In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (104) – The Fancy Dress Party

September

 

At end of September there was a fancy dress ball at the Barnabus Manor Hotel and there was a large group of guests attending the occasion from St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat and among them was Sous Chef Madelaine Colgate.

The party was in full swing when she arrived, she’d been to visit her sick mother in hospital and then she had car trouble, so she was much later than she’d anticipated and after stopping at home first to get into her costume she was very, very late.

But she knew he wouldn’t be angry when he saw her in her costume because even she thought she looked gorgeous dressed as Vestal Virgin.

But despite how good she looked when Maddie walked into the Hotel ballroom it appeared that she was not only arriving late, but she was also too late to save her engagement as she found her fiancé Bob otherwise engaged in a very passionate kiss with her best friend Angela.

 

If Maddie had been surprised by what greeted her in the Ballroom when Spiderman was kissing Marilyn Monroe, it was nothing compared to Spiderman’s surprise when Maddie kicked him in his spidie testicles and there was definitely a look of surprise on Angela’s face a split second after Maddie slapped it.

Leaving Bob doubled up on the floor unable to speak and Angela with a scarlet handprint on her face, Maddie stormed out of the hall like a Goddess with her Roman cloak and flaming red hair streaming behind her.

 

Madeleine left the ballroom at speed and rushed out through reception and went out through the front entrance like a heat seeking missile and shot straight down the steps and out into the car park without stopping and ran straight into Marcus Worthington, who was late arrival himself and was at that moment lost in thought as he walked the other way and after the collision they both ended up in a heap on the floor.

“Why don’t you look where you’re going you bloody idiot” she screamed, followed by a string of expletives.

Marcus totally ignored Maddie’s angry remarks and chose instead to consider, as he looked at the striking red head in the red cloak, what had upset her.

“Are you ok?” he asked with concern and with an appraising eye.

She looked confused at first, because she had been very rude to him and he was being nice in return, and then she opened her mouth to launch another tirade of abuse at him but dissolved into tears instead.

Marcus then took her in his arms and comforted her while she cried her pitiful tears as they sat in the darkness on the tarmac of the car park.

After five minutes or more he helped her to her feet and with his arm around her shoulder he said

“Come inside and get warm.”

“Ok” she responded meekly as she continued to sob and dribbled on his cloak sleeve as he guided her.

 

Vestal Virgin and the Centurian sat in a quiet corner of the hotel bar warmed by brandy and the glow of kindred spirits, he listened intently as she spoke of her sadness and reason for her rage, and as he in turn spoke words of comfort to her in return, and their hearts became inexorably entwined.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (103) – Filled with Dread

September

 

Sadie Grassman was a very successful chef, and she was well respected by fellow professionals and was highly regarded by everyone who knew her, but her success didn’t extend to her personal life, she may have had the Midas touch in the kitchen, but she was more like Medusa in the romance department.

She was living in Pipershaven with her family when her career took off, which began in a very small way when she was still at college in Abbottsford.

It all started when one of her teachers, a kindred spirit Jane Donald, who employed her as sous chef in her home dining enterprise.

Jane felt an affinity with Sadie because she was doing the same college course at the same college that Jane had, and at the same time her love life was also a total disaster.

Sadie’s bad luck in love continued after she left college and got a restaurant job under Jane’s uncle at his own restaurant where she fell heavily for a gorgeous waiter, who alas turned out to be gay.

And that was the crux of her problem, she kept falling in love with the wrong guys.

After three years at the Faustino’s in Abbottsford, Jane Donald asked her to join her at La Florenza in Purplemere and after two years of that Sadie became Chef in residence after Jane fell pregnant.

The only downside being that she had her heart broken in twice over the next two years before she decided to strike out on her own and got the job of head chef at the Pheasant in Quarry Hill.

After having her heart broken once too often Sadie finally swore herself off men, which she managed to keep to for more than five years before cupid struck again.

It was while she was at the Pheasant that she first met Charlie and Toddy Phelps, although they weren’t married at that point.

