Day One - Thursday 11th February
Victoria Williams
enjoyed a
successful career in publishing, due to her diligence and hard work.
And she had
arrived in her thirties with her integrity, looks and figure intact, but she
still lived a solitary existence and took her holidays alone.
She had friends a
plenty and an abundance of family whom by and large she adored but the one
thing that had eluded her was a lasting romantic attachment.
It certainly wasn’t by
design or for the want of trying but it amounted to a failure in her book.
So this year she had
decided to draw a line under any romantic expectations she may once have had.
Victoria had turned 31 in January and
disillusioned and disappointed with love she was determined to escape any
further disappointment in the romance department and as yet another Valentine’s
day was looming large on the horizon she vowed that this year would be
different.
She persuaded a group of girlfriends of like mind
and in a similar position to her own, a mixture of singles and divorcées to
meet up for a kind of anti-valentines weekend.
It was Victoria’s
oldest friend Catherine Lowis who had suggested Teardrop Lake as the venue.
She was a Police Officer
and her and her partner PC Ian Jennings had been on a domestic violence shout
in the area a year or so before.
Which was how he met
his fiancée Kate who lived on the lake.
Catherine had
subsequently been invited to several events in and around the Lake since and
she had rather fallen in love with the place.
She booked them all into
the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel for a four day weekend from the 11th to
the 16th of February and were assured there would be no St
Valentine’s Day nonsense.
Victoria and Cathy set
off on Thursday morning and drove down together through the pouring rain in
complete silence until at lunchtime they reached the outskirts of Shallowfield.
“Is this going to be a
complete washout Cath?” she asked
“Are you having second
thoughts Vic?” she replied
“Aren’t you?”
“Just wait until you
see the lake” Cathy said brightly even though she was doubtful herself about
the sanity of their decision but she wasn’t prepared to admit that to Victoria.
They pulled into the
lane leading towards the lake and the heavens really opened.
“Jesus” Victoria
exclaimed and stopped the car “Let’s call it off”
“Nonsense” Catherine
said “We’re here now”
“Drive on” she added
and pointed
By the time they
reached the car park the deluge had abated and when they got out of the car the
sky had even brightened a little.
Catherine Lowis was a
skinny freckly girl of about 5 ft. 8 inches tall and weighed in at about nine
stone.
When she was working
she looked about three stone heavier in her police stab vest and utility belt.
But in civilian dress
she had a lovely figure and wearing her straw coloured hair down instead of
tied in a bun made her look very pretty.
Victoria Williams was
neat and slim with a dark complexion, brown eyes and short dark bobbed hair and
she was shorter than her friend.
“Ok” she said looking out across the lake “this
isn’t so bad”
As they stood there admiring the view they were
brought back to the moment by the sound of a car horn.
They turned around to see Simone Guiver grinning through her side window and
Elaine Browning waving from the passenger side.
The four women all
knew each other from University. Simone was a tall busty black woman with a loud
voice and gregarious personality.
But Elaine Browning
was as different from her friend as chalk and cheese she was a quiet mouse of a
woman, skinny and flat chested with red head.
Simone was a secondary
school teacher and Elaine owned an Antique shop.
But one thing they
very definitely had in common however was their divorcee status.
It was perhaps
appropriate that the other two women arrived much later in the day as they had
both joined the group much later than the others.
Clare Wappat and Katie
Deighton had been friends since childhood and had over the years been absorbed
into the fabric of the group.
Clare was also a
police officer and trained with Catherine Lowis, she was very petite with long
blonde hair and Catherine had introduced her to the others.
Katie Deighton, a tall
willowy brunette divorcee and a successful solicitor, met Victoria Williams
when her firm was doing some legal work at her publishers.
And during that time
they recognized each other as kindred spirits and struck up a lasting friendship.
When Victoria
introduced her to the group she was surprised and delighted to see Clare was
there too.
