Chapter 8

Jenny woke up in the morning and was disappointed to find herself alone. Had she dreamt about yesterday? Had she not, after all, spent those incredible hours, doing all those nice things, with Frances’s arch rival Tricia? Certainly, everything about the last few days had been pretty unreal.

Clothes disappearing and all five gradually becoming nudists. Yes. It must have been a dream. When she got up, she would find all her clothes neatly folded on her chair as usual. Then the door opened and in walked a naked Tricia, holding a tray on which reposed two teacups.

“Here you are darling. One early morning cup of tea - the first of many I’ll be bringing you over the years!”

Tricia looked anxiously as a grateful Jenny took a sip.

“OK, sweetheart?”

“Well, I do like it rather stronger actually and I don ‘t take sugar, but it’s so awfully sweet of you. I’m overwhelmed, I really am!”

Tricia whipped the cup away from her and scurried out, returning minutes later with another.

“Better this time, petal?”

Jenny professed herself satisfied. As she drank it a tear trickled down her face. A concerned Tricia got into the bed beside her. Jenny continued to finish her tea and wriggled closer to Tricia.

“Sorry to be so silly, Trish darling. It just reminds me of when Johnny brought me the first morning cupper after we were married. I’ve been very lonely since he died. Today’s the first day I’ve woken up and not been alone.”

“Well, you won’t ever be alone again, darling little Jenny - not as long as there’s breath in this body of mine!”

The two lay together for a while. Then Tricia asked if Jenny wanted to go down to breakfast or whether she wanted it brought up to her.

“Oh, Yes, please. Let’s have it up here together, just the two of us. We can go and join the others a bit later.”

Once again Tricia took herself busily away and soon returned with a tray containing breakfast for two. They sat side by side in bed and shared the first meal of the day. They each took alternate bites out of the same piece of toast. They shared the same cup, making sure to put exactly the same spot to their lips in as had the other. Both felt themselves to be in Heaven.

Meanwhile, the others had emerged from their several rooms and drifted downstairs. None had bothered to check which item of clothing had vanished overnight, having resigned themselves to a life of nudity. They were all naked as they sat around the table.

“I guess those two love birds are having breakfast in bed” murmured Dorothy. “Lucky old Jenny. She looked so happy yesterday. Let’s face it - she deserves it after all she’s been through!”

The others agreed. Jenny was the only one of the five to have married and her husband had fallen prey to some mystery illness on a trip to the Far East dying after only a couple of months of marriage. Jenny had thrown herself into her career after that. Loss of her job had hit her very hard, bringing back her earlier sadness to combine with her distress at the ruin of her career.

Harriet and Elspeth were the first to finish eating. They took their plates out to the kitchen and washed up. Then they decided to go for a walk over the moors. Soon they were at the same high point from which Frances and Jenny had surveyed the scene at the start of their adventures.