The Climbing Tree!

After a couple of months, sometimes Sally would come with us, Alice signing her into the Country Club as her guest. And the really odd thing was, that whenever my attention was taken up with Sally... Well, Alice seemed to be swimming around quite happily and never appeared to panic. Much the same thing had happened after the first few weeks when my attention had been on her sister.

Alice's obvious lack of confidence in the water was beginning to worry me, so eventually I sought the advice of the lifeguard.

"Tell me Jeffrey, how old are you now?" he asked.

"Twelve... just about!" I replied.

"And Alice?"

"Well, I'm not sure, she's starting secondary school next month so she must be eleven!"

"You're both a bit young, but I think I know what Alice's problem is Jeffrey, and eventually I suspect you'll learn that it has nothing to do with being frightened of the water."

"I don't understand."

"You will one day son, you will one day!"

And that was all he said, no real help to me at all. A bit of disappointment in fact!

As time went by, Emma became such a proficient little swimmer, that sometimes she wouldn't come to our lessons. So very often it was just Alice and I; Sally usually only joining us for one session a week. I think two nights a week without seeing her Billy was too much for Sally. As the summer went on we'd taken to walking our bikes home. I'm not sure why, Alice would complain that her legs were too tired to pedal her bike home again, I think.

No, it didn't make much sense to me either, but my dad told me that understanding why a female says or does anything, is a lot harder than most men realize.

"Leads to the end of a lot of very promising relationships does that, my boy! But you'll work that out for yourself one day. In the meantime, I suggest that you don't argue, say yes and let them get on with it. It keeps 'em happy and they'll most likely forget all about whatever it was, in a couple of days!"

That little speech had left me just as much -- if not more -- confused than the one my friend the lifeguard had given me. But I did remember my dad's words and it was to come in handy a few weeks later.

It was autumn by then and the nights were drawing in. Alice and I were walking back home from the Country club almost in the pitch dark. I'm not sure when exactly but by then we'd taken to pushing our bikes with one hand while holding each other's hand with the other; but we had got into the habit of doing so somewhere along the line.

Anyway very suddenly and completely out of the blue Alice asked.

"Jeffrey, when we grow up, are we going to get married?"

For a moment or two I was lost for words. I really wasn't expecting Alice to say anything like that. We were friends... we'd become very good friends. But... well, I had not reached the age where I thought of females that way, if you understand me.

Scratching around for something to say that would not hurt her feelings, I suddenly remembered what my father had said to me. "Don't argue with them son! Say yes, and let them get on with it!" or words to the same general effect.

"Yeah sure we will, if that's what you want, Alice." I replied kind-a hoping that would be the end of it.

But it wasn't, well not immediately anyway. The next thing I know Alice's bike is crashing to the ground, her arms are around my neck and she's kissing me on the lips.

After getting over the shock, I did my best to return the compliment. But to be honest, I doubt I made a very good job of it. That was the first time -- other than silly party games -- that a girl had kissed me and... Well, let's say that I hadn't even thought about technique at the time.

A few moths later, Sally, without Bill being aware, I'm sure... er, well, she taught me the proper rudiments of successful kissing. Look, Sally might always have been Bill's girl, but she had always been as close to me -- if not closer -- than a sister would have been.

Sometimes there would things that for some reason Sally did not want to discuss with Bill, and at those times she'd turn to me.

Like for instance, Sally's first bleed. Whether through embarrassment or what, I still do not know; but I was delegated the job of explaining to Bill all about the female menstrual cycle.

Which, by the way, I had had no idea about myself, until Sally herself had explained it all to me -- in far too much detail -- just a few a few hours before. But as my father told me, "Don't argue son, say yes and... etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!"

Anyway from that day forth, Alice had become my sort-of unofficial girlfriend. Well not even that is correct, it's probably better phrased that I became Alice's unofficial -- and very secret -- boyfriend!

There was no hand holding in the street where Reg, Susan or any of their mates might see us. Definitely no heavy snogging sessions to start with. As I said, I weren't really into that kind of thing at that time.

