The Vicarage Bench Anthology (6 page)

“Stop it, you fool! You’re hurting her—me—whatever. Just stop!”

Jenna, more frustrated than she’d ever felt before, was frothing, and only Lucy’s sensibilities held her back from physically clobbering the weak man in front of them. Thwarted, Jenna receded.

The ashen quality to his face was the first indication that the new transplant was undergoing some difficulties.

“John, stop fighting the takeover,” Dr. Andrews yelled.

John’s strong character was opposing the entrance of someone else into his consciousness, and the stress could create a physical problem, even bring on a heart attack.

Shudders attacked John’s body until finally he gave over, and his head lolled forward as a strange peacefulness enshrouded him.

Eventually, he gained back sufficient strength to enable Lucy and Dr. Andrews to coax him back to Lucy’s house, where he sat in a chair as if in a trance.

Slowly Jake emerged again and became gradually aware of his surroundings. Fascinated, he studied his slender, well-formed hands.

“May I have a mirror, please?” He gazed into the looking glass for a long time and then said amicably to the strange face looking back at him, “Hello, my name is Jake Dadson, and it seems I’ve intruded into your life.”

Words answered him, but they reverberated in his mind.

“My name is John Norman. Since it seems to be my fault you are here, I guess I can’t be too annoyed, but I must say it is uncomfortable sharing my thoughts with someone else.”

Lucy handed John the cup of sweetened tea that Dr. Andrews had ordered as a shock sponge. She soothingly enquired, “How are you feeling now, my dear?”

“I’m fine now, Lucy. Don’t worry. We’ll think of something to fix this situation, I promise.” He patted her hands, which had shredded two tissues and were now working on destroying a third.

Dr. Andrews, deep in thought, sat fidgeting until suddenly he leapt to his feet with a startled exclamation.

“I think I may have the answer to our predicament,” he said, “but I need more time to work it out. I’ll be in touch soon.” He let himself out, his face wearing a closed expression.

Lucy was conspicuously uneasy with the situation, and felt as if John had suddenly become a stranger to her. She mutely beseeched Jenna to come out to talk to Jake, and then she shut down.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” sneered Jenna as she opened up and turned to the astounded fellow watching. “You’ll get used to the voice changing. In fact you’ll be experiencing it firsthand. I can’t believe you and Marnie botched things up. It should have been so simple. What happened?”

Jake couldn’t get over the switch. From one moment to the next a sweet expression dissolved into dissatisfaction.

“I don’t know what happened. It was a few minutes till noon, and I was lifting you from your wheelchair when you started to slide and I had to sit down myself to catch you, and—wham! I’m here.”

“I’m in a wheelchair?”

“You’re in a coma.”

“I don’t want to know. Just tell me I’m no different.”

“You’re a bit thinner, possibly more beautiful, and a hell of a lot easier to get along with.”

“Thank you, I guess. What will happen now? I was so sure this would work out, and now I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to send another parcel, this time to Marnie.”

“That worries me. Who will be there to help her? She can’t possibly do it alone, not now with two bodies to look after,” Jake said glumly.

“You’re right. Who could she enlist that would believe her story enough to give her a hand?”

“They’d figure she was a nut job and put her on Prozac,” Jake admitted.

Jenna started to cry and Jake put his arms around her trembling body, holding her tight and wishing he could join her.

“Shush, little love, things will work out,” he said, forgetting he was talking to the real Jenna and not an empty body.

The aching sweetness in his voice stirred Jenna. She’d never heard Jake speak with such tenderness. The voice was quite different, but the inflections were exact.

She leaned back to gaze into John’s eyes, and deep, very deep, in the back of them she caught a familiar glow of the teasing cheekiness that was pure Jake. It was wonderful to feel him near, and for the first time since the folly began she felt safe. She’d missed him terribly.

Over the last months Jake had gotten used to touching Jenna with love. Without forethought he brought his hands up to cradle both sides of her face and lowered his lips to hers. Slowly, achingly so. She held her breath as spasms of delight exploded throughout her body. He nibbled first one side of her mouth and then the other, his lips scarcely touching hers. He teased her mouth with his tongue and licked his way inside. Her moan of desire was his undoing. He swooped and drained her passion.

