# Chapter 14

Having showered and changed the two women made their way to the breakfast table.

“Sam left already?” JJ asked as she stared at the vast array of food on the table in front of her.

“Yeah, he has a meeting and then he did mention the other day that he might go to the driving range and hit some golf balls. I have no idea, Sam tends to disappear in the week sometimes working and he plays golf a lot. So dig in, you need a hearty breakfast as we have a lot of walking and steps to climb. I made a full English breakfast: bacon, sausage, mushrooms, scrambled eggs, toast, butter, jam and coffee. I didn’t know what you liked.” Cory passed a plate to JJ and indicated for her to sit at the table.

“Guess there’s enough food here to sink a battleship! You guys eat this food every morning?” She inquired as she heaped a little of everything onto her plate.

“You have to be kidding me, if I ate this stuff every morning I’d be a prime candidate for a heart attack! Plus I never have time before work. We usually just do big breakfasts when we have visitors staying.”

They ate in a comfortable silence, occasionally commenting on the day’s events and the food, each lost in their thoughts concerning each other. Unbeknownst to the other, each woman had decided that the friendship was the major importance and declaring their love for each other could spoil that friendship – especially if one of them didn’t reciprocate the feeling.

“Oh shit!” JJ exclaimed. “I haven’t called Sarah, I left in such a shitty mood I can’t even believe I haven’t thought to call her, I am sure she has freaked by now.”

“Hey calm down, backtrack here, why were you in such a mood?” Cory was extremely interested in this new development.

“It’s a long story Cory, one that I’ll explain on the way to Warwick. Hey, do you think I could use the phone, I will leave money for the call?”

“Of course you can. You don’t have to ask, it’s on the side there. Want me to leave you alone?” Cory knew there was no way she really wanted to leave the room but her manners always got the better of her.

“No you can stay. I’ll make it quick.” JJ caught the phone as Cory threw it over the counter.

“Well I’ll just stack the dishes in the washer. Hey don’t forget to put in the 001 before your number.”

JJ punched the numbers in, her stomach was churning, how could she have forgotten to phone Sarah. In fact she hadn’t even given Sarah a second thought. The woman that she was supposed to love and had spent 6 years with and she hadn’t even remembered to call. Guilt settled itself in the pit of her stomach and she waited for the call to connect.

“Hey there, it’s me.” JJ said. The barrage of sarcasm that she received made her lift the phone away from her ear. “Hey calm down I’m fine, I’m sorry Sarah, it was a long flight, drive and my brain was just mush. The time difference threw me. “ She listened to Sarah’s ranting and tried to interrupt but her partner was on a roll. She lifted her eyes up and caught Cory staring at her. She smiled and lifted her eyebrows at the phone.

As Sarah took a pause JJ realized it was her turn to talk, she turned her back to Cory and lowered her voice, “Sarah there’s nothing I can say or do, I’ve apologized, and I never meant to worry you. I’m sorry for the way I walked off and it hurts me too. We need time apart; we need to think things through. We need to really think where this relationship is going, or not going to be more accurate.”

Cory didn’t mean to listen in but it was hard not to and as she looked at the slumped form of her friend and the obvious pain in her voice she couldn’t resist the need to comfort her. She walked over and put her hand on the small of JJ’s back and began to rub in tiny circles. She felt JJ lean into the touch; taking this as an acceptance of her being there she continued the rubbing.

“Sarah, stop crying and listen. I’ll be back in a week; we’ll sit down and talk then. Just spend some time thinking about the past year. Are you happy? Are you sure I’m making you happy? I don’t think we are, I think there’s something missing and I think you know there is too.”

There was a pause in the conversation as JJ listened to Sarah’s reply. Cory felt JJ’s muscles tighten and her body jerked upright, her whole body tensed and Cory could feel anger coursing through the body. She had no idea what was being said on the other end but what ever it was it was making JJ extremely angry.

“Well if you think that about me we’re obviously already finished. I can’t believe you just said that but if that’s what you think then there’s no need to discuss us anymore, as there is no us.” There was a pause in the conversation as JJ listened to Sarah’s rants and raves. “Look this is an expensive argument, I’ll see you in a week and we will discuss everything then.” She pressed the disconnect button and took a deep breath. It was then she realised that the small, blonde had stopped her rubbing. She turned and looked at Cory.

