Those Left Behind - 27. Let’s all go on a Summer holiday

The boys’ Summer holidays seemed to mark the beginning of a new chapter. Jackie had been tried, on a lesser charge, and though sentencing was reserved until later (after the Summer Recess) she had already been transferred to an Open Prison. Conditions there were far better, but it was a good three-hour drive for Ludo. They’d tried it once, and Damian had been almost beside himself with anxiety by the time they arrived, and the visit had not been a success. The boy had been white and tense, uncommunicative and wanting to go home. Jackie admitted that she was disappointed, but they agreed that they would have to look at other ideas. Ludo privately resolved to keep any such visits to a minimum, but to encourage the boy’s letters to his Mother.

They had seen hardly anything of Gordy. If they visited The Garden, he was around, but his spare time was taken up by Alessio. Ludo looked forward to the day that the novelty of the relationship settled down and they could do things as a foursome, whereas Arthur was braced for what he saw as the inevitable split given that the two involved were such strong personalities.

Graham had become an irregular visitor, but a welcome one. The dinner had gone surprisingly well, and he had proved to be experienced and talented when it came to sexual matters and gifted with the ability to keep things light. Ludo and Arthur had both had a good time, they had not freaked out at seeing the other with another man, and it had indeed brought an element of spice to their sexual life. Graham’s weapon was indeed impressive when fully loaded, and he knew what to do with it. There had indeed been questions from Damian, about the size of Graham’s dick but also the fact that he had grey body hair and was so smooth elsewhere. There were no answers, but Ludo tried to keep the discussion factual.

They had managed a second sexual encounter with him, the logistics of Graham’s work schedule and the boys’ diaries being difficult to marry, but Graham would pop round anyway, at any time and seemed to have a knack of taking them as they were, whether disporting naked, making pizzas or mugging up on trees for the holiday.

What the sex with Graham did was make them both realise that they liked a bit of extra spice, now and again. Whilst they weren’t going to be putting an advert in Gay Times, or whatever you did as Lesley had suggested, they were aware that with a bit of organisation they could have the odd spicy weekend away and Arthur was already researching cheap flights to likely gay hot spots such as Sitges or Gran Canaria.

They had told Lesley about Graham because the Sunday after meeting him for sex for the first time, she had asked them how their Saturday had been, and they had both looked guilty. As she laughingly said, if they were going to meet up for extra-curricular fun, they were going to have to be rather cooler about it and behave less like guilty schoolboys.

The holiday was much looked forward to by the boys and both Ludo and Arthur were worried that it would not live up to expectations. When organising what to take and doing the packing, Ludo suddenly had a terrible ache for Jackie and their time together. Holidays had been times when she had excelled, she would focus on what was needed and organise fearsomely and Damian was well behaved, as if knowing that this was an occasion when he would get his Mother’s full attention. Now Ludo had to muddle along, and he and Arthur made endless lists, finding that the needs of two ten-year-old boys seemed to be infinitely expanding.

But finally, the day came. The car, very over-stuffed, tottered off the drive and they were off. It was two long days before they got to their destination. They started in the early hours of the morning, which meant that the boys drifted off to sleep again, and both days involved ludicrously early starts.

There is no doubt that the boys were bored on the journey. But Arthur had stuck to his guns and produced books of games to do in the car, whilst the boys invented a complex game called Castles and Trees, whose rules seemed to be somewhat nebulous or perhaps they were infinitely flexible. Anyway, it kept them occupied. Just about, though in private both Arthur and Ludo agreed that it was certainly a species of hell, travelling long distance by car with two over-active boys.

After an annoying round of ‘are we there yet’, the boys had amazingly fallen asleep so that their journey through the Eiffel Mountains was blessedly quiet. They found the site with relative ease, but when they stopped, it all looked rather unprepossessing; the boys stood around looking rather bewildered and Arthur went to find the reception. They were met by a bright and breezy young girl, no sign of Hansi, who registered them, explained the logistics of the site and provided them with a map.

