I’d been expecting to receive a phone call from Josie’s mother ever since I spoke to Jean last Thursday. After all, I would never let Denise go to stay with another family unless I’d first discussed the arrangements at some length with the adults concerned. So it was no surprise when a woman rang this morning and introduced herself as Carol Sharp, Josie’s mother. She sounded a little anxious about how her daughter would get on, if she were to come to stay.

‘May I call you Carol?’ I asked.

‘Yes of course, please do.’

‘Good, and please call me Alice. Well, Carol, we have plenty of room to put up two girls so as long as you don’t mind her sharing a room with Karen, she should be fine.’

‘I know but …,’

She hesitated for a moment so I continued with my sales pitch.

‘Travel to and from Crawley won’t be a problem, as my husband will be driving up next Friday, and returning ten days later. Our holiday home is just outside of Llangollen, which is lovely at this time of the year. It is a quiet and peaceful part of the country and there are lots of places to visit nearby.’

I heard her sigh.

‘Alice, I would like Josie to get away from Crawley for a little while, but there is a complication, and one that I don’t feel I can easily discuss it with you over the phone. I happen to be staying in Southport at the moment, which is only about seventy miles from you. Would there be any chance that I could drive over and have a confidential chat with you this afternoon, before I make my decision?’

‘I suppose so,’ I replied, a little surprised by the need for such elaborate preparation. ‘Denise and her father are visiting my mother-in-law today, and I’d intended to take the bus and train to Chester this afternoon. Could we meet up there, as that would save twenty miles from your journey?’

‘That would suit me fine, thank you. Would five o’clock be alright?’

‘Yes, that will give me the opportunity of doing some shopping first. Do you know the ‘Mad Hatters Tea Room’ in Bridge Street Row?’

’No, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find it. I’ll see you there at five.’

Carol proved to be a fairly smart, business-like sort of woman, who was sitting at a table reading some printed papers as I arrived five minutes late and laden with my shopping bags. She looked up and smiled.

‘Alice?’

‘Yes, hi Carol, I’m sorry I’m a little late.’

‘No problem. I’ve ordered a pot of tea. Would that be ok for you as well?’

We spent a couple of minutes on the usual social chit chat whilst the tea arrived and was poured, I then looked at her expectantly and smiled.

‘Alice, I need to tell you some information that is important to the welfare of my child. Can I rely on your discretion, irrespective of what we both may decide to do this afternoon?’

‘I would hope so.’

‘You see Josie isn’t exactly my daughter,’ she said, struggling for the right way to put it.

‘Oh! I thought you said that you were her mother?’

‘I am the mother, but Josie isn’t my daughter … Joe is, or at least was, my son.’

‘Oh!’ I re-iterated, not knowing what else to say.

My older sister’s younger son had announced that he wanted to transition and live as a woman about five years ago when he was eighteen, but despite more than three years on hormones and a couple of operations my niece still showed slight traces of her original gender. It was certainly not the same situation as the young girl with a sweet smile who’d borrowed Denise’s dress and then offered to help me get the tea ready last week.

‘Josie seems to have been undergoing a major identity crisis over the last couple of weeks and says that she wants to continue living as a girl. It all started when Denise had to drop out of that competition and then his sister and the twins persuaded him to fill in for her.’

‘His sister?’

‘Yes, perhaps I should have explained, I am Jenny’s mother, Joe’s her brother.’

‘Did Denise know about this scheme to substitute Joe in her place?’

‘I believe so.’

‘Oh! So it is also partly her fault, as well?’

‘No, I didn’t mean to imply that. In any event the question of ‘fault’ doesn’t really come into it. This is the way things have turned out.’

‘But she was also expecting to pass Josie off as a girl when she came to stay.’

‘Josie doesn’t know anything about your invitation, as yet. I think it was a scheme cooked up between Karen and Denise.’

‘No actually it was my suggestion, as Josie struck me as being a well-behaved and sensible sort of girl who gets on well with Denise, and would be a good influence,’ I replied. ‘I’d absolutely no idea that there was anything unusual about her.’

‘I suppose Karen and Denise assumed that since Josie had done so well at the convention she’d be able to keep up with the pretence, but there was no way that I would allow the visit to take place without your knowing.’

‘I shall be having a few words with my daughter later on.’

‘I hope you won’t be too hard on her. I think they were only trying to help Josie.’

‘I suppose so, but what are you intending to do?’ I asked.

‘I’m not sure what to do. I need some time to take advice on the best way forward, but if my former son is determined to live as a girl, I’d rather she did so away from Crawley, at least for the time being. Your invitation would be something of a godsend, if it were still open, but I can hardly expect you to agree to her staying now that you know the whole story.’

There was a trace of anxiety beginning to show in her voice.

‘Does Jean know the full story?’

‘Yes, she does. Having Josie substitute for Denise was the only way we could think of to enable Jenny and the twins to continue with their competition entry. We’d no idea that there might be longer term consequences for Josie.’

‘Would Jean be happy about her daughter and Josie sharing a bedroom?’

‘Oh yes. They shared a hotel room at the convention.’

I thought about the implications for a moment before answering.

‘In that case, Carol, I don’t see that so much has changed since I first invited her. So long as your child is willing to remain as Josie for the duration of her visit, I don’t see why she shouldn’t come and stay.’

‘Really! That would be a great help to me if she could.’

‘I’m glad you have told me the whole story, but I’m not sure what to say to Denise’s father as it might worry him. I think we may have to keep this information on a ‘need to know’ basis, don’t you?’

She smiled at me.

‘I would prefer that as few people knew the details as possible, but I will leave it for you to decide.’

‘So Karen and Josie will come back with my husband next Friday after his meeting.’

‘Yes. Both girls are with me at present. They will be travelling back with me on Tuesday, so it will just be a question of keeping Josie out of the public eye for a few days.

‘Will you be travelling anywhere near Llangollen on Tuesday?’ I asked

‘We could make a detour.’

‘In that case you would be welcome to drop them off on Tuesday. That way they would have almost a full fortnight in Wales.’

‘I’ll need to talk to the girls tonight and see what they think, and also talk to Jean. Maybe I could phone you tomorrow morning?’

‘Alright then.’

‘Alice, I’m really grateful for your help.’

‘Think nothing of it, I’ll be happy to have your daughter stay.’

‘I should warn you that she’ll probably be wearing some of Denise’s dresses,’ said Carol smiling. ‘She’s turned into quite a little girly-girl but I’ll leave her some money to get herself some new clothes.’

‘I was glad to see that some of Denise’s dresses have found a good home, and I’m sure the other two will enjoy helping her to choose some more things to wear.’

We finished our tea and Carol returned to her car. I made my way to the railway station with my shopping, but decided to take a taxi home from Ruabon station rather than take the bus as it would give me more opportunity to think about what I’d just heard. I shall certainly be having a quiet word with Denise when she gets back tonight, but I’m also quite looking forward to the prospect of having the two teenagers stay, as well.