Mandm

Early days

Even Midge and Molly don't know which of them is which. They were born about twenty minutes apart, they were put together in a cot, and from that moment on, everyone was confused. Their parents tried to keep each with her own name, but they never could, the two were identical in every respect.

As babies they were always inseparable. Whenever they were not in sight of each other, they would cry. They did everything together, always wanted the same clothes and shoes (that's when they let their mother put shoes on them). They were never interested in toys of any sort.

They always slept in the same cot (they would cry incessantly if they weren't), then the same bed.

They loved their parents, but were always naughty, though never in a nasty way. Told to go to bed, they wouldn't. Tidy their room? No, though they would do so after their parents' anger had subsided.

From around six, they would climb a large tree in the garden. Always they would go right to the top. One day, one fell out of the tree and broke her leg, her later explanation was that she wanted to see whether a particular branch could support her weight. The other immediately jumped out of the tree, broke her leg in the process, in exactly the same place as her sister. This was just one of the times that when one of them got hurt, whatever it was, the other had to experience it the same.

It was around this age that their unusual physical abilities started to show, both strength and speed. Fortunately, they were old enough to control themselves, they generally hid this talent from others. They also seemed to heal remarkably quickly from the injuries they often inflicted upon themselves and each other during their play.

Aged nine or ten, they'd run through all the neighbours' gardens, clambering over walls or fences, forcing their way through hedges. Made no difference whether anyone was in the garden, the girls were in and out in no time. Never did any real damage to anything in the gardens, but it must have been very annoying. Their poor parents got no end of complaints, but Midge and Molly took no notice when they were told off; usually they would come into the house, their parents would try to be angry with them. Their response was one would run to their mother, the other to their father, jump up, wrap arms and legs round, and hug.

One day, one of the neighbours put barbed wire over his wall. When the first girl got to the top, she laid herself over the barbed wire, the other clambered over her sister. When they jumped down, the first one had numerous deep cuts where she'd pulled herself off all the piercings. They hugged each other, smeared blood over both their fronts, ran at the house's French windows, jumping up, spreading arms and legs as they hit the windows, leaving two bloody imprints of their star jump.

They carried on across more gardens. On their way back, the other one took her turn lying over the barbed wire. When they got home, before going into the house, they stripped and used the garden hose to clean themselves up a bit, then went into the kitchen. Their poor mother screamed, their father came running in, took one look, phoned for an ambulance.

The girls told the hospital staff what had happened. Social services were called, but there was no sign of cruelty or neglect by the parents, the twins told them exactly what they'd done. They had many stitches, a lot of dressings, kept in the hospital overnight. Sometime in the night, one got into bed with the other, they slept hugging.

Next day they could go home. All they wanted to do was say how sorry they were for tearing their clothes. That same day the neighbour removed the barbed wire.

The primary school they attended couldn't keep them in. They'd sit in class for the start of some lessons, then just get up and run out. They would go to the library and read about whatever was being taught. They never tried to hide their behaviour, completely matter‑of‑fact that they were leaving half way through the lesson, their only explanation was that they were bored. Inevitably a school inspector found out about what they were doing, but on checking to see how far behind they were, he found they were way ahead of any of their class‑mates.

Almost all the other kids loved them, but there were exceptions. Three boys from a class three years further on bullied the younger ones, teasing, taunting, they'd snatch a school bag and empty its contents onto the ground or hurl it away. One day Midge and Molly saw them going for one of their classmates. They ran to the boys, told them to stop. The boys laughed, one of them went up to Midge, started prodding her with his finger. As the third prod touched, she grabbed the finger and bent it back, completely dislocating it. He screamed in agony, ran into the school. One of the other two went to grab her. Again, waiting until he'd got his hand gripping Midge's arm, Molly got hold of the hand with her two hands, said in her own Molly‑ish way, "Molly doesn't like people who go for Midge." She jerked his hand and twisted it. An audible crack signified something was very damaged in his wrist or arm. He followed the first boy, howling. The third boy just ran off.

In the resulting furore, security videos showed who the antagonists were, and that the two girls were merely defending themselves after being physically attacked by boys much bigger than they were. Even the boys' parents saw that their boys were in the wrong, though the boys' injuries seemed excessive.

The three boys never again went near Midge, Molly, nor any of their classmates.

Another unusual behaviour was that they refused to wear coats, whatever the weather. If it rained, they got wet. If it was snowing, they got cold and wet. Never seemed to bother them, even when they were blue and shaking from the cold. They'd come into the house, take their clothes off in the kitchen so as to not drip water through the house, dry themselves off in the bathroom then go to their room, find clean clothes to put on. If their mother hadn't picked their wet clothes up, they'd pick them up and put them in the washing machine to await the next wash. If their parents were home, they'd run to them, hug them with their freezing hands, arms, and bodies. Their mother would cry, maybe because her children were so cold, possibly because they tried to be good over their clothes, or just because they loved her. Their father would just hug the one that had wrapped herself round him, he didn't know how to react.

They would never wear underwear. As babies they would always fight being put in nappies. They potty‑trained very early compared with others, their mother was convinced they understood that this would mean no nappies. As children, if panties were put on them, they'd take them off as soon as their mother's back was turned. This continued into the convent school, the uniform expected the girls to wear heavy dark navy blue pants. They got many a beating for not wearing them.

Loss of their parents

They were sixteen when their parents died.

