I sat there for a few minutes, tears streaming down my face.

It was like a nightmare. What had I done to deserve this? I just wanted to live my life without all this crap.

I knew that being transgendered wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. I also knew that I would have people who just wouldn’t understand where I was coming from. This was normal and to be expected in this biased and whacky world we live in. But this thing with those boys who only wanted to hurt me, that was something else. Now I was being threatened with harm if I testified against those slimeballs.

My heart had been thumping away in my chest and I felt faint. My breathing was laboured and I felt panicky. I imagined all sorts of scenarios that could happen to me and none of them was good. I was afraid, very afraid and full of indecision.

I took a deep breath and then something strange happened. In my head, I could hear Grandma as clear as day.

‘Emma, don’t let the slimeballs beat you. You are better than them.’

I smiled. It was only my imagination, of course, but the thought gave me a proverbial kick up the backside. Grandma often had what I called a colourful turn of phrase and that was, I think, one she would have said.

I had gone through so much crap in my life, from my old family and at school where I was hardly Mister Popular (even though I would have loved to be MISS Popular!). Moving down to Cornwall was, in my opinion, the best thing that I had ever done, despite the horrible attack on me and the unwelcome threats. But, if these people thought that I would roll over and die, that would be a grave mistake.

I took a deep breath, picked up my phone and looked at my contacts and stabbed my finger down on the one person I wanted to call.

A few rings and then it was answered.

‘Hi Emma, what’s up?’

‘Uncle John, somethings happened.’

‘What?’

‘I…I’m in my cottage, I found an unsigned note threatening me about those boys who attacked me.’

I started crying again, not surprising really…

‘I’m at home. Stay there, don’t touch anything.’

‘O…Ok.’

I shakily stood up, opened the front door and just waited.

Seconds later, there was a knock on the door.

I opened it hesitantly and peered out.

‘Hi, Emma, we’re here,’ called my uncle.

I opened the door with relief.

My uncle came in, closely followed by Auntie.

Auntie took one look at me and I rushed into her arms.

Things were a bit confusing for me for a while and when I pulled myself together, I noticed that Uncle was holding the note in his hand. He was wearing gloves.

‘Are you alright Emma?’ he asked.

I nodded.
I had a sort of dull knot in my lower belly and I felt like I could be sick, but I supposed that it was caused by the shock of what had happened to me.

‘Right,’ said Uncle John, ‘I want you to go next door with Claire. I’m going to get some people here to do some fingerprint tests, especially on this note, envelope and letterbox. They will want to take your fingerprints to eliminate anything you have touched. You did the right thing by calling me.’

He smiled at me in such a way that it made me feel at least a bit better.

‘See you later honey,’ said Auntie Claire as we left him to it and went next door.

Soon, I was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of sweet tea and a couple of Hobnob biscuits. I was still shaking slightly, my heart was thumping a bit, and the ache in my abdomen was still there, but I felt a little calmer.

‘John was right Emma. You did the right thing. If you had said nothing and did as they asked, they would have won.’

‘I know Auntie, but that doesn’t make me feel less scared.’

‘Well, I think that they have made a big mistake. They have shown their hand and we now know what they are about. John will deal with it. He’s very good at his job and although he can’t get too involved due to his connection to you, he has very good people around him that know what they are doing. Now fancy a cuppa?’

I nodded. Why was it that when we get stressed we always have a cuppa?

Shortly after that, I was in Hannah’s room and looked out of the window a couple of police cars and a crime scene van had arrived. It looked like things were moving.

I then heard my phone chirp.

Picking it up, I saw that it was a rather lengthy message from Hannah.

Sorry, I had to go out before you got back. Sarah, another friend from college called me urgently. She lost her phone somewhere and she asked me to go back to college to help her search for it. She was hyperventilating so I decided to go. You’ll like Sarah, she’s as nutty as a fruit cake but fun to be with. See you later. I miss you. Xxx

It was strange, I hadn’t wondered where Hannah was. Too much going on. I just wanted to have a hug from her now.

I put my phone down and went to get changed. I had a lot of clothes in my section of the wardrobe. Mind you, a girl can’t have enough clothes, as Hannah always told me and I was inclined to agree!

