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Running Scared

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Chapter 6

Previously...

The double doors of the mansion suddenly opened and a lady came out accompanied by a dog. A Labradoodle, I think. To the right of the mansion were several large trees. In those trees were some birds. The birds took flight and disappeared over the lake and into the far distance. The lake appeared to have lost its swans and ducks too.

Very strange.

The lady was bizarrely carrying a doubled barrelled shotgun. She looked like she was anything between fifty and a hundred years, but she was very sprightly, whatever her age. She looked like she had just got back from the Queens Garden Party, only I don’t think that you are allowed to have shotguns at functions like that. Behind her, was a man that looked a bit like what I think a butler looked like. He seemed harassed for some reason.

The lady strode over to the car and pulled the passenger car door open.

‘You’re here then? What kept yer?’ Anyway, welcome ter Penmarris.’

‘Hello Auntie Dotty,’ said Stephanie in a world-weary voice.

And now the story continues...

I was puzzled, so was Suzie. What were we doing there? Who was this Dotty character, she looked larger than life and a bit intimidating to say the least.

Claire got out of the car, followed by a struggling Steph and then Suzie and me.

This Dotty person then took charge.

‘Hello young Claire, what the hell have yer bein’ doin’ with yerself now. Got inter trouble again? I remember when you were a little sprog, yer went orf with me second best pony and jumped her over half a dozen fences and hedges before fallin’ a over t and comin back with yer tail between yer legs. It took Beecham two hours to find the pony, he nearly ended up in Cornwall.’

‘Hello Auntie Dotty,’ said Claire in a tired voice, ‘this is Jennifer and Suzie.’

Her eyes fell on us. She didn’t look amused. I was a bit scared of her, but Suzie just seemed to take it all in her stride.

‘Nice place,’ she said, looking around, chewing bubblegum and making a large bubble.

‘Hmm,’ replied the Dotty person, ‘Are you American?’

‘What? No English,’ said Suzie.

‘Eisenhower used ter chew gum. Told him it would rot his teeth.’

‘Who’s Isenthingie?’

Miss or Mrs Dotty sighed and turned her somewhat jaundiced eyes on me.

‘Jennifer?’

‘Yes Ma’am.’

‘None of that Ma’am nonsense. You may call me Auntie Dotty. Not that I am dotty, as sane as anyone else, it’s just my nickname from school. Well Stephanie, what the hell have yer done with yer leg?’

‘Broke it Auntie.’

‘Bloody stupid thing ter do. But yer always was clumsy. Anyway, enough of this politeness, you had better all come in. Jenkins, get the cases sorted out.’

‘Yes, milady,’ replied the unflappable looking butler type.

As we all trooped in, I looked at Steph who was hanging back a bit, not helped by the fact that she was hindered by her crutches.

I fell behind to speak to her.

‘God, she’s scary,’ I said.

‘Her bite’s much worse than her bark,’ said Stephanie.

‘Shouldn’t that be the other way around?’

‘No.’

Steph would not elaborate and we went inside the house, mansion, whatever.

The hall was like one of those National Trust places that Daddy used to drag us around when he felt that we needed a bit of culture. There were huge ceilings painted with cherubs and other religiousy things, marble pillars and floors, and an impressive looking sweeping staircase. I would not have been surprised to see a gaggle of camera-toting Japanese tourists with a guide holding a brightly coloured umbrella over his or her head...

‘Don’t dawdle,’ barked erm, Auntie Dotty, who strode on ahead, her Labrawhatsit keeping pace with her.

Just then, I looked up as a girl came into view, sliding down the bannisters at an alarming rate, making a sort of whooping noise and braking to a stop just before hitting the bobbly thing at the end.

‘Sarah Fairbairn, what the hell are yer doin’?

The girl brushed down her skirt and looking up and grinned.

‘Sorry Mummy, I must have slipped.’

‘Yer walk down the stairs girl, that was what it was made fer.’

‘You used to do it when you were a kid, the gardener told me.’

‘Never mind that. We have guests.’

‘Oh, hello you lot. Auntie Claire, Stephanie.’

She turned to Suzie and me.

‘I’m Sarah, you must be Jennifer and Suzie.’

‘Yes,’ I replied. Suzie just blew another gum bubble and nodded.

I wondered what had gotten into her; she was behaving like a brat.

‘Sarah, why don’t you show the girls to their rooms while I chat ter Claire?’

‘OK Mummy, come on you lot.’

