Paul Biggerstaff and Liz Bradshaw were staying on a camp site in the Finchbottom Vale
that was once a working railway station before it fell afoul of Dr Beeching and
his cuts, in a place called Sharpinghead.
The two of them were staying in the converted
railway station, as part of a family gathering, as they did for a month every
summer.
Among those drawn back to Sharpinghead
each year were the four Walker girls, sister’s Jane, Kathy, Margaret and the
baby of the family, Liz.
And over the years the
numbers grew with the addition of boyfriends, husbands and then for the older
two girls, children.
And it was on the whole a
very loving family and among their number were Paul Biggerstaff
and Liz Bradshaw but they
felt love of a very different kind.
The problem was they were not a couple, they
were married however, just not to each other, and they were in fact brother and
sister in law.
Paul had been married to Liz’s sister Margaret
for over four years and they had been in love with each other for all of those
and their mutual attraction was obvious to them both from the first moment they
were introduced, but they knew instinctively that they could never act on it.
And for over four years they kept their
feelings in check, at least until Christmas in 1970 when with the aid of mulled wine and mistletoe they
kissed.
When they reflected on it later the nature of
the kiss had surprised them both, once they started they didn’t want to stop,
but stop they did, it was not just a perfect Christmas kiss, it was perfect on
every level, and having broken the ice with a kiss, they wanted to repeat it.
But the next morning in the cold, sober, light
of day, they felt guilty, really, really guilty, but not just for weakening,
the guilt came because the kiss revealed that they were not just attracted by
naked lust, after the kiss they realised it was love, so they avoided each
other for the rest of the week.
They had both decided they would not get drunk
in case they let their guard down on New Year’s Eve and kissed again.
In the New Year being in close proximity to
each other was torture being close enough that they could smell each other was
both a blessing and a curse, and being so close to one another that they could
touch was agony, but there were occasional opportunities when they succumbed to
the temptation.
But they had mixed feelings when the time came
around again to go to Sharpinghead for the summer family gathering.
It was always fun at Sharpinghead and there
was always plenty to do,
The campsite was attached to Maxlin’s Holiday Camp and
although the campgrounds and the old railway buildings were nothing to do with
Maxlin’s, all those who stayed there automatically qualified for day passes to
use some of the amenities.
Unfortunately doing family stuff together
brought them into each other’s orbits time after time every single day and it
was driving them to distraction.
After that first surrender to their love at Christmas
Liz felt alive and tingling all over and she wanted more of the same.
There had been the occasional repeat of their perfect
kissing but they were few and far between and relied mainly on chance.
Paul for one was desperate to try and engineer
something a little more prolonged.
The first week at Sharpinghead was wet with heavy thundery showers and
totally lacking opportunities and when they storms passed it left the Vale hot
and humid which was their first bit of luck.
The older generation found it too hot to even move so chose to stay
put in Sharpinghead
The rest of the group were split the majority wanted to drive to
Sharpington and spend the day on the beach, including Paul’s wife Margaret who
was a sun worshiper, Paul had auburn hair and fair skin so wasn’t keen on
sunbathing and Liz said
“I think the heat will be too much for me, I think I’ll just stay
here”
Liz had been out of sorts all week so no one objected so Paul said
“I thought I might take a drive over to Mornington, I read in the
Clarion that the Summer Fête is on at the Manor”
“Boring” Margaret said
“Well you go to Sharpington and I’ll go to the Fête, and if Liz is
feeling better in an hour I’ll take her with me” he suggested and everyone made
positive noises.
Which was how Paul and Liz came to be in Mornington-By-Mere in the
middle of July on the day of the Summer Fête.
As had been the long standing tradition the Fête was held in the
Mornington Manor grounds and also in keeping with tradition it was extremely
well attended, in fact it was heaving.
They had hoped to find a quiet corner for a bit of a kiss and a
cuddle.
In the week before the Fête Liz had been a bit out of sorts which
turned to be as a result of her monthly and after the unwelcome visitor had
departed she was very needy and tactile.
So when Paul parked the car in Mornington, he had barely applied the
handbrake before Liz started nibbling his earlobe.
“I need a kiss and a cuddle” she said in whinny tones
“That’s the reason we’re here,” he said weakly
“But I need a kiss now” she whined as she licked his ear like a
Labrador.
“But…” he protested
“Please” she begged
“This isn’t the best place for that” he said as he looked around, but
that was the sum total of his resistance as moments later she was sitting on
his lap and they were kissing
However it all came to an abrupt end as a rather loud rotund family
went past the car and bent one of the mirrors back.
Fortunately they were too busy feeding their faces to notice what was
going on in Paul’s car but Liz had been spooked by the chubster’s so she said
“Let’s go then” with a sigh and Paul opened the driver’s door and went
around to the passenger side and opened the door and took the hand of his
sister in law and said
“Let’s go and find somewhere we can kiss in private”
“Yes please” she pleaded
Unfortunately the Fête was so well attended it was difficult to
imagine where he might fulfil her request.
All the stall were swarming with punters and all the tents and
marquees were occupied.
So Paul thought they could chance their luck in the Manor itself,
after all there were countless rooms in there suitable for a private kiss, even
a cupboard would have sufficed.
Unluckily however the house was off limits and there was security on
every entrance.
It was when they were on the way to check for a back way in to the Manor
that Paul spotted the catering van parked about thirty yards from the house.
And as they passed by it he unceremoniously bundled Liz through the
side door in amongst the empty wine glass boxes and then Paul climbed in after
her and closed the door behind him.
Although taken by surprise it was with an excited giggle that she
threw herself into his arms and she finally got her long leisurely snog.
“That was so lovely”
Liz said as Paul opened the door to check the coast was clear and then reached
into the van and grabbed Liz’s hand and pulled her out before she had chance to
get her shoes on.
“Come on” he shouted
“we need to run”
As she was pulled from
the van she glanced towards the house to see one of the security men running
towards them shouting.
He had obviously been
alerted by Paul getting out of the van.
Hand in hand they ran
headlong across the grass towards the hubbub of the Fête, Paul carrying
her handbag and Liz holding her shoes and they were laughing all the way and
once they were lost in the crowd they relaxed and Paul said
“I’m starving, how about you?”
“Oh yes I’d like a hot dog” she said
After eating their lunch they wandered around the attractions for the
next couple of hours and enjoyed the other entertainments on offer and then
headed back toward the car.
“Let’s go for a walk in the woods” he suggested
“Ok but I’m very hot and tired” Liz said
“You won’t need to expend any
energy for what I have in mind” he replied and held her hand “it’s very cool
and secluded in the wood”
“Oh goody more snoggage” she replied with a giggle
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