The demand for 'Spirits of Parallel' had exceeded all expectations. The second reprint was quickly absorbed. There was talk by Charlotte Hunter and her editorial staff, of a third, possibly a revised edition.
The past eighteen months had been breathlessly busy for Shaun and Leah, who were forced to travel extensively.
Leah was now playing a major role in the preparation of Shaun's lectures and tour arrangements, neither wanting to engage the services of a manager.
Marriage, although mentioned on occasions was never seriously discussed, everyone assuming that they were husband and wife.
A few of their very close literary friends suggested that to make their union complete they should consider starting a family. But most of them argued against it, feeling that it would be unfair for Leah to get pregnant while they were on tour.
In the privacy of their hotel suite, Shaun roared with laughter when Leah related their friends' remarks. Although in more serious mood they both wanted to be as one, they realised that marriage, in their current situation was impossible. For the remainder of the tour, it was never spoken of again.
Shaun received a letter from Gree, Shorthouse, and Gree, solicitors of Westhill-on-Sea. The tears flowed down his cheeks when he learned that Sandy Highfield had passed away, and had been buried next to his sister, Casey Ann, and his mother at the Westhill cemetery. The letter asked that the office of Mr Gree Senior be contacted within the next few days.
The head clerk greeted Leah and Shaun when they attended the solicitor's offices a week later. He immediately ushered them into the office of the elder Mr Gree, who rose from his seat and stood behind his desk, hesitant, and stared for a moment at Shaun Maclaren in perplexed astonishment. Quickly, he regained his posture as integrity, and experience stopped him from making any comment.
But he did breathe a sigh of relief when he remembered instructing his clerk to address the letter, simply, Shaun Maclaren.
Mr Gree began to read Sandy Highfield's last 'Will and Testament' in the sombre surroundings of his office.
The Will directed that the cottage at Westhill, plus a yearly income for life be given to Shaun Maclaren, the little girl, who, Sandy described in the Will, he had been forced, by a misinformed psychiatrist to abandon. That against his better judgement, he had left her in the hands of those cruel Sisters of Mercy. An act for which he never forgave himself. But hoped with all his heart, that as the pain passed, Shaun would somehow find it possible to forgive him.
"The property." Mr Gree continued, without comment, "known as 'Luckham Downs' was to be sold to repay the bank loans and debts he had accrued, with the residue, if any be given to Shaun in a lump sum."
There was a long silence as Leah and Shaun absorbed the contents of Sandy Highfield's Will.
"Why can't we buy the station?" Leah said suddenly. "We could pay out the loans. Make the Downs our home. It's something, I know Shaun has always dreamed of."
"I don't know a thing about running a cattle station," Shaun said with a grin.
"We could learn, or employ someone."
Mr Gree thought for a moment. "An Overseer, perhaps?" he asked, "I have someone in mind."
The solicitor promised to look at the loans and debts of 'Luckham Downs' and before Leah and Shaun left the office the documents the clerk had drawn up were signed.
They stayed at the Westhill hotel. Leah thought they should visit the cottage, but as soon as Shaun decided to go the memories of Casey Ann, the road, his mother and Sandy Highfield came flooding back.
Leah suggested they visit the cemetery. That by tidying up the graves and laying fresh flowers, it might help him to overcome his pent-up emotions.
"It might help you to remember them, not dead, but as they really were." she told him.
He walked along the beach holding Leah's hand, the way he held Casey Ann's a long time ago.
To Shaun, it seemed as if time had stood still. The rock pools were still there, and the long, low stone wall was unchanged. The sea still lapped at their feet, washing the sand from between their toes. In the distance Shaun was sure he could hear the church bell, it's cracked, almost croaking rising and falling in the afternoon breeze.
Shaun, forcing himself to cross the road, they arrived at the cottage. When he reached the porch over the front door, he stood as if rooted to the spot. He gripped Leah's hand, frightened of what he might find, wondering if anyone lived there.
He knew it would be filled with dust and cobwebs, in those dull little unused rooms. Those stairs, those terrible stairs they had dragged him down stair by stair, one at a time, when all he wanted was to stay by the side of Casey Ann's bed. He wanted to scream. He stared at the outside. It hadn't changed. ' We'll pull it down,' he said to himself, destroy the memories.'
Even at his mother's funeral he had not visited the cottage. It was as he had always remembered.
