Robbie lost it. "What the hell do business people know of the REAL world? You sit in your office all day pushing paper with your hand-picked staff. If someone doesn't live up to your standard, you fire them. It's not like that in teaching, Bartlett. It IS the real world.
"You get thirty little, very imperfect kids, each one of them with a school bag full of individual needs. You want to talk about the REAL world! When have you had to deal with cases of sexual and physical abuse of children? Or the trauma caused by divorce? When have you had to deal with the Special Needs kid, the emotionally disturbed child, the lice, the neglect, the poverty, the teen pregnancies, and all the other stresses that teachers quietly deal with day after day on top of teaching!? You know dick all about the REAL world, Bartlett!"
Bartlett turned beet red and started to look around nervously, as Robbie's stage voice carried all over the room. "Every damn adult who gets elected or spawns a child suddenly thinks they are experts on education! Bull! Get a university degree, your college training, and then work in a classroom for ten years and you'll have something worthwhile to say!"
Carolyn came charging around the corner into the kitchen to find Janet talking to Milka about the new language guidelines. "Janet, come quick! Robbie's telling Bartlett the truth about education!"
"Oh shit!" whispered Janet, as she put her drink on the counter, and bee lined for the living room.
"When do you think the curriculum gets researched and written? When do you think the marking gets done or the lessons planned?! When do you think the sports teams practise, or the field trips get planned or the concerts are rehearsed? Do you actually think that happens in the classroom?!"
"Ahhh, Robbie could I see you for a moment," interrupted Janet pulling on Robbie's arm. "Excuse us, John, won't you," she smiled, "I have something I need to show Robbie."
"Of course, of course." Bartlett smiled weakly, backing away with relief.
Janet pulled Robbie into the now empty kitchen. "What the hell were you doing out there?!"
Robbie looked annoyed and stubborn. "Telling that asshole the truth!"
Janet sighed, and shook her head, coming over to place her hand on Robbie's hard stomach. "Robbie, teacher bashing is part of the job. No one in politics is going to admit that they don't know what they are doing when it comes to setting up educational programs and no parent is going to admit their child is slow or poorly raised. It is always going to be the teacher's fault."
"But a teacher with thirty students has less than five minutes of individual time with each child a day! What can they do to solve all the problems that parents dump on them?!"
Janet frowned. "Robbie where are you getting all this stuff?"
Robbie smiled. "I read your manuscript about your first five years of teaching. It's good. I think we'll make a movie out of it someday!"
Janet's mouth fell open and then snapped shut. Her jaw tightened. "Robbie, my manuscript was on disc and in my desk files. I can't believe you would be so rude as to go through my personal things! Damn it, Robbie, it's not finished and I'm not sure I want it published never mind made into a movie! It's very personal!"
"Yeah, I know, that's what makes it so damn good!" smiled Robbie, in agreement.
"Robbie! What you did was very wrong! You violated my privacy!" snapped Janet, in angry frustration.
Robbie frowned. "Why would you want to have secrets from me?" she asked, in a hurt voice.
Janet rolled her eyes and stomped a few steps away, then turned and came back. "When you were working out your plans for the land you bought, did you tell me right away?
Robbie looked sheepish. "Well, no, I needed to work it out." She shuffled her feet and a red glow crept up her neck as she realized what Janet was saying. "I'm sorry."
Janet snorted in annoyance. "You're sorry I'm upset! You're not a bit sorry about going through me files!"
Robbie looked put out, "Well, it's a start!" she answered defensively.
Janet looked at her with cold eyes. "Never again, Robbie. Promise."
Robbie looked resistant. "What if there was an emergency and I had to go through your things?"
"Promise!"
"Okay, I promise," Robbie surrendered. Worry crossed her face. "Are you going to stay mad? Did I get you in a lot of trouble?" she questioned belatedly.
Janet gave her a quick hug. "Thanks for defending us teachers. Don't ever do it again, okay!?"
Robbie nodded, relieved to get off as lightly as she had. I got to learn to see my partner's rights. This going serious with someone takes a lot of work.
