It was around half-past-eleven as Judith left her cottage and set off for the church. The full moon shone brightly in the cloudless sky, and she had no difficulty in finding her way. For reasons no-one could quite remember, the church was situated on a small hill well outside the village itself, and the last part of the journey took her down a narrow lane overshadowed by high hedges of blackthorn. She tried to ignore the strange rustlings and squeaks in the undergrowth, although the loud “ter-wit” of an owl somewhere above her head almost made her turn back. But she thought of Deborah, frustrated and miserable, tossing and turning in her bed back in the village, and she pressed onwards. Now she had started, it would be shameful to turn back.

The lane curved left, and she could see the church in front of her, surrounded by a grove of trees. The squat tower was silhouetted against the moonlight, and she could just make out the ancient yew tree at its base; the tree that was her destination. Judith paused for a moment under the lych-gate at the entrance to the churchyard and said a prayer under her breath, then followed the path round to the base of the yew with its huge, twisted trunk. A small breeze whiffled through the branches, and Judith shivered slightly. Then she began to take off her clothes.

~~~~~~~

Judith had finally decided to act, after yet another afternoon spent in the fruitless task of trying to cheer up her best friend. Deborah’s unrequited love for Andrew, of which he appeared blissfully unaware, was the subject of endless gossip and speculation among the villagers, but the boy seemed unable to take the many hints thrown in his direction. Deborah was too shy to make the first move, and Andrew seemed interested only in carousing with his friends. All Deborah’s friends agreed that something had to be done, before she did something silly like throw herself off the bridge into the river, or a girl from a neighbouring village got to Andrew first.

All the locals knew the legends attached to the ancient yew tree in the churchyard. It was known as Adam’s Yew, a name that was generally held to be attributable to its great age, pre-dating the church by some hundreds of years. But there was another story, equally ancient, which told how many years ago a young man named Adam hanged himself from its branches after his betrothed betrayed him with another man shortly before their wedding day. Since then (so the story went) his spirit haunted the tree, and anyone who walked three times widdershins around it during a full moon, whilst repeating the name of another person, would gain power over the mind of that individual.

The young people of the village naturally scoffed at these “old wives’ tales” and affected to dismiss them as superstitious balderdash. They would go to the tree and dare each other to complete all three circuits. Most of them would get around twice and then get cold feet, and even when one of them successfully completed the third lap, the promised mind control failed to materialise.

But Judith had always secretly believed the stories. She had heard them first from her grandmother, who had lived in the village all her life, and who claimed they had been handed down from generations long forgotten, at a time when the tree was still young and the church had yet to be built. One reason why Judith believed them was that Grandma had told her another part of the story and had sworn her to secrecy.

“They all tell the tale about going round three times,” Grandma had said disparagingly, “but they forget, or don’t know, the three most important things. Firstly, you must go alone. And you must take with you your most precious possession and leave it there as an offering to the tree. Only then will you be granted control over another’s mind.”

“That’s only two things, Grandma,” Judith remembered saying. “What’s the third?”

There was a pause before Grandma leant over and whispered the final part of the ritual in Judith’s ear. “You’ve got to be naked when you do it!”

Judith remembered being so shocked at hearing her Grandma saying this, and then Grandma giggling at her reaction. But that would explain why it never worked for anyone. They always went in groups, they kept their clothes on, and they didn’t leave anything as an offering, precious or not. Maybe they didn’t have anything that precious anyway.

But Judith did. It was a necklace, and it was the last thing given to her by her mother before she died of consumption, when Judith was just 12 years old. It was more precious to her than anything. But Deborah was her best friend, and every time she saw her upset, it almost broke her heart. And, she reasoned, if the ritual didn’t work, she could always go back and retrieve the necklace anyway.

~~~~~~~~

And now here she was. The air was cool, and she shivered slightly as she took off her shoes, followed by her dress, vest, and drawers. The pale moonlight bathed her naked body in an otherworldly glow, her bronzed face, arms, and legs contrasting sharply with the bare pallid skin normally covered by her rough clothes. Her skin was covered in little goosebumps, and her nipples were hard, although that might have been partly the secret thrill she felt at being naked in the churchyard. The vicar would certainly not approve.

At that moment, the old, cracked church bell began to strike twelve. It was time for the ritual to begin. She took the precious necklace and looked at it one last time, remembering her mother’s trembling hands as she handed it to Judith. But the necklace was just an object. She would always have her memories, and she so wanted to make Deborah happy. Then she took a deep breath and began to walk counter-clockwise around the tree, clasping the necklace and whispering the name – Andrew Cooper, Andrew Cooper, Andrew Cooper – as she went.

One circuit; two; then starting the third. Was it her imagination, or was there something moving in the midst of the yew-tree? No, surely it was just the wind playing with the branches.

Andrew Cooper, Andrew Cooper.

