After the Dreams (Caroline's Company) (17 page)

‘Anyway, you don’t need to decide till you want to, and feel
you are ready. You’ll get all the support you want here. Do you want another
swim? This afternoon sun is really warm.’

Cassie rather surprised herself
by agreeing. Perhaps she was already growing more confident in this setting.

*****************************

As the two girls swam back
towards the landing stage, they saw Janet standing there, waiting as her
husband carefully navigated a rowing boat out of the boathouse.

‘Hello you two,’ she called. ‘We had a rather late lunch.
Sorry we missed you. We’re going to row over to the far bank for some exercise
before tea.’

‘What do you mean “we’re going to row?”,’ said John, as he
pulled closer to the landing stage. ‘You usually just lounge about in the stern
trying to look pretty!’

‘What do you mean “trying”?’ replied Janet. ‘And do watch
out, there are two girls in the water here.’

‘Don’t worry. We’re well clear,’
called out Sadie, as she made sure that Cassie had reached the ladder on the
end of the stage. John had brought the boat alongside where Janet was standing,
and was putting a line through one of the mooring rings.

‘Just you hold that boat steady,’ Janet instructed John.
’You know I don’t like it when it wobbles.’

‘It’s a boat Janet. It floats on water. If you put weight on
one side of course it wobbles!’

‘Well hold my hand then while I
get in.’

The two girls had climbed out
of the water, and were watching as Janet, clutching at her husband’s hand
stepped heavily into the boat, which rocked wildly. Janet, in apparent panic,
let go of the outstretched hand, waved her arms in the air, and fell over the
far side of the boat. The splash was followed by another as Sadie dived cleanly
into the water from the end of the stage, disappeared under the boat, then
surfaced beside the struggling Janet.

‘Thank you dear,’ Janet spluttered, as Sadie supported her.
‘That man knows I’m not very good in the water. He could have held that boat
steadier.’

Sadie propelled Janet towards
the ladder. Cassie had taken the mooring line and John walked up, quite slowly
Cassie thought, to help his wife out of the water.

‘Oh dear, now I’ve got these
clothes all wet.’ Janet flounced her way down the jetty. ‘I suppose I’ll have
to take them off.’ Since she was wearing a wrap round skirt, and a top which
tied round her waist, she managed to do this quite easily, revealing that she
was wearing a white one piece swimming costume underneath, quite high cut, and
showing quite an amount of cleavage. ‘I suppose this’ll dry of in the boat. And
at least I’m not as much of an exhibitionist as you young Sadie!’

It was almost, Cassie realised,
as though she wanted to do a striptease, but wasn’t quite sure whether to, or
quite how to do it. She mentioned this to Sadie, after they had helped Janet
safely into the boat. This impression was reinforced by the white floppy sunhat
which Janet had got her husband to take to the boat, and under which she now
lounged, showing of as much of herself as possible.

‘Yes it does look like that doesn’t it,’ replied Sadie. 
’Excuse me just a moment while I fetch that.’ She slipped back into the water,
and retrieved her bikini top which had come off completely when she had
performed her rescue of Janet.

She re-emerged with her long blonde hair cascading round her
naked breasts. Cassie thought she made a lovely mermaid.

‘I mean I love being an
exhibitionist, as you may have gathered. But Janet never seems quite able to
decide what she wants to be. I think she likes all the display and nudity here,
but seems to hold back from joining in.’

‘Can I ask you a personal question?’

‘Don’t be daft. We’ve been very personal all afternoon.’

‘Last night, when you and
Sylvie were naked, you had a tattoo, in the same place as Sylvie’s, but
it’s...’

‘Oh the double rings, with the male and female symbols. That
was just a temporary tattoo so we matched. It’s probably mostly washed off now
hasn’t it? Caroline doesn’t encourage any of us to do anything permanent until
we’re sure we want it.’

‘So Sylvie’s sure she’s happy to be... a slave?’

‘Caroline’s slave. Of course she is. Can you imagine anyone
being happier?

‘Can I ask you another question?’

‘Go on.’

‘Well, how long...how long did it take for your breasts to
grow?’

‘You don’t need to worry you know. I haven’t had the same
history as you. You’re starting on proper treatment earlier than I did. Anyway,
I’m sure that Jo has told you that we’re all different anyway, and it’s not
just boobs you know, you’ll get a thinner waist, not that you can get much
thinner, and a larger bottom and hips. You wait and see.’

