Chapter 9B

November 16th

Gwendoline dreamt of Jim all night and thus awoke happy in the morning. She carefully avoided disturbing the other two and went off for a quiet walk on her own. The shame she had felt at betraying her future husband and playing around so shamelessly and disgustingly with Harriet and Jessica, who both had relationships of their own which she had caused them to betray, was less strong now. She realised that there were some problems which time alone would sort out. The best course of action was sometimes inaction - to go with the flow and not ask too many deep and ultimately imponderable questions.

Jim still loved her - that was obvious. And she loved him and Jessie and Harry. She'd even contemplated making Jessica her lifetime partner for a while until the impossibilty of it became obvious and Andy made his providential appearance. She still ached for her sweet touch. Love was too big a thing to confine and regiment. It was big enough to enfold her darling future husband and her dear lovely friends at one and the same time. Jim was an intelligent and sensitive man who had seen a lot more of life than a callow eighteen year old girl like her. He understood all of what she was going through. Of that she now felt utterly certain. His parting kiss last night might have been brief, but something about it had imparted to her much more meaning than a million words could have conveyed. She was safe with him and this knowledge restored her spirits. She made her way back to the other two and lay beside them, her arms wrapped lovingly around them and fell asleep again for a while.

Although sleeping, the others instinctively moved closer to their troubled friend and when all three awoke they were almost as entwined as on a previous occasion.

Harry drowsily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and then kissed Gwen tenderly on the lips.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened. We both loved it just as much as you did and we all have to take responsibility. I don't give a shit what Bill thinks of what you two -especially you Gwen - did to me and with me. It was beautiful and pure love. Men don't have any idea about some things. I love Bill and you two love Jim and Andy. Why can't we all love each other as well - I mean physically as well as spiritually and mentally? I say we've earned it these last few weeks. What we have built up between ourselves is precious and something to be very proud of - not ashamed."

"She does go on, dosn't she!" muttered Jessica with a smile. "I agree with her one hundred per cent all the same. You shouldn't be ashamed of anything Gwen. I bet Jim agrees with me on that. It says in the Marriage Service, 'forsaking all others', but we aren't married yet and we have our freedom still. Let's enjoy it while we still have it. That make sense Gwen?"

"Pretty good sense, Jessie. I was up and about for a while earlier on and came to similar conclusions. I still want to lay off all the heavy physical stuff for a while if you don't mind. My cunt belongs to Jim from now on - keep your distance from it. Look but don't touch!"

"You don't think he'd like to lend it to us for a while?" asked a pouting Harry. "First of all you introduce me to all these adorable delights then you you put them off limits. Women! Give me men any time!"

After a period of silence, Harriet spoke again.

"Your body belongs to you and you alone, Gwen until you give it to Jim at the proper time, and even that I have my doubts about. It's too much like slavery to me. A modern marriage has to have a bit of flexibility in my view. We live a different world even to the one our parents lived in"

"OK girls, you've talked me into it, but we've a long hike ahead of us to reach Jim's semi-hospitable buddy. You can both lick my pussy tonight, if that's what you really want you disgusting pair! And now, let's walk!"

Jim's friend Bernard James was waiting by the gate of his cottage as the trio approached, relieved that the coast was clear of nosy neighbours. He smiled pleasantly at them as they all filed into the garden.

"Don't I know you from somewhere" asked Jessica.

The man looked slightly embarrassed. He had recognised Gwen and Jessica when they were a long way off and had he known these were the eccentric friends Jim had spoken of he would have made his excuses rather than get involved.

"I remember perfectly where I saw this gentleman! He was in the audience at that illegal prize-fight where we did so well - especially you, Jessie!"

Jessica looked again and recollected that he had been standing near the back of the crowd and had looked very happy to see the two sacrificial victims led on to be slaughtered and rather less so when they did so well. Most of the crowd had been on their side from almost the start, but he and a few others had remained sour-faced as first Gwen and then Jessica had despatched the seven pugilists. She hoped he was not connected with that awful man who had put Harriet in a cage and left her hanging all night in the rain - not that such an experience would be so much of an ordeal to any of them after what they had since been through since.

"So you're a friend of my fiance! I wonder if he knows about your tastes in entertainment?"

The man blushed and laughed and offered the girls a room in the house proper rather than over the garage, as an obvious way of bribing Gwendoline not to expose him to Jim. This seemed a fair arrangement and they all trooped up to the bathroom to freshen up after a hard day's walking. When they came down again, he was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and asking what they would like to eat and explaining what a rotten cook he was.

