The Princess of Venda
Part I of III
Chapter 1
I’ve long had a love affair with trains. When I was growing up with my cousin in Dublin, the capital of New Venda, we would often climb to a high tower and stare out over the countryside counting the cars on a long train that wound its way up the valley to Adelaide or down to the east toward Sydney. Many times when we went on horse rides in the country, we would divert from the horse trail that ran through the vineyards to climb a hill and look for passing trains. Of course we had to watch out for rabbit holes on the hillside, as well as snakes. But we would always get to see a mob of red roos bouncing around the bushland.
So when my cousin invited me to attend her wedding in Dublin, I skipped the air service and decided to catch the passenger train that still ran from Adelaide to Dublin and on to Canberra. It allowed me to enjoy a bottle of shiraz as I watched the country rolling by. It gave me time to recall special memories from my younger years. And it let me take along Mister Bollocks, my favorite buloke walking stick, which would never have been allowed on a plane.
I left Adelaide on Monday afternoon, checked my suitcase and garment bag with the porter, and took my messenger bag and walking stick up to the passenger compartment. Once the train left Adelaide and gained speed up through the Eden Valley, I opened the bottle of shiraz I had brought and let it breathe for a bit while my mind drifted.
…
“Beat you to the top of the stairs, Shelley!” Bridget called out and dashed down the second story hallway of the castle, her long hair swinging around her shoulders as her skirt bounced off her legs. My hair swung almost as much as hers and my skirt probably bounced more as I tried to catch up to her. At least she had the sense to pick Keds for our after class play time. As we chased through the castle, we looked like twin sisters and we got a mixture of chuckles and frowns from the castle staff as we dodged around them. I had been trying since the age of five to grow my hair as long as hers. But she had the lead in that as well as in our race because although she was a girl, I had been born a boy.
I pulled my hair through the long low ponytail that hung down my back and wondered how we would compare now? But I sipped a final glass of shiraz and watched the vineyards roll by on the right as the train climbed up the valley towards the east. Later I rested my head on a small pillow against the window and listened to Sara Davis Buechner’s fingers dance over the piano as I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 2
A glorious sunrise aroused me from my overnight slumber, and I walked up the train to the dining car for some toast with avocado and a bowl of coconut yogurt. I usually skipped the traditional fry-up to help maintain my trim body and a train was not a good place to enjoy that anyway. Besides, I was sure there would be several abundant dinners in the coming days leading up to the wedding on Saturday, the 15th of January.
When I climbed down from the train, I was greeted by a chauffeur and footman in the castle livery, who took my baggage and escorted me out to a Rolls Royce with the New Venda crest on the door. I had been told to expect the car, but I hadn’t expected someone to be waiting in the back seat to accompany me to the castle. And I really hadn’t thought that person would be the Lady Matilda Duchovny, Duchess of Southland.
“Welcome to New Venda, Shelley!” she said. “Bridget would have met you herself, but she has so many meetings to get organized for the wedding and the extra security would have been horrid. How was your train ride?”
I hesitated, probably just because I was surprised, and then answered carefully, “Pleasant enough, your Highness. The track is not as smooth as the bullet service along the coastland, but I love the scenery and the wildlife.”
“Oh please, Shelley, just call me Matilda. I know you’re just a commoner, but my research shows you’ve been an outstanding citizen of our Duchy. Your research in the department of mines has done so much to help keep the water clean for our citizens. And after the big to-do on Saturday, we’ll be cousins too!”
I looked out the window to see where we were going. The chauffeur was taking a circuitous route through a more residential part of the city and we passed an athletic field where an open air market was giving visitors a chance to shop for local produce, trinkets and other memorabilia. I suppose I should have expected something like this. While my father was an ordinary sub-minister in the trade ministry of the Principality of New Venda, my mother was the cousin of Harold Warwick, now the reigning prince of New Venda. And my second cousin, Bridget Warwick, was the darling of the gossip press, the Anti-Kardashian from down under, and his daughter the Princess of New Venda. And on Saturday, Bridget was scheduled to marry Rupert Duchovny, Matilda’s brother and the heir to the Duchy of Southland where my home of Adelaide was the capital.
Chapter 3.
The Rolls didn’t seem to attract much attention as it pulled though a side gate and drove around behind the castle before a garage door swung open allowing it to pull inside.
“Come on, Shelley, let’s get you to your room,” Matilda said as she swung her door open. I waved the footman to go by and then opened my door and stepped out of the Rolls with Mister Bollocks and my messenger bag.
“OK, I’m coming,” I called as I walked around the front of the car and followed her through a door and into a hallway behind the garages. This building seemed to have been built from the new-style semi-industrial architectural model with sealed concrete floors and steel doors. But after crossing a covered walkway, we opened an elegantly carved wooden door and stepped onto the waxed wooden floors of the castle itself. A locked door on the left led to the public areas of the first floor of the castle. But we turned the corner and Matilda waved an ID badge with an NFC chip over a detector by the elevator and the door swung open. The elevator took us up to the fourth floor of the castle, where the royal family and senior officials resided.
We walked down a high-ceiling hallway lined with rows of paintings and occasional benches or chairs for those in need of rest or just a quiet place to chat. At the corner we faced the portrait of an older woman, elegant but with a dour look on her face. She seemed to be frowning at me, in admonition for the sins of my youth.
Matilda paused and looked up. “Dear old Lady Warwick! Have you seen anyone running down the halls lately?” she commented. “Doesn’t this place bring back memories, Shelley? I didn’t get over here to visit nearly as often as I would have liked, but I understand you and Bridget had a lot of fun together when you were younger.”