Sleeping in the convent dormitory, they woke up in the early hours one morning, they were clinging to each other, just howling. This woke all the girls, none of them could calm the two. One girl went off to fetch a nun, there was clearly something very wrong with them.

After an hour or so, their howling turned to sobbing and crying, still no explanation, eventually they were quiet, but tears continued to flow. They wouldn't speak to anyone, wouldn't eat or drink.

After three days, they were getting very weak, but they continued to hug or hold hands. The nuns took them to hospital. They'd been in hospital often enough that they were put in the same bed, normally unheard of. Each was given a drip to get fluid and sustenance into them.

While they were in hospital, a solicitor, Daniel, came to see them. He was the family solicitor, did anything their parents needed, he and his wife Audrey had been family friends from long before the twins were born. He'd gone to the school first, there they told him that the girls were in the hospital. When he went into the hospital ward, the girls had recovered a bit, were sitting up, just staring in front of them.

When they noticed him come in, one of them spoke, the first words either had said since they'd woken at school. "We know."

He couldn't help but lean over the bed and hug them both.

"How did it happen?" asked the other twin.

"Plane crash. I'm so sorry. All I know is they were in a light plane somewhere in Africa, it hit the side of a mountain. They wouldn't have felt anything."

He got up, pulled over a chair, talked with them, told them how their parents were good people, they worked for several charities, liaising with locals, organising transport for relief goods, water purifiers, whatever they could do. The girls never knew what they did, their parents had never told them.

During this chat, one of the girls said they were thirsty. Daniel went to find a nurse, who organised getting something for the girls to eat and drink. Daniel continued to sit with them while they ate.

"What happens now?" Midge asked. Daniel replied, "Firstly, Samuel" ‑ their parents' accountant, also a family friend ‑ "and I are the executors. While there is a legal process to go through before we can process their estate, I can do things like arrange for them to be brought home."

"Yes please", said Molly. "We would like a proper funeral." Midge: "We would like them to be buried."

"I can start to organise that. It will cost a fair bit, their estate will pay if you are happy with that. I can tell you now, their will says they leave everything in a trust shared equally between you, you will finally have it when you are twenty‑one. Samuel and I are the trustees.

"Look, some things that you need to know. I know you are grieving, but I think it's better to tell you straight away."

Midge and Molly both nodded.

"They have talked with us over the years about you. I have to say, they loved you deeply, always felt they never could tell you how much." Daniel's eyes were watering, but he continued, "They told us what they wanted us to do if anything should happen to them. They said there's no point trying to persuade you to do anything you didn't want to, but what they would like is for you to finish your schooling, go to university to get whatever academic further education you want. I can say your parents were quite wealthy, all of this can be funded without denting the estate.

"Meanwhile, they want Audrey and me to be your legal guardians. They also said it would have to be with your agreement.

Molly said "Yes, we'd be …" ‑ Midge continued ‑ "… happy with that."

Daniel nodded, "I will start to get things rolling on the legal side.

"Let's talk about what should happen immediately. The doctor I spoke to as I came in said they knew you, that they've had you in here before several times, he knows that you recover amazingly quickly. Provided you've started eating and drinking, you can leave here tomorrow after he's checked up on you.

"But I think it would be better for you to not go back to school until everything is sorted and your parents are laid to rest."

"Thank you" said both girls in unison, "We would like that."

"You can stay in our spare room, or you could go to your home, I know I can trust you not to do anything stupid, and at age sixteen you are allowed to live without an adult, though I am responsible for your well‑being. Or you can suggest something else. You don't need to tell me what you want until tomorrow."

"Home" chorused the girls.

"Okay, I'll tell the school, I have house keys for you. I'll give you some cash and I can order in food and such, or if you prefer I can leave that to you, so long as you promise to look after yourselves."

"We promise."

"Anything you want to ask me?"

Midge, after a momentary glance at Molly, "Look, thank you for what you are doing. Can you help organise the funeral?" Molly continued, "We'd like it to be humanist, none of us is religious. Something a bit special." Alternating, "We would like a couple of our school friends," "Kitty and Chloe, to be there," "we'd like all four of us to be dressed" "in a way to honour" "our parents." ‑ the last two words spoken together.

Daniel responded, "I am sure that can be arranged. As I said, we can fund anything you might want, it will come out of the estate. As far as I am concerned, and I know Samuel will agree, we will spend whatever you would like. If the money isn't available immediately, I am more than happy to lend it to you.

"Suppose I pick you up from here, take you home, I'll get Samuel to meet us there, we can talk about things."

"Yes please, that sounds good" from Molly.

The next afternoon found the two of them with Daniel, Audrey, Samuel and his wife Natalie, sitting round their kitchen table drinking tea, Audrey had brought round sufficient food to keep them going for at least a couple of days.

They talked about arrangements, a funeral, could Daniel give a eulogy, then Molly and Midge would say something? The funeral would be open to anyone. A wake afterwards in the nearby hotel for friends, family, neighbours.

After a bit more discussion, Natalie asked Daniel, "Do you think we could get their friends from school to stay here?"

"Yes please" from Midge and Molly.

Daniel: "I'll see what I can do, I'll go round there as soon as we've finished here."

