The shopping had been stowed in the boot, and Carol asked the teenagers, “It's only just after two where shall we go next?”

“I don't know, what d'you think Gabs?” said Maddy, feeling pleased with her acquisitions from the morning's looting.

“I've got my camera, and Dad said Maiden Castle was good. How far away is that Auntie Carol?”

Carol pushed the atlas over the seat, “here you have a look, I haven't got my glasses on.” Two pairs of young eyes perused the map.

“Weymouth, that's where we are, it's near Dorchester I think dad said. Look, there it is.” squealed Drew, pointing his finger at the map.

“Well I think I can find Dorchester.” Chipped Carol, as she let in the clutch and headed out of the car park. She could too, and as they came over the Ridgeway, Dorchester appeared before them, and off to the left was Maiden Castle.

“There it is.” Drew called from the back.

“Hey check this out Gabs, there's some deer down there. Look in that field. Three of them.” Maddy was quite excited by her find.

Carol pulled in to a layby. “Right Mad, where did you see them, I was too busy driving.”

They all got out of the car, and when safe crossed the road. Looking down towards the railway, they could see the three roe deer. The stream of traffic was constant behind them, “I wonder how many of this lot have seen them,” said Maddy, indicating the traffic behind.

“If the way they see cyclists is anything to go by, I'd say not many.”

“Oh Gabs, there's more to life than cycling.”

“Like what?” came the response.

“Shopping!” Maddy sniped back.

“Come on kids, let's get back to the car.” Carol had to shout to be heard above the traffic, and one of the deer looked up at them.

They went on towards Dorchester, “Oh look, that's Prince Charles' village to the left of Dorchester. We'll drive around there later.” Said an animated Carol. “Well I'm blowed, that Maiden Castle place is opposite Tesco. I drove out here yesterday.”

It was true, the large supermarket was nearly opposite the turning for Maiden Castle, although the car park for the latter was a couple of miles further down the road. It's well sign posted, and they found the car park with no bother. They parked up, and taking some thin jackets with them, set off to look over the hill fort.

“Hey Aunt Carol, this place was trashed by the Romans in 54 AD, under General Vesuvius or something.”

“Gabs, I think it says Vespasian. He was a general who went on to become emperor, Vesuvius is a mountain isn't it.” Corrected Maddy.

“Yeah, whatever.” They walked on up the footpath. “Watch out for the dog's doo-doos.” Which was sadly also true, many of the locals walk their dogs on Maiden Castle, not many of them clean up afterwards!

“Gosh, this is steeper than it looks,” panted Carol, she was struggling to keep up with her ‘daughters'. A man walking down with his labrador stopped to speak to her. “Those your two girls.”

She nodded, unable to speak for a moment as she caught her breath.

“Are they twins, they look uncannily similar?”

“No.” she panted, “no they're not twins.”

“Amazing.” He said, “they're both stunners aren't they?”

“I think so.” Returned Carol, wondering where this was going.

“Are you visiting the area?”

“Yes, just for the week.”

“There's a talk on Maiden Castle, tomorrow night at the County Museum, why not come along. It will be quite fun, not your dry as dust history stuff.”

“I don't know what we're doing yet.” Said Carol defensively. “I'll mention it to the girls and see what they say.”

“Think about it anyway, 7.30 tomorrow. Bye.” With that the stranger walked on down the hill.

“Come on mum.” yelled Maddy from the top of the ramparts. Then as Carol hastened on her way, she saw Gaby's skirt billow out and up over her head, as the wind caught it. This was followed by squeals from both girls.

The wind was fresh on the top, and Gaby spent the rest of the expedition holding her skirt at both sides, trying not to flash her knickers again. Maddy of course thought it was hilarious, doing a ‘Marilyn Monroe', as she called it.

Inside the inner rampart, they could make out the round marks of iron age round houses. They were able to see the defensive ditches and ramparts, which are massive. “Dad reckons they took half a million man hours to dig the trenches between the ramparts.” Said Gaby, trying not to take off in the fresh breeze.

