We had all packed our cases and eaten breakfast by 10.00am this morning and were about to begin the process of loading Aunt Carol’s car, whilst she was checking out of the hotel. Josie had been the last to get ready on this occasion, having spent more time than the rest of us on her hair and makeup. Even now she was still trying to fix her hair.

‘Come on missy you don’t need to take all day making yourself look beautiful, after all you are only going to be sitting in the car for the next couple hours,’ complained Jenny, but smiling as she did so as she was usually the one to keep us waiting

‘I know, but we’ll be having lunch at Llangollen and I want to look my best when we meet Denise’s mother again. It’ll be the first time I’ve seen her since she has known who I am and I’ll feel less nervous if I look nice,’ answered Josie.

‘My sister is turning in to a real girly girl!’ commented Jenny to me in mock disgust.

‘I think you should take that as a compliment, Josie,’ I said. ‘Jenny is only jealous because we were invited out yesterday.’

‘Remember, you two, nor to mention those two lads in front of my Mum,’ said Jenny. ‘I’m not sure how she would react to knowing that Josie had already been out on a date.’

‘It wasn’t ’a date’,’ said Josie, blushing once again.

‘Well he did put his arm round you and you kissed him,’ I said.

Karen returned to the previous topic of conversation, wishing to spare Josie’s blushes.

‘I don’t think you need to worry too much Josie,’ she said. ‘I spoke to Denise this morning and her mother now seems to be reasonably happy about your situation. However, we’ll all have to be a little cautious about what we say over lunch as her dad probably won’t have any idea about your identity.’

‘I just want to enjoy myself as Josie and forget that Joe ever existed.’

‘Maybe you can do that for the next two weeks, but we’ll have to see what happens after that,’ added Aunt Carol, who had re-joined us at that point.

During the course of our car journey through the through various small towns on the West Lancashire coast, Jenny and I were busy discussing our plans for the next few days.

‘So it’s agreed then, we’ll stay in Crawley for a few days with my Mum, and then Aunt Carol has offered to take us to visit London next weekend,’ I said by way of summing up.

Mum turned on the car radio and to our surprise we heard news reports about the rioting that had been taking place in some areas of London, and also copycat riots in other towns. That sort of thing didn’t usually happen in the UK.

‘I hope there isn’t going to be any trouble in the centre of Liverpool, as we have to drive through the docks to get to the Mersey Tunnels,’ commented Aunt Carol. ‘It also sounds as if we may have to postpone our trip to London until things settle down.’

‘The trouble seems only to have been in some poorer neighbourhoods in London. Not the West End,’ said Jenny.

‘We’ll have to see what the situation is later in the week.’

We passed through Crosby and into Bootle and then the Liverpool docks. There was no sign of any rioting but the area around the docks did look rather run down.

‘I’m glad I don’t live here,’ said Jenny, as we passed a row of boarded-up shops and turned towards the entrance to the Wallasey Tunnel under the River Mersey.

‘Me too,’ I replied thinking that we were all quite fortunate to live in the South East where there was a degree of prosperity and full-employment.

We all went quiet for a while as the car passed through the tunnel, but once we’d emerged and paid the toll we joined a motorway down the Wirral peninsular towards North Wales and the area once again appeared to be more prosperous. It was now Josie and Karen’s turn to begin to discuss their plans for the next two weeks.

‘So what is there for us to do in Llangollen?’ asked Josie.

Karen took out her iPhone and began to read.
‘The local website says that the small town is very picturesque and gets plenty of tourists. We have missed the International Music Eisteddfod held in July but they often have exhibitions at a showground nearby.’
I looked across at Jenny and rolled my eyes.
‘There’s also a preserved steam railway in the town and a museum devoted to two aristocratic Irish lesbians who ran away from home in the eighteenth century and lived together in a civil union for nearly fifty years.’

‘Wow! That sounds really entertaining,’ I said. ‘You’re making Jenny and I jealous that we weren’t invited to stay.’

Jenny sniggered, but Karen ignored us and continued reading from her phone.

‘There are also lots of places to visit nearby including the ‘Horseshoe Falls’, ‘Horseshoe Pass’ or you can take a canal barge trip over the famous Pontcysyllte aqueduct, built by Thomas Telford. Alternatively, visitor can climb up to Dinas Bran, the remains of an eighth century Welsh castle.’

