January 25, 2025 · 1:56 am

The Dog That Inherited A Palace Chapter 7

©GeraldineBanksJanuary2025

Life became very busy at the House, Letitia made visits regularly. There were now many articles in many publications with Tedi’s image plastered all over ,and there was a lot of interest in what the House and indeed the “Head of House” was going to do. As Arthur saw it, it had been very hard work and also very undignified and not at all something he would like to repeat. Arthur had had enough of Tedi.

” That little mutt , little Lord Mutley, well I’ve had enough!” he said to his friends in the pub when he got home from a particularly hard photo shoot.

It had all came to a head on a particularly hot sunny day, when the plan was to take a lot of outdoor photographs in the grounds as the light conditions were just right. Cross had suggested that they involve the other dogs too. He asked James, the newly appointed Livestock Manager to help, and the plan was to meet Arthur with all the other dogs in tow.

Tizzie, Duke, Trinnie, Blaze and Marmie were all to be taken to the front of the house when Arthur arrived in his car with all his equipment at the agreed time of 11.00am. Cross would bring Tedi.

Tedi , earlier that morning had been in a “Gardening meeting” with Cross in the Mosaic Room but had lost interest while listening to the plans for the Hydrangeas and the Rose Garden planting . He saw the opportunity to pop out when they were all having a coffee break. They were paying no attention to him which he didn’t like. So he slipped out.

He headed out of the House, and ran through the quadrangle and down the grassy knoll to the lake. It was warm and sunny and he walked along the edge of the lake sniffing and marking as he went along. There was so much going on, the Palace Grounds had a lot of wildlife, he could smell foxes, voles and deer. He continued around the bottom of the lake, he disturbed a few ducks in the reeds and they flew away. Before he knew it , he was at the end near the large ornate gate and the  entrance to the village.

Tedi thought it would be nice to see some of his old village friends, so he wandered out of the gate, there was no one around so he continued along the street until he came to Freddie’s house. Freddie was in his back garden and when he saw Tedi he started barking with excitement. Freddie’s owners were at work , but Freddie knew how to get out through some bushes at the back. He signalled to Tedi to meet him in the alleyway at the side of the house.

Tedi and Freddie were glad to see each other and they both caught up with their news as they walked along the alleyway heading to another friend’s house. By the time they had finished , there were ten dog friends wandering around together up and down the village. No one paid much attention to them, but Tedi decided it would be safer for them all to go back to the Palace Grounds and play and there was going to be a photoshoot.

Tedi had the idea that his friends were very much part of the story and should be part of the photoshoot. They could see inside the Palace too if they wanted too. All the dogs thought that was a good idea  as they’d never been allowed in the Palace before.

The Gardening meeting had just finished and Cross was gathering his papers when he realised Tedi had disappeared.

” The Photographer is due any moment now, where has he gone?” Cross said in desperation .

Cross ran out the front door of the Palace and was frantically looking for Tedi. Just then Arthur pulled up in his car and was speaking with James who had Tedi’s brother and sisters on long leads as it would be chaos if he let them off. They all turned to see Tedi running up the driveway followed by a load of dogs they didn’t recognise. All the dogs were very excited and started barking.

“For heavens sake, what are you doing? ” Cross said.

Tedi stopped in front of him and looked up with his big brown eyes.

“You are doing a photo shoot, who are all these dogs?” but Cross recognised some of the Village Dogs.

It was too late , Tedi had already told his friends that if they went into the quadrangle that the Cook would sort out some food, so his friends didn’t stop and ran straight by the photographer, Cross, Tedi and his siblings and straight for the kitchen.

” When can I start, the light’s perfect.” The photographer said, pretending not to notice what was going on and not wanting to get involved in the chaos.

” Oh I suppose you better get on. ” Cross knew he had to stop the other dogs ” James you can look after this shoot can’t you? I better go and rescue the cook!” Cross turned and hurriedly ran off.

As Cross reached the Kitchen he could hear Mrs Granger the Cook screaming and shouting and throwing pans.

James meanwhile put Tedi ,Tizzie ,Duke, Trinnie, Blaze and Marmie into the Land Rover. Tedi got in the front with James and the others sat contentedly in the back. Tedi thought this is fun. They drove down to the lake followed by Arthur in his car. James knew an ideal place where there were two benches with a beautiful view of the lake with the house in the background.

It was truly beautiful and all the dogs hopped down from the Land Rover and ran around with each other. Arthur wanted some action shots which he took quickly and he also wanted a large group photo. It was going really well, when in the distance they heard barking and could see all the other dogs heading towards them.

“Oops” said James as he saw the very mixed bunch of dogs , heading at speed up towards the grassy knoll where the benches were located.

It was just then that Tedi decided to have some fun. He tugged at Arthur’s trousers and signaled to him to follow . He ran down towards the lake and Arthur followed him out of interest. They arrived at a little boating house. Tedi knew that inside there was a rowing boat.

At that moment Arthur was very pleased with himself as he knew he had got some very good pictures, so he didn’t mind following ” Little Lord Mutley” as he called him. Arthur had used the name ” Little Lord Mutley” on a number of occasions when doing the photoshoots with Tedi and it had annoyed Tedi very much as he thought it disrespectful.

When Arthur saw the boat and the boathouse he liked the idea of getting some more pictures .

If Arthur had just have said “Good Dog” or something similar, then Tedi might have forgiven him and not proceeded with his plan, but Arthur said ” What a Good Mutt you are!”

So Tedi followed through with his plan.

Tedi hopped into one of the boats and Arthur jumped across and got in the boat . Suddenly, Tedi leaped pass Arthur , Arthur’s weight caused the boat to move away from it’s mooring and it drifted off . Tedi, with one jump, leaped out of the boat and made it back onto land, without as much getting a paw wet.

Tedi watched as the boat began to drift and the current pulled it away from dry land . The boat was very old and rarely used and it leaked very badly .The boat moved towards the two bridges and out of sight of the people and dogs on the land. Tedi turned away and ran up to where all the other dogs were.

Arthur stood up and waved for help , his feet were soaked, and he shouted as he couldn’t swim , but James could not hear him. By then all the dogs were playing together on the grass near the benches and were running around chasing each other . The dogs from the House were having a great time, they’d never met the Village dogs and they were having so much fun playing tag and in some cases shouting insults and generally being very raucous with each other. James tried to get them under control , but it was impossible.

Meanwhile Arthur disappeared and was heading to the other end of the lake in a very leaky boat. By now the water was up to his knees and he knew the boat was getting unstable. He frantically looked around for some oars, but couldn’t find anything, his very expensive camera was around his neck and he screamed when he realised the water was now up to his waist. His trousers were soaked.

Fortunately for Arthur the lake was not very deep and really if he had thought of it he could have stepped out and waded to the land. However, once passed the bridges, there were a lot of areas that were overgrown with reeds and wild grasses, the boat lodged itself in one of these areas and stopped.

