The Touch Ch. 34

She laid her hands gently on my cheeks and kissed me lightly on the lips then sat back on the bench, lifted my hand and looped my arm around her shoulders. To any passer-by we would have looked just like any young courting couple. She nestled her head against my shoulder affectionately.

"Jay," her voice sounded serious and a little bit sad. "In a few more days I am going to be eighteen, but that is just a number on the calendar... I am already a woman right now, and like all women I have feelings and frustrations; I have never had a real boyfriend, I have never been shagged... and I am sick of being a fucking virgin!"

I quickly glanced around to make sure that nobody was within ear-shot. "Christ Emms," I tried to laugh it off, "There are probably hundreds of guys out there just looking to date a girl like you, smart, pretty, sexy.... You don't have to look any further than Tim Hill, he absolutely adores you, and all the students follow you around like puppy dogs."

"No, I want my first guy to be somebody that I really care about and who cares about me and that I trust.... I want it to be you, Jay. That's what I have always wanted, ever since I discovered sex."

"Of course I care about you... and I want to protect you... you are my sister... but I can't.... we can't...."

She laid her other hand on my thigh. I gave a little jerk, just another inch and her finger tips would be touching the end of the erection that was trapped in my jeans leg. Just thinking about being the first to fuck her had given me a massive boner, she had been absolutely correct I wanted her and I knew that if she kept after me that I was not going to be able to hold back forever. In fact I was pretty certain that if we had been alone somewhere private it would be happening right there and then.

"We can and we will," she stated chuckling at my obvious discomfort. "I told you before... I can wait, but I'm not waiting for ever so just get your head around the idea that one day soon you will fuck me... you know you will, and you know we will both enjoy it, don't you?"

Suddenly she was bright and happy again and full of joyful energy as though the conversation had never happened. She stood up and tugged at my arm.

"Come on, let's get back to the car. I know you haven't got anything much to do this afternoon, so you can spend some time with me." She said, "We can drive around some of the dealers and look at cars, the sooner I get myself a little motor the better, don't you think?"

We spent the rest of the afternoon touring the more reliable car dealerships around Salisbury. Emma was bubbly and happy, her mood was infectious and she was fun to be with and I allowed my concerns and worries about her to fade away. Maybe I was being over sensitive but it did seem to me that every car salesman we spoke to that afternoon assumed that we were a couple which Emma revelled in and after the first two I just let it ride.

Finally we returned to the first dealer we had visited to take a second look at two cars that he was offering. They were both good quality second hand cars and both within the budget that Emma had set herself. We had been discussing cars for weeks and she was sensible enough to realise that buying a really cheap car was often a false economy and had pegged her budget accordingly.

Ever since she had repaid the debt that she owed me at Christmas she had been saving money each month from her salary towards buying a car, and paying her first year's tax and insurance and intended to make up the shortfall on the purchase price by using some of the trust fund money that was due to come to her on her birthday the next week. Uncle Arthur had agreed to pay her a lump sum on her 18th. Birthday and she would receive a drawdown income whilst she was studying for the accountancy qualifications, just as if she was at university.

The first of the two vehicles was a metallic dark blue 1979 1500 cc VW Beetle Convertible, the last of the genuine Karmann production beetles, which was in excellent condition, even the heavy fabric soft top, and the real leather upholstery. It was really smart little car and in my opinion was bit under priced but it did have considerable mileage on the clock, although Steve had told me once that in his opinion high mileage on a VW was of little importance as it was almost impossible to knacker a VW engine.

The other motor was a 1985 1100cc VW Polo in bright red, also a nice little car but priced a bit higher than the Beetle and although probably a bit more economical obviously did not have the appeal of the pretty little soft top which was probably every girl's dream car.

In the end it was clear that Emma was totally enamoured with the Beetle and had made up her mind that that was the car she wanted and no other and I had to admit that it was a very nice motor for a very reasonable price.