They all met at the
bar that evening and then walked into Shallowfield for dinner at the Phoenix
restaurant and ended the night in the bar at the Shallowfield Lodge.
It was the first time
they had all been together in the same place at the same time for about 5 years
but it was as if they hadn’t been apart for more than a day.
Although the six women
were all so different, professionally and personality wise they gelled
instantly to form a lasting and deepening friendship which had endured.
Day Two - Friday 12th
February
At the meal a great
deal of wine was consumed and even more followed it in the hotel bar so as a
result only Catherine and Clare made it down for breakfast the next morning.
With them both being
in the police they were well accustomed to keeping irregular hours and early
starts in particular and they learnt never to forgo a cooked breakfast.
After their third cup
of coffee and when it became apparent the others weren’t going to appear before
lunch Catherine said
“Let’s go for a walk
around the lake”
“What about the others?”
Clare asked
“We can leave them a
message and then meet up with them later” Cathy said
So after a quick visit
to the loo they left a with Sheryl Brown note at the front desk and set off on
their walk.
It was a beautiful
morning and was such a contrast to the day before and only the abundance of
puddles bore testimony to the deluge of the previous afternoon.
They splashed their
way along the northern perimeter road admiring the views
“So which one of these
gaffs does Ian Jennings girlfriend live in?”
PC Ian Jennings was
Catherine’s partner and was engaged to a local nurse called Kate Marston.
She lived in Dancingdean
Hall which was once the residence of the Earls of Dancingdean but that line of
aristocracy had long since died out and the hall was now divided into 6
spacious apartments.
“It’s at the top of
this hill” she replied pointing “and the view across the lake from there is
just amazing”
It was a bit of a slog
up the hill and they were more than a little out of breath when they got there.
They stood panting by
the gate of the property and Catherine asked
“Shall we go and say
hello?”
“Well I could use a
cuppa” Clare said
“I could use a pee”
Catherine said “so let’s go then”
They set off along the
drive which meandered through the trees and as they rounded the final turn they
spotted two men leaving the main doors.
“Good morning” Catherine
called
“Morning” a tall dark
man replied
“Is Kate at home” she
asked
“She’s at work” the
other man said “Won’t we do?”
“Unfortunately not, but
you could let her know that Catherine called round and that I’m staying at the
Lodge” she said
“How long for?” the
dark man asked
“Until Tuesday” Clare
replied
“Well we might get to
see you again then” the other man mused
“Maybe” Catherine said
coyly and she and Clare said goodbye
“He was lovely” Clare
said
“Yes he was” Catherine
replied looking back at the other one
“But that’s not why
we’re here is it” Clare said
“No, no its not, so
why are we here again?” Catherine asked
“Good food, wine,
fresh air and exercise” Clare reminded her
“Oh yes I remember”
“He was nice though”
Clare said
“Your one was a doctor
I think” Catherine informed her
“What was the other
one?” she asked
“A wrestler I hope”
Catherine replied “all oiled up and grapply”
They both laughed
“But that’s not why
we’re here” Clare said
“You are absolutely
correct” she responded “which is a shame”
“I’ll say” Clare added
and they both laughed again.
“No don’t make me
laugh” Catherine said “I still need to pee”
Catherine was quite
correct in her observation the dark man was indeed a Doctor.
Doctor Alastair Phillips
to be precise, and at 33 years old he was the younger of the two men by a year,
he was tall and dark with classic good looks.
But the other man was
not a wrestler, he was another Doctor, Paul Blair, he was short and stocky with
close cropped orange hair.
“They were corkers”
Paul said
“Just what the doctor
ordered” Alastair concurred
“Perhaps we should pay
them a visit at the Lodge over the weekend” Paul suggested
“That’s a great idea
doctor” Alistair agreed
When Victoria and
Katie arrived downstairs at the hotel they were given Catherine’s message.
Victoria was going to
meet up with the early birds but Katie elected not to join her, due to a
particularly savage hangover.
