Willow 1

Prologue

"Willow!" I gasped.

For a moment I went through that sense of unreality you get when you suddenly come upon someone unexpectedly, someone you never expect to see again.

"Ross," she breathed softly, her face draining of blood.

Unable for the moment to speak, we stood staring at each other. It had been four years since I had last seen her and for months after she had gone I had hunted for her without success.

Finally I asked, "How is Ann?"

"She's...she's fine, she goes to school now."

"Yes, yes she would," I replied lamely. I wondered if like me she was remembering how things had been between us, but just then customers walked in and she had to attend to them.

Chapter 1: I am Bitten

I swung along the street in high spirits. I had attended high school for the last time and the world was before me. "Onward...onward," sang in my head. I would be taking the electronics course in the coming year, but before then were six glorious weeks of vacation.

I almost stopped in mid-stride. Standing in the front garden of a newly occupied house was...was what? A girl...a woman?

It was hard to tell. I estimated her to be about five feet one or two in height. Her back was towards me as she looked up at a huge gum tree. Two long dark plaits hung down her back to below shoulder level. She was wearing only tight shorts and a T-shirt, and I could see a slim waist with softly rounded hips, high tight buttocks and slender but shapely legs.

Attracted by the fragile beauty of her figure I was for the moment fascinated. Then deciding that I was looking at a girl of about twelve years of age on the way to mature womanhood, I lost interest, deciding that she must be the daughter of the house.

The people, whoever they were, had only moved in a few days before and no one had so far made their acquaintance. My mother had said she intended to drop in and say hello, but thought it better to wait until they had settled in before making a call.

I was about to go on to our house a few door up the street, when I saw the little dog at the girl's feet. Being fond of dogs I gave a low whistle and made a beckoning motion to the dog. It came towards me wagging its tail and I bent to pat it.

"No don't," a voice cried, but too late. A needle sharp bite was administered to my hand. I stood their ruefully sucking my wound as the owner of the voice, and I presumed the dog, came to me saying, "I'm so sorry."

I was about to say something abusive like, "Why don't you keep your bloody dog under control," but was stopped by the knowledge that I had been partly responsible by calling the dog and trying to pat it. In addition I was startled by the woman that now stood close to me.

I had been wrong about the twelve years old girl. She was one of the most attractive women I had ever seen. She had small but firm breasts their nipples clearly outlined against the cloth of her T-shirt, and set in an elfin face two of the greenest eyes I had ever seen. She was looking at me with an expression of concern.

"Let me look at you're hand," she said.

Still sucking my wound but trying to maintain a macho image I mumbled, "Its okay."

"No," she said, "you must let me look at it."

She took my hand and inspected it. "Yes, the skin is broken, come inside and I'll clean it for you."

She led me into the house and sat me at the kitchen table and set about getting warm water and antiseptic. When she bathed my hand I noticed how her hands matched the rest of her, small and very delicate.

"You should see a doctor," she said, "it might be infected, I'll pay of course. I don't know why Penny does that, I mean, she's normally so gentle; it's only when strangers want to touch her she behaves like that. By the way, I'm Willow Heilbronn, but please, call me Willow"

"Ross Clements," I responded, "I live just up the street. Willow is an unusual name."

She laughed softly and said, "My father, he loved willow trees."

"If you don't mind my saying so, it's rather a lovely name."

A slight flush diffused her cheeks, but she said nothing. I wanted to say, "It suits you," but felt that might be overstepping the mark.

Changing the subject she said, "I've only just moved in and you're the first person I've spoken to in the street."

There now followed one of those "Getting to know you type conversations; "How long have you lived here?"..."Oh, most of my life; how are you settling in?"... "Do you think you'll like it?"..."My mother said she'll call on you soon"..."That will be lovely." And so it went.

After this initial round of sketchy searching each other out Willow asked, "Do you happen to know anything about television sets?"

"A bit," I replied modestly, "why?"

"Mine won't work properly, the picture is all fuzzy."

