The English Woman

by Inch, Jennifer

  After the service the family members went into the cemetery and watched Sara being laid to rest. Joe was standing with the close members of his family and Fran stood with Stephanie and Richard. As the people started to disperse Fran noticed Lauren standing at the back and as they walked passed her Lauren said "Hi Stephanie, what a terrible day, it's so heartbreaking."

  Stephanie didn't look at her and said with tears in her eyes "Yes Lauren, the family are devastated. Thanks for coming."

  "And hi Fran. I feel sorry for Joe. When we had coffee together he was really cut up over Sara's death."

  Fran was furious, "why didn't he come to me, why did he go to her" she thought.

  "Come on Fran, ignore her" Stephanie said as she pulled on Fran's arm.

  Although Lauren didn't like funerals, she was pleased she went to Sara's because it gave her the chance to speak with Joe and his family again. She really did like Sara and was very sad for her family, especially Glen and Sara's daughters. She and Joe once took Melissa and Marcia out for the day when Glen and Sara went Christmas shopping. They went to Bidwell Park, even though it was cold, and then to McDonalds and had a great time. Lauren really thought there might be a future with Joe, he was a good prospective husband because he would be inheriting the ranch one day, but now the English woman appeared from nowhere and had spoiled everything. Lauren had been trying to see Joe whenever she could and make sure Fran knew she was still interested in him. She wasn't sure if Joe still had feelings for her because since the arrival of Fran all his attention had gone to her, but she wasn't going to give up. She knew that because of her visa Fran would soon leave, so then she would get him back.

  Lauren knew Joe would be going into Chico to make the funeral arrangements, so she had hung about in the area of the funeral home as much as she could. Then late Monday morning she spotted him coming out of the funeral home and persuaded him to have coffee with her. She felt as though she had been a help to Joe when he was so upset, but it was a stroke of luck that Fran had walked in on them. When she saw Fran at the funeral with Joe's family she realised that she had been accepted by them, so she thought the only way to get them on her side was to discredit Fran in some way, but how?

  **********

  Lauren called at the ranch on Thursday morning when Nancy was in the kitchen baking with the girls.

  "Hi Nancy. Hi Melissa and Marcia, how are you feeling?" Lauren asked when Nancy opened the door to her.

  "Hi Lauren. We are okay, we are helping Nana bake cakes" Marcia said.

  Melissa looked surprised, "Oh, hi Lauren, we haven't seen you in ages." With everything going on she hadn't noticed Lauren at the funeral.

  "I saw you at the church and you look so sad, so I thought I would see if I can do anything for you girls. Maybe hang out for a bit" Lauren said in her most gentle voice.

  "They are okay Lauren. I think it's best if they are left alone. Glen is in the other room with Larry if you want to say hello. Joe isn't here" Nancy said as she opened the oven, took out a tray of cookies and put them on the counter.

  "Oh isn't he. Is he working then?"

  "No he's had to go into town and take back the last of the dishes the caterers left with us" Nancy said glumly.

  "Oh he's not with Fran then. What do you think of her, Nancy, do you like her?"

  "She seems very nice and Joe obviously likes her a lot. He's got that twinkle in his eye" she said as she looked at the girls, and they both giggled.

  "I guess she will be leaving soon" she said as she took a cookie that Nancy offered her.

  "Joe's going to ask her to stay" Melissa said suddenly, and Marcia added "they're going to get married." Melissa grabbed her sister "Don't be silly Marcia he never said that" she said whilst tickling her.

  "Okay girls, that's enough being silly in the kitchen. Well you could be right Marcia" Nancy said with a smile.

  Lauren was not pleased "I must go Nancy; I shall be late for rehearsals. Bye girls. Thanks for the cookie" she said as she turned to go out of door.

  "Oops, watch where you're going" Joe said as he bumped into Lauren.

  "Oh, hi Joe" she said in a surprised voice.

  "I need some food and a drink" he said as he grabbed a cookie from the counter. "Anyway Lauren, how come you're here?" asked Joe.

