Extracted - Chapter 27 – Where’s Ponce de León When You Need Him – Part 1 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 27 – Where’s Ponce de León When You Need Him – Part 1 of 2

 

Two special ops units landed in Philadelphia, so did Curmett, Blake, and Holfstrom.  One ops unit headed for the home of Benjamin Folley, the other for the home of Judith Rameriz.  The ops unit at Folley’s home found no one there, but they broke in anyway and thoroughly searched and secured the place.  Things were a bit different at Judith Rameriz’s home since, as usual, both Ben and Judith were together again.

When they arrived, the special ops team spread out and silently surrounded the house.  Then, when all was ready, they broke in the front door and literally poured into the large house with guns at the ready and shouting as loud as they could.  It was a noisy and frightening operation, just like they wanted it to be.  In minutes, both Judith and Ben were down on the floor with their hands handcuffed behind their backs, while a team of men kept their guns pointed at them.  Judith and Ben barely knew what hit them, but it had hit like a ton of bricks.

Both Ben and Judith were picked up and marched into the kitchen where they were put into chairs at the table.  Five men in military uniforms kept watch over them while the rest of the team was still searching the house.  And then three more men entered the kitchen.  None of the three men gave their names.

“What’s going on?” Judith demanded.

Curmett ignored her question.  “We received information that you two abducted Stephen Marsh,” Curmett said to them.

The moment he said that, both Ben and Judith knew that Faucet had indeed told someone about everything they had admitted to him.  Something they now regretted doing.  But they had discussed this eventuality already, and they were both prepared for it.  “Who?” Judith replied.

“Stephen Marsh,” Curmett said calmly.  “The son of Philadelphia’s District Attorney.”

Judith grunted a laugh.  “I wish!” she said.  “Marsh put my son in prison, when he knew perfectly well that he had no real evidence against him at all.  But what does that have to do with his son?  I didn’t even know he had a son.”

“Oh, you knew alright,” Curmett replied.  “In fact, you not only abducted Stephen Marsh, you abducted Nancy Stiller as well, the daughter of Congressman Stiller from New York.”

“New York!  Are you balmy?  Why would I do any of that?  It’s ridiculous.”

“You tell me,” Curmett demanded.

“Tell you what?  Nothing you’re saying, or I guess accusing me of, makes sense!  I haven’t done anything!”

“And I think you’re lying!” Curmett countered.  “I know you’re lying!”

“And I know I’m not!” Judith argued.  “What’s this about anyway?  I…we…haven’t kidnapped anyone.  I wouldn’t even know where to start to do something like that.  Why on earth would we?”

“Revenge!” Curmett said.  “You wanted revenge!”

“Against who?” Judith demanded.  “For what?”

“Against Henry Marsh for locking your son up in prison.”

“Oh!” Judith replied.  “Yeah, I’d love to get a bit of revenge against him for that.  My Josh was innocent!  But what does all these abduction things you’re talking about have to do with that?  Josh is in prison, and what the hell does a New York congressman have to do with any of it?”

“That’s what we want to know,” Curmett told her.

“Then why are you asking me?  I don’t know.  I have no idea about anything you’re talking about.  Oh wait!  I remember that the police came here once and asked me some questions about Josh and his Planetary Eco Alliance people, but I’ve got no connection with them.  Why would I?  That’s Josh’s business.  Talk to him.  You can find him still in prison!”

Curmett was getting confused.  So far, it was sounding like these people knew nothing at all about the abductions.  He decided to move into the more sensitive information.  “Tell me about your system that can extract someone’s soul right out of their body.”  The strange looks he was getting now from both Ben and Judith were not what he wanted to see.

“Do what?” Ben asked.

“Pull someone’s soul out of their body, and store it in…something.”

“Huh?” Judith grunted.  “I was confused before.  Now I’m even more so.  You’re making no sense at all.  In fact, none of this makes sense.”

“I was told you developed a water treatment system.”

“Yes!” Judith replied.  “So far, that’s the only thing you’ve said that I can understand.  We did develop a system for that.  And we believe it’s the best system for producing absolutely pure clean water on the planet.  That’s no secret at all!”

“We’ve made a lot of money off it too,” Ben added.  “That’s no secret either.”

“I don’t care how much money you made.  I want to know how you took two people, pulled their memories and identities, stored them somewhere, and then put them back into someone else!”

Both Ben and Judith looked at him like he was crazy.  “He’s nuts,” Judith said to Ben.  “Absolutely nuts.”

“I think so too,” Ben agreed.

“Where is the water system that I’m told can extract someone’s soul?” Curmett demanded angrily.  I was told you keep it in your basement.”

“Um…” Judith hummed.  “I have the original prototype of our system that we used for developing it in the basement, but that’s all.  And trust me, it doesn’t extract anyone’s soul.  How could it?  Besides, it’s not even put together.”

“I don’t care if it’s put together or not.  We can put it together.  Where is it?”

“Why are you bothering to ask?” Ben said.  “You yourself said it’s in the basement.  That’s where we stuck our prototype for safe keeping.”

“Take them to the basement!” Curmett demanded.  “Let’s see this machine.”

With so many people trooping down to the basement of the house, it took a while.  Especially since Ben and Judith had their hands cuffed behind their backs.  But eventually they were all in the basement standing in front of the huge mass of machinery that was spread out along one of the walls.

“This is it?” Curmett asked.

“That’s the prototype,” Ben told him.  “Of course, our production model is much smaller, but we needed a central pipe that large so we could work in it to get the placement of everything just right.  That turned out to be critical to the process.  Our largest production model has only a six inch central pipe.  It’s much smaller.”

“I’m told that someone named Hector got injured from this machine and was in a coma,” Curmett said.

“Oh!  Indeed he was,” Judith told him.  “Poor Hector was inside the machine when he hit his head on one of the magnetic field generators.  Knocked the poor thing right out, and it most have done something else to him too because he was in a coma for months before he woke up.  Sadly, he decided to leave us after that to take a teaching position, but since he was part of the original production team, he still gets his share of the profits from our sales.”