"Shouldn't be we're quite close to the towers; would you like me to take a look?"

"Would you; that is kind of you, it's in here."

The problem proved to be a simple one, the aerial hadn't been connected properly. The connection made and the picture clear you might have thought I'd performed a miracle she was so grateful.

"I don't know about things like that," she said, and at that moment the voice of a child was heard calling.

"That's Ann waking up," she said, "she's been having her afternoon sleep; I'll have to attend to her, excuse me."

"Aha," I thought, "so there's a husband around...or at least a man." I felt a bit disappointed although it was ridiculous to do so since I'd only just met Willow and she was at least seven or eight years older than me. My usual interest was in buxom girls, but the slim and delicate looking Willow had touched something inside me.

While she was gone I looked around the room; everything gave the impression of being rather expensive and in good taste. I decided that women like Willow don't come cheap and so whatever distant hopes I might have had of developing my relationship with her had better be buried immediately.

She returned with a girl that I took to be about two years of age. The effects of sleep were still with the child and she looked at me through unfocused eyes and clung closer to her mother.

"This is Ann," Willow said by way of introduction, "and Ann, this is Mr. Clements and he's been fixing the television set for us."

I said, "Hello Ann," and Ann muttered something that sounded like "Lo," and snuggled closer to Willow.

As I looked at the two of them a strange thought came to me. As I said, my usual taste in females was the buxom large breasted variety; the sort of women that at one time people said, "She'll be a good breeder." For an instant I wondered how this little woman had looked when she had been pregnant.

"She's usually much livelier," said Willow, looking fondly at the child.

I decided it was time to go, so I rose and said formally, "It's been nice meeting you Willow."

She extended her hand for me to shake; it was small and warm in mine. I felt something of a great oaf towering over the little woman, and for some reason I could not define I didn't like it.

She looked up at me smiling, and her smile was reflected in her eyes. "I'm very sorry about Penny and you've been so helpful."

I muttered something about it being nothing really and began to leave with the apparently reconciled Penny trotting beside me. As I made my way up the path to the street Willow called after me, "I do hope I'll see you again soon." Was she being polite or did she mean it?

When I got home and told mother I'd met Willow and had been inside the house, I was bombarded with questions, most of which I could not answer.

Chapter 2I am Infected

The dog bite healed quickly and no infection set in as a result of the canine assault. It was another infection that set in, and it was called "Willow." Over the next few days I was busy catching up with things that had been neglected during the school year, and this led to a fair bit of my coming and going along the street. At first I hoped I would see her again, but failing to do so I got to thinking.

My mother called on Willow and came back with a glowing account of her visit. "What a lovely woman and such a dear little girl."... "The place is so tastefully furnished; she must be very well off."... "And Ross, she's so grateful to you for fixing her television set, and she asked if your hand is all right." She went on like that for some time and in particular she extolled Willow's attractiveness. One aspect of Willow that gnawed away at mother was the fact that she mentioned no husband. This led to considerable speculation on mother's part.

I was doing some speculating of my own and had come to no conclusion about Willow's marital status. If she was married where was Mr. Heilbronn? I had not seen him, and neither, according to my mother, had any of the other inquisitive neighbours. I recalled that I had seen no wedding ring on Willow's hand so...?

My thoughts ran often on Willow. I had found her attractive – very attractive – even though she was not the usual type of female that appealed to me. The attraction I decided was dangerous and this perhaps needs some explanation.

Some people might feel my attitude is wrong and weak, but I try not to hanker after things that seem to me unattainable. The boys at school often gloated over erotic magazines and would get themselves worked up over the models in the pictures. My idea was that it was okay to get yourself horny over a real girl, especially if you knew there would be a satisfactory outcome; but to get yourself worked up over some pictures of nude women and copulating couples seemed to me to be both frustrating and futile.

I could see that despite the seven or eight years age difference between Willow and me, and even given the child Ann, I could get very excited over that lady. As I have said she was not the usual type that appealed to me, and that was a source of puzzlement. To make matters worse I was having thoughts and feelings that I could not define that had nothing to do with sex; an experience I had not had with other girls.

