By Portia Bennett
Introduction: Our four protagonists finally meet. It doesn’t take long for them to determine that there is something very serious going on, and that their parents are deeply involved. The question is why. The SRU Wizard has to be involved somehow.
The group of conspirators loses a member. They don’t take it lightly.
This story is another addition to The Cynthia Chronicles, Volume III. Cynthia (Cindy) Brewer has graduated from medical school. Randi Lewis at age 18 is starting work on her Master of Science in Chemistry, and Charli Brewer is a freshman in pre-med at UConn. Bobbie Anderson is setting the golf world on fire having now won tournaments on the PGA in addition to her many victories on the LPGA. This story takes place several years before Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling. If you are not familiar with the stories that make up the Cynthia Chronicles, you might want to go back to the beginning with An Incremental Journey
This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.
Chapter 2
As first days of school went this wasn’t much different than any had been in the past. Almost every year it had been room after room of unfamiliar faces. One had caught his attention immediately. There was a guy. At least, he thought it was it was a guy. He confirmed that during their second period English class.
“Hi, I’m Ivan, Ivan Papadopoulos. I think we had Calc together last period. Mind if I sit here? I’m new at this school, and I figured I should try to get with someone who knows the ropes.”
“Ivan, I’m Paul Knight; however, if you want to know what’s going on around here, you picked the wrong guy. We just moved here last month. We used to live in Phoenix, Arizona, but Mom decided she wanted to live here. I don’t really know why. I liked Phoenix just fine, but for some reason, she decided Bridgeport, Connecticut was the place to be.”
“What did your dad think about moving?”
“I don’t have a father, er, dad. He was out of the picture before I was born. Mom’s a contract lawyer. She does work on the internet. She’s some sort of specialist, and has clients from all over the country.
“You say you just got here. Any particular reason you moved here?”
“I don’t really know why we moved,” Ivan said. “Mom’s a writer. We were fine in Bremerton, Washington. Then we yanked up stakes and came here. I don’t understand why we have to do this. Two years ago we were in Alameda, California. Before that, we were in San Diego. Before that, it was Victoria, Texas.”
“Shit, that’s just like what my mom does. We can’t settle down anywhere. I had a good friend several years ago, but we had to move. I wonder about him, but haven’t heard from him in a while. He said he was moving, too.”
“If you two are through discussing your life history, we’d like to start class,” a loud voice said from the front of the room.
“Sorry, sir,” Paul said.
Lunch probably wasn’t any different at Harding High School than it was at countless high schools across the northeastern US. The football team had been preparing for the first game of the season since the previous spring. They would be playing their bitter rival, Central High, that Friday night.
The freshmen and new students were probably unfamiliar with the school cheers and yells; so it was the responsibility of the cheer squad to teach the yells to the new students and lead them in a short rally. School spirit was very important. After all, the team had only up to go. They’d won only two games the previous year.
Normally, the pep rallies were held in the quadrangle; however, because of a late summer rain, the rally was being held in the cafeteria. The noise was almost deafening.
The short rally was finally over, and Dimitri and Tom returned to their lunch. “Pappy, did you notice anything unusual about the pep rally?”
“Other than the fact the trombonist was creating more clams than could be eaten at a clambake, not really.”
“What about the girl cheer leaders?”
“Cute, especially that little redhead. Oh shit, they weren’t there. Those three we met this morning weren’t there. I’m sure that squad was the full complement, I can’t be sure, but I can’t imagine those three wouldn’t be there. I mean every one of them was prettier than those that just performed.”
“That just confirms what I was feeling earlier,” Tom said. “There’s something very strange going on.
“That was weird about what those three said about there being a girl out there for us. I wonder what they were talking about. I’m certainly not looking for a girlfriend right now. What would be your ideal girlfriend? Let's take that one step further. What would you want your wife to be like?"
