It had been another lousy day at work. Edgar Colley drove home in a cloud of depression, tired of being scolded, tired of feeling like a fool in front of younger, more capable people. At fifty-four, he was nowhere near retirement age, but he felt he was too old to make a fresh start somewhere else. And yet, the company no longer felt like the place to which he had given his best years. It had evolved ... and he had not.
He parked his decrepit old Peugeot outside his small, semi-detached house, and laboriously climbed out with his briefcase and cane. Shuffling up the path to his front door, with the help of his cane, he unlocked the door and entered. Inside, he slumped in an armchair in the living room, and began watching television.
At six o’clock, he roused himself from the chair, shuffled through to the kitchen, and heated up a ready meal. While it was slowly rotating in the microwave, the phone rang. Thinking it likely to be another pollster or telemarketer, he answered it with a weary “Hello?”
“Edgar!” said a familiar voice. “How’s my favourite big brother?”
“Robert?” said Edgar in surprise. They had not spoken in over a year.
“The very same. Look, I need a favour. Madeleine – my youngest, you remember her I’m sure – needs a place to stay for a few days, and I was hoping you might put her up. She’s starting at Saint Aubrey’s Bible College next Monday, but their boarding house doesn’t open until Sunday. And Martha and I are leaving tomorrow for our annual Journey to Jesus – you know, to the Holy Land. All of our friends are going, otherwise I’d have asked one of them to put Madeleine up. I know it’s short notice, but ... what do you think?”
Edgar was rather taken aback. “Well of course I’d love to see her,” he said, “but I’m afraid my house isn’t all that teen-friendly. I don’t have Wifi or any of these other mod-cons...”
“That doesn’t matter,” said Robert. “She won’t be any trouble, I promise.”
“How old is she now?” asked Edgar. “Fifteen? Sixteen?”
“She’s eighteen,” said Robert.
“Eighteen?” Edgar repeated in surprise. “My, how the time flies! But ... surely she’s old enough to look after herself for a few days, isn’t she?”
“Perhaps,” said Robert, “but there’s a boy that’s been nosing around recently. We don’t like him ... but Madeleine does, and that’s a concern. We don’t want her here on her own, unsupervised, for that length of time. I’d rather she were with a relative...”
“Even an old sinner like me?” Edgar inquired sardonically.
“Yes, well, I’d certainly rather you were a Christian,” said Robert, “but at least I know you’ll look out for her, and keep her best interests at heart. Please, Edgar ... of course I’ll make it worth your while...”
“Don’t be daft,” Edgar snorted. “I don’t need payment to look after my niece. I’ll be happy to put her up for a few days.”
“Thank you!” said Robert. “I’ll put her on the train tomorrow morning; you can pick her up from the station after you leave work.”
“Again, don’t be daft,” said Edgar. “I’ll pick her up when she arrives, of course. Just let me know the time.”
“Right – well, that’s up to you of course,” said Robert. “I don’t actually know what time she’ll be arriving, yet. How about I call you at work tomorrow once she’s on her way?”
“That sounds fine,” said Edgar. “My work number is...”
“Hold on, let me grab a pen,” Robert interrupted him.
Edgar waited, then he gave Robert his work phone number. He also inquired about Madeleine’s likes and dislikes, but Robert told him not to worry, because he had not brought his daughters up to be fussy.
After the call, Edgar set about making his house a little more female-friendly. He tidied up his kitchen and living room, removed a number of boxes and assorted junk from the spare bedroom, and then he vacuumed and dusted. Worn out, he fed his elderly tabby cat, Margot, then he finally got himself ready for bed, and went to sleep.
************
The next day at work was marginally more tolerable than the previous had been, mostly because Edgar was finding himself rather looking forward to having a young guest in his house for a few days. It would certainly make a change. Early in the morning he knocked on the door of his boss, Jason.
“Excuse me, Jason...” he said.
Jason, tapping away on his phone, held up a hand, and Edgar fell silent. He waited ... for one minute, then two. Eventually Jason scowled, and put his phone down. “All right Edgar, what’s up?”
“I was wondering if I could leave a little early this afternoon,” said Edgar. “My niece is arriving on a train, and I was hoping to pick her up from the station.”
“Well I dunno,” said Jason, scratching his head. “What time were you hoping to leave?”
“I’m not sure,” Edgar admitted. “My brother’s going to let me know what time she’s arriving. But I thought I should give you as much notice as possible.”
“Have you finished processing all of the Wittenberg invoices?” Jason asked.
“Well no ... they’ll take weeks!” said Edgar. “But I’m working through them as fast as I can.”
“Edgar, we need them dealt with,” said Jason, shaking his head. “If I let you have a couple of hours off this afternoon, you’re going to get further and further behind.”
“I’ll make up the time,” said Edgar. “Tomorrow ... and Friday. I’ll stay late.”
“You’d better!” said Jason, chuckling. “All right, yes, you can go and pick up your niece. You should bring her in here and introduce her around. Is she fit?”
Edgar stared at him. “She’s eighteen!”
Jason shrugged. “Old enough to shag, then.”
Edgar, lost for words, turned on his heel and limped out of Jason’s office. Not long afterwards, he had a call from Robert.
“She’ll be arriving at three-fifty,” said Robert. “Thanks again, Edgar – I appreciate this.”
“No problem,” said Edgar.
Since the station was only five minutes away from office, he worked until half past three, in order to minimise the amount of overtime he would have to work tomorrow and the next day. Then he packed up, left the building, and drove to the station. It did not take him long to figure out which platform Madeleine’s train would be arriving at, and despite his rather laborious locomotion he got there with plenty of time to spare.
The train arrived, and several passengers disembarked. He was a little worried that he would not recognise her; although he had seen a few photos of her from time to time, it had been years since he had actually seen her in person.
Fortunately, there were not many teenage girls among the passengers, and he spotted her quickly; her long brown hair, pulled back by a white hairband, had changed little over the last few years, and her face was still as cherubic as he remembered, though a little more mature.
He smiled, and waved. Madeleine broke into a smile of her own, and made her way towards him, pulling a wheeled suitcase behind her, and with a roll bag slung over her shoulder. She was wearing jeans and a loose sweatshirt that did little to conceal the fact that she had inherited her mother’s impressive bosom.
“Uncle Eddie!” she said, setting her bags down and wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you so much for letting me come and stay with you!”
“Oh, you’re welcome, you’re welcome,” he replied. “Here, let me help you with your bags.” It was a well-meant but impractical offer, given that she was considerably more able-bodied than he.
“Oh that’s okay, I can manage just fine,” she assured him. “Just lead the way, and I’ll follow.”
Edgar decided not to argue with this, and he led her somewhat slowly out to the car park. He popped open the boot of his car, and Madeleine hefted her bags in. Then they climbed into the front, and Edgar set off for home.
“So,” he said. “How is everyone? Your family, I mean. I feel a little out of touch.”
“They’re all fine,” said Madeleine, nodding. “Dad’s shop is doing well. He and Mum are very active in the Mission, of course. So is Ruth. Naomi not so much, but both of them are going with Mum and Dad to Israel. Naomi’s very baby-focused at the moment, of course – did you know she had a baby boy?”
“Yes,” said Edgar, nodding. “Robert did mention that. I sent Naomi a card and some baby clothes.”
“Oh, that was nice of you!” said Madeleine. “And thank you for all of your birthday and Christmas presents over the years.”
“You’ve already thanked me,” said Edgar with a smile. “I always get a thank-you letter from you, and I appreciate it very much.”
“I should write more often though,” said Madeleine. “I feel like I barely know you.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” said Edgar. “But this visit will give us a wonderful opportunity to remedy that.”
“Yes it will!” said Madeleine, smiling.
Back at his house, he held the front door open while she lugged her bags over the threshold. “Let me help you carry those upstairs,” he said.
“Don’t worry at all – I can manage just fine!” said Madeleine, already starting up the stairs with the suitcase.
“Um ... well, I’ll put the kettle on, then,” said Edgar. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Yes please!” Madeleine replied.
Ten minutes later, they were having a cosy chat in the living room over tea and Bramley apple pies. Since Madeleine had asked, Edgar was telling her a bit about his job. “But it’s a dull topic for conversation,” he said ruefully. “I’d much rather hear about you. What do you like to do with your time ... besides pray and sing hymns?”
Madeleine gasped, then giggled. “That sounded like a dig!” she accused him playfully. “Is that what you think we do all day in our household?”
Edgar chuckled. “Sorry – I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s quite all right,” said Madeleine warmly. “I’m sure our beliefs and practices must seem strange to a nonbeliever. But to answer your question, I like to cook, sew, and read ... in approximately that order of preference.”
Edgar was inclined to say “Really? How very domestic!” ... but decided to hold his tongue. He did not want to seem critical and judgmental. Instead he merely nodded, and said, “Useful skills. What do you like to read?”
“Oh...” said Madeleine, a little uncomfortably. “Christian books, mostly...”
“Mostly?” said Edgar, amused. “Sounds like the balance might include some sort of guilty pleasure...”
Madeleine giggled. “I suppose my secret is probably safe with you...”
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” said Edgar, utterly straight-faced.
Madeleine leaned toward him, and said in a conspiratorial whisper, “I like to read trashy romance novels!” Then she squeaked, and slapped a hand over her mouth.
Edgar chuckled. “Nothing wrong with that,” he said. “Teenagers are supposed to rebel against their parents’ rules; it’s a part of growing up. Robert and ... I mean, your mum and dad are lucky; as rebellions go, yours is pretty harmless. Mine was smoking, which is much worse.”
Madeleine laughed. “I’m not sure Mum and Dad would agree!” Then her expression turned thoughtful, and she smiled. “Did my dad go through a rebellious phase?”
Edgar nodded. “In a manner of speaking. He got religion.”
“Oh!” said Madeleine, surprised. “Well, that’s not really a rebellion though, is it? It’s more ... the opposite.”
“Depends on your point of view,” said Edgar with a shrug. “Our parents weren’t religious, and neither was I, so your dad’s sudden conversion and subsequent evangelism was a little bit shocking to us.”
Madeleine shook her head in bemusement. “That’s just so strange to me. I can’t imagine what it must be like to grow up without God in your life.”
Again, Edgar politely refrained from comment, and merely took a sip of his tea. But Madeleine seemed keen to press the issue. “If you don’t mind my asking,” she said cautiously, “why do you believe God doesn’t exist?”
“Why do you believe he does?” Edgar asked.
“I asked first,” said Madeleine.
“Hmm,” said Edgar. “Okay – I’ve seen no evidence sufficient to convince me that he’s anything but a myth.”
“But what about miracles?” asked Madeleine.
Edgar raised an eyebrow. “What about them?”
“How do you explain them?”
Edgar shrugged. “I’ve never seen one. Moreover, I’ve seen no evidence that a miracle has ever occurred. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing to explain.”
“Really?” said Madeleine, puzzled. “What about all the cases of people’s cancer miraculously going away? Or speaking languages they can’t possibly know?”
“All what cases?” Edgar asked. “Cancer can spontaneously go into remission, but it hasn’t gone away. I’ve never heard of a case of cancer completely disappearing without surgery. As for the language thing ... how did you rule out the possibility that the person speaking the foreign language actually took the time to learn a few phrases of that language beforehand?”
“That’s ... very cynical!” said Madeleine, shocked.
“It’s just healthy scepticism,” said Edgar. “I look at the competing possibilities and decide which is more likely. In this case, did a miracle occur, or did someone lie? One of those things, I know with absolute certainty can happen and does happen frequently, and everybody is capable of it. The other, I have no reason to believe is even possible. I know which I’d put my money on.”
Madeleine was dismayed. She had never before spoken like this with someone who thought like Edgar, and talked like Edgar.
“Your turn now,” Edgar continued. “Why do you believe in God?”
“So many reasons!” said Madeleine. “Miracles, the Bible, answered prayers, the fact that people have seen him and talked to him ... and also, my own experiences during prayer...”
“Pick one,” said Edgar. “Your favourite. The one that you find the most convincing.”
“Well ... the Bible, I suppose,” said Madeleine. “Now that you’ve got me thinking about people lying! You could explain away most things by saying people lie ... but not the Bible!”
“That’s an interesting viewpoint,” said Edgar. “Why do you think the writers of the Bible were incapable of lying?”
“Because it’s the Word of God!” said Madeleine, shocked. “It’s perfect! It’s obviously not the word of fallible humans!”
“Hmm,” said Edgar. “I’m afraid that isn’t obvious to me at all. To me it seems to demonstrate the fallibility of its writers rather well.”
“How so?” asked Madeleine, looking defensive.
“Scientific and historical inaccuracies, internal contradictions, appalling morality...”
“Whoa!” said Madeleine heatedly. “It doesn’t contain any of those things!”
“Would you like examples of each?” inquired Edgar politely.
“Yes please!” said Madeleine.
But then Edgar grimaced, and shook his head. “Madeleine, I’m so sorry, I’m being a terrible host,” he apologised. “I hoped to make your stay here a pleasant one, and all I’ve done is attack your religion. I do apologise. You are of course fully entitled to your beliefs, and I have no right to undermine them. Do you think we might change the subject? And perhaps you could forgive me for my rudeness?”
“Of course we can change the subject!” said Madeleine, looking relieved. “But there’s nothing to forgive; we were both exploring each other’s beliefs, and that’s fine. You weren’t being rude at all.”
“Thank you for saying so,” said Edgar gravely. “Nevertheless, I’ll try to avoid the subject in the future. Now ... I’m not a great cook, unfortunately, so how do you fancy pizza for dinner?”
“Pizza would be lovely,” said Madeleine.
The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly, with no further mention of religion. Their pizzas were delivered shortly after six o’clock, and they ate in front of the movie Babe, which Madeleine had picked out from Edgar’s collection, saying it was one of her favourites.
As the credits rolled, Madeleine stared at the screen for a while in silence. Then she said, “Sorry to bring this up again, but I have to ask ... what contradictions? In the Bible, I mean.”
“Madeleine...” said Edgar uncomfortably.
“It’s all right,” she assured him. “I won’t get upset. I just want to hear what you think are contradictions.”
“All right,” sighed Edgar. “How did Judas die?”
“Um,” said Madeleine, “as far as I recall, he hanged himself.”
“Only according to Matthew,” said Edgar. “According to Acts, he fell over in a field, his belly burst open, and his guts spilled out.”
“Oh!” said Madeleine. “I’d forgotten that. I suppose, though, the two accounts aren’t incompatible...”
“Well yes, you can concoct a scenario that incorporates both events,” Edgar agreed. “But is that warranted by the text in either book? It’s still a contradiction. How about the last words of Jesus on the cross?”
Madeleine had to wrack her brain. “Why hast thou forsaken me?” she hazarded.
“Again, that’s according to Matthew,” said Edgar. “Luke has him saying ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’ before promptly dying, and John reports that his last words were ‘It is finished’.”
“He could have said all three,” said Madeleine.
“He could have,” Edgar acknowledged, “but that’s not how the gospel writers reported it. How many of each kind of bird did God command Noah to take on the Ark?”
“Two,” said Madeleine.
“According to one particular chapter in Genesis, yes,” said Edgar. “According to the next chapter, he said seven pairs.”
“I’ll need to look all this up,” said Madeleine, shaking her head.
“Of course,” said Edgar. “Don’t take my word for it, certainly. Anyway, tomorrow morning I’ll be having breakfast at about seven-thirty, and leaving the house at ten past eight. You’re welcome to have breakfast with me, or sleep in – whatever you want. I’ll give you a copy of my house key so you can come and go as you please. There are frequent buses to the shopping centre if you feel like shopping. Sorry I can’t be around to entertain you myself, but I’m sure you don’t want to hang out all day with an old fogey like me anyway!”
“I wouldn’t mind at all,” said Madeleine with a smile. “But I’m sure I can find plenty to do on my own.”
“Well, if you need anything, just call me at work. I’ll give you my number. I’m afraid I don’t have a smartphone...”
“That’s okay,” said Madeleine. “Neither do I.”
“Really?” Edgar was surprised. “You must be one of the few people of your age without one.”
Madeleine nodded. “Dad doesn’t approve of them. Social media and whatnot – he says they’re a corrupting influence.”
“He’s probably right,” Edgar agreed. “But they’re a fact of life these days, and I feel rather left out of society without one. I’ve been meaning to get one for a while now, but the cost ... ugh. I used to have an ordinary mobile phone, but I hardly ever used it. Anyway, I’ll be at work until five ... oh bother ... make that six. I’ll be home shortly after that.”
“Okay,” said Madeleine. “Oh ... why don’t I make dinner?”
“You don’t need to do that; you’re my guest!” said Edgar.
“I’d like to!” Madeleine said brightly. “It would be my pleasure.”
“Well, I’m sure that would be delightful,” said Edgar. “Feel free to use anything you find in my fridge or cupboards, but if you find you have to buy anything, I’ll reimburse you. Actually ... he fished in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Let’s see...” He found a twenty and a ten, and handed them to her. “This should help.”
“Thank you!” she said.
They watched some television together, then Edgar got to his feet. “Well, I’m heading up to bed,” he said. “Please, make yourself completely at home. Help yourself to anything you want to eat or drink, and stay up as late as you like. If I don’t see you in the morning, have fun tomorrow.”
Madeleine smiled. “Thanks Uncle Eddie,” she said. “You’re very kind.”
Edgar chuckled. “Well it’s a pleasure having you here. I want to make sure you have a nice time. Goodnight, Madeleine.”
“Goodnight, Uncle Eddie!” she replied.
************
He did not see her the next morning, so he had his breakfast and went to work as if it were any other day, except that this time he left his spare house key on the kitchen table, along with a note with his work phone number. At lunchtime, he found himself wondering how Madeleine was doing, and he tried calling his home number, but she did not answer. Perhaps she had gone out.
Or ... and his stomach quickly cramped at the thought ... perhaps she had locked herself out! He had forgotten to warn her that the back door of his house had a tendency to swing shut of its own accord, and unless one lifted the snib before going outside, one was quite likely to get locked in the back garden.
It was a horrible thought, but a very plausible one; it would be natural for Madeleine to want to explore. He looked at his watch. At this time of day, he could be home in ten minutes, let her in (or at least make sure she was okay and warn her about the back door), and get back to the office within the half-hour he was allowed for lunch.
He got up from his desk. “Just going out,” he said to his next-cubicle colleague, Jean. “I’ll be back in half an hour.”
“Uh-huh,” she replied, not looking away from her laptop screen.
