered inside. In the streetlight that filtered in through half open curtains she saw a bed, a dresser and a treadmill. Grateful for the plush carpeting Merry walked over to the bed and looked up. She was at the bottom of the far bedpost. The bed was a worn piece of furniture. It may have been in the family for generations. Dark wood with deeply carved patterns of flowers and vines filled her eyes. Merry went over to one of the legs and climbed. She gained the top of the post quickly and looked out at the parents.

"Ohhhhhhh......... my!" The words escape from Merry without even her realizing it. Dave and Helen Saxon lay on top of the covers, their bodies entwined together. They were nude and what they had been doing before going to sleep was obvious. For a moment she felt dizzy. Merry had seen people nude before, but never had she seen a man and a woman together, like this, from her shrunken state. In the dim white light of the street light the man and his wife were gigantic ivory statues, beautiful and chilling at the same time. They were both in their thirties, both in good shape. Helen was a short voluptuous woman, Dave a tall slim wiry type of man.

{Move.}

The order shocked Merry out of her astonishment and she stepped from the bedpost to the bed. Walking carefully she made her way toward the nightstand. Walking across the bed was like walking across wet sand; Merry bounced and it was difficult keeping her balance. She passed them on the left and found it impossible not to stare at Helen's body. Close up the experience was more than chilling. Merry felt as if she were intruding on a pair of gods and that they would awake at any moment to smite her. Only the thought of what The Group would do to her if she failed kept Merry moving. She made it to the nightstand and stepped onto it. Opening her pack she pulled out a pair of glasses. They were wide tortoiseshell styled frames and an exact replica of the type that Helen wore to read. Merry put them on the nightstand and took Helen's, putting them into her pack. She still had no idea why The Group had ordered her to do this. Helen Saxon was an optometrist, her husband an English teacher. Neither of them had any real power in Pine Hills.

Experience had taught Merry that wondering was futile. When The Group wanted or needed her to know they would tell her.

Merry took one last look at the sleeping giants and then leaped off of the nightstand and onto the rug. It was a dangerous thing to do; rug or no, slight body weight or no, but Merry wasn't sure she could walk past the Saxon's again. She knew that afterwards, in her nightmares, she would be walking by them and Helen would turn over, crushing her. Merry had yet to go on any mission that hadn't resulted in nightmares.

She landed safely and took a deep breath. Then she hoisted her pack and walked out of the room. Once into the hallway Merry put the pack down and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. The Group could shrink her as they wished. It seemed to do no harm to her physically, but the mental strain on her sense of self, her spirit; that was hard to endure. Normally Merry stood six feet and one inch tall. She was a police officer and, she thought, a good law abiding person. But at The Group's orders she knew no laws but theirs, and they knew no laws. There were times when guilt plagued the young woman.

"Wow!"

The single word shocked Merry and she looked up to see a young girl standing at the entrance to the hallway. A glass of milk was in her hands.

{You are on your own.} The Group's cold words materialized in Merry's mind. {We will not help, but we will watch. Don't betray us.}

Merry swallowed hard, trying to force her heart back into her chest.

"Hello Ophelia." She said pleasantly.

"How do you know my name?" The girl asked. She stepped forward and knelt down. Into Merry's mind flowed every bit of information that The Group had told her about the Saxon household. She was standing in front of Ophelia, middle daughter, age 9 and 1/2. Ophelia took after her mother with soft brown hair that was cut short and wide gray eyes set on a round face. She was wearing a nightgown with little Christmas trees on it.

"How do I know... oh!" Merry cut her sentence off as the girl put down the glass of milk and picked her up.

"Are you a robot or something?" Ophelia asked turning Merry upside down and running her hand over the shrunken woman's body as if looking for a switch.

"Hey! Stop! Please!" Merry tried not to shout the words, tried to keep the panic out of her voice and nearly succeeded. "I'm not a robot or a toy! I'm a Christmas elf!"

"What's a Christmas elf?" Ophelia asked. She reached over and picked up Merry's pack.

"We help Santa." Merry said. Her head whirled from the examination but at least Ophelia had righted her body.

"Why do you have my mother's glasses?"

"They're replacements." Merry said. "This is what a Christmas elf does, we handle the small stuff... socks, underwear, glasses... that leaves Santa free for the big stuff."

