Double Trouble (9 page)

Chapter 16.

Arriving back at Maureen’s house, we gathered impatiently around Janice as she placed the container on the kitchen table. “
Open
it, Jan, and let’s see what we’ve got,” Stephanie commanded.

“Stand
back
,” Janice ordered. “You just never know.”

Instinctively obeying her instruction, we took a backward step as Janice carefully opened the tin. Immediately, there was a small explosion and a cry from Janice as she automatically shielded her face. The room filled with fumes and everyone began coughing. I rushed over to Janice and hastily dragged her out of the room. The others stumbled to safety after me.

We regrouped in the living room and then retreated outside the house as the fumes began to follow us.

“What the
hell
was
that
?” Stephanie exclaimed, as she recovered her breath. “Is
Jan
okay?”

I peered anxiously up into Janice’s face. Her eyes were firmly shut and streaming with tears. “Somebody get me a wet cloth,” I commanded. Maureen scampered off and returned almost immediately with her handkerchief, dripping with water.

“Take it easy, Jan,” I soothed, as I wiped at her eyes to remove any vestige of irritant. “Open you eyes if you can.”

She obeyed and blinked her eyes open. They were bloodshot and irritated, but I couldn’t see any actual
physical
damage. “Can you
see
me?” I asked.

She blinked rapidly a number of times and answered, “Yes, although you’re a bit blurry.”

“Thank
heavens
,” I said, gratefully. “You had us
worried
there, for a minute.”

“What
happened
?” she asked.

“The tin exploded,” supplied Maureen. “But
why
?”

“It was booby trapped,” Stephanie said with a frown. “Our admirer has taken things to a new and
nasty
level.”

“It doesn’t add up,” I argued. “Why would someone who professed to
love
one of us, want to turn around and try to
hurt
the one he loved? I just can’t fathom the reasoning.”

“I’m not so sure he wanted to
hurt
us, as such,” Stephanie said, thoughtfully. “I
recognise
the gas that came out of that tin by its smell. It’s ammonium carbonate.”

“And what would
that
be in simple language, for us uneducated types?” I asked.

“
Smelling
salts,” she replied. “Pungent, but harmless.”

“So, it was more of a
practical
joke,” Maureen enquired. “If so, it wasn’t very
funny
.”

“That explosion could have been designed to really
injure
,” Stephanie told us, “if our admirer had so desired, so he
isn’t
malicious. Stupid, maybe, but not out to injure anyone.”

“
Jan
might disagree,” I murmured.

Once the gas had dissipated from the kitchen, we ventured cautiously back inside for another look at the tin. Maureen poked it gingerly with a knife, but nothing untoward occurred. Inside we found the customary note, wrapped in plastic. Stephanie removed it from its plastic coating and read it out to us.

Sorry, but I am becoming frustrated. I have you so near but am unable to touch. Look back to ancient times and popularity that never dies. Terror and love united. Calcification turns to stone and lives again for all to see. The fourth semicircle of the end one is what you seek. This is the second last step.

Your loving admirer.

“
Another
bizarre rant from our favourite psycho,” grunted Janice in disgust. “Let’s just throw this rubbish in the
bin
and have done with it.”

“No,” disagreed Stephanie. “That would be just what he wants. He’s
daring
us to find the notes.”

“But what’s at the
end
of it all?” Maureen wanted to know. “What are we going to
find
?”

“That’s the
question
, isn’t it?” said Stephanie thoughtfully. “It could be anything at all. For me, I’d like to keep going out of sheer curiosity. Anyone
else
want to come along for the ride?”

“I will,” I declared. “I’m curious too.”

“In that case, count
me
in,” Maureen added.

“What about
you
, Jan?” asked Stephanie.

“This is sheer baloney,” Janice insisted. “I can’t believe you’re even
considering
it, but what the hell, I suppose
I’ll
be in it too.”

“Wonderful!” Stephanie conceded. ‘We’re all together. Shall we ponder the
note
, or take a break and listen to the new pronouncements of Queen Maureen?”

“The note may take a bit of interpretation,” I said, “so how about we perform our slave duties and think about the note as we go. We’ll meet after our tasks and discuss its meaning then. Some ideas may have formed in the meantime.”

“I second that motion,” Stephanie agreed. “Any abstentions? No? Very well, I declare this session over. Maureen, what are your regal wishes?”

“Let me see,” Maureen pondered, scratching her head. “Okay, how about this? Stephanie has to cook a five star
dinner
tonight for us all; Jan can do the ironing and cleaning and Kim can…..can,
uh
….what? Wait, I have it. Kim can be my
valet
for the rest of the day.”

“Valet?” I asked in bewilderment. “What’s a
valet
supposed to do?”