While Shaun was resting at the hotel Leah called on Mr Gree Senior. She told him about the changes in Shaun. Of the Convent, his fears, his nightmares and dreams. Of his book 'The Spirits of Parallel.'
The solicitor told her that the cottage had been renovated. That Sandy Highfield had borrowed heavily, putting Luckham Downs up as security. Making the cottage the home he had always wanted for Shaun, believing that one day his adopted niece would return and forgive him.
That he had ensured the cottage exterior would always remain, unaltered, in case Shaun would not believe it was home. That a housekeeper , maid, and a gardener had been employed. That they had been with Sandy Highfield for years and had expressed their wishes to remain with the new owner.
Shaun opened the door. The housekeeper greeted him with a warm friendly smile. He was amazed at the alterations. The stairs, the tiny bedrooms had all disappeared. At first he felt sadness, but in his sadness there was a kind of inner happiness.
The table had been set for the evening meal. The dinner service, Old English rose, crystal glasses from Europe, ivory-handled cutlery, silver salt and pepper pots, carnations in long vases, all on beautifully embroidered tablecloth. Everything the way Leah had asked, and as the last rays of the setting sun came through the open window, making the silver and crystal sparkle, Shaun Maclaren had come home. He knew that the ghosts of Casey Ann, Sandy, and his mother were making him, and his Leah welcome.
The bells of Westhill church were ringing for the evening service as Anna Chapman, the housekeeper descended the hill. She liked to be early. It gave her the chance for a chat with her friends in the village. She knew that this Sunday was going to be different, that they were going to ask her about the new owners of Highfield cottage.
Some of the locals had already made up their minds not to like the new couple. That they were different, unusual. That they were not married, and had no right living as man and wife.
"You've done your duty Anna Chapman." the greengrocer's wife told her. "You should leave before they give you notice. It's duty enough that you've looked after Sandy Highfield all those years. Couldn't have been easy, him being crippled and all. Just because he left it to this Shaun Maclaren, doesn't mean you have a duty towards them. Used to be a little blonde girl around here by that name---years ago. Some sort of accident. All hushed up. Highfield had a hand in it. Something about a lorry. Might have even been his kid."
Shaun and Leah decided to go to the evening service. It was Anna Chapman who suggested it. She felt that, by everyone Attending, it would put an end to the gossip.
Leah had already asked Anna to stay. Hoping that, with Katie the maid, and the gardener they would look after her and Shaun as they had Sandy Highfield. Eventually going with them to 'Luckham Downs'.
The church was beginning to fill. The peel of bells had ceased and a solitary, insistent call was ringing as Leah, holding Shaun's arm walked down the aisle. The Verger in his black cassock ushered them to the pew that was Sandy Highfield's. The organ swelled out a favourite hymn, and for the moment the congregation forgot all about the strangers. The bell stopped ringing. The choir entered, followed by the Vicar.
In his reading desk the Reverend Everett Brand was having trouble concentrating entirely on what he was doing. The sight of Leah and Shaun sitting in Sandy Highfield's pew came as a shock. It sent a pang to his heart, which he knew it was unworthy that he should feel, especially in his church.
He ascended the pulpit during the singing of a hymn, feeling an unusual weight of responsibility. He knew that the sermon he was about to preach would cause a stir in the village.
It could hurt people's feelings, but he felt it was his duty to say what was on his mind. He gave out his text, waited for a moment, then leaned forward in the pulpit as he began to preach on duty.
"Sometimes one is confused as to what one's duty is. It is not always easy to decide which way, or where one's duty lies."
The Reverend Brand paused as a murmur ran through his unusually large congregation.
"People who know where their duty lies should not be persuaded by others who lack understanding of the responsibility for various situations." he continued. "They should not have to listen to idle gossip. They should be allowed to look at their duty with common sense and understanding."
He spoke of a frail woman he had known in Richmond, whose husband not only neglected her but ill-treated her. Friends, relations, and others, urged her to leave him. She refused.
"I don't, I cannot love him." she told them, "but I have a responsibility towards him. I will do my duty."
