Fear of Frying jj-9 Page 3

  “Like what?" Eileen Claypool said with a suggestion of a leer.

  “Like the room arrangements," Bob said, apparently missing the leer. "You can't physically lock the kids up to keep the boys and girls apart. I'm sure there are fire regulations about that, and if there aren't, there should be. If the boys and the girls came at the same time, we'd have to pay for extra staff just to make sure they weren't sneaking out and meeting in the woods at night."

  “On the other hand, how many of the girls are going to want to go camping if boys aren't involved?" Shelley asked.

  Jane was on the point of echoing this sentiment when she realized she'd somehow slopped some gravy on her sleeve when she passed it to John Claypool. Since she'd brought a minimum of clothes, she thought she'd better wash it out. "Where's the rest room?" she said quietly to Benson, who was sitting at her end of the table.

  “Next to the front desk," he replied.

  She excused herself and went to wash out the cuff of her blouse. When she returned through the main lobby area, she noticed an older woman sitting by the fireplace. Wondering if this was Liz Flowers and not particularly eager to rejoin the group wrangling over sexual separation of teens, Jane approached the other woman and introduced herself.

  “I'm Edna Titus, Benson's mother," the woman said. "You look chilled, Jane. Sit here with me for a minute."

  “Gladly," Jane said, putting her hands out to the fire.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?" Edna Titus asked.

  “Oh, yes. But I'd underestimated my responsibility. I guess the word 'Wisconsin' has always meant `vacation' to me. This is a lovely place."

  “It is. We've been here about ten years, and I still wonder at the beauty. You're not a smoker, are you?"

  “I'm afraid I am," Jane admitted. "I've been trying to stop for years and I can manage on about five cigarettes a day, but go berserk on any fewer."

  “Oh, good! Somebody to be sinful with," Edna said. "This fireplace has such a nice draw that the smoke goes right up if you sit close enough.”

  She rose from her chair, sat on the raised flagstone hearth, and drew a battered pack of cigarettes from her sweater pocket. Jane studied her as Edna searched for a lighter. She was a tall, rangy woman who had probably never been pretty, but had an air of handsome dignity. Her gray hair was pulled into a casual knot on top of her head, her slacks and striped shirt were well worn and well kept. She was a woman who cared about her appearance, but not excessively so. She finally found her old-fashioned wick lighter, lit Jane's cigarette, then her own, and said, "So. .? What do you think?"

  “Of what?"

  “Of the chances the school board and city council will contract with Benson.”

  Jane felt instinctively this wasn't a person who could be tactfully lied to. "I have no idea. I really haven't been involved in the discussion until tonight: I assumed it was all but a done deal and we were just here to give a final approval, but now I'm not so sure.”

  Edna nodded. "Thanks for your honesty. Oh, it looks like our stragglers have arrived," she said as headlights swept across the front door. "I need to get their dinners ready. Would you mind greeting them?”

  She hurried back to the kitchen. Jane put out her cigarette and went to the door. A tall, stately black woman with very short hair and a red, fringed poncho was coming across the parking lot with long, determined strides. She stepped onto the porch and took Jane's hand in an almost painfully firm grasp. "I'm Liz Flowers," she said. "You must be Jane Jeffry. And this is my husband—" She turned around and realized she was alone. "Al? Have you lost yourself in the woods already? Where are you?"

  “Just coming, hon." Al emerged from the darkness. He was taller and much darker skinned than Liz, and considerably heavier. Jane thought he looked like a Masai warrior who'd let his weight get out of hand.

  “The owner's mother is warming up your dinner," Jane said. "Come on inside."

  “See, Al? I told you that you wouldn't have to starve," Liz said. "You didn't need to stop and get that packet of Oreos. Everyone else is here, I guess?" she added to Jane, who was holding the door open. "Thanks.”

  Jane trailed along, bemused by the couple. Liz headed straight for the dining room without a moment's hesitation, as if she had an internal compass. She greeted those she knew, introduced herself to everyone else, told Al where to sit, and took Benson's now vacant place at the end of the table. Liz was forceful, energetic, and brisk.

  Al Flowers appeared to be a mellow man happily caught in her force field. He gazed around the room, shaking his head slowly in approval. "Nice place," he said, smiling vaguely.

  “Well, of course it's nice," Liz said. "We knew that from the brochures. Now, what's the plan?" she demanded of the others. She hauled a large tote bag out from under her colorful poncho and plunged her hand into it. "I've made some notes of things we need to look at, and propose that at least two people, working independently, evaluate each.""Now, Lizzie," Al said softly.

  Amazingly, she stopped talking for a second, and stashed the notebook. "Okay, okay. But we have limited time and shouldn't be wasting it."

  “There's plenty of time, Liz." He had a deep, rumbly voice.

  Benson came through the kitchen doors with a tray of desserts just as Marge Claypool screamed.

  Four

  "There There was a face at the window!”

  Marge was white with fear and embarrassment at having made a scene.

  “Must have been Lucky Smith," Benson said an- grily. "I'm going to call the sheriff right now and see if Lucky can be watched more carefully. This is trespassing at the least and I won't have it!"

