Josie took the first of two carloads of possessions to her new home. Having an 'upstairs’ was a first for her. All her childhood had been in a top-floor but single-storey council flat in Limehouse.

There was just enough time to unpack the clothes that she was going to wear that afternoon, take a shower in a place where she didn’t have to feed the electric meter with at least £2.00 just to get enough hot water, do her hair and makeup before leaving for the ‘big house’.

That was when the trouble began. Her car would not start. After a load of cursing, she went back in the house, put on her boots and with her heels in a shopping bag, she started to walk the mile or so to the Fete.

She'd just reached halfway when a Land Rover came silently up the track behind her. It was only when she disturbed some sheep that she knew that it was there. Slightly startled, she turned around and immediately relaxed. Charles was driving it.

“Car problems?” he asked when he stopped next to her.

“Yeah, it would not start.”

“Jump in; I’ll take a look at it first thing in the morning.”

Josie was a little reluctant to accept his offer.
“I’m supposed to be moving the rest of my things in the morning.”

“Then I’ll take you there and get you moved before looking at your car. I’m sure that it won’t be a big thing, but doing it that way around won’t put pressure on you to get moved.”

“Ok, just don’t get too pissed. I hear that there are six barrels of beer on tap.”

“Ok, I get the message. Besides, I want to be sober when I ask the most beautiful woman there to dance.”

“This I’ll have to see,” said Josie.

“Errrr…. You silly.”

Josie felt herself go red in the face.
“I’m not that. That’s for sure. Besides, I don’t dance. Dancing was forbidden for our sect, as was singing. Even humming a tune was forbidden. If I were to be married, then there would only be the chanting of verses from the Koran at the reception. Even the Mullahs in Iran, at their worst, allowed women to dance on their own at receptions. Mixed dancing was out even amongst family members.”

Her words reminded him of her very different background from his. Things like this made him all the more pleased that she’d broken free of their restrictions.

“Then it is long past time to learn.”

Josie got into the Land Rover and said,
“Not today. I don’t want to look like a complete idiot in front of everyone. Besides, all their eyes will be on me today. Being the new girl in town, so to speak.”

“Ok. I get the message, but my dear mother might have other ideas.”

“Thanks for the warning. I just want the tenants that I’m going to be working with to see me in the flesh. That way, they won’t get a surprise when I call on them.”

“Josie… They already know who you are. Your picture is on the Estate WhatsApp group. Adam, the Estate Manager, put it up the day after you accepted the job offer. He does that for all staff.”

Charlie noticed that her grip on the door handle had tightened. He stopped the vehicle.

“What’s the matter?”

“If my family see it, then I’m done for.”

“As far as I know, the group is private. Only people who work for the estate can take part.”

Josie just looked straight ahead.
“It will be all right. Everyone here has your back.”

“I hope so.”

The afternoon was a very successful one for Josie despite half of her mind being on the WhatsApp group. She was introduced to all the tenants and their families. The half a cow that had been spit-roasted and most of the beer had been drunk by the proceedings started to wind down when Charlie tried once again to get Josie to dance with him.

“Sorry, Charles, I told you that I don’t dance and have never danced. There are plenty of women here who would love to dance with you.”

The look on his face told him that she was not going to move even one millimetre.

When he’d gone to find some more Dutch courage before asking someone else, Elenora came over to Josie.

“My dear, you seem to have got the art of telling my son to get lost down to a fine art,” said Elenora, smiling.

“Sorry, Elenora. I told him earlier that I don’t dance, but kudos to him for trying.”

“Good for you, girl. Perhaps… and this is nothing more than a suggestion, if you reconsider, just let me know that you want to learn to dance, and I’ll put you in touch with a very good teacher. After my late husband died, I took some lessons. They gave me a lot of confidence back.”

“Thanks, Elenora, and I will take it as a suggestion.”

“Good,” said Elenora.
“Because your car is dead, why don’t you stay the night here? I overheard Charles talking to Trevor about giving your car the once-over first thing in the morning.”

Josie thought for a few seconds.
"Thanks, Elenora. I haven't had the chance to unpack much at the moment, and that includes my kettle.

“That’s settled then. When everyone has left to go home, come into the house, and I’ll show you to your room.”

“Good morning, Mother, Josie,” said a cheerful Charlie as he came into the breakfast room the next morning. Josie tried to read his face but failed.

Both women were sitting quietly, nursing some tea or coffee. They’d talked until well after midnight. Charles poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down.

After a sigh, he said,
“Trev and I took a look at your car, Josie. I’m afraid that it is not good news. I got the engine going, but your battery is just about on its last legs. Two of the cells are almost dead, but that is not the real bad news.”