I saw Willow as beyond my reach if for no other reason than the presence of some man in her life; if there was no man how come Ann, I reasoned. But setting that aside I could see no reason why a woman as lovely as Willow would find me appealing.

Despite those thoughts I still found my mind dwelling on Willow, and callous though it may seem, when I copulated with my current girl friend, Betty, I started to fantasise about being with Willow. So, I was Willow infected.

Having come to the conclusion I was infected I took steps to disinfect myself. The treatment I used was evasion. I would see as little as possible of Willow since in my experience, limited because of my youth I grant you, to avoid things that disturbed me usually led to their ceasing to disturb me.

I went to what I now see as extreme measures to avoid Willow, even to the extent of leaving and entering the street at the end that would not lead me to pass her house. The avoidance did not work very well and I continued to have Willow in my thoughts. In any case my effort to de-Willow my head, and incidentally my sex organs, was nullified by an incident that took me back once more into Willow's house.

I was innocently de-constructing a computer one evening when the door bell rang. My mother went to answer it and I heard the murmur of voices. The next moment mother entered the room with Willow.

"Ross dear, half the power has gone out in Willow's house and she wonders if you could help?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Willow added, "but I really don't know what to do."

"Sounds like a fuse," I replied, "I'll come and take a look."

I gathered a few tools and as I left my father grimaced at me; I knew what that meant; it was his computer and he needed to use it the next day, so I interpreted the grimace as, "Don't be gone all night I need the bloody thing fixed."

I went with Willow and sure enough, the lights were still working but the power outlets were dead. "Where's the fuse box," I asked.

"I don't know," she replied, so with the aid of a torch I went in search of it. It was one of the older type fuse boxes with porcelain and wire fuses located at the side of the house. The offending fuse was easily located and repaired, but as soon as I switched on again the thing blew.

Of course, I should have tried to find out why it had blown in the first place so I went in search of the source. Willow had been ironing and the problem was obvious. "My God, I said, "you could have been electrocuted the state that extension lead is in." The lead was badly frayed and at one point it had finally caused a short circuit. I turned off the offending iron and once more repaired the fuse, this time with success.

"Could I really have been electrocuted?" Willow asked.

"Yes, that lead has got to be replaced."

She sighed and said, "It's so difficult being on your own; I've never had to bother about things like that before."

"Ah," I thought, "there is no Mr. Heilbronn around."

Despite my resolve to stay away from Willow I heard myself saying, "I'll fix it for you but it will have to wait until tomorrow because I'll have to buy the flex."

"Could you...would you...? I really would be grateful."

"I'll take the iron home with me and bring it back when I've fixed it."

She laid a hand on my arm and said, "You really are most kind." I wondered if she was a manipulating female who knew how to get what she wanted out of a man, but being a bit self deprecating I replied, "Oh, it's nothing."

I wanted to do it for her but more than that, in a strange way I knew I needed to do it for her. It made me wonder what the hell was going on inside me.

With her words of gratitude still ringing in my ears I went home walking on air to set about the reconstruction of the paternal computer.

Chapter 3The Infection Spreads

I sat late into the night to get the damned computer going again, and next day bought the new lead for the iron and did the repair. When I went to take the iron back I was sure Willow would not be at home on the grounds that I wanted her to be at home. When she opened the door to me I felt a slight lurch in the pit of my stomach.

I plugged in the iron and demonstrated that it worked. I was then paid for the flex with an offer to "Give you something for your trouble."

I refused the offer of payment, putting on a slightly offended look, and said, "Perhaps I'd better take a look at your other appliances to see if they're all right."

Again I was told how kind I was and how she would appreciate my taking a look, but did I know anything about toilets.

I pointed out that plumbing was not exactly my forte, but what was the problem?

"The water keeps running down the bowl...it was all right but all of a sudden it wouldn't stop flushing."

