Funny Business - Chapter 6, Meeting the Family

by

Samantha Michelle Davies (SamanthaMD)

For the next two days, Liz showed Charlie around the place where she & Bill grew up. He began to understand what made her ‘tick’.

Kat & Bill left them to do their ‘own thing’ only meeting up again in the evenings and for lunch in the Pub. Bill tried very hard to get Charlie to agree to join in the Hunt that Saturday. While he had ridden horses since he was 10 years old, he had never done any cross-country riding. Cross-country was hardly the sort of riding that was done at a Country Club in the Hamptons!

Eventually, over breakfast on the Friday, he gave in and agreed to give it a try.

“Ok. I’ll give it a try. If I fall off then… well, I’ll be an observer tomorrow”

Liz was agreeable.

Charlie went off with Bill to sort out a horse and some suitable riding clothes. Liz stayed behind with Kat to have a chinwag.

“Ok Liz. Now that I’ve finally got you on your own you have to tell me everything”

Liz poured herself another cup of tea and sat down opposite Kat at the kitchen table.

“Well, it started like this…”

Liz began to speak.

Eventually and after two more pots of tea had been brewed and consumed, Kat asked the inevitable.

“Have you found Mr Right then?”

“I think so but for Christ’s sake, don’t tell him. We agreed to see this job through and then sort ourselves out”

“But you are sleeping together”

“Yes. Well we weren’t until we got here that is”

Kat went slightly red in the face.

“Oh. I’m sorry if I forced things a wee bit with the sleeping arrangements”

“Not in the slightest Kat. These few days have been just what we wanted after nearly a month on the road”

“What does your Editor think of you both skiving off like this?”

“He’s ok. We told him what we were going when we got here. Still, it’s back to the grindstone on Monday though”

“You know that both of you can stay as long as you like. I know the Boys would love to see their Auntie Liz.”

Liz had to admit that the house did seem rather quiet without her godsons.

“Can’t you wangle staying for Christmas & the New Year. We are having our usual New Years Eve Ball. It would be great if the pair of you could come.”

Liz sighed. She remembered the New Years Eve balls in the past.

“I’ll talk things over with Charlie. My guess is that he may want to spend it with his family but I don’t know what he plans or even if I’m included. Christmas has not even appeared on our Radar at the moment.”

“Please do try to make it. You will be amongst friends here.”

“Thanks Kat. I know”.

Liz took hold of Kat’s hand and squeezed it gently.

Liz changed the subject a bit.

“He really likes you. You are very different to pretty well any other woman he has ever met.”

“Yeah. He is a bit dishy himself”

“I think I have educated him on this new money and old money malarkey. His family is definitely new money”

“Good luck with that. It took me long enough to get my head around it”

Liz laughed.

“That didn’t stop you spending lots of it anyway”

They giggled.

“I know but that is all in the past as you well know. Things are rather different now. Once the boys came along. I just felt so at home. Well, you know that, you were here”

“Yes. Forgive me for saying it, once Edward was born, you became part of the furniture around here”

Kat laughed.

“I know what you mean. I shudder when I think of what happened down in London”

“Then you had your accident”

“Bad show that eh?”

“Yes. I’m only sorry that I didn’t get there sooner. If I’d done so then perhaps you would still have those wonderful legs of yours. They were always your big asset you know. I was always very envious of them especially when you wore those kinky boots.”

Kat suddenly became very serious.

“Liz, You didn’t have to go off like that you know. No one blames you for arriving just that little bit late. I’m thankful that you arrived at all. Ok, so I lost my legs from the knees down but at least I can see my children grow up. If you hadn’t arrived when you did I’d more than likely be pushing up the daisies right now”

Liz was equally sad.

“I’m sorry for running off to New York as well. I just felt so guilty about not being there sooner, that’s all”

“Look at it this way, if you hadn’t done a bunk off over the Pond like you did then you would never have met Charlie. So it’s not all doom & gloom”

Liz smiled and then she hugged her friend.

“Does he know how you saved me?”

“Only in general terms. I’m not telling him the details. He’d have a fit if I did”.

“Bill & I talked this over the other night. We won’t tell him unless you want us to”

“It is not something I want to be put up on a pedestal over ok?”

Kat held Liz’s hand.

“Your really do have it bad don’t you?”

“What?”

“You are so in love with him that you can’t bear telling him that you talked a sodding great bull into submission to save your best friend. You are so bloody annoying at times Liz.”

Kat looked Liz hard in the eye.

“Why won’t you ever take credit for being who you really are?”

“Because I don’t want any publicity. You see what happens to people in the news almost every day. The most intimate details of their private lives are splashed over the papers & on TV. Then their life is dissected in all its gory details. Think of the field days they’d have with me? Eh?”

“Ok. I know your reasons but it is sometimes very hard being your friend Liz. Very hard & very frustrating”

The two hugged each other. Then Liz did something that she’d not done for a long time, she kissed Kat. Not just a simple kiss. This was long and very passionate.