He drove home as fast as he dared. Parking his car, he climbed out and hobbled, his cane tapping urgently on the flagstones, up to the front door. He unlocked it, and went inside. Music was coming from the living room, and he heard Madeleine singing. Relieved, he stepped into the room, then he stopped and stared in surprise.
Madeleine was dancing around the room, wearing nothing but a little blue tank top and a pair of white panties. As soon as she saw him, she squealed and ran over to the sofa. Grabbing a cushion, she sat down and placed the cushion in her lap, her face as red as a beetroot.
“I’m sorry!” she exclaimed, looking distraught. “Please don’t tell my mum and dad!”
“Sorry for what?” asked Edgar, bemused.
“For ... for being ... exposed ... outside my bedroom,” said Madeleine. “It’s one of the rules in our house. We have to keep our underwear concealed at all times unless we’re getting dressed or undressed in our bedroom or the bathroom.”
“Good grief,” said Edgar, rolling his eyes. “That’s religion for you. Well there’s no such rule in this house, Madeleine. Feel free to wear whatever you like, wherever you like. Dance in your panties all you want, as far as I’m concerned. I just came home because I forgot to warn you about the back door; it’ll lock you out if you’re not careful. Make sure you lift the snib to keep it unlocked if you’re going out into the back garden.”
“Oh!” said Madeleine, looking quite flustered. “I’ll remember that – thank you. Did you try calling earlier? I was in the shower...”
“Yes,” said Edgar, “but don’t worry about it – it’s nice to get out of the office for half an hour. Oh well, since you’re not locked out and in desperate need of being let back inside, I’ll just heard back to the office.” He turned to leave.
“Uncle Eddie?” said Madeleine, hesitantly.
“Yes?” said Edgar, turning back.
“Did you really mean it?” she asked, rather timidly. “About me wearing whatever I want?”
“Of course!” said Edgar. “Like I said, make yourself at home. And by that I mean your home, not your parents’ home. You’re not under their thumb while you’re here, Madeleine.”
She let out a deep breath. “That’s ... nice to know,” she said. Then she giggled nervously.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to your dancing,” said Edgar. “See you later.”
“Bye!” said Madeleine.
Edgar drove back to work, where he stayed until six o’clock. Returning home, he entered his house to find a delicious smell coming from the kitchen.
“Oh my goodness!” he said. “What’s this? Is that lemon! It smells amazing!”
Madeleine looked up from the cooker, and grinned. She was now wearing a long skirt, with the same tank top she had been wearing at lunchtime. “Lemon chicken piccata,” she said. “It’s pretty much ready; I’ve laid the table in the dining room. Are you hungry?”
“Yes indeed!” said Edgar. “Let me just hobble to the bathroom first.”
Minutes later, he was tucking into the best home-cooked meal he had had in a long time. “Mmmm,” he said, closing his eyes. “This is just wonderful. You’re a brilliant cook, Madeleine!”
“I try,” she replied with a smile. “Oh, I’m so glad you like it! It’s one of my favourites.”
“And now it’s one of mine!” said Edgar. He continued to eat, happily, until his plate was clean. “Wow, what a treat!” he said, putting his knife and fork down.
“Would you like some more?” she asked him. “There’s plenty.”
“Oh – thank you, but no,” he said. “I shall certainly be looking forward to leftovers tomorrow, though!”
She smiled. “How about some pudding, then?”
Edgar’s eyes widened. “Pudding?”
Madeleine giggled. “Wait right there,” she said. She got to her feet, scooped up her plate and his, and walked quickly out of the room. A moment later, she returned with two dessert glasses that had last emerged from his sideboard more than fifteen years ago. As she set one of them down in front of him, along with a teaspoon, he gasped in excitement.
“Chocolate mousse?” he asked eagerly.
“Yes!” she replied. “You said you liked chocolate, so I thought it might be a good idea.”
He dipped his spoon in, scooped out some of the mousse, and put it in his mouth. His expression of joy thereafter made Madeleine laugh out loud. “Nice?” she asked.
“It’s ... beyond description!” he exclaimed. “Oh my God! It’s fabulous!” He went back for another scoop. “Madeleine ... you’re extraordinary!”
She blushed. “Mum says I’ll make some man a wonderful wife someday.”
“Bugger that!” said Edgar. “I mean yes, obviously any man would be incredibly lucky to marry you ... but heck, Madeleine – you could make some restaurateur a wonderful chef!”
Madeleine blushed even deeper. “Oh ... well, I don’t really have ambitions to be a career woman.”
“Why not?” inquired Edgar. “You have serious talent! Don’t you have any dreams beyond dutiful domesticity? Or have your parents drummed such notions out of you?”
“What’s wrong with dutiful domesticity?” asked Madeleine, a little defensively.
“Nothing at all;” said Edgar, quickly backtracking. “If that’s what you want out of life, then great – the important thing is that you’re happy.” He had another spoonful of the mousse. “This ... this really is remarkable.”
Madeleine quietly picked at her own mousse. After a few moments, she said, “But you want more for me.”
Edgar shook his head. “What I want is for you to be happy. I’d love to see you pursue an illustrious career in the culinary arts, but that’s frankly irrelevant. If I were to push you in that direction I’d be no better than someone trying to pressure you into a life of domesticity. You should find your own path; don’t let anyone tell you what that path should be. Least of all me! Crikey – look how I turned out. I’m the last person you should be taking career advice from.”
“I think you turned out just fine,” said Madeleine. “You’re an intelligent, kind man.”
“I’m the office dogsbody, is what I am,” said Edgar ruefully. “But thank you – that was a very nice thing to say.”
“I meant it,” said Madeleine sincerely.
“Well,” said Edgar with a chuckle, “don’t forget I’m also an atheist. Which means I’m going to burn in Hell, according to your parents.”
“I don’t believe that,” said Madeleine, shaking her head. “A loving God wouldn’t let that happen to a good man like you.”
“Thank you again,” said Edgar. “Actually I doubt Robert ... your dad I mean ... believes it either, deep down. Otherwise I doubt he’d have let you stay with me.”
Madeleine toyed with her glass. “Actually,” she said, “I think he’s hoping I’ll convert you...”
“Oh!” said Edgar in surprise. “Well I must say I wasn’t expecting that.”
Madeleine hung her head. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“What for?” Edgar asked. “I’m not offended. You’re welcome to try and convert me if you like. I fear I’ll most likely disappoint you. But I’ll gratefully appreciate your efforts to save my soul.”
Madeleine smiled sadly. “Aren’t you worried, though? About what’ll happen to you after you ... pass on?”
“Not in the slightest,” said Edgar. “Because I don’t believe there’s any such thing as a soul, the way Christians understand it. And I’m way more certain of that than I am about the nonexistence of God.”
“But why?” asked Madeleine, baffled. “How can you be sure of that?”
Edgar hesitated. “I’m reluctant to say,” he said. “What if I fundamentally shatter the bedrock of your belief system?”
Madeleine smirked. “You’re welcome to try and convert me if you like,” she said wryly. “But I’m afraid I’ll most likely disappoint you.”
“Touché,” said Edgar. “Very well. Let’s see if I can come up with a satisfactory definition of a soul. How about this: it’s an immaterial manifestation of the thoughts, feelings, personality and memories of a person, uncoupled from their physical self.”
“That’s very good!” said Madeleine. “But I think it’s more than that: it’s the spiritual essence of a person, an expression of their true self.”
“I have no idea what that means,” said Edgar, “beyond what I described. Can we at least agree that it would have to encompass the thoughts, feelings, personality and memories of a person? If it doesn’t, then it’s not really them, is it?”
“Okay, that’s fair enough,” said Madeleine, nodding.
“But what are those things if not the software and data of the brain? The neural connections? The electrochemical activity? We know that changes to the brain affect thoughts, and feelings, and memories ... heck, even personality. When brain activity ceases, thoughts cease. If thoughts, personality and so on are independent of the physical self ... then why does the brain even need to exist? Why would changes to the brain have any effect on those things? Since they do, however, the logical conclusion is that it is the brain that generates those things, and is required for those things to exist. Upon death, when the brain’s activity ceases, it is impossible to escape the conclusion that the properties we’ve ascribed to the soul also cease. The soul, therefore, is irrevocably tied to the physical body.” By this point, Madeleine was staring at him with her mouth slightly open. “That’s just my humble opinion, obviously,” he finished apologetically.
“You’ve clearly thought about it a lot, though,” said Madeleine. “And I need to think about it a bit for myself before I can respond.”
“Of course!” said Edgar. “Take all the time you need. And don’t feel you need to respond at all; I was just laying out my position. What you do with that is completely up to you.”
“I’ve just never met anyone who talks the way you do!” said Madeleine in a rather awed tone. “I mean ... I do think you’re wrong – with all possible respect – but you’re obviously very clever, and well-informed. I’d love to see you have a conversation with our minister about this; he’s very clever too, though obviously he’s come to the opposite conclusion.”
Edgar shrugged. “I’m not looking to debate anyone, or crusade on behalf of atheism,” he said. “But thank you for saying I’m clever; I wish my boss thought the same!”
“How does he not appreciate your mind?” asked Madeleine. “He must be a fool!”
“He is,” Edgar confirmed. “But he’s a fool with a degree, and a good head for business, which I lack. So despite his tender years, he’s the boss, while I remain the low chap on the totem pole.”
“I’m sorry,” said Madeleine sympathetically.
Edgar shrugged. “It’s fine,” he said. “How about I do the washing up, and then we can maybe watch another film?”
“I’d like that,” said Madeleine. “This time you pick. Anything you want.”
“Hmm!” said Edgar.
They watched Wonder Woman, which Edgar picked because he thought Madeleine would enjoy seeing a strong female lead ... and that it might do her some good to see that. And indeed, Madeleine’s eyes were wide throughout most of the movie. At its end, she sat back on the sofa and said, “Wow. That was ... interesting! And fun!”
Edgar smiled. “There are way too many superhero films these days,” he said, “but this was a particularly good one.”
“We don’t really watch this kind of film at our house,” said Madeleine. “This was my first superhero film.”
“Good grief!” said Edgar. “So you’ve never seen the original Superman?”
“Nope,” said Madeleine, looking a little embarrassed. “Maybe tomorrow night?”
“Perhaps!” said Edgar. “Although it’ll be your turn to choose.”
“It’ll be a Friday night!” said Madeleine with a smile. “We can watch two films!”
“Ooh, living on the edge!” said Edgar, grinning. “Good for you. Although, you know, please feel free to watch any films you want while I’m at work.”
“Any films...?” inquired Madeleine.
“Well sure,” said Edgar, puzzled by her expression. “Why not?”
“In our house,” said Madeleine, “we’re not allowed to watch anything above a PG.”
Edgar stared at her. “Good grief!” he said. “Well, Wonder Woman is a 12, so you’ve already broken that rule. But this is my house, so my rules apply, and you’re eighteen, so as far as I’m concerned, you can watch any movie you like – including those rated 12, 15, or 18.”
“Wow!” said Madeleine, stunned. She glanced at the time display on the DVR. “Could we ... maybe ... start now, with a 15...? Or do you need to go to bed?”
“Hmm, it’s only twenty past nine,” said Edgar. “Sure, we can watch something else. What are you in the mood for?”
“Something ... grown-up,” she replied, after a moment’s consideration.
“Action? Comedy? Romance? Sci-fi? Heavy drama...?”
“Anything,” said Madeleine. “You choose.” Her cheeks were turning a little pink.
Edgar suspected that she was interested in seeing some adult romantic interactions, but he was not sure how comfortable he would be watching sex scenes with his niece. He got up and limped over to his film library, and scanned through the alphabetically-arranged titles. Then he paused, and pulled out The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. A fun romp, sexy but not too sexy, scary but not too scary, full of action but not too violent. Perfect.
He put it on, and they watched it. Afterwards, Madeleine thanked him and said she had enjoyed it very much. But he could not help feeling that he had missed the mark a little. He bade her goodnight, and went to bed, leaving her to pore through his film collection.
************
The next morning, he did not see Madeleine, and he guessed she must have stayed up late, watching movies. Out of curiosity he checked the living room for a clue as to what she had watched, but his library was all in order.
He drove to the office, and half-heartedly tackled his workload. At about ten o’clock, his phone rang, and he recognised the number immediately; it was his own.
“Hello – Madeleine?” he said.
“Good morning Uncle Eddie!” said Madeleine brightly. “How are you?”
“Oh, very well thank you,” he replied. “How about you? Did you sleep well?”
“Yes thank you – but I wanted to let you know that I watched another of your films last night.”
“Oh? Which one?”
“Animal House,” she replied.
“Oh my goodness!” said Edgar. “Er ... I wouldn’t necessarily have recommended that one. It’s not very female-friendly...”
“Well, I loved it!”
“You did?” Edgar was astonished.
“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much or so hard in all my life!” Madeleine continued. “I was afraid I’d wake you!”
“You didn’t,” said Edgar. “But ... wow. I’m very surprised you liked it so much. But very glad! It is quite hilarious, isn’t it?”
“It is!” Madeleine agreed. “In fact I’m going to watch it again, right now!”
“Okay!” said Edgar.
“In ... in my underwear!” Madeleine squeaked, and she giggled.
“Good for you,” said Edgar with a chuckle. “Have fun, Madeleine.”
“I will!” she promised. “Bye, Uncle Eddie!”
At lunchtime, Edgar could not help thinking that if he went home, he would probably see Madeleine in her underwear ... but he quickly quashed the thought. Over the next few hours, however, the mental image of his niece dancing in his living room in a tank top and panties kept popping unbidden back into his head...
He worked until five-thirty, then, feeling more upbeat than he had in years, he drove home. Parking his car, he limped quickly up to his front door, opened it, and went inside.
“Hi Uncle Eddie!” said Madeleine, emerging from the living room and giving him a hug. She was wearing a t-shirt with bunnies on it, and a pair of pink panties that the t-shirt was not quite long enough to cover. She disengaged from the hug, and noted his startled expression. “Is it ... is it okay that I’m dressed like this?”
“Of course!” said Edgar. “I said you could wear what you like, and I meant it. Did you have a good day?”
“Yes!” she replied happily. “I watched movies until I was going bug-eyed, so I stopped and did some reading. After I watched Animal House again, I watched Airplane! That was hilarious too! But I prefer Animal House. Then I watched The Terminator, just to mix things up, and that was really really good but also really scary!”
“Wow!” said Edgar. “You really have been broadening your horizons!”
“Yes!” she said. “In all sorts of ways...” Her face fell a little. “I was reading the Bible. With, I suppose, a slightly more critical eye than usual.” She hesitated. “Can you tell me what you think about the first chapter of Genesis? Also, I’d like to hear again your explanation of why you think souls don’t exist...”
“Certainly, if you like,” said Edgar. “Perhaps we could dish up some dinner first, though? I’ve been looking forward to your amazing lemon chicken all day...”
She giggled. “Absolutely! There’s more chocolate mousse, too!”
“Wonderful!” said Edgar.
Over dinner, he repeated his thoughts on the existence of the soul, with much the same wording as he had the night before, with a few minor tweaks. Madeleine listened carefully, and nodded. Then she asked about the creation story at the beginning of Genesis.
“Well,” said Edgar, “if you take it literally, as six actual days, that flies in the face of everything we know about the Earth’s age. I know some Christians consider ‘day’ in that context to mean a longer period of time, but even if you assume that each day is millions of years long, the order is still wrong. The sun created after plants? Not remotely true, or even possible.”
“But,” said Madeleine uncomfortably, “how do scientists actually know how old the Earth is? Surely they’re just guessing, to a large extent?”
“Not at all,” said Edgar. “It’s been measured, by a method as reliable as an atomic clock – and by using the same principle: radiometric decay.”
“Tell me about that,” said Madeleine.
“I’ll try, but I’m no expert!” said Edgar. “You should read up on it. But here are the basics. Certain elements in the Earth’s crust are radioactive, meaning that they slowly decay from one element to another – or more specifically, from one isotope to another ... which may or may not be a different element.”
“Wait ... what’s an isotope?” asked Madeleine.
“Oh dear – I suppose I’d better go back a bit,” said Edgar. “You know that elements are made of atoms, right? And atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons?”
Madeleine stared at him, and tears began to well up in her eyes. “I feel so stupid!” she lamented. “I feel like I don’t know anything!”
Edgar reached over and took her hand in his. “Hey,” he said gently. “It’s not your fault that you haven’t been exposed to this stuff. Your parents have kept you in a bubble. But don’t worry – I can explain the basics really simply. Just let me get a pen and paper.”
Over the next hour, he drew for Madeleine a picture of a hydrogen atom and a helium atom, he found a picture of the Periodic Table and explained it to her as well as he could, and he described how atomic decay leads to a parent element gradually turning into a daughter element, at a predictable rate.
“Each radioactive isotope has a different half-life,” he said. “So if we find a chunk of uranium ore, and half of the uranium has turned to thorium, we know exactly one half-life has passed since the rock was formed. If three quarters of the uranium has turned, it’s been two half-lives. And that’s how we measure the age of rocks. Sometimes rocks contain more than one radioactive element, so we can cross-check the results. Anyway, that’s how we know the Earth is 4.5 billion years old. We’ve measured it, countless times. There’s no controversy about it in the scientific community.”
“I understand,” said Madeleine dolefully. “Thank you for explaining it. It does make sense.”
“You’re welcome,” said Edgar.
“The Bible ... I just can’t ... I have to acknowledge that the Bible isn’t infallible. It isn’t all true,” said Madeleine. “So now ... how do I know what’s true and what isn’t?”
“You don’t,” said Edgar. “For all I know, most of it might be true. But I have no reason to believe the supernatural parts. And some of it is clearly absurd, and some of it I find abhorrent. And some of it is quite good. I’m happy to follow some of Jesus’s advice – to do unto others as I would have them do unto me, for example – and ignore less helpful instructions, like giving away all my possessions, or taking no thought for tomorrow.”
Madeleine nodded. Then she sighed. “I feel like I’m just discovering a whole new world,” she said. “And it’s very exciting ... but also scary. I just don’t know what to believe right now. And I’m feeling ... resentful.”
“Toward me?” asked Edgar.
“No!” said Madeleine. “Toward my life, my parents ... the choices that I’ve been forced into... I was looking forward to Saint Aubrey’s, but now it’s seeming more and more ... restrictive. Like an extension of church. I find myself wishing I could go to a real university ... get a proper education ... have the real university experience...”
Edgar chuckled. “It wouldn’t be like Animal House, you know.”
