This story is not entirely fictitious; the facts about the New South Wales, Australian public-school system are or were true. Enjoy.
----------------
Unusual as it was, the 10:05am southbound train from Wollongong was on time. This was amplified by the observation of potential passengers running onto the platform but unable to board.
Traditionally, a train trip is thoroughly boring at the best of times; especially if the scenery is unchanging and there is a talkative fellow passenger. However, such a trip can be made slightly more bearable by the use of an iPod and one's own selection of music.
But this story is not about train trips in general, nor about this particular train and its journey; rather it concerns two of the passengers, two trainee teachers.
Miss Janette (Jan) Prentice was a plain girl-next-door type. She was a full red-head; that is, her hair was the colour of brightly-polished copper and she had a red-heads characteristic freckles across her nose and on each cheek; her eyes were a captivating green. She had small pout breasts, just enough to complement her trim but otherwise curvaceous body. The muscles in her long legs were enhanced by her fine ankles and slight knees.
Her companion, Miss Frances (Fanny) Lambert, had a similar build, but she was a honey blond with peaches-and-cream complexion and bright blue eyes. She wore graduated glasses which she only really needed for reading; they gave her an appealing educated air.
They met at Wollongong Teachers' College two years earlier. These girls, along with many of their fellow class-mates at the college, were considered geeks during their high school days.
In New South Wales, children start kindergarten at the age of five; they do two years in infants and then four years in primary school. They start high school at twelve years of age. After four years at high school they can leave and do unskilled work, or go to a 'Technical' College and gain a trade's certificate as a bricklayer, plumber, electrician, or accountant, etc. Those that stay at high school for a further two years may enter University; or if they prefer, they can go to College and gain a diploma as a teacher or technician.
Janette and Frances had both been assigned to Cedar Hill high school for their practice teaching semester.
Cedar Hill is a sleepy little village situated 10 kilometres inland from the Pacific east coast and 50 kilometres south of Wollongong, Australia; on the eastern slopes of the Blue Mountains. It was named after the large amount of red cedar trees, 'Toona Australis', that were there when it was first settled in the 19th century. After the cedar cutters finished looting all of the mature trees, the village remained as the commercial hub for the dairies that had by then surrounded it. It is currently renowned for its top-quality cheese that is sold throughout Australia, and because of a shop on the main street that sells the best meat pies in the state.
Although Cedar Hill was only a very small village, it had the only high school in the area. This happened because of its central location relative to the surrounding even smaller villages; each of which generally only had a one-teacher primary school, a nearby church and maybe a general store or petrol station.
The story really begins with the two girls arriving at Cedar Hill by train, having left Wollongong one hour earlier that day.
The two trainee teachers dragged their bags the 50 metres to the real estate agents, where they picked up the keys and paid the first two weeks rent on the fully furnished, 2-bedroom cottage they had arranged to stay in. The cottage was directly across the road from the high school and only a short distance from the village centre.
As Janette fumbled with the keys, Fanny noticed two signs beside the front door. The top sign was the name of the house; it read "The Oaks". They had seen the two huge oak trees behind the house as they approached. The other sign was the street number, that is "96". As Fanny contemplated the signs, the top rusty screw broke on the number "9" and it dropped so that it ended up-side-down; now it looked like a "6" below and behind the actual "6". This reminded Fanny of the time she saw her brother kneeling behind his girlfriend kissing her bottom.
Janette jerked open the fly-screen door; the vibration caused the top screw on the number "6" to break; it twisted clockwise. It now rested up-side-down against the other number so that together they now looked like the number "69"; like a couple simultaneously giving each other oral stimulation in the "soixante-neuf" position as the French would say.
Fanny stepped back in shock. "Holy shit!" She screamed, "Do you think that's an omen?"
"What?"
"Look at the damn numbers!" Janette turned to look as Fanny continued, "They just fell to that flamin' position."
"Did they? Don't worry about that; I have finally found the right key."
"I think we should notify the stupid agent, so she can arrange to have the rusty damn screws replaced."
"OK; but for now, let's go in and see what we have let ourselves in for."
They walked down the short hallway, past the arched entrance to the lounge room on the left, and checked out the two bedrooms, whose doors were both on the right of the hallway.
After much discussion, it was decided that Janette would have the larger front bedroom that face south out to the road; leaving Fanny with the warmer, but smaller, back bedroom. Both bedrooms had a double bed, a dressing table and a built-in wardrobe.
Fanny flopped backwards onto her bed; her short skirt ending up around her waist. Janette was shocked, "Fanny! Where's your panties?"
"I don't wear any."
"What! Never?"
"Nah; never." She smiled at Janette's reaction.
"You'd better wear some to school." Janette said, waving her index finger.
"It's alright... I intend to always wear an ankle-length dress or skirt to school. No one will know."
"And how long have you been shaving your pubs?"
"I don't shave." Fanny continued to enjoy Janette's reaction, and teased her by placing her right hand on her pubic mound and caressing the smoothness.
"But you're completely bald down there!"
"Yeah. I had laser treatment when I was fourteen."
"Really..." Amazed; Janette left the room, realising that she didn't know her friend Frances as well as she had thought.
After unpacking most of their things, they set about exploring the rest of the house. The bathroom was directly opposite Fanny's bedroom, with the toilet in a separate room between them, at the back-end of the hallway.
Walking through the lounge room, they discovered the dining room beside it; it also had a window facing the street. Through yet another large arch at the back of the dining room, was the kitchen. The sun shone through the lace curtains on its window, warming the whole entertaining area.
The kitchen's door opened onto a large patio which extended both east and west of the door.
Fanny thought out loud, "This looks like it would be a nice place to relax."
To which Janette quickly pointed out, "Yeah, but there's no outdoor furniture!"
"Perhaps we should get a deck-chair or two; what do you think?"
"Yeah, maybe." Janette unconsciously agreed as she unlocked the other door that opened onto the patio. This was the laundry which was to the west of the kitchen and behind the garage.
"I wonder if there is a charity shop in the village?" Fanny continued, "Maybe we can find some second-hand chairs there."
"Err... maybe."