Chapter 34

After waking us all up first thing on Sunday morning with a mug of tea and strict instructions to have left our beds by the time she got back, Sheila threw on some outdoor clothes.

She nipped out on her bike - the twins had both brought their bikes back after Christmas, as they could keep them secure in the downstairs hall - and bought us a dozen croissants for breakfast, from a small local craft bakery she had heard about.

They were fresh, moist, warm and fluffy, and they smelled and tasted wonderful, especially lathered with generous helpings of butter and strawberry jam!

We sat around the table, five of us still in our dressing gowns, and enjoyed our breakfast treat.

Hamish was really impressed that Sheila had found a place open on the Sabbath morning. The bakery around the corner from Caledonia Place was always firmly shut on a Sunday; the baker felt that he deserved a lie-in one day a week!

After enjoying my first croissant, I got up from the table to top up our tea mugs, and was met by a barrage of requests from the girls.

"Fill the kettle for another pot, Jon!"

"Yes, darling!"

"There's another jar of jam in the cupboard."

"Yes, darling!"

"And some more butter from the fridge, please, big brother!"

"Yes, darling!"

"You're sounding a bit hen-pecked this morning, mate!"

"Well, they are all my darlings, in different ways! It's only because I got up, and you two stayed sat on your bottoms!"

I passed the requested butter and jam, and put the kettle on to boil yet again.

"Dad learned an American version of 'henpecked' at a conference; he came home and said he was 'pussywhipped', and Mum wasn't very pleased with him!"

"There's an even worse expression, but you'll all have to promise not to use it! When I first stayed out all night, my housemate Rhodri teased me something rotten, and when they didn't see me for nearly a week, he told me that I was 'cuntstruck' and letting the side down by not joining them at the pub in the evenings."

They all cringed. The 'C' word was rarely heard in those days, although of course we all knew it from our surreptitious reading of our parents' copies of "Lady Chatterly's Lover".

"Yes, I didn't think it very complimentary either! I think in Rhodri's vocabulary it's no more than another version of 'moonstruck' or 'lovesick', but there's no subtlety to it at all."

"Jon, I am so pleased that you never introduced me to your housemates!"

"Now you know why, Sis!"

The kettle boiled; I warmed and refilled the pot, took it and the bottle of milk to the table, and sat back down to eat my second croissant.

We chatted about the previous evening's Ceilidh dance; it was unanimously voted a huge success, and I remembered to thank Sheila for the dancing lessons which had made it much more enjoyable for me, simply because I had benefited from an increase in my confidence.

"I'm really impressed, Big Brother. Considering the whining every time Mum insisted you attend a party when there was going to be some dancing, and all the excuses you made to get out of Miss Harris's dance lessons, I thought you did amazingly well!"

Sheila giggled.

"Don't worry, Jen, I think it's something to do with male puberty. Twin used to hate dancing when he was that age. How about you, Hamish?"

"Oh, I've always enjoyed Scottish Dancing, probably because Mum and Dad got me into it at an early age, but I agree with the others about hating enforced ballroom dancing as a boy. However, now I've got a regular dancing partner who I like holding close, I think I might start enjoying that too!"

Hamish had a point.

I almost dropped myself in it by admitting that I had discovered the joys of dancing at the Jazz Club with Vee and Julie, but luckily Adrian had something to say.

"Now you've dropped yourself in it! Twin and I will have to go and find somewhere where we can dance to live music, and we'll all go out next time you're staying!"

Julie and Sheila voiced their support for that idea, and then ended the conversation by getting up and starting to clear the table.

We all mucked in with the washing up and drying; it was soon done.

Then we all took turns in the bathroom to get washed and properly dressed; I was sorely tempted to have a shower with Sheila, but as the others were all up and about, we decided that it would be rude to hold them all up while we enjoyed each others bodies.

"We'll have some time before you have to catch your train, so we can make love then, darling."

I kissed her; she was, as ever, quite correct, but that didn't stop me wanting her then and there.

We were all fairly lethargic after our late night and unaccustomed exercise, but we eventually dragged ourselves out into the cold but bright morning for a stroll towards Clifton Downs.

On one of the open stretches, all six of us ended up holding hands - boy-girl-boy-girl-boy-girl of course - and it was a great feeling for me to have both Sheila and Julie's hands in mine. It was a public expression of great friendship, even comradeship as we learned about life together, and I only wish that we could have got somebody to take a photograph of us for the benefit of posterity.

I'd never really had a gang of such close friends before, and even if one of them did happen to be my sister, I was delighted to be part of such a close-knit group of six. I suspected that we all felt the same; none of us had been party animals or happy in social situations, and the feeling of comradeship and security was a very pleasant one.

xxxxxxx

After a quick stop in the flat to collect our gifts for our hosts, we trooped off for lunch at the Baxters', Hamish leading the way, with Jen on his arm. It was only a ten-minute walk, and we arrived in plenty of time.

Hamish rang the bell with his free hand; he said that it was only polite with guests in tow. I reckoned that he didn't want to have to let go of Jen to get his keys out.

Doctor Baxter opened the door and ushered us all in.

"Welcome! It's good to see you all. Catriona is delighted to be able to cook a proper meal for once!"

"Thank you, Doctor..."

She was cut off abruptly, but with a smile.

"The name is Alastair, please, Sheila!"

"Thank you, Alastair, then, for inviting us all. I hope you know what you've taken on?"

"Oh, Hamish has already confessed to what you all ate for breakfast yesterday, so we made him carry a decent sized joint back from Mr Waite's shop. We reckon that we'll be able to feed six of you starving students, and I might even get a little bit of leftover cold beef to go with my gruel during the week!"

"I'll gruel you, Alastair! Have you forgotten your manners again?"

"I'm sorry, my darling! Everyone, this is my wife Catriona, who has cheerfully put up with me and my bad habits for more than twenty-five years. Darling, this is Julie, and Sheila Carter, one of my best students, and her twin brother Adrian, and at the back is Jon, who of course is Jen's brother. And I think you already know the scallawag with Jen?"

We all exchanged greetings of the 'pleased to meet you' variety, and followed Catriona into the hall and towards the back of the house.

We handed over the bottles of wine and the bowl of hyacinths; Catriona expressed delight even though we noticed a similar bowl already sitting on a windowsill.

"Och, I love them - you can't have too many of these about the house, telling you that the winter is nearly over and spring will be here very shortly!"

They had an old Victorian villa, with three stories and a cellar, and they had obviously knocked through from the kitchen into the dining room to have one big room with the table at one end, and a few comfortable chairs dotted around the walls. Eight of us didn't feel at all crowded, and it was good to be able to chat without feeling that the cook was missing out on the conversation.

As my mother would have done, Catriona happily kept on cooking while chatting and asking us how the party had gone; she chuckled when Sheila confessed to making us get some practice in beforehand.

"You'll go far, lassie, you have to organise these men or they'll let you down. Every time!"

Her grin and stare at Alistair gave away the joke; he didn't even attempt to rebut the charge against him.

Catriona finished with the whisk, and put on her oven gloves to remove the beef from the oven. There was that wonderfully comforting smell of hot roast meat, and we all suddenly felt very hungry.

"Hamish, will you please get everyone seated, I've just got the Yorkshire Pudding to put in, and then we can get started."

There was another cloud of blue smoke as she got the empty roasting tin out of the oven and poured in her batter; it sizzled in the hot fat as she put the tin back in the top of the oven.

Alastair went round behind us as we sat down, pouring us all a glass of red wine.

The table was set for eight, with the starter already served out. It was a slice of a duck and orange pate, with a couple of pieces of toast each, and was delicious.