I was gradually calming down now and my sick feeling and pains down below faded. I was so lucky to have people around me who loved and respected me. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be going about by myself for a while and I realised that it was probably for the best for now. It was a shame that I was, in effect, losing some of my freedom, but I would just have to be a big girl and not throw my dummy out of the pram.

I smiled at that thought.

I wondered, once my hormones stopped mucking about, whether I would be a sweet sixteen or one of those girls with an attitude problem, full of angst and rebellious thoughts. I somehow thought that I would be the former rather than the latter.

Mind you, I had felt a bit snappy lately. I would have to watch that!

You might be wondering if I was terrified about the threats that had been made against me. I suppose I was to a certain extent, but I had so much faith in Uncle John and everyone else who was looking out for me, that I would get through this somehow.

I refused to cower to thugs like Bill, Fred and their so-called friends and relations. They were losers as far as I was concerned and there was no way that I would give in to their threats and intimidations.

I changed into a lemon T-shirt and white capri’s and felt nice and cool. I then touched up my makeup and brushed through my hair. Have I said that I loved the length and feel of it? I wondered in passing, not for the first time, what my old family would think of me now, looking every inch the girl that I am rather than the poor excuse of a boy that I was when I lived with them.

Looking at myself critically in the mirror, I also wondered if they would recognise me if I passed them in the street.

I didn’t fancy putting that to the test!

I fired up my laptop and went onto the college portal to see my messages. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting except one from the counsellor with a link to the LGBTQ+ group at the college. She suggested that I join. I wasn’t too sure about that as I thought that it might draw attention to myself. Then I had another thought. I wasn’t ashamed of who I was and it would be nice to have contacts at the college who were going through similar issues to mine. I would ask Megan if she was a member. Come to think of it, Hannah might be involved with the group too.

I went onto my study portal and whilst I was waiting for Hannah to come home, I decided to look at a few of the lectures which had been recorded recently. This was maybe one of the few good things about Covid, a lot of material was online for us to look at and use in our studies.

I was engrossed in a lecture on biodiversity by one of the professors, Angela Smith. I know, boring for some, but not for me! She knew her subject and I could see that she was passionate about it. I wasn’t sure how relevant the lecture was to my studies, but enjoyed her style and the way she put information across.

I became quite engrossed until the door burst open and I was assaulted by a hellcat.

‘Oof!’ I said.

‘Emma, how are you? I heard what happened. I can’t let you leave my sight for a second. I should have been with you.’

Hannah went on like that for hours – well a few minutes anyway.

I eventually managed to free myself from her gorilla-like grip.

‘I’m okay.’

‘Okay. OKAY! How can you say that?’

She stepped away from me and looked at me properly for the first time.

‘How can you be so cool? If it had happened to me, I would be like a jelly or blancmange, all quivery.’

‘I was quivery earlier, but I’m back together now. Don’t worry, your dad is on to it.’

‘Has he caught the perps?’

‘What?’

‘The slimeball, scumbags.’

‘You’ve been watching too much TV or eating dodgy hamburgers.’

‘Answer me, damn it. Are the perps in the clink?’

‘What?.’

She looked at me as if I was mad.

‘Emma, why are you so calm? I’ll keep this simple. Have they caught the person or persons unknown who wrote you that slimeball of a note?’

‘No, it’s all only just happened. I think that the crime scene people are next door combing my welcome mat or something for evidence.’

‘Hmm, not good enough. I will tell Dad to close the borders, send up drones and do the search party thing to scour the neighbourhood for clues.’

‘Slight overreaction there Hannah. Your dad knows what he’s doing. Look I want to forget all this for a moment. What do you suggest?’

‘Shopping?’

‘That’s your answer to everything. Has anyone told you that you’re shallow?’

‘Occasionally, but I do have depths too.’

‘Yes, you do get up to your neck sometimes. Anyway, I must admit that a bit of retail therapy might stop me from worrying. How will we get into town?’

She looked at me pityingly.

‘M.T.S.’

‘What?’

‘Mum’s Taxi Service, of course!’