Winter Snows
Part 4 of 4
By Anne Azel
a_azel@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: The characters of Xena and Gabrielle are the property of Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. The characters and events in the Seasons series are the creation of the author.
My thanks to the readers who have been so kind in showing their appreciation of my stories. You are a great bunch! My special thanks to Lisa and Inga, who are my patient beta readers, and Susan for her comments and insights.
Warning: This story is alternative fiction, please do not read on if you are underage or if such material is illegal in your end of the swamp.
A still sleepy principal reached out a hand from under the covers and snagged the phone. "Hello?"
"They're here!" came the cheery voice of Mary Drouillard over the line. "George is just unpacking them now! Greta's T-shirt order is here too. She's on her way over. George and I have already set two aside for us!"
Janet smiled. Mary never introduced a subject. She just expected people to know what she was thinking. "What is here?"
"Why your snowmobile suits in your racing colours that Robbie ordered for the whole family! Oh! George is holding one up now! It's lovely, black with a gold slash down each side. You are going to look super! Bartlett will be able to hold their head up with pride this year, I can tell you!"
Janet controlled her emotions long enough to say, "Really! Well, that's great, and just in time too! We'll be down later today to pick them up."
Robbie came into the bedroom, drying her hair with a towel, to run into a small but mighty barrier. "You ordered racing colours?!" Janet hissed.
Big eyes looked out between strands of damp, tousled hair making her look a bit like Rufus. "Yeah. Are they here? I was beginning to think that they wouldn't get here in time for the winter carnival."
"You promised me that this would just be fun! No getting carried away! Damn it, Robbie! I was just at a Williams' funeral where the theme was racing colours! I don't want to attend another one!" Janet fought to control her emotions. If anything happened to Robbie, she wasn't sure she could go on.
Robbie pushed the hair off her face, realizing that Janet was really upset. "It's just an outfit, Janet. Team Bartlett has to look the part." To Robbie it was just all fun. The show, the competition, it was just all part and parcel of being Robbie Williams. She wasn't sure she understood Janet's fears. What could go wrong?
"Team Bartlett?!" fumed Janet, hands on hips.
"Hey it's no big deal!" protested Robbie. "It seems Bartlett has never had anyone enter the regional races before, so we are sort of the town's team by default. That's all. And George said all the other teams had colours so what was I going to do!" smiled Robbie innocently.
"Black and gold!" exclaimed Janet, realizing she was losing ground. Loving a Williams was no easy task. She was starting to realize why Alexandria had divorced herself from her feelings; it was probably the only way to survive.
Robbie wiggled her eyebrows. Janet threw up her hands in frustration. "I want final say. If I think it's too dangerous then I don't want you racing. It scares me," finished Janet her lip quivering.
Robbie pulled her close, not really understanding but moved by Janet's distress. "Hey, it's just a small, friendly contest. Okay, you've got final say. We Williams will be good. I promise."
Janet felt some of the tension releasing from around her heart. It was as if Robbie was just attracted to danger. She didn't want to chain her lover's free spirit but she did feel the need for placing some checks and balances on the woman. She had a daughter and responsibilities. She wanted Robbie to learn that she couldn't just live for the minute. "Robbie Williams, you are an olive!" she sighed.
"Mmmmm, let's have breakfast at Maria's and go pick up the outfits, okay? We can go to town on the snowmobiles!" laughed Robbie, almost dancing with excitement as she hugged Janet.
Janet smiled, lapping up Robbie's enthusiasm. " Okay. Let's get the kids up.
The four Williams paraded into Maria's and stripped off the layers of snow wear, their faces red with the cold. Outside, the ever faithful, Rufus sat looking through the window and waiting for the table scraps. The family had deliberately kept the speed of their snowmobiles down so that the determined dog could keep up. Maria bustled over. "Look, look, I am second to own one. Greta brought a box in for me to sell here in the store! These colours suits me, I think!
The group turned to see Maria in a black T-shirt with a gold four centimeter stripe along the shoulders and down the sides. On the left side in gold was the logo of a racing snowmobile. Across the top it read, "Team Williams" and below was written, "Bartlett's own!"
