I did it all for you E-Book

Steve Granger

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 398

Beschreibung

After being medically discharged from the army, Jim Simms settles down in a quiet village in the south of England. Everyone likes Jim. He is gentle, dependable, fun to be with. But they don't know about his past or the dark secret he has kept hidden from his wife, Kayley. When she goes away for a trip, the rage he has inside him suddenly erupts, leaving death and carnage in his wake. On Kayley's return, she cannot believe the stories nor the police reports about her husband being a suspect. But then again, she didn't know the monster she had married and what evil he was capable of.

Leseprobe

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

For my beautiful daughter, Joanna. Your pets inspired me to add them in this story, so I hope I have done you proud.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Epilogue

1

The small, quaint, and quiet village called Parsons Bridge, situated just off the A23 between Crawley and Brighton, did not have much going for it. There were no shops, not since the small corner shop run by Mrs Daunton was closed by the local authorities some 10 years earlier for selling out of date stock. The pub had shut its doors 5 years ago as most of the villagers were not known for their drinking, and as there were hardly any traffic driving through, not many visitors stopped for a quick pint or a pub lunch in the once pleasant pub garden. The postman emptied the only letterbox that was on the main street every afternoon at midday and the British Telecom phone box was no longer in use, this having been turned into a small library of used books, kindly donated by the inhabitants of the village. Most of these books were old, yellow paged, dogeared and downright tatty, like most of the villagers themselves. But at least those who could not drive to the nearest town were able to swap a book for something different to read when the time came. The bus came twice a day, once at 08:07 and at 17:16 on weekdays, no services for the weekend or public holidays.

The village dated all the way back to 1736 and the pace today was the same as it was then. Slow. The place itself consisted of only 5 streets, all named after something religious for some unknown reason. There was no church of any kind in the complete history of the place, so someone must have had a weird sense of humour when naming the streets and village itself.

There were 66 houses in total, no apartments, or flats and all the houses had large gardens, front and back.

From these 66 houses, 10 of these were found on one of the streets parallel to the main road and was named Vicar`s Close. The first house had been built back in 1952 and was a large farmhouse which included a huge barn for the tractor and other farm machinery. As this was the only house built back then, the plot of land was large, but since the local authorities wanted to hopefully modernize the village and bring it into the 20th century, it was agreed by the local council that one of the original fields would be turned over for housing. So, it was decided that the remaining area be split between 9 plots and so more houses were built, 6 houses on the south side, 3 on the north.

The plots were available to buy in 1998 and were offered to the families who were living in the village first. If there were not enough offers, then their children could apply, just as long as they were over the age of eighteen. As there was ample space available at the time and the market was at an all-time low and as the plots were larger than normal, most of these were snapped up without too much fuss.

James Simmons, known to all as Jim Simms, purchased the large farmhouse and grounds from its previous owner some six years ago after spending some time in the army. The house consisted of two floors. Downstairs there was a large kitchen, a huge living/dining room with a hatchway to the kitchen, an amenities room for the washer/dryer and the central heating, a guest toilet, and a small hallway. Up the stairs were two large bedrooms, another small bedroom that Jim had changed into an office and a large bathroom. Outside he had converted the massive barn that had originally housed the farm machinery into three sections. One was a double garage for their two vehicles, the second was a large room for his tools, machinery, and materials and the third was a large room for his pets. He had put up the brick partition walls, had these plastered, he renewed and extended the electrics, dropped in a low ceiling that was insulated, put in a couple of doors to each respective area and one so that he could enter the pet’s area directly from the garden and he also installed a large, tinted window so that he could have light coming through but the sun`s rays would not be so harsh.

He lived together with his young wife Kayley. They got on well with all the neighbours and had been welcomed into the community with open arms. This being because Kayley looked a bit of alright and Jim was a good gardener and handyman to have on one`s friends list.

“Jim, they`re banging those doors again,” she said as they lay in bed on a bright Saturday morning in April.

“What?” came the muffled reply.

“I said they`re banging those car doors again. Nine times I`ve heard them bang,” she complained.

Jim took his head from the pillow and took a squinted glance at his alarm clock.

“Babes,” he said, “it`s only just gone eight, you know I need my sleep,” he replied.