“Oh yes,” I said. “I don’t know if we drove the staff crazy or just brightened their day a little.”
“Probably both,” she said. We started down the next hall along the eastern side of the castle. The doors were further apart, as this section was laid out into extended suites for the royal family and special guests. “The first suite here is Bridget’s, I am staying in the second suite, and they have you set up for the third suite.”
The footman led us to the third door, opened it and let us into a large day room that was almost as large as my whole apartment.
Matilda waved at the footman and said, “Charles will be taking care of you while you’re here, Shelley. Won’t you, Charles?”
“Yes ma’am,” Charles replied and started putting my clothes away. I moved to interrupt but Matilda grabbed my arm.
“Let him go ahead. The staff take pride in giving you good service. When he’s finished, why don’t you catch a nap. Bridget will join us for lunch in my suite. We can catch up on old times and let you know what is coming up then.”
She left with Charles and I decided to take her suggestion.
A knock on the door woke me from my nap and I called out, “Yes, who is it?”
“Almost time for lunch, sir. Miss Bridget asked me to wake you.” Charles called out.
“Thanks, Charles,” I replied and dragged myself awake. After a shower, shave and change of clothes, I opened the door and stepped out. Charles gave me a quick look and a smile of approval, then waved me to a girl standing in front of Matilda’s suite. “This is Tina. She is looking after Miss Matilda.”
Tina smiled and gave me a short curtsey, then opened the door. “Come on in, sir. Miss Matilda is waiting for you.”
I stepped into the room as Matilda rose from her chair and welcomed me. “The sleeper awakes! Have you recovered from your trip?”
“I think so. I enjoy the trip, but you don’t really rest unless you pony up for a sleeping car.”
“Well, please sit down.” She waved to an oval table at one end of the room. “Would you like some tea?”
“Yes, please. That would really hit the spot.”
She poured me a cup of tea, then added some fresh tea to her cup and offered me a plate of shortbread cookies. I took one, sat down and sipped my tea.
“This tea is excellent!” I said and it was. It was better than even my best effort at brewing my own and much better than the bottled stuff I usually put up with. “Where is Bridget? I thought she would be meeting us too.”
Just then the door opened, and Bridget stepped into the room, then dashed over to my chair and engulfed me in a hug. “You came, Shelley! I’m so glad to see you. It’s been so long.”
“Of course I came. I couldn’t miss my favorite cousin’s wedding, could I?”
“I know, but it’s a long trip and you can’t just write it off as a business expense, can you?”
Then she turned to Tina standing at the door. “Tina, please tell the kitchen to bring up our lunch now, won’t you?”
“Yes, miss.” Tina said and closed the door.
“Did you catch him up on the schedule, Tillie?” Bridget asked Matilda.
“No. We were just chatting and waiting for you.”
“That’s fine. Let me tell you what is going on this week, Shelley, I usually have a mid-morning meeting for one of my responsibilities, but today was the last for a while. I’m on the board of the Warwick Women’s Fund, which provides support for victims of domestic abuse as well as adoption and foster services. It’s always tough to find enough foster support for children who need it, but fortunately the Council have been generous in funding these services and the WWF helps fill in the gaps and support people who are leery of the official programs.
I have one more meeting this afternoon to review the wedding plans, then we’re relatively free for the rest of the day. We can have fun catching up! But there’s a small family dinner downstairs this evening at 7.
Tomorrow morning the bridesmaids will arrive, and we’ll have a brunch when they’re all here. Then in the afternoon, we have a final dress fitting. And in the evening will be our princess party.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
Matilda answered. “I guess you are out of the loop, Shelley. A lot of weddings these days have a special night for all the women involved. It’s their equivalent of the men taking the groom out for a final fling. Some of them do really weird stuff to embarrass the bride, but the Princess has her reputation to protect. So we’re having a little sleepover party for the bridal party and six little girls who get to join us. Maybe we should sneak you in, Shelley? The girls would have loads of fun playing with your gorgeous hair!”
“No way!” I said and was rescued when Tina and a couple other servants from the kitchen brought in our lunch. They served us each a luncheon of bacon-wrapped prawns, steamed broccoli and a small salad with a bottle of Silkman Blackberry Semillon. We paused the discussion and nibbled on the food, which was delicious although the portions were obviously sized to protect the waistline.
Matilda resumed the discussion after we poured another glass of Semillon. “Rupert and Daddy fly in Thursday afternoon, the lazy sods, and we have the first big photo-op. Half the paparazzi in Australia will be there to catch the Princess welcoming her fiancée. That night there’s a big dinner with both families.
“There’s a party in the castle garden at 11 on Friday. Then we skip that at 2 to go to the cathedral for the rehearsal. And, of course, there’s the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. Then all the ladies start getting prepped on Saturday morning, we adjourn to the cathedral at 1 and start the show at 2. And Saturday night at 7, there will be a ball here at the palace. Sometime later that night, Rupert and Bridget will disappear and the rest of us can relax a little.”
Bridget commented. “I tried to talk Rupert into letting you be one of the groomsmen, but he was already having trouble choosing among his friends. But would you please be my special assistant on Saturday? There’s bound to be something come up that needs a reliable person to sort out.”
“Of course,” I replied. “Anything I can do to help.”
“For a start,” said Matilda, “both of you take off your shoes, stand up side by side, and let me get a good look at you. Bridget, would you brush out his hair?” So I sat at the table while Bridget sprayed something on my hair and brushed it for a few minutes. Then we stood up by the wall.
