The Master Of Foxhounds (Re-edited version)

I completely re-wrote The Master of Foxhounds for the third time and just put in a few pages for my profile

Part 1

 

September 22^nd 1981

Rock Solid, Rhode Island

 

 

Redrix Voyager was busy hiding behind his notebook and hurriedly scribbling down a name onto his desk. He pressed hard with the lead, forming the letters as quickly as he could. He finished up the small graffiti and observed it with satisfaction, looking up once from his work to peer at the girl sitting a few seats in front of him. She was dressed in a peppermint coloured dress, with her dark hair tied up in a spirally ponytail that fell down her back. He looked back down at the name, saying it in a quiet whisper under his breath “Lacey”.

 

Just then there was a curt knock at the door of the classroom and the whole class turned their heads in that direction. Their teacher, Miss Jameson, stood from her desk in the front and went to open the door.

“Good-morning m’am” came a slick, accented voice from the doorway.

The voice was followed by a boy, who strolled into the classroom without a trace of shyness or awkwardness and went to stand in front of the teacher’s desk. He was tall for his age, wearing a crisp leather jacket and dark corduroys. He had dark hair, slicked back onto his head, an attractive smile and the bluest eyes Redrix had ever seen.

Miss Jameson closed the door and went to stand beside the boy, smiling at him with her usual kindness.

“Class, this is Victor Churchill. His family recently moved from England and has just settled into your neighbourhood. He will be joining you this year” she stated to her students. She then turned to Victor and said “Would you like to tell the class a bit about yourself”.

He nodded coolly and stuck his hands into his leather jacket with ease.

“Hey, I’m Victor. My father owns the Churchill Motors Company and we moved here because he’s opening a new factory in Richmond. I’m ten years old and I have no brothers or sisters. I just have a Pit bull named Chester and an iguana called Snarky” he said calmly and surely.

“That’s very interesting Victor” Miss Jameson told him, before directing him to his new seat right beside Lacey, up in the front. Redrix saw him wink at the girl, before swinging into his seat gracefully and crossing his arms.     

 

So Victor was a rich boy, Redrix thought with a smirk. He would be a great kid to bully during recess. But as he looked around at all the other boys, he found that they were looking at Victor with a mixture of fascination and respect.

 

When recess did come along, the entire class spilled out into the playground and Redrix quickly mixed in with his usual crowd. He wondered who Victor would choose to hang out with and was once again surprised when his best friend Craig and a few other boys went up to Victor and asked if he wanted to join them in a game of Dodge Ball. Victor nodded and led the boys onto the grassy area by the chain-link fence.

 

Craig stood in the center of the crowd and called out “Two team captains!”. A few boys jostled about, calling out to Craig who promptly picked two boys who had yelled out first. Benjamin and Leo went to stand on the opposite sides of the field and began to choose their teammates.

The first to be called was Victor, who casually joined Benjamin’s team with a slow grin that Redrix found annoying. The rest of the boys were chosen and Redrix found that he was against Victor. Excellent, he thought, I’ll knock him down in two seconds and see if he cries like a baby.

The game began and in less than a minute, Leo’s team had eliminated three of the other team’s players. Redrix grabbed the ball which had rolled in his direction and threw it as hard as he could at Victor. Much to his amazement, Victor caught the ball out of mid-air and quickly knocked out James, who had been standing close to Redrix. Lacey, who was standing by the swings with her group of girls, looked his way and smiled at him. He smiled back, just as another ball whizzed past his head. He looked at the person who had thrown it at him and caught Victor’s gaze. Victor gave him a slow grin and promptly disqualified another of his team member. Redrix found that he was the only one left from his team and immediately picked up a ball and put his determination to get rid of Victor once and for all.

But Victor seemed to move faster than Redrix could throw and kept right on smirking arrogantly. This made Redrix fume with anger and his throwing gradually got worse and worse. The other boys were shouting at him while Victor just kept on grinning.

“I’ll show you” Redrix mumbled, grabbing another ball and chucking it hard towards Victor’s face. The other boy caught the ball smoothly and threw it right back at Redrix, hitting him hard in the stomach and making him stumble back a few feet.

“Benji’s team wins!” Craig called from the sidelines, while Redrix still absorbed the shock of losing.

All the other boys came around to congratulate Victor, while Redrix was left alone to nurse his bruised gut. He watched as Craig slapped the enemy on the shoulder and how Adam, Jonas and Luke stood close and grinned at the new boy with interest.

The bell that signalled the end of recess rang from the school and the boys all trouped towards the side door.

“Good game” someone said beside his ear.

It was Victor.

Redrix nodded to him, keeping his calm and the other boy nodded right back.

“You play dodge ball real good, wish you were on my team next time” Victor added, before heading into the school.

Redrix stood by the doorway, watching Victor’s retreating back and glowed with the pride of what the other boy had just said.

“He doesn’t seem so bad after all” Redrix thought with a shrug and he followed the boys into the classroom.

*

November 3^rd 1981

 

 

Doreen Sable sat beside Victor in the lime booth, sipping her coke and trying not to spill some onto herself at the same time. Craig was seated beside Redrix, folding his napkin as many times as he could, his mind on last week’s fist fight against two ten year olds.

