Tales of Elsbeth: Two Lessons Taught
by Ellie Dauber © 1999

Another old story of mine, the second adventure of Elsbeth Lange, introducing her husband Daniel Two Knives. Elsbeth teaches a lesson about life to a meddlesome religious zealot, and the two of them teach a lesson about sexuality to a rather boorish man.

Tales of Elsbeth: Two Lessons Taught
by Ellie Dauber © 1999

Elsbeth Lange parked her car in a reserved lot about a half block from the entrance to the Baghdad Casino and Resort Hotel in Reno, Nevada. She put the small placard that qualified her to park there on the car's mirror, took her purse from the seat, and got out of the car. She stayed on the shadier side of the street as she walked towards the casino entrance. The temperature was in the upper 90s. Even her cotton blouse and denim skirt were more than she would have preferred to be wearing in this heat.

A woman was standing in the shade just across the street from the casino entrance shouting at the passers-by through an electronic bullhorn.

"Repent, Sinners. Gambling is a sin, and the wages of sin are death." She turned and looked directly at Elsbeth. "Sister, yes, you in that denim dress, do not go into that evil place. Give up your wicked ways and return to the path of righteousness."

A man passing near Elsbeth said, "I think she's talking to you, Honey." He put his hand gently on her arm. "Of course, if you don't want to give up your wicked ways, my name's Hank, and I'd like to buy you a drink at the bar inside the casino."

Elsbeth shook her arm, dislodging the man's hand. She didn't mind him, so much. Actually, he was kind of cute, and he'd been a lot less grabby than some men were. In fact, when she shook her arm, he'd recognized the refusal, smiled slightly, tipped his hat, and walked away.

She did object to being singled out by this busybody. Public speech was a right, but so was the right to privacy. She decided to force the issue a little and walked over to the woman, who put down her bullhorn when she saw Elsbeth approach.

Elsbeth judged her to be in her late 30s. She was short and a bit on the chunky side. Her hair was a dull black color and pulled up on her head in a bun. She had on almost no make-up and was dressed in a mouse-brown dress, hose with a run in the right leg, and brown flats.

The woman smiled at Elsbeth and reached into a straw bag that hung by a cord from her shoulder. "Sister," she said, pulling out some papers. "I am so glad that you have chosen to heed my words. These tracts -- "

"I didn't come over to take any tracts," Elsbeth said. "If you want to stand on a corner and embarrass yourself, that's your right. But you have no right to single me or anybody else out for your self-righteous nonsense. Please don't do it anymore."

"'No right'! Oh, Sister, how little you know. I am of the Chosen of the Lord, sent here to denounce evil and lead Sinners like you to a better way. You should be joyful that I have taken an interest in your life and deemed you worthy to be saved."

"Who are you to judge me?"

"I am of the 'Chosen', but I can see that you are not." She picked up her bullhorn and began again. "My friends, do not be like this poor deluded woman. Reject the evil that surrounds us in this place. Those who do not seek the Light will be like this woman, this… harlot, condemned to dwell forever in the darkness."

"Harlot," Elsbeth said. Her eyes narrowed to slits and her fists clenched for a moment. She gestured quickly, casting a minor aversion spell on herself and the woman. They were still visible, but people would just feel compelled to look in another direction. It was almost as effective as an Invisibility spell but a lot less disruptive.

That done, she made a second gesture that froze the woman in place. She could speak, but she had no ability to move. "Now, why are you making such a big deal out of all this?"

The woman's eyes showed panic. She probably would have soiled herself if the spell allowed her body to do so. Instead she spoke in a low, almost emotionless voice. "Gambling, drink, sex. They're all evil. That's what my Mamma taught me, and that's Pastor Brooks says. He's smart. He knows.

Nobody likes me but Pastor Brooks, now that Mamma's dead. He says that he expects great things of me. He sent me here to test me. I want to prove myself to him, to show how much I love him and love the Lord."

Elsbeth's anger gave way to a great pity. This poor thing had no life except for some manipulative pastor. She deserved to be taught a lesson, but she deserved a chance to see how much fun life could be. Elsbeth's magic, being nature based, was more limited in such an urban place. She couldn't reweave reality, as she had done in the dessert, but she could transform body and mind. She gathered her energies and cast a spell. A ball of green force, purest Earth Mother magic, flew from her hands the short distance to the other woman's body. It flowed into her like a mist and began its work.

