Even the world children is affected by war in these so called modern days, the peaceful neighbourhoods where they play and revel in their innocence can be turned into a battleground by the Religious Zealots from other nations, more commonly known as TERRORIST. They don`t care that children and other innocents have no interest in what goes on outside their own little world.

It was a fine sunny saturday morning and the children were happily playing and laughing in the park without a care in the world, one of the older children heard something richochet off a tree and turning round saw a bundle with a hissing fuse. Quickly he chased the other children away from the immediate area and around a nearby building, unfortunately James tripped just as the bundle exploded and was caught in the blast, his last thought as he lapsed into a world of darkness was that the children were safe.

After the explosion people came running from every direction to see what was going on and hopefully to find sons and daughters safe and unharmed. After a checking on the children and ensuring that they were safe, it was found that James was not amongst them and a search of the area was started, After a short time a shout went up James had been found but was severly injured and the Paramedics were called. The Medics arrived just as the last of debris was cleared away from the small broken body.

James father had been killed fighting in Iraq two years earlier and his mother was at work, somebody went and fetched her to the hospital where James was now being operated on by surgeons fighting to safe the childs life.

All round the town the word had gone out about the terrorist attack and how James had saved the children, churches were holding services to pray for the child who put himself in harms way to save the innocent. The men of town were not attending the services, no they were looking for a stranger a stanger that didn`t fit into their town, someone who had been seen walking away from that terrible scene and it wasn`t long before they found him.

It wasn`t long before they found Ali Mohammed and soon he was in the custody of the local police, he never denied his crime in fact he rejoiced in it to the anger of everyone including the police officers. He was a supporter of Osama bin Laden and was proud that he struck a blow for Islam and the Muslim World.

Back at the hospital surgeons managed to stabalise the condition of little James and would now have to play the waiting game hoping he would live recover enough for them to attempt to put his broken body back together when he was stronger.

James was nine years old, small for age, of slight build and not very strong, he was a bit of loner and had few friends,he had taken it badly when his father had been killed and did his best to help his mother, he never complained and was friendly enough with everyone. He was kindly soul and would help anyone when he could and was liked by the adults for his extraordinary maturity. He loved watching the kids play in the park and took it on himself to keep an eye out for them.

The hospital was inundated with phone calls asking about James`s condition form concerned people, the waiting room always had a few waiting for news of the child and Yes the press was ever present, looking for a story of this young hero. I say Hero as that was what he was to the children and their parents, a fund was set up and donations were flooding in from all over the country, specialists were flown in and were waiting to begin the many surgical proceedures to mend Poor James`s broken body.

His mother Elizabeth was well,liked in the town and was nurse at a local GP`s Practice, she had been working at the time of the bombing and was now by James bedside, very distraught and silently praying for her sons survival. The doctors had assured that his condition was for now stable and he was being monitored 24hrs a day. The full extent of his injuries was as yet unknown as a full examination was put aside until they saved his live, once his condition stabalised a complete examination would be carried out to assertain what surgery would be needed on the future.

The examination they had initial carried out showed that everthing from the hip area down was badly damaged, Xrays had been taken to aid in the initial surgery, but saving the child life took priority over everything else.

Eventually the Doctors forced the distraught mother to go home to rest, assuring her that she would notified on the slightest change to James's condition although it might be days before he showed any signs of recovery.

Milly the woman who lived next door arrived at the hospital and took Elizabeth home, after getting to bed started ringing the other women in the neighbourhood to set up a watch on Elizabeth ensuring she would always have somebody with her during this difficult time. Milly was like a second mother to James and her children who were teenagers looked out James.

Sunday arrived with no word from the hospital, thanks to the sedative the doctor had given Elizabeth before she left the Hospital, the poor woman was still asleep, Milly had gone home and Jean had taken her place looking after Elizabeth,, she was starting to cook breakfast when Elizabeth walked into the kitchen.

"Oh Hello Jeam, I thought Milly was here" Elizabeth said

"She was but I took over so she could see to her two and get a bit of sleep" replied Jean

The ate and chatted and not once did James enter the conversation, both women were avoiding the subject until Jean said " We're all sorry about James and you won`t be alone until he recovers or is at least out of danger, and before you ask there is no change in his condition."

"Thanks Jean, I was hoping I would hear some good news though but I supposed it would be too soon to expect miracles" replied Elizabeth

The vigil was still on at the hospital as Elizabeth and Jean arrived, people were how sorry they were that the child had been injured in a cowardly attack and how Brave James had been getting the youngsters to safety. Elizabeth after thanking everyone told them that they should go home and look after their families and that she would them informed on James's progress.

The two women entered the ward and saw the small heavily bandaged body lying on the bed looking so broken and forlorn that it took all their efforts not to break down themselves. The cold light of day along with all the monitors bleeping away told their own story of the child fighting for life despite the horrofic injuries. Elizabeth knew that the human could only stand so much trauma and after seeing her youngest son wondered how he was managing to fight so hard.

The older siblings would have to be told soon but she wanted to wait till James either won or lost his fight with the Grim Reaper, as the children were in Boarding School they were safe and she didn`t want to worry them. One way or another they would survive the outcome of this tragedy
and if James lived would be there to help him through life.

It was several days before James showed any significant improvement but as yet he was still in a coma, the tiny body's wounds were starting to show some signs of infection, a clear sign that foreign bodies were still held within the body's tissues, Mild doses of antibiotics were administered and eventually the infection was controlable. The surgeons needed to get him down into the operating room and soon, they hadn`t probed too deeply when they first operated as the priority was to save the childs life above all else, everything could be dealt with when James got stronger, at least strong enough to withstand futher probing and surgery.

At last after two weeks off care my doctors and nurses it was deemed that James was strong enough to undergo another bout surgery, one of many the child would have to suffer. He was Xrayed and scanned before being wheeled into surgery and the doctors and surgeons were pouring over the pictures to decide what the priority was this this time.

The doctors decided that a microscopic examination of the wounds and cut would be carried out and any foreign material removed, and his legs and pelvis would be wired and set, from what they tell the internal organs hadn`t been damaged but an internal examination would be required later as an anomaly was showing on the scans, this they put down to possible internal swelling but didn`t want James to spend too long under the knife.

Elizabeth was informed of the decision and the surgeons assured her that everthing possible would be done for the child but that the process would be a long journey with much surgery to be carried out. While James was in surgery the case doctor talked to Elizabeth about James childhood medical history, Elizabeth had been to the Family doctor and managed to get a copy of his medical file which contained almost nothing. He had had one cold and a bout of measles, it seemed he was impervious the usually illnesses that all children get, and the doctor phoned the family doctor to get conformation that they had all James's medical records.

It seemed unusual that a child of 9 years of age didn`t have a file containing the usual maladies that most children get, but blood test had shown the usual levels of blood components and no added extra`s.

After surgery the senior surgeon spoke to Elizabeth and informed her that the surgery went well a few pieces of detritis had been removed from the wounds, James legs and pelvic girdle had been wired together. A short while later James was returned to his room and hooked up to various machines and drips, God thought Elizabeth his lower body look like a Porcupine when she saw all the wire sticking through the skin.

Gently the nurses positioned the small body and started to clean the areas around the wounds were stains had been used to identify foreign bodies, once they were finished and everything rechecked all but one nurse left the room, it was her job to monitor James's condition.

Elizabeth knew all the hospital staff and was sure that her son was getting treatment available, the nurses all looked on James as a son or a younger brother and some were working without pay to help the poor child, giving up days off were needed. James was never left alone at any time and all the staff were astonished at the fight this little boy was giving to stay alive an were willing him on. No James would want for nothing in a short time Donations to a fund now totalled several hundred thousand Pounds with more coming in daily.

The walls of his room were covered in get well cards and just about every possible surface had soft cuddy toys covering in, the local press for once had done a good job reporting the bombing and it had been taken up by the National Press, which gave daily updates on the childs condition. The Hospital switchboard in the beginning had been working overtime with the calls offering condolances,gifts, and inquiries into the childs condition and after a press release from the hospital this was now down to a trickle.

Some reporters had tried to interview the mother until the local judge issued a restraining order against them, one reporter had somehow managed to get into the childs room and had taken photographs which newspapers refused to publish, not out horror but of fear that they might have to defend their actions in courts, no they would give the family some privacy and the child a time to heal.

Over the weeks James remained in a coma, although there was no brain damage and the skull fracture had healed well, in the mean time operations were carried out at intervals to repair the damage to his small body. As yet the anomaly in the abdomen had shown no signs of disappearing and the surgeons were getting worried in case they had missed something.

While he had been comatose his mother had finally told his siblings what had happened to him as the school holidays occured during the second month since his admission. They hadn`t wanted to return to school after the holidays but Elizabeth told them that they couldn`t do anything and would be better if they busy and that it would make James proud if they passed their exams, so they returned to school. The school had been notified about had happened to James and were kept updated so the his brothers would know how his recovery was going.

It was three months after the attack that James finally returned to the world, his mother was at home when he finally regained consciousness in the early hours of the morning. He took in his surroundings and succumbed to a natural sleep, the duty nurse immediately notified the duty doctor who soon arrived to check on James. After a quick check the doctor gave instructions to let James sleep himself out.

It was two more days before he finally woke up much to the relief of all concerned, they thought he might have been having a relapse. Elizabeth who was now present at his bedside smiled at the child and asked what he remembered, he remembered everything up to the explosion and nothing thereafter which was to be expected.

He was informed of what had happened to him, his injuries and what his recovery would be like, there was no more of the intensive surgery needed, all that had been performed while he was still comatose. James was in a state of disbelief when they told him that he'` been in a coma for three months and how badly he had been, he was also told that he would be on the road to recovery for a long time and would always bear the signs of the attack.

During the last two days the most of the machines that had monitored his condition were gradually switched off and removed from his room, he was still hooked up to drips and couldn`t move much. The restraints he was told would eventually be removed after all his injuries healed, they did however unfasten his arms but told him his leg restraints must stay in place for another couple of weeks.

Over the next few days James slept a lot which was to be expected, he was now starting to take in food by mouth although only small quantities to begin with as his digestive would have to get used to solid food gradually but after a few days his appetite was normal for a child his age. He still wasn't free from pain although he only felt pain when physiotherapists worked with him to gain movement and strength in his upper body, but his muscles had been idle for over three months.

He was due for another MRI scan again to check on his spine, although no damage had been found to the Spinal Cord a few of the Vertabrae in the lumbar and sacral areas of the spine had been damaged, they needed to check that the Cord hadn`t been pinched or trapped during the healing process. As both legs were still in casts and his feet bandaged they couldn`t check properly for sensation in the lower extremities were the bone structure had been severely damaged and rebuilt with considerable difficulty.

All in all given the nature of his injuries James seemed to be adjusting to everything well almost everything, he found he was having to wear a nappy and would have to be toilet trained all over again, this was causing him some embarressment when the nurses changed him added to the fact he was wearing night dresses.

His mother explained that he couldn`t wear Pyjamas because of his dressings and hospital gowns left a lot to be desired and she thought that Plain nightdresses were a better choice in the circumstances, once he thought about it he realised his mother had made the right choice.

As the days went by the doctors thought he was now able to have visitors but only a couple a day and everyday people came visiting him and making a fuss of him. Now while James didn`t mind the visits he hated all the fussing about but didn`t say anything that might upset someone.

Days went by and finally the dressing and casts on his legs were removed, test were carried out and reflex actions were found to normal, now began the long road to mobility although at best he would always walk with a limp. He was measured and fitted out for a wheelchair so he could be taken down to physio, it would be weeks before he would be able to walk at all.

Elizabeth was shocked to see how wasted his legs were once the casts and dressings were removed, even her experience as a nurse had'nt prepared her for one off her own children looking so wasted. The doctors had wanted to carry out a CT scan to get better definition on the abdominal anomoly but Elizabeth was persistant in her refusal, the amount of radiation recieved after a CT scan was equivalent to standing approx 2,5 miles from a world war 2 atomic bomb at the time of impact and could cause cancers, doctors of course knew this and were usually reluctant to use CT scans on children.

MRI scans only showed the anomaly as cloudy mass and it left them with only one choice, a Laparoscopy, a small incision and a camera inserted to try and get a better idea on what is happening in the abdomen. and they felt that the childs body had been cut up enough with the effects of the explosion and occuring surgery, but were left with little choice and sheduled the procedure to be performed in two days time.

The day before the procedure a well groomed man entered the hospital and asked to see the surgeons who were dealing with the child, he didn`t introduce himself to the receptionist, he just stood there waiting with an air of superiority a lowly receptionist was beneath his notice usually.

Mr Graves the head surgeon arrived at reception and met with the man who said he wanted to meet with the surgical team at once, he introduced himself as Mr Wells FRCH. Dr Graves knew full well that Mr Wells was a well respected and first class surgeon who dealt mainly with Royal Household and Nobility, and was also a snob.

Mr Graves had a top class team in the hospital having trained his surgeons up to his requirements and wasn`t having anyone including God himself upsetting his people. The two surgeons retired to an empty office and talked for a while. Graves knew the reputation of Wells and vice versa, here were two giants in their fields of medicine facing each other down and neither was going to give way.

Wells said "I understand you have a child here who has been severely injured in a bombing "

Graves replied "Yes, he`s been here for some weeks and is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances"

"Of course, considering the primitive surroundings " said Wells

" I beg your pardon" replied Graves,his face looking like thunder "We may not have all the fancy equipment you are used to but my teams and I do very well thank you very much"

The Hospital wasn`t a private facility but a National Health Hospital, which when built five years ago was state of the art, they were lacking in more recent Technological Advances but they still did excellent work.

" Anyway I require to see the medical notes on this patient so I can decide the best way to go with the childs treatment" stated Wells

" Who are you to walk in here and make demands" thunderered Graves "This is my hospital primitive or not" he continued

Wells opened his briefcase and extracted an envelope "So remiss of me, I do apologise" he said as he handed the envelope over to Graves.

Graves looked at the envelope and saw the Royal Seal, on opening the envelope he found a Royal request to give assistance to Wells signed by the Princess Royal herself.

The two men looked at each other across the table, both knowing that errors in judging the other, they both knew of each others surgical reputations and Wells instantly knew that Graves was in the same league in an operating room as he was even if he did mix with the general Riff Raff. Graves on the other hand knew that Wells had the ear of the Queen herself as well as the Primeminister.They continued to glare at each other for a few more minutes and Wells got up left the room and closed the door behind him.

A couple of seconds later there was a knock at door and Grave bid the knocker to enter, Wells re-entered the roomand thrusting out a hand introduced himself to Graves.

"I think we got off on the wrong footing " Wells simply stated " I`m not here to take over your case but to assist and apologise for my earlier attitude"

Graves being a more down to earth type of person accepted the apology and rang for Tea, coffee and his secretary to be sent to the office.

While they were waiting the two men chatted away quite amicably, both of them had over the years developed several new procedures in the field of surgery and were unusually young for top flight surgeons, Graves was a jovial Scotsman whose father and mother had been mill workers, Wells on the other hand had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, with a long line of doctors and surgeons in his background.

The refreshments arrived along with tray of snack foods, Graves asked Rosalin his secretary to get his surgical and medical teams together for an afternoon meeting in the conference room.

