Extracted - Chapter 25 – Slings and Arrows of Being a Quack – Part 1 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 25 – Slings and Arrows of Being a Quack – Part 1 of 2

 

On Saturday morning, Nancy was still brushing her hair when her mother walked into her room.  Seeing her mother there was not a good sign for Nancy.  “Moooom…” she exclaimed.  “Not again!”

“What do you mean, not again?”

“You’re not going to make me wear another dress, are you?”

“Of course you’re going to wear a dress,” Wanda told her.  “I want you to look nice for this entire weekend.  I will not have Agatha think that I don’t take good care of you.”

“But you do!” Nancy replied.  “You take real good care of me.  Probably better than you should.  Why can’t I just tell her that?”

“Because you shouldn’t have to tell her.  She should be able to just see you and know.”

“Ugh!” Nance groaned.

“Now let’s figure out how we should do your hair for today.”

“My hair too?”

“Of course!  I want you dressed nicely,” she told her daughter as she started pulling her fingers through Nancy’s hair to figure out what to do with it.

“You mean not just the dress but jewelry and everything else too,” Nancy realized.

“Of course.  Why are you so against it?”

“It’s just that…”

“Nancy!  Stop being so foolish.  You’re a girl now whether you like it or not.  Get with the program.”

“Ugh!” Nancy groaned again.  “As if ballet wasn’t enough.”

“Now where’s that fancy hairclip we got you last month?  There it is,” Wanda said as she plucked the elaborate and shiny hairclip from Nancy’s dresser.  “This should look very nice,” Wanda decided as she took the brush from Nancy’s hand and started brushing her hair again.

Nancy had no choice but to resign herself to getting fussed over.  She was Stephen inside this little body.  Her family was coming.  Her real mother and father.  This was not how she wanted them to see her…him.  It was going to be…embarrassing!

“I’m so glad you painted your nails,” Wanda told her.  “Do they need touching up before your family arrives?”

Nancy wanted to say a big fat no, but instead held up her hands to show off her fingernails.  “I don’t know.  What do you think?”

Wanda examined Nancy’s fingernails.  “Maybe we’ll just ask Emily if she’ll touch them up so they’re perfect.”

Ugh!

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Stephen, Henry, and Agatha Marsh left Philadelphia shortly after lunch.  Agatha wanted to get there as soon as possible because she was so anxious to see her son again, even if that son was now a twelve year old girl.  No matter what he looked like or what name he had to use, he was still her son and always would be.

Stephen, sitting in the backseat, barely moved a muscle through the entire trip.  Nancy, inside of him, was more anxious to get there than her new mother.  She was going home.  Finally.  Home to where she belonged.  Home to her real family.  There were only three things marring this trip.  One, she was stuck in the wrong body.  Two, there was someone else there pretending to be her.  And three, like it or not, she would have to go back to Philadelphia with these people…her new family.  Still, she couldn’t wait to get…home.

A little over two hours later, Henry pulled the car into the beautiful driveway of a large house.  A house that looked to be about the size of his own house.

Agatha was out of the car quickly, looking the house over.  She liked what she saw, but she realized that she should like it.  This was the home of a U.S. congressman…let alone her son.  She glanced over at her husband who was looking at things much the same way she was.  She turned, but she didn’t see Stephen.  She had to look harder to find him still in the back seat of the car.  She opened the rear door for him.  “Are you coming?”  It was only then that she noticed something.  He was crying.  “Steve?” she said.  “What’s wrong?”

“I live here,” Stephen told her.  “I’m home.  But this…nightmare still isn’t over.”

Agatha couldn’t imagine the feelings that had to be running through his head.  “Come on,” she told him.  “Wouldn’t you like to see more than you can from here?”

Stephen pulled his large body from the car, but the moment he was free, he heard a woman shouting.  “Steve!  Stephen!”

He turned and saw his real mother running towards him.  The two of them hugged each other tightly.

“My Nancy,” Wanda breathed with her face buried in his chest.  It was a few moments before Wanda let go of him enough to look up into his face.  “I’m not used to having to look up to see you,” she said with a smile.  She hugged him tightly again before letting him go.

It was still so strange for Agatha to have to reach down and hug a strange young girl.  But tears came to her eyes as she remembered that this young girl was who her Stephen was now.  She squeezed him tightly.  “I’ve missed you…Steve,” she whispered softly so that only he could hear.  “I’ve missed you.”

“Me too Mom,” Nancy replied.  “So much!”

Agatha finally pulled back far enough to take another look at the girl.  “You look nice again,” she laughed.  “Real nice.”

“Don’t blame me!” Nancy told her.  “It was…Mom’s idea.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

“I guess, like it or not, it’s supposed to be Nancy now?” Henry asked.

“I don’t care what you call me,” Nancy told him.  “You know who I am in here.”

Henry nodded.  “I don’t know if I should hug you or shake your hand.”

“Uh…would you mind much if I hug you?  I seem to like them lately.  And…I’ve missed you so much too.”

Henry bent down and gave the young girl a brief hug.  “This is so strange,” he said as he hugged her.

“For me too,” Nancy assured him.

Mike Stiller approached Stephen.  “Are you still in there Nance?” he asked.

“Still here Dad.  Believe it or not.”

Mike nodded, still looking over the large two-hundred pound boy, unsure how exactly he should greet him.

“Dad,” Stephen said finally.  “Would you mind if I hug you?  I’m still me inside here.  And I’ve missed you so much!”

Before Mike could answer, Stephen moved in and wrapped his arms around him.  “Love you Dad,” he whispered.

Mike had to force the words out.  “Love you too…Nancy.”

“Hi Agatha.  Hi Henry,” Wanda called, greeting her guests.  “Have a good trip?”

“Real good,” Agatha replied as she moved over and hugged the other mother.  As she did, she noticed Henry and Mike shaking hands.

“Steve!” Emily’s voice shouted.  She ran down the steps and immediately wrapped Stephen up in a big hug.  “How are you Nance?” she asked as she looked up into his face.  But his face wasn’t looking at her.  She let him go and turned to see what he was looking at.  She should have known.