This meant that Arthur could jump out of the boat and wade through the silt and mud to land. It was very squelchy and he slipped and fell quite a few times. By the time he reached firm ground he was covered in mud from head to foot. He was also on the wrong side of the lake. So he had to walk all the way around and back to the House. As it was a warm day the mud dried on his skin, hair and clothes and was very uncomfortable. This made him very angry.

When he got back to the House, he was not at all happy and was very grumpy and would not accept any help from anyone except when James offered to drive him to collect his car. Arthur had point blank refused to have any clean clothes and said he wasn’t sure that all his pictures had been ruined. He was so angry that he didn’t want to speak to anyone and really no one wanted to speak to him and he drove off without so much as a goodbye.

Later that evening in front of the fire in Cross’s living room , Cross rubbed Tedi’s ears and told him in the nicest possible way that he couldn’t just invite his friends to the house and that it had been a nasty trick to play on Arthur, even though he had called you names. Yes it was quite funny, but don’t do it again.

Tedi snuggled into Cross’s tummy and enjoyed the warmth of the fire and fell fast asleep.

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January 24, 2025 · 2:11 pm

The Cuckoo In The Nest Chapter 16

The Cuckoo In The Nest
A Dystopian Thriller

 © GeraldineBanksJanuary2025

At 7.00pm exactly on Friday evening, Sandy opened the door and was relieved to see Maria Turner standing there. Martin had gone out to collect the twins from his parents who had been twin sitting.

Sandy beckoned Maria in quickly and closed the door. ” I’m so pleased you’ve came Maria , we are so worried We haven’t heard anything from Alex. Come on in.”

Maria walked through into the kitchen ; turned to Sandy and handed her a letter.It was addressed to Mummy and Daddy and was in a child’s unsteady hand. It was a letter from Alex.

Sandy sat down at the table , the letter wasn’t sealed and she opened it up and began to read it.

” Do you have time for a cup of tea Maria. ” Sandy looked up at Maria .

” Yes , that would be lovely I’ll make it, you read Alex’s letter.”

Maria began to fill the kettle and took the mugs off the mug tree. Sandy gave a sharp intake of breath.

“How does he know? How does he know? Alex says there were bad people trying to catch him!” she looked up at Maria.

” Keep reading Sandy, he tells the story really well. We lost 90% of the children and a lot of key staff but they managed to rescue some including Alex. ” Maria put the mugs of tea on the table.

Sandy continued reading the letter, it was two pages written on both sides. She looked up at Maria. “Where is Alex now, is he safe?”

” Yes, as safe as we can make it. He’s in good hands.” Maria passed one of the mugs of tea to Sandy.

” Alex says he was on an underground train.”

“Yes , it was quite an adventure for him. He was, I’m told, very brave and was very upset about losing so many of his friends. He is quite the little soldier. If he survives he will be one of our protectors. Even at the age of six he knows that we are fighting a Great Evil.”

” Oh Maria, if he survives!” Sandy cried.” Who can tell with all this turmoil, how can they keep up his meds, suppose he has a relapse and starts fitting again. I mean he was doing well, but what will happen now?”

Maria replied.” All our locations are exceptional and have exceptional people in them. All knowledge is shared, one of the last things Dr King did before he was captured was forward the details of the cases he was dealing with to a virtual server. The information has been accessed and the server destroyed. Alex is still healthy , our other more dependant patients were not so lucky.”

” How did they find the location , Maria?” Sandy asked.

” We don’t know, there’s always the potential for a clink in the armour , a leak. To be truthful it’s getting harder for us all the time. It was very bad though, we’ve lost some good people , like Dr King for example. The cover of P.Neel Organic Greengrocers is blown, so no more deliveries from now on; keep a look out for anyone following you or watching the house. We need you still to make the payments , we’ll use the emergency phone to send you the account details to pay the money into each week. Same as before.”

” Yes , that isn’t any problem, we can do that.What will happen to Dr King?”

” That is something we just don’t know. We’ve never been in a position to find out , but we are hoping that you ,Sandy ,might be able to help us.” Maria looked at Sandy.

” Me , how ?” Sandy looked puzzled.

” We think because of your job that you might have a chance to find out. You may be able to go undercover and find out where they are taking our people and what they are doing with them. William King is not the first. There have been a number of disappearances and we simply don’t know what happens to them.”

” How do you mean?”

” Well I’m aware of some of your work you’ve been doing recently. Investigative work about Modern Day Case Histories of the Miraculous Cures of Genetic Disorders that are promoted as a cover to stop people finding out what they are really doing and what a Global Tragedy this is.”

” I’ve been given a project at Work, yes, I’m working quite independently, it’s supposed to be confidential , but how did you know Maria?”

“I was told, one reason we survive is we don’t ask. I know it’s sounds silly on one side we are asking you to ask lots of questions and on the other side we want you to not ask any for your own safety. I don’t know where the information comes from, so I have nothing to hide, you see that keeps us safe as we can be. We want you to try and find out about doctors or medical staff who have ” reformed ” after they were captured. That was all I was asked to find out. We think that these people are not murdered, they might not be the same people with the same motivations before they were captured, but we would like to find them all the same. You at least have an advantage that you know what Doctor King looks like.”

As Sandy listened to Maria, the penny dropped. It would make sense to follow that path. Gerry had opened that door for her. The initial research she had being doing was historical and based on factual information she knew she was being fed information to ensure the current status quo of Genetic Cleansing was supported. She had tried to push for the truth but that would never be forthcoming. She realised she had to change tack. Sandy needed to integrate herself into the mechanism’s and vehicles of this deadly organisation, and become one of them. They wanted to justify their reasoning and Sandy was going to give them every opportunity to do it. She would pitch her idea to Gerry to film a programme about the ” Organisation” and the good work it does to protect future generations from contamination with faulty genetic material. She still didn’t trust Gerry as far as she could throw him, but she had a chance to help and she didn’t need to give it a second thought.

” Maria, I understand now, and I can help, I’d be only too glad too. I’ve been reluctant to follow through on some stories because I felt I was being used for propaganda , but I wonder if I towed the line what else I could find out, I’ve had some invitations, conferences , hospital visits and seminars, maybe I need to start following through with those. As far as they are concerned I’m just another Media contact for them to promote their cause.” Sandy finished her mug of tea and began to stand up.

Maria began to stand up too.” Sandy thank you.” She looked at Sandy and hugged her tightly, as she moved away she clasped both of Sandy’s hands in hers and said.

” I have to go now, but rest assured Alex is in safe hands and I’ll let you know when I can, how he is getting on. Keep the phone we gave you on charge, it might be the only way that we can stay in touch. In the meantime we need the money, We’ve had a lot of unplanned expenses over the last few weeks.”

Sandy thought perhaps she needed to explain about where the money was coming from.

” If you need more let me know, just text me the amount and where you want it to go. Alex is not Martin’s child, the father is an executive at Sunshine Media. We had to blackmail him to get the money, but he is now a very wealthy man and the money supply is endless and untraceable. Mainly from gambling. I think.”

