The Life and Times of Kelly Anderson

Written by Kristine Roland
Edited by Joni W

Part 8 - This is the Sequel to Jason's Story.

Kelly and Tom go searching for Emily and Billy, lost in the woods.

Author's Note: My sincere thanks to Joni W for all her efforts!

Special thanks to Jennifer Brock and Pippa K for assistance with some plot points.

Chapter 19

Billy chased after Emily who was shouting, "Run, run, fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

Emily made sure to not get too far ahead and when Billy would get close she would move on again laughing. As Billy got closer, Emily turned to run on again and her foot caught on a branch and she went down in a crash, crying out, first in surprise then in pain.

Billy caught up to her and said, "Emily, you ok?"

Emily was holding her ankle, crying. She had scraped her hands, and elbows, but her ankle was badly sprained.

"Emily?" Billy sat next to her, not sure of what to do. "Want me to get your Mom?"

Emily said, "Yes!"

Billy got up and looked around and said, "Which way do I go?"

Emily looked around and said through her tears, "I don't know."

Emily stopped crying as she tried to remember which way they had come. She tried to stand, but quickly cried out in pain, and fell down again. "Ow!"

Billy started to cry.

Emily wincing said, "Billy, we'll be ok. Come on don't cry."

"I want my mommy. I wanna go back!"

"I do too, Billy. But I can't walk and we don't know how to get back. We need to wait here for someone to find us."

"No, I wanna go back now!"

"Billy, do you remember my daddy?"

"Kind of."

"I used to go hiking with him and mommy and we even went camping once."

"So?"

"He used to tell me if I ever got lost in the woods that I should hug a tree and wait. That if I kept wandering, I would make it harder for them to find me. So we need to hug this tree and wait. So come sit down and we will play some games right here."

When Billy had sat down next to her, Emily used a twig to draw a Tic-Tac-Toe board in the dirt. She said, "You go first."

---

Tom ran out of the woods and went looking for his Aunt Kristine or Uncle Richard. It took him a few minutes, but then he saw them. He ran over to them and said, "Aunt Kristine!"

Kelly's mother said coolly, "What do you want, Tom?"

Out of breath Tom said, "Billy and Emily snuck off together into the woods, and we can't find them. Aunt Sally sent me to find you or Uncle Richard to ask you to get your friend Officer Dowling."

Richard said, "How long have they been gone?"

Tom said, "Not sure. Sometime during the Mayor's speech."

Richard looked at his watch and said, "That's at least forty five minutes, maybe longer. Shit they could be pretty deep in the woods at this point. I'll call Tim."

Richard got out his cell phone and dialed, "Hi Tim… Richard Anderson here... No, Kelly is fine. But my niece and nephew are missing. They supposedly went into the woods and my sisters can't find them. We think it's been about forty five minutes. Thanks."

Kelly, his mother and Tom looked at him, and he said, "Ok… Tim is calling it in. He said he would meet us in about half an hour. Tom, show us where they went in."

Tom lead them to the spot in the woods where Billy and Emily had been seen entering. They could hear Sally and Jessica calling out the children's names just inside the woods.

Kelly said, "Mom, Dad… Let me go try to find them. I know these woods, I've been camping in them a bunch of times."

Kelly's mother said, "I don't know if that is a great idea, what if you get lost too."

"Kristine, Kelly has been in these woods plenty of times. She knows them, and the sooner we find them the better. The camping gear is in the trunk of the car; grab the first aid kit, the walkie-talkies, compass and the water bottle. And grab a buddy to go in with you."

Tom said, "I'll go with him."

Kelly's mom and dad both started to correct him, but Kelly beat them to it saying "Tom, do I look like a him anymore? I am a girl, my name is Kelly. If you want to come with me, fine, I know you are just as worried about Billy and Emily as I am. But you will treat me with respect, or you can wait here."

Kelly's parents glared at Tom, who quietly said, "Ok. Kelly."