“And so do I, but with them across the road, no chance of that,” she said. “When I moved in, this was such a quiet place. Now everyone has got small children and they can be heard crying all the time. Since they moved in across the road over a year ago, all we`ve had is banging and drilling and who knows what going on. I thought that as soon as they had refurbished the place, all would go back to being quiet. But no, ever since they bought their new car, always outside cleaning it or loading things in and out. Can you speak to Mark and ask him to keep quiet?” she asked him.

“And what do you want me to say?” he asked whilst turning onto his back.

“What I said, ask him to stop opening and closing those bloody doors.”

“Anything to keep my princess happy,” he replied, reaching over to stroke one of her breasts. “Come on, let`s have breakfast in bed,” he said, this time leaning towards her with a glint in his eye.

“You`ll need to brush your teeth first, you stink of garlic,” she replied, pushing him away.

“Passion killer,” he said smiling as he got out of the bed and moved to the bathroom. As he was peeing, he shouted back to Kayley “Ten”.

“What?”

“Ten. They just slammed the car door again, meaning ten times so far,” he said grinning.

When he got back into the bedroom after brushing his teeth, Kayley was nowhere to be seen. He slowly put on his tracksuit and walked downstairs where he found her in the kitchen.

“Obviously you are not hungry,” he asked, “or has my charm lost its appeal?”

“Sorry, not in the mood,” she said. “You go and speak with Mark and I`ll make you a nice cup of tea and some toast.”

He said, “All right,” knowing that it was impossible to argue with her. “Back in a bit.”

Jim slipped on a pair of old trainers, grabbed his door key and left the house. He walked down his drive and around the corner of his house and approached his neighbour.

“Good morning, Mark, still happy with the new motor?” he asked.

“Ah, morning Jim. Yes, isn`t she a beauty?” he replied.

They stood together looking at the gleaming new VW Passat Estate that was parked in front of Mark`s garage.

“Got everything I need in it,” he said, “even room for the golf clubs and the dog cage.”

“Yes, it is big, nice colour too,” Jim replied, looking at the crimson red metallic paint job. “How much did it set you back?”

“Just over thirty-four thousand, has a lot of extras and it`s a 2-litre petrol, so has some power behind it.”

“Off anywhere nice?” Jim asked.

“Yeah, off to hit a few balls and hopefully not lose too many this time. Want to come and have a game? You can borrow Wendy`s clubs if you like.”

“No, have a lot to do, need to sort out the back room of the garage. Cleaning out some of the pets as I haven`t done it for a while.”

“Never could understand your interest in keeping snakes and stuff.”

“Well,” replied Jim, “I can leave mine alone for a few days if I want to go on a short trip, as long as I feed them before I go. Can`t do that with “Scruff” can you now?” Jim asked, referring to Mark`s dog.

“True, but you wouldn`t go away and leave one of your kids at home, would you? And as Scruff is the family dog, he comes with us wherever we go.”

“If we were all the same, it would be a boring old world,” Jim said. “You have your interests and I have mine. Can`t understand how someone could go out in any weather and try to hit a small ball around a field with a stick for a few hours.”

“Ah, you should accept one of my invitations one day instead of making excuses. Come on down the driving range, I`ll show you how to hit a few balls. Bet you a tenner you`ll even enjoy it.”

“No thanks, have better things to do with my time. Still got to finish the plans for Mrs Goodwin`s garden this weekend. Weather is looking good for a change, chance to earn a bit of money.” Jim stated.

“Yeah, we did have a shit winter, I`m glad it`s brightening up today.”

“Well, enjoy your day and see you later.”

“Yeah, bye Jim, and don`t get strangled by one of your snakes.” Mark said laughingly as Jim walked back home.

As he entered the house, Kayley came from out of the living room carrying a cup of coffee in her hand.

“And? How did he take it?” she asked.

“All about diplomacy,” he answered. “Just need to know how to get the message across without offending them is all.”

The fact that he never spoke about the car doors being slammed during the whole conversation was not mentioned.

“He was busy putting his golf clubs into the car is all.”

“He has four doors and a boot. Was he putting the clubs in one at a time?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

“All done now, stop fretting. Hey, what are you doing today?” he asked her, trying to change topics.

