The Boy Next Door
by Robert Symes
Postscript
Lucky Maggie
This story is set in rural England in 1974. The cultural references are from that time and place so I hope that references to cars or music won't spoil the story for those who don't know them. Follow the links provided for more information or just ignore them. (And yes, I know you can use a search engine just as well as I can. The links are for convenience, not to insult anyone.)
Trigger warning: Animal cruelty. The dog gets a happy ending but some of what happens before that may upset some people. It even upset me a bit and I wrote it. Nothing graphic, the cruelty is in the intent not the outcome.
Tintern is a real place (the construction of its abbey in the twelfth century is mentioned in this recent story) but there is no Lord Tintern and no landed estate.
As always it is this author's policy to have no opinions about anything, or at least not to state them. Any opinions you see on these pages are those of the characters or the site owner respectively and I neither endorse nor oppose them.
June 1974. Milo and Victor had got in the habit of meeting at least once a month but couldn't use the caravan any more as the owners or their friends would be there constantly now it was warm. So they'd arranged to meet in a railway town about halfway between their homes. Milo had obtained a large four man tent and brought it in the car in the hope they could find somewhere to pitch it overnight. Hotels were too expensive and suspicious of guests their age.
Milo picked Victor up from the station as usual. "Tourist information told me there's a camp site in a village about four miles from here. I thought we might try that. How did your exams go? In a couple more weeks the house I've been working on is finished and I'll need to move on. I can't wait to be with you again but where? Do you know where you're going yet?"
"Sorry, I don't know yet. I think the ones I've done were okay but I've two more to do and I won't get the results until August. I'm hoping for Aston University in Birmingham but if I don't get the grades I'll be in Clearing and I could end up anywhere. Could you maybe squat in Chris's garden and look for something local until we know?"
Milo pulled into a gap in the traffic and then stopped in the queue at the lights. "Good idea. I'll ask Mrs Langley if I can..." He stopped abruptly. "I don't believe it! Finally!"
"What's wrong? What don't you believe?"
"That car just in front of us in the other lane. Green Rover, XXX ### K? I've been looking for that bastard for months! What he did to Lucky in ten seconds took me weeks to put right. Now he's going to pay!"
Milo put his indicator on and as soon as the lights changed aggressively changed lanes, outrageously carving up the car behind the Rover, who blew his horn furiously in protest. Victor turned and mouthed an apology. "Advantage of driving a battered old Land Rover" remarked Milo. "You can drive as badly as you like and everyone gets out of the way. Now let's see where he goes. Come to think of it this isn't far from where he dumped Lucky."
The Rover turned right at the next lights, then left and approached a roundabout. Inexplicably it went all the way around it before choosing an exit. "What the hell is he doing?" Milo wondered.
"Well, either he's lost or he knows you're following him" guessed Victor.
It seemed he was right as the exit chosen took them out of town and as soon as the Rover passed the 'speed limit ends' sign it shot off at speed. Milo floored the throttle and soon he was going flat out, engine screaming and steering wheel shaking but the Rover was pulling away. Milo beat the wheel in frustration. "No, no, NO! You fucking bastard come back!"
His wish was granted. They rounded the next corner and the Rover was trapped behind a slow moving truck all the way to the next town. It pulled into a large busy car park, headed for a bank of empty spaces and stopped. Milo did the same and jumped out, heading for the Rover.
He was confronted by an angry woman aged about thirty who got out of the Rover. "It's crowded here" she said in an upper-class accent. "Lots of men helping with shopping on a Saturday. All I have to do is scream. Now who the hell are you and why are you following me?"
Milo was taken aback. "It's not you I want. Is this your husband's car?"
"I'm not married. Not that it's any of your business."
"Boyfriend?"
"Not that either. Why? Are you offering?"
"Did you buy it recently?"
"Daddy bought it new a couple of years ago. Look, what's with all these questions? What do you want ?"