“I gather she’s not happy, huh?” Cory asked trying to make her friend smile.

“There’s an understatement if ever I heard one.” JJ hung her head and ran her fingers through her fringe. She felt like shit and didn’t know what to do. Sarah’s comments had been too close to home. Sarah thought JJ was chasing a dream and wanted Cory. The fact that it was true just heightened JJ’s bad mood, she hated it when Sarah was right. JJ felt Cory’s arms encircle her waist and pull her towards her. She didn’t resist, she needed the comfort; she put her own arms round the blonde’s shoulders and held her close. Cory began the circling again and then squeezed JJ. The feelings that shot through JJ’s body alarmed her, here was this sweet girl comforting her and her body was treating it as a come on. She wanted to pull away but her body betrayed her and she snuggled in closer, she dipped her head and nuzzled into Cory’s neck.

Conflicting emotions were running through Cory’s head, part of her wanted to turn and grasp the lips that were lightly touching her neck and the other part of her psyche was screaming at her to let go. She went on instinct and tightened her hold on JJ, it was then she felt the moisture on her neck and she felt the wracking sob. She moved away slightly and looked into the saddest, bluest eyes and it tore at her heart. JJ looked away and put her head back on Cory’s shoulder.

“Hey there, want to tell me what’s going on?” Cory whispered into the ear right by her mouth. She felt JJ shake her head, this admission hurt Cory a little but in the next breath she heard a muffled response.

“Not right now, maybe later. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.” JJ snuggled closer into the curve of Cory’s neck and Cory stroked her back and the silky, black hair of her new friend and then breathed in the smell of her. She smelt so good so clean and fresh, it was becoming intoxicating, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that; her friend needed her support and friendship.

It seemed like forever before they tore themselves apart, neither spoke about what had happened they just gathered their belongings together and headed for the car.

“Okay now you get to rough it JJ. We’re in my old banger and it’s as basic as it gets.” JJ laughed and settled herself in to the small car. She had to adjust the seat to accommodate her long legs. She watched Cory go through her predriving checklist and then they waited a few minutes for the engine to warm up. The two were quiet but the silence was peaceful not strained, both had things on their mind and both knew the other would speak when they were ready. They flicked through the tapes and settled upon Bryan Adams.

The journey over to Warwick was quick. JJ loved the winding country roads and marveled at the fields filled with sheep and different varieties of cows. Neither spoke about the phone call, JJ spent the journey pointing out things of interest to her and listened attentively as Cory explained what they were or the history behind the buildings.

Cory was dying to know what had happened to make Sarah so mad and JJ so sad but she knew she would find out when her friend was ready, she had a feeling it would be later in the day when they were more at ease with each other and eating. Eating seemed to be a time when many people let their guard down, she’d packed a small lunch and put in some extra tissues, she had a feeling they’d be needed.

As they entered Warwick, Cory went the long way around so she could show her hometown off to JJ. The main road had a variety of Elizabethan black and white style buildings and brick buildings

She explained to JJ the principle of wattle and daub buildings. A great example of this was the Lord Leycester Hospital building, which looked like it was going to collapse into the road. It was a beautiful old building; the wood had warped over time and gave the building a twisted look.

“How old is the building?” JJ asked amazed at the history of the town already.

“I can’t remember the exact dates.” Cory admitted. ” I know a lot of the buildings date from the 1400’s but we did have a Great Fire of Warwick, not on the same scale as the great fire of London, but it did burn down a lot of the town’s houses. There’s a display of the town pre fire and post fire in the museum in town. We could check it out later if you want.”

JJ nodded and continued to take in all the different buildings. They drove around the main square of the town. It was very quiet- almost deserted.

“Is it always this quiet?” JJ asked.

“Depends on the time of year and week. On a Saturday we have market day so the town is usually busy, it’s hell to park your car. In the summer we have a lot of tourists, mostly Americans, Japanese and Europeans so the streets are full and the castle gets so crowded it’s not funny. So this is the best time to come as there won’t be so many people there.”

