In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (053) – The Dirty Weekend

 January

 

Rupert Chandler and Adeline Coates were married, though not to each other, and lived with their respective spouses in different parts of the county, Rupert lived on Beamont Island and Adeline in Pepperstock Green.

They had been having an affair for several months after meeting at a Halloween party at the Mablethorpe Spa Hotel, neither of them had strayed until that meeting and despite their best efforts to resist they embarked upon an affair.

It was made easy for them as they were both married to equally hard-working people, both couples were childless, and although their marriages weren’t exactly loveless, they had become stale.  

Fortunately, they were both in jobs that required them to travel on a regular basis, so opportunities presented themselves quite readily with a little synchronization of their diaries, but an actual dirty weekend was a little more difficult to arrange.

However, an opportunity presented itself towards the end of January on the weekend of the Burns Night Supper.

Adeline was a bit of golf widow and as her husband David worked for a Whisky distributer, he was attending a company golf day as part of the Burns celebrations and on that same weekend Ruperts wife Thomasina had arranged to visit her ailing mother in Tipton.

 

They had promised themselves that their first weekend liaison would be at the Abbottsford Regent, but because of Burns Night they were fully booked so they had to compromise, and Rupert booked them into the equally luxurious Beaumont Park Hotel in Upper Gracewood.

As it was near to Finchbottom they made their own way there and met at lunchtime on Friday, in the car park of the Hummingbird Shopping Centre, before having lunch in a Bistro-style restaurant and then split up as Adeline wanted to do some shopping before they left.

“Ok lead on” he said affably.

“No, I don’t need company for this” she said enigmatically and kissed him on the cheek outside the Bistro, and they went their separate ways.

Rupert was intrigued by her secrecy, so he followed her from a safe distance and then smiled when he saw her go into Silk and Lace, a classy lingerie shop.

“I think I’m in for a treat” he said to himself and walked back to their meeting place and sat down at a café table to wait for her.

 

When she arrived back at the prearranged meeting point, she was clutching an assortment of bags, he was on his second coffee, and she was looking very pleased with herself.

“Hi” she said and kissed him, then she whispered.

“I decided to go shopping for you know what’s.”

“That’s ok,” he said kissing her back, knowing precisely what the “you know what’s” were, because he’d followed her.

“Wow” he exclaimed “Are all those bags full of knickers?”

“Shhh” she gestured “No of course not, but one thing led to another.”

“Do you want a drink?”

“No thanks, I’d really like to get to the dirty weekend started” she replied with a leer.

“Ok let’s go then” he said and thought to himself that to the casual observer they must look like an ordinary married couple.

“If they only knew” he thought which led to another thought.

“If only we were.”

 

Rupert and Adeline walked to the car park and transferred her bags from her car to his and then they drove to Upper Gracewood and checked into the Hotel.

They went up to the room and let themselves in, and the room or rooms, were amazing, and after dealing with their luggage, he asked.

“Do you fancy a swim?”

“No thanks babe, I want to try these on” she replied excitedly pointing at her purchases.

“Ok, do you mind if I go?” he asked.

“Of course, not” she replied so he grabbed his trunks and left her to it.

                         

When he got back up to the room after his swim, he found her standing in front of the mirror, sporting a luscious pair of pink silk knickers, as she tried to wrestle her breasts into the matching bra.

The first one would go in its cup with only a little persuasion but just as she got the second one in, the first one popped out again or both nipples would suddenly appear above the lace, and all the time her buttocks were doing the mumbo inside her silk drawers, and he was enjoying her performance very much indeed.

“Is there anything I can help with?” He asked lecherously.

“I’ve bought the wrong bloody cup size,” she snapped.

“Did you only buy one?” He enquired.

“No of course not” she replied crossly.

“But they’re all the same size” He speculated.

“Yes” she mumbled and stamped her feet. “And I wanted to look and feel stunning tonight.”

“You always look stunning,” Rupert said honestly.

“That’s very sweet” Adeline said and turned to kiss him, and both dark pink nipples peered over the top of the pink lace.

“What am I going to do?” she asked as she rested her head on his chest “I don’t want to wear the black one, I’ve had it on all day.”

“Go braless” He suggested.

“I can’t go without a bra” she said horrified “I’m thirty-seven years old.”

