Chapter 3

Caroline slipped between the sheets, after leaving her clothes folded on a bedside chair, and soon fell asleep. When she awoke, the July sun was streaming through the windows. She looked around her and took in the details of the room. There were two pictures on the wall, not reproductions, she was sure. They were paintings of woodland scenes, almost fairy tale like in their evocation of mystery. The wallpaper was a floral design, which made her feel immediately at home, since it was very similar to that in her room in her grandfather’s house.

She slipped out of bed and looked around for her dressing gown. It was nowhere to be seen and neither were any of her other clothes! Since she always slept naked, she did not even have a nightgown to wear. Having established that her clothing was not in the room, she went to the bathroom and showered, in the hope that this would wake her up and clear her rather confused mind.

The next surprise was the absence of towels. Nothing to wrap around herself whatever. She began to be afraid that she had been the victim of some wicked practical joke. She was half angry and half apprehensive, but the memory of that seductive and oddly reassuring voice on the phone yesterday, calmed her fears. She knew instinctively that the owner of such a lovely voice was a person to be trusted. It was a warm morning and she decided, for the time being, against taking off one of the bed sheets to cover herself.

The house was still empty, but a meal had been laid out on the dining room table. Once again, the ingredients were simple, but wholesome and strangely delicious. She decided after waiting an hour for someone to come, that she had better look around outside.

From yesterday evening, she remembered that the farm was surrounded by a wall. She would not be visible from the road. At the rear of the house, a lawn sloped gently down to a small wood. On the other side of the wood were a few fields, some wheat and some pasture in which a herd of cows was grazing.

Caroline walked across the lawn and was surprised to feel how sensually magnificent was the feel of the grass beneath her bare feet. It was incredibly soft and gentle on her soft skin. She almost wept for the sheer joy of this contact with the Earth. A warm and gentle breeze was blowing and as it played over her exposed body, it seemed to the girl as if she were being lovingly caressed.

As soon as she reached the little wood and found herself surrounded by the trees, it was as though she had entered some other world altogether. Such a feeling of peace was about the place that she felt herself to be in some holy and magical spot. This must be what the Garden of Eden was like, she thought. Whilst she was looking about her, she heard a familiar voice - familiar since yesterday evening.

“Good morning, Caroline! I was wondering when you would make it down here. Lovely, isn’t it?”

Caroline looked up to where the sound had come from, and saw a young woman, sitting with her legs astride one of the higher branches of the tree under which she was standing. She remembered stories she had read in her childhood about wood nymphs. The lady smiled at Caroline, a sweet, warm, yet half-sad smile, and climbed down with quite astonishing agility and leapt lightly down from the lowest branch on to the mossy ground beside Caroline. She placed her hands on the girl’s naked shoulders and kissed her lightly on the lips.

So, this is Grace Barlow, thought Caroline to herself as she took in the beautiful golden-haired girl who stood before her. Grace was a little taller than Caroline and her skin was dark after many, many hours, days and weeks under the summer sun. With her evenly, deeply tanned skin and totally unmade up face, she seemed to be an integral part of the land, a child of nature. Her brown hands and equally brown bare feet looked hardened from toil and exposure - functional and yet still beautiful. She was completely naked. Caroline was to learn in due course that Grace was always naked, even in the bitterest cold of winter.