QUATRE FEMME

"This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual
persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive
rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited"



The Girls arrived home and saw Kitty on the floor doing the splits, Roxy smiled and walked past and Akemi just said, “your going to make a fine Mistress!” the three sisters laughed, and Kitty said “I have to keep my flexiblity, I never know when I might get a place in a dancing school”

(Kitty was a girl of 17, she had studied Dance since she was 7 years old, and everytime she moved, wether it was to go to bed, or pick up a cup of tea, or anything, she would flounce and twirl, always light on her feet, her hair was of a dark brown colour, and her eyes were hazel green, She had a light figure, but her breasts were bigger than ballet permited.)

Roxanne sat down on the sette and said “we have found you a job” Kitty’s head shot up in Roxy’s direction..Roxy continued “ It is in that nice tea shop, you said you liked the look of, you start work at 9:30am and work I think until 4:00pm, so not long, and you have a lunch break at some point I am sure,

(at this Kitty started, but Roxy just put up her hands and continued) “I know you have your heart set on a dance school to carry on your ballet and tapp training, BUT, most of the schools have been bombed or they are closed because of the air raids,

And we need, and YOU need money, and it is an easy job and while you are woking at the tea shop, you can carry on looking for a school.. and all you’ll do all day is serve tea and cake..and sit down alot, so it isn’t a difficult job!

“NO just a borin one”, Kitty moaned

Akemi then said, “it isn’t very busy so I am sure you will be able to catch up on your reading!!”

Kitty shot Akemi a hellish look, and continued stretching, she the grumbbled “what do I wear?”

Roxy replied “something SWEET and Plain..it is tea after all”

Sudenly they hear a commanding and a melodramatic voice, they all turn to Vanessa’s door, Akemi says “so she’s finally awake then?” Kitty nods and says “she had a man in there last night, A Mr. Wigram, she picked him up somewhere, and he makes a lot of noise doesn’t he”?

Kitty begins to make, loud moaning sexual noises imitating Mr Wigram, Akemi laughs and Roxy just shakes her head, and says “Well at least he enjoyed himself..Has he gone?” Kitty nods, Roxy continues “he was very handsome and had a nice Physic for a gentleman..What is she saying? They all look back at Vanessa’s door,

It opens, and Vanessa walks out wearing a silken robe, with her arms outstretched begins saying

“Mr. Wigram!, Oh what was his first name?….shit” (Roxy laughs)

Vanessa continues,

“Mr. Wigram:

The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight,
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had
Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell”.

Kitty turns to Roxy with confusion on her face, Roxy leans down and says “she’s talking about SEX”, Kitty just rolls her eyes, and says loudly to Vanessa, “he ate breakfast before he went, he ate OUR food”!!!,

Vanessa turns to her and says, “it wasn’t the only thing he ate” and winks at Kitty, Once again Kitty looks at Roxy, but Roxy is giggling and says “ask Akemi, she is the oldest”

Akemi looks at Roxy Contemptuously.

Vanessa floats past the girls for the kitchen and then says out loud, “he ate all the bread and eggs!”

I Know!! Kitty shouts

Vanessa walks back in to the living room, carrying a cup of tea and a biscuit, she sit next to Akemi and says, “well I will get changed and go to the local place and buy some more!, let’s see what do we need”?

Vanessa put’s down her tea and picks up a pencil and a note pad, Kitty points out “What we need is for Mr Wiggy not to eat our food”, Vanessa still making a list replies, “it isn’t Wiggy! It is Wigram,

Mr…something….WIGRAM, and he was hungry! He is a grown man, and he was quite exhausted after last night, and he has a meeting this morning and he may not get out till lunch!, you couldn’t expect me to send the poor bastard without food?

