“You don’t mind if I just sit here in the shade; I really don’t like the sun. My day has been so crazy, and this bumper is a nice place to rest,” she said with a slight tremor in her voice.
“Mam,” I said respectfully as I holstered my gun. “Officer Patel says there was a theft, can you give me your side of the story?”
“Oh yes; Officer Patel was such a nice person, at first. He saw that I was struggling in the heat at the Queens Park, Canada Day celebration, so he offered to let me sit with him in his airconditioned car for a few minutes. He was so very hot in his red, wool uniform and big brimmed, Mountie’s hat.
We had a nice chat about his family and where he came from. I had told him I needed to go to the Christie Pits Park to listen to Chrystia Freeland, you know, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She was going to give a speech at the Canada Day celebration there. He said he would take me, but duty called first; he had to go out with his partner and let people take pictures with them. I could sit in the car and wait if I wanted.
It’s silly how the Mounties are such a tourist attraction.
Well, I waited and waited, and it was getting very late. Chrystia is my heroine, and I couldn’t miss her speech. But Patel and his partner were just inundated with tourists wanting pictures. It would take forever before they were finished. We had delayed so long already that if we didn’t go now, I would miss her completely.
Since Officer Patel was supposed to go there later anyway, I didn’t think he would mind if I took the car there for him, especially since he was so busy with the tourists.
He didn’t notice me getting into the front seat and driving away; except that as I was pulling out, I knocked over a garbage can. That got his attention. Boy, could he run fast. But I was in a hurry and couldn’t wait.
Of course, there was heavy traffic on the way, so I fiddled with the siren and got that going too. Everyone saw me with my broad-brimmed hat and assumed I was a Mountie. Even when I passed some Toronto police cars, they quickly moved out of my way. I got here just in time. Chrystia gave a wonderful speech.”
“Mam,” I countered, “You stole a Royal Canadian Mounted Police car. I’m going to have to take you in.”
“Oh, don’t be silly young man, I didn’t steal it, it’s right here where it should be. I can’t help it if the Mountie who drives it, isn’t where he should be.”
Author’s Note: Thanks to Lisa Bowen, for letting me take this picture at Chrystia Freeland’s Canada Day picnic in the Christie Pits Park in Toronto. And no, she didn’t steal the police car.