Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The Girl at the Bus Stop by alan14 Copyright(C) 2021 by alan14

   Chapter 50

   We identified ourselves to the receptionist as part of the party using
the main banqueting suite, she summoned a porter who led us to the suite,
he opened the door and the girls gasped.

   The room was huge, bigger than a school sports hall, a stage at one end
and enough room for over a hundred tables around the dancefloor.

   Belle squealed and ran into the room, "Flower!" she cried out as she
jumped into her arms, "you're here!"

   "Yes, I'm here," Flower replied as Belle dropped to the floor.

   "How are you doing, Flower?" Poppy asked as we made our way to her
through the tables.

   "I'm so much better, thank you."

   She looked a lot better, the last time I'd seen her she looked really
ill, she'd fallen into a bad situation and had been using drugs.  Jeremy
had found her a rehab clinic and she was clean, for now.

   "You look beautiful," Belle told her, "You've got your figure back too.
I was so worried when we saw you at Nikki's funeral."

   "Yeah, without Jeremy there was every chance it would have been mine
next," Flower sighed.

   "Why are you here?" Poppy asked, "Not that I'm not over the moon to see
you, but we had no idea where you were to send an invite."

   "I'm working, loads of us are, we're helping to decorate, then we're
serving the meal."

   "Really, that's amazing..."

   "Yeah," Lia replied as she wrapped her arm around Poppy's waist, "it was
Marina's idea, so I phoned Jeremy, he rounded up about 50 kids, some are in
the kitchen, but most will be out here.  We're paying them what the hotel
would pay regular staff, which isn't much, honestly, I was surprised how
little a flash place like this pays their staff.  I wanted to pay them
more, but the hotel said we'd have problems with the regular staff who are
still working tonight if they found out our girls were earning more."

   "I can see that would be a problem," Poppy replied quietly, "could we,
like, slip them a bonus at the end of the night, to all of them, not just
our girls?"

   "Already sorted," Lia told her.

   "Amazing, thank you.  So, what can we do?"

   "First, you tell me how it went with the bishop, then I need someone to
put cloths on all the tables, and flowers.  I would ask you to put the
knives and forks and stuff out, but you need special training to do that
job."

   "Really," Belle asked.

   "Yep, it's all silver, you can't touch it with your hands, and you need
to use a ruler to make sure everything is positioned exactly right."

   "Oh wow, I barely know which hand to hold stuff in, I'd be screwed
setting the tables," Flower replied as she picked up a bag of ribbons, "now
to find a ladder and hang these from the ceiling."

   "So, the bishop was lovely," Poppy told Lia as they followed her to grab
some tablecloths, "she was very understanding, and really annoyed about me
being chucked out for flashing.  She told me they had no right to punish me
for displaying, and I quote `God's glory' in his house."

   "Wow," Lia replied, "and let me tell you, God definitely did his best
work with you Poppy."

   "He did pretty nicely with you, Lia," Poppy laughed.

   We spent a couple of hours hanging decorations, blowing up balloons,
dressing the tables, and pinning posters Frank had printed on the walls.

   At 6 o'clock Jeremy returned with a DJ and lighting engineer, they set
about their work turning a corner of the room into a DJ booth.

   Marina arrived at 6:30, "oh wow, you've made the room so pretty. 
Listen, I've just been speaking to the kitchen guys, they're running a
little behind, so could you both speak for maybe another 15 minutes, just
so there's no lull before the food starts to come out."

   Poppy went pale, "I don't really want to speak at all, never mind an
extra quarter of an hour."

   "I'll speak all night," Belle told Marina, "I'll talk about the auction,
maybe get some early bids in, did you get anything else or are we just
auctioning Katie's dress."

   "Don't you worry Belle, I've got a lot of stuff for you to auction."

   "Cool, oh, before I forget, I don't know if there's a guest list, but
could you put Bishop Sophie's name on the door."

   Marina raised her eyebrows, "you've invited a bishop?  I need to know
the story there."

   "Err, we met her this morning," Poppy replied, "I was arrested for
flashing my boobs at a policeman in St Paul's last year, I found out about
it this week.  I was probably off my tits at the time and had completely
forgotten about it.  Mum told me about it when we went to tell her boss
about some stuff."

   "Flashing a policeman, now that's ballsy, but doing it in the most
famous cathedral in the land, I am very impressed Poppy.  Then you go and
apologise to the bishop and invite her to your launch, you're amazing,
girl, fucking amazing."

   Marina pulled Poppy into a hug, she was a few inches taller, so Poppy
ended up being squished into Marina's chest, Belle was very jealous.

   With the room dressed we went to find our rooms.

   Marina had secured us a pair of rooms on the 5th floor, a family suite
and a King Suite, Lia and Katie had the King Suite, which had one king size
bed and a small sitting room, Jenny, myself, Poppy and Belle had the family
suite, which had a king size bed in one room, two doubles in another room
and a small sitting room.

   All our cases had been taken to our room, the Poppy and Belle's dress
carriers were placed carefully on the beds.

   After we'd showered, Poppy unzipped Belle's dress carrier and Belle got
her first look at her dress.

   "Oh my God!!" Belle squealed, "are you fucking kidding me!  I get to
wear this tonight!"

   "Do you like it?" Poppy asked, unsure about Belle's reaction.

   "It's amazing, I love it.  It's totally me isn't it."

   "That's what I thought the minute I saw it."

   "And Maisie Williams wore this?"

   "Yep," Poppy replied, pulling a magazine page out of the carrier, "here
she is wearing it at a film premiere."

   "Do you think it's been washed since she wore it?"

   "I hope so," Poppy laughed.

   "Ahh, I'll just have to pretend they haven't," Belle sighed as she gave
it a sniff.

   "OK, drop your towel sweetie, let's get you fastened into your dress."

   Belle dropped her towel and stepped into her dress.

   "Where are your panties, Belle?"

   "I'm not wearing them."

   "Have you seen how short this dress is?"

   "Yeah, but my panties are white, and the dress is black.  If you'd
wanted me to wear pants you should have told me what colour dress I was
wearing."

   Poppy looked at us, we shrugged.

   "OK, but you cannot bend down near anyone with a camera Belle, I don't
want to be looking at your lady garden in the papers on Monday."

   "I promise to try to behave," Belle replied, smirking.

   "That's not the same as promising to behave, and you know it."

   "You know me Poppy, I do try," Belle pleaded as she pulled the dress up
her body.

   "I know you Belle, and that's why I love you."

   "Mmm, maybe my boobs are a little bigger than Maisie's, and my bum,"
Belle gasped as Poppy worked hard to fasten the zip on her dress.

   "OK, you're secured," Poppy laughed, "can you breathe?"

   Belle clambered off the bed and walked around the room, parading in
front of the spotless mirrored wardrobe doors.

   "I can breathe, and I can move, and I look fucking amazing.  Thanks
Poppy, this dress is fantastic.  What are you wearing?"

   Poppy opened her dress carrier, lifting out an elegant, but simple black
dress.

   "Ohh, it's a Ralph Lauren, you like his shirts."

   "Yeah, they're so comfy.  Lia and I got our dresses from a charity shop
in Kensington, Lia's is a Moschino, it's quite bright, because she's a
bright person.  I wanted this because look what it does when I put it
on..."

   Poppy dropped her towel and slipped into a pair of black panties before
stepping into the dress.  Belle zipped it up, then Poppy adjusted herself
before turning so Belle could enjoy the view.

   "Oh my god Poppy, I've never seen you with such an amazing cleavage."

   "It's nice isn't it," Poppy replied, gifting us with her first genuine
smile in days.  "There's these little pads like they put in bikinis, so
everything is pushed together.  I love it."

   "So do I, you're making me feel all funny inside," Belle replied as she
fastened Poppy's pink heart pendant around her girlfriend's neck.

   I have to say, I've never seen anyone look more beautiful than Poppy did
just then, her smile made her whole face glow.

   "I don't know about Belle, but you're making me weak at the knees,"
Jenny told her.

   "Is that one of Helen's dresses?" Poppy asked.

   "It is, took us a while to find one that fit my boobs and my bum, I'll
have to be very careful when I sit down."

   "It's definitely worth the effort, you look amazing."

   I was the last to get dressed, Poppy helped me with my tie as Jenny took
many photos of Belle as she posed in every part of the suite.

   "You know, if you want to be with Marina tonight don't worry about
breaking your promise to me.  I'll be fine with Belle and mum."

   "It's nice of you to say that, Poppy, but tonight is your night, and I
want to spend it with you."

   "But how often do you get to sleep with a princess?"

   "Every night, Jenny's a princess in my eyes."

   "Don't be silly, Marina is a real princess, and she's so hot, and I'm
pretty sure she wants you."

   "Not as much as she wants Lia.  Anyway, you're a goddess Poppy, so you
easily trump a princess."

   Poppy pressed her lips to mine, she kissed me hard for the longest time,
"oh wow," she gasped as we parted, "it's a while since we've kissed
properly, I'd forgotten how hot you make me.  Ahh, you'll need to wash your
face," she apologised after looking at the lipstick stains on my lips,
"sorry about that."

   After I'd removed Poppy's lipstick traces, I phoned Lia to see if they
were ready.

   "Marina is just sewing Katie into her dress, we didn't feel confident
about the tape."

   "Isn't sewing the dress a bit drastic?  What if she needs to loo?"

   "She can't go for a wee until after the auction."

   "Feel free to pop in our room when you're ready, Belle is dying to show
everyone her dress."

   A few minutes later Belle dashed to let her sisters in the room, "Oh
wow!" she cried, "you all look gorgeous."

   She wasn't wrong, we'd already seen Katie in her dress, but we didn't
get the full effect as she was nervous about it falling down.  Now,
however, the dress was secure, and she moved with grace and confidence.  As
she moved, the dress shimmered like fish scales.  It was an amazing dress.

   Lia was wearing a sheer red dress that stopped mid-calf, with a split up
one side that went dangerously high, Belle would not be able to wear this
dress without panties.  Coupled with a good bra the dress showed Lia in a
new light, and I was a bit jealous of Katie and Marina.

   Then I shook my head, tonight I had Poppy, Jenny and Belle; there was no
need for me to be jealous of anyone.

   Marina was wearing a floor length blue gown, it was very elegant and
probably cost a fortune, yet she still didn't look as good as Poppy and Lia
in their charity shop dresses.  Given the choice between an actual princess
and any of my girls, I'd take any and all my girls every single time.

   Poppy checked her watch, "it's almost 7:30, I think we need to be
downstairs."

   "Yep," Marina replied, "you, Belle and Katie need to be on the stage,
Lia and I will greet people at the door.  Jenny and Alex, if you could
mingle with Jeremy, that would be great.  I know Jeremy is a lovely guy,
but he looks terrifying, so you can help stop people running away when they
see him."

   Back downstairs we entered the function room from the staff entrance at
the rear.  The room was empty apart from a dozen serving staff holding
trays of champagne, Poppy and Belle smiled at their friends as we passed on
our way through the room.

   Jeremy appeared from the kitchen and nodded to his DJ, who took this as
the signal to start the music and drop the light level a little.

   Poppy, Belle and Katie climbed the steps up to the stage as Lia and
Marina opened the doors.  I saw maybe 50 people waiting and recognised a
few quite famous people.

   "Bloody hell," Jenny whispered, "Marina wasn't kidding about filling the
room with the rich and famous."

   Jenny and I mingled for the next hour as a parade of famous and
beautiful people arrived, along with Jenny's boss, DCS Williamson, and
Bishop Sophie.

   As the arrivals slowed Belle stood and picked up the microphone.

   "Hey everybody!  So many people here, thank you all for coming to our
little charity launch..." she paused as everyone stood and clapped.

   `Thank you so much!" she continued as the applause subsided, "so, I'm
Belle, do you like my dress?  It used to belong to Maisie Williams, who
knew she's exactly the same size as me, so first off, I want to thank Erma,
who provided my dress and the amazing dress my sister Katie is wearing,
later tonight we're auctioning Katie's dress, along with some other stuff.
If you like these dresses and you don't win the auction, check out Erma's
shop in Mayfair, the address is on the back of the programme cards.

