While this was going on, Lena had taken the girl home. She promised to send her copies of the photos that she knew were being taken at that very moment.
The thieves' names and addresses, courtesy of the girl, were anonymously phoned through to the police, along with the location of the shed that still contained the Suzuki as well as a couple of battered mopeds that had also, almost certainly, been stolen.
* * *
That Saturday evening found Lena yielding to the effects of alcohol to a far greater extent than she was accustomed to. She didn't normally have a problem with holding her drink. At many of the upmarket functions that she'd attended, on the arms of some of her wealthier clients, the best Champagne and the finest cognac would be flowing like water.
However, on this particular Saturday night, she was partying very hard under the stars with a large crowd of boisterous, and extremely happy, bikers. To many of them, she was the star guest.
As the music played, some of the best ales and ciders, served direct from the barrel, were being dispensed in copious quantities, and a relatively small percentage of the total amount, but still a lot by volume, was being bought for Lena by members of one of the clubs that were present that evening.
As far as one young reveller was concerned, Lena Fox could do no wrong. In his mind, the Sun shone directly out of Lena's extremely attractive backside. She had saved the day, and between himself and his friends, she wasn't going to have to buy a single drink for herself all evening.
Without her, he would no longer have a bike. She had found his stolen motorcycle, and now he, his father, and their friends wanted her to know just how grateful they were.
* * *
The following morning, after the indignity of being helped back to her tent and put into her sleeping bag by Tony with the assistance of a total stranger, Lena decided never to get herself involved with anyone's problems ever again.
She vowed to avoid doing good deeds till the day she died. A day that, with the way that her head felt at that moment, couldn't arrive too quickly.
However, after several large mugs of Tony's strong but exceptionally good coffee had made their way past her lips, along with a couple of first class bacon rolls from the food van, her mood had begun to improve somewhat. The additional assistance of two soluble co-codamols in a mug of water, the painkillers appropriately provided by young Sean, helped speed up the process.
By the middle of the day she was almost back to her normal self again. By then, the field had almost emptied of tents.
She took down her own tiny tent and quickly and efficiently loaded up the bike. Then, joined by Tony on his old 1959 BSA 650, and his friend Terry on his brand new Harley-Davidson, she rode out of the gateway onto the lane that led to the main road.
In no more than a couple of hours of pleasant motorcycling, they'd part company and all three would be shortly back in their own homes in three different villages.
All of the villages were fairly close together, nestling in rural countryside between Bristol and the ancient city of Bath.
Telephone numbers had been swapped. Promises to keep in touch had been made: promises that all of them had every intention of keeping. Though none of them were aware of it, their lives would never be quite the same again.
Nonetheless, the three of them unanimously agreed that over that eventful weekend in Dorset, they had each found themselves some new, lasting, and very real, friends.
--- The End ---
And Now
An introduction to the 'Lena's Friends' crime novels series - by Chris Graham.
A gay, atheist, but well loved vicar, who plays the electric bagpipes in a celtic rock band.
A middle aged biker of independent means, who has a taste for both the finer things in life, and for those at the much sleazier end of the scale.
An ambitious young policeman, with an embarrassing mistake in his own past.
Two young middle class sisters, who have resorted to the oldest profession merely to fund their own busy social lives.
An honest farm worker and his former heroin addict, former streetwalker, but totally adored and equally devoted wife.
The common denominator?… They are all Lena's friends.
But who is Lena?
Lena is a successful call girl, escort, or courtesan, though she's quite happy with the terms 'prostitute' or even 'tart'. She has no hang ups about her chosen career. She works at the high class, highly expensive, and by necessity, very discreet end of the business.
She enjoys her work immensely, and has done very well out of her well heeled clientèle, some of whom have become good friends.
She does, however, care deeply about those working in the riskier, less glamorous, lower echelons of her trade. More importantly, though, she cares about her friends.
Lena Fox BA and her friends are unlike the more usual fictional amateur sleuths, who seem to always have a convenient murder, or similar serious crime, dropped into their laps for them to investigate.
In fact, in these stories Lena and her various friends and acquaintances aren't really the detectives at all. They're not even the lead characters, but merely the common denominators. They provide a network of likeable, sometimes exasperating, but believable people who are moving in real places, from the real world, that can become familiar to the reader. A landscape, if you like, for the regular police characters, and of course the criminal fraternity, to live and work in.
Lena and her friends aren't seen to be continually doing what should be the police's work. Their involvement is more in the realms of the 'happy coincidence'. Their own connections to the forces of law and order, as well as to the less acceptable side of life, tie the stories together.
They're not in it for the glory, and certainly not for recognition, as Lena's continued success in her chosen profession relies on her maintaining absolute discretion.
However, some of Lena's friends can be less than discreet about their own activities. Activities which, like their counterparts on the other side of the sometimes blurred boundary between right and wrong, can range from the mundane to the downright bizarre.
While these characters' own lives are keeping the reader entertained, the seeds of clues are being sown and allowed to grow until, on the final few pages, a story reaches its hopefully unexpected conclusion.
Available
‘Payback’ a ‘Lena’s Friends’ novella.
and coming soon:
‘Transactions’ the first full length ‘Lena’s Friends’ novel.
To join the Chris Graham mailing list and be kept up to date go to https://qtvh.com/yourls/lenaslist
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