I said I'd take a look and it turned out to be the same model cistern as ours at home and we'd had the same problem. I had it quickly fixed and thus added to my miracle worker status. I took a look at the other electrical appliances and found no problems and reluctantly made to leave.

Willow announced that she had just made tea and asked if I'd like a cup. My resolve to stay away from Willow had by now fled; I wanted to bask in the aura of her presence. She was good to look at, but there was more to it than her immediate physical attraction. When she moved it was with grace and ease, and her voice had a musical quality to it. I wondered if she was an actor or a singer.

I had to admit to myself that the Willow infection was spreading very rapidly. I found her a very exciting woman to be with but for no obvious reason; what I mean is, she didn't give me the old "come on."

As we drank our tea she talked about the gum tree outside her house; the one I'd seen her looking at that the first time I met her. It was hardly a sexy subject, but just to be with her, to listen to the music of her voice, was enough to get me aroused.

"I believe that those old gum trees can be very dangerous," she was saying.

"Yes, the house over the road had one in the front garden; they thought it was about two hundred years old. One night it dropped one of its massive branches on the roof and they were lucky no one got killed or injured. They had it cut down after that."

"Do you think I should have mine cut down?"

"It's a pity to see them go; what about having the branches that are hanging over the house cut back."

I had the odd feeling we were talking just like a married couple would about domestic affairs, and for that matter I was being the traditional man of the house, fixing things. I'd always thought that sort of thing boring, but now I was feeling thrilled to be drawn into Willow's environment in this way.

There were no explicitly sexual overtones in the matters she discussed with me, unlike many male-female relationships in the process of developing, and I kept such insinuations out of my replies. I had the feeling that if such hints did enter into our relationship something would be spoiled, but I wasn't sure what.

Having done what I came to do plus a few other things I finished my tea and reluctantly departed, hoping some other emergency would soon arise in the Willow household.

Chapter 4I Am Totally Contaminated

My next meeting with Willow did not come about through an emergency. Not far from our street there were tennis courts and I had made an arrangement with Betty my current girl friend to play a game of tennis with her one morning. Included in the arrangement was a visit to her house after tennis to engage in another sort of game, her parents both being out at work.

We were sitting down relaxing after our first set when I saw Willow arriving with Ann seated in a child's pusher. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was wearing a white tennis dress, its short skirt hardly concealing her also white panties. Her delicate figure was beautifully moulded by the dress and this time my reaction was without doubt sexual.

She came over to me smiling and I introduced her to Betty who did not seem to appreciate this intrusion and was inclined to be a trifle short with Willow. Willow, if she was aware of Betty's disapproval, gave no sign of it and chatted on for a while.

"This is my first time here she said, and my partner doesn't seem to have arrived."

That sent a spear of jealousy through my guts as I visualised some handsome male turning up to partner her. Relief came when I saw one of the women who lived farther up our street arrive to partner Willow.

Just as they were about to go on the court Willow said to me, "Perhaps we could have a game some time."

"I'll look forward to that I replied," with no doubt ill-concealed ardent sincerity. I got a nasty look from Betty.

Betty and I played two more sets, both of which I lost wretchedly. I was unable to concentrate on my play and kept looking over at Willow as she flitted about the court.

As we walked back to Betty's house she said, endeavouring to mimic Willow and me, "Perhaps we could have a game some time," "I'll look forward to that."

"My God, your eyes nearly popped out of your head gawking at her. And that's the famous Willow is it? I've heard about your little adventures with her. I suppose you'll be trying to get your hand up her skirt soon...if you haven't already."

That made me angry and I snapped back, "I haven't had any 'adventures', as you put it, with Willow. All I've done is help her out with a few jobs, and she's not the sort of woman whose skirt you put your hand up."

"And I suppose I am that sort of woman," Betty said with some venom.

"You said it, not me," I responded.

"So she's a nice little virtuous maiden and you rode to her rescue, the heroic knight in shining armour. Well if she's so virtuous how come she has that kid and no man in sight?"