"Robbie...," started Janet.
"I didn't know a thing about it," cut in the director. Then she smiled. "We'll take four please!"
"Ahhh, good! They are selling like hot cakes! Greta is using them as a fund raiser for the drama society!" explained Maria bustling off. Janet looked around. Everyone was looking at them. She'd come to expect this but today the other patrons were all smiling and holding up T-shirts or pointing to the ones they were already wearing.
Janet sat down defeated. Robbie and Ryan went around signing the T-shirts. Janet looked over at Reb, who was sitting forgotten in the highchair. "We should have just driven the truck home ourselves the night of the funeral," Janet sighed. Reb blew a raspberry and laughed at Robbie across the room. "Great! My own daughter has become an olive."
The day of the carnival was beautiful; clear, calm, and crisp. There were games for the kids and rides on horse drawn sleds. The Lions Club was playing Christmas songs over the baseball park loud speaker and the women's auxilary were selling hot drinks, and barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers.
Ryan went off with some school friends, and Robbie took Reb on the small Ferris Wheel with Janet, rocking the seat back and forth until Janet ordered her to stop. Then they leapt on the back of a wagon covered with straw, and rode around the lake singing Christmas carols along with a handful of other town's people.
Back at the carnival, Janet took Reb and told Robbie that she had to go and do her half hour selling at the auxilary bake sale table. "Robbie, look around but please don't get into trouble!" she insisted.
Robbie looked angelic. "I am here just to have fun like any other Bartlett citizen!" she huffed.
"Be good," Janet reinforced and hurried off to help the ladies. Robbie walked along checking out the various displays set up by different companies. She saw a handmade cedar picnic table that she wanted to show Janet. They could put it on the porch or down by the lake to use in the summer.
Rounding the corner, her eyes lit up. There ahead of her was her childhood fantasy, a bright red fire engine with its yellow ladder extended! She made a bee line for it. "What about you, Walt? The volunteer fire department needs new recruits. You get to ride on the fire truck and hack through your neighbour's roof with an axe!" laughed George Drouillard, as Robbie came up.
"Sorry, George, my back's not up to it!" Walt responded moving on.
"You run the fire department too?!" asked Robbie in wonder, staring at the big, red, fire eating machine with dancing eyes.
"Hi, Robbie. Yup, I've been the Fire Chief of the Bartlett Volunteer Fire Department for about ten years now, because I've got the only garage big enough to keep old Betsy-Lou in."
"I want to join."
George chuckled and scratched a spot above his ear with a finger. "Well, Robbie, I don't think there is a rule against women belonging but it's never happened before. You see that ladder, there. You gotta be able to carry a full grown man down it. Not too many women can do that!"
"I can," stated Robbie, her blue eyes radiating confidence.
"Well," George laughed nervously. "I don't suppose we'll have any trouble finding a volunteer to help you with that test!
Ryan and her friends heard the excitement and came over. There was her mother climbing into yellow, rubber pullovers and big black boots. Standing up on a platform by the ladder was Dave Potts who ran the general store. "Hey, Dave, watch where you put your hands now!" someone yelled up.
"Oh dear," flustered David, who like his brother, was a shy, middle aged bachelor. He wasn't at all sure about being carried over the shoulder by the star who had been named one of the most beautiful and sexy women of the decade by People magazine.
"Two dollars says she drops him," called out someone.
"Five dollars says she gets him down but he dies of a heart attack with a grin on his face!" Everyone laughed and poor David, stranded at the top of the ladder, turned beet red.
"You can't do this, George! Every man in town will be setting his house on fire and rushing to the second floor!" More laughs and good natured fun followed as Robbie pulled on her work gloves and set her helmet in place.
"Hey, mom!" waved Ryan. Robbie looked over, saw her daughter and smiled. Ryan leaned over the rail. "You show them guys!" Robbie winked and swung up on the back of the truck and headed up.