“I'll bet it was cold up here in the winter.” Said Maddy, pulling her thin jacket closer. They explored the remains of the Romano-British temple, and saw the remains of the bank barrow, apparently the longest known anywhere in the world, and Neolithic in origins. They saw the depression where the pond had been, which was thought to be an emergency water supply or dew pond. To the south they could see the small stream known as the Winterbourne, from where water would have to be brought.

They were discussing how hard life would have been. When Gaby, shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don't think it would have been that bad.”

“Oh come off it, Gabs,” said Maddy, “growing your own crops, making your own clothes, keeping cattle and sheep. It would have been awfully hard work.”

“Nah, not really.”

“How can you say that, you dumb blonde?” quipped back an exasperated Maddy.

“'Cos Tesco is just across the road. I reckon the Romans probably stopped to fill up their chariots before attacking.” This was punctuated by Maddy chasing after Gaby, who fled the scene, both giggling like amused banshees.

Carol watched them go, smiling at their antics. Teenagers, they were like two ten year olds, but they were having such fun. Drew seemed fully recovered from his virus, his energy was improving and he hadn't coughed or spluttered since leaving home. Perhaps the trip was doing him some good.

She strolled her way back towards the car, following her two teenage charges as they continued to run about in the large open space. Somewhere, not far away she could hear a skylark, it reminded her of her youth. It made shivers run up and down her spine, but in a nice way. “Hmm.” She said to herself and hurried on after the girls.

When she got back to the car, they were both waiting for her, puffing and panting and red faced. “Have a good time?”

They both shook their heads. “No it was ‘orrible.” Then they fell about laughing. “Teenagers!” thought Carol.

They bought an ice cream from the van parked in the car park. “Who were you talking to on the way up?” asked Maddy.

“Some bloke who was asking if you were twins.” Which caused snorts and sniggers from the ‘twins'. “He said there was a talk on in the museum tomorrow evening, all about Maiden Castle. Asked if we wanted to go.”

“What did you say?”

“Only that I'd have to ask you two. Why do you want to go?”

“Dunno, except Gabs could wear her new suit.”

Gaby stood open mouthed, “Duh like why?”

“Well a girl has to look the part. So if you look smart, they might not think you're such a bimbo.”

“Hark who's talking, the original dumb blonde!”

“Girls, please, let's not have any unpleasantness.” Said Carol firmly, at which both ‘girls' looked completely astonished. ‘Unpleasantness? This is just messing about, teenage style.'

They drove back through Poundbury, which is what Prince Charles' village is called. The locals often call it by other names, few of them flattering. Its architecture may be described as ‘late pretentious' and makes up in variety what it lacks in taste.

Carol's impressions were mixed, and there was a lovely fountain in a square, but otherwise it seemed to have very little vibrancy about it, compared to Dorchester proper and Weymouth. There was something missing here, it felt like soul.

“We'll come into Dorchester on Wednesday, it's market day. Is that okay with you two?”

“Fine.”

“Yeah, Kewl.”

Then it was home to make some dinner. Carol began to hatch a plan as she drove home. “As it's my holiday too, how about someone else doing the meal tonight?” There was silence from the back, except for the odd titter. “Well, who's going to volunteer?” Still nothing back except silly giggles.

All the way back she cajoled and schemed, but they weren't going to play. She pulled up in the drive. “Right, before we get out, one or both of you is going to get the meal this evening, it's nothing difficult. So who's going to do it?”

She surveyed the back seat, the two teens look at the floor, the doors, the interior roof of the car, even each other, but neither met her gaze. “Okay,” she said, “you can both do it.”

“Aw mum, ”whined Maddy.

“Think of it as in house training, one day you may need to be able to feed yourself, if you go off to university or set up your own home, get married. You'll need to know how to cook. I've never made you do it enough at home, Maddy Peters, so today sounds like it may be a good thing. I know that Drew does a bit at home, especially with Jenny away, but that doesn't excuse you either.

