“I see. May I see your license? Do you realize you were doing eighty in a fifty-five mile per hour zone?”
Fiona handed over her license and smiled her brightest. She was sure she had been doing seventy-five but she didn’t want to argue just yet.
“I see, Miss Marlowe, that you are from out of state and that your license has expired.”
“What?” said Fiona. “That can’t be possible.”
“It says here it expired last month.”
“I’m sorry officer, but I just got back to the States from Australia, and I came out here right after and with everything I must have overlooked the bill for my renewal.”
“I see,” said Officer Brown. “I’m sorry I’m going to have to give you a ticket. We don’t like people driving on our roads without a proper license, and you were travelling twenty-five miles over the speed limit.”
“Twenty,” she said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Officer, sir, I was only going seventy-five, I looked at the speedometer when I saw you in my rearview mirror. It said seventy-five.”
Opal piped up. “Sorry about that Scooter. My speedometer might be a little off. That’s my fault. She didn’t know.”
Scooter squinted up at Opal. “I’ve warned you about that before, Opal.”
“Yes, you have. But I’ve been busy with the ranch and all, and I haven’t gotten a chance to get around to it.”
Officer Brown pulled out an electronic device and started punching.
“Opal, you need to get the speedometer fixed. And you, Miss Marlowe, are going to have to pay a fine for having an expired license and for speeding.”
Fiona and Opal sat in silence while he finished. The little machine spit out two skinny pieces of paper. He handed them to Fiona and touched his hat.
“Ladies, have yourselves a great evening.”
This was a day spoiler as far as Fiona was concerned. She wasn’t sure how many more speeding tickets she could afford. Officer Brown turned to go then paused and turned back.
“You’re the lady found the skeleton in the hot springs, aren’t you?”
Fiona frowned. Was she going to get another ticket for that? She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to say.
“She sure is,” Opal said, solving the problem.
“I heard the diver pulled up more bones than fit one skeleton.”
“Where’d you hear that?” Fiona asked. She couldn’t help but be interested.
“I heard it on the police radio while I was waiting for speeders.”
“Did they say anything else?”
“It’ll take them a few days to thoroughly search the site. Sheriff Hoover said he thought you have impressive detective skills.”
“He said that on the police radio? He has an inflated view of my abilities.”
“I talked to him last night. We keep in touch. He won’t be pleased to hear you are a speeder though. We don’t like speeders on these roads. They’re dangerous.”
Fiona was not about to say she hadn’t seen many people observing the speed limit here and why was he picking on her.
“Thank you for the information, Officer. We appreciate being kept up to date on the latest development on the hot springs bones,” she said.
Officer Brown tipped his cap. “My pleasure. Every little detail might help solve the case.”
They watched him get back in his car. Fiona wondered if she were part of the investigating team. She couldn’t imagine the standard issue law enforcement officer wanting a rookie on their team. But then she was starting to learn that not much was standard issue out here.
She started the engine, deciding to have two glasses of wine if she ever made it home. The engine coughed, sputtered and died. She cranked it again. It wouldn’t catch.
“Old Faithful does this sometimes,” Opal said. “Wait a little bit and try again. Might be a little dirt in the fuel filter.”
“What else can go wrong today?” Fiona asked.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get her going any minute.”
Fiona tried again, but the old motor didn’t fire although it sounded like it wanted to. Officer Brown was waiting for them to leave. He got out of the car and came back to their truck.
“What seems to be the trouble?” he asked. “The usual?”
Opal said, “Might be the carburetor this time.”
“Pop the hood,” he said. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to look under the hood of this old rig.”
“Try it again,” he said.
Fiona compiled. It caught but she had to keep gunning it to keep it going.
Officer Brown slammed the hood.
“You need to have it looked at when you get home. I’ll follow you to the turn off to the ranch.”
The little caravan moved on down the highway, Officer Brown bringing up the rear, Old Faithful bucking her way home. When they made it to the turn off, Officer Brown flashed his lights and kept on going. As luck would have it, Old Faithful made it halfway along the dirt road to the ranch and then quit on them for good. No amount of cranking, swearing, and waiting helped.
“It’s not far to walk,” said Opal. “The evening is cooling down. We’ll be back at the ranch in no time.”
Fiona slammed the door of the truck after she spilled out of the seat. She had been here less than a week, and she had already had more adventure than she needed.
“We’ll get the rest of the stuff in the morning,” Opal said. “A walk will do us good. It’s a lovely evening. We could call Jake but there’s no cell signal here. I’ve tried before.”
Fiona sighed and fell in beside Opal. Someone gave a wolf whistle, and she turned around, looking to see who it was.
“Did you hear that?” asked Fiona.
Opal laughed. “That’s only a meadowlark, not one of your many admirers. Meadowlarks do that to confuse us. They have many sweet songs to sing.” She pointed to the offender who flew to a stand of greasewood.
Fiona stopped and watched him fly away into the sun that was setting over the ridge to the west. It would take a bottle of wine to calm her down tonight.
Four
Jake was enjoying an end-of-the-working-day whiskey on the porch of the ranch house when he saw two figures walk up over the rise in the distance. He went inside to fetch the binoculars. It was Opal and Fiona. Fiona looked put out. Opal was talking and gesturing with her arms. He drove out in the truck to give them a ride.
“Out for an evening stroll, ladies?” he said, as he pulled alongside and stopped. “You look like you could use a ride, Fiona.”
She stopped and shoved her hand on her hips. “Old Faithful let us down.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “Hop in.”
Fiona helped Opal into the front, and she got in back of the extended cab Ford 350.
“I was telling her funny stories, but she didn’t laugh much,” said Opal.
“I guess I’m tired. It’s been a long day,” said Fiona.
“You hear the latest?” Jake asked, looking at her in the rear view mirror.
“About more bones in the spring?” asked Fiona.
“You’ve heard.”
“Scooter Brown told us,” said Opal.
“Don’t tell me Scooter got you, Fiona,” said Jake, laughing.
“I don’t think it’s very funny getting one ticket, let alone two.”
Opal said, “He was waiting for us, and I forgot to warn Fiona about that spot he favors. He gave her a speeding ticket and another for her expired license.”
“You don’t have to say it with such glee,” said Fiona. “I could lose my license.”
“So this isn’t your first offense,” said Jake.
“Not exactly.”
“Maybe you should get an Oregon License.”
“I’m afraid to. They’ll search my record and probably require a written exam. I’m not sure I’d pass the test.”