Authors: Steve Elliott
Chapter 12.
“Well, our queen and her maid return,” said Stephanie, as she greeted our arrival. “And
how
did it go?”
“Marvellously,” replied Maureen. “I’m still floating.”
“I just
bet
you are, honey,” Stephanie commented, with a slight smile. “I just bet you are, but
enough
about the royal pampering. We have to get down to business and
solve
the mystery of the riddle. Put your thinking caps on,
mes enfants
. We have a puzzle to solve.”
‘Well, I seem to remember that the Hindenburg exploded in flames just before landing with the loss of
hundreds
of lives,” Janice said thoughtfully.
“Most people blamed the
hydrogen
gas that it was using,” chimed in Maureen. “The reports showed that it caught fire.”
“The
official
reports claimed that,” Stephanie remarked, darkly. “But the
real
reason is still being debated.
Other
investigations point towards the outer coating of iron oxide and powdered aluminium that caused the explosion. But that was never admitted because it would have made the German engineers look incompetent.”
“How do you
know
all this, Stef?” I asked, curiously.
“I
like
investigating unusual and bizarre things,” she replied. “And that’s why I’m here with
you
guys.” A thrown cushion from Maureen hit her in the side of the head and instigated a generalised soft furnishings war of attrition. I sided with Janice against Stephanie and Maureen. We attacked each other ferociously with whatever cushions were at hand, pummelling one another with gay abandon and laughing like maniacs. It was great fun and a marvellous tension reducer. We were all breathless at the end, more from the
laughter
than the exertion. Maureen had somehow ended up straddled over me, her hair spread around me like a curtain. I gazed up at her flushed cheeks and sparkling, mischievous eyes. Her lips twitched in a smile as she panted for breath. I suddenly realised that she possessed a specific beauty of her own - a beauty of
personality
- that began to
beckon
me. I had gripped her upper body to prevent her falling on me and that feel of a living, breathing body under my hands made me nostalgic for companionship, for someone to
hold
. She looked down at me, smiling mysteriously, then bent down and kissed me.
I was certainly
surprised
by her action, not expecting anything of the sort, and was momentarily nonplussed, but the feel of her soft lips on mine soon banished my initial hesitancy. I reached behind her back and pulled her on top of me, responding to and prolonging the kiss. Ah, it was so lovely to
hold
someone again! I’d
missed
this intimacy. Then, as if suddenly realising what we’d just done, we both broke apart and scrambled to our feet, blushing. The war had ended and Stephanie and Janice were sitting on the couch opposite us, recovering their breath. Stephanie was smirking knowingly, but Janice looked scandalised, so they’d both obviously
viewed
our indiscretion.
“Welcome
back
, you two,” Stephanie announced, “and thanks for the floor show. It was brief but
entertaining
. If
all
warring parties carried on like you lot, then the world would be a
better
place, eh?”
“It was just a spur of the moment thing,” Maureen blustered. “It didn’t
mean
anything.”
“How
could
you?” Janice wanted to know. “Don’t you both realise how
wrong
this is?”
“It was just a simple
kiss
, Jan,” I informed her. “It’s no big deal. I admit that I got carried away with the moment, but it’s
over
.”
“
Is
it now?” Stephanie mused thoughtfully, her lips quivering on the verge of a grin. “I wonder. Well, we’ll see. Anyway, none of these shenanigans is
solving
the riddle. Pay attention, you
naughty
children. Who can tell me what the
first
phrase means?”
Maureen had seated herself but was still blushing when she answered, “If we assume the writer was talking about
hydrogen
, and if I remember my school chemistry correctly, then hydrogen combines with oxygen, the life giving gas, to produce
water
.”
Stephanie pointed at her dramatically like a show game host and exclaimed, “That’s
correct
, young lady! You win a prize. Would you care to speculate
further
?”
“Well, I presume that igneous ore is some sort of a
rock
,” Maureen continued, “but I can’t imagine how it would be
floating
in water. I mean, it’d
sink
, surely.”
“Over to
you
then, madam,” Stephanie called, waving her hand at Janice, who was glowering at me.
“What?” Janice demanded in surprise. “Stef, what are you going
on
about?”
“I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little, sweetie,” Stephanie explained. “You look a trifle
upset
by recent events.”
“Of
course
I’m upset,” Janice argued. “I just saw two of my friends making
out
with each other! Why
wouldn’t
I be upset?”
“Well,
I’m
not upset,” Stephanie answered gently, “and I don’t think that Kim or Maureen are
either
. That leaves
you
as the odd person out in our little group, honey. And, after all, the two of them have told you it was just a simple kiss that didn’t mean anything. Haven’t
you
ever kissed anyone before?’