Midge asked if they could go to a dressmaker to make some special dresses for Kitty, Chloe and themselves. Natalie phoned one that she used. After their conversation, she said "Yes, she would be delighted to do it, she would like all four girls to be there first thing tomorrow morning for measurements and find out what you want. I told them we'd get you there."

After a bit more discussion, and the inevitable "Are you sure you'll be all right?", the four adults each gave the twins a joint hug, the girls wouldn't separate for individual hugs.

An hour later, Daniel arrived back, Chloe and Kitty with him.

Daniel had told the convent school about the deaths. He had to persuade them to release Kitty and Chloe, the threat of withdrawing Midge and Molly and their funding from the school was sufficient. He told Kitty and Chloe about the twins' parents as he drove them to the house, they were in tears when they arrived. Assuring themselves that they were all right, the adults left.

The girls got something to eat and drink, all four undressed, and had a squashed shower together. All got into the parents bed. With Midge and Molly trying to get the scent of their parents from the pillows, they all cried themselves to sleep.

Funeral dresses

In the morning, they got up, not bothering to dress. They had some cereal for breakfast, they all liked tea made properly, unlike the stewed abomination they got at the convent, Midge and Molly had to show Kitty and Chloe the right way to make tea.

They cleared up, put everything away, then sat and talked about Midge and Molly's ideas for the funeral.

A few minutes before nine, Daniel arrived, rang the doorbell. Molly went to answer it ‑ after their night's sleep Midge and Molly were prepared to be apart just that little bit.

Molly opened the door, Daniel took one look at the naked girl in front of him. He immediately turned his back, exclaiming, "Good god, girl, put some clothes on. I'll wait for you out here."

He walked hurriedly to his car.

They had to put their school uniforms back on, none of Midge or Molly's clothes would fit them anymore. They went to the car, Midge and Molly went straight to the back, both Chloe and Kitty wanted to be in the back with them, but there were only three seats. They did 'rock, paper, scissors' to choose, Chloe won, she clambered into the middle between Midge and Molly. When their seatbelts were done up, Molly and Midge put heir arms across Chloe's shoulders, so touching each other along their length.

They sat in silence in the car, but when they arrived outside the dressmakers, they fought to get out, and for the first time in days, they laughed. They then fought to be first into the shop, where the owner was waiting for them.

Daniel introduced himself. Rachel welcomed the girls, said how sorry she was about the parents, she would do all she could to make them what they wanted. They were to call her 'Rachel'. She asked them their names, they said them in turn, "Kitty", "Chloe", "Molly", "Midge". Rachel did a double take of Midge and Molly, "How am I supposed to tell which is which?" Daniel laughed, "Why should you be any different?"

"But", said Rachel, "their measurements will be different, I need to know."

Daniel interrupted. "Sorry, a moment, listen, I can't stay. I've got each of you a phone, I've preprogrammed them with all four of your numbers, also mine, Samuel's and Rachel's here. Each is named. Kitty and Chloe's were easy, the other two I've labelled 'Molly or Midge' and 'Midge or Molly'. You can fight over whose is which. I'll give you the chargers and stuff when I take you home.

"I've also got Midge and Molly debit cards, please don't go mad. I've set up a bank account for you, I'll pay an allowance into it from your estate, or it will be once probate is granted, meanwhile I'm happy to lend the money to you. You can't overspend. If you do want something more than you've got, let me know, we'll see what we can do, just remember I'm acting as your parent, I won't let you waste money."

"I can't get cards for Kitty and Chloe, but I'm sure you can work that out. These are the PINs, I suggest you go to a cash machine, you can change the PINs to something you can remember.

"I'll leave you here, ring me when you're done."

They took the phones, Midge and Molly gave him a joint hug, both said "Thank you" in unison.

Daniel went, leaving the girls with Rachel.

"Okay", said Rachel, "Let's go into my workroom, I will take your measurements, then we can see what you want."

She opened a door behind the counter, another girl was in the workroom. "This is my assistant, Holly, she will help me make the dresses." Rachel introduced them all, but had no idea which was which between Midge and Molly. "While I'm in the back, Holly, could you mind the shop?"

Rachel took them into a big room with a large cutting table in the middle, several sewing machines round on smaller tables, a small seating area with a settee and a couple of armchairs.

She said to the girls, "If you take your clothes off, I can measure you properly. You can leave you underwear on."

The girls all took off their school uniforms, but there was no underwear in sight.

Rachel gasped, not because all four were stark naked. "My god, you are beautiful, all of you. It will be an absolute pleasure to make dresses for you, they couldn't have better models to display them."

She started with Kitty, made many measurements, wrote them down in a large ledger, Kitty's name at the top of the page. Then Chloe, she did the same. Rachel turned to Midge and Molly, said "I'll take one of you", she took one by the hand. "Are you Midge or Molly?" "Yes", replied the twin, trying to suppress a grin.

Rachel, smiling: "So you're going to be difficult. Okay, I'll do you first, whichever you are."

Without writing a name at the top, Rachel did her measurements, noting them all. "Now the other." Midge and Molly swapped over. She started to measure, but before writing anything down, she compared her measurements. After half a dozen, she looked a little perplexed, after a few more, her mouth was hanging open. She completed them, had to sit down. "I don't believe it, every single one of the measurements is exactly the same for both of you. I've never seen anything like it, and I've dealt with many twins over the years."

She wrote 'Midge and Molly' at the top of the page, shaking her head.