Graves extracted his copy of the childs medical notes from his safe and handed them to Wells, who quickly read through them, Wells noted the horrific injuries and was amazed the child was still alive at all, a fact he stated to Graves. He was very impressed when he saw the surgery that had been performed including an unknown procedure to repair the Pelvic Girldle.

After the notes were finished with and were safely locked away again, Graves took Wells to see the patient.

The two surgeons arrived at the room to find James on his way out to physiotherapy, the nurse had got him into his wheelchair after dressing him in something better than a hospital gown. Dr Graves told the nurse to send word once James had returned to the room and to have him completely stripped in preparation for a physical examination by Dr Wells.

An hour an half later after his torture session and a soothing bath James was ready when the two surgeons arrived, Dr Graves introduced Dr Wells to James and his mother who had arrived a few minutes earlier.After the examination the surgeons left to discuss their findings.

Dr Wells stated " I didn't realise the full extent of the injuries until I saw the patient, it`s amazing that the child is still alive"

"James surprised us all, the nurses call him the 'Miracle Child', but he`s a fighter and knows he`ll never recover fully from his injuries" replied Dr Graves

The discussion went on for over an hour, Wells told his colleague of a new procedure he wanted to try to help with the scarring, he explained that the scar tissue would be removed and a technique for suturing the wounds be used after which the areas would be packed in kelp before dressing are applied. He went on to explain that it wasn`t a usual practice but that he had seen some rather good results.

They discussed their new findings and agreed that as the mother refused a Cat Scan and MRI Scan was still showing ambiguous readings eploratory surgery was the only option left, however they would use a camera with a small incision and if that failed the Abdominal Cavity would have to be be fully opened. One way or another the anomily needed to be examined fully.

They sent for Elizabeth and discussed everything with her as they would need her permission before they could start, they could go through the courts and fight her but didn`t want to cause the poor woman anymore problems or get her against them. Elizabeth being a senior nurse listened to what they had they had to say and agreed she too wanted to find out what the anomily was and if it was danger to her child to get rid of it.

They next went to see James and explained everything to him, physiotherapy would be put on a back burner for a couple of weeks until his body recovered from the next round of surgery. Dr Graves left to set everything up and Dr Wells remained with James talking to him, getting to know the child, his goals and aspirations, what he had already acheived in his short life. The two were getting on well together when Graves returned for which he was grateful.

They left James and went for a meal neither of them had eaten since breakfast and would get to know each other better over a good meal, they went to place near the hospital were they served simple but well cooked and healthy meals and Wells attacked his with gusto. Never had he eaten so well and such simple dishes as these he told the owner of the Eatery.

The latest X-rays Blood and MRI scan results came back the next morning and the two surgeons as well as several other specialist doctors went through them looking for anything that might have been missed on previous results. Still they found nothing although the anomily still showed on the MRI Scan, the scanner had been checked over by the manufacturers , lasers, lens etc replaced the programming checked not once but twice. Other patients had been scanned and the scanner had worked fine, so the scanner wasn't the problem, but this left the doctors with many unanswered questions.

The day of surgery arrived and the two surgeons visited James to explain what would be happening, the child understood most of what was explained and was happy enough to proceed knowing that his mother would be by his side all the time. At first the surgeons were reluctant for Elizabeth to be in the theatre but as it made the child the child feel more secure they relented.

The Operation went ahead, James was anaethetised and wheeled into the operating theatre, the incision in the abdominal wall wall made and the fibre optic that contained the camera was inserted. Slowly the technician moved the camera around the interior of the abdomen, all the organs were traced, kidneys, liver, stomach intestines etc and right in the middle appeared an unusual growth, the camera was removed and after a quick consultation between the two surgeons and Elizabeth it was decided to enlarge the incision and the investigate the growth.

The incision was enlarged and the growth found a Biopsy was performed was great difficulty as even the scalpels had trouble cutting the fibrous material, this was sent to the lab were a team was waiting to start examining and testing the sample. The two surgeons investigated the growth further and noticed that it had attached itself to the liver, they knew straight away that they had a major problem and couldn't go any further until the lab tests were back so James was sewn up and returned to the ward.

The surgeons had a long talk with Elizabeth who had also seen the growth, but the had also noticed something else the growth was contained in what looked like a transparent womb, but there were no other female looking organs such as ovaries or fallopian tubes, there was also no sign of anything that remotely looked like testicles or other male internal reproductive organs. James was Intersexed and Elizabeth was going to have to help James make a life changing decision very soon by the looks of things.

The locals were still following James's hospitalisation and treatment and visited on most days so he wasn't lonely, fellow pupils were regular visitors and even though he was hospitalized was now keeping up with his school work. The local school was proud of James not just because of his actions on that fateful day but also because of his scholatic achievements and the way he helped others with their schoolwork, James was expected to go far though in what field nobody knew. for a nine year old he was very clever for age and seemed to soak up knowledge like a sponge. James would never succeed in the sporting world but academically the world was his oyster.

Knowing that he would be in a wheelchair and occasionally on crutches for a long time his home had adapted due to donations from the community and now everyone was waiting on the latest news from the hospital.

It was two days before the results came back, the senior pathologist attended the meeting with the medical and surgical teams. The report so far was looking bleak, they found the tissue was embryonic and very difficult to cut through using even today's surgical equipment. As the anomaly had attached itself to the liver and was slowly encapsulating the organ at alarming rate surgery was going to be extremely if not impossible. The pathological team had sent a segment off for DNA testing and it could be a couple of weeks before the results came back, the did find out that so far it wasn't cancerous, so they were all back to square to square one.

The test results and copies of all the scans and X-rays were sent to labs and specialists around the world hoping that someone had come across an anomaly such as this one but the Surgeons didn't hold much luck, if someone somewhere had dealt with something like this they would have reported it so it would hopefully be on record somewhere.
Maybe it should be left alone as long as it didn't endanger the child's life all they could do was monitor it. They talked to Elizabeth about it and she agreed with what they had decided, they would have to see what the DNA testing revealed before they could do anything anyway.

James continued with physio after he had healed from the surgery and was progressing as well as could be expected, although he frustrated at times with his own progress, the community being kept up date on his progress was now waiting with baited breathe for the DNA test reports to come back.

James had now been in hospital almost three months and was getting bored with his surroundings so the hospital decided to let him return for a week, they would also arrange for days out for him when he returned to their care. A couple of nurses were assigned to move in with James and Elizabeth during his week at home to tend to his medical needs, at first Elizabeth assured them that she was perfectly capable of looking after her son but as they pointed out James needed 24 hr nursing care to be on the safe side.

There was problem about clothes for the boy, he wasn't able to wear trousers due to the dressings on his legs, his abdomen was still a bit tender so tight clothing couldn't be worn round the waist, He was talking about this with his mother and was so desperate to get out of hospital for a few days said he would wear a dress if he had to, his mother asked him if he was serious and seeing he was adamant bought a few cheap dresses, nothing too girly just some plain smock type dresses.

Word had gone round the community that James was coming home fro a few days and he would be wearing dresses, the majority of adults understood after seeing the bandages and padding he was using and threatened their children if they started any teasing of James.

Two days later he was allowed to go home, the two nurses Sally and Anne had got him ready before Elizabeth arrived to accompany them in the ambulance to Elizabeth's home. AT first Elizabeth was surprised when she saw him, he could easily be mistaken for a young girl with his now longish hair and fair complexion but she didn't say anything.

"You ready to go then " she asked

"Just get me out of here before I go nuts" replied a happy James

With the two nurses following behind then loaded down with medical supplies Elizabeth pushed his wheelchair toward the main doors.

The main doors opened and the party exited the building to flashes from cameras and a cheer from a crowd of well wishers, the ambulance crew lifted James into a seat and strapped him in before putting his wheelchair in the rack and helping the Ladies into the vehicle.

It didn't take long before they arrived outside the house and James and all the supplies were carried inside, before they left Gerry one of ambulance crew said if they needed anything just give him a call and he would deliver it himself and after wishing James good luck they left.

Sally and Anne were shown to their rooms by Elizabeth and shown a downstairs room that they could use as a medical room to store everything and treat James, afterwards they all sat in the kitchen enjoying a home cooked meal.

Elizabeth had set up the old study as a temporary bedroom for James as the chairlift to the bedroom wasn't yet connected, she had moved some of his books and toys and even his computer for him and somebody had given her a laptop for him to use, so it looked like James was set up for the week. The locals had wanted to have a party for his homecoming but Elizabeth has talked them out of it, too much excitement could possibly do more harm than good, so they compromised on having a barbeque instead.

The rest of the day found various people visiting the house and keeping James occupied and never once did anyone comment on how he was dressed, the kids took him out into garden were they could talk away from the adults the way kids do when they think they`re being secretive. In the lounge several mothers sat talking to Elizabeth and one asked if anyone else noticed that James looked like a pretty girl, some of the other women agreed even Elizabeth who pointed out that James might have to wear dresses for quite a while. The women assured her that James was perfectly safe from harm and would be protected by the community as a whole, he had saved the lives of several children by his actions and now it was their turn to look after James and keep him safe.

The following day James had his dressings changed and was dressed ready to meet the day by 10am, one of his teachers from the school to go over some lessons with him and he would do a couple of hours each day until lunchtime, James was quite happy about this and set too with a will.

In the afternoons he would do his exercises for an hour and after changing one of carers would go for a walk pushing his wheelchair around the town, everywhere they went people came and chatted to the child and made sure he wanted for nothing. Finally the day arrived when he was returned to the hospital again Gerry was driving the ambulance with his partner Steve and after loading the vehicle they set off back to the hospital.

The normal routine at hospital started again, physio and dressings being changed three times a day, school work and visitors were playing a big part in his life and they were allowing him out during the day at weekends. He told his mother to go back to work as her continual fussing over him was beginning to annoy him. He knew she loved him and was worried but James being a realist realised they both needed longer periods without each other, he loved his mother very much but she needed to be doing what she was good at and that was nursing.

Sally showed him the picture from the weekly newpaper taken the day he was allowed home, James looked at it and asked Sally if she was sure it him and it wasn`t a mistake but she told him "No that`s you kiddo"

"Did I really look like a girl?" he asked

"Yes, you certainly did and a very pretty one at that" she replied

This got James thinking about what people would say when they saw the picture and he started to get worried, the bigger kids all teased him about his size, lack of physical strength and being useless at sport before he was admitted to hospital, what would they say know when they saw the picture and as sure as god made little green apples tthey would.

Sally assured him that word had gone round that anyone making bad comments or remarks would find themselves in a load of trouble Big time, and that it had been explained that he had to wear a dress because of his injuries and he shouldn`t worry what people thought.

Within a couple of days back at the Hospital James developed another problem, he wasn`t sleeping too well and had started wetting the bed at night and he was ashamed, the nurses tried their best to calm him but the shame was still there. He had been seeing a child phychologist since he started to recover first on a weekly basis and then monthly but now it was back to weekly sessions to find out what the underlying problem that was causing the bed wetting.

To prevent his dressing getting contaminated during the night he was having to wear nappies and plastic pants, it had been explained why this was neccessary and accepted the fact, this carried on for a month then as suddenly as it started it stopped so the nappies were discontinued much to his relief.

On his days out at weekends at least one nurse was with him and his mother, Gerry and Steve had volunteered their services and did any driving, he wasn`t able to go on fairground rides or anything like that but they did visit Museums, Stately Homes now and again a Zoo, He enjoyed the visits immensely especially the various Science Museums, one or two didn`t have wheelchair access and it was the case of carrying the child and wheelchair inside which the two men did uncomplaining, they were enjoying being with the boy and seeing his delight in the visits.

It wasn't two weeks till the DNA test results came back it was a month, no matter how they pressed the Laboratory they couldn't get the results each time they got told the tests were being re-run. When the results did arrive back at the hospital the doctors were astounded, the DNA matched James 100%, so what going on in that small body?
It wasn`t caused by a foreign body that had been over looked, it hadn't been the direct result of his injuries so what was causing it?

Elizabeth was working at the hospital and was sent for by Dr Graves, along with Dr Wells they discussed the pro's and con's of the situation, in the end they decided it would be best to monitor James with scans and tests done on a weekly basis. The dressing had done they're work and the scarring was minimal so it was decided that James could be discharged with the understanding that any change and he was to be brought back to the hospital for re-admission straight away, Elizabeth agreed to this but was glad to get her son home.

The next day James was finally allowed to go home, with his mother working this could have posed a problem but James wanted to go back to school and the school readily agreed to have him back. The school nurse had been kept up to date on all his treatments and the physiotherapy dept would send someone to the school during what would have James's Phys Ed periods. Some of his lessons such as woodwork and metalwork were changed and he would now be taking Sewing and Knitting lessons primarily because he couldn`t really hurt himself and they would help to keep him occupied. At first James started to rebel when he was told about the change in craft lessons but he eventually realised he couldn`t do metal or wood crafts stuck in a wheelchair, one reason being you couldn`t get a wheelchair under the benches and another being with all the wood chips, nails, screws or bits of metal that lay around the floor he would have constant punctures in his wheels.

Friday's were set for his day at the hospital which would give him the weekend to recover from any difficult test and the scanners were little used on friday afternoons again it was Gerry and Steve that were his drivers, they would also convey him to and from school.

They had only been home about an hour when there was knock at the door, Elizabeth answered the door and saw a well dressed man with a briefcase, he introduced himself as Mr Price form Goodfellow and Price Solicitors. Elizabeth invited him in and made coffee for the the two of them, James was having a nap in his room.

Mr Price placed his briefcase on the table and opening it extracted a file, he explained to Elizabeth that he had two reasons for his visit, one he had been engaged as their Legal Advocate in the forth coming trial of the Terrorist and two he had a proposal from an benefactor that wished to remain nameless. Elizabeth listened as he explained a Mr X was prepared to have a one level home built to her and James specification and adequate funds would be set aside in a trust fund for James for when he reached the age of 21, a monthly allowance would be paid to Elizabeth to help with the day to day cost of bringing James up, there were a few more items that were brought up as he read through the list of the bequest including a new car adapted for wheelchairs.

Elizabeth took it all in and asked " What's the catch, nobody gives that amount of money away for nothing so what does the mysterious Mr X want out it and I'm not giving James up and I'm not moving away this area"

Mr Price replied " There is no catch and Mr X doesn`t want to take James away from you , he will reveal himself and his reasons when he thinks the time is right"
"You don`t have to make an instant decision but I would think about it, the house will be built near the new housing complex that being built just outside town"

"Okay let me think it over for a few days " replied Elizabeth

"Now to the other matter of the upcoming trial, I have been retained to work as liason between you and Sir Neville Montague QC (Queens Council) who is going to represent James in the trial. I would like as soon as you can manage it a statement of what happened from James, A statement on James Injuries, present health and possble future problems is being done by Doctors Graves and Wells. Hopefully James won`t have to appear in court but we will have to ready just in case, usually they get children to make their statements in front of camera with both the Defence and Prosecution lawyers asking the relevant questions, this is to prevent the child being unduly harrased in court rooms. stated Mr Price

Elizabeth was finding it hard to take everything in, she knew the trial was going to begin in the next couple of months and that James would be involved, what she hadn`t realised was the Media coverage was going to be intense or how it might affect her son, OH he was strong child that knew right from wrong but being in courtroom in a trial that getting National Coverage how would it affect James?. She was starting to realise and was grateful for any help and advice that she and James could get.

