Stephanie (Part 2) - The Wedding

Six weeks came and went. With Stephanie’s muscle memory and Graham’s mental memory, the couple learned not just the Waltz and Quickstep, but also a passable Jive during the lessons in the local primary school.

The teacher was amazed that they progressed so quickly.

“You seem to know what each one of you is about to do before you do it. Your mutual empathy is amazing.” she said once.

School carried on towards the end of the school year in July, and both Stephanie and Graham had arranged through their Head of Year for them to be together in the same classes the following year.

Stephanie’s shoes arrived in the post. Dyed to one of the 60,000 colours listed in the C.I. (Colour Index) and she had a buzz of excitement at the thought of being a bridesmaid at Serena’s wedding.

As they day approached she was invited to a rehearsal of the ceremony at a nearby country house and Graham came with her. The wedding planner from the venue was punctilious in making sure everyone knew what to do at any point in the day.

Stephanie knew that Serena, the two mothers and the three bridesmaids were due to have the whole morning of pampering with a hair stylist in attendance, then nails done to perfection and lastly, a professional make-up artist would work their magic on the women.

The wedding planner was put into a ‘seven and eight’ where she realised that the groom, Boyce, had not chosen enough ushers. Graham was pressed into being an usher. He was told just to ask politely which family the guests were from and then to guide them to the correct side of the marriage venue. Remarkably, he seemed to know that in advance, although he made sure that no one really noticed. (Note. 7/8 or seven and eight is Cockney Rhyming slang for a state. A high level of anxiety!)

Over a sandwich lunch Graham was introduced to the groom and various members of both families. He was polite, and made every effort to hide the fact that he knew them all already.

On the following morning Graham showered with care, and used conditioner as well as shampoo. He had always used conditioner as Stephanie, and didn’t see why men didn’t need conditioner as much as women, then he got dressed, but needed to call in his mother to help with the cuff links and double cuffs, then he walked round to Stephanie’s house. Stephanie and her mother had gone earlier for the long morning of ‘getting ready’ but Graham was to travel with Stephanie’s father and one of the groomsmen who lived locally.

“Will attending a family wedding be a new experience for you, Graham?”

“I did go to a couple as a small child, but I think I was more of a nuisance than anything. I really don’t remember much about them. Will there be any children at this wedding?”

“No, it has been made child free. I am not sure that I really agree with that, even if the children are a distraction.”

“I can understand why weddings are made child free. I didn’t understand what it was all about as a child. It was just being made to sit still for too long and was encouraged to eat something unfamiliar. I seem to remember that some years later I was told that I hated the shirt and clip-on bow tie. My parents had made a real effort to get a suit for a small child and I just made a fuss until they took it off.”

Nigel came downstairs also in a new suit. We have about an hour before we have to leave. Would either off you like a tea or coffee, or a soft drink?

Over drinks, Nigel quizzed Graham.
“How is the school partnership working?”

“Very well. We are both benefitting from it. Our teachers are very complimentary. We are planning to do our long study for our Extended Essay together.”

“Aren’t you supposed to do that on your own?”

“Not necessarily. If the topic is too big for one person then it is ok, for up to four people as long as the contribution of each is clearly outlined.”

“Do you know what you are going to study? We both want to read Civil engineering at University and we want to do a survey of the different types of concrete used in this town. It may sound boring, but it is vitally important to know when buildings reach the end of their lives and have to be knocked down.”

“What about the personal side of your partnership?”

“We get on very well together. We almost seem to know what the other is thinking. The school community think of us as a couple, and it is not far from the truth. We really don’t want to do things apart.”

“You have been a real pleasure to have as part of our family. I was uncertain about you getting together so quickly after meeting for the first time, but you both seem to have recognised something tangible that binds you together. Both April and I are really pleased the way that it is going.”

“Thank you. I always feel very welcomed here.”

April had left the three men some sandwiches as they would not get food at the reception until after 4pm.

The hour passed quickly with some discussion about the new season’s soccer fixtures. Graham didn’t have a particular team he supported, but listened to the good natured banter between Nigel, who supported West Ham, and Carl who was a Fulham supporter.

The car journey was only a few minutes and they were soon at the venue.

No guests had arrived yet, so Graham was at a bit of a loose end. He was due to be helping in the car park from 2pm so he kept occupied with his phone. Stephanie had left several messages, about what it was like to be pampered.

Graham was just a little bit sad, that it was an experience that he would never have.

He looked up and one car had arrived. He hurried to make sure they were parking correctly and knew where to go for the ceremony. It was made clear that with 230 guests and perhaps 100 cars things could easily go wrong.

A couple had arrived. Graham looked quite critically at the woman’s dress. He thought it showed a bit too much cleavage for her age and the hemline was too high, but it took all sorts of people and if the couple felt happy dressed as thirty-somethings rather than the late fifties that they actually were, then why should he mind. He did like the very flamboyant fascinator that was pinned at a jaunty angle on her head.

He already knew that they were Stephanie’s great-aunt and uncle, but asked politely who they were and ticked them off on the list before ushering them into the building where they would be offered a glass of fizz.

He didn’t have time to dwell on their arrival as two more cars swept into the car park. They carried a mixture of young men and women dressed quite casually. They had been fellow students at University of London of the groom. They had kept in contact for the several years since they had graduated, but the group was gradually shrinking in size as they married and started making babies. Eight were left and they had travelled together.

Graham didn’t have time to consider each carload as they arrived. Women struggled with stiletto heels on the gravel surface of the car park and Graham had to help one woman who was threatening to sprain her ankle on the uneven surface.

The sign against smoking caused some irritation when one of the other ushers politely held out an ash tray for cigarettes and one cigar to be stubbed out before they were guided to their seats.

When most of the cars had been accounted for, Graham checked his buttonhole to see it was still in place. He had chosen a blue dyed carnation with some asparagus fern round it. He knew the message would not be misunderstood by Stephanie when she saw it.

The Groom and best man were waiting at the front of the hall rather nervously when music started quietly from some speakers. The volume increased until the doors at the back were drawn apart and the bridal party entered.

The bride was holding her father's arm very firmly as the bridal party processed slowly and deliberately down the hall. Her dress was spectacular in brilliant white but with a pale green train that matched the dresses of the three bridesmaids.

Graham only had eyes for Stephanie whose makeup seemed spectacular with her elfin face framed beautifully with dark brown ringlets.

Graham knew, of course, that most of the ringlets must have been hair extensions, but the result was very special in his eyes at least, however the masterpiece had been achieved.

Graham noticed the corsage attached to Stephanie's wrist. It was predominately green with pale green rose buds wrapped with asparagus fern. Everything matched and Stephanie looked as if she had been born to be bedecked with such an outfit. Would he have been been able to carry off the role had circumstances been different?

He set such thoughts aside. They were not different, and he was happy with being Graham. He wondered if he would have had the gall to ask for stockings and a suspender belt, when no one else had thought about it. Probably not. He loved the idea once Stephanie had shown him the diaphanous delicates weeks ago.

But he was getting distracted. The celebrant was already intoning a much used welcome to both the guests and the participants. In fact the wedding with its exchange of rings took only a few minutes before the wedding party was ushered out for the signing of the registers.

Stephanie was required to hold the bridal bouquet during the signing as the other bridesmaids were old enough to act as witnesses. She seemed to outshine all the other women there in his opinion and his heart filled with pride. “I will make you my bride he said to himself.”

Stephanie could feel his emotions and looked over and a brief smile fluttered over her pretty face.

“I love you too.” She mouthed, leaving Graham with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Graham was placed at one of the less significant tables at the reception. Stephanie was on the high table with the rest of the bridal party.

“He knew all of Stephanie's relatives, but had to convince various uncles and aunts of who he was. One cousin welcomed him with a hug. I am Stephanie's cousin Seraphina. I think we have something in common apart from Stephanie. I will expect a dance later. I dance barefoot so you will need to be careful!”

“I shall do my best not to give you a serious injury.”

Graham mulled over the encounter. What could Seraphina possibly have meant? He didn't know anything about her from his previous life. He thought he had only met her once before.

When he saw Stephanie's mother away from other guests and with his interest piqued he asked about Seraphina so he wouldn't make any gaffs.

“She is the daughter of my sister, Rose. She has just finished at University reading something obscure to do with ancient history and is starting a doctorate. Rose did tell me about it, but it went in one ear, and out of the other one. Perhaps you can ask her about it. She is very nice but a bit Bohemian. She looks lovely to-day. I am sure there will be a queue of young men wanting to dance with her.

I understand that you did very well with the spinster aunts and other old folk on your table. They were full of compliments about this unfamiliar, but delightful young man who entertained them.

“I enjoyed their company. I have never found older people boring.”

Graham moved away from Stephanie's parents and found Stephanie in group of younger guests.

Stephanie's long dress still looked pristine and her makeup was even better close up.

“Hi you.”

“Hi you, yourself. I think you look stunning in that dress and all the accessories. Are those paste, or real emeralds?”

“I think they are real .My mother certainly thinks they are. They came from her grandmother”

“They are very pretty. They suit both you and the dress beautifully.”

“Thank you kind sir. I have enjoyed all the dressing up. I wonder who will be the next bride in the family. I like being a bridesmaid.”

Graham thought, and Stephanie caught the thought. Perhaps you will be the next bride in the family?”

“Don't tempt me. I feel addicted to marriages today.”

“I had a chat with your cousin Seraphina a little while ago. She wants a dance later. I couldn't think of any reason to turn her down so I am committed.”

“That's ok. I know that I am expected to dance with the best man and probably more than one of the groomsmen, but we will make sure that we have at least one dance. For the rest of the evening it will be a matter of duty, I regret to say.”

And so it was. Graham danced through the evening with both of the other bridesmaids as was expected, then he caught Seraphina's eye and he crossed the floor to claim that dance.

It was a slow waltz and Graham was happy to lead. They set off and Seraphina spoke closely to him. “I think there is more to your relationship than meets the eye”

“What makes you think that?”

“I recognise the signs.”

“I am not sure I know what you are talking about”

“Don't get me wrong. I think what has happened to you and Stephanie is lovely. Let me start with the details. You both are the same height and weight. You have the same hair colour and eye colour and just about every measurement Is the same except the obvious ones. You even share the same birth date.”

“All that is true, but fifteen year olds can be the same sizes and in a school of my size you would expect three or four people to share a birthday. There are only 365 days in a year, after all.”

“But you also chose the same subjects and enjoy the same sports.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“I have just finished my degree in ancient history, and am starting my Ph.D in a few weeks. One area that interests me is where historical figures who are unrelated suddenly develop a hugely influential relationship. My hypothesis is that the pairs of people undergo some sort of melding of their personalities.”

“I think you and Stephanie have undergone one of these transitions. You two are just so perfect together. There is a sort of glow between you two that the guests recognise as something special but don't know what it is.”

“I need to talk to Stephanie before either agreeing with you or disagreeing. We do have something very special that arose suddenly. I cannot see a life ahead without her being an essential part. So far I can agree with you, but I will talk to Stephanie and we may talk to you or we may not.

“That's fair. I have a number of historical examples, but have never met a body swap couple. There, in my enthusiasm I have let the cat out of the bag.”

“I am sorry if I have offended. I am just so excited to meet two people who may prove an hypothesis I have had for over a year. My tutors just poo poo'd it, but I have thought over and over that it is the only way that certain historical events can be explained.”

“I do think we three need to talk, but not tonight, not here at the wedding.”

“Will you talk to Stephanie about what we have suggested?”

“She already knows.” was Graham's reply and he touched the side of his nose to make it clear that that fact was a secret.

“Please speak to me. I am desperate to have my hypothesis corroborated.”

“You know that even if we do talk to you that you might not be able to publish anything. No one, but especially a pair of fifteen year-olds wants to be turned into laboratory specimens. We have wondered if we were unique, and had decided that on the basis of probability that our situation may be commonplace.”

“I promise you absolutely that you will have complete anonymity.”

“It is now the end of our second dance together. We will be in touch, but we should both circulate.”

“As Seraphina turned, she smiled said quietly....”and Stephanie....”

...and Graham turned involuntarily when she used his old name. “be careful.”

“We will … I will …”

The rest of the evening was spent joining in with the two families. The bride and groom had long gone as was the custom.

Carriages was at 12:30 but the two teens were flagging by 11pm and Stephanie's mother drove them home.

Graham hardly had the energy to hang up his suit or put the rest of his clothes in the wash box, but he did and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Stephanie's mum helped Stephanie remove her make-up and let her hair down before they both crept off to bed. No sound was heard from that household until ten o'clock the following morning when Graham decided that it was late enough to phone Stephanie's mobile.

“We need to talk to Seraphina together. She has worked out almost everything. She thinks we are far from unique, but all the other examples she thinks she knows have existed are no longer with us. She tricked me into responding by calling me Stephanie.”

“She has promised that we can have complete anonymity, but I think her need for academic status may make her try to change our minds. I don’t think she would make a revelation if we refused to agree.”

The photographs seemed to take for ever to appear on a dedicated webpage, and Graham was included with Stephanie, and also in a group picture of the ushers.

He would treasure the photograph of Stephanie looking so beautiful, and he with his arm round her. They looked so perfect together.

Graham was surprised to see that after the beautiful prints of the bride and groom were excluded, his picture with him and Stephanie was the most popular. He asked his parents about it when Graham got his 10x8” unmounted print in the post.

His mother took charge of it straight away.

“You are not sticking that beautiful picture up in your room with drawing pins. I will get a frame for it when I go shopping later. It will go up above the mantelpiece. It is a beautiful picture of you both. I hope I am not being too sentimental, but doubt if I have ever seen two people more in love.”

Graham looked across at his mother and a tear trickled down his cheek.

His mother came round the dining table and for the first time in some years they hugged each other and both cried.

After they had dried their eyes Graham shared his love for Stephanie with his mother.

“When we first met I thought we were both fairly ordinary. The more time we spend together the more beautiful she seems to be to me. In this photo she seems to glow with something that is inside her.”

“I know I am biased but I think that is your doing. It is something you do for each other.

“I think we should invite Stephanie and her parents round for a meal soon.

“I would like that.”

Going back to school as Year Elevens was something of a letdown after the wedding. Stephanie’s dress had been cleaned and was now wrapped in tissue paper in a box under her bed, and all the accessories were in another box. The shoes were in soft bags in the bottom of her wardrobe.

Grahams suit was dry-cleaned then put away.

Routine has its own merits.

Seraphina had been in touch. She had hired a small room in a nearby Conference Centre one Saturday in late September. The room would be comfortable with easy chairs and hot and cold drinks were available.

Graham and Stephanie approached the meeting nervously.

Seraphina was there before them and was waiting in the foyer. She was dressed in a businesslike way, but kissed both Graham and Stephanie on the cheek in greeting.

When they had all got a drink, Seraphina started.

“Let me explain the background information I have and will take it from there.”

“Over the centuries there have been scattered examples of men forced into positions of power against their natural inclinations. I say men, because in historical terms it has always been men. Those men seem to suddenly find a life’s partner who is the making of them. Sometimes they are called ‘the Power behind the Throne’ or ‘Being made by a good woman’ , but please note that I am talking about historical figures here were we cannot ask them anything.” Sometimes these pairings are marriages but they can equally well be a trusted servant and master, or even a slave owner and slave. One example was a senior concubine and her master.”

“What is also clear is that if any mind or body swap has taken place then the two people are physically remarkably similar when it happens. Girls have boyish figures, and the boys are still adolescent, and they always have the same date of birth as far as one can ascertain from the records.”

“Rarely the pairing seems to work brilliantly and the couple go on to do great things together, but equally it can be a disaster and one or both members of the partnership never accommodate to the mind or body swap and you can imagine the consequences.”

“There are a few records where there has been one fatality, and the other member of the couple becomes mentally ill and has to be hospitalised.”

“Finally, where couples do talk, no one believes them and they tend to go into a World of their Own, and achieve very little in their lives as a consequence.”

“I am delighted to say, that you two are in the first category and seem to be accommodating to the change brilliantly. How do you feel about that?”

“We are delighted of course. That is hugely better than the alternatives. Hospitalisation, or worse is not attractive.”

Seraphina then took the couple through everything that happened on that first day, and subsequently.

With their agreement, she recorded everything.

“So how does the swap work now you have got used to it?”

“I don’t miss being a boy. In most respects I think I behave and react as a girl would. None of Stephanie’s friends seem to comment on anything unusual and I am quite happy in a group of girls. I chose my own clothes, and deal with periods as if I had had periods for several years. My friends know that I am part of a steady relationship and socially we are invited to events together.”

“I am very much the same. I missed all the pampering during the preparations for the wedding, but seeing Stephanie so beautiful as one of the bridesmaids brought tears to my eyes and the photographs of her in that green Empire Line dress are stunning. Being a boy now is clearly different, but I feel enhanced by having Stephanie beside me. Her beauty enhances me, and her constant companionship inside my head is a comfort and a close friendship that would be unreachable any other way.”

Stephanie clutched Graham’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Seraphina felt that both could have done with a good sob into the other’s shoulder, but she had prevented that by being there.

“Tell me about they way you can communicate.”

“It is like having someone there who is always supportive. There is no spoken communication. If there is something important then the other one of us knows about it instantly, but the ordinary day to day matters aren’t shared. There seems to be some sort of filter there. I don’t know if you would call it a type of empathy. I couldn’t give a precise definition of empathy, but it seems more than just an empathy. There is also the residual muscle or neurological memory from our past.”

“For instance, I knew straight away how to tie a tie, and Stephanie put on a bra the first day without thinking about it. I knew how to dance and Graham had all the steps built into his muscles. I knew them intellectually, but I had to train my muscles to do what my brain asked.”

“Empaths are people who can sense the feelings of others, and sometimes adopt those feelings as if they were their own. Your bond is not generalised as one would expect with an empath. Your bond is entirely between the two of you. It is almost a form of telepathy where thoughts and ideas are exchanged but mundane things are not.”

“Seraphina, do you have any idea how this happens or if anyone or anything controls it? Until I had my ears pierced, I had a strong feeling that our body or mind swap was reversible, but we both knew in an instant that there was no going back when the gun pierced my first lobe. It was a wave of absolute certainty.”

“No, I have no idea as to how or why it happens. Certainly there must be many occasions where two young people growing up at different rates reach a point where their bodies are sufficiently similar for this to happen, and there must be many cases where they also share a birth date. Like you, I feel that this must be more common than any of us know, but understandably the couples think they will be misunderstood or accused of witchcraft or something similar, and keep quiet.”

“Do you have any idea what happens when couples like us have children?”

“Why do you ask? It seems a question for the future. No, I am being unfair. With a bond like yours it must seem axiomatic that you will make love, and probably have children together.”

“The answer to your question is that I don’t know. The couples I have pinpointed as mind or body swaps have tended to be older and their child rearing days are over, but they are high profile, and that is probably why they are more obvious to someone like me.”

“My qualification in ancient history does not qualify me as a genetic counsellor, but there is nothing in the records to suggest that fertility is reduced, in fact the scant evidence suggests that the opposite may be the case. Whether the children have anything distinctive about them is even more uncertain. Kings inherit their kingdoms from other kings. A self-made king is a rarity. Take that as an observation, rather than a fact.”

“What do you intend to do with the gift you have been given?”

“Is it a gift? Not just chance?”

“I don’t believe that it is just chance. It seems to have purpose and the beneficiaries are the human civilization in general.”

“We intend to study the same A levels and to read Civil Engineering at University. We both enjoy making things and it will be a way in which we can contribute to Society and will enjoy doing it.”

“Do you know what will happen to us now?”

“There is not much to know. I have done an analysis of paintings and other images of possible body transfers through history. Many of the girls married at 14 or so in those days. From that rather inadequate basis I think that you both have passed a transition point where you could transition and that you will now diverge. I expect Stephanie will get a very feminine figure and Graham will become much more masculine, but that is hardly ‘rocket science’.”

“I think we are already diverging. I have abandoned the aa padded bras. Mum is taking me in to be measured this afternoon and expects me to skip A and go straight to a B-cup. I have also noticed that my hips are a bit wider and my knickers are certainly tighter. I haven’t tried on the bridesmaid dress since the wedding but it may not fit me even now.”

“I wonder if the suit will fit me. I haven’t tried it on since it came back from the cleaners. I have also noticed some development down below. Perhaps I should take a better look.”

“What else can you predict?”

I am getting really out on a limb here, but I would think it likely that the bond between you will intensify. I could imagine you setting up a Civil Engineering business with you both being directors, and I can only imagine the really really intense love making between you. It excites me just to think about it!”

“Remember I was a rather adolescent boy until two months ago. Developing into an attractive woman capable of making a boy’s heart beat faster is a bit daunting, and being fantastic in bed is even more daunting.”

“I am sorry to have to put these ideas to you, but you did ask. Is there anything I can help with as regards being a sexually active woman?”

“What one knows nothing about is difficult to ask questions about. I know it is a rather outdated idea that girls should be naive about sex, and it is up to their husband to bring them to the joys of love making … but we also know that husbands were also naive, and a few sessions in the local whorehouse does not prepare you for a loving relationship based on mutual pleasure and satisfaction. Even I know, that a few meaningless thrusts into a dry vagina is a recipe for a divorce.”

“I think we are getting away from my skill base. I learned by reading magazines for teenage girls. In my day they were fairly explicit as to what a girl or woman should expect of her partner. I suggest that that is as good a starting point as any, and Graham, you must have had the opportunity of reading those same magazines until recently. You could continue to read them. All I would suggest is that you are very careful about who gets to know about your transition, at some point it may be so remote in your lives that no one could prove anything even if they got wind of it.”

“One final thing I can suggest is that you both get genetically tested by one of the genealogy websites. Not genetic testing by a geneticist looking for damaging recessive genes, but just an anonymous site testing saliva for your ancestry. I think you might find that the results are interesting. Let me know if you want to share the results.”

“Thankyou for your time in giving me this interview. If I find out anything I will keep in touch. Please look after each other. I am sure your gift will give you both great pleasure and may even improve the human condition in some way I cannot imagine. Finally I would like to sign up as godmother to your firstborn and I feel absolutely certain that I can offer to be a bridesmaid at your wedding but don’t leave it too long or I would have to be the Maid or Matron of Honour and I don’t feel ready for that yet.”

After Seraphina had turned off her recording, she stood up and hugged both of them for several minutes, all three on the verge of tears.

“This chat has been a revelation. I hope with every fibre of my being that you are immensely successful in your lives.”

