The Hedge Pt. 03

"And finally we will do some sparring to show you how it all comes together against an opponent" Vicky added.

They worked for another twenty minutes, then Aaron called a halt and demonstrated the more advanced Kata's which impressed the novices. They were asked to move out of the way to watch while he and Vicky sparred at what seemed to be a furious pace, using a variety of punches and kicks.

When they stopped, it was to a two girl round of applause for which they first bowed to each other and then to their appreciative audience. After warm-down exercises Sharon made drinks for all of them, then Aaron and Vicky changed into their normal clothes and left after hugs.

"Do you think we could get to be that good Sharon?"

"I don't see why not, although it will take some time, it will keep us fit and give us confidence for when we are out."

"I noticed that Aaron made all your adjustments and Vicky did mine, why was that?"

"You had a bad experience with Baxter, maybe more than one" and the girl nodded. "I noticed at work that you keep away from the men as much as possible and you are still a bit nervous of Aaron although you know that he is a perfect gentleman and I would trust him with my life."

"I can't help it, Baxter started to notice me when I was twelve and I just thought he was being friendly, until he tried to get my panties off and I fought him. He managed to push a finger into me and it hurt like hell but I got away and ran home and went to the bathroom to wash myself and saw there was blood in my panties so I washed it out and had a shower" she explained rapidly, tears in her eyes.

Sharon cuddled her and stroked her hair which she had let down again.

"You didn't tell your Mum or report it?"

"No, I was too ashamed but tried to keep away from him after that"

"You did nothing wrong, you were a sweet and innocent child and he was a potential rapist, you did really well to get away" Sharon said and the girl nodded and smiled at her.

"Is that why Aaron is a bit... reserved with me?"

"Yes, if you get to know and accept him, you might be friendlier with other men... that came out all wrong."

"I know what you mean and I like him too and Vicky and Mrs Baker, I mean Alice and especially you too. I liked you when you were bigger, always so nice and friendly and now your slimmer and I can almost get my arms around you for a hug."

"I love compliments like that, I want to get down to eleven and a half stone like I was when Alice and I used to go to clubs together and date boys" Sharon reminisced.

"But you never married?"

"No, I... I... it got complicated because Alice met her future husband and we stopped seeing each other outside of work and I really missed her. She had Vicky and I used to babysit occasionally but I put on weight slowly, her husband left her and that was that again until she got pregnant then had the accident, now we are closer than ever and with Vicky and Aaron as well."

"You mean... you and Aaron or you and Alice or... I'm confused..."

"Ha, ha, ha, actually all of them, they have adopted me into their family and I've never been so happy. We are a loving family and because she had to rent out her house or lose it because of the company, she and Vicky moved in with Aaron, maybe when they get married, Alice and Alexis might move in with me"

"So do you prefer girls to boys like me or..."

"I thought I liked boys but they scared me, so I liked girls but Aaron proved I do like boys too."

"I think I'm like you but I never met a boy who I trusted so preferred the company of girls although I've never... you know?"

"Hey Ashley... I'm not trying to seduce you, this is all about helping you before Baxter gets released. If anything else were to happen, I would love it but I/we are not pushing you into doing anything you're not happy with, okay?"

"I understand and thank you... all of you for offering to help."

"Would you like to shower before you go...Aghh! That sounds like I want to get your clothes off... sorry I didn't mean that."

"No thanks, I'd only have to put the sweaty ones back on again to go home... but if I bring clean ones with me next time."

"Maybe you should bring clothes to train in and wear the same ones home that you arrived in?" Sharon offered, "Then you could shower before you go."

"Yeah, that would work and Mum wouldn't suspect I'd been naked at someone else's house" and she giggled and Sharon was pleased at the turn of events.

"I'd better go now but thank you again" and when they walked to the door for a hug, Ashley surprised Sharon by kissing her on the lips, only briefly with the hug then opened the door to get her bike to ride home.

"See you next week" she called as she rode away.

