Chapter 11

In the normal course of events even the most uncomfortable menstrual flow comes to its natural conclusion and the girl in question; Josette, resumes a normal life.

Similarly, the tedious and anxiety provoking business of putting a house up for sale with an Estate Agent can be taken as read. Recounting the 900 mile journey from the English Midlands to the Languedoc in a heavily loaded Volvo estate car would be as tedious for the reader as it might have been for the occupants. Even the large diesel had struggled with the three people, a full boot and heavily loaded extra large Ultima Thule roof box.

We will rejoin Stephen, Fran and Josette as they near home in the mountains after a tedious two days on the road. The only relief from the very squashed interior of the car was one night, en route, in a Campanile Hotel at Senlis.

Josette became more animated as the car left the autoroute at Carcassonne and headed south on more minor roads. She was sitting in the front with Fran on this leg of the journey, and was able to give detailed instructions on the directions to take. Soon the car was climbing the step inclines into the mountains, to Jeanne, to Marianne, to Frédérique and to the gite that would he home for the next year for Fran and Stephen.

Jeanne was the first to hear the unfamiliar purr of the large diesel as it edged through the tight gateway leading to the house. She had just enough presence of mind to shout up to Marianne who was closeted with Jean-Claude as usual, and then to open the front door to the bundle of very excited Josette that hurled herself into Jeanne's outstretched arms.

When a slightly dishevelled Marianne appeared, Josette did not seem to notice her sister's condition, but she was also hugged and kissed with unalloyed enthusiasm.

"I think you are glad to be home" Jeanne said laughingly. "Hello Fran; Hello Stephen; how was the journey?"

"Tedious, but efficient." was Fran's reply as she also looked on as Josette once more threw herself at her mother.

"I can't wait to get into the pool!" Josette announced to the ensemble.

"Go on then. No visitors are staying in the gite, as you know."

Josette had removed most of her clothes in the hall and ran across the short turf as naked as when she was born. The sound of her plunging into the cool water brought Jean-Claude to the window of Marianne's room and he enjoyed the unexpected pleasure of watching Josette's naked bottom and back travelling at speed the ten or so strokes that were possible from one end of the pool to the other.

He enjoyed it even more when she turned over and repeated the length in a lazy backstroke.

At the sight of Josette's departure, Stephen looked at his mother, shrugged, and followed Josette with a little more haste. His clothes ended up arranged more neatly on one of the poolside loungers but he was just as naked and soaking in the water before he saw Jean-Claude's amused face framed by Marianne's window frame.

"Isn't that a boy in Marianne's room?" he whispered to Josette. She turned to face the house and recognised Jean-Claude. She did a single-take and then a double-take, before saying to herself that it was too late to be embarrassed. Whatever Jean-Claude had seen could not be recovered, so she smiled and waved.

"That is Jean-Claude." Josette whispered to Stephen. "He lives just down the road. I wonder what he is doing in Marianne's bedroom?"

In fact Marianne solved the problem by coming out to the pool and telling Josette that she and Jean-Claude were an item. She saw him once more framed in the window and called him down, before shucking off her clothes and slipping into the water with Josette and Stephen.

The three teens had seen every last detail of each other's naked bodies before during the pubic hair trimming competition and there was no embarrassment swimming nude together; but Jean-Claude did not know where to look as he walked slowly across the grass to poolside.

"What are you doing with your clothes on?" Marianne asked him totally unabashed.

"I have never been swimming in the nude", he said quietly sitting on a lounger at an angle to the pool to hide his discomfort.

Marianne climbed out and came to sit on the same lounger displaying all her very obvious charms to any observer who happened to venture that way. "Your body is very attractive." she indicated with a wave of her hand. "No one here bothers with costumes. Here, let me help you."

Marianne seemed to flow round Jean-Claude touching, stroking and fondling as she went. Jean-Claude was soon standing in the altogether with Marianne clamped to his front in a deep embrace and his very erect penis clamped between their stomachs.

When they finished, Jean-Claude was led to the pool hand in hand. His erection swaying as he walked. What embarrassment he had felt had evaporated after Marianne's obvious display of affection.

Josette and Marianne spent the next few minutes in animated conversation over their news. The journey to England and all that that had entailed and the blossoming of Marianne's relationship with Jean-Claude. The involvement of morning bicycle rides made Josette think about her own rides with Stephen and she felt that warm feeling in her loins at the thought. Had she not been in the pool she would have been aware of a moist sensation between her labia. As it was, she looked across at Stephen who was in conversation with Jean-Claude using the mixture of English and French that answers to the name of Franglais.

Strangely, neither girl mentioned the shady valley that both had visited, and neither thought it strange that the other had not mentioned where they had visited on their various bike rides.

A presence up in the mountains might have been rubbing its hands together in anticipation - had it had any hands to rub together!

As it was, Jeanne had nearly finished the preparations for a family evening meal for all seven of them. Seven, you may ask? Yes, seven, because Frédérique had arrived from work, with her car and several suitcases to take up temporary residence in the gite with Fran and Stephen.

Ten minutes later everyone was clothed and were seated round a large table on the patio as the shadows of the evening lengthened. Everyone had at least one glass of the good red wine of the region and after a simple meal of good fresh food straight from the market that morning; Jeanne opened two bottles of the local bubbly. Cremant de Limoux has been made since Roman times and was the ideal wine to toast friendship and future happiness, steeped as it was in the bittersweet history of the tumultuous history of the region.

Jean-Claude left at 10pm. He and Marianne had a few minutes in private before he went and Marianne looked a little flushed on her return. Jeanne looked across at Fran knowingly and they smiled one to the other.

Josette, Stephen and Marianne drifted off to leave the women to their coffees and chat. No one expected Stephen to sleep in the gite and someone had put his case into Josette's room without a second thought.

The three teens listened to CD's for a while then the tiredness from the journey began to affect both Stephen and Josette. Marianne thoughtfully excused herself after she had suggested that all four youngsters go cycling before it became too hot the following morning.

"Yes", was the general opinion.

Meanwhile Fran, Frédérique and Jeanne discussed their plans for the future and particularly how to make Stephen's experience at school more productive.

Stephen, it must be said, was oblivious to the serious discussions taking place below. He was spooned behind Josette, her buttocks alternatively clamping and relaxing over Stephen's erect penis. One of his hands caressed her breasts and the other toyed with her clitoris. He nuzzled her neck and earlobes for a few minutes until both drifted off into an easy slumber. Stephen's gentle susurrations tickling the downy hairs in Josette's ears, making her smile - already asleep.

Jeanne was saying that Stephen would have an almost impossible task to learn sufficient French to get entry to the local lycee in a year. Younger children accommodated to the French education system easily, but Anglophone children in their mid-teens seemed to make far less progress and be helped less by the French teachers.