Easy For Some
by:Wassername 'n 'er cat.
part 16x17 or 17x16.

The salad was brought to the table, although I felt as much like tipping it over Stella as eating it. I was still blushing as she tucked into her Spanish omlette.

The conversation returned to more mundane things and my embarrassment lightened a little. I didn't eat all my salad, my appetite had dwindled and Stella looked at me and the plate.

"Eat it all up or you won't grow up to be big and strong."

The first response that flashed through my brain was two words, the second of which was 'off', the former deriving from old English. Instead I ignored her.

"Not hungry?" asked Tom a few minutes later.

"Not really." I pushed the plate towards the waitress who had arrived at our table.

"Was there anything wrong with it, madam?"

"No, I'm just not hungry today." She nodded at my reply.

"I suppose I'd better get back to work," said Tom picking up the bill.

"Isn't it my turn to get that?" I challenged.

"When you're my age yes, until then pipe down, besides you didn't eat anything."

"I think I'll pop in and look at the dormice." I said and noticed Stella wince. Of course it was where she'd been kidnapped. "Maybe another day," I felt irritated. She had teased me all morning because of that stupid garage bloke but I had to respect her problems going near the university! Damn her.

I drove her home and decided I would go back to the university. "I'll see you later then," I called as she got out of the car.

"What? You're not coming in?" she looked panic stricken.

"What for, you'll be okay for an hour?"

"I don't want to be on my own, you promised me, Cathy."

I had no idea I'd promised her anything, but she seemed to think I had and was getting extremely agitated. I pulled on the handbrake and got out of the car shutting the door less than quietly.

"I'm sorry, Cathy, but I get scared on my own." There were tears in her eyes and I felt very guilty. At the same time I was still annoyed with her.

"It's okay," I said opening the door whereupon Kiki came bounding to meet us. "Shit!"

"What's the matter?" she whimpered.

"The dog should be in the conservatory. Wait here," I hissed at her. I grabbed Kiki and gave her to Stella to hold, along with my handbag. I quietly picked up a walking stick from the stand by the front door and went to search the house.

Each time I went into a room I tried to do something different, I pushed one door wide open, at another I tried to look throught the crack of the door. A nerve-racking five minutes later I was back at the front door, there was no one there nor had there been, one of us had simply not shut the conservatory door properly. I hoped these red alerts would fade with time.

"It's okay, false alarm." I said and took Stella's arm, she hugged me like her saviour and burst into tears. "It's okay, we must have left the door open." She was worse than I thought, so much for psychologists.

I settled her in the lounge and made her a cuppa which seemed to calm her down a little. She started yawning and I suggested she go up for a nap. Reluctantly she agreed.

A few minutes later I was letting Kiki out into the garden when there was a blood curdling scream from upstairs. My blood froze and the hairs on my neck stood on end, I shut the door and locked it, then dashed up the stairs as quickly as my skirt would let me. I burst into her room expecting to have to deal with at least a dozen hoodlums.

Stella was stood shivering by the window, she pointed at the bed, upon which a large female Tegenaria was walking. She was frightened of spiders. I wanted to laugh, but that would have been a little insensitive, "Open the window," I instructed her. She stood looking like a dummy, "Open the bloody window!" I exhorted again and this time she did so, whereupon, I scooped up the offending arachnid in my hands and dropped her out the window.

"Okay now?" I asked closing and locking the window. She nodded and burst into tears again. I hugged her and finally, she stopped shaking. I had never understood arachnaphobia, but then I was a biologist, albeit one who doesn't like rats. Hope I never meet Big Brother, because I share the same fear with Winston Smith who eventually was taken into room 101.

"Thank you," she said very weakly and sat down on the bed.

"You going to be okay or do you want me to stay?"

"I'll be alright, I'll shout if I'm not."

"Right, I'd better get Kiki in," I could hear her barking at something. I looked out the window and saw her lunging towards and retreating from something. I assumed it was a cat or fox, then I saw a foot with a shoe. Then the leg attached to the foot kicked at her and she dodged and kept barking. "There's someone out there, lock this door and don't let anyone in but me, use your mobile if I'm not back in two or three minutes."

I dashed into my room and pulled the bow from the bag in my wardrobe. Grabbing my quiver with six or seven arrows in it, I pulled that over my shoulder and assembled the bow as I ran downstairs. I tensioned it at the bottom of the stairs and loaded an arrow, which I held together with the string in one hand whilst I silently opened the door.

I lifted the bow into firing position and drew back the string, then rushed towards the place I'd seen the leg. Kiki was still barking and before me stood a youth.

"Facking hell, Maid Marion!"

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"What's it to you?"

"I have seven arrows, how would you like to be kebabbed against the fence?"

"You can't do that, this is England, not friggin' Agincourt."

"Don't tempt me, kid, I shot three people here last week, two of them in the head."

"What! You're taking the piss, you can't go around shooting people with a bow and arrow."

"Wanna bet?" I said and drew the bowstring a little more tightly, his face blanched.

"What's happening, Cathy?"

"Call the police, we have an intruder."

"I ain't done nuthin'," he protested.

"Too bad, just don't make any sudden movements."

"Cathy, behind you!" Screamed Stella.

I jumped and spun around as somebody rushed at me, he knocked me over and then he and his friend decided they were going to give me a kicking.

The one who'd knocked me down walked towards me and I managed to get a foot behind his leg and one in front, he fell quite heavily holding what was probably a nasty fracture.

"You bitch, you'll pay for that," his little friend spat and ran at me stopping as the bow made contact with his crotch. He made a funny noise and went very pale, giving me enough time to roll over and get up, he rushed at me again but I sidestepped and he fell on top of his friend. I put the bow in the house and awaited the police.

When I came back the ambulatory one had climbed back over the fence, leaving some of his trousers behind and his friend was in the act of hobbling over it. I let them go, expecting to hear from the police with regard to an assault and threatening with a dangerous weapon. Peculiarly, they didn't come.

I ran back up the stairs once I'd got the dog in and locked the door. "Did you call the police?" I asked Stella.

"My battery's dead."

I nearly said something very unkind then realised if she hadn't stayed at the window she couldn't have warned me and then I might have been in bother.

"You handled that very well," she said hugging me.

"Not really, I should have seen the other one as well."

"What, that was neat rolling and tripping him like that."

"I should have broken his leg, I must be losing my touch."

"For a girl, you're quite a scrapper aren't you?"

"As a wimpish kid, I had to learn how to defend myself. Why didn't they just run instead of looking to fight me?"

"I don't know, maybe they saw a pretty woman and thought...I dunno, a pushover, or even rape. I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders.

"I hadn't even thought of that, ugh." I shuddered and looked out of the window. It was getting dark. It was perhaps, as well that I had stayed instead of going to the university, Stella would not have coped on her own and I suspect, burglary was the motive for our two uninvited guests. I hoped that was all, and I also hoped they wouldn't be back. I gave Kiki some dog biscuits for raising the alarm even if she hadn't been much help beyond that.