‘You shouldn’t put on Auntie quite so much.’

‘That’s what she’s there for; to be at my beck and call and always do what I say.’

‘You don’t believe that.’

She sighed.

‘No, I don’t either but it’s a nice thought. Let’s go and ask her.’

‘Do you think that Megan might like to come?’

‘I like your thinking. She might be home by now. We could pick her up if she wants to go.’

‘That is if Auntie will take us.’

‘Hmm, true. She’s just had that meeting with her cronies and she might be mentally drained. She normally is after one of their chinfests. Let’s go and ask.’

‘I’ll text Megan,’ I said.

‘OK, sounds like a plan.’

She looked at me with concern.

‘Are you alright?’

‘I will be once all this is over.’

‘You know that we are all in this with you?’

‘Yes, it’s great that I have all your support. I do love you Hannah.’

‘Me too, you.’ She said as we hugged and kissed.

I used to be alone, but now I had a real family and friends who loved, cared and supported me and despite everything, it made me feel good.

As we walked downstairs, I texted Megan. We girls are good at multitasking, mind you, I nearly tripped up on a step as I texted. No one is perfect!

Megan must have had her phone in her hand as she replied almost immediately.

Just leaving college. Shopping sounds great after the day I’ve just had. Meet you at Costa?

OK, we’ll get there as soon as pos. need a lift from Auntie, if she’ll take us.

Just bat your eyelashes and look vulnerable. She’ll do anything for you.

Not true, but I might try just to see if it works. See you l8tr.

I put my phone away as we went into the kitchen.

Auntie was sitting at the kitchen table, supping some tea and demolishing a cream cake.

‘Hello,’ she said, ‘ are you okay, Emma.’

‘Fine thanks. You have some cream on your upper lip.’

‘Oops, better?’

‘Mmm.’

‘Mummy.’

Auntie looked at Hannah suspiciously.

‘No.’

‘What, I haven’t asked anything!’

‘Whenever you look and say “Mummy”, you’re after something. And Emma, have you got something in your eye?’

‘Erm, no.’

Obviously, the batting your eyelid thing doesn’t always work.

Auntie sighed.

‘I can read you both like a book. Okay, what do you want?’

Hannah looked at me and shrugged.

Our little ploys didn’t seem to work.

‘Well Mum, as you know, Emma has had a shock and I think she needs distracting. We thought about going into Penzance to have a look around and meet up with Megan.’

Auntie looked at me.

‘Is that true?’

I nodded. Let’s face it I could do with a bit of distraction after all I had been through.

She sighed.

‘Well, I do need to go to the supermarket and get a few things. All right, I’ll take you, but remember girls, I am not a taxi service.’

‘No Mum,’ we both said at once and then I felt my face go red as she wasn’t my mum, no matter how much I would have liked her to be.

She smiled.

‘I’m leaving in ten minutes.’

‘Thanks Mum you are a star!’ said an enthusiastic Hannah.

It was twenty minutes later that found us in the car making our way into Penzance. The police crime scene van and one of the police cars were still outside my cottage. I had texted Uncle John as to what we were doing. He had no objections but told me not to speak to any strange men or women, come to that. He didn’t think that I was in any immediate danger but wanted me to be more aware of what was going on around me.

He did say that they had managed to get a few interesting fingerprints from the note and the letter box flap, but until they were processed, he couldn’t say if they would be of use to us.

To say that my mind was on my problems would be an understatement. I had been shaken and stirred by the note. But, I trusted my uncle and the police and just decided that I couldn’t hide under my bed covers and I had to get on with my life. I would worry more when I had to and I just wouldn’t let those scum ruin my life.

We arrived in Penzance shortly after and were dropped off by Auntie with the normal, be careful and don’t get into trouble or spend too much money. She would pick us up later.

We made our way to Costa Coffee and were soon sitting outside at one of the tables with Megan, as it was still a nice hot day, who had only arrived a short while before.
I had a latte and Hannah had a cappuccino. Megan had settled for an iced coffee. Something that I hate with a vengeance but others seemed to like for some reason.

‘Well,’ said Megan, ‘what have you been up to?’

‘We had an incident,’ said Hannah.

