Chapter 9

Saturday 18th July

A week had passed since their frolicking in front of the TV, and Lauren and Nikki were now free from school for the duration of the summer holidays - about eight weeks. The weather promised to live up to all expectations in that cloudless skies were expected for at least the whole of the next week, and Lauren had no commitments to go anywhere or do anything, except for a school project which she would start at the end of August. Lauren’s affection for her brother had consolidated without manifesting itself in any particular way. They hadn’t experimented any more, and after Nikki had taken the video back home, the afternoon had not been mentioned again, even by the girls at school. Lauren thought it unnecessary due to the tight bond that now existed between Lauren and Nikki, evident even to Lauren’s mother, who knew something had changed. Of course, she had no idea that their friendship extended into intimacy and involved her son.

“So why don’t you go up into the mountains with a picnic, that would be fun, wouldn’t it? asked Lauren’s mother, trying to help her find something to do. “You could invite Mike’s friend, Patrik, that he stays with. What about that?” she said hopefully. “or even Stefan and Rebecca next door. Oh, and don’t forget we’re going to see them in a couple of weeks for lunch.”

“Yeah yeah yeah ... I’ll see what Nikki is doing” she said, pressing the quick call button to ring Nikki’s house. She heard her answer after a couple of rings. “Hey, it’s me, what’s happening?”

“Not much, we could go shopping, it is Saturday after all. Thought you needed a pattern for your dress?” said Nikki, hoping for something better.

“My mum said she’d make us a picnic if we wanted to go up with it” offered Lauren.

“I said I’d help, not make it all, miss” her mother shouted.

“Yeah yeah, shall we? Mike wants to go, and he might bring his friend from school” added Lauren.

“What’s his friend like, is he a big boy?” quizzed Nikki with a seductive voice.

“How do I know” giggled Lauren. She thought that sometimes Nikki was incorrigible.

“OK, let’s do it. See you in five minutes. I’ll bring some wine from our fridge. Bye” she said, ringing off.

And so as Mike talked to Patrik on the phone, the picnic took shape, Lauren making sandwiches while her mother packed some soft drinks into a small hamper. It contained all the plates and cutlery they needed, along with cups and a big tablecloth. Lauren had used it many times, even on her own, when wandering up in the mountains during the hot summers.

Nikki arrived with her carrier bag containing the wine and a blanket, and the three set off up the hill to wait for Patrik at the bus stop that dropped people at the start of the mountain trail. He arrived a few minutes later, and after the usual introductions, the boys set off in the lead, holding the hamper while the girls carried Nikki’s bag, swapped gossip and watched the boy’s bottoms.

Patrik was roughly the same height with Germanic blonde hair cut short around his handsome face. The hair made his skin seem more tanned than the average schoolboy, and Nikki noticed that he seemed to be built like Mike in that he had strong shoulders and his tight jeans accentuated his form. However, Nikki felt she still preferred Mike but was willing to wait and see. Lauren wasn’t even evaluating the boys, but instead concentrated on how should would fend off any advances that Patrik might make while they were out in the mountains. She was also damn sure that she wasn’t going to do anything with her brother while Patrik was around.

And so the party made its way up the trail, deviating slightly off the normal tourist route towards a small stream that Lauren and Mike knew about a mile from the beginning of the track. As they climbed, the dense firs thinned to give way to rough grazing suitable for sheep and the odd goat. They could hear distant cow bells clanging from below and the occasional bleating of a sheep from the craggy rocks above them. The warm sun and the fresh air soon gave them a healthy appetite, and so they were ready for lunch when they arrived at the outcrop that provided both a turning point in the stream and a place to set up their blanket.

Lauren readied the lunch in her usual domesticated fashion with some assistance from Nikki while the boys took a look at the water, disappearing from view as they explored the rocks and tracked the water up the mountain. Lauren called them for lunch a couple of times before she saw them re-emerge from behind the rocks. As they all sat down, Nikki asked Patrik to open her wine and he obliged by pouring it into a beaker for each of them. They munched in silence, listening to the incessant warbling of a skylark way over their heads and the burbling of the little stream next to them. The cars winding along the roads below them were silent, as was the train that passed through the valley on its way to Lausanne.

Nikki lay back, blades of grass poking in her hair as she watched the cloudless sky.

“Your mum’s very good to you, you know. Mine wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble, making all that food.”

“She thinks you’re underfed” replied Mike, smiling as he moved slightly towards her and lay on his stomach.

“Rubbish” said Nikki indignantly, hitting him gently on the arm “I’m not that bad. Parts of me are pretty good, you know” she teased.

“Oh, I know” quipped Mike, gazing at the small mounds of Nikki’s breasts.