The Phelps became regular patrons and when the retreat became a reality they approached Sadie to be their Chef de Cuisine at St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat.

She wasn’t sure at first but like many people before her she found it really difficult to say no to Toddy.

 

When she moved to the Retreat in Pepperstock Green at the end of May to take up her new position she wasn’t looking for love.

She was there to evaluate the kitchens, and produce a list of equipment she required, so she could do what she did best, cooking.

Sadie also had the responsibility to interview and employ her own staff, she had already put out feelers among the staff she had worked with in the past and Toddy had invited applications herself, but the final choice was down to Sadie.

 

As Sadie was head Chef she was entitled to one of the staff cottages located on the other side of the River by Carpenters Farm and had only been in the Cottage for two weeks when she met and fell for one of the maintenance team, Tom Webb.

It took her completely by surprise in several ways, firstly she wasn’t looking for anyone and she had her feelings locked squarely away, but most of all he wasn’t her type in any way shape or form.

He was older than her for a start, quietly spoken, socially awkward, nervy and a bit gawky looking to boot.

 

Tom for his part found himself attracted to her as well, despite the fact she was loud, feisty, and outspoken, and very much not the type of woman he was looking for, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and his heart wanted her.

 

As it turned out they weren’t the only ones to think Sadie and Tom were mismatched, but despite the misgivings of all concerned they soon found themselves going out together and then confounded the sceptics by becoming an inseparable couple.

And all was going well but at the back of Sadie’s mind was the fear that it would all go wrong, bound to go wrong, because her relationship always went wrong.

All her adult life she had failed in the art of love, every time she would fall for someone in a breathless passion, she would suffer the hoppy skippy heart when she looked at him, and feel that desperate longing when they were apart, and she would give herself completely, only for it all to fall apart.

Year after year, several times a year, she found herself falling again, helpless to resist, in fact it was like reliving a bad dream when she was forced to make the same mistakes over and over again.

However, she managed to break the cycle, after having her heart broken once too often and managed to keep love at bay for more than five years before she fell for Tom.

 

Sadie had her reservations about dipping her toe in the water but after they had been going out together for the best part of three months she began to lower her guard, and that was when she started to hear the rumours which left her cold. 

There were some in the kitchen who delighted in the fact that they could bring bad news to her door but there were many others who only had her welfare at heart and sought to comfort her.

But no matter how many positives she heard from friends and staff she only remembered the negatives.

That was because the rumour that she kept hearing was that Tom was not going to be part of the maintenance for very much longer and what gave credence to the rumour in Sadie’s mind was the fact that Tom had been quieter than normal and was clearly distracted, so she feared the worst.

 

Everything came to a head on the 2nd of September when she was in the kitchen at the Retreat prepping for lunch with her Sous Chef Madelaine Colgate when he knocked on the door.

This just in itself threw Sadie into a blind panic and seeing her reaction Madelaine made herself scarce.

The reason Sadie was so fearful was that he never visited her before lunch because he knew how busy she was.

Sadie’s sense of foreboding was like the day signified the end of one chapter and beginning of another, with particular emphasis on “the end” and in her case “the end” meant having her heart broken.

She took a deep breath summoned up a smile and opened the door.

“Hello hon” she said, “this is a nice surprise.”

He walked past her without speaking and he was wearing a grave expression, which quickly removed the smile from her own face.

He sat down at the table, and she joined him.

“Sadie! I need to say something” he said abruptly.

“Oh God you’re leaving the retreat” she snapped.

“And you’re breaking up with me.”

“No” he said impatiently.

“What part?” she asked.

“What?”

“What part is no?” Sadie asked, “the leaving or the dumping.”

“Neither” he replied, “I mean both.”

“Then I don’t understand what’s happening, you come here wearing the face of doom saying you need to say something, there are rumours flying around the village about changes at the Retreat and you have been very distracted lately and I don’t know what’s going on, so if you’re not leaving the Retreat and you’re not dumping me, what then?”