The cabin, when they got to it, after something of a walk, was a complete surprise. Ludo had been expecting a primitive wooden hut. This was wood, but with lots of glass to give them good views and it was very stylishly designed. The interior was wooden too but slick, and they were certainly not roughing it. There was no car access to the cabin, you parked the car and carried your stuff, which kept the boys busy. There was a shop selling basics, so they could buy milk, and they had something for tonight. The rest could wait.

Arthur and Ludo made themselves a tea and unwound, sitting outside with a lovely view of the forest. They might not be in the forest, but they were nearby, they could see it close to. The cabins were located in what seemed to be more of a former industrial site now nicely planted and adjacent to the forest. The boys explored, which meant they would run off for a bit but then return, breathlessly reciting what they’d found.

Arthur was reading his way through a pile of leaflets about the area, whilst Ludo was wool-gathering, relishing being away from everything. Of course, they weren’t quite away from everything and suddenly Hansi appeared, unsurprisingly they supposed. She had her hair tied up in a scarf and her shirt/trousers outfit managed to look both practical and very colourful.

“Good, you arrive. Lotte tell me you are here. Your journey, it was pleasant?”

“As expected.”

“No problems.”

“Good. I am pleased. Here you will relax, the forest is close and the river. We will not talk about Andreas and Jackie.” Ludo tried to say something, but she held up her hands. “You are on holiday. We will forget about our problems; they will still be there next week.” Her phone pinged, “Excuse me, I must work.”

“Of course.”

But she hadn’t quite finished, “You eat tonight, my treat. I bring good home cooked food and we eat together here”, she smiled, “that way your sons can sleep, and we are not bothered.”

Ludo privately thought that the likelihood of the boys sleeping was low, but it was a touching gesture. When she left, it felt as if a gust of wind had blown through and gone. They were just wondering where the boys had got to when they reappeared with two rather serious, unfeasibly blond boys of a similar age. The four had seemed to form a lively group as they walked over to the cabin but faced with two adults the newcomers could manage little beyond politeness. Their names were Otto and Franz. It was Damian who informed them that Otto and Franz’s parents were staying nearby, though the boys’ ‘over there’ was frustratingly vague.

Introductions done, the four scampered off again and Arthur wondered if they should be worried about the boys getting lost or worse. But the idea for the holiday had been to have some freedom, hadn’t it?

The boys reappeared with moderate promptness in time to wash (great moans, this was a holiday) and tidy before Hansi reappeared. Which she did, promptly, with two male companions, young men whose clothes and tans suggested outdoor work, now evidently commandeered to carry the food. The young men looked somewhat abashed but nodded politely and disappeared, once their burdens had been deposited. Hansi smiled, rather like a buxom enchantress, opened a hot box to reveal a steaming casserole with dumplings, and a sweet pie.

The boys were entranced, it beat Arthur’s plans for a scratch meal from packets; he grinned and said he’d have a lot to live up to. Dinner was a convivial affair, Hansi was full of information about the area and proved charmingly adept at dealing with the boys’ questions and lively non-sequiturs. It wasn’t just the area she chatted about, it was the campsite itself that was also her pride and joy. The cabins were eco-friendly, and architect designed, they had won awards and had been Hansi’s pet project. No-wonder she’d been too absorbed to gather what Andreas was up to, and no wonder she was furious with him for endangering all she had worked for.

Finally, the boys went to bed, all was calm and Hansi brought out a bottle of schnaps.

“So, they have found all his stupid money, and your wife is a sensible woman.”

“I’m sorry that Andreas”, but Hansi would not allow Ludo to continue.

“He was stupid and is still stupid. He is convinced he is right. I divorce him.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged, “Is something I should have done, but we had easy life. He not bother me, and I not bother him. Now all is upside down.”

They weren’t sure what to say.

“Will it affect the business?”

“Ach, nein. This is mine. I made sure of that.”

And under the wholesome exterior, they sensed a canny businesswoman. She left not long after. There were promises to meet up again, perhaps a picnic, but there was also a feeling that beyond a shared history they didn’t have all that much in common, that sort of thing took time.

Surprisingly the boys did sleep well.