“Actually, you’re thirty-eight” he corrected her “but you have fabulous breasts.”

She frowned at the correction of her age, but smiled and blushed when he complicated her breasts, then she turned towards the mirror again and removed her ill-fitting bra and began squishing and kneading her boobs in her reflection to evaluate their pliability.

“No, I will not go out to dinner with my thirty-eight-year-old boobs unholstered” she stated.

“Ok then how about a compromise?” he suggested, “You go braless, but we eat in the Hotel restaurant.”

“We can’t eat here” Adeline said very definitely.

“Have you seen the menu?”

She picked up the menu off the desk and gave it to him.

“It’s ridiculously expensive.”

“My treat” he said throwing the menu on the bed without looking at it.

“What is?” she asked suspiciously “The dinner or my going braless?”

“Both” he replied.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (052) – Intimate Apparel

January

 

The morning after their Ice Hockey outing, Jade Kimberley was showering, and Craig Russell was dressing himself from the discarded items of clothing off the floor in her room and he spotted her underwear underneath a chair; he had only briefly glimpsed them the night before as he hurriedly removed them from her lower portions.

They were a warm shade of deep pink with contrasting bows of pale pink ribbon and looking at them aroused him.

He didn’t know why he was aroused, as they had only made love half an hour earlier.

Craig could hear her in the bathroom as his gaze was fixed on her knickers, which were of a hue that was in such stark contrast to her drab outer garments, she really was pretty in pink.

 

When she came out of the bathroom wrapped in white towels, he said.

“Show me what you’ll be wearing today.”

“Ok” she said as a look of confusion spread across her face, and she walked over to her wardrobe and took out two items.

 “I’m going to wear my beige top and a russet-coloured skirt,” Jade said.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said.

“I don’t understand,” she said looking even more confused.

“Show me what you will be wearing, underneath,” he explained.

“Oh” she said and was no longer confused.

“Now do you understand?” he asked.

“Yes” she said.

“So?” he pressed.

“I’m not saying” Jade said adamantly.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Its private, personal” she said coyly.

“We made love twice last night and again this morning” he said, “it doesn’t get more personal than that.”

“I know” she responded and blushed “but that was different.”

“Was it?”

“Yes” she said in a tone that seemed to draw a line on the conversation but then she asked.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Well, when I see you walk into breakfast with your overbearing mother, “Bella Donna” and her chinless aristocratic husband, I want to be the only one in the room, other than you, to know what you are wearing against your precious skin beneath your russet skirt”

he explained.

“But more importantly I want to know, so I can picture them with perfect clarity as I look forward to taking them off you later.”

“Are you going to take them off me later?” she asked quietly.

“I would very much like to” he confessed.

Without hesitation Jade walked over to her chest of drawers and pulled the top one open

“Then I will be wearing these,” she said holding up a pair of scarlet silk panties and a matching bra.

 

At breakfast he was in the dining room before Jade arrived and positioned himself at a table where he could observe her and be observed by her.

As previously the group proceeded to their table in convoy led by the imposing Mrs. Kimberley-Price, “Bella Donna” following closely behind her was her sycophantic husband Maxwell Price and bringing up the rear came Jade but not stooped over and staring at her shoes as she had the day before.

She walked in, straight backed and smiling broadly.

Jade was trying desperately not to make eye contact with him but couldn’t resist and she blushed redder than the scarlet silk panties she was wearing.  

Her mother noticed the smiles that passed between them and gave him a disapproving look.

 

That afternoon when he did indeed remove Jade’s scarlet knickers it would have driven Bella to distraction.

She would definitely have disapproved if she’d seen him undressing her daughter in his room that afternoon and again that night in Jade’s where he liberated her from a pair of pink silk and lace panties, after they had dined in Quarry Hill at Angus and Sally’s.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (051) – The Hockey Game

January

 

Craig Russell waited in reception for about 10 minutes while Jade Kimberly changed into something more suitable for a January evening in Sharpington and as he watched her exit the lifts and cross the foyer he was struck by two things, firstly how much more strident and confident she was when not in her mother’s wake, her auburn hair bouncing in unison with her purposeful step, and secondly how attractive she was.

He had briefly noticed her pretty smile on their first meeting but that was very fleeting, but as she approached, he had a chance to look at the girl and not the drab little mouse.

