Summer Camp

For the next few hours us staff worked like Trojans trying to ensure there was enough food and drink to satisfy all sixty students. As the evening went on the drink became more popular than the food so we were able to focus on the table waiting until Tom and Douglas announced that the evening was drawing to a close. There was a lot of drunken revelry but to give the students credit not one fight broke out and only one glass got accidentally broken. I did notice however that there weren't as many students around at the end of the evening as there had been at the beginning. Either some had retired early to pack their bags or had sloped off to see what action was going on in the surrounding darkness! I think it was probably the latter as from time to time a shadowy figure would appear from the darkness and either merge into the crowd or keep to the shadows and slip through the main doors. Tom asked everyone to help tidy up, or at least neatly stack the tables and chairs so the castle staff has less to do tomorrow after we had left. Again there was a bit of grumbling for some students but the majority took it in the spirit that it was meant and helped tidy the place up.

It was just gone past midnight when we got back to the dormitory and started working all over again to pack our bags ready for an early departure in the morning. By the time we had finished we only had the energy left to set the alarm clock and fall into bed cuddling up to keep warm as the room was rather chilly.

CHAPTER 12 – RETURNING HOME

The alarm clock sounded loudly in my ear.

"God it's morning already" I groaned.

Marc stirred reluctantly and tried to pull the duvet over his ears.

"Oh no you don't!" I chuckled pulling the duvet off him completely revealing his naked body for all to see. He yelped at the sudden coldness and chased me to the shower area, where he caught up and slapped me sharply on the bum.

"Ouch! That hurt!" I giggled.

"Come on guys, we haven't time for all this" Callum glowered in our direction.

"Oh? Got a sore head have we?" I grinned back at him.

"Might have" was all that he would say on the matter.

We double checked to make sure that everything was neat, tidy and packed away. It was too far to come back if anything had been forgotten. With bags in tow we made our way to the staircase and joined the rest of the students doing exactly the same thing, all trying to get their bags onto the coach before heading to the dining hall for one last breakfast.

After breakfast we bid a surprisingly emotional farewell to Douglas, Ross and the other castle staff who had shared in many of our "adventures" and made our stay so enjoyable. As we were saying our goodbyes I suddenly remembered the bet that we had made in the dining room on the first evening.

"Damn!" I groaned, "we forgot all about that bet, it would have been perfect last night as a finale for the students after the barbecue. They would have really got into the spirit of it as they were very drunk."

"Never mind" Douglas consoled me, "next time you guys visit us, we will make sure that the event is held in grand style."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"It's a promise." He replied.

I decided to swap phone numbers with both Douglas and Ross because I liked them very much and it would be good to have them as friends.

With a heavy heart I climbed into the coach and took my seat next to Marc. Holding my hand he smiled and asked

"Why the sad face? The rest of our lives are about to start together!"

"Very true" I responded, "side by side sounds good to me."

I sat there taking in his features for a minute before leaning over and kissing him on the lips not caring who was watching.