Basically I got the odd kiss on the cheek now and again from Alice, and she habitually walked beside me. Putting Billy's nose out of joint, a little. We'd suddenly gone from Bill and I walking side by side with the two -- or sometimes three girls when Emma was with us -- walking together, but with Sally always holding Bill's hand. To Sally and Alice walking in the middle with Bill and me as outriders. Mind you very often I had young Emma hanging onto my other arm or hand.

In truth -- away from the swimming pool -- I probably had more actual physical contact with Emma than I did with Alice.

Well that was the state of play for the next... what three... maybe four years. Of course Alice and my relationship had developed into secretly snatched snogging sessions by then, well the old hormones had started to do their thing, if you understand me.

These sessions happened most often on our walks home from swimming at the Country club when there was no one else much around. The cycles had dropped out of the picture somewhere along the line; I can't say exactly when or why. Young Emma had also disappeared as far as swimming went as well because... well let's just say young Emma was a little forward for her age, if you get my drift.

Emma had matched her elder sister when it came to the twin plats turning into a ponytail. And in certain other developments that young women go through about that age, so by then she had a little group of hopefuls following her around most of the time. But I must say that only a couple of times were Bill and I forced to get... serious with any of them. It was clearly apparent that little Emma knew exactly how to handle members of the opposite sex. It was also clear that neither she nor Alice took their troubles to their elder half-brother or sister.

But then, -- during the late summer of my fifteenth year -- my nice little settled world suddenly collapsed around me when both Alice and Emma were shipped off to boarding school. I have to admit to you, that I really did not realize how serious my feelings for Alice had become, until she was no longer there.

How or why the sudden change in their educational arrangements came about, I do not know for sure. By bad luck Sally's a parents and mine, -- who always had been great friends -- had arranged to go on holiday together again that year. Something they'd done many times in the past. Billy and his widowed mother -- as usual -- came along with my family, also something that had happened since the year dot as well. Bill's father had died before he was born and larger parties led to smaller charges or group discounts.

But when we returned home three weeks later we found that all of the children in the Arnold household had been sent away to boarding school.

I did find one short letter from Alice that had been stuffed through the letterbox of our house; no more than a brief note really. Roughly explaining that she and Emma were being sent to a boarding school somewhere, to complete their education. Alice also said that she'd write and give me the address as soon as she could.

Sally and I instantly sallied forth enquiring of friends and schoolmates trying to discover more information. Rumours were rife, but solid information was scarce.

From rumour I... we, Sally and I, deduced that Susan Arnold had managed to get herself caught in a compromising situation with a young man. Actually -- rumour once again -- but reputedly one of Reg's best mates.

Why that had led to all of the children being shipped off to a boarding school, I had no idea. Although later, Sally always said that possibly Susan had made some accusations about what Alice and Emma got up to on the quiet. You know what I mean, muddying the waters as much as she could, in an attempt to spread her father's anger about a little.

By that time I'm sure that both Susan and Reggie had worked-out that Alice and I were an item. Jesus everyone in the damned school knew that. And as Sally put it, referring to their stepfather, "Talk about waving a red rag in front of a bull, anyone mentioning you in the same breath as Alice is likely to give the old sod a heart attack!"

But excepting for that note Alice had left me, no other communication ever materialized from her.

Of course I -- nor Sally -- left it there. In the first few weeks of that school term we found a couple of Emma's friends who were in postal communication with her. One had actually spoken to Emma on the telephone just a few days before. But the impression we got from what girl said that... well I'm not sure how to phrase it... Roughly she said that it sounded like Emma was choosing her words very carefully. As the girl put it "Like Emma was talking to a boyfriend she wasn't supposed to have, while her mother was listening!"

Whatever we did get the school's name and address from Emma's friends, so both Sally and I immediately wrote to Alice asking her what was going on. But four weeks later neither of us had received replies.

