Hiding in Plain Sight – Part Two of Seven.

Jessica and Luke are siblings who have experienced a whole world of pain and hurt in their short lives. When it seems that, for once, things are finally beginning to improve, a local drug gang invades their existence, and their world threatens to crumble down around their ears. Read on to see how they and their friends fight back.

Chapter Four.

The next morning, Mike and Tina left for the café as usual. Luke and Jess spent a quiet, restless day keeping a low profile. Several times the house phone rang, and they ignored it, twice people came to the door ringing the bell, and again they were ignored. Both were too worried for the other to do much more than to cuddle and watch mindless television.

During the morning Tina left the café to Mike and the two Saturday girls who came in to work to cover Jess, who’s usual day off was Saturday so she could spend time with Luke. Tina returned laden down with a new wheeled suitcase which she quietly placed in the boot of the car, refusing to tell Mike what she’d bought.

The café always closed early on Saturday afternoon, so they were both home not long after three o’clock. They had barely got in the house before a couple approached the front door and rang the bell. Making sure Jess and Luke were still safely ensconced upstairs, Mike answered the door.

“Mr Smith?” asked the man.

“Yes!”

“Ah good, I am Detective Sergeant Jones, this is Detective Constable Wright, I wonder if we may ask you to spare us a few moments of your time?” Both officers showed their warrant cards.

“What’s this about?” asked Mike.

“Who is it, Mike?” asked Tina as she emerged from the kitchen wiping her hands on a towel.

“It’s the police love.”

“The police? What do they want with us?”

“I was just wondering that myself Tina!”

“May we come in for a moment? Just to ensure some privacy!” asked the policewoman.

“Yes, I don’t see why not, please, come in.” said Mike as he stepped back and Tina showed them into the front room.

“We won’t keep you long, we know you are just home from work. I wonder if you know where we could find Miss Jessica Carter or her brother Luke?” asked DS Jones.

“No, we haven’t seen her since yesterday, today is her usual day off!” answered Tina.

“So you have no idea where either of them are?” asked DC Wright, glancing upwards as she asked the question.

“No, we haven’t seen either of them today, have we Mike?” answered Tina truthfully, as both Jess and Luke were still in bed when they’d left for work.

“Nope, not me, not heard hide nor hair of either of them since yesterday, why are you looking for them? Are they in some kind of trouble?” asked Mike.

“No, neither of them are in any trouble, we just want to speak to Miss Carter about her boyfriend Matthew Gibson.”

“Him! He’s trouble if you ask me!” stated Mike.

“Why do you say that Mr. Smith?” asked DS Jones.

“I don’t know really, he is just too shifty, he’s never looked me in the eye, he seems to be a control freak, especially where Jess is concerned, I know Luke is scared of him. Matthew is just the sort of character that makes you want to not waste any time and dislike him from the outset, but, Jess is besotted with him, so I keep my opinions to myself!” replied an obviously annoyed Mike.

“Are you looking for Matthew too?” asked Tina.

The two police officers glanced at each other, then DS Jones said “We know where Mr Gibson is at the moment, he’s in the mortuary. We understand from our informers that Matthew may well have been siphoning drugs and funds from his employers, and it seems they took exception! We recovered significant amounts of drugs and some cash from the property Matthew shared with Miss Carter, and we just need to ask her some questions.”

“Well, she was upset when I last spoke to her, but she didn’t say where she was or if she was going to go away!” said Tina to the officers.

“Well, we won’t disturb you any longer. If you do hear from Miss Carter, please ask her to speak to us on this number, or, if she prefers, to pop into the station and ask for either of us if you would!” and both officers proffered business cards with their contact details.

“Certainly!” said Mike taking the cards, and with that both officers left, but not without DC Wright glancing up the stairs again as she left.

“Well, that calls for a cuppa if nothing else!” said Tina heading back to the kitchen, “Mike, be a love and fetch me the suitcase from the boot of the car please!” Mike shrugged and headed back into the garage to comply with his wife’s instructions.

“You can come downstairs now, you two!” added Tina as she closed the slats of the kitchen blind, “We need to have a talk!”

Jess sat quietly weeping for Matthew. Despite the chaos he’d brought into their lives, particularly over the last few days, she still felt something for the man, but he’d placed her care of Luke into jeopardy, and she’d never forgive him for that. Luke just sat in stunned silence. His life, which apart from these three people around him now, especially his sister, had been pretty miserable anyway, now, everything was up in the air and the dread of being forcibly parted from Jess was tearing him apart.

