Victoria put the chair back, and walked around the room checking to see how visible the camera was. "I think we're done" said Victoria.
Ben took his hands out of his pockets and gave a huge sigh of relief. "Can we go now?" he said.
"Come on, Tiger!" said Victoria, putting an arm around his shoulder and they turned to the door.
It opened.
Giles walked in.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Ben froze, his mind went numb, his bowels weakened, but he didn't soil himself. He was filled with fear and apprehension, with no way of knowing what would happen next. He expected physical violence and that made him feel sick; he expected irate adults and being dragged home to his angry and disappointed parents, and that made him feel sick; he expected blue flashing police cars, interrogations, gruff accusations and threats from burly policemen, and that made him feel sick too. His stomach turned to water and his legs turned to jelly.
Victoria also froze, momentarily, but her mind was not numb, it moved at the speed of light. She calculated, sifted through every piece of knowledge they had about Giles; considered every angle, searching for a way to extricate themselves from this unexpected debacle.
Victoria had thought she'd hear their car; she was expecting that much warning. And then she remembered Helen, when they had been startled by the car earlier, saying "That's not them". Victoria had assumed that Helen had meant she would have recognised the sound of it. But of course, she had meant they hadn't taken the car. The reverend's car was still on the driveway - damnit - she had to learn to be more careful. But why hadn't Emily called to warn them. Had they been caught? Scared off?
"What are you doing in my room?" said Giles sounding completely shocked.
"Don't worry Giles, there's a very good explanation" said Victoria as calmly as she could, and still desperately searching for that explanation.
"I guess this must be yours then" said Giles, holding up Victoria's mobile phone.
Victoria's hand flew to her skirt pocket. It was empty. "Shit!" she thought, it must have fallen out when she took her skirt off or put it on again. The discovery calmed her a little; at least it explained what had happened to Emily and the others.
"Father's going to be furious. I expect your parents will be too" said Giles "Not to mention the police."
"Why?" asked Victoria quickly, she put a steadying hand on Ben's shoulder partly to comfort him, and partly to urge him to silence.
"Breaking and Entry" he said, and then his brow creased "Or did Helen say you could come in?"
"I didn't know anyone was in" said Victoria quickly "Why didn't she answer the door then?"
Giles studied her briefly, he didn't think Helen would have anything to do with this. The presence of a girl in his bedroom was making him feel uncomfortable, making it difficult to think.
Victoria sighed, relief flooded through her as a plan settled in her mind. A dangerous plan admittedly; one she really didn't want to carry out, but it was the best she could up with. She prayed that it would work.
"I came to see you" said Victoria "To apologise about this morning."
"Emily and Alison didn't turn up in the park" he said angrily, and then regretted mentioning Alison. He was still terrified someone might find out what he had done to her. He'd spent most of the day a bag of nerves; paranoid about whom she might have told.
Victoria read something in his face at the mention of Alison's name: he had looked very troubled. "He's scared" she thought, a little surprised.
"No, we had a falling out with Alison" she said "There was a bit of a fight, tempers flared and... well she was pretty upset when we left her. You know what girls are like.... We do get a bit emotional" she continued.
Giles just nodded, his mouth going dry and palms sweating, waiting for what was going to come next.
"We cooled off a bit and went back later. She was still really upset so we tried to comfort her. She wouldn't even speak to us for hours she was so mad, but in the end she came round" said Victoria.
"What.... What did she... say?" asked Giles gripped by terror now.
"She said she was sorry, and she didn't want us to be bad friends" said Victoria.
"Did she say... anything else?" he asked.
"No, not really... should she have?" asked Victoria with a little frown, trying to sound surprised.
"I don't know" he said sharply "Girls are so stupid, they're always prattling on. They shouldn't be allowed out, they should stay at home." He took a breath to calm himself "Anyway, you shouldn't be in here, I'm going to tell father." He started to turn.
"I haven't finished yet" said Victoria crossing over to him quickly, and while Giles was distracted she shot a look of warning to Ben, who still stood, dumbstruck.
