Dot and Sam 10

Dorothy Philpot. Landlady of The Harbour Light pub
Sam Philpot. Drag-queen.
Billy Parkins Doorkeeper.
Jessica Merlot The town’ and county archaeologist.
Josephine MacDonald The town and county archivist.
Richard Drummond Town planning inspector
Robert Vincent. Junior planning inspector.
Georgina. (Georgie) Homeless Transgender girl.
Bobby Gay boy on the school bus.
Marty Girl on the school bus.
Jack. Marty’s twin brother (Keen runner).

As Georgie led Marty’s history group and parents around the museum-cum extended restaurant, Georgie found she quite enjoyed the experience as they asked questions. The only issue was making sure she kept clear of Marty’s brother Jack. There were two reasons for this; firstly she still had not completely forgiven him for groping her and secondly she did not want to get involved with any risk of intimacy or a relationship because of her transgenderism.

Only Marty and Jack recognised that Georgie was keeping her distance but neither were going to raise the issue amidst the group. Finally Georgie led them on a brief circuit of the basin excavations before finally bidding them good evening as the cool autumnal, chill started to descend.

“See you all tomorrow,” she exclaimed as the parents thanked her for being so helpful towards their daughter’s various history projects.

Content with her endeavours to sell the pub as an interesting location to dine out, Georgie grinned as she stood under the glow of the newly placed harbour lantern on the gable corner and waved as she watched the cars disappearing down the road,

With that duty done, she looked in on Dot and Sam to find that they had already scrubbed down for the night so she went up to her bedroom to do her homework. There she flung herself upon her bed and sat back against her pillows to boot up her lap-top. Then, as she did every evening, she searched her chosen sites to see if there was any responses to her searches. She had long become inured to disappointments as she scrolled down the pages each evening but this particular evening there appeared a small response about halfway down the list of sites.

“Hmm,” she mused, “what’s this?”

She checked that the site was safe and cautiously ran it through her search checker then confirmed it safe to open before reading the response.

“Hello George, I see that you are searching for a Trevor Aitkins, is your first name Edward and do you still use your original family name of Aitkins?”

Georgie felt a twist of uncertainty as she wondered if the message was genuine or if the web-site genuine. She hesitated fearfully as she debated what to do then finally she decided to take the plunge and messaged back.

“Please confirm my place of birth and date before I respond fully.” Georgie responded cautiously without revealing any other details, although the search site was programmed to block personal details.

Georgie had signed up to the site in her previous male persona after confirming that the search site was bona-fida. The message came back.

“My son’s name is Edward George Aitkins, he was born in Shrewsbury on March 20th, 1995.”

“That is my date of birth, what other details can you supply.”

“My wife and I got separated because she was unfaithful to me. I believe she remarried and moved to Birmingham. Her name is Lucinda, or Lucy.”

“It must be him!” Georgie told herself so she took the plunge.

“What is my sister’s full name?”

“Elizabeth Jane. She’s two years younger than Edward George. Born July 12th, 1997.”

After several other checks, Georgie was convinced it was her father because he supplied details only her dad would know. She took the plunge.

“I’ll contact you again tomorrow at eight o’clock’”

“Do you skype?” He asked.

“Yes but not at first meeting. I’ll arrange a meeting in a safe, public place first. Where do you live now?”

“I have not moved far; I live in Gloucester.”

“Okay, until tomorrow then.”

With this, she closed the site and gave herself a nervous hug. She had found her bio-dad! Now the issue was her transgenderism and how he might treat it. The following day, Monday, she was distracted in school. and Jack had to twice remind her to concentrate upon their experiment. At the first instance he was nervous about speaking to her about it but as the experiment progressed through the lesson, Jack realised that Georgie was obviously distracted by something. He was afraid to inquire why and did not ask.
Sometime during the afternoon Jack had obviously mentioned Georgie’s preoccupation to Marty because on the bus, Marty raised the issue.

“Cat got your tongue?” Marty asked her as they settled in their usual seat.

“Wha,’ oh sorry babe; nah, I’ve got stuff on my mind. Sorry.”

Marty fell silent for she’d also noticed that her friend had been pretty introspective all day. Instead, she asked to meet Georgie late that evening to check a couple of things about the excavations. Georgie agreed.

“Yeah, but take care, I don’t know what, if any, extra material has been extracted. I don’t want you falling down any new holes. I can’t go with you cos I’ve got to catch up on some home-work after yesterday with your friends and families doing their visit.”

“Okay.” Marty agreed.

When Georgie got home, she went immediately to her computer but got no reply and at first, she wondered if the person on the other end was playing her for a fool. Then she concluded if he was working, he might not get home until five, or six o’clock. Instead she plunged into her homework until Marty’s arrival distracted her. She handed Marty the key to the security gate and lent her their powerful torch.

“Take care, it’s slippy and ask Dot for the walkie talkie. I’ve got mine by the bed.”

“What! You use intercoms?” Marty grinned.

“The pub’s a big place and we don’t like to leave the kitchens unattended. If Dot or Sam need me they just call me on this. It works on the site as well.”

Marty did as Georgie instructed and tested it when she got to the excavation she wanted to look at. Once she’d completed her objective she returned to The Harbour Light and met Dot sat with Sam on the garden seats. As she returned the radio and the torch she asked where Georgie was.

