Characters.
Ellie. (Eleanor) The prime Character.
Bill (William) her father, (obviously)
Calli (Callista) Ellie’s only daughter. Initially Callum - a transgendered son.
Charlotte. (Nana) Ellie’s Paternal Grandmother
Sandie (Sandra) Ellie’s Older Aunt
Rosie (Rose) Ellie’s Younger Aunt
Henry Ellie’s boyfriend and husband. (Second son of the Duke of Denton)
Molly Duchess of Denton. Henry’s mother.
Bev (Beverly) Ellie’s aunt (Previously Uncle Bernard and brother to her dad.)
Lucy, Henry’s oldest niece, Callum’s cousin.
Eleanor, Henry’s middle niece Callum’s cousin. Same name as Ellie.
Virginia Henry’s youngest niece Callum’s cousin
Julie Ellie’s sister-in-law.
Angela(Angie) Beverly’s wife (kidnapped by pirates and rescued.)
Megan Beverly’s only blood daughter by Angela.

.

Chapter 1.

“Aren’t you pleased Ellie, two A-stars, three A’s and a B, you’re made girl. Is it Cambridge then?” One of the other girls asked.

“Yessss! I hope so!” Ellie squealed.

After the requisite round of ecstatic hugs and squeezes amongst her class mates, Ellie folded the result paper and tucked it into her bag before
starting for home. After a couple of blocks she paused and leant against the very same wall where she had first learned of her mother’s cancer. Over a year ago her father had unusually met her outside the school with tearful eyes to tell her that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer.

The big ‘C’! Glaioblastoma Multiform grade 4; the worst possible kind of tumour; incurable and fatal. Six months later just a few weeks before her mock A-level exams, Ellie and her father had stood at the grave side each tearfully dribbling a handful of soil onto the coffin. To Ellie’s consternation, she had not noticed the big pebble that had somehow got mixed with the soil in her hand - until it clunked and rattled on the coffin like some ghastly knell. It had taken Ellie hours to get the sound out of her head and even now, the sound sometimes came back to haunt her.

The last few months with her mother had been unimaginably desperate for Ellie but her father and paternal grandmother had rallied around to nurse her and spare Ellie the desolation of watching her mother slowly fading. Every day her dying mother had beseeched Ellie.
‘Don’t worry about me; just study hard and make me and your dad proud of you. Don’t give up your studies girl, Cambridge is yours if you work at it, don’t ever give up.’

And that’s how it had been. Studying had become Ellie’s way of handling the grief, of avoiding the despair that would otherwise have destroyed her.

After learning her results, the next step had been to speak to the head-master and confirm if her place at Cambridge was still open. She stood in his office while he picked up the phone and his smile as he spoke told Ellie what she had been praying for. After a hug and congratulations the headmaster stepped very much out of character and declared.

“You’re our first Oxbridge state scholar success we’ve had here for over ten years, and my first in the two years since I became headmaster. I’m determined we’ll have many more. Your success is also my success so please share a glass of champagne with me.”

Ellie gaped a little stupidly then nodded vigorously while he picked up the school interphone before turning to her again.

“I think there are a couple of others who would like to share this delightful moment. Mr Bentnik, your maths teacher and the three science teachers. Would you like to share this toast with them?”

“What about Mrs Thomas the geography teacher?”

“Ah yes, of course, how stupid of me, an ‘A’-star in Geography as well. That was a real bonus.”

After a brief wait Ellie’s five favourite teachers joined them in the headmaster’s study and she savoured an adult moment as they toasted her success and the teacher’s efforts. Once the little ceremony was completed and the congratulations completed, Ellie prepared to take her news home.

As she left the school, she had very mixed emotions. She could not help but choose exactly the same route she had taken a year ago when she had learned of her mother’s final moments. The memory had now returned to burn hot within her. Her mother’s words ached within her as tears forced their way to her eyes and compelled her to stop at the exact place her father had met her with the devastating message. It was a private place, a small recess just off the street that her father had chosen deliberately so that Ellie could release the tears in private on that brutal afternoon.

Now, as she leant against the familiar wall, the dam burst again and she slumped helplessly against the corner recess as she cursed the god who had stolen her mum. The bastard grinning up there in some supposed heaven while she, Ellie was left to soldier on without her mum ever learning of her magical grades and the promise of a place at Britain’s most prestigious university.