Stephen and Nancy stared silently at each other.  When Emily finally moved out of the way, they both barely noticed she was gone.  Almost in slow motion, Steve sank to one knee, and the two of them hugged each other tightly.  A hug that seemed to last forever as the two of them hugged their real bodies.  No words needed to be said.  They each knew what the other was thinking.

When they finally pulled apart far enough to see each other again, Nancy grabbed his hand and said, “Come on.  Want to see your room again?”  The two of them left everyone else behind and hurried straight into the house.

Upstairs, Stephen stood in the doorway of his old room and looked around.  “It looks the same,” he said.  “Exactly the same.”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Nancy asked.

“I don’t know,” Stephen replied.  “And it’s clean!”

“Of course,” Nancy said.

“I was afraid it would be like…your old room when I first got there.  A mess.”

“Uh…have you met your mother?  I mean, your real mother?”

Stephen laughed.  “Yeah.  She’d never allow a mess like that in her house.  Anywhere!”

“Nope,” Nancy agreed.

Stephen walked fully into the room and just absorbed the atmosphere.  Home.  And this room was his home inside of his home.  It was good to be back.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

“So…ballet?” Agatha asked as she sat alone with Nancy, clasping the small girl’s hands in her own.  It was only the knowledge that hidden somewhere inside that girl was her big strong son that kept her rooted to the chair.

“Not by choice,” Nancy was quick to tell her.

“Ballet can’t hurt you dear,” Agatha told her.

“Huh!  You don’t know Mrs. Cutter.  She’s constantly yelling at me.  Hands Nancy, hands!  Ugh!  I’m starting to hear it in my sleep.”

Agatha laughed.  “Still, it can’t hurt.  And maybe you can learn something.”

“Yeah, like how much I don’t like ballet.”

“Stop being silly, you’re a grown…”  She stopped.  “Well, you’re not a grown boy anymore who’s almost a man.”

“I am, and I’m not.  It’s so really, really weird.  It’s like I’m going in two directions at once.”

“I often try to imagine what you’re going through and dealing with, but the truth is, I haven’t a clue.  Still, I try.  So what’s new in this new life for you?”

“Uh!” Nancy grunted.  “Would you believe it?  I’ve got friends now.  Two girls my age.  This age I mean.  Twelve.  It’s weird, but at least they’re someone to talk to…other than my other mother out there.  They’re…good company, and…I kind of like them.”

“Good!” Agatha whispered.  “I guess, you’ve got no choice but to do your best to shave a few years off who you really are.”

Nancy considered that.  “Yeah.  I never thought about it that way, but if I can’t get back into my own body, what choice am I going to have?”

“None, as far as I can see,” Agatha admitted.

Nancy shook her head sadly.  “I just keep feeling like…I lost my entire life!”

“I guess, in a way, you did.  But now look, you’ve got a new life.  And Nancy, you’re not really dead.  You’re alive.  Just…a different alive.”

“Too different!”

“But you’re still alive.”

“I guess that’s something,” Nancy admitted.

“It certainly is to me.  You have no idea how happy I am that, even under these conditions, I can still see you, and talk to you, and I know you’re still around…somewhere.”

“I feel kind of the same,” Nancy told her.  “It’s just that, every time I think about you and Dad, it just gets to me because nothing is right anymore.  Nothing is even close to being the same.  I miss so many things!”

“I’m sure you do,” Agatha agreed.

“And we still don’t know any way to fix any of it,” Nancy lamented.

“Not yet,” Agatha agreed.

“Which means, like we always knew, I’m stuck.  Like this.  Forever!”

Agatha took a big breath and sighed.  “That’s the way it’s looking.”

“What am I going to do?” Nancy asked, feeling nothing but sorry for herself.

Agatha looked at her.  There was only one answer to that question.  “Nancy,” she said to the young girl sitting with her.  “I won’t beat around the bush.  Being a woman is the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do.  In some ways, the work never ends.  Never!  I’m guessing that in a few years you’ll discover that the only time you have to relax at all will be when you’re doing something to help make or keep yourself beautiful.”

“Ugh!  That’s not relaxing!  And what if I don’t want to make myself…beautiful!”

Agatha shook her head.  “Nancy dear, trust me, I have no doubt that before long you’re going to be like every other woman on earth, and you’ll want to take good care of yourself.  You’ll want to be beautiful and stay beautiful.

“I doubt it,” Nancy told her.

“Dear, I’d bet anything that you will.  Those female hormones I’m sure you’re dealing with now are going to start doing things to you that you’re not used to.”

“Uh…Mom, my period ended a few days ago.  I’m done with it.  At least for the next month.”

“I wasn’t talking about your period, dear,” Agatha told her.  “I’m betting your hormones are going to start affecting your entire life, more so than you can imagine.  That is, if they’re not already starting to do it.”

“Not if I can help it,” Nancy replied.

Agatha smiled.  Her son was still somewhere inside that little feminine body.  But she had to wonder, for how long?  At times now, he was starting to almost sound like a young girl.  Still, there could be no doubt that this young girl was indeed her big Stephen inside.  A big, almost man, who needed some advice from his mother.  “Don’t be afraid of it Nancy,” she told him.  “Don’t be afraid of being beautiful.  You’re already a very pretty girl.  Very pretty.  I would love to look like you do again.  Don’t shy away from it Nancy, embrace it.”

Nancy shook her head.  “You do know I’m supposed to be just getting back from football camp, right?”

Nancy!  Stop it.  I know you miss being you, Stephen.  I know that more than you think.  All I’m saying is that now, like it or not, you’re stuck being Nancy, so embrace it and try to adapt to it, and do your best to love it.”

“Love it?” Nancy said.  “How?  Right now, all I can see is that I’m going to be miserable for my entire life.”

“I doubt that!” Agatha told her.  “I doubt that very much.  I believe…I have to believe, that you’re going to be happy.  I have to believe that.  Don’t forget though, that as difficult as it’s going to be to be a woman, it can also be the most rewarding thing imaginable.  I’m hoping that you’ll find love someday, and that that love will mean more to you than life itself.  Not only that, but I do hope that someday you’ll have the chance to have children of your own too.  Nancy, there is nothing on earth more rewarding than that.  Nothing!  Every mother on earth literally lives for her children.  I hope you get a chance to do that too.  Nancy, don’t be afraid to be a girl.  Don’t be afraid to be a woman.  Enjoy whatever life you’ve got to work with as best you can.  Otherwise, you’re literally dooming yourself to live in misery.  Be happy Nancy.  Happy.”