Maria looked perturbed. ” How much have you told him and do you trust him?” They both walked towards the front door.

“I’ve told him that Alex is being looked after and it is very expensive. Alex is his only son and he wants what’s best for him it appears. I’ve only told him what I know and as you say that isn’t that much. It was his idea to give me the project to work on and in the back of my mind I worry that he is the chink in the armour, but without his money we can’t do anything. So I’m being careful with him. I’ll never trust him completely. “

” Good , perhaps we have no other option. Good luck, I’ll be back in touch when I can. Goodbye.” Maria opened the front door and quickly disappeared into the night.

As Sandy shut the door she realised that she had planned to write a short note to Alex and give it to Maria. Sandy opened the door again, but Maria had already disappeared. Sandy closed the door again and walked back into the kitchen. Martin would be home soon. She would tell him all that had happened and that Maria wanted help to trace Dr King. Perhaps he would think it was dangerous , but she didn’t see any other option.” She washed up the mugs and checked the mobile that was on charge and out of site in one of the kitchen drawers.

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January 24, 2025 · 2:09 pm

The Cuckoo In The Nest Chapter 15

The Cuckoo In The Nest
A Dystopian Thriller

©geraldinebanksJanuary2025

On the day the Nursery at Building 1 was raided , it was hell on earth for those dedicated workers who were present. Doctors and Nurses were dragged outside and lined up against the walls, body searched roughly and manhandled into lines waiting for a stream of buses to take them away. The children were left in situ, unsure what was happening. Some panicked and ran after their carers but they were pushed away by Government Workers dressed in what looked like orderlies uniforms, the children cried but were told to make there way back to where they had come from and await instructions. The seriously ill ones were left in their beds.

The captured staff were being transported who knows where. They looked drawn and haggard, their spirit for that moment beaten. They knew little of their fate. Their only hope came from the fact that the organisation could self-generate. No one really knew very much about how it all worked or who was involved. Each person only knew what they needed to know and so could never give much information away. They were not criminals, but had to think like criminals to help the children that needed their help. No matter what happened to them the work would continue. The will to stop this evil was greater than the capacity to do evil .The children at Building1 were lost, but there would be other children that could be saved.

The raid had came out of the blue . Certainly those in intensive care would not last through the night without care . The machines that supported their vitals would be turned off and they would be left to die. The Government workers who oversaw that process, found it easier than rounding up the healthy children.

The children that were strong and mobile were the hardest to deal with. They reminded the Government Workers of their own children and the pretence of rescuing them would be maintained right until the end. It would take a few days but after things had settled down, interviews had taken place and paperwork filled in , the children would be taken away in air-conditioned buses. Never to be seen again. Officially they had never existed. So what happened to them was never going to matter. Still some of the Government Workers had doubts and could not be rational about the fate of the “healthy ones”. Still it was there job and they did it.

However, there had been enough of a warning for some of the children that were downstairs to be saved. The Nursery was underground and there were tunnels under the building , with a rail system which could be used in emergencies such as a raid, like the one that had happened. There were drills in place and they had been practised regularly, everyone knew what to do without upsetting the children.

Alex was one of the fortunate ones whom they managed to whisk away from danger. As the raid progressed ; Alex was heading South on a small subterranean railway accompanied by twenty or so other children. Their medical records were forwarded before the computer records were destroyed by a member of staff who was later captured. The children escaped to another location. The tunnels were sealed once the train had left and there would be no trace of their exit and no clue to the fact that they had ever been there.

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January 21, 2025 · 5:22 am

Chapter 14 The Cuckoo In the Nest

The Cuckoo In The Nest
A Dystopian Thriller

©geraldinebanksJanuary2025

Sandy knew something was wrong ; she was very concerned. Alex hadn’t sent anything to her since her visit and he had promised her that he would . It was a chance for him to practice his reading and writing, but there had been nothing except the invoice in the Organic Vegetable delivery for four weeks.

Sandy was awake and thinking about Alex. Dark , unhelpful thoughts surfaced in her mind that would not leaver her alone or solve anything. It was so unfair that Alex could not be part of their family. She was his mother.

She wished he was asleep in his old bedroom and she could go and brush the hair from his forehead while he slept, like she used to, or at least that what she remembered. Except she hadn’t been a good mother to him, there were times she had hated him when he screamed. It was her fault that he’d been taken away. She had asked for help , if only she’d kept her mouth shut. It was all her fault.

The Twins did not know their elder brother, perhaps would never know him. Alex could die and it was her fault. Tears ran down her face , she closed her eyes, but her mind would not stop. Gerry Reid, she despised the man, yet she was totally reliant on him to keep her son safe. She and Martin did not want to trust Gerry , but they had no option .

She began to sob and the physical movement of her body woke Martin, he turned and put his arms around her.

” Shoosh, everything will be alright… it’s Friday, we’ll get another delivery today, maybe there’ll be more news.”

She wrapped her arms around Martin and nuzzled his neck. ” Oh Martin I hope so!”

” I wish Maria would visit again, she seems to be able to ” organise ” things”” Sandy looked up at Martin.

“Yes , she seemed like she knew how everything worked, I hope she’s OK , these are dangerous times. I’m not sure what would happen to all those children and the people who look after them if someone found out their whereabouts. How is your research going at the Studio?” Martin was awake, and he could hear the twins stirring so they wouldn’t have much time to talk. He leant up on his elbow and looked into Sandy’s eyes which glistened with her tears.

” Hoy, I was comfortable there” she smiled as she propped herself up on her pillow.

Sandy told Martin that whenever she thought she was onto something it always turned out a dead end. People she would talk to would just shut down whenever she asked about how the current legislation was being used.

The ” sensationalised cases” of Miracle Cures that had hit the Headlines, well she had tried to follow up on those, find out names and addresses. There was nothing. She had even interviewed a Top Celebrity Lawyer who cooed and purred about saving a young boy, and protecting his human rights. The boy existed and his parents existed , but there were no birth records, no health care records that Sandy could find. No record of him being treated for anything anywhere by Healthcare Professionals. Yes , it was a truly magnificent recovery; but from what? Sandy got the impression that she wasn’t going to be allowed to dig any deeper. Even Gerry, couldn’t help her. Assuming Gerry was on her side.

They both jumped when the alarm went off, it was the start of another day.

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January 21, 2025 · 5:19 am

The Cuckoo In The Nest Chapter 13

A Dystopian Thriller

@geraldinebanksJanuary2025

Sandy sat back in her high backed leather executive chair in her new basement office . The chair she suspected was a hand me down of Gerry’s but it was comfortable and her new Basement Office was to Sandy’s liking. It was state of the art and secure.

She thought about the three blissful days she had spent at Building 1 with Alex. It had been a wonderful time. Alex was a healthy little boy and they had both enjoyed each other’s company. She asked him to write her letters and she would send some in return. The secret compartments were theirs and theirs alone.