“Sadie Grassman, will you please stop talking long enough for me to ask you to marry me” Tom said.

“What?” she exclaimed.

“Will you marry me?” he asked,

“So, you’re staying?” she quizzed “at St Adelaide’s.”

“Yes” he confirmed “I’m to be head of maintenance.”

“So, it’s the Vicar who is leaving?” she mused.

“Yes, to pastures new” he said.

“Wow that’s a relief” Sadie exclaimed and sighed.

“So?” he said.

“So, what?”

“The marriage thing?” he pointed out and only got a blank look and silence until she screamed and threw her arms around his neck.

“Yes, Yes, and Yes” she said punctuating each affirmative with a kiss.

“Of course, I’ll marry you.”

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (102) – Love at the Penny Pool

August

 

In late August Warren Gulley arrived at the St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat because three months earlier the bottom fell out of his world when his wife of fifty years passed away.

He had been driven there by his eldest son for residential bereavement counselling, involving inpatient care and a structured therapy program offering psychological support for his abject grief and the effects on his mental health.

He chose St Adelaide’s because it was recommended by someone, he worked with who had been there, and he spoke very highly of the head of the retreat, Toddy Phelps.

 

During the “one to one” sessions he revealed the story of when he was growing up in Purplemere during the sixties and one of the things he really loved to do was to go swimming and they were quite well fixed for pools in the area, and he would swim until the chlorinated water left his eyes red and sore.

But of all the pools he swam in, the one he loved to swim in most of all, especially during the summer months, was the Lido known to everyone as the Penny Pool.

It was only sixpence to get in and for that paltry sum you could stay all day long, which of course he did, and he would spend as many days of the school holidays there as he could, playing with friends and watching Mad Jack stunt diving off the high platform.

When he first started to go there it was just a joy to spend all the time in the sparkling water.

As he got older, he would come to appreciate the many delicacies on which to feast his eyes upon, delicacies invisible to the eye of the eleven-year-old boy who first visited the pool.

 

Whenever he arrived at the Lido there was always someone there that he knew, so even if he went on his own, he could quite easily hook up with someone.

Some of them he knew from school others from where he lived, and some were friends of friends.

Warren always took an old penny with him in the pool, and they would take turns diving down to retrieve it or a group of them would play tag, it was basically the same friends and the same games every visit.

 

On one particular day, when he was thirteen he went with a friend called Kenny and his cousin Steve and after spending about an hour diving for a coin in the deep end they sat on the side of the pool and watched the leathery-skinned Mad Jack perform one of his eccentric dives from the high board.

Almost before the ripples had subsided Kate Lester and her friend Linda ran up behind them and pushed Warren and Kenny in the pool and a chase ensued resulting in Kate and Linda being thrown in the 8-foot end and then being thoroughly dunked.

This was the normal exchange between the four of them and it had been the way of it since they were 1st years.

This time however when the four of them played tag it was different.

Warren eventually caught Kate after a long chase and during the ensuing grapple something happened that had never happened before during their horseplay, he got a hard on.

He didn’t know why; they had played that game hundreds of times before without as much as a tickle in his trunks. 

His first reaction to the unwelcome intrusion was to let go of Kate and swim away, but the erection merely faded temporarily and as the game of tag continued it returned with a vengeance whenever he got in close proximity of Kate and that afternoon they seemed destined to be in close proximity most of the time.

After the third attempt at swimming away failed to diminish his woody, he abandoned the tactic.

Afterall holding onto Kate’s voluptuous form whilst sporting a boner was not an unpleasant experience and if she didn’t mind then he certainly didn’t.

 

He realized later that Kate was well aware of his discomfiture and made sure that she rubbed up against him at every opportunity.

Their clinches lasted much longer than normal, and Kate must have been aware of his erection prodding at her nether regions, but she was clearly not repulsed by it, in fact it was her more than he who seemed the most reluctant to desist from their embrace.

