13. In Which Alice Takes to Religion and Pete Takes to Drugs and Common Girls With Terrible Consequences

Episode 13.

In Which Alice Takes to Religion and Pete

Takes to Drugs and Common Girls With Terrible Consequences.

Alice lay in bed, listening as her mother’s footsteps died away and were at last silenced behind a closed door. She then got out of bed and sat on the wide, white windowsill, looking out at the night. The sky was filled with scurrying clouds running before the moaning wind which had risen suddenly. The half moon broke free occasionally from behind the shadowed grey curtain; shedding its sad silver light over the sleeping world. She leaned her throbbing head against the wall and then suddenly her body racked with sobs until she bent over double trying to erase the pain in herself. She slid to the floor and lay there gasping for breath in between each sob, which seemed to be torn from her very soul. After a while she dragged herself to her knees with her elbows resting on the windowsill and her hands clenched together. She had to pray, it was all she could do. From habit she had gabbled quick words of prayer since a child, but these were hurried, unimportant words before she went to sleep.
"Please bless Pete and my family and keep peace in the world. Amen"
Now she knelt on the floor, barely able to speak for the huge lump in her throat, the tears big and wet splashing freely onto her hands. She looked up into the sky and the moon sailed from behind one of the malignant clouds.
"Jesus," she whispered brokenly. "I don’t know how ….. I don’t go to church ……….. I’m not good, but please, oh please help me, please, please." She put her head down to her hands, incoherently tumbling out the imploring words. "They can’t, oh Jesus help ….. I can’t bear it, please please help us, help us."
How long she stayed there she did not know – a minute? A century? When at last she returned to her lonely bed she longed for Pete with such intensity that she felt sure she would burst into flames. She folded her arms tightly around her body and squeezed to try and ease the fire but it was no good. She moaned gently into the pillow.
"Pete, my Pete how good it would be if you were here now," she murmured. Eventually sleep came to her restless young body bringing strange realistic dreams with it.

***

Pete had not been thrown out, although he had had a furious row with his father. His mother had stuck up for him and so in the end he was allowed to stay. He sat in his room moody and silent for over an hour. He could not lie on his bed. He would go mad with longing for Alice with her fresh eager body beside him, beneath him – "Oh God I must stop this" he thought wildly. He got up from the bed and silently left the house. He walked quickly through the streets until he reached The Ace, an all-night club which the Mods of Gloucester regularly haunted. He went inside and saw Miff, George and other friends.
"Hello you bloody prat," shouted Miff in a friendly way. Pete’s face set into a smile.
The night passed on. He briefly told them his story whilst they bought him drink after drink. Then George put his hand into his pocket and drew out a small insignificant looking bottle. He looked cautiously around him.
"Shilling each," he stated quietly.
"What are they – Blues?"
"Where d’yah get ‘em?"
"Yeah, French Blues, never mind where I got ‘em. Do you want them or not?"
"Yeah," they all chorused.
Pete looked at the little pills. He had taken some before, a long long time ago, before his time with Alice. They had made him feel great. Would it get rid of this terrible aching unhappiness. Impulsively he gave George a couple of shillings and took the pills.

****

Pete woke up. He felt sick and stupid. Where the bloody hell was he? He looked around in the dim morning light but the sight did not tell him anything. He was in bed in a small room, with damp, peeling wallpaper on the walls. A bare electric light bulb hung from the ceiling and around it a small cloud of flies were circling lazily. The floor was covered with old brown linoleum and a stale, greasy smell of fat hung in the air. The one window was small and high up, partially covered by a drooping piece of dingy lace.
Suddenly to his horror he realised that there was someone in the bed beside him. He looked slowly down at the girl lying there. She was sleeping, snoring slightly with her mouth open revealing her yellowing teeth. Her hair was long and yellow, showing a couple of inches of dark roots. She appeared to be naked and clusters of love bites clung to her neck and large breasts. For a moment he was uncomprehending, his thoughts jumbled in his head. He couldn’t remember a thing since he had met his friends up the Ace. Drinks, yes he remembered lots of drinks, but there was something else. He racked his aching brain until suddenly it came to him – the pills, those horrible little round pills had done this to him. Somehow he had ended up in bed with this slut.
"God!" he muttered "Oh my God! Alice what have I done?"
He felt a movement beside him, her mascara smudged eyes slowly opened. She smiled at him.
"Sleep well babe?" she drawled in a common, cheap voice.
"Where are my clothes?" he demanded angrily. "How the fuck did I get here?"
"Hey, what you on about lover boy? You don’t need yer clothes. Come back here to your little sweetie pie." Her flabby white arms reached for him.
He instinctively hit out at her arms to keep her from touching him and she screamed and swore at him.
"You fucking whore!" he shouted. "Get your disgusting body away from me. Do you think you can compare with her? With my Alice? Christ, if I’ve caught anything off you, I’ll kill you, you dirty bitch. I was mad last night – completely insane to go with a thing like you…….."
She screamed back at him.
"You liked me enough last night you bastard, couldn’t get enough of me! Where d’ya think all these came from?" She gestured towards all the love bites. "You said you loved me, kept saying you…….."
"Loved you?" he broke in, laughing viciously. "Loved you? I was drunk, stoned out of my head on pills so I didn’t notice your ugly face, your flabby skin, your foul body. Christ forgive me! I love the sweetest girl in England – in the world. She’s a real blond, not out of a bottle and she saved her love for me. I was the first boy to have her and I’ll be the last. She’s not a fucking prostitute, a filthy, dirty whore. She’s beautiful and kind and gentle and I pray to God she will forgive me for this, for going near a slut like you." His voice broke. "Oh Christ Alice, please forgive me……" He turned to the girl beside him.
"Get my clothes together now you bitch, get them now."
She crawled hurriedly out of the grubby, stained sheets. Pete was almost physically sick as he watched her overweight body lumber heavily around the room gathering up his clothes. The pain he felt inside for doing this terrible thing to Alice was far worse than the pain in his aching, bewildered head.
Minutes later he staggered from the stale smelling room into the clean, fresh air, which slowly cleared his head. He went home and had a hot deep bath to try to wash the dirt away. He felt soiled and used like some victim of rape. But it was all his own doing he realised, the girl had not really been to blame. The guilt weighed heavily down upon him. Somehow he would have to tell Alice what had happened so that she could forgive him and clear this terrible feeling away. He got out of the bath, dressed in clean clothes and sat down to write to her.

12. In Which Pete and Alice Find Their Door Open and Meet a Policeman and Lots of People Shout at Each Other.

Episode 12.

The following few weeks passed quickly and happily for them both. They managed to rent a tiny flatlet for £5.00 per week and spent all their spare time on the beach and in the sea, getting tanned and their hair bleaching in the sun.
Pete was saving for Alice’s ring and in the evenings they often stood close together looking into jewellers’ shops. They went to dances and a couple of parties and started to make friends with other mods in the town. They began to be accepted and to settle into the new life they had made for themselves.

On a Sunday evening at about seven o’clock, after another sun-drenched day on the beach which had been all the more special as it had poured all day on Saturday and everything was fresh and clean, they were returning back to the flat. They were barefooted and brown, talking about the motor boat they had been taken out in that afternoon which belonged to one of their new friends. They had skimmed like a swallow over the froth of the waves, the sun and wind beating into them, the spray falling in rainbows around them. It had been a wonderful experience. They reached the flat and hurried happily up the stairs. Pete tried the door and found it was open.

"Funny – I could have sworn I’d locked it," he said as he went in. Alice was behind him and could not see why he suddenly gasped and stopped. She stepped from behind to see a policeman and a man in plain clothes sitting in their chairs. Blankly she stared at them and then the full impact of what this meant hit her. They would take her away from Pete.
"No!" she gasped. "No! No! Pete, don’t let them – run. Oh Pete!" She turned to run and then everything went black and the sound of roaring filled her ears.
"Pete," she called, falling down into a deep, black abyss. "Oh Pete….." The blackness engulfed her and drowned her senses and she fell in a limp heap on the floor.
Pete started towards her, his face pale and his hands trembling.
"Alice," he said kneeling by her and holding her in his arms. "Alice, it’s no good – no good." His shoulders sagged and his head was bent onto his chest.
The two men came over and made as if to carry her over to the bed, but Pete straightened and said fiercely
"Leave her alone, don’t touch her. She’s mine. Just leave us, we don’t need anyone else." He lifted her up himself with difficulty and laid her gently on the bed. The policeman brought her a cup of water and slowly she began to come round. The darkness lifted and hazy shapes appeared. The roaring ceased and she saw the two men and her Pete looking down at her. He reached for her hand and held it tightly, her eyes filled with hopeless tears. She turned to the policeman.
"Please" she whispered. "Don’t take us away from each other, please don’t do that." She stared at them in a frightened beseeching silence.