Mr Price or Rodger as he introduced himself asked to speak to James and Elizabeth went to fetch the child, Rodger was shocked when he saw the child and would have been more shocked had he seen boy weeks earlier. He was intorduced to James by Elizabeth and between them they explained about the up coming trial and how he would be involved. James listened to what was being told him and asked " Would I be able to see the face of the man who did this to me?" this made Rodger sit up this child isn't anyones fool he thought, he`s wise beyond his years . He was starting to take a liking to James and told him "Yes" you can see your attacker, I'll arrange it.

Gerry had picked James up from school and was taking him home, they hit quiet stretch of the road and were rammed by a 4 x 4 once the two vehicles came to halt four masked men jumped out brandishing pistols, they tried opening the doors but the impact had damaged them so badly they wouldn`t open no matter how hard they tried.

Gerry was unconscious after hitting his head, but James although shaken was very much awake. thankfully Gerry had ensured the seatbelt was securely fastened, James unfastened the seat belt and reached across for the fire extinguisher, while he was doing this one of the men kicked out the remains of the windscreen and was attempting to get into the vehicle James fired the fire extinguisher into his face and blinded him the other started shooting but their shots didn`t find James although Gerry was hit twice, James somehow managed to reach the horn and pressed down on it with all might.

As luck would have it someone had seen what was happening and called the police, it wasn`t long before sirens could be heard converging on the scene and three of the men took flight leaving their injured colleague behind. Once the men had left James looked to Gerry and seeing the blood bubbling from his chest grabbed a plastic bag which he fastened over the area with a couple of bandages he managed to find.

It wasn`t long before a police car pulled up along side the ambulance and the constable seeing the mess radiod in for fire and medical emergency vehicles to sent ASAP. He cautiously approached the man writhing on the ground and seeing the gun kicked it under the ambulance, he handcuffed the man to the 4 x 4 and went to the ambulance to render what assistance he could assuming that the occupants were still alive. When he saw Gerry and James he quickly looked over the wrecks, as luck had it the fuel tanks didn`t seem to be damaged and there was no sign of fire. He climbed onto the Bumper of the ambulance and had a good look inside the vehicle, he saw that Gerry was badly injured but James he wasn`t sure about, the boy was covered with blood.

James told the constable what had happened and what he had done, he also assured the constable that he wasn`t injured except for being thrown against the seatbelt. He explained what treatment he had given Gerry and then himself passed out. The fire recue vehicle turned up along with another ambulance it didn`t take them long to cut Gerry and James out of their wrecked ambulance and hand them over to the paramedics who after checking the pair rushed them to Hospital.

James came round a few hours later and found himself back in the ward he had previously occupied, at first he didn`t know why he back there then it came flooding back,his mother was asleep in a chair at the side of bed and woke up hearing him move in the bed.

James first thoughts were for Gerry

" Is Gerry okay" the worried boy asked

"He`s out danger but in a critical condition" Elizabeth replied

At that moment Dr Graves entered the room and seeing the boy awake smiled.

"How`s Gerry " James asked

"He`ll live thanks to you" replied the Doctor " And before you ask why your back here, you have a couple broken ribs". he continued

The doctor asked James how he knew what to do and James told him he had read a book on first aid.

"When I saw the blood coming out of his chest it was the first thing that came into my head " said James

"Well lucky for Gerry you read that book, although it`s going to be sometime before he`s up and around" replied the Doctor.

They chatted for a while and after checking James over he decided that they would keep him in for a while till his ribs started to heal.

After Dr Graves left Elizabeth looked at her son and shook her head, he`ll turn into a book one day she thought smiling to herself knowing that James read anything he could get his hands on.

"The police will be seeing you in the morning for another statement, and there will be a policeman with you all the time from now till the trial is over" Elizabeth told him

"What for" James asked

" Those men were out either take you as an exchange hostage or kill you to stop you from giving evidence. Oh and the three that ran have been caught" said Elizabeth

"Hows the one I sprayed with the fire extinguisher" asked James

"Alive and Blind " Answered Elizabeth

Elizabeth looked at her watch as a nurse entered, James was given an injection that sent him to sleep and Elizabeth went home to find a Police car stationed outside the house.

It didn`t take long before the incident was known to every adult in the community and the part James had played, once again he was the hero of hour and everyone was proud of little James.

The police arrived the next morning and a statement was taken,the Chief Inspector personally visited James along with the Senior Ambulance Officer, the thanked James for what he had done and told him he might get an award for his bravery. James wasn`t one for being in the Limelight, nobody had ever bothered about him before except his mum, he had virtually no friends in the area or at school and was the usual target for the school bullies, adults just ignored him so he was now asking himself what had changed ?, he was still Little James although his body wasn`t as good as it was.

Dr Wells had gone back to his hospital and hearing that James once again had been injured cancelled everything and was soon back in the local hospital talking to Dr Graves. Before Dr Wells arrived it had been decided that James would have another scan to see if anything had changed after the latest incident, the scan was booked for the next day.

Rodger Price paid a visit to James and the two of chatted for a while, he also took a statement from James. Rodger was getting quite attached to this small boy with the heart of lion, and hearing what James said about his life before the first incident couldn`t believe what he was hearing. Here was a child 9 yrs of age who was willing to help anyone, never asking for payment or praise and he had been bullied and ignored by most people. If he had his way people would start apologising to this child and he was going to find out more about why James had been treated so badly.

Rodger wasn`t known in the area and decided to look around for a while, around lunch time he was sitting in cafe having a meal and overheard a conversation in the cubicle behind him. What he heard annoyed him greatly but he didn`t say anything, he ordered a refill for his coffee and continued to listen.

The people were saying that it amazing that the weirdo seemed to attract trouble these days and that the community would be better off if he and his mum left the area, that seemed strange as it seemed Elizabeth was a well respected member of the community. He continued to listen and saw several people nodding at what was being said, he made notes in his pad, finished his meal paid and left.

He went and sat in the nearby park that seemed deserted and pondered over what he heard, what is wrong in this town, a young boy has saved several lives and they want rid of him? something wasn`t right and his next prot of call was the local church to talk to the vicar.

The Reverend Thomas took Rodger into his office and the pair talked for a while, it would seem from what the vicar that James was considered strange because he wasn`t rough and tumble like the other boys his age and he always seemed to be reading a book and he was more intelligent than most of towns kids, James thought things out before committing self are never acted stupid or in a way that might injure or upset others. The vicar liked James very much as did the old people who James was always running doing errands for. Some people thought it strange that James could sew, knit and cook and the men thought these were female skills were as James thought anyone should be able to do them.

After talking for a while Rodger told the vicar what James had told him earlier that day and the vicar sighed and said that James spent a lot of time on his own, never had any friends and was extremely kind and considerate of others and in this day and age was respectful to his elders, something not found in todays young. Rodger told him what he heard in the cafe and the vicar nodding his head stated that there was an element in town that thought James was responsible for the incidents, they seemed to consider him bad luck.

"It`s strange that "said the vicar " Before his father was killed in the war James was just like every other little boy, getting into mischief but since his father died James seems to more responsible."

The two men talked for a while longer and parted witha handshake, Rodger went round to see if Elizabeth was home and on arriving saw her pull up outside the house, she saw him coming and invited him in. He asked if he could use her phone to call his employer and Elizabeth showed him were it was before going to the kitchen to prepare a meal.

Rodger called the mysterious Mr X and related what he had heard and found out and was told to say nothing to Elizabeth, he was to meet with Mr X later that evening but meanwhile a security company would be hired to keep an eye on the mother and child. Rodger came to the conclusion that there was something about this case that was a bit out of ordinary.

Elizabeth came into the room just as he put the phone done and asked if he would like to stay for a meal, he politely refused saying he had a meeting to attend but did accept a coffee and chatted with Elizabeth about James for a while. Did Elizabeth know the treatment James was getting ? had James ever told her about the bullying and lack of friends ? if she had why was she so adamant about staying in the area ? , these were questions that needed answering. Hopefully tonight he would find out more about the mysterious Mr X and why his involvement with Elizabeth and James.

Rodger had got handed the case by his partner Steven Goodfellow, they were a small firm that was just starting out after they had qualified as lawyers, the fee was substantial and if they did well in handling this case it would really set the practice up and they could employ in more people. Steven was away handling another at the other end of the country and Rodger had no way of contacting him, Steven never used a mobile phone and was forgetful about leaving contact details with the office.

At the pre arranged time and place Rodger met with Mr X, a well dressed but rather elderly man in his 60`s. Mr X introduced himself as Brian Montgomery and was led into dining room, once the meal was served, Mr Montgomery opened the conversation.

"I suppose you have questions to ask about your assignment" he started off

"A few " replied Rodger

"Well before I answer your questions let me give you some background information on myself and you`ll see were I fit in to all this" said Montgomery

"It was during the Korean war it all started, I was young fool at the time, came from a good background with money, lots of money. My father was an arms dealer and sold weapons to whoever he could, he didn`t care that they were being used to kill and murder people and nobody messed with him or they disappeared. I attended the best schools money could buy, went to Oxford and graduated with a doctorate in chemistry, I won`t go into the which field as it doesn`t really matter now.
I was working in a laboratory at a government installation when I was recruited by the intelligence services to go behind the Iron Curtain and gather some vital information on a new bio weapon the Communists were supposedly trying to develop. At the time I was walking out with a young woman and we married against both our families wishes, well my wife became pregnant with our child, in those days there was no modern technology to tell you anything about the child. Not long after the birth I went on the mission which went badly wrong, most of the team were killed or captured and eventually after the farcical trials executed for espionage. I was lucky I was injured in the shootout but managed to hide from the search parties, I don`t remember much of what occured until I came round in hospital bed, I had been found by a member of the underground and brought to safety, the hospital was a couple of hundred miles away from where we were attacked and well outside the search area.

Once I recovered I tried to get home but everytime I got near the border something would happen and I would have to run again, eventually I settled down and being fluent in various East European languages found work, I still kept in contact with the underground but even they couldn`t help me get back home, so I was stuck. My death was reported on the state news channels and having no way to contact HQ I couldn`t confirm I was still alive.

Well to cut a long story short, as you know that after seven years a missing person can be declared legally dead, and that happened in my case, with the fall of Iron Curtain I managed to return home a few years ago and have been trying to find out what happened to my family. I discovered that my wife had remarried and the child had been a boy, my wife died of cancer 15 years ago. the boy joined the army and was killed a while back in the middle east. My father died not long after I went missing in an aircraft accident and after my return I as the only surviving member of the family got the lot. My identity has been changed and I live alone, I`ve been trying to find my sons family and after a long search have done so, Elizabeth and James as you may have surmised.

It`s not my intention to interfere with their lifes but I would like to know more about them, and ensure they are safe and want for nothing, I`m an old man now and was deprived of my family for all these years and would like to get to know them if possible and thats were you come in.
So what I want to know is what you have found out so far?"

Rodger related what he discovered, how James had heroically put his life in danger to safe the children, how he had saved the of Gerry and fought off their attackers, then he told the old man the darker side of James`s life how he had no friends that a lot people though him weird and why, his talk with the Vicar and some of older towns people.

" So James seems to take after me then, I too was a bookworm and had few if any real friends". replied Mongomery

" Look what I want you do is hire some PI`s and get all the information you can about the mother child and towns folk, if they are in in any danger from anyone get them to a safe place, but you must not under any circumstances reveal my identity until I tell you." stated Montgomery

He handed Rodger a credit card and a file, the credit card was for an unlimited amount and Montgomery told him to use what ever he needed, money wasn`t a problem, the file contained all the information Montomery had managed to acquire from his various contacts and should be of some help to Rodger.

The two men shook hand at the end of the meeting and went their separate ways, Rodger was happier knowing more about the case and the Mr X and would do all in his power to bring the case to a successful conclusion.

The PI company that was hired was called Moriarty Investigations, all their operatives had worked for various government Intelligence agencies over the years and they had equipment equal to and some times even better than government agents.

The Head of company was told what was required and a contract was drawn up and signed, the Moriarty company also provided top level undercover security so would also ensure the safety of James and his mother 24/7 until the case was dealt with.

James had only been going to school for a couple of hours of a day until he got used to his physical limitations, now he would be doing the same hours as the other children. On his first day back he was met by a delegation of teachers and older pupils and escorted to take part in the morning assembly.

As they entered the assembly hall he was wheeled down to the front, as they passed each row of students rose and started to applaud, they reached the front and james still in his wheelchair was carefully lifted on to the stage, the applause was thunderous by now. The headteacher held up his arms and the room became silent and each student sat down again.

"Well James you can see from the welcome you have recieved from your Peers their all glad to see your return," He called several of the older students to the stage and continued "James the school is very proud of you for what you have done, you have saved several lives and in doing so have been severely injured yourself, these boys and girls will be your escorts round the school and will keep any physical problems to a minimum " He looked at the assembled school and stated "If any harm comes to James in anyway or form the culprits will be severely dealt with,you have warned"

The rest of the assembly went quickly and soon everyone was in class, James was feeling uncomfortable with all the attention and concentrated on his lessons, he knew he had some catching up to do and worked harder. at break he didn`t go outside with everyone else, one or two of his escort stayed in the classroom with him and chatted with him. Lunch time and in the school canteen he was wheeled to a table and his lunch brought for him, the students all ate in silence until the last of dishes were taken away. quite a number of the students left leaving only those he`d had problems within the past.

" WHAT? " He shouted

He was met with silence and several students turned away from him, he started to wheel himself out of the canteen and was stopped,the duty teachers ran to fetch the help, she didn`t know what was going to happen but didn`t like the look the things were going, the canteen ladies had dropped the shutters and were ignorant of what going on in the canteen.

One student stood up an said "We know we can`t do anything to you but remember your still the weirdo freak and wearing a dress proves it even more, you might be the big hero in town but to us your still the "Freak" " then they all left.

James was sitting alone in the canteen when all the teachers came running in to see what was going on, the headmaster asked James what had happened but he said nothing and wheeled himself out of the canteen back to the classroom. His two escorts told the headmaster what had happened and named the children involved, teachers were sent to bring them to the headmasters office.

The only fortunate thing was that the antagonists didn`t live over this side of the town, they were still within the schools catchment area, but lived in a rough part of town. This was an area the police were continually having problems with since of the parents were ex cons, in jail or on probation for various crimes, they considered their area the tough part of town.

It was difficult to suspend students these days because of the goverments interference policy, the idiot do-gooders got rid of corporal punishment in school and children were actually fighting with the teachers and they couldn`t do much about it. The government with their idiot policies protected the criminal not the victims and even if an offender ended up in court the sentences handed out were very lenient.

The headmaster read the riot act to the offenders knowing full well that he couldn`t really do much but he had to try, as much as he hated to loose a pupil like James he would suggest moving him to another school when he met the education board on Wednesday.

The rest of week passed too slowly for James, he was the target of a constant barrage of verbal abuse, at one point the decent kids ganged up on the bad element and threatened them if they didn`t back off, they did but everyone knew it wouldn`t last long.

By The following Monday protection and surveilance was in place and a team acting as a company doing a survey started going round town asking people their opinion of the town and the people living there. It would take some time to get all the results sorted and an idea of what was wrong in the area.

There was a campsite not far away and a couple of pairs posed as campers and wandered about the area watching and listening, yes Moriarty Investigation was using evry possible technique to get information even using wire taps,hidden cameras etc.

