First Dates are Kissing Dates 1 and 2

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2016

Murmuring With Starlings will be published as an eBook on Amazon Kindle over the next few days but once it is published I might have to restrict the chapters reproduced here or I’ll upset Amazon not to mention losing the millions I expect to make on royalties, film rights and television soaps, serials and nail biting dramas.
I mention this because if you are unable to buy E books you might prefer not to start reading these chapters for fear of being cut-off in your prime. Amazon Kindle Ebooks supply an App free of charge so that you can read the books. Get the AP by clicking on the right hand column of Top Closet’s Home Page
I am also going to produce it as a paperback and if this proves successful, I will do the same with the volumes of Vesta’s Hearth and Footprints in the Sea.

1

John: I’ve enjoyed our chats and would love to meet you. Is there any chance you would agree to having dinner with me?

Emma: Yes, thank you for asking me. I like what I have learned about you on the chat site and our tastes in music, art and literature are similar. I would love a meeting but if I do agree to a date, I would ask you to respect a rule I never break. Fist dates are kissing dates, nothing more, no nakedness, no physical sex other than kissing and caressing. I’m not being prudish, I just like to meet and get to know a man before I go to bed with him.

John: I understand that but would that mean that having met and found you still liked me, you would consider taking things a little beyond kissing on a subsequent date? What I’m trying to say is, should our first physical meeting develop into something more, a long term relationship, would you be prepared to… I don’t know how to put this without sounding like I’m trying to undress you before we even meet…

Emma: Shall I make it easier? I consider sexual intimacy with a man as an extension to a relationship rather than the object of it. As I explained when we had our first chat, I am transgendered because that is who I am, a female. I dress as one because I need to express myself, not because I want the first man I meet to undress me and take me to bed nor do I fantasise about his doing so. I need more than sex in my life, I’m old fashioned, I need companionship and romance. That’s why I never date married men because I suspect that in most cases, they simply want intercourse because sex with their wives is unsatisfactory or their marriage is breaking up and I would never like to be thought of as the catalyst in the break-up of a relationship.

John: Your meeting protocols match your choice of clothing, you really are a Fifties girl, well that is the impression I have from our chats.

Emma: I think you may be right, I need to be wooed by a man before I invite him into my body and I need to know that once he’s made love to me physically, he won’t just roll over and go to sleep or get dressed and go home.

John: You make it sound more exciting. I like the idea of treating a girl as a girl and not a prostitute. Having to compete for her love, make her feel like the best thing in my life, yes I like the idea, it’s a sort of challenge; can I make you fall in love with me enough to lay beside me in a bed, kiss me, allow me to caress you and hold you close to me until we both know it’s the right time for us to seal our relationship. I want us to meet, I think I am already in love just from the one or two pictures you sent me and the things we have talked about on-line?

Emma: Yes, let’s meet on neutral territory for the first date but where?

John: Somewhere where we can have a quiet conversation and get to know each other. I have a place in mind so if it’s okay, I’ll pick you up in a taxi. Where should I meet you?”

Emma: Do you know the war memorial outside the old town hall?

John: Yes. What time?

Emma: Seven, would be nice, the day after tomorrow and it will take me seven or eight minutes to walk there, so will you message me when you’re ten minutes away?

John: I’ll do that, will you leave the choice of restaurant to me. The one I have in mind is about ten or fifteen minutes from where we’re meeting. It’s in the centre of town so I won’t make you nervous by taking you out into the country to a lonely roadhouse.

Emma: That’s considerate. Is it somewhere where I will need to dress up?

John: No, dress however you wish, formal or smart casual but as a favour to me, might I ask you to make it as close to your Fifties look as you can.

Emma: Okay, are you coming as a Teddy Boy?

John: Lol. No, just a suit, I haven’t the courage to wear a scarlet draped jacket with a black velvet collar and certainly not a DA haircut. I’ll see you at seven the evening after next. Bye for now, I’ll be playing ‘Dreamboats and Petticoats’ before I go to bed.”

I left the chat room and sat thinking, my fingers tapping gently on the desk. We had been chatting for some weeks and I seemed to have found a nice man at last, or was he too good to be true? We were meeting on neutral ground and were going to a restaurant in town so there was little risk attached but I reached for the telephone and dialled Samantha’s number, gave her the details and took note of her advice to copy his rendezvous message to her so she could retrieve the phone number and advised me to reject any messages I received that signalled ‘number withheld’.

2

I stood in front of the mirror and looked closely at myself starting at the hair, light brown with soft curls and a fringe that ended an inch above my brows, eye makeup in soft grey and light blue to accent my eyes and an eyeliner and mascara to give them a slight almond shape. My foundation and powder were just right and the blusher applied just heavily enough to highlight my cheekbones.

I pursed my lips and then relaxed them, a soft red with a darker line tracing their shape, the face that looked back at me was pretty but with just a touch of allure a hint of the excitement that might be available one day. Jewellery was minimal short dangling earrings, gold with cultured pearls as the centrepiece, a gold chain with a small locket that just reached the swell of my breasts and on my hands, two discreet jewelled rings and an antique gold band with small sapphires set in a row and finally a single gold bangle on one wrist and my watch on the other.

I had an ivory silk blouse above a black skirt and wide black leather belt. The skirt hung an inch below the knee and was very full and beneath that a two tier tulle petticoat without the usual stiffer net covering, it looked like a skirt from the Fifties, a skirt that betrayed its fullness but not too obviously, a rock and roll girl not a bobby soxer with a poodle skirt. And to prove that I was not going to send the skirt horizontal when I spun, I was wearing a pair of three inch leather heels and tan stockings to slow me down. The sexiest bit of me was under the skirt and blouse, a white lace basque and matching panties but first dates were kissing dates and he wasn’t going to see them unless I fell down a flight of stairs.

My cell phone started playing The Ride of the Valkyries, my tune for messages that were important. It was John, ‘Cabby says ten mins.’
I sent back ‘K’ and added his phone number to my friends list and then sent it on to Samantha. I took one last look in the mirror, teased my hair, fluffed up the skirt and slid my coat over my shoulders, picked up my shoulder bag and left.

As I turned the corner and walked towards the old town hall a taxi drove round the war memorial and pulled into the kerb. A man got out of the rear, bent to speak to the driver, turned and began to cross the road and as he turned I recognised the profile from his chat room pictures, “John, why are you running away from me?”

He turned and looked at me with the puzzled look of non-recognition then his face broke into a smile, “Emma?”

“Were you expecting somebody else?”

He trotted back to the pavement and started walking towards me, “Nobody else, who’d want anybody else,” and he stopped and watched me as I walked towards him, “You’re quite a stunner. Ditch that picture in the chat room and get a portrait done by a pro and use that.”

“Thank you but I haven’t done that because I thought I might attract the wrong sort of admirer. I prefer people who want to chat to me, not just an attractive woman. In fact I ought to change my gender, it still says Male on my profile and in a couple of weeks I will be having my operation and will be all girl like my bust says.”

“Are they’re real,” he coughed, “Sorry that was personal.”

“That’s okay. I would have been offended two or three years ago but not now. Yes they’re real, completely real. Hormones and not a hint of surgical enhancement.”

He stared unabashed at the front of my blouse we had reached the taxi and he opened the door for me and then sat beside me and as I started searching for the lower part of the seatbelt. He slid his hand down, found it and handed it to me and our hands touched and I felt the hairs on the back of his wrists tickle my underarm and a tiny thrill ran through me. I did up the belt and sat back and watched him fiddle with his, he was still glancing at the front of my blouse; “You’re staring; they are 36B,” I whispered “And the basq…er bra is not padded, you can have a feel if you like but I also have an IQ of 152 if you’d prefer to talk?”

“First dates are kissing dates so I think I would prefer to talk and I apologise for staring again, you are a lot more than I expected, lovely, no stunning.”

“In that case, pay attention to what you’re doing, you’re going to stab yourself in a delicate place with the seatbelt buckle if you’re not careful.”

He grinned, “I’m acting badly, making you believe I’m a voyeur, I’m sorry but my excuse is that in the presence of a woman so lovely, I’m in something of a dither.”

“You ready to proceed as planned, Guv?” asked a voice from the front of the cab.

“Yes please, L’Hirondelle.”

“French,” I said unnecessarily, “I love French cooking.”

“I know, you told me so when we had our first chat.”

“I chatter too much.”

“No you don’t, you were answering my questions, “You also like Elvis Pressley, The Supremes, Roberta Flack, Matt Monro and Schumann, Beethoven, Sibelius, Purcell, Verdi and Puccini.”

“You’ve forgotten Delibes, Delius, Elgar, Saint-Saens, Borodin, Khachaturian, The Platters and Doris Day.”

“No I haven’t,” and he reached down and pulled a briefcase from under the seat, opened it and gave a flat packet to me tied with pink ribbon and when I took the wrapper off there was a 12” vinyl record of Samson and Delilah. “Oh John, thank you so much and I placed my hand over his shoulder and fought the seat belt until I could kiss him. When I let go, my kiss-proof lipstick hadn’t lived up to its name so I started searching through my shoulder bag for a hanky until he stopped me and pulled out his own, “Use mine, I want an imprint of your lips on my handkerchief.” So I did what he asked and opened my lips slightly, slipped a section of the hankie between my lips and pressed down. “There you are, almost perfect but it will wash out.”

“Not a chance I’m going to frame it and hang it on my wall.”

I smiled and went searching in my shoulder bag again, found my lipstick and compact and replaced the lipstick that John was now wearing and turned the mirror around, “The colour simply doesn’t suit you.”

He looked, pursed his lips and nodded, “It doesn’t…”

“There’s a box of tissues on the rear window ledge,” the cabby said, “You can help yourself if the lady promises to kiss me as well.”

“I can’t, it means I’ll have to do mine again and I’ll run out of lipstick before the evenings over.”

“You won’t need it when I pick you up again, will you, you’ll be going home and can stock up again.”

I grinned and turned to John, “Did you book him to bring us back?”

“Yes, finding a cab that late is almost impossible and I use George all the time when he’s available.”

“You’re a useful man to know.”

The cab pulled into the kerb, “Here we are, enjoy your meal. What time do you want picking up?”

John looked at me and I shrugged, “Two maybe three hours if we’re enjoying ourselves.”

“I’ll send a text message, George.”

“Okay, make it about a half hour before you need me.”

I had a really good time with John, he was a humorous conversationalist and an excellent listener which was a good sign, most men like to hog the conversation but he let me chatter on and I could tell he was really listening to me, showing an interest in what I was saying. He asked me about my job, about my social life and my friends and finally when I had had the time to become comfortable in his company, about my transgenderism.

“When did you first realise you were transsexual?”

“I don’t think ‘realise’ is the right word. When I was young, about six years old I preferred staying with the girls when we were playing at school, I liked hopscotch a lot and I do recall thinking how much nicer their clothes were; pretty, softer materials, things like that but it never occurred to me that there was something different about my sexuality, at that age I didn’t even know what sexuality meant. When I was nine I began to realise that there was something more than just liking the games and clothes and found myself wishing I had been born a girl rather than a boy and then at eleven, when I should have been showing signs of puberty, nothing happened. My voice didn’t change, my preference for things female became more intense and then one day I asked my mother why boys clothes were so different to girls, why girls wore brighter, prettier, softer materials.
“Dad was out at work so we sat at the kitchen table and she asked me a lot of questions and listened to my answers but didn’t make any comments and the next day she kept me off school and we went shopping and she bought a girls summer dress and a pair of knickers, not the really fancy ones, fairly plain but definitely girls knickers, then knee high white socks and a pair of yellow flat heeled shoes I didn’t say anything to her, I thought she was buying them for somebody she knew, a cousin or neighbours daughter. When we got home she took me up to her bedroom and told me to take my clothes off which I did, I was never shy with mum but I was with dad. When I had stripped she told me to put the knickers on and held the dress ready. I put them on still not saying anything, not arguing with her, not saying they were sissy, and I still didn’t object when she slipped the dress over my head, buttoned it up and then made me sit at her dressing table and she brushed my hair and arranged it differently, it was still fairly short but she managed to feminise it a little and then she put the socks and shoes on and me made stand in front of the mirror,

“You asked me yesterday why girls wore different clothes to boys, how do you feel now?”

I remember I run my hands down the dress and did a slow spin and looked in the mirror again, at mother’s reflection, “They feel nicer, not so rough and the dress is pretty. I wish I had been born a girl.”

She didn’t say anything except, “Take the dress off and hang it in my wardrobe and put the panties in the top drawer of the dressing table and get dressed in your school uniform again, dad will be home soon.”

“Will he be angry if he sees me like this?”

“No, just a bit shocked. Now hurry up and come down to the kitchen and help me get tea ready.”

Nothing was said but I remember they stayed up late and were in the sitting room and talking most of the time and I went to sleep wondering if there was something wrong even though they had spoken quietly and didn’t seem to be arguing.
“Four days later, Mom took me to the doctor; she made the excuse that I felt hot and she thought I might have a temperature. The only thing that wasn’t normal was the timing of my appointment, it was after the normal surgery hours. Mum went in first to speak with the doctor and then they came out and the doctor felt my forehead and just said “Yes, we need to look at you,” so I followed him into the consulting room and he made me strip and lay on the inspection bed and he went all over me pushing prodding squeezing and looking at my privates, checked my blood pressure asked me a lot of questions, took some measurements and nodded. “I’ll give you a prescription for some pills for the high temperature but I think I need you to see a specialist. There’s nothing seriously wrong I’m certain but at your age unexplained headaches and higher than normal temperatures need to be checked.”

“And that’s when you realised?”

“No, I didn’t have any suspicions at all though I had noticed that I was spending more time with the girls at school but nobody said much, they just thought I wasn’t interested in kicking a tennis ball about in the playground and just wanted to chat. It was when I went to see the specialist. I was old enough to realise that the medical he gave me and the urine and blood samples and the questions he asked weren’t normal for somebody who just had a headache sometimes or a slight fever.
“Then mum and dad came in and that’s when he told me he was of the opinion that I was transgendered and then spent a half hour explaining exactly what that meant and as he talked I kept looking at mum and dad but they just smiled at me. When he finished he told me I should continue school until the end of term and then he wanted to see me again.”

“So how did you cope with it, learning that you were different to the others at school?”

“It’s odd but I didn’t think much of it at the time except perhaps a feeling of relief, relief that I wasn’t unusual and that wishing I had been born a girl wasn’t something to be terrified about. When we got home mum and dad took me into the sitting room and whilst mum went to make a cup of tea, dad had a chat with me, he asked me how I felt about what the specialist had said. “I don’t know really, a little bit surprised and I’m relieved it’s nothing serious.”

Dad chuckled when I said that, “Nothing serious, what would you consider serious?”

“Well if I had leukaemia or cancer or I had a disease that would mean me having to stay in bed or a wheelchair all the time.”

He nodded when I said that, “You’re right, most people don’t suddenly die in pain when they discover they are transgendered but what do you want to do about it?”

I looked at him and hesitated, how would he react if I told him I wanted to be a girl? Would he go mad and end up hating me?

“Tell the truth, Ryan, it’s important that your mother and I know what you feel, how you want to live. If we’re left to guess, we may get it wrong and that would have disastrous results, so tell me the truth.”

“But how do you and mum feel about it, what would you like?”

Be brushed aside the question with a wave of his hand, “What your mother and I would prefer at this stage is unimportant, it’s what you want that has priority. We can discuss us after you have made up your mind. What I can say without prejudicing your choices is that whatever you decide, provided it is supported by the doctors, is okay with us. We won’t throw you out of the house if we don’t like your choice, we’ll still be a family because we will all need each other to sort things out.”

I closed my eyes and thought about it, for some reason I didn’t want to tell dad, I thought he might be disappointed in me, think I was just a sissy boy. Be sad, perhaps angry but I made up my mind, I had to tell him the truth, he was right, our family life would be difficult if I didn’t. It was going to be bad enough if I did tell the truth but if I didn’t it would lead to friction and that would mean mum and dad arguing and even getting a divorce and putting an end to our family and that would be the worst thing of all. I opened my eyes and looked at his face which was soft, there was no disappointment showing, no hatred so quietly I said, “I would rather be a girl. Since I was five or six years old I have often wished I had been born a girl but I know it now. It isn’t just about the pretty clothes, Dad, there are lots of reasons I think I’m really a girl. I’m not all that keen on football or rugby, climbing trees and things like that, at school I preferred being with the girls. I like playing hopscotch, turning cart wheels and in PT, I love the swimming and gymnastics because they seem to have more moves that are graceful, a sort of beauty to them. If I was to go to a fancy dress party, I would rather be a Christmas fairy than superman and I do like the soft materials and pretty colours that girls can wear when they want to. But I also like it when you take me to a cricket match and if it’s one you’re playing in, I get really mad when you’re out, I want to run onto the field and slap the player that caught the ball or the bowler who knocked your wicket down, that’s not girly though is it?”

“Yes it is, your mother is the same when we’re coming back from a match, she sits in the car and goes on and on about it being a no-ball or the fielder was just lucky.”

“I know, I listen to her and she’s right most of the time.”

He chuckled, “What about fishing?”

“Oh I still want to do that, I like fishing as long as you continue putting the maggot on the hook.”

“What about your name, we can hardly keep calling you Ryan?”

“Emma,” I said immediately, “I like Emma because it’s a name that can’t be changed into a boy’s name. If I called myself Charlotte, people would shorten it to Charlie, if I picked Frances it would become Frankie but there’s no boy equivalent that I can think of for Emma, Andrea would be Andy, no, definitely Emma.”

Dad had stood up and held out his hand, “Come on, we’d better introduce Emma to her mother.”

“But mum knew about me a couple of weeks ago, she bought me a dress.”

“I know but that was just her way of testing her theory about you.”

“You mean she knew about me?”

“We both did and we’ve had suspicions for two or three years, we just didn’t know how to speak to you about it but you’re voice hasn’t broken yet and you’ve not shown any of the other symptoms of a boy entering puberty so we had to do something so she bought you the dress to see how you would react. And your reaction spurred us into taking you to the doctor.”

“I still like it,” I grinned, “And the panties.”

“Well you can go upstairs and put them on after we’ve seen your mother.”

I had been looking down at the table as I told John the story, occasionally eating something and then his hand appeared holding a handkerchief, “You’re crying, tell me the rest later, and eat, it’s a restaurant.”

I looked up and smiled, “I did warn you I was a chatterbox,” and I dabbed at my eyes.

“A compelling story though, I would like to hear more but not tonight, tell me on our next date.”

I gave him back his handkerchief, “I took care not to wash away the lipstick kiss.”

He folded it carefully and we concentrated on our food and when we had finished eating he began to ask me another question, “No,” I said, It’s my turn to ask you questions, so tell me about your job, your engineering planning, working with production lines, things like that. He did and told it well, made it sound interesting and at times challenging and he took care not to get too technical and I found myself visualising him in a helmet and hi-vi over a white lab coat or up to his knees in hydraulic oil and there were times when he was talking about machinery he particularly liked he made it sound quite dreamy and when he spoke about computer controlled production lines, it was almost pure science fiction; a new world where computers and robots took away the drudge; the dangerous and dirty labours of life and left us free to allow our souls to roam the bye-ways of our existence.

“You travel a lot?”

“A couple of days at the office perhaps one or two on site and usually two days working from home.”

“There’s only one day left after you spend time at the office, on site and at home?”

He nodded, “I work seven days a week on occasions, even eight or nine at very busy times.”

I smiled, “Doesn’t leave you much time for leisure activities.”

“Sssh,” he whispered, “You never know who is listening and I wangle it by working twelve or more hours a day for three days, then a few hours work at home and have the rest of the week off.”

“Why don’t you work twelve hours a day without lunch times or coffee breaks for a week and then take the rest of the month off.”

“I have never considered that,” he nodded, “Yes it has possibilities, I could even increase the daily hours to sixteen, give up food altogether other than high energy snack bars and drinks. If I did that for three months I could take the rest of the year off.”

“That would mean you could sleep in a coffin in a pretty grave yard in the country and have a nice rest. If you want to take up healthy leisure activities you could book in at a hospital and have a week of ECGs and scans.”

He shook his head, “Not that, I don’t like hospital food.” He picked up the wine and began to top up my glass, “No, I can’t drink anymore I’ve had nearly three, I’ll start having fits of giggles if I drink more.”

“I’ll just top you up then, we’ll compromise on a half glass.”

I didn’t protest, I could leave it if I did start the giggles but I did want the evening to continue. He was an interesting man, a very good dining companion and I did wonder for a moment what sort of lover he would be. I stifled that thought immediately, I had had three glasses of wine, well three and a half if I counted the top-up and thinking along those lines would mean my golden rule about first dates could be broken.

We spent the next hour talking about mutual interests, music, the theatre, restaurants and our jobs and then I started to feel a bit dizzy and when I took my bag and went to the loo I had to concentrate on walking steadily and after I had washed my hands, concentrate even more on touching up my makeup. “You look rather serious, you even frowned once when you were walking back.”

I managed to sit down without tipping my seat over and nodded, it was that last drop of wine, it has affected my walking and is my makeup okay?”

“You look as fresh as you did when we met earlier.”

I felt a giggle coming on but managed to control it enough to stop myself from inviting him to squeeze me somewhere to make sure I was really fresh, “I did warn you I get giggly.”

“I’ve already sent a text to George, he’ll be here in ten minutes and I’ve settled the bill, I assumed you were ready to go home.”

I nodded slowly, “Yes, I think I’ve reached my limit and a little bit more.” I reached across the table and took his hand, “I’ve enjoyed this evening, thank you.”

“No, it was you that made it so nice. Emma, I would like to repeat it, take you out again.”

“Yes, there’s still lots to talk about but not until after the weekend, I have a job to complete for a customer and there’s my hospital business coming up soon so I have to make sure no work is left undone.”

“Would Wednesday suit you, a film and then supper perhaps?”

“Okay and if your work gets in the way, we can make it Thursday or Friday.”

We left the restaurant and my walking required less concentration because I had my arm securely tucked under John’s. Once we were settled in George’s taxi he asked, “Where would you like me to drop you, I don’t want you walking too far on your own?”

I felt confident enough of him so I asked, “Would you drop me off at my place, its twelve Heath Terrace, just round the corner from the war memorial.”

He relayed the destination to George and when we got out of the cab he asked George, “Will you wait George, I won’t be long,” but before we left the cab I went to the driver’s window, “George,” he looked up at me and I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips and stood back, “You were right, I shan’t need the lipstick, if you like the colour, let me know and I’ll get you a tube,” and I returned to John who walked me up to the steps of my house and looked up, “Do you live in the top flat, if so I’ll escort you up the stairs?”

“Thank you but my place is the ground floor and I’m okay,” I did a slow spin and my skirt flared but I kept my feet and managed to keep my skirt down to mid-thigh, though I must admit I was tempted to speed it up a little and reveal a stocking top. See, a perfect landing,” I boasted as I finished my display. “Would you like to come in for a nightcap or coffee?”

“I’d love nothing more but I will decline, if I come in with you I might say or do something inappropriate and spoil a perfect evening.”

He had his arms around my waist now so I reached up and placed mine around his neck, “Kiss me goodnight then, that’s allowed on first dates.” He pulled me in closer until I was pressed against his chest and kissed me tenderly and I pushed myself in closer and after a while we ended the kiss and he smiled, “That is as far as I go, you are a little tipsy and if I kiss you again I would have difficulty in preventing myself from sending George away and coming in for the coffee.”

“And I would have difficulty in preventing myself from inviting you to stay for the night and it isn’t the wine I’ve drunk. Thank you again, it’s been a lovely evening, perfect and when you go to bed, dream about me and I’ll dream about you and perhaps we can meet again in our dreams.” I eased myself away from him and opened my bag and dug my keys out.

“When you get inside, come to the window and wave, then I’ll know you’re okay.”

I nodded and let myself in and did as he asked and watched as he smiled and walked down the steps, stopping at the cab to wave before climbing in.

What now, there may be a second date, how should Emma play it? Chapter 3 may reveal the answer, or chapter 4 or 5 or…

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Murmuring with Starlings 3

First Dates are Kissing Dates
By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2016
Photo collage: European Starling by simonglinn via birdshare

Murmuring with Starlings contains material of an adult nature and is not suitable as reading material for minors.

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

Emma explains herself to her mentor Samantha and gives the wrong impression.

3
I made myself a coffee, sat at the kitchen table and went over the evening in my mind. I had enjoyed our date and I also knew that if John had come in, we would be undressing each other by now and I sighed, I must change my ‘Golden Rule’ about first dates when I was with a man like John and as for the rule for second dates, ‘Kissing and some petting, no further’ we’d have to wait and see if that needed modifying.

I had to make an early start if I was to get all my work completed before I went into hospital and I would like to see John a couple of times within the fortnight before that so with a great deal of reluctance, I pulled myself away from my rapidly becoming erotic daydream, went into my office and switched the computer on, I had promised to let Samantha know I had got back home safe and sound. The messenger icon started flashing immediately. It was her. “Hi, you’re late, how did it go? Message, phone or send somebody round to let me know you’re okay and had a good time before I phone the police and have a fingertip search made.”
I smiled, Samantha was the psychologist who ran my support group and took the job very seriously. She was a genetic girl who probably knew more about the weaknesses and in some cases the randy lusts of transsexuals than she did of her own sex.
“I’m home in a sad, sad mood. I had a lovely evening.”
She must have been sitting beside her computer because a reply came back almost immediately, “You’re the only person I know who can make two sentences into one oxymoron – why sad?”
“I wanted him to help me get undressed for bed.”
“But he didn’t?
“No but I hinted I was willing to break my Golden Rule.”
“So why didn’t he take up your offer, a man would have to be mad to refuse to go to bed with you. Is he gay, misogynistic or 8 years old?”
“He was a gentleman and when I asked him in for a nightcap he refused on the grounds that if he came in he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off me. And as I had a little too much wine he would be taking an ungentlemanly advantage of me.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No. It was a beautiful evening. We both enjoyed ourselves but I admit to having three and a half glasses of wine and was a tadge merry and when he kissed me on the doorstep and I asked him in, he did say no because he thought he might not be able to control himself and would say or do something that would spoil the evening. He did ask me for another date though, next Wednesday.
“Whew! Marry him, marry him on Wednesday, you’ll never find another like him. Does he have a good job that would enable him to keep you in champagne and diamonds?”
“He’s a consultant engineer, self-employed and up to his neck in work, so yes, I think he could but I don’t do so badly myself and don’t really need a rich husband. He’s just a lovely man.”
“You at home tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be round at about eleven for coffee to hear the full story. Pleasant dreams.”
“I’m wearing my little white baby-doll in case he breaks in later, good night”
I switched off, managed to walk unaided to the bedroom, undressed and went to bed with a broad grin on my face, knowing Samantha as well as I did, meant that her promise to be round for coffee would probably include lunch and dinner as well.

I was sitting at my desk by seven the next morning and wasn’t interrupted until eleven fifteen when Samantha rang the doorbell, “Hi, sorry I’m a bit late but I overslept.” She didn’t wait for a reply but walked in and went straight into my flat and then the kitchen and switched the percolator on and handed me a small carton, “Chocolate muffins.”

“Thank you, do you want to have coffee here or in the sitting room?”

“Here, I’m inpatient, now tell me what happened.”

“I told you last night.”

“You gave a brief summary, not the full story.”

“Let me get the coffee first.”

“Don’t wait for that to start bubbling, start now, from the beginning, what were you wearing your little black dress or the red one.”

The percolator started issuing its Columbian finest so I started laying out the cups, “Neither, I wore my black skirt, the full circle one and a tulle petticoat.”

“You were going dancing?”

“No but those skirts also qualify as smart casual, summer evening wear or leg flashers in a jive or Latin American.”

She grinned, “I know I’ve seen you dancing in them. Go on what sort of top and did you go braless, you can with a figure like yours.”

“No, I’m not a tart, I wore a basque.”

“And stockings, I bet.”

I grinned, “Yes, tan stockings not the black, seamed nylons.”

“So you were planning to sleep with him from the start.”

“No, you know my rule about first dates.”

“Liar and you’ve not had a date for months, you were as randy as hell.”

“I was no such thing, I just wanted to feel sexy underneath and had no intention of flashing my stocking tops.”

“Yeah, yeah, bla-bla-bla, I’ve been there and done that and I know what I really want when I just need to feel sexy underneath.”

I poured the coffees and sat down, “Well I can’t be sure what my subconscious was doing but I did wear my heels, the black ones so it was obvious I wasn’t going to do any fast spinning.”

“You can spin in heels, I know girls who say they dance better in heels.”

“I can’t, well I don’t think I can, I’ve never tried,” and then I remembered the little twirl I had done at the top of the steps, “I’ll try it one day but I think I’ll wait until after my operation.”

“Go on then what did he say or do when he first saw you?”

I grinned, “He asked me if my tits were real?"

“He did what!”

“Asked me if my tits were real.”

“Did you slap his face, I would have done and then gone straight home.”

“I’m not violent like you, I just unbuttoned my blouse, slipped it and the basque off my shoulders and shook my torso so the tits wobbled a bit.”

She nearly choked on her coffee, “You showed him!”

“It was the best way to prove it. Then I told him he could have a feel and tickle my nipples just in case he thought they were gel implants.”

She put her cup down so forcibly it was a wonder it didn’t shatter, “In the street!”

“Of course, if I’d done it in the cab the driver might have seen them in the rear view mirror and I’m a bit shy about things like that.”

“What about the people in the street?”

“I forgot about them but there weren’t many people about, I don’t know, I didn’t notice anybody staring, I was busy watching him to see if he liked them, my tits I mean not the other people.”

“Did he?”

“I think so, he sort of leaned forward to take a closer look and his mouth opened a little and I thought for a moment he was going to suck or kiss the nipples and it made me tremble at the knees so I buttoned my blouse up and we got into the cab.”

She dropped her head and shook it, “I just don’t believe this. You meet a bloke for the first time and before a few minutes have elapsed you’ve invited him to grope your tits and wanted him to kiss them.”

“It’s just as well you don’t believe me because it’s all lies.”

She looked up at me and grinned, “And I fell for it, after all the years I’ve been helping trannies and got to know what they will say or do, the tricks they can play, you come out with a story like this and I believed you, I’m losing my touch. Now go on and tell me what really happened.” So I did but she kept asking questions and then opened her briefcase, took out a notebook and started jotting things down. “Why are you making notes, not going to post this on Facebook are you?”

She shook her head, “No; I’d like to, it would get a million hits in the first week but I’d lose my job. The notes will be handy when I write my Social Services article about the group and what my job entails, no names, just a factual report aimed at the media mainly and society generally to prove that trannies aren’t the threat to society that a lot of people believe. How did he respond when you told him you were going into hospital for your sex reassignment surgery in a couple of weeks?”

“He asked me how dangerous it was, would it make me very ill and how long I would be in hospital and asked if it would be okay for him to visit me.”

“He didn’t ask how long it would take for you to be ready for sex, full penetration I mean.”

“No. He did ask how long it would be for me to make a full recovery and when I told him that provided I had no complications or infections, anything from two to six months, then he asked me if I would like to go away for a rest, rent a cottage in the country or perhaps go somewhere overseas, somewhere where the weather would be warm and sunny. A place where I had nothing to worry about and have a lot of time to relax and give myself time to recover completely. I said I wouldn’t know until after the operation, I explained that I might be nervous about being too far from the hospital in case there were complications. Then he told me to tell him if I did want to go away so he would arrange something and if for any reason he couldn’t accompany me, he would find a qualified nurse to look after me full time until he could join me.”

“He’s in love with you, Emma, in love with you big time.”

“I did think that might be the case but I dismissed it because I can’t believe somebody would fall in love to that extent after only one meeting.”

“But you said you talked a lot yesterday evening, told each other a great deal about yourselves.”

I nodded, “Yes but we talked about other things as well, ordinary things.”

“When you chatted on-line, how long were the sessions and how personal the conversations?”

“Quite long sometimes, two hours perhaps longer but on occasions the chats were quite short, those were days when one or the other of us had urgent work that needed our attention. We did leave messages about what was happening in our lives if we couldn’t chat and there was always a good morning or goodnight message from him in my mailbox.”

“And the topics?”

“Varied; sometimes it was music or books we were reading, other times but not often, a little about work, we even discussed the news and politics occasionally but typically they were about something we both liked, even a bit of sport and on one occasion fashion; I told him I had bought a couple of miniskirts and he asked me to send him a picture he wanted to see my legs and when I did send them he told me it showed I had an adventurous side as well as nice legs.”

Samantha smiled at that, “Short were they. Did he ever ask for nude pictures or close-ups of specific parts of your anatomy?”

“Never. No wait, he did ask me to take a close-up of my face, a portrait. That was a week ago but I didn’t have the time to do one before we met.”

“And you’ve told me he never asked you away to a hotel for the night or invite you to his place.”

“That’s right, the only time we discussed sex seriously was last night and I’ve told you about that.”

“He sounds like a good one, Emma. He certainly doesn’t sound like a one-night-stand merchant or the casual sex from time to time type. He is definitely interested in you, even in love perhaps. It does happen like that to some people, a casual encounter leading to something permanent and beautiful. I must read your chat sessions and try to get some tips about your prose and conversation style,” she grinned, “It probably has something to do with the fishing trips your father took you on, you learned how to reel them in.”

“Want me to catch one for you?”

“No, my fiancé wouldn’t approve.” She stood, “Shall I pour us more coffee and then I must be away to write a long report on another group member. She’s like you, has plenty of jokes and leg-pulls tucked down her bra, she asked me to get her a prescription for estrogen and testosterone last week and when I asked why both because it was counterproductive she answered with, “Well I definitely want a sex change but I haven’t made up my mind yet which sex to change to.”

“That sounds like Annie.”

“It is and I started calling her Connie and when she got fed up with correcting me, I told her it was an abbreviation of confused.”

Samantha went off to write her report immediately after lunch and I went back to my computer and drawing board and apart from spending an hour chatting with John, I worked non-stop on my web designs for a soft furnishings manufacturer.

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First Dates are Kissing Dates 4

Murmuring with Starlings

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2016

Murmuring with Starlings contains material of an adult nature and is not suitable as reading material for minors.

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

The second date begins and Emma has a difficult time with her muse, aka Miss Subconscious or Miss SC who isn’t bound by behaviour protocols.

4
By the following Wednesday lunchtime I had the web design finished and the whole afternoon to get ready for my date. I had a long bath, and spent an hour on my hair still pondering on how to play the date, should I stop at heavy petting or go on. I couldn’t make a decision so I pushed it aside telling myself to let the events of the evening take their natural course and then started on my makeup. As soon as I sat at the dressing table, the debate on the likely events of the evening were taken over by my subconscious mind and I went for a sultry look with dark eyeshadow and deep red lipstick and without even being fully aware of what I was doing, I had selected my black basque and lacy bikini, almost a thong, knickers and seamed black nylons and a scoop necked red dress with a straight skirt and black patent stilettoes. When I stood in front of the mirror I realised that if I was undecided my subconscious wasn’t, the clothes clearly stated how the evening was to go and Miss Subconscious was determined to have me sexually penetrated as Samantha had put it.

I had a problem with the dress which was a wool and silk mix and was tending to snag a little, it wasn’t comfortable covering the basque and the suspender bumps were a little too obvious. I returned to my lingerie drawer and took out a black silk slip and rather than take the dress off I unzipped it down to the belt, wriggle out of the shoulders and then eased the black lace slip over my hair and tucked it into the waist of the dress and stooped down to lift the skirt and pull the hem of the slip down before straightening up and putting the top half of the dress back into place and zipping it up. It was just as well I went to aerobic and gymnastic classes every week and I was able to bend, stoop, stretch and wriggle enough to complete the mission. The slip took longer to put on than it did to get the seams straight on the stockings but when I checked in the mirror, I was perfect and the silk of my slip enabled the dress to move enough to make it look as if it was taunting somebody to take it off and that somebody was going to be here very soon and I had just enough time to get my jewellery on.

In fact I was still trying to get the second earring in when the doorbell rang and checking to make sure it was John, I buzzed the street door and heard it open and John’s footsteps approach my flat door. There was a quiet knock and I was still fiddling with the earring with one hand as I opened the door with the other and stepped back, won the battle with the earring and said, “Sorry, I’m running a bit late.”

He stood silently for a few seconds and then said, “Looking like you do, you can have all the time you want, I can refuse you nothing and he held out a large bouquet of red roses framed by olive green feathery ferns, “Oh, John, they’re beautiful!”

“The red is a perfect match for your lips. We have time, would you like to put them in water?” Hugging the flowers I walked through the sitting room to the kitchen and he helped me to crush the stems and place them into the largest vase I had and then I carried them into the sitting room and placed them on a marble coffee table in the centre and I stood back, “They really are lovely, thank you and I kissed him lightly and managed to keep my lipstick on me and not him or the dazzling white shirt he was wearing under a dark grey, definitely Saville Row suit. He took my hands in his and stepped back and looked at me slowly letting his eyes travel from my shoes up to my hair, “Beautiful, no more than beautiful; exciting, a goddess pretending to be mortal, Aphrodite.”

I bobbed a small curtsy, “I love your way of delivering a compliment because I realise you are a man who would only speak the truth so you must be my Adonis. Would you like a drink before we go out?”

He chuckled and bowed his head a little to acknowledge my curtsy, “A very small Scotch and soda and I will be content to just stand here all night admiring you.”

“Show him our bedroom,” whispered my subconscious but I ignored her and went to the sideboard and poured his scotch and a third of a glass of white wine for myself. “Sit down, John,” I invited, nodding at the smaller of my settees, “That’s the way, comfortably close and near enough for him to throw himself on you,” said Miss Subconscious but I continued to ignore her and sat in the opposite corner with perhaps two feet between us, “Where are we going?”

“There’s three films in town, Love story, Star Trek or the Perils of Pauline,” he answered with a twinkle in his eyes.

“I’ll leave the choice to you,” I replied with a challenging smile, “Or we can walk along the river to the Horse and Barge, sit there for a half hour and make our selection or would you prefer going out to dinner.”

“Supper would be better, after the film.”

“We’ll do all four, walk along the river, pop into the pub, choose a film and I have salad and a lobster in the fridge and it will only take ten minutes to serve it up, so we can have supper here.”
“Brilliant,” said Miss SC.

“That sounds delightful, yes, we’ll do that.”

“You don’t have George waiting outside do you?
”
“No, he went off but I can probably get him back?”

“No, it’s only a short walk and I don’t trust him with my lipstick.”

John laughed, “He’d love the colour you’re wearing now and it might be an idea to bring a light coat or jacket, it will be a little chilly later.”

I finished my wine and stood up, “I’ll get my coat and bag, would you like to borrow one of my scarves, I have a woollen one that’s fairly androgynous and a woolly hat to match but that has a fluffy bobble?”

He laughed and shook his head as he stood, “I’ll risk it how I am and if I feel cold when we walk back you can cuddle me.”

I came back with the coat over my arm and he took it and slipped it over my shoulder and we linked arms and started off towards the river.

“You’re flat is beautifully designed, comfortable but still elegant, a clever mixture of old and new, did you design it or use a professional?”

“I had a painter come in and redecorate the walls and I just picked the colours and spent a week thinking about the soft furnishings but the rest was just piecemeal, not planned at all. I love browsing in antique shops and most of my pieces were just things I liked when I saw them and I put it together a little at a time. A mixture of pieces that looked nice and others that were functional but blended with everything else. The Queen Anne dresser is my favourite and the dining set which you haven’t seen is second and I usually have them in mind when I buy other pieces which are usually irresistible bargains I spotted in shops and even car boot sales. It’s a good way of doing the job because if something is damaged it can be replaced easily without upsetting the overall look. The curtains and carpets I bought at a discount from one of my customers, a soft furnishings group who let me have them at cost, it’s a way of enjoying a luxury lifestyle at knock down prices. Sometimes I think about starting another business and troll the antique shops and car boots buying stuff, cleaning it up and taking pictures of room settings with the furniture included to show what can be done. I do have a couple of web pages already made up and I think it would work.”

We turned onto the river bank, “Why don’t you do it?”

“I like what I do now, designing web sites and it keeps me very busy but one day perhaps - we’ll see.”

“I’ve never walked along this section of the river before, it’s very pleasant, very peaceful for somewhere so close to the town centre.”

“I come here a lot, it’s lovely and almost next door to where I live.”

We walked past a house and a row of large cottage styled bungalows and came to the pub and went in.

We nearly missed the film, I had seen Love Story twice before and had cried at the end on both occasions even though I knew what was coming the second time, so I knew I was at high risk of crying again if I asked John to take me there. If I asked to see the Perils of Pauline John would pay too much attention to the film and forget that he was with me and I wasn’t really in to Star Trek films. I had nothing against Sci-Fi but I much preferred the films that were about things that might happen in the very near future, not about the distant future. I preferred films that were possible rather than improbable and I enjoyed ET for that reason. I sipped at my wine and John made up my mind for me, “I think you would enjoy Love Story but if we’re to see it we had better make a move.”

“You won’t like that, it’s a romantic tragedy, I’m sure you’d prefer Star Trek.”

He smiled, “It’s a chick flick and you think I’d get bored and fidget about.”

“No, well yes, it’s that men don’t really enjoy those type of films, they prefer action films, films where there’s loads of fights, blood and explosions.”

“I’ve seen Brief Encounter and I enjoyed that.”

I looked at him to see if he was just being kind, “You want to take me to see it?”

“Yes, and if you cry I can comfort you.”

“Okay and I’ll do the same for you provided you don’t try to hide it.”

He smiled as he stood up and took my coat ready to slip onto my shoulders and away we went, his arm around my shoulders and mine around his waist, I was going to enjoy the film more than ever this time, I would have a shoulder to cry on.

I must have enjoyed it because he had offered his hanky when the film had only been running a few minutes. I had involuntary raised my fingers and wiped my eyes because the film had gone out of focus and his hand had touched mine and there was his clean, folded hanky waiting for me. I touched it to my eyes and looked down at it and there were two barely damp patches.

By the time we left the cinema the hanky was saturated my eyes blurred and I would have fallen down the steps had it not been for his support. I scrunched the hanky up and slipped it into my bag. As quickly as I had done so his hand appeared in front of me with another clean, folded hanky, “I brought a spare,” he whispered and I pulled away from him, threw my arms around his neck and kissed him and pressed myself in as close as I could. I had moved so suddenly that the couple walking behind bumped into us and the man said “Sorry,” and the woman said, “He’s comforting her, didn’t you hear her inside the cinema?”

I broke the kiss and released John, “What did she mean by that?”

“You were sobbing quite a bit.”

“How loudly?”

“Not too loud, they were in the seats behind.”

“Oh-my-God!” I took a hold of his arm and pulled him, “Come on quickly before we’re spotted by one of the staff, I’ll be banned from going in there again,” and I forced him to increase our pace until we were a hundred yards from the cinema and only then did I slow down, “We’ll be okay now. How bad was I, really, could everybody hear me?”

He smiled, “It wouldn’t have mattered there were one or two others having a sob and blowing their noses and there were hankies fluttering all over the cinema.”

“It was probably me that set them off.”

“You were the first.”

“It was the gentle banter between them, the love that was blossoming and their not knowing what lay ahead.”

He chuckled, “I must admit, my eyes felt a little moist towards the end.”

We continued our walk stopping occasionally to look at the meadow in the late sunset and listen to the blackbird serenade us. “I’ve recorded him on my phone,” I pointed, “He’s up there, on top of the ash tree but he has a nest and a wife over there deep inside the shrubbery under the oak. Sometimes when I’m out here during the day, I play the recording and most times he flies to the ash and starts singing back, he can’t recognise his own voice and thinks it’s somebody trying to move into his territory.”

“How do you know it’s a boy and not a girl?”

“Boys are black and the girls are brown and it’s always a boy first thing in the morning and last thing at night.”

“Are you a twitcher?
”
“No, I just like to listen to them but I admit that if I see a strange bird, a type I’ve not noticed before I always look it up in my bird books or on the Net. I’ve spotted nightingales and heard them, but there is one who lives locally, he’ll be out singing later. I’ve also seen a peregrine falcon and a goshawk, fieldfare and even a tree creeper. It’s lovely here, just sitting on the grass and watching them, listening to them sing or have a chat like the sparrows and chaffinches. They have quite busy union meetings sometimes in the evening and everybody shouts at the same time and one evening I had been indoors working all day and I came out here to get some fresh air and saw a starling murmuration, it was an incredible sight, thousands of them diving and swooping together and making really complex patterns. I puzzle over how they do it without bumping in to each other because they’re flying very close and are so good at following the leader’s movements.”

We continued to the flat and went in, “Make yourself comfortable…”

“Clever move, so subtle. Pour some wine and go and sit with him but let him make the first move or he might think you’re a slapper. Just encourage him a little, let your leg brush his as you sit and lean forward a little, give him a chance to see a little cleavage.”
“Shut up bitch or you’ll be seeing a bit of your own cleavage from throat to crotch.”
“No, leave the kinky stuff until you’ve got to know him a little better.”

“I’m sorry,” John said, “I didn’t catch that.”

“I didn’t say anything. Oh, perhaps I did, just talking to myself, I do it a lot especially when I’m working. You sit down and I’ll get supper ready, would you like a glass of wine, it’s only plonk, but we’re having a good white with supper.”

“I’ll help you get the supper ready,” he followed me into the kitchen and looked around, “It’s a large kitchen for a flat, well fitted out as well you obviously enjoy cooking.”

“I do, it’s the artist in me, it has to have an appetizing aroma, look like a master’s still life and taste like it was prepared in the kitchens of the gods. There’s no cooking involved tonight, it was done earlier, just the lobster and potatoes but the salad dishes look colourful and as for the taste, you will have to be the judge yourself.” I poured a glass and a half of wine and handed him the larger of the two, “The white for supper is in the fridge, the left side and you can open it for me if you would and take the dishes of salad into the dining room, I’ll just get the lobster ready and finish the salad dressing and then we can eat.”

“I can see the fridge but where’s the dining room?”

“Oh yes, you’ve not seen all the flat yet, it’s behind that door and the loo is off the hall. Give me a minute and I’ll show you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find it when I need it but where do I wash my hands before handling the salad?”

I smiled, “There’s hand basins in the loo and the bathroom next to it. You’d best use the white soap if you use the pink you’ll smell lovely but I’d hate the competition. You can use the sink over there if you wish but there’s only paper towels.”

“You missed a chance there, you should have told him he could dry his hands on the bodice of your dress.”

“This is your last warning now hoppit and stop listening in.”

Who’s going to win this one, Miss SC or Emma. Chapter 5 is where the answer rests or becomes hyper active…we shall see.

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First Dates are Kissing Dates 5

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2016

Murmuring with Starlings contains material of an adult nature and is not suitable as reading material for minors.

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

And so the evening continues and hidden amongst the moments of romance and love there hides Miss SC…Let the games begin.

5

He surprised me the way he enjoyed supper, men don’t really go for salad but he seemed to relish mine, I don’t know whether it was the homemade spicy dressing, the lobster or the wine but he certainly ate with enthusiasm and complimented me several times on my skills.
“Would you like a fruit salad with ice cream?” I asked.

“Thank you, no, I couldn’t eat any more.”

I smiled, “I will take that as a compliment to my culinary skills even though it was nature’s work really, all I had to do was rearrange things a little.” I stood up, “Coffee, Columbian or Kenyan I don’t have “Turkish?”

“Kenyan is good.”

“Would you like it in here or shall we go into the sitting room?”

“Whichever suits you, as long as we both drink it in the same room.”

“I’ll serve it in the sitting room and that other door leads back into the hall and if you get lost, just shout.”

I went into the kitchen and prepared the coffee and took it into the sitting room just as he returned and we both sat on the two seater settee, “I’ve enjoyed this evening, thank you,” he said.

“I didn’t take you anywhere, you took me so I’m the one who should say thank you. You supplied me with two hankies and let me cry on your shoulder and prevented me from being attacked on the way home.”

He smiled, “The footpads knew I had you to protect me whilst I was protecting you.”

I nodded, “We work well as a team. Did I bore you with my enthusiasm for the local wildlife?”

“No, it was fascinating and your enthusiasm was infectious, I’m going to read up on starlings and their flying habits on the internet tomorrow.”

He finished his coffee and I took his cup, “Another?”

“No that’s fine.” I placed the empty cups on the coffee table and stood up and went to the sideboard, I have a single malt or Napoleon brandy?”

“I shouldn’t drink a brandy, I had two glasses of wine, no three counting the pre supper wine and a beer in the pub, I’ll be drunk if I have a brandy.”

“No you won’t, you hold your drink well and we’ve drunk slowly. It’s me that can’t drink a lot without falling over.” I poured a small brandy and brought it across, “Would you like a cigar to go with it, I have Dutch or Cuban?”

He laughed, “Is there anything you don’t have, you’re a marvellous hostess.”

I poured myself a very small liqueur, “I don’t entertain very often, I’m too busy at the moment and when I do, I like to make it as nice as possible. Now, the cigar?”

He shook his head, “No thank you, it would make the room smoky and I wouldn’t be able to see you clearly.”

I came back to the settee with my very small Green Chartreuse and sat down a little closer to him and took a sip, “Can you see me clearly now?” I put the glass on the table and turned into him.

He sat still for a moment or two and then his glass joined mine on the table and he pulled me into him and kissed me, kissed me with a little more passion than he had used previously.

“If I’ve acted improperly I will not apologise, you are so lovely, both your looks and your personality and not to have kissed you would have offended the Gods.”

“You mustn’t do that, the repercussions would be horrendous,” and I moved closer until the sides of our bodies were touching and I took his hand in mine and pulled it until he had his arm around my shoulder and I turned inwards and our faces were barely an inch apart and we kissed again but this time, when he started to end the kiss, I pressed my lips more tightly against his and opened my mouth a little and took his free hand and placed it on my knee and then put my hand over his shoulder and caressed the back of his head. I was lying across his body now his head tilted forward and I felt the tip of his tongue touch my lips and gently caress them and I opened my mouth a little and then the world disappeared and we kissed as lovers should and I pressed against him and felt his hand start to caress my knee and then move up slightly until his fingers were under my skirt. I parted my legs a fraction and the hand moved upwards a little more and his fingers started lightly caressing the inside of my leg still moving as they worked a little higher until they touched a suspender and there they stopped climbing but continued caressing me. I had reached the point where I was faced with a decision, should I stop him now and bring my knees together or should I let him continue? If I did the later I would have to allow him to continue until we reached the inevitable point of no return and I must let him take me into the bedroom.

I wanted him, I wanted him like mad, he was gentle, kind and I was already in love with him but if I disregarded the weeks we had chatted on the internet we had only met twice. He must have sensed my hesitation because he ended the kiss, “I think I had better go home,” but he didn’t stop caressing my leg and I answered by pulling his hand from under my dress and placed it on my breast and pulled his head close to mine, “It’s too late, you’ve been drinking and could get lost or mugged and you can’t leave me here on my own, only halfway to Heaven,” and this time it was my tongue that teased his lips and entered his mouth as he started caressing my breast. It only took a short while before I was squirming my way across his lap and when he broke the kiss I whispered, “The zip is held with a hook and eye fastening,” and I placed my mouth against his and we kissed again as he fumbled for a moment, managed to unhook the top of the dress and slowly slid the zip down to the belt with one hand and loosen his tie with the other. He dropped the tie to the floor and his hand returned to my breast and caressed the nipple through the slip and basque. I felt my nipples harden and push hard against the basque and tiny electric shocks crossed my body to the other breast and then both nipples sent shocks down my body to my belly button where they joined and went down to where my redundant penus was located and there the electric shocks split into three.

It felt as if he had lit sparklers and was holding them close to my body and moving them to trace lines down the inside of my thighs and under me and up between my buttocks, following the line of my spine, over my neck and then they seemed to explode inside my head and send sparks all over my body. I broke the kiss and gasped, threw my head back and nearly screamed when I felt his lips on my throat kissing me down my neck, over my breast bone until they moved again and found the spot where my nipple lay below the basque. I stopped him, the nipples were hurting too much as they pressed against the basque, struggling to get free, wanting to feel his tongue teasing them again without my clothing separating them from his lips. I stood up, undid the belt and eased the dress over my hips and let it drop to the floor. I kicked it to one side and my fingers trembled as I slid the shoulder straps of my slip down and started to unhook my basque to below my breasts and then I pulled it open and let my breasts escape and feel the night air and I started to tremble all over, my body was on fire and he stood, almost ripped his jacket off, scooped me up in his arms and lowered his head and kissed both nipples and I just managed to gasp, “John, get me to the bedroom.”

Without asking the way he turned down the passage next to the bathroom and somehow managed to turn the door knob and push the bedroom door open and carried me straight to my four-poster and laid me gently on the bed covers and stood back. His eyes looked into mine, “I’m lost to you Emma, completely lost only you can stop me, only you, just one word and I’ll walk away but I will try again on our next meeting and again, and again until you give yourself to me.” He had kicked his shoes off in the passage and now he was slowly unbuttoning his shirt and my eyes were fixed on his hands, hands that I wanted back caressing me. His shirt fell to the floor and my eyes followed it and then returned to his hands now working on the waist of his trousers and I watched again until his trousers followed the shirt but I kept my eyes on his hands this time as the thumbs hooked into his underpants and they slipped down and he looked at me “Emma?”

I said nothing but dropped my eyes to his penus standing stiff and proud slowly rising and falling as he breathed, bobbing me a bow or perhaps nodding its approval. He took a step forward and stood over me his eyes like blazing stars, “Emma?” again he said my name, needing my answer.

“Your lips and tongue can form the words, John but there is a part of you that reveals them as lies, you can no more leave me than I can let you go.”

He knelt on the bed and reaching behind almost ripped his socks off and then a hand cupped my breast and the thumb drew little circles around my aureole and tantalisingly slowly reduced the radius until they touched my nipple and pressed hard on it and I couldn’t stop my body from arching nor the gasp that escaped me and I reached for him, gripping his thigh and moving to find his penus and took it in my hand squeezing it and sliding down its length feeling the pulse of blood coursing through the veins, the heat and the velvet hardness. And I pulled it towards my lips sensing rather than feeling his body move as he placed a hand both side of my pillow and his penus touched my lips and I parted them and lifted my head high enough to take in over half its length.

There was a quiet gasp from him and as I began to suck and slide my lips back he gave an involuntary jerk forward so I started again and as I moved my lips back I pressed my tongue against it and soon I felt the swelling of the head so I paused and caressed the glands at the bottom and slowly began the journey back to the root and was able to take more of him before beginning the sucking, tickling return. This time when I neared the head I began my tongue caresses a little sooner and again paused at his glands. John was moving a lot now and once again I heard him make a noise, a cross between a mewing sound and a gasp and he suddenly withdrew, “No more, no more, Emma, I’m going to explode.”

I lifted my head to take him back into my mouth but he pushed himself back from my body and wriggled his way down until he knelt astride my ankles his penus touching my calves as he leaned forward, “No,” he said quietly and kissed me, softly and lifted himself and looked down at me, even his lips out of reach.

“What’s wrong, did I hurt you, catch you with my teeth?”

He smiled softly and took his weight on one hand and caressed my cheek with the other, “You didn’t hurt me, you sent me up to the clouds and I was near to ejaculating.”

“That’s okay, I wouldn’t have minded, in fact I wanted you to.”

“Not yet, later, this time I want to be inside you, deep inside you and bury myself in your arms, feel your body tight against mine, feel your passion.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say so I just nodded and he kissed me gently again and swung his leg over me to kneel beside my body and then he leaned forward and I felt his tongue on my nipples and immediately those sparklers started again but this time they seemed to start in my abdomen and radiate in all directions and I put my hands on the back of his head and crushed it into my breasts. I couldn’t feel the bed beneath me just his head now buried between my breasts and the tip of his tongue tickling the valley between them and the room began to blur but now it was me that had to stop him. “No, it’s happening to me now, you’ll have to stop as well.” He did just long enough to raise his head a little and I felt his tongue trace a line from between my breasts down past my belly button and trace across my body following the waist band of my thong. And then he lifted his head again and straightened up and looked down and I felt his fingers take hold of the thong and begin to pull it down. “My stockings, you’ll have to take them off the thong won’t get passed the clips on the suspenders.” I took my hands away from my breasts and reached down trying to find the fasteners but he gently pushed my hands away and took over deftly slipping the rubber buttons up until the clip released the stocking and quickly he had both stockings released and gently eased them down my thighs. “Where did you learn to do that; with another woman, have you been two-timing me before we ever met?”

He chuckled, “Thousands of times and he took the first stocking off my foot and laid it gently on the bed and then the second. “You see, I’m careful not to ladder them,” and then he undid the last two hooks on my basque and lifting one shoulder at a time he pulled down the straps and pitched the basque over the side off the bed, scooped up my stockings and dropped them on top, knelt beside me and smiled, “I went to a private school and we were taught how to undress a woman by the art mistress.”

I reached towards him, “Come here and show me what else she taught you.”

He eased my legs apart and knelt between them and spent time looking down at my body, slowly working his way up from my groin to my breasts where his eyes lingered, “You have the most perfect breasts I have ever seen, size, shape, nipples aureole, texture, everything.”

“The left one is a tiny bit large that the right,” I whispered.

He leaned forward and kissed it, then traced his tongue down until it reached the crease where it began to rise from my chest and then tickled its way along and then up again to the nipple and the sparks started again and this time they reached the underside of my chin and the backs of my knees and I felt my legs bend and my feet slide across the sheet and I started making a gentle mewing noise as his arms slipped under my knees and he lifted his head and pushed his body forward and found my lips and my legs crossed his back and locked around his waist and my arms around his shoulders. I felt a hand lower to the outside of my thigh and he started stroking it and then the tip of his penus touch the base of my scrotum and something exploded inside me and I called out his name and thrust myself up to him and felt his penus touch the entrance to my body that it was searching for and I pushed and the head entered me and as the explosion seemed to intensify the pain began and the mewing changed to a desperate panting and he stopped but I squeezed my eyes shut and using my arms and legs I pulled him down and tightened my grip on him as I thrust myself up. I thought he was going to tear me apart so strong was the pain and I screamed but still managed to push a little harder and the pain vanished. My body went quiet for a moment and he started to withdraw, “Don’t!” I cried, “Don’t you dare, the pain has gone,” and I pushed harder, “Bury yourself in me, John – Push!” and as he did I felt my entire body, my molecules, every neutron, every atom explode and break away from their disciplined orbits and fly off in every direction, through John, through the walls of the room out into space and they danced with the stars and then John started to slide his penus back and forth slowly and then with increasing urgency and everything started to spin, a whirlwind of wide open nerve ends and every one of them was touching John and it started to quieten down and then started up again with greater intensity, increased speed and flew further out into the void before slowing and turning back and the spinning slowed again and for a while we drifted back towards the blue speck of earth and then suddenly the funnel of sparkling particles blew apart and formed an endless single cord and sped back to my bedroom and collided with our two bodies in a tremendous explosion and for the third time I screamed and screamed in total ecstasy, my body shaking with the intensity of an orgasm before slowing and allowing the particles to join together.

I opened my eyes as my body quietened and he was above me staring down. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before, never. Where did you take me?”

“Heaven, let’s go back again, now.”

He shook his head, I can’t, not yet.”

“John, we have to go back, I have to check I haven’t left any of me behind. I split into millions of atoms, no sub atomic particles and they flew off in every direction, I may have left bits behind.”

“Take some from me. I can’t take you back yet, I need to refuel.”

I pushed him off me and sat up and looked down at him, he was beautiful, his chest so muscled and covered in sweat, glistening. He looked like a glazed statue of a Greek god. “What fuel do you want, caffeine enriched coffee, oysters, cornflakes? Tell me I’ll go out and buy anything you’re short off. What about another brandy or shall I massage you with evening primrose oil?”

He smiled up at me then pulled me down and kissed me. “I have all the stimulation, fuel and love right here beside me.”

“It’s probably you in that case, there’s missing bits of me inside you.”

“I thought it was the other way round.”

I nodded enthusiastically and turned into him, “Millions of them and you can’t have them back,” and I kissed him and kept my eyes open and stared into his, my own private paradise.

After a while, I closed my eyes and went to sleep and dreamed of John and me flying over the meadow with the starlings. When I woke up it took me a moment to work out where I was and then I realised that the lumpy thing beside me was not a screwed up duvet but John and I was tempted to poke him and see if he had regained his strength but he was smiling as he slept so it was obvious he was dreaming of me and I didn’t have the heart to disturb him and I was a bit worried that he might think I was being too forward, too quick to want him inside me again, perhaps I might have overdone it last night. I slid to the edge of the bed and got up and went to find my nightie and then remembered I had been undressed by John and hadn’t bothered with a nightie so I took the slip I had worn and crept into the en-suite shower room. I looked in the mirror before showering to check myself over for hickies and things like that but there were none so I wouldn’t have any embarrassing marks to explain away at my final pre-op medical which was now only days away.

I moved closer to the mirror and studied the bit that wouldn’t be there before much longer. There was nothing new about it and yet last night something had happened down there, it had been a bit sticky this morning on the area of my abdomen just above it. It wasn’t anything to do with John, well not directly. I know he was responsible for the way I had spent all that time in space but the sticky bit was more of a by-product, something that had happened because he had sent me into space and it had to have a connection with the explosions I had felt inside me, the wonderful sensations of being inside a volcano during an earthquake when a comet had hit the world but I can’t remember feeling anything down there, I had forgotten it existed, my excitement, the fiery sensations came from inside me, all over my body not from my penis. But it was the only place where the sticky stuff could have come from.

As I showered I thought back to the lectures my doctors had given me about my condition, about the operation and what I might experience afterwards and the best I could come up with was it had to do with my prostate. I know that was going to be left when I had the op so I assume it would still continue to produce seminal fluid but I wasn’t making sperm so seminal fluid was the only thing it could be. There was no blood anyway and nothing hurt and hadn’t done so last night so I put it aside, I would ask the experts when I saw them next but for the moment, there didn’t seem to be anything to worry about except how I was going to creep about in the bedroom and open wardrobe doors and tallboy drawers without awakening my space pilot.

I crept out of the shower room and almost slid my feet across the carpet to keep quiet and opened both wardrobe doors and stepped back and looked at the array of dresses, blouses and skirts. Judging by the light penetrating the cracks in the curtains, the weather was going to live up to the forecast of warm and sunny so I eased my floral sundress out, changed my mind and selected the white one and was about to put that back and have a look at the baby-blue when I heard John call my name softly. I turned round and walked across the carpet and looked at him, he was still asleep so I knelt down put my elbows on the mattress and cupped my chin in my hands and stared at his face. His eye lids fluttered a little and his mouth turned into a smile and the lips were slightly parted and for a moment I was tempted to lean forward and touch his lips with the tip of my tongue and then kiss him but he started muttering so I turned my head a little and eased forward so that I could hear what he was saying.

“Fly across the meadow again…fly lower so the hay tickles us…prairie oysters and…caffeine flakes…no, let’s fly again.”

I eased back turned and sat with my back resting against the mattress; he was dreaming about me. He and I were flying like birds across the top of the hay meadow and he must have been telling the dream-me what he wanted for breakfast. I stood and tiptoed back to the wardrobe, picked up the white dress and tulle petticoat and managed to open and close the drawers enough to pick out my bra, panties, stockings and sussies and then took them back to the shower and got dressed. He was still asleep so I took my make-up and hairbrush off the dressing table and was about to leave the bedroom and make myself incredibly beautiful in the office when he started muttering again so I went back to the bed and listened but it was just mumble jumble except for “Boiled eggs.”

So I left him to do my makeup in the office and then went to the kitchen and pondered the problem over breakfast, did he want prairie oyster eggs or boiled eggs? The caffeine flakes were easy, just coffee and cornflakes but the prairie oyster bit was a nuisance, I wasn’t sure how to make them other than they included raw eggs, tabasco and Worcester sauce but would he want boiled eggs as well? I shrugged and went back to the office, looked up prairie oysters, easy-peasy and if he didn’t want the boiled eggs, I could have them. Odd though, usually people had prairie oysters to cure a hangover, I’ve never heard of anybody having them for breakfast instead of poached or fried, still, men were a bit strange sometimes. I left the office and heard a voice coming from the bedroom so I went down and opened the door. The voice was John and it was coming from the en-suite shower so I knocked on the door, “I’m in the shower,” he called back unnecessarily, “I’ve got no clothes on,” he added equally unnecessarily. I opened the door and walked in and pulled the shower door open, “Do you want me to do your back?”

“You’re fully dressed!”

“That doesn’t matter, I have spare clothes.”

He smiled, “It’s tempting but you’ll spoil you hair.”

“I hadn’t thought of that but I have two things to say. One, you sing terribly and the other is about breakfast, do you really want prairie oysters AND boiled eggs?”

“Who told you I like prairie oysters?”

“You but I haven’t time to go into it now, which is it to be?” I sniffed the air, “And you’re using my perfumed soap, I warned you about that yesterday.”

He grinned again, “I’m not going into the office or on site today so it doesn’t matter and I’ll have the same as you for breakfast.”

“Are you sure, I’m having strong tea, toast and two estrogen tablets?”

He laughed, turned off the shower and stepped out and kissed me as I handed him a towel, “Want me to dry your back or better still your front?”

“No, I don’t trust myself.”

“I don’t trust you either that’s why I offered.” I turned to leave and said “Breakfast in ten minutes and don’t use all my makeup.”

Ten minutes later I sat at the kitchen table and watched fascinated as John picked up the glass containing my first ever attempt at making a prairie oyster. He sniffed it gently, rolled the glass in his hand to mix the contents evenly, sniffed again and placed the glass to his lips, tilted his head back and opened his mouth and the oyster vanished into his mouth. His lips closed over it and for perhaps three seconds he held it in his mouth and then swallowed, opened his mouth, sighed with satisfaction then smacked his lips. “Perfect,” he said, “Why don’t you try one?”

“I prefer my eggs in egg cups, it’s more lady-like. Why did you want one, you haven’t a hangover?”

“I like them, it’s just one of those odd things about me.”

“Do you have any other odd things about you I should know about?”

“Loads. I really enjoy winkles and fresh celery but the salt mustn’t be sprinkled on the celery, it should be poured onto the side of the plate in a neat cone so the celery stick can be dipped into it. I also liked to suck the sugar coating off paracetamol tablets before I swallow them.”

“That’s normal, I do that as well.” I got up and crossed to the breakfast bar and poured him a large cup of breakfast tea and picked up the plate with the two pink tablets on it and placed them in front of him. “There you are, I’ll get the toast ready now.”

He popped the two pink tablets into his mouth, crunched on them and washed them down with tea. You’re supposed to swallow them whole,” I reprimanded.

He nodded and drank a little more tea, “I know pink Smarties when I see them so that didn’t work.”

I grinned and sat down and pushed the pile of toast towards him. “Do prairie oysters work like sea oysters?”

“Well I fancy you like mad but I do that all the time so I can’t be sure.”

“I made you an offer when you were in the shower but you declined.”

“You looked so nice in that white dress I didn’t want to spoil it.”

“What time do you have to go home?”

“If I leave after breakfast I can get an early start, and I would like to take you out this evening.”

“If you can access your files, you can borrow my desktop and I’ll use the laptop, it will save you having to go home. Then I could tidy up the flat, do my work and we could go out for the day. You can use one of my leg razors if you want to shave, your chin I mean, not your legs and I have a spare tooth brush.”

Breakfast was finished so I started to clear the table and tuck everything away with the supper dishes and turned the dishwasher on, “I’ve just had a thought. Clean shirt, underwear and socks? If I wash them now and put them in the spin dryer, it will be a couple of hours before they are fit to wear.”

“What do I wear in the meantime?”

“I hadn’t thought of that, why not wear a towel round your waist and I’ll lend you one of my wraps to keep your upper half warm? Come to think of it, it would look quite sexy. You could wear it like a toga, over one shoulder with the other bare, a bit like a, gladiator. I’ll take the belt out of your trousers and you can wear that around your waist with one of my larger carving knives stuck in it.”

He nodded, “But for the sake of your safety, forget the knife and as nobody is going to see me, I’ll try it, I’m only sitting at a desk.”

I went into the bedroom and collected his clothes, placed his trousers on a hanger in my wardrobe with his jacket, left his shoes beside the bed and went into the utility room with the washing which now included my stuff, they could have a chat about last night whilst they were swimming about in the washing machine and then took my laptop into the sitting room and started work.

An hour later I had completed my work for the soft furnishing contract and sent it all off with a reminder that I would be going into hospital in a few days to let me know immediately if there were any changes needed and then I closed down and went into utility room and took out the washing and put it in the dryer and then made coffee. “Your clothes will be ready in an hour,” I looked him up and down, he was more like a pile of dirty linen awaiting a washing machine than a Roman gladiator, “It’s just as well you weren’t born about the time Jesus was on earth, you look more like a beggar than a gladiator.”

He nodded, “I feel like a discarded corpse the work is not going well, I keep thinking of you instead of area volumes and weight stresses.”

“That’s not a very nice thing to say. I was thinking of you when I did my work and it’s some of the best I’ve done.”

“You’re female and can compartmentalise your brain, I can’t.”

“Do you want an exciting, rip-roaring afternoon or a romantic one?”

“Romantic, why is there a fair in town?”

“No and it’s a surprise so don’t ask any more questions. I have to pop out to the shops, I’ll be about forty five minutes and then I’ll iron your shirt and we can be off any time you’re ready.”

“Okay, I’ll be finished work by then. Want me to help with the shopping?”

“No, you finish your job and I only need a few bits so it won’t be heavy.”

When I got back I had just enough time to prepare lunch, pack it away in the picnic hamper and get the carton with the primus stove, kettle and cool box and left them on the kitchen table. I ironed his shirt, grabbed his underpants and socks and went into the bedroom and left them on the bed with his trousers and jackets and went to fetch the owner.

“I’m just about finished; another fifteen minutes okay,” he greeted me and took a hold of me and kissed me, “I haven’t kissed you at all today.”

“Yes you did, in the shower but I don’t mind the second kiss, so any time you get the urge, just come and get me. Your clothes are ready and I’ve left them on the bed with a floppy hat I bought you.”

“Are we going to a cricket match?”

“Better than that, not so noisy but it’s a surprise now hurry up, I’ll make a phone call to a friend and then put everything in the car and we can get away.”

In Chapter 6, a surprise trip and a time for confessions.

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First Dates are Kissing Dates 6

By Frances Penwiddy

Murmuring with Starlings

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2016

Murmuring with Starlings contains material of an adult nature and is not suitable as reading material for minors.

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

A trip on the river and a time for confessions.

6
“Did you have a nice evening?” asked Samantha.

“I don’t know, it’s still ongoing.”

“Huh?”

“Yesterday evening is still happening, John stayed the night.”

“Wow! What’s happening now?”

“He’s in my office finishing off his work and then we’re going out to lunch and that’s as far as I’ve planned.”

“Going out where?”

“Where the wind and tide take us, I like surprises.”

“Stop talking riddles or I’ll come round and ruin your plans by insisting I stay for lunch.”

“I’m taking him on the river, I discovered he likes walking along the banks yesterday so I thought this would be a nice break for both of us, he works as hard as I do. I went out earlier and bought stuff for a picnic and a wide brimmed hat in pale yellow to match my shoulder bag and sandals.”

“Are you taking him on your boat, it sounds as if that’s what you’re planning?”

“Yes, I want to see how well he handles a punt before I go steady.”

I heard a long sigh, “It sounds like a romantic afternoon, can I come if I promise to sit quietly and just watch you two?”

“No.”

“How did yesterday go?”

“It was lovely, we walked along the river to the Horse and Barge and then he took me to see ‘Love Story’ and even brought a spare hanky and then we walked home and it was terrific, I’ve never imagined making love could be so beautiful.”

“You flew?”

“Out into space and danced with the stars. It hurt like hell at first but not for long and then it was incredible.”

There was another long sigh, “So you’re in love. Any problems?”

“No, well yes, this morning there was a sticky patch at the bottom of my abdomen, just above my pubes.”

“Blood?”

“No just damp and sticky and as far as I could tell it was either clear of milky white.”

“It’s probably seminal fluid, did you feel any itching or pain there?”

“No, no sensation there whilst it was happening, Willy is dead now and I was surprised this morning when I discovered it. I checked carefully and there was no blood, no pain, no itching, just nothing.”

“And yet you flew?”

“Yes, really flew I think I had three orgasms right on top of each other.”

“I’ll speak to the hospital tomorrow and have a word with your doctor if you like, he’ll need to know before your operation.”

“Oh! Will it mean the operation will be postponed?”

“I doubt it, we already know your prostate is slightly forward of where they normally are and if it was stimulated last night that would cause it to produce a lubricant. They may even be able to rearrange it a little and use it to lubricate your vulva and vagina during your op and that could mean you won’t have to use a gel. We’ll have to see what the doctor has to say. Are you free on Wednesday, he may want to check you over and I can come with you if you wish.”

“Okay, I’m almost clear of work now until after my stay in the hospital and I would like you to be there, you can explain all the technical bits to me in English. What about tonight though?”

She laughed, “Going flying again?”

“I want to but if it’s likely to cause harm, I can take a cold shower instead.”

“Go easy and if you find the entry pain continues for longer than it did yesterday or you have any unpleasant sensations, then stop. If you explain it to John, he’ll understand and if you are both aware, it will be safer. He does sound like a nice bloke and will stop if he thinks it’s causing a problem.”

There was a pause and then she said, “There are other ways of flying, you can always try one of them if you’re worried.”

“Okay I’ll experiment. See you Wednesday.”

“Phone me tomorrow anyway and let me know how it goes, bye.”

We turned right into the boat yard and I stopped beside the first of the two boat sheds.

“We’re going to hire a boat?”

“No, I can’t afford it, not at twenty pounds plus a forty pound deposit,” I answered opening the door of my car and pressing the boot button in one fluid movement. I slid from my seat and went round to the back, “Fancy meeting you here,” I said as John came round from his side. “You bring the large carton, it’s a bit heavy and I’ll carry the picnic hamper,” I took the hamper and opened the boat shed door and walked in and put the hamper beside the punt and returned to the car for my bag and sun hat leaving Will staring at the cruiser moored alongside the punt.

“She’s a beauty,” he said as I re-joined him, “But then again, so are you and given the choice, I would rather spend the day in a punt with you than in a luxury river cruiser without you.”

I smiled as I stepped into the punt, put the hamper in the centre and held out my arms for the carton carrying the plates and primus stove and nodded at the water container, “There’s a drinking water tap just over there by the door, can you half fill it, we won’t need more and I’ll untie the punt.”

“I thought you said it was too expensive to hire a boat.”

“It is but this one belongs to me, so I’m letting myself hire it for free.”

He chuckled and went to get the water and when he returned I had the punt untied and was settling myself in the forward seat. “Have you handled a punt before, there’s a knack to it?”

He shook his head, “I’ll learn on the job.”

“Normally I’d let you do it but I don’t want you falling into the river because I’ll have to jump in and rescue you and spoil the dress and my new hat. Lift the flaps behind the stern seat, there’s a small outboard and if you lift the engine section it can be swung round and tilted into the water and the starter cord is next to the tiller handle.”

He managed that and once the engine was running he eased the punt out of the boat shed and then around the workshop and boat dock and into the river, “Turn upstream, that’s left, I know a lovely picnic spot about a half hour upstream. If you get fed up with driving, I’ll take over.”

“I won’t so settle down and relax, I have handled a dinghy with an outboard before and the view from this end is breath taking,” he said as a light gust of wind lifted my skirt and petticoat but died as my hand tamed the skirt and prevented it rising too far. “You shouldn’t be looking.”

“Why, I undressed you last night, you didn’t tell me to stop looking then. Anyway, I can’t stop myself.”

“Last night was different.”

He smiled, “It certainly was.” His eyes were on me now and his look became thoughtful, “I wish I was a painter, the way you’re dressed and with the hat casting shadows on your face, your smile, the look in your eyes, you are an Impressionist’s dream.”

I started to blush and looked down at the hand still pressing down on my skirt and quietly spoke, “John, will my having the operation make any difference to the way you feel about me. If it’s something that will, I’ll cancel it, I’d rather have you to share my life than complete the way I would like to look.”

He cut the engine of the punt and let it drift and walked down to the bow and sat beside me, taking my hand, “Emma, what’s brought this on?”

I shook my head, “I’m worried about it, worried that you may no longer want me if I become a complete woman…”

“Wonder if I only want a pre-op transsexual woman?”

“Yes, that’s a major part of it but there is something else. Last night we made love long before I would normally have done so after meeting a man. I made it fairly obvious that I wanted you, wanted you to take me to bed, acted in a promiscuous manner by most people’s standards. But after all the time we have spent chatting to each other through our computers and then having had two lovely evenings with you I… I think something inside me decided that you were right for me, you were a lovely person and I felt safe in your company and I had fallen in love. I know it’s love because I have never felt this way before, never wanted to be with somebody, yearned for their company so much and I became a bit determined and it was me that seduced you rather than the other way round. I acted in a manner that was hardly sweet and demure.

“You gave me two opportunities to say no, that’s as far as we go but I responded by taking your hand and putting it on my knee and when you stopped and gave me the second opportunity to say ‘That’s as far as I can go tonight,’ I took your hand off my leg and placed it on my breast, I was determined to make you lose your self-control and be intimate with me, have intercourse and now I wonder if I didn’t overdo it, make you think I’m what people would think of as an easy lay and would act in the same way with any man. That isn’t true, you aren’t any man, you’ve become my man and I don’t mean that in a possessive manner, I mean that you are the only man I have ever met that I want, want forever…”

He leaned across and very lightly kissed me, “When I met you in the chat room I wasn’t there deliberately. Two years ago I was in a relationship with a woman, we had been together for nearly nine months. At the beginning everything was good and then after about six months things started going wrong. She began asking the wrong questions, asking me if I had any ambitions about my job and then she was asking me didn’t I find it a nuisance having my own consultancy and wouldn’t I prefer working nine till five and having my weekends free. Why I didn’t accept one of the offers I have received from major companies rather than struggle to make it on my own. This went on for quite a while and eventually we had a stand up row, I told her my consultancy and my job were very important to me, they were my ambition and one day, when I really became successful I would be able to take as much time off as I wanted and employ other people to do the travelling, overtime and site work. She refused to understand. She wanted me to change immediately.
“I can understand her point of view, nobody wants a life partner that spends so much time working and being away from home but the problem was that she wanted me to stop now right at the point where I am on the verge of getting the recognition I have worked so hard for. Even when I offered to do as she asked if she gave me another year she refused and a few days later when I got home from a site visit, she had gone and left a note saying she wanted a partner that kept regular hours, was at home every evening and had weekends free.” He sighed, “I can understand her point of view to some extent but to not even want to give it a go for another year was unreasonable, well I thought so anyway so I didn’t chase after her, I knew then she wasn’t the right woman for me.
“I buried myself in work then and though I met one or two women, they were just occasional things so I was living a life on my own and had it not been for my work keeping me so busy, I would have been lonely so I tried a few dating agencies on-line but that didn’t work either and I was about to give that up when I stumbled into your chat room quite by mistake. When I realised that it was a transsexual chat room I was on the point of getting out but out of curiosity, I started following a few of the conversations and though I thought they sounded like interesting people it hadn’t occurred to me to join in and then you popped up. I can’t remember the details of what you were saying but you were chatting to a friend called Samantha and I suddenly became engrossed and apart from some of the technical stuff about gender reassignment and hormones and things like that, you mentioned a concert at the Royal Festival Hall and I realised that you were becoming an interesting person and had a broad range of interests. I left the room then and a few nights later I revisited it and checked your profile and even though it was a lousy picture I still thought you were attractive and you were chatting to a girl about Charles Dickens and I listened in again and the following week there were several of you talking about cooking and eventually about two weeks after that I realised that I wanted to meet you and that’s when I started speaking to you, well chatting you up really. You know the rest.
“But as far as last night is concerned, you weren’t the only one who wanted to have intercourse. When I paused and told you to say ‘No’ if you wanted me to stop, it wasn’t my being gentlemanly, it was fear. I was frightened that if I did go further and you weren’t ready, then you would refuse to meet me again because I had gone too far, made love to you when you weren’t yet ready, weren’t sure you wanted our relationship to go in that direction. This morning when I woke up and you weren’t beside me in the bed, I was really frightened, I thought I had done the one thing I was most scared off, driven you away, taken advantage of the fact you had had a few drinks and hurt you. I lay in bed for a few minutes cursing myself for a fool and rather than come looking for you I hid in the shower and sang because I was trying to convince myself that everything was okay and you would suddenly appear and everything would be okay, and then you did suddenly appear and even offered to come in to the shower and my heart nearly burst with happiness.”

“But you refused my offer?”

“I meant what I said, you looked so beautiful I couldn’t bear to spoil it and I was still a bit scared off pushing you too hard, it was a difficult decision,” he smiled, “You’ll never know just how close you came to destroying a lovely dress and a beautiful hair style or how relieved I was that you still wanted me and I hadn’t wrecked the opportunity to win the heart of an incredible woman.”

“So I was the first transgendered woman you have ever made love to?”

“He looked a bit sheepishly at me, “Yes, did it show?”

I smiled and shook my head, “You are an expert lover, it was terrific and you seemed to know exactly what to do, how to excite me.”

“I did a lot of reading and listened to what your friends in the room were saying so I knew some of the problems that you might have but I didn’t quite expect the way you responded, you went up and away so quickly and seemed to take me with you, no not seemed to take me, you did take me and it was an incredible experience. When you’ve had your operation, it frightens me to think of where we’ll go when we make love, I’ll be so nervous, I’ll be like a young teenage boy having his first experience with a woman because that is the way I see you, you’re a beautiful, unique and exceptional woman. You have the expected erogenous zones and a very responsive body and react to kisses and caresses very quickly which is exciting. When we’re together doing other things, going out for a meal or picnics on the river like we are now, there is still an aura of excitement about you. You have a hidden ability to draw people in, show them things and make the ordinary become extraordinary. Have your operation because I think you know who you are but will never feel complete unless you do. You will have an image of yourself of being somewhere in between; neither male nor female yet yearning deep inside to be a complete woman. I don’t think your personality will change, you will still be the Emma you are now but instead of being a precious gem concealed in a cardboard box, you will be the same precious gem but displayed on a velvet cushion.