The Inspector looked at them both, the girl’s choked words imploring into his brain. She lay there quite still, looking at him, holding tightly onto her boyfriend’s hand. From what the girl’s mother had said he had expected the boy to be a scruffy good-for – nothing and just with the girl for what he could get from her. Instead he was neat and tidy even if his clothes were a little unusual, he was obviously one of these new-fangled ‘mods’ but that was nothing against him. He was still with the girl and obviously cared about her a great deal. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"I’m afraid I must take you back home," he told them "you have caused your parents a great deal of worry by your childish actions in running away. I hope you are sorry for it. When you are feeling better we will leave for Stroud at once.
Pete looked at the men tersely and then down at Alice lying on the bed, her face deathly white, her eyes tear-filled.
"We’re not sorry," he burst out. "For a few weeks we’ve been happier than ever before. Her mother would have separated us, and we love each other. What would you have done? Just sat there and let her do it? Okay then, take us back to stop our parents worrying, and see what good that will do US. They are just worried. Now they know we are okay they needn’t be. If you make us go back we will have heartbreak." He stopped and stared at them, his eyes full of hopeless defiance. The Inspector’s heart softened towards them a little.

"Look son," he said gently. "maybe it was wrong of Alice’s mother to take so harsh an action, but it was wrong of you to run away. You should have talked sensibly to her about it and sorted everything out, instead of just running off like you did. I’m sorry but I have to do this, I have to return Alice to her parents. You must both get ready and return home."

Alice’s shoulders shook convulsively. "She wouldn’t believe I love him," she sobbed. "She laughed at us, said Pete was no good – but I love him, I truly love him. Please let us stay here – we’ve got jobs, we’ve got a flat, we’ve proved we can make a life together. I’ll just die if she separates us again, I’ll die, I know I will ….." She broke off as her voice had become too choked to carry on.

"Look dear, I’ll have a talk with your mother," said the Inspector kindly. "I’ll see what I can do. I can’t promise anything but I’ll do my best."
"Thanks!" replied Pete, a trace of gratefulness in his bitter voice. "It’s not you personally we’ve got anything against, you just have a job to do." He turned to Alice.
"Alice, we’ll have to go back love. There’s nothing else we can do. Maybe your mum will change her mind, and if – if she doesn’t she can’t stop me loving you. I’ll wait until you are old enough to leave home, I’ll think of you all the time. We won’t let them beat us, we won’t Alice." His last words were uttered with a fiery determination, which seemed to give Alice courage. She stood up slowly.
"I’ll wait too," she said looking possessively at him. "She won’t win. She won’t split us up. I won’t let her."

***

They were allowed to ride the scooter back, the police car always right behind them, their belongings stowed in the boot of the car. Pete entertained thoughts of trying to give the car the slip but let them go reluctantly. Even if they managed it, which was highly improbable, they would have nothing, no clothes, no money. The police would soon find them again and not be so lenient next time. At the moment they almost seemed to be on their side so it seemed best to play along with them.

Alice sat behind him, leaning against the back-rest, her hands deep in the pocket of her leather. She was an expert at the art of staying on a scooter and did not need to hang on to Pete or the seat, but moved her body with the scooter as it bent and curved around corners. She felt bitter and resentful against her parents.
She
wondered what they would say to her – what they would say to Pete. Perhaps the Inspector would be able to change her mother’s mind, it was the only thing she had to hope for. As they neared Gloucester the weather began to change. The sky filled with dull, grey clouds, which hung heavily over the earth, threatening and foreboding. She turned to look behind her; the police car was right there. There was nothing they could do but go home; go home where she would cry and need and long for Pete.

In quarter of an hour they pulled up outside Pete’s house and, holding Alice by the hand, they approached the door. The Inspector followed them. Pete felt a little apprehensive at what his parents would say to him. He didn’t much care but he hoped that he wouldn’t get a slap from his dad or thrown out of the house, which had happened before, before he had met Alice. This was almost the first time for a year that he had been in trouble with the police. The realisation surprised him, it must be Alice’s influence. He used to regularly get into trouble with the police about once a fortnight and even more regularly with shop owners and irate café proprietors. He, and about four or five other mods had a real reputation in the town
for causing trouble but now he was almost always with Alice and hardly ever saw his old friends alone. One of them was only fifteen and had recently been sent to Borstal for stealing money. That was where he would probably be by now, thought Pete. He had really been the ringleader but now, those who were left followed Miff as he was Pete’s best friend. Thank God Alice’s parents don’t know how I used to be, he thought, or they would never have allowed Alice to go out with me at all.

Alice knew though. Many times she had been thrown out of shops, cafes, bus stations and cinemas for being with Pete and the ‘gang’. It had been exciting to be with them but deep inside Alice always felt uncomfortable and prayed that none of her parent’s friends would ever witness what went on. That had been right at the beginning when she and Pete went round with the whole group. Then they had gradually begun to meet up more and more, alone with each other, preferring one another’s company. Now they were able to go into shops, drink Pepsi in cafes, catch buses and go to the cinema without being shouted at and asked to leave. They were both, especially Pete, quite reformed!
Pete opened the door just as his mother reached it from inside.

"Oh! You’ve decided to come home at last?" She was not really angry with him, more with Alice’s parents. Her son was old enough to do as he liked as long as he didn’t cause trouble. If he did he was thrown out for a few weeks until he said sorry, but that hadn’t happened for quite a long time now.

"We found them in Torquay," the Inspector told her. "We would rather like you to come to meet Alice’s parents and talk the whole matter through, that is if you don’t mind?"
This was news to Pete and Alice.
"Do you think that will help?" asked the girl hopefully.
"I think it may," he replied. "It can’t do any harm anyway."
But he was wrong.

***

Mrs Parker heard a car draw up at the bottom of the hill. She ran, as quickly as her heavy body would allow, upstairs to her bedroom window where she could see everything.
Peering out from behind the half-drawn curtain she drew in her breath with surprise. It was the Inspector and with him was Alice and her boyfriend. Another woman and a man got out of the large black car. Opening the window slightly she listened to their conversation. To her disappointment they hardly spoke except that the Inspector called the woman ‘Mrs. Wheeler’ so she realised that the couple must be Pete’s parents. Alice looked very white and ill and she clung tightly to Pete’s hand as they walked slowly up the steep pitch.
"Don’t be scared," the boy said to her as they passed Mrs Parker’s house. "I’m here and I won’t let anyone hurt you."

The little procession passed out of sight up the hill. Mrs Parker rushed gleefully downstairs. So Alice had been found and she was the first to know about it. Some people thought her a vicious old gossip. She laughed to herself, she knew how eager everyone would be to hear her news. How she had surprised them that day when Alice had run away. She had seen the girl go up the hill in her school uniform and go back down shortly afterwards in her ordinary clothes but had not realised what was happening at the time until she saw the police arrive. Then she had put two and two together. The past few weeks had been bliss for her; police constantly up and down the hill, and she had learned quite enough to keep the village agog with her reports. She had even had to make a statement herself about what she had seen on that day. She struggled into her large, blue coat. She was off to visit her friend Jean and tell her the latest news.

The front door flew open and Mrs. Greenway came tumbling out of it. She enfolded her daughter with her arms, hugging and kissing her.
"Oh, my little girl!" she sobbed. "My poor, poor little girl. Don’t worry anymore. I’m here my darling." She had convinced herself that Alice had been longing to get home again and that Pete had kept away by force whilst her daughter had made desperate attempts to get away.
Alice stood immobile in her mother’s arms.
"I wasn’t worried," she said coldly. "I was very, very happy."
"Dear Alice, it’s all right, he can’t hurt you any more. You’re home now, you’re safe with me. You can tell me the truth now, you don’t have to pretend anymore."
She looked venomously at Pete.
"How dare you take my daughter away from me, keep her against her will – and God knows what you’ve done to her, you animal."
Alice broke away from her mother.
"Stop it! Stop it!" she screamed. "I love him. I love him. Can’t you see? Are you blind you stupid woman?" She ran to Pete and they held each other tightly. The Inspector broke in.
"I think we should all go inside," he suggested "and talk everything over calmly."
"I’m not having him in my house" snarled Mrs Greenway. "Just look what he’s done to my daughter."
"Now, hold on a minute," broke in Pete’s mum loudly. "My son loves your Alice and she loves him. She’s the one who took our son away. She came running to our house and off they went together while I was still at work. Don’t you start blaming everything on Pete just because you live in a big house in the country. I’m not blaming your Alice for causing all this to-do. They are both home now, safe and sound, no harm done."
"No harm done!" shrieked Mrs. Greenway. "My innocent daughter kept away for weeks by your son. I know something of his reputation. She’s probably been raped – God knows what - taken drugs, involved in stealing – more than likely pregnant – and you have the audacity to say ‘no harm done’. Why you – you …….." For a moment it seemed the woman would physically attack Pete’s mother but the Inspector restrained her. In vain he tried to get everyone inside the house and to calm Mrs Greenway down but this proved impossible. She refused to listen or to believe him when he said Pete was a decent boy and had been looking after her daughter, that he had found them in a pleasant little flat, both with jobs, both seeming very happy.