Jade also appeared to be taller than she was before as she wasn’t hunched over staring at her feet.

Her clothing, however, was still autumnal as before, she was wearing a long drab coloured skirt, knee high boots and a long leather brown coat.  

He knew she liked colour; he had seen the evidence spill from her bag in the Hummingbird, but she still managed to look pretty despite the drabness.

As she got closer, she saw him looking and her freckled face blushed, but she still managed to smile.

Clifford, the concierge, hailed them a cab and they got in.

“I’ve never been to an Ice Hockey game before” she announced as the cab pulled off. “I’m quite excited”

“I’m afraid they’re only standing tickets,” he confessed hoping it wouldn’t curb her enthusiasm.

“What by the glass?” she asked

“I’m afraid so” he admitted

“Even better” she squealed “Thank you so much for bringing me”

“You don’t mind then?” he asked

“Not at all, normally if I’m lucky enough to go to sports events we’re in the Directors box or sitting in the posh seats with people who know nothing about what they’re watching” she said

“I’m going to be on the rink side with the real fans”

“I know what you mean” he said “I’m normally in the press box with a bunch of cynical old hacks that have no passion for what they’re watching”

“This is as close as I can get” the driver said

“No problem” Craig said and paid the fare

Once on the pavement he said to Jade

“We’ll have to walk from here”

“Great, we can soak up the atmosphere” she said brightly and meant it.

 

At the end of a thrilling match the Sharks were victorious, winning 6-3.

“That was brilliant” Jade shouted enthusiastically almost hoarse as the capacity crowd celebrated the victory.

When they were outside they followed the crowd back to the promenade until they came to a bar and went inside with some of the other fans for a quick drink and stayed for three and were both feeling a little lightheaded when they left as neither of them had eaten however that was soon remedied when they found a little Italian restaurant only a little way along from the bar.

 

After their very welcome satisfying repast, they booked an Uber for the ride back to the Hotel.

It was quite late by then and the journey passed relatively quietly as they began to feel the effects of the Hockey, beer and pasta; it was a comfortable silence, however.

Once back at the Hotel they picked up their keys from reception and rode up in the lift together, still in relative quiet.

They reached her first floor, and being a gentleman, he delivered her to her door.

“Well, here we are milady; I have delivered you safely to your door” he said with a bow

“Thank you, kind sir,” she replied and performed an ungraceful curtsy

“Seriously though, thank you so much again” she said “I had a great time”

“No need for thanks, you were excellent company” he responded

“Which reminds me I’m having dinner tomorrow night with my cousin Angus and his family, and I wondered if you would like to join me? Although it won’t match the excitement of tonight’s game, I can promise it will be enjoyable”

And before he could add anything else her mouth was on his, which he took to mean yes to dinner and judging by what followed she had clearly gotten her second wind.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (050) – Hummingbird Repast

 January

 

After spending a pleasant few hours with Jade Kimberley, Craig Russell received a withering look from her Titan of a mother after keeping her out too long, when they returned to the Hotel.

 

When he went to the reception desk to retrieve his key, he found a message waiting for him to say that the meal with Angus and Sally was cancelled, as their child Gregor was ill, so they postponed it until the following night, which meant he was at a loose end that evening.

Craig decided to have a word with Clifford, the concierge, to see if he could get him a ticket for something, anything, for that evening.

He came back to him an hour later, with two tickets for the ice Hockey match between the Sharpington Sharks and the Finchbottom Flyers. 

Unfortunately, Clifford had misunderstood, he only wanted one ticket, but he had scalped him a pair, so he paid him the money and just hoped it would be worth it.

 

Before he went to the match, he decided to get a beer in the Hotel bar first as he had some time to kill.

In the end he had two and as he sat at the bar, he noticed the formidable Mrs. Kimberley-Price and her lapdog crossing the foyer in all their finery, and he started to wonder where Jade was.

Craig was a hard bitten thirty-five-year-old sports hack who had managed to stay single into middle age, though in truth it hadn’t always been by design, so he shouldn’t have cared tuppence.

But it was funny that since he had bumped into Jade for the third time that afternoon, how he found himself wishing to bump into her again and as he left the bar after finishing his third drink, he got his wish.