The woman saw the magic enter her body. Felt it flow to every part of her.

She said, "Help me, Pastor, help me" over and over until the magic reached her mind, and she was unable to continue.

Her hair turned thick and lustrous. The bun undid itself, and her hair settled about her neck in thick curls. Her face, her entire body grew thinner and younger. She looked to be barely in her 20s now. Her cheekbones became visible as the extra fat left her face. Her features hadn't looked bad before, but now there was a hint of definite beauty. Her eyebrows thinned, and her lips became fuller. She wore a bright red lipstick now and blusher on her cheeks. Mascara appeared on her lashes, and a gray eye shadow that made her now deep blue eyes look bigger and more mysterious. Long pearl earrings dangled down from each ear.

Her body became slender and firm, supple beneath the dress that shrank to fit her. Then the dress was pushed out again as her breasts and hips grew outward, giving her a decidedly feminine set of curves. The sleeves of her dress shortened, and then disappeared. The neckline grew lower to reveal much of her new 36-C breasts. They looked bigger on her short frame. The dress grew tight against her body hugging her new curves. The hem crept up past her calves, her knees, almost to her thighs, and changed color from mouse-brown to a golden yellow.

Her hands were more slender, her fingers a bit longer. Her nails were long and shaped, painted the same bright red as her lips. There was a pair of gold bracelets on her left wrist and a matching lady's watch on the right.

Her hose stopped sagging and changed to a smoky gray. The run on the one leg healed itself. Her flats grew a four inch spiked heel and changed color to match her dress. The straw purse became a small leather clutch, also in the same shade of yellow, and hanging from her shoulder by a thin leather strap. There was no room in that purse for any tracts, if they had still existed.

Elsbeth looked into the woman's eyes. There was still a sense of panic there, but there was something else as well. A curiosity about what had happened to her, and why she felt so good. "What's your name, dear?"

Elsbeth asked.

"Lizzy. Lizzy Mae Schultz."

"Hear me now, Lizzy. You are now Liz -- Liz Schuster. You can answer only to that name, now. If anyone asks, you work as a secretary in Los Angeles.”

“You can tell no one who you were or what I did to you. You came to Reno for a week's vacation; to have fun. You want to have fun. You want to have fun and meet men. You like men, and they like you. You will know who you are and what you have become, but it will not worry you."

Elsbeth reached into her own purse and pulled out her wallet. She concentrated for a moment and $500 transported from her wall safe at home to the wallet in her hand. It was a spell that she used often -- usually for shopping. She took out the money and handed it to Liz. "Here's enough money for the week. You will get a room and buy clothes; frilly, sexy clothes like you are wearing now. You like such clothes. You want to wear them. You want to have a good time wearing them. You know that men like to see you wearing such clothes, and you want to wear them for men to look at.”

“We will meet back here one week from today." She looked at her watch. "At 5: 30 PM. If you wish at that time, I will restore you to the way you were."

Elsbeth removed the aversion spell from Liz. In its place she put a nature spell that would protect her from disease or pregnancy. "Now go and see how much fun there is to life," she commanded.

Liz smiled and began walking towards the casino. She seemed shaky in her new heels for a moment, but that quickly passed. Elsbeth noted that, as Liz gained confidence in walking, she put more and more of a feminine strut into the walk. Her hips and ass began to sway with each step. There was little chance that she would lack for masculine attention or for male partners to have "fun" with in the week ahead. Whether she chose to change back or not after seeing how her life could be, would be Liz's own free choice, and Elsbeth would accept either decision.

Elsbeth wondered for a moment what the choice would be. She'd know in a week, and that was enough. She removed the last of the aversion spell from herself and followed Liz at a distance into the casino.

Daniel surprised her by actually being earlier. He was waiting for her just inside the doorway.

Elsbeth had met Daniel Two Knives about a month after she moved to Nevada.

At the Summer Solstice, they'd both been drawn to the same energy node, a narrow ridge about ten miles from the house that she'd rented. She'd been sitting on a rock watching the sunrise when she'd heard a noise a short distance away. She turned, pulling in the gathered power. The best way to store and shape the energy was to be "skyclad", nude. But a beautiful naked woman alone on a hill was just asking for trouble, and she was instantly ready to defend herself.