"I wanted to see you, that's all" said Victoria draping a casual arm over Giles shoulder. She braced herself, inwardly grimaced and shivered, "You see, the thing is Giles, you're so... manly and attractive.... I think I've fallen for you." She made her hand stroke his shoulder meaningfully.
Something in Giles stirred, something deep, and he started to blush, to breathe heavily. It wasn't a surprise; she was only a girl, and he was the sort of boy who should be looked up to, should be admired. He was only surprised that it had never happened before.
"I'd like to see you, properly" she said "But I'm going to be busy this weekend, maybe next week though. I could show you my fanny, and..."
Giles grew very hot, his face began to burn as he imagined this liaison. His trousers ballooned.
Victoria steadied herself, ready for the big risk. The outcome of the next gamble was crucial; it would make or break the plan. She had told Ben earlier that she didn't get spanked, and she desperately hoped that wasn't going to change anytime soon.
"I've got half an hour now if you like, we could have some fun?" as she said this she forced her voice to get louder and louder, and she started undoing her blouse. She grinned at Giles lasciviously and laughed loudly pulling her blouse open to expose the bare flesh of her tummy, and her bra. She began to dance around the room, trying to mimic a fairy or a ballerina, and she kept laughing gaily.
Giles flew into a panic. He slammed his bedroom door, and shushed her urgently.
"What's the matter? Don't you like me?" asked Victoria feigning upset and disappointment, while feeling elated. She stopped dancing.
"Father will hear" he said in a harsh whisper, his eyes darting backwards and forwards around the room. He looked back at the door, and then returned his gaze to Victoria's bare tummy, fear sat squatly across his features "Or mother!"
"Oh don't be silly" said Victoria loudly and brightly "Won't they be delighted you've got a girlfriend?"
"You've got to go!" Giles said with mounting panic.
Victoria pouted. She was so proud of herself, her plan was actually working, and the pout she gave Giles was her finest moment. She didn't know how she managed it when her whole being was thrilled with the prospect of escape.
"You'll have to go out the window" he said "You can't go downstairs."
"We're on the third floor" said Victoria in surprise.
"It's the only way out" he said.
Victoria buttoned up her blouse, took her mobile from Giles' sticky paralysed fingers, and crossed to the window. She heaved it up, and peered down. The wall below was heavily clothed in thick ivy. It might be possible.
"What if we fall?" she asked "I'm only a girl" she added, and mentally patted herself on the back for that nice touch.
"Better dead than caught" he said ominously.
Victoria looked down again. "Come on girl, let's just get this over with" she said to herself.
"Ben? Over here sweety" she said.
Ben moved for the first time since Giles had entered. He moved quickly on wobbly legs, skirting around Giles and never taking his eyes of him. Victoria put a hand on his shoulder "You first" she said.
"Me? I can't!" he said.
"Of course you can, tiger, boys love climbing, especially big brave boys like you" said Victoria encouragingly. She just wanted to get out and away, she didn't want to have to waste time arguing with Ben, but she knew if she handled him badly this could still turn into a disaster.
"You go first!" he said.
"Alight, but that means you'll be left alone with Giles'," she said beginning to climb onto the window sill.
"I'll go first!" said Ben.
She moved aside for him, gratefully. Ben looked down and his head swam. "Oh no!" he said.
"Go on, tiger! You can do it!" said Victoria.
Ben dangled his legs out of the window, keeping as tight a grip as he could, and he worked his clumsy hands down the ivy one at a time. As soon as she had the room to manoeuvre, Victoria followed him, blowing Giles a kiss as she disappeared.
Giles stood in the centre of his room dumbfounded; struggling to comprehend the powerful feelings of lust which overwhelmed him. He was convinced that this girl he had rightfully captivated would serve him however he wanted her to. As any girl should.
Adrenalin pumped forcefully around Ben's young body, his heart thumped, and his breathing was out of control. As his hands slipped on the ivy he felt himself begin to fall. He let out a cry as the ivy separated from the wall and plunged him the last few feet to the stone path beneath. He landed with a heavy thump on his bottom and cried out again.