   "OK, so you're all here to learn about the work our charity is going to
do, and then you're going to give us loads of money so we can do that work,
then we feed you, then you dance off the calories, does that sound like a
plan?"

   Belle's next words were drowned out by laughter and applause, Poppy had
so much love in her eyes as she watched Belle work the crowd.

   "So yeah, let me introduce everyone involved with the charity; first we
have Poppy, the most beautiful person in the world, she saved my life a
couple of years ago, and that's just one tiny reason why she's a goddess in
my eyes.  Next to Poppy is Katie, one of my best friends in the whole
world. Over by the doors in the red dress is my fourth sister, Lia, can you
all just stop for a moment and marvel at how beautiful she looks in that
dress, and OK, now her face is the same colour as her dress, lovely.  Next
to Lia is an actual princess, I never imagined two years ago when I was
sleeping in squats and under bridges that one day I'd have a member of the
royal family in my phone contacts, but these are strange days..."

   She paused again to let the laughter die down and for Lia to stop giving
her daggers for making people look at her, then she ploughed on with the
introductions, pointing out Jenny and myself, Helen, Nita, JoJo, Jeremy,
then named every one of the street kids amongst the serving staff, "and if
someone will give me a list of the hotel staff working tonight, I'll name
you all as well, because everyone here tonight deserves a mention for the
great work you're all doing."

   Poppy finally stood and nervously took the microphone from Belle.

   "Err, hello everybody, thanks for coming ...  ahh, I'm afraid I'm not a
natural performer like Belle, so I'll keep this brief then Belle can bring
the fun back.

   "So, as Belle mentioned, we were both homeless, as was Lia and all the
people she mentioned from the serving team.  Without going into detail,
life on the streets is unbelievably grim, and for a lot of reasons it's
incredibly difficult to escape from that life.  I was lucky, Alex found me
before I died and took me home, where his kindness and central heating
brought me back to life, then his sister Helen and her girlfriend Nita
helped to heal all the wounds a few evil men inflicted on me.

   "Not everyone is lucky enough to have someone pluck them to safety, so
this is where we will come in.  We will help to feed street people, we have
food, we have kitchens, we have people ready to cook and distribute the
food.  We'll start this work on Monday, and we have enough cash to keep
doing it for a few weeks.  This means we'll need more cash to carry on
beyond then.

   "We also have supplies of clothes, personal care products and
contraceptives ...  yes, contraceptives," she repeated after a few people
started giggling, "because street kids have a lot of sex, most of it with
people of dubious sexual health, so condoms come in handy.

   "We're also hoping to start some workshops to help people gain job and
life skills, and we're hoping to set up counselling sessions, because
believe me, there's a lot of damaged people out there, I was one of them.

   "I know a few people are wondering about how we plan to lift people off
the streets.  That's a huge task, and not our priority at first.  We want
to feed people, keep them warm and well.

   "In the future we have a plan to erect temporary accommodation units on
vacant land, we have a partner ready to build the housing pods ...  give
everyone a wave JoJo ...  but we need an absolute shitload of cash before
we can even think about that project, so in the meantime we plan to help
people gain skills to get jobs, then we'll give them some nice clothes and
try to hook them up with a room somewhere."

   As everyone applauded Poppy, Katie stood and took the microphone, an
extremely grateful Poppy smiled and resumed her seat.

   "OK, so Poppy outlined what we want to do, the most important job is to
get hot food into kids' bellies.  I wasn't homeless myself, thankfully, but
living with Poppy, Belle and Lia has brought me a lot of first-hand
knowledge, and I've been out to the streets with them, talking to their
friends.  Some of the kids out there are so young, they need all the help
we can give them.  So, food first, then clean clothes, soap and shampoo,
period products and a good hug.

   "To do this we need money, the food we're getting from supermarkets and
wholesalers and bakers, it'll mostly be free, but we need money to run the
kitchens, to put fuel in the bikes and vans to get the food to the people,
to rent storage units, to run the office, oh yeah, the office..." Katie
paused as she picked up a remote, pushing a button the backdrop changed to
a projected image of the office, "how cute is our office?  It's in our back
garden, this is where Lia will work to coordinate everything, she's done so
much already from the kitchen table, now she's got a cute office with
pinboards and a big table and everything, all thanks to JoJo, give everyone
a wave again!

   "So yeah, money, I know we keep mentioning it, but we need lots of it.
Poppy and Belle are writing a book about their time on the streets, we've
given cameras to loads of kids out there to take photos of their
experiences of life, they'll go in the book with Poppy's and Belle's words.
Thanks to Alex's brilliant publishers, that book will be out by Christmas
and all the money will go to the charity.  That's one way we'll get some
cash, and we've got a lot already tonight from ticket money..." Katie
paused as Lia waved, "oh yeah, and we've got a bucket of cash from
donations on the door, so that's great, thank you to everyone for that.  It
almost seems ungrateful to ask for more money, but I guess you knew what to
expect when you arrived, so I'll move onto the auction portion of the
night.

   "The main prize is this," she paused as she waved her hand up and down
her body, "ahh, not me, the dress, as worn by Cara Delavigne at the Met
Gala I believe, and kindly donated by Erma, details in the programme.  We
also have," she paused again as Belle handed her a sheet of paper, "fuck
me, really!" she whispered, Belle nodded, "it seems we have a long list of
things you can fight to buy, and this dress is no longer the main prize, I
hope you've all brought your gold cards, you're going to need them.

   "So, we have a cruise around the Norwegian Fjords in a first-class
cabin. I've always wanted to see the Fjords, I'm jealous of whoever gets
that one.  We also have, and this is the one I can't believe, we have a
Bugatti Chiron, a real one, for a weekend, and that's my jealousy level
knocked up a step or two.  We have a pair of business class flights to New
York, a week in Naples, a set of Louis Vuitton luggage, a few spa days, a
week in the Cotswolds, a case of champagne, mmm a share of a cask of
whisky, I'm not sure what you'd do with that, maybe whoever wins it can let
me know.  What else, let's see, oh, 6 laps of Silverstone in a McLaren
Senna, that one sounds like fun, oh there's loads here, Belle assures me we
have pictures of everything to project on the screen, so I'll hand her the
microphone and let the shopping begin ...  Oh, before I go, whoever buys
this dress, I'm a size 12 and it's a teeny bit tight, so you probably need
to be a 10 unless you're as handy with a needle as Lady Marina, who sewed
me into it earlier."

   Belle took the microphone and waited for the laughter to die down.

   "That was so nerve-wracking," Katie whispered to Poppy.

   "You did so well, look at them laughing at your speech."

   Belle tapped her microphone politely and the room fell quiet, "OK, so
shall we start with lot 1, which is..." she waited for the first image, "a
nice blue Bugatti Chiron for a weekend, courtesy of our friend Sally at
Wimbledon Prestige Rentals, I hope she's checked this with her boss, or
she'll be in a whole heap of trouble..."

   For an hour Belle held the room in the palm of her hand as she extracted
ludicrous sums of money, the Bugatti raised £30k alone, which I thought was
insane, but Sally, who was in the room and had cleared the rental with her
boss, said that's pretty much what it would have cost anyway.

   The last lot was the dress, and bidding rapidly headed towards 6
figures, as Belle dropped the hammer at £125,000, Marina stepped behind
Katie and cut the stiches holding the dress closed.

   The room gasped, and more than a couple of women put a hand in front of
her partner's eyes as the beautiful dress tumbled off her shoulders,
revealing not a naked Katie, but a t-shirt emblazoned with the charity logo
and Thank You!

   Poppy was trying to add everything up but her fingers were trembling,
Jeremy stepped up and whispered the total.

   "Oh my god!" Belle cried into the microphone, "I have to echo Katie's
t-shirt, and by the way, don't I look cute in the logo?  So yeah, thank
you, thank you, thank you all so much.  I can't believe the number Jeremy
just told us, it's going to keep the charity running well into next year
ready for when the book money starts to flow in.

   "We will be running more fund raising events, and Lia has hinted at
entering the London Marathon on our behalf, so if anyone wants to join her,
there's entry details in the booklet.

   "Anyway, now you're all broke, I guess it's our job to feed you ...  Oh,
and I'm not sure what the policy is in posh places like this, but please
feel free to tip your waiter.  Half of the serving staff are homeless, and
you won't know which half, so please be generous to all of them."

   The DJ started some quiet music and the serving staff brought out the
starter, lightly spiced pumpkin soup with a swirl of creme fraiche.  Belle,
Poppy, and Katie left the stage and joined the family table.

   Marina took her seat between Jenny and Lia as the starter arrived,
"well, I don't think I've ever attended a charity event quite like this. 
We'd normally need to book an expensive comedian to provide that level of
entertainment."

   "Did we do OK then," Belle asked.

   "OK?  You were amazing, all of you."

   "Dropping Katie's dress was genius," Poppy told her.

   "Did you see the women cover their men's eyes; it was so funny."

   "Did you see the press taking photos?" Lia laughed, "Like we'd have a
15-year-old flashing her boobs to the room."

   "I kind of am," Poppy replied.

   "You're a lot more modestly dressed than some people in here," Helen
told her, "Although I've got no room to talk, if I eat much of the main
course I'm definitely going to have to nip to our room to change into
something more comfortable."

   The starter was followed by a palate cleanser, a minted pea sorbet
designed by Belle and her teacher Mr Newbold, who sadly couldn't attend as
he was away for the weekend.

   "Did you make this?" JoJo asked Belle.

   "Well, I didn't make it tonight.  I invented it at school with my food
tech teacher.  I say invented, we took a recipe he already had and made it
loads better."

   "It's amazing, I love it."

   "What we've tried to do with tonight's menu is take the kind of food
we'll make for the streets and give it a Michelin Star twist." Belle told
us, "That pumpkin soup you had can be made really cheaply, especially
around Halloween when small pumpkins are basically left to rot as nobody
wants them, but we added orange and saffron and some tiny gold flakes, it's
decadent but not hugely different to the food we'll be serving next week."

   "The soup was awesome," Marina replied, "I can't wait for the main
course."

   The music dropped down a few notches, "ahh shit, that's my cue," Belle
whispered, "back in a sec," she added as she dashed back to the stage.

   "OK folks, I hope the starter and amuse bouche went down well.  So,
anyone who's read the programme from front to back will know what to do
now, but for anyone who forgot their reading glasses, or have been having
too much fun to be doing homework, I'll give you a helping hand.

   "In case you haven't realised, the theme for tonight's menu is Michelin
Star Street Food, I've pimped the food we'll be serving from the street
canteens, although I doubt we'll be doing many amuse bouches.

   "I didn't know which main course to make, so we've done two, they're
both twists on the simplest meals you can make.  On the tables are some red
and green cards, if you want veggie casserole with vegan dumplings hold up
the red card, if you want mushroom, pea and parmesan risotto hold up the
green card.  If you want to try both feel free to hold up both cards, we
have some plates made up with both meals."

   Helen hugged Belle as she returned, "This is such a great menu, how did
you come up with the idea?"

   "I was really concerned about the thought of launching a charity for
homeless kids with a grand banquet at the Savoy.  So I thought about how
much fun it would be to serve simple food in such a grand hotel.  So once
that idea was floated, Lia thought it would be good if we got some of our
street friends in to serve the food."

   "I wanted all the servers to be street kids," Lia added, "but Marina
quite rightly pointed out it would be chaos if we did that, we needed some
experienced staff to show our people what to do."

   "On that note," Marina joined in, "chef is very happy with some of your
friends, he's pretty sure he can give them regular work."

   "Seriously!" Poppy replied, "that's amazing news.  Oh man, this is just
the perfect start."

   "I'm going to bring the chef out at the end," Belle continued, "he
deserves so much praise for taking such a lowly menu and dialling it up to
11."