Madeleine blushed. “Oh, I’m sure it wouldn’t. Nevertheless ... there would probably be parties ... drinking ... naughty behaviour ... pranks ... sex...”
“All of the above, I’m sure,” agreed Edgar. “But you might be surprised how much of that you find at Bible College. Get a bunch of youngsters together ... certain things are inevitable.”
“It’s an all-girl college,” said Madeleine morosely.
“Oh,” said Edgar. “Bummer.”
“So let’s make the most of this weekend!” said Madeleine eagerly. “Teach me stuff! Show me adult films! Help me enjoy this last bit of freedom while I can.”
Edgar smiled. “Your wish is my command,” he said. “What would you like to do this evening?”
Madeleine thought for a moment. “Could we watch a porn film?”
“Wha...!?” Edgar almost fell off his chair. “Really?”
Madeleine nodded, her eyes bright.
“Your dad would kill me if I showed you something like that,” said Edgar nervously.
“He needn’t know!” said Madeleine. “It’s not like I’m going to tell him I watched Animal House, after all.”
“Look,” said Edgar, “I’ll feel really weird watching a porn film with you. But what if I show you how to find one on the TV before I go to bed? Then you can decide to watch it, or not – but it’ll be your thing. Okay?”
“Okay!” said Madeleine, her eyes shining. “But ... what if I have questions?”
“You can ask me in the morning,” said Edgar. “And I promise, I’ll answer your questions as honestly and as fully as I can. You’ve been kept in the dark way too long.”
“Thank you!” said Madeleine.
“Which still leaves the question of what to do in the meantime,” said Edgar. “Any other thoughts?”
“Can we go out?” asked Madeleine. “Somewhere Mum and Dad wouldn’t approve of? Like ... a nightclub...?”
“Well,” said Edgar, “if you want to go out dancing, I’m afraid I’d be a poor date. Would you settle for a pub?”
“A pub? Yes!” said Madeleine. “Can I ... drink alcohol?”
“Of course you can – you’re eighteen,” said Edgar. “Just ... please don’t drink too much, okay? I’d feel awful if I let you get drunk on my watch.”
“I just want enough to get me tipsy,” said Madeleine. “I’ll trust you to tell me when I’ve had enough. Okay?”
“Okay,” said Edgar. “The pub it is. You may want to put something on your bottom half though!”
Madeleine laughed. “I suppose so!”
Half an hour later, they arrived at Edgar’s local, the Village Smithy. Madeleine, excited but nervous, clutched Edgar’s elbow as they walked in. She had put on a long skirt, but she had swapped her t-shirt for another tank top – a yellow one this time.
“Evening Edgar!” said the barman, Brian. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll have a Guinness, please,” said Edgar, before turning to Madeleine. “What do you fancy?”
“I have no idea!” said Madeleine, looking wide-eyed at the array of bottles behind Brian.
“My niece has never been in a pub before,” Edgar explained. “Can you recommend something for a first-time drinker?”
“Do you like coke?” Brian asked Madeleine. She nodded, and he smiled. “Then let me introduce you to one of me wife’s favourites, the rum and coke.” He set about pouring both drinks, as Edgar fished out his wallet.
Soon they were sitting down at a table in a corner, where Madeleine took a cautious sip of her drink. “Ugh,” she said. “I’m not sure about that.”
“Want me to get you something else?” Edgar asked.
“No, it’s okay,” said Madeleine. “Gosh, that woman’s skirt’s short, isn’t it?”
Edgar looked over at the pool table, where a couple of young women were watching two young men playing. Both of the women were wearing short skirts, but while one came down to mid-thigh, the other was not much more than buttock-length. “It is, yes,” Edgar agreed. “Not an uncommon sight in a pub, though.”
“Wow,” said Madeleine. “I’d love to be that brave...”
“I’m not so sure it’s much to do with bravery,” said Edgar. “She’s probably quite used to wearing skirts like that, and enjoys the attention.”
Madeleine continued to watch, while she sipped at her drink. “Oh! She’s going to play! Is she really going to bend over the table in that skirt?”
“Looks like we’ll find out,” Edgar remarked.
Madeleine watched, transfixed. “Oh! She really is! She’s ... oh my goodness!”
Edgar chuckled. The young woman in the shortest skirt had been bending over the table to take a shot, when one of the young men had passed by and given her a playful slap on her barely-concealed right buttock, making her squeal and then laugh.
“Did you see that?” Madeleine gasped.
“Yup,” Edgar confirmed.
“Oh ... I want a man to slap my bottom like that!” said Madeleine. She looked down at her skirt. “I feel overdressed! I want a miniskirt.” She turned to Edgar. “Uncle Eddie, can we please shop for a miniskirt tomorrow?”
“Um ... okay ... whatever you like,” said Edgar, a little uncomfortably.
“Ohh, thank you!” Madeleine seemed delighted. She drained the rest of her drink. “Can I have another drink, please? Something different?”
“I’ll see what Brian can come up with,” said Edgar, getting awkwardly to his feet.
He returned from the bar with a vodka and orange, which Madeleine much preferred over the rum and coke. As the two couples abandoned the pool table, Madeleine said, “Are you able to play pool? I’d like to have a go, if you’re up to it.”
“I can play,” said Edgar, nodding. “I’ll need to grab some change from Brian, though.”
Two minutes later, he was teaching Madeleine how to play pool. She picked up the concept quickly enough, but had trouble aiming the cue, and grew a little frustrated. “I seem to be lacking some basic skills required for this,” she grumbled. “Once again I’m handicapped by my upbringing.”
“It’s just practice,” Edgar assured her. “Trust me: it’ll come with time. We can play as much as you want.”
After the second game, however, she had had enough, even though Edgar had deliberately bungled his shots so badly that she had eventually – after fifteen rather painful minutes – potted the black. “Perhaps we can try again tomorrow...?” she suggested.
“Of course,” said Edgar. “Would you like another vodka and orange?”
“Yes please!” she said.
“Perhaps I could buy it for you...?” said a voice behind Edgar.
Edgar turned to see a familiar young face. “All right, Steve,” he said. “How’s it going?”
Steve was the son of one of the pub’s regulars, Geoff Bosworth. He was in his early twenties, and therefore a little old for Madeleine, Edgar judged, but she would no doubt enjoy having a young man buy her a drink.
“Not so bad, Edgar,” said Steve, nodding. “How’s yourself?”
“Plodding along,” Edgar acknowledged. “This is my niece, Madeleine.”
“Hi,” said Madeleine shyly.
“Hi Madeleine,” said Steve, smiling at her. “So, how about that drink?”
“Yes please!” said Madeleine.
“And for you, Edgar?” said Steve.
“Oh, you don’t need to...” began Edgar.
“It would be my pleasure,” Steve assured him. “Go on – what’ll it be?”
“Well I wouldn’t say no to another Guinness, in that case,” said Edgar. “Thank you Steve, you’re a gentleman.”
He and Madeleine returned to their table, as Steve headed to the bar. Sitting down, Edgar murmured, “Young Steve there is a nice lad, but I wouldn’t put it past him to take advantage of a girl of ... let’s say, limited experience.”
Madeleine shivered. “Really?” she whispered. “That sounds nice...”
“Eh?” said Edgar, thinking that either he had misheard her, or vice versa.
“My last boyfriend – well, my only boyfriend,” said Madeleine, “was a perfect gentleman. We held hands, we hugged, we kissed on the cheek ... and twice we kissed on the lips. If he’d have tried anything more, I’d have been thrilled ... but he never did. Not even French kissing! He was so straight-laced ... straight as an arrow. He was never interested in touching my breasts or anything like that.”
“Doesn’t sound very straight to me,” Edgar remarked with a chuckle.
“Well, I did wonder about that,” Madeleine admitted.
“That’s one problem with a strict Christian upbringing,” said Edgar. “Gays can’t be who they are. If I had a gay son I’d be happy to welcome his boyfriend into my home. How do you think your dad would react if you brought home a girlfriend?”
Madeleine shuddered. “He’d disown me,” she said. “Fortunately I like men. Anyway, the point is ... you know that scene in Animal House where Larry’s making out with his girlfriend, and she passes out ... and he has a little devil on one shoulder telling him to have sex with her, and a little angel on the other telling him not to?”
“Yes, I remember it well,” said Edgar, nodding.
“Well,” said Madeleine, “I was rooting for him to do it! I wanted him to take advantage of her; I found the idea really erotic. And you know when Otter’s in the car with the girl he duped into thinking he was her dead friend’s fiancée? He was totally taking advantage of her ... and I loved it! I wanted him to trick her into having sex with him; I just love the idea of a naive girl being taken advantage of, and duped into having sex. It made me so ... excited. And I know I’m the sort of girl who would fall for that – I know I’m naive – and that both scares and excites me.”
“Hush,” said Edgar, a little unnerved. “Here he comes.”
“One for you,” said Steve, setting Madeleine’s drink down carefully, “and one for you.” He handed Edgar his Guinness. “So, Madeleine, what brings you to our neck of the woods?”
“College,” said Madeleine. “I’m starting on Sunday. Uncle Eddie’s putting me up until then.”
“Lucky Uncle Eddie!” said Steve, grinning. “But I don’t imagine he’s much fun to hang out with, Madeleine. How about I take you out somewhere a bit more exciting?”
Madeleine’s eyes widened, and she looked towards Edgar hopefully. Edgar pursed his lips, feeling anxious. “It’s your choice, Madeleine,” he said. “But I’m worried about not having a way to contact you, and vice versa, if I don’t hear from you or if you need me.”
“I’ll be fine,” Madeleine said, looking a little nervous. “Steve will look after me and make sure I get home safely ... won’t you Steve?”
“I certainly will,” said Steve gallantly. “Come on Madeleine – drink up, and I’ll show you a proper good time.”
Madeleine filled her drink down, then she got up, and turned towards Edgar. “May I?” she asked.
“I know where his dad lives,” said Edgar, “so I’ll be able to find you ... and Steve ... if anything goes wrong. But nothing’s going to go wrong, is it Steve?”
“You can rely on me,” Steve assured him. Then he winked at Madeleine. “Come on, then.”
Wondering if he was making a big mistake by letting her go, Edgar watched the two of them leave, while worry gnawed at him. Would Steve get her into bed? It seemed likely. Would he get her pregnant? Hopefully not, but if it turned out that she had had unsafe sex, there were steps they could take. And she was technically an adult, so she was old enough to make her own decisions. This really was not any of his business.
And yet, his fears continued to escalate. What if Steve took her to a party, with a bunch of his friends there? What if they got her so drunk that she passed out, and they then raped her? What if she panicked and tried to flee, and they raped her while she was conscious? “Shit,” he muttered. He might be too late to stop Madeleine going with Steve, but he had to try. He struggled to his feet, and hobbled towards the door.
At the front door, he almost bumped into Madeleine coming back inside. “Oh!” he said. “Thank goodness. Did you, er, forget something?”
She shook her head. “I changed my mind,” she said. “Steve said a mean thing, and I decided he doesn’t deserve my virginity.”
“Oh!” said Edgar in surprise. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Well, sort of sorry. I’m sorry he insulted you. I can’t say I’m sorry you decided against going with him.”
“Oh, he didn’t insult me,” said Madeleine. “He insulted you. And I’m not interested in being friends with someone who treats my dear Uncle Eddie disrespectfully.”
“Oh!” said Edgar again. “Well ... thank you. I did think Steve had more character than that. But oh well. I’m happy you cane back. Would you like to go back inside?”
“Can we just go home?” Madeleine asked. “And watch a movie together?”
“Of course!” said Edgar. “I’d love that.”
Madeleine smiled happily. “Okay then.”
Edgar drove them back to his house, where he flopped down on the sofa in his living room, while Madeleine went upstairs. When she came back down, a minute later, he saw that she had taken off her skirt. Seeing him looking in surprise at her panties, Madeleine sheepishly clasped her hands together in front of them. “Sorry,” she said, “is this not okay?”
“Of course it’s okay,” he assured her. “I’m the one who should apologise – I shouldn’t have stared. I suppose I’m just not quite used to the sight yet.”
“Is it,” she said hesitantly, “is it a nice sight?”
“As your uncle,” said Edgar, “I really can’t comment on that.”
“Oh, please do, though!” said Madeleine. “I really want to know, and I trust you to tell me the truth. Am I ... is this ... sexy?”
Edgar hesitated. Then he cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Yes,” he conceded. “It’s a very pretty sight, and yes, you’re very sexy. You’re a beautiful woman, and you’re underdressed ... and there’s nothing about that that isn’t sexy.” She beamed at this, but he was not finished. “But as your uncle, I’m trying really hard not to think that way! You’re welcome to dress like this around me – I don’t mind at all – but you’re my guest and my niece, so it’s important for me to maintain a certain ... detachment. So, I’m going to try and avoid thinking about how sexy you are, and to that end it’s best if I avoid looking at ... certain things.”
“I understand,” said Madeleine, nodding. “But I honestly don’t mind you looking, if you would enjoy doing so. I wouldn’t mind getting some feedback about whether or not I’m being sexy; it might help me to avoid making a fool of myself in front of any men I meet.”
Edgar’s cheeks reddened. “That’s ... er ... I mean ... I’m not sure I should do that, really. It would be really inappropriate...”
“I’ve embarrassed you! I’m so sorry,” said Madeleine, her own cheeks now turning red. “I really didn’t mean to. I’m just ... I trust you, you know? I’m trying to navigate my way around a new world and ... you’re the only person I know who can help...” She looked down at the floor, a little sadly.
“You’ve done nothing wrong,” Edgar assured her. “Look, I’ll be completely honest with you. I’m touched that you trust me ... but if I let myself look at you in that sort of way ... I’m not sure I trust myself, you know, not to get ... excited...”
Madeleine looked a little startled for a moment, but then she smiled. “Would that be so bad?” she asked. “I suppose it’s just an automatic biological response, right? If I’m being sexy, wouldn’t it be inevitable for you to get excited? That shouldn’t bother me; it should tell me I’m doing something right.”
“Yes, but I really shouldn’t be getting excited by my niece!” said Edgar.
“Who says so? The Bible?” Madeleine inquired wryly.
“That wouldn’t matter to you?” Edgar asked in surprise.
“I’m starting to feel like the Bible has been lying to me,” said Madeleine, “and I’m having all sorts of feelings about that. And it’s making me want to ... transgress.”
“By attempting to arouse your uncle?” Edgar asked.
Madeleine looked a little anguished. “No!” she said. “That’s not the goal! I’m just asking for your help. But if you get aroused in the process, I’m not sure I see why that’s a bad thing. You’ve been wonderfully kind to me; it seems like it would be a nice thing for you that I could do in return.”
Edgar hesitated, conflicted. “Technically it’s not illegal for me to be aroused by you,” he conceded. “And I do want to help you. So ... if you don’t mind seeing me squirm uncomfortably while looking at you, then you can go ahead and ask my opinion about this or that.”
“But I don’t want you to squirm uncomfortably,” said Madeleine, smiling affectionately. “I want you to enjoy looking at me, without shame or regret, and without trying to hide it. Do you think you might be able to do that?”
“If that’s what you want,” said Edgar, wondering anxiously where this was going to lead, “I will try.”
“Thank you,” said Madeleine with a warm smile.
Edgar sighed. “Would you like to choose a film?” he asked.
“Okay,” said Madeleine. She walked over to the shelving unit that housed Edgar’s film library, and began browsing. As she worked her way downwards, she bent over more and more, until her panty-clad bottom was sticking out prominently in Edgar’s direction. Edgar tried not to look, at first, but he was aware that he had practically promised her that he would, so he did ... and before he knew it, he was indeed getting quite aroused. He subtly adjusted his trousers, so that his penis could stiffen and lengthen, unconstrained by the folds of his clothing.
Now Madeleine was on her hands and knees, her bottom swaying gently from side to side. “Is this ... sexy?” she inquired.
“Unbelievably so,” said Edgar fervently, while wishing it were not so.
Madeleine giggled. “Good,” she said quietly. Then, a moment later, she said, “I don’t know – can you maybe recommend something?”
“Why yes,” said Edgar. “I’ve actually been giving some thought to films you might enjoy, and I believe I have some good options. Would you mind finding a film called Love Actually...?”
She found it; they watched it; she loved it.
Before going to bed, as he had promised her, he showed her how to find erotic videos using the web browser on his television. Following her request for a video in which an innocent girl was taken advantage of by a horny older man, he found her a collection of Japanese videos in which young women were groped, stripped, and then gangbanged, on trains and buses. Madeleine loved this concept; Edgar had to beat a hasty retreat from the room before she started watching one of the videos. “Goodnight!” he called out to her.
“Goodnight Uncle Eddie!” she called back.
************
The next morning, he got up and made his way, slowly and stiffly, down the stairs. In the kitchen, he pried open a fresh can of cat food, dumped it on to a side plate, mashed it up, and placed it on the floor in the corner of the room. Margot, who had been twining herself around his shins, sauntered over to the plate, sniffed at it, then walked sedately away with her tail in the air.
“You’ll be back,” Edgar called after her. “You know you want it.” Then he chuckled.
He put the kettle on, made himself a mug of tea, and then settled down in the living room with his tea, a pen, and a crossword he had been working on.
Half an hour later, he had almost finished it when he heard the upstairs toilet flushing. This was followed by footsteps on the stairs, and then Madeleine appeared in the doorway, smiling warmly at him. “Good morning!” she said. Once again she was wearing a tank top and panties, but judging by the way her breasts were shaping her top, Edgar guessed that she was currently braless.
“Good morning!” he replied. “Did you sleep well?”
“I did,” she replied. “But oh my goodness ... those videos last night ... they were amazing!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed them,” Edgar replied. “I really don’t need to hear details, though!”
She giggled. Then, “How do I look?” she inquired.
“Very sexy,” he replied. “The braless look is particularly fetching.”
“Oh ... that looks good?” she asked. “Hmm ... maybe I’ll try going out without one, then. Are you still taking me shopping this morning?”
“If that’s what you want, then absolutely,” said Edgar. “The shopping centre is just ten minutes away.”
“Thank you,” said Madeleine. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“Just tea,” said Edgar.
“Would you like me to make you a cooked breakfast?” she asked. “Bacon, eggs, mushrooms, fried bread...?”
“Oh!” said Edgar, his mouth already watering. “That would be ... but I should make it...”
“Don’t be silly!” she said with a grin. “I’ll be happy to do it.”