Day Two - Friday 12th
February
Catherine’s note said
that they were walking clockwise around the lake so Victoria rushed out of the
Hotel to join the others and followed the southern road so she would intercept
them.
She was hurrying
because, although she wouldn’t admit it, she was a bit scared of the woods as
they were very thick and she didn’t have a clue where she was going.
All of a sudden a bird
took flight from the undergrowth and startled her.
She instinctively
turned her head in the direction of the sound while hurrying along on her way,
which was when she twisted her ankle.
As luck would have it
a cyclist appeared around the corner as she sat on the verge rubbing her ankle
and feeling sorry for herself.
“Are you ok?” he asked
removing his ear pieces
“I’ve twisted my ankle”
she replied
He dismounted and
asked
“Can you stand?”
“I don’t know” she
replied
As he helped her to
her feet, she was assessing him, she thought he was very good looking even
sweaty and spattered with mud.
“Can you put your
weight on it?” he asked
She tried and winced
with pain
“Ok just lean on me
for a moment” he suggested and she dutifully obliged
“Are you staying at
the lodge?” he asked
“Yes”
“Ok let’s sit you on
the bike and I’ll wheel you to the Hotel” he suggested
“Are you sure? That’s
very kind of you” Victoria said
“No problem” he said
“Are you staying long?”
“Until Tuesday”
Victoria replied
“Are you here for a
romantic getaway?” he asked hoping the answer would be no
“No not at all” she
replied
“I’m here with a bunch
of girlfriends”
“Really” he said
quietly relieved
When they got to the
lodge he helped her off the bike and supported her as he walked her slowly to
the front door.
“I think I’ll be fine
from here” she said stoically
“If you’re quite sure”
he said
She nodded her
acquiescence
“Ok then” he said in
response to her nod “take care of that ankle”
“Yes I will …., I’m
sorry I don’t know your name”
“It’s Matt”
“Well thank you Matt,
I’m Victoria”
“Well you take care
Victoria”
His full name was Matt
Addison and he was staying at Tower House with his Uncle and Aunt and their
family.
He was an ex-soldier
in his early thirties and he had served 9 years with the Downshire Light Infantry.
And when he got out of
the army he needed to find a new career so he began working for the family
Bakery business.
Like all of the
Addison’s he was learning the business from the bottom up and he was being used
as a goffer as well as helping his cousin Nick in the Shallowfield shop.
She watched him walk
back to his bike and she thought he looked as good from behind as he did from
the front and she smiled.
He mounted his bike
and then he turned and gave her a wave before peddling away.
When he was gone she
ran and skipped across reception and up to her room.
The walk into the
village had been very beneficial for her hangover but she still purchased a
remedy or two and after she had been to the chemist, Katie Deighton, ever the
one for networking decided, to drop a business card into some of the local
businesses, not that she really needn’t the business, it was just force of
habit.
Her last port of call
was Lyndon-Sanders Properties where she met the man himself, William
Lyndon-Sanders.
He was in his early to
mid-thirties and was best described as dapper, and he had clearly spent more on
the suit he was wearing than was really decent.
But Katie liked it and
she liked the look of him in it.
In his business impressions
were very important and he was very impressed with the beautiful willowy
brunette seated before him.
“How may I help?” he
asked
“I’m staying locally for
the weekend so I thought I would do a little networking while I was here” She
said and handed him her card
He looked at the card
and smiled
“Well Katie I can see
you are a woman after my own heart” William said
“Perhaps we could
discuss it further over dinner while you’re here, we have some very fine
restaurants in the area”
“That would be really
nice” replied Katie genuinely
“But I’m here with my
girlfriends for the weekend and it’s supposed to be a girl’s only weekend, I
could be flayed alive just for talking to you”
“Well we wouldn’t want
that” he said and they both laughed
“Perhaps we could arrange
something after the weekend then, at a mutually convenient time” he suggested
hopefully and offered her his card.