On the Friday James was back for his tests and examinations by the doctors the anomaly was starting to show on the scans but didn`t seem to be getting any worse or bigger, which the doctors thought was a good sign.

So far all requests for information on similar anomalies had drawn a blank, the medical; fraternity was getting very interested in James`s problem and asked that copies of all test and examination be sent to them for independant valuation. Elizabeth was informed and told them that no way was James going to be a guinea pig for the medical community.

Rodger started to spend a lot of time with Elizabeth and James and said he was going to rent a flat in area as he didn`t know how long the case was going to take, the court case was due to in a few weeks and the date had now been changed to the following spring so that the prosecution could make sure they iron clad case.

Elizabeth told Rodger that they had a spare room and it would be foolish spending money to rent a place when he was spending so much time with them, she offered him the use of the room and told him to think about it. It didn`t take Rodger long to think about it and accepted the offer on condition that he paid his way and contibute to the costs of running the house while he was there, Elizabeth agreed.

Rodger moved in the following week, bringing only what he required, anything extra he needed he could purchase when and if he needed it.
Seeing that money was not a problem he had a broadband connection installed, upgraded all the computers in the house for the best that money could buy and bought state of the art laptops and mobile phones for both Elizabeth and James.

After hearing what had happened at the school James was now being home schooled by private tutors and went everywhere with a security escort. No more was the child going to in unneccessary risk from anyone if Rodger had anything to do with it.

Elizabeth on hearing what had happened at the school was appalled and took her anger out on the school staff at first then later apologised, she knew that government rulings tied the hands of most sensible people and that they couldn`t keep an eye on James for every minute at school.

Rodger had notified his employer what had occurred and was told to carry on as normal, the house that was being built would have state of the art security built in to it, and would soon be ready for the new owners in a matter of weeks.

Over the next two or three weeks Rodger was becoming quite close to both Elizabeth and young James and began to wonder if his involvement was becoming too close, he wouldn`t mind having them as family as they were both kind and considerate of others. It amazed Rodger that James didn`t have a bad word for anyone even his tormentors and hoped that one day if he ever had a family they would be like these two.

James had missed out on his tenth birthday being in hospital and Elizabeth felt guilty, every year they had celebrated both their birthdays usually just the two of them after his father had died. James`s eleventh birthday was only a few weeks away so Elizabeth to make it extra special for him, she spoke to Rodger who suggested a trip to Disneyland Paris. Elizabeth told him that as much as she would like take James there they couldn`t afford it. Oh sure she got her wages and a widows pension and a pension from the army but by the time she paid the bills, bought food,clothing and everything else they needed as well as putting money into a scholarship fund fo James there wasn`t much left.

Rodger told her that money was no longer a problem, and they could even take James to Disney in Orlando if she wanted too.

Elizabeth was reluctant to take James away from the area until the hospital had finished with him and decided to talk to Drs Graves and Wells and get their opinions, even a weekend would be enough for both of them to forget their problems for a while.

After talking to the Doctors it was agreed that a week away would be beneficial for James and would give him respite from the constant testing he was going through. They made one proviso however, that Jean and Milly accompany them in case of any medical problems.

Rodger made the reservations but instead of a hotel he managed to get a private house with a walled garden, the security team was notified and trvel arrangements were made, they decided not to tell James until the day before they left for France.

Gerry was finally released from hospital was on long sick leave, he called round to see James and got a real welcome from the boy, he thanked James for what he had done and told him he would be back driving him around before too long. While he was in hospital Gerry found out that that the boy didn`t have much of life outside his home, and no real friends to speak of. Yes he had heard conversations round the town about the "Freak" but had never thought they were referring to this little chap, it was some of the nurses that opened his eyes to what was going on and he vowed to be there for boy.

James was unaware of what happening around him, he knew how a lot of people felt about him but carried on with his life and didn`t let other people get him down, except for his Mum and Dad nobody had really cared about him, the neighbours were friendly and he had enjoyed helping the older folk were he could. He knew he cleverer than most of peers and learned a lot from the old people because he listened to their stories about their childhoods and World War two, the Korean war and other little wars that had been fought by these people.

James soaked up knowledge like a sponge, read everything he could his hands on and asked questions when he didn`t understand, he knew that this was the reason that he was considered a "Freak" and because he had no interest in sport. He also loved Classical Musical and Ballet where as most children his age listened to boy/ girlbands,punk etc modern music to James was for the most just a load of noise with little or no heart.

Yes when he considered things he was definately different from the other kids but surely that make him a "Freak", OK he was wearing dresses these days but that was because of his injuries and everyone knew that,sure he had more friends these days but they were all girls and they didn`t seem to mind how he dressed.

James gave up trying to figure people out and accepted that a lot people didn`t like him or want to get to know him, he would just carry on as usual, well as best he could with his injuries.

Rodger was asked to go London for a meeting all he was told was to be at a certain place at a certain time, when he asked why he was told it was about his assignment and his questions would be answered at the meeting. He told Elizabeth about the phone call and she told him to go, maybe they`d find out who the mystery man was, Rodger didn`t tell her that he he already knew who the man was but agreed to attend the meeting.

On the day of meeting Rodger was met at the agreed location by a limosine and taken to a building near Whitehall, it turned out that was the headquarters for the main British Intelligence Agencies. On entering the building he was taken to a conference and told to help himself to whatever he wanted to drink so Rodger settled for coffee, he wanted his wits about him in this meeting and as alcohol dulled his senses he didn`t partake of any form of booze.

It was about half an hour later when a group of men entered the room and with them was Dr Wells, was there something going on that only these people knew about and why hadn`t Wells told Dr Graves of his involvement with British Intelligence.

The men round the table were introduced to him and a few he knew by reputation, John Stewart was the head of the Intelligence network and chaired the meeting. Rodger had a feeling that he was getting in too deep on this assignment. British Intelligence , the Military and the Law enforcement agencies were a joke when it came to Homeland Security, even the government were screwing up the way they gave asylum to known terrorists who later committed acts of terrorism against the country.

The meeting started and Rodger was given the usual forms in regards to the Official Secrets Act to sign, meaning he couldn`t tell anyone what was said or done in the room.

Stewart looked down table and said " General "

General Lansbury looked across at Rodger " I believe you`ve met Brian Montgomery" He said

Rodger couldn`t deny it and simply said "Yes"

" Would you tell us what was said at the meeting" asked the General

"No " said Rodger

John Stewart said " It doesn`t matter really, if you look in your files you`ll see a transcript of the meeting covering the pertinant facts gentlemen"

Rodger stood up " You spied on a meeting with one of my clients " He said angrily

"If it is in the interest of National security we have to " stated the General

" Oh I see, an old man looking for his family is in the interest of National Security, God no wonder the public think you lot are a waste of the money their paying you" retorted Rodger

" Calm yourself Please Mr Price, we mean no harm to your client , we are trying to help him. Brian Montgomery was sent on a mission that went badly wrong and was then abandoned to his own devices by one of my predecessors. It is our intention to keep Brian and his Family safe but we needed to know what he told you. So please take your seat and listen to what we plan." said Stewart

The meeting carried on without anyones feathers getting further ruffled, and ended with an agreement to meet again the following day.

The following day the meeting re-convened except this time there was only Rodger, John Stewart and Dr Wells present,

" We actually called this meeting after Dr Wells informed us that you and James`s mother intend to take the child out of the country as a surprise for his Birthday, like I said yesterday we owe Brian big time and have decided to provide you with additional help and security. Oh we know all about Moriarty being hired and will work along side them, but I must tell you that there is interest in boy from the highest level, and I don`t mean God" said Stewart

"The health of the boy worries me and it is of paramount importance that he given the best care possible, that`s why I contacted the intelligence agencies" Said Wells

"Something is happening to that child and we need to keep a check on him, what it is I have no idea as yet and by the way I have full agreement of Dr Graves on this" he continued

" So why all the secrecy ?" asked Rodger " Surely you could have made arrangements with Elizabeth about his health care after all you had agree that her two nurses accompany us on the trip " He continued

"NO! The Mother must not know of our involvement, Brian asked you to keep his secret from them and we will do the same " stated Stewart " Look Brian was top in his field in bio-chemistry and some of the stuff he discovered is still baffling the scientific community yet, we will be seeing Brian later today and will inform him of our meeting and that we had your meeting bugged, he`ll understand I`m sure when he knows all the facts " said Stewart

The following afternoon Rodger arrived back at the house he knew he was under surveilance and the house would be bugged as well, so he would have to be careful what he said to Elizabeth and James. The cover story he had was that he had met his partner to discuss another case in the files and that it had been resolved, he knew he wouldn`t need to go into any details.

When Rodger arrived at the house he was surprised to find it empty then he remembered that Elizabeth was working a late shift at the hospital this week and James was most probably at the hospital for more physiotherapy.

It was hard for James being so restricted and reliant on others to get out of the house, although he wasn`t as active as most children his age he loved going to the park with a book or going for a long walk and even these were rare pleasures now. Rodger couldn`t wait to see James`s little face when he was told he was going to DisneyLand Paris, what little boy or girl wouldn`t like to go there and Rodger knew special concessions were being put in place to ensure that James really had a good time.

On the day of departure for France James still hadn`t been told they were waiting until they were on EuroStar and under the English Channel before they sprang the surprise on him, The Party consisted of seven of them now, Rodger, Elizabeth and James along with Milly, Jean, Gerry and Milly`s daughter Annabel. Gerry now fit to drive and Annabel was there mainly because of Milly`s presence but also to give James a bit of company from someone his own age. The Security Detail was nowhere to seen but were close by keeping an eye on them and they also had the carriage to themselves, a small staff was assigned to the carriage under the guise of caterers these were from British Intelligence and had made themselves known to Rodger when he was at the station office collecting the tickets the day before.

The train left on time and as they started downhill into the Channel Tunnel they told James and Annabel were they were headed, the surprised shock on the childrens faces made the adults very happy, they were going on the trip all children dreamed off, after a while the children calmed down and played together or looked out the window as the walls of tunnel flew passed and before long they pulling into the Paris Gare du Nord railway station.
On leaving the train they were whisked away to waiting cars and taken to a country house owned by the British Embassy as a country retreat for the embassy staff but primarily used by the Ambassador. It didn`t take long for them to be shown their rooms and get settled before a meal was ready for them, the children especially James were tired after the long journey and were put to bed for a good nights sleep.
At the crack of dawn the children were anxious to be up about and Annabel helped James to get ready, as they left their rooms the were met by one of the staff and shown to the breakfast room. No one had expected them to waken up so early at 6am and they adults were soon up, even Rodger was offended by the childrens show of energy so early in the day but didn`t say anything, he was just glad that the children were enjoying themselves.

Rodger went to see the security chief while the children and adults prepared for the day, James would take the longest to get ready as the nurses checked him over.
The chief assured Rodger that everything was in place and that the group should just go and enjoy themselves.

At 9am on the dot they departed for the day at Disneyland, both children had made a list of what rides they wanted to go on but James was told that he might not be able to go some off them, grudgingly he accepted his limitations and made the best off the day. The embassy had spoken to the management of disney and explained about James limitations and they managed in the end to get him on most of rides he liked although they had to cut to speed of some of them.

The day ended and the children were once again tired out, but not sleepy for which the adults were grateful, they planned to keep the children up a little later than usual so they would stay in bed until a later time in the morning. Unfortunately they failed to reckon with the childrens zeal and energy and the following morning they were up before everuone else again.
Day two was spend visiting Paris, the Eiffel Tower ,Champs Elysees, Arc Du Triomphe, Louvre and the other Parisian sights as part of their education, like Rodger said it might be the only chance they get to see such places and the other adults agreed. At least it would be a slower more relaxed day but the children were disappointed when they saw the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, oh it was a beautiful building they both agreed but after seeing the film the "Hunchback of Notre Dame " they both commented on how it looked in real life, they had expected it to huge until it was explained that the film wasn`t made in France but in hollywood using specially but sets that made it look bigger than it was.

Day three they spent at the country house even the children were feeling tired for which the adult were grateful, about mid morning the Ambassador visited and met with the children, he told James he had heard of his exploits and was proud to know such a fine little boy, James blushed and Elizabeth glowed with pride at her young son. The Ambassador told them that they were to attend a dinner he was having at the Embassy and that clothing would be provided for them, this caught everyone unawares and James was embarressed. The Ambassador asked James what the problem was and James told him he didn`t want to attend a fancy party wearing a dress in front of important people.

The Ambassador took hold af James wheelchair and walked away from everyone.
"James I have no wish to cause you any embarressment and I promise you that no one will make fun off you, everyone knows you were severely injured and almost killed twice. These people as you say are important but they have asked to meet you, I have explained about injuries and that for a while you have to wear a dress but they don`t mind, they want to honour you in their way, It doesn`t matter what you wear as long as you hold your head up and be proud of what you did."

They walked in silence for a while and eventually James agreed to attend the dinner.

The Ambassador had arranged suitable clothing for James so as not to cause the child any undue harm, late in the afternoon a team of dressers, and beauty consultants descended on them to get them ready. The adults were taken away to get ready as was Annabel, leaving James alone with a a rather suave looking gentleman who took James to his room.

" Well young man lets get you ready to meet the Ambassadors guests shall we " he said

"Ok" said James shyly

"Oh don`t worry I know all your injuries and how you got them, the outfit I have selected has been specially made for you and I`m sure you`ll be comfortable wearing it" replied the man

James was bathed, and was dressed by two young women that had been sent for, his outfit was almost 100% boy, a suit, collar and bow tie, the only difference was an ankle length shirt which matched the jacket, his shoes were Brogues and he wore black socks. When James saw himself in the mirror when he was ready he was pleasantly surprised. The man explained that the skirt was made in some ways like a kilt but was ankle length to hide is injuries.

Half an hour before their car arrived they all met downstairs in the lounge and everyone commented on how smart James looked, saying he looked like a real gentleman. James sat up straighter in his wheelchair proud as Peacock with how he looked.