"Mom's glasses aren't broke." Ophelia said. She looked at Merry with the eyes of a child, but they were by no means trusting eyes. They were the eyes of a child who had grown up with Television and the Internet. The child wanted to believe her, but the kid who watched TV and surfed the net didn't; couldn't. If Ophelia had been younger by a year or two Merry was sure that she would have believed her. But now... Now Ophelia was holding something that didn't fit into the real world she was beginning to know. She was holding something from the childish world she had known, and like anyone caught between two worlds the child was uncertain of what to do. But Merry was acutely conscious of the fact that with one careless squeeze of her hand Ophelia could kill her.

"I know." Merry said. "There was a mistake."

Ophelia put down the pack and turned Merry upside-down again. Once more her fingers searched Merry's body.

"Are you sure you're not a robot or something?"

"I'm a Christmas elf!" Merry protested. "Really!"

"My sister says there's no such thing as fairies and elves and such."

"Well..." Merry faltered then forged on. "Well she's wrong. I am one and I've got a schedule to keep. Please let me go."

"If you're an elf why can't you just free yourself with magic? Are you like a leprechaun? Now that I caught you do I get wishes?"

"I can't do magic when anyone's watching." Merry said.

Ophelia picked up her glass of milk and then stood up. Leaving Merry's pack where it was Ophelia pushed open the door and carried Merry into her room.

Ophelia's room was small, but well furnished in almost a classic little girl's room. A Disney floor lamp provided light. A princess bed stood against one wall, against the opposite wall was a desk and dresser and in the center of the room was a small tea table. The walls were done in soft blue and pink pastels. Ophelia put Merry onto the table and sat down across from her. Reaching down the girl grabbed a couch from a dollhouse and placed it behind Merry.

"I really have to go." Merry tried.

"What's it like being an elf?" Ophelia asked. She picked up a small teacup from the dollhouse, filled it with milk and handed it to Merry.

"It's not so bad." Merry said. She took the teacup and sat down.

Ophelia picked up a small diary and opened it. Taking a pen she wrote something down.

"What do you do?"

"You mean aside from this?" Merry asked.

Ophelia nodded.

"Well... a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"Ah... um... We help out with intelligence." Merry took a sip from the milk to stall for time. For sheer inspiration there was nothing like sheer terror and Merry was terrified. Ideas were popping in and out of her head at lightspeed and she was desperately grabbing at anything that sounded like it could make sense. "You see we're not elves all the time... we disguise ourselves as humans and keep an eye on people... help out with the naughty and nice list."

Ophelia wrote down her answer.

"What are you doing?" Merry asked.

"Writing down your answers." Ophelia said.

"Why?"

"I always write down important stuff."

"Oh."

{We will allow this.}

"If Santa gives me gifts how come they come from the store?"

"Magic." Merry said. The girl's eyebrow lifted questioningly and Merry plowed on. "You see they only look like they come from the store. We can make a copy of anything... and if it looks like it comes from a store..." Merry paused to take another sip of milk, a long one. Ophelia waited politely.

{Mass production.}

"Yes... mass production!" Merry almost shouted but managed not to spill the milk. "I mean there are a lot of kids in the world, and they all want the stuff from the store... so we just copy in... in really big batches."

"Oh." Ophelia seemed satisfied with the answer. "But I never get everything I ask for and I'm always good."

"You can't get everything you ask for." Merry said.

"Why not?"

{Good question.}

Merry could have sworn that The Group was laughing as they echo of Ophelia's question appeared in her mind. She tried to ignore it. Luckily Ophelia was still writing so Merry had an excuse not to answer until the little girl was finished.

"Shipping, storing... making the stuff..." Merry said. "If every good little girl got everything they asked for we'd be overloaded... even with magic there are limits you know. So we try to focus on what they really need or what they really want."

Ophelia nodded and refilled Merry's teacup.

"My big sister says there's no such thing as Santa."

"Well she's wrong." Merry's heart beat as a thought came to her. "She's not a light sleeper is she?"

"She isn't here." Ophelia said. "She snuck out when Mom and Dad went to bed. Went to see her boyfriend."

"You don't like him do you?" Merry asked, clued in by the tone Ophelia had used for the last word of her sentence.