She took it and said
“I will look forward
to that”
Katie walked back from
Shallowfield and was just approaching the Lodge when she spotted Catherine and
Clare coming the other way
“Where’s Victoria?”
Katie asked
“We haven’t seen her”
Clare replied
“Well she went off up
that way looking for you” she said “I hope she hasn’t got lost”
The three of them walked
the rest of the way to the Hotel together and they found Victoria sitting in
the lounge with Simone and Elaine who had only just surfaced, and the three of
them were drinking coffee.
“I thought you were
walking up to meet these two” Katie said
“I twisted my ankle”
Victoria replied
“Really?” Katie asked “Are
you ok?”
“I am now” she replied
“How far did you get?”
Catherine asked with concern
“About a hundred yards”
she replied sheepishly
“You are such an
adventurer Vic” Clare said and they all laughed
That evening they ate
a quiet meal at the Hotel and limited their drinking, well compared to the
night before anyway, and then they had an early night.
Day Three Saturday Morning
13th February
After having moderated
their drinking on Friday night and having had an early night, they were all up
for breakfast on Saturday morning and all consumed a hearty full English.
Over coffee they
discussed what they wanted to do for the day armed with a map of the area.
The Lake was shaped
like a teardrop, hence its name, and was surrounded by the ancient woodland of
the Dancingdean Forest.
It wasn’t a huge body
of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point.
The Lake and the
surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve parcels each
with one significant dwelling although there were a number of cottages dotted
around the woods as well, some in use and some not.
It was both idyllic
and peaceful, there was little or no noise pollution and although the lake was
used there no speed boats or jet skis only rowing boats, canoes, dinghies and
skiffs.
There were also a
number of places of interest, two Folly’s, a Watch tower, Olwen’s Chapel, a
waterfall, brooks, streams, a 16th Century Bridge and lovers leap.
The Hotel proprietor,
Sheryl Brown, told them when she brought more coffee that the forecast was for another
mild fine day with a light breeze on the Lake, rain was forecast for the next
day so it was a good day to be out and about.
On hearing that Clare
and Catherine decided they would avail themselves of one of the Hotels Dinghies
and go sailing on the lake.
Vic and Katie weren’t
strong swimmers so didn’t fancy that at all but thought that lover’s leap would
be worth seeing.
While Simone and
Elaine wanted to spend the morning exploring the Chapel and the falls.
So they all went their
separate ways and agreed to meet back at the Lodge for Lunch.
Victoria really wanted
a bike ride but Katie hadn’t ridden since she was 12 years old and even then
she fell off.
So they settled on
walking instead and it was Victoria who led the way and strode off in the direction
she had gone the day before, hoping she might meet her gallant cyclist again.
“Where are you going?”
Katie called “it’s this way”
“Oh, is it” she said
and then cursed under her breath.
They followed the
northern perimeter road which lead up a long gently incline as it climbed up
above the cliffs.
As they approached the
point where the road crossed over the brook a car drove over the brow of the
hill ahead of them and as it got closer she noticed the driver was her gallant
cyclist from the day before, Matt.
A smile appeared on
his face as he recognised her and as he came to a halt he wound down the window
“Hi Victoria” he said “how’s
the ankle?”
“Its fine thank
you” she replied and Katie gave her a look
“I’ll keep walking and
you can catch me up” Katie said and smiled at the unknown man.
“Ok” she replied
without averting her eyes from the prize.
“So no bike today” she
said
“No I have some
errands to run” he said
“So I’ll go out this
afternoon instead”
Victoria nodded sagely
in response
“We could go together
if you like” he suggested knowing they had guest bikes at the Hotel.
“Yes I’d like that”
she replied
“Great, do you want to
meet at the Hotel?”
“No” she said sharply “I’ll
meet you here by the bridge”
“Ok here at two then”
he said
“I’ll see you then”
Victoria said
He finally got on his
way ten minutes later.
Day Three Saturday Morning
13th February
Katie had trudged
along the Lane on her own and as she reached the top her attention was
attracted to the sound of someone hacking about in some shrubbery nearby.