Pappy didn't give his response much thought, "Of course she would be pretty, nice tits and ass, maybe blonde or a redhead. I want a woman to be there when I come home from work. She might even have a drink prepared for me. She would be there to prepare my meals, warm my bed, bear my children, support my work….”
"So, where is this June Cleaver you want so much? What about her life? What would she want, need from you? This is a two way street, you know. You might want someone to keep you happy, but unless you keep her happy, you have no marriage."
"If you know so much about love and women, tell me what you want in a wife or companion."
"She would have to be intelligent; probably my equal or better. She would have to be able to encourage me, and I her. We would have to be partners in every respect. I see us as professors in some university, or at least professionals. Maybe that's not that important. If she was able to do what she wanted, and I could do what I wanted, that would be alright."
"Okay, so you have this smart wife. What does she look like? How's she in bed?"
"I think it would be wonderful if we got along very well in bed. I would hope I could make her happy."
"How have you done so far? The girls like your performance?"
"Never had the chance to find out; I haven't found the right one."
"What about you? How've you done in the bed department?"
"Not bad, I've, murff," Ivan's jaw started to tighten up a bit. "Actually, I've never found the right girl, either.
"So, what would this ideal girl of yours look like?"
"I've never had much of an image in mind. When I found the right girl, then the package would become that person."
"Come on, there has to be something in your mind's eye."
"I don't know. Short, tall, slender, stocky, blonde, brunette, or redhead: it doesn't matter."
"What a cop out. You're as pitiful as you claim I am."
"I give up. See that girl sitting over there with that guy wearing the cami shirt. Shit, I don't believe it. There are two idiots dressed in camouflage in this place. She would look like she does: tall, slender, the rest doesn't matter."
"Er, Tom, that's a guy."
Tom took a second to concentrate a bit more on the two he'd picked out of the blue. "Shit, I know who that is. Come with me. I'll introduce you."
They made their way to the couple sitting by themselves against the far wall of the cafeteria.
"Hi, Paul, long time, no see."
"Holly shit," Paul jumped to his feet to give his old friend a hug. "What are you doing here? How long have you been here?"
"We moved here last month.
"I never get introductions right. Mom's always on me about that. This is Dimitri ’Pappy’ Papandreou. He just moved here, too. I'm Tom Isaacson," he said to the as yet unintroduced boy in the camouflage shirt.
“Hi, I’m Ivan Papadopoulos. Jesus, two Greeks wearing camouflage; it must be an invasion. Not to be left out, we just moved here last July. I’m not sure why, but here we are.
“So, why the get up, Pappy?”
“I heard that someone sighted an Elegant Tern, Sterna elegans, near the estuary. I’ve never seen one before. That would give me 177 on my list.”
“I saw them out in California all the time. I saw them in the San Francisco area and around San Diego. I’d love to go with you and see the Atlantic species. I have only 160 birds on my list.”
Pappy was impressed. “Wow, another birder. This is going to be neat.”
“I think I’m going to go into fish and wildlife, maybe be a ranger naturalist.”
“Cool.”
“Wait a minute,” Tom exclaimed, “have we all been on the west coast recently?”
“I haven’t,” Pappy said. “The closest I’ve been is Las Vegas and Boise. We were in Denver a few years ago. Why?”
“Paul and I went to the same school in Alameda. Where were you going to school three years ago, Ivan?”
“I was in LA.”
“Do all of our parents work at home? Mine do, and I know Paul’s mother does.” Tom said.
“Mom’s an interior decorator and importer of decorator goods, and Dad’s a boat designer and builder,” Pappy said. “She has an associate who lives somewhere else. They get together a couple of times a year.”
“Interesting,” Tom said. “My mother is in the import business. My dad is a web designer. Paul, your mother is a lawyer, right? I seem to remember that.”
“That’s right.”
“My mother’s a writer,” Ivan said. “I never knew my father.”