"I must have it.... It's just perfect," she cooed, stroking the highly polished wing affectionately. "Do you think that they would accept a deposit now and let me pay the balance next Wednesday when my trust money hits the bank?"

"I don't think so, car dealers don't work that way," I laughed. "But if you are really sure that this is the car that you want, I will give them a cheque for the full amount today and then you can repay me next week. That way you should be able to collect the car next week once the cheque has cleared and you can use your savings to pay your tax and insurance."

"Thank you, Jay.... Thank you!" She threw her arms around my neck in a tight hug and planted a soft wet kiss on my lips. "You are the best brother ever... and I do love you, you know, as a brother... not just the object of my perverted desires." she chuckled. "Just don't think this lets you off the hook.... I am still going to get fucked by you." She whispered close to my ear.

By that time I had ceased caring. Memories of our conversation and thoughts of shagging Emma had kept me on the edge of horniness all afternoon and now having her body clamped tightly against mine our bodies melded together from breast to thighs was giving me a serious hard-on which she must have been able to feel pressing against her leg.

"If we don't go and find that salesman right NOW.... That may happen sooner that you expect." I laughed.

She gave a deep rippling sexy chuckle; I had never heard my sister laugh that way before, ever. "Come on then... it's great that you have finally admitted that you want to fuck me.... but a garage forecourt is probably not the best place to start..."

She laughed happily, released her python grip on my body and took my hand as we walked across to the sales office. She was happy and I seemed to be floating in a daze on an erotic euphoric cloud which I guess was a side effect of terminal stupidity. I had wanted our situation out in the open but things were just not moving in the direction that I had intended, instead of moving back they were moving forward at full gallop with Emma in the saddle.

The car purchase went really well, the dealers were an old established Salisbury company and totally trustworthy, I waited in the showroom whilst the salesman went with Emma for a test drive and she was even more enthusiastic about buying the car when she returned. They accepted my cheque and agreed to have the car ready, serviced, cleaned and polished for collection by mid-day on Monday. Additionally they also added a full tank of petrol and twelve months M.O.T and Road Fund Tax, so all Emma had to find was the insurance and we could get a good deal on that through Maggie's broker.

We called in at the garden centre on the way home so that Emma could give Maggie and the others her good news about passing the test and buying a car. She ran off happily to do the tour with her pass certificate like an athlete doing a lap with her trophy.

It had actually made me think about my own transport situation; I had got used to having a car of my own over the last few months but in the end the Polo that I was using belonged to my cousins and the twins would be home on Monday and would want it back for their own use. It wasn't a major problem, I could use the company Land Rover any time and for as long as I wanted, and I would be using the Vespa far more during the summer, but in reality I needed to get myself a car of my own. I would have a word with Maggie, perhaps I should go back and have another look at the Polo that Emma had passed over, or maybe Maggie would consider buying it for the twins to take to university and I could buy the existing Polo from her. I wasn't a car snob and didn't feel that I needed a flash motor as a phallic symbol, cars were to get you from A to B and all that mattered was that they worked.

I spent an hour in the office just tidying up some paperwork and sorting out my job cards for the next day and made a number of telephone calls.

I eventually managed to get through to Caroline at her London office, brought her up to date with the progress at Bishops Down and told her my initial thoughts about the roof garden and the issues that might exist with access to the roof.

"That should not be a problem," she told me, "I will get one of my people to lean on the appropriate borough department to get the necessary licences and once we have agreed a start date will arrange for whatever equipment you need to be in place." As usual she was the ultra efficient business woman and I knew that I could leave completion of those details with her.

The second call was to the number on the leaflet I had been given for the Salisbury Civic Society. It went straight through to an answering machine and so I left a brief message about Shelby House with my name and business and home telephone numbers and asked for somebody to call me back when convenient.

The third call was to Becca Hill. I had guessed right, Josh had forgotten to tell his mother that I had called. It was really nice to talk to Becca if only for a few minutes but we arranged to meet Monday morning so that we could discuss the new artwork for Caroline and something else that I had planned.

