#1: Jack - a different Chalet girl
(update 19.2) Author: Katarzyna, Location: North West EnglandPosted: Fri Feb 16, 2007
8:07 pm — A while ago someone who should know better and would remain
nameless but I believe in telling tales - Carolyn - sent me a bunny, it's a
Lancastrian bunny so i actually understand what it's trying to tell me, and for
a while it has been whispering at me about redemption! This is the
result.......
“Got it!” the jubilant tone in the speakers voice
told the group of overall clad men surrounding the machine that the news was
good, despite the muffled tones caused by the voice coming from under the
machine itself and the fact that none of them spoke English.
The dolly
wheels scraped over the floor as the slim figure emerged feet first from under
the machine, a broad grin on her dirt smeared face, oil glistening in the short
mop of dark hair. Automatically switching to German she continued,
“There’s a small leak around one of the piston ends, I think I can fix
it.” She gave a list of tools she would need and then slid back under the
machine, thinking to herself how nice it was to be accepted as part of the team,
even if it did mean as the only woman, having slighter hands she ended up under
the machines with the small fiddly things to fix.
Two hours
later, her shift over, the machine fixed, she walked out of the hydro-electric
plant into the warm September sunshine. There were few tourists still in the
area, most of which were on the lake, either in boats or swimming from the
landing stages around various hotels.
The steamer waited at the head of
the lake but after a long day spent in the plant she felt the need of fresh air
and exercise so made her way along the path towards the big house at the other
side of the lake where she was currently staying.
People had a tendency
to stop and stare as she walked past, hands in the pockets of her denim
dungarees, whistling, although attitudes were changing rapidly, young women in
general did not do that sort of thing, whether in Austria or any other country.
Forty minutes later, having stopped at the post to pick up the
mail, some groceries and a bottle of wine she pushed open the garden gate, the
lights were already on in the lower windows, though the curtains had yet to be
shut.
“Only me,” she called out as she opened the door.
“In
here,” the reply came from the back of the house.
Swapping her sturdy
steel toe-capped boots for the more comfortable, if no more glamorous moccasins,
she slid over the polished parquet floor and tumbled through the swing door at
the end of the corridor.
“Steady,” Roger turned from the cooker with a
grin as she landed with a spin and plonked the bottle of wine and post down on
the scrubbed oak kitchen table.
“Sorry, that Friday feeling,” she
replied with an impish grin.
“I know,” he grinned in response, “and for
once a whole weekend off! I gather you got the main cistern pump up and running
this afternoon.”
“Yes, just a loose part, nothing to it really,” she
tried to sound modest at her achievement but failed miserably knowing full well
that without her the machine would still be idle awaiting the arrival of the
repairs team from Germany.
Last edited by Katarzyna on Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:06 pm;
edited 3 times in total
#2:
Author: Kat, Location: Little Venice/SwanseaPosted: Fri Feb 16, 2007
8:23 pm — Yippee!!
A new Kate drabble!
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
Thank you, Kate! May we have some more please?
#3:
Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, KentPosted: Fri Feb 16, 2007
9:09 pm — Yeah!
Glad you listened to the bunny.
Thanks Kate.
#4:
Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007
9:27 pm — Lovely!
Thanks Kate! *coaxes the bunny*
#5:
Author: dorian, Location: DublinPosted: Fri Feb 16, 2007
10:26 pm — Oooh!
Jack the mechanic...in the School's first home... Niiiiice!
More please!
::bounces impatiently::
#6: Author: Alison
H, Location:
ManchesterPosted: Fri Feb 16, 2007
10:39 pm — Ooh, I
like the look of this
.
#7:
Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, WorcestershirePosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
12:17 am — Me, too.
Love Jack the mechanic!
#8:
Author: Lexi, Location: LiverpoolPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
12:50 am — I've
been watching Top Gear too much, my first thought was "She's working for a F1
team? "
#9: Author: Fiona
Mc, Location:
Bendigo, AustraliaPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
1:19 am — This
sounds great and are Roger and Jack together?
#10:
Author: Sugar, Location: second star to the right!Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
1:55 am — Ohhhh
Thanks Kate - great to have a new drabble from you!
#11:
Author: Katarzyna, Location: North West EnglandPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
7:52 am — “I
thought I’d make a start on dinner,” he said turning back to the large pot
steaming on the cooker top.
