Temporal Exploring 101 - Deep Future

IV.18 A toast to the revolution

Over the holidays Natty, Nancy and I slept in one of the large guest bedrooms at Kerrington Manor. Nancy had her own room of course, and on visits over the weekend Natty and I would share one of the rooms provided for visitors. But we had decided that for the duration of this extended visit it would be much more fun for the three of us to sleep in the same room, together.

That night, we woke up when we heard strange noises originating outside our room. The sound of footsteps, a dull sound followed by a soft "Ouch!" and muffled laughter.

"Huh? What's going on?" Natty muttered sleepily.

"I have no idea,"Nancy admitted. "What time is it, anyway?"

I checked the alarm clock on the nightstand next to my bed. "Ten past two. Two a.m., that is. I don't think ..."

"Hush. Listen." We strained to listen, but suddenly there were no more sounds to be heard.

"Let's go check, shall we?" Natty, ever the adventurous one, seized the flashlight we used for playing cards after lights-out.

"What if there are burglars or something?" I cautioned.

"Burglars? That can be ruled out. There has never been any attempt at burglary at Kerrington Manor," Nancy categorically declared. "They wouldn't dare."

"Uh huh." If that dubious piece of reasoning passed as logical thinking around here, I had nothing to add.

"Alright then."

Having settled this, we left the safety of our room to investigate. Natty was leading the way. From the way she was holding the flashlight, she seemed to be quite prepared to hit any potential burglar over the head with it.

We made our way to to one of the living-rooms  – yes, there existed several of those, at Kerrington Manor – and from there outside, to the veranda.

There was a small outdoor swimming pool. In the pool, we found a stark naked Madison frolicking and splashing.

"Hi there," she cheerfully greeted us.

"Hey there, Cousin," Nancy replied. "Couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Yep. It's the jetlag, I guess. So I decided to go check if you still got that pool out there on the veranda." Madison grinned. "Why don't you guys join me?"

Since we had nothing better to do, we complied. We took off our pajamas and jumped into the clear cool water.

A bit later the four of us were sprawled on chairs positioned by the side of the pool.

Madison was smiling happily, looking totally at ease. "Hold on, I think I have got just what we need now."

She got up and walked inside, to return a few minutes later with four glasses and a huge bottle of cognac. Madison sat down, put the glasses on the table and poured herself some cognac, then passed the bottle to Natty. "Here, have some, too."

Natty filled her glass, then passed the bottle on to me. I helped myself and handed it to Nancy.

"Did you bring that bottle of cognac from the States, together with your luggage; Madison?" Nancy asked.

Her cousin giggled. "Of course not. No way could I have gotten that one through customs." She grinned. "Nah, I took this from your dad's liquor cabinet."

Nancy frowned. "I thought Dad keeps that cabinet locked at all times."

Madison winked. "He does. The lock did not present any sort of problem for me, though."