Victoria hurried, navigating the descent with greater agility and care. She dropped the last couple of feet landing in a squat beside Ben.
"Are you okay, tiger?" she asked.
"No" said Ben his voice full of self-pity, and rubbing his painful bottom.
"Come on! Somebody might have heard you cry out. We don't want to get caught now, sweety. One last effort and we're home safe and sound" she said tugging on his arm.
Ben's bottom really did hurt, but the words "caught" and "home safe" motivated him beyond the pain. He allowed Victoria to pull him up, but not without wincing.
"We'll go round the front, it'll be a lot quicker" she said, and she set off low and crouched, but at speed. She imagined sentries at each window, the front door about to fly open. She imagined guard dogs being loosed at any moment, searchlights, machine-guns opening up from guard towers. She didn't let any of these thoughts slow her.
"There they are!" said Emily. The others watched as they saw Victoria and Ben sprint the last few yards and slide under the cover of the bushes.
"What happened?" asked Emily, relieved to see them back safely.
"I'll tell you later" said Victoria rolling onto her back and staring up at the dense foliage above her. Adrenalin surged round her body, and she shook with it. She tried to bring her pulse and her breathing under control.
"God that was great!" she said "What a buzz!"
Ben stared at her in disbelief, and began rubbing his bottom again. The others lay waiting; giving Victoria time to recover.
"I fell and hurt my bum" said Ben, instantly regretting drawing attention to himself and his embarrassing bottom. Alison reached a hand over and stroked it sympathetically.
"We need to check the laptop" said Victoria "Make sure the camera's working properly."
Ben grimaced, hoping to God that the camera wasn't broken. He couldn't now remember what awful thing Victoria had threatened to do to him if it wasn't. He felt miserable.
Victoria got up and led them away slowly.
They recovered their bikes and Victoria pulled her laptop out of her locked pannier. The others waited patiently as she booted the computer and picked up the signal from the camera.
Giles lay on his bed, dressed only in his underpants. He looked down at himself almost worriedly. His y-fronts were old, worn, and far too young for a boy of his age. He was fifteen, but his step-mother refused to waste good money on clothes no-one ever saw. He might get new ones when these fell apart, but not before. He knew that other boys wore more grown-up underwear; boxer shorts, or briefs. No-one wore y-fronts anymore, and although no-one outside the family ever saw them, it still bothered him.
He rested his head back on his pillow, and with a sigh he closed his eyes. Suddenly he was sat in the playground at school, on a massive golden throne. Surrounding him were hundreds of other children, all kow-towing. But not Emily and Alison. They stood before him, their skirts raised, their knickers down. Giles stared at their fannies.
Giles felt his penis stiffen and rise. Despite his relative lack of development his pants weren't big enough to contain him, and uncomfortably "it" forced its way out underneath the tired elastic. Giles hand came down and nearly touched it, but he remembered his father"s admonitions. He wasn't allowed to do that, not until he was married, and his fear of his father"s wrath kept his hand at bay.
Suddenly, Emily and Alison drifted to the sides with a curtsey, and as they parted Giles saw Victoria. She glided towards him like a Goddess draped in sheer robes that left nothing to the imagination. Giles' breathing grew more rapid, and he licked his lips. He studied her breasts, her tummy, her fanny, and he sighed, almost whimpering.
Victoria curtsied before him, and lowered herself to a kow-tow, she approached him on her knees, slowly ascending the many scarlet steps to his throne. Wrapping her arms around his legs, she kissed his feet, and then kissed her way up his legs. He sat watching approvingly, and looked around at the hoi-polloi to ensure that they were suitably impressed. Their expressions of fear and admiration exceeded his expectations. Victoria had run out of legs to kiss, and she was pulling herself up him, desperate for his approval. Her expression of docile submissiveness was mixed with an awesome lustfulness. Her kiss addicted mouth, suffering withdrawal, reached his lap.
Giles' hand hovered, ever so close, but he didn't touch himself. didn't quite dare touch himself, despite the ache that filled his body. The leaking end of his painfully erect penis, which had emerged from his childish pants, screamed at him like the serpent in the Garden of Eden "Go on! Try it! One little touch won't hurt!" tempting him to sin.