That afternoon Ellie lost what little faith she had left. After releasing her tears in the cul-de-sac, she chose to continue home alone and walked by a different route. With her own feelings in shreds, she could not face the intensity of emotions from her classmates as each of them dealt with the success or disappointment of their own results.

Because she was late, her father was already home from work. He was seriously concerned and his fears were compounded as he watched her walking down the pavement. Through the bay window he studied the daughter that so much reminder him of his wife; her walk, her hair, her smile and particularly her face and the shape of her jaw. He saw that she had been crying and assumed she had failed; ‘hardly surprising when all things were considered,’ he thought.

As he watched, he struggled to contain his feelings and he forced himself to prepare for the worst news ... a fail - because of the awful traumas of the final year. He tried to smile as she spotted him watching her while she flipped open the gate latch with a practised ease. As her key turned in the lock, he swallowed nervously as he pitched his voice softly in what he hoped was a suitable tone as he formed the question.

“How did it go Darling?”

She smiled, almost wistfully.

“I’ve passed, I’m in!”

It was impossible for her dad to hide his joy and his relief as he reached out and she slid easily into his embrace. He reflected as she squeezed tight.

‘Even the smell of her hair resembled her mother.’

Swallowing again to try and destroy the lump he asked further.

“So it’s definitely Cambridge?”

“Yes! I’ve won a state scholarship.”

The way she said it, so ‘matter-of-factly’, seemed bizarrely, to somehow compound the enormity of those simple words. They opened up such a huge world of immeasurable opportunity, incalculable potential. Pride struck her father dumb but Ellie failed to notice as a more important issue pre-occupied her thoughts.

“Can we go to mum’s grave?”

“Of course,” he replied almost blinded by his own tears.

They drove in silence; each bound up in their own thoughts as he picked his way through the traffic. When they reached the cemetery, the attendant was just closing the large double gates but the pedestrian gate would remain open until eight so he parked the car in the roadside bay and they linked arms as they approached the grave. There they took their usual positions and each kept their own silent vigil either side of the headstone. There were no flowers; her mother had always maintained that flowers looked best growing in the garden and not dying in a vase.

This visit was unusually long and her father waited patiently as she fussed somewhat un-necessarily with some weeds at the foot of the headstone. Finally, reluctantly he spoke.

“Come on now darling. It’s beginning to rain.”

Ellie paused then slowly rose off her knees to stand and finger the headstone one last time.

“She liked the rain dad, it made her garden grow.”

“I know but it looks as though we’re going to get soaked if we don’t leave now.”

Ellie lingered a little longer and her father became fretful.

“Come on darling, here it comes.”

“Can I stay a bit longer please dad. Somehow the rain seems right.”

Her father understood his daughter’s feelings. She was right, somehow the rain did seem appropriate and it set the sombre mood of their mutual thoughts.

The first heavy droplets arrived and splashed off the headstone against Ellie’s face causing her to wince but she still stood silent and reflective.

Soon both of them were soaked through and her father indicated that he was returning to the car. Ellie nodded.

“Just give me a few more minutes’ dad.”

He understood her feelings and returned to the car pausing only once to watch his daughter standing still as a statue as the rain hammered down.

Still Ellie felt forced to linger as she read the gravestone one last time. Eventually the downpour started to chill her saturated bones and she returned to the warmth of the waiting car.

“Thanks dad. I needed that moment.”

“We should have brought an umbrella; it’s been threatening rain all afternoon.”

Ellie did not reply. Her dad often resorted to small talk when he was full up and this visit had been particularly poignant for both of them. Her mum was where Ellie got her brains and the spectacular exam results had been just one more reminder to her dad of the qualities of the wife he had lost.

At home the news of Ellie’s success was quickly spread through the family. Ellie’s aunts and her father had never been particularly close but an event as big as Ellie’s success was thought worthy of a very rare family get-together. Like the previous family get-togethers, the reunion was slightly strained however and Ellie sensed the underlying tensions that seemed to her to be driven by jealousy. She was relieved when it was over and she returned home with her dad from the hotel.

A week later the letter arrived confirming her place at Cambridge and Ellie was plunged into a thousand tasks preparatory to going up to college.

“So you’re nor taking a year out then?” Her father wondered.

For Ellie the idea of going up to college held far more excitement than going away for a whole year. A year spent travelling around a world that could be studied just as effectively on-line, would seem more like a year wasted compared with a year reading maths and physics as a double degree. She entered college with one driving desperate ambition and that was to gain her degree. Once that qualification was gained, she
would have fulfilled her promise to her mum and only then would she feel free to explore her life's options. Another advantage to attending Cambridge was that her grandmother lived in the city. Although she would be living in, there was always the delight of visiting her Nan whenever the fancy took her.