‘Just how long?’

‘Poor dear.  It’ll take as long as it takes. And you are
enjoying yourself anyway aren’t you?’

‘Oh yes,’ replied Cassie, with a blush.

‘I’m sure that everybody else here is enjoying you being
here as well.’  Sadie ran her eyes over the other girl, rather lasciviously.
‘So just carry on Cassie! Sorry, I can’t believe I said that.’

Both girls giggled, and walked up the sun warmed-planks to
the boathouse to shower and change.

Chapter Eight

Several games at once

From the south facing terrace
of the house, Jo and Caroline watched the party on the velvet-smooth croquet
lawn. Sylvie had offered to teach Cassie and Janet how to play. Sadie (who
played a little before) offered to help. The teachers were wearing rather shorter
skirts than might be considered proper for croquet, but all four of them had
flat or wedge heels. Sylvie had pointed out, rather indignantly, to Janet that
stiletto heels would only damage the turf and get her stuck into the bargain.

Caroline watched Sylvie show Janet and then Cassie how to
hold a mallet. The match was to be blondes against brunettes.

‘I think that if Sylvie thinks she can use the game to show
off to those two, she may get a surprise,’ she remarked to Jo.

‘Well croquet can be about the most vicious game played with
balls!’ replied Jo. ‘As well you know Caroline Caraway!’

Caroline, who loved the game, and who had often triumphed
over Jo and David Startway, smiled.

‘But we have beaten you twice as I remember, despite your
cruel and savage nature!’ Jo continued.

‘Only on the croquet pitch,’ replied Caroline, ‘and wasn’t
it three times?’

‘Oh yes. You had that absolutely duff partner, and I had
Poppy, who you thought would be pretty duff as well, but turned out to be much
much better than you were expecting!’

‘That’s because she’s very good at doing what she’s told, Jo
Startway, and I think you realised that straightaway didn’t you?’

‘Well yes I did. She likes having instructions whispered in
her ear, and being told exactly what to do. Whereas your partner, what was his
name, just wouldn’t take your advice would he?’

‘No, and not just about croquet.’

‘Ah well, that just goes to
show that even you Caroline can’t win everything!’  The darker woman pulled the
blonde towards her and kissed her gently, with one hand behind her neck, and
running the other down her back to her bottom.

‘I don’t want to win everything,’ Caroline eventually
replied. ‘Only the things that really matter, and that’s just the same as you
Doctor Startway!  But when I introduced Cassie to Benedict in the nursing home,
I remember them talking about croquet,’ Caroline said.

‘Well I suppose there are stranger subjects for conversation
between an ageing and infirm philanthropist and a young latent transsexual!’

‘Benedict is very good at getting people to talk, as you
know, and he loves finding common ground with other people’s lives. Anyway,
apparently Cassie has played croquet before. There was some kind of club at her
school. She said that she, or rather he as she was then, wasn’t very good, but
I suspect that now she feels more liberated she may deliver a different
result.’

‘Does Sylvie know Cassie has played before?’

‘No she doesn’t. She didn’t ask
and just assumed that she could pose as queen of the croquet court. This will
be interesting!’

The two women moved away from the warm carved stone of the
balustrade round the terrace to the shaded swing seat that looked out over the
croquet lawn and the other gardens to the lake and the hills beyond.  John came
out of the drawing room doors, carrying a tray laden from the tea table set out
inside.

‘Come and sit with us John, and watch Janet get a lesson in
controlled aggression.’ called Caroline. John placed the tray on the
balustrade, and served tea and cake to the two women, who moved apart so that
he could sit between them.

‘I’m not sure that she needs lessons in aggression,’ said
John, ‘but control would be useful.’

‘Well, that was pretty controlled,’ said Jo, as Cassie hit
her blue ball straight through the first hoop.

’Oops,’ came from John as Cassie’s follow through shot
hardly moved her ball.

‘Yes, but local rules say no croquet before the first hoop,
so she should be clear away now,’ commented Jo.

‘But Janet has still got to get through,’ replied Caroline’,
and even with no croquet Sylvie can still block her.’

This Sylvie proceeded to do, first pushing her red ball
through the hoop, and then coming back through to place her ball to stop Janet
hitting her ball through.

