It was a relief for Karl to get out of the kitchen, Marta was in a devilish mood,he thought it was Anna who came up with all the pranks, he could also tell she was happy, very happy, his chest swelled at the thought of causing that emotion.

"Earth to Karl, come in Karl, over."

She had his attention as they sat at the study table both wearing silly grins, it was hard to stay focused after the events of the afternoon, he wanted to run outside and tell the world, at the same time knowing if he wished to repeat the experience he would keep silent, for he had been warned of the outcome.

It was as if Marta flipped a switch, now in business mode, wanting to know what he had discovered, Boris hadn't done the work, but had given him pointers, guiding him through the maze. How could these companies have such lax security, did they leave their doors open at night too?

He laid out his findings of the two magazines, their targets were the largest feature articles each had prepared for their November issues, rather than delete all the work, with a few deft key strokes they could rename the files, which would cause sufficient panic they would not be rediscovered in time to go to press. He had also spoken to John about the format of image files they used, needed for the print process, and that wouldn't be an issue as he would convert his finished files.

For the next hour they worked on the text borrowing heavily from the turn of phrase they saw from the magazines Marta had purchased some weeks ago. They talked up the house about the quality of workmanship, and the stunning illusions created by fine artists, then went on to list the facts and figures. Although the blurb they had written was a little flowery in places, it had all the essentials, and there was plenty of it, so it could be edited down to fit the space, hopefully retaining the kernel of prose regarding the salient features that made this house stand out over any similar sized rivals.

They logged on to the studio, accessing a folder John had set up and appended notes for the pictures he had taken so far, and sent their text for review to a few people who were helping them. Anna came in, shopping bags in hand, Irisha had so few new clothes it would have been hard to get through the week now at her new school, so they had gone shopping together straight after last bell, which meant Anna also had to buy a few items.

Karl explained what they had been doing, at least what they had been doing in the study, and how just before midnight they would change the file names, so when the companies did their file back-ups, the back up files would then also hold misnamed folders to ensure they would stay buried for the time being.

All went to plan, and later that week Boris came in to work to find a bottle of good vodka and a bottle of fine wine sitting by his office door, a few other gifts appeared around the studio for the help rendered.

On Friday Igor received confirmation from two journals that they were delighted with the very professional images, and the splendid accompanying text, which would ensure his inclusion in this months copies. The best news of all, was his third phone conversation, it was with Gramps, and everything was set for them to move in late on Saturday as the men Igor organised had just arrived, one in a van the other driving a car, in order that his friends would be chauffeured to their new home along with their belongings.

Marta had been in an exceptionally good mood all week, and of course Ann knew why, they had spent Tuesday night together as Marta revealed every detail as two sets of fingers were busy under the covers, and now the girls were excited for another reason. This was something they could discuss with their school friends, they were to spend the following day at a riding stables getting real riding lessons.

Igor drove the whole family to the stables on Saturday morning, watching the girls get rigged out in the attached shop, the boys even got a brief ride on one of the smaller ponies before it was time to head home. He would collect the girls later that afternoon, that's what he called perfect planning, he was pretty excited himself, wishing the van or car driver had a mobile phone so he could know when Gramps and Olga they would show up.

The cottage was complete, now with the new curtains, and the site ladies had spent all morning dusting and polishing, with vases of fresh flowers, and the pantry and new fridge stocked to the gills, they had even left cleaning products and soap, every little detail to make his friends welcome. The small front garden was looking immaculate, and the rear garden now boasted a table with seating, and a path leading to the greenhouse and vegetable plot.

Olga was nervous, this was such a wrench, when Gramps had come home from the teachers place and told her, well it had been a good thing she was sitting down, coming over all faint like that, and now here they were being driven round like celebrities. At last she recognised some of the streets, they must be near, but the driver said it was further on, but surely he was mistaken the houses here were enormous practically mansions.

As the van in front turned the corner she was sure she heard cheering, men and women were lined up behind a hedge clapping and making a ruckus, they drove past confused, and then the car slowed to a stop, it was Igor standing there.

It was an emotional greeting, she didn't see the cheering workers retreat, in fact she didn't see much her eyesight blurred with tears, at last she wiped her eyes and listened as Igor welcomed them to the city and their new home.

Surely he couldn't really mean the house they were standing in front of, it was so big they hadn't ever dreamed to live in such a place, but he was escorting her up the path, through the front door, two bedrooms, one for the kids to stay over, with two sets of bunk beds and there was plenty of space left to play. The sitting room was beautiful, and the kitchen was beyond words, well she had to sit down, she was shocked. There were flowers all over, and a woman set out fresh tea and cakes on the table, wished them well in their new home and then left, Olga was in a daze, it was like a fairytale.

