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.Nulli Secundus -
'Second to None'
by Terence Cardwell
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Chapter
Eight - Janet
It was nearly four years since Jack had lost his
parents. He, along with Thomas, his sisters Adelaide,
Isobella, Annie and his youngest sister Lily, were
living with Grace, who treated them as her own children.
The pain from their parents’ deaths had eased, but even
after all this time Jack often dreamed of running with
his father. The memories flooded back in his mind as if
it was yesterday: memories of pounding away on the
pavements and fields, his brother Thomas alongside, and
the thrill of pushing himself harder and even harder;
memories of hearing his father’s voice as he ran, urging
him on.
Grace was married to Frank Fish, a coal miner. They had
two children, Fred aged three and Frank aged two months.
Grace was very proud of them but feared for their
future, knowing their lives would be almost meaningless,
and also dangerous, if they were trapped into working in
the mines.
Jack was now seventeen and growing tall, his muscles
developing from the mining. He worked with Thomas on the
coal face, just as he and his father used to.
Sometimes he felt a cold chill and felt sure Joseph was
alongside them, watching over them and protecting them
from harm. He mentioned this to Thomas, who admitted he
had the same sensations, but was never sure whether it
was Joseph or a figment of his imagination. When they
worked they felt more comfortable believing Joseph was
there. Sometimes they even talked to him when things
went wrong, or if they felt they needed his help. They
could hear his voice when they were training for boxing,
encouraging them to greater effort, pushing them to
their limits.
Sunday was the only day the young men could enjoy
themselves; and one of their favourite sports was
football, a subject they spent hours talking about.
Jack, like most boys, was in a team that played against
their friends and other local lads. They played on the
same field as their father had boxed on: the most
popular ground in the area, where the boys had the field
marked out with sticks and chalk to indicate the soccer
lines.
The weather was overcast with the sun breaking through
occasionally, warming the spectators who were standing
on the sidelines cheering the players on. They were a
mixture of parents, family, friends and young girls
watching the players on the field, offering the usual
advice and encouragement.
Janet, one of the local girls, was at the sidelines with
a group of her girlfriends, enthusiastically cheering on
the boys who worked in their mine. Each one had a
favourite player on which they had centred their
attention. Janet had eyes only for Jack, who was running
about the field enthusiastically chasing the ball. He
was wearing shorts, black lace-up boots, a pair of thick
socks and a thin pale blue cotton shirt.
Janet had spent some time washing the coal dust out of
her hair ,and combed it till it shone. Her mother had
set it in ringlets at Janet’s pleading and with her
clean dress on, her rosy cheeks and a little makeup, she
was a very pretty sight to Jack’s eyes. He watched her
standing with her girlfriends and found it hard to
concentrate on the game, in which he was quickly losing
interest. He wanted to finish playing so he could
accidentally wander over in her direction and talk to
her. Or at least say hello, and get to know her better.
The opposition from the coalmine in nearby Huddersfield
was playing well and had already scored two goals to
Jack and Thomas’s team’s one .
‘Hey Jack, wake up, will ya,’ Toby called. ‘You nearly
let that bugger score. What’s wrong with you?’
Toby gave him a friendly push. ‘Sorry, I was looking at
those girls over there.’
‘You’re not the only one. Half the team has got the hots
for them. Which one do you like?’ Toby gave him a nudge.
Jack gave him a smile and shook his head.
‘Come on, you can tell me, I won’t squeal.’
‘Well, as long as you keep your trap shut,’ Jack
responded.
‘Honest! Who is it?’
‘The blonde girl over there with ringlets, I think her
name’s Janet,’ Jack whispered.
‘You’ve got good taste, Jacky boy. Every guy in town has
the hots for her, but no one has done any good. I don’t
like your chances! Bugger, here comes the ball, let’s
get on with the game.’ Toby ran to intercept the
oncoming opposition player and Jack ran to his left to
assist in the intercept.
The player kicked the ball forward a short distance,
running to catch up with it. As he swung his leg to kick
again Toby neatly flicked the ball from in front of him,
and with a second kick passed it to his left. Jack
caught the ball on his knee, nearly missing it. He
kicked as hard as he could, up and forward, running as
fast as he could to catch up with it.
This caught the opposition by surprise. Running in the
opposite direction, they could not turn and pick up
Jack’s speed quickly enough. Jack led the way with Toby
close behind on his right.
In front was the only opposition player defending. He
rushed menacingly at Jack, intent on doing him an
injury.
At the last moment Jack flicked the ball sideways. Toby
was there to receive it, picking it up on the front of
his boot.. Just as the opposition player was about to
collide with him, Jack twisted almost in mid step to his
right, and as the player brushed past Jack gave him a
nudge in his ribs.
‘That’ll teach the bugger to try and flatten me,’ he
thought and ran to his left for the classic intercept.
The goalkeeper loomed in front of Toby, seeming to fill
the whole area in front of the goal mouth, waiting for
Toby’s kick. But instead of kicking it forward he
twisted his foot and kicked to his left, where Jack was
waiting. The ball arrived three feet in front of Jack,
and without breaking stride Jack continued his kick
forward, sending the ball streaking though the goal
mouth.