“We were told that the reason he was in a coma was because your machine here abstracted his very soul!  Now stop playing dumb and tell me, how does it do that?” Curmett demanded menacingly.  “How does it abstract a soul?”

“It doesn’t do that!” Judith yelled back.  “It can’t do that!  It targets a list of molecules that pollute water.  Nothing else.  We’ve got patents on it.  How could you possibly even target someone’s soul?  Look, different molecules behave differently when they’re subjected to intense sonic waves.  Combine targeted magnetic fields with those waves and you can pull those molecules right out of the water.  And it happens fast.  Very fast.  That’s all his machine can do.  It targets molecular particles, nothing more.”

“How could you possibly target someone’s soul?” Ben asked.  “As far as I know, a soul isn’t matter and it isn’t energy.  What you’re proposing that this machine can do, doesn’t even make sense!”

Holfstrom considered that.  “I hate to say it, but he’s right,” he told Curmett.  “Of course, I haven’t studied this machine yet.  I know the physics of the process they’re describing.  It’s advanced, but it would still only target matter, not even energy.  We know nothing at all about what a soul would be.  In fact, what’s been described to me so far from someone you said was drunk, doesn’t even make sense to me.  To transfer someone’s entire identity would take intense computing power and something that would connect directly to the brain.  There’s nothing like that here that I can see.”

“There!” Judith said.  “See!  Even he agrees with us.”

“I don’t care,” Curmett told them.  He turned to the soldiers in the basement.  “I want them both taken to the site, and I want every bit of this machine packed up and sent too, along with anything at all that has to do with it or water treatment.  We’ll let the experts question these two, and I’ll get another team of experts to go through every bit of this machine.  We’ll get our answers.  One way or another!”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Three weeks later, Nancy was in the basement with Chrissy and Diane.  They were all holding cue sticks and trying to put the pool balls into the pockets.  Mostly unsuccessfully. 

“Can you believe it?” Chrissy said.  “School starts tomorrow, already!”

“Not for me,” Nancy pointed out.

“Well, it does for us,” Diane told her.

“Why aren’t you going?” Chrissy asked.  “Just because you lost your memory?”

“Oh!” Diane exclaimed.  “Did you lose everything you ever learned in school too and have to start all over again?”

“That would be bad!” Chrissy realized.  “Real bad.”

Diane could only agree.

“No,” Nancy told them.  “I’m pretty sure I can remember some…or hopefully most of what I learned in school.  I just don’t remember the school, the teachers, the kids, or anything else about too many things.  And I especially don’t remember anything about me.”

“That’s easy,” Diane said.  “You’re Nancy, remember?  Or did you forget again.”

Nancy laughed.  “No, everybody keeps drilling that fact into my head so often I doubt I’ll ever forget it again.”

“That’s good then!” Chrissy told her.

“And if we have to, we’ll keep drilling it back into your head,” Diane agreed.

“Go right ahead,” Nancy told them.

“I guess we’re going to have Miss Sanderson for a teacher this year,” Chrissy said.

“Unless they got someone else,” Diane suggested.

“I doubt it,” Chrissy replied.  “The seventh graders all said that Miss Sanderson was pretty nice though, so hopefully that should be good.”

“What if you have different teachers?” Nancy asked.  “You could be in different classes.”

“Nancy, you really don’t remember things, do you,” Diane told her.  “There’s only ten of us in our grade.  So only one class.  The whole school is like that.”

“And you’ve got to be pretty rich just to afford to go there,” Chrissy added.

“You do?” Nancy asked.

“It’s a private school.  Remember?” Chrissy said.

“Sorry.  No.  I don’t remember anything about it at all.”

“That’s alright,” Diane said.  “You’re not missing anything.  Just a bunch of stuck-up kids.”

“Like us!” Chrissy shouted teasingly.

“That’s us,” Diane laughed.

They played pool.  They danced around on the dance floor.  Basically, they all had a good time being together before Chrissy and Diane would have to start school again the next day.  Nancy wondered if she was going to miss them, then she remembered that they weren’t moving away to school, they would just be gone during the day.  They could still see each other after school and on weekends.  Hopefully.

But thoughts about Chrissy and Diane haunted Nancy for a few hours more, until in the middle of dinner with the entire family, Nancy finally blurted out, “Mom, Dad, I want to try something that’s probably so stupid you wouldn’t believe it.”

“Stupid?” Wanda asked.  “Why would you want to do something that’s stupid.  That doesn’t make sense.”

“No,” Nancy agreed.  “And neither does this, but I want to do it anyway.  Or at least, try it.”

“What’s that?” Henry asked.

“I want to go to school.”

“School!” Wanda exclaimed.

“You’re joking, right?” Emily asked.

“I guess I should be,” Nancy replied, “but I think I’m serious.”  She looked to both her new mother and father.  “Do you think I could even just take a look around there and see what I might be getting myself into?  I’m not afraid of whatever they’re studying.  More than likely I’ll probably know it all anyway.  Or most of it.  I guess there could be some things they might be doing that I wouldn’t know about, but it’s the beginning of the school year, it can’t be that much.”

“No, there wouldn’t be much,” Wanda admitted, considering her youngest daughter’s proposal.

“Nance!” Emily said.  “They’d eat you alive.  You’re not allowed to let anyone know who you really are inside.  Do you think you can survive living all day with a bunch of seventh graders, most of whom are girls?  Even I know that would be pure hell!  Seventh grade wasn’t that long ago for me.”

“You’ve got a point,” Wanda agreed.

“I know,” Nancy said.  “But Chrissy and Diane said there’s only ten people in their class.”

“All the classes are pretty small,” Emily told her.  “Purposely!  It’s an exclusive private school.”

“So if the classes are all small, I have less to worry about, right?” Nancy countered.