The car arrived and took them to the Embassy on Rue du Faubourg in Paris itself,they were met by the Ambassador who introduced them to their dinner companions for the evening.The party had expected everyone to be diplomats instead they were dining Rock Stars, a couple of famous Actors and actresses, comedienes and authors, oh there were a couple of Ambassadors btu they were there" just to make the up" James was told.
Everyone James was introduced to admired his suit and commented how smart he looked and James was feeling more and more at ease with the passing minutes. The Butler entered the room and announced " Ladies and Gentlemen Dinner is served" and with this everyone went and took their seats. The small party was spread around the long table with James sitting with the Ambassador and his wife at the Top of Table.
The dinner itself went quite well and afterward the all retired to a sitting room on one of the upper floors. Ambassador asked for silence and the room went quiet,he walked over to James and pushed his wheelchair into the centre of the room next to chair that had been placed there by one of Embassy staff.
After sitting down himself the Ambassador looked round the room then at James.
"Well Ladies and Gentleman tonight we have eaten well and had some very pleasant company instead of the stuffy Diplomatic crowd I usually entertain, But I digress. Tonight I invited you all to meet someone who isn`t wealthy, a big Star or in big business, no I wanted you all to meet a real down to earth person, someone who gives a lot but never askes for anything in return, someone who is kind, generous to a fault and who would give his life freely for others. A while back you most probably heard of the terrorist acts that were committed against the British people, and in some of them there were fatalities sad to say. Well the news media told of a child that that saved quite a few lives and that child was almost killed, the child was severely injured and spent a long time in hospital. What the papers didn`t tell everyone was that child not long out of hospital saved another live at great risk to himself and helped in the capture of some of the terrorists, the person who that child saved is with us tonight and told me earlier that if it hadn`t been for the prompt action of his charge he would have died."
The Ambassador paused looked around the room and seeing that still had everyones attention continued

"That childs name was witheld in order to protect the family, but tonight I`m at liberty to introduce to you that Heroic Child" and standing up "I present the Hero of the Hour, James Mckenzie."
Everyone stood up and applauded, Elizabeth came over with Rodger and stood behind James placing their hands on his shoulders, James was taken aback, all these people were famous and the applauding him. Gerry came across " James don`t be so surprised all these people are here to honour you for your courage and self sacrifice, these are the Rock Stars, Actors and Authors that you like and always wanted to meet" he said

The Ambassador was interrupted by one of the Embassy security men who whispered something in his ear," Attention everybody Please, we have another guest one I unfortunately didn`t know about"

All eyes looked towards the door and they were opened for the Princess Royal to attend, straight away everyone Bowed or Curtsied.
The Princess Royal told everyone to relax and walked over to were James was sat, James was dumbfounded fo course he knew who the Princess Royal was, who didn`t?"
Hemade an apology for not bowing which was brushed aside .
" So this is our little hero" she said smiling
The occupants of the room broke up into little groups leaving James little group alone with the Princess Royal, they moved to a table in the corner of the room were they chatted away, although they all felt out of place with such company. The two children eventually starting to fall asleep and were carried to the awaiting car and the group returned to the country house.

It was almost lunchtime when James woke up and after getting ready rang to be taken down stairs and was surprised to see the Princess talking to his mother. The two women on seeing him enter the room made room so he could place his wheelchair between them.

" I`ve been talking to your mother and told her that you will be soon getting a letter to invite you to the Palace, the Queen wants to meet you in person. Plans have been made for your education and care and instruction have been given that you will not be attending the Trial, instead you will be given a copy of your statement to check and it will be used as evidence. Your mother and I must agree with her feels that the court appearance will be too much for you and the public outside your local community as yet don`t know your identity, we will keep it that way until you meet the Queen." stated the Princess
She looked at her watch and said she had to leave to get back to the UK, she wished them a good holiday and said goodbye.
In the afternoon a large van showed up, a some men jumped out and opened the back of it, they lifted out a new electric wheelchair and placed James into it, one of the men showed James how the controls worked and for the next hour the two of them went in and out of hoouse , various rooms and in general ensured that James could control the chair by himself. As they were finishing The Ambassador arrived accompanied with another older gentleman who he introduced as Mr Montgomery.

Rodger was surprised at Brian Montgomery showing up and began to wonder if he was going to reveal himself to Elizabeth, after the introduction the Ambassador took James for a walk round the gardens and asked if he enjoyed himself at the dinner. James told him he had but was a bit nervous after his actions had been revealed to the other guests. The Ambassador told him he should be proud of what he had done, not many adults never mind children would have put their lives at risk to save others, James told him about his Father and that he had been killed in action and that his father had always taught him never to look for reward and just be yourself.

The Ambassador explained that he too had once been a soldier and had fought to keep the country safe, he had known all about James`s father but told him that his father was correct about never looking for rewards but that he should accept recognition for what he had done along with any reward that come your way.

"James we know all about how you and your mother got by from day to day and now it`s harder for both of you because of your injuries, a lot of people have recognised your actions and although they might not know who you are want to help, it`s not charity just another way of saying THANK YOU to someone who has been very brave. A soldier would receive a medal and a pension if he was injured like you from the Government, So people have been donating to a trust fund thats in your name and now has build up to a considerable amount. I don`t know how much but you`ll want for nothing for a considerable period, the Government is paying the Surgeons and Doctors to look after your injuries and will until your better. What you future holds for you nobody can say and you can shape your own destiny although the actions of others will be contributing factors, make the most out of your live my boy and you`ll aspire to great things, just continue being yourself and never mind what other people say or do and you will go far in life." said the Ambassador

While James and the Ambassador had been going round the gardens and talking Brian Montgomery was making himself know to Elizabeth, he told her of his life and what had happened, after some discussion he then revealed that he was her late husbands natural father and James`s grandfather and had spend many years tracking them down.
After this revelation Elizabeth fainted, Rodger was at her side in a moment and asked Brian what he expected the outcome to be after all this.

" I don`t know but I need to make sure that my son`s family are taken care off, whether they will accept me that`s up to Elizabeth and James but as long as they are safe and looked after I`ll be content" stated Brian

Elizabeth had come round and heard the end of what Brian had said

"Of course we`ll accept you, for too long you have been deprived of your family and their love and James will love you" said Elizabeth

" I will not hovever give up my career or friends though" she continued

"You`ve made an old man happy" said Brian hugging her

James was wheeled into the room by the Ambassador and saw his mother in Brian`s arms, looking surprised he asked " Is there anything I should know"

Elizabeth and Brian between then told him everything and James smiled and said "So we do have real family"

Brian picked James up and sat him on is knee " Do mind me being your Grandfather James?"

"No, we`ve had no family since dad was killed" said James sadly.

"Well I`ve heard all about my heroic Grandson and am very proud of you, tomorrow we go back to Disneyland together with your little friend and have fun together" said Brian

Although James and Annabel had expected to spend everyday at Disneyland and instead only got two days in, they did admit that they had enjoyed the sightseeing tour around Paris very much and had learned a lot from it.

Eventually the day arrived when they had to return to Britain, they were seen off by the Ambassador and his wife and boarded the Eurostar for the return journey, Brian didn`t join them as he was flying back and had some business in London before they all met again.

James was quite on the trip through the Tunnel and thought abouit what had happened on the trip and what the Ambassador had said to him, "Just be yourself and don`t worry about what other people think of you" . Yes he was proud of what he had done.he was proud of all his family, his parents and his newly discovered grandfather who had told his about his adventures as a spy.

When they finally reached home the two children were very tired and after a meal and a bath were put to bed for a good nights sleep, tomorrow would bring new challenges but fo now the sleep of innocent everywhere claimed them for the next few hours.

Morning arrived and the children slep until 10am, today was James 11th birthday, washed and dressed the children were fed, James didn`t realise the signifigance of the day and just went about his usually daily routine. The adults noticed that he went into his study and started on a project he had to do for school and went into action getting things ready for this special day.

A couple of hours later he was called and on opening the door he saw everyone lined up, he looked at them and wondered what was going on, the adults parted and he saw the table was set for a party.

"I don`t believe it, you actually forgot today was your birthday" said Elizabeth

"Come on birthday boy the party can`t start without you" said Rodger

Except for Annabel there was distinct lack of children, but then that was always the case, usually there was just him ,his mum and when he was allive his dad. his presents were usually few in number consisting mainly of books, DVD`s and Music CD`s, but today there was mound of presents and cards for him.

The birthday meals ended with the cake being cut after he blown out the candles and had been enjoyed by everyone present.

James was handed an envelope by Elizabeth, it wasn`t the usual cheap envelope you could by in the shops, no this one was edged in gold and had a coat arms embossed on it. James opened it and read

"Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second requires Master James Montgomery and his Mother Elizabeth Mongomery to present themselves at Buckingham Palace , there was date and a time."

"Mum we`ve been invited to meet the Queen " said James handing her the letter

" Well we`ll have to get you something to wear for the occassion" said Elizabeth smiling at her son

Elizabeth had known full well about the visit after the Princess Royal they had talked in France, and was happy for the boy. James on the other hand was starting to get a bit worked up.

" I can`t meet the Queen wearing a dress" said James

"Stop worrying James, the Queen knows all about your injuries and won`t be at all surprised, the Princess Royal will have explained everything to her" stated Elizabeth

They had two weeks to get prepared for the visit to Buckingham Palace and the meeting with the Queen, James was still being tested at regular intervals and at the moment everything seemed to fine. Elizabeth had notified the school that James would not be attending school for three days of the week in question this would give them one day either side of the visit for travelling.

Rodger was still living with Elizabeth and James and the two adults were becoming attracted to each other and were spending more and more time together and it hadn`t gone unoticed by either James or Brian who were also spending a lot of time together. Elizabeth had now quit her job as she needed to spend more time with James especially with for them the social event of their lives.

They had only been back from Paris three days when they were notified that the new house was ready for them to move into and it was already furnished. They started packing but weren`t going to move until half term started which was about two weeks after the Palace visit, the house they were living in at the moment was going to be put up sale, so all they needed to pack was non essentials.

James and Annabel were back at school and things carried on as before, James ignoring the snide and abusive remarks and almost everyone ignoring him, he carried on with his lessons and usually ended up with Annabel when it came to class projects and such. It had already been decided that after the school break he would be attending another school, but Elizabeth hadn`t found a school prepared to take somebody in a wheelchair as yet.

Brian suggested a private school in if all else failed private tutors for James so they started looking at the three private schools in the area.James was disappointed that Annabel wouldn`t be at his new school, for the first time in his live he had actually found a real friend that didn`t mind what he wore, Annabel was also a very intelligent and her mother like Elizabeth was annoyed that the school system didn`t cater for children like these two.

Brian came up with a further suggestion, Milly and Annabel lived alone as the father had run off soon after Annabel was born. Why didn`t they move in with Elizabeth and James and he would pay the school fees for both children. To Milly it sounded like charity and she started to get on her high horse over the suggestion.

"Hang on Milly, we all know that the children are wasted going to a government run school, also we would need dynamite to separate them two, money is no object and it`s not charity, call it a helping hand. Those two need other, what is going to happen to James in the future we don`t know, you know the problems he has with the other kids and now with his injuries it`s harder for him" said Elizabeth

"Well Ok, but let think on it for a day or two" said Milly

The children didn`t know that their were going to change or what had been offered to Milly, life continued to roll on for them, as they countered problems as they arose, oh they had their disagreements like many children do but they soon got past them and continued with their lives.

The days leading up to the Palace visit were busy for Elizabeth, Rodger had gone to see his partner about disolving the partnership. Elizabeth didn`t know it but Rodger was about propose to her.

When Rodger and his partner met up they agreed to close the business, Rodgers partner had a buyer for his half of the partnership and was getting ready to emigrate,So the two split on good terms, with the buyer buying them both out.

The weekend before their visit to the Capital James was taken to get his hair sorted out, and a new outfit, they tried shop after shop to get something decent and weren`t having much luck, Trousers were still unsuitable as James legs itched when they were encased in close fitting material, Elizabeth and James eventually realised that something like he wore at the Ambassadors dinner would have to be found, they had tried kilts but the wool like material was too heavy and course for his sensitive skin.

Elizabeth took James to a high class dress shop and after showing the manager the invitation and explaining about James injuries ankle length skirts of all styles were produced. James had gotten being embarressed about having to wear skirts but insisted they must be plain, no fancy designs or patterns, it took a couple of hours but they eventually found a couple that suited everybodys tastes.

On the way home Elizabeth looked at James who was lost in thought, she started thinking that it might be easier for James if he started to dress as a girl form the skin out, he was already wearing panties and realised it, he wore slips when in long skirts to prevent the material rubbing and looking at him he would make a very pretty girl. She decided to have a talk with Rodger and Brian when they returned the next day and see what they thought. If James went to an all boys school he would be ridiculed for having to wear skirts. If he went to mixed school the boys would make his live hell, but at an all girls school it would more than likely be a lot easier for James and Annabel.

Yes Elizabeth had a lot to think about and as Milly and Annabel were staying over she would talke to Milly after the children were asleep and get her thoughts, she would also have to have a serious talk with James before any final decisions, but she wanted to do what was best for James and private tutors would in all likely protect him but stop any socialising with other children his own age.

James was back at the hospital the next day, it had been decided that they should try leg braces to make him more mobile, the company hired for the task of making the braces had been interviewed by both Dr Graves and Dr Wells. due to the fact that he still had to wear light bandaging the leg braces would have to be of a special design.

The X rays had been examined by the companies technicians and designers and they stated that the wearing of trousers would look ridiculous due to special backets that would be designed. Trousers on a boy like James would have to be made to measure and the width of the legs would huge on a small frame, the doctors explained that because of the dressings that James was continually wearing his mother had convinced him it would be easier for everyone if he wore skirts and dresses. The senior specialists assured the Doctors that at no time would the child be subject to any form of embarressment or ridicule by his team and they were also bound by their contracts on Patient Confidentiality.

The two surgeons called round and spoke to Elizabeth and James and explained what would happen, so James was at the hospital getting measured for his new leg braces, Jean had called round with Gerry and taken James for his appointment and while he was away Elizabeth decided to have a meeting with everyone.

She told what her idea was and asked for suggestions, Milly said that she also notice how much like a girl James looked and agreed that as long they were moving away from the area James would get a clean start were people didn`t know him, this brought up the subject of school and Elisabeth told them that after looking at the private schools and talking with each of the Principles it looks like the Girls Academy would be the best option and the safest.

Rodger and Brian sat and listened to what the two women said Rodger went into kitchen to make drinks for everyone and Brian walked in a minute later to help him,

"What do you think Rodger ?" asked Brian

"To be honest I have to agree with what Elizabeth said, I never realised how much James looked like a girl until I thought about it and to be frank, he does look like a pretty girl. said Rodger

" Yes, I noticed that as well, and to be honest I don`t care how he dresses boy or girl he`s still my grandson and I`ll love and protect him no matter what" stated Brian

The drinks made the two men went back and joined the women and the discussion started again.

"There might be a big problem with all this" said Rodger

" What could cause us problem if we diecided to go through with it ?" asked Elizabeth

" Oh how about James ?" asked Brian " He might object you know" he continued

"Oh Yes, I forgot about James" said Elizabeth blushing with embarressment

" But surely he`ll see the sense in all this?" asked Milly

"Maybe he will, maybe he won`t, but we can`t force him it has to be his choice and only his choice and no with coercion from anyone " said Brian looking at the two women

" Seriously though it`ll have to broached carefully to James, with all the arguments for this idea to be fully explained, and then is Annabel she`ll have to be told as well, it`s a big decision were making here, so lets all sleep on it and discuss it again tomorrow when James is out in the Garden with Annabel " said Rodger

With that the discussion changed to the plans for the visit to London, were they would be staying what they would be doing, how they travelling etc.

Later on in the afternoon James returned home and was really excited, he told them all about the new Leg Braces and how they would let him get about a bit better,

" Of course I`ll be using my wheelchair a lot but I will be able to walk a few feet and eventually when everything has healed I`ll be able walk better, I know it`s going to take a long time but at least it`s a start." said James

" Well a start is better than nothing, my bioy " said Brian grinning at James

" There`s still a problem though " said James quietly

" Oh and what is that ?" asked his mother

"I still won`t be able to wear trousers " said James

" Well you haven`t worn trousers for some time now, so what`s the problem ?" asked Rodger

James started squirming in his chair, looking embarressed

" Well instead of wearing half girls and half boys clothes, wouldn`t it be easier if I dressed as girl form the skin out ?" asked James

This little gem caught the adults quite of balance and the couldn`t hold back the look of surprise that showed on their faces.

