Fifteen

“Tally ho!”

Like a hunter who had just caught sight of a fox John announced the arrival of Isla’s bare body to a box marked public property.

“Whoo hoo, four naked fillies in a shopping mall. Would you look at that!”

He turned his screen around to show Brian. He had hoped that maybe, just maybe, but no. There she was in all her glory proudly holding a placard aloft. ‘Air con con’ was all the combined talent of the University of Canterbury was able to come up with, but it didn’t matter as nobody was looking at Isla’s slogan.

Brian had steeled himself for this moment, and instead of trying to bluff it out, went uncharacteristically onto the attack.

“I’ve seen it before” he told the enthusiastic John and the disapproving Jan. John, who was in full flow, screeched to halt.

“What?”

“She’s my daughter”

John stared closely at the screen. Jan, who up until now had been conveying silent messages of utter disgust at John’s lasciviousness, came to look too.

“My God,” said John, “it is Isla”

Jan was all sympathy, “Oh, I am so sorry Brian, how embarrassing”

Brian shrugged, “We tried to talk her out of it but she is completely committed to the cause”

“The last thing we need is a campaign against air conditioning” complained John, “it’s boiling in here”

“Well perhaps you should follow Brain’s daughter’s example” Jan told him.

“I will if you will”

Brian scrutinised John’s face very carefully. John had been trying to get inside Jan’s pants for months and Brian had a feeling he wasn’t getting anywhere near. The way he held Jan’s eyes for just a trifle longer than he would had he been familiar with his co workers’ body confirmed Brian’s suspicions.

Jan uttered the very words that were passing through Brain’s mind.

“In your dreams, mate”

Further discussion was curtailed by Marion’s phone call. Isla was on the national news at one. Not quite sure he was doing the right thing given John’s presence in the room Brian found the station’s webstream and the three of them gathered around the computer to watch his daughter and her friends parade naked through the Rockendon shopping mall.

It was a slow news day and the steaming weather was the top story. As the naked protest was related Brian only had to wait a few minutes before pictures of Isla, accompanied by a very skinny dark haired girl, and a large rotund blonde filled the screen. The camera quickly left them and zoomed in on the final member of the group.

“Will you look at that” John muttered under his breath. Even Jan gasped at the sight of Susie. Brian was ecstatic as he watched the gorgeous young woman lecturing a slavering reporter on the evils of air conditioning. He knew instantly that Isla was going to be sidelined completely. Susie was rattling off statistics faster than a demented politician defending the latest crime figures. No one was listening, there was only one figure of interest and that was the unwrapped body of Susan Blackwell. Tomorrow’s headlines had just written themselves, PHEW, WHAT A SCORCHER

“Oh my” said Linda. She and Marion were sitting naked in her kitchen watching the lunchtime news of television. “I wish I had her body” But Marion was not thinking about Susie’s perfection. Her mind was working in tandem with Brian’s, Isla was going to escape with much less exposure than she had feared. Meanwhile Linda continued to prattle on.

“She has a point, Marion, this heat so much more bearable without clothes. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all walk around in the nude? Have you ever thought what it would be like to walk down the street naked? You should try it sometime”

Marion suddenly caught up with what her friend was saying.

“What do you mean Linda?” she asked carefully.

Linda looked at her with a hint of embarrassment.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Marion nodded her head slowly, dreading what was coming next. “Well I’ve, sort of well.” The room felt utterly silent despite the constant commentary from the television, “I don’t want you to think any the less of me.”

“I won’t Linda” Marion told her quietly.

“Well I’ve taken to going for midnight walks, au natural, so to speak” she blurted, looking desperately to Marion for absolution. Mistaking her friend’s look of sheer terror for surprise, Linda began to apologise, “I’m so sorry. I’ve shocked you”

“Er no well, I have to admit this is all a bit sudden”

Linda breathed easily, “So my secret’s safe with you”

“Oh yes, after all, we’re both in the same club, if you see what I mean” said Marion running her eyes down Linda’s naked body to emphasise her point.

“You could say the same nudist club” replied Linda laughing heartily at her own joke.

Rule one, thought Marion, is to never ask a question you don’t know the answer to. “Were you the naked angel, Linda?”