Nancy wasn’t sure what to say.  “I guess since I’m stuck like this, I’m going to have no choice but to try.”

“Maybe you do have no choice, but it might help if you make that choice, and try.”

“Maybe,” Nancy agreed, her heart not really in that thought.

“And you know what would make me very happy?” Agatha said.

“What?”

“For you to dance some ballet for me.”

“Don’t get your hopes up!” Nancy told her.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Extracted - Chapter 24 – Come File With Me

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 24 – Come File With Me

 

Agatha’s cellphone rang.  Before answering it, she was a bit surprised to see who was calling, although she realized that she probably shouldn't have been surprised at all.  “Hello?”

“Hi Agatha, it’s Wanda.”

“Hi Wanda,” Agatha replied.  “I’m wondering if I should be surprised to hear from you today or not.”

“Probably not,” Wanda admitted.  “I take it that Mr. Curmett paid your family a little visit last night?”

“He did, but we don’t really know why.  He didn’t say anything except to tell us not to talk about our little problem.”

“No,” Wanda agreed.  “That’s pretty much the way it went here too.”

“Why bother?” Agatha said, frustrated with it all.

“Listen, Agatha, before you go getting all worked up over it, Mike asked me to call you.  The two of us discussed it and thought that maybe it would be a good idea for us to all get together this weekend and…talk.  I know I’d really like to have more time with my Nancy, and I’m sure you feel the same about your Stephen.”

“You have no idea how much I’d like that,” Agatha agreed.  “That trip to the Catskills was nice, but not nearly long enough.  And most of the time they were mostly concerned with us meeting each other and never gave us that much time to really talk.”

“No,” Wanda agreed.  “They didn’t.  So I was wondering, would you and your family like to come here for dinner next Saturday.  Just your family and my family, that’s it.  No FBI agents running around trying unsuccessfully to look inconspicuous.  And since it’s a bit of a drive, we’ve got plenty of guest rooms in our house for you to stay the night.  Besides, that way you won’t have to rush your visit.”

It didn’t take long for Agatha to consider the offer.  “I need to check with Henry first.  I don’t know what he’s got planned for this weekend, but I know I’d love to come.  More than that, I can’t help myself.  I’d like to see where my Stephen is living now.”

“Just like I’m wondering the same thing for my Nancy,” Wanda admitted.

“Then the next get together will be at our house,” Agatha told her.

“I think I’d like that,” Wanda replied.

“Um…Wanda,” Agatha said.  “Since we just got that useless visit last night from Mr. Curmett, is this dinner offer related to anything he had to say?”

“Um…” Wanda hedged.  “It’s not exactly the way my husband put it when we decided to do this, but I think it’s in that general direction.”

“Anything we need to worry about?” Agatha asked.

“No.  Just come and enjoy yourselves.  It will give me a good excuse to host another fancy dinner.”

“Like I said, I’ll have to check with my husband and then let you know.”

“Great,” Wanda agreed.  “Um…is Nancy there by any chance that I can talk with her?”

“Not today,” Agatha told her.  “Believe it or not, Stephen went into work today with his father.”

“With his father.  Mike?  What’s he doing there?”

“Since Stephen has been sitting around all day, every day, moping about his situation and bored with his entire life, Mike asked if he would go into the office with him to do a few days of filing for them.  We think getting him out of the house will do him some good, and also give him something else to think about for a while.”

“Yeah,” Wanda agreed, considering that, and not happy to hear how badly her daughter was doing.

“How about my Stephen?” Agatha asked.  “Can I say hi?”

“Um…Agatha.  Believe it or not, your Stephen is downstairs right now waiting for her ballet teacher to arrive, which should be any minute.”

“Ballet!  When did that happen?”

“Recently,” Wanda told her.  “Agatha, look, she needed help…with too much.  Not only has she been depressed, but she doesn’t move the way I would expect her to, so I thought…ballet.  Why not?”

Agatha’s head was spinning a bit.  “I think the two of us have more to catch up on than either of us realized.”

“I think you’re right,” Wanda replied.  “Let me know about Saturday.”

“Just as soon as I can get an answer,” Agatha told her.  She ended the call.  Ballet!  She tried her best to imagine her big strong son, trying to dance ballet.  It was a bit difficult to picture.  She had another thought too.  If they did go up there for the weekend, was there any chance her Steven, Wanda’s Nancy, would consent to giving a little dance recital?  As much as Agatha would love to see that, something told her it would never happen.  Too bad.  She could use a good laugh about now.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

The President of the United States looked up from his desk in the Oval Office as Curmett came in.  “Did you take care of talking with the families?”

“Personally,” Curmett told him.

“Good!  Any problems I need to know about?”

“None that I could find.  We may have gotten lucky there because of the concerns that both families have about letting information like that get out.”

“Mm,” the President agreed.  “Politics!  Not just for Stiller, but as a D.A., I’m sure for the other one too.”

“Marsh,” Curmett reminded him of the name.

The President tossed the name off with a wave of his hand, not really caring.  “How’s the black ops plan going?”

“I’ve got it right here,” Curmett told the President as he moved to give him the paperwork.

“No,” the President said.  “You hold onto it.  I don’t want to know.  In fact, it’s better if I don’t know the exact details.  I just need to know if you think it’s any good.”

“It should be perfect, sir.  In Stiller’s case, it will look like nothing more than an assassination attempt that also took out his entire family.  Since Stiller has been becoming more of a central figure in the house, it’s totally believable.”

“And for the D.A.?”

“A simple car accident sir when the entire family is together.  Of course, the accident will be helped along a bit with a bit of explosives, but all of that will be covered up in the usual way.”

“Good.  Like I said, I don’t want to know the details.  I guess I will be expected to make some kind of fuss after Mike Stiller is taken care of, but the D.A. will be another matter.  I shouldn’t have to even mention him, and I don’t expect anyone to tell me about his accident either.  An accident is an accident.  Period.”