'I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of you sweetie' Sharon thought as she closed the door and went to shower.

35.

On Monday morning, Aaron dropped Vicky off at work early so that Alice could use the car. The driving instructor was due at ten am so a few minutes before he arrived, she managed to get Alexis into the sling, locked up the house, use her walking sticks to get to the car.

She opened the back door and manoeuvred the baby out of the sling and into her car seat, then she sat in the driver's seat and waited for him to arrive, he was on time and left his car in front of the garage and sat in the passenger side of her car.

"Just treat this as though it is an ordinary driving lesson Ms Baker, just follow my directions and we'll go out into the country and then back into the town. I will ask you to reverse around a corner, do a hundred and eighty degree turn in the road and an emergency stop.

The rest of the time I shall be watching your road positioning and use of all the car's controls to assess your fitness to resume driving after your injury, shall we go?"

Alice drove him around a little nervously to start but soon got back into the routine of driving. He pointed out some minor errors as they went and she improved and when they returned to the house, she did the 'hill' start at the gate and turned the car around to its original position and turned off the engine.

"You did very well Ms Baker, apart from a few minor errors, I am quite happy to write you a letter to send to your insurance company, verifying your competence to drive."

"Thank you, now I just have to get one from my doctor on Thursday and I will be driving next week" she replied.

She wrote him a cheque for the 'lesson' and he left her to get the baby out of the chair and into the sling to go indoors and made herself a coffee, sent Aaron and Vicky a text to say she had passed her 'driving test,' then sat on the floor and played with Alexis until her noon feed and sleep.

She did her exercises, then felt confident enough to slowly climb the stairs, after sending the stair-lift to the top. She had a short rest and come carefully back down, feeling very pleased with herself as she made her own lunch, sat and ate it while reading. When she knew it was Sharon's lunch break she called her for a quick chat.

"How did you get on with Ashley after the kids left on Saturday Redi?"

"I told her some of my personal history, probably more than I meant to but she gave me more details of what that bastard Baxter had done to her, I'll tell you tonight. She is going to bring some clothes to train in next time and have a shower here and I'll offer to wash them for her. How did you get on with your driving?"

"He passed me to drive, now it's just getting a letter from the doctor on Thursday" Alice replied.

"Ok I-cee, she's just coming for her break and she sits with me now so I've got to go, bye."

Arron arrived late because he had to pick up Vicky from work, they both congratulated her on her driving pass and she briefly told them what Sharon had said earlier.

"I hope that bastard didn't rape her!" Vicky snapped.

"I doubt that he went that far or she would be in a far worse state than she is now" Aaron said quietly.

"Redi is going to call me tonight with more details, she is also bringing exercise clothes and will have a shower after you leave on Saturday" Alice added, "But she couldn't say more as Ashley sits with her at lunch now."

"When do you want to start looking for a car I-cee?"

"As soon as you are ready" she replied eagerly.

He laughed and headed upstairs for a shower and to change, then Vicky and he swopped places and he started his computer to look at local car sales companies.

"What sort of car are you looking for?"

"Obviously four door, medium size, not too low to the ground, colour doesn't matter... much"

"Maybe a small SUV or a crossover like a Nissan or a Honda, which will give you plenty of room to get Alexis in and out, still have room for the buggy and shopping in the back" he offered.

"Show me some, please?"

They looked at the various models available then looked at the car sales and found three suitable vehicles, a three year old red Nissan Qashqai Visia, with a diesel engine for fifteen thousand pounds and a red CR-V which was too expensive and a three year old blue Honda HR-V S with a 1.5 litre petrol engine for thirteen thousand pounds.

"Do you want to go and have a look at them?"

"Yes please Roni, we can all go and make sure the baby seat will fit."

Vicky came downstairs and they all went out in her car and looked at the Nissan first, it ticked all the boxes and Aaron drove it for a test drive, then Alice sat in it and adjusted everything to suit her size. Next they went to view, drive and sit in the Honda. This one was just right too, even the mileage and service histories were similar to the first one apart from the two thousand pound difference.