Elizabeth had almost fallen off her chair with surprise, the first to recover was Brian who looked at James

"OK, explain your logic" said Brian

"Well, 1. because of the special dressings I wear to protect my legs the Braces will be wider than usual to allow nursing staff and doctors easy access so trousers would look ridiculously huge on me. 2. I wear dresses and skirts now but boys shirts and tops and it looks silly. 3. the cost of buying two types clothing for me isn`t helping mum pay the bills. 4. Maybe when we move it will be better as people wouldn`t know me. " replied James

"OK,but what are the negatives" asked Brian

" The only one I can think off is when I am able to change back to boys clothing people mind think I`m weird, but people round here think that anyway so who cares" replied James

"Well it`s funny you should suggested that you should wear girls clothing " Said Elizabeth

"Oh, why? "asked James

" Have you really looked at yourself in the mirror lately ?" asked Elizabeth

"No , not really " said James

James went into the hall and took a good long at himself in wall mirror, he was surprised to see a young girl looking back at him. he hadn`t had a proper haircut for months and his hair was now passed his shoulders. He went back and joined the others.

"I see what you mean " said James

" Well it`s up to you but we had the same thoughts as well, that`s what we were talking about before you came home ". said Elizabeth

"Are you sure you want to do this ?" asked Rodger

"Yes" replied James firmly

"OK, here`s what we`ll do. We`re due to move at the end of term anyway so what if we get the decorators to decorate your and Annabels rooms similar to each other, we`ll start getting all your new clothing now and instead of waiting till the end of term we take you both out of school now and move as soon as we get back from London. We`ll enrol Annabel and you in the Girls Academy for the new school year and use tutors to finish this term out" said Brian

"Sounds good to me " replied James

" One thing though "said Brian

"What`s that Grandad ? " asked James

" Once you start, there`s no going back, you won`t just dress as girl you`ll behave like a girl at all times even at home. said Brian

" We`re just looking after your safety " said Rodger

"OK, I want to do it " said James and went to his room to change.

"Well that was a bit of shocker" said Milly

"Wasn`t it just" giggled Elizabeth

Brian and Rodger had just sat there quietly lost in thought while the two mother chatted away.

" God that child is too clever sometimes, he thinks things out to a logical conclusion as he sees it, but his logic is almost perfect" said Brian

" Yes , but what if wants to remain a girl after the doctors say he can wear trousers again? " asked Rodger

" We`ll give him or her our love and support whatever the outcome is, it doesn`t bother me one bit if he wishes to become a girl, and I hope I speak for all us " stated Brian

All the adults agreed with Brian`s sentiments, now they would have to tell Annabel what was going to happen unless James and her had already talked it over, which seemed likely given the closeness of the children.

Annabel arrived home a couple of hours after James as she`d been to netball practice, oh she wasn`t on the school team but she liked to watch and sometimes they even let her play, not very often though but it kept her happy.

The adults had contacted the decorators and told them how they wanted childrens room decorated and were promised that the house would be finished ready to move in the weekend they arrived back from London. The two mothers had been busy making out lists of what they needed to buy for James new wardrobe and Brian told them not to leave Annabel out as she was family now as well. James had been doing his oustanding homework and reading and as soon as Annabel was changed they all sat down to eat their evening meal.

It was explained to Annabel what was going to happen and she was over the moon, she confirmed that James had talked it over with her and she would help him all she could.

The next day found James and Annabel at school as usual, they were told not to mention the impending move to anyone, it wasn`t as if they had any friends that they could tell anyway.

Rodger and Brian went over top the new house to see the decorators were carrying out their instructions, and to see if there was anything else that needed doing. Because the gardens front and back were pretty big Brian decided to hire a good gardener, even a pensioner for a couple hours of day and he would pay well above the going rate as long as the work was being done to his standards.

The two mothers had gone to the hospital to have a work with the two surgeons and inform them on what James had decided, after listening the doctors like the other adults agreed it might be for the best and explained a small surgical proceedure to help James out with his plan. After listening to what the doctors suggested Elizabeth said she would it to James, but that she didn`t think he would object and a provisional date was made for the surgery.

The dress shops they went to must have thought their ship had come in with the amount spent on the children, they went to toy shops, furniture stores, jewellers, shoe shops and any other place they could whatever they needed to but and spend a few thousand pounds by the end. Milly was beginning to wonder if Elizabeth had robbed a bank or won the lottery until was explained who Brian actually was.

The security team was still monitoring the family and only contacted Rodger on a weekly basis, there had been a couple of minor scares but they were swiftly dealt with without Elizabeth and James knowing anything about them, they still didn`t know they were under surveilance and both Rodger and Brian wanted to keep it that way.
It happened that two of team were ex school teachers and they offered to take the education for children until they started at the Girls Academy an offer that Rodger and Brian gladly accepted, this would help the team to keep a better watch on everyone.

When the adults finally met again at home they told each other what the day had been like for them, Elizabeth told Brian how much she had spent and brian just grinned and said "It`s only money and there`s plenty more where that came from, what you spent today was just pennies" .

This surprised Milly and her face showed it, Brian explained about his fathers businesses and how he sold most of them, especially the ones that dealt with weapons and the one he had kept made huge profits in the International Markets, she was also told to spend away and brian ordered a credit card for her on his account, Milly tried to refuse but Brian said he was having fun now he had a family once more amd that a trust fund was already set up for her and Annabel along with a trust fund to pay for Annabel to go to university if she wished, Milly thanked him profusely.

That evening after the children were asleep in bed the adults chatted away, the two mothers went into the kitchen to make drinks and get snocks for everyone, while they were alone Rodger told Brian he had proposed to Elizabeth and did he have any objections.

"Rodger, Thank you for telling me but your both grown adults and you don`t need my permission, just look after Elizabeth and James to the best of your ability that is all I ask, like you I haven`t known long but I love them both especially that little enigma James. I`m an old man OK I`m very rich old man and want to end my days with a loving family, if you want to part of the family that`s ok by me as I`ve grown to like you like the son I never knew," said Brian

" Thanks Brian, I love both of them and will do everything to see they`re safe and happy" said Rodger

The two women returned a few minutes later each carrying a tray when there was a knock at the front door, Rodger went to see who was calling at such late hour.
On opening the door he saw the two surgeons and invited them in, how soon can you James ready asked Wells,

"Why what`s wrong ? he`s in bed asleep said a now worried" Elizabeth

"Nothings wrong , it`s just that after talking to you earlier today,we found we can do the procedure tonight at a private clinic" explained Graves

"I`ll ay one thing for you doctors, you know how to get the heart pumping" said Brian sounding slightly annoyed

"Look if we do it now,there will be less chance of a leak" said Wells

Elizabeth went and got James ready and the two doctors took them both to the private clinic were the procedure was carried out and they were home a couple of hours later.

In the morning Elizabeth phoned the school and told them that the children wouldn`t be attending as they were feeling ill, Annabel didn`t know what had occurred during the night but was happy to have a day or two with no school.

James was still asleep, he was one of those that Anaesthesia hit badly and took a long time to get out of their system, while he was still asleep Annabel asked if he had a new name yet, that caught the adults out.

"We never thought of that did we, we can hardly call her James now" said Brian

Everyone sat around the table and a list of names was made, but they would let James have the final choice after all she would be stuck with it for quite some time.

Eventually James came into the kitchen looking for something to eat,the list was handed to him and he looked throught finally settling on Jemma Louise as a new name.

" You know what ? " asked Brian looking at his new grandaughter

"No, what?" asked James

"Maybe it`s coincidence but that was your grandmothers name " he said smiling

"Do you want me to change it ?" asked Jemma

"No, I`m sure she be proud for you to have her name " said Brian

Rodger after the new names had been dicided on got hold of the contact he been given in British Intelligence who got the new paperwork started, promising they would new documents for Jemma Louise Mongomery in 48 hours at the latest.

"You`ll still have to see the Queen as James you know "said Elizabeth

"I know that mum" replied Jemma

The day of trip to London arrived and the party left for the small local airport, it wasn`t long before they were settling into a penthouse suite at the London Hilton hotel, they hadn`t been there long when the Princess Royal arrived to greet them. She informed them that she had been told of James name change and the small operation he`d had done and that the invitation was now for Ms Jemma Louise Montgomery and handed over a new invitation card, she chatted with everyone for a while but soon had to leave.

" Well it looks like you Ladies will be going of on a shopping trip "Said Rodger

"Looks like " Said a giggling Elizabeth

Jemma was taken to Harrods and a top Beauty salon, a full makeover was done, and several new outfits were pruchased along with shoes and all the frippery and accessories. The next stop was Cartiers jewellers were some rather expensive pieces were purchased by Brian for all the Ladies with Rodger getting a very expensive diamond studded Rolex.

On arrival back at the Hotel they had their meal in the penthouse Jemma was feeling a bit tired and didn`t fancy the dining room with all the commotion going on, the children were put to bed early as in the there was a lot to do to get ready before the cars arrived to take them to the Palace.

Jemma and Annabel were woke earlier than usual to get ready for the big day, they were both bathed and Jemma`s dressings were changed, both children wrapped in bathrobes were then fed before Hairdressers and makeup artists arrived, Brian and Rodger had gone out for a walk so they could meet the contact and get the new documents for Jemma,they met the contact in a coffee bar were they all chatted for while, the contact left and the two men continued their walk to give the women time to get ready but also because Brian knew what a madhouse the suite would be until Milly and Elizabeth were satisfied with their appearance and the appearance of the children.

"Rodger, Just a piece of friendly advice never interfere with women when they`re getting ready for a big event it`s best to get out of the way and leave it to them, safer as well, but they`ll be all over the pair of us when we get back making sure we meet their standards but just go with the flow it`s this is their big event probably the biggest they`ll ever have. Not many get to meet the Royals or spend a whole day with them" said Brian

"Oh, Okay, I`ve never been married so I gladly bow to your experience and wisdom oh Great Wise One" said Rodger bowing

"I`m being serious, you know this could open doors for you and your new family that would otherwise remain shut, no matter how rich or powerful you are, and you my boy are marrying into on the 10 riches familes in Europe. Stated Brian

" I hadn`t thought about that, Elizabeth didn`t have a lot when I first met her but I fell for her as soon as I met her, money and power doesn`t interest me and I don`t want or need her money" said Rodger

"I know that son, but you just look after them and be good to them especially little one" said Brian

Before long the returned to the Hotel, on arriving the manager told them that preparations were still going on in the penthouse and took the men into his office were they had coffee and waited for the beauty teams and dressers to leave. It was about an hour before they could return to the suite and on arrival were recieving orders from Elizabeth on how they were to dress.Eventually everyone was ready to Elizabeth`s satisfaction, the two girls were brought out and both men were surprised at how beautiful they both looked, they could see that Jemma and Elizabeth had both been correct.

The suites phone rang and Rodger answered it. " The Cars have arrived " He said , and with that they left the room and proceeded downstairs using the private elevator to the lobby.On arrival in the lobby they were met by a member of the Palace security team, who checked that they were the right people he was to collect, once the check was over he quickly ushered them into the waiting cars.

The cars were Black Rolls Royces, a very prestigious car and once hand crafted, but unfortunately over the years and many take overs the craftmanship had gone, the new owners BMW now put their german built engines into the cars and the bodies were produced on aproduction line. The two Rollers that collected the party were much older models were the engines as well most parts of the cars were handcrafted by master coach builders.

The little party with the exception of the two men were surprised at the luxurious interiors of the cars having only seen pictures of such cars, and the ride was extremely comfortable.

On arrival at the Palace they were met by an Army General in full dress uniform who led them into the palace, showed them were they should wait and then left to inform her Her Majesty that her guests had arrived, while they were alone they looked round room at the paintings on the walls, all done by great masters such as Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and a few others, every painting very valuable and old. the mouldings in the room had the interest if Brian, he marvelled at the craftmanship considering that when this place built everything was made by hand,

They waited for around 45 minutes and hadn`t notice the time go by being so interested in the rooms contents,eventually the door opened and a footman took them to another room were they found the Queen waiting.

Everyone either bowed or curtsied as custom required except Jemma who just bowed her head, being in a wheelchair made it awkward, once the customary protocol was out of the way, the Queen rose from the throne and advanced towards Jemma.

So this is the heroic little boy or should I say girl I`ve heard so much about, there was only the small party, the Princess Royal and a couple of the Royal Household present in the room and the Queen dismissed the usual paraphernalia and told everyone to makr themselves comfortable.

Refreshments were brought in and everyone partook of some, the Queen started to talk to Jemma and Elizabeth as if she was a neighbour instead of the the pinnacle of the nation.

"Well Jemma, I have been informed on why you are dressing and behaving like a young girl and given the circumstances I believe you have made the correct choice, anyone seeing you will only see a young girl in a wheelchair.The Princess had explained to me that you looked a trifle odd dressing half boy and half girl due to your injuries and now I hear you made the decision yourself with no help from the adults." said the Queen

"Yes, Your Majesty although it took me a while to come to this decision and my friend Annabel help as well, People used to make fun of me so in the end I took the easy option" said Jemma

"It might not be the easy option you know, Oh don`t get me wrong, but have you considered that you may like being a girl and wish to remain so ?" asked the Queen

"I never thought of that " said Jemma looking at Elizabeth

"Don`t let it worry dear, whatever you decide, girl or boy you`ll always be loved by your family and friends" said Elizabeth smiling

"Now let us turn our attention to Mr Brian Montgomery" said the Queen

"Yor Majesty " said Brian ,bowing

"You have lost much in the service of your country and have recieved no recognition, I however believe that Jemma and Elizabeth are your sole remaining relatives." said the Queen

" Yes your Majesty, I had a hard time finding them at first but find them I did and never imagined I`d find such a family a this and they honoured me by accepting me as I am, a lonely old man" stated Brian

"As for Jemma, I`m proud to agrandchild such as her, one who gives a lot and takes and asks for nothing in return and brave to boot." continued Brian proudly

"Yes I also have heard of Jemma`s Bravery, which is uncommon even amongst Adults in these sad times. It`s a shame that children can`t enjoy their childhood safely as they should" said the Queen sadly

The Queen talked to everyone in the party and made them all feel at ease, it was if she had known each and everyone of them all their lives, the adults knew that a lot of research would have done before hand, but still it did make the visit more personal for them.

They all talked for quite a while and eventually the Queen summoned one of her ladies and whispered something in her ear, the woman disappeared from the room and returned a few minutes later with two men carrying sating pillows with what looked like medals on them.

The men took station at the side of the Queen and she asked Brian to step in front and kneel before her, Once Brian was knelt he was knighted she also pinned to jacket a medal for services rendered.

Jemma was then wheeled in front of the Queen who looked at her

"You my young friend caused us a bit of problem, however my advisors came up idea and after much thought we thought it a good idea. There are a lot of brave children out there who never receive any recognition I know but none that I know have risked death as you did. A new Award has been Inaugurated specially for children called The Queens Cross and you are the first recipient of the Award, there is a stipend that goes with it of  £5000 a year which I hope you will put towards your education" said the Queen as she pinned the medal to Jemma`s dress

Jemma and Brian both thanked the Queen and a photographer from one of the more reputable newspapers was allowed in to photograph the pair, the news story had already been written by the Palace media officer and handed to the editor with instructions not to delve any further to which they agreed.

The Press association had been called to meeting along with the owners and editors of the countries newspapers and given the same instruction, and told it was a Royal Request, which was virtually the same as an order from the Queen in person. The newspaper complied.

The party had spent most of the day with the Royal family and had enjoyed themselves, oh at first they were polite almost to annoyance but eventually relaxed.

