Mornington-By-Mere – (75) Double Trouble

 

Dee and Elsa Larsen were twins, blue eyed, blonde and very gorgeous, Elsa was the older of the two by a few minutes, and stood five foot two while Dee was an inch shorter, and they lived in the quaint chocolate box English Village of Mornington-By-Mere, which was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale, which nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.

It’s a quaint and picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.

Their home was in Military Row, at number 15 where they lived with their parents, Glen and Shelley, and they were just about to come of age.

They were not natives of the village and only moved to the village when Paige Turners, the firm their parents worked for moved to Mornington Field.

Apart from being twin sisters they were also the best of friends and did everything together which to be perfectly honest mainly concerned their interest in boys, and their leisure time was spent mainly in pursuit of the opposite sex but there were limitations, so sailing, mountain biking, orienteering, climbing, and the like were off the menu because basically Dee and Elsa were not the outdoorsy type and they were girlie girls.

They were not tomboys, they did not wear genderless fashion, and everything was very definitely feminine they wouldn’t be seen dead in baseball boots or work boots.

Not that they didn’t wear casual leisure wear but they always looked like girls.

The girls were gregarious, bubbly and outgoing and everybody liked them and they had no shortage of admirers but the two girls had a pact, and that was that if one sister met someone that they particularly liked, the other one had to approve, but ideally if one got one then so must the other.

Not that they came into contact with many likely contenders in Mornington, they liked the Village well enough but there wasn’t that much to do or indeed anyone to do it with when the occasion arose, that was until they discovered that the Potter boys had arrived.

 

The Potters had moved to Mornington in March when the company that their father worked for, Digitize Image Lab, moved from Northchapel.

It was a good time to move as the boys had finished school, Mark was 18 and set to leave for University in September and Shaun was two years younger and would be going to college.

 

Despite arriving in March the twins didn’t meet the boys until the end of June and the fact that they had lived in the same small village for the best part of four months without knowing that the others existed was something of a miracle.

They almost met on several occasions but the fates always seemed to intervene, the closest such near miss was at the Mornington Beer Festival where the twins disgraced themselves by getting drunk which led to them being frog marched home by their father minutes before the Potters left the main marquee.

The act of underage drinking and public inebriation earned the twins a grounding which kept them out of circulation until almost the end of June when fate had a change of heart and engineered their meeting instead.

 

Despite the fact that they lived in a small village the long awaited first meeting between the Larsen girls and the Potter boys didn’t happen in Mornington but at the Seaside town of Sharpington-by-Sea, and even then they kept missing each other.

There was so much to do at Sharpington with its Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, the well maintained gardens, a pristine promenade, theatre and illuminations, plus all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.

Mark and Shaun were staying up at the Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park for the week and they were having a great time but the Sharpington Fun Park was a particular favourite.

It was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which was a proud boast for the locals.

The Fun Park 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 it was still fun and still popular with visitors and locals a like.

And on three occasions the Potters brothers and the Larsen twins were within ten feet of each other but were looking the other way.

The twins were only there for the day and went with their parents but as soon as they arrived they went their separate ways for the morning but met up for lunch on the seafront then they separated again until it was time for a visit to Bizzoni’s Ice Cream Parlour.

 

It was after ice creams that they spent an hour or so as a family and ended up on the crazy Golf and that was the moment while Glen Larsen was trying to putt through a moving windmill and into a clowns mouth that Dee and Elsa spotted the devastatingly good looking Potter brothers on the adjacent hole.

Mark and Shaun weren’t identical but they were clearly brothers and the girls thought they were absolutely gorgeous and as a result from that moment on they had their caps well and truly set.

There was never a moment’s argument as to who liked which brother they were instantly attracted to one each, which was great for their relationship.

The problem was they had never before been interested enough in a boy to make an approach and although they were instantly smitten they had absolutely no idea how to do anything about it.

They had never had to know because boys had always chased them and they just had to choose a suitable candidate and bat away the rest, they had never had to do any chasing themselves.

They were fidgeting uneasily as they both tried to think what to do because the Potters were two holes ahead of them and would be gone to God knew where before they were done.

And then just before it looked like the gorgeous young men were a lost cause they were rescued at the last possible second by of all people their mother Shelley.

