Chapter 9
Annette slept much later than she’d planned. When she finally rolled over in bed and reached for her phone to check the time, it was almost nine o’clock in the morning. She moaned and flopped back on the pillow. At least her headache was gone, but the strange events of the night before came rushing back. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep. The pain of the headache had been intensified by what had happened. It was hard to believe it wasn’t just a nightmare.
However, there was nothing to do but get up and face the day. What did it matter to her if Jeff and Rosa were meeting for a secret rendezvous? They were adults, weren’t they? Able to do as they pleased. Rosa certainly didn’t look like Jeff’s type. Or maybe she didn’t know what his type was since she barely knew Jeff at all, really. The two of them were welcome to sneak around as much as they desired. The fact that Rosa seemed to find her a threat didn’t even bear thinking about. It simply wasn’t true.
She flipped the blankets back and stretched. What would today bring? Some new calamity, no doubt. She’d never been on such a roller coaster of a holiday before. Sliding out of bed, she went about the room drawing back curtains that she’d remembered to close the night before.
The sky was a dull slate. She paused. Leaning against the arched door to her balcony, she took it all in. Heavy clouds obscured the mountaintops, and a hazy mist muted the landscape below them, turning it a somber grey. Her gaze moved to where Jeff’s horses grazed in the pasture far off to the right. She smiled. Pearl was easy to spot. Her distinct dappled patterning stood out against the lush green field.
Opening the door, Annette tiptoed across the balcony floor and leaned on the railing. She breathed deep. The air was cool and moist, with the fresh smell of rain riding in on the breeze. A low rumble of thunder echoed in the distance, perhaps warning of an impending storm.
Annette shivered as the nightgown rippled across her bare knees. She hurried back into the sanctuary of her room and the hot shower that awaited her. A faint aroma of coffee reached her nostrils and her stomach rumbled. Bundling her long curls into a shower cap, she dashed into the bathroom and turned on the water. She would have to hurry.
As she had hoped, the needles of hot water against her skin were invigorating. She rubbed herself down briskly and shrugged on the bathrobe.
Now, what to wear? She consulted her suitcase, silently thanking Gabrielle for her influence. If the case had remained as it was when her sister arrived that last morning in Paris, she would be wearing the same jeans and one top every day. Everything else would have been highly inappropriate. As it was, she chose a white, V-neck t-shirt, a long-sleeve, mandarin-coloured button-up, and her third and last pair of jeans. They were slim-fitting and boasted a series of artfully placed rips along the legs. Considering she was already a bit chilly, this might not be for the best, but the others she had brought needed laundering.
Speedily, she tucked the t-shirt into her waistband, threaded her belt through the loops, and pulled on socks. She only paused for a moment in front of the mirror to add a little gold shimmer to her eyes and some mascara. Her usual beauty regimen had been non-existent since arriving in Canada.
She took one last look at her lovely room and hurriedly tossed the covers back over the bed in a poor attempt to make it before dashing out the door.
The clatter of dishes and sound of laughter met her ears as she descended, but as she rounded the corner she saw that only two people were there—Sandra and Gabrielle. It was a pleasant reprieve. The last people she wanted to see right now were Jeff and Rosa.
“Well, you finally crawled out from your lair,” called her sister, rising to kiss both her cheeks and grin teasingly. She was dressed for the day in a bright pink and black checkered shirt, buttoned to her chin and flopping loose over her jeans. Her hair was clipped in a messy bun and her face was free from makeup. It didn’t matter, though. Gabrielle was gorgeous with or without it. Her eyelashes were thick and her mouth, a full natural red.
Annette smiled in response and sniffed the air appreciatively. “Good morning to you both. What is that wonderful smell?”
“Fresh blueberry bran muffins.” Sandra marched to the table with a plate of them in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. She lifted it questioningly, “This okay?”
“Yes, please.” Annette dropped into a chair across from her sister. She snatched up a napkin before grabbing a hot muffin and juggling the still-steaming treat between her hands. “Where is everyone?” she mumbled through a mouthful.