As they drove down West Street, Cory pointed out The Tudor House Inn, a hotel come pub where she’d spent her college days working.

Just past the pub they turned left into the Castle driveway, Cory glanced to her left to see a look of total amazement on JJ’s face. They had entered the driveway, which was a beautiful wooded, winding pathway, which couldn’t be seen from the roadside.

“You okay, JJ?” She asked, touching JJ’s leg reassuringly.

“Yeah – this kind of natural beauty kind of takes my breath away. It’s like fall at home. The trees look wonderful with all the reds, yellows, oranges, and browns that I wish they could stay that way, keep the beauty rather than the leaves dying and the trees being barren, but many of these trees must be evergreens as they’re still green.

“Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I love autumn time too – its nature at it’s most radiant but spring is good because it’s new life. These are mostly evergreens.

A loud screech interrupted their thoughts.

“What the hell was that?” JJ asked, looking around for signs of kids or women being attacked.

“That would be the residents.” Cory said smiling at JJ.

“The residents? I thought the castle was uninhabited?”

“Oh it is, these are the residents of the grounds.” Cory slowed the car to a halt and pointed up into one of the yew trees. There sitting very proudly was a peacock, he screeched again as if to prove a point and then flew down to the next branch.

“They have peacocks here.”

“Yep and Peahens, but it always makes me wonder why in the bird world the females look so dull and dowdy and it’s the males that have all the beauty and looks. Unlike in the human world where the female is considered more beautiful of the species.” Cory mused as she pulled into a parking spot.

“Amen to that, I myself, thank God everyday for beautiful women like yourself to ogle at.” As the words left her mouth JJ could feel the blush rising to her cheeks. She fumbled around on the floor pretending to look for something, anything.

“Why thank you ma’am for the compliment.” Cory drawled out in her best American accent. “You’re quite the looker yourself,” and she winked at JJ. Seeing her friends reddened face and expression she touched JJ’s arm. “Hey, can we help it if we happen to be the two best looking chicks in the neighbourhood?”

This got a grin out of JJ as they climbed out of the car and collected the rucksack.

“Okay JJ this is my treat, no arguments I get to play the host today, ok?”

“Okay but you remember that while you’re whining on about paying your way when you visit Mass.” JJ replied.

They made their way further up the castle drive, from Warwick itself it was easy to forget that the castle was built on a hill until you began the walk up to the entrance and even the fittest of people noticed the incline.

There were a steady number of cars already in the car park and a number of people ahead of Cory and JJ in the queue for tickets.

They paid the extortionate price for a ticket and moved away. Cory linked her arm through JJ’s and got a puzzled look.

“What?” asked Cory innocently.

“Nothing, you okay walking like this?” JJ asked

Cory looked at her quizzically, “I have no idea what you’re on about. Why wouldn’t I be comfortable I’m the one who linked your arm? You don’t mind do you? It’s a little chilly and you’re very warm! I’m like a leech on anyone who’s radiating heat!”

“I’m sorry I just didn’t want people to stare at you and think we were a couple. I thought it might make you uncomfortable.”

“Ms Matthews you think too much! People don’t do that, it’s quite common for women to hold hands and link arms here. It must be the European in us and it wouldn’t bother me if they did think we were a couple, I think we make a pretty cute couple!” With that comment she wiggled her eyebrows and pulled the woman through the entrance gate.

The wiggle of the eyebrows caused JJ to swallow, she knew her heart was taken and she knew she was in big trouble but to hell with it she’d deal with it when she had to.

Her first view of the castle was breath taking; it stood on the mound all proud as though time had never gone by. It looked magnificent and JJ just stared at it. Cory snuggled closer, “It’s wonderful isn’t it?”

“ Breath taking. You’re so lucky to have this amount of history on your doorstep.”

“I know I never appreciated as a child, it was only when I left the town to go to college that I realised what a quaint town it is. I love coming to the castle and thinking about centuries gone by.”

They stood there for a while and then meandered slowly past the rose gardens; they decided not to go in there, as there wouldn’t be anything to see. Cory explained how beautiful the roses smelt and looked in early summer and JJ said she’d make her next visit a summer one.

