ALICE DOES NOT LIVE HER ANYMORE

BY CHRISTOPHER TOILKIEN

[ part 2 ]

But that was a week ago. It may as well have been a century.

Now Alice was in England, ensconced in a tower bedroom as if she was some medieval princess. And not sure she looked forward to spend her young life there.

Alice decided she would try to explore her surroundings and dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a short sleeved top. Tugging on a pair of old riding boots, and dug out a comfortable blue jean jacket in case she decided to wander the grounds. Alice made her way down the tower stairs and along the balcony over the great hall.

The connecting door at the far end would not budge on the initial push. Alice took a step back and shoved hard, the solid wood, iron bound door swung open into the main upstairs hall. Alice, loosing her balance as the door gave way, stumbled forward into a young girl, dressed in a French Maids outfit, coming out of a room, arms full of white towels.

Both girls were sent sprawling onto the floor. "Sorry about that" apologized Alice. Attempting to pick up the scattered towels.

"It was my fault, I am behind in my duties this morning and was hurrying along with my head down" replied the other girl, also attempting to collect and refold the dropped towels.

"Are you Alice, the daughter of Lady Patricia, you do not sound American?" the girl inquired, as she bent down to retrieve the towels.

"Yes, I arrived just yesterday night, and was hurrying down, hoping to find were I could get something for breakfast. I guess I have picked up my mothers accent and just drop back into it when I heard you speak. Alice replied, realizing the other girl was about Alice? size and build complete with long blond hair and comparable chest size. All amply revealed by the diminutive uniform she was almost wearing.

"I wonder if I would look as sexy in one" thought Alice.

"And you are?" Alice asked.

"Mary, I work hear after school and during the busy summer months. My mother is the head chef. We are from Terryberry, the village at the crossroads as you come off the highway. You must have passed through it on the way here"

"If you like, after I restock the upstairs hall linen closet, I can take you down to the kitchen" Mary replied, as she picked up the stack of towels the girls had refolded.

"If I help you, maybe I can eat sooner" Alice said as she followed Mary down the corridor. The two soon had the closet at the far end restocked and Mary was leading Alice down a back stair when Alice stopped her.

"I am the new kid on the block here Mary. I would very much appreciate if you agree to be my friend. I no nothing of this house, never mind the grounds around it" ·

"Certainly Lady Alice, but I am not to familiar with the grounds far from the house either. A cheerful Mary agreed"

"Please just call me Alice when we are alone, and I would also like to keep our friendship secret" Alice smiled as she offered her hand.

"It must be a secret, Terrisa would not approve of household staff being cozy with the family" Mary said.

Mary led Alice down the stair through a pantry of glass lined shelves full of dishes to a large kitchen complete with everything from a great iron stove on legs to modern stainless steel four door fridge. Mary? mother, Nattily, was a big motherly type complete with white chef? outfit minus the hat. "Welcome home, Lady Alice" she said as Alice offered her hand. "Can I fix you breakfast?"

"That would be very welcome, I am starved" A very hungry Alice replied.

Alice sat at one end of a large working table as Nattely bustled around frying up bacon and eggs. About half a dozen other pots and pans steamed on the stove as well as a stewpot stainless steel one under a drill press sized mixer.

Soon a large plates with stacks of pancakes, eggs bacon and toast with a glass and pitcher of milk appeared before Alice, who eagerly attacked all that was in reach. Just as Alice was finishing, Terrisa came in through the pantry door.

"There you are, I have been looking all over for you. If you wanted breakfast, you can order it by phone and it is delivered to you" The family does not eat in the kitchen" She sternly pronounced.

"But I do not know that, nor even were the phone is in my room. I was raised in America, were eating breakfast in the kitchen is the custom. I happen to like eating it here and will continue to do so" Alice replied, not liking her tone.

"Well I never" was all of Terrisa? reply Alice head as she stormed out of the door leading out through the iron bound glass block window that formed most of the outside wall of the huge kitchen.