Non-uniform dresses

"Look", she said "I don't like those uniforms on you. Talk about hiding your lights under bushels. I have a lot of identical dresses that were originally for a chorus in a stage play. I should find some in there to fit you, would that be all right?" She disappeared into a storeroom, came out moments later with four cotton dresses, sleeveless, buttons all the way down the front.

The girls slipped them on. The hem was maybe seven inches above the knee, the neckline showed just a touch of cleavage.

Rachel said "Sorry if they are a bit short, they show a bit more of you than they might, are they all right?" All four girls were admiring themselves in a mirror, "Perfect" from all four.

"I've no underwear you can have, you'll have to use what you were wearing when you came in." All five laughed.

"Right", said Rachel, "Let's hear what you want."

Midge went to her uniform, lying neatly folded on a chair (Molly's was in a heap on the floor). From a pocket she brought out a sheet of paper, on it she'd made some sketches.

"Something like these?"

Rachel stared at the sketches. "They look gorgeous. Just describe them to me to make sure I've got them right in my mind."

Midge: "All black, made from something with a bit of a sheen, and we'd like them to cling. This is a statement to show what our parents have made, the least we can do is to give people the opportunity to see it."

Between them, Midge and Molly described what they wanted, along the lines of:

Kitty and Chloe's dresses to be all black, sleeveless, tight fitting, square cut necks, a little cleavage, back cut half way down, quite short skirts with a slit over the left thigh to allow their legs to move, otherwise plain. Molly and Midges' dresses separated into bodice and skirt, the bodice with a lower neckline and back, but trimmed with black lace to the same height as Kitty and Chloe's. The bodice to stop just below the breasts, the skirt to start just above the hips, the two parts joined by black lace. The skirt's hemline two inches higher than Kitty and Chloe's, black lace trim extending it to the same length.

"This is a special funeral for our special parents, we want to look special for them."

Rachel was somewhat taken aback. The sketches, the detailed description, the sentiment behind them.

After some time staring at the sketches, she said "Thank you, you've just given me the best job of my whole twenty years in the business." Pulling her gaze from the sketches, she said "I have some material I think will suit." She went into the storeroom, came out with a bolt of black cloth, She put it on the cutting table, unrolled a few feet, snipped the edge a foot from the end, ripped right across to get a strip. "Molly, take your dress off, let me put this over you."

After a glance at each other (which of us is Molly?), one of the twins obliged. Rachel laid it first round Molly's midriff, then up and down from breasts to groin, all the time looking to see how the material followed Molly's contours. She tried it over her bottom. "Yes" she said to herself. Then, to the girls, "That's how it should be. That'll do what you want. Seam up the back and the sides, buttons down the front. No, wait, buttons will not look good on a shaped dress, they will pull the material, and impossible where there's lace. Zip up the back, from the skirt to the neckline. To keep the vulnerable look, we'll use a long visible metal zip. We'll shape the dress to follow every one of your curves. But your skirt split must have a small overlap so you leg doesn't show when standing, but will when you walk.

"This is going to be my best work ever."

Then "Oh, I'm getting carried away, does what I suggest sound all right to you?"

Midge and Molly: "Perfect".

Kitty: "We'd discussed this yesterday evening, but never thought of the zip, we are too used to buttons."

Chloe: "What about the lace for Midge and Molly?"

Rachel went into the storeroom, rummaged a bit, came out with two rolls of black lace. The first was broad in width, maybe eight inches, the second was about two inches wide.

She showed the first, "This will do the midriff, we'll run it up and down in strips, that makes shaping it to follow your torso, waist and hips better. It's a similar design to the narrow one which we'll use for the neckline and hem. The midriff one is more see‑through, we will have to double it to get the same effect as the neck and hem.

Chloe took the end of the broader lace, laid it over Molly's bare front. She said "The single layer looks gorgeous."

"You're right" said Rachel, "but it is perhaps a little much for a funeral."

"This is not a normal funeral" said Midge. "It's for our Mummy and Daddy" from Molly.

"Single layer" from Kitty.

"Single layer" echoed Rachel.

Chokers

Rachel once again looked at the sketches. "You want black chokers?" Midge answered, "Please, but as an extra we'd like our names in silver letters on the chokers, on all four."

Rachel: "Real silver would look beautiful, but it is expensive." "Can it be done?" "I'm sure. Look, there's a jeweller a few doors up the street, let's go to him, see what he says."

They started for the door, then from Rachel "Molly, before we go out, perhaps you could put your dress on?"

A few minutes later, they entered the jeweller's shop. An oldish man, probably in his seventies, was working on some jewellery. He was wearing a leather apron, a jeweller's glass in his eye. He looked up as they came in, his eyes opened wide at the sight, the glass fell out unnoticed, the spectacles that were propped on his forehead fell onto his nose.

Very soon he's understood what they want. He already knew about the funeral, word seemed to have got around. He looked at Midge's sketch, muttered "beautiful", then "What sort of letters, how big?"

Between them they talked through what would look best. Although this was an unusual commission for him, he knew exactly how to set about it. He went to a computer, suggested several fonts. He used a drawing package to show a broad black horizontal line with a pinkish background representing a choker on skin, wrote Chloe in light grey lettering representing the silver.

Between them they came up with something that satisfied the girls. He repeated for the other names.

The grounds

The jeweller then talked to Rachel about how the letters would be attached, provision for invisible stitching that would allow the letters to lie flat on the choker.

