"I married a fairly well to do man. I mean, not extremely rich, but we had considerable more than the poor people. Then the economic collapse came. My husband lost his work, found more work but not at what he was being paid before. Then he lost that. He went out each day making what he could, but oftentimes it was next to nothing, or, nothing.
Then one day he didn't come back. Two days later the police came and told us to get out of our house. We didn't own it any more. We were told to put on old clothes as anything decent we had belonged to the creditors. I went to seem my brother-in-law and he took us in but insisted that I pay the rent twice a month with the only commodity I had. This went on for a while, then he wanted my daughters to help pay the rent. They were too young and I said no. He threw me out. That is when I went to a public phone and called the Republic's mission. Their van picked us up and took us to one of their shelters. There were thousands of us there. I shared a room with another woman and her six children, but we were clean, dry, and got two meals a day, emergency rations all but one meal a week. They tried so hard to give us one hot meal a week! We all considered it a banquet.
The children continued their education. Then the Indian government tried to make the Republic pay to bring in relief supplies. The Republic sent in troops instead, seized the port facilities, and protected the shelters. The army wasn't fool enough to fight them. They rebelled, arrested the leaders, and asked the Spiritists to make India a protectorate. That's when the recruiters began coming to the shelters. What they offered was good. If we joined the army our children would be sent to boarding schools, have private rooms, two hot meals a day. We would be trained and given a spending allowance. Thousands of us took the opportunity.
For some reason they made me an officer almost immediately. I had command of a squad when we entered Bangladesh. It was a walk through. Then we went into Pakistan. The army welcomed us but the drug dealers put up a fight. I helped liberate the brothels and freed the little girls, and thought but for The Spir those could be my daughters. I say to hell with national sovereignty! It's only an excuse to protect criminals. When a country really has no government, when the drug dealers run it, I say go in and get them!
I've been training mostly since then, but got tired of it and wanted to be back out in the field again. So when this position came up, I volunteered, and here I am!"
"Impressive career!" Samuel commented. "I've got a special mission for you. I've got a women's compound for widows and orphans. It seems to be a magnet for every male thief in the area. They seem to think the women are easy prey. I've armed them but they only have a fundamental knowledge of how to use their weapons, and are still hesitant to fight men. I think meeting you and hearing what you've been through will be an example that they can fight for themselves, too. They don't have to depend on men to protect them. It's one of the first things I want you to concentrate on."
"Of course!" the Warlock answered. "I promise you, I'll have them proficient in security maintenance in short order."
Joy, in her usual manner, sensed things about people. "You're very respectful of daddy," she remarked, "but you don't like him, do you, because Crysanthamum and Suzie are his wives. It's all right! They love him, and he loves them, just like he loves mother. And I'm going to have lots of brothers and sisters. They weren't made to be here, they WANT to be here!"
"JOY!" Sharon snapped. "How many times have I told you not to just say things but to think of other peoples' feelings first?"
"Well it's TRUE mother!" Joy argued, "And father said to always speak the truth."
Everyone including Gandhi giggled. "I will admit," she confessed, "I do find your household a little odd. But I have never found a place so full of love and happiness." She looked at Sharon. "Aren't you jealous?" she asked.
Sharon shook her head. "We're like a part of each other," she explained. "We share the work. having them here gives me time to see to the needs of the widows and orphans.
Joy and Victor have more companionship than I could ever give them and love and respect Crysanthamum and Suzie as if they were their mothers. I will admit I was a little irritated at first, but that quickly went away."
Gandhi shook her head and raised her glass. "I salute this house," she toasted. "I hope I can draw strength from its blessings."
Samuel raised his glass and said "Here! Here!"
Gandhi proved her worth in but a few weeks. Damon West was a good man, but she had that insight into the criminal mind. She could out think them at every turn, seemed to know where they were going to be, before they did. She so impressed the local commanders that they often argued over who would patrol with her and many of them fell in love. But not half as much as Major Joseph. Gandhi spent much of her free time at his house. His daughter adored her, and began to call her Warlock Mother, as the local people had dubbed the Indian women Little Mothers, because they thought of them as mothers who had come to help protect their children.
They only had to arrive at the scene of trouble and it was quickly brought into order. Very few resisted them and those that did soon wished they hadn't, because they impressed many a rowdy man by putting them down, handcuffing them, and throwing them in a truck!
The people in the city quickly came to love them. There was nothing serious for several months. Then one

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