Len and Norma Lose a Body

Chapter 22

Lauren, Nicole, Amy and Jill scrambled up the bank of the creek bed and stood in the long grass on the edge of a green growing field. "I still think we should burn him," insisted Jill. The rest of the girls looked down at the now wet and muddy body of the dead man wedged in the mud in 3 inches of water in the middle of this creek and wished that bodies were easier to burn. "I mean if we used enough gas anything burns," considered Nicole. Amy pointed to an uneven triangle on the horizon, "We could bury him under the rocks in that rock pile."

"Brilliant," Lauren was off down the banks before the other girls could think twice. "We won't be able to ride our bikes through this field you know," Nicole looked at the quad hinting that catching a ride to the rock pile would be way more efficient than walking. "Ok ya, leave your bikes here out of sight and hop on," Lauren said as she took the driver's seat and started the engine. Jill balanced precariously on the front rack with legs crisscrossed and Nicole and Amy were on the back rack legs hanging off the end facing the body.

"Ok watch the body," Lauren called back. "Watch it do what?" Nicole pulled a face at Amy and laughed. . "Ok hold on," she gave it a little extra gas since they were carrying the extra weight of her friends. Jill fell back against the headlight between the handle bars before balancing herself and Nicole and Amy gripped the bars on the back rack just in time before careening off the back. "Whoa whoa," Nicole was calling from the back of the quad, "you flipped the body!" Lauren stood up on the quad to see above Nicole and Amy's heads and there she saw yes indeed she had flipped the body.

The body wrapped up in the tent was now under the pallet resting in the water. "Should we try to flip him?" Lauren was staring down at the body shaped tent pinned under the pallet as the water pooled around him. It took about 30 seconds for the girls to realize that they weren't going to be able to flip it. "Let's cut him off the pallet and just drag him," Nicole said. "Oh really, that seems rude," Amy said looking at Lauren for direction. "Well I guess he's not gonna get any deader," Lauren shrugged and took off her backpack to get the broken piece of glass they had salvaged from the pit.

...

It was midafternoon by the time Mike and Brian wandered into the bar and Bev was still at her slots. The guys sat down at a table with a few other local guys and joined into the current conversation seamlessly like people who've know each other for years often do. Bev planned to keep one ear on the conversation at the table but didn't want to leave her slot machine. She was $40 down and had a feeling she could break even if she stuck with it.

The topics of conversation were predictable crops, weather, trucks, sports, kids and then the conversation turned to oil. "We were just over at the well site checking on the progress," Brian reported to the group. "Old man Carlson checks in on them about half a dozen times a day," one of the old men in a mesh back hat said into his coffee cup and the table vibrated with a low chuckle. "Carlson's is awfully close to your land there Mike," another heavily mustached man observed, "Have they come knocking on your door yet?" "Nah, not yet," Mike accepted the beer that the waitress had brought over for him and Brian, "but I'd invite them right in if they wanted to write a few cheques."

Everyone nodded. Nothing about this statement was farfetched. If oil was under that field, why not all their fields. If farming had taught them anything it was that you had to be patient. This was just the beginning, and everyone was anticipating that the wealth would spread to many families in the area. They could all agree that a little bit of cash wouldn't hurt anybody.

"So did you send your wife to the bar last night to butter up the oil guys?" Bev yelled from her stool. "I think he would have come for breakfast if she'd have let him," and her wet sputtering laugh filled the room. Mike didn't say anything but his facial expression was enough to show her that he had no idea what she was talking about. This was her invitation to come on over. Tipping her stool up to reserve her spot she wandered over to the table, signaled to the waitress that she needed another beer and took over the conversation.