The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3433 by Angharad Copyright© 2024 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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Henry decided because there seemed to be some dissent in the camp, that they would reflect upon my suggestions and return to them at the next meeting. George had won a postponement but the world wasn't listening and extremes of weather would continue as would the plight of thousands if not millions who had the misfortune to live in the affected areas and who may perish through flood or landslide, or face famine as a result of such things. I had tried to warn of the perils of climate change but had been ignored as costing too much. I wondered what price they put on their own lives or the lives of their families, because sooner or later some would pay that price.

In Britain we are relatively lucky though we have had fires and floods happen increasingly in recent years, so it can happen here, perhaps. However what is certain is, that the very wet weather we have had over this winter just gone, means that crops have been affected and things like wheat and potatoes, will rise in price accordingly, which will make bread more expensive. That won't be more than an inconvenience for me, but the poor, struggling families will struggle even more.

In recent council elections, the Tories got hammered. So Labour will probably win the next election when the date is determined. I wonder if the Tories are limping on as long as possible to cause as many problems for the new government, when the election happens. It's the sort of spiteful thing the Tories would do. I hope they never form a government again, because the damage they have done to the environment is going to take years to correct if it's even possible. Big business like oil companies and water suppliers have made huge profits over the last decade or two, usually at the expense of the environment. I should like to see prison sentences handed out for repeat offenders and they should be forced to serve the full term, and the ones jailed should be the chief executives. Similar custodial sentences should fall upon land owners and farmers who persecute birds of prey or spoil waterways. If you jail Lord Snotty because he failed to stop his gamekeepers shooting hen harriers or eagles, it will soon stop and he will never do it again, especially if you make it sentence without appeal.

I had a phone call from Sue, Abi's mother, they had just been to see Stephanie and thought she was wonderful. It wasn't cheap but Abi really likes her and thought she could work with her. I was glad that someone shared my view of Stephanie who was my friend as well as my children's therapist. Certainly, she had really helped my kids deal with the dilemmas and problems associated with being gender different, many of which you neither foresee or anticipate until they happen. Because I worry so much about my kids, she has also helped ease my mind at times and the fact that we must owe her thousands for her professional help, which she has never charged us for because I fostered then adopted children with issues that no one else wanted, she said she was helping me with that cost. My children love her and she is one of my closest friends.

Stella, now seems to have recovered from the death of her fiancé, who if you will remember died from an explosion in a cottage he was renting. The bomb, was of dynamite made to look like a gas explosion. He was dead before the explosion after a blunt instrument was used to bash his head, it turned out to be a local quarry owner who Gareth had stopped expanding because of environmental concerns about a woodland that was situated on the planned expansion site.

It was awful all round. The original quarry owner committed suicide, his son murdered Gareth, his mother subsequently shot him while I was trying to subdue him, and James nearly died at the quarry having been imprisoned in an old outhouse that filled with water. I nearly went mad trying to get someone to rescue him, the police didn't want to know because it was dark and considered too dangerous. James was rescued in the end but he was close to death either from severe hypothermia or the drowning that would have occurred as time progressed.

He's another friend of mine, although we only usually see each other when I have need of his services. He is an investigator extraordinaire who will risk danger for me. His mother is as batty as any belfry I've ever seen, which may explain some of his eccentricity, but he is at times rash, very brave and also good fun, when we aren't just trying to stay alive. He almost certainly saved my life against an organised crime gang called the 'South Bank Show,' and I returned the favour by keeping him alive after he had been shot several times. Boy, that was an experience I didn't want to repeat, with him facing down a machine gun while returning fire from his Magnum, which he reckoned could shoot through an engine block.