“Here, let me,” Jack unceremoniously shoved
him out of the way taking the large wooden spoon from an unresisting hand.
“And what am I meant to do?” he protested mildly, “I can’t just sit here
and watch you do all the work, even if it is woman’s work!” he added with a
grin, knowing how much this particular phrase annoyed her.
“Watch it,”
she lifted the spoon from the pot and brandished it towards him, “I’m only doing
this for your benefit, you might want to check your mail.” She turned back to
the pot, knowing full well that the London postmark and familiar handwriting on
one of the letters would either leave him ecstatically happy or painfully morose
for the remainder of the weekend.
She heard Roger shuffle the letters
until he found the one he wanted, she would rather have been anywhere else than
in the same room, never comfortable with any sort of emotion.
“Why don’t
you,” she began, turning as she spoke.
“I know, go to the sitting room
to read it.” Roger stood with a sigh and left, the letter, still unopened in his
hand.
#12: Author: Alison
H, Location:
ManchesterPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
8:57 am — From
Con?
It's great seeing Jack as a mechanic!
#13:
Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, KentPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
9:07 am — So are
they just housemates then?
Thanks Kate.
#14: Author: Smile
:), Location:
Location? What's a location?Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
10:33 am — Ooh,
who's the letter from?
Looking good!
Thanks
Katarzyna
#15:
Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredomPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
10:40 am — thanks
this is great!! i love jack and roger here
#16:
Author: arky72, Location: CheshirePosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
11:20 am — most
intriguing!
#17:
Author: Jennie, Location: CambridgeshirePosted: Sat Feb 17, 2007
2:22 pm — Thanks,
Kate. Sending lots of bunny treats.
Gloating: mine are still away
soaking up the sun somewhere.
(Adds note to self: keep the ptio doors
firmly locked)
#18:
Author: Katarzyna, Location: North West EnglandPosted: Sun Feb 18, 2007
5:32 pm — Jack
continued with the preparations for dinner, and after half an hour, the meal
simmering nicely on the stovetop, she poured a glass of wine for both herself
and Roger before wandering through to the sitting room.
Die Blumen, the
house which the pair shared, belonged to the Maynard family, Roger, a managing
engineer at the Hydro-Electric works, had been, as a minor, a ward of the
family, his own parents having died whilst he, and his younger brother and
sister, were still at school. The house was big enough to hold the large Maynard
family, along with several guests, when they used it during the holidays so with
just the two of them they tended to stay in the sitting room and kitchen, where
they cooked and ate their meals. On the first landing they had each taken a
bedroom and shared the main family bathroom.
Both had worried at first
as to how people would view their living arrangements, however, Joey Maynard,
arguably the real head of the Maynard household, had made it perfectly clear
that for either of them to rent another property would not only be a waste of
money for them, but of potential income for the house owners, as many spare
rooms and houses were rented out to holiday makers for far in excess of the
amount they could charge for a longer term rental.
Admittedly, when she
had first moved in there had been some speculation, particularly at the plant,
over her relationship with Roger, but now, some eight months on she was very
much just one of the guys on the engineering floor. Occasionally, a visitor or
new member of staff would start in surprise when asking for Jack Lambert, and
discovering that he was in fact a she, but most of her colleagues respected her
for the work she did.
Pushing open the sitting room door with her hip,
both hands holding onto wine glasses, she found Roger standing by the big French
windows at the far end of the room, in his hand the letter he’d received. He
didn’t hear her soft footfalls as she made her way across the carpeted floor and
jumped when she silently handed him the glass.
“Thanks,” he said softly
taking it from her.
“Tea will be ready in about 5 minutes,” she
tactfully ignored the letter and what it’s contents had been, “do you want to
wash up?”
She quickly left the room and returned to the kitchen where
she busied herself laying the table and dishing up. As much as she might growl
about women’s work her schooling had made her a competent cook and taught her
the basics of housekeeping, which even she admitted came in useful.
Dinner was a silent meal, as Jack and Roger at she noticed that he kept
his wine glass topped up. Eventually, the food eaten, Roger sighed.
“Why
can’t she just tell me?”
#19:
Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, KentPosted: Sun Feb 18, 2007
5:37 pm — Thanks
Kate - Roger has problems then - wonder if it's with Con - or with someone
else??? And what about Jack -does she have a significant other?