At the top, she slung David's arm over her head, crouched and easily lifted the stocky man up on her shoulder. The crowd cheered. David closed his eyes.
This was the hard part, and the crowd fell silent. The other volunteers stood below with the fire net ready. For a second, she was hit by the pressure that she had taken on. That was her daughter down there. She couldn't fail and she couldn't fall. Maybe that was what Janet had tried to make her see.
Robbie got a good grip on the ladder with one hand and another on David, placed her left foot securely on the rung and swung out and around so that her other foot slipped onto the rung below. She shifted David into a more comfortable position and headed down the ladder to cheers and whistles from the crowd.
At the bottom, a few of the volunteers helped David, weak in the knees from the experience, down off the truck. Then Robbie jumped down. "You okay?" she asked David, who sat on the fender looking very pale.
"I'm fine. Dear me, nothing like that is ever happened to me before!" he gasped. Robbie laughed and leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek. Lucier, who had missed the ladder descent, had to be satisfied with a picture of Robbie's pucker and David's startled face. It appeared on the front page of the paper that Friday with the caption, Hot New Firefighter.
Janet stopped dead when she saw Robbie and Ryan advancing towards her. Robbie was dressed in the Fire Department yellow pants and jacket and Ryan was wearing a fire fighter's helmet. "Guess what, Aunt Janet. Mom carried David Potts down the fire ladder, and now she's a member of the Volunteer Fire Brigade!" bragged Ryan. "She's got a bleeper and everything!"
Robbie stood there with that silly grin she got when she was particularly happy with life and hadn't a care in the world. Janet closed her eyes and shook her head. Bartlett was never going to recover from Robbie Williams and her daughter. Somehow she had to make Robbie realize that little Bartlett was not Robbie's personal play ground.
Janet had to admit that Robbie had shown considerable restraint when they walked over, that afternoon, to where the races were being held in the old cow pasture, beyond the Lion's Club house. Big trailers with bright logos down the side provided storage for half a dozen snowmobiles and a full repair shop. The drivers had teams of helpers working on their machines. Team Williams was this pathetically small open trailer with one black and gold snowmobile perched on top. Their team consisted of the Williams clan and George Drouillard with a Jerry can of gas.
What they lacked in equipment, they made up for in spirit, however. Ryan drove their team entry slowly over to the warm up area with Reb sitting in front of her. The child's helmet she wore made her look like a little alien. Black and gold homemade banners dotted the crowd and a big cheer went up as they arrived. The Williams clan, all dressed in identical snowmobile suits waved back. How did I get to be part of another Williams orchestrated event? Janet wondered.
Janet wished Ryan luck in the under sixteen race and took Reb to find a good place to stand. Robbie stayed behind with her daughter to review their plans for the race. "Okay, kid. Remember to watch your speed into the third turn. It's icy over there, and you don't want to spin out," cautioned Robbie, checking everything over once again, before letting Ryan move up to the starting line with their snowmobile.
"Okay, mom!" smiled Ryan, with a sparkle in her eye at the thought of the speed and competition to come.
Robbie recognized the look with a sudden spurt of fear. She pulled Ryan's helmeted head close and spoke into her ear. "You be careful. I want you back in one piece. I love you!" Ryan smiled and gave her mom a quick one armed hug, then moved up to the starting line with the others.
Robbie ran around to stand with Janet at the starting line. "She'll be okay," Robbie reassured Janet and herself as she bounced from foot to foot nervously. Janet reached out and rubbed Robbie's back, feeling the tense muscles under her racing jacket. Robbie was a super mother in her own strange and wonderful way.
Robbie needn't have worried. Ryan easily beat the other kids without really feeling the pressure to push for that extra bit of speed. A good actor, she hung back and let Ryan enjoy the limelight before going over to wrap her daughter in her arms, and hug the daylights out of her.
The adult competition was a much larger field of competitors. Robbie moved up through the heats, coming in first each time. In the last heat, she was racing in a group of six. The most serious competitor was from Helingone, a community north east of Bartlett. Helingone had got its name from the early loggers who had wintered over there, and who swore it was several miles north of hell.
