The trio left Damien’s father and friends behind. After receiving some more directions from Stephanie, the Taxi took them to a quiet mews not far from Red Lion Square in Central London. They waited in the street while the cab did a ‘U-turn’ and disappeared into the traffic in search of a new fare.

“This way,” said Stephanie.
She led them through a passageway and into another street. Her destination was a Georgian townhouse almost at the very end of the street.

“Where are we going?” asked Faye.

“To see your lawyer. He’ll take you aside and explain what will happen next. Then, we’ll head out of the city and take you somewhere where your father can’t find you.”

Faye shook her head.
“You don’t know him. He is like an octopus and has tentacles everywhere.”

“Then tell that to your lawyer. He’ll use that in his application to the court.”

The mention of going to court didn’t appeal to Faye.
“I can’t go to court looking like this? Didn’t you say that I have to use my given name on the application?”

Stephanie laughed and then smiled. Faye/Damien was quite a smart cookie.

“True. We’ll get you some more asexual clothes first thing in the morning. But until we get to where we are staying tonight, you should be Faye. Ok?”

“That makes sense. For today, I’ll stay as Faye.”

“Don’t you like it? You know, being who you want to be?”

“I don’t want to be on the run. I want to be Faye, legally.”

Paula laughed.
“You do have a good head on you. How did your father get to be so… so bad?”

“He’s not my real father. All I know is what he told me years ago. He said that I was adopted when I was six months old. One of the things I want to do before I… before I become Faye is to try to find my birth parents. Once I’m eighteen, he can’t stop me from making an official request.”

“Well, that is for the future,” said Paula.
“In the meantime, we have a lawyer to see.”

Thomas Gold was not what Faye had expected, but after a bit of reflection, he never really had an idea about what to expect.

Mr Gold was a Hasidic Jew. He wore a black hat and a frock coat even indoors and had the ringlets in front of his ears. He’d never met anyone as striking as that.

“Please, come on in. I have been expecting you,” said Mr Gold.

He showed the trio into an office. The sound of children playing could be heard coming from another part of the building.

“Now Ladies. Down to business.”

Then, he addressed Faye.

“Damien, isn’t it? Don’t worry about me being an Orthodox Jew. I understand that God makes people differently, and for some, such as yourself, your body says one thing, and your mind says another. I call it God’s Hiccup. I’m here to try to make sure that your father can’t send you to a conversion camp against your will. That is not God’s way, no matter what your father might preach from the pulpit every week. I’m on your side.”
He looked at a piece of paper on his desk and said,

“From now I’ll refer to you as Faye in all verbal and written communications. I understand that is what you want to be called at the end of all this?”

Faye smiled.

“That’s correct. Thank you, Mr Gold.”

“Now, I understand that you are eighteen in a few weeks. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir. Nineteen days, to be exact.”

“Good. That will make it easier to get a temporary order that will stop your father from even attempting to make contact with you until you are legally an adult.”

“That’s what I want. Thank you.”

He turned his attention to Paula and Stephanie.
“Ladies, if you will make your way to the kitchen, I am sure that my wife will have some refreshments ready. Faye and I have some work to do.”

The trio left Mr Gold’s home almost two hours later. Faye was a lot happier now that she knew what was going to happen to her in the immediate future. Mr Gold would make an application to the family court for a hearing into making Damien a ward of the court until his eighteenth birthday.

Paula hailed another taxi, which took the three of them to Marylebone Railway Station. Stephanie disappeared inside when they arrived to buy some tickets. Faye was still in the dark about where they were going, but she trusted her companions.

“Where are we going?” asked Faye as they walked along the platform. The signs indicated that the train was going to Birmingham.

“High Wycombe. We have only half an hour on the train.”

“Paula,” said Faye.
“Could I get something to eat? I’ve not eaten anything today?”

She looked at the clock and at the board that was showing the departure time of the train.
“We’ll have to get something from the trolley, but don’t worry, we’ll have a good meal tonight.”

Faye managed a small smile. Her thoughts were now on being outed on the train. It was very busy as a 5 pm weekday departure would be. Commuters were going home after a day in the office.

Faye spent the whole journey looking out of the carriage window. For the first time since she’d left home early that morning, she began to feel alone in the world. She knew that Paula, Stephanie and Mr Gold would look out for her, but her destiny was very much in her hands. Mr Gold had made that very clear to her.

The trio let the throng of commuters leave the station before they left the platform. So far, no one had outed Faye, but her tiredness was beginning to show.

Yet another taxi took the trio to a large house up in the hills to the northwest of the town. Faye was impressed by the electronic gates that somehow opened as the taxi drew up outside.

“Faye, your room is on the left at the top of the stairs. There are some clothes in the room. Don’t be worried about the sizes; the last person we helped was a lot larger in stature than you. Tomorrow, we’ll get you some more suitable clothes,” said Paula.

“There is makeup remover in the bathroom. From now on, you are Damien until your legal situation is clarified… unless… you want to do otherwise.”

“Thanks, Paula. I… I think that I’ll go with what Mr Gold suggested and that I should not even think of showing Faye in public until I am of age.”

Paula smiled.
“Good for you. Making decisions is all part of what being an adult is all about. Sadly, most parents wrap their children up in so much cotton wool that they get a huge shock when they do finally get free from the family enclave.”