“I think there is something going on here,” Tom said. “We’ve been geographically close over the years, but only Paul and I have met before. All of our parents work out of our homes, but for some strange reason we keep moving all over the place. Two of our mothers are in the import business. My mother goes off to strange meetings with unknown associates several times a year. I’d be willing to bet that your mothers do the same thing.”
Tom’s supposition was met with three affirmative head shakes.
“I thought so. I’ll bet there was one last Wednesday night, wasn’t there?”
Again three nods confirmed what he was thinking.
“So much for coincidences. There is something very strange going on, not to mention the witches.”
“Yeah, witches,” Pappy said. “Tom and I met three this morning. Hell, they could be here right now. They appear and disappear like magic. They can control you with their minds, make you do things. They are three of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. They were dressed like our cheerleaders, but they’re not really our cheer leaders.”
“You’re kidding,” Ivan said.
“I’m not kidding in the least. They cast a spell on me. If I start to fib, my jaw locks up. Tom can verify it.”
“He’s not kidding,” Tom said. “They have to be witches. There’s no other way to explain what we saw.”
“If I get the gist of what you’re saying,” Paul said. “The reason we’re here in Bridgeport is because our parents are involved in some sort of scheme, and have been for a number of years. Not only that, there’s magic involved. There are three beautiful witches who pop in and out of existence. Of course the whole idea is preposterous. That’s why what Tom is saying makes a lot of sense. I’ve wondered what’s been going on for years. This is the best answer that’s come up so far.
“I just wonder what the hell is going on?”
Chapter 3
“Pappy and I have Advanced Biology next,” Tom said. “What about you guys?”
“The same,” Paul replied
They slid their trays into the dish washing window, picked up their bags, and headed for what they hoped would be an interesting class. They hadn’t been disappointed so far.
The classroom was quite nice, and Tom and Paul were immediately impressed with the availability of equipment at the lab desks.
“This is way cool,” Pappy said.
“Class, please take your seats. We will have ample opportunity to check everything out over the next few days.
They took their seats, and waited for what they expected to be another boring lecture. “I am Mr. Temple, and I will be your mentor over the next year. This is a two semester class, and I think you will find it very interesting.
“Each of you is in this class because you asked for it. You’re past academic performances were looked at very closely. Only thirty percent of the applicants made it as far as you have. We expect that every one of you will continue on to a university. I will be conducting this class as if you were graduate students. I am doing this for two reasons. The first is I want to challenge you. The second is I want to learn. The day I stop learning from my students is the day you can start throwing dirt on my grave.
“For the next two weeks I will be going over some basic ecological principles. There are twenty-four students in this class. I want you to form up in four person teams, and come up with an ecological study. I will have to approve of what you want to do; however, I will give you considerable leeway. You will author a paper of at least ten thousand words…”
At the proclamation a number of groans and sounds of protest game from the class.
“Ten thousand words is nothing, especially if they are well put together words. We will spend part of the next few months on how to put together a good research paper. When your project is completed, you will present your paper to the class. I expect the class to tear your paper apart: not with malice, however. I expect you to defend your work.
“We’ll have some of this other required drivel, too. I will have to administer some tests, and as boring as it may be, I will have to present some lectures. I will be accessible 24/7 if you have a question. More times than not, my answers will be in the form of questions.
“Okay, let’s take role. I can count, but I need to make sure that the right people are in this class. Last year, we had a student go through an entire semester showing up for the wrong classes.”
After going over the various rules of class conduct, Mr. Temple asked the class members to sit tight and do whatever they needed to do before the bell rang for the next class. He couldn’t release them to roam the halls.
“Papadopoulos, Papandreou, Knight and Isaacson I need to see you in my office.”
“Shit, we haven’t even done anything, and we’re already in trouble,” Pappy muttered.
The office was between two classrooms. The four followed Mr. Temple into the small area packed with books and other scientific paraphernalia. They sat where Mr. Temple indicated.
“Welcome to Harding High.”
“Thank you,” Paul answered.