Finding herself at the head of a crushed red brick path leading gently downhill into a huge formal guarded, Alice walked briskly away from any possible reply. But a few minutes later the little girl was lost in the gardens taller shrubbery and stone walls. She climbed up a rather worn statue of a lion on his haunches and spotted gray tilled roofs about half a mile away down the slope.

"And what do you think you are doing, little girl?" "Are you looking for work in the horse barns?" asked a female dressed in rough working clothes. "Well, yes, can you point out the way?" replied a fascinated Alice. Is all the staff female? She thought to herself.

"Then take that path over there and do not trespass onto any of my flowerbeds" pointed the now obvious gardener. Alice hoped down and quickly disappeared down the path, avoiding any flowerbeds. She found an old cloth cap perched on a budding rosebush and plunked it on her head, shoving most of her unbound long blond hair under it.

Eventually Alice found herself standing across a gray cobble stoned road from a red bricked wall It stretching the length of a football field in either direction, with buildings rising above. The sounds of horses aroused her interest. As she watched a green painted double door opened just across the way and young people began leading horses out and to her left down the road.

Slipping past a similarly girl leading one out, Alice found herself in a walled world composed of large red bricked buildings surrounding a gray cobblestone area. Horses were everywhere. Just in front of her, a young colt was jerking on a neck rope held by an older boy attempted to fit a bridle over its head.

Without even thinking, Alice walked up and rubbing the colts nose with her right hand, whispering in it? ear, holding the left out for the bridle. Out of the corner of her eye she observed the older boy appeared annoyed, but handed it over. The calmed colt was still trembling, but allowed Alice to slip the harness on.

"Nice work lass, if you can get it to walk ten laps around the track and clean it up after, you have yourself the summer job, you obviously came after." Alice turned around and fell in love with the tall handsome man dressed in tweeds, complete with shinny riding boots, walking towards her.

"Your name, pretty one?" he casually inquired.

"Mary, from Terryberry" Alice blurted out, flustered by the close inspection this gorgeous adult male was giving her.

"Then hurry and catch up with the rest of the horse exercisers. Left out of the gate. Remember, walk him ten laps around and back here for a hand bath and comb out. Can you handle that little Mary from Terryberry?" he inquired in a firm tone.

"Yes sir" was all Alice was able to reply.

The colt was still skittish, and at first would only be led slowly, but by the time Alice reached the hard packed surface of the white fenced racing track, it was effortlessly following her. There were about a dozen other young exercisers leading horses of various ages and size around the track. An older boy was standing at the finish line poles and checked the laps of the horses as they passed him. "Congratulations, are due if you got that hair brained one this far, new-girl" He smiled as Alice entered the track.

"Thank you, and you can call this new-girl Mary" Alice smiled as she led the colt passed.

The older boy just smiled back and went on to check off others walking past and chat with another boy. During the laps, Alice talked with the other young people doing the same and found they all had just been taken on as extra exercisers for the summer this week. Most were from farms or villages within a few miles and did not know each other. But Alice had arrived much later than the rest and still had four laps to go when the rest headed back. "I will wait here until you are done Mary," The older boy recording the laps said as she walked past on the seventh lap. On the ninth he joined her and introduced himself.

" My name is Mark, I have been apprenticed to the stables for three years and hope to work my way up to trainer someday. The Anders family has learned their trade her for generations. My own father started here and now runs a stable in Yorkshire. Are you from around here?" He inquired.

"Yes, I came up from Terryberry this morning but got lost in the gardens behind that big manor house." Alice partially truthfully replied

"I have never been up to the manor, Mark replied. The manor owns the farms and villages we all live in, but never see them. I guess the gentry do not mix with working folk. Even the household staff do not mix with the stable staff" " O, really Alice replied, I guess they are just to full of their own importance" A very thoughtful Alice said. And I think I know how to occupy my time this summer, she thought to herself.

When the ten laps were completed, Mark walked back with her to the walled equestrian world. He showed her the large brick barn occupying a quarter of the walled enclosure. The colts stall near the back and were to find washing and combing tools.