“Don’t bet on it Nance,” Emily replied.  “You’d still be dealing with seventh graders.  And seventh grade girls.  And I used to be one.  I know what it’s like.”

Nancy decided to ignore her sister.  She looked to her mother and father instead.  “I still think I’d like to try,” she told them.  “Or at least let me see the place so I know what everyone’s talking about.”

Wanda looked to her husband.

Henry shook his head.  “Don’t look to me.  She…Stephen, was heading into his senior year at high school.  It’s not the same thing as our Nancy having to go into her senior year, straight out of sixth grade.”

“At least we don’t have that problem,” Wanda agreed.  “So what do you think?”

“I don’t care.  If Nance doesn’t like it, then we pull her out and put her back into the on-line course.  She’d be done with college before she’s old enough to be out of high school.”

Wanda looked to Nancy.  “Are you ready to go back that far in your education?”

“I guess so,” Nancy told her.  “What choice do I have.  My…other mother told me that since I’m stuck like this, I’ve got no choice but to accept it and try to adapt and make the best of it.  Isn’t going to school doing something like that?”

“Yes,” Wanda agreed.  “It would be.  I’ll call the school tomorrow and see if we can at least set up an appointment to talk to them.  With you having no memory of anything at all to do with school or the kids or even yourself, they may not want you there.  They might have objections to dealing with someone who has your kind of problems.”

Nancy knew that her new mother was referring to the amnesia cover story that she had to live with.  “Can you ask them?” she asked.

“Yes,” Wanda agreed.  “In the morning.  In the meantime,” she looked to Emily.  “Can you take a look at her school uniforms?  See if there’s anything in her closet that will still fit her.  We weren’t expecting this.  We didn’t do any back to school shopping for her.”

“Sure Mom.  This should be interesting…to see if she can handle a bunch of seventh graders!  Good luck!” she teased Nancy.

It was the afternoon of the following day before Wanda went up to Nancy’s room.

“Mom!” Nancy exclaimed the moment Wanda walked in.  “Did you talk to them?”

“They said to bring you in and let them decide for themselves if they can handle having someone like you there.  They are concerned about not only your total lack of memory, but that you might have forgotten too much if not all you’re schooling.”

“My schooling is fine!” Nancy told her.

“We know that, but they can’t know it.  In fact, if they decide to let you stay, it might be smart for you to conveniently forget about a lot of stuff that you already know.”

“I know that,” Nancy told her.  “I don’t even plan on getting perfect scores on my tests.

“No!  You better get perfect scores…if you can.  That’s important to your father and me.”

“Okay.  Fine!” Nancy replied.  “So I’m going?”

“Just so you can see the school and so they can evaluate you.  Nothing more,” Wanda told her.

“Good enough,” Nancy agreed.  “At least it’s a start, and if nothing more, I can tell Chrissy and Diane that I tried.”

Wanda wondered how Chrissy and Diane could play such a big part in this.  But at least her daughter had friends.  After how alone and depressed she had been since she had been abducted, this was at least a welcome improvement.  “Do you want to wear your uniform in case they let you stay today?”

“Sure Mom,” Nancy agreed.  “Sounds good.”

Wanda was floored.  The school uniform included a skirt.  Her old Nancy was all girl.  All dresses and skirts.  This new Nancy wasn’t.  She was the exact opposite in so many ways.  Of course, what could be more opposite than a seventeen year old football playing boy?

“Want me to do your hair?”

“Yeah,” Nancy agreed.  “That would be a big help.”

Yes, this was not like her new Nancy at all.  Just what had Chrissy and Diane said to her?  She made a mental note to thank them the next time she saw them.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Extracted - Chapter 26 – Aliens Explains Everything – Part 2 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 26 – Aliens Explains Everything – Part 2 of 2

 

“How was the drive?” Tom Nolan asked as Ellen got out of her car at the police station.

“Fortunately, not bad,” Ellen told him.  She reached up and planted a kiss on his lips.  “Missed you,” she told him.

Tom kissed her back.  “Missed you too.”

“Okay, business first.  Where to?”

“I guess, Doctor Faucet’s house,” Tom replied.  “Let’s take my car.”

“Good!  After that drive, I could use a break.”

Faucet’s house wasn’t difficult to find, especially since Nolan had spent a good part of his life driving all over Philadelphia.  The two of them went to the front door and Tom knocked.  The door was opened a few moments later.

Chris Faucet immediately recognized both the woman and the man on his doorstep.  It was the same FBI woman and the same cop who had been with her at his office.  “FBI and police?” he asked.

“Special Agent Rosenberg,” Ellen told him.  “And this is Detective Nolan.  We met at your office a while back.”

“I remember,” Faucet told them.  “I didn’t remember your names.  I take it you want to hear about what I discovered?” he asked, slurring his words more than a bit.

“Yes,” Nolan replied.  “May we come in?”

“Of course,” Faucet replied as he moved from the door and led the way into his living room.  “Drink?” he asked as he held up his whiskey glass, despite it being late morning on a Sunday.

“No thanks,” Rosenberg told him.

“We’re working,” Nolan added.

Faucet nodded.  “I’ve been doing a lot of drinking lately.  Far more than I should.”  He took a seat and motioned toward the other seats in the room, but neither Ellen nor Tom sat.  They elected to stand to question him instead.

“I was told that you had further information concerning Stephen Marsh’s abduction,” Nolan told him.  “Can you elaborate?”

Faucet saluted him with his whiskey glass.  “Not too many details about how the abduction was carried out, but I can certainly tell you about what caused the difficulties that those two kids, Stephen and Nancy, are faced with now.”

Ellen shook her head.  “Doctor,” she said.  “We already know they’re very confused.  All mixed up.”

Faucet looked at her like she was crazy.  “Not just mixed up, but they’ve actually become each other.”

“We know…” Ellen started to say.