"Some people live differently to others." the Vicar said loudly, "one has a duty towards them. It may be hard at times because of those among us who revel in idle gossip and spread unfounded rumours. Some of you have invalids to look after. Sometimes they can be querulous and difficult. Some say they should be sent away, placed in a nursing home. No doubt most of you know where your responsibility lies, know it's your duty to help the helpless. And I may add without God's helping hand, almost impossible. You'll get no reward this side of heaven! I've often heard people say. I know they are wrong. The consciousness of duty well done is reward enough. The consciousness of failure to fulfil one's responsibilities is more nagging than people's tongues."
Just before the ascription the vicar appealed again to the congregation to stop the idle gossip to do their duty and allow people to get on with their lives.
After the benediction Shaun and Leah remained seated in the pew, pleased that they had come to the service, hoping the gossip had been laid to rest now everyone knew they were two people trying to find happiness in living together.
They saw the Vicar go down to the door facing the Rectory. Shaun caught him up. asked if they could make an appointment to see him the following morning.
The Reverend Everett Brand sat reading in his study. The Verger's wife opened the door and announced that there was a Leah and Shaun Maclaren to see him. The Vicar smiled as he stood up to greet them, and after the usual preliminaries Shaun told him they wanted to get married.
"You know what, and who we really are." Leah said as they sat opposite him.
"I know you are, above all else, God's children. Two people wanting to marry. Wanting to become as one with each other, one with God. I feel your union should be blessed by the church."
Leah heaved a sigh of relief. "How will the church, the people react?"
"Will our marriage be legal?" Shaun interrupted.
The Reverend Brand steepled his hands as he looked at the couple.
"I am sure you both know that I have to obey the law, not only of the church, but of the State. I am licensed by both. However." The Vicar said thoughtfully, "as with all problems, there are ways around it without offending ecclesiastical or State laws. You have told me that you are returning to Europe for few weeks. I suggest that you get married in a registry office. A civil marriage, a very brief ceremony. For example in France the couple go through a form of marriage contract, which of course is within the laws of church and State."
"But I really wanted a church wedding." Leah interrupted.
"Of course you do and I can understand your feelings. If you decide to get married in that country, remember that the French bride has no Matron-of-Honor and no bridesmaids. When you return we can, as soon as you are ready hold a ceremony in this church, at which I shall be very pleased to officiate, and you will have your union blessed."
"Will I be allowed to wear a wedding gown in your church?" Leah asked.
"The church is not about dress my dear." the Reverend Brand said with a smile, "the church, everywhere, all over the world is about bringing people closer to God. Dress is in all countries a social commitment. Of course you may wear a gown. But remember, weddings are a work of God."
Shaun and Leah thanked him for his help, promising that when they returned and had settled down in 'Luckham Downs' they would ask him to bless their marriage.
Shaun had only vague memories of 'Luckham Downs'. With Leah beside him he turned the Mercedes off the dusty track and stopped to survey the scene. The crumbling wrought-iron gates, sagging on their hinges guarded the entrance to a dismal drive choked with weeds and shrubbery. The tall gums that bounded it were fine specimens, but they increased the atmosphere of being shut in, a sinister remoteness.
Shaun's pulses stirred as a sharp turn provided them with a glimpse of the house, that seemed to have survived, despite the encroachment of mature. The long two storey homestead almost derelict. The windows shuttered, doors broken, perhaps by vandals.
As they left the car and walked towards the house, glass scrunched under their feet. It was obvious that no one had lived in the homestead for a very long time.
The hall was depressingly dark. Paint peeling everywhere. Cobwebs stretched from corner to corner and hung like curtains from the ceiling. But for Shaun and even Leah it held a special kind of splendour.
There were a few pieces of furniture, most of it broken. In a cupboard in the attic Leah found a collection of paintings, including one of Angus Maclaren. Shaun recalled his mother talking about the gold-framed pictures. Of the leather armchairs and rugs he'd had shipped from the old country. How proud his grandfather had been when he sat for a local artist.
For weeks Shaun and Leah made notes and drawings on how the homestead should be renovated. In the evenings after dinner at the cottage they spent hours poring over plans and designs. They sort Anna's ideas on how she would like the kitchen arranged.
Someone suggested that the homestead be pulled down, replacing it with a modern home. Leah argued that a new house would be just that. It would not have the character or history that was Luckham Downs.
Mr Gree recommended a surveyor. Shaun found an architect in Richmond. A building contractor moved in. There were plumbers, roofing specialists, bricklayers, carpenters and interior decorators watched over by designers. Leah found it difficult to decide whether they were pulling it down or rebuilding it.