  "Just thought I would see how you guys are getting on, and to remind you Joe about the show next Tuesday."

  "Oh what with the funeral and all, I forgot."

  "You will be coming won't you? Not only to see me, of course, but also Angelo is doing a recital and he's going to be brilliant" Lauren said almost pleading.

  "Okay I'll be there. Can you leave two tickets at the door for me?"

  "Okay. I suppose the second ticket is for Fran" she said almost to herself as she walked out whilst waving goodbye to Melissa and Marcia.

  **********

  Travis Lawson was also a dentist who lived in Butte Creek as did many of the dentists from Chico. He lived there with his wife, Natalie, in a beautiful home with terraced gardens and a lawn going down to the creek. Fran and Joe arrived at the Lawson’s on Thursday evening to find many guests already drinking in the garden. They were introduced to some of the guests who were amazed to find out that they were not dentists and that Fran was from England, although some of the guests thought they recognised Joe. The smell of barbecued beef filled the air and Fran and Joe were soon lining up to help themselves to a plateful of beef and salad.

  "I'm glad you came Joe. I know it must be hard on you at the moment" Fran said as she gave Joe a peck on the cheek.

  "It is hard, but I figured if I'm with you and I have a few drinks it may help me stop thinking about Sara. You always make me feel good Fran, even with your funny little ways" Joe said his lip curling slightly at the edge.

  "What do you mean my funny little ways" Fran said while giving him a dig in the ribs with her elbow. "Joe, I wasn't happy walking in the coffee shop and seeing you with Lauren" Fran said as she looked into his eyes.

  "I bumped into her when I was in town making the funeral arrangements. She suggested having coffee; she said she wanted to cheer me up!" Joe said innocently.

  "Can't you see Joe, she's coming between us, and she’s trying hard to get you back."

  "I've told you before Fran there's nothing going on between Lauren and me and there never will be; you know you are my girl" Joe said as he kissed her on the forehead. "Oh, and just so you know she called at the ranch this morning. She said it was to remind me about the show at the University on Tuesday. She is going to leave us tickets at the door. Angelo will be performing."

  "Yes, he did mention it when I saw him last week. Okay I guess I will go" she said half heartedly. All week Fran had wondered why the Lithuanian man had a photo of Angelo on him and if the Police still thought there was a connection between Angelo and his father to Daina's death.

  The catering company on this particular evening was just one chef who was known as Chad Christensen. He had red hair and spoke with an unusual voice, where he would start a word and cut it off before the end. He was a mathematics teacher who had been divorced twice and had two children and did catering as a spare time job. He was an amusing character as were many of the guests at the barbecue. Fran told him she was from England and was travelling around the States.

  “When will you be in Wyoming?” he asked.

  “Not sure” she replied.

  “I am going there in a week’s time; I have a cabin there and I could put you up if you want.”

  “Thanks, I'll let you know" Fran said as she left him carrying on with his catering. She tried to hold back a laugh as they walked away.

  "My God Joe, that was a bit forward; didn't he realise you are with me?" she said to Joe as she let out a giggle.

  "I think he's a bit weird, no wonder he has been divorced twice" Joe commented.

  "Let's go down by the creek" Joe said as he refilled their wine glasses. They walked down to the water's edge where they found Richard and Stephan
ie. As the evening went on the guests left as it started to get dark. Fran became involved in conversation with a large man in his early sixties, who told her he had recently undergone open heart surgery and had to give up his dentist practice and sell his home to pay for the surgery. He had come to California from Tennessee and was now acting as a ‘housewife’, fishing and collecting wines. During their conversation he would suddenly burst into song for about a minute, then stop and continue with the conversation!

  The mosquitoes were getting thicker so Fran and Joe went into the kitchen where they picked at the remainder of the barbecue beef. “Where’s Richard?” Joe asked Travis as he walked into the kitchen, because he had not seen him for about half an hour.

  “He is in the bathroom; he fell down the steps. Leave him; he’s alright” Travis said as Joe pushed passed him and headed towards the bathroom. Stephanie followed and then came back into the kitchen.