“Listen up everyone, I have a plan to deal with the current situation!” stated Tina with authority. “You two are probably free and clear as far as the police are concerned, but we can’t be one hundred percent sure, maybe even Matthew’s drug lords may not be too interested in you now either, but who knows what they are thinking for definite. They will assume that the police have recovered the drugs and money that he’s stolen from them. No, the real problem, as I see it is Social Services. And who knows how they’ll react, so it’s best not to find out by giving them chance to speak with either of you at the moment, so, you need to disappear for a while, Jessica and Luke Carter need to vanish off the face of the planet!”

“But! What! How?” spluttered Jess as Luke just stared at Tina.

“Where will we go, we don’t know anyone else but you, I wouldn’t know where to go or what to do once we got there?” exclaimed Jess.

“Yes you do!” stated Tina with authority, “You will go to stay with Karen up in Aberdeen.

“No!” said Jess with some vehemence, “I have dragged you two into this mess, I am not asking my best and only friend to get involved too!”

“No, you don’t have to ask Karen for help Jess, I knew you wouldn’t want to ask for her assistance, so I asked her for you! She’s expecting you the day after tomorrow!”

“WHAT! But! But!” spluttered Jess, “I can’t Tina, I simply can’t involve Karen in my mess!”

“I’ll give you that Jess, but Jessica and Luke Carter have disappeared so anyone looking for a brother and sister by those names will be unlucky, as they’ll be nowhere in sight!”

“I don’t understand? What do you mean Tina?” asked Luke.

“Well sweetheart, you will both need a disguise!” replied Tina “This will really, really need you to be bold and brave Luke, as your disguise will require you to become someone completely different, so different it will probably feel really strange, especially to start with, but, perhaps not so bad after what we were speaking about yesterday!” Tina looked intently at Luke whose face coloured a deep red and he could only stare at the floor. “Jessica is going to change from being your sister to your mommy, and you, my dear, sweet Luke, are going to change from a brother to a daughter!”

A wild-eyed Luke stared at Tina, “You, want, me, to be a girl?” he whispered.

“No! Definitely not! I am not asking Luke to pretend to be a girl!” thundered Jess rising to her feet and staring at Tina.

“SIT DOWN JESS, please, sit down!” said Tina quietly, Jess slumped into her chair looking for all the world more like a petulant teenager than a would be mother.

“Think about it Jess, you need to disappear, at least for a while, and this way no one will suspect who you truly are. You just need to change your make-up a little and alter your clothing to an older style, change your hair colouring and we can pass you off as a young mother in her late twenties, who just happens to have a young child, teen pregnancies happen you know!”

“Yes, I can understand that part of your plan, but you can’t think of passing Luke off as a twelve-year-old girl of all things, where will we get clothes? what do we use for money?”

“Well Jess, money isn’t a problem, you see, the money the police recovered wasn’t everything that was originally under your floorboards!” said an embarrassed looking Mike. “I took the liberty of, err, liberating some of it for your use and to repay you for all the damage and stress those hooligans put you through! I took the view it is better to seek forgiveness rather than ask for permission, so in my coat pockets when we left your flat yesterday, I had hidden some cash, money that Matthew stole from who knows who!”

“No Mike, it’s drug money!” said Jess.

“I know love, but if you don’t use it for the pair of you to get back on your feet, should the drug gangs keep it, or the government get their greedy hands on it? Take it Jess, put it to a far better use than it was intended, you need it love, you need it!” said Mike quietly.

“The money is one thing, but I can’t ask Luke to become a girl, no matter what the reasons!” said a tearful Jess.

“Jess, you have always told me you’d do anything to keep us together, absolutely anything, did you mean that?” asked Luke looking intently into his sisters eyes.

“Oh Luke, sweetheart!” replied Jess, “You know you mean everything to me, and yes, I’ll do absolutely anything to keep you with me, you know that don’t you?”

“Yes Jess, I’ve always known it, so Jess, will you become my Mommy?” said Luke quietly. “Because I can be your daughter! I will do absolutely anything to keep us together too, including becoming a girl if needs be, as long as you will still love me?”

“Come here you!” said Jess as she opened her arms to hug Luke, looking across at Tina, she asked “I suppose you have a good reason for suggesting this level of subterfuge?”

“Well, it occurred to me yesterday when I was helping Luke get out of his stained clothes after the milk shake incident, I was struck by how small, slight and generally underdeveloped Luke is. And like I was suggesting last night, he reminds me of Karen when she was little. Then, when I was talking to Luke, he let little things slip, and he told me how much he hates his body, as his outside doesn’t match his inside! Isn’t that right Luke?” Tina asked as she held his hand, Luke could only nod. “Then when I was thinking through my idea’s last night it struck me as the perfect disguise, we can pass Luke off as a young girl quite easily, especially after what I’d observed yesterday in cleaning all that milk shake from his body.”