This was the cue for Harriet to offer to put her culinary skills at his service, an offer which was eagerly accepted.

Over the meal the discussion soon centred on fighting and Jessica explained how she and Harry came to be so battered and bruised. Bernard James looked at Harriet and assured her she would improve dramatically if she kept up her training.

"You've got the build for it, my sweet. You really have. Really solid.

He then turned to the evening when Gwen and Jessica had performed as bare knuckle prize fighters.

"You could have taken out all seven on your own", he said to Gwendoline. "The first three were the only ones who were any good. The rest were a total push over"

"I was out on my feet by the time I'd dealt with those three - no way could I have have gone on any longer. I was just standing there waiting to be despatched when that guy chivalrously refused to fight me and they brought on Jessie instead."

The man shook his head and smiled.

"You underestimate yourself, my dear. You'd have pulled something out of the bag. They might have made a nasty mess of that lovely face, but you'd have won in the end. I was looking forward to seeing you do it, I really was."

Gwen was unconvinced. She remembered all too well just how terrible she had felt at the time. But this guy seemed so sure of himself. She determined that she would enter some such event again and see just how far she could go. The thought set her heart racing madly and she had butterflies in her stomach. Yes! She would test herself to destruction and see just how much value there was in this man's judgment.

"I doubt very much that you are right, but there's one way to find out and that is for me to go through it again on my own and see how I do. Would you arrange that, please? If not the same people then a comparable bunch in your estimation. About a month from now would do nicely. I've got this journey to finish and a couple of other things to do and then I have to spend time with Mummy and Daddy who must be missing me as much as I miss them"

"Don't be crazy, Gwen" cried Jessica. "I saw you that night and you were totally finished. A mere tap would have laid you out cold. For Heaven's sake don't even think about it"

Harriet looked at her friend closely.

"I think you should do it, Gwen. And I'm sure Mr James here is right. Can I come along and cheer you on?"

The fellow agreed to see what he could do. He stressed that this would be an illicit event and Gwen could find herself liable to prosecution, especially if she caused any serious injury to anybody, but she brushed this warning aside and it was settled. She felt tremendously excited to have this new challenge to face so soon after the current one and was quite beside herself - a wonderful heady mixture of fear and anticipation.

Jessica shook her head sadly but said no more. She prayed that her dearest friend would not come to serious harm - or worse.

Harriet was thrilled at the thought of seeing Gwendoline in action and absolutely certain that she would triumph. How could this girl ever fail at anything she set her hand to?

"Let me clear up, Mr James" said Harry after the meal "and if you have any jobs about the house or garden, I'd love to do them. I adore lots of hard work."

"Call me Bernard, my dear. All this formality is getting to me! It's too dark now, but I have some bags of cement I'd like carrying down to the bottom of the garden. They're pretty heavy, I warn you. And there's a lot of garden furniture I've been meaning to rearrange for ages but been too lazy to get round to. If you think you can manage it, I'd be grateful. You look pretty strong, I must say. Let's see."

And he felt her arms, legs and shoulders with the air of a man who has sized up a good few fighters in his time. He grunted appreciatively.

"Yes - that's real muscle you've got there. It doesn't usually show up so well on a woman because of the subcutaneous fat, but you could give many a man a run for his money. You're quite some chick!"

"Thanks, Bernard. Anything else?"

"Yes. I'd like you to sleep with me tonight. I admire strong women and I think I could assure you of an entertaining night."

"Sorry, old chap, but I have a boy-friend I utterly adore and he'll be waiting for me in a few days. Otherwise I'd have jumped at the idea, believe me."

This was true, for Harriet had immediately been attracted to this odd fellow with his blend of educated speech and physical ruggedness. He was so very obviously a man who had been around and taken a good few very hard knocks in his time and given out a great many more. Harriet knew that his naked body would bear all over it the scars of many a fierce fight and she longed to see and touch it. She was terribly tempted.

"Only for tonight, Bernard. Don't ever try to contact me again. You must promise first. And we have this rule about no bedclothes - prepare to shiver a bit."

"I promise, but you may change your mind. I think you'll find a real man far superior to a boy, however charming. Shall we make our excuses to the others and get on with it?"