After breakfast – which was delicious – they both got themselves ready to leave the house, which took Edgar five minutes, and Madeleine closer to an hour. But by eleven o’clock they were in Edgar’s car, driving to the shopping centre.
Once they had parked, they went inside, and Madeleine scanned all of the shop windows as they passed them. True to her word, she had chosen to remain braless, though she had switched to another tank top – a white one this time. On her bottom half she was wearing another long skirt.
“There,” she said, stopping in front of Connie’s Closet. “Let’s try in there.”
Edgar limped after her into the shop, and waited patiently while she looked around. He fully expected this to be a lengthy undertaking, so he was pleasantly surprised when she walked up to him with an armful of clothes after barely five minutes. “I’m going to try these on,” she said. “Would you mind waiting outside the changing room, and letting me know what you think?”
“Sure,” said Edgar.
“And please,” she added, “don’t do the parent thing, where the less sexy it is, the more highly you recommend it. I want your honest appraisal of each outfit’s sexiness, and how exciting you find it.”
“Got it,” said Edgar.
She started to turn away, then paused. “You’ve generously offered to pay for whatever we buy,” she said, “but I feel guilty. I really wish you would give me a budget.”
“I seriously don’t have a figure in mind,” said Edgar. “Just assume the sky’s the limit. How often do I get to spend money on you? Tomorrow you’re going off to college, and who knows when I’ll next get to see you? I’m going to make the most of today, and treasure it ... and I want you to have whatever you want.”
Madeleine stared at him with a look of wonder in her eyes. Then she leaned in, and kissed his cheek. “Tonight,” she said, “I’m going to cook you something really special.”
“Oh no,” he said, shaking his head. “Tonight I’m going to take you out to a fancy restaurant, and you’re going to wear the most stunning dress you can find today.”
She grinned. “Then I’ll have to think of some other way to repay you,” she said. And she skipped over to the changing rooms.
About four minutes later, she emerged in an outfit consisting of a flower-printed bandeau top and a denim miniskirt with a zip up the front. Her cheeks were pink, and she was biting her lip as she looked around nervously. “What do you think?”
Her midriff was a little pudgy, with no muscle definition – she was obviously not an athlete – but he still loved it and indeed every part of her. The outfit, on the other hand...
“I like the skirt,” he said. “The top, I’m not so sure about.”
“Okay,” she said, looking almost relieved. “What about the skirt’s length?”
Edgar regarded her legs thoughtfully. “I’ve seen plenty of skirts shorter than that, and your legs are gorgeous. The length is fine, in my opinion.”
“Oh good,” said Madeleine happily, and she went back into the changing room. Her next outfit was a high-waisted pink A-line skirt, paired with a white short-sleeved crop top. The skirt was a couple of inches shorter than the denim one, and Madeleine looked a little nervous ... but excited.
“The skirt’s very nice,” said Edgar. “Again, I’m not sure the top really works...”
Madeleine pulled a face, and clasped her hands over her belly. “It’s my tummy, isn’t it?” she said. “I know it’s fat...”
“Nonsense,” said Edgar. “It’s lovely – but it’s not your best feature. You have ... if I may make so bold ... a very beautiful chest, and if you’re going to show off any part of your top half, it should be ... those.”
Madeleine giggled. “Something a little more low-cut then?” she inquired.
“Possibly,” said Edgar. “Or something more concealing, but clingy. But might I make a suggestion?”
“Of course!” said Madeleine.
“You might want to consider picking just one thing to show off. Men are susceptible to sensory overload. Show off too much, and they won’t appreciate everything as much as they would if you focused their attention more ... selectively. So if you’re going to wear a miniskirt and show off your legs, wear something understated on your top half. If you choose to show off your lovely chest, then maybe wear jeans or a longer skirt on your bottom half.”
Madeleine nodded. “I do see the wisdom in that,” she said, “but I’ve been covered up for so long... I sort of want to throw caution to the wind and dress really scandalously. This is my last day before bible college, after all ... I want to wear an outrageous outfit; one that’s so revealing that it scares me to wear it.”
Edgar regarded her thoughtfully. “Can you give me five minutes?” he asked. “I have an idea.”
Madeleine nodded. “I do have one more thing to try on, though,” she said. “Another skirt.”
“Oh,” said Edgar. “Well, you change into that, while I go and find something.”
“Okay,” said Madeleine.
Edgar found what he was looking for quite quickly. He returned to the changing rooms with time to spare before his niece, now back in her tank top and wearing a tan-coloured corduroy miniskirt that was even shorter than the pink one, emerged with a cautious look around.
“Very nice skirt!” said Edgar. “Practically as short as the one we saw in the pub last night.”
“It is, isn’t it?” said Madeleine with a nervous laugh. “What have you got there?”
Edgar handed her the cream-coloured top he had found. “I can’t believe I’m suggesting you wear this,” he said, “but I think it’s the kind of outrageous thing you’re looking for. I wouldn’t pair it with a miniskirt, though – it would be just too much.”
Wide-eyed, Madeleine opened it out and looked at it ... then she turned and went back into the changing room. A minute later, she came out again, now wearing the cream top instead of her tank top.
“Oh my!” said Edgar, staring at her highly visible breasts. Then he wrenched his eyes up to her face. “It’s actually a little more sheer than I realised,” he apologised. The top was long-sleeved, with a high neck and numerous swirly lace details around the collar and upper chest ... but the area covering Madeleine’s breasts was free of such details, and her large breasts stretched the flimsy material to near-transparency. Her nipples – perfectly round and very pretty – were prominent and conspicuous.
“I almost didn’t dare to come out!” said Madeleine breathlessly. “I feel so ... naked!”
“You look almost naked!” Edgar agreed. “Sorry – the top was perhaps a little much.”
“No!” said Madeleine earnestly. “I love it! It’s just ... will it get me arrested?”
“No, of course not,” said Edgar. “You might get lots of wolf whistles, teasing, lewd comments from lecherous men, criticism from scornful or envious women, and so on ... but you shouldn’t get into any actual trouble. You’re not breaking any laws.”
Madeleine nodded, her eyes shining. “Then this is what I’ll wear.”
“What ... the top and the skirt?” Edgar asked. “As I said, I wouldn’t recommend pairing them...”
“Both,” said Madeleine firmly. “I love feeling this naked in public. I’m scared, yes ... but it’s such a thrill! Can we buy them? Please? This is the only outfit I need.”
“Well of course,” said Edgar. “But what about a dress for tonight? You should be able to get away with this outfit in shops and on the street, but a fancy restaurant might be more of a problem.”
“Okay,” Madeleine conceded. “A short dress, though?”
“Sure,” said Edgar. “Let’s see what they have here.”
They found three possibilities, each of which Madeleine tried on in turn, and Edgar critiqued. Madeleine’s favourite was the shortest – a tight-fitting black minidress with a slit up the left side – while Edgar preferred a slightly longer blue and white sundress that had a lower-cut neckline. “But it’s totally your choice,” he said. “We can certainly get the black one.”
Abruptly, however, Madeleine changed her mind. “Let’s get the blue one,” she said. “It is pretty.”
“Are you sure?” Edgar inquired. When she nodded, he said, “All right then.”
Madeleine changed back into her own clothes, and then she accompanied Edgar to the checkout, where Edgar paid for the sheer top, the tan miniskirt, and the blue and white dress.
“Do you need shoes?” he asked her, as they left the shop.
“No – the top and skirt I can wear with these shoes,” said Madeleine, “and I have some nice white shoes I can wear with the dress.”
“Are you sure?” asked Edgar, smiling. “I don’t know many women who would turn down an offer of free shoes.”
“They wouldn’t be free though, would they?” said Madeleine. “You’d be paying for them – and you’ve already been so generous!”
“Not as generous as I was expecting,” said Edgar. “Come on – let me spoil my favourite niece.”
Madeleine giggled, and took his arm. “You’ve bought me clothes, and you’re taking me out to dinner this evening – I’d say you’re already spoiling me!”
Edgar smiled. “I just want to make the most of my limited time with you. Anyway, are you ready for some lunch? It’s just after noon.”
“Sure!” said Madeleine.
“We’ll go to the food court,” said Edgar. “It’s convenient, and we can shop some more afterwards if you like.”
“Okay,” said Madeleine. “But please – let me buy lunch? It will help me feel a little better about all the money you’re spending on me!”
Edgar hesitated, then nodded. Lunch would not cost much. “Sure,” he said.
They opted for fish and chips, and sat down at a table to eat. “How are you feeling today?” Edgar asked. “Religion-wise, I mean. I know you were wrestling with some pretty hefty issues yesterday.”
Madeleine nodded. “I’ve been trying not to think about it too much today,” she admitted. “When I do, it can get pretty ... overwhelming. But I can tell you where I’m up to, if you like.”
“Only if you feel like talking about it,” said Edgar.
Madeleine nodded. “Well ... I’m not really sure what I believe and don’t believe at this point. Some of what I used to believe is now sounding so stupid and false in my head ... I can hardly believe I ever fell for it. Other things are a bit more deep-rooted, and some of them still make a lot of sense to me. But the biggest thing, for me, is that you’ve pretty much killed the notion of a soul. I think, maybe, I always found it a little weird ... the idea that a loving God would allow people to be tortured for eternity. Now I just no longer believe that that’s true. And it’s like ... it’s a huge relief. Like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”
“Interesting!” said Edgar. “Sorry – I mean, I’m so glad you feel that way – but I’m a little surprised that your main focus is on the nonexistence of Hell, rather than that of Heaven.”
Madeleine toyed with her food. “Well, I suppose I’ve spent more of my life scared of going to Hell, than excited about going to Heaven.”
Edgar sighed. “I think it’s absolutely horrible when parents terrify their children with threats of eternal torture. I’d almost call it child abuse.”
Madeleine nodded. “I suppose the idea of losing Heaven is pretty awful, though,” she said. “Is there anything you can say to help me feel better about that?”
“I’ll do my best,” said Edgar. “How about this. You haven’t really lost anything – just an empty promise. If you grew up being told you were going to inherit a million pounds on your eighteenth birthday ... but then you turned eighteen, and discovered it had all been a lie ... yes, you’d be justifiably upset, but you wouldn’t actually have lost anything. You never had it to begin with.”
“True,” said Madeleine, “though I’m not sure how much that helps, really. It still seems like a loss, when you’ve grown up believing in it. And to find out that all my relatives, like my grandmother – Mum’s mum, that is – that I’ve lost over the years, aren’t actually in Heaven, and I’m really never going to see them again ... that’s hard. It would be harder, I’m sure, if I’d lost someone extremely close, like a parent or sister ... but it’s still a bit of a blow.”
Edgar nodded. “Understandable,” he said. “All right, let’s try a different approach. Have you considered how utterly awful Heaven would be?”
Madeleine looked startled, then she grinned. “I can’t say I have,” she said. “Do go on.”
“Eternal life,” said Edgar, “may seem awesome when you’re young and have so much to live for ... but when you’re as old as I am, or even older, the thought of living forever isn’t quite so attractive. For many, I dare say, it still sounds better than dying ... but I’d suggest those who think so are suffering from a failure of imagination. Forever ... that’s a rather scary notion, I think. It doesn’t seem to invite much choice, does it? What if, after a million years or so, you find yourself bored out of your mind and longing for it to end? Do you get to choose nonexistence as an alternative?”
“Um...” said Madeleine. “I hadn’t really thought about that. I’ve always imagined Heaven to be so wonderful that you’d never get bored or unhappy.”
“Ah, but the holiday brochures never tell you the downside of the place you’re going,” said Edgar. “And when you’re immortal, just what are you going to spend your time doing? Would you automatically know everything? If so, then you’d never again experience the pleasure of learning something new. Nothing would surprise you. There wouldn’t be any point in having any experiences, because you’d already have experienced them. And if you didn’t know everything, then eternity is too long a period to learn everything you want to know. Maybe you could spend a billion years enjoying the sense of discovery that comes with uncovering the secrets of the universe ... but what about the second billion years? Or the fifth billion years? Or the nineteenth? Or the five millionth? Living for eternity sounds great, but can you imagine living for a million billion years? And that’s nothing compared with infinity. Even if you’re only slightly bored after a trillion years, how will you feel after you’ve lived through a trillion years eight million times? And never able to die, to end it? Cursed to exist forever in a Heaven in which there’s nothing left to do that you haven’t done already a thousand times over?”
“Jeez!” said Madeleine with a shudder. “That does put a different perspective on it...”
“If it makes Heaven sound like a silly and implausible idea, that’s because it is,” said Edgar. “Few people take the time to imagine what an eternity would be like even in the best possible place. But that’s not the only reason the whole idea fails.”
“Do tell!” said Madeleine. “The more reasons you can give me to help me stop believing, the better.”
“Okay,” said Edgar. “Let’s say someone you love didn’t make it into Heaven. Someone who, let’s imagine, was a lifelong, unrepentant atheist.”
“Easy to imagine,” said Madeleine with a smile.
“Would you be happy, knowing that that person was burning in Hell? Suffering the worst punishment imaginable?”
“Goodness, no!” said Madeleine. “If I knew that for certain, then no – that would make me sad.”
“But there’s no sadness in Heaven,” said Edgar, “according to the Bible. So either that’s wrong, or you wouldn’t be remotely upset at the fact that this person you love is being eternally tortured. And if that didn’t upset you at all ... would you really be you? Isn’t your compassion part of what makes you you?”
Madeleine was silent for a moment. Then she said, “You’ve thought about this a great deal, haven’t you?”
“I read,” said Edgar. “And I watch a lot of YouTube videos. These aren’t my ideas. But I think they are valid reasons to reject an ideology that not only has no good evidence in support of itself, but doesn’t even make logical sense when examined under a critical lens.”
Madeleine picked up a chip, dipped it in her ketchup, and bit it in half. After chewing for a few seconds, and swallowing, she said, “I think these arguments are so appealing to me because for a long time I’ve felt that, deep down, I’m not a very good Christian. I do my best and I put on a good front ... but for years I’ve felt this ... longing, I suppose ... to break free from the life my parents want for me. It’s often felt quite ... suffocating. Not always ... and the thought of what I may be losing if I abandon my faith is a little terrifying ... but I just don’t think I can be that person anymore. Not now that you’ve filled me with such huge doubts about the truth of it all.”
Edgar smiled ruefully. “Well I’d hate to think that I’ve made your life worse. Might I suggest that you don’t rush into anything ... rash? Talk to your professors ... or whatever they have at Saint Aubrey’s ... and see if they can answer your doubts and questions to your satisfaction.”
Madeleine nodded, a little dubiously. “Can I ... call you?” she asked. “If I have questions for you ... or need to talk?”
“Yes, of course!” said Edgar. “You’ve got my work and home number...” Then he paused. “Madeleine, I’ve just had an idea.”
“Yes?” she said hopefully.
“What if we get ourselves phones?” said Edgar. “You know – smartphones. One for you and one for me. Same account, and I’ll pay for them. Your parents needn’t know ... but so what if they did? You’re a grown-up now and you can make a decision like this for yourself. But then we can text each other and call each other and have video calls and whatever else people with smartphones do ... and you’ll have constant access to the internet so you can find out all kinds of stuff for yourself...”
“Yes please, yes please!” Madeleine interrupted him, her eyes moist and bright. “What a lovely idea! Oh Uncle Eddie ... I love you so much!”
Edgar stared at her. Then he reached out, took her hand, and squeezed it. “I love you too, Madeleine.”
She looked at him softly for a few moments. Then she smiled. “I’m going to put on my new outfit! I’ll be right back.”
“Are you sure?” asked Edgar anxiously. “This is a very public place...”
“I’m sure,” she said firmly, and she skipped off to the toilets with the Connie’s Closet bag.
When she returned, she had her arms folded across her chest and was looking back and forth nervously, but as soon as she caught sight of Edgar, she smiled and dropped her arms. Almost immediately she began to attract startled glances, but she ignored them and made her way quickly back to the table. “Oh my goodness, I’m so exposed!” she practically squealed, her cheeks turning bright red. “Uncle Eddie...”
“Yes, Madeleine?” Edgar asked.
“I’m ... I’m not sure what to do next, but I feel like I need to do ... something! I feel like I’m on the cusp of some wonderful adventure...”
“Perhaps you are,” said Edgar. “I suspect that what you may be craving is for some handsome young man to come and sweep you off your feet ... to take you in his arms, and kiss you passionately, and take you away to show you all the things you’ve been missing out on, while living in your parents’ bubble.”
“Ohhh,” breathed Madeleine, with a little shiver. “That doesn’t sound half bad...”
“Well, there won’t be any shortage of applicants, with you dressed like that,” said Edgar. “Your biggest problem will be sifting through the chaff to find one that’s actually worthy of you. And there will be few enough of those.”
“And I have so little time!” said Madeleine ruefully.
“Well, we can embark on a quest to find you a nice young man to give you your first proper kiss,” said Edgar, “instead of getting phones, if you like.”
“No,” said Madeleine, shaking her head. “The phones come first. That’s even more important to me.”
“All right then,” said Edgar. “Let’s go to a phone shop. I know nothing about this and haven’t done any research, so it’s possible we’ll get ripped off something awful, but ... let’s do it.”
Not long after leaving the food court, they came to a Vodafone shop. “Vodafone,” said Edgar. “I suspect we’ll find what we need here.”
Inside, a slim young man with slicked-down hair and a smarmy expression took one glance at Madeleine, and immediately made a beeline for them. “Hello, how can I help you?” he asked with an oily smile. “My name’s Duncan.”
“I’d like to buy smartphones for myself and my niece,” said Edgar. “We’re both unfamiliar with the things and how it all works, I’m afraid.”
“Well I can certainly help you,” said Duncan, wrenching his eyes away from Madeleine’s breasts. Madeleine was watching him with a mixture of excitement and amusement. Over the course of the next few minutes, as he talked them through different options, his eyes frequently returned to Madeleine’s chest, until it was all she could do to keep herself from giggling.
Half an hour later, they walked out of the shop with two Vodafone Smart N8 phones. Edgar had no idea how these compared with the iPhones or Galaxy phones he had heard so much about, but they seemed to be capable of doing what he needed them to do, and more besides.
Madeleine sighed. “Well that was fun,” she said. “Although I wish he’d done more than just look.”
“What were you hoping he would do...?” Edgar inquired.
Madeleine shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “Say something lecherous, I suppose. Or maybe try to cop a feel.”
“You’d have liked it if he’d ... groped you?” asked Edgar.