She saw a man only a few feet away. ‘How had he managed to sneak up on her?’ she thought. Then she sensed that he had come to gather power just as she had. She also saw that he was an American Indian, his long black hair held by the headband of a Navaho shaman. She knew that she was safe, since any attack on her would violate his religion and take away whatever power he might have as a medicine man.

Her appraisal went from the magical to the female. The man was about six-five and muscular, without an ounce of fat. He had the square jaw and chiseled features that looked out from the old photographs of the great war chiefs of one hundred years ago. He was slim and well muscled, with an athlete's body, but not muscle bound. His fingers were long and looked supple. He had a narrow waist and long, muscular legs. She also saw that he was appraising her at the same time. He was also nude, and his “appreciation” of Elsbeth was both visible and impressive.

"You come here often," he asked with a wide grin.

"Just moved here from New England. I think we're both here for the same thing, to gather the force that comes at the moment of solstice. I'm a Wiccan; Elsbeth Lange." She put out her hand and shook his.

"The owl told me there was somebody new in the neighborhood. He didn't say how pretty she was. Owls never give you the important information. I'm Daniel, Daniel Two Knives. Welcome. If you promise to practice, I'll let you try to pronounce the Navaho version someday."

"Daniel's fine."

Their courtship, begun at the Summer Solstice, ended three months later with a wedding at the Autumn Equinox. They married on the ridge where they met in a ceremony conducted by his uncle, the tribal president, and her great aunt, head of the grand coven. They had a civil ceremony in Reno on their honeymoon. Daniel was also Dr. Daniel Two Knives, M.D. Part of his practice was being one of the on-call physicians for one of the casinos, which gave the happy couple a week in one of the smaller bridal suites at a good discount off the regular rate.

This was their two-year anniversary. Daniel was on-call that evening, so he couldn't come home to celebrate. But he did have the run of the hotel.

They planned on a quiet supper, maybe a show, and then a lively at-length re-consummation of their marital vows. All, hopefully, not interrupted by any sort of medical emergency.

So far, things had gone well. The meal was excellent, steak, potatoes, and an excellent wine for two. Elsbeth told Daniel about the policeman. [See my story “The Ticket.”] "He must have really gotten you upset," Daniel said. "You seldom can summon the power to actually warp reality."

"I really hadn't meant to. I just wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. Make him act like the sort of bimbo he thought women were. But I could tell that I'd gone beyond that even as I cast the spell."

"Is it permanent?"

"The changes are, more so than the reality shift, anyway. In a few hours, the police will notice that they've got a missing trooper on their hands, and Stella won't be employed as a showgirl any more. She'll probably even remember who she used to be."

"Will she remember that it was you that changed her?"

"No, I don't think so. And she'll be compelled to continue to act like a bimbo. She'll be working as a showgirl or a waitress in no time; maybe doing a little hooking on the side. And all the time wondering what happened to her, and why she can't stop acting the way she is."

"Forever?"

"No. It should wear off in about a month. I sort of wish I could hear the explanation that Stan Kowalzak gives when he shows up at the station house the first day."

The dinner show started with the flourish of a trumpet before she could tell him about Liz Schuster. A comedian named "Happy" Daye came out. His act involved his dressing up as a woman. It was mostly a steal of a steal from an old Milton Berle routine, but it wasn't too bad. Elsbeth and Daniel laughed more than a few times while they finished their after dinner coffee.

In the middle of the routine there was a loud "You stink!" from two tables way.

Elsbeth turned to see a slightly chunky man in his late thirties. He was overdressed in a tuxedo and didn't look too happy about it. He had also clearly had more alcohol than he needed. He spent the next couple of minutes shouting out insults at the comic, most on the level of "Fag", and "What kind of fairy gets up on stage in a dress?"

The maitre d' finally quieted him down by threatening to have him thrown out. He lowered his voice, but Elsbeth and Daniel -- having better hearing than most -- had to suffer through his mutterings for the rest of the act.

"I have an idea," Daniel finally said. "You know what a berdache is, don't you?"

"Sure, it's a man -- usually a shaman -- who dresses – who thinks like a woman."