“Don’t worry about how I’ll feel towards you, I will be just the same as I am now, excited when I’m with you, enthralled by your femininity, enchanted with your sense of humour but above all, by the way you are able to share it with me and make me glad to be alive and thankful that the gods saw fit to bring us together.” He stopped talking, watched my face for a second or two and then his hand went to a pocket and came out holding a handkerchief and I threw my arms around him, hugged him as tightly as I could and kissed him and would have stayed like that for an hour but the punt bumped into the river bank.

The feelings that ran through me as we laid out the picnic were so mixed, I was deliriously happy most of the time. I kept chatting away about all sorts of inconsequential things then had moments of doubt, wandering what could go wrong, what disaster was waiting around the corner to ruin everything and John seemed to sense it and would reach out and touch me, smile or just kiss me. Eventually I settled down begun to feel comfortable with myself, with my plans for a future with John, with just about everything and above all, confident of him and his feelings. He didn’t do anything special but I did notice he was spending a lot of the time just looking at me, not speaking and not staring, just looking and there was always a soft look in his eyes. After we had finished our food and drank a glass of wine we lay on the grass under the shade of an old beech tree watching the few clouds drift idly across the sky. After a while he said, “I’ve cleared my work and told everybody I’ll be unavailable for three weeks and I’m coming with you when you go into the hospital.”

“You’ll get bored, all that happens is I’ll be stuck in a bed, told I can’t eat anything and only drink water and I’ll have to keep that up until the next day when they’ll prep me and wheel me away for a few hours and when they bring me back I’ll be spark out and my important bits will be covered in miles of bandages and plaster. The most exciting thing to happen will be a nurse coming round to change the dressings and they’ll throw you out of my room when they do that.”

“I’m still coming and staying until the end of visiting hours and then I’ll be back the next morning until they wheel you away and then I’m going to sit outside the operating theatre until it’s all done.”

“When I come out of the anaesthetic, I’ll still be a bit woozy.”

“Make sure you tell me or I might mistake it for your normal self.”

“Would you like to stay this evening, all night I mean?”

“I’d love to but I will need to make an early start because I’ll have to go to my place and change into fresh clothes for a site meeting in the morning and then a conference in the afternoon.”

“Normally I’d say it’s better if you went home and had a good night’s sleep but after tonight I won’t be able to have sex because of the operation so I’m going to be selfish and ask you to stay and I’ll run you home as early as you like. There is one thing though, when we make love, if I seem to be uncomfortable we’ll have to stop. It hurts in the beginning but that stops quickly but if I seem to be in pain longer than last night or I try to stop you, we have to stop immediately.”

“We don’t have to have sex, we can just be together and cuddle each other.”

I sat up and looked down at him, “Are you kidding, I couldn’t have you lying beside me in bed and not do something!”

He smiled, “Okay, we’ll see, but whatever happens I will be careful and treat you as gently as I would a soap bubble.”

The sun was low in the west and it was getting a little chilly, “Come on, we’ll pack up and get back,” and as I spoke and started to get up a bitchy gust of wind blew my skirt and petticoat up to my waist and I looked down and then fell on my back and started laughing and kicking my feet in the air, “Even the bloody wind is out to get me.”

“I told it to,” he said as he pulled my skirt down, “It was very nice, you must do it more often.”

In Chapter 7 – An introduction to Tamesisadda and an evening is planned at the Cantina.

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First Dates are Kissing Dates 7

Murmuring with Starlings

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2016

Murmuring with Starlings contains material of an adult nature and is not suitable as reading material for minors.

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

A dance lesson or two from the Butterfly who would be a Hawk.

7

When we got back to the boathouse, John took the carton and then I handed him the picnic hamper and climbed out of the punt and we tied up. He kept glancing at the river cruiser, “Tamesisadda, is that an Indian name?”

“No, Tamesisadda is a Celtic goddess of the River Thames, would you like an introduction? I’ll become furiously jealous if you say yes.”

“In that case I’ll say no. I wonder why they keep her moored here and not on the river?”

“Mooring charges on the Thames are frightening especially if they are secure moorings like this and the River Thames is less than an hour’s cruise in a boat like her. I’ll arrange an introduction now without feeling jealous as you declined when I first offered.”

He smiled, “Now that is female thinking. Do you know the owners?”

Before I could answer the door to the boathouse swung open, “Ah, yes, Emma, I thought it might be you, I saw the car earlier.”

“Hullo, Fred, we’ve been out on a picnic, the punt looks very smart.”

“I gave her a coat of varnish and cleaned her bottom a week ago.”

“Did she giggle when you tickled her bottom with the brush?”

“Cooed a bit,” he looked at John curiously.

“Come and meet my bloke, Fred, he’s an engineer and sorts out spaces in factories for machines and production lines, so if you ever need to sort out your workshop or dry dock, he’s the man to speak to.”

Fred came over and shook hands, “You’ll find the boats easier to keep in order than young Emma, they’re not so wilful,” he advised. Turning back to me he nodded at Tamesisadda, “She’s all done as well, new coat of anti-foul paint below the water line, are you planning to take her out soon, she could do with a bit of a run.”

“Not for a month or perhaps longer, I’m going into hospital soon. I might take her away for a week or two when the doctors give me the okay. If you want to borrow her, Fred, help yourself, take Della and your grandchildren out for a bit of fishing.”

“Aye, she’d appreciate that, thanks. Must go, I need to get the dry dock ready for a narrow boat coming in tomorrow, a seventy footer, nice boat, give me a shout if you want anything,” he nodded at John, “I’ll say this much, you look like a man that can keep her in order but keep your eyes on her, I’ve known her to jump in the river and swim to help a swan tangled up with fishing line and she did it fully clothed and it was March and not too warm,” he nodded and went off.

As he closed the door I said, “He never told you that he jumped in after me, I was cold and my clothes were pulling me down and Fred is over sixty and still managed to get me back to the boat and haul me out.”

“It was a brave thing to do, more so in March the water temperature must have been pretty cold?”

“It was, we both had to strip off and Fred was standing at the helm navigating the boat wrapped up in a couple of towels and a blanket while I shuffled around making soup in a winceyette nightie, a waterproof jacket and a pair of pink deck shoes. When we got back here Della kicked up such a fuss and ignored Fred completely. She rushed me into her house and virtually had me sitting on her Argo stove and drinking a mixture of milk and rum and poor old Fred had to squelch his way up to the bathroom, still wet and cold and run a hot bath for me.”

“They know about you then, about your being transsexual?”

“Yes, they were friends of mum and dad since before I was born and when my parents died four years ago they kept an eye on me in a quiet sort of way even though I was twenty two.”

“Nice people.”

“They are and very hospitable. When Fred tells Della that I’ve got a boyfriend, she’ll be giving you the once over and asking a lot of questions and demand to know if you’re capable of looking after me then she’ll take to you and fuss over you like a mother hen if you as much as graze your hand when opening a padlock.

“I’d better not upset you then.”

I laughed, “God no, there’s Samantha as well the three of them would wrap you in a tarpaulin and throw you into the river smothered in pike bait.”

“So Tamesisadda is yours?”

“Yes, I didn’t tell you because I was keeping it as another surprise. I held on to her after my parent’s death because of my happy memories and sometimes I take my customers for trips, often as far as Southend and Margate. It works as well, it’s different to the usual business lunch or dinner and they can bring their wives and girlfriends along as well. Ted takes charge of the boat and Della does the catering and they’re good at it as well, I’ve signed two contracts, big ones on board and settled a couple of very nice deals as well. We’ll go away for a while if you like once I’m out of hospital and if ever you want to impress a business contact or customer, you can use her. Let me know and if you want Fred or Della to handle the boat whilst you fuss over your customers, they can do it or I can, I can handle the boat and navigate inshore and in the Med.”

“Who taught you the navigation part?”

“Dad and Fred. I have a Channel licence and a navigation certificate and provided I stay within territorial waters or within the English Channel my marine insurance and navigation licence will cover me to take us to a dream island in the Aegean and if I hug the coasts, I can cross to Turkey come back along the Egyptian and North African coast and with a nod and a wink to the right people I can slip back to the north Mediterranean Coast between the Pillars of Hercules and back home via the Isles of Scilly, loop the loop around Ireland and get back to the Thames via Scotland and the North Sea.”

“I’ll book a week off and we’ll do it.”

“Make it a year and we’ll have time to do a bit of sight-seeing.”

We loaded the car with the picnic basket and drove home. “We’ll take this stuff indoors and then I’ll take you out to dinner. Don’t argue, it’s my turn. Now there’s the new Chinese restaurant or the Mexican place which has dancing, or wherever else you prefer?”

He nodded thoughtfully, “I’ve never tried Mexican.”

“It’s hot and spicy and the dancing is Latin and good fun but you don’t have to eat the spicy stuff, they also do mild and plain food as well.”

“Let’s go Mexican then.”

“Okay, I’ll shower and wear a dress more suited to a wild night in a Mexican cantina, would you like something to eat before we go out?”

“I’ll have to wear the same clothes, it’s a pity we didn’t call in at my place on the way from the boatyard, we were only fifteen minutes away. He picked up the carton containing the primus stove, “Where would you like these?”

“On the work bench is okay and I’ll take the picnic hamper into the kitchen.” I looked him over, “Can you get yourself something to eat and I’ll pop into town and get you a pair of Chinos, a shirt and we can borrow a sombrero when we go to the restaurant, they keep a few for customers and some ponchos. We can have fun.”

He looked doubtful, “I have to be on site at eleven in the morning and that means leaving home no later than ten, are we having a late night?”

“No, I did think of that so if we leave the restaurant no later than eleven, would that be okay?”

“Fine and I can shower and change at my place in the morning.”

“I’ll do your back for you and I’m an early riser so if we have cereal for breakfast and leave here at about eight thirty, will that give you enough time?”

He smiled, “Depends on how late it is before we get to sleep.”

“That, sir, is up to you,” I took the hamper up to the kitchen and left for the shops.

When I returned there was no sign of John but there were signs of recent activity beside the kitchen sink and I felt a little warmth coming from the dishwasher. I looked inside and he had loaded the picnic stuff and washed everything. So I went looking for him and as I came out of the office I heard him, singing again and sure enough, when I got to the bedroom he was in the shower so I put the clothes I had bought for him on the bed, knocked loudly on the door and shouted, “I’m having a bath, your new clothes are on the bed,” and after receiving an acknowledgement, I took my bathrobe and went for a soak.

When I got back, John was dressed and looked really dishy, edible in fact and the casual shirt really suited him. “You look terrific,” I told him, “All you need is the sombrero and poncho and you’ll look like a scrubbed up version of Clint Eastwood in one of his Westerns.”

He smiled, “You don’t think it’s too colourful?”

“No, definitely not, it’s just right for the place we’re going to. How do the shoes feel?”

“They’re fine, comfortable.”

“So there’s no excuse for you to not dance with me?”

“Nothing too elaborate though.”

“Latin and jive.”

“I can handle some Latin, the samba, rhumba, cha-cha but not the tango.”

“That’ll do for starters. I’ll be a half hour getting ready so if you want to phone George to see if he’s available you can give him a time.”

“Fine,” and he sat on the bed and just looked at me.”

“What are you sitting down for?”

“Waiting for you to get ready.”

“No you’re bloody not, you go and wait in the sitting room and if you get bored the vacuum cleaner is in the utility room.”

“Spoil sport.”

“You’ll get a chance to be excited when I dance in the Cantina, now buzz off.”

I finished my sultry Latin look makeup and took out my black full circle skirt and white petticoat and a white peasants blouse and then picked a pair of pretty, full cut panties, they had lace inserts at the side but the front and back were opaque so if I did flare the skirt and I was certainly going to try, I would at least be covered. A black suspender belt and my seamed nylons completed the ensemble under the skirt but I hate wearing a black bra under a white blouse so I wore a white cleavage bra. I picked my stiletto black patent heels and belt and a white wrap, took my coat from the wardrobe, spent five minutes checking the effect, well one minute really, the other four were spent admiring myself and went up to the sitting room.

“You’ve changed your hair style,” was the first thing that John said and the second was, “You look terrific though, definitely Fifties.”

“You like it? You don’t think the bowed ribbon holding the pony tail is too much.”

“No, it’s perfect, definitely perfect.” He helped me on with my coat, picked up his own jacket and took my arm, “George arrived two or three minutes ago, ready?”

“Just my bag,” and I took it from the coffee table, dropped my touch-up makeup bag inside and we went down to George, “Blimey,” he said, “You going to a fancy dress you look like a cross between Mexican Pete and John Travolta,” and he jumped out of the cab, run round to our side and opened the door, “And you are really something else, definitely Olivia Newton John.”

“Did your wife like the lipstick, George?”

“Oh yes, I nearly forgot, she wants you to give me the make and colour, she’s getting a tube.”

“I’ll jot it down in the cab.”

When we arrived at The Cantina, Peter Gonzales turned from making an entry in his bookings diary and walked quickly towards me and we air kissed, “Senorita Emma, how nice to see you again.”

“It’s been a while, Speedy, work and hospital,” I turned to John, “Clint, this is my favourite Mexican from Clapton, Peter Gonzales, known as Pedro to his mother, father and staff whilst to everybody else, Speedy. Speedy this is my favourite hombre, John, otherwise known as Clint the Cattle Rustler and will you lend him a sombrero and poncho for the evening.”

“For you Emma me old darlin, of course but can I still have a dance later?”

“Clint, can Speedy have a jive with me later and will you promise not to blow him away?”

John smiled and held out his hand, “I’m a little confused, should I call you Pete or Pedro.”

“Pete, set a new fashion. Have you known Emma long?”

“Ages,” I interrupted, “We even go away together on boating holidays and he can dance the rumba.”

“Dance away, Pete, I have a feeling I might not be able to cope with Emma in a jive, it’s a full time job just walking with her, I never know quite where the journey may end, what surprises await around the next corner.”

“You’ve not seen her jive before?”

“No, not even waltz.”

“You’re in for a treat, she’s terrific, dances like a feather in a breeze but with the speed of a lighting flash.” He went to a cupboard and came back with a sombrero, “Here but when you get up to dance, push it back off your head to hang down your back, it’s safer that way with Emma spinning in front of you.”

“Sssh, Speedy, you’ll give away my secret surprise.”

Once we were seated and had ordered our starters, John look around, “It’s well done, very atmospheric and the band is good.”

“They are and very good at keeping the tempo and Peter and his wife, Maria give a flamenco demonstration a couple of times during the evening.”

“Why doesn’t he jive with her?”

“She won’t, she tells him the flamenco is fast enough for her so she made me promise not to do the flamenco with him and in exchange, she wouldn’t jive. Peter loves the arrangement, he gets to dance with the two tastiest birds in here.”

“He has a pretty wife does he?”

I smiled, “I think you have just paid me a compliment. Yes his wife is very pretty and full of fun, especially when there’s a party going on which means most evenings.”

Our tortilla dips arrived and I watched as John attacked his tequila, downed it in one, sucked the lemon and shuddered before chasing it with a generous gulp of beer, “Have you ever thought of trying one of those with your prairie oysters.”

“A good idea for a cold morning, are you going to drink yours?”

I shook my head, “You can have it later if you wish, I daren’t drink one until after I finish dancing, I’ll stick to Mexican beer or wine,” I pushed the tequila towards him and sipped at my beer.

“You come in here quite a bit?”

“Not so much the last two or three months because of work and the hospital but yes, I used to come here once a month with the girls from my support group. When it was opening, Samantha found out about it from a friend on the council and we managed to get hold of a group ticket for the opening night and some of the girls brought their boyfriends with them and we had a terrific party. Peter and his wife really fussed over us and when the band started they came over to our table and serenaded us. The boyfriends the girls brought with them danced with all of us and Samantha’s fiancé, he was only a boyfriend in those days, did a samba with me and then a jive and a little later Peter and Maria did a flamenco demonstration and after that Peter got me onto the floor and we jived. It was quite reasonable at first and then I think he signalled the band to speed things up and we flew. He’s a brilliant dancer and we did put on a show and since then, when we come in, he always has a jive with me. Maria told me I was a very good dancer and asked me if I would like a job giving a demonstration dance with Peter twice a week but my graphics were really beginning to take off then and I couldn’t spare the time.”

“Where did you learn to dance?”

“At school in the beginning, our music teacher started it off and we had a dance lesson every week in the gym, that was about the time I was beginning to notice that I was a bit different to the other boys and I used to envy the girls, the way they could look so graceful and the pretty dance clothes they wore and when I left school and went to art college I was dressing and living as a girl then and somebody suggested I join a dance school and I did and started learning the women’s steps and I really loved it. I don’t dance a lot these days, too busy but I do enjoy it on occasions like this, so you’d better be prepared.”

“You’re scaring me.”

I smiled, “I’ll be gentle with you just like you are with me when we make love. I might be tempted to dance very closely when we are doing a smoochy waltz so you must warn me if you think I’m taking liberties.”

“I wouldn’t dream of spoiling it for you.”

We had a glass of beer each and then the band started playing a waltz, “Come on, let’s dance,” and I got up before he could think of an excuse not to. We danced a respectable waltz, not too clingy and after a minute or so, Maria, Peter and another guitarist followed us around the floor serenading us and when that dance ended, they went straight into another one and without really realising what I was doing, I started singing it to John, well the tune was ‘If I Give My Heart to You,’ so I wasn’t so much singing as grilling him on his future plans for us and I started snuggling in a little closer. When the dance ended he gave me a little kiss and we returned to the table to find it filled with little dishes each containing small samples of assorted Mexican foods. “Did you order?” asked John.

“No, well not really, I just told Peter that you hadn’t tried Mexican food before so he must have put these here for you to try before we order.”

“There’s more than enough for both of us to make a meal out of.”

Peter came over, “I thought you might like to try a few of these and there are some new ones for you to sample as well Emma.”

“We can’t try all of these, we won’t have room for our meal.”
“I don’t suppose you will but the next time you come here, you will know what you like best, it’s called customer relations.”

“Are you saying you’re not going to charge me?”

“Of course I’m not. I’m stitching you up for the tortilla dip and the drinks but these are on the house.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, “Look at it as a thank you. I have customers that come in here and ask if Emma is here and is she going to dance and look disappointed when I say no. You have brought new customers to our restaurant, even this evening I have had two customers ask if it is you and when are you dancing so eat up and enjoy yourselves.”

“There you are,” I said as he went off to speak to the band, “The man who marries me will save a fortune on food, I can dance for dinner every night.”

“And sing for your supper.”

We started sampling the food between us and it was almost as good as taking a tour of Mexico. Peter was going to make a big success of The Cantina if he and Maria started putting these dishes on their menu, there was something to cater for just about every taste. We had nearly finished, in fact I had but John was still eating a little when the band beefed up their music and Peter strode arrogantly onto the dance floor and raising his arms began tapping his feet and moving slowly around the perimeter of the dance area and then Maria slowly spun onto the dance floor beneath the band and on our side. Glancing across at Peter, she tossed her head, spun again and moving slowly in our direction she tapped a little raised her hands and used the castanets then a slow spin, another toss of the head and stopped alongside our table and winked at me, “I think he’s interested,” she whispered and turned towards Peter, gave him another glance and then in a voice loud enough for the diners to hear but still speaking to me she said, “I have no interest in men who think they can dance but do not appear to have the ability,” and then with a lighting display of flamenco steps and furious clapping of the castanets she spun to face him, slammed the floor with a foot and lowered her arms to place her hands on her hips with one leg thrust forward and gave yet another toss of her head.

Before the iridescent green of her dress had settled Peter increased the speed of his toe and heel clicking walk with an occasional burst of hand clapping and walked slowly back to the band, his eyes roving over Maria’s body as if he were a farmer assessing a prize cow that he might consider making a bid for. When he was opposite her, the music sped up and he went into a superb display of the arrogant stiffness of the Flamenco his legs and feet moving at incredible speed as they beat a staccato of sound with dazzling movements of his feet and persistent hand clapping which slowly forced the band to increase its rhythm and then he stopped dead, mirrored Maria’s stance with both hands on his hips and one foot tapped impatiently as he stared her down before giving her an imperious ‘come-hither’ flick of his head.

Maria turned her head to me and said, “He still thinks he can dance,” and then matching his footwork, she slowly span out her heels and toes tapping the rhythm, her castanets in time with her turns as she increased the speed until her skirt and multi-layered black petticoat started to flair and she used it to tease the audience until she reached Peter. He waited for her and as she closed on him he turned sideways and slowly danced his way around her, his tattoo beating in sequence with hers and then he lifted an arm and she matched the movement without once faltering in her hand movements, keeping the castanets beating a slow rhythm against the staccato of their feet and then they spun away from each other and closed again spun with each other and in opposite directions and I watched fascinated. At no time did he touch her though their hands came within millimetres of each other and they turned, spun, parted, closed and orbited each other like a matador and a bull manoeuvring for position ready to close for the kill and their feet worked at incredible speed but always in time. The audience were clapping the rhythm now, keeping pace with the guitars and drums of the band and it wasn’t difficult for me to imagine I was standing in a Spanish bullring under a burning sun with the flashing colours of Maria’s dress working as a counterpoint to the severe black of Peter’s high waisted trousers and silver decorated jacket.

The dance ended and they both looked each other up and down and then Maria shrugged, “You can dance a little but you still need lessons,” and she turned away from him and with an occasional tap or click from her shoes she walked towards me. I began to feel a little uneasy but she stopped an arm’s length away and turned to face the other diners, “Ladies and gentlemen, she hasn’t visited us for some time but tonight we have the one woman who can give Pedro a lesson, our own Emma the Butterfly,” and without warning she turned, reached out and took my hand firmly and pulled me from my chair. I nearly collapsed on the floor, I couldn’t dance a flamenco to save my life. Peter would dance rings around me until I got giddy and collapsed and my free hand reached out to John but I was too slow and Maria stepped away from our table taking me with her, “Go show him how to dance, Emma,” said John smiling.

A fat lot of good the new love of my life was, in my moment of greatest need he had gone over to the enemy, “Maria!” I hissed, “I can’t do the flamenco!”

“Trust me,” and she took another three steps, dropped my hand and as she sashayed away she whispered, “Spin your way after me and stop beneath the band’s rostrum.”

I looked back at John but he just smiled and nodded, then I looked towards Peter who was standing there giving me that challenging, haughty look and something stirred inside me, I hadn’t found the man yet who could lose me in ballroom and Latin American and I’m dammed if I’m going to let some bloody Clapton-Mexican prove himself a better dancer than me. I placed a hand on my hip and walked slowly towards him, disdain on my face and egged on by the other diners who were crying out, “Go for it, Emma!” “Send him on his way!” “Show him how to dance!” I walked three quarters of the way towards him and then turned towards Maria who was now standing under the band nodding and smiling. I tossed my head has she had done and started turning slowly and then increasing the speed I spun away from him and towards Maria.

“I can’t dance the bloody flamenco!” I whispered in desperation, the realisation of the challenge I had just accepted dawning on me.

“The band will change the beat and tempo when he gets here, don’t worry, you’ll know the dance, now go get him.”

I looked at her, studied her face, her eyes to see if she was lying but there was only a reassuring smile so I returned my attention to my adversary who was now moving in my direction with occasional flurries of heel tapping footwork and slow turns, the haughty look on his fare as he looked me up and down and then he reached out, stopped and gave two hard stamps of his feet and waited.

I would kill Maria for this and dreading what was coming I took his hand, felt the gentle pull and spun into him and to my surprise he opened his arms and took hold of me in the basic open Latin American hold and as he did so, the music and tempo changed from flamenco to rumba and we slowly danced out to the centre, our hips exaggerating the steps and twice he released a hand and allowed me to turn out and then in and when we reached the centre I looked him in the eyes and saw the slight smile at the corners of his mouth and again the tempo changed and we started dancing the cha-cha. I was on familiar territory now and I threw myself into the dance and matched him step for step, turn for turn and we must have been dancing well because there was a constant beat of the tempo coming from the audience as they clapped the timing and after perhaps two or three minutes, the music slowly faded until only the drums remained and again the style changed and I heard the familiar intro to Rock-Around-The-Clock begin and their male singer started the opening words and I looked into Peter’s eyes, “This is where you get yours,” I whispered and I started to jive and so did he and I kept increasing the pace and he matched me and then lifted our hands to above head height and spun me, spun me back and spun me out again and my skirt lifted, the audience cheered and I realised that he had opened his hand and I was making very fast turns with just my fingers resting on his palm without any support. For a moment I faltered, I had never danced without a firm hand holding me in the fast turns, he was challenging me so I took my hand away from his and spun across him three times and as I pushed my hand out for the catch, his was there waiting but again only an open palm and with just a touch of his thumb he brought me back in and then we danced, danced like I had never done before and several times I found myself copying Maria’s near but never touching hand movements and we turned, spun and skipped around each other my skirt flying, the audience a blur, we danced like a tiger and a panther circling prior to mortal combat, no a pair of falcons trying to outfly each other. I was dimly aware of the band changing to Jailhouse Rock and for twelve minutes we danced until he closed a hand over mine and spun me in to stop. “I surrender, there isn’t a move I can make that you can’t match, you win,” he was smiling and all around us the diners had forgotten the food and drink and were on their feet applauding. Maria spun down to us and we each took one of Pedro’s hands and we bowed to them and turned ourselves to applaud the band and then they walked me back to our table. John was on his feet, “You were superb,” he said, “Truly superb, all of you.” Peter bowed, “Senor Clint, I return the butterfly who would be a hawk to your care and thank you for allowing me the pleasure, no privilege of dancing with her.”

John held out his hand and Peter placed mine in it and John guided me to my chair. As I sat I realise that I had danced in four inch stilettoes and my feet had never faltered but they ached and I reached down and eased the shoes off, “You’ll have to carry me out to the cab,” I complained, “I just can’t dance in heels.”

“Of course not,” said Maria, “You’d lose control and crash into a table,” and she and Peter went off to attend to the diners.

John was smiling, “You certainly rocked me and I wasn’t even taking part.”

“I’ve already promised to teach you but don’t try it in heels.”

In chapter 8; After an evening of dancing, Emma and John go home and Scarlet, Emma’s Muse, dictates the action.

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First Dates are Kissing Dates is available on Amazon Kindle as an E-book or paperback.

And finally, I have been experimenting with short stories and novella’s, (That’s when I have nothing else to do,) and with a little editing, this too may be ready for Christmas as an anthology where I have tried to write humour and at the same time deal seriously with the problems and of course successes of transgendered and intersexed people and some of the fun, sadness and relationships they have.

First Dates are Kissing Dates 8

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2016

Murmuring with Starlings contains material of an adult nature and is not suitable as reading material for minors.

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

After an evening of dancing, Emma and John go home and Scarlet, Emma’s Muse, dictates the action.

8

“I didn’t overdo it did I?” I asked John when we arrived home and I made our coffee, “I became so lost in the music and dancing and the competition between Peter and myself that I totally forgot about how high the skirt was lifting or what I was exposing.”

John chuckled lightly, “In the context of what was going on and the general atmosphere of The Cantina, no. It was to some extent erotic, your skirt lifted high enough to let everybody know the colour of your underwear but the sheer brilliance of your dance, the way Peter and you spun around each other, teased and challenged each other demonstrated how, even something like a jive, could be turned into a work of art and the slightly erotic exposure of your limbs added to the artistic appeal. No, you didn’t overdo it. As a spectator I found it exciting, no more than exciting and only wished I had the sense of rhythm, the gymnastic ability to dance like that so I could jive with you but I can’t so I must satisfy myself with a bit of shuffling and when you go flat out in the jive, I will enjoy just watching you. There is one criticism I would make; after having listened to you tell me about your early life and your realisation that you were different to the other boys and how it manifested itself in the way you joined the girls at playtime in school, I was disappointed that you didn’t throw a cartwheel or two into the dance.”

“Cartwheels! Cartwheels in four inch stilettos! I would have broken both ankles and ended up sliding out of the door on my bum!”

“So you would be prepared to try it if you were wearing flat heeled shoes?”

I grinned, “It would certainly give Peter something to think about but knowing him, he’d probably grab one of my ankles and spin me around until I was too giddy to stand up.” I glanced at my watch, “It’s later than we intended, we should go home to bed otherwise you won’t be in a fit state for work in the morning.”

John sent a text to George and nodded in satisfaction, “He’ll be with us in five minutes, he was taking a break before the busy time starts.”

We got up from the table and said our goodnights to Peter and Maria and left. We were quiet in the cab, just holding hands and thinking of the lovely day we had enjoyed together but as we entered the flat I couldn’t stop myself from yawning. “It’s the dancing, it was a bit too energetic, I’ll have to get down to the gym, I’m not dance fit anymore.”

“You’re right but it has been a terrific evening, thank you, thank you for the whole day, we must do it again.”

“I’m not so sure. It really tired me out,” I was lying of course, I was still full of life, “In fact I haven’t the energy to undress, I think I’ll just lay on the bed and undress in the morning.”

“You won’t sleep properly like that, I’ll undress you if you like.”

“It would be nice but you’re tired as well.”

“I am but I feel obliged to help you after you went to such efforts today to see that I had a good time.”

I grinned, “I bet. Just undress me slowly, none of that caveman ripping knickers off stuff, be sweet and loving and very, very gentle, I’m fragile, you heard Peter and Maria describe me as a butterfly, treat me as such.”

“You were also described as a hawk.”

“So I was. Would you like me to grab you with my talons and fly us high above the clouds?”

“As high as the moon if you like, want me to carry you to the bedroom?”

“Yes.”

He lifted me and cradled my shoulders in his left arm and his right upper arm was under my knees and as he walked he was caressing my lower left arm with his left hand and my right hip and waist with his right hand. I leaned my head against his shoulder and looked up at his profile. The set of his jaw told a lot about him, he was a man that wouldn’t easily be pushed off course once his mind was set on something. If it was ever necessary to get him to change his mind then it would need to be done gently, coercion rather than instruction. Whilst I was studying him I felt his hand fiddling around at my waist, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to find the zipper for your skirt.”

“It’s a back zip, not a side zip, you’ll have to put me down to get to it and I’m nice and comfy, can’t you wait until we’re in the bedroom?”

“I’m impatient, it’s your fault and your provocative dancing.”

“You know what sort of knickers and stockings I’m wearing why are you impatient?”

“I want to feel them.”

“They’re silk, you know what silk feels like.”

“No, I haven’t felt a warm body inside a pair of silk panties since last night, I’ve forgotten what it feels like?”

“You’d better get the bedroom door open then and don’t forget to turn the lights on so you can get a good look.”

“I can’t reach the doorknob with you in my arms.”

“Lower me a bit and I’ll do it.”

He did by stooping a little and tilting my head down and at the same time managed to flip my skirt and petticoat up so that it bunched under my bust. “Eek! Don’t drop me.”

He answered by lifting his right arm so that my body was at an angle of forty five degrees and my hips were nearly at his head height and then he kissed me right in the middle of my panties. In desperation I got the door open before I blew up, “Forget undressing me, get me onto the bed and take me as I am, if you don’t, I’ll never date you again!”

John may not be able to jive but he could certainly move across a carpet quickly enough because in three seconds he dropped me right onto the middle of my bed and before the mattress had a chance to rebound he was undoing the buttons of my blouse, slipped his hands under my waist and under the back of the blouse and unhooked my bra and pushed that up and stopped dead and stared for a bit then kissed one nipple, pinched the other and at the same time flicked my skirt up so high it nearly collapsed on his head and he brushed it back, forgot my boobs and went straight for the panties and kissed me right at the V where they vanished between my thighs and then I felt his tongue force its way between my thighs and I opened my legs and his lips closed on my tiny bulge and I felt the front of the panties become wet and so did he because he lifted his head, hooked my panties with his fingers and pulled them down and off one leg leaving them dangling from the other ankle as he scooped up my legs and lifted them and held them with his shoulders whilst he undid his trousers and pulled them down with his pants and I felt the dragon slide back and forth over the wetness on my lower tummy as it seemed to be drinking the lubricant that I was leaking and then it vanished as he leaned back, still keeping my legs across his shoulders. “You ready?”

“John, stop fooling around and get it into me, I’ve only got seconds before I go nuclear.”

“Not so fast, you’re not dancing with Peter now, it’s me and I’m doing nothing until you withdraw your threat.”

“Threat? What threat, just get on with it and bury it in me, all of it, as high as it will go, do it now.”

“Do you promise to come out with me every time I ask you?”

“Yes, yes, anything, I promise, now will you fuck me or I’m going to explode.”

“Ooh, aren’t you the little slut all of a sudden. This is fun, go for it, I’ll back you up all the way I do fully understand the Anglo-Saxon terminology.”
“Get lost.”
“Not now, just when it’s getting exciting, just get on with it, I won’t interfere other than to encourage you.”

John eased forward and the monster now stiff, hot and leaking a bit itself paused for a second at my rosebud and then slid in and I screamed with a mixture of excruciating pain and sheer ecstasy and I locked my heels behind him as he collapsed on top of me and impaled me, holding me tight onto the bed and I just had time to cry out, take a deep breath and then he was pumping and my heels were beating on his buttocks encouraging him and I dug my nails into the top of his shoulders and we flew up and up through the clouds and straight towards the moon and still he kept pumping into me and we ignored the moon and flew straight into the sun and I had a nova and he yelled and I felt him release millions of radioactive sperm into me and I went into a second nova that went on and on…

I opened my eyes slowly for a second not sure where I was and then they focused and at the same time I heard John’s heavy breathing as he lay still on top of me with his head to one side, his lips just touching my cheek. His shoulder was only an inch or two away from me and I lifted my head and kissed it and as soon as I did, I felt things stirring deep inside me and my nipples were tingling again so I opened my mouth and nipped his shoulder with my teeth and sucked as hard as I could as if trying to draw his essence. He groaned quietly and I felt him begin to slip out of me but I squeezed hard with my thighs and managed to hold him with about half of his penis still embedded in me and the tingling grew more intense, “Don’t you dare slip out, I’m not finished yet, I want you to take me out into space again, I’m not finished, I can still travel…”

“I can’t, not yet, I want to but I can’t.”

“You can, if you really want to experience that again, really want to, you can,” and I pushed hips up to him and felt a little more of his space ship slip in so I started to tighten my internal muscles and wriggled and the electric sparks started zipping up and down my body, heading to my groin and thighs so I wriggled a little harder and felt my body shudder and I gasped, “Go on, go on, you can, please just push in and pull out a little.”

He responded and I felt him harden again and he pushed and then slid back and the tip of his penis started caressing something deep inside me and I saw lights flashing across the room, back and forth like the strobes in a disco growing more and more intense as they matched the shudders that were running up and down my body and John sensed something and seemed to take strength from me and he grew and hardened until he was back to his best and he started his slow pumping movement and each thrust forward touched that something inside me and the lights turned gold and spread until the entire room seemed to be one sheet of pulsing gold. He moved slightly and a hand cupped my breast and squeezed firmly and he gave a hard thrust into me and the gold shattered, the room filled with stars, flashes of lighting and the thunder of his breath and it felt as if his entire body was forcing its way into mine and I wrapped myself around him like a blanket and gasped air into my lungs as he gave another thrust and we exploded together.

We lay still wrapped around each other, still firmly bonded and I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling and the centre light pendant slowly feeling my body return to normal, not feeling tired but alive, really alive and very content, at peace. He moved and I felt his hand gently touch the side of my face and then a finger traced the line of my lips and I turned to face him, “That was so beautiful.”

His eyes were wide open but still soft, “I felt as if I was inside you, I could feel your excitement, your passion, it was as if we had become just one body.”

I nodded slowly and relaxed the grip I had on him with my arms and thighs, “Yes, that’s exactly what happened, we became a single body and our souls danced with each other.”

We lay quiet for a while until he asked, “Shall I finish undressing you now?”

I’d completely forgotten my clothes and lifted my head and felt my blouse slip off my shoulders and when I looked towards my feet, still either side of John’s I giggled, “I’ve still got my shoes on and my panties are only half off.”

“And your skirt and petticoat will need a couple of hours of ironing it’s all scrunched up.”

“I’m surprised it didn’t catch fire. The heat down there must have been intense. I lifted myself a little higher, “And look at you. You still have most of your clothes on, it’s as well you weren’t wearing your suit.”

“I have others and I’ll gladly sacrifice a suit every time we make love if it’s going to be like it was tonight.”

I let my head fall back onto the pillow and looked up at the ceiling half expecting to see scorch marks, “God, I was shameless and my language, whatever happened to the soft romantic me that I was earlier today.”

“Standing to one side and provoking the adventurous and wanton you, Emma Homebird versus Scarlet Demon. I love both of you and any others that you still have hiding inside.”

“Aah, that’s so nice, so lovely and he loves me as well, I feel all tingly.”

I sat up again and slipped my blouse and bra off completely and looked down at him, “It was terrific though, exciting, different, I don’t know what got into me but I’m going to encourage Scarlet again when the occasion demands.”

“Dear me, yes, yes, yes!”

“I’ll do everything I can to help. We had an experience we won’t forget and I think we’ve also proved that we belong together.” He eased up onto one elbow and looked at our bodies, “I’ll have to untangle us before I untangle your clothes.”