And so, like an eager confused puppy humping a stranger’s leg he had his first ejaculation in the presence of another human being rubbing up against Kate Lester in the pool.

Happily, although it was the first time, he was pleased that it was not to be the last time with Kate, in the pool or out of it.

So, wearing a rather smug expression Kate stayed close to him the rest of the day and afterwards he walked her home.

 

Ten years after that they were married and had a long and happy life together, but now she was gone and he was broken, but with the soothing therapeutic atmosphere created by Toddy and her team the spiritual peace of the Retreat would in time repair him. 

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (101) – August Bank Holiday

August

 

Monica Gipki was 26 years old and worked in the costume department at the Purplemere Studios for eight years.

It was her first job after she finished college and she had been happy there, mostly.

But while she was there, she had been seeing a design director, Scott Newman, he seemed nice at first, but ultimately, she realized it wasn’t working, so after a couple of months, she ended it.

However, when it ended, Scott wouldn’t accept it and he wouldn’t stop pestering her, but she remained resolute, which was when he turned nasty and made her life a misery.

So, she chose the only course of action left open to her and resigned, that enraged him even more and he pledged that she would never work in the industry again.

“I will have you blacklisted” he screamed

Fortunately, she had been approached several times by the Heartstone Theatre in Pipershaven.

As luck would have it her cousin George was the village Police Sergeant, in Pepperstock Green, so she was able to stay with his family for a couple of months at the Police House while she found her feet and she knew that the job was going to work out.

 

She lived with her brother Morgan in Purplemere while she was working at the Studios, and when she moved to Pepperstock Green she left a lot of her stuff there as she didn’t want to burn her bridges completely.

They were both from Wales originally and moved to Downshire together, and they had lived together in his flat for 7 years.   

 

In the middle of July Monica started working at the Theatre and was welcomed with open arms as they had been trying to poach her from Purplemere for two years.

She was also introduced to the Town’s nightlife by her co-workers, and she immediately turned heads.

Because she was a pretty girl, tall and slim with lovely corn coloured hair, a fair complexion and a lovely smile, she soon had the young men dancing attendance on her.

But she had sworn off men for the duration, so she gave them no encouragement.

But two of her admirers were not so easily discouraged and they were two friends who worked for Pipershaven Council, and they not only shared an attraction to Monica they also shared a flat in Town.

 

The two guys in question were William Stuart and Morgan Collier and they were both personable enough in their way but were as different from each other as chalk and cheese.

William was the younger man by a year, tall and dark with classic good looks, whereas Morgan was short, stocky with close cropped orange hair and despite her pledge Monica really liked them.  

But despite the fact that she liked them, they were men, and she had played that game before and lost so she was in no mood to repeat past mistakes.

 

However, her reservations notwithstanding, she did weaken after a month of persistent pursuit and went out on a few dates with them, cinema, coffee, a drink or a pizza, but strictly as companions, nothing else, but without her meaning for it to happen a fondness developed between them.

They were all of a similar age and even to the casual observer there appeared to be a bit of a love triangle forming, and as time went on Monica was enjoying the attention and as a result, she was reluctant to upset the status quo, but in the end, it wasn’t her decision.

 

It happened in mid-August when William overheard his love rival Morgan talking to his sister at the house they shared, where he was boasting about securing a date with Monica and how he was going all out to win her affections once and for all, a lavish restaurant, red roses and handmade chocolates.

“She can’t possibly say no” he said smugly

“We’ll see about that” William said to himself.

 

The first thing he did was to make a date with Monica for the Bank Holiday Weekend, and secondly, he went to see another friend, who worked as a carpenter, to cadge an off cut of soft wood for a little project.

Working on wood carving had always been a hobby of his but now he had a project that had to be completed in less than two weeks.  

 

On the day of the big date Stuart picked Monica up from the Police House.

“So where are we going?” she asked as she closed the passenger door

“You’ll have to wait and see” he replied and accelerated away.