“Amazing! Bridget told me you two looked a lot alike, but you could almost be twins. Come over and look in the mirror.” So we walked across the room and looked at each other. I was about a centimeter taller than Bridget and an extra kilo or two, but we had somehow inherited the same slightly long nose, oval face and a soft chin with a dimple. Having my hair brushed out like Bridget’s enhanced the resemblance. We just stood and stared at the mirror for a minute. Then the mood was broken by a knock on the door.
“Miss Bridget, it’s almost time for your afternoon meeting.” Tina called from the hallway.
So Bridget and Tina gathered a few things and departed for the elevator while I returned to my suite.
“Charles,” I asked. “Could you please find me an exercise mat? I’m going to walk around the hall for a bit and I’d like to do some exercises when I get back.”
“I’m sure I can do that. Where will you be walking?”
“I’ll just stay on this floor and not bother anyone. You won’t need to tag along.”
“Very good, sir. I’ll see you when you finish.”
So Charles left and I changed into a t-shirt and shorts with some running shoes and started walking around the hall. I took it easy for the first couple of trips, then picked up the pace as the hall seemed to be clear of traffic. After a dozen circuits, I returned to the suite where Charles had arranged the mat in front of a large screen television.
“Thank you, Charles. Please stay back. I’ll be moving around quite a bit.”
I picked up Mister Bollocks, walked to one end of the mat, and grasped the walking stick in a two-handed sword hold. Then I moved through a series of katas, advancing in cuts and thrusts mixed with possible parries. I worked back and forth, sometimes attacking, sometimes retreating and parrying for about half an hour. Then I stepped to one end of the mat, spread my hands on the walking stick, and gave a medium bow to my imagined opponent.
Charles took that moment to give a brief applause. “That was excellent, sir. “Where did you learn that?”
“Thanks, Charles. I got involved when we moved to Southland and kept it up through high school. I also took a couple classes at the university, but mostly just do it for exercise now.”
“Well, I would not want to cause you any trouble on an outing with that walking stick around!”
“You’re right, Charles! But I need to clean up and get some rest before dinner.”
Chapter 4
Charles woke me at about 6:00, and helped me prepare for dinner. We joined Bridget and Matilda and Charles and Tina accompanied us down in the elevator. We went into a medium sized dining room where we were greeted by two men and a woman. I immediately recognized the woman and she reached out her arms.
“Come give me a hug, Shelley. You’ve grown a bit.” I immediately did so and with much affection because she was Mildred Stone, who had practically raised both Bridget and me after both our mothers had died when we were just starting school.
One of the men, of course, was Prince Harold and Mildred released me to greet him.
“Welcome back, Shelley,” he said. “The castle hasn’t been quite the same without you. Let me introduce my executive assistant, Peter Robinson. He hasn’t had to take a bullet yet, but he does practically everything else for me.” Peter and I shook hands, then the Prince led us to one of the two tables. Peter joined Mildred, Charles and Tina at the other.
Dinner was lemon poached sea bass with a Tamburlaine Riesling. We chatted about my work in Adelaide, problems with invasive species, and prospects for the Southland and New Venda teams in the Greater Australian Economic Union (GAEU) rugby and basketball leagues. After about an hour of very pleasant company, Bridget interrupted.
“Daddy, would you please excuse us? I want to take Shelley upstairs to catch the sunset.”
Prince Harold stood up and gave her a hug. “OK, kiddo. Go upstairs and have your fun.”
So Bridget, Matilda and I excused ourselves and headed for the elevator with Charles and Tina in tow. We went past our rooms and about halfway down the hallway where Bridget waved her badge over a small panel and pushed a button. A staircase folded down out of the loft area and the five of us carefully climbed up into the loft. Looking around, it was mostly industrial with HVAC ducting and cables running all around the castle above insulation that had been laid down between the boards that supported and reinforced the ceiling below us. But there was a central walkway where plywood panels had been placed over the studs to allow easier passage for workers. And above our rooms in the southeast corner, where the light from an east-facing window would shine in, were two more paneled areas with a low plywood wall on three sides.
“No stopping to check out your old toys, Shelley!” Bridget admonished. We need to hurry or we’ll miss the sunset.” We turned the corner and walked toward the southwest corner of the castle where a west-facing window showed a glowing red sun in the distance. When we got to the window, we could see to the south and north as well. The extra story of height gave us a wider view around the city and out into the countryside. A shallow river, barely more than a stream at its mid-summer low, flowed south of us through the middle of town. And we could see two railroads. One headed upward to the west to go back to Adelaide. The other ran north towards Brisbane, the capital of Norstrilia.
‘It’s a beautiful sunset’ I signed to Bridget.
‘I love the view from up here’ she signed back.
“What are you two doing,” asked Matilda.
“It’s sign language, Tillie. Shelley and I used it when were kids and didn’t want the staff to know what we were up to.”
“And what were you two up to then?”
“Oh nothing much. Sometimes sneaking out of the library to try to get an extra horseback ride, or slipping into the kitchen to steal some cookies.”
“I’ll bet!” Matilda snorted. But she grinned at us both.
We relaxed and enjoyed the view, watching children riding bikes on some of the residential streets or playing football in a park. Eventually the sun dropped below the horizon and we let the twilight illuminate the walkway back to the staircase.
We hugged each other good night outside Bridget’s suite, then Matilda and I returned to our rooms for the night.
As I settled into bed, I thought about how much I had missed Bridget over the years, and how being back in the castle felt like a true homecoming.
Sometime during the night I dreamed. I was playing in a field and my mother walked over to me. Two lambs were following her. “Shelley, these lambs have been bad and gotten into the stickers. Take this comb and pick the burrs out of their wool.” She told me. I took a steel comb and wrapped my arm around one lamb and started to comb out a few of the burrs that were stuck to it. But I drifted off before I could make much progress.