“Hello boys” she said “What a coincidence running into you all the way over here”

The girls looked on with open mouths as their mum chatted casually with the boys and they chatted back and the girls thought they sounded as sexy as they looked.

She introduced them to Glen and then after about five minutes she said

“Oh and these two are Dee and Elsa”

“Hi” Mark said and in response Dee blushed and Elsa giggled

 

On the drive home from Sharpington Shelley Larson was bombarded with questions from the twins about the Potters, and by the time they got back to Mornington they had extracted every ounce of information about them.

 

After the first encounter with them at the crazy golf the twins talked about the gorgeous Potter boys constantly, and they heartily approved of the other ones choice, but that was as far as it went because they didn’t know what to do next.

 

There were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and Mark and Shaun Potter lived at number 3 Dulcet Mill Lane with their father Karl Mark and Shaun.

The Potters had only been in the village since April when the company he worked for, Digitize Image Lab, moved to Mornington Field from Northchapel.

It was very opportune timing because he had already decided before he found out about the move that he would move to pastures new so he and the boys could have a fresh start, because they all struggled to come to terms with the loss of their mother and wife, respectively, in the family home they had all shared.

Rose Potter was diagnosed with breast cancer in April of 2014 and finally succumbed to the disease in mid-August.

They had thought that with times healing hand things would return to some form of normality, but it didn’t work out that way and in reality everything in the house was a constant reminder of what they had lost, every stick of furniture, every picture, ornament and memento screamed at them, “she’s gone”, even the wallpaper and carpets joined in the chorus.

So they made the move and were all happy with the way things had turned out.

 

Mark was the eldest by 2 years, he was also two inches taller and more self-confidence than Shaun.

They were both athletically built with dark curly hair and blue eyes and although they were unaware of it Dee and Elsa had not gone unnoticed by the boys, but then how could they not have noticed them, they were beautiful after all.

But Mark was reluctant to get involved with someone so close to him starting University but he was definitely tempted, but in the end he resolved not to be proactive and just see what happened.

 

Dee and Elsa were also pleased that they had moved to the Village but they lived at the opposite end from where the girls lived and so it was unlikely that they would bump into each other by accident, so they would have to engineer such meetings.

Dee however wasn’t prepared to go searching, her philosophy was that he knew where she was and he would have to come and get her.

Elsa was having none of that kind of attitude, they had finally met two drop dead gorgeous boys that they both liked and she wasn’t going to sit at home waiting for a knock on the door that might never come.

So it was down to her to engineer a meeting where she could use her charms although in truth she became a stalker and Shaun Potter was her prey.

 

It was two weeks since the twins met the Potter boys in Sharpington and Dee became increasingly frustrated at the failure of Mark Potter to come knocking on her door.

While Elsa had little more success with her own tactic of stalking Shaun.

She carried a little note book of the times of his comings and goings, where he went and who he met but just when she was about to ambush him, someone would come along and spoil things.

 

Elsa’s chance to speak to Shaun finally came quite by chance one Sunday Morning as she was walking home after church, Dee hadn’t gone as she was still sitting at home waiting for prince Charming to call by.

She had left her parents outside St Winifred’s and was walking along the riverside path towards the Old East Mill when Shaun came racing around the corner on his bike, at pace and nearly ran her over.

“Watch it” she said and jumped out of the way and he screeched to a halt

“Sorry Elsa” he said “I didn’t think”

He was in a hurry because he wanted to get to St Winifred before the service was over in order to see her, because that was the one time and place that he knew she would be.

He really liked her and unlike his brother he didn’t want to wait and see, but he had never had a girlfriend and he didn’t really think he stood a chance with her but he knew he had to try before someone else snapped her up.

 

She looked at his beautiful dark curls spilling down beneath his helmet, his eyes sparkled and his cheeks were ruddy from exertion.

Shaun had one foot on the floor and the other on the pedal and her eyes were fixed on the shape of his thigh and the firmness of his buttock and she was transfixed. 

Then he caught her looking and she blushed scarlet and looked away.

“So why are you in such a hurry?” she asked

“Oh no reason” he lied

They then waited in silence hoping the other would speak,

Him fidgeting on the saddle and her shuffling her feet until he said

“Well I’d better get going”

“Oh ok” she said failing to hide her disappointment as he started to pedal away

“Bye” he said and she cursed under her breath, then she breathed in deeply and shouted after him

“Do you want to go to the pictures?”