“Yes!” said Madeleine. “I told you I’d love to be taken advantage of.” She bit her lip. “Oh dear ... what does that say about me? Am I ... a pervert? A slut?”
“Not at all,” said Edgar. “We all have our little kinks and fetishes. And they don’t just come from nowhere. I’d say yours is no great mystery: it likely stems from your repressed upbringing and the fact that your only boyfriend thus far was gentlemanly to a fault. It’s possible this is just a phase you’ll grow out of, but in the meantime you should feel free to embrace it.”
Madeleine beamed. “Oh Uncle Eddie, you really are the best! My parents would never in a million years say something like that!”
But Edgar had more to say. “I would, however, just like to sound a note of caution. It’s one thing to let yourself be taken advantage of ... and as long as you’re enjoying it, that’s great. But everyone has limits – even you. And many young men – especially the ones that get a kick out of taking advantage of young women – will not respect your limits.”
Madeleine chuckled. “I think I’d find that exciting,” she said.
“Hmm,” said Edgar, unconvinced. “Maybe.”
As they continued through the shopping centre, Madeleine’s outfit attracted plenty of attention, and she lapped it up. She giggled when a surprised-looking young man grinned and said, “All right darlin’? That’s a lovely pair you’ve got!” She sighed happily when someone wolf-whistled at her. She beamed in delight when two teenaged boys pointed and stared at her, whispering to each other with excited faces.
Then she herself stopped and stared in astonishment. “What’s that?” she asked in an awed tone.
“Ah,” said Edgar, nodding. “Ann Summers. Yes, I think you might like it in there.”
“Can we ... go in?” she asked excitedly.
“Of course,” said Edgar.
Inside, Madeleine stared in fascination at all the lingerie and fetish wear, and she looked curiously at some bondage gear ... but then she gasped, and clutched Edgar’s arm. “Uncle Eddie, look!”
“Ah yes,” said Edgar, glancing at the array of penis-like objects that had captured her attention. “Dildos. And vibrators. I’m sure you can imagine what you do with them.”
“Can I ... have one?” she asked, still transfixed.
Edgar chuckled. “Yes, Madeleine, of course you can. I never would have imagined myself saying this, a few days ago, but yes, I will buy you your first dildo.”
“Thank you!” said Madeleine. “May I please have that one?” She pointed to a large, flesh-coloured, veiny dildo.
“Hmm,” said Edgar. “That one doesn’t vibrate, you know...”
“I don’t mind,” said Madeleine, her cheeks very pink. “I just want to ... put it inside me.” She slapped her hands over her mouth with a little squeak.
“And so you shall,” said Edgar, amused. “Would you like a vibrator as well?”
“Yes please!”
Edgar picked one up. “How about this one?”
“It looks weird,” she said. “What’s that part for?”
“When you stick this part inside you,” Edgar explained, “this part presses against your clitoris, and the vibrations ... well, I’m sure you can imagine...”
“Yes please!” said Madeleine, her cheeks now crimson.
The middle-aged woman behind the front desk was polite, but unafraid to voice her opinion as she scanned their items. “That’s quite an outfit!” she remarked to Madeleine in a friendly tone, after giving Edgar a suspicious look.
Madeleine seemed too embarrassed to reply, so Edgar said, “She’s making up for lost time. Very restrictive fundamentalist Christian upbringing.”
“Ah, I see,” said the woman. “You’re not her father then?”
“Uncle,” said Edgar. “I know what you’re thinking, but I’m just along for the ride here, making sure she’s safe while she explores everything she’s been missing.”
The woman relaxed visibly. “Glad to hear it,” she said. “Not that it’s my place to be judgmental, but one can’t help having a protective maternal streak...”
“Quite right,” said Edgar.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll enjoy these,” said the woman, winking at Madeleine.
The teenager smiled bashfully. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
Once they had left the shop, she turned to Edgar. “Can we go home now?” she asked. “I can’t wait to try these out!”
“Oh! Okay,” said Edgar. “Are you all done with showing off your breasts?”
“I did hope to do a little more of that,” Madeleine admitted, “and perhaps get a bit taken advantage of ... but I’m just so excited to try out my new ... things!”
Edgar chuckled. “I’m sure,” he said. “All right then.”
But something had just caught Madeleine’s eye. “Wait,” she said. “Can we go in there?”
“Perfect Fit?” said Edgar. “Why ... oh.” Inside the sports and fitness shop, a good-looking and very muscular young man in a tank top was lifting dumbbells. “Yes, we can go in there and see the nice man with the muscles.”
Madeleine giggled. “Thank you,” she said.
The shop was far from empty, and the man in the tank top – who apparently worked there – had already been engaged by a customer by the time they reached the weights section. The customer, a spindly-looking man in his thirties, had asked about a set of neoprene dumbbells, and the muscular man was in the process of explaining the superiority of adjustable dumbbells. Then he caught sight of Edgar and Madeleine loitering close by, and hurriedly wrapped up his pitch.
“Can I help you with anything?” he asked, coming over with a smile, while looking Madeleine up and down with appreciation.
“Yes,” said Edgar. “My niece Madeleine here has led a pretty sedentary lifestyle so far, and we were hoping you could give her some pointers on ways she could get herself in better shape. Well, more fit. Her shape is very lovely already, as you can see.”
“Yes, I do see!” said the young man, taking this as permission to look Madeleine up and down again. “Although there’s definitely room for improvement in terms of muscle definition. I’d be happy to recommend some weights, and show you some exercises you can do.”
“Yes please,” said Madeleine, blushing deeply. “I’m particularly keen to have a flatter tummy.”
“Come on over here, then, Madeleine,” said the young man. “My name’s Lee, by the way.
“Nice to meet you, Lee,” said Madeleine, following him to an exercise bench.
He turned, and gestured to the bench. “We’ll start with some crunches and sit-ups,” he said. “These are both very simple exercises, designed to firm up your abdominal muscles. Just sit down on the end of the bench, and lie back.”
Madeleine sat down where he had indicated, with her knees overhanging the end of the bench, and her feet on the floor. Then she lay down along the length of the bench. “Like this?”
“Yes, exactly,” said Lee. “Now clasp your hands together behind your head ... yes, just like that. Now, lift your head and shoulders off the bench by curling your back forwards. Don’t pull your head up with your hands; you’ll do yourself an injury that way. There you go ... a bit more ... a bit more ... excellent. And relax. Do that ten times, and that’s a good set of crunches. You can also do them on the floor, but if you do, make sure you do it with your knees bent, and not with your legs straight. Now, let’s try a sit-up. If you do this on the floor, tuck your feet underneath something, like your couch. Or you can just have someone hold your feet down. Otherwise you’ll probably just end up lifting your legs in the air.” He walked to the end of the bench, and crouched down in front of her knees. “Do you mind if I hold your knees down while you try a sit-up?”
“No – go ahead,” said Madeleine, her eyes widening a little.
Lee placed a hand on each of her knees. Edgar was fairly certain that the young man could see straight up the middle of her skirt from his vantage point. He suspected that Madeleine knew this, too – and that she did not mind at all. So he said nothing.
“Now try to sit up,” said Lee.
Madeleine tried, but succeeded merely in performing another crunch. In the effort, though, her knees came slightly apart ... and it was impossible for Edgar to tell whether this was an involuntary action on Madeleine’s part, or a a deliberate act by either her or Lee. Whichever it was, Lee’s downward glance and barely-suppressed grin indicated that he had just had a nice view of Madeleine’s panties.
“That’s too hard!” Madeleine gasped, relaxing back on to the bench. Her knees closed.
“Try it with your hands by your sides,” Lee suggested. “That’ll shift your centre of gravity this way, and you should find it easier.”
“Okay,” said Madeleine, unclasping her hands and bringing them down to her sides. “I’ll try that.”
“Also,” said Lee, “try spreading your knees and feet apart a bit. That’ll give you more stability.”
Madeleine’s eyes widened. “But then you’ll ... see ... I mean ... I suppose I’m not very appropriately dressed for this exercise...”
“Yeah, you won’t want to wear something with a non-stretchy waistband, like that skirt, when you work out,” said Lee. “Good workout clothes should be light, and should be able to stretch to conform to your body’s movements. But for now we’re just doing a little demonstration, so it shouldn’t matter too much. Why don’t you try spreading your knees apart?”
“But ... you’ll see my panties!” said Madeleine with breathless anxiety.
Edgar chuckled. “Madeleine,” he said, “people can already see your breasts through that top. Why you thought you could get away with going without a bra today, I have no idea, but it’s a little late to worry about modesty. Lee’s a professional; he knows what he’s doing, and he’s only trying to help you. I suggest you do as he asks.”
“Okay Uncle Eddie,” said Madeleine timidly, and she began to move her knees apart.
“That’s it ... good...” said Lee, staring intently at her panties. “Bit more ... bit more ... you want a nice solid stable base for your legs, so keep going ... okay, good.”
Madeleine’s thighs were forming an angle of at least sixty degrees now. Even Edgar, from his vantage point four feet to her right, and level with her knees, could see her panties. Lee, he knew, must have a spectacular view.
“Now try again to sit up,” said Lee, his hands still on Madeleine’s knees.
This time, Madeleine managed to sit up. “I did it!” she said.
“Great!” said Lee. “To begin with, you can do ten crunches or five sit-ups. As your abs get stronger, start doing both as part of your routine. Then, add more crunches and more sit-ups.”
“Okay,” said Madeleine. “What’s next?”
“Well,” said Lee, “if you want a flat, well-toned tummy, strengthening your abs is only half the battle. You’ll also want to get rid of the fat that’s currently covering the muscle. And for that, you need lots of cardio exercise. Would you like to try out a treadmill?”
“Oh – one of those conveyor belt things?” asked Madeleine. “Yes please!” She brought her knees together, and stood up.
Lee led them over to a treadmill. “Hop on there,” he said. “There you go. I’ll just set a slow pace to start with... You don’t need to hold on to the handles; just start walking, fast enough to maintain your position. There, that’s it. Okay, I’m going to speed it up now, to a jogging pace. There – keep maintaining your position.”
Madeleine had broken into a jog, and both Lee’s and Edgar’s gazes were riveted by her unfettered, wildly bouncing breasts. “How am I doing?” she asked breathlessly.
“Brilliantly,” said Lee. “I don’t know if a treadmill is within your budget, but if not, obviously you can get the same benefit from ordinary jogging.”
“What sort of distance should she be jogging?” Edgar asked.
“Start with half a mile,” said Lee. “Nice gentle pace. There are free apps that use GPS to track your distance and speed. A good one is Runkeeper. Set yourself goals. When you see how long it takes you to run half a mile, try to beat that time on your next run.” Seeing that Madeleine was flagging, he slowed the treadmill by degrees, until it and Madeleine had come to a halt.
“I’m not sure I could keep up that pace for half a mile!” Madeleine panted.
“That’s fine, just set a pace that you can manage,” said Lee. “But if you’re going to be jogging, you’ll want some more appropriate clothing.”
“Yes!” Madeleine agreed sheepishly. “My chest was feeling rather ... bouncy.”
“I suggest a sports bra,” said Lee. “You can wear one under your top, but most of them are fine as outerwear. You’ll find multiple layers get pretty hot when you’re running; it’s best to dress as light as possible. Would you like to try one on?”
“Um ... sure,” said Madeleine, looking around for signs of a changing room. She spotted one on the other side of the shop, and nodded in relief.
“I’ll fetch one for you,” said Lee. “Unlike ordinary bras, they don’t come in cup sizes, and they’re stretchy, so while they’re not exactly ‘one size fits all’, it’s easy enough to get one that fits. I’ll be right back.”
Once he was out of earshot, Edgar said in a low voice, “Are you having fun?”
“Yes!” replied Madeleine, and she giggled quietly. “Lots!”
“Good,” said Edgar. “I hope you didn’t mind me encouraging to open your legs for him.”
“No, not at all!” Madeleine assured him. “You were perfect. That was exactly what I wanted.”
Lee returned with a white sports bra. “Here, try this on,” he said.
Madeleine took it, and said, “Okay, I’ll be right back.” She stepped off the treadmill, and walked off towards the changing room.
“How about you?” Lee asked Edgar. “Are you in need of any fitness advice or gear?”
“Thank you, but no,” said Edgar. “My leg doesn’t afford me much mobility.”
“You should still exercise though,” said Lee. “You could do plenty of upper body strength training, and there are leg exercises that you can do for just one leg, and maybe even your other, depending on how much you can use it.”
“You’re probably right,” Edgar conceded, “but today I’m just here for my niece. Perhaps I’ll come back sometime and talk to you about my workout routine.”
“Okay, well I’ll be happy to help you out, whenever that happens to be,” said Lee, nodding.
A minute later, Madeleine returned, holding her arms over her belly and clutching her sheer top in her right hand. The sports bra was clearly too small for her; her breasts were practically spilling out of it, and she looked rather embarrassed and awkward.
“Ah,” said Lee. “Perhaps I should have got the large instead.”
“Oh, the size is fine,” said Madeleine. “I don’t mind showing some cleavage. I just don’t like having my tummy uncovered.”
“You will once you’ve toned it up a bit, though,” said Lee. “In the meantime, you can wear something light over the top of it.”
Madeleine nodded. “Okay,” she said.
“Now,” said Lee, “at the beginning of every workout, you should always do some simple stretching exercises. This will help to loosen up your muscles and joints, and will help to prevent injury. If you’re just running, it’s important to stretch your legs. For sit-ups and crunches, you’ll want to stretch your neck, shoulders, and torso. If you plan to do anything with weights, stretching the arms is important too. For right now, why don’t I give you a quick demo of all of the above?”
“That sounds good – thank you,” said Edgar, and Madeleine nodded in agreement.
“Okay!” said Lee. “First we’ll do the arms. You can do these standing up. Just do what I do.” He raised his arms above his head, clasping his fingers together and turning his palms upwards. “And ... push up and backwards, so you feel the stretch ... hold for five seconds ... and relax. Arms down ... bring your right arm across your chest, keeping it straight ... pull it back against you with your left hand ... five seconds...”
He continued to talk her through various arm stretches, before segueing into back stretches. For the last of these, he asked her to lie down on the floor. “Wait though,” he said. “Let me get you a yoga mat; it’ll be more comfy.” He pulled one off a nearby shelf, and spread it out on the floor. “You should consider getting one of these,” he said. “Useful for any number of floor exercises, not just yoga. Now, just lie down there, Madeleine.” She did so. “Good. Now lift your right knee, grab it with your left hand, and pull it across your left thigh. Keep both shoulders on the mat; we’re twisting your back here. Good, pull it down as far as you comfortably can. Five seconds ... and straighten your leg again. Now the other leg ... good.”
Edgar was getting little glimpses of Madeleine’s panties as she performed these stretches, and he was sure that Lee was getting an even better view. But things were about to get a lot sexier.
“This brings us nicely to some leg-stretching exercises,” said Lee. “Bring your right knee up to your chest, and hold it there with both hands.”
Madeleine did so, her breathing quickening as she realised the view she was now presenting to both Lee and Edgar. “Like this?”
“Perfect,” said Lee, staring unabashedly at her panties. “Hold that pose ... little bit longer ... and relax. Now the other leg.”
Madeleine now pulled her left knee up to her chest, once again exposing a large part of her panties to Lee and Edgar. “I’m a bit worried about how much I’m showing!” she ventured timidly.
“Well, I can see your panties,” said Lee, “but there’s no need to feel embarrassed about that. They’re clean, and pretty. Should we stop, or do you think you can handle a bit of exposure, in the good cause of helping you get fit?”
“I ... I suppose you’re right that it’s a good cause,” Madeleine conceded. “We can continue.”
“Good,” said Lee. “Now, bring both knees up to your chest, and hold your knees with your hands. That’s good. Now pull your knees apart, as far as you comfortably can.”
“Oh gosh,” said Madeleine anxiously, as she pulled her knees apart, tentatively spreading her thighs and even more fully exposing her panties to Lee’s intense gaze.
“Keep going – wider apart,” Lee encouraged her. “As wide as you can.”
Madeleine bit her lip, but kept pulling her knees apart, displaying her panties more and more lewdly.
Lee licked his lips as he stared down at the soft panty-covered mound of her pussy. “That’s it,” he said softly. “Hold that position for a few seconds.” A few seconds passed. Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket, and said, “Very good – keep holding that position. Now, you’ll find that after stretching regularly for a few weeks, you’ll become more flexible, and you’ll be able to stretch further than you can at the moment. So what I suggest is, let me take a photo of how far you can stretch today, and I’ll send it to you ... and that can be your baseline. You can compare it with similar photos you take in a month’s time, three months’ time, six months’ time ... and see how much more flexible you are.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” said Edgar. “I’m sure it would be helpful to track your progress, wouldn’t it Madeleine?”
Madeleine’s eyes widened. “You want to take a photo of me in this position?”
“Don’t worry – I’m not going to put it on the internet or anything,” Lee assured her. “I’ll just send it to you, and delete it from my phone. Okay?”
“Um ... okay...” said Madeleine uncertainly.
Lee knelt up, and leaned back a little, holding up his phone and framing his shot so that the white expanse of Madeleine’s panties occupied a central position, and her worried-looking face was in full view. He took a handful of photos, from various distances, including a close-up in which the slim gusset of her panties filled the screen. Then he said, “All right. Now, keeping your thighs apart, let go of your knees with your hands ... yup ... straighten out your legs a bit, and tuck your hands around the outside of your thighs, behind your knees, and grab the inside of your thighs from beneath. Good, yes. Now, move your knees away from your chest, lowering your feet until they hit the floor. Keep your thighs spread as wide apart as possible. Perfect. I’ll just take another photo...”
“This is very embarrassing!” said Madeleine ruefully, holding her legs in an uncomfortably wide spread as Lee took several photos, from multiple angles and distances.
“It’s all in a good cause,” Edgar reminded her.
“It truly is,” Lee agreed. Putting his phone down, he reached between her legs and placed his hands on her inner thighs. “Do you feel how tight this muscle is?” he asked, sliding his hands up and down her soft skin. “It’s called the adductor longus, and it’s quite susceptible to strain injuries in certain kinds of physical activities. Stretching it ... as you’re doing now ... is very good for preventing those injuries.”
“Oh!” said Madeleine, her cheeks burning. “Well, that’s good to know...”
“Yup,” said Lee. “It runs from the inside of your knees, right here ... up the inside of your thighs ... along here ... all the way to your groin, here.”
Madeleine gasped; Lee’s hands were nudging up against the edges of her panties.
