Ferret Girl

***This one's not long, but it sets the stage for Chapter 4.

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In her kitchen, Kate was doing her best to get the stubborn grease off her hands with a rag. "This stuff is almost as bad as molybdenum grease," she said, "We'll never get it off before next week. Whenever you think that you've gotten it all, there's always more."

She was reaching for the dish soap when Jürgen took her hand in his. She stared as he examined it.

"Do you always use this to get grease and oil off?" he asked, "This is much too hard on your skin. Wait a minute, please."

He still had a rag with him and he was wiping his hands as he walked out. Kate felt a little silly standing like that as she waited. When he came back, he set a tub of margarine on the counter and peeled off the lid. Opening her cutlery drawer, he selected a spoon and scooped out a large dollop.

"Here," he said, "work this into your hands really well over the drain."

She tried it and the grease came off in almost seconds. She only really had to concentrate on her cuticles after that.

"I feel like an idiot," she laughed a little, "I never thought of this. Thank you."

"Butter would be the best thing," he said, "but it is more expensive, and I always feel as though I am being wasteful using it."

She looked at him with a playful little grin. "Did you grow up on a farm or something?"

"No," he smiled as he produced a tube of odourless gentle hand cleaner. He squirted a little onto her hands and he worked it into her cuticles for her so that she wouldn't leave a mess on whatever she touched before her hands were clean, "I'm just cheap."

"There," he said, smiling, "And now your hands smell like popcorn at the movies. I like it."

She just had to know. "Why? Is that an erotic smell to you or something?"

"I don't know, Kate," he laughed, "maybe it is. I have always wondered why perfumes are not made to smell like food. I don't think that I could resist a girl who smells of popcorn."

"Well I know one thing," she said, "Unless you're a complete loss at driving, I'd say that you've got the job if you still want it, Jürgen."

"Thank you," he smiled, deciding that he liked Kate a good deal.

"I'd offer you a beer to celebrate the auspicious moment, "she laughed, "but I haven't got any to offer you."

"I have some," Jürgen said, "but it is a brand which contains quinine. You will most likely not like the bitter taste, and anyway, I have a better idea. We can go into the town. Come on, I have a car."

She looked at him in a little shock. "What? Like this?" she asked, indicating their state of dress.

He only looked at her with a very small smile and it made her laugh. Neither of them were exactly wearing finery, but at the same time, there wasn't much more than a little dust from the floor on the knees of their coveralls.

"Even here, there are garages," he smiled, "what do those people wear if they are reasonably clean and wish to go for a bit of lunch? I know a little place where many working people go. Other than my size and your beauty, I think we will be able to pass the minimum requirements."

She laughed again and took his arm, remembering all of the times when she'd gone for tea when she'd been in the shop and working, "You're right – and I suppose that we ARE working."

He led the way to where he parked, around the other side of his cottage.

"Why would you drink a beer that has quinine in it?" she asked, "Why not just drink bitter, if that's what you like."

"This is like a tradition with me. I don't like it," he smiled a little grimly, "I'm only used to it. I drink it whenever I am in a place where malaria is a possibility and if it is available, nothing more. I like to have a beer now and then, even if it tastes like shit."

"I got a shot for malaria before I came," she grinned.

"I did too," he said, just as grimly as before. "I do not think that I could explain it to you, but try to think that I come from a place where they tell you that work is good for the soul."

She shrugged, "Sounds like a load of shit to me."

"I think so too," he said, "but if you only hear it spoken the right way while you are cutting the grass, it can last a lifetime."

They turned the corner of his cottage and Kate stared for a moment. Then she laughed, "Jürgen, this is yours?"

He looked over at her, "You don't like it?"

She laughed, "I love it. It's very ... "

"Please do not say that it is cute. I hear that all the time."

"Um, I think it's very retro and utilitarian."

She was looking at an ancient Citroen 2CV, a little thing that seated two regular people and had a roll-back canvas roof. It had a tiny little engine that made – at best – 12 horsepower.