Before he could answer Lucky stuck her head through the open window of the Land Rover and barked. The woman looked across, then stared, then rushed over. "I don't believe it! It can't be. Maggie? Oh my God, it is!" She started petting Lucky, who was licking her face and wagging her tail furiously.
Milo walked over. "Madam, this dog's name is Lucky, not Maggie. We're getting nowhere so perhaps I should just tell you. I'm looking for the man who was driving your car on Thursday 2 nd of March about 8 p.m."
"You must be mistaken. No men drive this car. Daddy bought it for me but he has his own cars."
"I'm sorry but I'm not mistaken" insisted Milo. "Perhaps he took it without your knowledge but I saw your car that evening being driven by a man and I memorised the number. I can't be wrong. He was about five foot ten, heavy build, dark hair, mid thirties and he was driving your car on Thursday 2 nd of March about 8 p.m. like I said. Do you know where I can find him?"
"That piece of shit! Useless filthy bastard! Try the prison service, I don't know where they sent him. Somewhere bad I hope. With good behaviour he'll be out in 1978. Come back then. March 2 nd is the day I lost Maggie. I thought she was dead."
Victor had got out of the car. Now he said "The day this lady lost Maggie is the same day you found Lucky. It's pretty obvious. Face it Milo, it's the same dog and this is her real owner. Look, lady, I think we need to talk but not standing around in a car park. Is there anywhere we could go with the dog?"
"There's a park half a mile away. Will you drive me there and back?" She locked the Rover and climbed into the front of the Land Rover. Lucky's uncontrolled joy was all the proof you could want that this was indeed her dog. Victor got in the back. "Go out of here and turn left. And I'm not 'madam' or 'lady' my name is Alison Cameron but you can call me Allie. You're Milo and he is...?"
"Grateful to be alive after that chase" quipped Victor. "Actually, it's Victor. You've no idea how much Milo wanted to find your car."
"I think I've an idea. The look on his face in my mirror was terrifying. I thought he was some sort of psychopath. Next right then second left, there's a little car park and some tables and a little cafe shed thing." She handed Victor a pound note. "Be a darling and get tea and a slice of fruitcake for me, whatever you two want, and they'll give you a bowl of water for the dog. And if they've got any Maltesers Maggie adores them."
They sat at a table and Victor got their order. The dog couldn't sit still. Her two favourite people were in the same place and she moved back and forth between them. Until Allie opened the packet of Maltesers and became centre of Maggie's world. Allie wanted to know how Milo came to have her dog and he told her the story finishing with "and I've been on the lookout for that car ever since, to make him pay for his cruelty. But that's the second half of the story. What's the first half?"
Allie grimaced. "The first half is me being a stupid, gullible woman. I might as well admit it. Daddy tried to warn me but I didn't listen. I thought Gerald was Mr Right. He turned out to be Mr 'Wrong-un' as they say on the television programmes. But he was good-looking, well spoken and attentive. We met at the Hunt Ball and I fell for his line about all his assets being temporarily tied up abroad. Such a cliché but he laughed at himself and said it's a cliché and I'll never believe it so of course I did.
"He didn't seem to be working or doing much of anything. He said he couldn't launch his business until he could get his capital back from the 'useless bloody Swiss' as he called them. And he kept borrowing 'small sums' like £50 or £100 to 'tide him over' for now."
"I wish I thought £50 was a small sum" commented Milo. "Most people don't earn that in a week. I never have."
"Yes, but with respect you're not an international businessman are you? It turned out Gerald wasn't either but that's what he was pretending to be. I really was a fool but I wanted to believe so I did. Daddy tried to tell me nobody ever heard of a Gerald Seaborne from Wiltshire but I said he was just being spiteful and why couldn't he be happy for me. Gerry Smith from Walthamstow, as he turned out to be, encouraged me and said Daddy was just envious because he inherited his money and as a younger son Gerald had made his own fortune. All lies of course.