“Aw Aunt Carol, doesn't it? I cooked last week,” moaned Drew.

“No you didn't that was Drew, you're Gaby, his long lost cousin.” Quipped Maddy.

“That's crap and you know it.” Retorted Drew.

“Any more from you and I'll tell Paul the truth, and that you fancy him.” Hissed Maddy in Drew's ear

“You wouldn't, you're bluffing.”

“What's his number on the speed dial.”

“Hey, that's my mobile.”

Maddy shot upstairs with Gaby in hot pursuit. Carol watched in disbelief, then listened as the hoof beats got slower, then silence, then squeals and giggles. She didn't need to go and see, they were having a tickling fight. She made herself a cuppa, waiting for it to finish before she insisted they made the meal. They would, she was certain of that, they just had to get used to the idea.

When the horseplay was over and things had calmed down, they did finally concede defeat and made the meal. It was a tuna pasta main course with side salad, there was some fresh fruit for dessert.

Maddy did the pasta while Drew prepared the salad. Carol opened the bottle of wine she'd brought with her, and sipped a glass with her meal. The dynamic duo had orange juice. She was avoiding fizzy drinks after hearing they encourage obesity. She was also boosting their vitamin C levels, which she believed helped with the immune system.

That evening, they all read. Gaby had found ‘Cat', a novel about the Tour de France, which was on the bookshelf, and was devouring it. Maddy was reading one of her Japanese comic books. It kept them quiet, while Carol got into her whodunit and a second glass of wine.

The next morning, Gaby's legs were checked and looked much better. The swelling was down and the blisters were receding, another day and they'd be pretty well healed.

“Will I be able to wear jeans then?” asked Drew.

“In a day or two I'd say. The blisters seem to drying up. They'll probably peel, but they shouldn't hurt. Mind you the way you were running about in that skirt yesterday, tended to suggest they weren't hurting too much.”

“They don't feel too bad.”

“Good.” Said Carol, and Gaby lowered the nightdress. “Right off you get, showered and dressed, then we'll decide where we'll go today.”

After a quick spat over the hair dryer, both the dynamic duo appeared downstairs. Maddy had her jeans on, which Drew was looking enviously at. He was dressed in a new blue skirt and tee shirt, with his sneakers. A touch of make up, probably by Maddy, and he looked as female as his cousin.

They were about to pick something on the map, when the doorbell rang. “Who's that I wonder.” Said Carol quietly, I'm not expecting callers. She left the girls and opened the front door, outside stood two teenage boys.

“Can I help you boys?”

“Hello,” said the slightly larger of the two. “I'm William Bugler, this is my friend Harry. I'm Marge Bugler's grandson. She told us to come and invite your two daughters to the disco on Wednesday night, in the village hall.”

“Oh!” said Carol taken aback. How did she get out of this one. “Mrs Bugler, I presume is the lady who looks after this house?”

“Yeah, that's her, me gran.”

“I don't know if the girls want to go or not.” Carol was playing for time.

“Can we ask them?” asked William.

Unable to think of a reason why they shouldn't, she agreed. “You'd better come in.”

“Girls, can you come here.” She called into the lounge. The ‘sisters' duly arrived and Gaby's stomach somersaulted up to her brain and back down again.

“Boys,” she thought, “are never good news. What do they want?”

“This is Maddy, and this one is Gaby,” Carol said to the boys, “Girls, this is William and his friend Harry. They have something to ask of you?”

Drew felt this could only be something awful. If only he'd not had the accident, they could have had some fun with these boys, playing football or possibly getting hold of some bikes. Instead, he felt like he was being undressed by the boys eyes.

The boys were blushing, and exchanged quick glances before William began his story. “Hi, look we're having a disco in the village hall on Wednesday night and we'd like to ask you to come with us.”

“Well actually, we came to ask if you'd like to go to it. If you did, we'd like to take you.” The words came from Harry, “Please say yes.”

Drew felt his stomach and brain swap places, or they would have done if they hadn't stuck in his throat. He glanced at Maddy who was thinking it over. This was not good news. If she said yes, he'd have to go as well, unless he managed to murder her first and hide the body.