‘What about shops?’ I asked.

Karen stopped reading.

‘Denise says that the nearest town of any size is Wrexham, but that is a bit of a dump, but it is fairly easy to get from Llangollen to Chester, which she says is an interesting place to visit and is also good for shopping.’

On balance, I was quite relieved not to have been invited to go and stay and would far rather remain in Crawley with Jenny and our friends, and also have a trip to London (riots permitting). On the other hand Josie seemed to be quite excited by the prospect of a visit, although I guess she mainly wants to get away from Crawley for a while.

We made good time once we were through the Mersey Tunnel and shortly after midday we were pulling in to the drive of Denise’s parents’, so-called ‘summer cottage,’ which turned out to be quite a respectable looking detached house. No doubt it could have housed a half dozen or so of the locals, if they’d only been able to afford the rent. Instead it stood empty for much of the year apart from the occasional weekend and holiday visits. No wonder that the natives sometime resented rich townies from South East England coming in and buying up the available property.

Denise was waiting for us as we pulled up, looking as if she’d been bored and was very pleased to see us. She invited the four of us up to the spare room, whilst Aunt Carol remained downstairs to have a word with her mother. There was inevitably a certain amount of excited chatter as Josie and Karen inspected their new sleeping quarters and each chose a bed.

‘How’s the operation, Denise?’ I asked.

‘I feel fine and I’m pleased to say the scar is beginning to fade. So what have you all been doing since I left Crawley?’ Denise wanted to know.

‘Nothing much out of the ordinary, apart from a few days in Southport. My sister has been out on her first date, but don’t mention it to my Mum,’ said Jenny.

‘It was not a date,’ reiterated Josie. ‘I was just keeping some guy company so that his brother would have a chance to make out with Sue.’

‘You’ll have to tell me all about it later,’ said Denise.

‘What did your Mum say when she found out about Josie?’ asked Karen.

‘Not too much. She was a little put out that we’d fooled her and said that I should have explained the situation as soon as she first suggested that the two of you should come and stay, but I think she has now forgiven us and is looking forward to having you stay.’

‘What about your Dad?’ asked Josie.

‘Dad wasn’t particularly sympathetic when my cousin began to transition, so Mum and I think that it is probably best that we don’t tell him about Josie. There must be no reference to Joe when we are in the house, but I don’t think you will need to worry too much. He’s not exactly observant at the best of times, and spends a fair amount of time playing golf or working in his study whilst he’s here.’

‘As far as I’m concerned, I am happy to stick with Josie for the duration of my visit,’ she answered.

Nobody responded but the original four of us shared significant glances and wondered what we’d all set in motion back in July.

We were called down for a buffet lunch on their lawn, and Denise’s father also put in a brief appearance. Fortunately the lunchtime discussion was mainly concerned with the rioting, the decline of modern civilisation, and how young people today don’t know how well off they are or how hard their parents had it. I kept a surreptitious watch on the way that both her parents reacted to Josie, but neither of them appeared to treat her any differently from the rest of us. Eventually, Jenny, Aunt Carol and I had to leave to continue our journey back to Crawley.

‘I hope you two have a good time but be sure to behave yourself, and take care, especially you Josie,’ said Aunt Carol as we were about to leave.

‘We will, and thanks for everything, to all three of you,’ she replied

‘How do you think she’ll get on over the next fortnight?’ I asked Aunt Carol as we pulled away.

‘I hope she’ll be alright, she behaves like a sensible girl; it is the longer term that I am more worried about.

On the way home I pretended to go to sleep as we drove down the Motorway. After a while, Jenny spoke to her mother.

‘Mum, what is going to happen about Josie when she gets back home?’

‘I really don’t know dear. I’m going to try and make an appointment to see a specialist as soon as possible to seek advice.’

‘But what will happen when it is time to go back to school? She can’t keep staying at other people’s houses forever.’

‘I wish I knew, dear.’

We eventually made it back to Crawley at about 8.30pm having stopped for some dinner en route. It was just as well that Karen and Josie had done our laundry for us as Jenny and I were able to unload our suitcases and have an early night.