“I`m off to do some shopping. Need to buy something nice for next weekend. Hope the weather will be nice on Ibiza,” she said. “Will be nice to get away for a bit, even if it is only for a few days.”

“How many of you are going to the hen night?” he asked.

“Well, obviously there`s me and Pauline, Mandy, Tracey, Pauline`s neighbour Debs and Cory, one of her cousins. So should be six of us unless one has dropped out.”

“It will give me time to get Pearl cleaned out and maybe some of the others too.” he said. “Would be good if someone else could take you to the airport as the weather is looking good for this week, so will hopefully be working flat out to get in some extra cash, seeing that you are spending it by leaving me for a few days,” he said jokingly.

“I`m pretty sure Mandy will drive, and she can leave her car at the airport. I`ll pay half the parking ticket if she wants. And be honest, I have done well settling in here haven`t I?” she asked.

“Of course, you have. I know you are far away from your parents and school friends, but this place was very cheap when I bought it and it is in a great location for my work. Anyway, did you make some toast whilst I was out being a diplomat?” he asked, heading into the kitchen.

“No, you`ll have to make your own. Off to get ready before I start splashing the cash,” she said grinning.

And with that, Jim was left alone to fend for himself yet again.

2

James Simmons was born in Crawley in March of 1992 and was an only child. His father, Frank, was a builder by trade and his mother, Emily, was a keen gardener and housewife. Growing up in Southgate West, one of the nicer parts of Crawley, had its benefits. The houses were larger and so were the gardens. His mother would take care of their garden and kept changing its shape and structure every few years, adding a wall, moving a flower bed, planting or removing trees and bushes and generally being the envy of all the other houses around.

His father had a little workshop at the end of the garden, and this is where James watched and helped him build things for his mother.

The first school he went to was Southgate West Junior school and this is where his best friend at the time, Tony Walcocks, gave him the nickname Jim Simms. And this stuck with him all through the middle school and into Holy Trinity comprehensive.

He stayed on for his A levels and as he liked working outside, he decided to attend Brinsbury College, where he got his City and Guilds level 2 in horticulture. It wasn`t until he had finished his college education that he decided that he would like to join the army in order to see the world, paid for by the taxpayers.

So, at the age of 19 he left Crawley and joined the Royal Engineers and completed his basic training in Chatham, Kent. He then went on to complete his trade training where he was taught construction skills which consisted of bricklaying, carpentry, structural finishing, electrical fitting, surveying, design, and materials technology.

When he had mastered this, he also learnt engineering skills, these being amongst other things heating, plumbing, air conditioning and mechanics. He had a head start on most of the other soldiers as his father had already taught him most things about bricklaying and carpentry from an early age, so he excelled in this field.

After completing his trade training, he was posted to Hamelin in Lower Saxony, Germany, the town where the story of the Pied Piper originated from.

Jim enjoyed the camaraderie and competition between colleagues and had no regrets on leaving his middle-aged parents or friends back home. After all, who doesn`t envy someone in uniform? It was at this time that he really started coming out of his shell. Never shy but reserved, his body had grown through all the physical training and good food. What with his not bad looks and dark hair, he caught the eye of several ladies in the local bars and clubs and on more than one occasion didn`t get back to barracks until a couple of hours before morning parade.

Then something happened in his military life and after consulting with an army doctor and his commanding officer, he was discharged within a short period of time and returned to Crawley. He never informed his parents why he had been discharged, nor did they ask. They thought that if he wanted to tell them, then he would in his own time. But that time never came.

Frank Simmons decided one day that he would like to take up sailing and started looking for a place to buy on the Isle of Wight.

At the time his parents were house hunting, Jim was doing the same for himself and was lucky in finding such a large property for not too much money and not too far from Crawley. The price was right, gave him ample space for what he had planned and with the money his parents had promised him from the sale of their own house, he signed under the dotted line and at the age of only 22 he was a house owner. He still had the mortgage to pay but this was not too hard on his wallet and was quite manageable.

With the qualifications he had achieved in college and the skills he had picked up from his parents and army time, he decided to become self-employed and start his own landscaping business. He started off doing odd jobs for people he knew back in Crawley and the surrounding areas and soon people were talking about him in a good way when others were looking for a gardener or odd job man to assist around the house.