They walked up the gates of the castle, they stood on the moat bridge and Cory took her camera from her pocket. “Hey JJ this would make a lovely picture with the castle behind you. Can I take a picture?” As she held the camera up a passer by asked if she wanted him to take a picture of the two of them, Cory and JJ looked at each other, nodded and Cory gave the man a quick demonstration of how the camera worked. She walked over to JJ and put her arm round her waist, and JJ responded by putting her arm round Cory’s shoulders and applying a little pressure, enough to make Cory snuggle closer to her and they both smiled contented smiles.

“You two make a sweet couple, enjoy your day.” The man commented as he passed the camera back to Cory.

Cory thanked him and turned to JJ and winked. “See I said we made a cute couple!”

JJ smiled and linked her arm through Cory’s as they passed through the gate.

They decided they’d walk round the castle systematically, but leave the ramparts and towers until later. They began their tour in the Armory, both girls were surprised at the various uniforms the British armies had had. JJ decided a transvestite must have designed some of the older costumes; they looked at pictures of the soldiers in their frilly uniforms. Cory tried to explain the Stuart period of time in history where all the men had long hair and make up but JJ was convinced her theory was the better one.

At one display case, JJ turned to Cory, “Hey I’ve worked out why the British lost a lot of wars.”

“We have not lost a lot of wars! We used to rule an empire! “ Cory replied defensively.

“The important word in that sentence was ‘used’ to rule an empire and you lost the war of Independence against us and I know why!”

“No doubt because you Americans had such great battle plans and better soldiers!” Cory retorted.

“No it was because of the red uniforms.” JJ said giggling.

“You’re an idiot sometimes!” Cory said nudging her friend.

“No I’m serious, nothing like showing up on a battlefield. I mean blue isn’t that much better but red just shows up. I wonder how long it took them to discover camouflage.”

“Good point there. See they could have done with having you around in the war!”

They continued on and looked at the swords. These fascinated both girls, there were some demonstration ones they could pick up and both commented on the weight of them. They were amazed soldiers could carry them let alone fight with them. They moved on to look at the long bows. There was a tour guide standing by one display model.

“Want to try and see whether the Kingmaker would want you in his army?” the guide asked.

Cory nodded, she was game for anything and loved trying out things and building up her general knowledge bank it all helped her in the classroom.

“Here hold onto this piece of wood and pull the string back as far as you can.” The man demonstrated the action and Cory took over. Try as she might she struggled to pull the string very far and let go. The arrow, indicating the distance the arrow would have traveled had it been a proper long bow, rose pitifully.

“Oh you’d have never made it into the army, you’d have been in the kitchen probably. What about you ma’am you look like a strapping woman. Now he’d have had you.”

“Not likely!” Cory commented, smiling at JJ because of the innuendo.

JJ changed places with Cory and shifted her stance until she was comfortable; she pulled the string back until it was level with her face. Cory noted the taut bicep muscles and the gritted teeth as JJ put all her strength into the pull and then she released it. The power indicator rose significantly and even the tour guide let out a whistle.

“You’d have made a fine longbow man unfortunately for King Richard you’re the wrong sex but I’m sure he’d have found a good use for a strong girl like you.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

At this point Cory leaned over, took JJ by the arm and looked directly at the man, “and I repeat my previous statement of NOT LIKELY!”

It seemed the penny finally dropped, as the man began to chuckle and he bid them farewell.

“You are so bad at times. That poor man was dying of embarrassment.” JJ was still smiling at her friend’s defense of her honour.

“Well he shouldn’t be so suggestive!” They left the armory and headed for the dungeons.

There was a small queue as they reached the dungeon entrance.

“Hey what’s everyone waiting for?” JJ asked Cory as they joined the end of the line.

“The stairs down to the dungeon are only wide enough for people to go either down or up and the dungeons aren’t that big so the man dressed in costume makes us queue up and sends down a group as a group comes up.” stated Cory in a matter of fact manner.

“He makes us do what?” JJ looked quizzically at Cory.

“Huh?” Cory had found the man’s costume interesting, well the size of his codpiece, she’d always wondered if it was a status symbol or whether the blokes actually filled them.