Kitty and Akemi both roll their eyes, Roxy just leans over to Vanessa, looks at the list and says, “I liked him, he was private..though not at fucking,- don’t look at me like that Kitty, swearing is a way of life, and besides just make sure you never swear in front of a man, they get affronted,

As I was saying, I liked him, he was private, serious, charming, witty and quite gentleman like.. though the noises he made weren’t very gentleman like!”, she said this while twinkling at Vanessa, The later looked up at her sister and both gave a knowing smile to each other.

“Don’t forget to put tea and coffee, your Mr Wigram liked coffee more than tea”, said Akemi, Roxy quickly put in, “buy coffee but only for yourself Vanessa, If Mr Wigram realizes that you have bought coffee to please him, he may go sour.. He may think you too eager and I think a man of his stature may not want complications”!

Good point! Replied Vanessa.

Akemi quickly said, “but if you like him, why not show him that you are keen? Sure that would make him come around more?

Both Vanessa and Roxy shook their heads, Vanessa answered,

“You met him last night you know what he is like, and besides I think he is married and has a son somewhere”, Akemi made a strange sort of noise, but it was quite obvious that she objected to Vanessa NOW!

Vanessa continued, now looking at Roxanne who had taken the list and was amending it, she spoke “ The boy and the wife have been evacuated to Scotland, the north of Scotland, and Wigram is quite lonely”

“But he isn’t rich!!” put in Akemi, “That was your forte”

He has money!! Doesn’t her Roxy? Vanessa spoke defensively while looking at Roxy, Roxy nodded and replied, “YES.. he does.. and lots of it.. but he hides it, I wonder what his job is, something clever but active, Vanessa did he give any hints?”

Vanessa looks at her sister trying to remember then Roxy puts in, “Buy some coffee Vanessa the…Arabica beans, I hear they are good, there is more than meets the eye with Mr Wigram”

Vanessa looks at her sister and smiles, She leans over to Roxanne and says “10inches at least, I needed to soak in the bath this morning just to be normal again, and I think he has meetings with Churchill,

(Now she was whispering so low Roxanne had to concentrate to hear) I looked in his brief case and saw an “eyes only” document, I opened it, but there was nothing but a series of numbers, I managed to pick out a code, but he started to shift about so I went back to bed”

Vanessa leans back to normal and in Roxy’s eye there was intrigue and a glittering, she smiled and Kitty spoke, “He did say I was probably one of the most accomplished movers he had ever seen, so it doesn’t really matter that he ate our food, and beside Auntie Hyacinth said she was sending us food and produce from Cornwall”

“When did she say that?” asked Vanessa,

“On the phone yesterday, so it should be here by five today” replied Kitty

“Well” said Vanessa, I am getting dressed and will go to the shops and get our food” Vanessa left the room for her room and shut the door behind her.

Roxy who was still thinking about what Vanessa had said got up and went into the kitchen and began to clean away Mr Wigram’s and Kitty’s breakfast mess.

She hummed to herself, and Vanessa walked in and shut the kitchen door, “so Rox, what do you think?” she asked, Roxy looked at her walked toward her and spoke “I think he is high up in government..very high, but not an MP, I suppose we would have heard of him if he was!, Vanessa start dropping hints about wanting to look for work, and start showing off with your education, talk history and traveling and economy and say romantic things and lustful things to him in different languages..Especially French, Italian, Russian and throw in a word or two in German, let’s gage his reaction shall we?”

Roxanne twinkled at her sister and Vanessa responded, “He asked if I would consider dying my hair!!, it was a throw away comment, but he did look at my face intensely”, Roxanne replied “he just might not like dark hair, but saying that, he was gentleman like and not insensitive..Surely he would not suggest you dye your hair for him in a war when dye is so expensive?

That is very interesting Vanessa, well you had better go and do the shopping, he may be back in the afternoon and if he did have a meeting over lunch he will be hungry, we have to assume he didn’t eat, even if he did, it would look good for us”,

Vanessa looked at Roxanne searchingly but her sister was looking out of the kitchen window, Vanessa said good bye, and left the kitchen called a “see you later” to the other girls and left.