"He's a creep." Ophelia said.

"He's probably on the naughty list." Merry said.

Merry finished her milk and stood up.

"Look it's been nice... thanks for the milk and all, but I really have to go."

The child leaned back in chair and looked closely at Merry. Then she reached under the table and pulled out a small digital camera.

"One picture and then I'll let you go."

"A picture?" Merry yelped the question.

"One picture." Ophelia said in the tone of voice that all little girls use to stop forestall disagreements.

While she set the camera up Merry waited, her heart beating in her chest. She waited for some word from her masters, either to approve or deny the picture but none came.

"This is just for us right?" Merry asked. "I mean... my job is a secret you know... I could loose it if anyone else found out I was here, especially with the mistake about the glasses and everything..."

Ophelia ignored her until the camera was ready. Then she came around behind Merry.

"No one but us." Ophelia said. "I'm good at keeping secrets. Smile!"

Merry looked toward the camera and smiled just as the flash went off.

There was nothing for her to do after that but sit and wait while Ophelia put the camera away. Then Ophelia reached over and picked her up. The child held Merry as she yawned and stretched. Merry was grateful for the padding in her suit as Ophelia's hand squeezed. For a moment Merry worried that it was not over. But the girl put her down on the floor.

"Thanks." Merry said. "Look... you won't tell anyone you saw me will you? Like I said it could mean my job."

"I promise." Ophelia said.

She went over to the bed and climbed into it.

Scarcely able to believe her luck Merry started toward the door.

"What's your name?"

Merry stopped and turned around.

"My name is... ah..."

{Thalia.}

"Thalia?" Merry echoed the word as it appeared in her mind.

"Thalia?" Ophelia asked. "I thought she was a muse."

"I was named after my older sister." Merry said after a slight wait and worry that The Group would order her to tell Ophelia that she was a muse. Merry wasn't even sure what a muse was but she was almost out the door and now wasn't the time to complicate matters.

"Oh. See ya then."

"Bye." Merry said.

Merry made it out into the hallway without anymore questions. She fell against the wall by her pack and took deep breaths.

{What an extraordinary child.}

I had no choice, Merry thought. I had to lie. Merry picked up her pack and walked down the hallway. She was relieved to have made it through the episode. Still the lies that she had told ate at her conscience. Not that she would ever have told a child there was no such thing as Santa Claus, but...

Merry was halfway through the living room when the front door opened. She switched instantly from a slow and thoughtful walk to a mad dash and made it to a pile of presents under the Christmas tree just as the door swung open. From her hiding place Merry watched as Hellena Saxon and her boyfriend stumbled into the living room and fell onto the couch.

{We are beginning to wonder Dear Girl if you are jinxed.}

Merry gritted her teeth and willed herself to keep still. Hellena Saxon was going to stand a little taller than her mother did but she would be just as buxom and that process, though still incomplete, was well on its way. It was revealed now as her boyfriend playfully unbuttoned her shirt revealing a bra-less pair of breasts.

{Don't interrupt.}

Merry stopped just as she was starting to move.

{We know what you are thinking Officer Dolly.} The Group's words were cold in Merry's mind. {But only sixteen or not the young woman has made up her mind. Wait and stay hidden until this is over.}

Merry obeyed, even when both youths parted enough for her to see the bottle of beer in their hands. The police officer in her raged and rebelled. But her fear of The Group, and Merry's realization that she was still barely a foot tall held her in place.

"No Mike." Hellena said as he started to fiddle with the belt on her jeans.

"Damn!" Mike said and sat up a bit, pulling away from her. He took the bottles of beer and placed them on the coffee table. Mike was a thin youth, with blonde hair and a clean strong face with a square jaw. In a few years he'd be incredibly handsome. Even now there was a rakish charm to his looks that Merry suspected got him an easy pass on most things.

"Hey we shouldn't even be in here." Hellena said. She sat up and put her hand on his shoulder. "My parents are home you know."

"But I love you so much." He said and Merry had to work hard to keep from throwing up.

"If I didn't love you would I let you do this?" Hellena asked. She reached over and took his hand and then placed it on her bare breast.

"Guess not." Mike said smiling. He started to toy with her large brown nipple.

