Chapter 4

Tina woke at her usual time of seven and lay listening. She heard no movement and decided to stay where she was until she did. It would be better for the family to start their day without having to look after her. She only had to wait half an hour and then surmised that not having heard the bathroom door that it was Sarah and Ben with their ensuite one who were on the move. She padded off to the bathroom, did her thing and then dressed. She waited again until she heard Christopher going to the bathroom and then going downstairs.

She walked into the kitchen to a warm welcome from Sarah, Ben and Christopher. She was offered a full breakfast but decided to just have corn flakes followed by toast and marmalade and of course coffee.

"What's your plan for the day?" Sarah asked Christopher.

"Nothing definite. Ellie suggested that she should take Tina to sample the delights of Pitsbury, something that she reckoned I was incapable of doing, then I thought a bit of dog walking this afternoon. The only thing that's definite is that I have booked dinner for Tina and me at the Crown. How does that sound, Tina."

She smiled cheekily at him. "As your guest how could I possibly dissent?"

Christopher smiled back. "Good answer, young lady." He looked serious for a moment. "Are you really happy with that?"

Tina nodded. "Very. It sounds fun."

Christopher smiled warmly at her. "Good," and then turning to teasing again, "which means I can be a dutiful son and entertain my Aged Ps this morning."

"So I should hope," retorted Sarah. "After all you haven't been home for three months and the grass needs mowing."

There was laughter all round which was when Ellie joined them giving them all a kiss and helping herself to cereal.

"You're on with taking Tina into Pitsbury this morning," said Christopher.

"Are you happy with that?" Ellie asked Tina.

"Very."

"Great! We'll do the cathedral of course. Then there's the museum with some fascinating stuff about Stonehenge and then with it being a Saturday there's the market which is always fun."

"Sounds good," said Tina enthusiastically. "Thanks, Ellie."

"With the added advantage of giving you a break from Chrissy-Wissy."

"To whom you will return joyfully and gratefully," replied said Chrissy-Wissy nonchalantly.

"Of course," grinned Tina.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed their morning together and Ellie quickly appreciated why Christopher was so taken with Tina. She was vivacious, amusing and very pretty. She was very taken with the cathedral and thrilled to see the Magna Carta.

"I'd no idea there were four copies of it," she said. "I thought there was only one and that was kept safely locked up in the Tower of London."

She was equally enthralled by the museum and ended up deep in conversation with one of the curators about Stonehenge. She emerged with a book that he lent her promising faithfully to return it within a month. She did.

They then went and found coffee and carrot cake over which Ellie found out more about her accountancy course and the obligation she felt about living as cheaply as she could so that she could send money to her parents. She offered no clues as to her rape and Ellie was certainly not going to try and get her to talk about it.

They arrived back home to find Ben and Christopher enjoying a beer having between them cut the grass.

"I'm not sure about dog-walking," Christopher said mournfully. "Dad sat on the mower and I had to strim all the bits he couldn't reach. Back-breaking, thirst making and I'm sure I've inhaled more carbon monoxide than I should have."

"Aw!" said Tina. "Poor boy! Do you want me to walk on your poor back? Then we can do dog-running this afternoon which should sort your lungs out."

"Ah, now we're seeing her true colours. A dominatrix!"

Everyone laughed.

They had a light lunch and then everybody walked the dogs. They must have covered five miles and Tina enjoyed every minute of it.

Her family had never had dogs and she quickly realised that they really made a walk. First of all there was their exuberance, then their excitement about rabbits (not that they caught one) and then the hilarity of them chasing after a brace of partridge at least thirty feet above ground.

In addition to that conversation never faltered. Tina was a country girl but she was astounded at and fascinated by Ben's knowledge of birds and indeed of the wild flowers that were starting to show.

"You'll have to come back down in July or August," he said. "This area is owned by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and this particular area has been preserved as a downland meadow. It's magic: somewhere for food for birds, a huge variety of wild flowers and then a haven for bees and butterflies."

Tina looked questioningly at Christopher who smiled warmly at her. "If you're a good girl," he said.

"Watch him!" warned Ellie.

"Ellie!" expostulated Sarah.

Sarah actually said little. She was watching the interplay between Christopher and Tina. There was little doubt that her big, tall son was very taken with this tiny, pretty and clearly highly intelligent girl. There was warmth in his eyes and smiles but she sensed a certain caution. Tina clearly liked him too but there was a reserve about her despite her liveliness and, she sensed, attraction. She mentally kicked herself for even considering meddling or match-making.

Christopher had made a plan for the evening. It was open ended and he was not going to stick rigidly to it. He was going to try and limit Tina's consumption to one or at the most two glasses of wine in the hope that she might not clam up on the way home. He would also, if she did not go straight to bed, offer her only coffee or cocoa or some such. He wanted to see whether alcohol was the sole reason for her being so fussed after an evening out. Last night, a Friday, she had had a gin and tonic and then two or three glasses of wine and, as soon as his parents had made bed-time noises, gone too locking her door behind her. Was it Fridays and drink or was it also other evenings with a fair amount to drink?

Tina looked an absolute picture when she emerged from her room. She wore a fir green blouse which set off her hair and eyes and a fawn skirt to just below her knees.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ben. "You look stunning, my dear. My son is a very lucky young man."