It did not take long before he was putting ads into the local newspapers and pinning up A4 sheets of paper in the shops in the nearby towns to drum up more business. He also advertised online and not too long after starting out, his bookings started picking up in the spring and summer of 2015. This is the year he met Kayley.

Kayley was not a shy girl. In fact, she had always been the centre of attention from a very early age. Born in Ashford, Kent, Kayley was, from the day she was born, spoilt rotten. She was the youngest of four children and the only girl. When she was born, her brothers were already 12, 10 and 7 years of age, so she was either a last chance for them having a girl or a late mistake. But when her parents found out they were having a baby girl they were joyful and praised God for their good fortune. After all, her mother had already turned 40 and her father was 45.

Born with blue eyes and blond hair, this stayed with her all through her life. Her parents would buy her all the things she needed and a lot of things she didn`t. Her older brothers took it in turns to play with her as a baby and all through her younger years until she reached the age of 9. By now, her oldest brother had left home at the age of 21 and moved to Chichester and joined his uncle`s accounting firm. Her middle brother had just left for college so this meant she could only play with her younger brother, Nigel, who was now turning 16 and starting to date girls. When their parents were out, Nigel would be instructed to look after Kayley and no sooner were their parents out of the house, he would be on the phone to one girl or another and invite them home for some kissing and cuddling.

When Nigel had a girl around, he would make Kayley some hot chocolate, supply her with a bag of crisps and sit her in front of the TV and let her watch cartoons. But little girls get bored easily and she did not always stay in the living room. She would sometimes creep up the stairs and very quietly open Nigel`s bedroom door so she could hear what they were talking about. At times there would be no talking, only noises of them kissing and giggling, but at times she would also hear them having sex. At the time she did not know or see what was going on, but it seemed like they were enjoying themselves as every time a girl left the house, she was always smiling and looking flushed in the face.

As Nigel got older, he no longer wanted Kayley around him, so she was left to either play on her own or have friends come and play. And they came and played daily. Plus, she could do things the other parents would not have tolerated. Like camping in the back garden during the summer holidays, cutting the hair off her dolls heads and drawing tattoos on them or just being allowed to have friends in her bedroom.

Whilst at comprehensive school, it was apparent that she had not inherited any of the brains that her siblings had. In fact, she was near the bottom of the class in most subjects apart from PE, where she excelled in running and gymnastics. She was well liked at school and fitted in well with most of the girl groups and most of the boys. After all, Nigel had taught her how to make them happy, and she was usually found with a different boy behind the bike sheds or behind the garages of the nearby housing estate.

Unperturbed with her exam results, it was thought best that with her good looks, she would do well in becoming a beauty therapist. As her school results were bad, there was no way of her going this route through college, so her mother helped in finding her an apprenticeship in a local spa, where she was taught how to give facial makeovers and massages along with manicures.

When she had just turned 17, she was invited with Pauline, a girlfriend from work, to go to Brighton for a weekend of partying and to have some fun. Kayley`s parents were sceptical at first but soon gave in and gave her some extra pocket money for the trip.

The two girls boarded the train in Ashford and arrived in Brighton some 2 hours later, where they took a taxi to a hotel that Pauline had previously booked. After getting changed and putting on some makeup, the two girls left the safety of the hotel in search of a bar or nightclub. They found a nice place overlooking the beach near the Palace pier and after chatting up the doorman, they were allowed inside.

After a couple of hours of dancing, both girls decided they wanted to sit down and drink whilst watching others dance. This is where Kayley first laid her eyes on Jim. He had his arms around a girl and they were dancing together to a slow tune when suddenly Kayley was aware that he was staring at her. She sat upright, thrusting out her breasts in a not to obvious manner and smiled at him. Jim smiled back and as the music continued, he turned away with the music and lost sight of her. Kayley tried to see him again but as the dancefloor was getting full, she lost sight of him. When Pauline came back with more drinks, Kayley forgot all about the encounter and said she needed to use the toilet. On her way back out, she bumped into Jim in the corridor. Well, in all honesty, he had been waiting for her to come out.

“Hi, I`m Jim,” he said.

“Hello, I`m Kayley,” she replied.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.

“I`ve already got one thanks.”

