Tues Oct 22

Bobby and Trixie stood outside Barb’s bedroom uncertainly. “Should we wake her?”

“I don’t know; she does have to rest so she can heal.”

They were still whispering and debating when Arie came down the stairs. “What are you guys doing? Just let Barb sleep, I will explain how you really wanted to say goodbye but thought better of it.”

They went down into the kitchen. “Bobby and I decided that we’re not going to stay all night anymore. We’re going to visit the old city and then come back for the night instead. Then we’ll go on another day trip tomorrow and maybe Barb will feel a little better.”

Arie nodded. “That’s a good idea I know she doesn’t mind staying here by the pool but she probably misses the touring around. It’s my understanding that she planned it all.”

Arie waved goodbye and stood in the kitchen. He got some frozen fruit out and put it in a bowl, deciding he would make a smoothie for Barb when she awoke. He went back the two flights of stairs to his own room where he sat in the adjoining office and prepared for his meetings later in the day.

An hour later he heard Barb stirring. He came to her level and saw that she was up and dressed and her bruise was angrier than ever. “Hi Barb, your bruise is really getting purple.”

“It looks horrible. Where is everybody? Did they leave without even saying goodbye?”

Arie patted her arm. “The bruise will start to heal better now; we’ll keep ice in it to get the swelling down. The ladies were standing in front of your door trying to decide if they should wake you and I shoed them away. You need rest. They actually decided to cancel the overnight reservations and come back here tonight so they can tell you all about their trip then.”

“They’re coming back? Oh, that’s so nice. I need to get a new ice pack.”

“Come down to the kitchen. I’ll get the ice for you and make you a smoothy. Have a glass of water first and I’ll check your knee.”

“Arie, where did you learn to be such a good caregiver? I thought you were an international playboy?”

“Ha, that’s Trixie just propping up my bad boy reputation. When I was a child, I cared for my mother; she always seemed sick. My father was never home much and when he discovered I was such a homebody he sent me to boarding school. That’s when I met Trixie. I was shy and had an invisible “bully me” sign on my back and Trixie and I became friends. Somehow, the little girl ran that place and no one ever bullied me again.”

“I didn’t know her back then. She sounds like a good friend.”

“Yes. The knee looks better. Its not a deep scratch, we can take the dressing off; it’s not bleeding anymore. Here’s the smoothy.”

Barb smiled and drank her smoothy. She picked up her ice pack and leaned back on the sofa. “Arie, can you put on some music?”

Arie was an audiophile. He had hundreds of records and cd’s; all arranged in long low shelves. He had the latest wireless 7.1 surround sound speakers and he had a turn table and a receiver that both had blue tooth. “What would you like to hear?”

“Oh, I don’t know, you choose.”

He put on some soft jazz and then light classical and they sat in silence listening to the music while Arie got her new ice every hour.”

Around noon they helped themselves to some left-over pizza. Barb looked around the room at some of the pictures. “It looks like you like airplanes; and jumping out of airplanes.”

“Yes, my father was an aeronautical engineer and had part ownership in an airline. He wanted me to be a commercial pilot. I think because he never became one but I had other interests. When I parachute out of a plane it is like I’m letting go of all control and trusting the universe that my chute will open.”

“Letting go of control is hard. I am a retired school teacher and I remember, quite a few years ago, we had a conference where I met two people from the school for the blind. One of the activities was a harbour tour on a tourist boat and my blind friends really wanted to go. I sat beside them on the deck and described, out loud, everything I saw as we toured around the harbour. It was really fun. At the end of the evening we docked and the tide had fallen so there was a step up and a largish space to jump up to get off the boat. The lady who was blind was just carried up to the dock. But the blind man had to jump. The guys onshore said jump high and as far over as you can and we’ll catch you. He only hesitated a moment, stood back, took a running jump and leapt on to the dock and the guys caught him. It always struck me how brave he was and how out of his control it was.”

