He stood, so I went to get his coat.
He shook both my parents by the hand and put his coat on in the porch. I ‘suggested’ to my parents that they left us alone for a moment.
“You really are a remarkable girl,” said the Major.
“I know.”
“Can I ask you one question?”
“What?”
“What was wrong with Andrew?”
“He was a boy.”
“So?”
“I’m a girl.”
“As simple as that?”
“Yes.”
He seemed embarrassed, so I smiled, as I knew what he was thinking.
“Oh, I am a real girl, I started menstruation a year ago.”
This embarrassed him even more.
“And I can read anyone’s mind, even the Brigadiers, in his nice cosy office in Whitehall.”
The major smiled. I knew that this man was a friend at the moment. I also knew that people could change. He pointed to the small parcel I was still clutching.
“You haven’t opened your present,” he said.
I smiled back, without even looking at the gift.
“It’s a very pretty necklace, thank you. You needn’t have given me anything.”
“I did, Amber. You see, I have a feeling that we will be taking a lot from you over the years, so I’m getting mine in first.”
“You will also know that I will only give what I want to give.”
“I know. We’ll do our best to protect you, I hope you believe me.”
I smiled. “I do, but sometimes even the best is not enough.”
He stared at me for a moment.
“Be careful, Amber.”
“I am,” I said, “always.”
I smiled and closed the door behind him.
I returned to the sitting room to find daddy trying to pry some details of mummy’s past life from her. I’d successfully managed to quell such curiosity over the last few years, but obviously this visit had brought things back to the forefront of his mind. It took me a while to ‘suggest’ he didn’t really want to dredge up the past.
“I’m going for a walk!” I announced and put on my coat. I left the house, leaving them a clear understanding that I was to be left alone for a while.
I needed to think. I had just been given notice to grow up and it frightened me a bit. I walked down to the paddock and stroked Fancypants’ soft nose.
“What’s to happen to me, boy?” I asked him. He whinnied and tossed his head.
“Yeah, I think so too.”
I walked across the field that backed onto the houses and down to the river. I was not raining anymore, but the ground was very wet and squelchy. I stood watching the river flow past. It was high with the rain coming off the hills further upstream. The current was strong and it swirled and gurgled as it passed me.
I felt very alone, as if my childhood had suddenly been ended and I was now something else. I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to be. The vulnerability of being different started to hit me, and I knew my life was going to change beyond all recognition. In a way, I’d love to have been able to lose my powers and just be the same as everyone else. However, I knew that with that Andrew may return, so I was prepared to put up with anything to stay as Amber.
I’d been so careful about using my powers. I’d used the mental powers of suggestion and done some mind reading, but essentially that was it. I’d not changed at all, I’d played around making my breasts bigger and stuff, but I didn’t count that.
I wondered what else I could do. I knew I could move fast, but exactly how fast and how far was a mystery.
I looked about me, and could neither see nor sense anyone within sight of me.
I looked at the river; it was about thirty yards across, maybe more.
I checked at the other back, selecting where I was aiming to land and jumped. It never occurred to me that I might miss.
I didn’t.
I now knew that I could jump great distances, but how great?
I took the return journey, just to see how far I could manage. I didn’t manage to get much further than my first jump. I felt a little disappointed, but grinned as I realised as I had just broken the world long jump record, and it had been from a standing start.
I started to walk back, kicking a stone accidentally. Idly, I tried to pick it up mentally. I had no problem and then tried progressively larger stones until the large boulder at the end of the lane was as much, or as little problem as the first pebble.
I lifted a stationary Massey Ferguson tractor, including a trailer with a load of turnips. Then I tried to lift something and jump at the same time. As I jumped, the rock fell to the ground. So, I couldn’t do two things at once…. yet!
I felt something in my pocket. It was the present the Major have given me. I opened it and saw the gold chain and St. Christopher medallion. He was the patron saint of travellers. I wondered where my journey would take me.
I walked home with a silly grin on my face.
(End of Diary)
CHAPTER TEN
There were five people already in the room when Matthew Rider arrived. All looked at him expectantly as soon as he shut the door.
“Well?” said the Brigadier.
Mathew smiled.
“Miss Amber sends her personal regards to you, sir,” he said.
“Me?”
“Yes, Brigadier, to you personally.”
“Good God, what did you tell her?”
“Nothing sir, that is one very bright and highly gifted young woman.”
“She’s only twelve,” muttered Gillian Carter, the only female in the group. She was a psychologist leading the field into paranormal activity in post pubescent teenagers.
“Professor Carter, she may be twelve in years, but she looks about sixteen and behaves like an adult. In fact, she probably knows each one of you by now.”
They all looked at each other, slightly uneasily.
“You asked how I got on; well, I have to say - very well. Amber is, as I said, very bright. She has deliberately not used her gifts in any great form for some time, aware, no doubt, of the dangers of being identified and isolated because of them. She does, however, use sufficient mental coercive power to keep her and her adopted mother’s secrets from her stepfather, friends and other members of the family. She freely told me that she has the ability to read minds, demonstrating the truth beyond all doubt to my satisfaction. I do not believe distance or physical barriers are a hindrance to this particular gift.
“I also learned that she was indeed born male and changed to female because in her heart that is what she felt she is. I have to say, she appears to be a fully fertile female who is developing into a very attractive young woman.”
“Changed, how the devil?”
“To be honest, sir, there’s not a lot we know about her. It seems that she believed herself to be transgendered and made the alteration accordingly.”
“My God, this is utterly fantastic. Is there anything she can’t do?”
“As I said, sir, I don’t think we’ll ever know the full extent of her powers.”
“You said she was fully fertile, how on earth do you know that?”
“She told me, Brigadier, and I have no reason to disbelieve her. One more point, she is neither afraid of us, nor is she in any doubt as to her unique situation. She is very firmly in control, so it would be wise of you all to remember that and to treat her accordingly. She is a delightful girl, but should anyone cross her, then I fear she would make a very tough opponent and certainly not someone I’d choose to be up against.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked John Beecham.
“Simply that she has enormous power. She knows it and wouldn’t hesitate to use it if threatened or provoked. The rules have just changed, I’m afraid, this girl will make them up as we go along, so one must either accept that or become resigned to lose her forever.”