Hopefully questions will be answered at some point - I can wait.
#20:
Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredomPosted: Sun Feb 18, 2007
5:48 pm — more
please
#21: Author: Alison
H, Location:
ManchesterPosted: Sun Feb 18, 2007
9:22 pm — Good
that all the guys respect Jack at a time when female mechanics would've been few
and far between - good for her!
#22:
Author: Katarzyna, Location: North West EnglandPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007
9:04 pm — Jack
remained silent, not sure if the question was meant for her to answer.
Eventually Roger spoke again,
“Sorry,” he grinned sheepishly, “this
hasn’t been a good start to our free weekend has it?”
“Forgiven,” Jack
grinned back, then on impulse she added, “look, tell me if it’s non of my
business, but do you want to talk about it, every time you get a letter from her
you are either miserable or extremely happy.”
“I, well,” Roger
stuttered, not sure he did want to share his feelings, after all it was hardly
how he was brought up, men didn’t share, come to that, did any of those he had
known whilst growing up show any emotion at all, save for anger at their
children’s actions, he shuddered slightly remembering Jack Maynard’s reaction to
one of his son’s misdeeds.
“Come on,” Jack said impulsively, rising to
her feet and lifting the now empty wine bottle, “lets get another bottle, take
it and our glasses into the sitting room and you can tell me about it.”
The last of the daylight had faded and Jack switched on the lamps
that stood at the edges of the room, she set the wine bottle on the small table
near the windows and, with little regard for the carpet, dragged two of the
comfortably overstuffed chairs to the table.
“Sit” she commanded and
Roger, still acting strangely numb obeyed. For a while they sat in silence,
which whilst not as strained as before was still for Jack quite uncomfortable,
though what Roger was feeling she didn’t even want to guess. Roger quickly
drained his glass and then poured another for himself, gesturing to Jack’s half
drunk glass. She shook her head, knowing full well from previous experience that
too much wine for her was not a good thing.
“I don’t really know where
to start,” Roger muttered.
“Try the beginning, I know the letter was
from Con, and I know that you love her.” Jack blushed as she spoke, love was a
concept that she had never been comfortable with herself, she’d been loved, by
her parents, her siblings, her friends, and she’d loved in return, but to
actually be in love, she shuddered slight, for her that was a place into which
she tried not to venture.
“Yes, I do love her, and I am pretty sure that
she loves me, but that’s it,” Roger looked hurt and bewildered, “I’ve asked her
to marry me, several times,” he gave a bitter laugh, “do you know what she
says?”
Jack shook her head.
“That she’s not ready, that there is
so much she wants to do with her life, that she wants a career. I wouldn’t stop
her; I would never stand in the way of her career, of anything she wanted to do.
I’d wait as long as she wanted, I just want some form of commitment, some sign.”
He pulled the letter out of his pocket and opened it, “this is typical,”
he continued scanning the letter. “It’s full of what she’s been doing, her work,
her old school friends who are in London with her, her family, but that’s it,
the letter could have been written to anyone.”
#23:
Author: Carys, Location: LondonPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007
9:39 pm — I'm
hooked by this drabble, loving it!
#24:
Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredomPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007
9:40 pm — ((roger))
#25: Author: Fiona
Mc, Location:
Bendigo, AustraliaPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007
9:41 pm — Hmm
interesting. Can't say I blame her. Once she does commit to Roger a lot of
things will change no matter how supportive Roger says he'll be. I know I
married later than most purely because I wanted to travel and no matter how much
you may talk about doing when you are married, priorities change. Anyway hope
Con and Roger sort it out.
#26: Author: Carolyn
P, Location:
Lancaster, EnglandPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007
10:26 pm — I am so
glad you went with this. Look forward to hearing what else the bunny has to say,
even with the little bit I do know this should be good. I like redemption
bunnies, they tell another side of a character.
#27:
Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, KentPosted: Tue Feb 20, 2007
6:08 am — Can
understand Con's POV - at that time and with her background she would expect, as
soon as she married, to place her ideas and career to one side. With the
exception of Joey that happened to every female role model she had, including
her cousins and aunts. The only women that continued their careers were those
that never married.
Thanks Kate.
#28:
Author: leahbelle, Location: KilmarnockPosted: Tue Feb 20, 2007
1:41 pm — Just
caught up with this. Its fascinating to read about Jack. Thanks,
kate.