Later I woke up. I wondered if something had disturbed me, so I relaxed in bed and listened carefully. But I didn’t hear any sounds except my own breathing. Eventually I heard the long whistle of a train on one of the rail lines. I relaxed and drifted off to sleep.
I heard a loud knocking on the door. “Mister Shelley, wake up, wake up!” Charles called.
“OK, OK, I’m getting up,” I replied. I grabbed a robe and walked to the door to let him in.
Charles wrapped the robe around me and led me next door to Matilda’s suite. Tina gave me a tight hug and opened the door. “Go on in,” she said. “They are waiting for you.”
I entered the room and saw Prince Harold and Peter sitting at the table with Matilda. Tina closed the door behind me and stayed in the hall with Charles.
“Please sit down, Shelley. We have an emergency and I need to ask for your help.”
“Whatever you wish, your highness.” I said as I pulled out a chair.
“It’s not quite that simple,” he replied then gave me a long and thorough look. Then he turned towards Matilda and told her, “you were right, Matilda, this might just work.”
Then he faced me and I could see deep concern and even a smudge on his face.
“I remember you and Bridget playing together as children here in the castle. I miss those days, especially at times like this. I need your help and New Venda needs your help. Sometime last night, Princess Bridget was abducted from her bedroom.
Footnote:
The idea for this story came to me when I was researching the geography and wine regions of Australia. I saw a region(?) labeled Venda and started thinking of a plot. So, of course, when I dug into Google to check the geography, I couldn't find anything about Venda in Australia!
I borrowed the name Norstrilia from Cordwainer Smith, but otherwise this story has no connection to his wonderful stories.
The Princess of Venda Part II
Note. Special thanks to all the people who voted for this story in the contest.
I was honored and you have encouraged me to continue writing it.
Chapter 5
I was stunned. This castle had always seemed like the safest place in the world. The biggest danger was skinning a knee if we fell on the gravel running around outside. “What happened? How could someone do that?” I asked.
Peter responded first. “We don’t really know yet. We think it was partly an inside job. That’s why we’re keeping the knowledge very tight so far. It happened about 2 o’clock in the morning. As a security measure, Prince Harold, Princess Bridget, myself and a few of the top government leaders have a Bluetooth tracking chip implanted in their arm. A detector on one of the downstairs doors recorded her going through at 2:46 AM. We have checked the hallway security cameras and they show no activity. So whoever did it was able to hack the security system and setup a bypass relay of the camera feeds. A special security group is investigating that, but they haven’t found anything so far. Also, the Prince’s Guards Regiment were called up for a special training exercise. They are driving vehicles throughout the city looking for the Princess’s chip signal. It normally has a range of only 10 meters. But if it is unpaired from her cell phone which was left in her room, it starts sending out a detection ping once a minute. That has a higher power and can be detected out to 100 meters. But so far, we’ve not found her.”
Prince Harold spoke next. “We’ve tossed out several ideas and scenarios. But the most plausible so far seems to be that it was an unapproved plot by a renegade faction from Norstrilia. We’ve had an ongoing disagreement with Norstrilia in the GAEU council about trade policy and GAEU expansion. Norstrilia wants to expand membership to countries like the Philippines and Malaysia which can increase the general GAEU economy and especially our manufacturing output. But those countries have poor working conditions, low worker compensation, and a bad conservation record. Other dominions in the GAEU, especially New Venda, have resisted that expansion. We feel that it would undercut businesses in Australia and New Zealand and drive down long term prospects for our workers.”
“Also, my daughter is extremely popular throughout the GAEU including Singapore. So her upcoming wedding would not just strengthen Southland’s support for our position. It would give New Venda’s leadership great credibility throughout the GAEU, even in Norstrilia. So we think a rogue group of expansionists may have recruited someone to sneak her away for a time. Failing to show up for her own wedding will harm her reputation, even if it’s obviously not her fault. Social media these days will use anything to spread harmful gossip. So we think their plan is to hide her somewhere for a time, then release her and allow her to be found.”
“Would they hurt her?” I asked. “Is she in danger?”
“We don’t think so,” Peter answered. “But in situations like this, we don’t really know.”
“I want my daughter back!” Prince Harold interjected. “I need her help and New Venda needs her princess.”
Peter continued. “Normally we would try a low key response at first, delaying any public appearances while we continue the search and wait to see if they contact us. But Matilda had a suggestion that may let us work around that until we locate and rescue Princess Bridget.”
Matilda had been sitting and listening to all this, but she spoke up now. “I suggested that you pretend to be Princess Bridget for a few days while we continue to search for her. You do look so much alike. I’m sure you could pull it off with the right help.”
“What do you mean? I know our faces look a lot alike, but I’m a man. She’s a woman. Our voices are different. I don’t have the right build. I’m not an actor. I don’t know how to be a woman and anyone who knows her would spot me right away.”
“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit,” said the Prince. “I remember when you two were playing in the castle as children. There were times when I had trouble telling you apart. Even now, when I look at you, I can almost see her lurking behind your face.”
Matilda leaned over to me, took my hands in hers and looked into my face. “Shelly, there are cosmetic things that will help more than you realize. And we can work on your voice. With one little change, I think you can do it.”
“What change is that?” I asked.
“Your Adam’s apple. There’s a little procedure, a chondrolaryngoplasty, to shave that off. Otherwise, any photographer on the continent would spot that in an instant. It’s just a bit of cartilage and won’t hurt you to do without it. The other things are just cosmetic to give you the look of a woman. I’ll help you work on the rest today. And I’m sure the bridesmaids will help too.”