As Maggie had said she would close up Emma and I took off for home about half past six. We pulled into the drive and parked beside my car, obviously Gwen was already home from Bristol. As I reached for the door latch Emma leaned across the car from the driver seat and just laid her head on my shoulder.

"Things are alright between us, aren't they Jay?" she asked in a quiet voice. "I couldn't bear it if they weren't."

"Of course they are," I replied, smiling. "We may have some strange stuff going down, but just remember that no matter what else happens between us, you ARE still my little sister, and I shall always love you and try to protect you ... even if it is from yourself sometimes."

"You are a total shit, Jay," she sniffed, "Now you've made me cry."

I gave her my handkerchief and she dabbed her eyes and then came up with one of her big beautiful smiles.

"Come on, let's go in and impress Mum with our fantastic day," she said cheerily.

Gwen had prepared a special celebration supper for Emma, one of her favourites; salmon fillet with dill and lime and a crunchy parmesan crumb topping, she had the same but knowing that I hated salmon had made me stuffed peppers with a shredded chicken, black pepper, leek and blue cheese filling, but with the same crumb topping that they were having.

Emma proudly went through the whole of the test drive again for Gwen's benefit and then enthused about her new car until eventually Gwen said, "OK, why don't we all drive over to the car dealer this evening and see if it's still on the forecourt.... You can take me out for the first time as a newly licensed driver and I get to see this wonderful car before anybody else."

The Beetle was still standing where we had last seen it but now had a big red and white SOLD banner across the windscreen where the price ticket had been. It really was a nice little car and Gwen agreed with me that Emma had made a good choice at a bargain price. The Polo that we had looked at earlier had been moved to the back of the forecourt and also had a SOLD notice on the windscreen, so I would still need to look for a new car for myself.

Afterwards we drove over to the Bishops Mill public house and sat in the outside garden by the river with glasses of cider for Gwen and I and an orange juice for Emma, and spent a pleasant hour, just enjoying being together as a family on Emma's special day.

Friday morning I drove the Land Rover over to Bishops Down with the twenty octagonal, cast slabs which were to be used for a stepping stone path across the lawn from the house to shed at the far end of the garden. It took me three hours to lay out the brick red, blocks and then cut each into the lawn so that they were perfectly flush with the grass surface and would not be a trip hazard or interfere with using a lawn mower to trim the grass.

As the job was almost completed I removed most of our tools and equipment from Caroline's shed and loaded them onto the back of the Land Rover; she had ordered a basic set of gardening tools and an electric mower which I would bring out the following week, along with the garden furniture and an expensive top of the range gas barbeque unit. Caroline had made it perfectly clear that she had no intention of doing any gardening herself and had already signed a maintenance contract with us to do the necessary tasks throughout the next twelve months it was a nice little job which one of the trainees could do one afternoon a week.

I had told her that I would try and catch her at home over the week-end if she came down to Salisbury to go over any last minute tweaks that she may want to make to the garden and to look at my rough plan for her roof garden in London. I had to admit that her garden was looking rather good and I took a half roll of photographs for our files and my personal portfolio before I left.

It was Friday again and so Maggie, Emma, Jack, Grace and I gathered for a working lunch in the restaurant and then I went back to the office to catch up on the notes and plan drawings for the roof garden job.

About three o'clock the telephone rang on my desk and I went through and picked it up.

"It's a Miss Askew from the Salisbury Civic Society returning your call," Tayler advised me. I was surprised that they had got back to me so quickly and asked Tayler to put the call through.

"Hello, Mr. Riley? " A voice asked, a voice that I felt I ought to know but couldn't place. "This is Anthea Askew.... From the public library.... We have talked once or twice in the past."

The penny dropped; Anthea my tame librarian. "Oh yes, hello, lovely to hear from you, is this about Shelby House?"