But then he withdrew his hands. “Now,” he said, “bring your knees back up to your chest, and straighten your legs as much as you can ... what’s the matter?”
Madeleine had grimaced. “It’s my skirt,” she said, putting her feet back down on the mat. “The waistband really digs into my tummy when I lift my knees up like this.”
“Yeah, it’s not the best garment for a workout,” Lee acknowledged. “Let me go and find you something comfortable for your bottom half, that you can both work out in and run in.”
“That would be great,” said Madeleine, sounding relieved.
“Okay, well, you’ve got a few options,” said Lee. “There’s the Lycra-type compression shorts, which are form-fitting and stretchy. They’re quite long – they’ll come down to your knees, almost – but they’re lightweight and breathable. It’s a high-performance garment, and a little more expensive than some of the others. Then there’s the classic polyester running shorts – loose-fitting, and much shorter – very popular, especially with the more casual runner. There’s also the shorter fitted shorts ... or if you want to look like a serious runner, you could go for the running brief – the item of choice for Olympic athletes and hardcore marathon runners. Lightweight, cool ... and one of the least expensive options. Not as popular with the casual crowd because it barely covers any more than a pair of panties ... but since you clearly have the legs to pull off the skimpier look, I might recommend that option. Entirely up to you, of course.”
“I don’t know,” said Madeleine uncertainly. “What do you think, Uncle Eddie?”
“Well if you’re really serious about getting in shape,” said Edgar, “then you might as well go with the one professional athletes wear. If you look the part, that might build your self-confidence. Plus, it might draw attention away from your tummy, until such time as you get it nice and flat.”
“Okay,” said Madeleine. “I’ll go with that one, then.”
“Excellent!” said Lee. “I’ll be right back.”
“Still having fun?” Edgar inquired, once Lee was out of sight.
“Oh yes!” said Madeleine excitedly. “Did you see the way he was staring at my panties?”
“I did,” said Edgar, nodding.
“I noticed you were looking too,” Madeleine remarked.
Edgar’s cheeks flushed. “Briefly, perhaps,” he admitted. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry!” said Madeleine. “I told you I don’t mind you looking. Look as much as you want. Enjoy the view as much as you want.” She spread her knees apart. “I want to make you happy, Uncle Eddie. Doesn’t this make you happy?”
“I won’t deny it’s a pretty sight,” Edgar admitted. “And highly titillating. But I wouldn’t say it makes me happy.”
“Only because you’re too busy feeling guilty, I dare say,” Madeleine hypothesised. “You should stop that.”
Edgar sighed. “Look, being an atheist doesn’t mean I have no sexual morals...”
“Shhh,” said Madeleine, closing her knees.
“Here,” said Lee, returning with a tiny yellow garment clutched in his hand. “Try this on.”
“Um,” said Madeleine, getting to her feet and taking the garment. “Instead of my panties, or over my panties?”
“Over,” said Lee. “I can’t let you try it on without panties underneath.”
Madeleine looked over at the changing room, but there was now a queue. With a shrug, she kicked off her shoes, one at a time, then she opened out the running brief. Stepping into it, she pulled it up her legs and around her bottom, as her wrists dragged her skirt up. Then, unzipping the skirt, she pulled it down, stepped out of it, and straightened up. “Ugh,” she said, tugging at the seams of the running brief.
“Too tight?” Lee asked. “Sorry, I apparently misjudged your hip measurement. I’ll go and get the next size up.” He held out his hand. “Give me that one, and I’ll take it back and get a small. No need to put your skirt back on; your uncle and I have already seen your panties ... and I’ll only be a moment.”
Madeleine paused in the act of stooping to pick up her skirt, and looked around nervously. No other customers or shop staff were near enough to have a direct line of sight to her panties. “All right,” she said, pulling down the yellow brief. “But please be quick!”
“Of course,” said Lee. He took the garment from her, while smiling appreciatively at her fully exposed panties. “I’ll be right back.”
When he was gone, Madeleine giggled quietly. “I wonder if he’ll try to talk me out of this top next!”
“Are you hoping he will?” asked Edgar. “Do you want to show him your breasts?”
Madeleine nodded eagerly. “But he’s going to have to work for it,” she said. “I don’t want to seem too keen. I have a role to play here.”
“And you’re playing it beautifully,” said Edgar with a smile.
Lee returned, holding a small white garment. When he looked again at Madeleine, however, he paused. “You know,” he said, “if you want to save yourselves some money, I’d just like to point out that this running brief – we only have this size in white – is pretty much exactly the same size, shape and colour as the panties you’re currently wearing.” He opened out the brief. “Okay it’s slightly larger, but not by much. Looking at you, with that sports bra on, I could quite easily believe you’re already wearing a white running brief.”
Edgar looked at Madeleine’s panties. There was no mistaking them for anything but panties. “By Jove, you’re right!” he said. “Heck, Madeleine, in that case, we might as well save ourselves a few pounds and have you work out or run in just a pair of white panties.”
“You really think so?” asked Madeleine dubiously.
“Seriously!” said Lee. “Even without shoes on, right now you totally look the part of an experienced long distance runner.”
“Yes, I agree,” said Edgar. “You do.”
“Well ... all right then,” said Madeleine hesitantly.
“No need for this then!” said Lee, putting the white brief down on a nearby shelf. “Now, back to your stretching. Can you get down on your hands and knees on the yoga mat? Facing away from me, that would be great.” Madeleine did so. “Perfect. Now put your weight on your right knee, and raise your left knee up and out sideways, as high as you can. Nice. Okay, let me take a photo of that, for our baseline.” He took several more photos of her panties, then, as her knee began to dip, he put down his phone, and tucked his hand under her thigh. “This is another good one for your adductor longus. You’ll really feel it along here...” He slid his hand all the way up to the edge of her panties. “And also in your gluteus maximus, right here.” He laid his other hand on her buttock.
“Yes, I can feel it – it’s quite tiring!” said Madeleine.
“Okay, set your left knee down,” said Lee, “and raise your right knee.” As Madeleine lowered her left knee, his hand briefly became sandwiched between her thighs, nestling against her panties. But then she lifted her right knee up and outward, and he moved his hand over to cup her right thigh instead – again, just next to her panties.
Madeleine suppressed a gasp. On its way from her left inner thigh to her right inner thigh, Lee’s hand had brushed over her panty-clad pussy ... in fact, she was almost sure he had briefly cupped her pussy with his palm and fingers.
“Good,” said Lee, laying his other hand on her right buttock. “This really is a good one for the glutes. If you look at before and after photos, from today and from after you’ve been working out a few months, you’ll be amazed at how much firmer and tighter your bottom will look.”
“Really?” asked Madeleine.
“Absolutely,” said Lee. “In fact, let’s take a better photo of your bottom, so you can better compare it with future photos.” He took hold of her panties, and tugged them upwards, so that they bunched together and sank between her buttocks, almost completely exposing them.
Madeleine squealed as she put her right knee down. “This is very embarrassing!” she protested.
“It’s just like wearing a thong,” said Lee, though how that was supposed to make Madeleine feel better, he did not explain. He took a couple more photos, then said, “Actually, can you drop to your elbows instead of your hands? And arch your back... And move those knees about a foot apart... Perfect.” He took more photos.
“Is this supposed to be part of my stretching routine?” Madeleine asked plaintively.
“No,” said Lee. “You certainly don’t need to take photos every time. It’s only over a long period of time that you’ll really start to see a difference. Okay, back to the stretching. Bring your knees back together, and stick your left leg out straight behind you. Yes, good. Lift it up, up ... as high as you can. You’ll feel the stretch in the front of your thigh.”
“Yes, I can,” said Madeleine. “Should I still be on my elbows?”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Lee confirmed.
“You know,” said Edgar, “I’m feeling a little surplus to requirements here, so I’m going to take this opportunity to do a little shopping of my own. Do you mind, Madeleine, if I leave you in Lee’s capable hands?”
Feeling Lee’s hand cupping her inner thigh again, his thumb pressing against her pussy, Madeleine said, a little breathlessly, “Go ahead. How long do you think you’ll need?”
“I’ll be back in about ten minutes,” said Edgar.
“Okay, see you in a bit,” said Madeleine.
Edgar headed towards the front of the shop, but he did not leave. He was sure someone was going to come upon Lee ‘helping’ Madeleine to stretch, and would complain ... in which case, he and Madeleine would have to beat a hasty retreat.
But as luck would have it, the weights section saw no traffic during the next few minutes, and Lee and Madeleine, tucked out of sight behind a rack of weights, remained undisturbed. After five minutes, Edgar, feeling a little anxious, decided to take a peek at what Lee and Madeleine were doing. He sauntered past a rack of golf clubs, then past some tennis and squash racquets, and peered around the corner into the weights section.
He could see Madeleine and Lee, both kneeling on the floor and facing each other. Madeleine was clutching her sports bra protectively; Lee was talking to her animatedly, but in a low voice. Madeleine was looking anxious, but was nodding reluctantly. Then, with a nervous look around, she pulled the sports bra up and over her head, exposing her large, beautiful breasts ... which she promptly covered with her hands.
Lee, talking to her in a reassuring manner, gently took hold of her wrists, and pulled her hands down to her sides. Madeleine looked around again, and this time she spotted Edgar. She did not smile or wave, but her gaze lingered long enough to prompt Lee to turn and look in the same direction. By that time, however, Edgar had retreated out of sight.
He gave them another five minutes, idly browsing among racks of clothing that he would never have a use for. Then, drawn by a keen desire to know what was happening now, he returned to his vantage point.
They were now sitting on the bench. Madeleine was straddling it, looking towards the front of the shop, with her arms held out to the sides. Her hands were clutching small neoprene dumbbells, and a look of concentration was on her face. Lee was sitting behind her, whispering words of encouragement over her shoulder, while his hands clutched her breasts. As Edgar watched with mixed feelings, Lee began gently kneading the soft and supple orbs, and Madeleine tilted her head back with a faint smile as her arms began to droop. Lee murmured something to her, and she nodded.
As much as he wanted to continue watching, Edgar did not want them to see him, and they were facing in his approximate direction. So he backed out of sight again, and spent the next five minutes looking at sports footwear. Then, since it had now been at least fifteen minutes, he decided it was time to return, regardless of what Lee and Madeleine were currently doing.
He re-entered the weights section from the other side this time. Madeleine was lying on her back on the yoga mat, wearing only her panties and with her legs spread wide. Lee was lying on his side next to her, looming over her, with his lips planted on hers. It was obvious that his tongue was in her mouth. His left hand was tucked into the front of her panties, and Edgar surmised that he had at least one finger inside her.
He cleared his throat. Immediately, Lee whipped his hand out of Madeleine’s panties, and jumped to his feet. “I was just, er...”
“I know what you were just,” said Edgar. “Come on Madeleine.”
Looking very flushed, Madeleine quickly fetched her sheer top and tan skirt, and put them on.
“I’ll see you later, yeah?” said Lee.
Madeleine looked quickly at Edgar. “I ... I don’t know. Maybe.”
“What’s this?” Edgar inquired.
“Lee invited me to a party this evening,” said Madeleine.
“Oh?” The thought of this made Edgar uncomfortable. “You exchanged phone numbers?”
Madeleine nodded. “I’d like to go...”
“We’ll talk about it,” said Edgar.
“Bye Lee,” said Madeleine, and then she followed Edgar out of the shop. “Are you upset with me?”
“Not at all,” said Edgar, a little shortly. “Are you upset that I interrupted your fun with Lee?”
“Not really,” said Madeleine. “I mean ... it was very exciting ... I’ve never done anything like that with a man before ... but I was kind of worried someone would come along and we’d get into trouble.”
“Well I’m sure the two of you can pick up where you left off at the party later,” said Edgar.
“So I can go?” asked Madeleine hopefully.
“Of course you can go, if that’s what you want,” said Edgar. “You’re old enough to decide that for yourself; I have no right to stand in your way. And I wouldn’t want to, anyway – I want you to be happy.”
“Thank you Uncle Eddie,” said Madeleine, taking his hand and squeezing it. “You’re the best. Shall we go home now?”
“Sure,” said Edgar.
They left the shopping centre, and Edgar drove them back home. Madeleine disappeared into her room with her new toys, while Edgar stayed downstairs, trying to get to grips with his new phone. The sounds of pleasure from upstairs, however, proved quite distracting. He could tell the exact moment she reached her climax, and he briefly considered the amusing notion of sending her a congratulatory text.
Ten minutes later, she came down the stairs, and entered the living room, wearing only her panties. Edgar’s eyes widened at the sight of her bare breasts, which she was making no attempt to cover. “Is this okay?” she asked shyly. “I can go and put a top on if you prefer.”
“If you want to go topless in this house, you’re welcome to do so,” said Edgar.
Madeleine bit her lip for a moment, then said, “What do you think ... of my breasts?”
“They’re beautiful,” said Edgar. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfect pair of breasts.”
Madeleine giggled. “Thank you,” she said. “Please feel free to stare at them all you want. I love being ... ogled.”
“Even by your old uncle?” Edgar inquired uncomfortably.
“Fifty-four isn’t old, Uncle Eddie!” said Madeleine sternly.
“I feel old, though,” Edgar sighed, and rubbed his bad leg. “Mostly because of this, of course.”
Madeleine smiled sympathetically. “Does it hurt?”
“All the time,” said Edgar. “Some days more than others ... but, yeah.”
Madeleine came over and sat down next to him on the sofa. “Poor Uncle Eddie,” she said. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like. To lose your wife and son ... and...”
“Don’t ... please...” said Edgar. “I don’t want your sympathy. I’m all right. The best way you can help me is to live your life to the fullest. That’ll make me happy.”
She put her arm around him, and kissed his cheek. “I plan to,” she said. Then she giggled. “Thank you for my new toys – I love them!”
“You’re welcome,” Edgar said with a chuckle.
“Can we watch a movie now?” Madeleine asked. “Something fun and exciting and sexy?”
“Hmm,” said Edgar, thinking. “Aha – I know...”
They watched Conan the Barbarian. Madeleine loved it.
Afterwards, she went upstairs and changed into her new dress. Unsatisfied with its length, however, she took it off, then she fetched her sewing kit from her bag, and set to work...
An hour later, Edgar knocked on her door. “How’s it going in there, Madeleine?”
The door opened, and there stood Madeleine, still in just her panties, looking a little sheepish. “I’m afraid I may have messed up,” she confessed. “I’m very sorry – please don’t be upset.”
“Why, what have you done?” Edgar inquired.
“I shortened my dress,” she explained, her cheeks reddening. “And then ... I shortened it some more. I was feeling quite ... excited ... and I’m afraid I got a bit carried away.”
“Put it on,” said Edgar, “and come downstairs and model it for me. Let’s see how bad the damage is. But please don’t worry about me being upset, Madeleine. The dress was a gift – you were quite entitled to do with it as you wished.”
Madeleine nodded. “I’ll be down in a minute, then.”
Edgar made his way laboriously back down the stairs. He had only just sat down in the living room when Madeleine appeared in the doorway, her cheeks bright red and her hands clasped behind her back.
“Good grief!” said Edgar. “That’s ... very short!”
Indeed it was. Her hem was now so high that he could see her white panties peeping below the front. Then she turned around, and he could see the back of her panties and part of her buttocks peeping out as well. He guessed that the dress was now about two and a half inches short of completely covering her bottom.
“I’m sorry!” said Madeleine again, turning back to face him. “But ... is it ... I mean ... do you like it?”
“The question is, do you like it?” Edgar asked. “Does the thought of going out tonight in that dress excite you? Or scare you?”
“It excites me!” she said enthusiastically. “Well, it also scares me a little. But mainly I love the idea. But I don’t want to embarrass you...”
“Don’t worry about that,” said Edgar. “If you want to go out tonight and show off your panties, then I’ll happily be your companion ... if you wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with an old fuddy-duddy like me.”
“Never!” said Madeleine. She flung herself on to the sofa next to him, flung her arms around him, and kissed him on the cheek. “But will I get into trouble? I mean, will I be allowed into the restaurant?”
“Well I think I’ll have to be a little selective about which restaurant we choose,” said Edgar, “but I’m sure we’ll get in somewhere. Maybe we can sneak you in somehow.”
Madeleine giggled. “That sounds fun!”
“What time’s your party?” Edgar asked.
Madeleine shrugged. “Lee said I could get there whenever. I don’t want to cut our dinner short. Let’s just enjoy our meal, and you can take me to the party afterwards.”
“Okay,” said Lee. He sighed. “I’m a little worried about this party, Madeleine. You’re free to go, of course ... but I’m concerned for your safety.”
“I’ll be fine,” Madeleine assured him. “You’ve got his address and he knows it.” Then she brightened. “And I’ll have my new phone with me! I can call you if I need you to come to my rescue.”
“We should try our phones out,” said Edgar. “Make sure we know how to use them – at least for the simple stuff, like calling each other.”
“Good idea,” Madeleine agreed, and they spent the next few minutes familiarising themselves with their phones’ basic functionality, which turned out to be more intuitive than Edgar had expected. They tried calling each other, texting each other, leaving and retrieving voicemails, and even taking pictures of each other. Madeleine, upon being asked to pose, hiked up her dress to fully expose her panties, and grinned impishly. Edgar chuckled, and took the photo anyway.
“Ready to go and eat?” he asked eventually.
“Yes!” said Madeleine. “Have you decided where we’re going?”
“I’ve made reservations at an Italian place not far from here,” said Edgar. “I’ve heard good things about it.”
“You think they’ll let me in?” asked Madeleine uncertainly.
“They’re Italians!” said Edgar. “If anyone’s likely to give a beautiful young woman a pass for showing a little too much skin, it’d surely be an Italian.”
Madeleine laughed. “If you say so!” she said. “You look very nice, by the way.”
Edgar had put on his nicest suit for the occasion, but he still felt drab and shabby next to Madeleine. “Thank you,” he said, “but nobody will be looking at me, I assure you!”
“Do I look ... good?” asked Madeleine nervously. “I mean, I know I’m likely to turn heads ... but ... will people just be sneering ... or will they think I’m...”
“Madeleine,” said Edgar, taking her hands in his, “you look breathtaking. You are a beautiful young woman, and in that dress you look just ... out of this world gorgeous. Every man who sees you will be lusting after you, and a good proportion of them, I’ll bet, will fall in love with you instantly. You ... look ... stunning.”
Madeleine sighed happily. “Thank you,” she said. “That was just what I needed. Now I’m ready to face the world.”