Kelly ran and got the supplies, filled the water bottles, handing one to Tom and said, "Ready, Tom?"

Tom said, "Yeah I'm ready. Let's go."

They headed into the woods, Kelly said, "I think they would have followed this trail to start, it opens up a little ways in and that is where we will have to see what we find and try to decide which way to go."

They walked along the trail in silence. Kelly kept her eyes on the path in front of her, looking to see if she could make out any sign that her young cousins had passed this way. As she came to a muddy area, she put out her hand to stop Tom, and said, "Look… there, on that rock. That's a fairly small sneaker print. I can't tell for sure that it's them, but the mud is still wet, so it can't be too long ago."

Tom looked at Kelly and just said, "Who are you, Tonto?"

Kelly said, "No, I wish we had a real tracker, but we need to keep our eyes out, there are places where we will have to decide which way to go."

They continued to follow along the path. Every once in a while one of them would point out another small footprint. They soon came to an area where there was a bit of a clearing, and several different ways the kids could have gone. Unfortunately, it was very dry, so no obvious footprints to go by.

Tom said, "Ok, Kemo Sabe, what do we do now?"

Kelly stopped and looked around. She said, "Well, they came from there, if we assume they weren't really paying much attention to where they were going, they would probably have kept walking that way. They don't know where any of these go; I'd say they went that way."

Tom said, "Maybe we should split up… We could cover more ground."

Kelly said, "No… We need to stay together. We only have the one walkie-talkie; we would have no way to let the other know if we found them."

"I suppose you're right. Alright let's get going."

They followed the path that Kelly had picked, looking for any sign that they were on the right path. Kelly was the first to see a match-box car lying just off the side of the path. She picked it up, and saw in writing on the back, it said "Billy."

She said, "It certainly looks like we are on the right track. Here save this for Billy."

Tom said, "You found it, you should give it to him."

"I wouldn't want to be accused of trying to molest him," Kelly said, with a touch of anger in her voice.

Tom looked away and said, "Mom was wrong to say that."

"She was wrong… what about what you did? How could you do that to me, Tom?"

"I was trying to save you."

Kelly looked at him in disbelief. "Save me? How, by getting me killed?"

"No, it was supposed to make you renounce your sin and realize that you needed to accept what God has given you."

"Has it ever occurred to you that I have accepted what God has given me? God has given me this challenge and I accept it and will make the best of it."

"God doesn't make mistakes; you are a boy, because you are supposed to be a boy."

"I never said that God makes mistakes. He made me physically a boy, but he wired my brain as a girl. He gave me loving parents and family, that could help me to cope with that challenge. I have accepted the challenge and will take advantage of the other gifts that God has given me, such as the medicines that prevent my body becoming more masculine and some day to physically match my body up with my brain."

"Cross-dressing is a sin."

"Oh… on whose authority?"

"The Bible tells us so."

"Where?"

"Deuteronomy 22:5"

"Oh, yes, that's right… Of course Deuteronomy 22:11 prohibits the wearing of mixed fabrics… Isn't that a poly blend you are wearing right now? Oh, and Deuteronomy 22:12, where are your fringes? Last time I was at your house, I didn't see a railing around your roof. Deuteronomy is Mosaic Law, it is not moral law. Jesus fulfilled the law."

"Those things are different."

"Why, Tom? Because you do them? Because 'Everyone' does them? Maybe it's because gender and sex are intertwined? If God was so determined on it, why would he bury the only comment on cross-dressing in the whole Bible within a bunch of ceremonial laws? Face it Tom, you and your church are picking and choosing which things to condemn from a long laundry list? Why, because people like your Reverend Triphard need to focus hate on someone, and it is an easy target."

"What do you mean by that?"

"How's the collection plate been going since he started his crusade against me?"

"You take that back. Reverend Triphard is a representative of God; he isn't interested in money. Collections keep the church running!"

"I understand that collections are necessary for a church. You know I do, look at what our church is doing with the meal kitchen. Funny though, your church is the only one in the county that isn't taking part, either in our program or one of the others."