“Where did you learn about that? Are you sure you just thought of this scheme? Oh never mind. Even if we go through with it, what will the plotters do?” I asked.
“There’s the rub,” said Harold. “And there’s a bit of risk to you. Doing this will make you something of a stalking horse. Since we think their main goal is to embarrass New Venda, they may try to abduct you as well. And we need to find out who in the Palace assisted them. If you do this, we will insert an enhanced tracking chip. It only has a battery life of three days, but it broadcasts out to a range of 300 meters which will make you much easier to locate. And I understand you have some skills in self defense?”
I stared down at Bridget’s hands where she was still holding mine. I closed my eyes and thought to myself. ‘What am I getting into? Where are you, Bridget? What are they doing to you?’
“I guess I’ll do it.”
Chapter 6
Thus began my crazy day of transformation. There was no breakfast. First, I had to shower with my hair up in a cap. Then Matilda (‘get into character, just call me Tillie’) gave me a bottle of white gunk to smear all over my body from the neck down. I waited about 15 minutes before Tillie gave me the all-clear to rinse it off. She let me rub some moisturizing cream over most of my body and put on some shorts and a gown. Then a nurse showed up with a wheel chair to whisk me off to the private medical section.
After explaining the procedures and getting consent signatures, they put me under and went to work. When I woke up a couple hours later, I felt a tingling all around my mouth. The nurse removed the IV, checked to see if I was awake, and then allowed Tillie to escort me to the restroom. I was feeling a bit weak to stand up, but would have needed to sit anyway because they had installed a prosthesis down under to give me an authentic feminine appearance.
“Thanks for the help,” I said and then noticed my voice had distinctly higher pitch. “What happened to my voice?”
“They chilled your throat with nitrogen. It numbs the lower vocal chords for a while and gives you a higher pitch. You may have forgotten about it with all the procedures to approve. It will wear off in a few days.”
Then she showed me how to clean up properly and escorted me back to the bed where I lay down to get fitted with breast forms to match Bridget’s shape. My ribcage was slightly larger than Bridget’s but I was able to wear her bra by letting out the strap. Tillie helped me stand up and pull on a dressing gown.
“Welcome to the light side!” Tillie said and grinned at me.
“Have they heard anything yet? Have they found her?” I asked. Tillie just shook her head, then we both gave a spontaneous hug and sniffled a bit.
“I’m sure they’ll find her,” Tillie assured me. “But let’s start getting you ready to meet the girls!”
“Oh goody!” I frowned at her, made a face, then chuckled a bit.
She had me sit in a wheelchair and Tina came in to wheel me down the hall to the elevator and up to Bridget’s room. We had privacy in the elevator on the way up and Bridget started coaching me.
“Thanks for doing this. From what Bridget told me about you two playing as kids, I think you can pull it off if you just relax and let yourself get into the experience. Picture yourself as Bridget and imagine what she would do.”
Then the elevator door opened, and we walked down the hall to Bridget’s suite. Tina wheeled me into the day room and Matilda kneeled in front of me to look me straight in the face. “Carrying on for Bridget like this means more than you realize. It helps all of New Venda and especially the six girls who will be joining us tonight! So, from now until we get the real Bridget back, you are Bridget, the Princess of New Venda. And Tina and I will teach you, won’t we, Tina?” She asked and looked up and over my shoulder.
“Yes, Miss Matilda”, Tina said. Then she walked around to the front of the wheelchair and faced me. “Let’s get you ready, Miss Bridget.”
She helped me stand up and the three of us walked into the bedroom.
“You’re trim for a man, Shelley, but Bridget has been dieting for weeks to get ready for this day. So you have some catching up to do. Tina, please get the corset.”
“Yes, Miss,” Tina said and went to a chest of drawers and pulled something out.
Tillie continued. “We don’t know how long this will last, but we need to prepare you. And that starts with taking a few inches off your waist.” They had me put my hands up and out and pulled a thick garment over my head and down around my middle. Then Tillie held it in place while Tina went behind me and started pulling on the cords. Tillie checked the waist every so often and they gave me a break when they got down to about 64 cm. Then Tina helped me into a floral sundress and strapped my feet into some high heeled sandals. I managed to stand up and they had me parade back and forth from the bedroom to the day room. I was almost starting to get the knack of the heels when we were interrupted by lunch.
Lunch was just a light salad with a few apple slices and some tea. But my stomach didn’t have room for any more food. Then the hard work began. Tillie started a playlist of videos of Bridget’s official appearances. I had to watch each one a couple times, then try to mimic her walk, gestures and speech pattern. By the third video I was starting to slip into the role a bit, but I kept making mistakes. Tillie gave me a break and excused me to rest on Bridget’s bed. Somehow I slipped into a nap.
Chapter 7
I woke up to the sound of voices from the day room. I tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but Tina must have been waiting at the door and heard me. She opened the door and said, “wake up Miss Bridget. Let’s get you ready for your guests.”
Then she led me to a chair at the vanity where I sat while she brushed out my hair. I hadn’t thought it needed it, but it seemed better anyway. Tina led me through the door where I was hugged nearly to death by three strangers while Tina and Tillie just chuckled. “Let her go,” Tillie finally called out and they stepped back and gave me a good look.
“Miss Bridget, these are your bridesmaids. Since Shelley hasn’t met them before, let me introduce them.”
A tall, athletic looking blonde stepped forward. “This is Grace LaForge. She was Bridget’s second year roommate at the University of Sydney. She got a degree in marine biology and works at the Marine Studies Institute.” Grace gave a quick curtsey and stepped back.