"Thank you very much for staying with me and walking me back" Alice said standing on her toes and brushing her chest up against him as she kissed him on the cheek. "No problem Mary, he replied, holding his palm were she kissed him. There have been disappearances of little young girls in England over the past few years and I would miss you. He smiled.

"Boys or horses, they both react the same to unexpected female kindness, her riding Mistress had taught her. And you were right on both counts today" Alice thought as the confused older boy walked away. By the time she had washed down and brushed out the colt, there appeared to be no one else in the barn. Alice had shucked off her oversized jacket and hat as she worked. Her white blouse was soaked with sweat and from bathing the horse. With the horse cooled of and brushed up, she went looking for some feed. As she passed a doorway strong arms reached out and dragged her inside. A hand from behind clamped a cloth in her mouth stiffing a yell.

She was spun around, and found herself looking up into the faces of two older boys, the taller one had tried to harness the colt this morning "Well you certainly are quite a prize, both good with horses and a good looker too" All the time their stronger bodies backing her up to the white painted brick wall and grasping both of her hands, slowly raised far above her head. Alice felt them being wrapped in a leather thong, the taller kissing her full on the lips, his tong probing.

" Any maybe a little special duty on the side?" he queried as his hands began undoing the buttons of her blouse. Alice was simply mesmerized by his eyes as a mouse under the gaze of a snake. Unable to speak or move.

"And loving all the attention I am about to visit on them, by the looks of your sweet sixteen nipples" his voice promised.

Just as he popped her budding breasts from their restricting bra, voices were heard moving closer.

""There will not be any interruption? next time I bind you sexy one" he promised, reaching up to release her wrists and the two walked out towards the oncoming voices. Alice as if in a daze stood there for a second, her unfettered wrists still held above her head. Then his power faded and she spat out the handkerchief, swiftly pushed her breasts back inside her bra re-buttoned her blouse and looking down, scooped up a half empty bag of feed and headed back to the colts stall, her heart thumping in her chest. "I will not let any male use me like that again", she promised herself. Mistress Seymour was right again; everyone must pay to trespass.

As she fed the colt, a group of other new hires came through the barn. "Time for lunch Mary", they called out. Alice followed them out of the barn and across the cobblestone courtyard to a two-story brick house beside the main doors of the equine world. The ground floor inside was all one room with a kitchen at the back and long dining tables in front. Male and female staffers were starting to sit down and fill the plates in front of them from big platters being laid out by three older men.

Alice dropped down into an empty seat and started to fill her plate up. As she reached for a pitcher of milk she saw the two boys that had molested her, sitting at the head of a nearby table as if nothing had occurred. She knew they thought themselves secure, just the word of a newby against two full-time staff. Exposing herself as the new owner and firing the two louts could wait. She was looking forward to pretending to be just a local for the summer. After all her parents had wanted her to acclimatize. After lunch Mark rounded her and six other new hires, taking them across the cobblestone yard to the building occupying the entire farside of the enclosure. This is the mews, individual stalls for the very important horse here for training or stud service. Each stall is double deep and wide with a separate inner and outer doors. Above are the rooms for horse tackle, saddle storage and repair. At either end are apartments for the full time staff. "How many are there? Alice asked. The building appeared to be just a long line of single car garages, to Alice.

Fourteen men or teenage boys include the three cooks, who live above the kitchen. The Horse Master has his own house and grounds some were else. "But, asking questions is not why you are all here. You will find shovels and rakes in the first stable. Start cleaning them all out in preparation for summer use. They worked hard through most of the afternoon, but as it was just old damp straw and dust it was not nocuous work. As the last of the damp straw and other accumulated garbage was wheelbarrowed away, a horse van drove into the grounds.

Mark and the other horse staff gathered around and when the tall boy signed a clipboard, they opened the back doors and two went in.

But a loud thump and horse whinny announced their hasty withdrawal. As Alice and her workgroup drifted over, all of the full time boys, one after another, entered the van with the same results.

By now the new hires group were gathering at the ramp end of the van. The tall one, walked over and said over his shoulder as he walked up the ramp, "I guess it is time for a professional to show you how", but he sure scurried out fast accompanied by loud horse whinny and thumping of a big horse? hooves as the van shook from side to side.