At last Mr. Wheeler had had enough. He shouted angrily at the two women.
"That’s enough! If my son isn’t good enough, then your daughter isn’t good enough either. I forbid Pete to ever see Alice again and that’s final. Let him find someone who appreciates him. Now come on both of you – we’re going home." He caught hold of his wife’s hand and set of down the hill shouting to Pete to follow them.
Pete and Alice stood close together listening to all that was being said, and now this terrible, final blow. They both realised it was no good shouting and reasoning with their parents so they shut their ears to everything and engrossed themselves in each other.

"I love you," he said. "We’ll find a way. Oh – I hate them all. I hate them."
"Just think of me all the time, please please don’t forget about me because you don’t see me," begged Alice trying to see into the very depths of his soul through his two blue eyes. "As long as I know you are thinking of me – but, Pete, oh Pete I want you so, I don’t just want to be thinking of you, I want to have you beside me at night, every single night."
She started to cry amongst the chaos around them.
"Pete, Pete! Come here at once, we’re off."
"Alice, my poor Alice, he’s bewitched you – come away."

Shout upon shout. Louder – louder – drumming into her ears, into her brain. Feverishly she caught hold of Pete’s hand and kissed him desperately, expecting at any moment to be pulled away. He held her as tight as he could, biting deeply into her mouth until they both bled, warm hot blood.
Then his father was upon them, dragging him away. Alice’s mother pulled the girl fiercely away from his arms and they were parted, their hands grasping frantically for one another. Pete was being pushed, hit, anything that got him down that hill. The last thing he heard before he was shoved into the car was Alice screaming his name. The car door slammed, cutting off the heartbreaking sound, and they drove away.

The Inspector felt he had failed. True, he had found the runaway couple and returned them to their respective homes, which was what the job had been. Now he almost wished he had not found them, had not received that anonymous tip-off late yesterday and had left them to live happily together in Torquay. He had not realised quite how much the girl’s mother hated the boy, this boy who sat on the seat beside him, staring woodenly out of the window; his face blank and drawn, his hands clenched tight so that the knuckles stood out white against the brown of his skin. If only the two women had been breaking the law by stopping them from seeing each other, then he could have done something. If Alice had been older….. but he could not interfere in family arguments, he could do nothing about it, nothing at all.
"I’m sorry son," he said quietly to the boy. "Very sorry."

Pete showed no sign of hearing him but went on staring blankly out of the window.

11. In Which Many Sausages are Eaten, a Flat is Found and we Discover that Pete Wears Pyjamas..

Episode 11

It took only a few minutes to reach their destination, riding at the speed they were doing. They stopped at a small sheltered beach, fringed with rocks and to which they gained access by scrambling down a steep stony path. Once on the beach, they seemed closed in, safe and private. And even more wonderful, it was honeycombed with caves. In one of these caves was stacked crates of beer, cider and even sherry. Tins of Pepsi clambered up one wall whilst a huge sack of potatoes reclined against a box, filled with pounds of sausages. Wood for the fire was stacked in another cave in case of rain but was soon dragged out into the open and rebuilt into a massive bonfire. A portable record player was soon put to work, but when the fire was first lit all sound was drowned in the rush of crackling, sparking flames, springing high into the velvet sky, and shedding an orange glow over the whole beach. For a time the heat was so fierce no-one could get near, but slowly it began to die down until it was possible to roast the potatoes and cook the sausages.

The little bay was filled with music and laughter. There was enough food and drink for everyone, and Alice decided that the giver of this fabulous party must be a millionaire. Another, smaller fire had been lit with the plentiful driftwood that lay around the shoreline. Here people sat, though not too close, basking in the glowing warmth. The other fire was now merely glowing embers and hot ashes in which the cooking was done. Alice sat at the fire trying to hold a hot jacket potato, dripping with butter, in her hand. Most of the food was, of course, being served with sand which did not seem to spoil the flavour one little bit. Pete sat beside her holding a fistful of sausages on sticks, upon which he continually burnt his mouth in the attempt to eat them. They shared a bottle of cider between them and so were just at the happy state, not too far-gone. Pete began to feel hot, he looked belong the glow of the flames to the cool dark sea, catching moonbeams on the swell of it’s waves.

"Feel like a swim?" he asked Alice.

"Ummm, yes," she replied. "Cool me down."

They got to their feet and several other people also thought it was a good suggestion. Alice and Pete quickly took their jeans and shirts off and ran across the cool, damp sand to the sea. The water had not lost the heat it had grasped from the sun, and was refreshing rather than cold. They waded out for a long way, the water creeping past their knees, thighs, waits and eventually rippling around their shoulders. They started swimming, the water streaming like black ink, past them. Some of the others soon caught them up and began splashing and soon everyone was joining in, splashing and ducking each other with shouts and screams of enjoyment. Eventually the water seemed to grow colder than it had first seemed so they slowly wandered or swam back to the beach, where the less adventurous were still partying.

Alice had never felt so wet in her life having been splashed furiously by Pete and also ducked, swallowing what seemed like gallons of bitter seawater. Her hair was plastered to her head, the water running in minute rivers down her face, washing away the last visible traces of make-up.

The fire had been made up again and the flames roared red warmth into the darkness. Someone handed her a large white towel, with which she dried herself, enjoying the rough cleanliness of it against her skin. The cold swim had been invigorating and she tingled all over, her skin glowing in the warmth of the fire. Pete felt the same and they sat close together as close to the fire as possible. A girl gave them both a paper cup full of sweet sherry and as they drank it the warmth flowed through them, like fire in their veins. Alice sighed contentedly and leant against Pete’s shoulder, feeling his arm tighten around her. They sat there for a long time, staring into the strange red country flickering in the fire flames. Someone had brought a guitar and he sat on a nearby rock, singing and playing far into the night. They soon dried out so they put their clothes on again, as well as Pete’s parka and Alice’s leather as the night was cool and whispered a light breeze amongst their hair. They sang along with the guitar and kissed and ate sausages together. Finally, as the night slowly began to change into morning, they fell asleep by the dying embers of the fire. They slept wrapped around one another without quenching the fire in their blood that the sherry had given them.

Alice was woken by Pete kissing her and trying to drag her to her feet.

"Come on," he persuaded, "a healthy morning swim before breakfast."

"Breakfast?" she enquired. "Here?"

"Yeah, they’ve still got some food left." He pulled her to her feet and took her leather off, beginning to unbutton her shirt.

"All right, I’m awake now. I’ll do the rest." She slipped out of her shirt and jeans.

"Ready?" asked Pete, catching her by the hand and beginning to run towards the fresh blue sea, sparkling in the early morning sun. Some of the others were also being ‘healthy’ and in the water. Just as they reached the edge of the sea Pete picked her up and waded out until the water was around his thighs; with a laugh he dropped her into the sea. The water was cold but not unpleasantly so. Alice screamed loudly as the last traces of sleep were swept away by the swelling waves. She caught hold of Pete’s ankles under water, pulling his legs from beneath him. He joined her with a loud splash under the water, where they kissed and made up. Standing facing one another in the blue ocean the laughter suddenly stopped and they looked straight into one another’s eyes. The sun shone warm on their bare skin above the water and Alice shuddered as he gently stroked her back and ran his hands over her shoulders.
"I love you, our kid," he told her. "Are you okay?"

For an answer she merely nodded and then put her arms round his neck, guiding his mouth to hers and beginning a long, long kiss as the water lapped around their thighs and the sun shone down from above.
When the kiss ended they still stood together, arms tightly around one another, waiting for their thudding hearts to calm down.

Signs of activity could be seen on the beach so they eventually waded their way back to the sand and helped to cook the remaining sausages and potatoes over, and in, a tiny little bonfire which was all that was left of the wood from the night before. The food, if a little burnt and ashy, tasted good in the fresh morning air. A slight haze hung in the sky through which the sun lazily pierced. It promised to be a wonderful day. And it was!

                                          *****

On Monday morning they were woken by a Stone’s record played full blast on a rather unreliable old record player. They had stayed with two mods they had met on the beach. They rented a flat – if it could be called that! It was down one of the numerous side-streets and towards the back of the town and consisted of one large room with a rather thin partition down the middle. One half was a kitchen cum living room and the other was a bedroom which could however be used as an extra room during the day as it had divan beds and did not look much like a bedroom. The bathroom was shared with three other flats as was the loo.