“And I know why and how it was done!” Faucet interrupted her.

Both Rosenberg and Nolan could only stare at him for a moment.

“Interested?” Faucet asked, then took another sip of his drink.

“Very,” Rosenberg admitted, wondering if she needed to take a seat so she wouldn’t fall over.

Faucet took a large sip of his drink, then said, “Okay.  Before I begin, I need to warn you that I’m going to be mentioning a few subjects that you’re not going to want to consider as being part of it, but trust me, by the time I’m done, you’ll understand it all.  I hope anyway.”

“Go on,” Nolan told him, wishing that he wasn’t so drunk.  “We’re listening.”

“Good!”  Once again Faucet took a large sip of his drink.

“I have a hobby,” he told them.  “One that some people find unusual, but believe me, there’s more interest in it around the entire world than you might think.  And that hobby is hunting ghosts.”  He held up his glass.  “Don’t laugh and don’t scoff!  This is important!”

He paused for yet another sip of whiskey, then said, “I recently got an invitation to join a group of…I guess scientists who I thought were also interested in ghosts.  The thing that impressed me about them was that they’re all PhD level men and woman, and trust me, very smart people.  The only thing is that in our discis…discussions concerning the theoretical aspects of ghosts, they kept using the word souls instead of ghosts or spirits.  But as far as I was concerned, that was nothing more than a matter of sem…antics.  I mean, what are ghosts but the remains of some poor soul who has refused to leave this earth, for some reason or other.  I thought, ghosts, souls…it’s all the same thing.”  He waved his glass around.  “How wrong I was!”

Both Nolan and Rosenberg were beginning to believe this was nothing more than some insane ramblings of a drunk.

“Before me, there was only five people in the group,” Faucet told them.  “But three of them don’t matter.  I’m not even going to bother telling you their names.”

“Who were they?” Rosenberg insisted.

“Nobody worth knowing, except for their brains,” Faucet replied.  “The two people you need to be interested in are Ben…Ben…Benjamin Folley and Judith Rameriz.”

The name Judith Rameriz rang a bell for Nolan.  Rosenberg too.

“Why does that name Rameriz sound familiar,” Rosenberg asked.

Nolan ignored her question.  “Wait a minute,” he told Faucet.  “We interviewed a Judith Ramirez in connection with this already, because the ransom demand was all about her son, Joshua Rameriz.”

“Yes!” Rosenberg exclaimed, remembering that her team was still looking into the Planetary Eco Alliance group that he had been a part of.”

“Joshua Rameriz was one of the founders of the Planetary Eco Alliance group that’s been stirring up trouble all over the world,” Nolan told Faucet.  “When we questioned his mother though, we didn’t find anything interesting about her.”

“But you see, Det…Detec…Mr. Policeman,” Faucet slurred.  “That’s what it’s all about!  Her son!  Marsh stuck him in prison and Judith is convinced he’s innocent, so she and Ben decided to take a bit of revenge out on…somebody Marsh.  The D.A..  The boy’s father.”

“Revenge on Henry Marsh.  Stephen Marsh’s father.  The Philly D.A.”

“Right!  You got it,” Faucet told him before taking another large drink.  He worked his way to his feet.  “I need a…” he burped…refresher,” he finished.

Rosenberg grabbed him, grabbed his glass from his hand, and sat him down.  “I think you‘ve had enough!  More than enough.  “Tell us about Nancy.  Why was she taken?”

“Don’t…uh…remember,” Faucet replied, wanting his glass back.  “But I think it was kind of the same.  Revenge of some sort.  But mostly it was all about Marsh.  So anyway, they took him.  Don’t ask me how, they didn’t say.  Didn’t say about the girl either, so I don’t know.  How about another drink?  You two look like you could use one.”

“No!” Nolan said firmly.  “How could they possibly switch those two around?  It makes no sense.  It’s impossible!”

“Gh…” Faucet burped again.  “Ghosts!” Faucet said.

Rosenberg shook her head.  “Are you trying to tell us that some ghost or something possessed each of those kids?  That’s ridiculous!”

“Not quite,” Faucet told her.  “The process!  The system they built.  The water treatment system.  It was an accident.  And Hector got hurt.”

“Who’s Hector?” Nolan asked.

“What process?” Rosenberg asked.

“I seem to remember,” Nolan said, “when we looked into Judith Rameriz that she was the head of a team that had created some revolutionary water treatment system.  I don’t know beans about it though.  We were interested in the abduction.”

“Their water treatment system.  It works,” Faucet told them.  “A bit too well!”

“Too well?” Rosenberg asked.  “What are you talking about?”

“Years ago,” Faucet said.  “When they were first developing it, something happened to Hector.”

“Who’s Hector?” Nolan demanded.

“One of them.  Or he was.  Not around anymore.”

“You mean he died,” Nolan stated.

“No.  He’s fine.  A professor now I hear at…Temple I think.”

Rosenberg was ready to beat this drunk black and blue.  “What about the process?” she asked, trying desperately to get any kind of useful information.

“It doesn’t just produce clean water, it pulls everything in the world out of it.  Including gold.  But something happened to the prototype and there was an accident that happened to Hector, and he was in a coma for months!”

“A coma,” Rosenberg said.

“For months, until they tried an experiment on him, reversed the process with the machine and it cured him.  Completely.  He woke up.”

The machine cured him,” Nolan said.

Faucet nodded.  “They had no idea what had happened, until one of them suggested the solution as a joke.  Except it wasn’t a joke.  They actually did it.  Something went wrong with the machine and it pulled Hector’s soul right out of his body and captured it in one of the machine’s holding thingys.  And it stayed there for months until they put it back…proving not just the existence of human souls, but it proved they had a process that could extract them, and store them.  It’s the biggest breakup…I mean breakthrough in human technology!”

Rosenberg wasn’t so sure about that, but if the process did do that, then it was certainly momentous.  That is, if it really happened.  This drunk in front of her wasn’t exactly making a whole lot of sense.