“Exactly, sir,” Curmett agreed.  “Shall I give the go ahead?”

The President considered it, then decided, “Not yet.  As much as I know it would be better to squash this thing now instead of later, let’s give them a bit of a chance first and see how it goes.  Actually, I’m wondering it keeping them alive for now might be the better choice in case we ever get that ransom demand we’re expecting.  Killing both families right now might send the wrong message to whoever has that damn process, and they could get angry enough to launch whatever kind of attack they have in mind.”

“As much as I hate to say it,” Curmett said, “that’s possible.  Keeping them alive for now may be the wisest thing to do.  The people who did this in the first place would be expecting us to learn about it and investigate it, which we’ve done.  Terminating their examples may not be the best way to go.  Yet.”

“Yet,” the President agreed.  “But the plan of action has been created and can be implemented at a moment’s notice.”

“Just give the word,” Curmett agreed.

 

 --- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Henry Marsh turned his son over to one of the aides that constantly seemed to be running around their offices.  “Here he is,” Henry told her.  “Put him to work.”

“Got him sir.  And thanks.”

“Steve,” Henry told his son.  “Good luck.  If you need me, my office is right down there,” he said, pointing further down the hallway.

“Thanks Dad,” Stephen replied.

The woman led Stephen to one of the rooms.  A good-sized room.  Stephen looked in the door and stopped.  Oh no.  Not again?  Why was it that he was always having to pick up everyone else’s mess?  First it was the real Stephen’s room, now this…mess!  Didn’t anyone in Philadelphia know how to put things away?

The woman gave Steve a general idea of where things were supposed to be and what he should be doing, then he was turned loose to try and make sense of it all.  He spent the first five minutes just looking through a few things, then with a sigh, he picked up a file, looked around, and tried to remember where to put it.  Finding the right place for it took him almost ten minutes.  The next file though went easier, and it took him almost five minutes to put away.  He looked around at the mess in the room.  This was going to be more difficult and take longer than he thought.

By lunchtime, he had managed to clear off two whole feet on one corner of one of the four tables that lined the center of the room.  He was just going to grab another file to put away when a man and a woman hurried into the room.  They completely ignored him while one went to the shelves and the other to the file cabinets.  Steve heard them discussing something urgently as he searched for where his latest file needed to go.

“Found the file!” the one at the file cabinets exclaimed.

“And I’ve got the box,” the other one told him.

The two people carried their things directly to Stephen’s only cleared spot on any of the tables and set their things right there, then they began desperately going through whatever they had found, making more of a mess than had been there before.

As Steve watched them, the woman looked up at him.  “Whatever you’re doing,” she said, “we can use your help.”

“Good idea,” the man agreed.

“Me?” Steve said.

“Yes,” the woman told him.  She pushed one of the files they were looking at further down the table.  “Start going through there.  We’re looking for any mention at all of either Cofounders Fund, or Larry Burtelli.”

“Anything!” the man emphasized.

Steve wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.  “But I’m only supposed to be…”

“Whatever it is,” the man said, “it’s not as important as this.  Now give us a hand.  Cofounders Fund or Burtelli.”

Unsure about things, Steve opened the file folder they had given him and began reading through the paperwork inside, looking for the two things they had mentioned.  Three papers in, he had to ask, “What should I do if I find anything?”

“You got something?” the man asked quickly.

Steve pointed toward the bottom of the page he had been looking at.  Both the man and the woman looked over his shoulder.  Great!” the woman said as she read it further.  “Just what we need.  Burtelli is listed as one of the fund managers.  That’s a direct connection.”

“But is there more?” the man asked.

“Keep looking!” the woman told Steve as she took the one paper from the file he had and set it aside.

Steve went back to work.

“Steve!  What are you doing?”

Steve looked up to see his father in the doorway.  “Um…they wanted me to help them find something.”

“We’ve got one connection on the Burtelli case already,” the man told Steve’s father.  “But there could be more.”

Henry nodded.

“I can go back to filing this stuff,” Steve told him.  “Gladly!”

“He found the connection,” the woman pointed out.

Henry shook his head.  “Steve, if you think you can help, then help them.  What they’re doing is a lot more important than just putting away files.”

“Thanks,” the man told the D.A.

“I was going to take you to lunch,” Henry pointed out.

“Can we keep him a bit longer?” the woman asked.

Henry nodded.  “If he’s agreeable.  Steve, come get me when you’re done.  We’ll go to lunch then.”

While Stephen read through files, the man and woman searched for other files and piled them on the table.  Both the man and woman found a few examples of what they needed, then Stephen said, “Got another one.”  Once again, the paper he had found was plucked and he was put back to work.

An hour later, the man and woman walked out with everything they had found, leaving another huge mess in their wake.  They never said even one word of thanks to Stephen.  Stephen took the opportunity to find his father’s office.  The two of them had lunch together, which Steve really enjoyed.  It was a strange experience to be out doing something with his father.  As Nancy, something like that had never happened.

After lunch, Steve did his best to tackle the mess that the man and woman had made earlier.  He didn’t get far before a different man came in.  He began pulling file after file from the cabinets and putting them on the just cleared table space.  Then he looked to Steve.  “Are you the one who helped with the Burtelli case earlier?”

“Yeah,” Steve replied hesitantly.

“Good.  Give me a hand.  I’m looking for Catherine Faux.  That’s F-A-U-X.”  Without another word, he threw a couple of the files in Steve’s direction.

Once again, Steve was doing something he didn’t think he should.

But it was kind of interesting.  More so than just picking up someone else’s mess.

Extracted - Chapter 23 – Psst! I Can’t Tell You This – Part 2 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 23 – Psst!  I Can’t Tell You This – Part 2 of 2

 

Christopher Faucet rang the front doorbell to Judith Rameriz’s home without calling first to tell her he was coming.  It was a few minutes before the door was answered, and Faucet had to push the button a second time.  Eventually though, Judith appeared.

“Chris!” she said.  “What brings you out tonight?”

“May I come in?” Chris Faucet asked.