“Don’t untangle us too much, I want to feel all tangled up with you even when you’ve gone off to work.”

~~~~~~~~~

The full eBook is now on Amazon Kindle and this is as far as I can go without upsetting Amazon. But there’s a lot more of Emma and John, they are made for each other so the process of learning and allowing their souls to fuse and their lives to be shared must be allowed to reach its natural conclusion.
And what of the future and Emma’s SRS?

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Vesta’s Hearth, First Dates are Kissing Dates and volumes 1 and 2 of Footprints in the Sea are available as E books on Amazon and other sites. Vol 3 will be published in a few weeks’ time.

Reviews would be nice they encourage me and I still have ‘Searching For Penny’, ‘Janus Girl’ and ‘For the Sake of Art’ still tucked away in a corner of my computer.

I’ve had one or two people mention that they couldn’t find the E-book version of First Dates are Kissing Dates on my Amazon home page. The featured version is the paperback but close to the bottom there is link to the E-book. Amazon have put the emphasis on the paperback and used its cover rather than the E-book cover but they are both there.

Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 1 & 2

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints In The Sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

Shipwrecked on an island in the South Pacific and more than one thousand miles from the nearest habited land and located between New Zealand and South America, Charlie Broughton explores what he thinks is a deserted ship to find that there is one other survivor, Will Devonshire.
They work together to secure the ship and plan their rescue but things begin to happen to Charlie, things that frighten him and he begins to question who he is…

Chapter 1

I awoke slowly, staring up at the deck head slowly becoming aware of my surroundings.
Somebody once told me that when I go to bed, I don’t sleep, I die for the night and my consciousness reluctantly rose from the deep recesses of my mind until it reached the stage where I was able to ponder on whether I wanted to shower first or make coffee. Coffee won, if I tried to shower in my present state of mind I might well drown myself.

I rolled onto my side and slid my feet over the edge of the bunk at a pace in keeping with my awakening and sat up. I paused for a moment as my brain made its final effort and I became aware that something was wrong, it was too quiet. Day or night, a ship at sea produces noise, the engines and passengers even when trying to be quiet still make a noise but the only sounds I could hear were a light wind, the swish of the sea and a little creaking and the only motion I detected was a slight lifting and falling as a wave passed under the keel but nothing else. Then I noticed that I was leaning forward, the ship had a slight list to port, nothing much but just enough to cause my upper body to react. I pushed myself up and walked to the bulkhead opposite my bunk where the window overlooked the promenade deck but there was nothing to see, the deck was there and I could see one of the lifeboat davits and there were three or four deckchairs but no people, no chatter, just a pair of seagulls off to one side and a blue sky. Mysteries must wait, I needed caffeine to allow my brain to complete its awakening. I moved over to the dresser upon which stood the coffee percolator and switched it on – nothing, no little red light, no cheerful bubbling just silence. I tried the light switch, same result so I went over to the shower door and opened it and switched on the pump and heater, still nothing. They must have switched the power off in this section I thought and tilted my head and listened carefully. The main engines were definitely not running and the generators were silent as well. I know I would hear and feel them from my cabin, I had heard them in port before we left. I returned to the dresser, opened a drawer and took out clean underwear and socks and went back to the bed and dressed. If there was no power in the cabin I would have to go to the passenger saloon but I needed that coffee.

The passenger saloon was multi-functional, it was situated at the forward end of the promenade deck under the bridge and stretched the full width of the ship and served as a restaurant, bar and lounge which had easy chairs, bookshelves, card tables and a pair of computers for passenger use. If the dozen or so passengers required it, the stewards would move the furniture and change it into a mini-ballroom. The MV Pacific Wanderer was a general cargo vessel that also had eighteen passenger cabins and spent most of its life island hopping with a mixture of goods for the many islands and archipelagos that dotted the Pacific and from a passengers point of view, was luxuriously appointed and beautifully suited to my purpose and that was to meander from island to island and be waited on and treated as an honoured guest rather than just one of the herd to be found on regular passenger liners. The problem at present was that Pacific Wanderer was not wandering and I had the feeling that I was the only passenger on board and as I looked out of a forward facing window at the deserted cargo deck, I changed my mind, I now thought I might be the only human on board and the Pacific Wanderer was like the Mary Celeste. I tried a light switch again without success and there were no sounds coming from the galley at the rear of the restaurant section so I returned to the promenade deck beginning to feel apprehensive. I looked towards the stern but there was no sound or sight of crew or passengers but something had changed. I stood for a moment trying to work out what was out of place and then I noticed the lifeboat davits and became aware of something I hadn’t noticed when I looked out of my cabin window. It wasn’t so much about what WAS out of place, it was more what was NOT in place and that was the lifeboats!

I ran back through the passenger saloon and out onto the starboard deck and breathed a sigh of relief, there were two lifeboats still in the davits and then I heard a muffled banging that seemed to be coming from somewhere below the bridge. I went back inside and the noise was clearer so it had to be coming from here in the stern of the ship and not from the cargo holds. I went behind the bar and searched through two or three drawers until I found a torch and went out into the passage and down the stairs to the crews quarters and through a door with the sign; ‘No Admittance to Passengers – Dangerous Machinery – Strictly Crew Only’. I don’t know a lot about ships, just about enough to know that ‘Dangerous Machinery’ had to be the ship’s engines, auxiliaries and electrical controls and the door was open. I stood just inside and looked around; this part of the ship was purely functional, painted steel bulkheads and cabin doors with labels that indicated that the residents were engineers and electricians. The banging started again and was still coming from below so I returned to the stairs and went a deck lower but here the door labels were for various stores and the banging was still below me so down I went again and now the floor was a steel grating and there was no inboard bulkhead, just a waist high grating and when I looked over, there below was what had to be the main engines, so down I went again drawn by the muffled banging.

I stood beside one of the engines, they were huge, I don’t know what I had expected having never been in a ships engine room before but it certainly wasn’t anything like the engine in my car. I shone the torch towards the stern but there was wasn’t much to be seen in the light of the torch, just a bulkhead and racks of tools and work benches. Turning to look forward there was light coming from somewhere because the engines were silhouetted and there was a large control panel covered in switches and dials but it was lifeless and beyond this another bulkhead. I walked forward slowly and when I reached the control panel I peered round it. Again there were tool racks, panels with more dials and at the far end another machine, the auxiliary generator I suppose and the light and noise were coming from a large doorway about halfway along.
Treading carefully I made my way to the doorway and turned in. The light was coming from my right so I shone the torch to the left quickly and saw work benches, lathes and turret drills, it was obviously a machine shop and then I looked right. This was its partner, a carpenters shop and the centre piece was a large work bench at which stood a man, a tall man about six two against my five seven. He wore dark slacks and a blue patterned shirt open down to the waist and the body beneath the shirt was muscular, fit rather than weight lifter but his clothing didn’t fit the task. The man might have belonged here but his clothes were better suited to an office.
“What’s happened?”
He dropped the mallet he was using and looked up startled. “Where did you come from?”
“Upstairs. The ship, where is everybody?”
“Are you crew?”
“No a passenger.”
He stooped to retrieve the hammer and I walked towards him, “Where is everybody?” I repeated.
He straightened up and spent a second or two looking me over, “Gone, abandoned ship when we hit the reef.”
I reached out to the work bench to steady myself, “Hit a reef! Abandoned the ship! When?”
“You didn’t know! It happened at about 1am, where were you?”
“In my cabin, asleep.”
“And the steward never called to waken you and show you to a lifeboat station?”
“No, I didn’t know a thing until I woke up about a half hour ago and found the ship so quiet and there was no electricity supply to my cabin. I went to the saloon to get coffee and there’s nobody there so I heard you banging and came down here. Are you an engineer or something?”
“Not a ship’s engineer or member of the crew, like you I’m a passenger.” He took a step towards me, “Name's Will we’d better find you something to sit on.” he held out his hand.
“Charlie,” and I shook hands, “I’m okay, more surprised than frightened and certainly confused. I can’t understand why I didn’t feel or hear the crash when we hit the reef.”
“There wasn’t a crash, the ship bumped the reef and slip onto it, we were only travelling at slow speed because of the storm.”
“Storm? What storm?”
He shook his head, “You didn’t hear that either?”
“No, I’m a deep sleeper and I had a half bottle of wine last night with dinner and a G&T after, I don’t drink a lot, I get drunk too quickly.”
“You’re certainly a deep sleeper if nothing woke you. We caught the edge of a tropical storm just after midnight, very heavy rain, visibility just a few yards and we went aground at about one am.” He looked closely at me, “You sure you’re okay, no injuries, no hangover?” he said with a smile.
“I’m fine, really, a cup of coffee and I’ll be able to take this in. I’m not accustomed to being shipwrecked and abandoned. Why are you still here?”
“Like you, I was left behind, I was in the hold,” he nodded to a wide doorway set in the forward bulkhead, “I felt the ship strike and didn’t think much of it, as I said, it was no more than a bump before we slid onto the reef. I was studying the hold construction and storage methods and was a bit too engrossed in what I was doing. The sirens weren’t sounded and the crew must have forgotten I was down here and like you I was left behind.”
“Well it doesn’t say much for the shipping line or the crew. What was the captain doing going off like that without checking that everybody was accounted for!”
“This is not the Royal Navy or P&O, it’s just a small shipping line with four ships running between Australia, New Zealand and the States keeping the islands supplied and the crew are minimally qualified, well the officers are, the majority of the rest are just casual labour. This is the only one of their ships that carries passengers, it’s cheaper and quicker to fly these days. I’ll get you some coffee, it’s only the instant variety but it is strong.” He walked over to a bench against the bulkhead and lit a primus stove and placed a pot of water on it.
I followed him over, “What were you making when I came in?”
There’s a hole up at the bow, not large but enough to slowly sink the ship if the tide lifts her off the reef which it may do later. I’ve managed to get some collision mats over it and they are held in place with packing cases but it won’t be enough to stop the sea getting in if she breaks free so I was going to shore everything up with that timber. I was making a temporary frame to do that, in fact I’ve finished it but it’s in sections so we’ll have to assemble it in the forward hold where the hole is otherwise we won’t be able to carry it down there. There’s a four wheeled trolley we can use to carry the sections but we’ll have the coffee first.”
He was so calm and logical about everything and it rubbed off on me. Without him I would have been in a state of panic but he was treating being shipwrecked in the middle of the world’s largest ocean as something that happened every day.
“Sugar?”
“Two please.” I took a long drink from the mug and sighed, with his strength and self-confidence and now the coffee I was ready. Perhaps there’s something in the human spirit that makes being shipwrecked seem like an everyday thing, after all. Mending a hole in a ship’s hull can’t be all that different to mending a dent on the wing of a car.

Two and a half hours later the job was done. I admit to feeling some concern when we moved the packing cases to one side and the collision mat fell inwards and sea poured in but Will my companion didn’t seem bothered. Following his example I feigned nonchalance as I helped to slide a section of grating over the hole and even stood on a packing case and held the mat in place whilst he slid a second grating over it to complete the sandwich before struggling with the assembled timber support frame.
“That’ll do until I get the power up and running and there’s something better than the Tilley lamps to work with and then I can weld a patch in place.”
“There’s still water seeping in though.”
“Nothing that the pumps can’t deal with once I get them working.”
“Get the power on and I’ll go into the galley and cook breakfast.”
We moved two or three packing cases into position to hold the frame until Will could do his welding and walked down the aisle between the cargo sections closing the watertight hatches as we went. “What sort of cargo is she carrying?”
“Furniture, household equipment, clothing, grain, compressors, pumps, generators, building materials, all the sort of things islanders would need and can’t make themselves.”
“Useful stuff if we can find an island, we can build a couple of houses and set up home.”
“We don’t need to go looking for an island, we’re on one.”
“Are we, well why not go ashore and find some civilisation and get help?”
“It’s uninhabited, too small to attract a community and not worth calling at so it won’t be on the tourist routes.”
“Surely the crew would have made for it, we could find them and get them back on board.”
“They almost certainly went north making for Hawaii, New Zealand or America. The island isn’t on the charts, too small and the local chart would probably only show it as a shipping hazard. I checked this morning and there was no signs of the lifeboats or of survivors. The nearest inhabited islands are closer to South America, New Zealand or Australia, this bit of the Pacific is no-man’s-land. If we can get the ship floated we could try for the smaller islands, Pitcairn, Clifford, those sort but I doubt there’s enough fuel to allow for errors and with only two of us, navigating a damaged ship of this size is fraught with difficulties.”
“Yes, I suppose it would be. So what are we going to do?”
“Get the power on and try to raise the alarm with the radio or computers.”
“Is there a satellite uplink because I think Wi-Fi is too much to hope for in the middle of the Pacific.”
“There is but it’s not working, that’s why we hit the reef, it went down about an hour or so before the storm hit us and the skipper’s navigation wasn’t up to it.”
“Well that’s my department possibly if you get the power on.”
“You know about computers and sat-navs?”
“The software, not the hardware, well not a lot about the hardware but I used to write code and work as a consultant debugging other people’s programming.”
“A hacker, I’m shocked.”
I grinned, “I could be but I enjoyed checking other people’s work. Chasing bugs and fixing them then looking for places where the programming might be vulnerable to virus attacks or hackers.”
“So the cruise was a holiday or were you travelling to a new job?”
“Holiday. My only living relative died six months ago and left me with a lot of money and a large house in Berkshire.” I felt my eyes filling and brushed my wrist across them, “She was a lovely lady, an aunt and looked after me from the time my parents died when I was fourteen until she died herself, a lovely lady,” I repeated, “Full of life, fun and love and even at ninety loved to play little tricks on me.”
I felt his hand on my shoulder, “I’m sorry, Charlie, it’s upset you and in the present circumstances I didn’t do well.”
“Not your fault, you weren’t to know. It was the main reason I chose to come on a cargo ship rather than a liner. I wanted to have time for myself, to recall happy memories and get over her death. A liner full of people having fun and laughing a lot wouldn’t have worked, not yet anyway.”
Changing the subject just as we were about to enter the engine room he pointed to the crates and boxes on the starboard side, “That’s the valuable stuff, semi-precious jewellery, ornaments, rolls of silk, cosmetics, perfume, watches, the luxury goods for island life.”
“You’ll make a fortune out of the salvage.”
“A bob or two, enough to set me up in my own business, you have a half share as well, you never left the ship and helped to keep her afloat.”
“I don’t need it, I have plenty of money as well as a five bedroom house in posh Berkshire.”
He shrugged, “I’ll cut you in for a half share of my business. Do you fancy taking up engineering and installing turbines and industrial machinery.”
“That’s the same as telling me I can spend my life up to my ankles in hydraulic oil and axle grease. Nope I’ll stick to working in an air-conditioned environment and content myself with small soldering irons and top pocket circuit testers.”
He smiled and took my arm and guided me down an aisle to the generator engine. “You hold the Tilley, I’ll need both hands,” and as soon as I had it he undid the wing nuts and opened the circuit box. He spent ten minutes going over it and then went down to the auxiliary engine. Again he spent a few minutes checking with a circuit tester, nodded and stepped back, “That’s as far as I can go without switching everything on. The generator engine battery is okay so we’ll get that going and then we can sort out the circuits and check them.”
“Get the kitchen going first and I’ll get breakfast on the go.”
He went to the engine board, looked at me and said, “Step back three or four paces in case something blows,” and when I had he pushed the starter button. The engine turned slowly, wheezed a little and then roared into life and almost immediately the engine room lights came on. He nodded, walked to the control panel and flicked a few switches, nodded again, “That’s the bridge section lights fixed, if you pop up there you can check the cookers, fridge and freezers, the food should be okay, the control panel for the kitchen will be on the bulkhead somewhere probably hidden in its own cupboard, about the size of a domestic wall cupboard. The switches for the various circuits will be labelled and there will probably be a main switch which will still be in the on position. Any problems use the red wall phone,” he looked at the inside of the door of the control panel, dial 0012 that’s this phone and if I don’t answer try 0010 or 0011, they will be at the engineers positions. You okay going up on your own?”
“Yes of course, I came down in the dark.” felt embarrassed, he was treating me like a nervous girl, “I’ll leave you with the torch and I placed it on the deck beside the Tilley Lamp, “There’s bound to be one in the kitchen,” and I left hurriedly before he saw the blush I was wearing.

Chapter 2

I was hungry as too was Will I suspect so I didn’t want to take too long in getting something ready. The food in the freezer was fine and so was the fridge but the bread had gone stale. I looked in the pantry and after prodding a few loaves I found one that was acceptable. I also found fresh salad and potatoes and took everything over to a preparation table adjacent to the sinks. Half an hour later there were chicken thighs in the oven, potatoes boiling away and a bowl of mixed salad, plates, cutlery and a table cloth on the nearest dining table to the galley, all I needed to do was to slice the bread, mix up the spicy sauce with a little tomato puree and it was ready. I went behind the bar opened the chiller and found a good white wine and opened it, poured a half glass, topped it up with lemonade, took a sip and put it and a bottle of red on the table with a clean glass for Will and went back to the galley, took the phone down and dialled the number. He answered on the second ring, “I was just about to come up and make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine, lunch will be ready in about twenty minutes unless you want me to delay it.”
“Twenty minutes is fine, do you want me to change and wear my dinner jacket.”
“No keep that for dinner, I’ve found fillet steak in the freezer so it’s Steak Diane for dinner with a good red wine. There’s bottles of lager and beer in the chiller, I didn't know if you preferred beer at room temperature or chilled.”
He laughed, “Chilled and when I come up, I’ll sort out the music system so we’ll have entertainment. There’s a big screen video up there as well with a pretty extensive library of films.”
“Have a look and see if Robinson Crusoe is amongst the films, we might need some tips.”

He was hungry and between us we finished off the chicken and salad and Will must have eaten four thick slices of bread and butter. He only drank one glass of wine so at least I didn’t have to worry about having a shipmate with a drink problem, “Did you have enough, there is some bread left and ham if you’d like a sandwich?”
“I’m fine, want me to take a turn at the cooking and do the dinner tonight?”
“Can you cook Steak Diane?”
“Well no not really but I can manage the steak on its own with boiled potatoes and veg.”
“Asparagus tips?”
“No, not a clue.”
“You fix the ship, I’ll fix dinner.”
He grinned, “Fair enough, by the way, the shower in your cabin works now.”
“Good, I’ll take a shower, I’m still wearing yesterday’s dead skin.” He started to pick up the dirty crockery, “Leave that I’ll do it, I’ve found a domestic size washing machine in a utility room off the pantry, so if you have any clothes that need washing like that shirt you’re wearing and the trousers, let me have them.” I started to walk towards the door to the promenade deck and had a thought. “You said part of the cargo was clothing, where in the holds is it?”
“Number two hold on the port side. There’s two sections, the one on the right is women’s and the left is men’s, what are you after?”
“Cooks trousers and jackets or aprons, the stuff up here is too large and if I walk around in the galley with a yard of rolled up sleeve or trouser leg I’m going to have an accident.”
“There’s bound to be something there, if not just pick jeans and tops that will do.”
I nodded and started for my cabin and stopped again, “Will, how long do you think we’ll be stuck here before somebody comes looking?”
He shrugged, “Can’t say really, when the ship is missed they will send aircraft out looking for us but I suspect we were blown off course last night, hence hitting the reef. When they find the lifeboats, the captain or somebody will tell them that two people are missing and failing that, if we can get the computer link up and running we can get a message out. There’s a ships radio of course but I haven’t a clue about them and I suppose you’re the same so it looks like an internet S.O.S.”
“What’s the position about the ships stores and cargo if we’re here a long time?”
“The stores we can use in view of the fact that our being here is the fault of the shipping line and the neglect of the crew in failing to ensure that nobody was left behind. I’m not sure about maritime law but the ship was abandoned and I believe we have salvage rights, I’ll read up on it tomorrow and if we are here for weeks rather than days, we are going to have to use the dried and canned food in the cargo.”
I nodded, “There’s a walk-in freezer off the galley, I’ll take inventory later but we are going to run out of fresh milk.”
“So it’s black coffee or dried milk, or we can take a lifeboat and go over to the island and catch a cow or camel and milk that.”
“I’ll leave that to you,” I answered, “I might be able to catch a cow and milk it but a camel I’m not sure about,” and I left to have my shower, I took three steps along the promenade deck and stopped again, the lights were on! I returned to the saloon and Will was just standing by the table staring at the door as I entered, he smiled, “Another question?”
“No, I came back to tell you that the promenade lights are on.”
“I'll be going over the ship this afternoon and checking the lights and turning the one's we don't need off. It was night time when they abandoned ship so most of the lights were on and nobody took the time to go around switching things off. Leaving them on isn't dangerous but it makes the generator work harder and wastes fuel, whilst I'm down in the engine room, would you like me to try and find overalls or aprons in your size?”
“Yes please, it will give me more time to take an inventory of the food and a few other things. I know there's a shop on the deck above us, is there anything else I should look at?”
“There's the ship's hospital with a couple of beds, an operating table and drugs cupboards but what else I don't know. The only person with medical knowledge was the first mate and that was only basic cuts and bruises stuff. They didn't need a doctor because normally they were never much more than a couple of days from civilisation or if there was a need for urgent hospitalisation, a helicopter was only a few hours away. There's the pursers office, the armoury with a couple of rifles, hand guns and odds and ends and the rest of it would be bridge stores and equipment. Above that is the captain’s cabin and office, wireless room, chart room and the bridge and over that is the observation bridge.”
“The sat-nav is on the bridge?”
“Yes and the satellite equipment is in the wireless room but don't touch any of that until I've made sure it's safe.”
“Okay, I might stick my head in to see what's there but I will take a look at the hospital and see what drugs we have.”
“Do you have any medical training?”
“My auntie insisted I was able to look after myself so I had to do first-aid. If you have a cut I can stitch it. If you have a heart attack I can probably resuscitate you but I'm not up to speed on open heart surgery so keep a check on your cholesterol intake. Now I am going to get that shower.”
“One last thing, I've switched the phone exchange to open circuit, if you press the red button all the phones will ring so I'll hear you wherever I am on the ship. I will be wandering about all over for a few hours.”
“But if the call is for you, do you want me to transfer it or take a message?”
He grinned, “Take a message.”

The shower worked perfectly, the settings I had used previously were unchanged and I spent twice as much time as I usually do and stepped out feeling squeaky clean. I returned to the main part of the cabin, threw clean underwear and socks on the bed and opened the wardrobe. I had brought three pairs of casual trousers, a sports coat and bomber jacket and one suit in case I visited a collar and tie establishment. I had three lightweight shirts, three T shirts and two long sleeved shirts and two ties. I had intended to buy shorts and extra clothing on voyage when I could be certain of what I would need. If I was going to be working in the ship during the day and relaxing in the evenings I was going to need at least two pairs of trousers and probably more shirts, depending on what the work entailed. I took out a pair of light tan chinos and a T shirt for this afternoon, changed my mind and decided to wear the same trousers I had worn this morning and once dressed I sat in one of the cabin’s two chairs and pondered on my clothes. If we were going to be here for just a day or so I didn’t have a problem but if we were here for more than a week then I was going to have to wash things every two or three days and they weren’t going to last long. If some of the work when helping Will was heavy and things started getting torn or stained with oil then in a short time, I was going to have a serious clothing problem. I was under the normal clothing sizes for men, I had had problems often enough when high street shopping, even small was often too large and there were occasions when I had resorted to buying junior sizes. I would have to have a look in the shop, there was a reasonable selection but I could still see me having to unpack a great deal of the cargo.

I left my cabin climbed the stairs and started my inventory of the ship's emporium. It was larger than I thought but I had only visited it once on the voyage. There were the customary shelves of propriety medicines so I collected a basket picked a couple of packets each of Ibuprofen, paracetamol and indigestion tablets and moved on to toiletries took a large tube of toothpaste, changed my mind and took two, Will might need one. I ignored the perfumed soaps, found Dove unperfumed and took two of those stopped and had a think and then moved onto first aid and selected an assortment of plasters, bandages, antiseptic ointments and a hand sterilising gel moved on past ladies personal sanitary products, ignored baby foods and disposable nappies and selected two tubes of sun-blocker, the strongest I could find, even Will with his suntanned skin would need added protection against the South Pacific sun if he was working on deck and then walked over to the menswear section. I went the full length of the trouser rack and found nothing better than a fit 2” too long on inside leg and the same in waist measurement and went to the summer clothes and again, the smallest shorts were 2” too large around the waist. I returned to the main section and stopped to think what else we might need, couldn't think of anything and was about to go to the checkout when I thought, whilst I was here I might just as well check the ladies wear. I was luckier here, there was two pairs of jeans in my waist size but even a quick glance was enough to tell me they were hipsters and I didn't think I'd be comfortable in them, the colours didn't help much either, lilac and white. I had similar luck with the shirts and blouses, chests would have been okay but the colours and patterns were too feminine. I operated the checkout myself having seen it done a few thousand times in supermarkets at home and wrote out an IOU and left that in the till because I had left my money in the cabin.

I left the shopping beside the stairs and went to look at the purser's office which was much as I expected. A desk, a couple of chairs a safe and a couple of locked cupboards which I assumed contained the ship's passenger lists, accounts and stuff like that and of no real interest to me for the moment. Again, the ship's hospital was much as Will had described it and I went through the desk drawers found the key to the drugs cupboard and opened it. There was morphine, syringes, phials of antibiotics and everything was neatly labelled and a small pile of medical guides giving recommended doses. I also found trays of surgical instruments another set of guides presumably giving instructions for childbirths, open heart surgery, amputations and hopefully, if I were ever called on to do something as drastic as the instruments suggested, instructions for burials at sea.
Satisfied that I had learned all I needed to know at this stage I returned to the galley and began making a close inspection of the shelves, cupboards and catering equipment. I found a coffee percolator and soon after, a container of coffee beans and filled the percolator and plugged that in, took the phone of the wall and pressed the red button and jumped when I heard two phones start ringing in the saloon and several others in other parts of the ship close to the saloon. Will answered, “Real coffee ready in ten minutes.”
“I'll be up.”
He timed it perfectly and walked into the saloon as the percolator started bubbling and produced a black, aromatic coffee. I filled two cups, put them on a tray with pots of pre-packed cream and sugar and carried them to the table we had been using. It was like drinking champagne after spending a day in the desert without water, sheer beauty and it was good quality coffee. “I found a supply of dried baby milk in the shop and there's bottles and cans of baby food if we get desperate,” I told him as I sat down.
“Delicious,” he replied, “We can mix it with limpets and seaweed.
“Will, do you have any allergies or being treated for any illnesses, you know, pills, potions, stuff like that?”
“No, nothing.”
“You don't use drugs do you, cocaine, grass, anything like that?”
He frowned, “No, never, are you worried I might go crazy and run amok?”
“No of course not but I checked the drugs cupboard in the infirmary and there's morphine and syringes and if there's an accident and you are hurt and I gave you morphine and you had been popping pills or snorting coke I could kill you or cause brain damage.”
He laughed, “Charlie, you should have been a doctor or nurse, it's something I would never have thought of. Not planning to operate are you?”
I smiled, for a moment I thought I had annoyed him but he was okay with my questions, “No but if you were badly cut or broke a bone and I had to set it, I would need the morphine, that's if there are doubts about being rescued in time.”
“You could do that?”
“I think so, I've done the theory and practised on dummies when I did my first aid but I've never treated a real person for anything like that. The only real injury I've treated was Auntie Mo when she twisted an ankle. The hospital did say I had done a good job, so you'd better make sure you don't break a leg because I might reset it with your foot pointing backwards.”
He looked at me quietly for a moment and then nodded, “Charlie if I do get hurt like that, just go ahead and do what is necessary and I'll write a disclaimer if you wish giving you permission to carry out any medical or surgical treatment necessary.”
“God, don't say things like that and don't write any permissions it’s tempting fate. Just be careful and if you're going into the dark recesses below decks, let me know first, I'll come with you.”
He smiled and reached across the table and squeezed my hand, “I'll be careful and just to prove I'm serious, when I've finished the coffee I'm going down to number two hold to look for clothing and then checking the repairs we did this morning in the forward hold.”
I nodded, “I looked at the clothing in the shop and all I could find were two pairs of ladies jeans, one was white which is not the best colour for swabbing decks or cleaning out bilges and the other pair were lilac and I'm not being seen in lilac jeans.”
“Charlie, the only person likely to see you is me and I'll close my eyes and pretend they are dark blue or green. Don't be daft, if they are all that fit, wear them it won't worry me, you can wear a bloody skirt for all I care.” He stood up, “What size are you?”
“Small, 28 inside leg, 28 waist, 36 chest, you can see my problem, it's bad enough on land, at sea it's going to be near impossible. I've had to have slacks made to measure a few times in the past.”
“I'll find something. Now in case you get injured, where will you be?”
“Checking the walk-in freezer then I'm going up to the bridge to look at the equipment up there. What time do you want dinner?”
“Whenever suits you.”
“Seven be okay? That will give me time to check the bridge equipment and then get back here and prepare dinner”.
When he left I sat with a second cup of coffee and thought about the conversation we had just had; 'you can wear a bloody skirt for all I care', he had said it as a throw-away line but I wasn't sure if there wasn't something, a hidden message perhaps. I shrugged, the way he said it had been very casual and finished my coffee and went to look for a note book I could use for my inventory.

It took longer than I expected, we had enough food in the freezer to last for weeks. The ship carried supplies for up to 24 passengers and probably as many crew and there was only two of us so we weren't going to starve for a long time. I left my list on the bar with the stuff from my earlier raid on the shop and went back there to have another look at the lilac jeans. They would fit me around the hips and so would the white pair so just in case, I took both pairs and went to look for a belt which I found amongst a whole section of accessories so I took two and a shoulder bag as well to carry note books, pens and a torch in. If Will wasn't worried about me wearing lilac jeans or a 'bloody skirt' he was hardly likely to think anything unusual if he saw me with a ladies shoulder bag, particularly when it contained only writing instruments. As I turned away I noticed a rack of hair accessories; I hadn't had my hair cut since Aunty Mo's funeral, it was getting long and I was preparing food to be eaten by another person so I took a scrunchy with the idea of pulling it back into a pony tail when I was working in the galley. I left a note in the till again and put the new bag of purchases at the corner of the stairs and went up to the bridge.

The first thing I noticed was flashing lights and what was obviously the radar and they were all working. I went to the radar first and watched as it swept around and showed a whole mess of white at the top and nothing elsewhere except a small white spot near the centre and on the port side. Not really understanding it I left it as it was and went to investigate what I assumed was the control position where there was one prominent flashing red light and one smaller. One was labelled bulkheads and the other was a screen and the flashing red light was marked 4. Not understanding that I left them and went to the phone and pressed the red button and once again jumped when two or three other phones on the bridge started ringing, I would have to get used to some parts of the ship having more than one phone. Will answered immediately, “I'm on the bridge and everything is working and there are two flashing red lights, one is marked bulkheads and the other just a number 4.”
“That's okay, the bulkhead alarm is indicating that the bulkhead hatches to the holds are open and the number 4 is just telling us that the hull has been holed in number 4 hold, I'll switch them off when I come up. Anything on the radar?”
“Only a big white mess at the top of the screen and one white dot near the centre on the port side.”
“The big mess is the island and a part of the reef we're sitting on and the small dot is another part of the reef. The Island and reef are part of the lip of an undersea volcano, there's loads of them in the Pacific, in fact most of the islands are old volcanoes.”
“God, it won't start exploding will it?”
I heard him laugh, “No, Krakatoa is miles away, this volcano is dead and has probably been so for a few million years. Take a look out of the bridge window, you'll see well established trees on the island, they've been there for years.”
“I hope you're right. There's nothing else I recognise but all the machines do seem to be working.”
“I'll give you a tour later. What about the radio and GPS?”
“Only repeaters in here I'm going into the radio room next.”
“Okay but remember, don't touch anything until I've had a chance to look and make sure there are no short circuits.”
“I wasn't going to anyway, I have to get dinner ready.”

In chapters 3 and 4 things begin to happen and Charlie's confusion develops into fear and how will he continue his friendship with Will?
This is a long novel but my imagination can only be refuelled by your support so please do review the story.

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Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 3 & 4

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015


Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

Shipwrecked on an island in the South Pacific region known as the Desert and more than one thousand miles from the nearest known inhabited land and located between New Zealand and South America, Charlie Broughton explores what he thinks is a deserted ship to find that there is one other survivor, Will Devonshire.
They work together to secure the ship and plan their rescue but things happen to Charlie, things that frighten him and he begins to question who he is…
I suggest you read these in chapter order so if you haven’t read Chapters 1 and 2, please do so’

Chapter 3

I did stick my head into the radio room and there were machines in there working but no live screens, next door was the chart room and things in there seem to be okay. I tried a light switch and was bathed in red light and the switch next to it normal white. I left the bridge and went down to collect my shopping and then took everything into the saloon except the jeans and scrunchy which I took to my cabin. On the way back it occurred to me that neither of us had checked the other passenger cabins so I went next door and that was empty but there were signs of occupation so I went up to the first cabin but as I passed my door I noticed that the distance to the first cabin door was about twice the distance as the cabin I had just left. I found out why when I opened it, this wasn't a cabin, it was a suite. A sitting room beautifully furnished and a door in the partition bulkhead which revealed a bedroom with wall to wall built in wardrobes and finally a bathroom and shower. The suite appeared unoccupied so I thought I would ask Will if it would be okay if I moved in there, why not, we were hardly likely to be picking up state-room passengers on a South Pacific atoll.
The inboard cabins opposite were much as mine without the benefit of windows and they all had signs of occupation except the last which turned out to be a housekeeping room with cleaning materials, a pair of vacuum cleaners and racks of bedding. At least I wouldn't have to keep washing sheets if it got hotter and we started having sticky nights. Time was running out so I went back to my cabin, combed my hair into a ponytail, decided not to change my clothes until after I had prepared the meal and then went to work in the galley.

Whilst I was working I heard Will start another engine, the sound didn't come from inside the hull, he was doing something on deck, forward of the bridge. I thought I'd better go and see what he was up to, partly because I was curious and partly because he had probably forgotten to use a sun blocker. I went out onto the promenade deck and walked up to the front. He was down the other end, the bow, stooping over a small machine, some sort of winch I think. “Will, did you remember to use a sun blocker before going out on the deck?” I had to yell.
He turned, “What?”
I yelled again, “Sun blocker!”
He left the winch and started to walk towards the bridge, “I don't have any,” he shouted when he was midway.
“I'll get some, can you catch it if I drop it down from here I have things bubbling in the galley?”
“Sure, I'll come closer.”
I ran back to the saloon and took a bottle from the supplies I had left on the bar and ran out again. He was standing just below the promenade deck so I leaned over and dropped it. “Make sure you use it, it's not that hot at the moment but it can still burn your skin and I don't know how to cure melanoma.”
He shook the bottle and grinned up at me. “Right away Cap'n. You hair looks good, a pony tail suits you.”
“Biker or hippy?” I quipped.
“Turn sideways, let's see the profile.”
I did and he called up, “Hippy, definitely hippy, there's not an ounce of biker in you.”
I was a touch flustered so I changed the subject, “What are you doing with the machine?”
“It's a winch I am going to run a couple of mooring lines out to the reef and tie the ship up. I don't want it drifting off the reef in the middle of the night whilst we're asleep.”
“Can it do that?”
“If the wind or sea get up a bit it could and if the hull starts moving about it may be damaged by the reef, that stuff is pretty sharp in places. I might need your help for a short while soon.”
“Just whistle,” I replied remembering the classic lines from Casablanca, “You do know how to whistle?”
He grinned, “Pucker my lips.”
“That can also be used for kissing, just remember to blow,” and I went back to the galley, at least I had paid him back for calling me a hippy.

I finished getting the meal ready bar cooking the steak and asparagus, which I would do when we were ready. Will hadn't whistled but I had heard him working around the ship, mainly up at the bow, the stern and now, he was out on the starboard promenade deck. I started to get our table ready and he popped his head through the door and whistled. “I need you to help with a lifeboat.”
“Are we sinking?”
“No, I need it to carry the mooring cables over to the reef. The davits are electrically operated, I'm going to swing the boat out and I'll need you to lower it once I'm on board.”
“Okay, but I haven't a clue how to operate the davits.”
“It's straight forward, I'll show you.”
I followed him out and he gave me instructions as he swung the boat out, it was straightforward and he showed me how to lower and lift the boat and switch from electric to manual and climbed on board, “Lower away.”
“Are you sure you won't need me?”
“I should be okay, I only need to motor round to the port side, hook up the mooring cables and then go over to the reef, it's only a few metres.”
“What about getting back?”
“I've lowered the boarding stairs and will tie the lifeboat to them when I get back. I tried to do it on this side but they are jammed so I'll have to fix them tomorrow and then we can go sailing anytime we get the urge.”
“You can get the urge all you like but I'm not going sailing in a lifeboat, that ocean is too big for me, I prefer sailing on this ship.”
“There's no sail.”
“I'll start one of the engines.”
He grinned, “Okay, lower away.”
“Are you going over to the island?”
“Not today, I'll do that tomorrow, I just want to get moored up this evening.”
“What will I do if you are injured, take the other boat?”
“I don't intend to get injured, I'm not doing anything dangerous except clamber about amongst some rocks.”
“Will, be serious, if you're hurt I'll need to get to you.”
“Sorry, you're right. If necessary use the other boat and if you can't start the engine, use the oars or, what's your swimming like?”
“I scuba dive when I get the time.”
“Do you, that's going to be useful but for the moment, if the sea is calm it's a short swim across, you may find it easier that way and if you need to bring a bag of dressings, tie them to a life-jacket and push or tow it. There's lockers along the deck with jackets in them.”
I pushed the lever forward and watched as he and the boat disappeared below the bulwarks and watched the cable and when it slackened I stopped it looked over and he was settled on the surface of the sea. “Leave the davits as they are in case I come back this way.”
I waved an acknowledgement and went back to the saloon. I finished laying the table and decided to have a shower and get changed, changed my mind, Will might need me and I wouldn't hear him if he called whilst I was in the shower so I made coffee and went out onto the promenade deck to see how he was getting on.

It was the first time I had stopped to take notice of the reef. The ships bow was as Will had described it wedged against the volcanic rock which at that point was about twice the height of a man and then as it curved in the direction of the stern it lost its height and in places it was obvious that waves broke over it. I couldn't see beyond the bows except for a green slope with trees growing on it, I must go up and study it through the bridge windows or better still the viewing bridge tomorrow. Movement caught my eye and when I looked back to the high rocks I could see Will, I didn't call out he might be distracted and could lose his footing if he looked up. He clambered down and got back into the lifeboat and motored back heading for the stern and disappeared, when I leaned over I could just see the steps he had mentioned and a few minutes after that he reappeared and headed back to the reef with the wire hawser which was the stern mooring. As he motored I could see the hawser in the water behind him and when he got to the reef, he clambered up the rocks pulling the wire behind him. He stopped at the top, looked around and finding a suitable rock, pushed the loop in the hawser over it, fiddled around for a minute or two, clambered down to the boat and returned to the ship.

At breakfast the next morning I asked, “Will it be okay if I move cabins?”
“Is there something wrong with yours?
“No but yesterday I discovered the cabin next door, the first one outboard as you go into the passageway and it’s larger, has a nice sitting room and a bath as well as shower.”
“Why ask me, I don't mind and anyway it's not my decision. If I am right, we can live on here wherever we please, the law will be on our side.”
“Okay, if you won't mind, I'll do that, it will only take an hour. What about you, will you move into the one on your side?”
“There isn't one on the starboard side, just eight standard but comfortable cabins, mine is inboard, last on the right and has a window overlooking the stern section of the promenade deck. I shared a cabin most of the time in the crew quarters because I wanted to get to know the crew and ask questions about the various machinery installations so it was more convenient and I was given permission to enter the holds and engine rooms, that's how I was left behind, they forgot I was down there.”
“Have, you checked the other cabins?”
“No, no reason to.”
“Will, there may be other passengers in there, injured or unconscious, I'll check them straight away, I won't go into yours though.”
“You can if you need to but it's pretty untidy, the steward never cleaned it yesterday.”
I laughed, “I'll do it after I've checked the others, want me to look for clothes in your size when I check the other cabins?”
“No need, there's loads of stuff that will fit in the cargo holds which reminds me, I checked for stuff for you and could only find a couple of pairs of slacks and they are quality, dry-clean only.”
“I stood up so he could see the lilac jeans, “You'd better get used to me wearing things like this then.”
He nodded and smiled, “Dark green suits you.”
“What time are you going over to the island?”
“Late morning, I need to get the boarding stairs on the starboard side sorted out and there's one or two other jobs, how about twelve?”
“That's fine, I'll make up a picnic and then we can go exploring, I'll need a convenience store for milk.”
“I'll help with the shopping,” he got up, “I'd better get started or we won't have time for the picnic,” he gave me a long look and added, “Don't worry about colours, Charlie, I mean it when I say it doesn't matter what you wear, just be comfortable and remember to deduct the cost from your share of the salvage reward unless you have a birthday and then I'll treat you.”
“I'll do the same for you, I found a few pairs of binoculars on the bridge and you can have one of those.”
I heard him chuckling as he made his way downstairs and I went to check the starboard cabins in case there was an injured survivor in one of them. There wasn't, the deck cabins had two or three women amongst the occupants who had slacks and tops that might fit, one had been occupied by a single man and the fourth by a couple but the woman was taller than me and well overweight. On the inboard side I found one more wardrobe that had clothes that might fit me and pulled a white dress out. It was front buttoned and the skirt was generous so I went to the mirror and held it in front of me and suddenly realised what I was doing, spun round and hurriedly replaced it and left the cabin in a state of confusion, what was happening to me? What I had just done was more than looking for female tops and slacks that might fit, I had held a dress in front of myself and admired it in the mirror.

The remaining two cabins I just looked into, both had been occupied by couples but I was scared of opening the wardrobes and just checked to see there were no corpses or injured passengers. I got to Will's cabin and he hadn't exaggerated, it was a mess. I took his soiled clothing off the bed and floor where he had left them, straightened up the bed changed my mind and stripped it, grabbed the clothing and took It straight down to the utility room, then went to the port side and down to the housekeeping room and picked up a set of bed linen and returned to Will's cabin and made up his bed. There were a few bits of fluff on the carpet but that would have to wait, I needed to sort out the picnic so I went back to the galley.
The first thing I did was to check the bread but it was too stale for sandwiches, a pity really it looked home baked and then I remembered a trick Auntie Mo had shown me, something she had learned from her mother who had lived through World War II and food rationing when nothing was thrown away. I took two loaves sprinkled them with water and placed them in a covered baking try and put them in the oven on a low heat, spent fifteen minutes hunting and finally found something to use to put everything in and loaded it with cutlery and mugs and plates, added some serviettes and then leaned against a work bench whilst I thought of what we could have to eat apart from resuscitated bread. I opened the large fridge and took out what hadn't been eaten of the steak, added some ham and placed four eggs in a saucepan, found some canned peaches, strawberries and cream and put them into my make-do picnic hamper and filled an empty water container and stopped to have another think. Salt, pepper and a tin opener went in, the eggs were done, all I needed to do was slice the ham, steak and bread and that was it – no it wasn't, a jar of instant coffee was followed by lemonade and white wine, some crisps, a box of chocolates and that was it, we were only going for the afternoon and would be back here for an evening meal. I placed a table cloth on top of everything and checked the bread, the trick had worked it was warm soft and ready to trot so I left it to cool and went down to the shop, took some insect repellent two pairs of sunglasses and placed them with everything else and ran up to the bridge, grabbed the captain's binoculars, went through the drawers until I found a couple of large torches, stole them and down I went.

By the time Will came back to the saloon I had everything ready including a pair of floppy sun hats.
“Thanks for doing my cabin, it looks really clean and tidy now.”
“I didn't do anything much, just changed the bedding and picked up the clothes from the floor, I'll wash them when we get back and run a vacuum over the carpet.”
“Charlie, I'll do that.”
“You don't know how. You think the floor is a wardrobe and soiled clothes hamper and do you know how to operate a vacuum cleaner? Here hang these round your neck,” and I handed him the captain's binoculars, grabbed my shoulder bag and another pair of binoculars and grasped one of the handles of the picnic box. I let go, picked up the sunglasses and sun hats gave him his glasses and plonked the sun hat on his head and stood back to look. If you tear those jeans a bit, you'll look like Robinson Crusoe.”
He led the way and with more than a touch of trepidation I managed the boarding stairs. At the bottom, he took my half of the hamper and just managed to get into the boat and put it down before reaching out to help me in. “Your eyes are alive, almost sparkling,” he said walking to the stern to start the engine and take the tiller.
“I was beginning to get cabin fever despite having so much to do. Having the green of the island so close made it worse. Where should I sit?”
“Anywhere you like, you won't unbalance a boat this size, it's designed to carry up to twenty people,” undo that mooring line first I'll get this one and we can be away.
I did as he asked and then climbed up onto a seat, “I'll stand on this bow locker, there's a better view from here.”
He started the engine and the boat began to move backwards until the bow was clear of the platform and then he put it into forward gear and we moved slowly around the stern and as I looked, the whole panorama of the lagoon and island slowly unfolded. “It's beautiful,” I said, “Just look at those beaches.” I looked down, “I can see the bottom, it's sandy.”
He looked over, “About three or four fathoms.”
“How deep is that?”
“Between eighteen and twenty four feet.”
“It's deeper than that, the water is crystal clear, I think it's about thirty feet but I can still see the odd rocks and areas of seaweed. Look, there are fish close to the rock just below us.” I looked up to the island, “It's so beautiful, it's like one of those pictures of Caribbean islands, there's even palm trees.”
“Will stood and lifted the binoculars to his eyes, fiddled with the focus and studied them for a few seconds, “Coconuts.” He swept the glasses down the beach to the far end where there was another part of the reef, “There's a river mouth down there, a small river, if you look it’s where the bushes grow out past the trees, about half way along. I'll head over there it will give me something to moor the boat to.
When we got to the river mouth, Will edged towards it very slowly, “Can you see the bottom now?”
“Yes just, it's a bit cloudier here and shallower.”
He moved the tiller so that the boat headed towards the beach a few yards away from the river. “Aren't you going up the river, it's wide enough?”
“It's not the width I'm worried about it's the depth and the type of bottom. We'll moor to one side and I'll have a look. You okay to go over the side when I get in?”
“Swimming?”
“No, I'll take the boat in until it touches bottom.”
“No problem.”
Shortly after I felt the bows touch and the boat forced its way a few feet and then stopped. I grabbed the mooring rope and went over the side into water a little above the knee and waded the short distance to the shore. “What now, there's nothing to tie it to.”
Will pointed towards the river, just up there, there's some sort of stump sticking out, try that.”
I walked off dragging the rope behind me and when I got to the stump which appeared to be the remains of a large shrub or small tree I took hold and tried to move it but it was solid so I tied the rope around it and went back. “It's strong enough as long as it doesn't blow a monsoon.”
Will waved jumped over the bulwark and I thought he was coming to join me but he leaned against the boat and started pushing it. As soon as he had moved it a metre he climbed back on board and started the engine and reversed off the beach with the rope paying out and for a moment I thought he was going to go back to the ship and maroon me but he went into forward gear and moved the boat closer to the river and turned towards the beach and this time, as the bow run up onto the beach he stopped the engine and jumped over the side again. “That should do it,” he said wading up to me.”
“Shouldn't we pull it up a bit further?”
He shook his head, “I think the tide is going out and will leave the boat high and dry. If I leave it just touching the beach and a few metres of slack rope it should float out with the tide and when we want it, we can pull it in. If we don't do that and the boat is left high and dry we'll never push it back into the sea its heavy and we’ll have to wait for the tide to come in.”
“What about the picnic hamper?”
“We'll fetch that when we find a nice shady spot to have our picnic.”
I turned and looked along the tree-line, “There’s so many nice places, I can’t make up my mind.”
“Beside the river?”
I nodded, “Yes but what about mosquitoes and stuff like that?”
“There’s nothing bothering us at the moment and we’re close enough for mosquitoes to find us but I’ll bring the net in the lifeboat just in case.”
“Right, let’s do it I’m starving after all that swimming.”
“Huh?”
“When you ordered me to swim to the beach with the mooring rope.”
He was still laughing when we got back with the hamper and we walked through the scrub until we found a nice flat piece of grass and laid out our picnic.
“Don’t fall in the river, you’ll be washed out to sea, you can’t weight much more than a twig.”
“I’ll swim to the bottom, pick up a rock to use as ballast and walk back underwater, I can scuba dive remember.”
“Charlie, how much do you weigh?”
I felt a blush coming on, “Not enough, well below average, I’m light framed. I was going to take up weight lifting a couple of years ago and I even have weeks when I eat starchy foods to try and gain weight but all I ever manage is three or four pounds and when I return to a normal diet I lose it again in a couple of weeks. I was working on a programming job once and the girl I was working with told me she was heavier than me and she was about an inch shorter. A friend told me that if I was ever in an aircraft that was crashing I could use a cushion cover as a parachute. Most of the time it doesn’t worry me but sometimes it hurts a little when I see taller, more muscled, heavier men.” I stopped blabbering and looked at him, “I’ve been to see a couple of doctors and all they said was that I was fit, healthy and to stop trying to be who I am not and Auntie Mo said there were a lot of men skinnier than me, shorter and not nearly as intelligent. I was born this way and to thank God for my brain and work with my assets.”
“They forgot to tell you that you have a lot of courage as well.”
“Courage! Me?”
“You woke up and discovered the ship you were on had been wrecked on a desert island and had been abandoned and you didn’t freak out. You went investigating and if you hadn’t found me, you would have sorted things out for yourself. I’ve been watching you, you’re one of those people who can stay calm when others panic. When I first discovered what had happened, I was scared, really scared.”
“You started repairing the hole in the bow though.”
“I had no choice that was a survival instinct, fix the hole or go down with the ship, in your case you started thinking things through.”
“No I didn’t, I was worried and went looking for coffee and heard you banging and followed the sounds.”
“And didn’t think twice about going down into the bowels of a deserted ship and when I told you what had happened and that the ship had been holed, you didn’t turn a hair, just complained at the lack of coffee.”
Of course I did, I need two cups in the morning before I can start functioning, I’m a caffeine addict.”
“And since then, you’ve been busy sorting things out, planning ahead…”
“What planning, I haven’t planned anything, you’ve been doing that.”
“You’ve sorted out the food, you’ve found clothing in case we’re here a long time, you’ve checked the bridge and shop, found first aid stuff, sun-blocker and insect repellent and you’re going to try and organise the radio, sat-nav and internet so we can call for assistance and I’ll tell you this, Charlie, if we had an argument about whether to stay here and wait for rescue or get in a lifeboat and go and look for it, I would surrender to your choice.”
“I don’t think a lifeboat is a good choice, if we are going to look for help we would be better off trying to get the ship off the reef and working out a way to drive it with just the two of us.”
Will sat back and grinned, “See what I mean, you’re still planning and not unduly worried about what might happen to us.”
“Ignorance is bliss.”

Chapter 4

There must be something in the island air because the food had more taste, the water sweeter, we weren’t bothered by mosquitoes and enjoyed ourselves. I drank lemonade and Will had a bottle of beer and then we packed up and started our exploration trip. Will led the way and we followed the river which began with a gentle slope upwards but after about a half mile there was a steep climb for about ten metres and the river was running over rapids. Above this there was a pool fed at the top end by a small water fall. It was tempting to take my clothes off and jump in but we had exploring to do so I left that for another day.

We continued up the river where the trees and bushes were much thicker and we found we were having to force our way through it or make small detours. It was more difficult for Will, he was having to find the way, all I did was follow him but I was a little out of breath and stopped and turned round to admire the view but there wasn’t one, the trees were in the way and as I was about to go after Will I spotted a cave through a gap in the undergrowth. It was off to our left and only about twenty metres away, “Will,” I pointed and he turned and look in that direction.
“What is it?”
“A cave, quite a large one but it’s hidden by these trees and bushes, it’s about twenty metres to your left.” He looked again, shook his head and tried to move in that direction but was prevented by the bushes. He moved back towards me found a way through and disappeared from sight into the undergrowth. I followed his example and moved towards the cave and after only ten metres the shrubbery opened to reveal a large grassy area with three or four trees and a gentle slope up to the cave mouth. There was a deal of rustling and Will appeared a few metres further up and I walked up to him, searching in my shoulder bag for a torch. “Are we going in?” I asked handing him the torch.
“Why not, there may be a dragon in there but if we shout boo together it will run off.”
“It’s not dragons I’m worried about its tarantulas, snakes or mountain lions.”
“Spiders and snakes I’ll stamp on and mountain lions are feline so I’ll bark like a mastiff.”
“Okay St. George, lead on.”
We went about six metres into the cave and stopped. Will shone the torch down its length and we could just make out the end. “It must go under the hill for about twenty five metres,” I said.
“Possibly more, that far wall may just be a bend, it’s difficult to tell at this distance. He shone the torch up to the ceiling, “Look here, this section close to the door is about four metres high but just above where we are standing it curves upwards and seems to be following the slope of the hill and the rock looks like sandstone.” He swung the torch to the left, “And that is granite and above it layers of limestone and sandstone.”
“Isn’t that a bit odd for an old volcano, I thought it would have been basalt or something like that?”
“Unless this was once and undersea mountain and was pushed up by tectonic pressure and the volcano when it first started blew out of the side of the mountain through a fissure. There are hot springs and volcanoes all over the world like that. The hill is about 200 metres high and out on the northern side of the lagoon, the depth is over a hundred fathoms, that’s where the ship came in and then drifted to the left and went up on the reef. If she had carried on we would have run aground on the beach.”
“How do you know the depth of the sea and the height of the hill?”
“Observation,” he said it with a smile on his face, “I looked into the chart room and the island’s position is marked but unnamed and the only references are the depth just outside the reef entrance and the height plus advice that fresh water was available and it is about three miles by two and a half. It has never been mapped or surveyed just the advice that if a vessel needed fresh water which they often did in the days of sail, then this island was worth a look. It’s an old chart and the island and its details have been pencilled in after the chart was printed.”
“What about pirates, do you think we might find buried treasure here?”
“Could be,” he was still smiling, “There might also be the rotting corpse of somebody they marooned on here. Yell like mad if you see any footprints in the sand.”
“Change the subject before you put a hex on us.”
“Come on, we can't explore any further, we'll need a whole day if we want a good look and it’s getting late, we'll cut across the hill a bit further and then make our way down to the beach. There is one good thing about the cave, if the weather does get nasty, we can leave the ship and come up here to sit it out.
We walked down the grassy slope angling off to the right and the undergrowth thinned out and I spotted a gap and headed towards it, “Is it a path? It looks a little out of place, a gap like this amongst the undergrowth.”
Will studied it and looked at the ground, “It looks like an animal track,” he stooped and studied some small depressions in the earth, “Feral pigs, boars and perhaps small deer. He straightened and studied the undergrowth, “There look, something has been eating the lower leaves on some of the bushes and that tree is missing some of its bark. Deer eat tree bark I think. He walked over and took a closer look. “It certainly looks like animal activity, there are places where the bark looks as if it was torn off rather than just fell. At least we have a chance of finding fresh meat when our supplies run out.”
“You wouldn’t kill a deer would you?”
He gave me a gentle smile, “Charlie, if we are stuck here for a long time, I might have to or we’ll starve or become ill because we aren’t getting the right vitamins.”
I was silent for a while and he stood watching me, “We will have to if we’re to survive.”
I shook my head, “No, Will, I’m a total coward. I can buy and cook meat but to see a living animal, a deer or pig, no I couldn’t do it.”
He walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, “You won’t have to, I’ll do it if it becomes necessary.”
“But only if it becomes necessary.”
“A last resort, I promise. What about fish?”
“I could catch them but I don’t think I could kill one except shell fish or crabs, you don't have to cut their throats or shoot them.”
“That’s settled then, a fair distribution of labour, you cook the food, I’ll catch it.”

We walked on and quickly the bushes on the seaward side disappeared leaving only the palm trees and about four metres below us was the beach with a panoramic view of the lagoon and it was probably the most beautiful scene I had ever seen, straight out of a postcard or holiday brochure. Some of the palm trees leaned outwards giving shade on a sandy beach that didn’t look as if a human had ever set foot on it. I continued walking and was looking towards the reef where our ship was aground. Will was right about the volcano being separate from the island because after the bows of the ship it curved inwards and I looked at the other side of the lagoon and though I could only just make it out, it too curved towards us until it went out of sight where the higher ground and trees beyond the river concealed it. So engrossed with the lagoon was I that I bumped into Will who had stopped and was looking out over a clearing with soft grass and a single oak tree just like the one we had left but whereas before there had been a steep slope and a cave, here the slope was gentle for about twenty metres before levelling and there was no cave, “When you’ve quite finished trying to push me over the cliff, you might like to come with me over to the oak.”
“Sorry,” I replied looking down to the beach, “I wasn’t looking where I was going and anyway it’s only about a three meter drop onto earth and soft sand. What’s so special about the oak tree?”
“The ground under it has been disturbed and it is probably pigs that have done it, they love acorns.”
“Will, if it is pigs and not wild boars, where did they come from, they are domesticated animals.”
“Yes, I was thinking the same. They may be survivors from a ship wreck in the past, belong to people who have settled here or,” he shrugged, “Who knows. If there are people here I haven’t seen any evidence of them, the cave has not been used as a dwelling or there would have been signs and there are no signs of habitation here and,” he shrugged again, “Who knows they are hardy creatures, there’s loads of reasons for their presence.”
“Well if I was living here, it’s a place I would pick to build a house, it’s a beautiful setting with a cave close by if we had to shelter from bad weather, yes, I’d want to live here.”
“You'd make a terrific estate agent, Charlie, I feel like putting in an offer. Come on let's walk a bit further up.”
When we got up to where the slope levelled off Will pointed, “Look, unless I'm mistaken, that is the remains of a house of some sort.” I studied it as we walked, “It's a chimney and the lower part of stone walls, it's falling down in places.” When we got there it was easy to spot door pillars and long logs much of which had been stacked neatly outside the remains of the walls and was overgrown. Whilst Will walked in, I walked round the outside and even found the remains of crude window frames and when I got to where the chimney was, a first look seemed to indicate that it was still intact and the fireplace itself looked large enough to have once had ovens either side of the fire. There was evidence that a wall had stood at either side of the fireplace and when I went behind I saw piles of stones, again overgrown and beside this cooking pots. I picked up a frying pan and called out, “Will this is cast iron, it would cost a fortune these days and last for about ever and there's a large cooking pot and a cauldron.” He came over, “This must have been the kitchen and that side the bedroom.”
“It's old though, look at the way vegetation has set roots inside and the logs and stones are overgrown. I wonder what happened to the people or why it was being rebuilt.”
“What makes you think it was being rebuilt.”
“A lot of effort has gone into reclaiming the logs and building stones and these pots were neatly stacked.”
He nodded and walked around inspecting things, “Whatever happened, it was a long time ago, these window frames have rotted and some of the structural timbers look as if they have insect damage.”
“Woodworm?”
“Or termites, perhaps both.”
We explored for a little longer and found the remains of a timber framed bed and a table and chairs. “We had better make a move back to the boat, I'll take the cooking pots if you can bring the frying pan and I'll clean them up and check them over in the machine shop.”
“We have plenty of stuff in the ship?”
“Not this quality we don't and if you want to live in that house after I've had a closer look and see if it can be rebuilt, then you'll need stuff like this for cooking over a fire.”
I suddenly felt my heart jump, “Do you mean it?”
“Well yes providing I can rebuild it and there's a possibility we aren't going to be rescued for a while. We'll eventually get fed up with living on the ship and I'm not sure the ship would survive another storm.”

I felt guilty as we made our way back to the boat. First I felt like a thief for stealing the iron pots and pans and then I felt guilty about leaving our footprints in the sand and spoiling its undisturbed look. When we were level with the boat Will held out the pots, “Can you carry these as far as the boat whilst I go to the river and get the picnic stuff.”
“You'll not be able to carry it back here on your own, it's heavy.”
“I'll drag it if I can't carry it.”
I took the cooking pots off him, they were heavy and I was only just able to carry them with the frying pan and yet Will had carried them as if they were made from paper. “Just a minute, if you empty the water container, that will make it lighter and the lemonade and beer you can wedge between some rocks in the river to keep them cool. Nobody is going to steal them. Leave the plates and mugs, there's loads on the ship and we are coming back here.”

When I got to the boat the tide had gone out and the water was half way down its length. I dumped the pots in and put my shoulder to the stem post but I couldn't budge it, apart from the weight, the wet sand was sucking on the keel. I gave up trying and walked down the boats length until I was knee deep in the sea and I reckoned that the stern and propeller would be clear in which case I could use the engine to pull the boat free. I continue to the stern and now the water was above my waist so I took a deep breath and ducked under and ran my hands under the hull until I reached the propeller and I was lying on the sea bed trying to hold on with one hand to stop me floating to the top and feel around with the other. There was seven or eight centimetres under the prop so I surfaced and reached up to the top of the transom and managed to heave myself up and flopped into the boat. I pressed the starter and the engine turned once and fired so putting it into reverse I leaned over the transom and watched. The prop kicked up a lot of sand but seemed to be turning freely so I opened the throttle lever slowly and after a few seconds I felt the boat shudder, move backwards and stop. I gave it more throttle and reluctantly the boat began to slide off the sand and then suddenly speeded up so in a panic I pushed the lever closed and held my breath but the boat slowed, the stern swung slightly and then steadied and I could feel that it was free so I reversed a bit more and switched off the engine, jumped out and waded up to the bow which was just about free. Will appeared carrying the picnic box on one shoulder and holding something round in his free hand. “You got it free on your own?” he asked unnecessarily.
“No, I asked a passing destroyer to give me a tow.”
He laughed, “I asked for that, here catch,” and he threw the round thing to me, it was a coconut.
“I didn't know they fruited in the spring.”
“They fruit all year round. When you open it, don't throw the green outer husk away, we can make mats for the cottage with it.” He looked at me, “You're soaking wet?”
“I had to fully submerge at the stern to make sure the prop was free before I started the engine.”
“I thought scuba divers wore wet suits.”
“This is a wet suit now. Do you want me to go back and untie the mooring rope?”
“No need, I was going to do it whilst I was up there but we'll be back tomorrow and will need it again. I'll check the river mouth, the water isn't as shallow there and may be deep enough at low tide for a better mooring, there might be a place down the other end as well, we'll have a look tomorrow.”
“If we leave the mooring rope how will we tie up to the ship?”
“There's the stern rope.”

We unloaded the lifeboat onto the landing platform and will ran up the first section and went into the engine room and a few minutes later a wide door opened in the side of the ship and a heavy net descended, “Put everything in there and I'll winch it up.”
I watched as the pots and pans disappeared into the side of the ship and was tempted to ask him to winch it down and give me a lift but thought better of it and ran up the stairs and followed him into the engine room, “I didn't know those doors were in the side of the ship.”
“They use them to load ships stores and then use the lift inside the ship to take them up to whichever deck they are needed. There's another on the starboard side.”
“Lift inside the ship?”
“Haven't you used it?”
“No, I didn't know there was one.”
“It's on the port side and goes to every level including the viewing bridge. It's big enough to hold ten people but it's real purpose is for moving stores about. You passed the door as you entered the passage way and in the saloon the lift doors are next to the galley.”
“And I've been running up and down stairs carrying stuff about.”
He grinned, “Keep you fit and slim.”
“I don't need slim, invent an exercise that helps me to get fat.” I picked up the pots, “I'll take these with me, what button do I press for the saloon?”
“Four but hang on and I'll come with you and bring the rest of the stuff.”
“On the way up he explained the lift, “One is the engine room and you'll need to punch in 1805 to open the doors for decks 1, 2, 3 and 6 because they are no-passenger areas. Deck 1 is here, the engine room, 2 is main stores, 3 is crew quarters, 4 the shop and purser deck, 5 is passengers and the saloon, 6 is the bridge and 7 the viewing bridge.”
“Why use 1805.”
He tut-tutted, “Dear me, you should be ashamed, it's the date of the Battle of Trafalgar.”
“Will you change it to 1989, I might not remember Trafalgar.”
“I don't know how to change it and what's so special about 1989, I can't remember any famous battles that recent?”
“The year I was born that's how I know I'll remember it and its lamb cutlets for dinner. I'll have to change these jeans before I do anything, I'm squelching when I walk. I'm also having a shower in case we come across any elephants tomorrow.”
“What? What have elephants got to do with taking showers?”
“My skin will have sea salt on it from having to duck under the lifeboat and elephants like salt and if one comes up to lick my skin, it might tread on me.”
“Yes of course, I would never have thought of that. Well if one does try, capture it and we can use it to haul logs and carry our stuff up to the cave.”

Chapters 5 and 6, a third passenger reveals herself.

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Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 5, 6,7 and 8

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read Chapters 1 and 2, please do so.

A third person appears on Pacific Wanderer and a Mayday call is made.

5

“What are we going to do tomorrow?”
Will put his knife and fork down, “I would like to get to the top of the hill and have a look at the island. I'll probably be able to see most of it and it's more important now that we've found evidence that other people are or were here, there may be others.”
“Shall I come with you?”
“Yes of course and if you don't want to climb to the top you can explore the area around the old house and see what else is there. There may be outhouses, sheds, agricultural equipment and tools, it depends how long they were living there and why they left.”
“I was thinking about the pigs. If they did keep pigs then it's possible they may have had chickens or even a cow as well. Would they have bred and left descendants?”
“The chickens yes, assuming there was a cock and they were not killed and eaten by predators, a cow, again it's possible if they had a bull.”
“Okay, that's what I'll do, have a look around and see if I can find any evidence. It would solve our egg and milk problem and if the chickens have been really successful, then it will give us meat to eat. I stood up, “Leave the table, I'll clear it shortly but I have to go to the shop again, I need another pair of jeans and some tops, the stuff I wore this afternoon will need to be washed.”
“Right, I'll check the moorings on the boat, then I want to go round and switch of all the lights except the navigation lights. I'll adjust everything so that lights can be switched on locally in case we need to be up and about during the night. Then, if you don't mind, I'll move my stuff over to a cabin on your side so that we don't have to use a telephone or go wandering around the ship looking for each other and after that I'll see if I can find a couple of back-packs, more torches and one or two other things that will be useful.”
“What time will we go tomorrow?”
“Mid-morning, there are one or two things I want to look at in the cargo hold first and I also want to try and find a couple of two-way radios, there's bound to be some, they often used them on deck when they were docking or loading cargo and if we are to separate tomorrow, we'll need them.
“Why not use my old cabin, I'll move into the stateroom so my cabin will be empty. If you use one of the others, you'll have to move all the original passenger’s things elsewhere.
I left to go to the shop, I had another problem, underwear. I had worn my boxers today under the jeans but the waist was high whereas the jeans were hipsters and my boxers showed two or three inches over the jeans. It looked scruffy and though nobody was going to see me except Will, I didn't like feeling scruffy and they were too thick and made the jeans feel tight, I needed a few pairs of hipster jockeys.
There weren't any of course. Hipster clothing was designed for the younger physique whereas the ship tended to attract middle aged and above passengers, younger people preferred large cruise liners with discos, gyms and swimming pools. I put the underwear on hold and went to the women's section to look for more trousers and was walking past the underwear racks when I spotted the knickers. Women's underwear usually tended to be made out of lighter material but had the disadvantage of including lace, bows and generally frillier but I spotted some that were fairly plain with just a small amount of lace at the waist and legs. I stopped and thought about it, if Will found out I was wearing knickers under my trousers he might think...no, he WOULD think I was a weirdo, a transvestite or something like that and tend to shy away from me which, given our present circumstances, would make life difficult, even unpleasant. I know he had said he wouldn't care if I even wore a skirt if there were no trousers to fit, but frillies would stretch acceptance to its limits. I wish they had passed a maritime law making it obligatory for ships to carry clothes suitable for marooned passengers of all sizes but they hadn't so I was probably going to have to get used to the idea of going without or make my own from sheets or pillowcases, perhaps even the ships curtains, at least I could sew, another of Auntie Mo's survival and independence lessons and I could sew well enough to be able to make crude underwear.
I was about to ignore underwear when a thought came into my head so I returned to the men's section and looked for swimwear, perhaps they had some suitable Speedos but I drew a blank, there wasn't a wide choice and what there was tended to be waist high or just too heavy a material. Sod it, I'd make my own, even darn the one's I had and make do. Then I spotted the ladies bikinis and right at the top of the rack was a white set and when I looked they were made from a stretchy material and the size was 'W' and that I deduced meant the same as the men's 'M' so I took them I could always use the top bit as a sling for when we went hunting and whilst I was at it, I took a packet of three of the plain knickers; in for penny, in for a pound I thought. And went into the outer clothing aisles and my luck held I found two more pairs of ladies Chinos, one pale blue, the other a soft yellow and the last pair I found were a pair of standard blue jeans and when I held them against myself to check the length I was reminded of the anatomical difference between the male and female; the zip on the fly only came down about three quarters of the way compared with men's jeans. A woman sits to pee and only needs to unzip far enough to loosen the top of the Jeans for her to slip them over her hips whereas a standing man needs to go further so he can get it out and doesn't have to undo the waist fastening. If I wanted to pee in these jeans I would have to undo the waist and lower them, I must remember that in case I ended up with my trousers round my ankles and Will spotted me and thought such behaviour odd. If I got the computers up and running I must enter that important fact on Wikipedia. Yesterday I had not noticed anything wrong with the lilac Chinos but when I checked the new pairs, the zip on them ended a couple of centimetres higher than the Chinos, just enough difference to make undoing the waist necessary. The things I was learning about survival whilst marooned was invaluable and chuckling to myself I went to the checkout and wrote my purchases down, scrubbed out panties and re-entered underwear, something else Will might think odd if he spotted the entry. Heaven help me when I had worn out all the plain ones and was reduced to thongs.
When I got back I left my purchases on a dresser in my new cabin and went next door and spent thirty minutes moving house and sorting out my new home and then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner and the food for tomorrow's picnic.
When I was finished, I visited the infirmary and searched the cupboards until I found the medical reference books and selected Symptoms and Treatments for Tropical and Sub-tropical Diseases. I opened it to check the date of publication, it was three years old, good enough for what I wanted and then looked for a medical dictionary and took the two and met Will on his way up from below, “Fancy meeting you here,” I quipped.
“Charlie, how nice to see you again and you haven't changed a bit.” He looked at the cover of the top book, tropical diseases?”
“I have to bone up on them as far as I can with my limited knowledge.”
“Yes I suppose I should as well.”
“Leave it to me for the moment. If I can sort out a shortlist and then check what drugs we have on board it will be quicker. Don't forget I have done first aid, it's not a lot of good when it comes to malaria, anthrax or swamp fever but it will help.”
“Right, then I'll leave it to you, Doc and reserve my energies for ships and their equipment and on that subject, there is a treasure trove in the hold. I've found two small diesel generators, one medium which will kick out enough power for a large four or five bedroom house with some to spare and a large one. There's also a whole load of solar panels and equipment so if we are stuck here, I'll be able to rig something up and probably work out a way to convert one of the generators to run off the waterfall. There's also a whole load of assorted paraffin lanterns just in case.”
“In case of what?”
“I can't get one of the generators over to the island and make it work.”
“There wasn't an Argo solid fuel stove was there?”
“Charlie, I'm offended, you have no faith in me.” he grinned, “As it is there are two and a whole lot of tools, in fact the ship seems to be carrying quite a bit of stuff we'll find useful, not surprising really, some of the smaller inhabited islands need things like that. Do I have time to change cabins?”
“How long do you need, my old one is empty and ready for you unless you snore, in which case I would prefer you stayed on the starboard side.”
“Nope, I grind my teeth sometimes but no snoring and I'll get things done in an hour.”
“Okay, I'll have dinner ready in an hour and a half.”

After dinner, we cleared the table and washed up, this time Will stayed and helped and then we sat in the lounge. Will poured drinks and we chatted, made plans and listened to music and two hours later before ten I began to feel tired and within ten minutes I was struggling to stay awake. “Come on, you can't keep your eyes open, it's time we went to bed,” and that's what we did. We had been busy all day and certainly as far as I was concerned, work and sea air combined, I needed sleep. I ignored my earlier criticism of Will using the floor as a wardrobe and took my new clothes off the bed and left them in piles on the floor and then I undressed, climbed into a bed that I had forgotten to put sheets on and went to sleep.
I awoke at six and completely out of character I went into the shower before I had coffee, I had shaved yesterday so I didn't need to shave this morning so I wrapped myself in my terry towel dressing gown and padded back into the bedroom and switched on the percolator and whilst that was getting ready, I towelled off and without even thinking about it I slipped on a pair of the cotton panties and the blue Chinos, I didn't bother with socks, they were a nuisance when fooling around on a sandy beach and I had a new pair of Nike's with blue facings that matched the Chinos. I finished with a long sleeved white T shirt, my arms had burned slightly yesterday, I hadn't topped up my sun-blocker and that was after lecturing Will to make sure he did so. Until I got into the habit, long sleeves were going to be the order of the day. I brushed my hair, fixed the pony tail and went to the galley to get breakfasts ready.
I turned the radio on in the bar and tuned into a New Zealand station and they were playing retro music and I danced my way around frying pans, grills, coffee percolators, and was twisting as I poured cornflakes when a voice from the door said; “You can dance a bit then?”
I nearly dropped the packet as I spun round, “How long have you been there?”
“A minute or two, I came in half way through ‘Peggy Sue’.”
God, what did he think of me, dressed in pastel blue jeans, matching Nike's and dancing like a tart in a trance! I slammed the cornflake packet on the table, “You should have said something.”
“Sorry, I wasn't spying, just admiring your dancing, you have a fluid body and dance well, naturally. Can you twist right down?”
“Yes.”
“Go on, do it before the track ends.”
“No.” I moved to the grill and turned the sausages, “The coffees ready, you can pour your own, how many eggs do you want with your breakfast?
He chuckled, “One, thank you.”
The twist ended and ‘Stupid Cupid’ came on and I had to concentrate on making my feet walk normally and I heard him chuckle again as I walked back stiff legged from the fridge, poured milk onto my cornflakes and plonked the carton in front of his coffee. “Help yourself,” and I went to the frying pan to get his egg going.”
“Can you jive?”
I turned again, stuck my hands on my hips and my eyes were on fire, but the smile on his face cooled me down a bit, “As a matter of fact, yes and I can waltz, foxtrot quickstep and tango. I can samba, rumba, cha-cha and do the mambo and I can do both the male and female steps. Auntie Mo said I wasn't socialising with my own age group enough and she signed me up to dance classes and I ended up as an instructor.”
“Did you socialise?”
“Some,” I placed his plate in front of him, “But I was doing IT at tech college so there wasn't much opportunity and then when I started work a lot of it was evenings and often all night, companies don't like their machines being taken off-line during the working day.”
“Didn't you ever have a regular girl friend?”
“A few dates with the same girl but nothing more than that, as I said, there wasn't much time for a decent social life.”
He changed the subject, “I'm going to check the circuits and equipment in the radio room after breakfast to ensure they're safe and then they will be okay for you to work on. Them I'm going to get equipment loaded for the island and may need your help.”
“Okay, the picnics ready to go, I did most of it yesterday, whistle when you're ready,” and I grinned and started to clear the table. By the time I had washed up and added a few bits to the picnic box, he came in, “Radio room is okay now but don't start any big jobs because I will have everything ready for loading in about an hour.”
“I'll just pop up and see what is and what isn't working for now.”
“Right,” he looked at me for a moment, “Did you get sunburn yesterday?”
“Just a bit on my arms, that's why I'm wearing long sleeves. It's not serious.”
“It could be if you let it happen again, you nagged me yesterday about sun-blocker so I'm going to nag you because you need a different hat, the floppy hat you wore yesterday isn't wide enough so go into the shop and pick something with a wide brim. Your skin is a lot fairer than mine, Charlie so do it.”
I nodded sheepishly, “I forgot in all the excitement of landing on a desert island.” He nodded and went to sort out the supplies for the island and I went straight to the shop to look for a hat and needless to say there was nothing suitable in the men's section. Men don't normally wear wide brimmed hats, well not as wide as the one I was going to need so I went into the ladies bit and sure enough there was a selection but they were decorated with ribbons and one even had flowers around the brim. I picked one with a very wide brim and pastel blue ribbon around the crown, stuck it on my head and started to leave. I stopped to think if there was anything else we would need and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror behind the cosmetics counter and did a double take and stared, not a narcissus stare, a shock stare. With the combination of pastel blue jeans a white top and a woman's wide brimmed hat, if I had a bust I would look like a woman and the places where I had caught the sun on my cheeks looked uncomfortably like I'd used a blusher. I turned sideways to check my silhouette and see if the jeans fitted around my hips and derrière and smiled when I saw that the ribbon on the hat was almost a perfect match to the jeans and Nike's. Suddenly I realised what I was doing and icy fingers seemed to caress my spine and I hurried away from the mirror and back to the safety of my cabin and sat on the bed. What on earth was I doing, I was behaving just like a woman, admiring pretty hats and even allowing for my difficulty with sizes I seemed to be taking to wearing women's clothing too readily. I got up with the intention of taking the hat back and the phone rang.
“It's Will...”
“Thank heavens, I thought it might be that other person...” I stopped, I had meant it as a quip but there was another person on the ship, I had just seen her in the mirror. Will stopped chuckling, “Force of habit. Where are you?”
“In my cabin all ready to go.”
“Can you come down to the doors we used yesterday to drop things down to the boat, I need to show you how to operate the loading gear.”
“Shall I bring the picnic box, I can put it on a waiter's trolley and wheel it to the lift?”
“Good idea.”
It took me ten minutes to grab my shoulder bag and return to the galley and collect the picnic box and Will was waiting outside the lift. He showed me how to work the winch for loading and put the box and a large bag of tools onto the net and handed me a two-way radio. “It's switched on and when it buzzes just speak, the mike is voice activated,” then he stood in the middle of the net, and took hold of the hawser, “Okay lower away.”
“You as well!”
“Why not, the boat is directly underneath and it will save me having to use the landing steps.” I shrugged, ran the gantry out and lowered the net until he waved and started unloading the net into the lifeboat. The radio buzzed and I put it to my ear. “Is that it everything?”
“From there, yes.”
“Leave the hawser down we might need it later and I'll meet you on the starboard side about half way along by Number three hold, where the mast is.”
“I was still a bit preoccupied and didn't ask what mast so just said “Okay,” and walked out onto the deck and looked forward and there half way down stood a mast and boom centred over number three hold. I made my way along and heard Will come round the stern and go alongside and start tying up.
Whilst I waited I looked down into the hold and there was a pallet connected to a cable that ran up to the boom and back along it to the mast and then to a winch. I looked at the winch control box. There was a lever on one side and when I edged it forward, the cable slackened slightly so I stopped, that was obviously the up and down lever. I then put my hand on a thing like a computer joystick and eased it back and the angle of the boom changed, so now I knew how to control the boom. I went back to the bulwark to check on Will and he was slowly motoring down to me with the second lifeboat tied alongside the first. I saw him lift his walkie-talkie and mine buzzed, “Leading Deck Hand Charlie listening,” I said.
He looked up at me and smiled. “Right Leading Deck Hand go to the mast as soon as I'm level with you and I'll explain the crane controls.”
“Already sorted, Admiral, I tried them out whilst you were swanning about in the boats.”
He shook his head, “Right, when I'm level, will you be able to lift the pallet from the hold and swing it out to hang over the boats?”
“Aye, aye, Admiral.”
When I had the pallet over the boats he manoeuvred a little until he had the empty boat underneath the pallet, “Okay lower away very slowly and listen out for me to say stop.”
I did and after a short while I noticed the boom lift slightly and stopped the winch. “Not yet, carry on a bit more,”
“I thought it had reached you I saw the boom lift as the weight came off it.”
“It has but I need some slack in the cable to unhook it.”
I lowered the cable another couple of meters and he called “Stop.” and fifteen minutes later I had the boom back over the hatch and the hooks and chains lying on the deck of the hold. When I checked on Will he had untied the lifeboat and was about to leave, “What about me!”
“I'm going round to the boarding stairs now to pick you up,” so I grabbed my back pack and shoulder bag and flew back to the bridge and ran down the boarding steps just as he arrived and clambered on board. “What about the other boat?”
“We'll pick that up now and then get over to the beach.”
“It may have drifted off.”
“No wind, no current and in a lagoon, it won't have gone far.”
We were lucky when we got to the beach, the tide had only just started to ebb and we were able to get up to the beach and reduce the time needed to carry the load up to the house or cave. “Jump over Charlie, and I'll slide the generator to the edge and follow you, the two of us should be able to carry it between us. We did but had to take it along the beach to where the small cliff gave way to the slope and then up to the house. “We should be able to haul the jerry cans of fuel and picnic box over the cliff with a rope now, so we'll get the picnic and then I'll take the empty boat and moor it close to the river so it doesn't go aground.”
“What about the cargo boat, are you going to let it get high and dry?”
“Yes, if needs be. We can tow it off with the other boat if it isn't too far from the water, if not we can leave it until tomorrow and I can get it at high tide in the morning. In fact I might moor it in that position, we're much closer to the trees here so if the wind or sea did get up enough to affect the sea in the lagoon, the boat will be safe.”
After we left the picnic box under the cliffs, Will took the other boat and I started unloading the jerry cans of fuel for the generator and other equipment. I slipped and fell when I was carrying the third jerry can and got soaked so when I got back to the cliff, I took off the trainers and jeans and went back to the boat still wearing my top to protect me from the sun. Will returned when I was carrying the last bag of tools and waited at the water's edge. “You've gone transparent,” he said grinning.
“I fell in the water and took my shoes and jeans off to dry,” and then I realised he was referring to my underwear, started to blush and held the bag I was carrying in front of me, the bloody panties were too thin and were hiding nothing! “It was all I could find that would fit under the jeans,” I mumbled.
“Is there much left on the boat?”
“No that's everything, well everything you had on the pallet apart from our back packs and my shoulder bag.”
“There's a bag with spare batteries for the torches and radio sets and a long extension lead, I'll come and help.”
“No, you stay there, you're dry, I'll get the back packs first and then you can go up to the beach and get the tea going whilst I get the other stuff and we'll have something to eat.” I started back to the boat and a thought occurred to me, “Will, how did you manage to stay dry after you moored the boat?”
“Those rocks this side of the river run out to where it's deep enough to give water at low tide and I moored to them and scrambled back, it's easy enough.”

When we had finished our tea and sandwiches, Will took a radio battery out of his pack and gave it to me. “I doubt you'll need it, the one in there is fully charged but just in case. I'm going up to the cave and climb the hill from there. I'll call you when I think I'm about half way to see if we're still in range, okay?”
“Fine, call from the top of the hill as well, I won't be exploring too far from here.”
I watched him until he disappeared into the trees and wondered what he must have really thought when he saw me in the wet panties. He had made light of it and gave the impression that he didn't consider my clothing or for that matter my behaviour at breakfast when he saw me dancing as unusual but was that what he really thought? He remained the same outwardly; friendly, humorous and unhesitating when we had to work together, there was no attempt to shy away from being close to me and never hesitated to offer a hand to assist me out of the boat and on occasions had touched me, placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, things like that. I turned and stepped up to the floor of the old house to begin exploring; but what about me? Seeing the girl in the mirror; using female clothing if it was more convenient and not worrying about the fact that I was doing it, only about what other people might think. I pushed the thoughts aside, I had work to do and this was no time for introspection.
I went to the chimney, the fireplace was open and intended to heat the entire house. I suspect that if we couldn't find the original ovens then it would be possible to adapt it to accommodate a modern Argo or support a grill. There were hooks protruding from the inside of the chimney and these would have been used for the cauldron and when I looked closely, there were holes either side of the fireplace, a row of three, I pondered these for a while and came to the conclusion that they must have been used for a spit. I stood, satisfied that both cooking and heating were up to survival standards and walked to the rear to check the plumbing. I found holes close to where the rear wall would have been and these were roughly the size that might have been used for a sink drain and water supply and further along in what I presume would have been a bedroom, another hole, a bath? I smiled to myself, an en-suite bathroom in a log cabin must have been something of a novelty as well as a luxury in the time that this place had been built but when I looked across the whole area, it had probably had only three rooms, a sitting room combined with a dining area, a kitchen and one bedroom with an en-suite but where had the toilet been? The hole for what I suspected had been a bath was too small for a water closet and there was nothing in the kitchen though I would have been surprised if there had been evidence of a WC in a kitchen, it must have been outside somewhere and I doubt it had been a water closet, Thomas Crapper's invention would hardly have travelled as far as a remote island in the South Pacific in those days. If we were to rebuild the house and live in it, then Will would have to add a second bedroom and an indoor loo.
I returned to the front of the house still inspecting the rough wooden planks that had been used and there was evidence that there had been a front porch and the view was picture book. Whoever the tenants had been, must have spent most of the fine evenings sitting here watching the sunset and the waves breaking on the reef and I could easily picture myself doing exactly the same in a comfortable lounger or even a rocking chair with a glass of vintage wine in my hand.
I jumped down onto what was once a lawn and walked a few paces and turned to look back to where the house had stood. There was level ground to either side, the section to the right after perhaps three metres began to rise toward the trees and the cave and to the left there was a clear section of about the same width and behind that, shrubbery but when I studied the shrubs I realised that they weren't random local plants, the row was too even and they were of about the same height but being middle to late spring, there were no flowers or fruit that might help me. I walked along this section and noticed that there seemed to be slightly rougher ground immediately next to the house and again in front of the shrubs, I was walking along a path between old forgotten flower beds. I went a little past the rear of the house and stopped to take a look, here again there was evidence that there had once been a lawn but it was only about ten metres and then there was the piles of stones where we had found the cooking pots and further along there was another pile of overgrown rough-hewn planks and beyond that rocky ground and then an area about five metres square that had a riot of mixed plants and small shrubs growing over it. It was different to the land around it which was much the same as the land to either side of the house and I spent a while wondering why and slowly walked towards it and then I put two and two together and realised it must be a midden or cesspit, well fertilized, hence the riot of wild plants and the hewn planks would have been the loo, now all I had to do was find the lavatory pan and if it had Shanks, Made in Stoke written on it I would scream.
I walked around the midden, I didn't want to get half way across and have the surface collapse and vanish for ever into a mixture of household refuse and human waste products even if it had dried out by now. Beyond the midden it was obvious the ground had been worked. It was the full width of the house and side paths and around twenty five metres in length and in one section there were the remains of one or two canes or sticks standing and I remembered Auntie Mo's garden. She had kept the back section for growing vegetables and salads and used canes just like the ones I was looking at to support runner beans and peas, this was obviously an allotment and a very large one, more than enough for two people, I took out my notebook and drew a quick sketch to illustrate the position of the midden and then moved on past the allotment to the stand of trees that marked its southern boundary and as I grew closer I recognised olive trees and judging by the flowers on others, orange, lime and lemon. As I went through I stopped under one of the trees and watched two or three bees moving about so there were honey bee colonies around somewhere. I doubt they lived in hand built beehives, not after all these years but they had certainly built colonies somewhere.
My radio buzzed, “Charlie's Fruit and Veg, may I take your order?”
Will chuckled, “I wonder what you'll say when you run out of ideas, how's the signal.”
“Not as good as it was outside the house.”
“Where are you?”
“Under some fruit and olive trees in what used to be an orchard I think.”
“Move away from the trees.”
I did so and spoke again, “How is it now?”
“Much better. I'm halfway up, I'll push on a bit, I taking it you're making discoveries?”
“Yes, I've found an archaeologists dream, a midden.”
“Don't fall in, I'll call again when I reach the top.”
“Will, did you take a notebook?”
“Yes of course.”
“Can you make notes and try and draw a rough map when you are at the top.”
“Yes and if I see any edible plants, I'll jot them down or bring samples. I'm hoping to find hops.”