Pete and Alice had slept in the living room on a couch that turned into a double bed after a lot of persuasion and a few exasperated kicks. The two rooms were very sparsely filled [or not filled] with furniture. Two divan beds and an ancient cupboard in the bedroom and a couch, stove, table and three wooden chairs in the living room as well as a sink with a cupboard beneath it, which could hardly be classified as ‘furniture’.

Alice started and opened her eyes as Mick Jagger’s voice pierced the air. A few seconds later Pete lazily opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Wondered where I was for a minute," he yawned, "better get up for work I suppose."

"And me!" groaned Alice, as one of the mods walked in.

"Hi. It’s a quarter to eight if you’re interested." He looked at Alice. "You can get dressed in there if you want. Brian’ll be out in a minute." He beckoned towards the bedroom.

"Thanks," replied Alice just going to get out of bed and then realising just in time that she had nothing on. Pete and the other boy were highly amused at the embarrassed expression on her face. Pete leant out of bed and groped around on the floor until he found the top of his pyjamas which she usually wore. He gave it to her and she vanished under the sheets to put it on. It was a dark blue and just about decent on her. She got out of bed, grabbed her clothes and vanished quickly into the bedroom where she walked into Brian putting his shirt on.

"Ooops! Sorry – I thought…." she stammered.
"I’m not!" he replied. "You should have come a bit earlier." She laughed and sat on one of the beds waiting for him to finish.
"All yours now," he said over his shoulder as he left the room.

She dressed quickly in a sleeveless skinny rib jumper and a skirt, throwing perfume, deodorant and talc over her as she did so. She had to make do with a wash in the sink but as she had had a luxurious bath in the damp, green bathroom the night she felt fresh and clean.

After a hurried breakfast of cornflakes, eggs and chocolate cake she, Pete and the two boys left the flat to go to their various jobs. Alice and Pete arranged to meet in the dinner hour and they parted company.

Alice found the other waitresses friendly. There were only two other young girls, both a little older than she was. The rest of the staff consisted of more elderly women. They were all kept very busy and it was slightly confusing for her at first but by the end of the afternoon it seemed a little easier. She had to wear a pink and white checked overall with a white apron and matching pink check hat. She managed to get through the day without dropping anything, although she slopped quite a few drinks onto the tray. What she had been worrying about the most was avoided. The handling of money! Alice had always been hopeless at maths and got flustered if she had to add up quickly. All she had to do, however, was to hand the customers the bill and they paid at the desk. She had plenty of time to add up the items, without them standing looking over her shoulder. The customers were mainly holiday makers and nearly all left generous tips so by the end of the day she had over fifteen shillings in tips for herself.

Pete came out of work an hour later than Alice, and she spent the time wandering along the seafront and finally sitting on the wall, dangling her long, slim legs over the edge. For almost the first time since she had left she began to think about home. She wondered what they were doing and what they were feeling like. Had her mother changed her mind and decided to let her go out with Pete or was she still stubbornly sticking to her point? What was her father thinking about it – did he understand, she wondered. And her two little sisters, did they understand? Did they miss her? At the thought of little Debbie she nearly cried. She had not realised how much she was missing her. And her friends and teachers at school, what were they all thinking, especially her friend Pam with whom she shared every secret. Pam, with whom she had cried and been comforted over various boys until Pete had come along. Since then they had not seen so much of each other out of school, but they still remained the best of friends. Pam was going out with the bass guitarist of a group which was beginning to get quite popular locally. There was even a rumour of a record in the air but no-one was sure yet.

She rested her chin on her hand and gazed far out to sea where the two blues of the ocean and the sky met and melted into infinity. She thought about all that had happened to her in the last few days since she had run away. So far they had been lucky and had always found somewhere to sleep and food to eat – but how much longer could their luck hold she wondered? She wished she could write to Pam and get her advice, but that was impossible for Pam’s mother would see the postmark and the police would be onto them in no time. And what would happen to them if they were caught? Approved school – prison or a huge fine for Pete? She didn’t know. Maybe she was pregnant, she would know in about a week, and if she was than what would happen to her ………… she started suddenly as someone caught her around the waist and kissed the back of her neck.

It was Pete of course, and at the sight and feel of him her mind flooded with joy, pushing out all the fears and worries she had. She had Pete, what else mattered? He loved her and would look after her whatever happened. They would live for today and not worry about yesterday or tomorrow – especially not tomorrow. Tomorrow could be frightening.

Episode 10 In Which Alice and Pete Visit the Seaside, Buy Some Sexy Beachwear and Get Very Wet.

Episode 10

They stopped at the first petrol station and spent the first of their money on petrol. The last two days had been dull and cloudy with a little rain, but today the sun turned it’s soft yellow face to the world again. Bowling along the road, the wind in his face Pete had a sudden urge to go to the sea. He slowed down and called to Alice.
"How about going to Weston? It’s not far from here, and being a seaside town people won’t be too curious."
"Great idea," replied Alice "and perhaps there’ll be a beach party or something we can go to."
In little less than an hour they were in the town, which had the gleaming white just-washed cleanness that all seaside towns have. The sea seemed to have a wonderful effect on most people. Alice always delighted in it. It fascinated her, the mass of water with its very different moods. Today it was in the happiest of moods, blue and gay, catching the rays of sun, shattering them up into a million golden droplets as it threw them up into the air on the crests of white topped waves. The breeze was salty and exhilarating and filled one with vigour.
Pete had hardly parked the scooter before Alice was sitting on the wall bordering the beach, taking off her shoes and stockings and running barefoot over the dry sand. It slid easily between her toes until she reached the firm wet sand and the waves were lapping at her feet. He caught up with her, now also barefoot and they walked along the very edge of the sea, the breathless dying remains of the waves swirling at their feet. Alice trailed a long, straggly piece of seaweed behind her, which kept snaking itself around their legs. After about fifteen minutes they turned to go back again. Pete stopped suddenly.

"Torquay!" he exclaimed loudly. "Torquay!" He caught Alice by the hand and started to drag her along the beach.
"Have you gone mad?" she asked, trying to keep up with him.
"Let’s go to Torquay," he said, not stopping to slow his pace. "They’ll never think of looking for us there – and it is such a fabulous place."
"Oh yes!" replied Alice, speeding up now that she realised what his idea was. "Its lovely there – and we would be safe."

They ran on until they were back at the scooter. Then came the difficult task of drying their feet and putting their shoes back on without too much sand left behind. Eventually they walked around in the hot sand until their feet were dry. Then once more they set off.

Torquay was about 60 miles away as the crow flies, and they reached it at about three thirty in the afternoon. This time it was the real thing, the English Riviera. Whereas Weston-Super-Mare was situated at the mouth of the River Severn, Torquay was facing the real ocean – huge and glistening in the sunlight. The town was renowned for its good weather and it was certainly living up to it’s reputation that afternoon. It looked like a Mediterranean resort. The sky was a deep, intangible blue with the sun hanging, a golden circle radiating bronzed warmth to the green and blue below. A type of palm tree grows on the mildness of the Torquay climate and these trees stood, waving their huge green fringed arms against the blueness around them. The houses were white or gaily coloured and crowded happily around the sea, jostling and pushing each other in their attempts to be nearest the water. The people were carefree and sun-tanned, wandering barefoot around the fresh, bright town.
Alice gazed around in delight. The last time she had come here she had only been five and just had vague memories of a sun-soaked, blue sea filled fortnight.
"It’s beautiful," she said to Pete, after they had parked the scooter and were walking down to the seafront. "I’m glad you thought of coming here. THEY won’t have thought of it. They’ll think we’ve gone to Gretna, or else we are just hiding around Gloucester. But Torquay! They’ll never think of that, they’ve got no reason to."
"That’s what I thought," he replied, then changing the subject as he looked at the inviting sea. "I’d give anything to go swimming – if only we’d brought our swimming stuff. We haven’t even got any towels so we can’t really go at night. The minute I get a job we’ll buy swimming things and towels. Come on, let’s go down to the beach. He started off.
"No!" said Alice. "Lets start looking for jobs – if we get anything we can buy swimming costumes now because we’ll know where the next penny will be coming from." Pete came back.
"It’s a good job you’re more practical than me," he said a little ruefully. "Work first and play later, eh?"