He took a sip from the cup.
“Once I had the engine running, we took it to the workshop and put it up on the ramp. There is no way the bodywork will pass the MOT test. There are a lot of rust holes in the floor.”

“I did notice that the carpet was getting wet when it rained.”

Charlie shook his head.
“That’s not all. The brake lines are almost rusted through. Honestly, it will cost far more than it is worth to repair. You have been lucky so far, but with those brakes about to fail, it is a death trap.”

Josie’s shoulders sank.
“But… I have the rest of my things to collect today. How will I get that done?”

“I’ll take you home, and we can get them together,” said Charles.

“I’m going to need some transport to get around the estate. I can’t afford another car at the moment,” said Josie.

“As you are now an employee of the estate, you can use one of our pool vehicles. That Land Rover I was driving yesterday is one of them,” said Charles.

“Really? Won’t it be like a company car? They are taxed as a benefit in kind…”

“Not if it is available for everyone to use at any time, a sort of pool car,” said Elenora.

Josie got up and left the room. Charles was about to go after her, but Elenora stopped him.
“I’ll go and comfort her. She’s not used to people caring about her.”

“What shall I do with her car?”

“Empty it of personal things and send it to the scrapper. We’ll deal with the V5 later. Then, please be on the lookout for a suitable runabout for her, but it must be her choice. Got it?”

“Yes, mum. I get it.”
“Now get going. I’ll do the run with her to the old home.”

“Ok, I get it. Women’s things?” said Charles, seeing the look on his mother’s face.

“What do you think?”

“I think that is everything,” said Josie as the last box was loaded into Elenora’s Volvo SUV.

“There is one more job to do.”

“Hand over the keys?”

“Apart from that. Photograph everything, including inside the cupboards and appliances. Send them to the landlord. That way, he can’t suddenly find the place as dirty as hell and withhold your deposit.”

“I get you. I’ll go and do it now.”

Elenora waited for more than twenty minutes for Josie to take the photos.

"Let's get out of here," said Josie when she returned to the car. The landlord was hovering around, waiting for me to give him the keys. I made sure that he saw me taking photos. I even included him in one. I told him that I would be sending him copies of all of them and that I want the whole of my deposit back by return of post."

“Well done for doing that,” said Elenora.

“I got that bit of advice from the Citizens Advice when my last but one landlord tried to stiff me out of my whole deposit.”

“A good lesson learned, though. I have to hope that this is your last move for a long time.”

“Thank you for everything, Elenora.”

She laughed.
“I’ve done very little that wasn’t just common sense.”

Josie settled into her new home but was still on edge when out and about on the estate. Dozens of photos of her at the event had been posted on the internet.

That unease was compounded when one of the gossip rags that thrive on suggestion and innuendo rather than facts picked up on her sudden appearance at the estate. They ran a front-page article entitled, ‘The future lady Crowley?’. Right there, front and centre, was Josie talking to Elenora at the event. From the quality of the image, she guessed that it had been copied from a post on social media.

The article had almost gone unnoticed until Elenora saw the rag on the rack at a supermarket in Oxford when she was filling up her car with fuel. A slightly shocked and very
annoyed Elenora bought a copy of the gossip column as she paid for the fuel. She glanced at the article, and a feeling of doom fell over her. Josie’s picture was there for her family to see. Her best intentions of providing a safe space for Josie had failed… miserably.

That evening, she discussed the article with her son, Charles.

“We have to tell Josie. From what she has said, the threat from her family is real,” said Elenora.
“Only if they see the photos and realise that it is their missing child.”

“We can’t afford to take the risk. When I returned here earlier, I called Tamsin. She’ll be here in a few days. She jumped at the chance to get out of Brum; her last relationship went up in flames when she asked about them moving in together. Her words included ‘disappeared at the speed of light. Her job will be to be Josie’s bodyguard until… well, until it is no longer needed.”

Charles knew what that meant.
“Just when we were getting used to having her around,” he complained.

“True. She is a genuine asset to the estate. Perhaps this threat will come to nothing, but we can’t take any chances.”

Charles smiled, and after a sigh, he said,
“I’ll go and tell her. What do I say about Tamsin?”

“Just say that help is at hand and that I’ll be escorting her for a few days while she visits the tenants.”

“Can you fit that into your schedule?”

“I will have to. We can’t risk having her kidnapped and subject to whatever punishment her family wants to give her.”

All this was said without Josie’s knowledge.

“Let me talk to Josie,” said Elenora.
“Woman to woman.”

