Chapter 6

Monday dawned perfectly for two reasons – the weather promised to be hot, cloudless and delightful; and Miss Archibald was still ‘under the weather’. Emily and Elizabeth arrived at 11am as agreed, with a bag each containing costume and towel. They were fortunate, for, when their governess took a bad turn, she rarely took any interest in what they were to do.

“Oh, such a shame. I shall have Cook prepare some good beef tea to send to her. Now, take me to the bench at the top of the hill. Yes, yes, do not fuss Susan, I shall be perfectly safe there and able to watch very well with my monocular.” It looked more like a small telescope, but she insisted on calling it a monocular since two together would be binoculars.

So then the four made their way down the steps directly to the South Beach bathing area rather than the longer route down the sloped path. Emily and Elizabeth led the way and Susan and Simon followed. The two sisters were pretty, no doubt of that. Emily was sixteen, nearly too old for a governess but she was as much a chaperone (under normal circumstances), Elizabeth was fourteen with all the innocent allure that that carried. They both had that. Today, their hair was carefully up. They had risen early precisely to arrange so it would not get too wet. If it was down then it would easily float around them for some distance; they both could sit on their hair (if they tried hard), which was a trick none of their friends had achieved. The long golden brown hair certainly brought admiring stares, which their elfin faces did nothing to dissuade. Emily was now a womanly shape, with bust and hips and narrow waist in between, whilst her sister had something of a bust but no obvious differential between waist and hips so far.

“You think them attractive?” Susan asked quietly

“Not as attractive as yourself.” Simon replied.

“I was not seeking compliments. But they are more of your age. However, there is an ignorance. No, an innocence, about them; tread carefully Master Peters. I shall consider myself responsible for their welfare whilst it is just the four of us. Not that I should be much help. I cannot swim either.”

The girls were all excited, they were like young cattle let out after the Winter; they were ready to skip and jump for joy at being set free for this day. Great Aunt Jo had not told Simon a time to come back, she had even suggested he could take the three girls to Sanfredi’s if he thought it appropriate.

Several wheeled huts had not been opened for business, it being a Monday there was a feeling it would be too quiet. It meant that only two were available to be wheeled by the patient horse to the sea. The sisters therefore took one and Susan the other. In the small shed on wheels, Emily and Elizabeth confronted the fact that they would divest all their clothing in close proximity to each other. They could have pointedly both looked away from each other; which is what the other two assumed would happen; in fact by tacit agreement, they each stripped to their nakedness watching each other. “Oh, you are so perfect, I wish I was still like that.” Emily reacted.

“Oh, no, but that betokens that you are a woman now, is it rough? May I touch?” Elizabeth knew (from seeing her mother, many years previously when she was meant to be asleep) that women grew moss between their legs, Emily had been surprised by the sprouting growth. Now she found her younger sister envious and delighted by the view. “And you have such lovely breasts, I wish I -”

“They will come, sister. You are so smooth, can I remind myself?” Emily reached out and stroked the unformed but still sensitive slot of her younger sister. “So ... so neat. Why must we grow these bumps and ridges? Oh, but I suppose that is what Simon Peters would lust after is it not?”

“I think so, yes. He would much rather see those than my unformed smoothness. Remember our cousin?” That was why they were away with their governess; their cousin had tried to make them show what was under their skirts. He had been caught being rude in action and soundly thrashed, yet somehow the two girls were assumed to have led him on by simply existing and so had been sent away for much of the Summer.

In a small tent on the beach which Simon had rented for the afternoon – the proprietor had said he could have the small part of the morning left for free since the party had rented two swimming huts too – he got changed. He had never worn a costume before, it felt odd dressing to go for a swim. He had learned to swim in the river with his friends near home, then had swum at school; actually in a lake nearby which occasionally claimed the life of an unfortunate local. The school was careful to always supervise swimming, losing a paying pupil might become expensive. All of those swimming escapades had been naked, like the men far along the beach.

Once ready in what he assumed was sartorially elegant horzontal stripes, he ventured out. Far above him, his aunt with monocular spotted him and began to titter, then to giggle, and finally to laugh out loud in a most unladylike manner. “My, he looks so completely ridiculous! Oh, lordy, I can’t stand it, oh.” and she revisited the unladylike guffaws again. So much so that she apologised to a couple near by “I am afraid it is a throat problem. I am sorry.” They sympathised with her, offered to get help (which she waved away with thanks), and regaled everybody at dinner with how they had saved a dear old lady from choking.

As he headed for the sea, he saw the two changing huts being backed into the water, first the green one, then the red. He couldn’t remember which was occupied by whom. His first experience of Newborough sea was that it must be closer to the North Pole than they admitted, but he was surprised at how his body recovered and let him get in further. By the time he was suitable submerged and swimming, his fellow lodger had appeared on her steps and was finding the water as much a shock as he had.

“It is like ice! Please, do not splash me. Oh I shall never get in, it is ... are you standing?”

“Yes, it isn’t too deep. Shall I help?”

“Well...” Susan looked round. Why she did that, she had no idea. No-one could see, the hut hid her from view from the shore. She sat with her legs in the water and nodded. He got closer, intending to take her hand, for her part, she put out both arms and in moments he found she had her arms on his shoulders. He had no choice but the grasp her body at the waist and lift. At that moment Emily and Elizabeth appeared from their hut. They watched as Simon lifted his friend, holding her body, clad in woollen close knit costume that reveal nothing more than her shape. His hands though, they confirmed that under that costumer was soft flesh; she held him close “Don’t drop me!” meaning that he could feel the firm sponginess of her upper body compressed against him. Underneath the water, even this seemingly glacially cold seawater, she was close enough to feel that he was aroused. This was something that no lady should know about, and no man should make plain. Slowly he let her slide down into the water, and both had the same brief reverie of them being naked and that slide down resulting in him entering her. It kept him hard as a rock.

“Simon, umm Mr Peters, umm -” Elizabeth said.

“Simon will be fine, what can I do? Very refreshing isn’t it?”

“Yeaaaaasss, well freezing actually.”

“Haha, yes. Can I help? I could splash you -”

“No! I mean, no; but you helped Miss Withers-Ainable -”

“Call me Susan, please! Yes, Simon will be delighted to help you both in, won’t you Simon?” Well of course he would be. He moved towards Emily.

“Shall I?” He asked. She nodded. He put his hands on her waist, as he lifted, she slipped a little and so he move a hand to stop her falling. Susan could see where his hand was, it was supporting her base, her bottom. His other hand helped her and she put her hands on his shoulders. No-one said a word. He lowered her down and as the hand went under the grey-green water he attempted to release her. Her eyes opened wider and the sister and Susan both assumed that he had accidentally become even more intimate with her body. Emily did not reveal what had happened, ever.