“I can get you another one when you have finished it,” he said smiling. “Who are you with?” he asked.

“With my best friend from work, who are you here with?”

“Just a couple of mates I know from school. You are very beautiful,” he stated.

Her blonde hair had been straightened before she came out and was halfway down her back in length. Her blue eyes were made even more visible by applying a white eyeliner on her lower eyelid and the corners next to her nose. She stood at 171 cm and weighed 55 kg.

“Thank you,” she replied, “and you`re not too bad yourself.”

“Would you like to dance?”

“Let me have a sip of my drink, meet you on the dancefloor in a minute.”

And with the cockiness of someone young and in command, she turned and went back to the table where Pauline was waiting.

“I`ve just met a nice-looking guy and going for a dance with him. Are you ok with that?” she asked.

“Of course, I’ve also spotted someone I want to move towards, be careful and see you back here in 20 minutes. Remember the drill, no one leaves this place without the other, ok?”

“Absolutely. See you here or on the dancefloor.”

And just as Kayley was moving away, Pauline was already scanning the crowd looking for someone who she could spend time with.

Kayley and Jim did not separate for the next 4 hours, and Pauline felt like a fifth wheel on a car at times. But when it was time to leave, Jim escorted them back to their hotel and asked if he could have Kayley`s phone number and if she would like to see him again. She said she would like that very much and that is how the whirlwind romance started.

Seven months later they were married. Jim solemnly swore to not only “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law, and this is my solemn vow,” but he promised her grandmother that he would always treat her like the princess she was. That made her family very happy. Jim was now 24 and Kayley only 18 but they were made for each other. She kept him young; he made her laugh and together they were happy and content.

She left her job in Ashford and made the move to Parsons Bridge to start her new life with her new husband in the house he had bought the previous year. She found work in nearby Horsham, and she was very content with her life. A dream made in heaven. Or so she thought.

3

Jim was changing out of his tracksuit and into his work clothes when Kayley shouted up the stairs.

“Alright love, off now. Do you want anything from town?”

“Yeah, can you see if you can pick me up a small blonde? The one I have will be leaving me soon and I need a replacement,” he replied as he headed towards the stairs.

“Sorry darling, the only blonde you will ever have in your life is me and you are stuck with me until death do us part, remember? And I am sure that I can keep you entertained and satisfied enough before I go so that you will not have any energy left to even consider making love to another woman when I am away.”

“Was worth a try. No, I don`t need anything. Drive careful and enjoy your day. I`ll be in the back so if you try to call, I may not hear as I`ll have my music on.”

“OK, see you later. Love you,” she said and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. With that, she quickly turned, picked up her keys and handbag and left the house.

Jim heard her the electric motor as the garage door opened and several seconds later, Kayley reversed her Mini out of the garage and drove away. Left to himself, he switched on the kettle, put a teabag into a cup and waited for the water to boil. Tea made and cup in hand, he grabbed his own keys, left the house and went into the garage himself. He walked past his Ford Transit chassis van, which was still parked in the double garage and unlocked the door which led into the back room.

After he turned on the main light, he pressed the remote switch and the garage door closed, blocking out the outside world.

Inside the back room, lights were already on in the many vivariums that were on display. These varied in different sizes according to the species and demands that were needed in order to keep these creatures in a friendly environment.

All around the room, industrial shelving had been erected and secured to the walls in order to take the weight of all the glass and wooden vivarium`s. Each vivarium had its own lighting, some with heat lamps, some just with a normal illumination light and others with special UV bulbs. And depending on the species, heating mats were also plugged in where needed in order to keep the warmth and moisture up to the correct levels as per their original habitat.

In total, Jim had a good collection of 52 different spiders, 50 of these being tarantulas and 2 were Black Widows. The tarantulas were divided into ground or tree species, and these were recognisable by the shape of the vivarium. The ground species did not need room to climb, so their space was limited in height but were wider at the base. For the tree species, these were much higher and had larger plants and tree bark in order to climb and build their webs. Most of the tarantulas he had were very easy to handle, but certain ones had his respect. Although the venom of these could not kill a man, it would still cause the area to swell and be painful. On top of this, some of the fangs on the spiders were long and sharp. Being bitten was not advisable so he took care when handling these.