Charles didn’t argue.

Elenora found Josie at a farm on the far western side of the estate. She was just wrapping up a visit when her boss arrived.

“This is a pleasant surprise,” said Josie.

“This is not a social call. We need to go somewhere to talk.”

Josie knew from the tone of Elenora’s voice that whatever she wanted to talk about was serious.

“I was going to stop for some lunch near the river. There is a spot by the bridge to pull off.”

Elenora smiled. Josie was a quick learner. She knew the place. The parking spot was used by people fishing for trout in the river.

“I know exactly what you mean. I’ll meet you there in half an hour.”

Some 40 minutes later, Josie joined Elenora at a picnic bench on the riverbank.

“I take it that you have some bad news for me?”

“You are a very observant woman, Josie. Yes, I have some bad news for you.”

Without waiting for Josie to react, Elenora showed her the magazine article.

The colour visibly drained from Josie’s face as she read the magazine. When she finished it, Josie shook her head.
“Just when I was getting to know everyone.”

“And you still will keep on getting to know my tenants. I have called in some help.”

“Help?”

“Yes, Josie, help. An old friend called Tamsin. She is … she was on the verge of going to the 2016 Olympics until she ruptured her Achilles tendon three weeks before the opening ceremony. She is … was a Taekwondo player.”

“How can she help me now?”

“She can be your bodyguard until we get a proper solution to your problem.”

“There is no ‘proper solution’ as you put it, while I am still alive.”

“Don’t be so downhearted, Josie. As I have said before, you are not alone now.”

“When they see my photo in that rag, they’ll come in force. One person won’t stop them when the honour of the family is at stake.”

The way that Josie said that hammered it home to Elenora that the threat was real.

Elenora decided to take the bit between her teeth and go to East London. She wasn’t alone but had engaged the services of an interpreter who could speak fluent Farsi and passable Pashtun.

Her mission took her four days. It wasn’t until all the men headed for the Mosque and Friday Prayers that she had the opportunity to speak, woman to woman, to Josie’s mother. To her astonishment, none of the events at the house had been communicated to her or her daughter. It took the mother a while to understand that her missing son was living as a woman. When she accepted that, it was easy for her to see why it had been kept from her. Elenora and the interpreter had to promise never to tell a soul, but Josie’s mother had suspected that her son was gay. To find out that he was transgender was not that much of a leap.

Elenora was surprised that Josie’s mother didn’t condemn Josie to eternal damnation. After a little more questioning, she revealed that she had a cousin on her mother’s side who had fled Iran when the Shah fell because he was gay. It was real, but was never mentioned in the family again.

Elenora’s last question was,
“Is there anything that you want to say to your daughter?”

Her mother answered slowly and clearly in Farsi.

Once they were away from the meeting point, Elenora asked the interpreter what she’d said.

“She said, ‘May Allah guide your life choices.’”

Elenora had no idea what that meant.
“It may mean something to Josie,” she said before paying the interpreter for their services.

That evening, Josie received a visit from Elenora.
“Sorry to bother you on a Friday evening, but I have some news.”

“It is no bother. Please come in and take a seat. Can I offer you something to drink? I don’t have any alcohol, though.”

“I’m fine,” said Elenora.

“What sort of news can you have that involves a personal visit at this time on a Friday?”

Elenora smiled.
“Can’t I visit my favourite daughter without needing a reason?”

“Yes, of course, but you have been away for most of the week. I guess that it has something to do with your trip somewhere?”

Elenora smiled.
“It is. I went to see your mother and sister. It was when your father, brother and uncles all went to the Mosque for prayers.”

Josie visibly relaxed.
“You went to the flat in Limehouse?”

Elenora shook her head.
“She and another older woman went to the grocery store. I spoke to her at the back. No CCTV caught us.”

Josie shook her head.
“Did you wear a Hijab or a headscarf?”

“No. Why?”

“Your blonde hair would be a dead giveaway.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

“It is too late now. The damage has been done.”
Josie managed a small smile. Then she asked,
“So, what did my mother say?”

“Neither your father nor your brothers told her about possibly finding you. All she knew was that they told her that they had a lead. When they returned, they said that it was a mistake, but your mother said that she didn’t believe them. It is a mother thing.”

“That sounds about right. Men do not show any weakness to women in our society… sorry, where my old family comes from. I was brought up to think that one day, we could return to our promised land in western Afghanistan. I knew that after my one visit, I would never return to a land where women are treated worse than animals and are often traded like them at markets.”

“Your mother told us about an uncle who lived in Iran who was gay and had to flee when the Mullahs took over.”