At their next appointment with Stephanie, Sue arranged to meet me for coffee while Abi was seeing Stephanie. We had just the right amount of time, as she usually takes an hour per appointment. I know a reasonable coffee shop just down the road from Stephanie's clinic and we met there. Sue, was a little anxious as Abi wanted to return to school in her female persona. Sue wasn't so sure, neither was John, so Abi was trying to get Stephanie's support for the venture. Sue kept asking me if Stephanie would support it and though I knew her very well, I couldn't predict what she would do. I suggested she may tell her to wait until the next school year started and to maybe change school. Turned out I was right, Abi was disgusted but we ameliorated her disappointment by inviting her to spend a weekend at our house after Danni had finished playing soccer for the season. Abi thought Danni was special for her England appearances despite being having changed gender. Danni told her that I had helped quite a bit and so had my lawyers. Of course, the academic year ends well before the football season does so Danni was prepared to tolerate her slightly younger fan, though she found the attention a little embarrassing. If you add 'very' to that sentence, it probably described my position about being the centre of attention.

Henry had told me after the board meeting to keep researching my paper as he thought that the next natural disaster linked to climate change would provide an opportunity to 'slay' the climate deniers and he would be able to get some of my suggestions through. He was committed to being seen as the greenest bank and Simon was also a supporter and I don't mean because he was my husband. He was a moderniser and although Henry often stopped his ideas because he thought the bank was unready, Simon kept thinking how we could be greener and more efficient without being too automated or internet dependent, as many banks were.

Trish was looking forward to attending Cambridge University in the autumn; she had done her PhD in just a couple of years and I had promised I would support her application if she did her doctorate with us first. I had hoped to buy an extra year to give her a chance to mature as she would be away from home for a large part of the next few years.

She was going to St Augustine's College, or Gussies as they nicknamed it. It was older than Darwin College but much younger than Kings College or Christchurch College. Henry had kept his promise to buy a house in Cambridge which she could use while she was there, providing she looked after it. He was worried about student parties and other social events, but she assured him she was there to study particle physics - yeah, easy not. She had written to Professor Brian Cox at Manchester University, and he told her to go for it and he would try and help if she got stuck and her personal tutor couldn't sort it. That gave me a little encouragement. I was also encouraged that she had to keep a room in the house for visiting family, so I or one of the others could go and see her. I know Sammi had told her she may visit from London. I know they get on like a house on fire (what a stupid expression), though I hoped it would not involve any conflagration.

As if to prove her preparedness for Cambridge she had gone backpacking with some friends from uni; her latest text said she was in Portugal somewhere, I made her promise to text me at least once a week to let me know how she was. 'Having a ball,' was the response. Danni was tempted to go and meet her but she ended up going for a week to our villa on Menorca, once she had Abi visit. She planned to go with Sarah.

I looked at places in this country, so as not to be too far away from home should any of them need me, and I was trying to introduce Cate and Alice to holidays away from home. They both seemed uncertain, whereas Pudding and Fiona, Stella's two were excited about the possibility. I did consider Scotland, even possibly the castle at Stanebury, provided the midge season was over, so that could be late summer.

Danni and Sarah did consider it too, to perhaps give me a hand with the littlies, although Hannah said she didn't mind coming too as she had only been there once. I knew that whatever happened, if we did go to Stanebury we'd lay some flowers on Alison's grave. If you remember she was the teen who hanged herself in the woodland at the castle because she couldn't cope with the stress of fundamentalist parents and transitioning. I'd since heard that her horrible father had since died. I wasn't going to mourn him after the upset he caused for his daughter.

I also had a hankering to visit Dumfries again, I'd been once as an adult, but it was a pretty place and somewhere to visit the places of interest for Robert Burns, the Scottish poet who lived there for a while and died there. It was also the place of my birth and I was also tempted to see if I had any family left in the area, although sometimes they can be funny over my transition or my title, not that I'm at all snobbish and realise that most people only have access to limited funds unlike my wealthy inlaws. I also recognise that I had a good job and would be quite comfortable without Simon and Stella's super-rich parents. I sometimes wondered if Dumfries was somewhere I could live and then I thought about it being colder, darker and wetter and decided that a visit was much more likely.