“I’ll speak to you later, John; I promise. Thanks for your help.”
John was obviously not going to get his explanation yet, so he grinned good-naturedly and left.
“Now, about that letter,” said Keira.
Fourteen
Graham felt uncomfortable, but he was reluctant to fidget in such august company.
Mrs Doreen Lambert was Headmistress of the very selective Drinkwater Hall Sixth Form College for Girls. They sat in her study overlooking the very fine grounds on the edge of the Chiltern Hills. She was reading the report by Mr Pettifer, Keira’s last headmaster.
After trying to nonchalantly regard his hostess; a middle-aged and conservatively dressed matron, he transferred his gaze and looked at the austere paintings of some equally formidable-looking women that looked down their noses at him from their canvasses. He correctly assumed they were her predecessors.
“I’m sorry if this might take a few minutes; I do like to read what’s been written, and this is all a little sudden,” she said with a smile.
“I understand, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he replied.
“Keira is in good hands, as Shannon simply adores showing new girls around the school. She’s Irish, and one of our Upper Sixth-boarders. She comes from a rather dysfunctional family in the Republic, so has spent the holidays with a relative in Kent. Unfortunately, the relative had to return to Eire for a family crisis, so Shannon asked if she could stay here for the week or so before term began.”
“Poor girl, one never imagines that wealthier people suffer from problems, but it’s come home to me all too recently.”
“Quite, problems are endemic across the board. Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No, thanks, I’m fine.”
Doreen resumed reading and the clock ticking.
He was actually feeling rather better than he expected to be, all things considered. As he sat there, listening to the elderly grandfather clock tick away the seconds, he thought back over the last few, very hectic weeks.
The summer had been an amazing time for the family, particularly for Keira. She and Connie had spent a lot of the time together. They swam often and went for long walks, during which they discussed everything that Keira had missed by not growing up a girl. Three times a week, they went for a four mile run along the river, across a farmer’s field and back along the road. To start with, Connie had to walk most of it, but after a few weeks was managing the whole thing in a good time.
Under Keira’s supervision, Connie had cut out the comfort food. She still snacked, but usually on oranges or apples. Chocolates, crisps and biscuits were banned, and so she was on track to drop from fourteen stone to nine by the end of the holidays.
Graham was surprised. Firstly by the fact that his daughter had the patience to help a friend in such a way, and secondly that Connie had the strength of character to stick to the strict regime that Keira appeared to have imposed on her. He was also pleasantly surprised in the change in Keira’s friend. She had blossomed as she lost weight. Graham put her change down to a gradual improvement of her self-confidence and self-esteem. The combination of the weight-loss and the psychological stimulation had created an attractive girl with a lot of charm.
Graham knew that Connie was not looking forward to the end of the holidays, as he and Keira were going to France for a week (possibly with Stephanie) after the GCSE results, and then it was almost definite that Keira was not returning to the same school.
As he sat in Doreen’s presence, he hoped that this school might take her. The Head of the last school to which they’d applied had read the letter from Anne and decided it was one complication too many. They hadn’t even bothered to arrange an interview.
Unbeknown to Graham, Keira, although sorely tempted, decided that crime-fighting and superhero stuff should wait, just until she got some stability in her life. She would often go out during the warm nights to practice her gifts, but felt the local constabulary could manage perfectly well without her help for the time being.
Actually, she discovered that being a girl was such fun on its own, that there wasn’t any need for extra excitement. To be honest, she liked her sleep, and so found getting up in the middle of the night was adversely affecting her.
Then, in July, Keira had a surprise visitor as predicted by Dr Howelett. To her, although faintly unpleasant, it was confirmation that she’d made it. She still had not removed her torc ever since that day after the exams. As a result, and out of courtesy, she made an appointment with Dr. Anne to keep her updated with progress.
Anne was flabbergasted enough with the revelation of Keira in the first place, so was not so surprised when the girl sat in her room and casually, and not without some pride, announced that she was experiencing her first period.
“I suppose I should be surprised, but I learned that with you, the impossible happens. How are you?”
“Brilliant,” was the one-word answer that was reflected in the girl’s smile.
Anne asked if she could exam her again, to which she assented.
After which, Anne told Keira that she thought that the girl had filled out a little, but otherwise there was little change.
Graham worked hard from his home, making occasional flights abroad with Stephanie, who appeared more and more at the family home. Graham toyed with the possibility of selling it, but as he could afford not to, he decided to keep it as an investment against inflation. Had Linda remained in the area, he might well have moved, but she and Yvonne were now in London.
He was amused to observe that George Marchant had been seen recently at the Tennis Club with a very attractive girlfriend. He had rung up George, as an old friend, and they had got together for a drink as a foursome with Stephanie. They had met Jenny, the new girlfriend and all came to the conclusion that they should have got divorced years ago.
Initially Graham was rather apprehensive about Keira’s reaction to Stephanie, so took things very gently.
Actually, in Stephanie, Keira found an ally. Although almost ten years younger than Graham, Stephanie was a mature, intelligent and an attractive woman. Keira discovered that she was interested in almost the same things as Keira and was obviously deeply in love with Graham. In response, Graham became more animated and human than Keira could ever remember. Gone was the taciturn and miserable man who seemed grumpy all the time. Keira found her easy to like, and so she got on far better with her than with her birth mother.
Having been somewhat close to being terrified of Keira at the start, Graham had actually come to know and love his daughter. He did not admit to being able to understand anything about her, particularly her ability to be two entirely different people without seemingly finding it anything strange. There was still something distinctly different about her, which made him wary. It was like having a pet kitten that one believed was a wild tiger in disguise.
He was also at a loss to understand how anyone could prefer being a girl to being male, but if that’s what made her content, he was okay with it.
He felt a heavy sadness that he had failed Kenneth so completely, so worked especially hard to make it up to his new daughter. Somehow the absence of Linda seemed to make everything lighter and perhaps happier. Although none were aware of it at the time, the slowly degrading relationship soured everything within the small family. Graham was convinced that Linda’s uncompromising attitudes about just about everything pushed him towards Stephanie so as to find someone with whom he could find solace.
Life seemed to become sunnier within the Frost household on the day at the beginning of July when Keira had returned from the doctor with a certain piece of paper. Unlike the paper that Neville Chamberlain waved in September 1938, after returning from a meeting with a certain Mr Hitler, this piece of paper was of great significance. Anne’s letter paved the way for Keira to have her birth certificate altered, her national records, school records, medical records and every other record changed from male to read female.