They embraced and Merry wondered how long they were going to go at it. But then she saw Mike reach into his pocket and pull out something. It was a small bag of pills. Merry watched as he deftly fished one of the pills out and dropped it into one of the beer bottles. Then he placed the bag back into his pocket.

Before The Group could react and before Merry even knew what she was doing the cop in her had taken over. She ran out from behind the presents.

"Stop!" Merry shouted.

"What?" Hellena pushed Mike away and sat up, quickly closing her blouse. Both of them looked for the source of the command.

{We told you to stay where you were.}

Merry ignored the anger in those words. Her focus was on the two people on the couch and even her vulnerability ran second to her police instincts.

"Jeez!" Mike swore spotting her. He looked at the beer.

"Hellena don't drink your beer!" Merry ordered. "He just put something into it!"

"What the hell are you?" Hellena asked.

Mike didn't ask, he lunged over the coffee table and grabbed Merry before she could dodge him.

"Some kinda robot." He guessed.

"Let me go!" Merry shouted.

"Spunky robot." Mike said. As Ophelia had done he turned Merry over and around, looking for a switch. "Where's the off switch?"

"I'm not a robot you creep!" Merry snarled trying and failing to free herself from his grip. "I'm a Christmas elf and you're definitely being naughty!"

"Shut up." Mike ordered slamming Merry down onto the table. The impact caused Merry's head to crash against the tabletop and the air to be pushed out of her lungs. She was vaguely aware of her hat flying away. Merry lay stunned and helpless as Mike bent over her.

"Did you kill her?" Hellena asked still dazed from just seeing Merry.

"I don't know." Mike prodded her and Merry moaned. "Nope."

"What is she?"

"I don't know, some sort of freak." Mike reached over and started to unbuckle Merry's tunic. "Or a robot, I bet there's some sort of switch here someplace."

Merry tried to sit up but he pushed her back down. Still stunned she was barely able to lift her hands as he opened the belt and pulled open her tunic.

"Whoa!" Mike said, almost whistling the word. "Cute boobies!" He pulled her tunic the rest of the way off and dropped it onto the floor.

"Hellena don't drink the beer!" Merry moaned ignoring her nudity. She held onto that one thought despite the pain, refusing to give into the blackness.

"What is she from a temperance outfit?" Hellena asked.

"She's whacked." Mike said. He picked Merry up and shook her, ordering in a harsh voice; "Shut up!"

"Don't drink the beer!" Merry whispered through the pain. It felt like every joint in her body was being hit with a dentist drill but she still managed to talk. "He drugged it."

"I said shut up!" Mike snapped slamming her down onto the tabletop again.

Merry cried out in pain as she felt her arm hit the unforgiving plastic. Her ribs and spine competed with the arm for attention.

"What is she talking about?" Hellena demanded.

"He's got a bag of pills in his pocket!" Merry gasped out. "He put one in the beer!"

Before Mike could say or do anything Hellena lunged over and thrust both of her hands into his jacket pockets. He fought her off but when her hand came free it held the bag.

"You slime!" She swore. "Get out of here!"

"Hey you've been teasing me for two weeks!" Mike said. "A guy needs more than a feel after two weeks!"

"And when a gal says no she means no cromag!"

While they argued Merry dragged herself across the table. They were both beginning to shout at each other and she could guess what was coming next.

{If you are expecting a rescue forget it. You have disobeyed us Officer Dolly. Survive or die now on your own. Dying is the only way you will escape our punishment.}

Merry ignored the voices in her head. Consequences be damned, she would not watch a 16 year old be raped. A part of her was sure that The Group would understand that once their anger had passed.

Merry was at the edge of the coffee table when Helen and Dave Saxon charged into the room. There were more shouts and the sound of a scuffle; then the table was overturned. Merry tumbled to the floor with everything else but somehow managed to stay conscious. Dragging herself to her feet Merry staggered and stumbled to the back of the couch and worked her way along the wall to the hallway. The sounds of the fight followed her as she moved along the wall. Hellena was learning the downsides of sneaking out and Mike was learning that rakish good looks did no good against enraged fathers. Merry decided that the nursery was the only place she could hide until the fireworks were over.

Suddenly Merry stumbled across some ones bare foot. She looked up at Ophelia.

"Ophelia go back to bed!" Helen ordered. "We'll explain all this in the morning."