Arie looked sheepish for a moment. “Wow, that’s incredible. He had no choice. He had to blindly jump. That makes it incredibly brave. It seems my voluntarily jumping out of a plane wearing safety gear and a parachute is not such a big deal.”

“Maybe next time you jump out of a plane you could wear a blindfold.”

“What?” Arie looked at Barb and she started to laugh. He started to laugh too and they both laughed for a few minutes until they both were close to tears.

“You are one funny lady Barb. I have to sober up and get ready for my meeting in town. I’ll get you a fresh ice pack but I have to leave and you’ll be all alone for a while.”

“Thanks Arie, I think I’m going to go out, in the shade by the pool and have a nap.”

Barb lounged in the shade, holding an ice pack and wearing a big floppy hat over her eyes. She browsed her phone and sent a note to Trixie, who responded with some pictures of really neat front doors. Eventually she fell asleep. A few hours later woke up when she heard something. She stretched and got up to see who it was. She glimpsed someone inside, through the window and was about to speak out when she saw he was crouched and moving slowly, holding a gun. She froze, crouched and backed away from the lounger she’s been sitting in, grabbing her phone as she went. She made it across the pool deck to a small pump building on the back edge of the property. She went in, closed the door and moved back into the corner and sank down. She looked at her phone and dialed 112. She was glad Bobbie had made them aware of the foreign emergency number. Soon she heard the sirens coming up the road.

Someone tried the door and cursed. Presumably they heard the siren too. Dam, thought Barb. They are going to get away. She didn’t know what to do. She looked around and saw an old bag of golf clubs. She grabbed one and threw open the door and swung with all her might. She connected and a man in dark clothes went sprawling just as police officers came out onto the pool deck yelling.

Barb dropped the golf club and put her hands up. The police detained the man, who was trying to get up. “Madam, do you know this man?” The police man noticed her eye. “Did he hurt you? Do you need to sit down.”

Barb lurched over to the edge of the grass and vomited. “I’m sorry. No, No officer. I don’t know this man. I was injured before, there have been other attempts on me and my friend’s life. We don’t know who is doing all this.”

The policemen saw Arie arrive and went over to meet him, leaving the handcuffed intruder and Barb sitting near the pool pump house.

Barb was still shaken and she looked at the man who was sitting beside her. “I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t hurt you too much; I was just so scared.” Her phone pinged. It was Trixie saying they were on their way back home and Arie had texted her about the break in. She put her phone back in her pocket and felt the ice pack she had been using for her eye. “Here, your head looks sore.” She held the ice pack against the man’s head.

He looked at her funny. “You don’t have to feel so bad lady. Are you Trixie?”

“No, I’m her friend Barb.”

“I was supposed to scare Trixie?”

“Why would you do that?”

“Some guy paid me.”

“So come on, who paid you?”

“Some loudmouth guy named Peabody. I was just supposed to scare her.”

Arie spoke to the police a few minutes, in rapid Italian and the police officer nodded. Then he came over and saw Barb holding the ice on the man’s head. “Barb, what are you doing?” He took her arm and led her way towards the house. “The cops didn’t know if this a domestic dispute, a drug sale gone wrong or what is going on. I tried to explain that the target was likely my friend Trixie for her oil connections or me because of my security contracts. Are you all right? The police said you whacked him with a golf club. You’re a bad ass Barb.”

“No, I was reacting. I just didn’t want him to get away. He told me a guy named Peabody paid him to come scare Trixie.”

“He told you that?”

Barb was sitting back on the couch listening to jazz, holding a fresh ice pack against her eye when Trixie and Bobbie came in. Trixie rushed over. “Oh Barbie, I’m so sorry. I should have known something like this could happen. I should have left Clive here.”

Arie came over from the kitchen. “I shouldn’t have left her by herself.”

Barb sat up. “I looked after myself. I clocked the guy with a golf club and stopped him dead. Well not dead but no one got shot. If someone else had been her it might have gone worse.”