Alice sat and thought, then decided that she wanted the Honda as she preferred the colour and the price. She wrote out a cheque for the deposit and Aaron asked that it be serviced and valeted before collection which would be Thursday. It was decided that her Honda and his C-Max would live in the garage and Vicky's Avensis would be parked outside.

Sharon called Alice and gave her the rest of the information she had gotten from Ashley, while Aaron and Vicky were preparing dinner and she relayed it to the others at while they ate.

"That was still bad enough, no wonder she shies away from men in general but I don't think she has had any close relationships with girls either. She seems to be looking more for friendship and protection and three of us can provide that and maybe Roni too" Vicky explained.

"We have a couple of years to sort her out, she needs help not lovers" Aaron emphasized.

"Maybe she can have both but to change the subject, I think we can get rid of the stair-lift now" Alice said, "I can get up and down stairs fairly easily now."

"I know that you've paid me back for it so it's technically yours now but are you sure, I-cee?"

"If you fit a similar bannister rail on the other side, I don't see any problems at all" she replied, "I will carry Alexis in the sling."

"Okay, I'll find their number and you can call them tomorrow and see how much they will pay us for it and when they can come and un-install it."

She called them the following morning and they offered a fifty-five percent refund, as it had not been used for very long, depending on its current condition. They would come to collect it and make good all the fixing holes so that all that would be needed was a coat of paint. Alice accepted and agreed a date of the sixth of November, only five days before the wedding.

On Thursday, Vicky drove Alice to her doctor's appointment and after his examination, she came away with a signed letter allowing her to drive again. Later the same day she called the insurance company and explained that she had both letters and the agent informed her that if she sent copies by email, with her policy number, they would process them quicker.

Alice would then send the originals by post but the time delay for that would not matter, she thanked the woman and scanned the letters into the house computer. She printed one of each to keep and sent the letters in an email, then put the originals into a letter and addressed it to the company for someone to post.

After work, the family drove to the car sales to collect Alice's Honda. It was clean and shone in the late afternoon sun and Alice made everyone laugh when she walked over to it and gave it a kiss (Aaron took a photo of her with his phone to embarrass her with later).

She paid the remainder of the cost by bank transfer and frustratingly sat in the passenger seat while Vicky carefully drove her car home followed by Aaron driving the Toyota. Alice guided Vicky as she reversed the car into the garage to park next to the old C-Max.

"Tomorrow while you are at Redi's, I shall take Alexis out in the sling and sit in my new car and learn the controls and adjust it to fit me. Hopefully the insurance company will give me the all clear quickly" Alice explained when they were back in the house.

"She's just like a child with a new toy" Vicky said, laughing and Alice poked her tongue out at her cheeky daughter.

"Just one more milestone to get over, once you are walking properly I-cee" Aaron said.

"Only one?"

"A job."

"The first could still take quite a while if ever..."

"Don't be pessimistic Mum, you'll get there."

"We'll see, I hope so too, especially with little Missy, she'll soon be up and running and I'll need to be able to catch her."

They arrived at Sharon's to find Ashley and her ready and waiting, the girl was wearing black and pink Lycra top and bottoms which was very contour hugging. Both hugged and kissed Vicky and Sharon kissed Aaron but Ashley only briefly hugged him but not nervously this time, he noted. They changed into their Gi's to start the lesson and they all bowed, then warmed up.

"Show me what you have been practicing Ashley" he said and she went through the Kata he had shown her.

"How often did you practice?"

"Every day, twice a day, isn't that enough?"

"I admire your dedication Ashley, your technique is very good, now it's your turn Redi."

She went through the same Kata but he stopped her once and repositioned her feet to be straighter, then she finished.

"I worked on it every evening after twenty minutes on the cross trainer" she said proudly.

"You too have done very well but try to keep your feet straighter, it will make it easier for the turns" Vicky explained.

"This session will cover blocks and as you are both picking it up so well you can try two new Katas" and he smiled at them.

