In the Land of the Long White Cloud

out for yourself! I…we…we need our constable in one piece!”
    Leonard beamed. He was exceptionally pleased that Helen was worried about him.

    Hardly three weeks later, Leonard was confronted with a problem more serious than the usual brawls among the prospectors.
    In need of help, he waited in the O’Kay warehouse until Ruben had time for him. Voices and laughter came from the building’s back rooms, but Leonard did not want to intrude. After all, he was thereon official business. It was not Leonard waiting for his friend but the police officer seeking the justice of the peace. He breathed easier when Ruben finally broke free and came out to see him in the front of the store.
    “Leonard! Sorry to make you wait,” Ruben said, evidently in good spirits. “But we have something to celebrate. It looks I’m going to be a father for the third time! But first, tell me, what’s this all about? How can I help?”
    “An official matter. And a sort of legal dilemma. A certain John Sideblossom just appeared in my office; he’s a well-to-do farmer looking to invest in the gold mines. He was all worked up, said I had to arrest a man he saw in the prospectors’ camp. A certain James McKenzie.”
    “James McKenzie?” Ruben asked. “The sheep thief?”
    Leonard nodded. “The name rung a bell at once. He was caught a few years ago in the highlands and sentenced in Lyttelton to serve a term in prison.”
    Ruben nodded. “I know.”
    “Always had a good memory, Your Honor,” Leonard said respectfully. “Did you also know they commuted McKenzie’s sentence? Sideblossom says they sent him to Australia.”
    “They deported him,” Ruben corrected him. “Australia was the closest place. The sheep and cattle barons would have preferred to see him in India or some far-off place like that. Most of all, they would have liked to see him in the belly of a tiger.”
    Leonard laughed. “That’s exactly the impression this Sideblossom gave. Well, if he’s right, McKenzie’s back, even though he was exiled for life. That’s why this Sideblossom fellow said I needed to arrest him. But what am I supposed to do with him? I can hardly lock him up for life. And five years in prison wouldn’t make much sense either—strictly speaking, he already has those years behind him. Not to mention that I don’t have space for him. Do you have any suggestions, Your Honor?”
    Ruben pretended to think about it—though Leonard could not help seeing the joy reflected in his face. Was he against McKenzie? Or for him?
    “See here, Leonard,” Ruben finally said. “First, find out if this is really the McKenzie Sideblossom has in mind. Then lock him up for as long as this Sideblossom fellow is in town. Tell Sideblossom you’re taking this man into protective custody. Sideblossom was menacing Mr. McKenzie, and you didn’t want a rumpus.”
    Leonard grinned.
    “But don’t tell my wife anything about it,” Ruben said urgently. “It should be a surprise. Oh yes, and before you lock him up, see that Mr. McKenzie gets a shave and a decent haircut if it proves necessary. He’ll be receiving a lady visitor shortly after entering that grand hotel of yours.”

    During the first weeks of being pregnant, Fleurette was always close to tears, and so she cried her eyes out when she went to visit James in jail. Whether out of joy at their reunion or desperation over his renewed capture was hard to tell.
    James McKenzie himself, on the other hand, hardly seemed upset. Until Fleurette burst into tears, he had been in high spirits. Now he held her in his arms and awkwardly rubbed her back.
    “Now, now, don’t cry, little one, nothing’s going to happen to me here. It would be much more dangerous out there. I still have a bone to pick with Sideblossom!”
    “Why did you have to run into him straightaway?” Fleurette sobbed. “What were you even doing in the goldfields? You weren’t trying to stake a claim, were you?”
    James shook his head. He did not look like one of the adventurers who set up camp on the old sheep farms close to the goldfields, and Leonard had neither needed to take him to the barber’s for a shave and haircut, nor had to help him out with money. James McKenzie looked more like a well-off rancher on vacation. Judging by his clothing and cleanliness, he was indistinguishable from his old enemy Sideblossom.
    “I’ve staked enough claims in my life and even earned plenty from this last one in Australia. The secret is not