She cautiously
approached and discovered on closer inspection it was William Lyndon-Sanders
red faced and sweating.
“What on earth are you
doing in there?” She said and laughed at the state of him.
“Croquet” he said
“Is that a swear word
around here?” Katie asked
“No I was practising
for next month’s croquet match” he explained “I hit a scatter shot and one of
the blasted balls ended up in this mess, ah there’s the bugger”
“Do you have a croquet
lawn then?” she asked
“Yes” he said in a way
that queried “doesn’t everyone”
“How posh” Katie said
“It’s a very technical
game you know” he said enthusiastically “And it can be quite nasty”
“Really?” she said in
disbelief
“It’s quite thuggish
to be honest” William said
“You have to have a
mixture of skill and spite and possess a ruthless streak” he said
“And do you?” Katie
asked
“I’m in property” he
replied
He looked at his watch
and said
“It’s a bit early but
why don’t you come in and have a spot of brunch?”
“I can’t I’m afraid
I’m lunching with the girls”
“Afternoon tea then”
he suggested
“Afternoon tea? Yes
that would be lovely”
Because it was the first
mild sunny day of the year there were a number of boats out on the water that
day, local artist Danny Pellegrino was sat sketching while his wife Penny was
at the tiller.
The Famous film
director Peter Lutchford and his wife Claire,
Peter’s actress sister
Amanda and her friend and fellow thespian Tamsin and of course the stalwart
Coleman Bowers in the hotel skiff delivering mail.
Catherine was the
experienced sailor of the two so she took the tiller and Clare just went along
for the ride, they noticed there were a number of other craft about but didn’t
know who any of the occupants were apart from Coleman because he was the odd
job man at the hotel.
They had been out for
about an hour when they spotted another dinghy which appeared to be on the same
tack as them but was making better headway.
On closer inspection
Catherine realised it was the Doctor and the Wrestler from the day before.
“We’ve got company”
Catherine shouted
“Oh good, yummy
pirates” Clare said in a lecherous manner.
When they were a few
lengths astern of them Catherine let her sail go slack and a few moments later
the other boat did the same and they came along side.
“Hi” Alastair said
from the tiller “we’ve been looking for you”
“Really” Clare said
“Yes we went to the
Hotel and Sheryl said you were on the water” Paul said “so we went home a got
the boat”
“Now you’ve found us
what do you suggest we do?” Catherine asked the other captain
“We could change crew”
he suggested
“What a great idea”
Catherine said and was about to give Clare the heads up just as her friends was
literally jumping ship.
Once aboard she
relieved Paul who was holding the two craft together and he stepped
effortlessly from one boat to the next.
“We need to be back at
the Lodge by 1 o’clock” she said to Alastair.
“Aye, aye captain” he
said and pushed off.
They spent the next
hour and a half racing up and down the lake until they both came to a halt
alongside the Hotel jetty.
“That was fun” Clare
said as she stepped onto terra firma
“We can do it again
after lunch” Alastair said
“Or we could go out in
skiff instead” Paul suggested
“That sounds good”
Catherine replied
“We’ll pick you up at
two” Paul said as the dinghy drifted away
“Make it 2.30”
Catherine shouted and then her and Clare waved them off.
“What’s a skiff?” Clare
asked
Day Three Saturday Afternoon
13th February
Miraculously everyone
made it back to the hotel in time for lunch and they all contributed excitedly
to the conversation with everyone enthusing on their various adventures.
“You would not believe
the view from lovers leap” Victoria said “it was absolutely breath-taking”
Of course nobody told
the whole truth about what they had been doing.
And trying to decide
among them on the content of the afternoon’s adventures proved to be as
difficult as nailing jelly to a tree.
Everyone had different
ideas on what they wanted to do and no one could agree so that particular
discussion just petered out but they did at least agree on dinner in Purplemere
at a restaurant called the Runcible Spoon.