Stephanie - Part 3 - Searching and finding

There was nothing to show that Stephanie and Graham were in any way different from normal Year 11 students studying hard for external examinations. They were clearly intended for each other, and as such, had been removed from the pool of talent as potential boyfriend or girlfriend. They hugged and kissed like any young couple, but as far as anyone knew, that is the limit of their intimacy. Their bond was primarily cerebral and their grades showed the benefits of having a learning partner.

Stephanie blossomed as Seraphina had said. She had curves where a beautiful woman should have curves and had long since discarded the so called ‘Training bras’ in favour of a larger size.

Graham became a spectacularly built young man with muscles in all the right places. He exercised daily and the benefits were there for all to see when Stephanie and Graham visited the local swimming pool.

Their particular traits were used and enjoyed, but there was always a nagging doubt that Seraphina was right and there were other pairs who had had the same experiences.

They took Seraphina’s advice and sent saliva samples to a site for people looking for ancestors. The samples were sent separately and when the results came back, the first sample sent by Stephanie gave very little information. Stephanie had a primarily North European ancestry and there were no close relatives who had had their DNA analysed previously.

Graham, on the other hand had a similar origin from Northern Europe, but said that a previous test had been provided by an identical twin, Stephanie.

“How can you have an identical twin who is a different gender?” was Graham’s first reaction, and how can we have different pairs of parents and exchange identities when we are fifteen. Being told one is an identical twin of an impossible type is no help at all, and even the ultimate rarity of sesquizygotic twins is no help here as the twinning would be visible from birth. I wonder what Seraphina meant for us to look out for?”

After looking at both sets of results, they sent the results to Seraphina with a question as to why it was important to find out this information.

“If you have a pair of identical twins who should not exist as they are different genders and who started off with unrelated parents having a child naturally, then there should be no way of having identical twins even of the same gender. You should not exist, but do exist, so look for another solution.”

“We know that our parents found conception difficult. Maybe we were conceived by donor sperm from the same donor? … or even donor eggs from one woman.”

“That will not work as we changed at puberty, we were not identical at birth.”

“Then I am stumped, unless one is looking at some sort of alien intervention or magic.”

“I don’t really buy the intervention of aliens or a magical birth.”

“What I think we have here is a set of genes that are unexpressed in our bodies until we are on the point of puberty, and at that point they seem to be expressed and are, for a short time able to interact with another person at the exact same stage in life.”

“If that is the case, then the ancestor testing would not find differences in our DNA as our DNA is the same for those genes. The simple saliva test cannot tell how the genes at those loci on the chromosomes make us different, only that we are different.”

“That makes sense, but how can we find any other people like us with the same genes. Those that make them different from the general population?”
Shortly after, Seraphina phoned them.

“There is a girl in Oxford whose mother has sent out an SOS on social media saying that the daughter woke up in a dreadful state saying that she was called Sebastian. Both mother and daughter are at their wits end and the girl will not leave her room.”

“We are not sixteen yet. How do we convince our parents to go and see someone we don’t know in Oxford. We don’t have the money to buy tickets and don’t know the address.”

“Tell your parents that I will drive you. It is an opportunity to visit some underground structures that are not normally on show. It is to do with your interest in Civil Engineering.”

After some convincing, both sets of parents were convinced that Seraphina’s offer was genuine, and the trip was allowed.

Seraphina drove up in a rather careworn Mini an hour later.

The trip to Oxford was uneventful and they were soon driving through the everlasting traffic on the A34.

Rita lived in Cowley, on the outskirts of the Oxford. Seraphina had PMd her mother. After convincing her that they were not going to try to exorcise a devil from Rita or convert her to some religion, they were given the address and phone number more as an act of desperation since no one else could offer any solution except sedatives and antidepressants.

When they arrived they were ushered into a neat suburban semi-detatched house and into a tidy sitting room that owed a lot to chintz. June was again, anxious that the three were not there to convert her daughter and a flood of tears from above helped to concentrate her mind on helping, and she ushered them upstairs.

Rita was huddled on her bed just in pyjama bottoms and surrounded by heaps of wet tissues that had been used for her tears over some hours.

Stephanie and Graham sat either side of her on the bed and cradled her in their arms.

“We know what happened to you.” Stephanie said quietly over and over again. “We can help.”

Over a few minutes the message began to have an effect and the tears abated.

“No one can help me.” Rita said as she drank the glass of water her mother offered her.”

“We wouldn’t have driven from London if we didn’t think we could help. The same thing happened to us less than a year ago. When you understand then you may be on the brink of something wonderful, but that will be up to you. At the moment you are confused and need our help.”

“So what has happened to me?” Rita said in an inappropriately challenging way.

“What was your name yesterday?”

Rita looked at them suspiciously. “Rita?”

“No, not Rita, the name you had yesterday.”

“Sebastian, or I actually prefer Seb.”

“OK, Seb.”

“Graham, would you go with June, and explain what has happened to her daughter.”

Graham, June and Seraphena went back down to the sitting room and between Graham and Seraphena they explained that Rita had gone through a mind swap with a boy called Sebastian.

June showed every sign that she did not believe them, but Seraphena was called upstairs and given a piece of paper by Rita with Sebastian Worthington, and address some miles away in Abingdon, south of Oxford, and a phone number.

“If you find a rather distressed family on the other end of that phone line, then you need to believe us.”

June called the number and spoke to Daisy Worthington, and the concerns she had with her son were mirrored by her own worries.

“Ask Mrs Worthington and her son to come here please.”

Daisy was still on the line, and June made the offer. Within minutes Daisy and her son were on their way to June’s house some 20 miles away.

An hour later and Rita was dressed and showered and sitting with the rest of the group. All were full of anticipation.

The moment Rita and Sebastian saw each other they fell into each other’s arms and were immersed in a storm of hugs and kisses.

The two mothers were bewildered. “How can this be? These two have never met and live miles away from each other, yet are clearly totally absorbed in each other?”

“Let me explain again. We have found out through experience, that a boy and a girl who are born on the same day, and are identical in general body size and shape, enter into a mind swap, and each becomes the other person. We don’t know why or how, but it is clear from history that this has been going on over centuries.”

“What do we do now? We each have a son or daughter in the wrong body.”

“Rita and Seb are effectively two halves of a single person as are we. Their emotional and loving bond will be as unbreakable as ours is. The best way to understand it that both Seb and Rita will learn to behave as if they were actually your original son or daughter, but really are a sort of hybrid. I have Graham’s memories and he has mine. When I feel something he also feels it. If I think a thought and direct it at him, he can hear it and answer. It is a wonderful experience.”

“But you were a boy once, don’t you miss that? No, there are advantages and disadvantages in being a boy or girl. I know that our situation is irreversible and there is nothing to be gained trying to reverse it. I like who I am now and the love I have for the new Graham is both exciting and gives me great pleasure. I was a boy who got up to all sorts of rough and tumble that boys get up to, but I now look forward to a career shared with Graham and eventually raising a family with him,”

“We did wonder if the mind swap was reversible, but I had a strong feeling that that had gone when I had my ears pierced for a wedding outfit. I can see that Rita has scratched her arm whist she was upset. Did you feel sort of cold certainty when you did that, Rita.”

“Yes, it made me even more miserable because I didn’t understand what had happened.”

“How do you feel now?”

“I think I have a lot to learn, but having two sets of memories is amazing, and I can already feel Seb’s presence beside me or even inside me.”

“You both will also find out that your body remembers lots of things without you thinking about them. Things like putting on a bra, or making sure you do not ladder tights or, of course, using sanitary protection.”

“How do we manage this as two families?”… the mothers asked in tandem?

“You now have a son or daughter, but with benefits. Treat your son or daughter exactly as you did before. It will be a great help for them to be in the same school if that is possible, and if they live close enough you will find that they treat both pairs of parents as their own parents and will eat and sleep together in the house where they find themselves that evening.”

Rita and Seb were sitting on a sofa glued to the conversation with wide eyes.

“Do you mean that I am him and he is me?”

“No not really. You have the body your partner used to have. You will need to use that body wisely, but you will have two mothers and two fathers and will love them all equally. You will remember your parents as you were and as you are, but you will have the added benefit of having a life’s partner only a thought away.”

“What happens if I don’t like him after a while?”

“In normal relationships there are many cases of divorce where couples drift away from each other. We don’t know the full story, of course, but the evidence from Seraphena’s historical studies suggests that the bond between you two will last for your whole lives. I can see the bond drawing you closer to each other minute by minute. I have no doubt that you will marry when the time is right, will never be unfaithful to one another and will never divorce.”

“Doesn’t that take away any idea of choice?” Daisy asked.

“Yes it does. Since there is no way out that we know, and body swap partners often self harm or worse if they do not meet their partner for some reason. The benefits seriously outweigh the disadvantages.”

“I will call my husband now, to ask him to come here rather than go home. I think we can run to a take-away for all nine of us, but I cannot explain this all to my husband. I would appreciate you staying to explain it to both the men when they arrive home. There really isn’t any alternative, but it would be easy for them to call you charlatans if you had already left.”

“If there is any question about our status, remember that we are making ourselves vulnerable by coming here and we don’t want anything from you, only to know that we have prevented unhappiness or worse.”

“We will happily share your meal and go through it again. It is in Rita’s and Seb’s interest that everyone is on board.”

June and Daisy made meal choices for their husbands, and then phoned the order through to be delivered in an hour’s time.

Since there was no preparation that needed to be done for the meal, the two mothers had a heart to heart with their children, “What does it feel like. Do you still remember growing up at our house?”

“Yes of course. I have all the memories of me being a girl, but I am gradually absorbing all Seb’s memories and feelings as well. Even after such a short time, I feel very close to both Mums and Dads, and do hope that they will accept us for who we are.”

“I am sure it will be quite challenging. Men, particularly, are often very close to their daughters and giving them up when they marry is difficult.”

“Look at it as all four parents have a son and a daughter now instead of just one child, and as I understand it, we will start to diverge physically quite strongly from now on. I am intrigued to see how I will look in a bikini, and I know that Seb can already feel sensations he couldn’t feel before. I have never thought of going out shopping for dresses and skirts, but I am going to need help from both mothers to make sure I don’t make too many clothing gaffs.”

“Rita moved over to the sofa where Daisy and June were seated and gave them both a kiss on the cheek. Daisy and June stood and for a minute or so, all four had a group hug.”

“We will make this work. Perhaps you were destined to have an unusual relationship like this. We just didn’t know it.”

“One final point. This information needs to be kept from the general population, and from The Press and particularly from prurient and unethical investigators seeking academic kudos. It is too easy to create fake news and once people are afraid, then discrimination may lead to a mob, witch hunts and even lynchings. Seraphena’s historical research indicates that some mind swap couples have been killed by mobs of ignorant people roused to outrage by people who get kicks out of manipulating others with falsehood. We are just like any other humans. We cry and we bleed and we die.”

In fact the fathers were bewildered by the day’s events, but after Stephanie, Graham and Seraphena had left, the children and their mothers made it quite clear what was going to happen and that the children’s happiness was really the only important fact. The fact that their school work would improve was an additional benefit.

Over the months, the two families got closer together and eventually Daisy and her husband moved near Rita’s family and as had been predicted, the two teens were in and out of each other’s homes all the time … and slept wherever they got tired.

Seraphena, Graham and Stephanie made the journey back to North London quite quickly now that the traffic had eased.

“Will there be more cases like this?” Stephanie asked.

“Without doubt.”

“Will you keep up with Rita and Seb?”

“Yes, of course. They are part of our family now.”

“One thing we will have to consider is how to get some money, we cannot depend upon Seraphena’s quite modest resources, and neither of us has any income.”

“How do we contact more mind swap people? I think it was remarkable that you were able to track down Rita and Seb, but there was quite a lot of luck there, I think.”

“I regret that there are people I have missed. There was a young woman in Kent somewhere, who was healthy and happy when she went to bed at night, and the following morning was found after having jumped from a seventh floor balcony in a tower block and young man born on the same day now resides in a psychiatric centre for young people.”

“That is really sad. I wish we could have helped.”

All three thought about the money they would need to help other people and whist they were still at school or University they couldn’t see how they could earn enough to make a difference.

A little while later they arrived at Graham’s home and when their car drew up an elderly man got out of his car and walked a little unsteadily up to them.

“Are you well?” Seraphena asked the man with a little concern in her voice, not knowing why he was there, and thinking he may be inebriated or ill.

“i would like you to have this” he said and pressed an envelope into Stephanie’s hand. “This contains a preloaded bank card and the pass code. It has a balance of £5000. Some people would like you to know that you are not alone.” … and he was gone into the darkness and drove off before the trio could react and say any more to him.”

Graham exhaled loudly “Phew, that is something we would never have dreamed of happening and even if someone could have overheard our conversation in the car, it would be almost impossible to buy a prepayment card at night, and load it in less than an hour; then deliver it to an unknown address. I did consider crowd funding as we drove home, but we would have to give away much too much information about ourselves and need qualifications to be able to offer any sort of recognised service.”

Graham opened the envelope once they reached the porch which was lit. Inside the envelope was the bank card and the pin code to use it, but also a sheet of paper with two circular designs not unlike the squares used for a QR code. Typed underneath, was the web address of a single page website.

When they looked at the website a single page had bold letters saying -

“Has your life changed massively to day? Look at these two images. If they make sense then you will know where to find help. If not, we wish you well.”
Below that were displayed the two intricate circular designs.

“Graham and Stephanie looked at the two images. Graham could make out a web address on the right image and Stephanie could make out a web address from the left image, but neither could see the other. They were just meaningless patterns of dots.”

They each looked at the web address on their phones and the web address suggested that they send a text to a mobile number, and that number was either of Graham’s and Stephanie’s own numbers!

“Some people seem to know an awful lot about us”, was Stephanie’s first comment.

“I agree” said Graham but it has solved a problem and it may save lives. I don’t mind a little bit of loss of my privacy to save lives.”

“You are right, of course.”

Seraphena had looked at both phones, but made a point to forget the web addresses.

“What happens if people can read the website but cannot understand English?”

“We haven’t got to that yet. Lets see what the website brings up. Each life saved is a bonus.”

Seraphena left them at the doorstep after a chaste kiss to each on the cheek.

“I wonder when you will get the first texts. I would take bets on hours rather than days.”

As was often the case, Seraphena was right. The first text was on Graham’s phone the following morning.

He texted back.

“Try not to worry. The body you are in will keep you safe. Do not confide in anyone yet. You need to find your partner who now lives in what was your body. Please send your name as it was before yesterday and your old address and phone number. I need to get in touch with your partner and bring you together.”

“I lived in Dulwich, in South London. The lady here calls me Rachel but my name is really Nick. I don’t know what to do, even my fingerprint activated Rachel’s phone. She is expecting me to get dressed in Rachel’s clothes and go off to the local girls school for the day.”

“Your current body will help. Body memory will help you wash and dress, and get you to school. It did with me and I was a girl until four months ago. Play it by ear with the class schedule. I will contact Rachel at your old home. She must be terrified waking up in what was your old body.”

Nick’s phone was answered in two rings. “Rachel, you need to understand what has happened to you. You must be terrified to have woken up in the body of someone called Nick.

“I don’t understand any of this Rachel answered. Yesterday I was a girl called Rachel and now I am in a boy’s body and the woman downstairs wants to call me Nick.”

“You are doing very well. I have been in touch with Nick who is now in your old body. It sounds impossible but there is an explanation of sorts. We need to meet you both and your parents to explain fully. Be brave, you are starting a wonderful adventure which will give you enormous pleasure, but it takes time to explain.

“I have to go to school today as well, but Stephanie and I can be with you by 6pm. I must get onto Nick at Rachel’s home to get both of you and your four parents together at 6pm so we can explain what has happened.”

Graham spoke to both sets of parents who were both confused and disbelieving, but said they would meet Graham and Stephanie and take it from there.

After giving some sort of explanation to their mothers, Graham and Stephanie used their Oyster cards to get to Dulwich.

They got a taxi from the station to Rachel’s house and met the six family members. Rachel and Nick had met about half an hour previously and were as close together on a sofa as their skin would allow. Apparently they had said nothing, but had just looked into each other’s eyes for the whole time.

The parents had just looked on bemused. “

How can two children meet for the first time and become so besotted with each other that they will not even talk to us?”

Stephanie and Graham spent over an hour explaining everything that had happened to Rachel and Nick. Like the previous parents they asked if they had lost their children.

“Absolutely not, you have gained a son if you had a daughter, and vice versa. Your children will be in and out of each other’s houses, and will eat together, sleep together wherever they are. Will study together and be very successful at whatever they study. They will marry each other in time and make you happy grandparents.”

“How do you know this?”

“We have a colleague that has been able to identify mind-swap couples from history. Her analysis of the data is that mind-swap couples are more successful and live longer than normal couples, and have more children who are both healthier and brighter than the rest of the population.”

“What do we do?”

“Treat your son or daughter exactly as you did before. They will get used to their new names. They will regard all four of you as their parents, and the same with grandparents. Offer support with buying clothes and dealing with cosmetics and inquisitive people. They will know each other’s relatives as well as they know one set now. They will almost certainly marry and will never divorce. If possible, make opportunities to meet regularly. Even better, move houses so you are closer together and arrange to go to the same school, because study can be shared and both will benefit.”

“Now that the transition has passed, both will mature quickly. I was flat-chested six months ago and now I need a woman’s range of lingerie and I love the feel of sexy underwear gives me. You can keep coarse Y-Fronts. Graham is developing in other ways as boys do, but we both have body hair that is typical of an adults. We both remember being the opposite gender fondly, but really enjoy being who we are now.”

“We must go now. We have school in the morning and must catch the 21:10 Underground back to home. It would be much appreciated if one of you could give us a lift back to the station.”

“We will be available on the phone or face-to-face whenever you need us. We think there will be lots more transitions to assist, but the consequences can be tragic if couples do not meet shortly after their transitions.”

Rachel’s father ran them back to the station.

“I thought you must be some sort of charlatans or part of some religious cult, and I only allowed the meeting because Rachel was beside herself and we didn’t know where to turn. I still think what has happened is beyond extraordinary, but am very glad we allowed you to meet our children. I think Rachel and Nick are now glued together at the hip. Separating them for the night will be a real challenge.”

“You will find that their ardour will lessen over time. I am often separated from Stephanie for hours at a time but if I think of her then I can feel her thoughts. It is really a total commitment. If they want to sleep together, don’t be hurt. Stephanie and I sleep together most nights, and often naked, but we have never had intercourse. People like us can plan the time to be intimate. It will come, but we have got to make lives for ourselves before bringing new lives into existence.”

“I shall explain that to the other parents but if they insist on sleeping together, then it must be on the same expectations you have.”

“Of course. You lay down the rules. You are still their parents, but you now are parents to two rather than one!”

On getting home, Stephanie and Graham rang Seraphina to let them know how the visit had gone.

“We enjoyed the visit and the couple were delightful and their parents were receptive, but we cannot travel every day to places during the school term. Have you any idea how many transitions there might be, and how we can deal with them with just the two of us. We cannot expect you to give up your study time to taking us from place to place place.”

“I have already given some thought to this. We have not come across any pairing where the couple are more than 20 miles apart. A circle with a radius of 20 miles has an area of 200 square miles. The United Kingdom has an area of about 90,000 square miles meaning that if population were uniform that there would be 450 hexagonal areas with a radius of 20 miles. I know circles do not tesselate, so that is why I said hexagons. There are about 600,000 babies born in the United Kingdom each year at the moment which is about 1650 per day, but you need pairs of babies to make a couple so there would be 825 couples per day or two per hexagon on average.”

After a deep breath she continued.

“There are significantly more babies born in September and October, and fewest in February, meaning that there are fewer possible pairings in February and ” …

“That might mean that there were two possible pairings each day, but we also know that the transitions do not have to be exactly on the sixteenth birthdays. We don’t know whether the height, level of physical development and so on has to be more precise than we know at present and we have no data on couples from other ethnicities, or from couples whose natural inclination is to be gay. Teens in rural areas may have fewer chances of transitioning so we might expect no transitions in the Highlands of Scotland for instance, and more in urban areas like Greater London or Merseyside. We also know that families move, and emigrate and so on. The variables are huge, making anything other than an informed guess, impossible, but I don’t think it is ever likely to exceed two a day.”

“Even two a day would be impossible for us to deal with, particularly if we had to travel to Penzance or Inverness. How do we cope? Any ideas?”

“Again, I have given this some thought. I think there needs to be a stage between the QR type patterns on the web page and contact via your phones. I would suggest a sound only podcast with some sort of beautiful misty image on screen and a voiceover that gives the basics of what has happened to the people and urging them to find their partner for their mutual benefit. When the podcast has been watched another example of the QR code thingies is posted that gives your phone numbers, with a “Please ring this number if you need us.”

“How do we stop the podcast from being copied and passed on to the Press, for instance?”
“Whilst there is no guarantee that an expert cannot break the code on anything, the sound could be encrypted to make it very difficult, and the app that plays it could be written specifically for the one podcast and will only play from within the website that is, itself protected.”

“All that sounds very expensive.”

“You have friends as you know. Maybe they know what you need almost before you do.”

“Maybe, but that is stretching incredulity even more than usual.”

… but with things progressing so quickly … I do think we need to tell our parents the whole story. Don’t you agree, Stephanie?”

“Yes I do. It is too late now, but definitely tomorrow evening without fail.”

And the web page did appear less than 48 hours after Stephanie and Graham thought about it and the web page had a counter to tell how many people had managed to access the podcast web page through the first QR type filter. Stephanie did the voice for the podcast and read a script they had both written. She had to read into the app and it was saved automatically.

The web counter showed no readers for the first week, then two happened the same day. Stephanie and Graham were in business so to speak.

Graham and Stephanie did spend two hours going through all that had happened with their parents and to be truthful, the parents had made reasonable, if inaccurate, guesses for most of what had happened.

The only question was. “When do you want to go on the Pill, Stephanie?”

“Yesterday?”

Stephanie Part 4 Discoveries

Even though two people had managed to pass through the first filter and listen to the podcast, there were no phone calls, then one evening there was a ring on Stephanie’s phone.

Stephanie pressed to receive the call and put it on speaker phone for Graham to listen.

A broad Scotts accent said. “Am I through to the Help Line?”

“If it is the Help Line you read after the Podcast, then, Yes.”

“I am told my name is Kirsty, although until two days ago it was Hamish. I am sitting with Kirsty’s Mum, Lucy.”

“Where are you?”

“I am in Dumfries in the Scottish Lowlands.”

“Where does Hamish live?”

“I used to live in a village near Lockerbie.”