“Quit staring at his manhood and answer the question!” JJ nudged her embarrassed friend.

“I wasn’t staring,” she looked at JJ’s raised eyebrow, “Okay I might have been but purely out of curiosity not desire. What was the question?”

JJ smiled at her friend, “Research, is that what they’re calling ogling nowadays! You said he made us queue, what’s one of those?”

“You’re kidding me right? To queue is to stand in a line. It’s the great British tradition see a line and stand in it, it might not be going anywhere but we’re too polite to barge our way in so we queue. Hey we’re on the move, it’s quite dark and smelly down there, you’re not afraid of small places are you? Cory teasingly nudged JJ; she hadn’t noticed the paling of the dark woman’s skin.

‘Shit, shit, shit, there’s no way I’m admitting to be scared. Deep breaths I can do this. How hard can it be it’s just a little dungeon? So what if it’s dark, dank and underground. Be brave Matthews if she can do it so can you.’ She repeated this mantra until they got to the tiny entrance, her knees began to buckle but there was no way she was going to let this beat her, she grabbed her friend’s hand, this got a concerned look from Cory.

“You okay?” Cory asked sensing her friend might be nervous from the sudden clamminess of her hands.

“I’m fine, I just didn’t want you to slip, and the steps look kind of wet. You don’t mind do you?”

“Course not, thanks for looking after me. Down we go! Take a deep breath it’s the last fresh one for a while.”

There were about 20 steps and then they had to turn right into a narrow entrance, the dungeon smelt putrid and very cold. Instinctively Cory snuggled closer to JJ for warmth and security. The place had a foreboding sense of eeriness about it; if they closed their eyes they could sense the pain and anguish suffered in these chambers hundreds of years before them.

Whilst Cory was feeling inquisitive about the writings on the wall JJ was having her own internal battles with her senses. The walls seemed to be closing in on her and panic was slowly seeping through her body. She moved closer, tightening her grip as she did so, afraid to let go of her anchor to normality. Cory sensed this sudden change in her friend’s stance; she looked up into scared, dark eyes. She was sure the eyes were no longer blue but black from fear.

Cory leant towards JJ, she whispered in her ear, “Hey you sure you’re okay?”

JJ smiled meekly back, “Err, is now a good time to tell you I suffer a little from claustrophobia.”

“You’re kidding me?” Cory moved closer to her friend, bringing her arm around her waist, she could feel JJ’s heartbeat against her shoulder. “You’re deadly serious aren’t you?” JJ nodded. “Hey no problem, we can go straight back up if you want?”

“Thanks but it was my decision to come down here, trying to be brave and not look stupid, I should have told you when you asked. I can do this but do you mind just holding my hand? I feel safer with you near me and maybe you could tell me a bit about the place. It might take my mind off my fears.” As she spoke she felt Cory’s hand squeeze hers and her arm remained on her waist.

“We can hold hands and I’m going to keep my arm right here okay? Right, the thing hanging from the ceiling was a torture wrack. They would put prisoners in there and hang them from the ceiling. The channel running along the floor was an early drainage system and over in that tiny opening is a toilet, it’s just a hole in a piece of stone and you can see right down to the River Avon flowing below it. Want to take a look, I promise to look with you.”

JJ nodded her agreement and the couple went into the tiny enclosure and peered down the hole. As they leant over to look their heads met and as if drawn by a magnet they turned to look at each other. In the dim light they could both see the others features and both women were spell bound to look away until a small cough brought them back to the present. A group of people was waiting to enter the small opening, Cory and JJ both apologised and exited out of the tiny space. They smiled at each other neither willing to ask what had just happened but neither wishing to dismiss it.

JJ broke the silence, “It’s kind of scary down here, all isolated and barren. I’d have hated to have been down here on my own for years at a time. It makes you want to be near those that you care about, makes you realise how much you need the company of others. Do you know what I mean?

Cory nodded, she pointed to an inscription on the wall. “Behind that board are the markings made by a prisoner hundreds of years ago. He was in here for years until he died a slow painful death. I think he felt like you just said, it must have been awful to have been down here. Let’s get out of here, it’s pretty depressing.”