“Oh hello” she said

“Jade!” he exclaimed “I was just thinking about you”

“Oh?” she said and blushed

“Yes, I just saw her ladyship and her lackey leave the Hotel and I wondered why you weren’t with them” he said

“They’ve gone to dinner at Mornington Manor” she replied “not really my cup of tea”

“In which case I think I have something that might be” he said

“Really?” she asked intrigued

“Yes, I’m off to the Sharpington,” he began “the Sharks are playing…”

“The Finchbottom Flyers” she responded

“Correct” he said slightly patronizingly

“And I have a spare ticket”

To his surprise she didn’t respond to his unspoken invitation, but he left the silence unfilled for a minute before he said

“So, would you like to come?”

“Me?” she asked like she’d never been invited anywhere in her life

“Really?”

“Yes you” he reiterated

“I’d love to” she said, “have I got time to change?”

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (049) – Meeting Jade Again

 January

 

Craig Russell was in Finchbottom at the Hummingbird Shopping Centre and had just bought himself some new shirts and was looking for a new tie to go with them when he and Jade Kimberley had their second collision in as many days.

“Sorry, sorry” she said

“It was my fault,” Craig said, and he was once again stooping down to pick up her bag.

“I wasn’t looking where I was going”

This time, however, she stooped down as well, as the contents of her bag had spilled onto the floor and she blushed deeply as she scooped her brightly coloured silky items of lingerie, back into her bag.

“Are you ok?” he asked

“Yes, thank you” she said and gave him a brief smile, which was when he realized that it was, she.

“This is the second time I’ve crashed into you,” he said

“Let me buy you a tea or a coffee as recompense”

“There’s really no need,” she said as she got to her feet.

“I insist” he said and steered her towards the lift

“I’m Craig by the way”

“Jade” she retorted meekly

 

A few minutes later they were sat in the café and gave their order to the waitress.

“It’s very strange how we keep bumping into each other,” he said

“Don’t you think so?”

She just stared at some imagined imperfection on the tablecloth

“Well, I think three times in two days is noteworthy” he persisted

“Three?” she said lifting her eyes from the tablecloth for the first time

“Yes, breakfast this morning,” he elaborated

“Are you staying there?” she asked

“Yes” he replied

“Was it your parents that I saw you with?”

“Yes and no” she answered intriguingly

“Oh, I see,” he said, “so the immaculately dressed tour de force is?”

“My mother” she replied with a smile “Bella Kimberley-Price, I like to call her “Bella Donna” because she really is quite poisonous”

“And the military type? The fawning sycophant?” he asked, and she laughed

“My Stepfather, Maxwell Price” she replied

Just then the drinks and pastries arrived so there was a break in the conversation

“So, what brought you to Pepperstock Green?” he asked

“A funeral, one of Maxwells uncles” she replied, “He is one of the British aristocracies, a minor one and totally impoverished however, which is why he married my mother”

“She isn’t impoverished then?” he asked 

“God no she’s filthy rich” she replied “but she’s a snob, and a minor aristocrat is better than no aristocrat at all”

“I see” he responded “Hence the Manor”

She nodded

“So, where do you live when you’re not ensconced in luxury Hotels?”

he asked

“Well, our house is in London, but we are hardly ever there” Jade replied

“I like travelling though”

“But?” he said

“But I wish I could do it without being under “Bella Donnas” watchful eye” she said

“Why don’t you then?” he asked

“Mummy dear controls the purse strings and I only get a small allowance, so I am totally dependent on her” she replied bitterly

“You’re obviously not happy about it,” Craig said

“That’s because I’m 27 years old and I’m still getting pocket money from my mother” she said

She was on the verge of tears, so he chose a different tack.

“What about your father? Your real father”

“He died when I was 15” she replied

“I’m sorry,” he said

“Its fine” she said brightly “What about you, how come you are staying at the Hotel?”

“I’m here for the Burns Night Supper” he pointed out “But I’m staying an extra few days to indulge myself” 

She looked at him in a way that urged him to say more so he elaborated

“I’ve been working in Russia for few months, and such deprivations deserved a reward”

“What were you doing over there? Are you a spy?” she asked and laughed

“No, I’m not a spy, I’m a sportswriter” he replied

“Really?” she asked brightly “Would I know you?”

