Chapter 14

Before we went out for our Sunday afternoon walk round Cardiff, we had a thorough tidy up of both flats, and filled the linen baskets with items for tomorrow's launderette trip.

Some of the sheets and quilt covers we had been using had some amazing stains; Sian's was particularly impressive.

"Dad told me that in the Army, when someone had got drunk and wet their bed, the others would call the pee stain on the mattress cover 'a map of Africa", and everyone else knew what they were talking about!"

In my view, the stain on Sian's quilt cover was more like a map of Asia and India and Europe combined.

Mind you, it had probably had suffered the most use by a long way; the juices released in Julie's room mostly having been hoovered up by her, or Vee's, voracious mouth before they got to the bedding!

We carefully positioned Adrian's suitcase in the sitting room next to the sofa, and made it look as if he had been sleeping in Sian's sleeping bag on the sofa. We left Sheila's case in Sian's room, as if she was sleeping on her cousin's floor.

The very last thing we needed was a row with either Bryony or Rebecca, and we knew we'd all have to be extremely careful when they came back later in the day.

We left all the windows open to remove any last traces of the smell of sexual activity, and Vee sprayed lavender air freshener around the half landing.

The house having been pronounced sufficiently tidy, and a last minute check by Sian having found a stray pair of (very definitely used) panties pushed down behind the sofa cushions, we set off for our dose of fresh air.

We headed north along Miskin Street and Corbett Road, and entered Bute Park, strolling along the path to cross the River Taff on the cable bridge, which swayed under the weight of the six of us.

Then we wandered through Sophia Gardens to show the twins the Glamorgan county cricket ground, which was empty because they were playing in Swansea that weekend.

We cut through Dyfrig Street, explaining that the streets this side were named after Welsh saints, and then under the plane trees down Cathedral Road, before recrossing the Taff towards Cardiff Arms Park. Once they had seen the outside of the world-famous rugby stadium, we took them past the Castle and back to the house.

"Right, you've now seen most of the sights, so you won't be telling too many porkies when you describe Cardiff to your folks."

"I could give them a pretty good description of Julie's bedroom ceiling?"

"Don't even think of that, or you'll both get the giggles, and have to try to talk your way out of it."

At seven o'clock, Julie and I took the twins to the Union to have a beer at the bar, again so that they could describe it if asked.

"Twins, the reason that we keep buying you pints is that you will have to get used to drinking and enjoying beer before you get to Uni; or you'll have three pints of snakebite at the Fresher's ball and spend the rest of the night throwing up, like I did!"

"Snakebite?"

"A pint of mixed cider and lager with a large dash of blackcurrant cordial to mask the taste. It really is as bad as it sounds, and you don't realise what it is doing to you. Apparently you are mixing grain alcohol and fruit alcohol, and that is a really bad idea - you may get drunk more quickly, but the hangover is far worse."

They shuddered.

"Thanks for the tip!"

They were impressed at the length of some of the hair they saw in the Union - a couple of lovely blonde waist-length flowing manes turned out to be bearded male students when seen from the front.

"Why don't any of you four have such long hair, if it is so fashionable?"

"I don't like it, and the girls also prefer it shorter - and it's a lot easier to keep clean. I suspect some of these blokes are stuck at home 'washing their hair' a couple of nights a week!"

We also showed them the Great Hall, and told them that we were due to see Pink Floyd there shortly. Adrian had already bought a copy of 'Dark Side of the Moon', and they were impressed that we were going to experience the real thing.

In our absence, Vee and Sian had cooked a wonderful beef and carrot casserole for supper; they had even made dumplings! They served it with baked potatoes, and we mopped up the gravy with yet more bread.

Bryony arrived home as we were washing up, she had eaten sandwiches on the train, but was delighted to be offered a cup of tea.

Sian explained that her cousins would stay another night so that they could see the Art Gallery before going home, and she was fine with that.

We sat and chatted with Bryony, although I got lost when the girls started talking about netball. About nine o'clock, I did my trick of saying goodnight and heading downstairs, pretending to close the front door after me, but then sneaking back up to Julie's room and hiding in there.

Vee came down for a snog, and to explain to me their plan for the night.

She told me that Bryony was going to have a quick bath and then head for bed, as she wanted to see her tutor first thing in the morning, which would leave the coast clear for a while.

Rebecca still hadn't got back, which looked as if she was going to be away an extra day, but, as she hadn't told Julie not to expect her, we would have to be careful in case her train was just running late.

Rebecca hadn't ever said anything to Julie about hearing passionate noises coming from her bedroom, so we weren't sure whether or not she realised what we were all up to; but as with Bryony upstairs, we were very keen that she didn't find out about us and get upset, as a blazing row was the last thing we needed. Julie's landlady wouldn't rent rooms to men, and the girls hadn't dared risk a negative answer by asking her what her attitude was to men staying overnight. A complaint from either Bryony or Rebecca would lead to awkward questions, and possibly to the girls having to find new accommodation for the next year.

Our plan, Vee told me, was that once Bryony was in bed, Julie was going to go in to the sitting room with Adrian first, and Sheila would come down to me. Vee and Sian were going to start the night off in their own beds, and would see how things developed. Bryony was a heavy sleeper, so there was a reasonable chance of Vee being able to sneak out of her bed undetected - we had managed that before now.

We had forgotten the cumulative effect of so many disturbed nights - Vee and Sian actually slept right through until morning and didn't appear at all, Sheila and I made love a couple of times and then fell asleep together; and if Sian's alarm clock hadn't been set, Adrian and Julie would have been in serious danger of getting caught together when Bryony started moving about.

The first I knew of the new day was Julie opening her bedroom curtains to let the daylight in.

"What time is it, darling?"

"Just gone seven! Sian's making a cuppa, and we'll all have it with Adrian in the sitting room, so you'll need to be decent!"