Throughout that summer, Ellie indulged in a round of socialising and clubbing for her father had emphatically declared that if she was not taking a sabbatical year, then she damned well wouldn’t have to work to make extra money for the college years. The state scholarship and an educational endowment would see to that. Finally the autumn arrived and Ellie went up to college.

~o0o~

Entering the college for the first time proved to be something of an anti-climax. Ellie had anticipated a buzz of excitement but it proved to be more OF a grind as it took several journeys up winding stairs before all her stuff was stowed in her room. She was to learn later that there were porters for such activity and she felt embarrassed by the extent of her ignorance. It set a tone for the first few weeks of her time as she found herself isolated amidst a veritable city state of young people sprinkled with the odd tutor or professor. Towards the middle of that first term she began to wonder if she was doing things right for it seemed to her the work was easy. She had expected a hard endless grind of equations and theories. It was not so, for she found herself spending what seemed to be inordinately long periods in what felt like idle contemplation. It was only when she started getting back her essays and work results that she realised she was holding her own, in fact, more than her own.

Eventually she found the courage and confidence to ease off from her intensive routine and slowly emerge from her self-imposed academic cocoon.

The notices for the first end-of-term Christmas ball caught her eye and a quick check of her finances revealed she could afford not only a ticket but also a new gown to attend the ball. Nothing fancy mind; just a simple body hugging sheath bought from a local boutique. Thus she indulged herself but she was disappointed to discover that most of the male students were the ‘Hooray Henrys’ she had been warned against.

One big surprise was to see a score of transvestites exercising their newfound right to indulge their peccadilloes. In fact the tee-girls seemed to be the only sober males and they were essentially enjoying their own company. Ellie presumed they were gay for most of the time they were dancing amongst themselves and giggling hysterically at their own private jokes.

Her biggest surprise however was their seeming invasion of the ladies lavatories without the slightest signs of inhibition or embarrassment. Ellie had just completed her needs and was repairing her lipstick as they entered. Her gasp of surprise went either un-noticed or unmentioned as they first completed their calls and then emerged from the cubicles to do exactly as she was doing, namely fixing their faces and adjusting their beautiful dresses.

Then Ellie noticed one of the trans-girls take a pair of hair straighteners from her overly large bag and start some remedial work on her various friend’s hairstyles. Ellie watched the tee-girl’s skilful handiwork then found herself checking her own hair and wondered if she dare ask for similar help. The atmosphere amongst the tee-girls seemed so relaxed that she ventured the question.

“My hair’s a bit of a mess. Could you help me?”

One of the girls gave a knowing grin.

“Of course love, do you want me to fix it properly for you?”

“Oh yes please! Thank you?” She croaked huskily as nervousness tightened her throat.

The tee-girl smiled a brilliant smile.

“Just let me finish Jessica and Lucile’s hair and I’ll sort yours darling.”

“Oooh that would be wonderful thank you. Are you a hair-dresser then?”

“Good god no! No darling I’m a first year biochemist, they don’t teach hairdressing at Cambridge. What are you reading?”

“First year, maths and physics double degree.” Ellie replied for once feeling proud and unapologetic as she started to find herself at ease. “Where did you learn to do hair?”

“It’s not rocket science darling. If I can eviscerate a rabbit then hair is easy.” The trans-girl giggled as her friends responded similarly.

“Stop frightening the poor girl Jackie. She'll think your Sweeny Todd or something.”

Ellie slowly found herself infected by the atmosphere of hilarity and remained chuckling at the constant repartee. Eventually her turn came around and the tee-girls gathered around her to discuss hairstyles and techniques as Jackie set to work. Ellie was amazed by Jackie’s speed and creativity as she dexterously wound the curling wand then repeatedly delved into her large bag and produced various clips and bobbles to set Ellie’s hair into a beautiful cascade of curls that could not have been bettered at a professional salon. Finally, she delved deep into her 'trophy bag' and produced a hair-spray to fix the style – and all this in the ladies loos!

Ellie stared transfixed into the mirror and was delighted by the style as Jackie finally stuffed her equipment into her bag. For moments she was speechless then finally felt compelled to turn and peck Jackie on the cheek by way of thanks.

“I take it you like it then sweetie?” Jackie grinned.