"That Thursday we'd been with friends and Gerald had been drinking a lot. He said he needed to go to Berne to finalise transferring his money and he needed £300 for airfare and hotels and I just didn't have it. He told me to borrow it from Daddy but I said I wouldn't and he should stand on his own feet for once. He got so angry I thought he was going to hit me. Maggie bit him to protect me and he kicked her really hard. I said if he treats my dog like that he can just get out and he apologised and said it's frustrating he can't get his money and no-one believes him but he hates himself for upsetting me. Then he poured himself yet another glass of whisky. My whisky, naturally.
"I went to the bathroom a bit later and when I came back Gerald and Maggie were gone. I thought he'd taken her for a walk to clear his head but he came back an hour later without her. I said where's my dog and he ran a finger across his throat and said 'where you'll be if you call me a liar again. No-one bites me and gets away with it' in a rough common voice and I thought he'd killed her and hidden the body somewhere. Dumping her to suffer and starve is worse. That sort of cruelty never crossed my mind. But I knew then that I'd been a fool and he was a liar, and a dangerous one. So I pretended to be both frightened and impressed by his ruthlessness and said I was sorry and I'd talk to Daddy about his money in the morning and he should go home and get some rest. I was terrified but he fell for it.
"I went to pack his things. I was going to get Daddy to bring a couple of men with shotguns to warn him off and run him out of town. But I saw my jewellery box wasn't quite straight so I checked and some of my most valuable pieces that I almost never wear were missing. So I called the police. They found my jewellery in his room, he hadn't had time to sell it yet. He got seven years. If he behaves he'll be out at the end of 1978.
"A couple of days later another policeman came around to ask about my car and I said I'd got home about six on the Thursday and no-one used it after that, which is what I believed. He said it must be a case of mistaken identity and went away. He never mentioned dogs but now I see it must be because of you reporting what happened to poor Maggie.
"Then today I saw you following me looking like an avenging angel and I was terrified again. I thought you must be some friend or contact of Gerald's and I had to get to somewhere with witnesses.
"So now you know. I'm just a silly spoiled rich girl, too stupid to look after a dog or anything valuable. You saved her life and gave her a home when I let her down. I'm so happy to see her again and know she's alright but she's your dog now and you should keep her."
"Don't be so hard on yourself" advised Milo. "Thank you for being so honest and telling me all that. I bet your Gerald really regrets getting drunk that day. But anyone can fall for a trick and we all want to be loved and believe what we hear. The love of my life once told me they never wanted to see me again and I believed it but it wasn't true and it was only by luck that I found that out. It will break my heart but Lucky... but Maggie is your dog in law and in fact. You should have her back."
"Well this is a problem" said Victor cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. "What are we going to do now? Toss a coin? We can't cut her in half like King Solomon can we?"
Allie smiled wanly. "That trick wouldn't work here. We both love her so you'd end up stuck with her yourself."
"Then let her choose" suggested Victor. "I'll hold her here. You two walk away in different directions. Then I'll let her go and see who she follows."
"That's not very kind, to her or to us" remarked Allie. "But one of us is going to have to walk away so I can't think of a better idea."
"Let's get it over with then" said Milo tensely. "I can't stand not knowing."
Victor held the dog's collar as the other two stood up. Milo walked away towards his car and Allie in the other direction, into the park. Victor let go of the dog and she whined unhappily, looking from one to the other. Then she got up and trotted after... Milo. When he realised he stopped and petted her, delighted. "Good dog, Lucky, good dog!" He looked up at Allie's face. "Oh, I'm sorry. This must be hard for you."
"It is. But someone had to miss out. And I'm still better off. An hour ago I thought that maniac had killed her and it was my fault. Now I know she's alive and happy and loved and cared for. That makes me happy. But perhaps I should go now. You must have plans."
"Not really" said Milo. "Find a campsite, put our tent up, get some lunch and then see what touristy things we can find to do for the afternoon."
"Would you like to stay with me?" offered Allie. "Not in the house. There isn't room and I don't think I could sleep. I used to have a flat in town but after what happened I was too nervous and Daddy let me have a cottage on the estate next to the gamekeeper. It's such a comfort to know there's an armed and loyal man just through the party wall. There's plenty of room in the garden to pitch your tent and I'm sure I can rustle up sandwiches and things for lunch."