  “I’ll go and fetch the car to take Richard home. Joe can’t drive because he’s had too much to drink” she said to Fran and walked out with Natalie. After a few minutes Natalie walked back into the kitchen.

  “Stephanie has fallen now. I have come for a flashlight to help her” she said as she picked up a flashlight and walked out of the door.

  “I will come with you” Fran called as she headed after her.

  It was dark along the Honey Run Road that followed the creek. They soon came to the cattle grid which led to where the car was parked. The flashlight picked up a crumpled figure sitting on the grid. It was Stephanie; the heel of her shoe had got caught in the grid that she had not seen in the darkness of the night. Fran spotted her shoe and pulled it from the bars of the grid and gave it to Stephanie. “Are you alright?” she enquired.

  “Yes, I hurt my knee. I didn’t move because the car keys fell by me” she said as Natalie flashed the light around. Fortunately the light fell on to the keys and so Natalie picked them up. "I was afraid out here on my own in the dark, because some people at the barbeque were talking about the body they found in the creek last week, and they say the police haven't a clue who killed the man” Stephanie said shaking. Then with Natalie and Fran’s assistance Stephanie pulled herself up and hobbled to her car. Fran waited to see that the road was clear for their exit and then she walked back to the house and Stephanie and Natalie followed in the car. They found Richard lying on a bed in a state of shock, his face blotted with red raw grazes and grazes on his right elbow, hand and knee. His broken glasses were at his side. It was about half an hour before he would agree to go home in the car, and with Joe’s help they got him home.

  After getting Richard in his bed and saying goodnight to Stephanie, Joe crashed on the couch. He slept soundly due to the amount of wine he had drunk. However, when Fran got into bed she found it hard to get to sleep. Her body was covered in insect bites, and the bites on her feet and legs throbbed and itched so much that they kept her awake.

  **********

  Joe had enjoyed the barbecue because he had stopped thinking about Sara for a few hours and enjoyed Fran's company, but he had to get back to the ranch the next morning to be with his family. Richard looked so bad with his grazes that he could not be seen by his patients, especially if they found out that he got like that from being drunk. So Richard dropped Stephanie into work and then he went with Fran to Bidwell Mansion. Richard with his grazes and blistered hands and Fran with her bites, were finding it painful to tour Bidwell Mansion. It was a Victorian house completed in 1868 and was the home of John Bidwell who had owned Chico ranch that was the start of the university town of Chico. He had been a bookkeeper to Sutter at Sutter’s Fort and had been given the land by the Government, which he had used for horticultural experiments. As his marriage had not produced any children the remains of his estate had been left to the church.

  When they left the Mansion they called into Moe's To Go for some sandwiches to eat in Bidwell Park. As they collected their order, Fran heard a familiar woman’s voice. "We must stop meeting like this.”

  Fran turned "Oh Lauren" she said obviously shocked to see her there.

  Lauren grinned "Hi Fran" and then turned to Richard "Joe not with you guys?" she said flicking back her hair.

  "He's spending time with his family Lauren. Leave him alone" Richard said sounding annoyed.

  "I hate that bitch" Fran said angrily under her breath as she pushed passed Lauren and never spoke to her. Richard heard what Fran said as he walked behind her and could feel the tension between the two women.

  **********

  Fran got up to a beautiful morning; the sun was shining on the creek and it was 105ºF. Fran put on her bikini and was looking forward to tubing down the creek, mainly because the cool water would stop her bites from itching! Richard had given her some antihistamine which had helped but the bites were still driving her mad. Joe had arrived early as he had promised Fran he would go tubing with her even though he was still feeling depressed. Soon they were ready for tubing down Butte Creek Canyon from Richard and Stephanie’s home to the covered bridge.

  “I can’t get down there” Fran cried out slipping on the steep embankment.

  “Yes you can do it, just hold on to the bushes” Richard shouted reassuringly.

  Joe had now climbed partly back up the embankment. “Hold on to me” he said as Fran held out her crudely make paddle that Joe had just put together and he grasped it, pulling her down the sloping sides of the canyon. She scrambled down and was soon at the water’s edge.