"Yes," she confirmed, "I am one of the historical researchers for the S.C.S in my spare time, and I was part of the team that looked at the old library at Shelby House a few years back... I think we may have some things that would interest you in our archives if you would like to see them?"

"Oh, yes... absolutely," I enthused. I explained to her what my interest was in Shelby House and it's gardens and she confirmed that the society held data which would probably answer most of my questions or at least make my research a lot easier. She was very enthusiastic and I guessed that she was passionate about local history and keen to help anybody else who was interested.

"The Society archives are temporarily stored at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum in The King's House annex until we can find a permanent home," she told me, "If you would like to make an early start, I could meet you there at five o'clock after I finish work at the library and we could spend an hour looking out some of the documents?"

"That would be really great.... if it is not putting you out too much... I really appreciate your help."

We said our good-byes and I went through to the office and told Emma that I would be leaving early at about four-thirty and where I was going. As it was Friday, Gwen and Maggie were going out for their 'twins night out' and Emma would be meeting up with Janice and so I said to tell Gwen not to leave supper for me as I would probably spend a further hour at the library afterwards and then get a burger at Dillon's Funky Chicken Diner on the way home. About four o'clock I went down and showered and changed into a pair of decent black jeans and a plain black t-shirt and then got out the Land Rover, I would come back to the garden centre later and pick up my moped.

I briefly parked outside the photograph's shop in High Street to pick up my prints from the London trip and then drove around the corner to the cathedral close. The Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum was housed in a beautiful 17th century house which had been acquired by the museum trust a few years earlier along with a number of annex buildings and outhouses and is located on West Walk within the cathedral close.

I parked the Land Rover in the King's House car park and sat and had a cigarette until Anthea arrived about five minutes later.

"You can leave your car there; I will just pop into the museum and tell the security guard that you are with me." She smiled and walked across to the museum entrance. I could see her talking to somebody out of my line of sight and then she came back to join me.

This was actually the first time that I had seen Anthea outside of the library building and she looked a lot different somehow. I had always thought that she was about thirty-five but in the daylight I would guess that she was probably no more than thirty, may even only late twenties.

She was quite small about 5'3" and delicately built, with very small breasts which hardly raised the front of her thick sweater more than a couple of inches. Her waist was narrow but her hips were rounded and well shaped as were her buttocks; I thought that she had a great pair of legs well shaped with nice thighs and narrow delicate ankles.

Her face was almost pretty with quite prominent cheek bones and a wide mouth and blue eyes, hidden behind oval shaped rimless spectacles. Her hair was a coppery brown, with just a highlight of natural ginger and was always a bit wispy and wild; she normally wore it either loose and shoulder length or in a thick pony tail held with an elastic band, but that evening she had it gathered up and pinned at the back of her head leaving a few wisps at one side which had escaped the round-up.

She was wearing a thick loose weave knitted cardigan jacket of beige wool with a double row of six large leather buttons which emphasised the shallowness of her bust; and a brown needle cord knee length skirt over thick black tights or stockings. She looked the classic image of a spinster librarian, but I thought that she also looked quite cute.

"The annex is around the back," she said and I followed her through the garden to a gothic studded wooden door which she unlocked with a key from her large leather shoulder bag. "We have a couple of rooms right at the top.... Be careful there are no lights on the staircase."

I followed her up the narrow stone staircase her neat rounded buttocks just a foot or so from my nose and it took a supreme effort to keep my hands just lightly touching the walls either side.

The stairs led to a long corridor with several open doors along one side which let in the daylight making the floor of the passage a patchwork of shadow and gold. At the far end of the corridor I could see through the open door the end of an old fashion cast iron bath and a big ancient lavatory pan with wooden box surround and a wood water cistern.

"We were originally the Salisbury Historical Society until we merged into the new Civic Society a few years ago," Anthea told me, "Our records and archives used to be kept at the old public library but were moved here as there was no room in the new building." She sounded a little bit like a tour guide. "I think what we are looking for is probably in here." She stopped and turned into one of the doorways.