"Let's see about turning this guy into a… reverse berdache."

"You mean a woman who -- oh, Daniel, can you do it without him noticing?"

"I think so." Daniel reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small leather pouch folded over and tied with white rawhide. He loosened the straps and unfolded it on the table. He took out a small packet of gray paper and poured a silvery dust onto his hand. He closed his eyes and chanted softly for a moment, then raised his hand near his mouth and blew it in the direction of the drunk two tables away.

A moment later, the man suddenly jerked in his chair. Daniel and Elsbeth half closed their eyes and focused on the man's aura. It was pulsing green with gold specks, the sign of a healthy male. The specks were a bit off color from the effects of the alcohol on his system. In one spot near his chest, there was a bluish ooze that was gradually sinking into the aura.

This was the transformation dust being absorbed into his body. The blueness disappeared in a few moments. Then gradually, the aura changed from green to orange. There was no visible change, but they knew that the man was now completely female.

Elsbeth tried to visualize what had happened as the spell took effect.

Part of the spell was that no one be able to tell that there was any difference. The included the victim him -- now herself. She had felt no changes in her body, and she wouldn't know that anything was different until she took off her clothes.

Her hair was long enough that it could be styled as either a man or a woman, so there was no change there. Her face did seem to be a little thinner, but it was hard to tell from that distance.

The tux still fit perfectly. As her body slimmed and breasts developed, her t-shirt must have changed into one of those padded muscle men shirts, with the padding of the shirt expanding to perfectly match the loss in body size. The man she had been hadn't looked very much at home in a tux, so she probably would just write off the discomfort of the padding as the demands of the tux.

There was probably padding around her waist, too, the discomfort hidden by the tightness of the cumberbun. Elsbeth wondered if she still had on boxers, or if those had become a pair of woman's panties. The biggest surprise would come when she reached in for her penis and found a padded sock.

The shoes were probably padded, too, so they wouldn't slip off the smaller woman's feet. They also probably had lifts for height.

He -- now she -- was still talking loud enough for Elsbeth and Daniel to hear. It was a bit of surprise that her voice didn't change. Some women do have fairly husky voices. Others can fake a deeper voice, if they try. She probably now was subconsciously forcing herself to talk in the male range.

She leaned over and kissed Daniel lightly on the cheek. "My compliments, sir, on a successful bit of magic and on your wicked sense of humor. Do you think we'll get to know what happens when she notices the changes?"

"That should be part of the fun," Daniel said. "I'm physician on-call here at the hotel tonight, remember. I think that a woman dressed in a man's tux and screaming hysterically that she's really a man is the sort of thing that I'll get beeped for."

He signaled for his check and initialed it. Since he was on-call, the meal would be free. He did leave a tip for the waiter. Then he stood up and took Elsbeth's hand. "Until then, Tony Bennett's performing in the Main Room. Care to see the show?"

Elsbeth nodded as she stood up, and they headed to listen to one of her favorite singers. At one point during the show, she saw the new Liz Schuster sitting at a table holding hands with a rather handsome man in a sequined Western shirt. Liz definitely seemed to be enjoying herself. When Elsbeth looked in that direction a bit later, the table was empty. Elsbeth smiled knowingly.

Daniel kept a small room in the casino's hotel for the couple nights each week that he had to stay in town. Since his office was nearby, and he doubled as one of the casino's on-call doctors, the room was permanently reserved in his name at no charge for his on-call nights. Elsbeth and Daniel were on their way back to the room after the show, when his beeper buzzed. He looked at it for a moment as they got into the "staff" elevator. "Medical emergency on fifteen. Do you want to come along, or do you want to go back to the room and wait for me?"

Elsbeth smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "You're sweet, but I'd like to come along, if I may. That way, I'll know how long you'll be, and how much time I'll have to get ready."

Daniel reached over and pressed the button for fifteen. Then he set down the small medical bag he always carried when on duty and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her towards him. "You were born ready," he said. "That's one of the many things I love about you." He kissed her, a long, meaningful kiss.