“Want some fries, honey?” Victor asked his date, who blushed and nodded. She pushed back her golden waves and smoothed out her white, pleated skirt with nervous hands. Victor kicked Craig from under the table and he promptly got up and went to the nearest waiter, asking for the fries.

Redrix turned away as Victor cuddled up to Doreen, kissing her neck, making her giggle.

“You like that, hmm” he mumbled, wrapping one arm around her coyly and planting his lips to her cheek.

Craig returned with a plate of fries and a ketchup bottle, offering them to Doreen who thanked him politely.

“So, baby, what do you want to do after this? Find a nice dark place and kiss?” Victor told her, making Doreen blush even more.

“I dunno” she responded in her chirpy voice, shrugging slightly.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll figure something out, don’t you worry about that”.

Redrix tried not to roll his eyes at Victor’s statement. His friend could be so cheesy with girls sometimes. He always came up with these blushing statements and was never shy to ask even the most straight-forward questions.

The four friends left the Hotdog Parlour once Doreen had finished her fries and coke and they headed down the street, towards Victor’s home. Redrix had only been there once before and he couldn’t wait to set his eyes on the place once more. It was always more obvious that Victor was rich when his friends saw all the things that he owned.

His house loomed into view, a breath-catching four storey Victorian Mansion on Elm Avenue. His parent’s cars were in the front drive; a powder blue 1964 Thunderbird and silver 1973 Mustang. The group turned past the iron gates and made their way to the front door. The butler let them inside and they trouped into the entrance, dropping their coats into the closet by the doorway.

“What will your parents say? Don’t they mind you bringing a girl home?” Doreen wondered anxiously.

“Don’t worry, baby, my parents don’t mind much. They trust me and that’s all that matters” Victor reassured her, taking her hand and leading her towards the marble staircase that led to the second landing. Craig and Redrix followed suit.

Victor’s bedroom was any boy’s dream room. It was decorated with dark mahogany furniture and a large bed with golden sheets. His bookcases were filled with comic books and Hardy boy’s novels and airplane models hung from his ceiling. His iguana rested in a tank by the window and Chester, his puppy, was lying at the foot of his bed, snoozing. An assortment of half-painted model cars laid on his desk, along with a black piggybank filled to the brim with wads of money and a green and blue lava lamp.

“Nice room Victor” Doreen said, peering curiously around at all the things surrounding her.

“Thanks darling, my parents spoil me rotten” was his smooth reply. That, at the least, was the truth. “Here, sit down” he added, pulling her onto the bed with him.

Redrix once again averted his eyes as Victor started to kiss her, toying with her long blonde hair. Craig was too busy observing the lava lamp to notice anything else.

 

“Vic-tor!” Doreen said, pulling away from him and blushing brightly. “What would your parents think if they walked in on us?”.

“They’d never do that. Don’t you worry Doreen, darling, my parents don’t mind what I do, as long as I’m home for supper” was Victor’s slick reply as he went to kiss her again. But Doreen pulled back, her eyes passing from Redrix to Craig.

Victor seemed to notice her hesitation and quickly announced “Could I have a few minutes, guys, please go out and explore the rest of the house, while I chat some more with my girl”.

Redrix knew there’d be much more than chatting to be done with Doreen, but simply took the chance to escape them gratefully and left the room; Craig soon following and Victor locked the door behind their retreating backs.

 

The two boys marched down the quiet, carpeted hallway and soon found themselves in a room covered wall-to-wall with bookcases and book shelves filled with all kinds of books.

“Must be their library” Craig grunted, peering at a few of the book’s titles without interest.

Redrix, on the other hand, had eyes for something at the complete end of the Library: a glass cabinet that stood out from all the other dark furniture.

“Wonder what that holds?” he said out loud.

Craig saw the cabinet too and chuckled.

“Obvious, isn’t it. Probably filled with booze” he said with a grin. “Come on, let’s go check it out”.

The boys hurried to the cabinet and Craig pulled open the door, which had a bronze handle and they both leaned in to see the contents. Craig had been right; it was packed with all sorts of liqueur.

“Wow, check this out Redrix. It’s a bottle of Sailor’s finest, imported from Spain. My father loves this stuff, but it’s so damn expensive. He told me they go for like $450 a pop” Craig whistled, impressed.

The cabinet also held pure Goldmine’s Vodka from Scotland, Blue Merlot from France and a small rare bottle of Jack Sprat’s, a native drink right from Australia.

“This load is amazing, my dad would go crazy just to see these” Craig said, pulling out the Vodka and admiring it. “You know what Redrix, I have an idea”.

“What’s that?”.

“Since Victor has all the money in the world, plus his parents don’t give a s**t what he does, why don’t we ask him to throw a party? We could drink all we wanted and our parents would never find out” Craig told his friend with glee.

Redrix’s mouth pulled into a grin also.

“You know, I like that idea, Craig, I think you’re on to something. But we’d have a real problem getting Victor to agree with it?”.