“You might” he replied

 “A sportswriter named Craig” she mused

“Hang on are you, Craig Russell?” she asked

“Yes, I am” he said surprised she knew his work

“I’ve read your reports,” she said, “So what have you been working on? Something related to the illegal practices”

“Spot on, I’m impressed” he replied

They then spent a very pleasant hour discussing sports of every type and he had to admit that the scared little mouse he had bumped into took on an entirely different persona when she spoke, with a great depth of knowledge, about sport.

She was still in full flow when she glanced at the clock and announced that she had to go.

“I didn’t realize it was so late” she said, “Mother will be miffed”

“I’m sorry I kept you so late” he said

“Don’t be, I rarely get to discuss football with anyone other than taxi drivers” she said

“If you’re going back to the Hotel, I can drive you”

“That would be great,” she agreed, and they were able to continue their discussion on the journey.

When they arrived at the Hotel the Titan was seated in reception

“Oops,” Jade said and pulled a face

“Sorry again” Craig said

“It’s ok, it was nice talking to you” she said and walked over to where her mother was waiting

“You’re late” her mother said

“Sorry I lost track of the time” Jade said

“Apparently so” her mother said and gave Craig a withering look.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (048) – Meeting Jade

January 

 

Craig Russell first met Jade Kimberley at the Barnabus Manor Hotel in Pepperstock Green or more precisely outside the Hotel.

Craig was a writer by profession, more accurately a sportswriter and had travelled all over the world and had covered major sporting events, near and far.

But he wasn’t in Pepperstock Green for sport, or for a writing assignment, what had brought him to a quiet corner of Downshire was the annual Russell Clan Burns Night Supper, which was held at a different luxury Hotel each year and this year was at the Barnabus Manor.

He didn’t attend every year because of work but when he could he did. 

He was outside the Hotel looking up at the slate grey January sky and thinking to himself about the last time he attended a supper, and the people who were there, and all of that was going through his head when a girl bumped into him, a girl he would come to know as Jade, who was dressed from head to toe in dull Autumn colours and looked as drab and gloomy as the January sky, and her countenance was equally gloomy as she said without expression

“Sorry”

“No reason to apologize,” he said as he stooped down to pick up her bag.

“My fault entirely”

“Thank you” she said and smiled, and the effect of the smile on her face was like the sun had come out on a dreary day, such was the difference before, she then went quickly on her way, and he went inside and checked in.

 

He saw Jade for the second time while he was in the restaurant, and he was just finishing his breakfast when she walked in, dressed in Autumnal hues again and sporting a winter expression to go with it.

She didn’t notice him, however, as she was too busy staring at her feet as she walked behind an older couple and it seemed to him, she was trying her best not to be noticed.

The group proceeded to their table in convoy led by a rather imposing woman in her late 50s, quite elegant with a regal stature, who was also immaculately dressed.

Behind her was a slightly younger man of military bearing, except when he was fawning over the woman, and then came the girl, twenty something, he ascertained, who he presumed to be the daughter of the couple, although there was no warmth between them.

His journalistic eye was denied the opportunity to analyse the threesome any longer by the arrival in the restaurant of his cousin Angus.

 

Apart from being cousins Angus and Craig had been friends since university and always got together for lunch or dinner whenever they found themselves in the same locale.

But their kinship went deeper than that as he was also best man at Angus and Sally’s wedding and their child, Gregor, was his godson and that evening he was having dinner with them at their home in Quarry Hill, but between then and lunch was catching up time for the two of them.

Afterwards he went to Finchbottom to the Hummingbird Shopping Centre which was where he saw Jade Kimberley for the third time in two days. 

He had just bought himself some new shirts and was looking for a new tie to go with them when they had their second collision in as many days. 

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (047) – Library Shelfie Day

 

January

 

The longest serving member of staff at the Pipershaven Public Library was Chief Librarian, Abbie Beach, who was the very epitome of her kind.

Her dark greying hair was pulled back severely into a bun arrangement, she wore heavy framed spectacles and dressed in a black pinafore dress over a long-sleeved blouse, black tights and wore sensible shoes.

She dressed like that all year round, whatever the weather, the only variety being the addition of a black or grey cardigan, in the depths of winter.

