Lettuces and Cream (7 page)

‘Look Jan, if you sit here you can see down the valley towards your place. I hardly ever draw the curtains. It’s great looking at the sky when lying in bed.’

Jan sat beside her. ‘Oh yes I can just see the chimney of our house. Talking of chimneys, ours caught fire last night, God, what a mess it made. And then would you believe it, the water tank overflowed. Something went wrong with the cut out switch, or something. So, more expense, and Mike said we’ve had fire and flood lets hope we don’t get pestilence next. Still it is a wonderful view. Just fields and woods, its lovely. Mind you, from our bedroom we can see down towards the village too. And we haven’t any curtains at all at the minute either. We’re all very lucky seeing all this from our beds. Beats the town, eh?’

‘Yeah, I suppose so, but don’t you miss people, streets full of men,’ she gave a rather wry laugh, adding more thoughtfully, ‘and women of course? I miss the excitement of town, I was brought up in Newcastle so I’m used to big cities. Keith has always lived in the country, his mother and father are still farming.’

They continued sitting side-by-side staring out of the window as they talked.

‘No I don’t,’ Jan said emphatically, ‘I like the quiet life and one man is enough for me, Mike is a lovely husband,’ Jan wasn’t used to making such comments, and she giggled, self-consciously.

‘I get a bit lonely sometimes, especially at night when the dog starts barking at God knows what. Keith is a way quite a lot at the moment; well he has been for the last year actually. His father isn’t very well so he goes back up Newcastle way to help out whenever he’s got a couple of days to spare. He will be back home tonight, but when he’s here he’s off out at all hours, day and night. On business, he says, I’m not complaining he’s a good husband and most things I want, I get.’She gave Jan a little smile and a wink, and continued the rather false exposé. ‘And he’s good at, you know what.’ In reality he was probably no better or worse than any other man – it was all just part of her power game. In truth she really didn’t know Keith very well at all.

‘But he is so, so complete, if you know what I mean. He doesn’t really need other people, and he’s not the jealous type, well nor I am I if it comes to that. Mind you, he’s got a bit of a temper.’

‘Oh, I didn’t realise he wasn’t here all the time. How do you manage the farm on your own? It must be hard work,’ Jan spoke cheerfully, trying to make light of Chris’s rather personal revelations. She certainly wouldn’t ever talk about Mike in that way to anyone.

‘I cope,’ her voice was now even quieter and her hand rested on Jan’s knee, ‘don’t you find it lonely?’

‘Well, not really, there’s the kids to see to, and Mike, and there’s always so much to do,’ Jan replied, somewhat mystified at Chris’s tone.

‘And I miss my mother, she was such a help when the kiddies were small, before we moved here, she’s so far away now,’ Chris continued wistfully. ‘But I have a girl from the village that will baby sit the kids for me any time so I can go out when ever I like. I can give you her address if you like.’

She turned to look intently into Jan’s eyes, and her finger gently touched her cheek.’Your skin is so smooth. You haven’t spent years out in the weather, like me, have you?’ Her head moved slowly towards Jan and she kissed her cheek

Jan was taken aback but thought Chris was a bit unhappy or having a bad day, or something, and still didn’t react to the unexpected familiarly.

Chris took Jan’s hand and put it to her own face, ‘see, its like sandpaper.’

‘No it’s fine, mine isn’t that marvellous,’ Jan replied.

‘And your breasts, wow,’ Chris stared enviously at Jan’s ample cleavage.

‘I think they’re too big, mind you, they were big when I was twelve and was teased a lot at school,’ Jan said.

‘Well mine are small, even after two kids and I don’t need a bra.’ To prove the point she began to slowly unbutton her shirt.

Jan was now inwardly startled. No other women had ever done this in her company, and she watched, as though mesmerised, as one by one the buttons opened.

‘There, don’t you think they’re small?’

Jan hadn’t ever been in close proximity with another woman’s naked breasts, but her curiosity was stronger than her surprise, and her hand seemed to have developed a mind of its own. She watched, enthralled, as it reached out to cup the far from tiny breast, the nipple puckering and hardening at the touch of her cool hand.

There was now a deep quietness in the room. It was as if each of them had suddenly retreated into their separate and deeply intimate, and silent worlds.

‘Mum, Mum, Where are you. Is dad home yet?’

