The Ring

Part 9

The sun was setting over the sea, lighting it with what looked like a procession of tiny dancing golden flames emerging from a river of gold. Dominique then realized that she was sitting in the water. The tide had come in while she was away in her dream. No matter, it was warm and there were many things worse than getting a little wet. She looked at the ring on her hand and smiled, wondering if this was indeed the ring that Frederick has thrown away. The dream had gotten to a point that piqued Dominique's curiosity. It seemed strangely real and she wondered if there was some psychological trick that was being played out. Was she recalling a story that she had heard or read but subsequently forgotten? Maybe there were memory triggers here on this lonely little beach. She turned and started walking up the beach towards the little track while thinking about the dream and fiddling with the ring on her finger. As she started up the narrow path, she paused and looked at the ring and asked, where are you Frederick?

Dominique could smell aroma of something interesting cooking when she arrived at her mother's cottage. The aroma was quite pungent and earthy, but also quite enticing. As she opened the door, the aroma engulfed her. Gwendolyn was beaming. Today was the day! Charles, one of her pigs, had found a truffle. It was not so large; about the size of a golf ball, but Gwendolyn had put it to use immediately, the entire truffle. Dominique didn't know too much about the use of truffles, but had an idea that in general, only a very small portion of truffle was used in cooking. Gwendolyn said it was just a special type of mushroom, so she had just substituted it for mushrooms in her special sauce. It didn't take long to get used to the powerful aroma, but Dominique was sure that the cottage would smell of truffle for weeks afterwards. Surprisingly, the steak and truffle pie was quite delicious, with the truffle sauce nicely complementing the meat. Gwendolyn was sure that this was the beginning of a new and profitable enterprise.

After dinner, when the two women settled down in the lounge room, Gwendolyn suddenly seemed to recall something that had happened that day. In all the excitement, she had forgotten that a letter had arrived for Dominique. At the mention of another letter, Dominique steeled herself for more bad news. Gwendolyn handed the letter to Dominique, and she was relieved to see that it was not from her doctor, nor the hospital. In fact it had neither a stamp nor a postmark. Curious. She opened it and inside there was just a single sheet of paper with just a single printed line: "I heard you were sick. I intend to see you soon". Dominique asked Gwendolyn who had delivered it, but apparently it had arrived while she was out hunting for truffles. As puzzling at it seemed, Dominique gave it no further thought. She made herself comfortable on the couch with a nice cup of mint tea and just tried to relax. Nevertheless, her mind kept coming back to the story of Frederick and his dead lover. She wondered if this was somehow to be her fate, but then fought that black thought away. She was not the type to give in to despair.

To Dominique's surprise she found that the story of Frederick was not over. As she walked the hidden beach of the little cove, the faint noises of bird chirping and playing in the nearby bushes and the gentle washing of the waves combined to continue the narrative in her mind.