In the mean time, knowing what school they were at, had allowed me to approach my maths teacher (one of my favourite teachers in school) for help. But when I'd mentioned the name of the Academy he frowned, and said "Oh dear! I've heard of the place Jeffrey. It's a very exclusive and expensive establishment. What possible reason could Alice's parents have had for sending her there?"

But later he did a little further research for me and informed me that the school in question --Academy for Young Ladies -- had the reputation of being not far short of some kind of prison camp. Well, he didn't say that in actual words. But he did tell me, that it was the kind of place where the young ladies of culture were very closely chaperoned at all times. And he also implied that he doubted that any letters that Sally and I had sent to Alice there would ever get through to her if her parents or the school authorities deemed that I was unacceptable company for Alice.

"A friend of mine went there for a job some years ago Jeffrey. She says that... well most of the young ladies in residence there... putting it succinctly, they have been sent there to keep them away from the likes of you and I! Or men in general in some cases, if you understand me...?"

Which, I did not at the time, by the way.

"I shouldn't be telling you this, so please don't tell anyone where you heard it. I've been discussing it with some of my colleagues. Susan Arnold, we can understand why she might be sent to an establishment like that; Susan has a bit of a reputation in the staff-room. But Alice and Emma, they were very highly thought of by all the other teachers. They are both highly motivated in their studies and well behaved. Very pretty girls as you know, and... if we discount the fact that you and Alice have been... very close for a long time. None of the other teachers thought they are in any kind of moral danger. And you're not the type to do anything stupid, are you Jeffrey?"

"No sir!"

"But, as Mr Gorman (the headmaster) said, Alice and Emma's parents have never liked you for some reason; do you know why?"

"Yes sir! I blooded Reggie's nose for him in the park, the first year I started here."

"Knowing Reg Arnold, I would suspect that he deserved it. But he was a lot bigger than you, back then!"

"My dad says, the bigger they are the harder they fall. And yes sir, he did deserve all he got from me that day. My dad agreed with me as well. But Alice's stepfather, he got all out of shape over it"

"Then I might hazard a guess, that perhaps it is Alice's relationship with you that has led to her father..."

"Stepfather sir. When I met him, I got along great with Mr Porter, Alice's real father. He even arranged for me to be able to get into the Country Club, so I could teach Alice and Emma to swim."

"Okay, Alice's mother then. I would suggest that... it is possible that Alice's mother and her stepfather have only recently learnt of... Well, you two have never flaunted your friendship, but it is obvious and the whole school knows about you and Alice. You do know that, don't you?"

"Yes sir."

"Well then, it's highly likely that Alice has been shipped off to pastures new to... separate the pair of you."

"Yes sir, that's what Sally and I thought. But they surely can't stop us writing to her?"

"If you write to her at that school, then I somehow doubt Alice... or Emma will ever receive your letters Jeffrey; that's the kind of place it is. And them, successfully getting letters out to you; I doubt that will happen, unless the girls can find a way to clandestinely smuggle them out of the school."

My maths teacher didn't leave it there, a couple of weeks later our French teacher, Miss Lovette, (reputedly my maths teacher's intended) collared Sally and I together and gave us brochures for the Academy. She also translated some of the gobbledegook in them for us.

According to Miss Lovette, the place literally was a kind of private Approved School. Its curriculum is designed bring (or keep) unruly young ladies under control.

It didn't say any of that in plain English that most people would understand. As I said, our Miss Lovette had to literally translate it for us. But Sally and I were shocked to see that ADHD and couple of other pseudo psychiatric disorders that we had heard of, were mentioned in the text.

However being totally frank, Sally and I were not particularly worried. Okay so we had been cut off from Alice for a while. But we figured that when the Christmas holiday rolled along we'd see her soon enough, and we would be able to work-out some.... Well, as my friendly maths teacher had put it, a clandestine method of communication.

But that had been wishful thinking, it didn't happen! We don't even know if Alice and Emma ever came back to the Vicarage that Christmas. Reggie did, that's for sure, we know that because he was spotted a couple of times by friends of ours. However no one who we knew clapped eyes on Alice and Emma, or Susan Arnold either that year.