"That horse is crazy" he barked. Loud guffaws from the gathered staffers brought a very red flush to his face.

" Not one of you can bring that big black monster out, I?l wager my job on it" He growled, angrily starring at the smiling crowd.

"I will" a soft voice from the back proclaimed. Well if it isn? Mary from Terryberry, out to make a name for herself on her first day. And her last if she fails" Threatened the tall one as the startled crowd parted for Alice. She saw Mike, standing over towards the mews, slowly shaking his head.

Alice calmly walked up the ramp towards her own horse of the last three years Knight-Ridder. Having slept in the stall next to him for the last eighteen months Alice recognized his whinny. She could see he was trembling, probably traumatized by the unaccustomed flight and the handling from a long line of strangers. Wary until he recognized her, the big stallion was a formidable natural force she had made a sole to sole pact with before. Walking straight up to him, she undid her blouse, and as his trembling slowly slipped away, rubbed her breasts against his flaring nostrils. When his tong slipped out to taste her glistening breasts, he was hers again. And Alice reveled in the knowledge that her mistress would have been proud of her.

Mary / Alice? summer reputation was made when she led that big black stallion, his towering body meekly following her, unfettered out of that van. As she passed the dumbfounded tall one, Alice called out, "I will not ask you to keep your promise, just away from me"

Mark was standing beside the first private mew stall, holding the outside door wide. Wider were his eyes, on a very supportive face. "That jumped up popinjay needed taking down a peg Mary, and I will ensure he does not bother you again. My fists are known for their hardness around here, holding up to large fists that had seen a lot of rough use. "Thank you Mark, I will need a friend around here"

The first stall was fully equipped with fresh straw and all the equipment for a horse? care. Alice set to work, washing the stallion down, followed by a full brushing out. Knight-Rider moved and shuffled under her touch, just as in the old days. Bye the time she was both finished, she was worn out.

As she slowly walked across the cobblestone yard towards the green entrance doors, a group of the full time young male staffers, heading for the kitchen building, waved as she passed.

Mark separated from the group, and met her at the door. "You have certainly made quite a first day impression, Mary. Albert has sworn never to go near you and that big black stallion" he told her, opening the man door in the left main door for her.

"Did you persuade him with your fists?" Alice asked, looking up at Mark with her best helpless female look.

"No, I just told him you were reserved for my attentions this summer" he smiled. "The rest left an hour ago, can I walk you to the bus stop?" he offered.

"No, but you can walk me up to the manor, were my mother works" Alice replied, not looking forward to the day he found out who she really was.

They talked little as they walked back up through the gardens; both tired from a long day. At the kitchen door, she surprised him again with a peck on the cheek and a smile.

"You can tell them we kissed," she said up into his surprised face. His walk was brisker as he disappeared down the path. An equally delighted Mary reverted to Alice as she stepped through the kitchen door. "Were have you been? You smell like a barnyard" The real Mary was standing holding her nose as Alice walked by. "Terrisa has been absolutely impossible all day since you stormed out on her"

"Tell her I am on my way up to my tower cell for a shower. I have been out riding all day and will want something brought up for my dinner in about an hour" Alice told her as she walked out through the pantry. By the time Alice had showered, dried herself off and almost double wrapped a fresh white bathrobe around her thin bobby, a knocking at her door announced Mary with a large silver platter of.

"Terrisa was about to deliver this, and a stern lecture about the obedience that young ladies of quality should show to their elders. Until my mother reminded her who we all really work for" She said, laying out the steak and potatoes dinner? main course, and standing aside ready to serve.

"Please sit across from me Mary, I have bean working in the horse barns all day, and I am tired "Alice said between mouthfuls of steak.

"But you are of the noble house, and raised in America, how could they let you?" Mary queried "I simply passed my self off as you, looking for summer work with the horses, and when I am among you, I revert to my mothers accent" and I even attracted an older apprentice as a boyfriend" Alice told the incredulous Mary.

"But what will they say when they find you out?" Mary wondered.