Vanessa looked exactly like her sister Roxanne (except for the eyes, which were blue not green), but there was a difference, not just the way they wore their hair, but their person, the way they walked, they way they spoke, both with perfect diction and grammar, just different.

Vanessa had a sway about her, a movie star sway..Somewhat artificial, it did what it was supposed to do, it drew attention to her, and Vanessa liked having men notice her,

Roxanne was noticed by men but not by every man, and not because she wanted the attention, a certain sort of man approached Roxy, usually intense men, so it was strange that Vanessa picked up Mr Daniel Wigram, when Roxy would have been more his choice.

It was odd how it came about, Daniel Wigram was married to a woman called Eleanor and he had a son called Daniel, his wife had thought it would complement her husband giving the boy his father’s name,.. Daniel senior he hated it.

Daniel Wigram had gone to Harrow boys school and then went on to Oxford, he completed his 4 year education in less than three and spent two years at Cambridge University,

he had joined the navy and did his national service, but liked the strategy side of the operation, he then moved on to Naval intelligence, from there he traveled Europe, America and the Orient, working in the name of King and Country.

Cheating on his wife never bothered him, he didn’t love her, he got her pregnant and duty permitted he stick by her, so he did so, he fucked his brains out all over, from Japan to India, from India to Russia, From Russia to Spain and from Spain to America..And now he had met Vanessa Knightly.

In the underground station, when people were hiding for their lives from Air raids. She was going through the pockets of all of the people asleep or dead, she made conversation with herself, about the weather and about the war and about Lace,

He thought that he would watch her, and he did, he realized that she spoke so that people just thought she was actually talking to the people she was robbing, they thought it was ok because she was friends with the people lying down,

And then Vanessa would kindly poke someone and nod and say I will find some tea, and walk past the person staring and say poor thing, In such a kind motherly way,

Wigram couldn’t help but smile, SHAMELESS is all he could think, shameless and brilliant, she was playing everyone, true it was cruel and horrible, she was robbing people who were frightened for their lives, but she acted like a child in a sweet shop.

By the end her purse and coat pockets looked full, she walked into another tunnel, and sat down on a crate, Wigram followed her, and watched , everyone was singing glory songs to keep their spirits up, Vanessa stood on top of her crate and sang with them, Wigram moved closer and then he heard what she was saying,

“In Amsterdam there lived a maid.
Mark well what I do say!
In Amsterdam there lived a maid,
And she was mistress of the whoring trade.
I'll go no more a-roving with you, fair maid.

A-roving, a-roving, since roving's been my rue-eye-in.
I'll go no more a-roving with you, fair maid.

I took this fair maid to the park.
Mark well etc.
I took this fair maid to the park.
And we sat down where it was dark.
I'll go no more etc.

I put my hand upon her knee…
She said, "Young man, you're very free."

I put my hand upon her thigh…
She said, "Young man, you're getting nigh."

I put my hand yet higher still…
She said, "Young man, that's quite a thrill."

I put my hand upon her breast…
And the wind from her arse blew sou'sou'west.

The flesh of her breast was as white as milk…
And the hair of her cunt was as soft as silk.

The cheeks of her ass were tight as a drum…
And the lips of her cunt were red as a plum.

Her belly it was soft and wide…
And it gave me such a lovely ride.

I fucked her once, I fucked her twice…
She said, "Young man, you're very nice."

I took my leave, I said goodbye…
She said, "Young man, you're very sly."

I said, "What now, my pretty maid?"…
She said, "You're nice, but I'll be paid."

I said, "But you enjoyed it too."…
She said, "That's right, as much as you."

She said, "Young man, you're very brash…
I like it more when I get cash."