When the time came for Sandy to leave and go home , Sandy had consoled Alex telling him that there would be more visits although she didn’t know when they would be. But in the final moments of saying goodbye it was Sandy who had broken down inconsolably and Alex who comforted her in a way that was far beyond his years. Dr King came and spoke to them both kindly and said to Sandy that it was time to go and sent Alex off to play with some friends. Dr King put his arm around Sandy’s shoulder and suggested that they have a talk and some tea in his office before she left.

Tea in hand , Sandy listened carefully to Dr King. He explained that Alex was responding well to treatment, but a lot of the research into Alex’s condition had been destroyed or lost and Alex’s treatment plan had been and would remain a lot of trial and error. That would continue. The positive fact was that Alex had responded successfully so far and that Dr King and other researchers had gained a lot of insight into his condition through his treatment. There was, however , no guarantees.

Sandy had been so distraught at having to leave her little boy that she really hadn’t taken much of what Dr King had said to her at the time, but now back to her “normal life” she had time to consider what he had told her.

The previous night in bed Martin and Sandy had discussed the visit . Martin had lots of questions which Sandy did not have the answer to . How big was this ” resistance organisation”? When were these God- Like decisions put in place , removing sick children away from their natural parents and disposing them of so much rubbish. Martin and Sandy blamed themselves for not paying more attention to what had been happening. In reality however, a lot of the legislation had been put in place before Martin and Sandy were even born. They had no reason to know or care about it , until the legislation impacted their lives, which if Sandy had not been unfaithful it probably wouldn’t have.

Their initial anger subsided as they realised things would have been so different if Alex had been a fine and healthy boy. They wouldn’t have known about the ” Denaturisation Policy”. They would have continued to live their lives without even knowing that there was a problem. What was driving this idea of ” Denaturising” and where did it stop? They both became tired and emotional, and felt overwhelmed. They fell asleep in each other’s arms and hoped that the morning would bring them some energy and ideas on how to look at things anew. The end of the week would bring another Organic Vegetable Delivery.

Sandy’s mind wandered as she sat in her chair and she thought about Gerry. He was very important to the future, a lot of money was needed to keep facilities like Building 1 functioning. Sandy had wanted to tell Gerry and maybe show him some of the pictures she had taken but Martin was not so sure and felt that Gerry could be a risk, the less people that knew the better. Gerry could for all they knew be a powerful A1.

Just as Sandy was mulling this over , there was a message notification on her mobile, it was Gerry, please could Sandy pop into his office , he wanted an update on her new project. Sandy picked up her digital camera from her desk, she had decided to show some pictures to Gerry. The location ,date and time had been removed and the pictures were purely of Alex, there was nothing in the background, no people , no scenery , nothing to give any hint of where she had been.

When Sandy reached Gerry’s Office, she was just about to knock on the door when Millie bumped into her in the corridor. Millie was tanned and a bit flushed.

” Sandy, nice to see you , did you have a nice break? You look really tired, have you been burning the midnight oil, or have the twins not being sleeping? Millie was fishing.

” Hi Millie, well you know how it is , Martin and I did get away , but it’s not really like a holiday camping is it? I think I need a week in Marbella to recover.” Sandy was polite but not friendly.

Millie was unsure, Marbella was her and Gerry’s favourite getaway. The green eyed monster raised it’s ugly head. What could Sandy mean?

” Hhhmm,,, well I’m sure you’re too busy now to take any more holiday. Gerry says you’ve got a New Project. See you around.” Millie breezed down the corridor and didn’t wait to speak further to Sandy. Sandy heard Gerry’s voice

” Come in!”

As Sandy entered the room , Millie gave a glance back at her , but Sandy took no notice and she closed the door gently behind her. Millie’s suspicious mind was the least of her worries.

Gerry stood up from his desk as soon as he saw Sandy , he’d already moved a couple of chairs to a small coffee table in front of large viewing screen. Sandy took the memory card out of the camera and gave it to Gerry. Gerry put it on the table and walked over to his office door and locked it. Leaving the key in the door.

” I don’t want any interruptions.” He returned to where Sandy was sitting and sat down while he put the memory card in the viewer.

” You’ve got it all figured out Gerry , haven’t you?” Sandy said.

” We can’t be too careful , Sandy, it’s my only son we’re trying to help. You have no idea what affect this is having on me.”

” Millie thinks you’re back to your old tricks again.” Sandy looked questioningly at Gerry.

” She can think what she likes, she’s got exactly what she wanted, exposure, she’ll just have to put up with her old dear of a husbands funny ways. I can keep her sweet.”

” Millie thinks you’re banging me” She was trying to shock Gerry.

” Well , so what , it’s a good cover, we might even manage a few nights away”. Gerry said coolly.

” A few nights away, not on your life. Whatever I’m doing , I’m doing alone.” Sandy felt slightly ruffled.

” I’m only planning ahead, let’s look at these pictures, this is like an ache I’ve never had before. How is my son?”

The pictures of Alex, rolled onto the screen , and Gerry was transfixed.

” Wow, he’s a good looking just like his father.” Gerry looked up at the screen and sat down in the chair next to Sandy.

” Yes, he’s a lovely charming little boy. Yes I suppose you can be charming too when you want to; with Alex it’s natural. Alex is quite the little leader, a very bright , helpful child. Sorry sounds a bit like a school report. but yes he’s a lovely little boy.” Sandy looked at Gerry and then up at the pictures on the screen. One appeared of his bare stomach with the scars.”

” What are they?” Gerry looked shocked.

” Well , he’s had to have some operations, and I’m pleased to say everything went well and appears to be still going well There’s no doubt that Alex has been through a lot and is OK at the moment. A lot of the research for these conditions had been destroyed since the Health Act and the information they can buy on the ” Dark Net ” is spurious, there’s a lot of information for sale. It’s very risky, they don’t know who they are contacting, or whether the Research is valid. They have some very good people to analyse it , but at the end of the day , it’s trial and error.”

Gerry began to flick through the pictures of Alex again, Sandy could see tears forming in his eyes. Gerry wiped them away with his hand.

” Can I keep them?” He said, looking at Sandy.

” Sure , yes I don’t see any harm, after all , you’ve kept your side of the bargain. He is your son. I think you want to keep him safe too. Even if someone broke into this office and stole them, I’m sure you’d think up some story to cover up . He’s just a boy. Also the resistance has the best chance if it is well funded and you seem to have landed on your feet with that . Long may it continue.”

” How’s your investigative stuff going.” Gerry recovered himself and gave his eyes a wipe with his hanky.