Then he had a brainwave. “We'd love to wouldn't we Mad, but we're going to that lecture thing on Maiden Castle.”

“Is that all that's stopping you?” asked Harry, with a glint in his eye.

“Yeah, course. Isn't it Mad?”

“I dunno, is it, Gabs?” Maddy, to whom he looked for support, seemed strangely diffident.

“Well that's good news then.” Said Harry. Drew felt a sense of doom approaching. “ ‘Cos, the lecture's tonight and the disco is tomorrow. We're going to both, so if you want to come with us, my dad's taking us. See you about quarter to seven, we'll collect you. Bye.”

They watched the boys walk down the drive, Harry jumped up and punched the air, like Tim Henman on steroids. Then high fived with his pal.

“Well that was real clever Gabs. We've got Pinky and Perky for two nights now.” said Maddy. Carol said nothing, she was concentrating on Drew's face, and trying not to relax her pelvic floor muscles or laugh. Her bladder was giving signals not to make any sudden movements, but it was so funny. The look on Drew's face was priceless. He hadn't shot himself in the foot, he managed to nail the other one to the floor while he was at it. ‘Damn' she thought, I'll have to go and wee or I'll wet myself.

“What are we going to do?” asked a horrified Drew.

“Well Gabs, I'm gonna stay here and eat grass, but you'd better brace yourself.” Answered Maddy.

“What?”

“Paul's joke remember about the two blokes in a pantomime cow's outfit walking across a field when the bull charged.”

“What joke?”

“It's what the bloke in front says to the one at the back. Oh never mind, I thought it was appropriate.”

“But I can't go to some dance with a local dork. What if he finds out?”

“Pity you didn't have your falsies with you.”

“Some comfort you are.”

“It's you with the big feet and even bigger mouth.”

“I know, I know, don't keep on about it.” He paused, “Can't we say, I had to go home suddenly and my cousin came instead.”

“I think they might notice you looked remarkably like your cousin and work it out.”

“I could get my hair cut short.”

“You'd look like Sinead O'Connor then.”

“What am I going to do?”

“Decide what you're gonna wear. Me, I'm going to phone Jules and get her to express mail your boobs and some glue.”

“What?”

“If they get here in time, you might just stay alive until Thursday morning?”

“What?”

“Invented the steam engine.”

“Oh very funny! What difference is getting my falsies going to make?”

“We are going to a disco, remember, Gaby has been to one before, she decked Paul, remember?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well if you are dancing with Harry, and he comes anywhere near you, I suspect he will notice the difference between socks and the real thing. Your falsies are quite close to the real thing, at least through a bra. So we need to get them pronto. I'm going to call Jules, unless you want to.”

“No.” He sat down despondently in a chair, slumped would be more accurate. Close examination would reveal tears were forming in the lightly made up eyes.

Maddy had no time to notice, she'd taken his phone and was even now talking to Jules, or Juliet as his sister was called. “Anything else?” asked Jules.

“Have a quick look in the wardrobe for something suitable for her to wear to this thing. I don't know how good it'll be, but the boys think they've pulled, big time!”

“Whoops!” laughed Juliet down the phone.

“You should have seen her face, when she thought she was being so clever. I nearly died. Mum had to rush off to the toilet, she nearly wet herself.”

“Right, I best get down to the post office double quick. I'll see what I can do re the dress, if not you'll have to buy something down there.”

“Yeah, we'll manage. Cheers Jules.”

“Bye Mad.”

“Cheer up droopy drawers, Jules is putting your naughty bits in the post, including that gaffe thing.” She walked over to Drew, who was silently weeping, and rubbed his hair, she felt him relax under her touch. A bit predictable, but she loved him for it, it also gave her a certain amount of control over him, which she tried not to abuse.

“Love you, you big girl's blouse.” She whispered and kissed him on the cheek.

(to be continued)

Angharad ap Gwilym 24.04.05 © 2005
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