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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