An hour later he pulled into an empty parking space on the promenade at Sharpington-By-Sea

“The seaside?” she asked

“Disappointed?” he countered

“No, not at all, I love the seaside, but I’ve never been here before”

“Then you are in for a real treat”

 

August Bank Holiday weekend was a busy time to see Sharpington, but it was at its best.

The first place he took her to was Bizzoni’s Ice Cream Parlour on Sharpington Pier.

“Ice cream!!” she exclaimed

“It’s not just ice cream, its Bizzoni’s ice cream” he explained “And no visit to Sharpington is complete without one”

“I don’t need asking twice she retorted”

 

After Bizzoni’s they walked to the Sharpington Fun Park, which was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame compared to a 21st century roller coaster, but of all the rides on offer it was the Tunnel of Love, which Stuart thought was the perfect location for what he had in mind.

They were walked through the gates and Monica put her arm through his and she felt comfortable, because William was a tall man, six feet four in fact, Monica was tall herself, so it made a nice change to walk arm in arm with a man who was taller than her and it made her feel very feminine.

 

When they got to the Fun Park he went to the kiosk to buy a shed load of tokens, because he didn’t know how many rides it might take to do what he needed to do.

As he queued for the tickets Monica looked on, and he turned around and smiled and she surprised herself when she said to herself

“I think he’s the one”

 

When he rejoined her, they went deeper inside the park and ambled around aimlessly until he said

“Let’s go on the Tunnel of Love”

“Oh ok” she agreed

There was a bit of a queue as the ride was clearly still popular even if it was a bit old-fashioned for the 21st century.

When their turn came, they got in the next empty boat and it set off, it was an altogether slower ride than anything else in the park but that suited him.

“I’ve got you a present” he said as he fished in his pocket

“Why?” She asked suspiciously “What’s the occasion?”

“Does there need to be one?”

“No”

“Then enjoy!” He said and held a small, gift-wrapped package in his hand.

“What’s this?”

“Open it and find out” he suggested but her fingers wouldn’t work because she was overwhelmed, she had never felt such romantic feelings.

When she managed to gain control of her digits and tear the paper to reveal the contents of the package, she audibly gasped

“It’s a love spoon” she whispered

A Welsh love spoon was traditionally given as a gift to woman and was ideally hand carved by the suitor, but in the contemporary age they are normally bought commercially.

“It’s beautiful” Monica said, “where on earth did you find it?”

“I made it”

“You made it?” she asked in disbelief “For me”

The romantic feelings that she had felt previously, multiplied exponentially as she held the hand carved spoon in her hands.

She only took her eyes away from it long enough to look at the man who had made her feel so special.

Her eyes had only just returned to the spoon as the boat emerged into the night air.

“Let’s go around again,” she pleaded “Twice”

So, he handed over two more tokens to the operator and their boat passed through the entrance again and the moment the door closed behind them Monica kissed him, and they were still kissing when they emerged into the sunlight again and for most of the next circuit.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (100) – Sally Forth

 August

 

Sally Nixon had lived her entire married life in the village of Pepperstock Green, in the same house in fact, and had been very happy there, even the eighteen months since her husband’s untimely death had not been without happiness.

Having her son Henry living with her had definitely contributed to that and having his brother George, wife and granddaughters nearby also helped.

However she felt things needed to change, Henry was now in a committed relationship with Holly Mayston and spent as many nights with her as he did at home, so it was only a matter of time before he moved out altogether.

Pipershaven was Pepperstock Greens largest neighbour, which was where Sally Nixon was driving to on a hot sunny August afternoon.

 

She lived in a house, on the west side of the village right on the edge of the countryside, in a large, detached house and had lived there her whole married life and although it was too big for her, she could never imagine living anywhere else.

Sally had come close to losing the house after her husband died and she and Henry had to work hard to keep a roof over their heads.

But now the mortgage was paid off and all the sacrifices made over the years had paid off.

She had a good job at St Adelaide’s Retreat, a loving family and a large circle of friends, the only thing lacking in her life was a romantic attachment as she hadn’t found a significant other in her life since her husband passed.