“Like it!? It’s fantastic; you’re fantastic." Ellie screeched with delight. "Where did you learn hairdressing?”

Jackie grinned again.

“I sometimes help at a salon in town on Wednesday afternoons when all the gorillas are playing rugby. Oh I also sometimes row boats but I prefer hair-dressing. I work for nothing and the staff teach me.”

Ellie turned again to study her stunning hairstyle and almost started to tear up as she found the perfect reflection looking back.

“Thank you Jackie, it’s beautiful.”

“My treat darling. It’s always a pleasure to be appreciated. Mwaah!”

Having sounded an air-kiss, Jackie turned and followed her friends back to the dance-floor. Ellie found herself quickly following and even tagging hopefully behind as the tee-girls returned to their corner where a couple of friends had been reserving the seats and tables. Bags were slung to the back on the windowsill and the girls immediately resumed dancing. Jackie noticed Ellie’s hopeful expression and grinned a welcome.

“Okay girl, we don’t bite; you can join us if you don’t feel like a midget.”

It was only then that Ellie realised all the tee-girls were wearing six-inch platforms and towered above all but the tallest men.

As she danced and span to the wild beat of the music her own dancing skills brought compliments from her newfound companions but it also attracted other stares. Eventually one of the staring males came over to the group. He had been a relative ‘late-comer’ and Ellie had noticed him chatting earnestly to Jackie earlier at the bar. She had noticed him because he was even taller than Jackie and Jackie was the tallest of the tee-girls. The newcomer joined the girls without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

“Hi girls! Hiya Jackie!”

They responded amiably and it was clear that the tee-girls were familiar with the good-looking guy. The newcomer turned to Ellie and smiled wide-eyed with appreciation.

“I say darling, with a figure like yours you just surely can't be a tranny as well! Are you? You’re a bloody convincing one if you are.”

Ellie felt her face begin to redden more with anger than embarrassment

“No! I’m bloody well not! And what is it to you if I was?”

“Alright darling, sorry to have offended. Didn’t mean any offence but you are truly an attractive girl; where’ve you been hiding?”

“I haven’t,” Ellie replied as she recognised a truly typical ‘hooray Henry’, “but you might not have noticed this is a university and some of us are here to study.”

The boy looked somewhat crest-fallen and Ellie actually found herself feeling sorry for him so she kept the conversation alive.

“What-choo readin then?” She asked in hard 'Essex esturine'.

“English and Classics,” he replied in a slightly subdued tone as he recognised a stroppy cockney. “What are you reading?”

“Maffs and physic darlin'.” She continued winding him up. "Juh wanna' dance?"

“Oh.” He stumbled then recovered his confidence. “Yes, yes I would, I'd very much like to dance. Shall we?”

He indicated the floor so for an answer, Ellie turned to face him and recommenced her actions to the beat of the music. He immediately joined her as his eyes appraised her figure.

“You really are a stunning girl you know, how the heck have you not been taken. I mean- brains and beauty, I' noticed you as soon as I came in. Diamond in the rough and all that.”

Ellie glared at him before censuring him.

"Diamond in the rough! What d' you this place is; a bloody quarry? I’m not some sort of commodity you know; not some sort of sweet or tit-bit to be ‘taken’ as you put it.”

The first flickering of his smile died again as he glanced nervously.”

“I - I'm Sorry. I didn't mean it like that I’m not doing very well am I?”

“You’re doin’ okay, for an 'ooray 'enry.” Ellie continued in the ‘Essex girl’ vein

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

On reflection Ellie wasn’t sure what it meant. She’d used it as a mild ‘put down’ to ensure he would not try any of the ‘oik’ stuff. She had used the old adage, ‘get your retaliation in first’. Now she felt a little guilty. It was unfair for a pretty girl to be cruel or dismissive to a boy who had only wanted to dance. As she watched him squirm she began to feel sorry for him.

“Perhaps that was a bit cruel of me. Your dancing’s okay.”

“But my chat-up line is -,”

“Somewhat sexist and a little presumptuous. But I suppose that’s to be expected.”

“Because you think I’m a hooray Henry I suppose.”

“No because you’re a man.”

“Oh; I’m glad you didn’t call me a boy. D’ you think all men are presumptuous?”

“Most are.”

“And you think I am, presumptuous – that is.”

“A little, I said a little.”

“Oh, I was taking you figuratively. Like in ‘a little’ being posh-speak for understated ‘a lot’.”