Giles suddenly jumped as he heard the handle to his door rattle, and he flew under his bedcovers like a rat up a drainpipe.
"Wow, Victoria!" said Emily "That's an amazingly clear picture."
"Maybe too clear" she said distastefully.
"I'd like to know what he was thinking" said Emily.
"No, you probably wouldn't" said Victoria.
"He's not as big as I would have thought" said Alison.
"No hair under his arms either" said Victoria "For a fifteen year old he's really quite backward. And that's all to the good"
"Why?" asked Amy, ever curious.
"Because my darling" said Victoria "it's going to add to his humiliation"
"He looked like was about to start wanking" said Emily "Why didn't he just get on with it?"
"Anticipation" said Victoria "Probably holding off until the last minute, building up the excitement."
Alison giggled "He's got y-fronts. What a baby!" she said.
"Doesn't seem quite so scary now does he" said Victoria. "Amy, you are a genius darling. Even if we don't manage to get any evidence, this is going to be just so entertaining"
"I can't believe he isn't sometimes naughty" said Amy "He"ll have secrets, it might just take time to find them."
"We haven't got too much time" said Victoria "I've bought his silence for the moment, but only at the promise of an... assignation... next week."
Emily retched.
"I can maybe put him off for a while, but if we can't act reasonably swiftly, I'm in deep, and probably very disgusting, trouble" sighed Victoria.
They continued watching.
The door opened, and a sour thin woman entered the room. She left the door open as she walked quickly across the room in small frigid steps. Giles watched her approach with trepidation, his face frozen in fear. When she reached the bed she stared at him for a moment before reaching down and tucking him in.
Giles lay motionless, patiently waiting for this ritual to end. She leaned over and kissed him coldly on the forehead. "Goodnight Giles" she said with no warmth in her voice at all.
"Goodnight, mummy" said Giles in a very quiet and childish voice.
The bag of vinegar turned slowly and slid from the room like a forbidding cube of ice.
"Good God!" said Emily "She always has been a miserable cow, but I never realised how scary she was."
"Giles certainly seem to be terrified of her doesn't he" said Victoria "That might be useful."
"Who is she?" asked Amy.
"That's Grace, Giles' step-mother. His mother ran off with another man a couple of years ago" explained Victoria "It was quite a scandal. There was a divorce, and the Reverend married again six months ago."
"Why's he going to bed already?" asked Alison "It's only half-past eight"
"Bugger!" shouted Ben leaping up "We're late and I promised!"
"You two go. We'll meet up tomorrow" said Victoria.
Ben grabbed Amy's hand and rushed off at speed.
"I'm off home too" said Victoria "I'll keep recording, and watching"
"Lucky cow!" said Emily.
"I'll edit the highlights into a video for you" she said smiling at Emily.
"And me?" asked Alison.
Victoria stroked Alison's hair and smiled at her "You bet!"
"I'm dead" said Ben approaching the front door "Maybe we can sneak upstairs and pretend we've been in all along"
Amy looked at him as if he'd gone stark raving mad "You?" she said "Sneak?"
Ben opened the door as quietly as he possibly could, and as he lifted a careful foot over the threshold a pain shot through his bruised bottom. He stumbled in shock, catching his foot and falling forwards before he recovered his balance.
"Ben?" is that you called Margaret.
"You couldn't even get through the door" said Amy, surprised that even her own low expectations of her brother hadn't been met.
Ben moved neither forwards nor backwards, but remained poised over the threshold. Amy gave him a shove and started trying to figure out how she was going to save her brother yet again.
"Ben?" came their mother's voice from the lounge again.
Amy's shove set Ben in motion again and he trudged up the hall to his doom. Amy closed the front door and followed him more cheerily.
He entered the lounge hesitantly, and saw his mother sat in her usual place on the settee, looking cross.
"What time is it?" she asked sharply.
Ben just stared at her looking resigned.
"I said eight o'clock. I trusted you Benedict Davison, and you've let me down, again" Margaret said angrily.
