So much for that, Ken thought. Rita was all over the butcher. It was disgusting. He could not see Rita marrying that thing. Working in that foul shop of his all day, all that red. She would barely notice when her moon blood came. It was such a waste of time for her. If he asked she would probably say that he was good in bed. That was just like her. When he was seeing her it had only taken her three weeks to sleep with him. Harlot! Jenna was not like that. Why did she have to be engaged to one of his best friends? He knew now that she had liked him when he had liked her all those years ago. He had not known it at the time because he had thought her moon struck over Fairrew. If only she had known. She might be marrying him now.

            Inan was sitting with Jenna's father Varde. They were dinking liquor whilst his drunkard wife & Jenna's mother were drinking fermented grapes. Iana wound have an offensive hangover in the morning & there was nothing he could do to stop it. Alenia, Varde's wife was sipping slowly at her drink. She would not want to overdo herself. Not after last time. Iana had kept refilling her glass & Alenia had not realised. She was more than a little tipsy by the time she got home. It was something she herself had never understood because she had thought that she had only had two glasses. Inan had never admitted that it had been Iana. She always drank too much. It was a problem. One he did not know how to fix. If Varde & Alenia did not know already, they would figure it out soon. If they did not they were blind as well as stupid.

            Taylor was blind with rage. It was not only rage though. Deep down his heart had been ripped to shreds. He loved her so much. She meant everything to him. The river looked cool & dark. He sat down next to it & let out a deep sigh. It was all too much. If he went back to town he would drown his sorrows in drink & most likely do something violent & abusive to some poor tavern girl. He did not want to do that. There was however another way he could drown his sorrows he contemplated as he looked at the deep, dark river waters, something far more sinister than drink. The thought left his head almost as soon as he had thought of it. That was not a way to solve your problems. In fact it did not solve anything. Despite how much Jenna & William had hurt him Taylor could not do that to them. If Jenna had done it he would have contemplated following her example & he did not want that to happen to her. No matter how much pain he caused himself, Taylor would do anything in his power to make sure that nothing bad happened to Jenna. The moonlight filtering across Taylor's hands suddenly disappeared as a shadow fell across them. Taylor looked up only to see Jenna. Her hair & face ravished in pain & tears streaming down her cheeks.

            Arlene looked around the fair ground. Where was William? He had promised to join her after she had finished supervising the maypole dance. The tired little girls who had been involved in it had now all been rounded up and brought home so that they could be put to bed. Arlene remembered the days in which she had danced around the maypole. She had looked forward to the occasion with such glee and had never wanted to go home when her mother had said that it was time. Now that she was too old to be dancing around the May Pole and had been seeing William for a year now not much had changed. She still looked forward to May Day with mirth. This year especially because in their village it had become a tradition for men to propose on May Day as Taylor had done the year before when he asked Jenna to marry him. Arlene thought that perhaps William would ask her tonight but he was no where to be seen. In fact Arlene could not remember having seen him since Taylor and Jenna had had their, oh so public fight in the middle on the dance floor earlier. Then it dawned on her. Jenna had disappeared and of course William would have followed her. Arlene knew that he was in love with Jenna but she hadn't really cared because of Jenna's relationship with Taylor. Arlene fumed, she knew that William would have taken any chance he could to try and snag Jenna. 'Well', thought Arlene, this time she would not sit by ideally and ignore his infatuation. She was going to make him pay.

            Helena was sitting with Wilks who was smoking tobacco. He always smoked at events like this just promote his image, he never did it any other time which annoyed Helena in a way because she enjoyed the occasional smoke and she could not do it in public or so risk her own image. At this moment in time she would have greatly appreciated a smoke because of the display Marnin had put on earlier. She was sickened. She barely knew him and didn't think that she would be able to touch him or become involved in a relationship with him the way he wanted without being sick. However there was a part of her that really wanted to see what a relationship with Marnin would be like. She had never had a boyfriend before and was afraid that she would never experience the kind of relationship that Jenna now had with Taylor. Mind you after their little tiff earlier she wondered what would happen between those two. The other thing that was holding Helena back was Wilks himself. He had been the person in her life that she cared most about for years. Everyone else came second when Wilks was around. If only he would do something about it and not just want to be friends.