Within a year the Luckham Downs homestead had been fully restored. Shaun hung the massive painting of Angus Maclaren opposite the stairs in the now, magnificent hall. With Leah, Shaun stood in the doorway admiring the scene, then turned and looked at his grandfather's picture. For a moment he was certain he saw a warm glow in the old man's eyes, a glow that said welcome Shaun Maclaren. This is your home.
Under the strong hand of the Overseer recommended by the senior Mr Gree, Luckham Downs began to show a profit. Shaun and Leah had been living at the Downs a year and Shaun had started a new book.
Leah looked through the open window of the study at the living picture that was their home, at the tilted slope above the valley. The valley itself, the merest hollow that lay in the swell of the land. She had often teased Shaun that she only married him because she loved the homestead.
"Of course." he answered, as she moved away from the window to sit in the chair opposite him, "how could anyone help but fall in love with Luckham Downs."
Leah had accomplished much as a transsexual, far more than she had ever achieved as a male. Now her greatest ambition was to have a family. She knew the possibility of an egg attaching itself to the intestine, and without telling Shaun she wrote to Professor Gaisford.
After days of anxious waiting a letter written by the Professor arrived, post-marked Cairo. Leah ripped open the envelope. Her eyes sped over the pages.
Professor Gaisford agreed that it was possible for an egg to attache itself to the intestine, but he was of the opinion that an embryo developed and nourished in the uterus would be more desirable. He suggested the possibility of a transplant from a suitable donor might become available, at a time that was difficult to state.
Eagerly, Leah continued reading. The Professor told her a better alternative was to take part in the experiment, which was now being conducted using the organs of pigs. These pigs, the letter continued were being bred under strict scientific farming conditions, having been injected with hormones that would enable their organs to be acceptable to most humans.
Although the trials were in the early stages, the tests were proving very successful, that if she had a transplant of this nature the cerebrum could be called upon to help with the nourishment, and it would of course be a first for his team and the hospital. But he added that there was much work to be done and he would go into the subject more fully if and when she attended the hospital for a consultation.
In his letter he mentioned in-vitro fertilisation, adding that Shaun's eggs and her sperm which were taken before their sex-reassignment had been stored in liquid nitrogen. That an embryo could be implanted.
Leah, thrilled at the thought, and filled with excitement ran downstairs to Shaun. Her eyes filled with tears she gave him the letter. He read it over and over again.
Sometimes when Leah was asleep and he lay awake staring into the night, he wondered what it would be like to be a father. Of the thrill of hearing their baby say it's first words. But he had always felt it would not have been fair to mention his feelings to Leah in case it might make her feel sad, perhaps wanting. Besides he had achieved his ambition, to become a whole man, and live at Luckham Downs.
Now!---Now it was possible for Leah to become a mother, and him a father. He wanted to go to the hospital. Now! See the Professor make arrangements. The book, that could wait. He spoke excitedly about travel arrangements.
It was Leah who forced him to slow down. She insisted that before they began to seriously talk about children, that their marriage, now a year old must be blessed by the church.
"Oh! that really is splendid news." the Reverend Brand exclaimed when Leah and Shaun told him of their intentions.
He thought about the service. He wanted to bless their union, they were, as he had told them before, ' All God's children.' They asked that the service be kept simple, that they would like to use their own special words.
"I know that you are aware of the problems of marriage, and that you have both worked hard to create a beautiful relationship." the Reverend Brand told them after evening service the following Sunday. "But I am going to remind you, as I do all couples about to enter God's holy state, that you Leah and Shaun must never, even in the happy advent of a child, take one another for granted."
Sunshine streamed through the windows and onto the dark wooden pews. The wide windowsills were decked with cool maidenhair fern. Vases of flowers were everywhere. Anna Chapman, Katie, and even the greengrocer's wife helped Leah to decorate the tiny church. There were lilies, tall and erect, offset by roses and carnations, with orchids blending their colour and sweetness. A sense of awe and stillness seemed to posses everyone in the church on Leah and Shaun's special day.
Tears welled in Shaun's eyes when he saw Leah, as she walked down the aisle in his wedding gown. Softly they exchanged their special words when the Vicar blessed their union, and as they knelt at the altar, they both heard Shaun's mother give them her blessing.