  “You get in first” said Joe passing her the inner tube.

  Fran placed it in the fast flowing water and sat in with her bottom in the cold water. “I’m off” she shouted grasping her paddle, “I can’t wait for you, the water is taking me.” She hit the first rapid, which she was to find out was one of the easiest, then approached the quieter waters and turned to Joe.

  “Joe, I have found gold. No kidding” Fran shouted to Joe who was struggling with his inner tube.

  “What does it look like?” he asked, smiling.

  “It's small pieces embedded in a rock” Fran replied as she continued to look around her. She could see more rocks with the shiny stones embedded in them.

  “That’s not gold” Joe said laughing.

  It was not completely crazy of Fran to think that she had found gold, because in the gold rush days a great amount of gold had been found in the river, and only a few years previously a local boy had found a piece the size of a 1½ inch cube.

  Then Fran heard shouting and looked back to see Joe struggling in the rapids that she had just gone through. “Oh no, Joe!” Fran screamed, “Joe, are you alright?” She could see he was struggling, his face panic stricken as he tried to beat the rapids and pull himself back on to his inner tube. Fran looked up to see Richard high on the edge of the canyon watching to see if they were in danger. Then after a few minutes Joe was out of danger and back in his inner tube.

  “It’s alright” Fran shouted to Richard “he is ok now. I nearly had a heart attack!” She kept hold of the branch that was preventing the river from taking her further downstream, until Joe was by her side.

  “Are you alright?”

  “I thought I’d had it. I couldn’t get back up” Joe said, his voice shaking and fear showing on his face.

  “Okay, then we’ll go on” Fran shouted as she let go of the branch and was once more under the control of the current. There was no let up; every rapid they approached was as treacherous as the last.

  “Oh no, there’s a tree right across the creek!” Fran exclaimed as she looked at Joe in complete terror. "What do I do now?" she thought as the water was hurtling her towards a tree that had fallen into the creek. Before she could take any action she struck the trunk and as she hit it she turned to see Joe caught in the branches.

  “My legs are caught, I can’t get them out” he shouted.

  “Push your feet against the rocks to free your legs” Fran screamed, “I can’t stay here any longer, I’m going.” The water fe
lt like a ton weight pushing her against the tree. She had to go under or over. "If I go over" she thought, "I will lose my inner tube, but if I go under the tube should still be there." Fran ducked under the water and was instantly the other side of the tree. She grabbed the inner tube and dragged it over the trunk. She then turned to Joe to see that he had also managed to get free from the tree, and relief came over her. They continued to hit other rapids where the rocks bashed against Fran's bottom. She had to push herself away from rocks and trees and put her head down, as she was swept through overhanging branches to find mosquitoes covering her whole body and getting in her hair.

  Joe was a few yards in front of Fran, and as the water was pushing her to the left side of the creek she could see a huge tree growing from the bank horizontally, about ten inches above the water. "How am I going to avoid hitting the tree; I shall have to duck under like the last one" she thought, but that wasn’t to be. The river had made up its mind and suddenly Fran was lifted up into the air, her inner tube flew out in front of her and her head banged the tree trunk above. She went down like a brick. Fran swam with all my strength and rose out of the water and grabbed on to the tree that had nearly drowned her, gasping for breath.

  “Help!” she cried. "Who’s going to help me" she thought. Joe was further downstream and would not be able to get back against the rapids. Fran couldn’t swim in the current; it was taking her under again. So she grabbed the branches of the tree and wrenched herself out of the rushing water on to the trunk, then crawled along it until she reached the bank. Fran found herself in about six feet of stinging, prickly undergrowth and feared that there would be rattlesnakes hiding and watching ready to attack. She realised she could not turn back, and would have to go through the undergrowth hoping that she didn’t fall or come across a snake. Fran walked on, pushing away the prickly and stinging plants with her paddle, which somehow was still in her hand. Her whole body was stung and scratched and she wished she had worn more than just a bikini. She realised she had to let Joe know that she had not drowned in the river.