‘Is that the time already? the kids are home,’ Chris covered herself, gave Jan an unexpected quick kiss on the lips, and shouted a reply.

‘Hello kids, I’m up here, and I’ll be down in a minute, your father will be home later.’ They both got up and headed out of the lilac paradise and down into the hallway, chatting amiably as they went.

‘I must get back too. My lot will be wondering where I am. I’ll see you soon Chris, is it Am Dram this week? I thought I’d come along if that’s alright just to see what its like. If that’s okay with you.’

‘Great, yes, of course it’s okay, it’s not this week though-next Monday evening, I’ll pick you up – save taking two cars.’

‘Okay, thanks, bye then Chris, bye kids.’ Jan smiled and gave them all a little doorstep wave, got into the car, and was away.

Back home, Mike was laying the fire in the sitting room ready for the evening sit down time-as they called it. ‘You’re late, love, you women talking your heads off again I suppose.’

‘You know how it is love. By the time we had a cup of tea and then she showed me around the place…’

Mike interrupted her with a smile, ‘okay, okay, I get the picture, I don’t mind love, honest, and you needed a break,’

It wasn’t until bedtime that Janice had the time and space to fully absorb the immensely unusual happening at Chris’s. As she lay with Mike beside her, sleeping deeply after his labours of the day, she could see the events rerunning like a film. Her brain shuffled the images to the left and the right. Why had Chris behaved like that? God, I hardly know the woman, perhaps it is because she is a comparative stranger that makes the situation so dreamlike-and exciting. Is she a bit queer? Am I? After all, I did touch her breasts. No, she’s got two kids-well so have I. On the other hand why should there have to be a name, a label, for something so innocent as a touch? Jan shouldn’t have been surprised at her confused reaction to the event. Because she wasn’t one for detailed planning, nor for analysing her own or other people’s emotions, she simply had no mechanism for dealing with such things. Her accepting and caring nature was of the, what is, is, variety, something that Mike found difficult to understand because he was always trying to find the logic behind the illogical. The only certainty for Jan on this occasion was that here, in the darkness, she was finding it more arousing now than then. Her fingertips were remembering the silky smoothness, the warmth and texture of another woman’s breast, as they now explored her own breasts. Was there a difference-not really, and she wondered what other parts of Chris’s body would be like to touch. But then, perhaps the excitement was in the fantasy, and not the actuality. There again, perhaps it was the ‘sameness’ that excited her. It had been strangely familiar, like touching herself. Whatever it might be, Jan’s other hand was moving down, down between her soft, smooth thighs.

Even though he moved silently through the midnight darkness,in the house, the dog,ever alert, stood barking at the unseen threat. In the shed, he slowly and quietly drew back the back the bolt on the pig pen door. The sleeping pigs nestling in the warm straw, snuffled and huffed contentedly, unaware, as yet, that a gentle push on the door would give them freedom. The intruder gave a sly grin of satisfaction as closed the shed door behind him.

The next morning, Saturday, the dry weather had broken and the children were playing in the large sitting room, well, what they were now calling, the ‘sitting room,’ still a bit of a mess and a stack of unopened boxes still remained in one corner - Jan just didn’t know where to put what. Mike was staring out of the window wondering which job to tackle next and watching the rain moving across the valley like billowing grey waves. Back in the town it would have been difficult to actually see the weather.

‘Come and look at this Jan,’ Jan came in from the kitchen, stirring a bowl of cake mix.

‘What is it?’

‘Look at the rain, it’s moving in great grey lumps across the valley.’

‘Oh yes, I’ve never seen that before, amazing.’

‘’Tis isn’t it, mind you I wish it wasn’t raining. There’s so much to do outside. We need to get the crops planted-we need the money.’

‘I know, but never mind love, there are plenty of jobs you could do indoors.’ Mike was fully aware of his ever-extending workload, but David, ever watchful and all ears, saw an opportunity.

‘Dad, could we have the telly back?’

‘Aw yeah dad could we?’ Mandy chipped in.

‘That’s a good idea Mike; they’ve been so good, what with starting a new school and walking over the fields to the catch the bus. I’ll leave you lot to it then, I’ll get on with cooking in our deluxe kitchen.’ Jan spoke with more than a hint of irony.