When she arrived at the Tennis club she parked up, and when she got out, she was wearing white Tennis shoes, white ankle socks with yellow trim and a pale-yellow tennis dress, mid-thigh length, to show off her lovely long tanned legs, which she was very proud of.

On her head she wore a peaked cap, and her hair was tied in a ponytail, Theresa had the same colouring as her mother had, pale ginger hair, fair delicate skin, and stunning blue eyes, her hair was going a little salt and peppery, which she could have dyed, but she rather liked it.

 

She smiled when she saw her Tennis partner walking towards her, because her Sons and daughter-in-law had been talking about wanting to find someone for her, but they didn’t know that she already had her sights set on the new Counselor up at the retreat, who was her partner that afternoon, but she hoped that it was just the beginning.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (099) – Significant Holiday

August

 

The Old Grange stands to the north of Pepperstock Green and had survived from the 17th century and it was the home of William and Mary Farnham.

The next generation of the family lived in Abbottsford but the Farnham and the Laslett families, holidayed every summer at the Grange as well as all the significant holidays during the year.

Bernie and Pamela Farnham and their sons Stuart and Cary, Pamela’s sister Cora Laslett and husband Alfie and their daughters Katrina and Elise, all stayed with William and Mary, and the house was perfectly placed for access into the Pepperstock Hills National Park.

 

It was on one such family summer holiday, one particularly significant year when it first happened.
Cary Farnham was a few weeks short of his nineteenth birthday and his cousin Katrina was just sixteen.
Katrina had followed him around with puppy dog eyes for as long as he could remember but he always gave her the brush off, but since the previous Christmas he had suddenly become aware of her sexuality when instead of just following him around Katrina started flirting with him quite expertly and outrageously.
From the moment they arrived at the house she began with the flirting  but he wasn't really interested, he already had a steady girlfriend plus a spare or two in the wings so he tried his best to ignore her.
But that proved to be easier said than done when she spent most of the day in tight shorts and skimpy tops and she was extremely fit and she flaunted what she had very well indeed.
She knew he was weakening, after all he was only eighteen so she took her chance one hot afternoon.
Both sets of parents, the grandparents and the younger siblings had all gone off on a trip to Sharpington for the day, so after she heard Cary was staying behind she made an excuse and stayed at the Grange as well because she had lust on her mind.
Once the rest of the family were well on their way she walked into his bedroom wearing only black satin underwear, matching camiknickers and camisole, which she had borrowed for the occasion from her mum.

He was standing with his back to her toweling his hair dry and wearing only a towel around his waist, so Katrina walked up behind him and deftly loosened his towel and before it hit the floor, she wrapped her arms around him and the moment her hands reached the prize she knew she had her man.

 

“That was nice” she said after completing the seduction of her cousin, before rolling off him and laying down beside him with her head on his chest and Cary made acquiescent noises in response.

After about 10 minutes she gave his chest a kiss and said

“I’m going for a swim; I’ll see you out there”. 

“I’m too tired” he replied, “I think I’ll have a sleep”.

“Oh, that’s a shame” Katrina said, “because after a swim I thought we could go to my room, but if you’re too tired never mind”.

Five minutes later Cary arrived by the pool wearing his speedos, Katrina liked what she could see because her eyes were drawn to the contents which was already arousing.

“I like you in those” she said, “but I don’t think you’ll be wearing them for long”.

Katrina was not wrong about that as they had five minutes in the pool and then they spent the rest of the afternoon in her room, in her bed.

They almost got caught when the parents returned as they had fallen asleep in her bed, but they got away with it, just.

Although that day was the first time, they had sex, it was not the last occasion on that holiday that they did it and nor was that holiday the last time that the kissing cousins got sweaty together, in fact over the years they became regular bed buddies. 

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (098) – Holly Wood

July

 

At the picnic a few minutes had passed before Henry realized Holly had gone and after surveying the area and not being able to see her, he panicked and muttered under his breath.