“I don’t know how to be a girl!” whispered Luke.

“No, you are right, you don’t Luke, but Jess does, and so does Karen, and if I think far enough back, even I can just about remember!” said Tina smiling.

“But what do we do about clothes, we need to get away before we can go shopping!” exclaimed Jess, Mike smiled as a lightbulb went off in his head!

“Already been sorted!” said Tina, “I popped out and bought you both the bare essentials today, only enough for a few days, but enough to get you started, it’s all in that case over there! Any more objections?” she asked to no-one in particular. No-one had!

Jess took Luke’s chin in her hand and raised his face to look at her. “What do you mean Luke, your inside doesn’t match your outside?” she asked tenderly.

Luke’s eyes filled with tears as he stared at his sister, he simply shook his head from side to side.

“Come on Luke, you can tell me, and no matter what you say, I will always love you and be at your side, you know that right?”

With a big sigh Luke closed his eyes and started talking. “Ever since I can remember, I have always felt that I was in the wrong body. I should have been a girl. My only friends are girls, the boys hate me because I’m different, they like to make me cry and tease me all the time. I don’t understand them, but I do understand girls much better. I used to pray every night for God to correct His mistake and make me a girl, but He never did, But then I used to pray for Him to heal mom, but He didn’t answer that prayer either!” Luke then broke down as sobs wracked his body.

“Oh Luke, why didn’t you ever say anything?” asked an equally distraught Jessica as she hugged him tightly.

“Oh Jess, how could I, I was going to tell mom, but then she got ill because I’m a freak, I thought I could tell her when she got better, but she never did, because I’m a freak, and, it was my fault she got ill and died, then, afterwards, you were so busy fighting to keep us together, how could I risk that you would think I’m a freak too and stop loving me!” replied Luke in between his sobs as he gasped for air.

“Oh sweetheart, I will love you always, no matter what!” replied Jess, equally distraught as she hugged Luke tightly to her chest. “Never, ever, be afraid to tell me anything, do you understand me, you are all the family I have! You are not a freak, none of this is your fault, not Mom getting ill or Matthew being an evil man, I need you by my side! Always! Now then sweetheart!” as she held his shoulders and pushed him away from her slightly, “Does my daughter have a name?”

“Luke looked at his sister’s face, “Lisa!” he whispered, “My real name is Lisa!”

“Well Lisa, I am pleased to meet you, I hope you will be a good girl for your mommy!” smiled Jess.

“Oh Mom!” exclaimed Lisa as she hugged Jess tightly, “I will always be a good girl for you, I promise!”

An emotional Mike and Tina looked on at these two youngsters, two individuals who had already faced major distress in their short lives, pain etched in both their expressions.

“We need a new name for you too Jess, and a surname for you both to be known as!” said Tina quietly.

“I will use moms middle name of Carrie, and how about her maiden name of Brown?” asked an emotional Jess, as she rested her face on top of her new daughters head, tears cascading down her cheeks.

“I think that will work fine, don’t you Mike?” asked Tina.

Mike didn’t trust himself to speak properly given his emotions, and simply nodded his agreement.

“Lisa and Carrie Brown have a lot to do tomorrow, so I suggest an early night for us all.” Said Tina, “Given how our emotions are all over the place, a good night’s sleep will do us all a world of good. Tomorrow, we perfect your disguises, and check to see if I have forgotten anything you will need. Then on Monday, you will need to be a New Street Station to catch the 14:07 to Aberdeen, arriving at 21:13 where Karen will meet up with you!”

Lisa just looked up at her new mom, Carrie just nodded at Tina “I think you are quite right, I for one could do with some rest, how about you young lady? Lisa just nodded. “Come on then, we both could do with our beauty sleep!”

Lisa broke free of Carrie’s embrace and approached Tina and Mike.

“Thank you for looking out for us and thank you for not throwing me out of your house!” she said as she embraced them both. Mike lifted Lisa up into his firm embrace, “Listen you, don’t you ever doubt our love for you and Carrie. We loved Luke as a grandson, we will now love Lisa as our granddaughter! Now, if only you had chosen the name Leia, I could have called you Princess Leia Skywalker, Luke’s beautiful sister!” said Mike smilingly, Lisa giggled, a sound that had been noticeably absent since yesterday.

“Oh grandad, you are so silly!” replied Lisa, resting her forehead against Mike’s.

Mike’s eye’s gave up the fight with gravity and tears rolled down his cheeks at Lisa’s use of that term of endearment, a term that Mike didn’t expect. He pulled Carrie to his side. “No matter what the future holds for you both, know that Tina and I are always here for you, and we love you both, no matter what!”