“Does Hamish have a mobile phone?”

“No, my mother; his mother doesn’t allow it.”

“It is important that you and Kirsty (Hamish) meet, but let me say that I think you are taking this all very well. It is very difficult to deal with until everyone knows what is happening.”

“Lucy, what do you make of all this.”

“I was amazed when Kirsty woke up and said she was actually Hamish, but I think we have come to terms with that now. I am single Mum and a nurse and can cope with most things.”

“You understand the importance of keeping quiet about this mind exchange.”

“We both understand that, but my mother, Hamish’s mother is a devout evangelical Christian and is not online. I fear that she may be so blinkered that she does not understand what has happened and will go to her Elders at the chapel where she worships.”

“My daughter, Kirsty, will not tolerate that behaviour. She is a feisty little madam sometimes, and I am proud of her for that. I think there will be ructions in that household before long.”

“Can you get to visit? I think the link can be made between Kirsty and Hamish through a closed door.”

“We can try, but Dorothy is unlikely to open the door to anyone she doesn’t know.”

“I am only fifteen myself”, Stephanie said. “I am going to need to ask for help. May I ring you back on this number in a few minutes?”

Stephanie rang off, and rang Seraphina and explained the predicament they were in.

“I think Lucy and Kirsty should go to her old house and stand outside the front door and hope that the bond that ties Hamish and Kirsty together is strong enough to reach through the door and make the link. After all we know it goes 20 miles through air! Once the link is made then everything else is less important. Ring the door bell after that and see what happens. If you are prevented from seeing Hamish then that needs a further intervention. Hamish and Kirsty will be able to sense each other’s thoughts after the link is completed.”

That is what Lucy and Kirsty did.

Outside Hamish’s old home they stood quietly outside the front door unobserved, and Kirsty called to the boy who knew he was Kirsty, through the door.

Shortly there was an altercation behind the door, and a crash as someone was thrown away from the door. The door was flung open and Hamish and Kirsty leapt into each other’s arms.

Hamish’s mother was slightly bloodied over one eye, but held her bible aloft. “Honour thy father and mother”, the Good Book says.

“I am. Lucy is my mother, not you.”

“If Lucy will have me, I am going home to a nice peaceful home away from your nonsense.”

“You can certainly come home with us, if that is what you wish, Kirsty, but it would be far better to make peace with your mother and for us all to understand what has happened to our young people.”

“I understand that you are called Dorothy, but will you let us inside so we can tell you what has happened? I understand that you are not on the Internet, so will not know how to research this event.”

Dorothy could see Hamish and Kirsty clinging to each other like limpets.

“I suppose you had better come in but I would like my pastor to be here with us. He only lives two doors down the street. I will ring him now and see if he is available.”

The Reverend John was available and came at Dorothy’s bidding.

Shortly, the five participants sat round the parlour table and Lucy used her mobile to involve Seraphina and Stephanie in a conference call to include them in the conversation.

Seraphina spent the first minutes questioning the two children. It was as previously … A boy and a girl who were developmentally very similar and born on the same day, swapping minds.

Each mother was asked to pose questions that could be answered by no-one except her child. Both Hamish and Kirsty answered faultlessly from their new bodies.

Both teens could describe the bedroom where they used to sleep with the contents of each drawer named.

Clearly, Reverend John was becoming agitated.

“If this is true, then it must be the work of the devil” and he began to quote scripture of the denizens of Hell and all their skills to manipulate humans.

Seraphina was clearly his equal and each time Reverend John dragged a new verse from the bible, from ever more obscure books, Seraphina could counteract what he said from another part of the bible. Eventually Reverend John grew silent.

Dorothy eventually calmed down and realised that her longterm mentor and pastor had met his match.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“Seraphina continued “What is important is what is best for your children. Bonded young people have significant advantages and if they are able to be in the same school and prepare for the same examinations, then it can be hugely beneficial. If a way for Kirsty and Hamish can live and work together can be found, then that would be best for them.”
Seraphina seemed to be able to spot when Reverend John was about to boil over even over the phone.

“This bonding is pure and virtuous and free from any sin. You are fond of quoting scripture, but Jesus reiterated the Creation account of male and female being united as "one flesh" and the divine principle that this union should not be broken by human action.”

“Are you, John, prepared to defy your God?”

… and of course he wasn’t, and left shortly afterwards.

It was certain that Dorothy’s reliance on Christianity had received a substantial blow.

“What I suggest is that all four of us go back to my house. I have room for us all and the Kirsty and Hamish can bring a suitcase with the necessaries for a boy, then after a night’s thought and sleep we will consider the future.”

That is what happened and when Lucy phoned Stephanie the following day, she said that they had agreed that Hamish and Kirsty would live with Lucy during the week and stay with Dorothy over the weekend.

Seraphina was quite sure that they had made an enemy of Reverend John, but there was nothing illegal about a widow and a divorcee agreeing to share the care of their two children, and Hamish/Kirsty moved school the following term.

The second contact through the website didn’t seem to lead to a phone call, but Graham was a little suspicious about it. Call it a gut feeling that it was someone snooping rather than a genuine enquiry.

If it was a snooper, then how did they get through both layers of QR code devices?

Then Graham’s phone rang.

He answered it noncommittally just giving the number.

“Who am I speaking to came an adult male voice.”

“More to the question … Who are you and why have you rung this number?”

“My daughter left this number on a piece of paper. I keep track of her contacts.”

“You haven’t said who you are.”

“Who I am doesn’t matter. I am concerned as to who she is phoning.”

In the time the unknown man was speaking, Graham had done a Reverse Phone Lookup. The phone in use was in the Edinburgh office of a well known newspaper. They made a lot of money pedalling spurious and vituperative claptrap.

Graham continued. “Clearly you need help, but there is nothing I can do to help someone like you.” and he ended the call.

I need to change my phone number he said to himself, and he went out and used the bank card to buy a burner phone number and had the number of his normal phone changed.

The website seemed to recognise the change and after discussing it with Stephanie and Serephina they inserted a new security level. Any caller to the burner phone was told in a recorded message that if they answered ‘Yes’ to a question asking if they needed more help, then to end the call and they would be contacted through a new call from a ‘number withheld’ number within five minutes.
The website remained inactive for some days and Stephanie and Graham were able to concentrate on school work for a while at least.

The following week there was just one call to the burner phone with an enquiry.

Graham phoned the number back within the five minutes he allowed himself.

A man’s voice answered.

“How can I help you?” Graham asked non-committally.

“We are on holiday in the South of France at a campsite. This is a birthday treat for my son, Billy, who will turn sixteen tomorrow. He has woken up this morning speaking French, and only schoolboy English, saying that he is a French girl called Simone who lives in a village about ten kilometres from here.”

“I assume that Simone could see the QR code on the website?”

“Yes he (or she) spotted it straight away, but the information is in English and my French is limited to ordering a meal and a beer in France. I couldn’t translate the information properly and translation software doesn’t work through your software.”

“No it is designed to stop the copying needed for translation software to work.”

“I suggest that you drive Simone to the house where she says that she lived until yesterday. You will not need to go inside to see if there is a reaction. Simone and Billy will be able to sense each other through the door. Once Simone and Billy have bonded they will share each other’s memories and I suspect that the language difficulty will have been solved.”

“Once they are bonded I think some of your problems will have been solved, but with so many miles between your homes, it will be difficult to sort to some of the logistical problems. I hope Simone’s French parents are co-operative. Please try to avoid other people becoming involved. As you will have read there are always opportunities for groups to embrace hatred of people they see as ‘others’.”

“I will ring you again this evening to see how things have gone. Please be positive. Everything we know about this process is life affirming. My partnership has been enormously fulfilling for us both. “

Later that day Graham rang the mobile number in France again. It was answered promptly by Simone and she said straight away in perfect albeit accented English that the phone was on speaker phone, and that Simone, Billy, George and Barbara Thompson, and Simone’s mother Celeste Combe, were listening.

“Clearly both families have met. I cannot speak French very well so I will give time for Simone or Billy to translate for Madame Combe if that is needed.”

“Maman cannot speak English so I will translate.” said Billy, who now looked like Simone.

“You know that bonding seems to be a matter of chance where two people who are on a point where their lives converge, and have been through a mind exchange. The range of that exchange seems to be about 20 miles. After life bonding has taken place, the couple will diverge with the partner who was male becoming very feminine, and the partner who was female becoming strongly masculine.”

“As part of this process, the couple share memories, and although we did not know it before, they share languages. They can do school work as a team, and are likely to marry and have family together eventually. They are likely to be very unhappy if separated for long periods or separated by long distances.”

“By chance your Simone and Billy have transitioned whilst on holiday. I am delighted that they have found each other but I think the practical consequences are probably quite daunting for you all.”

“Parents of other partnerships have found that the only solution was to move close together and the two children will live between the two houses and go to the same school, but that is going to be more challenging for you. Please be inventive. I am sure there must be a solution to your problem, but I am not sure what it is. I will keep in touch, but is there anything else I can help with before ending this call?”

“How do we contact you if we need you again?”

“If you go on to the original website and go through the first QR code portal, the system will recognise that you have been there before and will give an option to send one of us a text message and we will contact you. This phone I am using will not accept incoming calls.”

“Please do keep us informed of your progress. You are the first mind swap we are aware of that has taken place across an international border. We do treasure every couple who transform, and look forward to keeping in contact with you. Eventually we will offer greater connectivity for you to keep in touch, but we already face people with prurient interests whose motives are highly suspect.”

“We will keep these matters secret, and maybe we will be able to meet face to face eventually.”

After ringing off, the two families tried to sort out their options. Billy attended an Independent Boys School in the Home Counties and his home was in Wembley in West London. Simone attended a Lycée in Lezignan Corbieres in the Minervois.

Madame Combe was a web designer and could live and work anywhere, Billy’s parents had a mail order company selling children’s clothes. They had an apartment attached to the warehouse where they kept their stock, and the apartment was currently empty . It was decided that Madame Combe could live and work in the apartment, and the two children would attend the London International School near their homes in Wembley.

The extra layers of filtering of access to the website seemed to be paying off and there were no more attempts to access the group in the months that followed. There were occasional successful accesses to the site and the screen of information was accessed a couple of times a month, but no one seemed to need any one-to-one assistance.

There was still plenty of money on the prepaid bank card, so Stephanie and Graham were not out of pocket, and yet there was a feeling amongst the pair and the other couples that there were individuals who were not being supported through their transition. Seraphina examined the Coroner’s reasons for unexplained suicides in fifteen and sixteen year olds and there was a constant trickle of three or four a month. She thought that some of these must be associated with a failed partnership, but how to access these people before they became desperate? One problem was that Coroner’s reports often took over a year after a death before they were released and there didn’t seem to be any sort of pattern even then.

“Tiny differences in an individual’s DNA might be observable if detailed karyotyping was done, but that was not done as a matter of course and was probably the main reason why transitioning fifteen year olds was not spotted.”

“Sites that allow individuals to search for ancestors often offer a DNA testing service. These take the DNA from saliva samples and extract the DNA from the cheek lining cells and compare it at more than 40 positions on the chromosomes where there are know to be genes that have more than two alternatives. That is, genes that can code for a variety of characteristics. What we are probably looking for is a gene whose function is unknown. This will be found in the general population, but there is also a much smaller activating gene that switches on only when the person is at the optimum time to swap minds with someone else.”

“Could this be a gene that is either active or inactive, rather like the dominant and recessive genes we learned about in school?”

“Absolutely. The hypothesis is that our gene is active for a short period and it triggers the universal gene that everyone has.”

“Agreed. In that way the DNA that is tested on millions of individuals will not show up as a significant change.”

“Are you saying, Seraphina, that an injection of our DNA just at the right time might trigger a transition in someone?”

“That is my hypothesis, but it would be unethical to try it out on anyone without their permission.”

“If triggering is subject to the rules of simple genetics, how is it that all the children from one family do not transition.”

“Have you noticed that all the transitions have come from families where there is only a single child. I cannot see how that is important but maybe it is.”

“i have another hypothesis, Graham said”

“The DNA that codes for a transition is present in everyone, but a carrier individual who comes into close contact with a teenager at just the right time can pass over a tiny amount of nucleic acid in perspiration, moisture droplets in breath or even in a virus like particle, and that will trigger the transition.”

“That could be in a swimming pool or sports changing room for instance.”

“Unless someone was very careful with their planning and knew the ages of people, the DNA transfer would be completely random.”

“How can one think of teenagers sharing some item that has DNA on it. I know there are people who share combs or hairbrushes although I am repelled by the idea, and I also understand that within families, there are people who share toothbrushes or towels but it is rare and rather unsavoury.”

“Clearly, kissing would transfer DNA, but we don’t know of any transfers in people who already have boyfriends or girlfriends. It would complicate the mind swap if there were.”

“I think we have made progress. We have a working hypothesis that does not compromise the DNA testing we have done.”

“The next question is … if there is a mind swap over a distance of up to 20 miles would any person who has received the trigger be receptive or is it specific to one pair alone?”

“We have already ascertained earlier in this account that there are likely to be at most, two mind swaps in Britain each month where both people have to be within 20 miles of the other when the swap is triggered, so it could be just random.”

“So who, or what, provides the tiny bit of DNA or t-RNA that triggers the process?”

“I can only think of one way for that to happen.”

If a person’s phone is altered so that a small jet of DNA suspension is jetted into their ear when a specific number calls, then it can be highly specific and highly effective.

“Stephanie, may I see your phone?”

In the space for a second SIM or memory card was a tiny empty vial and a hair like tube leading to the earphone. Graham then checked his own phone, and inside his phone was a similar tiny empty vial.

“I think it is clear how we have been dosed with DNA or t-RNA.”

“That was very clever to think of our phones, Graham. I get calls regularly from unknown users, and listen to a few words before ending the call. I am sure that a small jet of liquid could have been squirted into my ear during one of these brief calls.”

“We would have to see why the vial is set in action with only one call, and not any call, and there is no reason why there should be a 20 mile limit to the transfer unless there is a person behind the doctoring of each phone.”

“Perhaps the card with the vial attached is a separate phone SIM. If the person who inserted it is the only one who knows its phone number, then on the first call it will discharge.”

“Do we feel that this intrusion into our lives is justified and are prepared to let it carry on with more young people being affected, or do we make an announcement so that every phone of a fifteen or sixteen year old is examined and the procedure will be stopped.”

“I think another question is how many phones today are like yours, Graham. Firstly the user must have a phone that has space for two SIM cards.”

“I don’t know the answer, but certainly many, but not all.

“I am sure the moral thing to do is to make an announcement, and get everyone to check their phones, but I have a strong gut feeling that they will find nothing because the phone is only doctored a short while before, and for only those specific people. If nothing is found then we will just be called a bunch of nutty troublemakers and any of our efforts will be marginalised.”

“Do we get all the other mind swap people to check? I am not sure that everyone we have been in touch with are going to take the mind swap as pragmatically as we have done.”

“Aren’t you forgetting about Hamish, who didn’t have a mobile phone?”

“Yes, I am, but we will have to pin that down later. My guess is that he could borrow a phone, and because it was only the second slot that was used for the vial, the person phoning could use the second number when he had the phone in his hand. It doesn’t fit so well as a theory, but we could ask him.”

“I agree. We need to find out why this is being done, and then decide who else to involve, but I do think we should set a time limit. If we cannot find out anything about the old man who gave us the Pre-paid bank card, or those sorted out the web page then we need to go public. It would be immoral not to do so.”

“So what do we do if the interference is technically an assault of an under-age minor, but is judged to be benign, or even entirely beneficial?”

Seraphina had been quiet for some time. “I have looked into the question of ethics. It is a dilemma with various types of medical treatment. The individual needs treatment, but either the individual or their parents refuse it for ethical or Religious reasons. Does Society intervene or not?”

Stephanie had decided “On the whole, the wishes of the individual should be respected, even if the consequences would be beneficial and I think it is even more important if the mind swap gives additional advantages to the couple. It becomes a form of positive eugenics if it is forced without consent and that is seriously questionable.”

“I still think that with only two mind swaps a month in the United Kingdom and an unknown, but probably small cohort swapping each month elsewhere in the World, that we need to get as full a picture as possible before going public. Starting a witch hunt is probably easy with the universality of social media, and false news. A story like this could trigger all sorts of unpredictable consequences. I am unhappy about starting a stampede that no one can control.”

“That seems sensible. We are still only getting two people a month getting through the first filter and accessing the web page.”

“What about the people who have already transitioned?”

“I am uncomfortable telling them because what has been done is irreversible as far as we know. How is that knowledge going to help them? If they get angry and they have no one to blame, then the information stampede will start.”

“OK we leave the existing swappers for the same time as the general public, and how long is that going to be.”

“We know that whoever is responsible, knows what we are thinking and doing almost before we do. That is worrying of itself.”

“I think we set a limit of a month for the person or group who are responsible to show themselves more.”

“OK, a month more, and no longer.”

“We don’t want to be disbelieved and we don’t want to be thought of as magicians or disregarded because we are young; and we don’t want to frighten people or make them feel threatened; but we do need something to demystify what has happened!”

Shortly after message arrived on the phones of both Stephanie and Graham.

“You have made startling progress understanding what has happened to you. Your transition has happened to a small number of individuals since human records began. We choose people very carefully to make sure that the mind swaps do not give rise to repercussions. The changes are generally regarded as beneficial to the individuals or at least thought of as benign.”

“Releasing of your information into the wider world is not recommended. The consequences could be very serious. People in your situation have been harmed in the past, and have even died when these changes have been made public. You must choose whether to live quietly, and to benefit from your transition. Our experience is that mind swap couples are healthier and live longer, have slightly more children and are a little more successful in their daily lives. None of these gifts make you obviously extraordinary. You will live your lives out in comfortable obscurity as does everyone else who has transitioned.”

“The choice remains yours of course. Reverend John has been silenced by the Elders of his faith; some of whom have been through Mind Swaps such as yours. The journalist has been given other ‘fish to fry’ as the saying goes. Again, the choice remains yours, but government agencies have never found any evidence of our existence, and will not in the future. If you go to the Press or Police, for instance, you are on your own and will have no evidence. The bank card was funded by a well known multimillionaire entrepreneur who has no idea that he funded it. You bought the phones. In the past, exposés have become very messy and the mind swappers have taken the brunt of the anger and frustration of the population.”

“We thank you for the fact that you have eased the passage of fourteen couples and only the ones you know have contacted you. Please keep the balance on the Prepayment card. We will send you a present when you marry and a further present on the birth of each of your children.”

“This message will be deleted in fifteen seconds and cannot be recovered.”

“Well there we have it. We got what we asked for. Do we shut up and get on with long, happy, successful lives or go out on the certainty of what seems morally right, but with no evidence other than two plastic vials that are, at this moment liquifying on the table. I can see that the web page has gone as well.”

“I think the decision has been made for us. I do not want to be experimented on and spend perhaps years in an institution. I want to protect Stephanie and our unborn children from that fate as well.”

Seraphina said goodbye. “I must get back to my partner, Jake. We transitioned some years ago.”

“Graham kissed Stephanie. I think we should go and lose our virginity together.”

“Anybody disagree?”

Stephanie - Part 5 - Community

Summary of parts 1-4.

Stephanie and her partner Graham woke one morning in each other's bodies having undergone a mind-swap. They were sixteen year old students at a local school who only knew each other by sight. They managed to meet and bonded in an intense empathetic relationship that would eventually lead to marriage and a family. Subsequently they helped several other couples come together and were helped financially by a community of similarly bonded people who had material advantages, but not superhuman abilities.

Seven was sitting at a table in the penthouse in a tower block in Mayfair in London overlooking some of the most desirable properties in the Capital. Three old women, including Seven, had a bundle of papers in front of them, each file with photographs of a mind-swap couple before and after transition.

The room and the neighbouring rooms had banks of fireproof filing cabinets containing microfilm copies of hundreds of similar files, each one showing smiling faces and lists of dates, qualifications and experience in the labour market.

The three figures had Stephanie and Graham’s file on top of the pile.

“In the last two years Stephanie and Graham have completed their compulsory schooling with flying colours, and are about to start their University courses. I think they will need a boost to their finances as we don’t want them to be forced into unsuitable jobs just to pay off huge debts in three years time.”

“Any sign of an impending marriage?”

“Not yet, Three, but they have been effectively living together for the last two years, with their parents’ consent.”

“Do they still have the bank card we gave them two years ago.”

“Yes they do, and it now has, I think £300 left on it. They have been frugal spending the £5000 we gave them.”

“I think we should give them £10000 a year each, for the next three years to complete their bachelor degrees. It is our normal practice.”

“Are you both agreed?”

Both Three and Nine nodded.

“What about enrolment numbers from now on?”

“The next numbers are 8107 and 8108.”

“OK. Stephanie is now 8107 and Graham is 8108.”

“Is their burner phone still active.”

“Yes, but they don’t turn it on often.”

“Add some credit, then text them on their own phones to please turn it on.”

And so, Stephanie and Graham had a strange enigmatic text asking them to turn on their old burner phone.

A long text appeared.

“This text will self delete in 30 minutes after it is first read.”

“We are delighted that your A level results were so good and am sure that each of you will succeed admirably with your degree courses. We do not want your studies to be compromised by needing to take part time jobs, so you will find that the bank card we provided has now been charged with an untraceable £20,000. That is £10,000 for each of you. You will be credited with the same amount at the start of the following two years to provide for some of your needs until you have been awarded your degrees. Please continue to receive your student loans as opting out of them will raise suspicion.”

“You are now in the second stage of our program for young entrants and it is normal that members of our select group are spoken of by a number rather than names. That is for security. Stephanie, from now on you will be 8107 and Graham, you will be 8108. Your files to date will be archived safely, and new files opened with just your numbers.”

“You are free to live your lives as students for the next three years. Apart from crediting your bank card, please look at the burner phone about once a week for any messages from us. These are likely to be very few, if any.”

“After you have finished your degrees we will be back in touch to help you obtain jobs that are commensurate with your status as new members of The Community. The transition you went through enhanced your academic and physical abilities measurably, but you are not superhuman. Use your abilities wisely and you will come out with First Class degrees without raising suspicion.”

“On the back of the bank card is a number that can be used in an emergency or to contact us. It is not the number of any known bank. If you get engaged, married or pregnant, please send a text to that number using your new Community numbers and not names.”

Stephanie and Graham had only got their A level results that morning. It was mid-August, the sun was shining, they were both eighteen had another five weeks of vacation until the new University term started. Now all their financial worries were removed, life seemed blissful and there was some serious partying to be done!

