Silent Benefactor

So Ross, Chandler, Monica and Rachel visited what it is often regarded as the loveliest county in England. They were there for business only, and after their difficulties in finding the house, not least because of absent signposts on country lanes, were in no mood to appreciate the beauty around them. They had already taken several wrong turnings and the trouble was, it took a long time before they realised that each of them had gone wrong. The big problem was that Emily's family were only there part of the time and weren't well known.

'Are they even there at all?' muttered Rachel. She had made herself up with care today, making sure that when Emily saw her, it would be very clear that there was nothing wrong with her looks. But they were there, and finally they got their hire car to the front gate of the house.

Emily opened the door to their knocking. She stared at them and for a moment, Rachel wondered whether something was wrong with her makeup after all. She was standing at the back of the group, not really wanting to look at Emily, but unable to have a good look, out of curiosity. She'd have like it if Emily had put on weight, but if anything, she seemed to have lost it.

'I still can't believe that you actually came for that ring,' Emily said.

'I didn't come for the ring, I came for Rachel,' Ross said, making sure that she knew where his priorities were.

'Nice to see that you're able to put yourself out for somebody,' Emily said.

'Well it's more than you managed,' Ross said.

'I answered your letter,' Emily pointed out.

'We're the ones who have to dive in the water.'

'You're the ones who want the ring.'

'You put it there,' Ross said.

'It was mine,' Emily said.

'Well you could have - '

'Please,' Chandler said, 'Could we just get started? The sooner we start, the sooner we finish and the sooner we can all go home.'

'Suits me,' Emily said. 'Just go round the side.' She pointed to the left. 'The pond is at the back, you can't miss it.' She closed the door.

'Well that was charming,' Monica said to the closed door. 'She could have asked us in.' They were all feeling tired and thirsty before they started.

'I don't want to go in. I just want to get the ring and go back.' Rachel said.

'Yes, come on,' Chandler said, and to Ross, 'What did you start arguing with her for?' They walked around the side of the house. 'We need her co-operation.'

'I didn't argue with her, she argued with me,' Ross said.

'What if she'd changed her mind?' Chandler argued, 'She could have had us thrown off the property.' They reached the back and stared at the pond.

'Oh,' Monica said. As ponds went, this one was big. And not only was it big, it looked like a natural pond. If so, there would be no concrete bottom. The bottom of the pond would be mud.

Three hours of trawling the waters of the pond had passed and they had not got anywhere, although Chandler and Ross, after much arguing had devised a system of searching where they could avoid searching the same place twice.

'I'm tired,' Monica said. They had all been tired long ago, but had avoided complaining about it until then.

'You two go and rest on the bank,' Ross said. Muddy all over, Rachel and Monica climbed out of the pond. Monica had dressed for it; Rachel had dressed to impressed. Both were cold, and both looked unimpressive, except to a loving eye.

'If only I could have a glass of water,' Rachel said. 'I can't exactly ask for one though.' She glanced at the back of the house, where the doors and windows were resolutely closed to them.

'I'll try,' Monica said, getting up. 'It's only water, not her best wine.' Rachel waited in suspense until Monica returned from the back door.

'No water.'

'Apparently the tap is good enough for us.' The tap stood at once corner of the house.

'The bitch!' Rachel fumed.

'Don't say that too loudly. Save it for when we've got the ring,' Monica advised.

'I'm gonna make mud pies and throw them at the house, that's what I'll do,' Rachel said. 'I've had it with this place and with this farce.'

'Why don't we go back to the village and get some food?' Monica suggested.

'You think they'll serve us, looking like this?' Rachel asked. She was sure her clothes were ruined.

'We'll clean up as best we can, and then we'll go.' Rachel went to the tap, while Monica explained to the others what they were going to do.

Down at the village, Rachel and Monica found themselves the objects of scrutiny, and they hurried into the local shop.

'Ugh, what's that smell?' a teenaged boy said when they came in.

'That was you mate,' said his friend, 'Stop eating baked beans, why don't you,' but then the youths noticed Monica and Rachel and sniggered. Thankfully they left the shop. Monica and Rachel gritted their teeth, chose their purchases and brought them to the counter.