Tina joined the group hug.

“Go on you two, off to bed, lots to do tomorrow, lots to do!” The youngsters headed upstairs hand in hand.

Tina hugged her husband, “You know something Michael Arthur Smith? You are a big softy under that brusque exterior, I love you, always have, always will! Now, lock up and let’s get to bed ourselves!”

Within fifteen minutes, the house was secure and in darkness, but, down the street a nondescript car was parked up in shadows cast from the streetlights, and the glow from a barely dark summers sky. Inside, the bright red end of a cigarette being drawn on was the only sign that there were any occupants. It was going to be a long night for the observer.

Chapter Five.

The next day was a busy one within the Smith household and it started just gone seven o’clock. The first task was to change the long dirty blond hair that Lisa had the day before, to a reddish ginger colour, which, along with a trim changed Lisa’s appearance more than she ever thought possible. She was mesmerised by her reflection and kept pushing the base of her hair in amazement.

“I think we’ve created a monster!” quipped Tina to Carrie, whose own hair had been changed from a light brown to a rich mahogany colour, with a shorter bob cut.

“Lisa, come and try on these jeans!” added Carrie. Lisa showed no sign of having heard Carrie’s request. Carrie walked up behind Lisa and placed her hands on her new daughter’s shoulders. “Earth to Lisa!” smiled Carrie.

“Huh! Did you say something?” asked Lisa looking up into her new mother’s reflection.

“Yes sweetheart, I asked you to come and try these new jeans on that Granny bought you yesterday! But I take it you like what you see?”
Lisa looked back at her reflection but only nodded.

“What are you thinking sweetheart?” asked Carrie.

Lisa continues to examine her reflection, “I, I never imagined I could look, so, that I could look so, so!” her voice failed her at this point!

“That you could look so different? That you could look so beautiful?” asked Carrie, “Because you look so very beautiful, you look just like mom when she was your age!”

“Do you think so?” asked an excited Lisa as she turned to face Carrie, “Do you really think I am beautiful and that I look like mom?”

“Yes Lisa! Yes, I do, and if mom could see you now, well, she would be so very proud of you and she would tell you how beautiful you are and how much she loved you too!”

Lisa enveloped Carrie in a big hug, “Thank you Carrie!” She whispered, “She would say you are beautiful too!” and reaching up on her tip toes Lisa kissed Carrie’s cheek.

With a big smile Lisa said “Well come on Mom, let’s see if these clothes Granny bought for me yesterday fit me okay!”

Tina smiled at the pair of them, “Okay young lady, strip, and let’s get you kitted out for your new life!”

Within minutes Lisa was standing in front of Tina and Lisa in a pair of pale blue satin panties and a matching A cup bra, which she more than filled. After having the shoulder straps correctly adjusted, Lisa was swaying from side to side admiring herself in the full-length mirror. Carrie glanced across at Tina and nodded, noticing for the first time, just how feminine Lisa’s body was becoming.

“Are you alright sweetheart?” asked Carrie, “You look a little pale!” Lisa was once again lost in her own little world!

“I think we’ve definitely created a monster!” exclaimed Tina full of smiles.

“I think you are right Tina, come on Lisa, you can’t go out in just your undies now, can you? Come and try this blouse on then these jeans!” laughed Carrie. “I asked if you are feeling okay, you look a little paler than normal?”

“Ok Mommy, I’m coming!”

“I asked if you feel okay?”

“Sorry Mommy yes, I feel a little sick, and my tummy aches a bit, it does every now and then, but I’m alright, just scared I suppose!”

“I’m not surprised Lisa, anyway, come here and let’s get you into some outdoor clothes!”

Within moments Lisa was stood in front of Carrie and Tina wearing a white embroidered anglaise blouse with short puff sleeves and a snug pair of pale blue jeans with heavy embroidery at each pocket and around the base of each leg. On her feet were black penny loafers with a one-inch heel. On her left wrist she wore a slim watch with a silver bracelet on her other arm, around her neck was a heart shaped locket.

“Wow Lisa, you look so grown up, although you could do with your ears being pierced!” remarked Carrie.

“Well Lisa, if you trust me, I can pierce your ears now, I used to do all my friends when I was younger, it doesn’t really hurt, and the sooner you have them done the sooner you can wear more ornate earrings like other girls your age!” stated Tina.

Lisa looked at her mom, and seeing her nodded agreement said “Okay Granny, I trust you! Let’s do it!”