 

“And why’s that?” came a voice from the other end of the room. Both boys spun around and saw Victor leaning against the doorframe, holding Doreen with one arm around her slim waist. She still looked quite giggly and timid.

“Uh, Victor, um, we were just looking, promise, we didn’t touch anything” Craig stammered, closing the cabinet hastily and standing up.

“That’s fine, Craig, I know you wouldn’t mess around with my parents stash” Victor said with his usual sly grin. “Now about this party you mentioned, I like the idea. How about a Christmas party, a few days before the 25^th, invite those who won’t squeal and make it a date?” he added.

The other two boys let their jaw’s drop slightly.

“No need for that. Now, we’ll need to make a V.I.P list as soon as possible. Redrix, I want you to do it. Craig, you’re assigned to send out the invitations as soon as we’ve finished the list. It won’t be a formal affair, but I want it to be a descent one” Victor instructed, before turning on his heel and leading Doreen with him.

Once he was out of sight, Craig and Redrix faced each other, still shell-shocked.

“I can’t believe he said yes” Craig finally uttered.

“I know, it’s going to be the best Christmas ever” Redrix added and they both started laughing at their luck.

December 23^rd 1981

Victor’s Christmas Party

 

Snow could be seen trickling down from the cloudy sky as Redrix trudged up Main Street, toward Victor’s house. The air was crisp and cool and the smell of Christmas was just around the corner. He was whistling “Jingle-bells” under his breath and kicking slush from the sidewalk with ever second step.

He caught up with Craig just outside the front gates of Victor’s home and they both grinned at each other before heading up to the front door. Victor opened the door and let them in, before leading them quickly to the den in the basement. The place was decorated with red and green balloons, mistle-toes, tiny wreaths, golden bells and fake icicles around the window panes. There was a fire burning in the stone heath and an old record player was busy pouring out some Holiday music.

 

“So this is where it’s all going to happen” Victor informed them. “My parents will be out all night at a friend’s place in Richmond and won’t be back until early tomorrow morning. We have a nice fridge filled with beer and other drinks and plenty of snacks to last us the night. The butler and the maids are gone for today, so we won’t have anyone to bother us. We officially have the place to ourselves”.

Craig and Redrix cheered happily and the three boys immediately got ready for their guests to arrive. Redrix was stationed at the entrance, ready to get their friend’s coats and to welcome them inside. Craig was at the small bar downstairs, the barman for the night. Victor on the other hand was already seated in the best leather armchair, a Heineken in one hand, looking his usual dazzling charming way, waiting for his cue to begin the party entertainment.

 

The guests began to arrive around 7PM, a few minutes later. The first gang were girls that Victor knew from his club in Richmond.

“I’m Sally” said the pretty blonde with the pink dress, before introducing her other three friends to Redrix. “And this is Megan, Katherine and Michelle”. The other three girls had identically long brown hair and velvet skirts in various colours.

“Victor is waiting in the basement” Redrix told them with a grin.

“We’ll go join him them, don’t want to keep him waiting any longer” Sally responded, leading her troupe down to the party room.

Adam, Luke, Benjamin, Jonas and Leo arrived a few minutes after, each escorting a girl from class. Doreen and Lacey were amongst them, both dressed up in sparkly dresses with bows tied up neatly in their contrasting hair.

Lacey smiled at Redrix, nearly making him drop her coat, before joining her gang down to the basement.

A few more boys came a second later, also some of Victor’s friends from his club.

“This is Landon, Harold, Brandon and I’m Nathan” the oldest said. He looked around 13 or so, with steel gray eyes and a small blonde pony-tail. They were all donning leather jackets similar to the one Victor always wore.

The last to arrive was a boy and girl, both shockingly attractive and carrying bags filled with packages.

“Hey, call me Eddy, this is my girlfriend Ally” the boy told Redrix, shaking his hand warmly. Ally was tall and slim, with dark red hair that fell down to her waist in loose curls and a beautiful smile that gave her a small dimple to her left cheek. Eddy had raven black hair slicked back with gel and a whiff of his cologne told of something dark and exotic. The couple also disappeared down the stairs with the packages.

 

The guest count was done: twenty-three people, thirteen boys and ten beautiful girls. It was the biggest party Redrix had ever attended and he knew it would be the best one yet. He couldn’t wait to join the rest of the gang and so he quickly put the last coat away in the closet before heading down to the basement also.

 

The party was already in full swing when he got downstairs. The music was on so loudly that Redrix could barely hear himself think. He could see Victor dancing with a few girls and Craig was serving drinks to the Richmond boys.          

 

Reviews

[Mogan]

Good work! but I'd have to agree with Gen, 10 year old guys kissing girls? perhaps not, but imagine if you took the section that switched from september to november and made that a couple years later, 14 or so sounds appropriate if not a little early for their actions. But these are only suggestions, It is your masterpiece, verywell done indeed!

[GenMuffin7]

i love it so far, the story enraptures you and keeps you going, but are you sure you want for them to be 10 years old?

to me, 14 seems appropriate for the dialogue and the storyline itself.

keep it up!