“Normally, when we do these projects, I try to separate the participants a bit. You know, get a good mix of experience, gender, new and old students; however, I was asked to see if the four of you would mind working on your project together. I know you are new here. I noticed Isaacson and Knight went to the same school three years ago in California; however, Papa, er Papadopoulos and Papandreou never met Knight and Isaacson before today. Is that correct?”
“Yes sir,” Ivan said.
“Would you have any objections working together on a project?” Mr. Temple asked.
“I wouldn’t,” Tom said. “I think we’ve discovered already that we get along pretty well.
“What do you guys think?”
“I don’t have any problem,” Paul said. “I think I can speak for everyone.” Two other heads nodded assent.
“Good, give it some thought before you decide what to do. Of course, I have to approve of every project.
“Okay, there’s the signal to dismiss class. I’m sure you’ll find this to be a very interesting experience
It turned out that they had their last two classes together: English Literature and Gym.
This is just all too convenient Tom thought. Something is going on.
They didn’t do anything for gym other than get their locker assignments, and get the clothing requirements explained to them.
“Where do you guys live,” Tom asked. “For any number of reasons, I think we need to get together and talk about things.
It turned out they lived within about a two block radius of Tom’s house. That did nothing to dissuade Tom from his previous concerns.
“Let’s go over to my house, and talk things over,” Tom Said. Is everyone driving their own car? We might as well carpool from now on since we’re so close together.”
“I rode my bike,” Pappy said.
I did, too,” Ivan said.
“I took the bus,” was Paul’s reply.
“Tom, Ivan and I want to go down to the estuary to see if we can spot some birds. How about we get together after dinner?”
“I don’t think that would be a problem. Let’s get each other’s phone numbers and email addresses, so we can keep in touch about things.
“Paul, would you like a lift, or do you have somewhere to go, too.”
They exchanged information before the two birders headed for the estuary.
Walking to the car, Tom spotted a note under his wiper blade. It was from his sister. She’d found a ride home with a new friend.
“Well, that didn’t take her very long. She could make friends in a morgue. At least we don’t have to wait for her. Her punctuality clock runs in a different dimension.
“Paul, I’m so glad you showed up. I thought I’d have to try to make a whole new group of friends, although I’m not that much into that, as you know.
“Want to stop by the house and say hello to the folks. I know they’d be glad to see you.”
“Sure.”
“How’s your Mom?”
“Mean as ever. You know what I mean. She’s obsessed with her work. She’s never abused me. Quite the contrary, she treats me quite well. She’s promised to get me a car. The problem is I am not able to talk to her about anything really important. You know like ….”
“You mean you still haven’t told her.”
“She deliberately shuts off any discussion about anything like that. If a famous person comes out on TV, she’ll change the channel or just walk away. Of course we had the talk about sex a long time ago, but if something comes up about gender, the wall drops.
“I’ll be eighteen next spring, and with or without her support, I am going to start my transition. I’ll probably have to move out. I’m hoping that I can get a scholarship. I might be able to get my pre-med done without her help.”
“Still not shaving, I noticed.”
“You would notice that. Thanks to the internet, I have a good supply of spironolactone and Finasteride. I have a lot of estrogen hidden away, but I’m not taking it; at least not yet. With or without her support, I’m going to do this.”
“You’ve hardly grown over the last here years. You were tall then, not so now. You need to see a doctor.”
“No shit! But, my hands are tied. She’d never pay for it.”
“You know I’ll always be there for you. I think I understand what you’re going through; however, it’s certainly not on my bucket list.”
“No girl friend?”
“Not even close. It’s funny, though, one of those disappearing cheer leaders said that the right girl was out there for me. Another one, the dark haired girl, said the same thing to Pappy.
“They really did appear and disappear just like Pappy said they did. They said so, and I have a feeling that we will see them again. There’s something strange going on, and our parents are involved.
“I’ve always believed there was magic out there. It just seemed right for some reason. Now we’re being involved in some sort of mysterious activity.”