Twenty minutes later, using the old traditional method of an ice cube to numb her ear lobes, and by using a large needle and a potato behind her lobes, Lisa now proudly displayed two piercings in each ear with a gold stud in the upper hole and a sleeper loop in the lower. To say she was pleased was a massive understatement.

Half an hour later and Lisa had tried on all the clothing Tina had bought for her disguise. She was now wearing a pale blue sun dress that came to just below her knees. She had open toed sandals on her feet with two-inch heels. Again, she was lost in her reflection from her red toenails to her ponytail perched on the top of her head, she was stunned by the girl in the mirror.

“I always dreamt of how I would look, but I never thought I would get the chance to be the real me! I am sorry that our lives have been wrecked by Matthew, but I am also really pleased.” Lisa almost whispered, then turning to look at Tina and Carrie. “You won’t stop loving me will you, because I am a little freak?” she asked with her lower lip quivering and the start of tears in her eyes! “I couldn’t live with myself if you stopped loving me!”

Carrie picked her new daughter up and stared into her face. “Lisa Brown, I don’t want you to ever, ever use that term to describe yourself again, do you hear me?” She asked with a proper mother tone in her voice. “I WILL ALWAYS, ALWAYS LOVE YOU, DO YOU UNDERSTAND MISSY, YOU ARE MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER, AT LEAST FOR THE TIME BEING, OKAY? Understand?”

Lisa nodded resting her head on Carries shoulder, “Thank you Mom, even if this is only for a short time, I will be a good girl for you, I promise!”

“Well sweetheart.” Said Carrie speaking to the top of Lisa’s head. “You might be my daughter for a while, who knows how long, but perhaps, if you want to that is, once this all blows over, we will become sisters, Okay Lisa?”

Lisa’s head shot up to look in Carrie’s eyes. “Do you think so? You promise? Because, I have always, always thought of us as sisters, even if no-one else thought so, but I would give everything I have to always, always be your sister.”

“I promise, that no matter what it takes, you will always be either my daughter or my sister, if that is what you want, if that is who you are. To be honest, I can’t really think of you as anything else than a female. The difference in you is like night and day, so Lisa Brown, are you happy?”

Lisa nodded and kissed Carrie, as Carrie put Lisa back on the floor. Lisa brushed her dress skirts back into place, a completely subconscious action, which both Carrie and Tina noticed and smiled at each other.

Tina turned Lisa to face her. “You, young lady are most definitely not a freak, and like Carrie has said, I don’t ever, ever want to hear you refer to yourself by any other negative, derogatory term either. You are you, and you are a young girl on the cusp of becoming a young woman, you are pretty, you are beautiful, and you are loved! So, no more feeling that you are not worthy of our love, Okay? Carrie loves you, I love you, your Grandfather loves you and Karen can’t wait to meet her new niece as she loves you too! Now Missy, we won’t have this conversation again! Right? There is nothing to fear in being true to yourself, our love is never ending, well, unless you become a Birmingham City supporter, your grandfather might draw the line at that, you know how he is about his beloved Aston Villa?”

Mike came into the kitchen looking a bit hot and bothered after being out cutting both the front and rear lawns. “What might I draw the line at?” he asked smiling.

Carrie answered “If our Lisa became a Blues supporter!”

“Wash your mouth out with soap and water woman!” he chuckled, “I’ll have no swearing in this house, a “Scum” supporter!” Never!” with that he pretended to shiver and then burst out laughing. It was then that he took a close look at Lisa and how she had changed during the morning’s beauty treatments.

He beamed a big smile, “Wow, look at you, looking all grown up! Come here, give me a hug and a kiss!” So saying he bent at the waist and made a kissy face at Lisa and pretended to reach out for her. She squealed, and laughing out loud ran and hid behind her mom.
“Eww Granddad, you are all sweaty, and smelly!” giggled Lisa.

“Stop it Mike, you blooming idiot! You’ll get Lisa’s nice new clothes all dirty!” stated Tina as she playfully smacked him up the side of his head.

Mike exchanged a knowing glance with Lisa and Carrie.

Carrie turned to her daughter and said “I’ll tell you what Lisa, why don’t you go and watch one of your Loony Tunes® DVD’s while we get this case sorted! And don’t get your dress all creased, Okay?”

“Yes Mother!” came the reply, with a mock sigh as Lisa skipped into the front room.

As the well known sounds of the introduction tune was heard coming from the living room, Mike spoke quietly to Tina and Carrie.
“We have company, just down the street is a large silver car with a bloke in it who, although he is trying not to show it, he seems very interested in this house, I’m pretty sure there was a car parked there last night too when we saw the police officers to the door. So, I reckon whoever is in the car is more likely to be friends of Matthew’s than the “Old Bill!”

