Chapter 1
Tina DuPreaux stepped daintily off the landing at the train station and sighed. This was her first summer home from college and she missed the east coast already. Summering in the quaint little town of her birth had at first been a novel idea, inspired by the desire to take a peek at the backward inhabitants of the place. But now she regretted her decision. Her grandfather had prospered early in the century, selling farm equipment. Now her father had inherited the DuPreaux fortune, and someday she and her two sisters would inherit the stock that made their lives privileged.
Tina had her luggage placed in the shade on the small railroad platform and muttered angrily that Barry, the chauffeur, should not be so late.
Barry had been with the family since he'd finished grade school—he hadn't gone to high school or college like she had—and now he dared to be late to pick her up the first day she was back! Too bad her parents were vacationing in Europe and wouldn't be home for a month, and the servants were on extended leave. She and her two sisters would have the mansion to themselves. They would be roughing it. But she didn't care. The opportunity to soak in the atmosphere of this disgusting little burg would further strengthen her resolve to get away from it and stay away! Her father was forced to live there for business reasons. Financial responsibilities aside, it was a revolting place, full of boring, middle-class people.
Tina straightened her long folds of light-brown hair, angry that the heat made her sweat. She hated sweat. Sweating seemed so low-class.
She had been blessed with good features, an athletic body that all the boys at school mistook for sexy, and a wealthy family that afforded her the classy upbringing that was her birthright. So she should not have to sweat.
Ten minutes later, she saw the dust from her daddy's limo rise in the distance. Bordertown seemed like a ghost town at times; the area was flat and on a hot afternoon like this most of the inhabitants stayed indoors out of the heat. Rather than accept the company of the old fart who worked in the train depot, Tina had chosen to sit out on the train platform. She would suffer heat over the presence of the under classed.
But luckily the wait was almost over. The chauffeur, Barry Harrison, was driving daddy's limo like a bat out of hell because he was late.
Tina scowled as the limo slid to a stop in front of the depot. Dust flew, causing her to cough. She clenched her eyes shut, hating Barry's guts. She would have him fired! Daddy had almost fired him the time she purposely ripped her blouse because she was pissed at Barry for not giving her the keys to daddy's Jaguar XKE, against her father's wishes. She had told her father that Barry had made unseemly advances at her. Barry pleaded innocence and begged her father to let him keep his job. And her father relented, lowering Barry's hourly wage and setting severe restrictions on his job-related activities. In short, it had meant longer hours and less money, but Barry had no choice; jobs were scarce in the small town.
Barry jumped out of the driver's side of the limo. "Sorry I'm late, Miss Tina."
Barry was over six feet tall and wore his hair neatly combed back, although it was almost shoulder length. Tina thought he was barbaric. He was about her age, and he was solidly-built and somewhat handsome. The young girls of Bordertown all panted like they were in heat for Barry, being bitches of low birth. But being a DuPreaux meant being above such animalistic passions. At school, Tina fucked only with men who were worthy of her; but she just allowed them so much, as much as she could stand.
"My luggage is on the platform," Tina said. "Pick it up and put it in the car—and be quick about it!"
"Ain't yuh gonna say hello to me?" Barry said, wiping his brow. Tina identified actual beads of sweat on his forehead and shrunk back. He was such a beast!
"Why is it necessary to say hello?" Tina purred. "Now open the door."
"Yer arms broke or something?" Barry asked.
Tina had gotten even snootier since going to college, which Barry had not thought was possible.
"I said open the door. I am tired of waiting. You were late picking me up. You are hesitating to open the car door for me. You have yet to place my luggage in the trunk of the car. And I am standing in the hot sun. That is three offenses, at least."
"Three strikes and I'm out. Is that it?"
"This is not a baseball game, you twit! There are parts of me that are actually sweating! I cannot stand to sweat!"
"Do you sit to sweat?" Barry guffawed at his own joke.
"Open the door at once!" she commanded.
"Sorry," Barry said, opening the front door on the passenger side for her. "I just thought with you being away for so long at college that you might be like a regular person when you get back into the real world."
"Do not insult me with your rhetoric."
"My what?"
"You are so boorish."
"Uh-huh." Barry held the door for her. "You sure do look sharp, though. You could be a model in a fashion magazine or something. Damn, yer fine!"
"Keep your base remarks to yourself. I am unaccustomed to your filth. I am athletic. I am a woman of the world. These months away from those of your ilk have been refreshing. I have only returned to see if cruds and rednecks from this small burg are really as low and debasing as I recall. I already regret my decision to summer here. I could have been in Europe or tucked away on some small island. It is not often that I make a mistake, but when I do, it is profound."
"Oh."
Tina had not gotten into the car yet. She just stood there, glaring at Barry with deep loathing.
"I do not sit in the front seat. You are only the chauffeur. Understand?"
"Yer not gonna sit up front with me?"
She looked away from him and shook her head.
Barry slammed the door shut and opened the rear door. "Well, here, yer highness. Boy, yer worse than you ever was."
"I have been exposed to a higher class of people since you last saw me," she said, stepping into the car.
Her skirt hiked briefly over her knees as she scooted herself in. Barry bent at the waist, his mouth hanging open.
