This is one of a series of stories relating the exploits of John Moxton.
All persons and events described here are based on real-life but with the names and locations altered to prevent too much embarrassment to the guilty. All persons were aged 18 or greater at the time of these events.
John Moxton was brought up in an affluent middle-class home in a relatively small but prosperous village in the heart of the Cotswolds. The house had been in his mother Margaret's family since her great-grandfather (with several greats) purchased the property in the mid-nineteenth century. He had been a doctor who moved to the, then, hundred and fifty-acre site from the port city of Bristol. Death duties, various debts, and a series of unspecified payments had reduced the property down to a little under twenty acres of formal and vegetable garden with some mixed woodland.
Margaret's family was well established in the village with several cousins dotted around the area. Some were more accepted as being true cousins than others.
John's parents, Margaret and Andrew, were senior university lecturers and anticipated that both of the children would go into further education and then into a profession of some kind. They had recently remarried following amical divorces from their previous spouses. There were two children in the new family group, John and Sylvine. Margaret was John's birth mother and Andrew was Sylvine's biological father.
The two original couples had known each other from university. They had remained close friends for many years prior to the children arriving on the scene and had regularly holidayed together. There had been occasional drunken swinging sessions that became more frequent and intense over time. Eventually the pairings became more permanent and mutually agreed divorces took place. The swinging sessions continued fairly regularly after the remarriages between the original couples. All very confusing.
The two children got on together very well indeed and had done since their birth. They had played together as toddlers and could often be found together. The new family had been living together as a fully integrated unit for five years.
John was a well-built young man with dark brown hair. His appearance was athletic, and he did in fact play rugby and tennis regularly. He was also fond of long distance running and competed in half marathons.
Sylvine was a little more than a month younger than John but looked considerably older than her years. She was more science oriented than John with a bent towards physics whereas John tended more to philosophy.
Sylvine was a natural brunette, which she usually wore short. She had an almost pixie like face, slightly upturned nose, and deep brown eyes. Her small mouth gave an expression that appeared to show some distain, but this was just unfortunate as her demeanour was anything but that. Her body was slim with a slight waist and elegant hips. Her breasts were still forming but were now full and firm enough to be cupped by an average sized hand. Her skin was soft and very pale though not quite alabaster. It did not respond to any attempt at tanning. Her legs were long, well-formed without too much muscle development. They looked remarkably interesting indeed when she wore a pair of tight shorts or skirt and heels.
Sylvine could not be described as a beauty but was more than attractive enough to have caught the attention of several boys in her year group and the members of the Young Farmers. She had been groped on several occasions at various social events. This was not something to which she normally objected. She was a sensual person who appreciated her body and how it looked. Paul, the brother of one of her friends, Mary, regularly grabbed hold of her when she visited. She usually let him have a good feel for a minute or so before eventually wagging her finger and batting him away. Nothing much else happened at that time but she certainly appreciated his enthusiasm and put him in a pigeonhole, marked as a possible stocking filler for later.
The family had moved into Margaret's house following the remarriage. The property had four bedrooms, each with En Suite bathroom, a plethora of rooms on the ground floor and an extensive attic. The building was set in a very rural environment. It was located on the very outskirts of the village along a narrow lane that ended in field access just beyond the property. The nearest neighbour was several hundred metres down the lane towards the village proper, although the village was directly accessible by footpaths passing by the property. Various outbuildings had been converted to a workshop and studio by Margaret's father. A large self-contained summer house nestled discreetly in the woodland close to the boundary beech hedge overlooking fields. A tennis court and small pavilion with changing room completed the establishment.
The Den
The summer house had been set aside by their parents as the den and as a result they rarely visited. They had checked in on their offspring at the start, but the visits dropped off to virtually nothing once it became apparent that the children were coping well. An intercom extension along with broadband link ensured contact with the main house in case of emergency.
It was a hundred metres or so from the main house and surrounded on three sides by dense bushes. This offered a reasonable degree of privacy and early visibility of anyone approaching. One of Sylvine's hobbies was electronics and she had produced several radio-linked devices that monitored the approaches to the den. The house and den were surrounded by movement sensitive lighting so the occupants would normally have plenty of warning of potential ingress. Sylvine had also fitted some of her electronic toys in the approaches to the den. These provided a combination of audible alarms and video streams. There was the occasional false alarm when the lights were triggered by a passing fox or hedgehog but those just served as practice runs and proved the system worked.
The wooden building was made from twin walls embedded with full thermal and sound insulation. All windows were double glazed. It consisted of two fully carpeted rooms and walk in store cupboard that was equipped with blankets, duvets and various other items that may be required for occasional overnight sleeping. A bathroom suite provided a shower and usual amenities. There was a mini kitchen area equipped with small fridge, microwave, and kettle along with a few rudimentary pieces of cutlery and crockery.
The main room had a large wood burning stove and full height sliding windows on the south side of the building. These were fitted with thick remote controlled velvet curtains which acted as additional thermal and acoustic insulators. Two sturdy polished wooden pillars supported the vaulted roof. The furnishings consisted of a large high-backed chaise longue, a couple of comfortable armchairs, a sturdy coffee table and top of the range media system with the latest audio-visual equipment. The lighting was discrete and fully dimmable by remote control. Walls were covered with an eclectic collection of ethnic rugs and artwork that their parents had obtained during their many trips to the more exotic parts of the world. A long desk fitted to one wall was equipped with two laptops, wide-angle screens, and a printer to allow college work to be completed.
The smaller room had a full-length window and a large fabric chaise longue that doubled up as a bed against the wall opposite the window. This had been deliberately positioned there by John and Sylvine to allow a good view from outside the window which was covered by a slatted blind. This was usually pulled all the way down with the slats partially open giving a decent view into the room from outside. The summer house had a movable sunscreen outside which could be positioned to eliminate the possibility of any observer's silhouette being visible inside the room, especially during daylight hours. The room was later referred to as the viewing room by the siblings.
The siblings
John got on very well with his stepsister and had done since they first became a family. The two of them often played together and soon became inseparable, which was a considerable relief to both sets of parents. They had common interests in science and nature and would often be seen exploring the grounds and surrounding area observing the abundant and diverse wildlife.
The relative isolation of the house made them very close and following their eighteenth birthdays, began to indulge in far more physical activities. They both finished with the mainstream school system at eighteen and decided to take a year off before going on to university.