‘What?’

‘Emma has been threatened,’

‘What!’

‘You tell her Em.’

So I did. To be honest, I didn’t want to talk about it, but Megan needed to know.

‘What scumbags,’ said Megan after I had finished, ‘let's hope that your uncle can catch them. It reminds me of a problem I had at school once.’

‘You have our attention,’ said Hannah.

She sighed.

‘It was shortly after I came out as trans. It was at school. Someone left a horrible note in my locker. I won’t repeat it, but it hurt me, a lot. I found out later that it was one of my so-called friends. It was made worse by the fact that she knew that I had nearly taken my life only a short while before.’

We all stood up and did the hug thing, making the other customers look at us and wonder what the hell was going on. I didn’t care, girls do the touchy, feeling thing. If anyone had a problem with that, they would have to deal with it.

It was nice sitting there with Hannah and Megan drinking and watching the world go by. I wondered in passing if any of those people had a life like mine. Probably not, but everyone has their problems and I’m luckier than most. Look at all the starving people in the world and those caught up in horrendous wars.

‘Emma.’

I looked at Megan.

‘Hmm, what?’

‘You were away with the fairies there.’

‘Sorry, just thinking how lucky I am really, despite everything.’

‘Well, you have friends like us, how much luckier can you get?’ she replied, grinning.

‘Shut up you!’ I said thumping her arm, gently.

We sat there finishing our drinks and putting the world to rights and then got down to the important business of the day; looking around the shops.

Shopping for us meant going into clothes and shoe shops and trying on as many things as possible without spending much. I did buy a fantastic short black leather skirt that was expensive, but irresistible. Megan bought some figure-hugging jeans that she might have trouble putting on if she ate too many cakes and Hannah a bubble-gum pink top that left very little to the imagination. I thought that Auntie Claire would have a few objections to that one and I looked forward to the fireworks!

My nails were looking a bit worse for wear, so we decided to see if we could get some emergency treatment at the salon. Luckily, they weren’t that busy and I was soon sitting there getting a new look. I fancied pale blue for some reason. I had seen a girl in one of the many clothes shops with that colour and I fancied a change. The others liked the colour too, so we decided there and then to all have the same.

After the pitstop at the nail salon, we carried on walking around the shops. It was busy there and I wasn’t too worried about being accosted by person or persons unknown as I thought that there was safety in numbers.

There was a small park to the left of us and I glanced over as we passed and stopped dead in my tracks.

A man was standing by a park bench clutching at his chest and then he just fell over backwards and lay still.

‘What?’ said Hannah.

I didn’t answer her but dropped my bags and ran into the park. I could hear Hannah and Megan shouting but I didn’t pay much attention. A few people stood around the man but weren’t doing much. As I arrived I saw that he was in a bad way and his lips were turning blue. Whilst pretending to be a boy, I joined the St John’s Ambulance and learnt CPR amongst other things.

I could see that the man was not breathing. I got down next to him, the gravel painfully pressing on my bare knees. I was lucky I wasn’t wearing tights as they would have been ruined!

‘Call 999 and tell them it’s a heart attack,’ I said to anyone listening. Then I ignored everything around me and started to give CPR first aid. The training kicked in and I quickly checked that the man’s airways were clear and no false teeth had fallen back down his throat. Luckily, there were no false teeth!

I tilted the man's head back gently and then with the heel of my hand, I started to do compressions on the centre of his chest.

My hair, although lovely, was getting on my nerves and in the way of my face as I was doing my stuff. I felt someone pull it away from my face and put it into a welcome ponytail. I counted thirty compressions and there was no response. I pinched the man’s nose and did two rescue breaths as per my training. Still no response. I wasn’t aware of what was going on around me but just continued the cycle of thirty compressions and two rescue breaths for what seemed like an eternity.

As I was doing the compressions, I felt a dull pain low down in my belly again. It felt a bit like the cramp I sometimes get when I run too hard…

Then the man coughed and started breathing.

He was alive.

Just then I heard sirens and a few moments later the medics arrived and I was pushed out of the way. I sat down on a park bench and started to shake a bit. Hannah and Megan sat on either side of me and held my hands. The passers-by and rubberneckers were not very helpfully standing about and I wondered in passing if they had anything else they could be doing.

