Chapter 5

"Hi, my sweet!"

"Greetings, love of my life"

The two girls emerged from sleep and instinctively reached out to embrace each other. They kissed. They kissed again. Then they changed ends for a long, a very long time. Finally.

"What's the time Harry?"

"Half past ten - SHIT!!"

"Good idea, let's not do it here, though, Harry! I have a bathroom suite for that. You go first and I'll follow. I love the way the toilet smells after you've just used it!"

"Oh. GWEN!"

"I met a guy, the same year I met Jim. He was an ex-Roman Catholic priest who had met a girl and fallen in love and left the priesthood to marry her. He told me a very lovely thing. At least I think it was lovely. He told me that when his new wife went to the loo, he would go with her. He said that if he couldn't love the smell of his wife's shit, he couldnt love her properly either. Isn't that nice!"

"Not really, Gwen! I feel sick!"

The next few days before the weekend were increasingly cold and progress was painfully slow for two girls pitting their own muscle against the rock-hard earth, but they were learning to use their strength, such as it was, to good purpose and the ground began to yield to them bit by bit. Each night, Harry would look into the mirror, willing hersef to see those longed-for muscles developing. Finally Gwen tired of this obsession.

"Come her, you fucking idiot, and stand still while I measure you up. We'll try it again in two weeks' time. Meanwhile stop posing in front of that fucking mirror every single fucking night. It's beginning to fucking well piss me off. Right!"

Harry stood still and Gwen measured her chest and her chest expanded, her thighs, arms and biceps ordinary and flexed and noted down the results in a notebook which she put in her escritoire. She handed the key to Jenkins and told him not in any circumstances to let Harry get her thieving fingers on it, not if he valued his job, that is.

Each day they became more inured to the cold and took longer and longer over their alfresco lunches, each waiting to see the other give in first and beg to be allowed to get back to work. One day it was Gwen and the next it would be Harry.

The weekend came and Gwen was the first to look out on the estate and saw snow falling thick and fast. The whole of her ancestral acres were covered feet deep and the trees all groaned under the weight of the wonderful white powdery snow.

She rushed over to the bed and took Harry's feet and pulled onto the floor.

"Come outisde! This is the loveliest day!"

Arrived on the terrace, Gwen pointed to the work site now veiled in pure white.

"Go and get a shovel, Harry and clear the terrace. I'll go for a run around the estate and leave my girlish footprints for any trespasser to puzzle over when he sees them. Go on! Then we'll build a lovely snowman!"

Gwen disappeared into the distance and Harry decided to disobey her for once and raced after her. She caught up with ease, as Gwen had seen her darling friend coming up behind her and waited for her to catch up. They ran together, every so often going knee-deep into a drift and struggling to keep their footing, but usually finding themselves in only a few inches of the lovely white softly yielding miracle. The falling flakes covered their hair and fell on their warm bodies, melting and forming droplets on their firm young bouncing breasts, before dripping off their hardened bright pink, erect and protruding nipples.

"Istn't this heavenly Harry? It hasn't snowed here for three years - not properly. I'd forgotten what it was like. Makes those days of digging worth while! I feel like I'm flying, Harry! I hope today lasts for ever!"

Arrived back at the terrace, Gwen directed Harriet to go and get two shovels and she went inside to ring for Jenkins to get them something hot and very alcoholic to drink. Harry came back with the shovels and Jenkins with the hot potent drinks. The two drank long and deep before starting to clear the terrace of snow, casting each shovel-full over the parapet and onto the lawn underneath.

When they had cleared the terrace, Gwen knelt down at the site of Harriet's fight with Janet and kissed the ground, still faintly stained with the two combatants' blood. They then went inside and collapsed in each others' arms onto the deep-piled rug by the fire.

"What about the snowman, Gwendoline? Still want to go and build one! It's nearly eleven - we've still time before lunch."

It was the work only of a few minutes to shape the body and Gwen then scooped up enough snow and shaped it into a very handsome head, but she thought better of putting it on top of the still-unfinished snowman and threw it at Harriet instead.

Ten minutes later, two soaking wet and hysterical girls remembered the serious purpose on which they were engaged and finally the head was put in place. They stepped back to admire their handiwork when Gwen, seized by another typical piece of lunacy, wrestled Harry to the ground before that girl had time to react and sat on her, proceeding to stuff snow into her mouth.

"You bitch! Let me up"

"Shan't"

"Please Gwen. My arse is like a block of ice"

"Good"

"I love you Gwen!"

"I love you Harry, but you're still staying here - so stop your whining. Just lie back and enjoy it"

"I hate this, Gwen. Please let me up!"

"Shan't. Make me. You're so bloody strong. Make me"

Struggle as Harriet would, Gwen was immovable and, exhausted and red faced, she finally realised the hopelessnes of resistance and ceased to struggle. She relaxed and smiled up at her tormentor.

"I've got an idea, Gwen"

Gwen consolidated her hold on her poor victim and replied.

"What idea Harry?"

"The snowman needs a hat and a nose and two eyes and a pipe in his mouth. We haven't finished yet."

"You're not just saying that to be allowed to get up?"

"No, Gwen"

"Swear?"

"I swear!"

"I'll have to think about it. Is it terribly cold down there, Harry?"

"Yes, Gwen"

"Good. I'm glad!"

"Bitch"

"Cow"

With this last insult Gwen rolled off onto her back and Harry, in her turn, sat on her for a few minutes, before they both went inside to look for hat, eyes, nose and a pipe for the snowman.