His hands gathered her closer into a loving embrace. They massaged her back and roved to her buttocks where they kneaded, gently shifting her body around so there would be better access to her breasts and to paradise between her agitated legs.

She rotated herself to give him all the space he wanted. Rockets were exploding all around her and she had never felt so fine. He manipulated her body like a maestro playing his beloved instrument. His brazen technique soon had her swollen with need. Deep under his spell, she shushed scruples and ignored prickles of inner resistance.

His hands worked their way around to her front, where his fingers were reaching under her flowing white blouse for her breasts while his mouth was busy devouring her willing neck.

“Hold it, you two. I understand your sentiments, but I must point out that these are not your bodies. If Lucy and I want to—er—make out, it would be fine, but…

“Goody!”

“Lucy, go away,” Jenna admonished breathlessly.

“What was that?” Jake asked.

“Lucy said, ‘Goody,’” replied Jenna.

“I can talk for myself,” Lucy cut in. “John, I agree with you.”

“Agree to what?” John asked, lost in the four-way conversation.

“To make out with you. If you want to, that is.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Jenna groaned. She was shocked at what had almost happened between her and Jake. Of all people—Jake?

She was not into sex, normally, and was stunned at what had nearly happened. It was time for her to set him straight.

“Jake, don’t make up your mind that I’m easy or promiscuous after what just happened. I’m not.” Confessions didn’t come easy to Jenna, but honesty did. “I know I’ve had a lot of boyfriends, but—trust me—the main reason none of them ever lasted is because I wouldn’t have sex with them. For a while, escorting a beautiful model satisfied them, but ultimately they’d get frustrated and leave. I don’t particularly like sex. Its messy and painful and not a lot of fun.”

“It isn’t?” Lucy popped out.

“Lucy, get lost,” Jenna snarled.

“Jenna.” Jake cut in on the babbling. “Pay attention. I want you to understand what I’m about to say. I don’t want to have sex with you. I want to make glorious, passionate love to every inch of your body until your eyes cross.”

“Oh! Dear me,” Lucy whispered.

“My sentiments exactly,” John whispered back.

Chapter Thirteen

For two days John stayed away from Lucy and, it follows, Jake and Jenna were separated also. John felt a cooling-down period was imperative for everyone involved. As he awaited word from Dr. Andrews on his new strategy, he grappled with having to share his thoughts and feelings with another entity and decided he didn’t like it at all. His sympathies for Lucy increased daily.

Jake was not totally in agreement with the philosophy of “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” He drove John crazy arguing his personal point of view, and tempers swelled.

It must have been a full moon, some freak of nature or wacky weather phenomena disturbing the locals, because patient numbers were on the rise, and it didn’t help at all that every time his internal roommate saw blood, he’d swoon. John was fed up and his clients were beginning to eye him suspiciously.

He and Jake hadn’t managed the art of mental discussions nearly as well as the ladies had, so there were many interruptions of thought, which didn’t help his concentration. John had never met a fellow with more questions, some of them very personal. Jake’s vibes were good-hearted, sensitive and friendly, but still John was feeling very hard done by. He missed Lucy, and it didn’t help that Jake mooned over Jenna every minute.

Finally, Dr. Andrews called and arranged a meeting at Lucy’s house that night, and not a minute too soon.

“Did Dr. Andrews tell you what his plans were?”
Jake prodded, once more pushing John’s internal buttons.

“You heard exactly what I heard, Jake.”
John rolled his eyes behind his wire-rims
again.

“Right! What do you think he’s come up with?”

“I haven’t a clue, and stop being a pain in the neck.”

“Oh, suck it up. I’m nervous and I always talk too much when I get nervous.”
It was one of Jake’s most endearing qualities that in moments of stress he would act like a young, uninhibited boy.

“Suck it up! I can see the English language has deteriorated appallingly with your generation.”

“You’re an intellectual snob. Did anyone ever tell you that before?”

“Yes, thank you. I’d rather be a snob than a slob.”

“Damned if I don’t like you, John. Let’s move our butt and get over to the house to see how our ladies have fared.”