… but almost as if it had been ordered, there was a subliminal wailing sound that affected both Stephanie and Graham, but didn’t seem to affect any of the students who were celebrating around them.

Graham looked at Stephanie, and Stephanie looked back at Graham. The sound was increasing. Stephanie put her hands to her ears but it didn’t help. The wailing became a torrent of misery, a penetrating keening sound that rattled round their skulls until it was almost unbearable, and their burner phone rang.

“8107” Stephanie answered as she had been told.

“7657 has lost her partner in a road accident. Grief amongst our Community is almost unbearable. She is less than 20 miles away from you. You two are the nearest to her. She needs help and she needs it now. Just being with her will help. You don’t need any training. Just be kind and supportive. Her name is Jen. The map function on this phone will show you the directions to her. Please take a cab.”

Stephanie and Graham ran from the celebration and hailed a cab. They had the postcode of the house and it took less than 30 minutes to get there. All the time the mental torment washed over them until Graham decided that enough was enough, He held Stephanie’s hand and thought hard about the grief that was washing over them.

“We are coming … he thought. We will help. Please stop hurting so much.”

… and there was a questioning then the wailing lessened and finally stopped.

“Who are you?” came a thought question. “How can I hear you?” separated by sobs.

“8107 and 8108”, Graham thought to Jen.

“Where are you?”

“Ten minutes away. We are in a black cab.”

“Michael has been taken away. He was killed in a car accident on his way home.”

“We know. Number 9 rang us as the nearest Community members.”

Graham began to get a sort of a feeling that they didn’t know everything there was to know about what happened when one member of a pair dies. He knew that the bond between couples was intense and lifelong. You couldn’t just manufacture a single person to bond with a bereaved singleton. What were they letting themselves into?

The taxi was drawing up at the house as he thought about these uncertainties. Stephanie was already on her way up the path to the front door to help the bereaved and previously distraught woman. A new wave of tears washed over them as Graham paid the taxi driver and followed Stephanie up the path to the front door that now stood open.

As he entered the house he could see Stephanie sitting on a sofa in the front room holding Jen’s hand, and then it hit Graham like a brick. Jen had bonded with them both, making a three. Clearly neither woman had the faintest idea that that was going to happen until he entered the room, but they looked up together and a new maelstrom of thoughts entered Graham’s and Stephanie’s minds. All Jen’s memories were added to their own, and she shared all their memories in an instant.

Graham felt anger bubble up within him. Why hadn’t they been told that a Community widow or widower would bond with the first members they met. Graham could understand logically that it was like a single pole of a magnet. Impossible to exist without a partner, and a bond would form in the best way it could to satisfy the needs of everyone concerned, but anger bubbled up within him nonetheless.

“How is it that Nine failed to tell us that our partnership would be altered for ever?”

Jen and Stephanie looked at each other.

“We didn’t know. How could we know?”

“I am fairly certain from my feelings now that this situation is irreversible, but I am going to contact Nine and ask for an explanation.”

There was no need. Their phone rang.

“I am very sorry to leave you in ignorance over what happens when a Community member dies. The consequences for the remaining living member are very severe. We have a very imperfect knowledge of all of this. What is clear is that Jen can now live a happy and fulfilled life with you and Stephanie. We have eleven examples of this working very well from the past.”

“All the things like eventually marrying and having children together seem more challenging now. One cannot marry two women!”

“People live in lots of different types of relationships. The three of you have now bonded in a lifelong partnership. We know that these partnerships work. You will not be asked to bond with any more community members. There has never been that need. You both responded to her immediate needs as all caring people would. If you hadn’t responded then Jen would be dead in a few days. Please work this out. It was the best solution to an awful situation.”

“I think we would have gone to Jen’s assistance even if we had known the situation.” Stephanie answered whilst holding Jen’s hand.

“We could not be sure of that. Please forgive us for doubting you.”

“Your allocation of money has been increased. Jen’s bank card should be emptied in the next week. It will be cancelled after that. We will help as much as we can to make sure that everything goes as well as possible.”

Nine rang off.

Graham looked at Stephanie and then at Jen.

“What have we got ourselves into?” and smiled in spite of his concerns about the future.

“What about family and friends. How would Society in general cope with their unusual relationship?”

Graham could see from Jen’s memories, that she had an extended family, as had Michael, her deceased partner.

The all knew now that Michael’s remains were at the hospital some miles away.

Graham had read a book some years ago concerning what needed to happen when someone died.

“Who is registered as Michael’s next of kin?”

“His mother.” Jen replied and started to weep again.

“Do they know?”

“Yes. She has arranged for his body to be transported to a funeral director’s chapel of rest near their home and he will be interred in their family mausoleum.”

“Will she involve you in the funeral and wake?”

“She don’t know much about me. I only met her a few times.”

“How do you feel about Michael now that you have re-bonded?”

“I feel very strange, and a bit guilty. I remember the intense feelings I had for Michael, but it seems distant somehow. No longer relevant, somehow. I ought to feel grief, but I don’t, my bond with you two has replaced the one I had with Michael. Am I wrong? Am I even wicked to have written him off so soon?”

“I don’t know the answer to that. I am very happy that you will be able to have your full life with us, but it is going to take time to explain our unusual relationship with you to our friends and family.”

“Will you give me babies?”

“I hadn’t thought about that? What do you think Stephanie?”

“I think the bond between the three of us is now strong and getting stronger as we sit here. It is like a taught elastic band that is tightening even now. I think in time we will feel happy with both of us having babies with you, Graham, but it is not something that would ever have entered my head this morning.”

“I think we will make this work. How do you feel Jen?”

“I was in total despair an hour ago. I felt as if I was at the bottom of a dark well with just a spot of light far far above me and that was moving further away as I looked. I deeply regret that I feel no grief for Michael now. He is a fading memory even though he is barely cold. I don’t want to be seen as insensitive and uncaring, but it seems to be something distinctive in our community that the current bond is what matters. I remember all the intense feelings I had for Michael have now been reformed with you two. I shall be eternally grateful that you have absorbed me into your partnership. I feel like a bottle of Champagne that has been shaken. The cork hits the ceiling and a fountain of wine shoots over the floor. Can I give you both a hug?”

All three stood and the hug started gently but rapidly changed in its intensity until it was all-enveloping. Graham could feel Jen’s tear soaked top wet his shirt.

Jen laughed. “I am getting you all wet.”

“It is not important” both Stephanie and Graham replied in tandem.

“I will start as I intend to go on.”

She stripped off the wet shirt and her damp bra and showed her small breasts with their dark nipples standing proud on her chest.

“I will put a top back on soon, but this is how I want to be in front of you both.”

… and she hugged them both again.

Stephanie was wondering what they were to do now. They had both just got their A level results that morning, and a few hours later they had a new life’s partner, and all at the age of eighteen!

“Where are you going to University?”

“We are going to the local campus just ten miles down the road to read Civil Engineering, and then we plan to start a business together.”

“I read French there and am already working for an import/export business with trading links to the Continent, so I do all the company translations and deals in French. The Community paid the deposit on this house. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a nice garden. I just have to pay the mortgage and the various bills. Would you both like to live here and travel on the bus to the University?”

“We were planning on living at home, but I don’t think I could live separately from you now, Jen. I think all three of us living and sleeping together is more or less axiomatic with this intense bond we now have. It is almost as if I ache, just looking at you so vulnerable and bare chested.”
“I know what you mean. I want to cry, and have always thought that tears of joy were just a literary allusion.”

“That is sorted out then. We will live here with you and will love you. ”

“We have just got to deal with the funeral, telling our parents and moving.”

“Should be easy after the excitement of the results and now, meeting you, Jen, in such difficult, and now wonderful circumstances.”

“Is your master bedroom big enough for a bed for three?”

“I think so, if a wardrobe is moved into the third bedroom that we could use it as a large dressing room and closet.”

Jen took them round the house and into the room that had been hers and Michael’s.

“What do I do with all of Michael’s stuff?”

“We will pack it up and offer it to his mother. What we do depends upon her answer, but that may have to wait until after the funeral, unless they ask for his things before.”

“We could pack his things away in boxes in the second bedroom for the time being.”

“How is the house owned?”

“It defaults to the surviving partner, but I will have to get the record changed at the Land Registry once we have a death certificate.”

“What do both sets of parents know of the arrangements with you and Michael.”

“We were at University when the mind swap took place. We each had each other’s memories and had a couple of weeks before we were due to go home for a weekend. We managed to be convincing with each as the other, and on the quite rare occasions we have gone home in recent times, we have never felt that it was a problem staying as we were.”

“Jen only has a mother. Her father had disappeared early in her life, and Jen had no memory of him. She is an accountant and spends all day, and much of the evening working.”

“I don’t think Michael’s death will impact much on her. She hadn’t got to know Michael well, and Jen as Michael had kept his distance in case he gave too much away.”

“What did Michael’s mother think of your partnership, Jen?”

“I don’t think she thought my relationship was permanent. She was quite distant from me as Jen. I didn’t understand it initially, since I had known her since I was a baby, but it fit in with her character.

How will she take the death of the person she believes is her only son?

“I think she will sublimate it.”

“Is that the same with Jen’s parents. How will they be with Michael’s death?”

I only have Michael’s memories of his childhood and they are fading now. They will be sensitive to my sadness, grief even, but it will not have a long term effect on them as they think they still have their daughter. They will find it very difficult to accept my new relationship with the two of you. It will need careful management if they are to come to terms with our situation. The simplest solution is that they never know, but I don’t really feel comfortable with that. Children need to know their grandparents and I would not deliberately thwart that relationship.”

“I really do feel odd. My life’s partner was killed only hours ago in my old body and I have now passed through a very very dark place to enter a new life partnership with people I have never met before today. To any outsider it would seem absolutely mad to do this. Many people will think me callous, indifferent, insensitive and any other pejorative terms you can think of; but it seems so right to me, but it has also been completely necessary. I would happily have sex with both of you this instant and spend all day with you in bed together. I know this is like a verbal torrent. I didn’t want to die, but knew it was inevitable from the moment I felt Michael’s mind to leave mine. It was like a great black hole of emptiness. Now I am full of joy.”

All three hugged for a precious few seconds.

“Unfortunately we must go. Our two sets of parents have arranged for a celebratory dinner for our A level results. I don’t see how we can introduce you into the equation so soon.”

“No that is quite understandable. I will go down to the Storage Place down the road they sell packs of cardboard boxes for moving house. I will begin to pack up Michael’s things and put them away so his parents can get them if they wish. I need to get on the phone tonight to offer my services for the funeral and wake, and hope that I can sound like a distraught girlfriend when I feel anything but!”

This is really difficult. I have only been to two funerals in my life. Grandparents a long time ago. I didn’t understand what was happening when I was only about five years old. I really don’t know how to react or what to do or to offer. I don’t want to be seen as uncaring but it is going to be an act, whatever I do.”

“Do your best. Maybe you will need to think about cutting yourself off from all three parents in the end. It doesn’t seem as if your first mother, Michael’s mother that is, will take to having a son, now daughter, in a three-way partnership.”

“No I doubt if she would, but when it comes down to it, I really don’t know her at all, and the safest way is probably to phone her often and see her as little as possible. Maybe she will be interested if I start having babies, but that will not be for the time being.”

“I think we can offer to come with you to the funeral as friends. I am not sure about the wake, if there is one. That might be too difficult.”

It was a real lurch to leave Jen in the house that would soon be their communal home. The taxi got them home late afternoon. They had phoned both sets of parents to know that they were busy, but would be home in good time to get ready for the reservation at the restaurant.

“I hope you have been having a brilliant time celebrating with your friends from school.”

“Actually, no. We got news of a woman who has rooms to let fairly near the University. We went round and like her very much. She is happy to rent two rooms to us for a very reasonable rent and some companionship. She is a recent widow, and is called Jen.”

“We thought that you were going to live between our two homes as you have for the last two years?”

“This arrangement will give us more time to share in activities at Uni. The bus is every ten minutes until midnight, so we will not have to leave activities early.”

“I am not surprised that you two want your own place. I know it is cheaper to live at home, but when I was at University I wanted exactly what you are wanting.”

“When will you move in?”

“Jen has to clear the two rooms from her late husband’s belongings. We will go and help her do that and perhaps give a couple of walls a personal touch with a lick of paint.”

“Don’t expect to redecorate too much, as you will be obliged to return it to the previous colour scheme when you leave a rented property.”

“We will be sad to see you go, but if it is what you want to do then I think we have all been there and quite understand the need to move on.”

They were ushered to a table for six at the restaurant, lit by atmospheric lighting. The Maître d’hôtel was solicitous, holding the chair for each of the ladies in what appeared to be seniority by age, and after handing round menus, seemed to disappear as silently as he had appeared.

A bottle of vintage Champagne had been ordered in advance and appeared in its ice bucket as soon as everyone was seated.

Nigel stood as soon as everyone had a full glass.

“I think your partnership has made a huge difference to both of you. We are immensely proud of you both, so only the best for two excellent students, both with three A star, A levels!”

Congratulations. The toast is Stephanie and Graham.”

“Thanks Dad, both teens replied.”

All four parents noticed the dual reference to Dad, and they glowed that little bit more.
was appreciated followed by small bowls of a delicately flavoured consommé with Melba toasts.

The main course followed seamlessly, rare steak medallions with a sumptuous sauce, croquette potatoes and a garland of other vegetables.

“This is a beautiful piece of steak. This was a very good choice of restaurant. I don’t know which parent chose it, but the food is excellent.”

Over the main course the salient features of the meeting with Jen were explained to April and Tom. If either had any misgivings about the new accommodation then they knew that the die had been cast and chose to keep those misgivings to themselves.

“What are you going to do tomorrow?”

“We are going to go over to the new house to see if we can help Jen.”

“If you need someone to drive bags of stuff to the dump let me know. I will be happy to help. ”

“I don’t know exactly what Jen needs to get rid of. It is all Michael’s clothes and books, as well as some of his other things. Quite a lot will go to a Charity shop for resale, but some things are being kept back in case Michael’s mother wants them as keepsakes.”

“When did Michael die?”

“Not sure exactly, but Jen had a little cry when we first got there. She does need some rental income to keep her afloat financially, and we were seen as sympathetic and not just commercial renters.”

Stephanie looked over and mouthed “Be careful, don’t make the story too complicated. Our parents will meet Jen at some time.”

Graham gave her a subtle nod to acknowledge that he had understood.

“What does she do?”

She is the French speaking contact in an import/export business. Her degree was in French.

“You certainly have got to know a lot about this mysterious widow in just a few hours.”

“You will meet her at some point and can then ask all the questions you wish.”

Desert was a trio of sorbets with chocolate wafer rolls.

Any more questions were avoided and as the meal drew to a close with coffee and mint chocolates. Stephanie’s mum leant over to the girl who appeared to be her daughter.

“There is more to this story than meets the eye, I think. Be careful, Jen sound a very vulnerable young woman, recently bereaved and needing lots of emotional support.”

“My lips are sealed. I cannot confirm that one way or the other at this stage.” was Stephanie’s cagey reply, but we like her very much.”

“Can I come with you tomorrow morning? I will take us all out to lunch.”

“I will ask Graham to see what he thinks.”

In fact Graham was asked in person and Jen was aware of their thoughts.

“I know that my family and Michael’s family will be unsupportive. Yes please ask your mother to come with you both tomorrow.”

Somewhat to April’s surprise, Stephanie leant over and whispered “The answer is a yes. Please come with us tomorrow.”

April came round the table and gave Stephanie a motherly kiss on the cheek and another on the forehead.

“I think something wonderful has happened, but I don’t know exactly what? I think we will be able to win over the other three parents here given a little time.”

The families parted company at the exit and drove home separately. Graham and Stephanie went home with April and Tom and were soon snuggling down together in April’s room.

“Goodnight Jen” they both thought and they received a warm fuzzy feeling in response and the touch of a ghostly kiss on each of their lips. “Until tomorrow, then.”

The morning sky looked as if it was going to be sunny and warm. Graham watched as Stephanie came from the shower just wrapped in a towel. She dropped it without any candour, and proceeded to put on her bra and thong without thinking. Next came a pink sparkly strappy top and pink shorts.

“You look lovely. You have really grown to fill that shirt in the last couple of years.”

“You have changed as well, my love … and is that a small tent under your pyjamas?”

“How could any man remain unaffected by a very pretty girl getting dressed in front of him?

“Perhaps the result would be greater if it was undressing rather than dressing.”

“You have a point.’

“No. I think it is you that has a point!”

They both laughed and Graham stripped off ready for his own shower unabashed by this engorged penis.

“Do you find Jen attractive?”

“Before I answer that let me say that we are both bound by the bond that hold the three of us together. I do find Jen attractive. She is small and neat, about 5’ 3” I should guess. She can go braless for much of the time. She is dark where you are blond and her skin tones are Mediterranean whereas yours are definitely Scandinavian. I don’t think there will be any problem in loving you both equally, but you both can read my thoughts. If you did detect any sort of bias, then I hope we could sort that out quickly.”

“I suppose I should also ask you, is do you find Jen attractive? Can you think of girl-on-girl action with her?”

“I hope it will not offend you, but I have memories of being a boy and yes, as a boy I would find her attractive and as a girl I can see us being intimate.”

“No, there is no offence. I think it would make things awkward if you hadn’t looked forward to that. If we are all naked in a large size bed then why shouldn’t you?”

“That is sorted then, but how big a bed are you thinking about?”

“I don’t think a six foot wide bed will be big enough, perhaps eight foot?”

“Will the floor of her (or our) bedroom take the weight?”

“That is a good question we will have to answer in time.”

“Lets get some breakfast and get over there. Mum has been up for some time, and your Dad has been gone to catch the train an hour ago.”

By nine fifteen Stephanie, Graham and April were on their way to what would be the teens new home. Jen was waiting on the doorstep as they drove up.

“I heard the car she said, somewhat unconvincingly.”

Whilst she was clearly ready for work, she had also taken care with her appearance and was dressed in a check shirt tied at the waist just below her bust. The cut-off jeans flattered her slim hips and tanned legs. The hair held back in a high pony tail with a scrunchie was a good accompaniment.

April avoided the hand offered for a handshake and immediately gave Jen a firm kiss on the cheek.

“Welcome to the family.” she said making it clear that that was a statement of fact.

Jen was clearly pleased and ushered them into the sitting room and busied herself with making coffee.

April took the one easy chair and the others sat side by side on the sofa, with Graham in the middle and the two girls either side. He held both their hands and their clasped hands were resting each on one of his thighs.

“I always wanted more than one child, but it never happened. Do I now have a second daughter?”

Jen laughed. “I think you do. Can I call you Mum or do you prefer April?”

“I would be delighted to be called Mum between us, but perhaps April would be better in company.”

“I have only guesses and some intuition as to what has been going on here. I need some clear explanation if I am going to convince the other three parents that all is going to be well here.”

Graham took a deep breath and began the explanation oof what had happened to Stephanie and Graham two years ago and how it had helped them both … how they were destined to have a long and happy marriage until one of them died at a hundred or so, and then the other would join them very shortly afterwards. He also explained that they had helped several couples come together, but that phase in their lives had finished now, and except for emergencies, they would complete their studies and then be helped to create a successful Civil Engineering business. He also explained that if one of a pair died accidentally or through violence, that the remaining partner would die within a week or so, in a wretched state of grief, unless they formed a trio with another pair within hours of their bereavement.

April asked about the migration of Jen’s bonding from Michael to Stephanie and Graham.

“It is something that I am not proud of. As soon as Michael died I was left with an great void in my mind. I think I sort of cried out mentally in my anguish, and the leaders of this group sensed it and asked Graham and Stephanie to intervene, knowing what would happen when we met. I imagine that they were thinking that their subterfuge was acceptable with the consequences of the alternative.”

“Even though it is only a day since Michael died, my memories of him are fading fast. It seems to be inevitable since my mind is now filled with Graham’s and Stephanie’s memories as well as my own as a child.”

“I am very glad that they did come and I am now completely bound into this loving trio and hope we will be together for eighty or more years.”

“How can you be so certain. Many marriages end in divorce?”

“The bond people like us have is much stronger than what seems to be a rather haphazard arrangement in Society in general. We can communicate at a certain emotional level when we are apart. We have each other’s memories. We all know what it is to be both a boy and a girl and there is this intense attraction almost like a stretched rubber band that pulls us together.”

“I was very sad when Graham and Stephanie had to go home yesterday, but knew that it was inevitable. I cried myself to sleep.”

Graham leant over and kissed Jen full on the lips for a few seconds and gave her hand a squeeze. He then leant the other way and did the same with Stephanie.

April had never seen Graham and Stephanie embrace so intently in the two years they had been together, and was warmed by seeing them so happy with their new arrangements.

“I know that it is expected that couples bonded in this way should marry and have children. I know it is only hours since you met and there has been very little time for you to discuss anything, but when this has happened before, what happens with marriage and children?”

“The Law doesn’t allow polygamy or polyandry in Britain today, and that is unlikely to change. As I understand it from a brief contact with Nine, the majority of three-way bonds occur with a couple who are already legally married. The third person joins and has no legal status. In our case we might have to be inventive, but I know I will marry Stephanie and Jen knows that. Both women will have babies and the Community have said that they will give us money to support the children as they have for our studies. They also helped Jen and Michael buy this house.”

“So when do I become a Granny?”

“We may have more money than the average students and Jen is working and brings in a good salary, but we need time to finish our studies and start the business.”

“So no need for me to start knitting matinee jackets?”

“No, not yet, but I am 26 now, and my clock is ticking a bit louder than Stephanie’s. I expect to have had two babies before she starts!”

“Why two?”

“I can have the other three so they grow up with Stephanie’s eldest three!”

“That is very calculating!” April said with a smile. So I am guaranteed ten grandchildren from this unusual Union.”

“That is what we have been told is normal for Community members.”

“You will need a bigger house.”

“Certainly, but if the business is successful with lots of work generated in France, Belgium, Switzerland and other French speaking countries like Canada and parts of Francophone Africa then that should not be a problem.”

“This young woman you have bonded with is supremely confident.” April said looking at Stephanie and Graham.

“We all are. We have many years of health and parenthood to look forward to.”

“Rather getting back to the mundane. How is the house clearance going?”

“I think it is my responsibility to put Michael’s things together for the lady who thinks Michael was born to her as her son. I didn’t get on with her very well as her sort of daughter-in-law, and my memories of her as a mother are not good either but my birth father was permanently absent so she had a lot to contend with as a single parent. After the funeral I think I will let contact lapse, or leave it up to her to contact me in the first instance. In the days since Michael’s death I have rung her several times, but she has never got back to me to tell me of any arrangements to do with the funeral and so on.”