  “No, no! Don't call the sheriff. Please," Marge said. "I don't want to make trouble for anyone."

  “Marge is right," her husband, Sam, said. "It's late and we're all tired and we'd be up half the night if you call and get the sheriff out here.”

  Benson unwillingly agreed, but added, "He really is harmless. Obnoxious and distasteful, but harmless. I'm sorry he upset you, but don't let it spoil your dessert. It's my wife, Allison's, special recipe."

  “Your wife?" Jane asked.

  “Right. Allison's a little under the weather tonight and let the cook make dessert, but she'll be up and around tomorrow.”

  The dessert was divine — a shortcake that nearly floated off the plate, crushed raspberries, and real clotted cream. Jane wasn't hungry after her big dinner, but she polished off dessert and barely restrained herself from licking the plate.

  A couple of "Now, Lizzie's" from Al kept them from enduring an extra hour of planning sessions, which Lizzie dearly wanted to inflict on them, but it was still nearly ten o'clock when they started back to their cabins. Without anyone mentioning it openly, they agreed to move out in a group. Marge's fright had gotten under everyone's skin and made them all realize how far they were from their usual habitat.

  “Benson and Allison," Jane said quietly to Shelley as they walked along the road, all four Claypools in a bunch in front of them, and the Flowerses following with Bob Rycraft. "I once dated a guy named Jan, but I refused to marry him because I didn't want to go through life as half of 'Jane and Jan.' "

  “You're making that up," Shelley said.

  “How'd you know?"

  “Al, will you keep your flashlight pointed at the road?" Liz demanded. "You're going to trip and hurt yourself.”

  Jane and Shelley could barely hear the "Now, Lizzie.”

  When they were safely and comfortably locked up in their own cabin, Shelley declared first dibs on the fancy bathtub, and Jane bundled up to go sit on the back porch for a while. But she didn't last long. At first all she could hear was the pleasant burble of the now invisible stream running below and behind the cabin. But as her eyes and ears adjusted, she started imagining she could see tiny movements out of the corner of her vision and hear scrabbling sounds in the dried leaves. Probably just mice, she told herself. Then she heard something much larger moving around in the creek. Perhaps a big dog. Perhaps a pe
rson.

  She dragged a few logs inside and locked the doors. She put them in the fireplace, but decided by the time she got the fire going, they'd probably both be asleep and she'd have to put it out again. Experience had taught her that this was a very smelly process.

  Shelley had just come out of the bathroom in her robe with a towel around her head. "What's up? You're not starting a fire this late, are you?"

  “No. And what's up is spooky noises. Shelley, does it strike you that the more often somebody says someone else is harmless, the more alarmed you become?"

  “ 'The lady doth protest too much'? Yes, I thought if Benson said that one more time, I was going to find the sheriff and throw myself on his manly bosom. I'm sorry to say I'm already having bad feelings about this," Shelley admitted, fluffing her short, dark hair with the towel.

  “It got a lot better after the Flowerses arrived. `Now, Lizzie,' " Jane added, doing a bad imitation of Al's deep voice.

  “Well, when there's a loony peering through the windows, it's bound to make people nervous."

  “Even before that," Jane said, pulling the drapes that covered the glass wall overlooking the stream. "Didn't you sense it? Or am I going a little batty?"

  “Of course you're a little batty, but so am I. I prefer to think of it as having 'enhanced sensitivity,' " Shelley said. "Was it the Claypools who annoyed us? John and Eileen are so damned. . hearty. And Sam and Marge — well, she's shy and wimpy, but he's almost antisocial. I'm suspicious of any man who's too well groomed in the wrong circumstances."

  “He probably came straight from work," Jane said. "We have to be fair."

  “Who says? Aren't we always telling our kids Life Isn't Fair?"

  “Kids! Yipes! I need to call and let them know I got here. Otherwise my mother-in-law will be filing the adoption papers in the morning."

  “She's staying at your house?"

  “To my sorrow," Jane said. "She's probably already rearranged everything in my kitchen and gone through my underwear drawer, sneering."

  “Well, call home and I'll start your bath running. I brought along some fabulous bath salts I want you totry.”

  Jane looked at her friend warily. "Why didn't you try them?”

  Shelley just laughed. Maniacally, Jane thought.

  Shelley woke early and puttered around quietly. Jane was semiawake, but dozed off again until the smell of coffee reached her. She staggered to the bathroom, then poured herself some steaming coffee, put her coat on over her robe, and went to sit on the porch with Shelley. "Something tells me that when my skin wakes up, I'm going to think it's cold out here," Jane muttered, curling up in the rocking chair. "That sparkly stuff on the ground is frost, isn't it?"

  “Uh-huh, but the sun is warming things up nicely already. You better knock that drink back pretty fast and get dressed or we'll miss breakfast.”

  Jane looked at her watch. "If I'm reading this right, it's five minutes until eight, and breakfast is from eight to ten."

  “So — what's your point?”