‘Wow Emma,’ said Hannah, ‘talk about Action Girl. You were great.’

‘Was I?’ I asked distractedly as I watched the medics do their stuff.

They had an oxygen mask over the man’s face and he looked like he was getting more responsive. He tied to sit up but the medics kept him where he was.

‘Where did you learn to do that?’ asked Megan.

‘St John’s.’

‘Well wicked,’ she said, ‘you saved his life.’

‘I hope so. It’s a bit different to doing it on a rubber dummy.’

One of the medics came over and knelt beside me.

‘Are you all right?’ she asked.

‘Yes thanks. How is he?’

‘Bob, the other medic, is getting him ready to be moved to the ambulance. We are just checking his vitals before moving him, but he looks okay at the moment and is relatively stable, but you never know with heart attacks and the sooner we get him to the hospital the better. Your actions have probably saved him. Can I just have your name and address, for the records?

I didn’t know why she needed my details but I told her anyway.

She thanked me and then she was away. We watched as the man was put on a trolley thing and wheeled away. I just hoped that he was going to be okay. Soon all the by-standers had gone and only me and the girls were left.

‘Can we go home?’ I asked.

‘Course,’ said Hannah and she rang her mum who said that she was still in Penzance looking around the shops.

‘You might want to redo your lippy,’ said Megan.

Using a small mirror from my purse, I wiped my lips and repaired the damage. I thought that I looked a bit pale, not surprising really.

We agreed with Auntie to meet at the end of the High Street and then go back to the car together.

We were quiet as we walked to our meeting place. I think that we were all a bit shocked about what happened. On the way, we stopped at a shop as I wanted to buy some water. I had a taste in my mouth that wasn’t pleasant and I needed to wash it away.

As we walked, I said to the others, ‘don’t say anything about what happened to Auntie. I don’t want a fuss.’

‘But…’ said Hannah.

‘Please, don’t say anything,’ I almost shouted angrily.

Sometimes Hannah really got on my nerves and this was one of those occasions.

‘I understand,’ said Megan, ‘you’ve had enough of the attention.’

I nodded, calming down a bit.

It looked like Hannah wanted to argue and then just shrugged.

‘Whatever,’ she said, ‘but I still love my little Super Hero.’

‘Yuk!’ I replied, my humour suddenly returning.

Auntie Claire was waiting for us.

‘Had a good time girls?’

‘Yes, it was fun. Look at our nails,’ said Hannah brightly.

We displayed our nails in front of her face and wiggled our fingers.

‘Not my colour, but nice,’ she replied. ‘Now, are you ready to go?’

We nodded in unison and then we made our way back to the car, loaded our bags into the boot and got in the car.

Hannah was chatty on the way back, but I couldn’t remember what she actually said. My thoughts were with that poor man who had had a heart attack. I wondered if he was all right. Would it be possible to find out if I rang the hospital later? I didn’t think so, as I wasn’t a relative. Maybe I would never know.

I sighed; I did a lot of that lately. Well, I had done my best and that would have to do. I offered a silent prayer for him to be okay and I just hoped that someone was listening.

We arrived back at Seashell Cottage shortly after dropping Megan off at her home. We would meet up maybe the next day, all being well. I noticed that there were no cars next door and was thankful for that. I had had enough of it all.

At teatime, we sat around the kitchen table and ate a healthy meal of Cornish pasty and chips, followed by equally healthy fresh strawberries and lashings of cream. Uncle was out catching criminals or handing out parking fines.

‘You’re looking a bit pale Emma,’ said Auntie, ‘are you all right?’

‘Fine.’ I replied, ‘just got a bit of a tummy ache.’

‘Not surprising,’ said Hannah, ‘the way you wolfed down that pasty. One second it was there and the next it was gone!’

‘No, my ache is lower down,’

‘Where?’ asked Auntie.

‘Below my belly button.’

‘Hmm.’

‘What do you mean, “hmm”?’ I almost snapped.

‘I think that we need to have a word with the doctor.’

‘Why?’