The two of them walked slowly towards the exit and waited patiently for the others to walk up the steps, even though they were exiting JJ didn’t want to release her hold on Cory so she clung to her hand and let the blonde lead them to freedom.

When they reached the fresh air they both took a very deep breath. Spontaneously, JJ pulled Cory into a hug. “Thank you, that’s the second time today you’ve comforted me. It’s so different than when I’m with Sarah, with her I have to be the strong one I always do the protecting. I don’t know what it is about you but my barriers just come crumbling down and I let you see the real me. No walls, no lies, just me and I’m not as strong as I appear.”

Cory returned the hug and mumbled back that she felt the same; she was having an internal war with her senses, which were screaming at her to never let the dark woman go.

Reality made each woman release the other; they became aware of their surroundings and the looks they were receiving off people standing nearby. They grinned at each other and walked towards the torture chamber, neither realizing their hands were still linked. They released their hold as they walked through the narrow doorway. They entered a small room, which had two display cases. JJ went over to look at one of them, fascinated by the ancient forms of torture.

“They were barbaric, weren’t they?” JJ said as she looked at a particular set of gruesome thumbscrews. “How were these used exactly?”

“Well like the name suggests they put them on prisoners’ thumbs and then screwed the nut round until it crushed the thumbs. Many prisoners would confess their armies’ secrets, I imagine it was excruciatingly painful.” Cory pinched JJ’s thumb to make her point more clear.

“Ouch, I get the idea!” winced JJ. She looked around a bit more. “So what’s this Scold’s Bridal?”

“That would have been something I’d have definitely been tortured with!” Cory laughed out loud as she saw the quizzical look on JJ’s face. “It’s for gossiping women. The gossips of the town had this put over their head and the piece of metal on the inside of the mask would fit on top of the tongue. So the woman couldn’t talk any more. Husbands would use them on their wives when they talked too much. So legends say. Read the writing above as it’ll give you a more accurate account.” Cory pointed to the notices attached on the wall.

JJ shook her head, “No you explain it in a more interesting way, and I’m not bothered if it’s not historically correct your explanations are more fun! So what else did the poor wives have done to them?”

Cory smiled, “Well over at the Tudor House across the road they have a chastity belt. It’s shaped like a pair of knickers made out of metal. It has a lock on it and a hole in it. Husbands would put it on their wives before they went to battle or on journeys to make sure they couldn’t sleep around!”

“Now that is barbaric! How’d they pee or poop?” questioned JJ.

“I have no idea and I don’t even want to go there thank you. Can you imagine trying to sit down in metal underwear?"

They made their way through to the stretching wrack, Cory explained how it was another tool used to extract confessions out of prisoners and that the stocks were used as a punishment for mild crimes like drunk and disorderly and theft. The prisoners were put in the stocks, which were blocks of wood with ankle and wrist holes cut out and the local villagers would throw rotten food at the prisoners. Sometimes they were put in the stocks for a day or more. JJ listened fascinated by the endless knowledge Cory possessed and her cute accent, which went very broad when she got excited. She loved the way the blonde would use her hands to animate her stories and JJ found herself falling under the spell of this charming woman. She had found herself over the 24 hours they’d been together just staring at Cory, she could look at this woman for hours on end and never get bored. She decided there and then that she could easily love this woman more than life itself and that was a very sobering thought.

After the torture chamber they meandered through the Kingmaker display, this consisted of lots of Madame Taussaud’s wax work models, both girl’s were fascinated by the intricate detail of the costumes and models, they looked so life like. Cory recalled a TV program she’d watched as a child where someone dressed as one of the models and scared people as they walked through. They giggled and talked about life in the early centuries. They spent a few minutes staring out of the windows at the river below and it’s mini waterfall. They decided that they’d like to do lunch by the river.

Their wanderings found them in the main hall and into more modern times when they looked at the Royal Party of the early 20th century. Cory explained who was who in the royal family and how they were related to Queen Elizabeth II. As they left the Main hall they walked towards their first tower, The Ghost Tower. It was Cory’s turn to be a little hesitant; she fumbled beside her for JJ’s hand. JJ looked at her questioningly, “Is there something I should worry about inside here? You don’t seriously believe it’s haunted?”