"Ok mom." Ophelia bent down and picked Merry up before going back to her room.

"Are you ok?" Ophelia asked when they were in her bedroom.

"I'll be alright." Merry said, "I just need to hide for a while."

"Ok."

"You know you're not very good at not getting caught."

"Anyone can have an off night." Merry said.

Ophelia took Merry into bed with her and drew the covers around them both. Merry was grateful for the warm young body but the pain from her ribs, her arm and her head kept her from relaxing.

"Is Hellena in trouble?"

"I'd say so." Merry said. "I don't think she'll be seeing Mike anymore."

"Good."

Ophelia yawned and was soon asleep. Merry marveled at the girl. Nothing seemed to phase Ophelia or throw her off balance. Merry lay next to her, gathering her strength. Her left arm was broken. Merry was sure a few of her ribs were as well, and she was also sure a concussion was part of her list of injuries. Fearing that Merry desperately fought to stay awake. The Group was silent. Merry briefly entertained the idea of staying with Ophelia, becoming the secret friend of the little girl. But she knew it could never work. As the child grew older Ophelia would wonder more and more about Merry and where she came from, and if Merry was discovered by anyone else...

Still for a few moments Merry let herself dream about it. Then she let the dream go.

A little while after the sounds of the shouting and fighting had stopped Merry slipped out of the bed and walked back into the living room. The place was a bit messy, but no serious damage had been done to anything. Merry found her tunic and belt. Putting them on she used the belt to hold her broken arm in place. Then she found the glasses and left the same way she had come in. If it had been hard crawling through the dryer before it was nearly impossible now. But Merry kept going despite the pain. It was dawn before she made it back to the spaceship-shaped rubber ball and sealed herself into it.

{You disobeyed us.}

"He was going to rape her." Merry said aloud, the only way she could talk back to them. The only thing that The Group could not do was read her thoughts.

There was no response.

"Please." Merry pleaded. "She's only sixteen... I couldn't let her... Sixteen year old girls make mistakes"

{So do shrunken police officers when they go against our orders.}

"I wasn't discovered." Merry protested gasping out the words. "Not really anyway. I did what you told me to do and I paid for it! My arms broken, my ribs are broken and I think I've got a concussion. Isn't that enough pain?"

For a long time after that there was no word from them. Merry's mind was silent save for her own thoughts. She wondered if they were going to just abandon her. Then she felt the ball being picked up.

{We will decide how much and what type of pain you are to suffer.}

Merry let the darkness claim her at last. She knew there would be punishment later, but for the moment at least she was safe in her masters' hands.

Merry moved stiffly as she walked through the park. It was good to be out in the open air and sunshine and good to be doing her job again. But the freedom and authority of her job was an illusion. Merry winced at the thought of what was to come that night. The Group had proclaimed that they and they alone would decide how much pain she would endure, and so far they had seen to it that the pain was hard. Once they had healed her body Merry's punishments had begun. She tried not to think of the punishments. The sun was warm and the day was bright. Besides, the punishments were not malicious. Merry told herself that again and again. They were simply punishments. Like standing in a corner or...

Merry sighed. There was no; 'or', there was simply the fact that she had disobeyed The Group and they were impressing upon her the dangers of ever doing it again. Pain was a good teacher.

"But it's not harsh pain." Merry whispered to herself, pausing to get a drink from a fountain. Then she started to walk again. "And I did disobey them, but for the right reasons. They see that. They know that I'd never disobey them except..."

"I said go away cromag!"

Merry changed course quickly and walked toward the voice. It was coming from near the restrooms and Merry had a good idea who was talking. Rounding the corner she saw Hellena facing Mike. Merry came up along side them quietly unnoticed.

"Look I told you I was sorry." Mike said grabbing Hellena's wrist.

"And I told you forget it!" Hellena snapped back. She tried and failed to break his grip.

"Yea and you told everyone else in school." Mike said. "Now I'm lucky if the girls speak to me. I look at one and I got her brother in my face. You have to clear it up!"

"No." Merry said calmly, grabbing the wrist of the hand he was using to hold Hellena. "She doesn't." Merry squeezed using the full power of her now full sized muscles. "You have to let go of her."