He braked sharply and dropped the bike and ran back towards her.

“Yes, when?”

“Well, that depends” she said and he looked crestfallen

“On what?” he asked thinking the worst

“On when your brother asks my sister out” she replied and he laughed

“No problem” he retorted

 

“What are you looking so pleased about?” Mark asked as Shaun walked in the room

“I have a date” he replied

“With who?”

“Elsa Larsen” he said

“Really?” Mark said “I didn’t know you liked her”

“Oh I like her a lot” he said “I like everything about her”

“Really?”

“Yes” Shaun replied

“I feel much the same about her sister” Mark admitted

“Good, because now you have to go and ask her out” Shaun told him

“Alright bossy” he said “I’ll do it later”

“Now” Shaun insisted

“Later”

“You need to do it right now” he said “I don’t want you blowing my chances”

“Ok” he said and headed towards the front door with Shaun right behind him

“Why are you following me?” Mark asked

“To make sure you don’t chicken out” he replied

 

And that was how after having made the decision to wait to be asked Dee Larsen got her wish and despite his reservations Mark Potter had a girlfriend in the village when he went off to University.

GOLDEN YEARS

 

It was fifty years ago when I first saw her

And I fell for her beauty and her charm

And now in the autumn of our years

I’m still proud to have her on my arm

 

How long ago it was when we were young

When every minute we were parted

Was full of the agonies and torment

And time alone left us broken hearted

 

I could have composed wondrous symphonies

And written lofty ballads to her name

I could have written the sweetest love songs

And never expressed what are love became

 

I would have crossed the wildest seas

And walked on coals to be at her side

I would have slain the fiercest dragon

And fought duals to win her as my bride

 

I proclaimed my love to her as everlasting

And I told her we would always be together

Through thick and thin, good times and bad

Through calmness and through stormy weather

 

How my heart soared as the church bells rang

When at the alter she stood and said I do

Now after fifty summers and fifty winters

The love I proclaimed still holds true

DON’T CRY

 

Don’t cry because the love affair is over

Wipe those tears from your face

And allow yourself to smile because

It happened in the first place

Mornington-By-Mere – (74) Sixteen

 

The quaint chocolate box English Village of Mornington-By-Mere, was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale, which nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.

It is a quaint and picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12^th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.

15 year old Matthew was one of the Smith clan, who were tenants at Smithfield Farm and had been for as long as anyone could remember, and as soon as he finished school he was going to take his place working on the land, and that day had finally come, the school year was over so he was on the way home by the usual route.

He left the Village School and walked towards Church Bridge and proceeded along the riverside path on the Northern Bank of the River Brooke with Mornington Field on his right and Manor Wood across the water on his left.

After the Wood stood the famous Mornington Brewery and immediately before the river changed direction, Dulcets Mill stood, one of the last three remaining Mornington Mills.

At the point the River turned sharply to the right he followed the path that threaded its way through the woods that bordered the western edge of Mornington Field and as he meandered his way along the path he heard a voice behind him.

“Wait for me Matt” it, said, “wait for me”

He turned around but he couldn’t see who it was

“Wait for me” they continued shouting, a little louder this time and then there was a crash as a schoolgirl came running around an oak tree and hurtled straight into him and they both ended up on the floor.

The schoolgirl was young Alexa Newbold

“Ouch” she said rubbing her left knee.

 

Alexa was a few months older than Matt and she was staying on in full time education and would be going to college followed by University but she wasn’t going to go before she had done what she needed to do.

 

“Are you ok?” he asked as he helped her to her feet.

“Just scrapped my knee a bit,” she said laughing

“I didn’t think I was that close to you”

She was a very pretty girl, five foot one with Jet-black hair and pale alabaster skin and she lived in Military Row with her family

“Happy birthday by the way” he said suddenly remembering it was her 16^th birthday

“Thank you,” she said grinning because she didn’t know that he knew.

But Matt knew everything about her because he loved her and had done for as long as he could remember, but he would never tell her that because she was on a different path to him and as a farmer he wouldn’t be able to offer her anything and he certainly wouldn’t be able to compete with the kind of boys she was going to meet at University.

So he had resigned himself to the fact that she was unattainable.

 

Alexa was still wearing her full school uniform consisting of black knee length socks, a black and white plaid skirt, black jacket, white blouse and a plaid tie and her knee was still bleeding so he fished out a hankie from his pocket and handed it to her.