‘You can’t be too careful. I’ll ring her in a minute. In the meantime, you might want to have a nice warm bath and lie down on your bed for a bit. You look as white as a sheet.’

‘It’s still early to go to bed,’ I whined.

Even to me, that sounded pitiful.

‘Only for a bit, until you feel better.’

Actually, that sounded like a good idea. I wasn’t feeling that fantastic and I kind of liked the idea of a soak and then bed.

‘All right.’ I replied getting up, ‘see you all later.’

Hannah was looking at me with a frown on her face and I wondered why. I did hope that she wouldn’t break her promise not to mention anything about what happened earlier.

It was certainly true that I was feeling tired and out of sorts as I went upstairs and I wondered if I was coming down with something. Maybe the pasty was off? No, otherwise, surely the others would have felt the same unless it was only my pasty affected and anyway, I had only just eaten it. If it was dodgy, it hadn’t had enough time to cause any trouble. Then I remembered that I had a bit of an ache down there when I woke up and a few times during the day. Perhaps I had overdone the running thing?

I shrugged. There was no point what-iffing about it. I removed my makeup using wipes, got undressed, slipped on my dressing gown and went into the bathroom. Using my favourite bubble bath, I was soon sighing as I slipped in the bath. It was nice and warm and I was glad that I took up Auntie’s suggestion. Maybe an early night was a good idea after all? I wasn’t hungry at all as I had a big meal earlier.

I might have a sandwich later, I thought.

I nearly fell asleep in the bath; I was that relaxed. However, the water started to cool a bit and the skin on my hands started to get a bit pruny and the nipples on my nicely budding breasts were standing up like little soldiers, so I reluctantly got out of the bath and dried myself off.

After putting on my bathrobe, I made my way back to the bedroom, I yawned. Why was I so tired?

Then I smiled. What with everything that had happened, it was no wonder I was tired!

On a whim, instead of getting dressed again, I decided to slip into something more comfortable. So I went over to the drawer, pulled out and slipped on my favourite white satin nightie with matching panties. I then pulled the curtains across the window, as it was still light outside, and then got into bed. To say I was relaxed was an understatement and I just kept yawning. I had taken some paracetamol earlier and it had finally kicked in and my aches and pains were just a memory. Even though it wasn’t night-time yet, my eyes closed and I soon fell into a dream-filled sleep.

‘Wake up Emma.’

I was being shaken gently on the shoulder.

‘Whaaa…’

‘Wake up, will you?’

One eye cracked open.

‘Go away Hannah, want to sleep.’

‘You need to see this.’

‘What?’ I asked as I struggled to sit up, still halfway in the land of nod.

‘Pay attention Emma.’

‘I was having a lovely dream and you woke me up. Not funny Hannah.’

‘Never mind that, look at this!’

She had her tablet in her hand and thrusted it in front of me. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried to concentrate.

She had TikTok open and she pressed the go thingie.

Within seconds, I was wide awake.

There I was in full colour, doing CPR on that poor man. Whoever was videoing knew what he was doing and he gave running commentary.

‘This girl came running to the rescue of Nigel Roberts earlier today and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as others stood around doing nothing. She knew what she was doing and kept him alive.

‘Her hair was getting in the way so one of her friends put it in a ponytail. The plucky girl did a great job and almost certainly saved Nigel’s life.

‘Luckily, it didn’t take too long before the medics arrived and took over. I understand that Nigel is in intensive care but doctors are hopeful. I would love to name this hero of a girl but as she is quite young and almost certainly under eighteen, I’m not allowed to name her, as I might get a hit against me and get the video taken down.’

The scene cut to me sitting on the bench with Hannah and Megan holding my hands. I looked a mess with lipstick smudged and with dark circles under my eyes. Just then the video stopped and I sank back onto the pillow.

‘Can we have it taken down?’ I asked dully.

‘Erm, It’s a bit late for that. It went sort of viral and has been seen by over a hundred thousand people so far.’

I put my head in my hands.

‘Oh no!’

To be continued...

Please leave comments and let me know if you want this to continue. Oh, and if you can, please do the kudo-thingie... thanks! ~Sue