“That is a shame. I would have thought that keeping in contact with someone her son loved was really important.”

“So would I, but I don’t think she sees it that way. To keep our unusual status hidden we didn’t see them very often - perhaps a couple of times a year.”

“Had you been able to confide in your parents it might have been a very different scenario.”

“It might have been but both Michael and I had parents who were not at all demonstrative. There was very little in the way of a loving home. We were both well looked after in material ways, but hugs just never happened.”

“I do remember the times when Michael and I lay skin to skin just revelling in the closeness that we had been deprived of as a child.”

“I don’t think there will be any shortage of skin to skin contact between you three.”

Graham looked down, but he was clearly blushing. His hand was resting, well … one might call it the upper thigh of Jen and Stephanie, but if their clothes were absent, his index finger would have been within millimetres of each girl’s clitoris, and his other hand was already rubbing Jen’s unfettered nipple between two fingers.

“I am getting left out.” Stephanie said as she unclipped her front opening bra and one full breast was made easily accessible.

Graham’s fingers were soon wrapped round one of her nipples and both were soon erect through his ministrations.

“Do you want to go out to lunch, or go to bed together instead?” April said with a laugh.

A quick glance was enough to say unequivocally that bed was the favoured option.

“I am going to go out to the Indian Takeaway and the supermarket. I will get a selection of dishes and the makings for some Lassi to go with it. I will be back in an hour and a half. Is that ok?

“I shall talk to Tom tonight and get him on board. I think that conversation might end up in bed. You make me aroused just watching you three.”

Within seconds of the front door closing there was a trail of discarded clothing up the stairs to the bedroom and the three were fully occupied until the need for a shower and lunch became pressing.

None of the three felt the need to put tops back on after their showers, and the two girls took turns drying and brushing their hair. They heard the front door open and went down topless.

“We hope you don’t mind, Mum. Being like this is comfortable and we like it.”

“In your own home you can do together whatever you wish, but if you want to entertain Claire and Nigel topless you may need to prime them first.”

“Point taken. Do you think we need to invite them here for dinner?”

“Almost certainly. All four parents need to be able to keep your relationship a secret and any idea of lying or even just hiding the truth will be regarded badly.”

“So Tom first and then Claire and Nigel.”

“Yes”

The weather was warm and the clearing of the house went well but they were all perspiring after a couple of hours.

April was fanning herself with her hands. “I am hot” and she pulled the damp fabric of her T-shirt away from her skin, and when she let go it slowly withdrew to her skin where it stuck once again to her perspiration.

“Don’t feel pressurised, but will it be better without a top on?”

“When in Rome … do as the Romans do!” and she took her top off and her lacy bra. All three children looked and admired the firm breasts that were now prominent.

“I know you expect to look, but I only had one child and I look after my figure. You will find it difficult to keep your figures after five babies!”

She put both garments over the back of a dining chair and had a drink of water before continuing to pack things away in the cardboard boxes.

By the end of the day Michael’s effects were packed away and were stored in the middle bedroom.

“Come back with us Jen. Have a meal with us and then we can talk together with my father, Tom. He will want to meet you anyway once he knows what has happened. You can have showers at home. Just bring a change of clothes.”

Within 20 minutes, all four were driving the few miles to April and Tom’s house. Tom was not home yet from work.

“Why don’t two of you go and shower and Stephanie and I will start preparing the dinner, then we will swap.”

The large wet room was in the master bedroom. Jen and Graham stepped out of their soiled clothes and soaped each other up under the shower head as the warm water cascaded down over them. Inevitably they touched each other everywhere and there was much giggling before they emerged wrapped in large fluffy bath sheets.

They were very aware that April and Stephanie were waiting, so they dressed quickly and were soon helping get the meal ready and the shower was working again.

“You are really getting a very womanly figure now, Stephanie. You used to be such a thin flat chested child.”

“Getting 36Ds or thereabouts is one of the advantages of becoming part of the Community. I have no idea why Jen has never developed in the same way as I have. I shall ask her. I know she rarely needs to wear a bra.”

“I have already enjoyed playing with her nipples. They get engorged and are highly sensitive. I gave a her a climax that way when you were out getting the curries.”

“How do you know about what turns women on?”

“All teenage magazines have detailed instructions of how to do that. The original Stephanie read the magazines and I have her memories.”

“It must be strange having two, or three sets of memories.”

“It is strange, but also seems quite normal … but what seems normal to one person does not to another.”

“We must hurry. Tom will be home soon and I want to be downstairs to greet him. He needs to be introduced to Jen carefully.”

“OK”

All four were downstairs when the front door opened and Tom came in to some lovely smells and kisses from his wife and daughter.

He knew that Graham had once been his daughter and they had a hug as well.

Jen held back until April introduced her as Graham and Stephanie’s landlady.

Tom shook her hand politely, and commented when he saw five place settings at the table.

“I see we are entertaining you to dinner. Please sit beside me and we can talk a bit.”

“The dinner will be half an hour. We can all sit down with a glass of wine and talk about what has happened today.”

Bottles were unscrewed and soon everyone had a glass of red or white in their hands.

“So this is unusual.” Tom began. “I think I am going to be given a running commentary on today. Who is going to start?”

Stephanie took most of the half hour to complete the story from Graham and Stephanie’s mind swap, until today’s lovemaking.

Graham went round twice topping up the glasses during Stephanie’s monologue.

At the end, April opened the discussion.

“Please bring your drinks to the table. Graham will you do the honours?”

“So what we are being asked to do is to accept Jen into our family as a second daughter and to accept all three young people as being in a relationship that is destined to give us lots of grandchildren.”

Tom continued “I don’t think I have any choice in the matter. I am happy to have such an attractive young woman as a new daughter. Perhaps I should introduce her to other people as a recently discovered love child from my youth, but I would have been only fourteen when you were born!”

“Stretching a point I think.”

“I am sure you were fertile and vigorous at fourteen, Dad.”

“I may have been fertile and vigorous, but I don’t think any of the girls at my school would have looked at me twice as the rather spindly specimen I was then.”

“If I am your long lost Love Child what happens if I become very pregnant several times in the next few years? Won’t it start tongues wagging?”

“Probably, but you will be in your own home heading up a successful international business by then. So I will be in the clear of committing incest!”

“Now. Perhaps we should order this Super King bed for you all. It can be delivered during tomorrow and you could be snuggled up in it tomorrow night.”

“That is fine as long as you don’t want to see us in it. We don’t wear anything in bed.”

“I will have to use my imagination to see that in my mind’s eye.”

“I understand that we are being invited to dinner next week. Can you rustle up some clothes for that event?”

April smiled. She knew that her husband had had a hankering to join a sun club for many years. Perhaps this would be the stimulus for them as well as their newly reconstituted family.

“How about desert and coffee?”

Conversation continued for some time, then Graham whispered to his two partners. “Where are we sleeping tonight?”

“I think we got into Jen’s bed at lunchtime at a pinch, so we can squeeze into it again tonight and we can top and tail if needed, but I look forward to the new bed being delivered tomorrow.”

“Will one of you give us a lift home please?”

“Yes, I will if Tom fills the dishwasher. I have had less wine than him.”

Sometime later the three were getting ready for bed and Stephanie noticed a red mark across Jen’s back where her bra strap had been.

“I think your bra was too tight tonight.”

Jen tried two more bras that she wore only rarely. “I am too big for these 32a bras. How can being with you two for only a day make me start getting bigger chest?”

“Maybe you are just a late developer?”

“At 26 years old?”

… and they were still having a bit of a giggle about it as they managed to get comfortable in the standard double bed and then dropped off to sleep. They had, of course explored Jen’s developing bust for some minutes.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The following morning it was decided that Jen needed an urgent visit to a lingerie store, but it was a work day for Jen at least and buying lingerie had to wait.

Stephanie and Graham now had a key to the house, but needed to stay in for the bed delivery.

They were wondering what to do, when there was a knock on the door.

Thinking that the bed was being delivered early, they rushed to the front door, only to find a woman they didn’t know standing there.

“I am Michael’s mother” the woman said.

Stephanie and Graham had to do a double take, but had the presence of mind to say that they were house sitting for Jen who had had to go to work because she was not entitled to any bereavement leave as she and Michael were not married.

“I know she said on the phone that she was distraught over Michael’s death. How is it that she is well enough to go off to work?”

“The company she works for has had a run of orders from French speaking clients. I think she thought that work would keep her mind off her sadness. How are you feeling? I understand that Michael was your only child?”

“We had grown apart since he left University. I wasn’t very keen on him setting up home with Jen, but it was their lives and they chose their own way.”

“Can we help you? We thought we might come to support Jen at the funeral if that is alright.”

“You are welcome to come to the funeral. It is on Friday week in the City Crematorium at 3.45pm.”

“How did you know Michael?”

“We didn’t. We have only recently got to know Jen, and we happened to be available and could help when she was very distressed.”

“I am sorry that Jen is not here to be able to speak to you. If there is anything that we can help with then we are happy to do that.”

“Do you know what you would like to happen to Michael’s belongings?”

“I know that the funeral director would like some clothes for him to wear in the coffin. There is a blue suit and shirt that he looked well in, and a blue tie with a silver thread running through it. Can those be delivered to the funeral director in the next day or so.”

“I don’t know about the rest of his things. Can they stay here for the time being?”

“I am sure they can, but Jen is going to box up his belongings so it will be easy for you when you have made a decision.”

“How much stuff is there. I have no idea.”

“About five or six boxes of personal materials. We are assuming that furniture will stay here when it was bought by Jen and Michael together.”

“I have no problem with that.”

“We will recount everything you have said when Jen gets home and I am sure she will know the clothes you mean. We will make sure they get to the funeral director as soon as possible. Do you have their address?”

“Here is one of their cards.”

“If I may say so, I think you are dealing with what must be truly awful, very well.”

“There are so many things that need to be done. I am on my own, with no one to help. It will no doubt hit me soon, but there is no time to grieve now.”

“We have little experience of bereavement. We are both only eighteen and have just finished our A levels. I suppose the only thing I have heard over the years is to make time for yourself in all of this.”

“It is the last thing on my mind at the moment to have time on my hands. I am determined to keep busy.”

“I think we can both understand that.”

Would you like Jen to meet you before the funeral?”

“I don’t think there is time. I have to carry on working. I am self employed. No work, no pay.”

At last, Stephanie and Graham were able to close the door on what could have been a very awkward visit.

“She is going to feel it very badly in a little while. Having lost the opportunity to re-build a relationship with her only son is a big deal; at least, it would be for us.”

“Then we will make sure that never happens to our children!”

“Of course.”

A large furniture van was driving down their street as they were still talking.

“I am glad the bed delivery didn’t happen when Michael’s mother was here. That could have been very awkward.”

The bed was delivered in five different boxes. All had to be part carried and part dragged up the stairs. The delivery driver was only allowed to get the boxes to the front door.

The first part of the venture was to dismantle the old bed and put both bed and mattress into the second bedroom with all of Michael’s belongings.

“We must be able to get to Michael’s boxes if Jen is to get out the clothes that his mother wanted.”

The book of instructions was more than 100 pages long for constructing the Super King size bed and there wasn’t a lot of room, but with some careful manoeuvring and lots of laughter, the frame was put together by the time Jen returned from work.

In another hour the bed was complete and the huge mattress was in place. All three lay on the bare mattress for a few minutes exchanging what had happened during the day.

Jen knew exactly what the clothes were that Michael’s mother had asked for and whilst they were waiting for a delivery from a local Chinese restaurant, the clothes were folded into a large carrier bag and would be ready to deliver to the undertaker the following morning.

“I don’t think it will be difficult to sever links with Michael’s mother. I think she will devote herself to work to the exclusion of all else. What she does when she ever gets to grieving is open to question; but both we, and the World will have moved on.”

During the evening one burner phone rang. It was Seven.

“We note that you have observed a change in Jen’s body. It was never clear why she did not develop curves when she and Michael went through their mind swap, but you may expect changes (even daily) for the next few weeks. We also need to tell you that whilst we do not have enough data to be sure of how, or why it happens, that a trio like yours has always had twins. That is, both women can become pregnant at the same time or one foetus develops at a different rate so that both women give birth on the same day. We think you should know that. What we also know is that Jen will become younger physically to match you two, and her compliment of eggs will increase in consequence. She has no need to worry about fertility diminishing any more than any eighteen year old.

“You are absolutely right we did need to know all of that. Does the contraceptive pill still work?”

“Yes, there has never been an example of it failing in transformed women.”

“Seven, before you ring off. How much of our thoughts are open to you?”

“Very little. When someone becomes very emotional they broadcast to everyone in the community. This is why you could ‘hear’ her anguish. We can only sense a state of well being in other members of the Community unless a question is directed to us.”

“If you concentrate together you should be able to ‘feel’ the presence other members of the Community within range, as they will be able to sense you. Your range will increase as you get older. A mentor like Three, Nine and myself can sense any Community members anywhere in the World.”

“Please don’t forget to empty Jen’s bank card in the next four days. Her burner phone card will be invalidated at the same time, although the phone will still work if a new card is inserted.”

“Thank you, Seven.”

“Well what do you make of that. Double pregnancies are the only option, and eight years of regression for you Jen together with a womanly figure. How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t know. It seems too calculating to have babies on exactly the same day, but there is a lot about this that seems strange and magical. Getting younger is fine, but eight years is nearly 100 extra periods! Not something I would choose.”

“I don’t dislike the idea of a more curvy figure. I am already aware that my walk has a little more sway, and I have been dying to scratch my boobs. They have been itching interminably whilst I have been at work.”

“Let’s see.” Stephanie asked.

Jen’s shirt was removed and it was clear that Jen would not be able to go out without a bra without turning heads.

“What do I do now all the shops are closed?”

“Try this one of mine.”

Stephanie hadn’t moved her clothes to the new house yet, but stripped to the waist and offered the bra she had just taken off to Jen.

“What size is this?”

“34C.”

“Heavens, 32A to 34C in two days. Where will it end?”

“Don’t know, but you need to get fitted properly as soon as possible.”

Jen returned the bra to Stephanie, but stayed topless. “They still itch a bit, but not as much as during the day.”

“Try some moisturising cream.”

“Jen smiled as she handed the jar of cream to Graham. I hope you will enjoy this.” She said.

“I am sure I will.” as Graham applied a good layer of cream on each breast and took time to rub it in well.

“Better?”

“Better in that the skin doesn’t itch, but I have another itch that cannot be sorted out with moisturiser!”

“Later, Jen.” Graham said, looking at Stephanie who had hung the bra over the back of her chair.

“I don’t think we will be wearing bras inside the house from now on. Jen’s boobs are a turn on for me as well.” and she ran a finger round each nipple until they stood proud from the surrounding tissue.”

“I think things are really moving very fast. We are accepting what is quite extraordinary as being normal. Jen needed us, and we found her. We could do with some cash and a Community has provided. We have been told that our business plans will be a success and that we will raise lots of intelligent children in pairs. We also know that we are part of a Community of similar people who are brighter than the general population and they stay healthier than the rest of the population. I know there is nothing to dislike, but is there anything to fear in everything being so easy.”

Graham continued.

“I know that Michael’s death was a tragic accident, but we were told that once we had undergone a mind swap that we would develop physically, but Jan never did. Did Michael develop a particularly masculine physique?”

“No, I don’t think he did. We were very much in love, and that didn’t seem to matter. He liked me with a girlish body and I wasn’t into Adonis like men.”

“Doesn’t it strike you as odd that within hours of bonding with us, your figure is transforming into a shapely woman, and your bust development is happening hour by hour.”

“I had never thought of that. Perhaps there was something odd in my bonding with Michael.”

“I have never thought to ask, but were you and Michael born within hours of each other. Every bonded couple we know of was born at exactly the same time.”

“No, we were born nearly a week apart.”

“That is odd that you bonded at all.”

“We must try to get an answer to this question, because clearly there are eight years between our births.”

“If we think of the question to one of the Committee then we may get an answer.”

Almost as if on command, the phone rang. Graham put the phone on speaker mode.

“We have been discussing the changes that take place in us, and why Jen is changing so fast now, but didn’t change when she was bonded with Michael. He, also, didn’t change as expected.”

“We don’t know everything about these transitions. Most of the time the mind swaps produce the changes we expect, but occasionally the mind swap seems to be incomplete for some reason. We think that this was the case with Michael and Jen. It was perhaps that they mind swapped when they were too distant at the time of their birth, or some other reason.”

“I think I would like some reassurance”, Graham continued “that Michael’s death was not a consequence of this incomplete bonding.”

“We had absolutely nothing to do with Michael’s death if that is what you are asking. Michael and Jen would have lived out their years without any problems created by us. We just do not have that power, but we are aware that this process of mind swapping and bonding has something that controls it. We don’t know if the accident was a consequence of incomplete bonding.”

“I take your word on that, but if all that is true, how is it that Jen, Stephanie and I have bonded so completely when we were born eight years apart, and we now learn that Jen will regress by eight years to match our ages. It is very difficult to believe and even more difficult to understand.”

“I am sure it is. As I said we don’t know all the intricacies of the process. Each time there is a new situation, we get a new answer. In your case a bereavement creates an unfulfilled need as you know. Jen has not swapped minds with you. She had already swapped minds with Michael. There doesn’t seem to be the possibility of swapping minds again with anyone, single or pair, but whatever mechanism there is, makes the best decision for the bereaved partner. In your case it was to form a trio. Where the bereaved partner is old, then the person is allowed to die peacefully. Bereaved parents may be healed and carry on as un-partnered people, but they lose the advantages of having transitioned apart from the change of gender. I hope this answer is sufficiently helpful because we do not know any more.”

“How big will Jen become?”

“We don’t know, but no women develop hugely. We don’t think the changes will continue for long.”

“That is good news.”

“If that is all I can help with then I will ring off. Please contact one of us if there are further questions.

“One final question. I know that we got on very well with Serephena when we were going through the transition. Would it be safe to meet with her and her partner? We wouldn’t coalesce into a larger group?”

“No that has never happened, and if you met up with the couples that you helped, the they would just be friends. Nothing more.”

“Thank you.”

“I could feel her thoughts. I am quite sure she believes that Michael’s death was completely accidental, but I am a bit suspicious about such things. If a bonding is faulty but is correctable, then a guiding principle might mean that the flaw was corrected. We will never know, but I am delighted to have Jen on our team and we will work out any problems.”

Jen snuggled up to both Graham and Stephanie, then the penny dropped. “It is late night opening at the Mall. The lingerie shop will be open until 9pm. “Shall we go and get Jen fitted out then get dinner at a fast food outlet afterwards.”

Jen struggled into a sweat shirt and they dashed for the bus. Ten minutes later they were in a store just piled up with bras, knickers and every other undergarment needed by women.

“Isn’t this a bit odd for you Graham?”

“Not in the slightest. I was a girl until just over two years ago. Stephanie and I have been lingerie shopping together all that time. I have helped her choose all the underwear she now wears. She only had a teenage boy figure when we swapped.”

Jen was measured, and she was sent out to look for 34C bras. In fact all three went out to choose all types of bra for all occasions and in every colour a girl might need. Most of the bras had matching knickers or thongs. By 8.55pm the three were leaving with a large bag. Jen hoped they would fit in the morning and that she was not destined to have a large chest that was out of proportion with her slight body.

The clothing for Michael’s funeral was packed up neatly and Graham agreed to take to to the Undertakers first thing in the morning.

It had been a tiring day. The new bed was made up and after showering the three tumbled into bed and were soon fast asleep.

Jen was up first. No one had been to a supermarket since all the changes, so Stephanie made up a list and went off to do a big shop. It needed a taxi to get everything home, but Graham had completed his visit and was able to carry the food into the house from the taxi.

Jen went off to work with one of the new lingerie sets on, but none of her tops fit and would not do up over her bosom. She had to rifle through Michael’s shirts and Tee’s to find something suitable.

“I think Jen’s face looks a bit less mature. Her face looks a bit less angular. She could certainly pass for eighteen now with the right clothes. At the moment she is dressing like a twenty-something woman.”

“I thought she looked beautiful when we saw her off to work this morning. I am really glad she is part of our trio.”

“I agree. I can say that she is the first woman that I have desired.”

The move from Stephanie’s and Graham’s parents houses to Jen’s house took place gradually. Jen bought a beautiful midnight blue dress for Michael’s funeral and she looked stunning in it. She didn’t grow any more and it would be acceptable for interviews or other formal occasions as well.

Stephanie borrowed a dark grey dress from her mother for the funeral and Graham had an ‘all purpose’ grey suit. He wore a midnight blue tie to support Jen.

The funeral was low key with only a handful of relatives in attendance at the crematorium.

There really wasn’t a wake. There were too few people there. An aunt and cousin came together and had to leave early because they had a long drive home. The others went to the upstairs room of a pub where sandwiches had been set out.

Graham and Stephanie described themselves as Jen’s lodgers who were there to support her. That seemed to have been accepted.

After an hour they felt comfortable making their exit.

Jen had very little contact with her parents, and they didn’t appear at the funeral. A few of Michael’s belongings were claimed by his mother, but the majority of his things were collected by a charity shop, or binned.

There was a frizzle of excitement when Michael’s mother enquired about the ownership of the house, but the Land Registry showed clearly that the house was owned jointly, and on Michael’s death the ownership of the whole property passed to Jen.

Michael died intestate and with almost no assets. His estate, such as it was, was closed without probate being needed.

Michael had a tiny pension he had accrued from four years at work. That had been allocated to Jen should he die. The pension paid a pittance each month, after tax and Jen decided to give it anonymously to a Charity every Christmas.

Apart from a death certificate held by his mother, Michael had ceased to exist and he was rarely spoken about by Jen, Stephanie and Graham.

Some weeks later, Three, Seven and Nine were meeting in their suite.

“Graham was pointed in asking if there could have been any intervention in Michael’s death from elsewhere, considering the incomplete bonding of Jen and him.”

“They didn’t know that their bond was incomplete, and neither did we.”

“Is there anything we can do to see if there might be any truth in the suggestion?”

“I don’t see what. We have no way of communicating with a higher being, even if there is one. We don’t know what motivation such a being may have except for the expectation that each bonded couple should have an average of five pregnancies.”

“Have we ever tried to contact a higher being?”

“No. No one in our position has ever thought one existed.”

“Let us try.”

The three pairs of gnarled fingers interlocked. The three sages of great age, thought and concentrated their combined intellects towards something, maybe nothing.

