Page 43 of Panther's Magpie
“Yeah. You know, wives or girlfriends of the guys.”
“I haven’t seen any other females around but you since I got here.”
“Ah. Yeah, they don’t hang out here a lot. None of the younger guys have anything serious going on. These are some of the old-timers’ girls. They help with the charity stuff and basically stay out of all the trouble now that their old men are practically retired,” she tells me.
“Oh. So that’s why they are old ladies. Makes sense.” I hum.
She shakes her head. “No. Old lady is the term bikers give their significant others when they are serious about them. Age doesn’t factor in. Don’t you remember me mentioning this before?”
I shrug. “Vaguely, but I mean, let’s be honest, I didn’t think I’d be here long enough to remember it.”
She gives me a sad look. “Don’t give up hope. We will find her.”
I wish I was still as confident as she sounds. Instead, I’m worried that she will never show up or, worse, when she does, it will be her dead body.
The front door opens again, and Rain smiles.
“Look what the cat dragged in. Lisa, Kim, this is Maggie. Maggie, this is Lisa and Kim.”
The two ladies are not old by any means. I expected a seventy-year-old-looking woman. Instead, these women can’t be but in their fifties.
“Hi,” I whisper shyly.
“No need to be shy, sweetheart. Who are you here with?” the one she called Kim asks.
I frown looking at Rain.
“Technically? Panther. She’s his sister’s best friend,” Rain tells her.
Both ladies frown. “We were real sorry to hear she had come up missing. They will find her, I’m sure. If we can do anything, let us know,” Lisa tells me.
“Actually, she needs some girl time. How about she join us today?” Rain offers.
“Of course. The more brains, the better. What we do is so important for the community,” Kim tells me as she leads us to a nearby table.
We all take a seat as I ask, “What is it that you do exactly?”
She smiles. “There are a lot of things, but mainly we support the community any way that we can. The run we just did was for children’s cancer research at the local hospital. The next one will be for something similar, but the reason we are here today is because the old warehouse downtown burned down and took two residential homes with it. We are organizing a rebuilding crew to get the houses back up and running while also fundraising for their temporary shelter.”
“Wow. That is amazing,” I tell them.
I didn’t realize they did such good things here. I guess when I’m only focused on the bad parts, I can’t see the good.
“They also escort people to court and sit in the courtrooms when they are a victim of abuse and are scared to testify against their abuser. Not just kids and women either. They have gone for men too who were being abused by their partners, be it male or female,” Rain adds.
My heart warms at the thought of that.
“That is truly such good work to do. Makes me proud to have gotten to know these men,” I tell them all.
They nod like they understand.
From the outside, the Mountain River MC looks like a bunch of rough bikers who would mug you for a dime. Inside, they are truly good people wanting to better the world. Sure, they dosome unsavory things, but I don’t believe they do anything with the intent of harming another human being.
“The families are going to need clothes,” I start, pushing us toward the task.
“They are. I can get the ages and sizes for each of them. We can ask for donations,” Lisa adds.
“I have a trust fund I never use. I’d be happy to donate some for the cause, whether it be clothing, food, lodging, or materials,” I tell them.
