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Chapter 60: Hostage, Part 20
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The Master's Child Chapter 61: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 1
Three Days Before ChristmasThe clouds, low, dull and grey, match my mood, and I stare out of the passenger window, not wanting to show my disappointment. Sleet spikes down, spitting onto the windscreen and the wipers squeak, leaving white streaks as they arc across the glass.Ryan, from the driver's seat, lays a hand on my thigh. "Cheer up. There'll be others." "I know..." My throat is unreasonably tight. "It just looked so good in the ad. I'd thought maybe..."He cuts in, but the cheerful tone to his voice sounds forced. "Vendors are always going to overegg the cake. It did say, Needs Renovation."I huff. "Needs complete demolition and rebuilding would have been nearer the mark." Then, at his answering silence, I realise how waspish I must have just sounded. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to come out like that. It wasn't aimed at you."He squeezes my knee. "I know. Hey, tell you what. We're not far away. Let's go say Hi to the happy family. You can deliver your balloon and you
The Master's Child Chapter 62: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 2
Transfixed on her baby, "She's so beautiful..." she murmurs. "I still can't believe she's real." Her face rises to mine. "Don't you think she's beautiful?"I regard Charlotte's baby daughter. Only a few days old, red-faced and with a thin swirl of dark hair, her dark eyes are vague and she blows small bubbles from her mouth."If I'm truthful, no, I don't think she's beautiful..." Charlotte's jaw falls slack... Then looking around, I realise everyone is staring at me.Oh, crap..."... but I do think she's completely adorable..." I keep talking, trying to rescue myself from my faux pas... "... Like a puppy that you know is one day going to be all silky fur and sleek muscles. But when they're just born, they all look like a furry sausage with a leg at each corner."Richard bursts out laughing. "But people-puppies are never as cute as the real thing? Is that it, Kirstie?""Um..." I mumble. "Something like that."My embarrassment is interrupted by James returning, carrying a h
The Master's Child Chapter 63: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 3
James joins us, stretching out his legs in the passenger seat as Richard takes us down the mountain and back onto the main highway. Then, he curves around the base of the mountain before turning off to follow first a side-road; then a narrow country lane.We pass frozen fields, frigid and sparkling, lined by hedgerows of hawthorn and crab apples, bare of leaves but bright with winter fruit. The fields give way to woodland, the trees stretching naked branches towards the thin sunlight filtering under the grey sky. Crossing a humped stone bridge, we cross rushing water; the road narrow enough that Richard slows down, steering carefully to avoid scraping the sides of his car.Then, as we turn a corner, the woodland opens up to reveal a huge building; neglected and abandoned, four storeys high, built from brick and stone. Even from here, I can see that the windows are barred, much of the glass broken."This is it." Richard draws in towards tall steel-bar gates, razor wire looping
The Master's Child Chapter 64: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 4
Chains and padlocks dangle loose from double-doors standing wide. The space inside is dim, beckoning us inside.We enter, stepping between cones of bird droppings into a single open space, taking up what looks like the whole of the ground floor. Daylight filters through clouded glass and cobwebs from the far side. Pigeons scatter as we enter then resettle, cooing protest at our invasion of their private space. Their calls echo with our footsteps as, without speaking a word, we cross the open floor to the murky windows.A quick search through my bag produces a tissue, and I swipe over dust to clear a small viewing hole through the grime, just big enough to peer out and over the river."We can do better than that," comes Ryan's voice from a few feet away.He's standing by another set of steel double-doors. Again, a chain dangles free from between the handles and he lifts a locking bar, then swings the doors open. Pale sunlight spills inside, and dust motes sparkle brilliantly in
The Master's Child Chapter 65: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 5
Back at the Threesome's home, Michael serves up coffee and cake in the lounge then piles logs onto the fire.Richard's phone buzzes. He holds up a forefinger and everyone falls silent."Yes? Ah, Brian, thank you for getting back so quickly..." His eyes pass to mine. "Yes, I have them with me... Yes? As per the original asking price? Ah... I understand. Yes, I'll get back to you."He snaps the lid down on his mobile. "That was my old friend, the owner of the mill. He is hesitating because his lawyer has been approached by a third party who has offered him a better price."The cake congeals in my mouth. Ryan sags. "Oh... That's that then. We can't get into a bidding war. As it is, we'd be way out on a limb financially..."Richard Harrumphs, then sniffs. "Not necessarily. There's more to any offer than the price."I swallow hard, trying to free my mouth of cake. "I'm not with you. What else is there?""Oh..." Richard lifts arms, opens his palms... "Intended end-use. Reputat
The Master's Child Chapter 66: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 6
Two Days Before ChristmasFor the second time in two days we pull up at the Threesome's...Fivesome's?... home, this time with my Gang of Four in the back, howling enthusiasm as they realise where they are; yapping, barking and baying demands to be let out right now.The door opens to Michael... "Ah, that's great," he says. "You made it..." Then he stands back hastily as my Gang barge past him in a hairy, slobbering crowd into their old 'home'. "Looks like they remember where they are..." he laughs."And are pleased to be here too." I kiss his cheek. "And thank you so much for this.""It's a pleasure, Kirstie, to be able to help. And you too Ryan. We were worrying you might be beaten by the snow." He cranes out, scanning the sky. "You got here just in time, I'd say. The forecast says there's going to be a heavy fall tonight and by the look of those clouds, it's on the way."Even as he speaks, a fat snowflake drifts down, lying on the cold ground like the most delicate of
The Master's Child Chapter 67: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 7
Coming down the stairs, my face heating, I brush by Michael. He inhales, eyes crinkling, but he doesn't look at me, instead, suppressing a smile as he heads up.In the dining room, I find Charlotte and Mitch. Charlotte sits by the fire in an armchair, humming to herself, cradling Cara as though she'll never let go.Mitch has brush and twigs laid out on the table, knotted and intertwined into a tightly woven whole, six or eight feet long. She winds in sprigs of pine, ivy, and holly, glossy and green, and brightly berried. Then she loops in ribbons of red and gold and tartan, twisting and knotting them with a practiced hand into coils and bows. She looks up, eyes brightening. "Ah, Kirstie. Good timing. Can help me with the swags, please." "You look as though you're almost done.""I am..." She twists wire through one end, then the other, "... but it takes two to hang them up. You take that end, I'll take this. Onto the stepladders and we'll snag them onto those hooks over the fir
The Master's Child Chapter 68: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 8
Ryan takes the wineglass from my fingers, setting it down on the table. There's that look in his eye. "Time to retire, I think."I take a shot at demure... "I think so, yes." ... But as his nostrils flare, realise I have failed miserably.He presses against my thigh, oh, so lightly... And my already warm pussy purrs. Several hours of waiting and the promise of the kind of incandescent sex Ryan offers, have me teetering on the brink.Which was of course entirely his intention with the day's earlier performance."We're going to bed," announces Ryan. "It's been a long day for us."Voices call around us. Heads nod. "Of course. Goodnight.""See you in the morning.""Sleep well."I don't believe I'll be sleeping for a while yet.As we exit, Michael, eyes creasing, waves towards the tray of drinks on the sideboard. "Take a bottle up with you and a couple of glasses."Ryan chooses a bottle of Rioja. "Very civilised of him," he murmurs as we make our way up the stairs.
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