"How do you know that?"

"I heard Minister Goodman discussing it with one of the other church leaders."

"I'm sure there is a good reason."

"Sure there is. Look you know what; I didn't mean to get into an argument with you. I know what your beliefs are; I accept that. I was hurt more then you will ever know by what you and your Mom did to me, but I have forgiven you, whether you want me to or not. I know that in your way you were trying to do what was right, but I can't be what you want me to be, Tom. That is not going to happen, I AM Kelly, and Kelly is me."

"Why? What was so bad about being Jason? Why would you choose to…"

"Choose to what? Give up being male? Choose to be 'the weaker' sex, to get paid less for the same work, to be treated with less respect, to have people stare at my chest instead of talking to my face? It's not a choice Tom; this is who I am. It's who I have always been. Jason was the lie; I couldn't take another day of it. I guess in one way I owe you a thank you, if you had not sent that damned e-mail out, I would still be going to school as Jason."

"You say that you were always Kelly, but you were never effeminate. Ok, you didn't like football, which is questionable, but you were good at other sports. Baseball, soccer and you like hockey. Hell, you’re a better fisherman than I am. Until Emily came around, I never saw you playing with girl things. You're dating a girl, so you aren't even a fag. Bottom line is you are still male, under all of the makeup and clothes, you have a dick."

"Tom, do you have to be so crude? You don't know any girls that are good at sports or that like them, Tom? What century do you live in? Hell, my dad tells me your mother even liked to fish when she was younger. I know you will never understand this, hell it's hard for me to understand at times. Yes, I have a penis. Yes, I am attracted to girls as well, then again so are lots of other girls. Sexual attraction and gender identification are not the same; they are controlled by different parts of the brain. Growing up though, I knew what society wanted me to be and I tried, really tried, to be a boy, Tom. I can't say I absolutely hated being Jason, I didn't. I just never felt comfortable and I could not help but feel jealous and sometimes even bitter that I couldn't be a girl. When I finally got up the nerve to talk to my parents and actually got to be myself, well there was no going back."

"So you're going to have it cut off then? Self-mutilation?"

"I don't know yet what I'm going to do. I admit that having it surgically removed is scary. But if I do it, it won't be mutilation; it will be correcting an anatomical anomaly, like if I had an extra finger or something like that."

"An extra finger? It's hardly the same thing."

"Why, let's say I had an extra finger and it was perfectly functional, it might even be advantageous in some ways, would you have a problem with me having it removed?"

"No."

"Why, God doesn't make mistakes, I would have been meant to have that extra finger. It was useful at times, why would you think it was ok to have it removed?

"Because people would always look at you funny. You would have a heck of a time getting gloves for the winter, and you would just be trying to correct something that happened in the womb."

"Well Tom, that is what I am doing. Something happened in the womb, my brain got the signal to be wired as a girl, but my body didn't get the same message, so here I am with a deformity that makes it difficult for me to get the proper clothes and makes people look at me funny."

"You have a justification for everything, but you are deluding yourself."

"I could say the same to you. Look, we aren't going to agree on this Tom. If I'm wrong about it, then someday I may have to face God and be told that I was wrong. If so, I'm prepared to take responsibility for my actions, are you? Think about how Jesus treated people Tom, and ask yourself if your Reverend Triphard is emulating Jesus. I don't want to fight anymore Tom. I hate that you and your family have withdrawn from the family over this. It is especially unfair to Billy."

Tom started to respond, held back and looked thoughtful. Eventually he said, "I have to give that some thought, Kelly. Come on, let's go find them, and you give Billy his car."

"Fair enough."

---

Officer Dowling and several other officers met up with Kelly's parents, and her two Aunts. They had brought one of the K9 dogs, and asked if they had anything that Emily or Billy had worn recently. Sally gave them a sweater that Emily had worn earlier in the day, when the temperature had been cooler.