“Don’t you mean our parents?”
“Perhaps, but I can’t help believe we’re involved.
“Well, here we are: home sweet home; for how long, I have no idea.”
“Mom, Dad, I brought a guest home,” Tom announced as he headed to the kitchen where his parents were fixing dinner.
“Gloria left me a note saying she got a ride with a new friend.”
“They came by a while ago,” his mother said. She was mixing margaritas. Tom’s father was julienning some green beans. A group of thick lamb chops had been seasoned and were on a platter warming to room temperature. Something his father insisted on doing with lamb and steaks.
“Hello Paul,” Nancy Isaacson said. “How was school?”
“Excellent, Mrs. “I”. I was very surprised to see Tom there. We made some new friends, too. We’re going to be partners in a group project that’s going to take two semesters to finish.”
“We aren’t going to move before then, are we?” Tom asked.
“I don’t think so. It’s rather nice around here. We’ll just have to see,” his mother replied.
The two boys made their way up to Tom’s room. Paul had left a message on his mother’s voice mail telling her where he was.
“I see you are still into gaming,” Paul said as he looked around the room.
“Yeah, it’s sort of a project. I have the newest X-Box system. I do a lot of shit on my computer, too. I’m not the best player, but I’ve been doing a lot of research on the history of computer games. A lot of the modern games don’t require a lot of brain power. Some of the old games without the graphics are really neat. They require a lot of thought.”
“Your mother didn’t seem to be too surprised to see me, did she?”
“Of course not, our four families are in on this, whatever it is. I think Mom and Dad seem to be a bit blasé about the whole thing. I just wonder what they’re up to.”
“Do you think they’re planning a bank heist or an armored car robbery?” Paul said, half jokingly.
“Certainly not, our folks are too well off for that sort of nonsense. No, I think it has something to do with magic. This area of the United States was the center of magic and witchcraft hundreds of years ago. Then due to the Salem thing and a bunch of other stuff it disappeared. I don’t think it disappeared entirely; I think they just got smart and stayed hidden.
“I see this stuff on the internet all the time about there being witches out there. I know it’s ‘on the internet’,” he said forming quotation marks with his fingers, “but I’m beginning to find some supporting information.”
“I know what you mean. I’ve been doing a lot of research both clinical and in the common lore about my ‘problem’,” Paul said using the same quote gesture. “There are literally thousands of tales about people having magical sex and or gender changes. Knowing what you told me, and what I’ve suspected, I’m beginning to think there might be some truth in some of them.
“Margot, I’ll be with you in just a moment.”
Margot Chenoweth peered around the shop she’d inadvertently entered twelve years before; although, knowing what she knew now, she wasn’t too sure how inadvertent that had been. It might have been her imagination, but the shop seemed to be a bit neater than it had been before.
“I have a helper now. She’s a bit of a neat freak, but I’ll have to admit that I’m not losing things like I used to.
“By the way, I took the bullets out of your gun, not that you’d have been able to do anything with it anyway. Come on to the back room with me. I have some great Tollhouse cookies and coffee just the way you like it.
“So how’ve you been?”
“I imagine you know. You seem to know everything else.”
“I do have a bit of an advantage there, don’t I? Coffee okay?”
“Perfect.”
“So, you and the others want to kill me. Why would you want to do that? I certainly didn’t do anything to make your life worse than it was before. If I remember correctly, you were indicted for bilking several charities out of millions of dollars. You would have been convicted in case you are wondering.
“Of course in your current reality, none of that happened. You’re just a 35 year old accountant. You make good money, but you don’t have much of a life other than doing tax returns for several hundred families.
“That young millionaire, what’s his name, oh yes, Donald Epperson, is rather sweet on you, you know. You keep turning him down. I’m not really sure why.”
“I was a man, for Christ’s sake. Then you did this to me.”
“You did come to me asking for help.”
“No I didn’t,” Margot replied.
