Frank and Julie

Day 0

“Frank! Julie! Welcome to Cardinal!”

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor.” Frank shook the Mayor’s hand.

Julie did likewise. “Pleased to meet you. But where’s the police chief? I thought we’d be meeting him today too.”

“You are. You’re looking right at him.” Two puzzled looks led the Mayor to elaborate. “This is a small town. Some of us have to wear several hats.”

“Okay.” Julie took another second to blink and then continued. “Will we be meeting the other officers today then?”

“You already have. You’ve met each other. In this room stands the entire police force of Cardinal, Georgia.” The Mayor was enjoying this.

“We’re it?” asked Frank.

“Yup. You’re it.”

“But who are we taking over from?” Julie tried to keep herself from sounding rattled. “Can’t we at least meet them? Shadow them around for awhile and learn the ropes?”

“You can spend as much time with your predecessor as you like,” the Mayor assured her. “Don’t know that he’ll be much help though. Ol’ Barney passed on last Christmas. In the middle of opening his presents and everything. It’d be kinda sad, if we weren’t all sure that he’d have found it hilarious himself.” The Mayor smiled warmly as he thought of ol’ Barney. “C’mon now. Let me show you to your offices.”

After getting settled in at the office, Frank and Julie returned to Ranch Lane, and their new homes.

The original developer of Ranch Lane had planned to fill the street with a nice tidy row of identical, affordable ranch houses. But he ran out of money after building just two. Julie purchased the one farther away from the main road, number 5 Ranch Lane. A mortgage of §12,000, plus her personal savings, was just enough to buy the house and furnish it with the very basics. (Which did not, at least at first, include a television or alarm clock.)

Frank purchased the vacant lot across the street from Julie. It sat next to a slightly different sort of simple, affordable house, which had been built by the second developer of Ranch Lane (who ran out of money after building just the one).

To his lot at 6 Ranch Lane, Frank had delivered a pre-fabricated, fully-furnished, some-assembly-required Shorikiki house, which he had purchased, somewhat on impulse, on his post-graduation trip to Japan. It seemed as though the whole town of Cardinal was in attendance to see the unloading of the cargo container; and with the help of some of the handier residents of the town—as well as a few who were less handy, but fancied themselves quick learners and were curious as all get out—Frank got the basic structure assembled in a day.

He spent the next day looking after the smaller structural details, carefully unpacking the decorations and accessories, and following the enclosed untranslated instructions as best he could with his three years of college Japanese. He was quite pleased with the final result. Though he was left with a bit larger mortgage than his partner (§15,000), he would be living humbly in real style.

Next installment: The Welcome Wagon arrives!