Stephanie cooked up a good but fairly plain meal for the three of them that evening. Damien cleaned his plate and then visibly sagged.

“Get off to bed and feel free to get up when you feel like it. Steph will be here. I have to go back to the office tomorrow, but as it is Friday, I’ll be back late afternoon.”

“What if my father is still around and follows you here?”

Paula smiled.
“I’ll lose him. Don’t worry about that. I have friends who will make sure that he does not find out where I live. This house is not in my name or the name of the company. We are used to taking precautions in situations like this.”

He didn’t look convinced but had to accept the situation.

[The following Friday]

Damien was starting to feel cooped up at the house near High Wycombe. Stephanie had been shopping earlier in the week, so he had some clothes and shoes for when he eventually did leave.

Thanks to video calling on the phone that Damien had been given, he had a say in the clothes that Stephanie purchased, so it wasn’t all that bad. What wasn’t expected was a phone call from Mr Gold.

“I think that we can make that,” said Stephanie with a frown on her face.
“Yes, he is fine.”

“See you soon,” said Stephanie when she ended the call. The frowns didn’t go away.

“I take it that it was bad news?” said Damien after watching her body language.

“I don’t know. We didn’t expect him to call today. He wants to meet us at Oxford Services on the M40 in an hour. He said that he has a meeting later in Oxford, so that’s why he suggested there for the meeting.”

“How long will it take for us to get there?”

“Half an hour. We’ll join the M40 at Junction 5. Why do you ask?”

Stephanie was dreading his next question.

“I have very little knowledge of the geography of this part of the world. If it had been the Surrey Hills, then that would be different.”

Stephanie did a mental sigh of relief.
“Are you planning on doing a runner?”

“Not really, but if my father and his gang of friends make an appearance, it would be nice to know how to ‘exit stage left’.”

His reply caused Stephanie to smile.
“I’ll mention it to Paula. Speaking of which, I need to phone her and give her an update.”

“What exactly did he say?”

“He said that there have been some unexpected developments and that he needed to ask you some questions face-to-face.”

“Ok, you make the call, and then we can be off.”

Stephanie smiled. She was beginning to like Damien. He had his head screwed on, unlike some of those who come through the door of their London Office.

“Nice to see you again, Mr Gold,” said Stephanie when they met the lawyer at the service area.

“Steph, please stay with us. There are some things that you need to know.”

“Damien, I hope that Steph and Paula are keeping you safe?”

“I think so. So far, there has been no sign of my father and his friends.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Ok, I’ll do my best to help where I can,” said a slightly apprehensive Damien.

“You said that you were adopted. How did you find that out?”

“It was something my mother said one Christmas. She said that because she could not have children, the girl who was my younger sister and I were adopted. My sister is not a blood relative of mine. She was adopted when I was around five or six. She was about two at the time. My father confirmed that when I asked him.”

Mr Gold was making copious notes of Damien’s answers.

“Did you ever see your adoption papers or birth certificate?”

Damien shook his head.
“Dad always kept them in his office safe, and he kept the key with him at all times.”

Mr Gold looked down at his notes before saying,
“Damien, your parents have not contacted the Police about you going missing. Would they, in your opinion, just let you go like that?”

Damien shook his head.
“No way. His plan for me and my future has been drummed into me for years. He sees me as the person who would take over his ministry from him, or that’s what he thinks he has been training me for the last ten years... Any belief I ever had in God has been beaten out of me by him.”

“Beaten? How?”

Damien turned around in his seat and lifted his shirt. Several scars were very visible. Two looked fairly new.”

“Did he do this to you?”

Damien shook his head.
“No, his assistant, Mathew Collins, did the dirty deed. Getting his hands dirty with anything was below him. He won’t even do the dishes.”

Stephanie listened intently. Paula would have to know about the beatings and the scars. She was sure that he’d kept them from her and her mother because of the embarrassment.

“Then…” said Mr Gold.
“My associates can’t find any record of anyone with the first name Damien being born on the date that you said that you were born, and not for several weeks on either side. Plus, there are no records of any adoption of someone with your name through the government process or via any of the major adoption agencies.”

Damien looked at the lawyer with bulging eyes.
“What are you trying to say?”

“Damien, so far, I can find no records of your birth or your adoption. We might just be looking in the wrong place. I say that because we have not checked the Scottish or Northern Irish and even the Irish Republic’s records yet. I have engaged someone to do the searching in Scotland and Ireland, starting on Monday.”

“But…” he added,
“I am concerned about the lack of contact with the Police. Because of the work that I do, I have contacts in all the Police Forces in England and Wales. The lack of any missing persons report after almost a week is not overly suspicious, but… if we get to next Friday and there is still no report, then I’m inclined to think that he is not going to report you missing.”

Damien was about to ask a question, but Mr Gold held up his hand.

“Many parents do not file missing persons reports for children who are over 16 but younger than 18. They hope, and in most cases, that hope is justified, as the missing child returns home of their own accord.”

“But you think that there is something more to this, don’t you?” asked Damien.

“I do, but until my associates have done their work, I don’t want to mention what that something is. I hope you don’t mind?”

Damien smiled.
“I have to trust you, Mr Gold. You are the expert here.”

Stephanie knew from Damien’s body language that he was lying. He was worried about what that something was. Stephanie had a good idea, but was not going to let on what that was. It was just too nasty to contemplate.

[to be continued]