When they returned to the hotel they found a guard outside their suite and on asking were told it was only for the night just in case some unscrupulous reporter tried to get an unsanctioned story.

Instead of returning home the next day as planned the little party were taken out of the city by Brian and after a longish drive down country lanes arrived at a large country estate, this was Brian`s ancestral home and he wanted them to see and know about their family history although he himself wasn`t exactly proud that his father had been a big arms dealer.

The mansion was an example of Pre Victorian elegance and furnished with when they over almost 200 yrs ago the finest furnishings money could buy from around the world. The painting on the walls were Great Master originals, painters like Rembrant, Raphael, Constable and many others, some of the other rooms held Van Goghs, Picasso`s and Lowry`s. The whole house spoke of enormity of wealth and power that this family once held in days long gone, all that was left was the wealth and a lonely old man.

As they ascended the stairs to the upper rooms family portraits graced the walls, the men in them were mostly High ranking Army and Naval Officers and the Ladies were shown dressed at the height of fashion of the day, everyone was impressed as Brian told of some deeds done by one or another of them.

Members of the Household staff showed each of them to their rooms and helped with unpacking, the children were roomed together by choice and they couldn`t believe the size of bed or the fact that it had a huge canopy and drapes. Certain rooms were off limits to the guests and these rooms weren`t locked but everyone was warned that they being renovated and for their own safety they shouldn`t enter them.

After everyone was settled lunch was served in a small dining room, Brian had shown them the main dining room that was able to seat forty people comforably and they agreed it was much too big for such a small group, again the children were amazed when they saw the size of highly polished table and brian had explained the room hadn`t been used since before World War Two. and only then on special occasions.

After lunch the children were taken away by too of female staff and changed, when they reappeared they were wearing riding habits, Brian told them he was going to take them on a carrage ride around the estate, while the adults rested up and had some time on their own, all the adults though the kids looked cute in their red coats and long black skirts.

Brian carried Jemma out to the carrage and then helped Annabel up into the seat, once the two of them were strapped in Brian got in and the Driver started off around the perimeter road. At a slow trot the trip took around two hours with them stopping to admire some of the features that Brian showed them, such as the ornamental fountains the huge lawns that were once used for tennis and croquet and finally stopping at the stables.

Brian would have like Jemma to call him Grandad put didn`t push the child as having a family again was strange to her, instead she addressed him as Sir, but slowly she was starting to come round to the idea. Brian introduced the children to the head trainer who showed then all the horses and ponies that were held on the estate. The stables had a resident saddler an old trade that actually hand made and repaired saddles and arrangements werer made for the children to measured and saddles were to be made for them, Jemma was going to be a challenge for the craftsman but he was sure he could come up with something suitable for her for riding and it would have to harness to prevent ehr falling out of the saddle and injuring herself.

Brian had introduced Jemma to all the staff as his Grandaughter to save any embarrassing questions by anyone and Jemma was comfortable to go along with him. The staff soon to liking the two children and they never lacked for company or something to do, Jemma would have been quite content to sit and read one of the thousands of books that were held there, but she was afraid she might damage them and most of them were priceless first editions with some being very rare volumes. Books that Brian had read in his childhood days were produced for her to read safe in the knowledge that the battered volumes weren`t very valuable.

The estate had several electric cars, similar to Golf Carts and the party was ferried the estate in them if they didn`t want toi use the horse and carrage, while they were staying at the estate visits had been arranged to some of the sights in the area and the weekly cattle marlet. They party had a wonderful time seeing how people lived in the country, enjoyed the peace and quiet and the slower pace of life they were experiencing during their short stay.

As they say " All good things must come to an end" , Brian had told them they were welcome to come back anytime as it was also their home as much as it was his, he knew the children would wnat to come to back so they could start riding lessons and he was happy, he now had a family that he could care for.

They returned home after spending a little over a week at the estate, but they didn`t return to the home they knew but to the new house with all the features to aid Jemma to get around, whilst she was no longer in her wheelchair all day she still struggled on crutches so the house had been built with everything on one level with easy access for her either in her wheelchair or when she was using her crutches. All the doors had sensors fitted so they opened as she approached them, all counter tops had rounded edges so she wouldn`t injure herself if she fell against them,there was no door sills on the floors and all carpeting was secured so there was little likelyhood of her tripping. It hadn`t been cheap to include all the safety measures but the adults felt they were worthwhile for both the children.

The date of the trial for the terrorists was nearing and Jemma was working with lawyers and the Crown Prosecution Service to recheck her statement and to help her through the forthcoming ordeal with the defence lawyers. Gerry was now fit enough to drive and had been taken on by Brian as Jemma`s personal chauffer and was also living the new house along with his wife. Slowly the little family was becoming a little community in it`s own right,Brian was trying to talk Elizabeth into moving permanently to the Country Estate and was slowly getting Elizabeth round to his way of thinking, she was reluctant to leave behind the life and friends she knew, but Brian told her to invite them to join the ever growing family and there was enough land to build several homes on with the estates boundaries, Elizabeth promised to give it some thought.

Elizabeth had no idea of the fortune that Brian had, she knew he was rich but even she wouldn`t have believed how rich,she had seen the opulent wealth of the country estate and had rather liked that and the peace and quite of the area. Brian asked her to consider Jemma, it would be a long time and the child would never regain 100% mobility, it would give her a completely fresh start were nobody knew her.

She talked over Brians proposals with Rodger and he admitted he had to agree with Brian and that as Grandfather of the child he was doing his utmost to look out for her, the estate was self contained and had a small nearby, if Elizabeth wished to carry on nursing maybe a small clinic could be started up to keep her occupied. Eventually she capitulated and talked it over with the her now extended family and friends and in the light of everything she had to agree with Brian and Rodger, Jemma had to come first and it would be a fresh start for the child with a chance to make new friends and if she decided to remain as she was now no bigotry or bullying, Jemma would be able to grow up as she wished without any harrassment form outside agencies.

Of course any move would have to wait until the trial was over as they felt that all the travelling back and forth would be too much of a strain for all of them and then they had to consider the doctors at the hospital that were treating Jemma. The child completely trusted the medical staff at the hospital,a trust that had been hard them by them as Jemma had always been wary of strangers and more so now after the recent incident, which almost cost Gerry his life.

No, she would have discuss the impending move with the two surgeons and their team of specialists, as well as any of her friends that she felt would like to move away from the town and city life. Thinking more about it she had actually enjoyed staying at the big house and fancied taking up horse riding, something she had always wished to do but had been unable to do before. She knew jemma and Annabel had loved the time they had spent with the ponies and were looking forward to doing some riding themselves, especially as they both had their own ponies now courtesy of Brian and he was getiing getting saddles made for them.

A room in the house had been set up as a study room for the children, complete with the latest computer technology which had been designed and build by a friend of Brian`s, the systen had a speech mode inbuilt but the adults had that disabled as it would be too easy for the children. The tutors that had been hired came and spent a day with the family getting to know everyone, they were quite impressed with the knowledge the children had, way above that of the level taught in the schools. On looking at the library the teachers were more than satisifed that they could give the children a good level of education.

It was a surprise when they found that Jemma was the Hero that had been recently been in the newspapers, especially when they saw how small she was, but Elizabeth told them not to let that interfere with the childrens education and she was assured that it wouldn`t be an issue. Jemma`s medical needs were explained to teachers along with her days at the hospital and they all agreed they could work round any problems. After they left Elizabeth who was suitably impressed with them told the children that school would begin for them in a weeks time abd that she expected them to continue to work hard, the children promised they would do their best.

Jemma and Annabel had rooms next door to each other and both rooms had been furnished as you would expect for a young pre teen girl although they would soon enough be teens, Jemma had never many toys and what she had had been given away and replaced with dolls etc, as she had been told if she was to dress as a girl she would have to behave like a girl at all times, but everyone had feeling that Jemma was here to stay.

The following week was spent going round the area and finding where everything was, shopping for groceries wasn`t a problem as they could that online ,but good clothes shops and beauty salons were found along with churches, cinemas, a theatre and of course the emergency services. They did a bit of shopping but they mainly bought in school supplies.

Monday morning at 8am the first tutor arrived, Elizabeth had her join then for a coffee while the children finished their breakfast, the tutor Ms Landsbury explained that all the tutors would be easing in to their jobs slowly to find the best way to proceed with their task, the plan was to find a basic starting level and to work from there and also to get to know children better and what little idiosyncracies they had. She assured Elizabeth that they wouldn`t be easy on the children and would push them hard in all subjects, the science lessons would be held in laboratory owned by a local company but except for that all lessons would be at home.

Listening to the plans laid out by the tutors Elizabeth was sure there would be little or no problem as these two soaked up knowledge like sponges, even the teacher concured saying she had never met children this young with so much knowledge and that it would be a shame if it was wasted, and she would be kept updated weekly on how the children were performing.

The first week was taken up with testing and the children and tutors getting to know one another,The level of knowledge that the two girls had was according to the test results four years in front of what they would have been taught in a mainstream school. At the end of end of week both the children and the tutors felt comfortable with each other, the children because they weren`t talked down to and the tutors because they could have an intelligent discussion with the children on most subject. Both the tutors and the children worked hard and Elizabeth , Rodger Brian and Milly were happy to see them all enjoying each others company.

The police had question the terrorist and the Anti-Terrorist Squad had made several more arrests after looking into the activities and recent travels of those already in custody. The one who had been hit in the face with the contents of the fire extinguisher was now blind and would remain so for the rest of his life, the carbon dioxide had frozen his eyes and the damage so extensive they couldn`t to be mended. The information already collated revealed that all the suspects were mambers of Al-Quaida but were an unknown cell, if they hadn`t tried killing the children they might never have been discovered until some atrocity had been carried out, it was only a couple years ago that the London bombing had taken place and sveral people had been killed witha lot more injured when a few buses exploded in the busy London traffic.

The security services were following up any and all leads and were determined to get the neccessary evidence to keep this bunch behind bars for a long long time if not for the rest of their lives, the trouble was the majority of those arrested so far were British born from parents that had moved here long ago. Those that were born in other countries would be after completing a jail sentence be deported on it`s completion, sadly it was sign of times and international travel made it eary for terrorists to move country to country.

The feeling in the country was more and more anti muslim and as soon as one cell was discovered and dealt with another another sprang up, it was like fighting the Medusa. With 9/11 and 7/7 still fresh in peoples minds and with the troops just having left Iraq and still fighting in Afghanistan there was a growing resentment towards Asian community, it didn`t help after the Americans took out Osama Bin Laden who was found living in a well guarded compound in Pakistan and innocents were beginning to feel the brunt because of a misguided minority. Something had to be done and soon,as in all wars of the twentieth century Britain and Amerca seemed to taking more of their share of the load in fighting terrorism, other nations it seemed were just along for the ride although they had suffered a few casualties, of course The US suffered the most because of the greater numbers of soldiers involved but in comparison the UK seemed to have the biggest percentage of casualties in the relation to the size of their armed forces, but a death is death and numbers don`t mean much to the soldier on the ground.

Jemma and Annabel were still constantly surprising their tutors with their apperent knowledge and it was getting harder to challenge them, the tutors had a meeting and decided to up the level of the lessons, they would teach the subjects as they would for sixth form pupils and go higher if that proved easy for the children, but on the whole the tutors were happy to be teaching intelligent children on a one to one basis.

The adults were talking about the move to the country estate as proposed by Brian but then Elizabeth pointed out that the new house had cost a small fortune to build and furnish.

"It`s only money and that doesn`t mean a thing if the children aren`t safe and happy" said Brian

"We could always rent the place out " said Rodger

The discussion went on for some time and eventually Elizabeth and Milly agreed to the move, Brian had suggested that some of their friends might like to move to the estate and they should find out who they wanted with them, of course the two women would have to quit work. Brian suggested that Gerry be first on the list as Jemma liked and trusted him and everyone agreed to that, Gerry had no family and as far as they knew few if any friends outside of work..
What Brian hadn`t told them was that he was having twenty homes built and that Gerry would live with them at the big house, He had always felt that Gerry was hiding something, not something bad but some little secret that he kept to himself. From what he had found out Gerry didn`t socialise much and if he had any hobbies he didn`t tewll anyone what they were, Was Gerry ashamed of something ? he was too good a person to be a bad man or was it just that liked his own company. Well whatever it was, Gerry wasn`t able to work as a paramedic anymore and deserved to be looked after, he had after all freely given his services to help Jemma after she had been injured and was always there when she needed a ride anywhere.

In the area around the estate there where three sizable villages and although each had it`s own doctor Brian decided to build a small hospital centrally to all of them so the locals didn`t have so far to travel in an emergency and was now wondering if Dr Graves would be interested in running the place, he`d have to approach Graves and put it to him.

The next day Brian rang Dr Graves and asked him to come and stay for the weekend as he had a proposition for him, and he could examine jemma at the same time, Graves accepted. The rest of the adults were informed of Brians decision and wondered what was going through Brians mind, all his plans would cost a small fortune just to get started not to mention the running costs, but Brian told them it was time to give something to the community and money wasn`t a problem.

Dr Graves arrived along with his wife on friday evening, shown to their room and after changing joining the household for a meal,afterwards while the women showed Barbara around the house the two men took Graves into the library, after getting drinks for each of them Brian put forward his offer which took Graves by surprise.

"Well I can`t say I`m not interested, but I do have a few questions" said Graves

"Of course you have questions and I will do my best to answer them" stated Brian

"You say I`ll be running the hospital ,Okay but how much control will I actually have? " Asked Graves

"Well let me put it this way, I know nothing about the running of hospitals so every decision will be yours, whatever you need will be provided, you can hire who you want and do what you want acceptable by medical standards and ethics. In other words your word will be law, top wages will paid and if you want to add a specialist field for the hospital you can, so what do you say ?" asked Brian

"Well in that I can`t really refuse can I, but as well as specialist field I would like to use it as an extention of a teaching hospital" said Graves

"No problem with that, so it`s agreed? " said Brian matter of factly

They all knew it would be around two years before they could open the hospital and that was after they got planning permission which Brian could get easily enough with his contacts in the Government, a bit of pressure by the right people went a long way and he knew just who would apply the pressure.

The three men talked for quite a while about the project and both Brian and Rodger were impressed with how Graves envisaged the hospital would run, and Graves with his usual brusqueness would apply pressure on the General Medical Council to get what he wanted from them, he wasn`t a fool and was one of the best if not the best in his field of medicine and knew the failings of hospital both NHS and Private and would try to ovoid the mistakes they made.

Barbara liked what she shown on her tour of house and like the two women and of course the children, she knew all about the problems that Jemma had and although she sympathised with child didn`t show it. She herself was Doctor as well as a consutant in paediadrics and worked at a private hospital, she like the other two didn`t know what being discussed in the library but they would all soon know. The children were eventually put to bed and the adults talked and relaxed for a while longer before they too retired for the night.

The next day after the children were taken out for the day, Brian told the women what his plans were, all six adults talked at length on the subject with Brian finally telling everyone that Dr Graves would be in overall charge of the new hospital from it`s planning and constuction to it`s opening and running. The women congratulated Dr Graves on his new position but he told them that until planning permission was granted he would just carry on as usual. On the childrens return from where they had been Jemma was examined and found to be progressing nicely, her wounds had just about healed and she was getting around easier and seemed happy enough in her self.