"Much more entertaining to hear. Yes," he nodded, "I bought it so that I had something to drive around here in. I'll sell it when I leave. It didn't cost me much and –"

"I know," Kate laughed, "and you're cheap."

He nodded and opened the passenger door for Kate and she got in and tried to situate herself.

"My head almost brushes the ceiling," she chuckled, "I don't know how to break this to you, Jürgen, but in case no one has ever told you, you're a large man. A very attractive one, I'll grant you, but a large one nonetheless. And in case you're eyes aren't working well, I'm a rather –"

"Yes," he smiled, "you are a lovely woman. I know this. My head touches the roof too. That is why I always roll the top back. I just leave it on when I park it overnight."

Kate heard the compliment, but she wondered if the poor engine could haul the two of them. When he had the roof panel rolled up, he got in and started the motor. For a little thing, she thought, the engine sure sounded hopeful. When he reached for it, Kate saw that the gearshift lever stuck straight out of the dashboard and looked something like the handle of an umbrella. He backed out into the drive and they were off.

"You know," she smiled, "I'm thinking that we'll look like one of those circus acts where a little car like this pulls into the arena and about twelve large clowns get out."

He looked at her for a moment, "Really? Twelve in a car like this?"

"Yes," she laughed, "it's an old bit that's been done by circuses forever. A little car rolls in, drives around the center ring of the circus a few times and then comes to a stop. A door opens, and one by one, an impossible number of clowns get out, one after the other."

He started to laugh and Kate liked the sound.

"What's so funny? I mean, it's hilarious when you see it happening, but –"

"I was thinking that I need only one or two more cars like this then," he said smiling, "I could make a fortune if I started up a bus line.

I wouldn't dream of having a little car like this in Europe, though there were many of them there at one time when I was a boy," Jürgen said, "but here on this little island, it suits me fine for the little driving that I need to do.

It is easy to find a parking spot – even easier today with you along, Kate. If we find a little parking spot that we like, we only have to get as close as we can, and then pick my little car up by the bumpers and put it wherever we like."

Kate grinned at him, "Or if we can't find anything else, we could always just carry it to the bicycle parking and stand it up on one bumper and then lean it up against the rack."

"Exactly," he laughed.

Kate was enjoying this. Though she was a bit tall and was certainly not what one would call lithe, she was well-built and rather statuesque. It hadn't always been what she wanted necessarily when she was out and about to stand out in a crowd as she often did. When she was out with her friends, she just always drew attention.

But here with Jürgen, she thought that for once, she wasn't the tallest tree in the woods. He was even taller than she was and it was obvious to her that he made no bones about his size.

They walked along a street in the sunshine and stopped now and then to look at something or other in the stalls or the storefronts. Kate did her best to ignore it, but she found after a time, that her hair was becoming a distraction, the way that it always stuck to her neck and shoulders. At one point, Jürgen made a comment about it, saying that it looked lovely to him in any light, and that he even liked the way that it was sticking a little wetly to the side of her throat.

"Thanks for the compliment," she smiled a little before it turned to a frown once more as she reached to un-stick the hair from her throat, "but though it took me ages to grow this to where I wanted it, well that's back there, and I'm going to be here for a while, I guess, so ..."

She'd already seen a barber's stall and she looked at it now. Even the chair was in the shade and the man looked to be just finishing his lunch. Jürgen blinked when he found her gone and looked over. Those coveralls might hide a lot, he thought to himself, but even so ...

He smiled as he found a street vendor and bought a couple of cans of Coke.

"Is there any waiting list?" she asked the barber and he shook his head with a huge friendly smile and gestured to the chair. She outlined what she really wanted and he looked a little surprised, but then he told her that he could do that for her, so Kate settled happily into the chair.

Jurgen watched it all and bought a third can before he walked over. He opened a can for each of them and the barber was pleased at the gesture.

"I hope that the heat does not cause you to do anything drastic," he said quietly as he looked off down the street to sip his own drink while holding hers.

Kate reached out to take the can and took a long drink from it, since the barber was looking for the tools that he wanted for this. She thought about it.