The officer let the dog smell the sweater until he got the scent, and began sniffing the ground and the bushes near the entrance to the woods. A few moments later he let out a yip, and began following the scent.

They followed after. Kelly's father took out his walkie-talkie and pressing the send button, "Kelly, come in?"

A few moments of static later, they heard Kelly respond, "Kelly here, we are still looking Dad, but we are on the right trail. Just found one of Billy's matchbox cars."

"Good, hopefully you will find them soon, but we are following along, the police have brought one of their tracking dogs."

"That's good, because we already had one spot where we were really not sure which way to go, and got a little lucky."

"Let us know if you find them."

"Will do. Kelly out."

Officer Dowling said, "We will find them. They clearly have a pretty good lead though, so lets keep moving."

With that they picked up the pace and headed on, following the dog.

---

Billy was crying. Emily was holding on to him, trying to keep from crying herself. Her ankle had swollen up and was throbbing in pain.

Through his tears, Billy said, "I'm thirsty! And I'm hungry. I wanna go home! I want my mommy!"

"Me too, Billy."

They sat there holding each other, Billy sobbing. Emily thought she heard something and said, "Did you hear that?"

Billy said, "No. I didn't hear nothin. I want my mommy!"

"Shhh… keep quiet a minute and listen."

Billy stopped and tried to listen, as did Emily. He was just about to start up again, when very faintly he heard someone shouting, "Billy! Emily!"

They both looked at each other and shouted, "We’re HERE!"

They both heard the response, a bit louder now, "Stay put, we are coming to you! It's Kelly and Tom."
Ten minutes later, they saw first Kelly then Tom come through one of the paths that led into the clearing they were in.

As soon as he saw them, Billy ran to them and said, "Jason! Tom!" Kelly kneeled down and grabbed him into a hug.

Kelly said, "Whoa Billy, it's going to be ok now. We have you." Kelly stood up and handed Billy over to Tom, then looking over at Emily she said, "Do you both know how scared your Mothers are? Emily, you know better than to go running off into the woods alone!"

Tom had also kneeled down to hug Billy, but now stood up and said sternly, "And so do you, Billy."

As they walked over to where Emily was still sitting by the tree, Emily said, "I know. We just wanted some time together. We haven't seen each other since his birthday last year."

Tom and Kelly both looked guilty about that.

Kelly saw Emily wince. "Emily, are you ok? What did you do?"

Emily started to cry, "I hurt my ankle." Now that she did not have to be strong and brave for Billy, she broke down and cried.

Kelly came over and looked at her ankle, "oh yeah… Tom, she is not going to be able to walk. Here is the walkie-talkie, let them know that we found them and that they’re ok. Emily either has a really bad sprain, or she may have broken her ankle."

Tom took the walkie-talkie.

Kelly got her water bottle and said, "Emily… here, you’re a bit dehydrated, have a little bit of water. Not too fast. Tom, Billy needs some water too." Tom handed her his water bottle, and she gave it to Billy.

Billy grabbed the bottle, took a drink and said, "I'm hungry."

Kelly said, "Billy, take small sips, you don't want to get sick." Kelly took a couple of candy bars out of her back pack and said, "Here, one for each of you. Next time you run off make sure you eat first."

They both took the candy and quickly ate it. Billy said, "Thank you, Jason. Can I have some more?"

Tom said, "Billy, you should call her Kelly now."

Kelly turned her head toward Tom in surprise and said, "Thank you, Tom." She then looked at Billy and said, "Billy, I am Kelly now. I'm sorry that things happened the way they did at the lake and we didn't get to go swimming together. Maybe someday your Mom will let us all get back together, but I have to respect her wishes. Just know that I have missed you very much."

Billy said, "I know that, Kelly. Mommy really was mad at you. She said you were sick. That we had to stay away from you. But you don't look sick to me, Jas.. I mean Kelly. I think you look nice."

