Less than an hour later, with final assurances from Laura that she had plenty to be getting on with at home and that she did not feel left out by not going with them, Josh and the girls were in the car. The friends sat on the back seat in their cute Christmas outfits under their winter coats could not have looked further removed from the horny little temptresses they had proved themselves to be the night before, as if either Josh or Laura had been in any doubt on that matter after the last couple of weeks!

As requested, Amelia had brought a cute Christmas outfit consisting of a fuzzy white jumper with a big, shiny bauble on the front made from red sequins and a green, pleated moleskin skirt with thick white tights underneath. Samantha was wearing the same red velvet dress and sparkly tights that she had worn to Sidney’s but this time both girls were wearing cute, fur-lined winter boots and Samantha wore a headband which sported a pair of Christmas puddings on the ends of springs while Amelia wore one hair-slide with a sprig of holly and another with a large plastic gingerbread man. Both girls looked adorable and Christmassy, perfect for what Josh had in mind.

“So where are we going, Daddy?” Samantha asked happily from the back seat during one of the Christmas songs from Josh’s Spotify playlist that she did not know the lyrics to and so could not sing along with.

“Somewhere fun, I promise!” Josh grinned. “It’s not far, we’ll be there soon!” Laura had not packed any bags for them to take with them so it was unlikely they were on their way to the swimming pool again, unless they’d decided to hold a special Christmas Naked Swimming Day, although even then they would need towels, plus they did not seem to be driving in that direction and anyway, Josh had made a big deal of them dressing Christmassy which would not have mattered if they were going to be getting undressed the moment they got wherever they were going. It seemed to early in the day for a show of any kind and in the end, Samantha decided to give up trying to work it out and just see where they ended up.

They did not seem to be driving towards any of the big towns that Samantha knew, meaning they were likely not going Christmas shopping. Instead, Josh seemed to be driving them out into the countryside, through the occasional small village or area of farmland and sometimes just wild moorland and craggy rock formations for what seemed like miles on either side of the road. Eventually, the satnav instructed him to take a sharp right turn which he did, driving into a densely wooded area, heading uphill on a zigzag path. Something about the route seemed familiar, as if they had been before at some point but at a different time of year. When they emerged out of the trees again at the top of the hill, Samantha knew exactly where they were and was delighted to see the event her dad had brought them to, as was Amelia!

The car park Josh was now pulling into was for a ruined castle they had been to over the Summer holidays a few years ago when there had been a special medieval event on with real jousting and, the thing that stuck in Samantha’s mind most clearly, a giant dragon puppet that, to her nine year old eyes, had seemed incredibly realistic! Her parents, she remembered, had offered to buy her a princess dress from one of the stalls while they were there but had both seemed rather proud when she said she would rather be a knight and had ended up getting kitted out with a plastic helmet, wooded sword and shield and a tunic made from metallic fabric that resembled chain-mail.

This time, however, they were not there for a Medieval Fayre but for a Christmas Market which, while not claiming to represent any particular era, had something of a Victorian aesthetic, with lots of real, lush greenery around the entrance, pine branches and holly etc., and a group of carol singers who looked as if they’d stepped straight off a Christmas card or a tin of Christmas biscuits by the entrance to welcome visitors.

“Wow! This looks so cool!” Amelia beamed as she got out of the car. “Is it okay to take photos?”

“I’m sure it is!” Josh smiled, pleased that his surprise seemed to be going down well as he left both girls listening to the carollers while he went to pay for parking. Once he rejoined them, they joined the short queue of people waiting to pay at the ticket booth and go in. A man in a frock coat and top-had was walking up and down the line with a cart from which he was selling warm, spiced apple-juice and pretzels. Josh called him over and bought a cup for each of them and a pretzel each for the girls.

“This is so fun and Christmassy!” Samantha thanked him. “And we’re not even inside yet!” Once they were inside, Josh was confident that they would be nice and warm since, from what he had seen on the website, a lot of the stalls and attractions were in marquees or at least gazebos that would have some form of outdoor heating and the sheer number of people milling around would stop it being too cold but while they were stood in this queue by the crumbling outer wall of the Castle, it was distinctly chilly and he was grateful for the hot drink to keep his hands warm.

The line moved quickly and everyone was in good humour, enjoying the entertainment and excited to get inside. Soon they found themselves at the booth and Josh bought tickets in the form of wrist bands for all of them and they began to explore the castle grounds.


To be continued...