  Jane laughed. "Go on without me. I can hear your stomach growling.”

  It took Jane another leisurely hour to pull herself together. She got dressed, sent quick E-mails to Mel, her son, and her parents, and decided she wouldn't be using the laptop computer a lot on this trip, being as she had to sit in the bathroom doorway to use it since that was the only spot equidistant from the phone jack and the electrical plugs.

  Walking down the road to the lodge, she felt silly about her uneasiness of the night before. How could she have thought there was anything ominous about a place so glorious? The sky was as blue as Paul Newman's eyes, and brilliant sunlight turned the autumn leaves to neon colors. The air was so clean and clear, it nearly shimmered. It was still nippy and she felt silly wearing a car coat, gloves, and a knitted hat, but wasn't about to freeze just to be fashionable.

  The lodge was a different place this morning, too.

  Busy and much noisier than the night before. There were voices and the sound of dishes being stacked from the kitchen door, a radio playing a classical station at the front desk, the murmur of several conversations.

  Marge Claypool, apparently recovered from her fright of the night before, was chatting with Benson's mother in front of the fireplace. Jane added her coat and hat to a pile of others on a sofa by the door and went into the dining room. Shelley and Liz Flowers had taken over a vacant table and had maps, charts, and books spread around. They were talking and both making notes on legal pads. The Planners, Jane thought. Shelley both loved and hated it when she found someone as well organized and bossy as she herself was.

  Al Flowers was standing at one of the windows, hands behind his back, rocking back and forth slightly and humming something unidentifiable but cheerful. Bob Rycraft was wolfing down a huge breakfast. He was dressed in ratty gray sweats, and Jane guessed he'd already done some serious jogging.

  Sam and John Claypool were eating at the same table. Sam looked slightly less businesslike today; he was wearing jeans, Jane noticed when he walked across the room to the buffet table. The jeans looked brand-new and still had store-bought creases down the legs, but at least he was trying.

  Jane wandered over to study the buffet table just as a lanky teenaged boy brought out a fresh plate of pastries. The table was arranged with healthy foods at one end and delicious at the other. Jane glanced briefly at the sliced melons, granola bars, oat bran muffins, pitcher of skim milk, and a big bowl of something that looked like the revolting stuff her youngest son, Todd, fed his hamsters.

  She passed it all by and concentrated on the bacon, eggs (scrambled or poached), biscuits and gravy,pastries and butter, hash brown potatoes, grilled tomatoes, and waffles with a choice of syrup, powdered sugar, or honey to add a few necessary calories.

  “Oh, thank God!" Eileen Claypool said. "I saw all that stuff at the other end and thought I was condemned to starve. This is more like it."

  “You and I seem to be the last ones to arrive," Jane said. "What are they going to do with everything that's left?"

  “What makes you think I plan to leave anything?" Eileen asked with a hearty laugh. "Sit with me, will you? Those guys are talking about cars," she said, glancing at her husband, brother-in-law, and Bob Rycraft. "Always cars. I get sick of hearing about them. John always has two or three in the driveway that he's trying out. Expects me to drive something different every day. Says it's good advertising.”

  Eileen wouldn't have been her first choice of dining companion, but Jane sat with her anyway. She'd have preferred to hear about cars. She was still driving a ratty, rust-ridden station wagon that had hauled around too many car pools. When her oldest son, Mike, had graduated from high school the previous spring, she'd bought him a snazzy black pickup truck to take to college. Having gotten over the first shock of the cost, she'd been giving an obsessive amount of thought to getting a new vehicle for herself.

  She was a great believer in making the necessary sacrifices for her children, but had decided it might not be strictly "necessary" for one of them to have transportation that much better than her own.

  The minute they, the last guests to eat, sat down, the kitchen staff was allowed to eat. Two teenagers, the resort owner, and a frail-looking woman Jane assumed was Benson's wife, Allison, came out from the kitchen. They all took a table near the doorway. Jane had held herself down to bacon, scrambled eggs, and a Danish. Eileen had piled her plate with some of everything fattening.

  “So, Jane, tell me all about yourself," Eileen said through a mouthful of waffle.

  “There's not much to tell," Jane said. Not on demand, anyway, she added mentally. "I'm widowed, have three kids. One each in college, high school, and junior high.”

  Eileen nodded, swallowed, and asked, "Are you from the Chicago area originally?"

  “No, I'm not from anywhere. My parents are with the State Department, and until I was married, I'd never lived anywhere more than about six months. But my mother's people were from Illinois.
And I've stayed in the same house almost all my adult life."

  “Your parents still living?" Eileen slathered butter on a sweet roll.

  “Yes, living and very active. They're in Finland right now.”

  Eileen sighed. "God, I wish I could say the same! Well, not about my parents. About John's. The farther away, the better. But it'll never happen."

  “They're difficult?"

  “Honey, 'difficult' is the mildest word you could use for them. They're horrible beyond imagining."

  “In what way?" Jane asked. She wasn't really interested, but she was tired of being questioned and wanted to eat her breakfast.

  “They're the stingiest people I've ever known.