“Sure,” Judith told him as she held the door for him.  “Drink?” she asked as soon as he was inside.

“Maybe that would be good,” Christpher told her.

“Chris!”

Faucet turned and saw Ben walking toward him.  “Ben.  You’re here too?”

“I’m often here,” Ben told him.  “What can we do for you?”

“What poison do you prefer tonight?” Judith asked.

“Whiskey,” Faucet told her.  A minute later, he took a much needed sip of the drink.

“Is something wrong?” Judith asked him.

“I don’t know,” Faucet replied.

“Then what brings you out?” Ben asked.

“After our…discussion last night,” Faucet began, “I had the strangest thought hit me today.”

“Oh?” Ben said, suddenly very interested.  “Some additional theory I hope.”

“Nothing like that…I think,” Faucet replied.  “Although it very well might be something for future discussion with the group.  I’m really not sure though.”

“What is it?” Judith asked, also curious about it.

“Please don’t get offended,” Faucet said, “but I need to ask you if you’ve ever used your water processer down there, on anyone other than your friend Hector.”

Judith and Ben were both surprised.  “Used…” Judith started.  “What makes you ask?”

Faucet shook his head.  “I just had the strangest thought today, that’s all.”

“And what’s that?” Ben asked.

“What would happen if you…let’s say extracted a human soul with your machine, and then instead of putting it back into the same person, put it into someone else?”

Judith looked to Ben before answering.  “Put it into someone else?”

“Yes.  What might happen?”

Ben shook his head.  “I don’t have any idea.  You Judith?”

“No.  Although I wish I did.  What made you think of it?”

“Something…weird.”

“Weird?” Ben asked.  “We’re talking about working with human souls that are neither matter nor energy but something else.  How much weirder can it get?”

“A lot I’m afraid, but then the human psyche can come up with the strangest things sometimes.”

“Something you’ve come across?” Judith asked.

“Kind of,” Faucet agreed.  “I had a patient once.  Actually, I saw him one whole time, although I sort of saw his mother twice.  The patient however was a teenage boy named Stephen who had a multiple personality disorder that was, well, somewhat unique.”

“In what way?” Ben asked.

“This boy, a teenager in high school, somehow got it into his head that he was actually a young girl named Nancy from New York.”

Ben and Judith looked at each other, then back at Faucet.  “It does sound a bit off the wall,” Ben agreed carefully.  “But what does that have to do with Hector?”

“Nothing,” Faucet admitted.  “But I haven’t gotten to the strange part yet.  After seeing the patient that one time, a few days later I had an FBI agent practically push her way into my office demanding to see me, and she wanted to know all about the boy’s multi personality diagnosis, but then she asked me if I was aware that there was a girl somewhere up in New York who believed she was a boy named Stephen from Philadelphia,  with the exact same first and last name of my patient.”

Ben and Judith looked at him with their eyes practically bulging out of their heads.

Very tentatively, Ben asked.  “And…was there a connection between them?”

“Who knows,” Faucet admitted.  “It really is way too fantastic to believe such a thing would be possible.  It’s just that, after you told me everything last night, I couldn’t help but think, what if your machine could have been used to do that to the two people involved.  Switch their souls into each other.”  Faucet waited for an answer, but both Judith and Ben were doing nothing but staring at him.

Ben stood up and paced back and forth before turning to Judith.  “Stephen thought he was Nancy and Nancy thought she was Stephen.”

“That’s what he seemed to be saying,” Judith agreed.  “If so…”

“Yes,” Ben replied.  “That would mean that somehow the memories and identity had to have been transferred to at least some extent.”  He turned to Faucet.  “Doctor, did either of the kids have any knowledge of their true selves?”

Faucet was surprised by the question.  “I only saw the boy, and only once, but he claimed to have no knowledge of his real identity at all.”

“How amazing!” Judith said to Ben.  “The underlying personality was somehow completely overwritten.”

“Could be,” Ben agreed.  “But how?”

“I’ve got no clue,” Judith told him.  “But still, weren’t we wondering if something like that, or even similar might happen?  Confusion at the least?”

“Something like that,” Ben agreed.

Faucet listened to them carefully.  “You’ve thought about this before,” he realized.  “The group just never mentioned it while I was here.  You’ve all moved on to other issues instead.”

Judith and Ben just turned to look at him, somewhat annoyed, then they looked back at each other.

“I wonder how complete the switch turned out to be,” Ben said to her.

“I’m wondering if it’s going to be permanent,” Judith told him.

“Another good question.”

“But how can we find out?” Judith asked.  “We were never able to find anything on it before.  Nothing.”

“No.  That’s always been the problem.  We never knew.”

Faucet was getting confused.  “You both talk like you’ve got more knowledge about this than you were letting on.”  And then it hit him and he had no choice but to ask.  “Did you do that to someone?  Did you actually try that on someone?  Although I guess it would have to be two someones in order to swap their souls around.”

Judith stood up and headed for the drink table.  She reached out and grabbed Faucet’s glass from his hand.  “I need a refresher,” she told him, not asking if he wanted one.  Ben followed her to the drink table and helped her pour fresh drinks for everyone.  Chris could do nothing but watch them, and wait.  Two minutes later, Ben and Judith came back and Judith handed the fresh whiskey to Faucet.  She took a seat, but Ben continued to stand.

Judith took a large sip of her own drink then looked up at Chris.  “My son Joshua was arrested not long ago.  He was convicted and sentenced to fifty years in prison for murdering someone he didn’t murder.  “Our local District Attorney…”

“Marsh,” Ben supplied.

Judith nodded.  “He made a major campaign issue over it to get himself reelected to his position.  There was just one major problem with it all.  Despite Josh getting convicted, Marsh somehow managed to do it without having one shred of credible evidence against him.  And no amount of pleading or anything else was able to sway him from his course.  I was proud of my son, Doctor Faucet.  Very proud.  I still am.  He was one of the founding members of the Planetary Eco Alliance group.  He dedicated his life to doing good for this planet.  My own efforts towards that goal centered around clean water for everyone.  Josh simply had bolder aspirations than I ever did.  Whether you care about this planet or not, it needs our help.  Josh was simply trying to get that point across.  But instead, they arrested him for someone’s murder instead of looking a bit further to figure out who really did it.”