Nolan was trying to put it all together.  “So you’re saying that something went wrong with the water treatment system they were developing, and Hector somehow went into a coma because of it when the machine pulled his soul from his body.  Then months later, they reversed the process with the machine and put his soul back into his body, and it cured him.”

“Yes.  Right!” Faucet said, pointing his drunken finger at him.  “You got it!  Good.  Judith Rameriz, and Ben Folley.  They did it together.  Wanted revenge against the D.A.  Cooked the whole thing up.”

“And where is this machine now?” Rosenberg asked.  “Rameriz…zez…house.  In her basement.  You need a drink!” Faucet stated.  “Let me get you one.”

They let him get up and head for his bottles of alcohol.  “What do you want to do?” Nolan asked.  “It sounds pretty fishy to me, but at the same time, Judith Rameriz was one of the people we looked into because of that ransom demand.”

Rosenberg considered it.  “Like it or not, I don’t think we’ve got a choice.  I’m going to pass this up my chain.  Before we go any further, let’s see what they think about this information.  On the one hand, I’d say we go break down the door of this Judith Rameriz and demand an answer, but on the other hand, not only is he sloshing drunk, but everything he said sounds completely bonkers.”

“True,” Nolan agreed.  “I say, pass it on and then let’s get some lunch.”

“Great idea,” Rosenberg agreed.  “She turned to Faucet who was sitting back in his chair, a fresh glass of whiskey in his hand.  “You!” she said.  “Don’t leave town!”

Faucet held up his glass.  “I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

“And dry out!” Nolan ordered.  “When we come back, we better find you completely sober!”

Faucet held up his glass to them, chuckled, then took a large sip.  “Ah…” he sighed before taking yet another drink.

“At the rate he’s going, he’ll probably pass out soon,” Rosenberg realized.  “Come on.  Let’s get out of here.  I’ve got a phone call to make.”

Rosenberg talked on her cellphone with her boss while Tom drove them to a restaurant.  Ellen was done talking by the time they got there.  She had relayed everything she could remember, especially including how drunk Faucet was.  Then the two of them went into the restaurant, intent on forgetting about Faucet and abductions and water treatment systems for a while.  Thirty minutes later though, her cellphone rang.  “Hello?”

Agent Rosenberg?” the man on the other end said.

“That’s me,” Rosenberg confirmed.

“This is Curmett, the National Security Advisor.”

Rosemberg certainly remembered him.  Not only had they met up in the Catskills, but he had been in her office just a few days ago giving her what seemed like an ultimatum over not letting anyone know what actually happened to those two kids.  “What can I do for you sir?” she asked.

“Are you still in Philadelphia?” Curmett asked.

“Still here,” she confirmed.

“Good!  Stay there.  Find a hotel for a few days, but whatever you do, don’t go near that Doctor Rameriz or her friend Benjamin Folley.  We’re sending a special ops team in to deal with them.  If they have the technology to do what they did, then there’s no telling what other things they may have set up to protect their machine.”

Rosenberg had gotten the impression from Faucet that the thing was just sitting in Rameriz’s basement, but she didn’t bother telling Curmett that.  The man probably just wanted to make a big show of doing something, even if in the end it turned out to be nothing at all.

“No problem staying for a few days,” she told him as she looked up at Tom.  “But what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing.  Nothing at all.  We just need you to stay in the area in case we need you for something.  That all.  And if you can, try to make sure that cop doesn’t go near them either.”

Rosenberg, still looking at Tom replied, “I don’t think I’ll have any problem at all doing that.  Trust me, I’ll keep my eye on him.”

“Excellent!” Curmett told him.  Then her phone line went dead.  She stared for a moment at it before putting it back in her purse.

“What do we do?” Nolan asked.

“He wants me to stick around for a few days and make sure neither of us goes near the case.  He’s sending some kind of special ops group to handle it instead.”

“More power to him,” Nolan said.

“Yeah.  In the meantime, I’m going to need a place to stay for a few days.”

“There’s room in my bed,” Tom told her.

“And where’s your bed?” she asked playfully.

“In my bedroom.”

“And where’s your bedroom?”

“In my apartment.

“And where’s your apartment?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Extracted - Chapter 26 – Aliens Explains Everything – Part 1 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 26 – Aliens Explains Everything – Part 1 of 2

 

Wanda was used to throwing elaborate dinners.  This one didn’t need to be elaborate, but somehow she still couldn’t imagine it being anything but formal.  She wanted it to be formal.  Memorable.  Because this was the first time that both families were alone together.  And it was in her house.

She had her cook fix one of her favorite meals, knowing from experience that almost everyone loved it.  She also made sure that both Nancy and Emily were dressed extra nicely.  Because of the Nancy-Stephen deal, Wanda considered this was really two separate families that were now combined into one family.  It was something stronger and more binding than the way any wedding could combine families.  She wanted everyone to think of it the way she did.  They were now all one family.

As they sat eating together, the conversation was light and polite.  Comfortable.  Almost like they were one family.  Something that Wanda was appreciating.

“I just can’t get over…Nancy there,” Agatha said, briefly pointing her fork at the young girl at the table.  “Taking ballet lessons.  And I am so happy that some of her friends have been around to try and help her out too.  I really wish we could have gotten some of Stephen’s old friends to help take his mind off of things, but they’ve all been away at football camp.  And his girlfriend, well, let’s just say that was a disaster that I’m glad happened.  Once she discovered that Stephen really didn’t know her at all anymore, she practically ran from the house.”

“Melody?” Nancy asked, horrified to hear that.

“Yes dear,” Agatha told her.  But when she saw the shocked look in Nancy’s face she said, “Don’t look so disappointed.  What would you do with her now anyway?”

Nancy just shook her head.  “She was fun,” she replied.

“Maybe too much fun!”

Nancy said nothing.