He liked the variety of his selection, only having one spider per species, as he was not planning on mating any. These ranged from the Mexican Red-Knee, a Chilean Rose, the Brazilian Black Velvet, a Costa Rican Zebra, an Indian Ornamental and the biggest tarantula of all, the Goliath Bird Eater which had a body length up to 12 cm and a leg span of 30 cm.

He also had an emperor scorpion, a big, black creature and this was seen better in the evenings when most of the lights were switched off.

And then came the snakes, all 20 of them. Again, these were mostly different species, but none of these were venomous as all were constrictors. He owned a corn snake, several different coloured ball pythons, a king snake, a red tail boa, a green tree python, a diamond python, a southern white lipped python, a hognose python, and many others.

His pride and joy took centre stage, or rather covered the complete floor from left to right along the back wall. This was placed on the floor as no shelving would have been strong enough to take the weight. He had aptly named her Pearl as she was precious and was a beauty to look at. Weighing in at an incredible 95kg of pure muscle, she was currently measuring around 5,7 metres from head to tail. Originating from Asia, Pearl was a reticulated python and an albino morph, meaning her colour was pale with bright yellow markings. With the ability to grow to a length of 7 metres, she still had some way to go before she was fully grown.

Her vivarium was massive. This was constructed mostly out of wood and the front was made of reinforced glass. The vivarium was 4 x 3 metres in dimension and 3 metres in height. A daylight lamp was installed and was turned on during normal daylight hours and a basking lamp used for warmth. The temperature was kept between 26 - 33°c during the day, dropping down to around 24°c during the night. With various objects dotted around to provide some natural habitat, these being a large hollow tree stump, several rocks and some plastic plants for decoration, she also had a large water bath in one corner. This not only allowed her to drink, it also gave her the opportunity to bathe and cool down when necessary. As like most snakes, she liked to keep curled up during the day and stay hidden, preferring to come out at night to hunt. She was only fed every 5 to 6 weeks and mostly given 3 large rats or rabbits to keep going. Being fed more often would mean it would get fat.

As Jim approached, he knelt on one knee and gazed at Pearl soaking in her tub, only her head sticking out of the water.

“Good morning sweetheart, need to change your water today.”

He finished drinking his tea, stood up and went over to the small CD player mounted on a small shelf near the door. He inserted a CD and pressed play. Music resonated around the room and Jim started collecting the items he would need for today’s task. He spent many an hour in here just getting away from normal life. He could just stand and watch all his exhibits move around, or when he was feeding them, watch them hunt. He was intrigued at the speed of the spiders and amazed at the power of the snakes when they strangled their prey before devouring it.

He made sure that the all the doors were closed before he opened any vivarium just in case an occupant tried to escape. With an empty bucket and a hose, he opened the first of the spider’s boxes, made sure the spider was not in range, slowly lifted out the water tray, emptied the old contents into the bucket and replaced the tray before refilling it with water. This done, he used a spray bottle normally used for watering plants and sprayed the interior. This helped the humidity and allowed the spider to feel better and not stressed. Making sure the glass front was closed, he moved on to the next. He repeated this process until he came to the end of the shelves, then made the same procedure for the next shelf. Sometimes he needed to either use his hand to move a stubborn spider or, for the more vicious ones, he moved them aside using a pair of large feeding tweezers. He emptied the bucket in the floor drain, which was covered by a strong wire mesh woven tightly together.

Once all the spiders had been catered for, Jim went back to the house, where he made himself some instant noodles. These finished, he went back into the back room and started the same procedure with all the snakes. First to either move them to the side, or for many, he would pick them up and place them around his shoulder whilst continuing to replace the water or let them move around a bit on the floor. He kept an eye on them and if one tried to slither under the shelving, he would grab it by the tail and gently lift it up by pulling it backwards. This tired out the snake so after a few escape moves, they would be content to just move around the floor near where they had been put.

It wasn`t until he had finished all the “small” snakes (some of these were over 2 metres in length) when he turned his attention to his larger ones. For these, he would open their glass panels and allow them to poke their heads out, in which case he slowly took hold of their body and assisted them out. As these larger snakes were heavy, he would have them on the floor near his feet whilst he changed the water. Because of the sheer size, their vivarium`s were lower to the ground.