“They left two ‘ours ago,” said Gabrielle, reaching for a muffin. She swivelled on her chair to address the housekeeper. “Why don’t you join us, Sandra?”
“I don’t mind if I do.” Sandra threw down the dish towel she’d been using to dry a frying pan, and poured herself a coffee.
As she came around the corner, Annette couldn’t help but notice Sandra’s colour of the day. The lady sported a cherry red top. That, in itself, wasn’t bad. It was a beautiful shade, but the enormous, fuzzy white rabbit holding a sequined strawberry emblazoned across her chest really made the sweater pop up and hit her between the eyes. Well, that and the forest green pants she wore, coupled with the dazzling red shoes of yesterday.
“I like to call this my, thank-goodness-winter’s-over, outfit,” she grinned at Annette. Slowly, the lady did a turn. “You know, red and green, and Christmas. Anyway, that’s what I think of when I wear it.” She looked down and brushed a hand over the sequinned strawberry. “I know it’s a bit outlandish, but my family’s gotten used to me and my love of colour…” She raised a foot and wiggled it. “And sparkle.” The lady sat down next to Gabrielle with a huff of air.
Even a week ago, Annette would have recoiled at such an eccentric get-up. Yet, Sandra, and perhaps the influence of pure mountain air had wrought a change in her attitude.
“You are une très belle femme,” she said to Sandra. “Uh, I think you look beautiful in it.”
“Why thank you.” Sandra was pleased.
Annette turned her focus to the muffin, the berries bursting hotly in her mouth. “They’re called myrtilles in French,” she said thoughtfully. When Sandra looked at her quizzically, Annette raised the muffin pointedly. “The blueberries,” she explained. “Whatever the name, these are the best muffins I’ve ever ‘ad.”
Sandra laughed in delight. She rested her elbows on the table and leaned toward them conspiratorially. “So…give me your honest opinion. What do you think of Rosa?”
The question took Annette totally off guard, and she could see the surprise on Gabrielle’s face too.
“I—I…well…I,” Gabrielle stuttered. “That is…uh, I mean…I…”
“Exactly,” snorted Sandra, leaning back and folding her arms across the rabbit. “What about you?” she pinned Annette with a piercing stare.
Annette saw no reason to mince words. “I don’t like ‘er,” she said, but then amended her statement. “Still, to be fair I don’t know Rosa, and Sophie seems to think a lot of ‘er.” The events of last night were too bizarre for breakfast conversation and she decided to keep them to herself.
Sandra snorted again. “Sophie doesn’t see it, but that…” she lifted her hands to do air quotes, “office assistant slash horse trainer woman, is after Jeffrey, that’s what. I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her.” She slammed her cup on the table with a bang.
Gabrielle was still opening and closing her mouth in a very fish-like manner. Annette finished her muffin and took a drink before asking, “What makes you say that?”
“Because she’s been mooning around behind him ever since she arrived at the Triple T. It’s sickening,” Sandra’s mouth thinned with anger.
“You think she’s after ‘im for unscrupulous reasons?” Gabrielle finally found her voice. “Maybe she’s truly fallen in love with ‘im.”
“Bah!” Sandra retorted. “Then why did I see her kissing another man just last week?”
“What! Where?” Annette and Gabrielle both chimed in.
Sandra slammed a hand on the table. “Flat on the lips,” she growled, looking back and forth between them. “And it wasn’t some little peck either. It was a big wet one,” she nodded meaningfully.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Annette had to hold back a smile. “I meant, where did you see them?”
“Oh,” Sandra grinned sheepishly. “In the city. Hubby and I went out for our anniversary to a splashy restaurant. Seated at the center table, was Rosa with some tall blond guy, and another older man, both men wearing expensive suits. We were led to a corner table out of sight, but before we were seated they all got up to leave…and Rosa smooched with the younger guy right there in the middle of the place! For all the world to see.”
“Mon Dieu,” Annette muttered to herself. In her mind she was back at Gabrielle’s door, watching through a crack as Rosa invited Jeff to her room. And then they had kissed. At least she thought they had.
