- What kind of new madness is she preparing me for now ?Thought Helen. Helen did as she was ordered, and stood to attention. There was s soft humming...oise and a very strange looking machine was lowered from the ceiling. GB cameclose to her and bend down to her ankles. She produced a wide leather strapand closed it around Helen's delicate ankles and tied the straps tightly. Shedid the same with other straps just below Helen's knees and just above theknees. Then tightly fastened a wider strap. He had even been recognised in the street, but thankfully only in London, not in Oxford where he lived. His latest novel had just been published to much praise and he didn't have to start work on another until after the summer. So he wasn't concerned when his mother-in-law called and said she needed a minor operation and could Sara come to stay for a week to look after her father? Sara wasn't sure but Philip told her he and Lisa would be fine."Just look after your parents," he told his wife,. “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept pets.”The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.“Excuse me!” he called to the man. “Do you have any water?”“Yeah, sure,. Their parents had won a weekend trip to a popular musical in London. They couldn't go because they couldn't get a baby-sitter for Louisa and her brother. That was when she suggested that maybe they could stay with Jessica for the three nights. I agreed, happy to be able to help someone out.The two kids were driven over by their father whom I had met at teachers meetings on occasions but never got to know that well. He was constantly thanking me for baby-sitting their children. He and his wife.