   After the dessert course - which was the most delicious chocolate
brownie I have ever eaten, served with an amazingly rich custard that Belle
told us was made with duck eggs and Jersey milk with more of the very
expensive saffron the hotel had gifted her - Belle returned to the stage,
where she was treated to a tremendous round of applause.

   "Ahh, thank you so much, but you shouldn't be clapping me.  Flower,
honey, could you fetch Mark please."

   A few moments later Flower returned with the chef, he stared resolutely
at the floor as she led him up the steps to the stage.

   "I'm really sorry Mark, I know you don't follow the usual trend for
chefs to crave attention, but I feel you deserve it tonight for using your
fancy kitchen and all your highly trained staff to make what is essentially
pimped street food."

   Mark kept his eyes to the floor as Belle held out her microphone, "err,
thanks Belle, it was a fun challenge.  Let's not be snobs though, we might
have used very basic ingredients tonight, but they're all organic, and
they're all easy to turn into simple, delicious meals.  I've been working
with a few of the guys who'll be staffing your kitchens this week, and let
me tell you, I learnt a few tricks off them I'll be using in future menus
in this hotel."

   "The custard was heavenly tonight, I guess we won't be able to recreate
that in the street kitchens."

   "Not unless you can get a steady supply of duck eggs and saffron, but
even without them, if you use good free-range eggs you should be fine. 
Cooking isn't all about using the finest ingredients, it's about getting
the best out of what you've got.  What I've been teaching your guys this
week is about thinking on your feet.  When you're running a food project
you can't have fixed menus, because you can't guarantee you'll have the
same ingredients every day, so you need to be creative with recipes. 
Something like a soup or a casserole, providing you have onions, potatoes
and carrots you're laughing, the magic happens with the stuff you add.  I
recommend you keep a lot of mixed herbs and gallons of Worcestershire sauce
handy."

   "Thanks Mark, and thank you so, so much for your help with the team."

   "And thank you Belle, I had a ball working with the ingredients list you
gave me."

   As Mark left the stage the DJ started the music, "OK folks," Belle
announced, "if you'd all like to move to the bar area for a few minutes
we'll get these tables cleared and we can get this party started."

   Our family table was away from the dance floor, so we didn't have to
move, a girl brought a tray of drinks.

   "Hey Molly," Lia called across the table, "how's it going?"

   "Hey Lia, tonight's been great, Mark has said I can have regular work,
same with Flower and Ruby.  We don't even need an address yet; we can get
clean and changed here in the hotel and he'll pay us cash until we get
ourselves sorted."

   "That's fantastic," Belle replied, "I just knew we had an ally with
Mark."

   Poppy jumped up and waved, "hey!  So glad you could come!"

   Bishop Sophie smiled and walked over, she was wearing a simple but
elegant black dress with a double string of pearls.

   "Hi Poppy, is this your family?"

   "It's my family and a few other people," she replied, standing so Bishop
Sophie could have her seat, "everybody, this is Bishop Sophie, she was so
nice to me this morning I just had to invite her."

   Jenny held out her hand, "I think we've me, DC Jenny Wilde."

   "Oh yes, I remember, the child protection conference.  Good to see you
again Jenny.  It looks like you've got your hands full."

   "They're no trouble at all, Belle is a scamp, but Poppy does all the
mothering for me.  Have you enjoyed the evening?"

   "I don't remember ever having so much fun.  I might regret buying the
share of the whisky cask, but I had to buy something in the auction."

   "How does that work?" Katie asked her.

   "My husband would be able to explain it better, but basically, we'll get
a share of however many bottles come out of the barrel.  The number of
bottles drops the longer you keep the barrel.  I think what happens is all
the people who own shares decide when to bottle the contents."

   "Will you get to keep the whisky?" Poppy asked.

   "I phoned Gerald, my husband, before bidding and asked him.  He said we
can keep all out bottles, or let the broker sell them on our behalf."

   "Oh, so it's like an investment," Katie replied, "I like that idea. 
When will you see the whisky?"

   "I think you said the barrel is five years old..."

   "Hang on a sec," Belle broke in, "I'll find the sheets."

   As Belle ran to the stage a photographer dashed over with his camera
ready.  I watched as he lifted his camera hoping to get a shot up Belle's
skirt, unfortunately for him Poppy and Jeremy both saw what he was doing.
Poppy ran over and placed her palm over his lens.

   "She's 14 you pervert," she yelled in his face as Jeremy grabbed him by
the neck and led him away.

   "I told her to wear knickers," Poppy fumed as she walked back a moment
later, "did she listen, nooo.  Err, sorry about that," she added brightly,
"it seems Belle's plan to not wear any underwear has caused a stir among
the photographers, hopefully they'll see sense and not force Jeremy to
persuade them to delete the photos."

   "What just happened?" Belle asked.

   "When?" Poppy replied.

   "Just then, I saw Jeremy dragging a man away."

   "Sorry sweetie, no idea we were just chatting, did you find the sheet
you were looking for?"

   "Yes!  It was right at the bottom of the pile.  It says here the whisky
was distilled over five years ago and will be good for bottling between
five and ten years from now.  I guess someone will know when it's ready."

   "Thank you, I'll leave it to my husband," Sophie said as she took the
sheet from Belle, "and on that note, I really should be getting home."

   "Don't you want to stay for a dance?" Belle asked.

   "I'd love to, tonight has been a lot of fun, but I've a busy day
tomorrow."

   "But tomorrow's Sun..w." Belle started before she slapped her forehead,
"ahh, you're a Bishop, I guess Sunday is your busiest day."

   Sophie laughed, "it kind of is."

   "Do you live in St Pauls Cathedral?" Belle asked.

   "Oh no, but I don't live far away.  Mmm, do you know the Five Guys
opposite the main entrance to the Cathedral?"

   "Oh yes, we ate in there mum once," Belle replied excitedly, "I love
their fries."

   "Well, I live right next door."

   "Oh, so it's handy for take out then," Belle mused, "do you need us to
get you a taxi?"

   "Oh no, my husband is coming for me, actually," she looked at her watch,
"he should be here now.  Take my card Poppy, I very much want to work with
your charity.  You're doing important work, and you're doing it from a
sense of duty, not because it's something that will look good on your CV."

   Poppy slipped Sophie's card in her cleavage, "ahh, sorry, that's
probably not the most appropriate place for your card," she giggled, before
retrieving it and passing it to Jenny.

   "I don't know, it looked pretty secure in there."

   "Tell me about it, I can barely breathe in this dress."

   "I'm fine in my dress, I'm getting plenty of air," Belle laughed.

   "Yes, we know..." everyone at the table replied.

   "What do you mean?"

   "A few people have noticed your lack of underwear," Jenny told her.

   "Ahh, I've tried to be careful."

   Sophie put her hand on Belle's, "God loves a trier, Belle.  You look
amazing in your dress, maybe don't jump about too much when you're dancing,
and if you drop anything, don't bend down to pick it up, get someone else
to do it."

   "Oh, is it that short?"

   "Yes!" Poppy told her.

   "Ahh, sorry..." she paused, " ...  can I still dance?"

   Poppy leaned over and hugged her sister, kissing the top of her head,
"of course you can dance, Jeremy's chased all the nasty photographers
away."

   "Just to be safe, we'll dance round you and Poppy," Katie told her.

   "Have a wonderful night girls, you deserve it," Bishop Sophie said as
she stood and hugged Poppy, "I don't know what you were like during your
previous life Poppy, but I do know that if you were my daughter, I'd be
proud of who you've become."

   "Thank you, that means so much."

   Sophies phone rang, she looked at it and turned back to Poppy, "remember
my card, I'll take personal charge of our links to your charity," before
answering the call, "Gerald!  Yes I'm just coming now, it's been a
wonderful evening, so good to see young people doing such great work..."
she turned to leave, waving.

   "Oh oh!" Belle cried as Sophie left the room, "Amber's here at last!"

   "I'm so sorry about being late," Amber gushed, "I had a hell of a
morning and ended up missing the train."

   "Where's Maisie?"

   "She's in the ladies, she'll be here in a sec."

   "What about Janet?" Belle asked.

   "Ahh, she's not here, she didn't want to come back to London, too many
bad memories she says."

   "Ahh, I suppose," Belle replied, then she perked up as Maisie entered
the room, "oh my god!" she gasped, "she looks gorgeous."

   And she did, she was wearing a black and white polka dot dress with a
wide skirt that stopped at her knees, the boddice was tight and fitted,
showing a whole heap of cleavage.

   "You look fantastic!" Belle cried as she ran to her friend and gave her
a big hug.

   "Are you sure?"

   "Yes, the dress is perfect for you."

   "Amber found it for me, we went shopping yesterday when mum was at
work."

   "Why isn't Janet here?"

   "She's working today, but I bet she could have got the day off if she'd
asked."

   "We got you a room, for you and Janet."

   "It's OK, I'll be fine on my own."

   Belle turned to Poppy, she looked a little nervous as she asked, "Poppy,
would it be OK if..."

   Poppy had been talking to Helen, she looked at Belle, then she smiled
when she saw Maisie, "Oh wow Maisie, you look amazing.  Of course you can
Belle."

   "What have you just agreed to?" Katie asked her.

   "Belle wants to sleep with Maisie, of course she can."

   "And where do I sleep?" Amber asked.

   "With me, dad and Jenny, of course.  We heard about your exploits and
Jenny wants a taste."

   Amber looked and Jenny and smiled, "I'm more than OK with those
arrangements."

   Now their group was complete the girls ran to the dancefloor, as
promised, Katie, Lia, JoJo, Amber and Maisie created a protective cordon
around Belle so she could jump around as much as she liked.

   Jenny brought drinks, "we should take them out more often," she said as
we took our drinks from the tray, "just look how much fun Belle and Poppy
are having, why haven't we taken them somewhere they can dance before?"

   "I don't know, it's not something I've ever thought about.  Anyway,
Belle dances all the time."

   "Poppy doesn't though, and she should, she moves well."

   "Who's the girl between Lia and Katie?" Marina asked as she joined us.

   "That's JoJo," Helen replied, "she's my first client."

   "Ahh, I remember, JoJo works for the people who made your office."

   "Her granddad founded the company."

   "I see, and you say she's your first client, Helen, in what way?"

   "She's an aspiring model, she's lacking some skills, but I'm going to
mentor her, and be her agent."

   "Mmmm, a model, she's got the looks and the figure, that's for sure."

   "She really has, she just needs to learn how to carry herself properly,
and to find her best poses."

   "So, are you setting up your own agency?"

   "I don't plan to, this is just a diversion, my primary focus is on
counselling and therapy.  I took JoJo on as a favour, I was only going to
give her some advice and find her a decent agent, but she's such a
wonderful girl I thought I'd take her on myself."

   "I've a few connections with the fashion press, I'll see what I can do
for you both."

   "Oh, just JoJo, I'm not modelling anymore, I'm officially retired."

   "Never say never, Helen.  I really think there should be more
representation of mature and fuller figured models in the media, I'd love
to see you in Vogue."

   "Oh definitely," Jenny responded, "I'd love to see you in Vogue, Helen."

   "Have you done any modelling, Jenny."

   "Mmm, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't tried it when I was a teenager,
but it got nowhere and I was creeped out by the photographer, he kept
trying to get me to pose topless."

   Marina raised her eyebrows, "I can kind of understand why he'd want to
see your breasts, but it's bad to pressure girls like that.  What if I
could get you both a shoot?  Something glamourous, fully clothed obviously,
but sexy."

   Helen shuffled closer to Jenny and whispered in her ear for a minute,
then they both turned to Marina, "we'll do it, but we want a huge fee, and
it's all going to the charity.  We'll do a spread to promote Poppy and
Belle."

   Marina jumped up and clapped her hands, "that's exactly what I wanted to
hear, I'll be back in two minutes."

   "Oh shit, what have we done?" Jenny sighed as she picked up her vodka
and necked it back in one.

   Marina returned a few minutes later with Erma and a short woman with jet
black hair.

   "Hey Erma," Jenny cried, reaching for her hand, "did you see how much
money Belle made with your dress?"