The put their arms over each others' shoulder, and admired their finished work of art.

"That was a good idea Harry! He looks splendid, now! Let's wrestle again, shall we? I liked it so much last time... Harry what are you going inside for? Was it something I said?"

...

"Shall we have our picnic outside again, Harriet, now we have this lovely snow to enjoy? We could have a table and chairs, if you don't want to squat down in the snow"

"You really are insane aren't you Gwendoline? I mean not just a little off the rails, but positively psychotic!"

"Does that mean, No, Harry?"

"It means, Yes. I love the idea!"

Half an hour later the two naked girls their bodies glowing pink in the cold, sat opposite each other toasting each other in hot mulled wine, after having first had a vigorous work-out in Gwen's private gym to get themslves totally in shape.

Jenkins stood beside the table, at the ready, wondering what Gwendoline's widowed mother would think of her if she could only see her darling daughter now! Just as well, the poor lady was in the South of France with Harriet's Aunt. He had no doubt that the headstrong young Countess would not in any way moderate her behaviour, even if her mother were here!

"We're ready for the soup, Jenkins. Try not to spill any on your way over"

Both girls cackled hysterically as he went back to the house to comply with this request.

The soup was still piping hot when it arrived.

"Thanks, Jenkins - you really are a marvel" said Gwendoline. "I may - just may - have another nice kiss for you soon!"

"Thank you, your ladyship. That would be most gratifying!"

The fish course was Dover Sole, washed down with one of the cellar's finest German wines. Gwen congratulated Jenkins on having managed to keep the wine chilled on his way over and once again both girls writhed in hepless laughter at yet another of Gwen's idiotic jokes...

With the beef Bourgignon, yet another bottle of vintage Burgundy was sacrificed. Jenkins retired into the house for a while. He was freezing cold and quite astonished at the way neither young lady showed any sign of distress, despite their nudity and the sub-zero temperature. Mentally, he took of his hat to them.

The girls took advantage of Jenkins's absence to move their chairs round so they could be side by side. In this position of close proximity they shared their food and wine in what had lately become their favourite intimate way. They moved guiltily and hastily back when they saw the faithful Jenkins coming over to serve the sweet, which was washed down with a particuarly good Sauternes.

Coffee and some more of Gwen's heavenly Cognac followed and afterwards both leaned back in relaxed satisfaction. Gwen leant back too far and her chair gave way behind her. She collapsed shrieking with laughter into the snow.

Harriet was on top of her in a flash, but Gwen wriggled sinuously out from under her and both girls rolled around ending up like a couple of snowmen (or snow-women) themselves, before rising to their feet as Jenkins came to take the things back into the house. He solemnly took all the contents of the table, piled onto a tray, back into the Mansion. He might just as well have been taking it from the dining room back to the kitchen, for all his faultlessly professional demeanour betrayed. They remained standing as he returned, with a couple of other servants, to take the table and chairs back inside.

They tried to look serious, but failed totally and followed him back shaking with laughter and supporting each other as they staggered from side to side. It had been a wonderful meal but only a prodigious amount of fine wine and old brandy had kept them from freezing. Even as they approached the house the insane mood which had sustained them, started to dissipate and cold sobriety took over.

When they got into the warmth, it was borne in on them, just how very cold indeed they were. The adrenalin and alcohol had suddenly lost their power to keep them warm. They stood in front of the fire and shivered. Gwen looked at Harry and saw that she was very very pale and ready to lose consciousness. She looked so awfully ill suddenly and a pang of guilt shot through her.

"Let's go upstairs and get under those blankets, Gwen. I think I'm about to die!"

"Good idea! You do occasionally come up with them, Harry. Race you upstairs!"

Gwendoline was first to speed into her bedroom and leapt into bed, followed by the shivering, staggering Harriet, who had to be helped under the sheet by a, by now, deeply worried Gwen.

"Come up close darling Harry" With these words, Gwendoline massaged her friend's arms and breathed over her frozen face. She frantically rubbed herself up and down against Harriet's body to generate heat by friction. By degrees the girl's shivering eased and the warmth seeped back into her body.

It was half an hour before either girl felt anything like warm and even longer than that before they felt comfortable. Once they were fully restored, they drew apart and prepared to talk.

"That was really wild, Gwendoline! I still can't believe we actually did anything so fucking gloriously stupidly mad! But I'm so glad we did! What ever did I do before I met you? And how could I ever live without you now I have?"

"Welcome back to the land of the living, my pet! You had me totally shit-scared for a while. It was great, though, wasn't it? Even so my angel-faced red-haired darling, we'd better not do it again for a couple of days!"

With returning warmth, a deep languor stole over both girls and they fell asleep, even though it was scarcely four in the afternoon. Harriet was the first to awake and it was already dark. She put her hand once again on Gwen's hard stomach, feeling its rising and falling. She was reassured by that sweet, lovely proximity and lay like that for some time before slipping into sleep again, her mind full of happy thoughts. She dreamt of Gwen. In her dream, she could see that her golden haired friend was skipping nimbly and barefoot down a rocky, sun-scorched hillside towards her. She was deeply sun-tanned, covered in dust, and utterly naked - as ever. She heard herself cry out to this vision to go back, because she was in terrible danger and woke up feeling afraid - of what? she asked herself, and fell deeply and peacefully asleep again.