Toby ran over and jumped on his back with joy. Thomas
was soon by his side, patting him on the back and
gripping his arm. The other players joined in as they
arrived.
The game was now even at two all, but despite
concentrated effort from both sides, no one managed to
score any more goals. At last the game was finished, and
with a group of his friends from the team, Jack wandered
towards the girls. A few of the players were already
very friendly with some of the girls and Jack tagged
along with the group, looking at Janet as he approached
her.
Janet watched the boys coming towards them and a strange
sensation welled up as she saw Jack looking at her,
almost staring. That tingling feeling in her lower
stomach was there again and she knew that no matter
what, she was smitten with him.
Summoning all her courage she took three paces towards
Jack and said, ‘You played very well Jack, that goal you
scored was wonderful.’
‘Thank you,’ he muttered, trying to think of something
intelligent to say. ‘Why do I have to be so dumb now?
I’ve got to think of something,’ he thought.
Aloud he said, ‘Eh, yes, but anyone could do it, it
wasn’t that good.’
‘I thought it was, and you all were so good to watch,
you must play a lot a football.’
Jack blushed a little and introduced Thomas and Toby to
her They did their hardest to impress her but she did
not respond to their endeavours, having eyes only for
Jack who stood by watching quietly.
The boys saw they were getting nowhere. ‘Well, we’d
better be off, we’ve got things to do,’ said Thomas,
giving Jack a pat on the back and a wink as they left.
‘Would you like to go for a walk?’ Jack asked Janet
doubtfully, hoping to be alone with her somewhere.
‘That would be nice, and we can get away from this noisy
lot,’ she replied.
They walked side by side towards a meadow covered in
buttercups and daisies, a mass of yellow and white
flowers that was a common sight in spring. As they
strolled Janet picked daisies.
When they were well out of sight of the village they
walked across to a spreading tree and sat on the grass
under its protective branches. Janet wasn’t sure what to
say, and made a daisy chain whilst Jack watched in
silence. She completed it in a few minutes and placed it
on Jack’s head.
‘You can be my King for a day.’
‘And you can be my Queen,’ Jack murmured shyly, placing
his hand on her cheek, caressing it gently.
Janet took his hand and kissed it. ‘You have such strong
hands,’ she whispered.
Jack smiled, thinking of all the boxing and mining he
had done with those hands.
Janet lay back on the grass and looked up at Jack and
smiled, thinking how handsome he looked with the blue
sky behind him. She raised her hand and stroked Jack’s
arm softly, feeling the firmness of his muscles under
her fingertips.
The touch excited Jack as he looked down at her young
face surrounded by a cloud of golden ringlets, her deep
blue eyes glistening. Jack thought she was the most
beautiful thing he had ever seen. He kissed her eyelids,
one at a time, gently. He moved down and kissed the tip
of her small nose, then each cheek. He looked at her
parted moist lips waiting.
Fearing her rejection at any moment, he moved down,
kissing her lips softly. They felt warm and moist as he
moved away, savouring his first kiss.
Janet stroked his face. The heat on her lips made her
long for more. She slid her hand behind his head,
pulling him down gently. This time his lips were open
for a full kiss and they pressed together.
Janet stroked her hand over Jack’s chest, sliding her
hand up the front of his shirt, feeling the firmness of
his chest and loving the feel of his warm skin.
Jack was encouraged by her actions and slowly moved his
hand up to caress her breasts. Receiving no resistance
he undid the buttons on her blouse. Sliding his left
hand in, he cupped one of her breasts in his hand. He
could feel how warm and firm, yet soft, they were. He
felt the firm nipple and rolled it gently between his
fingers. Janet moaned in pleasure. Her breast had never
tingled like this before. Her whole body began to tingle
and tremble.
Jack stopped kissing her. He raised his head to look
down at her, lifting his hand away from her breast, and
caressed her cheek.
She smiled. ‘That’s beautiful, Jack. Kiss them for me,
please?’
He moved his head down to kiss first one then the other
breast. Jack loved the feeling and began sucking each
nipple gently in turn, feeling the nipples grow and
harden.
His left hand moved down to caress her legs, his
fingers stroking slowly up the inside of her thighs,
higher and higher. The heat from her legs seemed to send
a current through his finger tips. Suddenly his fingers
caressed the soft cotton of her panties. He stroked
them, feeling the softness underneath. Desire welled up
in him till he thought he would burst. His erection was
harder than he had ever felt it before and his desire to
be inside Janet was all he could think of.
Janet felt his fingers moving up her thigh like currents
of electricity. When they touched her secret place, she
felt she would explode in ecstasy, and yearned to feel
him pushing his firm manliness inside her. But as Jack
slid his hand inside the top of her panties, moving to
caress her, she grabbed his hand.
‘Not now, Jack, it’s too dangerous, I don’t want to get
pregnant.’ She smiled up at him.
‘Oh! I’m, sorry,’ Jack replied. ‘I couldn’t help it, you
are so beautiful— I couldn’t stop myself.’ He felt the
desperate urge draining away, leaving a sense of guilt
in its place.
‘No, it’s alright, I loved it too. Maybe when we are
older.’ She pulled his head down again to kiss her.
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