Kelly smiled, gave Billy another hug and said, "Thank you Billy, now let me see what I can do about Emily's ankle." She turned to Emily and said, "Emily, I'm going to take your shoe off, we need to get that wrapped up." She took Emily's leg and carefully removed her shoe from the injured foot. She got out the first aid kit, found an ace bandage and an ice pack. "Emily, I know that this has got to hurt. While running off into the woods was definitely wrong, I am proud of you for keeping strong for Billy, you are getting to be a big girl." Kelly wrapped the ace bandage around Emily's ankle and then squeezed the ice pack to activate it. "Here, hold this on your ankle, it will help."

She then used some medical tape to secure it, making sure that it was not touching directly on her skin.

Tom said, "Ok… I let them know we found them. Is she going to be able to walk?"

Kelly said, "No, I don't think so."

Tom said, "Alright, I'll have to carry her then. At least until we meet up with the search crew. Help her onto my back. Emily, you are going to have to hold on, please." Kelly helped Emily unto Tom's back. Tom held her legs while Emily wrapped her arms around Tom's shoulders.

Kelly took Billy's hand and said, "Ok, come on, follow me. We will take it slow. Tom, let me know if you need a break."

Kelly led them back along the way they came. They stopped every now and then to give Tom a break. They soon met up with the searchers.

Emily and Billy both shouted, "Mommy!"

Tom knelt down and eased Emily down to the ground. Kelly walked Billy over to his Aunt Jessica and put Billy's hand into hers.

"Emily! You gave me such a scare!" Sally said.

Jessica said, "Billy, you too! What were you thinking?"

Then both mothers grabbed a hold of their children and hugged them tight. Sally said, "Kelly, Tom, thank you for finding them."

Tom, looking squarely at his mother said, "Kelly is the one that found them, I couldn't have done that on my own."

Jessica looked like she was eating worms, but she looked over at Kelly and said, "Thank you… Kelly."

Kelly said, "You're welcome."

One of the police officers knelt besides Emily and said, "This is a pretty bad sprain; it might even be broken. You did a good job on it, but we need to get this x-rayed as soon as we can."

Kelly's father picked up Emily and they all headed back towards the fair grounds. With the men taking turns carrying Emily, they were soon back. An ambulance was waiting and Emily was soon on the stretcher. Kelly, Tom and Billy gathered around the gurney, with their parents right behind.

Billy said, "Thank you Emily for taking care of me out there."

Kelly said, "You will be fine, Emily. If you need a cast, I can sign yours this time."

Emily smiled and said, "Thanks for finding us, Kelly. Thanks for carrying me out, Tom."

Tom said, "No problem, Em. I hope you feel better."

With that, the gurney with Emily was put into the ambulance, her mother was allowed to go along with them, and they were soon on their way to the hospital.

Kelly's parents told her Aunt Sally not to worry about the car, that they would take care of it and meet them at the hospital in a little while.

After the police had finished taking statements, they left; leaving Kelly and her parents standing there with her Aunt Jessica, Tom and Billy. They stood together, in an awkward silence.

Billy grabbed Kelly's hand and turned to his mother saying, "Mommy, You are wrong about Kelly. She is not sick and she IS a girl."

Reverend Triphard came over and shouted, "Get your hands off that child, you pervert! He is under the protection of God and he will strike you down if you don't let him go this instant."

Kelly glared at Reverend Triphard then turned to Billy and said, "Thank you Billy, but I don't want to cause you a problem with your Mother. You need to listen to her, she loves you and is just trying to do what she thinks is best for you."

Billy said, "No. She said you were a sinner and that you had spurned God, and that you are not a girl. That is why she won't let me see you, or Grandma and Grandpa, or Emily. It's not fair!"

Jessica said, "Billy, come here."

Billy said, "No!"

Kelly said, "Billy, you must do what your mother says." Kelly walked Billy to his Aunt Jessica, looked her directly in the eye and placed Billy's hand into hers.

Jessica said quietly, "Thank you, Kelly."