Elsbeth would have liked to take the matter a little -- hell, a lot further. But the doors opened on fifteen. Duty called. Daniel strode down the hall to 1523 while Elsbeth tried to keep up. Matt Asner from the hotel's night security was waiting at the door. Asner was a burly man in his fifties, who'd joined hotel security after twenty years on the police. He ran his fingers, thick as cigars, through his closely cropped red hair in relief when he saw them approach.

"Got this crazy call about ten minutes ago. Voice sounded like a man's one minute, a woman's the next, screaming that she'd been hoodooed. I came up to check. What I saw -- well, I called down and had them beep whatever doc was on call tonight. I'm glad it's you, and that Elsbeth's with you. This may call for a woman's touch." He unlocked the door and let the three of them into the room, then closed it behind them.

A figure was sitting on the bed crying softly, the drunk from the restaurant. The tuxedo jacket and tie were casually tossed over a chair, her shirt was ripped open revealing the padding beneath. The padding went halfway down both arms. Past the end of the muscle shirt, her arms were slender and hairless. The shirt was torn open, revealing a pair of 34-B breasts.

Her pants were down around her ankles. Elsbeth had guessed correctly. She was wearing a pair of lacy, lavender, French cut panties. There was a balled up gym sock next to her on the bed.

"Ma'am," Daniel said innocently. "I'm Dr. Two Knives. What seems to be the problem?"

The new woman looked up. "That's what's the matter. I'm not a 'Ma'am'.

I'm a man. My name is Ray Martinsohn. Somehow tonight -- somehow, I changed into this."

"I'm not sure that I understand. Are you saying that somebody waved his magic wand and turned a man into a girl. Ma'am, this is the Twentieth Century."

Elsbeth covered her mouth to suppress a laugh. Daniel was using the same poker face that made him a fairly steady winner in the local medical society game most Thursday nights.

"I know that, but it's true. Look at my wallet over there." She pointed to a wallet and key case on the desk near the door. "My ID says I'm Ray Martinsohn, a married man from Phoenix with a wife and a kid. I'm here for a regional sales conference of Ajax Electronics."

Asner picked up the wallet and looked inside. It's Mr. Martinsohn's ID alright, and that's the name the Front Desk gave me for this room. You look a lot like him, too."

"I am him, dammit!"

"Look, lady. I'm not sure what's going on here, but men aren't women -- thank heavens. I'm beginning to think that this might be a police matter, maybe even a government matter. The ID for Ajax shows some kind of military security clearance."

"I'm a Senior Project Engineer. A couple of the things that I work on are for the Army. I'm here to talk to some of the sales staff about trying to sell de-classified technology to the private sector."

"Maybe so. But military security is something that I don't mess with. I'd like Doc Two Knives here to check you out. Then we'll call see if we can't get this straightened out. You'd better get dressed when the doc's finished. You may be going out."

Martinsohn paled. Daniel turned to Matt, "Would you mind waiting in the hall while I examine my patient in private?" Matt nodded and left the room. "Ms. Martinsohn -- "

"I'm not a Ms!"

"All right, Mr. Martinsohn, this is my wife, Elsbeth. She's a trained nurse who'll assist me. Would you please undress down to your -- um -- underwear?"

Martinsohn stood up. Her pants were already at her ankles. She stepped out of them, leaving her shoes behind as well. She took off the remnants of her shirt, and then struggled with the torn muscle shirt beneath. In a moment, she sat back down on the bed, a rather attractive woman in her early 30s wearing only her panties and a pair of men's socks.

Daniel made a quick gesture and Martinsohn's eyes glazed over. She stared into space in a deep trance. Daniel turned to Elsbeth. "I hadn't figured on this security nonsense. The spell has about forty hours left to run.

Any suggestions?"

"Ask if anybody here in town knows him."

"Hear me, Ray Martinsohn," Daniel said, "and answer truly and completely.

Is there anyone whom you are to meet tomorrow who knows you?"

"No," Martinsohn said in a low voice empty of any emotion. "I was only recently promoted. I've mostly worked in the labs or with other engineers.

No one from sales knows me, and all of the engineers at the meeting are from other projects."

"In that case, Ms. Martinsohn, this is your big debut." Daniel said.

"Elsbeth, hon, can you handle the ID and clothes, while I do the reprogramming?"

"Okay," Elsbeth said. She walked over and picked up the wallet. "What's her new name?"