After lunch everyone
returned to their rooms as the clock struck two, though Victoria was barely in
hers for more than 5 minutes and was the first one downstairs.
She quickly sought out
one of the Hotel bikes and a rather un-fetching helmet and pedalled off at
breakneck speed to the rendezvous.
Katie was next about
ten minutes later and left the building in a rather surreptitiously
melodramatic manner baring all the hallmarks of a character from a second rate
1950s spy film, looking furtive and shifty and was constantly looking over her
shoulder making sure no one was following.
Simone and Elaine came
down after that and set off into the direction of the same section of woods they
were in all morning the only difference between after lunch was that Simone
appeared to be carrying a picnic blanket.
Finally dead on the
stroke of the half hour Catherine and Clare with their blonde hair dancing
about their shoulders went rushing out the door.
Although the weather
wasn’t warm enough for anything too revealing they did at least go for more
feminine apparel than they had on earlier in the day.
“Sorry I’m late”
Victoria panted as she pedaled up the incline.
“That’s ok” he said “it
was worth the wait”
Victoria actually
blushed a little which under normal conditions would have been cute but instead
it just looked like exertion.
“Are you ready for some
more hill?” he asked
“Yes I’m tougher than
I look” Victoria replied
They ended up at Lovers
Leap sitting on the promontory chatting.
She didn’t have the
heart to tell him she’d already been up there once that day.
And anyway if she
hadn’t already been there she wouldn’t have known how much more enjoyable it
was to be there with him.
As Katie began the
slow climb up the hill she could just make out a couple of cyclists at the top
of the hill they were too far away for her to identify them and in a second they
had disappeared.
She too was dressed in
more feminine attired she had on a wool dress and black tights.
Slightly less fetching
were the trainers on her feet but she had a pair of flat shoes in her bag which
she planned to change into on his driveway.
Day Three Saturday Afternoon
13th February
When Catherine and
Clare got to the jetty the Doctors were already waiting for them.
“Wow you two look
lovely” Paul said
“Knock out” Alastair
agreed
The girls didn’t say
anything they just looked at each other they’d heard plenty of soft soap in
their time, only time would tell if they’d just had a fresh dose or not.
Their skiff was tied
alongside the jetty and Alastair was stood in it waiting to help them in and
Paul was on the jetty waiting to untie the line.
It was about 20ft long
and capable of holding more than the four of them it had two sets of double
seats facing each other, one at the stern and one in the middle which were obviously
the ones they intended to use the remainder was covered by a Tonneau cover.
Alastair took Clare’s
hand and helped her into the boat and guided her into the stern seat, then he
did the same for Catherine but seated her opposite her friend.
Alastair then sat next
to Clare and steadied the skiff while Paul untied the line and stepped in.
Paul then pushed away
from the jetty as Alastair started the motor he then reached under the tonneau
and retrieved a couple of car rugs.
“Here we are, in case
you get cold” he said and handed one to each of the girls.
The ever resourceful
Paul also produce tea, coffee and hot chocolate in flasks.
As soon as Katie
stepped on to the driveway she paused and changed her shoes, then she attended
to her makeup before continuing up to the house.
She knocked on the
door and it was opened almost immediately by William who looked even more
dapper than he did earlier.
“Ah Katie” he said “do
come in”
“Thank you William”
she said
“I think its warm
enough to sit on the terrace” he said
“But if you get chilly
we can come back inside”
After an hour on the
water the sun began to sink in the sky and it soon became apparent that not
even the rugs and hot beverages were going to stave off the chill so they put
in at the east end of the lake and walked up to Dancingdean Hall.
Where the girls
gratefully accepted an invitation to Alastair’s flat to enjoy his hospitality,
he had cocktails in mind but the girls just needed to pee.
They did however stay
for one drink, and then Paul kindly offered to drive them back to the hotel.
Simone and Elaine were
the first two back to the Hotel and went straight upstairs to get ready.