After a few moments there did appear something. Something etherial and insubstantial. Something transitory and amorphous. The something seemed to turn and look with a penetrating eyeless gaze at the three. It was surprised and then the surprise morphed into disinterest and it mentally turned away and seemed to evaporate.

“I didn’t think that at my great age that I would experience anything new, but that was certainly new.”

“What can we do about this knowledge? Does it help Graham understand why he has two partners?”

“I don't think we can ever track down or confine this being. Assuming it is, they that control the process that defines the Community, their effects have been wholly benign so far and have always been for the best for the various partners. I think it is best that we store this information away and release it on a 'need to know basis’.”

“I think it offers a turning point as well. All three of us are over a century old. One died with her husband, two some years ago, Five died within days when her husband died. Only three of us remain from the original five and our husbands are also old. We need to provide a new committee.”

“I think you are right, Seven. This new information does change things for ever.”

“There hasn’t been an election before. How do we proceed?”

“There are about 7000 living members of the community. They are all entitled to enter the election and to vote, but all are successful in their own spheres. How does anyone choose if they don’t know who the candidates are, and how does anyone know if they want to be a candidate anyway?”

“We will circulate a job description by secure message on the burner phones, and will take it from there.”

Job description

“It is time to appoint a new Committee for the Community. Residence for members and their spouses provided in very select premises in London is obligatory. Candidates should have completed their child rearing to apply. A Committee of five couples needs to be appointed. There is no expectation of particular qualifications or experience, but the appointees need to be able to sustain and support a Community of high achieving people who have been through life changing transitions. There are considerable fixed and financial assets to be managed and dispensed to new entrants.”

“There is no salary or pension provided. No formal holidays or hours of work. No retirement age. Accommodation provided for life at a select address. Financial needs of the appointees will be provided. Guaranteed ‘inheritance’ for descendants. Three, Seven and Nine, together with their spouses are not eligible to vote, and will act as Returning Officers.”

“Records of life experiences are already known. No curriculum vitae required. Enquiries and applications by mental message to Three.”

Stephanie - Part 6 - Squaring a circle

Two events overshadowed the trio’s calendar as the new University year approached. Firstly there was the potentially difficult day of Michael’s funeral and secondly the need to get Claire and Nigel on board with their unusual family arrangement.

At the end of a long day Stephanie, Graham and Jen were lounging in their new bed, but sleep had eluded them for the time being.

“Shall we try to contact some neighbouring Community members?”

“Yes, but how do we try?”

“Lets get as close as possible and think about the same person.”

“I am not sure that I can do that, because I have never met the people you two have helped in the last two years.”

“Look into our shared memories, Jen. You will have a clear image of someone like Seraphena from them.”

“Yes, I see her, and can remember how she speaks and everything. Lets try.”

“The three hugged into a tangle of arms, legs and torsos.”

“I could get used to this.” Stephanie giggled.

“You had better get used to this. We are together for life.” Graham said with mock seriousness.

They thought out to see if they could reach Seraphena.

There was a very unladylike expletive!

“I am in the shower. How did you get into my bathroom?”

“We are not in your bathroom, Seraphena, we are linking by mind alone. And let me say, that you are very attractive standing with water running down, but please continue to rinse the shampoo out of your hair.”

“I suppose there isn’t much I can do about this invasion of privacy now it has happened.”

“How did you know that you could appear in my mind without any sort of permission?”

“We are just trying out this mind linking and you are the member of the Community that we have the strongest link with.”

“I am flattered. Who is your new friend?”

“This is Jen. She is the third person in our family. We will tell you the story of how we came to be living together some time, but it is not important now.”

Seraphena had got out of the shower and was towel drying her hair. The trio appeared to be a few feet in front of her in her mind’s eye.

“I see that I don’t have much privacy here.”

“We are either girls or have been girls. Do you mind?”

“No not really, particularly as you three are as naked as I am.”

“Ooops. We hand’t thought of that. We thought it might help the mind linking process.”

“The Committee don’t appear naked when they mind link.”

“We have never mind linked with the Committee.”

“You have. The burner phones do work, but not as you expect. They are just a prop. The phone rings in your head. You pick up the phone and appear to speak to one of the Committee and actually the voice is directly in your head through a mind link.”

“Wow. That is amazing. So how do the long texts work like the recent one about the election of a new Committee?”

“They are real texts. Some partnerships are not as strong as yours or mine. Those couples do have to use the phone as a phone. There is no mind link.”

By this time Seraphena was getting dressed in a very short almost transparent baby doll nightie. She brushed her teeth over the sink and still displayed a great deal of her bottom as she brushed vigourously.

“How is Jake?”

“He is waiting for me in bed. I think having seen you three so cosy in your outsize bed has made me quite randy. Hope he is up for it.”

“Isn’t your nightie supposed to have a pair of knickers as part of the set?”

Blow that. They would need wringing out if I put them on.”

“We must leave you now. Wouldn’t dream of being voyeurs”

“Yes. You would. You wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t think about watching others making love, but on this occasion I think I would prefer to have this event left unobserved. We don’t have a chandelier in the bedroom, but thinking of me swinging from one will give you an impression of how I feel after showering in front of you.”

“We had never thought of ourselves as being a cause of lust in others, but of course we will leave. We shall wish you a fond goodnight.”

Seraphena just, sort of, faded out.

We didn’t think to ask where Seraphena lives now. I don’t know what our range was.

“We will try again tomorrow with someone else. What about a general search?”

I think it is time for sleep now. A general search could take hours to explain what is happening to a group of people who are not expecting us to ‘drop in, as it were.”

“We must invite Claire and Nigel here. Graham, will you invite them? … but first is the funeral the day after tomorrow.”

The following morning it was all rush and bother with three of them getting through one bathroom in time for Jen to get to work and Stephanie and Graham to start preparing for their studies. Both had been sent an extensive reading list by the University to digest before the term started.

At a respectable hour Graham rang Claire and they arranged a Wednesday evening just over a week away when the two parents would come for dinner, but otherwise it was a quiet day.

Over lunch Graham and Stephanie discussed the message from the Committee.

“I know the Committee are very old, but they are still in good form. They were originally five couples and two couples have now died, perhaps they just feel that they have done enough and ought to be able to retire.”

“Or perhaps there is something more to the decision than meets they eye. In any event it does not concern us as we have yet to start a family, let alone finished our child rearing.”

“The statement seems to say that one has finished having a family, but if one hasn’t started and decides not to, then I don’t see that a trio like us would be excluded.”

“I am very unlikely to be prepared to forego having a family, but I suppose it is a possibility.”

“What about the rest of the deal. We have minimal qualifications and no qualifications in finance.”

“All that is true, but during the first four weeks of this new academic year it is quite possible to change courses where there is a vacancy. Our A levels are good enough to allow us to change to Economics or Business Studies. They are a more prestigious option than Civil Engineering. We didn’t know our A level results when we applied.”

“Whatever happens, I wonder whether to change to Economics. My grades are good enough to get into LSE to do Economics. I wonder what options there are in Clearing?”

(Author’s note - Clearing is a Clearing House where candidates who know their examination results can apply for unfilled places at Universities. They can also change courses during clearing, or apply for courses with lower entry requirements if their grades are not as good as expected.)

“It is certainly food for thought. I hadn’t considered any change. I thought our life path was sorted, but so much has changed in the last two years that almost any alteration could be embraced.”

“Jen isn’t home for a couple of hours, look up vacancies at LSE. It does no harm.”

Graham sat at the computer and looked up the opportunities to read Economics at LSE. There were vacancies it seemed, but not many. A candidate would need A*A*B to enter. That was ok, because both Stephanie and Graham had three A* exam grades, and a good range of GCSEs to back up the A levels.

Graham sat and thought.

“Three? What do you think about the proposition of moving from our present University to the LSE to do Economics, and then applying for one of the Committee posts for the three of us. I don’t know what would happen to the childbearing part of the message. Your opinion would be valued.”

Three replied. “It is not a combination that we had considered, but you are currently unique in being in a trio. It would be possible for you to live here and study at the LSE. It is only a short journey on the Underground. Your children could be looked after by some willing adults. Leave it with me. I know that Clearing only takes a couple of days, so we need to give an answer promptly. Discuss it with Jen and Stephanie, but from my point of view there is merit in your suggestion. So far, the interest in the Committee roles has been muted.”

“Thanks Three. I will do exactly as you say.”

Graham was thoughtful when he rejoined Stephanie.

“There are vacancies, but they will not last long. We have good enough grades to get in. Three says that they hadn’t considered the work load for a trio. Apparently we are the only one on the books at the moment.”

“Three is going to consult, and will be back in touch later today or tomorrow.”

“We will need to discuss this with Jen tonight, before the funeral tomorrow.”

The afternoon dragged for them both, waiting for Jen to come home. They drifted off to bed and Jen found them there two hours later.

“Can I join in?”

“Of course.”

Jen’s clothes were scattered around in her rush to get undressed.

After 30 minutes of intense love making the three were snuggled up together when Graham raised the burning question in his and Stephanie’s minds.

Graham explained what had happened to Jen as they lay in post connubial bliss.

Jen was thoughtful for a minute or two. “I can see the advantages for you two, but how does it help me?”

“I looked up the branches of firm you work for. The website says that there is a branch only a bus ride away from the Community building in London, and the web site also says that employees can work from home some of the time.”

“If the worst comes to the worst, you would have a loving home with lots of willing ‘aunties’ and ‘uncles’ in a very upmarket residence in central London and a good allowance to replace a salary.”

“OK, Go for it. I am on board.”

Very conveniently, ‘Three’ appeared as if by magic in their heads.

“We have considered your situation with the three of you. I caught the end of the conversation with Jen and we also approve. We recommend that you get on to the computer now, and get those places booked. We have a contact in LSE who has put a temporary hold on two places on the B.Sc. Economics course. That is until someone notices and removes the hold.”

It was a long and tedious business contacting LSE, but there were still staff manning the phones until the mid-evening filling the last of the available places on Clearing.

At the end of two hours on the phone their places had been confirmed and a huge batch of documents appeared as attachments on several emails. It was also confirmed that their firm offers to study Civil Engineering had been withdrawn.

The next day was the funeral, but sleep eluded all three with the enormity of what was happening to them. Life was a whirlpool at that moment and they needed to be grounded for Michael’s funeral.

The shower ran continuously for over half an hour until everyone felt that the night had been washed away. Their clothes had been chosen with care the night before. Graham was easy. His one all-purpose grey suit was matched with a deep purple shirt and a black tie. His black shoes had been polished and he only had to keep out of the way for the girls to get ready.

Stephanie had chosen a white shirt with a short black skirt, black tights and black shoes with a small block heel. She had a dark blue jumper over the shirt and a yellow metal necklace that emphasised her bust as it moved to and fro as she walked. Her make up was light, with a pale pink lipstick that matched the pale pink Morganite drop ear rings.

Jen had scoured the shops for the right outfit. In the end she had chosen a pale blue trouser suit matching shoes and clutch bag. Her makeup was more emphatic than Stephanie’s but it was clear that she had both ‘developed’ and had regressed. She wasn’t sure whether Michael’s relatives would even recognise her.

“Are we ready then?”

The taxi drove up on time, and they were soon ferried to the Crematorium where the family and guests were waiting in an anteroom for the previous cremation to be completed.

Very soon they were ushered into the Crematorium chapel and took seats well back from the main mourners.

Michael’s mother was dressed in black but was otherwise very together. She was chatting with two men who Jen had never met.

A duty Chaplain had been asked to conduct a non-denominational service and they began with a suitable hymn. Jen couldn’t stop looking at the coffin, knowing what it held. They had been told that the coffin would be closed as Michael could not be made presentable after the seriousness of the car crash.

The chaplain had been briefed with details of Michael’s short life and right at the end, Jen was mentioned almost as an afterthought.

Stephanie noticed a tear running down Jen’s face and she gestured to Graham to offer the neatly folded handkerchief he had in his pocket.

Jen nodded her thanks and held on to the handkerchief for the rest of the service.

Only 20 minutes later the small congregation was lead out past the coffin and the mourners could touch the wood of the coffin and say a final whispered farewell as they moved sedately past.

Jen was clearly finding it difficult to hold back her tears as they left the chapel through a side door into the sunlight where five patches of concrete held arrays of flowers from the funerals that had already taken place that morning. A large group of mourners for the next funeral were already waiting in the reception area that they had occupied so recently. Several men and one woman hastily stubbed out cigarettes as the next group were ushered in to a rousing pop song that Stephanie assumed had been a favourite of the deceased.

The chaplain shook everyone’s hand as they left the crematorium chapel and then they were able to greet Michael’s mother who seemed distracted by her phone.

“Work” she mouthed and waved a cursory greeting, to Jen and her supporters as they moved past.

It had been made clear from the Undertaker’s website that it was only family flowers, but they were particularly well done. The blue, gold and red were Michael’s favourite colours, Jen noticed.

No one came to talk to them, and after a few minutes Jen said. “I think we are done here.” and lead off down the path with Stephanie and Graham following in her footsteps.

They caught one bus into the city centre and another to home.

As soon as the door closed, Jen dissolved into a flood of tears. “That was awful. A soulless hygienic disposal of a beautiful human being. That bloody woman couldn’t get off her phone to greet the other mourners. I grew up with that harridan. I loved her because she was my Mum. I can see clearly what a rotten mother she was. ”

Stephanie and Graham guided Jen upstairs and undressed her. After undressing themselves they lay together in an tight embrace that helped to rebuild Jen’s tattered nerves in a way that only such an intimate embrace can.

An hour later Jen untwined herself from her partners’ limbs.

“Thank God that is over. We have plans to make. Can we visit London tomorrow and look round our new home?”

Three broke into their conversation. “Yes of course you can. You come to the Concierge’s station in the entry lobby and identify yourselves. You will need something like a passport. The day manager is the only one who can issue passes. After he arrives you will be given a pass each with a lanyard. The cards are already filled with biometric data for each of you. That card allows you to go up to the 24th floor in the bank of lifts to the left of Reception. You then need to walk down the length of the corridor to the executive lift that will take you up to the 26th floor which is the penthouse with the five suites. One of the two empty suites can be yours. It will be up to you to choose which. The 25th floor has no windows and is used for storage of our records and IT equipment and other things, in case you are wondering.”

“We will see you for lunch at 1pm if that is convenient.”

“Brilliant will see you tomorrow.”

Three disappeared from their perception.

“We need to let our parents know what is happening.”

“Can we take April and Tom out to a meal?”

Graham offered “I will give them a ring and see if they are available.”

“And I will book a restaurant if they are”, said Stephanie. ”

“Jen you look beautiful as you are but perhaps public nudity is not right for a restaurant in the late summer.”

“Point taken. I will have a quick shower. I love you both. I am so excited about the move. I cannot get in touch with my employers until Monday, but if I can move locations I will. If not I will be stay at home mum.”

‘Mum, dad. We have lots of news for you. Can you meet us for a meal tonight. Our treat.”

Whatever plans April and Tom had, were put on hold, and within an hour the three young people dressed in blue jeans and identical pattern check shirts arrived. They could be seen waiting outside the local Chinese restaurant for April and Tom.

“You three look all colour co-ordinated” was April’s first comment as she kissed each one on the cheek.

Jen, you are blossoming. Let me look at you.”

April held Jen at arms length and turned her this way and that. That is a curvy body you have now. Every detail typical of an eighteen year old and you are really beautiful.”

Jen curtseyed ‘Thank you Mam or is that Mum.”

“How do you feel about today?”

“Rotten but it is all over now. Michael is at rest, and I will need to have nothing to do with his mother now. It seems so long ago that she was my mother, but I can move on now she thinks her only son is dead.”

“Darling Jen, I don’t think anything would make us think you could be anything different from the lovely girl that we both love.”

Jen blushed so prettily.

Over a variety of small dishes Stephanie, Graham and to a lesser extent, Jen, explained all the changes that had taken place that day. It was left to Jen to say how much of a disaster the funeral had been, but Jen felt that she had done her duty for Michael and she could now let him disappear from her life.

“Let me see if I have got this straight.” Tom said.

“All three of you are going to move to London and be given accommodation in a very swish penthouse in Mayfair in exchange for looking after your Community. The job is for life and your children will have support from the neighbours. In the meantime Stephanie and Graham have accepted places at the most prestigious University in the United Kingdom, and have withdrawn from your places here.”

“That’s about it. Jen’s house will be sold eventually, but not yet. We will have a large allowance to refurbish the apartment. We are going up to London tomorrow to see the apartment and greet the six residents who are all over 100 years old.”

“That is very old. I can see why it is time for a change of staff.”

“Yes, two couples have died and the other three certainly feel that it is time to move on … as it were.”

“Doesn’t that mean dying in their case?”

“Probably it does, but I believe they have plans for a quiet few months or years away from the responsibilities of being on the Committee.”

“What do you know about the other applicants?”

“We know nothing about them. We know that older members of the community have established lives and have found it difficult to uproot themselves and devote themselves to the Community, so applicants have been fewer than anticipated.”

“Why do you need Economics degrees?”

“The Community has large assets. Administering those assets and continuing to build them up depends upon a good knowledge of finance. I don’t know how big the assets are, but the building we will live in is owned by the Committee and must be worth many millions of pounds.The lower twenty-four floors are devoted to the head offices of many large well known companies who would expect the highest standard of accommodation, and would be paying well for such a prestigious address.”

“Are you keeping the appointment with April and Tom?”

“Yes of course. There will be even more to tell them now.”

“Is there guest accommodation in the penthouse?”

“That is a question that we haven’t asked yet, but there are lots of hotels in the area. I suppose it will depend upon the accommodation needs of our growing family.”

“It will take a month for the refurbishment of the apartment to be completed. Apparently the Committee have a trusted team of workmen and women who have been positively vetted and are cleared to access the top two floors of the building. They drop everything when an order goes out from the Committee for work to be done. Tomorrow we will have just hours to decide on a colour scheme for each room then it will be ready for the start of term. There will also be a lot of furniture to be delivered. A well known Swedish brand of furnishers are likely to do rather well out of this I think.”

“Are there just the five apartments in the penthouse floor?”

“I believe each apartment has the usual things features, but there is a community room, a gym and a smallish indoor swimming pool.”

“How do you know this if you have not visited yet?”

“I was sent a plan of the top floor and can see the suites and these extra rooms.”

Jen leaned across to Graham.

“I didn’t know that you have seen a plan.”

“It was only sent to me a few minutes ago. The conversation was going so well that it would have been rude to interrupt.”

Stephanie and Jen both gave Graham a playful punch on the arm.

“That’s for withholding vital information. We need to know the room sizes and so on to begin to plan our home.”

“The apartment only has to be liveable when we move in. We can continue to order furniture and other things in the next few weeks.”

“I want a home for us all that is finished. Not a half-finished place.”

“OK. I don’t know what sort of timescale we will be able to implement, but decorating, updating of kitchen and both ensuite bathrooms will take time, and then carpeting and curtaining will take more. I think it should take several months before it is finished.”

“If I can be of help, the count me in” said April. “I am sure Tom can look after himself for a day.”

“Three? Can Mum come too?”

“Yes, I am sure she will visit at some time. I will arrange for a visitor’s pass to be at Reception for her, but we do suffer incursions from time to time by busybody officialdom and criminals with varying levels of skill. We do need to be absolutely sure we know who can get access or there will be problems with eavesdropping by spy equipment, and the like.”

“Yes I am sure that can be a problem. You will need to guide us over all the security matters and how to prevent privacy incursions.”

“We have a security team who supervise that. They occupy an air-conditioned room inside a Faraday cage on the 25th Floor to maintain security throughout the building and beyond.”

I will pick you up at 9:30am tomorrow. I don’t know if there is any parking at the apartment.

“Three, is there parking?”

“No. No parking for residents of the penthouse. All the bays are rented out. No one who lives here has driven for years. We can get parking spaces for you as soon as someone gives up a bay, but it doesn’t happen very often.”

“We will park at a tube station that has a car park and will travel the last bit by Tube.”

“I have just heard that Eight the husband of Seven has been taken to hospital. He is unlikely to survive more than a few hours. Seven may never return here. She is over 110 years old. It just shows how negligent we have been in securing replacements for the Committee. Would it be practical for you to occupy the second vacant apartment whilst your apartment is being refurbished. It may not be to your taste but it is fully functional.”

April looked at Graham, Jen and Stephanie.

“We are sure that could be made to work, Three. We will see you tomorrow.”

“We have been chosen by default in the absence of a ballot. We don’t know if there are any other candidates or not, and whether we will have a hand in choosing the other Committee members.”

“There are lots of unanswered questions, and I am sure there are things we do not know that are being kept secret from us for the time being.”

“How do you know that, Stephanie?”

“Lets say I just have some intuition. Three’s mind link seems to leak a bit. If you are not speaking to her directly there are some other wandering thoughts that drift one's way.”

“I suppose there have to be some consequences of being over 100 years old, perhaps a leaky mind is one of them?”

After April and Tom had gone back to their car for the drive home, the three partners walked home arm in arm the short distance to their house.

“What a lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours! We have said goodbye to Michael, also said a firm goodbye to his mother and have found a new life in London. We have shared Seraphena’s shower and we are off to London tomorrow.”

… and in no time at all April was driving up to their front door and the three were piling into her car for a longish drive to Hounslow West Underground Station where they could park.

At just before 1pm the four presented themselves to the Concierge Station at the Building Reception. The senior Concierge was called. She was a kindly woman of about fifty.

April was given a card badge with visitor printed across it. It was put into a plastic case with a lanyard.

To the three young people, she said “We haven’t ever given one of these passes out since this building opened.” she said with a smile, and now there are three at once. The badge was some sort of metal and had a gold frame, and the word ‘Owner’ in enamel on the surface. A chip was buried in the back face.

“What is this made from?” Graham asked.

“Titanium I believe.”

Soon they were rising rapidly up the first set of lifts. Floor 24 was thickly carpeted and there was the hum of some sort of business and muted conversations as they walked the 30 metres or so to the Executive lift door that would take them to the top floor.

The lift recognised their badges from a distance and opened in readiness. It was slow compared with the first lift, but finished in what appeared to be teak or some hard wood that had been buffed up to a high shine.

A very elderly woman walking with a frame greeted them as they emerged.

“Welcome she said in a slightly watery voice. I am Three. This is Four, my husband of eighty years. We are very pleased to meet you and to welcome you to your new home.”

“How is Eight?”

“He died overnight and Seven is clearly desolate, and will join him in days if not hours.”