Wanda, not wanting her magic mood diminished in any way, felt a change of subject was needed to get things back to the congenial keel where they had been.  “Stephen, she said.  “I just can’t get over you helping out in your father’s office.  That sounds like important work you’re doing.”

“Filing isn’t,” Stephen countered.  “Dad asked me to come in to do some filing, but I wind up doing very little.”

“What you’re doing instead is far more important,” Henry told him.  “And you know that everyone there, especially me, appreciates your help.”

“Thanks Dad,” Stephen said, blushing slightly.  “The truth is, I really like it.  It’s interesting.  I’m thinking that maybe someday I might become a lawyer.”

“Son, nothing would make me happier!” Henry told him.

“Me either,” Mike agreed.  “It’s a great idea Steve.  A great goal.  And if you need anything, I’ll help you all I can.”

“Thanks…Dad,” Stephen replied.  He shook his head.  “This is so weird.  I’ve got two dads at this table and two moms.  I don’t want to offend any of you by calling the other one dad or mom.  It’s all…weird.”

“We know Steve,” Agatha assured him.  “We all do.”

“I’m just trying to figure out my new life,” Steve told them.  “Being a lawyer is the first semi-interesting thing I’ve thought of, but that’s a future thing.  Right now, I’m just trying to figure myself out and not screw up too much.  I don’t want any of you to get angry at me.  I’ve got enough problems.”

“Steve, we’re not angry at you,” Henry said.  He looked around the table.  “Anyone feel differently?”

“Nope!” Mike agreed.  “I’m proud of him.”

“I don’t think you all get it,” Nancy said, speaking up.  “I have two sets of parents now that I want to be proud of me.  Two!  It’s like…twice the pressure.”

“Yeah,” Stephen agreed.  “That’s how I feel too.  I want all of you to be proud.”

“It’s just that…” Nancy continued.  “It’s hard!  I’m stuck in this new life that I don’t understand, and Steve is stuck in his life that he doesn’t understand, and it’s driving both of us crazy.  And most of the time I just think that the two of us are both the unluckiest, most cursed people in the world!”

Wanda looked at both her new daughter, Nancy, and her old daughter, Stephen, who was somewhere inside that older boy’s body.  “Maybe you should both try looking at things a bit differently,” she suggested.

“What do you mean?” Stephen asked.

“Instead of unlucky, you both might be the luckiest people on earth.”

“Us?” Nancy exclaimed.  “You’re kidding, right?”

“No.  Not at all.  You each have two mothers and two fathers who love you.”

“And a sister who loves you too,” Emily added.  “Both of you!”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Detective Thomas Nolan got the news that someone had phoned in, claiming to have information on the Marsh abduction.  He doubted that very much.  It either had to be someone who knew nothing at all and just wanted some attention, or someone who knew something that they already knew, or the most likely thing, someone who had some kind of theory like…aliens!  The only problem was that Stephen Marsh being abducted by aliens might really explain everything!  He didn’t dare mention that to either Ellen Rosenberg or to that Mr. Curmett from the government.  Especially after Curmett had come at him a few days ago threatening to bring the world down on him if he let out any of what they thought really happened to those kids.

Which meant, should he check the tip out, or not?

Thoughts of Ellen Rosenberg crossed his mind.  Nobody knew it, but the two of them had met secretly at a hotel in New Jersey for dinner and romancing.  Twice!  They were some of the most satisfying evenings Nolan could remember.  But now the question was, should he call her and let her know about this dubious tip?  In the end, it was her case though.  He guessed it was only right that she should know about it.  Plus, he wouldn’t mind talking to her again anyway.  Something told him that she felt the same.

Two button pushes to his cellphone later, and he heard her number ringing.

“Tom!” Ellen answered.  “Hi.”

“Hey Ellen,” Tom replied.  “How’s it going?”

“Same ol’.  You know.”

“Yeah.  Listen, Ellen.  Somebody called into the police here in Philadelphia saying they had information about the Stephen Marsh abduction, but somehow, I doubt that very much.”

“Why?”

“Because even with all our looking, we still haven’t found anything at all.”

“Who phoned it in?”

“I don’t know.  I didn’t get any details other than to call a desk sergeant I never heard of.”

“I just want to know if you’re interested enough to come down and check it out with me, or do you want me to go it alone?”

“Tom, tomorrow is Sunday and I’m off.  You know we were talking about getting together anyway, so why don’t I drive down and we can see if there’s anything to worry about, and then you can show me around Philadelphia.”

“Ellen, that sounds like the best idea I’ve heard in years.  Love to.  See you tomorrow, and in the meantime, let me call this sergeant back and get the information.”

“See you tomorrow Tom.  Bye,” Ellen told him.

Nolan dialed the number for the desk sergeant who had phoned him.  As the sergeant began relaying the information, Nolan suddenly became a lot more interested.  “Stop!” he told the sergeant.  “Did you say Faucet?  Doctor Faucet?”

“He said Christopher Faucet,” the sergeant replied.  “Do you know him?”

“Not exactly, but I’ve met him,” Nolan admitted.  “But something tells me we’re about to get much better acquainted.  Do you have his home address?”

“Home and office.”

“I know where his office is.  Text me his home address.  What did he say about the abduction?”

“He said he knows what happened to a kid named Stephen Marsh and some girl named Nancy.  And if you want to talk to him about it then you should get in touch.  That’s it.”

“Thanks!” Nolan told him.  He ended the call.  He knew that Faucet had briefly been the psychiatrist for Stephen Marsh, but he wasn’t supposed to be working with him anymore.  Did Curmett do anything to get him back to working with Stephen again?  Or was this something else?

He grabbed his phone again and called Ellen back.  “Ellen,” he said as soon as she had answered.  “You’ll never believe who this tip is coming from.”

“Who?”

“Doctor Faucet.  Stephen Marsh’s one time psychiatrist.”

“Faucet!” Ellen exclaimed.  “I wasn’t exactly impressed with the man the one time I met him.”