“And this is Fiona Ryan” “Just call me Fi!” she interrupted. “Yes, Fi. We know!” Tillie smiled and continued. “Fi was your second year roommate. She took a degree in early childhood development and is working with family services here in Dublin. Fi bobbed a head covered in strawberry blonde curls and stepped back.
“And here is Susan Monash. Susie met Bridget in school here in Dublin and they were roommates the first year at college.” A petite brunette stepped up and gave me a huge hug. Not letting go, she looked up at me and smiled. “You look so like her! I know we’ll find her and get her back, but we can’t let the Norstrilians shame her with a stunt like this.”
“Let her go, Susie!” Tillie called out. “All of you! Gather round!” She waved to the table in the day room while Tina opened the door and ushered in a maid with a steaming pot of tea and several plates of biscuits and cakes.
So we sat around the table. Grace served the tea. And I sampled a chocolate marshmallow tea cake and a couple cardamom lemon shortbread biscuits.
Then the work began. “From now on, Shelley is Bridget, the Princess of New Venda. Right, everyone?” Susie, Fi and Grace chimed in “yes, miss” and stuck their tongues out at her. I gathered this was a thing with them, since Tillie just glared at them and continued. “You are much too visible a figure for one of those crazy hen parties you read about in stories. So, tonight is your Princess Party, Bridget. You have invited 3 girls from the palace staff and 3 girls from foster families here in Dublin to join you for a little sleepover. Grace, Fi and Susie will help me manage the party. Your job is to relax, play with them, let yourself be a little girl for one more night, and help them have a night to tell their granddaughters about. We will keep an eye on things, so just play along and enjoy yourself. Can you do that?”
“I think so,” I responded.
“I know you can. There will be snacks and games, popcorn and a movie, pizza, another movie, and eventually you will get some sleep. But first it’s story time.”
And we spent the next couple hours sipping tea and nibbling on snacks while the bridesmaids pumped up my memory with tales of their adventures with Bridget in college.
Susie started off. “I first met Bridget when she knocked on the door of our dorm room to start moving in. I saw her name when I was checking in at the Uni, but wasn’t sure if it was really the Bridget Warwick until I saw her myself. Everybody rushed out into the hall to see her when the word went around, but she settled them down by calling a meeting in the lounge that evening. Then we went to work unloading and organizing. At the meeting she laid down the ground rules. In the hall and on campus, she was just Bridget, another student. We needed to respect each other’s privacy. What happened in the hall stayed in the hall. But, no funny business. Anyone who felt cramped could apply for a move with no prejudice. The first few days there was a lot of speculation about who on the floor might be a security person in disguise. But after a few weeks that settled down and we were too busy with studies to worry about it. You really helped me with my science and math courses. I don’t think either of us would have made it through Japanese without the other to practice on.”
“Arigato,” I replied.
“I met you in World History class our first year. I was amazed by how much you already knew about where all these countries were and who was fighting with whom about what. But even though you were just sampling the waters and had to be extra careful, you were always there with a big shoulder to cry on when some boy dumped me, and a special hug to perk me up.” I reached out and we shared an extra big hug.
“We shared biology and chemistry classes the first two years, but the marine biology class our third year was the most fun.” Grace commented. “We had taken swimming and scuba classes together, and you made sure we had a private boat for weekend getaways to the reefs to look for Greater Pacific Octopus and whatever else we could find.”
Then we settled down to chit-chat about music, food, clothes and a bunch of other stuff I had trouble keeping up with. About 4 pm, I think Tillie took pity on me and had Tina prep a bath for me. While I relaxed in bubbles and enjoyed the scent, Grace, Fi and Susie adjourned to the kitchenette and started prepping some food for the evening.
Chapter 8
I was beginning to drift into a light slumber when Tillie returned and she and Tina helped me out of the bath and into a dressing gown. Tina brushed my hair out and I just relaxed and enjoyed it. Then Tillie returned with a button front sleeveless dress and they helped me into the dress and some block heel mule sandals. Tina gave me a light makeup with a whispered comment (‘I wouldn’t want to spoil the girls’ fun’) that had me wondering what I was in for. Then we returned to the lounge area and I enjoyed a cup of green tea and snuck in one more biscuit.
Tillie joined me and started showing me some pictures of girls. “Another training session. For tonight, you really need to be on as Bridget. We can’t do another round of introductions without letting the secret out, so let me introduce you to the six girls who will be joining you for your princess party tonight.”
She showed me a skinny girl with shoulder length brunette hair. “This is Julie. She is 13. Her mother is head seamstress in charge of the palace wardrobe department. They’ll be seeing us again in the morning for a final fitting.”
A girl with a round face enclosed in black curls smiled from a picture. “This is Sarah. She is 12. Her mother is an economist working in the Prince’s Trade Department.“
Another girl with a narrower face and a blonde bob showed a big grin and a lot of careful makeup work. “This is Sophie. Her mother is a biologist working the Natural Resources Department and her father is a local defense attorney.”
The fourth girl had long straight black hair and a round face with southeast Asian features. “That is Tam. She is one of the foster girls. Her grandmother emigrated to New Venda after the Viet Nam War and married a sergeant in the army. Unfortunately, her grandparents died of influenza several years ago and her mother has had drug problems, so she was placed into foster care.” I looked at Tam. Her face looked flat, like she was afraid to show any emotion. I wasn’t sure if there was a slight upturn at one edge of her mouth or not. I wanted to give her a big hug and promise she would be all right.