Cory shrugged embarrassed that she was acting like a 5 year old. “Who knows, it’s just dark and creepy. Scares the shit out of me, once on a TV show, called ‘Jim’ll Fix It’, two girls asked if they could spend the night in the ghost tower, they looked petrified when they came out the next night they were so brave in my eyes. I get scared of my own shadow!”

JJ pulled her into a hug and threw her arm around Cory’s shoulder, “Fear not my princess for I will protect you from the Hooded Claw!” She squeezed and was thankful she had another legitimate reason to hold the woman she desired close to her.

They walked through the creaking door and walked slowly into the darkened room, as they entered an eerie voice began it’s monotone dialogue about the history of the castle, even JJ had to admit it was spooky as a shiver walked its way up her spine. She shuddered involuntary and Cory smiled and had a smug ‘I told you so’ look on her face. They listened to the story about the poor demise of the habitant of the tower and proceeded to walk up the wooden stairs to his bedroom chamber.

The room was dim, only the light from a candle lit the room, it gave the room an even eerier presence and shadows were thrown across the room. The tape recording played again as the story of a ghastly murder was revealed, in front of them was a wide bed but extremely short in length. Cory looked at the bed and then at the woman beside her, she began to giggle.

“Hey I thought you were supposed to be frightened?” JJ looked at her wondering what she could possibly find amusing in such a scary room.

“I am, or I was. I just keep imagining you in that bed!”

At this comment JJ’s eyebrow rose in a questioning but sexy stare, “and you would be imagining me in that bed because?”

Cory chuckled again, “Because it’s so short and you’re so tall. If you were alive in those days your legs would be dangling off the end. You’d have to sleep width ways just to get all of you in. They must have been midgets in those days. Have you noticed how low the doors are round here?”

“Have I noticed? Stupid question I’ve nearly knocked myself out a few times. It’s okay for you vertically challenged people in life. But yeah, could you imagine me in there!”

Cory blushed, she was glad it was so dark in the room, as she was imagining her friend in the bed but in her mind her friend was butt naked and writhing below her.

After the ghost tower they only had the ramparts and big towers to explore. They walked along the edge of the grass, the weather was quite good for February, it wasn’t warm but neither was it too chilly. Both girls had their fleeces on and jeans, Cory was pleased the rain had held off as that meant they could do a riverside picnic. She knew a nice little spot that was sheltered by trees and had a bench. She’d packed a little lunch in her backpack and had made a flask of hot coffee.

They began the climb up the ramparts, Cory made sure she walked by the wall as heights were not her cup of tea and she didn’t want to have a dizzy spell. She already felt a fool admitting she’d been scared about going into the ghost tower she didn’t want to go any further down in JJ’s estimations, although knowing that JJ had revealed her dislike of enclosed spaces made her feel a little better.

As they walked the ramparts Cory explained to JJ all about the arrow slots and the grill holes for boiling oil. They had no idea how the soldiers got the boiling tar up so high but they both agreed it would have been a horrible death to be doused in burning oil.

They entered the first tower, Guy’s Tower, Cory went first and JJ climbed behind up, holding onto her fleece. They climbed steadily going round and round on the narrow stairway, there were about 180 steps as they got nearer the top they were both breathing a little harder, as they stepped out the wind caught them unawares and they ducked down for cover. They went to the edge of the tower and neither spoke for a few minutes; they just spent a few minutes in tranquil silence. They were the only ones at the top of this tower and JJ took full advantage of this. She put her arm around Cory’s shoulder when she felt no resistance she pulled the blonde nearer to her and ended up wrapping her arms fully around her. She smiled to herself when she felt Cory’s hands wrap themselves around her waist and squeeze.

“I wanted to say thank you for a wonderful day, so far, Cory. In fact I wanted to say thank you for coming into my life.” JJ squeezed Cory tighter as she said the last few words.

“Hey, it’s me who should be thanking you. You’ve opened up a side to me I never knew I had. You’ve offered me friendship with no strings attached and you know the real me, and you haven’t run away. You know all my secrets and you accept me for me. For that gift JJ I’ll never forget you.” She looked up into the blue eyes and the beauty of the woman in front of her took her breath away.