It was after dark when
Victoria got back to the Hotel and she was spattered from head to toe in mud
but she was grinning from ear to ear.
William dropped Katie
off on the Shallowfield side of the Hotel and she reentered the building in the
same surreptitious and melodramatic manner in which she left it, keeping in the
shadows until the course was clear.
“Thank you for a lovely
afternoon” Clare said and kissed Alastair’s cheek
“Yes, thanks Al”
Catherine added
Paul drove them down
the hill and dropped them in the Hotel car park.
“Thanks Paul” Clare
said and got out
“Yes thanks Paul, I
had a great time” Catherine said and kissed him on the mouth.
Day Four Sunday 14th
February
The Runcible Spoon was
a wonderful restaurant and more than lived up to their expectation and they
were absolutely stuffed by the end of the evening and when they got back to the
Lodge they decided to forgo a nightcap and they all waddled to their rooms.
Despite the amount of
food they had consumed the night before Catherine and Clare were still down the
next morning for their full English breakfast.
Everyone else was downstairs
by 9 o’clock but apart from Katie who ate a piece of toast they only drank coffee.
“So what’s on the
cards today?” Clare asked “As its V day”
V was for Valentines.
The rain predicted by
Mrs. Brown the day before was indeed falling but she up dated them at breakfast
with the news that brightening skies were following.
Though she couldn’t
say when.
“Church” Victoria
replied randomly
Although none of them
were out and out atheists none of them were regular Church goers either but
none of them could think of a reason not to so all of them nodded in agreement.
“We can all pray for
good weather” Elaine suggested
“Yes and if that fails
its cag’s and wellies for all of us” Victoria said.
They all went upstairs
and changed and then set off after Sheryl Brown gave them directions to St
Mary’s.
It was a nice little
church and the vicar and his wife were very welcoming and the service was
undemanding.
There was a good sized
congregation including two young doctors, who managed to steal a moments
conversation with the two blonde policewomen during the post service mingle.
When they all returned
to the Hotel they changed into their wet weather clothes and Sheryl prepared
them a packed lunch.
The six of them yomped
the woods and explored some of the hidden treasures of the woodland.
But they messed about
so much they didn’t make a lot of progress.
They ate lunch in
Dancingdean Folly and then worked their way back through the woods to the
falls.
One by one they jumped
across the brook, even Simone who was a big unit leapt it with ease.
But as they followed
the course of the stream down towards the road Katie slipped and fell in the
brook and got a bootie.
Victoria laughed like
a drain and so Katie pulled her in and she got two booties and they all laughed
until they cried.
They were still
laughing as they sat on the bank and tipped the water from their wellington
boots.
When they got back to
the hotel they were all soaked to the skin but despite the foul weather, the
brightening skies never did appear, they all agreed it was the best Valentine’s
Day they had ever spent.
Before they went
upstairs to a hot bath they all sat around in the bar drinking Brandy coffee’s.
“Where are we going
tonight?” Simone asked
“I don’t know” replied
Victoria “any suggestions?”
“You know what I fancy”
Catherine said
“I do” whispered Clare
Catherine elbowed
Clare and said
“A pizza”
“Oh yes” Katie
concurred
“What a great idea”
added Elaine
“That’s unanimous I
think” said Victoria
“There’s a very good
sit down in Purplemere” Sheryl Brown said “or an excellent takeaway in Childean”
“And they deliver” She
added
After they all had
good long soaks in the bath they met back in the Hotel bar.
The very excellent
pizza was delivered and heartily consumed in the bar with a liberal amount of
wine amidst a lot of silliness and laughter but by 9.30 they were all exhausted
and it was early nights all round.
Day Five Monday 15th
February
As might have been
predicted the two members of the Downshire Constabulary, Catherine and Clare,
were up bright and early and tucking into one of Sheryl Browns very excellent
cooked breakfasts.
One by one the others
joined them in the breakfast room.
