Followed to death

Chapter 1 : A new job

     Early in the morning, Megan was speaking on her phone while she was driving her rental car:

"Blimey! I don't have any tethering. Work correctly please, will you?"

Actually, the machine has been set up by Megan several times, but it didn't cooperate anyway. It was getting on her nerves.

"No, no, no! I didn't say "Châtelet les Halles" but "Sheep's Alley"!"

     Although her rental car was uncomfortable with a huge advertisement "If you'd buy better ham You'd better buy Wham", the young student in platypus' sciences was trying to find the place where she'd go for a summer job in order to pay her studies in Cornwall. She admitted it wasn't the best place for a job, mostly if it took place in a sheep farm whereas she was working on platypus, an endemic animal of Australia. She would have loved to go there, but it was too expensive for her.

     The vehicle got in the farm three hours later. She had expected a warm welcome in a cute little house by a nice old retired couple. But it wasn't the case at all. It was indeed a couple. But her expectations stopped there. The farmer was a middle-aged man with a tired face. His wife was strangely thin, almost skinny, for a famer. She had a hard-lined face and a snarl, haughty and contemptuous expression. She gave immediately a bad impression to Megan, but she didn't know why. When the young woman got out of the car, the farmer smiled at her and welcomed:

"Good morning! I'm Roger and there's my wife, Penelope. 'Hope you travelled well. Come in, I'll make you visit the farm."

Penelope glanced at her without saying anything.

After this very short and strange welcoming, Roger showed her the house which wasn't very clean and tidied up. There was a special atmosphere, but Megan felt quite well in this house.

In the afternoon, Megan was picking her luggage from her car to her new room in a cellar, when she felt a presence. Someone was standing in the door frame. She turned around briskly.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" she exclaimed alertly.

Amused by her reaction, he went down a few stairs to the cellar.

"Just wanted to meet you. I'm Zachary but call me Zach. I'm there, in the farm, for the same reasons as you." he replied.

"You study platypus too and came there to see some incredible landscapes, didn't you?" she asked ironically.

"Of course!" he laughed. "More seriously it's amazing! These animals aren't very common... I've never met a platypus fanatic before!"

"Now... you have! But you didn't answer my question, why are you here? Is it for your studies?"

"No, I'm Roger's adoptive son, so I help him in the farm all the year..."

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Don't be, Roger is very kind with me. But I see that Penelope made you a strange feeling, didn't she?"

"Yes. I wonder whether she is as... unlikable, pardon the expression, with everybody or not?"

"Don't worry she is even unpleasant with me, and I've never considered her as a mother."

"And..." Megan began.

At that time, Roger called to Zach to help him.

"I've got to go. See you!"  exclaimed Zach.

"Bye!"

Once alone, Megan put away her stuff then lay down on her bed, exhausted, and read her books about platypus. Two hours and a half later, she went up the stairs because she was very hungry after her settlement in her new room. In the kitchen she found the table covered with old wooden forks and spoons. When they were all there, they ate some delicious lamb chops with Dijon mustard. Nobody spokes during dinner. As soon as they finished, Penelope spoke to the young woman for the first time and gave some instructions to her:

"Tomorrow I'll wake you up at 5 a.m. Then you'll help Roger to clean up the sheepfold."

"May I feed the sheep instead of that?"

"No! I decide what you have to do here, you can't do whatever you want. Listen quietly! Otherwise I will send you off."

Megan went back to her bedroom silently. The authoritative woman was getting seriously on her nerves.