            Arlene sidled up to Wilks and put an arm around his shoulders. Helena narrowed her eyes at her but stayed silent. "Wilks" crooned Arlene "Want to go for a walk?" Wilks breathed smoke all over her, "Where do you want to go?"

"Any where you want. How about, oh I don't know," she leaned in closer to him and eyed Helena off as she whispered "the overhang?" Wilks turned and looked at Helena for a second and then took Arlene's hand and led her away leaving Helena with the scent of his smoke trailing behind him. Helena sighed. This was not the first time he had done this. He knew how she felt despite the fact that she had never told him she knew he knew. In fact she had suspicions that Jenna had told him on a number of occasions, but of course she was only trying to be helpful, that's all she ever tried to be Sighing again she turned away when she could no longer see him. The first person she saw when she did this was Marnin. He was standing in front of the large bon fire looking in her direction. He always looked at her. It scared her sometimes, but this time she looked back, swallowed her pride and nodded. He pointed toward the barn that was attached to his house at the very extremities of the village and began to walk towards it. She followed.

            Ken was bored. It was getting late and everyone seemed to have disappeared. Even Marnin had gone. This surprised Ken because Marnin never left a party early. In fact he was always one of the last to leave and Ken usually went with him. This was what prompted Ken to go and find Marnin. He could understand why Taylor wasn't around any more. If he hadn't gone after Jenna he was the biggest dumb fuck on the planet. He knocked loudly on Marnin's door when he reached his house. All was dark and quite. This wasn't unusual so rather than going in Ken decided he would check the barn before leaving.

            Marnin and Helena stood in the hay loft. Helena was standing shyly at the top of the ladder. "Come here" said Marnin's whispered voice cracking. All Helena wanted to do was go to him, she knew what he must be feeing, and she could imagine how she would feel if it were Wilks she was standing in front of. She was afraid but none the less moved closer to him. Helena stood, her face next to his, and before she had a chance to say anything, he kissed her, his hands clutching her head. Helena stiffened a little but with a little coaxing allowed herself to be drawn deeper into the kiss. This wasn't as bad as she thought it would have been. "Come here," he breathed out. She felt him trying to pull her closer to him and then he pulled her down onto a hay bale. He pulled her onto his lap by the arms, and once she was up, he entwined her with all his limbs, his enormous body swallowing her as they kissed ravenously.

"Gods, Helena," Marnin whispered. "Oh Gods, I've wanted you for so long." For a moment he stopped kissing her, as he embraced her in a nest inside him. At some stage he had managed to get his shirt off and Helena could not believe how remarkable it felt to touch Marnin's naked back and hard shoulders and hard arms.

            He was crushing her to him, his lips more demanding, and his insistent hands all over her. He only had two hands? Then why were they everywhere at once? She was enveloped by him, unable to keep her eyes open, yet all she wanted to see was him, to not miss a second of him. How could she have waited this long? Pulling up her dress to her waist, Marnin touched her bare leg. Involuntarily her legs spread apart slightly, and Helena moaned into his lips.

            Ken opened the door of the barn slowly it squeaked at little but not much. The barn was dark and quite and Ken was about to turn around and walk out when he heard a moan. He wondered what that sound could be this late at night. The sound came again and Ken realized that it was coming from the hay loft. Quietly he made his way towards the ladder and began to make his way up it. The higher he got the louder the sounds became. He slowly pushed his head over the top of the ladder and what he saw astounded him. Marnin had Helena splayed across a hay bale he was gently sucking her nipples and running his hands up and down her thighs. Ken stared for a moment and then realised what he was doing and as quickly and quietly as possible slid down the ladder. How could he have been so stupid? He should have recognized the sounds that they were making. He himself had made them on a number of occasions. As he made his way slowly out of the barn he smiled to himself. Marnin had finally got what he had been wanting and waiting for, for so long. Ken only hoped they hadn't seen or heard him, but he didn't think so because as he quietly shut the barn door behind him he could still hear their audible moans.