When everybody was happy, he sat down, worked out how much silver would be needed, he gave them a rough estimate. Midge phoned Daniel, told him what they were doing, told him what the jeweller had said. His reply was that if that's what they want, there's no reason why not, the money was not a problem. He asked if the jeweller needed a deposit. Midge turned to the jeweller, asked him, the jeweller said he would need the money to buy the silver. Midge relayed that to Daniel, they talked for a moment, then Midge said "Thank you" and hung up. She turned to the jeweller, said "He'll pay you when he picks us up."

"How long will it take?" asked Molly. The jeweller started talking to himself, "I can start on the letter moulds tomorrow, that'll take, what, two days? I should have the silver the day after tomorrow, take two days to make the letters, let's say another two to finish them off. Hmm. Another two days for contingencies. What's today?"

Then to the girls, "I think there's about eight days of work, so in ten days time. No, look, I know this is urgent, I'll work the weekend, so eight days from tomorrow, unless you're not happy with them, and I have to redo. That's a lot of hours of work, it will be quite a high bill."

Molly: "Thank you, we really appreciate that."

Midge: "The money won't be a problem. We're sure they will be perfect, and we have to plan a date for the funeral."

Kitty turned to Rachel, "How about the dresses? And how long to finish the chokers when the letters are ready?"

Rachel: "These dresses are a true labour of love. The two for you and Chloe will be a day each, for Midge and Molly, probably two days each. We may need another half day for any changes after the first for the easier two, let's allow a day each for the more difficult dresses. What's that? Nine days? Too long, don't worry, for these I'll work all hours. I'll have them finished before the chokers, provided you can come in whenever I need you for fittings. It'll only take an hour or so to sew the letters on to the chokers."

Midge: "Thank you both, we appreciate what you are doing for us."

All four girls went to the jeweller. Much to his delight, Chloe and Kitty gave him a kiss on his forehead. Then Molly and Midge each gave him a little kiss on his lips, he was very taken aback. Recovering quickly, "Thank you, but don't do that again before I've finished, I could have a heart attack." And then, with a wink, "And, you need to be careful. I may be old, but I'm not dead. Now, get out, I've work to do." He grinned.

When they got back to Rachel's shop, Midge phoned Daniel, he said "Pick you up in ten."

Midge looked at the phone in her hand, asked Rachel (who was lost in thought, holding lace in her hands) "Would you have anything that could be used as a belt?"

Rachel pulled herself out of her trance, collected her thoughts, "Yes, your dresses have belts in case the performers wanted them, I'll get some. I need to stitch loops on the dresses for them, it'll only take a minute. She called "Holly?" Holly came in from the shop, "Help me stitch belt loops on these."

She disappeared into the back, Holly prepared needles, thread and found some tape of the right colour to make the loops.

Rachel returned with four belts that matched the dresses, she put one round Molly's waist. Molly immediately pushed it down, so it was halfway down the curve of her hips.

Without argument, she and Holly sewed the loops on. Molly's was first, Rachel said to her "You're right, that's just where it should be. You girls have some natural talent."

Just before they'd finished, the shop doorbell dinged. Holly went to check who had come into the shop, she led Daniel into the workroom.

Daniel looked at the girls, his mouth dropped open, after a moment he closed it, shaking his head. It was his turn to say "Talk about hiding your light under a bushel. I'm going to have to be careful, I'm a married man."

They all grinned at him. Rachel said "I think you are going to have to get used to them."

Daniel nodded. Then "Are we all done here?" From Rachel: "I think so. I have your phone numbers, I'll call when I need you to come in."

Daniel thought for a moment, "Look, I can't keep giving you a lift, we are going to have to sort something." "It's all right", said Midge, "It's not far, we can walk, quicker than you coming out to us anyway."

"If you're happy with that. Could you please let me know where you are if you go away from the local area, though? I will worry about you."

"We'll text you."

Holly got them a carrier bag that was large enough to hold all their school uniforms, then they said their goodbyes to Rachel and Holly. Before they got in the car, Midge said to Daniel, "One last favour, is there a phone shop nearby, we'd like some belt holsters."

"Of course, stupid of me, I should have thought of that. There's one just round the corner, that's where I got the phones from. Come on, let's go round there."

They went into the shop, the man behind the counter recognised Daniel from the previous day. "So, these are the lovely ladies you wanted them for? And I must say, they are lovely. Was there something wrong with the phones?"

Kitty answered, "No, they're perfect, we were wondering if you had any belt holsters for them." The man nodded, went into the back, came out with several of different colours, black, brown, green, blue, pink, yellow …

The girls looked at each other. Midge said "Not black. We don't need them then" ‑ obviously referring to the funeral. "Light brown?"

Kitty and Chloe nodded. Molly was looking at the brighter colours, but in the end she nodded as well. The man went back, brought out four holsters, still in their original packaging. "These have a slot for a credit card." Then "On the house." Midge was about to protest, then "Look, I heard about the funeral, please let me do this. It's nothing in the scheme of things, but my wife and I would feel guilty if we charged you."

His reward was a brief kiss on his cheek from Molly, Midge saying "Thank you, we appreciate that."

They called in at the jeweller's for Daniel to pay him for the silver. Out of his shop, Kitty and Chloe ran to the car. "My turn" shouted Kitty, Chloe reluctantly went to the front.