“Of course I have, but not like
that
,” Janice retorted. “And that
wasn’t
a simple kiss.”
“Jan, it’s none of
our
business what Kim and Maureen do,” Stephanie reminded her sharply. “They’re
adults
and can do what they like. They can kiss all they
want
.”
“I’m sorry you’re upset, Jan,” I told her. “I didn’t
mean
to cause a fuss. It was something totally unplanned and won’t happen again,
okay
?”
“At least, not while
you’re
looking, Jan, my girl,” I heard Stephanie mutter quietly to herself. I glanced across at Janice, but luckily she was too far away to have overheard. I glared severely at Stephanie who merely grinned back at me, absolutely unrepentant.
“None of this is getting the job done, is it?” Stephanie reported. “Who knows anything about
floating
rocks?”
“Not me,” I said. “I’m with Maureen on this one. Rocks
don’t
float. Not
normally
, anyway.”
“Anybody else?” Stephanie asked, looking around.
“
You’re
the smart one around here, Stef,” Janice said sarcastically, stung by Stephanie’s earlier criticism, “so why don’t
you
tell us?”
“I’ll have a go,” Stephanie replied, imperturbably, “but I’ll have to go into the realms of poetry.”
“Pardon?” Maureen asked, puzzled. “Did you say ‘
poetry’
?”
“Of course, my dears,” was Stephanie’s reply. “Nothing
else
will serve to unwrap this enigma.” She settled back in her chair. “
Imagine
, if you will, the ocean. Picture the flat surface, so calm and eternal. Then see a small island, no bigger than this room, right in the middle. The sun is shining and the light shimmers from the water’s surface like molten glass. Can you
see
this image?”
We all murmured assent, but mystified by the direction of her thoughts.
“Very well then,” she continued. “Now, do you think that the island, rising majestically above the ocean, can be imagined to be ‘
floating’
on the surface, if seen through a
poet’s
eye?”
“I
suppose
,” said Maureen, doubtfully. “A bit far
fetched
though, if you don’t mind my saying.”
Stephanie shrugged. “So
shoot
me,” she replied gaily. “I’ll be willing to listen to any
other
explanations of a floating rock that are present.”
“So our admirer is a
poet
, then,” I questioned. “Interesting. That’s a
good
sign, right? Poets aren’t known for their homicidal tendencies. Perhaps he’s just a love-struck
normal
person after all.”
“We’ll have to wait and see on that one,” Janice remarked. “I still don’t think this person
is
normal. Who writes weird love notes in
this
day and age?”
“Someone who wants to
attract
our attention,” Stephanie answered. “Someone who wants to
intrigue
us. Not a normal person, sure, but an
interesting
one.”
Chapter 13.
Having unravelled the cryptic note to our satisfaction, we fell to arguing as to
where
the writer meant us to go - whether it was to a beach or a
lake
. We had
both
nearby. I voted for the beach, still under the near meditative siren call of Stephanie’s imagery of the
ocean
analogy. Maureen sided with me but, surprisingly, it was
Janice
who made the call.
“This poetry stuff is all
bunkum
,” she briskly announced. “This person is a whacko, but I have a strong feeling that the
lake
is the place to be, but don’t ask me why.”
“Why, Jan,” Stephanie teased, “do I detect a trace of
romantic
poetry in your soul after all?”
Janice snorted with disdain. “Not in a million years,” she denied. “It’s just ……. a
feeling
. The rock is at the
lake
.”
She sounded so positive that we went along with her intuition. In the spirit of adventure, we decided to make a day of it and packed a picnic lunch, along with our swimsuits, and drove to the nearby lake.
It was a beautiful day for an outing. The sun was beaming down beatifically; the sky erupted into shades of blue and a slight cooling breeze tickled the branches of trees. Lovely. We parked under a shady tree and surveyed the surroundings.
“
There
!” Janice exclaimed, pointing to a small stone-cropped island in the middle of the lake.
“Nicely done,” congratulated Stephanie. “That very may well
be
our floating rock.”
“How do we get
out
there?” asked Maureen doubtfully. “I don’t see a boat anywhere.”
“We’ll
swim
out,” Stephanie declared. “It’s not far.”
Maureen shook her head in negation. “Not
me
,” she said with conviction. “I’m not that good a swimmer. I’ll stay here and guard the picnic basket.”
“Suit yourself,” Stephanie replied. “How about the rest of you?”
“
I’ll
come,” I volunteered.
“
Me
too,” said Janice.
“Let’s go then,” Stephanie decided.