Wigram couldn’t believe his ears, she was singing dirty sailor songs, while everyone else was pledging there allegiance to the crown, she got a little too into it and fell off her crate, Wigram grabbed her and set her right, she thanked him, and kissed his cheek, she then turned and left,

He realized that she had taken his wallet, so he followed her sharp’ish, he followed her all the way home, it was the Black outside and bombs were falling everywhere, she just carried on walking, not running, walking, she got to her front door, looked at her watch and said out loud,

“GOD, it’s only a quarter to eight”, she turned around looked at Wigram and said, “thank you for walking me home, you are kind, please come in and have some dinner and don’t forget your wallet” and she through his wallet at him, which he caught, she opened her front door and looked at him saying,

“hurry up, the raid is on silly”, so he ran up to the door and came in.

Putting her coat away, she was then nervous, Vanessa liked the look of this man, and she had seen him walking near Whitehall, she was after a rich man and he certainly looked like he had a bulging wallet..Not to mention a bulging “package”, his trousers were well tailored and well fitting,

She was nervous because of Roxy, Vanessa had learnt a long time ago that Roxy was good with men, Vanessa wasn’t terrible, but Roxy knew how to talk to men, she knew their base instincts and their minds, Vanessa always got nervous with men, especially when Roxy was there,

She took Wigrams coat and asked him his name, he said Mr Daniel Wigram, all she got was Wigram, it sounded different and she thought different sounded rich, so his first name was lost to her,

The entire night she referred to him as Wigram or some random pet name, Sweetie, Handsome, fierce eyes (he had intense eyes, dark almost black) or as she got tipsier Sexy bum, she always grabbed his bottom as she said this,

Roxanne as it turned out wasn’t very interested, she was busy reading the newspapers and writing letters to different Government buildings looking for vacancies, she listened to everything he said more than once she detected he was lying, but he did it flawlessly that she let it go, but it did peak her interest, her being a chronic liar herself she respected others practicing her favorite pass time.

Eventually Vanessa pulled of her dress so that she was standing in her bra and undies and took him by the hand and led him to her room, all you heard was a “oh for god sake” from her sister Akemi.

As Vanessa walked down the road to the grocery store, she saw the damage that was caused by the raids last night, and realized that she walked home during this attack,

she wasn’t scared of being bombed or killed, she was scared of her sisters not being able to cope with out her.. Not Roxy, she never worried about Roxy, her worrying was for Akemi and Kitty,

Roxy and Vanessa could take care of themselves, Roxy was very singular that way, Vanessa liked having a family, she always believed that Roxy, who loved her family, didn’t need them, and this thought always made her upset, Roxy may not need her, but she needed Roxy, they were two halves of one bitch (as Akemi called them)…

Vanessa carried on walking, she walked into the shop and instantly had the owner by her side, asking her how she was that day and was she frightened last night, he took her list and said if she wanted to sit down he would do everything for her,

she said he could do everything for her anyway but she wanted to carry on looking around, “something else may take my fancy” she said to him smilingly, so she went straight to the chocolate bit, she called to the owner,

“This wasn’t this expensive yesterday!!” she said shockingly

The shop owner replied, “Um no, you see with the war the isn’t very much trade anymore, so it is more expensive for me to get these items so I have to charge more, you see?”

Vanessa nodded with understanding, and picked up quite a lot of chocolate, the shop owners face brightened, Vanessa carried on walking around, She had picked up ten more things and then paid for everything she had collected as well as what the shop owner had collected for her,

She made her way home, still thinking about Wigram and Roxanne, she stopped in the street and remembered “DANIEL” she said out loud, people who walked past looked at her, she looked at them and said

“the gentleman I slept with last night, I couldn’t remember his name, but now I have, Daniel!” the people just commented under their breath and carried on.

She got home, opened the door and said to the room, “Daniel, Wigrams name is Daniel”, Kitty who was reading Elizabeth Gaskells Wives and daughters replied, “WOW, the noisy man’s name is Daniel, noisy Daniel!” “SHUT UP” was Vanessa’s response, and then

“Where are Roxy and Akemi?”

“The post office called, our Package from Aunt Hyacinth came and they have gone to collect it” replied kitty.