“We don't need them, there's years of beer and lager on the ship.”
“Well you started the long term planning.”
“I'm still doing it and have mapped out where to build a second bedroom and inside loo for the house.”

6

On the return to the boat, we had little to carry; our back packs were empty and we left the radios behind with the intention of commandeering a second pair for use on the ship. I carried the picnic box up to the galley whilst Will tied the boat up for the night and checked the ships moorings were still secure and we sat in the saloon. “What do you fancy for dinner tonight?”
“I'm not hungry at the moment that was quite a picnic you packed.”
“I enjoyed it, I'll do a supper, fish and chips or hot dogs later if you don't want a full meal.”
“Okay.”
I got up and switched on the music and picked some easy listening tracks and returned to my chair, I was back to thinking about this morning and clothes. I sat for a while half listening to the music and going back and forth in my thoughts until Will spoke; “You were very quiet coming back in the boat, and you seem a little worried about something now. It isn't about being rescued is it because if you want, I'll go over the ship in the morning, show you how basic things work and we can try and get her off the reef and go back to sea and look for help. It’s not as impossible as it may seem because there is a system that allows the engines to be controlled from the bridge.”
I shook my head, “No, it's not that, I feel safe at the moment and when I get the radio or satellite link working we can send for help.”
“Something's worrying you, Charlie, what is it. Something I've said or done?”
“No,” I said quickly, “No, Will, you've been terrific and made me feel safe on the island and I've been enjoying myself, no, it's nothing you've done.”
“Charlie,” he said quietly, “What is it.”
“Nothing, well nothing I feel I can talk about.”
“You have to talk about it, if not now then very soon. We are stuck here together and we don't really know for how long so we can't afford to have something going on that might cause friction.”
He was right but I just didn't know how to ask him, voice the doubts I had about myself.
“Later then,” he said after a couple of minutes of silence, “But tonight if you can, Charlie, I don't want to spend a sleepless night worrying about you worrying about something.”
He started to get up, “I'll go and get the cabling we'll need on the island so I can get the generator going and run lights up to the cave.”
“No don't go, not yet,” I paused and he sat down waiting for me to continue. “Do you think I'm strange, that I act strangely, do odd things?”
“Like what?”
“The dancing this morning, the business with my underwear and wearing the women's jeans, cooking, nursing, and the untypical things I do.”
“Untypical of what, Charlie. Untypical of a hairy chested over muscled man, the things I might not do? Not having had a regular girl friend?”
I couldn't look at him and just nodded and mumbled, “Yes, stuff like that,” and then it came out, I couldn't stop it, “Do you think I'm gay?”
He looked steadily at me, not hard, there was softness in his eyes. “I could answer that by asking you the same question. No, I don't think you're gay, you're a delicate man, a lot softer than most men allow themselves to admit to or demonstrate but I'm pretty sure you're not gay and if you are, I don't give a toss.”
I shook my head, “I'm not, well if I am I don't know about it but this morning when I was in the shop, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and for a second I thought it was somebody else, a woman and but for the fact that the reflection showed a flat chest, I would have believed there was a woman on board.”
“You're slim, have soft facial features and hair, are fair skinned and perhaps your waist is smaller by an inch or two for a man of your height which is on the shorter side of average and maybe your hips a little wider than average and it wouldn't be difficult at a quick glance to mistake you for a woman and if that's all that's worrying you stop it because there are men in very masculine occupations, married with loads of kids, men who are similar to you physically and don't perceive it as a problem.”
I smiled, “My problem Will is that I am not really worried about having to wear women's clothes, in fact if I were to be honest I prefer them, they are more comfortable and when I put the hat on, I liked the way it looked on me.”
“That doesn't necessarily mean you are gay in the strict sense of the word but it might be the symptom of something else.”
“Like what?”
“Charlie I am not a psychiatrist but from what I know about it from television and newspapers and I don't mean the sensation sheets, I think you should consider the possibility you are transsexual but I stress, it is only a suggestion. You are Charlie, I like you, we gel and we don't argue about who does what, we pick the jobs we do best and get on with it. When we are rescued and return to the known world I will want us to keep in touch, stay friends, friends that meet and have a drink and reminisce about the good old days when we were marooned on an uncharted island and your sexuality isn't relevant unless we're here for six months in which case I might ask you to wear a grass skirt and do a bit of hula-hula dancing.” He finished his drink and got up, “Do you want another?”
“Yes please, shall we watch a film? If there's a copy of ‘South Pacific’ I'll put that on and bone up on hula-hula dancing.”

I had the breakfast ready when I heard Will go into the saloon and place something heavy on the floor and then dropped something on a table. I picked up his eggs and bacon and my cornflakes and carried them to our favourite dining table and saw him holding something against himself but he had his back to me and as I placed the plates down he turned. “It's a wet-suit,” I exclaimed.
“It is but the size is too large for you, the trousers are too long for me, if you wore them you'd slip down into one of the legs.”
“Let me see,” and I took them from him and held them against myself. “They're perfect.”
“Perfect! The waist is halfway up your chest!”
“That's the way they're supposed to be,” I put them down and picked up the vest and struggled into it, “This too.” I didn't put the jacket on, a look was good enough.
“The trousers are supposed to fit half way up your chest?”
“Yup and then when I wear the vest and jacket, I'll have three layers of neoprene protecting most of my chest and hips and they will keep me snug and warm.” He shrugged and held up a pair of fluorescent pink fins, “What about these flippers, will they fit?”
I tried one on, lifted my leg and shook my foot, “Made for me.”
“What about the colour?”
I grinned, “That too, it will keep me visible and easy to find in the gloomy depths. The colour is more for visibility than fashion but they do match the jeans. Now eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
He laughed, “If I see a pair with daisies painted on them, I'll get them for you,” and as he sat down he pointed, “I know that's an air bottle but it's empty and not knowing the pressures I left it that way but there is a compressor in the engine room and that cardboard box contains some other stuff that was packed with the air bottle.” I looked inside and it was a demand valve with a buddy breathing system, a contents gauge, depth gauge and two masks, one eyes and nose the other full face. “This is terrific, nearly everything I need.”
“There was an orange jacket down there as well but I wasn't sure if it was for diving and I was carrying enough anyway so I left it.”
“Did it have a small metal bottle attached to it?”
“Yes and a couple of rubber tubes.”
“That's a buoyancy jacket, I'll pop down after breakfast and fetch it up.”
“There's a choice but all the same colour,” he grinned “And it might clash with the fins. There are some more wet suits, a couple made from what looks like rubberised canvas and a few other bits and pieces.”
“Why would a small ship carry so much diving gear?”
“It's not part of the ship's equipment, its cargo. Don't forget the ship plies the islands, that's what it was built for and island people would find a lot of use for diving equipment with the sea all around them.” Changing the subject he went on, “We've been working pretty hard for three days, fancy something different today? I was thinking of taking the boat and motoring right round the island and explore the beaches and coves to look for signs of people being here. If the wind is right, we could put the mast up and do a bit of sailing as well.”
“I'd love to, I can do a bit of diving if we find a place where there might be crabs.”
As soon as breakfast was finished I rushed down to the forward hold and found the diving equipment straight away and took a second air bottle, a couple of snorkels and a pair of black fins just in case Will wanted a lesson. I browsed through the cartons and found a whole load of accessories and joy of joy, some air harpoon sets, so with luck it might be crayfish, crab and shark steaks for dinner. I went back to number three hold and claimed the trolley and when I got back I remembered weight belts and found some and a very, very heavy box of weights and when I had everything on the trolley, I pushed it back to the hull doors, a successful session of shop-lifting complete. Will was just coming down from the electrician's stores with rolls of cable and fittings, “Can we take all this stuff?”
“We can but why do you want so much?”
“I brought a spare set for you if we find safe water for beginners.”
He laughed, “You won't get me going under the sea, I'll start my lessons here in the lagoon.”
I didn't push him, a nervous swimmer trying to learn to use scuba equipment was no use but I would train him if we were here long enough. “Do I have time to charge the air bottles?”
“How long?”
“Fifteen or twenty minutes.”
“Okay but no longer or we will have to rush everything and spoil the day. I'll go up and get the picnic.”

We motored over to the other life boat and Will quickly transferred the rolls of electric cable and fittings to it and then, staying a few meters off the beach, we continued until it curved out to meet the other reef which had started to curve inwards at this point. I was standing on the seat looking down at the sea bed, “Will, the bottom falls away very rapidly here,” I knelt and leaned over the side, “I can see the top of a kelp forest, no wait, that's out of view now, I think this is an underwater drop-off, a cliff.”
“The inside of the old volcano probably. When we investigate the section off the beach we've been using, it will probably do the same.”
We continued following the reef staying well clear and left the lagoon by the gap through which the ship must have entered and this close we realised how lucky we had been, had the Pacific Wanderer been seven or eight meters to either side of the course she had taken, we would have hit the outside of the reef and almost certainly have sunk. Providence had been with us that night.
We turned right and headed towards the eastern end of the island and after about a quarter of a mile the mixture of small beaches and rocky spurs gave way to cliffs. At first they were only about twenty meters high but as we progressed they climbed until we judged them to be about forty five and here there was some evidence of sandstone over limestone in the strata. Will studied them through the glasses for a few minutes and then gave them to me, “Look at the strata stripes, this mountain is very old and has been fully submerged at least four or five times.”
“Is that good?”
“I would think so because there are no signs of volcanic rock which means our volcano is small as volcanoes go and has been extinct for a few thousand years at least.”
“Do you want to land and have a closer look, there’s a small cove over there?”
“No, we'll continue for a while longer if that's okay, I would rather have a look at the other side of the island unless you want to go ashore?”
“No, I'm okay, I'd prefer the other side as well, if there is a place where there's a ridge of sorts jutting out into the sea, that would be more interesting for diving because it wouldn't be influenced by the volcano and there might be coral reefs.”
“You do know that the sea may be very cold?”
“It was warm in the lagoon.”
“Yes it's sheltered there but this is the open sea.”
I shrugged, “I've dived off Cornwall and Plymouth in early March and that's cold.”
“I think you may be in for a shock, test the temperature first. In the Channel, even after winter before the sun has had a chance to warm it up it's a lot warmer than here. In the Channel you have the benefit of the Gulf Stream, here if there are any predominant currents, they are likely to come from the Antarctic and it is just recovering from winter.”
“That's okay, I dived under ice once in a Norwegian fjord.”
“Did you catch anything?” he was grinning.
“An iceberg, oh yes, and a cold.”
As we continued I started getting the diving equipment ready but when I leaned over the side of the boat to reach down and test the water temperature, Will yelled at me, “Get back inboard, Charlie, you'll go over the side.”
I did as he told me but protested, “I would have been okay.”
“I wasn't going to take that chance.” He left the tiller and went to an under-seat locker and pulled out a couple of life-jackets, “Here put this on, we both should have done it before we set off.” He was right, in fact we should put one on every time we got into the boat, even in the lagoon. “Okay now?” I asked once I had tied it up.
“I suppose so but don't fall in it will be hard to find somebody to go in and rescue you because I'm not going in, it'll be too bloody cold for me.”
“Use the boat hook,” and I leaned over making sure I hooked my feet under an oarsman's seat and kept a firm grip on the gunwale. My hand wasn't in the water long before I pulled it out, “You're right it's definitely too cold for a wet suit. If I do go in and the water is like this I'll have to wear one of the drysuits.”
We continued heading east and then the land began to slope down and became a promontory which ended in a rocky spur reaching out to the sea like a finger. “It's beginning to look a bit like Beachy Head and Lyme Bay,” I said, “I feel quite at home.”
He nodded, “No lighthouse though and that spur looks like coral.”
“Coral! There'll be fish around here then, crab, crayfish and if there's a suitable sea bed, oysters, scallops, abalone, mackerel, sardines, skate, halibut, even rays and swordfish, they grill up nicely,” I looked beyond the spur, “I wonder what it's like on the other side?”
“We're about to find out,” he replied beginning to turn the boat to round the end of the spur. “Charlie can you jump up onto the bow locker and watch close in and ahead and yell if you see rocks or coral,” as he spoke he leaned forward and cut the engine speed to a crawl. We edged forward and I kept my eyes on the sea a few metres ahead of the bow, “Go left a bit, Will, there's reef just below the surface on the right.” He did so and I watched, “There's rock or coral dead ahead but it looks too deep, wait a tick,” and I lay down and peered over the bow, “Okay, it's at least two metres below us and then it drops off, I think we're clear now.” I felt the boat turn again and we started back towards the south side of the island on the other side of the spur but I still kept my eyes to the front.
I glanced up from the sea and looked ahead, “There's a cove dead ahead with a sandy beach and the sea looks undisturbed as the waves wash up,” I jumped down, “Let me have the high powered glasses.”
Will walked up the boat and handed them to me and waited whilst I climbed back onto the locker and studied the cove and the sea in front of it, “It looks clear of underwater rocks and there's plenty of rocks either side of the cove to moor the boat.”
“Let's go in and have a closer look,” he walked back to the stern and steered slowly into the cove whilst I continued to watch the sea and then we touched the beach gently. Without thinking I grabbed the mooring rope and slid over the bow and into the water. Had I been ready it wouldn't have been so bad but I was expecting water at lagoon temperature, it wasn't, it was at North Sea in a bad mood temperature and I yelped and reflex action made me leap four bounds onto the warm sand of the beach. The water had been knee deep and I looked down expecting to see penguins sitting on my feet. “Are you okay,” called a deeply concerned Will with a face splitting grin on the front of his head.
“Suicidal and if you start laughing, I'm walking back to the ship and you can moor your own boat,” and turned and stalked over to some rocks and tied the boat up. When I got back, Will jumped off the bow and waded onto the sand and he was wearing sea boots! “You might have told me you had those,” I growled, stooping to pull cold soggy jeans away from my calves.”
“You never gave me the chance, you went straight over the moment the boat touched. Anyway, they're size ten.”
“I'd rather flop around inside a pair of sea boots than paddle in Antarctic water outside them.” I pointed up the beach, “I think there's some sort of path off the beach where those rocks are.”
He used the glasses and then handed them to me, “You're right and it's not overgrown, let’s take a look.”
There was nothing of note about the path. There were signs of animal droppings and Will and I thought they might be left by goats or sheep but what goats and sheep would want on a path that led to a beach was a mystery to us unless the animals were farmed and left by people on another island and the droppings were left when the animals were either driven down or up from the beach for sheering or culling. When the slope from the beach levelled off it exposed the land to be not dissimilar to that of one of the moors on Britain's mainland, Dartmoor I thought. There were outcrops of rocks, grass and an abundance of heather like plants and mixed shrubbery and would certainly suit goats. After a short exploration we returned to the boat and once launched I took the helm and Will sat the other side of the engine cover making notes and drawing crude maps.
After half an hour, the cliffs we had been paralleling since leaving the cove gave way to a wide shallow bay and behind a sandy beach and line of palms there was a heavily wooded area and the land sloped rapidly up towards the top of the hill. “Are we going in?”
Will looked up from his map, “I'm hungry, fancy having the picnic now?”
“Yes, good idea.”
“Turn right and head for the middle of the beach.”
“Ten degrees of stab'd rudder come to course three five oh, aye-aye, Cap'n.”
Will chuckled, “You're really getting in to it.”
“I'm having fun, aren't you?”
“Yes, it's our ancient British genes, we're a maritime nation, born to the sea and exploration.”
I turned and looked astern, “Will, how far do you think we are from the nearest land, somewhere where there are people, hospitals, airports, stuff like that?”
“As far as I know from guessing the distance we headed south during the storm, I would think that New Zealand is probably two thousand miles to the west, South America about two and a half perhaps three thousand east and the nearest civilisation with a hospital and airport is most likely the Pitcairn Islands, about a thousand miles north-west.”
“A long way so unless the others are picked up and the captain of Pacific Wanderer knew our position when they abandoned us, we're going to be difficult to find?”
“We probably have thousands of square miles of Pacific Ocean around us, Charlie. I could give you false hope but I think you'd prefer to know the truth.”
“Yes, definitely. At the moment I'm not scared but if we are going to be here for two or three months, we need to look at augmenting our food. I know there's tons of food on the Wanderer but we are going to need fresh food if we're to stay healthy.”
“We've discovered coconuts already and I'm pretty sure I saw date palms a bit inland as we came into this bay and the fact that this island has been occupied in the past does indicate that there is food here, it's really a question of our finding and recognising it.”
I nudged the lifeboats bow onto the sand at a point where an area had a number of slight depressions in it. Will jumped over and as I handed the picnic box down I nodded to the depressions, “Try not to walk in those depressions.” Will glanced at them, “It's where a small stream is trickling down to the sea, that's all, there's no danger.”
“Yes there is, there may be cockles lying under the trickles and you'll crush them and I want to collect them.”
“Food gathering already?”
“Yes and when we get back to the lagoon we must see if there are many there. It's easier to scoop them out of the sand when the tide goes out than it is to dive for them and they tend to gather at places where warm fresh water trickles across a beach.”
“What about lobsters?” he asked with a grin, “I love lobster.”
“No lobsters but there may be crayfish we'll definitely have to dive for them but there are some likely looking places at Goat's Cove and back home in the lagoon.”
He gave me a careful look, nodded to himself rather than me and said, “Goat's Cove?”
“We'll have to give these places names so that we'll each know what the other is talking about when we discuss them.”
“You've made up your mind we'll be here long enough for that and you referred to the lagoon as home?”
I looked up from where I was gathering our backpacks and binoculars, “I like it here, Will, if we need to stay for a long while, I won't mind.”
He nodded again but didn't respond, “Stay there, I'll dump these on dry sand and comeback for the mooring rope.” He waded out of the water and a short distance up the sand, dropped the load and came back. I was standing with the mooring rope ready but he held out his arms, “Climb aboard, I'll carry you so you can stay dry.”
“In your arms?”
“You can sit on my head if you prefer.”
I sat on the edge of the gunwale and he eased one hand under my thighs the other around my shoulder blades and lifted me as if I were no more weight than the picnic box and turned, “Are you diving for crayfish?”
“From here,” I looked down, “The water isn't deep enough.”
He laughed and saying no more carried me through the water and didn't put me down until we were on dry land next to the picnic. He still remained silent, took the mooring rope of me and began to trudge up the beach to a convenient palm and I stood and watched him. I hadn't tried to climb on his back or objected when he lifted and held me close to his chest and the confusion inside me started again – I hadn't protested, not said a word and acted as if his carrying me as he would carry a girl was normal, no more than normal it was the expected way for him to carry me. I had felt no erotic thrill, no sexual arousal being in his arms, just secure and comfortable. He came back, picked up the picnic box and nodded to the tree line, “Where do you want to picnic?” Deferring to me again as he would a girl and the confusion increased and if he had held out a hand and taken mine to help me up the beach, I would have let him. I was frightened to speak in case my voice trembled but I spotted the perfect spot, “Over there between those two coconut palms, the ones leaning over the beach,” I pointed, “Not under the trees in case a coconut falls and brains one of us, somewhere between them.”
“Right,” he grabbed his backpack and the picnic box and went up the beach and I suddenly felt lonely, followed his example and shouldered my backpack, grabbed my bag and the water container and almost ran after him. I caught him up as he placed the box on the ground, “This okay?”
I looked up into the palms, “Yes we're clear of the coconuts.”
“I'll go and fetch one and then walk inland a short distance and see if I can find any fruit.”
“Fresh fruit in the spring?” I asked.
“The climate here is warm Mediterranean, there might be something even this early. Want any ice cream if I find a corner shop?”
I jumped up from where I had been laying the ground sheet and table cloth. “Salad cream, pepper sauce for the roast fillet of steak sandwiches. Do you want tea, beer or wine?”
“Beer, please. I'll be off, thirty minutes okay?”
“Fine I'll have it ready by then.”
He nodded, “Scream if you need me,” and he walked to the top of the grassy patch and vanished into a gap in the undergrowth.
The wine and beer were still on the boat so I was going to get wet again. No I wasn't, I glanced behind me but there was no sign of Will so I took off my shoes and jeans and went back to the boat. I collected the string bag containing the drinks which I had hung over the side of the boat and started back; 'Scream if you need me', not shout but ‘scream’. There was no doubt in my mind, Will was treating me as a woman but I didn't know whether he was doing it consciously or not. Dam! I got back to the picnic site and dressed, there was no point in brooding, I would have to speak to him, he was right if there was an atmosphere between us it was going to make life difficult. Tonight, when were back on the Wanderer, yes tonight I would bring the subject up, carefully and I must do it quietly after I've had a chance to think about what to say. I was sure now, I was beginning to understand things, questions I had never consciously asked myself where being answered, I was beginning to realise just who Charlie Broughton was and I was frightened, really frightened but I was determined to conquer the fear. This was not something that had just happened, it had been there all the time but perhaps it was the shipwreck, perhaps finding myself in such unusual circumstances or perhaps, despite being frightened I had subconsciously come to the decision that here, here on this lonely island, away from civilisation with only a nice man who wouldn’t harm me, here and now was the time and place to face reality. The worse that could happen is that I should have to move off the boat and fend for myself, Will I was convinced wouldn’t become violent unless avoiding contact with me, ignoring the fact that I existed was an act of violence.

7

We stayed longer than we planned at the bay. After the picnic we both explored inland a little way and we found date palms and tried them, they were edible but not really sweet enough and Will thought it would be another two weeks before they were ready. We also discovered squash and melons and what I thought might be lettuce that had run wild and we sampled a few leaves to test them. They tasted like lettuce and provided we didn't die from poisoning in the next few hours, they were something I could use in salads. We didn't have the time to go too far but there was evidence that further up the hill attempts had been made to terrace the land and that looked promising and would need to be explored on another day. Will said that what he had seen from the top of the hill suggested the terraces could be easily reached from the house.
On the way back we didn't land again, the island curved to the north and here there were steep cliffs like giant steps going to the summit. In places they were covered in wild vegetation and were over thirty metres in height and we again saw strata evidence that the island had once been fully submerged but on the whole it was more a place for mountain goats and seabirds and there were plenty of the later nesting on the cliff faces.
Neither of us wanted a large dinner so as I had yesterday I improvised and finding some frozen pita bread I made hot dog kebabs and we sat, me with a glass of wine and Will with a beer and listened to music. After a while Will started to make notes and draw sketches of the parts of the island we had explored that day, “Have you thought of a name for the other bay” he asked.
“Revelation Bay,” I answered quickly.
“Revelation? Did you discover something?”
“Will, when you carried me to the beach from the boat, you lifted me and carried me in your arms, held close to your chest.”
“Of course, I didn't see any sense in your getting wet unnecessarily and it wasn't far, just a dozen paces.”
“A bloke doesn't carry another man like that, Will, he'll offer a piggy-back, you carried me in the way a man might carry a woman.”
“You were light and sitting on the gunwales it was the easiest way to pick you up.”
I remained silent for a minute and then, “When I was laying out the picnic and you went off to explore, you told me to scream if I needed you. You hold out your hand to offer me support on rough ground or if I'm climbing out of the boat...”
“Of course I'll offer, to stop you falli...”
“No, let me finish, I'm not complaining, not criticising your actions, I'm trying to explain why I would like the bay to be named Revelation.
“When you had gone I remembered the wine and had to go back to the boat so I took my jeans off but I looked first to make sure you couldn't see me despite you having seen me before in those light cotton knickers. A man wouldn't have bothered to look, he would have ignored the possibility that you would see him in feminine underwear having already explained the necessity. I was acting like a shy girl and you, unwittingly I think, have been treating me like one.” He started to speak again, “No please let me carry on, I'm finding it difficult to find the words, words that won't offend or shock you.” I stopped to think and he remained silent, just looking at me, looking into my eyes. “Will, do you think of me as a girl sometimes. I don't mean fancy me but just somebody who is not really male, somebody who might need your strength, need your protection?”
He still held my eyes, there was softness in them so at least I hadn't said anything that might offend him, “Will?”
He nodded, “I had to think about it Charlie but the honest answer is yes, sometimes I do. When I saw you on the beach wearing the wet knickers you had your back to me, your hair was loose and your body is slim with a small waist and slightly wider and rounder hips and you definitely looked like a girl and when you turned and walked towards me, you still looked like a girl apart from the slight bulge in your knickers and the transparency revealing enough to state that you were male. I was confused for a moment, quite a bit in fact, you were pretty and had you been a girl, I would definitely have asked you for a dance. I shook myself mentally and the thought passed and I went back to thinking of you as a skinny bloke with a warm personality who is perhaps transsexual. Sorry, Charlie, you did ask me and I have to tell the truth.”
“I'm glad you did but does the thought of having to live on this island with somebody as perverse as me worry you?”
“I've already answered that, I've told you it doesn't worry me other than on occasions having to be a little careful when asking you to do something before considering that you may not have the muscle or frame for it. And, Charlie I think perverse is the wrong word, different is a better description, you're soft both, your personality and physique, gentle, have a sense of fun and a load of courage. You wouldn't think twice about putting on a wet-suit and diving down below the lagoon in the hunt for something to feed us but if you asked me to do it, I'd freak out. Fine, if you trained me, I could probably do it but I wouldn't stay five seconds if you weren't down there with me.
“Again, as I explained to you, I was impressed with the way you took the news that the ship had been wrecked on a reef and we were abandoned, you just shook it off and adapted to it and thought of ways to correct the situation or adjust. And now I think you have come to realise something about yourself and whereas I would hide in a corner at best or commit suicide at worst, you have come to a positive decision?”
“Yes, I think I have, that's why I asked you to name the bay Revelation Bay.”
He got up, “I'm having another beer, do you want topping-up?”
“No, I'm going shopping, I may be a while but please don't follow me, what I'm about to do is scaring me, really scaring me, partly because of how you may react but more as to how I will react. Will, wait for me here.”
“Are you going to do something dangerous, if so, I'm coming, no arguments?”
“Nothing dangerous, so wait here, please. I might be and hour so if you get impatient or worried, call out and I'll answer, watch a film or finish your map.” He looked uncertainly at me but eventually he spoke, “Definitely not dangerous?”
“Definitely not,” I pointed at his sketch book, “Don't forget; Revelation Bay.”
I walked rapidly out of the saloon and down the stairs and started pulling my T shirt off as I entered the shop. I turned into the women's section, grabbed the back of a chair as I passed and dragged it in front of the cosmetics counter and wriggled out of my jeans, placed them over the back of the chair and stepped to one side of the counter and gazed into the full length mirror. I studied my face first, I was on holiday, not going to a ball and I considered what I would be doing, where, what time of the year and how I felt. I was going to sit in a lounge, talking, listening to music, a drink or two of wine, perhaps eventually a dance, nothing formal, just a pleasant, relaxed evening. I went behind the cosmetics counter and stared at the organised confusion of make-up, hair ornaments, perfume and costume jewellery. I didn't know where to start and then I delved back into my memory and tried to remember everything I could about my mother and Auntie Mo and how they had set about making themselves look good. I turned back to the mirror, my face was slightly tanned so I wouldn't need a heavy foundation or blusher, just a light touch of powder but I would have to thin my eyebrows a little and walked along the counter and small carousels holding accessories and picked nail scissors, tweezers and nail boards and slid the magnifying mirror opposite the chair. I picked what I thought was a suitable compacted powder almost matching my tanned skin and went back to the wall mirror. Eyes! Auntie Mo was the one who had always taken a great deal of trouble with her eyes and little by little I collected a medium and light shade of eye shadow, a liquid eye liner and a bottle of the magic mascara women used to make normal eye lashes appear half a metre longer than they were, bearing in mind the look I wanted, a millimetre or two would be enough and then I selected a shade of glossy lip liner and lipstick to match the deeper shade of eye shadow I had and then I sat and using the magnifying mirror I went to work and though I made a few mistakes, I wasn't bad and took less than the fourteen hours I had anticipated. When I finished I took a hair brush and a couple of pretty hair slides and brushed out my hair and clipped it into place and then returned to the wall mirror. I stood back and looked at myself full length, I looked good enough to find the confidence to approach the mirror and study my face and hair carefully, it was okay, not perfect but I didn't want Will to think I had been doing this all my life but I did need to do something about my brows, I had tweaked a few out and they were tidy but they needed some enhancement so I sat down again and applied a little eyebrow pencil, went back to the wall mirror and nodded, just right, it could be better and I would certainly need to practice and experiment but for tonight, my face was just right. For a moment I was tempted to go into the sick-bay and find a needle and pierce my ears but put that to one side, blood, even a little wouldn't improve the look so clip-ons would have to do.
I went over to the clothing section and stood and wondered; lingerie first or should I pick a dress. If I were going to wear a suit, collar and tie, I would pick the suit first and the shirt and tie to match so I adopted that strategy and walked along the racks of dresses, pulled a few out and held them against myself until I found a white shirt-waister with soft pleats in a generous skirt and a faint pink pattern of vines, with leaves and flowers, summery but not beach wear, a dress to be worn on informal get-togethers in warm holiday resorts. I placed that over the chair and went back to the knickers, reached out for a set not unlike the ones I was wearing and then stepped sideways. A woman wouldn't wear cotton knickers under that dress on a pleasantly warm evening and I went for a pair of pretty lace, white bikini panties made with a silk like material, if I wanted to look like a woman then I needed to feel like one so I picked a bra that matched and nearly took a suspender belt to complete the set but changed my mind, fiddling with these more complex garments and learning to connect suspenders to stockings would take too long so I went for a pair of glossy light tan tights and picked a multi packet of white ones, something was needed for the cups of the bra otherwise it might die of malnutrition. I dressed, had a minor problem doing up the bra but got that sorted when I simply turned it round, connected the hooks with the eyes, turned it back and slipped my arms through the shoulder straps and then undid the dress all the way down so I wouldn't upset my hair and then stood in front of the mirror. I was beginning to appreciate why women needed mirrors so much. I lifted the dress pulled the tights down to my thighs, twisted them slightly and pulled them back into position so that the seam at the top was straight and then took another look, it was good, I felt comfortable and didn't fail to take note of the feeling that I was looking at the real me, the decision I had made in Revelation Bay was the correct one or would be if I was to wear a pair of shoes, so off I went again to clothing and walked up and down the shoe racks three times when I heard Will, “You okay?”
I rushed over to the shop door and called back, “Fine, I'll be up in ten minutes, has The Cruel Sea finished?”
“No, how did you know I was watching that?”
“I recognised Jack Hawkins voice and thought what else could you be watching, given our present circumstances.”
I heard him chuckle and went back to the shoes, settled on a pair of white sandals with two inch square heels and tried on an imitation pearl necklace and a pair of matching clip-on earrings. I went over every part of me carefully in the mirror and finally, satisfied that I looked good and hadn't overdone anything I collected all the make-up I had used and dropped them into a medium sized shoulder bag, added a perfume spritzer after giving myself a short squirt, looked once more into the mirror did a slow twirl and walked out of the shop and started up the stairs. Half-way up I began to get scared and stopped. What was Will going to think when he saw me? Would he laugh or tell me to put other clothes on and stop acting like some bloody perv in a drag bar? I turned round and took one step down, I couldn't go through with it.
BUT I HAD TO! I couldn't let things continue as they had, I made a discovery this afternoon, I had found out who I really was and I knew that I had to face up to it, do something and if that meant losing Will's friendship it was better than continuing as we had been with me becoming more confused every day. I turned again and climbed to the landing and walked towards the saloon and stopped again, took a deep breath and stepped through the door. As I entered, he was standing beside the television set removing the film disc. He straightened up and stood looking at me without saying a word. I waited for him to say something but he remained silent, just looking at me, occasionally his eyes travelled down to my feet and then slowly back to my face, “Will?” I managed to say.
He still said nothing but started to walk towards me and then an arm’s length away he stopped and looked at my face, still silent. I looked into his eyes expecting to see scorn, anger, even hate but all they held were the same soft expression they always had when he was looking directly at me. “Will, please say something, tell me to go and change, anything, please say something.”
At last he spoke, “Stay there, Charlie, stay right there,” and he walked behind the bar and opened the chiller cabinet and then fiddled with a bottle and I heard a faint pop. He took two flutes from a shelf placed them between the fingers holding the bottle and returned to me, took my hand in his and lead me to a pair of arm chairs, poured two glasses and placed the bottle on a table and held one of the glasses out to me. “You are something else, Charlie, something else and you look stunning, all girl, absolutely stunning.”
I glanced down at the bottle and saw enough of the label to read Krug, “If you want, I'll go downstairs and change back.”
“I think I'm looking at the real Charlie now, Charlie as in Charlotte, not Charles, don't you dare change back. Unless you feel uncomfortable.”
“No, this is the real me, that was the revelation this afternoon. I feel comfortable now. No, more than comfortable, I really like wearing these clothes, I feel as if I was telling the world about me, apologising for spending so many years not being me. As long as you don't mind, don't feel embarrassed about being here and speaking to me.”
“Embarrassed? I feel honoured.”
I was becoming embarrassed now and I started to lift my glass but he put his hand out and stopped me, “To the most gentle, courageous and beautiful woman I have ever met,” and he lifted his glass and drank half of it. I tried to lift my own glass but my hand began to tremble and for the first and only time in my life, I held a glass of Krug in my hand and couldn't lift it to my lips so I started to cry instead.
I didn't cry too long because as soon as I started, Will took the glass from my hand and pulled me in to him, wrapped his arms around me and held me whilst I cried on his shoulder and when I finished and smiled rather sheepishly at him, he smiled himself, eased me into my chair and handed me the glass, “You never drank the toast,” so I raised my glass to him, “To a lovely man who gave me a shoulder to cry on,”
Then we sat and talked about the island, about the log cabin and about Pacific Wanderer until the fourth champagne started to make me giddy and Will walked me to my cabin, placed his hands on my shoulder and kissed me on the forehead, “Goodnight and you'll have a hangover tomorrow so I'll leave a bottle of Paracetamol beside the percolator in the saloon.”

I didn't have a hangover, in fact I awoke in an instant and felt bright, sparkling, and really alive. I pulled a clean pair of cotton knickers from a drawer, looked around for my jeans, started to panic before I remembered I had left them in the shop yesterday evening so grabbed the dress and was about to step into it when I remembered the bra so I stepped out of the dress and went to hunt for the bra and eventually found it under the foot of the bed. It must have got fed up last night having only rolled up tights to support and had tried to hide. I got the bra on and had my tights half way up my thighs when I remembered I hadn't showered so I took everything off again, went into the shower shampooed my hair, washed in the perfume deficient Dove and returned to my bedroom and this time I managed to get dressed correctly and went off to sort out my statutory coffee.
Whilst I was drinking it I wondered what to do about Will's breakfast. It was late when I went to bed and he must have been at least a half hour behind me. I thought it better to let him sleep so I wrote a note telling him where I would be and left it by the percolator, took a second cup for myself, found my new shoulder bag beside a chair and went off to the shop. The first thing I did was to go to the cosmetics counter and do a quick job, admired the result and went over to the separates and picked a light blue skirt and white short sleeved blouse and then wrote out a list of the things I had taken yesterday and this morning and then another list of the things I needed urgently and then went shopping for cleansing cream, lipsticks, nail varnish and more pretty bras and knickers, white and black three inch heeled shoes and a ladies swimsuit, a one piece, I wasn't ready for a bikini yet and anyway I thought a one piece would be better under a wet suit. That would do for now, Will would be up soon looking for food so I went back to my cabin, put everything away, hung the white dress in a wardrobe made my bed, picked up the clothes that needed washing and went to Will's cabin and listened at the door for sounds of movement but all I could hear were faint sounds of breathing so I left him and went to get breakfast ready.
I switched on some happy music and whilst I was preparing the food I thought about the previous evening and of course doubts started creeping in. I was sure of myself and the decision I had made but would Will be as accepting of the new me in the cold light of day. He had had two or three beers when he first saw me as the new Charlotte and had certainly reacted in a manner far beyond what I had expected but would it be the same at breakfast, I shrugged, there was no point in speculating, I would find out soon enough so I got on with breakfast and was on the point of going to call him when I heard him walking across the saloon. “You look fresh and sunny.” I breathed a sigh of relief, he was still the same as last night, he was happy with and even seemed to like Charlotte. “Breakfast is almost ready, four eggs or six?”
He grinned, “Two and there's some champagne left if you want a Bucks Fizz with yours.”
“I'll stick to coffee and scrambled eggs and we're nearly out of eggs so we'll have to find some chickens or start eating seagull eggs.”
“What time do you want to go over to the island?”
“Not me, Will, I should stay here today and get the satellite link working and the ship’s radio and if there's time, I found some heavy flour and yeast in the pantry so I was going to make bread.”
“You can bake bread?”
“Yes and cakes. Auntie Mo was ruthless in her plans to make me self-sufficient. What are you going to do on the island?”
“Sort out the electricity and run a cable up to the cave. I was going to put the generator in the cave and run a supply to the house but it will be quicker if I leave the generator near the house because if we move in and something goes wrong, I can get to it quicker.”
“Are you going to leave it out in the open?”
“No, that’s asking for trouble. I’ll build a waterproof shed for it or perhaps an extension on the house. When I’ve done that, if there’s time, I’ll start sorting out the materials for the house because I may need to take over some of the heavier equipment like the bench saw for planking.”
“There’s rubber dinghies on the ship aren’t there, inflatable life rafts?”
“Yes, maritime law and Lloyds insist on it as a back-up if the lifeboats are damaged. Not worried about us sinking are you because there’s loads of stuff available if the two lifeboats get sunk?”
“No, I was planning to go down with the ship, preferably wearing a wet suit. It just occurred to me that if we are going to move some of the ship’s equipment and even the cargo onto the island wouldn’t it be worth tying some inflatables together and then putting a deck across them to carry cargo across, we could tow it behind a lifeboat, all we’d need is a hand winch and block and pulleys and we could build a small timber framed crane to off-load.”
He stood up, “That’s a good idea, yes it would save a lot of heavy work and be quicker, I’ll start that tomorrow if I finish with the cave and house. I might need help in an hour to load some stuff, will you be okay stuck here on your own?”
“Fine, I have loads to do and if I get lonely, I’ll phone and annoy you or start talking to myself, there are two of me now.”
He laughed, “I like the one in front of me now, whatever decision you made yesterday at Revelation Bay was the right one, you were born to be a woman, Charlie.”
“Yes, I realise that now, it was confirmed this morning, when I woke-up I felt so alive, as if I had discovered myself, been born again. It isn’t going to make a difference to us is it?”
He smiled, a gentle, warm understanding smile, “Only if I keep finding lipstick and mascara brushes on the chart table and handbags hanging on the helm.”
“It’s one of the drawbacks of sharing a ship with a woman, and I don’t want to be nagged when I hang a washing line between the cargo derricks with my lingerie hanging from it.”
“He laughed, “Just remember to check the international flag signal book to ensure you aren’t sending the wrong messages.” He picked up his phone, “Scream if you need me,” and turned to leave but changed his mind, “Do you want me to continue calling you Charlie or would you prefer Charlotte?”
“Charlie is okay, I’m used to it and its quite common for Charlotte’s to be called Charlie, they even have a perfume with the name but if there are other people about, introduce me as Charlotte. Charlie is personal, just for you and me.”
He gave that warm smile again, “Okay, I’ll give you a call if I need help with the loading.”
As soon as he left I cleared away the breakfast things, refilled the percolator and took the washing into the galley and then went into the pantry and collected a couple of five kilo bags of heavy flour and yeast then went to work.
I had just enough time to finish and was half-way down to the engine room when my walkie-talkie started ringing, I put the dough on the floor and unhooked it from by belt, “Hovis, Charlotte speaking, may I take your order?”
“A scampi roll please, no mayonnaise.”
“I’m sorry no scampi but we can do mayonnaise on rye. Unless you want to wait until tomorrow for straight out of the oven fresh bread provided I can find a warm place to let the dough prove.”
“There’s a shelf behind the auxiliary engine which will be warm, failing that, on the deck above the bridge beside the ventilator that way you get the warmth from the sun and from inside the ship.”
“Where do you want me, the engine room doors or out on deck?”
“Same place as yesterday, there’s only one load so it won’t take long.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.”
I now considered myself a seasoned deckhand and with the polish one would expect, I had the cargo pallet swung out and lowered onto the boat. Will secured it and called out, “Put the boom back in place and close the hatch cover, I won’t be bringing anything heavy back.”
“Aye, aye Cap’n. What time do you want me to bring your lunch over, oh, I can’t, you have both boats.”
“I’ve inflated a small dinghy and left it moored at the landing steps.”
“Good, I can go looking for lobsters after I deliver lunch, what would you like, ham, cheese or relish and is two pm okay?”
“Two is fine and bring whatever is handy with a bottle of beer.”
I watched him until he rounded the reef and I went back to my dough. The heat behind the generator was just right so I left my dough and went to the electricians workshop found a tool box with the sort of equipment I needed and took the lift to the radio room.
Two hours later I had found two faults, one the fuse inside the radio the second was a transistor that was not working on the transmit circuit. The fuse I replaced in minutes, there was a box full in a cupboard and there was a box of transistors but not the one I wanted so I sat, tapping my fingers wondering if there might be one in a radar set that I could use but thought better of it, we might need the radar urgently. I got up; one from a domestic wireless set might work on a temporary basis so I would have to go through all the cabins looking for a fairly powerful domestic receiver and then a second alternative came to me and I grabbed my radio, “Will, we are using four of the walkie-talkies would it matter if I stripped one and used one of the transistors?”
“Not a lot, there are four more, two in the electrician’s stores and two in the captain’s cabin. What do you want them for?”
“The ship’s radio transmitter.”
“I don’t think they will be the right sort, the walkie-talkie has a very limited range.”
“Can you think of anything else on the ship that transmits a strong signal, I know radar does but we might need that in a hurry so if I take one, I’ll have to put it back again and it’s a fiddly soldering job and I might damage it.”
There was a silence for a while and then, “There’s the depth sounder which has to be pretty strong they can transmit a signal down thousands of feet through sea water and there may be something similar that is focussed ahead to detect underwater reefs ahead of the ship.
“I’ll look, that would be the best bet unless you have plans to go visiting in the Wanderer this evening.”
“Nothing I can’t cancel.”
“Okay, I’ll have a quick look and then come over with lunch.”
I found the depth and echo sounder equipment behind a curtain in a cuddy off the radio room and again, everything was either damaged or switched off, I would have to strip them later but I was feeling hungry so I returned to the galley and loaded the picnic box onto the trolley, called into my cabin for my swimsuit and large shoulder bag and went down to the landing stairs. I managed to get both myself and the load into the dinghy without falling into the lagoon and set off for the beach.
The water in the lagoon was very quiet, there was hardly a wave breaking on the beach and the day was hot and still, I had an urge to stop and jump in but Will was waiting to catch my mooring rope. I started to row the last few metres. The oars were a little too long for the width of the dinghy so I had to row with one hand in front of the other and when I stopped to throw the rope, Will pointed behind me, “Look at that.” I turned and could clearly see the swirls left by the oars and rather than lie in pairs they were parallel to each other lying in two perfect rows but alternatively left and right. “Footprints in the sea,” he said, “You’ve left your mark here. When the tide goes out they’ll settle in the sand.”
A childhood memory came back, “I remember my first Christmas with Auntie Mo, she gave me a card. It was a country cottage with warm orange and yellow light coming from the windows and a Christmas tree outside the door. A single set of footprints in the snow went up the garden path to the door and across the top were the words; A Christmas Hearth Warm with Love. She had signed it at the bottom not inside in the normal manner and written; Happy Christmas and Welcome Home, Charlie.” I threw the rope to him and sat on the side of the dinghy, buried my face in my hands and started to cry.
I was dimly aware of Will pulling the dinghy higher onto the beach but my mind was flooded with memories of that house in Berkshire and the wonderful woman who had opened her arms for me to run into, run into at a time when I had been torn apart with the loss of my parents and had felt so isolated, so lonely as if everything I loved and cherished had gone and gone forever.
I remembered the way she had kissed me a minute or two before she peacefully slipped away and said, “Remember all I’ve taught you, Charlie, use it and one day somebody else will come and love you as much as mum, dad and me. You were born to be loved, so be patient, they exist and you will know them when they open their arms for you.” And then she smiled at me, squeezed my hand and slipped away. I had looked at that frail old hand and wondered that it had had the strength to guide and protect me for the fourteen years we had lived together and I stroked it and hoped that some of her strength and love would flow into me. When I looked at her face, her eyes were closed and there was a smile of peace and happiness on it and I managed to draw some comfort from the knowledge that she had died happy and the smile and her words showed me that she, if not me, was sure in the knowledge that I had a happy life in front of me.
It helped for the first few days until that dreadful moment when the vicar had stopped reciting the funeral prayers and nodded at me and I had stooped to take a handful of earth and hold it over her coffin but I couldn’t let it trickle onto her, it was too final, it was like saying goodbye for ever, this is the end. So I pulled back my hand and let the earth fall at my feet and looked at the vicar. He understood because he stooped down and took some earth and let it trickle down and nodded slowly at me with a soft smile on his face.
Whilst I had been crying I was only faintly aware of Will as he unloaded the dinghy, he didn’t say anything, just left me to cry and remember the footprints in the snow and the footprints in the sea. I felt his hands turn me gently and lift me from the boat and carry me past where he had left the picnic box, on up the beach to our spot under the coconut trees and then he put me down on my feet but I kept my arms wrapped around him and for a minute or two I stayed like that until I stopped crying. He eased me back and holding one of my hands he used his other to gently wipe away the tears, “Memories?”
I nodded, “Auntie Mo, mum and dad.”
“It was only a short while ago, Charlie, it does get better.”
I nodded again, “It was the patterns made by the oars, it made me think of that awful day she died and reminded me of how much love I have lost.”
“You haven’t lost it, it’s still with you, inside. Remember her and that love every time you put a cake in the oven, sew on a button or dress a wound, it’s still there, there in all the things she taught you.”
I felt much better now and I managed a smile, “Yes, I know, she’s still with me. Thank you for letting me cry it out.”
He returned my smile and turned to go for my things, jumped down to the beach and turned back to me, “Your Aunt Mo knew more about you than you realise,” and he went to the dinghy.
I watched for a while wondering what he meant, what was it that Auntie Mo may have known about me, we were close, there was no argument about that.
It was no use wondering, I had too much on my mind at the moment, whatever it was, I had thrust it to the back and that is why I had cried in the boat and cried for quite a while and it came from deep down. The footsteps in the sea had forced it forward and it had happened at a time when I was undergoing a pretty traumatic change, a change that thus far I had not realised was having so deep an effect on me. It was silly to have not realised it, after all suddenly realising that I was no longer the gender I had assumed I was and that I really belonged to the opposite gender is not something to shrug off, my life was going to be different now, totally different. To have something like that to contend with whilst discovering a few days ago that I was shipwrecked on an uninhabited island in the middle of thousands of square miles of ocean, ocean that was capable of extreme temperature changes and violent storms was an event that was going to shake me, no shatter me if I allowed it. My first reactions had been frivolous, being relieved at finding clothes that would fit me and then discovering that Will wasn’t bothered by the colours or styles was a sub-conscious attempt to suppress something that I was now prepared to admit to myself. Even when I had to wear the cotton panties, who made that decision? Was it Charlie on his own or was Charlotte forcing a compromise on him? She didn’t want heavy, functional underwear, she wanted something pretty, light and smooth next to her skin but for the moment she was prepared to go along with cotton until the opportunity arose to make her move and get the lingerie she wanted?
And then, the next day she had allowed Will to carry Charlie to the beach as if he were handling a light, delicate woman and not one of his mates suffering a bit of discomfort. I had gone to the shop and picked up that wide brimmed hat with the light blue satin ribbon and worn it with hardly a second thought. Had I really been concerned about the ribbon, I could have found scissors and cut it off in a minute or two but I hadn’t, I left it on and then Charlotte made her move, she showed herself to me in the mirror behind the cosmetics counter. How had I reacted, shock, repulsion, confusion? No just a little surprised and now she was here.
I needed that to sink in, give myself time to consider all the consequences, my whole life had been turned upside down and so far I had not given it as much thought as I would have to having a new hair style or nail extensions. I had failed to make a note of something that even Will had been aware of, aware of since the first time he had seen me in the carpenter’s workshop and taken that long look at me. He had held my hand on occasions, hugged me and of course carried me and each of those gestures had been one a man would make to a woman. He had gone out of his way to ensure I didn’t undertake work that required heavy lifting and I had accepted that and thought nothing of it and now a new revelation came to me, I was attracted to him. He was handsome, had lovely hair and beautiful eyes that were soft when he listened to me and I admired his body, not in the way a man would admire another, an admiration born of envy, I admired it because…because, I didn’t know why I admired it. I didn’t want a body like his, it was too strong, too masculine but I did love it and wanted to touch him. I had to stop thinking about him, if Will detected the way I was beginning to feel, it would be a disaster, a total, wretched, wicked disaster. I shook myself both mentally and physically, I had to give myself time to really sort out my emotions and make decisions on how I was to reshape my life and I had to do it quickly and conceal my feelings about Will whilst I did and cope with being marooned and the best way for me to be objective in my self-assessment was to keep my mind unemotional and think and do practical things like looking for coconuts, planning the next meal and trying to get the radio working.
Will returned with the picnic box placed it between the trees and nodded at the four coconuts I was carrying, “Are we eating all of those?”
“No, only one, the rest I’m taking back to the boat for cooking.”
“I’m starving,” and he jumped down onto the beach, “Your swimming costume is amongst the things I unloaded, are you going swimming?”
“I was planning to do a bit of diving but I’ll do it some other time, I have too much to do this afternoon and I wasted time when I became emotional.”
His face became serious, “Make time for yourself, Charlie, don’t bottle things up. We all need to cry, laugh, sing and lose our tempers because a spanner slips or a game of solitaire doesn’t play out.”
I smiled, “Or a finger nail breaks. Put the swimsuit in the lifeboat, I’ll leave it there with the diving equipment and I’ll have the picnic ready when you get back.”
He left and I unpacked the picnic and found one of those problems I was going to have to solve; I was wearing a knee length A line skirt, had I worn anything fuller or longer it may have got caught whilst I was moving about in the ship so A line was perfect for work but decidedly imperfect for sitting on the grass and enjoying a picnic. If I sat crossed legged, I would be flashing more than I intended, if I bent my knees and kept them together I would be okay but balancing a plate on my knees whilst eating was impossible so how was I going to relax and feed myself. I would have to sit with my legs bent and to the side and if I started to cramp up, then I could swing them over to the other side, or I could keep my legs straight and place the plate in my lap and when that got tiresome I could lay down on my stomach with the plate in front of me, ditch the cutlery and eat with my fingers, well why not, it was a picnic and I wouldn’t think twice about eating with my fingers at a barbecue.

8

I was in a much better frame of mind when we sat down to our picnic. Will had helped me get it ready and asked, “You’re feeling better?”
“Yes much better but it may happen again, Will”
“Of course it will and heed my advice, let it out, find a place where you can be alone if you wish but if you need somebody to talk to…”
“I know, I know, just scream,” I said before he finished.
“Be sure you do.”
“Will, you hinted that Auntie Mo had guessed something about me earlier?”
“I think she knew, Charlie, she must have done but didn’t want to say anything directly so she tried to confirm her suspicions her own way.”
“Her lessons in cookery, dancing and all that stuff?”
“Yes, some of it can be accepted as a desire to ensure somebody as unworldly as you, and you do seem unworldly, would be able to look after themselves, be prepared to live alone successfully but I think there was more to it because there was a lot she taught you that wasn’t really necessary to ensure a young man could get by without a woman. Cooking yes but bread and cake baking? Not really part of a man’s world are they unless they are training to be a chef?”
“There was more, I didn’t think anything of it at the time but now I realise it reinforces what you’ve said. She used to get me to help when she was doing her hair, made me put rollers in, brush it out and trim bits off and when she was doing her make-up, she would make sure I was there on quite a few occasions and would ask me if her lipstick was okay and had she overdone her eyes, things like that but now I think she was also showing me how it was done.”
“I think had she lived much longer, she would have spoken to you.”
I thought about that for a few moments and Will was right, she had increased the lessons in a subtle way, taught me the settings on an iron for delicate materials, what soap powders to use for hand washing and on two or three occasions shown me illustrations of a dress or skirt she was thinking of buying and ask if I thought it would look right for her or did the colours suit something she had already and on at least one occasion she showed me a lingerie book and had told me she wished they had lingerie like that when she was my age and even went to the trouble of explaining women’s clothing sizes. I must have really been unworldly, any other man would have either been embarrassed or bored but I had been interested and did what I could to help her pick clothing. Yes, I think she was preparing the ground ready for a ‘chat’ with me. Nothing technical of course but enough to make me take a closer look at myself and then perhaps she would have steered me towards a doctor.
“Will, when did you guess? I know you had realised something because of the way you reacted to my wearing colourful jeans and cotton panties.”
“The first time I saw you, the day you had woken up to discover we were shipwrecked and wandered down to the carpenter’s workshop. At first I just put you down as a lightly built man but I had suspicions that you might be transsexual and you confirmed it with your choice of clothing and the morning you were dancing your way through breakfast. You had a grace and poise that a man, even a dancing instructor, doesn’t have, it was totally female. So despite your seemingly rational explanation about the jeans and panties being the only things in your size, I reckoned there was something more behind it and that was a something that you were not aware of yourself. The shipwreck I think was something of a catharsis, the female you surfaced and pushed the male aside because she didn’t think the male could cope, whereas she could.”

After lunch, Will carried the picnic box back to the dinghy whilst I struggled with my load of three coconuts and the hair from the one we had eaten. At the rate we were going, I would have enough to make a welcome mat for the log cabin by the time it was built and if we found an inland lake or large pond, there might be rushes I could weave for carpeting.
“I’ve had a thought,” Will said as we pulled the dinghy into the water, “I’m sure I saw a drawer or box filled with transistors and stuff like it in the electrician’s workshop a couple of days ago. Leave the radio until I get back, there may be something suitable amongst that stuff and it will save removing something from the other equipment.”
“Why would they be stored in the electrician’s workshop, things like that should be in the radio room?”
“A lot of the stuff in the engine room has computers, so do the auxiliary engines and the circuit boards for the electrical supply and equipment in the galley. It’s worth a look.”
“Okay, I also want to make up a medical kit for the island and see if I can find a cargo manifest in the purser’s office. If I can find out what food we’re carrying amongst the cargo that would save me shifting cases of tins about. If there’s time I want to look for a little black dress in the shop, just in case we’re invited out to dinner one evening.”
“Have a look for a dinner suit for me whilst you’re at it.”
“I’ll wear high heels so we’ll have to use the lifeboat rather than the dinghy.”
“Why”
“Cos heels will puncture the air bags on a dinghy.”
“Aunty Mo thought of everything,” he laughed, “I just want to be there when you start practising your high heel walk.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen a woman gliding gracefully across a room before.”
“I have, that’s why I want to be there when you try the heels out.”

I was going to dress up for dinner but by the time Will got back from the island and I had the dinner prepared there wasn’t time to visit the shop or for that matter the purser’s office for the cargo manifest. The snapper was good though and it was worth sacrificing the time to look for a Balenciaga ball gown to prepare it. We went to the electrician’s workshop and found the box of electronic spares that Will had spoken about and lo and behold there were six of the transistors I needed so Will picked up the box, “These are better in the radio room or bridge for the moment,” and we took them up to the bridge with a canvas tool holder and the small screw drivers and soldering iron I would need and I started to take the back off the wireless. “Do you need me to stay?” he asked, “If not I’ll sort out the boats for tomorrow and put the ship to sleep.”
“I’ll be okay, I’m better off on my own, it’s a fiddly job and I might start swearing and having tantrums whilst I’m doing it.”
“Something else to make a note of, you having tantrums whilst wearing heels has got to be worth watching.”
“No it isn’t, Auntie Mo told me that in a sulk I made the Grim Reaper look like a stand-up comedian.”
He laughed and left me to my tantrums with, “Scream if you need me.”
It took a while to remove the defective transistor, I was working with silicon chips around it and when I tried to read the type references they were too small and worn, this part was probably original equipment and judging by the dust that had accumulated inside the cover and behind the set, the radio was also original equipment. I sat back, I needed a magnifying glass and where was I going to find one, the sick-bay or the electricians workshop seemed the most likely and I got up and then it occurred to me there would be one in the chart room off the bridge which was a deal closer so I went in and sure enough there was one on the chart table. I returned and picked up one of the six transistors I thought most likely to work and sure enough, the part number tallied with the old one so I spent another thirty minutes trying to solder it in place keeping a firm grip on any tantrum that looked like developing.
The job was eventually finished but I left the back off the set, just in case, and switched on and started to move through the frequencies. At first all I heard were the carrier waves so at least the set was working and then I heard a very faint voice, strength one and breaking and was about to move on when I stopped, took my hand of the dial and switched the set off. I didn’t want to be rescued, not yet, perhaps in a day or two. I was about to remove the fuse from the radio and tell Will that I had failed but a voice nagged at me, “You may want to stay here but what about Will?” I pushed my chair back and stood up looking down at the radio set. Who was I going to be? What would I do if I received a response from another vessel and they came to our assistance? Was Charles or Charlotte going to greet them? I wanted to find a hammer and smash the radio but I didn’t, instead I left the radio room and went into the saloon to make myself a strong coffee. There was a small devil standing in front of the percolator, “Good girl,” he said, “Forget the radio, forget Will and go to your cabin and let Charlotte have a nicely perfumed bubble bath.”
I turned away and went back to the entrance and picked up the phone, dialled one, jumped when all the telephones started ringing and waited. Will answered, “Charlie, you okay?” he answered a little out of breath.
“Yes, Will sorry I didn’t mean to startle you, everything is fine.” I stopped speaking, should I tell him the radio is working or say I had failed to repair it.
“Charlie, something is wrong, tell me, I can hear it in your silence.”
“No, Will, no, I mean yes, oh dam, dam, dam, the radio, it’s working,” and I hung up. The phone rang almost immediately, “Charlie, where are you, the radio room?”
“No, the saloon, Will, I need you, please come up.”
“Stay there right beside the phone.”
I heard him, he was taking the stairs two at a time and in seconds he appeared in the doorway, looked at me, came over, took my hand and led me to an armchair, “Sit down, I’ll make coffee or would you prefer a brandy?”
“Coffee please. Will I’m sorry to do this to you…”
“Save it until I’ve done the coffee.”
When he returned he placed a cup in front of me and reached for my free hand as I drank, “Tell me.”
“The radio, I fixed it and turned it on, it worked and I heard a very faint voice, just about in range and breaking and I went to pieces, I couldn’t speak and turned the set off. I was going to get a hammer and smash it up.”
“It’s Charlie that’s frightened, isn’t it?”
I nodded, “Scared, really scared he wants to run away.”
“But Charlotte, what does she want?”
I shook my head, “I don’t know, I think she wants to go and meet the world but Charlie won’t let her, he knows people are going to laugh, hate and ridicule him. What can I do, Will, I want to stay here where I’m safe, I don’t want a ship to come here and rescue us not yet, perhaps after a while I’ll change my mind.” I got up, “I’ll make the call, send for help but when they get here, I’ll hide on the island and you can say you’re the only survivor and go with them.” He wouldn’t let go of my hand when I tried to free it he said, “Sit down again.”
I did, “Will we must make the call, I’ll make contact and you can speak to them, just tell them you were left behind on your own.”
“If you’re staying, Charlotte, then I’m staying until you’re ready to leave and before you start, it’s non-negotiable. You won’t make it on your own in your present state of mind, I’m staying. We can make the distress call in the morning.”
“No Will, we have to make it now, the other survivors, the lifeboats may not have made landfall and could be lost, we have to tell the authorities about them.”
He stood up, “Let’s do it now,” he picked up my coffee and led me back to the radio and I followed meekly, he had called me Charlotte, he had called me Charlotte, Will had made up his mind that Charlotte took priority over Charles!
I sat down in front of the set and switched on, waited a few seconds for it to get comfortable whilst I thought about frequencies. The station I had heard earlier was at maximum range and speaking French and would be no good. I took hold of the tuning button and stopped to think. Five hundred megahertz was no longer officially monitored but I think I had read that there were still some stations that kept a listening watch, the best bet was to start there and work my way down, I tuned the set, glanced at Will and was about to start when another thought came into my head; strictly speaking we were not in a mayday situation, we were grounded on a reef but the ship wasn’t sinking nor were we injured and we had water, food and medical supplies so a pan-pan-pan could be justified but a mayday, I thought not and was about to start when Will placed his hand over mine, “The lifeboats, Charlotte, those people will be short of food and water and getting desperate, hurry up.”
He had made up my mind for me; “Mayday – Mayday – Mayday, this is MV Pacific Wanderer to all stations. We are aground on a volcanic reef adjacent to an atoll. Our approximate position is forty one south, one twenty-two west. I repeated the message and ended with “Pacific Wanderer listening, over.”
I looked at Will and he smiled I smiled back and returned my attention to the set and lifted the mike ready to repeat the message when I nearly jumped with fright;
Mayday - Mayday – Mayday. This is Royal New Zealand Navy frigate Aurora, all stations cease transmission, I am dealing with a Mayday, I say again, all stations cease transmission.” There was a short pause and then; “Mayday – Mayday – Mayday. MV Pacific Wanderer, please confirm your position, our charts indicate no atoll at your coordinates.”
“Aurora, I have you strength three and confirm our estimated position is forty one south, one twenty two west. I must point out our position is dead reckoning, we were caught by the tropical storm during Sunday night and the captain, crew and passengers abandoned ship at,” I looked at Will and he quickly scribbled on a sheet of paper. “Abandoned ship at about oh one hundred local time in four lifeboats. We believe they may have headed in a northerly direction in severe weather conditions and near zero visibility. Pacific Wanderer is aground and holed in the port bow into number four hold but is not in imminent danger of sinking if current weather conditions continue. There are…” I looked at Will, closed my eyes and said, “Two, I repeat two passengers still on board and overlooked when the order to abandon ship was given. Neither passenger is in need of urgent medical assistance. We have ample food, water and medical supplies, but we do not know the condition of the others since they took to the lifeboats hence our mayday and not pan – pan. Pacific Wanderer, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer this is Aurora, please wait listening we are checking the cross bearings on your transmission, we repeat, our charts indicate no reef or island in the vicinity of your dead reckoning position.”
I heard him start to speak to another station and leaned back with my eyes closed and felt rather than heard Will get up and leave and return shortly with a fresh coffee. “They are going to get a copy of the passenger list, Will, whatever can I tell them?”
“Just give your name as Charlie and when they ask for me, tell them Sweeney Todd, I don’t want to get involved, but I am impressed with your professional manner on the radio.”
“Scuba diving days, a trawler skipper we dived with a few times let me take the helm occasionally and taught me a bit. What’s your full name, they are bound to ask because they may think this is a spoof particularly now that they’ve asked me to confirm our DR position.”
“William George Devonshire, what about you?
“Well I used to be Charles Broughton and I thought that had changed but Charlie’s not giving in easily.”
“Charlotte will have to be patient a little longer. You feeling a bit better now.”
“Yes but I’m not handling it very well am I?”
“You’re doing marvellously, both of you. If it had been left to me, I would have switched on and shouted ‘Is there anybody there’ and kept fiddling with dials and switches until somebody answered.”
“That’s all I did, just used a different approach.”
“But with panache, I...”
Mayday – Mayday – Mayday. Pacific Wanderer this is RNZAF Maritime Surveillance Marine 5. Do you copy? Over.
I grabbed the mike, a new call sign, more help, “Marine Five, strength four, over.”
Pacific Wanderer, I have messages can you accept them?”
“Roger, Marine Five ready to receive, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, I have triangulated your position with Aurora and another call sign, your present location is one-one-eight, twenty seven, sixteen west. Thirty nine degrees fifty minutes, thirty three seconds south, over.”
“Roger that, Marine Five, I shall rap my navigator over the knuckles, over.”
“Be kind, Pacific Wanderer, under the circumstances it was excellent dead reckoning. I am currently flying down your bearing but have only one hour’s fuel left and must return to Auckland. HMNZ Ship Aurora is underway to your location at full speed with a doctor on board and her ETA is three six hours. She may, if your situation remains unchanged, delay at Pacific Wanderer’s last confirmed position and begin a search for your lifeboats. Roger so far, over.”
“Roger all that, Marine Five. Please relay to Aurora that Pacific Wanderer was under power at slow speed for approximately five hours after the last known confirmed position and was being clipped by the tropical storm. We notice that the captain appeared to be well south of his expected course before we encountered the storm. We were out of Chatham Island bound for Adamstown and are not aware of any reason why the course was so southerly, over.”
“Roger Pacific Wanderer. Will you describe current wind and sea at your location, over.”
“Maritime Five – wind sou, sou, west, strength one to two, sea calm with approximately one metre waves. Virtually no surf on the reef surrounded our lagoon. The island adjacent to the reef has a hill of two hundred metres and shields us from southerly winds, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, Roger that. The USAF have diverted an AWAC to search the estimated location of your lifeboats, currently the lifeboats are not sending any emergency beacon signals can you confirm that they have that equipment, over?”
“Maritime Five, I can confirm that the two lifeboats remaining with Pacific Wanderer have beacons so would assume that those at sea also have them. Would it help if we were to switch one of ours on?”
“Pacific Wanderer, negative to that it may confuse searching ships and aircraft. We have been notified that a Royal Navy Antarctic Survey ship and an RNZN Antarctic supply ship are both moving to your area but are one thousand plus miles from you. A United States airliner from Hawaii bound for Wellington is also diverting to overfly the search area. All call signs have been informed that the lifeboat search area is at Mayday status but you are Pan-Pan, over.”
“Maritime Five, I shall inform the other passenger he has been put to one side, he will be hurt but I can cope, we have plenty of beer on board, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, if you are currently under British command, use the cat if you have to. One last thing, can you supply the names of the passengers still on board Pacific Wanderer, over.”
I gave them my name and Will’s and signed off, “Do you understand all that?” I asked Will.
“We don’t have a cat, do you want me to make one up out of bits of old string?”
I stretched, “Nope, let’s go and sit in the saloon and have a drink.” I turned the call alarm on and stepped back and looked at the satellite and sat-nav link, “I’m feeling pretty tired, what time is it?”
Will looked at his watch, “10.20 pm.”
I walked through the bridge and hurried down to the saloon with Will behind me. “I think I should leave the sat-nav until morning, I’m tired and I might do damage that we can’t repair.”
“That’s fine, we have the radio working and they know our precise location, the sat-nav can comfortably wait. Have a drink and go to bed.”
I shook my head, “No, I can’t do that, I’m going to let them know and then bunk down in the radio room with the wireless set alarm on. They might locate the lifeboats during the night and I need you to kip on the bridge in case I sleep through the alarm, do you mind?”
“Of course not, it’s nearer to the bar than my cabin. What do you want to have?”
“A small G&T with loads of tonic and if I ask for a second, don’t let me have one or I will definitely sleep through the alarm.”
“I believe you, you slept through a force nine Sunday night.”
“Will what’s the range of our radar?”
“VHF about eight miles, long distance about sixty in good conditions.”
“Would it pick up the lifeboats?”
“If they were close but beyond line of sight, one on its own, I think it doubtful but if they weren’t separated by the storm, we might get them if they had the sense to tie themselves together.”
“Let’s give it a go when we go back to the bridge.”
“It’s a good idea to switch to long distance anyway, if help gets close and their radar is cluttered by the island, they can home in on our signal.”
I finished my drink and got up, “I must have a shower and change these clothes, can you listen out to the radio for twenty minutes, the transmit button is on the microphone stem.”
He uncapped another beer and came with me to the door, “Take all the time you need, if it’s an emergency I can’t handle, I’ll come and get you.”
Half an hour later I walked back into the radio room and nearly tripped over a thin mattress with a pair of pillows and a sleeping bag on it, “Where did you find them?” I asked
“Cupboard on the bridge, there’s another for me.”
“Are you saying the watch keepers used to take naps?”
“Probably took turns, it’s about par for a crew that can abandon ship without first making a roll call. You okay now whilst I take a shower?”
“Yes, fine, I’ll tell them I’m going to listening watch only and set the alarm whilst we get some sleep and I’ll make contact at six. If you want a snack, there’s some bits and pieces left over from dinner in the fridge and it doesn’t matter if you get drunk and come back singing, I’ll not hear it once I bury myself in the sleeping bag.”

I awoke at five forty-five, it seems I have unconsciously downloaded an alarm system into my brain since starting the radio, well I hope that’s the reason I awoke fifteen minutes early because if it’s some sort of precognition and I remain Charlotte, I might gain the reputation of being the Wicked Witch of the South. I padded down to the saloon and loaded the percolator and went to the fridge to fetch the milk but of course there wasn’t any. I suppose I could have used one of the three long-life bottles or dried milk but that just isn’t recommended for the first coffee of the day.
I took a tray with two mugs of black coffee, already feeling grumpy and left one within reach of Will who was just stirring and went back to the radio room. I was half way through the coffee when Will poked his head around the door, “Do I have time to shower?”
“Yes, I’ll do the first half hour, there won’t be anything going on yet.”
He went off and I turned the radio on and gave it a minute and dead on six I started; “Pan – Pan – Pan, this is Pacific Wanderer for RNZN Aurora or RNZAF Maritime Five, do you copy?”
“Pacific Wanderer, this is Aurora, good morning Charlie. The airforce won’t be out of their beds yet, over.”
“Aurora, make them do time on a carrier, any news before I upgrade myself to a Mayday situation, over.”
“Something wrong?”
“No milk for my coffee.”
Aurora chuckled and then became serious, “Aurora for Pacific Wanderer, there is no contact yet with the lifeboats and we are upgrading the search. We have a weather warning for you, can you receive, over?”
I reached for my notebook and acknowledged.
“Pacific Wanderer, there is a rapidly deepening depression in the Antarctic Ocean off Scott Point and heading north by north, north east and is likely to by-pass you by approximately three hundred and fifty miles. ETA your area is 0200 hrs. We will update you every hour but at present wind speeds over your location are expected to be gale force eight to storm ten. The same will apply to the search area for the lifeboats with wind speeds slackening from approximately 0500. For this reason, the search for the lifeboats is being treated as a most urgent Mayday. An American AWAC is expected your area at about midday today and will be in contact as soon as they eyeball you, over.”
“Aurora, wait one please.” I stopped to think but not for long and grabbed the internal phone and rang for Will. He answered quickly obviously not in or finished his shower, “Charlie?”
“Come up please Will, we have an Antarctic deepening depression threatening us, I have Aurora standing by.”
He arrived on the run and took seconds to read my notes, “We’ll have to try and get the ship off the reef and beach her, Charlie, it’s the safest position for us.”
“Can we do it?”
“I think so, I’ll have to take the stern anchor and a winch cable over to the reef directly astern and secure both and then if we put the engines astern and use the winches, we should pull her off. If the hull is damaged again or my repairs don’t hold I can beach her at slow ahead to prevent her from sinking. If we use both anchors and cables from the winches it should hold her. It will have to be done at high tide,” he looked at his watch, “Five hours, time enough for me to get it ready if you can handle the radio. Ask Aurora to confirm that high tide here is at twelve hundred.”
“Won’t the island protect us?”
“Some yes but the sea will be whipped up and breaking over the reef and churning up the lagoon quite a bit and if Pacific Wanderer starts moving about whilst she’s on the reef, it will rip the hull right out of her.”
I turned back to the radio, “Aurora, a message, do you copy, over?”
“Strength four, Pacific Wanderer, send you message, over.”
“We need confirmation of the time for the next hide tide our location, we are going to attempt to pull Pacific Wanderer off the reef and beach her on the island, over.”
There was a short pause and; “Pacific Wanderer, do you have clear space astern to give room for the ship?”
“Affirmative, Aurora. Clear for fifty meters beyond the stern and an arc of thirty degrees with sufficient depth. We will be mirroring the path of the ship prior to going aground. We also have sufficient space to manoeuvre for beaching on the island which has a sandy, shelving bottom. Information is from several trips between ship and island by lifeboat but we did not carry out an underwater survey, over.”
“Roger, Pacific Wanderer. Pity about the survey, there may be underwater obstructions you missed on the approach.”
“Aurora, we have scuba equipment and I am an instructor level sports diver, would you suggest I make a survey, over?”
“Pacific Wanderer. Charlie, you are a multi-talented asset, wait one whilst we consult.”
It wasn’t long before they came back on and gave me the go ahead. Will said it would take about an hour to get the anchor, winch and lifeboat ready which gave me enough time to get a good breakfast ready and prepare sandwiches for later, I suspected we wouldn’t have time whilst moving Pacific Wanderer to stop for a cooked meal. And then we went to work.

In Chapters 9 and 10 – Aurora arrives and an act of heroism.

Footprints In The Sea, Volume 1, the complete volume, is to be published on Amazon Kindle. There is a link to Amazon in the right hand column of this site.

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Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 9 & 10

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X.

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read Chapters 1 and 2, please do so.

An Act of heroism and Aurora arrives.

Chapter 9

By midday, Wanderer was ready, the Anchor was firmly fixed to the reef and the winch had been connected to a chain which was wrapped around a sturdy piece of rock. I waited sitting on the gunwales of the lifeboat whilst Will made a last check and we were ready. What little current there was, was just beginning to flow towards the gap in the reef as the tide began its ebb, “Stay well clear of my air bubbles on the surface, Will, in case I have to surface in a hurry, I don’t want to have my hair cut by the lifeboat’s prop. If I surface with my arm held up and I wave it from side to side, get to me as fast as you can, that’s the signal that I am in trouble.”
“Why don’t you delay the dive for an hour and give me a bit of instruction and I’ll come down with you?”
I shook my head, “Thanks for the offer but the amount I could teach you in an hour would make you more of a liability than a help. Just becoming competent with the basics takes at least twelve hours of training and as long practising.” I tested the demand valve, gave him a thumbs up and put the valve in my mouth, took a deep breath and back flopped into the sea. Found which way was up and surfaced, cleared my face mask, gave Will another thumbs up and dived. I went down about two metres and swan towards the bow and the hole where she had struck the reef.
Visibility was the best I had ever experienced, at least thirty metres and as I swam along the hull of the Wanderer I could make out the sea bottom which was a mixture of what looked like volcanic lava with small areas of coral reef interspersed by sandy sections, this was marvellous diving territory but for now I had other matters to attend to. As I approached the bow I estimated that the ship was sitting on a rocky ledge from just before where the bulkhead between numbers three and four holds was located. It was high tide and the hole into the hold was entirely under water and there was no sign of escaping air, so we had a tight seal there, Will’s welding was up to par. I swam back a little way and then venting more air from the jacket I did my second most hated diving manoeuvre and that was to swim under the hull of a large ship but light and visibility as I said earlier were excellent and I didn’t suffer my usual claustrophobia.
Almost immediately I spotted some deep scratches on the hull and when I turned to look at the reef to see if Wanderer had hit something on her port side I spotted a bulge in the crater wall and I swam over for a closer look. This too showed evidence of a collision and there were marks that had to have come from our ship, they matched the black paint on the lower part of the hull. It looked as if we had nudged this bulge on the way in and Wanderer had been pushed slightly, just hard enough for her to have hit a jagged section of reef on the starboard side and been holed. If nothing else it demonstrated just how hard and sharp these under water sections of volcanic rock could be when not weathered by rain and wind. I returned to the starboard side and went a little deeper and found the spot where Wanderer had struck the reef the second time, there was a protrusion, quite a large one and roughly triangular in shape and the end had clearly been shattered when the ship had been holed. I swam off a distance and looked back; Wanderer, when she was pulled off the ledge, should miss this section but if the wind or ebbing tide did push her over again she would nudge it at the top and provided we eased her off very slowly there was nothing there to puncture the hull so she should be okay. I turned and swam down to the stern to carry out my number one most hated task, to inspect the propellers of a ship of any size regardless of whether the engines were running or not.
There was no damage there so I finned a little way and surfaced a couple of metres off the lifeboat’s beam. Will was standing in the stern staring across to the stern of Pacific Wanderer where the last of my bubbles were surfacing. “I’m here,” I called and he spun round, “I was beginning to wonder if you were caught up in the props.”
“I’m playing hide and seek and teasing you. Do you want to jot down what I’ve found so far?” He came over to me and took a note book out and wrote as I told him the details and when he finished he nodded, “That’s okay, if we are unlucky, I will have time to get her round and go for the beach.”
“We’ll have to close the bulkheads to be sure because once she’s off the ledge, there’s a drop off down to about twelve metres and then it drops steeply to about thirty metres so if we don’t get her onto the beach, she’ll sink out of sight and we’ll ruin all the high fashion dresses amongst the cargo I discovered yesterday.”
He grinned, “We can’t have that can we. Have you finished now, I get nervous when you disappear down there?”
“Not quite, I’m going down to about ten metres and swimming over to the reef behind us to make sure there’s nothing that we’re likely to hit when we go astern. Just keep your eyes on my bubbles if you can’t see me…” Will’s walkie-talkie started buzzing. “That’s not you playing tricks is it?” he asked as he unhooked it from his belt.
“I haven’t got mine with me, it’s not water-proof.”
He turned up the volume and sat on the gunwale so that I could hear, “Pan-Pan-Pan, this is US Airforce AWAC Papa-Alpha, Two, for Pacific Wanderer, over.”
“Papa, Alpha, Two, go ahead.”
“We tried your ship but received no response so though we’d give this a go, how’s our signal?”
“Loud and clear, where are you?”
“Five hundred feet, five miles out to the east, we can see your superstructure.”
“We’re astern of the ship in a lifeboat checking for underwater obstructions before pulling her off the reef, over.”
“Is Charlie with you?”
“Roger, in the water doing the scuba bit and listening to you at the moment.”
“Charlie, if you can hear me, we understand you are short of milk?”
I laughed and shouted, “Word gets around, no ice cream either.”
“We are overflying your lagoon to have a quick look and then returning to drop supplies. We’ll drop a watertight floating container by parachute and aim for the centre of the lagoon, is that okay.”
“You’re angels, we’ll collect it in the lifeboat, thanks very much, you’ve made my day.”
“You’re welcome ma-am, Papa Alpha Two out.”
As the radio went dead there was a roar and the AWAC complete with mushroom hat flew over us, continued for two miles or so and turned to begin its parachute run and as it crossed the far side of the reef an object fell from it and a parachute blossomed to float down and land in the centre of the lagoon, I waved from the water and Will bent to start the lifeboat’s engine.
“I’ll do the survey whilst you collect it, Will,” and I dived before he had a chance to say anything, the radio operator on the AWAC had called me ma-am, had they been using their equipment to have a close-up look at the ship and seen me wearing a skirt?
Back we went to work and by six in the evening we had Pacific Wanderer safely anchored fore and aft and we had supplemented the anchors with three hawsers from the winches all moored to convenient rocky outcrops and a coconut palm. We had intended to moor her close to the river where the deep water was but that would leave us exposed to the storm which was travelling on schedule and we had already noticed an increase in the wave height and wind speed. Aurora had radioed to check on us and they now expected to arrive at one am and would commence a slow search southwards weather permitting. Will had gone off in the lifeboat with four storm lanterns to fix to either side of the reef and take a bearing from the centre of the gap to the mast on Wanderer so that should Aurora need to come into the lagoon she could enter without hitting the reef and use us if need be to tie up to. The only problems remaining were the list on the ship. The bows were beached and had scored a trench as she drove into the sand and even with clear water under her hull for three quarters of her length the list was noticeably worse but we would adapt now that I had discovered the secret of cooking with gimbals fitted to the range. The other problem was the contents of the container the AWAC had dropped. For the most part, one end had contained what was obviously pre-packed dried and tinned emergency rations, blankets and things like that but there was three packets of sanitary towels included and these were in the front section where the perishable and fresh food, including my milk and ice cream had been packed. I managed to hide them under some cartons of dehydrated food before Will saw them. The Americans had obviously concluded a woman was on board and if Will had seen the towels and connected that with the radio operator’s ma-am when he signed off it would be embarrassing. I know he knows about me but I was worried about how he would react if anybody else put two and two together and peg me as a transsexual. They had the passenger list and I was listed as Charles not Charlotte and that would need some explaining and if I was asked for my passport or any other proof of identity, I was in trouble.
I shrugged it off as a problem to deal with as and when it would be required and went into the galley to take a look at the large casserole that was in the oven and then went back to the radio room to start on the sat-nav. As soon as I had the outer covers off I spotted the fault in the satellite link. A wire had broken loose from a transformer and was resting against its connecting point but it was the insulation that was touching, not bare wire that’s why there was no power. I rummaged around and found the soldering iron and fixed it inside ten minutes and crossed my fingers on one hand and switched on with the other and waited for it to sort itself out and bingo, it started to display the ship’s position exactly as Mariner Five had given it bar one second of longitude but we had moved a little when we re-anchored. I leaned over and turned on the radio room computer and almost immediately, the internet light started flashing, the machine was handshaking and then the Internet availability showed positive. I picked up my walkie-talkie, “Will, we have the sat-nav up and working and it checks out with our position given by the New Zealand Maritime aircraft and we have Internet access.”
“Great, I’ll send you an email thanking you properly when I get back. Can you see the lights on the reef from there?”
“Wait a bit, I’ll go onto the bridge wing.” When I got out there, the lights were easily seen even in the evening daylight and I could see Will heading for the ship, I waved and spoke into the walkie-talkie, “The lights are easily seen even in the daylight.”
“Good, if they are clearly visible in this light, Aurora will be able to spot them from miles away at night. What’s for dinner?”
I laughed, “I’ll send you an email with the evening’s menu.”

We allowed ourselves and hour after dinner, we’d worked hard all day and needed a rest and Will I think, was smitten by my culinary skills. I had caught a large crayfish whilst I was surveying around the stern of Pacific Wanderer after we had beached her and it surrendered, principally because it had strayed a little too far from the rocks where it would normally have been hiding. Will had even eaten seconds of salad but that was due to the spicy chilly and tomato salad dressing I had made rather than still being hungry.
“What are you reading?” he asked.
“The cargo manifest, there’s some good stuff here if we decide to build a holiday cabin.”
“You’ve changed your mind about setting up home here then it’s now a holiday cabin you’re ready to face the world?”
I put the manifest down and turned to face him, “Will, I think we have a little problem.”
“A Charlie, Charlotte problem?”
I nodded, “At midday when we were speaking to the AWAC, the radio operator when he was signing off said ‘You’re welcome ma-am.’ You didn’t notice. Later when we unpacked the food container, they had added some sanitary towels, I hid them before you saw them.”
“Wrong, I did notice what the operator said and I also noticed the sanitary towels and your attempt to hide them and they are part of the standard supplies that are pre-loaded into those containers. Not all shipwrecked people are crew, some are passengers and both include women in their numbers so something like menstruation is not unknown. As for the radio operator; Charlie, your voice pitch is tenor, the high end of tenor and I suspect that if you were to sing you could easily raise your voice to contralto. It is…” he searched for the words, “A gender ambiguous pitch, it would be difficult to positively identify a speaker with that voice as either male or female and there are a lot of men and women in that voice range.”
“Well nobody has ever mentioned it to me before.”
“Of course not, it’s not unusual and if you were dressed in a suit and tie, you would be identified as male without hesitation and equally, if you let your hair down and style it a little differently and wore a skirt and blouse, you would be identified as a woman.”
I sat back in the chair and thought about it and realised that on some occasions when speaking on the telephone to a stranger, they had referred to me as if speaking to a woman, called me Miss or Madam. “The passenger list, Will, it has me down as male.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Well no but when I booked I used my debit card and that has my full name on it, Charles Broughton.”
“You booked on-line, telephone or by a personal call?”
“Telephone.”
“Who looks at a credit card details? The booking clerk would have been looking at the payment bar to see that it cleared and possibly mistakenly identified you as female by voice and may have entered you as such on the passenger list.”
“What about when I came on board, why didn’t they challenge me then?”
“Probably didn’t even notice the discrepancy. You had the ticket, you had a boarding pass and when you showed them the passport they looked at the photo which matched the face and ticked the name on the list and that was all. You boarded in Wellington had a return and wasn’t visiting any countries that might cause them to scrutinise you as closely as they might at Heathrow or Southampton and you weren’t visiting North Africa or the Middle East. You will probably find that the passenger list says female and you will be arrested on suspicion of murdering your husband if you try to pass yourself off as male. It’s one of the hazards a woman has to face when she tries to impersonate a man.”
“Are you saying I should continue to let them think I am a woman, go on wearing women’s clothes?”
“Yes, certainly at this stage. Later when we are picked up and try to land at a port you may need to do some explaining but if you ask to see somebody from the British Consul, doctor or senior immigration officer, and I back you up that too will be sorted. It might mean surrendering your passport for a few days but nothing more.”
“But I was thinking of you and the embarrassment it would cause.”
“I realise that and I would be embarrassed but for the hold I have over you. I’m a power freak.”
“Hold?”
“Yes, for as long as you keep giving me meals like you have, I’ll keep my trap shut but the minute you slide, I’ll blow the whistle, tell them everything and accuse you of having a Kalashnikov hidden in your stocking top.”
I smiled, “You’re good for my self-esteem, Will Devonshire, I promise cordon-blue at every meal and I have a beef casserole in the oven for later when it gets stormy.” I got up and started to clear the table but he stood, “Let me do that, you go down to the shop and pick a nice dress to wear when you welcome the captain of the Aurora when he comes to call.”
“Be careful what you wish for, there’s two or three in my size,” but I did as instructed.
I walked along the racks of dresses and picked a deep burgundy short sleeved dress with a pencil skirt a pair of black patent court shoes with 3 inch heels and a black patent belt and then went to lingerie and added black nylon stockings and a daring set of knickers and bra. I added a gold bracelet watch, a bangle, and gold chain necklace with a love-knot and matching earrings but those I would have to leave for another day, my ears would need piercing for that, this evening I had to make do with imitation gold clip-ons. My last job was burgundy lipstick and eye shadow and that was it. I crept up to the saloon before Will spotted me and reassured that he was busy with the washing up I went into my suite and stripped, showered and went to work.
Just after seven my telephone went, “Washing up is finished, pots and pans as well and I’ve cleaned down the cooker and work surfaces, fancy a drink?”
“I’d love one, I’ll be with you in two or three minutes.” I spritzed a touch of ‘Charlie’, grabbed my small shoulder bag and with ankles wobbling a little and knees knocking I went to the saloon.
“Small G&T,” he asked from the bar, I don’t think we can chance much more, we’ll probably be up most of the night,” He turned with the drinks in his hand and stopped and stared as I walked towards him. My ankles were okay with the heels and my knees reduced to a slight tremble, He didn’t say a word until I was three or four paces away and then he shook his head, “Blast you Charlie, I knew you’d look good if you did yourself up but you look gorgeous, really something else, I can’t believe you could ever think of yourself as a man, I certainly can’t.”
“You think it’s okay?”
“Okay? That qualifies as the understatement of the year, you look absolutely lovely,” he stepped towards me looking slowly from hair to toe, “Absolutely lovely.” He handed me my drink, “I just can’t believe it and as for the Yanks or the Aurora crew, I don’t think you need ever worry, they’ll be too busy storing away the memories of finding you on a shipwreck to ever have time to query who you are.”
“I said it earlier, Will you are terrific at boosting my self-esteem.”
“You don’t need me, go and look in a full length mirror.”
“The only one is in the shop and if I go in there again I’ll spend another few thousand.”
“There’s one in the ladies loo in here.”
“I can’t go in the ladies!”
“You’ll have to get used to it because if I see you in the gents, I’m sending for Interpol.”
I did go in and I could feel his eyes on me as I walked across the saloon. I pushed the door open and on the left next to the hand basins was a full length mirror and I stopped to look. I’m not being vain, Will was right I did look lovely and I stood for three or four minutes admiring myself and I felt good, I liked the me that was looking back at me, I only wish I had discovered Charlotte years ago or better still, Auntie Mo had said something about her suspicions, then I would have had a few years with her guiding me. I turned away and went back to the saloon, I was going to have to change at about ten, I didn’t want to wear these clothes in case we needed to move Pacific Wanderer, I would ladder my nylons and they were the real thing so like Cinderella I would have to get back into jeans and a bright yellow sou'wester and the heels would change into a pair of sea boots but I had two and a half hours in which I could be the real me.
Well almost the real me. As I walked back across the saloon Will’s eyes were following me again, it didn’t worry me, in fact I liked the effect I seemed to be having on him and when I sat down and crossed my legs and pulled the hem of my skirt down, his eyes were on my knees. I reached for my drink and broke the spell and we started chatting about what we were each to do if Pacific Wanderer did look as if she would break free, and how we were to keep watch during the night. We had laboured hard during the day, there’s an awful lot of work involved when two landsmen try to move a cargo ship which is normally crewed by about twenty experienced seamen. We were tired and tired people make mistakes and mistakes made on board an undermanned ship in a force nine gale tended to have serious consequences. We were both going to have to try and get some sleep at our posts, me in the radio room and Will on the bridge.
I looked at the watch I had stolen from the shop, it was nine forty-five, time to get ready, I frowned, I didn’t want to change but stood up with the frown still on my face. “Why the frown, we know we have to get ready for the storm?”