A few minutes later they were back at home. Daniel asked if they were all right, they said they were. Then Midge asked, "Look, we have something very serious to talk to you about, can we have an hour's consultation with you as our solicitor? The sooner the better."

"Can you give me a clue what it's about?"

"Not yet, we need to discuss it between us first."

Kitty and Chloe looked a little puzzled, but said nothing, they knew better than to ask Midge and Molly what they were thinking about. If the twins wanted them to know, they'd tell them.

Daniel phoned his office, spoke for a few minutes, then "I can squeeze you in tomorrow for ten? I may have to keep you waiting for a few minutes, though." "We'll be there, thank you." Daniel nodded and left.

Midge turned to Kitty, "Can you two go to the supermarket, get us stuff to live on? Molly and I want to talk over something, it concerns you, but we don't want you to know about it yet."

Kitty and Chloe looked at each other, then Chloe nodded, Kitty said "Okay, but you are worrying me, no, both of us, a little"

Molly said "Please don't be. Nothing may come of it, in which case we will never tell you what it is, it'll have been as if nothing ever happened. But if it does, you will like it."

Kitty and Chloe looked at each other, but trusted the twins. "Okay, where are there some shopping bags?" "That cupboard." Midge added "While you are out, get four sets of keys cut for the house, one set for each of us, we can return the spares to Daniel."

Taking the keys with them, Midge and Molly's debit cards tucked in with their phones, shopping bags in their hands, they went out.

Midge and Molly had a long conversation, something along the lines of "Can we leave school and live here on our own?" "According to Daniel, that would be legal, but as he is responsible for us, he would have to approve it." "Can we leave Chloe and Kitty at the school?" "No, not without us. The nuns would take it out on them if we left." "Do we know about their backgrounds? Who are their guardians? Who finances them at school?" "I seem to remember both are under local authority child care, no idea about their funding." "Can Daniel fix this?" "I think that if he can't, he would know someone who can." 'Let's try for it.' 'Yes.' The last two were unspoken, just looks.

The whole conversation took quite a while. Not long after they'd finished, the other two returned, before they came in they tried the front door keys, all worked. They came into the kitchen, Kitty asked "Are we safe?" "Yes" chorused Midge and Molly. The twins went over to Kitty and Chloe, gave them each a hug, making them drop their bags. "Careful", Kitty tried to say as she was getting a kiss, "Eggs"

Having released them, Midge said "Let's eat, we do have something to talk about, but we're famished." The twins still hadn't fully recovered from their bout of starvation.

None of them were great cooks, Kitty and Chloe's knowledge was just what they'd gleaned when doing chores in the convent kitchen, but between the four they managed to produce something that was perfectly edible. For a short while, all forgot why they were here, there was quite a bit of teasing and laughter.

After they'd eaten, they sat down in the living room, feeling very grown‑up with a pot of tea, cups and saucers, milk in a jug.

After a little while, Midge got serious, she started speaking to Kitty and Chloe, then between her and Molly: "Listen, please hear us out before you comment. We all hate the convent." Nods. "We are going to ask Daniel if we can leave." Kitty and Chloe both look aghast, about to speak, but before either could, "No, wait. We won't leave unless we can bring you with us." Kitty and Chloe sat there, open‑mouthed. "We don't know what is possible, we need to talk with Daniel. We are pretty sure that if he agrees, we could. It depends on your guardianship and funding. But we will not leave unless you can, the nuns would kill you."

Kitty and Chloe, somewhat dumbfounded, start asking questions.

"Where would we live?"

"Here, at least for now."

"What about schooling, we all want our qualifications."

"From what we can gather, we can certainly afford home schooling. You may be able to, we don't know, but if Daniel would allow it, we would fund yours as well. We would all do a lot better with proper teaching."

Lots more questions, most of which Midge and Molly couldn't answer. "We'll talk it over with Daniel tomorrow."

The one question Midge and Molly did not have to ask was 'Would you like that?'

After they'd gone quiet, Molly, said "Please don't get your hopes up too much, it may not be possible."

While they were sitting there the doorbell rang. Midge and Molly went to the door, it was two sets of neighbours. "Look, we'd all like to express how sorry we are, they were lovely people."

Midge and Molly, in unison, said "Please come in, we would like to talk."

The visitors looked at each other, but realised that the way the twins spoke together meant they weren't just being polite.

They went in and were introduced to Chloe and Kitty. Chloe turned to Kitty, who nodded ‑ they were getting into this visual communication thing. "We'll leave you to it, we'll clear up the dinner things."

Midge smiled at her, mouthed 'Thank you'. The two left, taking the tea tray with them.

They talked about Midge and Molly's parents, how they always got on well, good neighbours. It was Molly who said "Except for their misbehaving children."

One of the men said "Listen, we realised that whatever you did, there was never any malice in you, you did no real damage, you hurt no one."

The other man said "That was my barbed wire. When I saw what you had done, I couldn't forgive myself. I should have known nothing would stop you."

Molly went over to him, gave him a hug. "Look," she said, "We actually enjoyed it in our own way, we'd seen a film about the first world war, how a soldier would lay over the barbed wire so others could use him as a bridge."

"Yes, but they wore thick uniforms, those would protect them from the worst."

Midge grinned, "No harm done. Except to our clothes." "And to those who fainted at the sight of the window." Midge went to his wife, gave her a hug. "Really sorry, didn't think, it just seemed the right thing to do at the time."