On the journey home Michael Graves and Barbara talked about the idea of him running a new hospital both of them had ideas that they would like to incorporate, but it would depend on how much capitol Brian was going to put into the project. It was fine Brian saying there was no problem with money but even he wasn`t a bottomless money pit and just the building and basic equipment to run a hospital would require millions, Barbara suggested they specialise in children with gender problems and Michael could see were she got that idea "Jemma" something extraordinary was going on with that child and the so far the world of medicine was in the dark.

Well it would have to wait until they got the hospital build if it ever was, everyone knew that local councils always found someway to delay or even stop building projects even when they benefitted the community, even a small hospital would employ quite a few people and impact on other local businesses by providing outlets for they`re products. Michael was wondering if John Wells would be interested and was considering asking him, both men had grown to like each other as friends and colleagues and did work well together and it would be good if they got teaching hospital status. Michael was already trying to list names of top professional in the field of medicine with the view of getting them to work at the hospital, if he could manage that it would it the best staffed hospital in the country, well they`d have to wait for now.

A week later they were notified of the trial date and the tutors were brought in for a meeting, it was suggested that the childrens education be put on hold for a while while Jemma worked with the Legal Eagles to prepare in case she had to give evidence at the trial, the tutors showed their reluctance to the idea and finally it was agreed that on lesson in the morning and one in the afternoon would be enough for now plus it would help to provide a distraction for Jemma from the trail. Everyone knew that Jemma was going to be under a lot of pressure and wanted to help make it easier for her.

Brian had spoken to his contacts in the Crown Prosecution Service about the impending trial and had been assured that the judge would only use Jemma as a last resort, but that they had so much evidence it was unlikely she would be called, this was one case that wasn`t going to screwed up by some technicality even the Police had been told to check all their evidence and statements and this time to make sure that all their stories matched, too many cases were being lost due screw ups by the police and people were getting very angry with it. No this time everyone would get it right the first time, there would be no retrials and the newly formed Ministry of Justice was going to prevent the accused from appealing and give them the maximun punishment the law allowed followed by deportment of the non UK citizens and their families.

Brian had contacted an architect to design the small collection of houses, they were to be built like the main house of natural stone from a local quarry and the interiors were to have the most modern conveniences available on th market including internet facilities,he had already contacted friends to try and deal with planning permission for the hospital as he wanted to get that started as soon as possible. The architect hired for this project had been put in contact with Michael Graves and told that the good doctor was in overall charge of this project and that it would be designed to the requirements of the doctor. the architect commented that it was very unusual for a member of the medical to be involved in the design and building of a hospital, Brian simply stated that in his opinion that was what was wrong with most hospital.

An accountancy firm had been hired to oversee the expendature and working with Brian`s bank handling of all payments on both projects and a small construction company from the local area would be hired to do the building and Brian had just the company in mind, they weren`t big like the corporations of Wimpy or Macalpine etc but they big enough for this project and it would provide much needed employment for the local area and outside help would only be used as a last resort, as the owner of most of the area Brian knew he a responsibilty to the people in the area who liked and respected the old man. His father and grandfather had always brought in help from outside the area and treated the locals with total indifferance which Brian had always thought was wrong, well he was going change that and if need he himself would become the biggest employer in the area even if he start new companies and he was already thinking along those lines.

Rodger had got hold of Gerry and asked him to come down to the estate for a long stay and Gerry being at a loose end gladly took him up on the offer, he had missed the companionship of the little group and was looking forward to seeing them all again. He hadn`t worked since he was discharged from the hospital and had recently failed his medical so they had retired him on health grounds, Gerry had always been active and had kept busy with work now that had been taken away from him and he was thinking of moving away from the area.

The day the trial of the terrorist started the newspapers were full of the story that Judge Parker had been assigned the case in his court, Judge Parker was man who the full of the law in every case he had judgement over. If the accused were found guilty they were unlikely to find one iota of compassion from this man, like his famous American namesake there wasn`t an ounce of mercy in the man especially when it came to capital offences.

The Trial began with arguments from by the Court Prosecution service and the Defence, but the defence didn`t put forward much of a case for their clients, rumours seemed to be true that the legal profession had tried to stay away fron this case and a defence lawyer had to be appointed by the court.

The Accused all pleaded guilty and seemed proud to do so, they showed no remorse, compassion or any other emotion, what made the case worse was that they had all been in this country, yet they had still tried mass murder knowing the law would show little leniency, they hadn`t reckoned on getting Judge Parker though.

The witnesses were called by the prosecution and questioned, the majority of them being specialists in Forensics and Explosives, after each had been quetioned and evidence produce by the prosecution the defence lawyers took their turn, trying to twist statements and answers and failing badly. The trial lasted for several days and after closing arguments were made the jury retired to reach a decision, to keep them safe from intimidation they were put into a hotel under police guard.

It didn`t take long for the jury to reach their decision and on Monday at 10 am the court was back in session.

"Foreman of the jury have you reached your decision?" asked the clerk of the court

"Yes your Honour" the foreman replied

"Are you all in agreement ?"asked the clerk of the court

"Yes your Honour" the foreman replied

As each charge was read out for the second time the foreman was asked for the jury`s verdict, and each charge the accused were found Guilty. The Accused were made to stand as the Judge spoke

"On each charge you have all been found guilty, sentencing will take place one week from today" stated Judge Parker
He then banged his gavel and ajourned the court.

Jemma hadn`t had to give evidence as a plea of guilty had been entered by each of the terrorists, but Dr`s Graves and Wells had on the injuries suffered by the child, Jemma`s identity wasn`t brought up during the trial she had been referred to as "The Child" all during the trial. Both the Court and the Jury gasped at the state of the injuries sustained and that the child while still alive was still in some pain and would never recover full mobilty. The police had stated that if it hadn`t been for "The Childs"
quick thinking a lot of young children would have died that fateful day and had been full of praise for "The Childs" Alertness and Quick thinking.

The Newpapers all printed a late edition and of course on the Radio and Television was the trial outcome and experts giving their twopenorths worth, speculations were being made about what type of sentence would be handed out ,sentences ranging from 15 to 25 years, but as they said they would have to wait till the following to get the final judgement.

Jemma hadn`t been all that interested in the trial once it became apparent she wouldn`t have to give evidence, once again she was back in hospital this time with a serious Viral infection and was once again fighting for life but holding her own,how she caught the infection was a complete mystery and the strain seemed to be mutated virus.
The Labs and the Doctors were kept busy, drug after drug was tried and each one failed, but still the child fought her battle against death, at no time was she alone a bedside vigil had been set up by family and nursing staff, they talked to the sick child not knowing if they could be heard, the local church held services to pray for the child but still the doctors and labs were helpless, they knew what the strain virus the virus had mutated from but were in the dark when it came to a cure.

A week later the court sat for the final time, this time for the sentencing, this time the public gallery was empty except for a few reporters, The jury was back in place as were Both legal teams and the accused under police guard.Outside the court the TV cameras waited and a heavy police presence was noticed, a reporter asked the presence of armed police officers and was told that they had a tip off of a possible rescue attempt.

Everyone was assembled in the court for the last time, and Judge Parker entered after the initial ceremony the judge began his speech,

"Prisoners at the Bar, you have been found guilty on all counts of the charges brought before this court, these crimes caused serious injuries to one child and by the grace of God nobody else was hurt, at a later date you attempted to kill the child in order to prevent testomony being presented this court, in that you also failed again thanks to the same child, who again saved the life of another innocent victim, if it was within my powers I would sentence you to hang but the Government being unwise as usual has done away with the death penalty, as your are a continuing danger to people of this nation I am left with only one option and that is imprisonment. With dangerous animals we cage and for your crimes you too will be caged, I sentence you to imprisonment in a high security jail for the rest of your lives without parole. Case dismissed" stated the Judge

With that the court emptied and the prisoners were led away to be caged for the rest of lives. Back in his chambers the judge was helped by his aide to remove his judicial robes.

"What news on the child? " asked the judge

"Still critical but fighting " said the aide

" I hope the child survives we could with more children like that one" said the Judge

"Was it wise to critisise the Government and mention hanging my Lord? " asked the aide

"Maybe not wise but truthful, the fools are filling our prisons with people like those we just tried, and unfortunately some of my colleagues go easy on them, we should show them no mercy when a child is involved and badly maimed" replied the Judge

The news of the Judges speech had been relayed to press and they having a field day with it, they were speculating about the Judges career after he critisised the Government. Questions would be asked in Parliament and the Lord Chief Justice would not pleased either.

The following day questions were indeed asked in parliament and MP`s were demanding the Judges resignation and him brought up on charges, but across the nation support was rallying for Judge Parker, like his American namesake was being called The Hanging Judge". All attempts at getting an interview with Judge Parker had failed, now that the trial was over he just wanted to enjoy time with wife, he wasn`t a young man anymore and was thinking of retiring, he had been in the Legal profession for over forty years , maybe he would hang up his gown and take the teaching position at the local University and impart some his wisdom to up and coming young Law students

Back at the hospital Jemma was still battling for life, ice baths were being tried to get her temperature down,the heating in the room had been turned off, haemocel and saline drips were being used to try and keep the childs elecrolite balance as near normal as possible. Dr`s Graves and Wells wanted to do further scans to see if there was something going on inside the body but couldn`t risk it in case the child had another seizure, all they could do was wait and wait they did.

In the early hours of the morning the fever finally broke and Jemma`s temperature fell back to normal but the drips were continued as the weakened body was dehydrated still. Although the bedside vigil remained the watchers started to relax, the worse was over and Jemma while still unconscious was starting back on the road to recovery,the life of this child had been hard over the past months, hopefully the child would have a normal happy life one day without the troubles that followed her.

It was two later that Jemma finally awoke, surprised to find that once again she was in hospital and had been very ill, over the next few days she slept quite a lot to regain her strength.The two doctors visited her everyday to see how she was getting on and that a relapse didn`t occur, and found her quite cheerful, so they left orders that her condition was to be monitored, the drips were removed and she was for now on liquidise food until her digestive system could handle solids once more.

A few days later Jemma was allowed home, the latest scans showed that the anomoly hadn't changed it was still there but unchanged, again it was decided that as it didn`t seem to be doing anything to affect jemma's health to leave it alone. She arrived back at the estate and Gerry carried her into the house. A lot of changes had been made while she was in hospital as she soon discovered,the new housing was going up at an accelerated pace since bonuses had been offered. The hospital project had received planning permission and was underway, at least the site had been cleared ready for construction to start.

The house had changed with an entrance to the basement where some of the rooms had been converted into offices for the various administration teams and there were a lot more people around. An old but solid building had been converted into an up to date clinic nad a team of doctors and nurses were working there to see to the health of the local population. Gerry had been given the role of transport officer and had several buses and a couple of ambulances in his charge, he wasn`t expected to drive but to see that the department worked efficiently and with his knowledge that should be easy.

Truck after truck were delivering construction material and heavy plant for the hospital construction and the security team was expanded even more and this time locals were being employed. Jemma was now known to everyone working on all the different projects and in the local community and was well liked by the majority, one of the security team was delegated as a permanent driver if she wanted to go anywhere and she was usually off to visit a local family that needed help in some way, money was set aside every month to help families that were struggling with sickness, unemployment etc and she had taken it on her self to see that the money wasn`t misused and went to the right people. One way or another the lives of the locals had improved a lot, very few were unemployed and those that were either didn`t have the skills needed of where incapacitated in some way and even those people were being helped with training and financial help.

Annabel hadn't been left out, she tended to be more in tune with the children in the area and got to know them all as did Jemma, but Annabel found out about abusive parents and there were a couple unfortunately, she asked that a computer club be set up and Brian went one stage further to help in her little project. It took a couple of months but within a couple of months not only was there a computer club for the kids, but one for the Adults and every home had internet access and a decent computer.

The usual dissenters were spouting off again, that the big house was up to something that the people wouldn`t like, but the majority told them to shut up, and that their fears were groundless after all a new hospital, several new businesses and new homes were being built and except for some specialist all the employees would be local. A few off the older residents remembered Brians father and how he just walked over and used everyone and found that Brian was a lot different from his father and cared about the locals, he`d been brought up in the area and knew how bad things had been under his father and now was a time when the people should benefit from his wealth.

There were a couple of farms in the area that Brian owned that weren`t doing too well and Brian called in an Agricultural specialist to see how they could be improved, this started another project off which would be linked to an Agriculural College. The farms tenants were due for retirement soon and they had nobody to pass the tenancy onto. Brian offered them new homes and pensions which they accepted, as a bonus they would be used as part time instructors to show students how some of more ancient machinery that was still being used worked.

Brian checked with accountant on the state of his finances and was told that they hadn`t made a dent in his wealth but was advised to keep a team of independant accountants checking all the accounts which he did.

Jemma and Annabel still had their schooling at home as they were ahead in most subject than the other kids, but a couple of the pupils at the local school who were very bright joined them in their classes. This year it was planned that every class in the senior school went on a two week trip to the continent and each class had to pick which country the wanted to visit, primarily the trip was educational but they would be able to have fun as well as long as they all behaved.

Jemma was told about the trial and the sentences that were given, overall she was glad it was all over but she knew that terrorist were always would be a threat to people and countries. for the time being she safe and happy to put it behing her. She still had her own battles to fight with getting more and more mobile and knew it would be long road that would never end.

Summer hit with a vengance with temperatures at an all time high, it was suggested that huge barbaque come picnic be organised for the locals and Elizabeth and Millie took to getting that organised, a date was set, caterers brought in and invites and transport organised. The day of picnic arrived and all the tables and chairs that had been set up the day before were soon filled, everyone was a good time. The Family as the locals called them went around and chatted with everyone, a couple of the young men complained that there was only beer and soft drinks, and were told by their peers to stop complaining and enjoy their selves. children were playing or the lawn, the adults were up dancing, plenty of food and beer and coffee, tea and soft drinks for those that wanted it, yes it was good day for everyone.

Before the picnic started Brian had told everyone his plans for the area and got a few suggestions back which he asked the person to who the suggestion to come up with a paln of sorts and he would discuss it with them during the week, if it was good idea and workable they might use it he told them. After the picnic the women and children were taken back home and Brian, Rodger and Gerry with all the men went to the local pub for a good booze up, of course Brian picked up the bill, some of these men he grew up with and wanted to get to know them again and them him he couldn`t tell them why he went missing for all those years. Questions were asked about Jemma and Brian answered them as honestly as could he could with Rodger filling in were he didn`t know the answer, nobody had anything against the child and she was popular with adults and children alike.

The locals had seen the stories in the papers about Jemma but hadn`t taken much notice, it didn`t realy involve them and they had just given it a cursory glance,when they heard about how she saved the children and had saved Gerry`s live they were impressed, they were even more impressed that she had kept it to herself and was fighting her injuries. Jemma they were told was Brian's Grandchild and heir, that made them men happy they hadn`t known what would happen if something would happen to Brian but now he had an heir everything would be all right in their book.

It didn`t long for the word about Jemma`s exploits to go round the area and everyone saw Jemma in a new light, a diminutive child to look at, but brave and caring as well, they found out that she was actually a boy called James and dressed like a girl due to her injuries and because of that had taken a girls name. Well so what there were a few transgendered children in the area so why should Jemma be treated any different, she belonged to them and them to her they would keep what they knew to themselves it didn`t concern outsiders.