Here is the 7th Part, already! The first 'Four Plus One', is in the First Time category: start there or just go in where you like. Thanks for the feedback: it helps me with the story.
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It was meant to be a working bee. It started out as a working bee, but somehow... people got distracted.
The girls had each given themselves tasks to help get the house in order. Andrea was helping clear the overgrown front garden, Phoebe was cleaning the mouldy windows, Mel was stacking and sorting. Danny had borrowed a four-stroke mower and was making an unholy racket with it. He'd also got a mate to drop off a half-filled skip for the morning: anything they chucked in there was carted off for free, seeing as it was already paid for by the actual customer. Plans sprouted everywhere: more paint here, minor repairs there, vegie beds and fruit trees...
That was the idea, and it had started well. The morning was sunny but not too hot, someone's iPod was supplying the music, cold drinks ready, everyone was feeling great. The jobs started getting done. The skip was filling fast: Danny used as many tricks as he knew to pack the rubbish in and extend the space. He stood in the battered steel chest and towered above them like an Olympian, directing them to lift things that were much too heavy for them. Everyone was cheerful.
But short breaks became slightly longer. Odd little discoveries were examined closely. Quips and comments turned into chats, then proper conversations over cups of tea. The girls' cheerfulness helped them open up to each other.
So it was early afternoon when Danny stumped up to the kitchen door, exhausted.
"Well, that's the mowing done. I've also moved the firewood so it's tidy and stacked near the door. I've taken quite a bit of stuff out of the shed, and that's nearly filled the skip. And thanks for the help clearing the front, Andrea; I chucked the cuttings in the skip too. The yard's going to look really good one day."
It was quite a catalogue. As Danny stood in the doorway, arms up on each doorpost, the girls could see from the sweat and grime on him that he'd made a big effort. The girls were slightly abashed. The sun played on his strong shoulder and arm muscles. His head drooped slightly and he gave off the smell of sweat and hard, dirty work. The girls got a sense of him
Andrea stepped in. "Thanks a lot, Danny, you've worked like a galley slave. It must look like we've spent the morning chatting, but you'll see we've made some progress. Would you like a drink?"
"Thank you, that would be gracious of you."
Phoebe jumped up. "Let me get it for you."
Gracious. Danny's curious choice of words always cheered them. They relaxed and thanked him themselves.
"You've worked so hard, we should make it up to you somehow!" Mel managed to sound innocent and suggestive at the same time. "Can we clean you up? Andrea's a nurse, she's good at... lots of things." Andrea glared at Mel.
There was a flicker of gratitude on Danny's face, until he realised the joke. He protested that he'd be fine really, but the idea was now in the girls' heads. Phoebe was near the sink and soaked the tea-towel in hot water. Andrea took another and made it cold and wet. Together they wiped his face with the cool one and worked the grime off his arms with the warm one. Danny was truly grateful.
