Len and Norma Lose a Body

Chapter 21

Sharon drove by Aaron's place. The house looked dark and his truck was gone. She should have called him this morning. It's not like she'd just pop by his house if his truck had been there anyway. She drove over to the school to see if he happened to be there working, but didn't see his vehicle there either. She pulled into the teachers' parking lot anyway. If she was already in town she might as well do a bit of work.

There were a few people milling around on a Saturday and Sharon popped by every open door with a light on to say hello and exchange pleasantries. "Yes yes, Elaine's was a great time." "No she didn't get a chance to try the new teacher's cheese ball." "Chopped pickles?" "You don't say" "Yes yes I'll have to get my hands on that recipe." Sharon finally made it to her own classroom and opened her bottom drawer. There were four boxes of school fundraiser chocolate almonds and she ate them all.

...

Len and Norma were on their way home from the city, and wouldn't you know it grapes were on sale. After the car wash they had decided to drop in for an afternoon coffee at one of their spots. Norma's cousin and husband who had sold their farm years ago were there at their regular table along with a few other familiar faces. It was such a good visit and the lemon meringue pie was almost as good as her own. The memory of the body in their drive way seem to melt away with every free coffee refill that was poured.

It was at coffee that Norma had learned about the grapes. Now a great sale of fruit was one thing, but everyone knew that the Americans kept the best fruit for themselves and everyone agreed that the watermelons and peaches that were sent north of the 49 were definitely second tier stock. Norma and her cousin made plans soon to do a cross border fruit shopping trip. The arrival of the fruit meant that summer was upon them.

Len was in a good mood too commenting on the fields along the highway. He spotted an owl on a sign post. Was an owl an omen of death he thought briefly, but was interrupted by Norma repeating the same stories they had just heard at coffee. Len nodded along as she improved the stories adding a few embellishments here and there. "Did you see that owl," Len finally said even though the owl was well behind them. "What, where?" and Norma turned and strained in the passenger seat to try and spot the said owl. "That one back there," Len made the slightest movement with his head to indicate it was behind them. "I think an owl is a sign of good luck," Norma beamed. She loved seeing animals when they were out driving. "Darn we should have bought a lotto then," and she snapped her fingers to show her disappointment.

...

Lauren steered the quad down the gentle slope to the creek bed. She used to come down here and look for turtles with her grampa when she was younger. Looking up and down the creek she was disappointed not to see one lounging on one of the sunny banks. Nicole, Amy and Jill walked their bikes down to the creek bed as well so that they would be out of sight. "Ok," Lauren said as she turned the quad off, "let's get this guy into the creek and we'll float him the rest of the way." The pallet with the dead body sank into the soft sand along the creek making the corners dig in almost flipping him into the water.

Lauren realized that she'd have to drive across the creek pulling the body on its pallet into the water. "Get in the water to steady him so he doesn't float away," Lauren called out as she got back on the quad. The wheels of the quad spun and sank in the soft sand making it hard to move forward. She quickly put the quad in reverse and hammered on the gas. "Whoa," Lauren yelped as the quad shot back quicker and more easily than she expected and the back wheels of the quad had jumped the pallet resulting in a resounding crunch as the back half of the quad came to rest on top of the body. "Oh my bad," Lauren shifted and pulled the body into the creek.