Mike gasped in pain and let go of Hellena. Merry used the wrist hold to move him back and stepped between them.

"Let go!" Mike ordered, or tried to. Merry let him go and he took a step back. "This is none of your business."

"Your right." Merry said smiling. She stepped into him and he stepped back. "I'm just walking."

Merry took a few more steps, bumping into Mike twice before he fell down.

"What's your problem!" Mike demanded, but there was fear in his voice now.

"No problem." Merry said looking down at him, and there was no part of her at all that wasn't reveling in the payback. "I'm just walking."

"You got..."

Merry stomped her foot hard between his legs. She didn't touch him, didn't even come close, but Mike jumped back anyway.

"Let's save each other a lot of cliches." Merry said pleasantly. She took out her nightstick and fingered it, forming a circle with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and moving the nightstick through that circle. "I'll start; you tried to drug and rape this girl. That is wrong. She warned her friends about it. That was right. I know your a guy, and you think a guy has a right to do what ever he wants with his... well you know." Merry's voice turned hard and cold. "That is wrong. It is about as wrong as any guy can ever get. A guy only has the right to do what he's earned the right to do. You earn the right by being a nice standup guy. Now you may not see that yet, your young, but you better see the truth of it soon." Merry bent down and held the nightstick in front of his face. "Anything can get stuffed into a meat grinder you know. Doesn't matter how long or how hard it is; alls that comes out is hamburger."

Mike turned white and scrambled to his feet.

"If you bother Hellena again its hamburger time." Merry said firmly putting her nightstick away.

Mike tried to speak and failed. Instead he backed away and ran.

"Hopefully that will slow him down long enough to think." Merry said turning back to Hellena. "Hardest thing in the world to do is get a guy like that to think."

"Thanks." Hellena said.

"That's ok." Merry said.

"Man I am so dumb." Hellena said. "I really thought..."

"It's easy to be fooled." Merry said. "You know I teach self defense courses at the high school on Saturday mornings. I've never seen you there."

"I never needed them." Hellena said shrugging.

"Trust me." Merry said. She reached over and tapped Hellena's chest. "The more these grow the more you'll need self defense courses."

Hellena laughed nervously but rubbed the spot where Merry had poked her.

"I guess your right."

"I've been there." Merry said, tapping her own chest.

"Yea." Hellena said and Merry saw a flash of understanding in her eyes.

"So I'll see you there?"

"Definitely."

"Hellena!"

Merry looked up and saw Ophelia and Helen coming toward them. Seeing them both from this angle threw Merry and she had to force herself to act normal.

"There you are." Helen said in a tone that spoke volumes about her daughter's probationary status.

"I was just talking to..."

"Merry McCormick." Merry said nodding at them. "Hellena was just asking about signing up for the self defense course I teach at the high school.

"Oh." Helen said and Merry suspected that her uniform and badge had just cut short a parental lecture. "Well that's a good idea. But come on, we have to meet your father."

"Ok." Hellena said. She flashed Merry a quick look of thanks and they headed off. They were about twenty feet away when Ophelia turned back and trotted over to Merry.

"You forgot this the other night." Ophelia said handing Merry the green felt elf hat.

Merry's jaw dropped open in astonishment but she quickly closed it. Ophelia smiled and winked at her.

"Good disguise." She said and then trotted back to her mother and her sister.

"Thanks." Merry whispered long after the child was gone.

{Children understand things that adults don't.}

"But... if she knows..." Merry whispered.

{Don't worry about it Officer Dolly.}

"But.."

{We said don't worry about it.}

Merry almost snapped to attention at the tone of the words.

"I won't." She whispered almost desperately.

{Good. You need not come to us tonight Officer Dolly. Your punishment is over. Tonight you can go home and play with your Christmas present.}

There was no audible click but Merry somehow knew the conversation was over. Or at least they weren't speaking to her anymore. They were watching though, Merry was sure of that. But it didn't matter. They weren't mad at her anymore. Merry couldn't stop the joy that sang inside her at that realization. Couldn't stop it even as she realized that the present was part of the pain and pleasure conditioning that bound her to them. Intellectually Merry could know that, but her joy brushed aside her intellect.

"They aren't mad at me anymore." Merry sighed happily. Taking a deep breath she looked around and then continued on her park patrol.

End.

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