Lettuces and Cream by John Evans

without hot water, especially through the winter. And I’ve been cooking and boiling water on our old camping stove for weeks, so a Rayburn will be great. But are you sure we won’t be a bother, having strangers in your nice bathroom?’
    ‘Yes of course, you’re not strangers now, are you?’ She gave Jan a quizzical little smile, as though she was expecting a special response, but Jan didn’t pick up on it.
    ‘We can work out the best times and things, it’s no trouble honestly. I wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise. That’s settled then-great.’
    It was getting dark when Keith, a bit worst for wear, and Chris, finally left. Neither Mike, Jan or Chris had drunk very much. To be honest they didn’t get much of a chance because Keith had kept the bottle firmly in his grasp. It seemed that Keith liked his booze a lot, and perhaps women equally so. Of course, perhaps Chris knew all about his extra activities and did the same thing. But to Mike, having a bath in someone else’s house was a little bit sexy. In fact when Jan told him of the bathing offer, it was his unspoken conviction that it was a ploy to get them both in the house - naked. Mind you, lots of things seemed sexy to Mike. Or was he right, and Chris did fancy him?

S EVEN
    Ever since he was quite young Mike had enjoyed taking photographs. Especially trying to capture memories and picturesque scenes he had enjoyed and wanted to retain. It was part of his sentimental streak. He particularly liked sneaking up on his children at play and catching them in their natural wild state as it were. Otherwise if they saw the camera they would immediately go into silly poses, not what he wanted at all. Attempting to capture the subtle countryside hues was another challenge, and he considered himself to be the recorder of family events. In fact his mother and other relatives had passed all their old photos to him for safekeeping.
    He had bought his first camera with money earned from his childhood paper round in the days of ‘you’ve never had it so good,’ Prime Minister McMillan. It was a really smart folding Kodak camera, together with a clip on flashgun. He still had that old camera but Jan had bought him a modern 35mm camera a couple of Christmases ago, and it was now getting heavy use. Jan had suggested that he photographed everything about the place as a series of before and after shots. And he had already been recording the house, barn and fields in various stages of change. It was a bit of a chore actually remembering to take the photo before starting any work, and very often he would have to go back to the house, take off his dirty boots, find the camera, and then back outside. However it was worth the effort, as it would eventually produce an interesting history.
    Of course, Mike being Mike, there was a sexual element to his photographic interest. One of his adventures a few years ago, back in town, had been with Barbara who liked being photographed by her husband in very explicit poses. Mike had been involved in one of these sessions and vividly remembered the excitement and pleasure that had glistened in her eyes, Unfortunately, Roy, her husband, had in other ways been an absolute bastard to poor Babs, and she eventually committed suicide. But Mike could still recall the good times and that look of passion on her face, and had wondered ever since if Jan could be inspired, after a drink or three, to give it a try. So he always kept a particular type of colour film in his camera bag that he could process at home-just in case. He had been reminded of all this today, Monday morning, when the postman had delivered the latest batch of completely innocent slides.
    ‘Slide show tonight kids.’
    ‘Have you got some funny ones of us Dad,’ Mandy chirped.
    ‘They’re always funny if you’re in them sweetheart,’ Mike quipped, the joke passing over Mandy’s pretty young head.
    ‘Can we see some of them now?’
    ‘Nope, sorry kids, it’s time you two