After the tea break Olga inspected the kitchen, running her hands over the smart clean surfaces, everything was so new, even the fridge and pantry had been stocked, and the bathroom had been like something off the telly, shiny chrome taps and wipe clean tiles, it would be like heaven living here. Gramps was calling he wanted her to see outside, they had a place of their own to sit in the summer, and a line she could hang clothes to dry, but he wanted her to see the end of the garden. Well all his Christmases had come at once, she smiled as he read labels by the rows of cultivated soil, it had been planted up with all sorts of vegetables, she would hardly need to visit the market when they came up.

Gramps had spoken to Igor several times over the past two weeks, but the reality of their new home far exceed any notion he had from those calls, even without his 'allotment' veg garden, the look on Olga's face had been priceless as she had looked around the house. He went back in to help supervise the unloading of their few precious possessions and keep sakes, not a lot to show for a couple their age, but still they had faired better than many others.

As the last of their furniture was set down in the lounge Igor bent down and retrieved a phone that had been behind the curtains, placing it on a table, now they would be moving with the times. Gramps looked at the list of numbers Igor gave him, the number of their own phone, Igor's home number, then numbers for those fancy mobile phones, both girls had one, and Igor too. Before leaving to pick up his daughter's Igor and the old couple made plans for the next day.

As they waved at Igor driving off Gramps turned to Olga.

"Well old girl, it brings to mind that first colour film we ever saw, when the town still had a movie theatre, - I don't think we're in Kansas any more."

Igor picked up the girls, they distinctly smelled of horse, but Anna loved riding just as much as her sister, and they were keen to visit the stables as often as time would allow, so it had been a good choice of gift. On the way back he must have been told the name of every horse there, and learned about the instructors who were teaching them, but they were yet to learn the reason of his secret smile.

Ella knew he was up to something, for the past few weeks his behaviour had been odd, she couldn't pin it down, it wasn't money worries, that was a thing of the past, and from all reports the house was ahead of time, and his job, job was so much better than where he had worked before, this was a mystery. He wasn't having an affair, he was as loving as ever he had been, besides he didn't have the time, she was sure he would tell her when he was good and ready.

Sunday morning the girls had expected to go to the house with their father, but he said he had other plans, they were going out for a special family lunch, a place for old fashioned country style food which he knew they would like. As they were all getting ready he saw each of his children, suggesting to Marta she wear a particular broach that had been a gift, and said Anna should wear an old bracelet, with the boys it was home made jumpers, and his wife a scarf. As they assembled to get in the car Ella could see the gleam in his eyes, she wanted to know what was going on, and asked him outright.

He told her it was a surprise, not long to wait for lunch, he didn't drive towards the city, this was the other direction. The girls looked at one another puzzled, they didn't know of any restaurant in this direction, the next turn would take them onto the road where the house was, could it be a celebration meal on site, that didn't seem likely at this point.

They drew up past the house alongside the neighbouring cottage, it seemed they, like some of the other neighbours had spruced up their house too. Their dad got out, opened the tailgate, and gave the girls a poesy each, this was very odd, then he got out some gift wrapped boxes which he gave to the boys and their mum.

"It would be rude to call on our new neighbours without a small gift."

He herded his bewildered family up the path, just then the door opened to reveal the new occupants of the cottage, there were squeals and shrieks from the children as they ran forwards to embrace the old couple. Ella had tears running down her cheeks as she witnessed the joyful reunion, she turned to look at Igor, then flung her arms around him. When at last she could speak into Igor's ear she had to do so over the pandemonium from the scene in front of them. "You are a wonderful, wonderful man, this is the best gift I could ever imagine."

Igor hated it when women cried he always felt so useless, but everyone was overcome by today's event, they all settled around the kitchen table, the boys pressed tightly either side of Nana Olga, as if she might suddenly vanish if they were to let go, and the girls attached themselves to Gramps. Slowly the story emerged, of Igor's idea the day he saw the couple off at the station, then how he had discovered the plot with two houses that wouldn't sell.

Olga wanted to serve lunch, so they each had to take up their own seat, as the lid came off the pot, memories drifted through the room on the aroma, of past times when the pot had been full, though they had been seldom. Now the reunited family were looking at a brighter future with many new possibilities.