Abbie was thirty-seven years old and had worked at the library since she left school and she loved it.

She was a private person and didn’t really socialize with the other staff up until the point Collette Kane joined the staff.

Collette was a breath of fresh air around the place; she was a University graduate and openly admitted that she had only taken the job at the Library until she decided what she wanted to do with her life.

Collette was the antithesis of Abbie, for a start she did not dress in the subdued manner that Abbie did, she was an explosion of colours and styles, and her hair seldom stayed the same colour more than a week at a time, nor was she mousy or private she was loud and proud, and you always knew when she was around.

The one thing they did have in common though was their love of the printed word, they were both well-read and shared an encyclopedic knowledge of books, and so despite the differences in age, style and demeanour, they formed a rather unlikely friendship.

 

Another great lover of books was local Taxi Driver, Carl Fernandes, who was a regular visitor even before his niece Collette started to work there.

From the first moment that her Uncle Carl walked into the Library and said good morning to Abbie, and she responded curtly, Collette could read between the lines and knew they wanted each other.

Despite the fact that she was aloof and standoffish and he was brash and over familiar, they wanted each other, and Collette knew it, even though they did not.

Abbie had not been enamored of him when he was a complete stranger, but when Collette formerly introduced them, she was even less so.

For Carl’s part he found her mode of dress unappealing, her hairstyle old-fashioned and she was older, by seven years.  

But when they were discussing a book or an author, they communicated as equals.

 

Collette didn’t understand why nobody else saw what she did, or why they didn’t see it, what she did know was that she was powerless to change it.

However, after she had watched them do the same dance for months the germ of an idea formed and quickly grew into a fully developed plan, and she didn’t have to wait long to implement it.

 

It was the last week of January, and the day started the same as any other, but it didn’t remain that way for long.

Abbie, Collette and Carl were all standing by the main desk when Abbie asked

“What on earth is going on today?”

Her question was in response to seeing more than a few of the Libraries patrons walk eagerly into the library, take a selfie and then leave just as briskly.

“It’s Library Shelfie Day” Collette replied and laughed

“What on earth is that?” Abbie and Carl asked in unison

“It’s self-explanatory really” Collette replied

“You visit your local library, take a selfie in front of a bookshelf, i.e. “Shelfie” and then you share it on social media”

“Why?” Abbie and Carl asked again in synch

“Well primarily it helps to promote Libraries” she replied, “and the better the selfie the more times it will be shared and the more times its shared then ergo the more visibility “your” Library gets on social media”  

“Oh, I see” Abbie said “I think”

“Come on let’s do one of our own” Collette suggested

“You, me and Uncle Carl”

“Oh, I’m not sure about that” she said doubtfully

“Come on it will put Pipershaven Library on the map” Collette said

“Oh Ok” she agreed “Where?”

“In front of the poetry section” Carl suggested

“Which ones,” Collette asked “Modernists, Postmodernist, or English Romantics?”

“Edwardian” Abbie replied

“And Georgian” Added Carl

“Oh yes” Abbie agreed

“Ok then” Collette said “Let’s get into position, I’ll take it and you two can stand behind”

“No, that’s no good” she said

“It’s no good just standing there pulling a face” Collette said

“I was smiling” Abbie protested

“Or just smiling” she said “I know, kiss Uncle Carl”

“Absolutely not” Abbie protested

“That’s not going to happen” Carl concurred

“You have to kiss, we need to do something that people will do a double take on, you two kissing will definitely do that”

“Seriously?” she asked

“Seriously” Collette replied

“Is this alright with you?” she asked Carl

“Well, as it’s in a good cause, I suppose I’m in” he replied

“Ok then let’s make this quick Collette” she said, and she turned to face him, and he stooped down to get in shot

“Ok, go” Collette said and the reluctant couple puckered up and they kissed, but as her lips touched his it was evident that it was so much more than a “good cause kiss” and the kiss lasted for a full five minutes and might easily have gone on for another five had the assembled patrons not given then a rousing round of applause which were loud and boisterous enough to bring the kissing couple back to the moment.

“Well, if that’s a reluctant kiss, I’d like to see the one when you’re actually up for it” Collette said

“Well, you’re not going to get an opportunity” A red faced Abbie said and took Carl by the hand and dragged him down the medieval history aisle.