Janet, after a sign from Cassie, hit the black ball slightly
to the right of but still behind the hoop. Since the hoop was still blocked,
all Sadie could do was the same thing as Janet, but on the left side.

Sylvie called to Cassie, ‘You should go on now. Janet should
get through after Sadie does.’

Cassie however had her own ideas. However unconfident she
may have been while swimming, she felt at home on the croquet lawn, and wasn’t
going to abandon her partner. Sighting very carefully, she hit her ball back
through the hoop and made a neat croquet with Sylvie’s red ball. Having
positioned her blue ball against the red for the roquet, she made a careful but
powerful stab shot that sent Sylvie’s ball away to the far side of the lawn,
and positioned her own ball so as to block Sadie from getting through the hoop.

‘Good shot,’ came from the spectator’s seat.

‘Where did you learn to do that?’ Sylvie asked.

‘Well I have played a little before, at school,’ replied
Cassie, before whispering an instruction to Janet.

‘You might have said,’ came from an aggrieved Sylvie.

‘You didn’t ask her,’ Sadie
told her partner. ‘It’s going to be a proper match now.’

It was.

Sylvie hit her red ball back
from the far side, but didn’t manage to croquet Cassie’s blue ball. Janet was
able to push her black ball through the hoop, and then made a little hit which
took it about halfway to the next one. Sadie could do nothing but move her
yellow ball to where Janet’s had been, still behind the first hoop.

If Sylvie had thought that
Cassie’s play so far had been merely lucky, the next shot should have convinced
her otherwise. The blue ball moved unerringly to hit the black, used the roquet
shot to push the black through the second hoop, and then went though itself.
Using the follow through, Cassie managed to croquet the black ball again, and
with the roquet positioned both black and blue to line them up for the third
hoop.

There were cries of approval
and prolonged applause from the spectator’s bench.

‘Well done partner,’ Janet
dropped her mallet and hugged Cassie. ‘You’re brilliant, you should take
Caroline on!’

And so the game went on. Sylvie
and Sadie did manage to catch up a little, from having been one-and-a-half
hoops behind, but Cassie’s boldly aggressive tactics pulled away from them
again. What was really noticeable was the flagrant posturing and posing adopted
by Sylvie and Sadie. If either of them played a good shot, they would hug and
kiss, more and more provocatively. When Cassie or Janet played, they would lean
against their mallets, their hips touching. They would smooth down each other’s
skirts, check each other’s faces, and groom each other’s hair.

Janet was reacting to this kind
of competition more than Cassie. Now, after Cassie played a good shot, she
would hug her, and kiss her on the cheek. Then, when Cassie had briefed her to
play quite a difficult shot which had come off well, she dropped her mallet,
turned, waved to her husband, pulled her partner towards her, and with an arm
round Cassie’s  neck and  one round her waist, gave her a prolonged kiss on the
lips. Cassie, carried away by the game could only respond in kind, and with
Janet’s urgent prompting, the two of them became almost as flagrant as their
opponents.  Janet delighted in thinking up more and more provocative poses.
Cassie’s new found confidence allowed her respond in ways the spectators had
not seen before.

‘Well, this is a very educational game,’ Caroline remarked.

‘And croquet always brings out the worst in people!’ came
the reply from Jo.

‘I’m glad Cassie’s enjoying herself. It’ll do her so much
good to beat those two. Sylvie will be shocked to be beaten at her own game;
and Janet certainly seems to entering into the spirit of the thing,’ observed
Caroline to John.

‘I think she’s enjoying it very much,’ came the reply.
’Although I wonder quite how many games are being played out there! You’re
managing to bring out her... latent qualities Caroline.’

‘You think she has...latent qualities?’ asked Jo.

‘Ooh yes,’ replied John. ’She certainly does, and she seems
to be enjoying discovering more and more of them.’

‘Do you think she needs more help?’ asked Jo mischievously.

‘I think that Caroline might manage to arrange for her to
get some... help! In fact, it’s something I was going to mention to you
Caroline. I’ve got a long overseas trip coming up in a few months, and Janet
was wondering whether to come with me. But it’s nowhere she hasn’t been before,
and to tell you the truth she doesn’t really like the travelling. So, if you
invited her, she might very well like to come here and discover more of her...
latent qualities.’