They wandered among the streets enquiring after jobs. Luck was with them today. Alice quickly got a job as a waitress in one of the busy little cafes on the seafront. They said she was to start on Monday at nine and would earn £6.00 per week plus tips. The pay wasn’t good but the café was clean and friendly, and the money was needed so she accepted the job. They had a little more difficulty with Pete but even then it was not too long before he was also fixed up, down in the storeroom of a big shop, earning £8.00 per week.
They thought they might as well buy their bathing costumes in the same shop in which Pete was going to work.
There was a good selection. He bought a pair of skin tight, low cut, white trunks because Alice said she thought boys looked fabulous in white once they had a bit of a tan.. She chose, with Pete’s advice, a cute little bikini in a deep pink colour made in bri-nylon. It was rather prim for a bikini but Pete said he didn’t want his girl wandering around in half an inch of material for all to see. Alice liked it, and said that anyway she didn’t have the figure to wear a scanty one. The top half was a mass of little pink frills and it fitted perfectly. They then bought sun tan lotion, two medium sized towels and set off, if a little late, for the beach.
The sun caressed their bodies as they ran down to the sea. It was cool and refreshing as they splashed and fooled around like a couple of children. Pete was a good swimmer, whereas Alice enjoyed it but could not swim very far or very fast. Neither of them had any fear of water however though, and loved the green eeriness beneath the surface. They stood on their hands, swam through each other’s legs, sat on the bottom and finally kissed each other underneath the watery roof beneath which noise barely existed except in a muffled damp form, and sunlight shimmered on the sandy floor.
Eventually they emerged, dripping and happy from the salty freshness and lay close together on the sand basking in the warmth.

Pete lay on his back, the sun beating down on his eyelids, enclosing him in an orange haze. His right hand held Alice’s tightly, creating a sticky warmth between them. She lay also on her back, her face upturned to the sun, her blond hair scattered carelessly over her head. She turned, half opening her eyes to look at Pete beside her. With a contented sigh she closed her eyes again, a half smile playing around her lips.

They lay on the beach, extracting every ounce of sunlight they could from the setting globe of fire. When at last the sun vanished into the sea they bestirred themselves. Pete languidly drew his white jeans on over his trunks and let his arms slide carelessly into a brown and white checked shirt. Alice’s clothes were identical to his – they almost looked like twins. Both tall, slim and blond. They wandered hand in hand along the beach, a gentle salty breeze accompanying them. Little waves swelled and broke at their feet, creating a ceaseless sound of water, flurrying and gurgling. They reached the end of the bay, which was rocky and more magnificent. Here the sea crashed and sucked at the large barnacle covered rocks, throwing refreshing salt spray into the air. They climbed the rocks, which were warm and dry, although a little sharp and walked along them until they were wet and slippery with the sea roaring at their feet. They watched crabs scuttling busily from side to side amongst pink waving sea anemones in the numerous rock pools.

Slowly the sky darkened with the purple shades of night. From where they were sitting on the rocks they could see the lights of the town coming on and turning the place into a fairyland of colour, beckoning and calling to them.
They chased each other back along the beach until they were near the scooter. Leaving the clinging sand they went to the car park to check that the Vespa, and their luggage, was still where they had left it. It was all still there so they wandered hand in hand along the sea front which was a maze of Hot Dog stalls and Fish and Chip stands. They made use of these and strolled among the floodlight gardens, munching at tasty hamburgers and hot dogs.

The gardens were very lovely at night, filled with the heavy clinging scent from beautiful exotic flowers, which thrived in the warm climate. They wound their way among the palm trees' waving fronds and wonderful lighting effects, leaving the main path behind and finding themselves in narrow twisted ways where they were enclosed almost in solitude, except for other pairs of lovers, losing themselves in this magical paradise.

Neither of them had given much thought as to where they were to sleep. It was such a wonderful night that to go indoors was unthinkable; they would be content to wander around these scented gardens or merely sit and watch the swelling sea all night long.

Eventually they left the gardens and went to buy some Pepsi to drink, and also attend to the necessary. Whilst Alice was in the Ladies she critically surveyed herself in the mirror and took out a comb and some mascara from the pocket in her jeans. She repaired the damage done by the sea-water, and whilst washing her hands discovered that the soap smelt very seductive and expensive. She then performed the almost impossible task of washing her neck and as much of herself as she decently could, without a flannel or a sponge. Her shirt got rather wet in the process but she smelt good. After a hurried drying process on seven paper towels she went out again to Pete. He was standing talking to two boys, one was a mod/beatnik type, the other an immaculate mod.
"Sorry I was a long time," said Alice "but I had a bath." She smiled at the boys.
"You had a what?" asked Pete. "Smells good anyway." He sniffed appreciatively around her neck. "Oh! We’re going to a beach party, if it’s okay with you?" he stated rather than asked.
"Oh, great!" enthused Alice. "I knew something would turn up. Where, when – now?"
"About two miles away," said the mod beat.
"Now," added the other.
"We’ll meet you outside the Penny Arcade then," said Pete. "See ya."
"I’ve never been to a beach party," said Alice, catching hold of his hand.
"They’re great," Pete told her. "Good job you were a long time in there or I wouldn’t have met those two."

They reached the scooter and quickly moved off down the seafront. A little way along the road, outside the bright lights and noise of the Penny Arcade was assembled a gang of scooters, cars and people. The two boys of Pete’s acquaintance waved to him, and after another few additions to the party had arrived the little armada moved off. They whined noisily through the gaily lit town, people stared at them as they shot past, some complaining about ‘the youth of today’, whilst other younger spectators gaped in envy.

Episode 9. In Which Alice's Dad Remembers Young Love, Alice Gives Advice and Everyone Goes to Bed Very Early!

Episode 9

*****

Back at her home her mother was sitting gazing unseeingly out of the window. Thirty-one endless hours her daughter had been missing. Strangely enough when the police had told her that Pete was also missing she had felt slightly relieved, even though he was the cause of all this confusion. At least she knew Alice was not wandering around England alone, open to all kinds of dangers.
A night had passed; another one was beginning, the boy had probably had his evil way with Alice by now – maybe he would leave her once he had got what he wanted, defenceless and alone in a lecherous world. She did not blame herself for what had happened, nor even Alice, but told herself that Pete had persuaded her to go way with him until he forced her to have sex with him. It had all been his idea, she convinced herself. Alice would never do a thing like that of her own accord. She was just infatuated with the boy and was probably now realising what he was really like and wishing she had taken her mother’s advice.
Her poor baby was being seduced, maybe at that very moment, by that monster. He was probably keeping her against her will. Alice was probably crying out for her mother. Softly she began to cry to herself.

Lizzy was ten years old. She was frightened about her sister. She was not quite sure what had happened but knew that Alice had run away. She was scared of the policemen who came so frequently to the door. She kept looking out of the window to see if by any chance her sister was coming up the hill. Alice had often bossed her around and been very high and mighty with her, but under all that she was often generous and loving to her younger sister. This was what the little girl remembered now.
Debbie was only four but even she knew something was wrong. Her mother had told her that Alice had gone away for a while and would be back soon. Debbie loved Alice and, being the baby sister she was not bossed around but petted and cuddled. Alice and Debbie were very alike, in fact her mother had said that if anything had ever happened, such as Alice dying when she had had whooping cough at five years old, she would have sworn that Debbie was a re-incarnation of her sister.
The little girl’s chubby, pink arms closed tight around her sister on the nights she was in and able to kiss her goodnight. Alice had only been gone for a couple of days but she was beginning to miss her. And Pete hadn’t come. She liked Pete, he gave her ‘whizzies’ and piggy backs and picked her up so her head touched the ceiling. She lay there in her bed, wondering in her baby mind until she fell asleep.

Alice’s father was extremely worried. Even more than her mother for he had suddenly remembered that when he had first seen his wife he had been fifteen – and he had fallen in love with her. Alice was a year older, maybe she really did love Pete. How was it possible to judge? She had been with him a whole year now without a single hitch. They had had a few arguments but had come through them all right which was surely even more proof that perhaps they were in love. When he had first seen Pete he had thought him to be a real good-for-nothing but as the weeks drew on and he had got to know him better he realised that he was a nice boy underneath, and that he was genuinely fond of Alice.

Although he did not have a very good job the boy had five O’levels, could talk intelligently and took an interest in things. He said he wanted to write books – a wild dream but nevertheless most of Alice’s past boyfriends were barely capable of writing a letter, let alone a book. He had overheard the row between his wife and daughter but had thought it best not to interfere. If anyone had accused him all those years ago of not really being in love , and had laughed at him and barred him from seeing her, he would have hated them and maybe done as Alice had done. He wondered if she would ever love her mother again, She had said some very cruel things to the girl. At least his daughter was not alone, she was with Pete – somewhere. If only they knew

where.