“I heard mutterings about him, but because it was against the word of god, it was never mentioned in open conversation.”

“Her last words to me were a message to you, ‘May Allah guide your life choices’.”

Josie sat still for a full minute before a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Sorry,” she said as she wiped it away.

“My dear, there is no reason to be sorry.”

When she’d stopped crying, Josie said to Elenora.
“She used to say that to me every day before I went to school. It means that she loves me no matter what happens. It was a sort of code that we had. To my father, it is just a phrase that tells me to pray for guidance. Between us, it was her saying, know your own mind and do what is right.”

“I wondered if there was some other reason for her words. She spoke them slowly and clearly so that my translator would not make a mistake.”

Elenora took the opportunity to change the subject.
“As your mother in the here and now, the offer of paying for your transition still applies even if you and Charles do not get it together, which seems more and more remote with each passing day. I know that you want to do it on your own, but I’m here to help.”

“I know that, Elenora. I’m still finding my feet in my new job. It would not look good to go missing so soon.”

“Rubbish. I’m the boss, and I have your back when it comes to your transition, and I will not have a bad word said against you over that.”

“I know, and thanks. Give it another couple of months for me to get to know where all the tenants are with their books, and we can talk again.”

Elenora smiled back at this woman who had more common sense in her body than almost anyone she had ever met.

[4 days later]
“Josie, this is Tamsin. As I told you, she is here to keep you safe.”

Josie looked at the newcomer.
“Josie, my family were from Tehran. They left the day that the Shah fell because my family are Christian, and despite what the mullahs said at the time, my parents decided to get out.”

Suddenly, a few visual clues that Josie had picked up made sense.

“It is nice to meet you, Tamsin.”

“Relax, Josie. Tamsin is not the enemy. Her grandfather was our driver when we were stationed in Tehran. Her family served the UK Embassy in Tehran for more than forty years.”

“Sorry, Tamsin, but you look just like… my friend from school, Amara. She went to Iran on her eighteenth birthday and never returned. We found out that she had been married to a sixty-year-old man with five wives and twenty children.”

Josie had to sit down. The memories were just too painful.
“She walked in front of a bus a week after her wedding.”

The silence in the room said more than a thousand words.

Tamsin moved into Josie’s house, and after some initial friction, Josie came to terms with a newcomer invading her space. After a week, it was as if they had been friends for years.

Mid-summer came and went. Charles and the twins were following Josie’s instructions to the letter, and the business was now making a healthy profit. Elenora made true her promise to invest in a new paint booth/oven for the workshop. While converting Land and Range Rovers was their core business, they were preparing to expand into another part of the complex and take on larger and more complex conversions. They’d also employed the son of one of the tenant farmers, who was a skilled fabricator who used to work at the BMW ‘Mini’ Plant in Oxford. Business was booming.

Josie had fought a few battles with some tenants, but all she did was point them to the workshop and say, out of chaos, order rules and a profit returns. They all knew that this strange woman had made a big difference to the business, so their resistance soon crumbled. With the help of the local representative of the Farmers Union, a few of the tenants were starting to diversify their business. With the return to School of the children, Josie ran out of excuses not to let Elenora help her with her transition. Her reluctance was purely down to the previous bad experience with a failed implant.

“About time, too, my dear Josie. You have whipped the tenants into shape. That alone is going to save them at least twice your salary in accountant fees. Plus, there will be less likelihood of an investigation by the tax people. More than a few have admitted to me that you are a lot less threatening to deal with than our accountants.”

“I’m a bit scared after last time.”

“That’s why several months ago, I went to see one of the top people in the country and explained the situation to him. He said that the feelings you are having are not that unusual.”

“So?”

“So, now that you are ready, I’ll make a call, and we can go and see him. I’ll be there at your side, and this is between us, understand?”

Elenora hoped that getting her breasts sorted would give her the confidence to move on to the next big step.

It didn't take a magician to see a lot of her younger self in Josie, and she would not be the person that she now was without the previous Lady of the house. It was now her turn to try to repay some of that faith in helping Josie become the woman that she clearly was. That had been evident within the first five minutes of being with her. She'd trusted her son's report on this weird woman with pink hair that he'd met outside the pub.

Once she’d had someone dig into her background, she immediately felt an affinity for Josie. The job at the workshop had needed doing for months, so she took a chance on it working. There wasn’t a lot to lose, so it was a risk worth taking. That risk had paid her back many, many times over.

The estate’s finances and, importantly, those of the tenants were in better shape than they’d been in decades, and that was largely down to Josie.

[to be continued]