“
Where
can we change?” Janice wanted to know. “I can’t see any shelter.”
Stephanie scratched her head. “Yes, it’s a bit of a problem. Jan, you can change in the
car
. Kim and I will take our chances out in the open. Luckily, there’s no one else around.”
“You’ll change
here
?” gasped Janice, thoroughly scandalised. “Where
everyone
can see you?”
“Jan, sweetie, it’s just
us
, you know,” Stephanie reminded her, then she flashed me a wicked little grin, “and
Kim
doesn’t have any mysteries left to surprise us with any more. So long as she and Maureen don’t faint when I do it, then we’ll be okay.”
“I think you’re all
immoral
,” Janice huffed, as she walked back to the car.
“You know,” Stephanie remarked, “have either of you notice how
uptight
Jan is getting these days? I mean, she’s always been something of a puritan, but her attitude is becoming more and more
rigid
recently.”
“I’ve noticed it too,” I said, beginning to remove my shirt.
“It’s certainly a bit odd,” Stephanie mused, stepping out of her dress. “Now, you two, don’t scream or anything but I’m going to do a ‘
Kim
’.” So saying, she removed the last of her clothes and bared her body to the sunlight.
“Quite
nice
,” remarked Maureen. “You’ve nothing to be
ashamed
of, Stef.”
“But I’m
no
Kim, is
that
it?” Stephanie said, with a chuckle, reaching for her swimsuit.
“What do you
mean
?” Maureen stammered, blushing.
“Hey, I’m just saying that none of us can match Kim’s perfect figure, that’s all,” Stephanie said, supposedly innocently. “Why? What did you
think
I meant?”
“That’s
exactly
what I meant, too,” Maureen declared, hastily.
I shed my clothes, wondering at Stephanie’s choice of words.
What
was she insinuating? Sure, Maureen and I had shared a momentary flash of passion and
one
simple kiss, but that didn’t mean anything much. Or
did
it? I paused in the process of putting on my bikini top. It was true that I’d felt a certain
something
for Maureen back then – a
longing
, if you will. I still had a
void
in my life - an emptiness that could be filled only by the affections of another human being. Paul often told me that I couldn’t bear to be alone, and he was right. I always felt uneasy by myself - as if part of me was somehow
missing
. I was truly happy only when a loving companion was by my side. Surrendering to another person’s loving caresses made me feel whole, and responding to those caresses with some of my own gave me a joy that surpassed any ordinary pleasure. Damn, was I falling in
love
again? And with
Maureen
, of all people. I mean, she was nice and all, but I’d never looked on her as
partner
material. I looked around to find her staring hopelessly at me in a befogged daze.
“
Umm
, Kim sweetie,” Stephanie remarked, cynically, “while we appreciate the peep show and all, please stop
flaunting
your flawless body in front of us lesser mortals and get dressed, there’s a love. Maureen’s eyes are protruding out of her head and Janice will have a
heart
attack if she sees you.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, quickly slipping on the rest of my bikini. “I was in another
world
.”
“You certainly
were
,” Stephanie replied, a knowing grin hovering on her lips. “And you’re just in time. Here comes Miss Disapproval now.”
I looked up to see Janice approaching. My eyes widened in disbelief. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “Jan,” I gasped, weakly, “what’s
that
you’re wearing?”
“What do you mean?” she asked uncomprehendingly, looking down at herself. “It’s just a swimsuit.”
“But there’s so
little
of it!” I exclaimed in wonder. “I mean, you’d
never
be allowed to wear it in public. Where on earth did you
buy
it?”
“Nowhere,” she replied, spinning around like a catwalk model. “I made it
myself
. Don’t you think it’s just darling?”
“You
made
it?” questioned Maureen in a stupefied tone. “You actually sat down and made it
yourself
?”
“Of course I did,” Janice replied, a little testily. “Why is everyone so
surprised
?”
“Well, it’s just you’ve always been dead set against even a
hint
of exposed skin,” Stephanie said, slowly, “and, honey, that thing you have on is the
closest
thing to being naked as I’ve ever seen. You might as well not be wearing
anything
at all.”
“
Bah
!” Janice said, dismissing our criticism with a wave of her hand. “There’s nothing wrong with a little public exposure. You lot are such a bunch of
worry
warts. Now, are we going to this island, or not?” She strode out to the lake’s edge and waded into the water.
I looked at Stephanie and Maureen in puzzlement. What had happened to Janice to miraculously
reverse
her puritanical streak?
“Now
that’s
not something you see every day,” Stephanie murmured, still staring at Janice’s swimming figure. “I wonder
who
that was and
what
has she done with our Jan?”