Turnbull's New Friend    Turnbull's New Friend by Shannon Kane

 Author's webpage: http://members.tripod.com/~daisy_poo/duesouth.html

 Author's disclaimer: Due South and the cute little Turnbull belong to
Alliance, I know it.

 Author's notes: This is just a little story exploring Turnbull's
personality.

  

 Turnbull's New Friend 

 It was a typical day at the Consulate. Inspector Thatcher was on the
phone, and had been for an hour. Fraser was filing a report, and Dief was
watching him. I, Constable Renfield Turnbull, was on guard duty. The
tedious job of watching people walk by. But I never complain, it is my
duty. I just began my shift, and it looks like rain. Oh dear. The rain
started shortly, in torrents. All the people on the street began running
instead of walking, and I was stuck out here. At least my Stetson kept the
rain off my face. An hour later, I began hearing the sound of an unhappy
cat. It sounded young, about 7 months, and hungry too. The sound became
increasingly louder, and I began to wonder if someone was looking for it.
After listening to it's incessent noise for a long time, I permitted
myself to look for it with my eyes. Sure enough, there it was, right in
the bush beside me. It had a lovely gray colour, and green eyes. I was
correct, it looked very skinny, and fairly young. The cat soon came
closer, and began to look up at me and yowl. Since I couldn't pick it up
or provide shelter, I had to just listen. But that wasn't enough for the
cat. It jumped up onto my trousers, luckily on the part that stuck out, so
it wasn't painful. It continued up my serge, and onto my shoulder, under
the protective guard of my Stetson. It was such a nice kitty. As soon as
my shift was up, I proceeded into the bathroom. Nobody noticed me, due to
my steathness. I went about cleaning and drying the feline with a towel.
The cat seemed to like it. But she was still hungry. On the way to the
kitchen, I decided to name her Elizabeth, after the Queen. She wasn't a
second, so she couldn't very well have that name, could she? In the
kitchen, I prepared a lovely meal of fillet lamb in a lovely beef gravy. I
was tempted to partake, but left it for my little friend. 

 "TURNBULL!" 

 I heard the call of the Inspector. My limbs began to shake and I started
to hyperventilate. I can't let her see Elizabeth! So I put her in a
cupboard with my food. 

 "NOW TURNBULL!"  

 Oh no! She's mad! I slowly went down the hall, trying to think of yellow
and happy birds. 

 "Turnbull, what did you do to the towels in the bathroom?" She gave me a
piercing glare. I was terrified. "Well, ma'am, you see, it was wet
outside, so I had to dry off." There, that would work. 

 "There is cat hair on this towel Turnbull." She was unconvinced. 

 "It will never happen again!" I ran out, praying she accepted my answer,
and went back to my friend. When I got back and opened the cupboard, she
was gone. 

 "ELIZABETH! OH NO!" 

 I noticed then Constable Fraser holding her in the doorway. 

 "Turnbull, what is a cat doing in here?" He asked. "Dief almost ate her
alive. You have to let her go." 

 "In the rain? But sir!" 

 "Now Turnbull." So I let her out again, into the rain. Goodbye my friend!