“Use that” he said “that will help for the moment”

Alexa dabbed at the cut and winced as Matt looked for somewhere he could sit her down.

“Come on, come and sit down and I’ll clean it up” he said and directed her to a tree stump a few yards away where he sat her down and then he knelt down in front of her and produced a bottle of water from his bag.

“Are you glad we’ve broken up?” he asked

“Yes and no” she replied

He found her response a little strange but added

“Bad luck having to go to school on your birthday”

“Oh no it wasn’t so bad” she said

“Well Happy birthday sweet sixteen” he said and then he irrigated the wound with water and cleaned it with the hankie

“Ooh” Alexa winced as she sat perched on the tree stump

“Sweet sixteen and never been kissed”

She added and blushed

“You’re joking” he replied looking at her face and she blushed deeper and averted her eyes.

“So what are you doing for your birthday?” he asked by way of changing the subject

“Well Mum and Dad are taking me and to my favourite restaurant in Shallowfield on Saturday night” she said very pleased with herself.

“But I was hoping that today, we could do something together”

“You and me?” he asked in disbelief

“Yes” she replied and reached forward and put a hand on each side of his face before leaning forward and kissing him.

Matt wasn’t expecting that, the kiss came right out of left field it only lasted a few moments and when their lips parted she said

“Now I’m a sweet sixteen who has been kissed”

He gave a heavy sigh then leant into her saying

“Again please”

“Oh yes again” she agreed and their lips met again this time in a longer more languid union and when she broke away he sighed again.

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the gorgeous Alexa Newbold would want him, she was beautiful, funny and smart and he was just a farm boy.

He reached into his pocket and took out a small package.

“Here you are birthday girl” he said to her “I have a birthday gift for you”

“I thought I’d just had my present” she said and giggled

“What do you mean?”

“This is the best Birthday present I could possibly have received” she replied and they kissed again.

When the kiss was over she opened the little package to reveal a small embossed box and inside that was a small Gold locket and inside that there was some engraving which read “Sweet sixteen”.

And the moment she read it she threw herself at him and showered him with kisses

“I love it, I love it” she said and hugged him and after a moment or two she said coyly

“Can I have another present?”

“Are you sure you want another one?”

“I think so” She replied

“Well if you’re not bothered” he began “I’ll go and find Mandy Price she won’t turn me down”

“Don’t you dare” she said putting her arms around him “Loose lips can find someone else to snog, you’re mine now”

PRISONER OF LOVE

 

I stole a glance at you

Lustfully larcenous

More than one in fact

I was a repeat offender

A serial gazer

In perpetual regard

Loitering with intent to stare

In open mouthed infatuation

And you caught me

Apprehended me in the act

Of elicit observation

Your arresting look

Took custody of me

A petty felon

With prior form

And with merciless intent

You stole my heart

Without hesitation

No mere act of petty larceny

You took it from me

And at once captivated me

Imprisoned me

Behind the bars of love

Once in your possession

It became valueless

Scornfully regarded

You keep it under glass

On display

Where you can watch it beat

Or by capricious whim

Play with it

Like a cat plays with a mouse

While I die by inches

Knowing you have my heart

But not one of your own

So sits a prisoner of love

In sight of death row

Indefinitely incarcerated

Behind the bars of love

No hope of parole

GIRL ON HORSEBACK

 

Elegant and beautiful I thought

Admiring the girl on the horse

I couldn’t take my eyes off her

No glance back at me of course

 

She sits in the saddle quite aloof

A cut above us I’ve been told

A little bit snobby to tell the truth

But she is a beauty to behold

 

As for the horse she sits upon

A fine thoroughbred steed

A beast like she, looks down its nose

Because like her it’s of noble breed

 

You expect to be looked down upon

By a girl atop a noble horse

But when on terra firma

I would expect equality of course

 

But from her five-foot one-inch stance

She looked down on me once more

Which was quite a feat indeed for her

As I stand tall at six foot four

Mornington-By-Mere – (73) R and R

 

The Varney’s lived in the small country village of Mornington-By-Mere in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.

Which was a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12^th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.

He lived and worked up at Mornington Field which had once been an RAF base but had been converted into a mixture of commercial and residential units.