“Well, they,
umm
, choose my clothes and help me get
dressed
and stuff like that,” Maureen answered, flushing slightly.

“A wise choice,” Stephanie applauded, winking at me. “Kim will make an
ideal
valet.”

Chapter 17.

So, there I was, dancing attendance on Maureen and helping her to decide what to wear. At least I wasn’t taking my
clothes
off again, I thought with some relief. We went through her entire wardrobe and lay everything on the bed. It didn’t take very long.

“Maureen,” I criticised, “you hardly have
anything
to wear at all.”

“I know,” she admitted self-consciously. “I’m afraid I don’t have much of a fashion sense.”

“Well, as your valet, I insist that we go shopping and buy you some decent clothes right now,” I told her.

“Now
that’s
the sort of advice I love to hear from my valet,” Maureen murmured.

And so, while Janice and Stephanie cooked and cleaned, Maureen and I took to the shops and had a grand old time. I picked out a series of clothes; she tried them all on; we decided on a whole new wardrobe for her and then we came home to a clean house and packed them all away.

“Excellent, my dear valet,” she said. “And now as a reward, I’d like to do something for you, if you’ll let me.”

“And what would
that
be?” I asked.

“Remember you told me that you’d like to be pampered one day?” she reminded me. “How about we do it
now
? I’ll bathe you, just like you did me.”

“Really?” I asked, looking at her with dawning comprehension. “Maureen, sweetie, I think we need to have a little
talk
about us.”

“Later,” she said, waving my concerns aside. “I want to
pamper
you first. We can talk while we do it.”

“Well, okay,” I agreed. “I
do
like the idea of the pampering.”

“Into the
tub
with you, valet,” Maureen commanded. “I don’t tolerate any backchat from
employees
.”

I giggled and followed her to the bathroom.

Maureen locked the bathroom door and faced me. “You’re
right
, Kim,” she began. “We
do
need to discuss our relationship…….
my
side of it at least.” She paused and looked away, blushing. “I can’t go on without putting my cards on the table. I think I
love
you, honey, but I guess you already
know
that.” She looked back at me, her face flaming. “I didn’t
mean
for it to happen but it did. I think you feel a little something for me too, but I don’t want to put you to be under any obligation. You can tell me to get lost if you like. I’ll understand if you do.”

My mind whirled with conflicting thoughts. On the one side was the aching loneliness I felt every day and the inherent craving for intimate companionship, but on the other side remained my
dread
of commitment due to my truly horrendous failed series of relationships. Did I really want to risk
another
broken heart? But, then again, if I
didn’t
take a chance, I’d never have another relationship, and I couldn’t bear the thought of the years of empty solitude stretching out in front of me.

I could see Maureen patiently waiting for my answer but I hesitated, unsure of my feelings. “Let’s just do the
pampering
for now, sweetie,” I compromised. “I’m not saying no to you but I need a little more time, okay?”

“For sure, Kim,” she agreed. “Take all the time you need. I don’t want to rush you into anything.” Then she beamed at me. “But you didn’t tell me to go away either and that gives me some hope.” Then she was all business. “Clothes off first, valet, while I fill the bathtub. Do you want
bubbles
?”

“God,
no
!” I objected, recalling the bubbling catastrophe from last time. “Just plain water for me, please. Although a sprinkling of
bath
salts would be nice.”

“Your wish is my command, my lady,” Maureen announced. “Wait, Kim,” she said, as I began to unbutton my shirt. “You’re being pampered. Let
me
do all that.”

So, I stood idly by as Maureen undressed me. It felt a little strange to have someone
else
perform that chore for me. I presumed that rich people had it done to them all the time but I wasn’t sure I
liked
it. It’d be
different
if it was done by someone you loved. Then, it’d be
sexy
. Maureen helped me into the bath and began soaping me down. Now,
that
I liked! Her hands were soft and gentle and I began to feel old familiar urgings surfacing from the depths. Maybe I
should
tell Maureen to go ahead and explore where our feelings ended up. But I didn’t want to make a life-changing decision under the influence of a pair of soft hands either. I needed a
clear
head for something like that, but
oooh
, her touch was driving me
crazy
! It’d been far too long since I’d felt something like this.

“
Leg
up now, honey,” she advised. Obligingly, I raised my right leg and she soaped it thoroughly, massaging my
toes
in a delicious fashion. I nearly
succumbed
right then and there. Then she asked for the other leg and treated it in a similar fashion.

“Now for your famous
scrub
,” she announced, picking up a rough cloth, and attacking my skin ferociously. That was the part I
really
loved. The firm pressure of Maureen’s hands on my body
excited
me. I couldn’t deny it. Blissfully, I closed my eyes and surrendered to her administrations.

