Call Our Bluff

Chapter One

She stood on the boat deck, watching the sun set in the distance. She couldn't believe her luck. She was decked out in a new outfit they had bought for her: a beautiful gold lamé evening gown with matching satin pumps and a brown fox stole. Her sandy blonde hair was set in stylish finger waves around her face. This outfit made her look like she belonged on the MGM studio lot in California and she loved it. Things were looking up and she hoped it would stay that way.

"Why there you are! I thought you had gotten yourself into some trouble already," Natalia said as she turned the corner. "We need to stick to the plan now Ruby. These suckers can't find anything out, so act your little heart out."

"Don't worry sis, I won't put my foot in my mouth. I'm as focused as I'll ever be!" Ruby assured her. She had really lucked out by meeting Natalia, the two of them really understood each other.

Natalia put on a broad smile. "Well now that that's settled, let's go dazzle them Miss Lita," she extended her arm out. Ruby looped hers in and gave her a wink. "With pleasure Miss Veronica," she teased.

                                                                                           ...

Lucille Ladouceur was a pathological liar, she knew it and her whole family did as well. Heck, the whole town knew! Murdochville isn't that big a town, it comprises about 15 streets of dilapidated townhouses which are all within walking distance from the town's focal point, the mine. Well, everything is walking distance in Murdochville. So were the lies and Lucille hated it. She was the fourth of six girls, the middle child that was often forgotten. 

The Ladouceur household was chaotic on a good day, and it was hard to get a word in with her parents or her siblings. Every day her father headed for the mine at the crack of dawn, working grueling 12 hour shifts underground and progressively losing his hearing from all the heavy equipment surrounding him. Her mother, an obsessive worrier by nature, handled all the cleaning, cooking, and extra shifts as a babysitter or waitress to support the family. Lucille knew her mother kept busy to avoid thinking of her father being crushed to death in the mine.

 If she was being as truthful as she could be with herself, Lucille would admit that she didn't care that much for her siblings. Her three older sisters, Bertha, Ann and Ruth, seemed to be on a steady course toward homemaking, pleasing their men at all costs and being content with staying in this small mining town until they passed away surrounded by a gaggle of grandchildren. Her two younger sisters, Marie and Elizabeth, were quite a bit younger and bored her to death. She couldn't be bothered with any of them, which made evening meals all the more intolerable. 

She had some friends at school of course, but these relationships were always fleeting on account of the fibbing. They would always be interested at first, and who wouldn't be interested in the adopted girl who made a miraculous recovery from tuberculosis and had a rich boyfriend overseas? But the interest would dissipate as the lies kept piling on. The nickname Lying Lucille caught on like wildfire, all the residents of the 15 Murdochville streets were in the know. Her older sisters would tattle on her, telling their mother the latest fibs over supper.

"You wouldn't believe what I overheard today in the lunch room mother. It seems like our very own Lucille has been telling people that her parents perished in the sinking of the Titanic and that she was rescued and adopted by you and father!" Ruth announced dramatically over a plate of meatloaf. Lucille rolled her eyes and kicked Ruth's shin under the table.

"Ouch! Hey what was that for! Make sure you're kicking the right sister, won't ya!?" Bertha complained.

"Stop it girls, there's no need to behave uncivilized at the table," said their mother. "Ruth, I appreciate your concern for your sister, but it's just a little white lie. It isn't harming anyone. If Lucille feels like telling tall tales, she can go ahead." And with that final sentence, the matter was closed.