The residents of Helingone seemed to feel that they had to live down the name of their town by being fiercely competitive. They always won the snowmobile races and the summer regatta. They particularly enjoyed beating Bartlett because Bartlett's town sign read: "Welcome to Bartlett! We might be north, but at least we're south of Helingone!" They did not see the humour in this.
Big Jim Ableton was their number one racer. He was a logger by trade and resembled a hard wood tree both in size and intellect from what Robbie could ascertain. He had gone out of his way to pass nasty remarks about the 'girly' team that Bartlett was supporting. Robbie meant to wipe the course with him.
They sat in a row at the starting line, revving their engines in anticipation of the flag. They were off with a roar and a blue cloud of exhaust. Robbie let the world fall away until she was just one with the machine vibrating under her. The track tunnelled by in a blur, Robbie conscious only of what lay ahead. One by one, the other snowmobiles fell behind with each lap until it was just her and Jim jockeying for position close to the inside of the track. They came down the last stretch side by side, Robbie slowly edging forward. Fifty feet before the finish line, Jim edged his machine over, touching Robbie's back treads with his front ski.
The tread jammed for a split second sending Robbie into a wild spin. Jim crossed the line with Robbie spinning over a split second later. She felt the snowmobile tipping and leapt off. Her body was traveling at over a hundred kilometers an hour when it hit the snow. She spun like a top, arms and legs flinging out in all directions, then rammed back first into a bale of hay.
For a second, she lay there stunned. Then she rose up like a mushroom cloud over ground zero. She was going to cut Big Jim down to size, with her two bare hands. Shaking with anger, she took several steps in that direction. Then she caught sight of her family standing there, horror written on their faces. I scared them, she realized. She smiled and waved. She'd get that bastard in the final race.
Janet fell into Robbie's arms not caring, at that moment, what people thought. "Oh God, Oby! I thought you were dead!"
"That was cool," Ryan said, covering her own fear in humour. "You looked just like the blades on the helicopter. Bet you hurt!"
"Oby go booboo!" Reb observed, looking up at her hero.
Robbie bent and picked the small child up. "I'm fine Ryan, really. It looked worse than it was. I was just sliding along until I hit that soft pile of hay." In actual fact, every bone in her body had been jostled and she had some pulled muscles aching that she didn't even know she had. There was no use upsetting her family though and ruining a perfectly good day.
"I'll get Ableton in the final," she promised with a smile. "I'll be ready for his tricks next time."
"No," said Janet and all the Williams looked at her in surprise. "Robbie, you said I could call the shots and I'm doing so. You're finished racing today. I'm not letting you get hurt in some sort of grudge match!"
"Ahhh, Aunt Janet..."
Robbie touched her daughter's shoulder and she fell quiet. "I promised your Aunt that if she wanted me to pull out I would. So that's what we are going to do. The family's more important than the race," smiled Robbie, burning inside with frustration. Damn! Why did I make that silly promise!
Just then Big Jim swaggered past. He reached out a hand and gave Janet a slap on the back side. "Hey, girly, anytime you want a real man in your life, you just call. I think I can teach the school teacher a thing or two!" he smirked, as he walked on. Ryan and Janet had to both step in front of Robbie to stop her from going after him.
"Robbie?" said Janet, fuming with the insufferable rudeness of the man.
"What!" snapped Robbie, with more feeling than she meant. She was about one hair's breath away from murder. No one touched Janet. No one!
"You kick his ass good in the next race!" snarled Janet. For the second time in a few minutes, the other Williams looked at Janet in surprise. Then they all started to laugh.
Ableton had the post position with Robbie to his right. When the flag dropped, they were off to a fast start. This time, however, Robbie stayed close to Ableton just back far enough that she sat in his rear view mirror's blind spot. Every once in a while he would take a quick look back to see where she was. I'm getting to you, aren't I, tree stump!?
Just after the last curve, Robbie made her move, dropping suddenly to the inside and burning past Ableton. He tried to move to the outside. Robbie moved with him, keeping him right behind, in her ruts and exhaust. She kept one eye ahead of her, and one on Ableton watching out for his tricks.