“Why both of them?” Vanessa asked as she took her food shopping into the kitchen,

“Roxy wanted to send letters you know her, she doesn’t like any of us knowing what she does and the parcel was addressed to Akemi, so they both went”

“Oh” Vanessa replied quietly, she continued to put away the things, and realized that she didn’t really need all the things she bought, she felt down, the thoughts of Roxy had disturbed her, Roxy wouldn’t runaway! She said to herself.

Kitty walked in to the kitchen and said “what did you say”, “oh nothing” replied Vanessa, she carried on putting things away, she heard Kitty make excited noises at the things Vanessa had bought, Chocolate got the biggest response and then the cheese, goats cheese Roxy’s favorite (Vanessa thought),

bread, eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, butter, Apples, pears, apricots, cherries, plums, Cabbage, carrots, peas, Tomatoes, Potatoes, lots more vegetables and fruits..meat chicken, turkey, pork lamb, sausages, bacon ham,

Kitty looked up at Vanessa, “Vanessa.. are you ok?, there is a lot of food her, I mean I am thankful for it, but shouldn’t we be saving money, this isn’t all because of M Wigam is it?..Vanessa? Are you upset?”

“Oh do shut up, God you do talk a lot Kity!” Vanessa roared at her, Kitty burst out in to tears and ran to her and Akemi’s room, slammed the door shut and Vanessa heard the lock..click!

Tears rolled down Vanessa’s face, quite all alone in the kitchen, She carried on putting things away, she heard Roxy and Akemi coming through the front door, she quickly went to the sink and washed her face, and busied herself in a cupboard, Akemi came in Vanessa heard a Thump and she looked around,

There was a big cargo box on the kitchen table, Roxy came in after Akemi, “Take that off the table we eat there!” said Roxy, Looking at Vanessa, Roxy saw that Vanessa was upset and Vanessa saw that Roxy saw, so she turned and carried fixing space in the cupboard and started making conversation,

“I bought so much, I don’t know what overcame me!” She said to the room at large, Akemi just said “OOOhhh” to all the new Food on offer, Roxy was pulling of the lid on the box, while still staring at Vanessa’s back, “Ooh Goats cheese, my favorite, Thanks Vanessa” Roxy spoke with a raised voice,

Vanessa mumbled “ssO’K”, she continued, I shouted at Kitty before you came, that girl talks so much, she’s crying in her room”, Roxy’s eyes squinted and Akemi went off to talk to Kitty through the door.

Roxy moved forward, and Vanessa rounded and looked at her, she spoke very quietly but very quickly..With great urgency,

“If you ever leave me, ever go and not tell me where you are or go and never come back I will hate you forever, I know you are not happy Roxy, But don’t, DON’T ever leave ME, My heart will break and I will die!” at this Vanessa ran out of the kitchen and into her room and did exactly what kitty had done, run, bang..Click!!

Roxy confused and shocked looked at Akemi through the open kitchen door, Akemi shrugged, Roxanne shut the kitchen door and began to go through the Box taking things out and putting them away,

All the time thinking about what Vanessa had said, Vanessa knew Roxy, and Roxy realized that Vanessa suspected her of “Abandoning” them? No not them, her..Vanessa!

There was truth there, Roxy wanted to get away, and she hoped that her letters would get answered and take her away, Roxy hoped that Mr Daniel Wigram would Fall for Vanessa and distract her..

Roxy Lied, she remember Wigrams name, but she knew that if she had mentioned it before Vanessa would have got upset, and Vanessa would not have seen Wigram again.

And Roxy needed Wigram, Either he could make her fall in love, or he could get her work and she would be too busy to miss Roxy or ask questions, Roxy loved her sisters, she loved Vanessa more than the others, they were similar yet different, but she felt..trapped, never changing,

“I will keep in contact with her, I will” she said to herself in the kitchen, and then she realized that she probably wouldn’t, she said quietly,

“Sorry Vanessa”.