"You still got great legs, Miss Tina."
"From now on, Harrison, it is Madam DuPreaux."
"Aw, come off it! This shit's wearing thin!"
"You are about to lose your job if you do not start showing respect to your superiors."
"Showing respect to my superiors! Hell, I don't got no equals!"
Barry slammed the door shut and hauled the luggage to the trunk of the car. After packing it in, he got into the driver's side and started the engine. Tina complained, from the back seat, because there was not a better partition separating her from the driver up front, and she made a mental note to have the car serviced so that she would not have to put up with any lip from the hired help in the future.
Barry turned on a radio rock station which piped stereo throughout the car. "How's that?" he said. If Tina wanted dignity, he'd give it to her. He didn't want her ripping her blouse or accusing him of rape. He needed this job. "Is the music too loud?"
"Turn it to a classical station. I do not enjoy music that robs me of my senses."
"There ain't no classical stations around here, Miss Tina."
"Madam DuPreaux."
"Yeah. Whatever."
"Then turn the music off. I prefer silence to clatter."
Barry turned off the radio. He was silent for the next few miles. The DuPreaux estate was out in the country, in the middle of nowhere. But that is what Tina's grandfather had wanted when he had gotten into farm business; he wanted to be a part of the land, since the equipment he sold had to do with making the land marketable.
"Are we coming to the Overlook?" she said finally.
"Yeah. Just around the bend. Beautiful sight, huh? What yuh'd call breathtaking."
"You surprise me, Harrison."
"I do?"
"You used some words with more than one syllable."
"I did?"
Tina stared out the window. "Hard to believe nature provided this marvelous gift to such a blighted area."
"Maybe nature goofed."
"Pull over when we get over there. I would like to see down into the valley for just a moment."
"Yes, ma'am."
Barry reached a high place in the road where trees surrounded a gorgeous spot where the entire valley could be viewed for miles. It was nothing short of majestic. Although it was late in the afternoon and the sun was hot, trees provided shade, and Tina was nostalgic for a peek at its unique splendor.
"Pull off the road, Harrison. I do not want to be bothered by traffic."
"This road ain't used much, Miss Tina. Uh, ma'am."
"Nevertheless, I said pull over. Into the trees."
Barry eased way off the road. The view was on Tina's side of the car; she pushed the automatic switch on her window and lowered it. "Ahhh! That is wondrous!"
Barry switched off the ignition and stared straight ahead.
"The patchwork of fields and trees. The fences and houses interlacing. The sky above. The fiery orange sun, burning angrily."
"That's something yuh'd notice."
"What did you say?"
"I said it's nice yuh noticed."
"I believe I will get out of the car," Tina said.
"Believin' makes it so."
"I said, open the door."
"Yuh didn't say that."
"I am saying it now."
"Say please."
"Open the door. Now!"
"Relax, why don't yuh?"
"When we reach the estate, you no longer have a job," Tina said firmly. She opened the door herself.
Barry stiffened in his seat. "Yuh don't mean that?"
"I would not say it if I did not mean it." With the door open, she talked to him through her rolled-down window. "I do mean what I say. You are no longer in my daddy's employment once we reach the estate. My sisters will back me."
"Don't count on it."
"They will! Rest assured."
"Well, fuck you! I ought to leave yuh here!"
"If you do, I will say that you took unfair advantage of me. I will say that you tried to physically violate me."
"Hell, I wouldn't violate a parking meter, and people around here know it."
"Just the same, I can be quite convincing."
"Come off it, Tina! Give me a break!"
"I did it once before. I will do it again."
"But I didn't do anything to yuh. I didn't rip yer blouse. Yuh did that yourself to get me in trouble. Yuh accused me of trying to fuck yuh."
"Do not use the F word in my presence! You are a peasant—and you will always be a peasant."
"Yer a fucked-up bitch! Do yuh know that?"
"That is the third ugly word you have used in my presence. I am tiring of your foul mouth."
"Please don't get me in trouble. Yuh know if I wanted to fuck yuh, I'd do it. I think yer dad even knew that when yuh tried to get me in trouble. Shit! I can't believe you sometimes!"
"You have used foul language twice more! That does it! You are hereby relieved of your duties as chauffeur. Walk home! I shall drive, myself! Now get going!"
"In this heat? You gotta be crazy! I'd never make it."
"You heard me!"
She elbowed the back door shut but snagged the cuff of her blouse in the frame. Her left hand was caught and she tugged at it but did not want to tear the blouse. The arm would not come loose. So she reached in through the window to open the door.
Up front, Barry watched her in the rear view mirror with pure anger blazing in his eyes. He could control all the locks and windows from the driver's seat. So when Tina reached in to release the lever to open her door, Barry raised the window up electronically, almost crushing her wrist.
"What? Ouch! Oh! You! You! Drat! You shall pay! Ohhh!" Tina tugged at both hands but could not free herself; she was trapped. "Release me this instant!"
She stood facing the side of the car, bound to it by her sleeve, her other hand wedged in the window. She was effectively trapped. She gritted her teeth.
"You are going to pay, Barry Harrison! You have dug your own grave. You will never find another job in this entire state! My daddy will see to that!"