Previously...

There was a big red button on the bank of dials, thingies and whatchamacallits in front of the steering wheel.

‘Well, would you both like to press that button?’

He gave us another thousand-kilowatt smile, lighting up the cabin making my squishy feeling go into overdrive.

A grinning Amelia and I looked at each other and then put one of our hands over the button and pushed down on it…

And now the story continues...

The noise was indescribable, so I won’t describe it…

Yes, I will. It was loud and when I say loud I mean LOUD!

Amelia screamed. I screamed, the several seagulls that had been sitting peacefully on a rail outside screamed, squawked or whatever they did.

People on the quay cowered. A lady in a wheelchair being pushed by her loving husband nearly found herself being ejected into the sea. One fisherman dropped his rod into the water and another lost what he thought was the biggest fish he had ever caught as he jerked the hook out of the huge fish’s mouth. Several young children, evidently out on an innocent outing with their playgroup, screamed for their Mummy. A few teenagers lounging about on the quay paid no attention as they were on their mobile phones…

I came that close to wetting myself…I need say no more.

The others in the bridge seemed not affected at all and were laughing their heads off. Samantha took some things out of her ears and I noted that the others did the same. They were earplugs.

We had been set up good and proper as they say in sleazy crime shows.

My ears were ringing still from the sheer volume of that basted horn, hooter or whatever it was called. Amelia looked shaken and very stirred. She was not one to hold back in situations like this and said several naughty swear words that should not have come for the mouth of one so young. I mentally made a note of a few of them for future reference.

Samantha came over.

‘Sorry girls, you have now been through the initiation ceremony. Don’t blame me, it was Sarah’s idea.’

I looked at Sarah. She had a smug look on her face. I would find ways, too horrible to contemplate, to get my own back. I had heard or read somewhere that revenge is a dish best served cold and I looked forward to getting my own back on her.

The tour continued and I saw that the ship was the height of opulence. There was an on-deck jacuzzi, small pool and a place to play quoits whatever that was. All the cabins were amazing, with polished wood everywhere. The beds were fantastic and all double and every cabin had its own en-suite, my gob was truly smacked. There was even a spa and a well-equipped gym with lots of shiny chrome dooda things to make you as fit a flea or kill you in the process. Samantha and Abby were truly lucky to own this tub. I would love to forget all my troubles and go away and sail the world in this wonderful boat.

After the tour, we found ourselves in a large lounge with cream leather sofas dotted about. There was a ginormous TV on the wall and floor to ceiling windows with none of that tiny porthole nonsense. You could see the harbour and the sea and everything in between. If ever I married a millionaire, I would insist on something like his. Well, a girl has her standards!

That made me think about whether I preferred boys or girls. I hadn't a clue but would have fun finding out!

Samantha came over and sat down beside me.

‘Do you like our little boat Emma?’ she asked.

‘If you call this little, what do you call large?’

‘The Queen Elizabeth is large,’

‘Now you’re being silly,’ I giggled.

‘Perhaps,’ she replied smiling.

She was very pretty and I hoped that when I was older, I would look as lovely as she was.

The others had gotten fed up with sitting about and they all rather noisily went outside. It was good to see my sister enjoying herself and letting her hair down. We hadn’t had much time for that recently.

It was rather quiet in the lounge now as it was just Samatha and me.

She looked at me and then smiled slightly.

‘What,’ I said.

‘Nothing, it's just…’

‘Sorry?’

Samantha looked around. We were still quite alone and the door was closed.

‘How long have you known?’

‘Known what?’ I replied.

‘That you are a girl.’

I stood up, upset, all of a sudden.

‘Who told you?’ I said chokingly.

‘That you are physically a boy? Well, I know that you are a girl, but you haven’t been able to start the changes that you need yet.’

‘Who told you?’ I asked sitting down again. I was close to tears but I was, with some effort, holding myself in.

‘No-one. Well, I knew that you had problems involving your father and that you were here because of that and the need to protect yourself and your sister, but I didn’t know until I met you that you had identity problems if you want to call it that.’

‘What gave me away?’

‘Little things that others might miss. The way you walk and sit and say certain things that aren’t very feminine. Don’t get me wrong, you are a very pretty girl and you had me fooled for a while but in the end, I knew that I was right.’

‘How were you so sure about me when the others didn’t see anything wrong with me?’