During the course of the meal the story emerged of the big house with the adjunct little cottage, and how from the start Igor had seen the possibility, yet held it close to his chest for all this time. He had not shared with his family the secret plan, for fear of failure, which would have been heartbreaking for everyone. He was glad to be rid of the burden of secrecy, with his dream coming to fruition. The girls joined in saying how they thought the little house had belonged to an absent neighbour, and how their father had not made any comment to say otherwise.

"But girls, you were right, the only thing missing from this house were absent much missed neighbours, but now they're here."

After the meal Nana Olga shooed them all from the kitchen so she could talk with Ella as they cleared up, Gramps was keen to show off the back garden so the rest trooped outside with him. Alone Olga voiced her concerns, worried that they would be a financial burden if Igor had invested all the families money, and had a bank loan, surely they would need to sell this cottage too.

Ella had followed all Igor's plans, about how at first he had meant to get a more modest property, and his study of the market, then comments he had made at the table that Olga must have missed. She explained it to her friend, how houses this size were not selling, and selling the little house together with the big one would be difficult, so it was better to save it as they had a good reason to keep it. With the older women's fears allayed they completed their task, with Olga running a cloth over the smooth clean surfaces, admiring the fine workmanship of all the cabinets, still finding it hard to believe this was her kitchen.

Olga gave Ella 'the tour' saying how well Igor had done with the decorations, and such lovely curtains in each room, so tasteful, not too modern even though it was clear they were newly made. Ella said how they met many people via the catalogue company, and they had a few seamstresses for doing repairs or alterations, who liked to do this type of work, and they had decorators who did backgrounds for the pictures. Ella wasn't lying to her old friend, she was just flexing the truth, the studio had dozens of women working on the girls costumes, and who knows how many men building the background sets.

A low fence now backed the broken line of bushes that had partially screened the cottage from the main house, and the ladies had come out to join them as Igor was pointing out the final stages of the work that was still in progress across the way. When Ella said she had yet to see the house, previously only having seen photos, Igor felt bad that his wife had been left out, and said they could go over for a visit if she wanted.

Igor called Melenki, advising him he was about to descend on the site with his whole family as they had been lunching 'over the fence' and were on there way round now.

They walked down to the corner, then along the wider avenue to the imposing gated drive, the front aspect of lawn and garden now complete, as they approached the house Igor and the girls talked about the various changes and improvements they had made since work had started. Melenki greeted them at the door, making Gramps and Olga feel like visiting dignitaries, as he shook their hands and welcomed them to the city, in fact a reception line followed.

The site ladies asked how they were settling in, and were the grocery supplies OK?

Various craftsmen introduced themselves to the couple as they progressed, as the boys trailed along behind they thought this was a fun game as they also shook hands with all the grown ups, though they didn't like the ladies ruffling their hair. Ella was stunned at the numbers of people involved, but the welcome was very genuine, several of the workers told her how grateful they were to be working for her husband, which somehow felt odd, they were just an ordinary working family.

On second thoughts 'working' was not the ordinary condition of many people, and they were lucky as four of them in their household had jobs, even if her own was almost a part time hobby. That Igor's plan to invest the children's nest egg in this project had created so much employment was amazing, she was pleased to see so many people benefit from their scheme.

Towards the end of the line stood Yaroslaw, and finally Marta's crew whom he had mentored, though they had worked with other men on the site, and done various work around the neighbourhood. When he was introduced to Gramps the two men hit it off from the start, Gramps keen to thank the man for all the work he had done, as they discussed the garden and when the various varieties should be ready to harvest.

Marta felt she would burst with pride as she introduced her team they doffed their caps, and showed respect for the old couple, wishing them well in their new home, but they also embarrassed her in their praise of how she had helped them.

It had been a week since the girls had been on site, so as the tour began they were nearly as amazed as those who were seeing the house for the first time, several rooms were now complete with notes on the doors to that effect. The Trompe l'oeil panels in two of the downstairs reception rooms had the desired WOW factor, then they were shown the view from the window where the real scene could be viewed from another angle.

When Nana Olga stated the house was fit for royalty she was told to wait until she had seen the rest. There were gasps when they saw the kitchen, stone counter-tops and finely matched walnut cupboards, with shiny stainless steel appliances, set off with beautiful lights made the room outstanding. The women made appreciative noises as they looked around at the opulence as there was every conceivable device a cook might need, then Igor touched the controls, adjusting the level of lighting in the various areas of the room.