The fifth girl looked taller and had milk chocolate skin with tight curly hair. “This is Zara. Her parents emigrated from Tanzania a couple years before she was born. Things went pretty well for a while, but her father lost his job in an economic slowdown. Then he got into trouble, was arrested and sent to prison. Her mother worked hard to support her, but was killed in a car accident. So she wound up in the foster system.”
Zara’s face also looked reserved. But something in her posture or her eyes told me she had an inner strength. I hoped it was helping her.
The sixth and last girl was a slightly chubby redhead. “And this is Sienna. Her mother was a waitress, but we don’t know who the father is. The mother has problems with depression and drug use. She has bounced around from work to therapy to prison and we had to put Sienna into foster care. She must be a survivor. I visited her once with Bridget and she was so cheerful and full of energy.” I could see a smile on Sienna’s face and hoped it was for real.
Then Tillie pulled out a stack of laminated card-sized pictures. She shuffled them like a deck of cards, then flipped them over and showed me one picture at a time. I had to guess which girl it was.
Hair and skin color helped but the ages were different.
“Tam … Sarah … Zara … Sophie … Tam … Sienna … Zara … Julie … Sophie … … … “
I paused and stared at the next picture. “Sienna?” I guessed. The hair looked reddish, but something didn’t quite match. “No that’s Fiona,” Tillie responded.
“You cheat!” I yelled at her and frowned.
Then she flipped over another card and I frowned. “Where did you get that?”
“That’s you, Bridget,” she added with a bit of emphasis. “And your cousin Shelley.”
Then there was a knock on the door. Tina opened the door and an older woman helped by three girls rolled a cart into the room and moved it over by a wall near one of the corners.
Then the three girls faced me, gave a short curtsey, and stated “thank you so much for inviting us to your party, princess!” I held out my arms and they accepted the invitation and scampered over to give me a hug. I looked at each in turn. “Julie, Sophie, and Sarah. Thank you very much for coming.”
Julie replied, “I’ve been helping my mom work on the dresses for tonight. We can’t wait to see you in yours!”
I paused trying to figure out what to say, but I was rescued by a knock on the door. Tina opened the door and three more girls walked in. Tam, Zara and Sienna gave a quick nod to Tina, then rushed over to join the hugfest. I joined in and tried to share two arms with six squirming girls. Tillie gave us a couple minutes to share the love, then called us over to the table where Charles had helped Tina set up some extra chairs.
“All right, girls.” Tillie said. “Susie, Fi, Grace and I will be managing the food so you can have your fun. We’ll have popcorn for the first movie at 7, then pizza and the second movie. Here are some snacks,” she said as the other three brought in a tray of veggies and dip, cups of ice and some bottles of diet lemon lime and ginger ale.
I started to introduce the girls, but they beat me to the punch by introducing themselves. Then Sophie asked, “Tam, Zara and Sienna; what shall we do first, hair, makeup or nails?”
All three replied “Nails!” So, it was quickly decided. “Great!” Julie said and pulled up a case that was resting on the floor under the table. I sensed a conspiracy, but kept quiet. Julie took out seven bottles of red nail polish, several emory boards and a few clippers. “We’ll take turns around the table. Sarah, you help Sienna do Princess Bridget first.” And the girls set to work. I was glad Tina had worked on my hands earlier, but Sarah and Sienna each gave one hand a meticulous trimming and filing before carefully applying a coat of a medium red color polish. I thought that was to be it, but the mules came off my feet and they went to work on my toes as well. Then while the toes started to dry, my fingers got a second coat. When those were done, I took turns helping Sienna do Sarah’s nails and Sarah do Sienna’s. I tried a little clipping, but Sienna wasn’t satisfied and took that over leaving me to do my best (or worst) filing with the emery board. The other girls had worked in pairs, so we got a lot of attention as we finished up Sienna’s fingers.
“What’s next,” Sophie asked? A couple girls suggested hair, but Julie cut in. “We should put on our gowns first. Then we can do hair to match!” And I joined the rush to the rack in the corner. Julie worked her way down the rack. First she pulled up a yellow and green gown that looked like silk. “Tam, you are Mulan.” She handed the gown over and Tam went to the rest room to change.
“Zara, you are Tiana!” She handed Zara a yellow gown with green outer layering. It was made of some stiff fabric, but Zara received a crinoline to help support it.
“And Sienna, you are Merida of DunBroch!” Sienna received a deep green gown with a gold trimmed band around its wide skirt.
She handed Sarah a set of blue harem pants with a sort of wide skirt and a matching bikini top. “You are Princess Jasmine!” Sarah gave a little squeal and dashed off to the bedroom.
Sophie got a wide two tone blue gown with another crinoline.
Then Julie took down a long white gown and turned to me. “You are the real princess and the best princess of all, so of course you are Princess Leia!” She took down another wide yellow gown and crinoline and told me. “I am Belle. No beast can scare us!” Then she grabbed my hand and practically drug me to the bedroom where the other girls were in the process of changing. She headed for the bathroom and hustled two girls who were changing out to the main bedroom.
“Let Princess Bridget have the bathroom. I’ll help her change.” She said and then closed the door behind us. Then she surprised me with a big hug and whispered in my ear. “Matilda told me what you are doing. I think you are very brave and you really do look like Princess Bridget! I hope they find her soon.”
“I do too,” I whispered back.
Then she started unbuttoning my dress and helped me lower the long white gown over my shoulders. Then she took off her own dress and had me help her slip into Belle’s long yellow ballroom dress and pull up the crinoline to hold the skirt out around her. We emerged to cheers and clapping. “Welcome, Princess Leia! Come. Sit down on the bed. We have to fix your hair.”