"Make it easy. R-A-Y to R-A-E, short for Rachel."

Daniel turned back to Martinsohn. "Hear me now, Ray Martinsohn. You will stand and walk over to the mirror." The woman stood and slowly walked over to the mirrored door to the bathroom.

"What do you see in the mirror?"

"A woman."

"That is you standing in the mirror." Martinsohn shook her head in denial, but Daniel continued. "You know that you are truly a man, but you now have the body of a woman. You are now Rachel Martinsohn, "Rae" for short. That is the only name that you will answer to. You will be compelled at all times to act and to react entirely as a woman would. Your male self will stay within you. He will know all that is happening, but he will be unable to control your actions in any way."

Daniel turned away from Martinsohn. "Are the clothes ready, Hon?" he asked Elsbeth. She nodded. It had taken only a few minutes to change Martinsohn's wardrobe from masculine to feminine attire. He hadn't been a very sharp dresser as a male, though, and Elsbeth had taken the liberty of glamorizing several outfits as they transformed. She'd also created a purse and a small assortment of make-ups for the new woman to wear. Martinsohn's identification, including the security pass had also been changed to reflect her new status.

"When I awaken you, you will have no memory of Elsbeth and I other than as the doctor and his wife who came to your room when the hotel man called.

You will explain that you had dressed as a man because you were not confident enough to meet the people that you are in town to speak to as a woman. But you had an anxiety attack, and began screaming at yourself.

You'll apologize to us and to Mr. Asner."

"Can she hear me," Elsbeth asked.

"If I tell her to." He paused a moment. "Ray -- or Rae -- Martinsohn, you can hear the voice of my wife, and you will obey her as you would me."

"After we've left, you will be compelled to put on stockings and make-up.

Then you will put on this dress." She showed a rather revealing evening dress to Martinsohn; then draped it over the back of a chair. It had been a pair of work slacks and a short sleeve shirt, but they had been transformed into a deep purples sleeveless dress cut low in the front and short enough that it would stop a good four inches above Martinsohn's knees.

"You will go down to the Lounge and listen to the band for at least an hour. If anyone speaks to you, you will react as any young woman out for the evening would. That will include reacting to a man as if you were the attractive, heterosexual young woman you appear to be." She smiled and tossed Daniel Martinsohn's last piece of male clothing, a cotton t-shirt.

As he caught it, the shirt transformed, changing color to become a matching bra to Martinsohn's lavender panties. Then she tossed him an old white, flannel bathrobe, which changed into a yellow and rather pretty dressing gown.

"Now put on the clothing that the man is holding."

Martinsohn took the bra and put it on as if he had been wearing such garments for years. He wrapped the dressing gown around him, pulling it tight at his slender waist.

Daniel and Elsbeth smiled at one another. The spell was a short one.

Martinsohn and all his clothes would revert back to normal in about 40 hours. But in the meantime, he would understand the compulsion some people have to act as if they were of the opposite sex. If nothing else, it would serve him right for disturbing their dinner. Just to add to the humiliation, Martinsohn would transform back about an hour before any of his clothes did. He would most likely be far away from the safety of his hotel room when it happened, and he'd have to get back as best he could in a woman's clothing.

"Elsbeth, go get a glass of water," Daniel said. Then he turned back to Martinsohn. "Sit on the bed." Martinsohn did. "Take the glass of water.

As you begin to drink, you will awaken. You will not remember that she and I did this to you. You will not remember our commands, though you will continue to obey them. You will know who you really are, but you will feel perfectly comfortable in the form of a woman."

Elsbeth returned and handed Martinsohn the glass. As he began to drink, his eyes flicked and consciousness returned.

"Are you feeling better now, dear?" Elsbeth asked.

Ray Martinsohn took a swallow as new memories sped into his mind. Somehow he'd become a woman. He'd panicked and raised such a fuss that the hotel had called this man, this doctor. He was feeling better now, and he found that he didn't want to tell them what had happened.

"Yes," he smiled shyly. "I'm kind of embarrassed about all this. I'm supposed to be meeting with a bunch of male engineers and some military types tomorrow -- my first time representing the company to people like that. I was so nervous that I got the crazy idea that if I dressed like a man, I'd do a better job. I even registered under a man's name."