“Oh no, but the story was my inspiration, it set me thinking, what would it be like to walk down the lane in the buff?”

“And what is it like?” asked Marion who was better placed to know.

“Absolutely wonderful, you should try it sometime, in fact I was out there last night”

Marion nearly fell off her chair. “Oh dear I am shocking you aren’t I?” said Linda mistaking her confidant’s utter panic for surprise. “It was brilliant; I went all the way to the edge of the wood.” Marion’s eyes were wide, she held her breath, as her friend continued blithely, “I was going in but I was put off by the animal noises”

Marion was desperately thinking how she should respond to this. She was supposed to be a respectable housewife, who, after being led astray by her friend, was now sitting stark naked in a strange kitchen. Linda, whom she had previously considered to be an upstanding member of the community, was now admitting she walked nude through the neighbourhood. Should she be expressing outrage, or disgust, or perhaps admiration for Linda’s daring do? In the event all that emerged from Marion’s lips was a small squeak. With all the relief of a sinner finally unburdening herself, Linda continued blithely on.

“I tell you I think there must be some wild boar living in there, what with the grunts and the squealing and panting. It made me think twice I can tell you.”

”Oh yes, I can imagine” agreed Marion, “so you came straight back?”

“Absolutely, I didn’t want to meet a wild animal, what if it had charged me? How would I explain that, being out and about in the all together”

“Quite” agreed Marion, and continued quickly “Well, I think I have to get back now as I’ve some work to be getting on with.” She picked up her shirt and pulled it over her head, before breezily telling Linda, not to bother to get dressed as she could see herself out.

“You won’t tell anyone will you?” Linda pleaded again.

“Oh no, my lips are sealed” replied Marion who had absolutely no intention of telling Brian his mating calls had been heard by their equally naked neighbour who had mistaken them both for a pair of pigs.

“Stay naked” called Linda hopefully as Marion left.

“I’ll think about it” she replied.

Sixteen

As soon as she closed her own front door behind her Marion peeled off her shirt and went for a sit down. After Linda’s revelations she felt she needed one. Once the shock of her close call had worn off Marion began to realise that Linda’s admission to night time nude jaunts was not the problem she had thought it was going to be. She could still continue her rambling and if she did bump into her friend in then she could claim that Linda had been her inspiration. Cheered by this thought Marion smiled and was about to start some work when the doorbell rang. Once more donning her emergency long shirt Marion opened the front door.

Every year the European cycle season stages a classic race called the Paris–Roubaix. It is known as The Hell of the North as it pitches the riders from smooth metalled surfaces onto rough cobbled tracks that jar both body and machine. Marion’s day seemed to be following just such a course, for standing on her front porch was the last person Marion wanted to see, ever.

“Good afternoon, Mrs Shaw”

She was a good head smaller than Marion, and casually dressed in a brief summer dress. She held out a pass with her photograph and the word PRESS in large red letters. Marion didn’t need to read the name, she recognised Julie Lewis by her curls. “My name is Julie Lewis; I’m a reporter for the Nelson Mercury”

Marion said nothing, she just stared, waiting for, and dreading the next line. When it came it was a pleasant surprise, “I wonder if you had any comment on your daughter’s protest in the mall down in Christchurch this morning”

“Well naturally I have to give her my support and I am very proud of her conviction and dedication for such an important cause. I’m sure we all share her concern for the environment, and if Isla’s actions have some effect then it will have all been worthwhile”

“So you are happy that pictures of your daughter’s naked body are in the public domain?”

“Well I do wish she had chosen a different way of getting her point across.”

“Did she inform you she would be making a nude protest?”

”Oh yes we knew.”

”What does her father think, is Mr Shaw at home?”

“No he is at work, but he also gives Isla his support”

“I have spoken to your husband before, Mrs Shaw, on the reports of the naked angel. Was that your daughter too?”

“Absolutely not” replied the true angel, “Isla was away at university at the time. Has that cook woken up yet?”

Marion winced, she asked that too quickly. Fortunately the reporter didn’t pick up on it.

“Yes, but he remembers nothing of the evening”

Relief flooded Marion’s body like summer returning to a frozen wasteland.