She'd as good as made up her mind anyway to have the mane off and a much shorter cut out of a desire for a little less fuss and a lot more comfort. She'd already lost her patience over the past week over trying to keep her hair out of the dirt and unsnagged and dry from the showers that she took even more of now and ..

Then she had a different thought. A couple of times now, she'd seemed to notice that he'd said things which might be interpreted as very gentle challenges – or they might not have been.

Whatever they'd been, she'd enjoyed them. She was the sort of girl who was used to doing what she wanted in many ways and always had been. She thought about him in that regard and she saw that there hadn't been any sort of veiled judgement in the things that he'd said. She didn't understand it completely, but she liked it in him for some odd reason. She looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"I've changed my mind," she told the man.

Jürgen hadn't been paying that much attention right then. He'd been thinking that he really liked his new boss - and for more than her amazing looks. He was surprised at many of the things which he'd learned and for what she'd been able to do, he respected her already.

He just wondered just how the hell he was going to get up the courage to ask her out one of these days, if it came to that, but he knew that he'd like that if it ever got there.

He smirked at his feet as he thought that through and decided that he shouldn't in a work situation and even though that made him a little sad, it also eased the pang for him in a way because he supposed that to remain in their roles assured that the best job would get done - and it kept him safe behind his fence.

Then he noticed the buzz of the clippers and looked over.

Kate was sitting in the chair looking at him in the mirror, waiting to see his surprise. Most of her long, lovely hair was already on the floor.

She was only a tiny bit disappointed. He made no big deal out of it at all; he just smiled and nodded once.

"I suppose that this might be called drastic," she said with a loud sigh, "but keeping it looking half-good here is just beyond me. The heat where there's no breeze just finished it for me."

She looked away to watch the man work for a moment, "I know what I am and how I look, Jürgen. I've heard that some of the others call me the Ferret Lady. Well I want something a lot more comfortable now and I don't give a shit if they call me Red Sonja, I guess that I'll look the part for the job, anyway."

The barber stopped before he got to the clean-up part of hand-clipping with scissors and keeping a watchful eye out for the odd hair which had escaped and chose this moment to stand up in a last bit of defiance, he reached for his drink, so Jürgen handed Kate hers.

"It doesn't matter what I think," he said, a little sternly.

Kate bit her tongue a little because she suddenly knew that she'd had just a tiny little hope that he'd like it – since it did matter to her what he thought, a little anyway.

"But if you are interested in my thoughts," he smiled as he leaned down to look at her in the mirror from the point of view there next to her head, "I think it looks striking and suits you very well."

Kate beamed, since she really couldn't help it and in only a few more minutes, she was done and standing to look at herself in the mirrors which were hung in a few places. She knew that the pomade was going to drive her a little nuts, but he told her that it would only be needed until her hair got the drift and just stood up on its own.

"Would it matter to you what I thought?" she smiled.

Jürgen was perplexed instantly, remembering the nature of their roles and wondering just how badly he might have overstepped them. He nodded cautiously.

But Kate only smiled and reached for his shoulder – though she so wanted suddenly to reach for his cheek.

"Good," she grinned, "Then you're next."

He laughed for a moment and then he nodded and sat in the chair.

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Jürgen was done in even less time, and they walked off together toward the little eatery that he'd mentioned.

It took them only minutes to order and be served and Kate decided that she felt as though she just might have a hope at this.

"I really love your hair, Kate," he said quietly and when she turned, she saw that his smile had managed to escape whatever restrictions that it was normally held to. It looked far more heartfelt – not that it hadn't before. Now it just looked to her like Jürgen was enjoying himself.

Kate expressed her thanks and wondered how to go about getting just a little something started, but then her thoughts were brought back to the moment and she looked at him again.

"Pardon? I must have missed what you just said, Jürgen."

He blinked and she saw his furious blush as he looked down.

Kate decided that if there was one look about him that she didn't really care to be looking at in public, it was this one, so she drew up her own courage and reached over.

"Come on, Jürgen. It was my mistake and rudeness to have missed what you said. We're both here in what looks to me to be a strange and serious business. I know that it's probably nothing to you, but it's something to me, and , ... well, I'm spending a really enjoyable day with the first man that I've met in such a long time who is really interesting to me."