” Pretty well, I’m doing the background history on how all this came about. Most of it happened before I was born and the Political Structure was different. They used to have a thing called Parliament, that just seem to have fizzled away , and been replaced by , well that’s the difficult bit . I’m not too sure, a group of anonymous powerful people is my conclusion, but who? Laws are passed or more accurately enacted by our extremely large civil service. It works very effectively. The Health Act incorporated the “right to live clause” which in effect was the opposite .It’s quite clear that the intention was to reduce the burden on Society of what could be a blight to it. Non- productive people. There’s been a Global Consensus too which has won through on the “Denaturisation Clause”. In some Countries the ” resistance” is much stronger, mainly for religious reasons . Other Countries well it’s not clear what their Policy is because you cannot get access to information. And, of course, the Dark Net, is certainly influential in all of this. That’s the place anything including information can be bought or sold. It’s all opened my eyes, which I’ve got to admit have been pretty closed until now.” Sandy felt she summarised what she had been working on pretty well.

Gerry continued. ” When I was a young man , I supported all of this . I just didn’t see the potential for what could happen. The Politicians became more and more nefarious and irrelevant. They were painted as extremely corrupt or stupid. I knew, perhaps know of some of these anonymous people you talk about, but we were not sold it as a way to eradicate the less able. We were sold competition and winning were important to a strong Country. The State was not supposed to start playing God. The democratic process was slow and cumbersome, debate was pointless. Eventually, no one attended Parliament, and it was easy to transfer power to what I must say became a very efficient Civil Service.”

” Gerry , this job you’ve created for me , gives me the chance to help these people who are helping Alex.”

” Yes, Sandy , your Press Card is going to be a perfect cover. I’ll keep you straight, when you get too close there will be sabre rattling, but I’m aware of that and I can watch your back.” Gerry watched Sandy closely

Sandy’s eyes flickered, and Gerry could tell she had her doubts.

She replied very business like . ” I’ll keep you up to date on my progress.”

“Thank you and one day, I hope to meet my son, he looked up at the pictures. I can be Uncle Gerard, but I’m hoping it can be arranged.” Gerry was almost pleading.

This put Sandy completely off her stride; she knew that security was key in keeping Alex safe at the same time she understood Gerry’s need to see his only son. She looked at Gerry and all she could say was.

” Thank you for everything you are doing, one step at a time Gerry.” She stood up, looked straight at him and picked up her camera from the coffee table as she went to the door and unlocked it and left.

Gerry remained seated for a few moments looking at Alex’s pictures. He knew Sandy was right to be careful and he knew his reputation went before him as a ruthless operator. He hoped he could win her over.

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January 20, 2025 · 7:40 am

The Cuckoo In The Nest Chapter 12

A Dystopian Thriller

@GeraldineBanksJanuary2025

The tortuous journey to the building Sandy would later get to know as Building 1, took a network of taxis and commercial vans. Sullen drivers/ chauffeurs who were remote and uncommunicative; they preferred to listen to their music rather than to converse with Sandy. She had been blindfolded at some points and she was sure that one of the coffees that she’d been offered had been drugged as she had fallen asleep in the back of a white van and woke up to find herself covered in a blanket. Sandy had lost all track of time and felt disorientated. She had been told not to wear any jewellery , not even a watch and carry only a small purse. Her suitcase had disappeared , and she actually became frightened that she was being kidnapped.

Nevertheless, after the gruelling journey and with a curt instruction to remember a six- figure security code and to keep facing forwards and in no circumstance to turn around, she was deposited outside the gates of the facility.

Sandy was greatly relieved that the gates opened first time. In the distance, along a tree lined drive she saw an unattractive corrugated iron building which because it was painted white stood out against the grey sky that framed it. The building had the P. Neel Ltd Logo on it. There was a large sign pointing to various fields that advertised

” Pick your Own”

Building 1 looked out of place , almost as it had been stuck in the middle of the Countryside.

“Maybe there used to be a Stately Home here once, she mumbled to herself.” Glad to talk even if it was just to herself.

She continued walking as she had been instructed to and as she got closer she looked up at the imposing white building, there was no obvious door. A tall man in a white coat approached her on her right side. He appeared out of nowhere, yet he arrived by her side in a heart beat. He spoke softly to her as she turned to look at him.

“Good Day Sandy, we are very pleased that you have been able to come and see us. We are sorry about all the Security, but as you can appreciate, our real work here has to be kept secret. We are to all intents and purposes a Private Agricultural Research Company and you are our New Research Assistant from Lithuania. All your papers are in order and your arrival will have been noted by the Local Constabulary. That is how ridiculous everything is nowadays, but it is a good cover and we must keep the Authorities sweet.

” Hello, please to meet you. I don’t know any Lithuanian , I hope they don’t want to come and interrogate me.”

The man in the white coat smiled. ” I don’t think their Lithuanian is that good either, but they will just want to see you arrive, well the back of you arrive. We know where all their cameras are. The only view they will have is your hair and the back of your coat. If they capture any facial recognition data, then they could identify you and within a few hours we would be raided.

“Oh I see”. Sandy gazed in disbelief at the man. The man continued.

” We have some cottages on the Estate, which will be ready now. Do you want to freshen up or would you like to see Alex, he’s just in the playroom at the moment.”

” Please , I’d love to see my little boy straight away. I hope I don’t frighten him, he might not remember me , it’s been so long!”

“He’s been with us now nearly four years. He’s six and a half. He’s a very sociable little boy and he helps others settle in here too. He always enjoys meeting new people, at first we might just say you’re a new play assistant, but in a short time we can explain who you really are. We have shown him the photos you sent, but I’m not too sure about the workings of the six year old mind. They tend to live in the here and now and he may not have realised what we were showing him.”

Sandy looked up at the tall doctor who showed her so much empathy. She was very nervous. She really didn’t think that Alex would recognise her and she would find that very painful.

” That’s fine with me , he’s only little, it’s a lot for him to take in, it would be asking too much for him to remember me I suppose.”

As they walked along the side of the building, they came to small security panel which the Doctor put his palm against. The door slid open.

” My name is Dr William King by the way” he turned and shook hands with Sandy as they walked through the door. I’ve been looking after Alex’s case, and I’m pleased to say that although he has been through a lot that he’s doing really well at the moment.”

Sandy and Dr King went through the door; once they were inside it silently slid shut behind them. They both walked down a steeply slanting corridor, with small porthole windows at shoulder height from which you could see rows and rows of plants and for about ten minutes they walked down the sloped corridor which twisted and turned like a very large spiral staircase. The ground floor of the building was indeed an enormous cultivation area with plants growing in tightly controlled laboratory conditions. At the end of the corridor they came to another door, which was hermetically sealed and had a sign “Air-Lock” on it. Once Sandy and Dr King entered ,Dr King pressed some buttons on a key pad and Sandy felt the air pressure rise.

” Don’t worry , it’s just some Ozone, we need to ensure that we don’t bring any infections into the Nursery and to equalize the air pressure so that no air from outside enters the “Nursery Building”. The next phase is you will have to shower and your clothes will be treated with U.V. light. If you just come with me I’ll show you where to go.” Once the atmosphere pressure had been raised to the required level , Dr King opened the door into the “Nursery Corridor” and signalled to Sandy to go into a door on the left.