“Or so he says” Julie Lewis paused, and smiled before continuing in a more conciliatory manner. “Look, Mrs Shaw, I think we can help each other here”

Oh, how” she snapped. It was Julie’s turn to wince. Marion gave her a small smile; she was still on tenterhooks and had not meant to be so sharp.

“Well, you are going to have journalists from the national papers contacting you. I could head them off for you. If they knew we had an exclusive, they will use the Mercury as a feed.”

“I see” said Marion thoughtfully.

Encouraged by the slight thaw she continued “what I would like is an inside story of your daughter’s protest, a local angle for the paper”

“Well I don’t know, that would be up to Isla”

“Would you put it to her, after all she is doing this for the publicity, and all I’m offering is more.”

Marion thought about this, and although she viewed Julie Lewis as an enemy hunting her down, it’s usually a good ploy to keep the enemy where you can see them.

“Come in” she said, “let me contact my daughter”

Marion led Julie through the darkened hall into the kitchen. She gestured to a high chair next to the breakfast bar. Mindful of the fact she was not wearing any underwear, Marion remained standing as she enquired if her guest would like a drink.

“Oh, yes please, its baking today, your daughter picked the right time for her protest, I almost feel like joining her” She laughed nervously as Marion shot her a piercing look. There would be nothing she would like better than to see her persecutor laid bare

Isla was full of herself and quite prepared to talk to the journalist. Mainly because this was actually her first interview, all the other journalists and TV crews had swarmed like bees around the honey pot that was Susie. Marion listened in as Julie talked to her daughter.

“I’d like to publish a form of a diary”

“No just yours, you are the local girl”

“No, photographs will be head and shoulders only, but we might stretch our readers’ sensitivities to a bare bum or two.”

“If I could join you on a protest; that would be great”

She laughed nervously. “No, I don’t think I’m up to that”

“Committee meeting, well I suppose so, if they are closed, and everyone else is”

Good girl thought Marion, get her kit off.

“Tomorrow, Cathedral Square, at ten, I’ll be there”

Later as they sat in twilight’s last hot and sweaty gleaming on their patio, Brain and Marion discussed the day. They agreed it had gone better than it could have. Brian had received much sympathy at work, but to enable them to empathise with Brian’s despair everyone had to have a good look at Isla’s bare body. Julie Lewis had been good to her word; no other journalists had bothered them. After much thought, Marion had given Brian a heavily abridged account of Linda’s nudity. She kept it to the sunbathing only. Given the surprise on his face Marion could only imagine the effect the news of her wandering the neighbourhood would have on him. If Brian had found out Linda was out and about at the same time as they were last night Marion would have been called upon to make her second au natural emergency call.

“You mustn’t tell anyone about Linda” she admonished him earnestly as she eyed his big grin, “I promised her I wouldn’t tell you.” Marion paused for effect “After all, how would you like it if I told her about you?”

It took five minutes and a glass of water to cure Brian’s coughing fit.

Fourteen

Brian had been living on his nerves all day. He had drunk at least five cups of coffee. The caffeine had left him agitated and unable to settle to his work. He stared at his computer screen, like an artist that had lost his muse, desperate for inspiration

“That’s the eighth time today” commented John as he left for the toilet.

The source of his worry wasn’t difficult to pin point. Firstly there was the previous night. At the time he was elated, running on adrenalin. Now in the cold light of day the magnitude of his folly gnawed at his guts like an acid. How could he have been so stupid? Running around the streets stark naked. Anyone could have been passing, coming home from the night shift, or a party. A police patrol could have come by. The list things that could have gone wrong was as endless as the Pacific and Brian could have spent all day worrying about it if he hadn’t another more pressing concern.

It was too late to hope that Isla would back out of her protest. The deed was done. A bight and breezy text message from Isla confirmed to Brian that his daughter’s bare body would soon be available to the whole world courtesy of the Internet. He was now waiting with all the fatality of a truant outside the headmaster’s office for her naked flesh to drop into John’s inbox. He had managed a snatched phone call with Marion, who didn’t seem the least worried, but given her hobby Brain could see why.