With that, she rushed off upstairs and we followed, trying to keep up. Steph, bless her, was struggling to get up the stairs and I noticed that the butler was helping her otherwise I, being a nice person, would have assisted her like the Good Samaritan that was.

I tried to speak to Suzie as we walked or shall I say nearly ran up the stairs to keep in touch with the rapidly disappearing Sarah, but she was having none of it and just shook her head and blew another one of her damned bubbles! Then she scowled and looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Sisters eh?

The house, sorry mansion was huge, I wondered how many rooms it had. We went along corridors with sombre pictures of what I assumed were long-deceased relatives on the walls and I marvelled how plush the whole place was. The floors were thickly carpeted and the walls and ceilings were expensively decorated. It all must have been hell to clean!

Sarah came back to find us.

‘Come on you lot,’ she said impatiently.

I wondered why she was in a hurry. Eventually, we came to the end of a corridor and she opened one of the doors.

‘This is yours Suzie,’

Suzie mumbled her thanks and went into the room and slammed the door behind her.

‘What’s up with her?’ asked Sarah.

I just shrugged my shoulders. I had no idea what had gotten into her, she was normally nice, friendly and cheerful. At the moment she was like a bear with a sore head.

‘Anyway, this is your room,’ she said as she opened the next door along.

‘I’m across the hall and Steph is next to me. We can have a good chat when the olds have gone to bed. They are on the next floor above and we shouldn’t be disturbed. I do hate it when the olds tell us to go to bed at an ungodly hour like 10 o’clock. They stay up later and I don’t see why we can’t too. Anyway, I have to go and see Mummy; I’ll see you later when you’ve settled in. I think that Cook has arranged some sort of supper, so I’ll go and find out about that too. I don’t know, always on the go.’

She turned away and then, looked back.

‘You might want to go and see what’s up with your sister. She’s got a bit of an attitude prob and that’s a bit thick coming from me!’

With that, she smiled and scooted off at a hundred miles an hour. I wondered if that girl could actually walk anywhere!

It was a nice room, quite light and airy, not dark and dismal like you would expect in a place like this. The bed was large, a double and when I sat on it, it was nice and soft. When I went into the en-suite (yes it one of those too –cool or what?) it was all plush marble and had a roll-top bath, a shower and all the usual stuff, all done in the best possible taste. I could get used to all this.

Somehow, my bags had been put into the room. I didn’t know how that happened as we had only just arrived and we were shown up to our rooms as soon as we got here. Maybe some secret short cuts used by staff on motorbikes? I didn’t know, but I was well impressed!

You might think that I had stopped worrying about Daddy. Well, I hadn’t and thoughts of him and where he might be was at the back of my mind all the time. I was just trying to stay positive, hard though that was. I did wonder if that was why Suzie was acting the way she was and I decided that it was about time I went to see her.

I went over and opened the door and then went down the short corridor to next door.

I knocked and tried to enter. The door was locked.

‘Suzie.’ I called out.

‘Go away!’

She sounded upset.

‘Suzie, open the door, please.’

‘No. erm go and get Claire, please!’

I felt hurt at that. We were close, very close and she preferred Claire rather than me.

‘OK,’ I said sadly, turning away.

As I went downstairs, I got a bit lost but there were a few people about that I took to be servants or footmen and I was soon pointed in the right direction.

I think that I needed to get a scooter or something, as the place was humongous. Anyway, after walking several miles (well it seemed that way), I arrived at a door where yet another servant type was standing outside and looking a bit bored.

I could hear Auntie Dotty through the door as she had a voice that could cut through fog.

‘…so I said to Lilibet, you shouldn’t take any nonsense from Phillip, he’s only a man…’

The Footman or whatever opened the door.

‘Miss Jennifer, ma’am.’

I liked that, it sounded a bit posh like, you know?

‘Come in then, don’t stand outside like a flamin’ lurker.’

I went in.

It was a large room. Every room seemed large, heck, even the toilets were huge. Anyway, it appeared to be a library, well it had loads of books. Bit of a giveaway that.

Claire was sitting by the fireplace on a deep sofa and opposite her was Auntie Dotty who looked at me enquiringly.

‘Settled in then? Like the room? Good, now what are ye after. Has that pest Sarah been up ter her tricks again? That girl should be put to the stocks for what she puts me through. I didn’t have as much grey hair on me head before she came ter me…enough of that.’

I looked at Claire; she seemed happy enough to be there and didn’t seem fazed by what Auntie Dotty said.

‘Erm Claire, Suzie wants you?’

‘Oh why, is there something wrong?’