Chris had been a psychiatrist long enough to know when to not say anything and just listen.  This was Judith’s story, and it seemed she was going to take the long way around to get to the facts that he was interested in.

“As you can imagine,” Judith continued.  “I was…angry, to say the least.”

“Furious would be more like it,” Ben suggested.

“Yes.  That too.  Marsh had deprived me of my son who I love very much.  Marsh stuck him in prison where I have to go through the worst proceedings in the world just to talk to him, and I can’t even touch him anymore.  He’s there…but he’s not here.  Marsh, illegally took my son away from me.  Nobody I complained to about it though would listen.”  She paused for a break and several sips of her drink, then said softly, “So I decided to get some revenge.”

Faucet was shocked.  Revenge?  Suddenly, he could see where this was going.

“We had no idea what would happen of course,” Judith told him.  “Not a clue.”

“In fact,” Ben added, “we thought that the most likely result would be that nothing would happen at all.  And afterwards, that’s exactly what we thought had occurred.  Nothing!”

“But now you’re here telling us that the most drastic result possible occurred,” Judith continued.  “More drastic possibly than even death.  Although…I’m not so sure about that.”  She looked up at Ben.  “If both personalities are still there, except in the wrong person, then at least they’re there and available.  Not simply gone forever.”

“True,” Ben conceded.  “We simply never found a way to discover if anything happened with them or not.”

“It hasn’t been that long since we did it,” Judith reminded him.  “Only a few weeks.”

“Yes.  Really, not much time at all.  And it’s so short that who knows what will happen to those kids in the future.  It’s possible that their own personalities could reemerge somehow and reassert themselves.  Possibly pushing out the overlayed personality.  We simply don’t know.”

“But how were the original personalities wiped out in the first place?” Judith countered.  “How?”

Ben shook his head.  “The soul.  And as we’ve discussed time and time again, souls possess memory.  In this case, perhaps more memory than we realized.”

“And, it sounds like the souls could be stronger than we ever thought as well,” Judith added.  “It did sound like they each dropped their respective memories into the new host.”

“I wonder,” Ben said, considering that.

“What?” Judith asked.

“I wonder…” Ben said again.  “If…maybe…”  He looked straight at Judith.  “Could it be possible for the soul to possess the entire record of someone’s identity?”

Judith considered that, then said.  “Who knows.  We don’t know how complete the overwritten memories actually were or what holes and gaps existed.  Without a chance to fully study those kids, we really don’t know anything at all.”  She turned quickly to Faucet.  “Is there any chance at all that we can at least talk with your patient?  It could lead to…who knows what kind of discoveries about the human soul.”

Faucet had been listening to them both in disbelief.  They had actually done it.  They had actually used their water process to remove two souls, and then swap them around.  And now they were wanting…what?  They wanted him to continue the horrible act that they started.  He shook his head.  “I only saw the patient once, and that’s all.  When the FBI agent came into my office to ask if I knew about the other patient, the girl, the family decided to drop me as the boy’s therapist.  I’ve been…cut out of it.”  Another thought hit him.  “Um…a few days ago however…”

“Yes?” Ben asked.

“I got a visit in my office from someone who claimed to be the president’s National Security Advisor.  Mr. Kermit or something.  I don’t remember.  He had two other men with him, the MIT Physicist I mentioned at the meeting and a doctor who specialized in neurology.  All three of them demanded to know all about that patient and my diagnosis.  They even had a court order to make sure they got it.  But all I could tell them was that I was very certain that the only correct diagnosis for the boy’s case was some form of multi personality disorder.  Of course, tonight, you’re telling me how wrong I was.”

Ben shrugged.  “Maybe, maybe not,” he said.  “We don’t know if the soul simply covered up the old personality so that it can reemerge in the future, or if it wiped the slate clean, so to speak.”

“All I can tell you,” Faucet said, “Is that I no longer have access to that patient.  And I never had access to the girl.  What made you choose them anyway?”

Judith shrugged.  “Revenge,” Judith reminded him.  “We told you that.  Marsh fixed it so that my son is there, but he’s not really there, and I decided to try to do the same.  And it sounds like it worked out better than I imagined.  Marsh’s son is there, but at the same time, he’s not there.  He’s someone else…like my Josh.”

“But what about the girl?” Faucet asked.  “What about her?”

“We looked at it as another small act of revenge,” Ben told him.  “Congressman Stiller was a total ass because he thought our water treatment system was bad for the planet and did everything possible to keep it from being accepted.  It wasn’t until we had to pay for expert after expert to test it and give their opinions before he finally backed off.  Since then, we’ve proven positively, time and time again, how good our system is.”

“And the next generation of it that we’re developing now will be even better,” Judith told him.  “In fact, we’re building it so that it will work from solar power alone.  We may even package the solar panels with it.  Imagine how something like that would be for some of those God forsake places that lack clean water.”

Faucet didn’t really care about the water treatment thing.  He only cared about the machine down in the basement that had the capability of removing someone’s very soul, and putting it into someone else!  “So you considered it an act of revenge against the congressman too, just because he raised a few concerns about your process.”

“It was more than just a few concerns,” Ben pointed out.  “A lot more!”

Faucet didn’t know and didn’t care.  “But in the end, it was revenge against both of them.”

“Except, we didn’t really believe or even know if switching their souls would have any effect at all,” Judith said softly.  She looked up at Ben.  “I’m not sorry,” she said boldly.  “Not one bit.”

“Huh!” Ben agreed.  “Neither am I.  That system was our life’s work.  For all of us!”

“And Marsh convicted my son, when he was innocent!” Judith added.

Ben looked to Faucet.  “That’s the story.  Now what are you going to do with it?”

Faucet’s head was spinning a bit.  He briefly thought about it, then replied, “I don’t know yet.  I really don’t know.”

Extracted - Chapter 23 – Psst! I Can’t Tell You This – Part 1 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 23 – Psst!  I Can’t Tell You This – Part 1 of 2

 

“What do you think?”