“I’m sure Jeff and Rosa can deal with their own affairs,” Gabrielle said soothingly, then corrected herself. “Perhaps that wasn’t the best word to use.” Staring out the window, she took another sip of her coffee. “Do you suppose it will rain today, Sandra?” she asked, deftly changing the subject.
The lady shrugged noncommittedly. “It’s not supposed to rain. Sometimes storms that hang over the Rockies blow right over us. Anyway, I’d better get back to my lunch preparations instead of gossiping,” she added with an apologetic smile. She collected their empty cups and moved away, but turned back with a frown. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not gossip. I care about that man. He doesn’t deserve to be snared by some nasty piece of work like Rosa.” She stomped away.
After going back upstairsto fetch their coats, Annette and Gabrielle emerged from the house, pulling their jackets tighter around them as they stepped onto the log deck to look appraisingly at the dark whirling clouds. A flash of lightning split the western sky.
“I don’t think it’s wise to take horses out for a ride when a storm is brewing,” Gabrielle noted. “They’ll get spooked, and I don’t want you to have a bad experience. Maybe we should wait here until Jeff returns and see if he can lend us a vehicle to go visit the Triple T this morning.”
“That sounds like an idea.” Annette said absently, still ruminating over Sandra’s remarks. They settled into the porch swing, the creaking chains adding a soothing rhythm to their conversation. She decided she liked watching the interplay of twisting clouds and jagged bolts of light. The colours were magnificent.
“Have you heard anything from the galleries you applied to?” Gabrielle asked. “A couple of them seemed very interested in you.”
“I haven’t, but decisions are never made quickly.” She twisted a strand of corkscrew hair around her finger, wishing she would have thought to tie it back. The wind was getting stronger. A moment later, her hair swirled around her face like a halo.
“I have to get an elastic,” she said, trapping as much of her hair as she could in her hands. “And my sketchbook.”
But she didn’t have time to do either.
Without warning, Jeff’s big black truck careened up the driveway, slid to a sideways stop in a shower of gravel and the motor died. Jeff lunged from the driver’s seat and ran like he was being chased by rampaging water buffalos to a garage where he wrenched up the rolling door and dashed inside.
Both women ran down the steps and to the shed knowing something was drastically wrong. In a moment, Jeff was backing his old truck out of the shed and throwing poles into the back with no regard for how they landed.
“What is it?” Gabrielle screamed over the howling wind as they stopped beside him.
“Sophie called. She needs help. Cattle broke through a fence on her property. They’re on the highway. Someone called the police and they’re there now.” He spoke in short jerky sentences, between deep grunts of effort as he tossed two and three poles at a time into the truck.
“Come on,” Gabrielle hollered, seizing Annette’s wrist in a steely grip. “We’re going to help.” Dragging open the passenger side door she pushed Annette inside and then followed, slamming the door shut just as Jeff shoved the vehicle into gear and roared away.
No one spoke. Jeff had summed the situation up in a few concise phrases and they didn’t need more details to know it was bad. The truck slewed from side to side in the heavy gravel as they hit the main road. Jeff corrected their trajectory, and slammed his foot on the accelerator. The truck leapt forward, the two women hanging on tightly to one another. Tumbleweeds flew across the road ahead and got stuck in the wire fences beside them. Dust billowed behind the truck as they screamed down the road and turned onto the highway like the getaway car in a late-night movie.
And then they saw it.
At the base of the hill they’d just crested was a scene of utter mayhem. Cows and calves were all over the road and in the ditches. The flashing lights of two police vehicles were stopped on either side and officers were vainly trying to direct traffic through the maze of frightened animals. Some cattle were still in the field, but not many. Probably a hundred, highly agitated animals had flooded the area, running back and forth across the road. The bawling of frightened animals could be heard even over the relentless din of the wind and storm.
Jeff braked, and then drove straight down into the ditch on the opposite side of the break in the fence. Gradually he pulled as close to the action as he dared, threw the truck in neutral and looked at them earnestly.