And then it was time for Pearl. As she was already laying in her water bath, Jim opened the glass and stepped back. He could see Pearl raise her head slightly and saw the flicker of her tongue as she tested the air. After several minutes, she started to move. Her body remained in the water as she extended her head towards the opening, and little by little she slowly slid out of the enclosure. Once on the floor, Jim took out a bucket and a smaller jug and started emptying the water from the bath. This took several minutes as the bath held a lot of water. Once completed, he used the hose and refilled it, making sure to spray some onto the stones as he went along.

Now it was time to play with Pearl. He sat on the floor and lifted her head up onto his lap. Slowly she transferred her body across his thighs and her tail was wrapped around his right ankle. He could feel the muscles as she moved and if the tightness of her tail around his lower leg was anything to go by, then being fully wrapped around by her would not be a nice feeling at all. Making sure that her head did not go around his body, he gradually lifted her away from him by placing her head back in her enclosure. Testing the air once again, she glided smoothly back inside and coiled herself under the basking lamp to warm up. Glass door locked into position, Jim tidied up the equipment, made sure that all glass doors were closed and or locked, turned off the CD player and light, locked the door behind him and went back into the house.

All of this had taken around 3 hours and after having a quick wash and a change back into his tracksuit, he sat down at the computer and opened the file named ``Mrs Goodwin``. He quickly checked all the calculations that he had already prepared and printed these off. Next, he opened his sketch pad where he had meticulously made a drawing of her back garden and added the alterations that they had planned together. After scanning this, he printed it out and put both this and the cost calculation into a small folder and shut down his PC.

Once again, he slipped on his trainers, grabbed his keys and left the house, this time going to Mrs Goodwin’s house, whose back garden ended at the side of his driveway. After ringing the doorbell and waiting several seconds, Mrs Goodwin was heard moving through the house towards the front door.

“Ah, Jim, nice of you to call,” she said.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Goodwin, I have the plans ready and wanted to go through them with you if you have time.”

“Of course, come on in. Would you like a cup of tea and a biscuit?” she asked him, leading him into the living room.

“Would love one, thanks,” he replied.

“Good, nice to have some company. Please sit down and I`ll put the kettle on.”

Jim sat himself down and looked out through the patio windows. All the flowerbeds were overgrown with weeds, her lawn was a disaster and her bushes and trees looked like something out of a horror movie. Well, if she agreed to his proposal, it should keep him in work for at least two weeks. And as he only lived next door, he could get more done as he would not need to travel to and from work.

“Here you go,” she said, handing him a mug of tea, “help yourself to some biscuits.” She placed a plate of chocolate creams on the small table and smiled at him as he dunked the first biscuit.

“So, show me your plans for outside and let`s see if your calculations are anywhere near mine,” she said.

Jim handed her the folder and proceeded to talk her through what he wanted to do, how it would look at the end and explained the breakdown of the costs.

“Well, the price is a bit steep,” she said after he had finished explaining, “would you be able to drop the price a bit? I mean, I do not need a receipt for my taxes, me being a pensioner and widow. And would I be able to pay cash?”

“I would need to have some of this going through the books, so I will need you to pay the tax on that, but if we split the bill, say 60/40, you pay cash without tax for the 60% and pay the bill with tax for the remaining 40%. Sound like a deal? And please don`t tell anyone I am doing this, don`t need someone coming around asking questions now, do we?”

“Of course not. Could you quickly work it out how much that would all be in total?” she asked.

He took out his mobile phone, opened the calculator and worked out how much she would owe him.

“So, if you could pay 50% of the money up front, that would allow me to buy the trees and material you would like, and I could start working on Monday. How does that sound?” he asked her.

“That sounds perfect. I`ll drive down to the bank and withdraw the money and I`ll get it to you before the end of the weekend,” she answered.

“Great, sounds like a plan,” he replied as he stood up to leave. “I`ll start on Monday at 08:00 sharp. Have those beds looking neater before I get to the big stuff.”

“OK, see you later when I come around with the money. The garden was my husbands’ job, but since his passing last year, I`m afraid I neglected it and now it is too much for me. But with you to lend a hand, sure it will be back to its former self, if not better.”