Reverend Triphard exploded, "THANK YOU, KELLY? Jessica, have you lost your mind. This abomination is not Kelly, its name is Jason and it is an abomination in the eyes of God. Billy is now on the path to hell, because of his exposure to this tool of Satan and now you are on the slopes as well. You must purge yourself and your family of these sins."

He closed in on Billy and grabbed him from Jessica and grabbed him by the shoulders, "You will Burn in the fiery depths of Hell, if you don't ask God for forgiveness. God hates sinners and he especially hates those that spurn his gifts. Do you want to burn boy?!"

Billy trembling shouted, "No! Let me go."

Reverend Triphard shook him harder, "Then beg for forgiveness! Renounce this creature, or you WILL Burn!"

Billy, crying said, "No, No… Let me go! No I don't want to burn." Triphard slapped Billy and Billy collapsed into hysterics as his bladder cuts loose from fear.

Kelly, her parents, Tom and Jessica had all been frozen in shock at the Reverends outburst. When she saw him slap Billy, something snapped in Jessica. She turned on Reverend Triphard, grabbed him and hit him hard across his face. "You bastard, leave my son alone! He is only five years old!"

Tom grabbed Reverend Triphard and spun him around, "keep your hands off of my brother!"

Kristine said, "What kind of monster are you? You are sick! It’s bad enough you have targeted Kelly for your hate preaching, but that was child abuse!"

Kelly went straight to Billy, and pulled him into her arms. "Shh… Billy, it will be ok, you will be fine."

Reverend Triphard said, "Tom, you understand? You have to understand."

Tom said, "I understand alright. I understand that you have lost it. I can't believe that I ever listened to you. Now get away from here, before I do something you will regret."

Tom shoved him away and then turned towards Billy. Billy was in Kelly's arms, his Aunt, Uncle and mother all trying to comfort him.

Jessica was holding Billy saying, "Billy, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. He is wrong, baby. God loves you, he would not treat his children that way."

Kelly mouthed to her mother, "Can you get Minister Goodman?"

Kristine said, "Jessica, come with us. Kelly, bring Billy."

Jessica nodded and followed along, Kelly got up and holding Billy in her arms, they went to where Minister Goodman had set up the church's food station for the picnic.

When they got there, Julie and Meghan who were helping, looked up and said, "What's going on?"

"Where is Minister Goodman?" Kristine asked.

"Here I am," he replied, "what is going on?"

When Richard told the Minister what had happened, he said angrily, "That is inexcusable. Kelly, can you bring him over here, where it is a little private. Jessica, Tom, I'm Minister Goodman, please come with me as well."

Kelly, Jessica and Tom followed along and they found a table in a quiet area. Kelly handed Billy to his mother, and then the Minister said, "Kelly, please let me talk to them now. Thank you for your help."

Kelly backed away and went back over to her parents.

It was quite a while later, when Jessica, Tom, Billy and Minister Goodman came back to them. Jessica said, looking straight at Kelly, "Kelly, thank you. I um… I was wrong and I'm sorry for the pain we have caused you."

"It's ok, Aunt Jessica. I understand. Is Billy going to be ok?"

"I think so. Minister Goodman spoke to him and told him that God is not the vengeful being that Reverend Triphard makes him out to be. We are going to meet with him again tomorrow and see how things go. Richard, Kristine, I'm sorry. Can you forgive us?"

Kristine gave Jessica a hug and said, "Of course. We have missed you."

Richard nodded and gave her a hug as well, then said, "We really need to get over to the hospital now, we got a call from Sally, Emily's ankle is just a sprain, but we need to go pick them up."

Jessica said, "You go ahead, I'm going to take the boys home, we have a lot of thinking to do. Please tell Sally I will call her later and to let me know if she or Emily need any help."

As they said goodbye, they all gave each other hugs. When Tom and Kelly came together, Tom said, "Kelly, I'm sorry too."

Kelly said, "It's ok Tom." She reached out to hug him; Tom hesitated at first, but then returned it fully.