   "She did amazingly, I might let her sell it again some time."

   "How will she do that?"

   "Because my granddaughter bought it, she's taller than me, so she'll
look great in it."

   "That's an awful lot of money to pay for something you already owned."

   "Yeah, but I can't take it with me."

   "Your granddaughter might appreciate the money."

   "And now she's seen how much money I make hiring and selling old
dresses, maybe she'll take more interest in the business."

   "That's a good point," Jenny laughed.

   "So, you know Erma, and this is Mira, she plans the features for Vogue."

   "I have the most amazing idea," Mira gushed, before detailing her
amazing idea.  I tuned out as it wasn't really all that amazing.

   I watched the girls; Katie, Lia and JoJo were ever vigilant, watching
everybody.  Each time someone approached the group one of the girls would
check them out before letting them talk to Poppy or Belle.  If someone
wanted a selfie Katie or Lia took their phone and snapped a few photos.

   Nobody was going to upset Poppy or Belle tonight, nobody.

   Our glasses were empty, so I crossed the edge of the dancefloor to get
to the bar.  I'd only taken a couple of steps before an arm grabbed me and
pulled me into the crowd.

   "That's a strong grip you've got there Lia."

   "Yeah, it's from clinging onto life for so long.  Anyway, we've decided
it's about time you danced with your sexy daughters."

   "I can't dance."

   "That's not a problem, we'll shield you.  In you go..."

   And with that, Lia pushed me between her and JoJo and I was in the
middle of their cordon with Belle and Poppy.

   "Yayyy!" Belle squealed when she saw me, "you came to dance with us."

   "Not by choice, I'm afraid."

   "No matter, come on Poppy, we've got a man to dance with."

   And that's all the encouragement she needed, Poppy pressed herself
against me, her breasts against my chest, her arms running up and down my
back as she writhed against me for a whole song.

   "I'm so horny dad, can we go to bed soon."

   "I think you have to stay to the end, it's your party after all."

   "How about we sneak to the toilets and just fuck, surely that's
allowed."

   I thought for a moment, only a moment, that's all I needed to decide
that screwing my sexiest daughter in a 5-star hotel toilet would be a
deliciously dirty act.

   "Where's the toilet?"

   "There's one by the doors, give me a minute then follow."

   Poppy turned and headed for the ladies, her sisters followed, I carried
on to the bar then walked around the room back to the main doors, where Lia
once again grabbed my arm, this time smuggling me into the ladies' loo.

   "Have you ever done this before?" Poppy asked.

   "You mean a quick shag in the toilets?"

   "Yep."

   "Sorry, never."

   "Ahh, you've missed out on a great British activity.  Luckily.  I have.
We need to be quick, don't undress, just get your cock out and sit on the
toilet..."

   In a daze, I followed Poppy's instructions.  As I got myself
comfortable, she lifted her dress and pulled her panties to one side.

   Before I could react, Poppy straddled me, she planted her feet on the
back wall and braced her arms on the cubicle walls.

   "OK, this will be quick and dirty, but my god Alex, I need you right
now."

   I was already partially erect, Poppy lifted herself and with only slight
fumbling, I was soon inside my favourite pussy.

   (Yes, I know, it's not gentlemanly to have favourites, but nobody makes
me feel quite the same as Poppy does.)

   We tried to be as quiet as possible, but self-control was hard to find
with Poppy bouncing on your lap.

   "Oh shit, dad, I'm cumming already!" she gasped, "oh god this is
amazing."

   "I hope we don't get caught."

   "My bodyguards are there to keep people away," she replied, panting from
the effort.

   The eroticism of the situation soon got to me, "I won't last much
longer."

   "Cum inside me, I need your cum inside me."

   "It'll be messy."

   "Life is messy dad, we'll deal with the mess afterwards."

   Less than a minute later I felt my balls tighten and I was soon sending
jets of cum inside Poppy's pussy.

   "Oh shit dad, this will be coming out of my ears if you don't stop."

   "I'm sorry, I guess the situation got to me."

   "It's fine, I'll climb off carefully and see if I can pour some of this
down the toilet."

   Poppy climbed off me, grabbing some toilet roll in the process, which
she held to herself so she wouldn't spill any of my spunk on my black
trousers.

   Carefully we swapped places in the tight cubicle and Poppy worked hard
to scoop all the cum out of herself and into the toilet, it didn't look
like fun.

   "If we do this again, I'm finishing you off orally."

   I cleaned myself and fastened my pants, "mmm, if they anything I can
do?"

   "Thanks for asking, but not really.  Could you send Belle in on your way
out, she can help me."

   I knocked on the door, "I'm ready to come out."

   "Oh, that was quick," Lia laughed.

   "It was quite intense," I replied by way of explanation.

   "Hey, I bet she's not complaining."

   "Well, not about that anyway," I muttered under my breath, "could you
let me out, I need to swap places with Belle," I asked aloud.

   "What's the matter?" Belle asked as she pushed through the doorway.

   "It's OK sweetie, he did a really big load in me, and I need you to help
me get rid of it."

   "Does that mean I need to suck it out of you?"

   "I'm sorry, but I'll make a mess everywhere if you don't."

   "Don't apologise, this will be awesome fun."

   I slipped out as Belle joined her lover in the cubicle.

   "Could you hear us?" I asked Katie outside.

   "A bit, but don't worry, I'm 100% certain you're not the first people to
fuck in those toilets."

   While Belle cleaned her sister, I made my way back to our table on
slightly unsteady legs.

   "Where've you been?" Jenny asked, `You look a bit dishevelled."

   "I've just been helping Poppy with something, in the toilets."

   "Really, that's bold.  What if somebody caught you?"

   "That was my worry, but she's got her guard of honour in place."

   Jenny looked across the room to the toilets, "ahh, why are they still
there?"

   "Belle is cleaning her up, it got a bit messy."

   "Ahh, it's always a bit messy when you've not been for a few days, we
really should learn this lesson.  Still, you'll last a lot longer for
Poppy's second go."

   "Maybe I want to sleep with you next."

   "Join the queue buster, I'm having my turn with Amber.  I thought Belle
was exaggerating when she said how pretty she is, she wasn't, she's utterly
gorgeous."

   "On a related note, how amazing does Maisie look tonight," Helen added,
"she's definitely come out of her shell since she moved out of London."

   "It's a shame there's no boys age here tonight," Jenny sighed.

   "It's lucky for Belle there isn't," I replied, "it means she gets to
sleep with Maisie."

   "Really!  And Maisie is OK with this?" Helen cried.

   "I appears so, Belle told me she's leaving Amber with us and sharing
Maisie's bed."

   The girls emerged from the toilet as we spoke and made their way back to
the table.

   "Have you been having fun?" Helen asked as they joined us.

   Belle licked her lips lasciviously, "have we ever."

   "I want to dance again," Poppy sighed, "but my legs are all wobbly."

   "Having sex in a toilet cubicle can do that," Helen replied kindly.

   "Have you ever done it in the toilets?" Belle asked.

   "Many times, when I was younger and a bit more agile."

   "Sometimes we worked in a club with one of those holes in the walls,
guys paid us to blow them," Belle told us, "sometimes the men weren't very
clean, and sometimes they were too small to reach very far into our side of
the cubicle."

   Poppy laughed, "do you remember that time we go sore knees and a couple
of boys took over from us for a while.  I wonder if any of those guys knew
they were being blown by a boy."

   "Oh man, yes, I remember that, and the boys let us keep all the money,
that was nice of them."

   "They said they'd had too much fun to take our money," Poppy giggled.

   "Did you do that a lot?" Jenny asked.

   "Poppy did, I only did it if they were a girl down.  I always
volunteered because I loved it, well, some of it, not if the men were
dirty. We had wet wipes, but some men objected if we cleaned them first."

   "We went through so much mouthwash doing that job."

   "Did you earn much money?" Helen asked.

   "It was £10 a time, we got half of it."

   "And the men only lasted a few minutes each, Belle is really good, as
you know Alex."

   "And once you get the hang of it, you can do two men at the same time,
one by hand and one with your mouth, you just keep swapping over.  It was
fun, but I can't say I miss those days."

   "Will you teach me," Maisie asked quietly.

   "Yes, but not tonight, dad's busy."

   "Couldn't we find someone else?"

   "We could, but we won't.  I only trust dad, I'm not touching another
man, ever."

   "OK, I understand, so what are we doing tonight?"

   "We're going to have some fun together."

   "I've never thought about having sex with a girl before."

   "You enjoyed kissing me, didn't you?"

   "Oh yes!" Maisie replied brightly, "I enjoyed it a lot."

   "Thn just imagine how much fun you'll have when I kiss you somewhere
else."

   Maisie giggled nervously as Belle hugged her new friend, "You said Alex
is busy tonight, hasn't he just had sex with Poppy?"

   "Oh yes, but that's just the entrée, don't forget, Poppy's a goddess, it
takes more than a quick shag in the toilets to satisfy her.  For me, about
5 minutes of Alex is all I can manage before I get sore, but Poppy, she can
go all night sometimes, and I think tonight is one of those nights.  It's
going to take Alex, Jenny and Amber to finish her off."

   "How do you manage when it's just the two of you?"

   "Most times Poppy is fine with a cuddle, but sometimes she needs special
treatment, and those were the nights she made the most money when we were
on the streets."

   "Were you really prostitutes?" Maisie asked unwarily.

   "I wasn't, I was still a virgin until recently.  Poppy wasn't really,
she just used to have sex and got paid for it, she didn't have a pimp or
anything, well, she used to, but not when we lived together.  I guess we'd
be classed as sex workers though."

   "Are you upset about that?"

   "I'm sad we had to do it, but I'm not ashamed, we got paid for getting
men off, and if men are willing to pay girls to do something they could do
for free in the toilets, then why should I feel ashamed?"

   "I guess, none of this is in my frame of reference, it's a different
life."

   "How is life in York?"

   "It's brilliant, I can't thank you enough, York is so cute, it's small
and you can walk around the city centre, you don't need a car or anything."

   "Have you started school yet?"

   "No, I start next week."

   "I'd like you to do me a favour if you can.  I know you don't like
talking to people, but I'd like you to find two girls for me."

   "OK, who are they?"

   "Elisha Patrick and Jodie Crane, they were my best friends and I've not
spoken to them since I ran away.  Elisha especially deserves to know I'm
OK."

   "What do I do when I find them?"

   "Introduce yourself and tell them you're my friend.  Tell them I'm OK
and if they still want to talk to me, tell them my new name and show them
the charity Instagram, they can find me there, that way there's no pressure
if they're angry with me for running away and leaving them."

   "I can do that."

   "You're clever, much cleverer than me, they were both in top set
English, so you should be in the same class.  Elisha is quite tall, Poppy's
height, and slim, kind of like Katie, she's blonde really, but she used to
dye her hair a lot.  Jodie is my height, but really skinny, like a little
boy, I know I don't have much boobs, but I've got a bum and a tummy, Jodie
doesn't.  I don't think you'll have any trouble finding them."

   "I'll send you a message when I see them, so you know."

   "Thanks Maisie, I'm glad you're my friend."

   "Not as glad as I am."

   Once Poppy's legs had stopped wobbling the girls got up to dance again,
this time Jenny and Helen joined them, and I was left alone.

   Not for long though, Jeremy soon joined me with a couple of pints.

   We took a long, satisfied pull on our pints, "I think we can call this a
successful night, Alex."

   "Without a doubt, how much have we raised?"

   "The auction pulled in over £500k.  The tickets were £150 each, but
Marina gave a lot of them away, which was the right thing to do, because it
brought in a lot of people who've paid to be seen with her rich and
beautiful friends.  We collected about £10k in donations on the door as
well."

   "And how much have we spent?"

   "Not much, the room is free, your suites are free, my DJ is free, I'm
paying all my guys £100 each, so that's £2,500.  Mark, the chef is paying
all his staff from his budget, he's also paying my guys the same amount, so
all Poppy and Belle's friends have been paid twice, don't tell the hotel
staff that."