"It's all right," Elsbeth said sympathetically. "We all get nervous and do dumb things once in a while. It's the way we are."

"Well, this was abusing the privilege. When I got a look at how dumb my 'disguise' was I just freaked, and somebody called the front desk, and they man they sent up called you. They're not going to throw me out, are they?"

"No," Daniel said. "I'll talk to Dan Asner, the hotel security man. There's a lot worse things happened in this place. There shouldn't be any problem." He turned to close his bag and gave Elsbeth a conspiratorial wink. "Would you like me to give you something to help you sleep?"

Martinsohn thought about the offer for a moment. He'd surprised himself by coming up with such a convincing lie. The doctor and his wife actually believed him! His first thought was to take something. Maybe after a good night's sleep, he'd wake up as a man again.

But gradually that thought was overtaken by another. He looked like a beautiful woman. He wanted to see what it would be like to act like one.

He wanted to show off this new body in public and see how people reacted; see if anyone could possibly guess who he really was. "No, thank you. I'm feeling much better. I think I'd like to go downstairs, maybe listen to some music before I go to bed."

"All right then," Daniel said. "I'm on call all night. If you do decide that you need something, ask the front desk to page me." Daniel took Elsbeth by the arm and they walked to the hotel room door.

"Thank you again, Dr. Two Knives, Mrs. Two Knives. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Martinsohn could barely contain himself until they left. He saw the dress and he wanted to wear it. He knew somehow that there was a pair of matching shoes in the closet. He heard voices outside the door, the doctor talking to the hotel man. Then he heard the sound of footsteps disappearing down the hall.

Ray -- now Rae Martinsohn knew that he must be crazy. He should have been begging the doctor to help him turn back into a man. Instead, he'd lied to get rid of the doctor and his wife, so that he could go downstairs and enjoy the evening as a woman. The more he fought the impulse, the stronger it seemed to become.

Fingers trembling, he sat on the bed and pulled the carefully pulled a pair of pantyhose over his shapely new legs. The sensation of the sheer nylon against his leg excited him. He stood and took of the dressing gown. He wriggled into the dress, smoothing it down around his hips. He discovered that he liked the way it clung to his hips and how it made his legs seem to go on forever.

There were cosmetics on the table near his purse -- his purse; where had that come from? Martinsohn expertly applied lipstick and blusher. He smoothed in a purplish eye shadow that went well with the color of the dress and made his eyes look deep and inviting. Mascara thickened and curled his lashes.

There was a matching pair of shoes in the closet. They had three inch heels, and Martinsohn hesitated uncertain that he could manage such things. He put them on and took and experimental step, ready to catch himself if he fell.

It seemed almost natural, as easy as walking in flats. Better yet, he thought to himself, they make me walk in a more feminine manner, hips swaying invitingly. He actually giggled at the thought.

Ray Martinsohn made one last try at fighting the impulse. It was a halfhearted effort at best. Tonight he was Rae, and she wanted to have some fun. She put her key in her purse and headed out the door. It was a good thing that Ray Martinsohn had left a wake-up call at the front desk as soon as he got back from dinner and before he discovered the transformation that had occurred. About half an hour after Rae went downstairs, she would be dancing with a building contractor from New Mexico, and the call would take them both by surprise the next morning.

Daniel and Elsbeth went back to their own room to continue their anniversary celebration. They joined hands and cast a general spell of protection about the hotel. There were no accidents or serious illness in the hotel for the eight hours that the spell was in effect. Normally, they preferred to let life seek its own way, but they had very serious plans for what they wanted to take place that night. Distractions are, well, distracting.

* * * * *

Postscript

Liz Schuster is now working as a secretary/receptionist for an insurance company in Los Angeles. She is seriously dating the Assistance District Manager. And a couple of the salesmen and a stockbroker that she met at a party.

Rae Martinsohn returned to her masculine form in the middle of the shopping mall on the second floor of the hotel/resort complex. Ray narrowly avoided arrest, since his clothes did not revert until an hour after he did. He gave the scarf and earrings that he had just bought to his wife, Nora.

Their sex life is much better now. Ray knows a good deal more about how to physically please a woman, though he swears that he has never slept with any woman other than Nora. He's also gotten into the occasional role playing, including some transgender role playing, during sex.

The End