Chapter 1 part 1 of 3

Chapter 3 part 1 of 3

The drive home in Binny's car was done in silence. Tessie wasn't up for small talk, and Binny didn't know what to say to her friend. It was hard for her to comprehend having to go through another bereavement with her. They had been friends for as long as she could remember. They lived on neighbouring farms, went to school together. Tessie's father died rescuing her brother when they were in their early teens. It felt like only yesterday she was walking down the aisle behind Tessie and her own father, who had given Tessie away at her wedding.

In less than two years she was now a widow. Binny wiped the tears from her eyes as she grieved for her friend. She would have to be strong. Tessie needed her support right now, not her sympathy. 'When we get back to the house, I'll make a list of things to do; that should give Tessie time to collect herself, and then we can go through the list together. Sounds like a plan,' she thought.

"Let me get you a drink and put on the heating" Binny said leading Tessie to the sofa. She had not said a word since uttering the word that spoke of Mark's death. Binny quickly poured some whiskey in a goblet and handed it to her saying "drink this, I'll set you a bath and then make some tea." She needed to keep busy. Tessie's movement was slow and unsteady; she allowed Binny to remove her clothing and got in the bath. Once she was in the bath, Binny set about writing her to-do list. She had to play at normality for Tessie's sake.

While in the bath Tessie wondered how her life had come to this. She had no one now. The only thing left close to a family was Binny and her parents who have always been supportive of her. They handled all the arrangements when her mother died of cancer last year. 'Orphaned and now a widow. What was next, a bolt of lightning hit my house; burning it to the ground with all my possessions in it – that's all I need to happen for me to know I'm totally screwed.'

"Fuck... fuck,... fuck!" 'Why me? Why now? What the hell did I ever do to get such a fucked up life? I'm not going to let this beat me. There are things I need to arrange and I made a promise.' Zombie Tessie was gone, replaced with angry Tessie. She hastened to get out the bath, and put on her robe, then went in search of Binny, slapping on a brave face.

"Binny did you make that tea?" she asked.

"ur... Not yet, I was doing a to-do-list." Binny was surprised to see Tessie recovered so quickly. She'd been inconsolable for days after losing her mother. This was a turnabout; one which made Binny worried.

"Okay, you carry on with that and I'll make it. Then I need to call Mark's mother. I don't know how I'm going to do it."

"Do you want me to tell her?"

"Thanks, no, it has to be me – you know what, fuck the tea, I need another whiskey." She made her way to the drinks cabinet and poured a large glass of amber nectar; the tumbler was almost full. Binny's concern grew. Tessie's behaviour was bizarre; she almost never swore. Binny heard her swearing in the bathroom and now she was still doing it; she also hated whiskey, so why was she downing a glass full. Binny only gave her the initial glass because that was the only spirit in the drinks cabinet.

'Am I overreacting, she had a traumatic experience; considering the circumstances, it may be that her current behaviour is understandable. I'm probably being overprotective.' She just hoped her friend was not heading for a mental breakdown.

"I'm going to set up the Skype connection in the bedroom. I'll let you know how it goes."

*******

"Hi Nora, is Owen with you?"

"No love, he's still at work – are you alright pet, you look terrible if you don't mind me saying." Tessie did mind her saying; not that it would have made a blind bit of difference to Nora whether she minded or not. She was always pointing out Tessie's faults, and took great pleasure in it. Even though she regarded Nora as a queen bitch she did not want to tell the news of Mark's passing while she was on her own.