“Neither was I.”

“What did he have to say?”

“Just that if we’re interested, then we should contact him.  I’ve got his home address.”

“Tom,” Ellen said.  “I’ll see you in the morning, and I hope I get a chance for us to see at least some of Philadelphia together, other than Faucet’s house.”

“Tomorrow!” Tom agreed.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

The following morning, the entire Stiller family was outside waving goodbye to the Marsh family.  Before leaving, Agatha had promised that next month they’d do it again, this time at her house.  Wanda was already looking forward to that.  Somehow, she felt like she had just made a new friend in Agatha.  But as she had continually thought yesterday, the two families had no choice now but to consider themselves as one.

As the Marsh family drove out of sight, they all turned and trooped back into the house.  Emily came up next to her and Wanda put her arm around the shoulder of her oldest daughter.  “Mom?” Emily said softly as they went inside.

“Yes?”

“What are you going to do about Nancy?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.  Nancy isn’t our Nancy.  She’s someone else.  She’s Stephen.”

“I’m more than aware dear,” Wanda told her with some frustration over the issue.

“But…she’s not really my sister.  She’s not really your daughter either.”

Wanda could have easily pointed out that the body that Naney was using was her daughter, but she also knew that it wasn’t what her older daughter was talking about.  “Emily,” she said, “think of it this way.  When you adopt a child, you commit to loving that child with all your heart and all your strength.  This is kind of like adopting, only more so since I actually gave birth to that child.  So that’s just what I’m going to do.  I’m going to love her as strongly as can.  And I already know that Agatha in Philadelphia is going to do the same with Stephen, our Nancy.  Nancy and Stephen both are going to get all the love and support we can give.  And Emily, I really hope you can do the same.”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

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

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

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

 

“I heard a rumor that you’ve been going to work with your father,” Wanda said to Stephen once they had a chance to sit down alone together.  “How did that happen?”

“I guess they needed some help, and I was home doing a lot of nothing.  Too much nothing.  I did learn to shoot baskets with a basketball though.  I’m not exactly very good at it yet, but it gives me something to do sometimes.”

“What kinds of things are you doing for your father?” Wanda asked him.

“It’s supposed to be just filing a bunch of stuff that the people who work there couldn’t seem to be bothered putting away.  Geez!  You should see that place.  It’s a bigger mess than my room was when I first got there.”

“A mess?”

“Um…the other me was…a slob!”

“Really?  I haven’t seen any kind of problems like that with her at all.”

“Mom.  Really.  Would you allow her to make that kind of mess and not clean it up?”

“Not on her life!”

“There you have it.”

“Wanda reached over and hugged him.  “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you.”

“Me too!” Stephen told her.

“Have they decided what to do about school for you?”

“Yeah.  They hired this guy to kind of tutor me.  I’ve only met him once so far, but he seems nice.  Other than that, they enrolled me in this online school so I can try to catch up.  It’s supposed to be something where I can work at my own pace, whatever that means.”

“All that sounds pretty reasonable.  In fact, quite good.  I’ll tell Agatha though to let me know if they need money or anything at all that we can help you with.”

“Mom, I’m just a kid inside this huge body, but I still get the impression that we’re pretty well off.”

“Mm,” Wanda agreed.  “He is the Philadelphia D.A.  That’s got to pay at least a reasonable salary.  Agatha also said she likes to throw dinner parties like I do, so I’m sure there’s money there.  I just don’t know how much.”

“I’ve only seen them hold one party so far,” Stephen told her.  “I know things have been pretty busy for them.  Just not for me.”

“Except you’re a little busier now,” she pointed out.  “Since you’re doing some filing for you father.”

“Yeah, except I’m not doing that much filing.  I spend more time now looking up things for the other people who work there than doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“Looking up things?  Doing their jobs for them?”

“Believe it or not.  Dad says if I can do it, that it’s more important than putting things away where they’re supposed to be.”

“How do you feel about that?” Wanda asked him.

“I actually like it a lot better than trying to put everything away.  In fact, it’s interesting.  Sometimes, really interesting.  The people who work there seem to appreciate it when I can help too.  I like that.”

“So they’re nice to you?”

“Real nice.  I kind of like it.  I hope I can keep doing it.  Maybe I can be a lawyer someday and work there, or someplace like it.”

“Who knows,” Wanda told him.  “I just want you to be happy.”

“I wasn’t before, but things have kind of changed this last week.  Going to work with Dad.  And then after work we’ve been running together too for exercise.  I like that.  Dad…my dad.  My real dad…”

“Yes?”

“He never did anything with me at all.  There were a lot of times when I wished he would.”

“I’m sure,” Wanda replied, both troubled to hear that, and happy for her child because he was having a better relationship with this father than her real father.  Still, it bothered her.  She promised to have a discussion about it with Mike.  Maybe he could find something to do with this new Nancy so she wouldn’t feel quite so abandoned.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

While the others were spread out through the house, Mike took Henry down to the basement to play some pool while they talked.  Once downstairs, Henry looked around.  “I’ve got to get back to finishing off my own basement.  This is nice!”  He noticed the one thing he never expected to see in a basement.  “You’ve got a dance floor?”

“You mean you don’t?” Mike joked.  “It’s turned out to be the perfect accessory for down here.  I put it in for the girls to practice their dance lessons, but there’s been more than a few times when Wanda and I have used it too.  Send the kids to bed, then a little wine and dancing and…”

“Have you got your bedroom down here too then?”

“No,” Mike told him.  “Sometimes it sounds like it might be nice to have it close to the dancefloor, but the reality is that it can get pretty noisy and chaotic down here sometimes.  Especially with two girls in the house.”

“I can imagine,” Henry told him.

Mike selected a pool cue and Henry did the same.  While Mike racked the balls, Henry asked, “What did you think about what Mr. Curmett had to say?”