‘Okay, if I knew which box it was in’

‘It’s that one over there Dad, the white box.’

‘I might have known you would know, David,’ Mike said cheerfully, I really don’t know why you want it. We’ve managed without ever since we’ve been here.’ Mike and Jan weren’t missing the television at all, nor had the kids during their holidays. But know they were back in school they couldn’t keep up with the latest ‘news’ without it.

‘We want to watch the cartoons and things.’

The television was a small black and white portable, which had been adequate in their little sitting room at home, but it was going to look a bit silly in a big room. Mike dusted off the screen and found the only socket in the room-something else that was needed, more power points, and switched on. After much waving about of the indoor aerial he found he could get BBC one and two at one end of the room, but had to move the whole paraphernalia to the other end of the room for HTV the commercial channel.

‘Cor thanks dad, we can watch ‘Catweazle,’ oh, and, ‘On The Buses,’ and other things as well.’ David was a huge telly addict, Mandy was less bothered but liked being first with any news.

‘Mum, mum, come and look, the telly’s back on.’ Mandy called to Jan, who was as usual still in the kitchen, but dutifully trotted in at her daughters request.

‘Oh, yes, very nice sweetheart, not a very good picture though, is it?’

‘Well, no, but it’s not like back home. We’re probably a long way from a transmitter here, and the hills don’t help either. I think we need an aerial on the chimney. We’ll just have to keep moving it from one end of the room to the other, to get all the stations.’

‘Well, it doesn’t, matter, Mike, the kids are happy enough with it.’

‘Yeah, suppose so. Anyway, I’ve decided to make a start on cleaning off the woodwork on the stairs, get it back to natural wood. What do you think? It would save us having to paint again.’

‘Chris and Keith have done the same it looks lovely - except for the lilac paint.’ Mentioning Chris, gave Jan a stab of her old familiar guilt about her clandestine bedtime activities of the previous night. And, if any one had noticed, they would have seen her countenance change a little as she shrank back into her protective shell.

‘Right, that’s what I’ll do then.’

Mike gathered the tools for the job, including an ancient brass blow lamp that once belonged to his father, to burn and scrape off the bulk of the old paint on the flat surfaces. All the other little nooks and crannies would have to be done by hand, which would make the job slow and tedious, but eventually a huge improvement. He worked on until Jan called that lunch was ready and the kids and Mike headed eagerly to the feeding station.

‘Um, I needed this.’ Mike was always hungry and the snack of lettuce and ham soon disappeared

‘I was just thinking won’t it be great when we have our own lettuce. And come to think of it perhaps our own ham-if I could learn how to cure it,’ Mike said enthusiastically.

‘Sounds nice love but we haven’t got a pig –yet.’ Jan, always the practical and calming one.

‘Will we have to kill the pig dad?’ David chipped in, with a somewhat murderous gleam in his young eye.

‘Well I don’t think it would be to pleased if we just cut lumps out of it if it wasn’t dead,’ Mike said with a silly giggle. His joke fell a bit flat and they all gave a groan of disgust.

‘That’s not very nice, Mike,’ Jan said disapprovingly.

‘Mum, I’m not going to eat meat any more,’ Mandy moaned, and gave a petulant pout.

‘There now see what you’ve done,’ Jan reprimanded

‘Well, I will, dad,’ David said with enthusiastic bravado.

‘Shall we all talk about something else please,’ Jan said, giving Mike a, ‘’don’t you say any more,” look, and adding, ‘who wants a piece of my fruitcake for afters?’

After lunch, the rain was still heavy so Mike and Jan worked together sanding and scraping the stairway and were making good progress. This was Mike and Janice at their best. They made a good team and each had their own particular talents, and if something came up that neither of them knew little about then they would work it out together. Of course between them they already had done up one house so they had had plenty of practise.

‘It’s looking good already, just wait ‘til we get the varnish on.’

‘Dusty job though, time we had a cuppa I think,’ Jan suggested.

‘Yeah, good idea love, off you go then woman,’ Mike grinned playfully at Jan, who responded in equally playful way.

‘Don’t you, woman me, man. Why me anyway, what about you doing it for a change?’ Jan retorted with mock anger.

A knocking on the old and battered front door interrupted their banter. They looked at each other.

‘Who the hell can that be, in this weather-didn’t hear a car did you?’