‘I don't know, she doesn’t want to talk to me, she won’t even open the door.’

‘I’ll go up, sorry Auntie.’

‘No problem, go and see what’s up with the child. IN my day Nanny world have sorted her out. Come and sit down Jennifer and let’s have a little chat.’

I felt a bit like Little Red Riding Hood having an unpleasant encounter with The Big Bad wolf.

She tapped on the seat next to her with a bejewelled hand and with some foreboding, if that’s the word, I sat beside her, tucking my skirt under me as a good girl should.

‘Right, are ye settling in all right?’

‘Yes thank you Ma’am.’

‘I told yer ter call me Auntie Dotty, are ye deaf or something?’

I think that I had been bottling up for a long time, what with all that had happened to Suzie and me. The worry about Daddy and then having to try to keep out of the clutches of I didn’t know who. The constant pressure on my shoulders and now Suzie throwing a wobbly and not speaking to me, all took their toll and I just burst into tears.

I held my head in my hands and rocked backwards and forwards. It was all too much and now the lady, who I didn’t know from Adam or Eve come to that, was speaking to me sharply. I cried my eyes out.

Suddenly I was being held and I just sunk into a soft embrace.

‘There, there Dear, don’t mind me, I didn’t mean to be sharp. It’s just my way of speakin’. I know that you have been through it. Don’t worry, yer safe here, I won’t let anybody get ter yer. I’m sure yer fathers is safe. From what I’ve heard, he knows how ter handle himself…’

She said a lot more, much of which I didn’t take in fully, but I felt her kindness and from that point on, I started to like her and not feel afraid. It wasn’t as Samantha said, her bark was much worse than her bite, not the other way around.

After a bit, I pulled myself together and I had a cup of tea. Proper bone china with a cup and saucer, not a mug, never a mug.

Auntie sipped her tea and then looked at me.

‘Feelin’ a bit better?’

‘Yes thanks Auntie.’

‘That’s the ticket. Now, I’ve heard from Claire about yer problems but would yer care ter tell me?’

She seemed to care and I was sure that Claire would have told her about my somewhat unique situation, but I told her everything. It helped to talk and I needed to unburden myself and she had a sympathetic ear, once you went beneath the surface shell of her rather weird personality.

‘You erm, know that I’m officially in the eyes of the law, a boy?’

‘Yes, Claire told me, but I don’t see any signs of a boy. How long have yer felt like this?’

‘Since I was little. I can’t say exactly when I knew that I was sort of in the wrong body. I suppose that it crept up on me. I was sad that people were treating me as a boy when I always knew deep inside that I was a girl and I always would be, no matter what the world thought.’

‘I heard about yer mother, sorry ter hear that. Yer father knows about you then?’

‘Yes, it was a surprise, he told me in the letter he wrote after he…he…’

I’m afraid that I broke down again. All this girlie crying was all very well, but it does break up the conversation a bit.

‘So Jennifer, you have had ter cope with yer gender problems and then on top of that yer father bein’ chased around the country and you worryin’ about whether you and yer sister might be caught up in all the mess?’

I nodded, not wanting to speak about it.

‘Right young lady, let me tell yer this, you are safe here and you will love it. Penmarris is a great place ter stay and everyone is friendly and will look after yer back. We have plenty of support and yer never need worry about any nasties getting to yer. For the time bein’ no-one other than the people here knows who yer are and that is the way we’ll keep it until we know it’s safe for yer. As far as anyone else is concerned, you and Suzie are my great-nieces, as is Stephanie. You have come to stay with me for a while.’

‘Thank you Auntie,’ I replied giving her a hug.

‘Enough of that young Jennifer, the staff might walk in and I have ter keep up appearances, now, shove off and get yerself settled fer the night. Yer look all done in.’

I kissed her on the cheek, got up and ran off. Just stopping at the door and turning back.

‘I think that you are very nice but you shouldn’t try to kill moles.’

I shut the door quickly and I think that I heard her laugh!

I went back upstairs, only getting lost once. I managed to find my room though and I was just about to go in when…

‘Jen, there you are, how did you get on with Auntie?’

I turned to see Stephanie coming out of her room.

‘She’s nice and she listened to me when I started to get upset.’

‘Yes, she can be sweet, but don’t get on her wrong side; she’s scarier than the scariest thing you can think of.’

‘OK, I’ll remember that – I think.’

‘Where’s Suzie?’

‘In her bedroom with your mum.’

‘Wonder what that’s about. Mind you, Suze is acting a bit strange…I wonder?’

‘What?’

‘Never mind; is your room all right?’