“Well don’t 'take-me-figuratively'. In ‘my common-speak’, a little really is a little. I’m a mathematician, remember? Values count.”

He nodded thoughtfully as he realised he had met his match. Word plays and clever expressions counted as nought with the girl who was dancing with him. He changed tack.

“Now I know your values, might I ask your name?”

“Yes.”

He smiled as he recognised her extension of her stated logical pragmatism. –More word play.-

“So, what’s your name?”

“Ellie; what’s yours?”

He blushed as a wide grin split his face.

“Please don’t laugh!"

"Why?"

"It's Henry!”

Ellie couldn’t contain her snort; part amusement and part embarrassment.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help that. Me and my big mouth.”

“I’ll forgive you. Can I get you a drink?”

“I’m not drinking. I’ve got a dissertation to present in the morning; clear head and all that.”

“What, so late in the term?”

“Double degree and all that. Lots to do and stuff. Though it’s hot in here; make it a soft drink; a lemonade with ice.”

He turned and steered his way between the dancers to the bar as Ellie turned to re-join the dancing trannies. One of them, Jackie, the same girl who had styled Ellie’s hair, approached her and spoke about Henry.

“You've made a killing there girl. He’s in my tutorial group – very posh. His grandfather’s a duke or something.”

“Good God!” Ellie grinned. “So he really is a ‘hooray Henry!”

“Well – yes; but he’s quite sweet actually. Not your usual ‘untin’ shoot’n n’ fishin’ type. He’s quite studious as well.”

Ellie turned to watch Henry buying the drinks as she studied him through thoughtful eyes. She decided to talk shop with him instead of baiting him. When he rejoined her she nodded towards her table and he placed the drinks down before offering her, her chair. She took it graciously and smiled her appreciation towards Henry

“Thank you. It’s nice to be treated like a lady.”

“My pleasure.” He beamed as he took the opposite chair.

It was an obvious sign he had no intentions of swamping her with uninvited intimacy. She opened up with a few questions about his reasons for choosing English and classics then they were soon in deep conversation.

The evening seemed to fly as they alternately danced then chatted with the trans-girls until the last dance was announced. Ellie was preparing to return to the hall of residence with some of the trans-girls when Henry offered to walk her back to her room. After a brief questioning glance towards Jackie she caught the transvestite’s slight, reassuring nod. At this she acceded to Henry’s offer

“I’d love you to walk me home, come back with us to mine then and you can share a coffee with me and the tee-girls.”

Henry accepted graciously and Ellie began to see him in a better light as he happily agreed to walk her home in the company of the trans-girls.

Ellie warmed even further to Henry as he shared in the banter that had so attracted Ellie to the transvestites and transsexual girls. He chatted quite amiably with Jackie the ‘hair-dresser’ and yet made no obvious or unwarranted remarks concerning their gender issues, indeed he seemed almost reticent to speak at all when the banter touched on their issues. Ellie was appreciative of his thoughtful and tactful silences indeed so much so that when she got to her hall she insisted he join them for coffee.

Henry was delighted to accept Ellie’s invitation but one of the tee-girls quickly set him right about any other issues.

“That’s all it is darling; coffee and nothing else.”

He nodded shyly but Ellie was quick to spot that Henry had been a little hurt by the implication that he was hoping for something more. As Ellie left the other girls in the common room Henry approached her while she was making coffee.

“Honestly Ellie, I wasn’t expecting anything else. Why do girls always assume that boys are only after one thing?”

Ellie smiled and turned to peck him on the cheek.

“Because usually, they are.”

“Well honestly I’m not. After the coffee’s finished I’ll be gone.”

“So will the others darling. I’ve got work in the morning finishing my dissertation. Here take the biscuits and plates through.”

He loaded the stuff on a tray then added milk and sugar. Ellie studied him thoughtfully. Most boys would have only taken the biscuits and plates.
She continued studying him while the biscuits and coffee disappeared and noticed he only took two biscuits while the other girls tucked in. Once again he was not like other boys, he seemed thoughtful and considerate enough to make sure he did not contribute to any embarrassment to Ellie if the biscuits ran out. They didn’t but after an hour he stood up in an obvious gesture and yawned tactfully as he announced.

“Well, if you’ve got work in the morning, I’ll be going. Don’t stay up too late.”

It was a tactful innuendo to the other girls to be considerate of Ellie’s early start and Ellie felt a twinge of gratitude as Henry’s remark spurred the others to act. Within a few minutes, Ellie’s room was empty and she was able to turn in.
~~00~~