JJ looked down as Cory looked up, the temptation to kiss her was tremendous, she bent down lower and rested her forehead on Cory’s and there they stayed for a couple more minutes before the reality of who and where they were hit them. As they broke apart JJ felt her throat go dry and her legs were weak she leant on the wall for support, her whole body seemed to be mutinying against her will

“Hey want to see my senior school?” Cory asked, oblivious to the effect she had on JJ, walked along the edge of the tower pulling JJ along. The two women fell into a giggling repertoire as Cory pointed out significant landmarks to her. They both agreed that the view was magnificent and JJ took a few more photos. They descended from this tower and walked along the battlements onto Caesar’s Tower, Cory explained how this had recently been rebuilt and was now accessible to the public

After the towers, they both agreed that it was time for a late lunch, it was heading towards 2 o’clock and both women were starving. They ambled out of the main castle grounds and headed down towards the Avon. They crossed the bridge, stopping to have a few games of Pooh Sticks on the bridge. They walked along the edge of the river until they arrived at the old boathouse, it was sheltered away from the wind and Cory settled herself down on the bench, closely followed by JJ. They ate quietly both welcoming the warmth of the coffee.

Having eaten their fill they both relaxed against the back of the bench, their feet up against the wall of the boathouse.

Cory sat there mulling over whether to brooch the subject of JJ’s telephone call with Sarah, in the end she decided to bite the bullet, “Want to tell me about Sarah? You guys didn’t sound too happy on the phone this morning.”

JJ sat there twiddling her thumbs, she wanted to tell Cory everything but that involved bringing up the feelings she had for the small blonde. “Yesterday, as I was leaving to come here we had a huge argument, I basically told Sarah it wasn’t working. She went mad when I told her I was coming here to visit you. She thinks that I have feelings for you; that I could be falling in love with you and that maybe there’s something going on between us. I also told her to think about where we’re heading as I think we’ve drifted too far apart, we want different things out of life and I told her we’d talk about it when I got back.”

“So do you really think it’s over between you and Sarah?” Cory asked, she desperately wanted the answer to be yes, she had no idea why it was important, it wasn’t like she was free and single herself.

“We haven’t been getting on well, we are so opposite it is difficult at times, hell most times. We hardly talk to each other and our sex life is non-existent. I can’t remember the last time we were intimate with each other. I think we’re together out of habit and I think it’s time to admit it isn’t working and move on. It’s hard to explain really.”

Cory reached over and took JJ’s hand, “JJ, I understand and you know it. I’m having these thoughts about Sam and me. At least you’ve talked it through with Sarah. So what did you say when she asked about us?”

JJ looked at Cory, she couldn’t turn her head away. “I lied and told her she was wrong.”

It took a couple of moments for Cory to comprehend the sentence but when she did her eyes went wide in surprise.

“Cory, I asked you the other day if you felt a connection and you replied yes.” Cory nodded and unconsciously licked her lips. “Well I asked because you’re constantly on my mind. I think, no I know you’re my pebble on the beach. Ironic really, I find the girl of my dreams and she ends up married and 3000 miles away from me.” She looked over and noticed Cory’s head had dropped.

“Shit, I’m sorry Cory, I know it’s one sided and I promised myself I wouldn’t say anything but today has been so good I got carried away. Please look at me.” She touched Cory’s chin and moved her head to face hers. She noticed tears trailing down Cory’s face. She pulled the blonde towards her and held her tightly. “Talk to me Cory, please.”

Cory looked up into the face and felt herself drowning in the eyes that looked back at her. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. She opened her mouth to say what she felt but no words would come out. She leaned forward, she knew actions spoke louder than words and she intended to show JJ how she felt. As she got closer and closer to the soft red lips of her friend, JJ caught on to what was happening, she gave Cory a questioning look and waited for the response. Cory nodded her head and smiled slightly, willing JJ on, as their heads met and their lips were mere millimetres away from each other the spell was broken by the shrill sound of Cory’s mobile phone ringing.

Part 15

Mail Jules

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