“Oh Mike! What am I going to do?” exclaimed a slightly panicked Carrie. “I have to protect Lisa at all costs!”

“Don’t you worry about it Carrie, leave it to me! I promise you nothing will happen to either of you, I expect they are just keeping an eye on us in the hope that Jess and/or Luke show up on our doorstep, and we all know that’s not going to happen don’t we!”

“But how are we going to get to the station tomorrow?” asked a less than convinced Carrie.

“You leave that to us Carrie, leave it to us!” said Tina as she hugged Carrie, “And you Michael Arthur Smith, go and have a shower and change your dirty clothes!”

“Blimey! In trouble again, Yes Boss! Right away Boss! Three bags full Boss!” laughed Mike as he dodged a swipe from Tina and headed off to the bathroom. As he passed the front room, he looked in to see Lisa sat on the sofa, her legs drawn up under her skirts in a typically feminine pose he’d observed so often from his wife and daughter. How could they all have not been aware of the conflict within Lisa? But, he promised himself that no-one, absolutely no-one, was going to hurt his girls. He had places to be and people to see, but first he needed a shower!

As Carrie and Lisa sorted the case out, Carrie stopped what she was doing and said to Tina “What am I going to do for identification? Someone, somewhere is going to ask us to prove who we are and we won’t be able to!”

“Don’t worry about that love, I heard Mike on the phone first thing this morning, he has contacts from his time in the Para’s, I don’t know what he has asked or who he has asked, but it is in hand, so don’t worry, okay?” Carrie nodded. But still looked concerned.

Chapter Six.

Mike came downstairs after his shower and as he passed the front room door, he looked in to find Lisa slumped over the arm of the sofa fast asleep. He quietly went into the room and taking the T.V. remote control from her unresponsive hand, he turned everything off, dropped a small blanket over her sleeping form and stealthily leaving the room he pulled the door to behind him and entered the kitchen hoping someone had made a pot of tea.

“She’s spark out on the sofa, so I turned everything off and covered her up, poor little sod must be knackered!” he said with tenderness in his voice.

“She has to be stressed beyond belief” said Carrie slumping into a chair.

“She’s tougher than you think Carrie!” responded Tina. “I had chance to have a long deep chat with her Friday, she eventually laid her soul out to me, which is why I knew this disguise, or this new reality would work so well! She loves you deeply and would do anything for you Carrie, but she was a tortured soul, almost at breaking point, and that was before Matthew managed to make such a mess of everything, yet she kept it together for your love, she would walk through broken glass bare foot to show her love for you. It’s not going to be easy on either of you, but she has an iron will, she has had to pretend to be something she wasn’t for all these years, now, she has the chance to be herself, and show her love for you with every breath she takes. She’ll just need your guidance, your support, your experience and your love, that’s all she needs. I think you’ll find she knows more about how to be a girl than any of us expect. She’s been enviously studying her friends for years, now she’s the chance to put all that observation she’s soaked up into practice. I think you’ll find that Luke really has gone for good, not that he ever really existed, and Lisa is here to stay, with little apparent effort.”

“I know” replied Carrie, “I just can’t believe I never noticed before, that this what was causing her so much anguish. I knew she’d had problems at school, but I didn’t realise the extent until I met her at the school gates Friday. The taunting was beyond hurtful, I feel I have really let her down all this time!”

“It’s easy to be wise after the event, but the main thing is you are supporting her now, beyond her wildest dreams I bet.” Said Mike quietly taking hold of Carrie’s hand. “You now know what makes her tick, that’s half the battle, knowing what you are facing. You are a good girl Carrie, she couldn’t ask for a better role model and someone to aspire to emulating!” said Mike tenderly. “Now to business, we’ll give her an hour or so to sleep, then we need to smuggle the two of you out, I’ve got to get some passport type photos of the pair of you, so we’ll pop over to Merry Hill Shopping Centre and get lost in the crowds a little, then we can openly bring you back to the house to confuse our friends across the street, and make tomorrows expedition that bit easier!”

Carrie looked at Mike, “What do you need photographs of us for?”

“Ah, that my dear is on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know, yet anyway!” replied Mike winking at her. Carrie could only sit moving her mouth silently up and down imitating a goldfish. “Be careful dear, you might catch a fly!” laughed Mike as he pushed her jaw closed.

The three of them continued to discuss tactics, for the rest of the day and tomorrow. Eventually Mike looked at his watch, “I think it’s time that Sleeping Beauty was woken up, we need to get weaving!”

Carrie rose and went into the front room, Lisa was still soundly asleep, a smile playing across her face as she contentedly sucked her right thumb. It was such a beautiful vision it took Carrie’s breath away, as she stood there with her hand over her heart, she felt Tina standing next to her.