The other man's wife, smiling, "Don't worry, they were using that story to get invitations to dinner parties, kept them going for ages."

"Anyway," the first man said, "I am sorry. And secretly we liked to see you going through the garden, it was like seeing wild animals there." His wife responded "We were seeing wild animals."

This brought some laughter from all of them.

Then came offers of help, anything they wanted, please come round and ask.

They got up to go, the two girls gave each of their visitors a hug. As they were leaving, "If you want to go to the funeral, we'll let you know when it is when we know."

Midge closed the door, the two went hand‑in‑hand into the kitchen, to find Kitty and Chloe with no clothes on. "She sploshed herself, took her dress off, so I took mine off." Midge and Molly dropped theirs. "Hope we don't get any more visitors."

It wasn't long before Chloe said "I'm tired, I'd like to go to bed." Kitty nodded, "Me too."

Molly: "We'd all like to."

All four went upstairs, another joint shower, and into bed. They sprawled every which way, hands resting on each other, and went to sleep.

In the morning, they got up, and as usual didn't get dressed. Downstairs they made breakfast, just toast, marmalade and tea to drink, They liked feeling very grown up, though it was somewhat incongruous since they weren't wearing anything.

Midge and Molly started going round the house, just looking in cupboards and drawers, familiarising themselves where everything was kept, accompanied by some gentle sobbing, but it was something they had to do. Before they'd got very far, Midge's phone rang, it was Rachel. "Look, I've hit a snag, can you come in?" "Be there straight away."

All four put their dresses on, walked the half mile to the shops, went into Rachel's. Holly was in the front, she just pointed to the workroom, the four girls went in.

Straight down to business, Rachel said "I can't do the lace with a square cut neckline, it just flops, it won't work." She was almost in tears. She showed them a trial piece she'd put together on a mannequin.

She was right, without any support there was nothing to hold the top edge up.

She said "I've never used this lace on the square before. Putting a support along its top edge would spoil the effect completely. I'm afraid to keep the square neck would mean no lace."

Molly, somewhat petulantly, "Molly wants lace."

Rachel: "That I understand. The only thing that would look right and hold the lace would be a round neck, the curve along the top will hold it up. But it's not your original design, which I loved."

Molly: "Can you do a mock‑up of a round neck? So we can see what it might look like?"

"It'll take me a little while, the lace has to be cut and sewn to get the curve, and you have to match the pattern at the joins. That takes time. Can you come back in a while?"

Midge "We're due to see Daniel at ten, we'll be there some time, we should be back maybe eleven‑ish?" "Yes, that should be time enough."

The girls all gave Rachel a hug, she seemed so down about this. As they walked out, Midge said to Holly, "She's really upset, make sure she knows we understand her problem, that we are in no way disappointed." She gave Holly a brief hug, and they left.

Midge said "Look, it's quarter to ten, let's go straight to Daniel's office, he has a waiting area, I'm sure we can wait there." Midge didn't have a watch, but the twins always seemed to know what time it was.

They walked round. Audrey was also his receptionist and secretary, she welcomed them in, gave the twins a big hug. She didn't say anything, the hug said it all. She released them and gave Kitty and Chloe a hug.

She said: "Daniel's with a client at the moment, he's squeezing you in between two. Can you sit there?" indicating a couple of small settees. "Thank you" from one of them. Audrey was a little surprised when all four got on to one settee, almost fighting to squeeze in and get comfortable.

Audrey shook her head, quietly laughing at them, but stopped laughing when she realised that both Kitty and Chloe were trying to comfort Midge and Molly, both of whom were gently crying.

After half an hour, Daniel's door opened, his client shook his hand, nodded to Audrey, then did a double take at the four girls squashed in the settee. He gave Daniel a quick querying look, but Daniel remained silent and expressionless until the client had left.

"Just give me a moment, got to complete some notes."

After another few minutes, he opened the door again, beckoned them in.

He'd got a couple of chairs at his desk, he carried two more from the wall to his desk.

"Right", he said, "What's on your mind?"

Midge and Molly did their usual alternating speech, infuriating to someone who didn't know them. It seemed to get more staccato when they were excited or emotional, in this case nervous. Daniel was not put out at all by the manner of speaking, he'd heard them before.

"We want to leave the school." "We would live at home." "We would like to be educated at home." "But we can't unless Kitty and Chloe" "can join us. "We can't leave" "them in that dreadful" "place."

Kitty blurted out "The nuns would kill us." The other three girls nodded vigorously.

Daniel looked at Kitty, then at the nodding girls, they clearly meant it.

His training kicked in, he made no immediate reaction, no change in facial expression. Before he spoke, he studied each girl in turn.

"Explain what you mean by 'kill'."

"Just that" from Midge. "They already beat us with canes and whips."

Kitty said "They have whipped all of us several times, Midge and Molly much worse than us, they come back bleeding from the lashes."

Midge and Molly started gently sobbing.

Chloe put in "These two have told us that they refuse to react to the lashes, so they are whipped harder and harder until the nuns get tired out."

Kitty: "When they come back to the dormitory, all they can do is lie on their fronts on their beds. We try to bathe their wounds, but that just hurts them more. The nuns hate all of us, but Midge and Molly the most. If they left us there, the nuns know we are their friends, they'd do it to us."