He looked up and she nodded, "I'm being very serious. Actually, I'm kicking myself to have missed it. I can see that you're a man who doesn't think that he has to fill the air with words. I don't mind that, but to have missed something you said, ... "

She sighed, "Please stop feeling stupid. I heard nothing – but I'd so like to. What did you say?"

He looked troubled for a moment, but then he shrugged, "I only asked if I could rub it once."

Kate didn't get it and she guessed that her expression said as much.

"I meant your hair, Kate," he smiled shyly.

Kate laughed and leaned forward, "I knew that I missed hearing something good. Please, Jürgen, rub it all you want to."

He reached out and she felt his hand graze the tips of her auburn flat-top and after that, he seemed to open up to her like a stallion who'd held himself aloof – until you managed to get past his defenses and found the hopeful horse who'd stood behind them the whole time.

Their lunch finished, they walked back to where they'd parked. They were about to get in when they heard the squeal of tires out in the street and then a yell.

It was Corinne Morris and she held up her hand and told them to wait right there. The speed and deftness with which she parked that thing amazed Jürgen and he said so as they watched it. A few moments later, and she was running over to them with her long and lovely hair flying behind her.

She stood with her mouth open and then she laughed and clapped her hands together once as she expressed how she liked their haircuts. "I love it!" she cried as she came nearer, "But what possessed you to do it, Kate?"

Kate shrugged, "I gave it a go for as long as I could stand it, Corinne, but today, I finally got tired of it all. I don't know how you can keep your long hair looking good. And I couldn't take the heat under it anymore."

"Maybe it's a bad time to tell you now," Corinne grinned, "since it's far too late, but you could have gotten a cornrow, you know. A lot cooler like that. But this is marvelous. You two look like a set or something. What are you doing here, besides getting lighter?"

Kate shrugged with a smile and a look over to Jürgen, "I finished the interviews and, ... well, Jürgen gets the job."

Corinne nodded, and now wondered why she'd had such trouble remembering his name, "Well I don't know about the specifics, but I'm very glad to hear it. Congratulations, Jürgen."

"Thank you, Corinne," he smiled and she laughed again.

"This is even worse for me. I've always had trouble over your name, and I don't know why, so I'm sorry. Still and all, I think that it's good news. How long before you think you'll be ready to patrol?"

Kate blinked, but Jürgen had it as he smirked, "I still need to have my real driving test. What do you think, Kate?"

"No more than a couple of days," she smiled.

"Can I tell my father that?" Corinne asked, "I think what's needed most is a little peace of mind."

"Then tell him three at the outside and that I'll contact him the day after tomorrow for a short – I hope – spell on the range. He told me that there was one here. I'm not bothered about the other things, but I think we'll need about an hour to get the L7's sighted in after we get them mounted."

Corinne nodded and said that she had to go. She was on her way on another errand, she said. "I've left you a little surprise in your courtyard, out behind the cottage," she smiled as she walked away, "I hope you like it."

As they got into the little car again, Kate chuckled, "I think it's a sign that I've just been working too hard, I guess. I didn't even know that I have a courtyard out behind my cottage. I'll have to look for it now."

Jürgen nodded, "I have one too and they said nothing about it. I only found it by accident. You know the little door on the wall at the back of the kitchen? That leads to the courtyard. I was here three months before I found it and I had to spend two days out there to get the overgrown plants tamed."

"I thought that it was the hideaway ironing board," she said with a blink.

"No," he said, "there is no ironing board. Just a little doorway that I must inhale to get through if I turn sideways. If you need an ironing board, you can borrow mine any time."

Kate nodded, but she was struck by something from the conversation earlier.

From the way that Corinne had seemed to look at them, and the way that she'd acted, it seemed to Kate that it was just a little like the young woman saw them as a couple in a way. It was a pleasant thought, she allowed, but she shrugged it off all the same.

She'd have been happy to have made a friend out of him, still not wanting to burst the bubble in her mind.