“Up in her bedroom girl,” Dot replied, “doing her homework I suppose. Remove those muddy boots before you go up.”

Marty did as instructed but found Georgie’s bedroom door locked.

“Are you in there?” Marty called through the door.”

“Yeah! Hold on a minute I’m on a call.”

“Who to?”

“Never you mind, it’s private.” Georgie replied.

Marty stood back patiently for several minutes before Georgie opened the door and asked her in.

“Dare I ask who that was?”

“I can’t tell you just yet. I need to chat to Dot and my case-worker.”

“Sounds like family,” Marty observed perspicaciously.

“Yeah, whatever, but I have to talk with Dot first. There are rules attached to my being fostered.”

Marty shrugged and sat on the bed as Georgie closed her lap-top lid.

“So, what did you find in the excavations?”

“Jessica’s sent me a message; they think they’ve found an older trading ship buried deeper in the mud of the Basin. They only discovered it this afternoon because they were researching foundation potentials deeper down than the ancient basin walls.”

“Older than the boat in the holding ponds?” Georgie wondered.”

“Yes. The old basin is much older than the old dock or the canal. There’s been a deep-water tidal pool where the river eddied around the rocky outcrop since forever. The archaeologists believe ships have been using the tidal pool as a permanently wet berth since men have been building ships. ‘Always afloat’ and stuff, is how sailors describe it. Jessie explained it to me on my phone while I was looking in the hole. The basin was built around the tidal pool because the eddies around the rock made it self-dredging. The basin predates the pub and the pub predates the town.”

“Are they going to excavate that ship as well?” Georgie asked.

“I dunno’, she didn’t say. It just looked like some rotten planks and a stem post when I saw it just now. There’s people coming to check it tomorrow.”

“Ah well,” Georgie grinned, “more business for the pub. Dot and Sam’ll be pleased.”

“Trust you!” Marty expostulated. “It’s always money; no interest in our heritage.”

“Oy. I’m studying science not history. And besides, without science you’d have precious little archaeology so precious little history.”

They teased each other about sciences and the arts until Dot called the walkie-talkie and declared that dinner was ready.

After Dinner, Marty discovered that her rear light on her Bike was defunct so Sam drove her and her bike home. When she returned home, Georgie took the opportunity to tell Dot about having located her biological father.

“What; you’ve actually found him; how do you know it’s him?” Dot pressed.

“He answered all my questions, only ones my real dad could know.”

“You haven’t disclosed your location have you?”

“No. The search site especially protects your personal details unless you specifically share them. Besides I never had anything to fear from my dad. He was always good to me after they separated until my mother’s new boyfriend Terry became a menace.
Terry's the bastard I hate and fear, he’s the one who drove me out or at least made it too hard to bear. I should have made sure I was still in contact with my dad before I ran.”

“Have you told him about Georgie?”

“Not yet.”

“I think you’d better.”

“Yes but how? If I break it to him suddenly he might lose it and I don’t want that.”

“Have you agreed to meet him?” Dot pressed.

“Yes. But we haven’t agreed a place.”

“D’ you want me to come with you?”

“It might be a good idea, would you?”

“Of course I will, but you’d best check it with your case-worker.”

“Do I have to?”

“I think it would be the right thing to do, it might even be compulsory. Shall I talk to her tomorrow?”

“I’m an emancipated adult, I shouldn’t have to ask.”

“Perhaps not but remember, the fostering fees I receive for your keep are discretionary subject to your education and circumstances. Let’s not jeopardise those while you’re still at school.”

“Ah! Good point,” Georgie grinned. “If I was working full time I’d be out on my arse as far as the SS are concerned.”

“Exactly.” Dot confirmed. “I’ll chat with her tomorrow and let you know in school or when you get home.”

“I think I’m doing the right thing,” Georgie opined. “He really was the best dad a kid could have. I never should have run away until I knew where he lived. He was pretty broken up when my egg-donor left him.”

“Is that how you feel about her?”

“She was never a mother to me. She married that bastard Terry the moment the decree absolute came through. That’s when my life turned to shit, the moment he realised I was trans.”

Dot nodded slowly. She knew Georgie’s story chapter and verse.

After chatting at length and eventually telling Sam the news, they shared some hot chocolate then went to bed. The next day after Lunch, Dot contacted Georgie to let her know the meeting was okay provided Dot was to witness it to prevent any kidnap attempts. Georgie cackled when she heard the news and heads all turned in the school canteen.

“Whassat about?” Marty asked.

“Aah, nothin much. D’ yer wanna come to Bristol on Sunday?”

“Saturday’s better.”

“Naah, I’m working.”

“Whass’it for?”

“I’ve found my dad, my real dad; the nice one. He wants to take me to lunch.”

“Shouldn’t you go alone?”

“Naah, Dot’s coming as well. There’s lots to sort out and I’d like a friend if it doesn’t work out.”

“Oka-ay.” Marty agreed cautiously. “There’s no danger is there?”

“I wouldn’t have thought so. My dad was always good to me.”

And so on the Sunday morning, Marty met Georgie and Dot at the railway station.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~