   "So, we've easily cleared half a million, for one night."

   "Yep.  Not a bad night's work."

   "Now we need to think of something to keep us going for another year."

   "I don't think we could do this again, but one of my lads suggested a
small music festival, just one day in a park somewhere.  All we'd need is
one decent sized band to play for free, or just expenses, and we'd be
laughing."

   "I wonder if Marina knows any bands."

   "If she doesn't, I'm sure Helen does."

   "Oh yes, she once dated someone from a Britpop band."

   "There you go.  I'll start finding somewhere to host it, I'm sure I can
persuade someone to lend us some land for free."

   "I'm sure you can."

   "Who's the girl with Belle?"

   "Ahh, that's Maisie, you won't have met her yet."

   "Oh yes, I remember now."

   "What happened at their house?"

   "We went in and cleared the house as you requested, my lads in Leeds are
looking for somewhere in York to store it all, then Janet can take what she
needs and sell the rest or give it to charity."

   "Did you meet `the reverend'?"

   "Yes, my lads had a chat with him, gave him a bit of advice about how
humans interact with each other."

   "How did they leave him?"

   "In little doubt about the consequences if we have to visit him again."

   "He's alive?"

   "Oh yes, he'll be out of hospital in a week or two.  He won't be using
the stairs for a while."

   "Maisie hasn't mentioned him, I think she's done the right thing and
wiped him from her mind."

   "The young woman in the green dress..."

   "Yes, that's Amber.  Maisie and Janet are living with her until they get
back on their feet."

   "She looks like a sensible woman."

   "Liam killed her girlfriend, well, he didn't kill her directly, but his
abuse and drugs did."

   "Ahh, I wondered about the connection.  Has Helen spoken to her?"

   "Yes, she's known Helen for a few years, she works at Helen's favourite
hotel in York, that's how Belle met her, Helen booked us a room in the
hotel I took Belle to visit her grandad."

   "Of course, I'm so glad we managed to find Clive.  My lads do good
work."

   "Don't we know it.  You know, I've been thinking, your charity has done
so much work for us, we really should give you some of tonight's proceeds."

   "Don't even think about it, Alex, we're well funded, we don't need any
of your cash."

   "If you're well-funded, why do you use all those old buildings with no
power."

   "Because we don't want to waste any money, we get some money from the
Salvation Army, and we use that how its intended, to keep people on the
streets safe.  We also get money from various drug dealers, these are not
donations, they're a kind of taxation.  We ask them nicely to stay away
from our kids and take a fee for not killing them, if they disobey, we take
a larger fee.  This is how we buy our vans and weapons."

   "Ahh, I see.  Why don't you do anything more serious to them?"

   "There's no point.  If we kill one, more just move in to fill the
vacuum. People want drugs, so there's always dealers ready to step in.  I
don't even mind the street kids doing drugs, when your life is at rock
bottom, anything that helps is OK, it's just the dealers get them hooked
then they whack the prices up and cut the H with all kinds of shit, so the
kids need to take more and more for the same buzz.  Then they end up like
Poppy did, or even worse, poor Evie."

   "Is she OK now?"

   "She's better, but she's not as strong as Poppy, so I don't think she'll
ever recover.  I've got her a place in quite a nice group home for retired
sex workers, it's in the countryside north of Manchester, she'll be well
looked after."

   "I'm sure she'll love that.  Poppy and I promised to help her, do you
need anything?"

   "The money you already gave is fine, thanks, we used it to buy her some
nice clothes and a few treats.  The home is self-funding, the women do arts
and crafts; jewellery, paintings, pottery, that kind of thing, some of them
are brilliant.  They sell their stuff online and at craft fairs.  They make
enough money to keep the house going."

   "Can Poppy visit her?"

   "Oh yes, it's not a prison or anything, they love getting visitors.  The
house has lots of nice gardens, is wonderful in spring and summer, she
should go then."

   The crowded gradually thinned towards midnight, and by 1am everyone was
gone apart from our group.

   Jeremy stood and walked over to the girls, Poppy almost knocked him over
as she jumped into his arms.

   "Thank you so much Jeremy, you've always been my rock."

   "Not anymore Poppy, you're the rock now."

   "Maybe, but you're a bigger rock.  Oh poo, Bishop Sophie has gone, I
wanted to introduce you."

   "It's OK Poppy, I know Sophie, we've been working together for years."

   "Why didn't she say anything?"

   "Because I'm not important.  Tonight was all about you and Belle, nobody
else here matters as much as you right now."

   "But you started it all, it was you that saved me, and kept saving me
from myself."

   Jeremy put Poppy down and crouched so they were eye to eye, "Poppy,
listen to me.  My work is to keep kids alive, we do our best but sometimes
we fail, our work is low key and low budget.  Your plan is like the Red
Cross airlifting supplies in, you're going to hit the streets like a
bulldozer.  Nobody has tried anything nearly as intense as the work you're
planning.  And it's all encompassing, not just food, you're going in with
clothes, with cosmetics and tutors and counsellors.  This is why you're so
much more important than me, not just tonight, but every night."

   "But ...  I'm just paying back your kindness."

   "I've helped thousands of kids Poppy, and not one has reacted the way
you have.  You're an angel Poppy, never forget that."

   "I'm just doing what's right..."

   "I know, and it's sad that we've got to the point were doing right seems
so strange, but here we are.  You're the girl that lived, and you're doing
all you can to stop people falling down the same holes you did.  For that
you deserve all the good fortune that's come your way."

   "Thank you, I'm going to make sure your work is never forgotten or
overshadowed by my work.  I'll shine my brightest lights on you and your
guys."

   "Not all the time, please.  We've still got our other work to do."

   "Oh yes, I'll be careful to only shine a light on people who are
carrying food parcels."

   "I really must be going, Sherry's got work in the morning, so I need to
be home for the kids."

   Poppy and Belle hugged Jeremy together, "I don't know why I'm crying,"
Poppy sobbed, "I'll see you on Monday."

   "It's been an emotional night for us all," Jeremy replied as he stood to
leave, "oh, next time we do something like this, Belle, maybe wear some
underwear, you had me and Jonno on our feet half the night chasing
photographers away."

   "It's OK Belle," Poppy added, giving Jeremy a black look for mentioning
it, "I know you're just being you, we managed the situation, next time
we'll get you a longer dress."

   "Yes, no harm done.  It's a wonderful dress, I can't think of anything
that embodies Belle more than your dress."

   "Thank you, Jeremy, I love this dress so much.  Tomorrow I'll buy some
panties to match."

   "That's all we ask," Jeremy laughed, "whatever you're doing the rest of
the night, enjoy yourselves, you deserve it."

   "We will," Belle replied, pulling Maisie close.

   Once Jeremy left the hotel's cleaning crew moved in, Marina came out of
the kitchen and headed for our table.

   "I've mean to more of these things than I can remember, and I can say
without a shadow of a doubt, this was the best.  And we've found a
superstar in Belle, you made so much money at the auction, I can't believe
how much money you made on Katie's dress!"

   "And you'll never guess who bought it," Jenny laughed.

   "It was a really tall blonde girl, I didn't catch her name," Katie
replied, "she was kind of pretty, but not, if that makes any sense."

   "That was Erma's granddaughter, she bought her own dress back," Helen
told her.

   "You're shitting me!" Belle exclaimed, "Why?"

   "Because Poppy's story had touched her, so she wanted to give something
to your charity."

   "She could have bought one of the cheaper items."

   "She could, but she's got a lot of money and her granddaughter wanted
the dress."

   Belle shrugged, "I guess I'll never understand rich folk."

   Marina pulled Belle into a hug, "us rich folk just love to salve our
consciences by giving money to charity.  Some people here tonight won't
have taken a blind bit of notice of what's been going on, they bought a
ticket, threw a bundle of notes in the bucket and maybe paid way too much
for a spa day, but you got their money.  A few people though, they really
took an interest, and I suggest we strike while the iron is hot."

   "What do you mean?" Belle asked, her face still buried in Marina's
cleavage.

   "I mean that for the next couple of weeks, we let some of my friends tag
along when you're delivering food or clothes.  Wherever a model goes she's
followed by photographers, then you get headlines like `Lady Anoushka
delivering hot soup to the homeless for the Poppy and Belle Foundation' you
can't buy publicity like that."

   Poppy beamed, "that's brilliant, we'll definitely let that happen."

   "I'm happy to hang around with models for a few nights," Belle added as
Marina released her.

   "So that's a plan," Marina as she headed for the doors with Lia and
Katie.

   Belle grabbed Maisie's hand as she tried to walk like Marina, it didn't
work quite so well, but we were all treated to a wonderful view of her arse
cheeks.

   "I sometimes wish I was as carefree as Belle," Poppy sighed, "but I
don't think my arse is cute enough to pull off a dress like that."

   "You have an amazing arse," Helen reassured her, "but maybe leave
dresses like that to Belle."

   "She's had a lot of fun tonight, that's why I didn't tell her about that
guy trying to take photos up her skirt.  Self-conscious Belle is no fun at
all."

   "Shall we head off to bed," Helen said as she took Nita and JoJo's
hands.

   "Oh yes, we've got unfinished business as well, dad," Poppy added,
perking up.

   "And we've got business to start," Jenny laughed as she pulled Amber
into a hug.

   "Oh yes, Belle told me all about her cougar mum."

   "I'm a cougar, am I." Jenny replied with pretend indignation, "at least
she didn't call me a MILF."

   Poppy ran around the room and said goodbye to all her friends, then she
took my hand as we left the room and took the lift up to our floor.

   Jenny and Amber stripped as soon as our door clicked shut, it was almost
a race to see who could be naked first.

   If that's what it was, Amber won, as she was only wearing a dress and
panties, whereas Jenny also had a bra and stockings to remove.

   "Oh fuck," Amber gasped, "leave the stockings, I fucking love a woman in
stockings."

   "What about my bra?"

   "Take that off, I want to see your boobs, Belle told me so much about
yours and Poppy's boobs."

   Poppy started to strip as Jenny unhooked her bra, it tumbled to the
floor as Poppy let her dress fall, she stood next Jenny wearing just her
panties.

   "Holy shit, Belle wasn't lying.  I'm not really a fan of big boobs, but
I'm willing to make an exception"

   "If you like your boobs smaller, you need to meet Lia, but she's busy
tonight," Poppy told her, smiling.

   "I think I'll stay right here, you two might just have converted me.  I
love your piercings Poppy they really suit you."

   "Belle said she enjoyed playing with yours," Poppy replied.

   "Oh my god, not as much as I did, she's amazing.  So who's first," Amber
asked as she cast her hungry eyes between Jenny to Poppy.

   "Poppy's got unfinished business with Alex," Jenny replied, "but I'm
sure she's talented enough to please you and her dad at the same time."

   "I bet I could do all three of you at once, if I tried really hard,"
Poppy laughed, "but I really need to concentrate on dad for a bit, I need
him to fuck my arse, he's not done it in a while."

   "Do you have lube?" Amber asked.

   "Ahh no, but it's not normally a problem, few people were polite enough
to use lube in my last life."

   "I've got some cocoa butter moisturiser," Amber offered, "try it, it
really works, and your bum hole will feel wonderful afterwards."

   "I like it when my bum hole feels wonderful, Belle knows how to make me
feel special down there."

   "My god, that girl really does know how to make someone feel special. 
Here, let me get the moisturiser while you get your dad ready."

   Poppy undressed me slowly, "I'm sorry about before, dad, but dancing
always makes me horny, especially dancing with Belle.  Did you see how she
moves, she's a brilliant dancer."

   "No need to apologise."

   "But I practically raped you in the toilets, the toilets for fucks sake.
I thought I was through with that kind of behaviour."

   "Clearly not, and didn't I just say there's no need to apologise.  There
was no harm done, and you scratched an itch that needed scratching."

   "Did I ever," Poppy smiled, "next time though, when we've got a nice
room like this, I'm not doing you in the fucking toilet," she smiled before
taking me in her mouth and, oh shit, you know what she can do by now.