Pete’s parents were not so worried. After all he was nineteen and could look after himself and Alice. To say they were completely free from worry would be a lie but it was not so bad for them as he was a young man and independent. They were, however, very hurt and angry to hear that Alice’s mother had forbidden her to go out with their son any more. Did she think he wasn’t good enough for her daughter? They felt sorry for the girl, and in a way proud that she had chosen Pete rather than obeying her parent’s orders. She had shown them. Maybe they had gone to Gretna Green and were going to get married – good luck to them thought Mrs Wheeler. She’d give them her blessing even if Alice’s parents wouldn’t.

At ten o’ clock Alice and Pete went up to bed. Colin and his girl had gone up at about nine. The girl was called Linda and she and Alice became immediate friends. She was quite small with medium length brown hair and to Alice’s amazement she was scared. Alice had thought that Linda would have been a much more ‘well-travelled’ girl than herself but she was still a virgin. She had learned this when they were both in the kitchen making supper for the boys. Alice looked at her in surprise.
"I thought you and Colin slept together quite often," she said "from the way he said you were coming over for the night – so casually, you know."
"Well, I’m still a virgin, but I love him and he persuaded me – we got engaged a week ago so I thought there would be nothing wrong in it – but Alice, I’m so scared. What if I don’t like it?"

"This time yesterday I was a virgin," Alice told her solemnly. "I don’t know if Colin told you about me and Pete, but I was forbidden to ever go out with him again and so we ran away and came here to the party. Then Colin said we could stay. My mum said I was too young to be in love so I thought I would show her how much I loved him. It wasn’t just that though. I‘ve been thinking of sleeping with him for ages now – and I did and it was the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I was a bit scared too, but if you love Colin and he loves you everything will be all right – don’t worry. – Hey!" she exclaimed suddenly laughing. "Don’t I sound experienced? I was the same as you yesterday."

Later in the evening when Colin and Linda went upstairs. Alice winked at her and mouthed ‘Good Luck’ across the room which gave the girl heart – if she loved Colin and he loved her – that was what Alice had said. She wondered why the loving was so important – she soon found out.

That night for Pete and Alice
was, if anything, even better than the night before. Firstly neither of them were drunk and secondly love improves with experience. Afterwards they slept, deeply and contentedly in each other’s arms throughout the velvet night.

The rest of the week passed in the same manner. Alice and Pete stayed in the house, not daring to venture outside, where the police, or even a civilian, might recognise them and break up their paradise. For that was what the house had become to them. Their love had grown a hundredfold since their hurried escape and now was as deep as the earth, molten hot in the centre. It had also matured and was almost unrecognisable from the sweet, innocent love they had shared all year.

If the thought of losing their former love was unbearable, the idea of losing this new, awakened love was impossible and unthinkable. Neither of them could remember ever being so happy. Alice found that everything she did, she was doing to please Pete. She cooked, cleaned, scrubbed and loved all in a haze of happiness. He, too, enjoyed helping her and as for love, they were in complete harmony.

The days drew slowly on until suddenly it was Saturday morning and Colin’s parents would be returning home on the 4.50 train. For the first time they would have to go outside the haven of the big, friendly house. Their photos had been in the papers and on the regional television news but so far they had not been found, mainly because they had not let anyone see them.

They had washed through all their underclothes, shirts and jumpers that were even slightly dirty as they did not know when they would get another chance. They had also bathed, and washed their hair. Now, feeling very clean and scrubbed, they stood with their belongings at the door, saying goodbye to Colin and Linda. They felt a little awkward because they did not like to show how upset they were at leaving the house, to go they did not know where.

"Well, cheerio and thanks very much. We would have been lost without your help," said Pete to Colin. Alice said much the same thing to the boy and then turned to Linda. The girl had the same glow about her as Alice now had. Alice forced down a lump in her throat.

"G – Goodbye – and thanks," she said simply.
"It’s me who has the thanks to say," replied Linda, smiling a little. Alice turned to go and then suddenly and impetuously put her arms around the girl, hugged her quickly and then ran down the steps hiding her tears. Pete was starting up the scooter. Eventually it choked into life and they moved off down the drive, Alice waving for all she was worth to the two receding figures standing at the door. Then they turned a corner and were lost from view.

The little blue scooter crept cautiously out from between the two big, black gates. They were alone.

Touch of Bitter, Taste of Honey. Episode 8. In Which Alice Realises She is a Woman and Pete Becomes Domesticated!

Part 8.

In Which Alice Realises She is a Woman and Pete Becomes Domesticated!



When they awoke the sun was shining. Alice woke first and it was one of the most wonderful things that had every happened to her, to find Pete asleep behind her, breathing deeply and rhythmically, his lips parted. She bent and kissed him gently without waking him and then slid silently out of bed. She collected up her clothes from their various positions on the floor, out her leather on and made her way to the bathroom. All her own belongings were downstairs somewhere but she managed all right.

The bathroom was well equipped with soap, flannels and sponges. She found a tin of talcum powder and used it liberally. Then she looked at herself critically in the mirror. Her body just looked the same as ever, she thought, rather disappointed. There was nothing to show that she was Pete’s, but then she realised that she felt differently inside, not physically but emotionally. She felt older, more mature, ready to face anything to defend her love. She was no longer a girl but a woman. The realisation made her catch her breath – she was on equal terms with her mother. She was a woman!

Dressing quickly she crept back to the bedroom. Pete was still asleep. She decided to go downstairs and see what was happening. Entering the room she nearly burst out laughing. Bottles and people were strewn all over the floor and chairs. Boys lay on their backs with their mouths open, oblivious to the world around them, snoring gently. Most of the girls were asleep in chairs, but a few were on the floor. Alice stepped carefully over them and went through into the kitchen where, after a search amongst the debris of the party, she found a packet of tea, milk, sugar and a teapot. She put the kettle on and waited for it to boil. The slow sounds of awakening began to come from the next room and after a few minutes a boy with tousled hair and a stubbly chin came stumbling into the kitchen.

"Morning!" said Alice pleasantly. A grunt was her answer and then a groan of "Oh my head!"
"Are they all still asleep?" she asked.
"Yeah. I could do with some tea."
"This is for me and Pete," she replied. "You can have a cup though."
"Who’s Pete?" asked the boy, "Is he in there?"
"No, he’s still asleep in bed," she said pouring the water into the pot. "I warn you this tea will be weak because we don’t like it strong."
"I don’t care. Bed, eh? You were all right last night then." His eyes travelled over her. "What about tonight?" he asked.
"Do you mind," Alice said angrily, "I’m not like that. I love Pete and we are going steady."
"Whoops, sorry love," he said "I didn’t think you looked like the sleeping around type of girl, but you can never tell"
"That’s okay," said, giving him a cup of tea. "I’ll take this up to Pete now."

She carried two steaming cups of tea up to the bedroom. Pete lay in bed. She opened the curtains wide and the room filled with soft yellow sunlight. She kissed his eyes, his nose, his lips. He groaned softly and his eyes slowly flickered open.
"I bought you some tea," said Alice.
"Wha—oh - -yeah. Thanks love," he said, struggling to throw off the blanket of sleep. He put his arms around her.
"What a lovely way to wake up," he smiled. "A bit different from my mum’s screech of ‘Get up Pete’ shouted up the stairs. "And tea too. I’ll have to sleep with you more often!"
"And it was just lovely to wake up and find you asleep beside me," said Alice.
"I hope I wasn’t snoring," he said, sitting up to drink his tea.
"Yes you were" she teased, "it was terrible. I just couldn’t bear the noise and had to go downstairs."
"What woke you up so early? What’s happening downstairs? Has everyone gone?"
"Everyone except one boy, are still asleep," she told him. "They look ever so funny – mouths open, bristly chins and snoring – and that’s the girls!" They laughed together and then he put the empty blue and white striped mug on the bedside cabinet. He kissed her.


"Marry me Alice, let’s get engaged and married."
She gasped and breathlessly began trying to answer him.
"Oh, oh Pete! Oh God, yes. Yes, yes, yes." She jumped up, her eyes bright and let out a loud yell. Then she threw herself on Pete and the bed and began to cry and laugh at the same time.
"Steady on love," he said laughing.
"Oh, I’m so happy," she sobbed into his shoulder. "I’m sorry but I just went mad. Oh I love you! Yes, yes yes – oh Pete!" After a couple of minutes she gulped and sat up. Pete looked at her and collapsed with laughter.
"Oh, oh! If you could see yourself. You’ve got mascara all over your face and a tear drop at the end of your nose." His shoulders shook convulsively. "My sweet little Alice, I love you." He put her down gently and kissed her tear stained face.

"I can’t even afford to buy you a ring at the moment, but as soon as I get a job you’ll have the best one in Bristol. Until then, wear this." He took off the signet ring he wore on his little finger and caught hold of her left hand. She watched wonderingly as he put it on her slender ring finger. It was almost a perfect fit and looked so right. They were engaged!
"Thank you Pete," she said, her voice full of love, then smiling a little.
"You’ve got mascara all over your face too!"
He smiled back at her and they kissed, slowly and solemnly as if sealing a pact.