‘Yes, it’s neat.’ I replied, noting the swift change of subject.

‘Mmm, not bad this place for an ancient pile. Anyway, I have to go and see Mrs Bridges, the cook. She keeps forgetting that I don’t like greens.’

‘Do you come here often?’

‘Only when I have to. Mind you, the gang are good?’

‘Who are the gang?’

‘Oh, you’ll meet then sometime soon. They are the kids who live in the village and of course, there’s Sarah, Auntie’s daughter, she’s a laugh,’

‘So Auntie is really your Aunt?’

‘No, Great Aunt. Mum’s her niece.’

‘It's all confusing.’

‘Tell me about it. Anyway, see you later.’

I watched her clump off on her crutches, then I went into my room and closed the door. Going over to the window, I looked out at the scenery, but my mind was more about Suzie. I was quite worried about her and didn’t know what to do. I sort of promised Daddy that I would look after her and I felt that I was letting her down a bit. Also, I admitted to myself that I was a bit jealous of Claire as Suze wanted to see her and not me. Silly, I know, but that was the way it was.

I sat on the bed feeling a bit sorry for myself. Things were not going too well. Alright, we appeared to be safe in this lovely place, but I was so worried about Daddy and now Suzie. Why were things so difficult…

There was a knock on the door.

‘Come in.’

The door opened and Claire walked.

‘Hi Jen, are you OK?’

‘Yes, I suppose.’ I replied, not able to keep the sadness out of my voice.

‘Worried about Suzie?’

‘Mmm.’

She came over and sat on the bed beside me.

‘Suzie isn’t feeling herself at the moment.’

‘Is she ill?’ I asked in alarm.

‘No, well she doesn’t feel very bright but that is because she is having her first monthly visitor.’

I felt a stab of fear.

‘Sorry, what visitor is that? No-one knows we are here!’

She smiled.

‘Not that kind of visitor. Do you know what periods are?’

‘Periods, what… oh. She’s too young isn’t she?’

‘No, she’s about the right age, some are younger and some are older. That is why she’s been a bit off. The poor kid doesn’t know if she’s coming or going.’

I felt so sorry for Suzie. It was the one part of being a girl that I would definitely not miss. Alright, I would like to be a mother and that is what you need to go through to be a birth mother, but I would just be as happy to adopt. There are so many kids who don't have parents for one reason or another, anyway enough of that. This was about Suzie, not me.

‘She was embarrassed to tell you. Not because she didn’t love or trust you, but because she wasn’t sure what to do and didn’t have a mum to talk to and give her instructions. She did learn a lot at school, but evidently, she missed out on that part of the birds and bees lessons because she had the mumps. All she had to go on was what the girls told her and she didn’t believe them as it all seemed far fetched. She did go online but got scared away by the horror stories. Google isn’t always your friend.’

‘Tell me about it. I looked at some horrid things online about trans problems. I got very embarrassed at some of the sites I came across. Poor Suze. Is she OK now?’

‘Yes, I’ve put her straight and given her some things. Don’t pay any attention to her being a bit grumpy for the next few days.’

Just then, Stephanie barged in, her crutches clomping, if that is the word, noisily on the polished wooden floor.

‘Stephanie, you should knock?’ said Claire.

‘Yeah, I know, whatever. So what’s the gos?’

‘Gos?’

‘Yea, gos, you know gossip.’

‘Never mind that. Have you put all your clothes away and is your room tidy?’

‘Of course.’

‘So if I go in there now, it will be all clean and tidy?’

‘Erm, I gotta go, something to do.’

With that, she left in a bit of a hurry.

Claire shook her head, mumbled something under her breath and then turned to me.

‘Have a nice chat with Auntie Dotty?’

‘Yes, she nice under that hard shell.’

‘Yes, she’s been good to me and a lot of others hereabouts. It's nice that she’s agreed to put us up.’

Just then, a mobile started ringing.

We both looked around. On the bedside cabinet, my burner phone was ringing and vibrating.

I stood up and went over to it.

The screen said, unknown caller.

‘Shall I answer it?’

‘Yes, there is only one person other than us who knows that number.’

With shaking hands, I picked the phone up and pressed the answer button.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi Jennifer, it’s me.’

‘DADDY!’

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Please leave comments and let me know if you want this to continue. I know that I haven't been as regular as I would like in posting this story, but I have had ongoing real life problems that I won't bore you with. Oh, and if you can, please do the kudo-thingie and maybe leave a comment as it's so nice to hear from you all...thanks! ~Sue