They went out to the car, and Edgar drove them to the restaurant. Once he had parked, deep in thought, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment. “Wait here,” he said. “I’m going to test the waters in there.”
“Okay,” said Madeleine, a little surprised.
Edgar got out of the car with his customary grace and finesse, and limped up to the door of the restaurant. Opening it, he entered, and found himself in a waiting area with push seating. A young couple in front of him were introducing themselves to a smartly-dressed waiter, who led them away to a table.
A waitress, equally smartly dressed, intercepted Edgar. “Good evening sir,” she said smoothly, with no trace of an Italian accent. “Do you have a reservation?”
“Yes, name of Colley,” said Edgar. “Table for two. But I need to warn you about my guest...”
“Oh?” said the waitress warily.
“She’s my niece,” said Edgar. “She’s in the car, and she’s a bit anxious about coming in. You see, she had a little mishap with her clothing – long story – and I stopped on the way here to buy her a nice dress, so she’d have something clean to wear. The thing is ... I got her the wrong size – I’m afraid I’m fairly hopeless at such things – and she’s ... well, you might say she’s a little underdressed. By that I mean ... her dress is quite a bit shorter than decorum would permit. I was hoping you might let us dine here despite that, and perhaps tuck us away in a booth or something where your other patrons won’t be offended by the brevity of her dress. Of course, while she’s sitting down we can put a napkin on her lap...”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” the waitress interrupted him. “But thank you for the warning. We have your table ready, and it is in a booth. By all means fetch your niece in, and I’ll take you straight to your table.”
“Thank you!” said Edgar. “And please try not to comment on her dress, however tempted you might be; she’s horribly embarrassed about it, poor thing.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” said the waitress, seeming rather offended by the request.
“Of course not – sorry,” said Edgar. “You’ll have to forgive me if I seem overprotective. I’ll be right back.”
He went back out to the car, and said to Madeleine, “Come on – I think we’ll be fine here.”
Madeleine got out of the car, and fiddled nervously with the hem of her ultra-short dress as she followed Edgar into the restaurant. The waitress, by now some distance away, glanced back towards them, then did a double-take as she spotted Madeleine’s panties peeping out from beneath her dress. She hurried over, looking anxious. “Uh ... right this way please,” she said.
Madeleine thrilled to the sight of other diners staring in shock at her legs, dress and panties as she followed Edgar and the waiter to a booth. Sitting down, she looked up as the waitress, red-faced, handed her a menu and said, “Can I get you both something to drink?”
“A bottle of white wine, please,” said Edgar. “Whatever you recommend.”
“Certainly sir,” said the waitress. “Your waiter, David, will be with you shortly.”
“Well this place seems nice,” said Madeleine, looking around.
“Yes,” Edgar agreed. “I hope you don’t mind me ordering wine.”
“Not at all,” said Madeleine. “I’d love to try their wine.” She picked up her menu, and began to peruse it.
“Do you see anything you fancy?” Edgar asked.
“I’m spoiled for choice!” she replied. “Everything looks very nice.”
By the time David, their waiter, showed up, they had come to a decision. “I’d like the Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken, please,” said Madeleine.
“A good choice,” said the geekish-looking young man, peering down at her lap with wide eyes as he poured her a glass of wine. “And for you, sir?”
“I’ll have the ravioli please,” said Edgar. “And could we have some Bruschetta as a starter?”
“Yes, of course,” said David. “Anything else?”
“No, that’ll be all,” said Edgar. “Thank you.”
David departed, and Madeleine giggled. “Did you see how he was looking down at my thighs?”
“Yup,” said Edgar. “Seems like you could have some fun with him, if you wanted.”
Madeleine shook her head. “I’m sure I’ll be having plenty of fun later, at Lee’s party,” she said. “Right now I just want to spend quality time with my favourite uncle. And talk.”
“What about?” Edgar asked.
“Atheism,” said Madeleine. “It still scares me. I mean ... what if we’re wrong? I feel like I’m about ninety-five percent convinced that there’s no such thing as a soul, and ninety-nine percent convinced that the Bible isn’t a reliable source of information about God ... but I’m still having a hard time with the idea of there not being a God at all. I mean, where did everything come from, if God doesn’t exist?”
“Well, you’ve heard of the Big Bang Theory, I assume?” said Edgar, before immediately thinking that perhaps he should not assume this at all.
“Yes,” said Madeleine, without enthusiasm. “I do know about that. Everything exploded from nothing, for no reason at all. Sorry, but that seems way more far-fetched to me than the idea of God.”
“I’m sure it does,” said Edgar, “if it’s been explained to you in those terms. But that’s a horrible misrepresentation of the theory. It doesn’t posit that everything came from nothing, at all – only that the universe was once very small, very dense, and very hot. And then it rapidly expanded, and cooled, allowing matter as we know it to form. We have overwhelming evidence that this was indeed the case; at this point it’s simply established fact.”
“What evidence?” asked Madeleine doubtfully. “How can we possibly know what happened millions of years ago?”
“By peering into space,” said Edgar. “As we look farther and farther into the universe, with more and more powerful telescopes, we’re looking further and further back in time.”
“Well,” said Edgar, “light doesn’t travel instantaneously. It has a speed.”
“Yes, I’ve heard of the speed of light,” said Madeleine. “I couldn’t tell you how fast it is, though.”
“It’s fast,” said Edgar. “Light coming from the Moon takes a second and a half to reach us. Light from the sun – eight minutes or so. Light from the nearest star – about four years. Which means we are seeing that star not as it is right now, but as it was four years ago. You see? Looking back in time.”
“How do you know this stuff?” Madeleine asked incredulously. “All these facts and figures?”
“I read,” said Edgar, with a shrug. “Anyway...”
“Wait,” said Madeleine, shaking her head. “How do we even know that, though? How do we know how far away stars are? There are no tape measures big enough to measure the distances!”
“Well, there’s a variety of ways we can figure out distances in space,” said Edgar. “But ... we’re getting a little off track here...”
“I don’t care,” said Madeleine. “Educate me, Uncle Eddie! I feel like I’ve spent my whole life in a dark room, and now I’m being taken outside for the first time. I know you can’t tell me everything at once ... but right now I’m dying to know how they can measure the distances to stars!”
Edgar took a deep breath. “Okay. Well, for nearby stars, we can use parallax.”
Madeleine smiled, and put her chin on her hands as she rested her elbows on the table. “And what’s parallax?”
“Do you know any geometry?” Edgar asked.
“Yes!” said Madeleine. “Angles and stuff. I’m quite good at that.”
“Okay,” said Edgar. “That’s a good start. How about triangulation?”
“Um ... I’ve heard of it...?” said Madeleine.
“Well, triangulation is quite simple,” said Edgar. “It relies on the principle that if you know all of the angles in a triangle, and the length of one of its sides, you can figure out the lengths of the other two sides.”
“Okay,” said Madeleine, nodding.
“So,” Edgar continued, “as the Earth goes around the Sun, its view of the relative positions of the stars changes ... very slightly. Just like how you and I, looking around this room, have a slightly different view by virtue of being located on opposite sides of this table.”
Madeleine nodded again. “I’m with you so far.”
“Excellent,” said Edgar. “So, while most stars and other astronomical objects don’t seem to move much, if at all, over the course of a year, the nearest stars do – their position oscillates slightly, and we can measure how much they move relative to the background of more distant stars.”
“Okay...” said Madeleine, nodding.
“That movement gives us one of our angles,” said Edgar. “Imagine an isosceles triangle with one point being the star, and the two other points being the Earth on opposite sides of the Sun. The tiny angle is the one we’ve measured by observing the position of the star from those other two points. The other two angles, being identical, we can calculate from the first. So we have all three angles. All we need is the length of one side. And that length, the distance between opposite points on the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, we also know. It’s just the diameter of the Earth’s orbit. All right it’s not quite that easy, since the Earth’s orbit is an ellipse rather than a circle ... but the point is, we know that distance. Thus we can calculate the distance to the star.”
“I get it!” said Madeleine excitedly. “So ... how far away are the farthest stars?”
“Well we’ve seen galaxies that are about thirteen billion light-years away,” said Edgar. “We can’t see individual stars at that distance, of course. But powerful telescopes can certainly see individual stars in nearby galaxies, like Andromeda, which is two million light-years away...”
“And a light-year...” said Madeleine.
“Sorry – that’s the distance light travels in a year,” explained Edgar. “So, the Andromeda galaxy being two million light-years away, we’re seeing it as it was two million years ago.”
“Two million years!” echoed Madeleine. “And I’ve always been told the universe is only six thousand years old!” She chuckled.
Edgar rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure,” he grumbled.
“And we’ve measured the distance to Andromeda by parallax?” asked Madeleine.
“No,” said Edgar, shaking his head. “It’s too far away for that. We use a couple of different methods for galaxies. For Andromeda I think they used standard candles.”
Madeleine put her head back in her hands as she smiled happily at her uncle. “Tell me about standard candles.”
Edgar took a deep breath, then launched into an explanation of stellar evolution, in as much detail as his hazy recollection permitted. He was only just getting to standard candles when David returned with their Bruschetta.
“Thank you,” said Edgar. “So, as the white dwarf accumulates more and more mass, it will eventually reach a point – a critical mass – where it explodes as a supernova...” He broke off as Madeleine suddenly squealed.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” said David, grabbing Madeleine’s still-folded napkin from the table. He began mopping up the wine from her glass, which he had just knocked over – no doubt because he had been looking at her legs instead of at the plate of Bruschetta he was setting down in front of her.
“It’s all over my legs!” exclaimed Madeleine, pulling back the hem of her dress and uncovering her panties.
David paused his table-wiping as he stared down at the white triangle.
“Well don’t just stand there, man,” said Edgar. “Wipe her legs clean!”
Madeleine and David both stared at him, startled, but Madeleine recovered first. “Go on, David!” she urged the waiter. “My thighs are drenched!”
David, hardly believing his luck, did not need to be asked a third time. “Certainly,” he said. Folding over the napkin, he reached down and began wiping Madeleine’s thighs.
“Sorry,” said Madeleine. “You were saying?”
“Oh, right,” said Edgar. “So the white dwarf flares up in a special kind of supernova, which always has the same absolute brightness because it always happens when that same critical mass is reached. When one of these things goes off, we measure its apparent brightness, and that’s how we can determine its distance.”
Madeleine spread her thighs apart as David diligently wiped up and down, getting as near as he dared to her panties. Encouraged, he wiped higher still, until his hand, enfolded within the napkin, was stroking her left inner thigh a mere inch from her panties. “Okay,” she said slowly, “I think I get that...”
“These events are rare, of course,” Edgar continued, “but galaxies contain billions of stars, so astronomers do spot them from time to time. And when they do, they allow us to calculate the distance to the galaxy in which the supernova occurred ... you’re taking a long time there, David!”
“It went all over my legs!” said Madeleine quickly. “There’s a lot to clean up.”
For the past few seconds, David had been actually rubbing her panties with the napkin. Now he draped the napkin over her left thigh, and began tentatively stroking her panties with his bare hand.
“Oh fair enough,” said Edgar. “Anyway, that’s one method of measuring distances to galaxies. Another is redshift...” He began explaining this concept to her, while David, with increasing confidence, caressed her labia through the flimsy material of her panties. Madeleine, spreading her legs wider still, began subtly grinding her pussy against his fingers.
Then David noticed one of his colleagues – a waitress – looking at him oddly from across the room. “Uh, I think that should do it,” he said, withdrawing his hand and straightening up. “Let me know if you need anything else.” He hurried away.
“He didn’t even refill my glass!” said Madeleine.
Edgar chuckled. “I think he had other things on his mind. He certainly looked very red in the face – as do you, I might add. I hope you had fun there.”
Madeleine giggled. “Yes – it was nice,” she said. “But don’t think I wasn’t paying attention to you, because I was. You were saying how the spectrum of distant galaxies gets shifted towards the red end, because they’re moving away from us. So ... hopefully this isn’t a stupid question ... why are they all moving away?”
“The Big Bang,” said Edgar. “The universe is expanding. Has been since the beginning. Some of the nearest galaxies – like Andromeda – are actually getting closer to us, but the vast majority, and all of the really distant ones, are moving away. Modelling those movements, we can extrapolate backwards in time and figure out how old the universe is.”
“And ... how old is it?” asked Madeleine, wide-eyed.
“About fourteen billion years,” said Edgar.
“Good grief!” said Madeleine, awestruck. “Just a little more than six thousand, then!”
“Just a little,” Edgar agreed.
“And the Earth’s age ... we’ve measured by radiometric dating ... a completely different method,” she said thoughtfully. “Remind me how old the Earth is?”
“Four and a half billion years,” said Edgar.
Madeleine nodded. “So that’s two fundamentally different proofs that my dad’s model of the universe is catastrophically wrong,” she said. She sighed. “Okay – please go on.”
He continued to teach her what he knew about the universe as they ate their meal. Madeleine sometimes got a little confused, but she never lost her appetite for more and more information, and she did not seem in any particular hurry to finish the meal and get to her party. She even had some tiramisu after her main course.
“I’m just going to the gents,” Edgar announced, after he had paid the bill. “Then I’ll take you to your party.”
“Can we stop at home first?” Madeleine asked.
“Of course,” he replied. Then he shuffled off towards the toilets, with the help of his cane.
When he returned, he saw that David was back at their table, bending over Madeleine. As he approached, he cleared his throat; David straightened up quickly, looking around with a guilty expression, before nodding curtly to Edgar and hurrying away.
“Sorry if I interrupted your fun,” said Edgar to Madeleine.
“Don’t worry!” said Madeleine brightly. “I was just letting him feel around inside my panties. Shall we go?”
They left the restaurant, scandalising a few more diners, and then Edgar drove them home. “Shall I just wait in the car?” he asked.
“Sure,” said Madeleine. “I won’t be a minute.”
Edgar watched her panties hurrying up to the front door, and then disappearing into the house. A minute passed ... then two ... then three. Edgar was unconcerned; he had guessed that ‘a minute’ was an overly optimistic estimate on her part.
But then she reappeared, and Edgar’s eyes widened. She had swapped her butchered sundress for her sheer top, which barely reached the top of her panties. Nobody in their right mind could mistake it for a dress.
She giggled as she climbed back into the passenger seat. “Okay, let’s go!”
“Crikey, Madeleine, they’re going to eat you alive!” said Edgar anxiously.
“That’s the idea!” said Madeleine.
“I just hope Lee wears a condom,” Edgar muttered, as he pulled away from the kerb.
Madeleine shrugged, as if she was unconcerned either way. This confirmed for Edgar what he had already assumed: that her intention was to lose her virginity.
They arrived at the address Lee had given Madeleine. “Please be careful,” Edgar begged her, feeling increasingly worried. “I’ll be waiting out here, ready to come in and rescue you if you need me. Just call me as soon as you don’t want to be there anymore – okay?”
Madeleine stared at him. “No! Please don’t do that, Uncle Eddie! Go home. I don’t want a safety net. I want Lee to use me however he likes, for as long as he likes. I’m guessing I’ll be staying the night. I’ll call you tomorrow morning ... okay?”
Edgar looked at her in dismay. He could tell this was what she truly wanted; there could be no talking her out of it. “All right, I’ll go home,” he said unhappily. “I suppose all I can say is, have fun.”
“Thanks Uncle Eddie,” she said, leaning over and kissing him. Then she got out of the car, and practically skipped up to Lee’s front door. She rang the bell, the door opened, and she stepped inside.
Edgar contemplated waiting in his car outside the house despite Madeleine’s wishes, but he decided against it; she might look out and see him there, and be upset. Then he thought about waiting around the corner for her ... but what if she tried calling him at home? In any case, he did not live too far away; it made little difference if he was at home or parked on a nearby street. And home would certainly be more comfortable.
He drove back to his house, and spent the rest of the evening worrying. At about eleven o’clock, he went to bed, with his new phone on the pillow next to him. “She’s eighteen; she can decide for herself,” he kept telling himself. But he was almost frantic with worry. Eventually, after a lot of tossing and turning, he finally wore himself out, and fell asleep.
He was awakened by movement in his bed. A warm body snuggled up to him. “Madeleine?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she whispered back. “Please hold me, Uncle Eddie.”
He turned, and enclosed her in his arms. He was not very surprised to find she was naked. She buried her head in his chest, and began sobbing.
“Oh my god, what did he do to you?” asked Edgar, aghast.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she replied through her sobs. “I just want to be held by someone who loves me.”
So he held her. And in time, her sobs quietened, and ceased, and she quickly fell asleep after that. And then, so did he.
************
When he awoke the next morning, it was already eight thirty. He eased himself out of bed, taking care not to disturb Madeleine, and went to the bathroom. Then he descended the stairs, and went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. He was dying to know what had happened to Madeleine at the party, but he was determined to let her sleep in, for as long as she needed.
It was not until after ten o’clock that she finally surfaced. He heard her shut herself in the bathroom, then flush the toilet, then start the shower. The minutes passed, and he waited patiently, while exploring the apps on his new phone. Ten minutes later, the shower stopped. Another ten minutes after that, he heard her come down the stairs – a little more deliberately than usual. Then she entered the living room, and he got to his feet.
She was naked. To his surprise, her pussy was completely hairless. He wondered if Lee had done that to her ... or made her do it. If he had hurt her in any way...
“Good morning,” said Madeleine, slightly awkwardly. She clasped her hands in front of her pussy.
“Good morning Madeleine,” he replied. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore,” she admitted. “But okay. Last night was ... quite an experience.”
“What happened?” Edgar asked.
Madeleine sighed. “It was nice at first,” she said, sitting down next to him on the sofa. “Super exciting, actually. Lee was thrilled with my outfit. He introduced me to his friends – mostly men, though there were a couple of other girls there. The men were all eating me up with their eyes; I loved it. The women pretty much just sneered at me. Lee took me upstairs, and started kissing me and touching me, which was lovely ... then he undressed me, and himself, and he had sex with me – and yes, he used a condom. It hurt a little bit, but not too much – he made sure I was lubricated. It was actually quite a nice first time. We cuddled and talked for a while, and some time later he asked if I wanted to do it again. I said yes, so he put on another condom, and had sex with me a second time.