Agatha stared straight ahead and didn’t answer as she considered what her husband had just asked.  The phone call from him while he was at work had come straight out of the blue, and now this new suggestion for Stephen.  “Henry,” she finally said.  “You’d do that for him?”

“We need the help here, Honey.  And it’s simple enough work.”

“How about when the tutor we just hired starts working with him?  He doesn’t even know about that yet.”

“Tutor comes first!” Henry told her.  “Then he can help us out here.  Besides, once the filing is done, that would be it, but for a few days at least, he can come here and help out.”

“Why not?” Agatha finally agreed.  “I really can’t see where it can hurt at all.”

“We just need to make sure he’s able to alphabetize things.” Henry noted.  “Otherwise, it won’t work.”

“I don’t know if he can or not, but I’m betting it won’t be a problem.  At least, I hope it won’t.  Nancy was heading into the seventh grade.  If a kid can’t alphabetize something by then, then there’s some kind of problem.”

“Okay,” Henry replied.  “We’ll let him know tonight, and he can ride into the office here with me tomorrow.”

“We’re meeting with Mr. Curmett tonight,” Agatha reminded him.

“Yeah.  No problem…I hope!  Have you heard anything from Wanda or Mike up in New York?  If Curmett is coming here, it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s talked to them already.  Mike is a congressman.”

“Not a word,” Agatha told him.  “But that’s something else I’d like to discuss with you later.”

“What?”

“Later, dear.” Agatha told him.

 

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Doctor Faucet went through the motions all day with his patients, but he couldn’t get the things he had learned last night at Judith Rameriz’s house out of his head.  There had to be some other explanation.  He just couldn’t think of any just then.  But then, maybe the reason he couldn’t think of any other explanation was because he wanted what they had told him to be true.  Because if it was, it would be a fantastic discovery.

The only problem was, they had been right.  He couldn’t tell anyone about it.  Everyone would laugh at him, and they were already making fun of him because he liked ghost hunting.  What was wrong with ghost hunting?  He enjoyed it.

The door opened and his next patient came in.  A teenage boy with major anger issues.  But the sight of the boy brought back the memory of another teenage boy who had sat in the same seat this boy was roughly plopping himself down into.  A boy who didn’t have anger issues, but a multiple personality issue.  The kid had made up a fantasy identity that he was some kind of young girl instead of the big strong boy he actually was.  Talk about someone with identity issues.  Obviously the kid didn’t want to be a boy.  He wanted to be a girl instead.  Faucet couldn’t tell that to the parents though.  Especially not at that early stage of his treatment.

As his latest patient began ranting and raving about his parents, Faucet remembered that something else had happened with that other teenage boy.  Something that had caused his parents to drop him as the boy’s therapist.  An FBI woman had barged her way into his office and in the process had mentioned something so dumb it was laughable.  She claimed that the boy believed he was a girl named Nancy, but way up in New York, there was a girl who claimed to be Stephen.  That Stephen who had been in his office.  Faucet had never heard anything so ludicrous in his life!

But as the kid in front of him ranted and raved without Faucet saying a single word to him, Faucet still couldn’t get what he had learned last night off his mind.  Had their machine really removed someone’s soul, and then put it back again, perfectly intact?  It couldn’t be.  Such a thing boggled his mind.  But if it was true, what other explanation was there for it?  Of course, there was the rub.  If it was true!

If it was true, Judith Ramirez and her band of merry tinkerers had pulled someone’s soul from his body, and then put it back again.  Faucet grunted a laugh.  His patient guessed wrongly that he was agreeing with him and continued raving.  Faucet continued to ignore him and ponder the thought of actually capturing someone’s soul.  But what would happen if someone captured that soul…and then stuck it into someone else’s body?  Had anyone ever considered what would happen then?”

As his patient ranted and raved, showing why he needed therapy, Faucet remembered the other boy again.  He thought he was Nancy, and evidently some Nancy thought she was him.  It was ridiculous!  But…what if it was true?  Was it possible that Judith Rameriz had used her crazy machine on more than just Hector as she had claimed?  Was it possible?  And if they did, would it indeed transfer someone’s identity along with the soul?  It sounded very unlikely.  Just as unlikely as Rameriz extracting someone’s soul and sticking it in a can.

But what if…?

He decided that as soon as work was over, he was going to take another trip out to Judith’s fancy house and ask some more questions.  Just as soon as he could get rid of this pest of a boy who belonged in jail instead of his office.

It couldn’t be possible.  And Judith couldn’t have done that to someone else…two someone else’s if she switched their identities around.  It simply was out of the question.  But now that he had thought about it, he had to know.

Once again the question of the century crossed his mind.  Ghosts, and he was guessing that especially a soul, had memory.  How?  But he knew for a fact that they did, even though he couldn’t explain it.

 

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In some ways, Henry couldn’t believe he was doing it again, jogging with his son.  Yesterday had been bad enough.  He had barely made it to the end of the block and back again.  He had been exhausted!  But here he was getting ready to torture himself again.  No pain, no gain.  Yeah right!  Who cared?  His original son Stephen had cared, a lot!

But something else had happened during that exhausting run yesterday, he had almost felt like he had connected somewhat with this new Stephen.  Another thing that had surprised him was that the new Stephen was supposed to be mentally only twelve years old, yet at times, he had seemed more mature than that.  Was the Nancy inside Stephen smarter than he had been giving her credit for?  Who knew?  A congressman could probably afford to send his kids to some of the very best schools.  Stephen had gone to public school.  Was the difference that much?

He had felt somewhat connected with Steve yesterday, and today he needed that connection again.  He had a few things to discuss with Steve and figured that an easy jog up and down the street was the perfect time to do it.  Unless of course, you took into consideration his own body nearly dying by the time he got home.  How bad was it going to be today?

“Ready Dad?” Steve asked as they reached the road.

Henry wanted to say no, but he started jogging instead.  Steve fell into place right beside him.  “Did your mother tell you that Mr. Curmett is coming tonight?”

“Yeah,” Steve replied.  “I just don’t know why.”

“Neither do I.  He refused to say over the phone.”

“It would be very nice if they found a way to fix what happened to Nancy and me.”

“Very nice!” Henry agreed.  “Very, very nice!”

