“Officer, I’m glad to find you, I think I saw a man go into the garden of number twenty-two. I know the Batemans are at work, so he could be a burglar!”
“Number twenty-two, madam?”
“Yes, that’s right. I don’t see very well, but I think it was a man. He went through the side gate, he did.”
“Stay there, if you please, madam, I’ll go take a look.”
Steve walked briskly round the corner and found number twenty-two. Pushing open the side gate, he took in a sight that will remain with him for the rest of his life.
Rueben was standing in the middle of the back lawn, dressed in Mrs Bateman’s underwear, make up and a top hat. On his bare stomach were the words, ‘I like cock!’ written in lipstick. He was still clutching the pillowcase of valuables in his left hand and as soon as the officer appeared, he jumped as if startled and immediately attempted to run away.
Tripping over a child’s bicycle, he fell to the ground. Constable Walker jumped on him and restrained him.
“Ho Rueben, you’re nicked, my old son!” said PC Walker, trying hard not to laugh.
“I didn’t do it, she did it!”
“Do what Rueben?”
“She dressed me up like this. I tell you, she’s a witch!”
“Who’s a witch?”
“The girl!”
“What girl?”
“The girl in black, the one like Cat-woman.”
Steve Walker frowned. This was the fourth time criminals had been caught red-handed at the scene of a crime, claiming that Cat-woman had caused them to be caught.
The first had been a car thief, who had taken a wrong turn and ended up driving into the yard at the police station and then sat in the driver’s seat sounding the horn until someone came and arrested him.
The second incident involved two young men and a quantity of heroin. They were both found naked in the middle of the bridge, holding their drugs in one hand and a sign saying, ‘Heroin’ in the other.
The third was a confidence trickster who preyed on old people. Police had found him tied up in an old-people’s home, with a hand-written confession on the table in front of him, listing about a hundred offences for which he had been responsible.
Each claimed to have been the victim of a beautiful woman dressed like Cat-woman. Steve shook his head, grinning at what he saw. He didn’t care if it was Superman, as an arrest was an arrest. Besides, the Judges at the Crown Court didn’t believe them either and sent them all to prison.
“Okay, my old son, you’re coming with me to the nick. You can explain it all to the judge. I can tell you, you’re mates in prison are going to love hearing about your change in sexual preferences!”
“Nooooooooooooo!”
Amber watched as the police removed the burglar, placing him into a black van. She smiled and made her way home.
*************************************************
“Good day at school, dear?” asked Jenny as Amber entered the kitchen.
“Yes, thanks, Mummy. Most of it was study periods for the exams.”
Jenny smiled, as Amber was on track to get straight A’s in her A levels. The girl was dressed in her school uniform, with her hair tied back and her face devoid of any makeup.
“Is Charlie with you?”
Amber smiled, as Charlie was meeting Mike Weedon in town.
“No, I think she had some work to hand in. She said she’d meet me here.”
“There’s a letter from that nice boy you met in Spain last year,” Jenny said.
Amber smiled, resisting the urge to say that she knew.
“Oh, good,” she said instead, as she walked into the hall, picking Greg’s letter off the hall table. She went up to her room, closed the door and lay on the bed to read the letter.
The two pages were up to his usual standard, funny and full of humorous observations about his student friends. He also stated how much he missed her and wanted to be with her.
She liked Greg, for she could be herself with him, without worrying about any hidden secrets. Coming from Hertfordshire, he was twenty now and was at medical school in Birmingham, studying to be a doctor. She had just turned seventeen, and was looking forward to leaving school in a few months time.
She found it hard to relate to someone nearer her age after Matthew and Gabriella, but in the end, she’d got on very well with Greg. He was just that much older than the others she mixed with, and although still young, he wasn’t a boy any more.
He’d been very surprised to find out Amber was only sixteen, but as she acted and looked much older, he’d shrugged and enjoyed being with her. He was scrupulously honourable, never even suggesting sex, despite feeling very aroused by his new girlfriend.
Amber was very good too, enjoying pretending being a virgin. The holiday had ended up like a breath of fresh air, despite Matthew being in her face every day, and initiating a relationship with the widow Sally.
She met the Major on the beach on the second from last day. Both were alone.
“Well, how is she in bed?” Amber asked with a smile.
“Very good, but then you already know that, don’t you Amber?”
Her smile faded. “I’m sorry. I promise I won’t peek again.”
“Honest?”
She nodded.
“How’s the boy? Taken his virginity yet?”
The smile returned. “Not yet, but plans are afoot.”
“Seriously, Amber, how are you?”
“I’m okay now. It hurt, Matthew, it hurt a lot.”
“Yes, it hurt me too. But it’s for the best.”
“Is it?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“I hope so, I really do.”
“I can do my job now and you can live your life. I’m just pleased to have been part of it.”
“Oh, Matty, I’m not going to go away, you’ll see me every day and weep.”
“No Amber, I shall smile, for you bring out a smile in me.”
Amber smiled then, and it lit up her pretty face.
“Thanks. For everything.”
“Same here. I’m sorry I’m not twenty again.”
“So am I.”
Greg appeared at that moment. Matthew smiled and turned away.
“Amber, fancy a midnight swim?” said the younger man.
Amber smiled and Matthew saw a gleam in her eyes.
“That sounds fun, but no costumes, okay?”
Greg grinned and nodded. “Okay.”
Matthew walked off, satisfied that Amber had bounced back.
Greg lost his virginity that night, on the raft. He also lost his heart to the girl with the amber eyes. His parents were slightly dismayed as Greg had left school and they were hoping he would get into medical school. The complication of a schoolgirl from Oxfordshire for a girlfriend was one complication too many, in their opinion.
However, having met Amber, they were surprised at her maturity, so both were left with a sense of peace and well-being about her. Amber left with a sneaky smile.
Having lost his heart and virginity, Greg was so frustrated that it had happened at the end of the holiday. His whole being was taken over by that exotic creature, so much so that he was up at five on the last day, in the vain hope of grabbing a few extra minutes with her.
Amber was flattered and pleased, allowing him to play the besotted fool to his heart’s content. By the time they came to leave, on different flights, of course, Greg believed himself to be helplessly in love for the first time properly. As he told his mother, “All the others were just a pale shadow of this one.”
Amber returned to real life a wiser and more settled girl. Even Charlie noticed the difference. She’d felt upset, as they had drifted apart in recent months. However, on coming back to England after their holiday, Charlie and Amber were back as friends. Charlie found it hard to accept that the younger Amber was sexually so more advanced than she was. It wasn’t as if she bragged or spoke about her experiences, she didn’t have to, for Charlie managed to understand without words.