The girls split into teams of three each, with Julie, Sarah and Sophie working on my left side while Tam, Zara and Sienna worked on the right. Someone came up with spray bottles that seemed to be just water and they went to work parting my hair down the middle. Then they combed it out and gently braided both sides and pinned them around my ears for the iconic look.
After finishing with me, each of the other girls got a special treatment. Julie/Belle got a partial high pony tail to accent her brown hair. Sarah/Jasmine’s hair was carefully brushed out and accented with a costume jeweled headband that matched her outfit. Somehow they found enough hair in Sophie’s bob to give Cinderella a slight bun in the back. Tam/Mulan had some of her hair pulled up and held there with a golden looking comb. Zara/Tiana got a full up-do with a gold crown to show it off. And Sienna/Merida’s red hair was carefully brushed out to show off its curl.
I was afraid there would be an extended makeup session with many tries and re-tries, but either these girls were experts or they were eager to show off their new outfits. Still, they put Sophie in charge of getting me ready with some assistance from Tam. Fortunately, Princess Leia’s makeup look was generally pretty restrained. After a few minutes of brushing, stroking and patting, they turned me to the mirror. I just looked. I had seen my face several times since the transformation just that morning, but something about my new look seemed more alive and sophisticated. Was I really a princess at heart?
“I told you she’d look great,” Sophie told Tam and they both gave me a little shoulder hug. “Don’t spoil the result. We have to show you off.”
There was a very timely knock on the door and Matilda called out, “are you ready, girls?”
“Almost!” several voices called. Then one of them slipped the door partly open and Matilda replied, “OK. Line up for your big entrance.”
Then, she stepped back and one by one we carefully walked out through the door and into the living room. Matilda introduced each of us in turn.
“Presenting …. The lady Belle.
Princess Jasmine
The mystery lady, Cinderella
The heroine of our army, Princess Mulan
The new princess, Tiana
The defender of DunBroch, Merida
And the heroic and inspiring leader of the New Republic, Princess Leia Organa!!!”
Each girl was greeted with ooh’s and clapping, but when I came into the room, all of them turned to me and cheered and applauded. I gave them a restrained nod and tried to hold back a grin.
“Welcome to my party, ladies.” I finally said and led them to gather around the double table set up in the middle. We sipped on some drinks and tried to chat in character. Eventually Mulan and Merida got into a fierce argument over who was the better archer. I promised to take the whole group for an archery training session at a local range and we paused that discussion. Our gowns were much too nice for flopping on the floor. So we arranged chairs in front of the television and started watching Frozen. I looked in back towards the kitchen area and waved to Susie and Fi to bring popcorn. Then I focused on the movie.
Things went calmly and we were all getting into the movie until Elsa’s powers cut loose and she fled into the mountains and started singing “Let It Go” and spraying ice all around to build her castle. At this point the girls grabbed me, jumped up and started dashing around the room, singing along and pointing everywhere, imagining streams of ice squirting from their finger to decorate the room. After dodging a couple feigned ice sprays, I joined in and tried to figure what places the girls might have missed so I could give them a frosty decoration.
I thought it might have ended soon, but the girls were too pumped up with energy. So one of them backed up the movie to the start of the song and they formed a line and started working out a choreographed dance to follow along. I did my best to try to figure out the moves and avoid poking anyone. After about the third or fourth time through the song, we seemed to have it mostly worked out and the dance picked up energy. After another repetition which I’m sure was caught on cell video, one girl bumped another one, we fell down on the floor and the dance dissolved into a tickling contest. I tried to get a giggle out of each girl but they were ganging up on me. Finally I reached out and squeezed as many of them as I could and encouraged them to get back into their seats and finish the movie. By the time Anna was saved and Hans was exiled, I think we were all getting hungry.
So, I signaled the kitchen to start the pizzas and led the girls into the bedroom to carefully hang up our princess gowns and change into nightgowns. The timing was just right as we exited the bedroom to find hot pizza waiting for us on the table. So another mad dash ensued, but I settled for a regal stroll to the head chair which had been saved for me.
I tried to nibble pizza, but the girls decided to quiz me about the Archduke, Rupert, who was scheduled to arrive the next day.
“When did you meet?”
“Is he a good kisser?”
“What do you like best about him?”
“Did he have any other girl friends?”
“Where is your honeymoon?”
I told them the last question was a secret and then tried to tell them as much as I could remember from a few magazine articles I had read combined with my perspective living in Adelaide and enough educated guesswork to fill in.
“I’m not sure when I first met Rupert because one of us would often travel with our fathers on visits to the other region. We would get paired up for dinners or tag along on some of the less serious visits. Our first real date was probably the New Year’s Eve party when I was 16. My dress wasn’t as showy as your princess gowns, but I remember feeling so pretty wearing it. And Rupert was a real gentleman and a good dancer too. Later in college, I did a lot of blind dates. Some of them were good guys and there were a few jerks. But I started to figure out that Rupert was more fun than any of them and pretty smart as well.
You’ve probably read all the speculation in the gossip magazines. Every time we would show up somewhere there would be more stories. But I didn’t seriously consider marrying him until my senior year when he organized a special relief program for koalas and other animals whose home habitats had been destroyed in the huge fires. It showed that he cared about more than just himself and his status. I wanted to help him.
Now, let’s start the movie!”
And so we settled down on air mattresses with our blankets and pillows to watch Frozen II. It was a good movie too, and I stuck it out to the end. But at least a couple of the girls had drifted off before the closing credits started to roll. As I drifted into the mist of dreams, I wondered if Bridget had been kidnapped by a salamander or an air spirit.