“I don’t want to change.”
“Well don’t, keep the dress on, it will cheer the place up a bit.”
“Will, a silk and wool dress is not best suited for manning an anchor winch on a deck awash with sea water, if it gets wet it will cling to my body and inhibit movement.”
“I know,” he grinned, “That was what I was hoping for.”
I chose to ignore that remark but that left me with the problem of unfastening the top of the dress. I could hardly ask Will, not after his last remark and if he caught a sight of what I was wearing under the dress it would definitely complicate matters further. I wasn’t ready for that for a lot of reasons one of which was simply not knowing what to do, I hadn’t really got the hang of making love to a woman and I certainly didn’t have a clue how to…how to…well how to do it with a man. “I’ll have to change in the cabin, my jeans are in there and then I’ll go on the radio and tell them we are on listening watch with the alarm on, won’t be long.”
“I need to check the anchors and lifeboats and I’ll join you on the bridge. Want me to unhook the zip on the dress before I go?”
That stopped me in my tracks, it was the last thing I was expecting and I was about to say no, I can manage when I felt his fingers brush the back of my neck and lost the will to refuse. Fortunately he was a perfect gentleman, he unhooked it and pulled the zip down an inch, “There you go, you should be able to reach it now but…”
“Scream if I need you,” I finished and disappeared down the passage to my cabin, shut the door and leaned against it on the verge of panic. I was falling for him, no I had fallen for him and wanted him to take the dress of me and caress me and kiss and just about everything a man would do to woman who was half dressed and within easy range of twenty or thirty beds. I was going to have to sit down and give this some hard thinking after the storm because I am pretty sure he had feelings towards me that were more than just friendship.

Chapter 10

“Pan – Pan - Pan, this is MV Pacific Wanderer to RNZS Aurora and all stations, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, this is Aurora, you are loud and clear.”
“Aurora, we are going to listening watch with alarm on. Are there any changes in the ETA storm?”
“Negative, Pacific Wanderer, still 0200 and our ETA search area 0100 with Maritime 5. AWAC PA 2 is searching south of your position in case boats turned about with intention of returning to you. The two Antarctic ships are still heading to you and not expected your area for fourteen hours subject to storm conditions, over.”
“Aurora, thank you, we are going to full watch at 0100, don’t be late I have beef casserole in the oven.”
“You’re a sweetheart, Charlie, have a good rest, Aurora out.”
I felt like banging my head on the radio set, even the Kiwis had me down as a woman now.
Will came in, “Everything is ready outside, any news?” he nodded at the radio.
“Nothing new about the storm, still proceeding as forecast and so are the aircraft but I’m going to my cabin and change again, the bloody Kiwi operator has just called me sweetheart, there’s no point in hiding it.”
Will grinned, “Wear a nightie, it’ll be easier than the dress. I’m going to get some sleep, I’ll call you if anybody shows up and give you a chance to change and look your best.”
“Will, get out before I start throwing things at you,” and he left chuckling. I switched to listening, turned on the alarm and went to my sleeping bag, flopped in and pulled it over my head and prayed that I didn’t wake up with a thirty six, twenty six, thirty six body, deleted that and prayed that I did.

I awoke a little before one, and still half asleep I switched the radio over to live and dragged myself onto the bridge to wake Will. When I was sure he was awake I started to go back to the radio and passed the radar screen and stopped, I thought I had seen something and waited for it to sweep the north sector and saw two blips one larger than the other, “Will, come here there’s a radar contact close to us.”
He was there in an instant and watched, then reached out and switched the set to close range and watched again bending closer to the screen. “Yes, two contacts and the smaller is about the size of a lifeboat, the larger about twice its size,” he moved the cursor to the blips as they faded and a window opened up giving the bearing and range as 020 degrees and 6.9 miles.
“Could it be a submarine?”
He shook his head, “A sub wouldn’t surface in those seas unless they really had to and if they are involved in the search, they would do better by staying submerged and using their underwater detection equipment.” He watched for a little longer and then, “Keep your eyes on them, I’m going out on the bridge wing to take a look.”
He was gone for a couple of minutes and came back soaking wet, “Can’t see a thing beyond a hundred metres past the reef and the rain is almost horizontal. The waves out there are at least four metres,” he nodded towards the radio room, “Tell them, Charlie, I think it may be two of the lifeboats.”
I didn’t wait for more but ran to the radio; “Mayday – Mayday – Mayday, this is MV Pacific Wanderer to Aurora and all stations. We have radar contacts bearing 020 degrees true, range about seven miles from our position, over.
“Mayday – Mayday – Mayday, this is HMNZS Aurora to all stations, cease transmission, I say again, cease transmission I am dealing with a Mayday, reference Pacific Wanderer. Pacific Wanderer please confirm more than one contact, over.”
“Affirmative Aurora, two contacts, one larger than the other, we suspect they may be two of the lifeboats, over.
“Pacific Wanderer, Only two, is there a chance that the larger may be two or three boats in close proximity?”
“Aurora, wait one. Will,” I yelled, “They want to know if the larger could be more than one lifeboat.”
There was a short pause and then he called back, “Probably. Tell them the distance between the contacts is one hundred meters. I’m on close range radar and the large blip may be two boats tied together and they are drifting with the wind and look as if they are not under-way. Direction of drift is north by north - north east and the range is widening very slowly.”
Mayday – Mayday – Mayday, Pacific Wanderer for Aurora, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer go ahead, over.”
“Aurora, we believe we have two lifeboats tied together and a third one a hundred meters from them, there is no sign of the fourth boat. They do not appear to be under power and are drifting slowly away on 020 bearing, over.”
“Roger, Pacific Wanderer, are you able to eyeball them?”
“Negative, Aurora, we have tried but visibility is less than five hundred metres and raining hard, wave height is estimated at greater than four meters, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, can you try to contact them with VHF, over?”
“Aurora, wait listening am switching frequencies, out.”
“I retuned the set to the VHF emergency frequency channel 16, “Mayday – Mayday – Mayday, this is MV Pacific Wanderer to the radar bearings at 020, range seven miles from my position, thought to be our lifeboats, do you copy, over?” I listened heard nothing and tried twice more with no response and called, “Will did you hear that on your Walkie-Talkie.”
“Nothing, Charlie, I’m still on the frequency we have been using earlier, try that.”
I did but still had no luck and called again to Will, “Can you get your waterproofs on and try from the bridge wing, I can’t leave this radio?”
“Already wearing them, give me a minute.” I could hear him faintly and after three tries he came back and shook his head, “Nothing, they are either damaged or not switched on.”
I turned back to my radio, “Aurora, this is Pacific Wanderer, no response on VHF 16 or our own walkie-talkie frequency, I repeat, no response to VHF transmissions, over.”
“Roger that, Pacific Wanderer, wait whilst we confer, over.”
“Mayday - Mayday – Mayday, this is USAF AWAC Papa Alpha Two to Aurora, copy Pacific Wanderer. We can monitor the VHF transmissions from Pacific Wanderer and confirm no response to any signals. We have the radar contacts and correct the range as 6.78 miles, bearing as given, over.”
“Aurora, acknowledged, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, acknowledged, over.”
“Papa Alpha Two for Pacific Wanderer, the wind speed at sea level is five oh miles, gusting to six oh, we will attempt to descend to five hundred feet, overfly and drop a flare, we daren’t go lower this bird gets wobbly at those wind speeds, over.”
I sucked in my breath at the understatement, with the huge mushroom stuck on top, flying the AWAC at five hundred feet through a gale left no margin for error. “Papa Alpha, can’t we wait for Aurora?”
“Charlie, you’re worried about us, we’re touched. We’ll be okay, done it before and Aurora is close to three hours away, those boats could be swamped by then.”
I turned to shout for Will but he was right behind me, “We could try in one of our lifeboats, Will.”
“I can try, you stay here by the radio.”
“Sod-off, we both go, there isn’t much you can do in those seas on your own.” I turned back to the set before he could argue, “Papa Alpha Two, copy Aurora. We are going to try and reach them with one of our lifeboats, over.”
“Charlie, you stay on that ship, you’ll never make it with that wind speed and sea height, Aurora over.”
“Seconds to that, Charlie, we don’t want any more casualties, you stay where you are, Papa Alpha Two over,”
“Aurora and Papa Alpha Two, we are switching this set to emergency beacon and will turn on the distress signal in the lifeboat. We are going now unless one of you volunteers to write to the families of the people on those boats and explain why, when help was available, we failed to respond. Our next contact will be through our walkie-talkie frequency, out.” I paused for a second and heard them both speak at once and pressed the emergency beacon button and ran. Will thrust my sou’wester and boots into my arms without a word of protest and we flew downstairs to the landing steps and jumped on board the lifeboat and whilst Will got her untied and started the engine, I scrambled into my sea clothes and went to the bow and found the emergency beacon equipment and switched it on. “I thought you were going to argue with me,” I said as we cleared the Wanderer’s stern.
“No bloody point in arguing with a woman when she’s made up her mind.”
I grinned and said, “Dead right,” and started sorting out my diving equipment.
He steered for the gap in the reef giving me a funny look, “Why are you sorting out your diving gear?”
I looked down and concentrated on checking the breathing apparatus and answered in a soft voice, “In case we should be sunk, I can tow you back to the island.”
“You can do what!”
“Tow you back whilst you concentrate on keeping your head up, the fins will give me more power.”
“Charlie, I’m warning you, if I see you getting ready to jump overboard, I’m going to tie you down to a bloody seat.”
I put the demand valves down and looked up, “It’s partly the truth, Will, if we capsize in these seas your life-jacket will keep you afloat but you won’t be able to swim far. I can grab you and if need be, not worry about keeping my head up and breath off the bottle and concentrate on finning us back.”
“And what’s the part of the truth you’re not telling me?”
I didn’t have a chance to answer, we had just passed through the gap when a huge wave caught us, lifted the boat and pushed us back into the lagoon and Will had to fight the tiller as he brought the head round and went out of the gap at an angle with the throttle wide open. This time we climbed the waves and cleared the reef and Will then had to concentrate on bringing the head round to steer on the 020 degrees course so I moved back to the bow whilst I had the chance, arranged my fins, mask and air bottle where I could get to them easily and unclipped my walkie-talkie after struggling to find it under the sou'wester. Mayday – Mayday - Mayday, Pacific Wanderer for Papa Alpha Two, over.”
“Charlie, you crazy pair of…”
“Papa Alpha, don’t be rude. How me?”
“Loud and clear and we have your beacon. Change your heading to 355 degrees magnetic, the wind and current are pushing you of course, over.”
I yelled the new bearing to Will and acknowledged to the AWAC and added, “We are flat out Papa Alpha, can you estimate our speed over the ground and time to nearest lifeboat, over.”
“It would be easier to estimate your ETA to Davy Jones, wait one…..Charlie at the current speed and heading you should meet the boats in 28 minutes, over.”
“Thank you, am going to kit up so will be on listening watch for a few minutes, over.”
“Kit up? Kit up for what, what kit? Over”
“Wet suit, over.”
“Wet suit, Charlie don’t even think of diving off that boat, it’s insane, over.”
“I’m not thinking of going overboard, it’s better than a sou'wester, it’s raining hard down here, over.”
“Will, are you listening to this?”
“Roger, Papa Alpha.”
“Stop that crazy woman from going over the side, over.”
“Negative, she’s at the other end of the boat and I daren’t leave the helm or we’ll broach, over.”
“Then turn the boat round and get back into the lagoon.”
“I can’t, I can’t even see it now and we’d run a risk of hitting the reef and even if we did get into the lagoon, she’d sulk for weeks.”
“I don’t believe I’m hearing this. Will, the wind speeds are gusting to near sixty five and the wave heights are at least six metres, she can’t survive in that, and the water is going to be dammed cold, that’s the Antarctic current down there.”
“Roger, Papa Alpha, I’ll do what I can to stop her, out.”
I blew Will a kiss and turned my back to him and stripped and was hit by a wave coming over the bow and screeched, they weren’t exaggerating, the water was icy. I struggled into my swim costume and wet suit as fast as I could before I got soaked again and once I had the leggings, vest and bootees on it wasn’t so bad. I stood up and pulled the jacket and hood on and climbed onto the bow decking and gripped the mast with both hands and all I could see was a wall of water in front of me and then the sky as Will touched the tiller and the lifeboat began to climb. He shouted and I just heard him above the noise of the wind and turned, “Safety line,” he yelled and stooped to reach under a seat and pull up a line and clip it around his waist. I climbed down from the locker and followed his example and once it was on I found I was connected to the life boat by a three metre line. I walked down to the stern as far as the safety line allowed and shouted, “Do you want something to eat from the emergency rations?”
“Charlie, under the side seats are a series of those safety lines, unclip yours and clip on to one near you and come down here.” I did as he told me but instead of dropping the line I was wearing I unclipped both ends of the new one and fixed it to me and then joined it to my original line from the boat so now I had enough to move up and down the boat as necessary.
When I got down to his end he looked at what I’d done, shook his head and said, “Don’t go into that sea, its ice cold.”
“I know, I was hit by a wave whilst I was changing. I asked you if you wanted to eat or drink something.”
“There are food packs under the seats, see if there are chocolate bars in there.”
There were and we had a bar each, I was starving despite having eaten a large dinner. As I finished I could hear an engine, a plane engine and then the walkie-talkie called, “Pacific Wanderer we are flying at seven hundred and be over you shortly, keep on your current heading and we will drop a red flare over the nearest target, over.”
Will answered, “Roger, Papa Alpha, how far is target?”
“One hundred metres and Aurora will be with you in two zero minutes.”
“I’ll go up to the bow and look for her,” I said and hurried away, reached the bow and climbed up and holding the mast again I waited. I saw the red flare from the AWAC pop and hover for a few seconds and then it was blown off to the north east and I turned to make sure Will had seen it but pointed anyway and he corrected the tiller. We rose on the crest of a wave and I saw nothing and waited for the moment when both boats were on crests. The next wave drew a blank and I turned back to Will and saw him lift his walkie-talkie to his ear, listen and then spoke briefly before making a correction to his course so I turned to the front again and waited and the second wave lifted us and there less than twenty meters away were the two lifeboats tied together and there was a man in the water tied to the side with a lifeline but his head wasn’t moving so he was probably dead. I turned to see if Will had seen it and he waved so I turned again but we had dropped into a valley between waves and I waited and as we rose again, the lifeboats were dead ahead and the man in the water turned his head for a moment so I dropped down and sat on the floor of the boat, pulled my fins on, unclipped the safety line and then got into my buoyancy jacket and finally struggled into my air bottle harness and weight belt, climbed on to the gunwale and shouted to Will, “The man in the water is alive I think, I’ll go to him. Put the gearbox in neutral when I hit the water and wait for me to swim clear,” and before he could argue, I back flipped and hit what felt like an iceberg it was so cold and I cursed, I’d forgotten my gloves and in seconds my face and hands felt like ice. I pulled the chin of the hood as high as I could, cleared my mask and started to swim but I was too buoyant and my fins were breaking the surface so I vented air from the buoyancy jacket, sank about a metre and a half and finned liked crazy. I wasn’t going to last long before the temperature slowed me down and the finning got my circulation going. I swam for a few minutes and surfaced, I was about three metres from the man so I put on a spurt and reached out and managed to get a hand on his shoulder but it was dragged off as I was sucked away. But for my mouthpiece I would have screamed with frustration. I sank and finned a couple of times and broke the surface but he was too far away and to my horror I saw the safety line break free from the boat. The cold was biting into me now and I began to feel very tired, almost sleepy and was tempted to turn and try to fin back to Will but I was lifted for a second and saw the man again and he was staring straight at me, his eyes confused, lost, he said something and his head fell forward. I became very angry, I wasn’t going to allow him to escape me and willed more strength into my hip and thigh muscles. I sunk a little and forced my legs to work and push me forward but I could feel them cramping and wanted to roll myself into a ball but I surfaced and in an act of desperation I thrust a frozen hand out and grabbed the loose end of the safety line and pulled us together, my shoulder muscles feeling as if they were on fire and being ripped from my body. I wrapped my arms around him spat my mouthpiece out and screamed, “Don’t you dare swim away from me again!” and managed to uncurl my fingers enough to lock them and pull us together and wrap my legs around him and crush his body against mine. “Got you, you’re safe,” I shouted and his eyes opened for a moment and he nodded and then fell unconscious.
I looked up at the boat and there was a pair of hands reaching for me, “Not me, him,” I screamed, “Get him out first,” and I tried to lift him but only succeeded in pushing myself under the water. A second pair of hands appeared and grabbed the man and pulled him up whilst the first pair gripped the safety line. I was free of him now and frozen. I reached up to the gunwale and managed to get my finger tips on it but there was no feeling and they slid back into the water. My body was numb now and I started to sink and then somebody grabbed the back of my buoyancy jacket and pulled me up and over the side of my own boat and laid me on a seat and I saw Will’s face and then everything went dark and I slipped into unconsciousness.

In chapters 11 and 12 Charlotte gains fame and begins to meet the world.

If you can’t wait to see what happens, Footprints In The Sea, Volume 1 is now on Amazon, so click on the URL in the right column of the BC Home Page.

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Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 11 & 12

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read Chapters 1 and 2, please do so.

Aurora, Maritime 5 and Awac Papa Alpha 2 have a pin-up and Charlotte meets a doctor.

Chapter 11

I opened my eyes slowly, it was dark and an unfocused face appeared above me. I could feel somebody vigorously rubbing my hands and somebody else doing the same to my feet. Slowly my brain began working again, “Are we on Aurora?”
The blurred face looked away from me, “She’s awake,” I heard Will’s voice say and then my eyes cleared and I recognised him, “Are we on Aurora?” I repeated.
“No, we’re still on the lifeboat,” and he came closer, let go of my hand, slid his arm under me and pulled me into a warm hug. “I thought I was going to lose you, you were going to die, drown, lose you,” and he pulled me tighter in to him. One thought came into my mind, ‘I would dive under an iceberg time and again if Will was going to hug me like this when he got me out of the water.’
“The wind and sea are quieter?”
“Aurora is here and shielding us.”
“The man I tried to help, how is he?”
A second face appeared next to Will, “On board Aurora, with severe hyperthermia but alive and the last thing he said before he lost consciousness was, “A mermaid came to me.”
I looked at the new face and managed to move my cheeks and lips enough to smile, “He was in shock I expect. What about the other boats?”
I saw the stranger glance at Will and answered, “We found three, the rescued passengers told us that the fourth sank the night they abandoned Pacific Wanderer, she was thrown onto the reef as they left the Lagoon and smashed up.” He stood up and signalled to somebody above him and a cage stretcher was lowered and the darkness returned.

This time when I awoke, the sky had gone; above me was the lined ceiling of a ship, a ship that was lying still, moored or anchored and around me were curtains. I lay for a while listening to something bleeping above and behind my head and when I pushed my head back to look I saw a games consul with little green men chasing each other across the screen and wavy lines and windows with numbers. Something started to go ding and one of the curtains was pulled back and a man came to the side of my cot, lifted my wrist and stared at the games consul without speaking. He nodded, placed my wrist back on the bed and smiled, “Back with us then?”
“I think so, is this Aurora or Heaven?”
“Definitely not Aurora, if you use Aurora and Heaven in the same sentence, it’s an oxymoron. This is Pacific Wanderer, the sickbay and I am a petty officer sick bay attendant which is a macho way of saying ward sister.”
“I’ve been brought home to die have I?”
“No, if you died it would upset Will and your home is the luxury suite under the bridge. Excuse me a moment.” He went through the curtain and I heard him speak on the telephone; “Will, she’s awake and thinks she’s in Heaven.” He came back to me, “Hungry?”
“I’d love a coffee with lots of milk and sugar.”
“Will told us that if you ask for that it meant you were fully recovered. I’ll make one and before you ask, no, you can’t get up until the doc has seen you.”
“There’s a doctor on board?”
“Half of Aurora’s crew are on board except the captain, he refuses to leave his bridge whilst you’re in the vicinity, he claims you would probably steal his ship to add to your fleet.”
Will came in and walked straight to my bed and picked up my hand and squeezed it, “You look miles better, back with us at last, how do you feel?”
“The same as any morning before I’ve had coffee and the ward sister won’t let me get out of bed.”
“It isn’t morning, it’s three pm, you’ve been out for more than twelve hours.”
“What!” I tried to lift myself into a sitting position and the counter pane slipped down revealing a white lace nightie and then cramps hit my abdomen and I grimaced and sank back onto the pillow, “Will, I have to get up, I’m bursting for a pee.”
He went out into the sickbay and came back with a bottle, for a dreadful moment I thought he was going to bring a girl one but this was standard male shape. That didn’t stop him from turning his back and when I finished he opened a bag and presented me with a tub of lavender perfumed hand wipes.
I lifted the shoulder of the nightie up, “Where did this come from?”
“I stole it from the shop, well I didn’t really steal it, I added it to your tab.”
“I don’t mind that but who undressed me?”
“Just the people who did the undressing or do you want to know who was looking on. Let me think, I winkled you out of the wetsuit and swimming costume and the ward sister put the nightie on whilst the doctor and captain looked on to ensure you were treated in a ladylike fashion. Then there was the chief engineer, his mate, a leading artificer, the surface to air missile crew, two of the lookouts and a few passing general duties bods.”
He made me smile but I still asked again, “Will who really did it?”
“Mark and I but the doctor was there.”
“Who’s Mark?”
Will nodded in the direction of the nurse, “He is.”
I laid back on the pillow with a sigh, “The word is getting around.”
Will pulled a chair over and sat down, “Charlie stop worrying about it, you’re the ship’s heroine, you jumped into an ice cold sea in a force nine gale and rescued a man who would have died if you hadn’t got to him. That incident has firmly underlined the opinion of everybody that you have the courage of a lion and are really Aphrodite in disguise. If you grew a beard and were to walk around the ship dressed as an erotic dancer, you would still be the ship’s heroine, mascot and pin-up.”
“Pin-up,” I sat bolt upright, “A pin-up, are you kidding me!”
“Nope, the crews of Aurora, Papa Alpha Two and Maritime Five are all asking for your photo and Papa Alpha Two want a picture of you in a swimsuit to paint on their AWAC and they are naming it Charlotte Mermaid, the Guardian Angel and I’m not kidding.” He took my hands in his and leaned forward, “What you did yesterday was beyond the call of duty, it is the bravest thing I have ever witnessed. I could see by the expression in your eyes that you were terrified and that made the act even more heroic and I have told the captain and pilot of Aurora that they are to mark the island and name it Charlotte Island.”
“The best bit was when you hugged me,” I said before I could stop myself.
He replied by easing me back onto the pillow and leaning across the bed he kissed me and kept the kiss going long enough to let me know that there was more to this than friendship. He stood up and smiled, “Don’t tell anybody I did that, the jealous crew would lynch me. Now the doctor is coming to check you over and he wants a chat so Mark and I will make ourselves scarce whilst he’s here…”
“No, Will please stay.”
He shook his head, “No, he’s a surgeon commander and that’s way above the rank a frigate’s medical officer would normally carry, he’ll tell you why,” he leaned over and kissed me again, “Let me know when you can go back to your cabin, I’ll come and pick you up, I want everybody to see me with my arm around you.”

“Duncan Chesham, officially I am Commander Chesham RNVR I’m also an FRCS and technical things of a medical nature. How do you feel now, headaches, limbs, a morbid fear of the sea and seafood?”
I laughed, “No, I’m already planning to look for crab and crayfish around the reef and fish and chip shops don’t scare me.”
“They should do, fried fish is way above the recommended level for saturated fats,” he placed his stethoscope in his ears, “Doesn’t stop me though. Sit up please.”
I sat up and wriggled my nightie up to my waist and bunched it up ready to lift it higher. “Right let’s see if your heart is still beating and then we can check that you’re breathing,” so I lifted the nightie and he placed the stethoscope against my chest and listened, moved it and listened again and repeated it on my back and eased me down on to the pillow and felt my stomach and pressed once or twice and then sat down, took the scope from his ears, “Okay, you’re alive, heartbeat’s fine no nasty noises and no abdominal pain. Now you want to ask me questions?”
“What am I, Doctor Duncan?”
“Technical description would be mammal of the homo-sapiens specie, white Caucasian sub-specie and in good health but I think you mean something else?”
“Yes, what gender am I?”
He smiled, “Let me tell you who I am and what somebody with the lofty rank of surgeon commander is doing acting as MO on a New Zealand Navy frigate. I am in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, a wavy-navy sailor. It’s the naval equivalent of the Territorial Army, a weekend sailor. I’m on a New Zealand ship as part of an exchange programme between Commonwealth navies. In real life I am indeed a surgeon and my specialities are gynaecology and SRS, that’s sex reassignment work. I am a consultant at the Gender Clinic of Charing Cross Hospital, London. I am also quite good at battlefield associated surgery, hence my being here and when I’m not treating wounded sailors I also act as their GP. Now you want to know why I didn’t raise my eyebrows when I saw you wearing a lace nightie.”
“Yes, that’s what I meant, what am I.”
“First, I had already seen you wearing a woman’s swimsuit under your wetsuit which is a pretty ridiculous thing to do. You should have been wearing a thermal bunny under a heated dry-suit. I also noticed that your hips and some body fat were not as they should be in a young fit male. Is this embarrassing you?”
“No, you are putting it well, technically, no reproach apart from the wetsuit, you need to try wearing a dry suit out of water, it’s not comfortable especially on a small lifeboat.”
“Good, I’ll continue. First I am a doctor of medicine, not a qualified psychiatrist so such that I tell you would need to be confirmed by a psychiatrist but in my duties at Charing Cross I have sat on many assessment panels, treated and operated on countless transsexuals and I have seen enough to say that your body is not typical of the male. Apart from body fat and hips you also have a little too much fat around your nipples which are larger than normal. Now I have acted in what normally would be an unprofessional manner by asking Will a few questions and from what little he told me, and he told me under pressure from me because you were unconscious and couldn’t supply the information yourself, I have little doubt that you are at least transsexual and are probably more than that. Still okay, or do you wish to tell me to mind my own business and leave you and your sexuality out of it.”
“No, please go on, I appreciate your need to know as much as possible about me for treatment purposes.”
“Correct. Now I qualified transsexual by saying, ‘probably more than that;’ I believe you may be intersexed. Do you want to know what that means?”
“I think it means I am both male and female.”
“A simplification, but yes, it means that you have the primary reproductive organs of both sexes. In your case, making a hasty assessment from the little I have learned from two brief looks at you to establish how much you may have injured yourself, the male organs appear to have been the dominant ones. I couldn’t take too close a look because I had a lot of people to treat for hyperthermia, exposure and assorted injuries associated with shipwrecks. But I have an hour and if you wish I can carry out a more detailed examination that might indicate how much the female organs, have formed or possibly not formed in your body and if my suspicions are confirmed, I can refer you to a psychiatrist for his opinion as well.”
“How much will you be able to find out?”
“Enough for me to ask for expensive body scans and X-rays and along with the psychiatric assessment, make recommendations about your future choices.”
“Shall I take the nightie right off,” I said as a way of making up my mind.

He spent forty minutes measuring and squeezing muscles, spread my scrotum and spent quite a while studying that before lifting it to feel underneath and then had me roll over whilst he went over my bum pressing his fingers in, pinching it lightly and then went up to my hips, spent a deal of time there and took more measurements before running his hands over the back and sides of my rib cage and then had me flip over again and did the same to my front and this time he spent a lot of time on my abdomen and chest pressing quite firmly in places and finally he pushed my hair back studied my forehead, cheeks and lips ran his hand down the front of my throat, across my shoulders and went round the area of my chest where a woman had her breasts and then stopped. “Right, all done, you’ve been very patient. Sorry about the inspection of the area around your penis, hope you didn’t mind that, it can be uncomfortable.”
“It tickled.”
He smiled, “One or two questions. Did your parents ever tell you of anything unusual happening at your birth?”
“No, nothing, Mum said I took my time and weighed just over six lbs, that’s all.”
“What about toys, what sort did they buy you at Christmas and birthdays?”
“The usual, ray guns, model cars Lego sets, toy railways, things like that.”
“No dolls?”
“No, well yes an Action Man once.”
“What about sports?”
I shook my head, never really interested me except swimming, that’s why I took up scuba diving, it gave me an extra excuse to swim.”
“Will mentioned dancing?”
“Yes, ballroom. Not ballet or stuff like that. When my parents died, my auntie Mo told me I was spending too much time on my own, not socialising and arranged for me to have ballroom lessons.”
“How did you feel about it?”
“I enjoyed it, met a lot of people and became good and finished up as a ballroom instructor. That was a challenge, I had to become proficient with the women’s steps as well as the men’s and in Latin American and jive, the two are completely different, the women’s steps don’t always mirror the men’s, they have spins that have to blend in with the basic steps, there is more emphasis on grace, poise and fluidity.”
“Right that’s it for today. We’ll have another question and answer session but there won’t be any more physical examinations until we have you scanned.” He patted my stomach, “I felt something hiding in there I want to have a look at, nothing to worry about but I’d put money on all or part of a uterus and probably one or both ovaries.”
“Before you go, tell me about my body, is it male or female?”
He hesitated for a moment, “I wouldn’t normally say much at this stage but in your case, I’ll break my own rules. But for your penis and testicles and lack of developed breasts I would say you had a classic female frame and muscle structure, I don’t wonder you had trouble finding male clothes that fitted. Your hairline and face is also female, how often do you shave?
“Usually every other day, sometimes I would go three days but since coming here, I’ve shaved twice and the second time was after three days and I hardly needed to.”
“Right, I must be getting back to my other patients there are a couple on Aurora that are giving me concern and if you start coughing and feeling unwell, come in here and see Mark and if you feel like dressing up and being a bit glamorous, do it, come over to Aurora and give the crew a treat,” he grinned at me, “Will told me you are going through the cargo manifest looking for the latest fashions.” He became serious, “You can go back to your cabin now but take it easy for a few days and the petty officer who’s over here to handle the catering for your extra guests wants the recipe for the casserole you made.”
I smiled, “Was it good, I never had any, I was always told by my instructors never to eat a large meal after vigorous swimming.”
“It was very good, I commandeered it for the patients but did have a little for myself. Will missed out so I expect he’ll be a bit grumpy. Now I really must be off, I’ll send Will in and remember, take things easy for a couple of days, no swimming outside the lagoon or cutting down trees.”
As soon as he left I swung my legs over the side of the cot and stood up. I felt a bit wobbly and waited until my legs strengthened and then tried a couple of steps and I was fine, then Mark came in, I’ll get your coffee now and Will said he’ll be about fifteen minutes, he’s with the Aurora’s engineer at the moment.” He brought my coffee over and waited whilst I drank a third of it and then said, “I’ll pop down to your cabin if you want and get some clothes, you can’t walk around the ship like that.”
“Oh my god,” all I was wearing was the nightie and that was nearly transparent. I reached for a bed sheet and Mark laughed, “Don’t worry about that, nobody is going to see you in here.”
“You can!”
“I put it on you and I’m a nurse and seen stranger things.”
“I suppose so. I’ll have to wear one of the sick bay dressing gowns.”
“I’ll get your clothes, do you want the stuff that was on the lifeboat, the jeans and top I mean, not the sou'wester, Will took everything to your cabin.”
“Which means he’s hung them up on the floor, no I’ll need clean things, a pair of jeans and some sort of top, what’s it like outside, still stormy?”
“No, a perfect Pacific spring day, warm and sunny.”
“If you could, there’s a pale yellow summer dress in the wardrobe, the doctor said it was okay if I want to dress up a bit and if I wear jeans, I’ll start finding work to do and I have to take things easy,” I stopped babbling and looked at him.
He smiled, “I’ll fetch a bit of make-up, where is it and what about undies, something like the nightie?”
“God no, the dress has a full skirt and it might still be windy, something white and not fussy. You don’t mind do you?”
“Don’t be silly,” he looked at me measuring me up and said, “You about a thirty six chest?”
I nodded, “There’s a couple of bras in the cabin I stole from the shop.”
“Right, about B cup?”
“I just stuff tights in them.”
“Not any more, I found some gel boobs hidden in one of the drug cupboards, whoever was the medical orderly on this ship was probably a cross dresser,” he grinned, “On the game as well I expect. Being on board a ship full of men is too good a business opportunity to miss and they weren’t paid well on this ship, most of them as far as we can tell were barely fit for purpose.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No, you’d be surprised at some of the crew and other things we find on board merchant ships when we stop and search them. There’s blow-up dolls, loads of tranny stuff, videos, all sorts as well as Kalashnikovs, explosives, drugs and immigrants.”
“I suppose so, it must be fun at times.”
“And dangerous if they cut up nasty.” He took the empty cup off me and nodded towards the shower, “There’s towels in there, you have time for a quick shower and I’ll get your stuff from the cabin. If anybody comes in, slip a white coat on and tell ‘em I’ll be back in five and if they’re bleeding to death, stick a plaster on the cut.”
I finished my shower as Mark returned with my shoulder bag over one arm and the pale yellow summer dress over the other and a carrier bag with the ships logo on it. He dropped the shoulder bag onto my cot, laid the dress next to it and opened the carrier bag and pulled out a pale yellow bra and panties and a packet of light tan tights, “Your white sandals are in the bag with a tulle petticoat, just right for the dress, sorry I took so long but I had to go into the shop for some of the clothes. Your makeup and perfume are in your shoulder bag and there’s a magnifying mirror on my desk. Hurry up, you have a half hour, I saw Will and told him you were having a bath so he’s gone off to speak to the boys checking the hull. Do your hair into a pony tail, it’s still a bit windy up top and if you go out on deck, stay away from the front of the bridge, there’s a downdraught there and you’ll have a devil of a job keeping control of that skirt. Don’t just stand there grinning, get a move on.”
So I sat at his desk and did my makeup and when I finished he came over from the drugs cabinet, took hold of my chin and inspected my face before nodding, just right and I’ve tried the gel boobs and they’re a good size for you, I’ve tucked them in the bra, come on, hurry up, I want my sickbay back.
I did hurry up and for an amateur I had done a reasonable makeup job in no time at all, well almost no time and I dressed as expertly, even managing the bra fastening without having to turn it round to the front but had to call for Mark’s help when it came to fastening the zip at the back of the dress but it was done and we still had time for Mark to grab my hand and rush me into the ladies loo so that I could have a look in the mirror and then back to the sickbay. “That will stop him in his tracks,” he said after walking around me and tweaking a loose hair, fluffing my skirt and checking my make-up again. Mark it seems had appointed himself my agent and dresser.
I just had time to write down the recipe for the casserole when Will arrived and stood for a good minute just looking at me, it was like a repeat of when he had seen me in the white dress. “I can’t believe you were swimming in the Antarctic just a few hours ago.”
“The icebergs helped defoliate my skin.”
“They did something you look really nice.”
“I think she looks beautiful,” said Mark “And you should be very proud when you show her around the Aurora.
“I will be,” he took my hand, “The captain has offered his barge to take us over.”
“Barge? Captain?”
“Didn’t Mark tell you, the Captain of Aurora has asked to meet you, that’s where we’re going, a tour of the frigate.”
“Mark, you should have warned me, I can’t go over there like this,” I started fussing with the dress, “He’d throw me off his ship.”
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you would come over all flustered like you are now. Now go with Will and meet the lads over there, you’re their heroine and they will be very hurt if you don’t. Have a nice time and when you get back, I’ll pierce your ears so you can dress up properly next time.”
Will took my hand and started to walk me out, “No stop, my shoulder bag and the recipe and I slipped my hand out of his and just had time to grab my bag and the recipe before Will went striding off with me almost running to keep up.
He slowed down when we got to the saloon and gave me half a second to compose myself before leading me in and there were the cooks and a few other men from the Aurora and as soon as we entered, the petty officer cook called the men to attention and saluted us. “Aren’t you going to return the salute?” I asked Will.
“They’re not saluting me, they’re saluting you, now curtsy or something.” So I did, feeling a complete fool and wishing I had knuckled my forehead instead. It seemed to please them because they started clapping and a couple of them cheered when the petty officer stepped forward and said, “It’s good to see you on your feet, Marm, and looking well pretty if I may be so bold.”
“I am honoured to meet you PO and have the chance to thank all your men for rescuing me.” That brought more claps and cheers.
“As soon as you’re fit Marm, me and the lads will be honoured to work in the galley under your command.”
I started to panic now, he couldn’t mean that, he was a master chef, I could hardly expect him to work under my command, rather it should be the other way round but I had the sense not to run from the saloon screaming for help and answered in what I hoped would be a diplomatic manner, “Much as I would welcome the opportunity, PO I am afraid it must be postponed for another day, the MO insists I take time to recover from my swimming exercise,” (more claps). I opened my bag and took out the recipe, “This is the recipe you asked for but I have written quantities for four diners so you will have to adjust it, I have no knowledge of catering for hundreds of hard working, hungry seamen.”
His eyes glittered, “Lovely, we’ll have this on the menu in a couple of days, thank you. If you’d care to inspect your galley, I’m afraid we are in the process of preparing the evening meal so I ask you to make allowances,” and he led me into my kitchen. It was spotless and the aroma coming from the boiling and simmering cauldrons was really appetizing and reminded me I was hungry. “This is lovely, PO, I wish I were as tidy a cook as your people, I couldn’t find a fault, not a thing out of place and the appetizing aromas are most appetising.”
The Petty Officer beamed, “It is kind of you to say so, Marm. I have prepared the remaining crayfish for your dinner this evening.”
“No PO, please give the crayfish to somebody else, I want to sample the food that is producing those enticing aromas, I would be hurt if I was not able to join you in the saloon and dine amongst my new shipmates.”
The PO was on the point of bursting with pride, “Marm, we would be honoured.”
“Honoured, PO? No, it is I who is being granted the honour, being here and sharing a meal with men who would give their lives to defend my freedom, whose readiness to apprehend those who would deny me the freedom to roam the seas at will, no PO, I am the one who feels honoured,” I looked at the cooks who had big grins on their faces and two of them were nodding their agreement.
Will ended the meeting by announcing that we must leave or risk being guilty of keeping Aurora’s captain waiting and suffer the consequences of such an error which was something that every man present understood. And as we made our way to the steps Will whispered, “You’re a real smoothie, you could sweet-talk a hungry crocodile, you sure you haven’t been a woman all the time?”
I had tears in my eyes but I managed a smile, “They tried so hard to please me Will, and I meant what I said, I do feel honoured and humbled that such men would see fit to applaud me for doing so little compared to the dangers they might have to face one day.” I stopped and opened my shoulder bag and searched, “I’ll kill Mark, he forgot to pack a hankie for me.”
The coxswain of the captain’s barge helped me aboard with one hand and slipped me a tissue with the other but that made things worse. Fortunately the journey across the lagoon was long enough for me to get my emotions under control which was just as well because when we arrived alongside the boarding steps of the Aurora, there was a side party waiting above at the entry port, I was being treated as a visiting dignitary, I prayed they wouldn’t start firing their guns and missiles in salute when I stepped aboard. They didn’t but I faced aft and not wearing a hat, I couldn’t salute so I curtsied to the quarter deck and again when the captain welcomed me aboard and then the formalities ended and we were shown to the captain’s cabin.
“You appear familiar with the protocols of the Navy, Miss Broughton?”
Miss Broughton? And then it dawned on me the Captain was speaking to me and that was going to be my formal name from this day forth unless I married. “Not really, Captain, but I do enjoy reading stories of the sea and not being in uniform I thought a curtsy to the quarterdeck more appropriate than a salute.”
“And gracefully done,” said the First Lieutenant.
“I used to teach ballroom dancing and spent quite a lot of time teaching the girls how to curtsy to their partners in the Old-Time dances.”
“It is good to see you appear to have recovered from your ordeal,” the Captain said as we sat for tea.
“Thanks to the care of your doctor and petty officer and your timely arrival. I hope your ship and crew suffered no injuries, you must have had a terrible time getting to us through that storm.”
“No injuries and only a little superficial damage, we’ve been through worse. Now to business I’m afraid, I have to go through a few things with Mr. Devonshire so my First Lieutenant has offered to show you around Aurora, it seems a number of the crew wish to meet you. Are you fit enough to undertake that?”
“Yes, I’m fine and I would like to see the ship, I’ve never been on a warship before.”

Chapter 12

“I have just realised what I’ve done today and it scares me, I seem to have changed. I don’t mean something as trivial as changing my gender, no something deeper is happening.
“I jumped into the sea to rescue that man not because I was heroic, I did it instinctively, I did it because he was in trouble, I was a good swimmer and was dressed in clothing I thought was suitable, he was there, and I was on our lifeboat, he was in serious trouble, was dying and I could do something about it so I jumped and when I was in the water I swam as fast as I could because I wanted to warm myself up. All I did really was to react to a situation. I was knee jerking, something all humans do, it was not so very different to shooting my hand out to catch a falling vase. The only thing I can remember about it clearly was a fear of the cold and knowing that if I hadn’t jumped, you would have and you weren’t wearing the correct clothing, not as strong a swimmer and had the boat to think about. If that man had been caught up in rigging at the top of a mast, I would have stood back and asked you to climb up and rescue him. I’m no heroine, Will.”
“Why did you put the diving kit on the boat?”
“You see, that’s exactly what I’m talking about, I didn’t, I left it there after I used it earlier when we were moving Pacific Wanderer and when we were on the boat I wore the wet suit in case I had to go into the water and use the power of the fins to help us swim back. If I’d stopped and thought about what I was going to do, I wouldn’t have had the nerve to do it.”
“You’re not telling the truth, Charlie, I saw the fear in your eyes when you went off the gunwales.”
“It wasn’t fear it was the cold.”
Will shrugged, “You said that wasn’t why you feel scared now, was it something that happened today.”
“Yes,” I was silent for a while, thinking about it and I really was scared of what had happened, “It was the doctor and Mark at first, finding out that I was transsexual and wearing a women’s swim suit under the wet suit but I coped with that because they were medics and have seen things like that before but it was going into the saloon and meeting all those people. I should have been terrified but I wasn’t I was embarrassed but not because they saw me wearing women’s clothes and makeup but because they were applauding me and then the petty officer saying all those things to me about how they were honoured, flattering me…”
“He wasn’t flattering you, he was genuinely impressed and nearly fell out of his apron when you asked to be allowed to have the meal he had prepared for the men rather than crayfish.”
“That was true, it smelled delicious and I was too hungry to be satisfied with crayfish, I wanted something hot and spicy and I wanted a big plateful. I hadn’t eaten anything since the bar of chocolate on the lifeboat before I jumped into the water and I was hungry. But when we went aboard Aurora to see the captain the last thing I was worried about were all those men, macho type men, warriors seeing me all girly. Even after I curtsied I still didn’t think about it, it just seemed the correct thing to do. When the captain addressed me as Miss Broughton the thing that worried me was not the Miss bit, I was more concerned that I might not get used to it and if somebody called me Miss Broughton again, they would think me rude because I ignored them and I enjoyed being shown around the ship and hearing all the nice things that were being said to me. Even when I was on deck and they were explaining the quick firing gun I was having a good time and when the wind blew my skirt up as I turned, I even enjoyed the cheers, that’s what’s scaring me.”
“You enjoyed men cheering you when you flashed your knickers?”
I laughed, “Yes but that’s not the point is it? A few days ago I was worried about you seeing me in a pair of lilac jeans and now I enjoy being flattered, I enjoy acting coquettishly, I enjoy being a bit sexy, I enjoy being a woman and I’m scared that it happened so quickly, I just don’t understand what’s happened to me.”
“How would you feel if it suddenly went away and you returned to how you were before the shipwreck?”
“I’ve asked myself that question,” I turned to face him, “I’m pretty sure I would hate it. I have taken a liking to the new me. I recognise that I’m vain and take ages over my makeup and picking new clothes, and certainly love the flattery, and as for admiring me for being a heroine, I prefer to think that they really regard me as a good looking woman, even a sexy bird.”
“They do.”
I smiled, “The truth will out, Will Devonshire, your shipmate is a bit of a raver.”
“And you’re happy about it, really want to go on as you are, no longer frightened of what people think, how they see you?”
“Well not that unconcerned, I do want people to think well of me and I am still a bit apprehensive about going home and suddenly appearing as a woman when all they’ve known is Charlie, the nephew of Mollie Shilton.”
“Good, it means I haven’t put my foot in it and made the unforgivable error of interfering in your life.”
“You haven’t well you haven’t that I know of. You had to tell Mark and Duncan something, my life may have depended on their having the necessary information when they treated me.”
“I only told them just enough, the rest is their own interpretation of who you really are but it’s not that I’m referring to. Whilst you were sashaying around Aurora enticing innocent young matelots with you hip swinging and leg flashing, Doc Duncan, the captain and myself had a sort of conference and came to a decision.”
“Oh, you should have done that in front of me.”
“I told them that but Duncan said it would be better if he could have my input unfettered by my being reluctant to give an opinion because of your presence.”
“I suppose so, do I cramp your style Mr. Devonshire.”
“I’m not answering that whilst you are present. The two ships from the arctic are arriving in the early hours and will be mooring on the other side of the island and the Royal Navy Arctic research ship has a psychiatrist on board who is doing research into human behaviour in a hostile environment. Apparently he is also something of an expert on intersexed people as well, Duncan knows him from his time spent at Charing Cross Hospital. He wanted to know what we others thought about suggesting that the Arctic man has a word with you.
“Again I said that that was a decision only you should make and he said that it would always be your decisions that controlled what medical and psychiatric treatment or investigation would be allowed. So I said that with that understanding, my opinion was that you would want to be allowed to speak to this new doctor.”
“What then.”
“He asked me why I was so protective of you.”
“Are you?”
“Yes, somebody has to be, if only to stop you from swimming during inclement weather.”
“That’s nothing to worry about, just a bit of compulsive behaviour, a plate full of radishes would cure it. Will, do you think they will let us keep the Wanderer or sell it to us at an affordable price.”
“The Captain has already suggested that Auckland look into the salvage question, he also ask them to register our claim for sovereignty over the island and he thinks they will support that so will Britain, Australia and America because now they’ve discovered a safe mooring, fresh water and a few other things, they think it would benefit the ships involved with the Antarctic research stations and might even be a good site for a manned weather station.”
“It’s the island that is important to me, I think I want to live here full time. I’m okay with going home to Berkshire and I miss it a bit but I think I really belong here. I’ll leave the cargo manifest and the rest of it and go over to the island tomorrow and explore a bit more around the cabin. If we’re going to have visitors and weather stations here, we’ll need to build more bedrooms for them.”
Will laughed, “There you go again, planning for the long-term. Duncan said you were to take it easy for a day or two.”
“I will take it easy, I’ll wear another dress or a frivolous skirt and carry a parasol, there’s nice ones in the shop. I’ll have to take it easy then, I wouldn’t be able to dig the garden if I was wearing a skirt, well not the sort of skirt I have in mind.”
“There’s another thing you seem to have forgotten we’re already on the island, we moved the ship didn’t we.”
“Oh, I’d forgotten that. Can’t we put a set of stairs down to the beach from the bow?”
“We’ll have to, we can’t have you going up and down ladders or sliding down a rope in a frivolous skirt, it would attract too much attention. I’ll have a word with the carpenters, they’re here for at least three more days, the captain told me he’s been ordered to make a provisional survey of the island and anchorages and they’ll be supporting the port side so that Wanderer is on an even keel.”
“Yes but he can’t order his men to carry out private work can he?”
“He’ll think of something, probably put it down to monsoon relief, I think that’s how he is covering the work on the house. Apart from that, it’s experience for the crew and stops them getting bored.”
“That’s an idea, we can organise a barbecue on the beach for the men.”
Will started laughing, “I think you’d better go to bed, you’re showing signs of total exhaustion and failing to be aware of your surroundings. Tomorrow there will be three navy ships moored here, about a thousand men.”

I awoke feeling a little confused, perhaps it’s a late reaction to my problems when I rescued the man from the sea. I slipped out of bed and crossed to the dresser and the percolator and switched it on, then switched it off and checked it had fresh beans and the water was topped up and then switched it on again and returned to the bed and slipped into my bathrobe. I knew where I was, I wasn’t that confused it was just that so much had happened I felt I had lost track of things.
I wanted to go up to the island cabin today, that was one thing, then I might have to see the doctor again and perhaps meet the psychiatrist, that was another. I decided this was not enough, my brain wasn’t working, I needed to make a list so I went to the desk, a luxury this cabin had that my previous one hadn’t and opened the top drawer and found the ships notepaper and started but the percolator announced that my coffee was ready and that took priority so I went to collect my cup, added milk and sugar and went back to my list. I needed to finish going through the cargo manifest and then check the condition of the perishable items and the more important things like clothing and cosmetics so that went on the list and after that I remembered the drugs and other consumables in the sickbay. Then I sat back and started to think what else I should do, what else needed my urgent attention. There was home of course and I did need to check my bank and shares and I probably had a thousand urgent emails waiting. I didn’t have a computer in the cabin so I added that to my list, if need be I would steal one from the saloon and that led me to thinking of where our Aurora guests were sleeping, they might be using Wanderer’s cabins I’d better check with Will, I didn’t even know who was in charge of the people Aurora had sent here. I had seen a sub-lieutenant and there was the PO cook but there must be somebody of higher rank, so that was added to the list, I needed to meet and say hullo anyway. If they weren’t already here, the passengers might want to come back as well. I put the pen down and sighed, no wonder I felt confused, it was alright being feted as a heroine but with Aurora having to stay here until the seriously ill passengers were fit enough to be moved to a land hospital the Captain of Aurora must be having fits.
I had a shower and then dressed, no fancy sun dresses, I was going to be dashing about a lot so I chose a plain green skirt and white blouse, did my make-up quickly and had my second coffee. I went out to the corridor and listened outside Will’s door. There was sounds of movement but no singing in the shower so I left him, he was probably like me and a bit slow until he had had a caffeine fix. A glance at my watch informed me that it was a little before six and Friday so I expect the ship would be waking up and until everybody was up and about I wasn’t going to get much information but there was bound to be somebody on the bridge, the navy was very distrustful and would have had two or three people on watch, if I could find one of them, they might have time to explain how things worked. I went out to the promenade deck, spent a few moments looking at the new view and getting the feel of the morning and then went to the saloon and immediately met a man who I had seen and not spoken to yesterday, he was the radio operator or technician and was seated at a dining table having breakfast. That was a good sign, the galley must be up and running so I went over to say hullo and he jumped up, “Morning Miss Broughton, sit down and have coffee, it’s still hot, I’ll let Victor know you’re here.”
“Who’s Victor?”
“PO in the galley.”
“Leave him, he must be busy getting breakfasts ready for everybody but I will have a coffee.”
He poured me a cup and waited till I had taken a sip, “You did a good job on the radio and sat-nav, I changed the transistor on the radio and fitted one that gives more power and replaced the tuners on short wave and VHF.”
“Did I damage them?”
“Not you, the transistor I fitted is a new type, an upgrade and the tuning was past its sell-by date and would have started giving trouble. You know a bit about radio, did you work on them?”
“Not really, I write code and worked as a consultant on IT programmes and installations so I got to know my way around electronic communications equipment but that’s all.”
“It was a neat bit of diagnosis and repair though. Nice tidy soldering around the transistor.”
“I was being careful not to drop solder on the chips. You haven’t seen a desk top that isn’t being used have you?”
“Loads in the radio stores, there’s three still in their boxes and a couple of new ones that have been used a bit, want a new one?”
“God no, I’ll have to spend half the day updating everything, I’ll have one of the used ones.”
“I’ll drop one off in your cabin, first one on the right isn’t it?”
“Yes, the posh suite.”
“I’ve got some spare radio and sat-nav manuals you can have as well.”
“You must be pretty busy, so don’t get into trouble because you’re doing that when you should be doing something else.”
“No prob, the lieutenant is okay as long as you’re doing something useful and not skiving off in a deckchair. I’ve finished the radio, sat-nav and Internet, my next job is to check out the radar and then go down to the engine room and go over their bits and I’m more or less done. The skipper wants everything ready in case we have to move the ship.”
“I’m told you’re here for a few more days.”
“That’s what I heard as well, they’re doing a survey of the island, we’ve found sweet potatoes, coconuts and squash and there’s pineapple as well. The place where they’re re-building the house has an area that was used as allotments in the past.”
“Olive trees and a fruit orchard as well.”
“Make a nice holiday home for somebody who wants to get away from it all.”
“That’s what I’m planning,” I smiled, “Tell you’re shipmates I’ll be taking guests once I settle in, it’s close to the beach.”
“Transport will be good as well if they decide to use it as an anchorage and weather station. I know they are going inland to find a convenient place for choppers to land. I’ll have to get ready for morning parade now, it’s when the lieutenant has to count us and make sure nobody has run off with an island girl or is setting up a rum still,” he got up, “I’ll sort the computer for you and I’ll let Victor know you want breakfast.”
“What time does everybody start?”
“Parade at seven thirty and work for the day starts at eight but you don’t have to be there, it’s different for officers.”
“Me! I’m not an officer, I’m one of the Pacific Wanderer’s passengers.”
“Not what I was told, we’ve been instructed to offer you the courtesies due a commander, your oppo Will as well.”
Having successfully completed my first mission, made a new friend and sorted out the computer problem I went into the galley to be greeted by PO Victor, “Good morning PO, you must have risen early?”
“Morning, Marm, have to be up and about otherwise the lads won’t get any breakfast. Would you like yours now?”
“If it isn’t a bother, could I have cornflakes and orange juice with toast?”
“Is that all, there’s boiled or scrambled eggs, full English or kippers it you’d prefer.”
“No thank you, I eat lightly for breakfast.”
The PO turned to one of his men, “You ‘eard that, Phillips, orange juice, cornflakes and toast on Commander Broughton’s usual table.”
I stepped a little closer, “PO, I’d prefer it if you and the lads dropped the commander stuff and just called me Charlotte.”
“Can’t have that, Marm, bad for discipline that is but if it makes you happy, when in private, I’ll call you Miss Charlotte.”
I gave him what I hoped was a sweet and grateful smile, “Yes that will do nicely.” There was no point in trying to make the PO become less formal, he was old school and commanders, no matter they were only temporary hostilities only ranks, were still commanders.
“What time do you wish to inspect the galley and stores, Marm?”
“Oh, is that my job?”
“Believe, from what I understand you as good as own the ship, course if you prefer, I can ‘ave a word with the Lieutenant and get him to do it,” but the expression on his face made it clear he would prefer I did it.
“What time would be most convenient?”
“Well we finish with breakfast at eight and it takes an hour to finish cleaning up?”
“Shall we say nine thirty then?”
His face beamed, “That will do nicely, Marm.”
“If I am not able because of other duties, would it inconvenience you if I asked you to deputise for me, I’ll ask the Lieutenant to make an entry in the log if you wish or place the arrangement in Orders for the Day.”
The PO was visibly impressed with my knowledge of naval law and customs, for a hostilities only officer, I appeared to be well informed. I was but that was because I read a lot of sea novels not because I had attended officer cadet training.
“Be happy to do so,” Marm.
Leaving the galley I went to sit at my table and barely had time to sit before Phillips appeared with my breakfast, placed it in front of me, moved the sugar closer and went to the bar and poured a coffee. It would seem that word was getting around that the commander had a sweet tooth and supplying sugar for cornflakes and ensuring the coffee was sweet would keep her happy. “I’m Able Seaman Phillips, Marm, I’ve been detailed to be your personal steward whilst in port.”
“That’s very kind of you, you’ll find my demands on your services modest.”
He leaned down closer, “If there’s anything you want to know about the ship, just have a word, Marm.”
“I will need a few tips from time to time, I’ll remember that, thank you.”
“PO in the sickbay is a mate of mine and he says I’m to look after you and the way you went into the noggin after that bloke was impressive.”
“It wasn’t really, I just wanted a cold shower and I swam over to him to see if he had any sea soap.”
He laughed, “You just remember, anything you want, tip me the wink.”
As he left Will came into the saloon all bright eyed and cleanly shaven which woke me up, I hadn’t shaved again, it must be showing by now. Nervously I ran my hand over my face but there was nothing there, not even a slight rasp except for under my chin where there was just the faintest suggestion of hair, invisible under the light touch of foundation and powder I had used and only just detectable to somebody feeling for it, or kissing me on the neck. “Will,” I whispered, “Can you see any trace of facial hair, I forgot to shave this morning and its four days now.”
He leaned forward and inspected me closely, “No, you look as smooth as you did yesterday.”
“I’ll have to go to my cabin after breakfast, I can’t chance leaving it all day.”
My personal steward came to the table, “More coffee, Marm?” he asked with just a nod for Will.
“No thanks, I have to make a move, will you look after Commander Devonshire for me, we were to breakfast together but I have to dash.”
Phillips looked at Will, “Would you like the menu, sir?”
“Er no thanks, coffee, two soft boiled eggs and toast will do, Thank you.”
Off went my personal steward and Will looked at me, “What’s all that about?”
“I have my own personal steward now and Mark has told him to ensure I want for nothing. I have to go up to the bridge and introduce myself to the Lieutenant in charge, when are you going to be around so we can have a chat?”
“I’ll be coming with you over to Aurora, the captain and doctor want to see you and apparently you are being taken round to the other side of the island to the other ships to see the doctor there. I have to stay on Aurora and deal with a few things with the captain.”
“I was going to suggest to Aurora’s captain that he sends the fit passengers back here, it must be a bit crowded on Aurora.”
“I’ll ask him, I think you’ll be in a bit of a rush but I am told that some of them are being taken off by helicopter, I’m not sure if it’s the serious cases or just the walking wounded but they’ll need to return here to pick up their personal luggage.”
“Where are the Aurora people on here sleeping?”
“Downstairs in the crew’s quarters except the Lieutenant, he took the captain’s cabin when I said I didn’t want it.”
“Can’t they have the passenger cabins if the previous occupants are being air lifted off?”
“I’ll bring it up with the captain, he will appreciate the offer.”
“Okay, and do you think we should invite him to dinner one evening?”
“I think he will invite us today so you’d better inform your personal chef, Petty Officer Evans, Victor Evans.”
“I’ll leave that to you,” I grinned, “In case he throws a tantrum. See you shortly, I must go and get ready. Will, are these clothes okay, I was a bit glammed up yesterday but I thought that might be a bit OTT bearing in mind I will be dashing around a bit sorting things out.”
“You’re fine, they won’t expect to see you looking like a film star all the time but it might be an idea to glam up a bit for dinner with the Captain this evening and weren’t you told to take things easy for a day or two?”
“I am, I haven’t been near the hold, just going around sorting a few things out. I’m hoping to spend the afternoon up at the new house and then sorting out my affairs on the computer.”
“Well just take it easy.”
“Yes sir.”

I cleaned off my make-up tried to have a shave but it was more of a seek and find operation apart from my chin and I had to go over that two or three times because such hair as there was, was almost too short for the razor. Once I was satisfied and replaced my makeup I went to find Will for the ocean trip across the lagoon but was waylaid by Mark, “Can you come into the sickbay for a minute, Charlotte, I need to go over some of the drugs with you?”
“Is there something wrong with them,” I asked as soon as we were there.
“Not really, some of the anti-biotics are close to their expiry date and the doc is going to replace them but I checked the pharmacy section in the shop. It depends on what the doctors decide for you later today.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me.”
“Well, not wrong but there are going to be a few things you’ll need if they decide to start you on HRT. If you’re going to New Zealand soon, it doesn’t matter but if you stay here for any length of time you are going to need support. We have a limited supply of most of the things you need, estrogen etc., but there are other drugs that are related to your treatment and we’re going to need them. The doctor on the Navy research ship has quite a large stock because there are women as well as men at the various research stations on Antarctica but it’s a question of who pays, will you bring it up with the doctors when you see them.”
“Yes okay but it isn’t relative as far as the cost is concerned, I’ll pay for them if the NHS in Britain doesn’t cover me. I will almost certainly have to go to New Zealand before too long anyway, I need scans and things like that.”
“Yes I know but mention it just in case it gets forgotten, details like that can be overlooked. Now about this evening whilst you are dining with the Captain. I think the burgundy dress in your wardrobe is ideal and if I pierce your ears now and put sleepers in, they will stop bleeding in time for you to wear a pair of nice earrings tonight as long as you replace the sleepers as soon as you get back.”
“Will I need morphine?”
He smiled, “You won’t feel a thing, sit here, it will only take a minute.”

In chapters 13 and 14, Charlotte meets the psychiatrist from the Royal Navy Antarctic Survey ship has a long talk with Dr. Duncan about her gender preferences and discovers she is definitely intersexed and has to think about what the future holds for her. She meets the other passengers from Wanderer, including the man whose life she saved and his wife.

Vol 1 of Footprints In The Sea is on Amazon Kindle, click on the URL in the right hand column.

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Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 13 & 14

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read Chapters 1 and 2, please do so.

Two doctors agree on their assessment after Charlotte attends a meeting and has X-rays and blood tests and then she meets some of the other passengers who were rescued from the lifeboats and makes new friends.

Chapter 13

“Before doing anything else we would like to have a few X rays done,” Randolph sat back in his chair, “Have you had any in the last year?”
“None,” I answered, “In fact I can’t remember when I last had any, yes I can, about four years ago, I slipped when I was teaching the cha-cha, and twisted my ankle and the hospital ordered it in case I had done any other damage, nothing since then.”
“Fine, all your other medical signs are okay so we’ll do that first and see what’s going on.”
“You have an X ray unit on a ship?”
“They’re not large things, nor that delicate. A scanner would be different, you only have to swear at one of them and it goes on the blink. So yes, we have an X ray camera, it is a research support ship and it does carry quite extensive medical facilities. We’ve already analysed your blood sample, you’re O neg so if for no other reason, we’ll keep you alive so we have a ready source of blood. O negs are universal donors and the fresh stuff is always better than the frozen.”
“That’s nice to know but there might be a snag, if you give my blood to one of your scientists they may change sex.”
“Hadn’t thought of that but we will warn them first,” he picked up his phone, “We’re bringing Charlotte Broughton down in five minutes.”

Below decks the medical facilities on the research ship were like a scaled down hospital and when we were in the X-ray room I had pictures taken of my head, chest, abdomen, hips and thighs and the only reason they didn’t do more was because I had reached my limit and if they had continued I would have started glowing in the dark and that would have spooked the crews of the ships.
We returned to Randolph’s office and sat around his desk, “Whilst we’re waiting for the pictures we can go over what we have to date and then I would like a chat with you.”
“What sort of chat?”
“I want to ask you a little about your medical history and your lifestyle, nothing too searching so you don’t have to feel nervous. Understand Charlotte, at any time you can stop this and perhaps take it up again with your GP in England. The medical examination has nothing to do with your rights of salvage or any claims you might wish to make against the shipping line. It is a separate matter and our reason for doing it now is because from what you have already told us, we gather you had no knowledge that there was anything different about yourself before the shipwreck. That is important to us and later to yourself because we are able to investigate right at the beginning of the change.”
“It’s not so much that I’m nervous, it’s that I like what has happened, I know its early days but I am enjoying the change and want it to continue, I like the new me, feel very comfortable about it and don’t want to stop. I want to go on and finish it, be a woman, live as one and the only reason I would stop you is if you tried to stop me, started to feed me medicines or carry out operations that would stop me changing”
“I don’t think there is any question of that,” Duncan said, “We are not gods, what we think is happening is that mother nature is correcting an error it made earlier and even with the speed of advancements in medical knowledge, we can’t yet control nature.”
“Okay, let’s do it, I admit I would like to know what is or has happened but it doesn’t scare me and so far, on the ship, Aurora’s crew have acted nicely. I haven’t had any funny looks or people suddenly drawing away from me, in fact it has been to the contrary, they seem to have taken a liking to me and that certainly helps when I have my moments of apprehension, I feel reassured that they think I’m female so it would be better if I continued being female. I’m not so sure about going back to England though, here I have had this happen amongst strangers and the incident in the lifeboat when I saved that man’s life has helped, it has distracted everybody and when they look at me, they are more likely wondering where I got the nerve to jump into a stormy sea rather than wondering what sort of weirdo I am because I’m becoming a woman. But home is different, they are people that knew me as a man and when I suddenly appear before them wearing women’s clothes and acting like one, well, I don’t know how they’re going to react or for that matter how I’m going to react to them.”
“Do you think that might be the reason you want to settle here or at least stay for a while?” It was Randolph that asked the question and he was already making notes.
“No, I genuinely like it here, it’s a beautiful spot, quiet and there’s lots to do, an adventure, setting up a home and life on a desert island. I wasn’t one for being part of the scene before now, even my Auntie Mo had to make me take up dancing so that I socialised more when I was at home, so a quiet life is something I’m used to and as long as I can mess with computers I’m happy, in fact the change increases the excitement, I get to keep as much of my old life as I need and add the fun of the new experiences I’m having as a woman.” I smiled as much to myself as to them, “Give me a couple of months and I’ll be asking somebody to convert number one hold into a wardrobe and dressing room.”
Duncan took a file from the desk, “First we need you to sign a consent form allowing us full and unrestricted access to your medical records,” he handed me the form, “That is a formality but we do need to know as much about your past medical history as possible and then there is your blood test result. Everything is normal for somebody of your age, liver, kidneys and heart, that sort of thing, all working well and no problems. Red cell count and haemoglobin are fine but there is one striking anomaly, your hormone levels are not far from an acceptable level for a woman of your age but for a male they are definitely wrong and it appears that they have been at these levels for some time, long before the shipwreck. Were it not for the recent sudden changes in your outlook on life which has manifested itself in your acceptance of your personality change and willingness to be looked upon and treated as a female, we would be seriously concerned, as it is we are not unduly concerned but very curious. There is no reason why you should not return to normal activity after this weekend.”
“Are you telling me to stop skiving and get on with ploughing the wheat field?”
Duncan smiled, “That or cleaning the hull of Pacific Wanderer.”
The telephone rang and Randolph answered, “The X-rays are ready, the radiographer wants to know if you want to look at them on his large screen or have them sent here.”
“Tell him I’m coming down now and to send a copy here for you and Charlotte,” he got up, “I’ll leave you two to your chat.”

Randolph went to a sideboard and poured two coffees and added sugar and milk without asking. “If I ask a question that you don’t feel ready to answer, then say so, equally, if you think I am trying to dig too deeply, then stop me. We don’t have to do everything at once. This meeting is as much a chance for me to get to know you as it is to discover the hidden workings of your mind,” he handed me my coffee.
“Duncan told me he knows you from Charing Cross Hospital, is that correct?”
“Yes, we both work as consultants there and have worked on the same cases together on some occasions. My being here at this opportune moment was a trip to allow me a break as well as research into the mental changes that take place within people when they are exposed to long periods of extreme stress in a hostile environment.”
“I asked because I was thinking of continuity. I don’t want to start something and then find that part way through everything has to be changed, new people take over because you and he are posted elsewhere or I decide to move back to Berkshire.”
“That’s understandable but we are both reservists and will be returning to our work in London. It would be necessary for you to be in England if we are to preserve the continuity because your being treated by us in London and your living here in the Pacific would not be practical but we can certainly have a preliminary investigation here and then hand you over to doctors in New, Zealand, Australia or even the United States if that is what you prefer.”
“No, I have a home in England and will almost certainly elect to have my treatment and SRS there. Which leads me to the next question; what is my position as far as the NHS is concerned. I am a UK citizen and resident on holiday officially, but I have been given a temporary commission in the New Zealand Navy or the Royal Naval Reserve, I’m not sure which and I am out here and am going to be so for three or four weeks. Who is going to be responsible for my treatment?”
“Tricky question that. Duncan and I are both NHS doctors as well as having our own private practises so I think the NHS will be the people under which this will be done but whilst you are here in the Pacific it depends on reciprocal arrangements with the New Zealand health services. I can tell you that it is not covered by your holiday insurance but may be by your own private health arrangements if you have any. We will have to look at that but I am sure we can sort something out. Gender dysphoria and SRS are not considered life threatening conditions normally which of course clouds the issue a little but to some extent, this has happened because you were shipwrecked so the marine insurers may be liable…”
“I wasn’t asking because of the cost, I have money and can afford to pay myself, no it was being able to continue with the same medical team right the way through and that includes after care where it relates to the GD treatment.”
“If it comes to the worse you may have to pay part or all of the costs but I think that unlikely and as far as having the same team it isn’t a problem provided you are prepared to live in the UK for the later part of your treatment, that’s a month prior to SRS and the recovery period after that. There will be occasions possibly when we will need you to come to the UK but where we need blood samples taken and analysed, there is no reason why that can’t be done here. As for prescription medicines, there will be no difficulty in sending supplies here once we have an established regime for you.”
“Okay, that’s put my mind at rest,” I smiled, who told you I like milk and sugar in my coffee?”

I didn’t meet any of the crew on the survey ship which bore the name HMS Orca, the captain and some of the crew had gone ashore with a survey or to have a look at the island and the New Zealand supply ship’s captain who had moved to Goat’s Cove was visiting Aurora to exchange adult movies I suspect but I did see the ship and she was larger than Pacific Wanderer and had derricks, a helicopter landing deck and another large boat tied alongside. “Where did that other ship come from?” I asked Duncan.
“It’s not a ship it’s a barge that’s used for loading and unloading cargo. Naval supply ships often have heavy equipment on board or have to make deliveries to places where there isn’t enough depth for Penguin to get close inshore.”
“Penguin! Do they know an Orca is lurking in Revelation Bay, they won’t start fighting will they?”
He laughed, “A waste of time, Orca only has a single four inch gun for defence purposes and the best Penguin can do is a pair of fifty calibre machine guns.”
“I think I’ll have to buy some torpedoes and six inch guns for Pacific Wanderer in case they pick on her.”
“There’s no need, just put your wetsuit on and go on deck and shake your fist at them, that’ll scare them off. I understand that if you are keeping Pacific Wanderer, the naval authorities may ask if you want a pair of heavy machine guns fitted to her and supply a hand held missile launcher.”
“Whatever for, if we do go to sea in her, we’re only going as far as New Zealand or Hawaii, perhaps the American mainland.”
“It isn’t just the Indian Ocean that has pirates, Charlotte. There are some around Indonesia and South America and an elderly, unarmed merchant ship is a target that would attract them.”
“We have guns anyway, Will found some.”
“Hardly suitable and if there’s a fifty calibre machine gun mounted somewhere, it will act as a deterrent.”
“The X-rays were interesting,” I said to change the subject. “All those things developing inside me and I didn’t notice, couldn’t feel it happening.”
“It didn’t grow after you were born, they started when you were still an embryo. They were lying dormant until your Aunt Mo died and then they started working, well the ovaries did. The surprise is that it was happening and you never noticed or had any noticeable symptoms, particularly after puberty, you should have started developing breasts.”
“But you said earlier, that I did start growing them.”
“Yes but nothing like as much as would be expected.”
I shrugged, “I’ll just have to go through life with small tits or have implants.”
He laughed, “I like your pragmatism but I doubt it will be necessary, I think you’ll develop slightly smaller than average which would be a B cup, perhaps a C. Enough to attract an eye or two if you wear a bikini or a low cut dress.”
“That’ll do, as long as I look good when I take up pole dancing.”
“You’ll be an attractive woman that is certain, it’s a pity there isn’t a woman here to help you, teach you a woman’s way. There are people at Charing Cross but you could do with help here.”
“Auntie Mo taught me a lot, I can do my basic make-up, and cook, those sort of things.”
“Yes, that will help but there’s more to it I’m afraid, it’s something that Raymond and I will have to try and sort out.”
“I could ask some of the female passengers when they come back on board.” We were seated in the bow with one of Aurora’s crew handling the boat and out of earshot, “I’m not going over the top with it am I, Duncan. I am practical about things,” I lifted the hem of my skirt a little, “When I dressed this morning I knew I had quite a lot of running around to do apart from the medical I have just had so I wore these clothes and picked fairly plain undies but if I could, I would have worn something much prettier, dressed like I did yesterday and the other evening, the evening before you arrived, I went and dolled myself up and wore really sexy undies, black and lacy. I wanted to see how Will would react, see if he laughed or told me not to be stupid.”
“Did he?”
“No, he told me I looked nice, well more than that but he reacted as I was hoping he would. Then I took it all off and got ready to sleep beside the radio and go out to help if we had to. But I wanted to wear pretty, sexy things not jeans all the time. I have wondered if I’m not overdoing it.”
“You’re behaving as most women do. Making yourself look good when there’s a need or when you just feel like it and being practical when circumstances or the weather demand it. Perfectly normal behaviour, even men are guilty of it. They dress up when socialising and do what they can to look good and perhaps attract a pretty girl but rarely wear a suit and tie when they’re working on the building site or servicing their car. In short no, you’re not overdoing it. Your behaviour is helping to reinforce the change to the new you and if you did start glamming up more often than is necessary, remember Charlotte has been hidden away and is going to try to make up for lost time.”
“I didn’t hide her away on purpose, I simply didn’t realise she was there.”
“I know and I think she does as well so don’t be surprised if she pushes you towards Will.”
“Will! Oh god, does it show. I’m trying not to let it be obvious, I don’t want to embarrass him.”
“Embarrass him, how can it embarrass a man if a pretty girl takes a shine to him, it certainly wouldn’t embarrass me.”
“But I’m different from other women.”
“I agree, you are certainly that, much too adventurous and too quick to disregard the risks and take chances. Being married to you would never be dull.”
“I didn’t mean it like that, I mean different, you know, just different.”
He smiled gently, “Charlotte you have to recognise you are female, the fact you have one or two things that will have to be corrected is hardly unusual. Cosmetic surgeons earn a good living out of it and when it gets down to basics, in your case the SRS is only a little more than cosmetic surgery. The only thing that is medically necessary to enable you to complete your transformation is removal of your testes in case they cause problems for the hormones being produced by your ovaries. The rest of it is more a mental need rather than a physical one. You don’t want a penis to remain there, you do want labia and a vagina so that you can be a complete woman, right?”
“You mean I could be a woman with one of those hanging there?”
“More or less, yes but the physiological affect wouldn’t be good, it would be a constant reminder that you were once male and of course you wouldn’t be able to make love in the traditional manner. No it is better that you complete the transition, even if some of the cosmetic surgery isn’t essential from the medical point of view. Your face is perfect, you are pretty and feminine, your breasts may need augmentation but again, that is purely cosmetic, there are a lot of women in the world with smaller than average breasts and don’t feel a need to compete with their double D sisters. Your legs are good and the general appearance of your body is curvy, soft and definitely female, so don’t hesitate to go for SRS but the thing you must keep in mind is that you will never be able to become pregnant, it’s a wicked unfairness of your condition; the infertility, either as a male or a female. The only other occasion not completing your physical transformation is likely to cause a problem is when you’re wearing clothing that might reveal an unfeminine shape, a bikini or for that matter any swimming costume except the old fashioned ones with a skirt front or when wearing a tight skirt.”
I thought about that, Duncan had slipped something into the equation that I had not considered, he had done it gently, made it a part of the whole conversation rather than sit me down for a serious and lengthy lecture but I would have to have that lecture, I would have to take on board what was probably the most important part of my being intersexed, I could never be a biological father or mother but I agreed with Duncan, that was something better discussed when things have settled down a little and I had had the time to think about it and the consequences it would have on me and, if I did get married, on my husband but not today. Not in an open boat when I was still going through the euphoria of finally discovering myself, so I put it aside for the moment and continued in the vein that Duncan had. “I will have the operation though, I might want to have a boyfriend, even get married, I’d need a vagina then or we wouldn’t be able to love each other.”
“Yes you could but I agree, from the psychological point of view SRS would be better, I’ll do it for you when we get back to the ship if you like.”
I grinned, “If I thought for a moment you could, I’d have you do it before Will and I have dinner with the captain this evening.”
“Not possible I’m afraid, it takes a little longer than that so plan ahead.” I stood up to look at the island as we passed it but he reached out and took my hand, “Charlie, we will have a long quiet chat soon, when you’re ready. Raymond will have one as well and if you wish, we’ll arrange it so that we can both talk to you at the same time and cover both the mental and physical sides.”
“I did take note of what you said, Duncan and I admit it is something I had not considered but this much I can tell you; I know my brain is telling me I am female and I know that at present to some extent, my body is saying no, you are male. I have already decided what I am going to do, I’m listening to what my brain is saying and I will have that corrective surgery and take all the pills and potions you are planning to inflict on me and I also know that I am going to come out of the shell that I’ve hidden in all these years and Charlotte is going to enjoy life, have fun and be a fulfilled woman.” I smiled, “What you said and the subtle way you slipped it into the conversation was probably the most important throwaway line I will encounter in my life. When the time comes I will keep reminding myself that I am not the only infertile woman in the world but it is a condition that doesn’t necessarily prevent me from becoming a mother, that’s what adoption agencies are for. I have money and if I want, I can build a twenty bedroomed house on this island; there will be a bedroom for me and my future husband, another for stay-over guests and eighteen for my children,” I chuckled, “But I did like the way you described me as being beautiful with a bubble butt and drop-dead gorgeous legs.”

Chapter 14

“People can be so kind and often without knowing it.”
“Who’s been kind, the captain?”
“I wasn’t thinking of him specifically, I was thinking of people generally, here on the island I mean, the crews of the ships, the way Aurora’s people are helping us. If I ask the way to somewhere on Aurora, they don’t tell me, they stop what they’re doing and take me. If I ask a technical question they make sure that they explain it in a manner I understand and sometimes go and get me a leaflet, even an instruction manual.”
“They admire you, you know that, your courage impressed them.”
“Oh don’t keep saying that, Will, it will go to my head. I keep telling you, courage didn’t come in to it, I acted on impulse. If anybody has courage it is the crew, they chat to me, they walk me to where I want to go and not once has one of them shied away from me, not once have I been made to feel like a freak in a frock, that must take courage to help me regardless of what others might think.”
“You’re a beautiful woman that helps.”
“Some yes but by now they must all know who I am and all about me, if not the details certainly the basics.”
“That is true yes and most of them are youngish men and don’t carry the baggage that older people have. These days mankind is more accepting and recognises that the world is full of people, many of them strange to us, different for all sorts of reasons, their intelligence, colour, sense of humour, wit, talents and abilities and even sexuality, it’s what makes we humans so interesting and that in turn makes life interesting. It would be a dull world without those differences, a world lacking in variety. Don’t be surprised that the people here have taken a shine to you, you have the ability to make people like you, even if you don’t recognise it yourself.”
I shrugged, “Well I’m not doing it on purpose.”
“Of course not, it’s a part of your personality. They met you, some probably apprehensive about it, but when they realise you’re not going to eat their children, steal their houses or spread your sexuality amongst them like an infectious plague they find it easy to put aside the prejudices they have been exposed to by the others they once thought were their wise-men. They shake your hand brush past you or pull you out of the sea and a short while later discover that they haven’t been sent to Hell, they still have their testicles and you are an interesting and kind person and a bit different to them, that’s all, nothing to be scared of. I’m going up to the cave and the house tomorrow, are there any instructions for the builders?”
“Is that how they think of me, the client?”
“More or less yes even though it’s the navy they are working for.”
“I hope nobody is going to get into trouble over doing things for us.”
“No for two reasons, firstly you, and secondly we, are shipwrecked passengers from a New Zealand registered ship operated by a New Zealand company so there is an obligation to save us,” he smiled, “Even if we don’t want to be saved, so everything they can do to see to our good health and comfort, they feel they are obliged to do. Building us a shelter from tempests comes well within that sphere even though it is stretching the point a bit. I have already made it clear to the captain that we are prepared to pay if it becomes necessary and he answered that almost all of it could be done by restoring the house with reclaimed materials, augmented by the cargo off this ship and bits the navy can donate so he doesn’t have a problem with it. Furthermore, he has intimated that because of your personal and unusual circumstances and the manner in which you have conducted yourself added to the value of this island as a base for some of the work being undertaken in this part of the Pacific, he has received instructions from above, and I think he was referring to the government when he said ‘above’, that you are to be kept happy.”
“Oh come on, Will, he’s kidding and so I suspect are you, I saved one man’s life, Aurora saved more than twenty. I hardly warrant that kind of treatment!”
“I said, he has received his instructions from above, I promise it’s true, somebody has leaked the story to the New Zealand press and you’re front page news as of yesterday and I should think by now you could well be international news and if our cell phones worked out here, you would have been inundated with calls from journalists. There are other motives, the atoll that we have named Charlotte Island offers excellent safe anchorage and is ideally situated for access to the Antarctic Continent and the support services that the exploration of that place requires. The captains tell me the depth of water on both sides of the island and barely three hundred metres offshore is sufficient to allow a mega tanker or aircraft carrier to anchor. New Zealand have already recognised your claim to the island and it would appear that the US, Australia, China, Japan and India plus one or two strategic South American countries are likely to do so as well. The UK is holding back for a while to allow the Pacific Rim nations to do so before they too recognise it and the Russians have made no comment other than to state that they assume you would allow ships of all nations to seek shelter at the island which is roundabout way of saying they’ll go along with it provided they are allowed the same rights as other nations, which means the UN will agree to it, though I doubt you will be offered a seat on the Security Council.”
“Are you being serious?”
“Yes, very, I assure you that is the way it stands at present and with the newspapers calling you the Mermaid of Mercy, and somebody who has a recording of your early radio transmissions referring to you as the Angel’s Voice in the Wilderness, no politician in his right mind is going to go against the sort of public support you are gathering. There is one exception, that’s North Korea who have denounced you as a lackey of the LGBT and its imperialistic ambitions.”
I started laughing then, “Now you are joking, I think that’s quite funny though.”
“I’m only joking about the North Korean bit, the rest is as it stood this afternoon. Remember, what they say about the island is true and it’s convenience to the Antarctic is a fact, furthermore, it would suit everybody’s purpose to have a place like Charlotte Island that is neutral and free from national claims of sovereignty.”
“That means you could be King William or President William.”
“I don’t think that would be legal, the piece of paper you signed when making the claim…”
“I didn’t sign anything!”
“Yes you did, after you voiced the idea of claiming ownership and sovereignty over the island to the captain of Aurora and the acting captain of Pacific Wanderer they told you they would speak to the New Zealand authorities’ right?”
“Yes but I haven’t signed any legal documents.”
“What about the letter?”
“That wasn’t a legal document, it was simply a letter saying I would like to claim the island and live on it.”
“That, accompanied by the correctly phrased documents constitutes a legal claim, and as I was saying you made the claim and added my name saying that you wished to include me as I was also present at the time. That puts you firmly in charge so there’s no King William only a Queen Charlotte.”
I grinned, “That means I’m your boss?”
“Yes, My Liege.”
“In that case I shall appoint you my Chancellor which means you have to settle the outstanding bill in the shop and I haven’t started on the cargo yet.”
“I haven’t accepted the appointment and noting in which direction the wind is blowing I might only agree to be your Public Executioner and despatch the various fish and crabs you catch.”
I yawned, “I’m tired, it’s been another long day and I’ve been enjoying myself again and don’t realise just how tired I’m becoming. I’ll consider your offer about serving in my government in the cold light of day, what time are you going over to Aurora?”
“O830, Your Serene Highness.”
“I like that, I’ll think I’ll promote myself to Empress.”

The First Lieutenant met us as we stepped on board, I nodded and smiled in answer to his salute, “Miss Broughton, good morning and welcome aboard, Commander Devonshire, welcome again.” Will nodded and the Lieutenant returned his attention to me, “You mentioned to the captain last evening that you would like to meet your old shipmates?”
“I did. I hope it will be convenient.”
“Of course but the captain has to visit HMS Orca and I will be joining Commander Devonshire on his meetings with the electrician and carpenter but I have detailed Sub Lieutenant Andrews to act as your escort and guide.” A young officer stepped forward, “It is an honour, Commander Broughton.”
“Come now Sub, let’s do away with all this naval formality, I can hardly address my escort as Sub Lieutenant Andrews all morning, I am Charlotte and if this is against Naval rules, then please do call me Miss Broughton, I am meeting injured people in the sick bay, I don’t want to frighten them into thinking I need an officer to protect me.”
The Sub looked nervously at the First Lieutenant but I didn’t give him a chance to refuse, “Don’t you agree First Lieutenant, it is so much more relaxing to chat with sick people in a friendly atmosphere.”
He smiled, “As you say, Miss Broughton and you are not in uniform, a pity to let naval protocols spoil the meeting,” he turned to the Sub, “In front of the crew and whilst on deck, Andrews it is to be Commander Broughton, otherwise, Miss Broughton.”
“Come along then, Sub,” I said taking his arm, “These two have important business matters to attend to,” and I led him away. “I don’t think all the formalities are necessary between friends, do you, if nobody can overhear, just call me Charlotte, I’m only an officer on a temporary basis,” I whispered as soon as we were out of earshot, “And I am flattered that the Captain has given the duty of acting as my escort to a handsome young man, I hope you don’t think me a nuisance for taking you away from your other duties.”
“No, no, Comman…er Miss Broughton, I’m delighted, no I am honoured.”
“Tell me, Sub, do you have another name, one your mother and father gave you or perhaps a name your shipmates use?” I asked as we went through the ship to the sickbay.
“My mother always called me Martin, my father called me Marty and on board the other officers call me Fuse.”
“Fuse? That’s a strange nickname?”
He looked at me, a sheepish grin on his face, “It was my first week on board, I am in the electronics branch and this is my first ship. I was being instructed on the missile control systems and Aurora got caught in the bow wave of a support ship and I hadn’t been to sea so had no sea legs and stumbled against the CPO who was removing the back of a set and he hit something with a screwdriver and blew the entire control system.”
“Oh dear, so after the Captain had you keel-hauled and sent you around the ship to polish all the fuses.”
He nodded, “Something like that. I have to spend my watches on deck, regardless of the weather and walk around the ship until I got my sea legs and since then I’ve been called Fuse, even the ratings call me that behind my back.”
“Well at least they know who you are. I was trying to fix a computer at home once, there was no power and I must have spent an hour trying to sort it out until my Auntie Mollie came into the room, bent down behind the table I was working on, did something and immediately the machine lit up. She just looked at me with that look that only Aunties can give and said, “Always check to see if the switch on the wall socket is on.”
“Did she give you a nickname?”
“Yes, she called me Stupid for a day and forgot all about it when I baked an apple and blackberry pie that was better than one she could have cooked.”
“I’ll just have to wait for the day when I cure a problem that nobody else could fix?”
“That’ll make it worse, they will start calling you Super Fuse after that.”
He laughed and stopped at a door, “This is the MO, we have to see him first,” and knocked.
We were bidden to enter and Duncan rose to his feet, “Charlotte, good morning, are you reporting sick?”
I looked at Martin, “Do I look sickly?” but before he could reply I returned my attention to my physician, “I was walking on deck looking for the entrance to the engine room and this officer asked if I thought there were any chances of catching swamp fever on the island. Not knowing, I offered to bring him down here to ask you and on the way he told me he was going to build a scanner for you. Whilst I’m here, can I see my old shipmates?”
“Yes you can see your shipmates bar one who is too ill for visitors and if I need to look inside you, I don’t need a scanner, I’ll hang you in front of the radar, and good morning, Martin are you going to take swimming lessons from Charlotte and whilst you’re standing there looking confused, perhaps you would kindly bring a chair over for the Commander.”
I sat and Duncan asked, “Is this confidential?”
“No, well I don’t think so, I wanted to speak to the passengers from the Wanderer and see if there was anything they needed.”
“Get a chair for yourself, Sub,” Duncan nodded towards a plastic stack-em-high chair, “Better still pour three coffees one with milk and sugar for the Commander. Now your passengers, Charlotte, Two are being helicoptered with their spouses to Adamstown later and thence to Auckland for hospitalization. The man you helped out of the sea is now up and about and back with his wife and they may be transported out tomorrow with the others.”
“I can go back to Pacific Wanderer and get one of our lifeboats and then take them over so they can get their things packed or if they can’t travel, I’ll pack for them.”
“You go and see them and I’ll have a word with the Captain, I think it may be easier to shift them over with one of our boats today and then tomorrow they can leave from the beach because the helicopter when it arrives is large and will have to land there.”
“Okay, can I tell them that?”
“Yes but stress that the arrangements will need the Captain’s approval. You still haven’t told me how you’re feeling.”
“I’m fine, really, I didn’t even glow in the dark last night so the X-rays haven’t harmed me.”
Duncan stood up, “I have the intensive care patients next door in the sick bay and the remainder are occupying officer’s cabins. The person best suited to act as a guide is the man who you shared a bath with, he’s fit enough now and has offered to assist me should I have to deal with a large number of casualties when we go into action. I’m afraid I have a man confined to his bunk I need to have a look at in the crew’s quarters so if you need me or want to ask any questions, send Martin to find me. Sub, do not, under any circumstances, allow Miss Broughton out of your sight, she is curious about ships and will dismantle the engines if you give her a chance.”
“Duncan, the man who’s confined to his bunk, why not send him over to Pacific Wanderer, we have spare cabins and will have more when the passengers leave. In fact you can send all the people who are not fit for duty over there, there’s loads of room and the viewing bridge is not being used.”
Duncan thought about it for a moment, “I’ll have a word with the Captain, we are pushed for space and there are two or three we could send. I’ll speak to Mark to see if he can cope.”
“Of course he can cope, as long as it doesn’t interfere with his duties acting as my fashion consultant. Come to think of it, my Auntie made me attend first aid classes and if he needs assistance and you haven’t anybody to spare, I can dress wounds, give medicines, do blood pressures and stuff like that, even do external cardiac resuscitation.” I took hold of Martin’s hand, “Come on, Sub let’s go and see the passengers and change their dressings, you don’t faint at the sight of blood do you?”

“This used to be the first lieutenant’s,” Martin explained knocking gently on the door. “He’ll be glad to get it back, he is having to share with the gunnery officer. He complains that Guns is as noisy in the cabin as he is at action stations.”
“What about you, did you lose your cabin?”
“No, we lowly subs don’t have a single cabin, we have to share. I’m lucky, I share with the sub who’s been temporarily billeted on your ship so for the first time since joining the navy, I have a bedroom of my own.”
The door opened and a late middle aged couple stood there with smiles on their faces. “Hullo Martin, we’ve been expecting you.” They stood aside and we entered a cabin hardly large enough to accommodate the bunk and single bed, “And you are the mermaid who rescued my David?” the woman asked, stood for a moment and then took a step forward and pulled me into a hug, “You saved me as well, I thought he had died,” and she started to cry, “I thought I’d never see him again after all the years we have been together.”