They got back in the car and drove back to where Allie had left her car. Allie and the dog were all over each other, both delighted at the reunion. "Can you drive?" she asked Victor. "If I stay in this car and give Milo directions could you follow in mine?"
"Well I could," he replied, "but I won't be insured and if I get stopped I can't give your name. Nobody will believe I'm an Alison. We could both be in trouble."
"Oh, don't worry about that. With all the different vehicles and staff on the estate Daddy just insures everything for any driver. It's easier and you never know who may need to drive what."
"Is your dad a farmer or something then?" asked Milo.
"In a manner of speaking I suppose you could say that. Daddy is Lord Tintern and he splits his time between his duties in the House and supervising the estate. We've about three thousand acres. Mostly tenant farms but also some parkland around the Hall and some woodland. And the estate village where the staff mostly live. That's where my cottage is. I could live at the Hall, Jimmy does when he's here, which isn't often, but I like my independence."
"Jimmy?"
"My brother. Formally Viscount James Cameron. I doubt you'll meet him. He spends all his time in London doing something in the City and getting in the gossip columns more often than is good for Daddy's temper. Mummy usually likes to be wherever Daddy is, which is down here this weekend, and that's all of us."
"Then I'll be happy to drive your Ladyship's car for you" said Victor.
"There's no need to be sarcastic" snapped Allie. "I don't use my title if I can help it and I didn't choose my parents."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be. Just a bit awed I think. I never met a titled person before. Perhaps you should give me the keys before I dig my hole any deeper."
She handed them over. "You're forgiven. Just follow us to the cottage. And don't think of me as a scary posh Lady, I'm just Allie."
They drove in convoy to a small village a few miles away, Tintern Hall visible about a quarter mile beyond it. They pitched their tent in the cottage's garden while Allie made a plate of sandwiches for their lunch. Lucky kept glancing at the open back door but wouldn't leave Milo's side. Allie noticed.
"I was going to offer to have Maggie for the afternoon while you two do whatever but it wouldn't be kind. She obviously still doesn't trust me and after I left her with that low-life I can't blame her."
"Give it time" suggested Milo. "She remembered you and she was happy to see you but after what happened she's a bit insecure and she likes to always be with me, or at least in a place she knows I'll go back to. I don't know what the 'whatever' can be. Can you suggest anything?"
"If you want to keep Maggie... sorry, Lucky, I'll have to get used to it. Well if you want her with you you're basically limited to walks and there are some nice ones around here. If I can tag along I could show you, or else I could lend you a map. If you can leave her in your car there's a museum not far away or a cinema in town. Or you could stay here and read or play cards or something. And of course you'll both have dinner with me, I insist."
"What do you think Vic?" asked Milo.
"Well I'd hate to leave Lucky shut in a car in a strange place, that's cruel. And I've seen how much she loves exploring new places. So I vote we get Allie to show us a good long walk and then relax back here until dinner time. I brought a couple of good books with me in case I get bored."
"Sounds perfect. That's what we'll do then. Okay Allie?"
It was and they spent an enjoyable afternoon and evening together, the titled Lady, the itinerant labourer and the school boy all bonding in an unlikely friendship, fuelled by mutual love for the dog, who revelled in being centre of attention.
About ten o'clock they said goodnight and Milo and Victor went out with Lucky. They heard Allie carefully lock the back door and test it, as she had earlier with the front. Clearly she wasn't completely over what had happened to her. "Just as well there's an outside toilet if we need it" remarked Victor.
"I have more pressing needs" said Milo as they entered the tent. "I've been waiting a long time for this and I can't wait to be inside you!"
"Likewise" agreed Victor. They heard a cough outside. So did Lucky, who barked once and ran out growling. "What was that?"