After a thoroughly enjoyable ten minutes I was ordered out of the bath in order to be dried. As Maureen was applying herself to that task I decided to ask a question that had been plaguing me recently. I wasn’t sure I’d obtain a truthful answer or not, but I was determined to chance it.

“Maureen, sweetie, you know these mysterious
notes
we’ve been finding?”

“Sure,” she replied, busily towelling my back. “What
about
them?”

“Well, did
you
write them?” I bluntly asked.

The drying stopped instantly.

“Are you accusing
me
of writing those notes?” she asked in disbelief.

I turned around to face her. “I’m just
asking
, that’s all, honey,” I soothed. “Stephanie thought you might be involved.”

“
Stephanie
did?” Maureen gasped.

“Well, to be truthful,” I admitted, “I did
too
.”

“What on earth made the pair of you think
that
?’ she spluttered. “Why would you even
imagine
in your wildest dreams that it was
me
?”

“Well, because our admirer was
shy
, just like you,” I began, “and because Stephanie tumbled to the fact that you, sort of……you know,
fancied
me.”

Maureen stared at me, still amazed at what I was saying. “And so, on the basis of
that
dubious logic, and on the
flimsiest
of evidence, you both believed
I’d
written the notes?” she exclaimed.

“Yeah,
kind
of,” I confessed.

“Of all the hare-brained, stupid, ridiculous,
insane
things I’ve ever heard,
that
takes the cake,” Maureen said angrily, throwing the towel to the floor.

“I’m
sorry
, sweetie,” I apologised sincerely, suitably chastised. “
Neither
of us wanted to upset you. We were only speculating.”

Maureen glared at me, but picked up the towel and began drying me again.

“I suppose you had
some
justification,” she conceded. “I
was
too shy to tell you of my feelings at the start.”

“Not like
now
, then,” I gently teased.

She blushed. “No, not like now,” she acknowledged. “But I
didn’t
write those notes, Kim. Please
believe
that.”

I touched her on the arm. “I believe you, sweetheart. We’ll have to look around for someone else.”

Maureen paused from her efforts to dry my hair. “What about
Stephanie
?” she asked. “What if
she
wrote the notes? Accusing
me
is a classic way to divert attention away from herself.”

“Stephanie?” I asked in amazement. “Surely you’re
joking
?”

“Oh, I
see
,” Maureen instantly flared. “It was fine for
me
to write them, but when your
precious
Stephanie is a suspect, you go all defensive. You
fancy
her, isn’t
that
it?”

“
What
?” I exclaimed, confused by Maureen’s sudden mood shift. “Maureen, honey, are you being
jealous
of Stephanie?”

“What if I
am
?” she demanded, tears springing into her eyes. “I have
every
reason to be. Whenever I turn around, the two of you have your heads together in some corner or other. Have you been talking about
me
the whole time? Or are you whispering little
love
messages to each other?”

I stared at Maureen, absolutely astonished. She was quivering with fury and frustration, her hands clenching and unclenching in indecision. I’d never seen her lose her temper before. Tears ran unheeded down her cheeks and it was then I realised how much she truly
cared
for me. She
did
love me. It showed in every tensed muscle and in every expression on her face.

“Come
here
, my darling,” I invited, opening my arms.

She hesitated at first, but the overwhelming need to be comforted overcame her and she fell into my embrace and commenced to sob. I held her against me and stroked her marvellous hair as I tried to soothe her with quiet words. I could feel her warm tears splashing on my bare skin as she wept, and I whispered wryly, “You’ll have to
dry
me again, you know. You’ve just
doubled
your work load, your Majesty.”

She hiccupped with laughter and pulled out of my arms, wiping her eyes with the backs of her fingers.

“You
valets
are impossible,” she said in an unsteady voice. “You’ll owe me
overtime
for this.”

“Hey,” I admonished. “It’s the
employer
who pays the overtime,
not
the employee. You owe
me
.”

She laughed. “I guess I do,” she admitted. “But I’ve bathed you
twice
now. You owe
me
for that.”

“Yes, I do, don’t I?” I agreed softly, cupping her chin in the palm of one hand. “Can I pay with a
kiss
?”

“That would be
quite
acceptable,” she whispered, in a trembling voice. “Please proceed.”

I gently tilted her head upwards and applied my lips to hers. Instinctively, her arms wound themselves around my back and I could feel her shivering in every muscle as she hesitantly pressed herself against me. I prolonged my kiss for as long as I possibly could because I felt guilty about suspecting her of being the note writer and I knew the physical contact would make her happy. But it was also to please me. I
liked
kissing Maureen. Her lips were soft and inviting. Her body felt warm and exciting and I found myself psychologically drawn to her endearing innocence.