   "Ahhh!" she sighed as she pulled away, "I think he's ready now, do you
have the lube stuff?"

   "I do indeed," Amber replied, "assume the position and I'll get you
ready."

   "Ohh, it's cold," Poppy giggled as Amber squirted the cocoa butter on
her bum, "did you use this with dad?"

   "Nope, we just used pussy juice and Belle, which was fun, but this will
be better," Amber replied as she ran a pair of fingers around and inside
Poppy's hole.

   "Oh god, this feels nice, but I need dad."

   Amber moved out of the way and into Jenny's waiting arms, "I can
understand that Poppy."

   As Amber moved I slid onto the bed and positioned myself behind Poppy,
"how do you want this?"

   "Hard and fast, I want to feel this for days."

   "You sure?"

   "Yes, ram it in me and don't stop until we collapse."

   With the instructions clear I positioned myself and was about to enter
as Poppy pushed back hard until I was inside her balls deep.

   "Ooofff," Poppy gasped, "remember, hard and fast until we collapse."

   I gripped Poppy's hips and pounded her like she asked, Amber and Jenny
watched for a minute until their horniness took over.  Jenny pushed Amber
backwards and slid her tongue between her young lover's pussy lips.  Amber,
in turn, wrapped her fingers in Jenny's hair and pulled her closer.

   "Oh shit," Amber gasped, "this whole family are horny bitches, I love
it."

   After a couple of minutes pounding Poppy was reaching orgasm, she
reached back and started to rub her clit hard, "oh my god dad, faster
please, faster, I'm nearly there."

   "So am I," I managed to gasp.

   "just a little faster and a little longer," she replied, panting, "so,
so close now."

   My vision was blurring and the rainbows were back as I slammed into
Poppy one last time, she screamed as she came, her arse muscles locking me
tight, milking every last drop from me as I collapsed along Poppy's back.

   "Did you see the colours again?" Poppy panted as she came down.

   "Yes, rainbows," I answered as I rolled off Poppy's back.

   "What colours?" Jenny asked as they swapped roles and Amber slipped
between Jenny's spread thighs.

   "We see colours when we cum like that," Poppy told her.

   "All of you?"

   "No, just me and dad."

   "Every time?"

   "Oh no," Poppy said, panting still as her heart raced, "just when it's
really intense, like this one, and the first time we did it again after I
was silly and stopped sleeping with him."

   "I guess that means something," Jenny mused, "but I wonder what."

   "It means Belle's right," Amber told her as she slipped two fingers
inside Jenny's behind, "it means she's a fucking goddess."

   "Oh shit," Jenny gasped at the unexpected intrusion, "that's nice.  Ahh,
do it slow for now, mmm.  Poppy honey," she continued, turning lazily to
look at our amazing daughter, "you'd tell us if you were really a goddess,
wouldn't you?"

   "Who the fuck knows what I am, I just know I need to clean myself up
then I'm going to screw dad again."

   "She's a goddess, definitely," Amber said as she dipped her mouth to
Jenny's pussy.

   While Poppy was showering I watched as Amber worked Jenny, she fingered
her ass rapidly and Jenny was putty in her hands, "do what Belle did,"
Jenny exclaimed, panting hard.

   "Are you sure?"

   "Oh fuck, I'm sure, I've been dreaming about it since I saw the photos."

   "Why didn't you ask Belle to do it?"

   "Because I wanted you to do me, I know Belle's hand would fit, I want to
see if yours will."

   "Well, we won't know until we try, I guess," Amber shrugged as she
reached for the cocoa butter and squirted a good dollop onto her fingers,
Jenny rolled over and Amber worked it into her butt.

   "Oh my god!" Poppy cried as she stepped out of the bathroom, "are you
doing what I think you're doing?"

   "That depends on whether you think I'm about to fist your mum or not,"
Amber laughed as she slipped three, then four fingers into Jenny.

   "Oh shit, I've been thinking about letting Belle do me, is her hand
bigger than dad's cock?"

   "She filled me more than Alex did."

   "Oh man, she's definitely doing me one night."

   We watched as Amber tucked her thumb and squeezed her full hand into
Jenny's backside, "oh fuck," she gasped, "that's an awesome feeling, you're
bigger than Helen's biggest plug.  See if you can fuck me for a minute."

   We watched as Amber carefully moved inside Jenny, Poppy snuggled up and
slipped her hand around my cock, she masturbated me slowly as Jenny pounded
the bed with her hands as a huge orgasm ripped through her body.

   Poppy put her lips to my ear, "when she comes down, I want you to make
love to mum while me and Amber watch, she deserves a bit of tenderness."

   "Didn't you want to make love some more?"

   "I do, but I think mum will appreciate it more."

   "You're a wonderful girl, Poppy."

   "Apparently I'm a goddess," she smiled.

   After two big orgasms I took it easy with Jenny, we made love long into
the night while Amber and Poppy made out beside us, I finished in Jenny's
ass and we fell asleep soon afterwards.

   I was still inside Jenny when a ship's horn on the Thames outside our
window awoke us hours later.

   "Oh, you're still inside me," Jenny whispered sleepily, "if I wriggle a
bit to make you hard, do you think you could do me again."

   "In your arse?"

   "Listen mister, I've had bigger things than you in my ass tonight, I
think I can take you twice in one night."

   I laughed as I moved slowly inside Jenny, gradually picking up momentum
as I watched Poppy tenderly wake Amber with a kiss.

   "Mmmm," Amber sighed as she stretched on the bed, "that was an amazing
night."

   "I wonder how Belle got on with Maisie.  I hope they had fun."

   "Oooh, this is nice Alex, you can go faster now, mmm, yes, morning anal
is the best.  Do you want to try Alex for a bit Amber, or can I finish him
off."

   "As much as I'd love to, I think I'll stick with Poppy for breakfast."

   I wasn't sure I'd be able to cum a fourth time, but once Jenny climbed
on top and started to fuck me in earnest, there was no going back.  The
feel of her delicious ass and the sight of her amazing breasts finally
tipped me over the edge, and I came inside Jenny a second time.  For her
part Jenny continued to ride through my orgasm until she reached her peak,
and she collapsed on top of me, panting from the exertion of a fantastic,
prolonged morning session.

   We were still resting when we heard a knock on the door.

   "That can only be one person," Poppy laughed, "who wants to let her in?"

   "It's OK, I'll go," Amber replied, sliding out of Poppy's arms and onto
the floor.

   "Hey Belle, and Maisie, you're up early."

   "It's 11 o'clock and we've already had breakfast," Belle replied.

   "Seriously, it's 11!  What time is checkout?" Jenny asked.

   "12 I think," I told her.

   "Yeah, you've got an hour to finish what you were doing, get clean and
pack your bags."

   "Wow, we got so carried away," Poppy sighed, "did you have fun?"

   "Did we ever!" Belle replied as she jumped on the bed.

   "What about you, Maisie," Amber asked.

   "I really did.  I've never thought about going with a girl before, it
was a lot of fun..."

   "But you prefer boys," Jenny added.

   "I'm sorry, Belle, I think I prefer boys."

   "That's OK, really, I thought I'd give you a taste, a kind of road test
of girl sex with no strings."

   "You're not upset I didn't have as much fun as you did?"

   "Oh gosh no, I'm not one of those people who thinks everyone should like
the same things as me.  You enjoyed what we did though?"

   "Oh yes, I really enjoyed what you did to me, I'm not sure I enjoyed
doing it to you so much, it wasn't gross or anything, but, oh, I don't
know, it was OK, but I think you got the most out of it."

   Belle held out her arms, for Maisie, they hugged for a minute or two,
the Belle kissed her tenderly.

   "Was that OK?"

   "Yes," Maisie replied shyly, "I enjoyed that."

   "Would someone do that to you if they were upset?"

   "No," Maisie said slowly, "I guess they wouldn't."

   "There you go, I love you whether you want to have sex with me or not. I
want to be your friend more than anything, but I also wanted to sleep on
your boobs at least once."

   Maisie laughed, "I'm happy for you to use me as a pillow."

   Belle hugged Maisie again before she stood and led her from the room,
"probably best if we leave the grown-ups alone to get showered and dressed.
We'll go get our bags from our room," she added as she closed the door.

   "Mmm, so Maisie definitely isn't gay," Poppy mused.

   "Yeah, but it sounds like she was OK with what Belle did to her, if not
what she had to do to Belle," Jenny replied, "so I think she'd be OK
sleeping with her again, even if she's just a passive partner."

   "And, did you see how mature Belle was about it," Poppy exclaimed, "I'm
so proud of my baby girl."

   "Oh shit!" Jenny cried as we were packing our bags after we'd dressed,
"Belle got a letter yesterday and I forgot to give it to her."

   "A letter?" Poppy replied, "That's exciting, who's it from?"

   "I don't know, it's got a Spanish stamp on it."

   "Oh, that's interesting.  Give it to her while we get some breakfast
downstairs."

   "Belle said she's already had breakfast," Amber reminded us as we
wheeled our bags out of the room.

   "That won't stop her from having another breakfast," Poppy laughed.

   "She'll probably help herself to half of mine," I added as we waited for
the lift.

   Belle was waiting in the lobby with Maisie, Lia and Katie.

   "Marina had to go," Lia told us as we waited to check out, "she wanted
you to know she had a huge amount of fun last night and is now going to
press gang a few friends to help out on the streets."

   "That's amazing," Poppy replied, "I'm so glad she's genuine."

   "Oh, she's genuine, she was even talking about the charity while we were
in bed."

   "What!" Belle cried, her face scrunched up with confusion, "didn't you,
you know, have sex?"

   "We did," Katie replied, "but I don't think her heart was in it, I think
she liked the idea of sex with Lia more than the act of having sex with
Lia. Don't get me wrong, we had nice sex, just not a lot of it."

   "Our parents, on the other hand, were still making out when I knocked on
their door at 11 this morning," Belle told her sisters, "How did our
parents have more sex than us?"

   Maisie put her head down, a little ashamed.

   "Ahh, that's not meant as a slight to you sweetie, we had a lot of fun,
didn't we?"

   "We did, and I'm sorry I'm not wired that way."

   "Next time we'll find a boy for you."

   Poppy tapped Belle on the shoulder and whispered, "next time use my
strap-on."

   "Holy shit!  Of course." She turned to Maisie, `did you enjoy the
kissing part?  Did you like kissing me?"

   "Yes!  I love kissing you!  That was the best part."

   "OK, so if I could kiss you, then maybe do you like a boy would..."

   "How would you do that?"

   "With a pretend penis that I can wear, then you could wear it and do
me."

   Maisie brightened at that idea, "so I wouldn't have to, you know, lick
you down there?"

   "Nope, but I could do you, because you said you liked that."

   Maisie blushed, "yes, I liked that."

   "Great, so, next time we meet I'll come prepared with Poppy's best toys.
I have this great thing I can stick up my bum, it's the most amazing
feeling."

   "Ahh, I'm not sure about that..."

   "Then it'll just stay up my bum and you won't have to touch it."

   Maisie pulled Belle into a hug and kissed her, "it's weird, but I love
you Belle, and I'm sorry for just saying it's weird."

   "That's OK, because everyone will tell you I'm a bit weird."

   By now Jenny had handed our key card in and checked out, so we left the
hotel to find somewhere cheaper for breakfast.

   As I suspected, Belle declined a breakfast, instead insisting I order a
very big breakfast so she could have some of mine.

   After we'd eaten and were enjoying a second round of coffees, Jenny
pulled Belle's letter from her coat.

   "This arrived in the post for you yesterday while you were out with
Poppy."

   "Oh, a letter, I don't get post, who knows I exist?"

   "It's from Spain," Poppy told her, "look at the stamp."

   "Oh.  My.  God!" Belle gasped, "I only know one person who lives in
Spain."

   "Who's that?" Katie asked.

   "Mr Clarke, my birth father," she replied as she slit the envelope open
with a clean knife.