But no discussion
followed that morning as to the order of the day because Monday’s activities
had all been pre-booked.
They had a full day’s
beauty treatments at Mazzone’s in Childean, facials, manicures, pedicures,
waxing etc.
The whole nine yards.
They were all
returning to their rooms after breakfast when Sheryl called Victoria over and
handed her an envelope.
And when they returned
downstairs half an hour later Catherine Lowis arrived in reception just as
Katie Deighton was hanging up the phone on the reception desk.
“Just checking
everything’s all set for today” she said
But Catherine didn’t
believe a word of it.
They spent the whole
day in Childean and had the full range of treatments offered by Mazzone’s,
including having their hair done, along with a premium Buffet lunch and copious
quantities of champagne.
Cathy and Clare were
sitting next to each other having a pedicure when Cathy whispered
“Victoria’s going to
go ballistic”
“Well she might be a
little cross” Clare agreed
“A little cross” she
exclaimed “We came here for a man free weekend and were going out to dinner
with a couple of men”
“But she won’t really
mind will she?” Clare asked but Cathy just gave her a solemn look
“Oh God she’s going to
kill us isn’t she” said Clare
And Catherine nodded
in the affirmative.
When the giggling
overexcited and slightly tipsy romantically unattached group left Mazzone’s
they had been coiffured, waxed, buffed, threaded, tweezed, perfumed, painted,
powdered and preened.
At 7.30pm the six
women all met in reception and all dressed in their glad rags.
The casual observer
might have thought perhaps that they were a little over dressed for a girl’s
night out.
However dressed to
kill they were and they went through to the bar for drinks.
Catherine Lowis and
Clare Wappat were bracing themselves for the shock wave that would surely
follow them telling Victoria that they were abandoning the group and going out
for dinner with two local doctors.
But it had to be done
and done soon as they were being picked up in ten minutes.
Katie Deighton was
also looking decidedly pale and fidgety while completely unaware of the other
two’s plans, but in full knowledge of the consequences to her own.
Victoria Williams
ordered a large whisky from Mrs Brown and downed it in one as Clare looked at
Catherine and urged her with her eyes to speak.
But before Cathy got
the chance Victoria suddenly said
“You’re all going to
kill me after I dragged you down here for a man free weekend” she paused only
to down another whisky and added, “but I have a date”
She closed her eyes
and waited for the vehement response she had been dreading from her friends.
Then when it didn’t
come she opened one eye just as Catherine said
“So have we” and was holding
Clare’s arm
“Not with each other”
Clare added “with men”
“Me too” admitted
Katie and the four women all laughed with relief.
And then they turned
to look at Simone Guiver and Elaine Browning who were looking on and had not
made any declaration and then Simone’s huge chest started to tremble as a deep
fruity chuckle rose from the depths of her chest and Elaine started to giggle
uncontrollably.
“Don’t mind us” Simone
said when the laughter had subsided “we’ll be fine”
So they all sat in the
Hotel bar and waited for their respective escorts to arrive and when the last
of the couples had gone Simone and Elaine looked at each other and grinned
“So what shall we do?”
Simone asked
“I think we should go
upstairs and get you out of that corset” Elaine replied
“Oh what a wonderful
idea” purred Simone
Day Six Tuesday 16th
February
They next day they were
all stood in the car park before departing and chatted briefly.
Before hugging Simone
and Elaine, who were the first to drive off and the other four women waved them
off flamboyantly.
The other four girls
were in no hurry to leave as all of them had lunch dates.
“When are we going to
tell them that we know they’re gay?” Victoria said as Simone drove out of view
“Oh not for a good
while yet”
Katie said and they
all laughed
It was a strange irony
to the story that on an Anti-Valentines weekend, far from avoiding romance they
ended up embracing it, such was the magic of Teardrop Lake.
That long weekend on the lake changed their lives beyond recognition forever because within two years of it, four of the women were living on the Lake with the men of their dreams and the other two were living together as a couple.