"I don't know." Milo went out and looked around. "Hello. Anybody there?" There was no answer. He checked the back door of the cottage, then looked around the front before going back to the tent. "I can't see anything. Maybe an animal or something? I don't know. If it was bad guys maybe we scared them off but that's not likely. Allie's a bit paranoid there I think." He went and looked over the chest high stone back wall. "Nope. Prowler free zone. Come on, let's get inside."
Lucky wasn't convinced. She stared at the wall to next door's garden growling softly. So Milo went and looked over that wall too. He came back and patted her. "Nothing there, girl. Come on, bedtime. Do hedgehogs and things cough? I suppose they must do."
"As long as they don't call the cops" fretted Victor, "we're not twenty one."
"Hedgehogs? Well even if they do the local plods won't want to involve Lord Tintern's daughter in a sex scandal. Come on, let's get inside so I can ravish you before the hedgehogs make it to the phone box."
They went into the tent. As soon as Milo fastened the flap they were kissing passionately. It had been too long. Soon they were tearing their clothes off. Once naked they kissed again, their tongues in a battle for dominance which Milo always won because Victor always let him. Then Victor got on all fours in the middle of the tent facing the entrance. "That's enough foreplay" he declared. "I want you now. From behind, fast and easy. What the hell is that dog staring at?"
Lucky was sitting attentively right by the tent flaps staring as if willing herself to see through canvas, her head cocked slightly to one side. "Who cares?" asked Milo rhetorically. "Maybe she don't like hedgehogs. Maybe there's a cat in the garden. Whatever it is can wait. You want me you can have me. I've waited long enough."
Milo knelt behind Victor, spat in his hand for lubricant, and gave Victor the hard, fast sex both of them wanted. It didn't take long; both of them had waited weeks and they weren't going to wait any longer. Milo grunted as he slammed in and out. Victor cried out with pleasure. "Oh God yes! That feels amazing!"
When it was over and Milo had helped Victor to finish they realised that a 'round two' was a nice idea in theory but not a practical proposition as they were too exhausted after a long and sometimes stressful day so they crawled into their sleeping bags as the last of the light faded. Lucky had lost interest in whatever had been outside and lay by the tent flaps sleeping.
Allie's father came to visit her the next morning and said he needed to talk to her. "Of course, Daddy" she said. "But first I want you to meet Milo Stanford and his friend Victor Henderson. I met them yesterday and they camped in my garden last night. You remember that night Maggie went missing and we thought Smith had killed her? Well" – she pointed to the dog – "she's back from the dead look. It turns out he took my car and I didn't even notice. He drove a few miles into the country and just dumped her at a lay-by in the middle of nowhere. Thank God Milo was there. He took her in and reported it to the police. They did contact me but I told them no-one used my car because that's what I thought. We met in town yesterday, I recognised Maggie and we compared notes and worked out what happened.
"Well it seems that Milo is going to be looking for a new home and job just as a stopgap for the summer soon and I thought he could camp out in the garden here and we could sort of share the dog. I'd have a guard dog and another young man to protect me if I need it. But he'll need a job and I wondered if you needed any more hands on the estate?"
"I see." Lord Tintern looked at Milo. "So, you camped here last night? Tell me, er, Stanford, did you and your friend bring any girls back here?"
"No sir. It was just me, Victor and the dog, honestly."
"Yes, Compton rather thought that. He was out late last night and heard some of the noises coming from your tent. Well I thank you for returning my daughter's dog but frankly, Stanford, we don't want your kind round here, certainly not on my land or in my employment, and I don't think you'd feel welcome in a place like this anyway. Better for everyone if you just move on. The seedier parts of London or Southampton might suit you better perhaps."
"What on earth are you talking about Daddy?" asked Allie. "Milo has been nothing but polite and helpful since we met. What 'kind' don't you want?"
"Smith was polite and helpful when you had something he wanted wasn't he? I'm sorry, Alison, but you still have a lot to learn. I'm not saying Stanford is like him because I don't know. But he turns up yesterday and now he's moving in with you and you're asking me to give him a job. I wonder what else he may want."
