Written By Brad Harness
It was a few weeks later that Lila Jenkins, the behavioural therapist, returned to Jackdaw, a small mining and lumber town in the hills of eastern Ontario. It was not far from Algonquin Park, that place of famed beauty millions have enjoyed. Lila liked going there, too, and today she had her kayak strapped onto the roof of her Subaru. Jackdaw was not far from the park gates at Whitney. She had had a pleasant drive up here from her office in Bancroft.
Annie Riffles came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron and smiled when she noticed Lila.
“My Lord….! I don’t know what you did when you spoke to Tom Hardy and Wilber Nugent…but those two are like a pair of geldings now.”
Stallions who had had their wedding tackle removed by the vet saw their strong personalities tempered. And it was just that way with Tom and Wilber now.
“What’s yer secret, Lila, if you don’t mind me askin’?” Annie leaned on her elbows in front of Lila’s meal on the counter which curved around horseshoe fashion from one half the diner to the other.Men were on one side, women the other.
Lila finished chewing a forkful of apple pie, wiped her lips on a napkin, and then looked at Annie.
“They both agreed to try a new medication. It’s known as an Emotion Leveller. It’s quite new…in fact, they are only my fourth and fifth patients…I mean customers.”
Annie looked intrigued. “So how does it work?”
“Well, it suppresses the hypothalamus in the brain, which controls aggression.”
“I see…” replied Annie as another lumberjack walked into her eatery, leaving the door open and leaves blowing in, the muddy footprints in a trail that indicated his progress.
She was annoyed and stood there, her hands on her hips.
“Kevin Hanson…by God! Do you never learn??!!”
Lila sat there watching the interaction unfold. How heated would it get?, she wondered.
Hanson was a big man in both dimensions, and cut an imposing figure, standing their with his axe - which he ought to have let in his truck out front. Annie was not to be overpowered, and she let loose a verbal barrage, trotting over to him.
She stood there face to face, eye to eye.
NEXT WEEK: PART 4