“You always were a great kisser Liz. I’d forgotten how good until now”

Liz went very red in the face.

“It was nice wasn’t it”

Kat laughed.

“Remember that bet we had. The day that Bill proposed to me?”

“Yeah. I remember”

They both giggled.

“I would have kept you to it you know”

Liz nodded.

“I know you would. But I knew instinctly that Bill was going to ask you so I felt able to agree to the bet”

“How about we kill of the men and go live somewhere together eh?” asked a grinning Kat.

They almost laughed themselves silly. They were still laughing when Bill & Charlie returned.

“Hey what’s so funny? Have you two been spying on my pitiful attempts at jumping hedges?”

In between giggles, Kat replied,

“No we’ve been planning to knock the pair of you off and go and live on a tropical island together”

Bill laughed as he knew about the bet.

Charlie felt distinctly left out.

“Won’t someone tell me what the joke is?”

Liz came to his rescue.

“I’ll tell you when we are a long way from here ok? You aren’t the subject of the joke. Far from it”

This seemed to placate him a bit.

“Enough about us. How did the riding go?”

Charlie’s face told it all.

“I’m afraid I wimped out. I got over a few but the one into the North side of 10 Acre field almost had me off and into 4ft of dirty cold water”

“You won’t be the first nor the last to come a cropper there” said Kat.

Then she turned to Bill.

“Trust you to take him over the worst jump in the district?”

“Hey. What about those hedges on Water Lane. They are even bigger”

“And who is setting the route for the hounds this time?”

“George Simpson. Why?”

“You know he won’t take the hounds anywhere near a big jump”

“I suppose so”, replied Bill.

“Unless they pick up the scent of a real Fox”, suggested Liz.

“Does that happen often?” asked Charles.

“Not any more. Before the Hunting Ban came in, we had lots of Foxes around here. The numbers were kept down by the Hunt. Since the ban came in the Gamekeepers are killing far more that the hunt ever did. It is just because of the damage they do to the Chickens & Geese on the farms”

“So I’m not likely to see a Fox around here?” Asked Charlie.

“Au Contraire my dear Charles. There is a Den less that 100yds from the house. The vixen raised three cubs last year. She and her offspring keep the mice & rats down. We don’t have any livestock around here so there is no sense killing them for no good reason is there”, said Kat.

Charlie couldn’t fault that argument.

“On most days, she will come around the kitchen door just before dusk looking for food. If you go out to the conservatory and sit quietly I’m sure you’ll see her”, added Bill.

Just then, Perkins announced that Lunch was ready.

As they walked into the dining room, Liz asked Charlie,

“Are you going to ride out tomorrow?”

“Are you?”

“Me? Not a chance. I love horses but riding them in the melee that is a Hunt is not my thing that’s all”

Out of the corner of her eye, Liz saw Kat mouthing the word ‘Liar’.

Liz just smiled back.

Charles said disappointedly,

“I guess I’ll be going on my own then”

“We won’t be far away”, said Kat.

*

The following morning Liz made sure that Charles was properly dressed for the event. Bill & Charlie mounted up and gathered with the rest of the Hunt in the centre of the Village.

Billy introduced Charlie to the rest of the riders while they drank from the stirrup cup and waited for the ‘off’.

Then Master of the Hunt made her appearance.

Kat arrived on her pure white stallion. She was mounted side-saddle with her legs totally hidden by a long black skirt.

She rode proudly into the middle of the riders. She looked really beautiful in her ‘Hunting Red’ Jacket and Black riding hat .

Everyone settled down to wait for her order.

When it was silent, Kat said at the top of her voice,

“As Master of this Hunt, I wish you all good hunting”.

Then she raised her hunting horn to her lips and gave a good blast.

The hounds set off following the scent that had been laid that morning. Within a few minutes, the village was relatively quiet once more. Liz followed the action from the relative warmth of a Land Rover. Kat was also following the hunt but taking the easy way and not jumping the really big hedges.

Liz really admired her and how she controlled the horse. She smiled inwardly as she remembered the day the Stallion had arrived at the house. It was totally uncontrollable. After 10 minutes of Liz working her magic, it was as docile as a ‘Rag Doll’ Cat. Since then Kat had ridden it at least once a week even after her accident.

The Hunt returned to the Village in time for many of the riders to down a couple of pints in the village inn.

Charles declared himself totally out-ridden by most of the others around him but satisfied with the ride he’d had.

That night, a ‘Hunt Dinner’ was held at the Hall for many of the people who rode with the hunt. Liz & Charles were the guests of honour and the centre of attention for many of the other guests as they hadn’t seen Liz since she left for New York.

Charles carried Liz upstairs just after 2am and they slept wrapped in each other’s arms until mid morning.

“Wake up sleepy head”, said a barely awake Liz.

“Go away. I’m sleeping” grunted Charlie.