“I won`t disappoint,” he said as he went back outside. “You won`t recognise the place when I have finished.”

And with that, Jim went back home, went inside, turned on the TV and lay down on the couch. It did not take him too long before he fell asleep.

4

Kayley arrived home after seven in the evening in a foul mood. She stormed in, slammed the front door, tossed her handbag and keys onto the side cupboard in the hallway, stomped into the kitchen and dumped her shopping bag on the table.

“You OK love?” Jim asked when he heard the commotion.

“No, I bloody well ain`t,” she replied. “Couldn`t find what I wanted, the multi-story was packed, so had to park in a side street a long way from the centre. Came back to find I had been issued a parking ticket because I was “outside” of the box, and to top it all off, that fucking dog across the road keeps barking. That will go on until they let him in when they go to bed.” she said.

“How much is the ticket for?” he asked.

“£80 they want.”

“£80? Where did you park the car? Somewhere near Buckingham Palace?”

“Don`t be stupid. And what have you been doing all day apart from sitting on your arse?”

“Wow, hold on babes, no need to take it out on me.” He walked over to her and put his arms around her from the back. He nuzzled his face into the side of her neck and gave her several kisses.

“Come on, I`ll pour you a glass of wine and you can sit down with your feet up and relax. Don`t worry about the fine, I`ll pay it next week when Mrs Goodwin pays me for the materials. We`ve agreed that I can start this Monday. Not bad, eh?”

“You always know how to calm me down,” she said, tilting her head back as he kept kissing her neck. “Let me have a quick shower and meet you upstairs in bed. You can bring the whole bottle if you wish.”

“That sounds like an invitation,” he said, letting her go. “Don`t take too long, you know what you are like when you start with the creams and lotions.”

“Don`t worry, I`ll be in and out in a jiffy. Hopefully you`ll take longer” she said smiling.

“Your wish is my command,” he said and watched her as she headed towards the stairs.

When Kayley entered the bedroom, Jim had already shut the window and closed the curtains. A light dimly illuminated the room from the lamp that was on his bedside cupboard, and he lay under the covers, pretending to be asleep. On her side of the bed was an empty wine glass and a wine bottle in a wine cooler. She poured herself a glass, took a long sip and sat down with her back to him. Jim took a quick peek to see what she was doing and quickly closed his eyes again as she lifted her slender legs onto the bed and laid down beside him.

Taking one final sip, she placed the glass back down and turned towards him. Lifting his covers, she slid her feet in between his lower legs and placed her cold hands on his belly. Without any talking, she lowered her left hand and reached down to his groin. She found his erect penis immediately and started moving her hand slowly up and down.

“That`s nice,” she said softly.

“Hmm,” he murmured back. “I like that.”

Jim moistened his fingertips on his right hand and placed it between her legs. Slowly he started moving his fingers in a circular movement across her labia and found her clitoris. She let out a soft moan and started moving her hips along with the rhythm of his hand. She unclasped his manhood and turned onto her back, gently squeezing her erect nipples.

“I`m cumming,” she whispered, and her eyes turned in her head as she was hit by her first orgasm.

Jim kept up the hand movements and slowed the circular motion down so that she could catch her breath. When she no longer moaned, he started again, this time extending one and then a second finger into her wet vagina. Quickly, Jim knelt next to her so that he was able to control his movements and to give her full satisfaction. He turned his hand over so that it was facing palm upwards as he continued moving the two fingers in and out. He was able to feel the G-spot and made sure to keep the pressure on as his fingers rubbed against it. Not being able to resist it any longer, Kayley arched her back, dug her hands into the sheets and thrust her hips against his hand every time he pushed it forward. Hit by another orgasm, this one stronger than the first, he did not stop or slow down until she had no more energy.

Satisfied with his work, Jim lay down beside her again and they faced each other. Kayley went back to his erect penis and as they kissed, their tongues finding each other’s, she gradually pushed him onto his back, knelt beside him and placed his manhood into her mouth. Her blonde hair covered his upper thighs so he took it in his hands so he could watch what she was doing. He cupped one of her breasts with his right hand as her head went up and down and with his left hand, he reached around her buttocks and inserted a finger into her vagina once more.

After several minutes, Jim said “Go on top.”