Dennis Wheatley - Unholy Crusade

The faint moonlight showed him that they were in a backyard, one side of which was stacked with corn bins, chicken coops and other ironmonger's stock in trade; the other was a flower border and between the two there was a small lawn. No sooner were they inside the gate than Polly put her arms round Adam's neck, raised herself on tiptoe and kissed him on the mouth. Her warm, moist lips instantly aroused a fire in him that had long been dormant. He responded avidly and for several minutes they clung together.

When at length, from sheer breathlessness, their kissing ceased, she whispered, `It's early yet, let's make ourselves comfortable.' Then, breaking away from him, she walked over to a lean to shed against the back of the house. There were some deck chairs, two chintz covered mattresses and half a dozen cushions in it. Grasping a mattress, she pulled it out. He took the other and they laid them side by side on the grass. As she began to arrange the cushions, he looked up a shade nervously at the blank, dark windows of the house and murmured

`What about your old man? Say he hears us and looks out?'

She gave a low laugh. `Don't worry, ducks, his rooms at the front. Anyhow, he's as deaf as a post and we have no one sleeping in. The char only comes in the mornings.'

During the hour that followed they lay closely embraced, exchanging fervid caresses in which Polly unashamedly took the lead. Adam had always supposed that nice girls gave themselves only when married or reluctantly seduced after most intense persuasion by their lovers; so Polly's willingness was a revelation to him. But his mind was in such a turmoil that he put aside all scruples and met her advances with equal ardour.

It was all over very quickly and afterwards she said, `I… I'm afraid I excited you too much. Or… or could it be that you've never done it before?'

`That's right,' he admitted. `I'm sorry if I disappointed you.'

`No.' She gave him a swift kiss. `I'm not worrying about that, because I've really fallen for you. But you're such a handsome chap and you must have known lots of girls who would have been willing.'

Ashamed to tell her the truth, he murmured, `Well, yes, but not one like you. Not one I liked enough. And how about you?'

She sighed with pleasure at the compliment. `I feel flattered, then. About me well, I was seduced when I was seventeen. It wasn't very nice. Since then there have been two fellows. I was in love with both of them. I wouldn't go with anyone except a steady that I really cared about. But I fell for you right away and… and I'll be your girl if you want me.'

`Want you!' he repeated, seizing her in his arms again. `Of course I do! I think you're wonderful… wonderful. And from now on I'm all yours.'

Adam's youthful virility swiftly reasserting itself, shortly afterwards they again gave free rein to their passions, with much greater satisfaction to both parties. A quarter of an hour later they put away the mattresses and cushions, agreed that he was to take her to a movie the following afternoon and, after further prolonged embraces, parted. Adam walked back to barracks on air, feeling as good as if he had suddenly become a millionaire.

On the Sunday they held hands in the pictures and had a meal in a cafe, where Adam stared gooey eyed at his beloved across the table, hardly able to believe in his good fortune. Then they went out to the park and found a secluded spot sheltered by bushes and, when darkness fell, again made hectic love.

But when it came to arranging their next meeting, Adam was grievously disappointed. It suddenly emerged that Polly was a

member of a large and united family; and that it had been a long established custom for her to spend two or three evenings a week with aunts, uncles and numerous cousins. Still more surprising, he learned that she was a much cleverer and more earnest girl than he had had reason to suppose. The desire to improve herself had led her to attend courses at evening school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and, after each session, she had to put in two hours or more in private study and writing up her notes, otherwise she could not hope to pass her exams.

In consequence, he had to wait impatiently until, at last, Saturday came again. They left the N.A.A.F.I. during the supper interval, Polly having assured Adam that her father was an early to bed man and would be snoring by ten o'clock. When they reached the backyard garden she pointed to a window on the first floor and said:

`That's my room. We'll be much more comfy there. I'm going in by the door and up the stairs; but, deaf as he is, if he's not yet dropped off he just might hear your heavy tread.' She then pointed to a folding ladder that was leaning against the side of the shed, and added, `If you go up that, you can easily reach my window from the roof of the shed. Soon as I get upstairs, I'll open it and you can climb in.'

His heart beating like a hammer, Adam followed her directions. As soon as he was in her room she pulled down the blind, switched on the light and began to undress. She had few clothes on and within a matter of minutes stood before him naked and smiling. It was the first time he had seen a girl in the nude and the sight took his breath away. With trembling hands he ripped off his own clothes and half carried, half flung her on the bed. They were both healthy, strong and twenty two years old. Neither of them seemed capable of exhausting the other and, until the small hours, between intervals to whisper endearments, stroke one another, entwine and kiss, they hit the high spots of ecstasy.

Apart from the terrible frustration Adam felt at being able to revel with his divinity in her bed so seldom, their affaire continued happily for six weeks. Now and then she let him give her a meal between her evening classes and returning home to study, and on Sundays they could spend from midday until six o'clock together; but after that there was always a family party that he could not persuade her to give up, so it was only on Saturdays that, on returning early from the N.A.A.F.I. dances, he was able to mount the ladder that led to his especial Paradise.

That she had had other lovers in the past did not unduly trouble him. He had learned from her, much to his surprise, that in these

`enlightened' times most girls took it for granted that they were just as much entitled to have fun as were men, and that if one came upon a girl who was eighteen and still a virgin there must be something wrong with her.

The main ingredient of the spell that Polly cast upon him was her splendidly healthy young body and unfailing willingness to let him assuage his desire upon it. To intelligent conversation she could contribute next to nothing, but she was never cross, difficult or demanding; on the contrary she was placid by nature, warmhearted, kind and generous, so that he was always happy in her company. He failed to comprehend that she was in fact ignorant, shallow and showed little evidence of the courses she was taking. Indeed, he thought of her as an angel in female form, worthy of worship for the happiness she had brought him.

His belated introduction to the joys of sexual love so obsessed him that he began to count the hours until Saturdays came round. Then a Saturday came when he was on the roster for duty. A few days before it, he pleaded with her to get out of her Sunday party; but in vain. It happened to coincide with her `Auntie Flo's' birthday party, so she could not possibly not be with them for that.

The thought of a whole fortnight having to elapse between his being able to clasp her yielding body in his arms was so devastating that, by Monday morning, exasperation had driven him to decide to pay her a visit that night; and to hell with her being too tired to make love after her evening class and work on her books.