“Afterwards, he got dressed, but he suggested I stay naked – that sounded fun, so I agreed. We went downstairs, and the girls made some very mean comments ... but I ignored them, because all of the men were very complimentary. Lewd, perhaps, but complimentary. They gave me a drink, and one of Lee’s friends, Harry, started dancing with me – they were playing some sort of music – hip-hop I think. He started getting very gropey, feeling my bottom at first, and then sticking his hand between my legs ... and I looked over at Lee, but he just smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. So it seemed he didn’t mind what his friend was doing ... and I was getting more and more excited, so I didn’t mind either. Harry was a good-looking lad, and he was fingering me in front of a room full of people – it was very erotic.
“Then he laid me down on the floor, and pulled my legs apart, and carried on fingering me ... and everyone gathered around to watch, and some of them were taking photos and videos with their phones. Then he got his thingy out, and shoved it into me ... and started having sex with me, right in front of everyone. They were all cheering him on, and calling me some pretty nasty names. Even Lee. But I didn’t care; this was the wildest, most thrilling night of my life. Even the fact that Harry wasn’t using a condom just made it even more exciting.
“Afterwards, a couple of the other lads helped me up, and got me another drink, and started chatting with me ... and they were being pretty free with their hands. One of them – I don’t remember his name – said my breasts were beautiful, and he just reached out and started fondling them. The other one – Dustin – went behind me, and started fondling my bum. Then he reached around and started stroking my ... pussy. Then the first chap started kissing me, and Dustin got a finger in me ... and before I knew it, I was being bent over a chair, and Dustin was fucking me from behind.”
“Good grief...” groaned Edgar, gripping his hair with his hands. He dreaded to think where this story was going to end up.
“Sorry,” said Madeleine, looking concerned. “I can stop if this is upsetting you.”
“No,” said Edgar, shaking his head. “I want to know what happened. Please go on.”
“The other lad got on the chair, and stuck his thingy in my face. He said ‘Suck it, babe’, and so I opened my mouth and let him stick it in. I started sucking on it ... the thought that I now had two penises inside me was kind of mind-blowing. And then ... I had an orgasm! Dustin finished inside me, but almost as soon as he pulled out, I felt a different penis being stuck inside me. I think it was at that moment that I realised I was getting gangbanged, and that I might be fucked by several other men before the evening was done. Lee didn’t seem to mind at all; he was cheering his friends on. I was still having a blast ... but part of me was also feeling a little bit sad that these lads were seeing me as just a piece of meat.
“Anyway, the penis in my mouth suddenly spurted, and I tasted the salty sperm. I swallowed it quickly; it wasn’t very nice. Then the penis in my vagina was pulled out, and something cool and slimy was rubbed on my ... other hole. Then I felt a penis being pushed into my bottom! I’d seen this happen in a porn film the night before, and I was curious about it ... but it hurt! I tried to relax, and it did get a bit better. I didn’t know whether this was the same chap who had been in my vagina, or somebody else. It didn’t seem to matter.
“Another lad stuck his penis in my mouth, and I started sucking that. I could hear the sound of arguing – the girls were arguing with the men – and I think the girls left, because I didn’t see or hear them after that. After the man who was fucking my bottom finished, they took me upstairs. One lad lay on the bed, and I was picked up and lowered with my legs spread until I was sitting astride him, with his penis inside me. Then I was pushed forward so I was lying on him, and another man climbed on top of me and stuck his penis in my bottom. And so two men were fucking me at once. Then someone stuck his penis in my mouth, and I had three of them in me at the same time.
“I was feeling pretty overwhelmed by this point. I mean, it was still very exciting ... but it was so intense! They were getting rougher and rougher – some of them would slap my buttocks, or pinch my breasts ... and if I flinched, or said “Ow”, they just laughed. And then they started posing me for photos, in extreme positions, with my legs spread wide, of course ... and they insisted I smile, even though I didn’t feel much like smiling. And they stuck things in me ... beer bottles, a hairbrush, a banana, a bunch of pens ... anything that amused them. I tried to play along and seem like I was still having fun ... I was a bit scared things might turn nasty if I didn’t.
“Then someone suggested putting me in the bath and cleaning me off. That seemed like it might be nice ... but once I was in the bath, they all lined up alongside it, got their penises out, and peed all over me!”
“Oh my god!” Edgar exclaimed, anguished. Tears were running down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Madeleine ... I should never have taken you there...”
Madeleine shrugged sadly. “I’d have walked there if you hadn’t,” she said. “You know how much I wanted it. Should I stop there, though? I feel like I’m tormenting you.”
“No,” said Edgar firmly, wiping his cheek. “Tell me all of it.”
“Well ... they left me in there, covered in their urine – it was all over my body, and my face, and in my hair... I pulled the shower curtain across and had a nice shower, and that helped me to feel better. I found a towel to dry myself off, and then I went back out into the bedroom to find my clothes. But I couldn’t see them anywhere. My handbag was gone too. I went downstairs and found all the lads in the living room, talking and laughing and playing video games ... just as if I wasn’t there and didn’t matter. Lee wasn’t there, and one of the other lads said he had gone out to buy more alcohol. I asked where my clothes and handbag were, but nobody seemed to know. They suggested I sit down and wait for Lee to get back, because Lee would probably know where they were. There was nowhere to sit, so I perched on the arm of a chair ... but then one of the lads said I should sit on his lap. And he got his penis out – it was big and hard.
“I said I’d had enough of that for one evening, and he frowned at me, and repeated his request, more loudly. I was afraid things were about to turn nasty, so I went over and lowered myself on to him, so he went inside me. And so began another round of fucking – and this time they all took their time about it, and got even more creative with positions and stuff. And rougher. At one point I started to cry, until one of the lads told me sharply to stop it. So I held it in, and just tried to endure it all without making a fuss.
“After they had all come inside me again – there were about a dozen of them – one lad suggested taking me out for a drive. I said I’d rather wait for Lee to get back, and he said Lee had texted him, saying he wasn’t feeling well and had gone home! Then everyone laughed, and I realised they had tricked me. I said I wanted to go home, and one of the lads said he would drive me. Three of the others said they would come too. I was feeling uneasy about this, because they were all pretty much the meanest lads of the whole bunch, but I went outside with them. They took me to a car, and opened the back door for me. One of the lads climbed in the back, and then I was prodded to get in too. Another lad climbed in after me, so I was sandwiched between them. The other two got in the front, and we started driving. The lad on my right put his hand between my legs, and started fingering me.
“I told them your address, and which way to go, but they went a different way. They said it was a shortcut, but I knew it wasn’t. We were right in the middle of town. The lad driving the car said he wanted to buy some booze, and he stopped the car. I didn’t see any shops nearby. Then he said ‘Come on’, and the lads all got out, and told me to get out too. The driver said there was an off licence nearby, and he led us down a dark, quiet street where I could see several shabby-looking men that I assumed were homeless. They all stared at me and made lewd comments, and the lads took me over to see one of them.
“I was getting afraid, and I tried to run away, but one of the lads caught me, and told me not to be so unfriendly. He held me, and encouraged the homeless man to feel my breasts ... which he did. Then the lad holding me told the homeless man to feel my pussy ... and he did that too ... and then he stuck a finger inside me. I knew where this was going, and I knew it would be useless to resist, so I let them push me down on the ground and spread my legs. The homeless man climbed on top of me, and started fucking me.
“We drew a bit of a crowd, of course, and I resigned myself to getting fucked by all of them. And one after another, they all did, while the rest of them gathered around me, cackling and cheering and calling me names. Thankfully, though, they weren’t nearly as rough as some of Lee’s friends had been.
“Eventually the last of them finished inside me, and climbed off, and he helped me to get up on my feet. Then one of the others, Gary, handed me my handbag; he said, ‘Your friends told me to give you this.’ Then I realised that Lee’s friends had all disappeared – they had left me to my fate with the homeless men. I was upset, but also very relieved to have my bag back. I opened it, and checked my things – everything was there. I was quite surprised that the homeless men hadn’t taken anything. I pulled out my phone, and I was about to call you ... but I was feeling so horrible and ashamed of myself, and I just couldn’t face you with homeless men’s sperm leaking out of me. And I suppose I wasn’t really thinking straight, because I decided to try and walk home.
“Gary asked where I was going. When I told him, he seemed worried, and he said he would walk with me to make sure I was okay. I said it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted – and I was actually glad of his company. As we walked, we talked ... and he apologised for having sex with me. He said he never would have done it if he’d realised I wasn’t completely willing. I told him it was okay, and that I was more happy about having had sex with him than with some of Lee’s friends. He offered me his coat, but I was feeling like I didn’t deserve to be allowed to cover up, so I declined.
“We had to hide from a police car that drove past, but otherwise our walk home was uneventful. We hardly saw anyone – it was almost two o’clock in the morning by the time we got here. I gave Gary a kiss on the cheek, to thank him for walking me home, and then I came inside, and wiped myself as clean as I could. Then I started feeling very overwhelmed and sorry for myself, and I had a good long cry. And I realised I very badly wanted to cuddle up with you, so I climbed into your bed ... and, well, that was it.”
Edgar heaved a huge sigh. “Wow ... Madeleine ... just, wow.”
Her lip began to tremble. “Are you ... upset with me? Do you think I’m a terrible person?”
“No!” said Edgar. “Gosh no! Absolutely not! Madeleine, you’ve been through a horrible, traumatic experience! I certainly don’t think any less of you for that. But we should call the police.”
“No!” said Madeleine quickly. “No – please don’t do that. Nothing good will come of it. Lee and his friends will all say it was consensual – and they have the photos and videos to prove it. God – the photos and videos! They have the power to make my life miserable if they want to. Please, Uncle Eddie ... just let it go.”
Edgar ran his hands through his hair. “Easier said than done!” he said. “But I’m not the one who had the experience. If you can let this go, then of course I can too, if that’s what you want. Just tell me what you need from me.”
Madeleine smiled, and nodded. “Just be you,” she said. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Uncle Eddie. Last night, when I was having sex with Lee, I thought that was the best thing ever ... but everything else that happened afterwards made me realise that I value what I get from you more than anything Lee could give me. After a while, all I wanted was to get back home to you.”
“Well, I’m here for you,” said Edgar. “Whatever you need, I’ll give you.”
She put her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I do love you, Uncle Eddie.”
“I love you too,” he replied, holding her close. “Now, what can I get you for breakfast?”
She chuckled as she pulled away. “I’ll just grab some cereal, thanks,” she said. “Do you ... do you mind me being naked?”
“No, not at all,” said Edgar. “Though after last night, I’m a bit surprised you want to be.”
She shrugged. “It still feels liberating,” she said. “I’d be way more hesitant to show off my body to arseholes like Lee and his friends, now ... but I still enjoy letting you look at me.”
“I enjoy looking at you,” Edgar replied, smiling.
“Do you?” she asked him earnestly. “Do you really? Because sometimes, when you look at me ... you seem a little ... indifferent...”
“Really?” asked Edgar in surprise. “I’m certainly not indifferent! If I seem so, it’s probably because I don’t want to weird you out by seeming too ... appreciative.”
“But I want you to seem appreciative!” said Madeleine. “At least ... I want you to be honest. If you’re enjoying the view, then I want to know! If you’re looking at me and feeling ... you know ... lustful ... then don’t hesitate to express that.”
“Madeleine...” said Edgar uncomfortably. “I can’t do that...”
“You asked what I needed from you!” she said. “Well – I need this!”
“You need me to lust after you?” said Edgar plaintively. “That’s not healthy...”
“No!” she said. “I need you to be honest with me. If you’re not feeling lust, then fine. But if you are ... show it! Be honest about it. Don’t hide it. Don’t keep your feelings secret from me, Uncle Eddie.”
She was starting to get upset. “All right,” he said placatingly. “I’ll try. It goes against my instincts to protect you and do what’s right by you, but I’ll try.”
Madeleine relaxed a little, and nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “Now, I’ll just grab something to eat. Can we watch something?”
“Sure,” said Edgar.
They watched Spy, which Edgar surmised would be a nice antidote to the trauma of last night. He was right; Madeleine laughed until tears ran down her cheeks.
After the movie, Madeleine helped him to prepare a light lunch, which they ate at the kitchen table. Madeleine seemed very subdued, and lost in her thoughts, and Edgar tried to think of something helpful to say.
“Madeleine?” he said gently.
She looked up. “Yes?”
“I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through...” he began.
But she shook her head. “That wasn’t what I was thinking about,” she said. “Uncle Eddie, this may be hard for you to believe, but last night didn’t break me. It wasn’t even the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. I went to Lee’s house to get well and truly fucked, and I got my wish. Yes, it turned out to be more than I wanted, and I was a little scared at times, and felt sort of horrible afterwards ... but I promise I’ll be okay. I might even come to remember parts of it quite fondly.”
“Oh!” said Edgar, surprised. “Then ... what’s on your mind?”
“What do you think?” she replied, with a bitter laugh. “In a few hours I’ll be at Saint Aubrey’s, among people with views I no longer share ... and tomorrow I start attending lectures on a book I no longer believe in.”
“Ah,” said Edgar, nodding. “And only last week, you were excited about going there, I’m sure.” He sighed. “This is my fault...”
“Don’t you dare blame yourself!” said Madeleine sternly. “You’ve opened my eyes; I can never thank you enough for that. I just ... I’m not sure how, or when, I’m going to be able to break it to Mum and Dad. They’ll be heartbroken.” She sighed. “Maybe I should just pretend everything’s fine. But at least I can ask some awkward questions of my lecturers.” She chuckled, then fell silent again.
“Well, you know I’m here, whenever you need me,” said Edgar.
“Thank you,” said Madeleine, nodding. “That will help a lot.”
“When do you need to be there?” Edgar asked.
“There’s an introductory high tea at five o’clock,” said Madeleine glumly. “I’m supposed to be there.”
“Okay,” said Edgar. “We’ll leave a little early, so we can stop at the chemist’s.”
Madeleine raised a confused eyebrow for a moment, but then realisation dawned. “Oh,” she said. “Right. Morning after pill.” She shrugged. “At least if I got pregnant, they’d kick me out.” Then, noticing her uncle’s look of alarm, she added, “Don’t worry – I’ll take the pill.”
“We still have a couple of hours to play with,” said Edgar. “How would you like to spend it? Another film?”
Madeleine shook her head. “Teach me more,” she said. “I feel like I’m about to go into a place where knowledge is forbidden. I want to be armed as much as possible beforehand.”
“All right,” said Neville, “let’s teach you about the evidence for human evolution.”
“Yes!” said Madeleine. “That sounds perfect.”
They sat down together in the living room, and Madeleine paid close attention while Edgar talked and pulled up pictures on his phone to show her. As time passed, however, Madeleine became increasingly distracted. At a quarter to four, she said sadly, “Well, I suppose I should go and get dressed, and pack my things together.”
“Okay,” said Edgar.
But then Madeleine’s face began to dissolve into tears. “Oh Uncle Eddie!” she wailed. “I don’t want to do this! I don’t want to go!”
“Then don’t,” said Edgar.
“Really?” said Madeleine, looking at him hopefully though her tears. “But what would I say to Mum and Dad?”
“Tell them the truth,” said Edgar. “That you don’t believe in the Bible anymore, and you want a proper education.”
Madeleine sighed. “They’ll be furious,” she said mournfully. “They’ll kick me out. And then where will I go?”
“You’ll live with me, of course,” said Edgar. “For as long as you need to, until you’re feeling independent enough to survive on your own.”
Madeleine flung her arms around him. “You mean it?” she gasped excitedly. “You’d really let me live with you?”
“Of course!” said Edgar, holding her naked body against his. “Don’t you know I love you and would do anything for you?”
Madeleine pulled back, then planted her lips on his. When he recoiled in surprise, she whispered passionately, “Make love to me ... please...”
“Maddie...” he said unhappily.
“Eddie,” she replied, taking his hand and tucking it between her legs. “I know you want me, or I wouldn’t ask this of you.” She pressed his fingers against her vulva. “Your resistance to it is ... is stupid. This is what I want ... what I need ... from you. Please, Eddie – please, make me happy. Make love to me.” These last words were directed, in a husky whisper, straight into his right ear, while she rubbed his hand against her pussy. Then, to her delight, she felt him curl a finger upward, so that it slipped inside her. “Yes...” she murmured. “Probe me. Violate your niece...”
It was the wrong choice of words. Madeleine had spent the last couple of nights fantasising about Edgar sneaking into her room and violating her in her sleep, but Edgar was feeling strongly motivated to do the right thing, and ‘violating’ his niece was definitely contrary to that aim. He snatched his hand back, and attempted to get up. “This is wrong!” he said, feeling anguished.
“I’m sorry I said that!” Madeleine said urgently, terrified she had ruined everything. “Please don’t break my heart, though, just because I said a naughty thing.”
“But you were right!” he groaned, as he limped away from her. “I was violating you – and you are my niece!”
“But it’s what I want!” Madeleine pleaded, getting to her feet. “What I need! Who cares if it’s ‘wrong’, by society’s standards? Maybe I like that it’s wrong! Maybe I want you to do all kinds of wrong things to me! Maybe I’m sick and tired of being treated like a princess! And yes, I know, I got all sorts of violated last night ... but it ended up being pretty horrible because those men didn’t care about me! Not one bit! There was no love in their eyes – they just wanted to use me up and throw me away! But it won’t be like that with you, because I know you love me! So please ... please, Eddie, I’m begging you... Please violate me!”
Edgar stared at her. His thoughts were racing at a million miles per hour. Then he set his jaw, and began walking towards the door. “Wait here,” he said.
“Eddie...” she whimpered as he passed.
“Just wait!” he said.
“Okay,” she said, sinking back on to the sofa. She looked defeated.
Edgar climbed the stairs, went into the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet. Downstairs, Madeleine put her face in her hands, and began to weep bitter tears. She felt sure she had ruined everything with Edgar. She heard him come back down the stairs, and looked up as he entered the room. His expression was unreadable.
“Get up,” he said.
Unsure where this was going, Madeleine rose to her feet.
“Now turn around,” said Edgar, “and bend over the sofa.”
Her heart filling with hope and joy, Madeleine quickly turned around, and bent over, placing her hands on the sofa. She arched her back, sticking her bottom out, inviting him. Then she felt a cool gooey substance being rubbed around her anus, and she almost cooed with pleasure. Trembling with excitement, she felt a warm, thick object pressing against her anal sphincter, and she relaxed as much as she could, willing her tight muscle to open up for him. Then she could not help letting out a little squeal of delight as she felt Edgar’s penis sliding into her rectum. “Oh thank you, thank you!” she gasped.
Edgar buried his Vaseline-lubed cock as deep as he could, then he began slowly thrusting. “You’re welcome,” he grunted.