The final circuit was complete.

Nothing happened.

At first, Judith felt disappointment, then annoyance at herself for believing her Grandma’s old stories. How could she have been so childish? She was about to retrieve her clothes and go back to her home when it happened.

A small flicker of bluish light appeared in front of her eyes. Quickly it grew, extending vertically to form a scintillating column, before coalescing to form a head, then two arms and legs. Within a minute it had taken on a fully human form, albeit one made of shimmering blue. Like her, it was unclothed, but the large dangling member between its legs identified it as definitely male.

Without a word, the glowing figure stretched out a hand towards her, palm up. It was clear that he wanted the necklace. Heart beating, she placed it in his hand. He drew it towards him and looked at it long and hard, as if he were assessing its value. Then at last he smiled and looked at her. His lips didn’t move, but she heard his voice in her head as clear as a bell.

“Your offering is accepted. Andrew Cooper’s mind is yours.”

“But how...?”

The apparition held out a sprig of yew.

“Take this and touch his skin with it. Then his mind is yours for the rest of that day, until the sun sets in the west.”

Judith took the sprig cautiously, and it glowed briefly with blue light.

“Thank you,” she stammered, and the apparition smiled again.

“Use the gift wisely,” he cautioned, before shimmering out of existence.

Suddenly the night felt very cold. Judith dressed quickly, secreting the yew-twig in her pocket, and returned to the village. She wasn’t entirely sure how the mind control would work, but she hoped that it would become clear as soon as she had touched Andrew with the enchanted sprig. She was confident that as soon as she had filled his mind with the idea that he loved Deborah, everything would be fine.

~~~~~~~~

The opportunity she had been looking for came on the following Sunday. After morning church, the young people of the village were customarily granted a few hours to amuse themselves in any way they wished. Judith knew that Andrew usually joined the other village boys in an improvised game of football, but as long as she was able to catch him before the game started, his mind would be hers for the afternoon; assuming the enchantment worked, of course.

Immediately after church, Judith took Deborah by the arm and dragged her off towards the field by the river, where the boys normally played. Sure enough, Andrew was there, talking with his friends.

“Come on, I want to ask Andrew something,” said Judith. Deborah blushed and shook her head, trying to pull her friend away, but Judith was having none of it.

“You wait here, then,” she said, “I’ll only be a minute, just don’t go anywhere.”

She went over, taking the sprig of yew out of her pocket. Creeping up behind Andrew, she brushed it lightly against his bare arm. There was a flicker of blue light, and suddenly she found herself inside Andrew’s mind. It was as if she was looking out on the world through his eyes and hearing it through his ears. The spell had worked. Weirdly, through Andrew’s eyes she could see her own body stepping back from him, but she no longer had any mental control over it.

“Come on Andrew, let’s get the game started.” It was Aaron, one of the other lads.

Andrew spoke, but it was Judith’s mind which formed the words that came out of his mouth.

“Nah, you start without me, I need to go talk to Deborah,” he said.

Judith heard the raucous laughter, the ribald comments, as Andrew turned and walked over to where Deborah was sitting on a tuffet chewing on a piece of grass.

He opened his mouth, and the words Judith wanted him to say came out.

“Hey, Deborah, how are you?”

Deborah looked amazed, and turned as if about to run, but Andrew reached out and took her arm.

“Please, don’t go,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you for ages, but I wasn’t sure you wanted me to.”

“I, I, I wasn’t sure you wanted to either,” stammered Deborah, but at least she wasn’t trying to pull her arm away.

This was all going even better than Judith had hoped. She thought quickly: what should Andrew say next? Maybe she needed to get him away from the football, in case the other boys tried to drag him back to the game.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” she made him say. “We could go over to Lower Reedings Meadow.” Lower Reedings was a quiet spot, away from the village, and she was confident that this would give Deborah the chance to lose her shyness and get into a proper conversation.

“Okay,” agreed Deborah, and the two (or was it three?) of them walked off across the grass and down the river. It was simple for Judith to make Andrew reach out and take Deborah’s hand.

“I’ve been wanting to speak to you for ages,” he said, as she put the thought into his mind. “But I was afraid you wouldn’t want to.”

Deborah blushed. “I felt the same,” she admitted, squeezing his hand. “I thought you weren’t interested. But now I feel so silly.”

Soon they were at Lower Reedings. The grass was long and dappled with wildflowers. It was an idyllic spot. Andrew turned and looked at Deborah, then took her in his arms and kissed her. Judith suddenly felt a little weird; she could feel Deborah’s soft lips pressed against Andrew’s mouth as if they were her own, and a strange tingle began to travel through his body. The sensation of kissing was always pleasurable, and when done with boys usually led to moisture welling up between her legs, but now the effect was rather different. She could feel an unfamiliar stirring between below. It was Andrew’s penis, and it was starting to get hard.