They lived in one of the Cottages in Dulcet Mill Lane, number 5, in the part of the Village known as Manorside and they had lived there together all of their married life.

70 year old George was employed at the Mornington Brewery before he retired while his wife Tracey was a stay at home mum, raising their six children.

They were obviously all grown up now and most of them had children of their own and were now in every corner of Downshire.

There youngest was Harry who was a civil engineer and he had been working away in Oman for six months and had returned to the UK to catch his breath and recharge his batteries before he returned to Muscat for his next 6 month stint away.

His home was in Abbottsford which at the time was having some major renovations doing to it so it wasn’t the most conducive location for rest and recuperation so he planned to stay at his parents’ house while they were away in Portugal for a couple of weeks so he would have the house to himself which was perfect for what he had in mind which was nothing.

He was completely knackered and was understandably looking forward to a good few days of doing nothing very much at all before his friends realised he was back in Downshire and an endless round of frenetic activity of sports bars and long boozy lunches, clubbing and the pursuit of gratuitous sex began.

But everyone knows the saying about the “best laid plans”, they are absolutely pointless when fate takes a hand.

Things began to go wrong at the break of day on his first night in Mornington, when a crack of thunder almost blew him out of bed, and then the storm rumbled round for hours after that, making sleep nearly impossible, he would just drift off into slumber and then CRASH and he was wide awake again, then things would calm down and he would begin to dose and then CRASH and his eyes were wide open once more.

He gave up after the 9^th or 10^th time and got up and went downstairs for coffee.

The storm raged on for another hour or so but when it finally petered out he decided not to go back to bed and pottered around the house instead, spending the first few hours of his well-earned respite doing housework.

He had been home for less than 24hrs and couldn’t believe how much mess he had made.

About midmorning the sun came out so he thought he might as well take a walk down to the Old Mill, from where he could make his presence known to his friends, so Harry went upstairs to shower and shave.

He arrived back downstairs after his shower and had just picked up his keys when something in the garden caught his eye, just on the edge of the patio and the something was bent over a wheelbarrow. 

“Very nice” he said to himself as he took advantage of the view up her skirt.

“Oh very nice indeed” he said as to his absolute delight she reached for something at the other end of the barrow and in an effort to prevent herself overbalancing her left leg shot out sideways and the resulting rearrangement of her buttocks caused her left cheek to become completely exposed as the knicker leg rolled between her fleshy cheeks so he put his keys down on the table and sat in the conservatory to get a better look.

To his enjoyment the girl stayed bent over the barrow for a minute or so with one naked buttock on show and then she stood up and after ungloving her hand she lifted her skirt and slowly extracted her knickers from her bum.   

When she was stood up he could see she was quite tall with long chestnut hair but other than that there was no clue as to her identity.

It wasn’t anyone he knew, he was certain of that.

The mystery gardener then walked to the side of the wheelbarrow and leant over it again, this time presenting him with a side view of her.

The thick chestnut hair obscured her face but then he wasn’t really looking at her face as her rather large frontage fell forward and filled her top and offered him a tantalizing taster through the armhole of her vest top.

He thought for a moment that apart from her work boots, socks and gloves, the rest of her apparel wasn’t really vocation appropriate, a vest top, short skirt and impractical underwear, not that he was complaining, he was just enjoying the show.

Which was far more enticing than any floor show his mates might have dragged him to.

He stared at every inch of the horny gardener except for her face but he was beginning not to care about that, which was the point that she stood up and turned towards him and smiled and he did know her, it was Verity Lamb, his first ever girlfriend, not that she had looked as she did at that precise moment back then, when they were at school together twenty years earlier.

He stood up and opened the door and walked toward her.

“Hi Verity” he said “what are you doing here?”

“This is what I do” she replied “I’m a gardener by profession”

“You’re not dressed like a professional gardener” he retorted

“It’s my day off”

“What?” he asked rather confusedly

“Your mum told me you were going to be home alone while they were away” she said as she walked towards him

“So, I thought I’d come round and get you interested in the gardener”

Harry said nothing but swallowed hard and then Verity added

“I’m thinking I succeeded”

“Definitely” he replied

“Well, are you going to invite me in?” she said and kissed him “or do I have to do all the work”

“Well put like that” he said “come in”

And led her by the hand inside and there they stayed as he spent the first three days of his R&R with the buxom gardener doing everything but rest and relax.