“Oh my God!” Tina exhaled, quietly. “Just look at her, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

Carrie nodded her agreement. “She used to suck her thumb when she was a little girl, but she stopped when she started school and that’s when her depression started”

“Did you hear yourself then Carrie?” asked Tina.

“What do you mean?”

“You said she used to suck her thumb when she was a little girl!”

“I did, didn’t I, is it really that easy for us to accept her transformation, to think of her always being a little girl, my little girl?” said Carrie rhetorically.

“Yes sweetheart, I think it is, whatever she’s dreaming about she obviously happy, a happy little girl!”

Mike came up and putting his left hand on Carrie’s shoulder and his right on Tina’s. “What are you two whispering about?” he asked as he finally looked at the figure asleep on the sofa.

“Bloody Hell!” he muttered. “She looks like one of those old Pears® soap adverts doesn’t she! Such innocence, such beauty, she deserves to be a happy child, and by God that’s what she’s going to be, happy, contented and safe! And I promise you both now that the two of you will indeed be happy, contented and most of all safe, or my names not Michael Arthur Smith!”

Tina turned and kissed her husband, who was just absently smiling at the vision before him.

“I’ll wake her up or we’ll be here all afternoon!” said Carrie as entered the room and knelt before her daughter. “Lisa, come on Lisa, wake up sweetheart!” as she gently shook Lisa’s knee. “Come on Lisa we need to get moving!”

Lisa extracted her thumb from her mouth, dribble slid gently down her chin as she stretched uttering soft moans as she slowly opened her eyes to see her sister staring at her lovingly with Mike and Tina in the background. Then she noticed the T.V. was silent, no futile efforts of Wile E Coyote® trying to catch the Road Runner®!

“I was watching that” Lisa said as she sat up and gently tubbed her eyes with the back of her hands.

“I know, but you’ve been asleep for almost an hour and a half, we need you to get up now as we have to pop out for a short while, so I need you to go to the loo, and wash your face too, Okay?”

“Yes Mommy”

Lisa made her way to the bathroom; did everything she needed to do and came back downstairs to find the three adults waiting for her. Mike knelt so he was eye to eye with her.

“Ok Lisa, what I want you to do is get back into the car, and as you and Carrie did yesterday, I want you to hide under a blanket until I tell you it’s ok to sit up. There’s nothing to worry about, we’re just popping over to Merry Hill to get some photos of you both, then we’ll come back here. But then, I don’t want you to hide, what I need you to do is to act a bit younger than you really are, be like it’s a really exciting day and you are just so happy with life, can you do that Lisa?”

“Ok Granddad, if that’s what you want me to do, then I shall be your adorable little Granddaughter!”

“That’s a good girl, ok ladies, let’s get you all in the car.”

Carrie and Lisa slid into the backseat and Tina and Mike gently covered them with a blanket. Lisa couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped her lips.

“What’s so funny?” whispered Carrie.

“Nothing really, I just realised that I was so busy concentrating on what Granddad was saying, I completely forgot I was wearing a dress to go outside for the first time in my life!”

“Are you ok with that Lisa, are you scared?” asked Carrie.

Lisa thought for a moment “Not really Mom, it’s something I have wanted to do my whole life, so it feels more special than scary, at least it does at the moment, it might be different when we get to the shopping centre, but I just keep thinking of my reflection in this dress and even I can’t recognise the old me anymore, so if I can’t, then no one else probably won’t either. You will stay close to me though won’t you?” she said squeezing Carries hand, seeking reassurance.

“Of course I will sweetheart, you hold my hand all the time okay? And if you need to pop to the loo, don’t forget to sit like a good girl.”

“Yes Mommy, I’ll hold your hand tightly, and I always sit on the loo, it’s always felt the right thing to do, so I always have!”

“That’s my girl, another thing, if Grandma or I need the loo, us girls always go together, so you’ll come with us too, we’ll just leave your Grandfather with the bags!”

Okay Mommy!”

At that moment they felt Mike getting into the driving seat of the car as Tina opened the up and over garage door. After starting the vehicle and reversing out of the garage Mike climbed out of the vehicle as he went to close the garage, before going into the house, setting the alarm and locking the front door then he re-entered the car. While he was doing that Tina had got into the passenger seat and whispering. asked her two rear passengers if they were Okay? Receiving positive replies, she nonchalantly looked about her under the pretence of checking her nail polish. The heavy-set individual in the car hiding down the street had suddenly become more agitated and seemed to be preparing to move off himself.