I rubbed her back gently, “It wasn’t really me, I couldn’t lift him out of the water, I’d forgotten to put air in my buoyancy jacket and when I tried to lift him, I was just pushing myself under water. It was the navy, Aurora and her crew arriving in time…” and then I started to cry with her.
The woman eased me back, “There, you see, David, you’ve made your mermaid cry, give her a brandy. Her husband poured a drink from a bottle and handed it to me, “I’m sorry I have caused you so much trouble, distressed you but Gwyneth is correct, it was you that saved me. I was frozen, couldn’t do anything for myself and the cold, it was so terrible and then when I had decided not to fight it anymore, you appeared from below the sea and reached out to me and then put your arms around me and even through your wet suit and my clothes I felt warmth come from you, warmth that defied the sea and I knew it had saved me and then I felt you try to lift me and that’s the last I can remember. It was you that saved me, ask the men who pulled me from the water, if you hadn’t come to me and stopped me drifting away I would have died, too cold, too tired and too old to continue to fight for my life and I truly believed you were a mermaid.”
I tried to speak but couldn’t form the words, my sobs seemed to come from deep inside me. I took a small sip of the brandy and managed to swallow. It worked instantly, the warmth radiating from my stomach and I managed to get myself back under control. I handed the glass to Gwyneth, “Here, you finish it for me, Gwyneth, I’m not very good with alcohol, if I drink anymore I’ll start singing and then David will think I’ve become a siren.”
Gwyneth gave the glass to Martin who took it without argument and drank it down in one swallow, “I need it, I’ve never seen a commander cry before. I think you would prefer a coffee with milk and sugar, Miss Broughton,” and he took us to the wardroom and sat us down and ordered coffee.
“We were on a long holiday, David has retired and sold his practice and we wanted to look around a bit and pick somewhere to live. If we’d stayed in Norwich, David would have started going back part time especially now with the NHS being so short of GPs…”
“You’re a doctor!” I asked.
“Was. Gwyneth is determined to prevent me practising again, this is only the third time we have been able to take a long holiday since I qualified.”
“Some holiday it turned out to be.”
Gwyneth nodded her head, “But it’s something we can talk about once we get settled somewhere.”
“As long as you can impress on David that swimming in Antarctic waters is not a recommended exercise for retired doctors’, he should have known that before he dived in. Why didn’t somebody in the boat try to get him out?”
“I tried but two of the other passengers pulled me back because I nearly fell overboard myself, we were all tired and pretty weak, we had been in the boat for nearly five days.”
“What about the crew, they should have been making sure nobody fell in?”
David frowned, “They were totally useless. One of them had brought some bottles of spirits with him and they were drinking most of the time getting drunk and then they’d get thirsty and we had run out of water and the food was nearly finished, most of the rations had been ruined by the rain and seawater because the fools just didn’t think to keep it dry.”
“Didn’t the officers stop them?” asked Martin.
“There weren’t any officers in our boat. Most of them were in the first boat and they were much the same as the deckhands and the captain and first mate were in the boat that was sunk, it was about the only correct thing they did, the captain was the last to leave his ship.”
“Except for Will and I, we were left behind.”
“Thank goodness,” said Gwyneth, “Or you wouldn’t have been there to save David. I can’t remember seeing you on the ship, you weren’t in the saloon for dinner or having drinks.”
“I tended to stay in my cabin for meals and out on the promenade deck when it was quiet,” I answered hurriedly, they obviously didn’t know about me. “I lost somebody I loved very much a few months ago and have been in mourning since then. I went on Pacific Wanderer to get myself together again.”
“Were you with a young man, because we did see a youngish chap occasionally and I remember seeing him in the bar on the night we run aground and assumed he had drowned in the lifeboat that sank?” I was stumped now, if I answered by lying and said he was my husband or brother or something like that, they would ask me where he was now. “No I was travelling on my own and wasn’t really looking for company.”
“That’s understandable if you were mourning a loss,”
“You’re coming over to Pacific Wanderer later, did you know?” I said to distract them from talking about the mysterious young man.
“Yes, we have to pack and get ready to leave soon, to tell the truth David and I don’t really want to go back to New Zealand, we were hoping to go on to Hawaii.”
“We’ll get a ship or plane to take us on from New Zealand, don’t worry, Gwyneth, we’ll find our new home.”
“Your cabin is much as you left it,” I told them getting up, “Nothing was damaged as far as I could tell, I did check all the cabins in case there were any other people left behind or injured, I didn’t have time to clean them though, we were too busy saving the ship and exploring the island a little bit, Will and I are going to rebuild an old log cabin and stay here for a while, in fact I want to make it my home, it’s a pretty island and there’s no malaria or swamp fever, is there Martin?”
Martin jumped up, “Er no, I don’t think so but one of the petty officers warned me not to swim in any lakes or rivers in case there were crocodiles.”
“Martin is keeping an eye on me, the captain thinks I might try and steal Aurora whilst she’s here. Now I have to visit the other passengers.

In Chapters 15 and 16; A kiss, and Charlotte discovers a mentor.

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Volume 1 of Footprints In The Sea is available from Amazon Kendle Ebooks, there is a link in the right hand column of BC Home Page.

Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 15 & 16

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read Chapters 1 and 2, please do so.

An Engagement is announced, a new friend and mentor is discovered and the mandatory Little Black Dress is mentioned.

Chapter 15

“If the navies or governments who are going to man the wireless stations, hospital and whatever else were kept to the south side of the island, the land behind Goats Cove for instance and we kept the residential and agricultural area to the north, do you think that would work?”
Will smiled, “Taking on the duties of planning officer now?”
“Well I think I have to. I don’t want them muscling in and building all sorts of stuff willy-nilly and spoiling the island and beaches.”
“It was one of the things I was discussing this morning with the first lieutenant. The New Zealand authorities, which means the government have offered to oversee any development on your behalf and under your orders to stop the willy-nilliers. There isn’t a great deal of very flat land anywhere else other than behind Goats Cove and anything built there will be single story and easily hidden from view. Aerials and radar scanners will need to be at the top of the hill and one section where there is little more than exposed rock may be a likely place to put solar panels and there is another place on slightly higher ground where one or two wind turbines could be erected. Oh yes, they will almost certainly want to erect a small unmanned lighthouse close to the end of the reef on that side and if the underwater section goes out too far, they will place a marker buoy there with a warning bell but I doubt you will either see or hear them from where the house is being built.”
“What would they say if a few carefully selected people were allowed to come and live here?”
“I can’t see how they can object, you will still have full rights over the island and if you invited them to make checks on the people that were going to settle, that would be enough to keep them happy. It’s not as if anybody is going to build a security sensitive facility on the island though I understand that there is some talk of placing an ecological monitoring and research establishment here but that too would be self-contained.”
“It would mean we could find work for Pacific Wanderer,” I said rubbing my hands together in anticipation of making millions from my own shipping line.
“How so?”
“Running back and forth with supplies, mail and staff going on or returning from holidays and business trips.”
We reached the beach and having learned a little of the value of etiquette, I waited whilst Will climbed out and came to the bow and lifted me and placed me gently and dry footed on the sand. “Come on I want to see the house first.” I took his hand and led the way to the new steps the navy had built up to the lawn. I stopped and looked in surprise, there was a house there, in just a few days they had rebuilt the log walls and there were ladders and scaffolding where men were working on the new roof. “This is much larger, Will,” I said as he joined me and we walked up the lawn and onto the veranda, “Quite a bit larger.”
“I thought you would need an office, study or computer workshop here rather than a separate building or the cave.”
“I was going to use Pacific Wanderer as an office if we manage to keep her. There is going to be a lot of room in the holds and the cabins will be empty.”
“There’s a snag to using her. What will you do if she’s away doing her shipping line duties or there’s another monsoon, even a storm. As she is at the moment half beached she’s fairly stable but if we get hit with hurricane force winds and thirty feet waves, she could be seriously damaged, even lifted off the beach and driven against the reef again and sunk.”
“But doesn’t the same apply to this house. It isn’t that much higher than sea level and has already been knocked down by a storm?”
“We assume it was storm damage but that aside, the way the house is being constructed this time is going to make it a lot stronger. Some of the techniques being used in hurricane affected cities are being incorporated.”
“I’m not complaining, I like it, I was just thinking of the amount of work it is taking.”
“Forget that side of it. The cost of building the house is being met by salvage rewards, government help and the rest from your business enterprises and I’m paying half.”
“You are definitely going to live here then?”
“Of course. Some of the work I do will mean leaving the island to visit other countries but I want a home like everybody else and I certainly don’t intend to live most of my life separated from my wife.”
What he had just said didn’t impact me immediately, I was pacing slowly up and down subconsciously working out where I wanted windows, which section for an office and what patterns and colours for the soft furnishings. I stopped pacing and we returned to the top of the beach when what he had said came to the front of my consciousness, “Did I hear you correctly, you wanted to come home to your wife?”
“It slipped out, I was going to wait until this evening and get you drunk and in a state of euphoria and whilst you were under the influence, I was going to ask you to marry me.”
“Marry me?”
“Yes, there’s nobody else I know that can catch and cook lobsters or crayfish, help me move the ship about and save me if I’m drowning.”
“But I’m sober at the moment?”
“I know; like I said, it slipped out. I didn’t want you in a condition that allowed you to think clearly about my proposal. I know it meant my acting like a secondary glazing contractor and pressuring you to sign on the dotted line whilst the free offers and discounts were still available but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.”
“So if I agree to marry you, do I still get the free offer of double glazing?”
“Yes. Well not exactly, it isn’t a special offer because it was free yesterday as well. One of the navy blokes found it in a hold when he was having a look for what we could steal for the house.”
“You were prepared to embark on a life of crime just so you could marry me?”
“I’m desperate.”
“A tall, strong, handsome and desperate criminal on my island, it sounds dangerous and I came here to live a peaceful life. I suppose I’ll have to marry you.”
“I’m okay now, I’m not desperate anymore,” and he placed his hands on my shoulders and pulled me into a full wrap-around embrace. His eyes were large and soft and a smile turned the corners of his mouth and he kissed me, softly but for a long time and then he unwrapped me from his arms but placed his hands on my shoulders, keeping contact. It was just as well because a new feminine trait surfaced and I felt a touch of the vapours coming on but before I swooned, I stepped forward until our bodies were touching, “Do that again.”
He was very obedient and carried out my instructions to the letter.
I could have been happy to stand there all day just kissing but Will had urgent work in the cave and I had to return to Pacific Wanderer and my old shipmates and help with packing. So like Romeo and Juliet we had to indulge in a little ‘sweet sorrow’.
Will walked me back to the bow of the ship where the boarding steps had been moved forward and I took one step up but he stopped me, “Wait just a moment and he put his hand in a trouser pocket and pulled out a small jewel case and began to open it.
“Is that my engagement ring?”
“Yes.”
“Not yet, Will,” I stepped back onto the sand and placed my hand over his, “Not now, save it until this evening. Place it on my finger then, out on the promenade deck before we go to bed, then I’ll be able to dream about the moment all night.”
He hesitated and then nodded, “Okay, if that’s what you want,” and he gave me another much shorter kiss, “But don’t go meeting anybody and running off.”
“I promise,” I started up the steps and stopped on the first landing, “I’ll bring the champagne,” and then I run up to the deck where Mark was waiting to help me settle in the passengers.
“I hope you don’t mind but I saw you and Will on the beach kissing,” he pointed to where we had stood when Will proposed, “But it was a lovely setting and you two were so romantic, I thought you would like them,” and he held up a digital camera.
“Oh that’s lovely, Mark, show me.”
“Not yet, later when we’re inside the ship and the sun won’t spoil the playback screen. Pick the ones you like and I’ll download them onto your computer and you can order prints. They’re worth it, it was so romantic.”
“Yes, please, we’ll do that. “He proposed to me.”
“I knew he would eventually, I’m happy for you both, you were made for each other and you’ll be very happy.” The smile left his face, “Now I have sad news, a duty I must ask you to perform. It’s the couple who drowned when the lifeboat was smashed on the reef. The bodies have been recovered and their personal effects will have to be packed ready to be sent back to the UK. Aurora will be here for some while yet and the duty has fallen on me. In view of the fact that Aurora has large parts of its crew here and on the island carrying out necessary tasks, there is a shortage of an officer to oversee the job which makes things difficult. It was hoped that the personal effects could be returned with the bodies in tomorrow’s helicopter otherwise there may be more than an extra month’s delay before the relatives receive them. The Captain said he wasn’t sure when he would have somebody free and I reminded him that we had you and Will. This happened before you became engaged otherwise I wouldn’t have mentioned you, you see there is another lady from lifeboat three who died and her husband is obviously in a bit of a state and I don’t really think it would be suitable if I helped him because… Oh blast it, Charlotte, I don’t know how to put this…”
“The husband has emotional problems with packing his wife’s things, doing something that finalises her life, packs it away, and he doesn’t want to do it so you need Will or me to help him?”
“Not Will, if it were me, I don’t think I would want a man going through my wife’s things, I was going to ask you but I don’t think you should be asked to do something sad on a day when you should be happy, celebrating, having fun and planning your wedding.”
“Mark, stop worrying, I know exactly how the man feels, he’s lost his partner in life but he is having problems coming to terms with it, so did I when I lost my parents and again only a few months ago, when my Auntie Mo died. Of course I’ll do it and the couple as well. Will and I can delay the announcement of our engagement until tomorrow if necessary and I’ll have to wait a little longer for the huge diamond engagement ring.” I slipped my hand under his arm, “Come on, we’ll do it now, before you show me the pictures and we’ll need to pop into the shop first and steal some of the tissue paper they use for wrapping and a nice box for her jewellery.”

It was very poignant for me. When my parents died, Auntie Mo had been there to pack away their things, keeping things she knew I would want, things that were not necessarily useful but carried memories. When she had died I had to do what I was now doing for the man whose wife had drowned and of course it brought back so many memories but now, most of those memories were good ones. I still felt sad about the job I was doing but the sadness was more for the man than for myself. He was working with Mark most of the time but occasionally came over to where I was putting his wife’s things away and watched, occasionally picking something up and looking at it, stroking it before giving it to me without saying anything. One was her hair brush and it was one of the few times he did say something; “She had lovely hair and the only time I can recall her not brushing it for at least a half hour before going to bed, were the nights we were in the lifeboat, she forgot to take the brush when we abandoned ship but she still ran her fingers through her hair at night until she became so ill.”
He handed the brush to me and didn’t say anything else, just walked away and went back to Mark. I started to wrap it in tissue when I noticed there were a few hairs in it so I carefully pulled them out and wrapped them and tucked them away in my bra. There were some nice lockets in the shop, I would place the hair in one of the lockets and give it to him before he got into the helicopter.
Later that evening we had a goodbye dinner with the passengers and crew and Lieutenant Bryant of Aurora our acting captain gave a short speech wishing a safe journey and God Speed to the passengers and ended by inviting Will to reply on their behalf which he did and then after a quick smile at me said he had a special announcement to make and taking me by the hand he said, “Charlotte is no stranger to any of you so needs no introduction from me other than to tell you that earlier today, she consented to be my wife,” and then he lifted my hand and slipped a ring on my finger, a diamond, a large diamond and around it a circle of tiny sapphires. “I didn’t steal it, I bought it so you don’t have to worry about receiving stolen goods,” he whispered, a smile on his face. He lifted my hand and turned it to show everybody and ended with, “My future wife and here’s the proof and I consider myself a very lucky man.” Everybody started clapping and then the stewards came round with trays of champagne and we had an hour to party.
“Congratulations to you both,” said Gwyneth and whilst David congratulated Will, Gwyneth gave me a hug, took my hand and admired the ring, “It’s a beautiful ring don’t forget to take it off when you go swimming.”
Later, just before everybody went off to their cabins they came to us again, “We understand that you have made a claim on the island and the navy and others are going to build one or two things on the other side?”
“And we have also heard that you are considering inviting a few people to come here to establish a small settlement?” Gwyneth added.
“You’ll need a doctor here in case anybody goes sick,” David said.
“And somebody to act as postmistress or something like it,” Gwyneth looked first at Will and then me, “We would like to come here and do those jobs. I know we said David was going to give up practising and retire completely but because it will only be a small settlement there won’t be very much work to do and this is a lovely island and just what we’ve been trying to find on this trip.”
I looked at Will, “There is going to be some sort of medical facility built alongside the ecological unit isn’t there?”
“That is the plan, yes.”
“But until then, we have a surgery and can do operations and stuff on board Pacific Wanderer?”
“Yes, so Mark tells me.”
“And if we have about a hundred people living here with us plus the people at the weather station and other facilities, we’ll need a doctor?”
“Definitely,” he smiled.
“And doctors with only a hundred and fifty or so patients will struggle to make a living?”
“Without a doubt, what we need is a part time doctor and they’re difficult to find out here.”
“Gwyneth, I’ll have to take you around so you can pick a nice spot for your house and surgery.”

We stood in a group looking at the helicopter, waiting for the crew who had gone over to Pacific Wanderer for a rest and something to eat. All the passengers were ready and their luggage had been loaded save for the two injured people who were still on board Aurora being strapped into their stretchers.
We said our goodbyes and I increasingly felt that though I had hardly got to know these people I was also saying goodbye to an old life and making space for the new. With the exception of David and Gwyneth who I now knew a little about, I had lived through an experience with a group of people that was for me certainly and to some lesser extent to them, life changing. Yet as far as our relationship with each other was concerned would not merit adding a lot of names to our Christmas card lists. And yet, had the shipwreck not happened, would I have continued to live my life as I had in the past? My two doctors, Duncan and Randolph both thought not, something would have happened in the future that would have made my brain complete a job it had started whilst I was still an embryo but how would I have handled it? Suppressed it and gone to my grave without ever admitting I had lived a life outwardly in the wrong gender or accepted it, as I had on the island?”
I began to realise that two events had controlled who I was, had woken up my physical programming and both were traumatic losses; my parents first and then later Auntie Mo. In a few weeks when I started my treatment I would have to speak to Randolph about that but if I had to make a categorical statement now, I think it was my loss of Auntie Mo, she was the one who had steered me through those early pre-teen years when I changed from child to adult and she was the one who had done what she could to prepare me with her lessons and soft prods in the right direction Aunty Mollie was the one who had detected something, recognised it and did what she could to make the impact less painful. I hope she can see me now, see how her gentleness, her light touch on my steering wheel had been so successful. True I had been frightened by what had so suddenly happened to me, especially when I saw that reflection in the shop mirror but in reality, I had been well prepared by her and with Will’s easy acceptance of my intersexuality, thus far becoming a girl had been relatively painless. But would it continue so, would I be able to carry my change through to its logical conclusion without the help of Auntie Mo, someone to stand by my side and help me to learn in months what a woman of my age would have had twenty plus years to learn. It was no good telling myself that there wouldn’t be any serious problems because that would be a lie. My brain had no doubt about my gender so I could rely on my own instincts but they were never going to be enough if I was to fit into modern society and be accepted as Charlotte and not Charles and that is what I had to do, what everybody who had problems similar to mine had to, even want to do, be accepted. Humans are programmed to be gregarious, when we have a choice we would rather work together as a couple, a team or a group. We are like a single blade of grass. Alone we are unnoticed but as a group, the blades produce an expense of beautiful lawn. I needed a woman friend, a woman who I could share my woes with, a woman to share my joy, a woman with whom I could sit and chat about things that interest women.
And now I had a problem, the passengers had left before I had a chance to get to know them, except David and Gwyneth; my own fault I know, I kept myself to myself before the wreck far too much. Aurora had no women in her crew, the Royal Navy had a few amongst the scientific crew and I would no doubt meet them as the research station was built and there were one or two on Penguin but they were on the other side of the island and I would have little chance to meet and bond with them socially.
I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and break my period of introspection, “You look very worried about something.”
“Not really, Gwyneth, just thinking about my future.”
“You’re forthcoming marriage to Will perhaps?”
“Oddly enough no, I’m quite certain about that and how I feel about him and he about me?”
“Well I know it’s not about the island and uncertainty about that. You never stop making plans.” She stopped and waited a while whilst one or two others went past and then stepped in front of me and took my hand. “I know a little about you. I haven’t been prying, don’t think that of me but I am a doctor’s wife and have been so for a considerable number of years and I’ve been putting two and two together and of course most of the crew may not have been told anything officially but in the small world of a ship there are few things than can be kept completely secret. I wasn’t going to say anything to you but I was watching you a moment ago and the changing expressions on your face. Now if I am butting into a place where I have no right, tell me now and I’ll shut up, if not, I’ll speak and it is personal.”
I smiled, “It’s certainly that, Gwyneth but not here on the beach, there are too many people about. I have a meeting with the captain on Aurora in a couple of hours, would you like to come up to my cabin and we’ll have coffee and a muffin?”
“Coffee and muffins is fine and with David on Aurora talking to Duncan I won’t be reminded to watch my waistline and cholesterol.”

Chapter 16

“How much do you know about me?” I asked once we were comfortable in the cabin.
“David hasn’t discussed your case, in fact he only knows a little himself but I did overhear one or two words when he was speaking to Duncan about looking after you and your special needs when Duncan is away and Randolph was unavailable and later I heard Mark ask him if it wouldn’t be better to keep your medication separate from the other drugs intended for general use and finally when the helicopter arrived this morning and a carton of drugs were handed to Mark and he gave the list of contents to David to check if all my stuff was there and David double checked with me, I noticed there was far more than I required and there were also drugs I have never used I queried it and David said they were for another passenger. He slipped up there and said passenger and not person or crew member and the only other female passenger remaining here is you and it fitted the stories going around Aurora Female hormones are sometimes used for treating certain types of carcinomas but again, unless there is an epidemic on one of the ships, the quantities involved were excessive. David has in the past treated patients with complications, relating to sexual orientation. Putting that together and seeing your face today my instincts as both a doctor’s wife and a mother made me wonder if the drugs were for you? Charlotte, don’t ever be slow in asking me for help if you need a woman to talk to. There, I’ve said it and if I have overstepped the line when it comes to patient confidentiality, tell me to shut up but as I have said, I’ve been a doctor’s wife for many years and have helped his patients from time to time and I can’t stand by and ignore somebody’s need for help if I can do something.”
I put down my coffee and looked at her, her face was calm but there was concern in her eyes, “Have you ever come across or met a person who is intersexed?”
“Twice, David had one he diagnosed and passed on to specialists and another, he took over as their GP when they moved into his area and I met them, so I know a little about the condition. Is that you?”
“Yes but it had an odd way of manifesting itself. I wasn’t diagnosed at birth or during puberty, in fact I didn’t even know about it until the second day here after the shipwreck and even then I only thought I might have been transsexual but it was Duncan who discovered it when he saw me after I saved David from the sea.”
“But Randolph knows?”
“Yes, Duncan called him in for an assessment. I’ve had X-rays but haven’t been scanned yet and there are enough other symptoms to make it likely and when Duncan examined me physically he said he was pretty sure I had one, possibly two ovaries and there are signs of partial early breast development and later it was confirmed by X-rays and my hormone levels.”
She smiled gently, “A convenient time to discover something like that, no wonder you looked worried and confused earlier.”
“It’s not so much about suddenly discovering I’m female but when everybody left in the helicopter I began to realise I know little about being a woman, I’ve always thought of myself as male and if it hadn’t been for my Auntie guessing that there was something amiss and teaching me a few things a woman should know I would have been lost. Auntie Mo was the sort of woman that some would describe as old fashioned, the world of computers and androids were gizmos that kept the men and children quiet for an hour or two and when I bought her a mobile phone for a birthday present she was delighted, asked me to show her how to make and receive telephone calls and access the internet page for recipes, add my mobile number to her friends list and put it down and said, “Now we can speak to each other any time we like and I won’t have to keep thinking of new ways to make you eat vegetables and fish,” and that was all she wanted from the Internet She taught me how to help her to style her hair, use make-up, sow, darn, iron and wash delicate materials and cook; things like that and always disguised it to make me think I was helping her, never that she was preparing me for something that she had a premonition about.
“When the others left in the helicopter, I started worrying about how I was going to learn everything else. Some of it is common sense but there’s a lot that I need to learn and I don’t have anybody to teach me apart from perhaps one or two of the scientists and staff on Orca.
“I have to go to New Zealand soon for scans and things and I suppose I’ll have to go to the UK as well, Duncan and Randolph both act as consultants there but I want to live here and it’s not because I’m embarrassed by my condition and want to avoid people, it’s because I genuinely love the island and want it to be my home, so does Will but I still need one or perhaps more women who might be able to understand my problem and help me,” and then I told her what had happened with my search for clothing and how I had made the discovery in the shop when I was trying on floppy hats. I had just about finished when there was a knock on the door, “Its Phillips, Marm; the Lieutenant’s respects and the captain of Aurora’s boat will be calling to take you over in ten minutes and if Mrs Jenkins is with you, PO Mark has her prescription ready.”
“Duty calls,” I sighed, picking up my bag.
“We’ll talk some more if you wish.”
“Over lunch, I’ll only be on Aurora for an hour or so and this afternoon we can go and pick a spot to build your house.”

“It’s a little like being born all over again. A couple of weeks ago I was marooned here, a grieving young man and now I’m a young woman, still grieving a little but missing my Auntie for different reasons. I have over twenty years to catch up on, years spent learning the rights of passage as a young man when I really needed to be learning to live as a young woman.” I shook my head, “Its worse than learning to speak and understand a classical language, Latin or Greek.”
“I’ll have to make sure you have as much fun as I did when I was a young girl,” offered Gwyneth as we reached the top of the steps and stood at the bottom of the lawn looking towards the house. “We gain a great deal of our knowledge of life skills as children and young adults when we play.” She stopped and looked out across the beach and lagoon, “I can see why you picked this spot. Are there many other places like this?”
“Lots and there are places where it might be possible to build a cabin at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea.”
“And you call that mansion at the top of the lawn a log cabin?”
It only has three bedrooms.”
“Where’s the ballroom, at the back?”
I laughed, “It’s not a bad idea, I used to teach ballroom dancing. No all we’ve done is extend the place where the original cabin was.” We started walking up the lawn, “Over to the right behind the trees is the cave and that’s where most of the work is being done at the moment. It’s going to be a storage area and a refuge against extreme weather. I’ll show you the rest of the house and the area at the back where the allotments are and then we’ll go over to the cave and you can have a look at the waterfall and river and then we can climb up a bit and get a good view of this side of the island. Will tells me the end of the spur and reef can be seen from there and part of the lake.”
“Are there any roads?”
I looked at her in surprise, “Roads on an uninhabited Pacific atoll!”
“No motorway traffic or noise to worry about then?”
I shook my head, “Sorry no. There are some animal tracks through the scrub and around the hill and one of the officers from Aurora said we will probably need to build a couple of wide tracks in the near future. We’ll need one going over the island to the south side where all the official buildings and labs are being built and the second one down the length of the island to the spur.”
“No buses then?” Gwyneth asked with a grin on her face. We’ll have to walk everywhere.”
“David would approve, its healthy exercise.”
“David doesn’t have to go shopping or carry it back.”
“There aren’t any shops.”
“We’ll have to build one somewhere, I couldn’t go through life without going shopping at least once a month. Joking apart if you are going to allow a hundred or so people to settle here and add the people from the south side, there is going to be a need for a shop of some sort. It’s okay to ship stuff in from New Zealand, stuff like white goods, clothing and soft furnishings but for the everyday bits and pieces, a shop is necessary.”
“It’s not something I’ve considered but you’re right, I’ll have to see what the science lab people and ships crews have to say. Shall we set it up? If we added a tea room and a pub, we’d be able to collect all the gossip.”
“Did the captain say much about the plans the navy and others have for the island?”
“Quite a lot, it has received official recognition from the UN and everybody seems happy about the discovery of the island provided no attempts are made to militarise it and it remains neutral and access is available to any sea vessel in the event of a storm or other emergency. Something else came up and that was the exploration of this part of the South Pacific. New Zealand is doing quite a lot of research because it’s virtually unknown below the surface and islands like this are havens for wild life and very important for the world’s ecology, not just the local stuff. Wellington has said that Pacific Wanderer is to be offered the opportunity to be refitted in Auckland and leased from us as a support ship, not like Orca but logistical work so that means my concern about access to the rest of the world has been smoothed away and I don’t even have to worry about finding a crew because the navy will find one for us when it’s required.”
“She’ll spend all her time at sea then?”
“No, about a quarter of the time, the rest of the time she will be here or working locally helping with the underwater research that is going to be done around the island.” We reached the house and climbed the steps to the porch, “Here we are, what do you think now?”
Gwyneth turned around and looked across to the lagoon. “My goodness, it’s how I imagine Heaven will be, I’m jealous.”
“There’s plenty of clearings like this on the island, pick one and we can show it to Will and then make sure you’ll be okay for electricity and water.”
“And your house, it’s huge.”
“There’s three bedrooms. This area here will be our sitting room with a section on the west side for a study and along the east side are the bedrooms, they will all have the sun in the morning and the kitchen and dining room will be on the south side. We’ll go up to the cave now and see what’s happening up there but we mustn’t stay long if we’re to climb higher and see the whole of my kingdom spread before us.”
We lost interest in the cave quickly, there were cables, generators, boxes of electrical equipment and sweaty sailors everywhere so I took Gwyneth along the path to the river and waterfall and showed her where Will and I had had our picnic on the first day but she didn’t fancy a swim so after admiring the beauty of the setting we returned to the cave and when we passed the entrance Will came out. “Still house hunting?” he asked.
“Gwyneth likes the waterfall but there’s nowhere along the river where we can build a house so we’re climbing the hill a little and having a look across the island. What’s happening here with all the men and equipment?”
“We’re getting ready to install the main generator inside the cave tomorrow. The floor is prepared and the trench for the cables to the house are ready, we’re just sorting things out now.”
“I thought we were going to use a generator close to the house?”
“It would be easier if we installed the large one here. It will produce enough power to feed twenty or thirty houses and save having smaller generators kicking out noise and pollution all over the island.”
“What about the solar panels?”
“We’ve earmarked them for the installations on the south side and as a backup, if the generator fails some of the power can be diverted here. Eventually more solar panels will be installed to supply this side and eventually, eventually,” he grinned, “The river has possibilities lower down there’s a flow strong enough to drive a turbine. But all that’s for the future. There’s more news; one of the biologists on Orca has discovered a new species of butterfly and she’s coming over this evening for dinner and is going to tell you all about it. It’s quite pretty, I’m told.”
“Oh good, I was wondering if there would be any unique species of plants and animals,” I turned to Gwyneth, “You’ll come as well won’t you, it will give David a chance to speak to the scientists and find out if there are any cures for incurable diseases.”
“Yes, definitely,” she smiled warmly at Will, “We’d love to stay and help you with the generator but we’ll only get in the way so Charlotte and I will get from under your feet and go up the hill.”
“I fully understand, just take care you don’t upset the giant iguanas, poisonous spiders and snakes on the way.”
I nodded, “We’ll keep our eyes peeled but you forgot the man-eating Venus fly traps,” and trotted off after Gwyneth. “Was that a lesson?”
She smiled and nodded, “How to present men with a reason for not getting involved in one of their projects. On this occasion it was simple because we probably would have got in the way, well I would, you might have avoided it due to past experiences but don’t let lessons learned in the past prevent you from becoming forgetful when the circumstances demand it. And always keep at the back of your mind that men do the same to us. You need pictures hung, shelves put up or a bedroom decorated but they can’t because they have made a previous arrangement to meet your brother or father or even second cousin twice removed to have a drink and watch footy on the pub telly. You can’t object because they will counter it with; ‘It’s your family I am meeting, not a load of mates you’ve never met. What are they going to think of you when I have to explain that you don’t want me to meet them?’ So don’t have moments of guilt.”
“Can visits to the beauty salon or protecting long nails be used?”
“Definitely if you remind them that you go through all that just to make yourself beautiful for them so that their mates envy them and their street cred gets a boost.”
“Do you think Will looks upon me as a trophy wife candidate?”
“Yes, all men want beauty in their wives and they all want to be the envy of other males, it flatters their ego but in Will’s case I think it’s more than that. He still boasts about the way you started organising things within minutes of discovering you were marooned over a thousand miles from the nearest civilisation, and he always brings up the way you dived into a stormy sea and rescued a man. He tells people how capable you are and have a terrific sense of humour, and when we were speaking to him a short while ago he was taking note that the sailors that were in the area kept looking in your direction. You definitely want to marry him then?”
“Yes. A lot of the things he says about me apply to him as well. He’s good looking, very funny at times and kind, kind enough to realise I had a serious problem and was a very confused person and he accepted it in a low key way and helped me to come to terms with it. I know he’ll be there when I need him and he won’t for a second stop to think what other people will think. He loves me, Gwyneth and I love him?”
“That’s all that’s needed.” We stopped climbing to take a breather and she studied me for a few seconds. “How long have you been on hormones?”
“I’ve just started, there’s enough in the ship’s pharmacy for more than a month but I am on a low dose. Raymond told me that they would keep it low until I’ve had the scans and they can measure how my body is coping.”
“Well if you can look as good as you do now, by the time you’ve finished your adjustment, I was going to say transition but in your case you only need adjustment, but by the time you’ve finished, you are going to be a really beautiful girl, Will is going to fall more in love with you each day and you can cook very well I hear?”
“I have my Auntie Mo to thank for that. She taught me a lot more than I ever thought I’d need and always under the guise that she wanted to be sure I would always be able to cope, no matter what happened. The odd thing is that I accepted it easily enough, it’s unusual for a teenage boy to accept lessons in sewing, darning, even hair care and use of cosmetics. Most fourteen year olds would want to be out playing sports, climbing trees and teasing girls.”
“You think she knew?”
“Yes, I have no doubt now. She might not have been able to classify it but she knew that I would be lousy as a man - incomplete. The skills I didn’t have a chance to learn were the subtle things; how a woman copes with the everyday things like how to coax a man into agreeing to something, all those things a woman knows instinctively. Not major things but the way we managed to escape just now and get away to enjoy our house hunting.”
“I suspect you learned more than you realise. The dancing lessons allowed you to switch rolls when teaching the women’s way of dancing. Life skills are acquired rather than learned in most cases and you have one or two things going for you that will make it easier; you are receptive, want to learn and unlike a teenager your priority will be in learning rather than having a good time. You have the wider perspective that comes with age nicely blended with a need to know, a curiosity. You’ll learn quickly enough, even in the rarefied atmosphere of the island. When you go to New Zealand or the UK for your scans and operations, I’ll come with you if you wish. You won’t be stuck in hospital all the time, there will be times when having company, a woman friend may help even if it’s only finding your way around department stores.”
“Shopping trips you mean. You’re using me as an excuse to get David to agree to your visiting London with a purse full of credit cards.”
“I told you, you’d learn quickly.” Gwyneth smiled and opened her arms as if to embrace the island, “And what a beautiful home to have as a place to do that learning.”
“From here it seems so much larger and look down there at the cove next to the lagoon. I saw the entrance when Will and I were going around the island in one of the lifeboats but we didn’t land. I didn’t realise that it opens up into an enormous lagoon, almost a lake, I wonder if anybody from the ships has found it.”
“Or that American aircraft that flew over you when you were first discovered?”
“They wouldn’t have been looking at the island, they were trying to find us and once they did, they came down to a few hundred feet and when they circled and came back they were even lower and were concentrating on dropping the supplies by parachute. The entrance to the lagoon is very narrow, easy to miss from sea level. I wonder why Will never mentioned it.” I took my walkie-talkie out and pressed the island button. There was a long pause before he answered, “Sorry about that, I was inside the cave and only noticed the light flashing when I came out.”
“What light?”
“The red one at the top of the set, it flashes if a call comes in and is not answered, the same as a ‘missed call’ on a mobile phone.”
“Oh, right. Will when you came up here to look at the island, did you notice the large lagoon next door to ours?”
“Lagoon, no,” there was another pause, “I looked down the length of the island but there were trees blocking the view to our lagoon so I only glanced that way and concentrated on the south side. How large?”
“It must be three or four times the size of ours and there’s a small island in the middle.”
“I’ll try and get over there for a look after we’ve finished here.”
“Don’t rush yourself, Gwyneth and I can be down there in a half hour, I’ll take some pictures and we can explore it properly tomorrow. We’ll take a lifeboat and I can dive and see what the bottom is like. It might be a good anchorage if more ships turn up.”
“Take care walking down there okay.”
“Of course. See you later because we’ll go back to Pacific Wanderer after looking at the lagoon and get ready for dinner.”
“Dinner isn’t till eight!”
“It takes two hours to get ready.”
“Two hours!”
“There’s another woman coming and she may bring others from Orca, even invite some from Penguin. Bye, love you.”
Gwyneth chuckled, “See, you’re learning skills all the time, two hours to get ready so you outshine any likely opposition.”
“Well of course, it wouldn’t look nice if I wore jeans and the other women turned up dressed to the nine’s. Apart from that we’ll have to go into the shop and see if there is anything suitable to wear.”
“You’ll need to buy the mandatory little-black-dress.”

In chapters17 and 18: Charlotte has a party and having already shocked herself with her uncertainty about gender, proceeds to shock everybody else as she celebrates the grace, poise, fluidity and beauty of dancing.

I’m close to having volume 2 finished and will let you know when I put it on Kindle. Thank you again for the reviews and kind emails I have received.

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Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 17 and 18

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read Chapters 1 and 2, please do so.

Charlotte has a party and having already shocked herself with her uncertainty about gender, proceeds to shock everybody else as she celebrates the ‘grace, poise, fluidity and beauty of dancing.’

17

We found a track that descended to the lagoon but when we got there it was larger than we first thought and was surrounded by little coves, beaches, rocky promontories and even places where the trees came down to the water’s edge or overlooked the lagoon from high banks and cliffs.
“This is the place,” said Gwyneth, “This is where I want my nest built. On top of one of the smaller cliffs, in a clearing with a lawn going to the edge and a path down to a beach.”
I looked to both sides of where we were standing and there were so many places it was going to take us a full day to explore just the top section where we were standing. “We’ll have to take a day or two off and bring a boat, it will be easier than trying to walk all the way round from here, there’s miles of it. When we get back to Wanderer, I’ll speak to our captain and see if we can borrow a boat and any spare days we have, we can come round and explore. It’s going to be fun.”
“Perhaps we ought to bring Will or somebody who understands what’s required from the practical side. It’s no good picking a nice place to build a house and then finding out there is no way to get to it or land building materials and lay on water and power supplies.”
“We’ll ask Will and the captain of Aurora if we can borrow somebody, I think they’ll agree because they will want to have a look and see if it is a good anchorage. We’ll have to measure this island properly. Thus far it has only been measured by guesses and a hurried estimate by the AWAC but at the time, they had other matters to attend to. I think it’s quite a bit larger than we first thought and I’ve been thinking about means of transport. My first impression was it was little more than an hour’s energetic walk to cut across to the south side and perhaps two hours to walk the length but it’s going to take longer than that, even if we build dirt roads or tracks.”
“That means smelly diesels and petrol engines.”
“No not necessarily, we could use electric vehicles for everything except bulldozers and building machines. I mean, at a pinch a golf buggy would do most people and they do make other electric cars, vans and pick-up trucks. Even mules and small draught horses would be better than cars. Mules are sturdy, intelligent and would thrive in a place like this and a Percheron or two can pull a cart with a heavy load and that breed of horse would be very useful if we want to explore off-road.”
“We’ll need to find a vet who wants to retire like my David.”
“There’s bound to be one in New Zealand, there might be one on Orca for all we know, they are looking for new species of animals and if we’re going to domesticate any pigs or cows we find wandering about, we’d need a vet. We’ll have a chat with the scientists and see what they have to say.”
And that was the subject of our conversation as we explored our way back to Pacific Wanderer stopping every now and again to take a closer look at a clearing or a place on the cliffs or close to a beach where a house might be built. There was a well-defined track that I suspect had been built by our predecessors but now showing only evidence of occasional animal use and like Goats Cove, we identified either sheep of goat droppings, perhaps deer and as Will and I had found near the cave, signs that something had eaten bark from some of the trees and grazed off the smaller shrubs. It took us a little over forty minutes but Gwyneth thought that without constantly stopping, the journey would take about twenty minutes at a steady pace so that meant it was about a mile from my cabin, far enough away to ensure we each had privacy and space to develop gardens but close enough to pop over to see each other for a coffee and chat. “I’ll describe it all to David and perhaps he will want to come tomorrow and see for himself.”
When we arrived at the lagoon, there was a game of volley ball in progress and we stopped again to watch for a while and some of the sailors were calling out and inviting us to join in. “Not today we have to go shopping and get ready for dinner, the captain of Aurora is coming over so you’d best make sure you clean under your finger nails and wash behind your ears after the game.”

PO Victor had told my personal steward Phillips to fix up the viewing bridge for our dinner party and he had done a terrific job. We had four tables brought together and a cocktail bar had been arranged and next to that a music player was already piping out light classical music. “You’ve made it look very nice,” I told him.
“It was my idea, PO Victor was going to partition off part of the saloon but I said you would prefer this because you would have a view all round and if it turned out to be a warm evening, you could always go outside onto the promenade deck. There’s dance music available if you want to change the music and have a dance after dinner.”
I nodded, that’s a good idea, thank you. You do have help don’t you?”
“Yes, there will be two of us and one of the cooks will fetch the food up from the galley that’s why we had the tables and bar set up close to the lift.”
“I must go down to the galley and thank Victor for lending me his best man.”
He smiled at that, “I’ve already been told to act as your steward but thanks anyway. You look very nice in that dress, I’ll make sure you have a lovely evening and just nod when you want me to turn on the dance music,” and then he went off to finish laying out the tables, I felt like the Lady of the Manor and went downstairs to be ready to welcome the guests, we had fourteen plus Will, Gwyneth and David and Will must have raided the shop because he was wearing a very smart white Tuxedo and looked dishy.
So too was dinner, Victor had pulled out all the stops and produced an island salad which included things I recognised and some I didn’t but they were good to eat and that’s what mattered. We had spare ribs in a sweet sticky sauce, roast chicken and steak medallions and of course cray fish and a vegetable lasagne in case we had vegetarians amongst the guests. I had spoken to Aurora’s purser and he had arranged for me to withdraw New Zealand dollars and I had given Victor some to buy the food from Aurora, Orca and Penguin that we didn’t have in Pacific Wanderer’s larder and freezers and he had done very well indeed even when taking into account that everything was tax and duty free and after paying for the wine and cocktails he had nearly a hundred left so I gave him another one hundred and told him to share it with the people who had helped to prepare, cook and serve the meal and that made them happy.
There were three other women from Orca and Penguin, Liz Johnson a botanist and Emma Hatfield a biologist from Orca and Faye Pemberton from Penguin a geologist who had been part of the American research team on Antarctica so Gwyneth and I weren’t the only women around the table. With all those skills present, conversation was both lively and very interesting and when I was asked and admitted to having computer coding skills I was presented with enough requests to tweak up scientific research programmes to keep me busy for years. If I wasn’t careful, my island was going to become another Silicon Valley.
“You are definitely going to make this your permanent home, Charlotte?”
The captain of Aurora, Harry Fellows and I were standing at the front of the viewing bridge looking out at the island and watching the sun rest on the Pacific horizon waiting to say goodnight to his girlfriend the moon before going to bed for the night. “Can you blame me, look how beautiful it is here, how peaceful. No towering blocks of offices, no factories and no pressing crowds filling the pavements of exhaust polluted streets.”
“Won’t you miss the theatres, shops and restaurants of London?”
I chuckled, “I’ll tell Victor you said that.”
“No don’t, he’ll be serving two year old pickled pork and ships biscuits in the ward room if you do.”
“I’ll miss that side of things a little but I’ll still go to London regularly and to New Zealand, Australia and the States, they are just down the road a bit and I have Pacific Wanderer but unless the scientists find something really nasty and life threatening here, this is where I want my home to be and other people will be coming here as well.”
“You are going to have to organise that a little better. I hear you are thinking of inviting a hundred or so people to join you but have you thought that through.”
“Some of it, yes, the obvious things like the need for houses or cabins, roads, shops and medical care but there will be other things to take into consideration I know that.”
He nodded, “As long as you are aware. You will need to raise money if you want the island to be self-sufficient, charge taxes and rent otherwise you won’t be able to build the things you will need. The New Zealand Government, UK, Australians and the Americans will be expecting to pay rent for the land they will be leasing from you, what about the other people, the civilians, they won’t expect to live here free of charge and still receive the necessary services they have become used to.”
“Somebody to collect the dustbins, keep law and order, look after the roads or tracks, yes I know and when I go to New Zealand I will have to meet people there, experts and see what they have to say.”
“Would you like me to arrange that for you?”
“Can you. I need to speak to all the people who can tell me what’s required, what I must do but I don’t want the island to change too much, I want to look after the birds and animals who live here, keep the island as a haven but at the same time, let it be used as a research centre, a place where ships can shelter, somewhere where scientists can work.”
“I’ll see to it. Aurora will be returning to Auckland in two or three weeks and an inshore patrol ship will be taking her place and Orca is staying though some of the crew and research staff will be leaving but others will be brought in so the various facilities being built will continue and so will the research projects already started. We’ll talk some more before we leave and I’ll speak to my bosses and arrange your meetings.”
“You’ve done a lot for me and I am grateful, very grateful for your help but don’t get into trouble because you are spending too much effort here and not chasing enemy pirates or submarines.”
He laughed, “Don’t worry about that, New Zealand have told me to paint the trees a different colour if you ask for it, they are more than interested in the island it is a valuable international asset and there are other countries interested in keeping it safe. The Antarctic alone justifies it and this far south it is also a launching place for other projects, the South Pacific is still virtually unexplored. I have it on good authority that it is going to be suggested that a landing strip be built subject to the scientists giving it the green light so that’s another name you’ll have to think of Charlotte International perhaps?”
“Oh no, I don’t want the island ruined with an airport!”
“No, I was kidding, it will be a landing strip large enough to allow inter island aircraft to land, not massive airliners and its purpose is to allow aircraft to land where something is too urgent to delay with a sea voyage. Medical emergencies, very urgent goods, that sort of thing.
“If that’s all, okay but if they’re thinking of building another Heathrow here, definitely no. Have you been told about the new lagoon Gwyneth and I discovered today?”
“Yes, it is very interesting and I would like to send my first lieutenant and a couple of men with you to explore it if I may.”
“Yes that’s fine. I want to name the new lagoon the Aurora Inlet as a way of thanking you and your crew for being so kind and helpful, would you mind?”
“We would be honoured and the crew will spend their days in the bars of Auckland bragging about how they saved the Mermaid and had a place named after their ship. They will expect a naming ceremony though and a party afterwards.”
“It’s about time we had a party, we’ll look for somewhere inside the inlet and have the ceremony and a beach party there and invite the people from Orca and Penguin so we have a few girls.”
“I’ll volunteer.”
I turned to see who had joined us, “I’ll invite you Emma so there’s no need to volunteer. You as well, Liz you can share a cab with Emma. What about you Faye, will they let you have an evening off from Penguin?”
“I’ll tell them I want to look for indium or manganese on this side of the island, can you put me up for a few days?”
“I can put all of you up, Pacific Wanderer will definitely have a couple of spare cabins.” I returned my attention to the captain, “There you are captain, we’ll have women so we can have a dance as well.”
“I’ll ask the crew for volunteers. Now if you will excuse me ladies, I need to have a word with one or two of the gentlemen.”
“Rugby World Cup I expect,” said Liz, “A war wouldn’t stop them from discussing that.”
“In that case we’ll go out on deck and chat about beach volley ball and London Fashion Week. If none of you have to get back this evening, I can show you the cargo, there’s loads of fashion stuff in the holds.”
“That’s settled, Liz and I can radio Orca and ask if it’s okay if we stay a day or two and take a look at the flora and fauna on this side.”
“I’ll get in touch with them, both ships will want their boats and crews back so I’ll let them know we can return you,” offered the captain.
“I think Penguin is leaving in seven days now that the island business is sorted out,” said Faye, “I’m having a month’s leave in the States and coming back for another tour so if you tell my boss I’m going to have a look for ore bearing rocks, he’ll agree. They love people who volunteer to give up their own time and I’m on travel time at the moment so have no official duties other than catching up on a bit of paper work so he’ll go for it. Strictly speaking I’m cargo not crew.”
“Is that what they call passengers on a supply ship?”
“Passenger! They probably have me listed as livestock unsuitable for human consumption.”
Laughing I turned towards the bar, “I’ll get us some drinks, white wine suit everybody?”
“No champagne?” asked Emma hopefully.
I saw Phillips walking rapidly in our direction. He stopped and looked uncertainly at the others, “Commander Broughton, can I get you something?”
“These are friends of mine, no need to be formal, is there any chance we could have a bottle of champagne out on the deck?”
“I’ll fetch it and have a table and chairs taken out for you. Would you like some finger snacks as well, I’ll get them brought up from the galley,” he answered his own question before I had a chance and went away to arrange it.
“Whose that?” asked Liz, “He was falling over to help you and what’s that about commander, are you in the navy?”
“No, well not really, Aurora’s captain told everybody I was to be shown the same courtesies as a commander and now they all salute me and welcome me aboard and stuff like that and that chap Phillips is my personal steward.”
“Bloody Admiral Hyacinth Bouquet next,” said Emma, “But it’s handy, no wonder the captain didn’t object when you told him you wanted a beach party and dance.”
“I’ll go and get Gwyneth, she’s stuck with all the men and I doubt she’s all that interested in Rugby.”
I found Gwyneth talking to Will and David, “Gwyneth, we’re outside on the promenade deck and leaving the men to talk about man things like rugby, are you coming out with us, we’re having champagne.”
Gwyneth nodded enthusiastically, “Don’t wait up for me, David,” and taking my arm she guided me out onto the deck where Phillips was just placing an ice bucket with two bottles of Dom Perignon on the table alongside six flutes. He stepped back and then reached forward and moved the candle to the centre of the table and said, “I’ll fetch the finger snacks when you are ready Miss Broughton,” and went off to give the men a bottle of port.
“It’s very nice out here and we even have a candle but he forgot to open the champagne.”
“Well Faye is a geologist, she can do that,” and I took one of the bottles and held it out to her.
“What’s being a geologist got to do with opening a bottle of champagne?”
“The cork is held on with wire isn’t it and that’s metal which generally comes from ore found in the ground mixed up with dirt and stuff.”
“I don’t know how to open it, you’re an officer, you’ve been trained in the use of high explosives, you do it.”
I twisted the wire and eased the cork up and it popped and the three girls ducked but the cork arced up into the air and went over the side and the three of them rushed to the rail to watch it land in the sea.
“Do they know about me?” I asked Gwyneth.
“I’m not sure, Liz and Emma may because they are on board Orca and you’ve been there for your medicals and chat with Raymond but I don’t think Faye will have heard of it. I don’t think it’s a secret though from what David has been saying but nobody on Aurora or Orca seem to be bothered about it unless you take into account a certain amount of curiosity. Have they said something to you?”
“No, they’ve treated me as just one of the girls, not mentioned it.”
“Don’t forget they are scientists, Liz may ask you something because she’s a botanist and would want to compare you with plants that are hermaphrodite and perhaps Emma but I suspect their curiosity will be from a scientific point of view. I remember David when he had his intersexed patient a few years ago, he became very curious and spent hours reading up on it despite being a GP and probably only meet about four people in his entire career who were intersexed. I must admit I find it fascinating as well so tell me when I start asking too many questions and get nosey.”
I smiled, “It fascinates me as well now I’m not scared of it but I do worry how it might affect my relationships with other people. I would prefer people knew about me rather than find a friend and lose them later because they thought I was trying to deceive them. But so far, where the ships and their crews are concerned, I’m more surprised by their apparent acceptance than by fear of them being abusive, calling me a freak and things like that.”
“Be prepared for that, Charlotte, it will happen occasionally.”
“I know that and am still not unduly worried about it, everybody experiences that type of rejection in their lives and for all sorts of reasons. The other thing I’ve thought might happen is that people who take a liking to me and would like to be friendly and have a chat will hold back because they become afraid of what others will think of them.”
“You jumped that hurdle when you went into the sea and rescued David. I’ve listened to some of the talk on board and there are a lot of men on board the ships who readily admitted they wouldn’t have done it but you did and when they learned you are intersexed that probably added to your stock. They will think, ‘Blimey mate can you imagine it, he thought he was a bloke and dived in and then becomes a girl and she doesn’t care and still goes after the man in the water. It’s more than I would bloody well do!’ They are sailors and the crews and scientific staff are a pretty cosmopolitan crowd and get used to each other’s traditions and ways of doing things and as long as the ship stays afloat and gets them safely into harbour, they’re not much bothered about the idiosyncrasies of their shipmates.”
The girls came back from the railing, “It’s still floating about down there, when the tide goes out we can get it,” Liz reported.
“It is more likely to go out with the tide,” I answered, “If you want it, you can borrow my wetsuit and jump over the side and get it.”
“You’re the expert at jumping off ships, why don’t you do it?” protested Emma.
“No, she’ll probably change her sex again…” Liz stopped and placed her hand over her mouth, “Oh God, I’m sorry, that just slipped out, I didn’t mean to be offensive.”
“I’m not offended, don’t worry about it and it had nothing to do with the wetsuit, well I don’t think it did but now you mention it, it might be caused by a chemical reaction between neoprene, sweat and sea water, I’d better write a report for the diving magazines and warn everybody.”
Liz sipped her drink, “You really don’t mind, I feel so bad about saying it.”
“Honestly, Liz, I don’t mind. I’m going to get my leg pulled a lot more than that. I know you didn’t mean it spitefully, you were joking and it’s okay but I’m still not going to recover the cork, one of you will have to do it.”
They relaxed when they realised I meant what I said until Faye said, “Does it hurt sometimes?” and everybody started laughing. Gwyneth smiled at me and whispered, “I told you so.”
We started on our second glasses of Champagne when Phillips arrived with our finger snacks but by now it was growing a little chilly so I asked him if he could put them on a table inside and what were the men doing.
“Telling jokes in between discussing the island, the Rugby World Cup and cricket, Miss Broughton.”
“Nothing important then. Do you think this is a good time to put the dance music on?”
“Ideal time I reckon, you want anything special?”
“Ballroom of course mixed up with something lively and definitely something romantic.”
“I’ll stick Glen Miller on then, that always gets people tapping their feet.”
“You don’t know if any of them can jive do you?”
He thought for a moment, “There’s a sub on Aurora, name of Martin Andrews who does a bit of dancing I’m told.”
“He never told me and he was my guide when I went over there to speak to the passengers.”
“Gets ribbed a bit by the other younger officers so keeps it to himself.”
“Do you think the captain would give him permission to join us, I need a partner and Will won’t be able to jive.”
“He won’t if I ask him but he’d never dare refuse you.”
“Right,” and I walked over to where the men were still sitting at the table. “Captain, can I ask a small favour?”
“Of course Miss, Broughton,” he answered standing up.
“Can you send for sub lieutenant Andrews, I need him for a dancing partner.”
“Have you gone off me?” asked Will.
“No, I’m keeping you for the smoochy dances, unless you can jive.”
He grinned, “No, I can’t but I’ll settle for the smoochy bits.”
The captain turned to Andy Bryant the acting captain of Pacific Wanderer, “Andy, phone Aurora and get young Andrews over here and warn him to wear civvies and shoes suitable for dancing.” turning back to me he asked, “I trust you’ll save a dance for me.”
“Of course, is your foxtrot good?” and then I returned to the girls, “Come on, I’ve broken up their boy jokes session and they’re on their feet waiting to dance with us.”
And dance we did and had all of them on their feet and when I did the rumba with Will, I really hammed it up and it’s a wonder I didn’t dislocate my hips and later we were having a smoochy waltz down at the far end of the bridge and I suddenly stood on tip-toe and he was caught unawares and his hand which had been just above my waist now found itself on my bum, I looked up at him, “Your hand is on my bum.”
He grinned, “You won’t get away with that you deliberately went on your toes so my hand slipped.”
“Are you going to leave it there?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll lower myself slowly then,” and I did and his hand followed me in perfect time and shortly after that he gave it a gentle squeeze, “You have a nice bum, soft and shapely.”
“Wait till the hormones start to have an effect, you’ll be able to use both hands then,” but the music stopped before he had a chance to experiment.
“I’m going to vanish for fifteen minutes. I want to go to my cabin and change for the jive with Martin, will you mind if I flash my legs a bit?”
“No, I’m getting used to your flashing.”
“I’ll shock the captain.”
“He’s getting used to it as well.”
We returned to the others and Emma had just gone onto the floor with the Captain and Martin was dancing with Faye so I grabbed Liz by the hand and said, “Come with me, I’m getting changed for the jive, I’ll need help to get out of this dress and into the jive skirt.”
She looked puzzled as we went down to the cabin level in the lift, “Why do you need help?”
“I still haven’t mastered getting the hook and eye undone at the top of the zip on a dress and I don’t have a lot of time and I want you to check I’m okay after I’ve changed I’m going to give them a demonstration.”
She grinned, “Don’t tell me you’re wearing a full skirt and going to spin like crazy.”
“Yes, a very full skirt and double tiered petticoat, Will just called me a flasher so I’m going to flash.”
We got to my cabin and Liz was impressed, “Is this yours, all of it?”
“All of it and if we’re quick I’ll show you one of the other cabins and you can have it whilst you’re still here.”
I was out of the little-black-dress in a minute and took off my heels, “There’s some flatties in the bottom of the second wardrobe,” I said as I opened the first and grabbed a white blouse and pale blue full skirt and the two tier petticoat and started dressing.
I slipped on the shoes and sat at the dressing table, “Can you do a high ponytail for me in a rush?”
“Easy,” and she set to work while I touched up my makeup.
“What do you think?” I said when we were finished and I was standing in front of her.
“That skirt is going to go horizontal with that petticoat underneath it if you spin fast.”
I grinned and nodded, “I told you I’m going to flash it.”
“But don’t you think you ought to change the stockings for tights!”
“Not bloody likely,” and I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the cabin and she was laughing, “I just can’t picture you in pair of trousers or believe you were a man a few days ago. You sure you weren’t a tranny and have been getting some practice in!”
“I’ve been practising all right, practising wearing women’s jeans, men’s don’t fit me.”
“I bet they don’t, I can’t believe you didn’t know about yourself before this.”
“I didn’t have a clue, honestly Liz, even when I was on the island and knew something wasn’t quite right, I hadn’t a clue about the intersexed thing until Randolph and Duncan told me.”
We walked out of the lift and Will was waiting, “You were quick.”
“Wait a bit, it gets quicker in a minute or two,” and Liz went over to Emma and Gwyneth giggling.
I found Phillips, “Give me a minute or two and fix the music for me please.”
“Anything special?” he asked eyeing me over and looking at my skirt suspiciously.
Glen Miller, American Patrol, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and finish with Bill Haley and Rock Around the Clock. Do you have all three on there?”
He grinned, “Bet on it, I’ll give you the nod when it’s ready to rock.”
I went to Martin next and he looked surprised, “You changed your clothes is the party over, we haven’t danced yet?”
“No, our bit is about to start, can you jive fast, Martin?”
“Yes, the bloke doesn’t have to do that much, it’s the girl that really does the dancing.”
“Then we have to jive our socks off, I’m going to draw attention to myself.”
He grinned, “Okay.”
“We’ll start with a couple of Glen Miller numbers, the second faster than the first and then finish with Rock Around the Clock and then I’m going for it and when I start my spins in the last number, give me a bit of space, I’m going to make this skirt fly.”
“Give me a nod and I’ll drop your hand and give you the room to fly like a bird.”
Martin had a touch of adventurous spirit, I liked that. “Give me the full length of your left arm, one turn underarm and two free spins across you and catch my left with your right at waist height and I’ll spin in to finish, can you do that?”
He nodded, “Keep the catch at waist height but do you want to spin in under arm?”
“No, I’ll do one turn with a wrap and then we’ll finish it and if you’re good, I’ll hire you for pleasure cruises on Pacific Wanderer as the cabaret’s main feature.” I saw Faye, Emma and Liz separate and walk to different sections of the bridge with their phones in their hands, “Look at those cows.”
Mark glanced across, “What are they doing, have they had a row?”
“No, the sneaky witches are going to video this and probably stick it on the internet. You’re family are going to get a shock, they’ll think you spent the night in a sleazy nightclub not fighting the Queen’s enemies.”
“I don’t care, it’ll make me Numero Uno with my friends in New Zealand and stop the people on Aurora calling me ‘Fuse’.”
“Come on, let’s dance before anybody else gets on the floor and I nodded at Phillips and as we got to the centre Glen Miller started and we jived. Martin was good and paced it beautifully and I managed to keep the skirt at about a third of its potential and as the last bar of American Patrol started it suddenly switched to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and we notched up the speed and a couple of times as I reversed a spin with me going one way and the skirt the other, the skirt wrapped itself around me high enough to expose a bit of stocking top and the audience started cheering but when that closed and Bill Haley boomed out, Martin and I went for the speed record and the skirt flew and the cheers almost drowned out the music. His timing was perfect and as our hands slapped together after the triple spin I was able to reverse reasonably gracefully and turn slowly back to him and he was laughing and punched the air. “Bow to them,” I whispered and went into a curtsy and they were still cheering and trying to get us to carry on but I took his hand firmly in mine and we trotted back.
“That was a superb demonstration Miss Broughton and you Andrews can start normal duties, you’ve found your sea-legs it would seem.”
“So has Charlotte,” said Will, “Really nice sea legs.”
“You’ve seen me in a swimming costume, they’re the same legs.”
“Bet he hasn’t seen them in stockings before,” chipped in Emma.
“And the colour of her knickers matched the stockings perfectly,” added Liz.
“Gypsy Rose Lee would be proud to call her daughter,” Faye put her two cents in as well, “And you can teach me to jive like that so I can kill them at our Country and Western nights back home.”
And then Philips put a tango on the music machine and David rescued me, taking my hand and leading me onto the floor, “Don’t spin, I’ll get giddy and fall over,” he smiled, “Sorry I haven’t a rose you can hold between your teeth.”

18

“Thanks for inviting us last night,” Liz smiled, “We had a terrific evening.”
“And letting us use your cabins, they’re much better than the ones on Penguin.”
“And Orca. We’ve been told we can stay here full time unless we have night work to do or something that requires us to work very late on our own ships,” Emma added.”
“Are you sharing or did you take one each?”
“One each is that okay?”
“It’s fine as long as Aurora doesn’t need any for visiting dignitaries or sick blokes but we still have empty cabins so for the moment anyway, it’s okay to have one each,” I rubbed my hands together, “Unless we put to sea.”
“What difference does putting to sea make, we can stay if we’re not needed on the island or we can go back to Orca and Penguin if we are.”
“But when we put to sea, I will have to charge you first class cruise rates, that’s £120 per day.”
“We’ll act as waitresses or cooks in that case but if we get waylaid by pirates and have to help repel borders then we expect mercenary fighters rates of pay. And before you think of it, we are rated as civilians on our own ships so you can’t flimp us by saying we are service personnel and as such must fight for free.” Emma nodded with satisfaction at her own cleverness and gave me a smug grin.
“And we get a share of any prize money,” Faye pointed out.
“I’ll make you move to the crews quarters then.”
“She can share with me,” offered the coxswain at the tiller. I’m bunking with an engineer petty officer, we’ll look after her.”
“I’ll be chaperoning all of them, you as well,” said Gwyneth smiling sweetly, “Especially after that dancing demonstration last night.”
I was about to answer them when Will called out from the bow where he had been discussing something with Lt. Bryant, “Charlotte, do you and Gwyneth want to be put off at this end or continue with us down to the other?”
I looked at Gwyneth for the answer, “Do you want to have another look at the place you took a liking to yesterday?”
She shook her head, “I can walk there from Pacific Wanderer in twenty minutes, let’s go with the others.”
“We’re coming with you,” I called back.
He raised his arm in acknowledgement and started speaking to Lt. Bryant again. “Will,” I called again, “We have to turn here, the inlet is between the cove and that spur.” I watched then look towards the cove and they obviously couldn’t see the entrance to the inlet, even we had missed it the first time we came this way. “Turn to stab’d and head to clear the point by four chains, cox’n. Reduce speed to revs for four knots,” I said in my best Commander before God voice.
“Aye, aye, Commander, come to stab’d and speed for four knots, head to pass the point by four chains.”
“You was in the bloody navy in your past life,” insisted Emma.
“Get her to dance a hornpipe,” said Faye.
Will and Andy had turned to see what I was up to and I pointed, “Over there, it’s just coming into view,” and as I spoke the entrance to the inlet began to open up and everybody stood and looked open mouthed.
“It’s well hidden, none of our blokes spotted it,” said the cox’n, “Want me to head straight in?”
“Wait a sec, I’ll have to ask Lt. Bryant.” I walked up the boat and stopped halfway, “Are you going straight in, Andy.”
“Yes but ask the cox’n to keep the speed like this, the entrance looks to be near a hundred and fifty metres wide but there may be rocks close to the surface, we’ll have to feel our way in.”
“I’ll go up and stand on the decking at the bow if you like.”
“No, Will and I will do that, can you stay with the cox’n.”
I went back to my post, “Stay as we are for the moment, the Lieutenant and Will are going to watch ahead for rocks and stuff. There’s a cove on the stab’d side as we go in and cliffs to port, we were up the top yesterday, that’s how we spotted it.”
“Good place for pirates to hide,” the cox’n replied, you’d never know the entrance was there unless you go into the cove.”
“Did they have pirates this far south, I wouldn’t have thought there was much here for them.”
“Whalers. They’d shadow a whaler until it had filled its tank with whale oil and then attacked it and some may have brought the stuff in here to store. Ambergris as well, that was worth money at auction. We caught one about three years ago about a hundred miles south of Wellington and the ship stank like a sewer but the stolen cargo was worth more than twenty five grand on the black market.”
“Treasure hunters as well,” Faye said. They might not be looking for gold, silver or oil so much but the Pacific is a treasure trove waiting to be harvested. Manganese is one and there’s manganese nodules lying about all over the sea bed. All they need is to find a large amount of indium and they’d be down here like a pack of wolves tearing everything apart.”
“Never ‘eard of that, what’s indium?”
“A rare earth metal that’s used in computers and computers are an indispensable resource. The modern world would grind to a halt without them.”
“That’s where we were on top of those small cliffs when we discovered this place yesterday,” I pointed to where the clearing could be seen and the path leading down to the beach. It’s one of the places where Gwyneth may build her house.”
“It’s a beautiful place,” said Emma, “I could live here and being isolated the way it is, think of all the new species of animals and plants that might be living here. Researching them could be a job for life.”
“I think I saw a lizard thing the first time Will and I landed on the island. It was near the waterfall but I didn’t say anything because it hid as soon as it saw me and I was busy looking at the trees and then we discovered the cave but it was large about the length of my arm but as I say, it vanished when I appeared. It may have been a crocodile for all I know, I only saw it for a second.”
“You must show me exactly where you saw it,” said Emma, “I’ve already found a new butterfly, there’s bound to be other new species, remind me to show you the pictures I took. Look at all the stuff they’ve discovered on the Galapagos, when Darwin started his researches and made all his discoveries he stood mankind’s beliefs on their head and this place is further away from civilisation.”
“They are talking about exploring the hill with ground penetrating radar back on Orca,” Liz looked up at Faye, “That would be right up your street, “One of the geologists thinks it may be honeycombed with caves. There’s no telling what metals might be down there.”
Faye shook her head, “Not really, I think the best chances are under the sea and along the coast line. I think they’ll discover that the hill was originally the volcano but it changed its mind and picked a different route through the lagoon. If the hill is honeycombed, the caves may have been old lava pockets that emptied but I reckon that it is more likely to have been created by the action of water. We could all go underwater pot holing and get lost and emerge a million or so years in the future as human fish. But when we land, if it’s a stony beach keep an eye open for diamonds and sapphires, stuff like that.”
“You didn’t mention rubies, can we take your instructions as a signal that your interests lie only in bedecking yourself with priceless jewellery?” asked Emma.
“I’m not ashamed of being seen at my best and stinking rich with it. But if you want, why not keep a look out for rubies but give them to Charlotte to make lasers for her computers unless of course they’re large rubies, I’ll wear them for you on my diamond necklace and if they’re really large, I’ll make them the centrepiece.”
Liz was looking at Faye with an appraising eye, “Rubies would go well with your eyes, how many glasses of champagne did you drink last night.”
Faye shrugged, “Lots, I lost count when Charlotte did her jive, I was in a state of shock.”
A call from the bow ended our conversation, “Cox’n I don’t recall asking to be put ashore on the island!”
“Oh Christ,” mumbled the cox’n and swung the tiller hard over to port.”
“Sit down, Faye,” I said in a loud voice, “You’re obstructing the view from the helm.”
“Thanks Miss Broughton,” he muttered once the boat’s bow had swung and we continued around the island rather than over it and the Lieutenant returned to the view ahead.
“Would you prefer we moved forward and don’t impede your ability to keep us on course, cox’n?” I asked, still in a loud voice.
“Why are you shouting,?” asked Liz.
“Because we’re distracting the cox’n and he nearly wrecked the boat on the island and Captain Bligh up there would have him keel hauled or given fifty lashes so I’m making out it was your fault.”
“He’s a sailor and four birds are not enough to distract sailors until they go ashore. He shouldn’t have been paying attention to us,” scoffed Liz.
I shrugged, “You know what sailors are…”
“No,” said Emma, we are far too busy, “Go on tell us what sailors are like, you were marooned on an atoll with some for over a week, what did they do?” She leaned forward with a smirk on her face. “Go on, and don’t leave out the details.”
“She always stands in front of the bridge,” said the cox’n “That way if there’s a bit of a breeze, the downdraught flips her skirt up.”
I glared at him, “I’ve just saved you from being hung from the yardarm and that’s the thanks I get.” I stood up, “I’m going forward and telling the lieutenant that every time I stand up, you pinch my bum.”
“He won’t believe you,” said Faye, “Not if he saw you dancing yesterday evening with Will and kept manoeuvring so his hands rested on your bum.”
“Will was supporting me in case I fell over.”
“Was he, I thought it was the way the waltz was always danced,” said Gwyneth.
I thought it was disgusting,” said Emma, “They’re not even married yet.”
Before I had a chance to answer Will called out; “Land ho! Dead ahead,” and Andy Bryant came down, “Steer for that small cove just of the stab’d bow cox’n, it has a sandy beach.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
“Do I need my wet suit, Lieutenant?”
He grinned, “Ankle deep, commander, your call. Are these ladies causing you problems, cox’n.”
“As good as gold, sir and the conversation has been educational.”
“I bet it was.” Returning his attention to me he said “Wait until we go over the side and we’ll pull the boat up and Will said he’ll carry you ashore if you wish.”
I smirked at the girls, “My complements to Commander Devonshire and I do wish,” and gave the girls the finger.
“Over his shoulder with a protective hand on her bum to prevent her from slipping off,” Emma advised.
The lieutenant smiled and walked back to the bow and spoke to the two seamen who promptly came down to our end and sat either side of the engine. “Why didn’t you come down here earlier?” I asked.
“Boss said we were to stay up there and keep the load even and we had to keep our eyes peeled once we turned into the cove in case there’s any Russian or Chinese submarines down there. He sent us down now so the bow lifts higher and we can get further up the beach.”
“That’s to prevent us getting our feet wet,” explained Liz “But now you’re down here you can carry us ashore.”
“If you drop them I’ll give you fifty quid each.”
“I bet she would to,” said Faye.
The boat slid up the beach and the bow was clear of the water but the sand was wet so whilst the others jumped over the side I sat down on the covered section of the bow and dangled my legs over the side. “Aren’t you coming?” Emma called.
“I’m waiting for Will to carry me over the wet sand,” I called back and she said something and he came back but he had a broad grin on his face, I should have smelled a rat but didn’t and lifted my arms so he could lift me but he grabbed hold of my waist and threw me over his shoulder and put is left arm over my thighs and rested his right hand on my bum and carried me all the way, right up to the tree line before putting me down and kissing me.
“Emma put you up to that didn’t she?”
“I think they all did.”
“Okay, you can do it like that every time from now on, I enjoyed it.”
He laughed, “So did I. Right, Andy and I are going to take a good look around but Emma and Liz want to explore for unique species of flora and fauna and Faye is going with them to see what ores are in the rocks. We’ve told them not more than a couple of hours and then back here for lunch, what about you?”
“Gwyneth and I are having a look for places to build her house so I suppose we’ll all stick together.”
“Good, it’s safer that way. The Navy lads are staying to build a fire and get lunch ready but if you think you’ll need an escort Andy will detail one of them to accompany you.”
“We don’t need an escort, not with five of us.”
“Faye is carrying a browning pistol and I’ll give you a couple of flares in case you get lost.”
“We don’t need flares, Will, we only have to find the water’s edge and we can find our way back easily enough and what does Faye need a pistol for?”
“We can’t be sure there are no dangerous animals about and if you refuse to take the flares and pistol, Andy will make the cox’n or one of the men go with you.”
I didn’t worry about the escort, if we needed one, we needed one and by the same logic, Will was right, the island had not been properly explored and just because we had seen no evidence of dangerous animals in the areas we had explored, it didn’t mean there were none here. Like most Europeans I thought of dangerous animals as mammals but in places like this I had to start thinking outside the box; dangerous animals also included giant iguanas, crocodiles and alligators, snakes and even wild boars, we had seen some evidence of pigs here and even domesticated boars would be dangerous if they thought their territory was being invaded. “Okay Will, you’re right, let Faye bring her gun and I suppose I’ll have to swallow my prejudices against firearms and get you to teach me how to use one soon.”
“I’ll get the gunnery officer on Aurora to teach you. Have a nice day and I’ll see you at lunch unless you want me to come and collect you and carry you back?”
“I might do that if you promise to act improperly on the way.”

Which way shall we go?” I asked as we set off. Will and Andy are going off to the right, shall we go left.”
“Left suits me but it means a climb up to the top of the cliffs,” Faye said, “It’s okay down here on the beach, no more than a steep hill but after that it’s hidden by trees and bushes.”
“There’s animal droppings over there, they look like they were left by some sort of small deer so there are probably animal paths to follow,” Emma was pointing to a clump of undergrowth and there were places where the ground looked disturbed.
“The undergrowth seems to clear further along,” Gwyneth was pointing to a spot on top of the cliffs about a hundred meters further off to the left, “But the cliffs come right down to the water’s edge so we’ll have to go up and make our way along the cliffs.”
“Let’s go up and have a look, it’s a bit difficult trying to see much from down here,” I looked at them for agreement and getting nods I led the way. Making for the spot where the ground had been disturbed by the wildlife I found an opening in the underbrush almost immediately and started to climb. At first it was gentle but then the animal track began to wander around obstructions a little and it grew steeper and then there were outcrops of rock every few meters and the path steepened again until I felt myself leaning into it so I stopped and turned to see how the others were doing. Emma and Liz were only a couple of meters behind me but Gwyneth was a good ten metres further down with Faye right behind her. “Hurry up Gwyneth, Faye is right behind you and she could let fly with her pistol.”
Gwyneth looked up and grinned, “She’s more likely to hit you, she just told me she’s only fired one once before.” I looked at Emma, “Fat lot of good she’s going to be if we meet a poisonous snake or something.”
“Don’t worry about it, your screaming will scare it off.”
“Dam right it will. You okay or do you want to rest for a bit?” I asked Gwyneth when she joined us. “I’m okay, it’s not running out of breath that’s slowing me down, it’s that my leg muscles have atrophied from lack of use. I’ll have to practice walking a bit more if I’m going to live here.”
I looked back up the slope, “It seems to level of up there another fifteen or twenty meters, you best carry on if you can or your muscles might tighten and start cramping.” She nodded so I started up the path again but took things slower and stayed with Gwyneth and let the other three go on ahead.
“Your dancing is keeping you fit, I was watching last night and you hardly lost your breath and David told me he nearly dropped you when you leaned right over and lifted a leg in the air with your back arched in the tango. You don’t care do you, you enjoy teasing the men.”
“I do, I admit it, it’s my way of compensating for being scared of them.”
“Men scare you?”
“Not in a ‘men are dangerous’ way, it’s Will I think, I love him like crazy but I’m scared.”
“Scared of letting it go too far?”
I looked at her but she had that soft look in her eye, “Yes, too far when I’m kissing him and he has me pressed up close with his arms around me. I want him to take it further but I’m scared.”
Is he putting pressure on you?”
“No, none, he seems to sense when I’m getting nervous and eases off. God, Gwyneth, what am I going to do, I want to go to bed with him but I’m terrified of doing it.” I looked at her again, the soft look was still there and she was nodding her head slowly, “I only made love to a girl twice before all this, I liked it but I can’t pretend it was anything like the earthquakes and lightning or the trips into the stars that women seem to have if the books I’ve read are any guide. I know it’s going to hurt me a lot if I let him do it and I want to let him but the idea of the pain makes me hold back. I don’t want to start something and then have to stop him because I’m scared or in too much pain to go on.”
“Yes, I understand that, you’re frightened that if your first experience is bad it will put you off from wanting to do it again.”
“Yes, that’s exactly it. I suppose I’ve allowed romantic ideas take over my thinking and forgotten the practical side, especially as I am now neither male nor female.”
She reached out and took my hand and squeezed it, “You’re not that Charlotte, never that, you are all girl in your head, all you need is a snip and tuck and you’ll be all girl physically. Can’t you wait until you’ve had your SRS before making love to Will.”
“I suppose I’m going to have to but I will have to find other ways of letting him know how much I love him.”
“And he’s never coerced you, said things like ‘You don’t really love me because you won’t share my bed?”
I shook my head, “Never and never even made me think that was what he was thinking. He always lets me make the pace and doesn’t even frown when I pull back.”
“Want me to get David to have a word with Duncan or Raymond? They can tell you what to expect, what to prepare for both emotionally and physically and perhaps recommend whether you should follow your desires or wait until after your operation.”
“Would you, I think it would help. You don’t think badly of me talking about it, think I’m being too promiscuous?”
She chuckled, You’re twenty six, I was seventeen when I went to bed for the first time, you’re just normal. Talk to me anytime about it, I know you’ve missed puberty as a girl but that mentally is what you’re going through now and if it helps; it hurt me the first time, hurt a lot, I think my hymen was made out of cowhide and I remember I was punching David’s shoulder and calling him I don’t know what sorts of names.”
“Oh God, what happened?”
“I was just at the point when I was going to throw him off me when my hymen broke and then I went off on a trip to the stars,” her face wore a smile now, “David told me after that he thought I was having a fit and it’s a wonder I didn’t set fire to the bed,” she chuckled. It’s not like that every time unfortunately but it happens enough to keep me interested even now I’m much older I still have trips around the universe.”
I was smiling now, “That’s what I want.”
The path levelled out and we found ourselves standing on a grassy lip that slowly descended into a shallow valley surrounded on three sides by dense woodland, “It’s like being back in England,” said Gwyneth, “There’s even daisies growing amongst the grass. How strange; here we are on the opposite side of the world and looking out at a corner of England. All we need are the tall Tudor chimneys of the manor house and we could be living in Sussex or the Cotswolds.”
“We even have the milk maids sitting on the grass and Faye is chewing on a stalk of grass.”
The sound of our voices made them turn their heads, “Oh, you’ve arrived,” Liz said, “We were discussing whether or not it was worth going back down the track and try to recover your bodies.”
“And we were wondering how much longer you three were going to sit there before you went off to milk the cows.”
“Be careful of what you wish for,” and Emma pointed to a spot a few metres in front of where we were standing. We took a pace forward and looked down at the turf and there looking like a mine was a circular cow pat. “Cows!” exclaimed Gwyneth looking up and scanning the meadow, “Where are they?”
“Sitting on the grass, we’ve just spoken to them,” I replied. “Have you three seen any?”
Liz nodded, “We’re not sure but we thought we saw the backside of one vanishing into the trees on the far side.”
“Can’t be cows then, they would have wandered over to say hullo.”
“I doubt if these will yet, they have to be the descendants of some that were left here by whoever it was that lived in your house and will not have any experience of human contact.”
“Can cows survive without humans to look after them?”
“Of course if they have access to food and water which they do and somewhere to shelter and be safe from predators. Some may have had problems with mastitis if they weren’t being milked but if the people who owned them realised they were going to leave they may have allowed the cows to dry up and then all they would have needed was a bull.”
“We’ll have to organise a round up, this is one place we could use for grazing and there are bound to be others and it would solve the milk problem.”
Emma just stared at me, “You’re going to organise a cattle drive, herd up the cows and nest them down here without horses, dogs, cowboys, barns and everything else.”
“Not me, you’re the biologist and you like it here and will probably want to retire and build a nice little cottage or ranch house, you do it.”
“I’ll live here as well and show her how to do a bit of selective cross breeding with the grass so she can get a good crop of hay and thatch for the cottage.”
I looked at Faye, “What about you, Faye, are you going to make the stuff for the wire fences?”
“I might as it happens, it is so nice here, I’ll see what my fiancé says, he’d probably go for it, he can ride and that’s half of being a cowboy.”
Gwyneth was smiling at everybody, “I know you’re having a joke about it but you know it could be done and Charlotte thinks there may be goats, pigs and sheep here if we can find which parts of the island they’ve settled in.”
“And what are you going to do Gwyneth, spin the fleece?”
“Good Heavens no, that’s a job for an unmarried maiden, a spinster, that’s Charlotte’s job, she can be the milkmaid as well.”
“Excuse me, the unmarried maiden bit is only temporary and my field is computer programmes.”
“So build a computer controlled milking machine,” said Liz.
“Come on, we have to get on with the exploring and see if we can find edible plants, precious metals and a nice place for the ranch house.”
“I’m going over to the other side of the meadow,” said Liz, I think those smaller trees may be bread fruit and they’re not supposed to grow in this climate, it may be a new variety.”
“What about stuff that’s good for salads, Liz?”
“Loads, chickweed, onions, peppers all grow happily in the wild and there’s probably quite a bit around where the old house allotments were. I’ll have a look for you. I’ll take some soil samples and we can work out what seeds we need to start up anything you think you’ll need.”
“Potatoes and lettuce?”
“Definitely potatoes, they’ll grow almost anywhere but wild lettuce?” she grinned, “Going to chill out are you? “It’s a mild narcotic and was once used by doctors if opium wasn’t available. But the lettuce you are thinking about will probably be around the area where the house stands and was introduced by the previous inhabitants. We’ll see but none of you pick and eat any unrecognisable fruits, seeds or leaves until you’ve checked with me or Emma. I’ll print out some lists and pictures of things that are safe and those that are not. If you want marijuana and stuff like that, I’ll get some but it’ll cost you.”
I looked at Emma, “You going in with her, a pair of drug barons?”
“I would but at the moment there’s nowhere to spend all the money I’d earn. Think I’ll stick to booze and barter with you for the fashions in the ship’s hold.”
“There’s plenty of raw material available, I’ll speak to Will about setting up a distillery and brewery in one of the ships holds or better still, we’ll keep a look out for a suitable cave.”
“I don’t think he’ll approve,” said Gwyneth.
“Yes he will, I’ll appeal to the inner man and say we need to make beer so that there’s yeast available for bread and cake making and the distillery is needed to produce alcohol for medicinal purposes. If you speak to David and get a list of the ailments that can be treated with whisky and gin, that should convince him.”
We separated then, Emma and Liz to cross the meadow and search for unique flora and fauna and Gwyneth and Faye came with me to look for nice places to build houses and discover geological samples for making essentials like diamond encrusted gold earrings.

In chapters 19 and 20, Charlie invites a visitor into her bedroom and is touched by the magic of Charlotte Island and a comet explodes!

Volume 2 is nearly complete and should be available on Amazon before the 22nd December.

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Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 19 and 20

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read Chapters 1 and 2, please do so.

Friends begin to gather and ask to come and live on the island and after speaking to Duncan, Randolph and Gwyneth, Charlotte invites a guest into her bedroom and is touched by the magic of the island.

19

We sat on the sand with the boat cover spread out as a table cloth and large leaves as seats eating sandwiches, pies, pieces of chicken and melon with tin mugs holding soft drinks or coffee except Gwyneth and I, we had coconut milk.
“Cox’n, why didn’t you catch a pig and roast it over a fire?” I asked.
“We were going to Miss Broughton but Lewis here reckoned as you wouldn’t like to get your fingers and clothes sticky.”
“You’re very thoughtful,” Faye said, “But next time please don’t deprive yourselves because we are here.”
“Quite right,” I added and if we had thought of it, we could have brought my scuba equipment and I could have gone crayfish and crab hunting. What do you think of the inlet, Andy?”
“Purpose built, a fleet could be hidden here. From what I could see from the cliffs, the water is deep and the entrance well concealed.”
“It would spoil it having aircraft carriers littered all over the place but Aurora and ships like her could anchor in concealed coves, Pacific Wanderer as well if she’s not needed in the lagoon.”
“I’m going to suggest we send Orca’s inshore explorer boat round here to take soundings when we get back.”
“Do they have divers, sports or professional?”
“I know they have two or three sports divers and so do we on Aurora, we also have two pro level divers we do on most navy ships. Is there a reason you ask?”
“Yes, I’d like to explore the lagoon and a few other places around the island but not so much in a professional capacity unless you count looking at the marine life and particularly shellfish and crabs. I want to see if there’s other fish as well, something we can use as a food source.”
“I don’t know the details but I understand somebody is coming from New Zealand to meet you and there’s going to be a bit of an official conference about the island laid on here as well as in Wellington or Auckland but it’s only something I’ve been told in brief, you’ll have to see the captain if you want details. Until then, I see no reason why a bit of organised sports diving can’t take place, the chaps would welcome a chance. Want me to have a word with our club diver and get permission from the captain to set something up. I think he’ll be enthusiastic because some of the lads are looking for a chance to do something else other than play table tennis and pool or go for a swim in their leisure time. You could organise your beach barbecue as well.”
“I’m all for the diving,” said Emma.
“You can dive?” I asked.
“Club level yes but I’m not dive fit, I haven’t dived since coming out to Antarctic, that’s three years ago.”
“The lagoon then, it’s ideal and would be good if anybody else wanted to join classes, I know Will does.”
“Me too,” said Liz, “I’ve always wanted to study some of the plant life.”
We all looked at Faye. She nodded and looked a little sheepish, “I’ve done a basic marine geology diving course but have never used it since I qualified, I’ll join in.”
“Gwyneth?” I asked.
“Don’t you think I’m a bit old for taking up blood sports.”
I grinned, “We don’t have that many accidents with spear guns. You’re fit aren’t you, heart, lungs bronchial tubes, ears, nose and don’t have fits or are allergic to saltwater and mildew. I’ve known people who’ve taken up diving in their sixties.”
She looked at the others and detecting no astonishment she nodded, “Okay, it should be fun but I think David is going to have a fit.”
“Just tell him to bone-up on decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis.” I turned back to Andy, “That’s it then, we’re all organised and ready to go, just send your instructor over to help me and we’ll keep the crew fed for you.”
Andy stood up, “Back to work everybody and Charlotte, I have a great liking for scallops.”
The sailors started packing the picnic away and I asked Emma what she and the others were doing because Gwyneth and I were going to see if we could find any likely looking places for houses in the opposite direction to where we were earlier.”
“I’ll come with you,” said Faye. The cliffs along that way are more exposed and I might find a way down to sea level and have a look at the cliff face and the material that has fallen from it.”
“We’ll come as well but we’ll stay up top with you, and if we have time I’ll cross the meadow again and have a look at the bread fruit,” said Liz.
“Will they have any fruit at this time of the year?”
“No but all I need are a few buds, leaves and stems and if there are any of last year’s crop that hasn’t rotted too much, that will be all I need in the lab.”
“Right,” said Andy, we’re taking the boat and following the cliffs and checking the water depths close in so it’s the same as this morning, two hours and back here but if you get stuck somewhere, fire three shots and a red flare and we’ll come and get you.”
Gwyneth’s leg muscles were getting used to her new life style because after a quick massage she was off with Emma and Liz leaving Faye and I to trudge along behind.
“I wanted to talk to you about the island and living here. Are you serious about inviting people to join you and build houses?”
“Yes, I think about a hundred, perhaps a hundred and fifty. That’s why Gwyneth and David are going to be so useful. With that many people plus the others in the south side research centres, we’ll need a doctor in residence because there may be times when the project doctors or naval medics will need back up.”
“I spoke to my fiancé this morning on the phone, and he said I was to ask you if a couple of geologists would fit in with your ideas?”
“Without a doubt, we will need the right sort of people to advise us where to build our houses, go on exploration trips, find the materials to make our stills and vats; yes of course you would be welcome, Faye, very welcome.” I stopped and took her hands in mine, “I’m not just building a research island, I want this to be a lovely place to live with nice people around me. A good mixture of scientists, technology nerds, artists, writers and beach bums. What I don’t want is to have people who only stay a month and then go off leaving me all alone.”
“We’d be staying here as residents, Howard is coming to do another three year tour in Antarctica but I’ve been asked to work here in the island lab so we need a home because Howard will spend all his free time here and may even spend part of his time in the labs.”
“It means pitching in with some of the other work we’ll have to undertake if we’re going to make a success of the island as a community.”
“I’ll work as a barmaid, traffic warden, or sweep the communal areas, I don’t care, that sort of job is fun when you have to spend a lot of your time in laboratories.”
I squeezed her hands, “You’re in, pick a place for your new house.”