“At least she didn’t get arrested” his wife had told him.

“That’s not the point, Marion, pictures of her in the nude will be everywhere, everyone she ever meet from now will know precisely what’s under her dress ”

“You sound just like your mother.”

Brian slapped his hand on his forehead, “What the hell did you phone her for?” he demanded.

“I didn’t. Isla did”

The day was going from bad to worse. Brian was about to remonstrate further when Jan and John came back into the office.

“Got to go now” he said quickly and hung up.

Marion had been a trifle nonplussed by this, but a ring at the door stopped her pursuing that line of thought. She padded off towards the front door, just remembering to pull on a long shirt that came down to her knees before she opened it.

“Hi Marion, it’s only me” said Linda, stating the obvious, and without pausing for an invitation, stepped into the hall. “It’s so hot” she complained, I nearly went for a drive just to put the air con on”

Marion spotted an opening and went for it. “That would upset my daughter” Linda stopped, put her head on one side and gave Marion a quizzical look. This was the chance she had been hoping for. So without further preamble Marion explained Isla’s protest.

“So she was the naked angel” was Linda’s only comment.

“Couldn’t be” replied the real naked angel, “Isla was in college a the time, besides, you know there was nothing in that story”

Linda looked long and carefully at Marion and a sudden thought popped into her head.
“Marion can I ask you a personal question?”

“Of course” she replied, expecting some question on the morality of Isla’s protest.

”What have you got on under that shirt”
Caught unawares Marion answered truthfully.

“Nothing,” before qualifying herself, “well er it’s so hot I er”

“I know” continued Linda, “I’m finding this weather unbearable, and let me let you into a little secret,” she leant forward confidentially, “I’ve actually been wandering around in the buff”

Marion was speechless. This was what she was supposed to say.

“Don’t say anything” continued Linda, “I know it’s not the done thing, but … it was so hot and something just came over me.” She looked at her friend and pouted “you don’t think any less of me do you?”

“Er no, not at all” said Marion who was thinking that Linda had stolen her clothes, in a manner of speaking.

“Have you ever thought of trying it?” Linda whispered

“I….I”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Linda leaned forward and took Marion’s hand. It felt warm and claddy as she pleaded “Just, please don’t tell anybody”

Marion, the real naked angel, pulled herself together and told her friend haltingly that she’d screw her courage to the sticking post and give it a go. Linda beamed in the knowledge that her secret would be safe. Marion smiled at her friend’s naivety. Her secret would be safe until Brian came home.

Marion was about to remove the shirt she had been wearing for all of ten minutes when Linda took charge.

“I’ve set up a secluded sunbathing area in the garden, why don’t you come over?”

Marion, paused, once again wrong footed by her friend. “Well, right, I’ll just get my phone in case there’s more developments on the Isla front.”

And so wearing just a long shirt and a pair of sandals Marion followed her friend out of the front door. Amazingly she felt exposed in her knickerless state. ‘Pull yourself together Marion’ she thought ‘the last time you went for a walk outside you were stark naked’

“Cold drink?” enquired Linda as she led the way into her voluminous kitchen.

“Yes please”

“Lemonade?”

“Perfect” replied Marion as she took the proffered glass.

Linda held hers and proffered a toast. “To us”

Marion responded. “To us”

Linda put her glass down and grabbed the hem of her short summer dress.

“Ready?”

Marion laid her glass on the cool, grey, marble work surface of Linda’s kitchen, crossed her arms and took a firm grip on her shirt.

“One, two, three go” shouted Linda. And then they both stood there staring at each other’s bare body for the first time. Marion’s eyes swept over her younger friend’s small breasts with the puffiest nipples she had ever seen, the stretch marks left by her two children on an otherwise perfectly flat stomach, her wide hips and an oddly rectangular patch of well trimmed pubic hair. She suddenly remembered her manners and whipped her eyes back up to meet Linda’s. She needn’t have worried for while Marion had been inspecting her friend’s birthday suit, Linda had been giving Marion the once over, and it was with perfect timing they both brought their gaze back to eye level. In unison both women broke into wide grins which dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“Let’s go outside” Linda said picking up her glass and leading the way into the bright mid morning light.