Chapter 1

“Hi Rupe!” Amelie almost skipped across, and put her arm through his, giving him a beaming smile. Rupert’s ‘spidey sense’ started to tingle. She was after something. “How was the half term?” They were just back from the half term holiday. He had had to go to see Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma was cantakerously difficult for his parents; nothing they did was ever quite right. Grandma had always apparently thought that her daughter could have done better than Albert Bearstow. She didn’t seem to take into account love. However, as luck would have it, she thought the sun shone out of Rupert’s arse, he could no wrong. Even when he was ten and had broken her prized Royal Albert china bowl, she had been impressed with his terrified honesty in owning up immediately; she had hugged him, and said “It was probably fake anyway.” It was unclear why she liked him so much, but it made visits easier for him anyway.

Grandpa was similarly pleased with Rupert – because his wife was always in a better mood when Rupert was around. At fourteen Rupert had been given his first tot of whisky. Now, at seventeen, it was a regular thing for ‘the men’ to repair to the garden shed before dinner, and all three would have a small whisky. Grandpa would say “What do you think of this one then?” and produce another bottle. None of them were that special, but the male bonding was something both son and grandson would treasure in the future.

“Yeah, the visit was good. Grandpa gave me a German pilot’s goggles that he liberated during the war, when he captured a pilot who had bailed out and broke his ankle. Not that difficult to capture someone who couldn’t walk. Still ... How was your holiday?”

“Oh yes, good, good. I may have a small favour to ask...” She didn’t want to talk about herself, she puffed her chest out. He was meant to notice that she had finally felt she was properly filling her B-cup bra. She had been a A-cup all last year and felt inferior to the girls in her class that were storming away with bosoms. She couldn’t see that her blonde good looks would always help blind a boy to her smaller assets. Now she was a B-cup and proud of it. The only fly in that ointment was that Mary, her sister had extended herself to very full C-cup. How dare she still be growing! She was threatening to move up to D! “Did you hear about Zoe Havilland?” It was a sudden jump that Rupert was unprepared for. Like many a male, he assumed that if the conversation with a woman took a sudden jump sideways to something apparently unconnected, then it was unconnected. A woman would never make that fatal mistake.

Zoe Havilland: it was rumoured that the family used to be de Havilland. No one was sure if they were related to the aircraft people or Olivia de Havilland; there was no evidence of a close, financial beneficial, relationship. Zoe was one the most sporty girls in school. She was in the women’s cross country team for the county, she was a keen long distance cyclist, she was a good competitive dinghy sailor. “Broke her both legs.” She had been on a 24 hour cycle race and a car had side swiped her. She would be off any activity for weeks.

Mary came over “Well?”

“Go away, I haven’t asked yet.”

“Get on with it Amie, we’ll be going in to school soon.”

“Asked me what?” Rupe queried. He knew his senses had been sounding warning klaxons for a reason.

“Go away Mary.” Amelie said. Her sister wandered off.

“Well. You know Mummy is a Guide Leader?” Another leap to a new subject.

“Brown Owl or something, yes.”

“Not Brown Owl. That’s Brownies, but never mind. Well, she’s organised an outward bound kind of event for five days in Easter. We’re helping. Abi is too. Good fun. A day doing this, a day doing that. Should be fun. One of the events was a day sailing. There are five Wayfarers rented, each has to have one sailor and then three Guides. Zoe was going to be sailing one of the boats, I’m doing one, Mary another, Abi of course, and an instructor from the boat place. Dear Mummy can’t sail for toffee. Now we are missing one sailor.” His brain was now screaming ‘run away, NOW. Run and hide!’ “It’s such short notice that Mummy can’t get anybody else. It will be awful if all the girls can’t do it.”

“Can’t you put an extra person in three of the boats? I mean -”

“No, the instructor is adamant that there must only be 3 unexperienced people.”

“Inexperienced.”

“Yes, that’s what I said.”

“No, you said ... doesn’t matter.”

“Rupe, will you do me a small favour? We suggested you might help. Mummy has agreed.”

A voice behind him – it was Abigail, said “It would help her forgive you for deflowering her virgin daughters.”

“I wasn’t going to bring that up, Abi.” Amelie said. Particularly because she knew, and was pretty sure that Rupert knew, that her mother was more grateful than angry. Both her daughters had said Rupert had been really good and kind in bed. Rupert was unsure of his ground though; he didn’t know if Mrs Craft harboured some resentment that her sixteen and fifteen year old daughters had both had sex with the same boy on the same holiday; that he had not only done that, but introduced them to oral sex too. She was however unclear if anal sex had been involved; she couldn’t bring herself to ask the girls, and Rupert had denied it. She felt, on balance, he was probably truthful.

“Look, I’d like to help, honestly, but...” He wanted to say that wild horses would not persuade him to spend time with a bunch of hormonally overcharged, over-exuberant, eleven to fourteen year olds. Amelie shooed Abigail away.

“Rupert, you know that thing? You know, that thing you would like to do. You do! That thing that all boys want. You know.” she mouthed the word ‘anal’ “Well, if you help Mummy out, I’ll let you do it.”