   We waited quietly as Belle read the letter, then read it again.  Poppy
passed her a napkin as she started to cry.  I picked up the letter and
passed it to Poppy so she could read it.

   My dearest Amelia, or should I call you Belle

   I was so pleased to hear the news from Mick that you have resurfaced. 
I'm shocked and appalled that you were homeless for a time after the tragic
deaths of Lana and Jake.

   Mick says you looked wonderful when you visited her office, and you have
a new father, this pleases me immensely.  I know we haven't met much, but I
followed your life through letters and phone calls from Lana.  Mick says
you're very bright and spirited, and that you quickly put two and two
together and soon worked out that I'm your father.

   This is true, Lana wanted to tell you once it became obvious that Jake
couldn't father a child, but at the time my wife was still around, and
would have been heartbroken.  Sadly, Joan passed away last autumn, but this
does mean I can come clean at last.

   Mick says she read Lana's will, and you soon guessed I paid for your
house, and Jake's insurance premiums, because he was too dim to sort that
out himself.  So, you find yourself to be a wealthy young lady, and what do
you do, you give your house to a friend and promise the money to a charity
you've founded with a girlfriend.

   I should be annoyed about this, because you don't just give houses away
and donate all your money to charity, but you're a special case.  Firstly,
that's exactly what Lana would have done in your position.  I loved Lana
precisely because she was hot headed and impulsive, and because she was the
least selfish person I ever met.

   Let me tell you a secret, you know Lana was somewhat promiscuous, so
much so that she honestly had no idea who had made her pregnant, it could
have been any one of a dozen guys.  The one person it couldn't be was Jake,
because she hadn't ever slept with Jake.  Jake loved her, and she knew he'd
make the best father for her child, so she married him.  The geek got to
marry the most beautiful girl in town, I bet all his friends were fuming.

   So, you're wondering how I know I'm your father, we did some tests and
you're 100% my daughter.

   You're also my only child, so you're my only heir.

   I've spoken to Mick, and we've made the arrangements, when I pass away,
which I hope is a while off, all my assets will be transferred to your
charity.  In the meantime, I'm arranging for the income from a few of my
investments to be paid to the charity, I hope this is OK and I'm not being
presumptuous.

   I will be visiting the UK shortly, and I would love to meet you and your
girlfriend Poppy, we can talk all about your work.

   Mick has all my contact details, please give her a call any time and
she'll put you in touch.

   Best wishes

   Peter Clarke

   "Err, my brain has just rebooted, what does all that mean?" Belle asked.

   "It means you were right, this Peter Clarke guy is your birth father,"
Poppy replied softly, "it also means your mum knew exactly what she was
doing when she picked the man to act as your dad.  She picked a kind man
who loved her, rather than one of the studs who could keep her happy in
bed. She married for love, Belle, she wanted the absolute best for her
baby."

   "But what's all that stuff about investments and heirs and shit?"

   "I'm guessing he's a rich guy," Katie replied.

   "I think so, well, he bought mum a house, so he must be, right?"

   "You'd think so.  He says he's arranging for the income from some
investments to be paid to the charity, this means if he's got shares in a
company, the share of the profits he normally receives will come to the
charity."

   "How much money is that?"

   "We've no idea, I guess we'll have a chat with your solicitor," Jenny
replied, "you're going to be super busy tomorrow, with it being the first
night of the charity.  I'll give her a call and see what it all means."

   "Can you get his address, I'd like to send him a nice letter, and a
photo of me and Poppy, and all our family.  Did you get a photo of me and
Marina, dad?"

   "I got a few."

   "Amazing, I'll send him one of those as well.  Make sure my twinkle
isn't showing though."

   "I'll make sure all the photos are decent," I laughed.

   "I fucking knew it," Belle exclaimed as we walked to the underground.

   "What did you know," Poppy asked as she gave Belle's hand a squeeze.

   "I knew my mum had to be sleeping with someone other than dad.  There
was something about him, he never looked at mum the way Alex looks at
Jenny."

   "I'm not sure what you mean."

   "He loved mum, that was obvious, and he loved me.  But you know when
Alex has that look, like when Lia had the dress on the other week, when we
were going to Marina's?"

   "Ahh, yes, the hungry, lusty look."

   "That's the one, dad never, ever had that lusty look, just the loving
one."

   "I wonder, you said his sperms were faulty.  Maybe it was more than
that."

   "Like, he couldn't have sex?"

   "Maybe..."

   "So, what did mum do, she was as horny as you by all accounts."

   "Did she work?"

   "Only part time."

   "There you go, I bet she was seeing guys during the day."

   "Oh yeah, I already said she was sleeping with a couple of my teachers."

   "Yes!  Including your PE teacher!"

   "Oh man, how did I forget that?  Mum was sleeping with a lady as well."

   "So are you happy now?"

   "I am, it's weird how I'm happy that mum was sleeping around."

   "Yeah, but wouldn't it be worse if she was all frustrated."

   "Definitely, that wouldn't be fun."

   We travelled to Kings Cross with Amber and Maisie where the girls bade a
teary farewell to their friends with many promises to meet again soon.

   From Kings Cross we hopped onto the Victoria line south towards
Wimbledon; Helen, JoJo and Nita hugged everyone before we separated, then
we made our weary way home.

   On Monday the girls had been excused school so they could work on the
charity launch.

   Belle was up first as usual, she was pacing furiously across the kitchen
when I came down to make breakfast.

   "What's the matter sweetheart?"

   "We go live today, and I've got to cook, with people watching.  Poppy
said there'll be TV people there, and newspapers."

   "You already know what you're cooking, you know how to make it, what are
you worrying about."

   "I might burn it, I might put too much water in, or not enough, there's
so much to go wrong."

   "The press won't be there all the time Belle, they'll just watch you
start cooking, then come back at the end when Marina and her friends start
dishing it up.  You won't on your own either, we'll be there helping, and
Jeremy will be there with his guys.  You'll be absolutely fine."

   "Are you sure?"

   "Positive."

   Belle stopped pacing at last, "you'll be there, to hug me when I need a
hug?"

   "Poppy will be there for that."

   "She'll be busy talking to people, so will Lia.  It'll just be you and
Katie, and you give better hugs than Katie."

   "I'll be there, I won't move from the kitchen while you're working."

   Belle blessed me with her brightest smile then as she ran into my arms,
"this is a practice hug," she whispered as she pressed her cheek to my
chest, "nothing can ever go wrong while you are with me."

   Now Belle was settled we made breakfast for everyone.  As there was no
rush today, Belle made waffles.  She pulled a selection of chopped fruit
from the freezer and made a puree to serve on the waffles.

   Jenny was down next, Belle gave her two waffles and a mug of coffee.

   "This is very nice; I normally just grab a slice of toast."

   "I thought I'd make something special to get in the hang of cooking."

   "Are you OK with what you're doing today?"

   "Not really, but dad will be there to hold my hand."

   "So, what's the schedule?"

   "We're meeting Marina and some press people at Jerry's in Camden, he's
set up his mobile kitchen in the back alley, so we're using that as our
first base.

   "I'm going to make a veg casserole today, dad, Katie and a couple of
Jeremy's people will help me.  Poppy and Lia will talk to the press with
Marina, then they're going to talk to some of the kids on the street, visit
a couple of cleaner squats, Jeremy was going round yesterday to find some
nice ones in Camden.

   "Then the press people are coming back to talk to Marina and some of her
friends, along with TV people, who will want to talk to me, so I have to
wear something nice, but not too nice as it'll get messy in the kitchen."

   "Why don't you take a smart jacket," Jenny suggested, "you can take your
apron off and slip a jacket on when you're on camera.  Wear your hair in
buns so it'll stay neat."

   "That's brilliant, I've got a really nice blazer I can wear, I'll make
sure all the buttons are shiny, thank you mum," Belle cried as she ran for
the stairs.

   "I need to go, give the girls my love and tell them I'll try to get to
Camden about 6:30."

   Jeremy picked us up at 10 o'clock, he had a couple of his guys and a
girl in the van.

   "Hey everyone, you've met Jonno before, he's going to coordinate the
delivery lads, Denny and Rhianna have both worked in kitchens, they're here
to help you, Belle.  I know you've planned the recipe, but listen to
Rhianna, she was a cook in the army, she knows how to cook big meals."

   "Ahh," Belle sighed, "I've been shitting bricks this morning worrying
about ruining everything."

   "Fear not," Rhianna smiled, "I cooked for 400 very hungry people every
day, I won't let you fuck this up."

   Jerry was waiting behind his café as we arrived, Jeremy parked the van
in the yard next door, all the shops on the row had turned their back yards
over to us today.

   "Hey everyone," Jerry called as we arrived, "I've just finished
polishing the kitchen."

   "It looks amazing, Jerry," Belle exclaimed as she ran over to inspect
the piles of food, "I can see my reflection."

   "You should have everything you need here, if not let me know as soon as
you can, I'll get one of my lads to fetch it from the storage unit."

   Belle pulled out her iPad and checked the list she made yesterday,
"everything looks OK, what do you think Rhianna?"

   "More onions, you can never have too many onions.  Jeremy mentioned
bread rolls as well, do we have any?"

   "They're on their way, I've got a couple of lads collecting last night's
rolls from a couple of places on the high street.  They need to wait for
the restaurants to open for lunch.  I'll get Usman to run down and grab
another sack of onions, will that be enough?"

   "Ahh, I've just noticed a box of onions on the floor, forget it, we'll
have enough."

   "I'll get a sack anyway, Usman needs the exercise," Jerry laughed.

   "Amazing, thanks Jerry," Belle said as she climbed the steps into the
shiny metal kitchen, "I guess we'd better get ready with the knives."

   Belle rolled her sleeves up and grabbed a knife, then she started
shouting instructions for the rest of us, and soon we were peeling,
chopping, and dicing the ingredients for the first meal prepared by The
Poppy and Belle Foundation.

   We had about half the veg prepped by the time Marina strolled up with a
group of journalists and a couple of photographers.

   "Oh, I kind of expected her to be in a Rolls Royce," Belle whispered.

   "Ahh, not today, Belle, mmm, not ever actually.  I mostly travel on the
tube, it's so much easier than trying to park.  So, the cheeky one is
Belle," she told the press guys, "the tall guy on the onions is her dad,
Alex, and Katie is chopping the carrots.  Mmm, I don't know you two,
sorry."

   "The lady with the cool tattoos is Rhianna, she was a cook in the army,
the guy peeling spuds is Denny; they both work for Jeremy."

   As Jenny suggested, Belle washed her hands then removed her apron and
wore her blazer whilst she talked to the press and had her photo taken with
Marina.

   Poppy and Lia arrived with Jeremy as Belle was winding up, "hey
everyone," Poppy said as she hugged Belle, "we've just been scouting
around, everyone is ready to talk to you."

   "Ahh, this is Poppy," Belle told the press people, "she's the girl you
should be talking to, and Lia.  I know it's my name alongside Poppy's in
the charity's name, but Lia is doing way more work here than me.  I'm
chopping veg, but she's finding the veg, and the clothes, and everything
else, and Jeremy he's..." she stopped talking as Jeremy made a slashing
motion across his throat, " ...  he's providing the people to do all the
deliveries and stuff, his day job is with the Salvation Army, he's Poppy's
friend.  Mmm, I'm done now, I need to get back to the kitchen, the food
won't cook itself."

   "So, err, it's a shame I'm not as good with the chatter as Belle, but if
we swapped places and she conducted the tour I'd probably kill half of
London with the food"

   "You're doing fine," Belle called out as she got back to work chopping
carrots.

   Poppy blew her a kiss as she and Lia led the press and Marina away
towards the first squat.

   "Oh, Denny, if you've finished with the spuds, there's a couple of
massive cans of butter beans, can you get Jerry to show you how to use his
big can opener.  Oh yeah, I'll use those baked beans as well, they'll add
some colour and sweetness."

   An hour later and we had the ingredients prepared, "OK dad, see that big
water carrier, pour it into these three pans, they need to be about 1/3
full."