Tina whispered, “Okay girls, stay where you are, we have company but there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll tell you when it’s safe to sit up.”

Fortunately, it was a mild day so it didn’t get too hot and uncomfortable under the blanket. Mike drove past the partly hidden car, and under the pretence of having an earnest discussion with Tina, he quickly studied the driver. As they got several hundred yards down their street, the mysterious car pulled out and the driver hurried to catch them up, trying to not be too obvious he was following them, but failing miserably, especially to someone who had honed specialist offensive and defensive driving techniques whilst in the armed forces.

“The blokes a complete muppet” remarked Mike, “He might as well have flashing blue lights and a siren on his motor, talk about sticking out like a sore thumb!”

“Is everything alright Mike?” asked Carrie.

“Yes, no worries girls! We have the one tail at the moment, but as far as I can tell no-one else is interested in us, so just stay where you are and it’ll all be Okay!”

As they approached the main shopping area, Tina suddenly said to Mike, “I’ve just thought of something that’ll add to our ruse, pull up just by the toy store, I won’t be long!”

“Your wish is my command Madam!” said Mike jokingly. As he pulled into the parking space Tina quickly exited the car and entered the store. Mike casually watching their follower, who’d parked up a few spaces away. As the car was warming up a little, Mike opened both front windows to allow a through breeze and cracked both rear windows an inch or two. “That should help keep the temperature down girls, just make sure you’re well covered by the blanket, our friend is coming up for a looksee, so stay still and keep quiet!”

Carrie made sure that the tartan blanket was completely covering both her and Lisa.

Mike had a rock station gently playing on the radio. Their tail nonchalantly walked past the car trying to surreptitiously’ look inside. He wondered up to the toy store and after perusing the store window, he must have observed Tina approaching a till as he started to walk back to his own vehicle. As he got near to Mike’s vehicle he nodded as if acknowledging an acquaintance.

Mike returning his nod spoke “All right mate?” The standard local greeting.

“Yeah, not bad ta, nice motor, always wanted one of these, what’s the mileage like?” he asked as he half approached Mike’s window sneaking glances at the interior.

“Not bad, get about thirty eight miles to the gallon if it’s driven carefully, but if you go belting up the motorway you can almost watch the tank contents needle going down.

The supposedly clever tail realised that the wife had just returned to the vehicle and climbed into the passenger seat.

“I’ve got a lovely doll for our Lisa, it’s been so long since we’ve seen them I do hope she hasn’t got this particular one, I’ve got her a load of outfits and accessories to go with it too, I can’t wait to see them” said Tina as she made a big show of putting the large bag in its distinctive plastic bag onto the rear seat. The tail, after hearing this exchange made his way back to his own vehicle ready to commence following the couple. He pulled out thinking what idiots this couple were and how come these would be “Middle Class” losers always had the same tartan blankets to protect their rear seats, what stupidity.

He carefully followed Mike into the queue for the main multi-storey car park, it was obviously full as they were only allowing one car in for each vehicle that left. This might be a problem he thought. But luckily, three cars left almost simultaneously, so Mike, the tail and a third car all entered at the same time. As Mike slowly made his way up through the floors, he noticed a car on the main deck just pulling out allowing him to quickly reverse into the spot. His tail was now flummoxed, how was he going to keep a close eye on these two, then as he stayed where he was, trying to decide what to do, the car behind blasted his horn. The follower gave the universal sign of two fingers. The driver of the third motor vehicle climbed out of his four by four, it was obvious that he was a determined body builder, as he was a huge mass of muscles and well over six foot two inches. The tail decided that discretion was better than valour and quickly drove off to find a parking spot. He tried to keep an eye on his target’s vehicle, but it quickly became lost in the mass of parked cars. The tail ended up parked on the roof level and was rushing to get to the lifts to descend to the shopping level, when his shoulder was gripped in an iron like clamp, as he turned round, he realised it was the man mountain who snarled at him.

“I would be carful who you wave two fingers at mate if I were you, I don’t like being told to fu*k off by little wankers like you, right mate?”

“Yeah sorry pal, won’t happen again!”

“Make sure it doesn’t, I might not be so reasonable next time, got it?”

With that the man mountain strolled off with that very wide stiff legged stance usually seen in overly muscled individuals. The “tail” was now in a real quandary, he needed to quickly get down to the shopping arena, but he didn’t want to get to closely involved with that huge bloke, it could be detrimental to his health. Glancing around, he spotted a staircase at the other end of the parking deck, so he set off for the stairs at a run, rushing down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him. He crashed through doors, frantically looking around for the couple he was following, with them nowhere in sight he started frantically pushing his way through the crowds, his eyes darting from left to right.