The New Girl at Uskweirs Manor

a pastoral romance by Miriam Robern

The Posture of a Lady

Monmouthshire, July 1812

“You’re the one saying that I walk like a man,” Amelia pouted, careful about her enunciation and also squinting into the sunlight and balancing a stack of books on her head.

The Last Sleepover

At a sleepover with his childhood best friends, Elliot hears them making fun of a transgender celebrity. Elliot has always felt different and an outsider. He works to discover his true identity and when he does it's hard to accept. Elliot struggles between staying silent and standing up for himself. Will he reveal his secret or pretend to be someone he’s not?

The Last Sleepover

Part one

At a sleepover with his childhood best friends, Elliot hears them making fun of a transgender celebrity. Elliot has always felt different and an outsider. He works to discover his true identity and when he does it's hard to accept. Elliot struggles between staying silent and standing up for himself. Will he reveal his secret or pretend to be someone he’s not?

Chapter 4

We both got out of the pool, and we walked hand in hand, down to the beach. We would stop every so often to kiss and he wanted to fondle my breasts. Eventually, we came up onto the promenade and into a park which gave us some privacy.

Not only was he fondling my breast as we kissed, now he was stroking my groin. Had I been a true girl I would have been ready to have him ravish me. I reminded him that my lower half was out of bounds, but I could make him happy.

Chapter 3

As I put bra and panty sets in a drawer, she gave me the quick list of facts.

“The first thing is that this building is dedicated to giving our operatives a new appearance and background to fit in with the people they’re sent to look after. It’s no good to send an obvious westerner to keep an Arab safe. We do enough to allow them to do their job without attracting undue attention. Bancroft calls it the Drama School, and we teach men and women how to act, sometimes as the opposite sex.”

Chapter 2

We sat until I could stand, and she helped me to go to the dorms. I could hardly go up the extra stairs alone, but a long shower and some liniment helped me regain a steady posture. I sat on my bed and looked at the article until I had a bit more understanding. It looked like Bastien was under suspicion for drug trafficking and a possible murder. The Spanish and Portuguese police had a lot of circumstantial evidence but nothing concrete.

Life quickly settled into a routine. We generally picked up guests in the afternoon from a morning flight, or occasionally from a private aircraft. We all mustered to greet them and take their luggage, all delivered from the airport by limousine. Onboarding was a key point for Maria, Lisa and me. George did the initial greeting, then Maria took over, whilst Lisa and I kept the champagne and canapes going. The cabins had been prepared by the “shore crew”, down to the champagne minis in the bar, chocolates on the table and towels in the “heads”. All guest cabins were en-suite.

This story is the last one for the year. It does treat the main character in a more sensitive way, but she does develop a libido. By my
reckoning, since the beginning of 2020 and my first posting to BC, this is my one hundredth title.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“You’ve got to know when to fold, know when to hold, know when to walk away, know when to run.”

They might not have been the exact words of the song, but they were running on repeat in my mind. I wasn’t in a good place, right now, and I think it was all of my own doing, although I didn’t know why.

Emily Berrigan is a 23 year old transwoman who hasn't seen her twin in six years. Why? Because her parents threw her out when she told them who she really was. Now, her older sister Stephanie is getting married and wants Emily there - as a bridesmaid. Will sparks fly?

Stephanie is married. Will everyone live happily after? I know it’s been a while since I posted. Don’t you hate when real life gets in the way?
——

The wedding was winding down and Emily, Stef, Jordan and Liam stood waiting. “I dunno,” Jordan said to Liam, “they said come here, so I came.”

Chapter 6

With what he said, I knew I was in for a fight for my future in archaeology.

“Evelyn Saunders, what is your part in getting three perfectly respectable archaeologists blacklisted with one still in a hellhole of a prison?”

“Sir?”

It had been an ordinary day up to this point. I was on my lunch break eating a sandwich at a park picnic table. I wouldn’t call the area I was in secluded. You could faintly hear the busy street less than a hundred yards away. To see the street, you would have to crane your neck and look through a bunch of bushes and trees to see it. I usually chose this bench because it was furthest away from the row of restaurants not far from the park entrance. Most people who ate lunch in the park would find somewhere closer to the middle of the park to eat.

Ah summer! Lazy days, no school, no need for a summer job, good friends, a white sandy beach, blue water, several water nymphs in multi-colored bikinis among the friends. What more could one ask?

“Is that the time?” Elisa started, hearing the chimes of the antique on her mantle. “We're going to be late!” she told Juan as she got up from the couch and turned off the screen with a gesture.

“Wait, wait!” Juan protested with a smile. “You can't just leave me hanging like that, Chica!”

I entered the bar as I had done many times before. The difference this time was that I was there as Annie. I was in equal parts feeling exhilarated and mightily nervous. There was always a chance that I might have been recognised but I thought those chances were pretty slim. I make for a pretty convincing girl, and when I'm Annie I look miles different from my usual self. My heart was pounding, nevertheless.

I was lost in his arms and dazed by the music, which had switched into a more somber piece halfway through our dance. At this point, we weren't even swaying anymore; we just stood there, holding each other.

I had long since closed my eyes and buried my head in his chest. If I listened hard enough, I could just make out the soft beating of his heart-- or was that mine? I couldn't be sure. I couldn't be sure of that, or anything else for that matter.