The women agreed it was almost too pretty to work in, although with all the gadgets and cooking appliances any cook worth her salt would be able to prepare a banquet with ease. The rest of the house also impressed, Gramps thought the stonework columns were very elegant as if they were in a cathedral or museum, the girls high fived, then told him to look closer, "It's not as cold as I expected, hang on, this is fake, it's painted!"

As they climbed the stairs Marta said to turn left at the top, at the far end of the corridor a spiral staircase lead upwards illuminated by a small old fashioned iron light fitting, that in days gone by could have held a candle. They opened doors looking into the various bedrooms with their en-suite bathrooms, but as they neared the stairs Greg suddenly pointed out shouting it was pretend, the stairs were the girls final illusion, painted carefully with the appearance of shadows, the light fitting giving it the added semblance of reality.

They concluded checking out the other half of the upper floor, then took in the gardens that backed onto their very own Shangri-La. The boys found it hard to relate that the building they had seen was an actual house, thinking it must be for a family with a dozen or more children, and all their relatives.

When they returned to the little cottage Nana Olga joked about giving them the grand tour of her more modest abode, as they had just progressed straight to lunch when they had arrived. Built on a lesser scale, it was vastly better than where they had lived before, light and spacious, but anything larger would have been disproportionate to their needs.

The children were ecstatic to find the second bedroom had been fitted out for them to have sleepovers, the boys immediately checking out the bunks for size, loving the novelty of a double decker sleeping arrangement. Any argument over the top deck was solved by Marta saying with two bunk beds, they could both have a top bunk even if all four of them were visiting, which smoothed over that hiccup. They spent a very pleasant afternoon with plans for the women to go shopping together soon so Nana Olga could find her way around, and Gramps was keen to follow the final stages of the work on site.

True to form Marta had an ever present notebook, and with care drew a map showing a few local streets, the position of the small parade of shops, and the route to their own house which was simple to navigate.

A few kilometres away Karl was at home, having worked most of the weekend, upset that any plans to meet with Marta after seeing her on Tuesday had been thwarted, but he was invited to supper tomorrow on her birthday, his girlfriend would be fourteen. The course he had been taking on Mondays was now fortunately over, so for now Wednesday evenings were the only roadblock to inhibit his new improving social life, or with luck - sex life.

Last Tuesday had dominated his thoughts, he had been a walking hard-on ever since, no matter how often he tried to beat it into submission, but his own hand however practised was not a patch on watching the look on her face, or the delicate touch as she brought him release. All his studies on the net about how to please a woman came through in spades, when she finally gave him the nod to remove that final barrier, unable to believe his luck, if it hadn't been for the hand job earlier, he would have shot his load there and then.

He felt of the two he had been far more nervous, and her calmness had helped him overcome his own anxieties. To be able to see her breasts was stunning, having only had limited access before, and never having actually seen them in the flesh, many of the boastful, and probably lying lads at school talked of groping melon sized tits as if the girls were an unimportant transport system to deliver said items for their amusement.

In retrospect he suspected a high percentage of the stories were just that, one of the quieter lads always seemed to be hiding a smile, had he been discretely enjoying the favours of some girl as Karl was now? He kept returning to moments of that afternoon, like when they were in the bathroom and seeing those panties caught on the rim of the hamper inside-out the gusset stained with her essence, junior had gone from zero to hero instantly the sight engraved in his mind.

Then there was the unveiling, like some plump exotic fruit, and in close up more complex than he had imagined, his fingers sliding over her oily slickness, the debate raging in his head as if the feminine scent bypassed his nose, and hit him between the eyes, could he do it? From that first hesitant, tentative, indecisive, doubtful lick, it didn't taste bad, it was OK, in fact he liked it, no, it was really good, and from there he was off to the races.

The shudder of her breath, the gasps, followed by encouragement, Karl derided as the class nerd, who didn't even stay on at school, he was the cause, Marta was calling his name over and over, till she became incoherent, a final yell blotted out as her squeezing thighs attenuated the volume. Karl felt three meters tall.

She had toyed with him, making that remark in front of her mum, him choking on a glass of milk, thankfully the conversation moved on without any more double entendres, then they got down to work on her latest scheme. It was no surprise she was good at chess that girl had a devious mind, the magazines said no, so she thinks to give them both a sucker punch, then they come back saying pretty please can we do an article on your house.

He couldn't for the life of him remember his journey home, couldn't even say if he ate that night, talk about being on cloud nine, but Marta still had one last ace, there in his jacket pocket, one of those little plastic bags which sealed up, it held a gift. Blue fabric edged in white, and in the centre, the darkness, he broke the seal inhaling essence of pussy, Marta's pussy.