The next afternoon Sarah decided they should make the most of the good weather and have a picnic. She dispatched Beth to make sandwiches, collect rugs and take them up to the tarn in the yellow mini. Tessa was only too willing to help since she could then meet the naked bodies in the flesh, as it were. James crawled about the grass, gurgling with delight in between crunching buttercups. The sun sparkled on the tarn, a blue sky streaked with feather duster clouds, a flock of pied wagtails flitting from rock to rock with lively exuberance. Sarah sat with Jonty on a blanket, feeding him slices of apple. It made Beth shudder to see how his eyes appraised her sister with candid greed, then open his mouth for more fruit, his tongue flicking out to caress her fingertips as he took each morsel from her. Yet she couldn’t tear her eyes from noting every sensual gesture. Beth was all too aware that she wasn’t the only one fascinated by this erotic ritual. Pietro, his head close to Tessa’s, giggling like children as they watched an army of ants collect crumbs and stagger back with their prize to a nest beneath a large stone, would turn his head from time to time, and gaze longingly in the direction of the absorbed pair.