Ben's face began to redden and tears started forming in his eyes. He didn't move. He didn't speak. He just hoped to weather the storm, and hope it was quick and not too heavy.
"It wasn't Ben's fault, mum" said Amy.
"You said that last time" Margaret snapped at Amy.
"I know, but we had it all planned out. We were all ready to get back at exactly eight o'clock like you said. And we were playing in the park, just waiting. We could have come in earlier, but you said not before eight. And then Ben fell off the swing. He landed on his bottom and I think he hurt it. We didn't want to leave until he was alright and we were so slow because Ben was limping" said Amy.
Margaret looked at Amy and then Ben, and her expression softened.
"Where's dad?" asked Amy, as if everything was now resolved.
"Oh he's still in... I mean... he was tired, and he's gone for an early night" she said feebly.
Feeling a little guilty, especially since she had told them not to return before eight, she got up and gave Ben a hug.
"You"d better come over here darling, let's have a look at you" she said, and Ben felt huge relief flood through him. He flashed Amy a quick smile of gratitude. Amy sat in her father"s chair, since he was absent, and Margaret returned to her own, pulling Ben with her.
"Show me where it hurts darling" she said sympathetically.
He pointed timidly to his bottom, reluctant to draw attention to it, especially for his mother.
"Where exactly" she asked.
He poked a finger at the ischium on the left side.
"Does it hurt?" she asked.
He nodded looking very sorry for himself.
"Alright darling, let me have a look" she said reaching for the top of his trousers.
"No, it doesn't hurt that much!" he cried.
"Don't be silly" she said, starting to undo his trousers.
"Muuum!" he yelled in outrage.
"Benedict!" she said sternly "I have to see. It might be serious darling" she said softening her tone "You might have to go to the hospital"
"it's not that bad, it's only..." he started. The humiliation of his mother seeing his bottom was bad enough, the thought of a hospital full of doctors and nurses staring at it was worse still.
Margaret batted his hands away "Stand still!" she barked, undoing his fly.
Amy smiled. "Poor Ben" she thought "Always getting himself into trouble"
As his mother began to open up the front of his trousers Ben suddenly realised that whatever humiliation he might suffer as a result of his mother seeing his bare bum, it would be nothing compared to her seeing his recently inaugurated willy.
"I can do it" he blurted out in a panic, and he span round, turning his back to his mother and to convince her that she didn't need to take matters into her own hands he pushed his trousers down quickly.
Margaret sighed patiently. Ben had always been shy about his body. His days of unselfconscious nakedness had passed several years ago, and one day, shortly after his eighth birthday he'd got it into his head that he needed to be secretive about it. Keith had told her that it was normal, that boys were just "like that" with their mothers. She hadn't seen him naked, apart from a fleeting glimpse in the bathroom when he was ten and had forgotten to lock the door, and on one visit to the doctor, when he had instructed Ben to get undressed, when he was nine. She had no idea how he was developing, and she had to admit to herself that she wasn't entirely indifferent to finding out.
She looked up, remembering that Amy was still here, and she saw her smiling at Ben.
"Amy, you'd better go upstairs" Margaret said.
Amy had been busy in her own mental space, and before she thought she said "don't worry mum I've seen..." she stopped suddenly, realising what she'd been about to say. What could she say? "Ben's bum lots of times?" No, bad idea. "Lots of boys bums?" No, equally bad idea.
"... lots of.... Cuts and ... grazes" she finished quickly "I'm not squeamish" she added, perhaps a little too cheerily.
"All the same" said Margaret "Shooo!"
Amy got up and left. She was disappointed, but it wasn't really Ben's bum she'd wanted to see, it was his face when their mum was looking at Ben's bum. With Ben turned away from his mother his face would have been pointed straight at her.
Ben was turned, with his back to his mother, his trousers around his ankles and he was bent slightly forwards. He pointed again to his bottom, still wearing his boxer shorts. "it's just there" he said "But it's not anything important" he said trying to convince her.