Then, a day or so after our own school broke-up for the holiday, the whole Arnold household shipped off abroad somewhere for the rest of the Christmas break. Well George Arnold and the Second Mrs. Arnold did anyway, and one has to suppose that all of their children went with them.

That was to be the norm from then on, around the time any school holidays started, sometimes just the Second Mrs. Arnold and the children, but very often George Arnold as well, would sally forth to far-flung parts of the world.

We heard through the grapevine after each of their trips away, that the Second Mrs. Arnold had a great time bragging to all of her cronies about the magical places she and her husband had taken the children to see. But that was all to come to light in the future.

As the New Year started I was disappointed at how the situation had developed. My... our, Sally's and my plans had come to nothing, and in the ensuing months, my loss of contact with Alice began to have, unforeseen effects on me. I'm told that I became morose and I know my schoolwork suffered.

Well, I hadn't understood it at the time, but looking back later I realize that I really had been in love with Alice. I've been told since that I was effectively mourning my loss of her love. Or pining for her if you like?

Yeah well, my teachers, arranged for me to have a couple of sessions with the school trick-cyclist, and she did her best to explain it all to me. I can't say that she did me any good though.

Sally and I had continued sending letters to Alice at regular intervals, although we doubted she'd received any of them. But we kind-of hoped that someone might get careless one day. The analyst or whatever you call her, told me that I should stop doing that, not that Sally and I took any notice. Actually I don't think that woman achieved anything other than to explain to me that I had been in love with Alice.

It was during the summer holidays -- after it had become patently clear to us that Alice would not be returning to the Vicarage in the near future -- that Bill came up with his master plan.

Bill had been a member of the local Army Cadet Unit ever since he'd been old enough to join. In a funny way that had enhanced my relationship with Sally, because when Bill was at his unit meetings or on camp and exercise with them, Sally was usually with me. And Alice of course, while she had been around.

Anyway, Bill's plan was that when the new school term started, he and I would... well, we'd head up north to where the Academy was situated and then... well we weren't quite sure what we had planned for then. But we figured that we might even be able to break-in to the school and find Alice, or at least find someone who could smuggle messages in to her or Emma.

That was the basic plan, and up to a point it went well. However Bill's plan hadn't included Sally and she was having none of that. So in the end, all three of us boarded the train heading north. Bill had kitted Sally and I out with Cadet Core issue camouflage clothing and all sorts of other gear that he'd begged, borrowed or stolen from his Cadet Unit's stores.

We found the Academy without much of a problem, but at first sight it looked like Fort Knox. The damned place had obviously been a convent or something at one time; it was surround by a wall at least twelve feet high. And as far as we could ascertain none of the students ever left the school grounds during term time.

However we guessed that we would be able to see over the wall from the upper deck of a double-decker bus. We had a good idea of the layout from a little map that had been included in the brochure our Miss Lovette had supplied us with. What she would have said had she learnt of our plan, I have no idea.

Fortuitously we boarded a bus taking local children home from school, with the intention of spying out the layout of the Academy's grounds visually.

"You're wasting your time!" A boy sitting behind us said, as Bill and I discussed a possible route from the wall to the dorm buildings.

We looked at him and he immediately asked which of our girlfriends, was "doing time!"

"Mine!" I replied.

"Well you ain't getting in there, mate! You ain't the first and I doubt you'll be the last. That place has got hidden TV cameras and trip wires everywhere. At least one poor bloke turns up every year trying to find a way in. They all finish-up in the police station, take my word for it. Ain't that right?" he added turning to his friend sitting beside him, who assured us that he was telling the truth.

But Bill pointed out to them that we had all this army camouflage gear with us, and with Bill's Cadet Unit training he was sure we'd get past any security.

The two lads went on to talk about the possibility of hidden mantraps and other such nasty equipment. But we discounted any of that hokum; because there had appeared to be nothing stopping anyone inside the grounds approaching the wall. If there were any mantraps -- besides being illegal -- there would always be danger of one of the students walking into them.