“I distinctly remember coming out of the back room, and asking if there was anything I could do for you, and you said, ‘You could make me disappear.’
“If I recall correctly, the indictment had just come down and there was a warrant out for your arrest. The conviction was a sure thing. I think you would have received about 20 years. You never would have made it out of prison alive. Your short stature and delicate appearance would have doomed you to a very unpleasant existence. You would have died during a riot that you had no involvement in starting.”
“You know all this? You’re not just guessing?”
“Consider what has happened to you. You can’t deny that. Why wouldn’t I know what might have happened in an alternative universe.”
“You have a point.”
“Look at what I did for you. I erased all your criminal activity. You weren’t a bad person. You were just weak. You are an attractive woman ….”
“But, I was a man, and you took that from me.”
“What are you now?”
“I’m a man in a woman’s body.”
“Are you sure? Your makeup is perfect, you are very nicely dressed, and your deportment is perfect.
“Tell me, how were your relationships before? Did you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?”
“No, there’s never been anyone. I had a few drinking buddies in college. I’ve never kept in touch with any of them.”
“Why not?”
“We never had anything in common.”
“What about now? I’m not talking about the fourteen of you who meet every other Wednesday.”
“You know about that?”
“Of course I do. I’m a Wizard and I ….”
“… know these things. Yes, I should have known. We don’t stand a chance, do we? That’s what Alice said. What are you going to do to us?”
“Each, well most, of you will come to me as you have. I don’t think I will have to do much of anything. I’m sure there will be adjustments, but I’m not going to make things worse for you.
“I’m going to have a young lady come here and tell you something. This will take just a minute.” The Wizard turned to his computer.
“Cindy, Margot Chenoweth is here. Could you drop in for just a second, I think she needs to hear something from you.”
“Sure thing.”
Margot looked up to see a young woman suddenly appear in the middle of the room. There was no one there one second, and the next second she was walking towards Margot with her arms extended.
“Hi Margot, you don’t remember me, but I remember you from before. I was about twelve at the time. I must say, you certainly look nice.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew I was thinking about killing you friend a little while ago.”
“You never would have done it even if you could have. I can see that. I’m Cindy Brewer by the way. The Wizard and I have been friends since I was about nine years old.
“I think he wants me to tell you something. I’m a witch by the way; in case you hadn’t figured that out. I’m getting this witchcraft thing down pretty good right now, but on the non-witchcraft side, I’m taking my residency in psychiatric medicine. I’m going to approach this from two points of view. I have the ability to determine when someone’s gender is in conflict with one’s sex.”
“I knew it,” Margot stated rather strongly. “I am a man trapped in a woman’s body.”
“Oh no, there’s no conflict now. There was that conflict though when you came in here thirteen years ago. You were in denial then just like you are in denial now. Deep inside, you have always been a woman; well, a girl at first. I saw that more quickly than His Wisdom did. My best friend was there too, and she saw it.
“Look at you. You say you are fighting your change; however, you’ve embraced it. I think you need to get on with your life. There’s so much more out there to enjoy about life. He gave you a second chance, and now you need to look forward. That past you left doesn’t exist.”
Cindy embraced Margot, kissed her cheek, and disappeared.
“Margot, I have it on good authority that Donald Epperson is going to call you tonight and ask you to go out to dinner with him. He is a very nice man with two small children who lost their mother in a horrible accident. I promise I won’t do anything with your mind. This is up to you; however, chances like this don’t happen very often.”
“Ladies, I regret to inform you that we’ve lost Margot Chenoweth. She called today to pass on her regrets. She says she’s in love with a man, somebody she’s known for a while. That Wizard, damn him, got to her. Well, there are still thirteen of us. We can still take him down.
“Myrtle, would you please read the minutes from the last meeting.
Our four protagonists are now together and they are very quickly putting two and two together. The group of conspirators has lost a member. Maybe they weren’t as dedicated as some thought.