After she had showered and put on an overall along with some white sneakers. Dr King again accompanied her down the “Nursery Corridor” again at the bottom was another door which Dr King opened with his palm. Sandy was astounded when she saw what was inside.

It wasn’t the cold laboratory conditions she had expected on first seeing Building 1‘s harsh exterior. There were children everywhere, some obviously quite poorly , but they was a joy about the place. It was like the most magnificent children’s school, hospital and nursery combined. The were a significant number of adult carers and lots of activities going on.

The Doctor looked around and smiled broadly.

” This is our real purpose… as you see we are state of the art but also very homely, we try and make the children feel this is their home. We have all the medical support available when needed, we are very like the Hospices of Old, we like it to be a Joyful place, full of fun and laughter, some of the staff are ex- patients who have grown up and come back to work for us. We have set them up with false identities, they can live off site and we know we they can be trusted and I’ve just spotted Alex….” Dr King looked over at a little boy and called him.

” Alex!”

Sandy saw the little boy Dr King was calling look up from playing with another child. Alex stood up and ran over to the doctor, who picked him up and gave him a big hug. Alex had grown so much and what happened next stunned her.

After greeting the doctor, Alex turned his head to look at Sandy, he gave her a big smile and reached out to her with his arms and shouted.

” Mummy. You’ve came. I always knew you would! You sent me photographs , it’s you! Where’s Daddy?”

Sandy was overwhelmed , and reached out her hands to the little boy. Dr King gently passed Alex to her and they both hugged.

Sandy felt the tears come to her eyes and she did her best to stop them.

” Oh Alex, my little boy, how you have grown!”

Alex touched Sandy’s hair, he wanted to make sure that what was happening was real and not a dream.

” Mummy, mummy , yes I’ve grown very big now, William says I’m doing very well, I don’t have the fits like I used to and I’ve put on weight, look at my tummy!”,

Alex lifted his little blue tee-shirt and showed his small abdomen, which Sandy noticed was covered in little scars made by operations and puncture wounds from needles.

” Wow, that is a big tummy! You have been a very good boy haven’t you! Daddy couldn’t come this time, but he’ll be able to soon. Do you like it here?”

” Yes , it’s so much better than the other nursery I was at , when I get ill they know how to make me feel better. That other place they didn’t know how to make me feel better, they made me feel worse. I was scared mummy. I have had to have some operations since I came here but I hope I don’t have to have any more.” Alex looked up at Dr King.

” I have lots of friends here, they told me that you would visit me one day and they were right! You are here!” Alex touched Sandy’s face.

” Yes , my brave little boy , I’m here!”

Alex’s eyes were large and round and innocent. Sandy thought how did we get to this?

Dr King intervened, there was a lot to do and Alex could show his mum around and introduce her to everyone. There would be tea and coffee and some food laid on If Sandy wanted anything she was just to ask a member of Staff , they would be glad to help. Alex could stay over night with his mum in the Estate Cottage as a special treat and Alex was delighted.

“

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January 20, 2025 · 7:23 am

The Cuckoo In The Nest Chapter 11

A Dystopian Thriller

@GeraldineBanksJanuary2025

Sandy arrived at work one morning to be handed a message that she had an appointment with the Great Gerry Reid at 11.00am.The news had raised a few eyebrows in her highly competitive team, everyone was interested in everyone else’s business. Sandy knew exactly why Gerry wanted to see her. The expense claim, had increased tenfold, Ten thousand pounds. It was going to be the cost of visiting Alex. Maria had confirmed the arrangements. A rendezvous had been arranged, Sandy was, as agreed, going alone.

When she knocked on the door of Gerry’s Office. She heard him shout from inside ” Come In! The door’s open.”

” Thanks Gerry, you wanted to see me?” She smiled and closed the door behind her.

” Sandy. Good. I’m pleased to say the Powers that be liked your piece about Rehabilitation of Offenders at the Archaeological Consultancy your husband works at. Very Powerful Piece they said. Socially Aware. And surprisingly the figures were really good. They’ve told me they’d like to see more of that sort of thing. Coffee?” Gerry stood up and went to the back of his office where the coffee machine was. He continued with his back to Sandy.

“Yes thanks, black please.”

“It’s new ground for us, so you’d be working by yourself for a while, coming up with new ideas and then we can build a team around you… I just wanted to run it by you… It’s only fair why don’t you sit down?”

Sandy sat down in the big leather executive chair opposite Gerry’s desk. When Gerry turned and came back to his desk he handed her a mug of coffee .

“I think it’s a good opportunity for you.” He regarded her with an intense look, that meant he wanted information.

“Yes, it sounds good, I’ve got a weeks holiday coming up, I can start after I come back. If that’s OK?”

” A weeks holiday? I couldn’t help but notice that the expense claim this week is bigger than normal. Have you been able to arrange a visit to see Alex?”

” Yes I have,” Sandy nodded, she was reluctant to share this information but she could hardly deny it. ” I’m going to see him next week”.

” I thought as much, I suppose it’s all very hush , hush. ” Gerry stirred his coffee.

” Oh yes, we work on a need to know basis. I have one meeting point and even that can change at the last minute. I’ll be away for a few days. Martin knows and you do now. No mobile phones, they seem to know what they’re doing. I’m going to be totally off the radar.”

” I’d like to see Alex too one day, my son, I know you think I’m a heartless bastard, but this is gnawing away at my insides. I’m glad to help with the money. I hope the visit goes well, let me know when you get back. I’ve got an office for you, sorry but it’s in the basement. I’m just arranging for it to be converted, it’ll be state of the art.”

” Sounds fine Gerry, I’ll update you on my return. My own office wow!”

Sandy , no longer saw the big important Media Mogul, but the man concerned for the welfare of his son, Gerry had asked her directly which was not usually the way he operated, but she was not letting her guard down. The less said the better.

” Thanks for the coffee, I’ll head back downstairs if you don’t mind , tie up a few loose ends. I wont say anything to the crowd They’ll find out soon enough. I’ll let your secretary have the mug back.” Sandy stood up mug in hand.

” OK Sandy, let me know if you need anything. I’ll make the announcement when you’re away. You can move into your new office when you get back.”

” Sure. “

Gerry became the Media Mogul again , their connection had finished. Sandy left the office and went downstairs. The coffee was very good. She would ask for one of those machines in her new office too. Something told her she was going to need it.

“

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January 20, 2025 · 7:13 am

The Dog That Inherited A Palace Chapter 6

©GeraldineBanksJanuary2025

Tedi saw the vintage Rolls Royce on the drive outside the House. It was always very exciting having visitors.

Cross had asked Mr Watts, who was a friend of Cross, and during his long and successful career had been involved with a lot of Public Relations (PR) Companies to recommend a PR Company to represent Tedi and the House and all the events that were planned.

Watts, as that was how Mr Watts liked to be known suggested a small Company ran by Letitia Morgan called LM Media.