Sure enough, he tried to ram her back end. She kept just that couple of feet ahead of him right across the finish line. The crowd of black and gold shirts clapped and hooted their approval. Robbie was pushed on a tide of well-wishes over to the platform to get her trophy. "Thanks, to George Drouillard and my daughter Ryan and the rest of the Williams team and a big thanks to the people of Bartlett for their support!" she yelled out above more applause and cheers.
The Williams clan, Droullards, Greta Corry, and several of Ryan's friends all sat at one table in the Lions' Hall and feasted on burgers. It was a tired family that hitched up their snowmobile trailer and headed back to the cabin in the late afternoon. Dinner was a plate of sandwiches by the fire, Janet holding the sleeping Reb at one end of the couch, Robbie at the other and Ryan nodding in one of the chairs.
"Don't you ever not tell me you are hurt again!" Janet commanded, later that night as she straddled Robbie's naked backside and massaged her aching muscles. Robbie moaned with pleasure and wiggled her back side between Janet's naked legs. Janet leaned forward and kissed the back of Robbie's broad muscular back. "I think you have misinterpreted my nurturing activities," she whispered into Robbie's ear.
Robbie growled. An arm shot up and around Janet, and the next thing she knew she was under Robbie. The director kissed her long and deep and hungrily as she lowered her hips between Janet's legs and moved rhythmically. It was Janet's turn to moan as Robbie slipped down and did things to Janet's body that made her go crazy with desire. She was getting close, panting with need, when Robbie's beeper went off.
"Nooo!," gasped Janet, burying her head in the pillow as Robbie leaped up and ran to the closet to slip into her clothes and firefighter outfit.
"Sorry, love, I'll be back. Save my place!" Robbie said as she hopped about getting her rubberized pants on.
Janet threw a pillow at her. Then called out as Robbie headed out the door, "Don't do a thing, just watch! You haven't had any training yet!"
Several hours passed, while Ryan, who had been woken by the commotion, and Janet, who was too stimulated to sleep, waited for Robbie to return. They filled in the time baking cookies for Christmas.
Finally, the fire truck, flashing red lights, pulled up at the side door. Janet was there just as Ted Potts raised his hand to knock. "Evening, Janet, we brought Robbie back on account of she was in no good condition to drive."
Janet paled. "Where is she?!"
"The boys are bringing her along now," replied Ted, stepping aside so that George Drouillard and Moe Singh could help Robbie in between them.
Robbie was soaking wet and an awful shade of blue. She walked along on stiff legs with her arms around each man's shoulder for support. Looking up and seeing Janet she said sleepily, "I'm hurt."
"Oh Robbie! Ryan put the kettle on!" instructed Janet, realizing that Robbie needed something warm in her right away.
"Why thanks, Janet, we could do with a cup of tea," said George, "I'll get the rest of the boys!"
The sun was showing on the horizon by the time Janet and Ryan had stripped Robbie of her clothes and got her in a hot bath and then into a sleeping bag on the sofa. She had refused to be put to bed while everyone else was drinking mugs of tea and eating fresh, out of the oven, chocolate chip cookies in the living-room.
"So Larry Butler did a little too much celebrating after the race today, and decided to take a short cut with his snowmobile over Turn Back Bay. 'Course, the ice there is no good, every fool knows that, what with the winds. Sure enough, the ice breaks up and he's left a driftin'. He calls his wife, Flo on the cell phone and she calls us out. By the time we get there, his vehicle had slid off into the lake and so had he," explained George between sips of tea.
"He'd managed to pull himself up on a small ice flow but it was clear he wasn't long for this world if we didn't get to him. We tried a few times, but the ice kept a cracken up under us. Finally, Robbie here, bein' the lightest, slipped into a harness and crawled out to the open water but by that time old Larry was too far gone to care. So damn if the lady doesn't keep right on a goin'. Swims about ten feet to him, hooks him on to her harness and we pulled both of them back in." George stopped here to chew a cookie philosophically.
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