Country Life Ch. 03
Over the following months, there was no indication that anything unusual had happened when Peter had seen Sophie with her mother. Several times that winter Sophie visited, often with friends and on one occasion a young man, all about the same age.
Some were college friends, some from Cheltenham days, and even a cousin, Fiona, from Scotland. There was a girl from Australia and another from Singapore. This was a very social group who regularly spent time together at each others' homes.
But the ongoing action between the two major players had not disappeared completely: there were stirrings of a plan.
Sophie looked around the tack room.
"Now what will Pete do, and when?" she thought.
"I know, I could keep him busy with the horses then bring his lunch over from the kitchen. The other girls can keep him 'entertained' for a while."
While a plan was being hatched, Peter Banks, the unsuspecting subject, was preparing horses for the young ladies.
Sophie knew that a gram of chloral hydrate was enough to put a horse to sleep. So she thought about an eighth of that for a healthy man plus half a blue lozenge to improve 'performance' would do the trick for Peter.
It was a Friday afternoon and the four women were enjoying a weekend at The Manor. Peter had arrived mid-morning to do some gardening and help in the stables if needed. He was several miles from home and intended to overnight in the shed. Uncle Sam had died the previous winter and Peter had taken sole occupancy of the room at the end of the stable.
The four women planned to ride that morning. Eunice (YuXin), was a slight Singapore girl with a slim figure and long dark hair. She was a quiet woman who had been befriended by Sophie at Cheltenham and was to ride a pony from next door.
Bunny (Arabella) the Australian was riding an appaloosa. Bunny was an athletic woman with long blond hair. Peter figured she was about 5' 8" and toned though not muscular. She played soccer for her university in Melbourne and was on a scholarship to Lady Margaret Hall where she met Sophie. She was an experienced rider and was on a horse also borrowed from the family next door.
The red-headed Scottish cousin Fiona was beautiful. Fiona was about the same height as Sophie, about 5' 5", with a curvy figure, green eyes and her bright red hair in a page-boy cut. She was on the mare that Sophie usually rode when with Lady M.
Sophie was on her mother's hunter.
The four women walked their horses around the paddock for a while before heading down the lane and presumably into the woods about half a mile away.
They were gone for quite a long time and it was past lunch when they reappeared.
"Hey, Petey, we're going to the pub for lunch. Wanna come?" shouted Fiona.
A change of plans for Peter.
"It's on the house!"
"What about Mrs. B.'s sandwiches?"
I had already eaten mine thought Peter, but a beer sounded good.
"We'll have them later... or tomorrow," Bunny shouted.
They all piled into Eunice's car and five minutes later they were at the pub.
"Bunny and I will get the beer and the Ploughman's," Sophie said as they tumbled out.
There was a garden at the back and they found a bench in the shade. They -- and Peter -- had been in the sun enough that morning.
The three women chatted very easily. Eunice was quiet but Fiona was a live wire; it turned out that she was an undergrad at St. Andrews, reading biochemistry and biophysics, so she and Peter had lots to talk about.
"I wonder why Sophie had never mentioned this to me?" thought Peter.
Bunny smiled at Peter and went off with Sophie. Fiona kept chatting with Peter, easily discussing their shared interests.
Sophie had taken care to sprinkle most of the powdered mixture into the pint of ale: it dissolved easily in the head of foam. Bunny smiled.
Sophie and Bunny turned from the path to the grass, Sophie with the drinks and Bunny the food.
Eunice tried a half of shandy and wrinkled her nose at the smell and taste. Bunny had a shandy pint while Sophie and Fiona sipped on a half of ale. Peter's pint was half gone in no time. Three pub lunches between the five were plenty, especially as Peter had already eaten. Three of them had refills; Bunny sipped her pint and Eunice nursed her shandy, drinking water as well.
It was past 3 o'clock when they returned to The Manor.
Sophie was quietly watching Peter while chatting to everybody: there was no shortage of talk on the way back. Peter was fairly quiet.
"You OK, Petey?" said Fiona.
"Yeah, just a bit tired" he replied. "Perhaps I drank a bit fast."
"I may just nap for a few minutes. I'll see you ladies later, OK?"
"Sure Peter. Thanks for the company -- and your jokes" replied Bunny and Sophie.
"I've got to see this den," said Fiona, which Peter had taken over after Sam died. He had tidied the back room and he collapsed on the camp bed, out like a light.
Fiona sat in a chair at the foot of the bed and waited. After about 10 minutes she phoned.
"He's fast asleep" she whispered.