“That is very sad. Will we be able to attend the funeral?”

“I think it may be difficult. They originated from Italy, and their children and grandchildren are already making arrangements for their father to be transported there for an interment in a family crypt. They don’t yet know that it is likely to be a double funeral, but Seven is expected to travel back to Italy with her husband’s remains. She is unlikely to get there alive.”

Please look around. The suite I share with Four is Suite B over there. Nine and Ten occupy Suite E on the far side. Seven and Eight occupied Suite A, and the other two suites are unused. They are unlocked. Please look round. Lunch is provided in the Community Room that is on the west side overlooking the pool. The gym entrance is near the lift.”

April and the trio wandered through the empty apartments and the communal facilities. The views were amazing with a clear view of the Thames curving round almost beneath their feet. The planes from London City airport looked like toys as they took off and circled. Lorries and buses seemed to crawl along through the crowded streets and people were like dots sometimes moving purposefully, and sometimes appearing to move at random.

“This place is amazing”. Graham commented.

“Yes, it is amazing, but we mustn’t let it go to our heads. This is a place of work, but also a gilded cage. Once we are residents here, we will be a source of envy and jealousy. People will try to win us over for favours or spy on us to find out about the Community for their own profit or to create ‘stories’ for the gutter press.”

“We must ask the remaining residents here how they recommend we manage our lives with needing to leave every day for our University courses, and Jen will need to get to work on some days of the week.”

“We will need to get a secure access to the Internet as well. I think we need to speak to the Head of Security to sort out those things.”

“So, which Suite will be upgraded, and which to be your temporary home?”

“What do you two think. I reckon Suite D has the better view of the unoccupied ones.”

“Suite D it is then, and Suite C until the upgrading is completed.”

“Yes, that will be fine. We can move the contents of Jen’s house here because both Suites are completely empty of furniture.”

When they returned to have lunch, Stephanie asked about the refurbishment.

“We employ an Interior Design Consultant who has been positively vetted, and is used to redecorate the houses of senior military officers and politicians. She employs the decorators who are equally positively vetted and project manages the whole project. Although it is the weekend, I have invited her for lunch. She will be here shortly. I think I can guarantee that your suite will be ready within two weeks.”

“That is impressive. Most decorators take months before they get to your house.”

“The people who need these services haven’t time to wait. If you need their very particular services then you have the resources to pay for such exclusivity. All the staff who will come here have signed the Official Secrets Act and whilst this is not a military or government building, the contract is just as secure. The financial penalties would be enormous if any detail of the work they do here became known. It might involve the relocation of our accommodation and services on the floor below.”

There was the sound of the lift working and a dapper woman in her fifties emerged.

“Let me introduce Sylvia Braithwaite. We have had a long association with her.”

“Sylvia shook hands with all her new clients.”

“Have you had a chance to look at the available suites?” was her first question even before she at down.”

Stephanie seemed to take charge with the negotiations.” Yes, we have decided that we will live in Suite D, but will move our current belongings into Suite C until everything is ready.”

Sylvia smiled. “I don’t think that will be necessary. We can have the Suite ready for you in ten days. Three teams will work eight hour shifts until the work is completed.”

“That is extraordinary. Won’t it be very noisy for the current residents?”

There will be some noise inevitably, but the suites are very well insulated and it will be kept to a minimum.

“Do you want a full service where we provide all the furniture that matches (?) or just redecorate, re-tile and fit a new kitchen and new bathrooms”

April just looked on, amazed at what was about to happen to these youngsters.

Stephanie seemed to grow into the rôle.

Bathroom 1 is bigger. It should have a wet room with a double shower head with a black and silver finish on the tiles. The suite should remain white with twin sinks.

Bathroom 2 should be should have a bath and be finished in white throughout.

“Anyone disagree so far?”

No one did.

“The kitchen should be white throughout except for stainless steel work surfaces. I would also like a large marble area for making bread and pastry.”

“I am sure that you are more experienced than I am with designing an ergonomic kitchen. I will leave the units to you. I am sure we would like a double oven, a microwave, and a hot air fryer built in.”

“Yes. I would include those as standard.”

The dining room faces the city with its brick reds and red roof tiles. I would like the dining room to be fitted with a table and chairs to seat eight. The walls should be an opulent deep red to match the red of the roofs.

“The three bedrooms should be in tune with the sky and the river below us. Shades of blue. The blues should match the ever-changing moods of the London sky. Ceilings should remain white and the flooring should be wood. Light oak perhaps or bleached pine. We have to consider that this apartment will be a home for children. Scatter rugs to soften the effect of the wood. For the time being the third bedroom will be an office for Graham and I to study and for Jen to work. It will need banks of ducting round the walls with built in sockets, rather like a hospital ward. Utilitarian but functional. Built in desks and three office chairs.”

Sylvia was writing everything down as Stephanie spoke.

“The sitting room should be modern with leather and steel armchairs and a three seater sofa. One coffee table to match and a selection of vibrant framed prints, perhaps of the Notting Hill Carnival or similar.”

“Double bed in the middle bedroom, and 8ft super king in the Master bedroom and the walk in closet just needs freshening up with a lick of white paint. Bedside tables with lights and a matching dressing table in both rooms.”

“Anything else?” Stephanie said smiling.

“When did you make these plans?” Graham said equally smiling. “I would not disagree with anything you have said, how about you Jen.”

“I am gobsmacked. It all sound wonderful. I like the workspace and the simple design. My only concern is what happens to my little house.”

“When you have removed all your personal effects from the house we can clear the furniture, and do a simple redecoration and then it can be rented out either by us or a managing agent. Let me say that certain people in the military and the police are often looking for furnished properties such as yours to be safe houses. They are only kept for about five years before undesirable people get to know their whereabouts, and then it can be emptied and sold.”

“That all sounds excellent.”

“Is there anything else that you need to know, Sylvia?”

“I don’t think so. You will have your newly refurbished suite ready for you in ten days, as promised. The fitted stainless steel work surfaces will take the longest to manufacture, but if they do take longer than ten days, we can put a temporary surface down for a few days. I must go now, because my teams are waiting for their instructions. They will be here in the morning at 8am.”

“Three commented that the service Sylvia provided was second to none. If her teams come up with anything that is not clear she will be on the phone to you on your ordinary numbers.”

“Now you need to have a brief chat with our Head of Security.”

Simon Foyle arrived as if he knew that Sylvia had left. Perhaps he did?

After introductions he sat with the trio and April.

“The security of this penthouse is the highest it can be. There are always two members of staff on the 25th floor below here. They access the 25th floor by stairs from the 24th floor and a lock that is only activated by their tags.”

“You will be provided with three new computers that have the top military specifications. They will only work when they are close to someone wearing one of your special ‘Owner Tags.’ Even I cannot access one without creating a new tag.”

“You will find that you can access the whole of the Internet, but if you try to download any software it will be rejected unless you have put it past me first. You will find that the computers behave just like ordinary Windows computers but the underlying programming is far from ordinary.”

“Your titanium tags are immune to water so they can be worn when swimming or bathing and so on. It is difficult to say exactly what you should do with them when you are not here, but I cannot emphasise enough that the best place for them is on your body somewhere. Leaving them in a handbag or jeans pocket is not an option.”

“Have you got any suggestions as to how we should wear them?”

“The tags are 8cm long and only 3cm wide. They can easily be concealed in your clothing. We do not recommend that they are on show. The staff at reception will soon learn who you are and will nod you through when you enter and leave.

The tag is almost impossible to destroy. Colleagues of ours have driven military tanks weighting 80 tonnes over them without a scratch.”

“Will they interfere with the tags we will get at LSE, or at Jen’s work if she manages to move to the London branch?” Graham asked.

“We took one tag to LSE and it doesn’t interact with their software, but we can add an extra program to the card so it will access the facilities at LSE if you wish, but we quite understand that it might be desirable to keep separate things separate. We cannot say yet with Jen’s work as we don’t know where it will be.”

“Finally, you will need new numbers. Your old four digit numbers are hard for others to remember. Stephanie will be O1, Graham O2 and Jen will be O3.

“Three will remain Three, but the new numbers stand for Owners 1, 2 and 3.”

Simon lastly gave each one a 128Gb memory stick. This stick has virus and spyware checking software built in. Please transfer all the pictures and music and documents that you want to save onto your stick. Do any of you think you will need more than 100Gb of items? (The three looked across at each other and indicated that they wouldn’t.) Leave your computers in your house when you move out. They will be destroyed professionally.

“We have been asked to take degrees in Economics, but no one has mentioned how and when we will need to have financial knowledge.”

Simon answered. “This building is worth £15 million. The assets the Community holds would purchase one, or maybe two small countries. We have teams of financial experts working in every city that has a stock exchange. Our wealth is hidden through chains of shell companies, but every company is entirely legitimate and pays all the right taxes. The reason for the secrecy is that if it became known about the size of the joint assets, then it is almost certain that the World’s economic stability would be compromised. We have no wish to disrupt the World’s economy.”

“Who owns the Community?”

“It is held in many Trusts. When your studies are completed you will become Trustees of the Master Trust and can affect changes at an International level. The Trustees of the Master Trust only meet very occasionally, maybe once every five years unless there is an International emergency. It is the national Trusts that manage the assets in their own economies on a day-to-day basis.”

Simon left after being thanked.

“How did the appeal for new Committee members pan out?” Graham asked Three.

“To understand that you need to have some knowledge of the membership. There are about 8500 members that have been created. Of those 1500 or so, have died. Another 1000 went through transition with their partners, but the bond is not complete. Jen’s partnership with Michael was one such. Such incomplete partnerships cannot do the job here. There are another 3000 or so who are in established jobs earning good money and have children who need parenting through University and beyond. Others live abroad and have no interest in moving here. Others felt that they were too old and so on.”

“So, how many applied?”

“Just you!”

Everyone looked at each other with their mouths open.

“Just US who can take up an offer with a job for life and live in comfort like this?”

Graham said … “I said it was a gilded cage, when we applied, but even so; I am not unhappy that we did.

April had sat for the whole of the last two interviews quietly. “Can I share any of this with Tom, or is it all secret?”

Three answered. “I think it is better not to share until Tom has had a chance to visit. He can come when the personal effects of the owners have been moved here and all of this will be explained to him. It should be clear that this is all for the safety of the owners and their future children.”

Three asked “I think that is probably all that needs to be done today. All four of us who live here now are over 100. We get tired easily. I hope you will not mind if we make our excuses. Nine and Ten decided to move out to avoid all the noise and disruption of the refurbishments. They are in respite care not too far away. They will be back and you can meet them after you move in.

Please stay as long as you wish, but I think there cannot be much left to discuss about your new home. Any questions, please ask me or Sylvia or Simon. You have their phone numbers, but be circumspect about what you say over an open phone line. Simon will always pop up here to explain something if you ask him to.”

“It would be better if you did not talk about this on the tube or in the car. It is quite possible that a parabolic microphone will be pointed in your direction after you leave or a lip reader can translate from a filmed encounter. There is no point in making yourselves too obvious.”

“We will, thanks for the advice.”

April, and the three youngsters now named O1, O2 and O3. chatted for a few minutes and finished up much of the buffet meal that had been provided.

“We all have an enormous amount to absorb. I don’t like the idea of it just being us administering a huge amount of money. I wonder why Seraphena and her partner didn’t apply?”

“Perhaps we should ask them.”

The O1, O2 and O3 sat together and concentrated on Seraphena.

“I am glad you didn’t catch me in the shower this time.” she said with some pleasure.

“How can I help?”

“We are at the apartment complex in London and have had a lot explained to us about the workings of the Community. There has been a dearth of applicants for the Committee rôles that we are now involved with.”

“We didn’t apply because it said that we had to have completed our child rearing, but would have done otherwise.”

“We applied because we have yet to start a family and the existing Committee members felt that as a ‘trio’ we could arrange our childcare and be left with enough time to be administrators through the Committee.”

“How does that affect us?”

“If you applied, then all the children could be looked after together. It would work from what we have seen today.” There is a very nice apartment in a very upmarket building that is vacant. You and your partner would be a real asset to the administration, and because we get on so well, we can vouch for the value of you coming in with us.”

“There are five apartments with a large area of communal space, a gym and a swimming pool. Each apartment has two bedrooms, sitting room, two bathrooms, a kitchen, an office and a dining room. The views over London are spectacular.”

“There are occupants for two of the apartments who remain as members of the Committee. One other apartment is currently occupied by a couple where the husband has died recently and his wife is soon to join him. Both the other couples in residence are very elderly.”

“It is a highly secure job for life. The constraints for security would not suit everyone, who would see it as very restrictive.”

“I cannot go into everything because I am restricted as to what I can say, but we would welcome you and Jake being part of this adventure. You helped us at the beginning, and now you would be able to help many more people transition.”

“What jobs do you and Jake do now?”

“We are both teachers in schools near here.”

“Where is here?”

“In London’s East End.”

“I am fairly sure you would be able to carry on with your jobs, but would not need to as you would not need to earn.”

“What do you teach?”

“I am a Deputy Head of a large Primary School ,and Jake teaches Business Studies at a Comprehensive school.”

“Did Jake do a degree in Business Studies.”

“Yes, he got a First Class degree in Business and Management Studies from Sussex, or rather I did when I was him!”

“What was your degree in when you were him?”

I did English, but it was actually him that did it of course, and then I did professional training in Education. We both remember a lot of the courses, and the shared memories allow us to teach the other’s subject.

“Better and better.”

“Your skills would be very useful here, particularly if we have to teach our children at home. What is known as ‘Education otherwise’ in the jargon as I am sure you know.”

“We are going back next weekend to see the progress on the apartment and for Tom to see where we will be living. I am sure you could meet us there if you wish to take this further.”

“I will talk to my partner, Jake, and will get back to you.”

“We will look forward to it.”

Now we must consider how to win over Claire and Nigel.

Claire and Nigel accepted the invitation to visit what had been Jen’s house the following Wednesday.

At 6pm the doorbell rang and the two parents were welcomed into the house. The suitcases and a group of the packing cases containing Michael’s belongings were hidden out of sight.

After the usual pleasantries they were seated with a glass of wine and the complete story began. They already knew the idea of the bonding of couples, and had accepted that. Everything else was new. Explanations were interspersed with questions, and one course followed another until Stephanie finished the explanation just as the final mouthfuls of desert disappeared.

Claire and Tom were quiet for the moment, then Claire asked.
“Can we visit you and enjoy the grandchildren that you assure us will appear?”

“Yes of course, we can visit you, or you can visit us. Holidays abroad will be at selected resorts that have elevated security clearance. There are a variety of private islands that fit this category, but we can do anything that the security team have checked. We will be going to LSE as ordinary students without any priority. The fact that we have marginally higher academic ability than the general population just makes us average for LSE.”

“It seems as if everything is sorted. We would not expect to have much impact on your decisions. You both are adult now. We really don’t understand this three-way partnership. It seems to go against everything that we have believed previously, but maybe it is right for you three. The anguish you went through when Michael died, must have been awful for you, Jen, and I am very glad that Stephanie and Graham were able to help … but that doesn’t mean that the long term consequences are any easier to understand.”

At that moment Seraphena and Jake got back to them. Samantha and Graham went a bit vague for a few moments as Seraphena and Jake appeared in their minds. Jen was able to carry on the conversation with Claire and Tom.

“They are in conversation with two potential colleagues.”

“How can they do that?”

“It is a matter of being part of the Community. You can communicate with people you know mind to mind, or members of the Committee or if someone is in a state of anguish.”

Stephanie reported to the waiting parents “We have been in touch with Three. We are going to visit on Saturday when school is closed.”

“We will meet you there.”

The sense of joy in Stephanie and Graham was palpable when they returned to the conversation.

“That is sufficient for me” said Claire. You are clearly part of something apart. The same but different. I hope I can speak for Nigel, but we will keep your story private and will enjoy the grandchildren when they appear, but we do hope to keep close, even though we will not be down the road as we were expecting.”

“You will always be close. All three of us have been boys and all three of us have been girls. Just like April and Tom, we hope that you will feel that we are all sons and all daughters. All three of us remember our childhoods with you both. You are Mum and Dad to us all.”

I had intended to leave this story after Part 6, but Part 7 was largely written, so rather than cutting off the story part way through I have uploaded it. I know the number of readers have been dropping steadily. That is understandable, but I do hope that many of you who have persevered have enjoyed the stories.

Claire, Nigel, Stephanie, Graham and Jen squeezed into Nigel’s Estate for the journey to the outskirts of London. They had texts from Seraphena and Jake at regular intervals and the excitement in the whole party grew as they parked and waited for what seemed to be an interminable time at the Underground station for a train. The chatter that had been obvious during the journey down became muted. Everyone wanted to see what Sylvia had managed to achieve in a week.

Eventually at just before 12:30 they saw Seraphena and Jake waving. Hugs and kisses were shared, and even Claire and Nigel were drawn into the hug fest.

Very quickly the three Owners were passed through security, and the four visitors had their ID checked and were soon bedecked with one time passes to the 26th Floor.

The lift up to Floor 24 was quick and being a weekend, there was less noise from the offices behind tall oaken doors. Their feet made no noise on the thick carpet that led to the Executive lift.

As usual the lift knew that they were coming and opened in anticipation.

When they arrived there was the sound of muted work from the team updating the apartment. Sylvia was there to welcome them and show the progress that had been made. She was both the designer and project manager. They found out later she had more or less slept on the job.

Three and Four emerged from their apartment as the lift door opened.

Much to the young people’s surprise, they were not using their walking frames.

“We don’t know what is happening to us, but shortly after you left our balance seemed to improve and we called in the doctor. She said that our bodies were those of eighty year olds rather than almost 110. If that is the effect of you being here for one day, then we hope the effect continues.”

Three suggested that Seraphena and Jake look at Apartment C, but explained that apartment A would be available shortly, when the belongings of Seven and Eight had been removed into storage.

Seraphena and Jake disappeared into the apartment to loud expressions of “Look at that view.” or these rooms are huge compared with our little flat in Pimlico. Three had come with them and explained what they could do to the apartment and they could instruct Sylvia whilst they were here if they finally decided to become members of the Committee.

After the tour of what might become their home, they went to see what had been done in Stephanie, Graham and Jen’s apartment. There were more “Oohs” and “Aahhs” as they looked round and both wondered at the design that Stephanie had created on what seemed to be the spur of the moment.

Seraphena and Jake excused themselves went into what would be their apartment. They closed the door and sat cross legged looking at each other, then turned round and sat back to back looking out of the picture window of what would become their lounge.

“If we move here we will need to be clear that this will probably be a final move. We will work from here and entertain and be entertained here. We will need to get on with the other residents. It seems as if Three and Four are overjoyed to have our friends here, and I already feel close to Stephanie and Graham. Jen is a bonus.”

“I think you are aware that a large part of our contribution will be in setting up a small school during the children’s early years.”

“Would that be a problem?”

“No, not at all. We will have to see what else we are expected to do.”

“I understand that our business skills would be useful in guiding the Master Trust of the Community but that isn’t going to take all day.”

“We, or I, got used to helping people transition. I think there may be some work there. There is also the possibility of finding pairs who are too distant to find each other. When a person is ready to transition they emit a sort of high pitched hum. I used to call this ‘ringing’. If a ringer has no one born on the same day in their neighbourhood then it is up to someone of the Committee to sense where there is another person who is also ringing even if they are in different countries. They then have to contrive a way for them to get close enough together to bond.”

“How often do you sense a ringer?”

“In the past I had a very limited range of only maybe a hundred miles. If we took on this job it is likely that it would be world wide.”

“Wouldn’t that mean a lot of travel?”

“Possibly, but it is better to get someone local to do the leg work.”

“I think we are talking ourselves into this job, don’t you think?”

“Three … are you listening in?”

“We think this job is made for us, and we would like to become members of the Committee with all it entails. Is that what you would wish?”

“Absolutely. I had reckoned that I knew you better than you knew yourselves and have had your Owners tags made. From Now on you, Seraphena will be O4 and Jake will be O5.”

“Now we have to decide on the colour scheme for our apartment so Sylvia can get stuck in as soon as she has finished Stephanie’s home.”

“I think we should use green where Stephanie chose blue. Although London is a huge city, it has lots of green spaces like Green Park, Hyde Park or Regent’s park or even Kensington Gardens.”

“Green work surfaces in the kitchen and darker green tiles. Cream work surfaces and like Stephanie. a marble pastry and bread table.”

“Shades of green and cream for the bedrooms and two work areas in the third bedroom. Carpeted throughout I think. A six foot bed will be enough.”

Seraphena carried on listing all the things she decided would make their apartment into a home, but Jake was thinking ahead.

“Do you think that there is any possibility that the five of us will end up in bed together? We already have a strong empathy and it doesn’t seem terribly strange to me, even though I love you absolutely.”

“It is food for thought. I can see it happening. Should we go for the Super King size bed instead?”

“I don’t want to go too quickly, but I think it could happen as well. Yes, lets go for the Super King.”

Stephanie and her family were still going round with Sylvia, so Seraphena and Jake went into the gym. There were twelve pieces of apparatus. All looked very new. “I don’t suppose that the old Committee were young enough to make the best of these?”

Seraphena (O4) stepped onto a treadmill. The machine lit up. “Hello O4, I will take you through a warm up exercise.

“Not today, but soon.” Seraphena spoke to the machine.

“Very soon I hope.” the machine said as its lights went off and it powered down.

They moved on to the pool. It was 20m long and had three lanes. As they entered the lights went on including underwater lights.

“Welcome O4 and O5”. The pool said in a melodious feminine voice. There are towels in the locker to your right and disposable bathing caps in the drawer above.

“We have no costumes.”

“No one wears costumes here, the fibres clog the filters. It is why we need you to wear caps.”

Serephena and Jake, didn’t need a second offer. They stripped off at the poolside and were soon playing in the water splashing each other.

On hearing the noise, the rest of the party came from their discussions.

“We do bathe without swimsuits. The pool AI is correct in that, but not usually with the workmen and women refurbishing the apartments!”

“Serephena and Jake, were cowed and blushed, but Sylvia said. “The pool is partitioned from the workplace so no one can see you. I suggest you enjoy your dip, and come and join me in ten minutes or so to give me your instructions.”

When O4 and O5 had dressed they joined Sylvia and explained that everything was perfect in Stephanie’s design except that they would like the emphasis to be shades of green to match the hues of the London parks.

“The artworks should be modern reproductions of the works of famous abstract painters where the picture had another colour to act as a counterpoint to the room colour.”