'So you've come down from the Laurels have you?' said the shopkeeper, being careful not to touch their hands.

'Yes,' Rachel said.

'Come a long way,' said the shopkeeper.

'Yes.'

'They don't get many visitors here. Only the daughter, and she never comes when they're around.'

'Oh,' Rachel said. Emily must be the daughter, but she wasn't very interested in where she was in the habit of staying.

'Don't really know why they bought it,' the shopkeeper said, with an attitude of disapproval.

'When did they buy it?' Monica asked idly.

'Three years ago.'

'Three years?' said Monica outside the shop. 'Did you hear that Rachel?'

'Yes.'

'But Emily said she threw that ring in the pond. After Ross told her to keep the ring.'

'Three years…' Rachel said slowly.

'I really don't think she meant that she kept the ring for two years until her parents bought a house with a pond and then chucked it in,' Monica said, 'I think she didn't throw it in the pond at all.' Rachel was stunned.

'It's in another pond?' Nobody wanted to know about rings in other ponds.

'Maybe. Or down a drain, or in the Thames, or given away or anything. One place I bet it isn't is in that damn pond that we've been searching in for hours.'

'Oh my God, we came all the way to England, spent hours looking for the place and spent hours in the pond, because she lied to us?'

'That's about the size of it,' Monica said grimly.

Meanwhile, at the pond side, Emily had approached.

'Er, Ross?' she said tentatively.

'What?' Ross said impatiently. If she'd been more helpful, Monica and Rachel would not have had to traipse off to the village. Would it have killed her to offer them refreshments? This was taking an unreasonable resentment to unreasonable lengths, which was all of a piece with her being unreasonable about him saying the wrong name.

'I have a confess - '

'Found it!' Chandler exclaimed, holding up something in his hand. Ignoring Emily, who was looking surprised, Ross waded over to him.

'You found it!'

'Hey don't swamp me! You'll make me drop it,' Chandler said, holding it away from him.

'I don't know how I can thank you,' Ross said.

'Don't worry, I have a list prepared,' Chandler said. Both men waded out of the water. Emily had retreated to the house by the time they came out and they had forgotten all about her. Chandler had rinsed the ring under the tap and Ross had it in his hand. At last. He and Rachel could get married.

Just then, Rachel and Monica rounded the house.

'Ross! We've got something important to tell you,' Rachel began.

'Woo Hoo!' Ross said, leaping into the air at the sight of her. 'Look at this! Chandler found it, he found the ring. I thought we'd never find it and then suddenly he goes, 'found it,' and he's holding it up. We'll go get it cleaned at the jewellers and it will be ready for our wedding!' He scooped Rachel into his arms into a hug and then waltzed around with her, rendering her speechless. 'Go on, try it on.' He was pushing it into her hand and she tried it on.

'But…' Monica said, but didn't know how to finish it. That was incredible. It had been there after all…

'Time to go,' Chandler announced.

Later, when Monica and Chandler were alone, back at their home in Westchester, twins fast asleep, Monica told him about the house.

'Don't you think it's a bit odd, that she would wait two or three years before she ditched the ring. If you're mad at someone, you don't wait around, at least, that's what someone normal would do. Or wouldn't do. Of course, Emily may not be normal, after all that whole thing with Ross's furniture.' She took a breath and wondered why Chandler wasn't jumping in with something. 'Of course, maybe someone she knew owned the house before her parents bought it. She could have chucked it in the pond then.'

'Maybe she did,' Chandler agreed at last.

It would be some years before he told her that he had bought the ring. Seeing that Ross was determined to go over there and get one out of a pond, he had decided to make sure that he found one. Even if Emily had been telling the truth, it was possible, for so many reasons that they might not be able to find it. He wanted his friends' minds set at ease. They had to go through the ordeal of looking, because otherwise someone would have suspected that he had set them up, and it was possible that they'd find the real thing.

The ordeal had also been a bonding experience for them, and something which allowed Ross to say with conviction, when he spoke to his father on the subject, that he had indeed got the ring. Chandler gambled on his father in law not wanting to examine the ring closely - it had been years since he'd seen it, and Chandler found it difficult to believe that he had ever examined it closely. The gamble paid off.