   The big pans she mentioned were more like cauldrons than pans, they were
at least two feet high and wide, they'd be too heavy to lift once filled.
As Belle lit the burners, I carefully poured a couple of gallons of water
in each pan.

   "Phew, that's the hard work done for now," Belle sighed after she'd
tipped all the ingredients into the big pans, "let's get a cup of tea, then
we can start to pack up the cans of pop, oh, we need to make up flasks of
tea and coffee, can you do that Rhianna, I don't know how much tea and
coffee stuff we'll need."

   "No problem, I'll tell you what you need to do.  Silly question, do we
have containers to distribute this lot?"

   "Yeah," Katie answered, "there's loads of stuff in Jerry's back room,
we're hitting nine places with this first run, they're all different sized
drops, we think maybe 200 people altogether, 250 tops."

   "And when you're fully operational?" Denny asked.

   "Poppy's goal is 1,000 people a night, four nights a week," Belle
answered, "not perfect, but seven nights a week is too much work right now.
Jeremy reckons the churches and Salvation Army can pick up the slack on the
other nights.  Maybe next year we'll be big enough to work 24/7."

   "Cool, and you girls, this is all your idea?"

   "It's Poppy's brainchild, I worked on the food idea, then Lia took the
ball and ran with it.  Jeremy has put in a huge amount of work, and people
like Jerry have done so much.  Marina too, she's so posh, she's a fucking
princess, she's been amazing, she helped raise a ton of money for us, and
she's bringing in loads of her beautiful friends so the press will turn up
to give us coverage."

   Belle and Rhianna were filling huge flasks with hot drinks when Poppy
returned, four of Marina's friends had joined the party, the photographers
were running backwards snapping photographs as they walked towards the
kitchen.

   "The food will be ready in about 30 minutes," Belle shouted over the
noise of the water boiler and the bubbling pans, "are all your delivery
people ready Jeremy?"

   "They're all parked up at the end of the street, the TV people will be
here in about ten minutes, they'll take up this whole area with their
gear."

   "They're going to interview us all," Marina continued, "that means you
Poppy, and Katie, Lia, Belle, you as well Alex."

   "What about you and Jeremy," Katie asked.

   "I'll be interviewed, but not Jeremy."

   "Definitely no cameras on me, that's the rule."

   One of the photographers looked a bit sheepish, "ahh, did someone try to
take Jeremy's photo?" Belle laughed.

   "Yes, but only once, these cameras are way too expensive to risk," the
photographer complained.

   Jenny arrived as the TV crew assembled, one of her officers dropped her
at the end of the road.

   "Hey mum, do you want to be on telly?" Belle asked.

   "Not tonight honey, this is your night."

   "Do you want to be the first person to try the food?"

   "Haven't you tried it yet?"

   "Nope, I've been smelling it all afternoon, so I need someone fresh to
try it."

   "Can we film you trying the food, love?" one of the camera guys asked.

   "That's DC Wilde to you," Belle shouted over the top of her huge pans.

   "Ahh, sorry, I thought you were another of the models."

   Jenny turned and smiled at that reply.

   "Well saved," Poppy cheered.

   "It's true, you look hot."

   "Now you're being creepy," Poppy told him.

   "You can film me trying Belle's casserole, but I'm not answering any
questions, all this is their work, you talk to my girls, and Marina,
they're the important people tonight."

   With that sorted, the TV people turned on their lights and one of the
cameramen followed Jenny as she collected a carton of stew and a bread
roll, a reporter commentated on the action.

   "Poppy and Belle's adoptive mother, DC Jenny Wilde, who recently
uncovered the girls in the garden murders in Swiss Cottage, samples the
first serving of food from the Poppy and Belle Foundation food truck here
in Camden.

   "How many people do you hope to feed tonight?" the reporter asked Jenny.

   "Maybe you should ask Poppy, or Lia."

   "Tonight is a test drive," Poppy answered as she came into shot beside
Jenny, "we think somewhere between 200 and 250 spread across nine places
around here."

   "It's what they call a soft launch in business, you know," Lia added,
"just testing that everything works as it should.  The next kitchen will be
on Wednesday, behind Wardour Street.  Friday will also be in the West End,
probably around Brewer Street.  Saturday will be back here."

   "We have more locations planned," Poppy continued, "but we're starting
with places Lia, Belle and myself are familiar with, where we know the
people and where all the squats are."

   "And you're just doing home delivery, so to speak?" the reporter asked
Poppy.

   "Mostly, yes.  Jerry's kitchen is different, we've got a serving hatch
here, but the other places we're using, they're proper commercial kitchens,
there'll be no counter service facilities."

   "In the future, we may be able to buy a few of these mobile canteens,"
Lia added, "then we'll be able to serve people right there on the street."

   "Today's our first day, a lot of our plans are still fluid.  The
important thing is today looks to be working.  We'll start from here and
forge connections with other groups, look to share facilities, knowledge,
and personnel with other organisations with similar aims."

   "You mentioned on Saturday about plans for accommodation units, can you
tell us more about those?"

   "Ohhh, were you there on Saturday?" Poppy asked, "It was a lot of fun,
even if I did have to speak to a room full of people.  Ahh, so we bought
our office from a company that makes these nice kit buildings..."

   "There's some photos of our office in the press pack on our website,"
Lia broke in, "use the one with Belle posing rather than me, she's much
more photogenic than I am.  The details of the company are in there, with
logos and stuff."

   "Look at you being all professional," Poppy laughed, "oh, we're not live
are we?"

   "No, this is for the late news and tomorrow morning," the reporter
reassured her.

   "Phew!  Anyway, while Belle was watching the office being put together,
she noticed how all the parts of the building slotted together like Lego,
and how it would be simple to reconfigure an office building like ours into
a nice little accommodation pod which could be assembled anywhere with a
flat floor and access to water and power.  So, Lia took Belle to the
factory, they had a meeting and have agreed to help us."

   "This is a medium-term plan, a couple of years off I think," Lia
continued, "our thoughts are to site 5 or 10 pods on vacant lots, you know,
somewhere they've demolished an old building, but nobody has bought the
site yet.  Somewhere we could use for a couple of years until a developer
moves in, then we'll put the pods on the back of a couple of wagons and
move them somewhere else."

   The camera moved to Marina and her friends, so Poppy and Lia took the
opportunity to escape, they joined us behind the kitchen.

   "How's the food mum?" Poppy asked.

   "It's really good.  Lovely and filling, tasty as well."

   "So, have you any idea how much this has cost?" Katie asked.

   "Nothing," Lia replied, "all the food was free, Jerry's let us use his
kitchen for free."

   "Yeah, but if we'd paid for stuff, which we may have to do sometimes..."

   "Ahh, I asked Jerry before," Belle replied, "the ingredients would cost
around £30 at wholesale prices, and we've made 250 portions, so that's
what, 12p a portion.  We've used half a tank of gas cooking and boiling
water, he thinks the tanks are £50 each, so that's 10p a portion for gas. I
think the disposable bowls and stuff are 5p a person.  Then there's the
petrol for the cars, I've no idea what petrol costs or how much we'll use
but does 50p a meal in total sound OK."

   Poppy pulled out a note pad and did some sums, "that's a total of £125
to cook food for 250 people.  But if we're cooking for 1000, it won't be
£500, because some costs will stay the same, is that right."

   "Not stay the same, but we won't use twice as much gas.  There's
ingredients left over, I think the £30 would probably buy ingredients for
350 meals.  Obviously if we made two types of food like we planned, two
flavours of soup or whatever, we'll need to buy more ingredients."

   "I think we should budget £500 a night, in case we have to buy food,
then if it's all free we're laughing."

   Poppy jotted that down in her pad, "so, if Lia's right, we're looking at
£2,000 a week, tops."

   "And that's worst case," Lia replied, "I'm hoping we're just going to
have to pay for gas and paper bowls."

   "Mmm, and how much are we paying you, Lia."

   "So far, nothing."

   "What!  You're staff member number one, I thought we were going to pay
you."

   "I think we said I could live with you, or you'd pay me enough to live
somewhere else."

   "You need money."

   "Why do I need money, I've a roof over my head, and food, and clothes."

   "What if you want to take Katie out on a date?"

   "Alex gave me this if I need anything," Lia replied, holding my debit
card.

   "Ahh, is that his no limit card?"

   "No it isn't, thankfully," I told them, "but Poppy is right, you're an
employee, you should be paid a salary.  I'll speak to Esther tomorrow and
see what someone doing your job is normally paid."

   "I'm still not sure what I'll do with money."

   "In about three months you could buy me an engagement ring," Katie
laughed.

   "Did you just propose to me, Katie?"

   "I think I probably did.  Is that OK?"

   Lia pulled her into a hug, "it's more than OK, ask me again when you're
16 and I'll say yes."

   Belle looked around, "where's mum?"

   "She's gone to speak to Jeremy," I told her.

   "Mum!" she cried, running over to where Jeremy and Jonno were loading
the vans with packs of drinks and disposable tableware.

   "What's the matter Belle?"

   "Katie's just asked Lia to marry her, tell her she can't until I'm old
enough to marry Poppy."

   "I thought we'd agreed that none of you are getting married until I've
made an honest man of your dad."

   "When will that be?"

   "Who knows, honey.  We're engaged but we've not had time to even think
about a wedding."

   "But I want to marry Poppy, and I want to do it the same day Katie
marries Lia."

   "You know, you can ask her now, you don't have to wait until you're 16
to ask her."

   "Seriously, I can ask her right now?"

   "Yes, of course you can."

   "Oh my god, I'm going to do it."

   Belle came running back and dropped to one knee in front of Poppy, she
looked into her girlfriend's eyes and held one hand, "Poppy, will you marry
me, in about 18 months, when I'm old enough?"

   "Oh wow, err, yes, of course I will."

   "Are you going to do this properly, Katie?" Lia laughed.

   "I guess I have to now," Katie replied as she dropped to one knee, "Lia,
will you do the honour of marrying me, in about 18 months, when Belle's old
enough to make it a dual ceremony."

   "Of course I will sweetheart.  And next time you're proposing, choose a
spot without oil spills on the floor."

   "Ahh shit," Belle sighed, "good job I'm wearing black pants I guess."

   Rhianna walked over, "now you're done with the romance, I think it's
time to dish out the grub."

   "Ahh, sorry about that," Belle apologised, "I've got a brain like a
butterfly, I get easily distracted."

   "Hey, no worries, if my girlfriend was as hot as Poppy, I doubt I'd ever
get any work done."

   "She is hot, isn't she."

   "You all are, I didn't know where to look when you all piled into the
van this morning."

   "Some days I think I'm the luckiest girl in the world, all my family are
so pretty.  Anyway, I think we're going to need a tall person, I'm too tiny
to do this safely."

   "No problem, are you OK holding the thermos pots while I fill them."

   "I should be able to, I'm quite strong."

   With the roles allocated, we set up a production line, I grabbed a
thermos pot from the trolley, removed the top and passed it to Belle, she
held it while Rhianna filled it with 10 portions of casserole.

   Belle passed the full pot to Poppy, who screwed the top back in place
and passed it to Katie, who took it along with a bag of bread rolls to
Denny, and from there it was passed to one of the drivers.

   Thirty minutes later the food was racing to its destination.  A few of
the drivers were accompanied by one of Marina model friends and a
photographer.

   We were going to get so much good publicity this week.

   By 10pm it was over, all the food had been sent out and the thermos pots
returned, the reports from the front lines all agreed that this was the
best food people had eaten in weeks.

   And that's the end of part one, nobody, least of all me, could have
predicted what would happen when I found Poppy dying at the bus stop.

   By all accounts she should have died at the hands of her abusers, but
she was too strong.  So strong that she bounced back and as the ultimate
act of revenge, she thrived and outlived the monsters who traded off her
body then tried to kill her when she was too used up to generate income.

   With her sisters she founded, planned and launched a charity to ensure
that those people who fall through life's cracks aren't forgotten.

   Maybe she is a goddess...