Judith was no virgin. She had fucked several of the village lads, a couple of them in this very meadow, and she knew what a swelling prick normally led to. She tried to mentally force it to get soft again, but that just seemed to make it harder.  This physical arousal was clearly something beyond the control of a man’s mind.

And to make matters worse, Deborah had noticed it too.

“Oh Andrew, you naughty boy,” she murmured, and to Judith’s surprise put her hand on the unmistakable swelling and began to rub it. Then, without hesitation, she loosened the cord round Andrew’s waist and pulled down the front of his trousers.

Judith looked down through Andrew’s eyes as his tumescent prick popped out. It didn’t look completely hard yet but was still an impressive specimen, the head already emerging from its protective fold of skin.

Deborah was impressed too. With a gleeful smile she took it in her hand and began to fondle it gently. Judith wasn’t sure if Deborah was still a virgin or not, but she certainly knew how to handle a prick. She stroked her hand up and down the shaft, then sank onto her knees and took the smooth head in her mouth.

Andrew let out a sigh of pleasure, and Judith’s mind began to spin. She could feel Deborah’s tongue swirling around Andrew’s rod, lips enclosing the sensitive knob. Is this what all the boys experienced when she was sucking their pricks? If so, no wonder they all wanted her to do it so often.

She felt Andrew should probably reciprocate in some way. She made him reach down and cup Deborah’s large firm breasts in his hands, stroking and squeezing them. She felt an excited thrill when she found Deborah’s nipples and realised how hard and aroused they were. Deborah began to purr in her throat and suck harder on Andrew’s prick. She was obviously enjoying it too.

Then Deborah allowed Andrew’s prick to slip out of her mouth, slick with her saliva.

“Why don’t you play with them properly?” she said, and quickly pulled her smock over her head. Underneath, she was completely naked, and Judith gazed at her friend’s bare breasts and the dark little patch of hair between her legs. She felt an excited thrill surge through Andrew’s body, and his prick positively tingled.

And what was weirdest (but most wonderful) of all, she felt real desire for Deborah fill her mind. She wanted her friend so much, and the desire to fuck her was so overwhelming that she almost fainted on the spot. She allowed her own desires to take over and simply did what she wanted to do. In no time at all Andrew had removed all his clothes too, and he and Deborah were lying together in the long grass.

Andrew fondled Deborah’s large breasts enthusiastically, then lowered his head and began to lick and kiss the firm mounds. He sucked on the nipples and licked at the dark areolae, which were covered in little dimples that rose up like goosebumps. Judith loved the sensation as Andrew’s tongue flickered across them.

Deborah was moaning with pleasure. “Oh Andrew, that’s so good,” she murmured, “I want you so much.” She was rubbing her plump mound against Andrew’s erect prick, and Judith could feel the hairs tickling his shaft. His prick was rock hard now, with thick blood-gorged veins running down the shaft, and there was only one place it was going now.

Andrew put his hands on Deborah’s thighs and spread them apart. Judith found herself staring at her friend’s gaping sex, the folds of her lips glistening with juices, so welcoming, so ready.

“I want you too,” he said. “Can I do it?”

“Yes, fuck me,” gasped Deborah, and Judith watched as the smooth shiny head of Andrew’s prick parted the lips. He moved in slowly, savouring the moment, and with a little pop the knob was inside. Then he eased forward, and the whole of his shaft slipped in, right up to his balls. Finally, he began to fuck in earnest, pulling his prick almost all the way out each time before thrusting it back inside. Judith could hear the familiar “schlup, slurp, schlup, slurp” of Deborah’s juices being squeezed out of her by the thick shaft.

So, this was what it felt like to be a man fucking a woman. It was pretty amazing, decided Judith. The feeling of actually being inside Deborah’s body was so arousing, especially when her friend squeezed the muscles of her wet passage tight against Andrew’s prick. She was clearly no virgin and appeared to be enjoying herself as much as Judith always did when she was being fucked.

Then Judith felt a sensation unlike anything she had felt before, even more intense than the thrill she felt when rubbing at the hard little bud between her legs. She knew Andrew was about to ejaculate, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. His cock thrust twice more, then with a cry he spent his seed inside Deborah’s tight passage, filling her with spurt after spurt of thick white cream.

Deborah cried out with pleasure too, and hugged Andrew to her bosom as the last few gobbets of semen dribbled out of his prick. At last he rolled off her, and his prick slipped out, coated in a shiny layer of their intermingled juices. Judith felt drained and almost deflated after Andrew’s orgasm, but the sight of Deborah’s naked body, flushed and glistening with perspiration, began to rekindle feelings of arousal and desire.

“Oh heavens, don’t men ever stop wanting to fuck?” she thought.

But it seemed as if Deborah didn’t want to stop either. She began to kiss Andrew’s body all over, and Judith felt his prick starting...