She watched Matthew and the woman head off in the little Seat on a trip somewhere and she sighed.
She’d lost him.
But it had been very good for the short time it had lasted.
Maybe they would get together in the future?
She swam out to the raft and lay in the sun. She knew Charlie would follow, it was a just a matter of time.
The raft rocked and instead of Charlie, a strange voice spoke to her.
“Hi, do you speak English?”
She looked up. It was a fair-haired boy, a little older than her. He was very tanned, wearing a tight pair of blue trunks. Her eyes flitted to the bulge and she smiled.
“Si, I spik a lill inglis.”
“Oh, I thought you were English.”
She laughed. “I am, I just wanted to see your face. I’m Amber.”
Looking relieved, the boy smiled. He was quite hunky, she thought.
“My name’s Greg, Greg Miller.”
“Hello Greg, you look very tanned, have you been here long?”
“Only a week, we’ve two more to go.”
“You’re here for three weeks, you lucky chap.”
He grinned and sat beside her.
“Are you here for two weeks?”
“Yes, we arrived yesterday.”
“I was getting bored, I’m so pleased you’re here. Do you fancy doing some diving?”
“Okay.”
Jenny left Gareth with the boys as she went to check on the girls. She found Charlie playing table tennis with a German boy called Carl.
“Charlie, have you seen Amber?”
“I think she went swimming.”
Jenny went to the small cove and saw her daughter playing in the water with a boy. She sat on a rock and watched for a while. Amber’s laughter wafted across to where she was sitting. Jenny smiled and relaxed a little. It was bad enough that the poor girl had the usual growing up pains to go through, but coupled with her powers, it was rather cruel.
She was grateful that the MOD had sent the Major to keep an eye on her. He was such a nice man, and to expect him to organise his family holiday around Amber, it was so kind of him.
Amber was now racing the boy back to the shore. The boy was fast, but Amber was faster, just. She reached the edge first and the boy splashed her. She laughed and splashed him back as she came out of the water.
Jenny appraised the girl’s figure.
Amber was now an exceptionally attractive young woman. Her athletic figure was firm and lean, yet retaining the necessary feminine curves. If anything her bust was a little larger than Jenny expected, but it was in proportion to her build.
“Hello, Mummy, looking for me?”
“I was just making sure you were all right, after last night.”
“I’m fine. This is Greg, by the way.”
“Hello Greg. Don’t let her win all the time, will you?”
“Let her? She’s really fast!”
Jenny smiled and stood up. “If you’re okay, I’ll leave you. Are you coming up for lunch?”
“Maybe,” said Amber.
Jenny smiled and walked away. The young couple was already running into the sea again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rueben Lawrence was a burglar. He was a very good burglar and had been plying his trade for eight years, off and on. The off bits were when he spent some time away at Her Majesty’s pleasure. The last time had been for three years in HMP Oxford.
Of mixed Jewish/Welsh blood, he had settled in the small town of Abingdon after he had been released the last time. His family were ashamed of him, so he had no desire to return to his native Swansea, besides, all the coppers there knew him too well!
He’d been eying up this particular property for some time. The family that lived here were easy to keep track of, as he could set his watch to their movements.
He watched the husband leave the house at exactly seven twenty. He walked to the station, and then caught the seven forty for London.
His wife then saw the two boys out the door at eight, as they made their way to school. She then left at twenty past eight, having washed up breakfast. She was a district nurse working from the local cottage hospital. She drove the blue Morris Minor to work.
Rueben gave her ten minutes, just to forget something. He then waited for the postman to deliver some letters. Once the postman was out of sight, he casually wandered up the front path and rang the doorbell. He stood there for a few moments, just checking no one was watching, and then he walked nonchalantly round the side of the house and through the unlocked side gate, shutting and bolting it behind him. He didn’t want any nosey coppers investigating, did he?
Sliding a blade between the sash windows, thereby unlocking the simple catch, he was inside the kitchen in a matter of seconds.
“Now, my lovelies, where are your goodies?” he asked.
His first move, as always, was to the master bedroom. Removing a pillowcase, he pulled the mattress off the bed and shook his head sadly. These weren’t the sort to hide things there, unfortunately. Starting with the bottom drawer, he pulled it out and checked. A small jewellery box went into the case, followed by a locked cash box.
Nothing but clothes in the next drawer, but more jewellery in the top drawer.
He conducted a systematic and untidy search of the whole house, filling his pillowcase with small, unidentifiable yet valuable trinkets. He knew what he could sell and what he couldn’t. His fence was particularly selective and would reject anything that could be traced.
He was satisfied with his haul, probably worth a couple of grand at best. He smiled, as this was better than working for a living!
He returned to the kitchen and, upon finding the keys in the back door, he let himself out.
At that moment his world stopped.
He took a couple of steps out of the back door and found himself frozen to the spot. The only thing he could do was breathe and blink. The bag was clasped tightly in his gloved right hand, but he couldn’t even move his head to look at it.
A face appeared in front of him. It belonged to a very pretty girl with the weirdest amber eyes. They almost looked like cat’s eyes.
“Hello Rueben. Been a naughty man again, have we?”
His first thought was that she was a copper, but she looked nothing like any copper he’d ever seen. She was dressed in black, from head to high-heeled foot. Her nails were varnished in black, appearing very long and sharp. She reminded him of Cat-woman from the Batman show on TV.
“Meeow! Oh, Rueben, you are so wicked,” she said, walking round him.
“I happen to know Mr and Mrs Bateman and their sons, so I think you’ve been particularly nasty to rob them like this. What should I do with you?”
Rueben still couldn’t move or speak.
“What, cat got your tongue?” she said, smiling at him.
“Now, would you be a sweetie and put all this stuff back, if I asked you nicely?”
Rueben tried to nod, but failed miserably.
“No, I don’t think you would, you’d just try to run away, wouldn’t you?”
He tried to shake his head, but again, he failed to move at all.
“Oh, I think you would. You see, I have a sneaky suspicion that you don’t want to go back into prison again. Call me small-minded, but I also believe that’s the best place for you.”
She walked back into his line of sight. Her eyes were weird and, with the dark mascara surrounding them, they looked rather sinister.
“First, I’m going to make sure you are remembered for this one!”
With a wicked grin, she stepped forward and started undressing the hapless criminal.
Pc Steve Walker was on his beat in a quiet road in Abingdon. A little old lady came out of a side road and walked slowly along the pavement towards him. She was hunched over with arthritis, so she moved very carefully. She looked so wrinkled that he wondered how old she was. She reached out with a gnarled hand and clutched his tunic. He smiled and looked down into the strangest amber eyes.