His mother Sally saw his discomfort, smiled and said.

“I think she’s gone to cool off in Woods.”

A moment or two later Henry ambled off in the same general direction Holly had taken.

He followed the well-worn path into the wood, and he found they were cool and refreshing but he couldn’t see Holly anywhere.

But then it occurred to him that he didn’t actually know what he was going to say to her even if he did find her, he had never been very good at that kind of thing.

So, he stopped and turned around and began walking back the way he came but then he stopped again and said out loud.

“For God’s sake you’ll just have to wing it.”

Despite the fact that Henry had never winged anything in his life he turned around again and resumed his original course.

After venturing thirty yards deeper into the wood towards the reiver he could hear someone cursing and muttering in the near distance but couldn’t at that point see the source of the cursing as well as hear it.

So, he walked closer towards the sound and when he found the cause of the commotion, he also found Holly, he knew it was her even though she had her back to him because of what she was wearing, a blue vest top and a short floral skirt and of course he recognized the remarkable legs that descended from her skirt.

Holly was on the edge of a clearing and the reason for the cursing and the muttering appeared to be because she had unfortunately got herself snagged on some brambles and was struggling to release herself.

“Anything I can help you with?” he offered.

“Oh” she exclaimed as she glanced over her shoulder.

“Yes please”

“Right, where exactly are you hooked?” he asked as he got closer.

“There are two on my skirt and another one on my top” she said.

“Every time I free myself from one, I get hooked on another.”

It was a fairly large clearing with a fallen oak to one side, but she had managed to catch herself on the only hazard in the clearing.

“What possessed you to get so close to the brambles?” he asked.

“Well, it’s quite thick undergrowth and I was looking for some privacy” she replied.

“Privacy?” he asked.

“Yes”

“Privacy for wha….?” He began but then the penny dropped as he realized that she was looking for somewhere away from prying eyes because she needed to pee.

“Ok got that now” he said and began tackling her impediments.

The first one on her skirt had caught on the hem and had lifted it upwards exposing the full length of her thigh and Henry feasted his eyes on it, which didn’t go unnoticed, Holly was flattered at first, but she suddenly became self-conscious under his gaze, almost at the precise moment that he realized what he was doing.

“Sorry” he said and blushed and quickly released the hem of her skirt.

With her modesty restored Henry turned his attention to the remaining snags, the first was simple as it was on the waste band of her skirt, but the second one was trickier as it was on the side of her vest top just behind her left shoulder and was well embedded in the lace trim of her neckline which he tackled as he stood behind her.

It was a bit of a fiddle, and it took him a minute or so to get the thorn out without ruining her top.

“Ok, got it” he said and held the thorny stem upwards.

“Now step backwards slowly.”

Holly complied and when she was out of reach of any other stems, he released the one he was holding and stepped backwards as well, but because Holly was wearing flip flops her foot came adrift of her footwear and she stumbled.

Fortunately Henry was on hand and he reached out one of his long limbs and scooped her up in his arms and the moment they were face to face her mouth sought out his and she rewarded him for his chivalry and kissed him, but it was not merely a thank you kiss it was much more passionate than that and it was just as she imagined it would be when she couldn’t take her eyes off him at the picnic.

When the kiss was over Holly smiled at him coyly and said

“I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

“What? No don’t go yet” he implored her.

“But I have to “go”” she repeated and shuffled her weight from foot to foot.

“Ah ok you have to “go”” he said, and she nodded her head. 

“I will see you later then” he said, and Holly gave him a quick peck and ran off.

“Stay away from the brambles” he called after her.

 

“I hope she comes back” he thought to himself as he exited the wood and sat back down on the blanket in the space he had vacated and then he glanced around to see where the rest of his family were.

But he hadn’t spotted them during the five minutes that elapsed before Holly reappeared into the sunlight from the woods and quickly crossed the field and sat down, but not where she sat during the picnic, but on his blanket, opposite him and after they exchanged a smile, she took hold of his hand, and he kissed her.