“This is dangerous. Cattle aren’t going to trample you unless they’re scared, but right now they’re terrified. I think you should stay in the truck.”
“No,” Annette said. “You need ‘elp and we’re coming with you. Right?” She turned to her sister who nodded with an ashen face.
“Actually,” he said, “it would be best if one of you stayed here to drive the truck slowly behind us as we move them back. Besides, I’ll need it. I’ve got fencing materials to repair the gap when we get the cattle back inside.” He looked pointedly at Gabrielle.
“Yes. Okay,” she croaked.
“Right. Let’s go.” Jeff leaped out and reached into the back of the truck. He threw Annette what looked like a blue plastic cane, although it had some weight to it. Then they both took off at a jog. “Use it, and extend your arms to create a barricade when rounding them up,” he shouted, ramming his black hat down low on his head. “And when we get close to them, slow down to a walk. No sudden moves. We must force the cattle back over the road and inside their fence. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she yelled, but the howling wind whisked her words away into the building storm. Her hair was everywhere. There were times when she couldn’t even see from it streaming over her face and covering her eyes. She twisted it into a rope, tucked it down the collar of her coat and pulled the zipper tight under her chin.
In a few moments they came upon the first of the cattle. She heard Jeff speak soothingly to the animals.
“Come on girl, that’s the way. Let’s go. Nope, not that way,” he said, dodging to one side and holding his arms wide to prevent an escape. “Keep on going back. Everything’s gonna be okay.”
Annette was impressed. She followed his example and held her arms open, coming alongside him so they created a living fence that moved the animals back to safety. The first few stragglers were walking in the right direction and Annette had hope that it would all go so smoothly.
More animals joined in, and she realized that cattle were followers. If they could just keep the majority heading in the right direction, the others would come along. However, a few were excited from their newfound freedom. They bucked, trying to run past Jeff and her, but she stepped quickly to one side. With wide-eyed looks of fear, the animals skidded to a halt and turned back.
“We don’t want them to run,” Jeff called to her over the wind. “We must keep them as calm as possible.”
Soon they came to the crossing point where traffic had slowed on the highway. Animals lingered close to the road, and some were running across it with no regard for the passing cars and trucks. People blew their horns in frustration which only served to scare the cattle, making the situation worse. The police were directing streams of two-way traffic through using only one lane of open road.
Doggedly, she and Jeff kept the herd moving. Thankfully a four-strand fence stood on their left, belonging to the next field. It helped to provide a barrier. They were moving a substantial herd now, probably twenty-five or thirty head. Soon they would need to bring the others to join the rest of the animals on this side, and cross the road. Annette waited for Jeff to give her instructions.
Suddenly, Sophie appeared. She, Rosa, and a man Annette didn’t recognize were slowly pushing the cattle toward them through the ditch. In a moment, the animals converged and with a face etched in worry, Sophie motioned that they should attempt to go over the road.
Jeff and Annette held their side while the unknown man worked his way behind the herd and began to prod them up the bank. The animals didn’t want to go. They milled around in circles, no one wanting to be the first to break rank. Finally, one brave beast lunged onto the road, then another, and then five. Soon they were all climbing the bank. Jeff and the man followed with Sophie and Annette bringing up the sides. Rosa ran ahead to stop traffic and allow them space to get through.
It was the moment of truth. The first animals to cross, stopped and looked around at the strange happenings on the highway. They refused to go any further. Everyone, man and beast, were all on the highway now. Annette could see the erratic movements of the animals and their wild rolling eyes, unsure of what to do.
She had a sudden premonition of doom. They were going to bolt past on her side. She could feel it and a few moved toward her. Behind her, a long line of cars and trucks waited impatiently, angry people stood outside their vehicles shouting. These cows could not be allowed to run crazily through that. The consequences could be dire. She steeled herself, squared off, and planted her feet. Lifting her hands, Annette spoke to them as she had heard Jeff earlier. Where was he when she needed him? But somehow she sensed that it was all up to her now. Any sudden movement from any of the others could send the cattle in a frightened mob, right into the midst of trouble.