***

Downstairs life was slowly stirring. Bodies were stretching and yawning, eyes were bemusedly opening to the ache of daylight. A girl staggered out to the kitchen and made more tea, giving everyone a liberal helping of aspirin. No one felt like any food although the tea and aspirins were very welcome. Then the panic began.

It was 8.30 and they somehow had to get to work. For the next quarter of an hour the house was in a turmoil of girls hurriedly washing and trying to make up and bristly boys also washing and trying to shave with only one electric razor between them.

During this pandemonium Pete asked Colin if he and Alice could stay, as they had nowhere to go. Colin was only to glad to agree especially when Pete said they would clear up the mess left behind in the aftermath of the party. Colin asked no awkward questions, he had too much of a headache to do that. At 9.00 the front door slammed for the last time and the final scooter purred quickly away. Pete and Alice were alone.
"It’s like being married," said Alice, turning the ring around on her finger.
"And we will be soon," Pete replied, "this is practise."

They surveyed the damage around them. The empty bottles, cigarette ends everywhere, the empty glasses, some of them broken and the scattered plates which last night had been overflowing with appetising food. Upstairs it was almost as bad. The beds were unmade and crumpled and cigarette ends and bottles were in abundance.

They started upstairs, Alice making the beds, Pete emptying ashtrays and taking bottles downstairs. Gradually they worked their way through the house until the only room left was the kitchen. There was not too much washing up to do as few people had used glasses. Most had drunk straight from the bottle. A number of glasses were broken which made the work even lighter. Pete nobly offered to dry up with a light-hearted remark about ‘getting quite domesticated’.

They had not come off so badly as some of the others who had gone on drinking all night long as they had gone upstairs about 11 o’ clock. They both had very slight headaches but these wore off as the day went on.
As Alice had remarked, it was ‘like being married’. They spent the rest of the morning just listening to Radio London, reading pop magazines together and looking for ‘Situations Vacant’ in the local paper. There were quite a few possibilities for both of them but they thought they had better lie low for a week or two first.

At about 12.30 she went to make some lunch. After exploring the kitchen thoroughly Alice found a pound of sausages, potatoes and apples which she managed to turn into sausage, mash and apple sauce which they ate with relish. The pantry was well stocked with food which Colin’s mother had left for her son so they had no difficulty over food. As it was so warm they enjoyed the soft coldness of ice-cream which Alice found in the freezer.

The afternoon passed uneventfully. They played all Colin’s records, practised a new dance or simply lay kissing and talking on the big divan. Their relationship was now of complete harmonious togetherness. Whereas before Alice had always had on her mind that she must not get too carried away and that Pete must be fought off by slapping, biting and kicking – even though in fun – now she was released from this worry and could devote herself to him. As for Pete, he no longer felt frustrated and did not have to spend his time constantly fighting a fierce unrelenting battle with her, which left them both miserable and unfulfilled. Now he could spend more time loving her in less passionate ways. They had the long summer nights for love; they could spend the days slowly and enjoying each other’s company.

At 6.15 Colin came back. He had almost forgotten that he had said to the couple that they could stay the day but he began to think it was a blessing in disguise when Alice cooked him dinner and he realised that there was no ‘clearing up after the night before’ to do. He was tall and dark with rather a baby face. He was also a mod, although he did not seemed to quite achieve the way-out effect that Pete did even though he could afford better clothes. He looked at them, sitting opposite him at the table and wondered where they came from, who they were and what sort of trouble they were in.

"Well then," he said "suppose you tell me why you haven’t anywhere to go and everything. I’m a bit out of the picture."

They had decided to tell him everything so Pete began the long story
"Alice’s mum forbade her to go out with me anymore and she was very upset. When she got to school a teacher had a go at her as well and said she didn’t approve of me either. Alice ran away from school, went home and got some stuff then came over to my place in Gloucester. I remembered there was a party here tonight so we came to it because it was somewhere to stay the night. I expect the police are looking for us now – but they’re not going to get us apart!" He finished vehemently.
Colin looked at them both appraisingly.
"I’ll help you as much as I can," he told them. "You can stay here till Saturday afternoon when my parents come back – and I’ll ask around and see if I can find anything for you after that."
"Oh, thanks so much Colin," Alice said gratefully."We’ll pay you for the food –"
"No, that’s okay," he replied quickly. "my mum has left enough to feed a regiment. If we start to run out then I’ll come to you for more but that’s not very likely – and your cooking is enough payment."
Alice laughed. "I can’t cook anything very much – just beans, spuds, sausages, eggs – the basics!"
"I can’t even butter a piece of bread without making a mess," Colin replied. "Well, that’s settled. Where are you sleeping, separate or together?" The question was asked quite naturally, with no dirty snigger attached to it. Pete replied just as calmly.
"Together. We were in a blue and white room on the second floor last night."
"Yeah, that’s fine. Stay in there, it’s a guest room. My girlfriend’s coming over tonight, she’s told her mum she is staying with a girlfriend. She should be here about half seven."
Alice got to her feet. "I had better wash up quickly then."

Episode 6.
In Which Alice Runs Away With Pete and Ends up in the Sack!

Alice had not been missed at school as early as she had thought, thanks to her friends in her form. After she had run off from Miss Jenkins. Pam had gone to look for her and had found her blazer missing. She guessed what must have happened and told Carolyn. To try and keep their friend out of trouble they decided to say that she had not felt well and must have been sent home.
As often happened the afternoon register was called in a rather chaotic way and they told the mistress without any trouble that Alice was taking some books over to the Junior school. The first lesson passed uneventfully but almost at the end of the second lesson, which was with their form mistress, her absence was noticed.

"Please Miss Henley," said Pam. "She didn’t feel very well and was a bit sick. I think she must have gone home."

"Okay," replied the teacher. "Thank you for telling me. I’ll go and check up after this lesson."

Mrs Ruth, the games mistress, who also looked after the girls when they were ill did not know anything about Alice’s sickness when asked by Miss Henley.

"Oh dear!" said the teacher. "Maybe she went home of her own accord." Enquiries were made in the Staff Room but no-one could remember seeing the girl after dinner. Miss Jenkins claimed noisily that ‘she went rushing off after I had had words with her concerning her boyfriend.’ Adding sniffily "He’s not the right type at all."

"You should not have said anything against her boyfriend," said Miss Henley. "It’s none of our business. You can very easily upset a girl by running down the boy she thinks she is in love with."

"I think she was upset by it and just went off," said Mrs Ruth. "She didn’t look too good this morning I thought. We’d better send someone to her house to see if she’s there."

"I hope she is," said Miss Henley in a worried voice.

She wasn’t of course. Her mother was shocked to hear what had happened. Slowly the whole story untangled. Alice had had a furious row with her mother the night before and had been forbidden to ever see her boyfriend again. She had left the house without any breakfast, been told off by Miss Jenkins and had been so upset she had left school before lunch. She had not returned home and no-one knew where she was.

"She’s bound to come home soon," comforted Mrs Ruth. "She’ll be starving. She has probably just gone off for a long walk to think about things. After all she couldn’t run away. She had no money on her and school uniform would be too conspicuous."

The time ticked quickly on. Lizzie came home from school; her father home from work but still Alice had not returned. Frantic with worry Mrs Greenway went to the phone box and contacted the police. She gave all the particulars and described Alice as tall, blond and wearing the Grammar School uniform. She couldn’t have got far, she told them, as she had no money. The police were not very worried, it was too early yet to begin to get anxious.
At about 10.30 that night Mrs Greenway went up to Alice’s room to fetch a photo to give to the police. As she went out of the door she felt something was missing. She went back into the room to check – Alice’s leather had gone from behind the door. Her hands trembling she pulled open the wardrobe door – some of her clothes were missing; her shoes were gone and her handbag was not there. There was no doubt now. Alice had run away from home!

Going to the phone again she tried to keep the fear from her voice as she phoned the police. This time they began to take things more seriously although they were not that worried. It was obvious that the girl would go to her boyfriend’s house. They would likely have her home again within the hour.
Pete’s mother opened the door to the policeman.

"Is an Alice Greenway here?" she was asked.

"Alice? No. Why, what’s happened. They have gone to the Blue Moon Club."

"We have reason to believe she has run away from home," replied the policeman. "Has she been here?"

"No," replied the woman, "I came home and found this note, look – I’ll show it to you."
The policeman read the untidy scrawl with difficulty.

"Thank you. If your son returns home, with or without Alice would you please let us know?"

"Of course," she replied rather worriedly. "He probably won’t be back until way past midnight. He isn’t usually when he goes to the Blue Moon."