“Can you lift up, you are lying on my arm and I need to have a pee”

Liz pulled hard and eventually extracted her arm from underneath Charlie’s body and headed for the bathroom.

When she returned she smiled. Charlie had turned over and was sprawled across the whole bed.

Liz went back to the bathroom and returned with a cold wet flannel. Then she proceeded to place gently on Charlie’s Face.

It lasted a few seconds before he woke up.

“Hey. What did you do that for?”

“Because my darling it is time to get up”

Then she kissed him long and hard.

Eventually, they wandered downstairs for breakfast. Well, more like an early lunch as it was nigh on midday.

“Hi there sleepyheads” said a very cheery Bill as they entered the Breakfast room.

“Any coffee going?” asked Charlie trying to stifle a yawn.

“There’s plenty in the pot. Kat is out in the Conservatory. There was some damage caused by the guests last night”

“Oh. Was there a lot?”

“I’m afraid so. “

Liz poured herself a cup of Coffee and said,

“I’ll go and give her some help”

Charles tried to stand up and go with her.

“Stay here Charles”, suggested Bill.

“I need to have a word with you”

Slightly puzzled, Charles sat down.

“What’s up?”

“I have to leave later. I’m needed in the House of Lord’s for a committee meeting tomorrow morning. I wanted just to have a little chat with you before I go”

Charles waved his hand.

“Let me guess, you are going to give me the ‘don’t you hurt my little girl’ talk”

Bill smiled.

“Almost”

“Look Bill, I guess it is obvious the I love her. Yeah I know about her past and all that. Frankly, I don’t care. She is more feminine than pretty well any woman I know or have ever known. I think she loves me. In a few months, when this job is over I’ll ask her to marry me and live with me for the rest of our lives”

“What about your family? Won’t there be pressure for you to produce a Charles Everett 7^th?”

“Yes. Yes there will be but I’ve given this an awful lot of thought recently. I’m prepared to leave New York, Maine and everything behind. Besides, there is always Adoption isn’t there?”

Bill stood up and walked around the table and offered his hand to Charles.

While they were shaking it, Bill said,

“You know that if you hurt her I’m going come after you and kill you.”

“That goes without saying Bill. What loving brother wouldn’t?”

“Good. Now that is done with, I have a bottle of very nice 40yr old Single Malt that I think could do with emptying a bit”

Together, they disappeared into the Games Room where Bill introduced him to the game of Snooker.

*

Monday Morning saw the pair reluctantly say goodbye to Kat and head back to London. Liz drove the car back towards Wellingborough and the train to St Pancras they both felt a little sad.

Bill said.

“Thank you for letting me get to know your family. It was nice, very nice. I am starting to see how you tick”

Then he put his hand on her thigh.

“Thank you for letting me into your life. ” he said again very softly.

*

A week later, they had everything they needed for the magazine and flew home.

This time, they both flew 1^st Class.

“I could get used to this”, said Liz as she downed her 2^nd glass of Champagne.

“Glad you like it”

After a while, Liz said,

“I’ve been thinking about the project. A lot of thought indeed. Many things are clear in my mind”

“Only good things I hope. We have lots of stuff to be working on until well into next year”

“That’s all very well. But there is nothing more than memories and what you lawyers say, circumstantial proof and that is what is troubling me”

“I’m sure that what we have already will be enough when the times comes”

“Well, I’m not. I think I have a way of making it conclusive”

“Can’t this wait until we get home?”

“I want to tell you. Then you can think on it ok”

Somewhat reluctantly, Charles said,

“Go ahead”

“I never told you what I was doing in London when I was working in the Bar where I met Kat and all that”

“I just assumed you were just working there”

“No. I was working in the bar part time. The rest of the time, I was a student”

“Like lots of people I’m sure”

“Yes. But unlike the others, I was a Design Student at Chelsea College of Art & Design”

Charles was suddenly very interested.

“I was in my final year but I dropped out when I had the operation”

“I’m so sorry. I’m sure you would have made a great designer”

“Cut the crap Charlie. I didn’t realize it at the time, but now I know that I was just about getting by”

“So what happened?”

“The operation had some complications. I spent a month in Hospital. I still had these dreams. So I did all the preparations for actually making the clothes for the end of year show”

“Do you still have them?”

Liz nodded.

“Where are they?”

“In the hold”

“What do you mean in the hold?”

“They are in my suitcase”

Charlie didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t know until that first night after we left Bill & Kat. She must have had Perkins put them into my luggage while we were having breakfast the day we departed. I’d forgotten I’d left them there all those years ago. I’ve been giving the whole matter a lot of thought. We need as you lawyers are so fond of saying, to put this beyond all reasonable doubt.”

“What’s the grand plan then?”

Liz smiled and held Charlie’s hand.

“You aren’t going to like this but it means we will be going back to London”

Charlie almost fell out of his seat with laughter.

“Now why didn’t I see that one coming?”

Then he added.

“Pilot, stop the plane, we want to get off”

They both laughed themselves silly.

[Continued in part 7]