Chuckling, with humor restored, John replied,
“It’s early yet. How about sharing a beer first?”

“Yep, you’re my man,” said Jake, happy again.

“Don’t remind me.”

A short time later they were seated in Lucy’s newly redecorated, cozy parlor. The changes reflected a conspicuous Jenna touch, and it was easy to see what the ladies had been up to in the last few days.

The attractive red-and-gold embossed draperies added warmth to a room mainly furnished in dark cherry wood furniture. There were two small sofas covered in a golden brocaded material and angled around a square coffee table. The old mantel around the fireplace had been sanded and painted a pale gold to contrast the furniture. By the hearth was a set of brass fireplace tools.

A fluffy ivory afghan, artfully arranged over the brown leather rocking chair, added a soft touch. Now that Jenna’s hidden talent for knitting had been passed on to an ecstatic Lucy, it made the cover, knitted with her very own hands, that much more precious. The starched doilies, scattered over the polished wood, dated the room. Jenna hated them but Lucy had insisted they be displayed because her grandmother had made them and in Lucy’s mind they were a treasure to be exhibited and not stuck away. The soft lighting from two expensive pole lamps swathed the room in golden hues, and the words “good taste” were foremost in the minds of the guests as they stepped over the threshold.

Lucy was proud of herself and thrilled with her new environment, and Jenna knew that Lucy couldn’t wait for John to see what she’d accomplished—because, after all, Jenna was all thought and no action.

Jenna was also feeling proud of Lucy, who now walked erect, head held proudly, displaying her beauty. She was no longer cowering from life and had begun to open up to the neighbors and make new friends. She was much happier, and it saddened Jenna that the upcoming separation would mean goodbye. On the other hand, she knew it was time to leave, more than time.

Jake had promised that her body was being well looked after and she believed him, believed
in
him, but she wanted to be back living in it—almost as much as she wanted Jake.

What’s that all about? Her mind was boggled at how often Jake filled her thoughts, and only Lucy knew of the steamy X-rated dreams that filled her nights. She had never before experienced sensual desires like the ones Jake had aroused in her. Thinking of him brought reactions in Lucy’s body that tattletaled on where Jenna’s thoughts were heading. She’d get a swift rebuff from Lucy, who wanted her own thoughts of John to affect her body, not someone else’s fantasies.

Meanwhile, after spending all these many weeks sharing the mind space of the gentlest, most considerate person she’d ever known, Jenna was more than ready to make overdue changes to her own behaviour. Lucy’s personality traits had rubbed off, and Jenna would be the better person for it. She was glad her thoughts weren’t so sour anymore, and she was ready to improve her own life.

A pealing doorbell announced the late arrival of Dr. Andrews, who looked quite pleased and definitely satisfied. He shook hands with everyone and accepted a glass of Guinness before settling in the comfortable leather chair the other two had courteously left for him.

Jake, who couldn’t contain himself another moment, broke out with, “Give us the straight goods, Dr. Andrews. What have you come up with?”

While the doctor described the arrangements he’d made, based on assumptions only, because there was no proof or precedent, his listeners were astonished at his genius. Considering it was their futures in the balance, they simply prayed he knew what the hell he was talking about.

Chapter Fourteen

“You’re here,” said Marnie. Relief rang in her voice and her shoulders sank inches as she released a deep, noisy breath.

“Yes, of course. Did you think you were imagining me?” the old man asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his moustache-covered mouth.

“I guess not, but you have to admit that the bizarre happenings of the last few months would lead any sane person to question themselves, Dr. Andrews.”

He chuckled. “That’s true, I suppose. But I thought I’d convinced you of my identity the other day. I explained the whole story to you. I told you how I came to be with you at the exact moment you needed me.”

For the last forty-some years, his solitary bachelor’s life had kept him living in a vacuum of his own making. He preferred his introverted lifestyle because not having to interact with others left him more time for reading and for his studies. Over the years he had become the foremost expert on time-travel theories. He’d written a few books on the subject, and many students interested in the field of quantum physics sought after his knowledge. He recognized that his whole life’s work could be attributed to the events coming up and the related events that had happened forty-three years before.