From the Top
by Bryony Marsh

“James, what are you doing here?”

The boy gave a guilty start that spoke volumes: he was caught and there was no point in lying.

“I’m doing my Physics homework, Sir,” he said.

Simon Owens sighed. “What I mean is, why are you lurking in the library when you’re supposed to be in class?”

Chapter 13

When we arrived at Gatwick, there was a sign with an arrow that just had ‘Turbulence’ on it. It led us to a reserved floor in the North Terminal car park, where attendants were there to show us to a parking area and open the doors for us. Our driver would be back at seven, to wait for our return. Jeff and I certainly looked like we should be there as we followed more signs that took us into the main concourse, through a very quick passport check, finally arriving in a VIP lounge where some had already started mingling.

John, now full-time as Jayne was kept busy organising the design and supervision of the works at Amanda’s, and spending most of what little spare time she had with the Morrisettes, she never really had much chance to consider how she was now living and just got on with things.

My Faraday City stories have been exploring an increasingly expansive world of superheroes, adventure, whimsy and danger. So, to keep all the worldbuilding straight, I documented it! Character dossiers, location writeups, it’s all here. Also, some fun new pics, and even some sneak peeks of upcoming stories!

Photo by Andrew Gaines on Unsplash

1 - Home Sweet Home

I 'celebrated' my fifty-fifth birthday in Savannah Georgia, all alone in a motel room. Being there wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it meant I was employed. That was actually a good thing; you see I am, or was, an engineer and industrial programmer. That means I sat at a computer and designed things like assembly lines or machines that built things, then wrote the programming. Once that was done I drove mile after mile to fix problems that the came up when the machine was actually installed. I got paid pretty good money for doing that and I loved the work, but it could get lonely.

Chapter 11

When she said that, I knew what the part was. There was a lower rank police officer who is friendly with my daughter, and he learns enough to be needed to be killed. It would have him, on set, until fairly late in the shooting, and will be in a lot of scenes with Kurt. As an unknown, he would have to be good. The screenplay has his death the trigger for the unravelling of the coven.

“That’s a big part, Kym, for very little money.”

“You have read the screenplay, haven’t you? What would you think he’s worth if he passes the test?”

Started with shy Bruce speaking to Deanne a beautiful girl new to town...
Bruce was helped for a crossover day by Deanne...
Helped to be a better student...

Charles is now at Jane's Winsome Girls' School for Wayward Boys. He has volunteered to become one of Jane's girls to help Jane not only clear his name but to help Francis. He has a lot to learn about being a girl in a short amount of time, as Toby Camber is arriving at the school in a weeks time. Something else occurs that Charles wasn't expecting, he learns something else about himself while being Charlotte.

When they woke in the morning it took a few moments for John to get his mindset back in place and resume life as Jayne, mentally calling the mantra ‘I am Jayne, I am a woman’ adding.’I am her, she is me’.

Chapter 9

Firstly, though, was the matter of getting this project finished. David and the technical crews were on a plane next morning, bound for a post-production studio. Once they had the film in a rough cut, they would be looking for music to go with it.

Prince Taylor now is back at the institute with changes.

Chapter 8

While we were talking, Roger had received a call on his phone, leaving the room to take it. When he came back, he told us that David wanted to take me to dinner, to talk about how things were going, and that he would have to drop me off at home so that I had time to be ready. Anna seized the opportunity.

My name is Jay Metcalfe and I have very unusual story to tell about how I got convinced to take part in a charade which was to completely change my outlook on life. Perhaps it may be best to tell you a bit about myself and how it all came about.

Charles is now at Jane's Winsome Girls' School for Wayward Boys. He has volunteered to become one of Jane's girls to help Jane not only clear his name but to help Francis. He has a lot to learn about being a girl in a short amount of time, as Toby Camber is arriving at the school in a weeks time. Something else occurs that Charles wasn't expecting, he learns something else about himself while being Charlotte.

Chapter 7

Mum was extremely chipper when I went into her room. She was sitting in an easy chair, reading a book she had brought to the hospital, and stood, carefully, to give me a hug.

“Jamie, how lovely to see you. My! Don’t you look the lady! This new life has been good too you; I can see. Where’s your young man today?”

“He’s doing his job, looking after another film star. I didn’t ask, but the receptionist in the Agency said that he was in Paris, seeing why a starlet had a meltdown on set.”

Following his discussion with a potential client, Amanda, realising what he had done and the problem he now had with her believing that he was a woman, Jayne, John’s mind was in turmoil the rest of the day and he could hardly wait for his wife, Kathy, to get back home to tell her what had happened.

Chapter 6

After the salon I felt and looked like a star already. I thought that it would be a good time to see what sort of clothes the upper crust wore, so hailed a taxi to take me to the next destination. When we arrived, I saw that the dress shop and shoe shop were side by side. I say shop, but they were both more like fantasy lands. Nothing, in either window had a price shown.

Prince Taylor now has holidays and can be who he wants. Does he want to go back to the institute?

When Kathy returned home later she was quite chirpy but deep in thought, but later over dinner, she raised the subject that was on her mind.

“I was talking to some of the girls during the meeting and the conversation got round to Morris dancing and the fact that their husbands seemed to spend more time with the Morris team at practice and in the pub than with their families. Laura suggested that it would be good if some of us joined the Morris team to become more involved in their interests, what do you think?”

“No chance ! There are some mixed teams but most prefer to be traditional and all male and the Mayfield Morrismen is one of those groups, it would send shivers down their spines to let any women join. If you really want to be involved with Morris it would be better if you set up your own women’s team.”

“That’s what I thought you would say. So, how do we go about setting up our own team, we would like to keep it local rather than travel elsewhere to an established group?”

”To start with you need a coach, someone to teach you the routines and lead you in practice, unless any of the girls already have some experience.”

I was thinking that you might be able to give us a helping hand to start us off, you’ve been involved for years and know all the traditional routines. I’ve sort of already volunteered for you to talk to us, teach us the basics and see what can be done.

Chapter 5

When I let myself in, I looked around and decided that I wasn’t going to bed until I had given the place a clean. I spent the morning, after clearing some space in the wardrobe and drawers for my new things, with a broom and duster, giving everything a good clean. Seeing that it was all modern surface finishes, it didn’t take as long as I thought it would.

Wulfric emptied his mind focusing only on the horse's trotting and the sound its hooves made when they hit the dirt. The rhythmic sounds provided much-needed solace and distraction from thoughts about the sour end to his time with Thurstan.