“Mm,” Mike mumbled.  “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you afterwards.”

“I take it you didn’t like something.  It all seemed, I guess reasonable would be a good way to describe it.”

“Oh, it’s perfectly reasonable,” Mike agreed.  “It’s what he didn’t say that bothers me.”

“Like what?” Henry asked as he lined up his first shot.  A moment later, the tightly grouped balls were scattered all over the table.

“When a study like what I think they were doing takes place, there should be conclusions and recommendations that come out of it.”

“Come to think of it, you’re right.  Curmett didn’t say much along those lines at all when he talked to us.”

“No, us either,” Mike confirmed.  “There had to be further conclusions other than that somebody did it and it could be a national security problem.  It’s too vague.  There’s no details.”

“And as you said, there should have been recommendations with that study as well,” Henry said.  “I wonder if there were any.”

“Right!” Mike agreed.  “Now that the study is concluded, what are they doing about it?  I’d like to know.  My daughter is involved.”

“And my son,” Henry reminded him.

Mike nodded.  We’re…you and me…are right in the middle of what’s happening, but they’re not telling us squat!”

“Yeah,” Henry agreed.  “I’m the District Attorney.  You don’t think I can’t tell bullshit when I hear it?  He could have handled all that with nothing more than a phone call, if he even needed that much.  But what can we do about it?” he asked.

Mike shook his head.  I’ve been a congressman for a while now, and I think I’m doing pretty well.  Making a name for myself.  But I already know that if I go to the President, or even back to Curmett, then I’m going to get stonewalled.  The silent treatment.  They’re going to play whatever game they’re cooking up close to the vest.  In fact, if I had to bet, I’d say that whatever they’re doing is going to be rated so top secret, that the next President of the United States may never even hear about it.”

“Can they do that?”

“Henry, it happens all the time.  Even I know that.  A new president comes into office, and a few years later, something happens and the secret bees in the system have to catch him up on what he was never told.”

“Yeah, it would be like that,” Henry realized.  “Yeah, it makes perfect sense.”

“Curmett is smart,” Mike told him.  “Really smart!  And he’s good at his job.  But he’s also the President’s lacky.  Still, the President seems to listen to him, which is mostly good.  There have been a few things that I know about that have gone on between them that I’m not real happy about, but I guess the same thing goes on between the President and most of his advisors.

“Wouldn’t that be the case for all presidents?” Henry asked.

“Absolutely.  Still, I trust Curmett, but…I don’t trust him.”

“What are you getting at?” Henry asked.

“What aren’t they telling us?” Mike said.  “And why won’t they let us know why they’re keeping it all from us?  Are we in danger?  Our kids were kidnapped and their minds raped like no one has ever been raped before.  That’s unconscionable!  And they’re still keeping us in the dark.”

“Are we in danger?” Henry asked, concerned not just for himself but his entire family.

“We could be,” Mike admitted.  “They targeted us to try out whatever kind of system they created.  Not just us, but more specifically, they targeted our kids.  That’s got to mean something.”

“Maybe we should ask the government for protection,” Henry suggested.

“Except the one biggest thing, in fact the only thing that Curmett really said, was that they don’t want anyone to know what really happened.  They don’t want us doing anything that might let anyone know what’s been going on.  Having guards around us all the time would raise too many questions.”

So what do we do about it?” Henry asked.

“To get the answers?  Nothing.  Nothing you or even I can do right now.  Except…I can try to do something, but we’re talking years down the line.”

“What’s that?”

“I can run for president.”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

It was Saturday, and for a day off, Christopher Faucet had done little but think about what he had learned at Judith Rameriz’s house.  They had ripped…stolen!…two souls from the people they belonged to, and stuck them into the wrong bodies, with no concern about what might happen.  Neither Judith nor Ben had any idea what would happen to those people.

It was unreal.  But then so was the ability to remove someone’s very soul in the first place, especially doing it without killing them.  But evidently, removing the soul left them in a coma with no chance of waking up, until that soul, or someone’s soul, was there to occupy the living body.  It was the psychological equivalent of Armageddon!

He hadn’t slept since he had learned about it.  He hadn’t been able to focus on anything since he had learned about it.  But the problem was, what should he do about it?  It seemed like someone ought to know.  Someone ought to do something.  If for no other reason than that those two kids deserved to have their lives…their souls…straightened out!

But of course, there was the same old question he had been asking himself since he had first heard Judith and Ben’s story.  Who would ever believe him?  It was too unbelievable for anyone to believe.  In fact, that was part of his own problem, he had heard their story, but he was having trouble believing it himself.  And if he didn’t believe it, how could he ask anyone else to believe it?

Still, it seemed like something ought to be done.  Someone ought to know.  But who?

He remembered there had been an FBI agent in his office telling him about the girl up in New York who thought she was the boy here in Philadelphia, but did he want to call the FBI?  He didn’t have the woman’s phone number or any way to reach her.  He supposed he could reach out to someone else in the FBI and see if they were interested in listening to what he had found out.  But would they believe him?  It was back to the same old question again.  It was unbelievable!

So not the FBI.  How about the police?  He vaguely remembered that there had been someone from the police with that FBI woman, but the policeman had just been there without saying anything.  If he called the police, would they listen to him any more than the FBI would…or wouldn’t?

What was he supposed to do?

In desperation, and knowing he had to do something, he picked up his phone.  To call…or not to call.  That was the question.  Whether it was better to suffer the slings and arrows of being known as a complete quack, or try to do something good in his life.  Quack…or hero?  Or both.

Knowing he was most likely going to be labeled a quack, he called the local police office.  It took some talking to a few different people, but he passed on that he had some information concerning the abduction of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s son Stephen.  And if anyone wanted to talk to him about it, to please let him know.  Someone he talked to promised that someone would get back to him.  The police officer on the phone had sounded serious about it.  Faucet wasn’t sure if anyone would bother calling him or not.

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.

 

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“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.

 

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