Letitia, Watts and Cross were sitting in the office talking over the plans, when Tedi dashed up the stairs and in through the office door followed by three of four of the other dogs. They had all seen the Vintage Rolls Royce outside the house and were wondering who was visiting.

Tedi had a better idea how to behave and ran straight to Cross’s side and jumped up on his lap, but the other dogs were jumping up and yapping at the visitors. Luckily , Watts and Letitia liked dogs and didn’t mind, but Letitia’s assistant , a man who was a bit nervous of dogs and shooed them away which of course made their behaviour worse.

Cross knew they would get no work done unless the other dogs were removed so, he made a quick call and one of the duty gardeners came up and took them out.

“Sorry about that” Cross smiled. ” As you can probably guess this is Tedi and he is the reason we are here with the sole purpose to continue the Duke and Duchess’s legacy as they intended.”

At that , Tedi looked at each of the three people in the meeting, Watts, Letitia and the other Man whose name was Arthur and was there to take the photographs. Tedi put his paw on the table which meant “OK”.

“At the end of the day what Tedi says goes, I’m obviously here to do most of the talking and any paperwork, but please don’t underestimate this dogs role, he is extremely canny and seems to know instinctively what the Duke and Duchess would have wanted. It’s quite a story how he got here and you are probably aware of the details from the Press.

Letitia bounced up out of her chair. ” Oh Yes, it is quite a story and I’m so glad to meet you, you are quite a star! Tedi”

She stood up and rubbed Tedi’s chin which he loved and looked up at her with his big eyes.

Letitia sat back down and began to speak.

“Well, we see our job as making sure that whatever you want to do is presented to the Public in a timely and comprehensive manner, so that all your hard work and event planning is successful. For a small PR Company , we do have a Global Presence , which I think will help with attracting Global attention and make all your events a success and raise lots of money for the good causes that the Duke and Duchess had in mind. Publicity is key to ensuring a good revenue stream return on all your hard work and assets.”

Letitia smiled and continued.

“In line with what I’ve been told by Watts , I’ve put together a plan, and already have a lot of interest from the big Media Players. So today , if you are in agreement , we are keen to do a photo shoot and set the scene for what Tedi’s day is like,” A day in the life of the ” Richest Dog in Britain.””

“Hhhmm, I’m not too sure I like the idea of ” Richest Dog in Britain”. Cross gave a concerned look at Watts.

” It could lead to a lot of unwanted attention and begging letters or worse attract criminal activity. Let’s stick to his pedigree and his “normal” life as a dog. He does have one you know.” Cross said. He continued. ” Tedi might be the “Head of House”. but he’s also part of the team, as time goes on we want to introduce his team. They all have a story to tell.”

“Well, maybe “Head of the House” is a better idea, I take your point.” Letitia smiled.

Cross said ” We probably won’t get all the photos done today, I’d like some shots of our grounds aswell as the inside of the House”

” Of course , that’ll be fine , Arthur, where would you like to start?” Letitia turned to Arthur, the photographer and general assistant.

Arthur spoke. ” Well that’s a really good shot, with the picture of the Duke and Duchess on the wall behind, Tedi will just need to sit on some cushions and then if he could do that paw thing. I think that would go well with the caption ” The Head of the House”.

” Good Idea, well I’ll let you get on , while Mr Cross and I sort out some details.

” OK”

So Arthur set up his equipment and took the picture of Tedi at the desk and then he followed Tedi around the House taking photos of Tedi in various poses, after an hour Tedi was very bored and was fed up of being poked and prodded so he headed back to sit on Cross’s knee. Letitia and Arthur packed up their things and said goodbye. They had some more dates in their diaries to get some more pictures and come back with more proposals.

Cross suggested to Watts they go downstairs and have some dinner, Tedi thought this was a very good idea and joined them.

He wasn’t able to say to Cross, but he had got a bad feeling about Arthur and wasn’t too happy that he would have to spend more time with him, but the blonde lady had been nice.

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January 19, 2025 · 10:46 am

Chapter 5 The Dog That Inherited A Palace

©GeraldineBanksJanuary2025

The village meeting was arranged for the following week and it was with some pride that Mr and Mrs Graham sat in the front row of seats and watched as Tedi accompanied by Cross walked into the noisy skittle alley where chairs had been hastily arranged and a table laid out at the front so that Cross could present his plan to the villagers. The whole village had turned up and it was very noisy and a lot of people were drinking as Cross had arrange for a bar to be available with a couple of free drinks for everyone.

Mrs Graham leaned over to her husband.” Doesn’t he look well, I think they’ve had his hair trimmed. He looks very smart. And that coat, my quite the little Lordship he his now!”

Tedi hadn’t noticed the Graham’s when he had walked up the aisle between all the chairs. However, when he heard Mrs Graham’s voice, everything changed. He launched himself over the table and headed straight for her lap.

Mr Graham laughed and smiled ” He hasn’t forgotten you, despite him living in the big House!”

Tedi licked Mrs Graham’s face and she laughed and rubbed his tummy. Tedi was in seventh heaven. He looked over at Mr Graham who patted him on the head .

” Yes , Tedi we missed you too, you know you can come and visit anytime.” He looked at Tedi and Tedi wagged his tail. Though Tedi knew with all the Security Arrangements this would be very difficult, though he was beginning to get fed up and wanted to see his friends. So he would figure a way to do it. Cross wasn’t always going to be able to keep an eye on him.

Cross was at the front table and decided to continue with the meeting as Tedi had settled on Mrs Graham’s lap and didn’t look as if he wanted to be anywhere else.

Cross coughed and hit the table with a gavel that had been left for the purpose of quietening down the meeting.

” Quiet Please, thank you all for coming. I thought that it would be good for you all to get together as with the Estate now being managed for the good of all, it’s best that we all move forward together. To those of you who have lived on the Estate Grounds for a long time, you will remember the great Pet and Livestock show that was held every year by the Old Duke and Duchess and we would like to reinstate it and make it as successful an Annual Event as it was before.”

There was a cheer from all the people in the crowd and they listened to Cross and began to make suggestions, there was a great deal of discussion and lots of offers of help and people willing to volunteer their time and ideas to make the event a success.

“Any ideas of what date and how long we should have the event? Three days would be good.” Cross asked.

” Yes , but if you want it to be International , Five Days is better, it’s a long way for people to come for a long weekend?” someone piped up.

Eventually it was decided that , Spring, either late May or Early June would be best and that three days would be best as in actual fact the preparations and clearing up would mean disruption for about a month, and that part of the fun for the International entrants was being able to stay for a couple of weeks beforehand and the important thing was that the infrastructure was in place for them to be accommodated along with their animals.

Later that evening , as Cross had finished the meeting and was chatting to the villagers, he walked up to Mrs Graham’s where Tedi was still sitting.

” Well lad, are you coming home with me , or do you want to have a sleepover ?” Cross smiled at the Graham’s.

” Oh can he ? That would be lovely! Mr Cross!”