Margaret looked at the cotton clad spot where Ben was indicating, and then she swept her gaze across her son"s bottom. He was developing very well in this respect; his bottom was one of those bottoms that boys of this age sometimes possessed, that for some unknown reason were just so attractive. Not sexually attractive, she quickly reminded herself, but that were somehow adorable. A picture flashed involuntarily across her mind"s eye - Ben laid across her lap, that bottom bared, her hand about to... "What's got into me..." she thought and cleared her throat noisily.
Ben thought this throat clearing was directed at him, some admonition for not getting on with something. He feared he knew what that something was, but he couldn't bring himself to comply.
"I'm going to have to see properly" said Margaret slightly breathlessly, and she reached for the waistband of Ben's boxer short. She drew them down slowly, her eyes glued to his posterior.
Ben squirmed and squeezed his eyes shut at this awful embarrassment, and he could virtually feel her eyes stroking his bottom. For some reason he couldn't understand his willy began to firm up a little.
"What are these marks?" she asked him feeling the welts that had risen from the riding crop. Ben stayed still, not knowing what to stay.
"Has someone given you a beating?" she asked appalled at the thought.
"No" said Ben "We were playing that's all"
"Playing what?" asked Margaret.
"War. We were playing war, and we had sticks, people were fighting with them and we got a bit carried away" said Ben.
Margaret took a long steady look at Ben's adorable bottom, and becoming conscious of her delay, she put her right hand on his right hip to steady him, and her left explored the lower portion of Ben's left buttock. She pressed carefully.
"Ow!" said Ben.
"Sorry darling" she said, and examined him more gently.
Margaret wasn't a medical expert, but she didn't think the bone was broken; at least everything seemed to be alright. She suspected that he'd just bruised it. At least there were no grazes or cuts.
"I think it's alright" she said "Do you want to come up to the bathroom with me and we'll put some Deep Heat on it?"
"No thanks, it's alright mum, really" said Ben, imagining his mother hauling him up the stairs with his trousers and pants around his ankles, and his now stiff willy bobbing about; with her making comments like "What on earth is that thing?" and "what in the name of God have you been doing with that thing?"
Margaret wanted to turn Ben around; wanted to make sure everything was alright "down there"; she wanted to see. But she didn't. It was plainly obvious to her that Ben was already mortified with shame, and she didn't want to upset him any more than she had to. She drew his boxer shorts back up his legs tenderly. She settled them back in place, but couldn't resist giving him a little pat.
"You can pull your own trousers up" she said sitting back.
As Ben bent down, grabbed his trousers, and pulled them up as fast as the laws of physics would allow, Margaret was thinking. She was thinking about what Diane and Gary had said last night. She couldn't deny, given how shy Ben was, that humiliation would be a very effective punishment for him.
Once Ben had completed his primary mission, he took a step towards the door to escape his embarrassment as quickly as possible. Margaret seized his wrist and pulled him back towards her. She had a sudden and powerful urge to cuddle him and, carefully of course, she pulled him into her lap and wrapped him up in her arms.
"Muuum!" complained Ben.
"You used to like a cuddle once in a while" she said, with a tinge of sadness.
"Only when I was... little" he said.
"Not that long ago" she complained.
Ben did not feel like confessing that he still liked to be cuddled, depending of course on who was doing the cuddling.
"It doesn't matter how old you get Ben, or how big..." Margaret began.
Ben, misunderstanding, and with a wave of guilt, looked down at his lap, hoping that his hard-on wasn't showing.
"... You'll still be my little boy" she finished.
Following Ben's gaze, she too looked down at his lap.
"Oh Ben!" she exclaimed "What did I tell you about those trousers. they're covered in grass stains!"
"Sorry mum" said Ben, and quickly added "It was from falling off the swing."
"I thought you fell on your bottom" she said.
"I did..." said Ben "But then I rolled on my front."
She regarded him sceptically. "Well you're just going to have to wear them again tomorrow morning" she said, as though that would be a punishment. "Then they're going in the wash."
She ruffled his hair, and gave him a kiss on his cutely flushed cheek "And it's about time you had a haircut" she added.
Continued in Chapter Twenty Eight