She hugged me, “Thank you, I know we’ll have fun here, nice lives and when all the children arrive, I’ll be a teacher as well.”
“Come on you two!”
It was Emma, they had stopped at the top of the path and were waiting, well she was, I could just make out Liz bent at the knees looking at something in the grass and Gwyneth was half in and half out of a thicket at the start of the tree line peering into the gloom beneath the trees. We quickened our pace and as we caught up I heard Gwyneth call out, “Liz are these breadfruit trees?”
Liz looked up from her grass patch, stood and walked over to join her took a quick glance and nodded so we went over to join them. “Two finds,” Liz began, “Gwyneth has discovered breadfruit and sweet corn, now if the sailors have caught a wild boar we can have a barbecue this evening.”
“Do they have fruit?” I asked.
“The breadfruit has one or two ripe and quite a few not ripe yet but still edible but no luck with the sweet corn, it’s going to be a few weeks yet. Still it’s the thought that counts, we can open a few tins and pretend they are from here. We walked up to the tree and Liz took one of the ripe fruit and gave it to me, “Ask the chef on Wanderer to cook it, he’ll know how and we’ll try it. I think it’s a variation of wild breadfruit but the sweet corn looks like the stuff that grows everywhere, nothing special.
We found two or three likely places for houses and Emma had found and sketched a small lizard like creature that she wasn’t sure about so she took loads of pictures and put it back where she found it but it didn’t seem in too much of a hurry so we watched for a while and then it eventually wandered off into a gap between two large rocks. “Well that tells us this place has never been settled by lots of people,” Emma told us, “It wasn’t the least bit scared of human contact.”

I was sitting at a drafting table that had been borrowed from the engineer’s workshop and working on an overlay of a large satellite photo of the island. A member of Aurora’s radar tracking team had drawn the outline of the island, the lake and hill and I had been asked to fill in the details of the lagoon and the top end of the inlet that had been explored. Somebody was working on the marine and land contour lines and marking up the building and proposed building that was taking part on the south side but nobody else could be spared from Aurora’s crew to do what I was doing. It was tiring work because I had to keep referencing latitudes and longitudes from the naval charts supplied to me and checking the various notations and bearings that Andy had given me. I was stuck, I had marked the names of the bays and coves that I had already named but the island’s main feature, the hill I had not yet named. I ought to let Will do that, so far he hadn’t named anything and left it to me and it was this thinking that gave me my inspiration; I wrote in ‘Devonshire Hill’ and sat back to admire my genius and then a second inspiration hit me and I leaned over the map and carefully wrote the name of the meadow and made a little ink drawing beside the name, and there was a light tap on the door and Emma walked in. “You coming up to the saloon, we’re going to have a sing-song.”
“It’ll only take me ten minutes to get ready, I’ve done all I can this evening on the map.”
She came over to look, “You’re very neat,” she bent closer to look at where I had named the meadow,
“I thought you might have named that after Liz, she was the first to see it.”
“I was going to, but in truth the three of you discovered it together so I’ve named it after all three.”
She glared at me, “And the bloody drawing as well.”
“It fits the name and if you look closely, the tip of the handle on the witches broom stick points at the top of the path where you sat down and waited for Gwyneth and I.”
“You wait till I tell the other two you’ve called it Witches Meadow!”
I was grinning broadly, “Well it’s better than Cowpat Cliff.”
“You’d better get your clothes off, Will’s on his way here and I’ll see you in the saloon,” and she left but not before calling out to Will, “Charlotte’s expecting you, she’s turned her back to the door so you can pinch her bum.”
Will came straight in with a grin on his face, “What’s that all about?”
I pointed at the map, Check that out whilst I get changed.”
I rushed into the bedroom, did a quick job of making my bed and started pulling my dresses out and looking at them, putting them back and then pulling them out again and finally settled on the burgundy dress, I knew Will liked me in that but it was not the sort of skirt that would flare out so I made up for it by wearing black fully fashioned stockings. I did my make-up, brushed my hair out of its pony-tail put on a necklace, bracelet, watch and a butterfly clasp in my hair, spritzed grabbed my shoulder bag and was just going to the door and had second thoughts and went to the top of my freshly made bed and pulled the counterpane down and fluffed the pillows and then went out.
“It’s good, accurate and neatly drawn and I can see why Emma had her nose in the air.” He pulled a sheet of paper out of a pocket and handed it to me, “These are the notes and measurements from the survey Andy and I did, I was going to add them but I can’t match your neatness so I thought I’d better leave it for you.”
“Okay, I’ll do it in the morning.”
“I like Devonshire Hill, we must go up there soon and have a celebration picnic.”
“Just the two of us?”
“Yes, we haven’t had a lot of time together this past few days, I seem to spend more time missing you than in your company.”
“Me too. How about the day after tomorrow, I’ll borrow the galley from Victor and prepare the food.”
“Will you have the time?”
“I’ll make time, it’s special. Come on if we delay any longer Emma, Faye and Liz will be going around suggesting we’re up to all sorts of things.”
He chuckled, “You’ve made good friends there.”
“And Gwyneth as well, she’s sort of taken me under her wing. She has a lot of kindness in her.”
“You don’t lack it yourself. By the way, I like the dress and the way you’ve done your hair, you look like a Thirties film star, seductive, exciting.” He took my arm under his and we went to join the others.
I behaved myself with the exception that this time when I danced the tango with David, somebody gave me a silk imitation rose and I danced with it between my teeth, silly I know but I think it made the others smile, in fact Gwyneth told me so, “They won’t take their eyes of you and I heard one of the officers say he wondered what you were going to do next, you were full of fun and surprises.”
“It’s the way I feel most of the time, Gwyneth. I have moods when I feel a bit depressed and wonder what tricks my body and brain are going to play on me next and when I shake it off, I want to have as much fun as possible, try to make up for all the years I spent being happy but always knowing that there was something not right about me and my life and not being able to truly be myself,” I paused for a while looking out of the windows towards the island and thinking of Auntie Mo and how she had held out her hand to me and drawn me in and wrapped me in a warm and secure embrace of love and understanding. “And the rest of the time I think I’m normal, well normal when compared with my other periods. Do you think there’s a chance that my love for Will is reliant on his willingness to accept me and my moments of self-pity or perhaps it’s because I have taken so long to develop physically the way I should have done from birth, it’s something of a schoolgirl crush? Have I fallen in love with the first handsome man I saw when I entered puberty?”
“Some of it, yes, we all want to be loved and offered security, women perhaps more than men because we need a safe pair of hands, a guardian and provider when we are pregnant or have babies to care for. That’s nature but there is also the need to have somebody you can share life with, a shoulder to cry on, a partner to laugh with somebody with whom you can share a beautiful sunset, a night sky, a baby’s first word and somebody with whom you can fuse and become one and together share those wonderful moments of passion we humans can have. But with you and Will I have watched you both and your feelings for each other visibly grow stronger each day. You have none of the awkwardness that couples often experience as they discover each other and when you are together, a stranger would believe you had been so for years rather than weeks. God made up for his earlier mistakes with you two and allowed two people to find each other in days when most of us take years trying to find just the right person.” She smiled at me, squeezed my hand and continued, “That’s why I have picked a spot to build my house that is fifteen or twenty minutes’ walk away from you rather than live next door, because the noise your numerous children will make will disturb me.”
“Twenty of them.”
“You’ll probably have two on top of each other, then delay for eighteen months before deciding on number three and there is a distinct possibility there may be a number four.”
“Probably, but two boys and two girls does seem like a nicely rounded family and Faye is coming here to live and wants to be the village schoolmarm, so I have to do my bit to find the children for her to teach.” I changed the subject, “Raymond radio telephoned me soon after we got back from our trip, David has already spoken to him and we had a long conversation about things, you know, physical relation things.”
“Did he help?”
“Yes, told me what to expect, how to make it easier and promised I would enjoy myself.”
“Don’t sink the ship,” she answered. “Come on, let’s join the others, they’ll be wondering what we’re planning and I think Emma wants to speak to you, she keeps looking this way and there’s a touch of impatience in her expression.”
PO Phillips had my second spritzer ready for me and suitably equipped I went first to Will who seemed happy enough exchanging views on what were the true meanings behind the words exchanged between the bishop and the actress; “Sorry I went off like that but I needed to chat to Gwyneth and now Emma wants a moment to tell me something, do you feel neglected?”
“Yes very, we needed your input, the female point of view.”
I was puzzled, “On what?”
“On why the actress wanted the bishop to help her take her clothes off.”
“That’s easy, she had never been baptised and wanted the bishop to bring her to a state of grace without her getting her best frock wet. I won’t be long,” and I left them, Will was happy enough.
“Emma, you wanted to have a chat?”
“How did you know?”
“Gwyneth told me.”
“But Gwyneth didn’t know, I haven’t told her.”
“She’s a doctor’s wife, of course she knew.”
“Yes of course, I forgot that. It’s not just me, it’s Liz as well but she’s gone off to the loo.”
“Let’s capture a table and go to the other end of the bridge, I gather it’s private?”
“A bit.”
We carried the table up before Phillips had a chance to detail half a dozen matelots to do it for us and Liz joined us with a bottle of white wine. “Sorry to interrupt the evening but we wanted to discuss something with you,” Emma began, “Liz and I have been asked if we would be willing to spend some time here on the island. It seems that New Zealand asked Westminster if we could be borrowed from the Antarctic expedition doing research on the island. They picked us because we are already here and Liz’s fiancé is still in the Antarctic and my boyfriend lives and works in Wellington whereas everybody else with the necessary qualifications have family back in the UK. We’ve both agreed and so have our men but we want to set up home here like Gwyneth and wanted to know how you felt about it.”
“Have you spoken to Faye?”
“No, is she asking to do something similar?”
“Yes, she told me this afternoon, she wants to settle here permanently and her fiancé has agreed. She said that if she runs out of research support she’ll act as a consultant or take up teaching. At the moment, we don’t have a lollipop lady for the school and we’re going to need a seamstress and a laundry girl so yes, if you want to live here, it’s fine, I’d like to have you here, we all seem to be hitting it off and life is better when you have lots of friends around you. Have you given any thought to what you will do if your contract with the Antarctic ends?”
“With our qualifications, and Emma’s bloke being a micro-biologist, we could set ourselves up as an independent research lab, the drug companies and agricultural organisations would use us so we’d have jobs to fall back on. Being here with the necessary equipment and local knowledge makes it easy for us to compete for contracts because we can do it cheaper than the big boys,” Liz explained, “And this is a lovely place.”
“There’s no NHS hospitals and a lot of other things we are used to having at our finger tips?” I pointed out. “Peace, quiet, clean air and beautiful scenery are all very well until you develop a serious illness or have a bad accident.”
“The world is shrinking,” said Emma. We know they are considering a small airstrip on the island and Will and Andy were talking about the inlet earlier and Andy said it was sheltered and large enough for commercial sea planes to use. If something bad happened and we had to get to a hospital quickly, we could be in any one of half a dozen places where there are fully equipped hospitals. Wellington is less than five hours away by aircraft, the facilities in the Antarctic, Australia and the America’s can be reached in six or seven.”
“People have waited for ambulances and queued in outpatient departments in hospitals for urgent treatment for almost as long and that’s without taking into consideration what the various countries that are building facilities here are going to provide. I don’t believe they’re thinking of the island as a short term project, they seem to be willing to spend money here and both Emma and I have private medical insurance. The premiums would increase of course but look at the savings we would make on locally produced food and we’ll have our own electricity soon with solar panels and possibly even water driven turbines,” added Liz.
“Well as long as you’ve talked it over with your other halves and thought it out I’m all for it and I know Will agrees so my answer is the same as the one I gave Faye, pick a spot and arrange to build your house. You both know the places that need to be preserved and protected for research and environmental purposes and the places that are practical and if there’s doubt we can always have a meeting between ourselves and the people from the laboratories to help us in our choices.”

20

I told Will about the conversation as we walked along the deck enjoying the moon and stars and asked, “You don’t mind them coming here to live do you, don’t think I’m surrounding myself with friends to too great an extent?”
“Of course not. “They have become my friends as well and if we can populate the island with people we like and have a skill that contributes to the community, then that is what we should strive for.”
“We’ll have to stop and consider where any future buildings are placed though, houses, shops a community hall, pub, all the places that go to make a community strong and as self-sufficient as possible.”
You know we are going to have to think of ways of raising money to pay for the things we are going to need.”
I sighed, “I’ve thought about that quite a bit and we have to make sure that all the houses fit in with the island. We don’t want four storied concrete blocks appearing all over the place but I suppose the money is important, our salvage reward and anything else we can raise from the wreck and cargo isn’t going to go far. We need to raise taxes like every other civilisation, even if we only do it at parish council level in the beginning, we’ll still need to do it.”
“One way is charging rent. Instead of giving away the land or selling it we could grant lifetime leases, the rent will be a good income and if we start producing our own power, that too will be a way of raising money and by doing it that way we’ll cut down on the bureaucracy. If we’re going to build a paradise here, Charlotte we are going to have to work hard but doing it correctly will produce rewards that will make the labour worth the effort.”
“Harry Fellows mentioned rent and leases to me. At the moment all the development on the south side is being done on our verbal agreement to some extent and the countries involved will want that formalised before long. I suppose we’ll have to negotiate a rent for them as well but I don’t think I can charge New Zealand very much because they have supplied most of the labour and some of the materials for our own house and the cave and helped us to claim the island.”
“It was to their advantage as well. The cost of operating in the South Pacific and Antarctic without the use of the island will be far higher.”
“Yes I know but just the same, I don’t want them to think I’m taking advantage, I do owe them my life you know, not just my physical life either, they’ve helped with my intersex problem.”
“We’ll see what everybody has to say when we have our meeting with them in Wellington, I think they’ll be fair with us. I’m glad you’re thinking of the practical side to living here, I’m going to marry an intelligent, beautiful and practical woman, the perfect partner.”
“I’m always practical.”
“I’ve noticed.”
I laughed, “You know what I mean.”
He stopped and turned me to face him and kissed me and held the kiss pulling me in closely and I began to feel excited and more than a little flustered. When we parted he said, “I know it’s a wicked thing because people died but Charlie, the wreck of the Pacific Wanderer was probably the most important event of my life, the best thing that has happened to me, I met and fell in love with you.”
“Yes,” I whispered, “For me too.” We had reached the bow and we stood silently looking out beyond the reef at the sea and the rippled reflection of the moon ran from the horizon, across the reef and straight to us. I looked up at Will’s face and saw the moon in his eyes, “We’ve been blessed by the Moon Goddess,” I said quietly.
He looked down at me, his hand caressing my arm below the sleeve, “You’re not being practical, you didn’t bring a jacket or cardigan and you feel chilled.”
“Love is keeping me warm.”
He slipped his jacket off and placed it around my shoulders, “Come on, it’s time to get inside before you get really cold and become ill.”
We walked back to the superstructure and listened to the murmur of talk coming from the viewing bridge and once we were inside the lift I realised just how chilly I had felt outside and shivered. Do you think I’ll be okay if I have a small brandy, I’ve had a couple of spritzers already?”
He looked at me, his lips pursed, a frown of disapproval on his face, “Two spritzers in nearly two hours, don’t you think you may be overdoing it?”
“You’re right, I’ll forget the brandy and you can dance a waltz with me and hug me tight, that’ll make me warm.”
We had our waltz and I did get warm but Emma yawned and that set me off and I grinned at her, “Fresh air is good for us but why do we feel tired after breathing it.”
“Too much of anything can be bad for you, I’m going to bed and turning my cabin thermostat up to thirty.”
“Me too, Will, walk me back to my cabin in case I fall down and go to sleep in the passageway.”
When we got to my cabin I opened the door and turned for my kiss and when he started to release my hand I held on, “Come inside, Will.”
“I’m okay, I don’t need a nightcap and you’re tired.”
I pulled firmly and stepped back forcing him to enter the cabin and I closed the door and placed my arms over his shoulders and locked my hands behind his neck and stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, “I’m not tired, I just said I was. I kept my hands locked behind his neck but pushed my head back so I could see all of his face, “Will, make love to me, take me to the bedroom, undress me and make love to me.”
I waited watching the changing expressions on his face until he spoke; “Charlie are you ready, it’s an important part of our relationship but are you ready to take such a large step now because I can wait, I can wait for weeks, months even years if I have to?”
“Will, stop talking, I want to marry a man of action.”
“I want to, I want to make love to you, I want to so much it hurts. I spend hours every day thinking of you and dreaming of our making love, dreaming of going to sleep at night cuddling you, dreaming of waking up and seeing you at your worst, grumpy and ignoring me because the most important thing in your life is a cup of sweet, milky coffee…”
“That’s true but I’m not asking you to make love to me for ‘Your’ sake, I’m asking because ‘I’ want you to make love to me, ‘You and I’ want you to make love to me, you don’t come into the equation it’s something ‘I’ and ‘We’ want. Lift me up, carry me into the bedroom, undress me and make ‘Me’ and ‘Us’ happy, complete and joined and when you’ve done that, make love to me again so ‘You’ become complete and we can live happily ever after.”
He smiled, “That’s a lot of people in one bed,” and he stooped, placed an arm around my shoulder, the other under my thighs and lifted me and carried me into the bedroom and gently placed me down beside the bed. One hand went to the back of my head and with light pressure he pulled my face close to his and kissed me and at the same time with his free hand he flipped the duvet back and exposed the pink satin sheet and pillow cases. That was the first thing I learned about love making with my man, he could multifunction, the second thing I learned was his peripheral vision was very good because whilst he was still kissing me he said, “Satin sheets, where did you get them.”
“The ship’s cargo,” I managed to say as we broke the kiss and I felt his fingers touch the fastener at the top of my dress and the zip slowly descended to the top of my buttocks. I was about to ask him if he liked the colour of my lingerie but he kissed me again and both hands came to my shoulders and he eased the top of the dress over them and down my arms freeing my arms and my dress dropped to the floor.
He broke the kiss again and stepped back twice still holding my hands our arms outstretched as if he was afraid to break the bridge between us and then he caressed me with his eyes, from my hair down my forehead past my eyes to my mouth and then down past my chin and neck and rested at the top of my bra where a slight cleavage rose and subsided with my breathing. Then they continued to my waist, lingered again at the top of my panties and then very slowly down the front where they stopped again before beginning to follow a suspender to the top of a stocking. “Will, you’re giving me goose pimples.”
He smiled but his eyes took their time returning to mine. “Pretty goose pimples, how did you ever think you could pass as a man,” and without warning he scooped me up and laid me on the bed and my hands flew to cover the front of my panties. There was a soft chuckle, “I’ve seen it before,” and he eased my hands away and I could only stare at his face and then shuddered as his finger traced the line of my small bulge, “I’ve seen it before and it’s not in proportion with the rest of you. A woman as slight, no as delicate as you needs a slightly smaller clitoris.”
“Clitoris?”
He nodded, “It’s the only thing about you that is not perfectly proportioned, I’ll tell Duncan to fix it if you wish.”
I held my arms open, “Oh, Will come to me, kiss me again, keep kissing me and you can tell Duncan to fix it just the way you want it.” And he did kiss me and my panties went over the side of the bed closely followed by my bra, “Ask him to fix them as well,” I whispered between kisses and then he touched a nipple with his finger, the slightest of touches and then tiny caresses like the touch of a butterfly and I felt them hardening and tingles rippled down my body until they centred on the lower part of my abdomen where they spread in every direction; down to my thighs, around to my buttocks and up my back, from my tiny breasts to my shoulders and down my arms until my eyes couldn’t focus past his as the tingles touched my lips and I opened them slightly and like a timid mouse his tongue touched them and slowly entered my mouth and his kiss pressed harder and I was barely conscious of my hand as it moved and eased between us and I found his penis. Hard and hot yet with the feel of velvet and oh so large and for a brief moment I became scared of what was coming but the tingles which now seemed to cover my whole body became urgent and I felt more alive than I have ever done and my legs moved and my thighs opened and I guided his penis between them.
“Oh my Charlotte, my lovely, lovely, Charlotte, so exciting, so alive so very wonderful, my Charlotte,” and his hands moved under my thighs and lifted them slowly and he guided them until I was able to lock my heels around his waist and the heat and electric shocks in my body became more intense and I cried out, “Will, oh Will, do it now, I’m going to explode or catch fire, do it now!”
He entered me, it was difficult and he had to push but as it forced its way into me the pain started and kept increasing but I bit my lip, I had expected this, taught my brain to override it but when the wide section of his glands was fully inside me I thought I was going to be torn in half and I couldn’t stop myself from crying out and he stopped immediately and started to withdraw. “No, Will! No, no, no, go on. Don’t stop, ignore me, go on until all of you is inside me!”
He hesitated for a moment and then I felt him start to push again and once more I couldn’t stop the cry and I was gasping for air so he stopped again and I managed to whisper, “I’m okay, go on.” I shut my eyes, squeezed them to try and make them hurt and distract me but it didn’t work and I reached a point where I couldn’t let him go further and was going to stop him when, as suddenly as the pain had started, it went away and I felt him, all of him inside me and my body went quiet for a moment, no pain, no heat, no electric shocks and then he pulled back and pushed forward again and the electric shocks hit me and I felt my body spasm and I tightened my grip on him and tried to make my ankles push him deeper into me. He did it again and I exploded. My body became a million fiery lights and they flew from me, through the walls of the cabin, out of the ship, deep into the sea and high into the heavens and I went with them into a world of colours, flashing and bursting into a billion tiny points of their own and I flew and flew straight into another explosion.
Eons passed and then slowly the brilliant lights and colours faded and I opened my eyes. Will had his back arched and he was staring up at the ceiling, his mouth wide open and gasping for more air, “God, Charlotte, what happened!”
“I was high in the sky, deep beneath the sea and a comet hit me and exploded. We happened.”
He nodded and slowly sank down and lay on me and I slid my hands and feet down to his buttocks and increased the pressure, I didn’t want him to slip out of me. “If that is like being born,” he said, “Then I want to be born every day and if it’s dying, then I’ll die every day.”
“I was a star going into a nova and a comet smashed into me,” I answered, “And I exploded into billions of burning hot atoms, it was so, so, I don’t know so sensational, awesome, incredible. I should be exhausted but I feel so alive.”
“I was going to stop, I thought you were having a terrible seizure, I was going to stop and then it hit me and I couldn’t stop, didn’t want to, didn’t care what happened, I just wanted it to carry on.”
I felt him soften and he slipped out of me before I could stop him, “Oh.” I wriggled about and managed to cross my thighs.
“What are you doing?”
“I have millions of your little sperms inside me, I want them to stay there and be absorbed into my body so that you will always be with me.”
He laughed quietly, Let me know when you want more.”
“Now,” I said, “Give me some more now!”
“I can’t not yet, I need time to make more.”
“Well get on with it, I want more and you’re not leaving this bed until you give them to me.”
“I might need to stay for a long time.”
“I don’t care.”
“A very long time, probably until morning.”
“I still don’t care, you have to give me some more.”
“You’re an addict already.”
I propped myself up on an elbow and looked down at him, “I am and so are you. Get on with making more, do you want me to get some oysters to help?”
“At breakfast time but I don’t think I’ll need them, you’re all the oyster a man could ever need.”
So I snuggled up to him and he placed an arm under me and we went to sleep.”

I awoke in the same position, snuggled up against Will and I had to lift my arm from his chest slowly and ease out of bed without wakening him. He moved, mumbled something, sighed and went back to his dream so I tiptoed to the bathroom and had a shower and then picked up my clothes from the floor where Will had hung them and quietly opened the door of my wardrobe and took a white blouse and the pastel blue skirt out, hung my red dress in its place and dressed.
He was still asleep so I went into the sitting room, switched on the percolator and returned to the bedroom and brushed my hair, did my make-up and went to have my coffee and still he hadn’t stirred. I decided to go and see if Victor was about and there was a chance of breakfast so quietly left the cabin and managed two paces before Gwyneth came out of her cabin. “You look very fresh and spring like.”
“I feel it, I’m going to have breakfast and see if Victor has any oysters for Will, I can’t get him to wake up.”
“Oh, let me try,” and before I could stop her she tapped on his cabin door, opened it and peered in, “He’s not in here. Did you just tap on the door without looking in.”
“I nodded, he’s in my room fast asleep. I was going to get some oysters and bacon for him.”
“Oysters? Odd thing to have for breakfast.”
“I think he needs them, he’s a little weak that’s why he won’t wake up.”
“Well I don’t think oysters are going to do any good, shouldn’t you get Mark or David if he’s unwell?”
“I think he’s okay and half a dozen oysters should do the trick.”
She shook her head, “I think I’d better have a look at him or get David here…” and then the penny dropped, “Oh, he’s in your bed.”
I nodded, “But I think he’s run out of whatever there is in oysters that is good for men.”
“Have you tried blowing in his ear, that always works with David. I take it you’re okay?”
“Terrific. I’m having a full English how about you?”
She laughed, “You’re definitely okay, yes I’ll join you we can leave the men to their rest.”
“You too?”
She blushed, “Yes. Come on, breakfast first and you can tell me how it went,” and she hurried out onto the promenade deck before she started giggling too loudly and wake up the sleeping giants.
“Victor, good morning and do you have any oysters?”
“Oysters, I’m afraid not Miss Broughton, they don’t freeze well I’m afraid.”
“Remind me and I’ll organize a diving party, meanwhile the saloon is almost empty, is there any chance of two full English breakfasts?”
“I’ll send Phillips over directly. Your usual table?”
“Yes please.”
“You are bright and perky, it seems that whatever happened that sent Will into a coma has had the opposite effect on you,” Gwyneth remarked as we sat.
“It was nearly a total disaster, it hurt so much I was on the point of telling him to stop when the pain vanished and I went out into the universe and travelled faster than light and it was incredible. I wanted to do it again when I returned to Earth but Will accused me of being a junky but promised to try this morning but as you can see, he’s had it, I’ve worn him out, I hope he recovers, it was so wonderful.”
She was smiling, “He’ll recover don’t worry about that. No problems this morning, no bleeding or pain?”
“No, none at all, well none that I noticed when I had a shower. The only problem I had was having to pick my clothes up off the floor and hang the dress in my wardrobe. Will is obviously an untidy man.”
“I have the same problem with David. They get excited and impatient at the beginning and think nothing of throwing a Balenciaga in a corner and then moan when you tell them you need new clothes because they’ve worn your old ones out.”
“I’m going to stockpile until I marry him so I have a reserve supply.”
“That’s not such a good idea, it will mean you have to pay for them and he’ll think that’s the way it will continue after you marry. You have to appeal to his macho side, throw him into doubt about his ability to be a caring provider.”
“How do I do that?”
“When you are going somewhere special, hold a dress you’ve worn before in front of yourself and look sad. When he asks why you seem unhappy, tell him you feel as if you’re going to let him down by wearing old clothes when you know so many people will see it and think the worst of him. He’ll have you in Bond Street and Harrods before you can button up your out of fashion coat.”
“Does it work with jewellery?”
“Yes, just say diamonds would be lovely but unaffordable so you’ll look for a reasonable paste alternative.”
I laughed, “I’ll try it but I don’t think it will work. Will knows I have money even without the Pacific Wanderer and the island so he’ll expect me to pay for things like that myself.”
“You underestimate male pride. It wouldn’t matter if you owned the Crown Jewels, he will still want to pay.”
“At the moment I don’t think he could pay for a glass of wine, he’s just arrived with David.”
Gwyneth looked across to the entrance, “We’ll have to part exchange them for newer models.”
I shook my head, “No, I can’t, he’s a very good driver, he drove me around the Universe last night and didn’t get lost once, not even when we were hit by a comet. I love him too much.”
“Do you think we ought to go and help them, they do look a touch frail?”
“Leave them, Gwyneth, our breakfasts are arriving I’ll ask Phillips to send for Mark or a stretcher crew if they collapse.”

After breakfast Gwyneth and David, dressed in their safari jackets and boots, went off to look at the spot that Gwyneth had picked for their house. Victor had packed a Thermos and sandwiches into a small knapsack and Will had shown David how to operate a walkie-talkie and I waved goodbye as they made their way up the beach. “I have to go over to Aurora and then up to the cave to finish off and when that’s done everything is ready to move in,” he told me as they disappeared behind the trees.
“That was quick, I think I’ll go up to the house and make a list of the things we’re going to need and then go through the cargo manifests and see what we already have on board, it’s a nuisance really, it spoils my other plans.”
“Well leave the house for tomorrow what was it you wanted to do?”
“Help you to keep your promises and go to bed and cuddle up but I suppose as there were no oysters I’ll have to leave that for a while.”
He grinned a little wolfishly I thought, “Not for long, I’ll be okay by bedtime tonight and I’ll send one of the seamen down to the waterfall and see if there are any fresh water mussels there.”
“They don’t work like oysters. I’ll stick to my plans but dream about you all day. Will I get in the way if I go up to the cave when I finish at the house?”
“No, there’s only three or four of us working there commissioning the generator and checking everything works.”
“I’ll see you later.” I cuddled up for a moment and we had a nice kiss and then I went to our cabin to find my floppy hat.

“Geoff Roman.” The stranger approached me as I walked up the lawn towards the new house, his hand outstretched. I shook it hesitatingly, I had never met or even seen him before, Charlotte Broughton,” I offered in exchange.
“Yes, I recognised you from your visit to Orca. I’m from Penguin on my way back home for three months leave and I’ve occupied my time here helping with the architecture on your house.”
“It looks beautiful, much better than I thought but so much larger.”
“It is larger, we had the space and materials so I thought it a good idea to use them.”
“I like space, I am very territorial and if the house was a kilometre square, I’d still think of ways of expanding in the future.”
He chuckled, “Most women are like that and I suspect you’d expand the kitchen first.”
“Dead right and if I have my way, extra bedrooms for my twenty children.”
“You’re calling it a day at twenty then?”
“Possibly not, my fiancé Will thinks it’s the wrong number, we should plan on twenty two then we would have two soccer, cricket or rugby league teams.”
“Make if thirty and have two rugby union teams.”
“I hadn’t thought of that, I’ll mention it to Will.” I stopped to look at the house again, “It really is lovely, you’ve done a beautiful job but I think the solar panels are on the wrong side, this is north facing.”
“They aren’t solar panels, they are for hot water and they work by temperature differences, not light. There’s enough to supply all your hot water needs day or night.”
“At night as well!”
“Yup, day or night summer or winter unless the temperature drops below minus sixteen Celsius, then you need to use the electricity supply but this far from the Pole that will need freak weather conditions. There’s a leaflet on the systems, you’ll find it in the kitchen.
“It’s a very modern house despite its old log cabin design.” He opened the main door and we went inside and I stopped and gawked, “Good Heavens, it’s totally different.” All the walls were smooth where I had been expecting the other side of the logs. The only wall that was left as unplastered bricks and logs was the centre partition where the fire place was and it was effective.
He watched my face as I turned and looked around what was to be my sitting room, I could have put three, three seater settees in the room without it looking crowded. “I was going to speak to you about the plastered walls but I was never able to find you and when I spoke to Will he said to go ahead, you’d like it. Behind the plaster is insulation and extra supports for the ceilings and roof, it makes the house virtually monsoon, typhoon, hurricane and nuclear explosion proof.”
“Safe you mean,” I answered with a smile. “Yes I do like it, not so much dusting and a quick wipe with a soapy cloth and everything looks new again.”
“I’m afraid it will be another month before all the work is completed, perhaps six weeks but if you want to move in immediately, I can get enough power and lighting up and running in a week. There’s a bit of work outside that needs doing as well but the disturbance can be kept to a minimum and you should be able to live around it.”
“No don’t do that, we’ll move in, in about two months, we are comfortable on the ship and we have to go to New Zealand for at least three weeks, possibly longer and I’m sure it would be easier for you to not have us getting in the way.”
“Good, if Penguin leaves before the job is finished I’ll brief somebody to take over. But I will need to sit down with you and Will to discuss how you want the final commissioning to be completed, where you want lights, what sort of kitchen, things like that, okay.”
“Fine, tell Will if I’m not around or if you want, leave a message with Andy Bryant the acting captain on Pacific Wanderer and make sure you let us have your bill or we’ll forget to pay you.”
“I’m being paid by the Antarctic contractors until I land in New Zealand so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“No, Geoff, no, that’s not right, it’s our first home and we should pay, I know the authorities are supplying most of the materials so I think I should pay your fee. I want to pay for it, it’s my home and I wouldn’t feel right.”
He smiled, “We’ll talk about it when we sit down to discuss where you want your light switches.”
“As long as we do and if you’re interested I think I could get you the commission for building at least three more houses, probably a lot more. We are going to need an architect, other people will be coming here to live and I want all the buildings to blend in with the island and I really love the way you’ve done this.”
“I have my base in New Zealand, I was in the Antarctic because I wanted to put into practice what I had learned about building for extremely hostile conditions. I’ve finished the job, hence my not kicking up a fuss about being delayed here so yes, I would be very interested in more work on the island.”
“Good, when we get things sorted out, which should be soon I’ll ask you to look at my ideas and perhaps have a chat with one or two of the people who are planning to settle. There’s commercial properties as well as residential. Have you been approached about the work that is being done on the south side of the island?”
“It’s been mentioned but so far I haven’t been approached formally.”
“You have a word with the people over there and on Orca and I’ll do what I can when I go to New Zealand.” I started to leave and thought of something, “You might have to live on Pacific Wanderer or a portacabin whilst you’re here, I haven’t done anything about building a hotel yet.” I grinned and added “And there’s always the cave,” I gave a wave and started off towards the cave.

I kept to the higher ground where a path had been cut so that the workmen could move easily between our house and the cave. I was a little over half way when I came to an animal track and on a whim, turned off and followed it up the hill and soon it opened into a little glade. It was quiet, the trees and undergrowth insulated it from what little noise was coming from below and at the top end there was a fallen tree and I wandered up to sit down, the grass beside the trunk looked inviting so rather than sit on the tree as I intended I smoothed my skirt and sat on the grass with by back resting against the trunk and my head tilted up, eyes closed feeling rather than seeing the dappled rays of sunshine chase each other back and forth across my face as the leaves moved. There was tons of work to do but I had a need to think for a while and my last action came into my mind. Rather than plonk my backside on the trunk, I had sank rather gracefully to the grass and my legs were tucked sideways, the skirt almost covering them. A perfectly normal way for a girl to sit, comfortable, neat and discreet without being prudish. A month ago if I had elected to sit on the grass I would have sank down, leaned against the trunk and my legs would have been spread in front of me, probably in a wide V or bent with my arms resting on my knees, comfortable but not ladylike in a free swinging skirt and my action had been natural not carefully thought out as it had been on that first day I had worn a skirt and come to the beach with Will. There was nothing special about it until I considered the time span between the two actions, just a few weeks. I had come up here to think about my life after my parents deaths and an unconscious action had started my train of thought. Only weeks ago I was a mid-twenties male, grieving and feeling lost; now I was a mid-twenties female, in love with a beautiful man, engaged, living on what is virtually a desert island and last night I had had a sensational experience when I made love. The love making had been nothing like it had been for me as a male, that had been pleasant but nothing I would have gone to any great length to experience again but equally not something I would have run away from, just a nice thing to do sometimes. Yet last night it had been something totally different, an experience I was going to repeat at the earliest possible moment, probably tonight. Up until yesterday, looking at Will made my heart flutter, but now it thumped and the excitement I felt when he took me in his arms must show in my face.
Is it possible or am I having a prolonged erotic dream? I am able to understand some of what has happened to me, accept the possibility of an intersexed person rapidly adjusting to the sudden physical changes and I can understand my accepting the rapid mental changes but both to happen and be accepted in so short a time, surely this was unusual. I should be terrified at what is happening to me, lost, totally confused but I wasn’t, I was happy and as for self-confidence, well here I was, organising a new life in a place on the opposite side of the world to where I had once considered home and seemingly doing it well. I know I was probably going to make errors but even that didn’t dampen my enthusiasm, I cheerfully dived into making decisions, planning and looking for ways to make it work quicker and more efficiently, I was impatient for my new life not scared and if I had any misgivings at all they were centred on the practical side, would I be able to have SRS soon and would I make a quick recovery, but even here I wasn’t too concerned, if there was a reason I couldn’t complete my transition, then I would simply have to continue my life as I was at the moment, I know Will might be a little disappointed but not enough it seems for him to change his love for me.
I don’t believe in magic, well I do but not seriously, but if magic exists then it’s on this island. There is something in the air that makes me want to be the person I am, not the person I thought I was and makes me want it so much that my brain has decided it had better get its act together and sort things out rapidly or I might start causing it problems.
I laid my head back against the tree and closed my eyes again, squeezed them shut. When I opened them there was going to be a fawn grazing on the far side of the glade and if I spoke to it, it wouldn’t run away and I would know that this was a dream, I was dreaming I was in fairyland. But if there was no fawn and this was no dream, where would I be when I opened my eyes, back in Berkshire? Still on board Pacific Wanderer on the reef with no Will to fall in love with, no fairy prince of my own?
I suddenly found I was frightened to open my eyes and kept them closed. How would I cope with that? I lay there for five minutes becoming more frightened as I thought about it but before it got out of hand I’d make myself count to three and then open them. I hesitated at two and then pushed myself, said three out loud and my eyes snapped open and I sat up. A deer ran into the undergrowth startled by the sudden movement and sound of my voice and I cheered, it wasn’t a fawn but it was close enough and Prince Charming was waiting for me at the cave and I picked up my shoulder bag, dusted down the back of my skirt and skipped back down the track singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’

In Chapters 21 and 22, preparations are made to take Pacific Wanderer to New Zealand but the journey will be far from smooth.

Footprints in the Sea Vol 2 – (Odysseus and Penelopeia) should be published on Amazon Kindle on the 13 or 14th of December 2016.

[email protected]

Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 21 and 22

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read the previous chapters, please do so..

Charlotte must leave her island and return to New Zealand with Pacific Wanderer.

21

“I was coming to find you,” Will greeted me as I approached the cave entrance.
“You wouldn’t have found me, I wandered off the beaten track a little way.”
“You do have a habit of disappearing. Where did you go this time?”
“The Land of Make-Believe.”
“Was it nice?”
“Beautiful, you make a wish and it comes true and there are fawns living there.”
He looked a little puzzled, “What was it you wished for?”
“I mustn’t tell you or we’ll be cursed by the Wicked Witch of the North and apart from that, you were a major part of my wish. Do you like venison.”
“Not very much, why?”
I didn’t answer I just threw my arms around him and stood on tip-toe and kissed him. “It’s okay if I make an order forbidding the killing of deer then?”
“It’s your island, you can make any orders you like. I’ll tell the people who should know about things like that; there is to be no killing of deer, will that suit.”
“Yes. Tell them that killing deer will make you and I die as well and also tell them that the deer on Charlotte Island are unique and as such, on the protected list.”
He was still puzzled but he nodded anyway. I’d tell him what happened to me one day but for now I was just happy knowing that I was me at last, it was real and I was going to stay like me for ever.
“I have some news. The captain of Aurora came ashore, he wanted to speak to us but when I told him you were over at the house he said he was in a bit of a rush to get round to speak to Orca and Penguin. Penguin is leaving for New Zealand the day after tomorrow to exchange some of the crew and scientific staff who are due for leave, refuel and give everybody two or three days ashore and will then return in a couple of weeks with a New Zealand Navy inshore patrol vessel and a couple of days after that, Aurora is leaving and the New Zealand authorities want them to escort Pacific Wanderer back for repairs, she’ll be in Auckland for about six weeks.”
“Oh, that was sudden.”
“The navy shipyard has had to cancel a refit on another ship and has a window available for Pacific Wanderer and wants the job done as soon as possible, I’ll explain the whys’ and wherefores later but they’ve asked if we can take extra passengers from Orca at the same time. I said yes because it will be a quid-pro-quo to set against the cost of the repairs. The reason they want us to carry the passengers is so that they can leave Orca here until we get back, and as Pacific Wanderer will need to keep some of the crew from Aurora to handle the ship and cater for the passengers it will mean Aurora will be sailing shorthanded and can’t cope with passengers as well.”
I was beginning to go cross-eyed with the details, “Tell me again this evening but it sounds okay. Why are they leaving Orca?”
“There’s some very valuable equipment being delivered to the weather station, wireless link and research laboratories and they will need a navy ship to remain and mount guard on the island and Orca is still officially on station for Antarctic duties for another three months.”
“What about here and the house and all the equipment that has been installed in the cave?”
“The Inshore vessel will be anchoring here but if it has to leave and go on patrol, then Orca will send people over.”
“I’ll have to see what Emma and Liz will be doing, I know Faye will be coming because she’s supposed to be on leave and is returning to the States before she comes here to live. I’ll have to ask David and Gwyneth what they are doing as well and we can help look after the passengers.”
“They’re all coming with us, Faye as planned and will fly on to the States from Auckland and Emma and Liz are both doing another tour here and are returning to New Zealand to arrange their own affairs and will probably go back to the UK for a couple of weeks so too are David and Gwyneth, so it fits in nicely.”
“Are you free to take me out to lunch?”
“Definitely, I can recommend Chez Pacific Wanderer unless you fancy alfresco in which case it’s a burger in a bun on the beach.”
“Let’s go back to Wanderer I have to go through the cargo and make a list of everything we want to keep, assuming we are going to be allowed to.”
Will slapped his forehead, “I forgot to tell you. The Aurora is sending a crew over the day after tomorrow to start unloading the cargo, they want Pacific Wanderer’s cargo holds empty when she’s dry-docked.”
“Oh, what about our stuff in the cabins?”
“Leave what you don’t need in the house and take everything else for our stay in New Zealand. You will need twenty empty suitcases.”
“What for?”
“You’re going shopping with the girls aren’t you?”

I started shopping after lunch. Will went off to the cave and I went down to the holds and remembering the monsoon, wreck and how I had got here in the first place, I told PO Victor where I was and not to sink the ship until I had been warned. Being marooned is a fun thing the first time but thereafter it can be a bit of a chore.
The first hold was going to be easiest, here there were boxes of jewellery, roles of silk, home ornaments, watches and small electronic gadgets, all goods that were generally small, valuable or delicate. The easiest way to store them was to crate everything for moving up to the cave. I moved on to the clothing much of which was in cartons and still standing on the original pallets and as I walked down the rows I decided it would be best left as it was until I returned from New Zealand. The problem I had was my lack of knowledge on storing goods or how best to move things around within the confines of a ship’s hold but when I moved onto the third hold the island’s magic worked for me and turning at the sound of footsteps I saw a leading seaman and four ratings marching towards me, “Afternoon, Commander,” said the leading seaman saluting smartly, “Leading Seaman Peterson and this lot,” he waved is hand at the others, “This ‘ere is Stoker whose from Aurora’s engine room so ‘is name fits and the others are general duties bods. We’ve been sent over from Aurora to get the cargo ready for moving up to the cave.”
“You are my saviours,” I replied and meant it, they at least would know what they were doing. “I’ve spent some time down here but don’t really know what we are carrying other than the clothing.” I held out the sheets of cargo manifest, “Everything is listed here and the hold number but there’s no indication on how it’s packed.”
Peterson scanned down the lists and kept nodding which I took to be a good sign and when he finished he nodded a final time, “Piece of cake, most of it will still be on the original pallets so won’t need packing, it will be fork lifted up to the cave and when it’s stored we’ll cover the lot with tarpaulins. Where’s the clobber, we’ll need to put that where its airy and dry?”
“Over there, most of it in cartons except a few racks but they are fixed to pallets and over there,” I pointed to where I had found the diving equipment, there’s diving equipment and I’m afraid I opened a few of the crates and took a few pieces.”
“No problem,” he turned to look at the opposite side, “The guns and ammo are all in number four hold stab’d, did you open any of them?
“Guns! I didn’t know we were carrying guns, Pacific Wanderer wasn’t a gun runner was she?”
He laughed, “No just stuff the islanders needed, most of it for hunting but there’s three general purpose machine guns which I’ve been told to leave cos they are being fitted to the ship.”
“You can throw them over the side for all I care, I don’t like guns.”
“Don’t you worry about ‘em, Mr. Devonshire knows about it,” he studied the manifest again, the valuable stuff is in number one port and opposite is drugs and shop stuff and some beer and spirits, we’ll store them somewhere safe in the cave. That’s about it, when we’ve got everything up at the cave we’re going to mark the crates and cartons wiv coloured stickers so you’ll know what’s in ‘em.”
“Are you moving it on your own!”
“Gawd no, we’re just here to pack anything that’s bin opened and do the stock in the shop. The heavy mob will shift it up to the cave day after tomorrow once your PO cook has separated the stuff he’ll need for the trip to New Zealand.”
“Well if you need anything lifted up onto the deck, I know how to work the boom so call me, until then I think I can make myself more useful by getting out of your way. Have you had your lunch?”
“Yes thank you, Marm.”
“I’ll make sure you get tea then and if you need me, I’ll be in the shop, pursers office or my cabin, the PO cook will know where to find me.”
“Okay Marm, the tea will be appreciated.”
“You’re the girl who went into the sea after the bloke what was drowning, ain’t yer?” asked one of the ratings.
“The girl yer referring to just ‘appens to be a Commander in the RNVR, Arkly and you’ll address ‘er as such.”
“No please, Miss Broughton is fine or if there’s no officers about you can call me Charlotte, I’m only an officer for the time being.”
“As I ‘ears it, yer, half mermaid, that’s what the crew reckons anyway.”
“I’ll rustle up some tea,” I said, my reputation as a heroine, mermaid and Olympic swimmer were going to haunt me for years and it was embarrassing, so I left the hold before my legs turned into a fishes tail.

22

I was standing on the promenade deck, the aft section behind the passenger cabins looking out over the stern at the lengthening wake that led back to the entrance to the lagoon. There was morning mist covering parts of the island but the sea was soft and calm.
Will was still fast asleep in our cabin, dreaming of me I hoped. We had made love last night and though I had known that it would hurt when we started, I now knew that beyond the short period of pain there was ecstasy, the ultimate in human experiences. I had not been disappointed, it had been even better than my first venture a few nights ago. I had travelled a thousand times faster than light, far out into the cosmos, passing through galaxies, even bursting through burning stars but this time I had been conscious of Will’s presence with me, I could feel his kisses, his caresses and could hear his cries of joy, his calling my name. When we returned to earth my entire body was aware of his closeness, the places where our bodies touched and caressed each other as we moved and in those quiet moments I asked him what he would do or think of me if we discovered that I could not have my final adjustment and must give up the idea of sexual reassignment surgery. He had remained quiet for a while and then, softly stroking my face and looking straight into my eyes he had answered with a question of his own.
“How would you feel if I told you that I had an illness that would make me impotent or that I would no longer be able to work because I had osteoarthritis or there was something wrong with my spine?”
“I would cry, I would curse the gods, I would…I don’t know what I would do, I do know I would be terribly hurt, terribly upset.”
“Why.”
“Because you would be so unhappy and you would think so badly of yourself.”
“And if I told you that I knew I could cope with it and wouldn’t be too upset and could adjust, what then.”
I snuggled closer and kissed his lips gently, “I would be okay, as long as you were still going to be the Will I love, then yes, I would be okay.”
“And you would continue to love me and help me overcome my disappointments?”
“Of course I would, you’d still be Will, things like that can’t change you, you would still be the man I love and want.”
“You’ve answered your own question, if for any reason you can’t go ahead, even if it’s because the operation scares you so much you find you can’t do it, I will still love you. It wouldn’t change, my feelings for you; as far as I was concerned, you would be Charlotte, Charlotte on the ship, Charlotte who shrugged when told she was marooned, Charlotte who put a skirt on when she couldn’t find trousers that would fit and the Charlotte who danced and made every man in a room turn to watch and cheer her on. But above all, the Charlotte who is my world and without whom my life would have little purpose. My only concern would be that you continue to experience pain when we begin to make love.”
“That’s only at the beginning and it goes away and I’ve learned how to neutralise it to some extent.”
Thinking now about what he had said and more importantly, the way he had said it, with so much conviction and love in the words made my eyes water and when I returned my attention to the island, the sun peeked over the horizon and the remaining mist turned gold and I started to cry, I wanted to turn Pacific Wanderer back, return to the island and never leave it again, I was home sick. I was about to go back inside and snuggle up in bed with Will again when the door opened and Phillips appeared, “PO Victor and Gwyneth Evans sent me to find you…oh, you’re crying!” He came over pulling a handkerchief out and offering it to me, “Is there something wrong, are you ill?”
I shook my head, “Just a little homesick, I’ll ask Mark for a happy pill.”
“I’ll go and see him once I have you safely in the saloon with Mrs. Evans, she’ll know what to do.”
The tears stopped, I had to laugh, poor Gwyneth being a doctor’s wife meant she was going to have all sorts of strange ailments brought to her, crying women, sick puppy dogs, sailors who were missing their girlfriends. “You’re right, Gwyneth will know what to do, don’t bother Mark, he needs to concentrate on women who like swimming in Arctic waters.”
We went back inside and started along the passage, “Do you have anybody in New Zealand you get homesick for?”
“It’s the other way round for me. Sometimes I get homesick for Aurora when I’m in New Zealand.”
“That’s not unusual, a lot of sailors miss their ships when they’re ashore. The ship becomes their home.”
“Doubly so for me, my true love lives on the ship as well.”
“Here on Aurora, are you gay and have a boyfriend on board? You shouldn’t have told me, I might let something slip and give you away.”
“That doesn’t matter these days, gay people are allowed to serve in the armed forces but living on the same ship as a boyfriend is worse than being separated by miles.
“That’s awful, so near and yet so far, I wouldn’t like that, no, definitely not.”
“We get used to it and we’re both finishing our service soon. When you think about it, we’re better off than the straight blokes, they aren’t even allowed to bring their wives and girlfriends on board.”
“I suppose so but having the one you love so close and not being able to cuddle up when you want to, that would kill me. I’d ask to transfer to another ship and we could meet at weekends or whenever we get into a port.”
He smiled, “That doesn’t work either because you can be sure that if I was in Auckland, my other half would be in Hong Kong. No we are okay with it particularly as we’ll be able to set up home later this year and be together all the time.”
“Who is it, somebody I know?”
“Oh you know him well enough but I’m not telling.”
“You can’t do that, it’s cruel, come on tell me or I’ll remind you I’m a commander and you have to do as your told.”
“Oh dear, are you saying you’d have me keel-hauled?”
“Yes, now tell me.”
“I think you know, if you don’t at present you’ll work it out quick enough now that you know I have a boyfriend on board.”
“Wait a minute whilst I check on Will,” I opened the door quietly and crept into the bedroom and he was fast asleep so I crept rapidly back and closed the door. “Still asleep so tell me or else.”
He smiled, “It’s Mark, who else could it be, you must have noticed we’re together a lot.”
“Mark! You and Mark! I can’t have that, my personal steward and my fashion consultant having an affair under my own eyes, that’s a disgrace, whose going to look after me!”
“We’ve done all right so far but if you like, I’ll ask the captain to relieve us and you can have Victor and Sub Lieutenant Andrews.”
“That’s just as bad, my cook and dancing partner, God knows how that would turn out.”
We went into the saloon and Gwyneth was already seated, “I’ll have the same as Gwyneth,” I whispered “And the next time we’re moored at the island, I’ll fix it so you can stay at the house together if you like.”
“Bad for discipline if we’re caught but Mark wants to speak to you about the island anyway.”
He went into the galley and I joined Gwyneth, “What was all the whispering about, you’re not arranging to have Will’s food spiked with oysters are you?”
“No, it’s more serious than that and to prove the point, he’s forgotten to get me a coffee, I’ll be right back. I started to get up when he appeared and went straight over to the percolator, fixed my coffee and brought it over, “Victor sends his regrets but today will see an end to fresh eggs until me make Auckland.”
“My life has become a disaster, Gwyneth, I should have stayed on the island at least there would have been seagull eggs.”
She waited until we were alone again and then repeated her question, “Well, what about the whispering and your eyes are red, have you been crying?”
“Yes, I was standing at the stern watching my island disappear into the mist and I suddenly became homesick and wanted to go back and started blubbering and Phillips appeared, gave me his hanky and then dropped his bombshell, he’s in love with Mark and I think they want to set up home together. Gwyneth what am I to do, first I lose my island and then I discover my personal steward and my fashion consultant want to run away and get married and forget all about me.”
“Are you saying you didn’t know about Garry and Mark?”
I started to refill my coffee cup and paused, “Is that his name, Garry, I didn’t even know that.”
“You’ll have to dye your hair blonde at this rate. The man you are marrying is called Will, William Devonshire.”
I stroked my engagement ring, “I won’t ever forget that. In another six weeks he will be the longest attachment I have had with another person outside of my family.” I looked around the saloon, “It’s very empty and makes me feel as if we’re on a ghost ship.”
“Short-handed, the crew come in for meals two or three at a time.”
“Of course I hadn’t thought of that. What will they do tonight, work double watches?”
“Carry on as they are now, they are going to be pretty tired when we get to New Zealand.”
“I’ll speak to Andy, I can spell the radio operator when he needs some sleep and we could both do a watch in the galley and give them a chance to have a decent rest and Will can work the engines and David can take over from Mark, we’ll have to see what the other passengers can do, we might be able to raise a scratch watch between us, we only have to follow Aurora.”
Phillips came back, “Is there anything else you need, I have to go up to the bridge and spell the helmsman.”
“We were just speaking about that, I’ll come with you, I can give the wireless operator a break.” I stood up and looked down at my skirt, “Do you think this will be okay, Gwyneth, this skirt on the bridge when I’m on duty?”
“Jeans would have been better I suppose, how many layers is the petticoat?”
“Two.”
“It would be better if you took that off in case you have an emergency and have to rush about, you’ll get tangled up in a sea of tulle.”
I grinned, “Garry, turn your back I’m going to undress,” and as soon as he did, I lifted the skirt and slid the petticoat down, bundled it up and handed it to Gwyneth, “Here you look after it for me until I come off duty.”
“I’ll leave it in your cabin as soon as Will is up and about, do you want me to fetch your swimming costume in case there’s a man-overboard emergency.”
I grinned, “Don’t say things like that.” I gave Garry a push, “Come on leading seaman, let’s sashay up to the bridge.”

Martin was on the bridge when we walked in, “What are you doing here, Martin, you’re supposed to be on Aurora aren’t you, are you are planning a dance?”
He spun round and his face flushed, “Commander Broughton on the bridge, Captain.”
Andy Bryant turned from the window where he had been studying the sea ahead and took the binoculars from around his neck, “Thank you sub, carry on and relieve the helmsman, Phillips. Good Morning Charlotte this is a pleasure have you come to relieve me?”
“Well no not really, I thought you could use me to relieve the radio operator so he could have a break but if you want, I can relieve you instead.”
He smiled, “Thank you but I’m fine for a while but I think the radio operator might appreciate a chance to have breakfast, he’s been on for a few hours but I’ll have to get permission from Aurora.”
“I don’t want to be a bother, I just want to help if you’re short-handed.”
Andy smiled, “I know. Sub, get on to Aurora and ask permission for Commander Broughton to relieve the radio operator for an hour or two. Respectfully remind the skipper that Commander Broughton is RNVR has radio experience and is familiar with our equipment.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” and Martin gave me an uncertain look to ensure he wasn’t being made the victim of a practical joke and went into the radio shack.
“He’s on top of the world at the moment, we shifted him here because he’s a good navigator and can act as pilot as well as second in command,” explained Andy, “It’s a chance for him to get some experience, he’s sitting his lieutenant’s exam when we get back to Auckland.”
“He’s a nice lad, just needs a little self-confidence and he could command Pacific Wanderer soon.”
“You thinking of poaching him?”
“I might try, he’s a good dancer so his social skills would be suitable as my Flag Lieutenant.”
Martin came back, “Captain Fellows said fine as long as you are remaining on the bridge during her watch.”
“Okay, sub. Commander Broughton, please relieve the radio operator for two hours, log on and acknowledge the Captain of Aurora’s last order.” He turned to Martin who was looking at us open mouthed, “Sub, are we still on course?”
“Eh, oh, no, sir, I mean yes,” and he rushed over to the helm, checked the compass and revs and came back, “Revs for ten knots, course 282, sir.”
Andy winked at me, “Got a book to read, Charlotte, everything is quiet and you’ll get bored. I’m afraid the choice in the radio shack is pulp fiction or the Admiralty Guide to Mariners.”
“I’ve brought my knitting,” and as I went to the radio shack I heard Garry on the helm snigger, “Watch yer helm, damn yer eyes,” I snarled.
The equipment seemed much the same, there were new headsets and a few more things stuck to the walls so it felt like a homecoming rather than a watch. The operator wasn’t the man who I had met when they came to make repairs but I vaguely recognised him, “I’ve come to give you a break is everything working?”
“Perfectly, Commander.” He got up and let me sit and then pointed at the tuning, “That’s the normal military frequency we’re on at the moment, and if it’s changed Aurora will send the new one. I listen into channel sixteen for five minutes every half hour and if you need to change to VHF it’s the same as before but the set has been upgraded and you have a longer range, other than that, I’m told you’ve operated this stuff before so I assume you’re happy with it.”
“Yes, it looks fine and familiar, go and have breakfast and if we go to war, I’ll send somebody to get you.”
He grinned, “If we go to war the nine millimetre is on the hook, it’s loaded but closed on an empty breach with the safety catch on so don’t forget to cock and load before letting fly at the boarders.”
“I’m not touching it, I’ll leave it to somebody else.”
“Okay, Sub Lieutenant Andrews is a good shot. Aurora knows a new operator will be signing on so all you have to do is raise her and let them know.”
“Fine, listen if you need more than a couple of hours let the captain know I’m okay with the extra time.”
“Thanks, Marm.”
As soon as he had gone I placed the headphones on, searched for the transmit button was about to panic and call him back when I realised it was now hanging from the headset. I clicked; “Pacific Wanderer for Aurora, over.”
There was a longer than normal pause and then a voice came back, “Aurora, is that you Charlie?”
“It is but I’m in the navy now and take things seriously.”
“You weren’t so bad as a civvy. It’s nice to hear you again, I’ve logged you on, there’s nothing to report other than we will be changing course soon but the captain will warn you first.”
“Roger, Aurora. Look I’m checking the log and there’s an entry for thirty minutes ago of a signal too faint to read, are we still listening for it?”
“With half an ear, it was probably an Australian or American patrol ship or plane. There’s probs with the ionosphere and sun spots so long distance reception is a bit erratic. If they want us, they will call again shortly, just listen out and if you hear anything before I do, let the captain know, kay?”
“Roger, I’ll start my knitting then, Pacific Wanderer, out.”
I sat back and puzzled over the mysterious message. Pacific Wanderer’s radio equipment was not state of art and looked as if it had been second hand when it was fitted because though the dials and important stuff were labelled in English, the less important labels on the side and back were in Chinese but Aurora would be equipped with the latest telecommunication equipment. I understood a little about wireless technology and appreciated that the Sun’s activity and radiation did disrupt radio signals often enough so Aurora’s explanation accounted for why the signal had been faint but it still worried me. I pulled the log over and read the entry again, the operator had entered the bearing as forty five degrees, close to north-east but had added ‘not confirmed’ after the entry. I shrugged; as Aurora had said, if they wanted us they would try again or use a different system to contact us but for some reason it niggled me.
I turned to channel sixteen and listened for five minutes but there was nothing so I tuned to the military band, switched over to the loudspeakers and scooted over to the computer and went on-line to my mail box, got it up but before I had a chance to open it, the page flickered then steadied and then shut down and the apology message came up, ‘Sorry we have lost you. Please retry.’ I did but got the same result and returned to the wireless, the internet was also having problems so I reached for a paperback, Andy was right, the book was ‘I the Jury’, I had read that when I was about twelve years old when it was the thing for twelve year olds to read educational literature like ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ and ‘I the Jury’ I opened the book and began to read Mike Hammer’s account of the hunt for his friend’s killer and suddenly found I was enjoying it and regretted I had never bothered to go and see the film.
I had got to half way through chapter two when the radio blurted out “Aurora…” I grabbed the head set and listened for Aurora’s response but there was none and I was about to switch to VHF and call them when the radio let out a noise like ducks quacking but under it I heard; “Sea going motor cruiser bearing…” and went quiet again and I was sure I recognised the voice. I read off the bearing it was forty three and looking at the wall map behind the set I noted that the bearing was close enough to indicate the signal was coming from Hawaii or something that was on a bearing between us and the American base. I called Aurora on the VHF; “Pacific Wanderer for Aurora, did you receive the signal calling for you, over?”
“Negative, Charlie, nothing heard here, over.”
“The bearing puts it on a line for Hawaii and I think I recognised the voice, I also received ‘Sea going motor cruiser,’ I’m sure the voice is the operator on the American AWAC Papa Alpha Two, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, wait one.”
I took off the headset and went to the door of the radio shack and called Andy, “Captain, I think you need to hear this, do you want me to put it on your speakers?” I didn’t have time to hear his response because Aurora started speaking and I shot back to the set and listened, “AWAC Papa Alpha Two, do you copy over?” There was a long pause with no reply but I could hear the ducks quacking for a second or two and then, “Papa Alpha Two, this is RNZS Aurora, I say again, do you copy?” There was another pause and more ducks until Aurora called me, “Pacific Wanderer we can’t raise them, how about you, over?”
“No voice but I did hear a noise like ducks quacking, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, wait one.”
Andy came in, “Leave it on the loudspeakers in here as well, Charlotte, I’ll send for our sparks.”
“Leave it a moment, Andy it may just be routine and the signal is lousy, we might need him daisy fresh later.”
“Right but I’ll stay here,” and he went to the door, “Martin, you have the bridge, I’ll be in here.”
I heard Aurora calling the AWAC again and then they came back to me, “Pacific Wanderer, nothing heard, can you try?”
I looked at Andy and he nodded, “Try it, the radio is playing tricks.”
I pressed the transmit button; “AWAC Papa Alpha Two, this is Pacific Wanderer in company with Aurora, I received one or two words of your last transmissions, do you copy, over?”
“I heard the ducks again and then, “Charlie…quack, quack…you…strength two…” and then nothing. I looked up at Andy, “It’s them alright, they recognised my voice,” and then I pressed the button again, “Papa Alpha Two, this is Pacific Wanderer and can confirm ‘Charlie’ but you are strength one and breaking. Please try to send your original message, I will relay to Aurora, over.”
I looked up at Andy again, “Do you want me to hand over?”
He shook his head, “No, they recognised your voice and it helps, but I’ll put sparks on standby,” and he took the phone off the wall and pressed the buttons, “PO, this is the captain, is Pemberton still in the saloon? Good, tell him to be on standby to return to the bridge when he’s finished his meal.”
He hung up as the radio went live again and it was loud and clear, “Papa Alpha Two for Pacific Wanderer. Charlie, we have an unidentified sea going cruiser heading in your direction and will cross your current course in three hours. They have not responded to our…quack, quack, quack.” I waited until the noise stopped and then sent, “Papa Alpha Two, say again all after 'not responded to our', over.” I glanced at Andy but he was busy writing and then the AWAC came back, “Papa Alpha Two for Pacific Wanderer, repeating all after not responding to our radio challenges. They are sailing blind with no radar switched on, we suspect suspicious activity, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer for Papa Alpha Two, I got that and am relaying to Aurora, wait listening, over.”
Andy was already speaking to Aurora on the VHF and then I heard her calling the AWAC but there was no response so I called them, Papa Alpha Two, Aurora is calling you, do you hear them, over?”
Papa Alpha Two, negative, Charlie.”
“Pacific Wanderer, that’s weird, we’re only a couple of hundred metres behind her.”
“Radio plays tricks like that. How well are you receiving us and can you relay their messages to us?”
“You are strength four and clear at present, wait one I have a message coming in from Aurora, over.”
Andy handed me a slip, “Send that for Aurora, please.”
“Papa Alpha Two, I have a request from Aurora, over.”
Papa Alpha Two, send, Charlie.”
“Do you have contact’s speed, course and estimated size or type, over?”
“Papa Alpha Two, speed twenty four knots, course two six oh and probably a seagoing private recreational cruiser about twenty meters in length, over.”
“Pacific Wanderer, Roger that, do you think they are heading in our direction to make contact with us, over?”
“Negative, Charlie, everything is switched off, they can’t see you. If they were innocent they would change their heading and try to return to Hawaii or the South American mainland to get their equipment checked. They are operating clandestinely and up to no good, possibly drug or arms running, over.”
“Roger, Papa Alpha Two, wait listening, over.”
Andy was already relaying to Aurora and then listened and started to write. “Let them have this, Charlotte, you still okay on the set?”
“I’m fine, it’s better than the Mickey Spillane thriller I’m reading.” I turned back to the set, “Pacific Wanderer for Papa Alpha Two, Aurora sends her thanks, they are going to continue on the present course and speed and are speaking to Auckland, over.”
“You will be able to make an eyeball contact in a few hours, Pacific Wanderer, we will continue to watch them from a distance, over.”
“Am relaying that now.”
“We got your picture, Charlie, you’re certainly a good looking girl and there’s a member of the crew that fancies a dance with you some time, it’s the flight engineer and has even promised to clean under his finger nails.”
“Picture? What picture?”
“There was a chuckle, “The one of you jiving at the party, we already have it painted on the nose, we were going to rename the ship ‘Dancing Charlie’ but the skipper said no, he wanted the Sea Angel name kept.”
I turned to Andy, “How did they get a picture of me at the party?”
He turned away from me, no doubt to hide the guilt on his face, “They probably know somebody on the ship and they sent it.”
“It’s that bloody Faye, she’s a Yank and probably dating the whole crew, I’ll kill her when I get relieved from here.”
He chuckled, “You can’t you’re a Commander in the navy and it is your sworn duty to protect civilians.”
“I’m also the head of state of my island and Will told me I can make any rules I like. I’ll wait until she comes here to live then introduce the death penalty and have her eaten alive by tarantulas.”
“Don’t forget to video it and post it on You Tube.”
I was about to get out of the chair and stretch my back and legs when Aurora came on; “Aurora to Pacific Wanderer, confidential for Captain Bryant, over.”
I turned the bridge speakers off and gave the headset to Andy but he shook his head, “It always includes the radio operator unless specified, you take it.”
“Pacific Wanderer to Aurora, Captain listening, send your message.”
“Orders from Auckland, we are to detach and investigate the sighting north east of our position. Pacific Wanderer is to continue on present course and speed until the pre-arranged course alterations and then follow current sailing instructions, acknowledge, over”
I looked up at Andy and saw the disappointment on his face, “It’s because of me and the other civilians isn’t it?”
He nodded, “Luck of the drawer, at least I get to command Wanderer without being nannied by Aurora.”
Pacific Wanderer for Aurora, Captain acknowledges receipt, good luck, out.”
I turned to Andy, “What about their contact with the AWAC?”
“They’ll almost certainly be able to pick her up themselves soon and if not, Auckland will act as postman.”
“But you’d rather go with her?”
“Of course, there might be a bit of action especially if they’re running drugs. Standing orders require us to stop and search suspected drug smugglers and engage and sink them if necessary.”
I did stand up this time, “Can you listen whilst I get us some coffee?”
“Leave the coffee, Charlotte, I’ll get them to send some up.”
“Unless you don’t know how to work the radio, let me do it.”
“Why?”
“I need to stretch my legs and speak to Will.”
“I can operate the radio but no more than ten minutes, we might get instructions from Auckland.”
“I’ll send sparks up if you like.”
“No leave him, he’ll stay in the saloon until I stand him down. If I need him here he can be at the radio in two minutes.”
“Shan’t be long,” and I went out and crossing the bridge I stopped, “Martin, I have to go to my cabin and then I’m making fresh coffee, the captain is standing by the radio and sparks is in the saloon if he’s needed, I’ll be ten minutes,” I left him before he had a chance to answer but still found time to check the ships heading, looked at Gary still on the helm and say, “Watch yer heading, dam yer eyes,” and left.

In the next chapters; Are Charlie and Pacific Wanderer standing into danger!

Footprints in the Sea, Vol 2 - (Odysseus and Penelopeia) should now be published on Amazon Kindle but first you should finish reading Vol 1 which will be continued here.

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Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 23 and 24

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

I suggest you read Footprints In The Sea in chapter order so if you haven’t read the previous chapters, please do so.

Action Stations! Pacific Wanderer goes to war and Charlotte is shot in a fire fight!

23

Gwyneth wasn’t in the saloon but sparks was so I stopped at his table where he was talking to one of the engineers, “The captain is standing by the radio and sub lieutenant Andrews has the bridge, I’ll be back in five minutes, I have to go to my cabin for a minute or two and will be back to make coffee, the captain says for you to stay here until he stands you down, okay.”
He nodded and I went to my cabin and was greeted by Will in the passageway, “Come back to the cabin for a minute,” I said taking his hand.
“Only for a minute?”
“Yes, we don’t have the time to have fun, I need to speak to you urgently.”
He didn’t argue until I told him what was happening and what I intended to do if it became necessary and then he did argue but I stopped him, “Will that motor cruiser is fast enough to outrun Aurora and the cargo she may be carrying is going to kill a lot of people eventually, heroine and crack do that and when it isn’t killing people, it’s otherwise ruining lives, young lives, it’s our duty to do something.”
“But Andy is going to override you and he can legally.”
“That’s why I need you to back me and do as I ask. Will you, please.”
He looked at me for a moment and then said, “If you promise to wear the gun, I’ll back you, otherwise no, I’m not prepared to sacrifice you.”
I wrapped my arms around him and hugged tight, “It’s only a premonition I have and probably won’t be necessary but either way, when it’s over I’ll come in here with you and not leave until we reach Auckland.”
He smiled, “Just wear that gun. Now I have promised to spell somebody in the engine room, you’d better get back to the bridge and Charlotte, be careful, very careful, I love you.”

When I got back to the bridge with a tray full of hot coffee and sandwiches I was made very welcome and that coupled with Will’s last words to me in our cabin gave my self-confidence a boost and I went straight into the radio shack, “I’ll take the radio again and you can stand Sparks down if you wish. Were there any calls?”
“Only various men asking for you, I told them to be patient, you would be in Auckland in a few days. I’ll have my coffee on the bridge, call me if any messages come through from Auckland, Aurora or the AWAC.”
“Aye, aye, Cap’n.”
There were three transmissions from Aurora, two to Auckland, one to the AWAK so at least they were in contact themselves now and the last from Maritime Five who reported they were airborne and they too were watching the suspect boat whilst flying towards us. I responded to that one after they finished speaking to Aurora and let them know we were still following our pre-arranged course and went out to tell Andy. “Any messages for us specifically?”
“Only that the target was still on the same course and speed and had also ignored them when they tried to call it up. Isn’t that a bit silly, ignoring everybody just raises suspicions?”
“I suspect they may respond eventually when they get closer to New Zealand and claim their equipment was malfunctioning in the hope we believe them because of the activity in the ionosphere.”
“You think they’re making for New Zealand then?”
“Nowhere else to go unless they plan to try and dodge round and head for Indonesia or Australia. If their cargo is drugs or arms they will want to get rid of it as quickly as possible and there are plenty of places to land it unobserved along the New Zealand coast. If I was them, I would head for the coast and go in close to try confuse radar or airborne observation and then land their cargo or switch it to another boat, a fishing vessel probably and then head back and if they are challenged then they can use any number of excuses to conceal their true activity. They know we have to be sure they are carrying narcotics before we take action and once they dump the cargo, we won’t be able to do that. Did Aurora give her position?”
“Yes, I have it here,” I followed him into the chart room and watched as he checked Aurora against the chart.
“She’s shifting herself,” he said with a touch of pride, twenty eight knots, she’ll have them in eyeball range before long.”
“Assuming they don’t detect her presence and change course to avoid her.”
“We’ll know that from the aircraft watching, they can’t hide from them unless they conceal themselves amongst a load of other ships.”
“Which means that logically, if they do try to avoid Aurora, they will turn north, there’s a lot more islands and traffic up there.”
“Exactly,” Andy agreed and was making measurements along a number of north and north westerly courses and shook his head, “She’ll have a good turn of speed and will lose Aurora so we’re going to have to rely on the AWAC and Maritime Five.”
“If it was me, I’d turn more to the south,” I said, “They will know we won’t be expecting that and will reckon to lose themselves on the coast of South Island before we can nab them.”
Andy looked at me and pondered my reasoning. “I think you have a good point, I might be tempted to do the same in their situation. Can you try and get the Inshore Patrol Vessel at the island, her name is Ferret, just a tick,” he wrote down the details and gave it to me, “Tell them I want to speak to them, don’t give details. Ask them to listen out and then get hold of Aurora for me, I want to ask Harry Fellows to ask them to patrol towards South Island.”
“Will she have enough fuel after coming down to us from Auckland.”
“She was refuelled out of Aurora before we left, Aurora only needed enough to get back to Auckland with a little to spare for emergencies like this one.”
I went back into the radio shack and called up Ferret and got an immediate response and then Aurora and asked their radio operators to call their captains for a radio conference then called Andy and gave him the head set and left him to it, I wanted another coffee. On the way down to the saloon a thought struck me, if that mysterious boat did turn south and managed to evade Aurora there would only be Ferret and Pacific Wanderer between her and the north side of my island and if Ferret had to go on a patrol then there was only Wanderer and Wanderer wasn’t armed and the mystery cruiser would almost certainly be carrying some sort of automatic weapons, perhaps a surface to surface hand held missile launcher as well, the pirates operating in the Indian Ocean carried them as a matter of course. I didn’t want to run back to the bridge and discuss my concerns with Andy so I carried on down the stairs to the engine room and found one of the crew, “Have you seen Will Devonshire?”
“He’s over by the control panels, Miss Broughton.”
I found him, “Will have you got a minute for something urgent?”
“In our cabin?”
“You’ve got a one track mind, no here will do,” and then I told him the latest news and about Andy’s concern that the cruiser might turn towards us. “We can’t rely on Orca because by the time they disconnect the cables they have running to shore, call their crews in and get the anchors up and move round to the north side, anything the cruiser wanted to do would be done and it would be too late.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“The PO in charge of the team getting the cargo sorted out told me we have machine guns on board and rifles and stuff. You carry the rank, can you ask them to get them ready in case we need them in a hurry?”
“I’ll do it straight away and when you get back to the bridge, let Andy know, I’ll have the guns brought up to the saloon with the ammo.”
I kissed him, wriggled a little bit in his arms and then returned to the saloon.
It was the second time that morning that I carried a tray of coffee things onto the bridge, it was about time I roped the other girls in. I plonked the tray down and said help yourselves, poured a cup for Andy and took it into the radio shack. Fresh and homemade I told him putting it on the radio bench, “Is there any news?”
“Yes, Harry has gone along with your guess that they might turn towards us but we’re out of it again. If the cruiser gets past Aurora, Ferret will go out after it and we have to hi-tail it for Auckland and stay out of it.”
I didn’t say anything, I had expected that would be Harry’s orders, he simply couldn’t give orders that might put civilians and a civilian owned ship in jeopardy if he had an alternative and running was the only alternative other than the one I had in mind. “Of course there is the risk that they may ignore Ferret and come after us if for no other reason than distracting Ferret and Aurora so just in case, I have told Will of the machine guns in the hold and he has said he will fetch them up to the saloon so they are handy if the bandits do come for us.”
Andy looked at me suspiciously and then nodded his head slowly, “A good idea and there’s another thing, if they do come, I want you ladies to be ready to defend yourselves so I am going to have hand guns issued to you and you will wear them until I give orders to the contrary.”
I shrugged, “I don’t mind if it will make you feel easier but Emma, Gwyneth and David will be on standby in the sickbay so they aren’t allowed to carry arms under the Geneva convention.”
“We are not at war, we will be carrying out a police action and attempting to arrest perpetrators of a crime.”
“Then you might be charged with police brutality.”
“Do you have an answer for everything?”
“Of course, I’m a commander in the RNVR. Now Captain Bligh do you want me on the radio or shall I go and get the civilian auxiliaries sorted out?”
“Sort out the civilians but let me get Pemberton up here first.”
When Pemberton arrived I handed over the set and made my entry in the radio log and briefed him on the story so far, “If you need help and the captain’s busy I will be somewhere on the saloon deck, okay. It’s getting exciting so don’t hog all the fun to yourself.”
I went back on to the bridge, “Andy if you want to arm the civilians so that they can defend themselves, shouldn’t they have some rudimentary training in case they blow their own heads off?”
Andy sighed, “Sub, in view of the unusual circumstances we are going to have to arm those civilians who agree to it, will you go down and give them instruction on side arms and under no circumstances, no matter what happens, not even if we are sinking is Commander Broughton to be given a sub-machine gun.”
“Aye, aye sir.”
“I have the bridge, get on with it, both of you.”
“What have you done to upset him, he’s very tetchy,” I whispered once we were going down the stairs.
“It wasn’t me, it was you,” Martin replied looking at me as if I was trying to lay the blame for the captain’s anger on him.
I shrugged, “Men can be so touchy at times, I’ll bake him a cake if we have time.”
Martin grinned, “I’d love to watch you give it to him.”
When we got to the saloon is was empty bar Gary who was at the stewards table tidying away the table cloths so I went into the galley, “Ah Miss Broughton, we were just talking about you and wondering if you could help out, we are a bit short-handed, the captain has sent a couple of my cooks to help bring up some of the cargo.”
“Oh, that’ll be the machine guns I expect, that’s what I’ve come to see you about but I’ve picked the wrong moment it seems.”
“I’ll help if I can, what do you need?”
“Well the sub and I wanted to borrow Gary for a half hour to get all the passengers up here. I’ll tell you what, you let me steal Gary and this afternoon, if I can, I’ll come down and help prepare the dinner, is that fair.”
He smiled, “Very, I’ll sort out some aprons.”
“We are going to give the passengers some weapons training in the saloon but if we’re going to get in the way, we’ll go upstairs to the viewing bridge.”
“No need, there’s nothing much to be done in the saloon for an hour.”
“Thank you, I’ll be back after lunch to help, oh, by the way, I wouldn’t worry too much about lunch, just lay on a load of sandwiches and stuff and a few Thermos flasks of coffee, we will probably be at action stations and nobody will have time…”
“Action stations!”
“Why yes, haven’t you been told. Aurora has gone off chasing a dodgy looking cruiser and we’re getting ready to intercept it if they evade Aurora, that’s what the weapons training is for.”
Victor gulped, “We’re getting ready to engage a cruiser with a cargo ship, a small cargo ship at that!”
“Yes, exciting isn’t it.”
“Miss Broughton is referring to a gin-palace cruiser, not a navy cruiser. A fibre glass hull and pretty to look at, no five inch gun and multiple rocket launchers and we will not be intercepting anything, we will either change course to evade contact and steam for Auckland or if the captain decides it is safer, we will turn about and return to the island.”
Victor looked relieved, “I should think he would, a merchant vessel undermanned and carrying civilians is hardly in a position to intercept what is probably a heavily armed pirate or smuggling vessel whatever purpose it was originally designed for. Unless we are planning to go down fighting with all available weapons which in our case is the kitchen knives and empty wine bottles.”
I chose not to let him know that my fingers had been crossed whilst Martin was speaking and that I had a contingency plan of my own and was even considering making Molotov cocktails out of the empty wine bottles.

We were lined up along the port promenade deck each of us holding an automatic pistol loaded, cocked but with the safety on. Three of the men were behind us not carrying guns one of whom was Will. They had each confessed to being familiar with small arms, ex-servicemen, coppers or hunters and I did wonder into which category Will fitted, I would have to find out, I didn’t want him taking pot-shots at me if we ever had a row.
Our guns were held in front of us pointing to the sky and Martin was speaking. “Right these guns make a loud noise when you squeeze the trigger and they will recoil and jump up so make sure you keep a firm grip on them. When you’ve taken your shot return your hands and arms to their current position and stay where you are until I tell you to move. Now I am going to walk behind you and stop at each person. I will tap you on the shoulder and when I do, point your weapon out to sea, push the safety catch forward and fire, try not to hit a seagull, there are eco warriors amongst our number and it might start a fire-fight. Right, I’ll start now but keep your trigger fingers on the trigger guard and not on the trigger in case the bangs of the others startle you and you involuntarily pull the trigger.”
He started with one of the men who was now holding a rifle, I was about half way down the line with Emma on my right, Faye on my left and Liz next to her. Faye was holding a rifle not a nine millimetre automatic and when I had asked her why, she said she was familiar with rifles because she used to do a bit of hunting but as she didn’t like killing the animals, she used to aim to miss so was made to give it up by her father.
Slowly Martin walked down the line and by the time he got to Emma we were used to the noise and she fired as soon as he touched her shoulder and then tried to take a second shot but Martin stopped her and came to me. “Take your time and when you feel my hand on your shoulder, come down to the aim, release the safety and fire.” I felt his hand touch my shoulder and lowered the gun in front of me, holding it in both hands and aimed at a clump of seaweed about fifty metres away and squeezed my eyes shut and fired. I thought the gun was going to jump out of my hand but I held on, lifted it and whispered to Faye, “Did I hit the seaweed?”
“In the middle you must have seen the spurt of water!”
“I had my eyes shut.”
She giggled and then Martin touched her and she brought the rifle up to her shoulder, paused for a second and fired. Her gun made a louder noise than mine but I kept my eyes open and didn’t see anything happen to the seaweed, it just lay there completely unfazed. “You missed,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.
“I know, I aimed high in case there were any fish under the weed.”
“You’ve probably hit the Island.”
“That’s okay, it’s only small calibre and won’t sink the island and anyway the island is miles away, the bullet won’t get that far.”
“I hope so cos if you’ve shot one of my deer I’m not letting you live on the island.”
“What about you then? You might have killed a fish or worse than that a baby crab might have been sitting on the seaweed.”
I looked behind but the seaweed was well out of sight by now, “You don’t really think so do you?”
“Fucking guns, I hate them!”
We turned and looked at Liz, “Liz, I’ve never heard you swear like that before!” said Emma.
“Look what the bloody thing has done,” and she transferred the pistol to her left hand and held her right up so we could look at it.
“What’s wrong with it, what are we supposed to be looking at?” asked Faye,
“My little finger, the butt of the gun jumped and broke the finger nail.”
We started laughing which made her get madder until I pointed to her left hand, “If you don’t lift that hand and point the gun in the air, you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot and break a toenail as well.”
We returned to the saloon and holstered our weapons and were about to go our separate ways when the public address started, it was Andy’s voice; “D’you hear there, d’you hear there, this is the captain. The New Zealand Maritime Security inshore patrol vessel Ferret is passing and will take up station ahead of Pacific Wanderer until she is sent to patrol the sea between us and New Zealand. Until Aurora returns or the unknown cruiser is halted and investigated, we will remain alert and ready to change course and evade contact should it be necessary. Sandwiches will for the moment replace cooked meals. I apologise to the passengers but this is necessary until our current situation improves.”
“That’s me,” I said to the girls, “Whose coming with me to help Victor prepare the sandwiches?”
“I can’t,” said Gwyneth, “I’ll be with David getting things ready in the sickbay, just in case.”
“Me too,” said Emma.
“I can help,” said Faye I haven’t been given a job to do if the pirates try to jump us.”
“Nor I,” Liz shrugged, “I suppose they think that geologists aren’t much use until the ship runs out of ammo and I can help find suitable rocks to throw at them.”
“Come on then, three of us can make quite a few and if there’s time we can do soup as well.”

Within an hour we had three of the tables in the saloon filled with trays of sandwiches and another with coffee pots waiting to be filled. “We’d better take theses around the ship I suppose,” I said, if it does get busy the crew won’t have time to come up here and collect them.”
“Why not put a couple of tables in the lift and then we can go up and down and leave them in the various sections.”
“Good idea,” we did that and I pressed the button for the engine room and when we got there we took the trays out and left them on the floor near the control panel where they wouldn’t be trodden on and told the CPO and then scooted back to the lift and went up to the bridge and left some at what we thought were strategic places in the radio shack and near the helm and I spoke to Andy. “We’ve put some in the engine room and up here, where else would it help?”
Andy thought for a moment, “The passengers can use the saloon but we need some on the deck forward of the bridge. That’s about it, “The rest I can have distributed with coffee because the passengers will probably want to get involved, I’ll leave that for you to organise, I can’t leave the bridge at the moment and nor can Martin.”
“I was going up to the viewing bridge to act as a lookout with Faye, I’ll put Liz in charge of the passenger catering.”
“Fine but much as I like the idea of having a lookout on the viewing bridge, if there is any shooting make bloody sure you keep your heads down, if I had anybody to spare I’d send them.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be okay, I’ve got my gun with me,” I patted my hip where the automatic was holstered, “And we’ll make sure we only take quick looks before ducking again.”
We started to go back to share out the rest of the sandwiches when Andy called us back, “Charlotte, I mean what I say, keep your heads down and don’t hesitate to use that gun if you have to. I’d rather have dead drug smugglers littering the sea than dead girls littering the bridge if for no other reason than half the ship going into mourning if you were shot. If there is any shooting, get down here, the saloon or cargo deck are safer places than the viewing bridge. Do you understand?”
“We’ll stay safe and only shoot when we have to, don’t worry about that.”
“You okay about speaking to the passengers, Liz,” I asked on the way back to the saloon, “I should have asked you before I put your name forward?”
“No problem, I was going to see David anyway, he’ll help to organise things. We need to do something if that cruiser gets to us because hiding in our cabins and shaking with fear is worse than running around with messages, sandwiches or even acting as stretcher bearers if the worse comes to the worse.”
“You don’t have to be so bloody morbid just because you broke a fingernail, why don’t you go to the sick bay and see if they can glue it back on,” Faye suggested.
“Or, work out a way we can capture the cruiser if it comes here. Those gin palaces are worth a lot of money and we could divvy up the prize money and you could spend your share on having your nails done in Knightsbridge.”
Liz was about to answer when Gwyneth called out from the bottom of the stairs to the saloon, “Liz, can you come down to help us in the sick bay and Charlotte, David asks can you to take some sandwiches down to the hold. Some mattresses are being put down there for the older passengers, Mark says it’s the safest place in the ship and if you could bring a percolator with a carton of coffee beans and some sugar, we can make our own and save you the bother of fetching it down.”
“Right away, Gwyneth, we’re finished up here and if we make any more food, we’ll leave it in the lift, will that do you?”
It’s fine, thank you. Are you and Faye going to be okay up there?”
“We’ll be fine, Andy has given us a lecture and I’ll get one of the POs’ to teach us how to duck down behind the bulwarks if bullets start flying. Tell Mark and David that there are antibiotics and first aid stuff in the shop if you’re short of anything and if you see Will, can you remind him to make sure he has his sun blocker with him.”
I heard her laugh and I nodded at Liz, “You’d better go, Faye and I will do the rest of the sandwiches, you’d better pop into the shop and steal some choc bars and sweets to take as well.”
As Liz left us I asked Faye, “Do you know how to fire a machine gun?”
“What! A machine gun, what for, the sailors will have them?”
I shook my head, “No, they only have enough men to use two of them, it takes two people to make them work properly, one firing and the other doing things to the ammunition belt.”
“I know that, I have fired one but I’m no good, they’re too fast and I get in a bit of a panic and forget to take my finger off the trigger and I keep my eyes shut.”
“Okay, I’ll fire it, you show me how and you can do the ammunition bit because we might just as well take the spare one up to the viewing bridge and if that cruiser shows up we can have a go at it.”
“Are you kidding me, Charlotte?”
“No I think we should try because there aren’t enough men to defend all of the ship and if we let fly with the machine gun, it will make the cruiser think twice about boarding us and up on the viewing bridge we’ll be high enough to see all around the ship and can fire at the cruiser no matter which direction they come from.”
Faye looked doubtful, “We’ll make targets of ourselves if we do.”
“We’ll fire a burst and then duck and when they fire at us we’ll wait until they stop and pop up and have another go at them, that’s the way they do it in the films. I doubt we’ll do any real damage but it will distract them and give the men a chance to get the other guns into the right position.”
“I suppose it’s better than hiding in the hold or rushing around being shot at whilst we deliver sandwiches.”
“Better than being a stretcher bearer as well, I’d faint if there was a lot of blood. The gun is over there in the middle of the saloon, you grab it and take it up to the viewing bridge with the ammunition and I’ll take the sandwiches down to the hold, okay.”
She looked at me her face full of doubt, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, like you said, it’s better than being shot whilst carrying sandwiches and just being up there will make a difference and at the least, distract anybody that attacks us.”
“What about my rifle?”
“Take that as well, it might come in handy and don’t forget a bit of extra ammo.”
“Why don’t we just go up there and do a strip, that might hold their attention.”
“Cos they might be gay and would get more fun by taking pot-shots at us.”
She walked doubtfully towards the guns and I reloaded the lift with sandwiches and went down to the hold and left them just inside the first watertight door and then went into the engine room; “Will can you do it now, about a bucketful should be enough and don’t forget to splash some on the hull over the repair so that it dribbles down. I’ll give you five minutes and then tell Andy.”
He came over to me, “I’m still not sure about this Charlie, if anything happens to you my life will end.”
“Will if the cruiser doesn’t come near us or Andy doesn’t fall for it, we’ve lost nothing and things may still be okay but we have to give Orca time to unmoor or get armed crew over to the lagoon and protect our home and all the stuff we and the navy have left there. Faye and I are not going to take unnecessary chances, we simply want to make them think twice about boarding us. I reached for his hand and squeezed it, “We won’t do anything until it’s the last resort. I don’t want them getting a hold of me, Will because they will find out about me and use me as a toy, cut me with a knife, please do it.”
I didn’t give him a chance and let go of his hand and walked hurriedly towards the lift, turned, smiled and blew a kiss and stepped inside and pressed the button for the bridge.
I returned to the saloon and picked up the last tray of sandwiches for the bridge and went up there. Andy was on the ship to ship VHF and cursed and slammed the handset down as I walked onto the bridge, “Something wrong?” I asked.
“Ferret is leaving to make a patrol, Aurora has just told us that the cruiser is going to cross their bows and make a run for it, Ferret has to intercept.”
“I’m afraid I have more bad news,” I said placing the sandwiches down, “I’ve just seen Will in the engine room and he says that the plate he welded onto the hull has started leaking, he thinks you should have a look at it before he tries to shore it up.”
He walked over to the phone and dialled the engine room, “Will, how bad is the leak…enough doubt to make me slow down…right, I’ll do it.” He turned to the helm, “Reduce revs to six knots.”
“Are you still going to make for Auckland?” I asked.
“Yes but at six knots,”
I paused as if giving myself time to think and then said, “If that cruiser lures Ferret far enough away from us and then turns back and uses its superior speed, they could come back here and attack us and if they have one of those surface to surface missiles they could destroy the bridge or even split the hull and sink us. Andy, I don’t know my rights but if there is a chance we can make Wanderer safe in the lagoon, as the owner, I would prefer you do that. Then once the cruiser has been dealt with, we can repair her and resume the journey.”
“If they did succeed in evading both Aurora and Ferret, they could follow us into the lagoon and attack us there.”