Mrs Graham, gave Tedi a hug and Tedi looked up at her with big eyes. He was delighted.

” Now that we’ve had our meeting, I’ve got some PR people coming tomorrow, so Tedi will need to be back at the House for 11 am tomorrow, will you be able to bring him up. I think we’ll be doing some photos and things.”

“Of course , yes, we’ll bring him , and I’ll make sure he’ll look his best for his photos!”

Cross watched as Mr and Mrs Graham walked out of the meeting with Tedi proudly walking beside them on their lead that they had brought, hoping indeed that Tedi might be allowed to have a sleepover with them.

Mrs Graham had bought some sausages, so Tedi would have a good breakfast. Tedi had plans to meet up with his old mates and he hoped Freddie would be around. Though he had heard what Cross had said and he knew he had work to do so he had to be back at the House on time.

The next morning , Mr Graham brought Tedi for a walk around his old haunts and Tedi , the way dogs do , left lots of markers on the lamp posts and fences around the village , letting all the other dogs know that he was still around and that he was ready for some adventures if they were willing. Fortuitously he bumped into Freddie, who kept asking about the size of the fridge in the big house. Tedi couldn’t help winding him up and telling him it was so big that you could play fetch in it and that only Tedi had the key, as there was pheasant and partridge and goose that only Tedi was allowed to eat, though if Freddie came to visit he would let him have some.

All Freddie could say was ” I’ll come ” . So as Mr Graham and Freddie’s owner chatted , the two dogs made their plans to have a get together soon. They all said their goodbyes and Tedi went back to the Graham’s house for his sausage breakfast and a big drink of water.

The sausages were delicious and Mrs Graham brushed Tedi’s and made him look very handsome , then put him on his lead and they walked him back to the big house, where they had a coffee with the cook in the kitchen , just like the old days and Tedi ran off upstairs to find Cross.

Cross was waiting for him , and introduced him to the PR people and also Mr Watts , who was a friend of Cross.

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January 18, 2025 · 7:22 am

The Cuckoo In The Nest Chapter 10

©GeraldineBanks2025

The payments were being processed each week . On Monday morning, Sandy would pass the Bank Details that were on the invoice she had received the previous Friday to Gerry’s secretary in the form of an expense claim. It was a hand written note which was duly shredded once it was processed. Gerry’s secretary took no interest in the process, she just did as she was asked. Over the years she had got used to the need for confidentiality and discretion in all areas of her work concerning Mr Reid. Gerry would move the funds himself on his computer. For the last six months the delivery van had arrived at Sandy and Martin’s door.

Sandy felt that she and Martin had kept their side of the bargain and she had one burning desire. Sandy wanted to see Alex. The week Sandy received a handwritten card from Alex to “My Mummy and Daddy”, it nearly broke her heart. Alex was being taught to read and write. Sandy had in turn sent pictures of her and Martin and the twins with little notes to her little boy. Updates on Alex’s Health had been positive and Sandy just wanted the chance to hold him and tell him, he was loved, she wanted him to come home and be with his little brother and sister. That was Sandy’s dream to have him back. Sandy told Martin her plan and left a note asking if this was possible in one of the secret compartment of the boxes being returned. . It was a few weeks before she got her reply, but she was delighted when she read that the meeting could be arranged and more information would follow. There would be additional costs which had to be covered and complete secrecy would have to be maintained.

Another few weeks passed and a new delivery driver appeared on the doorstep. It was Maria Turner, the lady who had first approached Martin. Martin recognised her even in the rather dowdy work clothes she wore. Sandy invited her to have a cup of tea with them as she usually did when she received a delivery. They all sat down at the kitchen table and Maria began to tell them about the process of visiting and seeing Alex.

” I’m afraid , it can only be one person, so you will have to decide which one is going to go.” Maria grasped her mug in her hand and looked from Martin to Sandy.

” It’s going to be me. ” Sandy looked at Martin. ” That’s best isn’t it?” Martin nodded.

Maria continued ” We have to be so careful. If the authorities locate us; then all our good work is ruined. ” Maria looked across at Sandy. ” The less people who know what we are doing , the better. I want to help you, I was in your position ten years ago, my child, my daughter was taken from me. I never saw her again.”.

” I’m very sorry, do you know what happened to her? ” Sandy said.

” I think so, like so many of them who don’t escape the State’s clutches she was killed, or denatured as they call it. I fight now to stop this inhumanity, this attempt to create a perfect society. Our organisation is a business , an ethical business . We have to finance our work ourselves. I’m so glad that you can afford to pay for what we do , I never could have and my daughter died.”

” I’m so sorry for your loss, I won’t go into details but money is now no object to us, let’s just say that we have a rich benefactor, a very rich benefactor. We never have to explain why we need the money , we ask and it is sent to you. I’m desperate to see Alex, how soon can it be arranged?”

“If you can pay, it’ll be expensive. We need to protect our locations and our people.” Maria turned her head and looked at the kitchen clock.

” Will I be able to stay with Alex, you know for a few days?” Sandy asked , sensing that Maria was preparing to go.

“Let me see. I’ll have to confirm the arrangements to you, I won’t know until next week. I’ll bring your delivery again next week. I should have some news then.” Maria drank the last of her tea and stood up.

Martin said to her ” I’ll show you out”

Martin spoke to Maria in the hallway.

“Maria, how long has Alex got, you have doctors looking after him, don’t you?”

” Oh yes, doctors and nurses, we have a fully equipped hospital on site. Some of the children need round the clock care, but not Alex, he’s in our school. His medications are doing the job. A lot of the research is interrogating old records from before the ” Health Act” We are trying to piece together a lot of the old research archives which the then Government destroyed. It’s a slow process but it does bring benefits. We’ve made inroads into many conditions, and this will help us in the future. We are undercover at the moment but our time will come.”

Maria continued ” Alex is doing really well , he rarely fits due to his meds and he’s a very active , bright little boy. I hope the information we are sending you shows that. Sandy will meet the wonderful people responsible for his care, she will be impressed and perhaps they will be able to tell her more about his prognosis. We believe all life is important and the State cannot play God with our children. People do not realise what is going on. I shall speak to you next week about the arrangements, but for now I wish you Goodnight. .”

Martin opened the front door for Maria and watched her walk down the driveway and get into her van. He closed the front door and went back in the kitchen. Sandy was just washing up the cups.

“Alex is going to school I can’t believe it! My little boy!” Martin smiled at Sandy.

“Yes, and we didn’t even get a chance to send him off on his first day. Oh why Martin, why has all this had to happen?

” I’ve no idea. Something seems to have gone terribly wrong. There is no such thing as perfection, we’ve been blind, very blind.”

There was a cry from upstairs.

” I better go, Mabel has got a bit of an upset stomach. I don’t want her to wake Simon. Sandy turned and went upstairs to comfort the child and Martin went into the living room and turned on the television. Millie’s face flashed up on the screen.

Martin turned the Television off.

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