Perhaps Josie and I did get a little bit carried away with snogging those German lads last week, but it was only a bit of fun; they were leaving town in the morning and there was no harm done. Karen did eventually have a word with me when Josie was out of earshot and suggested that we ought to take more care of her next time and be a little more sensible where boys were concerned. After all, she is younger than she looks as a girl and would also be in a difficult and slightly precarious situation if someone were to discover her identity and make a fuss. The last thing we want to do is to create a scandal whilst she’s staying with us. Karen also told me what Jennifer had said about her, both in front of her mother and Sue, and also in a text message sent to Josie herself.

‘The poor kid. It must have been very upsetting to have her own sister turn on her like that,’ I said.

‘As we both know, Jen can be rather outspoken at times. She sometimes opens her mouth before she engages her brain. She probably didn’t mean to be quite so hurtful, but that’s not an excuse,’ said Karen.

‘All Josie wants is to be treated as a girl, and she certainly looks and acts like one these days. Why can’t people just accept her for what she is?’

Karen shrugged her shoulders.

‘I don’t know, she’s not doing any harm to any one.’

Josie joined us soon afterwards and so we had to move on to other topics of conversation. However, I continued to feel sorry for our young friend and that was the main reason why I persuaded Mum to organise a special celebration for her birthday next weekend. There would be at least one more occasion when she can be treated as a ‘special girl,’ without any danger of being criticised or insulted, before she returns to Crawley. She will then have to face the real world again, either as a very unhappy young man, or else as an openly transgendered girl, and all the difficulties that will entail. I knew that Mum would be happy to go along with my plan, as long as we promised to help her with the preparations — she likes any excuse to dress up and Dad doesn’t take her out as much these days and in any event would be away next weekend. The main difficulty would be in concocting a scheme where we all could help Mum, but Josie wouldn’t realise what it was for.

On the Sunday following our shopping trip, Josie wore her new dark red dress together with the sandals that we’d chosen for her in Chester. and we put a photograph up on her new Facebook page. She sent a link to her mother and to Sue.

‘Aren’t you going to send a link to your sister as well?’ I asked.

‘No, she told me that I was to leave her alone,’ she replied in a matter of fact way.

‘I’m sure that she didn’t really mean it,’ I said.

But by this time Josie had logged off and didn’t seem to be inclined to change her mind.

By Monday of this week, Mum had at last accepted that I was well enough to be able to undertake a country walk, as long as it was not too strenuous. Dad gave the three of us a lift as far as the golf club and then we walked on the old tow path the two miles or so to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which has quite stunning views and is a World Heritage site. We stopped for a cup of coffee at the Pontcysyllte Basin where we got talking to two lads who were on holiday with their parents who were waiting their turn to take their hired barge over the aqueduct. The family offered us a lift on their barge over, which is really the only way to see it properly, as there are absolutely no railings on the canal side. Once we reached the far side we thanked them then walked back over the footpath side, and afterwards the four miles back in to town. The weather was fine and we all had a good laugh together.

‘See Josie, being a girl isn’t just about wearing dresses and makeup all the time; you can also have fun wearing trousers,’ said Karen.

‘Yes I know, girls get the best of both worlds. There is no way that the family would have offered us a lift on their barge if we’d been three boys. So that’s why I am so keen to remain a girl, if I can.’

I looked across at Karen, and she returned my glance. Neither of us was quite sure what to say in response. The safest thing seemed to be to change the subject.

‘If it is fine tomorrow we can get a bus out to Berwyn on the other side of town and then climb up to the Horseshoe Falls, which is really a weir serving the Llangollen Canal. It will be a little bit more strenuous than today, but it is well worth the trouble. The views are wonderful and there is somewhere called the Velvet Hill up there, which is aptly-named,’ I said.

‘That sounds fine, as long as you can manage the climb,’ said Karen.

During the course of our afternoon walk, Josie’s phone rang. She took one look at the caller display, frowned, and then pressed the busy signal. I suspected the call may have been from her sister and that she still didn’t feel inclined to talk to her. Thus it was a little bit awkward when Karen approached me last night with Sue’s suggestion that they should all come up for Josie’s party.

‘I’m sure that my Mum would be happy about it — as far as she is concerned, ‘the more the merrier’. Also I’m sure that Josie would welcome the presence of her mother and Sue at the dinner party, but how is she going to feel about Jenny being there as well?’ I asked.

‘I’m not sure, we can’t very well ask her what she thinks about it. But she’s not the type to create a ‘scene’ in front of everyone,’ said Karen.

‘Maybe, but Jennifer might?’ I said.

‘I don’t think so. According to Sue, Jenny is now somewhat chastened by recent events, and the two of them are going to have to make up at some point.’

‘Alright, in that case let’s put the idea to Mum, and see what she thinks,’ I said.

As expected, Mum turned out to be really enthusiastic about the idea and it was she who pointed out the other advantage of them all coming: that it would save my Dad an extra journey. So Karen agreed to get in touch with her sister, Then, this morning, we heard that Sue and Karen’s mother would be coming with them as well. So what was originally intended as a fairly intimate dinner for four ladies had grown to become one twice that size.

‘Girls, it looks as if my dinner party is now going to be for eight people, and Denise’s father won’t be around to help me, so I am definitely going to need your help on Saturday,’ announced Mum this evening over dinner

‘Mrs Crawford, I should like to suggest that if you decide on the menu and get the shopping, we three could take responsibility for preparing the meal and doing cooking for your guests and leave you to serve them when they arrive?’ suggested Josie.

‘Really? Would that include Denise as well?’ said Mum, clearly surprised by the offer as she knew that I’d never cooked so much as a boiled egg before.’

Mum looked at me, and I nodded.

‘Karen and I can both cook, and we can show Denise what to do,’ Josie continued enthusiastically.

‘In that case, thank you very much, girls. George and I will be going to the supermarket in Wrexham on Friday morning, before he leaves for the North. If I can leave the food preparation to you three on Saturday, I will have plenty of time for everything else that I need to do.’