Chloe "And we aren't as strong as these two. It would kill us."

Daniel was taken aback. He knew the girls were serious, he knew that, at least within the family, Midge and Molly had never lied.

"Haven't you told anyone?"

Chloe: "No one believes us."

Midge, trying not to cry: "You know we've been to hospital for other things. Some of the staff have seen the remains of the lashes." Molly: "I think they report it, but it seems to get lost somehow."

Daniel thought for a moment, then: "Look, if what you say is true, and I don't doubt your word, it just seems incredible, I will have all four of you out of there regardless of the law."

He picked up the phone, talked to Audrey quietly at first, then with his voice raised, "I don't care who I've got, I want the rest of the day clear." Then, a bit quieter, "Sorry, didn't mean to shout, but I have to do this, these poor girls. I'll explain later."

"Look," he said to the girls, "I will make some enquiries. I know a few people. Do you know anyone at the hospital who's seen you like this?"

Midge and Molly mentioned a couple of names of nurses, but they only knew their first names.

Daniel thought for a moment. "I do know a private investigator. I would like to get him involved, he will find out things. Do you mind if I tell him what you've told me?"

Kitty gave an answer, "Just so long as the nuns don't know it was us."

Daniel: "They're bound to find out eventually. Look, you concentrate on your present arrangements, don't worry about anything else. I will sort this, at least for you four."

Then "It's usually you that hugs me, let me hug you." They stood up, he gave each of them a strong hug, kissing them on the top of their heads as he did so. He went to his door, showed them out, with a last "Don't worry." He turned to Audrey. The girls just heard him say "Come in, I'll tell you about it, I need help on this."

They left his building, they were at a bit of a loss. Chloe suddenly said "Shoes". They caught on, they've not thought about them. "Do you think Rachel can advise us?" "Let's go."

They walked round to Rachel's, opened the door, there was no one in the shop. After half a minute, Rachel appeared, "Oh, hello, not ready yet."

Midge: "No, we were wondering about shoes, what to get to go with our dresses."

Rachel said "You need Holly. Just a mo." She disappeared. Moments later Rachel came out with Holly. "Sorry", said Rachel, "So excited about the dresses, clean forgot. Yes, shoes are important. They must be right. Holly is the one for those, she's better than I am at the whole ensemble. Holly, take them to the shoe shop, see what you can sort."

Holly grinned, pleased to do this. She grabbed Midge's hand, ran out with her, the rest followed on, laughing at Holly's enthusiasm.

They went to the shoe shop, there were no customers when they went in. Holly went to one of the two assistants there, gave her a hug. "My sister, Henrietta", she said. Then to her sister, "Hen, these are the four I've been telling you about."

"I didn't believe you, but they really are beautiful. Whoops, sorry, shouldn't talk like that. What can we do for you? I guess you want some shoes", grinning.

Holly spoke to her. "It's for their funeral outfits. We're doing their dresses, they will be amazing, but they need shoes to go with them. I think matt black leather, not high healed, but a bit more than flat. Lightweight, we don't want clodhoppers. Toes a little pointed, but the ends rounded. Slip‑ons, but with a strap." An aside to the girls, "To go with the chokers."

Henrietta nodded, went to her colleague, had a word. Turning back, "We'll see what we can find, sit yourselves down."

They emerged from the back with half a dozen pairs of shoes. To Holly, "Any of these?" Holly had a quick look at them, and positively grabbed one. "This one. Perfect."

"Good, let's do some measuring." She put each of their feet on a fitting stool, carefully measured lengths and widths. "Let me see what we have, we'll probably have to order some, but that won't take long."

After some sounds of rummaging and a shoebox or two falling, both assistants came out. "We're in real luck, I think we have them all. To have two of the one size is very unusual. Let's see if they fit."

Within seconds, all were wearing the black shoes. "Walk around in them, make sure they will be comfortable for a while. I know a girl has to suffer to be beautiful, but we should keep that to a minimum."

They walked around, Holly, Henrietta and the other assistant were looking on. Henrietta muttered "What a walk, so natural, but so … sexy?"

Holly said "Shoes." Then "How are they?" Kitty said "They feel fine." Chloe: "Good." Midge and Molly, together: "They feel perfect."

Midge: "We'll have them, thank you." Holly: "Don't wear them now, we'll show Rachel, but I don't want any risk of them being spoilt. This has got to be just right."

Midge paid for them with her card. With hugs all round, they walked out holding their boxes. Back at Rachel's, they went into the workroom. She said "Show me."

All four slipped them on, did up the strap. "Molly, drop your dress." Molly obliged. Rachel got a piece of the material, put Molly facing a full‑length mirror. She stood behind Molly, held the material round Molly, the lower edge half‑way up Molly's thighs. "Perfect. Holly, you have your uses.

"Now, have a look at this neckline." She showed them a mannequin on which she'd mocked up a round neck, trimmed with lace. The twins looked at it, looked at each other, then Midge said "That's gorgeous." Molly: "It works really well."

Rachel said "I'll make the backs rounded to match." The twins nodded, Midge: "That sounds good."

"Right. Holly: stay. The rest of you: go." As the girls moved toward the door, "Molly, pick your dress up, I don't want it left here." Molly grinned, picked it up, slipped it on. Rachel smiled, and, quietly to herself, "These are going to be trouble."

Picking up the parents