“I’m not holding my breath,” Stephen told him.

“No.  I wouldn’t either,” Henry agreed.  He decided to move on before he didn’t have the breath to talk anymore.  “Steve,” he said.  “Did your mother tell you that we told the school you won’t be there this year?”

“No,” Steve replied.  “But that was kind of obvious.  I mean, I saw some of the classes that Stephen was supposed to take this year, and I don’t have a clue about any of it.  And if you try to send me back to seventh grade where I’m supposed to be, the kids will do nothing but laugh at me.  And Dad, you’ve got to know that I don’t need that!  No way!  I won’t do it!”

“Don’t worry,” Henry assured him.  “We’re not sending you to a seventh grade classroom anywhere.  In fact, for now we’ve decided to not send you to any school, anywhere.”

“You’re not?  I don’t have to go to school?  Fantastic!  Thanks!”

“Don’t get your hopes up.  You’re going to school, but not the way you think.  We’re signing you up for an online school where you can work at your own pace until we think you might fit into a school somewhere.  And to help you, we’ve hired a tutor to come by three of four days a week to work with you.”

“A tutor?”

“That’s what I said.”

Steve considered that.  “Okay.  I don’t know how that will be, but just as long as I don’t have to go sit in a class somewhere full of seventh grade kids.”

“Not gonna happen,” Henry assured him.

“Good!”

“Steve,” Henry said, starting to really pant now.

“Yeah?”

“I need to know if you’re interested in helping us out at work for a few days.”

“Help you?  How?”

“Filing things that have gotten way out of hand since nobody who works for me seems to have the time or the inclination to put anything away once they pull it out.”

“I guess,” Steve told him.  “If you really want me to.”

“It would help,” Henry told him.  “But there’s just one thing.  You need to be able to alphabetize things.  Can you do that?”

“Alphabetize?” Stephen asked.

“Yeah, you know.  Put them in alphabetical order.  Are you capable of doing that?”

“Dad!  I’m supposed to be going into seventh grade, not kindergarten.”

“Good!  I’ll take you to work with me tomorrow.  If nothing else, it will give you something to do for a few days instead of moping around because you’re bored.”

“Anything!” Stephen replied.  “Anything at all!”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Curmett knocked on the door to the Marsh’s home.  The three secret service agents who had been assigned to him for this trip took up positions across the front of the house.  The door was opened by the District Attorney himself.  “Mr. Marsh,” he greeted the man.

“Mr. Curmett,” Henry replied as he pulled the door open wide and let the man in.

Curmett noticed that Agatha and Stephen were already in the living room.

“Coffee, Mr. Curmett?” Agatha asked.

“Sure,” Curmett agreed before sitting in one of the chairs in the room.  Two minutes later, Agatha brought him a steaming cup of coffee before she sat down on one of the couches with her husband and Stephen.  All three of them waited expectantly to hear what Curmett had to tell them.

“The first thing I want to tell you,” Curmett said, “is the one thing that Nancy wanted to know before anything else.  And I’m sorry, but we still have no solution for a way to switch the two of you back the way you belong.”  He was surprised to see the immediate disappointment on Stephen’s face.

“Thought so,” Stephen said sadly.

“If we do ever figure it out,” Curmett continued, “believe me, you’ll be the first to know.”

Stephen did nothing more than nod.

“With that being the situation,” Curmett told them, “there are a few things we all need to get straight.  And because of the situation I need to ask each of you if any of you have told anyone else about the memory transfer thing, where Stephen here is actually Nancy, and Nancy up in New York is actually Stephen.  I need to know exactly who you’ve all told.”  He waited, looking at each of them.

Henry shook his head.  “I haven’t told anyone.  First the entire thing was nothing but embarrassing and we didn’t want to believe it, then it just became something too fantastic for anyone to believe.  So no, I can tell you for a fact that I haven’t told anyone at all.  You Agatha?”

“Not me,” Agatha assured him.  “I’ve told a few people that he has a bad case of amnesia, that he’s completely lost his memory, and that’s it.  I think everyone will believe amnesia, but who in their right mind would believe what actually happened?”

Curmett nodded.  “So true,” he agreed.

“Steve?” Henry prompted his son.

Steve shrugged.  “I don’t get to see or talk to anyone.  Period!”

Curmett was surprised.  “No one?”

“Not so far,” Steve told him.  “Melody, the other Stephen’s girlfriend came by once, but she was more interested in trying to kiss me than anything else.  And that was…not fun.”

“Thank you,” Curmett told him.  “So were good then.”

“Why?” Henry asked.

“Because I need you all to make sure you never let anyone have the slightest clue as to what actually happened.  As much as you might think otherwise, we believe that it’s necessary for national security.”

“I’m not sure how,” Henry told him.  “But if you think so, then we all will do our best to not let the truth out.  Besides, as Agatha said, who in their right mind would believe it.  Not to mention, the last thing we need is for some news reporter getting their interest up over this.  What someone like that would do to us would….”

“We probably couldn’t live with the consequences,” Agatha finished.”

“True,” Curmett agreed.  “I just need you to understand that the President of the United States feels very strongly about you maintaining the secrecy of this issue.  Very strongly!”

“What’s he doing about it?” Henry asked.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” Curmett replied.

“But is he doing anything at all?”

“Yes.  That much I can assure you of.  He is very concerned about this.”

Henry nodded, not sure if he believed him or not.

“We’ve also asked Doctor Montcliff to come down and work with Stephen here so that he has professional help to get him through this mess.”

“She’s going to come here?” Agatha asked.

“Yes,” Curmett assured her.  “She’ll call you to set it up.”

Agatha looked to Henry.  “That solves one of our problems.”

“Yes,” Henry said, grateful for that much if nothing else.  “What else?”

“I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you.  Please know that it’s imperative that none of you let anyone know what actually happened, and that Doctor Montcliff will be contacting you soon to begin working with Stephen here and offer him whatever aide she can.”

Henry almost couldn’t believe it.  “You came all the way down here just to tell us that?”

“When the President says do it, you have little choice.”

Henry nodded.

“More coffee?” Agatha suggested.

“No.  Thanks,” Curmett told her.

 

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