‘There is nothing wrong with you honey. You are a bright lovely intelligent girl who has had to deal with some very heavy stuff. But to answer your question, what do you see in me?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘How do I look?’

‘Very pretty, I’m jealous!’

Samantha laughed, she had a lovely laugh.

‘Well, would it surprise you to know that I was born a boy?’

‘Never!’

‘Yes, I was and up until relatively recently, I have had to live as a man. I have always thought of myself as a girl, much like you, I think. I was married to a woman and whilst things went well for some time, I was eventually very unhappy and things changed. I won’t go into the sordid details, but things came to a head and I moved down here. It was only after leaving my wife that I realised that I could no longer live a lie. I had to be who I always thought I was, a girl.’

‘You are a girl?’

‘Yes.’

‘A complete girl?’

‘No, not yet. I am due to have an operation soon to correct my defect. But in my head and my heart I am a girl and have always been one. So I know a little of what you are going through. I didn’t tell you that I had you ‘clocked’ as the expression goes just to upset you. I told you so that you know that you have someone nearby who can support you and give you any advice if you need it. The others have your welfare at heart, but they can’t know what you are going through. That is why I’m here whenever you need me.’

I looked at her and I couldn't see any sign of her ever being anything other than what she was, a girl.

‘Do other people know about you?’

‘What, that I was born a boy?’

‘Mmm.’

‘Yes, all the people that matter anyway. You will find that people in this neck of the woods take you as you are. They are tolerant and by in large sympathetic. The ones that aren’t, don’t last long here. One day, I’ll tell you my story. You might find it interesting!’

Later that night, I was in bed but I wasn’t asleep.

The curtains were drawn back and I could see the moon shining brightly and the stars twinkling away. I had a lot to think about. It had been a strange day, full of ups and downs.

Samantha’s yacht was fantastic. She had promised to take us for a trip one day soon when the weather was okay and that was something that I really looked forward to. The revelation that Samantha was like me was incredible and I felt a warm feeling in my tummy that there was someone like me that I could turn to.

My thoughts turned to my father. I wondered where he was and whether he was okay. I missed him so much and I just wanted to be with him and have a nice big cuddle.

Would he like the way I looked now? He hadn’t actually seen me in girl mode and I didn’t want him to see a boy in girls clothes. It wasn’t about the clothes, I know, but we are judged by the way we look and I hoped so much that he saw me for what I was, a girl. I had never been a boy ever since I realised that there were differences between the two genders. Mind you, gender was by some, seen as fluid now and there were many shades of gender, well, that was what I thought anyway. You wouldn’t think so by what you read in some of the trashier papers and daytime TV.

I closed my eyes, I just wanted to sleep. When asleep, you don’t worry and I was a born worrier.

It was no good, I just couldn’t go to sleep. I tried counting sheep, but that was just boring. Then I thought about waves splashing up the shore but that didn’t help. I tried to empty my mind of everything, but that was a washout.

In the end, I got up and walked over to the window. It was a bit chilly in my thin nightie, it wasn’t the warmest of rooms. That’s was a downside to living in an old mansion. There was a fire in the grate, but the embers were cooling and the central heating had switched itself off.

Looking out over the slightly moleified (if that’s a word) pockmarked lawn, I took in the beauty of the grounds with its majestic lawns going down to the lake and the park beyond. In the far distance, I could glimpse the sea and the lights of Penmarris. I had, in the short space of time that I had been here, grown to love Penmarris and its slightly quirky residents. People were so nice - apart from Sarah, who had it coming to her.

I smiled. Sarah was nice, but a pest that had to be dealt with. I would have to have a think about that. I needed a scheme that would out scheme any scheme that she had ever schemed...

I heard a buzz coming from the bedside table. It was my phone. I had it on vibrate only. I walked over and picked it up.

There was a text.

From unknown.

I tapped on the phone.

Hi honey,
Just a quick one.
I hope that you both are okay and safe.
I’m fine and not in danger. I am with friends and they are helping me sort out my problems. Things are coming to a head and I hope to be able to get things sorted very soon. Stay where you are with Claire and I’ll contact you as soon as I can. This is a burner so you can’t contact me, but I will let you know how things go when I know myself.
Missing you all.
Love Dad xxxxx

I re-read the text several times. I wondered if he was saying these things just to make Amelia and me feel better.

I wouldn’t be happy until he was back with us. I just hoped and prayed that it would be soon.

To be continued..?