“You have made it easy for me with your plan, but the apartment you have chosen is a mirror image of theirs. Everything will be reversed.”

“Will that be a problem?”

“No, no problem, it will just take a little bit longer to get the components.”

“We have our little home in London. It will not be a problem to stay there until everything is finished.”

“Come as often as you like to see the progress that has been made.”

The lift was working and Simon, the IT manager emerged. He held two Owners tags. He smiled as he gave the first one to Seraphena ” (O4) I believe”, and gave the second tag to Jake. (O5) Please put these on now. Do not wear them on the outside of your clothes. They should be hidden from view, even a gaping shirt can show the tag. It is easier with the girls, because the tag can be hidden in their cleavage. Boys can tuck them in the waist band of their underwear. The lanyard is long enough to go round your waists. He sat them down and explained about the security that was there to protect them. They were also given a very large memory stick to use to clear their own computers. Delete anything personal. I suggest that you don’t do anything personal on your school computers. Even a chatty email or WhatsApp message can give away information, also be very careful about using the Internet function on your phones.”

O4 and O5 put the tags on. Serephina tucked hers into her cleavage and smiled to the two men as she did so. Jake pulled the shirt tail out of his jeans and the lanyard went round his waist and tucked the tag into the elasticated waistband of his underpants, before tightening his belt and refastening his fly.”

“Well done.”, Simon said. They are indestructible. You can do anything in these tags, even jump up and down on them.”

“When you live here I suggest you have an implant. It is not dissimilar to the chips that are used for domestic pets, but it will set off an alarm if your tag is more that two metres away from you. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of maintaining the security of these Master Tags.”

“We will look after them very very carefully. The two new Committee members acknowledged.”

Just at that moment there was a flash of reflected sunlight from the building opposite. It was a suspicious flash that just caught the corner of O4’s eye. She turned towards it.

“There is someone with powerful binoculars in that building opposite. They are trained on us.”

Simon spoke into a wrist microphone. “Pervert or officialdom I wonder?”

“Whoever it is, we will make sure they don’t observe you again. I know from having been in that building that they are lower than us, and the angle of the floor means that they cannot see anything below neck level.”

O4, was clearly thinking.

“That person is ringing.”

Simon was not familiar with the term.

“What do you mean about ringing.”

“They are unpaired people who would be Community members if they could find their pair.”

Simon spoke into his microphone again.

“Use facial recognition to identify the person in the building opposite.”

“It only took three or four minutes before a call on Simon’s phone confirmed that the person was a Detective Sergeant in the Metropolitan Police called Garth Parsons. He is 32 and was born on 17th January 1993.”

“Do we have any ringers born on that date?”

“There are none we know of.”

O4 called everyone together in the Community Room. Simon, Claire and Nigel looked on as the members of the Committee all held hands and when instructed to do so concentrated on finding a pair for the Detective Sergeant. He was still using his binoculars rather fruitlessly across the divide between the two buildings.

The participants felt as if they were in a swirling mist but eventually a figure of a young woman appeared. She was working in a café in the tourist resort of Rethymnon in Crete.

As the mist seemed to evaporate O4 asked - “There is the answer to our question.”

“The only question that remains is. How do we get them to meet.”

Claire asked. “How can they speak to each other if she is Greek.”
O3 answered. “If they do a mind swap, then each can speak the language of the other as if they had been born there.”

“Do we have any contacts in Crete, Simon.?”

“We have a bonded pair in Athens and one in Thessaloniki, but no one on the island.”

“So, ideas, everyone, please.”

“We have several contacts in the Metropolitan Police. We would never ask them to do something illegal, but we could suggest that Garth Parsons is sent on a mission of some sort to Crete.”

“There was a woman who went missing some time ago on Crete. Is the investigation of her disappearance still ongoing?”

“I think it might be better to get our Athens bonded pair to profess to having some information to share with the Police, and to send Mr. Parsons to interview them in Crete.”

“Would anyone believe them?”

“Who cares. As long as Garth sits in that café and is served by Athena the rest is unimportant.”

“Simon, please put this in motion. Apply a bit of pressure to our Met contacts and we will contact the pair in Athens. I hope the contacts speak English.” (Note - The Met is the abbreviation for The Metropolitan Police)

“I am assured that they do.”

“Make sure that our contact in the Police knows that we will contribute again to the Police Benevolent Fund if this is arranged.”

“Will do.”

Shortly afterward, it was clear that the snooper was on the phone, and shortly after that he disappeared, and a confirmation call was made to Simon that Garth Parsons would be on a plane to Rethymnon the following day. The fact that there was only one flight a week at that time of year meant that Garth Parsons would have to stay in a hotel for a whole week in the Cretan sunshine was designed to sweeten the pill.

O4 and O5 concentrated on the Athenian couple mind to mind.

The situation was explained. Money for return flights to Crete and hotel expenses provided and they were on their way later that day. They also carried a ticket for a single flight to London from Rethymnon in the name of Athena Giorgiou.

The following day the Athenian couple arranged to meet Garth at the Acropolis café and the rest is history, as the saying goes.

Seraphena and Jake were back in their home and due to go to work the following morning when a message was received from Rethymnon that the mind swap had taken place and two rather bemused young people had been guided to Garth’s hotel room where everything had been explained. A fictitious account of the meeting was provided to keep Garth’s superiors happy and the couple spent the next five days exploring the island and each other, before flying to London to start a new life together.

Garth in the form of Athena, had some inkling that something had changed in the rather attractive body he now inhabited, and that something was a new life, although it took some weeks to have that confirmed.

Athena had relatives in London as many Cretans do. The wedding was arranged by sundry aunts and cousins who embraced the event with great enthusiasm. Athena’s parents flew in for the celebration.

No one seemed to query how Athena had fallen for this English policeman so totally at first sight, but as she was 32 and seemed to have been left on the shelf. The event was seen as fortuitous and joyous.

Garth embraced his feminine self. Their wedding dress would have graced a Greek goddess. The soft white chiffon was gathered at the shoulders leaving their arms bare. The bodice ended just above the curve of their breasts showing substantial décolletage only covered by a panel of antique lace that had once graced their grandmother’s wedding dress. The dress flowed like waves from the waist removing any risk of a small bump showing. White slippers and a bouquet of meadow flowers from her supposed homeland and a garland of the same flowers encircling her raven tresses, completed her ensemble.

The marriage at St Lazarus and St Andrews church in Forest Gate in East London was a great success. Stephanie and Graham were able to attend the ceremony by slipping in at the back of the church. There was no Met guard of honour with crossed swords. Apparently they didn’t do that sort of thing any longer.

Athena used Garth’s memories to work as a Detective Sergeant. Garth used Athena’s memories to set up a small café selling strong Greek coffee and very sweet Greek deserts in what had been a small shop near their new home. She was able to continue to serve her predominantly Greek customers with little Apollo on her knee. He was a delight to the old men who frequented the café for the most part. Their grizzled and characterful faces showed the bucolic start to their lives in Crete until moving closer to family in old age. The ability to chat in Greek, and to play dominoes with others, gave a familiarity they needed. Eventually Athena got a licence to sell Ouzo and Metaxa and her clientele increased more and she was able to stay open into the evening.

Every time an opportunity opened up the money was made available. The shop next door closed and Athena knocked the two shops through and a small shop selling Cretan or Greek food was opened with an array of sugary Greek deserts like Baklava, Kataifi, and Galaktoboureka were available and the freezers contained Moussaka, Dolmades and Souvlaki. Tins of Feta and boxes of Halva and Loukoumi filled the shelves.

People loved the ambiance, and being able to take home some of the food they could taste in the café that was now called Athena’s Taverna.

… but that was several years ahead.

In the the penthouse still rang to the sounds of refurbishment.

O1, O2 and O3 had moved into their new apartment, and their house had been altered subtly and anonymised to become a safe house for various agencies to use.

Jen arranged to meet her manager and requested a move to the London office. This was immediately refused. As a fluent French speaker she was too valuable for the local office to lose.

As she left the office disconsolate at the thought of having to resign from a job she liked, the phone rang in her manager’s office. She looked up, but there was nothing unusual in his phone ringing.

A few minutes later she was called back into the office.

“I don’t know how you have contacts in head office. I have never spoken to the Chairman of the Board of Directors before, and I cannot see how the affairs of a worker here in a small office is of any interest to someone so important, but it was made clear to me that if I continued to prevent you moving to London, then my severance pay would be in my account by tonight.”

“I have never been given a verbal instruction backed up by the force of law before. I don’t like it, but cannot refuse. Your IT log in will remain active. Take gardening leave until Monday when you will be expected to attend for work at Head Office.”

Jen only fist bumped when she got back to her desk. It took no more than five minutes to clear her locker and desk drawer, and to dump the cardboard box of her effects into a taxi, and she was off.

“I wonder who the Guardian Angel was in getting me the transfer. Almost in response her phone announced a delivery of an email with several attachments.”

She returned to find Stephanie and Graham getting stuck into books recommended by LSE for an introduction to Macro and Micro economics. It was hard work, but they constantly needed to remember that it would be the Committee’s and the Community’s money that they would be dealing with. They hadn’t been told how many Billions, but if they could buy several small countries outright, then the money must be in the billions or trillions. It was a salutary thought.

Eventually the little house was emptied of all their personal possessions and the boxes of Michael’s possessions had been put into a self-storage locker. Three month’s rental had been paid (The minimum) and Michael’s mother had been informed by text where it was and how to access it.

When they got to London with the last of their possessions the keys were handed over to Sophie and various contracts signed and witnessed.

Three and four were swimming! They both looked about 60, rather than the 108 they actually were.

“We haven’t swum in the pool for ten years or more. We can even get in and out with the ladder. The hoist has gone into storage. I don’t know how you young people are affecting us like this but we have been on the phone to Nine and Ten. They are returning now the refurbishments have been largely completed. They have shown no signs of age regression.”

“You don’t look anything like your ages. Four looks very vigorous and his penis is showing that he is glad to see us! Your breasts are far less saggy than you would expect for someone of your age. I think it is brilliant.”

Three’s skin looked taught as she emerged from the pool. Everything looked right for a fit woman in her sixties or even late fifties.

“Nothing wrong with you, Four, that a bit of vigorous sex will not cure.” laughed Stephanie.

“Sorry about that, but I feel better than I have for years.” Four replied.

“Don’t be. I am sure we will be in the pool together often and it is quite normal for a man to show his interest in women. When I was a boy I had an erection most of the time. In the end I ignored it and it came and went as it chose!!”

Graham laughed. “That penis is now my penis. It does have a mind of its own, and it is impressed with Three’s new shape!”

“You flatter me. I am still look old enough to be your grandmother.”

Jen added that she would have loved to have had such a voluptuous grandmother when she had been a boy.

“Lets dump our stuff in our suite, and join Three and Four in the pool. “

“We were just about to get out and dry off in a sun lounger, but don’t let us stop you.”

Five minutes later the three younger Committee members emerged wearing only their tags and jumped in.

Graham and his two partners spent more time in a close embrace than in swimming, but Three and Four clearly enjoyed the view until they were dry and stole away to get dressed.

“Are they going to dress as very old people or as spry sixty year olds?”

“I would guess that they have had a delivery of clothes, and yes. Two weeks ago they would never have dressed as they will now. I would describe them as stylish or even snappy dressers.”

Three was wearing a dress that was more mini than knee length. She had no bra on and clearly did not need one. Her sandals had a four inch heel and her legs were tanned and the varicose veins that were there before had disappeared.

Graham noticed that there was no pant line under her dress.

“She isn’t wearing knickers he whispered to Jen” as she was nearer, and as if Three had heard him, she bent over a her unfettered bosom was very obvious, and it was clear that knickers were seen as optional.

“I like being risqué she said laughing. I always was in my younger days and I want to be again.”

“Nothing wrong with your hearing is there?”

“No, both our hearing aids are in the dresser drawer."

“That’s great, Stephanie said as she dived into the pool.

Four was equally fit. He had a Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned half way down and his pendant hung there visible.

Nine and Ten emerged from the lift looking very elderly and frail. Both used walking frames. Seraphina and Jake had met them on their slow progress up the building and were carrying their cases and other belongings.

Three and Four went over and hugged the newcomers.

“Welcome home.”

“Nine, just stood and stared at the Three and Four and the newcomers.”

“You told us over the phone that you had become invigorated. I didn’t really believe it, but you both look amazing.”

“We hope that now you are home, that the same thing will happen to you two, then we will be back to nine on the Committee with one apartment to spare.”

“Do we need to fill the last apartment?” Graham asked.

“We recognise that as we got older various things got left out. We were not invulnerable, but perhaps we thought we were. It is not a mistake we will make again.”

“Have you any suggestions as to who should be added to the Committee?”
“Not yet, but when we have a Master Trust meeting we can do a mind search to see if any couple fits the bill. We also need a meeting because there is one thing that needs to be revealed to you, and you need to have a better idea of the finances of the various trusts.”

“When do you suggest?”

“I know that nine and ten will be better in the mornings and with the weekend coming up, O4 and O5 will not need to go to teach. I suggest Saturday morning at 10am. I will ask two branches to put together a presentation to show how they operate and their balances. I think Mumbai and Sydney are due for a review.”

“Will they manage that in a couple of days?”

“They always have the data to hand. It will just be a matter of the time zones.”

“Saturday morning it is then.”

Jen (O3) had time on her hands and spent much of it in the pool as she was not due to start her new job until Monday.

Friday came and went, and at 10am on Saturday morning the nine participants sat in the community room of the penthouse.

Four took the chair. Everyone had a large folder in front of them.

“Meeting of the Master Trust of the Community. Dated Saturday 18th. Year as attached.

“Those present” - and he listed those present.

“Four read out the Minutes of the last Meeting held May 24th. It gave an account of the assets of the Committee, and the Community. The fixed assets in all the locations where the Committee operated was beyond £1.20 billion, and the assets held in Stocks and Shares was half a trillion pounds.”

“Do we accept the Minutes from the last Meeting?”

Only the previous members were able to vote and all those voted to accept the Minutes.

Four then went through various costs and donations to members that had been suggested by other members. These were all accepted and the supporting members asked to arrange for the payments to be made.

Finally the two rather nervous heads of the Mumbai and Sydney offices were asked to give a report. Both had fifteen minutes to explain their investment strategies and the changing value of their investments.

Much of the report went over the heads of the Committee members but Jake was able to ask two relevant questions, and these were asked very succinctly by the Heads of each office.

It remained for Four to thank the Branch Heads for their reports and the business continued.

The whole meeting was in Camera, with the minutes being encoded before being stored.

“We need to see if there are any other candidates to occupy the remaining apartment here. To do this we need to join hands and make a mental search for any couples who might fit the bill.”

With heads bowed each person thought the same thought. Their one thought became a joint thought and it was powerful enough to circle the globe.

The couple had to be bonded, and have no dependent parents or other relatives, or dependent children. They also needed to have a skill set that was relevant to the work of the Master Trust.

The thought travelled at some incredible speed and found no one.

The Committee looked up and mentally shrugged.

“Where do we go from here?”

Stephanie was still looking down. Thinking.

“I have a sense of someone, but it is not a bonded couple. It is a child of about three who lives with her parents in Asia somewhere, Bhutan I think.”

“How is a three year old child of any importance to us?” Four asked.

“The parents are academics at a University in Thimphu and the little girl has high potential of eventually being on the Committee.”

“How do you know that?”

“I can sense her presence even now. She knows that I am watching her. She keeps looking round to see me, and asking her parents who I am. They have no idea what she is talking about.”

“Who do we know in or near Bhutan?”

“We have members in North India. It would only take about half a day to reach this child and her parents.”

“Lets see if more of us can ‘see’ her, but only perhaps three of us so we don’t frighten her.”

Stephanie, Graham and Jen sat together and concentrated on the mental trail that Stephanie had established.

Through the child’s eyes they saw a mountainous area with wooden houses dotted round and large very furry animals peacefully grazing in wild flower bestrewn fields. In the distance snow covered mountains decorated the horizon and nearer than that, forests covered the hills. It was summer and the young girl in a brightly coloured kira was sitting and playing round her parents’ feet.

“Are those Yaks?” Graham asked as the three appeared in the girl’s mind.

Her face took on a worried look and she stood and stepped up to her mother for reassurance.

O1, O2, and O3 stayed silent. They were able to understand the conversation through this child.

“What are you seeing?”

“I see three people with pale skin dressed in the clothes tourists wear.”

“Point to them.”

The child pointed to Stephanie and the others.

“Ask them who they are.”

“They say that they can see me. They are in a very big house a long, long way away from here.”

“I am going to speak to you using words you will not understand. I want to know if they do understand. Just listen to me.”

“I am Yangmo. I am Deki’s mummy. Deki means Joy in my language.”

“Deki, please tell your mummy that we know you are a very special girl. We want to be friends with you and your mummy and daddy. Two people will visit you soon from far away.”

(Or in Dzongkha language of Bhutan (Mgyogs pa rang mi gnyis 'ong ni în. Ga ci byung yodp in na khong gis bshad ‘ong. Tsha gyang lang ma dgo.)

The message seemed to get through, and the family from Bhutan faded away.

“I don’t understand why we are arranging a visit for this child. We haven’t had any bonds formed with children, particularly with three year olds. I think we should just keep eye on her until she is at least a teenager.”

“I think the point is that this child could be the most powerful mind swapper we have seen. She can already communicate with us from half way round the globe. Stephanie only got a slight sense of her from that distance.”

“I am already thinking that it would be best if Deki and her parents came to live here, and the parents were found jobs in one of the London universities.”

“SOAS offers a degree in Asian Studies and this includes the Bhutan region. Might we sponsor a lectureship there for Yangmo?”

“OK. If we think it is practical we need to get ahead with this.”

“Do we have a contact with SOAS?”

“Yes, one of the lecturers is a bonded member. Ask if SOAS would like a sponsored lectureship in Bhutan and Himalayan Studies starting in the new year?”

“Stephanie. I know you are heading off to LSE in three weeks, but we need someone on the ground. I think it needs to be you. You will fly to New Delhi and then on to Paro International Airport to meet up with our contacts. Our staff here will book the flight and arrange your Visa. We will know the situation with SOAS as well by then. I do hope you have a passport with at least six months to run; or at least Graham had a passport that you can use.”

“Yes to both. Can Graham come too?”

“I don’t know. This is a small girl we are talking about it a rather authoritarian community. I know they live in the Capital Thimphu, but clothing, behaviour and religion are closely monitored and restricted.”

“Get Simon up here, I want to know whether we can get access to the King and make it clear that this lectureship is good for his country, and get his blessing with regards to documentation for Deki and her family.”

Three was clearly in her stride. Regressing 50 years of age was doing marvels for her determination.

Simon appeared, tablet in hand.

Three rattled off her expectations. Flight, visa, contact for representatives in India etc, etc.

Simon smiled. “Glad to have you back in post, Three”

“Glad to be back.” Three replied.

That evening Stephanie was on her way by overnight flight to New Delhi where she would meet up with the Indian couple, and then they would all fly up to Paro the following morning.

The Indians did not speak English, but mind to mind contact did not need language. If the other passengers in the small plane saw the three passengers who were animatedly silent, they did not notice. The landing at Paro was an experience in itself. It is a very challenging airport to land at, but the pilot was masterful in dealing with the height, deep valley setting and the light cross winds.

Visa were stamped in passports, but with only small planes the delay at Passport Control was minimal.

After a night in a hotel getting a bit used to the altitude, the three people caught a cab to the relevant ministry for the Kingdom. After half a day of detailed negotiations, and confirmation that SOAS would accept a sponsored lectureship, the party came away with an acceptance that Yangmo and Drake would have the King’s blessing and exit visas would be forthcoming.

The Indian visitors had found the address of Deki and her parents, and had phoned in advance.

Yangmo Tensin and her husband Druk Tshering were home from work, and Deki was home from Paradise Kiddie, the Childcare Centre for the University.

It was useful that Yangmo Tensin and her husband both spoke good English because they had been to British Universities on Scholarships from their king.

It was left to Stephanie to explain the relationship Deki could have with the Community, and how both parents would be able to work in Britain with Indefinite Leave to Remain. After the five years of the sponsored lectureship was up, they could choose to move back to Bhutan, stay in Britain or move anywhere else in the World.

The main question the parents had, not surprisingly was how Stephanie could communicate with their daughter when they were thousands of miles apart and did not share a language. Would it be safe for them in London and was there a hidden agenda with this group of rather strange westerners?

Stephanie tried to explain as best she could. Good English is not the same as nuanced English learned from birth. She had to explain things slowly and carefully several times, then had to assure the parents over and over that this opportunity did not conflict with their Buddhist beliefs. She showed them the document giving Royal approval, and the offer of a teaching appointment for them both in Britain. There were no ulterior motives in the philanthropy being shown to them.

The final question was why Deki was important?

Stephanie had thought hard about this question on the long flights over. She explained it that Deki was part of a community. She had a very powerful voice that could be heard through people’s minds a long long way away. Stephanie and her friends wanted to teach her how to use her voice, but not to shout or scream across the World. The fact that the parents couldn’t hear this voice made it even more difficult for them to understand.

In the end, the free apartment, the well paid jobs, the Royal permission, the free transport, free medical and dental treatment and free schooling for Deki became the deciding factors.

The family had to tidy up their affairs, and get a passports for all of them, so it was another month before Stephanie could go to Heathrow and pick up the family after their long flight from New Delhi. Deki was understandably fractious and the whole family stood out in their Bhutanese dress.

All three fell asleep on the journey into Central London in the Uber minibus.

As they approached Central London Yangmo woke with a start, and was full of apologies for falling asleep. It would be about 10pm at home for you now. It would be bed time, and you have had very tiring flights. Think nothing of it.

They were all wide eyed as they were processed at reception then ushered up to the Penthouse and introduced to the other residents, before collapsing into bed exhausted, even before having a meal.

It will do to eat in the morning.

Stephanie was snuggled up with Graham and Jen when she felt Deki stir, and get up. She found the girl looking out of the lounge window at the sun rising over the London skyline. Deki had not seen how high they were the night before and was feeling a bit uneasy as she looked down 26 stories. Stephanie’s arm crept round the girl’s shoulders to comfort her and both enjoyed the warm feeling and ideas drifted between them without words.

Three got up a minute or two later and looked on with a broad smile at the two young people looking at the sunrise. She noticed that beside the two, there appeared to be a small cloud! The cloud had no face but seemed to be looking at the sunrise as well. There was a feeling of contentment that emanated from them. Three waited until the sun had risen before speaking so as not to spoil the moment.