Although appalled at the man's arrogance, she had no thought of turning back and with a few words of farewell to Gwen and Jessica she followed Bernard upstairs. He did not disappoint her and professed himself well satisfied with Harriet's abilities as a lover.

His body was indeed battered and scarred. Heaven only knew what fearsome fights with all manner of sharp weapons he must have been involved in. He was lean and muscular with not a dram of surplus fat. The sight of his flat muscular belly caused her to melt inwardly and go weak at the knees. He threw himself full length on the bed and she came and lay beside him running her hands over his scars.

"I bet there is a pretty amazing story behind every one of these lovely marks. Will you tell me about them all?"

"One night would be too short my darling, believe me. And you'd need a strong stomach to take some of my tales. Let's not turn off the light. I like to be able to see a girl when I fuck her. Gaze into the whites of her eyes and all that."

"Please don't be gentle with me Bernard"

"I won't"

...

November 17th

Gendoline and Jessica awoke to find themselves alone together for the first time in weeks. They embraced tenderly and lay in each other arms appreciating the familiar scents of their bodies. Gwen was the first to make a move and after kissing her friend with something of their old passion she leapt up and made for the bathroom, where Jessica soon joined her.

They got under the shower together and continued to fondle each other.

"I wonder how Harry got on. Not my kind of guy" said Jessica.

"I think I know what she sees in him. I saw it myself. He's a man with quite a past and I'd guess not a very creditable past at that. I'd have been tempted if he'd picked on me, in fact I'm almost jealous he didn't. How does he come to be a friend of Jim, I wonder. He could eat my poor dear old Jim for breakfast. I bet he didn't fall asleep on the job last night. Lucky old Harry. He'd have kept her going all night long. There'll be rings under her eyes this morning!"

This last prediction proved to be wildly inaccurate as a radiant Harry accompanied Bernard down to breakfast. He had not dressed following Harry's insistence that he remain naked until they had all departed later in the day. She wanted to show him off to her two friends and they were suitably impressed.

"He's going to be my lover, girls. Isn't that marvellous? You should have heard the stories he told me about all the knife fights he's been in. Fists, knives, guns, knuckledusters - he's been gone over by them all and never lost or walked away from a fight in his life. I love him and poor old Bill is history."

Bernard smiled at this. He was clearly still taken with Harry, but Gwen could see he was a man who would never settle down and certainly not with a mere child, which was all any of the three were. She hoped Harry would have the sense to move on and not look back at him later in the day. The thought of that girl being hurt horrified her. She might have enjoyed watching her fighting Jessie and being pummelled by her, but that sort of injury healed quickly. Mental scars took much longer as she had found out herself.

Harriet was taken out to the garden to be shown the tasks she was to carry out and spent a lovely morning rearranging the heavy seats and stone tables and carrying all the cement down to the garden shed. She was perpiring all over in the unusually warm weather and covered with dust when she had finished. Bernard thanked her and took her upstairs for a final high speed bit of love-making and the three set out to stay with Jim's other friend.

"I wonder what he'll be like" said Gwendoline.

"Another school friend of Jim. That's all Bernie would tell me" replied Harriet still with stars in her eyes. "I can't get over the night I've just had. Bill's going to seem a bit tame after him"

"A few hours ago Bill was history" reminded Jessica.

"A few hours ago Bernie hadn't given me the brush-off" laughed Harriet. "I'll always have a place in my heart for him, though. Maybe our paths will cross again"

November 17th - Continued

"Do I spot just a few bruises you didn't have yesterday, Harry"

"Maybe, Gwen. He was pretty rough with me last night. I told him not to be gentle and he certainly wasn't, but I don't think he meant to go too far. He only gave me a couple of slaps - trouble is he slaps pretty hard. Doesn't know his own strength."

"He knows all right. He meant to hurt you! You make me feel so bloody envious. If only Jim would knock me around a bit! Not that I wouldn't hit him back - mind you! Such a namby pamby perfect gentleman. He'll let me walk all over him when what I really need is a man who will keep me in order like Bernard would do to you and all the rest of the women he's had and is going to have. I'm sure there's no future for you and Bernard, but I hope I'm wrong, because life would never be dull for you with him, even if he is a reprehensible, very shady character."

The two were walking a little behind Jessica, who was chafing at the slow pace the others were making, because their feet had still not recovered fully from the gruelling races of a few days ago. Gwen paused, raised her leg and turned her foot over so she could see the sole. Harriet followed suit.