“Perhaps,” Mother murmured, looking back over her shoulder at the garden.
“Although I think I will have my hands full for a while with those kittens.”
“Yes,” Mary agreed. “Now, about payment. Perhaps we can work something out.
Peep is quite something.”
“Isn’t she just?” Mother smiled, squeezing Mary’s hand. “Yes, I think you can have my little pet for these adorable kittens. It’s a fair trade.” Mother saw Blue in the kitchen, talking to Polly. “Besides, we have a visitor coming just this week. A little Miss Muffet. Between her and the kittens, I don’t know that I’d have time for poor little Peep.”
“That works out then,” Mary said happily, climbing the stairs and opening the back door.
“I don’t know why they call you contrary, Mary,” Mother whispered, kissing the woman on the cheek as she stepped up.
Mary turned her face toward Mother and returned her kiss, fully and deeply, on the lips. “It’s just the men,” Mary whispered. “Most don’t understand the ways of flowers.”
“Is that so?” Mother’s mouth curled into a smile.
“You will come back and visit me soon, won’t you, dearest?” Mary whispered, tracing a finger along Mother’s full lips.
Mother leaned in to kiss her again, and she thought Mary tasted just like a garden of flowers. “Yes, darling. I surely will.”
The two women continued into the house, arm in arm.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Willie, where is my red corset?” Mother called loudly, sweeping aside the clothes in her wardrobe as she began going through them again, one at a time.
“Is this it, Mother?” Muffy picked up a corset from a pile on the bed.
“Ah, there is it!” The nude woman made her way over to the young girl, slipping her fingers under her chin and petting her there with a smile. “Thank you, dearest.”
“Willie!” Mother called again, impatient, slipping into the corset and looking into the mirror as she adjusted it over her curves. “Where is he?”
“I can lace you, Mother,” Muffy offered, sliding off the big bed, her pink babydoll nightgown slipping up her thighs and revealing the newly shaved mound underneath.
Mother’s eyes lingered there for a moment and she smiled, turning and offering her back to the girl. “Thank you, darling.”
The girl’s hands were expert-she had done this often in the past month-pulling the older woman’s stays tight as she worked her way up. The corset left Mother’s full breasts as exposed as the dark triangle of hair was between her thighs.
“My stockings.” Mother sat on the bed while Muffy retrieved them from the drawer. The red fishnets slid up over her long, slim legs, and she stood to let the younger girl fasten the garters and straighten her seams.
“You don’t usually wear this color, Mother,” Muffy remarked, her little fingers working the last garter fastener.
“No,” Mother agreed, taking a long, white, see-through lace peignoir from her wardrobe and slipping it over her shoulders. She buttoned the middle two buttons, and looked at herself in the mirror. Her dark nipples poked the fine lace, and her bush was visible when she walked. Perfect. “Have you seen my red boots?”
“No, Mother,” Muffy replied.
“Willie!” Mother called again, giving an exasperated sigh. “Where is he?”
“Are you going somewhere, Mother?” Muffy asked, still kneeling on the floor.
“We are, precious,” Mother said, patting the soft, blonde curls framing the girl’s pink cheeks. “And we are going to have to dress you, as well.”
“Me?” Muffy looked up with wide, blue eyes.
The door burst open and Willie came in dragging one of Mother’s kittengirls by the scruff of her neck. She was clawing at him.
“I apologize, Mother,” the little man said, struggling with the hissing cat girl. He had a long, angry red scratch across his cheek. “Eve here lost her mittens again.”
“Tsk tsk,” Mother murmured, taking the cat girl from him and cradling her. The three kittens she had taken from Mary had grown as quickly as she said they would.
This kittengirl was nearly taller than Willie now. She was more like a small child than a cat. “What am I going to do with you?”
The catgirl began to purr, nuzzling her soft black ears against Mother’s neck and chin, her rough kitty tongue licking the woman’s cheek.
“Willie, I need my red boots,” Mother explained, unhooking the kitten’s claws from her lace peignoir. “And we’ll need a red babydoll nightie for Muffy-but no panties. I want to show off her sweet little mound.”
The girl’s eyes were wide, her face crimson. “Wh-where are we going, Mother?”
“To visit the Queen of Hearts,” Mother said, her eyes bright. “We are going to have a wonderful afternoon, darling.”
“Yes, Mother.” Willie said pulled a pair of tall red boots from Mother’s closet.
“Shall I call Blue for the carriage?”
“Yes.” The woman smiled, taking the high-heeled boots and sliding one of them on. The catgirl stretched out on her back on the stone floor, exposing her human belly and budding breasts. “And Willie? Can you take Eve back to her siblings?” The little man grasped the catgirl’s pink collar. She mewed, but followed him readily enough now. “Yes, Mother.”
“Now, remember, Muffy,” Mother reminded her as the carriage pulled through the gates. “You curtsy for the Queen, just as I taught you. Remember always to call her
‘Your Majesty.’ And never, ever correct her if she says something, especially if it’s about a color.”
“Color?” Muffy’s smooth brow creased and her little nose wrinkled.
“Yes,” Mother remarked, pulling on her gloves. “The Queen has a rare form of color blindness-she can see red, and a few other variations, but not many.” The carriage door opened, and Blue held his hand out, helping Mother down.
There were many carriages parked already, the horses nickering and pawing the ground in the sunshine. They could hear music and the sound of laughter.
“Mother,” Muffy pleaded, leaning forward in her seat but not coming out of the carriage. “I cannot go out like this.”
“Nonsense!” Mother replied, nodding her head to Blue. “You are wearing far more than most will have on today. You’ll see. Come along, Muffy dear.” Blue held his hand out for the girl, and she winced as her bare feet touched the gravel drive. The sheer red baby-doll nightgown didn’t come past her hips, and her tender pussy lips and round bottom were fully exposed as she followed Mother, wide-eyed, around a large stone wall and into the garden.
Muffy walked behind her and off to the side, the grass cool against her bare feet, following the click of Mother’s boot heels along the stone pathway. They stopped at another wooden gate, where a rather hulking young man sat on a three-legged stool.
“Pass?” he asked, holding out his hand. Mother opened her beaded red handbag and handed him a small, strange looking coin, something altogether unfamiliar to Muffy.
He unlocked the gate and opened it. When it swung open, Mother heard the young girl gasp and she smiled.
“Stay close to Mother, dear,” she warned, as the gate closed behind them. The large enclosed patio was surrounded by thick-growing red rose bushes. The air was redolent with the smell of them. The vendors circled the patio, their wares or games on display.
“It’s a carnival!” Muffy exclaimed, clapping her hands. Everything was red-the vendors’ tents, the deep brick stone tiles that made up the patio floor, the archway covered in roses that they walked through. Even the people milling around talking, laughing, dancing-they all wore red and white, when they wore anything at all.