Chapter 21

With the exception of regular phone calls, Elizabeth and Gustav left Lauren alone to run the house for days on end. As the days passed the troubles in the north grew and spread, the relationship souring between the government and the populace and every new day heralding further sources of discontent. The electricity supply failed for an hour on the day before the election, causing the children to abandon the house for the cooler patio.

Two days before the election - and to Lauren's surprise - Nikki decided that she would curtail her holiday and take a flight back to Zurich three days later. Citing the trouble in the country she felt it was better that she was home, and called her parents to let them know her itinerary. Lauren was disappointed but understood as Nikki spelt out the reasons for her departure.

All four of the children decided to visit another local monument, an Inca shrine that had been built thousands of years previously. Once again, Nikki snapped away like a dedicated tourist and Jamie and Emma looked in bewilderment at the colossal structure. Lauren was amused to see that Nikki still occasionally brushed against Jamie, allowing him to hold her hand as they carefully climbed the steep steps up to the summit of the shrine.

After lunch, the electricity failed again and Lauren wandered back to her room to change into her bikini, then made her way out to the patio to join the others. Nikki had already taken one of the sunbeds, and Jamie had strategically positioned himself beside her on the floor with a commanding view down the front of her bikini top and the chasm of her cleavage. She was amused by their whispered conversation, the way he toyed with the edge of the sunbed and the beginnings of a familiar shape in his trunks.

Lauren laid down and watched Emma floating in the pool, her bikini top discarded on the steps as her tan received a top-up. Nikki handed Jamie the suntan lotion and offered him her back. He flicked the lid and poured a very generous quantity onto his right hand, then massaged it into her skin from her shoulders down underneath her bra strap and just under her briefs. He turned to Lauren and smiled, a wicked grin on his face. Lauren smiled weakly, knowing his intentions and wanting no part of his plan.

To Lauren's irritation, they flirted for almost an hour, Jamie kneeling beside her reclined seat, crudely rubbing his cock through his swimming trunks against the wooden frame. She recalled Nikki's advice on the way home from the beach, and how she had cautioned her about becoming involved with the children. She folded her arms, huffing occasionally, pursing her lips as Nikki and Jamie engaged in the most meaningless conversation.

His approach was unaccomplished, something that Lauren thought she should expect given his age. Especially, she realised, since he was fully aware that Nikki was at least three years his senior. She looked at his legs, a mass of almost ginger hairs over his thighs and shins, the muscles strong, tendons pronounced down to his feet. Nikki had parted her legs by a few inches, and Lauren watched as she occasionally ground her pelvis into the fabric of the seat, an action that Jamie probably wouldn't understand.

The children looked up almost at the same time, realising that something had occurred. They looked around and at each other, then realise that the swimming pool pump had stopped, the flow of water over the surrounding brickwork reduced to a trickle.

"Perhaps the pump's bust again?" suggested Emma, swimming over to the shallow end. She hauled herself out of the water. Lauren was surprised to see that she still had her bikini bottom in place.

"The air conditioning is off as well." said Jamie, returning from the utility room. "In the house. Must be a power cut." They groaned. Even at four o'clock the temperature was warm enough to heat the house and make the night unbearable. She wondered how the locals managed during the summer. The lack of air conditioning subdued them, even though they were outdoors. The thought of a night drenched underneath a single sheet didn't appeal to Emma or Jamie, and Lauren could only guess that it was uncomfortable. By six o'clock the light was fading, and Jamie rummaged in the garage for paraffin lamps. He found two, a big red monster with cobwebs over the handle and another smaller black one. He shook them both. Half full.

Lauren wandered into the house and prepared a cold meat salad and pasta while she could still see, then beckoned the others inside. They sat at the kitchen table in the warmth of the afternoon, windows open and the slightest of breezes blowing through the room.

"Last time it lasted about twelve hours" said Emma, recalling the outage they had four months before. "It's not so bad, at least we have the pool." she said, helping herself to another mound of pasta. Lauren smiled, never having really cooked for so many others before.

After their meal they washed up by the light from both lanterns and then disappeared to change. Lauren took out her father's long cotton shirt and buttoned it up, smiling at his size and the extra room inside. She sat on the sofa in the lounge, legs curled up. Emma had dressed similarly in a cool cotton shirt that Lauren hadn't seen before, squatting on the floor in front of the defunct television,

white knickers bright between her legs.

Jamie locked the house up then joined them, strategically inserting himself between Lauren and Nikki on the sofa. He turned to Nikki, chatting about Switzerland and what she was going to do as a career. Lauren soon got the picture that she was superfluous to their interests and slipped to the floor, joining Emma who was thumbing through a magazine. Although it was only eight thirty Lauren decided that she would have a shower (if possible) and get an early night. She rose and bid goodnight to the others, slipping silently along the corridor to her room. Five minutes later she heard the sound of Emma's door closing

Lauren showered quickly, the water still warm and soothing. She slipped into bed, still wearing the big white shirt but forsaking her knickers, arguing that it would be too warm without the air conditioning. She knew though that there was little chance of sleep, not while it was so early and, more importantly, while Jamie was next door with her best friend in the darkness, no doubt comparing tan lines. She thought of Emma, and how she looked topless, realising that even though they had made love in that very bed, she had only seen the briefest glimpse of her totally naked during one brief flash of lightning.

She slipped out of bed, pulling the shirt down her thighs, and opened the door very carefully. Within seconds she heard the giggling, Nikki's sighing interspersed with Jamie's deeper tones. She judged that they were kissing on the sofa. A thrill ran through her, pleased for Nikki and amused by the irony of her lectures against becoming involved and being locked away in a jail somewhere. She slipped out of her room and crept along the hallway. The sounds continued as she sat just outside the lounge on the cold marble floor, listening to Emma's reactions growing in intensity. She crept along the hall on her hands and knees like a sniper, peering round the corner with one eye. They were both on the floor, between the sofa and the coffee table. The light from the little lantern was deliberately poor, but she recognized the pale shapes of Nikki's breasts where her T-Shirt had been pushed up. She guessed that Jamie had pushed his leg between Nikki's as he lay above her, rubbing against her sex.