            William was sitting next to the river where Jenna had left him. He knew now that he probably shouldn't have done what he had. He didn't even want to think of what Taylor would say to him when he saw him. William groaned into his hands. What had possessed him? Now he had most likely lost not only the friendship of Taylor but Jenna also. William heard a twig behind him snap and he jumped. As he turned he heard a voice say, "What you groaning about William? What have done?" Ken was standing there and he knew that William must have either done something terrible or had drunk too much. Usually he would have suspected the latter however William had been gone from the festivities so long that Ken was more inclined to suspect that William had in fact done something stupid. "Where's Arlene? What have you done to her?" He said as he sat down next to William. "Must have been pretty bad, can't imagine you groaning over anything less."

"It's not actually what I've done to Arlene, Ken, although she will come into later I suppose. I hadn't thought of that." He groaned again and Ken patted him superficially on the back. "Doesn't sound too good mate, why don't you tell me about it."  

"I kissed Jenna," was all he said. Ken felt his throat constrict. William had kissed Jenna, Gods! The unfairness of it enveloped Ken. Why had William been able to kiss Jenna and not him? Then Ken realized that despite the fact that it had happened it never would again and from the sounds of it he had lost Jenna's friendship. "What happened after you did it?" asked Ken "Did she kiss you back? Oh Gods, what is Taylor going to say?"

"He saw it and she ran off after him."

"Oh Gods!" said Ken, "she just left you here?"

"Yeah, what can you expect though she didn't even realise Taylor was there until after she had pushed me to the ground, in disgust I'm sure."

"I'm sorry mate but I do know how you feel."

"How's that?"

"I've been in love with Jenna for years but she has always liked someone else and the one time that I know of that she did like me, I was going out with Rita."

"I'm sorry mate," said William "you know she swore when she saw Taylor standing there. She was so upset. I can't believe I did it!"

"To tell you the truth mate I'm wondering why I didn't. God knows I've had enough chances."

"You don't want to believe me. Now I've lost her not to mention Taylor and when Arlene finds out I'm a goner. She has known forever that I liked her but it didn't really matter to her because I think she was secure in the knowledge that Jenna was engaged. The only reason I asked her out in the first place was because when I heard that Taylor had proposed I got drunk and I wanted some. The only way I knew I could get it with Arlene was by asking her out. It's our anniversary tonight you know. I've spent hardly any time with her and I think she was expecting a proposal. Oh Gods, what have I done! She'll get back at me you know, she's so spiteful."

            When Taylor saw Jenna standing over him he felt his insides constrict and his anger recede. All he wanted to do was make up with her. But what about William? He had seen them with his own eyes; his best friend and Fiancé sucking face God damn it! But he loved her so much and all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and wipe away her tears, but first he had to know. "Do you love him Jenna? Was all we had a lie?" Jenna's tears began falling faster and she began to sob uncontrollably. Once again the urge to envelope her in his arms and have her stay there forever, nearly overcame him when she sank to her knees in front of him and stared into his eyes. Despite the great amount of pain he recognised there he resisted the urge because he knew that his eyes were also filled with pain. "Don't ever believe that, please," came Jenna's barely audible whisper. "I love you so, so much. You are my life Taylor I can't live without you."

"What about friends Jenna? I thought I was only good for reproduction?"

"Taylor, you are my friend, you're my best friend in the whole world and you always will be. The fact that when we get married I will sleep with you will never change that."

"I don't know if we are getting married after what I just saw," said Taylor and when he saw the pain in Jenna's eyes heighten he wished that he hadn't."

"You don't mean that. Please don't mean that. I love you so much; please don't do this to me."

"What about what you did to me Jenna? William is my best friend."

"Please believe me Taylor. He kissed me, if you saw that then you must have seen me make him stop." Taylor looked straight into Jenna's eyes, into all the pain he could see there and realised that she was right. He had seen her push William to the ground and the look in her eyes told him that what she was saying was true. He also knew that just as she said that she could not live without him he knew that he could not survive another minute without her, he loved her too much. With that realisation he knew the look in his face must have softened because a look of hope came over Jenna's face. He took her into his arms. "Oh Gods, Jenna, I'm so sorry, I love you, I love you, I've missed you so much." He moved into kiss her and just before he did she whispered into his mouth, "Me too darling, me too."