"We’ll go there and try and find them," said the large blue policeman. "Goodnight, and thank you."

"Goodnight," she replied, shutting the heavy door. She leant against it, a frown on her face. Alice, run away from home? Surely not? She knew she was happy at home and Pete said that her parents were pleasant. Whatever could have happened to make do a thing like that. She began to wonder about the authenticity of Pete’s note. Maybe Alice had come here and they had gone off together – maybe they had eloped! A thousand possibilities came flooding into her confused mind. She went to tell her husband the news, feeling more than a little worried.

***

The police car pulled up sharply outside The Blue Moon Club, amidst a throng of scooters. They got out of the car and were stared at resentfully by the Mods who were standing around the small entrance. They entered the door and climbed up the three long flights of stairs, often being pressed against the wall, whilst groups of boys or girls went laughing down to the street, their laughs changing into a deep, meaningful silence as they passed the police. At last they reached the top of the stairs and walked into the pulsating room, filled with darkness, warmth and flashing strobe lights. The atmosphere changed within seconds of the police entrance. From being warm, free and easy it became cold, uneasy and repelling. The boys gathered in silent groups, the girls just stood around watching and waiting. Used to this kind of reception the police found the manager and asked him to stop the music and put a message over the loudspeaker. A few moments later the Mods heard the Manager’s voice.

"If either Pete Gardner or Alice Greenway are here or anyone who knows anything about them, would they please come to my office."
Glances were exchanged. Most of them knew the couple and wondered what had happened. They had all thought it was a drugs raid and it was a relief to find it wasn’t. A few people went to see the police but they all said the same thing. Pete and Alice weren’t there, hadn’t been there and they had no idea of their whereabouts. The atmosphere relaxed again as the police left. They seemed to have come to a dead end.

Part 7

Party Time for Pete and Alice.....

The party was a good one, held in a large, old house on the outskirts of Bristol. By eleven o’ clock it was really wild, record player blaring, drink flowing like water, girl’s wandering aimlessly around clutching bottles – often half undressed. The house belonged to a wealthy businessman and his wife who had gone away for the week, leaving the place in the care of their son. It stood in a large garden surrounded by a high wall and so it was the ideal position for an all night party.

Alice sat on the floor, propped against a wall. Pete lay with his head in her lap, looking up at her. Her eyes were bright and her face slightly flushed. He slid his hand under her shirt and ran it lightly over her back. She closed her eyes in delight and put her head back against the wall.

"Letsh go," she murmured. He got slightly unsteadily to his feet and dragged her to hers. They left the room and with his arm around her waist, supporting her, made their way upstairs.

The first two rooms they tried were already locked and occupied. They climbed slowly and waveringly up the second flight of stairs and at last found a room. Pete put the light on and drew the curtains. It was quite large and carpeted wall to wall with a deep blue carpet. The curtains were blue, as was the bed cover. The walls were white but one was papered with blue and white paper.

"Fabulous room," commented Pete, turning off the light. Alice had fallen onto the large, soft bed. She lay there feeling happy and scared at the same time. The drink had relaxed her body and made her want Peter terribly much – and this time she could have him. Her bemused mind vaguely wondered what would happen after tonight, where could she hide, how could she get money – then Pete’s arms were around her.

"I love you," he said softly. "I’ll look after you."

"I love you," she whispered back as she held him to her.
The night was soft and warm, sensuous and enveloping. It was made for young lovers. It was theirs and it enclosed them, whispering and creeping.

***

Sorry - it is asterisk time ........while I die of embarrassment!

Pete lit a cigarette. His arm encircled Alice’s naked shoulders. They lay quietly, no words needed to express their feelings. She had been good, he thought. Nervous at first and then a mixture of sweetness and hotness. He loved her even more now, now that she really belonged to him. He felt responsible for her and wanted to look after her. The cigarette tasted good and bitter. He felt completely satiated and happy.

Alice watched the glowing tip of his cigarette in the darkness. She felt so full of joy that she wanted to cry. No-one could take her away from him now; she was his. He had been so gentle, and then so strong, with her and made her love him so much more than she had done before. She would follow him anywhere, do anything for him now.

After a few minutes Pete spoke about the subject that was foremost in their minds.

"We had better begin to think about where we can hide you. Perhaps you could stay here for the rest of the week as the parents are away. I’ll have to ask Colin." This was the boy who lived in the house.

"That would be alright," she agreed. "They would never think of looking for me here. But what about you? If you go back to Gloucester the police will soon be on to you. They’ve probably checked at The Moon and found we weren’t there so they’ll know we’re together and they’ll question you."

"I hadn’t thought of that," he replied worriedly "but if I don’t go back we won’t have any money."

"I’ve got about five pounds fifteen shillings," she said. "How about you?"

"About sixteen pounds. I didn’t spend much over the weekend and I had about five pounds at home I was saving."

"Almost twenty two pounds," she exclaimed. "We can live on that till you get a job. We’ll have to live in a cave or something."

Pete laughed.
"We’re probably alright until Saturday till his parents come home. Then we’ll have to move out. Perhaps we could find a weekend party to stay at. Something will turn up." He was optimistic and so was Alice. They were together and in love, that was the main thing. It was exhilarating to be in danger and have to plan carefully together. It made their love all the more precious to know that one small slip and it would be taken away from them.
He finished his cigarette and then decided he’d better go in search of a bathroom. Alice wanted to go too and so they got out of bed.

"We’d better find some clothes," said Pete. "We might meet someone."

"I was going to. You don’t think I was going to wander around naked in a house full of people?" However she did not end up much better than naked, as she just put her leather on and buttoned it up. Pete slipped into his trousers, and scantily clad they opened the door and tried to find the bathroom. Music still drifted up to them from downstairs mingled with the occasional loud shouts of happy drunken people.

"Party still seems to be going sound," said Mike. "Ah, success at last," as he pushed open about the tenth door they had tried. Alice waited outside for him in the semi-darkness, listening to the sounds of the party. Then she heard the sound of people approaching. It was two boys, both in the same kind of drunken state as she had been. Most of it had worn off now and she just felt happy and talkative.

"Hello darling!" they drooled, hanging over her, "How’s about a kissh then?"
"No thanks," she replied, "I’m already booked." One of the boys slid silently down the wall and sat crumpled on the floor where he suddenly tried to put his hand up her leg.

"Hey! You haven’t got much on."

"And neither has he!" said Alice, retiring quickly into the safety of the bathroom.

By the time she came out Pete and the boys were on quite friendly terms.
"Have fun!" they called after the couple as they went back to the bedroom.

"It’s a good job you came out when you did," said Alice. "They were beginning to get a little insistent and I was wondering how I could hold them off – after all there were two of them!"

"I would have killed them if they’d gone too far," said Mike possessively. "Your mine now and nobody else’s."
"I don’t want to be anybody else’s," she told him.

They got back to the bedroom and Pete locked the door. He caught Alice round the waist and said softly and seriously,

"Was it all right Alice? I didn’t hurt you? You weren’t scared or hating it or anything?"

"Pete," she replied solemnly, "it was – was" - she searched for the right word, "it was beautiful – almost sort of – holy, if you know what I mean?"
Her last words were a little hurried and anxious for she felt he might laugh at her.

"I’m glad," he said, but with such meaning in those two words, that she knew he understood. He had slept with a great many girls and it was just a bit of fun, something to do but with Alice it had been very different. As she said, it had almost been holy. Maybe it was because he loved her and she loved him. He bent and kissed her, she responded eagerly and the desire began to mount in him again. She undid the stiff, green buttons of her leather and it slipped to the floor. He swung her legs off the ground and, kissing her neck and shoulders, carried her to the bed. The night closed in around them, warm and gentle.

                                                                  Asterisk time again *******

Jennie lay on her stomach, one arm draped over Pete’s chest. Her body rose and fell with the deep, slow breath of sleep. Pete lay awake thinking vague thoughts as sleep began to drift over him. He could not remember a time when it had been so good. She learned fast and well. He loved her for giving herself to him; it meant a lot to her and she had never given it to any other boy. Maybe she would never give it to anyone else – if he married her. The question had been worrying him for a long time. He loved her, she loved him but getting married was a serious thing and she was so young. He was nineteen now and had been around a bit so was pretty sure that Alice was the girl for him; but she was only sixteen and could yet still change her mind. If he asked her he knew she would say yes, but in a few years’ time she might wish she hadn’t. But she had loved him for over a year now, and had just shown him how very much. He wanted to marry her, even though marriage was a rather frightening thought! It was a way he could show her that he would love her forever. Clouds of sleep beckoned to him.

"In the morning," he thought as he was enveloped by sleep, "I’ll ask her – ask her to –ask to…." He slept as the night began to make way for morning.

***

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