“Come on now,” she said conversationally, “you don’t want to do that. Your field is so nice and green and it’s waiting for you down there. It’s not good out here. Just keep on going.” Her calm reassurance appeared to be working. “No sudden moves, Annette. No sudden moves,” she repeated. Then, one or two of the lead cows plodded off down the other side. The others stood staring at Annette.
Suddenly, one butted another, sending it careening in Annette’s direction. It jogged toward her, and five or six others followed, little calves trotting uncomprehendingly alongside their mothers. A smaller one lowered its head and snorted, lifting a cloven foot to paw uselessly at the pavement. Fear bubbled up in her chest, but she held her ground. Waving the blue cane, she took a step toward them, and they scattered. Back into the throng they went and then the whole herd moved as of one accord down into the other ditch and through the flattened fence.
She’d held them back. Amazing.
Behind her she heard the roar of a vehicle and turned to see Gabrielle drive the truck up the steep embankment and cross the road. Then down the other side she went, parking the truck across the opening in hopes of blocking any further attempts at escape.
Suddenly Jeff was beside her. Sweeping her into his arms, he twirled her around until she was dizzy. Laughter mingled with tears as shock took over her body. She sagged against him, and he held her so close she could feel the pounding of his heart. Or was it hers?
He set her down, his arms still tightly holding her. She watched his face descending to hers and tasted the salt of tears on her lips as he crushed them against his own. Her breath caught in her throat, and she kissed him back with all the fervour in her heart. Her fingers curled in his hair, and she clung to him, never wanting to let go.
And then the rain started. It came down in sheets, hard pellets of cold driving into them with fury and he let her go with a laugh. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her down the embankment to where the others were already working to build the fence again.
It was only then she realized that she and Jeff had singlehandedly held up the movement of traffic. Even the RCMP had waited until they concluded their embrace, waving the cars to proceed. A wave of embarrassment caught up with her along with the shock of what had just happened. She sank into the grass where Gabrielle found her moments later.
“You were fantastic,” Gabrielle cried. “I can’t believe you did that. Are you really my sister? I mean, look,” she said, pointing, “you’re sitting in a puddle and have grass stains and mud all over your jeans.” She grinned with delight.
“Were there any accidents?” Annette asked even though she was afraid of the answer. But she had to know. She wound dripping strands of hair around her fingers and shoved them back inside her soggy collar.
“Not really. I think a cow was injured, but it still made it back into the field.” Gabrielle’s face fell. “There could be trouble over this. Sophie could be fined, or worse. It will be considered negligence causing a major disruption of traffic, and requiring police intervention. Although I’m no authority.” She sighed. “Come on, let’s go check if we can do anything to help.”
It was good to hear that nobody had been hurt, and that no damage had been done to property. Though it was very sobering indeed to hear that Sophie could be in further trouble. Annette pulled herself up and walked with Gabrielle on wobbly legs to where Jeff was unloading poles and getting out tools to begin repairs.
He looked worried. Understandable, since he was concerned for his friend and perhaps since he just hugged his house guest on a public highway, and impetuously kissed her in front of Rosa, his girlfriend. Annette wondered if the woman had seen Jeff kiss her. She imagined if that was the case, she’d hear about it later. Something to look forward to. Rosa wasn’t the type to let something like that go.
Annette looked for Sophie. If anyone needed a hug it would be her. She and the hired man were busy pulling the ends of the broken wire together and shooing the cattle away from the fence.
But Jeff was beckoning the sisters closer. He held a huge hammer in one hand, and a pole he’d just gotten out of the truck was in the other.
“Seeing how you know so much already, and you’re her daughter-in-law,” he said, looking at Gabrielle. “I wonder if we should all be there when I tell her that this was no accident.”
“What do you mean?” Annette asked. Gabrielle had already covered her face with her hands.
“I mean, the cattle didn’t break down the fence,” he explained wearily. “The wires were cut on purpose.”