"Daddy! That's totally unfair. Milo saved Maggie's life and he's cared for her ever since. He's nothing like Gerald. And he never asked me for anything. I offered."
"Be that as it may, it's not why I came to see you. Compton saw me this morning to tell me that after his late round last night he noticed a tent in your garden and heard... Well I don't wish to be indelicate but it seems your new friends are rather more interested in each other than they are in the ladies if you follow me."
"You mean they're gay? I wondered if they might be. Honestly, Daddy, who cares? If anything it makes me even safer doesn't it? Tell him, Milo."
"I'm sorry, Allie" he said. "But your father is right. Not in his attitude, but lots of people share it and if this Compton, whoever he is..."
"Paul Compton" interrupted Allie. "He's Daddy's gamekeeper and he lives next door with his wife. Nice couple, I'll introduce you sometime."
"Nice to you perhaps. It sounds like he's another who doesn't like my 'kind' and if he spreads the word then your father is right. I wouldn't feel safe working and living here let alone welcome. So thanks for the offer but the car's packed up and I'd better get going before the lynch mob get here. Don't worry about me. Something will turn up. It always does."
"There's no great hurry" Lord Tintern told him. "I asked Compton to keep it under his hat for now. No mob. Now then Stanford, this is rather awkward don't you know, after you helped my daughter and everything. Perhaps you can't help the way you are. But I really don't think this is the place for you, for your own sake as much as anything. You said as much yourself. Best to move on I think."
"Move on? I haven't moved here, just stayed overnight. I was leaving today anyway. I have at least two more weeks in the job I'm doing before I can start anything else. Don't worry, I won't be back. Ready Victor?"
"Wait." Allie made sure her father wasn't looking and winked. "I'll ride with you to the edge of the village and put you on the right road and then walk back. The exercise will do me good. Daddy, you can come back later or stay and help yourself to a drink. I won't be long. Come along Maggie."
Milo and Allie got in the front with the dog between them, Victor in the back. "I can find my own way you know" Milo pointed out.
"I know you can" replied Allie. "But Daddy thinks you brought my dog back and I want you to be too far away to follow when he finds out you didn't. No disrespect to your car but if it can't catch my Rover 2000 it won't outrun Daddy's Range Rover , it's a 3500 V8. And he's bound to have a shotgun with him."
"Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?" asked Milo.
"No, but it's what Lucky chose, remember? Who are we to argue? I'll just have to be brave and try to get used to the new name. But stay in touch please. I wrote my address and phone number at the cottage down for you." She got a notebook out of her bag and tore out a page. Victor took it from her. "Can I have yours please?"
"I haven't really got one" Milo explained. "I'm sort of camped out where I work and I have no idea where I'll be after the next fortnight."
"You can have mine" suggested Victor. "I should be there until September and if not my parents will always know where I am. And I'll always know where Milo is. There were a couple of weeks when I didn't and I hated it. And we'll let you know when we know something." He dictated his address and phone.
Milo had pulled over at the edge of the village. "Well, unless you want to come home with me I think this is as far as we go."
Allie put her notebook back in her bag, pulled out her purse, took a wad of fivers and tried to pass it to Milo. "Here. This is for saving Maggie and caring for her. I can't bear to think what she'd have suffered if you didn't."
"Absolutely not! I feel bad enough taking your dog, I won't take your money as well. Give it to the RSPCA if you like. And I can't bear to think of that either so thank you for putting the scumbag away. Maybe I'll be waiting at the gate when he comes out. But do me a favour. Tell Daddy you offered me that and I refused it."
"Of course. It will be a pleasure, believe me." She hugged the dog and buried her face in the fur. "Goodbye darling girl" she said with a catch in her voice. "Hope I'll see you soon." She opened the door and got out and Victor got in the front. Allie slammed the door and walked quickly away, not looking back.
"That was hard to watch" said Victor. "Get me out of here." Milo nodded, blinking back tears. He put the car in gear and let the clutch in.
The End
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