He showed them the downward block to the left and right followed by the forward raised forearm and they tried a few reps of each, followed by a Kata combining it all, similar to the punching one.

They practiced this new one a few times and both Vicky and Aaron stopped and adjusted both women to test Ashley's trust in him and noted that she tensed up when he touched her but didn't cry or run away, which was very good.

The next one did the same side block but the body turned at ninety degrees and punched with the other fist. The centre three steps were blocks, then the end repeated the start. The three steps back were punches then the end was repeated again to finish.

This caused some confusion during the first few attempts but by the end of the longer session of an hour, they had it in their minds to practice with during the following week.

"How many Katas are there Aaron" Ashley asked him after they warmed down and he was getting changed.

"The next ones are using kicks for the next two weeks and after that the rest are combinations of all three forms. From there we will start to move into sparring, one on one so you can learn how to see vulnerabilities in your opponent and exploit them, basically how to fight.

Do you have enough room at home to do all this and does your mother know you are learning martial arts?"

"I haven't told her yet, I thought I would see how it went for a couple of weeks, to see if I liked it and I do. I have enough room for these Katas so far but maybe not when it comes to kicks" she replied.

"Maybe you could practice here if it's all right with Redi."

"Who?" Sharon laughed and said,

"Remember I told you that they have adopted me into their family" and Ashley nodded, "Well we all have pet names for each other, he is 'Roni', she is 'Icky', Alice is 'I-cee' and I am 'Redi' because of the hair."

"I see, oops that's Ms Baker..."

"You are a friend so call her Alice and it's spelt I-dash-c-e-e, the back end of her name. Anyway if you tell your Mum about what you are learning and with whom, then she won't be worried if you come here Monday to Friday nights as well as Saturday mornings. She could even come and watch next Saturday if you let me know beforehand" Sharon offered.

Aaron and Vicky were ready to leave and both hugged and kissed Sharon, Vicky did the same but kissed Ashley on the cheek. This time when Ashley hugged Aaron she did it quite firmly and for a little longer and smiled up at him, she was starting to trust him. Fortunately she released him before his automatic hard-on started to get more than a slight bulge.

When they had gone she hugged Sharon too, who was only two inches taller than her and kissed her cheek.

"When you told me that a man would be taking the lessons, it scared me after... you know, but he's really nice, you're all really nice. I'll explain to Mum and come here after work and practice with you and do the morning session without the kicks."

"You're very welcome my dear and if you leave your training clothes in the bathroom, I'll wash them with mine for you to use next time" Sharon told her.

"I will have to keep more here if I train every night, maybe just half an hour?"

"That'll suit me fine Ashley, say at six pm, now peel yourself out of that Lycra and go have your shower."

"Okay and thanks" and she ran to the bathroom, while Sharon went to her bedroom, stripped off and put on her thin summer dressing gown.

Ten minutes later Ashley appeared and said,

"I got my hair wet could I borrow a hair dryer for a minute?"

"Of course, follow me to the bedroom."

Alice sat on the bed while Ashley dried her long blonde hair.

"You know I still can't quite believe that you have lost over forty pounds in three months" she said loudly over the noise of the hairdryer.

"Fifteen weeks, just over two and a half pounds a week on average" Sharon replied, "I would still like to lose another twenty."

"Then you would be tiny, like me."

"You have a beautiful body, beautiful face and hair to match, I'm so jealous... in a nice way" Sharon replied as the dryer was turned off.

"And I wish I was bigger and stronger like you and I love your hair too" the girl added.

"But not my age, though."

"No, but you're not that old!"

"How old is your Mum?"

"Forty five, why?"

"I'm only nine years younger than her"

"But look so much better"

"Thank you for those kind words young lady, for that I would like to give you a hug."

They came together and hugged and Sharon felt the girl's hands moving and looked at her.

"What are you doing Ashley?" she said quietly.

The end of Part Three.

The Hedge continues in Part Four, chapter Thirty six.