“I don’t think so, if they tried we would have enough fire power to give them something to think about and Aurora and Ferret would still be close enough to get to us. I think they may have a quick shot at it but then they would have to run for it themselves. I would be happier if we returned to the island because we will also have the crew of Orca to help us by the time we arrive.”
He pursed his lips, staring out of the forward bridge windows weighing up the pros and cons.”
“If you wish, I can log a request that as the owner I would prefer you to take Wanderer to safety, make it an official request so that you wouldn’t be accused of disobeying orders.”
He thought for a few seconds more, “Yeoman, please log that at the request of the owner and in the interests of the safety of passengers and ship, I am returning to Charlotte Island to prevent our being attacked by a suspicious vessel.”
“Aye-aye, sir.”
“Yeoman,” I asked, “Did anybody bring a New Zealand Navy ensign when you came over from Aurora?”
“Yes, Marm, we are supposed to fly it if we put to sea on naval business.”
“There you are, Andy, raise the boom and fly the flag from it. If they see it they may be fooled into thinking we are carrying heavy calibre weapons.” I turned to the yeoman again, “I don’t suppose it’s a battle ensign is it?”
“Charlotte, get off my bridge before you start a war!”

24

“The best place for the gun is between the air intakes and the funnel, there’s just enough space for the gun and us and we will have good cover to hide behind when they fire back.”
“But we won’t be able to swing the gun around and if they come up from astern, we won’t even be able to see them,” Faye objected.
I looked around the promenade deck, “The only other place is the sauna. It’s empty and if we kneel inside with the gun on the top step we can fire and then duck down.”
Faye still had that ‘this is suicide’ look on her face but nodded, “I can fire the rifle over the edge as well I suppose it’s as good a place as we will find up here.”
“Right, let’s get the gun and set it up.”
We went back inside the viewing bridge, “There’s plenty of time, fancy a cup of coffee and I found some doughnuts in the galley when I took the last lot of sandwiches.”
“You’re becoming a real thief but I like doughnuts so I won’t tell anybody. Are they cream?”
“Don’t thinks so, probably just jam,” I prodded one and a little bit of strawberry jam oozed out of a hole, “Strawberry jam, still want one?”
“Please. You make the coffee and I’ll sweep the horizon,” she said grabbing a pair of binoculars from the window ledge.”
“They’re no good, they’re night glasses you’ll have to use the high power ones down the other end.”
I went over to the percolator standing on the temporary bar that we had used on dance night, switched it on and then a thought struck me, “Faye, I won’t be long I’m popping down to the sick bay,” and ran down the stairs. Gwyneth was there with Mark preparing a couple of satchels with red crosses on them, “Is that first aid stuff?”
“Yes, in case people need help around the ship,” answered Mark giving me a suspicious look, “Why?”
“I think it would be a good idea if I took one up to the viewing bridge.”
“What do you want one up there for, there’s nobody up there?”
“Yes there is, Faye and I are acting as look-outs.”
“Don’t ask any more questions, Mark, you may not like the answers,” said Gwyneth handing me two, “Here and you can drop the second off on the bridge.”
“Ta, did they tell you we’re going back to the island for a couple of days?”
“Yes,” replied Mark, “You haven’t taken your scuba stuff up to the viewing bridge have you?”
“Not yet, I haven’t had the time but thanks for the idea,” and I started for the door and heard Gwyneth say, “I told you not to ask any more questions.”
On the way back I took an armful of emergency flares from the remnants of the ammunition pile in the saloon and returned to my action stations just as the coffee started coming out of the percolator. “Coffee’s ready,” I called to Faye who was still looking through the binoculars.
“Hang on a tick, I think there’s a helicopter coming towards us.”
“A helicopter,” I said going over to her and using the second set, “So there is, I wonder where that came from.”
“Aurora I suppose.”
“I’ve been all over Aurora and I never saw a helicopter. There’s a place at the back for one to land but they don’t have one of their own. It can’t be from Orca either, it’s flying from the wrong direction.”
“Well it can’t be Ferret, there’s no room for one. Perhaps the AWAC carries one and drops it out of a bomb bay.”
“Drop a helicopter out of a bomb bay, don’t be daft. I’d better phone Andy, he’ll know, it probably came of the cruiser, they could have a small one like that to make a quick getaway if they got caught.”
“They would have seen it on radar.”
“It’s too low I expect,” and then I started hearing warning bells ringing in my head. “Keep your eye on it, Faye, it looks a bit dodgy to me, why are they flying so low and slow!” I ran over to the phone and dialled the bridge, “Martin is Andy there, if so, tell him there’s a small helicopter coming up astern and it’s wave hopping and looks a bit fishy to me.”
I heard him call Andy to the phone, “How far away?”
“About a mile I suppose but it’s right down on the deck and is flying slowly.”
“Keep your eye on it, I’ll put Martin back on and you tell him what it’s doing.”
“Keep a watch on it, Faye and yell out if it changes its speed or height.”
I never heard her reply because suddenly the ships siren started sounding short blasts and bells started ringing everywhere and then Andy’s voice came over the public address system; “Do you hear there, do you hear there, this is the Captain. All naval crew and previously briefed passengers go to your action stations. This is not an exercise an unidentified aircraft is approaching from astern and does not acknowledge our challenges. This is Action Stations, Captain out.”
Faye and I stared at each other both our mouths open. “This is your fault,” she accused me, “You have really stirred it up now.”
“It’s not my fault, you were the one who spotted the bloody helicopter in the first place!”
She grinned, “I bet Andy is having the time of his life down on the bridge, he was really pissed when Aurora and Ferret went off to fight the pirates.”
“I bet, he’s got the engineers working in the machine room making anti-aircraft guns and depth charges. Phone him and say you’ve spotted a periscope off the port beam.”
“Not me I’m getting my rifle and going to hide in the Jacuzzi, you phone him.”
“Wait a bit, I’ll get my flares and come with you, I don’t fancy staying in here there’s too much glass and if they start shooting at us, they’ll be glass splinters flying about all over the place.”
I grabbed the flares and we both ran out and down the steps to the Jacuzzi. “What do you want the flares for, Aurora or Ferret are too far away to see them and I expect Andy sent a message on the radio.”
“I don’t want them for sending an emergency signal, I am going to fire them at the helicopter, or at least you can whilst I shoot them with the machine gun.”
“What good are flares?”
“If you aim them so they hit the windscreen or better still go through an open window or door, they will explode inside and the helicopter will crash.”
“Right on top of us or hadn’t you thought of that?”
“Of course I thought of it but in the James Bond films the helicopter always blows up and crashes into the sea, a flaming wreck.”
Faye slung her rifle over her shoulder and picked up four of the flares, “Okay, just say when,” and then there was a rattling noise and bits started flying off the radio mast. We both ducked and the helicopter suddenly appeared from behind the funnel still firing. “They’re trying to shoot the radio stuff, I’d better tell Andy,” and before she could stop me, I ran up the steps and darted across the promenade deck dodging from side to side and grabbed the first phone I came to, “Martin, it’s Charlotte, they’re above us and trying to shoot the radio mast, tell Andy,” and I dropped the phone and still dodging ran back to the Jacuzzi. As I jumped down I caught the waist band of my skirt on something but it tore free, “Get ready,” I told Faye as the helicopter flew past and over the bow. “I bet they come back for another go, they haven’t done much damage and I reckon they want to stop Andy from getting an SOS out.”
Faye just stared at me, “You want to take it on! Are you mad, we’ll be killed!”
“It’s better than just ducking down because if the bullets go into the Jacuzzi they will bounce off the tiles and fly around all over the place. If we shoot at them, it will put them off their aim and we can always get out and run behind the funnel.”
Faye looked out to where the helicopter was turning and shrugged, “Why not, I can only die once but my fiancé will play hell if I’m hurt and we have to postpone the wedding.”
I returned my attention to the machine gun and sat on the floor and looked through the sights, “Well go on, put the bullets in.”
Faye leaned over, flipped the breech cover up and put the end of the belt into place and closed the cover, “Just pull this knob to cock it and fire when you’re ready.”
I did and took a bead on the cockpit bubble and fired off a burst and then stood up to see if I hit anything and the helicopter promptly started firing back so I picked up two of the flares, “We’ll fire two each, one of them is bound to hit something,” and then we ducked as they do in the films and waited for the helicopter to stop shooting at us and the moment it did, we popped up like a pair of jack-in-the-boxes and fired off the four flares and ducked down again. Somebody on a lower deck opened fire with a machine gun so I let rip as well but the bullets were striking the Perspex bubble of the cockpit and just bouncing off but whoever was firing from the deck must have been hitting another part of the helicopter because the pilot suddenly banked away and flew straight into our row of flares just as they popped and three of them got tangled up with the rotor and spun like crazy, it looked just like a Catherine Wheel so I had another go on the machine gun and started hitting the centre of the rotor. Something fell away and the helicopter seemed to vibrate and then the middle of the rotor shattered and one of the blades snapped off and hit parts of the fuselage. The blade must have fractured a fuel line because the engine section at the rear of the cockpit caught fire and then the back half of the body exploded. We watched if fall into the sea immediately in front of Wanderer’s bow and heard another bang, there was a cloud of smoke and then it went quiet. “I told you they fell into the sea,” I said and we high-fived and just at that moment there was another burst of machine gun fire, louder this time and the bow of the cruiser suddenly appeared from behind the funnel and somebody on it was firing a heavy machine gun at our bridge.
I swung the gun round and Faye pushed the ammunition box forward and I opened fire again on their bridge and this time, the bullets didn’t bounce off and I had the satisfaction of seeing the windows shatter. I moved my point of aim to the rear of their bridge when I saw a man run out on to the high deck behind it carrying something on his shoulder but before I had a chance, Faye fired her rifle and the man jumped and then fell back and something flew out of the thing he was carrying and arced up into the sky trailing smoke, it must have been a missile because it straightened up and then flew in the direction of the island weaving from side to side. I swore, there was no way the machine gun could shoot that down but the curse had barely left my lips before the missile suddenly dived into the sea and there was an enormous explosion. I didn’t bother watching it, there was still the cruiser to attend to so I swung the gun towards its bridge again just as a huge column of water erupted into the air off its far side and the cruiser turned towards Wanderer. “What did you do that time!” I shouted at Faye.
“Nothing, it wasn’t me – look out!” and she pointed at the cruiser and I turned my head to see it angle in towards Wanderers’ hull and I shut my eyes expecting it to explode but it just gave us a glancing blow, bounced off and carried on for about twenty metres and stopped. A number of men ran from the bridge with their hands held towards the sky so I retrained the gun and was about to fire a burst at them when Aurora suddenly appeared from behind the funnel and went alongside and grappling irons were thrown over the bulwarks and then sailors slid down them onto the cruiser waving guns and shouting things like “GO-GO-GO!”
“Of all the damned cheek,” Faye shouted furiously, “The bastards are trying to steal our prize, give them a burst, Charlotte!”
“Who, they’ve surrendered!”
“Not the cruiser, have a go at Aurora, she’s sent men on board the cruiser and we saw it first, it’s our prize.”
“You want me to open up on a navy ship. Pit my 7.62 millimetre bullets against their eighty millimetre quick firing cannon, multiple missile launchers, depth charges, torpedoes and any number of heavy machine guns?”
“Well we can’t let them get away with daylight robbery, do something!”
“Why don’t you telephone the bridge and get Andy or Martin to telephone Aurora and lodge an objection under the Geneva Convention or better still, phone the UN.”
“I damn well will,” and she strode of to the telephone and I heard her start berating whoever was on the other end.
Fury is infectious and I started to become angry and retrained the machine gun on Aurora’s bridge just in time to see the Captain’s cutter leave her side and head straight for Pacific Wanderer, “Faye,” I yelled, “They’re coming over here from Aurora, probably going to try and board us as well now.”
She dropped the phone and came running back to me and grabbed her rifle as the cutter came alongside a boarding ladder somebody had thrown down to them. “Open fire as they come up,” she said.
“No, don’t do that until we know what their game is.”
Faye turned back towards the boarding ladder, her rifle trained down at first a head, followed by shoulders and then the body of the lieutenant who had taken over from Andy when he left to come to us. “Just stay right where you are, buster.”
The officer looked up at Faye, “Don’t shoot, we’re from Aurora.”
“We know,” I answered, “We’ve been watching you steal our prize of war and it’s just not on.”
“We’re not stealing anything, I’ve come to explain at Lieutenant Commander Fellows and Lieutenant Bryant’s request. It is not our intention to take the drug vessel as a prize, we are simply making it secure and arresting the men on board her.”
“Well how come you opened fire?” demanded Faye, “And worse than that, you see that flag flying from our boom, well that happens to be the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Battle Ensign and my friend here on the machine gun just happens to be a Brit and is obliged to have a go at anybody who threatens a Commonwealth country and firing guns at the Battle Ensign is an act of war and I’m American and we have a special relationship with the Brits so I’ve come to her aid.”
“Will you please stop waving those weapons about before somebody gets hurt.”
“You can talk, you fired on us with a massive great gun.”
“We didn’t fire on anybody, we simply fired across the bows of the cruiser to make her heave-to.”
“They’ve got a point,” I whispered to Faye, “They didn’t actually hit the cruiser or us, they missed by quite a bit.”
Faye lowered her rifle, “If you’re sure but they still fired in our direction, well roughly in our direction.”
“But why would a New Zealand ship fire on another New Zealand ship.”
“It might be a break away Republican faction who want New Zealand to leave the Commonwealth.”
“I think we are a bit too suspicious, we’ve supped and danced with these men, let’s go and see what’s happening on the bridge.”
We went into the viewing bridge and Gwyneth and Martin came in, both panting from having run up the stairs, “Who’s hurt?” she asked putting her first aid bag on the bar.
“Nobody up here. There might be some on the drug boat and we shot the helicopter down with flares.”
“Who was doing all the firing, not you two?” asked Martin.
“Yes,” answered Faye, “But they shot at us first, we didn’t have any choice.”
Martin rolled his eyes and his lips moved as if in silent prayer. “You shot at the helicopter, then the cruiser and was ready to open fire on Aurora! This is the South Pacific not the OK Corral.”
“Martin, you’re being a tadge unfair, Faye explained, they opened fire first and when we got the helicopter, the drug runners started having a go at the bridge, what were we supposed to do, wait until you had all been killed before having a go at them. Is everybody okay downstairs?”
Martin looked at Gwyneth and she answered, “Andy has been shot in the shoulder and Will in the left thigh but neither are serious wounds…”
“Will’s been shot!” I flew to the stairs and went down two at a time and into the bridge to be faced with the picture of Will being given an injection by Mark, “You’ve been shot! Why are you here and not in the sick bay?” I grabbed his arm, “You’re coming down to the cabin and going straight to bed and you’d better come as well Mark.”
Will gently eased my hand away from his arm, “It’s nothing just a flesh wound in the thigh, the bone and muscle weren’t touched.”
“Why do you need an injection, Will tell me the truth, do you need a blood transfusion, Will…” I couldn’t stop myself and the tears flooded down, “You could have been killed.”
Martin and Gwyneth came in and she took me to a chair and sat me down and glared at Will, “What did you say to her; and after all’s she’s done!”
Before he could answer the Lieutenant from Aurora came in and saluted Andy, “Captain Fellows presents his compliments and asks whether you recommend he opens fire on these two or strike his colours?”
Andy, his arm in a sling smiled, “Martin?”
“I think they have declared a truce whilst we attend to our wounded, Captain but I would suggest that Miss Broughton hands over her side-arm as a gesture of good faith.”
“Very good. Take us back to the island if you will and get the men and equipment ready to effect repairs to the hull.”
Will held out his hand, “Charlie, I’ll take the pistol please, I know you’re mad at me and I don’t want you forgetting yourself and shooting me in the other leg.”
I stood up and Gwyneth unbuckled the belt and handed it over to him, “You’ve got blood on your blouse, near the hip” she said.
“It’s Will’s I must have picked it up when I took hold of him to take him to the cabin.”
“You only took hold of my arm and any blood on me is from the wound in my thigh and if that got on you it would have been on your skirt. Take your blouse off and let Gwyneth have a look at it, it’s quite a lot of blood.”
“I’m not taking my blouse off on a bridge full of sailors!”
“Gwyneth, take her outside and tear the blouse off if she doesn’t remove it herself.”
Faye came out with us and when I looked down and pulled the blouse out of my skirt, they were correct, there was a lot of blood, “Well it’s not mine, I would have felt it if I had been shot.”
Gwyneth answered by taking my hand off the blouse and unbuttoned it and I heard Faye gasp, “My God, it looks deep as well!”
Gwyneth asked, “Can’t you feel any pain?”
“Well now yes, now that it’s been brought to my attention, it stung a little when I pulled the blouse away,” I started to walk towards the saloon stairs, “There’s a mirror in the ladies loo, I can’t see it very easily without one.”
“Never mind the mirror, you’re going to the sickbay to let David or Mark do something with that, you’ll need a few stitches,” and she took one hand and Faye the other and they marched me off before I went looking for a mirror.
“Gun shot,” said Mark and looked at David who nodded, “Clean but deep. How did this happen?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know, I haven’t been shot, I must have caught myself on something when I was running around up on the deck.” I paused, “Come to think of it, when the cruiser first opened fire I felt something pull at the waistband of my skirt and it did sort or burn but I thought I had caught myself on something when we ducked down into the Jacuzzi.”
“If it had been a few inches higher you would have been shot in the tits,” said Faye, a touch of admiration in her voice.
“I haven’t got any tits yet to be shot in.”
“You weren’t shot through the body,” pointed out Mark, “You were creased, mind you another couple of millimetres and it would have been through rather than alongside, blouse and skirt off and on the table please, David will have to stitch it.”
“I’ll help you,” offered Faye reaching for the zip on my skirt.
“You can bloody well wait outside, I’m not having you inspect my body and having a laugh!”
“I won’t laugh, I’m a scientist and my interest is purely scientific.”
“Since when has geology had anything to do with bodies?”
“Well it is a deep cut, that might need mining skills to treat,” she grinned, “Go on, let me watch, I’d have let you watch if it had been me.”
“You were the one who probably shot me the way you were waving the rifle about.”
Whilst Faye and I were arguing, David had unzipped my skirt and gave it a gentle tug and I was standing there in my bra and panties and before I had a chance to turn my back on Faye, Mark marched me over to the operating table and made me lay down whilst David was preparing a syringe. “What’s the shot for?”
“You need at least eight stitches in that and it will need cleaning first, this is a local anaesthetic.”
Mark was swabbing the area around the cut as David spoke, “You won’t feel a thing and whilst we’re waiting for the jab to take effect, we’ll scrub up.”
“What do you want to scrub-up for, it’s a flesh wound, medics don’t scrub-up on the battle field!”
“Yes we do, we use a spirit wash.”
“They’re pretty panties, I’ll take them off you, it would be a shame to spoil them with blood stains,” Faye took a hold of the waistband and started to ease them down but I was too quick and had both hands down there and stopped her, “You can just leave them where they are you nosy bitch.”
She grinned, “I just wanted a look before David cuts it off with the scalpel he’s holding.”
I twisted my head in alarm but David only had the hypo in his hand and he looked at me, “I can if you want, I’ve read up on it and have always wanted to try.”
“No you won’t I want an experienced surgeon doing it.”
“Okay, everybody out, you’ve had your joke,” and as Gwyneth and Faye left, I felt the prick as the needle went it and Mark and David started their sewing lesson.

In chapters 25 and 26, they return to New Zealand and Gwyneth accompanies Charlotte back to the UK for her SRS.
After the operation, Charlotte has to prepare to meet her family and friends that had last known her as Charles.
Chapter 26 which follows later this week marks the end of Volume 1. Volume 2 is now complete and published on Amazon Kindle.

Over Christmas I will try and publish the first chapters from another novel about an intersexed and transgendered group of girls being held in a prison. The title to look for is Vesta’s Hearth.
I hope I will also have my entry in the Gift story competition here at Top Shelf.
Have a lovely Christmas and your best ever New Year.

[email protected]

Footprints In The Sea – Chapters 25 and 26

By Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2015

Footprints in the sea is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

This novel is not considered suitable material for minors and is rated X

Charlotte returns to New Zealand and then travels on to London to have her operation and swims with a dolphin.

25

“We were on the bridge if you must know, cradling your fiancé whilst his life’s blood ebbed away.” Emma was answering my request to know where the hell she and Liz were whilst we were fighting for our lives upstairs.

“What was he doing on the bridge in the first place? If you’d stopped him from going up there he wouldn’t have been shot.”

“Andy sent for him, he wanted to send him and Martin up to the viewing bridge to stop you fooling around with the machine gun and that was when he was shot and we had to come up here and comfort him whilst he was dying.”

“He wasn’t dying, he said it was only a flesh wound and why wasn’t Mark looking after him?”

“Because Andy had been injured as well and Mark was tending to him, the captain has to come first and we weren’t to know it was only a flesh wound at the time, there was blood everywhere. For all we knew he might have been shot through an artery or paralysed for life because the bullet had severed his sciatic nerve.” She grinned, “Faye, where did she get hit, was it somewhere interesting?”

“About four or five inches away from instant SRS.”

“Come on, Charlotte, you must show us.”

“No and you can cut out being so nosey, it didn’t even leave a hole in my knickers.”

“Eight stitches though,” added Faye and she will have to wear tights when she’s dancing, there’s no more flashing her stocking tops.”

“Go on tell me why I can’t do a bit of flashing to demonstrate the grace and beauty of dance?”

“Because dancing with a suspender belt fastened around your waist will tear the stitches.”

“I’m beginning to think it was you who shot me out of jealousy.”

“You could wear hold-ups,” suggested Gwyneth. “What did the captain say when he gave you your lecture, I saw him wagging his finger at Faye as you went into his cabin.”

“He told Faye she had as much tactical sense as a snail in a cavalry charge. The rifle should
have been fired from the prone position…”

“And he told her,” Faye pointed her finger at me with scorn written on her face, “That as a high ranking officer it was her duty to protect civilians not lead them into danger, and he had no doubt that she was the ring-leader.”

“She probably was,” said Emma.

“Definitely,” agreed Faye. “It was her idea to take the gun up there in the first place, I was just following orders.”

“Is that what you’re going to say at the trial?” asked Liz.

I stood up with a triumphant smile, “There is not going to be a trial, the last thing he said when he politely opened the door for us to leave, was that we had shown great courage and had made a major contribution to saving the lives of the people on the ship and he was going to write that into his report. Are we having another couple of bottles of wine?”

“We are expecting to be presented with medals at a function to be held in the grounds of the High Commission. I’ll come with you to the bar, Charlotte and help with the bottles of wine that this lot are going to pay for to show how much they appreciate being saved from a horrible fate.”

The girls went off to their cabins together leaving Gwyneth and I to wait for Will and David who were having a conference with Andy. The girls were quite merry when they left which surprised me, because I had had as much to drink as they did and yet I felt no effects. I pushed my empty glass away, “It’s having no effect on me, I would be better off drinking coffee.”

“Not a good idea,” Gwyneth replied, “You’re having a reaction to the earlier excitement, coming down from the adrenaline rush and feeling guilty.”

“How did you know I was feeling guilty?”

“You were prepared and in fact did fire a machine gun at people and yet a few days ago you told everybody not to shoot any deer and now you are wondering why you can’t shoot an animal for food but will shoot another human being.”

“Yes, that’s exactly it and Faye was right, I shouldn’t have allowed her to come with me up to the viewing bridge.”

“When you were shooting at the helicopter and later the cruiser’s bridge were you consciously trying to kill the men inside them?”

I thought about it for a while and then shook my head, “No, I think I was shooting at the machines, not the occupants but I should have realised and probably did realise subconsciously that I couldn’t destroy the machine without hurting or killing the men inside them. I’m just glad the pilot and gunner on the helicopter where only injured and not killed even though they should have been. The same with the cruiser, I was blazing away at the windows and to be honest, I found it exciting when I saw the windows shatter and didn’t care about the men. The fact they too were only injured and not killed is purely luck. I don’t think I would have stopped firing even if I had seen them falling down dead. I was even prepared to shoot at men who had surrendered to Aurora. Not exactly the instincts or behaviour of a caring woman are they?”

“Exactly the instincts of a caring and loving woman. You were defending the ones you loved, your home. Women have been taking up arms to do that since the Stone Age. Queen Boadicea even went to the trouble of fixing knives to the wheels of her chariot long before she fought any Romans and she knew what those knives would do so she would have had no defence against a charge of premeditated murder.”

“The Romans had raped her daughters, she had good reason to want vengeance.”

“And if those drug runners, men who are probably the most merciless and violent of criminals had succeeded in boarding Pacific Wanderer, how do you think they would have treated Emma, Liz, Faye and you and I? At the very least they would have raped all of us and murdered us afterwards whilst they were laughing about it. You reacted as any woman would have done. Faye is the same when she found that the man with the missile launcher had only been seriously injured rather than killed she told me that she hadn’t aimed at him but was trying to hit the launcher! Not for a moment did she stop to think that if she had hit the launcher she might have detonated the missile which would have exploded right beside the man’s head and blown that apart.”

I smiled, “If she’d done that and is anything like me, she would still be out there picking up the pieces and apologising to each fragment. She told me that when her father took her hunting she always aimed to miss the deer.”

“They do have big soft eyes,” agreed Gwyneth, “I don’t think I could shoot one but there are a few people I’ve met I could easily chop up into small pieces. Here come Will and David, we can go to bed now.”

“I can’t, I might have to do a spell on the ship’s radio.”

“Forget the radio, Andy will sort that out.”

“He’s already arranged it. As soon as we get back to the island the radio is being left on listening watch, Ferret will deal with any messages and tomorrow the repairs will be carried out on the hull. And we should be able to resume our trip to New Zealand on the following day,” Will told us as he sat down and lifted the bottle of wine to see if there was any left.

“But there was nothing wrong with the hull, that was something we faked to make Andy hang back long enough to stop the cruiser from reaching the island,” I protested.

“You must be fey because a part of the weld had started cracking and there was a leak, a small one but it did indicate that my work wasn’t good enough to withstand the pressure once we were underway for a couple of hours and there was a heavy swell. The navy engineers are going to replace the plate at low tide. I’ve disgraced myself, let the side down, a total failure.”

David was chuckling, “Now tell them what the captain said.”

“Under the circumstances my work had been sound enough to keep Wanderer afloat in the lagoon but I could be excused for not realising how much stress and flexing the hull underwent when a ship was underway at any speed above dead slow.”

“Have I been forgiven for running amok with Faye?”

“Yes, he was impressed both with your understanding of combat at sea, marksmanship and the original method you used to bring the chopper down. As far as he can recall it is the first time an attacking aircraft has ever been shot down with parachute distress flares and he thanks you for bringing fame and glory to Aurora, Pacific Wanderer and Ferret but has issued orders that neither you nor Faye are to be allowed within twelve feet of any firearms or explosive devices whilst in the Southern Hemisphere.”

“He didn’t really say that did he?”

“Yes,” replied David “And he meant it. But I think he will allow you to do a shift on the radio.”

“You’ve also been forgiven by Harry Fellows for threatening to sink Aurora and has asked us to pass on to you that naval officers and men are not allowed a share in prize money, nor for that matter are naval ships awarded rewards for capturing or killing drug runners.”

“It’s a pity that,” said Gwyneth, “The cruiser was a pretty boat and it would be nice to keep here on the island.”

“Do not be disappointed,” David assured her. “The rules do not apply to civilians, you will be receiving a reward and he suggests that if you would prefer, the New Zealand Government will be happy to let you keep the Cruiser in lieu of cash but they will need to go over it for evidence and you can’t have the heroin but they will replace the windows that Charlotte smashed.”

“Was there very much heroin?” I asked.

“A great deal,” David assured her, “It was quite a coup, that’s why everybody is pleased with you. They estimate that there was enough to keep a city the size of London supplied for weeks.”

“How long before we get back to the island, we’ll be travelling very slowly?”

“Two or three hours but we’re only going to anchor tonight and beach the ship in the morning if she needs it. Now you look tired and how’s your wound?” asked Will holding out his hand to me, “Bed I think, come on.”

I didn’t argue and got up, “What about your leg.”

“Fine, I’ve had six stitches but the muscle and bone are fine.”

I grinned, “I beat you, I had eight stitches.”

The next morning Will was awake before me and I enjoyed the luxury of coffee in bed with two biscuits which did nothing to assuage my hunger, I was ravenous.

“We’re in the news,” Emma greeted us when we joined them for breakfast, “But Faye has stolen the top spot in the New York Times and Washington Post. You don’t have to worry though, you’re still headline news in London.”

“We’ve all had a mention,” Liz was holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a fork with a piece of sausage in the other trying to make up her mind if she was starving or dehydrated, “Gwyneth for treating the wounded whilst under fire, me and Emma for helping her and Faye for giving you covering fire and saving your life.”

“And Mark is being promoted to Chief Petty Officer which will bump up his pension when he leaves the navy,” added Garry as he placed our breakfasts in front of us and I had two sausages.

“The rumour is that Lieutenant Commander Fellows is to be promoted to commander and may get a destroyer as his next command but don’t say anything yet.”

“I’m going to make an objection, that’s the same rank as me, I’m not having that I want promotion as well, what’s the next rank up?”

“Captain but then you’ll lose you share of the reward because they will have to make your current rank permanent and not unpaid temporary and as a serving officer you will not be entitled to rewards or prize money.”

“Oh! In that case I’ll stay as I am or this lot won’t let me use the cruiser when it’s my turn. What about if I make it official about being Empress of Charlotte Island?”

“That would upset the Prime Minister of New Zealand because you’d outrank him,” Gwyneth pointed out.

“What can I do then?”

“Ask New Zealand to take you under their wing and become a county. Then Will would become a Count and you a Countess and get to wear a diamond studded tiara.”

“Dracula was a count,” the love of my life pointed out, “And you do appear to have an above normal blood lust,” he then switched to being gallant, “Vampiresses are also extremely beautiful if we are to believe Hammer Films, have you checked your canine teeth recently?”

“Before I cut your throat to test your theory, what’s happening today?”

“A few of us will carry out the repairs to Wanderer but the rest of you can spend the day on the beach if you wish.”

“Shall we, the water in the lagoon is warm enough for swimming and we could have a barbecue and beach camp fire this evening. If we send Faye off with a rifle she can get a wild boar and we can spit roast it.”

“No I can’t they’ve locked the guns away and you can’t go swimming because of your war wound but I’m all for a day on the beach and a picnic. We can challenge the crew of Aurora to beach volley ball.”

We did have our barbecue, three in fact. The seamen had gone off and caught a wild pig and the other fires were used for roasting fish wrapped in leaves, and Victor and his cooks had made all sorts of bread, sausage rolls and pasties and they had been cooked on the third fire and there were groups of us sitting around eating and chatting and above us a perfect night sky without a moon but billions of stars lit the beach. One of the electricians had run power down from the
cave and we even had music to dance to.

The feeling I had experienced at the stern of Pacific Wanderer returned, I just didn’t want to leave but Gwyneth made it easier; “The Captain has told me that the drug cruiser is going back with us and we can travel on that if we prefer.”

“Where will they get the crew from?” asked Faye, “They are already short of men.”

“He said two were being borrowed from Ferret and one more from Orca and if we can manage to do our own stewarding and cooking, then it will only need Gareth Phillips, Will, David and Charlotte to run the cruiser.”

“I’m not sure I know enough about driving boats to be of any help,” I said, “I’m okay on the radio and radar but don’t know very much about navigating.”

“That’s all they want, he told me. The man from Orca is a sub-lieutenant and with you helping, the rest can be covered by us. It’s only a pleasure boat and is designed to be operated by four or five people for fishing, drunken orgies and stuff like that. He reckons that it will only take four days on her compared with eight on Pacific Wanderer because they will have to keep her speed down until the repairs have been checked by the dockyard in Auckland.”

“What about the windows that Calamity Jane broke?” asked Emma.
They can repair all but two of them and fill the holes in the bridge made by the bullets and the rest can be done in New Zealand.”

“Unless we have a monsoon,” said happy go lucky Faye.

“I’m all for it,” I told them, “I had a quick look around her this afternoon and it’s luxurious inside. She even has water skis so we can do that for some of the journey.”

“Oh yeah, what about you?” Liz looked at the others for support, “She could ski in her dance clothes and get Neptune all excited.”

“I’d be glad to but David would stop me because of my stitches.”

“I’d love to travel in her though,” Liz said, “We could laze around drinking exotic cocktails all day and then go to bed between silk sheets. But we’d be out there on our own because Aurora would have to stay with Pacific Wanderer.”

Gwyneth shook her head, “No we wouldn’t, Maritime 5 and the AWAC would be able to keep their eyes on us and Charlotte could call for help if we needed it.”

“Let’s do it that way then,” I said wiping my greasy fingers on a palm leaf. “Does anybody want another drink whilst we’re discussing a new name for her?”

“The Heavenly Maidens,” suggested Liz when I returned with our drinks.

I nearly dropped the tray of drinks, “Heavenly Maidens? Who did you think of when you dreamed that up.”

“Us of course, “We’re all divinely beautiful and would grace any pleasure boat.”

“We don’t qualify on two counts,” said Emma, “Heavenly and maidens.”

“She’s thinking on the right lines though,” I dished out the drinks, “A slight adjustment and it would be perfect and comply with the Trades Description Act. How about The Five Sirens?”

“No, we’d be followed by sailors everywhere we went,” protested Faye.

“So?”

Gwyneth started chuckling, “I think she should be called Chastity if only for safety’s sake.”

“Undine.” Faye looked at each of us then out at the starlit lagoon and back to us. “Undine,” she repeated. “This is a magical island, Charlotte has discovered that and the new boat should have a magical name to help her forget the bad things she was made to do in the past.”

“But water sprites have no soul,” pointed out Gwyneth.

“They do if they marry a mortal, they gain a mortal soul and we’re all marrying mortals so the boat would have all our souls. Yes, it is magical, I’ll second that.” I stood up, “Shall I go and get a bottle of champagne and we’ll drink a toast to her?”

They all nodded, “We’ll keep what’s left over and mix it with water from the pool near the cave and we can christen her tomorrow,” said Gwyneth, “And then the magic of the water sprites from the pool will always show her the way home.”

26

There were five nymphs lounging on the rear deck of ‘Undine’ drinking non-alcoholic cocktails invented by Liz and watching a pair of dolphins playing in the wake of the boat as she cruised along at twenty miles an hour, her bow pointed at Auckland.

“I’m not so sad today. When I left the island on Pacific Wanderer last week I was homesick before we had gone two miles but I’m okay with it now, well okay for enough time to complete my tasks.”

“There’s an ancient legend amongst the natives of Charlotte Island; if you leave the island by sea and are escorted by dusky dolphins at the beginning of your journey, it is a sign that you will return before the season changes,” said Gwyneth.

“How ancient?” asked Faye.

“Eons.”

“How can there be an ancient, eons old legend amongst natives who have lived on the island for a few weeks?” Emma had a grin on her face, “Are you so old you’ve been here before?”
“Hush child and doubt me not, strange are the ways of the Gods of the South Pacific.”

“I believe it,” I said, “I wish I had swam with them before I left, I’ll make sure I do when I get back.”

“Have you ever swam with dolphins when you’ve been diving?” asked Liz, “I’ve always wanted to do it.”

“Not with dolphins but I did play with a seal once when I was in the Scilly Isles on holiday.”

“What was it like?”

“Good fun, it let me stroke it and scratch it just like a dog does and a couple of times it let me take hold of it and it swam along with me holding on but the first time my mask slipped and the second time the speed made me lose my mouthpiece. It would swim off for a few metres and then suddenly turn round and come diving straight at me really fast and as it went by the turbulence caused by its speed, turned me topsy-turvy.”

“Didn’t it scare you?” asked Gwyneth.

“No, not really, it took me by surprise the first time but I had been warned they can be playful and do things like that. I’m definitely going to try and make friends with the dolphins when I get back. I’d love to swim onto their backs and hold on to the dorsal fin whilst they went full speed through the water it would beat water skiing.”

“What about whales, killer whales? There’s quite a lot of information about them on Orca which there should be bearing in mind the name of the ship,” said Emma, “I’ve promised myself to do some research on them one day when my Arctic work allows me the time.” She turned to me, “If you teach me to dive properly, we could go and see if there are any around the island, they do live in this part of the Pacific.”

“Okay, we’ll do that, I think they are safe because there are no records of unprovoked attacks on humans but they’re big, we might be killed or injured accidentally.”

“That can happen at any time,” Liz pointed out, “You can be killed by disturbing the wrong kind of snake or spider when probing about in the undergrowth or long grass.”

“Okay, when I return from England, we’ll do that, I’m going to dive again anyway.”

“I’ll gen up on them as well, they are dolphins by the way, not whales and they are partial to salmon so if we have salmon coming near the island, we should find Orca.”

“You can tame one to catch fish for us, tuna, lobster or even a salmon or two from New Zealand.” said Gwyneth.

“That’s my cue to prepare lunch unless it’s somebody else’s turn?” I got up and stretched,

“Will grilled stonefish do?”

“Lovely,” said Emma, “Don’t forget to peel them.”

“I have never seen so many warships in one place except Portsmouth on a review day.”

“Most of them are inshore patrol vessels and that large one over there is a missile destroyer,” answered Will.

“Do they have any aircraft carriers?”

“None that I’ve heard of, even the Royal Navy can barely afford them anymore. There’s that helicopter and assault support ship, that’s about as close as they have.”

“Why are there so many here. Shouldn’t they be out patrolling for enemy submarines and stuff?”

“They heard you were coming and the New Zealand Government considers that defence of the Homeland must take priority.”

I laughed, “If Faye had her rifle here as well I would believe that.”

He changed the subject, “You’re still okay with having to go on to the UK next week without me?”

“Yes, now that Gwyneth is coming with me, I will at least have somebody I know to talk to as long as you’re there when I have my surgery.”

“I will be, I promise but there won’t be any problems because if anything crops up at the meetings I shall just defer any decisions until we get back. You’re quite certain you want to go ahead?”

“Yes, I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’ve read all the stuff that Randolph and Duncan have recommended. I know who I am now, no more confusion and I’ve been very happy on the island. It’s as if a great, heavy cloud has been lifted from my shoulders and it wasn’t just being on the island with you. It was also discovering myself, realising who I am, who I should have been all these past years and I seem to have discovered a purpose to my life; you and the Island.”

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me gently, “Remember that if you do want to cancel the operation, I’ll be happy with your decision and it won’t make any difference to the way I love you.”

“And you’ll be just as happy about me, still in love with me if I go ahead?”

“Yes, the important thing is that you should do what you want, be who you want to be and continue to love me. I’ve given a lot of thought to the warning they gave us about something going wrong and your losing your zest for our physical love making and even though I recognise it is an important part of our relationship, it isn’t everything. It’s your companionship, you’re being here and sharing things with me, our being able to talk to each other without having to use words, that is the important part, the vital part, the joining of our minds, the knowing that even when we are apart, we are still together.”

“It’s only a slim chance that I will lose my sex drive though.”

“I know and however it comes out, I’m still going to be there beating you if my dinner is late.”

“I didn’t think it would take so long. I thought a week pre-med, an operation and then a couple of weeks recovery and that was it. But three to six months, Will, I don’t think I can wait six months before I return to the Island.”

“No reason why you should have to. Duncan told me that after six weeks you will probably be able to travel back here particularly if we do the journey in stages.”

“Hurry them along with Pacific Wanderer’s repairs, we could fly from London to Singapore and she could meet us there and we can get married and honeymoon on a cruise back to the Island.”

He smiled, I’ll see what I can fix but we will need to raise a crew for her.”

“We’ll load up with cargo for Australia, New Zealand and the Island and pay for the trip that way. It will be our honeymoon and Wanderer’s maiden voyage as our ship.”

“I’ll speak to them, if not we can stop in Singapore for a couple of weeks and fly back here after a rest.”

“When our wheels touch down,” I began as I fastened my seatbelt for the landing at Heathrow,
“It will be the last time Charles Broughton ever returns to England.”

Gwyneth smiled, “Don’t let him worry; Charlotte can carry his messages in future.”

“No, he won’t be sending any messages. From now on Charlotte will do all his thinking for him and he already believes that it was time he went away and left me be. It’s Charlotte’s life now and he has vowed never to interfere again.”

“You’ve decided to go ahead.”

“Yes but I’m still scared.”

Gwyneth turned in towards me as far as the seat belt allowed, “I’ll ask the question that David would have asked had he been here. Are you scared of the operation itself which is quite normal, most people are frightened by the idea of being cut open, or are you scared of what comes after?”

“After, definitely after. As far as the surgery itself is concerned I am a little apprehensive but nothing more than that. It’s the result that worries me. If I wake up and nothing has changed about me, if I am still the Charlotte that fell in love with Will, that still enjoys the wonderful love-making we share, the Charlotte that is in love with a tiny atoll in the South Pacific and still wants to spend her life there, exploring, building and keeping a beautiful house, swimming on and under the sea, having fun with my new friends, dancing and everything else we have done over the past few weeks then the operation will have been a wonderful success and the last of my hurdles will have been jumped,” I hesitated whilst I thought a little, “But if I wake up a different person, a person that doesn’t want those things anymore, then I will want to die.”

“Duncan did tell you that there was a better than 80% chance that your first alternative would be the result. Things have progressed at a very fast rate since those early days and that coupled with a greater understanding of genetics has ensured that gender correction surgery is a straight forward, often undertaken procedure, easier and more successful than many other everyday operations. I’ve watched you, even watched over you to some extent and listened to you, your understanding of other people, your quick humour and enthusiasm for life and I think that perhaps your need to have the operation is more cosmetic than necessity. You feel you won’t be a complete woman until those odd bits that belonged to Charles have gone.”

“Yes, of course they have to go, they are no use, spoil my appearance and for as long as they are there, the only thing they are likely to do is become diseased, atrophy and become gangrenous. Have you ever heard of an intersexed or transsexual women catching gangrene of the gonads?”

Gwyneth laughed, “No but I’ll mention it to David and ask him to keep his eyes open and let me know.” She reached out to my lap and squeezed my hand, “Charlotte the only difference will be your weight, you will have lost a few ounces unless you go for a boob job as well and end up double D.”

“With my frame! I’d look like a pair of lollipops stuck together.”

“Yes you would. When you wake up your first question will probably be, ‘Did they do it?’ and then you’ll start complaining about the diet, catheter and having to lay in bed all day and your hands will become sore.”

“My hands? Why do they become sore?”

“It’s the nurse slapping them away when you try to lift the dressing to see what they’ve done.”
I smiled and nodded my head enthusiastically, “That I can promise,” and then we felt the bump as the wheels of our aircraft kissed the runway and Charles Broughton disappeared.

The water was warm with occasional pockets where it was cooler but not uncomfortable and above us there was a cover of gold and white where the sun played hide and seek with an occasional cloud across the surface of the lagoon. From time to time there was a sparkle of white diamonds as a stray sprite of wind broke the surface and the diamonds descended a little way to greet the silver and yellow bubbles that drifted to the surface each time I breathed out.
My companion looked up, gave a series of excited squeaks and swam up to break the surface and flip over before diving again to present me with a million diamonds that danced around me. I reached out to show my gratitude and the dolphin lifted its head and I scratched and stroked it for a few seconds before we both turned and dived towards the reef and its garden of coral and underwater blossoms. A hundred species of tropical fish darted back and forth in alarm at our sudden intrusion into their gentle world and then calmed when they realised we were not predators come to feed.

For a while we swam a foot above the coral, following the contours of the reef until I felt a sudden sharp pain on the inside of my thigh, I looked back and saw a large lobster release its claw and sink back into its hole so I ignored it until another pain stabbed the area of my groin and looking down I saw a crab had taken hold of me in the genitals and when I cried out, the dolphin batted it away with its nose and we resumed the exploration of our underwater garden and nothing else stabbed me but I did have a moment when a sea cucumber brushed against my lower abdomen and it tickled. The dolphin looked at me, an enquiry in its eyes but I smiled and shook my head and reached down and stroked the trespasser until it too swam off as we reached the end of the reef and gazed down the underwater cliff into the dark purple and green of a kelp forest. The dolphin gave a short whistle and I took hold of its dorsal fin and it arched up to the surface spinning faster and faster until we broke the surface of the sea and entered a bright yellow and green kaleidoscope, arching into a back flip to fall again into a sea of brilliant diamonds. I let go of the dolphin and still upright it used its tail to swim back and away from me and the pips and whistles translated themselves in my head, “We must do this again, many times when you return,” and then it smiled and swam through the exit from the lagoon and into the wide open Pacific.

Gwyneth and then Will’s faces appeared in front of me, “I didn’t know you could dive as well?” I asked, “And you’ve taken off your face masks and mouthpieces.”

They looked at each other puzzled, “Face masks?” asked Gwyneth.

“I was swimming in the lagoon with a dolphin, over a reef, I didn’t see you, did you follow? I was nipped by a large lobster, just here,” and I reached under the sheet to my thigh and felt bandages. “Oh did I faint and who dressed the wound?” My hand slid up to where the crab had gripped me, “And here as well and why is it padded so much and this tube, did the sea cucumber leave it here, it tickled me?” and then my eyes focused and I recognised the hospital recovery room and remembered lying on the table and the anaesthetic mask being placed over my face, “Oh, the operation, they’ve done it.” I tried to lift my head but started to feel dizzy and sank back onto the pillow, “It was so beautiful, so many bright colours and I was surrounded by diamonds, bright diamonds large ones and tiny ones, and the dolphin has promised to come back and swim with me again and make sure I’m not attacked by any lobsters or crabs, they hurt me.”

A nurse appeared and took hold of my wrist, “How do you feel, a bit woozy?”

“A bit, I supposed it was the way the dolphin was spinning when he leapt out of the sea…”

The End of Volume 1

A letter to my readers;
I did a word count on ‘Footsteps In The Sea’ and it stands at 175,447 and I have nearly finished chapter 38. I had thought I would have completed the story at 250,000 words and intended to separate it into two novels but it is going to go on, there is still too much to write about, too many questions to be answered and they will produce more questions, more adventures.

Just in case I forget, have a lovely Christmas Holiday, believe in Santa Clause and Rudolph and don’t forget to watch The Snowman on the goggle-box.

Thank you again for your wonderful support,
Frances.

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Footprints in the Sea Volume 3
Chapter 1
The Enchanted Island
By
Frances Penwiddy

Copyright©Frances Penwiddy 2015

The characters in this novel are fictitious and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental
Footprints in the Sea is not suitable as reading matter for minors.

Volume 3
Chapter 46 Please note the chapter numbers begin where Vol 2 ended.
The Enchanted Island

Introduction
Having completed her operation in England, Charlotte and Will return to their island in the South Pacific. There is a rush to familiarise themselves with the progress made in their absence, make new friends and renew old acquaintances.

Perhaps it is a reaction to the events of the past eight months, shipwrecked, marooned, her sexuality confused? Then a battle for her life on the high seas and the biggest shock of all; discovering that all her life she had been intersexed, a male and female sharing the same brain and body and all of this followed by the recent string of astonishing discoveries. Is that too much to ask of a person with XXY chromosomes?

Chapter 46

Will and I sat at a highly polished, rectangular table on either side of Sir Wilmot Martindale the representative from the Governor General’s office. Running down from our table were two others at which sat a rear admiral from the New Zealand Defence Ministry, a senior civil servant from Home Affairs, another from the Environmental Office and at the second of the tables were a government constitutional lawyer, a chief scientific advisor from the New Zealand Antarctic Survey team and the police chief superintendent in charge of the drug investigation with a representative from the Crown Prosecution Service at his side.

“This meeting has been called to discuss two matters of which one is most urgent and the second, though very important will not suffer from being delayed if it becomes necessary,” began Sir Wilmot, “Charlotte Broughton and William Devonshire are known to you and you have already been formally introduced at the reception we held earlier so as they are currently the recognised chief executives and have sovereign rights over Charlotte Island I would ask them if we may proceed with the more urgent business and that is the incident involving the MS Pacific Wanderer and the motor cruiser operated by the South American drug smuggling operation.”

He looked at me and I nodded, “This is being handled by Mr. Devonshire so I will defer to him.”

“Right.” Will began, “Miss Broughton and I have both made our statements to Chief Superintendent Stone’s officers and so, I believe, have Doctor and Mrs Williams. I cannot speak for the other witnesses on board Pacific Wanderer at the time of the action so I think it best at this stage if I ask him to present us with an update.”

I left the meeting after we had gone into the details of the court case and left Will to negotiate on our behalf when they got down to the business of the island’s status and its relationship with New Zealand. I knew the rough details but as for the nitty gritty of protocols and relationships with other nations, I was lost. I understood that New Zealand would speak on our behalf on the international stage and had undertook the responsibilities of defence and stuff like that and we had agreed that The Queen as Head of State of New Zealand would also be the Head of State for the island and that the Governor General of New Zealand in her capacity of the Queen’s Representative would need to appoint somebody to represent her. That would be a person who would need to live on the island, but I had ideas about that so wasn’t unduly worried.

I was woken from my thoughts as I walked through the reception area of the Governor General’s office. “Commander Broughton, I’m your escort when you are alone.” A tall, rather hard looking character offered me an identity wallet with his picture and a badge from the Governor General’s office but as tough looking as he was he was a good looking man.

“I’m in civvies so I’m Miss Broughton at the moment, well until I get married, then I’ll become Mrs. Devonshire and when they ratify the status of the island, I don’t know who I’ll be. Lady Devonshire, Empress Charlotte or just the Hon, Charlotte Devonshire, Lady Protector of the Sovereign State of Charlotte Island.”

He smiled and walked alongside me towards the doors, already being held open by a security man, “We have a car waiting for you and I will be nearby all the time until this court case is over.”

“What about Will, I mean Mr. Devonshire?”

“He’s ex special forces and only warrants an unmarked police car.”

I nodded, “He’s wearing lace-up shoes and can defend himself so he’ll be okay. What about the other witnesses?”

“All being taken care of.” I smiled a thank you at the security man to acknowledge his salute and allowed my guardian to steer me towards a Mercedes. He glanced around quickly, opened the door and I stepped in and sat on the offside of the rear seat and he followed but sat on the nearside of the seats facing me. “You’re returning to your hotel?”

“Yes please.”

The car pulled away and for a few seconds my guardian looked out of the rear window and then spoke into a button microphone on his lapel. “On our way to the hotel and all clear,” and returned his attention to me. “Sorry about the performance but it is necessary.”

“That’s okay, I had something similar in England. Is it really needed?”

“New Zealand attracts a large number of visitors and though our border checks are thorough, there’s always a small chance that somebody might slip through the net and we know they have one or two people working for them here even though they are only minor players. If we thought there was a real chance of an attempt on you, there would have been a police car in front and another behind.”

“The sooner this court case is over, the better.”

“You’ll still have a chauffeured limousine though because then you’ll be a visiting state dignitary.”

“That’s okay, it will save me the trouble of finding a cab at busy times.”

We arrived at my hotel and I allowed him out first so he could catch me when I swooned if a tough character approached us and he escorted me through to the hotel residents’ saloon. “I won’t be far away and if you do decide to leave the hotel, let the concierge know and we’ll bring the car round to the main entrance. There’s one of our blokes looking after Dr and Mrs Williams so I’m not needed in here,” and with a nod he walked off speaking quietly into his button microphone.

“Does Will know you’re seeing a tall dark handsome stranger?” asked Gwyneth as soon as I joined them.

“He wouldn’t care, he’s happier chatting about democracy, protocols and constitutions with his New Zealand mates, probably chatting about the Rugby World Cup as well.”

“And you got bored and ducked out of the meeting?” asked David with a smile.

“It wasn’t my idea. It was Wilmot, the man standing in for the Governor-General. I think it had something to do with the yawn I couldn’t control when the policeman finished talking.”

“And you protested?” grinned Gwyneth.

“Certainly not, Wilmot was most diplomatic and said, as I had other duties to undertake and if I was agreeable to the acting premier speaking on my behalf and on behalf of the Legislative Council he saw no reason to detain me unnecessarily as I had such a busy schedule.”

“Busy schedule?” asked David.

“Preparing for a state occasion of course. An important state occasion that will, over time, have considerable influence on the manner in which Charlotte Island affairs will be conducted.”

“Wedding dresses, weddings and bridesmaids,” explained Gwyneth.

“Ah yes, of course but you won’t have time for that today.”

“Tomorrow. Today I am caring for the needs of my loyal subjects, where are the other three and their loved ones?”

“Shopping of course,” Gwyneth caught the eye of a waiter, “Could we have another pot of tea please.”

“And cakes, a mixed selection if you would. And perhaps you would ask the tall gentleman sitting at the table close to the door, the man in the dark suit if he would like something.”

“Of course your Ladyship, will he be joining you?”

“I don’t think so, he’ll prefer to sit where he is, but ask him if he would prefer a sandwich instead of cakes.”

Gwyneth was grinning, “Your Ladyship?”

“Of course, I’m a head of state now. The officials keep calling me Commander and most of the others are calling me Miss Broughton or Your Ladyship. Haven’t you seen the courtesy flags outside the hotel?”

“No, I didn’t take much notice.”

“There’s the New Zealand flag, the Stars and Stripes, The Union Jack, the Australian flag and right in the middle is the Charlotte Island Flag, it’s the same as the New Zealand Flag with a dusky dolphin in a curved leap in the middle of the Southern Cross. Will arranged it whilst we were in London and once it was approved by the College of Heralds and the New Zealand Government, they had some made. There’s one on Pacific Wanderer another big one at the island and a few others stored at the island in the cave. The Stars and Stripes is for Faye I expect and the Union Jack for you, Liz and Emma.”

David laughed, “I doubt it’s for us specifically, there are other guests from the countries you mentioned who are staying here and it’s normal practice for larger hotels to fly the flags of the nations represented in their guest list.”

“What about the Charlotte Island Flag, I suppose that’s for all of us as well. There’s Will and I, you and Gwyneth, and Liz, Emma and Faye they are all entitled to Charlotte Island nationality, they have lived on the island for three months which is what you need to do. All the others weren’t residents technically, they were servicemen in the navy.”

“Well whose the man you ordered tea and sandwiches for?”

“You bodyguard, didn’t you notice him?” They both shook their heads. “He’s the only one who looks like a bodyguard, we’ll know when he stands up and walks, he’ll have a limp.”

“Why would he have a limp, he can’t be disabled if he’s a bodyguard?” asked Gwyneth.

“It’s because he probably has a grenade launcher hanging down inside his trouser leg.”

There was the sound of laughter coming from the reception lobby and a worried assistant manager approached our table, “Lady Charlotte, Dr. and Mrs. Williams, some of our other guests have voiced their intention of joining you for tea?”

“Three men and three women, rather disreputable types, noisy, not the sort of people we might wish to share a table with?” I asked.

The assistant manager looked nervously over his shoulder, “I would not go so far as describing them as disreputable but they are certainly noisy and I suspect they are not members of the diplomatic corps.”

“I should hope not indeed. Are they drunk or just in a merry but sober mood.”

The assistant manager looked horrified, “Lady Charlotte I assure you that had we suspected they were drunk they would have been removed from the hotel or as guests, very firmly escorted to their rooms and told to quieten down or settle their bills and leave.
”
“Quite right but they can join us and if they continue to make a nuisance of themselves, I’ll have them executed under Charlotte Island Sovereign Laws. We will need a larger table though and ask them to leave their bags and packages with one of your people.”

“Are you sure they won’t disrupt you own tea?”

“Certain, none of them would dare upset me. You’d best lay a place for Premier Devonshire he may also join us later if he completes his business with the Governor General.”

He raised a hand and signalled one of the waiters, “Set the Queen Elizabeth table for Lady Charlotte’s party please and ask the Maître-D to see me.” He returned his attention to me, “For ten people, Lady Charlotte? You at the top and Premier Devonshire at the bottom?”

“Ten people I expect but that depends on the Premier arriving and just set it for an informal gathering if you would. We shall stay and have tea and then we must go to our rooms to rest and prepare for dinner this evening.”

“A table for ten again?”

“If you would be so kind.” And with a noticeable bow of the head he left to make the arrangements and oversee the setting of the Queen Elizabeth table. Gwyneth was grinning all over her face and David was chuckling. “You are really shoving your diplomatic clout about now.”

“And I’d better make sure my loyal bloody subjects behave themselves as well and you can stop grinning Gwyneth or I’ll make sure your Maid of Honour frock has a hem six inches above the knee.”

“If you do, me and Kate will get up and do the can-can half way through the ceremony.”

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The complete version of Footprints in the Sea Vol 3 will be available on Amazon Kindle on or shortly before July 1, 2017 and can be accessed via the URL in the right hand column of the of the Big Closet Top Shelf home page;

Footprints in the Sea

By
Frances Penwiddy

Copyright © Frances Penwiddy 2017
The characters in this novel are fictitious and any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental

Footprints in the Sea includes erotic scenes and is not considered suitable reading material for minors

Footprints in the Sea Volume 4 continues from where Volumes 1,2 and 3 ended. If you have not read the earlier volumes I would advise that you do so for the plot and characters of volume 4 to have impact. For those who have been following the adventures of Charlotte and her husband Will Devonshire, the story continues with a reprise of chapter 70.

Reprise

Chapter 70

“You look absolutely stunning. It’s unbelievable that a little over two hours ago you were sitting on a grassy mound crying your eyes out because you had a few muddy streaks on your skirt. Look at you now, a picture; a picture so lovely I’m tempted to scorn the use of the buggy and walk along Goats Cove High Street all the way to The Promenade at Revelation Bay just so the mad scientists could look out of their laboratory windows and envy me.”

“Liar, but don’t let that stop you, tell me more,” I left the dressing table chair and went over to him and put my hands on his shoulders which took a little stretching because I hadn’t any shoes on. “Go on, tell me more, I’m listening and I’m a very good wife, I’m paying you the utmost attention.”

He didn’t say anything, just rested his hands on my waist, pressed lightly and lifted me into a lovely kiss, a tender kiss and equally tenderly he lowered me back to the carpet.

“That’s good, I loved every word and later, you must tell me more and I’ll listen as avidly as I have just done.”

“Slip your shoes on and we’ll be on our way and give the scientists a treat, should I bring my pistol?”

“I’ll keep my shoes off until we’re on the quayside, it’s safer. I’m very good on old steps and grassy slopes but a boat that’s rising and falling whilst I’m trying to step off it is beyond my abilities and these stockings are nylon and expensive and if I’m not careful, I’ll run out of supplies until I can shop in New Zealand.”

“I wouldn’t want that, want me to carry you in case you ladder them?”

“Yes please and no pinching my bum.”

When he were on the quayside we walked towards the car park and saw both electric buses waiting, “In here, Charlie,” called Christine waving from the first, “We’ve kept seats for you.”
We climbed up and had a lovely surprise, David, Gwyneth and the three girls were there and Christine and ‘J’ were sitting together and at the back was Larry with a very pretty, brown haired girl wearing black horn rimmed glasses, a white peasant’s blouse and black full skirt and three inch heels. “Are we having a party?” I asked Christine.

“I hope you don’t mind but as you were a bit upset earlier I invited your friends from the posh side and we’ve organised a dance at the Revelation Bay Club. We’ve hired the orchestra you had at your wedding and there’s the sound system and the bar is stocked. There’s food laid on as well, your cook on Pacific Wanderer sorted it out and sent it over.”

“Was it Will that upset you,” asked Emma.

“Probably kept molesting her, we need to have a word with him,” threatened Faye.

“Don’t do that,” I said in alarm, “He might take you seriously and I like it when he molests me.”

“So do I,” Will grinned, “And I’ll strangle anybody who tries to stop me.”

The second bus was filled now and people were climbing onto the back of an electric low loader. “There’s a lot of people coming.”

“We’re the second wave, when they drop us off, they’re returning for three more loads. The word got around that there’s a dance and it’s the first we’ve held on this side,” explained Christine, “We’re charging ten NZ dollars entry to pay for the food so I’ll give that to you and you can give it to your chef friend to pay for the food.”

“Will, did you bring any money?”

“Not much, about fifty pounds.”

“That won’t be enough, I’ll pop back to Undine and get mine.”

“You haven’t time, we’re moving off,” said Faye, “Don’t worry about money,” she dug into her bag and held up a wad of notes, “I’ve about twenty dollars US and another two thousand in Confederate money.”

“And I’ve got this,” said Liz holding up a gold bullion bar.

“Where did you get that!”

“Chrissie gave it to me to check in the lab but I’ll spend it instead, it must be enough.”

“And some,” I answered looking at Christine.

“She’s kidding, we don’t need money and that’s not the real bar, it’s a plaster fake we made and painted. Good isn’t it.”

I nodded, “We can make a load more out of pewter or lead and sell them to the tourists. How come we don’t need money?”

“People stationed here can run a tab and it’s taken out of their salaries each month, the same as the system in the forces messes. They’ll give you one without any probs but you won’t need it, Will can pay yours because he keeps upsetting you. Where did you get your dress, London?”

“The West End, there’s quite a lot of retro stuff around, it’s becoming more popular every year. If you want something like it, there’s loads on the Internet.”

“I want one, I’ll have to be nice to ‘J’, I have a birthday in November and then Christmas, he can get me the dress for Christmas.”

I jotted down the URL of a website and gave it to her. “Skirts, blouses, dresses, lingerie, the lot, anything from about 1930 through to 65. Some of their stuff is genuine from those dates but most is modern reproductions. But,” I smoothed the peach coloured skirt of the dress out and lifted the hem to show the petticoat, “Very full and not the sort of thing to wear in the monsoon season.”

“I can see that but I’ll get one for the spring and early summer.”

We arrived at the club and piled out and made straight for the bar, I had got rid of the depression and fear I had earlier and was in the mood to party.

David and Gwyneth had beaten us to it and David waved me across, “White wine?” he asked pointing to the only remaining chair at their table.

“Yes, thank you but aren’t you joining the crowd, I need you as my tango partner.”

He smiled, “Yes, shortly but I would like to have a word with you, a personal doctor and patient word, would you like Gwyneth to leave us alone?”

“If you’re going to chat me up, I’d prefer she stays, you’re a married man.”

“I’ll chat you up during the tango, now answer the question.”

“Of course Gwyneth stays, she’s my chief mentor and confident. Has somebody been sneaking on me about this afternoon?” I asked sitting down.

“It wasn’t sneaking, it was a very concerned husband asking a doctor for advice.”

“What did he tell you and more importantly, what did you tell him?” I felt Gwyneth’s hand take a hold of mine but she left the answer for David.

“I told him that the only thing I was prepared to say was that Randolph is coming here for a visit next week and that was all, apart from asking him to get you to have a word with me. The fact that you are married now does make some difference to patient-doctor confidence. When a doctor thinks a spouse might be a way of getting the patient to see him, then he is at liberty to arrange it.”

“It’s about my nervous breakdown this afternoon?”

He smiled, “Hardly a nervous breakdown and yes it is, do you want to tell us about it?”

I shrugged, “There’s nothing to tell really. I was doing a bit of exploring, dug up a casket and inside were boxes and bags containing gems, lots of gems. Now I hear there’s small bullion bars as well and all of them date back two thousand years or more. After the discovery of the altar house and the gold Celtic torc and the beacon at the entrance to Aurora Inlet and then today, my discovering a casket of such value and in an odd place to hide things, I just got very frightened and started to run away. Will came after me and I bawled my eyes out and then slowly got back to normal. I’m still a little scared at the way things are happening to me. This, to say the very least, has been a traumatic, scary and life changing year. I’m going to be very wary of digging holes, looking into nooks and crannies or any other sort of nosy activity. If I find something else like today’s discovery I might just go totally catatonic and kill anybody who tries to help me recover.”

“You can’t find a rational explanation as to why these things are happening?”

“It isn’t the things happening, David, it’s the ‘Why Me’ and not one of the others that scares me . Why I have dreams about ancient Greek women and see pagan goddesses and fairies and having the feeling that somebody is guiding me, protecting me helping me to discover things, putting crazy daydreams into my head which lead to these discoveries.”

“You haven’t tried to rationalise these events?”

“Yes, I’ve being trying most of the afternoon and to some extent I have succeeded but there’s still a doubt nagging at the bottom of my subconscious.”

“I’m going to leave Randolph to speak to you if you’re willing to see him…”

“Yes of course I’ll see him in fact I want to see him.”

“Good. This much I will say without pre-empting Randolph, who I have already spoken to. The events over the past few days can all be explained rationally. It is an unusual string of coincidences I agree but all have rational explanations, even the pagan goddesses and sprite’s. You’re not going whacky or having a nervous breakdown but to some extent you are having a reaction to two or three major incidents in your life and I am not including the dreams and visions in any of that.
“First there was your Aunt Molly’s death, then shortly after that you are shipwrecked and marooned on a desert island with little chance of rescue. When you beat the odds and are rescued you are diagnosed as intersexed and that alone is about as large a trauma as anybody of your age can have. You countered all of these events by finding a large number of accepting friends but then had another trauma to add to the list. A ship you were travelling on is attacked by heavily armed pirates and drug smugglers and you were instrumental in beating them off. Soon after you suffered the realisation that during this event, you discovered yourself capable of killing other people. I suspect you still haven’t come to terms with the fact that your actions were a perfectly normal thing when a human being, male or female, finds themselves having to defend loved ones who are under attack.
“Finally, you marry and suddenly discover just how much in love you are and took on the total commitment of accepting the responsibility for another person…”

“It works both ways, I know Will feels the same…”

“Of course he does and part of that commitment was to come to me for advice. He didn’t want to know if you were unstable, insane or a freak. He wanted to know what he could do to help you. Now that’s all I’m going to say because Randolph is the psychiatrist and will make a better job of it.”
We got up from our table and went over to the rowdy mixture of scientists and beach bums that my once disciplined group of friends had become.

We did party and I danced my legs off and quite deliberately flaunted myself. I jived faster, tangoed more outrageously and danced the rhumba like a harlot trying to seduce a gang of dockers and not once did I become scared of anything more than finding a ladder in my stockings or a hole in my knickers.
As for Will, once I had spun around him until he was dizzy he gave up dancing anything fast with me and pimped me out by finding me partners for the jives and Latin American dances. We had a disco session as well and I had the same feeling I had experienced in the pub in Beaconsfield. My boobs were bouncing up and down, Will couldn’t take his eyes off my chest and I nearly panicked when I realised that they might bounce right out of my bra so I stopped impersonating a kangaroo running from a cheetah and adopted a more ladylike style of dancing and Will frowned.

During a quiet moment I was sitting with Christine and chatting and it turned to the day’s events. “Your doctor had a talk to me earlier, he asked me about this afternoon when you found the treasure trove.”

“He’s investigating me, thinks I’m turning whacky. It was about the incident when I ran off?”

“Yes, but he only asked me if I could explain why you had cried. I wasn’t going to say anything but I thought, well he is your doctor and it wasn’t a deeply personal question so I just told him I thought it was just the shock of finding the box and the diamond and stuff.”

“Did he say anything?”

“Not really, just asked if you were simply crying or did I think you were on the verge of panicking. I said no, you did run away from it but I told him I was shocked as well and could only stare, not believing what we had found.”

“It was the coincidences that upset me. The things I keep discovering that frightened me and the hallucinations.”

“Emma told me about that but she said she had seen your ghosts, fairies or ancient spirits as well and so had Faye and Liz so they can’t be hallucinations. She also said there was no threatening behaviour, that the people were nice, friendly and seemed fond of you.”

“That makes it worse. If I was seeing ghosts or demons I would probably laugh it off and swear off drink but as Emma said, they are nice people I keep seeing. I’m speaking to Randolph Sinclair the South Pole psychiatrist next week, it’ll be interesting to see what he has to say. If you want, I’ll fix you up with an introduction to Artemis and Undine the water sprite. Undine is real enough, Will has heard and seen her and she’s following us on our honeymoon because she’s in love with a sailor and wants to know how humans make love so she can gain a human soul and marry him.”

“You’re kidding!”

“No, honestly, she was near us when we were on the little island in Aurora Cove and again the following day.”

“If she comes round again, ask her to make a love potion for me to use on J. We’ve been engaged for a year and we still haven’t set a date for our wedding. The Antarctic keeps getting in the way.”

“I don’t think she’s allowed to make love potions, but I’ll ask her. I can give J a kick for you, in fact Emma and the girls can work on him as well.”

She laughed, “Do it before we’re too old to marry and have to make alternative arrangements like being buried in the same grave.”

“Is this private or can we all join in?” Emma asked as she came to the table.

“Where’s your blokes?”

“Up at the bar discussing derrieres and cricket. They got bored with dancing and claimed they needed to stoke up their energy.”

“Who’s been elected driver to get you back to the other side, or are you walking?”

“Neither, Howard had a word with Larry who had a word with the bloke in charge of this club and we’ve been allocated four rooms in the temporary hotel they have here for visitors. What about you?”

“Will and I will get the buggy bus back to Goat’s cove and tomorrow continue on our honeymoon.”

“What about the stuff you found today?”

I shrugged, “Larry and Christine are in charge of that.”

“We have it under lock and key and will probably start testing it tomorrow. It depends on how high a priority it gets and what else is waiting for lab time,” answered Christine. I’ll be taking a small group up to the new roundhouses and start a scan and open a few trenches as well.”

I opened my bag and gave Emma an envelope, “This is a report on something else I found earlier today and it’s in your remit. It was either a hare or a prairie dog or something similar, there’s a couple of pics of where I saw it and just one long distance zoom picture of its head. The map shows exactly where I saw it. I’ve also put a written report in there about bats. I’m pretty sure I saw bats flying about over the inlet three nights ago.”

“The inlet! that’s salt water!
”
“More saline I suspect at the bottom end because we’ve found places where fresh water is empting into it. Why did you ask, don’t bats like salt water?”

“No but they will eat insects that fly over it and they might also be vegetarian or vampire bats and prefer feeding of the animal blood or the fruit in the trees and just fly over the inlet as a favoured route to a food source. There’s also the possibility of insects being blown in on a high altitude wind. How big were the bats?”

“I didn’t really pay that much attention but think I remember seeing two different sizes, one was biggish, about the size of two human hands together and the other was small, smaller than a hand but as I say, I didn’t take much notice.”

“Have you seen any over the lake?”

I shook my head, I haven’t been up there at night and haven’t seen much except a few seabirds and the odd land bird.”

Emma nodded, “I’m going up there tomorrow before we go back to Pacific Wanderer and Liz wants to have a look at the big field where your roundhouses are to see what crops were grown there and I suspect Faye will want to have a look at the stuff they built the dam from and the way it was constructed. If we can chat our blokes into it, they might agree to come as well and join in the dig and we can camp out and see if we can’t get some sightings of the bats and your furry creature.”

“Are you okay?”
We had just climbed back on board Undine and I stopped to take in the night and listen to the faint sounds of the other party goers as they called their goodnights. “I’m fine, Will, just clearing my head after the drink and food at the party. Honestly, I’m on top of this afternoon if that’s what’s worrying you. I’ll see Randolph and as long as I avoid finding anything else for a few months, I’ll be fine. But what an eventful year we’ve had. David itemised what had happened to me over the past eight months, My Auntie Mo’s death, the shipwrecked and then being rescued only to discover that I’m intersexed and then having to go through the operation. The sea fight with the smugglers, the visions I’ve been having and the string of discoveries we have made on an island that until we arrived, nobody had heard of and finding myself the part owner of an island paradise…so much, a whole lifetime’s adventures in less than a year.” I took a hold of is arm and rested my head on his shoulder, “What a wonderful year.”

He took my other hand and kissed the back, “And all the years that are still to come.”

I smiled up at him. “Not quite so hectic though, let’s just have one discovery or adventure each year and try to be normal.”

Volume 4
Diamonds Bullets, Bras and Passion

Chapter 71

We left Goats Cove very early, a little before seven am and Will took us out for a mile before turning towards Revelation Bay. I felt homesick in the galley because all I could see from the window was sea and a tiny point of Charlotte Island just visible in the corner. I placed everything on a heated tray and carried it out to the rear deck and placed it on the table but left the covers on and went and stood beside Will at the helm. “Food is keeping warm on the tray but if you want to eat yours first before the eggs become rubber, I’ll take the helm.”

“No need I have the pilot turned on and the depth sounder is focused below and about two hundred metres in front. We can breakfast together.”

We sat for long enough to eat comfortably and took our second cups of coffee back to the helm. “Can you take over in a short while, I want to have a look at the island through the glasses as we sail. We haven’t studied this side from the sea.”

“I’ll do the washing up and tidy up the cabin and be about a half hour, is that soon enough?”

“Fine, I’m keeping the speed down as we pass the island to give us a chance to have a good look at the profile.”

As soon as I returned, he handed over the helm and took the high power binoculars and map case, “I’m only going up to the top bridge, the view is less obstructed up there, scream if you need me.”

I grinned, ‘Scream if you need me,’ what memories that conjured up.

After five minutes he called down, “The other glasses are on the ledge under the front screen. You should just be able to make out Goats Cove and from there you can see the place where the altar house is and a little further to the left, where we were yesterday and there are people about at the altar house already. If one of them looks out to sea, they’ll spot us so get ready to wave or they may scramble the Sunderland or one of the navy ships to sink us in mistake for invaders. Flick the large green switch and that engages the auto pilot whilst you’re looking through the glasses and if a loud bleeping starts, that’s the sonar warning that there’s an obstruction ahead. Cut the engine and switch off the pilot and study the screen and scream.”

I picked up the glasses and found the group at the altar house quickly just as a party of about ten broke away and started to make their way up to the higher plateau. “I can see a group breaking away, I’m sure its five men and five women, it must be Larry, Christine and the girls.” I didn’t wait for a reply and picked up my phone and dialled Faye.
“Hullo, is that you Charlie, I thought you were going off on your honeymoon again?”

“We are. If you look out to sea, that little dot on the horizon is us.”

There was a pause, “I can see a boat is that Undine?”

“Yes, I’m waving can’t you see.”

“At that distance! I can just about make out the boat let alone a waving hand.”

“No wonder you keep missing when you fire your rifle and your hair’s a mess.”

“You can see my hair from that range?”

“Yes but I’m a crack shot and can see further than ordinary humans.”

“Liar, you’re just guessing and my hair is always in a mess unless I use three cans of lacquer why have you gone out so far?”

“Will and I have never seen the South Pole so we’re going down to have a look.”

“I believe you. When you get there, warn Will not to go outside to pee, it’s so cold that one wrong move and he’d snap it off and that would upset you.”

“Nope, he’s ex SAS and carries a spare. See you next week.”

I heard her laugh and start telling the others as she cut her phone.

Once we passed Revelation Bay Will came down from the upper bridge, “I’ve videoed the whole trip with your posh camera. We’ll download it later and have a good look. I’d like to move in closer to the island as we go up the side or would you prefer to stay out here?”

“Let’s go in close, I’d like to go into the cove that Emma and I found and see what’s up there.”

“The water is deep, I’m pretty sure that cliff continues down below the surface but keep the sonar pointing ahead and when we get close, I’ll go up to the bow and keep my eyes open for rocks.”

I started to get nervous when we were less than twenty metres from the cliffs but Will called out, “Come to port and follow the coastline and keep her at five knots.” He must have seen the set look on my face, “You okay with being this close in?”

“A bit up tight, I’m worried about an underwater rocky spur jutting out and catching us.”

He didn’t say anything but trotted down the side deck, “I’ll take the helm, you go up front and watch for reefs.”

I stepped back, “Good. I’m okay with Pacific Wanderer this close in but on Undine, the feeling is different, she’s more vulnerable and something that Wanderer would just hit and break off might rip Undine’s fibreglass hull and down we go. I’m tempted to put my wetsuit on in case we have to swim for it.”

Will smiled, “Okay, I’ll take the helm, you use your mermaid’s eyes as lookout.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” and with relief I grabbed my polarized aviator’s sunglasses, binoculars and almost ran up the side deck. Once in my look out position I did a check and satisfied there were no hidden reefs I looked up at the cliffs of Devonshire Hill and from this close in, it looked enormous and towered above us and there were crevices, exposed rock, shrubs and grass all the way to the top and once again there were goats standing on impossibly tiny ledges looking down at us as they chewed.

Here and there were very small coves and in two of them sandy beaches hardly wide enough to moor Undine beam on. There was one tall very narrow cleft that disappeared into the hill. The sides were sheer, solid rock and it had a slightly sinister look even with the sun shining straight onto this side of the island. I turned back to Will and pointed, “Keep quiet, that might be Poseidon’s bedroom.”

He grinned and brought the binocular’s to his eyes and studied it so with him distracted I returned my attention to the water ahead of us. Occasionally I saw underwater spurs or reefs jutting out but they were well below Undine’s keel and I took quick bearings and jotted the information down. We were approaching the cove now and I called out to Will and pointed, “Are we going in?”

He nodded and I felt Undine slow as he turned towards the entrance. I looked into the sea about six or seven metres ahead of the bow but the water was too deep to show a bottom until we started to enter the tight gap and on either side I could see subsurface rocks but these only projected a metre before the water turned a deep greeny/blue. I turned my head a little and called, “How much depth dead ahead?”

“Fifty metres in the centre . It’s a ‘V’ widening towards the surface. The narrowest so far has been twenty seven metres and the maximum on the screen at the moment is closer to thirty five.”

“That’s wide enough for Pacific Wanderer?”

“Yes but there’s no space to turn so she would have to come out going astern and that can be very tricky. In fact near impossible, even with you at the helm.”

I didn’t look back, I daren’t take my eyes off the water so I gave him the Agincourt two figure salute. “There are two fingers, rocks or reefs dead ahead one each side and nearly opposite each other but there’s space between for Undine. If you can bring her to a halt in about ten metres we can try and get accurate readings of the depth and width.”

There was no reply but I felt the engine cut to little more than a tick over and we edge slowly forward, “Now, Will, we’re right over them.” I felt a burst of speed from the engine and the propeller wash slid past the bow and then Undine stopped and rocked gently on the small amount of swell still able to influence the cove. “Do you want me to try and throw the bow anchor out and lock onto something on the reef.” I could turn to face him now and he was already looking over the port bulwark.

“No, I don’t think we could throw it out far enough but it doesn’t matter, I’m printing the readings out and we can check them when we stop. There’s plenty of room for Undine, I’ll take her up a bit further where the cove bends and we’ll see what’s around the corner.”

I looked up and all I could see was a narrow strip of sky and then almost sheer drops to the surface of the water. “There’s a cave and a waterfall right at the corner.”

“I noticed them. If we go up that far we might find a wide pool that mould enable Wanderer to make an assisted turn.”
“Like we did when we were getting her off the reef.”

“Something like that or, if there’s room get the barge up here to help. What’s the reason you have in mind for getting the ships up here?”

“I was thinking of defence. If for instance the island was attacked or being threatened from the south, we could get a small warship, out and round to the south side to defend Goats Cove or Revelation bay. Something like those boats they had in the war, a corvette or motor gun boat.”

“Keep it hidden in here and surprise them,” he smiled when he said it.

“No, in fact the opposite. If any potential aggressor saw that we had something like it patrolling or even readily available, it would make them think twice before attacking us.”

“What about the North Korean’s, they have a large navy, a corvette or MTB wouldn’t have much chance against them.”
“If that happens, I’ll tell Faye to yell at the American’s in Pearl Harbour and they can send their cruisers, missile ships and a bloody great aircraft carrier.”

“And if we replaced the armaments on the Sunderland, we could back them up with that.”

I smiled, “I have a secret weapon up my sleeve as well, Poseidon and Artemis could get Zeus off his backside and I’m sure Undine, Undine the water sprite I mean, she’d know a few serpents and assorted sea monsters.”

“A world power no less.”

“Come on let’s go up and see what’s around the corner. There might be a way of channelling that waterfall back onto the island instead of letting it go to waste in the sea.”

Will was right, as we turned, the narrow inlet opened up into a pool. At the far end, the slope up to the summit of Devonshire Hill was much easier. A hard climb but it could be done by people not weighed down with heavy back packs and the goats were up there as well, quite a few of them and there were kids with them. In the far right corner there was a small shingle beach and between it and the cliff face there was another stream, this tumbled over rocks and was like rapids rather than a waterfall. About twenty five or thirty metres further up there was a deep ledge of flat, grassy land with one or two shrubs and at the back, where the land started to rise steeply, there was a small cave.
I pointed, “Do you think the goats go into that cave to shelter from storms?”

“Probably, it looks wide enough. Want to land and see if we can get up there.”

“Yes, now we’re here, let’s go and take a look.”

We managed to run the bow of Undine onto the pebble beach just high enough for me to use the diving ladder to clamber down. Will took a back pack with the first aid box, a couple of sandwiches each and one or two small tools in case we found rock we needed to take samples from and a pair of torches and I carried the compass, map case and binoculars. The rocky path was steep to begin with but became easier after thirty metres and we gained the grassy ledge a little quicker than anticipated. For the most part, the goats didn’t seem at all worried by our sudden appearance in their secret world and ignored us apart from the occasional glance and moving a few steps away when we got too close. The kids were the curious ones, they’d approach just out of reach and said hullo in goat speak and one or two followed us for short distances offering advice with the occasional baa, babaah and hahaha. When we got to the cave, the sides were lower than head height but the centre was just high enough for Will to walk in and after a couple of paces, like our cave at Undine’s Pool, the roof lifted and it widened quite a bit. The floor was a mixture of sand, pebbles and an occasional large rock and was dry so it obviously didn’t flood after a rainfall. Off to the right we could hear water and I assumed that the stream or whatever was making the noise originated underground and probably flowed along the wall of the cave to join the stream outside. There was quite a lot of fresh goat droppings so it was probably the main source of water for the animals inhabiting Devonshire Hill but there was only old evidence that they used the cave as a regular place for shelter.

We went in about twenty metres and here the cave narrowed quickly and ended up by becoming little more than a tunnel which had a slight downward slope. The water had, it seems, found a tunnel of its own and I guessed that this was once a place where the old lava pockets had forced their way out of the side of the hill. “How does the height above sea level compare with the height of our cave at the house?” I asked Will.

“A little higher I would think. We had more of a climb to get up here than we do at the beach to get up to our cave.”
“Do you think that tunnel might connect to our cave?”

“It could do because the passage from our cave bends in this direction but nobody has explored beyond the bend.”

“We must do it one day. It would be nice to stroll up here and have a day out sunbathing, fishing and doing a bit of diving. We could even bring a couple of sleeping bags and build a camp fire. Just think what a terrific adventure place it would make for our children as they grow up. It’s better than a tree house, they could have their own private goat pets and if a fence was built at the front of the ledge to stop them falling over and we built a fence across the mouth of the pebble beach they would have a safe place to swim.”

Will was smiling at me as I babbled on. “Is this you planning ahead or are you really looking for an excuse to build an adult adventure playground?”

“No, I’m serious. They could even have a couple of canoes and as long as we stopped them getting out into the sea…my goodness, what I would have given for a playhouse like the cave when I was small.”

He walked over to me and took me in his arms and kissed me, “Okay, just say the word and I’ll start organising it and I’ll speak to the Governor General and inform him that as the rulers of Charlotte Island, we require a number of princes and princesses to guarantee the line of succession.”

“Yes, we must. Not yet though, we’ll wait a little longer, perhaps six months or so until we’ve settled in and got things organised. Just wait until I tell Auntie Kate and Ted that they’re going to be a grandad and grandma.” It was my turn to kiss him. “Let’s go outside before I start moving rocks around up here before we’ve even finished our house. We can eat our sandwiches and make plans.”

We left the cave and walked to the end of the ledge where we found a goat path that meandered a little but eventually reached the summit. We sat on the rocks and ate our sandwiches and then explored a little more before starting back. “Do you want to go up to the summit or back to Undine?” Will asked.

“I have to prepare dinner and I don’t think there’s time to explore very much more. Shall we stay in the cove tonight and go up the hill tomorrow. I don’t want to rush it because we’ll be able to see the entire island from the top and see what else we need to explore.”

“Okay, but I’ll need to check the beach and probably have to move over to the rocks to find a better mooring otherwise we could be left high and dry when the tide goes out.”

We made our way back and Will was right, the tide was still coming in and Undine had drifted back into deeper water. I took the backpack and untied the single mooring rope and insisted Will carry me as far as the diving ladder. I was dry footed and went to the cabin and sorted him out with dry socks and boots and he waded back and started exploring the rocks for somewhere to moor, leaving me to start the engine and wait for his signal. He found a spot where a large, fairly smooth section of rock looked good and we moored beam on and Will dropped the fenders over the side to stop Undine rubbing her paintwork against the rock.

“Want me to prepare something from the freezer or are you going to catch a fresh salmon?”

He grinned at me, “You willing to take a chance on me catching something?”

“I’ll cook steaks, there’s a couple defrosted in the fridge. Don’t let me stop you from fishing though, if you catch something, we can have it tomorrow.”

“You want to stay here for a couple of days?”

“It’s pretty and secluded and if we climb Devonshire Hill tomorrow we won’t be back until evening. We would be better staying here, it will only take a couple of hours to get back to Pacific Wanderer so if you fancy it, we’ll stay here for a couple of nights and then go back home.”

“Or, once we’ve explored the hill, we could walk back to Mermaid’s Cove, that will only take about three or four hours.”

I nodded. “We’ve been away for what, five days and I’m thinking we’re miles away from home but we can’t be much more than two miles as the crow flies and two and a half from the top of the hill and yet look how quiet this place is. People could land here and never know there were all the science buildings and houses just a short distance away.” I picked up the binoculars and compass and put them away in the locker beside the helm, “Dinner in a little over an hour, I’m having a shower before cooking so you can have a nap or go fishing.”

We stayed outside long after dinner was finished and the table cleared. We sat making notes of what we’d seen during the day, I entered all the measurements on my laptop and then on my copy of the map. When that was all done, we still remained on deck listening to the soft sound of the sea reaching us through the inlet and when the moon appeared we watched that and the stars as they moved slowly around the night sky. We spoke of our plans, the house, the island, our jobs, the children to come and the adventures we would have with them and our words seemed to become a mist above us and it slowly settled and all the strife, all the problems, every worry seemed to evaporate and for a quarter of an hour we sat in silence, just being aware of our existence, our love for each other and wrapped in this wonderful blanket of safety and contentment. Then my telephone warbled, it was Penny; “How is your honeymoon going, I’m not interrupting you am I?”

“Yes. We were sitting on the deck enjoying a lovely evening and a quiet glass of wine before retiring for the night.”

“Sorry but I haven’t spoken to you since your nervous breakdown and I was a bit anxious.”

“It wasn’t a nervous breakdown, just a touch of the vapours and I’m fine now. Thank you for phoning and asking. How are you and Morris getting on?”

“Terrific, he asked me today if I liked him enough to become his only girlfriend.”

“Only girlfriend?”

“I think he wants me to become his fiancé but was afraid to ask and was sounding me out.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I said I already thought I was his only girlfriend.”

“Good answer, how did he take it?”

“He replied that he knew that and I was, but he was thinking about me remaining his only girlfriend permanently.”

I shook my head and stifled the giggle, “What did you tell him.”

“I said I would speak to you about it.”

“Me! Why do you need to speak to me?”

“Well, you know, I mean you were Will’s only girlfriend, didn’t you need to talk to somebody?”

She had me then. Of course I needed to talk to somebody and I had Gwyneth and Aunty Katie. “You have my approval and I know Clementine will approve…”

“She has, she told me we were obviously in love and it’s about time he made it official and then she told me to speak to you.”

“Well if I approve and Clementine approves, what else do you need?”

“Well could you ask Will and Aunty Katie for me.”

“Certainly not. You just tell Morris he needs to speak to Will if he’s making long term plans. If Will approves that’s good enough. I know Aunty Katie and Ted will agree.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him he must speak to you and Will.”

“Do it gently or you’ll scare him off.”

“I’ll kiss him a bit and wriggle like you do when you kiss Will.”

“That’s coercion and might not be approved in a court of law.”

“It’s only coercion if they find out and Morris is not the complaining sort.”

I had to laugh softly, “You’re right, it’s just as well Will isn’t the complaining sort. When are you planning to do your wriggling?”

“Oh, I’ll wait until you are back.”

“You do realise that wriggling can lead to other things.”

“Yes and I’m looking forward to it. Goodnight and thanks for letting me disturb you.”

I looked at Will who was smiling, “I don’t need to ask who that was.”

“Penny, she was anxious about my nervous breakdown and needed advice on her romance with Morris.”

He nodded, “I managed to get the gist of it from your side of the conversation.”

“She thinks he’s about to pop the question and wanted our permission?”

“Why us?”

I explained the situation and he laughed quietly, “She’s certainly bonded with you.”

“Us,” I corrected, she needs your approval as well but I told her that was Morris’s job, so be prepared for what sounds like a very nervous Morris asking if you would give permission for him to wed Penny.”

“He doesn’t need my permission, you can tell him it’s okay and it’s really down to Penny.”

“Penny is old fashioned like me and believes in doing things properly, which reminds me, I don’t recall you asking Ted and Auntie Kate for their permission to marry me.”

“I didn’t ask because I would have ignored them if they had refused and Aunt Kate and Ted approved me anyway. Now what’s this about wriggling and coercion?”

“I’m not telling you, it’s a girl secret.”

The telephone rang again, “That’s Auntie Kate.” It was, “Hullo Auntie Kate, I was expecting a call.”

“I wanted to speak to you yesterday about your bad turn but never had the chance. Gwyneth told me you’re fine now.”

“I am. We’ve had a lovely day and I’m calm, happy and there’s a bloke here looking out for me. Now what’s all this about Penny?”

She laughed, “She button holed me as soon as we got back this morning. Wanted to know if we approved of her becoming Morris’s fiancé.”

“She thinks he’s going to ask her to marry him, what do you think?”

“Our opinions don’t matter it’s how you and Penny feel.”

“She loves him that’s pretty obvious.”

“So you approve?”

“Of course, don’t you?”

“Yes, they’re like a married couple already. Does that mean Ted and I can be relieved of our duties of keeping them apart at bedtime?”

“I brought that up and she told me she would wait until Morris has asked Will for his permission.”

She laughed again, “I know it sounds funny but I think she’s doing it correctly but you’re the one who is best suited to advise her.”

“I told her that I was okay with it if you and Ted were and Will approves when Morris asks him. How are you and Ted, enjoying yourselves?”

“We’re having a good time. I’m going up to the house tomorrow to start cleaning and airing it for when you get back. Ted is already doing things to the garden but he hasn’t found any of the treasure we were told to look for and that man Roman has been up and done some measuring and said it will take a month as soon as you give the go-ahead on the extension and another two weeks to do the outside so that it matches the house.”

“If you see him before I get back, tell him to go ahead if you approve the plans.”

“We do, Ted said it will suit us better than Beaconsfield.”

“See you the day after tomorrow, love you.”

I smiled at Will, “That’s my admin work completed for the day. What about you?”

He shook his head, a sad look in his eyes, “I still have work that must be done.”

“I’ll help, what is it you have to do?”

“Help you get undressed and see that you are comfortable.”

“Come on then, I’ll definitely need help. I need help getting undressed, then more help when I shower, then I have to massage my body with coconut oil, particularly my breasts then brush my hair, and put on my baby doll nightie and panties and I might need help in keeping warm.” I heard the faintest suggestion of a sigh coming from behind one of the rocks on the bank. “Undine, go home!”
“It sounds so beautiful.” There was a tiny splash and a small circle of ripples spread out a few feet from the bow and danced with the moonbeams.

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